The glowing bush - A skeptical viewpoint.

I was reminded of something that happened to me awhile back.

I was outside having a cigarette. It was nighttime, dead of night, no moonlight or anything.
I was looking around in the darkness and noticed a bush with a faint glow. It would be glowing, sometimes brighter, sometimes barely, then it would shut off suddenly, then back to glowing again.

I could not see it directly, but rather only through my peripheral vision..had to keep my eyes twitching a bit so it wouldn't "black out"

Well, for a few moments as I was standing there, it sort of slowly blew my mind...what was I seeing? some sort of faint UFO tucked in the bushes, a fairy ring that is gone undetected by humanity because of just how difficult it was to see?

I stood there for awhile, watching this very faint light go on and off, rise a bit in intensity, and even seem to slightly change color now and then...

Had I left it as that, I might be inclined to put that in the "curious" catagory...however, my skeptical mind eventually engaged and decided this was nonsense...find out what it is.

I walked to the bush, deciding to brush aside the thought of 1000 tiny angry fairys or being sucked into some dimensional vortex...as I walked down the side of the house, I noticed a slight sound coming also..like murmers

I then in a instant knew what it was...I walked further to confirm it and yep..it is as I thought.

My brother (lived with us at the time) had his window and curtains opened. his television was on lowly. the light was cast out and reflecting on the bushes slightly. Debunked...I could goto bed without fear of magical gnomes coming to get me.

Why tell this story? Well, a couple reasons
1) I do consider myself somewhat skeptical...this does not mean I ignore odd things...opposite actually, I am attracted to odd things to either solve rationally, or if indeed I did see a host of fairys circling around the bush, to understand what these critters are and how to expose them properly. Skepticism is a tool to uncover truth beyond superstition and belief. If I was not skeptical, I could very well have posted about the total "fact" that I seen a fairy bush in my back yard (or whatever I decided it was)...this would allow me to distort reality.

2) To try and encourage others not to just be skeptical about their "paranormal" experiences and explore all avenues to explain, but also to speak up about how they themself thought something was not "natural" and through some testing uncovered the explanation...this may help others not feel foolish when they initially thought something was paranormal and spoke about it only to find out reasoning behind it later.

So, What have you uncovered in the past that otherwise might have made you sound like a "believer"?

And incidently..."it can't be therefore it isn't" is not being skeptical...nothing cannot be, however some things are unlikely...unless things are dismissed through good uncoverings, then its just a religious stance your taking...hell, if I seen someone grow fangs and fly or whatnot, I would not dismiss them being a vampire until I had something that showed it was not as I percieved (bad teeth and a bungee cord)

True that. Without a solid degree of skepticism & the application of critical thinking one could never hope to find an anomalous truth for accepting everything as "truth."

An open mind, of course, indispensable as well.

Originally posted by SaturnFX


...Well, for a few moments as I was standing there, it sort of slowly blew my mind...what was I seeing? some sort of faint UFO tucked in the bushes, a fairy ring that is gone undetected by humanity because of just how difficult it was to see?

I stood there for awhile, watching this very faint light go on and off, rise a bit in intensity, and even seem to slightly change color now and then...

Had I left it as that, I might be inclined to put that in the "curious" catagory...however, my skeptical mind eventually engaged and decided this was nonsense...find out what it is.

I walked to the bush, deciding to brush aside the thought of 1000 tiny angry fairys or being sucked into some dimensional vortex...

"...some sort of faint UFO tucked in the bushes, a fairy ring that is gone undetected by humanity... the thought of 1000 tiny angry fairys or being sucked into some dimensional vortex.."

Your thoughts man lol. You created straw man arguments and then you set fire to the straw. Deluding oneself then daring to use the experience as some sort of evidence of logic and what you called "skepticism" is a cute trick. Maybe you aren't aware that you are using logical fallacies in trying to make a statement not to use them? Maybe this is a joke?

In the future you might find some help in letting phenomena speak for itself, rather then painting your vortex of dimensions, faeries or any other favorite distraction from your book. Have you seen UFO's in any bushes, or anywhere? Did you apply your same logic here to such observations? I wonder if you have.

try being skeptic concerning skepticism lol

reply to post by Serafine


Not saying it was anything like that...just thought for a moment I was experiencing something strange...however, the key is, if your experiencing something strange...don't half arse it and accept it as just a strange phenomona...go and investigate until you find the source.

Its a pretty basic concept, but you often come across people whom are claiming things and refuse to investigate, for fear that they will smash down their percieved phenomona as just some natural occurances.

A good example to this...there is some bats--t nut named Alison Cruze on youtube whom is constantly putting out videos of airplanes, saying they are ufo's flying out of her woods in the backyard. She has been asked to simply walk into the woods in her video and take it there...or go to the street on the other side of the woods and film from there.
She refuses because she says she is too scared, then screams at anyone suggesting it as being some sort of disinfo agent skeptic whatnot...

What she doesnt say is that in the direction she is pointing, a few miles away, is yep, a little airport and the illusion she is capturing of tiny airplanelike things coming from her small grove in the woods is just that.

Why does she hold onto this belief and refuse to investigate verses muddy the waters of the UFO understanding I don't really know beyond her simple yelling that its real UFOs and she is to frightened to check closer.

And she has a fanbase...a bunch of followers whom will watch her ordinary airplane videos and believe that is solid evidence of extraterrestrial -invaders- coming and going from her backyard.

didn't mean for this to turn into a UFO rant, but that is one of the many "paranormal" misjudgements gone mainstream that this relates to.

Still woulda been cool to see a bunch of glowing fairys in my bush, but alas, it was just reflected dim light from a unseen source...what is fun is the moment before you get the solution, you get a bit excited that you may discover something new.

reply to post by SaturnFX


Hi SaturnFX... Been awhile!

What Para-Normal is also includes what "normal" is... Sometimes Normal is so mundane and mesmerizing that we find we can become lost in a Man-made world and reality, of "normal". Hope that doesn't confuse lol...

But it would be and is a mistake to file that as "normal" or by virtue of a subtle mental trick, "reality". Using anomalies and ( the often used ) "coincidence" as a write-off for anything that DOESN'T fall within such a "normal" paradigm isn't valid. Especially since such write-offs are often made a "law" to use against a sincere and direct investigation, consideration and research etc.

Some people have and do "see" Faeries, see? There are people who SEE UFO's and many experience "paranormal" ( as some would tag it ) phenomena... etc

To begin any consideration or research into such matters with a precept that they are not valid is EXACTLY the same trick as you described in thinking "faeries in a bush" as a precept. It works both ways, see? If you, for instance, have seen a UFO, clearly, and listen to what others think of YOUR experience, you have an opportunity to observe how many people "reason and think".

It often comes down to what they "believe" vrs YOUR EXPERIENCE. What I meant by".. have seen a UFO CLEARLY..." is that you KNOW what you saw. Not that it's "extraterrestrial OR man-made" see? But that it is a craft... and that is NOT in any journals or behaving under the "current" academic laws of physics.... It is unidentified but it IS REAL. see?

Don't doubt yourself into a permanent skeptic that will never learn anything for fear you will die as a skeptic.. lol ( I'm not inferring that you are! )

Hope this isn't too perplexing... I'm trying to phrase these ideas in a manner that illustrates, rather then confuses or creates contention. Anyway man! YOU mentioned the UFOs! In a Nutshell it's good to seek, but don't make it that you die as a seeker if you perchance actually find something.

reply to post by Serafine


Naa, I understood it...perception paints the picture of what you seen.

I am skeptical...however, being a skeptic, I am forced to have a open mind..both for natural and supernatural..there very well could be fairys in the world yet undiscovered..I see no real issue with that (beyond lack of physical evidence)...it would be grand to find tiny bird people and confirm some old legends and folklore...however, until one is caught and studied, then its just legend and folklore.

a UFO on the other hand makes sense to me..its about as suprising as finding life on a island nobody has mapped out..your pretty sure there is probably something there...maybe some pigs or birds or something..but since you can't get there just yet, you can't really say...however logic dictates that there are things on there just by comparison.

talking about the ET stuff...to me, ETs mapping out and occasionally monitoring the progress of this world is as logical as advanced civilization occasionally peeking in at some far off near cavemen style civilizations..monitor their social evolution from afar without getting too close (and not let missionarys in to teach them about the merits of praying to marklar)..to me, this is just a matter of time before they screw up enough for solid proof to be given to the population...that to me is actually a pretty natural, albeit incredible, find we will one day make.

My skeptical mindset encourages this line of thinking...but, also demands that things be vetted to begin with..investigated before strange beliefs start to form. Its good to consider anything to be possible, but not accept everything without some actual evidence to back it up