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A snorkel in DC. That's funny. I live in Uganda, Africa (where I drive a '93 LandCruiser Prado) and I don't even have a snorkel. 17x7

Right. Stacey and his dad got FLIR footage of a BF, but because Stacey MAY have "misidentified" a "gator bone" as something else, this means that he and his dad did NOT get FLIR footage of a BF. Sure, that makes sense. Go with that.

Trust me, it isn't easy for me to suspend my personal opinions, and many times I don't. I will admit that I have a built in prejudgment about certain people who post on the forums, and it is nearly impossible for me to disassociate myself from those judgments, many times I can't. I find the best way to dispose of frustration is to not look at it in terms of who is right and who is wrong, but look at it in terms of differing opinions, and taking a step back and trying to discern the reasons for that differing opinion. Where is that persons point of view coming from and what are the facts they are presenting to bolster their side of the issue. There are many "stories" that I find hard to swallow, and I look at them as just that, stories. Some may think a story a total fabrication, but who is to say what is truth and fiction in this field? If we suspend judgement and just listen to the story, then ask the logical questions about the story, the truth usually comes out, if the storyteller will respond to the questions. So many times the storyteller is attacked out of hand, before any pertinent questions are asked, that they decide not to engage in a discussion and just go away. Some may say that this is a sign of deception, but sometimes it is just a matter of not being willing to subject themselves to the harassment that ensues. You may find there are real people that have encountered something, even it is fear induced, imagined or a honest mistake and they believe it is real. You may even consider that they deserve respect for their belief. Have you ever considered that what they find belief in may actually be real? I know for a fact that I don't have all the answers for what is out there, but I am willing to listen to people, find out the facts of the issue and make a judgement based on that individual encounter, sighting or evidence. Like the X-Files says, "The Truth Is Out There". It may be a huge massive hoax, it may be mass misidentification, mass hallucination, or maybe, just maybe, it may actually be an undiscovered primate. Who knows? Not me, that's for sure.

Old Dog I don't blame you for your stance in the past. I commend you for the change of heart. It is no wonder that people are reluctant to tell their encounters and experiences when there are people like me around that enjoy the story ,but not willing to accept a word of it other than just a story. Especially when there are real people that have encountered something even it is fear induced, imagined or a honest mistake. The point being they believe it and deserve respect for that .

Not really It was for detection and any photos you see in that study or any study for that matter where you are able to make out the difference between a deer or a hog is because there is no cover . Thermal is detection , night vision is for identification

I used to have a fairly long ignore list myself. I agree it does get tiresome constantly seeing the same old arguments from certain posters in the forums, but then I took a step back. I took into consideration that people who hold different ideas about this subject than I do have just as much right to express their opinions as I , and it is up to me as to what level of significance I give their posts. Some I simply just move past because I have no interest in what they have to say, it is always the same thing regardless of what side of the issue they are on. Yes, trolls can be on both sides of an issue, and they are there just to stir the pot, and have little to no interest in a cogent conversation, those are the ones that I do a fly over on. Deniers are going to deny, believers are going to believe and trolls are going to fling feces everywhere. I just mentally ignore them and move along. Then there are some that I had previously put on ignore that I actually clicked on their post to see if they were still holding to their past behavior. To my surprise they actually had a valid post. I kept running into this over time, and decided to unblock all those people. One may be surprised to find that there are some who actually are willing to have a calm, rational and sensible discussion on the subject at hand if you listen to what they are saying and not read their post through your own filters. I admit, it isn't easy to ignore one's own predisposition towards an aspect of this subject, or a prejudice towards a certain person on the forums, but in the end I always manage to learn something new about a person if I can engage them in a decent conversation. Sure, there are some that you just can't do that with, but it is always worth a try. Nothing is learned or advanced if you only share info and opinions with like minded people. One needs to have an intelligent conversation with someone of a differing opinion once in a while if for no other reason than to check and see if what you believe still holds up. I don't have all the answers, no one truly does, but if one listens with an open mind to others, you just might get a bit closer to the answers you seek.