Earlier this week, I received several emails from explorers that I know, trust and respect. They had included me on an open letter to the Explorers Club President Alan Nichols, National Geographic Society President Gary Knell, Royal Geographical Society Director Dr. Rita Gardner, and Scientific Exploration Society Founder Colonel John Blashford Snell. The email was regarding the rise of cyberstalking against explorers, and how one such stalker has made the lives of some of these explorers a living hell. It also proposed the creation of the Exploration Cyber Resource Centre (ECRC), which would serve as an online trove of information regarding explorers, while also providing them with resources should they find themselves the victims of cyberstalking.Included in the email was a 27-page document that provides details about how a man masquerading as an investigative journalist has been systematically targeting and harassing a number of explorers, to the point of trying to obtain personal information, private records, and more. That document has been conveniently posted online by ExWeb, and you can download it in .pdf format here. You'll find that it is filled with all kinds of stories by explorers, most of whom wish to remain anonymous, about how this particular cyberstalker has attempted – and in some cases succeeded – in ruining the lives of the people involved. It is a nasty bit of business to read.
The letter also mentioned the late climber Chad Kellogg, whose harassment at the hands of a cyberstalker are well known. For years, Chad was subjected to all kinds of abuse online, by someone who attempted to discredit everything that he had ever done. That person hooked me early on, back when I was still finding my legs as a blogger, and I made the mistake of buying into what he sold. Later, when it became clear that I had been hoodwinked, I deleted the posts and apologized to Chad. With that lesson learned, I have since become wary of similar attempts to publicly discredit the explorers and adventurers that I write about regularly on this blog.
I can also say, that the man who is the subject of the document that I linked to above, has reached out to me on several occasions, looking to get information about a few people that I have written about in the past. He questioned my integrity on more than one occasion, and cajoled me for not being very professional in my journalistic pursuits. While it was difficult at times to take these comments for what they were, I learned to not engage with him, and ignored the things he sent my way. His attempts to attack the people that I greatly respected were disheartening to say the least. In once case, I personally know of an explorer who retreated from public life in an attempt to escape these attacks. Fortunately, he is part of the group that is standing up to this cyberstalker, and is returning to the pursuits that he is passionate about.
As you probably have noticed, I have not mentioned any names in this blog post, nor will I as this story evolves, moving forward. Unless the explorers who are now starting to speak out wish to be named, I will respect their privacy. There is one prominent name in the email, and the document that was attached to it however, and I want to recognize her bravery now. Basha O'Reilly, who has a long and storied career as a long rider, was the latest subject of this cyberstalkers attacks, and after she discovered that she could not simply ignore them, she decided to step forward and call out his tactics. Basha is one of the explorers that I admire and respect, and that has only increased now that she has taken a leadership role in speaking out about this man, and proposed the creation of the ECRC. In my mind, she is beyond reproach, and there are dozens of fellow explorers that know her resumé well.
Hopefully, this will be a step in the right direction in terms of stopping further attacks on the characters of these explorers, and creating a way for them to defend themselves from such attacks in the future. I for one, am glad that someone is speaking out and standing up to this man's actions. Thanks to Basha, and the other explorers who have joined her in this effort. I urge everyone who has an interest in exploration, and the explorers that are often the subject of this blog, to read the document to better understand what has been going on with this particular case.
