I should be clear that the ARC is no more than a satirical reply to accusations and/or aspersions levelled and directed in the general direction of the main pro-hoax advocates across several forums. The ARC has no hierarchy, no website, no founder, no leader, no funds or funding, in fact no real semblance of order and as a direct result also have no obligations nor any conflicts of interest. Those involved know who they are and are no more than a few individuals who were initially forced to correspond in private and to the best of my knowledge are the only persons still actively searching for the originators and perpetrators of the 2007 California UFO Drone Hoax. Whether named or not, recognised or not, ARC would still be doing what they are doing now, and as they have been doing for quite a while prior. So this entire page is presented as no more than a virtual architectural folly…..

What is ARC?

The ARC was originally a hardcore of four or five people who had a common and somewhat unhealthy interest in everything (dragonfly) Drone related and more importantly who is/was behind them. By being vocal about the many discrepancies and inconsistencies that the Drones and their respective reports did (and still do) provide, and by doing so on the major UFO-related forums (that still actively discuss the Drones) a grudge was borne and systematically nurtured by people on opposing sides of belief.

None of the ARC believed the Drone images are what they purported to be but neither did it stop any of them hoping or wishing that they were, in fact it's fair to say that proving the reality of the Drones was the best possible outcome of the collective endeavour, however, all involved also believed this was definitely the most unlikely (indeed impossible!!) conclusion.

To the believers in the reality of the Drones it is akin to a religion and is so fundamentalist in nature that those who don't share the same opinion are regarded as little more than heathens, or of a lesser intellect, or pseudo-skeptics, or closed minded etc. etc. and opposing persons are often labelled with terms that depict this misrepresented intent.

One particular aspersion cast in the general direction of the original ARC members was that they were no more than, "Armchair UFO researchers."

To be fair this is the essence of what they are and so subsequently had no problems with being labelled as such, in fact the term fitted so comfortably that it was decided to embrace this particular aspersion and thus the, "Armchair Research Committee" ( ARC ) was born.

Adapting the name ARC was originally the idea of forum members at the *Above Top Secret* forums (ATS), a forum where ARC member Sys_Config has long been pursuing the hoaxers. In fact along with a few others they were labelled by the Drone believers as, ‘Exiles' or the ‘Exiled Sys_Gang' or ‘Rejects' etc. etc. This was due solely to the fact that the majority of the ARC members who congregate there were often banned/suspended from the other forums for what appears to be little more than pointing out flaws in the Drone history, in fact some of these members are STILL banned from the Open Minds Forum (OMF), NONE are allowed to join the DRT forum and the DRT founder member Didier De Plaige has blocked most of their IP's so that they can't even view his French (pro-Drone) website!! (**UPDATE)

The tenacity evident in their collective and relentless pursuit of the truth was/is commendable, even though for a long time now the majority of the research has been conducted behind ‘closed doors,' ATS was regularly termed, “The Dark Side” by the DRT and others but the musings are often inspired and have long since been an inspiration for those on the fringes of Drone belief who dared to look a little deeper.

All were welcomed but few dared to make the leap to what was often perceived and once portrayed as the darker side of the spectrum of belief …..

However, as time has slowly progressed and the more people that independently investigate the Drones then it seems this, “Dark side” is nothing of the sort and is merely a more logic driven approach to disseminating the intricacies of the Drone phenomenon.

The current views of the ARC as they pertain to the DRT and the public perception of the Drones is that the diehard Drone believers' stance as time progresses is becoming more and more transparent as they cling to their dying belief system, resuscitating it as and when required. Any belief in the Drones is an unsubstantiated belief which for the most part appears to be in its death throes and is incredibly unlikely to prevail for much longer.

In summary, the only real differences are that the DRT search for the Drone witnesses & corroboration of their stories while the ARC searches for the Drone hoaxers and the inconsistencies in their stories.

(ARC - March 2008)