I made up my mind about Valiant Thor many, many years ago.
I believe he was a product of the 1950's and 1960's "contactee" scene. Back in those days, science fiction stories were regularly set on Venus and Mars. People believed they were habitable, and any place habitable is sure to be inhabited. One of my favorite books from those days was Robert A, Heinlein's "Red Planet".
Most folks believed that Venus and Mars were just like Earth, habitable and inhabited. Nearly 200 years ago, they thought the same of the moon. So, the "contactees", in order to entertain their audience, made up tales of beautiful Venusians and rugged Martians, in keeping with their Greek mythology counterparts.
Then the lander probes of the late 196's and 1970's came along and put the lie to that mythology. Mars has a database all it's own, which I won't go into here. Valiant Thor was claimed to be Venusian, so Venus it the planet we are concerned about in this discussion. Venus is hot. I mean REALLY hot. If I could survive on the Venusian surface, I could melt the lead to cast my bullets without a hot pot. Lead melts at around 650 degrees Fahrenheit. Venus tops that, with a surface temperature around 950 degrees Fahrenheit. The rains on Venus are sulfuric acid. Not to worry, however - they never collect on the surface in puddles or anything. Evaporation from the extreme heat takes care of that. Russia sent several probes to Venus that landed on the surface, all named "Venera" with a number attached. I don't believe a single one survived more than an hour on the surface... and they were made of metal.
The Venera landers sent back images before they melted. You can still find them on the internet. Nothing but a vista of murkiness and flat rocks, as far as the eye can see.
Wherever Thor is from, he is not from Venus if he is made of flesh and blood that can survive on Earth. Whether he is from Earth, or elsewhere, the fact that he claimed to be from Venus marks him as someone up to no good.
I don't trust anything I hear about him, based upon that fact. If he were an honest man, there would be no need to lie about his origins.
ETA: And he mention of Howard Menger? Menger was a charlatan, even among "contactees" His favorite vacation spot was Venus.
And the mention of no belly button - I recall years ago that I mentioned "I wouldn't know him from Adam" in the presence of a preacher named Jack Hamilton. He immediately piped up and said "Adam didn't have a belly button." When I asked for clarification, Jack said "Adam wasn't born of woman. He didn't have a belly button."
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I believe he was a product of the 1950's and 1960's "contactee" scene. Back in those days, science fiction stories were regularly set on Venus and Mars. People believed they were habitable, and any place habitable is sure to be inhabited. One of my favorite books from those days was Robert A, Heinlein's "Red Planet".
Most folks believed that Venus and Mars were just like Earth, habitable and inhabited. Nearly 200 years ago, they thought the same of the moon. So, the "contactees", in order to entertain their audience, made up tales of beautiful Venusians and rugged Martians, in keeping with their Greek mythology counterparts.
Then the lander probes of the late 196's and 1970's came along and put the lie to that mythology. Mars has a database all it's own, which I won't go into here. Valiant Thor was claimed to be Venusian, so Venus it the planet we are concerned about in this discussion. Venus is hot. I mean REALLY hot. If I could survive on the Venusian surface, I could melt the lead to cast my bullets without a hot pot. Lead melts at around 650 degrees Fahrenheit. Venus tops that, with a surface temperature around 950 degrees Fahrenheit. The rains on Venus are sulfuric acid. Not to worry, however - they never collect on the surface in puddles or anything. Evaporation from the extreme heat takes care of that. Russia sent several probes to Venus that landed on the surface, all named "Venera" with a number attached. I don't believe a single one survived more than an hour on the surface... and they were made of metal.
The Venera landers sent back images before they melted. You can still find them on the internet. Nothing but a vista of murkiness and flat rocks, as far as the eye can see.
Wherever Thor is from, he is not from Venus if he is made of flesh and blood that can survive on Earth. Whether he is from Earth, or elsewhere, the fact that he claimed to be from Venus marks him as someone up to no good.
I don't trust anything I hear about him, based upon that fact. If he were an honest man, there would be no need to lie about his origins.
ETA: And he mention of Howard Menger? Menger was a charlatan, even among "contactees" His favorite vacation spot was Venus.
And the mention of no belly button - I recall years ago that I mentioned "I wouldn't know him from Adam" in the presence of a preacher named Jack Hamilton. He immediately piped up and said "Adam didn't have a belly button." When I asked for clarification, Jack said "Adam wasn't born of woman. He didn't have a belly button."
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Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king.
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’