Galaxy brain

Atlantis Rising is a magazine devoted to “alternative news” about so-called rejected knowledge claims, which includes pretty much everything outside the strict bounds of scientific (and perhaps religious) orthodoxy. AR is less extreme than Nexus (no conspiracy theories!), but if you're into UFOs, ancient aliens, Atlantis, Edgar Cayce and such things, you may like it anyway. Personally, I consider AR to be a very mixed bag, but then, I'm anchored on the more moderate shore of the rejected gnosis spectrum after a long detour as a skeptic extraordinaire (just read my earliest reviews).

This issue of the magazine is somewhat surprising, since it actually discusses official scientific theories, alongside the more alternative pieces. The criticisms of dark matter and inflation theory may be controversial, but they seem based on what actual scientists are saying. Robert Schoch's speculations about Dyson spheres are more fringey, but I think many scientists *want* them to be true. AR also contains shorter pieces on new archeological discoveries.

Otherwise, everything is pretty much as before. The contributors speculate about ancient human civilizations, ancient alien civilizations, Stone Age zodiacs, pre-Columbian contacts with America or Intelligent Design. One article contains a lengthy excerpt from a recent book by Amit Goswami. Another discusses the Medjugorje apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Michael Cremo (author of the cult archeology classic “Forbidden Archaeology”) makes some personal reflections on his faith in Krishna and Srila Prabhupada. Frank Joseph summarizes what we know about ancient UFO observations, including one mentioned in a controversial source, the so-called Tulli Papyrus. On the crackpot side, an article promotes the ideas of Miles Mathis (who has notoriously “proven” that pi is 4). Galaxy brain or what?

The contributions in this issue are mostly well written, and although I happen to disagree with many of them (this is the kind of publication that sees no relevant difference between Cayce, papyri of questionable provenance, a book written by a Schwärmer, and peer reviewed papers as sources), I did find many of the articles interesting. I happen to think there is something to neo-catastrophism and the “Lost Civilization” (actually there were many, as one contributor also points out). I will therefore graciously give this issue…four stars!

Happy New Year, btw!