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Reaction to CMI’s review of The Fourth Kind

The fourth kind

The response to our review of the recently-released movie The Fourth Kind has been overwhelming—we have posted many of the incoming comments at the bottom of that article. In this week’s feedback Fourth Kind reviewer (and author of Alien Intrusion: UFOs and the Evolution Connection) Gary Bates responds to two additional letters from correspondents.

The first letter, from Jamieson T. (of the United States), asserts that the film presents “some good truthful aspects” and challenges Gary Bates to “show me the proof” that aliens do not exist. Gary responds point-by-point.

Our second correspondent, Nathanael L. (from the United Kingdom) asks about the many “news style” websites that sprang up shortly before the Fourth Kind promotional publicity began in earnest, which Gary Bates answers.

Jamieson T.: Ya know i saw this movie and i do see some good truthful aspects to the whole picture, but honestly bringing the christian aspect of religion into the validity of the movie is a joke to me, calling this movie completely fake and saying aliens do not exist is compared to saying the bible is as good as the actual science that we use today.

Why compare a book of stories to science when we all know they have proved that book to be mostly JUST STORIES and a way to make you happy while we are on this earth and give us a belief and comfort.

If you know that aliens do not exist show me the proof!

You can’t know everything and anything, especially saying things are fake even though you do not have proof! Theirs more proof in seeing these "aliens" than having proof that they are fake.

Of course we all know that every mind is different and decides for themselves. Did you ever think that they put that at the beginning of the movie because some people may not be able to handle the truth and that it would skew their whole being and existence?

The way this is is the way it will always be, we are only human and will probably never know the truth, please don’t bash a belief when you yourself have no proof, less proof then others or twisted proof just because that is how you believe and others do not.

Point-by-point responses from Gary Bates are interspersed below:

Dear Jamieson

Ya know i saw this movie and i do see some good truthful aspects to the whole picture,

How so? Are you experienced in UFOology? Have you spent many years researching the subject matter, have you counselled and spoken to hundreds of abductees and people who have seen UFOs? If not, one wonders how you could make an informed opinion on same.

but honestly bringing the christian aspect of religion into the validity of the movie is a joke to me, calling this movie completely fake and saying aliens do not exist is compared to saying the bible is as good as the actual science that we use today.

Once again. On what basis do you make such a judgment. You could claim that little green fairies live at the bottom of your garden but unless you have proof of that or proof that aliens exist then you are expressing a belief that is not based upon evidence. All we have are sightings and “abduction” scenarios that are clearly supernatural in nature. Even the world’s leading UFO scientists suggest they are paranormal in nature. You also misunderstand the limitations of science. What type of science are you referring to? The type of science that deals with the past, like creation or evolution, or the type of science that builds laptops computers? Are you aware that there is a great distinction between them? If not, you would do well to do some more research on this site before making such statements.

Why compare a book of stories to science when we all know they have proved that book to be mostly JUST STORIES and a way to make you happy while we are on this earth and give us a belief and comfort.

Gary Bates

Well, of course you know that is not an informed comment because once again you should be aware, for example, that even by archaeologists, as just one example, the Bible has been proven to be one of the most accurate historical books ever written. So your comment displays that you are merely making emotional statements, probably due to your emotional desire for aliens to be true. This is a trait that I have seen in a lot of people with some interest in this subject, and even sociologists have shown that it has become a substitute religion for some.

If you know that aliens do not exist show me the proof!

Umm! No I’m afraid it’s dependent upon you (the one making the claim) to prove they do exist. Otherwise it is just an argument from silence. In case you didn’t understand that, I’m saying show me the proof they do exist.

You cant know everything and anything, especially saying things are fake even though you do not have proof! Theirs more proof in seeing these "aliens" than having proof that they are fake.

The same as the previous point. Where are they? Why has no one who claims to have been aboard the spaceship brought back some physical evidence like a towel from the bathroom, for example? Even the secular researchers agree that they display supernatural characteristics.

Of course we all know that every mind is different and decides for themselves. Did you ever think that they put that at the beginning of the movie because some people may not be able to handle the truth and that it would skew their whole being and existence?

Actually, as a person who has spent many years of in depth research on this subject, I actually do know the truth and make an informed comment rather than rash uninformed statements. Sorry but I need to say that because you are making a whole bunch of rash statements and grand assumptions really based upon little in the way of any evidence. You have provided none—only what you choose to believe.

The way this is is the way it will always be, we are only human and will probably never know the truth, please don’t bash a belief when you yourself have no proof, less proof then others or twisted proof just because that is how you believe and others do not.

But I do have proof. The countless testimonies of former abductees who have halted their experiences in the name of Jesus Christ. I can demonstrably show that these “good aliens” lie, and harm people. So much for being highly evolved benevolent beings. One would think if they are so wise and smart as they claim then one would expect them to act accordingly. In this area the movie was quite correct. And if you had read my review correctly you would have seen that I actually did say that people do have these experiences but they are not aliens. The most telling comment was at the end of the movie when Tyler said that the entities said they were God. They were obviously lying. If someone lies to you they are a liar. Hmm! Trust is not recommended. Secondly, and once again, I did not say that the experiences were fake, but the movie itself was a complete work of fiction. It was a story. There has been no evidence to suggest otherwise.

On that note with a closing, how would you feel if someone would say that your religion is fake and it’s just used for power and manipulation? I bet you would be defiant to the end. Think about that last question, seems that most wouldn’t know what to say?

But that’s exactly what I am saying. The evidence shows that their premise is completely false—where they claim to come from and so on. Only the Creator can have the power to save us, and define what truth actually is—as opposed to an experience one might have that one now uses as a filter for truth. Experiences can be real but they can also be deceptive. That is exactly what the whole UFO phenomenon is—deception. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Creator revealed to mankind and he could only expound the truth, and He spoke often about the fact that deceivers would come, claiming to be angels of light but in reality their purpose is to take people away from their true Creator. In Galatians 1:8 He said “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a Gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!”

I pray that you will come to know the truth also. There can be no higher calling to one’s existence than to understand who one’s Creator is.

Kind regards.

Gary Bates


Our second letter is from UK correspondent Nathanael L. who wrote:

Thank you for the article.

My questions are not directly related to creationism per se, but I wondered if Mr Bates could comment further on the many ‘news style’ websites that sprung up shortly before the film-promo effort began. Do we have any information as to their source / creators. Naturally the assumption would be that they were created by people in some way connected to or engaged by the film-makers, but do we have any substantive evidence?

The reason I ask is that there are some allegations of government or ‘shadow-agency’ promotion of UFO belief. Which leads me on to the next question. What does Mr Bates think about the possibility that some UFO sightings / abduction experiences at least are by human agency. I ask this because there are several military people claiming that they were put into contact with ‘telepathic aliens’ in underground complexes beneath USAF airbases in Eastern England, or of soldiers on exercises reporting apparently malfunctioning UFO type craft crashing and USAF officers emerging. Also some researchers point out that clusters of sightings etc cluster around areas where secret military bases are known or reputed to exist, and some claim that there are secret testing of psychometric weapons on unwitting serviceman (UK personnel on Cyprus I believe). Unfortunately this is all from memory, I don’t have references to hand, but I am sure Mr Bates has come across similar, and I would like to know his perspective on this aspect of the UFO phenomena.

Gary Bates responds (comments interspersed):

Dear Nathanael

Thank you for the article.

You are welcome.

My questions are not directly related to creationism per se, but I wondered if Mr Bates could comment further on the many ‘news style’ websites that sprung up shortly before the film-promo effort began. Do we have any information as to their source / creators. Naturally the assumption would be that they were created by people in some way connected to or engaged by the film-makers, but do we have any substantive evidence?

This is almost impossible to obtain due to the transient nature of the web. But the internet blogs about the movie were commenting on this. It’s quite a normal practice for moviemakers anyway. For example, we created our own Darwin Film Project site prior to our documentary’s release so that it would be a source of information. The difference with these “Fourth Kind” sites, is that they seemed to follow the same thread as the movie. That is, claiming that the abductions were real events and real case studies. It was a clever marketing ploy. Personally, I don’t like it. If someone comes onto the screen and says that what you are about to watch is based on real events, you would assume them to be telling the truth and not expect it to be part of the fictional storyline. It gets very confusing for the viewer otherwise.

The reason I ask is that there are some allegations of government or ‘shadow-agency’ promotion of UFO belief. Which leads me on to the next question. What does Mr Bates think about the possibility that some UFO sightings / abduction experiences at least are by human agency. I ask this because there are several military people claiming that they were put into contact with ‘telepathic aliens’ in underground complexes beneath USAF airbases in Eastern England, or of soldiers on exercises reporting apparently malfunctioning UFO type craft crashing and USAF officers emerging. Also some researchers point out that clusters of sightings etc cluster around areas where secret military bases are known or reputed to exist, and some claim that there are secret testing of psychometric weapons on unwitting serviceman (UK personnel on Cyprus I believe). Unfortunately this is all from memory, I don’t have references to hand, but I am sure Mr Bates has come across similar, and I would like to know his perspective on this aspect of the UFO phenomena.

Nathanael, to save me repeating it all here, I strongly recommend you get my book Alien Intrusion: UFOs and the Evolution Connection. There is a whole chapter that deals with exactly the types of things you are talking about. We must apply a healthy sceptical approach to such claims. 90% of all sightings can be explained as natural phenomena or even manmade objects. Only a small percentage ever remain unexplained and some appear to be more spiritual in nature. Some military craft have been mistaken for UFOs but I don’t believe that it is a deliberate misinformation campaign or anything like that. During the period where the proliferation of space weapons was banned by treaty, the USSR did test illegal weapons in the atmosphere and used UFOs as an excuse. But this was more of a cover story rather than a deliberate act to convince the population about the existence of UFOs.

BTW just because someone works for the military and claims such things it does not automatically follow that they are a reliable witness. They are just ordinary people with a set of beliefs just like everyone else. You would be surprised at the amount of misinformation out there on this subject. People want UFOs to be real so much, that they seem to have no problem with fabricating stories to justify their beliefs, and to also get everyone else believing in the same way.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards

Gary

Published: 21 November 2009

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