THoTH wrote:

THoTH wrote:

Regarding the expedition, I had honestly not thought of it that way, ie leaving it in but lock it or whatever. It is entirely my fault that it was removed. You're right that could have served a purpose in warning people off etc. There you go I admitted I was wrong ! The rationale is by keeping it there, it looks like we're condoning, despite it being locked. Like leaving spam in your inbox that sort of thing. In all honesty, spammers never give up trying to cause problems here (and no doubt elsewhere), so it was a reaction by me, I was asked about it, and gave the word.

The flip side is that by locking it, it can also produce arrogant retaliation by the original poster, or we get a whole bunch taking issue with it being locked, and then no doubt an argument about how valid the claim is, but given the disreputable past of the "expeditition" it was a judgement call. No censorship, although there will always those who cry that when something objectionable is removed.

THoTH wrote:

Cypher wrote:

But someone who comes to this site and is just starting to look into a subject might not be as able to tell where the line between fact and fiction, reality and delusion is drawn. If they come upon a thread with suspect claims and see several moderators welcoming the OP and encouraging them to please share more of the same that is like there's some seal of approval stamped upon the thread. At least, that would be my take on it.

That's certainly one way of looking at it, and there have been instances where clearly insane posts have been made that didn't make it to discussion. If there's uncertainty it's discussed between moderators and me. If someone comes on claiming they're an alien, what harm does it do to post in a thread like that? People are curious, doesn't mean they apply a seal of approval. It could be seen as endorsing the view of the OP, but what is the alternative? So we let people tell us their message, if I think they're crazy I don't let it cloud my judgement, there are far too many things I used to think were crazy, but now know that they're definitely not. As it's been said already, even if someone is hoaxing, or think that they're an extraterrestrial, it still is important not to censor that because of our own take on things.

THoTH wrote:

I wrote that article about UFO psychology, where do we draw the line? You may be interested in the sociological element of the UFO, it's folklore element, it's psychological element, it's cultural element, all these things you can learn more about, by allowing most if not all to speak their mind.

Newbs wrote: