184 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
184 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: THE HILL ABDUCTION CASE FILE: UFO2704
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PART 3
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Mark Steggert of the Space Research Coordination Center at the
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University of Pittsburgh developed a computer program that he calls PAR
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(for Perspective Alteration Routine) that can duplicate the appearance
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of star fields from various viewpoints in space.
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"I was intrigued by the proposal put forth by Marjorie Fish that she
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had interpreted a real star pattern for the alleged map of Betty Hill.
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I was incredulous that models could be used to do an astronometric
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problem," Steggert says. "To my surprise I found that the pattern that
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I derived from my program had a close correspondence to the data from
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Marjorie Fish."
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After several run-throughs, he confirmed the positions determined by
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Marjorie Fish. "I was able to locate potential areas of error, but no
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real errors," Steggert concludes.
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Steggert zeroed in on possibly the only real bone of contention that
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anyone has had with Marjorie Fish's interpretation: The data on some of
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the stars may not be accurate enough for us to make definitive
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conclusions. For example, he says the data from the Smithsonian
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Astrophysical Observatory Catalog, the Royal Astronomical Society
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Observatory Catalog, and the Yale Catalog of Bright Stars "have
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differences of up to two magnitudes and differences in distance
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amounting to 40 percent for the star Gliese 59". Other stars have less
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variations in the data from one catalog to another, but Steggert's
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point is valid. The data on some of the stars in the map is just not
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good enough to make a definitive statement. (The fact that measurements
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of most of the stars in question can only be made at the relatively
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poor equipped southern hemisphere observatories accounts for the less
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reliable data.)
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Using information on the same 15 stars from the Royal Observatory
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catalog (Annals #5), Steggert reports that the pattern does come out
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differently because of the different data, and Gliese 59 shows the
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largest variation. The Gliese catalog uses photometric, trigonometric
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and spectroscopic parallaxes and derives a mean from all three after
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giving various mathematical weights to each value. "The substantial
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variation in catalog material is something that must be overcome," says
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Steggert. "This must be the next step in attempting to evaluate the
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map."
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This point of view is shared by Jeffrey L. Kretsch, an undergraduate
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student who is working under the advisement of J. Allen Hynek at
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Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Like Steggert, he too checked
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Marjorie Fish's pattern and found no error in the work. But Kretsch
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reports that when he reconstructed the pattern using trigonometric
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distance measurements instead of the composite measures in the Gliese
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catalog, he found enough variations to move Gliese 95 above the line
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between Gliese 86 and Tau 1 Eridani.
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"The data for some of the stars seems to be very reliable, but a few
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of the pattern stars are not well observed and data on them is somewhat
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conflicting," says Kretsch. The fact that the pattern is less of a
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"good fit" using data from other sources leads Kretsch and others to
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wonder what new observations would do. Would they give a closer fit? Or
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would the pattern become distorted? Marjorie Fish was aware of the
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catalog variations, but has assumed the Gliese catalog is the most
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reliable source material to utilize.
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Is the Gliese catalog the best available data source. According to
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several astronomers who specialize in stellar positions, it probably
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is. Peter Van de Kamp says, "It's first rate. There is none better." He
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says the catalog was compiled with extensive research and care over
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many years.
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A lot of the published trigonometric parallaxes on the stars beyond
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30 light-years are not as accurate as they could be, according to Kyle
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Cudworth of Yerkes Observatory. "Gliese added other criteria to
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compensate and lessen the possible errors," he says.
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The scientific director of the U.S. Naval Observatory, K.A. Strand,
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is among the world's foremost authorities on stellar distances for
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nearby stars. He believes the Gliese catalog "is the most complete and
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comprehensive source available."
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Frank B. Salisbury of the University of Utah has also examined the
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Hill and Fish maps. "The pattern of stars discovered by Marjorie Fish
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fits the map drawn by Betty Hill remarkably well. It's a striking
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coincidence and forces one to take the Hill story more seriously," he
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says. Salisbury is one of the few scientists who has spent some time on
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the UFO problem and has written a book and several articles on the
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subject. A professor of plant physiology, his biology expertise has
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been turned to astronomy on several occasions while studying the
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possibility of biological organisms existing on Mars.
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Salisbury insists that while psychological factors do play an
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important role in UFO phenomena, the Hill story does represent one of
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the most credible reports of incredible events. The fact that the story
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and the map came to light under hypnosis is good evidence that it
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actually took place. "But it is not unequivocal evidence," he cautions.
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Elaborating on this aspect of the incident, Mark Steggert offers
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this: "I am inclined to question the ability of Betty, under
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posthypnotic suggestion, to duplicate the pattern two years after she
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saw it. She noted no grid lines on the pattern for reference. Someone
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should (or perhaps has already) conduct a test to see how well a
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similar patter could be recalled after a substantial period of time.
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The stress she was under at the time is another unknown factor."
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"The derivation of the base data by hypnotic techniques is perhaps
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not as 'far out' as it may seem," says Stanton Friedman. "Several
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police departments around the country use hypnosis on rape victims in
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order to get descriptions of the assailants -- descriptions that would
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otherwise remain repressed. The trauma of such circumstances must be
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comparable in some ways to the Hill incident."
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Is it at all possible we are faced with a hoax?
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"Highly unlikely," says Salisbury -- and the other investigators
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agree. One significant fact against a charade is that the data from the
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Gliese catalog was not published until 1969, five years after the star
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map was drawn by Betty Hill. Prior to 1969, the data could only have
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been obtained from the observatories conducting research on the
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specific stars in question. It is not uncommon for astronomers not to
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divulge their research data -- even to their colleagues -- before it
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appears in print. In general, the entire sequence of events just does
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not smell of falsification. Coincidence, possibly; hoax, improbable.
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Where does all this leave us? Are there creatures inhabiting a planet
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of Zeta 2 Reticuli? Did they visit Earth in 1961? The map indicates
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that the sun has been "visited occasionally". What does that mean? Will
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further study and measurement of the stars in the map change their
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relative positions and thus distort the configuration beyond the limits
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of coincidence?
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The fact that the entire incident hinges on a map drawn under less
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than normal circumstances certainly keeps us from drawing a firm
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conclusion. Exobiologists are united in their opinion that the chance
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of us having neighbors so similar to us, apparently located so close,
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is vanishingly small. But then, we don't even know for certain if there
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is anybody at all out there -- anywhere -- despite the Hill map and
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pronouncements of the most respected scientists.
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The only answer is to continue the search. Someday, perhaps soon, we
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will know.
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=======================================================================
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THE FISH-HILL PATTERN STARS
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GLIESE ALTERNATE SPECTRAL W - TOTAL GALACTIC GALACTIC
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CAT NO NAME TYPE VELOCITY SPACE ORBIT ORBIT
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VELOCITY ECCENTRICITY INCL.
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------ --------- -------- -------- -------- ------------ --------
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17 Zeta Tucanae G2 -38 70 0.1575 .0529
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27 54 Piscium K0 10 45 0.1475 .0260
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59 HD 9540 G8 1 26 0.0436 .0133
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67 HD 10307 G2 0 45 0.1057 .0092
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68 107 Piscium K1 3 43 0.1437 .0134
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71 Tau Ceti G8 12 36 0.2152 .0287
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86 HD 13445 K0 -25 129 0.3492 .0269
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86.1 HD 13435 K2 -37 41 ?????? ????
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95 HD 14412 G5 -10 33 0.1545 .0025
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97 Kappa Fornax G1 -13 35 0.0186 .0078
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111 Tau 1 Eridani F6 14 81 0.0544 .0078
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136 Zeta 1 Reticuli G2 15 79 0.2077 .0321
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138 Zeta 2 Reticuli G1 -27 127 0.2075 .0340
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139 82 Eridani G5 -12 37 0.3602 .0310
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231 Alpha Mensae G5 -13 22 0.1156 .0065
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Sun Sol G5 0 0 0.0559 .0091
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All the stars listed here are main sequence or spectral group V
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stars. Tau Ceti has a slight peculiarity in its spectrum as
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explained in the text. W-velocity is the star's motion in km/sec in
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a direction above or below (-) in the galactic plane. Total space
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velocity relative to the sun is also in km/sec. Data is from the
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Gliese Catalog of Nearby Stars (1969 edition).
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**********************************************
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* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
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********************************************** |