The Edge of Reality

The Death of Ufomania

It was almost exactly one year ago today that our old forum, Ufomania, began the slow process of self destruction. What had once been one of the hottest new UFO forums on the internet had reached a turning point and I and many of the other former members had finally decided that we were no longer happy with the direction it was headed in. That is when we decided to leave and start a new forum that became The Edge of Reality. At the time I predicted that Ufomania would not survive for much longer if it continued heading in what I believed was the wrong direction, and it seems that I was right.

I just read an announcement that was made this morning by the Ufomania admin. It says:


To all members and guests of UFOmania forum,

After a thorough discussion and assessing the current situation of this forum and in ufology at large, I and JJFlash concluded that we are not willing to spend more time and energy on maintaining another place on the internet for UFO related discussions. Although we both share mutual desire for intelligent and open but level minded discussions on the paranormal, we realize that the best way for now to resist the irrational pressure of absurd claims, lies and blatant ignorance, pouring through all cracks of the UFO forums on the net today, is to close this place and to move forward with our personal research and interests.

We especially appreciate the support of our most regular members and their contributions to the forum. We hope that you found here some interesting discussions and information. I and JJ have the intention to continue our research and presence on the internet and we hope to meet you again.

The forum will not be deleted but only closed for reading and posting. The reason to close it for reading is that the majority of its past and some of the present content is still of a quality that only perpetuates the spreading of untruthful information and ill beliefs. I am the initiator and fully responsible for this decision. I consider it an act of responsibility mainly to the young generations to discontinue the access to this place as a source of disinformation.

I want to express my immense appreciation to JJFlash for his full support of this decision and for his time and efforts as a moderator and active contributor to the forum. JJ, you are the best!

You still will be able to read JJFlash articles and exchange thoughts with him on his personal blog, The UFO Trail, at: http://ufotrail.blogspot.com

The forum will be closed on 16 January, 2012. After this date, everyone who would like to receive copies of particular posts and information from the forum can contact me by e-mail at stiverinmypocket at gmail dot com. The authors of the posts will be able to receive full copy of their original writings. Requests for posts, containing writing of other members or quotations from third parties will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The forum can exist closed for quite a long time. However, there is no guarantee that Proboards will not delete it due to inactivity after a few months or a year. For this, if you want to save any particular posts for your archives, I suggest you to do this yet in the next two weeks, while the forum is still open.

Best wishes to all!
stiver


It seems the inevitable has finally happened.

Over the past year I have kept a watchful eye on what was happening over there. I didn't have any particular reason for doing so since I was banned from the forum and could no longer take part in it...but I was still interested nonetheless.

What I saw was one member take control over the forum and its content and lead it down the road of skepticism, and toward its eventual final destination and ruin. He tried to turn the forum into some kind of a scientific discussion group where only serious people could have serious discussions about serious topics. I tried to warn him before that by catering only to the skeptical elites he was going to be shutting out the vast majority of the people in the UFO community, but my warnings fell on deaf ears. He was determined to have his way, and the administrator, because of her friendship and admiration for him, seemed equally determined to give it to him.

While I could to a certain extent understand their desire to bring respectability to the forum by limiting frivolous conversations and wild speculations I also realized that by imposing their own version of censorship on the people they were eliminating the one thing that makes a forum so special...freedom of speech. Without the freedom to share ideas and opinions without restrictions there can not be a forum. If everybody has to conform to one person's ideals then it may as well be a personal blog or an isolated podium. For the administrators of a forum to be deciding what can and cannot be posted it is no different than if the government of a country were to tell the news media what can and cannot be reported. The free exchange of ideas just can't exist under those limitations.

I have said countless times in the past that a forum is not just about the content, it is about the people. An internet forum is a community of people who all share a common interest. UFOs may be the subject that brings us all together but it is the people and the friendships that they form that keeps us all here...and it is the conversations that we have and the variety of ideas and opinions that makes it all interesting. Each person brings something unique to the forum and those differing ideas are what allows us to learn and grow.

Way back when we first started Ufomania I was hoping it would be a place where everybody in the UFO community would be welcome, where skeptics and believers alike could take part in the discussions without name-calling or derision. I wanted us all to be able to peacefully coexist with one another...agreeing to politely disagree at times...but treating each other with respect and dignity in the process. I suppose it was a little bit naive for me to think that we could make it happen.

The UFO community at times seems to be its own worst enemy, where constant bickering breaks out between the believers and non-believers, and people who were once friends are ready to turn on one another at the slightest provocation. I have seen it happen over and over again, and I admit that I may have been guilty of it myself on occasion. It is a shame that it has to be that way but it is. I suppose it is not surprising that people who are constantly surrounded by conspiracies might sometimes give in to paranoia. Everybody makes mistakes...it's what we learn from them that makes the difference.

What I have learned is that the past cannot be recreated. Once it is gone it is gone. By initially trying to replicate the MUFON forum we were effectively dooming ourselves to disaster because Ufomania was not the old MUFON forum. And by that same measure, The Edge of Reality is not Ufomania...nor do I have any desire for it to be. In order for us to survive we have got to continuously move forward. We must look to the future while consciously making an effort to not forget the lessons of the past.

There was a time when Ufomania was a very special place, when we all worked together as a team to achieve success and to try to recover the internet community which had been so abruptly stolen from us. For a brief period of time we almost succeeded...we almost managed to obtain the unobtainable...but then it all came tumbling down. Now, it is gone forever.

I can't say that am surprised to see it go. Nor am I particularly sorry that it is ending. I am no longer a part of that forum so it no longer has any relevance for me. I admit I may be just a little bit sad. I have always kind of regretted what happened over there, and especially the way it happened. It was all totally avoidable but because of a few minor misunderstandings that got blown way out of proportion I ended up alienating several people who at one time were my good friends. I am sorry that had to happen...and I am especially sorry if I hurt anybody...but like I said before, we can't relive the past. All we can do is look to the future, and my future is here at TEOR.

A little piece of the UFO community has died today...but the rest of us are still going strong and we will continue to do so for as long as we can. The Edge of Reality will continue to exist for as long as there is anybody interested in exploring the unknown. Our forum will continue to grow and evolve as new members continue to come and go and leave their mark upon it. We have the opportunity to make our future whatever we want it to be.

As for the old MUFON forum...and Ufomania...their struggles are finally over. May they both rest in peace.