A (real) time-traveler?

Copyright 2018, InterAmerica, Inc.

The July 19^, 2018 issue of The New York Review of Books has, on Page 38 ff., a review by Jim Holt of Oxford University’s new edition of Diogenes Laertius’ Lives of the Eminent Philosophers (translated from the Greek by Pamela Mensch). [676 pp. $45]

While the review and the book reviewed is particularly interesting to me, that’s not my concern here.

What I’m addressing is the compiler of the Lives, Diogenes Laertius.

Some of you are familiar with Michael Moorcock’s science-fiction work, Behold the Man in which a man, Karl Glogauer, travels back in time from 1970 to 28 A.D. hoping to meet Jesus of Nazareth:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behold_the_Man_(novel)

(Use the link for the story.)

In the review of Lives …,, Mr. Holt tells readers that “almost nothing is known about [Diogenes Laertius]. Even his slightly absurd Greco-Roman name is a puzzle – was ‘Laertius’ some kind of nickname? Judging from the historical references in Lives … he probably lived early in the third century CE. There is a hint in his text that he might have been a native of the eastern city of Nicea. Beyond that he is a cipher. That his work would endure, when the vast majority of the philosophical writings he drew on perished, may simply have been a ‘quirk of fate’ – so guesses James Miller, the editor of this welcome new translation.” [Page 38]

Laertius as subject to much scholarly rebuke, Holt tells readers: “a ‘perfect ass’ … one nineteenth-century scholar called him. ‘Dim-witted’ said Nietzsche. And ‘ignoramus’ declared … Werner Jaeger … and he had ‘no talent for philosophical exposition,’ declares The Oxford Companion to Philosophy.” [ibid]

But Nietzsche, who [had] “cast scorn on Diogenes Laertius for his mindlessly slipshod ways, came to prefer his work to ‘the soporific fumes’ of more scholarly sources, because in it ‘there lives at least the spirit of the ancient philosophers.” [ibid]

Mr. Holt provides a bundle of excerpts from the work, which I recommend for those of you with a philosophical bent. (The review can be found online at NYRB.com)

What I’m driving at here is that Diogenes Laertius may have been a time traveler in the Moorcockian sense, a Karl Glogauer interested not in the Christ but the stellar thinkers of ancient Greece whose works were lost causing him to travel back in time to rectify that intellectual disaster.

That is, Diogenes Laertius was a name adopted by a traveler from time who, as a lover of the early Greek philosophies and their progenitors, was determined to go back to an era from which he could cull information about the books lost and the persons whom he adored.

(Now I know that a few of you will find this “conjecture” silly as hell but, for me, it is a possibility, as time will be conquered in the future, and travelers will scoot back and forth, under a directive that they do no harm.)

Wikipedia on Diogenes Laertius:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes_La%C3%ABrtius

RR

Ignorant comment(s)!

Copyright 2018, InterAmerica, Inc.

A semi-regular here offered a few comments, for my UFOs/Reality post the other day.

This persons took offense at my writing that Constantine saw a UFO at the Milvian Bridge [312 A.D.] during the civil war battle with Maxentius.

Constantine had a dream before the battle wherein he allegedly saw the heavenly sign of God, interpreted as the chi-ro Christogram by some but interpreted as a staurogram, a variant of the chi-ro Christogram by Lactantius in his On the Death of the Persecutors (ca. 315). [Page 135, Constantine by Paul Stephenson, The Overlook Press, 2009]

On the day [sic] of the battle, Constantine saw, in the sky, the cross of Christ, as reported by Church Father Eusebius, which is my source for suggesting that Constantine saw a UFO in the sky.

Stephenson, in his book (cited above) writes “Constantine’s vision has a vast literature. For skepticism on the need to find a rational explanation … see Averil Cameron Constantine and Christianity … and O. Nicholson, ‘Constantine’s vision of the Cross’ [in] Vigilae Christianae 54 (2000: 309-23).” [op.cit. Page 332]

The skeptical views are remarkably similar to those for the Airship wave(s) of 1896-1897.

Stephenson cites P. Weis writing that the ‘vision’ was of a solar halo in 310 [?] and other papers stating “the vision took place in September 312 when the planets Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars were aligned in the constellations of Capricorn and Sagittarius. Later in October 312, Venus was also virtually [sic] in line with Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars. A fixed line of visible stars crossed the axis, creating a cross and one could discern at the end of this line Vega, the brightest star in the configuration … It was this configuration of planets and stars, it is argued, that Constantine saw and turned in his favor as he approached Rome … Although such a configuration would have been visible to all at night, it would not have been clear during the day. Eusebius maintained that the vision took place during the afternoon, while the sun was high in the sky, which would have obscured, not illuminated, an alignment of planets.” [op.cit. Pages 338-339]

As you can see, skeptics of the “vision” go to extremes to debunk, and the person commenting on my assertion of a UFO observation also went on, after employing an explanation like that of the skeptics above, writing that Constantine’s “vision” was a contrivance, a ruse, to cement his (Constantine’s) conversion to Christianity in the minds of Roman citizens.

The possibility that Constantine created his dream and vision, while in the midst of battle, or immediately thereafter is a possibility, I admit, but one that is so outlandish when one reads the extant accounts of the battle and Constantine’s mind-set, any sensible person would eschew the suggestion.

But this isn’t the only ignorant element of this person’s commentary. He went on to scold me for suggesting that John Keel was done in, eventually, by his obsession with UFOs.

This John Keel fascination has become a staple of ufological madness lately. Persons, who should know better, ignore the descent into dementia that John Keel was experiencing in the latter part of his life: the supposed connection(s) to extraterrestrials or alien spirits whom he thought he was in communication with.

Now I think Keel wrote a few books and articles that are precious for UFO believers: Operation Trojan Horse and The Mothman Prophecies, to name a few.

But such “erudite” renderings do not establish an end-of-life sanity. Everyone knows, nowadays, that dementia, Alzheimer’s, and total madness are rife among the aging population, and even among younger members of humanity.

That some UFO enthusiasts continue to laud John Keel, in the absence of anyone else with his former cachet, is a kind of madness itself, or an ignorance that disallowed me from inputting the person’s commentary.

Finally, as for Constantine’s “vision,” I accept it as an historical given, following the rules of Derrida about fictive truths.

And here is a modern artist’s rendition of that “vision.” From:

https://www.deviantart.com/julian-faylona/art/Constantine-s-Vision-488461620

Constantine raised his eyes to the heavens, and fell in awe at the sight of that great expanse. Then he heard the voice of God, "By this symbol you will conquer".

RR

Betty Hill had UFO debris in her closet? From Jose Caravaca

Copyright 2018, Jose Antonio Caravaca

That is at least what the famous abductee confessed to journalist and investigator Clas Svahn in an interview at her home on 13 April 1987: 

"It was a hot night, me and some family members sat on a porch in Maine when we saw what we later thought was a plane moving slowly over the sky. As we looked at the object it exploded and fell to the ground.

A plane exploded! We ran and turned on the radio and television, but not a word about any accidents.  My cousin had seen parts of the object fall to the ground, and when they had cooled down, he had picked them up. Then my sister gave me some of the parts. I myself thought someone at the university might be able to analyze them.

"While I was thinking about what I would do with them, I kept the pieces here in the closet behind me. But I never brought anyone who could analyze them. "And this was just four days before we left for Canada, Barney asked what those pieces were on the shelf in the closet. I wanted to use the shelf and I wanted to get rid of them (...) So the next day I took the pieces and threw them in the backyard and covered them with a little sand."

Betty even pointed out to Svan that those remains were still buried there in her garden while they chatted amicably. But the most disconcerting part of this new information is that this alleged UFO crash occurred before her famous kidnapping on September 19, 1961, and according to Betty both events could be connected... 

Without a doubt this information offers a new and unknown perspective on one of the most controversial episodes of world ufology...

JAC

N.B. This was provided from Jose Caravaca, from his Facebook page.