Filling a void
By Tim Printy
SUNLite
5-1-09
When Phil Klass stopped publishing his Skeptics UFO Newsletter in 2003, something disappeared from the skeptical community. The last issue, titled “SUNset”,was his farewell and he passed away in 2005. I had a chance to communicate with Phil over his later years and I am sorry I missed him in his prime. I always enjoyed his friendly exchanges and interesting humor. This newsletter is a tribute to his efforts and will attempt to fill the void left after his passing. My interest in UFOs began in 1997 during the Hale-Bopp UFO nonsense. As I read more I guess I became obsessed with how ridiculous some of the UFO claims were. This was also about the same time the Arizona UFOs and the 50th Roswell anniversary occurred. I became interested in each and discovered that most of what was being described in the media was not as accurate as it should be. This led me to create my web site dedicated to my opinions about UFOs. I added to it as I learned more about each UFO case and developed my opinions about UFOlogy and UFOlogists. Today, I add to the site occasionally but not often enough. I wanted to move in another direction.
I originally thought of a Blog but that would be just another entry in the mass of Blogs that already exist. I don’t have the time to enter something once a week. Therefore, I decided to step in with this newsletter and call it SUNLite. It is a lighter version of SUN simply because Phil is no longer with us and I intend it to be a bit different. However, I do expect to see this follow in Phil’s legacy of presenting skeptical information and opinions about UFO news.
It is my desire to make this a newsletter for skeptical examination of UFO cases as well as skeptical opinions. I am more than willing to entertain articles written from “the other side of the aisle” on a case by case basis. I have read some that have been interesting to say the least. However, in keeping with the newsletters format,I expect that the articles be written objectively without a need for conspiracy theories and wild claims being displayed as facts. Feel free to do that in some UFO publication.
While SUN was a mass mailing of a photocopied newsletter, I think today’s modern internet can get past the idea of clogging up the post office with a lot of wasted paper. The electronic age makes it easy to create a newsletter and put it into pdf format. The document can then be made available for downloading. If one copy or a million copies get downloaded, I really do not care.
I want to thank the authors for their work in this issue. If no author is listed, then it is my own opinion and writing. If you disagree with an article, the e-mails to the editor is a place to comment. Opinions are always welcome but keep it clean and constructive. I request emails be short and to the point. I retain the right to “shorten” lengthy diatribes. I also don’t care about how you feel about me personally. Personal attacks are not welcome and refrain from name-calling/profanity. It is a sign of a limited vocabulary.
I hope everyone enjoys the first issue and I hope to receive more contributions in the future. Deadline for article submissions is two weeks before “publishing” date, which is the first day of the month the issue begins. The next issue will be posted on July 1, which means the submission deadline is June 15th.
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