Gadfly ufologist Rich Reynolds passed away.
I’ll be the first to say Reynolds was a difficult character. I can’t remember a single thing we agreed on, and I’m uncertain he ever got where I was coming from. Nevertheless, he and his circle were one of the first I engaged with online in early 2018 when I launched Skunkworks (and maybe even earlier), and Skunkworks readers will know of various posts and series of posts inspired by our interactions.
These interactions were often at (frustratingly maddening) cross purposes, but the irritant of Reynolds’ interventions pushed me to articulate my positions in ever greater and deeper detail if not clarity. For that, in retrospect, I am grateful. As well, had I not been part of a mailing list he added me to this past year or so, I would not have been given the opportunity to write for Fate magazine (wherein is forthcoming a review of the last volume of the journals of Jacques Vallée).
One topic Rich and I disagreed on was “reality,” Reynolds insisting on some “real reality” underwriting and giving sense to the “blooming buzzing confusion” of the experience of our mortal lives. He maintained (or so I took it) the truth of the UFO would give access to this real reality, the truth and meaning of life.
When asked about an afterlife, I (lapsed Catholic I am) am apt to tactfully reply that we can know no more about it than the fetus can know about life ex utero. In that spirit, I trust Rich has now been born into a reality—if not his real reality—one other than and curiouser than this one.
Skunkworks 