This post is a revised part of my review on "Sekret Machines." I'm not repeating the review of the book itself, but concentrating and expanding on an
exploration of DeLonge's "franchise" comments about his plans for future development.
I had never heard of Tom DeLonge before the (truly failed) AMA, but have since discovered he has done very well for himself in the entertainment
business. Indeed, he’s worth over $60 million, so he needn’t worry about paying the rent. And yes, this is actually important with regards to the
book because it puts it in context. He has no need to just sell a book and collect royalties. In his world, that’s chump change. But he may have his
eye on a bigger prize. After all, having a net worth in the tens of millions is nothing compared to being a billionaire when you can buy your own
jet.
Indeed, when you read what he says about this attempt, he’s attempting to sell a “franchise” (His term.) This is the first of several books
planned for the “franchise.” Now what exactly is a “franchise”? Here are some examples: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Transformers, Frozen. They
are all Big Money examples with repeatable content (sequels), merchandise tie-ins, and attempts to haul in serious dollars in a variety of ways. For
example, Tom talks about the need to raise $200 million for a film on the subject. To put this in perspective, the entire budget for “Star Wars,
Episode 7; the Force Awakens,” was $200 million. (Source: imdb.com) He says this.
I pitched a massive entertainment franchise that involved novels, feature films, nonfiction books, documentaries, and everything else that goes
along with a story that has been told over decades and teaches people the truth about something that is almost too big to handle.
Source:
Preface to Sekret Machines
Does that sound like a guy who "doesn't need the money"? So there’s no doubt he is thinking big here, a “massive entertainment franchise.” This
is Hollywood-talk, of course. You “pitch” toward investors who, if they like your “pitch,” may commission you for a “pilot” to see how it
goes. According to Tom he pitched his idea of what amounts to a UFO Disclosure franchise in several ways. One of them was to the “source
material,” people “in the know” who could connect him with others “in the know” and lead to a significant wealth of knowledge. His other
“pitch” is to people like us and Coast to Coast as he attempts to “build the branding” of his franchise.
When you listen to this pitch it has a very similar ring to what we’ve heard for decades about UFO Disclosure. The basic idea is this: There are a
group of well-connected people who know what is really going on and have decided it’s time to circumvent all the secrecy and inform the public.
They’re waiting for “the right time” to disclose. We heard this as far back as the fifties. Today we hear it from people like Steven Greer, who
always reluctantly says he “wishes he could tell us, but just can’t” as he alludes to his secret knowledge from top officials “in the know.”
Tom does exactly the same thing. There are a whole host of people he “can’t talk about.” He plugs himself right in the middle of this meme by
saying the powers that be have chosen HIM to be the channel for disclosure, the first step of which is this book that, though it is written as
fiction, is based on true events. All this is laid out in his preface which you, too, can read in e-book format for a mere $9.99 from Amazon,
delivered directly to your android phone or Kindle.
It’s worth noting that this is not Tom’s first foray into writing. Just a couple of years ago (2013) he released The Lonely Astronaut on Christmas
Eve, a children’s book. In late 2015 he released Poet Anderson: ...Of Nightmares with Suzanne Young. He’s also done a couple of films and even has
designed and marketed apparel. And has the Strange Times website devoted to the paranormal. If you doubt the franchise angle, his article in Wikipedia
states:
DeLonge explained in 2014 that he was pondering a "plan B," whereby musical acts could monetize other aspects of their creative
portfolio—posters, books, VIP tickets, limited-edition releases—given the challenges of contracts offered by major music companies and the
emergence of file-sharing.
en.wikipedia.org...
DeLonge says this admonishment to readers in his preface:
All along I was never just a "conspiracy theorist." So don't be naive, and become one yourself. Don't regurgitate the same old alien tale. I
was never immature about the matter, nor should you be."
And yet, that's EXACTLY what he has done. Look at the UFO conspiracies he has in his book:
Bob Lazar’s “Sports Model” UFO.
Nazis in caves.
Nazis in South America.
Nazis in Antarctica.
Cigar-shaped UFOs.
The TR3B.
Triangles, including Belgium Triangles.
Operation Paperclip.
Men in Black.
Malmstrom AFB Oscar Flight.
Area 51.
Betty and Barney Hill.
Reverse engineering.
Untearable aluminum foil.
Roswell.
Little A’Le Inn (sic)
Money Laundering.
Mysterious deaths.
Sorry, but this sounds very much to me like a conspiracy theorist regurgitating the same old alien tale.
And as for the money angle, there are those here who profess DeLonge is not “in it for the money.” I was willing to go along with that until I
read Tom DeLonge’s own words about a “massive entertainment franchise” that involved “monetizing VIP Tickets” and raising $200 million,
exactly what Star Wars Episode 7 cost, for a movie about all this. I don’t know about you, but I think the word “monetize” is all about making
money. But go ahead and believe otherwise if you want.
edit on 5/9/2016 by schuyler because: (no reason given)