DR. Malcolm. Thank you for clarifing your position for me. Now I have surely been enlightened. Seems to me that 'professionals' at times in their careers have to do refresher training. I know medical DR's do. My father, as a explosive ordnance disposal officer, had to do it every 2 years. And most of those professionals pay out of their own pockets, as I'm very sure the members of the symposium did. Even Colin Cobb flew in from Belfast (thank you Colin again!!!!). Now granted, Amelia is such a small footnote in history, and not worth your travel expenses. Especially if you are overseas---like Austraila, or New Zealand. I'm sure that traveling so far, some arrangements could have been made. Heck----I had a big room BY MYSELF---you could have stayed there and saved several hundred dollars. So I can certainly understand that. But to sit at your computer and down grade everyone that doesnt rise to your standards, or agree with your theories is lunacy. I met Dr. Tom King, and he certainly seems intelligent enough to make his own choices. He doesnt necessarily agree with alot of TIGHARS positions, but he supports the project. Tom Couch, Bob Ballard, Hillary Clinton, and thousands more seem to have interests in this project, but have their own views of the mystery. So does my 85 year old mother. Now--I'm not real smart, but I really dont think you are going to get any one of those intelligent people to accept YOUR views, sir. As a matter of fact, I would think alot of members would take offense to your position that TIGHAR needs to "earn your accpetance". TIGHAR, and its members dont need to earn anything from you.
So---whats your purpose here? A professional naysayer? Fine. WE all need checks and balances. Gary showed us several. Personally, I think you are here, scouring this forum for information on the mystery for your own purposes. I'll just tell you that Ric Gillespie has put in many years of very hard work to get TIGHAR to the place it is. Along with some very trusted and credible people, TIGHAR is moving forward in its attempt to put the pieces of this very complicated puzzle together. So far, IMHO, they're doing just fine.
This is an open forum, so you may say as you wish. BUT---that goes both ways. But, degrading TIGHAR or its members is a sure way NOT to be heard.
Gee---we sure could have used your professional archaeological opinion in DC. OR it was probalby best that you didnt come----I'm sure respected archaeologists like Tom King and Lonnie Shorrer and other experts would have loved to have heard tales of your adventures. In the meantime, Ric, TIGHAR and Co. will continue to move forward in its pursuit of information, and possible evidence to support its hypothesis. Even if it doesnt find it, the pursuit, the journey, and the knowledge gained wil be worthwhile. With or without your help or acceptance.
Tom