TIGHAR Legal Defense Fund

[Ric Gillespie]

That's kind of hypocritical, don't you think, since you banned most of the others from expressing facts or expertise opinions that don't agree with your opinion on TIGHAR Forum?

Not at all.  They were banned for good reason.  I merely want to shine some sunlight on your conspiracy and let people decide for themselves whether it was facetious as you claim.

[Stacy Galloway]

I have been thinking about posting this for a couple of days

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/06/29/texas-teen-facing-eight-years-after-violent-league-of-legends-threat/

Sarcastic comments on forums can have unfortunate consequences.  I'm not saying that I have encountered anything in this forum akin to what was typed by the teen. However, I AM saying is that the law doesn't necesarially have to take the context of comments into account, or might err on the side of caution or make an example as it seems with this teen. Just don't want folks here to get themselves or TIGHAR into trouble because they are passionate about finding AE.

Nor are you likely to encounter anything here akin to what may be found in the site Chris provided a link for, either.  Perhaps you should share this nugget with that crowd - some of that vitriol at least borders on violent thought.

I hope everyone understands that the link I gave was just an easy-to-see example of on-line comments getting taken out of context - like I am afraid mine may have been - no disrespect meant to anyone on any of the sites, especially not to this one!

Cheers,
Scott

Thank you for the link, Scott. I see the comparison you're trying to make. Certain posts have been insulting and someone might respond with something over the top. Your link is a good warning towards not saying something regrettable in the heat of the moment.

LTM~ Who knows TIGHAR will win the lawsuit,
Stacy

[Michael Elliot]

Silence.
No more words on the record (and this is the record.)
Silence is your best tactic for now.
Otherwise, you may be dragged through depositions that will be costly, time consuming, and worse. The more words here, the longer those depositions.
Silence.
Sure you can talk about the 1938 pics and the like, the radio transmissions, the Bevington object, and so on, but as to the plaintiff in your suit, and his complaint, silence.
Not a word on the record unless your attorney thinks it may be productive.
(Perhaps he did.)
Just my opinion.
Sorry I can't join you in Caspar. My cousin in Jackson needs a visit, but wife needs me more.
Regards
Mike

[Ted G Campbell]

Ric and Tim,

You both are escalating this issue to a point where one or the other is in danger of crossing over that line of character assassination.

Ric, I would like you to stop – Tim, if you feel good about it keeping going.  I have confidence in our court system wherein public comments will be taken into account in the final determination of this matter.

To other TIGHAR members I also would suggest ratcheting back the criticism on this case so that you individually won't be brought into the fray.

I can honestly say that with the photos/video technology that I am using nothing suggests to me that the 2010 viedio had any definitive determination that aircraft wreckage was found.  Maybe Tim Mellon had available to him and/or his advisors more sophisticated software – if this is the case why didn't he 1) announce this technology to the Board of Directors of TIGHAR and to the Earhart Forum members at large and 2) publish the photos/video so to enhance the original charge of "fraud" with respect to the current litigation?

With respect to the latest activity on the Earhart Forum relative to the "second anti - Earhart forum" I would suggest that the quotations noted be taken in full content of the conversation site i.e. do not paraphrase a posting  - show the entire content of the subject.  This keeps the potential of future litigation out of the realm of prejudice testimony by others.

Remember in the U.S. Justice system Tim Mellon must prove he was singularly targeted for a major contribution to the 2012 program, and subsequently defrauded, as opposed to the rest of us who also contributed

Finally, most of you know that I contributed to funds which allowed Ric and Jeff to fly to N.Z. in order to obtain "hi-res" photos of Niku from the museum down there:  Does this give me an advantage over equivalent donors – I don't think so as I didn't put any limitations or restrictions on how or to whom the final product would be distributed or to how the product would be used in the furtherance in the basic investigation.  Did Tim Mellon put such a limitation on his contribution?

In closing, this entire legal issue, in my opinion, is a case of "post expedition disappointment" i.e. you spent $1,000,000 and nothing immediately jumps out to you that resolves the question of "where is the A.E. airplane."  Why didn't Tim insist on going back to the 2010 area and "mow the lawn" with more sophisticated hardware?  Why wait until you are state side to make your issue known to all?

Ted Campbell

[Dan Swift]

Chris, read this guy's ("Trolls) article and he strikes me as the type that also believes that Global Warming is real and is completely man's fault.....because some "expert" says it's true.  You can find "experts" on both sides of any issue.  Why it was just 35 or so years ago, the "experts" were screaming we were headed into another ice age and the globe was cooling too fast.  Unfortunately, some people make issues too political and take credibitily away...from the issue and themselves. 
It always falls down to evidence and how it is received and reviewed.  This guy is spinning Tighar's hypothisis with some mis-information.  Turning this into a political issue instead of a reasonable debate.  Twisting facts, and twisting evidence, and twisting words.  Maybe I am wrong, show me where Ric ever said that AE flew 10 degrees off course to end up at Gardner?  Did he conveniently just miss that part about 157-337?  Just one of many examples in that article.   

[Brano Lacika]

Chris, read this guy's ("Trolls) article and he strikes me as the type that also believes that Global Warming is real and is completely man's fault.....because some "expert" says it's true.  You can find "experts" on both sides of any issue.  Why it was just 35 or so years ago, the "experts" were screaming we were headed into another ice age and the globe was cooling too fast.  Unfortunately, some people make issues too political and take credibitily away...from the issue and themselves. 
It always falls down to evidence and how it is received and reviewed.  This guy is spinning Tighar's hypothisis with some mis-information.  Turning this into a political issue instead of a reasonable debate.  Twisting facts, and twisting evidence, and twisting words.  Maybe I am wrong, show me where Ric ever said that AE flew 10 degrees off course to end up at Gardner?  Did he conveniently just miss that part about 157-337?  Just one of many examples in that article.

To me it looks like he missed the 157/337 part simply because he is not really good in mathemathics/navigation and thus was unable to understand it. ( See his "vector" argument ) hence he did not realize the importance of the point. The same is valid for not understanding of radio direction finder failure... The less one know, the more easily he dismiss anything...

[Dan Swift]

You are right Brano.  And therefore letting someone else think for him instead of thinking for himself.  A little research and understanding could have made his opinion slightly different.  It's laziness.   

[Ric Gillespie]

To all who have expressed concern about my recent exchanges on this Forum with Tim Mellon, please be assured that I am working closely with our legal team. The recent revelations about conspiratorial discussions on Heath Smith's Amelia Earhart Forum are a serious matter and potentially devastating to Tim Mellon's lawsuit.  Tim maintains that they were all facetious. They don't look facetious to us but we want to be sure we have everything that was said and make it available so that everyone can judge for themselves.  Tim has said there are emails that prove his assertions but he has not produced them.  I will reach out to Heath Smith and ask him to voluntarily provide a full transcript of any correspondence or postings he has that bear on this issue.  If his forum members have nothing to hide or be ashamed of they should be eager to clear their name.

[Jeff Buttke]

My advice to you is to get a competent forensic analyst to review those 8.55 (2010) and 16 minute (2012) high definition videos to verify your opinions about all that "coral".

Tim, Why would TIGHAR do that?

Since your lawsuit hinges on your providing irrefutable analysys of that footage, it makes no sense that TIGHAR waste resources to do it.
They can just wait and get it as part of the record of the court case.

And if that dosen't happen.... after the big stink that has been made.... maybe it is just coral...

-Jeff

[Jeff Buttke]

Go ahead, Ric, as far as I am concerned (all 18 posts), though I am probably not the one whose permission you need.

Ric since you have permission please post TM's postings.
I would enjoy reading them.  I do not require the context or any email thread.

Megan Cassidy told me all I needed to judge them irregardless of their content
"Mellon went on to say that he wrote the post as a test to see if other members of the private forum were leaking information"

I mean either....

a. It was an attempt to find the mole who is leaking confidential information.
Information so secret it was willingly and freely posted to a forum on the internet.

b. It is what it appears to be, without any alternate or hidden purpose.

I see one of these as possible/plausible and the other as yet another non sequitur.
I am sure the context is not required to know whether it is A or B.

-Jeff

[Greg Daspit]

Maybe the other posters can be assigned a number and context then provided.
That way the secret forum members won't be embarrassed that they were scammed by the super-secret forum members, if that was the case.
:)

[Nancy Marilyn Gould]

OK, here's something that I don't understand.  Why the need for a SECRET or private forum?  Most forums that I've seen, you need to register to post, but anybody can browse it.  Why would a forum dedicated to Amelia Earhart need to be secret?

[Ric Gillespie]

Why would a forum dedicated to Amelia Earhart need to be secret?

Exactly.  I can see a private forum for a particular group.  TIGHAR's Earhart Project Advisory Council (EPAC) for example is a select group of researchers who communicate via a private forum, but they don't have any secrets and we don't worry about members of the group leaking information to outsiders. 
What could be so important to hide that you would set a tap to catch an informer?  I was in a club like that once. I think I was 12 years old.

[Nancy Marilyn Gould]

So these serious researchers can hide their 'Ric/TIGHAR kicking sessions' for one.

Chris:
I got onto the link you posted a few days ago.  I couldn't get over #1. how LONG it was, and #2. All it seemed to be was a bunch of guys griping about TIGHAR.  It went on and on and on.  I ended up skimming through a lot of it because there just didn't seem to be much of substance there.  Very little about alternative theories, points of view, etc.  Just a group of guys complaining ad nauseum.

I was left wondering:  Don't these guys have a life?  Seriously, if I got banned from a forum, I might be initially PO'd, but then I'd get on with my life.  If I felt that strongly about it, I'd simply start a new forum of my own (and I wouldn't make it secret!).  These guys remind me of someone who gets divorced and goes on and on about their ex, even years later.  Get over it already! 

These guys give new meaning to the words "having an axe to grind"!

--Nancy

[Monty Fowler]

The phrase "Hoisted on your own petard" comes to mind. Hamlet.

LTM, who remembers the classics,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 CER