Me? Bitter?!
So one of the most frustrating things about looking into the phenomenon of the strange is a tendency for the researcher to become bitter about the subject. It happens to all of us at one point or another. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s brought down mightier men than me.
Take John Keel for example. John Keel was one of the main investigators of the Mothman incident in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. His main focus was the UFO phenomenon and after a time he became fed up with the entire idea of extraterrestrials. It wasn’t the lack of answers though (more on that later). The problem was other researchers. The need for an answer drives people to construct insane theories constantly and it caused him to split off and begin his concept of the Superspectrum and ultraterrestrials. Anything to keep from having to deal with arguing with people about if a ship was from Venus or the planet Nipnop.
I identify with John a lot in this respect. The UFO and cryptid communities drove me out for about ten years and it wasn’t until recently I started diving back in myself for the show. Now I revel in the bizarre ideas I find because MAN are there a lot of them.
The real bitterness comes from expecting answers. The definition of what we’re looking into with this show is “unknown”. You can’t expect to find the truth. Even if it IS out there. The fun comes from the speculation. The anger comes from deciding you’re right. So if you’re a researcher into the strange and bizarre aspects of the world, go in with an open mind. Not for the things you’ll find, but for the answers you won’t find.