505 lines
28 KiB
Plaintext
505 lines
28 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: The SWAMP GAS JOURNAL FILE: UFO1212
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Volume 6
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Number 1 (last issue was Volume 5, Number 3)
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ISSN 0707-7106
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January 1992
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The Continuing Circle Saga
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By now, it is likely that everyone knows about the
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Bower/Chorley hoax admission. When the story first broke, it was
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carried extensively by the media, and it seemed that cerealogy
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was doomed. TV and newspapers here in Canada boldly proclaimed
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that "all" the circles in England were explained as the work of
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BC. Suddenly, all media interest in any fortean phenomena was
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extinguished; for the most part, this condition still persists
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today.
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Of course, things are not as cut-and-dry as they might seem.
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As an objectivist, I was immediately suspicious of the BC
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claims. "Skeptics" such as CSICOP members were delighted at the
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admissions and didn't bother to consider any problems with the
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explanation. But it should have been intuitive that there was
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something wrong with the claims. A "complete" explanation is
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usually never encountered in science, and there are always
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loopholes or flaws in the design of "immutable" laws.
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The first problem with the BC story is that the two men
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could not have made all of the British circles and agriglyphs.
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In addition, there would be no way for them to have made the
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circles in other parts of the world. This problem with the claim
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is easily circumvented by noting that BC are only two of the army
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of hoaxers who might have been at work. This might also
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explain why characteristics of circles vary somewhat between
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sites.
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The next question to be addressed is whether or not BC
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really made the circles at all. This problem is not trivial, and
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it seems that it has not been fully resolved. When the media
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first covered the story, BC had been filmed before, during and
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after the creation of an agriglyph. Terence Meaden, Colin
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Andrews and Pat Delgado were each shown to make pronouncements of
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authenticity at some circle sites, though later explained that
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they had been pressured for a quick response by the media at the
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time. But nearly everyone who viewed the single agriglyph made
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by BC in front of the cameras agreed that the site was sloppy
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and "suspicious".
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Although the numbers of circles claimed made by BC started
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out at 1000 or more, the figure has been pared down to a more
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reasonable 100 or 200. Even this figure seems a bit high, but
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might be possible, if we allow BC to have a lot of energy and
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several years to work on their technique. On (the National
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Geographic's) Explorer TV show in November, other hoaxers were
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shown to take considerable planning in order to produce a complex
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in complete darkness before the cameras (not done by BC). Even
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so, they were seen by a chance witness, and when a cerealogist
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was called in for his opinion, it was dubbed a hoax without much
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delay.
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The source of the story is a bit of a problem as well. The
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tabloid which initially broke the hoax story had earlier ran
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a story that suggested ancient Sumerians were communicating with
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humans through the circles. Investigation by cerealogists
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found that the story had been generated through a "public
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relations" firm called Maiden Bridge Farm. MBF was operated by a
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husband and wife who had an unlisted telephone number (a bit odd
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for a PR firm) and which was disconnected shortly after they
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were located by the cerealogists. It seems that MBF paid some
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money to BC to come forward with their claims, contacted the
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tabloid to get a reporter's interest, then backed out of the
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picture. This immediately aroused the interest of conspiracy
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theorists, who suggested that the MoD or a subversive group had
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deliberately set cerealogists up for a fall. Although a
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plausible scenario, there is of course no hard evidence for the
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theory.
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The most frustrating thing about the whole affair is that it
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should be very easy to settle the arguments about BC's
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involvement. It would appear to be a simple task: get BC to give
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accurate descriptions of all the sites for which they were
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responsible, including dates, locations, type of crop, etc. As
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far as I have been able to determine through reading the latest
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cerealogy journals and letters from my British colleagues, this
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has not been done. The closest that has been accomplished is a
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series of verbal, heated debates between BC and agitated
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cerealogists in the media.
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However, the damage has been done. Cerealogists have been
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"burned" by some hoaxers, and the media have been warned away
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from the phenomenon. But what will the future bring?
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The Canadian Connection
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In mid-summer of 1991, Gordon Kijek and the Alberta UFO
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Study Group (AUFOSG) were prepared for an upcoming season of UFO
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investigations. Earlier in the year, Gord had asked me to assist
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in the formation of the group, and I had sent him some
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information about ufology groups and their operation. In August,
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Gord called me to tell me that a circle formation had been
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discovered near Lethbridge. He was unsure of how to investigate
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the site, but I gave a few of my ideas and wished him luck.
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Gord has seemed to be an able researcher, and I was confident
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that he would have the matter under control. Soon, he called me
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about his findings and the news that other sites had been found.
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The deluge had started.
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Less than ten sites were reported in Alberta. One was a
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remarkable agriglyph (the first of such in North America) which
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received considerable media attention. Others were single
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circles, quadruplets, and triplets. One site near Okotoks was
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judged immediately suspicious by AUFOSG because it appeared that
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the centers of the circles had been disturbed; a speculated
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method of producing fake circles involves using a stake at the
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center of an inscribed circle using a chain to mark the
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circumference.
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It is interesting to note that in 1990, there were circles
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reported throughout Western Canada, except in Alberta. But
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in 1991, the only province with circles was Alberta. None of the
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Canadian circles during the previous years had any associated
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effects, though in 1991, the Alberta circles were said to cause
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headaches, equipment malfunctions and give rise too "eerie"
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sensations and noises. These effects parallel those reported in
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England by some cerealogists, and it was curious that they
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would be found one year and not the next. More curious was the
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fact that Gord Kijek is prone to migraines, and he experienced
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no problems when inside the circles. He also called me on his
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cellular phone from inside a circle, with no malfunctioning!
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Do such effects really occur? Michael Strainic, reporting
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on the investigations of Chad Deetken on his trip to Alberta,
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wrote an excellent article for the MUFON Journal which detailed
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Deetken's findings. Deetken has a different research
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perspective than that of AUFOSG, including his investigation
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style. For example, in 1990, Deetken visited some circle sites
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in Saskatchewan; during his time there, he decided to camp
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overnight in a circle. In the middle of the night, Deetken
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reported a "feeling of terror" which overcame him, and he bolted
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from the site. He had earlier documented how the area was
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permeated with some sort of "energy". Not surprisingly, when he
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decided to sleep overnight in one of the 1991 Alberta circles, he
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experienced "tension" and "dizziness" during the night, as did
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his companions.
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Although suggesting that "paranormal effects" were
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associated with the Alberta circles, Strainic also noted that
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such effects were not often found. Indeed, compass needles were
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said to operate normally, as did recording equipment and cameras
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taken to sites. Strainic noted that anecdotal reports of animal
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effects at circles were common, according to Deetken. But this
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was not the case in Manitoba, and such reports were not made to
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AUFOSG in the Alberta cases.
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One interesting series of effects involved microwave ovens
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which were said to have malfunctioned, including one which
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was said to have turned itself on. AUFOSG members as well as
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Deetken all checked into these reports, though there was
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admittedly no confirming evidence of these events.
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So, what happened in Alberta? There exist two disparate
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investigation records of the circle sites. AUFOSG found
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virtually no evidence of "paranormal effects", physiological
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effects or equipment malfunctions at sites, but Deetken did. It
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is likely that each investigator's inherent biases played
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significant roles in the interpretation of data. Michael
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Strainic's fascinating report is of great use to other
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researchers in the analyses of crop circle data, because it
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parallels the British experience. In this way, we can better
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understand the British situation, and how cerealogy may be
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operating in that country.
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Radioactivity?
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Recently, it has been claimed that several crop circles are
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radioactive. Specifically, it has been reported that soil
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samples taken from two British circles and some from recent
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American sites have significantly-higher levels of radioactivity
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than control samples from the same areas. Further, this
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radioactivity has been traced to higher-than-normal levels of
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activity caused by certain rare, radioactive elements such as
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Europium, Ytterbium and Rhodium. If true, than this certainly
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speaks for the creation of crop circles by aliens and utterly
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invalidates any other theory, including hoaxing.
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The claims are made by Michael Chorost and Marshall Dudley
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in a MUFON paper. Advance notice of their claims is already
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in circulation, and many people are very excited about their
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findings. Mike sent me a copy of a draft and called me to
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discuss the writeup, in case I had some comments. As I read the
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paper, I had some of my own reservations, but I decided to take
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the paper to show two friends who are physicists at the
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University of Manitoba. They were less than impressed, to say
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the least. However, I persisted (read: I annoyed them) until they
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described exactly what they were doubtful about.
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My own reservations concerned the sampling techniques and
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the small amount of data upon which to base a claim. Also, I
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was worried that there had not been any testable theory posed in
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advance of finding the data. The Manitoba physicists found
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more problems in the physical attributes. Very rare radioactive
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elements had been discovered through a comparison of peaks on a
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readout of an energy spectrum produced by an analysis of the soil
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samples. Such peaks were not present in the control sample
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readouts. Because of the difficulty in producing these
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artificial elements, Chorost and Dudley devote much of their
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paper to ways in which deuteron (an energetic particle)
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bombardment of the soil could create the rare elements. In the
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end, they concluded that this deuteron bombardment was
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responsible for the presence of the radioactivity, and that such
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a beam may have also have been related to the formation of the
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circles themselves, though how and why is unknown. They actually
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don't say that a UFO was responsible, although this could be read
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into their report.
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However, the finding of these elements is not only strange,
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it is downright impossible (uh-oh, I'm sounding like Donald
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Menzel). The reason is that if a deuteron bombardment did occur,
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then many other elements would have been found as well. For
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example, even weak activation of soil by deuterons (or protons,
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for that matter) will create Cobalt-56 out of Iron-56. Since
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there is a lot more Iron in soil than Ytterbium, the radioactive
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Cobalt would be definitely found. Since it wasn't, deuteron
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bombardment probably did not occur. An analogy is this: suppose
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you went into a someone's room and found a few gold-coloured
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coins on the floor. You could see them as evidence that the
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room's occupant was a bank robber, because of the "loot"
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scattered about. But if this were true, where would all the
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other types of money be, like dollar bills and bonds? And what
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if the coins turned out to be wrapped chocolate?
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Dudley and Chorost do caution that more intensive research
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and more thorough surveys of fields are required for
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comparative data. It may be that the distribution of elements in
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the soil just happens to be high in that particular area.
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Another source of possible error is in the interpretation of the
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energy peaks and the checking of an energy table. In fact,
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using the standard energy table, we found several other elements
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that should have been created in the deuteron bombardment, but
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were not mentioned.
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Greg Kennedy, a circle researcher from Quebec, found the
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claims of radionuclides in crop circle samples to be
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unsupported by the data. If radiation was found, he noted, it
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certainly did not come from the "deuteron beam" suggested by the
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American cerealogists. It's possible that some sort of exotic
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combination of elements were somehow in the soil samples, but it
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was just as possible that the samples were contaminated in some
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way. Greg tested samples of the Alberta circles given to him by
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Mike Strainic from Chad Deetken. No anomalies were found. He
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also has been looking at samples from other Alberta circles which
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originated from Gord Kijek. Now, if there are no radionuclides
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in the Alberta samples, it does not necessarily negate the
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American results (of the British cases). It could mean: a) the
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Alberta circles are fakes; b) the British circles were hoaxes;
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c) a different "beam" created the Alberta circles; d) the testing
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was inconsistent; or e) somebody screwed up. But who? I
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think the only way to resolve this is to get several independent
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labs (and I wouldn't hesitate to get Phil Klass involved here)
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to test the same samples for comparative analyses. Along with
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this would be a standardization of experimental cerealogy. And
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there are a number of procedures that would probably satisfy most
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skeptics.
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What I suggested to Mike was the following experiment.
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First, postulate that a deuteron (or proton) bombardment will
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cause some observed effects. Take samples from inside and
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outside a circle site. Test them on the same instrument. Record
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your results. Next, send the same samples to a different lab
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without passing on your data or findings. While the second lab
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is analyzing the samples, recalibrate your instrument. Obtain a
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new set of samples, with a different control sample, and analyze
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this new set using the same procedure. Have the other lab repeat
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its steps and test the new set of samples. Then, you'll have
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four sets of data for comparison. Look specifically for certain
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elements. Cobalt-56 is a standard test element. Check for
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Iron, Magnesium, Sodium, then Lead, Strontium, etc. If there are
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significant differences found (and I would use an alpha of
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about 0.05), then you have something that you can point to and
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say: "This needs further examination!"
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Sure, it's a long procedure, but remember, what you're
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trying to do is prove an external mechanism for the creation of
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crop circles, which are already widely assumed to be caused by
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hoaxers. The skeptics have already launched their arguments
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against the reality of the crop circle phenomenon; Dennis Stacy
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sent me a preprint of an article in the Skeptical Inquirer on
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this topic.
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Another reason why so much care needs to be taken is that in
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all the history of UGMs (unidentified ground markings),
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"saucer nests" and "UFO landing sites", a very, very small number
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had any associated radioactivity. Cerealogists often argue
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that crop circles are different from other UGMs, but it should be
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obvious that they are really quite similar. Crop circles are
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kinds of UGMs, and the link with UFOs definitely exists. Bower
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and Chorley claim they even got the idea for their artistic
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endeavours from the Tully "saucer nests" of the 1960's. It would
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be rather odd for UGMs to suddenly be laced with
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radioactivity; it is more likely that cerealogists are
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frenetically searching for evidence to show that crop circles are
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unlike other UGMs, and believe that they have found the radiation
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as their proof.
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Now, much to my wife's consternation, I do have some
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radioactive soil safely stored in a cement container in my house.
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It came from the Michalak site, from the "saucer nest" found near
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Falcon Lake in 1967. The area was so radioactive that the
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Government closed the area for health concerns at the time.
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Nuclear waste dumps were checked, and Michalak went to a nuclear
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research establishment for testing. For many years, it was
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widely assumed that the radiation was either due to a clever
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"seeding" of the area with radium particles by a hoaxer, or was
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actually caused by a spacecraft with a leaky reactor. However,
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recent tests sponsored by UFOROM gave another interpretation:
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that the radiation came from natural uranium ore, and the odd
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peaks found in the energy spectrum came from byproducts of radon,
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a gas.
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But, of course, things are not quite that simple. This
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latest interpretation requires that researchers at a major
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government nuclear research establishment failed to recognise the
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peaks as being due to natural uranium and radon. While this
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is possible, one can wonder what other mistakes might have
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occurred, and what were their consequences?
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Circle Roundup: After Granum, Alberta, near the beginning of
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September, there were no more Canadian UGMs reported. In the
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United States, there were cases reported in North Dakota, New
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York, Kansas, and the noted case near Argonne. However,
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summertime down under has produced a new crop of circles and UFO
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reports in Australia. Reports of "over 100" circles on the
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island continent are making headlines as I write these notes.
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Here in North America, we wait for springtime to see what might
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occur.
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From the Mailbag: Laurence Sokoloff, whom some have likened to
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an alien, sends me obscure articles he comes across during his
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literary endeavours. His latest came from Paris Match for 12
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Decembre 1991, with the accompanying note: "Chris - This article
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is about French scientist Jean-Pierre Petit, who maintains that
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startling scientific discoveries have been revealed to him by
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aliens from the planet UMMO, located about 15 light-years from
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Earth. His book on the subject, Inquiry into the Aliens Who Are
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Already Among Us, has become a best-seller in France. Of course,
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these are people who like Jerry Lewis." Thanks for the
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article, Larry!
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Snailmail et al
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It would be difficult to list every missive I have received
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over the past 6 months, and downright dangerous. More than
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a few people have pored through previous LoCs and WAHFs in
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previous issues and complained that I missed their names. If it
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happens, it's an accident, really! However, let me throw caution
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to the wind and comment on a few letters.
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Len Stringfield sent me his latest Status Report VI (thanx,
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Len!); it is a very readable survey of current crash-
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retrieval stories, ranging from Roswell to Carp to Christian
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Page's "alien" photo from Montreal. Christian, by the way, is
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rapidly emerging as one on Canada's finest ufologists, with the
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added dimension of contributing UFO info from French Canada
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which was generally inaccessible until recently. Mike Strainic
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and Lorne Goldfader in BC have been contributing cases and other
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info to my Canadian UFO Survey. Mike's article in MUFON about
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Chad Deetken's circle expeditions has already been commented
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upon. John Schuessler has sent me his UFO Potpourri; Bonnie
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Wheeler sent along her Cambridge UFO Research Group Newsletter
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(honestly, Bonnie, what is your xerox bill?); Bob Girard's
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Arcturus Book Service Catalog is worth reading just for his
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annotations!
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A special thanks goes out to John Salter, who continues to
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document his fascinating experiences and keep his close
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friends abreast of the latest (TV makes you look thinner, John!).
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MUFON rep Eric Aggen publishes UFO Paradox occasionally, and
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it is usually chock full of interesting Lazar or alien tech
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stories. I am proud to say that I am among the non-subscribers
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to Saucer Smear, published by James Moseley. Where else can you
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read a running tirade between believers and skeptics, with barely
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a hint of sarcasm? Jim is definitely worthy of his title,
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Supreme Commander! Smear is absolutely essential to any
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fortean's reading.
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As for cerealogy, Paul Fuller's Crop Watcher and Pat
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Delgado's CPR Newsletter are the two circlezines I receive most
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regularly. Coming from two different "camps", they provide
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complementary (and often discordant) views on the British circle
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scene. I would like to note that Jenny Randles has resumed her
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exchange of Northern UFO News with SGJ, which was interrupted by
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a span of 10 years. Ah, but that was back in the days of UFOSIS
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...
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As I am not a paying member of MUFON, I only get its Journal
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intermittently. However, Walt Andrus and Dennis Stacy have
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both been corresponding with me and we have been sending things
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back and forth throughout the year. Dennis sent me a draft of
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an anti-cerealogy article from an upcoming Skeptical Inquirer,
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and asked me for a few comments and ammunition for his response
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to CSICOP. Oddly, my package to him was returned unopened. MIB?
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CIA? M-O-U-S-E ...
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Eric Herr in San Diego is compiling a list of physical trace
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cases that support his magnetic propulsion system theory.
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John Musgrave has moved to BC, and has been somewhat quiet of
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late. (How's trix, John?) What can I say about Paul Cuttle, the
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intrepid fortean who keeps Canada Post in business? I wish I had
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the time to track down all the material you find, Paul!
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As an experiment, I have been encouraged to offer the SGJ as
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a textfile in the UFO International echo, available on
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computer BBs's. If it doesn't work, I would like to thank the
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people who post me or netmail me with info. Linda Bird in
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Arizona has been very helpful in providing info on UGMs down her
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way. And her pix of the "Starthenon" are out of this world!
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Dark skies, Linda! Sheldon Wernikoff, a BBS regular, has
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thankfully snailmailed me some stuff to save a lot of typing.
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His access and interest in circles is a significant contribution
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to the field. I must thank Harsha Godaveri who got me onto the
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BBs's in the first place, and who uploaded my disks until my
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feeble system was up and running. The bad news is, Harsha, I've
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contracted three different viruses since being on the BBS's, and
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I'm going to give up until it gets a bit safer. I don't want
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to lose another hard drive!
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Michael Chorost has been keeping me abreast of his detailed
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work on circles, including his catalogues of cases and his
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articles in various journals. Similarly, another MUFON
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contributor, Vince Migliore of California, has sent along his
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comments about the circle scene. I have had many letters from
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people along the lines of: "please send me everything you have
|
||
about crop circles and/or UFOs". Sorry, but I don't send more
|
||
than three filing cabinets at a time through the mail.
|
||
It is fascinating to receive information from researchers
|
||
with differing viewpoints; the "alien technologists", the
|
||
"Lear/Cooper" camp, the "nuts-and-bolts" theorists, the "plasma
|
||
vortex" theorists, the mystics, the contactees, the debunkers,
|
||
etc. It has always been my philosophy and approach to the field
|
||
that the only way to get an adequate understanding of the
|
||
phenomena is to examine all (both) sides of the arguments, no
|
||
matter how esoteric or stoic. A pet peeve of mine is the
|
||
preponderance of new "experts" who lack any kind of background in
|
||
the genre. Circle researchers who have never studied other
|
||
kinds of trace cases are one kind of irritant, as are ufologists
|
||
who haven't done their homework and haven't bothered reading
|
||
any of the historical literature that would shed light on their
|
||
"new" cases. Until Bower and Chorley mentioned the Tully saucer
|
||
nests, many cerealogists had never heard of the case. Similarly,
|
||
"plasma vortex experts" sometimes scratch their heads when
|
||
told of Phil Klass' articles in AW&ST, or of Persinger's TST.
|
||
Actually, I think one problem is the overwhelming amount of
|
||
information that has been published on the subject during the
|
||
last forty or fifty years. Chester Cuthbert, the Canadian expert
|
||
on the paranormal, also has one of the largest collections of
|
||
science fiction literature. He told me that when he began
|
||
collecting SF, it was possible to get everything published during
|
||
the course of a year. Then, when SF actually became popular
|
||
and it went commercial, he couldn't keep up, so he had to
|
||
specialize. One of his "specializations" back then was flying
|
||
saucer literature, which sprang out of SF literature. But by the
|
||
late 1950's, saucer literature was blossoming and it started to
|
||
become difficult to collect even this small field. The situation
|
||
has progressed to the point where UFOlit is nearly impossible
|
||
to collect in its entirety. A single one of Bob Girard's
|
||
catalogs now contains more titles than were ever published a mere
|
||
20 years ago! (In the Seventies!) Even with the help of
|
||
compilers like George Eberhart, getting a complete overview of
|
||
the UFO or circle field is not easy, and it's not getting any
|
||
better. Vanity presses continue to churn out accounts of contact
|
||
with the space brothers; collecting only Billy Meier material
|
||
could send you into the poorhouse in a year!
|
||
|
||
Miscellanea
|
||
|
||
A number of interesting books of note have been added to the
|
||
UFOROM library, among them: Angels and Aliens by Keith Thompson
|
||
(1991); UFOs Over Canada by John Robert Colombo (1991); The
|
||
Algonquin Experiments by James Penman Rae (1978); UFO Report 1992
|
||
edited by Timothy Good (1991); and Things That Go Bump in the
|
||
Night by Emily Peach (1991).
|
||
Colombo's latest tome is a collection of anecdotal accounts,
|
||
all in the first person, of UFO sightings in Canada over two
|
||
centuries. The lack of the investigation reports of the cases
|
||
gives it more of a folkloric approach to the subject rather than
|
||
an overview such as the earlier UFO Sightings, Landings,
|
||
Abductions by Yurko Bondarchuk. Nevertheless, it
|
||
provides a refreshing viewpoint of the witnesses' own
|
||
interpretations of their experiences, and is a worthwhile read.
|
||
On a different topic, it looks like the infamous Carp UFO
|
||
crash/retrieval is not quite dead. Len Stringfield included
|
||
comments about the matter by Clive Nadin, Christian Page and
|
||
myself in his latest Status Report. I continue to get the latest
|
||
ravings from its originator(s), including ramblings about Red
|
||
China taking over the world and how the Brotherhood will protect
|
||
the Holy Grail and save us from the aliens. Theaccompanying
|
||
photos are mostly blurry, though one shows a guy in a bad
|
||
alien mask. Sad, sad. We have been able to show that the
|
||
packages are mailed from Ottawa/Hull, so the suspicion falls on
|
||
UFO buffs in that area.
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
A special note to Canadian readers: it's time once again for
|
||
the annual Canadian UFO Survey! Send just your report data to
|
||
the address below for inclusion in the yearly case roundup. And
|
||
while you're at it, some of you (Americans included here!) have
|
||
not provided details of UGMs and crop circles for the annual
|
||
NAICCR report. Tsk. They're waiting for you!
|
||
|
||
Thanks to all who provide data or otherwise contribute to
|
||
the information exchange in ufology, cerealogy or forteana. You
|
||
are the reason progress continues to be made in these fields!
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
The SWAMP GAS JOURNAL is an irregular ufozine published by:
|
||
|
||
Ufology Research of Manitoba
|
||
P.O. Box 1918
|
||
Winnipeg, Manitoba
|
||
Canada R3C 3R2
|
||
|
||
Copyright 1991 by Chris A. Rutkowski
|
||
|
||
================================================================
|
||
|
||
|
||
**********************************************
|
||
* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
|
||
********************************************** |