Jeff Rense is the host of an Art Bell-like radio program that used to be called "Sightings on the Radio."  When the television show upon which it was based (Sightings, reruns of which can be seen on the Sci-Fi channel) bottomed-out a few years ago, the radio show presumably changed its name to "Jeff Rense." 

We've been with Jeff since the Sightings days, and we can tell you that the site has gone through very few changes.  It remains an amateurish page, complete with the requisite black background that is so common among the paranormally-inclined.  It is a kind of mishmash of banners and advertisements, very few of which actually have anything to do with the paranormal.  This is presumably the fault of the webmaster, James Neff, who is also responsible for policing the discussion forum.  And it is this discussion forum that has become the focus of an unintentional experiment into the minds of those wonderful people whose so-called "open mind" oftentimes clouds their critical thinking.

The experiment was unintentional because we didn't originally go there for the purposes of an investigation; rather, we wished to make our presence known to the very small subsection of parnormals who dwell therein.  This is otherwise known as "self-promotion."

Here is the exact text of our original post, which is decidedly irreverent, but was hardly intended to arouse anyone's anger:

Have any of you wacky UFOnuts checked out Jeff's hair yet?! I think some prudent psuedoscientific inquiry into the possibilities of alien manipulation of that 'do is in order, what about you folks? 

Ok, how about this one: 

"wash, Rense, repeat" 

I got a million of 'em!

We probably should not have opened up the message by calling them UFOnuts, but it really is more of a term of endearment than an insult.

We got a few responses, most of them understanding the humor intended; some of them were even polite enough to pretend to laugh at our lame joke.

And, while one bad apple doesn't ruin the whole basket, we got one response from "susan" that said:

We, are not nuts. We are people who look at things with a bit more open eyes. We know that we are being lied to, we know that the Gov't is keeping things from us. All you have to do is look around, real people seeing real things that no amount of black technology can reproduce. As for his hair- you should see mine sometimes- or better yet- look around the next time you are out. As for the hair thing- who cares? My husband is almost bald, and my haircut hasn't changed much in 15 years. Grow up and get a life.

Yeah, I had to read it a couple of times, too, don't feel bad.  And I'm absolutely certain that "susan" has proof of this conspiracy...I mean, who doesn't believe something without proof?! 

It should have stopped there, but we couldn't resist.  Here's our next post:

An Open Invitation

I would like to invite all of you wonderful folks to come on down to The Daily Skeptic (linked above). There, you will find some positively wonderful skeptical insights into the world of paranormality and UFOs! Of course, you are all probably too busy praying into crystals or watching the skies or something...but I invite you nonetheless. 

Thanks! 

The Daily Skeptic

We got some responses with this one, too.  We tried to be more subtle with our irreverence at first, but we couldn't resist a little dig at the end.  Here is one response:

We certanly welcome your skepticism at our forum, but if you become abusive and insulting to people who come here to communicate at OUR forum regarding topics WE choose to discuss, we will take every step necessary to see that you are either (a) banned from posting and/or (b) are reported to your local ISP for net abuses. If you cannot be civil, don't be anything. Just keep your snide remarks to yourself. If you want to challange those who may (or may not... you assume alot [sic]) believe there is substantial evidence for, say, UFOs or paranormal activity... bring it on. 

But be civil. There is no place for being insulting (outside of the normal parameters for disparaging another persons percieved intellectual capacity, of course).

This one was from the afore-mentioned James Neff, who was nice enough to send us an email with the same kind words. 

First of all, we didn't insult anyone with this last message.  We alluded to the fact that perhaps the people at the forum "pray into crystals" and "watch the skies," but there is ample evidence that people who frequent paranormal sites sometimes do either or both of these things.  Point refuted. 

Mr. Neff also claims that the forum at Jeff Rense is somehow "HIS" or "THEIRS," and that I presumably had no place there.  We'd like to point out that a) the forum is public, which means anyone can go there and say anything they like, and b) the forum isn't on the Jeff Rense website at all (and is a free service of Bravenet), thus eliminating any illusion of property. Point refuted.

Also, the overall tone of Mr. Neff's response is highly questionable.  He's far more "insulting" and "snide" than any of our posts.  And we would never, ever threaten someone, no matter what their beliefs or position. 

It is also important to note that a post by a poster named "George" went totally ignored by Mr. Neff.  This is just the title:

Hey morons, your spaceship is leaving!

Perhaps Mr. Neff didn't respond to "George" because he offered no intellectual refutations?  Or because "George" didn't attempt to challenge his beliefs, contented only to insult them?  Because, as we all know, it is far easier to shrug off an uninformed insulter than it is to challenge a skeptic on his own terms.

In the end, does this mean that all UFOnuts are so unsure of their beliefs that they feel the need to throw wild accusations and threats at skeptics who challenge them? 

No.  Just one of them.