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Whitley Strieber

Started by Ruteger, July 26, 2010, 05:35:04 PM

ItsOver

I've always had the impression Strieber is just an opportunist who latches onto something of the moment for financial gain.  Vampires, nuclear holocaust, alien abductions, climate change.  The impression that he has a few screws loose just adds to the picture.

b_dubb

i think Strieber ( and most C2C personalities - including Art ) had a lot in common with P.T. Barnum in that they had no problem profiting from a bullshit story

Lunger

Quote from: b_dubb on February 22, 2013, 06:34:22 AM
i think Strieber ( and most C2C personalities - including Art ) had a lot in common with P.T. Barnum in that they had no problem profiting from a bullshit story

P.T. Barnum!  Good Call.

I always thought that most of Coast and Dreamland were look at as Radio Plays by Bell.... suspending disbelief to put on a show.  That is the way I take it now.

I used to believe in the whole thing a lot more then I do now.  After listening to these hucksters over and over for years....they all seem to be full of shit.

beyondbeleef

I'm reading Communion and he definitely sounds like he has mental issues. A lot of what he is talking about beyond the original account of the visitation/butt rape is just him showing signs of some undiagnosed mental illness.

He's not a bad writer though, so I'd put him in the Fiction section.

onan

Quote from: beyondbeleef on March 16, 2013, 08:54:04 PM
I'm reading Communion and he definitely sounds like he has mental issues. A lot of what he is talking about beyond the original account of the visitation/butt rape is just him showing signs of some undiagnosed mental illness.

Not that I disagree with you, but how would his presentation change if it weren't a mental illness? The problem with mental illness as an explanation is that anything reported that is outside the normal realm of experience is suspect.
I am not sure if Strieber is mentally ill or just knows how to keep a few dollars rolling in on a regular basis. Those two factors are not mutually exclusive. So yeah probably mentally ill... is everyone that believes in a supreme being that listens to them every night at bedtime also mentally ill? I dunno, just asking.

Yorkshire pud

Quote from: onan on March 17, 2013, 02:22:45 AM
Not that I disagree with you, but how would his presentation change if it weren't a mental illness? The problem with mental illness as an explanation is that anything reported that is outside the normal realm of experience is suspect.
I am not sure if Strieber is mentally ill or just knows how to keep a few dollars rolling in on a regular basis. Those two factors are not mutually exclusive. So yeah probably mentally ill... is everyone that believes in a supreme being that listens to them every night at bedtime also mentally ill? I dunno, just asking.


Oh yikes! It does begger the the question how many many courts and statutes the world over are deemed as formalised on the pronouncement of allegiance to an invisible deity, and the logic behind it. Strieber might be mentally ill; but at least he's harmless enough. The crazy ones who have influence are the ones to be watched.

Juan

I've always thought Strieber was an imaginative writer of fiction and a pretty decent storyteller.  No more, no less.

Falkie2013



IF you ascribe mental illness to Streiber, then by inference do you ascribe mental illness to everyone who claims to have been an abductee and in the case of both men and women, but particularly women, who claim to have been sexually violated, have had babies taken from their womb while pregnant and then have no trace of being pregnant and similar events that have been reported ?

Was the late Budd Hopkins insane for writing about it as have other writers as well ?

I think you're not being entirely fair to Streiber.

Me, I believe what he says happened to him happened.

And its been years since I read Communion. I've got his followup books on the shelves but haven't gotten around to reading them yet. Too many other books have gotten in the way. I will read them one of these days. Too creepy to read them at night. And too disturbing too.

beyondbeleef

Quote from: Falkie2013 on March 17, 2013, 05:46:08 AM

IF you ascribe mental illness to Streiber, then by inference do you ascribe mental illness to everyone who claims to have been an abductee and in the case of both men and women, but particularly women, who claim to have been sexually violated, have had babies taken from their womb while pregnant and then have no trace of being pregnant and similar events that have been reported ?

Was the late Budd Hopkins insane for writing about it as have other writers as well ?

I think you're not being entirely fair to Streiber.

Me, I believe what he says happened to him happened.

And its been years since I read Communion. I've got his followup books on the shelves but haven't gotten around to reading them yet. Too many other books have gotten in the way. I will read them one of these days. Too creepy to read them at night. And too disturbing too.




I didn't actually say that, my point was that apart from describing the purported alien visitation, a lot of the ways he discussed what happened to him afterwards and even before sounded like symptoms of a mental illness. Many of his descriptions about his worrying, depression, possessiveness, controlling egocentrism and the ways he treated his wife and son were troubling.

If you would like an answer anyway: I don't know enough about the psychology of UFO abduction to rightly dispute you, so I won't. Some studies that I have read suggest that stories of abduction are common or likely in people who have undergone abuse or have issues.

I don't personally believe in alien abductions so I would lean towards that, but I need to read more before I make my mind up & say its an ironclad fact.

Yorkshire pud

Quote from: Falkie2013 on March 17, 2013, 05:46:08 AM

IF you ascribe mental illness to Streiber, then by inference do you ascribe mental illness to everyone who claims to have been an abductee and in the case of both men and women, but particularly women, who claim to have been sexually violated, have had babies taken from their womb while pregnant and then have no trace of being pregnant and similar events that have been reported ?




No, you're inferring it; the statement may have implied it. So, let's get this right..Women wh were not pregnant, claim to have been made pregnant, had the feotus removed, but cannot prove that they have, nor can prove they were pregnant, and neither does anyone who knew them say they were pregnant either? No, of course I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation...

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Was the late Budd Hopkins insane for writing about it as have other writers as well ?


Can you show they weren't/aren't? John Lear fall into that category? You think he's all there?

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I think you're not being entirely fair to Streiber.

Me, I believe what he says happened to him happened.




So did I when I read the book; I was in my twenties I think. Even Strieber postulated that it might have been his imagination, drunkenness or a combination; so your faith is touching.
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And its been years since I read Communion. I've got his followup books on the shelves but haven't gotten around to reading them yet. Too many other books have gotten in the way. I will read them one of these days. Too creepy to read them at night. And too disturbing too.


He's an accomplished writer of horror fiction, so I can see that.

Falkie2013

Quote from: Yorkshire pud on March 17, 2013, 09:04:22 AM

No, you're inferring it; the statement may have implied it. So, let's get this right..Women wh were not pregnant, claim to have been made pregnant, had the feotus removed, but cannot prove that they have, nor can prove they were pregnant, and neither does anyone who knew them say they were pregnant either? No, of course I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation...


Can you show they weren't/aren't? John Lear fall into that category? You think he's all there?


So did I when I read the book; I was in my twenties I think. Even Strieber postulated that it might have been his imagination, drunkenness or a combination; so your faith is touching.

He's an accomplished writer of horror fiction, so I can see that.


It's NOT a matter of faith. Strieber has said that he has gone through hell by making his story public and if he had to do it over again, he would not have publicly revealed it.

I take the man at his word given that that  he seems to be a person of good character not prone to lying.

As to the women losing babies, there are multiple stories in the literature about it and some of those women gave their real names as I seem to recall.

I suppose to you and the skeptics or should I say realists, a term I hate because people who say they're realists usually engage in put downs about any opinion other  than their own; you discount the investigations of John Mack as well or anything that YOU cannot prove. By that definition, God, angels, the paranormal or the many subjects that ART used to discuss are all so much bunk, yet that's what so many of us who aren't YOU were drawn to and listened to Art in the first place.

I can't recall the exact quote but there's something about a closed mind. Those who won't cross the boundaries into the unknown generally don't question authority either. It's what has gotten us into wars and all sorts of other trouble over the years both in this country and elsewhere.

Yorkshire pud

Quote from: Falkie2013 on March 17, 2013, 11:10:38 AM

It's NOT a matter of faith. Strieber has said that he has gone through hell by making his story public and if he had to do it over again, he would not have publicly revealed it.

I take the man at his word given that that  he seems to be a person of good character not prone to lying.

As to the women losing babies, there are multiple stories in the literature about it and some of those women gave their real names as I seem to recall.

I suppose to you and the skeptics or should I say realists, a term I hate because people who say they're realists usually engage in put downs about any opinion other  than their own; you discount the investigations of John Mack as well or anything that YOU cannot prove. By that definition, God, angels, the paranormal or the many subjects that ART used to discuss are all so much bunk,




You believe angels are real? I cannot prove they are, or god..but then the onus isn't on me to prove they don't..So on that basis, I wait with baited breath for the day my scepticism is proved one way or the other..


Quote
yet that's what so many of us who aren't YOU were drawn to and listened to Art in the first place.

I can't recall the exact quote but there's something about a closed mind. Those who won't cross the boundaries into the unknown generally don't question authority either. It's what has gotten us into wars and all sorts of other trouble over the years both in this country and elsewhere.


I think you'll find it isn't my mind that is closed; you're willing to believe in untraceable immaculate conception that results in untraceable removing of the feotus... I'm willing to believe it's probably the fertile imagination of a troubled woman.


Juan

Yes, indeed.  Baited breath.

ksm32

I like listening to Whitley no matter what... although if even 2% of what he say's has happened to him is real ?.. "they" would have dissected him long ago.


BTW!!!! listen to Arts show with Ronald Munson on Human Cloning (Jan 3 2002), you would swear it is Whitley slowed down.. or just drunk n sleepy but rather smart.

awake

Quote from: Falkie2013 on March 17, 2013, 05:46:08 AM

IF you ascribe mental illness to Streiber, then by inference do you ascribe mental illness to everyone who claims to have been an abductee and in the case of both men and women, but particularly women, who claim to have been sexually violated, have had babies taken from their womb while pregnant and then have no trace of being pregnant and similar events that have been reported ?

Was the late Budd Hopkins insane for writing about it as have other writers as well ?

I think you're not being entirely fair to Streiber.

Me, I believe what he says happened to him happened.

And its been years since I read Communion. I've got his followup books on the shelves but haven't gotten around to reading them yet. Too many other books have gotten in the way. I will read them one of these days. Too creepy to read them at night. And too disturbing too.
To be frank, from my view anyone who claims to have been in physical contact with an entity not from this planet would be at least delusional.  A person who thinks a child has been removed from their body and reports it only to find out there is no trace of recent pregnancy; yeah that person should be seen and evaluated by a medical professional.  Absolutely, jesus, that person should be on a 24 hold. 

I'm also a bit concerned that any would seriously believes the fetus thing mentioned; why why why. Occam's freaking razor, our current science has created true clones from a few cells.  We are combining plants and animals on the DNA level, why why why would an alien need to"de-materialize" a human fetus from inside a womb.  Anyone who believes that aliens travel across the vast emptiness of space and in order to claim a human fetus and physically remove one from a human womb, hasn't thought it through or is "off".  Why in the world would such a unlikely thing be required/desired?
 
So please while I know it's easy to listen to C2C and think of it as a radio play, and it's all good fun and no harm is being done.  Here is someone who thinks it's credible, who listens to these shows for VALIDATION.  It's not all just good fun folks, some of these huckster guests cause real damage out there.  And the worst part is they harm those least able defend themselves from fantastic lies and liars.  This may be how people become so wrapped up in a delusion that a group of them put on matching outfits and commit a mass suicide.

Well said, Mortal...  I really enjoy the paranormal material that Art used to run with so well.  It is entertaining as hell.  Sometimes, some of it really is pretty compelling and thought-provoking.  But I don't want to be lied to, conned, bamboozled for a buck.  Sagan seemed pretty convinced that it was thoroughly plausible for extra-terrestrial life to exist in this universe.  The idea that some of them could be advanced far beyond our own level is not implausible.  But when a house-of-cards story is clearly full of holes, I don't want to cling to it out of a stubborn and foolish desire for it to be true.

I've probably mixed my metaphors beyond recognition.  Oh, well... long day.

Quote from: Falkie2013 on March 17, 2013, 05:46:08 AM

IF you ascribe mental illness to Streiber....



Just listening to Whitley whine and the way he gets all huffy about people that won't automatically take his ever changing stories at face value - I wouldn't rely on anything he said about anything.

Lunger

Quote from: Falkie2013 on March 17, 2013, 05:46:08 AM

IF you ascribe mental illness to Streiber, then by inference do you ascribe mental illness to everyone who claims to have been an abductee....

That is not a true statement.  While Striber is, IMHO, delusional or just an everyday liar, it doesn't take away from someone else's experience.

About the only person I have only ever heard on C2C that was believable was Travis Walton.  Striber just comes off as a pathetic con man.

b_dubb

I discount any and all abductions stories that begin with the abductee in bed asleep. likely sleep terror and then if they've gone to someone for hypnotic regression then any further information can be explained by false memory syndrome - a known phenomena with hypnosis.

Betty and Barney Hill don't fall into this category and they're one of the few abduction stories that interest me. As I recall they remembered seeing something after their interrupted journey. Granted additional information came out during hypnotic regression and maybe some of these details were false memory. 

Whitley's story starts with him asleep and so I tend to think its bullshit. All the more likely given his profession

Lunger

Speaking of Striber.....

He is on U7 now with his protege, that insufferable *unt Starfire Tor.

She is spewing her verbal diarrhea about time shifts and slipping in and out of different time lines.

Of course, everything happens to Whitley.... He's been slipping in and out of timelines for some time now.

Guy

What I find most annoying about Streiber is that he is always  "remembering" something new from his experiences.   Usually these memories correspond with a new publication.

I remember recently on C2C he said he recently remembered that he was probed in the backside.    Raped was the term he used.    And so now his whole story supposedly takes on a whole new trauma.

I do not know what happened to this guy to push him over the edge, or whether this whole thing is a joke/fiction he maintains in order to sell his stuff.


someguy

Quote from: Guy on June 05, 2013, 12:05:47 PM
What I find most annoying about Streiber is that he is always  "remembering" something new from his experiences.   Usually these memories correspond with a new publication.

I remember recently on C2C he said he recently remembered that he was probed in the backside.    Raped was the term he used.    And so now his whole story supposedly takes on a whole new trauma.

I do not know what happened to this guy to push him over the edge, or whether this whole thing is a joke/fiction he maintains in order to sell his stuff.


He talked about the butt probe way back in Communion. He was pretty much responsible for the whole anal probe meme.

Guy

Thanks for the correction.    I have not read Communion.   I just heard him some time in the last year say he had recently remembered being raped and it had all just come back to him.    If he mentioned the probe earlier, then I am not sure what he was referring to about just recently remembering a rape.   Hmmm?

MV/Liberace!

Quote from: Recovering Noorholic on July 30, 2010, 10:48:55 PM

I've often wondered about Whitley ... he says he first told Anne Streiber about his abduction experiences because he was afraid she would think he was having an affair on her. I've often wondered if he was and this isn't just an excuse that got way out of control and ran away from him.



i just ran across this post.  i got a good gut laugh out of the above quoted passage.  if i had to bet money as to which is more likely: whitley cheating on his wife or being abducted and anally probed by aliens, you won't have a difficult time guessing on which side i would place my bet.

Eddie Coyle

Quote from: MV on June 10, 2013, 09:35:14 PM

i just ran across this post.  i got a good gut laugh out of the above quoted passage.  if i had to bet money as to which is more likely: whitley cheating on his wife or being abducted and anally probed by aliens, you won't have a difficult time guessing on which side i would place my bet.
It's a hybrid. Cheating on his wife and being anally probed.

         Doubt the aliens part, though.

Sardondi

Whitley is one weird piece of cheese. I remember the show when he talked about how he was with some woman at his cabin (the famous cabin?) He was picking up that she was wanting to sleep with him. So, like any normal guy an incredibly stupid twat, he calls his wife to talk to her about it. Repeatedly. Tells her what she's saying and how many buttons are undone, and what Whitley's saying and how he's feeling and whether he should go ahead and sleep with her. I'm not kidding. IIRC they talked him down. Or maybe the little walking garbage can aliens interrupted when they came back for another yodel up the canyon. Whatever, it was a bizarre episode.

I have two thoughts about this Whitley Event. First, I really wonder if Whitley isn't one of these uber-sensitive girlie-men who look to their wives for strength and direction and leadership. You know, like she was his husband and would provide something to lean on when he got tired and just wanted a nice cry. Sounds like that's what the radio-host couple that offed themselves last week were like.

And second, Mr. and Mrs. Whitley Strieber talk entirely too fucking much to each other. Don't believe this shit about "full communication". It's dangerous. Whitley thinks he's getting the moves from some woman? (Which I have some difficulty envisioning, but even the strangest types can have groupies.) well, great. So shine her on, dickhead, or don't, but quit acting like you're powerless. And don't drag your wife into it, idiot. Sounds to me like what he was really doing talking to his wife was asking for permission. Yeah, like that would work. Whitley, if you believe that if Ann ever said "You do whatever you need to fulfill yourself", and you thought she really meant it and that there would be no repercussions, you're a bigger douchebag than I previously thought. Jeez what a pantsload this guy is

HorrorRetro

Quote from: Sardondi on June 12, 2013, 07:05:28 AM


I have two thoughts about this Whitley Event. First, I really wonder if Whitley isn't one of these uber-sensitive girlie-men who look to their wives for strength and direction and leadership. You know, like she was his husband and would provide something to lean on when he got tired and just wanted a nice cry. Sounds like that's what the radio-host couple that offed themselves last week were like.



From listening to them over the years, that's exactly how I see them.  She seems to wear the pants in the family, and he's always on the verge of weeping.

coaster

He's obviously mentally ill. Possibly schizophrenic. That was my feeling after reading his books some years ago.

Morgus

Anyone hear last night's c2c guest L.A. Marzulli made a negative comment about Whitley regarding his changed opinion about his contact with the 'visitors' like he was a victim of the Stockholm Syndrome?
Noory then said he agreed with that - wonder how Whitley would feel if heard Noory saying that, would he still  return again as a frequent c2c guest?

ACE of CLUBS

Sardondi ...... post # 145


Don't hold back ....... tell us what you really think!


I've also thought of W.S. as a girlie-man, a delusional dreamer, and it may be his wishful thinking about being 'probed' by a roving gang of 'bad boy' aliens in their hot-rod space ships .....


Might make an interesting movie ...... have you been on the stage?


Aaaaaaarrrrgggh !




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