Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Spielberg launching social network for UFO and paranormal buffs?

From Boingboing.net

TechCrunch reports a rumor that Steven Spielberg is readying a new social network for people who are interested in unusual and/or paranormal phenomena like UFOs and ghosts. According to the TechCrunch post, "the new social network may also have original video content investigating alleged ghosts and UFO stories." This has the potential to be very interesting as Spielberg has had a lifelong interest in this topic. Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind is one of my all-time favorite films and in later years, I realized how in touch he was with UFO research at the time. This was brought home for me when I learned that esteemed UFO researcher Jacques Vallee, a past president of Institute for the Future where I work, was the inspiration for Claude Lacombe, the French scientist in the film played by François Truffaut. Apparently, Spielberg's interest in strange phenomena wasn't just tied to Close Encounters either. From TechCrunch:
"Spielberg has apparently had at least one paranormal experience himself. There are stories of him staying in a hotel called Excelsior House and being so frightened by ghosts that he fled the room and moved 20 miles away. We’ve also heard anecdotes about Spielberg seeing the ghost of a dead relative repeatedly as a child. Whether based in reality or the product of an exceptional imagination, these experiences may have had an impact on his life’s work and this upcoming social network."
That TechCrunch article seems to be down though, I'd love to check out more of Jacques Vallee's work as Terence McKenna often mentions him as interesting. And I guess after that I'll check out Close Encounters again ;p

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