'~.

:. .

J~ofSITU

. The

..o;.y: .. ~ for the

~ . ._C.ipUon of

~ UDuplained
..:.;;.:: ...

ne M8yan Disk of Cbinkultic (6 B.C.) from "Our Mayan

AneestoII by M. Chateillin, page 15.

Volume 21
Number 1

Whole No. 81
First Quarter

1988

The Society For The Inv~stigation Of The Unexplained

Mail: SITU /PURSUlT, P.O. Box 265, Little Silver, NJ 07739-0265 USA Tel: (201) 842-5229
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THE QUARTERLY
JOURN.r THE

r.SHlt

ISOCIETY FOR THE

~STlGATION OF

UNEXPlAINED

'SCIENCE IS THE PURSUIT OF THE UNEXPLAINED'

Contents
Page
A Theory on Ancient Methods of Navigation
by Evan Hansen
The UFO Impact ---: Part I of a IV-part Series
by Jean-Pierre Petit
The Mundrabilla UFO in Western Australia
aSITUat;on
Our Mayan Ancestors
by Maurice Chatelain
Possible Human-Animal Paranonnal Events
by Berthold Eric Schwarz. M.D.
Trying to Figure Out Those Human Calculators
a SITUation
Forgotten Tesla Letter - Rediscovered
by Fred Bobb
Do Ghosts Barrier Oscillate?
by Daniel Eden
Cherokee 'Little People' Legends of North Carolina
a SITUation
Some Latest Infonnation About "Yeti"
compiled by Kumar Basnyat
Chinese Love Their Oddities
a SITUation
A Mammoth Leyline in the American Northwest?
by Dr. Michael D. Swords
Books Reviewed
SITUations
The Notes of Charles Fort
Deciphered by Carl J. Pabst

2
10
14

IS

20
26

27

30
34

36

We can't say for sure when

minutes, as part of an hour, were
first devised but Evan Hansen offers
us possibly a recreation of milleniums of effort to navigate unknown
waters. And, please remember,
communication then was definitely
not as we know it today,
Yet, communication between pets
and humans continues in a way we
can not, as yet, understand. Dr.
Schwarz tells us of some of his unusual such reports he has learned
about over the years.
Mr. Petit offers to communicate
to our English reading audience his
trials and tribulations regarding the
study of UFOs in France in this, the
tirst of a four-part series.
Again in these and the articles by
Maurice Chatelain and Daniel Eden,
etc., we must commend those who
think seriously and share their observations with us.

37
40
43
46

Pursuit Vol. 21, No. I, Whole No. 81 First Quarter 1988. Copyright 1988 by The Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained. ISSN 0033-4685.
No pan of this periodical may be reproduced without the wrinen consent of the Society. Roben C. Warth, Publisher and Editor, Nancy Warth, Production
Editor, Manin Wieg1er, Consulting Editor, Charles Berlitz, Research Editor and Oceanographic Consultant.

First Quarter 1988

Pursuit 1

- - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - -

------ - - - - -------

--

A Theory on Ancient Methods of Navigation

by EvaD HaDseD
The identity of America's early native tribes has been a
matter of conjecture, at least, since Columbus first set foot on
North American soil. Opinions about them range from
Asians having crossed the Bering Strait from the Pacific side
during the Ice Ages, (when the polar ice cap locked up
enough water, as ice, to allow dry land to connect to Asia) to
their being survivors of the sunken 'continent of Atlantis. But
most of the ideas were more mundane i.e., involving peoples
of various cultures for centuries crossing the ocean.
Some researchers involve the "Ten Lost Tribes of Israel"
in one or another of the native tribes. Other scholars have
found tangible evidence of Northern European, Mediterranean, and Chinese influence in America; including "loan
words" in the native languages. Claims were made by some
travelers, such as Welshmen, to have been able to converse in
Welsh or other native tongues with some Indian tribes.
Then, in 1848, the Smithsonian Institute sent out the
Davis-Squier expedition to investigate ancient Mound sites.
Suddenly, the official dogma changed so that all the
American tribes were native to America, with no contact to
any Old World cultures for, at least, the last 20,000 years.
Ocean crossings before Columbus were impossible, it was
said. Everyone who claimed to have found evidence of ocean
crossings was ignored or discredited.
'
I have always been aware of this attitude, but I didn't know
how deeply this dogma had been imbedded in the academic
community, untill found proof of ancient Celts in America,
and I tried to get support to investigate my finds. I Other
members of the Epigraphic Society have been making similar
archeological discoveries, some of them even better than my
Celtic mines. Every such person, without exception, is getting
the same opposition as me and, some are catching even more
static than I am on the subject.
,
Of course, there's nothing new in this. Heretics who
challenge established doctrine, nave been persecuted at least
as far back as history has been recorded. We are all familiar
with the threat to Galileo 300 years ago for denying the Earth
is the center of the universe. But while we no longer burn
heretics at the stake, the persecution is still just as strong. It is
simply more subtle. The self-appointed "authorities" don't
like to be challenged.
At first, this opposition puzzled me. Why should earlier
ocean crossings have been impossible? The problems solved
by Columbus in 1492 A.D. are virtually the same problems
that existed in 1492 B.C. or even much earlier. If Columbus
could cross oceans, then others could have crossed oceans in
sea-worthy vessels.
However, one argument against earlier such crossings that
could have merit might be: We know pre-Columbians did
have ships. As far back as 5000 years ago, nations such as
Egypt and Sumer had ships that were large enough, and
strong enough to be ocean-going cargo carriers. But the argument goes that they never ventured onto the open sea because
they had no means of navigation. They stayed within sight of
land at all times and navigated by following landmarks. If
they never ventured beyond sight of land they could never
find America, even by accident. So the critics rationalize that
ocean crossings before Columbus were, therefore, impossible.
'
Pursuit 2

The object of this article is to oppose this concept. Ocean

crossings were possible, and they did occur on a regular basis.
Probably every nation with ships has put people into the
Americas, and most left rock writings as proof of it. Now
that we are learning to recognize these ancient writings, we
are not only realizing various groups did reach America, but
the core of a new view of history is slowly taking shape. Let's
take a look at the critics' contention that the methods of
transoceanic navigation are of a relatively recent discovery.
The objection, based on medieval navigation methods was,
namely, that if any navigational methods had been known in
antiquity, they would still be used 200 or 300 years ago.
Even recent history shows that knowledge can be lost. Just
because some medieval sailors had to hug the coasts, and
navigate by landmarks, is no proof that older, and wiser ship
owners were as equally ignorant. Let me point out one obvious fact; merchants tried their best to eliminate competition.
If one had a secret that gave an advantage over competitors,
that information was very carefully guarded. Ship's (cargo or
war) crews who did not know navigation, most certainly
would have hugged coastlines or follow known shipping
routes.
But those who did know navigation, as those who did
reach America, might well have kept their secret here. Also,
wars, plagues, and natural catastrophes can explain, too, how
a guarded discovery could be 10sL Just as new knowledge can
be discovered, so can it be lost.
'
Did ancient mariners know how to navigate? Most emphatically. There are primitive methods that can give adequate
results, probably developed on land and applied for use at
sea.
'
Modern knowledge of latitude and longitude isn't needed
in order to find a desired port. There are plenty of less sophisticated methods that are totally adequate. For instance, the
Polynesians found every island in the Pacific, and knew how
to reach them at will. Their method used wind directions,
ocean swells, and reflected waves from islands. They observed behavior of birds. They looked for the green of a
jungle to reflect off the clouds. There are books on this for
those who care to search out Polynesian methods.
Most of us are aware of children's stories about the
voyages of Sinbad. What few realize, is that these stories are
essentially true. They are much embellished ro be entertaining, ~ut beyond this aspect they are stories of very real people, who sailed to very real places and faced very real problems. Although Arabian seafaring played a very important
part in history, this knowledge has often been ignored.
Though Arab seamen didn't know navigation in the sense
of latitude and longitude, they did use a very adequate latitude finding method. The rotation of the earth gives it gyroscopic stability, so it's axis always points to the North Star.
At the equator, the North Star touches the horizon. At the
North Pole, it's directly overhead. So measuring latitude is
easy; you just measure how high the North Star is above the
horizon.
Arab seamen didn't measure this in degrees, such as we do,
but they did utilize it well enough to reach any intended port.
They had a crude, but very adequate, instrument they called a
Kamal. Basically, this was a rectangl~ of wood with a cord in

First Quarter 1988

the center. While at a pon they intended to reach again, they

would go out at night, and hold this block of wood at a
distance from the eye so that the bottom was touching the
horizon, and the top touching the north star. Then a knot was
tied in the cord at a position that the knot could be held in the
teeth, and then, placing the block at exactly the distance from
the eye, so that the North Star and the horizon were at top
and bOllom of the block. This particular knot was then identified with that port. When out on the open sea, and trying to
reach that port, this knot was placed between the teeth, and
the block held with the bottom on the horizon. If the North
Star was above the top of the block, the ship was north of
that port. If it was below the top of the block, the ship was
south of the pon. Then they would head east or west, holding
to the correct latitude, until this port came into sight. Even
without longitude, they could still find the desired port.
But whatof modern methods of measuring exact positions
in degrees? Is this a modern invention? Or was it known to
the ancients? Most readers of PURSUIT arc familiar with
Piri Re'is map.2
The story begins in 1929 when this map was found in the
Imperial Palace in Constantinople. It was painted on parchment, and dated 919 in the Moslem calendar, or 1513 in ours.
It was signed by a man known to us as Piri Re'is. He claimed
to have compiled this by using some 20 older maps, including
one used by Columbus. The curious thing is that it shows not
only the Atlantic coast of Africa, but also South America as
well. Both are correct in present day latitude and longitude,
generally to within 50 miles, allowing for a few copying mistakes. The map itself is essentially correct.
But how is this possible? In 1513 we must assume there was
no culture on earth that knew how to find longitude. Finding
latitude was easier, as we said, by measuring how high the
North Star is above the horizon. But because the earth
rotates, it requires knowing an absolute time to measure
longitude. Not even our culture could find longitude until the
invention of the chronometer about 200 years ago. Before
that, everyone probably guessed on such things as how fast a
ship moved through the water. Longitudinal errors of hundreds of miles were the rule. Like the Arabs using the Kamal,
the European navigators would just go to the correct latitude,
and go east or west, until they made a landfall. Only with invention of the chronometer was it possible to find longitude.
As if this wasn't bad enough, the Piri Re'is map has
another shocker; it shows the correct shape of the Antarctic
land mass without it's ice cover! We didn't even know this
ourselves, until 1958 when expeditions of the International
Geophysical year used seismic echos to find the land mass
beneath the Antarctic ice. So how did Piri Re'is know this correctly, in 1513? The only possible way is that he used much
older source maps, dating from some time in the distant past
when the South Pole was not over Antarctica, an.d it had little
ice cover. But that must go at least to the Pleistocene period,
more than 10,000 years ago. What was the condition of civilization in those times?
My personal opinion is that catastrophic flooding at the
close of the Pleistocene period, was so severe that it wiped out
civilizations, though many people survived. This memory has
reached us through such traditions as the Biblical story of
Noah's Flood. 3
The Piri Re'is map indicates that seafaring, including correct methods of finding both latitude and longitude, is one
thing we salvaged from the ruins of the flood. But if longitude requires measuring time precisely, was there some other

First Quarter 1988

method that could have been used before the use of precision
mechanical equipment? While evidence points toward the
early cultur.es as not having this advantage, could longitude
be found by using only the sky and human logic?
Of course, even if such a method could be found there is no
proof the ancients actually used it. We must have some supporting evidence before we suggest that they could use the sky
to find longitude. The Piri Re'is map provides proof that
some method was known in ancient times. So, either there
was some method known in antiquity, and is now lost, or the
only other alternative is to accuse the Turkish government of
forgery. The odds are heavily against this since modern lab
methods can detect such fakes.
I had to ask myself if it could be possible to use the sky to
find both latitude and longitude. If such a method exists, why
did our immediate ancestors fail to find it? After the
discovery of America, the motive was strong enough to put
the world's best minds to work on the problem. Trade rivalries were almost on a war basis - they were that important.
With minds like people such as Galileo and Sir Isaac Newton
trying to solve the problem, it would seem it couldn't be done
without the chronometer. Now, if the ancient races were not
so mechanically advanced as we are today, did they find
something that even Newton had missed? If such a method
does exist, why did I think I could find it if men like Newton
failed, given their much stronger motive?
But I had one advantage that Newton lacked. I was so ignorant that I didn't know it couldn't be done. When I was a
child, back during World War II, I heard a story about the
value of ignorance. It seems someone calculated that according to all the known laws of aerodynamics, it's impossible for
the bumblebee to fly. But since bumblebees don't know this,
they keep right on flying anyway. Newton had been taught
that longitude by the sky wasn't possible, so he failed, but
since I didn't know it was impossible, perhaps that wao; to my
advantage. This had worked for me hundreds of times in the
past, so why not use it again? If I ignored the things that
everyone "knows" and just observed the sky, then perhaps I
could identify something that others had overlooked.
I had no special knowledge of astronomy, only such basics
as that the earth is round, the sun is center of the solar system, the moon orbits the earth, and the earth's axis is tilted.
But, while I do have a questioning mind, I have trained myself to think, so perhaps my ignorance makes me an ideal subject to try this. If I could find a method by only my own observation, and logic are used, then the same thing was probably available to our ancestors, too, no matter how far back
in the past we look.
I knew ancient navigational instruments included the astrolabe and cross staff but I hadn't paid particular attention
to how they worked. I decided to keep it this way. I
deliberately avoided the books describing those old instruments, and tried to reinvent them on the basis of what
was needed to make the required observations. If my path of
logic led me to these same instruments, I'd take this as indication that their original inventors had used this same path of
thinking.
I did assume the earth is round, and critics insist the ancients thought it was flat. I don't believe this since I was
a\Vare that the ancient Greeks had not only known of the
spherical earth, but had actually calculated its size within reasonable accuracy. So while I had determined to try to reproduce the lines of logic used by the ancients, it wasn't cheating
to read up on things they had available in ancient times in

Pursuit 3

order to try to experience their thinking, I went back to the

record of Eratosthenes.
After Alexander conquered all of Asia, the Greeks decided
to set up a center of learning at Alexandria, Egypt, and try to
collect all worthwhile knowledge into a single library. They
almost reached that goal. Eratosthenes was appointed chief
librarian at Alexandria in 235 B.C. We don't know if his
work was copied from older records which were available
there, or if he invented everything himself. But we are sure of
what he did toward proving the true condition of the Earth as
part of the solar system.
Eratosthenes knew that there was a well at Syene (modern
Aswan) where the sun was directly overhead on the summer
solstice. At noon on the solstice, the bottom of this well was
fully illuminated. But he also knew that in Alexandria, the
gnomon on a sundial still cast a shadow on that day. So he
measured the angle of this shadow, and used it to calculate
the size of the Earth. His figures came out at around 29,000
miles, while the real figure is a bit under 25,000 miles, but the
error was due to inaccurate measurements, not to any flaw in
his method. To start, Syene was 23 miles too far north to be
directly under the sun on the solstice. Possibly the well wasn't
exactly vertical, or maybe it had a slight shadow that wasn't
noticed. But that threw his calculations off. Alexandria isn't
directly north of Syene, it's actually 180 miles west, and that
added to the error. But the biggest error is that he had no surveying methods of finding distance. He just hired a professional pacer to step off the distance between Alexandria and
Syene. Considering all this, we must admire his accuracy. At
least his method was correct, and if he had used accurate data
for his calculations, he would have reached the true size of the
Earth. And since this calculation was made 2200 years ago,
we can safely assume that at least the Greeks were aware of
the spherical Earth, and they never abandoned this realization. Because this was done at Alexandria, it's possible this
was taken from far more ancient records.
While part of my research involved trying to reproduce the
mental process that ancient navigators might have followed
to find longitude, it was equally important to find how far
they had actually taken their knowledge. So, while I avoided
study of their instruments, I continued to read" whatever I
could find on how much they actually knew. I had been on
my own study of the sky for about three months, when a new
book came out, by two other Epigraphic Society members,
Bill McGlone and Phil Leonard, titled Ancient Celtic
America. The subject of this book is the series of Celtic
astronomy caves in southeast Colorado. 6
In their effort to crack the astronomical meanings of the
marks, they enlisted the help of Rollin Gillespie, whose calculations formed the basis for NASA being able to put men on
the moon. He added an appendix to the book to explain basic
principles of astronomy and how these petroglyphs in the
Colorado caves display the ancients' advanced knowledge of
astronomy. In his research for this, Gillespie uncovered one
method that was known for calculating longitude, and it was
used successfully by Hipparchus in 331 B.C.
In brief, this method used an eclipse of the moon to get an
exact time for different observers to make their calculations.
Since the moon can be seen from any spot on earth that's facing it, the earth's shadow could be used to co-ordinate observations. As the shadow hit any preselected spot on the moon,
or as it left the moon, that instant would be seen by all
observers of the moon wherever they might be located. All
observers could then measure angles of their position in

Pursuit 4

regard to the moon, or any chosen marker star, and

discrepancies between the positions could be used to measure
longitude.
Hapgood 7 describes efforts by the Spanish to use this
method to find the longitude of Mexico City. In 1541 they
had two moon eclipses, with observers in both Toledo in
Spain and in Mexico City. Unfortunately, their calculations
were total failures to an error of 1450 miles. Quite obviously,
the Spanish group had no idea how to accomplish what they
were trying to do.
What I am about to say here is getting ahead of myself, but
it fits better here than "later. After my theory was nearly complete, I asked the help of experts in solving the final problems.
One man I contacted, Avery Johnson, was also working on
this problem. His theory required two widely separated
observers to time the exact instant the earth's shadow left the
moon at the end of an eclipse. Both observers would then
measure compass direction and elevation of the moon. Triangulation would then be used to calculate"longitude. On Oct.
6, 1987, the United States had a partial eclipse, so we both
took readings. Unfortunately, this didn't have the earth's full
shadow touch the moon, but only the penumbra, so that the
shadow was too weak to see the exact instant it left. As an
alternative, we both used the official time of maximum
eclipse. Avery's calculations came out to about one degree error. My compass readings might have been off that far, but
it is difficult to read a compass precisely in darkness.
So at least Avery's theory does, apparently, work correctly
but to prove it we need an eclipse with the earth's full shadow
touching the moon. Only then can we know if the earth's
shadow leaving the moon will catch an exact instant for widely separated observers. We can accept his method of triangulation as correct.
For this experiment it's very obvious these particular
SPaniards had little understanding of navigation. It's bad
enough to get an error of 1450 miles for the longitude of Mexico City, but Columbus himself was ignorant of how to find
even latitude. On his first voyage, he took readings on the
North Star, at Puerto" Gibara, and decided it's latitude was
42 nortl:1. It's true position is 21 06 r for an error of about
21!
This shocked me! I can eyeball latitude closer than that!
The North Star touches the horizon at the equator, and is
directly overhead at the North Pole, so at any place in between, one can just measure how high the North Star is above
the horizon. Half way between overhead and the horizon is
45 and almost anyone can estimate that angle correctly. So I
went outside and held up my ann at the angle I assumed to be
45 and noted that the North Star was a bit less than IA of the
distance from my arm to the horizon. I subtracted 10 to
estimate my own latitude at 35, then I got out my topograpical map to check my true position. My exact latitude was 37
.45 so that my error was under 3 degrees.
If I could eyeball latitude to within a 3 degree error, what
could I do with instruments? I cut the end from a cardboard
box, assuming it was machine cut and had a square end. Using a compass, I drew a quarter circle and measured half of
that to get my 45 0 line. Then I subdivided this into 5 degree
segments. A small weight was tied on a string and hung from
the top corner. (Figure I) I took this outside, and sighted
along the top toward the North Star. When the weight stopped swinging I pressed the string to the edge, and took it inside to make my reading. The string was closer to the 40
mark than it was to the 35 0 mark, so, because my true latiI,

First Quarter 1988

North Star

Figure 1. FIrst step toward Inventing the astrolabe.

tude was a bit under 38, that was just about as perfect as I
could expect from such a crude instrument.
The next step was obvious - build it with metal, calibrate
it carefully and see if I could improve my readings with a better instrument. I had two choices, I could extend this same
design and hang a pendulum from precision bearings, or I
could use a full disc suspended from chain links, to find the
true vertical, then have a movable pointer to use for aiming. I
chose the latter, because it might also perform some of the
functions of a compass. I didn't know if the compass was
known to the ancients, but a disc that's calibrated into 360
degrees can be used to follow a fixed course. At dawn, just as
the North Star loses visibility, one takes a final north reading.
By laying the disk flat, with the zero line pointing north, the
movable pointer can be used to set an exact course. By laying
the pointer at the selected degree reading all a helmsman
needed to do would be to steer in the direction of the pointer.
After I completed my instrument I went to my books for
comparison. BINGO! I had just "invented" the astrolabe!
My instrument was essentially the same as surviving examples
of astrolabes. If I had followed my original plan of the string
hanging from a quarter circle I would have "invented" a quadrant. Either instrument serves the same function, and both
work astonishingly well. My readings are far more accurate
than I expected, usually to within a YI degree.
While I was solving the problems of what instruments to
"invent," I was also observing the sky. It rapidly became obvious that I was dealing with three motions, all based on the
360-degree circle. First, there is the orbit of the earth around
the sun, which moves 360 degrees in 365 'A days. Next, there
is the orbit of the moon around the earth, which is 360
degrees in 29.5 days. Finally, there is the rotation of the earth,
which is 360 degrees in 24 hours. All my calculations are based on these standard movements.

First Quarter 1988

But why do we use 360 degrees in a circle'? Why not 100'?

Or some other figure? The answer became clear with a bit of
logic. The 360 degree circle is based on the orbit of the earth
around the sun. Each night at a given time, the stars are one
degree west of their position the night before (or almost one
degree). With 365!1.1 days in a year, the error is under 2070,
and the eye can't see that close. So the degree is equivalent to
how far the stars move each night. But 365!1.1 is almost impossible to use in calculations, while 360 is one of the easiest
to calculate. Every ~Ie number from 1 to IO except 7,
divides into 360, leaving a whole number remainder. This
ease of calculation would generally, more than offset any lost
of accuracy.
I noticed some other supporting data for this idea. Several
ancient calendars use a 360-day year, with the extra 5 1,4 days
added as intercalary days outside the 'normal' year. At first,
this is a shocking idea. What can be more absurd than time
outside the year'? If this had only been found in one nation we
could dismiss it as ignorance of the true length of the year.
But I had found this 360-day calendar in use in Egypt, India,
Mexico, and Peru, all of them very advanced cultures, and
I'm sure there were others as well.
Since this 360-day year was widely used, they had to have a
very good reason for doing it. What segment of a society, that
had political clout, would have a motive for using a 360-day
year? Not farmers! Yet, many believe that farmers invented
the idea of a calendar. In every society, food is the most important commodity. Life itself depends on planting and harvesting at the optimum time. If planting is done too early, the
seeds will sprout, and then a late frost will kill them. Planted
too late, and a fall frost will kill them before the crop ripens.
In warmer climates there is the same problem with the wetdry cycle. So for every culture, an accurate calendar means
food, not starvation.
A 36O-day year would be catastrophic for agriculture. In
less than a decade the planting time would be off so far as to
have a total crop failure. So I feel it definitely wasn't the
farmers who invented a 36O-day year. The usual idea is that
this is 12 months of 30 days. But the moon cycle is not 30
days, it's actually 29.5 days. That gives a 354-day year, which
is an even bigger error.
So what other segment of society is there with enough clout
to control the calendar'? And would this group have a motive
for a 360-day year'? Yes, the merchants. And their motive
would be to allow them to use the 360-day year to fit the 360
degrees in the circle for navigation. Each night, the stars
move exactly one degree from their position of the night
before, so that on any given night of the year a certain key
star will be exactly at the zenith at a fixed time. The extra 5!1.1
intercalary days each year will correct the discrepancy and
bring star time back into cycle with calendar time.
I had just finished working out ihis line of logic, when my
. copy of Ancient Celtic America arrived. Upon reading this, I
found that Rollin Gillespie had independently reached this
same conclusion. This was heartening for me. In fact, he took
it a step farther, in assuming the small circle we use as the
degree symbol is actually to indicate the sun's, or one day's
movement in the sky.
Gillespie added something I didn't know. I had known for
years that ways for predicting eclipses were known for at least
5000 years. As far back as the Sumerians, and perhaps farther
back in time the astronomers could predict eclipses of both
sun and moon. What I didn't know is that there is a fixed cycle, known as the Saros. Every 54 years, 34 days, any eclipse

Pursuit 5

will repeat itself at the same place and time of day. Anyone
who has a chart of the Saros positions for our Sun and
Moon, can predict eclipses for any time in the future, or even
check those in the past. 8
Thus, knowing that such charts have been kept as far back
as history has been recorded, I knew we had the basis for
following my navigation theory. Charts such as the Saroo;
charts, would have all the base data a navigator would need.
He could just copy as much information as he needed and
carry it along on his voyages.
Both Gillespie and Johnson independently realized that
lunar eclipses can be used to find longitude. Their methodo;
worked out when they actually put them to the test. Possibly
the Piri Re'is map could have been made by using this eclipo;e
method. But for navigational purposes, it's useleso;, since
eclipses are such rare events. A navigator, therefore, needs a
method that works on a regular basis. But does such a
method exist?
After much observation and thought, I realized that it '<;
possible to use the movement of the moon in relation to fixed
stars. The moon moves 360 degrees in' 29.5 days. That's 12.2
degrees in 24 hours, or 0.508 degree per hour. Gillespie gave
another important clue that I didn't know before reading his
information. The diameter of the full moon is almost exactly
0.5 degree. When I saw that, another piece of the puzzle
seemingly fell into place. The length oj the hour was hosed on

the amount oj time it takes the moon 10 move a distance

equal to it's own diameter, rounded off to tit exactly into the
day.
In all probability, someone was watching the moon one
night, while a bright star was directly in its path. It probably
was a crescent moon, since the full moon is so bright it
obscures all but the brightest stars. As the moon passed in
front of the star, it disappeared from view. An hour later, it
emerged from the other side of the moon. This would arouo;c
curiosity, so the viewer would watch for it to occur again.
This might have been something the person couldn't explain,
which would arouse so much interest that this observer might
have decided to use this as a major base unit of time.
We know the Earth rotates 360 degrees in 24 hours, or 15
degrees per hour. That means one degree of movement in
four minutes. Could this be combined with movement of the
moon, to find an absolute time, without a chronometer?
After several efforts to determine this failed, I finally found
one that did work.
As a general rule, the sky becomes dark enough to see stars
about one hour after sunset. To measure an interval this
short, an ordinary hourglass is accurate enough. Even if it io;
off by a few seconds isn't important. So, to use this method.
our hypothetical navigator uses his hourglass to measure one
hour after sunset. All subsequent time checks are taken
directly from the star's positions. Any bright star can be used
as a marker star, when it's directly overhead, or at zenith.
Starting one hour after sunset on their new year's day, the
zenith star is noted. Then, whatever star is at zenith at the
same time, the following night the new zenith star will be one
degree away from the previous zenith star. Each 'iubsequent
night a similar such observation is made, and each degree is
identified by the new chosen marker star.
.
To find the zenith, a meridian line is required, but it's easy
to build: A string is tied to some solid object, such as a tree,
or a stake driven into the ground. The observer stands at this
stake, directing an assistant who moves the other end of the
line to the north. When the line points exactly toward the
North Star, a second stake is driven, with the line tied and anPursuit 6

chored tight. Then a plumb bob is hung from the line. By lying face upward directly under the plumb bob, an observer
can check for accuracy by noticing if the north end of the line
is touching the North Star, while his or her eye is directly
under the plumb bob. If not, adjustments must be made until
this occurs. When the line runs exactly north, the observer
has a meridian line. All stars "touching" this line at the same
time, are exactly on this same meridian, without regard to
how far north or south they are. By using this, any star in the
sky can be used as a marker star.
Our navigator needs a home base for his base figures for all
calculations. Our culture uses Greenwich, England for its
home base, so, for purposes of discussion, our hypothetical
home base will be called "Greenwich," in quotes, without
regard to where it may actually be located. The Saros would
be calculated on the basis of "Greenwich" observations. By
carrying these figures on his voyages, our navigator could
compare his local data with "Greenwich" data as the basis
for finding his longitude.
The first thing we need is local time, and this is taken
directly from the stars. Since the earth rotates, and sunset
time is the basis for calculation, the local time will be the same
everywhere. For every night of the year, a different marker
star will be at the zenith an hour after sunset, and each will be
nearly one degree apart. Since the circle is 360 degrees and the
year 365 v.. days, it won't be exactly one degree, so corrections
must be made. Also, since time of sunset is variable with
latitude, this needs to be addressed as well. Going into summer, each sunset is later and, likewise, going into winter, each
sunset is earlier. This discrepancy increases the farther north
you go, so all these variables must enter into the calculation.
And, as long as this is being done anyway, the extra 5 v.. days
can be added into the formula while we are at it. But since all
this occurs on a regular basis it's no obstacle. It adds to tht:
difficulty, but a fixed, easy formula can be worked out to
make all these corrections with only a few calculations.
There are enough bright stars to assign one to every degree
of the circle, but if the navigator couldn't memorize 360 stars,
he could select any longer interval equivalent to 5 degrees, \0
degrees or whatever, then estimate the shorter intervals in between. Once he times the first hour after sunset on his hourglass, he could then lie under his meridian line, note which
marker star is touching the line and get his exact time all
through the night. Since the earth moves one degree every
four minutes, his precise time accuracy would be as good as
his skill at seeing which star is touching the meridian line at
any given moment. If he could see stars one degree apart, his
time would be within four minutes accuracy. Since the.
moon's diameter is 0.5 degree, if he could see stars as far
apart as the moon's diameter, he would have time to within
two minutes accuracy. A skilled observer might get his accuracy to within seconds.
He could improve accuracy by avoiding the hourglass entirely. He could go directly to his "Greenwich" chart and
note the key marker star for that date, then lie under the
meridian line until that star touched it, at which time he
would star his observations. It's important to keep one thing
in mind; while latitude will distort most measurements, the
zenith is the one constant thing. No matter where you are on
the earth, the stars touching the meridian line at the same
time, are always exactly overhead. Moving toward, or away
from the meridian line, stars above the equator move faster,
and stars toward the poles move slower. So this line is useless
for anything but the zenith. But at the zenith, everything is
exact, so that must form the basis for all observations.

First Quarter 1988

Above: Use cross stalT by placing one end under eye, and use
pins to mark one degree spacing.
Lell: Astrolabe and cross stalT.

~,

small pins v..

degree apart

Large pins 1 degree apart

FIgure 1. Use of cross staff to measure conjunction between tbe moon and a
chosen marker star. The marker star is set above whichever pin fils die moon
being on the right edge of small pins. Because Ught is dim, tbe star needs a big
pin to be visible. If light is too dim to see the pin, it can be put over tbe star, to
block it's light, and still get the star on the same pin for each observation. The
small pins can be seen against the moon, and the smaller they are, the better accuracy is possible. It takes 30 minutes for die edge of the moon to move from
.
one small pin to die next.

By using the marker stars crossing the meridian line, our

navigator gets his local time as exactly as his skill ~llows. Next
he must find "Greenwich" time, and the discrepancy is his
longitude at the rate of one degree longitude for every four
minutes of difference between his local time and
"Greenwich" time. After months of observation, I found I
could use the conjunction between the moon and marker
'itars. Most everything in the sky moves from east to west, due
to rotation of the earth, but the moon moves west to east at a
rate almost exactly equal to it's own diameter in one hour. If
a chosen marker star is very near the moon, the conjunction is
easy to observe. But here we get into a problem. The moon is
so bright, it "washes out" all but the brightest stars. So we
must use a new star with enough distance from the moon to
enable it to be seen.
At first I tried to use my meridian line with stars north or
~ouLh of the moon. This was a total failure. Though such
First Quarter 1988

In actual use, the moon is half covered, so

pin is touching edge of moon.

conjunctions occur with enough regularity to be useful, this is

almost never at the zenith. As stars move toward or away
from the zenith, those toward the equator move a greater distance than those toward the poles, so the meridian line is useless away from the zenith. If a star is more than 2 degrees
north or south of the moon, this is so great that measurements are useless. I finally realized that I had to use stars
directly in the moon's path.
This required a cross staff. (Figure 2 and photos) One end
of the staff is placed on the cheek directly under the eye. This
puts the crossarm at exactly the same distance from the eye
for every observation. To calibrate my cross staff, I measured
off 5/8ths inch intervals, and drove nails at the marks. The
final segment uses small pins at V-! this distance. My intention
was Lo calibrate this at one degree between the big nails, and
II.. degree between pins. Since the moon is supposed to be Vz
degree diameter, I put the arm at a distance from my eye, so
Pursuit 7

the moon would fit exactly between two of the pins.

But on using this, my observations didn't come out accorciing to calculations. After several days of bad readings I
thought of another way to calibrate it. I'd use the horizon for
my calibration, since that's always 360 degrees. We have a
north-south road going past my home [a convenient, modern
advantage] with official survey markers at both ends, so I
know that was exactly on a correct direction. An east-west
road crosses this at right angles. Placing a stand at the
intersection to hold the cross staff steady I took readings for
90 degrees of the horizon, going from west to nonh, then
back to west again. I kept sliding the crossarm back and forth
until it repeatedly gave me 90 0 for this reading. When I consistently got 90 0 for this, I rounded the full circle of 360 0 for
several times, and when this came out to be exact for several
readings, I knew my arm position was right. I marked this
position on the staff, for one degree readings between pins.
Next, this was repeated by sliding the crossarm closer to my
eye to get two degrees between pins. The crossarm was then
measured at intervals and marked.
When I tried this on the moon, it measured at 0.7 degree
instead of 0.5 as it should do. After discussing this anomaly
with friends, I learned they got the same result. After kicking
this around between several people we finally decided this is
due to optical propenies of the human eye. As the pupil enlarges in dim light, we get a double image falling on the
retina. This not only tells why an image is larger in the dark,
but also why it blurs. At least this is an explanation that seems
to fit observations. (If any reader has a better explanation,
I'm certainly open to learn their correction or comment.)
At least with this new calibration my observations came
out exactly as predicted by my calculations. Starlight is dim,
so big nails are needed to mark the chosen star for observation. In case of a thin crescent moon, when stars are easiest to
see, the natural light is often too dim to see the pins. In such a
case, a big pin can be put over the star, to blot out it's light,
and even if you can't see the pin, you know it's on the star.
Then the small pins are used on the moon. It's alway bright
enough to see the pins, and the smaller these are, the more accurate the reading. With these pins at Y4 degree spacing, it
takes almost exactly 30 minutes for the moon to move between pins, just as calculations predicted. (Always use the
bright edge of the moon to be consistent.)
My own vision is weakening with age, and it's more obvious in the dark. But I found no difficulty catching time to
within 4 minutes. If the bright edge of the moon has even a
thin sliver of light showing behind a pin, it's easy to see this.
The moon is in conjunction with the marker star at the exact
instant this last sliver of light blinks out. With each pin giving
30-minute segments, if you can see half the space between
pins, you are on a IS-minute accuracy. If you can see V! spacing between pins, you are on IO-minute accuracy. Even with
bad eyesight, I consistently caught four minutes. Since four
minutes is one degree, that gives me my longitude within one
degree error. Someone with eyes that are better than mine,
could easily get it to a half degee, and with a more precise
cross staff the estimate could be cut to half that.
So our navigator would use the cross staff to catch the time
of conjunction between moon and his chosen marker star.
His "Greenwich" chart would list the time for this conjunction, and it wouldn't need to be an exact conjunction, it could
be any distance up to the limit of pins on the crossarm. He
could say, for example, "Five degrees east of the moon occurs at 1:15 a.m." At the point his cross staff measures the
five degrees, he lies under his meridian line a.nd observes his
Pursuit 8

Marker
star

FIgure 3. Exaggerated dnwing to show parallax problem. If star Is

aactIy In line with the moon to aD observer at the zenith, aD observer
east of the zenith will see the star as east of the moon, aDd aD

observer west of the zenith will see it as west of the moon.

local star time. The discrepancy is his longitude.

If he is at a different latitude, he uses a different marker
star with the moon, his meridian line tells him which stars are
on the same meridian. If he can't see the star at 1:15 a.m.,
say, because clouds obscure it, he adds the appropriate correction. At 1:45 a.m;, the same star will be 4.5 degrees from
the moon. All that's needed are the base figures and, then,
the corrections are easy.
Now we faceone final obstacle; parallax! And this is a big
one. (Figure 3) If a marker star is exactly in line with the
moon for an observer at the zenith, another observer to the
east will see the star as east of the moon, and a third to the
west will see it as west of the moon. Realizing parallax exists is
. no problem, even children have observed this. Any observer
with the mental capacity to reason his way this far, will
automatically know he or she must correct for parallax. But
how much? And what kind of observation must be made to
arrive at the right formula?
After kicking around the problem for nearly a year, I had
several ideas on how to observe parallax, but all my observations failed to give results. It may not be possible to make observations in one position, that will give reliable results. But at
First Quarter 1988

least a few who are skilled in math, were able to work backwards from the size of the moon, and its distance from the
earth, to tell me how much correction must be made. If I understand the figures correctly, it's a fairly simple correction to
make.
There will be no parallax at the zenith, and it's greatest at
the horizon. It reaches the maximum on the equator, and is
zero at the poles, so the amount of correction is reduced
toward a polar latitude. For example, an observer at latitude
of 45 would use exactly half the correction needed on the
equator. For observers on the equator, with the moon's path
following the equator, the maximum correction needed is
0.09 degree correction for each degree the moon is away from
the zenith. Zero correction with the moon overhead, and 90
for the horizon. So you just measure moon position to know
how much correction to use, and multiply that reading by
0.09 to make the correction. For example, if the moon is 30
from the zenith, the parallax correction is 2.7 degrees.
Correcting parallax is, possibly, the only remaining obstacle here. All other parts do check out by actual observation.
This explanation is designed for use on land, but it will still
work on a ship, though with less accuracy. A meridian line
gives a perfect mark for the zenith, but even on a wave-tossed
ship, a good observer knows what is directly overhead. Using
an astrolabe and cross staff gives the best results if they are
stable, but it's still possible for a skilled observer to call his
mark at the instant he's on target. And for a rough estimate.
he can go to his "Greenwich" chart to see how high the moon
is above the horizon for a particular conjunction, and then
note his present moon position, thus giving him at least a ballpark estimate. even without instruments.
For example, if the "Greenwich" conjunction point has
the moon overhead, and our navigator sees this star moving
into position with the moon halfway to the horizon, he knows
even without instruments, that his longitude is near 45.
For mapping purposes, accuracy can be increased by
averaging. By taking multiple readings the extremes cancel
out. If one reading is high, another will be low. All things
considered, I see no serious obstacles in getting results as
good as the Piri Re'is map. Now, as to the age in which this
was done, we can only guess. It might have been between
2000-3000 years ago. Or it might have been in the Pleistocene
period, over 10,000 years ago. This question cannot be resolv
ed at this time.
And let's not neglect other methods such as using moon
eclipses. Gillespie and Johnson have both worked out correct
methods for using this to find longitude. In fact, this method
can be used to collect data for parallax corrections. At the instant when the earth's shadow is seen to leave the moon, all
observers also note the distance between the moon and a key
marker star. On comparing these distances later, the correction for parallax will become clear. So no matter how complex this may become, it still is possible to use the sky to lind
longitude. Those ancient people had good minds. If I can find
this method, those ancient people could find it just as I did.
But did they? We have no direct proof, but there is external
support. For one thing, these observations lead to the source
of the 360 degree circle, and the length of the hour. My observations led me to "invent" the astrolabe and cross staff.
both instruments known to be used by ancients. And in using
them, I had a lot of ideas on how to "improve" those instruments. One such example, was that I thought to use a grid
instead of a cross staff, so that I could use marker stars to
north or south of the moon, as well as those in line with it.
This grid failed miserably! Accurate observations demand
First Quarter 1988

points be kept at an exact distance from the eye. It proved impossible to make a grid that kept all points the same distance.
At the most, I could get two points the same, but other points
were closer or farther away.
So all my "improved" ideas failed to work. The ones that
did work, are the same ones used by the ancients. So when I
reached the same end results, it seems obvious that I followed
the same path of logic that produced those results in earlier
ages.
Another bit of supporting evidence is already familiar to
most readers of PURSUIT. In 1900, an ancient shipwreck
was discovered off the coast of Antikithera. It turned out to
be a Greek ship, of the first century B.C. Among the objects
recovered was a corroded mass of bronze. This sat in storage
until 1975, when X-ray studies revealed it to be a complex box
of gears. By counting teeth, it was possible to build a
workable replica. Studying this revealed it was a calculator
designed to show positions of sun, moon, and a few key stars.
Simply by turning a crank once for each day, the gears would
move dials to give readouts for past or future. Question: what
possible use could there be for such an instrument aboard a
ship, except with such a method as described here? Would
longitude be needed in the Mediterranean? Or did that ship
venture out into the Atlantic?
None of this is proof that advanced navigation was known.
but it does prove that longitude could be found by using the
sky. If I did it. then others could also have done it. I feel I did
"invent" (he same instruments used by the ancients, and my
"improved" instruments all failed to work. So I did follow
the same path of logic they used. We have the Antikithera
mechanism, to indicate that star positions were used for
navigation, and not just for latitude, either. Latitude means
only the North Star. And we have the Piri Re'is map to prove
that both latitude and longitude were known, usually to less
than a 50-mile error. How long these were used can only be
estimated.
A~ Mark Twain once said "Sometimes circumstantial
evidence can be very strong ... such as when you find a trout in
your milk." Well, a trout in milk isn't absolute proof that someone dipped water out of a river to dilute the milk, but no
rational person would argue that fish come out of cows. In
the same sense, I have no proof that longitude was found
reading by the stars and used in navigation, but, \'ll guess the
smart money bets that way! Should you feel otherwise, plea~e
come around and talk with me. I'd like to discuss your buying
some desert land. I'll give you a real bargain, only $10,000
per acre!
REFERENCES
I. Hansen, Evan, "Ancient Mines in America," PURSUIT, Vol. 18,
No.4,1985.
2. Hapgood, Charles, Maps 0/ the Ancient Sea Kings, Chilton
Books, Phila., PA, 1966.
3. Hansen, Evan, "Geological Evidences of Noah's Rood," PURSUIT, Vol. 16, Nos. 3 & 4, 1983.
4. Ronan, Colin, Lost Discoveries, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY,
1973, chapter 3.
5. McGlone, W., and Leonard P., Ancient Celtic America, Panorama Books, 1986.
6. Guffey, S.J., "Celtic Cave Drawings in Colorado?", PURSUIT,
Vol. 19, No.3, 1986.
7. See footnote #2, above, page 41.
8. See footnote #5, above, page 246.

Pursuit 9

The UFO Impact.

by Jean-Pierre Petit

Part I of a IV-Part Series

How to Get Involved in UFO Research
In 1965 I was involved, as a senior researcher, in a MHD
(magnetohydrodynamic) research project in France. I worked in the Insitut de Mecanique des Fluides de Marseille, in the
south of France. The French CEA(Commissariat de l'Energie
Atomique)tried to operate MHD converters. Such machines
were supposed, if successful, to convert the energy of hot
temperature nuclear reactors into electricity, with high overall
efficiency, through a closed loop. Unfortunately, these MHD
converters appeared to be very unstable and the electrothermal instability (Velikhov instability) severely reduced their
conversion efficiency. Then the CEA gave some money to the
Institute of Marseille in order to try to simulate the conversion process in our ."shock tunnels." They were shortduration wind tunnels giving an atmospheric pressure, supersonic argon flow at lO,()()()OK. At such a temperature this gas
becomes a highly conducting plasma (more than 3,000 mhos
per meter). Thereby, we could convert the kinetic energy of
the flow, running at 1,500 miles per second along the tube. In
1966 we operated a small, linear Faraday convertor producing several megawatts of good electrical energy (lasting some
hundred microseconds, to be precise). In the United States
Bert Zauderder, at AVCO, used the same kind of MHDequipped shock-wind tunnel.
Unfortunately, the gas temperature was too high for
steady-state industrial applications. We could just use it for
simulation. It was convenient only for short duration experiments. But similar pulsed-power plants are presently
developed in California's Lawrence Livermore Laboratory to
feed some sort of "starwar" space-baule gadget.
When converting the kinetic energy of the working fluid into electricity, the gas was greatly slowed down and it created a
strong stationary shock wave in this constant-area wind tunnel.

Many years later, in 1975, after the occidental nations had

given up all MHD activities, I remembered these experiments
and said to myself: "If we were able to produce strong shock
waves in a constant-section channel, just by electromagnetic
forces, we should be able to cancel a 'natural' shock, due to
the presence of an obstacle in a supersonic flow, just using
Lorentz forces. in the opposite way."
It seemed good. At (he time I did not realize, doing this,
how I would become involved in the UFO problem. Nevertheless, the connection quickly became evident. Witnesses
reported about UFOs with a tremendous velocity, cruising
silently and close to the ground.
This new flight concept was presented in December 1975 in
the French Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences de
Paris in a four-page notice, and the press reported about it.
At this time I had shi fted to theoretical astrophysics, galacti~
dynamics and so on, and I belonged to the observatory of
Marseille. Thus, there was no possible way for me to do atmospheric pressure gas experiments. A friend of mine,
Maurice Viton, an astronomer, belonged to the LAS(Laboratoire d'Aslronomie Spatiale) and he had seen five UFOs very
clearly near Avignon several years earlier.

"Truncated Rilys"

Fig. 2 High Frequency Ionization Effect

Fig. I MHD Linear Converler

Pursuit 10

The First Experiments

We decided to prepare some experiments towards two
directions: low pressure gases and hydraulic simulations. The
scientific community was so strongly against such investigations that Viton and I decided to work secretly in a remote
area of the LAS - the key word being "covert."
We got several scientific results, in spite of very uncomfortable working conditions. First, we got pictures corresponding to plasma patterns due to an electrical discharge around
various bodies, with a magnetic field present. We showed, for
an example, that the ionization due to high frequencies
created high-frequency straight sparks very similar to socalled "truncated rays." We made splendid color pictures of
them.

First Quarter 1988

Teflon

Then I remembered one could simulate shock waves, using

free surface water no'ws (all students who attended aeronautical schools are familiar with this). We added electromagnetic
forces, using a one tesla magnetic field, as produced by heavy
coils and carbon electrodes connected to a cell. On the first
atlempt the front wave was cancelled. And, under certain
conditions, the Lorentz forces could cancel the turbulent
wake, too. It was a good beginning.
The Birth of Gepan
Claude Poher, who ran a department in the French CNES
(Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) in Toulouse, visited us
and became very interested in our research. He had been interested in UFOs for a long time. At the same time (the end of
1976) the French IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la
Defense Nationale) recommended the creation of an official
group devoted to the UFO study. This service was created in
1977 as a part of CNES, and Claude Poher, was put in charge
of it.
Unfortunately, Poher talked to people about our experimental research in the LAS, but worse, he wrote an official
letter to CNRS about it.
When the director of this laboratory found out what was
going on in the basement of the building he ordered Viton to
stop the activity immediately. As for me, I belonged to the
observatory of Marseille as a member of the French CNRS
(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). CNRS is a
large organization of some 30,000 researchers who pays people scatlered throughout many different universities and state
laboratories. It was then that I started to get into trouble, too,
with the officials in Paris.
'
We had to move the equipment elsewhere. Fortunately, the
director of the observatory of Marseille, the fair and honest
Georgelin, offered to shelter this research in a recess of that
building in complete secrecy. Then we shifted from one niche
to another one. During the transfer I had a serious accident.
A heavy magnet broke my spine and I had to spend six
months in a hospital. Viton continued the work alone, part
time and with difficulty. Of course, it was out of question for
me to maintain any contact with the chief of GEPAN,
Poher, who terribly underestimated the opposition of the
French scientific community to the UFO problem.
During the year 1977 Viton finished the work on our simulation device and the reader may find the results in my book,
entitled The Silent Barrier published by William Kauffman
Editions (95 First Street Los Altos, California 94022). These
results were later presented for the 8th international MHO
meeting, held in Moscow in 1983, but the book is a more
popular presentation for the nonspecialist.
Poher gave up as Director of GEPAN during the summer
of 1977 and his interest in UFOs died at the same time. He
was not a scientist. He believed that the mission of GEPAN
was to stimulate real scientific research into UFOs (we will see
later that the reality was somewhat different). From this point
of view, this service was nothing but an empty box. Poher
decided to leave his directorship of the service to his righthand man, Alain Esterle, an American with a PhD in statistics.
At the end of '77 Viton endured attacks in his own lab and
was obliged to give up. My stay in the hospital ended, but I
could not continue the research alon!:, so I got in touch with
Alain Esterle, now the new head of GEPAN. I suggested we
get involved in experimental research in gases. Esterle asked
me to write a report containing all my basic ideas about MHO
propulsion, and I accepted. I enclosed a lot of theoretical

First Quarter 1988

~"""'-I:;;:::::'--=::;:;;"--.- Microwave
Wave Guide (2.45 GHZ)

Coil (5000 Gauss)

Fig. 3 The Toulouse

Experimenl

work and computational results thilt I had derived during my

stay in the hospital, with a small, pocket Texas Instrument
calculator, only recently available in France at that time.
But, a few months later, I discovered that GEPAN had
tried to develop an experimental research project with the army at CERT (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherche Technique) in
Toulouse. It was a large laboratory with many departments.
The project included a cold subsonic wind tunnel, a large
5000 gauss magnet and a huge microwave generator (750 kW
peak power!). A contract was signed and several researchers
were already at work preparing the experiment. But, nobody
had told me that. It was crazy.
A Real Mess
I gave up GEPAN and felt very disappointed. To tell the
truth, they had chosen a peculiar experiment in my report in
which I suggested a way to eliminate the turbulent wake
beside a cylinder, using Lorentz forces. It was the extension to
gases of the water experiment that Viton and I had done one
year earlier. Since cold air is a very poor electrical conductor I
had suggested, in the report, to ionize it with microwaves, recommending a pulsed 2.45 GHZ generator (see the old US
RB-47 affair, in 1957, I believe). The people of GEPAN asked the department of microwave studies, CERMO (Centre
d'Etude et de Recherche sur les Micro Ondes) in Toulouse, to
build the generator. They made quite a big one. The peak
power was close to one megawatt, and it was expensive.
Unfortunately, they injected microwaves from the wall of
the wind tunnel, through a tenon window, and as any real
scientist knows, when microwaves ionize a gas, the ionized
layer behaves like an absorber. They could not ionize deeper
thana few millimeters. They did not find any solution and so,
they simply gave up.
If I had been in charge of this project I would have done
the job successfully. In fact, the ionization had to be confined
close to the wall of the object such that the best way was to
use the cylinder as a radiating wave guide. In such a condition
one would have created a thin ionized layer exactly where it
should be, i.e., close to the wall, in the boundary layer. But
CNES and the military had decided to keep me away.

Pursuit 11

We knew all that one year later when an engineer of CNES,

completely disgusted by this affair, got th~ final report about
all this mess and sent it to us. I gave it "to the press, who
reported about it and it became a scandal. Esterle was moved
to another service. The Director General of CNES asked him
to write a negative final report about GEPAN's activities. But
it appeared difficult to manage that for I could have contested it immediately in the press. They preferred to reduce
GEPAN to almost nothing. Since 1983, the year of the scandal, GEPAN consists of only two persons: a female secretary
and a technician named Velasco, with a very poor technical
background.
The officials of CNES continued to pretend that the service
was still in charge regarding the UFO problem, but it was
nothing but a bad joke.
Last summer in Quebec, I met a man named Roger
Lesgard. In 1977 he was the secretary general of CNES and I
suddenly remembered he was the executive administrator who
created GEPAN in 1977. Later, he was the director of SEP
company, which builds the propellents of Ariane rockets. He
was fired in "1986 for political reasons.
He did not recognize me and I asked him why CNES decided to create GEPAN. Since he believed I was a "classical"
sCientist he replied ingenuously:
The army and CNES were furious about all the noise made
about UFOs. Then we created GEPAN to cool and extinguish the problem and it worked perfectly.
Since the summer of 1987 we know what GEPAN really
was: wind. I give these details to clear up definitively this question for the American people. I admit this was unfortunately,
not a very glamorous part of our national scientific history.
The Trans en -Provence Affair
During the years, from 1977 to 1983 GEPAN published a
dozen small, yellow reports. Most of them are totally uninteresting, but the last one was completely different.
When Poher was in charge of the service, investigations of
UFO landing sites were very primitive. When Esterle became
the head I suggested to him that he do more refined analyses,
including biologic analysis of grass samples.
In 1981 an old man named Nicolai, retired, living in a
house with his wife in the village of Trans-en-Provence, saw
a strange metallic "cheese box" land in his garden with 1i loud
noise. It stayed a minute and took off very quickly. He told
his wife about it, who told the story to her neighbor, whose"
husband was a policeman. Then the officer came and picked
some samples of grass in and out of the track area. These
samples were sent to GEPAN. Fortunately, the officer picked
up some soil, too, so that the plants did not die. These
samples were sent 39 days later to a biologist, Michael
Bounias, of the INRA (lnstitut National de la Recherche
Argonomique), in Avignon. Also by chance, Bounias was
one of the best specialists in plant traumatology. He did a
very sophisticated analysis, which revealed sorlie very important differences among the samples. Caroten, pheophytine,
the chlorophylls A and B, and ~II the pigments of the sample
plant were seriously altered by up to 80070. He asked for a
systematic study of the landing site. Additional samples were
picked ten days later. A systematic biochemical study of the
site revealed that the pigment distribution changed slightly
from the center of the UFO landing area to, say, ten meters
away. The curve was uniform (the correlation coefficient was
better than .996).
Bounias showed that this phenomenon could be due to the
action of radiation. In effect, the impact on grass followed a
Pursuit 12

law like IIr2. No known natural process was found able to"
produce such effect on grass. This was interesting because for
a simple witness, just observing the landing site, the aspect
and color of the grass were unchanged. This method showed
that sophisticated information could be picked up from landing area data. The biochemical alterations normalized after
six months.
Bounias suggested to try to reproduce such alterations
with pulsed microwave irradiation on grass. He sent a
research plan to GEPAN, but Velasco did not answer. At
that same time (1983) GEPAN was already being reduced to
almost nothing.
We know that other landings occurred in France, but
Bounias, in spite of his excellent work about the Trans-en
P.rovence affair, was kept away. Just one year later a UFO
stood 20 minutes in the garden of a researcher, in northern
France. But, the grass, and flower samples were ruined. The
policemen sent samples to a biology laboratory in Toulouse,
but they cut the stalks too short and packed the samples in
plastic bags. When the grass "samples arrived at the
laboratory, they were completely rotten.
Dead Men Don't Talk
In 1977 CNES created both GEPAN, itself.. and a panel
whose duty it was to check GEPAN's work. It was composed
of seven officials and scientists, and we know their names.
From 1977 to 1981 the members of the panel met ten times,
but after 1981 there were no more meetings. Some members
of the panel agreed to such an easy end. From the beginning
they were against UFO investigations. Two of them, the specialist of astronomy and the specialist of meteorology, asked
why there were no more meetings. They wrote several letters
to the Director General of the CNES, saying:
Does the GEPAN still exist? If so, what are its present activities in the last few years? If not, does CNES intend to
organize a final meeting. Will a final report, with a conclusion, be forthcoming from the panel?
Several letters were sent out. The last one was accompanied
by a letter from the head of the French meteorologic official
service. There was no reply. I think the answer came from
Lesgard, who told me last summer:
There will be no ~ore meetings. CNES considers it is
finished.They just let GEPAN die "naturally."
The Rouen Experiment
In 1983 a yOl,lng engineer named Bertrand Lebrun asked if
he could do his Ph.D. thesis under my scientific direction. I
predicted many difficulties for him but he insisted. Then he
attended fluid mechanics courses for one year. I invented a
theoretical approach in order to describe the shock-wave
cancellation process, based on the characteristic theory.
Together, we did preliminary work giving the orders of magnitude of 'the fluid and electromagnetic parameters. It was
well accepted by the fluid mechanics commission of Marseille
that gave the best possible mark to Lebrun. But, later they
refused to accept the subject. They said it was scientifically
correct but that the commission was not interested. I complained to the CNRS at the highest level. The Director
General gave us a two-year s~holarship for Lebrun. A small
amount of money made it possible to'buy two Macintosh computers and then we started to work hard.
As the student registration in the fluid-mechanics department grew, problems were created so that the Directors of
CNRS asked us to shift to the applied mathematics department, which we did. They said: "go ahead. When you have
good, solid results and publication material we will try to find
First Quarter 1988

A~on

2750 MIS
IO.ooooK

Coil!; (2 Tesls!;)

"ig. 4 The Rouen

Experiment

a better arrangement in this university."

In the same time the Directors of CNRS found a French
fluid mechanics laboratory, in Rouen, that had a convenient
hot-gas wind tunnel. Nothing but that good old shock tube we
used in the sixties. They accepted to try a shock cancellation
experiment if financial support could be found. Lebrun proposed to compute the experiment by numerical simulation.
The CEA gave a mountain of high-capacity condensators, in
order to produce the necessary two-teslas magnetic field and
the accelerating discharge in the gas. Finally, a costly, sophisticated image converter was given to us plus a $200,000 grant.
The Impact of a Political Change
Just when the contract was about to be signed in 1986, the
government changed. Then, too, the Directors of CNRS were
also immediately changed. The Director General of CNRS,
Papon, who helped us, was fired. The new director ignored
our scientific efforts. Similar changes in the army also caused
new difficulties. They said the grant would be cancelled at
once if I would pretend to get any official scientific position
in this affair. This was similar to the CNES affair six years
earlier. It was that or nothing, so I decided to accept. We
hoped that things could be changed later.
One night, at the end of 1986, Lebrun got his first real success, showing by numerical simulations that a shock-wave
system could be completely removed from around a thin
body imbedded in a supersonic gas flow. In February 1987 he
presented his Ph.D. thesis on this subject, in the applied
mathematics department. His scholarship was alinost complete.
In France we can get a gradation called "These d'Etat"
whose level is somewhat higher than the Ph.D. Lebrun asked
to be enrolled in the fluid mechanics department of Marseille,
but they refused again and he was obliged to find enrollment
at another university: Poitiers. His scholarship ended and I
searched actively. how possibly, to support him.
Since the summer of 1987 he was paid by the owner of a
French private company, acting as a sponsor, whose activities
had nothing to do with MHD. Our team had been completely
abandoned by the CNRS. Personally, I shifted to cosmology
and returned to the observatory of Marseille. But, and this
will be the matter of the third paper, the reader will see that I
did not give up on UFOs. Not at all. Lebrun finished his State
Thesis in December. He works on a VAX, that belongs to the
computing center of the University of Marseille.
The situation was so bad that we decided to give up Rouen.
Now they run it on their own. They said that the army was interested in the experiment and would help them getting
materials and financial support. But MHD is a sharp field. I
am not sure it will go in the right directiQn.

First Quarter 1988

As the reader probably knows, French politics encountered

some changes recently. The leftists have come back. Thus, the
general direction of the CNRS will be changed again. Similar
changes will certainly occur in the army, too.
Among the so-called French ufologists the evolution was
similar to other countries. Following the message of Jacques
Vallee, 1976, a part of them considered that UFOs definitely
belong to the paranormal world. The other part shifted
towards a so-called psychosociological interpretation of the
UFO phenomenon. For such people UFOs are definitively a
dream, a phantasm, some sort of an hallucination. Personally, I belong to what Americans call "nuts and bolts" men.
There are probably only a handful of us in France. In general,
French scientists vigorously ignore the UFO problem.
The next paper will concentrate on the scientific approach,
through fluid mechanics.
About the Author
Jean-Pierre Petit, Director of France's National Center for
Scientific Research, sent PURSUIT a cover letter that summarized his upcoming four-part series of articles. Here are excerpts from that letter.
"I was, personally, very impressed by the quality and content of the paper of R. Perry Collins entitled "UFO Intervention - The Possibility" published in PURSUIT Vol. 19, #2,
in 1986. I agree with it and would like to add some comments
of my own. First, may I present myself. I am 51, married,
with two children. My initial fields of interest" were aeronautics and space science and I graduated from our national
aerospace engineering school in 1961. Then I worked in a test
site devoted to powder-propelled missiles later launched from
French nuclear submarines. In 1965 I joined civilian research
and worked on magneto gas dynamic devices (MHD pulsed
generators). In 1974 I shifted towards astrophysics and cosmology. I presently belong to the Marseille Observatory.
I got interested and involved with UFOs in 1975 simply
through scientific interest. At the time I was thinking about
the possibility of operating external MHD propellors. MHD
acceleration has been known for a long time. We can say that
the first inventor was the great Michael Faraday himself...
It would take more than a simple paper to tell all that happened in France since 1975. In fact, it would deserve at least a
book. Briefly, the CNES (equivelent to N.A.S.A. in the U.S.)
created a service named GEPAN in 1977. It was devoted to
the official study of UFOs. But, rapidly, it appeared that this
small group's activities were only devoted to debunking (and
even self-debunking). They refused all serious technical work
with UFOs and did their best to anesthetize people (and perform a self-ansthesia, as well). From the beginning it seemed
to me that they were deathly afraid of the subject which R.
Perry Collins refers to in his article as cultural shock ...
By the way, I wrote a dozen popular books that have been
translated in ten countries including, in the United States, The
Advemures of Archibald Higgins and on the subject of
UFOs, The Silem Barrier.
~---Member George Andrews,
author of Extraterrestrials
Among Us, sent PURSUIT his excellent translation (from
French) of the article of Michael Bouineas' "Application of a
Research Program Concerning the Characterisation of Vegetable Traumatisms by studying Metabolic Irregularities after
a Phenomenon of Unknown Origin," published by OVNI
Presence, No. 31, 3rd Qtr., 1984.
The article was, we felt, too technical for use in PURSUIT
but was a major breakthrough in the study of chemical aftereffects on vegetation following a UFO's close contact with a
field of alfalfa on Jan. 8, 1981, in the Var region of France.

Pursuit 13

SrruatioD

Some IS minutes after stopping, the family

The MandrabWa UFO

In Western Aastralla

returned to the

and rapidly changed the

tire. They proceeded to the Mundrabilla

Motor Hotel in W.A.
A sample of the "soot/ash" found on and
in the car was collected 10 hours after the
event by a police forensic squad officer who
was at Ceduna police station on another matter. Results of the analysis are still awaited.
On 2S January, Channel 7 announced that its
experts said "analysis of black material on the
car reveals that it is mostly iron oxide consistent with residue from worn brake linings"
and that the almost perfect cut on the right
rear tire was probably caused by running a
considerable distance on the rim. This could
likewise explain the shaking and smoke. There

The front pages of many newspapers of the

The exact sequence of events from here is
21st of January reported provocative details very confused, but included:
of a family's alleged encounter with a UFO.
-The right rear tire blew out whilst they
The glowing object resembled a giant egg in
travelled at speed. Sean braked the car to a
an egg cup. It allegedly stopped their car and
halt.
left behind physical traces. Follow-up reports
-Mrs. Knowles placed her hand on the
gave details on other alleged witnesses. The
car's roof and felt a "spongy substance."
unidentified driver of a car with caravan
She retracted it after feeling the material.
travelling in the opposite direction to the
Immediately the back of her hand felt
Knowles family, reportedly swerved to avoid
warm for a few seconds, then the sensation
the object. Graham Henley, driving a truck
of heat faded.
IO-IS kIn ahead of the Knowles, saw in his
rear vision mirror, a bright white light hovering over the car's headlights. Another truck
driver, probably John De Jong, travelled
some distance behind the Knowles' car. There
was possibly one other unidentified truck
driver who may have first reported the incident to the Eucla police. Other reports came
from Alan and Tina Parkes, who saw a very
bright, greenish-bluish object stationary on
the horizon While driving from Mt. Gambier
to Melbourne on 16 Jan. Two separate tuna
boat crews reported sighting UFOs in the
Great Australian Bight.
The following details on the central
Knowles family sighting are derived from
preliminary reports compiled by Keith Basterfield and Ray Brooke of UFO Research
(South Australia) and kindly provided by
Vlad Godic of UFORA, and from media
sources. Ceduna police telephoned Ray Brooke
some 10 hours after the incident had occurSketch of the UFO drawn by Mn. Faye Knowles for Ceduna police after she crossed the
red, whereupon an interview with the family
NuUarbor PlaID.
was arranged for when they reached
Adelaide. Unfortunately, TV Channel 7 intercepted the family enroute and arranged an
-The family wound down the windows were also four slight indentations discovered
and a "greyish-black mist" came into the at the four comer points of the roof. It is
"exclusive" deal with them. After negotiations with the network, Keith and Ray were
possible, though yet to be conflflIled, that the
car.
able to informally talk with the Knowles,
-The sound of their voices changed in marks may have occurred when the family's
two suitcases strapped to the roof disapthough in a hectic atmosphere sandwiched bepitch and appeared to slow down.
tween TV studio interviews.
-They believed the object had landed on peared, presumably by being ripped off at
Mrs. Fay Knowles and sons Sean, Patrick
the roof of the car, although upon ques- high speed.
The UFOR(SA) investigators have em-.
and Wayne were travelling in a 1984 blue
tioning, they said they did not see anything
Ford Telstar from Perth, Western Australia
protruding front, rear or over the sides of phasized that "the physical evidence is not as
strong as the media have reported and caution
to Melbourne, Victoria. At a point some 40
the car.
is urged until technical reports are in." They
km west of Mundrabilla, Sean, the driver, saw
-A humming sound was heard.
concluded that the family appeared to be
what he at fIrSt took to be a truck's light ap-Sean
blacked out for a period.
down-to-earth people trying to cope with
proaching along the road from the E. It was
-They all became hysterical, shouting and some traumatic episode. Indications of a hoax
"jumping about a bit," disappeared, became
crying. Mrs. Knowles said she believed are minimal. At this date, the entire incident is
visible again and continued to approach their
they were going to die.
still open to a number of interpretations. Invehicle. Sean commented that it looked like a
"spaceship." It became bigger and brighter.
-They believed the car was lifted off the vestigations are continuing and a more detailThey kept driving towards it. It then disaproad. However, when asked if they had ed report is in preparation.
peared.
looked out and saw the car off the ground,
(Media sources include: "Daily Telegraph ..
The next thing they knew it was behind
they said they had not done so.
Sydney "Sun" and "Daily Minvr. " 21-22 Jan:
them. Sean accelerated the car in an attempt
-They reported the vehicle dropped to the "Sun-Herald" and "Sunday Telegraph," 24
to get away from it. Suddenly it was in front
ground and the tire burst.
Jan 88; and Channel 7 "Nightly News" and
again. At some stage, Sean did a U-turn and
-Their two dogs went "crazy."
"Newsworfd, .. various dates.)
travelled W for a while, then did another
Our thanJcs for the above repon to the
-They reported a smell like "dead bodies"
U-turn to resume the original E travel. It is
Australian Centre for UFO Studies (ACUFOS).
in the air.
not clear whether this was an attempt to dude
After a period of time, Sean stopped the PO Box 728, Lane Cove. NSW 2066
or follow the light. At another time, the light
was seen close to their vehicle and they swerv- car and they all got out to hide in adjacent Australia.
ed to miss it and nearly hit a car and caravan scrub. They reported the light/object remained in the vicinity of the car and then departed.
coming the other way.

Pursuit 14

First Quarter 1988

Oar Mayan Ancestors

by Maurice Chatelain
The chronology of ancient Mayas, who were living in Mexico several thousand years ago, probably was the most
sophisticated that ever existed. Their calendar had weeks of
thirteen days and months of twenty days. And in addition to
the solar year which they had correctly estimated to 365.242
days, they had computed years of 260, 360, 364, and 365
days, as well as twenty-one cycles called Katuns of 7182,
7200, 7254, or 7280 days, which were all used in different
places and at different times. They also had several cycles of
5200 years representing 13 Baktuns or 260 Katuns whose duration could be 1,867,320; 1,872,000; 1,886,040 or 1,892,800
days - corresponding to great astronomical cycles.
Some may wonder why Mayan astronomers had used a
sacred year of 260 days representing twenty weeks of thirteen
days or thirteen months of twenty days, but there were several
good reasons for this. First, in the south of Mexico where the
first Mayas lived, the Sun is at the zenith 260 days apart, on
13 August and 30 April. Then two of these years represented
three eclipse cycles and three of them corresponded to Mars'
synodic cycle of 780 days. And, finally, most Mayan calendars were exact multiples of 260 days.
For example, there was a short calendar of 37,960 days
which represented 104 years of 365 days, 65 Venus cycles of
584 days, and 48.J Mars cycles of 780 days. That simple
calendar was too short by 25 days to coincide with the Sun,
but it was only three days too long for Mars or five days for
Venus. As a matter of fact, Egyptian astronomers had a
similar but longer calendar where Venus cycles of 584 days
coincided with years of 365 or 365 \4 days.
Mayan astronomers also had two great calendars of 5125
and 5164 years, the first one being based on the conjunctions
of Mercury, Venus and Mars, while the second one was based
on those of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The calendar of 5125
years represented 260 Katuns of 7200 days or 1,872,000 days,
as well as even numbers of Mars cycles or Mercury and Venus
conjunctions. That calendar seems to have started on 6
September - 3113 [3114 B.C.] which was the day 584,283 in
the Julian calendar. It should therefore come to an end on 21
December 2012 which will be the Julian day 2,456,283.
The starting date of 6 September - 3113 is indicated by
two inscriptions discovered in the Temple of the Sun of
Palenque in Mexico. The first inscription tells us that a great
conjunction of Jupiter was observed on the day 1,388,996
which was in the year 690 of our calendar. We know that
such a conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn occurred on
18 July 690, Julian day 1,973,279. The difference between
these two numbers tells us that the Mayan calendar of 5125
years started on the Julian day 584,283 which was 6
September - 3113. Triple conjunctions of these planets can
only happen every 516 years after an average of 188,604 days,
which is one tenth of the calendar of 5164 years.
The second inscription tells us that an heliacal rising of
Jupiter, which is its first apparition on the right of the Sun
after its conjunction with it, had been observed on the Mayan
day 192,462 and another one on the Mayan day 275,055.
And, effectively, that phenomenon occurred on 12 August
- 2586, Julian day 776,745 and on 27 September - 2360,
Julian day 859,338. In each case (he difference between the
First Quarter 1988

Mayan day and the Julian day is equal to 584,283, which also
proves that the Mayan calendar of 5125 years had really
started on 6 September -3113.
The calendar of 5164 years represented 260 Katuns of 7254
days or 1,886,040 days, or 260 conjunctions of Jupiter and
Saturn or 2418 of Mars and the Sun. This calendar had
started on 16 August - 3164 which was the Julian day
565,635 and it will end on 10 May 2000 which will be the
Julian day 2,451,675 during a spectacular conjunction of
Mars, Jupiter and Saturn behind the Sun, which had been announced four hundred years ago by the French astrologer
Nostradamus in his quatrain 9-83.
These two great calendars can only coincide every
2,901,600 days, after 403 Katuns of the first or 400 Katuns of
the second. They have exactly coincided on 9 January 1047,
Julian day 2,103,483 when Jupiter and Saturn were in conjunction behind the Sun. They almost coincided twice, between 18 July and 5 August -1595, and between 13 June and
29 September 1086. The difference between the first dates of
each coincidence, which is 979,200 days, represents 135 conjunctions cycles of Jupiter and Saturn of 7253 VJ days which
were used by the ancient Hindus of the Indus valley. The difference between the last dates of each coincidence, which is
979,290 days, represents 135 conjunction cycles of 7254 days
used by the ancient Mayas in Mexico several thousand years
ago.
Most of the time the conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn do
not occur on the exact date indicated by one or the other of
these two calendars, but their intervals often represent exact
multiples of the 7200 or 7254 days cycles. For example, conjunctions with the Sun of the five planets Mercury, Venus,
. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn have been observed on 28 August
- 1852 and on 10 April 849. The interval between these two
dates is 986,400 days, which represents 137 Katuns of 7200
days or 6850 conjunction cycles of Mercury and Venus of 144
days each. This could explain the Katuns of 7200 days of the
5125-year calendar which was based on these conjunctions.
For the 5164-year calendar, 1 found the dates of 26 March
1345 and 26 January 1643. These two dates are separated lJy
an interval of 108,810 days which represents 15 Katuns of
7254 days or 186 Venus cycles of 585 days each, or fifteen
conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn. However, these astronomical dates did not exactly coincide with the dates of the two
calendars, since the astronomical conjunctions periods of
these planets are 144.564, 583.921, and 7253.445 days, and
the calendars had to be adjusted from time to time to remain
in phase with the astronomical phenomena. This explains the
differences of 228 days in the first and 107 days in the second.
A similar adjustment was made in 1582 by Pope Gregory
when he decided that the 5th of October of the Julian calendar would become the 15th of October of the new Gregorian
calendar, so that the following spring equinox would again
fall on 21 March 1583 as it was supposed to do. It probably
was the only important decision of that pope who only reigned for thirteen years and died two years later, anyway. The
Gregorian calendar, more precise than the Julian, is made of
400 years of 365.2425 days or 146,097 days, which is still too
long by three days over a period of ten thousand years.
Pursuit 15

MAYAN CALENDAR OF 1 886040 DAYS

OR 260 KATUNS OF 7254 DAYS
FROM 16 AUGUST -3164 TO 10 MAY 2000

3164

2767

2369

3144

2747

2350

3124
3104
3084

2727
2687

3065

2667

2330
2310
2290
2270

1972
1952
1933
1913
1893
1873

3045

2648

2250

1853

3025

2628

2230

3005

2608

2985
2965

2588
2568

2945
2926
2906

1575
1555
1535
1515
1496

1178
1158
1138
1118
1098

1476

0383
0364

0014
0034

0411

0054

0001

0344
0324
0304

0093

1009

0681

0284

0113

0264

0642

2211
2191

1059
1039
1019

0661

1833
1813

1456
1436
1416

1794

1396

2171

1774

2548
2528
2508

2151
2131
2111

1754
1734
1714

2700

0808
0828

1205
1225

1603

0451
0471
0490

0848

0908

1642
1662
1682
1702
1722 .

0244

0133
0153

0510
0530
0550

1245
1265
1245
1305

0622

0225

0173

0570

0999

0602

1376

0979

0582

0205
0185

0193
0212

0590
0610

1357
1337
1317
1297
1277
1257

0959

0562
0542
0522
0503

0880
0860

0483

0165
0145
0125
0105
0086

0232
0252
0272
0292
0312

0463

0066

0081
0061
0041
0021

0940

0920

OCJ73

2886
i866

2489

2091

1694

2469

2CJ72

2846

2449

2052

2826

2429

0840
0820

0046

2409

1237
1218

0443

2806

2032
2012

1674
1654
1635
1615

0423

0026

0332
0351
0371

2787

2389

1992

1595

1198

0800

2767

2369

1972

1575

1178

0081

0403
0006
0383 0014

0391
0411

0900

We have seen before that heliacal risings of Jupiter had

been observed by Mayan astronomers on 12 August - 2586
and 27 September - 2360. The interval of 82,593 days between these two dates exactly represents 207 synodic cycles of
Jupiter of 399 days each. These dates certainly were important steps of another great calegdar of 1,867,320 days or 260
Katuns of 7182 days, each representing 18 Jup.ter cycles of
399 days or 19 Saturn cycles of 378 days. Ancient Hindus of
the Indus valley had also computed a similar calendar of
308,448 days representing 816 Saturn cycles or 378 conjunction cycles of Mars and Jupiter of 816 days each.
This great Mayan cycle represents a mathematical achievement. At first, Mayan astronomers had computed that it
represented 4680 Jupiter cycles or 4940 Saturn cycles, but
after several hundred years they noticed that the real Jupiter
cycle was slightly shorter and that the Saturn cycle was slightly longer. That was when they had the bright idea of counting
one more cycle for Jupiter and one less for Saturn. That way
they obtained Jupiter cycles of 398.915 days and Saturn
cycles of 378.006 days, two synodic periods which are very
close to those used by modern astronomers.
They also obtained 399 cycles of 4680 days representing six
cycles of Mars or eight of Venus, and found everywhere in
the Dresden Codex which is the classical astronomy book of
the Mayas. However, a calendar representing 258 conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn was not very practical for Mayan
astronomers who counted ever.ything by thirteen or twenty.
Pursuit 16

0431

0868
0888
0927
0947

1325
1344
1364

1633

1742

0967
0987

1384

1762
1781

10CJ7

1404

1801

0629

1027

1424

1821

0649

1047

1444

1841

0669

1066

1464

0689
0009

1483
1503

1901

1523

1920

0049

1086
1106
1126
1146

1861
1881

1940

0068

1166

1543
1563

0088

1186
1205

1583
1603

1980

0029

0808

1960
2000

Having observed that the average interval between two conjunctions was 7254 days, they adopted the calendar of
1,886,040 days which we have already mentioned.
Mayan astronomers also had a great calendar of 1,892,800
days representing 260 Katuns of 7280 days or 5200 lunar years
of 364 days, and 10,920 eclipse cycles or 64,096 synodic cycles
of the Moon. They had also noticed that the conjunctions of
Jupiter and Saturn occurred behind the Sun every 355,408
days or 973 years, as it happened in - 1892 and - 919, in 54
and 1027, and as it will happen on to May 2000 at twenty
degrees of Taurus, as Nostradamus has announced. From
that observation, they had computed another calendar made
of 891 synodic cycles of Jupiter, 940 of Saturn, and 49 conjunction cycles of these two planets. It therefore appears that
~ayan astronomers had not one, but several.different calendars based on the relative motions of the planets.
Mayan astronomers probably knew the existence of the
planet Uranus which is often visible with the naked eye during
its conjunctions with the Earth every 370 days. The Dresden
Codex contains many time periods of 702 days which certainly
correspond to the conjunction period of that planet with
Mars of 702.713 days, and time periods of 14,040 days which
represent 18 cycles of Mars, 20 of Uranus or 24 of Venus. As
a matter of fact, the calendar of 1,867,320 days is an exact
multiple of these two cycles, which is another confirmation of
its existence in the Mayan chronology.

First Quarter 1988

MAYAN CALENDAR OF 1 872 000 DAYS

OR 260 KATUNS OF 7200 DAYS
FROM 6 SEPTEMBER - 3113 TO 21 DECEMBER 2012

3113

2719

2324

1930

1536

1142

0747

0353

0041

0435

0830

1224

1618

3093

2699

2305

1910

1516

1122

0728

0333

0061

0455

0849

1244

1638

3073

2679

2285

1891

1496

1102

0708

0314

0081

0475

0869

1263

1658

3054

2659

2265

1871

1477

1082

0688

0294

0100

0495

0889

1283

1677

3034

2640

2245

1851

1457

1063

0668

0274

0120

0514

0909

1303

1697

3014

2620

2226

1832

1437

1043

0649

0255

0140

0534

0928

1322

1717

2995

2600

2206

1812

1418

1023

0629

0235

0159

0554

0948

1342

1736

2975

2581

2186

1792

1398

1004

0609

0215

0179

0573

0968

1362

1756

2955

2561

2167

1772

1378

0984

0590

0195

0199

0593

0987

1382

1776

2935

2541

2147

1753

1358

0964

0570

0176

0219

0613

1007

1401

1796

2916

2521

2127

1733

1339

0944

0550

0156

0238

0633

1027

1421

1815

2896

2502

2107

1713

1319

0925

0530

0136

0258

0652

1047

1441

1835

2876

2482

2088

1694

1299

0905

0511

0117

0278

0672

1066

1460

1855

2857

2462

2068

1674

1280

0885

0491

0097

0297

0692

1086

1480

1874

2837

2443

2048

1654

1260

0866

0471

0077

0317

0711

1106

1500

1894

2817

2423

2029

1634

1240

0846

0452

0057

0337

0731

1125

1520

1914

2797

2403

2009

1615

1220

0826

0432

0038

0357

0751

1145

1539

1934

2778

2383

1989

1595

1201

0806

0412

0018

0376

0771

1165

1559

1953

2758

2364

1969

1575

1181

0787

0392

0002

0396

0790

1185

1579

1973

2738

2344

1950

1556

1161

0767

0373

0021

0416

0810

1204

1599

1993

2719

2324

1930

1536

1142

0747

0353

0041

0435

0830

1224

1618

2012

Mayan astronomers had also discovered the great cycle of

the transits of Venus in front of the Sun which can also be
found in the Dresden Codex. That cycle of 88,756 days
represents 243 years or 152 passages of Venus in front of the
Sun. The best known of these transits are those of 6 June
1761 and 4 June 1769, the last one observed in Tahiti by the
famous Captain Cook. The next two transits will occur on 8
June 2004 and 6 June 201t. These ancient astronomers probably knew the exact duration of the synodic cycle of Venus
but in their calendars they used the more practical numbers of
584 or 585 days which could coincide with those of 365 for
the Sun or 780 for Mars.
As for the Moon, the Mayas knew that 44 lunar months
lasted 1300 days and that 405 months made 11,960 days. They
also had a short calendar of 27,759 days representing 76 years
or 940 months, and a long one of 421,490 days representing
1154 years or 14,273 months. For the eclipses, they knew that
three eclipse cycles made 520 days, and they knew the cycle of
coincidence between 93 solar years and 98 lunar years, as well
as that between 521 solar years and 549 lunar years which was
known by the Sumerians, and after which the same s~lar
eclipse occurs automatically on the same day of the year and
on the same poine of the zodiac. Mayan astronomers also
knew the Saros cycle of 6585 days, the Meton cycle of 6940
days, and the lunar standstill cycle of 6800 days between ex~
treme moon rises north or south of the east.
However, there still exists in the Mayan chronology
First Quarter 1988

another problem to be solved, for which many different solutions have been proposed. It is generally accepted that the
5125-year calendar must have started on a day I IMIX - I
POP, but nobody so far has been able to determine the day
of the Julian calendar which corresponds to a certain day 4
AHAU - 8 CUMKU which was at the same time the beginning of a solar year and that of a Mayan year, and also was a
very important historical or astronomical date.
Each day of the Mayan chronology was defined in the year
of 260 days by a certain number and a certain name, such as I
IMIX or 4 AHAU, for example, and in the year of 360 days
by another number and another name, such as I POP or 8
CUMKU, for example. It was therefore necessary to wait
93,600 days or .256.2683 solar years to have the same day
again at the beginning of 260- and 360-day years, and it took
41 of those cycles to coincide with 10,507 solar years of
365.2422 days each.
As one can see, Mayan astronomers had to wait for 10,507
years to see a day that would be at the same time the first day
of a solar year, of a 26O-day year, and of a 360-day year.
Egyptian astronomers had probably made the same calculations because the number 41 was for them a sacred number
that can be found in the dimensions of the Cheops and
Chephren pyramids measured in feet of 375mm. Moreover,
in the Cheops pyramid, the Chamber of the Queen and that
of the King are 41 and 82 cubits of 525mm above the base.
Also, 82 days represent three sidereal months of the Moon.
Pursuit 17

A day 4 AHAU is the day 160 of a 260-day year starting on

a day 1 IMIX, and a day 8 CUMKU can be considered as the
day 350 of a year of 360 days starting on a day 1 POP. To
determine the day of the Julian calendar which corresponds
to the Mayan day 4 AHAU - 8 CUMKU, we have to calculate, after the starting date of the 5125-year calendar, a certain number of days which would be at the same time a multiple of 360, a multiple of 260 plus 160, and a multiple of
365.2422 plus 350. The smallest number which fulfills those
three conditions is 678,240. If we add that number to
584,283, the Julian starting date of the calendar, we obtain
the Julian day 1,262,523 which was the 7 August -1256 in
our calendar.

number 9 which should not be there probably represents a

number of great cycles of 1,872,000 days and, in that case, it
would indicate a date 17,983,011 days or 49,236 years after
the beginning of the first great cycle on 15 May - 49240,
Julian day -16,263,717. And that day would have been the4
March - 5. That explanation would be logical since the
Greek historian Diogenes Laertius tells us that the chronology
of the Egyptians had started in the year -49219, 21 years
later. It appears that both chronologies could have started at
the same time on both sides of the Atlantic ocean after some
cataclysm occurred of cosmic or terrestrial origin which
would have required the calculation of new astronomical
calendars.

And that day was a very special one, not only because
Jupiter and Saturn were in conjunction, but also because that
conjunction occurred right in the middle of the zodiac at the
longitude ISO, or zero degree of Libra. That is a very rare
astronomical phenomenon that can only occur every 768,865
days after 2105 sidereal years or 106 conjunctions of Jupiter
and Saturn. Since we know that these two planets were very
. important for Mayan astronomers, it seems almost certain
that the last day 4 AHAU - 8 CUMKU was on 7 August
-1256.

The third mystery is that of the inscriptions of Copan and

Quirigua. It has been found on a stela of Copan, in Honduras
next to the Guatemala border, an inscription representing
5.239 million years of 360 days, or one thousand Mayan great
cycles of 260 conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn, almost as
long as the Nineveh Constant of the Sumerians. It has also
been found, on a stela in Quirigua, in Guatemala next to the
border of Honduras, another inscription representing 403
million years of 360 days each, or twenty million conjunction
cycles of Jupiter and Saturn, or 31 million cycles of Mercury,
Venus and Mars. That fantastic number of years could represent the time elapsed after the appearance of man on the surface of the Earth, since that extraordinary event seems to
have occurred in Africa about four hundred million years
ago. We now have to discover how it could have been known
by the Mayas who were living in America.

Some authors think that the date of 6 September - 3113

could have been a day 4 AHAU - 8 CUMKU. That seems to
me difficult to believe because in that case, we would have to
go back in the past to 28 October -11763, Julian day
- 2,575,077, to find a day 1 IMIX - 1 POP which was at the
same time the first day of a solar year, of a 260-day year, and
of a 360-day year. That, however, is not .impossible since we
have found dates of -11654 among the Hindus and - 11540
among the Egyptians which are about as old and could correspond to a period of cataclysms and calculation of new and
more sophisticated astronomical calendars around the world.
There still are three more mysteries in the chronology of the
Mayas. The first mystery is that of the Grolier Codex. It was
believed that only three sacred Mayan texts had survived the
fire of Diego de Landa, Bishop of Yucatan, who believed that
they had been written by Satan. These texts were the Paris
Codex, the Madrid Codex, and the Dresden Codex. Then a
fourth codex appeared in New York in 1970 under the name
of Grolier Codex and of unknown origin. And, as I had done
for the three others, I tried to decipher it in order to find out
if it contained more information about the Mayan chronology.
It took me some time to discover that the Grolier Codex
represented a great calendar of 1953 cycles of 1352 years of
365 days each, or an enormous period of time of 963,766,440
days or 2,640,456 years which was an exact multiple of the
Mayan cycles of 46SO, 7254, and 37,960 days which we have
already mentioned. It could therefore be considered as
another astronomical constant of the solar system, similar to
the Nineveh Constant of 2268 million days or 6,300,000 years
of the Sumerians.
The second mystery is that of the disk of Chinkultic which
was discovered in the ruins of that archeological site in Mexico. That disk represents a ball player surrounded by
unknown hieroglyphs and the six numbers 9, 7, 17, 12, 14,
11, in Mayan numeration. The disk is a mystery because the
date is indicated by six numbers instead of the usual five. The
Pursuit 18

In addition to astronomical and chronological data, the

Dresden codex also indicates the measuring system used by
the Mayas who wrote it. The Dresden codex is made of 39
pages folded like a fan or an accordion with illustrations on
both sides, which makes a book of 79 pages. The pages are
21cm high and 9cm wide, which represents a total length of
351cm when the book is unfolded. This indicates a measuring
system of 54cm for the cubit, 36 for the foot, 9 for the hand,
21A for the inch, and 1 !h for the finger. The size of each page
was therefore 14 x 6 fingers and the total length of the book
was 39 hands or 234 fingers.
These measuring units have been used for a long time
around the world, along with other units which also are exact
fractions of one meter and therefore related to them. For example, an ideal unit length of 12,6OOm would represent an exact number of each twelve different feet used by our ancestors
in different countries. In millimeters, these are the feet of
Mykenos of 277.777, Danube of 280.000, Angkor of 291.666,
Rome of 296.296, Egypt of 300.000, Babylon of 308.642,
Baalbek of 333.333, Egypt of 350.000, Mexico of 352.753,
France of 357.143, Maya of 360.000, and Egypt of 375.000.
In the same order, a unit length of 12,600m would represent the following numbers of feet: 45,360; 45,000; 43,200;
42,525; 42,000; 40,824; 37,800; 36,000; 35,719; 35,280;
35,000; 33,600. This, of course, does not prove that our
ancestors knew the metric system, which is now used allover
the world, but it certainly proves that they knew the dimensions of the Earth and had developed an international
measuring system which was very similar to it. The most
amazing fact is that four of these ancient feet have been
found in Europe, three in Africa, three in Asia and two in

First Quarter 1988

---

--------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~------

Mayan Disk of Chinkultic

4 March -5 (6 BC)

America, which seems to indicate that these different civilizations had a common origin.
The Mayan square foot of 0.1296m 2 can be found in Uxmal, Mexico, where the palace of the governor was built on a
huge platform of 160,000 square feet or 20,736m2. This area
has been estimated by some archeologists at exactly
20,000m 2, which had given them a square foot of 0.125m 2
corresponding to a linear foot of 353.553mm, which is very
close to the length from the Dresden codex and possibly correct.
The Mayan cubic foot of 0.046656ml can also be found in

First Quarter 1988

the sarcophagus of the pyramid of Cheops which has an internal volume of 1.1664m l and an external volume of
2.3328m\ which respectively represent 25 and 50 Mayan
cubic feet. Since we know that there are many similarities between the pyramid of Cheops in Egypt and that of the Sun in
Teotihuacan in Mexico, it _would not be surprising if that
pyramid had also been built with the Mayan cubic foot. In
that case, its original volume of 1,036,800m1 would have
represented exactly 22,222,222 Mayan cubic feet or 40070 of
the volume of the pyramid of Cheops of 2,592,OOOmI ~
would be another strange coincidence.
Pursuit 19

Possible Human-Animal Paranormal Events

by Berthold Eric Schwan, M.D.
Folklore, myths, and legends supply countless examples of
the strange affinity between man and animals. Vincent and
Margaret Gaddis' have collected many provocative examples
of this. Ivan Sanderson, 2 a well-known biologist, had also
noted many such events between a variety of species and
man. Although he had handled many wild animals on his TV
shows over the years, he jokingly said that he still had his ten
fingers. One very weird case studied by the psychonalystparapsychologist Nandor Fodor,] concerned the bizarre
poltergeist example of a talking mongoose. In another study
he cited and speculated about the amazing animals that
materialized in seances' witnessed by eminent sci'entists. In his
memoirs the newspaperman Pierre van Paassen' wrote about
his personal experiences with a possible poltergeist dog that
savagely fought with van Paassen's two German police dogs,
one of which dropped dead immediately afterward. Other
celebrated controversial man-animal biocommunications include horses that were allegedly telepathic and could calculate, and of course the not uncommon news stories of dogs
and cats (and other pets) who had been abandoned or lost
and then returned over great distances and time. The scientist
Milan Ryzl6 has summarized much of the animal parapsychological data. Von Urban,7 the psychoanalyst, recalled his own
turmoil and the bellowing and howling of animals before a
major European earthquake in 1895. The research physician
Abraham G. Ginsberg, 8 who independently discovered a
device similar to radar, recalled how when he was living in the
Adirondacks his dog crawled under the bed and stayed there
every time his sister, who was very fond of the animal, was
operated on by Dr. Will Mayo in Rochester, Minnesota. LillY,9 the multifaceted research physician, has studied the intriguing communications between man and dolphins. Keel'o
has recorded many bizarre man-animal interactions that
deserve serious consideration.
Although Grad, Cadoret, and Paul," in well-controlled
laboratory studies, demonstrated the effects of psychic healing on guinea pigs, there has been little critically analysed
clinical material presented in the medical literature. The telekinetic hypothesis gives clues for a possible modus operandi
for placebo effects in the study of drug actions, and it might
explain the different results sometimes obtained from identical experiments by various investigators. This is a practical
question which should not be overlooked.
Because of the intimate nature of their work, psychiatrists
are favorably situated to observe possible telepathy between
patients and their pets, as well as to be sensitive to such
possibilities in their own lives. For example, Mrs. Krystal'2
and her sons presented convincing evidence of how, when she
was traveling in Mexico (pp 11-12) she telepathically (and correctly) learned of her dog's death in Maryland. In a planned
experiment with myself (BES) that was spontaneously derailed, she telepathically picked up many of the segments of a
horrible situation where a dog savagely attacked my friend
(pp 22-24).
It is of interest that Jacques Romano, 8 the extraordinary
*Dunninger investigated several of such cases and never found an example of
genuine paranormal ability. He contended that Ihe horses were trained 10 respond 10 cues.

Pursuit 20

nonagenarian paragnost, claimed he was never bitten by a

dog, although he was exposed to many dangers in his life.
Pets, mostly dogs and cats, have always played a large role
in the personal life of the distinguished telepathist, Joseph
Dunninger: Both Romano and Dunninger, interestingly
enough, called attention to the possible telepathic affinity between cockroaches aDd man. For example, if one thought of
squashing a certain cockroach in a group of several, thai
specific cockroach would frequently scamper away. The
parapsychologist Mrs. Anita Gregory reported'] some cockroach experiments done by Russians which were based on an
earlier study done by an Israeli scientist; and Helmut
Schmidt 14 has reported his investigations using cockroaches.
In a previous report" brief mention was made of a woman
who had persistent success in winning substantial sums of
money at the horse races. I studied her until I was unable to
keep up with her fast pace. I did go to the races with her once,
however, and was satisfied that she seemed to have some genuine abilities. Her family physician, who had observed her
over the last decade, told me that she was still successful
(1972). It is of interest that this woman's whole life seemed to
be focused on horse racing, and that this interest, which she
shared with her husband, might have been the means of keeping her otherwise precariously balanced marriage intact:
Although her husband approached racing in a scientific,
mathematical way, his luck was terrible. But she, at the last
moment just before the races started, t would rush to the betting booth, place a small bet, and almost always win. At
times, when she departed from her usual custom and told her
. husband about a race - including the long shots - he would
never follow through on her advice, ana he would lose. The
woman would then be overcome with a near orgy of success.
Among hypotheses for such feats are these: (I) the lady
telepathically cognized a crooked race; (2) she exercised true
precognition; (3) she had direct communication with the
horses and in some obscure way determined who would win
from them. Moss and Sands'6 have reported a controlled investigation in picking the winners.
The following examples from research on Joseph Dunninger, from psychiatric practice, and from personal life explore
this topic.
"In a psychodynamically devired c:Iinicai experiment thaI was designed 10 take
advantage of Ihe transference, I gave the woman a small sum of money 10
place bels that, if suc:c:essful, would be sufficient 10 bring IOlhe United Slales
for a visil, Ihe distinguished parapsychologist and experl on proscopy, Prof.
W.H.C. Tenhaeff. The experiment ./latly failed.
tDunninger, unlike hisfather and brother, was not particularly interesfed nor
knowledgeable aboul horses in horse racing. However, he went on fWO 0("(:0
sions. Thefirsllime wasaf Belmont Racelrack when he wasac:c:ompanied by
his wife, an NBC executive, and Ihe latter's girlfriend. The execufive wanted
fO impress his girlfriend by having Dunninger pick Ihe winners. Dunninger
was as surprised as anyone when he picked five winners in a row, bUI no one
won any money because Dunninger did not place any befs and hisfriends did
not follow his direclions. "Dan T. (execulive) said I chose long ShOfS and
plugs. .. The second horse race thaI he attended was in San Francisco, when
he was again ac:c:ompanied by his Wife, who verified fhis information. He
entered Ihe arena and as a Slunt wrole his prediclion for the big race of Ihe
day on a small slate and showed it 10 the grandstands. He again picked the
winner.
The only time the dowsing paragnosl Henry Gross" dabbled in horse
racing, he picked bolh the winner and Ihe loser of Ihe Kentucky Derby (p.
153).

First Quarter 1988

Dunninger's Cat O'Four Tales

Dunninger once recalled an event which happened near the
turn of the century when he was a child. His older (by four
years) brother Louis had become acutely ill with an obscure
fever and an oozing discharge from the eyes, nose, and ears.
Every day for several weeks between midnight and one
o'clock in the morning, Louis would become very frantic, exhibit violent behavior, and "the family had a hard time
holding him down. Dr. Steinach, our family physician, and
later consultants were unable to make a diagnosis or prescribe
a remedy that could relieve the condition."
Dr. Steinach, who knew Mr. and Mrs. Dunninger, Sr.,
very well, surprised them by asking: "Do you believe in
witchcraft? Lou's illness is so bizarre that I wonder if it could"
be caused by suggestion or a curse. I have read many books
about this kind of thing in medieval Scotch-English
literature." The doctor was cautious in his statements because
he knew this was a way-out position for a physician; and furthermore, neither Mr. nor Mrs. Dunninger believed in the
supernatural. Nevertheless, the very day of the physician's
statement, the family's white cat disappeared from their
home in New York City without apparent reason. The next
day, an employee of Dunninger's father, a Mrs. Ellit, who
also knew the brothers and who had originally given them the
white cat as a present, surprised the family by returning the
cat. Mrs. Ellit lived on the lower East Side, more than a mile
away from the Dunninger factory. She said, "The cat came
into my house last night; it must have escaped."
Joseph Dunninger commented: "This event made my
mother and father very suspicious, for on the night that the
white cat disappeared my mother saw several cats sitting on
the window sill of Lou's room. Although the window was
closed, my father had to get the broom and chase them away.
The following morning, when Mrs. Ellit brought the white cat
back, my mother accused her of bewitching the cat and of
cursing Lou. My father fired her.
"My parents knew that Mrs. Ellit was a vindictive woman
who felt she was given less sewing than the other German and
Italian women who worked in my father's factory. Mother
was infuriated. She picked up a pair of shears and said if Lou
didn't improve she'd kill the woman. Mrs. Ellit took the
white cat away and from that night on Lou gradually improved until he was better. We never told him the story because it
would upset him."
The Dunninger family had numerous cats and dogs as pets
through the years but they never had cats on the window sill,
as happened that night. "When Dr. Steinach heard of the
strange events, he suggested that if we ever saw Mrs. Ellit
again and she touched Lou or one of us, Mother should strike
her. One day Mother met Mrs. Ellit by chance on the street
and when the lady touched Lou, Mother hit her on the hand.
Although Dr. Steinach didn't believe in the supernatural he
had an interest in the occult. My parents just accepted the
doctor's explanation and that was that."
Many years later, when Louis was twenty-one years old, he
died on December 21, of tuberculous pneumonia. Joseph
Dunninger recalled: ",The night before Lou died he yelled to
me to come into his room and screamed, 'Look out the window. Get the cats away. They're bothering me. They'll kill
me. I can't sleep!' There were no cats. His room, and mine
which was next door, was high up, and cats couldn't climp up
the side of our brownstone building. This was the first time
Lou ever mentioned any cats. Nothing like this had happened
before.
First Quarter 1988

Another related event to these cat experiences occurred in

October 1933, about thirty-one years after Louis' death,
when Joseph Dunninger, with the New York Journal
American staffwriter Joe Cowen and columnist Louis Sobel,
wrote a series of articles on Dunninger's investigations of
spiritualistic mediums.
One day they purchased a Harlem newspaper and read ads
about mediums and fortunetellers. They chose one name and
immediately dropped in unannounced. Among several items,
this otherwise unprepossessing tall, thin Negro medium told
them was that Dunninger had a brother who had died as a
young man and that his death had something to do with cats.
Furthermore, she described a particular type of high collar
that bothered Louis in life, so much that he couldn't wear it.
Dunninger was quite taken aback: ". wasn't thinking of this:
if anything I expected to have a laughable reading and to hear
only nonsense. But what she said was all true." His brother
never liked high collars and preferred a winged collar. Also,
when Louis died, the undertaker tried unsuccessfully to dress
him with a high collar. The undertaker called Joseph Dunninger for instructions, and he was told to substitute a winged
collar. Only Dunninger knew this.
The last major family cat experience might have happened
when Joseph Dunninger's mother was in the twilight of her
life. Once she went away for a few days. Her cat, Mimi, who
was accustomed to lying contentedly at the foot of her bed
and purring, became very upset - apparently at being abandoned - meowed incessantly, and refused food. Only when
Joseph Dunninger summoned his mother and she returned,
did Mimi settle down again. This happy state persisted until
Mrs. Dunninger's death. Then, contrary to expectations
based on the previous experience with Mimi, the cat surprIsingly enough jumped up on her mistress's bed, looked
around, "as if someone was there, purred, and assumed her
serene previous adjustment." This continued until she died
several years later and was interred with her former mistress.
The accounts of cat episodes which were always similar,
were related to me by Joseph Dunninger on many occasions
through the years. They were buttressed with appropriate
scrapbook newspaper clippings and independent corroboration by Mrs. Joseph Dunninger and Joseph Dunninger's late
older brother Max.
The Bat
My wife and I took my "summertime bachelor" colleague,
Dr. Brewster Breeden, to dinner for the first time. I knew that
part of his miliary service had been in Japan so I told him
about a fascinating article in Science. that I had read earlier in
the day. It was about the U.S. plans for using bats to which
incendiary bombs were attached as a secret weapon against
Japan during World War II. This was a focal point in our
discussion. After my wife and I had returned home from dinner and had retired, we were awakened at 1:30 a.m., hearing
a strange noise - first a pummeling against the screen and
Throughout her son's career; Mrs. Dunninger, Sr., used to look out the open
window of their apartment, with a shawl over her shoulders. waiting for him
to come home late at night. The shawl was then neatly folded and placed on
a choir by the window. The night before Mrs. Dunninger's death her son
returned from a performance that also featured the soprano Jessica
Dragonet. "I noted that Mother was very ill and her shawl was crumpled on
the floor. I (Ook her to bed and she died the following day of pneumonia. It
was very odd that the formerly crumpled shawl on the floor was now neatly
folded and placed on a chair. I could not think of any acceptable explana/ion
for this. I am also superstitious about the 6 of spades which I had dropped
that night during my performance. Anytime I encounter that card it seems
that I'm in trouble. ..

Pursuit 21

then odd sounds all around the bedroom. When I turned on

the light, I found that a bat, by some freak accident had
crashed through the screen and was flying around the room.
This happened on July 23, 1960; it had never happened
before nor has it since. One wonders about a possible communication, coincidence, synchronicity, or precognition.
The Squirrel
A middle-aged woman was visiting her sister in a nursing
home. It was the ninth anniversary of the sister's severe hemiplegia and motor aphasia. Although the sister could comprehend sufficiently to successfully manage her investments, she
had to be fed, dressed, pushed around in a wheelchair, and
attended constantly. The visitor, who was an animal lover,
noted that her sister was concerned over a newspaper article
she had read a week before about numerous animals in the
South that were killed on the highways because of the
drought. On the way home the woman went into a florist
shop that she seldom patronized and among many items
bought a stuffed toy squirrel as a surprise present for her
sister. She later learned at this time, many miles away, the
nursing home attendant had wheeled the sister outdoors
where she had a shocking experience: a squirrel jumped into
her lap and ran up her arm and lay on the back of her neck apparently the animal was tame. When the nurse swatted the
animal with a newspaper, it jumped down, ran up the nurse's
leg, and bit her. The police were called, and they shot the
animal.
The squirrel's head was examined by the Board of Health
for rabies, but no disease was found. Was this coincidence?
Or, could this unique experience of the disabled sister with the
squirrel have telepathically prompted the sympathetic woman
(who was an animal lover) to buy the toy squirrel at that exact
time (there were other choices) as an unusual telepathically
occasioned means, as described elsewhere l7 of reassuring the
sister that the animal was really harmless and should not have
been shot? Or, did the kind thought of buying the stuffed
animal in some way cause an interaction between the disabled
sister and the squirrel who took a short-lived liking to her? A
possible telesomatic exchange (Case six) involving this woman
and her family is reported elsewhere. IS
The Robin
"
Lester Riley, a middle-aged handyman-gardener of old"
Scotch-Irish stock was standing by his truck in the backyard
of my New Jersey house telling me about the trip he had to
make to Virginia the coming weekend to see his ninety-yearold mother, who was ailing and might be dying. While he was
describing his mother's health, we were startled to see a bird
(a robin) fall from the sky, crash onto the hood of his truck,
and skid onto the ground. It gasped and died. Neither of us
had ever had an experience like this before nor have we since,
although I had on rare occasions seen birds crash into the
window when the lights were on in the office. It was a cloudy,
cool day, and there was no apparent reason for this strange
happening. I immediately looked at Mr. Riley and said, "It's
very odd, but I guess you'd better go at once." Although I
was not superstitious, this statement was foolish and out of
place for me. When 1 next saw Mr. Riley, a week later, he
said that because of the weird coincidence, he left immediately for Virginia instead of three days later, as was his original
plan. He arrived just before his mother died. When he told
his brothers and sisters about the bird experience, they were
astounded. They all vividly remembered how twenty-five
years before, their father "who was in poor health since an
auto accident three years previously, told them how he saw
Pursuit 22

two bluebirds flying out of a window and interpreted that as

an omen of his death - which happened three days later. Mr.
Riley was so disturbed over these dovetailing coincidences involving his parents that he discussed them with his minister.
Such an event as this may be the folklore origin of the common parlance, "to get the bird."
The Eunuch Cat
A young housewife, who had chronic anxiety hysteria and
who had been adopted as a baby, had many telepathic events
in her life and treatment. On November 8, 1966, she came to
her session and told about an odd event with her sevenmonth-old male cat. She and her husband had planned to
leave for an Atlantic City vacation late one night, but had to
postpone their trip until early the next morning because their
cat, who was to be altered in their absence, had suddenly run
away.
The cat, who was outside and therefore did not see them
pack their suitcases or make preparations, had never run
away before. They searched for him in vain. When they got
up early the next morning, they still could not find the cat.
Finally they received a telephone call from a neighbor who
said the cat was in their backyard. The cat refused to be coaxed
home, however, and ran away again. In anger, the woman
asked her husband's sister who worked for a veterinarian and
was familiar with animals, to have the cat castrated while they
were on vacation. When they returned four days later, they
found the cat meowing and shivering in their parked auto in
the garage. The husband's sister said that when she came to
the house on the morning they left, to take the cat to thr
veterinarian for castration, he attacked her, ripped her
sweater, and scratched her whenever she tried to get into the
"car. So she left the cat and went home. The cat had no food
or water for this period of time.
One can wonder if this usually docile cat sensed the separation from his masters, as well as from his generative organs.
" As"a built-in controp5 sequel to this experience, in a session
at 2:15 p.m. on Februa,ry 2, 1970, this woman patient, who
also had endometriosis and tried to become pregnant for a
long time, asked me (BES) about spaying my cat. She recalled
the aforementioned example how her cat was finally spayed,"
and then said that she had just returned from an appointment
with her gynecologist who advised her on the eventual need
for a bilateral oophorectomy.
Prior to this patient's session I wondered when my paper
on Edison 19 and Dunninger would be out. In truth, during the
session my mind occasionally drifted to this personal matter,
and during this interplay of polarized material involving the
previous possible telepathic cat experience, the patient's
discussing the castration of my cat (displaced unconsicous
wish for her physician who was not paying proper attention?)
and herself, plus my ihoughts of Dunninger, Joseph Dunninger telephoned me about another weird story concerning his
cat, who was just spayed. Touche.
As a backdrop, it should be mentioned that this patient,
Once. at the railrood sta{ion al Colombo, Ceylon. in the early thirties. Dllnninger met ..... a lall, swarthy gentleman in flowing robes. He spoke good
English. had long hair, and a saintly face. He asked; 'You look like a professional man or an artist, are you. ' 'No, I'm a magician. I am here to see what
you fellows can do. ' The Indian then said, 'I'll give you a demonstration. '
He then whislled softly, like a steaming teakellie that rould scarcely be
heard. and shortly the sky was swarming with hundreds of blackbirds. They
settled on the ground, all around him, and stayed until he whis{led again,
when they all flew off and the sky was black with them. Ano{her amazing
stunt was performed by a fakir and Dunninger recorded it on movie film.
"He had a rontainer of hundreds of beads which he threw on the ground.
He also had a {hreadedneedleand a blackbird rapidly strung all of the bead~."

First Quarter 1988

whose husband's family had once been patients of my father,

had one striking thing in common with the outstanding
paranormal event in Joseph Dunninger's early life. During
our session on October 2, 1969, she talked about the fiftieth
anniversary of the Slocum disaster (celebrated one year previously) in which her father-in-Iaw's mother and sister and
several other relatives perished. Ever since that session, I
wondered about the odd coincidence of this event that
associatively linked me through her to Joseph Dunninger.
From the thousands of patients and myriad hours of psychotherapy, I had never come across this specific associative link
before. One of Dunninger's most vivid childhood memories
concerned his father's prophetic dream of the Slocum disaster
which occurred June 15, 1904. Dunninger and his two older
brothers were going on an annual outing up the Hudson
River on the steamer, "General Slocum," until their father
following his prophetic nightmare, forbade them. He ran
around the neighborhood and kept thirty to forty other
children from going. The "General Slocum" caught fire, and
in the concatenation of horrible mishaps and errors, 1,031
lives were lost. It was the greatest ship disaster in the United
States.
The last part of the patient's session was concerned with
her dream of an airplane crash, which she associated to a recent Swiss-air disaster in which forty people were killed by
Arab terrorists, who claimed they planted a bomb because of
suspected Israelis on the plane. Although the patient's session
was over and she did not elaborate on her dream, I inwardly
smiled at this capstone of the fusillade of associative
telepathy, because in all of his career and worldwide travels,
Dunninger had never flown until very recently. Very few
people knew of this fact and virtually no one knew of Dunninger's past telepathic and precognitive experiences that may
have accounted for his fear. It was no wonder that Joseph
Dunninger made one of his infrequent calls to my office during this session of criss-crossing telepathically a lrois when
one considers the matrix of polarized associations.
.
At first glance it might be hard to follow these reported
complex interactions and the psychic nexus, but this is the
essence of telepathy and the associations are simple and more
easily grasped if the telepathic hypothesis is used. Once one
hears Chopin's "Nocturne," one does not chose "Chopsticks." As the therapist calls on his (and his patient's) reservoir of experiences, he finds telepathy a useful tool in treatment. This example is in accordance with what happens in the
physician-patient relationship in psychotherapy or Professor
Tenhaeff's21 observation that the paragnost continually
rediscovers himself in his consultants. The sensitized areas
seemingly reverberate ad infinitum. In a related vein, Joost
A.M. Meerloo has written: " .. .in the psychic world, the new
time contains an older one. In the sequence of mental events,
later moments include earlier ones. "22
The Monkey
A senior premedical student in psychotherapy, who was
working on a monkey project with a psychiatrist, came into
Dunninger recalled: "Whit White. 01/ advertisil/g mun al/d a friel/d, wOllld
cal/Ille lip every time he flew because he kl/ew about myexperiel/ces. J'd advise him. I never told him not to go and he never had (In accident. Once I
SlOpped Dun Tlllhil/, formerly a vice president of NBC and later lilY
lIIal/ager, and got him drllllk to keep him from flying 10 Sail Francisco. The
plane he was 10 ha"e taken came down. Another tillle I lOre up either the
tickets or reservations of an insurallce agem for a specific plal/e flight - this
ilion was a neighbor and we bought our house from his relative. That plane
too, crashed. He thell called me al/d thanked me for saving his life. He had
confidence ill what J had to say . ., This type of experiel/ce ancl its relation to
the psychic I/exus is discllssed elsewhere. '0

First Quarter 1988

his session to report a possible telepathic episode between a

juvenile male rhesus monkey and himself. The patient had
just finished a seven-month period of controlled observation
- totaling 232 hours - and he and his mentor were preparing to kill the monkeys in order to section their brains. Four
of the seven monkeys had undergone midline thalamotomies
to study the effects of that lesion on their social behavior. In
no previous sessions did the patient note any unusual exchanges between the seven monkeys and himself. This was
also his experience from more than forty hours of observation of a colleague's monkeys (four had dorsal lateral frontal
lobotomies; four were untreated). However, now he noted:
"We have a chain hanging from the ceiling of the enclosure,
which the monkeys either held in their hand and walked
around in bipedal fashion, or climbed up and down when
playing with the others; or they would mouth the chain. I
always wondered why they did not swing on it. While I was
thinking about this, Nelson, who was an operated monkey,
suddenly grabbed the chain and swung like Tarzan. Nelson,
the third of a group of seven, was shy. He was different from
all the other monkeys in that he was the only one who would
look me in the eye. I felt close to him. The next day when I
entered the room to complete my observations, I wondered
about the previous day's performance. Nelson swung like
Tarzan for the second time!"
It might be wondered if the patient was upset and split with
the forthcoming sacrifice of the monkey which was symbolic'
of the patient's past social and academic school performance.
Perhaps he sent his thoughts to Nelson, who of the seven was
closest to him. Possibly the monkey had some awareness of
the significance of what would shortly follow and reacted by
telepathically complying with the researcher's wish. The
repeat performance might have supported this view because,
although this thought 'las not foremost in the researcher's
mind, both he and the monkey were sensitized to this behavioral communication. Although the data in this case is insufficient, it would be of interest to keep the psi hypothesis in
mind in a variety ~f experiments with animals who have undergone various neuroanatomical and other (e.g., bilateral
adrenalectomy) extirpation procedures.
This patient has had many teiepathic episodes in his
therapy, including telepathically detecting Christian names on
occasion, his physician's unannounced pending short trip out
of the country, and one episode of spectacular tracer-laden
overdetermined episode of telekinesis with built-in controls
and involving an exploding can of carbonated soft drink.
The Myna Bird
A referring physician, Dr. L, whom I have known for more
than thirty years, invited me to his home to meet a middleaged couple who were also his patients and neighbors. It
developed that I had seen the wife's father years ago in electroencephalographic consultation and I had known the husband, who was the manager of an automobile agency that I
had dealings with off and on for many years. He told me the
following story, whiCh was confl1ll1ed by all present. Although
anecdotal, the veracity of the informants was impeccable.
"Walter was my father's and my father-in-law's good
friend, and he also was my sister's father-in-law. Walter was
an inventor who lived in Florida, and he was a former patient
of Dr. L. Walter was an alcoholic, and at such times he could
be very mean. On a number of occasions he jokingly told his
son, daughter, my mother-in-law, and others, 'When I die,
I'm coming back as a myna bird.' No one knew why he said
this since none of us ever had a myna bird or an unusual experience with one. It was just his dumb joke. This stuck in my

Pursuit 23

mother-in-Iaw's mind, and when Walter died in Florida a few

years later, my parents attended his funeral. Following the
services they returned from the interment and sat down in my
parents' patio to have a drink. They were all amazed to see a
myna bird in a tree in the back yard. My mother-in-law
shouted, 'That's Walter!' The bird stayed there for one week
and then flew away. This was in Florida, and it should be
noted that these birds are not native to that state, and these
people had not had this type of experience before.
"Then a few days later the myna bird turned up at my
brother Rolf's house. The bird followed Rolf on his rounds
- he has an advertising agency and travels allover Palm
Beach. Wherever Rolf would go, there was the bird. Finally,
the bird disappeared and they didn't see him again until my
father died eight months later, on his birthday, January 14,
1969. Remember that Walter and my father were also good
friends, "and that Walter joked how he would return as a
myna bird.
"I flew to Florida from New Jersey to make arrangements
for my father's funeral. Throughout the whole service in the
funeral home Mother and all other members of the family
saw the myna bird in the window - that is, before they took
my father to the cemetery. After the service we drove to the
cemetery and there was the myna bird sitting in a tree, looking out at the grave. Walter was buried only two graves away
from my father's. Three days later the myna bird was again in
my mother's backyard where she saw him for the last time.
"However, the finale occurred just this winter (February,
1972), four years after my father's death. For three weeks we
had a myna bird fly to our backyard in the morning and
spend the day with us, take off, and then come back the next
day. 1 fed it suet, apples, and even bought 25 pounds of
sunflower seeds. I'd go out and say, 'Hello, Pop!' The myna
bird wasn't afraid of us, but he wouldn't come and perch on
our hands. My wife called the Turtle Back Zoo - they had a
few reports of the bird - and they sent an expert over to capture him, but the bird eluded him. Our home is in a wooded
suburban New Jersey area and there has been snow and ice.
Finally it must have gotten too cold for the bird and he took
off. It is odd that this incident happened at the approximate
time of my father's birthday, which was also the anniversary
of his death."
Addendum
On June 7, 1972, while at the annual Associated Physicians' Banquet, Dr. L and his guest, the automobile agency
manager, called me over to their table. The manager wanted
to tell me the latest development: "The oddest thing happened two Saturdays ago when my mother returned from Florida
to New Jersey. While she visited my family in our backyard,
there, again, was the myna bird in a tree. We hadn't seen him
since February, or after this visit with Mother. My wife was
so upset that she wouldn't talk about it." The manager then
repeated his strange story to several curious physician friends
at the table. He looked in vain for an explanation.
The next time 1 met the manager was at the annual ban-"
quet, one year later. He seemed perplexed as he related the
most recent development: "On the anniversary of Father's
death, Aprilll, 1973, Mother and 1 flew to Florida where we
joined my brother and drove to the cemetery. There, on the
branch of a tree overhanging the grave, was the myna bird."
Comment
Examples of these strange, spontaneously occurring paranormal events between man and beast could be greatly expanded. The exact nature of the events makes coincidence
Pursuit 24

and chance an unlikely explanation. What can the link be between man and his pets, and between man and sometimes exotic wild animals? Could similar interactions from ancient
times have been the source "of the world-wide greatly
embellished legends, myths, and superstitions of dragons,
monsters, witches' cats, etc.? How might possible man-beast
paranormal events tie in with the many documented accounts
of UFOs2l (flying saucers) whose presence has often been
heralded by animals such as barking dogs, clucking chickens,
stampeding cattle? John A. Keepo has shown how many UFO
experiences often have associated paranormal activities, including telepathy, poltergeists, precognition, etc. Could the
key to an understanding of psychic matters be found in the
mystery of ufology, or vice versa? Are there other dimensions
to the life spectrum so that when the man-beast sensitivities
are attuned to a common resonance these strange communications can take place? What might be the common
physical modalities for such esoteric biocommunications?
Are they, as it seems, outside the electromagnetic spectrum
and comprise some untapped source of energy? What might
be the man-beast neuroanatomical and physiological
substrates? Could animals be telepathically summoned,
hallucinated, teleported, or materialized when the man-beast
needs and other factors are spontaneously fulfilled?
Eisenbud z4 has posed an intriguing exploratory generalization which he terms the "principle of confluence, according
to which 'psi' - some basic psi manifestation that is, not just
telepathy or PK, for example - is, like other great processabstractions in nature (e.g., electromagnetic, or, queer as this
sounds, 'the unconscious') an integral component in all
events (change of state of definable systems, let us say) and as
such represented in some measure as a determinate of the
final, common pathways of these events."
The study of human-animal paranormal events should be
vigorously pursued. If such disparate data exists, it should be
used and now swept under the rug. The clues for "the solution
of the riddle are there.
REFERENCES
I. Gaddis, Vincent and Margaret: The Strange World 0/ Animals
and Pets, New York, Cowles Book Co., Inc., 1970.
2. Sanderson, LT.: Investigating the Unexplained: A Compendium
(~r Disquieting Mysteries 0/ the Natural World. Englewood Cliffs,
N.J., Prentice Hall, 1972; personal communication March 10,

1972.
3. Carrington, Hereward, and Fodor, Nandor: Haunted People,
New York, Dutton, 1952; "The Talking Mongoose," pp.

175-212.
4. Fodor, Nandor: The Unaccountable, New York, Award Books,
1968, pp. 12\-125.
5. van Paassen, Pierre: Days 0/ Our Year.5, New York, Hillman
Curl, Inc. 1936, pp. 248-251.
6. Ryzl, Milan: Parapsychology: A Scientific Approach. New York,
Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1970.
7. von Urban, R.: Beyond Human Knowledge. New York, Pageant
Press, Inc., 1958, pp. 206-207.
8. Schwarz, B.E.: The Jacques Romano Story. New York. Univer~ity Books, 1968, pp. 196-199; personal communication.
9. Lilly. John c.: Man and Dolphin, New York, Pyramid Publications (paperback), 1962.
10. Keel, Johri A.: Strange Creatures/rom Time and Space, Greenwich, Conn., Fawceu Gold Medal Books, "1970.
II. Grad, B., Cadoret, R.J., and Paul; G.I.: An Unorthodox
Method of Treatment on Wound Healing in Mice, Int. J. Pctrap.\ydlOloRY. 111 (No.2): 5-24, 1961.
12. Schwarz, R.E.: Psychic-Dynamics, New York, Pageant Press,
1965: A Psychimrist Looks at ESP, New York, New American,
Library, 19611, paperback.

First Quarter 1988

13. Gregory, Anita: Importanl Russian Telepathy Findings, Fate, 24

(No.7): 45-51, 1971.
14. Schmidt, Helmut: PK Experiments with Animals as Subjects, J.
(~r Parapsychology, 34 (No.4); 255-261, 1970.
15. Schwarz, B:E.: Built-in Controls and Postulates for the
Tclepathic Evenl, Corrective Psychiatry and J. oj Social Therapy,
12:64-82, 1966.
16. Mos~, Thelma, and Sands, H.: Why Did I Flunk the Horse Test?
Parapsychology Review, I (No.5): 10-12, 1970.
17. Schwarz, B.E.: Parent-Child Telepathy, New York, Garrell
Publications, 1971, p. 98.
18. Schwarz, B.E.: Possible Telesomatic Reactions, J. oj the Medical
Society of New Jersey, 64:600-603, Nov. 1967.
19. The Telepathic Hypothesis and Genius: A Note on Thomas Alva
Edison, Corrective Psychiatry and J. oj Social Therapy, 13:7-19,
Jan. 1967.

20. Precognition and Psychic Nexus, J. oj the A mer. Soc. 0/ Psychosomatic Dentistry and Medicine, Pan I, 18 (No.2): 52-59, 1971;
Pan II, 18 (No.3): 83-93, 1971.
21. Tenhaeff, W.H .C.: Proceedings 0/ the Parapsychological Institute 0/ the State University 0/ Utrecht, No. I, Dec. 1960; ibid.,
No.2, 1962; ibid., No.3, 1965.
22. Meerloo, J.A.M.: Along the Fourth Dimension, New York,
John Day Co., 1970, p. 144.
23. Creighton, G.: Effects of UFOs on Animals, Birds, and Smaller
Creatures, Flying Saucer Review, Parts 1-10, 16 (Nos. 1-6), 1970,
17 (Nos. 1-4), 1971.
24. Eisenbud, Jule: Why Psi? Psychoanalytic Review, 53 (No.
4):647-663, 1966-1967.

Editor's comments: While setting up the above article, my wife

Nancy and I were reminded of unusual incidents with some of our
own animals.
In 1970, we were returning from a trip to Europe. Our twoyear-old parakeet was entrusted, for the two-week trip, with a
close friend in a neighboring town.
Our return flight was delayed several hours so that we didn't
get home until about 8 a.m. Unfortunately, the parakeet died that
morning just before we arrived without explanation.
Ii is about 6 miles to the friend's house and Nancy drove over
to talk with her about the trip and, of course, to retrieve the body
of the parakeet. When she left she placed the dead bird in the
trunk of our car. After about a mile, a crow dove down out of a
tree along side the road directly into the front of the car hitting
the front grill head on and was killed instantly.
Nancy had never hit a bird before and this "coincidence" of
carrying one dead bird and killing another made her quite upset.
She nervously drove on and just a few streets away from home.a
second bird (which appeared to be a starling) did the same thing.
Needless to say, Nancy was startled and very upset by these two
Kamikaze-like attacks.
Eighteen years have passed and, to my wife's knowledge, she
never hit another bird with her car nor, likewise, has she carried
such a cargo since.
On another occasion, a second curious event took place ..
Again, we were returning from a trip to Europe.
Jack, Nancy's brother, was left in charge of the house and our
cat, Fritzi, in our absence. When our plane brought us back, we
called Jack to let him know we'd see him shortly.
Even though Jack was a frequent visitor to our home, Fritzi, an
indoor cat, decided not to come out from under our bed with
Jack in the house. Fritzi had always been skittish with"strangers"
because he had been physically abused when we rescued him from
his former owners. Jack did not have to look too far to find him.
The entire time we were gone, Fritzi never emerged once to allow
Jack to see him either eat or use his litter pan. Regardless, Jack
checked on him each day. Fritzi had the upstairs while Jack's activities remained downstairs, for the most part.
Jack told us, when we walked in the door two hours later,
"You know, you won't believe this but within seconds after you
called me here from the airport, Fritzi came downstairs, walked
right over to me and waited in the living room for you to arrive. "
We tried to rationalize that perhaps Fritzi heard Jack mention
Nancy's name but that would have been impossible since his distance from the phone and background noise outside excluded that
possibility. Also the phone rang often, everyday, and Jack mentioned Nancy's name each time, even if we supposed Fritzi could
have managed to eavesdrop.
Jack, always the doubter and skeptic, was amazed by this
event.
But most remarkable, perhaps, is Rudi.
Jack stopped by the house one bitterly cold January evening in

1979. "Look what I've got," he said, as he opened up his old army jacket and lifted out a four-week-old pure black ball of fur. I
said, "No Jack, we've got two cats. No more!" How many times
have I heard and said those words?
Nearly three years passed since that January night when the
first signs of cystitis showed up. Cystitis is a fairly common and
often fatal male feline disease. The urinary tract is painfully
blocked and if left untreated quickly causes uremic poisoning and
death.
Rudi's veternarian treated him but warned us to look for signs
of reoccurrence and to call him immediately - day or night. And
reoccur it did. This time Rudi was in serious trouble and the veternarian shook his head. He told us, after the lab tests came back,
that Rudi would, even after an operation, probably only have a
short time to live because the tests showed 70-850/0 kidney
damage.
I went to work that day severely depressed. I visited Rudi at the
vet's infirmary on my lunch break.
He was so weak he could not lift his head but uttered a faint
"meow" and pushed his paw out the cage for me to hold. With tears
streaming down my face, I promised him then and there that I
would do my utmost to save him.
We sought information from various national experts on feline
disease. Then, as a long shot, I called our new friend, Greta
Woodrew. This remarkable psychic's abilities are best expressed
in her book, On Q Slide 0/ Light.
Greta, with the apparent callousness of a hard-core, business
executive is inwardly a soft and sympathetic person. "Well," she
said to me briskly over the phone, "I have never tried to heal an
animal before, but if he means that much to you we can give it a
try." She lived miles away in Connecticut, at the time, and admittedly a healing at a distance was a long shot attempt. Nevertheless, I followed her instructions, and as soon as Rudi was
released following surgery, Greta helped us.
Two days later we took Rudi for a checkup. The vet was surprised to see him looking so well and took a blood sample. A day
later, with no explanation, he took another blood sample. Later
he told us that he had to take a second blood test to check the
results of the first test but both came out the same - no sign of
kidney damage! He stated that he had never seen this before and
then we told him about Greta.
That was nearly six years ago. Rudi takes precautionary
medication but otherwise is in very good health. Greta has a new
book out, Memories oj Tomorrow (to be reviewed in PURSUIT
shortly) and Nancy has. recently helped found a non-profit group
called S.N .A.P .S. (Spay, Neuter And Protect Strays) so that as of
this writing we are foster-caring just under two dozen, bouncing,
healthy, some with handicaps, but all lovable kittens waiting to be
adopted to good homes.
And thanks, Greta, our hearts will always be out to you.

First Quarter 1988

Reprinted, with permission, from the Journal 0/ the American Society 0/ Psychosomatic Dentistry and Medicine, Volume 20, No.2.

Pursuit 25

SlTUatioD

Trying to Figure Out Those

HUlDan Calculators
Regal in her sari, Shakuntala Devi stood
before an audience at George Washington
University, her hands clasped like a singer's.
The music that came out, however, was
numbers.
The cube of 121? "One seven seven one
live six one," she replied instantly. (She hates
commas.) Then, after a moment's reflection:
"That's also the fourth power of II. There's
something much more interesting to this
number than meets the eye."
In fact it is the sixth power of II, a lapse no
one noticed.
Someone asked if she could handle
decimals and wanted her to find the cube root
of 12812.904. That, she said without hesitation, is the third power of 23.4.
Then it was days of the week. Given a date
in. the distant past or future, she answered
"Thursday" or "Sunday" or "Tuesday"
almost before the questioner had got the
words out. She wao; always right. She played
with her hotel-room number, 1729: It is the
sum of 12 cubed and one cubed, also the sum
of \0 cubed and nine cubed.
But this was child's play for the plump,
50ish Devi, one of the world's more celebrated calculating prodigies. She made the Guinness Book of Records a few years ago by multiplying two 13-digit numbers - correctly, of
course - in 28 seconds.
In 1977 she made headlines allover the
world when she beat the Univac computer by
liguring in her head, before a rapt audience at
Southern Methodist University in Dallas, the
23rd root of a 20\ -digit number - in 50
seconds. The machine, which had to be
specially programmed for this event, took
more than a minute.
". have to be relaxed," she says. ". try to
clear my mind. I don't watch TV on the day I
perform; I don't get into conversations. I can
work about 90 minutes, and then I get
tired ... "
Everyone is fascinated by "lightning calculators," "human computers" and idiot
savants - who, at an age when most children
are barely aware they're alive, can do
ao;tonishing, almost miraculous things in one
narrow field, but who remain ordinary, or
even subnormal, in everything else.
Many of them turn up in music and math
(also chess), disciplines ihat resemble each
other in their architectural qualities, their
purity ao; abstract art, their freedom from the
imprecisions of language or any other form of
intellectual interpretation.
The musicians are the most famous: little
Mozart composing symphonies in the attic in
his pajamas; 2-year-old Claudio Arrau reaching up over his head to touch the piano keys
and discover his calling; Menuhin and Chopin
giving concens in knee pants; and so on.
Much rarer are the prodigy artists like
Nadia, an autistic girl who at kindergarten age

Pursuit 26

their Iive~ in mental iostillltiom, diagnosed as

retarued. and coutdn't pos~ibly have
memorized ,orne formula?
The fact is, numbers prodigies cover a vast
panorama of talent . .Iohn and Michael, the
much-televised twins with IQ~ of 60, for example, could quote, offhand, prime numbers
20 digit~ long. But any list would also have to
include mathematicians John von Neumann
and Karl Gauss, scientist Andre Ampere and
the wonderful Alexander Aitken, linguist,
compo~er, violinist, poet and instant calculator of the t'ir~t order.
And nearly all of these people do have
methods, although some wouldn't use the
word. Rather, they would say they are in love
with numbers, they play with them day and
night, they delight in the myriad ways
number~ relate to each other, create harmonie' in the mind. Numbers are their language.
Klein once said: "Numbers are friends for
me, more or less. It doesn't mean the same for
you, doe~ it, 3,844? For you it's just a three
and an eightand a four and a four. But I say,
'Hi, 62 squared:"
Salo Finkel~tein thought 214 "beautiful,"
was especially fond of 8,377, hated zero.
Shyam Marathe, flying over the Grand Canyon, was inspired to revel in the vastness of
the 20th power of nine. Eberstark sees "the
~inister 64 or the arrogant, smug, self-~tislicd
36... the fatherly, reliable ( i I' somewhat
.
stodgy) 76."
Many calculators, as part of their constant
fooling around with numbers, habitually factor any large figure they ~ee. Thus, at a moment'~ notice they can dismantle a number
like a toy, into more workable bits. Some
memorize the multiplication tables up to 100
and beyond. A few memorize logarithm
tables.
Smith gives a glimpse of Finkel~tein'~ mind
at work:
"Problem: reduce 6,328 to the sum of four
squares. Thought that 71 squared equals
5,041. Thought of subtracting it; didn't like it,
so didn't. Thought 72 squared. Doesn't know
it. 70 squared equals 4,900 subtracted from
6,328 equals 1,428. Has it. 1,428 into 3
squares equals 32 squared plus 20 squared
plus 2 squared. 6,328 equals 70 squared plus
32 squared plus 20 squared plus 2 squared."
This took him \0 seconds.
There are all sorts of tricks. Cube roots are
a favorite because, Smith writes, they're
ca~ier, "since the last digit of the power
unambiguously determine~ the last digit of the
root." Fifth roOls, he insists, are also duck

was drawing with the sophisticated skill of a

graduate art student.
The gift seems to appear earliest in the
math prodigies, often before they have any inkling that there is such a thing as mathematics, which is why so many of them seem to
reinvent it for themselves while musing in
their highchairs.
For all the fascination of the phenomenon,
remarkably little has been written on it.
One feature of the conference was a demonstration by Hans Eberstark, an engaging.
genius who has memorized pi to 11,944 places
and speaks at least two dozen languages.
He had the audience call out 50 digits,
which were copied on a screen behind him.
When he recited them, going slowly and methodically, he left out a chunk of \0 but soon
recovered and got them right. It was clear he
was using a memory system, and later he explained that he translates each digit into a
sound, then works these homemade syllables
into a private jargon.
Compared to Devi and some prodigies of
the past, Eberstark was rather reao;suring in
his hesitations and false starts.
He was introduced by his friend Steven B.
Smith, himself a numbers whiz, who has writlen proha'bly the be~t book ever on The Great
Mental Calculaton.
For those who are simply flabbergasted by
such math gymnastics, who start muttering
about deviant brain cells and the supernatural, Smith's book is a revelation.
For in~tance, about that feat of Devi's in
beating the computer, he has this to say:
"The computer apparently did not, as did
Devi, extract the 23rd root of a 20\-digit
number where the root was known to be an
integer, but rather raised a nine-digit number
to the 23rd power. The problems are altogether different. If the computer had been given
the same 201-digit number and programmed
to use methods similar to Devi's, it would
have given the answer virtually instantaneously, while no one could conceivably raise an arbitrary nine-digit number to the 23rd power."
Incidentally, Smith finds Devi's 28-second
multiplication of two 13-digit numbers frankly "unbelievable," because "it is so far
superior to anything previously reported."
But can these dazzling gifts be reduced to
merely a matter of method and technique?
Many of the famous calculators in Smith's ~Ollp.
book were illiterate and knew nothing about
"The dil'licuJty of extracting the root of a
arithmetic (at least when they started).
perfect power has little to do with the size of
Some learned to multiply by arranging peb- the power involved. Much more important
bles in rectangles. And when you consider the arc the number of digits in the root and the
o;peed - Wim Klein of the Netherlands ex- particular power selected." So he says.
tracted the 73rd root of a 500-digit number in SOURCE: Michael Kernan of the
Washington Post in the Inquirer.
under three minutes - it's hard to believe
there is time for any technique.
Philadelphia, PA Ii 11/88
And what about those people who can tell CREDrr: H. Hollander
you, just like that, the day of the week for any
date within thousands of years, yet who spend

First Quarter 1988

\

Forgotten Tesla Letter

- Rediscovered
by Fred Bobb
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) and interstellar communication research interspersed with the
discovery of radio waves. Radio waves offered a pragmatic
mode of interplanetary communication. This possibility,
although visionary, deeply interested a leading wireless
pioneer, Nikola Tesla.
Nikola Tesla, the eccentric Serbian inventor, began investigations of high-voltage and high-frequency electrical transmissions in June 1899. Tesla constructed and operated a
powerful 200-foot radio transmitter on Knob Hill, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Utilizing power from a nearby
generating station, Tesla created the first man-made lightning. Ultimately, he began experimenting with up to 100
million volts ... a feat not equalled for over half a century!
It was during the course of these experiments, that one
night, Tesla heard mysterious rhythmiC sounds coming out of
his sensitive radio receiver. Awestruck, Tesla listened intently.
He soon discarded theories that the electrical actions were disturbances caused by the Sun, earth currents or the Aurora
Borealis. Tesla could only deduce that such regular patterns
were a message ... a message to Earth by creatures from outer
space!
(NOTE: Modern scientific opinion has it that what Tesla
actually heard were natural radio waves emanating from
pulsars or planets.)
But the faint, unknown message from another world had a
profound reaction on Tesla that would guide him throughout
his research career. The message read: ..one ... two ... three .....
.. One ... two ... three ..... This idea contained the basic concept that most SETI researchers still believe about interstellar
messages.
SETI researchers, consist mainly of scientists and engineers. They assume that extraterrestrial SETI researchers have
the same technical backgrounds. These groups talk largely in
mathematics when in formal conversations with each other.
Therefore, it is assumed scientists and engineers trying to
communicate across the vastness of space would likewise use
mathematics as their language. Tesla believed that two intelligent groups who have no words in common cannot help but
comprehend the basic principle of addition. The easiest way
to get an extraterrestrial species to understand that a message
is being sent is to start with one pulse, then two, then three
pulses, then continue... One ... two ... three .....
Tesla steadfastly maintained his beliefs and began to
ponder the puzzle of how to answer the signals that could only have come from the angry red planet Mars. Announcements on the subject by the esoteric Serb, were met with intense ridicule from his peers.
A typical criticism was that of Professor Edward S.
Holden, former director of Lick Observatory at the University of California. He quipped:
"Mr. Nikola Tesla has announced that he is confident that
certain disturbances of his apparatus are electrical signals
received from a source beyond this earth. They do not
come from the sun, he says, hence they must be of
planetary origin, he thinks; probably from Mars, he
guesses. It is the rule of a sound philosophizing to examine

Artistic Rendition by author, Fred Bobb.

First. Quarter 1988

Pursuit 27

all probable causes for an unexplained phenomenon

before invoking improbable ones. Every experimenter will
say that it is almost certain that Mr. Tesla has made an error, and that the disturbances in question come from currents in our air or in the earth." 1
.... .it may safely be taken for granted that his signals do
not come from Mars."2
Many scientific minds agreed with this rationale. How
could Tesla pinpoint the ruddy planet as the source of the
signals? Why not a passing comet? Why not the Great Bear
of the Milky Way, or the Zodiacal light? Why presume to
propose any "planetary" origin for the signals if one was not
certain?
Tesla was disheartened and disenchanted by those reactions. But in 1902, Lord Kelvin, the British electrical genius,
visited America. He openly concurred with Tesla's assumptions that Mars was signalling the United States. This high
vote of confidence spurred Tesla on, and silenced many
dissenting voices for the time being.
.
Although the Serbian scientist became involved with more
practical research endeavors for George Westinghouse and
J.P. Morgan, he never lost sight of his goal to talk to the firmament. In fact, a recently rediscovered letter to the editor of
the N.Y. Times, expounded on these convictions. Tesla's letter appeared in the Times of May 23, 1909. He again re-
iterated his obsessions about the plausibilities of cosmic communion and extraterrestrial life:
.
"Of all the evidences of narrow mindedness and folly, I
know of no greater one than the stupid belief that this little
planet is singled out to be the seat of life, and that all other
heavenly bodies are fiery masses or lumps of ice."3
Tesla admitted that there was no absolute proof of Martian
life. He discounted Percival Lowen's "canal" theory as such
evidence, indicating that the canals were nothing more than
geodetically straight flowing rivers culminating from the erosion of mountains. He again emphasized that his beliefs were
based solely on:
"the feeble planetary electrical disturbances which ,I dis-
covered in the summer of 1899, and which, according to
my investigations, could not have originated from the sun,
the Moon, or Venus. Further study since has satisfied me
that they must have emanated from Mars."4
Dr. Tesla's letter also denounced most contemporary signaling theories as inadequate.
Professor W.H. Pickering, of the Harvard Observatory, at
Flagstaff, Arizona, believed that an elaborate system of
mechanically operated mirrors rhythmically flashed at Mars
would suffice as a communication attempt. Pickering's project would cost over $10,000,000 (in contemporary money!)
to perfect. He insisted Martians could see the mirror flashes,
"When Mars is at a distance of one hundred millions of
miles from the earth, a beam of sunlight half a mile square
would appear to its inhabitants of the same brightness as a
fifth magnitude star." S
Tesla had little faith in this theory. In his letter, Tesla stated.
that,
"The total solar radiation falling on a terrestrial area
perpendicular to the rays (of reflected light) amounts to 83
foot pounds per square foot per second. This activity
measured by the adopted standard, is a little over 1S one
thousandth of a horsepower. But only about lOD,1o of this
whole is due to waves of light."6
The Serbian inventor continued his explanation by insisting,
Pursuit 28

"These, however, are of widely different lengths making it

impossible to use all to the best advantage, and there are
specific losses unavoidable in the use of mirrors so that the
power of sunlight reflected from them can scarcely exceed
S.S foot pounds per square foot per second, or about one
one hundredth of a horsepower.'"
Tesla declared that in view of the small activity, a reflecting
surface of about one quarter million square feet should have
been provided for the experiment. Tesla also believed that ordinary commercial plate mirrors would not work "for at such
immense distance the imperfections of surface would fatally
interfere with efficiency." 8
Tesla was further convinced that expensive clockworks
were needed to rotate the reflectors in the manner of he1iostats. (Heliostats were instruments that automatically rotated
mirrors to deflect sunlight in constant direction.) Provisions
for protection against corrosive elements was also needed.
Pickering's conservative budget estimate could never cover
such a vast array of equipment, according to the Serbian doctor:
Tesla. noted that the Pickering devices could only hope to
produce illumination 27,400,000 times feebler than that of the
full moon. He also doubted that the reflected rays could
penetrate planetary atmospheres. In essence, Tesla believed
.
this to be an effort of futility.
Professor Robert W. Wood, of John Hopkins University,
thought a simpler scheme would work. Prof. Wood proposed
that a tremendous black spot on the white alkali Staked
Plains of Texas, could be constructed at minimal cost. This
dark dot coUld be discerned by alleged Martians if t"-ey
possessed powerful telescopes like those on Earth. Furthermore, signals could be 'winked' with the ebony spot as with a
mirror of equal size. Most probably, even easier.
The spot could be made in small sections of black cloth arranged to ron up on long cylinders. This could be accomplished electrically, exposing portions of the white sward. Tesla
held this proposal with equal disdain.
Construction of large geometrical reflectors on the plains
of Siberia was another theory proffered by Eric Doolittle, a
professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He surmised that
a triangle, a square and a circular plane of great size could be
discernable to Martian astronomers. They then might construct similar devices in acknowledgement. Tesla had serious
doubts concerning this proposal also.
Dr. Tesla concluded his N.Y. Times letter by outlining the
only feasible method to contact the inhabitants of Mars:
,. A circuit properly designed and arranged is connecta.
with one of its ends to an insulated terminal at some height
and with the other to earth. Inductively linked with it is
another circuit in which electrical oscillations of great intensity are set up by means now familiar to electricians.
This combination of apparatus is known as my wireless
transmitter. "9
"By careful attunement of the circuits the expert can produce a vibration of extraordinary power, but when certain
artifices, which I have not yet described, are resorted to,
the oscillation reaches transcending intensity. By this
means, as told in my published technical records, I have
passed a powerful current around the globe and attained
activities of many millions of horsepower. Assuming only
a rate of IS,OOO,OOO, readily obtainable, it is 6,000 times
more than that produceable by the Pickering mirrors." 10
Tesla insisted that if his system were also utilized by the
electricians of Mars, they could multiply their receiving efFirst Quarter 1~88

REFERENCES
1. Cheney, Margaret, Tesla: Man Out of Time, Laurel/Dell Publishing Co., 1981, p. 150.
2. Ibid, p. 151.
3." Tesla, Nickola, "How to Signal Mars," letter to the editor, New
York Times, May 23, 1909. Hereafter cited as Tesla letter, N.Y.

fects many thousands of times, concentrating energy received

over dozens of square miles!
As usual, though, Tesla was purposely elusive on the
specifics of "artifices" or procedures needed to project the interplanetary signals. No patents were ever issued for an interplanetary communicator.
Even in July, 1937, upon the occasion of being presented
with the Yugoslavian Grand Cordon of the White Eagle and
the Czechoslavakian Grand Cordon of the White Lion
awards, Tesla continued to insist that life on other worlds was
a "certitude" and that his cosmic communicator was fuDy
developed and ready for use. He even boasted of collecting
the Pierre Guzman Prize offered by the French Institute of
Sciences for interstellar communication. But, Tesla's theories
and methods for talking to the planets died with him on
January 7, 1943.
Controversy and intrigue still exist even today on the subject of life on Mars. However, current conventional debate
rests solely to its being on a microbiological scale. Whether
humanoids existed on Mars at the time of Tesla, or whether
they ever existed is extremely doubtful. The uncovering of
this letter merely intends to project the passions Tesla held for
a Martian radio communication link, and his belief in extraterrestrial life.

Related SlTUadoD.
Editor's Note: No doubt a number of our
members and readers are familiar with the
reports that appeared in the New York Times
the last ten days of August, 1924 regarding
radio signals allegedly "picked up" by radio
receivers as Mars approached 10 34,630,000
miles away from the earth.
The following are a few excerpts from two
of the reports printed on the 23rd and 28th of
August, resp.

Radio Hears Things

M .... NearsU.
An attempt by British wireless experts to
"listen in" on Mars resulted in strange noises
being heard at 1 o'clock this morning. The
source of the noises could not be ascertained
by the experts.
The attempt was made on a twenty-four
tube set erected on a hill at Dulwich.
Representatives of the Marconi Company and
of London universities were present.
Tuning in started at 12:30 a.m., and at 1
a.m., on a 30,OOO-meter radius, sounds were
heard which could not be identified as coming
from any earthly station.
The sounds were likened to harsh dots, but
they could not be interpreted as any known
code. The noises continued on and off for
three minutes in groups of four and five dots.

London. August 23 (AP)

The regular signals blotting out other

messages, which have led radio experts here
seriously to consider the theory that Mars is
trying to "tune in," were received at the Point
Grey wireless station again today and also
were heard by the wireless expert at the Merchants Exchange.
First Quarter

1988

Times.
4. Ibid.
5. Pickering, William H., "Signaling to Mars," letter to the editor,
Scientific American, July 17, 1909, vol. 101, p. 43.
6. Tesla letter, N.Y. Times.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
I. O'Neill, John J., Prodigal Genius, Arngriff Press, Hollywood,
CA,I944.
2. Tesla, Nikola, Colorado Springs Notes - 1899 to 1900, Belgrad,
Yugoslavia, Nolit, 1978.
3. Tesla, Nikola, Complete Patents, Edited by John Ratzlaff, Tesla
Book Co., Millbrae, CA, 1983.
4. Hunt, Inez and Draper, W.W., Lightning in His Hand, Omni
Publication, Hawthorne, CA, 1964.

"The signal has been noticed at the same

hour practically every day for four weeks or
more," declared C. W. Mellish, wireless
operator at the Government station at Point
Grey. "It is absolutely distinctive and cannot
be attributed to any known instrument, or to
static or to leaking transformers in Vancouver."
This morning the signal, which dominated
the air lines, was heard at 5:20 and at 7:12, at
the same time to the minute that they came in
on the previous days. It again came in four
groups of four dashes and rather four
"slepps" so powerful that they"could not be
"tuned out."
The sounds had not been considered
seriously by the operators until the last day or
two, Mr. Mellish stated.
Vancouver, British Columbia. August 21

William F. Friedman, Chief of the Code

Section in the office of the Chief Signal Officer of the Anny, was standing by tonight,
ready to translate any peculiar messages that
might come by radio from Mars.
Lieut. Col. C.A. Siaone, Executive Officer
of the Signal Corps, had implicit faith, he
said, in Mr. Friedman's ability to decode
Martian messages as well as any man in the
United States.
Washington. DC, August 22

Seeks Sign From Mus

in 3O-Foot Radio FUm
The development of a photographic film
record of radio signals during a period of
about twenty-nine hours, while Mars was
closest to the earth, has deepened the mystery
of the dots and dashes reported heard at the
same time by widely separated operators of
powerful stations.
C. Francis Jenkins of Washington, inventor of the device, which he calls the "radio
photo message continuous transmission
machine," was induced by Dr. David Todd,
professor emeritus of astronomy of Amherst
and organizer of the international "listeningin" for signals from Mars, to take the record.
The film, thirty feet long and six inches
wide, discloses in black on white a fairly
regular arrangement of dots and dashes along
one side, but on the other side at almost evenly spaced intervals are curiously jumbled
groups each taking the form of a crudely
drawn face.
"I don't think the results have anything to
do with Mars," says Mr. Jenkins. "Quite
likely the sounds recorded are the result of
heterodyning or interference of radio signals.
The film shows a repetition, at intervals of
about a half hour, of what appears to be a
man's face. It's a freak which we can't explain."

It is 120 years, according to the calculations

On the 31st of that month a leiter was
of most astronomers, though. some differ with
them, since the two celestial travelers have prinied in the leiters to the editor column
been as near. Nothing but a mere 34,630,000 from our very own Charles H. Fort in Lonmiles will separate ~em at about 7 o'clock don entitled "Visitors of other Worlds. " Untonight (Eastern Standard Time), and when fortunately, he did not address the question,
astronomers get talking about interstellar what was the face "from Mars" decoded in
spaces, 34,630,000 miles is hardly worth men- Washington? Where is that 30.-/001 tape today?" [Ed.}
tioning.
Pursuit

29

Do Ghosts Banier Oscillate?

by Daniel Eden

1963 pboto at Aetaa Springs, St. HeleDa, CaUlomia.

On a bright, sunny afternoon in 1963 Dr. Andrew von

Salza, a West Coast physician, was spending his vacation
time at a resort area in Aetna Springs, Sr. Helena, California.
Von Salza and Mr. George Heibel, the owner of the resort
area, were out on a golf course toying about with an unusual
camera - a "Wollensack" stereo camera. This device simultaneously snaps two different pictures of a scene from two
slightly different angles. The two slides that result can give the
viewer a 3-D image of the scene, like you see with those Viewmaster gadgets that people buy, especially for their kids,
each Christmas season.
The subject of the photographs they were taking was not
particularly relevant to our interests since they were just a
series of pictures of the resort's golf course. However, von
Salza, who seems to have a history of psychic abilities, took
one photo pair that seemed remarkably out of place. The two
stereo slides that resulted appeared to show a cluster of images of a ghost-like figure that seemed to have been rapidly
gliding across the field of view as the double photos were
snapped.

Holzer's Interpretation
Professor Hans Holzer (See Note #1), who now owns these
photographs and holds the current copyright on them, published two large blowups of these slides in his book, Psychic
Photography'. Professor Holzer also published one of the
pictures in an article called "Psychic Photography - Graphic
Proof for Another Dimension," which appeared in Ted Holiday and Colin Wilson's, The Goblin Universe. 2 This smaller
version of one of the ghost photos seems to bring out more
detail of the figures than the larger version in Holzer's photo
book.
Holzer interpreted the series of images to be a group of
ghostly religious figures. He wrote that "a group of rqbed
monks appeared seemingly out of nowhere, perhaps eight or
ten figures in all, and on one of the pictures (they were) surrounded by what appeared to be names. I I He suggested that
the images resembled a group of robed Dominican monks
Pursuit 30

Pboto of "Dominican Monks" from H. Holzer collection.

carrying candles. He says, "I was able to bring British medium Sybil Leek to this area in 1966, and through deep trance
establish the dramatic narrative of these monks." However,
as Dr. Arlan K. Andrews has pointed out in PURSUIT,' this
kind of test can sometimes fail even when you are using very
powerful psychics and mediums.
The Goblin Universe version .of the photo really caught my
interest because it did not look, to me, like a group of monks
carrying candles. Instead, it looked like a series of four very
bright images and three (or four) very weak images of the
same identical figure, appearing repeatedly. In other words,
these seven or eight figures may represent the world's first
stereographic evidence for ghostly barrier oscillation. .
. In his book, Prof. Holzer stated that the camera was set for
an exposure of 11250th of a second, at F/16, using daytime
color film with a rating of.l60 ASA. If this exposure time
were correct, and if we assume that there are about eight images on the film, then we would have a coining frequency of:
Fe = total number of images divided by the exposure time.
= 8 images I (11250 sec.)
=2000 Hz
Furthermore, judging from the picture, the image would be
travelling across the field of view at an incredible speed. For
instance, the image seems to glide along the groul).d somewhat
farther than its own body image is tall. If the tigure is assumed to have a typical height of about 5 feet, then it traveled
about 8 feet during the brief 11250th of a second. This would
mean it was moving at a speed of about 2000 feet per second,
or a little better than 1,360 miles per hour!
However, I wrote to Professor Holzer about the photographs and I asked him about this published exposure time.
He suggested then and later confirmed by letter that the exposure time had been 1/25th of a second rather than the
published 11250th second. If this revised exposure time is correct then the coining frequency is only about 200 Hz and the
ghost is moving along at a much slower (but still remarkable)
ground speed of about 130 miles per hour.
First Quarter 1988

Ghosts With Mass?

The barrier theory predicts that any object, disturbed from
its equilibrium in our world by being pushed in the direction
of higher space, will tend to oscillate in and out of our range
of perception. However this only applies to objects that have
a tangible, i.e., non-zero mass. Thus if we can demonstrate
that a ghost can barrier oscillate, then we will automatically
prove that such a ghost has a tangible mass - and if a ghQ';t
has a tangible mass then it is an objectively real entity. In fact,
it is possible that the mass of a ghost has already been measured by parapsychologists!
In a recent Fate magazine article: parapsychologist Dr.
Janet Lee Mitchell asks, "In Out-of-Body Experiences: Is
Anything Out?" She feels that the aBE is a real phenomenon
in which a tangible aspect of human consciousness does, in
fact, leave the body. Furthermore, this aBE ghost may have
a mass. She stated that, "Dutch scientists weighed the physical body before, during and after exteriorization to find a
weight loss of 2.25 ounces during exteriorization. This coincides with a finding by McDougall of a 2.50 ounce weight loss
at death ..... Thus it seems that Out-of-Body (exteriorization)
experiments and death bed experiences both tend to confirm
the possibility that something with a tangible mass does leave
the body.
Dr. Mitchell's weight range for a ghost, about 2.25 to 2.50
ounces (63.8 to 70.9 grams), is a fairly substantial weight. A
"Milky Way" chocolate bar, sitting on my desk as I write
this, weighs 2.24 ounces (63.5 grams), according to the wrapper. Charles Fort said that ghosts, when multiplied, take on
what is called "substantiality." A ghost that weighs the same
as a candy bar has to be considered "substantial," at least to
chocolate lovers.
Calculating the Barrier Constant K
Thus, it seems possible that a typical ghost might weigh
about 60 to 70 grams, at least immediately after it has
separated from the physical body (see Note #2). Now if Prof.
Holzer's later version of the exposure time (1125 sec.) is accurate then the coining frequency, as we previously said, is
about 200 Hertz. Let's assume that the mass of the ghost is
about 60 grams (0.060 kilograms) then the barrier constant
"K" is determined as follows:

=M x

(Tf x fc)Z
" -= 0.060 kilograms 0.14 x 200 Hertz)2
2366] kilograms - Hertz', which rounds off to.
2_37 x 10' kg-Hz'
This value for the barrier ~unstant is a magnitude smaller
than the roughly estimated value that I have used in previous
papers. If this is closer to the correct value for K, then the
previous calculations would also be off by about this amount.
On the other hand, if the exposure time was 11250 seconds as
Holzer first stated, rather than 1/25 seconds (his corrected
figure), then K would be in about the same magnitude range
that was previously estimated. This discrep;mcy shows us how
important it is to have the correct exposure lime on a
multiple-image photo. Without an accurate exposure time
then we will not be able to pin down the value of the barrier
constant K - and until we can get a really good measure of
K, then our calculations and predictions will be hovering in
limbo along with the other ghosts of our imagination.

Unresolved Questions
Is this a real ghost flitting across a California golf course,
or are we being taken for a ride by someone, or something?
The fact that the camera was stereographic and that both
. First Quarter 1988

photos showed something in the same precise location would

seem to argue in favor of the tangible reality of an anomalous
image appearing in that particular point in space.
On the other hand there are some unresolved questions that
are not explained to my complete satisfaction. For instance,
one of the photographs has a green tinted background while
the other has a red haze surrounding the images. In a letter to
me, Professor Holzer admitted that he, too, was puzzled by
this background difference in the photos. His comment was,
"both were taken at the same time, about 4 p.m. - so the
difference in color (background) is not readily explicable.
Both were processed together."
Were differently colored filters placed over the two lenses?
Admittedly, I don't know enough about the Wollensack
stereo camera to know if it uses differently colored filters over
the lenses. (If it does, then the viewer would presumably need
to wear eyeglasses with red and green filters also to see the full
three-dimensional view.)
Another problem, perhaps much more serious, is that of
the photographer, Dr. von Salza, himself. This man has a
history of taking odd photographs. Some of these other ghost
pictures also appeared in Holzer's Psychic Photography
book. Some of these pictures look like candidates for hoaxes.
Von Salza has collages of photos of famous persons (like
Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy, etc.) who were all in the
headlines and magazines of the 1960s at about the same time
that the psychic photos were said to have been taken. The irregular boundries of these collages suggest, even to my untrained eye, that they were created by scissors and paste.
On the other hand, in another letter to me, Professor Hans
Holzer had this to say about Dr. Salza:
"Dr. von Salza not only was ...an absolutely honest man
and research person, but highly skeptical of anything
along these lines and (he) tried hard to find 'another' explanation: But when additional psychic photos happened.
to him when he took pictures, he finally realized the truth
and sought my counsel."
Could it be that Dr. von Salza was, in fact, totally honest
but that the spirits, themselves, were engaged in "obfuscation" of some sort?
ParanonnalObfuscation?
And so, are the stereo photos hoaxes? I don't really know.
It is often difficult to pass fully sound verdicts on parapsychological and Fortean data. We are dealing with very tricky
territory here. In PURSUIT' E. Macer-Story used the term
"obfuscation" to describe these problems. Even the cautious
researcher, Luis Schoenherr, while showing a curiosity for
these "spirit" phenomena, reminds us that to go too far in
these directions may only sink us into a dark bog of endless
confusion.
Colin Wilson, who is a very astute observer regarding
possible paranormal obfuscation, described problems faced
by early psychical researchers, in The Goblin Universe as
follows:
"If ghosts and poltergeists really existed, then they seemed determined to confuse the investigators with false information. G.K. Chesterton, who devoted some time to
experiments with the ouija board, agreed that the seances
produced unexplainable results, but added: "The only
thing I will say with complete confidence about that
mystic and invisible power is that it tells lies. "
Jacques Vallee, in his recent book, DimenSions' (see Note
113), points out that this same peculiar deception also occurs in
his field of study. He writes that "the UFO denies itself" and
Pursuit 31

more generally "the phenomenon negates itself." Just as

Chesterton's spirit force "tells lies" and may create deliberate
absurdities in its wake, so does the intelligence behind some.
UFO phenomena.
And so, even if Dr. Salza was really dealing with spirit
forces, and not simply hoaxing the photographs, could it be
that those same spiritual forces were also capable of hoaxing
us: Do spooks, themselves, play games with scissors and
paste'? On the other hand, the multiple images would probably not be expected to occur in a spurious 1963 ghost photo
because there would have been no particular reason for the
hoaxer to think that multiple images would seem more important than a single image. That is, there was no barrier theory
in 1963 to guide a practical joker. Maybe the stereo photos,
which were said to be spontaneous and unplanned, really did
catch a ghostly creature'?
Another Multiple Image Ghost Photo
I have discovered another multiple-image ghost photo
wherein an entity of some sort may have been caught off
guard by a man with a camera. The story is a fascinating one.
I found it in one of the very earliest issues of Fate magazine, 1
and it seems to have taken place at just about the time that
Kenneth Arnold was making Americans aware of strange
signs and portents in the skies above.
There, Vaughn Greene of San Diego, California took his
. ghost picture in the Autumn of 1947 when he was strolling
along Aquatic Park in San Francisco, California, on a
somewhat hazy day. The photo showed "an intricate series of
32 designs, all almost alike, which formed an L-shaped pattern." In my very old and worn copy of this magazine I can
only see about 16 images (including partial images) that look
like someone had taken a tangled wad of glowing string or
wire, and they had thrown it across a dark field of view while
it flickered on and off rapidly. Today, we might call this a
typical "nocturnal light" UFO.
However, it was not a nocturnal UFO that was being
reported by the witness. Instead, Mr. Greene said that he had
actually taken a picture of "a black man wearing white
robes." This peculiar fellow arrested Mr. Greene's attention
and he described events as follows:
"His singular appearance at once aroused my curiosity
so I edged closer and observed him. He was black, wearing a white turban, banging a tambourine and carrying
a long cross-staff. He would sing for awhile, then stop
and preach .
.. .I went up to him and asked if he would stand by the
water's edge. I wanted to contribute something to him
but I had no money. I did have a street car token which
he accepted, and I snapped his picture.
After listening to him say San Francisco would be
destroyed because of its many evil residents, I snapped
some other photos of boats and went home.
I had the pictures developed at Merrils, which is a large
drug store in downtown San Francisco. There were eight
shots on the roll and every one turned out perfectly - except the one of the black preacher standing in the
water!"
Just as in the von Salza case, the photo was an unplanned
spontaneous event and in both instances the witnesses were
enjoying their leisure time in a California resort area.
Also, in Mr. Greene's case, like von Salza's, there was
another person present when these things happened. Greene
wrote that, "Harvey Young ... was with me when I met the
preacher and can testify to all of the foregoing."
Mr. Greene's bizarre black man in white robes who makes
Pursuit 32

..

flickering images on film reminds me of a purely fictional

MIB case in J.N. Williamson's horror thriller, Brotherkind.
Williamson, who sometimes writes for PURSUIT, makes a
living at writing Whitley Strieber-type novels. In his fictional
Brotherkind he writes:
"Slowly at first .. then with gathering speed, the Man in
Black was fading out. Already he was a blurred outline
of zigzag dashes, an electronic message with its own
bizarre life. Quickly now the creature was disappearing
before their stan led eyes - until the only thing remaining was - like the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland
- his singularly hideous, quite defiant smile."
Let us hope that, unlike Williamson's fictional heroine,
Ms. S. Sanderson, we will not have to deal with malevolent
Men in Black whose plans are to slowly replace humans as
Earth's dominant species (see Note #4).
Other Cases
There are other published photographs where ghostly blobs
and tangled masses of glowing "bent wire" apparitions
flicker across photographic emulsions. For example see
Rickard and Kelly's Photographs of the Unknown 9 , or Tom
Bearden's Excalibur Briefing,IO (see Note #5). A great many
of these photographs have been published here and there in
anomaly journals like PURSUIT, ArtifexlArchaeus, Flying
Saucer Review, Fate and many others .
Is it possible that at least one of these many photographs
represents a real, physically tangible, ghost'? Are we,
ourselves, really only ghosts who are wearing bodies'? When
you talk to your neighbor, your brother, sister or your
preacher, are you really talking to a living, breathing, ghost'?
Like a Saturday cartoon spectre, say BOO! to someone you
love today.
Notes
I. To some, Professor Holzer Ph.D., has a rather poor
reputation among professional parapsychologists. For years
they have decried his research techniques, his theories, his
credentials. However, Professor Holzer does go out into the
real world to collect data, and then he publishes it. The von
Salza photo set is a perfect case in point. A lot of the odd data
that he has collected over the years would never have seen
print if he had not been personally involved. By any measure,
he deserves some Fortean respect.
In a letter to me, he wrote: "My Ph.D. is in philosophy
with specialty in parapsychology and comparative religions."
For seven years he headed the cataloguing department of a
major coin collecting firm and he professionally studied archaeology and numismatics.
2. However, the situation may be somewhat more C0111plicated than this because Robert Monroe, and others, have
reported that there is more than one "OBE body." Somewhat like the multiple stages in an Apollo moon rocket, the
ultimate payload of human consciousness must disengage
itself from at least two "bodies" before it is ultimately free
from the physical body.
.
Monroe seems to describe a three part system, the normal
physical body is the heaviest, the second body is much lighter,
and the third must have only a very small mass. A ghost, presumably, could be the second body by itself, the third body
by itself, or both the second and third bodies in combination.
3. As the title of his new book implies, Vallee has come to
believe that we are dealing with higher-dimensional activities.
He writes, "I believe that the UFO phenomenon represents
evidence for other dimensions beyond spacetime; the UFOs
may not come from ordinary space, but from a multiverse
which is all around us ... "
First Quarter 1988

4. Williamson's fictional MIB [men in black), who are

slowly invading the planet, remind me of another tale of interdimensional invaders. One of the great writers of
literature, Joseph Conrad, helped another famous writer,
Ford Maddox Hueffer (later Ford Maddox Ford.) to write the
novel, The InherilOrs (1901). In this book an emotionless
woman "from the fourth dimension" says that a race of
fourth dimensional MIBs are slowly invading our world.
Consider this slightly edited quote: "The Dimensionists were
to come in swarms, to materialize, to devour like locusts, to
be all the more irresistible because (they were) indistinguishable (from humans). They were to come like snow in the
night: In the morning one would look out and find the world
white. "
Let's hope that Conrad and Ford were not "abductees'
because this strange lady from hyperspace goes on to say,
"We inherit the earth and you, your day is over. ....
5. Tom Bearden claims to have seen a large number of
multiple image photos. In a brief note that he wrote to me, he
stated that he was aware of many more such cases. In fact, he
suggested that there were too many cases to be reasonably
listed at one sitting. He tends to interpret most of these
photographs in terms of "materializations from the collective

unconciousness." Considering that we know so little about

"consciousness" or "unconsciousness," I'm skeptical of this
point of view.
References
1. Holzer, Prof. Hans, Psychic Photography: Threshold 0/ a New
Science? McGraw-Hill book Co., New York, 1969.
2. Holiday, Ted and Wilson, Colin, The Goblin Universe,
Llewellyn Publications, Minnesota, 1986.
3. Andrews, Dr. Arlan K., "The Colonel Had a Ghost," PURsurr, Vol. 20, No.1, p. 23.
4. Mitchell, Dr. Janet Lee, "In Out-of-80dy Experiences: Is
anything Out?," Fate, Vol. 41.
5. Macer-Story, Eugenia, "Unidentified Areas of Obfuscation,"
PURSUrr, Vol. 16, No.4, p. 156.
6. Vallee, Dr. Jacques, Dimensions: A Casebook 0/ Alien Contact,
Contemporary Books, New York, 1988.
7. Greene, Vaughn, Fate, Vol. 3, No.4.
8. Williamson, J.N., Brotherhood, Leisure books, New York,
1982.
9. Rickard, R. & Kelly, R., Photographs 0/ the Unknown, New
English Library, England, 1980, p. 40-41, 97.
10. Bearden, T.E., Excalibur Briefing, Strawberry Hill Press, CA,
1980, p. 65. 80-81.

Bat, What are the "White Streaks?9t

Editor's Comment: Actually, the above partially reprinted photos here, do not do justice to the color pictures as they
are reproduced in Rickard and Kelly's, Photographs of the Unknown, as mentioned in the above article. We dermitely recommend you obtain the book to better understand what is depicted in color.
We feel that the question of what the accompanying "streaks" are has not been properly addressed since they are
often seen, apparently, duplicated horizontally or vertically on both sides of the subject or as in the lowest picture
(above) both apparently in vertical and horizontal replication together in the same photograph.
Also, the left-hand squiggle or streak is in color and becomes white as it is repeated "moving" or pictured toward
the right side.
We have asked some photographic experts and their replies vary with the number of experts asked. Again, as we
have asked before, does anyone of our readers have an explanation of what the white streaks or "worms" are? It is
important to remember that the subject, particularly in the top three photos (above) does not show barrier oscillation
as the Holzer photos do but all six photos have the umbilical-like cord, as some suggest it appears to be.
First Quarter 1988

Pursuit 33

SITUation

Cherokee 'Little People' Legends

of North Carolina
On summer nights, when the moon is full
and the sweet scent of honeysuckle is thick on
the North Carolina mountains, Bessie Jumper
believes she can hear the Little People drumming and dancing in caves in the rocky hillsides high above her home.
Mrs. Jumper, an aging Cherokee Indian
who lives in the Snowbird Mountains near
Robbinsville, N.C., does not venture into the
woods. To look for the Little People, says
Cherokee legend, is to look for trouble, and
Mrs. Jumper does not want to risk the wrath
of that race of elflike Indians known in the
Cherokee language as Yunwi Tsunsdi.
When a non-Indian asked Mrs. Jumper
about the Little People, she stared long and
har~, as if to say that there are some things a
white man should not ask an Indian. Then,
without answering the question, she went
back to stirring a pot of hominy that was
cooking over an open fire.
In winter, when deep snow has buried the
trails that run through the mountains, Cherokee hunters say it is not unusual to find small
footprints that follow those unseen trails and
lead them to safety.
But to retrace the tiny, childlike footprints
to where the Little People live is to risk being
pelted by rocks or having a spell cast from
which there is no recovery.
Many elderly Cherokees believe the Little
People still live in these thickly wooded,
remote mountains of western North Carolina.
The Little People are not wraiths that glide
through fog-bound hollows in the dead of
night or ethereal apparitions that rise with the
.. moon and dance on the wind near the rocky
promontories of Mount LeConte. Nor are
they the supernatural manifestations of overeager imaginations. Cherokees believe the little People are a race of Indian spirits that predates man. They are the protectors of tribal
tradition and the keepers of Cherokee history.
They are revered, feared and treated with the
kind of distant respect with which one treats
capricious spirits.
"There are many stories about the Little
People, but most of the older people are
afraid to talk about them because the Little
People can be good or bad. You never know, "
said Lois Calonehuskie, a Cherokee from
Robbinsville and a frequent visitor in the
Cherokee community of Snowbird, which is
tucked into the shaded mountain hollows a
few miles south of Robbinsville. Cherokees
escaping the Trail of Tears in 1838 fled into
these thickly wooded, nearly impenetrable
mountains of southwestern North Carolina,
just a few miles from their ancestral homelands along the Little Tennessee River. They
scattered throughout the mountains to evade
capture but eventually established their own
community about 60 miles west of the main
concentration of Cherokees who refused to be
moved to Oklahoma and hid out in the mountains around what is now Cherokee, N.C.

Pursuit 34

Martha Wachacha, however, said she

didn't mind sharing some of the stories about
Little People that she has been hearing most
of her 77 years. Mrs. Wachacha. a pleasant,
round-faced woman, sat on the banks of the
Snowbird River with her hands folded in her
lap and her eyes closed as she talked about her
days growing up in the mountains near Birdtown, N.C. She told how she learned to weave
baskets from thin splints of white oak when
she was about 6 years old and how she has
been weaving baskets ever since. And she told
of how late at night, when the whole family
was working on baskets by the uncertain light
of a kerosene lantern, her parents would tell
stories about the Little People.
Mrs. Wachacha claimed she has never seen
any of the Little People. But she has heard
them laughing along creek banks. And she
has heard their footsteps behind her at times
when she was walking alone along mountain
trails.
Mrs. Wachacha said the stories she heard
of the Little People described them as about
I Vz feet tall, with perfect proportions and hair
that touched their heels. Some wore gold
caps, she said, while others wore nothing on
their heads.
Gary Carden, said the Little People are frequently confused with other Cherokee spirits
that inhabit the surrounding mountains and
rivers. Most notable among them are the
~unnehi, the "people who live anywhere" or
"the ones who are always with us." The Nunnehi are immortal and invisible, except when
they want to be seen, and they are usually portrayed as protectors of the Cherokee people .
"The Little People," said Carden, "are
sometimes confused with the Nunnehi, but
the Little People are more like the Welsh and
Irish leprechauns. Most of the stories I have
heard about them indicate that each Cherokee
is born with a personal guardian who is one of
the Little. People. The Little People also help
hunters, reveal lost items and help with
chores."
John Roth of Carlsbad, N.M., has spent
several years chasing Indian spirits and
legends across the country trying to collect
enough information for a book on the subject. Roth, a national park ranger, said he has
at times had difficulty obtaining information
from some tribes because of a reluctance to
share tribal mythology with non-Indian outsiders.
But Roth said he learned from Oklahoma
Cherokees, that Little People accompanied
Cherokees from North Carolina on the infamous Trail of Tears. Finding no mountain
caves in Oklahoma in which to live, the Little
People learned to live in the deep holes in
Tenkiller Lake and nearby creeks.
Mrs. Calonehuskie, a counselor at Robbinsville High School, said "Sometimes at
night people will wake up and hear footsteps
and voices in their houses. When they get up

to see who is there, they find nothing. But in

the morning, when they go to the kitchen and
they find some food missing, they know the
Little People have been there."
Other times, said Mrs. Calonehuskie,
"You'll be standing by a stream and you'll
hear children laughing, but, when you go to
look, there's no one there. Then you know
the Little People have been there."
There are also stories of Little People harvesting com, clearing fields and chasing away
burglars.
The Little People are an integral part of
Cherokee tribal history and mythology and
help enhance their spiritual reverence for the
mountains they called Shaconage, "the place
of the blue smoke." According to one Cherokee legend, each fall, the spiritual leaders of
the tribe would go to spires known as
Chimney Tops, which are in the heart of what
is now the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park. The shamans, or medicine men, would
stay there for seven days, praying to their
spirits, retelling the legends of the tribe and
sharing what they had learned the previous
year. At nightfall on the seventh day, the little People emerged from their caves and joined the Cherokees in singing and dancing. At
dawn, the Little People filtered back into the
forest, and the shamans returned to the tribe,
spiritually enriched for another year.
But most stories that are told of the Little
People concern their help to others. These
stories are prevalent in James Mooney's 1901
book, "Myths of the Cherokee," which is still
considered the most authoritative ever written
on the subject. The book was reproduced in
1982 by Charles and Randy Eller of Nashville,
Tenn., and is available in many bookstores
and gift shops in the mountains of western
North Carolina. Mooney, an Indian agent,
collected material for his book while living
with the Cherokees from 1887 until 1890.
One story Mooney relates in his book tells
. of a hunter who found small tracks, like those
of children, in the snow deep in the mountains. The hunter followed the tracks to a cave
and found it full of Little People dancing and
drumming as they normally do. The hunter
was taken in by the Little People, given a
place to sleep, bread to eat, and he stayed
with them for 16 days. The hunter's friends
thought he had died in the mountains and
stopped searching for him.
"After he was well rested," Mooney wrote,
"they had brought him a part of the way
home until they came to a small creek about
knee deep, when they told him to wade across
to reach the main trail on the other side. He
waded across and turned to look back, but
the Little People were gone, and the creek was
a deep river. When he reached home, his legs
were frozen, and he lived only a few days."
The Cherokees say it is important for
anyone who walks through the high regions of
the Smokys to remember that this is the home
of the Little People.

SOURCE: Ron Martz, Atlanta Weekly. GA

10/11187
CREOrr: Member #826

First Quarter 1988

Some Latest Information About "Yeti"

eo.pIIed bp Kamar "'apt

Nepalese Name -Yaate

Tibetan Name -Mirgaya
Sherpa Name -Mi - Thi (Mi - means man, Thi
-means takes away)
Race -Ape Family
Color -Brown
Height -3 ft. to 15 ft. Depends on whether
it is young or full grown.
Hair - Thick fur around the body but
long hair around the neck; about
6" long.
Face -Sarno-like monkey (But not with a
sloping forehead. Skin is as that
kept of one in the Thangboche
Monastary).
Tail -No tail.
Chest -Full grown Yeti seems to have
huge double buffalo size chest.
Legs -Same as a monkey but very big.
Foot print -Different but the biggest one is
18" in length.
Hands -Long hands like a monkey.
Food -Animal meat like mountain black
bear, snow leopards, mountain
thar, sherow, blue sheep, Tibetan
nine, musk deer, yak cows, and
snow frogs.
Habits -It does not stay in the same place,
but hunts an animal from one
mountain to another.

Related SlTUatioDs
Soviets to Seek
Abominable Snowman
A society created within the Ministry of
Culture has begun a search for the abominable snowman, a large manlike creature that
has been sighted at least. 100 times, the official
Tass news agency said Saturday.
Tass said numerous reports collected by
search enthusiast Zhanna Kofman of Moscow
indicate the creature, known in Asia as the
yeti, has a protruding forehead and eyebrows
like cap peaks.
The news agency said anthropologists have
associated those features and the knot of hair
at the back of the yeti's skull with the prehistoric Neanderthal man.
"If one analyzes the whole available information he will find realistic features of the
hominid corresponding also to the anthropological data and his supposed way of life and
behavior," Tass said.
"The society of cryptozoologists set up
under the aegis of the U.S.S.R. Ministry of
Culture will engage itself in the search for
man's shy next-of-kin," Tass said.
The hairy giant, said to roam the snowy expanses of Siberia, is a favorite legend with
superstitious Soviets.
SOIJRCE: (AP) Gazette, Schnectady, NY
1111188
CREDrr: J. Zarzynski

First Quarter 1988

Altitude -Above 12,000 ft.

How it Hunts -When the animals take a rest or
sleep.
Area inhabited -From Mt. Gaurisankar to Kanchajunga in eastern Nepal.
Number of Yeti -Estimated to be not more than
seven.
Types of Yeti -People say there are three types of
Yeti (1) Chhuti (2) Yeti (3) MiThi, but Mi-Thi and Yeti are from
the same family, the only difference being the size and age.
Mating Season -January, February.
Best Month to Watch -In December, January, February,
when snow falls.
Walking Style -When it climbs down and walks in
the plain area, it walks like a man,
but when it climbs up and jumps
it tends to walk like a monkey.
Other Facts -Yeti comes down when snow falls
and goes up when snows melt,
and a full grown Yeti can kill yak
cows as easy as we can kill
chickens.
Last Seen -When seen in January 1987 that
Yeti was about 15 ft. in height. A
second seen on 25th December
1987 was about 7 ft. tall.
Gur thanks to Kumar Bosnyat for sending this to SITU.

Mythical Beast
Spotted In U.S.5.R.
Researchers from the Ukrainian capital
Kiev say they have come to within about 35
yards of a creature they believe to be an
abominable snowman in the rugged Pamir
Mountains.
The report did not give a description of the
creature.
The news agency Tass reponed Wednesday
that the group led by Igor Tatsl sighted the
creature during a visit last year to the Gissar
range in Soviet Central Asia near the Afghanistan border.
The group is preparing for another trip,
and hopes to make closer contact, Tass said.
SOIJRCE: Free Press, Burlington, VT
1/23/88
CREDrr: J. Zarzynski
And, too. about the

Chin_Yeti
And, there is the famous wild man of
Yunnan, "ye ren," .the Chinese sasquatch,
according to Liu Minzhuang at the Shanghai
Museum of Natural History.
". am absolutely sure that the wild man exists," said Liu, a thin, eager man with a prophetic urgency about him. "I have seen his
footprints. I have collected specimens of his
hair. I have visited his dens in the
mountains. "

Liu says the wild man is about 8 feet tall,

weighs 550 pounds or thereabouts, is tailless,
walks upright and has bright shoulder-length
hair draped about its horselike face, with reddish brown fur over the rest of his body.
Its footprints are up to 18 inches long and
its sex organ is prodigious. Females have long,
pendulous breasts.
Liu's enthusiasm was infectious, particularly because he said he has plaster of Paris casts
of the ye ren's footprints, along with specimens of the fur. He closed his notebook with
a smack and looked triumphant.
So where were the fur and the footprints?
"They are kept under lock and key," Liu
replied.
"Do you have they key?"
"Yes, of course."
"Then can we have a look at them?"
"Impossible. They are in another
building. "
"Where?"
"Very far from here."
"Can we visit? I have a taxi waiting outside."
"Unfortunately, no."
"Why?"
"They are still being studied."
Bigfoot is the same allover the world: shy.
SOIJRCE: Michael Browning Arizona
Daily Star, 11/15/87
CREDrr: Member 826

Pursuit 35

SlTUatioD

Chinese Love
Their Oddities
These are the days of miracle and wonder
in China.
ESP and UFOs are so common in China
that they hardly make headlines anymore.
While the communist government rails
against feudalism and superstition, the staterun press serves up an almost daily farrago of
stories that would make Robert Ripley
blanch."
In this land of prodigies they could find
plenty to amaze; delight and horrify their
readers.
There has been no retraction, no correction, no exposure of fraud concerning any of
these articles. Some even have photographs to
back them up.
Throughout all China's political storms,
the hunger for the marvelous, for the big
meteorite and the two-headed baby, has never
relented.
This intensely conformist Society is still
fascinated by the outlandish, the exception to
the rule.
A man with a womb turned up in the
Guangxi-Zhuang autonomous region last
March had to blink twice when a l7-year-old
Fujian province man had a fetus removed
from his chest in July 1982.
It had been inside him since birth and
weighed more than 1 kilogram and had underdeveloped hair, teeth and eyes, said
Xinhua, the national news agency.
At least the fetus wasn't screaming. In
January 1984, the indefatigable Xinhua an-"
nounced that a Shanghai woman, 27, began
hearing her unborn baby boy howl inside her
womb in the seventh month of pregnancy.
Doctors at the Shanghai No. 1 Textile
Hardware Factory even recorded" the cries.
The child was born on Jan. 4, in good health
and presumably good voice.
In a volcanic crater lake, Tianchi, on
Changbaishan Mountain near the North
Korean border, allegedly liv"es one of two
Chinese Loch Ness-style monsters.
Skeptics say it's only a black bear or a large
otter, and anyway the lake freezes over every
winter, so how does the beast breathe?
The other - or others, for there may be a
school of monsters in this case -lives in Lake
Hanas, 300 miles north of Urumqi in China's
Xinjiang autonomous region. The lake is
nearly 600 feet deep.
"The creatures are supposed to cause huge
waves and swallow cattle and sheep grazing
on the shores. People say that when the
monsters are happy, they chase each other in
the water, causing a gigantic swell tens of
meters high," reported the April 1986 issue of
China Reconstructs.
"We regard these stores as 'xin xian' fresh news," said Lu Haoming, a Xinhua
spokesman.

Pursuit 36

"We have three reasons for publishing

these things. One is they grab people's attention. The second is if we don't carry these
items, other newspapers will. The third is, by
printing it, we keep down the spreading of
wild rumors.
"
"It's very good, very fresh stuff," Lu
said.
But is it true?
"I can't guarantee that," Lu confessed.
It seems likely then, that the Chinese press
throws in these curiosity stories like clove and
cinnamon, to spice up the dull ideological fare
that is the mainstay of newspapers here.
Poverty tends to be boring, and China is still
very poor.
Biggest, smallest, oldest, longest: The press
abounds with superlatives, more often than
not accompanied by verifying photos.
The Chinese are notoriously fond of
children, and child prodigies regularly make
headlines here - kids like Shen Kegong, who,
at the age of 1J, worked out the square root
of 1,455 in six-tenths of a second.
But on the outer limits are the X-ray
children, boys and girls who can detect underground pipelines, internal organs and hidden
messages on rolled-up paper.
In Shanghai in 1981, a conference on the
children was "hi:ld and no less a scientist than
Qian Xuesen, a physicist who helped develop
China's atom bomb, said the phenomena
should be studied, not laughed at.
Children brought to the conference were
reportedly able to read characters written on
bits of paper that were stuck in their ears, or
placed on the tops of their heads, or under
their feet, or in their armpits or even against
their buttocks.
"One hospital, the college of traditional
medicine of Hubei province, was even
employing some children as human X-ray
machines, Xinhua reported in August 1982.
By far the larget purveyor of fantastic
stories is the news agency Xinhua, which it
totally under the control of the Communist
Party. It is thus an oil-and-water mix, a weird
contradiction, as though Marxists were peddling mandrake root on the side.
A yellow atlas moth with a wingspan of 13
inches was captured by a People's Liberation
Army soldier in Yunnan provinCe in
December 1986, supposedly the biggest
specimen ever found.
A photograph of a giant mosquito from
Wuhan, 5 inches long and with a wingspan of
nearly 4 inches was shown, with a ruler, in the
Nov. 19, 1985 issue of China Daily.
China's biggest mushroom, weighing 25.3
pounds, was found in December 1985 in Panshi County, Jilin province, China Daily
repOrted. The fungus is 49 inches in diameter.
The mass suicide of 100 quail in Hunan

province was reported by Shanghai's daily

newspaper, Xinmin Ribao, in July 1984.
The quail all hurled themselves against an
eight-story building. The paper theorized that
their natural habitat ~ad been destroyed to
make room for new construction. The whole
thing sounded like some kind of protest.
Three murderers were caught by a monkey
in the Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefectu~ in Yunnan province in March 1983,
the Yancheng Wanbao newspaper reported.
The monkey jumped on a jeep in which
two soldiers were traveling, plucked at their
sleeves and made them stop. It then led them
to a spot in the forest and began digging until
its forepaws were bloody.
The soldiers took the monkey to the local
police station and the cops found two bodies
in the spot where the monkey had dug.
Realizing the monkey's value, the police
took it to a nearby village where the beast
screamed" and threw itself on a young man
who tried to run away along with two other
youths.
Under questioning (by the police, not the
monkey), the three confessed they'd killed the
monkey's two owners, two traveling
showmen, some days earlier.
But the most poignant animal story I have
ever seen in China, the one that decided me"
on keeping a detailed "curiosity" tile four
years ago, is the tale of the deathless turtle.
In November 1983, in Shenyang, Liaoning
province, an old house was tom down. Under
the foundation was a rotted wooden box.
Inside the box was a turtle, still alive, that
had not eaten anything for more than 50
years.
Local records showed the house had been
built in 1931 and the custom in those daysa cruel one to be sure - was to place a live
turtle, a symbol of longevity in China, inside
the foundation to assure the house's permanence.
Li Daming, assistant professor of Liaoning
University's biology department, examined
the turtle and pronounced its survival a
mystery.
Perhaps it is just a tall tale, but there are
millions of Chinese who would envy that turtle.
It missed World War II, the civil war between the communists and the nationalists,
and the Great Leap Forward in which 10
million people starved to death.
It missed the first "hundred flowers" campaign that virtually wiped out the cream of
China's intellectuals, the monstrous Cultural
Revolution, and all the purges and cataclysms
that have convulsed communist China's
history.
It awoke in the midst of the campaign
against "spiritual pollution" and, if it is still
alive, it is witnessing the drive again!!t
"bourgeois liberalization" and "total Wester"nization."
Oh blessed repose!
SOURCE: Michael Bro~ning, Arizona
Daily Slar, 11/16" /87
CREOrr: Member #826

First Quarter 1988

A Mammoth Leyline
in the American Northwest?
by Dr. Michael D. Swords
Abstract
Recent research in geology and ufology has coalesced to
produce a potentially rich case study area for the emerging
hypothesis of "Earth forces" and electromagnetic stresses as
causal agents for a variety of parascientijic phenomena. This
geographical location, the Pacific Northwest of the United
States, is the site of both abundant Fortean anomalies and
measureable Earth stress forces. It may be that further
research concentrated in areas such as this one will ullimate(v
unlock a few of our consistently baffling mysteries.
Introduction
A topic of considerable interest to ufologists recently has
been the "Yakima Nocturnal Lights Phenomenon." These
lights are uncommon for several reasons: There have been a
large number of sightings by many different people; there
have been sightings (the majority in fact) by experienced
witnesses (usually forestry lookouts); the descriptions are consistent" (spheres of self-luminescence lasting brief time
periods, floating close to the hills, changing in color from
blue-white to reddish, apparently small; i.e. baseball to
beach ball in size, noiseless); and the scientific
"establishment" has photographed, and is interested in them,
as possible earthquake or volcanic predictors.
The phenomenon has lasted for years around the Yakima
Indian Reservation in the vicinity of Mt. Rainier and Mt. St.
Helens. A UFO "flap" of cases occurred there in the midseventies with 82 sightings between July 1972 and April 1977.
Geologist John Derr of the U.S. Geological Survey believes
that there is a powerful correlation between the incidences
and minQr earthquakes which followed. And, although the
nocturnal lights form the backbone of the phenomenon, the
local people report every type of UFO experience (including
Close Encounters of all kinds), when further questioned by
UFO investigators.
It may be coincidental, but the same general area is the
leading location for Bigfoot reports on the entire North
American continent. A cursory perusal of any Sasquatch
sightings map reveals the clustering in South Central Wash:
ington and adjacent Oregon. The second leading cluster in the
state of Washington is precisely at yakima. (See map, figure
I) A quick count of sightings from the registry in the Bord's
Bigfoot Casebook reveals about 20 sightings during the 1972
and 1977 period in this area alone.
Points on the "line"
A glance at map figure I will quickly bring this unusual
geographical complex into focus. Yakima and its UFOs and
Bigfoot clusters lies just to the east of the Cascade Range
which is the backbone of the U.S. West Coast. On the opposite edge of this backbone is the famous Mt. St. Helens.
another active Bigfoot area until it exerted an activity of a
somewhat more violent sort a few years ago. Just to the north
of the center point between these "dots" is Mt. Rainier.
highest point in the 48 contiguous U.S. states. Mt. Rainier in
some senses began ufology, as it was here in 1947 that Kenneth Arnold made his sighting and report of seven disks thus
launching the modern era of strange thirigs in the skies.
First Quarter 1988

~rel

Just to the south of Yakima is the leading Oregon cluster of

Sasquatch reports in the East Mountain region. The density
of such experiences has occasioned the institution of a
Bigfoot information center at The Dalles. To the west of this
spot, but probably coincidental, is the site of one of the five
or so best UFO photography cases on record, the pictures
taken by.Paul Trent at McMinnville, Oregon.
North of the Yakima-Mt. Rainier line lies Seattle. While its.
nature as a booming industrial city makes it a poodocation
.for Bigfoot and Close Encounters cases, something did occur
there in the 50's which may be germaine. Seattle was "host"
to one of the very few well-documented accounts of "mass
hysteria" phenomena in the United States: the "Soviet
nuclear windshield-pitting incident." In this moment of
shared craziness, dozens of citizens became convinced that atmospheric tests of nuclear fission weapons were raining
Pursuit 37

dangerous fallout on the city. The "way to tell," according to

the folk legend that arose, was whether your car's windshield
showed small pits due to the corrosive effects of the
dangerous falling chemicals. For a brief while (a few days in
most mass hysteria cases), citizen anxieties and demands
upon authorities were close to getting out of hand, but with
time other views of the "problem" prevailed and that aberrant state of mind passed into history.
Also in the Seattle area is a cluster zone for UFO reports,
according to Michael Persinger and G. Lafreniere in Space-

Time Transients and Unusual Events.

Still going north; located in the area around Bellingham
and the Lummi Indian Reservation, is the number one area of
Sasquatch sightings in the state of Washington and, perhaps,
even in the entire United States.
These areas of concentration continue into Canada along
the strait separating the British Columbian mainland from
Vancouver Island.
Turning southward the route of clustered anomalies may
be less clear, but two local names in southern Oregon could
give a clue. In the vicinity of Crater Lake and Diamond Peak
lies Quartz Mountain, the significance of which name most
PURSUIT readers doubtless are aware. And, slightly to the
solith at the edge of the Siskiyou Mountains is Gold Hill. Not
only are gold and quartz often located together, with quartz
beging the popular "culprit" for strange earth-force stress effects due to its rare property of being piezo (pressure)-electric,
but Gold Hill has a Fortean fame of its own. It is the home of
the "Oregon Vortex." This spot (almost literally a spot: a
160-odd-foot radius) allegedly creates optical illusions, altered
states of consciousness, even violation of physical laws.
Whatever the truth of this, Indian legends call it "the forbidden ground."
Nearby, the Siskiyou Mountains not only have their own
allegedly Earth-energy "high" point, but are the site of the second great concentration of Bigfoot sightings in the U.S. The
Siskiyous, extending into Northern California, have been the
general scene for many other Sasquatch events, including the
now famous (filmed) Roger Patterson experience. Slightly"
further south is Mt. Shasta and its cluster of occult groups
and gurus alleging experiencing everything from paranormal
powers to contacts with underground Atlantaeans.
Between these northern and southern sites in Oregon is 'a
relative blank on the Fortean line, speckled with a fair
number of Bigfoot sightings in lots of wilderness. Perhaps
some energetic researcher of anomalies can solidify the line by
tramping into the Mt. Washington and Mt. Jefferson wildei'nesses and finding out about "Hoodoo, Oregon," the town
between the two.
'
While much of this may be coincidental, or more sociological, there is a new geological discovery which makes a physiological and/or physical explanation likely as well.
The Telluric current
What may separate the above litany of "post-hoc coincidences" from the typical untestable anomaly patterns is the
work of University of Washington geophysicists John Boo~
er and Gerard Hensel. While attempting to piece together the
geological jigsaw of the West Coast they have discovered and
partially mapped an immense underground electric current.
The current, Booker believes, is initiated in the Pacific Ocean',
perhaps by interactions between the charged particles of the
Solar Wind and the Earth's own magnetic fields. The current
pours down the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver and
British Columbia, past Bellingham and aims at the SeattlePursuit 38

FIgure 1. Darkened arrow shows measured current. Dotted area

shows speculated continuance.

Tacoma urban area. From there is bends slightly eastward to

Mt. Rainier and continues across Yakima to the Columbia
River at Washington's southern boundary. It is there that
Booker's research but probably not the current, ends. (See
map figure 2)
,"
The current flows in a thin layer of porous sedimentary
rock, porous enough to contain water and become highly
conductive. It is wged between the crusts of the ocean and
continental plates, which have been ramming together for
millenia, producing an ancient but active fault zone. While
geologists, naturally, are interested in possible clues for earthquake prediction, Forteans should be similarly interested in
possibly predicting anomalies.
Michael Persinger, of course, has been a leader in this line
of reasoning. A perusal of his above-mentioned book shows
the dense cluster of anomalies in this zone, well before the
Booker-Hensel work was known. He is not alone in this pursuit, however. The Brown Mountain lights of North Carolina
have been studied with similar ideas in mind, and several
other U.S. sites could, and should, be researched in like manner. A prominent UFO researcher in North Carolina, Wayne
LaPorte, has catalogued and photographed the similar
,phenomena of Indian Trail, another old fault zone replete
with gold and quartz deposits. LaPorte feels that Harley Rutledge's results, published in the unique UFO book Project
Ident<{ication, are largely explained by Earth-stress lighto;
coming from the New Madrid fault zone. Paul Deveraux'
First Quarter 1988

Earth Lights is an i~triguing tour-de-force of astonishing concepts and connections in this emerging area on the edge of
science.
But there is a missing link here. Lights-in-the-sky? Fine.
Unusual animal \?ehavior before earthquakes? Maybe. But
visions of spacecraft, humanoids, giant apes, and other
bizarre experiences? What is the bridge between the undersurface of the Earth and the undersurface of the mind?
Everyone seems to be taking their speculative best guess at
the causal agency, but don't worry, there will not be further
guessing inflicted upon you here. Instead, a simple list of
facts for your own intuitions to play with:
I. The Earth force allegedly involved in some of this
craziness that all we Forteans love has been measured
and identified; it is electricity and its alter-ego, magnetism.
2. This force operates via "fields," which although as occult a concept as anything in Forteana, are the establishment's way of rationalizing action at a distance.
3. Living systems work on two closely related powers,
"free" electricity (bound to small ions) and "bound"
electricity (bound to larger molecules); or in other
words, chemistry.
4. All levels of life forms have been shown to be able to
deal with hitherto unsuspected magnetic forces as well as
chcmi~aI. electrical ones; bacteria,
bees, pigeon~,
robin'i, and dolphins are a few of the recently uncoyered

Related SlTUadons
ea.adlaD

s_ Mout_

University of B.C. oceanographer Paul

leBlond doesn't want people to think he
believes in at least one of his research topics.
To leBlond, the word 'belier implies accepting something without actual evidence
and "I don't do that."
In addition to being an oceanographer, leBlond is a cryptozoologist, a scientist who
studies unknown - or at least scientifically
unverified - animals.
"If you asked me whether I believed in
large, unknown animals, I'd have to say
'no,'" leBlond said.
And he agreed with theories that argue
there could be more than half a dozen large,
unknown species of marine animal wandering
around the ocean out of the reach of mankind.
leBlond said unknowns like Cadborosaurus, or Caddy, an obliging marine beast that
has been reported numerous times over the
years - especially near Cadboro Bay - are
far more likely than Ogopogo or Nessie, the
Loch Ness monster.
"The problems with lake monsters include
the amount of food that would be required to
support a biologically viable population and
the absence of remains," he said.
"There are calculations that indicate there
would be just enough food in Loch Ness to
support a viable population but there have
never been any remains (of dead Nessies)
found."
.
Following an extensive survey in the 19705,
LeBlond and Colleague John Sibert sifted
through reports of large marine animals over
1,600 kilometers of coastline and more than
first

Quarter 1988

"magneto-sensers;" now you can also add humans to

the list.
5. Physiological mechanisms controlling awareness, biocycles, and behaviors are finely tuned "threshold"
systems, requiring miniscule stimuli (the brain's own
electricity is only in the microvolt range) to create
dramatic differences in the "symptQms" produced
when the thresholds are crossed.
6. Individual human beings (like individuals of any species)
are geared differently in their various thresh hold
mechanisms; the whole field of psychiatry is moving
towards this realization; certain of us are susceptible to
unusual "mental experiences" we are continuously
riding certain thresholds; a small right, or wrong, environmental push and over we go.
7. There are plenty of well researched mental experiences
capable of dealing with most Close Encounter, Sasquatch, and "Creature" experiences, if the wrong
switch was tripped in the susceptible mind; the best candidate: Dissociative Hysteria.
None of this proposes to "solve" any large set of Fortean
phenomena. These mysteries are too grand for that. But the
new alliance of Earth scientists and Earth-line Forteans may
be on the verge of solving a piece of several of them. Some
people will regret and resist this. They are not Forteans. Forteans are interested. in facts ... all the facts ... where evtr they
lead.
~

60 years to come up with three main types of

B.C. coastal sea monster.
Here's what might be out there:
-A creature with a head like that of a camel
or a horse mounted on the end of along neck
and sporting large, laterauy set eyes. It has
short brown fur and no mane. leBlond concluded that, if it exists, it is likely a mammal
related to seals.
-A similar beast with much smaller eyes,
sometimes bearing horns or a mane.
-Along, serpentine animal with a head like
that of a sheep and a dorsal fm running along
its back.
SOlJRCE: Paul Musgrove, Sun, Vancouver,
BC, Canada, 2/20/88
CREOrr: L. Farish

Bigfoot Hair SaDlpl.?

The wisps of hair - longer and fmer than
that from many animals -:- might not have
drawn much attention from most people.
But to Paul Freeman, who claims to have
seen Bigfoot in the Blue Mountains while on
watershed patrol, those hairs possibly indicated evidence of what he had seen in 1982
on an abandoned logging road high up Tiger
Canyon out of Mill Creek.
For near the young pine sapling, snapped
off as if by a hand more powerful than his
own, were a long line of giant-sized footprints
in the spring softness of the trail. The hairs
were found on the saplings. Other hair was
found high up on the bark of an old fll" tree
snag alongside the same trail.
This was last spring, early in the year when
so much was seen of Bigfoot evidence. This
showed up in '87 in the form of not only an
abundance of footprints in several locations
of the northern Blues, but also these hair fmd-

ings, unexplained fecal droppings, the hefty

green saplings snapped off in a line as if to

mark a territory and the marks high above a
tall man's head, indicating rubbing by a
shoulder and scrapings not like any known

,
animal s.

Suited to that action, Freeman and I took

ourselves to the labs of Walla Walla Community College's cosmetology department,
headed by Mildred Harvey.
Excerpts from the examiner's letter follow:
"The hair is different from any I've ever
looked at in my 25 years of hair analyzing.
Since I do not have a 'Big Foot' comparison
- and as you advised, he isn't available for
interview - all I can tell you is that it IS hair,
but it is not completely human or animal. I've
never seen hair of this nature!
"Most of the hair fibers were fractured (as
in photo taken. Also noted, the even, almost .
fluid-like appearance of the medullary canal
in photo graph. The green retardation of color
is also somathing I've never seen. All human
or animal hair will retard yellow and magenta
regardless of condition. All the hairs I looked
at (20) were this shade of green.
"The only other possibility is that the hair
was human and a chemical process was applied, then dyed with a very strong chemical
before being made into a wig. But, again, I
have looked at lots of wig hair through the
years and this shade of green has never been
seen by me and when hair is chemically processed for wig making, the medulla is completely destroyed or diffused in the process.
"This hair still has a very different
medullary structure.
SOURCE: Vance Orchard, Union Blilletin.
WA 1/24/88
CREOrr: L. Farish

Pursuit 39

Books Reviewed
A LIVING DINOSAUR; THE SEARCH FOR MOK.ELEMBEMBIE, by Roy P. Mackal E.J. Brill, Leiden, The
Netherlands; 1987; 340 pp.; $24.95 + $2.00 postage from
W.S. Heinman, Inc., 1780 Broadway, Suite 1004, NY, NY
10019.
Reviewed by George W. Earley
. Tarzan, Jungle Jim, Indiana Jones - they all bob around
the jungle with the greatest of ease and for most of us, Ol,1r
concept of The Jungle is based more on reel life than real life.
Comes now Roy Mackal, a University of Chicago professor and vice president of the International Society of Cryptozoology, with his account of two expeditions into the
African backcountry in search of a living legend, the Mokelembembe.
First time I encountered the creature's name was in one of
Willy Ley's books about curious creatures living or extinct,
fabled or real. Reports of the dinosaur-type M-m had filtered
into Europe late in the 19th Century, said Ley, and attempts
were made - particularly by agents of German zoos - to
find and capture the creature. No luck then and none now
either, Hollywood's Baby to the contrary.
The M-m is not a large sauropod - envision a body slightly larger than a VW Beetle with a small head at the end of a
lO-foot neck and about the same length tail at the other end.
A lO-meter beast, in other words.
Though reportedly a herbivore - Mackal's expedition
located and brought back samples of the vegetation allegedly
preferred by the creature as well as observing what may have
been its trail through the jungle - the M-m allegedly is quite'
hostile to anything entering its river flake domain. The natives
claim it will attack their canoes as well as hippopotomi and
other trespassers.
Mackal's account of the trials and tribulations as well as
the pleasures of the expeditions is told in a rather understated
style which, to my mind, makes it all the more interesting as
well as credible. The area is, quite frankly, not one I would
care to hike in - or slog in, rather, since a fair amount of the
walking was done in swamps.
Not having brought back either a M-m corpse or acceptable films of one, how do you build a case for such a prehistoric hangover in the face of skeptical sneers?
Here the explorers used both interviews and illustrations.
After milking the natives for as much information as possible
[there was a certain superstitious dread that hampered information acquisition], Mackal et. al. would produce illustrations of various African and other animals. The natives
would invariably identify those native to their region and say
'I don't know that animal' when confronted with beasts
specific to North America. But when confronted with an illustration of a brontosaurus they would inevitably murmur
"Mokele-mbembe, Mokele-mbembe" without hesitation.
In addition to gathering information on the M-m, the expedition collected native reports of a variety of other creatures unknown to western science: giant turtles, giant crocodiles, a giant monkey-eating bird and several others. Does the
jungle really hold that many unknowns? Skeptics, safely ensconsed in armchairs thousands of miles away, will automatically say 'No.' Mackal, having been on-scene, is more openminded and builds a case that Forteans will find acceptable.
Well illustrated - there's a marvelous picture of the entire
Pursuit 40

expedition armed to the teeth with knives, shovels and rifles,

and looking for all the world like a band of treasure hunters
out for pirate gold - the main text is supplemented by appendices and an extensive bibliography. You also get a fine
introduction by Bernard Heuvelmans, ISC president and the
man who coined the word 'cryptozoology'.
Given what you get, I consider the price most reasonable
and urge you not only to buy one for yourself but to persuade
your local library to do likewise.
THE FELLOWSHIP: SPIRITUAL CONTACf BETWEEN HUMANS AND OUTER SPACE BEINGS, by
Brad Steiger. a Dolphin Book, NY, 1988, 179 pps., $15.95.
THE UFO CONSPIRACY, by Dr. Frank E. Stranges,
I.E.C.. Inc. (P.O. Box 5, Van Nuys, CA 91408), 1985, 122
pp.
UFO ABDUCTIONS: A DANGEROUS GAME, by Philip
J. Klass, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY, 1988, 200 pps.,
$18.95.
Reviewed by Robert Barrow
Some readers of UFO literature insist upon cramming their
libraries with absolmely every book spewed forth on the subject. To those stalwart individuals this triple review is
dedicated. Now, let's get on with the festivities ...
Brad Steiger has intrigued us with a measured degree of
UFO writing over the years. Certainly, his lengthy report,
Project Blue Book: The Top Secret UFO Findings Revealed
(a 1976 paperback recently reprinted by Ballantine) is a
memorable compilation and a lasting research tool.
This time, however, he gives us The Fellowship, something
a little different. Drawing upon more than two decades of
research into contactees - people who claim to receive
messages from outer space entities and their craft - Steiger
concentrates on the spiritual aspects of such reports. "With
their emphasis upon spiritual teachings being transmitted to
Earth by Space Beings," he submits, "these UFO prophets
have not only brought God physically to this planet, but they
have created a blend of science and religion that offers a
theology more applicable to modern humankind." Truly,
Steiger offers some interesting support to this, a statement
that pretty much introduces the rest of the book, but some
will find the whole affair a mite too preachy in its assertions
about an "intergalactic fellowship" and "gospels for a new
age. "
Nevertheless, if you really crave your UFOs with a gallon
of religious topping, don't miss The UFO Conspiracy, by Dr.
Frank E. Stranges, who hasn't failed to include a back cover
full of personal credentials. Foremost, the fact that he serves
as president of something called International Evangelism
Crusades should provide a clue to the book's contents though, of course, he is also director of an organization called
the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phe ... oops,
pardon us, we mean on UFOs, not to be confused, by some
remarkable coincidence, with that other well-known UFO investigative group.
Stranges (a name that I wish was mine, by the way, at least
for writing purposes) has already gifted us with the forgettable books, Flying Saucerama and Nazi UFO Secrets and
Bases Exposed. The current serving seems worth putting right

First Quarter 1988

down there with them, but the reader will have to decide,
since I wasn't able to venture far without losing interest.
Maybe that is because, in Strange's own words, "To some,
this may represent a fantastic novel; To others, something
that is about to take place. Still others will dismiss it as an account steeped in fantasy." A confusing selection, to say the
least - but maybe a major culprit in all the ambiguity is THE
EXTENSIVE USE OF UPPER CASE LETTERS and annoying Bible-thumping that JUST SEEMS TO JUMP OUT
AT US until we develop headaches that exceed the boundaries of aspirin relief and cause us to seek neurological help.
Are you seilrching for another salvation-via-UFOs books? Is
that what's at stake here? Well, author Stranges advises us
that "the true 'believer' will have no difficulty in understanding the overall message of this volume." Pardon me, but I
don'l understand the message, so I can only assume that a
ticket to hell awaits me.
And speaking of hell, we end our current book look on the
super-debunker side of the UFO tracks, a place where logic
dictates, as we've said before, UFOs cannot exist and therefore they do not. Indeed, UFO-deriding writer Philip J. Klass
this time focuses negatively upon people who claim encounters with and abductions by UFO occupants. Predictably, what with all the furor precipitated by Whitley
Streiber's book, Communion, Klass has simply been itching
to use" a mental chain saw on UFO investigators and other his word - "abductionists" involved in exploring alleged
witnesses' stories.
Okay, surprise! UFO Abduclions does make a valid point
or two about reasons for caution and the effect of media
hype. But readers of Klass' previous books will instantly
recognize the profound debunking and explaining away of
UFO encounters for what it is: vintage Klassism (deKlassification?) and his need, for who knows what reason, to staple
an "explained" label on any phenomenon that disrupts his
minimum daily requirement for an orderly universe.
We who tend to believe, and have for quite some time, that
the UFO is a major piece of what is the mystery of life and existence can only hope that Mr. Klass writes anoth~r rabid
UFO-damning book real soon. Does UFO research need
another book from this man? Well, doesn't every circus have
a clown?
CAROLINA BAYS, MIMA MOUNDS, SUBMARINE
CANYONS AND OTHER TOPOGRAPHICAL PHENO
MENA, compiled by William R. Corliss (The Sourcebook
Project, P.O. Box 107, Glen Arm, MD 21057), 1988, 239
pps., $17.95
Reviewed by Robert Barrow
This 24th voiume in the Sourcebook series brings "us much
closer to home than the previous compilation, Slars, Galaxies, Cosmos, and explores unusual topographic features of
Earth, some as near as our own back yards.
Again instituting the Sourcebook standard of drawing
upon scientific literature old and new for curious topics in
this, the first of four intended catalogs on geology, Corliss
now questions the origin of various mountain features,
unusual ground patterns and seafloor channels. Some 70
areas of geological enigmas are described, each supported by
in-depth examples.
Above all, Carolina Bays is fun to browse through, particularly because its contents involve planet Earth and, literally,
the awesome ground upon which we live, walk and die. Until
the day, one can hope, when Corliss assembles a book on
First Quarter 1988

ours being a "living planet" - a theory much tossed about

currently - the work at hand holds enough terrestrial intrigue to keep us thinking for years.
A major emphasis is to avoid the placement of definitive
labels on the phenomena, as Corliss explains: "When further
classifying topographic anomalies, we use value-free morphology: depressions, mounds, ridges, Valleys, etc ... .it avoids
classifications such as meteor craters and glacial moraines,
which assume a particular mechanism of formation ... it
avoids, for a time at least, making classification judgments
based upon hypotheses-of-the-moment."
Some exceptional phenomena are spotlighted, and certainly among my favorites are two examples of "cookie-cutter
holes," described as "holes left by the mysterious removal of
large slabs (divots!) of turf. The intact slabs, weighing tons on
occasion, are found nearby and closely match the holes.
Human activity does not seem indicated."
Other surface anomalies exhibited include so-called
bottomless pits, "rock cities," columnar structures, evidence
for an expanding Earth, Mima mounds (rounded mounds of
soil) and hills, marine and high-level terraces, raised and submerged beaches, astroblemes ("star wounds") and craters,
and the sameness of lake orientation. Of course, this is but a
partial list of contents.
While geological theories change daily, Corliss' volume-byvolume indexing system does not. Each catalog ends with a
five-index section pinpointing time, place, first author, source
and subject.
"In the long run," Corliss tells us, "the purpose of the
Catalog of Anomalies is the challenging of major geological
dogmas, such as the now-ascendant hypothesis of plate tectonics, the lee Ages scenario, and the belief that ocean levels
and volumes never changed much over the geological eons.
But, as usual, we moderate such heavy fare with stone polygons, walled lakes, blue holes and sundry curiosities."
LOST LANDS AND SUNKEN CITIES, by Nigel Pennick
(Fortean Tomes, I Shoebury Road, East Ham, London, E6
2AQ, England - available in the USA from Arcturus Book
Service, P.O. Box 831383, Stone Mountain, Georgia
30083-0023, price $15.95 + S.85 postage) 1987, 176 pps.
Reviewed by Jon Singer
Books on Atlantis are always popular among both Forteans and the general public while books on other sunken
lands and lost cities are increasing in popularity. As I studied
and hunted for lost city tales analogous to the Atlantis
mystery I came across British reports of drowned towns and
submerged kirigdoms. I wrote a couple of reports on the subjects and found, to my amazement, that Mr. Pennick had
written a whole book on the subject!
This work discusses sunken towns, cities and villages
located all along the coasts of England, Cornwall, Wales and
Scotland. He begins with a general survey of the Atlantis
legend, global deluge stories and evidence for such accounts
as discovered by geologists. Although Pennick's discussions
of Lyonesse (the sunken legendary realm off Cornwall) and
the lost city of Ker Ys in Brittany, France, are somewhat
superficial, most of the chapters in this work contain fascinating accounts of many sunken cities of which I had never
heard, such as Old Winchelsea or Brighthelmstone in the
English Channel and metropoli which sank in the North Sea.
There are detailed accounts of Dunwich, a famous sunken city of East AngJia and reports of modern floods from the
17th-20th centuries. Oddly enough, Irish tales are left out. My
Pursuit 41

only suggestion is that this work should be retitled Lost Lands

and Sunken Cities oj Britain, as this is primarily what the
book is about. (Archaeologists actually have found sunken
walls and artifacts at the site of Dunwich and at the alleged
site of fabled Lyonesse around the Scilly Isles west of Cornwall.)
There are prophetic warnings of modern deluges which destroyed coastal buildings and whole towns in the 19th and
20th centuries. In short, this book will become a classic collector's item in Fortean libraries and I'm sure that it wi\l inspire
other works.
Ed. Note: Jon Singer has wrillen articles for PURSUIT on varioll"\
sunken cities such as Lyonesse and Ker Ys mentioned above.
THE GELLER EFFECf, by Uri Geller & Guy Lyon Playfair, Henry Holt, New York, 280 pgs., illus., 1986, $17.95.
Reviewed by Robert C. Warth
I stopped for a short visit at Uri's home at the very time
that Uri's latest book, The Geller Effect, was hot-off-thepress in England. Uri handed me a copy and told me I was the
first American to be given a copy of the new book. Naturally,
I was thrilled and honored. But, it was Uri's managerbrother-in-law and best friend, Shippi, who qualified or
clarified that other books had been mailed to the United
States to Uri's friends and reviewers, etc., but yet, I was the
first from the U.S. to "receive" a copy.
But this is Uri, promising but sometimes impractical, immediately pleasing and complimentary to the point of embarrassment also quixotic, impetuous - and with an ego as effervescent as his friendliness. In some ways this comes
through in Uri's book but is made more palatable for the
reader by the professional assistance of co-author, Guy Lyon
Playfair. "
Mr. Playfair begins the book with a brief review of Uri's
life through the publication of Uri's first autobiographical
sketch, My Story in 1975. Then, after Uri fiUs us in on the
next "quiet" decade of his life; Mr. Playfair concludes the
work by bringing us up to date.
Fortunately for this reviewer, Mr. Playfair was also spending a day with Uri and, in conversation with him, I discussed
several incidents or experiences that were mentioned, only
briefly, or omitted from the book, usually for lack of space.
Some of these were detailed events witnessed by Uri with
friends.
For instance, could Uri expect his readers' acceptance of
the fact: He was sitting alone in his den, heard a "muffled
noise, turned to find his address book had "jumped" off the
bookshelf, he walked over to pick it up off the floor and
observed one name, intuitively phoned that person thousands
of miles away to be told by the individual on the other end,
"Uri is that really you? This is remarkable! At this very instant I was trying desperately to fmd your new telephone
number to ask your help with a question I have. " For most of
us this would have been a remarkable "coincidence," but for
Uri incidents like this are much more commonplace.
The Geller Effect appeals to those Hollywood type of
glitter-and-glamor fans who vicariously are thrilled admirers
of any nouveau riche family. Basically, Uri is a showman. He
is not "scientifically" analytical nor does he like being tested
and "picked apart," so don't look for that in this book.
You'll fmd incidents not introspection.
Uri keeps himself in a peak physical and mental state to
assure, to himself, that he Will do well in whatever is expected
of him. He accepts the fact that he is unique but allows
Pursuit 42

himself to be as curious about his abilities "as does his audience. He is in control and can describe an incident he feels is
significant, discuss it truthfully, but will not attempt a scientific self-analysis. That it happened to him, is a matter of fact,
and that is it.
I am pleased that Uri avoided lengthly attention here to
that annoying cult of disbelievers who continually contest
that Uri is nothing more than a clever sideshow, slight-ofhand magician, and apparently can not accept that Uri's
talents have made him a multi-millionaire.
Uri, over the years, attracted one heel-barker who has
become frustrated attempting to "expose" Uri as a fraud but
who, in the process, exposed himself to be a talentless
dullard. This unpleasant little troll is more reminiscent of
Grumpy of the Snow White tale than a believable skeptic or
critic. It seems he is of the ilk who: will perform any act to
divert attention to himself; would wave a barmer with "old
glory" on one side and a hammer-and-sickle sewn on the
other to be selectively displayed to an audience he would try
to distract; fanatically denies the existence of such things as
UFOs but, when the truth is told, will swear he knew theyexisted all along and was secretly protecting U.S. government
security on the subject". But enough remarks about this
"sorcerer. "
All in all, The Geller Effect is an entertaining follow up to
Uri'S earlier book, My Story. I would ask the reader,
however, not to judge the book by its cover. The fierce, glaring stare that "greeted" me made me sit back wondering if
the "guy" on the cover was trying to hypnotize me or was, as
an officer in the dreaded Nazi SS, about to watch me being
interrogated. It is a photo of Uri, but it defmitely does not
represent the Uri I know or the Uri you will enjoy reading
about.
The book does have a generous sampling of other photos
and the one I like most shows Uri's mother, Margaret; his
wife, Hanna; and his two kids at home. Of the photos, it is
too bad there wasn't a bit more space to include a snapshot of
Uri's loyal friend Shippi Strangh and/or co-author Mr. Playfair.
But get a copy of The Geller Effect and read about one of
the world's most curiously talented and controversial figures.
"~
Tim Dinsdale, "Nessie" Author, Dies
Mr. Tim Dhlsdale, who died on December 14, at the age of
63, spent the best part of the last tIuity years on the trail of the
Loch Ness monster - and with some success.
In 1960, he managed to shoot some flbn of "a large, zigzagging lump" - flbn which the Royal Air Force later analyzed and concluded to be a "probably animate" object. That
was Dinsdale's most concrete sighting: but, once seen, he believed.
Dinsdale, to his credit, adamantly refused to reap and fmanciaI rewards on the back of Nessie. He survived on his lecture
fees, and was much in demand. Loch Ness Monster (1961), a
chronical of an obsession; The Leviathans (1966), which included monsters from overseas, too; and Project Water HoI'S!!
(1975), a narrative of his years of almost fruitless searching.
On his boat, Water Horse - which was once his home offshore for a stretch of three months - camouflaged and bedecked with an array of sonar devices and cameras, he sailed
up-wind, switching off the engine, and floating - silently
waiting for the creature to surface. It seldom did, although in
the autumn of 1971 he saw "an object like a black telegraph
pole ... absolutely streak across the water."
The London Times, 12117/87

First Quarter 1988 "

mostly contemporary curious and unexplained events

Phobia Cured with

RUle Shot to Head
A young mentally ill man egged into a suicide attempt by his mother apparently cured
his phobia of germs and obsession for handwashing by shooting himself in the head, doctors said.
The .22-caliber slug destroyed the section of
the brain responsible for his disabling obsessive-compulsive behavior without causing any
other brain damage to the man, a straight-A
student, his doctor said.
The afflicted man tried to kill himself five
years ago, when he was 19, said psychiatrist
Leslie Solyom of Shaughnessy Hospital in
Vancouver, British Columbia.
Victims of the disorder typically have an inexplicable compulsion to repeat activities over
and over.
"Their basic problem is they hesitate and
are doubtful," Solyom said yesterday. "They
hesitate so much that after closing the door
they are not really cenain they closed to door,
so they have to go back again."
George's obsession was "very, very
typical," Solyom said.
George washed his hands as often as 50
times a day. He would take 4-hour showers,
and he would check and recheck to see
whether doors and windows were locked and
whether he had enough money in his wallet.
The behavior forced him to drop out of
school and quit. his job.
Solyom treated George for more than a
year before he attempted suicide.
"George was also very depressed and told
his mother that his life was so wretched that
he would rather die," Sol yom said. "Parents
of
obsessive-compulsives,
particularly
mothers, often have cruel streaks."
"She said, 'So look George, if your life is
so wretched, just go and shoot yourself.' So
George went to the basement, stuck a
.22-caliber rifle in his mouth and pulled the
trigger. "
"He was found lying on his faCe, blood
oozing from his nostrils," Solyom said. He
was rushed to Vancouver General Hospital,
treated for 3 weeks and sent to Shaughnessy
Hospital.
The bullet lodged in the left front lobe of
the brain. Surgeons removed it, but could not
get out all the fragments. "If it had gone to
the center, it would have killed him. If it had
gone to the right, it would have had no
effect," Solyom said.
In effect, George may have given himself a
lobotomy.
Or, more precisely, a leukotomy - Ii severing of the links between the frontal lobes and
other pans of the brain, rather than a removal
of brain tissue as in a lobotomy.

First Quarter 1988

"When he was transferred to our hospital

three weeks later, he had hardly any compulsions left," Solyom said.
"We staned on behaviortherapy," Solyom
. said. "But he was no longer obsessive." He
returned to school, got a .new job and is now
in his second year of college, having retained
the same IQ as he had before the illness
struck, Solyom said.
Monday's edition of Physician's Weekly,
the British journal of psychiatry, wryly described the failed suicide attempt as "successful radical surgery."
"The idea that a toan could blowout pan
of his frontal lobe and have his pathological
symptoms cured is quite remarkable, but it is
not beyond belief," said psychiatrist Thomas
Ballantine of Massachusetts General Hospital
in Boston.
"In the '405 and '50s, psychosurgeons
would get these patients and have reasonably
good results cutting the pathway between the
front pan of the brain and a part called the
striatum," said Dr. Thoma.. Insel, a psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health
in Bethesda, Md.
Such surgery has fallen out of favor as effective drugs have been found.
Insel, who has specialized in this disorder,
said 'sophisticated brain images called PET
scans show that the frontal lobes are more active in obsessive-compulsive patients than in
normal people. That suggests that the source
of the disorder lies at least partly in the frontal
lobes, he said.
New research indicates that as much as 3
percent of the U.S. population displays some
obsessive-compulsive behavior, according to
psychiatrist Michael Jenike of Harvard University.
Conventional psychotherapy is useless in
such victims, Jenike said. The disorder is most
effectively treated with a combination of antidepressant drugs and behavioral therapy.
As a last reson, neurosurgeons will occasionally remove pan of the left front lobe of
the brain, where the obsessive behavior is
thought to originate.
"What made the case so very interesting
was that we had measured lQ and done a lot
of other tests before the suicide attempt,"
Solyom said. "Afterward, we compared
results and he had not lost anything. We used
very sensitive tests."
SOURCE: (AP) Herald, Augusta, GA
2/23/88 and
Dispatch, Columbus,OH
2/24/88
CREOrr: J. Sappington, and
J. Fry via COUD-I, resp.

S ......... F... SdD Mystery

of MooDIIt Sd LaakaD Lagoon
The sounds of war have drowned out a
mournful tune made by the singing fish in an
eastern Sri Lankan lagoon on moonlit nights.
Since mid-1983, when minority Tamils
launched their revolt for a separate state, no
one living in Batticaloa has had the opportunity to hear the singing fish.
"Before the war, the fishermen here used
to pull out a fish from the lagoon and say they
had pulled out the singing fish," the Rev.
Harold Weber, jl 70-year-old Catholic priest,
said on a school veranda overlooking the redtiled roofs of the town.
"But we have not up to now known if it's a
fish that produces the sound from the
lagoon," said Father Weber, who has been
teaching mathematics here since 1937.
No scientific explanation has yet been
found for the multitude of faint but distinct
sounds floating at night from the depths of
the lagoon.
Some say it is like a distant orchestra playing a full range of chords, others tell of.a
mandolin-like melody.
"They prefer the moonlight and the sound
is particularly clearer when you put the oar in
the water and put your ear on the other end of
the oar," Father Weber said.
Residents say the sound is more distinct
near the Kalladi Bridge, now manned by Indian soldiers dug in with machine guns at
sandbagged emplacements at both ends.
Indian soldiers have been deployed in the
island's nonhern and eastern provinces to enforce a 7-month-old pact with Sri Lanka to
end the Tamil rebellion.
The 150,000 inhabitants of the town, like
most in the region, in recent years have not
been able to go out at night because of battles
and on-again, off-again curfews.
A fishing ban in the lagoon, which snakes
around the town, to prevent smuggling of
arms by guerrillas has been partly lifted by the
Indians to allow day fishing.
The Rev. Alfonso Del Marmol, a 66-yearold U.S. Catholic priest who has been teaching here for 40 years, said his mother dipped a
wrapped microphone into the lagoon in 1947
and recorded the sound.
His mother, a music teacher, then transcribed the tune into musical notes. "It sounds
like this," the bearded priest said, and hummed a tune that sounded like a dirge.
"There's no regularity to the sound,"
Father Del Marmol said. "U comes and goes
but it has a definite note in it."
SOURCE: The Sun, Baltimore, MD
3/13/88
CREOrr: H. Hollander

Pursuit 43

V-5hapecl UFO In Eaglea.

Seasoned policemen smiled when a woman
PC radioed in to say she had spotted a UFO
- until they heard engines droning above
their station.
PC Susan Jackson went to investigate when
dozens of sightings were reported to Ecclesfield police station near Sheffield. Minutes
later she saw a V-shaped craft hovering close
by.. Even above the car engine, Susan (29),
could hear its motors and saw a row of red
flashing lights.
A few hundred yards away PC John Boam
spotted the mystery object for 30 seconds
before it flew away.
They checked with RAF Finningley near
DOncaster, which covers the area by radar but nothing had shown up on its screens.
SOURCE: Daily Post, England
2/11/88
CREDIT: J. & c. Bord via COUD-I

Sua "Spiaalag' ia Mea.

Things are spinning in Manila.
Actually, just the sun spins, or so people
say.
Folks have been skipping lunth for the past
couple of days to go out and watch it.
lt will spin several times and throw off
various colors.
Some folks who claim to have seen it say
it's a vision.
They're not quite sure what it means or
what they should do.
Cardinal Jaime Sin, Manila's archbishop,
has some advice for them.
Eat.
"When you are hungry you see visions. so
my first advice is to eat," he said.
"When you are not hungry you wiD not see
visions."
SOURCE: The Inquirer, Philadelphia. PA
2/5/88
CREDIT: H. Hollander

N.J. P.,cIaIc H..... Police

Ia Stabbla. D_th
A psyChic from Nutley. N.J., who worked
on the disappearance of PaITicia C. Hearst
and. the Atlanta child murders. was in Hagerstown last week helping city police investigate
last year's stabbing death of a 24-year-<)id
WOI1l8J.'.

DortthY.Allison, 63. a psychic informant,

interviewed about 10 friends and associates of
Sherry A nn Knapp, who was found murdered
July 20, 1987, at her house in Hagerstown's
west end.
.
Investiiators declined to reveal clues Ms.
Allison hai provided because the case remains
under inve.itigation.
"I'll go "nill I get the evidence. I don't rest
until I get my man or woman," said Ms.
Allison, a devout Catholic who considers it
sacrilegious to charge money for solvini
murder cases.
SOlJIlCE: Baltimore Sun, MD,
1117/88
CREDIT: Mel Saunders via COUD-I
Pursuit 44
I ____________________~_______

Sclea.....

Fla.

CIa_ to .

Aadeat ChID__ D ........

Studies of history, weather and geology

suggest that 21 centuries ago the Chinese had
a real and deadly encounter with the worst of
Murphy's Law.
For people already burdened with despotic
rule and rampant warfare, Mother Nature apparently added the last straw: a massive
volcanic eruption in Iceland that blocked
sunlight, destroyed crops and caused famine.
As Murphy's Law in its various versions
would dictate, anything that could go wrong
did go wrong. Two scientists report that as a
result of the combined disaster, half the
population of northern China starved in the
years after the eruption, which occurred
about 210 B.C.
.. Although the harsh rule of the Chin
Emperors and the war for succession between
the Hans and the Chus were important causes
[of death], major famines, especially in 205
B.C.. also decimated the population,"
astronomer Kevin Pang and planetary scientist James Slavin said.
"Late in the third century B.C., more than
half the population of northern China perished, .. they reported at a meeting of the
American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
Mr. Pang and Mr. Slavin. from the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. Calif..
told fellow scientists that "the failed harvests
seem to have been caused by a cold and wet
spell that began in 209 B.C .... the year immediately after the eruption.
The scientists said they learned, from
studies of geological data in areas such as
Denmark, that much of the Northern Hemisphere experienced the cold. wet conditions
that apparently led to famine in northern
China.
Additional studies of materials found in ice
cores drilled from the deep glacial ice of
Greenland indicated that a major volcanic
eruption. apparently in Iceland. may have
loaded the skies with volcanic ash that "made
the stars invisible for three months," as
described in ancient Chinese accounts.
When the stars were invisible, Mr. Pang
said. "is presumably when [the ash] was
densest. So it took a few years to fall out."
"It was like a Krakatoa volcano. an explosion." he said. Krakatoa was a huge volcano
in the Sunda Strait. between Java and
Sumatra. that blew up in March 1883.
SOlJRCE: Newsday in The Sun,
Baltimore. MD 2121/88
CREDO': H. Hollander

DI'Owala. CoIac:WeaC88 Ia
Wlayah Bay. South CaronWhen Wright Skinner Jr. fell off a boat
ladder near Georgetown early Saturday. he
became the fifth person to disappear on that
date in Winyah Bay since 1977.
Some are saying the events are a coincidence. but there's also talk by locals of a
Devil's Triangle in the waters of Win yah Bay.
It was the third mid-February search of

Winyah Bay by rescue workers in II years.

The others:
On Feb. 13. 1977, David Browder and
John Stanley Gore went in search of a friend
in their IO-foot outboard. Their boat was
found overturned the following day and the
. Coast Guard continued its search by air and
sea, but didn't find the men. Their friend.
. Terry Miller. was found in his stalled boat
around 7:30 a.m. Feb. 14.
.
The bodies of Browder and' Gore were
found later in Charleston. about 60 miles
south of Georgetown.
On Feb. 13, 1982. Hubert Jordan Sr. and
his nephew David Jordan lef~ port in their
18-foot boat to go shad fishing. When "they
didn't return after dark. a relative. Tom Swinnie Jr . went in search of them. Swinnie found
the bow of the Jordan boat sticking out of the
water, but a life jacket and the gas tank for
the boat were not spotted until the following
day.
There are other stories about the mysteries
of the bay.
"Two guys told me they were out on the
bay one time and they saw three men on a
4O-foot shrimp boat out there and they turned
their backs to the boat for a minute and when
they turned around the boat and the men were
gone and they never found it or the men,"
Goude said.
Editor's Note: We have no data regarding the IOtO/
number oj drownings that ocr:ur in Winyah BoY.

S.C.

SOlJRCE: (Knight-Ridder) ChroniCle Herald, Augusta. GA 2/16/88

CREDIT: John Sappington

"Q_k.. W Sonic Booa

An earth tremor in southwest Scotland last
November 17 was almost certainly caused by
the sonic boom of a meteor, the Education
Minister Mr. Robert Jackson said yesterday in
a written answer to the Commons.
Mr. Jackson said that scientists had ruled
out an earthquake. Reports of a fireball in the
sky above Ross-shire in the Western Highlands of Scotland tended to confirm the .
meteor theory, he added.
SOURCE: Daily Post, Liverpool, England
1/13/88
CREDIT: J. & C. Bord via COUD-I

A RaiD of Pink FI'O"

Members of Gloucestershire Trust have
been puzzled by sightings of pink frogs.
The Trust has now received information
from Morocco which may offer a solution.
After spawning in pools in the Sahara. tiny
baby frogs sink deep into the sand to escape
the scorching heat of the sun. Buried in the
pink sand. the frogs themselves tum pink to
disguise themselves. returning to their natural
color when they breed.
Sometimes these pink frogs are lifted up in
the thousands and carried hundreds of miles
by hurricane force winds. and some have rained down on Gloucester.
SOURCE: Natural World 22
England, Spring 1988
CREDIT: J. & C. Bord via COUD-I
First Quarter

1988

Black Paath. . Se. . In

HudyCoa~.W.~.

Jeff Moyer of Mathias wrote recently

about several sightings in that neck of the
woods. His repon of mountain lion past and
recent sightings in Hardy County follows:
"On Dec. 10th, 1978 (it gets more recent),
my wife and I were on our way home about
II at night when we both saw something
standing in a side road beside the highway,"
Jeff said. "We turned around and went back,
and, shining my headlights into the side road,
we got a good look at a very large black cat,
standing two to three feet tall at the shoulder,
with approximately three feet of tail. He was
jet black with a head the size of a large dog.
"Some two or three years after this, the exact date escapes me, I was again on my way
home when I saw a 'brown-colored lion beside
the road in neighboring Virginia, about three
to four miles from the West Virginia line.
"I have spent a lot of time in the woods,
and never have I seen anything move with
more grace or power than those two cats.
"Getting a little closer to the present, last
year (1986) during bear season one of my
fellow hunters saw a mountain lion in the
mountains of eastern Hardy County. Then
during this year's (1987) bear season, a
gentleman that hunts with us and lives on this
panicular mountain told me that on Nov. 18
several men from another state were on their
way to their cabin on the mountain when a
lion ran across the road in front of their vehicle, only two or three miles from where the
sighting took place last year.
"You can dismiss this letter as the work of
a crackpot or whatever you wish, but I am
relating this information to you as I experienced it arid it was related to me. There are indeed mountain lions in West Virginia, at least
in Hardy County."
SOURCE: Advocate, Cacapon,
West Virginia 114/88
CREOrr: Walter Duliere

Myatery G.at Cat

Puzzles North Mea
Sightings of another mystery black cat in
the Highlands have led two Inverness men to
begin an investigation into the origins of their
panicular feline.
Mr. Franny MacDonald first' spotted the
cat in Strathnairn where there have been a
number of repons of strange sightings.
He was completely taken aback by what he
saw - as soon as he realized it was not as it
first appeared, a black labrador dog.
That was more than six months ago. Since
then, he and friend Mr. Rod MacKenzie have
seen the cat several times - on each occasion
closer to the Hilton area of Inverness where
tl)ey both live.
The capture of a large black cat in a trap on
the Black Isle several weeks ago set the pair
wondering if there was any similarity in the
species.
However, they think the cat they saw is
larger, with shon smooth fur and a longer,
slimmer tail than the Tarradale cat.

First Quarter 1988

On first inspection by scientists, the Tarradale cat" now in captivity at the Highland
Wildlife Park at Kincraig, appears to be a fine
specimen of a wildcat crossed with a domestic
moggy.
Mr. MacDonald, 49 Oldtown Road, said,
however: "Our animal was quite large - 2 ft.
to 2.6 ft. high - and unlike anything I have
seen before."
A keen naturalist and birdwatcher, Mr.
MacDonald has come across quite a number
of wildcats but feels there is little relation between the two types of animal.
"Because of its size, I first thought it was a
dog. It ran as soon as it realized I was close.
But I followed its tracks and it was definitely
feline.
"I suspect it might be coming down off the
moor at this time of year to find shelter on
lower ground - on the occasions we have
seen it, it was headed off into the trees."
Now, when Mr. MacDonald and Mr.
MacKenzie go to the area of General Wade's
old military road and nearby Druid Temple
standing stones, they take binoculars, with
them.
"We have seen it quite a few times now and
have got a good look at it. But it is always on
the move," Mr. MacDonald said.
The animal, although predominantly black,
does have a white or greyish patch of fur between its forelegs.
Because of the significant size of the animal
and the shape of its tail, Mr. MacKenzie
thinks its most likely origin is a sub-species
descended from an escaped circus or pet exotic big-cat.
The two friends are now trying to find out
more about sightings of similar animals - of
which there have been a considerable number
in the Nonh in recent years.
SOURCE: Press & Journal Scotland

PIlots. CoatroD. . Spot

a UFO Ov. Colomb.
Several pilots and air traffic controllers
spotted an unidentified' flying object over the
Medellin airpon on Feb. 9, the daily El Colombiano reponed yesterday.
At one stage, the international Jose Maria
Cordova airpon control tower, believing it
was a private plane, gave landing instructions,
the newspaper reponed. The crews of five different planes, including a military plane carrying army chief Gen. Oscar Botero, reponed
seeing the object, which stayed in the area for
half an hour.
SOURCE: Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ

2128/88
CREOrr: N. Wanh

Electric Maa
A worker at a boiler factory in Xinjiang
province can emit electric charges strong
enough 10 knock down people just by louch
ing them, the New China News Agency said.
SOURCE: The Independent, England

3/5/88
CREOrr: J. & C. Bard via COUDI

Moakey8 Get Rev.....

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia., a troop of
monkeys roaming the southern desert attacked a motorist who ran over one of its
members, jumping on his car and smashing
the windows, a newspaper reponed yesterday.
The Okaz newspaper said a man was driving to work when he killed the monkey on a
highway in the Khamis Mesheit region. He
escaped the monkeys, but ran into them again
on his way home.
When they spotted his car, they jumped on
it and smashed the windows with their fists,
the paper said.
SOURCE: Asbury Park Press, NJ,

,
3/23/88
CREOrr: J. & C. Bard via COUD-I
'Big Cat' Rabies AIeJt

3/28/88
CREOrr: N. Warth

A rabies warning was put out around Danmoor yesterday after a farmer shot a leopard
cat, which is a native of Asia.
The cat was shot at Widecombe after it was
seen chasing sheep. A vet, Mr. Neville Harrison who identified the animal - it is bigger
than a domestic cat, but much smaller than a
leopard - reponed the shooting to the
Ministry of Agriculture because he feared that
the animal' might have been brought into the
country illegally.
SOURCE: Daily Post, England

The next time you cut yourself and a BandAid's not handy, you might try the miraculous
secretions of the Persian Gulf catfish.
"If you put it on a wound, you can actually
see the wound start tQ close over in the next
two or three minutes," says Richard Criddle,
a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at
the University of California at Davis.
Seems Arab fishermen have been using the
slimy white gel secreted by the arius bilineatus,
a species of saltwater catfish, for years.
Tests on mice, rabbits and catfish show the
substance can reduce healing time by twothirds, Criddle says.
But the product may be years from the
market.
Criddle says catching enough catfish is pretty difficult.
Scientists may have to make a duplicate
substance for use on humans.
SOlJRCE: J. W. Byrd, Inquirer,
Philadelphia, PA 1118/88
CREOrr: H. Hollander

4/22/88
CREOrr: J. & C. Via COUD-I

EJuaoor BeaR StrIkes

The beast of Exmoor - a so-far unidentified animal - was yesterday blamed for the
killing of a new-born foal which had its throat
tom out in a field at Muddiford on the fringes
of Exmoor in nonh Devon. A naturalist
found the largest prints he had seen during a
four-year search for the killer beast.
SOURCE: Daily Post, England

HeaUagF"h

1130/88
CREorr: J. & C. Bord via COUD-I

Pursuit 45

The Notes of Charles Fort

D.dph....d bV Cad.J. Pab8t
ABBREVIATIONS
(+)
or

abo
ac.
A.J. Sci
(AI)
An Sci D
A Reg.
BA or Rept. Brit. Assoc.
BCF
Ch
cor
C.R.
(Cut)
D-176
del met
Eng. Mec.
ext.
(F)
Fr
Hun

exceptional note
indicates notch cut from note
about
according

Americfln Journal 0/ Science

Almanac?
Annals oj Scientific Discovery
Annual Register
Report 0/ tM British Association for tM Advancement 0/ Science
Books 0/ Charles Fan
Chaos, Fort's Working title for New Lands.
correspondent

Comptes Rendus
illustration

Book o/IM Damned, page 176

detonating meteor

Engineering Mechanics
extraordinary

FletcMr's List
France
Hungary

(Continued/rom PURSUIT, Vol.20,

14, page 192)

1850 July 22 I Northampton Herald,

July 27 - at Olney, cockchafers on
several trees in numbers so
[Reverse side) great. as to be mistaken
for a swarm of bees.
1850 July 22 / Cockchafers / Northampton Herald, July 27 - that "after
a violent
[Reverse side] storm near Clifton,
Durham Down was visited by a prodigious swarm of cockchafers.
1850 July 25 / (0-84) I fish and water.
/ Rajkote, India I All the Year Round

812S.
[BCF, p. 87:
After a "tremendous deluge of
rain, one of the heaviest falls on
record" (All the Year Round, 8-25S) at
Rajkote, India, July 25, 1850, "the
ground was found literally covered
with fishes."
The word "found" is agreeable to
the repulsions of the conventionalists
and their concept of an overflowing
stream - but, according to Dr. Buist,
some of these fIShes were "found" on
the tops of haystacks.]
1850 July 29 / Perforating lightning
killing boy / Long Island.

1850 last July I (with July 19th) /

While a heavy blight upon peas and
beans near Northampton, "The at-.
mosphere
[Reverse side] was charged with a
gloomy brood about 3 days." / Northampton Herald, Aug. 24.
1850 Aug. 4 I 7 p.m. I Lightning
flashes without thunder at Havana I
C.R.41-77.

Pursuit 46

(It)
lum.objs.
(LT)
met
NM
Op
phe
polt
q
Rec Sci
ref.
S
Sci Am
Sid Mess
Simq's
Spon comb.
S.P.R.
stat.
Th. st.
Timb's
vole.

Italy
luminous objects
London Times
meteor
nothing more
Opposition
phenomenon
poltergeist
earthquake

Recrealive Science
refers
South

Scientific American
Sidereal Messenger
simultaneous
spontaneous combustion
Society for Psychical Research
stationary
Thunderstorm

Timb's Year Book

volcano

1850 Aug 9 / met shower / At Coll- 1850 Sept 7 / Lit. Gazette of - NeW
ingwood, of 75 meteors in an hour or star in Little Bear, by M. Calomarde.
more, all but 4 or 5 from a point 1850 Sept 14 / Mo[on) / Rev. T.
somewhere near Beta Camelopardali. Rankin saw part of moon (in 8th day)
/ BA 51-39.
blotted out as if by a shadow. For
1850 Aug. 91 Stat met I Observatory more than an hour he examined it, and
it remained the same. / [8) Assoc
21165.
51-41 /
1850 Aug 11 I A flight of about 50 [Reverse side) B As. 57-41.
meteors over Kettering. I Northamp1850 Sept. 26 / Fluctuations in Zeta
ton Herald. 24th.
Lyrae, by Heis, like - see March,
1850 Aug 15 / [LT], 5-g I Met / S. 1856. / J.B.A.A., 13-326.
Claydon.
1850 Sept 27 /. Lumps of ice / destruc1850 Aug 20 / [LT], 6-d I Spon. tive fall at Pittsburgh, Pa / Many 9 to
comb.
14 inches in
18SO-51 / (Clergy) I Cideville phe I
Dale Owen's Footfalls I Home of a
clergyman, M. Tine!. Mediums were 2
children who boarded with him. Rapp'ings
[Reverse side] for 2\.1 months. Stopped when the children were sent to
their homes. Not only rappings but intolerable poundings some times. The
sounds
[Second page] beat time to music.
When asked would indicate the
number of persons in a room. Strong
force moved a table when the mayor
[Reverse side) of Cideville and another
visitor were sitting on it and trying to
prevent its movement.
1850 Aug 30 / [LT], 7-d / Tidal phe.
1850 Aug, last of / Deluges / Jamaica
I N.Y. Herald, Sept 12-3-6.
18S0 Aug last and Sept 1st I Destructive storms / U.S. / N.Y. Herald, Sept
8-1-4.
1850 Sept, 1st week I Floods I U.S. /
N.Y. Herald 12-3-5.
1850 Sept I Th. st / Spain / B. Assoc /
49.

[Reverse side) circumference, weighing

from 8 ounces to a pound / ac to Pittsburgh Gazette, copied in NY Herald,
Oct 4-6-6 /
[Front side] Some were irregular
shaped, but most round or oval, made
up of concentric rings.
1850 Sept 30 / Met train / 8:54 p.m. I
from Perseus I great met I fIIew
England / A.J. Sci 2111/131 I The
train for more than an hour.
18S0 Sept 30 I Great met train I Mass
/ BA S5/94.
1850 (Sept 30) I Met rocket I One seen
on Sept 30, 1850, mistaken for an
alarm rocket, at Aden, by a sentry,
who discharged his gun and summoned garrison of 3000 men to arms. I
[Reverse side] BAs. 51/43.
18S0Oct. I I (Cut)/from9:IOt09:3O
p.m. I reported from the Observatory
of' Durham I 3 meteors from an
aurora, "not passing through it, but
. emerging from it." /
[Reverse side] BAs. 18SI-23.

1850 Oct / - Small body observed 4

nights. / Smithsonian MisteD. Cols.
20/20 I C-3O+( .(Ch.)
[BCF, pp. 412-413 I See July 31,
1826.]
1850 Oct I / Q - Ceveland, Ohio.
Low rumbling sound like distant
thunder - then vibrations felt. Cear
day. / An. Sci. 0-'51-278. .
1850 Oct 8 I [LT] , 8-b I 13-3-f I
Auroral Arch.
1850 Oct 9 I Large slow met burst. /
Rept BA 1860.

1850 Oct. 9 I Moon D-shaped I Brit

Assoc. 1851/41.
1850 Oct 13/ Met I Toronto. Canada
/ BA 51/40 ..
1850 Oct 141 Ship sunk by waterspout
near Malta / Timbs 'SI-271.

1850 Oct 31 I (lst) II Vessel shook like

Mik's [or Mile's?] petro\cum can /
(near England) I Times - or Trans
Bombay Geeg Soc 13/15S.
1850 Nov. 6/ Bombay I Met. streak
20 min. / Ret Sci 11137.
1850 Nov. 8/ q. I Malta / I [Light] /
BA'II.
1850 Nov 12/ Cut I S:5O / E J. Lowe
/ Highfield House I"A brilliant, vivid
nash; could it be a meteor? / B Assoc
18SI-26.

1850 Nov 14/ morning / In a mountain pass between Bombay and Poona,
38 mets counted in one hour. I
[Reverse side] BA SI-46.
1850 Nov. 18 I Worms in snow /
Sangerfield, N.Y. 1(0-92).

1850 after Oct / New Star / An Sci

[BCF, p. 96:
Discov. 18S1/374.

First Quarter 1988

Uirge number of worms found in a

snowstorm, upon the surface of snow
about four inches thick, near Sangerfield, N.Y., Nov. IS, IS50 (Scientific
Americtln, 6-96). The writer thinks
that the worms had been brought to
the surface of the ground by rain,
which had fallen previously.)
IS50 Nov. 20 I Fr I (Lourdes) St. Pe I
Q/BAII.
1850 Nov. 23 I Woodstock I several
meteors I BA 51/40.
IS50 Nov. 29 I London I Oxford I
met I BA 60-90.
IS50 Nov. 30 I 3 p.m.lnear Bis empore I Metite I BA 51-47.
IS50 Nov. 30 I (FJ I Shalka, Bengali
metite I 3 hours before sunset I A. J.
Sci 21321141.

IS51 Ap. 2 I Violent"Q I Valparaiso I

On 4th, heavy rain set in and
[Reverse side) lasted 4 hours. I Stryker's Amer Register, IS51.
1851 Ap 21 Q and flash I (Chili) I See
May 24. I From Report of the U.S.
Naval Astro. Obs. Expedition to Chili
- by Lieut J.M. Gilliss - Some hours
before the Q, "x x there was a
[Reverse side) vivid, Quick flash of
lightning to the N.N.E. so intense in
brightness as to [i)lIuminate within the
observatory where I had been at work
some hours." No thunder. I Am. J.
Sci 2121/3SS.
"
IS51 Ap. 21 [LT), S-e IWild Woman
of Navido.
IS51 Ap. 3 -131 Q.I Chile I LT, June
16-5-d - at 6 a.m. I Many buildings
fell. I N.M. I first shock the severest.

IS51 Ap. 5 I Hauser I Athenaeum of

[this date) - from the "Correspondenz of Berlin. I A stranger picked up
IS50 Dec 141 Near the Bannmouth I at end of year IS50 in a small village
aerial troops, etc. I B. Assoc IS52 I 30 near Frankfort-onthe-Oder; how got
I (See July IS, in the 90's.) I C-212+. there no one knew. He spoke German
imperfectly. He was taken to Frank[BCF, p. 422:
"Phantom soldiers" that were seen fort. On being Questioned by
in the sky, near the Banmouth, Dec. [Reverse side) the burgomaster, he said
that his name was Jophar Vorin and
30, ISS0 (Rept. B.A., IS52-30).)
IS50 (Dec. 16) I Venus Inf Conj Sun I that he had come from a country called Laxaria, in a part of the world call(AI).
ed Sakria. He understood no Euro1851
pean language except some German
IS51 I Snails near Bristol. I Zoologist but read and wrote what he
[Second page) called the Laxarian and
1/9/3176, 31S7 [or 3087).
Abramian tongue, one of the written

ISSI I Fr I Vosges I Q I C.R. 33/69. language of the clerical order of his

people and the other the common
ISSII Cideville, France I Polt I Proc. language of the people. His religion
S. P. R., vol. IS.
was Christian in form
IS511 Sleeper Susan C. Godsey, near [Reverse side) but was called Ispatian.
Hickman, Ky. I See Oct. 27, IS73.
Laxaria was many hundreds of miles
IS51 Jan 131 [LT), Sob I Auroral Ar- from Europe, separated by vast
oceans. He had gone to Europe to seek
ches.
a long-lost brother, but had been shipIS51 Jan 2S I 9 p.m. I Lightning wrecked on the way; where he did not
flashes without thunder at Havana I know.
C.R.41-77.
[Third page) His unknown race had
IS51 Feb 13, 14 I By Schmidt - on considerable geographical knowledge,
southern wall of Copernicus which knowing the continents of the Earth as
was in full sunshine.
Sakria, Aftar, Astar, Anstar, and
[Reverse side) Two black points - 3 Euplar. He was sent to Berlin,
more on 15th I on 16, invisible I [Reverse side) where he became object
L'Asto 4/309.
of great interest.
IS51 Feb. 22 I 7:45 p.m. I Gutenberg [BCF, p. 676)
and Eifel I det met. I BA 60-102.
IS51 Ap. 13 I QS I Armenia I Sweden
IS50 Dec 3 I [LT), 3-f I Met I Devonshire II 4-3-d I at Yalding.

ISSI Feb. 25 I By Schmidt - near

Copernicus I "A bright point surrounded by a dark gray nimbus." I
Observatory 5/254.
IS51 Feb. 2S - March 7 lab. 5:15 p.m.
I First shock I Rhodes I slighter to
March 7 I BA 'II I A. Reg., '51-16.
[Reverse side) Many springs dried up.
IS51 March 17 I [LT) , 5-e I Large
Sunspot.
IS51 March 24 and Ap. 2 I West Indies I great Q I [BA) 'II.
IS51 March 26 I Le Moniteur of I
Metite that fell on the "clocher" ofthe
[Reverse side) church at Larignac (Lot)
was in part "schisteuse".
IS51 Ap. 2 I [American Journal of
Science) 2121/38S I Note up to 20
more shocks.

First Quarter 1988

both of these nights.

IS51 May 241 (+) I SeeAp 2.1 Qand
[Reverse side) Quotes "one of the large met I Andes. I BA 60-90.
oldest and ablest observers in India [BCF, p. 130)
that at Madras, on 19th, from S:30 to
9:30, facing east, he had counted not IS51 June I I Calcutta I S:30 p.m. I
less than 40 meteors, from N. and splendid meteor I B.A. 52-229.
IS51 June I Cotopaxi, Ecuador, active
N.E. to S. and S.W.
IS51 Ap.19/1oc mets I 10 p.m. I At after long inaction. I Nature 4-212.
Mazagon, near Bombay, from point IS51 June 26 I 11:30 p.m. I great met
I Bath I BA 51/49.
ab IS degrees above N.E. horizon.
[Reverse side) In ab VI hour abo 20 IS51 June 22 I Met I Kingston I
mets - largest left long trains. I BA Ireland? I Proc. Roy Irish Acad
51-48.
5/19S.
IS51 Ap. 20 I At Cawnpor[e) I mets ISSI June 29 I Le Moniteur, July I I
like 19, from S to 10 p.m. I constant S that metite fell through roof of a house
to 10 p.m. I all from north to
in Vielle (Landros).
[Reverse side) south.
IS51 July 6 I Met I Paris I 7 - det
1851 Ap. 2S I at Cuneo (Piedmont), met, Epinal I BA 60-90.
Italy I Immense swarm of butterflies.
[Reverse side) Too early in year for IS51 July 141 Q. I Calabria I Am. J.
them to have hatched out in Italy. I Sci 2-12-443 I 700 bodies found up to
Aug 26.
Taunton Courier, May 21.
IS51 Ap. 25 - May II Hurricanes I In- ISSI July 14 I Q. I Calabria I 100
miles S.E. of Naples I A.J. Sci
dia I An Reg '51-73.
2112/443.
IIOS5015APril2/7 I Durham I great met I IS51 July I Hun I Comorn I Q I BA
: p.m. BA 51 / 42 .
'II.
ISS 1 summer I Quincay, France I met
I (F).
IS51 July 2S1 Total eclipse sun I Norway I C.R. 3S-295.
1851 May 2/10 p.m. I Madras - sky
IS51 July 30 I Copenhagen I Met.
overcast - a circular illumination thought be from a meteor I BA train? I or thing like Burlington I B.
Assoc IS72/68.
52-22S.
IS51 May 8 I 10:20 p.m. I St Ives, ISSI Aug S - 12 I Mauna Loa I
Hunts I Meteor "issued from below [American Journal of Science)
2/13/395,299.
Jupiter and near him". I B Assoc
ISSI Aug S - 20 I Mauna Loa I A.J.
IS51-36.
IS51 May S I L.T. of I That ac to Sci 2/12/299, 395.
Prof. Tosti, a luminous meteor had ISS I Aug I Maximum of Perseids I
Observatory 46-169.
recently set
[Reverse side) fire to a barn at Larcla- ISSI Aug 13 I Ice lumps I New
bourg, Calabria.
Hampshire I 0-176.
IS51 May IS I 8:10 a.m. I shock I ..
California I Time of eruption of [BCF, pp. 184-ISS I See May 12,
Mauna Loa I Ref, May 13, IS50.
ISI1.)

I Austria I BA 'II.
[Reverse side) Sim Q's, Feb. 18, ISS9.

IS51 May IS to 25 I Q - torrent 11:45 IS51 Aug. 14 I Southern Neapolitan

a.m. I Majorica (speUed Mayorque) I territory, great Q. I An Reg I SO
C.R. 33-23 I Before the shock, the
villages damaged.
[Reverse side) air was charged with
electricity. Some days before, torren- ISSI Aug 22 I 4 p.m. I West Cambridge, Mass I Tornado I Finley's
tial rains had ended a long drought.
Rept.
IS51 May IS I-Spain 116- W.lndies I 17 - Cent Amer I Q's I B.A. IS51 Aug 24 I (Fr) I Q I Besancon I
C.R. 33/272.
'II.
[Reverse side) Sim Q's, Feb IS, ISS9.
IS51 Aug I [clipping from newspaper)
ISS I May 17 I (Liv) I Bushels of snails I Eruption of Mount Pelee. I Port of
fell at Bradford, abo 12 miles from Spain Gazette, 29th August, 1851.

IS51 Ap. 17 I (F) I Gutersloh, Westphalia I metite I BA 60.

Bristol.
[Reverse side) Stroud Free Press,.May

ISSI Ap. 19. I Ac to Dr Buist investigation, this of 19th was a mistake for
20th. I See other note.

23.

ISS1 Sep. 1 I Light Sky I Minnesota I

Smithson Rept IS55/281.

1851 Sept. 4 I S I bodies I Read I

0-208.
[Reverse side) See Herschel, Objs and
Magnetic disturbances, Oct, 1870.
[BCF, pp. 21S-219)
size of ISSI Sept 3, 6, 291 Ext auroae I Am
J. Sci 2/12/442 I 13/128, 152.

ISS I May 221 at Ennore, near Madras

I Brilliant meteor left a streak that
lasted 2 minutes.
[Reverse side] BA 52-22S.

IS51 April I Lyrids abundantI Nature

99-133.
IS51 Ap. 19th lab. 10:30 p.m. I at ISSI May 22 I India I Ice Kolapore I "The entire sky in the pumpkins I (0-176).
north was seen in a perfect blaze
i~CF, pp. 184-185 I See May 12,
[Reverse side) with meteors shooting
1811.)
from east to west. I BA 51-48 lab. 5
IS51 May 241 See [LT), June 16-S-d.
minutes.
1851 Ap 19 and 20 I In Rept BA, I Q. I Chili.
52-226, Editor of Bombay Times IS51 May 241 Chili I Andes I "Large
Quoted that from other evidence he fireball; earthquake about the same
had concluded that there were displays time." I BA '60-91 I See Ap. 2. "

IS51 Sept 13 I [LT), 7-{; I Met.

IS51 Sept 24 I [LT), 6-b I Met.
IS51 Sept 29 I Aurora I A.J. Sci
2/121442 I 13/128, 152.
ISSI Oct 21 Aurora I Proc Roy Irish
Acad 5/222.
ISSI Oct. 5 I Met "beneath the

Pursuit 47

moon". I near Oxford I B. Assoc

1852-219.

apart, travelling with immense velocity, human beings and cattle raised in
1851 Oct 5 I 5:30 p.m. I Great whirl- vonex - fall of cataracts of water and
wind at Limerick I An Reg 1851-163. . masseS of ice. I
[Front side] an Reg '51-199.
1851 Oct 17 I Cut 19p.m. lat Stone I
Met from one degree under Saturn I 1851 Dec 15 I Stratford, Conn, phe
about 1-\12 0 I E to W./B Assoc ceased. I not Oct.

1852/24.

1851 Dec. 221 Moths I W.B. Oarke,

camping upon a mountain in the
Australian Alps I bet 6 and 7000 feet
his camp . .
[Reverse side] "About sundown an im1851 Oct 2i I (q) I Gelos, Basses- mense flight of moths came down
Pyrenees I C.R. 33/464.
from the granite peaks and nearly ex1851 Oct about 20th? I Shock in Ohio tinguished the fire. I H.C. Russell and same night a great
Climate of N.S. Wales, p. 28.
[Reverse side] meteor that left a [BCF, pp. 132-1341 See 184511.]
2O-minute train in eastern states. I
Strykers Amer Register, 1851.
1852
1851 Feb 20, about, to March 26 I 3
red rains in China in this period I
Chambers' Joumap], N.S., 17/230.

1852 I Sleeper, Susan C. Godsey, !852 Feb 3 and 4 I Red snow I

near Hickman, Ky. I See Oct 27, Switzerland I N. Italy I Am J. Sci
1873.

2/13/442.

1852, ab I Lum obj I Elec Intelligence I Eng Mec. 16-363, R. Packenham Williams of the Dunsink Observatory near Dublin, writes that about
the year 1872 (P writes 20 years later)
a young man was experimenting with
a telegraph wire and so he accounts
for a luminous phe he saw.
[Reverse side] He thinks that it was an
electric charge that left this wire. But
his own first view of it was when high
in the air. It had picked up a cravat
that was bleaching on a lawn and high
in the air carried it half a mile, then
dropping it. The cravat was not even
scorched.

1852 Feb. 17 I Mauna Loa I See

June, '32.

1852 or 1853 I Cor to Daily Mail, Dec

13, 1922, writes that at Cotswolds he
saw in snow
[1852]1 [newspaper clipping] I More [Reverse side] strange tracks, even on
Frogs From the Sky. I Nonhern roofs. See Feb., 1855 I also ab this
News, Vryburg, Transvaal, March 21, time.
1925.
.
[BCF, pp. 159-1601
1851 Nov. 41 Meteor I near Braincoto
(1852)1 [A letter from] C.J. Grewar, 1852 Jan I Pol! and flames I Russia.
I 5:30 p.m. I "from just N. of
K1einpoon~ Uitenhage District, C.P., . 1852 Jan 10 I Feb 11 I Apr 30 I June
Jupiter" I B Assoc. 18521202.
South Afnca, [addressed to) Charles 30 I Aug 2, II I Nov 27 I q's I New
1851 Nov. 4 I (Cut) I 7:35 p.m. I at Fort, Esq., 39a Marchmont Street, Eng! d I Se N v 9 1810
an
eo,
.
Stone I Met from Saturn to Beta Ceti Russell Square, London. I
Dear Sir,
1852 Jan. 23 I Nellore, Madras, India
I B Assoc 18521214.
I was much interested in reading I (F).
1851 Nov. 4 I (moon) I near Aylesbury I Met as if from below and a little your letter anent "Frogs from the sky" 1852 Jan 241 q I India I Upper Sind,
to the right of the moon I B Assoc '52- which appeared in the "Rand Daily Murree HiUs I BA 'II.
221.
Mail" of the 5th last, and it brings to 1852 Jan 241 Feb 221 July 7 I Nov.
my mind an occurrence of a similar
1851 Nov 5 I Tarragona, Spain I nature, which took place in 1852.
20 I Sim q's.
Metite I BA '60 I (F).
In that year I was travelling with [Reverse side) Sim q's, Feb 18, 1889.
lkeverse side] (F) = Nulles, Catalonia. others of my family across what is 1852 Jan 24 I - Sind, India I 241851 Nov. 11 I Met listed by Lowe as known as the SprioSbok flats, in the Mexico I 25 - Spain 126 - France I
"Curious". I Cast. Donington I Rec division of Uitenhage, and about fifty q's I BA 'II.
miles from the town of Uitenhage. At [Reverse side] Sim q's, Feb. 18, 1889.
Sci 11137.
1851 Nov. 161 Highfield House I Met a point quite close to the Cockscomb 1852 Jan 24 I India I Upper Sind I
listed by Lowe as "Curious" . I Rec Sci mountain, the highest peak of the Murree Hills I q 11111 [great] I BA
Groot Winterhoek range, we noticed 'II.
11137 I Seen by Lowe.
that the springboks in the distance 1852 Jan 24 I Op Mars I (A I).
1851 Nov 18 I Fr I Meteor at Cher- were behaving in a most extraordinary
bourg I C.R. 33/581.
manner, jumping from side to side as 1852 Jan 25 I Gardeners' Chronicle,
1851 Nov. 2D? I Singular tide I L.T., though being tickled. On closer ap- Feb. 141 Cor sends tracings he made
1851, Nov 20/3/c.
proach, we were amazed to find that around lumps of ice that fell from sky
the
cause was numbers of frogs and at [Car]clew, Jan. 25.
1851 end of Nov, to early in Aug.,
[Reverse side] It was a th. storm. Ice
18521 Very few meteors, ac to an ob- small fresh water fish commonly fell abo 3 p.m.
server's records, in Rept BA 1852-215. known as "Kirpers" pouring from the
skies. At the time, and for some hours 1852 Jan 25 I [illustration] I [Fon's
1851 Nov. 24 - 30 I Livomo I (It) I previously, a strong westerly wind was free-hand copy of tracing made
Sound I Rumblings II Dec 161 rumb- blowing. Some of the old people in the around lump of ice) I [original note
lings and rise and fall of the sea I See neighborhood informed me that a missing I copied from The Forteon,
1816.
similar occurrence had previously no. 25, p. 391, c. I).
1851 Nov. I Harry Phelps, Stratford,
Conn., polt boy, sent to a boarding
school in Philadelphia.
[Reverse side] Here, school disturbed
by loud raps, and his clothes were tom
to ribbons.

185 I Nov 291 Ext. spots on sun I Am

J. Sci 2113/442.
ISSI Dec. 1 I Beeston Observatory. I
Met seen by Lowe listed by him as
"Curious". I Rec Sci 1/137.
1851 Dec 8 I Prof. DeGaspari, of
Naples, discovered very faint star
"near Saturn, which he considered a
new planet. I Am J. Sci 2/13/28. I
[Reverse side] P. 42 I Prof Challi I
must have bee[n] Japetus, one of the
sats of Satur[n] - if so -.

18521 Have Friend of India this year

mostly.

taken place.
The vehicle we were using was what
is today known as a Voonrekkers
wagon, and this was the only type of
vehicle in use in those days. I may
mention I made a model of this vehicle, and it is now to be seen in the
South African exhibit at Wembley.
Yours faithfully,
sl c.J. Grewar.
[BCF, pp. S44-545]

1851 Dec. 8 I Waterspout? I Two

enormous waterspouts swept over Sicily - 2 "immense spherical bodies of
water,

1852 I White hairs said been found

after a q, in China I Nature 34-86.

[Reverse side] their cones nearly touching the earth, at a quarter of a mile

1852, ab I Dunsink, near Dublin I

obj and the necktie I See Lum Objs.

Pursuit 48

1852 and 1885 and 1897, Dec 3 I

Moodus Sounds.

1852 Jan. 25 I [illustration] I [Fort's

free-hand copy of tracing made
around lump of ice] I [original note
missing I copied from The FOr/ean,
no. 25, p. 391, c. 2).
1852 Jan 25 I [illustration) I [Fort's
free-hand copy of tracing made
around lump of ice] I [original note
missing I copied from The Forteon,
no. 25, p. 391, c. 3).
1852 Jan 26 I 2 a.m. I q I Castillonsur-Dordogne I NMI C.R.341218/q.
1852 Jan 261 (q and sky) I (Gironde,
etc.) 12:15 a.m. I Detonation and q I
Bordeaux I "The sky at the time was
of a dark reddish color as if from the
effects of a luminous fire at a
distance. I Sc. Am., 7-208.

1852 Feb 191 Ext. aurora I Am J. Sci

2113/426.
1852 Feb 19 I At Delaware College,
at 10:05 p.m., a column of the aurora
passed precisely over Mars. I Am J.
Sci 2-13-430.
1852 Feb 21 I [L T], S-f I Spon.
Comb.
1852 Feb. 22 I France and Central
Asia I qs I BA 'II.
[Reverse side] Sim q's, Feb 18, 1889.
1852 Feb 23 I [LTJ, 8-f I Aurora.
1852 Feb. 29 I Observations at Santiago de Chili, 7:40 p.m., of an
unknown star
[Reverse side) - one that could not
afterward be recognized. I Sid Mess
3-315.
1852 March 11 17:56 p.m. I Dieppe I
Met. I C.R. 34-772.
1851 Mar 18 lAp. 30 I Sept. 25 I 3
aerolites in tho storm in India I Brit
Assoc 18521239.
[BCF, pp. 101-102]
1852 March 24 - 25 I See Aug., 1890.
I Spain I Prussia I La Belgique Hortico1e 21319.
IBCF, p. 4091 See July 17, 1822.]
1852 March 30 I Red Rain I Lyons I
R - May 26, '46.
1852 Ap. 1 15:30 a.m. I Winscombe,
Axbridge I q I LT 12-7-f.
1852 Ap. 2 I Bolide I France I C.R.
35-676.
1852 Ap. 8 I ab 7 p.m. I A pillar of
fire, vertical, western sky, extending
abo 15 degrees from horizon at a
point near intersection of the ecleptic
with the horizon. - lasted ab 20
minutes - appeared to follow the
sun.
[Reverse side] LT,Ap. 10-6-b/l2-7-f
I 14-5-c I 15-8-e I 28-8-f.
1852 Ap 10 I [LT] , 5-f I 15-8-e I
21-8-c I Atmospheric phe in London.
1852 Ap. 10 I [LT] , 5-f I 15-8-e I
21-8-c I Atmospheric phe I London.
1852 April 9 I ab I a.m. I London I
Heaven seemed aflame. "Messenger
after messenger arrived
[Reverse side] at Brigade, West of
Englan[d] fire engine station, requesting the aid of the firemen to subdue wha[t] was supposed to be a terrible fire."
[Front side] L.T. - April 10.
1852 Ap 91 London I Sky fire I LT
10-5-f, etc.
[Reverse side] See Met and A L in index. I A column had been seen from
sun.
1852 April I Auroras I See Aug 21. I
Etna.
1852 April I Auroral (beam) I Am J.
Sci 21141130.
(1"0 be contiDUed)

First Quarter 1988

The Society For The Investigation of The Unexplained

Mail: SITU/PURSUIT, P.O. Box 265, Little Silver, NJ 07739-0265 USA Tel: (201) 842-5229
GOVERNING BOARD
Robert C. Warth President; Gregory Arend, Vice-President; Nancy L. Warth, Secretary
and Treasurer; Trustees: Gregory Arend, Marie Cox, Nancy Warth, Robert C. Warth,
Martin Wiegler, Albena Zwerver.
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
Dr. George A. Agoglno, Distinguished Director of Anthropology Museums and
Director, Paleo-Indian Institute, Eastern New Mexico University (Archaeology)
Dr. Carl H. Delacato, Director, The Institute for the Rehabilitation of the Brain InJured, Morton, Pa. (Mentalogy)
Dr. Stuart W. Greenwood, Operations Manager. University Research Foundation,
University of Maryland (Aerospace Engineering)
Dr_ Martin Kruskal, Program In Applied Mathematics and Computational
Mathematics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
Dr. Samuel B. McDowell, Professor of Biology, Rutgers the State University,
Newark, New Jersey (General Biology)
Dr. Vladimir Markotlc, Professor of Anthropology, Department of Archaeology,
University of Alberta, Canada (Ethnosociology and Ethnology)
Dr. Michael A. Persinger, Professor, Department of Psychology, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario. Canada (Psychology)
Dr. Frank B. Salisbury, Plant Science Department, College of Agriculture, Utah
State University (Plant Physiology)
Dr. Berthold Eric Schwarz, Consultant, National Institute for Rehabilitation
Engineering, Vero Beach, Florida (Mental Sciences)
.
Dr. Michael D. Swords, Professor, Department of General Studies Science,
Western Michigan University (Natural Science)
Dr. Roger W. Wescott, Professor and Chairman, Department of Anthropology,
Drew UniverSity, Madison, N.J. (Cultural Anthropology and LingUistics)
Dr. A. Joseph Wralght, Chief Geographer, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey,
Washington, D.C. (Geography and Oceanography)
Dr_ Robert K. Zuck, Professor and Chairman, Department of Botany, Drew University, Madison, N.J. (Botany)
ORIGINS OF SITU/PURSUIT
Zoologist, biologist, botanist and geologist Ivan T. Sanderson, F.L.S., F.R.G.S., F.Z.S., in association with a number of other distinguished authors, established in 1965 a "foundation" for the exposition and research of the paranormal - those "disquieting mysteries of the natural world" to which
they had devoted much of their investigative lifetimes.
As a means. of persuading other professionals, and non-professionals haVing interests similar to
their own, to enlist in an uncommon cause, the steering group decided to publish a newsletter. The
first issue came out in May 1967. The response, though not overwhelming, was sufficient to reassure
the founding fathers that public interest in the what, why and where of their work would indeed survive them.
Newsletter No.2, dated March 1968, announced new plans for the Sanderson foundation: a structure larger than its architects had first envisioned was to be built upon it, the whole to be called the
Society for the Investigation of The Unexplained, as set forth in documents filed with the New Jersey
Secretary of State. The choice of name was prophetic, for Dr. Sanderson titled one of the last of his
two-dozen books "Investigating the Unexplained," published in 1972 and dedicated to the Society.
Another publication was issued in June 1968, but "newsletter" was now a subtitle; above it the
name PURSUIT was displayed for the first time. Vol. I, No.4 in September 1968 ("Incorporating
the fourth SOciety newsletter") noted that "the abbreviation SITU has now been formally adopted as
the designation of our Society." Issue number 4 moreover introduced the Scientific Advisory Board,
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have been captured in Argentina" - the instant transportation of solid objects "from one place to
another and even through solids" - the attack on the famed University of Colorado UFO Project headed
by Dr. Edward U. Condon - and some updated information about "ringing rocks" and "stone spheres."
Thus SITU was born, and thus PURSUIT began to chronicle our Investigation of The Unexplained.

Printed in U.S.A.

ISSN 0033-4685

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IScience is the Pursuit 01 the Unexplained'

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tQ
Journal of SITU
The
Society for the
Investigation of
The Unexplained

Se....

A new quatrain written through Katie, an illiterate, in a

trance state by Nostradamus, physician and prophet of the
sixteenth century (see article on page 50).

Volume 21
Number 2
Whole No. 82
Second Quarter
1988

The Society For The Investigation Of The Unexplained

Mail: SITU/PURSUIT, P.O. Box 265, Little Silver, NJ 07739-0265 USA Tel: (201) 842-5229
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.
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THE QUARTERLY
JOURNAL OF THE

rSUlt

ISOCIETY FOR THE

INVESTIGATION OF
THE

UNEXPLAINED

'SCIENCE IS THE PURSUIT OF THE UNEXPLAINED'

Contents
Page
Katie: Nostradamus Automatic Writing, Possible Direct Writing and
Psychic Nexus of an llliterate (Part I of II Parts)

by Berthold E. Schwarz, M.D.

50

The UFO Impact (Part II of a IV -Part Series)

by Jean-Pierre Petit. Ph.D.

62

Sky Anomalies - Oceanic My&teries

by Gary S. Mangiacopra
'Big Creature' Hoaxes

67

SITUations

72

The Psychic Connection

by R. Perry Collins

74

What If Scientists Accepted Psi?

by John Thomas Richards, Ph.D.

79

Will the 'Real' Stonehenge Please Stand Up

SITUations
The Greene County Films -

80
An Approach to Seeing U.F.O.s

by Gary Levine, Ph.D.

Our Gods Were Physical Beings -

81
or 100 Trillion Gods

by Pasqual Sebastian Schievella. Ph.D.

84

Conference Reports

Michael D. Swords. Ph.D. and Robert C. Warth

Letters to the Editor
SITUations
The Notes of Charles Fort

Deciphered by Carl J. Pabst

87
89
91

94

On Invisibility
In the study of nature's unexplaineds
there is one factor that often plays a major part in stiffling the efforts of investigators, namely, invisibility. And, yet, it
almost seems to be accepted as being so
obvious that there is no purpose in looking for it.
It does not necessarily mean that invisibility - if I may use that word - has
one, simple explanation that is the same in
each case or category where it "appears."
It may be multifaceted, vary in wavelength or intensity, be related to time or
some physical variable of energy, or as
some claim is a particular state of molecular vibration.
Dr. Schwarz tells us, here, that not only
does "Nostradamus" appear to Katie but
apparently he may not appear to others in
the same room. Dr. Levine and Perry
Collins, in their articles, describe UFOs
that can be seen and/or recorded on film
that also may be invisible to others in their
methods of examination. And, Dr. Richards is well aware, as he says, of psi events
that occur but that are limited in study by
their unseen properties.
Some Forteans will argue among themselves that ghosts and parapsychological
subjects are not in the realm of Forteana,
yet they will discuss UFOs, Bigfoot, Nessie, mysterious big cats and vanishing
kangaroos, etc., as if invisibility were not
a factor in many or all of these sightings.
Is invisibility an "aether" that permeates all realities or a force that protects
those in other dimensions from us - perhaps an inseparable variable of that "fifth
force" that scientists and philosophers
have for centuries alluded to but have
never gotten close enough to catch?
Whatever invisibility is, perhaps we
should consider giving this "matter"
more attention.

Pursuit Vol. 21. No.2, Whole No. 82 Second Quarter 1988. Copyright 1988 by The Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained. ISSN 0033-4685.
No part of this periodical may be reproduced without the written consent of the Society. Robert C. Warth, Publisher and Editor. Nancy Warth. Production
Editor. Martin Wiegler. Consulting Editor, Charles Berlitz, Research Editor and Oceanographic Consultant.

Second Quarter 1988

Pursuit 49

Katie: Nostradalilus AutoBlatic Writing,

Possible Direct Writing and Psychic Nexus
of .an Illiterate (Part I of II Parts)
by Berthold E. Schwan,: M.D.
Introduction
Automatic writing occurs': in a dissociative state and is
related to the psychopathology of everyday life and trancelikestate behavior; viz. doodling, daydreaming, slips of the
tongue, use of the ouija board and dowsing. Automatic
writing can be a useful psychiatric tool in probing the unconscious and in helping to resolve conflicts. Occasionally,
the contents of the messages are apparently paranormal.
When so, they are most commonly telepathic and rarely
precognitive. Although there are often claims for sometimes
fanciful discarnate communications, the evidence for that is
usually thin. However, there are exceptions to this.
A famous example is Oahspe, automatically typed by Dr.
John B. Newbrough/ an entranced New York dentist, a century ago. It was purportedly undertaken by the agency of
spirits who, through Dr. Newbrough, produced a scholarly,
detailed work that drew from various ancient and modern
languages that Dr. Newbrough did not know and which foretold, in some instances, events far in the future. There is one
aspect of the NewbroughlOahspe case I've often wondered
about, which may not be relevant to the present discussion.
However, at the time that Newbrough was sitting up all night
writing Oahspe, then working all day as a dentist, cocaine and
nitrous oxide were part of the standard equipment in any dentist's office. Was Dr. Newbrough sniffing cocaine and inhaling laughing gas more or less -simultaneously during the
period that he wrote the long Oahspe manuscript at such extraordinary speed? Dr. Newbrough could also paint with
both hands in darkness.
Another example of alleged paranormal automatic writing
are the poems, prose (and talk with guests), in the works of
the entity, Patience Worth,4 who wrote in archaic English of
two to three centuries ago and who communicated through
Mrs. John H. Curran of St. Louis, Missouri, at first through
the ouija board, and later through automatic writing, about
the time of the first World War and in the 1920's. In both
cases, neither Dr. Newbrough nor Mrs. Curran had the previous'scholarship and knowledge to produce what they did,
. however, they could both read and write, and they held responsible positions in their society.
Direct writing can be traced back to the Biblical example of
the Writing on the Wall (Daniel, Chapter V, verse 5). In
direct writing, script is produced with a pen or other instrument, or presumably, directiy materializes but with no known
human agency holding the pen. Some modern examples of
this are the controlled, automatically filmed studies provided
by the SORRAT!" group.
Also, Matthew Manning has repeatedly written messages in
"Italian, German, Greek, Latin, Arabic and various Eastern
tongu~s as well as old English or,Saxon.'" Both the SORRAT material, Manning and other datal could be profitably
studied.
Recently, Montague Ullman, 9 eminent psychiatrist and researcher of psi, wrote about his personal, extraordinary experiences of direct writing when he was about sixteen and participated with a group of other teenagers from 1932 to 1934.
Pursuit 50

At that time, six young men had a series of Saturday night

seances for almost two years, from which communications
were received from an alleged dead physician, Dr. Bindelof,
who contacted the young men by direct writing and other
paranormal means. Thirty-three years later, five of the surviving "core group" were reassembled by Dr. Ullman and
they reviewed and confirmed the previous events and data.
Needless to say, the impact on the young men and, in particular, on Dr. Ullman's later outstanding career, was farreaching.
My personal experiences with automatic writing beyond
the common everyday variety includes hypnotizing a young
woman who was suffering from chronic, intractable hiccuping and who, when entranced, in addition to relief from her
symptoms, could write disparate thoughts with both hands
simultaneously while I was talking to her. The other possibly
related example pertains to Jacques Romano, '0 the nonagenarian paragnost,' and his "spirit reading." He would
telepathically perceive specific, significant events, including
dates and physical symptoms, about the deceased person,
who was well known to the subject over a long period of time.
At the conclusion of Romano's trance-like state and his
sometimes associated transfiguration, he would have the subject take the rolled-up piece of cigarette paper that the subject
held between his thumb and forefinger, and which was opposed to a pencil point, open the paper, and look inside. For
proper identification, the subject had previously torn off a
corner of the paper. The subject invariably found the signature of the Christian name of the one about whom he was
thinking on the torn piece of paper. The subjects frequently
said that the signatures were good fascimilies. Romano confided to me that he telepathically got the name but that he, in
fact, wrote the signature earlier and switched the roll of paper
in the subject's hands when no one, including' myself, ever
saw him do this; Romano was proud that no magician or
"psychic" had ever duplicated his feat. Finally, a personal instance of purported direct writing pertains to Peter Sugleris
who, according to his teenage male cousin, was seen to be
painting in oils while entranced and "then Peter stepped back
and the brush kept going by itsel f.""

Katie
In two previous studies,':'" Katie, a Vero Beach, Florida,
housewife, while being videotaped under good lighting conditions and often in the presence of multiple witnesses, produced various mental and physical paranormal phenomena including forty-four instances of apparent "gold" (actually
copper foil) which materialized on her body and, rarely, on
the bodies of other people and even in sealed containers. The
foil never dematerialized. Also during the study Katie has; on
occasion, produced; (while entranced), writings in what appeared to be old French. Sometimes the writings just turned
up on papers which were found around her home or she said
that the writings happened by themselves: direct writing by
unaided, capped pen while she watched in amazement, or
materialization of writing ~ithout any pen or pencil. On three
Second Quarter 1988

occasions, two of which were witnessed by others than

myself, automatic writings in old French were videotaped
while they were being produced. The communications were
attributed to an "Old Guy" ... Nostradamus. Aside from the
curiosity about how this could happen, there is the question
about the possible meanings of the communication; both for
Katie and her family; those present at the research room sessions and, on a wider scale, for society and the world at large.
Katie was the tenth of twelve children born in Copperhill,
Tennessee, a mountain hamlet on the border of Georgia and
North Carolina. Because of her mother's acute paralytic illness "from her waist down," which happened shortly after
one of her older children had unexpectedly left home and
taken her baby, which Katie's mother had been raising, Katie
had to discontinue her schooling in the ~econd grade and
assume care for her mother and the home (cooking, cleaning,
washing, hauling water), and performing physical therapy of
her mothe;. Consequently, she never learned to read and
write. Although she c.an write her name, and she knows the
letters of the alphabet, she cannot synthesize them into
words. And while she knows 1lumbers, she is hardly able to
perform simple arithmetic. Katie is an intelligent woman
who, from early childhood, has always had to struggle and
work hard in order to survive. She has an excellent reputation
as a mother and worker. There has never been any question
of sociopathic traits such as lying or dishonesty. She does not
use excessive amounts of alcohol, nor does she used unprescribed drugs. She has been smoking cigarettes since thirteen
years of age.
Furthermore, now that we are into the fifth year of our
studies, she has always been truthful during formal research
sessions, home visits and later psychotherapeutic meetings.
She is not a professional medium and she has no zeal to proselytize or promote any particular viewpoint. She has not
been filled with ideas and notions by any organized group. In
view of her illiteracy, it seemed that Katie's inbuilt psychobiological-cognitive controls give added significance to the alleged Nostradamus writings. For if their production is a fact,
how then can the fragmented verses in old French be explained when Katie and her family do not speak, have knowledge
of, or ready access to any other language than English? There
is sparse reading material in the home and the family does not
get a local newspaper. When Katie and her husband are not
working seven days and nights a week, they catch glimpses of
television on the limited three channels available on aerial
(non-cable) television. Once, a few years ago, when the fami:"
ly had cable television and after her Nostradamus writing had
already begun, Katie saw a special program, Orson Welles'
TV docudrama on Nostradamus.
In this report, various background factors that might relate
to the production of the old French writings are described.
Then the actual communications and how they might have
taken place are detailed. Katie's old French and accompanying translations by George Andrews, a French scholar, .are
then presented. Also, Mr. Andrews' insightful comments and
possible alternative meanings are supplied in footnotes with
subsequent, serial verses. At the conclusion of the examples,
there is a brief discussion of Katie's possible physical and psychophysiological factors and their correlations with her
trancelike, emotional status.

References and Notes

I. Fodor, Nandor: Encyclopedia of Psychic Science. University

Books, Inc., New Hyde Park, N.Y., 1966.

2. Muhl, Anita M.: Automatic Writing. Theodor Steinkopff,

Second Quarter 1988

Dresden and Leipzig, 1930.

3. Newbrough, John Ballou: Oahspe. (PP), 1882. Reprinted in 1960
by the Amherst Press, Amherst, Wisconsin.
4. Yost, Casper W.: Patience Worth. Patience Worth Publishing
_Company, New York, 1925.
5. Richards, J.: SORRAT - A History of the Neihardt Psychokinesis Experiments, /96/-/98/. Scarecrow Press, Inc.,
Metuchen, NJ, 1982.
6. Cox, William Edward: unpublished manuscript on SORRAT.
7. Manning, Matthew: The Link. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New
York,1974.
8. One of the most enigmatic trance writings that I have ever come
across was reported by a leading inventor-engineer at a Hollywood, Florida, Psychic Society meeting February 2, 1985. In
1957, the inventor's nine-year-old daughter suddenly interrupted
her playing at home and asked her parents for a piece of paper.
"I have to write something," she said. She took the only thing
available, her father's paycheck envelope, and proceeded to fill it
with peculiar, unrecognizable script. The father told me that it
looked like shorthand. He took the envelope upstairs and put it in
a drawer, where it stayed until 1967. One day he came home and
threw a magazine (No.1 edition of Flying Saucer UFO Reports.
Dell, 1967) on the table. Shortly afterward, when looking at the
magazine, he was shocked to note an article featuring pictures of
glyphs obtained by a sixty-five-year-old florida UFO contactee
on thin tissue paper in the sand dunes of Weeki-Wachi Springs on
March 2, 1965 (also see Schwarz, B.E.: UFO-Dynamics, Book II,
Rainbow Books, Moore Haven, florida, 1983, p. 351). The
father rushed upstairs and found his daughter's original writings.
. He noted that the first thirteen characters of the message were
identical to his daughter's glyphs. Therefore, a nine-year-old girl
had wriuen the exact message eight years before the florida UFO
contactee discovered his message at an alleged UFO landing site
and ten years before the magazine article was published. Inspection of the scripts revealed so many intricate pauerns that it is
hard to imagine how under any circumstances, including coincidence, the precise configurations could have been so perfectly
matched. The father wondered if the message that his daughter
had received was a hoax by an entity "not of this planet." In
1952, the father "was giving lectures on UFOs and 1957 was an
active year for UFO reports." In a letter to me years later, he
wondered if "someone from outer space was trying to 'con' me
through my daughter. As usual, I am long on questions and short
on answers." In my interview of the researcher and his wif~, it
was apparent that they both had lifetimes of high-quality psi.
However, they never directly related this to their interests in closely allied UFO material. On the contrary, the man felt that the
UFO data was independent of psi. Both the adoptive daughter
and adoptive son had many later possible psychic experiences. A
more recent twist to these symbols can be found in William S.
Steinman'S and Wendelle C. Stevens' book, UFO Crash al Aztec
(UFO Photo Archives, P.O. Box 17206, Tucson, Arizona 85710).
A generous sample of "Sanscrit-like" script found on an alleged
UFO that crashed at Aztec, New Mexico, March 25, 1948, was.
"turned over to this nation's two topmost experts in cryptology. "
There were symbols which resembled the above mentioned
daughter's (opus cit. pp. 40-42; also see Gordon S.: "The
Military UFO Retrieval at Kecksburg, Pennsylvania," PURSUIT, Volume 20, Number 4, 1987: p. 177).
9. Pilkington, Rosemarie ed .. Ullman, M. in Men and Women of
ParapSYChology: Personal Reflections. McFarland & Company,
Jefferson, NC, 1987.
10. Schwarz, B.E.: The Jacques Romano Story. University Books,
Inc., New Hyde Park, NY, 1968.
11. Schwarz, B.E.: "The Miracles of Peter Sugleris," unpublished
manuscript.
12. Schwarz, B.E.: "Presumed Physical Mediumship and UFO's,"
Flying Soucer Review, Vol. 31, No.6, October, 1986: pp. 18-21.
13. Schwarz, B.E.: "Apparent Materialization pf Copper Foil, Case
Report: Katie." PURSUIT, Volume 20, November 4, 1987: pp.
154-158.

Pursuit 51

.: .:... :........ .
. .: : . .
. .
... ..:. :~.: .. ;" .
. :.. ::;. ::

~..

:.: :. : ..

:.~:

Figure I-Propped pool cues with note below.

Figure l-With note removed billiard balls spell oul "OK."

Example 1
At 3:35 p.m., November 14, 1985, Katie telephoned me
after returning home from picking her daughter up at o;~hool.
Earlier in the day, she discovered that her dining room
chandelier wa~ turned on its side, experimental spccimeno; of
bovine aonic rings in a sealed bottle were "minced," four
psychic (?) apponed (?) photographs of her dcceascu
(murdered?) brOlher in his coftin were again mis'iing, and thc
deformed stray cat that her son had recently .brought home
wac; pacing the floor .. Katie said that in the family room. two
cue sticks on the pool table were propped up against ea~h
other like a church steeple. The billiard balls, which were
formerly in their triangular frame, were then in the middle of
the table and arranged so that they' spelled out the lettcrs "0
K." There was a page from her daughter's notebook on thc
table, with a pencil inscribed "Heather" that I' had rcccntly
given her, pointing at the paper which had penciled printing
in what appeared to be old French (see Figures 1 & 2).
Katie's husband and son were away from home. Although
ther~ were no ostensible immediate precipitating events, Katic
had been recently split by a series of life-threatening trauma~.
She had been repeatedly abused on the t<;lephone by a strangc
male voice and presumably this person was the one who had,
three weeks previously, broken into her house and beatcn her
up. The sheriff was called and, despite numerous crimes and
repeated warnings, they were never able to apprehend the
assailant. Katie's domestic situation was also strained. Thc
message read:
A son haul! pris
pi usia lerme Sabee,
D humaine chair par
Mon en cendres
Mettre,
Alisle Pharas Par
Croisars penubec,
Alors qua Rodes parols
tra dun espectne.
Mr. Andrews wrote about "espectre," "It was not clear in
the original script whether this was an 'N' or an 'R.' I interpreted it as an 'R.'''
Taken from above
no more Sabaean tears
human flesh by death burned into ashes
at the island of Pharos disturbed by Crusaders
while at Rhodes words camc from a ghml.

If the message ha'i any meaning that is applicable to h:.uic

and her situation, it should lirst be admiued that therc are no
controls that mil.' out collusion or some trick. Thc cvcnt hap
pened during dangerous times and brought the 'ihcrin"o; 'ofIke, the telephone company and neighbors onto the o;cenc. II"
'iOme religious fanatic or deranged person cOlllrivcu the
beating and threats to Katie and her family and also pointedly
indicated his awareness of her involvement in our paranormal
psychiatric researchers, then questions arise abolll how thi~
message was accomplished under the time frame and houo;e
hold circumstan~:es. What pt.irpose did it serve? 'If the ao;o;ail
ant, for example, had broken into Katie\ housc a o;ccond
time and left the old French message and other clTccts, how
did he do this without leaving additional clues? Why SLOp at
this harmless intervention? Why the eSOleric motifo;? It iii
unlikely that Katie, who is illiterate, could have donc thio; by
herself, and equally so for her husband and childrc'n, who
were either at work or in elementary school when the CVCnto;
took plal.'e. The family has limited reading material available
and no one in the home is familiar with old French. It can be
speculated that the pool table cue sticks arrangcd in a .church
'iteeple-like pattern and the "Heather" inscribed pcncil, pointing to the billiard balls arranged in an "0 h: ,:. arc rCHo;suring:
i.e. calm, sanctity, and religion. (Nostradamus wao; a dcvout
Roman Catholic, at least superlicially. As a converh..><.i .lew
practicing medicine, it wac; the only possible way to survivc
during that historical period in France.) A message from the
distant pa'it' and steeped in scholarship symbolizing the
psychic tracer of Nostradamus, referring to the Sabacan~
with a reputation for magic and astrology mctamorphizing
with science,. and .concluding with the built-in allu'iion LO a
ghost, might give comfon to the family by the possible implications of the end of the death -threats, dangers and their
current ordeal but it is so general and vague' ~hat t hc samc
reasoning could be applicable .and symbolic of the horror~
associated with the space shuttle Challenger dis..1.ster on
.Ianuary 28, 1986, which happened and I witnessed at the exact juncture when I picked up and read Mr. Andrcws' translation from the morning mail. In Katie's traumatized condition and during .perilous times, something new and powerful
had entered her life and experimental situalion.

Pursuit 52

References and Notes

I. When this writing wa~ sent to George Andrews, he rcs[lOnded a~
follows: "The communication is in anciem French, whkh make~

Second Quarter 1988

it diflk:-ult. Roughly thc medieval period. which i~ in al\."Ord with

the tcxt of thc mcso;,u!.c. Thc Sabaeans were one of tho'>C ob~urc
minor o;ects like the- Mandeans and the Druo;c. inhabiting thc
general area of Ninevch. though in deep antiquity thcy lived further o;oUlh in thc Arabian peninsula. The s..1baeano; maintained
pagan beliefs long after ~urrounding population~ had been con
vcned to \O;lam or Christianity. They were l"Ono;idered hcathen
o;tarworshipers by both Moslems and Christiano;. and were
suspected of pral1icing forbidden magic. induding human
sacrilicc. Thev were famous for their ability a ... ao;trologcrs. Thcy
produced a brilliant sUl,:ession of scholars and scicnti~to;. and wcrc
highly rcspel1ed at the l"Oun of Harun al-Rao;hid. after which thcy
fade from historical records. Pharos wa~ thc i...land in thc bay of
Akxandria <ramou, for it;; library. destroYl'(\ by both Chri ...tian
and and Moo;lcm fanatics} on which Ptolemy II built a tower of
whitc marble 135 meters high. with mirror... on its top to rcl1Cl1 thc
lire which wao; kept burning there at night ao; a light-houo;e lor
navigation. My dk1ionary says that this tower l"OUapsed in 1302.
but does not give any cause tor its coUapo;e. Thc io;land of Rhodes
was invaded and conquered by Crusaders in 13!JJ. It io; pos~iblc
that theo;c o;ame Crusaders also invaded the ncarby io;land of
Pharos. and destroyed what to them was a heathcn monumcnt.
These days act"Ord wcll with the medieval Frcnch in which thc
l"Ommunication is cxpressed."

parently, Katie and the family were unaware of the existence

of the message, and they were all agitated and frightened. Apparently the one (assailant) who made the threats was not too
careful in protecting his own identity or risk of apprehension.
He seemed to be asking for it.
Perhaps the translation' of the message might have given
Katie reason to have faith because, no matter how great her
perturbation and the danger of her present predicament, as
past events have been, the present ones will still be finally accounted for by Jove (Jehovah) who is disgusted with such
goings-on, perhaps brought about by the misguided zeal of
religious fanatics (possibly her assailant). This serial message
could be an indication to Katie that she is not alone and that
her tormentor, who seemingly continues to get away with his
stunts and make a mockery of law enforcement (the world is
retarded), disgusts the Jovialiste and the perversion of his
teachings by the zealots (eccleasticallawyers). If an alter personality of Katie's, for example, the entity Nostradamus, had
actually written the message for which she could have had
complete amnesia, the modus operandi would still be inexplicable, in view of her illiteracy.
References and Notes

Example 2,.
Upon my return to my office at 4:00 p.m. on February S,
1986, there were three taped messages, presumably from
Katie, on the telephone answering machine: shrill, intermittent blipping and whistling and Katie's alter-personality, muffled, unintelligibl~ voice. Later, when I sPoke to Katie on the
telephone, she said that she had received more menacing calls
from her assailant and that he had come to her door, looked
in and said "Hi." He also wrote obscenities and left numerous fingerprints on her glass, locked panel door. I jumped in
the car with my former roommate and scientific collaborator
from Mayo Foundation days, B.A. Ruggieri, M.D., who was
then visiting me. We drove to Katie's house and interviewed
her, her son and daughter, and two friends or'lhe son. While
there, I noticed a yellowed piece of paper on the pool table. It
had old French penciled printing which Dr. Ruggieri attempted to translate. The detectives were called and Katie's
husband returned from work. Katie was extremely upset over
the threats and perhaps equally so by specific tumultuous
domestic developments beyond her control. The message
was:
Le tern pes present
avecques Ie passe
sera juge par grand
Jovialiste
Ie monda tard
lui sera lasse
et desloyal par
Ie clerge juriste
Present time
with the past
will be judged by the great
Jovialiste
the world is retarded
it will disgust him
and the betrayal by
ecclesiastical lawyers
This message also happened at a time of crisis and perceived threat to Katie's and her children's lives. I discovered
the message on the pool table where the previous one was,
and it can be conjectured that this development might have
been related to the author's purpose: i.e. a "set up." Ap-

1. In his translation notes, George Andrews wrote: "The word

Jovialiste is interesting. Some of its associations: jovial, Jove,
Jupiter and Jehovah. As I translated this, one thing that came
strongly to mind was something from a quatrain of Nostradamus,
in which he referred to Judgement day as 'the day the sun takes
back its days.' Also one of the Mazdean prayers: 'May we be
among those who bring about the transformation of the earth.' "

Second Quarter 1988

Example 3: February 2.2, 1986

The police and telephone company were frantically trying
to solve the case of Katie's assault, telephone harassment, and
continuous threats to Katie and her children. The assailant
again told her that he knew about her visits to my office.
Finally, through their own sleuthing, Katie and her husband
visited two young. suspect men whom they learned about
through questioning, and one of the men conformed to
Katie's description and the police composite drawing, allowing for a wig and moustache.
In the research session on February 20, 1986, one of the
guests was my condominium neighbor, Ernest Gervais, who
has a French surname' and who is chiefly of French descent. Although Katie produced no physical phenomena, one
of her trance entities, who refused to be identified, said that
there would soon be more French writing, either in my office
or in her house. Later that same day, while visiting my other
immediate condominium neighbor, an accomplished pianist,
she volunteered the information that her protege from her
university hometown had become a medieval French scholar.
Something seemed to be happening.
On February 20, 1986, I.gave Katie a typed query directed
to "respected entities" which was modeled on the format that
was successfully used in the SORRAT mini-lab experiments
in Rolla, Missouri, where direct writing had been recorded on
film under controlled conditions: "Respected Entities: Are
you aware of the work and the communications of Dr. John
G. Neihardt; John King, Rector: Imperator and the others?
Who has written the beautiful, ancient French quatrains?
How can we help Katie to become a better channel for you to
give information?"
Katie telephoned me at 4:45 p.m. February 22, 1986, to
state that her in-laws had arrived one hour ago for an extended visit. Approximately forty-five minutes after they left
Katie's house to visit their other son, Katie said, "my house
shook ... whole place like an earthquake. A man appeared. I
Pursuit 53

don't know who he is. [A phantom?] I don't know. what you

call him ... dark hair, bald in front ... hair along the sides. He

looks different .. .in his sixties .. a dark robe.[A priest?]In my

living room. I was sitting there and the house started to
vibrate. He went toward my bedroom [where the in-laws were
to stay]. I watched. I went back [to the bedroom] ... folded
paper has writing on it. 2 But the pen wasn't opened ....lwrote]
all by itself. I'm stunned because I can't fIgure out who this
guy is. It's (paper) sitting there in front her "(mothc:r-in-law's
deceased] husband's photo." When I asked if I could come out
right away to survey the situation and obtain the paper, Katie
agreed since her in-laws, who were of an antipatttetic religious
persuasion compared to Katie's more tolerant outlook, were
still visiting their other son's family. However, she cautioned
me to be circumspect should my arrival coincide with the
return of her in-laws. She said that she would put the folded
message in a sealed envelope so that she could hand it to me
privately.
When I arrived at Katie's house, she gave me the envelope
with the message and I immediately noticed a bulge, so I
opened it in her presence to see what it contained. The writing
appeared to be old French, and there also was a small, light,
gilded candy dove inside. Although the bird was a mystery, I
later learned that the dove was similar to a candy bird that was
on top of Katie's wedding cake years ago. Katie was stunned
and would not touch the envelope. She reca1Ied that she was.
straightening out ornamental vases and dishes on top of her
coffee table, and they became disarranged during the "housequake." I took the message and apport when leaving Katie's
house and gave my wife my leather eyeglass case containing
my "astronaut" ball point pen. I drove to a nearby restaurant
where we could have supper and I could write an account of
the preceding events. Needless to say, I was shocked and annoyed that I could not find the case and special pen that was
designed to write under adverse circumstances, even though I
searched the car then and on several subsequent occasions.
Finally, two days later, my wife found the case and the pen
wedged between the lap strap and seat - an area that had
formerly been checked and rechecked. J
In view of the strangeness of Katie's old French writings
and possibly analogous writings which happened in several
instances under controlled conditions, this latest message was
sent to the "Isolation Room" in Rolla, Missouri, for a possible uncontrolled SORRAT translation and opinion on
February 23, 1986. Although the hoped for translation was
not done, I received an answer on April 8, 1986: "The person
.who wrote these lines was a French man who sees parallels
between your world today and his former earthly existence.
He is not actually the seer Nostradamus, any more than he is
Andrew Jackson. He feels that Katie would pay more attention to a celebrity than to an obscure, disaffected person. He
says he wishes to help her; we shall try to help him, if he is
willing to raise his level." Shanti - Rector IJ .K. This is the
message:
Dans deux logis Ie
feu prendra,
Plusieurs dedans estouffes
Et rostis: Pres de deux F1euves
pour seul il adviendra:
Sol, I' Arg et caper tous
Seront amortis.
Two dwellings will catch on fire.
Several of those within suffocated
and roasted: near two rivers
it will happen by itself
Pursuit 54

Land and coast of Normandy covered as by a cape

All will be struck dead.
Hardly had the horrors of the possible assailant been quelled, largely by Katie's and her husband's efforts, When a new
crisis arose. The arrival of importunate relatives who had
neither sympathy nor understanding for Katie and her unique
abilities coincided with the appearance of" the phantom
author of the old French writings who directed the traumatized, split and dissociated Katie to her bedroom while the
house shook and where she found the folded paper with
writing on it, in front of her deceased father-in-Iaw's World
War II photo~aph. Although she had never met her fatherin-law, he has figured in many of the previous and ongoing
possible paranormal events which developed at the approximate time of her marriage eleven years before.
Katie's concern that her secret - the writings - would
become known to her in-laws, led her to take preventative
steps. However, the forces, whatever they might be, could
have signaled their knowledge of her innocent subterfuge by
enclosing a small candy bird that was only later recognized as
being similar to the ornament that she had on her wedding
cake years ago. Her immediate response to the bird - a symbol of her marital vows - was reflex repulsion and shock, as
if indicating her emotional recognition of the uncomfortable
nature of her actions: i.e. having to comply with her
husband's relatives' wishes and lifestyle in her own home.
The contents of the translated message might have graphically portrayed her thinly veiled feelings.

References and Notes

1. One of the apparently silly coincidences or synchronicities that
pop up in this research happened when I was typing this material
and was undecided whether to use the French. surname, and
received Professor M. Rojcewicz's Signals 0/ Transcendence: the
Human-UFO Equation, which he presented at the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration 2-4 June
1988, at C0I11e11 University, Ithaca, New York;. Under the heading
"Traditional Proof," he wrote, "Human abductions did not
originate with the modern age of 'flying saucers.' All cultures
possess narrative and beliefs concerning people being kidnapped.
For example, the devil of tradition, who can transport people
through the air over vast distances (an ability shared by the loup
garou - i.e. werewolO, lures, abducts and murders children. Gervaise of Tilbury, who dedicated a work on prodigies to Emperor
Otto IV around 1214, points out the abduction tendencies of witches, incubi, sylphs, and other enigmatic entities .. Gervaise found
eyewitnesses to the flight of witches over land and sea and was
himself confident that they could fly effortlessly across the
globe."
2. Although old French scripts made up the bulk of Katie's
automatic and presumed direct writings, there were other communications and drawings, one of which was purportedly from
Andrew Jackson, and another from Katie's deceased father-inlaw, whom she had never met. Also, early in the investigations,
Katie once had the word "no" appear on a calling card that was
contained in a sealed jar with a crayon stub and three keys. At
that time, one key was separated at the neck and two other keys
were bent approximately 20 0 and 85 ~ respectively. On another occasion, in addition to metal-bending and glass shattering,
mayhem in her bedroom with various sealed specimens, a basket
of yarns was turned over and the yarn spelled out the word "yes"
on the floor and then extended upward without any visible. support to the ceiling nine feet above where, on inspection, there was
no apparent attachment or g1ueing. It remained there for two
days, even though it was near a ceiling fan which, despite its motion, did not seem to interrupt the extension (see figures 3 & 4).
3. Although mal-observation on my part is the most likely explanation for the disappearance and later reappearance of the necessary
eyeglass case and special pen, the experimenter is often part of the

Second Quarter 1988

Figure 3-Tipped basket with word yes (retouched from original

photo).
experiment and he should not be spared scrutiny. Even if an cecurence is odd and inexplicable. it should not be omitted for it
could conceivably be part of the psychic nexus. and whatever the
cause of the disturbance. it could possibly extend beyond the immediate and affect those who are intimately involved in studying
(revealing) its sources: e.g. possible unconscious. unrepentant
furies.
4. On February 27, 1986, George Andrews wrote: "I think I've
found the meaning of that puzzling line: 'sol. l' Arg et caper tous.'
In two other places in the two communications. he uses a 'g'
where a 'q' would normally beused ('monargue,' 'pargue). so I
decided to check out my dictionaries for some sort of proper noun
or name for which Arq might be an abbreviation. I found that an
obsolete designation for the coast of Normandie is 'I' Arques. So
the puzzling line translates as: 'Land and coast of Normandie
covered as by a cape ... Mr. Andrews modestly continued: "I
know a bit about Nostradamus. but am not an expert. I hope you
are sharing this information with someone who is an expert on the
quatrains. who could tell us if the odd spelling and punctuation
that characterize these communications correlate with the spelling
and punctuation of the original Nostradamus quatrains."

Example 4: February 12, 1986

At 6:40 p.m., February 22, 1986. after SlOpping off at the
office to check the telephone tape answering machine, there
were three messages from Katie: (l) "Doc, this is Katie. It ...
happening all over again. The pen is absolutely standing up
by itself and writing. I know you didn't have time to get back
to the oflice but the whole place is shaking ... its writing!" (2)
"Mine and (my son's) picture (polaroid) is stuck to the
wall ... when the pen started writing ... the picture, ... whooshed
to the wall. It's just hanging there. [My son) is standing there
waiting for it to fall." (3) The son called. "Come back, Doc,
other stuff is going on. After you left, the mOlOrcycle that I
have and which would nOl run .. .l jumped on it and now it
runs." (4) Katie: "this person keeps mentioning 'BellY Hill'. I
Said I already met her. I can't remember. 'BellY Hill saw
this ... BellY Hill saw thal. .. '
Upon my return to Katie's house at 7:25 p.m., her son and
two of his friends repeated the slOry that Katie had told
them. One of them, B.N., age fourteen, recounted two recent
experiences with Katie. In one instance, a tifty-cent piece bent
in her hand and, on another occasion, Katie held out her
hands and "when I saw the spoon appear, it first was just an
outline. Then it looked like it had a yellowish tint to il. Then.

Second Quarter 1988

Figure 4-Yam from basket to ceiHng.

all of a sudden, it filled with the color of silver."

The three boys and. later, Katie confirmed the directwriting account and said that the Flair nylon-tipped soft pen
was capped during the writing. In response lo specilic questions, Katie felt that the capped pen touched the paper. She
wa" in Iier dining room, standing approximately twelve feet
away, observing the action on the round glass lOp table in her
family room. They all recalled that the house shook, the German shepherd went wild and barked ferociously, the guinea
pig squeaked, and birds chirped. I photographed the Polaroid
that was stuck on the wall and which I had originally taken
and given to Katie, but when I gently touched it. it fell off.
There were no visible or tactile means of adhesion on either
the Polaroid or the wall. Katie and her house guests were out
to dinner, so the son gave me the paper with the allegedly
direct writing and I hopped in the car to drive home. To add
to the macabre merriment (synchronicity? coincidence?),
when I nicked the radio on, I first heard a serene song by the
Mills Brothers, which was followed by an advertisement from
a nearby funeral parlor. and featured a message about Jack
Romano "who was compassionate and good at consoling."
Perhaps the most amazing paragnost I ever studied was the
nonagenarian Jacques Romano. 2 The next song was by Frank
Sinatra: "Th~ final curtain .. .l did it my way."
Plui, faim, guerre en
Perse non cessee,
Le foi trop grand
trahira Ie monargue:
par la Finie en Gaule
commencee,
secret augure pour a un
estre pargue.
Rain, hunger, no end to war in Persia,
Over-confidence will betray the monarch:
it will end in Gaul where it began,
secret omen for a fated being.
On March 3, 1986, my wife. Ardis, walked into the office
and said that she had found the missing pen and handcrafted
leather eyeglass case stuck between the driver's seat and lap
bell. Later in the day, Katie called lo say that, while high on a
stepladder and painting ceiling decorations in the same room
Pursuit 55

Figure 5(a)-Rough sketch of Nostradamus by Katie.

Figure 5(b)-Copy of old print of Nostradamus.

as other employees, she ~uddenly saw "an old guy' with while
hair and baggy trousers. He presented me with a wooden box
with leather hinges and brass pins. (Inside) was a ~tag alllier
handled carving knife and fork. A stag's head, mountain,
and a fir tree was carved on the outside"of the box." In our
discussions, it appeared that Katie was smoldering in rage all
day because her mother-in-law had unilaterally invited eleven
guests for a turkey dinner that night, whkh Katie wa~ expected to prepare and se"rve after returning from a day's hard
physical labor . When Katie showed "the alleged carving ~et apports to her husband, he quipped, "What good is it if it isn'l
money (gold?)?" Within two days, Katie materialized her
first "gold" on her body! The carving set might be considered as a telekinetk psychic complement to the dreaded
turkey, with the doubfe meaning of her feelings abolll the
source (her mother-in-law) and fantasied solution of this difficulty, and her own savaged self esteem. If psychodynami"
cally plausible, psi can be an effective compen.,atory
mechanism.
On April 26, 1986, G.S., one of Katie's co-workers, in a
videotaped interview, confirmed the "old guy" carving set sequence, since ,he \\"<1" in an adjacent room when the event hap- "
pened. G.S. did not see the "old guy"," but ~he recalled ~eeing
the carving set for the first time, and Katie's astonishment. In
a telephone interview on March 7, 1986, Stewart Robb,'" an
authority on Nostradamus, identitiedKatie's quatrains (b.am pIes I and 2) from an earlier ediJion of Nostradal11u.,.
Their precise locations and meaning were not defined. On .IuIy 7, 1987, after much tangential negotiating, the o"wner of the
house where the "old guy" and the car:ving set fir ... t arpeared
agreed to come to a research se~sion .. Although the owner had
told Katie that she was highly interested in some of the thing.;
that Katie did or had happen around her, ~he did not keep her
Pursuit 56

word and come.

With liberties, the translation might be applicable to the"
domestic "i'ront" analogous 10 quasi-wartime conditions of
extreme emotional ~tress and with no seeming end in sight
unless the "ource of the suffering (monarch) was 'iet back by
his or her own overconfidence and miscalculation.;. "They
have gone too far" would be a logical interpretation.
"Although speculative, this verse of presumed direct writing
also could pertain 10 the current war between Iran (Persia)
and Iraq, the do\vnfall of the late Shah or a prophecy of the
ruler Khomeini's; downfall, from over-confidence and the
end of his career (by a counter-revolution?). Khomeini lived
in France, where he was exiled for years before returning 10
Persia and the revolution.

References and Notes

I. Schwarz; B.E.: UF.O-Dynamics. Rainbow Books, Moore Haven,

Flori<;la, 1983.
2. Schwarz, B.E.: The Jacques Romano Story. University Books,
Inc., New Hyde Park, New York, 1968.
3. In the videotaped and witnessed session on February 27, 1986,
Katie apported a siver locket from her left ear, which was closely
followed by the stigmatization of a cross on her left forearm. She
refused" to touch the locket for fear of being burned as she had
been in similar previous situations. Others, including myself,
could touch the apport without harm. L~ter in her session, Katie
described the recent old French writing experi~nces which coiJ:tcided with her past accounts. She then drew a picture of the "old
guy: bald on top, fringe of hair, no hat, couldn't see too much of
his beck; didn't see any arms, dark hair, could see his teeth; com-"
fortable smile ... friendly .. .Iittle beard; material under the V area
of his neck; a red shiny ornament (or pin in the V area); robes
were dark. I stood there trying to watch the pen and the guy came
right alongside me. I was tongue tied and couldn't talk. Pen
wasn't even open yet, it was writing ..... See Figure 5 and 6 for
Katie's drawing of the "old guy" and a picture of Nostradamus.

Second Quarter 1988

The association of heat with psychic metal bending ("warm fonningot) and paranonnallinkage of paper rings that burst into flame
(akin to a friction effect) in the SORRAT data is similar to a situation reported to me on June 30, 1988, by M., a Swedish nurse,
who was told of a first-hand experience by a ufologist silent contactee whom she knew well. He had a hot gold ring allegedly apport onto the palm of his hand. Although'his researchers were
widely known, among his peers, only I!- few close friends were
privy to his personal UFO-psi experiences.
4. Schwarz, D.E.: "Apparent Materialization of Copper Foil, Case
Report, Katie." PURSUIT, Volume 20, Number 4, 1987; pp.
154-158.
.
5. Robb, Stewart: Prophecies On World Events By Nostradamus.
The Oracle Press, New York, 1961.
6. Robb, Stewart: Nostradamus On Napoleon. The Oracle Press,
New York, 1961.

Example 5: September 3, 1987

During my' vacation in New Jersey, Katie telephoned my

Florida office on August 21, 1987, and left a message on the
telephone answering machine that she. had passed three
kidney stones. "Watu," an alleged female UFO emity, had
recently visited Katie when she had back pain and advised her
to take cod-liver oil and cranberry juice for her kidney stones,
which might have been effective in Katie's instance but which
would not usually be recommended. I returned to Florida on
September 3, 1987, and had just walked into my apartment
when Katie telephoned because Watu said that I was back at
that precise time. Katie had no prior knowledge of my return.
The next day, Friday, September 4, 1987, Katie called my
apartment at 7:30 a.m., which was a rare time for her to call.
She reported that "last night when [my husband) was figuring
costs for jobs, I asked for his pencil. I was in the bedroom lying on the bed." Apparently Katie became entranced, took
the pencil and wrote a page in old French.
Ie grand un jourapre
son songe,
interprete au rebovur
ds son sens: de la gasogne lui
surviendra un
monge qui ferao
lire Ie grand
prelb pde sens.
On the day following his premonitory dream or vision.
the great man will interpret it in the opposite way from
its meaning.
From Gascony will lInexpectedly come to him a (monk?)
(monarch?) (world?) (inhabitant of. Monaco?) (member
of the Monge family, which was of the minor nobility?)
who will make the great man un~erstand it<; correct
meaning.
This communication heralded my return after a long
absence from our sessions. Katie said that she learned of my
return from a UFO entity who was helping her and who had
credited Katie for prescribing the novel remedy that freed her
of painful kidney stones. Therefore, this exchange might have
indicated Katie's desire to continue with the researches. In a
personal way, it might also symbolize Katie'~ rebuking me for
failing to diagnose or help her via long distance telephone. In
addition to possibly expressing her need to resume our contacts, the message might have been informing me that some
other source, someone <;marter and more capable, will correct
my understanding of her condition. Nostradamu<;, the physician, is the sine qua '1011 of precognition and, consequently, \
his appearance might imply possible wider meanings for Katie
personally. and extensiom of this to the world. As<;uming
Second Quarter 1988

Figure 6-Katie with a 3-4 inch cross on abdomen (see page 56).
that some or all of the communications might have serial
significance, any future writings and events must be carefully
watched. Although most of the verses are obscure, they do
happen and there should be some meaning for them.

References and Notes

I. George Andrews wrote: "This is definilely coming through

scrambled. probably due to static from Katie's subconscious. My

gue~s as to its unscrambled meaning is as follows:
Ie grand, un jour apres son songe,
I'interprete au rebours de son sens:
de la Gascogne ui surviendra un
(moine?) (monarque?) (monde?) (monegasque?)
qui fera lire Ie grand
(par Ie bon?) sens.'
After his translation, he continued by saying, "Gascony
is at the western end of southern France, next to Spain, the
Atlantic, and the Pyrenees. MO!1aco is at the eastern end of
southern France, but did not exist at the time of Nostradamus. I do not recall any verse like this in the quatrains of
Nostradamus.' ,

Example 6: September 10, 1987

Katie came to the office on September 10, 1987, and I gave
her chits for various laboratory tests and an appointment
.with a lIrologi~t in reference to her kidney stones. She was
concerned about her husband's maternal grandmother, who
was terminally ill in Pennsylvania. Katie knew the grandmother and was fond of her. Katie told me that, while concerned and making plans 10 travel north to visit, she noticed
that the photograph of the grandmother, which was usually
in the living room photo album, was now all ached 'to the
wooden kitchen cabinet next 10 the refrigerator, As in the
previous experience with the adherent Polaroid of her son
and herself, there was no ready explanation for the photograph's sticking to the cabinet. The grandmother died shortly
afterward and Katie had a possibly telepathic dream of this.
She ~aid that, in her dream, '.'clear to the end ... they recited
the Lord's Prayer."
In her session, Katie then requested a photocopy of a pic'ture which I had once shown her in my von Schrenck-Notzing's book on materialization~ When she returned home al
2:40 p.m., her telephone rang. She picked up the receiver, but
since there was no voice on the other'end, she hung up. She
then, while apparemly entranced, took a pencil in hand and
Pursuit 57

applied it to a sheet of paper, which was soon filled with old

French. She then left home topick up her daughter at school.
While these events were going on in her life, my wife came to
the office to tell me that our daughter was seriously ill and
had to be admitted to the University Hospital at once. While
. my wife was leaving for Miami, a two-and-a-half hour drive
away, I was visited by Detective G., who had previously
worked on the Katie assault case and who now wanted to
refer a woman for psychiatric consultation. The proo;pectivc
patient was allegedly involved with a haunting. In our o;mall
talk, the detective said that his sister was a nurse in the samc
hospital where my daughter was going. I told him of Katie\;
latest old French writing and how she might have come close
to the solution of her harassment of months ago. Within
minutes of his leaving, Katie called with the ncwo; of the latc';t
writing, as reported above:
.
Ie grande Arabe maralvera 2
bien avant,
trahis sera par les
Bisantinios;
L 'antique Rodes lui
viendra au devant,
Et plus grand mal
par autre Pannonois.
The great Arab will see the Virgin Mary
well before,
..
betrayed by the
Byzantines; .
ancient Rhodes
will come against him,
and even greater harm
from another one from central Europe (region of the
middle Danube).
At 4:00 p.m., I drove to Katie's to pick up the writing
specimen and photograph the photo of her husband's grandmother. When I arrived, Katie said that when she returned
home from picking up her daughter at school, the telephone
answering machine was playing. Katie said: "the 'phone
didn't ring ... something foreign ... Chinese sounding male
voice that ended with a loud and distinct, high-pitched voice
saying: 'Nostradamus.' "I later re-recorded this eight-second
message, which followed two previously recorded business
calls.
At 4:50 p.m., Katie telephoned to say that the Minolta-copy
of the von Schrenck-Notzing picture I had given her was
developing a brown-yellow hue to Martha's (the medium's)
face. Katie again called at 6:45 p.m. to say that the facial coloring was then more pronounced and also, while she was watching the Pope's visit to Miami on television, she was
developing a (three-to-four inch) cross on her abdomen (see
Figure 6). The next day, she came to the office at noon and
gave me the colored von Schrenck-Notzing illustration and
also let me photograph the abdominal cross stigmatization,
which then had a blister at the inferior pole of the vertical
line.
This setting for Katie's direct writing in old French might
have been catalyzed .by her concern over her recent passage of
painful kidney stones and her forthcoming medical studies, as
well ,as her preoccupation with her husband's grandmother's
impending demise. These two anxiety-laden matters might
have been condensed and telekinetically acted out by the
photograph of the grandmother apparently transferring from
the album in the living room to the side of the kitchen cabinet
and by Katie's later dream monition: i.e. the concern for her
Pursuit 58

husband's grandmother arid fear for her own health. The

previous Nostradamus writings could have alluded to these
developments in Katie's life..
.
On the other side of the coin, Katie might have been telepathically affected by crisis situations in my life (a paradigm for
separation anxiety: i.e. Katie's physician might have to leave
when she needed him) with the sudden illness .of my daughter
in Miami and the unanticipated visit.from the detective who
(I) had a sister who was a nurse in the hospital that ,was affiliated with the unit where my nurse-daughter was going; (2)
who was formerly in charge of the investigation into the
repeated harassment and violence that victimized Katie an.d
her family; (3) and who wanted to refer me a woman patient
who was involved in a local spectacular haunting. These overdetermined events for both researcher and subject could have
influenced Katie's outpouring .of automatic writing, the
grandmother-psi events, the "spontaneous" materializations,
coloring of a picture of a famous materialization medium of
long ago, the electronic voice phenomenon on the tape
answering machine of "Nostradamus," and finally
culminated in the abdominal stigmatization of a cross and
blisteF while watching the Pope on television in Miami.
The contents of the translated message are inscrutable
unless it might be conjectured that Katie's faith in what she
does, symbolized by the all-loving Virgin Mary, or Christianity, will sustain her and those who are in contact with her. Or,
as the writing states, although the Virgin Mary is betrayed by
sources that should be steadfast, the Byzantines will see the
forces of the infidel (the great Arab, evil, the crises?) opposed
by the forces of good (Crusader from Rhodes? Knights
Hospitalers? the hospital?) and, if thatis not enough, he (the
dangerous situations) will suffer greater harm from afar (an
unsuspected source of strength or an ally symbolized by
"Pannonia," perhaps central Europe). The religi~tis motifs
are interesting because K~tie and her family are of old
American Protestant stock. Although she has never been absorbed in ritual, ceremony and talismans, she has apparently
become the channel for communications with heavy traditional Roman Catholic allusions, and in several instances
throughout the past four years, with apports of various
religious medals, including the Virgin Mary. There could be
some parallel between Katie's highly personal predicaments
and crises, those of the researcher on oecasion (psychically ex-
trapolated transference-countertransference situations) and,
on a wider stage, the ongoing struggles in the world. For, as
in the times of Nostradamus, when Christianity struggled to
survive in the conflicts with the Arabs and provide an ethical
framework for living and the mysteries of the hereafter, in
contrast to the Catholics' opinions of those with a different
belief system - its adversaries, the current and modern
counterparts to these past conflicts might be echoed in the
translations of the quatrains. This is striking because, in
many other sessions, Katie, who ordinarily had a provincial
view to what was happening in the world, would not infrequently utter trance pronouncements warning against nuclear
war, global conflict and catastrophes. All of this is contrary
to Katie's cognitive awareness and general knowledge, as I
understand it to be. This is similar to the trance declarations
of many UFO contactees. The mechanics or' the possible
paranormal events that happen around Katie are no less striking than the possible meanings of these strange and sometimes incongruous events.
.
.

References. and Notes

I. von Schrenck-Notzing: Phenomena 0/ Materialization. Kegan,

Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd. London, 1923.

Second Quarter 1988

2. George Andrews wrote: "There is only one word I am not completely sure of. I list the various possibilities for 'maralvera:'
Marial verra, will see the Virgin Mary
maraudera,. will commit piracy or theft
maravedis, ancient Spanish penny
merveillera, will marvel
mourra en verite, will truly die
Maree verra, will see the turning of the tide
marelle verra, will see a children's game."

Example 7: October 7, 1987

On October 7, 1987, at 4:10 p.m. Katie telephoned my office: "Waldo just came in and sat down. He's saying, 'Look
in the bird.' I got three (ceramic ornaments) birds in the
house. That must be cuz he's shaking his head. I'll go and
look. Hang on the 'phone ... OK: here's another writing; liken
before. OK. Ha ... There's some more writing appearing on it
now. N... O ... S ... T ... R... D... A ... M ... I can't get the rest of
it. [What does it spell?] I have no idea ... U ... S. I can't make it
out Doc, [Nostradamus, Katie] You're kidding me. [How is it
writing? Pencil or ink?] No, nothing. I just have the paper in
front of me. Things ran out on the end of the paper. Looks
like ink. [Holding it in your hand?] Yuh, I got it out in front
of me and the other hand on the 'phone. Ha. He [Nostradamus] is standing here next to Waldo. Seems to be talking to
one another. [Invite them to the office tomorrow, Miss Katie,
I have a surprise for Waldo.] He says he knows. This is pretty
neat. I never had that. Slopped up on the paper there. Waldo
is smiling. [What does the old guy look like?] He's got long
hair to his shoulders. Moustache, a goatee: dark with gray in
it. [Thin or fat?] Medium build. Not as tall as Waldo [about
five feet nine] Not talking. Waldo said he is taking the ring
back (his wife's black pearl ring that he' once gave Katie).
[How is his brother Walter doing?] No, he said, 'Carl' Ha,
ha, I guess he can hear you. [Have the Viking ship and blue
sapphire ring (apports) ,helped his ailing brother?] No. Apparently he still has them. [Will they materialize back in the
office?] He didn't say. [Do you have any tests, Waldo, that
you would like to do?] He said something he had talked 'to
you about. [About the paper he wrote (his self-written
eulogy, "A Memorial Service That Can Be Read By Any
Volunteer, Friend on Survival and Psi," read by BES at
Waldo's funeral March 23, 1987.)] [Is the old guy still with
him?] ... [Nostradamus, could you come to the office, too?]
He's just looking. Waldo hears it. [What time will you come
tomorrow?] Me or them? Hopefully II :30."
One week before these writings, ,Kafie was visited by her
niece from Tennessee. She brought along her father, Katie's
brother, to visit their hemiplegic," aphasic father, who was
hospitalized and 'frail. Katie's brother had been seriously ill
himself with recent congestive heart failure. The niece recalled
the appearance of a phantom child in association with the
death of Katie's oldest brother in Tennessee, and this experience corresponded with a similar alleged apparition
perceived by Katie's mother in Florida. Although the niece
had once seen the "gold" on Katie during a visit to Tennessee, she was pleasantly surprised to learn more about her
aunt and to visit the office and peruse some of Katie's
multituc!e of apport specimens, experimental evidence and
videotapes. Perhaps these push-pull life experiences contributed, to the precipitation' or genesis of Katie's psi. She
might have been pushed by splitting, traumatic personal
events that were loaded with psi tracers at the same time that
she was pulled towards psi by the positive attraction of need,
interest, respect and recognition from s<;>me members of her
family and circle of friends.
Second Quarter 1988

This is the message which Katie said that she saw as it appeared:
Soldat barbare Ie
grand Roi Frappera In justement non'
esloioigne de mort,
L'avare mere du Fait
cause fera
conjuratenr es regne
en grand remort.
NOSTRADAM U (off paper)
The barbarian soldier will strike the great king,
unjustly not removed from death,
The miserly mother of the deed will make a deal with
conspirators and reign in great remorse.
This episode of old French writing is interesting because
there were no immediate, severe or potential crises in Katie's
(or her researcher's) lives. Her father was hospitalized one
week before for a chronic condition, for which he had many
previous admissions, treatment and management. However,
the visit by a family member, Katie's niece, who knew
something about and approved of Katie's abilities was a
departure. Why there was circumlocution with Waldo,
leading up to discovering the writing inside an ornamental
bird, is impossible to fathom. Perhaps, like a game-playing
ritual, it creates an atmosphere of heightened attention for
the message and for the unique, subsequent development of
alleged inked direct writing occurring on the page without any
pen or pencil as Katie was holding it in her hands. She could
read the letters out over the telephone but could not understand what they said: "Nostradam(us)." The attention and
tension was further increased by the almost ridiculous Laurel
and Hardy interplay between Waldo and Nostradamus and,
in particular, Waldo's correction of my calling his brother
"Walter" instead of "Carl." If Katie might have heard
Waldo or myself use the name "Carl" in the past, that name
was not easy for her to recall, for she apparently had difficulty in remembering people's names who attended the research
sessions.
The symbolism of the message does not seem to fit into any
discernable framework with events in Katie's life or, for that
matter, any current specific world events. There was nothing
ne~ 'about her father's precarious health, and no authority
figure or famous personage was killed by some barbarian hit
man via a scheme concocted with confederates, and then having to rule in contrition. In general, this comment might be
applicable to many political situations throughout history,
but without more information in this particular instance the
meaning is too obscure to understand. However, if this
proves to be a precognitive flash, this all-too-general message
should be born in mind.
Form F~te: January 14, 1988
Domestic discord and highly stressful situational problems
contributed to Katie's development of a severe depressive
reaction with excessive rapid weight loss and somatizations.
However, Katie kept her promised appointment with Professor Stephen E. Braude, I a visiting distinguished
philosopher-parapsychologist. Unfortunately, there was no
positive demonstration of possible physical psi.
At times, Katie's clinical progress was touch and go; but
with her psychotherapy and appropriate medication
(trimipramine [Surmontil]) the fluctuating depression, furors
and fugue-like dissociative states were contained. ~
Pursuit 59

On January 14, 1988, at 1:40 p.m., Katie called 10 say that

she had experienced an episode of automatic writing by her
telephone and that she had also drawna picture, perhaps of
Nostradamus. Oddly, for reasons described below, I still had
two of my own Nostradamus books on top of my desk when
Katie called. She was not aware of this. With her assent, I immediately drove to her house with the TV camcorder and
thirty-five millimeter camera to record the evidence. When I
arrived, I saw Katie and her husband,.both of whom looked
grim. Katie said that she had had nightmares" of her Tennessee brother crying for help in the hospital. In her dream,
he was dying of a heart attack. Katie vyas expecting to hear
from her niece who had recently visited Florida. When I asked Katie ~bout the "French writing," she went to get it, but
she was obviously surprised, for it had disappeared. Her husband, who was aware these developments, was also unable
to account for this. In the middle of this, Katie's telephone
rang and when she picked up the receiver, there was no one
on the other end. The writings and picture were associated
with Nostradamus.
"
.
After returning to my office, Katie called at 3:30 p.m. to
say that her dream might have been explained, for she had
Just learned that her older sister in Vero Beach was "rushed
to the hospital lim night with.!l ruptured appendix (with
peritonitis) and she had surgery." For highly palpable
reasons, Katie had much ambivalence toward. this sister,
whom she felt could be mischievous and, on occasion, would
foment trouble. In addition to these family push-pull psychic
nexus stresses, there might have been other physician-researcher/patient-subject factors. On the night of Katie's displaced veridical nightmare, and unknown to her, I was visited
~y Professor and Mrs. W. G-L of Dartmouth College,
Hanover, New Hampshire. I never anticipateq that Professor
of Spanish G-Lwould have high-quality personal experiences
or interest in psychic matters. However, he surprised me by
telling me of two softcover books that his mother had just
given him and which he brought to Florida to read on the
night. They wer~ about Nostradamus and had his portrait on
the covers. The professor showed me his books at 9:02 p.m.
and I, in turn, shared with him my two books on Nostradamlls by Stewart Robb. Professor G-L seemed. curious.
In view of the Katie material and the Professor's.forthcoming trip to St. Louis, where he would be a guest. teacher for
several months, l,lpon learning about the SORRAT 4 .; experiments, he wanted to visit the knowledgeable people there Imd
in Rolla, Missouri. Earlier in the day of Professor and Mrs.
W. G-L'~ visit, I had been editing the K'atie research session
videotape.; numbers I and 2 and my mind flashed back'to the
disappearances of the.sea,Ied bottles prepared by William Edward Cox. The contents had supposedly twisted and shifted
from one bottle to the other and they were seen by Katie's
family. Although it is impossible to know what happened to
her Nostradamus writings and drawing, the overdetermined
synchronistic constellation of psychic tracers, including the
earlier frustrating disappearances of the Cox bottles, could
have served as plausible speculative factors in accounting for
Katie's vanishing Nostradamus material.
As in many previous examples, the production of the Nostradamus writings happened at times of turmoil and stress.
Why the Nostradamus evidence allegedly disappeared this
time and never before or since - other than its being related
to my musing about an earlier time when the Cox experimen- .
tal bottles disappeared - might be an interesting due, but it
does not answer the question: i.e. the events to some degree
are programmable or can be subtly suggested, but why they

of

Pursuit 60

come about sometimes,' and' not at other times, 'is unexplainable. .

References and Notes

I. Braude, S.E.: ESP und Psychokinesis. Temple University Pres~,
Philadelphia, 1979; The Limits of Inj7uence. Psychokinesis ulI(l
rile Philosophy of Science. Routledge and Kegan; Paul, New
York, and London, 1986.
2. Perhaps the psi was through preconscious factor~ "stored" and
not disclosed in the research sessions. In Katie's sessions, she was
more OUI of a trance-like state than in one, a~ many other psi patients ordinarily would.behave in their psychotherapy, However, .
on June 6, 1988; the session that was dealing with particularly
frustrating and repressed angry material was interrupted with
loud, hammer-like banging on the therapy room roof. I fully
opened the vertical blinds, but could see nothing that could ac
count for ihis. Arter. the session, I went outside and checked the
building and 'found a loose ceiling air vent but it was' difficult to
see how a squirreJ or other animal could account for the sounds.
There was no breeze or other physical force. For those who are
not informed about psychotherapy, real creativity is seldom, if
ever, in my experience, compromised or lost. To the contrary, it is
either untouched or augmented, as might be the case with Katie,
who continues to develop and expand her paranormal abilities.
Aside from relief of her symptoms and weight loss, Katie showed improvement' in other areas; she could integrate some of the
~plits and beller cope wi~h the events of life. The frequent
"entity" phone calls'tQ my office diminished. She also could better stand on her own and, perhaps because of this, her episodes of
asthmatic bronchitis almost completely disappeared. Once, after a
conjoint session with her husband, February 19, 1988, I found a
presumed apport of a religious medal (the Virgin Mary) on the
reception room table. I saw Katie and her husband come directly
into the office from the outside, and they had no knowledge of
this event. Otherwise, in individual sessions, psi was sparse, dis
counting paradoxically, in my experience, uncommon patient~
physician telepathy.
3. In her sessions, Katie reported few dreams, and those which she
'did mention might have been paranormal. Perhaps because 01' her
frequent spontaneous entrancements, her need for dreaming
might be different from the average person's; her conflicts or problems might be resolved or acted out in her entity messages,
trarice state personifications and fugues. In an analogous fashion,
. ~ome have asked if I hypnotize her. I do not. Katie goes in and
out of trance-like states spontaneously and, to some extent, she
has le~rned how to throw herself into a trance. Th!! laller might be
expedited by psychodynamically adjusting to the circumstance~
and reali~y, that is, selling the stage and sparingly using judiciou~
suggestions.
4. Richards, John Thomas: SORRA T: A Hi.5fOl:I' (~ll"e Neihardr
P~:vchokinesis .\periments,
1961-1981. Scarecrow Pres~,
Metuchen, NJ, 1982.
5. Cox, William Edward: unpublished manu~cripl.

Example 8: January 22, 1988

On Friday, January 22',1988, at 1:10 p.m., Katie telephoned me between my seeing patients, as I was editing the first
Waldo videotape.' Katie asked: "Are you free? Waldo has
been talking to me all morning. He says, 'Go. Go. Go.' Told
me'to get the' bottles (glass bottle of sealed human aortic rings
prepared December II, 1986, for possible linkage and a
plastic sealed bottle prepared January 7, 1985, cotllaining a
fork and colored waier) ... under my eyes gold on the rings
bottle." I hung up' and rushed to Kalie's hou.;e with the
equipment to record, on videotape and with the Ihirty-live
millimeter camera, the materialization from a freckle''iized
speck on the aortic rings bottle to a swathe approximalely the
size of a quarter that adhered to the oUlside and covered the
area where the aortic rings inside were bathed in seventy percent isopropyl alcohol. Three "gold" !lecks developed on the
cap of the aortic ring bottles.:
Second Quarter 1988

.p(L,~ t~l~ \0..

?\-(\..'-) f"e. :((L
10).~V
) \
1 r \ <)0

,
\\){'J \ G \)

e .Jo--t"G \'' c:..

d~-lc \"'e ) ~e....

lQ

Figure 7-Katie's old French writing.

Soon the "gold" materialization occurred on the plastic

boule with the colored water and fork. A brownish-red double pagoda-like structure with an internal skeieton formed on
the bonom of the plastic bottle. It had yeast-like buds on the
pointed ends of the extrusions. I also noticed, on the counter
next to the bottles, a button with the legend "BURN POT,
NOT PEOPLE." I wrapped the bunon in plastic without
touching it for possible later fingerprint study.
Katie was smiling and exhilarated. When entranced and
while being videotaped, she grabbed a ball-point pen with her
right hand and wrote several words in apparent old French on
a counter pad (Figure 7). This was the first time that
automatic writing in old French was videotaped from beginning to end. Katie also developed "gold" on the medial canthus of the infra-orbital region of her right eye. She said that
her husband had been with her aJ:1d witnessed the beginning
of the events. I videotaped these happenings without stopping
the Camcorder except when I took photographs of Katie, and
when she had to go to work. She said, "I got a lot of energy
in my hands. My whole body is exhilarated."
After I had returned to the office, Katie telephoned at 3:30
p.m. and was frantic. "Waldo was telling me to go for it.
That's what I'm going to do." She said that the "gold" increased on the bottles. At 5:50 p.m., my wife and I drove to
Katie's house and examined the specimens, which appeared
unchanged from the last telephone call description. I interviewed Katie's husband and daughter, who confirmed those
events which they observed and which Katie had told them
Second Quarter 1988

about. My wife carefully held the sealed bottles in a cardboard box on her lap and we returned to the office and placed
them on top of the Cox-Calvin mini-lab in the research room,
in accordance with Katie's wishes. Katie wondered if the ongoing materialization process could be extended to or teleported into the locked and sealed mini-lab. She was still
buoyant and declared her intention, if agreeable with her
family, to spend the night with the specimens in the research
room for the first time.
With her family's concurrence, Katie arrived at the office
at 7:45 p.m. prepared to spend the night. When she came, I
was finishing a telephone call from Joe Nuzum' of Washington, Pennsylvania. He is an excellent telekinetic paragnost.
He had not called in months and he was annoyed at all the attention a self-confessed fraudulent metal bender-mentalist he
knew was getting from the media whereas he, who was genuine, was barely surviving, and none' of the cognoscenti
seemed to care. Perhaps Joe was telepathically aware of the
goings on with Katie, whom he had once met under usual circumstances, and whom he resented unconsciollsly (telepathically) for the attention she was receiving from me in the researches and, also on an unconscious level, this serendipitous
communication might have .prompted Katie to even greater
psychic exertions.
The following message was written by the entranced Katie
while being videotaped:
.
Par faim la
Pray~ Fera
loup
Prisonnier,
extreme
detresse,
la
The (inhabitant of Prayssas?) will take the wolf prisoner
by hunger, extreme distress, the ...
The translated fragment is insufficient for far reaching
speculation but as in the previous examples it called attention
to privation and distress, two conditions which might be applicable to Katie. a caricature of the wolf imprisoned by harsh
reality ... her circumstances (hunger) from which she might
have been e~erging; from the depths of despair to the exalted
state of supreme conlidence and contagious euphoria.
References and Notes
I. Schwarz, B.E.: "Apparent Materialization of Copper Foil, Case
Report: Katie:' PURSUIT, Volume 20, Number 4, 1987: pp.
154-158.
2. The "gold," which, upon analysis, was found to be actually
about 80070 copper and 20070 zinc, does not grossly tarnish with
time. 11 would be helpful to have studies of Katie's blood, hair,
and nails for copper content and zinc before, during and after a
"gold" materialization research meeting. In view of the rarity of
this process, it would also be interesting to see if there could be
any changes in Katie or an experimental subject with Wilson's
disease, a genetic malfunction of copper metabolism causing
hepato-Ienticular degeneration. (See Shore, D.; Potkin, S.e.;
Weinberger, D.R.; Torrey, E.F.; Henkin. R.I.; Agarwal, R.P.;
Gillin, .I.e.; and Wyatt, R.J.: "CSF Copper Concentrations in
Chronic Schizophrenia," American JOllrnal of Psychimry 140:
pp. 754-757,1983.)
3. Schwarz, B.E.: "K: A Presumed Case of Telekinesis." Interna
tional Journal of Psychosomatics, Vol. 32, No. I, pp. 3-21, 1985.
[Also see PURSUIT, Vol. 18 No.2, pp. 5().61, 1985).
4. George Andrews wrote: '''Pray,' which does not exist in French
('to pray' is 'prier'), might mean an inhabitant of the small town
of Prayssas in the region that used to be known as Gascony:'

Pursuit 61

The, UFO Impact

P..-t II of a IV-Part Series
('[be aspects of fluid mechanics)

by .......Plerre Petit
Introduction ,
I showed in the preceding paper how some matters with
fluid mechanics got me involved in the world, of UFOs.
Again, a young French engineer, Bertrand Lebrun, graduate
from a technical school, asked me in 1983 to do a Ph.D.
thesis with him. I gave him the initial idea, which was the
fOUowing:
,
Consider what is involvef,l with a two-dimensional gas flow
with some sort of wire perpendicular to this flow. In figure I
this wire is represented by a point, since its direction is
perpendicular to the paper.
'

v<v.

, Characteristic lines
Fig. 1 (a)

sonic waves

v=vs
FIg. 1 (b)

The wire is a pertubating object and it creates sonic waves

that propagate in the medium at a velocity Vs, so that:
(1) If the fluid velocity V is smaller than the velocity of
sound (subsonic conditions) 'the sonic waves do not intersect.
(See fIgure la)
,
(2) If V = Vs (sonic conditions) the waves accumulate in the
vicinity of the pertubating object. (See figure Ib)
(3) If V is larger than Vs (supersonic conditions) the sound
perturbation accumulates on two surfaces represented in figure
, Ic by two "characteristic lines," or Mach ,lines. These two
surfaces form a dihedral. Outside of this dihedral the
observer cannot receive any sound wave emitted by the object. The characteristic surface makes an angle e' with the
direction of the velocity. A very simple calculation shows that
the tangent of this angle is nothing but the inverse 11M of the
Mach number M=V/Vs.
We could put a large'iiumber of such thiri wires in a'twodimensional flow and define the characteristic net associated
to the flow. Given this net we can derive t,he Oow parameters.
In effect, the direction and the' length of the velocity vector
comes directly from the two characteristic' crossings at each
point of the flow. (See figure 2) .

.~

v>v.

Fil. 1 Sonic waves In (a) subsonic, (b) soDic and (c)

supersonic conditions.
Pursuit 62

Fig. :1 The characteristics net of a two dimension flow.

Second Quarter 1988

In a' three-dimensional flow the characteristic surfaces

should form a family of cones, whose angle should be equal
to the Mach angle, as dermed earlier. '
A wall can be considered as a succession of wires, so close
to each that the flow' cannot go through it. Then the velocity
vector becomes tangent to the wall's direction. (See figure 3)

If light rays are focused with a lens in a refracting medium,

and if the electromagnetic energy deposit, corresponding to
the absorption phenomena, is large enough, the local refractive index will be changed. (See figure 5)

IIttUmuiation of electron energy

Fig. 5 Accumulation of electromagnetic energy.

Scientists call it nonlinear optics. It occurs in powerful laser
experiments. This refractive index change is nothing but a
change of the velocity of light in the medium. If we call c o'the
velocity of light in a vacuum (300,000 km per second), in a
refracting medium the light velocity is smaller and the refractive index is n = cole. The energy' absorption rises c and
changes the ambient or local light velocity .
.In a supersonic flow the accumulation of sonic energy
changes the local velocity of sound. This increases the energy
absorption in this area and the result is It strong nonlinear
phenomenon called a shock wave, which can be considered as
an, effect of nonlinear acoustics.
Fig. 3 Boundary conditions of the wall.
If the wall is convex the characteristics coming from the
wall diverge like a fan. As the velocity increases, the pressure
and temperature fall. If the wall is concave the characteristics
coming from it tend to focus exactly like light rays after their
passage through a glass lens.

Fig. 4 Convergent and divergent flows.

Second Quarter 1988

Fig. 6 The birth of a sbock wave.

Pursuit 63

Of course a shock wave takes place near converging sections of a flow. Consider a flat ~ing where we have two converging areas, precisely at the leading edge and at the end of
the profile. Thus, two systems of shock waves occur when
this wing moves at a supersonic velocity in a gas.

In theoreticai fluid mechanics it is easier, in supersonic conditions, to compute a characteristic system than to compute a
velocity pattern. We can make a numerical computation of
the characteristic sy~tem witha. compQter. It is classical.
Remember that before the second world war, around 1930,
when the characteristic theory was. not yet born the
aerodynamician used to "compute" the characteristic system
through water simulation. A free surface water flow was then
considered as some sort of analogical computer.

V>Vs

Fig. 9 Analogic simulator

Free ~urface MHD Water Flow Experiments

Following this idea, in 1975, Viton and I tried to approach
Fig. 7 Shocks associated to a nat wing.
This can illustrate the close similarity to free surface liquid
flow. There the critical velocity becomes the velocity of surface waves. For example: In your bath you may rebuild the
characteristic phenomena by moving aneedle penetrating vertically the surface of the water. If you move the needle at a
velocity V smaller than the velocity of the surface waves Vs
you wiD get a pattern very similar to figure I, and so on.
Near my house is a water fall. The water accelerates when
falling. The next figure shows the characteristic lines at different points of the flow, showing how the characteristic
angle measurement gives the direction and intensity of the
velocity.

the impact of Lorentz forces on a flow through free surfaCe

water flows. All that is described in my book, entitled The
Silence Barrier and issued by William Kauffman Editions .
We put a small cylinder, 8mPl diameter, made of insulating
material, in a free surface water flow. The velocity of the liquid (water plus 2070 hydrochloric acid) was 8em/s. Thus, the
flow pattern is very similar to the shock wave system in a
supersonic gas experiment.

front wave

-----

Fig. 10 Shock s~stem around a cyUndricai object.

Fig. 8 The water fall.

Pursuit 64

Upon checking William Kauffman. publisher al 95 Firsl SI.. Los AliOS. CA

94022 has a Iimiled supply of "1'he Silence Barrier" al $7.95 each. plus poslage.

Second Quarter 1988

We introduced a strong magnetic field (one tesla) perpendicular to the surface and two small carl:!on electrodes located
at the wall of the cylinder, as shown on figure 8, and connected to a constant voltage electrical supply. The current
density had to be limited to one ampere per square centimeter
to avoid producing bubbles as a result of electrolysis.
The liquid flow corresponded to the following characteristic force:
pV2F _~

--u

In these 1976 experiments the backward shock was not suppressed, but reinforced. Later we did other experiments with
objects similar to a ship. It showed to us that we had to accelerate the fluid in the converging sections and to slow it
down in the diverging sections. In fact, we had to minimize all
the variation of the flow parameters. Around a small ship a
shockless system, with flat water everywhere, was obtained
with a multielectrode design and constant water velocity.
Around a ship figure 9 shows velocity variation and in figure
10 we show how the force field should be shaped in order to
keep this velocity almost constant along a profile.

where p is the volumetric mass of water, V the water velocity

and d the diameter of the cylinder. V2 pVz is insignificant to
the dynamical pressure associated to the water flow. The electromagnetic force is JB where J is the current density in
amperes per square centimeter and B the magnetic field.
If one wants to act efficiently on the fluid, in such conditions, the electromagnetic parameters must obey:
JB

>

Fig. 11 Velocity along tbe profile of a sbip.

2d
Our experimental constraints required a one tesla magnetic
field. Then the front wave disappeared immediately. If the
current intensity was exactly the critical one the level of the
water, corresponding to the pressure distribution, was
unaltered with respect to its upstream value. But if we insisted, the level was depressed, as shown on figure 8.

4=w

cylinder
V:>Vs

Front Wave
Cancelled

'L
.~~

depression

Fig. 13 The adequate force field for wave ClneeUation.

This analogical result shows a very interesting aspect of
wave cancellation, that we discovered later. When you accelerate a flui4 by Lorentz force, you release energy. But inversely when you slow it down, it brings energy to you. The
decelerating sections of such a converter behave like a MHO
generator. As such, -the energy expense represents the difference between the two. Does it mean tha~ wave cancellation
would need zero energy? Certainly not. The cost lies in the
Joule effect. If the electrical conductivity is poor the efficiency will be bad and the energy cost large.
In water experiments the electrical conductivity, due to the
additional 2070 HCI was close to one mho per meter. In such
-a condition we can define the MHO efficiency as:

profile
electric current

Propulsive power
= ------~~~~~~~---Propulsive power

JBV
JBV + pJ2

+ Joule power

+..E!.
BV

force field

Fig. 11 MHO experimental results.

It showed that a depression could be controlled at the front
part of a vessel cruising at supersonic, or even hypersonic,
velocity in a gas. We called it a MHO aerodyne and suggested
such a flying machine could fly in air like an aerial mole "digging" the air in front by Lorentz force -action.

Second Quarter 1988

with B = 1 tesla, V = 8'IO-z mis, J = 10" Almz, p = 1()3

kg/ml, notice how small the efficiency is. For submarine
nuclear propulsion, in salt water this MHO efficiency would
require at least a 20 teslas supraconducting magnetic field.
Notice that this MHO efficiency grows with B.
It is perfectly possible to reproduce such simple experiments in a technical school if you own the magnet. But
the readers can produce a slow MHO flow, just using the
following:

Pursuit 65

Fig. 14 The MHO "kitchen experiment ..

Put salt in water up to the point of saturation. Fix two copper electrodes on a pencil and connect it to a battery. The current will flow immediately in salt water and you can visualize
the flow pattern with ink. After ten seconds an oxide deposit
on the copper will reduce the current, so. clean the electrodes.
Low Pressure Gas Experiments
In 1977 we tried to conduct gas experiments in a glass bell
jar under vacuum, but it did not work well. A friend of mine
made spectroscopic measurements of the gas temperature in
the discharge. -It was found very' high: something like a thousand degrees. Then, we discovered another very important
feature of MHO acceleration in gas. The Joule effect caused a
strong energy deposit in the gas, so tltat the gas temperature
rose as well as ambient pressure, too. Then we got a negative
pressure gradient that tended to slow down tl:.te gas. In our
low-density experiments the computation showed that the
slowing-down effect due to the pressure gradient (thermal
-blocking) was larger than the accelerating force!'
Our low-density experiments showed a lot of additional
things and it would take too many pages to report on it here.
For an example, we ionized the gas (10-1 torr air) with a highfrequency electric field as provided by a simple Rhumkorff
coil. The frequency was around one megahertz. We tried different aluminum shapes. We expected to create just a glow
discharge around the object, but the sharp edges of a discshaped body reinforced the field, thus, we got high-frequency
sparks, as shown in figure 12. The similarity to the so-called
truncated rays, as reported by the witnesses, was evident.

\\

Fig. 15 High frequency sParks, lib "tnmcated rays"

,1. Metal electrodes, llke copper, will .oppose a quick polarization with an
oxide deposit.

P.ursuit 66

Lebrun Ph.D. Thesis

In 1983 Bertrand Lebrun, a young engineer, started his
Ph.D.. thesis under my direction .. I recommended the use of
~ ~~~ c;:haracteristic theory. Lebrun started with a simple Macintosh computer and the complete simulation of a twodimensional steady flow took two days for each run. Later,
we shifted to a much faster VAX. Lebrun started with the
"int~ problem." Given a converging nozzle with a supersonic flow, was it possible to avoid any shock?
We were supposed to provide information in order to
define the experiments that the CNRS (Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique) was preparing in the fluid mechanics
laboratory at Rouen. They had a shock tube giving an argon
flow at 10,OOOOJ(, one bar and 2750 mls with the electrical
conductivity of 3500 mhos/m. The people at Rouen started to
build a two-teslas coil.
.
The positive answer came at the end of 1985. Lebrun showed that, under such conditions, thermal blocking could be
avoided. The computer gave the flow pattern and all the
desirable information about fluid parameters. One month
later Lebrun produced shockless configurations around a flat
wing.
We sent that to the board of the ninth international MHO
meeting that was to be held in Tsukuba the next october
(1986) and the paper was accepted by the selection committee.
In February 1987, Lebrun presented his Ph.D. thesis at the
University of Marseille, to the applied mathematics department. Then he ;wrote his "state thesis," whose level is
somewhat higher than the US Ph.D. This work was finished
in December 1987. In addition we got another paper accepted
by a top-level French journal: Le Journal de Mecanique. In
his second thesis Lebrun showed that drag could be
eliminated and even reversed, as was shown in water experiments ten years ago.
He has,for the past eight months;been paid by a friend of
mine, who has offered to be his sponsor. Frankly, I don't
know how long he will be able to continue his work. Nevertheless, there are a lot of fascinating results to be gotten by
t~ese exciting MHO aerodynes. It isa shame for France, as I
said in the flfst paper. But let's not return to this sad reality.
After directing Lebrun's work during those five years, [
realized MHO had no future in France and that our team was
condemned to disappear so'oner or later, so that I shifted
towards cosmology, and this will be the subject of the next
paper [Part III].

Second Quarter 1988

Sky Anomalies - Oceanic Mysteries

by

Ga~

s. Mangiacopra

INTRODUCTION
Mankind, throughout his history, has always been fascinated with the unreachable sky and the unfathomable depths
of the oceans - two regions that, for millenniums, were explained away by superstition and folktales to account for the
many strange phenomena observed therein. Now, in this present, 20th century after man has been able to better penetrate
these two dynamically opposed regions, many of the observed .'
anomalous events have been assigned more logical or prac-'
tical explanations by earth-study scientists.
St. Elmos fire, an eerie phenomenon seen by seamen for!
centuries as an omen of disaster, is now recognized for what it i
is: An electrical phenomenon that manifests itself during'
periods of violent atmospheric stress, as in oceanic storms.
Though harmless, its appearance throughout the centuries
had given rise to many superstitious meanjngs among
mariners and others.
.
;:
Another electrical anomaly, though not so harmless; i~ ball
lightning, which has been known to cause serious physical
damage. Not until the early 1960's was this phenomenon
recognized in the earth sciences as a rare and unusual - but
tangible - anomaly.
.
The ultimate of sky anomalies, determined to originate
from beyond the earth's atmosphere, are meteors. Once considered by learned men of science of the early 19th century as
nothing more than peasants tales of stones falling from the
skies, it has since been proved that these stones do actually
fall through the heavens. In today's astronomy, this is accepted as an everyday occurrence. In fact, everyday our earth
is bombarded by an unknown number of meteors, the majority of which are small and minute, and burn up in our atmosphere before reaching t:he earth. Only the larger ones survive a rite of passage to actually strike our earth's surface, but
rare are their journeys viewed by the eyes of man - especially
at sea.
Today, meteors per se, are not considered mysterious unexplainable anomalies, that is, no longer to be catagorized as
Fortean events. But there are a few instances in which. events
surrounding some 'meteor" occurrences can be classified as
"unexplainable" including 'strange noises, odd smells, explosions, too long in flight and near or actual collisions with
ocean-going ships.
To the average person schooled in the conventional
sciences, such near disasters with ships can be accounted as
mere coincidences or chance, by which the laws of averaging
would allow such events to occur over several decades. But to
an investigator of Fortean anomalies such a simplified explanation may not seem so logical, when events that occurred
in relationship to the meteors are considered.
METHODOWGY
Like many unexplainable phenomena, all that is left of
such an occurrence after nearly a century is some obscure
published record. The following cases were located in "v!lrious
newspapers, and for the most part, were buried on som~ back
page as column fillers. Taken separately, these cases appear
insignificant; but taken together over several decades of time,
a possible pattern may be obvious.
I have taken each of the following cases and broken them
down into pertinent constitutent parts and placed them in a
chronological order as they occurred in either the Atlantic or
Second Quarter 1988

Pacific Oceans.

. Case I
Vessel: Scandinavian (Allan Line) I
Date: 22 January 1890 (at night)
Location: Latitude 41 46 " longitude 65"06 '.
Weather: High seas, dense snowstorms and blowing winds,
occasional squalls of hail and rain.
Observations: Enroute during her passage from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Glasgow, Scotland, Chief Officer
Miller was on watch when a twinkling ball of fire descended
with 'a hissing sound and exploded on the decks between the
main and mizzen masts. The explosion caused sparks to be
scattered all over the ship, with hundreds of pieces of metal
flying in all directions. Holes were burned in the decks, and
seVeral of the crew were burned.
Comments: This anomaly is what we now call balilightning, as indicated by the then occurring adverse weather conditions. What is interesting is the amount of damage that was
caused.
Case II
Vessel: Yemassee (Line unknown)Z
Date: Several days prior to 16 January 1894.
(Just about dawn)
Location: 15 miles south of Charleston Bar, South
Carolina.
Observations: Arriving at New York City, Captain McKee
and Chief Officer Catherine reported that they were the only
officers on deck at the time. Officer Catherine gave the
following details of the event:
"The meteor was dead ahead and far up in the
. heavens when we first saw it, and seemed to be coming
straight for the ship. I thought judgement day had
come for sure and that some planet was about to strike
.the earth. It was as big as six full moons and burned like
the sun.
"Suddenly it shot off to the east, followed by a great
streak of fire. When I saw it was not going to strike the
ship, I felt some relief. It frightened me badly, I admit.
After going about 50 degrees to the east it began to take
a zigzag course. It darted about the heavens at great
speed, just as a bolt of lightning would. It continued to
go about in that way for a long time.
"At last it burst into more than 100 pieces like a skyrocket. The small fireballs were shot allover the
heavens in every direction and gradually died away as
the fire does from an exploded rocket.
"I pulled out my watch when the meteor, or whatever it was, began its zigzag course, and the display
lasted more than half an hour. The captain and I both
watched the thing from the time it started until the great
streaks of fire it left in its wake gradually died out."
Comments: A meteor that "shot off to the east," taking a
"zigzag course" and lasted "half an hour," certainly is not
characteristic of any known type of behavior for a meteor.
Though the' explosion of this anomaly is typical of the ending
of some meteors that do enter the atmosphere, this is a most
peculiar sky phenomenon leaving much unanswered as to just
what was seen.
Pursuit 67

Case III
Vessel: Brooklyn City (Bristol Une)]
Date: 12 February 1896 (3:05 a.m.)
Weather: Howling gale, cold
Location: One-fourth distance from New York City to
Swansea, England.
Observation: Laden with tin, the vessel left Swansea on
January 28th and during its 2O-day voyage met all kinds of
adverse weather. Chief Officer Ellis and Second Officer
Deehle watched as a blinding flash of light blazed upon the
truck of the foremast. Then, with a sharp crack of lightning
and the sound of splintering wood, the truck split in two and .
fell on the deck, and a big splinter of the foretopmaSt came
clattering after. A globe of fire, high, hot ball, two feet .in
diameter ran down the foremast-quickly and gleamed with an
intense white light, as though metal heated to its highest
point. It illuminated the mast and rigging with a' strange
ghostly light and then struck the deck, bursting into a thousand brilliant fragments like a big rocket. Splinters were
strewed on deck, with the ruins of the highly ornamental
truck.
.
Comments: This is clearly an incident of ball lightning that
occurred during adverse weather conditions ..

Case IV
Vessel: Willkommen (German oil tank steamer) 4.5
Date: 17 November 1896 (after midnight)
Weather: Heavy seas
Location: Latitude 48 10 'N, longitude 44 OW
Observations: Arriving at New York City from Danzig,
Poland, with 6,000 bags of beet sugar, Captain Schaeffer
reported that a huge meteor shot across the sky from the
southeast to the northwest plunging, hissing into "the sea some
distance ahead of the steamer. Almost immediately afterwards, a huge sea, like a tidal wave, broke over the vessel's
bow and swept aft, doing but slight damage ..
Comments: This close encounter with a meteor at sea by
the Willkommen, may have been a straggler belonging to the
Leonid meteor shower that was due on the morning of the
13th of that month, arriving several days later after the main
stream had passed the earth-a consideration that has some
merit to explain its appearance.
Case V
Vessel: Cawdor (British)6
Date: 20 August 1897
Weather: Electrical storm
Location: Coast of Chile
Observations: Arriving in San Francisco, California from
Swansea, England, on Nov. 20th after crossing Cape' Horn
on August 12th. All hands were on deck when a huge meteor
flashed across the heavens and plunged into the sea close to
the vessel to the concern of the crew over this near collision.
Water was churned up and swept over the deck with a strong
sulphurous odor hanging around the vessel.
Comments: A meteor having an odor that may have been
generated during its passage through the atmosphere is' itself a
rare event. But that it had come so close' to causing a disaster
at sea keeps butting the statistical odds for such possible coincidences.
Case VI
Vessel: Supply (United States)' .
Date: 28 February 1904 (6:10 a.m.)
Weather: Clouds, less than a mile high
Pursuit 68 .

. Location: Latitude 3558'N, longitude 12836'W.

Observations: Lieutenant Frank H. Schofield, commander
of the vessel enroute from Guam to San Francisco, California, and two others reported three meteors appearing near the
horizon below the clouds traveling in a grolip from the northwest by north directly towards the ship. His detailed account
is as follows:
"At first their angular motion was rapid and color a
rather bright red. As they approached the ship they appeared to soar, passing above the clouds at an elevation
of about forty-five degrees.
"After rising above the clouds their angular motion
became less and less until it ceased, when they appeared
to be moving direCtly away from the earth at an elevation of about seventy-five degrees .and in a direction
west-northwest. It was noted that the color became less
pronounced as the meteors gained in angular
elevation."
.
Schofield added' to' his comments about the most
remarkable size and how in formation these meteors flew.
The largest meteor had an apparent area of about six suns
and was egg shaped, with the sharper end forward. This end
was'jagged: The second appeared to be twice the size of the
sun; the third about sun size and both these were round.
Comments: Meteors' do occasionally fly parallel with the
earth and sometimes skim the earth's atmosphere to fly back
into outer space again. But meteors, if Schofield's description
is correct, do not fly upwards! Whether this was some
unusual atmospheric anomaly' is debatable, but it should be
taken into consideration.

. Case VII
Vessel: St. Andrew (Phoenix Line)8.9
Date: 30 October 1906 (Half an hour before sunset)
Weather: Cloudy
Location: 60 miles eastward of Cape Race.
Observations: First Officer V. Spencer, on board the vessel
enroute from Antwerp, Belgium, to Hoboken, New Jersey,
told in detail of his observation of four meteors:
". was standing on the bridge at half-past five, when
I saw three meteors ahead about three miles away, flash
. as they fell, although it was before sundown: The'sky
was clouded and I had hardly not.iced the fall of the
meteors when the chief engineer cried out from below
.
on deck, 'Look at that.'
"There, off to the south on our port beam, was a big
meteor falling plainly less than a mile away; It appeared
to be saucer 'shaped and showed like a white hot coal
streamed a shower of reddish fire fully a mile long.
While we were looking the meteor zigzagged, I supposed on account of its shape, and plunged into the sea. Up
rose clouds of steam and the sea boiled for a space fully
five or six hundred feet in diameter for several minutes.
"While the flight lasted only a few seconds, it seemed
an hour, we saw it so plainly, and had it struck our ship
it would have melted its way down through the steel .
hull and sent us without a moment's warning to the bottom."
Comments: A zigzagging meteor that was saucer shaped, is
indeed, an unusal celestial anomaly. That it was able to boil.
the sea where it had struck for a considerable area and amount
of time is also interesting. Though in this instance, the vessel
was a safe distance away and was not, fortunately, placed in
any immediate danger. As there were also three other meteors
seen to fall" before its appearance, it can be .safely concluded
Seco. -:I Quarter 1988

that this phenomenon was a meteor seen as it made its way

through the atmosphere and hitting the ocean's surface.
Case VIII
Vessel: Brazilia (Hamburg-American Line)8.9
Date: 30 October 1906 (7:30 p.m.)
Location: 150 miles further eastward of St. Andrew's position.
Observations: Captain Russ, as noted in the logbook of his
vessel saw a monster meteor drop into the sea.
Comments: As neither the Brazilia nor the St. Andrew
could have known of the other's observations of falling
meteors that had occurred two hours apart, there is independent confirmation of what was seen by each vessel. It can be
speculated, that perhaps the earth was going through a small
meteor storm whose focal point was this portion of the Atlan.
tic ocean on this date.
Case IX
Vessel: American (Line unknown)'O
Date: 27 November 1906 (at night)
Location: Between Dungeness and Port Angeles, Washington.
Observations: Captain McWilliams commented:
"I saw the meteor some time before it fell~ I thought
at first it was a shooting star, but it seemed to come
dangerously near. It passed and fell into the water
about a hundred feet or less, astern of us. It glowed as
though white hot. It cut the air with a hissing sound,
and went down with a great plunk and sizzle."
Comments: Of the cases so far, this was the closest encounter by which a vessel could actually have been destroyed,
or at least severely damaged. Unfortunately, its accurate size
was not given by the captain.
Case X
Vessel: Antelope (British bark)"
Date: Uncertain, but prior to May 1907
Location: Latitude 9, longitude 123 OW.
Observations: The Antelope was sailing between San Francisco, California and Liverpool, England. An unnamed crew
member commented as to the events that had happened during her voyage:
... was leaning over the rail looking at a brigantine
becalmed about three miles away. We hadn't spoken
her and didn't know what she was or where she was
from. I could ten from the taper of her masts that she
was American built, but that was all.
She was a trim little craft and it was enough to break
a seaman's heart the way she was wiped off the face of
the earth that night. ..
" .. .1 was leaning on the rail at about six bells, with
my cheek in my palm, looking away where the brigantine lay in the moonlight. The motion of the bark on the
swell was slow and kind of soothing, and I had got sort
of half dreaming with the lazy roll of her, when I was
startled broad awake by a bright light in the sky.
"Looking up, I saw a great ball of fire rushing down
through the air on a slant, and there was a dark cloud
above. By the time I had hauled in the slack of my mind
enough to know that it was a shooting star the glare of
it got so bright that the light of the moon was of no
more account than a slush lamp, and the stars were put
out altogether.
Second Quarter 1988

"There was a rushing, hissing sound in the air as the

thing came down. When it got pretty near the light
almost blinded me, and I could see nothing but the fiery
gleam of it on the water. It wasn't as long from the time
it hove in sight until it struck as I've been telling how it
looked. It must have been traveling like a cannon ball,
of maybe a good many more knots a minute. In the
glare I lost sight of the brigantine, I heard a crashing
sound, and the ball of fire disappeared, leaving
everything black before me eyes for a moment.
"When I blinked the right sight back into my eyes
and got used to the moonlight, that seemed pale and
sickly, I glanced over the starboard quarter, to where
the brigantine had been, but there wasn't a trace of her
to be seen. I could. hardly believe my own eyes,
although they were a good pair in those days ... 1 must
. have been a bit dazed by what had happened and got
confused in my bearings. But in no direction was so
much as a spar in sight, and off there, on the quarter
there was a rising and falling of short waves, their tops
reaching the glint of the moonbeam, that showed where
the shooting star had gone down into the sea. That was
where the brigantine had been.
".The flash and roar of the falling star had aroused
the watch on deck, and the men were gathered in a
group by the foremast, blinking their eyes and wondering what had happened. They had seen all that I had
and didn't know what had made the great glare of light.
I told them to look for the brigantine, and sent a man
aloft to see if anything could be made out where she
had been .. They were just about struck dumb when they
. saw the sea clear of all craft but our own, and asked me
if the brigantine had blown up. The man aloft reported
that he could not make out anything ...
"Thinking some poor fellow might be floating about
where the brigantine went down, I caned up the Captain and all hands, and the old man sent out a boat to
search. The second mate went in the boat, and when he
came back, he brought only a bit of scorched deck
planking that he picked up adrift where he calculated
the brigantine had been. That was all the trace of her
that was left, and we never knew her name or anything
more about her."
Comments: This alleged account was originally published
in the Chicago Inter-Ocean newspaper as a probable Sundaysupplement article, and therefore, must be viewed with
serious consideration as being a fabrication, as presently there
is no confirmation with regard to the vessel named. Also,
that the crew member who is alleged to have seen the nearby
ship disaster was unnamed in the article, leaving more suspicion about the validity of this account.
Case XI
Vessel: Cambrian (Line unknown)12
Date: 17 August 1907 (noon)
Weather: Sky cloudless, ocean smooth, no haze.
Location: Latitude 42 5 'N, and longitude 51 10 'W.
Observations: This 6,OOO-ton cargo vessel was enroute
from London, England and had departed thereon August
7th for its American destination of New York City or Boston.
It was not clearly identified by the writer who was the second
officer and gave the following lengthy account:
..... Mr. Thomas Hughes, the first officer, mounted
the ladder to the bridge to relieve me, my watch on deck
being over. After some minutes conversation with him I
Pursuit 69

. ,

was about to leave the bridge and go below, when our

attention was attracted to an unusual number of stars
which were falling from the heavens away over the starboard quarter ...
"The stars continued falling for about two minutes
and we remarked that they all traveled in very nearly the
same direction across the sky, from northeast to southwest. Some of them left trails as they soared over our
heads, and the ship's rigging dropped a traCery of
shadows along the deck; the effect being the same as if
a big fireworks display was in progress. .
Indeed, the stars looked for all the world like the
rockets which are used at sea as signals of distress to attract the attention of passing vessels; By and by,
however, they grew fainter and less numerous, and
presently ceased altogether.
"While Hughes and I were standing talking and
wondering at the meaning of this unusual stellar activity
another shower took place, even more striking than the
first, and soon the display got quite alarming, passing
as nearly all the stars did, directly over the ship ... AlI the
time the stars were becoming more and more luminous.
..... from the sky to the northeast, there flared up
something that looked like a rocket, save that it was
. much larger, and the train of fire that followed its glowing head trailed away behind like a horse's tail, while
fragments of fiery matter fell away from it like a shower
. of spray, and now and then a larger piece dropped off
into the sea. We had no time to ponder on the glowing
apparition before it had reached the zenith of its bow. like flight, and the light from the incandescent mass fell
. like the break of day on the deck of the Cambrian,
flooding her wake, and apparently heading directly for
the ship...
"In less time than it takes to tell we were confident
that a meteor of enormous size was after us.;. The great
luminous shape seemed to pause awhile in its flight, and
then drop toward the sea, heading directly for us as it
came. Its light transformed the night into day, and the
bright stars that had been whizzing and zigzagging here
and there were lost sight of in the brilliancy of this
newer light. The phenomenon was taking place so
quickly that it would have been useless to alter our
course in an effort to avoid the onrushing meteor: there
was nothing to be done but stand on and take our
chance.
"~s the meteor began to plunge downward in its flight
through the atmosphere we heard a strange roaring
sound - faint at first, but growing louder and louder
as the glowing sphere came nearer. The whole sea and
sky were now bathed in a blinding bluish-white light,
such as is produced by a calcium burner, and the electric bulbs on the ship became dimmed and turned a
sickly yenow.
" ...The meteor was now quite close, and such was its
brilliance that it was almost impossible to tum our eyes
toward it. The hissing and roaring noise which accom.panied its progress was sufficient to strike terror into
the.head of the most hardened of seamen. In'the fraction of a second, as it seemed, its glowing head had expanded to the size of a balloon, against which the funnel and aftermasts were sharply silhouetted.
" ... Nothing could shut out the dazzling glare of the
meteor which pierced through our closed fingers,
Pursuit 70

..

clasped tight over our faces to protect our eyes. The air
was filled with a deafening din, such as a dozen railway
trains in a tunnel might create, while the hiss of the fiery
fragments as they struck the water gave me the impression of a ship's boilers leaking in every plate. Then,
with a crash that shook the ship, tfie meteor struck the
sea not 50 feet away. The upheaval was terrific, but we
paid little attention to it, for. the peril was past.
"The Cambrian had escaped, but by an exceedingly
narrow margin. Not a top or a spar was touched when
the meteor, literally as big as a house, passed close over
our mastheads and fell into the sea. The vessel soon ran
out of the commotion caused by the aerial monster,
though not before she had slipped some water along the
after-deck, caused by the first wave which rushed from
the spot where the monster had disappeared."
Comments: Of all the reported near-collisions, the Cambrian is claimed to have the closest encounter. However, this
report was published in Wide- World Magazine, that makes
this account, like the one 'before it, .a possible fabrication on
the part of the writer. Though, as the speCific name of the
vesS'a:was given and one of the officers, the possibility of this
being nothing more than a "seamen's tale" is less likely. Until
further confimtation can be acquired, this case be best viewed
.
with reservations as to its veracity.

Casexn
Vessel: Ocean (Dutch)1l ..., ' ,
Date: 4 March 1908 (3 a.m.). :
Location: 3959 'N. and 71 27 'W.
Observations: Arriving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on
March 17th, Captain Benkert and the. crew of his vessel
reported that a descending meteor struck the sea, resulting in
huge waves to sweep over the vessel, after. which the sea settled, the atmosphere became filled with a suffocating gas so
strong that the crew had to remain on deck - the deck itself
covered with a peculiar brownish powder. After which, a
shower of blazing meteors began.to fall about the vessel,
.
lasting several minutes.,
The sea about the vessel became phosphorescent, with
the sky having dazzling clouds of every color dancing about.
Comments: This meteor had several interesting characteristics: that it left a trail of brownish powder on the vessel; a
smell that was either directly or indirectly caused by the
meteor striking the sea; and that it was close enough to the
vessel to cause waves to be swept over the deck.
As there was afterwards a show of metecirs falling about
the vessel for several minutes duration, it may be concluded
that this was a small swarm of meteors that was hitting this
specific focal point on the ocean.
Case XIII
Vessel: Bostonian (Leyland Line)''
.Date: 24 February 1912 (5 a.m.)
Location:Three days out from Boston coming froni Manchester, England.
Observations: Arriving in Boston on Februa.ry 26th, CaP7
tain Perry reported seeing a meteor flashing brilliantly and
falling to the southwest of the vessel. A loud hissing sdunq
was heard as it approached the water, then fell into the ocean
a few ships lengths from the bow. Water was dashed over the
decks of the.steamer~
Comments: A sound was associated with the meteOr fall,
with the vessel coming within close distance to where the
meteor had struck the water.

Second Quarter 1988

Case XIV
Vessel: Bohemian (Leyland Line)"
Date: Prior to 29 March 1913 (night?)
Weather: Snowstorm
Location: Between Boston, Massachusetts, and Halifax,
Nova Scotia.
Observations: Arriving at Boston on March 29th, from
Liverpool, England, after towing the disabled British steamer
Cayo Rimano to Halifax, the crew and passengers reported a
meteor that appeared on the steamer's port side in a heavy
snowstorm. Crossing her bows at a great speed, it exploded
with a deafening report and blinding glare about 40 feet from
the surface of the ocean. Causing all parts of the steamer to
be lighted.
Comments: Again, a meteor that exploded near the vessel.

Case XV
Vessel: Lapland (Red Star Line)16
Date: 13 February 1914 (night)
Weather: Snowy sky
Location: Seven days out from New York City.
Observations: Captain J. Bradshaw reported a giant
meteor appearing and swept in a great downward ..curve
straight for his ship. The falling mass of fire was directly over
the ship when it exploded in the air with a shock that shook
the plates of the vessel.
Comments: This is another description given in which the
meteor took a curved path, as though specifically attracted to
the vessel.
ANALYSIS
Of the IS cases, each can be placed into one of the following three catagories of aerial phenomena.
St. Elmos Fire/Ball lightning: Cases 1 and 3
Sky Anomalies: Cases 2 and 6
Meteors: Cases 4,5,7,8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, IS.
CONCLUSION
As plotted on the map, the first and second categories due to a lack of a sufficient number of cases - can be referred to as random encounters that occurred in the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans. However, it is the third category that may
show a possible pattern emerging. As shown on the map, the
majority of the cases occurred along the northeastern portion
of the Atlantic along the North American continent. But
whether this pattern is definite or just sheer coincidence is
conjecturable. It must be pointed out that New York City or
Boston were the main destinations of these ocean crossing
steamers. And, that the steamers fonowed set sea routes in
order to cross the Atlantic in the fastest amount of time by
traveling the least amount of sea miles. Thereby, anomalies
that may have occurred on the voyage would have happened
along this set sea route, and since literally tens of thousands
of vessels would have traveled this route over a period of
several decades, statistically this should produce the largest
number of sightings of anomalies. Yet, in actuality, the newspaper columns were almost totally void of such reports for
the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After World War I, .
such reports were totally neglected by the newspapers.
One unmistakable fact can be deduced: that several near
disasters had almost occurred to sea-going vessels by the
bombardment of meteors from outer space. And that only by
the most fortunate of circumstances did the vessels survive
such encounters and by which the ship's crews were able to
report wha~ had occurred. But what of the possible cases in
Second Quarter 1988

which both the ships and the passengers were not so fortunate? Such disasters at
would leave no witnesses to tell
these tales. It may be concluded, that possibly a minute few
vessels throughout the centuries were destroyed by the chance
encounters of meteors at sea and thereby account for the
disappearances of some vessels now long forgotten in some
insurance company's record/log book. Though of all of the
hundred of thousands of vessels constructed, by far more
were lost to bad weather than by meteors from space.
The odds of such a loss by a meteor is like hitting the head
of a pin on a dartboard at 100 feet with a grain of sand. Toss
the grain enough times, and ultimately you will hit the pin's
head.
Perhaps nature is having a cosmic joke at our Fortean expense, and that we are looking for some ominous pattern
when there really is none. And that these anomalies are just
sheer coincidence that happen over a set period of time.
I leave it to the reader to decide.

sea

.
.
REFERENCES
I. Ball of Fire At Sea, Hartford Courant, Hartford, Connecticut, 18
February 1890, p. I, col. I.
2. Sighted a Big Meteor, The Evening Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 16 January 1894, p. I, col. 4.
3. Hit by a Meteorite, New Haven Evening Register, New Haven,
Connecticut, 18 February 1896, p. 3.
4. A Large Meteor Falls on the Atlantic, New York Herald, New
York, 2 December 1896, p. 10.
S. Huge Meteor at Sea, Wilkes-Barre Weekly News Dealer, WilkesBarre, Pennsylvania, 2 December 1896, p. 2, col. 2.
6. A Meteor's Fall, Hartford Courant, Hanford, Connecticut, 22
November 1897, p. 7, col. 7.
7. Meteors Fly Upward; New York Herald, New York, 9 March
1904, p. 7, col. I.
8. Meteor Roars Down Near Ocean Liner, Los Angeles Times, Los
. Angeles, California,S November 1906, p. 4, col. 2, 3.
9. Meteor Grazes Ship in Mid-Ocean, New York Herald, New
York, S November 1906.
10. Meteor Falls Near Boat, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles,
California, 3 December 1906, p. 3, col. 2.
II. Ship Was Sunk by Meteor, Washington Post, Washington, D.C.
S May 1907.
12. Ship's Remarkable Escape From Fiery Monster That Fell From
Heavens, Washington Post, Washington, D.C. 26 April 1908,
mi~c. section, p. 2, col. I.
13. Ship Has Narrow Escape From Meteor Falling At Sea, Chicago
Tribune, Chicago, Illinois, 18 March 1908, p. 4, col. 3.
14. Meteor Almost Hit Liner, New York Tribune, New York, 27
February 1912, p. I, col. 2.
IS. Meteor Explodes At Sea, New York Tribune, New York, 30
March 1913, p. 11, col. 3.
16. Meteor Bursts Over Ship, New York Tribune, New York, 19
February 1914.

*Editor's Note: Gary Mangiacopra, avid collector of Fortean

articles, covers a span of exactly 24 years ending about 75
years ago. These old newsclips could have easily been passed
over by ufologists but, put together here, give us a new
perspective on "meteors."
Particularly interesting is the sailor's description of a
"meteor" being "saucer shaped" more than 40 years before
Kenneth Arp.old's now famous "flying saucer" quote.
If we are to speculate that some of these ''meteors" might
have been intelligently controlled craft from outer space, we
may likewise speculate that fewer such reports, fonowing
World War I, may have been due to the easier detection of
newer, steel-hulled, ocean-going vessels and electric generator-lighted ships that were not as prevalent when these reports
were made around the century up until 1914.
~
Pursuit 71

srru.tlons

'Big

Creature~

Hoaxes

Florida's 'Giant Pengaln'

H0811 Unmasked
The year was 1948.
In Clearwater, Fla., a town of about
15,000, crazy things were happening. On a
morning in February, a resident out for a
walk on Clearwater Beach discovered what
looked like the footprints of a monster and
ran home to call the police.
The tracks were large - 14 inches long, 11
inches wide. They had three long toes with
claws. Whatever had made them apparently
had come out of the Gulf of Mexico at the
south end of the beach and, taking 4-foot to
6-foot strides, had walked for more than two
miles in the soft sand before returning to t~e
water.
The police didn't know what had made the
tracks, but an official with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department said he had "studied
the footprints carefully and was persoRlilly
assured that, if a prank, it was one of"the
most masterful ever Perpetrated in Pinellas."
Over the next 10 years, the footprints of the
"Clearwater Monster" appeared frequently:
on Clearwater Beach, on Indian Rocks Beach,
on .the Courtney Campbell Parkway, on St.
Petersburg Beach, on the beach at Sarasota."
The "monster" also left its prints on Honeymoon Island off the coast at Dunedin, along
the banks .of the Andote River north of .Tarpon Sprin~s and on the banks of the Suwannee River, where U.S. 19 crosses the river, five
miles east of Old Town in Dixie County.
'In July 1948, four fliers from the Dunedin
Flying School said that they had seen the
creature off Clearwater Beach and that it
. ::', ',' " ,:~; ..... ':~"::',;::: . :.. ',: '.'=-:" "......' ; .:,
looked like a furry log with a head shaped like
. (upper left) 'Penguin' print in sand; (upper right) I.T. Sanderson holding plaster cast of
a hog's.
Because of the: "monster" sightings, the print in 1948; and (bottom) Tony Signorini wearing both hoax feet.
"little town on Florida's West Coast" made fire department, he set off flares in his
All these years, the "monster" was tucked
headlines and news broadcasts nationwide.
business, Auto Electric. The fire department away in' its cardboard box under a workbench
Ivan T. Sanderson, noted zoologist and showed up all right, and the flares provided at Auto Electric. The real "monster" is a pair
science commentator for WNBC in New quite a show, but as a result the building was of cast iron "feet wi'th high top black sneakers.
York as well as the science writer for the New badly damaged.
Signorini lifted the feet, each weighing 30
Signorini, who was Williams' partner at pounds, out of the box and put them on.
York Herald Tribune and WNBC's special
events director, visited Florida in November Auto Electric and, with his son and daughter,
"You see, I would just swing my left back
1948 to study the tracks along the Suwannee. still runs the business on Greenwood Avenue and forth like this and then give a big hop,
Sanderson, who died in 1973, determined in Clearwater, said Williams came up with the. and the weight of the feet would carry me that
after months of study that the tracks had been idea for the "monster" tracks. it seemed an . far," Signorini said, explaining the 6-foot
made by some form of giant penguin. He call- appropriate prank: The Loch Ness monster strike of the creature. "The shoes were heavy
was still making news (its photograph was enough to sink down in the sand."
ed the creatured "Florida Three-Toes."
~
A number of local people, including the first published in 1934), and dinosaur remains
Signorini said the idea for the big three-toed
police, believed the whole thing was a hoax. had been dug up near Albuquerque, N.M., in footprints came from a picture of dinosaur
But they had no way to prove it, and no one July 1947. During the World War II years, tracks. After several tries at making the feet,
ever came forward to admit to it.
Gulf residents were constantly watching the Williams and Signorini decided concrete was
water for signs of German submarines.
Until now.
not heavy enough, so the molds for the tracks
Tony Signorini' still chuckles when he
When Williams died in 1969, he left the were taken to a foundry in St. Petersburg. The
thinks about the stories that sprang up to ex- secret of the "Clearwater Monster" to resulting cast iron feet were ideal.
Holes were drilled into the tops of the feet
plain the footprints that he and the late AI Signorini for safekeeping.
Williams stamped into the sand.
Encouraged 'by his friends Bud and Joanne and the sneakers set in place with screws.
Williams was a notorious prankster. in Lobaugh of Largo (Bud learned the true story When the inner soles. of the shoes were glued
Clearwater in the 19405 and 19505. Just for about the "monster" from'Signorini in 1965), back in place, the "monster" was ready.
A rowboat supplied by a friend brought the
fun, he once sneaked a horse into the holding Signorini agreed to bring the "monster" out
.
'
area at the Clearwater police station. Another of hiding, 40 years after the tracks were first creature to shore.
"We would go on nights with not too many
tim,e, because he loved to play tricks on the seen.
:

Pursuit 72

Second Quarter 1988

Southeast Washington last year, showed derWhatever it was, it left .big tracks.
waves or beach walkers around. Of course,
Tom Henson said he had the answer. Hen- mal ridges clearly. But some other things
not many people were on the beach then,"
son, an animal expert, said it was not an about the prints made him suspect they were
Signorini said.
fake.
animal but a prankster.
The "monster" came out only at night.
Back home in Pullman, Bodley decided to
Alexander said he spotted some tracks
"I put the shoes on in the water and then
walked a long way, maybe two miles up the Saturday morning. "The sun was just peeping see if he could fake dermal ridges. He began
beach and then got back in the boat," Signor up," he said, when he saw some bent grass by fashioning a clay mold of an oversized
foot. Then he rolled his bare big toe in the soft
ini said, grinning. "I had ... to be careful the while he was walking through a field.
He looked around and found what looked clay to leave impressions of dermal ridges. He
water wasn't too deep when I had them on.
"Other times, we would take them (the like tracks in a plowed area. They were nearly did the same with his heel. Then he pressed his
feet) in the car and carry them to where we round, about eight inches across and 11 inches forehead into the center of the clay footprint.
Bodley's son, Brett, 16, spread glue on the
wanted to make the tracks. Then we'd take a long. Each had what appeared to be six claw
skin of his fingers and feet, peeled it off and
palm frond and brush away all the footprints marks.
Alexander said the trail was about 75 yards then pressed the dried glue into the clay to
we'd made while we were doing it."
leave still more impressions of skin patterns.
At the Suwannee River site, "we stayed on long.
Bodley poured plaster of Paris into the
There are bears around Alexander's farm,
property belonging to a friend named AI
Spears," Signorini said. "After we found which is near the Dismal Swamp, but these mold and let it harden into a cast of a Sasquatch foot. Then he pressed the cast into soft
some good places along the river, we waded in weren't bear tracks.
Neighbors who looked at the tracks ground. The dermal ridges were clearly visible
the water and carried the feet. Then I'd put
them on where we wanted to make the couldn't agree on what might have put them in the "footprint." And they were still visible
there. Alexander consulted the Beaufort in a plaster cast he made of the print.
tracks."
Bodley wasn't trying to fool anyone, and
Clearwater police were skeptical about the County Sheriff's Department and the N.C.
his fake print didn't. He showed the cast to
existence of the monster from the beginning Wildlife Resources Committee.
Henson, an animal specialist for the wild- Grover Krantz, a WSU anthropologist who
and suspected that AI Williams might be the
culprit, said Frank Daniels, who retired in life commission, inspected the prints. His con- has investigated reported Sasquatch sightings.
1981 after 32 years on the Clearwater police clusion: "Somebody's having them a little Krantz pointed out that the crudely shaped
toes were a giveaway. And at Bodley's rejoke."
force, the last 13 years as chief of police.
He said no animal had such a print and that quest, Kr;mtz showed the fake footprint cast
"I don't think any of the Clearwater cops
took it seriously," Daniels said. "We sus- an animal could have left indentations from with dermal ridges to six fingerprint experts.
"I showed them two casts and told them
pected Williams because he usually called in paw pads. These prints were flat, leading
the reports of the monster and was such a Henson to think they were made from one was a fabrication and the other was of
unknown origin," Krantz said. "Each one
local prankster, but we could never prove it. boards.
He said the steps were regular-sized steps picked the fake immediately. They said the
"When a pilot flying over the beaches reported seeing something furry with a head for a person. "They made sure they walked in dermal ridges were not oriented correctly on
shaped like a hog's in the Gulf, we suspected a plowed field and not in the road," he said. the foot."
The experiment did now shake Krantz's
Besides that, he said, he detected some
Williams because he flew his own plane,"
snickers and some sidelong glances among the conviction that Sasquatches do exist, even
Daniels said.
though no bones of the legendary animal ever
"You know, that's a funny thing," Signor- people who watched him inspect the tracks.
"I think that some of those folks knew have been found.
ini recalled with a smile, "because we never
"It would be extremely difficult to fake
knew who was flying that plane and made the more than they were telling," Henson said.
Henson said he did not take any plaster dermal ridges well enough to fool the
report. It wasn't us."
casts. But at least one Pinetown resident did, experts," Krantz said. "It would take someSOlJRCE: J. Kirby, Times,
one well versed in the arrangement of ridges
. according to Alexander.
St. Petersburg, FL 6/11/88
Alexander plowed over some of the prints, on the feet, as well as skillful in the technique
CKEDrr: Ada Fagg and Betty Dickson
but some 51 ill barely remain in a small field Bodley used."
[Editor's Note: It must be said that Ivan San- beside his house. And neighbors have been
Krantz cited one supposed Sasquatch print
derson was fairly convinced shortly after he
spreading the word, drawing some Beaufort seven inches wide with dermal ridges running
arrived in Clearwater that the "Florida three- County residents to the farm.
the entire width. "No human foot is that
toe's" prints were part of a hoax. Upon
Whatever their source, the prints definitely wide," he said, "and there was no patching of
reviewing Ivan's report, as part of SITU's made an impression.
the ridges. It would have been impossible to
files, it becomes obvious that in correspon- SOlJRCE: C. Spivey, Daily News,
fake."
dence between AI Williams, perpetrator of the
Bodley says he is "not a disbeliever" in the
Washington, NC 6/9/88
hoax, and Ivan, the media coverage gave Mr. CREOrr: Forteana News, Lou Farish
Sasquatch, given the persistence of the legend
Williams a distinct advantage when, by giving
in history.
him Ivan's daily progress report, hesimply inBigfoot Easy to Fake.
"But it's possible hoaxers are a lot more
vented a new trick to confuse and confound
Anthropologist Clal...
sophisticated than I thought and we're going
everyone.
A Washington State University anthropo- to have to be more careful in examining footFor the record, Ivan said on WNBC radio, logist has found that it's relatively easy to fake prints," he said.
Nov. 15, 1948, "I think I've caught a fish in one of the more impressive bits of evidence in
The footprints Bodley found last year
one of my traps. I think the trap for hoaxers so-called footprints of the Sasquatch.
didn't appear more than 30 minutes old.
has sprung." And, "if a hoax it be ... no crime
Although the prints were spread out over a
The Sasquatch, or Bigfoot, is a legendary
has been committed, it's just a good joke."
humanlike creature that has been reported in quarter mile of trail, only one sequence of
Ivan the investigator could also masterfully moun~ains of the Northwest for generations. left-right prints was found. And Bodley was
play the role of ent.repeneur of mysteries.
Some of the better preserved footprints puzzled why there were so few tracks on so
Nearly two decades after the hoax made head- have shown dermal ridges, the tiny whorls much available soft soil. Still, he felt he needlines Ivan revived the story in chapter 3 of his that appear in the skin on the bottoms of toes ed to account for the presence of the dermal
now-out-of-print book, More Things in 1967.] and feet, similar to fingerprints. The feature ridges.
Mon.t... 1n N. CaroUna?
occurs in humans and apes but not other ani"Now I think it's even more likely they
Pl'ob.bly Print ....nk
were fake," he said.
mals.
SOlJRCE: H. Williams, Union Bulletin,
In fact, some apparently fresh footprints John Alexander was wondering what it was
Walla, Walla, WA 6127/88
that went through his fields near Pinetown 17 inches long and 6 inches wide - that John
Bodley found in the Blue Mountains of CREOrr: Forteana News, Lou Farish last weekend.

Second Quarter 1988

Pursuit 73

The Psychic Connection

by R. Perry CoUins
Two fields of research which have become more accepted
in recent years are those involving psychic events and UFOrelated events. They seem to be entirely separate.' At first
glance they seem related only by the fact that they. are both
unusual areas of investigation. By this it is meant that both
UFO ~nd psychic questions deal with non-ordinary realities,
realities we do not experience on a daily basis. The research,
done on the paranormal aspects of the mind seems more acceptable to the scientific establishment, but both fields have
abundant amounts of case-history evidence that open them
up to investigation.
. Upon examination of case-history evidence found in the
UFO field, a perhaps surprising discovery can be made. There
are numerous accounts of UFO incidents, especially closeencounter incidents, that involve a large interplay of psychicor,paranormal mental experience. People who have had no
previous experience with psychic phenomena have found
themselves psychically aware and participants, too, in the
world of the paranormal both' during and after their first
UFO experience.
Why are such effects reported? How and why are UFOs
and the paranormal related? What tentative conclusions can
. we draw about reality from these events? To understand these
questions and their. answers we need some background of
knowledge about both fields. Only then can we determine
what role the paranormal plays in conjunction with the UFO
phenomenon. To get a brief look at some overt examples of
psychic/UFO interplay, these next few cases are presented.
There are numerous other examples, some of which have
been recounted in the present UFO literature. They all show
various aspects of psychic events experienced with close UFO
encounters and giv~ us a background for the exploration of
the reasons and meanings inherent in them.

Two of four photographs laken by Helio Aguiar over a beach near

.'
Piala, Brazil on April 24, 1959.. '

April 24, 1959 - Piata, Brazil:- Helio.Aguiar, a thirty-yearold accountant was riding a motorcycle when.he observed a
silvery, domed disc with windows, moving slowly overhead.
He stopped and took three photographs of the object and was
winding his camera for the fourth. picture when he began to
feel "a pressure in his brain," and a state of progressive confusion overtook him. He felt vaguely as if he were being
ordered by someone to write something down. It was as
though he were being hypnotized.' He passed out~ Upon
awakening he found himself slumped over his cycle, a piece
of paper in his hand. On it, in his own handwriting, was a
message: "Put an absolute stop to all atomic tests for warlike
purposes. The balance of the universe is threatened. We shall
remain vigilant and ready to intervene." The photographs
were developed and clearly show a detailed, domed disc
hovering low over the nearby Atlantic Ocean.
Pursuit 74

November?, 1966 - Parkersberg, West Virginia - William

Deren berger , salesman, was dr.iving when he came upon a
strange vehicle hovering just above the road. He stopped his
. car and was approached by a man of dark complexion dressed in ~hat appeared to be blue vinyl shirt and pants. The man
smiled at Derenberger and, although no words were spoken,
the witness telepathically received a message describing
another world and was told to report. the meeting to
authorities. Several people driving by reported seeing the man
speaking to Derenberger.
.
September 1,1965 - Huanaco, Peru -:- A foreigner to Peru
who desires anonymity made the following report.' Early in
the morning, for no apparent reason, this man felt overcome
with a strange sensation which seemed to impel him to go to a
certain spot on an airstrip belonging to a large, private esta~e.
As he arrived at the spot he saw an oval UFO descend and
land very near to him. A small, human-like being with an
enlarged cranium and about three "feet tall, emerged from the
vehicle and began making: gestures or signs as if trying to
communicate. The being then re-entered the machine which
began to glow and then ascended vertically into the sky. .
March 13, 1963 - Richards Bay, South Africa - Fred
White, a fisherman, had ~een a UFO a year before with
Harry O'Dank, while nigh~ fishing ne,ar North Beach, Durban, approximately 150 miles from Richards Bay. On this
night he was ashore and had just finished dinner and decided
to take a stroll along the beach. It was about '10:30 p.m.
While walking, he became aware of a high-pitched whining
sound and saw a very bright light moving south about 200
feet above the water. It changed direction and descended to
the beach, stopping about 100 feet from him. White saw it
was a dome<;l saucer and through a porthole he saw a faircomplexioned, well-built man wearing a "crash" helmet. The
craft began humming and displayed a pulsating green light. It
suddenly ascended into the sky, scattering sand on the beach
in the process. Several years later, in September of 1966,
White was hospitalized with a collapsed lung. He reported
that the same man "walked into my room, pulled up a chair
and repeated my name." He was wearing a glowing, pulsating wristwatch and while smiling and engaging White in conversation he reached over and touched White's arm and
chest. He told White not to be alarmed and to be prepared for
beneficial changes and more 'contacts.' He did not elaborate.
After his visitor had left, White reported that his chest was
free of pain and he was able to breathe freely. Medical examination showed his lung to be completely normal, i.e. to
have been re-inflated and the hole that caused the puncture
was completely healed. The doctor treating White stated: "I
have never seen anything like it."
August 13, 1975 - Tucson, Arizona - Mr. Lewis (a pseudonym), thirty years old, a serviceman and preferring complete anonymity, recounts this'story in several interviews wit.h
members of the Aerial Phenomenon Research Organization.
After getting off work at II :30 p.m. on August 12th, Lewis
decided to drive out and watch the Perseid meteor shower of
August 13th'. At 12:30 he drove for fifteen minutes into the
country and stopped, exiting his car to watch the sky: At 1:20
a.m. a large, dull grey metal disc 'dropped' out of the sky and
Second Quarter 1988

hovered about twenty feet above the ground. To the right

center of the disc a rectangular lighted window was visible.
Human-shaped forms could be seen moving about inside and
the object began emitting a strange buzzing sound. Lewis
became frightened and got back into his car, but he could not
start the engine. He remembers being very frightened at this
point. The buzzing noise then stopped and he felt a calmness
coming over him, "like I was floating on a cloud." The disc
then began to rise into the sky and his fear returned. Now his
car started and, as he began to drive for home, he noticed that
his wristwatch read 2:45 a.m. Lewis was certain that he had
watched the disc for no more than a few minutes and had no
idea what had occurred between 1:20 and 2:45 a.m.
November 1966 - Owatonna, Minnesota - Mrs. Ralph
Butler and another woman were watching the night sky,
observing "little flashers," a name they used for the nocturnallights that had become commonplace around Owatonna. Suddenly one of the lights descended rapidly and hovered
a few feet above the ground near them. It had multicolored
lights flickering around a disc-shaped rim. Mrs. Butler's
friend fell to her knees with her head bowed, seemingly in
some kind of trance. She abruptly began speaking in a
strange, high-pitched voice: "What is your time cycle?," she
asked. Mrs. Butler, surprised, tried to explain about days,
hours, minutes. A few more seemingly trivial questions about
time followed and then the other woman came out of the
trance. "Boy, I'm sure glad that's over," she remarked.
Later, both women came down with intense headaches whenever they tried to discuss the incident. Mrs. Butler wrote to
John Keel, a UFO investigator, and for some reason did not
experience a headache when he called to ask about the incident. She told him the details of the experience as well as
about unusual poltergeist activity that she and her husband
had noticed around their home immediately after the incident.
November 24, 1964 - New Berlin, Connecticut - Mrs.
Mary Williams (a pseudonym) and her mother-in-law were
staying at the older woman's house when they witnessed the
landing and apparent repair of two unusual vehicles which
resembled "flying saucers." Mrs. Williams had stepped out
onto the porch for some fresh air at about 12:30 a.m. when
she saw an unusually bright light descend rapidly from the
sky. It leveled off and began moving slowly, parallel to a
creek bed across the road from the house. Several cars went
by as the object drifted back and forth and the drivers seemed
to see the object as they, at first, slowed and then drove off at
a high speed. Mrs. Williams then called her mother-in-law's
attention to the object. At this point it moved in one direction
along the creek bed and up the side of a nearby hill to a point
later determined to be 3800 hundred feet from the witnesses.
The women got a pair of binoculars and observed the object
land. She also saw five or six men get out and walk about it.
They were dressed in tight-fitting "diver's suits" that were
darker than their skin and they seemed to be six feet or more
in height. Soon, a second object arrived and landed next to
the first and it, also, discharged a number of men. Both sets
of men then seemed to become busy in efforts to repair the
first object by moving a section out from its underside, working on it and then replacing it. They did this several times until about 5:00 a.m., when both objects rose into the air and
moved off in the direction from which they had arrived.
When asked why she didn't call anyone to report the incident
or to get more witnesses, Mrs. Williams indicated that she felt
as if the men on the hill did not wish her to do so. When the
Second Quarter 1988

object had first hovered near her house, she had received the
distinct impression that she was being watched by several peo~
pie, that they were friendly and that they only wanted to get
their machine fixed and leave. She knew, by some sort of
telepathic process, that they did not want her to call anyone,
as they might come with guns and bother them. She stated
that she was aware of the occupants' thoughts somehow and
that they knew she would not call attention to their presence.
What are we dealing with here? Well, certainly the existence of a UFO reality cannot be denied - there are, on
record, thousands of detailed reports of close encounters with
unusual, structured and intelligently controlled vehicles crewed by beings of various natures and appearances. Physical
evidence exists in abundance, including photographs, radar
returns, ground traces, electromagnetic effects and even
metal fragments. In most of the more extensive reports,
events of a psychic nature have repeatedly surfaced.
If psychic or paranormal events interest us, and by seeking
to understand them we may find it. more complete awareness
of. ourselves, then it would be informative for us to have a
clear picture of their intricate relationship with the UFO
phenomenon. This is one reason why an understanding of the
real nature of the UFO is attractive.
From the early fifties to the present' time UFOs have been
considered to be visitors from outer space. Other ways of
viewing them have also become popular. UFOs represent
mankind's 'collective unconscious,' relates one school of
thought. They are 'psychic projections' and 'manifestations
of psychokinetic energy.' Before we discuss the nature of
these views let's review why the idea of UFOs as visitors from
outer space has begun to fade.
One of the primary drawbacks of the extraterrestrial hypothesis for UFOs is the large magnitude and diversity of the
phenomenon. There are numbers of UFO incidents on a daily
basis on our planet and only about twenty percent can be fit
into correlative patterns. The majority of events are unique,
having characteristics of vehicle structure and occupant
description that are seldom reported more than once. This
large number of unique UFO incidents is a strong argument
against their existence as interstellar visitors.
Carl Sagan and other scientists have shown, by mathematical deduction, it can be demonstrated that, to account for the
large number of UFO incidents, especially the unique incidents implying separate origins, our galaxy would have to
be literally overrun by advanced civilizations. They claim that
by taking into view such factors as the number of stars in the
galaxy,: the probable number of such stars having planetary
systems, the number of such planets where life has been initiated, the probability of civilized Iifeforms, etc., it can be
shown that there should be approximately ten million advanced civilizations capable of visiting Earth. Considering the
vastness of our galaxy (one hundred billion stars within an
area of one hundred thousand light years), each one of these
civilizations would have to launch ten thousand interstellar
expeditions per year for Earth to be visited only once every
twelve months. UFO activity of a confirmed, investigated
nature sustains itself at approximately three incidents per
week. I feel, logically speaking, they cannot all be interstellar
visitations.
It is this sort of reasoning that has led many researchers to
the view that UFOs are manifestations of some sort of human
frustration with an imperfect world. This view, however, is
also difficult to maintain in light of practical considerations.
Pursuit 75

First, there is little or no evidence for the reality of such a

'collective psyche.' There is a great deal of evidence for the
physical reality of UFOs. The concept of UFOs as products
of the 'human unconscious' cannot explain that physical
reality. If an entity called 'the collective psyche' did exist,
why are there manifestations of UFOs? As a function of the
human unconscious would not the manifestations be of a
much more diverse and miscellaneous nature? There is
evidence of a greater whole of which we are a part. This
evidence seems to indicate that many paranormal events are
perceived as such because of our cultural (and resultant individual) split from this whole. This concept, however, encompasses much more than a simple postulation of a 'collective human unconscious' that manifests itself through UFOs.
Another approach to the psychic explanation for UFOs involves the individual manifestations of UFO events by means
of psychokinetic, projections. It is well known that poltergeist
phenomena take place usually in the presence of an agent,
often a pre-adolescent child experiencing an unusually difficult transition into our cultural reality. It is speculated that
UFO activity could be similar, the incident taking place
through a psychic projection of one of the witnesses. This explanation, although more secured in reality than the 'collective psyche' view, is inadequate. While studies, especially in
the USSR, show definite evidence for psychokinetic abilities
in certain individuals, they are nowhere near the magnitude
implied in the UFO phenomenon. To project by p~ychokine
sis (PK) a structured, metallic v~hicle that demonstt:ates
strong electromagnetic effects and which can be photographed, seen and detected by radar is far beyond what has been
observed in psychic demonstrations: Such psychic projections
would imply almost limitless psychic powers inherent in individuals, powers which they use without being aware of
them as such. This seems very unlikely.
From what. has been observed of the UFO phenomenon
over the past forty years, the most tenable hypothesis is that
they represent a reality outside of our psyches, but an extremely diverse and almost inexplicable ~>ne. There seem to be
two or three different groups of visitors to our planet and
many others of a unique and numerous nature. The majority
of cases fall into this last category; implying that our planet is
being visited by various types of beings. This (loes not mean
that they are projections of our minds. There is the possibility
of alternate realities, other dimensions, other places of which
we are at present totally unaware. Considering these concepts,
we also notice that these "visitors" display strong psychic
abilities not limited to one type or group. Tpe psychic
manifestations seem to be a common denominator in all types
of close-encounter incidents. This has tremendous significance for our world and culture.
What does this common denominator suggest to our view
of the paranormal? Let us consider what has been shown.
UFOs seem to represent many types of intelligent visitors to
our planet. They may come from many different places or
realities, in fact, they must do so in order. to explain their
presence. There are logical considerations that. points to a
common mechanism or agency behind a great deal of UFO
activity, but along with this there seem to be large numbers of
other, more random visitors to our world. How is it that they
have such easy access to the paranormal? Is it because they
are technologically advanced and their psychic senses are also
advanced proportionately? Or is there some other reason or
reasons?
First of all, it does not seem logical that because a race of
Pursuit 76

The photographs shown on this page H1ustrate the variety of models

of UFOs reported around the world. Each of these photos have been
the subject of considerable attention and, in each case, no evidence
has surfaced which would show it to have been faked. In three of
these cases, evidence blJS1i!d on details of backgrounds in relation to
shadows and time of day are elltremely difficult to explain without
admitting to the reality of the incidents. The high "uniqueness
factor" represented by t~e many different types of UFOs and. occupants is, surprisingly, evidence that they do not originate in 'outer
space.'

Secon9 Quarter 1988

intelligent beings is technologically advanced they would

necessarily by psychically advanced. Our human race has
made tremendous technological advances in the last two hundred years yet we are no more psychically aware now than we
were in 1788. Let's look at this from a different viewpoint.
Many sensitives or psychically gifted people have stated that it
is their feeling that all people have psychic abilities. It seems
that most people just do not have access to these abilities or
do not know how to use them. Could it be that all human beings, especially the more intelligent ones, have a psychic component in their make-ups and that we earthlings, for some
reason, are not fully aware of this?
There is some solid evidence in this direction. Charles Tart,
a parapsychologist at the University of California, relates an
experiment in which a subject was placed in a sensory
deprivation environment. He was told of another subject
down the hall who was to be given electrical shocks at random intervals and was asked to signify those moments when
he felt, by psychic means, that the other subject was being
shocked. The first man, in addition to his condition of sensory deprivation, was monitored physiologically to determine
such things as heart rate, breathing rate, amount of perspiration, etc. The experiment proceeded, with the second man being shocked at random intervals and the first man pushing a
button whenever he thought that the other was getting "zapped." The experiment mechanically demonstrated that the
first subject's physiological response peaked noticeably each
time the other testee received "a shock. His conscious guesses,
however, were consistently incorrect. In other words, the ma"n
knew at some level" exactly when the other man was being
"shocked and subconciously his body's responses expressed
that knowledge, whereas at a conscious level he simply did
not know when the shock occurred.
This and other similar data point to an important concept
in parapsychology. The paranormal is not unusual at all. Indeed, it is normal, and for some reason most of us are not
usually consciously aware that it is. For whatever reason, we
are not fully whole in our awareness and therefore do not
make full use of this component of our nature. There could
be many reasons for this but it seems to be a fact as indicated
by research in various parapsychological laboratories. If our
other-worldly visitors come from cultures that do not share
this psychic inhibiting factor, then use of psychic abilities
would be a natural adjunct of their appearance. In case after
case, this turns out to be exactly what occurs. With this in
mind, we must ask ourselves an important question. What" is
it about our culture that inhibits our development in this
direction? What is it that prevents us from making use of a
natural part of our make-up, the so-called extra-sensory perceptions?
To truly appreciate how we may not be seeing the full picture in many UFO reports, we should return to the 'collective
unconscious' concept and admit that there are certain signs
that some sort of collective knowledge may exist, or that, at
least in small groups, human beings can show evidence for
unconsciously shared concepts.
There is evidence that we may, in small populations, shiue
an unconscious consensus reality which transcends ordinary
knowledge in a psychic manner. Two relatively recent experiments stand out as examples of this. A.R.G. Owen, a mathematician and parapsychologist, initiated one of these. He
assembled a group of eight people who, working together.
made up the story of a ghost. They gave the ghost the name
of 'Phillip' and cast him as an aristocrat from the time of
King Charles of England. Phillip, as the story went, had

Second Quarter 1988

"fallen in love with a Gypsy girl. His wife found out about the
affair and brought charges of witchcraft against the girl,
resulting in her trial and the sentence of death. Phillip, afraid
to come forth with the truth, became despondent and committed suicide." Once they had created the personality of
Phillip, the group began to hold regular seances in an effort
to contact his 'lost spirit.' Soon Phillip arrived on cue, began
communicating to the group and produced audible raps and
table tilting in full view of audio-visual equipment set up to
record events.
The other example involved an experiment conducted by
Alvin H. Lawson, a professor of English at California State
University; John DeHerrera, an APRO investigator; and Dr.
W.c. McCall of Anaheim, "California. These researchers
selected a screened group of eight volunteers who had read little or no UFO literature and knew almost nothing about the
subject. The volunteers were separately hypnotized and asked
to imagine themselves abducted by a UFO. The results were
very important to any consideration of UFO abduction
reports retrieved by hypnosis, and tend to show that we may
all share some hidden 'UFO archetypes.' What surfaced were
richly detailed accounts which conformed closely with details
of supposedly 'real' abductions also brought out by hypnosis.
The fact that the imaginary reports were virtually indistiguishable from actual reports has caused many investigators to take hypnotically recalled abduction reports
with skepticism.
Without completely defining the real nature of UFO
events, we can still perceive that psychic influence is exerted
upon witnesses on a repeated basis. There have been
numerous cases where this influence has been evident at a
conscious level. (We may omit cases made up largely of information retrieved by hypnosis. Lawson's experiment and the
inherently unreliable nature of hypnosis indicate that these
cases may not be real or at least should not be taken at face
value. In every UFO incident where missing memories are
brought back by hypnosis, it should be noted that the missing
material could very well be only a screen, a cover story
planted precisely so that investigators would retrieve it and
consider it reaL) UFO agencies involved in interactions with
humans are known to be presenting information in various
ways and at different levels. Part of this presentation, (a
significant part), involves the use of psychic abilities. If so,
events of a psychic nature, then, are admittedly a consistent
part of the UFO phenomenon and occupants of UFOs seem"
to possess a much greater mastery of psychic abilities than do
most humans.
One alternative way of viewing psychic events is to" see
them not as Interactions between minds or as mind over matter but as the direct influence of mind upon reality. In this
sense, psychic results that seem to show telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis and other examples of psi are seen in a
very different light than is currently entertained. Psychic
events are generally thought of as being the result of some, as
yet, unidentified mental force or energy. For instance, if a
person rolling dice comes up with sevens ten times out of ten
(while concentrating on rolling sevens), he is considered to be
'influencing the dice' in some unknown way. The problem
with this is that the amount of energy required to actually
move the dice into alignments showing sevens can be
measured; it turns out that the entire electrical output of the
brain is only an extremely small fraction of this measure of
energy. There is no known way, no mechanism, no force, no
energy that can explain "how the unaided" human brain could
possibly affect the movement of the dice. The alternative
Pursuit 77

Three original witnesses to Marian vision of Fatima in 1916. "

Other chUdren viewing apparition al Garabandal

in 1961.
.
.

theory is that he is not, in fact, influencing. the dice at all but

is, by for~e of will, moving himselfinto that 'series of worlds'
where sevens happen to come up. This theory is much more
compatible with the facts of physics and even provides a surprisingly coherent proof of the 'many universes' concept of
quantum mechanics.
This concept basically postulates that the universe is in the
process of being created from moment to moment and that at
each' moment it branches out into many alternate 'probability
states,' each 'existing as a reality which becomes manifest only
when we actually choose to move into one or the other. There.
is a very secure basis for this concept in the study of small
particle physics. Simply. put, you face a choice of many.
worlds at each moment and the world of your reality is th.e
one you choose to believe in, act upon, create and enter. As
an example of this, each morning you face a choice between
getting up and going to work or calliI:1g in sick and going to
the beach. Before your cqoice, each of these .probable worlds
exists. Upon your choice you enter into one or the other. Your
choice actually determines reality, for your. movement into
one or the other probability states coalesces that state into the
reality of your experience .
.Telepathy, perhaps, then be'comes the process of moving,
by will, into that world where your though,ts exactly match
Pursuit 78

those of others. Precognition is the process of moving into

that world where, your ideas coincide with actual future
events. Psychokinesis becomes the process of moving into
that world where the effect you want is actually taking place.
This theory presupposes an extremely intimate link between
our ininds and the universe, but recent research in pl:tysics
leads to exactly the same conclusion. [n this theory we need
not find a mechanical link or causative factor, a mysterious
ether or any. type of unmeasureable 'mental force.' In this
theory we find that t.he universe consists of a consciousness
and we are local nodes or foci for this consciousness. In this
sense, we find a ready explanation. for many 'paranormal'
events. '
The miracles of Christ, for instance, become explainable in'
a straightforward manner. Christ, being unusually well aware
of his real place in the universe (" I am the son of the father"),
is easily able to move into his choice of universes, coalescing
or creating that reality he desires most. As a human being endowed with an unusually great awareness and an indomitable
will, he is able to move into a very wide choice of possible
worlds, simply by wishing it. [n his ch,oice of possible worlds,
he feeds the multitudes, walks on water and heals the sick. It
should be noted' that, as far as Christians can tell, he not only
has moved himself into the worlds of his choice, he has also
created that same world for us.
The consideration to be made here is, that the choice of
worlds we collectively make is the one in which we collectively
live. Those individuals and groups who can and do exercise a
greater choice through their greater ability likewise have a
greater influence upon the collective reality. It is a fact that
the. agencies of the UFO phenomenon have clearly shown a
much .greater ability to influence reality in this manner than
have we, the human race in general. The implication here is
clear. Our pa,th, our world, our history - in fact much of our
reality could be a construct, largely formed by more advanced
others. This construct, without a doubt, has a rationale. We
are being guided in a certain direction, for a certain reason.

Second Quarter 1988

What If Scientists Accepted Psi?

by dohn Tho.as Richards
Suppose that the scientific establishment came to accept the
reality of ESP and PK, in the same way that orthodox scientists accept the reality of neutrons and positrons, although
only a relatively small number of scientists deal directly (or indirectly) with these subatomic particles. This is an .unlikely
supposition, on the order of supposing that the Inquisitors of
the Church would accept the reality visible through Galileo's
telescope. For any established body of thinkers to change
their minds about unorthodox concepts, we must as~ume t~at
conviction has come through necessity, not through logi~al
processes. In order for a country to navigate the globe, its.
thinkers must painfully reject the flat-earth hypothes.is .and
consider that Columbus might be right; in order to explore,
conquer, and exploit this globe, Renaissance thinkers did
have to abandon medieval concepts about nature. The alternative meant being dominated rather than dominating so, of
necessity, the thinkers of the western world changed their
minds. But the real change came when new theories were
given practical applications, not when scientific thinkers always the vast minority - accepted the reality of new ideas.
Just now, by analogy, psi research is in the kite-and-key
stage of development. There are many theories; journals are
replete with them, and nobody much cares, outside of the
narrow field of psi research. It is fairly easy to suppose that
enough experiments in enough psi laboratories may someday
be conducted to overcome the resistance of a majority of
reasonable, fair-minded orthodox scientists. While James
McClenon's studies have shown that elite scientists tend to
oppose the reality of psi, this is largely because the elite
minority in any field tend to protect their high reputations by
remaining away from controversial concepts. While a Haldane might have championed psychical research in his day, a
Wheeler cannot afford to do so now. An establishment of
any kind defers largely to the body of opinions of its members; it is only nominally ruled from the top, down. With sufficient evidence, the majority of scientists will eventually, perhaps reluctantly, accept the reality of psi and go on to other
business. However, when "psionics" is itself an orthodox sci. entific discipline, I suspect that it will still be in the Ben
Franklin kite-and-key stage of usefulness.
From a pragmatic standpoint, in order for a field of scientific experimentation to matter in the slightest to anyone outside its own boundaries, it must "do work." The scientific establishment of Franklin's day, the "amateurs," might have
found his discovery about electricity fascinating; there is
every historical evidence that many did become excited. However, work with electricity had to go on beyond that point, or
Franklin's discovery would be only an historical oddity, not
even worthy of a footnote today. If we had to wait for a
thunderstorm for our electric lights to work, the manufacturers of oil lamps and candles would be very happy. We are
currently in this position in psi research. If everyone in the
scientific community agreed that electricity exists and, under
the right natural conditions, can be proven, but that the same
electricity could not be controlled and made to do work, it
would be as "useful" as the reality of black holes in space,
i.e. it would not affect our lives at all.
This is the position that I foresee for psi research. I have
worked with the SORRAT* experiments since 1961. I know,
from personal observation, that ESP exists, and that PK
somehow moves target objects - and a vast number of ranSecond Quarter 1988

dom objects, also. I know that W.E. Cox's mini-lab films of

PK in sealed, transparent containers are quite genuine. Experience has taught me this during the last twenty-six years.
Any person capable of objective observation and common
reason would learn the same lessons, and, if enough people
replicate the SORRAT experiments, particularly Cox's minilab experiments, they will realize that PK is a real force in the
physical world. Having learned this, they will be better people, for it' is always an improvement in character to learn a
truth, eveJ;l an unwelcome truth. However, after the first wild
flush of realization passes, they will learn something else, too;
the e~istence of ESP imd PK does not alter the world at all, if
these forces cannot be regularized and used at will by the
average person under normal conditions, and every shred of
evidence indicates that the psi force, whatever it is, operates
erratically. It is as unreliable - and potentially as dangerous
- as lightning. It is not a constant, like gravity; it does not
manifest itself all of the time. Even the finest psychic cannot
produce a manifestation of psi at will, on demand. Even if
such a psychic existed, he or she would still be the "one white
crow." If only one person in a city could turn on a switch and
get electricity to make a lightbulb glow, everyone else would
still use candles, and consider the light-maker an interesting
freak of nature.
It would be pleasant - or frightening - to think that,
someday, long-distance communication will normally be
done by telepathy. However, the telephone companies are
unlikely to lose customers because of this. Whether the scientific community thinks telepathy possible or not is quite irrelevant. If they did think so, this manifestation of psi would
still work only part of the time, and quite unreliably. If a
telepath regularly scored seventy per cent hits with an ESP
card deck, he would still be wrong thirty per cent of the time,
and that could not be tolerated in the business world, or in
any other area of communication outside the parapsychology
laboratory. The same is true with precognition. If someone
could accurately guess the stock market, or the gaming tables,
two things would happen. First, validated by a scientific establishment which believed in ESP, legislators would put the
use of precognition in the same category as all other Insider
trading, and the proven prognosticator would go to prison if
he did make money on the stock market. Already, it is commonly known, people who win too frequently at Las Vegas
are "gently" urged not to gamble there again. Although military intelligence has looked into remote viewing as a means
of gathering information, little has been learned, and nothing
that a spy satellite could not photograph better, (as far as I
know).
In the area of PK research, while anyone who is not a dyedin-the-wool CSICOP member would have to agree that
there is ample evidence that PK exists, there is no real
evidence that PK can do practical tasks more efficiently than
ordinary physical force can achieve. If you want a light to
blink, you. do not need a Schmitt machine; you can hook up
an ordinary electrical circuit and operate the light by pushing
a button, and this method will work every time, not just 53%
of the time. As for target-object movements, if you want a
cube to leave traces in a coffee tray, you can take the tray out
"Society jor Research on Rapport and Telekinesis - see article in
PURSUIT Volume 18, #4.

Pursuit 79

of a mini-lab box and push the cube about by hand. In the

SORRAT experiments I have seen table levitation. However,
it would be far easier to pick up the table and lift it into the
air, if that is what one desires, rather than going to Skyrim
Farm and sitting with a group around the table fo.r over an
hour and watching the table finally move - or sit there; even
at Skyrim, only approximately one third of the experin:tents
have been at all successful and, then, only a few have been
spectacular.
As a member of SORRAT, I am pleased when we do get
positive results, and am patient when we do not, but for practical application of psi energy to perform physical work, I.
must conclude that PK is quite an inefficient method. Those
businessmen who hoped that Dr. Peter Phillips would find a
way to make PK work every time, on earth or in space shuttles, simply did not understand the .willful, erratic natur~ of
the beast. It was this ultimate failure that doomed the
McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research, rather than

the ridicule which CSICOP heaped upon this worthwhile project. If PK works only sometimes, at best, it is of no practical
value to industry.
Sadly, then, I must conclude that, even if the scientific esta!?li~.bment Cllm'>-t~-~--,-,t the reality of ESP and PK, the
mge is that The Amazing Randi
. to learn how to make his living
)ws.
'ERENCES

otes: Answers 10 Frequently Asked

'ology and Psychic Phenomena, San
2.

,ce Foundation, 1981.

k in Progress, 20 South brook Drive,

3.'

'cience: The Case of Parapsychology,

~ennsylvania

4.

SITUations

wm the'Real' Stonehenge
Please Stand Up
. Newly Foaad Slab Ha....
Que.tloas About Stoaeheage
A recently discovered stone slab, apparently intended for use at Stonehenge, could be
crucial in proving a remarkable new theory
about the monument's origin.
The slab might show that a Stonehenge ring
of distinctive "blue stones" was actu8ny once
part of. another stone circle elsewhere in Britain that was completely dismantled, tninsported and incorporated in the great
monolith.
This theory suggests that construction of
one of the world's most extraordinary edifices
was less a matter of religious self-sacrifice by
Stone Age Britons, as has been supposed, and
more a maUer of colonial exploitation. of
other tribes.
The discovery of the new stone slab believed to be a blue stone - in the Daugleddau River is therefore very important because
it might provide the information needed to
prove or disprove the blue stone theory.
"If the stone is found to be dressed and
carefully shaped when it is eventually taken
out of the river, that will suggest it had
already been part of another stone ring,;'
Richards said. "Of course, if it is relatively
rough and only crudely cut, then that would
tend to disprove the theory.
.
"Everyone assumes the blue stones were
moved from a Welsh quarry in a rough form
before being carefully shaped and incorporated at Stonehenge," said archaeologist
Julian Richards, who has just completed a
major survey of Stone Age settlements near
the monument. "But it is equally possible the
stones were transported in completed form,
from a ring that had already beeiJ. built. I t
The Welsh connection with Stonehenge
was discovered in 1923 when a geologist
discovered that the blue-spotted dolomite
stones at the circle were the same as those
Pursuit 80

found at Carn Meini on the Preseli Hills 135

miles away.
.t is now generally accepted that Preseli is
the original source of the blue stones.
Whether they went directly to Stonehenge is
an open question.
The idea that the blue stones, which form
two of the four main rings at Stonehenge,
were taken from another monument heips explain one of archaeology's major puzzles:
Why go to the extraordinary trouble of moving stones, so~e weighing more than 50 tons,
from a site so far distant?
Taking already dressed stones would have
meant far less work for its builders. In addition, it is now known there existed a great deal
of trade between the regions.
"Nor do you have to suppose that
Stonehenge's builders simply invaded 'that
part of Wales, subjugated the locals and forced them to take their stones to Wiltshire,"
said Richards. "It is quite conceivable that
Stonehenge was considered to be such an important religious project that the original
blue-stone owners gladly gave them away and
h~ped in its construction."
The discovery of the new blue stone has
kindled new interest in Stonehenge at a time
when seasonal interest in the monument is
already growing. Police and militarY security
officers from nearby army bases have already
started - watching for groups of hippies
reported moving into the area for the summer'
solstice festivities.
SOURCE: The Wilmington
News-Journal, DE 6/11/88
CREOrr: H. Hollander

An:haeologlsts BeHeve Fiad

May Be Indlaa Stoaeheage
Archaeologists believe a circle of boulders
found on Beaver Island in Michigan may have
been a primitive calendar, akin to Englimd's

Press, 1984.
in Progress, 1001 Jones Avenue,

.-,--

famous Stonehenge, which enabled Indians to

track the movement of the sun and determine
the seasons.
.
And some American Indian leaders said
there may have been spiritual significance to
. the. 1,000-year-oid rocks, arranged in a
397-foot-diameter circle in an' overgrown
brushy area that once was a clearing near the
shore of the island.
If it is verified that the boulders are astronomically aligned, the B~ver Island site could
represent one of the major discoveries of
prehistoric landmarks in North America, experts said. Donald Heldman, archaeologist
for the Michilimackinac State Park in Mackinaw City, said he is convinced the rocks were
placed in their positions by humans but stressed more research is needed to determine the
purpose of the arrangement.
SOURCE: (UPI) Philadelphia Inquirer, PA
6/20/88
CREDrr: H. Hollander

Amedca'. 'Stoaeheage'
America's Stonehenge is the name given to
what is believed to be a megalithic calendar
site at Salem, about 20 miles southeast of
Manchester, N.H. In the center of the main
site, on a hilltop, are 22 structures - walls
and chambers - and in the area around it are
large standing granite slabs set among more
walls, Th~se sl~lJs !ire astronomically aligned,
supporting. the theory that the area was laid
out 4,000 years ago by an advanced civilization that studied the movement of the sun,
moon and stars. Some of the monoliths are
aligned with sunrise and sunset on the solstices
and equinoxes on March 22, June 21, Sept. 22
and Dec. 21.
Casts of inscriptions found on the site are
among eXhibits in the museum at the entrance
lodge on state Route III in ~em. From there
it is about a five-minute walk to the hilltop.
The privately owned site is open daily through
October from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and in
November on weekends only.
.
SOuilCE: Sun, Baltimore, MD
. 6/~/88
CREDrr: H. Hollander

Second Quarter 1988

The 'Greene County Films

An Approach to Seeing U.F.O.s
by Gary Levine, Ph.D.
: Gary Levine 1988
There i" a notion thai UFOs cannol be photographed. and
WilhOlIi photographs or moving piclUres lillie can be done 10
e"labli"h Iheir existence, During the past four decade~ there
have been few photographic examples Ihat have remained in
an undao;sified or unknown category, and these usually depici'
barely discernable. amorphous shapes which, it ,was hoped,.
might be capable of explanation at some future date when information about the circumstances of their filming became
available.
The o;hort strips of 16mm motion-picture film called the
Tremonton. Utah film and the Mont'ana IiIm were reviewed
Triangular IbeUl-shaped UFO. Color photo showed red corona.
periodicall~' in the hope they could be explained as shots of
Ihal I workcd with over the years in an efforl to obtain UF( I
"nme natural occurrence or conventional aircraft. Nothing
phOlographs. For one reason or another I was unablc 10 pronew. though, ha..; vet been found to explain them. A more reduce acceptable results. BUI now I had another chance to pro,
~:cnt New Zealand film adds to the mystery by giving us a
ve that these elusive UFOs can be photographed. I loaned
glimpse of a still unidentified UFO. Other single photograph..;
have also raised que..;tiono; and have been subjected to careful
Mrs. Baldwin a compact Rollei 35mm camera loaded with
high-o;peed black and white film and awaited the results.
'crtlliny. Hut a few of Iheo;e have also defied scientitic analysi\
and have resisted attempts to identify them as something
After several months and many spent rolls of film I believed
other than what they are purported to be.
that this method, too, was a failure. Mrs. Baldwin completcd
Ihe last roll of film on August 19, 1986 and it was proee..;"cd
\l\ihy ha..; il been ,0 dilTiculi 10 oblain clear. sharply delined
through an outlet I frequently used_ The results were heartenphOlograph\ or movieo; of UFOs'? The answer lies with the
ing for after many years of research my work paid olT. The
picture laker and Ihe picture-laking process existing in a
phOiographs showed the broken light streaks associated with
"pedal communion. UFOo; arc a unique phenomenon which
UHh and IWO triangles - one above the other.
must be viewcd in a \pel,:ial \\'ay_ In fact. Ihey are so unique
I gave Mrs. Baldwin a Minolla XL-400 super-8 movic
that the communicali(ln\ gap between parapsychologist~ and
~amera and a Ricoh FF-I 3Smm camera and monitored her
ufologists and al..;o between phy..;icio;to; and ufologists has to be
pk-lUre-laking activilies more closely. She always had Ihe
narrowed with the hope of beller under'tanding their charac,
~ameru, at hand and. depending upon atmospheric conditeristics.
liom. waited for the UFOs she fell she could easily identify_
To qualify for taking UFO photographs. particularly those
AnOlher nine rolls of film were taken by Mrs. Baldwin.
outside the range of human vi,ion. the photographer should
and a few by myself. which show UFOs OFvarious shapes and
poo;sess above average ahility 10 distinguish between natural
form". The rolls vary in contem as follows:
and abnormal aerial object'. Undcr certain circumstances he
I. Several ~econds of a blinking light.
or she could ..;ense Iheir preo;ence illluitively. This special
2_ Two large "needles" which emit a very bright light.
awareness mighl resull from contact in an area of high UFO
3_ A large ellipsoidal-shaped object leaving a shady imagc
activity. Experience in simply,idelllifying the objects is not a
of itselL
..;uffident explanation by il..;elf. An area of high UFO activity,
4_ An ellipsoidal light that was blinking and moving in
however. mu..;t he located before these factoro; are relevant.
various directions.
Certain UFO photographs arc paranormal because they
S. Two brightly colored orange-red triangles moving in
depict UFOo; which arc invisible to Ihe naked (or unaided) eye
various directions_
when photographed. They are also paranormal when they ap6_ One white light: then IWO white lights which divide:
pear in an area of Ihc photo's negalivc where they should not
and then three white light~ appear.
be or where Ihe normal photographic processes are in-.
7. An unidentifit:d helicopter. One white light. in the
operable. They fit Ihi..; definition when they assume a certain
center of film. which is blinking_
,hape for the piclUJ'c laker. in defiance of natural laws. It
8. A blinking white light: two triangles; and three whitc
..;eems UFO, are. allime..;. aware of Ihe picture-laking activity
lights in a straight line.
and make movemelllo; indicating recognition they are being
9. Two triangles which are on the IiIm several seconds_
obo;erved.
There are also red and white lights and two very small
When Ihe "peed of the motion-picture film of UFOs is
cylinders which are barely diseernable_
,lowed certain aspects of-.the phenomenon become apparent
The second roll of lilm is particularly interesting becau..;~
which are nOI vio;ible when the film i\ projected at normal
Mr,,_ Baldwin was only able 10 see a -number of red and whitc
"peed. Single frames of film can reveal millllle detail..; and are
ball, tloming in the night sky with her unaided eye_ She did
nncn an imporlant pari of Ihe analy..;i"
not o;ce the very bright "needles" which the camera picked
In Ihe "ummer of 19R5. I wa..; approachcd by a woman who
lip. The third roll depicts a bright object n:-aking tlullering
claimed that she observed UFO..; in variou\ place,_ After a
movement~ as it approaches Ihe camera. Rolls five. eight and
careful ~creening I decided ,10 IN Ihe validity of her c1aims_
ninc ~ho\\' bright triangle, which divide after being in COlli act
!\1r~, Pat rida Baldwin. who re,ided in a rural area of Greene
wilh cach other.
('ollnt\'. Ncw York. \\'a\ the latc\t of a numher or ~\Ihjech

Second

Q~arter

1988

Pursuit 81

One of many needle-shaped UFOs

Almost all of the UFOs were filmed in the early or latl'

evening when the sky was unlimited by clouds or haze and the
~tars dearly visible. There was nothing unusual abolll wind
velocity or the relative humidity. Reel number two was filmed
at intervals during the night of September I; 1986 between
R:OO and 10:00 p.m. (it was common; when filming, that the
UFO a~tivity continued for several hours); while the visibility
wa~ unlimited and the outdoor temperature kept near 60F.
Immediately after processing, each film was examined
frame by frame lIsing a Cambridge Copy-Tube R, a de\"ke
u'ied for making photographic prints from frames of 'iuper-H
motion-picture film. This is an extensive and time-consuming
I1rO~e'i'i since there are 4,050 frames in a .,ingle tifty-foOl roll
of Kodak Type-G Ektachrome color-movie film.
Mr'i. Baldwin filmed the UFOs when she believed that .. he
'iaw them and when .,he felt an inclination to IiIm. I witnessed
Mr'i. Baldwin film these UFOs on a number of occasion'i. AI
timc'i here husband and two of her four children were prescnt. I was also able to film a dark cigar-shaped UFO and a
doud-like ~ylindrically shaped UFO in the same general area
using another movie camera. These UFOs could be filmed 1". ing a variety of super-8 or 35mm cameras.
For the record, the Baldwim. arc a devout church-going
family and respected members of the community. Mr'i.
Baldwin is a li~en'ied practical nur.,e and a part-time ~ollegc
student; her husband i., a state employee. They are bOlh comdellllous hard-working people whom I consider to be of
good character arid who have cooperated fully in the inve'itigation of this phenomenon.
Mrs. Baldwin has an unusual aptitude enabling her to recognize and see UFOs in the day and evening sky. Such a tal
cnt can be termed "an acute and unusual visual perception"
whkh is the ability to photograph UFOs beyond the range of
"normal" human vision. One possibility as to why she ~an do
this involves her receptivity to images in the electromagnetic
spe~trum with the aid of a camera. This area of radiation
con'ii'its of light rays which continue from the violet end of a
band. where cosmic and gamma rays exist to the red end.
where microwaves and radiowaves are found. Most likely it i~
here that she filmed the two "needles" visible in reel two and
it i'i here the triangles and saucer-shaped objects go when the~
pas'i from the range of vision.
Light in the spectrum travels irregularly as though it i'i jum
ping from poim to point - the distance between these point ~
i~ termed wavelengths. The wavelength is measured in nano
meter.,. and humans can only "see" in the 400-700mm range.
whi~h is in the center of the spectrum. All other waveh!ngth~
l'an only be viewed by lIsing visual-assistance equipment.
Bee'i are the only animals that use all light in the 'ipectrllm
for their ,urvival, a fact established by the German biologi"l
Karl von Frisch. His c.'<periments prove that bees can U'ie lighl
from the 'ipe~trum to determine both direction and 10 di'ilin
gui,h between the colors of flowers. They can, for exampk.
be amacted to red poppies which appear blue-green 10 them
Pursuit 82

be~ause

they see rellected ultraviolet light absorbed by the

flowers. Humans can see only the red color and would have
difticulty in distinguishing "between these Ilowers and other
red tlowers.'
A clue to the unusual use of light and unseen images may
have been found by the eminent psychiatrist, Dr. Berthold E.
Schwarz who wasable to analyze and record- "paranormal"
photographs takenby such a gifted individual as Stella Lansing, a Massachusetts woman who possesses these most unusual abilities. She was able to make movies of UFOs which, in
some cases, were similar. to those taken by Mrs. Baldwin. Of
particular interest are the needle shapes which appear in films
taken by both individuals. A witness to Mrs. Lansing's talents
stated that her "speciaUsm seems to be her ability both to experience UFO sightings of fairly orthodox kinds (whatever
that orthodoxy might be) and also to impress images, especially the 'clocklike' formations, onto photographic film after
the manner of the psychic photographers."2
Mrs. Baldwin i~ able to sustain tilming of the UFOs for
almost a whole reel, as in the case of reel two; in other reel.;
she rickcd up or attracted the UFOs in the middle of, or just
at the end Qf. the reel. In several instances she filmed UFO'i
moving directly at her in large, brilliantly colored orange-red
balls. or as triangles separating from each other. The UFO'i
'iccmed 10 be aware of our. presence and, as in the case of reel
three. fluttered right up to the camera.
There still are mysteries to Mrs. Baldwin's abilities. Somc
time'i 'ihe ~an see UFOs without the camera, which could be
tho'ie pa'i'iing through the range of normal vision. She is able
to orient hcrself well, in relation to these UFOs knowing
wliere they are in the sky. She would say "look over there.
that''i one of them." Her ability to sense or be aware is al
lime, duc to experience and at times due to something elsc
aliogclher. whi~h could pO'isibly be intuition.
A careful examination of UFO reports indicates others also
havc had 'iimilar experiences. In the spring of 1978 a New
~a'itle. England YOUlh named Gary Colgate observed a mov-
ing light in the 'ky oUl'iide his bedroom window and filmed it
with hi, ,urer-8 movie camera. The developed movie film
.. howed a bright, ellipsoidal light followed by a smaller grecn
light whidl Gary ,aid wa' not visible to his unaided eye. At
thc timc the film wa'i taken no 'iensible explanation for Ihl'
ohjcct, ~ould be given.'
In a 19RI ca~c a woman from Vancouver Island, Briti'h
Columhia. lOok a rhotograph of a classic !lying saucer whkh
appeared ill a ,in!!lc frame of" ~5mm ~olornegative 'it rip. Thl'
anaIY'ii'i 'ihowed the di'ic was "a three-dimensional object 01
al lc,N ~() feet from t he camera whose surface, albeit. \\.",
dilhl'ic andior of lower-light lumines~ence like that of it
'iunlil doud. '" The picture taker was surprised when .. he
found the di'ic on Ihe negative and had no idea ho\\ il gOI
there. The invc'itigation showed the woman and her ramil~' 10
be quitc normal and of "high credibility." Did thi .. woman
PO"C'i'i a~ute vi,ual per~eption?

Second Quarter 1988

Single frame from a fdm of various UFO photos

Within the past year I have been able to monitor films and
photographs of Sharon Tompkins, a schoolteacher living in
rural Oneida County, in Upstate New York. Using cameras
similar to those used by Mrs. Baldwin, she was able to obtain
UFO images on motion-picture film and 35mm negatives.
Most of these UFOs were invisible to her unaided eye.
Following specific instructions given to her she panned the
empty night sky or aimed the cameras at undefinable lights;
the objects would then appear on the film.
The work of the successful nineteenth-century spirit photographers has never been satisfactorily explained. Nor has the
photography of Gary Colgate of a Canadian woman. It seems
that certain forces or energy emanations operate between the
picture taker and UFOs. A few believe that the process may initiate directly in the mind of the photographer. Psychiatrist Dr.
Jules Eisenbud, who has had considerable experiences with
photographic phenomena, believes that "whatever is involved
in paranormal photographic ability ...does not appear to be
related to any particular type of personality structure." 5
Dr. S~hwarz suggests the possibility of a mediumship fa~-
tor in seeing UFOs. For him "the study of documented gifted
~ensalion ~an yield a wealth of high quality psi that is cer
tainly analogous to many UFO experiences."6
The UFOs on the Greene County Films have been confirmed as phenomena. After being transferred to videotape
they were examined by technician Ken Walter of the Image
Pro~essing Laboratory of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, who estahlished that the objects were unknown and
uncla ... si fiable. Photographs taken from film were subjected to
digital analysis and indicated that something quite unusual
was present; many of the shapes observed were "typical"
UFOs.
Throughout the examination the UFOs showed an ability
to ~hange shape easily and assume an identifiable form by
amassing energy or particles of some unknown substance.
Triangles, needles, sau~ers and large balls of light are clearly
vi~ible emiuing white, golden-white, orange or red colors.
They moved with great ~peed, were stationary in the sky,
demonstrated erratic movements, separated from each other
or tloated ~asually.
Police investigator Richard Powell, an Assistant Professor
of Criminal .lusti~e with many years experience in criminal inwo;tigmion, was asked to examine the reels. Using laboratory
mil:ro~wpe~ he found no evidence of alteration or irregularity
on the film,. He was able to observe the needle-shaped obje~t
in reel two: ~eeing an extremely bright light with radial arms
extending in a north-south dire~tion. It is this object which
demon~trated a cycling ~hara~teristic, changing position a~ it
hlinked on and ofr.
Second Quarter 1988

Film of this UFO showed smaU spheres being released.

Needle-shaped UFO at unknown distance

There is still mu~h to be learned about taking movies or of

... ingle photographs of UFOs. Which areas of the brain are involved when photographing the phenomenon? Does the rapid
movem.ent of the mm in the camera and the elevated psychic
mind affect the film? What new laws must be learned to
understand the transmission of light beyond the range of
human vision into the eye and brain? Do specially ground
lenses and certain photographic filters facilitate the picturetaking process?
The Greene County Films clearly show defined shapes and
dcpil:t movements which defy some physical laws as we know
them. And, they reveal images which are not visible to the
unaided eye.
My work with Mrs. Baldwin and others is continuing with
...everal new experiments being planned. To my best knowledge the~e nine rolls of tiIm are the best ever taken of UFOs.
More movies are being planned and, hopefully, there will be a
breach in the unknown.
I.
2.
3.
4.

5.
6.

References
Karl von Frisch, A Biologist Remembers (London: Pergamon
Press, 1967), p. 152.
Berthold E. Schwarz, M.D., U.F.O. Dynamics, 2 vols., (Winter
Haven, Florida: Rainbow Books, 1977), p. 467.
John Wardle, "Gary's Film.Bames Astronomy Experts,"' SlInday SIlII (England) April 16, 1978, p. 6.
Richard Haines, A Scientilic Based Analysis of an Alleged
U.F.O. Photograph," in U.F.O.s Beyond The Mainstream of
Science (Seguin, Texas: Mutual UFO Network, 1980), p. 112.
Jules Eisenbud, o;Paranormal Photography," in Benjamin Wolman (ed.) Handbook oj Parapsychology (New York: Van Nostrand. 1977), p. 428.
Berthold E. Schwarz, M.D., "Presumed Physical Mediumship
and U.F.O.~," in F(I'illg Sallcer Review Vol. 31, No.6 (Ocl..
1986). p. 17,
0;

Pursuit 83

Our Gods We..e Physical Being~.

or 100 Trillion Gods
by Pasqual Sebastian SchieveUa
A central thesis of Erich von Daniken's ancient-astronaut
hypothesis is that religions on Earth have evolved from our
worship of physical entities from outer space. Much of the
evidence for our gods having been ancient astronauts is the
same as the evidence that our gods cannot have been other
than physical beings.
.
. Biblical, legendary, and epic accounts depict gods empirically. It is not difficult to reconstruct inferentially the
changes in concepts wrought by the minds' and languages of
prescientilic man. Descriptions of power, characteristics, and
behavior, originating presumably from visits by ancient
astronauts, were amplified into concepts of perfection: power
became infinite power; the sky became heaven; and scientific
technology became miracles."
.
. Because of man's need to idealize, to seek immortality,
protection, and comfort, he was moved to express those
needs in the limited concepts possible in his prescientilic early.
evolutionary stage. After tho.usands of years all that remain
are conflicting legends and stories. They have become part of
the permanent furniture of our language, continually reinforced in a church-dominatedand religiously-saturated society, for most of two millennia, by the. clerics 'whose dogged
authority and irrationality continue to feed supernatural and
theistic language into it. 'They do this despite the fact, as von
Daniken clearly shows, thanhe literature gives actual descriptions of physical entities coming to Earth in what can be accepted rationally as extraterrestrial vehicles.
We can try to counter these forces of dogmatism and
thoughtcontrol only by clarifying how abilities, values, and
characteristics emerged in physical creatures and were later
:transformed into hypostatized entities. Ultimately, the reified
gods were carefully defined as unknowable. Finally, we were
persuaded to accept these so-called nonphysical gods through
blind faith.
Faith is no pathway to truth and knowledge. Certainly it is
not, as Pope John Paul said, " ... the highest form of reason."
It is rather, a physiological, neuron-conditioned syndrome. In
the absence of some physical life form, therds no evidence in
the history of man of the existence of such fU!1ctions as
"knowing," "seeing," "tasting," "smelling," or "hearing."
They are all neuron-directed activities. This is especially demonstrable by an examination of the emergence of life in
man, and of his mental, perceptual, and conceptual faculties.
All these are dependent upon a physical substratum. Such
characteristics as speculation, reflection, self-awarene'ss, etc.,
separate us from inanimate objects, and to an enormous
degree, lower animals. They separate us, as well, from immaterial gods which by definition cannot exist. Thus, our gods,
as man defines them, are best described as having been
physical creatures of our universe, intelligent beings far
.
superior to those then on Earth.
Have those intelligences achieved mental capacities beyond
our comprehension? Have they developed means of communication which makes ours as primitive by ~omparisot:l as that
of our primitive ancestors beating tom-toms? If so, then
100,000 years difference in the evolutionary progress of
knowledge can make gods of us all. Scientific knowledge of
the universe is not much more than 300-years-old on Earth,
and we have already been accepted as gods by the Cargo
Pursuit 84

(~)

Culls of Worid'War II.

What makes an intelligent entity a god? The answer to this
quco;tion depends upon the rational and intellectual de:velopment and the. psychologiCal needs of those seeking a god.
Mo-;t young children,. for instance,. think of their fathers a,
all-powerful and all-knbwing.
' . : .:
How, then, are we to interpret such statements as "God i~
pure. acl." (SI. Thomas Acquinasj .. ... God permeates the
univero;e," "God created the univer.se," "God 'is in all of us, ..
"God is the unmoved mover," "God "is the energy thai
underlies and permeates the universe," etc.?
The vacuity of these statements, can be exposed if we approach them through an analysis of the language and knowledge of philosophy.and the ~ciences. Terms like 'knowledge:
'goodne~s,' 'intelligence,' 'seeing,' 'hearing,' and so on have
acquired their meanings in relation to man.'s interaction with
hi~ environment.
To apply them to cosmic or supernatural "intelligences"
gives the illusi(m of understanding, utters sheer nonsense, and
fails to recognize that the conditions under which they could
apply would have no communicative value for us. Supernatural gods, being beyond nature and hence immaterial cannot, contrary to common but unfounded belief, talk without
tongues, see without eyes, hear without ears, or talk without
brains. Though gods. may exist, communication between
them and !.Is depends on their nature.
In the case of some gods, personal contact is possible. Witness the Cargo Cull as reported in The National Geographic
magazine of May 1974. Such contact is no longer possible.
however. because John Frum (their god) cannot. be found.
Their god, therefore. has achieved somewhat the status of the
Christian god, Christ - who has not been seen for almost
twO thousand years. The return of both of them is now
awaited.
As von Daniken has pointed out so well in his Chariots (~r
The Oods?, the transcendental, supernatural characteristics.
ofman's gods have always been the end product of a proces~
beginning either in awe of superior inteIligences, in hero worship of superior human beings, in myths, legends, political
and personal needs, or in fear of what lies beyond the light of
the campfire. The gods of ancient Greece and Rome were
linely honed and propagated by the poetic genius of Hesiod
and Homer.; and, later, commissioned by the popes, nonphysical Christian gods were depicted in human form by the
creative genius of such artists as Michaelangelo, EI Greco,
and Raphael. They offered up heros as gods and theistic concepts as reality for the popes and the church. This was done
so superbly that the former have become an indestructible
mosaic in the societies of the world. .
But one irrevocable fact remains as a fault in the mosaic.
The great religious books such as the Bible, the Talmud, the
KOI"fJII, the Mahabbarata; and the great mythologies: Teutonic, Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Babylonian, Chinese; etc.,
bear witness to the countless mysterious and enigmatic
physical facts, records, stories, anifacts, ancient descriptions
in physical terms, of tlying ships, gods from space, descriptions of Earth from the sky, and empirical descriptions of the
gods' activities, etc. Such facts, though not evidence as compared to the ruins of a spaceship, at the very least unquesSecond Quarter 1988

tionably point to a coherent body of data explainable by von

Daniken's ancient astronaut theory. The superabundance and
consistency of such empirical descriptions attest to their
nature. These are the ,gods who, according to written testaments of their physical existence, lorded with power. inIluence. and authority over man, loved him, wedded him,
and gave birth to children seeded in and by human beings.
It is important that we examine the nature of gods that can
exist and the predicated nature of those that cannot. To accomplish this task requires reason, facts, and knOWledge.
Unlike blind acceptance and illusion, clear understanding requires patient analysis of the language with which we cloth
our gods.
Many theologians allempt to show, logically, that past socalled "proofs" for the existence of immaterial Gods are not
faulty. They then claim that since it is logical(v possible that
God exists. He does. However, we can logically prove, also.
that cats are dogs. What is logically possible, i.e., provable by
logic. is often not existentially possible. Linle, if any.
philosophy of language existed two thousand years ago, and
no progress beyond ArislOtelian logic was made until many
centuries later. We know, now, that it is logically possible ~o
prove numerous claims that cannot be existentially proven.
i.e . veri lied. One such claim, that is blindly accepted, is that
God as cosmic mind is constantly aware of everything in the
universe. He knows not only our every thought and action.
every event in the universe such as colliding galaxies, the tlutter of a particular bunertly's wings, but even the jump of an
electron to another orbit due to an energy input.
All this notwithstanding, I am willing to concede to the
possibility of cosmic intelligence. Bear in mind that the term
'cosmic' involves a physical not a supernatural world. This
admission entails the probability that there are many more
than one. Let us, therefore, first consider minds that might be
the result of a hundred thousand'or more years of evolution.
To develop this further, however, we must momentarily
digress.
Consider this: according to present estimates there are
about a billion trillion stars in our universe. We have here. ali
von Daniken points out, the basis for a rough computation of
the number of planets that might have intelligent life on
them.
As you know, one out of ten planets (10 per cent) in our
solar system supports intelligent life. If out of everyone hundred thousand stars (one one hundred thousandth - .00001
- per cent) only one of their planets supports intelligent life,
there are left one hundred thousand trillion (100,000,000,000,000,000) planets supporting intelligent life. If only one
out of everyone hundred thousand of these supports intelligent life superior to us, then one thousand billion (1,000,000000,000) support intelligence superior to us. If only one out of
every hundred thousand of these supports life/or superior to
us (as a result of hundreds of thousands of years of evolution
and scientific progress), there remain one hund~ed million
(100,000,000) planets supporting life with/ar superior intelligence to ours. This figure represents one one hundred trillionths per cent of all the planets, assuming intelligent life on
one planet out of everyone hundred thousand (100,000)
stars.
Considering the mathematical probability that this is the
case, such intelligences would possess the basic characteristics
and abilities with which we define our gods. If each of these
planets supports a population of a mere one million
(1.000.000) adults, there are at least 100 trillion gods.
L.et us return, then, to the nature of our gods. Even the
Second Quarter 1988

eminent Carl Sagan, when he is not at his arrogant best - attacking von Daniken for saying what he, Sagan himself,
holds as a possibility - even he refers to the Oannes legend as
deserving of "critical studies" interpretable as "direct contact
with an extraterrestrial civilization."
But a concept of gods who have evolved over many hundreds of thousands of years is not what theologians have in
mind. Such gods, if they are in our presence, are accessible to
the sense faculties. And in the history of man that presence
has been described in no uncertain terms. Surely a nonphysical. i.e., spiritual, god could not have wrought the physical
cataclysm that, according to the Bible was predicted and
visited upon Sodom and Gomarrah. Any reputable scientist
would deny the possibility of physical effects being caused by
other than a physical agent or event. By "physical" here we
include all forms of energy.
Von Daniken's gods exist on the same physical dimension
as do we. We no not mean here that they will transform
themselves from non-corporeal into physical form for our
convenience as in the story of Christ and His immaterial
Father. Most of man's gods,like the Christian god, are defined as transcendent, supernatural, permeative, nonmaterial,
i.e., spiritual and inaccessible to men's sense faculties. Except
as contlicting concepts allover the world, such gods are
defined as unknowable even though the language gives the
false impression that they can be known. That is the language'
that popes, priests, ministers, rabbis, and theologians use as
they pr:esume to be able to describe their gods in remarkable
detail and to know specifically what those gods demand of us.
They guide our actions, see, hear, and know every good or
evil act of every inhabitant and creature in the universe - all
at one given moment. And ~ore remarkable still, even as we
are maimed, murdered, tortured, or brutalized, such nonphysical gods are said to protect us.
'
Now as lO cosmic intelligence, we must embark upon what
for some is a viable possibility while for others it is a flight of
fancy. It is, however, less fanciful than is an immaterial or
spiritual god. Let us fantasize that we are standing on a rock
in the open, enjoying the brilliance of the stars. Suddenly we
perceive ourselves becoming smaller. Our diminution continues. We must assume for our purposes that our life functions will not terminate. Eventually we find ourselves
suspended between the rock's molecules. As our diminution
continues the inner space of the rock takes on astronomical
proportions. Finally, we have "landed" on a "world" which
in proportion to our siZe would be the size of Earth. As we
look up at the "sky," we see little difference between it and
the one we formerly enjoyed except of course that the outlines
of familiar constellations are missing. We are accustomed to
thi'nking of the vastness of space. We ignore the fact that the
distances between galaxies, stars, and planets relative to their
sizes are little different from the distances between atoms,
electrons, protons, etc., relative to their sizes. There is one
crucial difference in our perception, however. We know the
"universe" we now experience is a finite rock. Past experience tells us there are other "universes," i.e., rocks, like it.
If, now, we substitute for our rock, an intelligent, physical,
sentient being, that entity becomes our physical universe; and
its "mind," "intelligence," "consciousness," etc., constitute
our "cosmic" intelligence. It is indeed conceivable that our
suns, galaxies, and planets could very well be the physical
substratum of the brain, body, leg, or toe, or some other ob~
ject as is the case with our bodies that are the universe of the
trillions of life entities which thrive within each of us. Let us
postulate that our universe; is the brain structure of a giant enPursuit 85

lily on another dimensional plane. We are forced, lhen,lo a~

cepl the further thesis that were this a brain capable of
reasoning on at least the order of human beings (for after all
iI may be a giant amoeba, dog, ape, or creature unknown to
us), il would in no way be capable of communicating with us.
Such an intelligence could hardly be aware of us except
possibly in the aggregate, or unless he put 0I1e of us on the
slide of his microscope. BlIt there are more serious reasons
why there would be no communication between him and us.
There are radical diffe~ences in the .spectrum of the
physicalcomposition of. the billions of. different sentient entities on Earth, and elsewhere in the universe, such as variou~
insects, animals, children, criminals, insane peop.le, or underachievers (as.woody Allen described God in one of his films),
etc. Any on~ of these might be our cosmic "intelligence." It is
obvious then that there are radical differences in the spectrum
of minds - both human and cosmic.
As long ago as the 17th century, the philosopher, John
Locke, and others before and after him concerned themselves
with the source of knowledge. Locke postulated that mind is
but a.labula rasa (a blank slate) on which is written all O!lr experience and that this experience is derived totally through
our sense faculties .. There is no need here to go into the
hi~tory of the philosophical dialogue that followed him.
.However,. the important outcOJl1e of that dialogue was the
recognition that without the sense faculties, anthropomorphk
knowledge, such as we attribute to non-physical gods, is not
possible. We can surely recognize the validity of this thesis if
~e envision babies born wjthout eyes (i.e., optic nerves). The
content of their minds would be devoid of knowledge of color. Extend this perceptual deficiency to include all the sense
faculties and it should become apparent that such babies
would never be able to develop minds. They would forever remain in a. "vegetable" state, i.e., Locke's "blank slate."
At no time in the history of man has there been an iota of
evidence that mind or knowledge is possible in the. absence of
a physical structure. Recent developments in biology clearly
demonstrate that minds in those senses of the word that entail
consciousness, knowledge, human or animal experience, etc.,
or any of the functions of animal life such as seeing, hearing,
tasting, feeling, smelling, thinking require a physical substratum. Particular substances give rise to particular qualities:
eyes to "seeing," ears to "hearing," noses to "smelling,"'
brains to "thinking," etc. Eyes do not hear; ears do not .\cc.
A brain thinks according to past input from thc sen~c
faculties. If our gods are not physical, they surely cannot
possess the qualities and attributes which are possible only as
emergents from physical interactions.
Hence, life and mind, as von Daniken shows in his Gods
From allier Space, emerge from physical structures sensitive
to; i.e., rea~ting to, other physical substances (light, sound,
electricity, chemicals, or matter). Life and mind are qualities
of physical substances just as liquidity, transparancy, and the
ability to smother fire are qualities of water emerging from
the gases hydrogen and oxygen interacting with each other.
The only minds knowledgeable people accept are those
which are a complex of neuron activity, electrochemical interactions of approximately 10 billion neurons in the brain.
There is no act performed by the human structure which occurs without instructions from the brain. Even if an act is erratic or abnormal, it is ultimately a physical malfunction of
the brain which causes it. If we realize the validity of the
thesis that these activities are "caused" by the brain, we must
include, also, all the qualities we attribute to gods such a~
knowing, believing, thinking, seeing, touching, tasting, ~melIPursuit 86

ing, hcaring, etc. Therefore, concepts that we have of mind,

of intelligence, of thought, of ideas are always giveri in tcrm~
wh,ch were acquired through observation and explanation of
physkal events and behavior. Surely rational people cannot
ignore Ezekiel's description of a spaceship and its occupants,
observed and described with such clarity and coherence that it
~an bear the critical SlZrUliny and technological knowledge of
an cngineer of the caliber and proficiency of Josef Blumrich.
In this paper I have offered philosophical and scientitic
arguments in support of von Dliniken's thesis. Through his
prodigious efforts, he has laid before the world mountains of
herctofore little known facts; he has brought to light much
literature relating to the physical nature of our gods which has
becn available but conveniently ignored; he has culled oUl of
hi~torkal documents and the writings of other adherents to
thc ancient astronaut theory a body of data which viewed as a
coherent whole attests undeniably to the physical nature of
our gods. A study of these data will show any rational person
who holds the thesis that all facts and hypotheses should be
subjected to the cold light of reason or empirical evidence that
he will never again be able to close his mind to the viability of
thc ancient astronaut hypothesis and the physical nature of
our god\.
Dr. Schievella has a Ph.D. in Philosophy, founder of the National
Council for Critical Analysis and author of Hey! Is That You God?

An OpeD Letter to S.I.T.lJ. Me.b....

And AU Read.... of PURSUIT
The -ArehITETl" Program
.
It's obvious there is a growing audience interested in
the mysterious cosmic phenom~na such as the
"Sphynx" and "pyramids" seen on neighboring Mars,
as well as the eternal magic of the numerous pyramids
in Egypt, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Australia, the "Bermuda Triangle," etc., here on Earth.
Having found no satisfactory explanations, some
scientists connect these phenomena with the activities of .
cosmic civilizations. To check up on these daring hypotheses of universal importance I suggest that we should
. work out an international program which could be called "ArchiTETI" (or. we can choose another title) - the
search for the traces of ancient civilizations' architecture on the planets of.the Solar System and the revision
of our view to the origin and functions of the Earth's.
pyramids..
.
I'll. soon be ready to present my' preliminary considerations on the "ArchiTETI" program, including severiil
concrete projects of ground an~ cosmic investigations.
.Would you like to take part in working out this kind of
program? .
I'd be very grateful if you find the time to think over.
this idea and let me know your opinion.
.. .. Sincerely yours,
Vladimir Avinsky
Cando Sc. (Geology & Mining)
100, PO Box 541
#5100, Kuibyshev, USSR
[Editor's Note: Dr. Avinsky is a leading proponent in the Soviet
Union for the study of the "face" and other curious features (\!l the
surface of Mars. He attended the Ancient Astronaut.conference in
Noyi Vinodolski, Yugoslavia in 1987 and the latest word is that he's
making plans to attend the upcoming Ancient Astronaut Society
conference to be held at the Schaumburg Marriott Hotel near Chicago's O'Hare Airpon, Aug. 25-27 '89. For further info call (312) 2958899.) Europeans may contact Erich von Diiniken for a special flijtht
fare from Frankfurt, W.G.
~

Second Quarter 1988

Conference Reports
MUFON UFO SYDlposium in Nebraska, dune 1988
by Michael D. Swords
The nation's big UFO meeting took place at the University
of Nebraska for 1988 and some of the "stars" of ufology
were there: Budd Hopkins, Bruce Maccabee, David Jacobs,
Philip Klass, Jerome Clark, and many of the active researchers of the Mutual UFO Network, headed by Walter Andrus.
Many well-known UFO figures were not there, most particularly Whitley Strieber. And his absence was probably not
coincidental, as a rift seems opening between "scientific ufologists" and the quasi-cultish and spiritist versions of ufology
which Strieber seems to be encouraging. It is a rift which
seems to be welcomed by a number of veteran UFO researchers.
.MUFON conventions consists of formal talks (ten of them
this time), questions and answers, photographic displays,
some book materials, talks in the foyer, talks over meals,
talks in rooms, and talks late into the night. You often learn
more "informally" than you do formally. The best way to
learn what's happening regarding UFO phenomena, other
than researching cases yourself, is to go to a MUFON convention and sit in on as many ad hoc discussions as you can.
So what is going on? I'll limit the discussion to just a couple
of the more intriguing topics.
The "big news" was the report on the Gulf Breeze, Florida
case. The case went on from early November, 1987 to first of
May, 1988. It is one of the very few "repeater photographic
cases" in ufology. One witness, who served as the focus for
the events, took 41 pictures with a variety of cameras, some
personal, some "rigged up" by the MUFON research team.
Another anonymous photographer took a series of 9 photos.
A third took another five. Fifty-five photos in all (including a
videotape), and over 100 witnesses of "something odd" in the
skies.
The "objects" were of at least five different types: three
were varieties of a single design, one a similar but noticeably
different object, and the fifth a totally different conformation. Photos were taken with twinned cameras to get
measurable distances, and, thereby, sizes. A small elongated
object was between 3 and 5 feet long. A mid-sized object had
a circular lightzone in the base 7 feet in diameter, and was 14
feet at its circular diameter best, and 14 feet from base lightring to top light "turret." The larger varieties resembled the
midsized version in shape, but were 14 feet in the base lightzone, 28 feet in diameter, and about 28 feet high. It may be
that the focus witness has been ~bducted by one of these latter
objects, and hypnotic regression work is proceeding.
The measurement work on the photos has been done, and
is still being pursued, by ufology's "best in the business," Dr.
Bruce Maccabee. Bruce is quite impressed so far, both as to
the evidence and the quality of the witness. Most ufologists
feel the same, though there is still debate and the Center for
UFO Studies (CUFOS) in Chicago has been particularly vocal
in urging caution. Caution is always an appropriate mental
stance in investigations-in-progress, and caution derives in
this case from contrary statements about the character of the
main witness, and the irrational but strong intuition that
everything is just too convenient, too pat and too strange.
For example, photos never happen when investigators are present or even when they are "staked out" out of sight.
This case is one we'll probably hear about for a while
unless it is a hoax and soon revealed. Archskeptic Phil Klass
~econd

Quarter 1988

hasn't finished his analysis yet either, but apparently will

argue against the case on the following grounds: a) unreliable
character of primary claimant; b) model-making; c) doubleexposures, and, perhaps, although he didn't mention this one
to me, d) the general "impressionability" of people to see and
talk about things that they hear are going on.
The primary UFO researchers on-site will doubtless rate
Mr. Klass' explanation low on the following grounds: a)
involvement of multiple witnesses including direct involvement by the prime witness' own family; b) independent
separate sighting of an object while main witness was getting
a picture; c) difficulty in hoaxing the twinned polaroids by
double exposure; and probably, d) a general rejection of any
researcher's opinions if that researcher has not gotten directly
involved with the witnesses, the sites and the "leftover"
evidence (photos and a ground-trace).
Explanations are few and hard to come by. What's your
preference?
1. Real ET or paranormal experiences requiring almost
total control over the witness' location and the presence
of "wanted" or "unwanted" parties;
2. Elaborate hoax involving witness, witness' whole family,
and several other people intimately; plus elaborate
model-building and picture-taking and logistics; plus
'normal" citizen excitability, impressionability, and
gullibility;
3. Some equally, probably greater, elaborate game being
played out by a government project residing at the large
local air base; a game almost certainly requiring some
cooperation by the main witness.
Take your choice. Maybe you can come up with better options.
A second interesting case was an older one reported on by
Walter Webb, Assistant Director of the Hayden Planetarium.
Walt, like Bruce Maccabee, brings to the investigation great
skill, discipline, and an impeccable reputation for honesty.
The case was the Buff ledge case and took place in an upper
NY State summer camp several years ago. Walt researched
the case for 5 Y2 years and left most of the convention shaking
their heads at his tenacity and probably embarrassed at the
comparison of his dedication with the UFO "norm."
Very briefly, the incident involved the camp at a "break"
time with few employees around. The two primary witnesses,
a 19-year-old female counsellor and a 16-year-old male
laborer (who barely knew one another due to their different
"status," backgrounds, and age differential), were at the end
of a loading dock 'at the camp's beach. A large "cigarshaped" object appeared fairly far away over the lake. Out of
it emerged three lights which did a dance and 2 shot off up
and down the lake. The third approached. It was a "typical"
disk. It hovered, moved right over them, shone a light, and
they blanked out. The next memory was of the boy lying on
the dock, his arm over "protecting" the unconscious girl.
They staggered back across the beach, up the stairs, as a few
others arrived on the scene. They went separately to their
rooms and conked out. Later, in a variety of misconnections,
they never were able to sit down with one another to try to
discuss it (the boy remembered more than the girl, consciously). They left camp shortly and went separate ways.
Pursuit 87

Over the years the boy was bothered by this experience and
ultimately linked up with Walt Webb, who, most people do
not realize, was the first person to investigate the Betty and
Barney Hill case. Walt gathered data, set ground rules, and
did hypnosis. The now-adult man told a consistent tale which.
included an abduction and an examination of the girl, which
he witnessed from an across-the-room distance. With persistent sleuthing Walt traced down the girl who had moved
several times about the country, married, and with children.
She was interested and told a vaguer. but supportive story.
Under hypnosis, she also told of the abduction, her own examination (though not precisely the same in detail), and her
seeing the young man on board. The stories .. although over a
decade old, matched surprisingly well. If the witnesses are as
independent as they seem, it is a remarkable case ind~ed.
Walt dug out other people from the camp in those years,
and even found the two campers who arrived on the scene
just after the UFO event. Their memories could not link the
young man and woman to it, but they did remember a UFOlike experience that summer, of lights or something leaving
the area. Several other possible witnesses turned out to be
"dry holes" but Walt Webb's efforts do demand applause.
Overall, it is a remarkable case which is not easily disposed
of. Any mundane explanation would require close cooperation between two witnesses who show no signs of any such
alliance (they lived States apart in different regions of the
country, had wildly different lifestyles, and showed no signs
of any familiarity with one another than the haunting intuition that they had shared some particularly special experience). I am slow to "buy in" on alleged anomalies. This
one interests me. Perhaps it is a "keeper."
These were the highlights. The "corridor conversations"
dwelt on things like the need for professionalism in ufology,
the fascinating "face on Mars" and all its neighboring (possible correlated) "monuments," UFO abductions and whether
the researchers are helping or harming the witnesses, the
MJ-12 document and whether it's all hooey, the fascinating
parallels between fairy story phenomena and abduction
phenomena, and whether some UFO phenomena are angelic
or demonic in character. The interesting Australian "car
levitation" case was much talked about, and if you weren't
lucky you had to take time out for TV interviews when you'd
rather be listening to someone else. And then there was Gulf
Breeze, and Gulf Breeze and Gulf Breeze.
.
It was fun, interesting, occasionally even exciting. Maybe
I'll see you next year at the MUFON symposium in Las
Vegas .. .Iots of strange encounters there.

Other Conferences
by Robert C. Warth

The 1988 International Seth and Metaphysical Conference

was held in Clarksville, Indiana just across the river from
Louisville, Kentucky, March 24-28. While many of the lecturers at this gathering discussed matters that were other thah
Fonean, there seemed a good opportunity to learn more
about subjects that interest readers of PURSUIT.
Psychic phenomena is a part of Forteana and Prof. Walter
Uphoff, participant at this meeting wrote, '.'When phenomena are poorly, or only partially understood, the temptation to
perpetrate fraud exists - to the detriment and denigration of
the genuine."
Hosts Peter Moscow and Joyce Kevelman brought
together an interesting assortment of various talents.
Speakers familiar to PURSUIT readers included Dr. Walter
Uphoff, demonstrating possible contacts with beings "onPursuit 88

the-otherside" via television communication being developed

in Luxemburg and West Germany; Dr. Lee Pulos spoke on
various experiments including an update on Thomas of Brazil
and Uri Geller, visiting the United States for shows and TV
commercials, gave his usual entertaining demonstrations.
There were also numerous demonstrations of channeling
by trance mediums including one by Luis Gasparetto who
very rapidly, while in a trance state, painted several scenes
and signed them with the signature of one of some 30 past artists he allegedly reproduces with the guidance of each nowdeceased master such as Rembrant, van Gogh; ToulouseLautrec, etc.
While attendance was good, it could have been better for,
as the hosts stated, the local media seemed constrained in
their enthusiasm of covering such controversial subjects of
psychic investigation or display. The '89 meeting should be
equally interesting (see below).
Six weeks later it was off to California to visit friends and
relations but specifically to attend the Whole Life Expo at the
Pasadena Convention Center, May 13-15.
There was no way anyone person could possibly have
covered or attended more than a fraction of the more than
two hundred guest lecturers and workshops that were crammed into a three-day stint. Naturally, the biggest names got the
biggest audiences with holistic health, spiritual healing, channeling, UFO contactees and cases, psychic performances,
reincarnation and meditation as some of the major themes
and attractions.
There were at least a dozen speakers or shows going on at
anyone time. Schedule delays, changes in meeting areas to
accommodate overflow crowds and drop-outs or substitutions made nearly impossible situations even more frustrating. Those members of the professional media really suffered, and there were times I wished I could have substituted
my pen and notebook for a chair and whip entering a lion's
den overcrowded with "humans" fighting for front-row
seats.
There were talks by Dr. Andrija Puharich,.Budd Hopkins,
Tom Bearden, Whitley Strieber, Linda Goodman, Ralph
Blum, Timothy Leary, Jess Stearn, Elizabeth Clare Prophet,
Charles Thomas Cayce, Stanton Friedman, Bill Moore, Edith
Fiore, Jack Houck, Brad Steiger, etc., etc. But, be prepared,
if you attend a future such Expo, don't expect to see all the
speakers.
One big plus for me was to watch .Uri Geller again but who,
this time, unwittingly erased any doubt I had regarding !tis
psychic ability. And while no one else in the audience of some
eight hundred people (which included Peter Hurkos at his last
public appearance before his death a few days later) appreciated this "proof,".I can only hope what happened did not
seriously offend Uri because he really got mad at me, though
.
he denied that when we talked about it later.
Some Upcoming 1989 Conferences
1989 International Seth and Metaphysical Conference, April 6-12
(tentative) in Louisville, Ky. Contact Peter Moscow (502) 423-1188
for details. Featured will be Anna Mitchell-Hedges witli "The Crystal
SkUll" and Carol Davis; Budd Hopkins, Dr. Bruce Upton, psychics
Coral Polge and Bill Landis from England, several channelers arid
more.
2nd International Conference on Paranormal Research, June 1-4 at
Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO. Contact Dr. Maurice
Albertson (303) 491-0633. Not to be missed by the serious student of
paranormal research. Featuring: parapsychology, paranormal info,
mediumship, prophecies, reincarnation and past-life regressions,
UFOs, alternate healing modalities and more.

Second Quarter 1988

Letters to the Editors

Dear Editor:
Since the astrology story about the Reagans broke and
hearing some of the comments by the political and scientific
communities, I as a student of astrology for some eighteen
years would also like to voice some comments about the
whole affair.
"
It is safe to say that astrology has been with us in one form
or another since 2697 B.C. when the Chinese developed their
calendar and every cultural "race of any literate means
independantly evolved its own astrology since that time. Our
present form of astrology used in the Western world is a
hand-me-down from the ancient Greeks and Romans "except
for one thing: around the mid-1930's a handful of serious
astrologers, the likes of Dane Rudhyar and Mark Edmond
Jones researched and incorporated the recently devised field
of psychology into the workings of. astrology with excellent
success. Since then, astrology itself has been transformed into
a complex and mind-expariding marriage of ancient
astrology, modern astronomy, (in the "form of celestial
mechanics), physics, metaphysics, computer science,
psychology and even Quantum physics, all in the name of
"science" and for the betterment of mankind.
The bottom line of all this is; that after all these centuries,
astrology still works and even better than before, (because the
tools at our access are more scientific than ever before ...even
the human mind). And I see the day when a "New Age
Astrology" is regularly taught in the science departments of
our nation's high schools because the present popularity, (to
the tune of $6 billion a year business) and ~he innate quest for
inner knowledge of the human species will necessitate such
changes, even at the expense of the ridicule now being experienced by the White House, of all places. The truth is some
of the greatest scientific minds of history were astrologers:
witness Hippocrates, Nostradamus, Sir Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, Benjamin Franklin and Carl Gustav Jung, (before
I have the Committee for "the Scientific Investigation of the
Paranormal or Carl Sagan down my throat, let me qualify
what I just said by saying that all of these men at least did
some research into astrology, which is more than I can say"for
Carl Sagan or the Committee or most of the rest of those of
reputation who would rather debunk something than do their
homework. Witness Dr. Paul Michel Gauquelin, a French
scientist who over thirty years ago set out to debunk astrology
by scientific method only to provide enough valid data from
thousands of researched horoscopes to the scientific community which does in fact support the reality that there exists
varifiable facts about astrology which if actually studied
would bring astrology to its rightful place in the scientific
community. His research leaves much room for very serious
consideration here.
It is important to realize that throughout history most of
the ruling families of Europe, China and India consulted
astrologers on a regular basis regarding state affairs, coronations and marriages. Today, Members of Parliament and
Members of Congress also consult astrologers. To have it
broadcast around the world that our President and his First
Lady do the same should not be a surprise to any student of
astrology. Even church officials should not be surprised since
the largest astrological library in the world lies in the Vatican
archives. Wall Street should not be surprised either since
many stockbrokers consult astrologers before buying or sellSecond Quarter 1988

ing.
So the issue is not whether astrology is a pseudo-science or
whether its belivers or those who apply its principles are
superstitious or quacks, the issue is how long are the scientific
and political communities going to try to maintain their
stranglehold of controls over the public by maintaining their
closed minds?
"
-Ronald Bartlett Jones
Dear Editor:
I liked reading the article about possible paranormal events
between animals and humans ("Possible Human-Animal
Paranormal Events" by Dr. B. Schwarz, PURSUIT Volume
21, #1). It made me think of an incident that happened two
summers ago. I had two box turtles I kept in an outdoor pen.
One was a female who sometimes ended up on her back and
could not right herself. Occasionally I worried about her getting into an inverted position while in the shallow pool but I
wasn't unduly worried about it. Then one day while I was in
my room, I suddenly thought of the turtle being in the water
on her back. I went outside to check and she was in that position! (She was okay)
The psychic ability in animals and between animals and
humans interests me even more than psychic ability in
hum"ans alone. I'd like to see more on this subject. Perhaps
SITU could invite readers to ~hare their experiences.
-Adrianne Barker
Dear Editor:
Due to a number of anecdotes I've collected, including personal experiences, I have concluded that 1969 was a banner
yer for truly WEIRD anomalies. Science News, May 10,
1988, "Earth's Magnetic Hiccup: Something strange happened to the geomagnetic field in 1969. It jerked." We are all
aware of Dr. Michael Persinger's work on psi/UFO geomagnetic correlations. In any case, a private conversation with a
fellow anomalist netted an unusual report of a cyclopean octopoid of presumably extradimensional origin appearing
briefly in Malaysia in 1969. Regrettably, this gentleman could
not recall the exact citation. (It was recalled to be a "Bermuda
Triangle" type book.) Perhaps one of you out there recalls it
and could send me a hard copy (with suitable postage
"remunertion) c/o SITU to me. I will gladly compensate the
cost. This also would alleviate extra strain on the superb
SITU research staff.
Also, perhaps, this data should be brought to the attention
of Dr. Persinger, a SITU scientific advisor.
Thanks to all of you and to SITU.
-Keith L. Partain

Dear Editor:
I want to advise PURSUITs readers of a soon-to-be nonprofit Cryptozoology Museum that will publish a Cryptozoology Bulletin. See all the articles that the other groups will not
print. Learn the very latest from Loch Ness, the truth about
Lizard Man of the SC swamps, and the New Guinea Mermaid debacle! Join today!
For more information write: The National Cryptozoological Society, Box 6534, Zuma Beach, CA 90264.
-Erik Beckjord

Dear Editor:
In his letter, (PURSUIT Volume 20, #4) Mr. Robert L.
cook referenced U.S. Patent #4,238,968. I therefore obtained
a copy of the patent.
The problem with the invention, as I see it, remains essentially as I discussed it in my earlier letter (PURSUIT Volume
20, Ifl). The engine mechanism is different from the car wheel
example presented by Mr. Cook in his article, but it remains
essentially a mechanical oscillator unable (in my opinion)" to
develop a sustained motion in a given direction when
operated in space.
.
When operated on rails in a laboratory, different amounts
and direction of frictional force between the rails and the
engine resulting from the engine's internal oscillatory motions
could result in unsteady motion of the engine along the rails.
The engine is then dependent for its resultant motion on the
presence of the Earth which will experience minute motion
changes opposite in direction to those of the engine. In space
. these friction forces will be absent and the engine will simply
.
oscillate. I'll stake my reputation on it.
-Stuart W. Greenwood
Dear Editor:
I was glad to see your review of The Ashby Guidebook for
Study of the Paranormal (pURSUIT Volume 20, #4) ~d was
very pleased by your favorable. comments on it. However, I
was chagrinned that my name as reviser/editor was not
referenced at all. Updating a fifteen-year-old book is quite a
chore when the heart of the volume is its bibliographies. The
original edition listed 268 titles with summaries for 83 of the
comprising 68 of the 190 pages, or 301170. In this revised edition, 113 titles were added of recent books with summaries
for 44 of them, covering 831170 of the 215 pages, or 401170. I also
added, to the original six categories, "Self-Help and Development" and "Textbooks."
Chapter Two was a neW "how-to" chapter of eight sections never before published, five of which were written expressly for this book, as was my Appendix on Survival. And,
of course, the chapters on "Resources" and on "Important
Figures" had to be extensively revised. The two-year effort
was an uncompensated labor of love for the late Bob Ashby
and for SFF whose journal I edit, but I do like to get credit!
-Frank C. Tribbe

Dear Editor:
I have read your article, "00 Ghosts Barrier Oscillate?" in
PURSUIT Vol. 21, #1 and note the cbnfusion that occurs
when investigators attempt to explain the paranormal. All
clairvoyants can explain what you have photographed as the
unbilical-like cord. You are photographing spirit beings but
these are from this plane and not from the after-death-planes
of life. These are the out-of-body experiences of people.
Perhaps the following story can best dispel the confusion:
A husband and wife had saved for years to buy a house in
the country. Each had dreamed of their home in detail and
could describe even the placement of furniture and various
plants in the yard. When the day arrived to buy this house
they met with a realtor who showed them the picture of the
exact house they had dreamed about and feared didnot exist.
They looked over the house while the owners remained in the
garden so they could have free access. The owners were summoned in when the buyers indicated that they would buy the
house. The owner stated, "I must warn you. Thishouse is
haunted!" "Reallyl." the woman buyer said, "By whom?"
Pursuit 90

"By you," he replied!

. These out-of-body experiences account for the event of deja vu and should not be confused with reincarnation .. Most
people have these experiences while they sleep; however, there
are a number of people who can use out-of-body for other
purposes. We have a friend who survived hazardous encounters in Vietnam by leaving his body, surveying the surrounding countryside for the enemy and by avoiding contact.
In fact, he was able to displace or be displaced intime. When
he was fired at, the bullet would slow "own and suspend in
space, allowing him to step to one side very easily. The movement of the bullet was no more than slow motion in speed.
One cannot truly know an experience until one experiences ..
Too many books are written onhealing by non-healers which
bear gross errors and hypotheses; too much is written on the
paranormal by people who have never had a paranormal experience!
.
-Virginia Light
Dear Editor:
On reading Robert Cook's (to my miJ;ld, ungracious) reply
to Stuart Greenwood's letter r.e. Cook's alleged new means
of propulsion, I was sufficiently intrigued to go back and
read the preceding material listed by our editor.
Mr. Cook rightly suggests we should obtain a copy of U.S.
Patent 4,238,968 and study it. I have a copy on order and
may. comment further after I've. received it.
In the interim, however, a few observations based on the
writings in PURSUIT to date.
As described therein, Mr. Cook's device puts me in mind
of the so-called 'Dean Drive' invented by one Norman Dean
and first widely reported in Astounding Science Fiction
magazine in late 1960. I believe there were a couple more articles plus the usual letters-to-the-editor but unfortunately my
copies of ASF are in storage, else I could be more specific.
The initial ASF article - with photos - aroused a furor
. that eventually led to the USAF issuing a contract to have
Dean's device tested by an independent laboratory. The test
results regrettably did not substantiate Dcim's claims to have
discovered a means of converting rotary motion into unidirectional thrust. Two articles (one a report on the test results)
and a number of letters-to-the-editor appeared in "Missiles
and Rockets" magazine during May-Sept. 1961. One of the
telling points against Dean's machine was that while it did
lurch jerkily across the floor under the impulse of its engine,
it moved not at all when suspended. By Dean's theory (and
claims) it should have moved. to one side, standing out
.
straight at 90 degrees from. vertical.
It appears to me that Mr. Cook has re-invented the Dean
Drive. After all, according to the report by th~ United Airlines engineers, "~ok's crudely built rig moved spasmodically across the floor." As with the Dean Drive, the motor
impulse acting against the friction between rig ~d floor
would account for this motion. Let Mr. Cook suspend his
model from a wire - if it then moves substantially off vertical, I'll believe.
.
. The burden is on Mr. Cook to prove his claims - until he
does so, his cranky objections to Dr. Greenwood's analysis
are valueless.
-George Earley
[Ed. Note: Jim Murray received patent #4,780.632 titled "Alternator With Improv~d Efficiency" for his power generator.]

Second Quarter 1988

mostly contemporary curious and unexplained events

ChIDe. . Seek 'WUd Man'

Who Laag'"
The search for China's laughing versiQn of
the Abominable Snowman has been taken up
once again as more than 100 Chinese researchers headed for the mountain forests of central Hubei Province to track down what they
call "the wild man," a news report said Saturday.
The expedition, divided into 12 teams, is set
to search the Shennongjia Mountains in order
to solve the 3,OOO-year-old mystery of what's
declared to be a creature who's half man, half
ape. Many peasants in the area claim to have
seen the creature, the overseas edition of the
People's Daily said.
Peasant witnesses speak of a man-beast at
least seven feet tall, with reddish hair and
long, swinging arms. A number have claimed
they heard the "wild man" emit a laugh that
sounded almost human.
Nicknamed "Fei Fei" by Chinese scientists,
the creature is described as resembling North
America's Big Foot and the Abominable
Snowman of the Himalayas.
More than 600 anthropologists, biologists
and ecologists have been engaged in research
on the existence of the beast since the China
Wild Man Research Association was set up in
the early 19805.
In 1985, the association held an exhibition
in the southern city of Guangzhou featuring
plaster footprints, hair samples and droppings
alleged to be from "the wild man."
A year earlier, the Shennongjia Mountain
forest was declared a nature preserve for the
creature because of persistent sightings in the
area. The beast has also been reported seen in
the provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Henan,
the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in
the far south and in the Himalayan region of
Tibet.
Records of sightings date back as far as
3,000 years in China. During the 19505 and
19605, Chinese scientists searched for the
Abominable Snowman in the Himalayas and
for "the wild man" in the Chinese forests.
SOURCE: (UPI) Stars & Stripes
6/28/88
CREOrr: James R. Bryce

The Yeti is Oat There.

Says MoaotalD Man
Yeti hunter and mountaineer Chris Bonington today revealed the discoveries he made as
he searched the Himalayas for the Abominable Snowman.
But the legendary half-man half-ape crea
ture, if it exists, can breathe a sigh of relief
along with bookmakers William Hill who faced paying ,out U million if the Yeti was
found.
Second Quarter 1988

For there was no conclusive evidence just one possible sighting, an unusual set of
footprints in the snow and unidentified
animal droppings.
Mr. Bonington, who spent ten weeks
climbing the remote 23,000 ft. Menlung Tse
peak, said: "There certainly isn't any conclusive evidence one way or another, but there
are a lot of unanswered questions.
"I personally am convinced there is something there, but just what it is who knows,
and I rather hope the Yeti manages to remain
as elusive as it has to the present times." .
Evidence produced by the team, which is
being examined by Natural History Museum
experts, includes:
-Two sheepskins cleanly severed from their
carcasses, as if by a creature using a cutting
tool. The mountaineers were assured that if
Tibetans had removed the valuable skins they
would have used them for clothing or bedding.
-Photographs of footprints measuring 12
inches by 34 inches lying 4 inches deep in the
snow thought to have been made by a creature walking upright on two legs.
-A sighting by BBC film producer John
Paul-Davidson who accompanied the mountaineering team. As he was climbing he felt
the sensation of being watched and through
the blizzard saw the dark shape of a creature
standing on two legs watching him.
-The curious disappearance of two ski
sticks left by the mountaineers at a height of
19,000 feet.
.
-Unidentified "sizeable~' animal droppings
found in a secluded valley.
Natural History Museum scientist lain
Bishop has examined the sheepskins and
found "nothing unusual."
"We have seen no pieces of Yeti, nor any
pieces claimed to be Yeti," he said.
SOURCE: Lesley Yarranton, Evening
Standard, England 6/8/88
CREOrr: Forteana News, T. Good

7-Week Seal'Ch for yeti FIa...

Only Footpdatll. Dead Sheep
A seven-week search for the Abominable
Snowman in the Himalayas turned up footprints and the carcasses of two sheep, but not
the legendary beast itself, a member of the expedition said yesterday.
Alan Hinkes, 34, of the six-member British
team, said the climbers uncovered more clues
- including footprints slightly smaller than a
man's boot and the skinned remains of the
sheep - but no conclusive evidence that the
hairy, manlike beast also known as the Yeti
exists. Expedition leader Chris Bonington, 53,
planned to present the team's findings at a
news conference today.

"It would have been nice to fmd the actual

Yeti," Hinkes said. "In Nepal, all believe in
it, which is quite st.artling - there must be
something there."
SOURCE: (AP) The Philadelphia Inquirer,
PA 6/8/88
CREOrr: H. Hollander

Big Maddy MoDStel' Seen

Bob Reiman says he doesn't want to be the
laughingstock of his tiny Southern DIinois
town, but he's standing by a story that he and
family members saw a Bigfoot - type creature
in his junk yard.
"I am convinced I saw something," said
Reiman, who claims to have sighted what
locals call the Big Muddy Monster, a stinking,
dirty hulk with matted hair and huge feet.
"Right now," he .said Tuesday, "I really
wish it was a big hoax or something. But I'll
be right frank with you, what we seen is
true."
Reiman, the owner of an auto service and
salvage business about six miles west of Carbondale, said he got a call on Friday from his
security guard, Charles Straub.
Straub, who was keeping watch at the salvage yard, told Reiman he'd heard some commotion out back. Reiman said when he arrived they started investigating. He recalled "a
very pungent odor in the air."
"It wasn't anything like a skunk or a sewer,
but it was very distracting. It would even
make your eyes water."
Reiman said he and Straub heard rustling
and in the light of the full moon they saw
something standing about 30 feet from them.
The creature "let out a piercing-type
scream" when they shone light on its face,
Reiman said.
"All we could see was red eyes and yellow
teeth," said Reiman, 34.
"There isn't any
man who could stand that tall.
"There's no man that can travel that fast
on all fours. And I don't know a man who
can make that noise."
The initial encounter lasted only seconds,
but was time enough to make out an 8- to
100foot frame and lots of long, silver, matted
hair, Reiman said.
It was not the first time the Big Muddy
Monster has been spotted in Southern Illinois.
At least 21 other people reponed seeing the
Bigfoot-type creature in the 19705.
But until last weekend, it had not been seen
since 1976.
Paul McRoy, a police dispatcher at the
Murphysboro Police Department, said they
received no repons of the creature and fust
learned of the latest encounter from a newspaper article published Tuesday. He said they
were not investigating.
Pursuit 91

". was very scared and it didn't take me

The creature was furious at my invasion of
long to make the decision to get away from his privacy and its intentions were to attack
it," said Reiman, noting they failed to contact . me. Its intentions were obviously clear. This
the authorities "for the simple fact of being happened Tuesday night, May 17th, 1988 at
hauled off in white coats.
exactly 11 :30 p.m. When the creature started
"I was afraid of being ridiculed, '.' Reiman coming toward me in an unfriendly manner, I
said. "And I'll be quite honest with you, still hastily made a run for the safety of my car. I
am."
turned my car around and I plainly saw the
But Reiman and Straub, a part-time Ava. creature at very close range in the bright headpoliceman, did call family members to witness . lights of my. car.
.the Big Muddy Monster, so called because of
I am 67 years of age, I do not drink and I
the nearby Big Muddy River.
am of sound mind. I am an experienced
Joyce Tindall, Reiman's sister, said she hunter, tracker and live trapper, with 50' years
thought the summons was a joke - until she experience.
saw it for herself.
This creature was very, very big and very,
"We knew it wasn't a person from its size very strange and dangerous looking. It
and height," she said.
definitely was not a bear or a gorilla. It was
SOURCE: (AP) Daily Chronicle, IL
too big. The size was unbelievably enormous.
6/9/99
Samuel J. Sherry Sr.
CREOrr: Member #432
Ligonier RD I

Bigfoot In AIka....

(A leiter to the editor)

All Smith knows is that a gray animal, a little under 2 feet tall, was in her back yard on
~ngwood Avenue about 5:30 a.m. on June
15.
The first-grade teacher was looking out
through her screen door when she saw it.
It stood still for more than a minute and'
then jumped up and disappeared into the
shrubs .
. She said she told friends, "Maybe it was a
baby kangaroo," and' they said, "Who
knows?"
Peggy Brennan, 25, should know. She was
one. of those who reported seeing the
kangaroo in Hohokus.
"A lot of people question the story," she
says. "They ask me, 'Did you make that
up?'"
SOURCE: Post, NY
.
6/23/88
CREOrr: Ronald Rosenblatt .

S9URCE: EC;ho, Ligonier, PA

Joe Cagle of Leachville knew that the crea5/25/88
Rock Mi.takeD for Foreign Subs,
ture he saw on the night of Thursday, May 5, CREOrr: Stan Gordon (PASU)
Swed. . Say
was not just a cow that had gotten loose. "It
After an intense search for unidentified
was about 9:30-10:00 p.m., and lwas driving
California Police Search
submarines in Swedish waters, the military
doWn Highway 226 near the 63 Bypass outside
for Big Cat
conceded yesterday that two of the eight inof Jonesboro when I saw a creature about
Police and state Fish and Game Depart- trusions it had reported during the last two
seven feet tall, weighing probably 300 pounds
ment officials with tranquilizer guns searched weeks might have been rocks rather than
and having thick fur.
foreign subs.
"The creature was running down the road- Sunday for a huge cat, possibly a panther,
"We've had divers down and evaluated all
side ditch, and then it came out of the ditch that was spotted near the city of Fairfield,
the evidence in the eight different incidents
and ran upright across the highway and disap- Calif.
The cat was seen several times in recent
and in two of them we think cliffs caused the
peared into a patch of woods on the other
days in the hills at the edge of Fairfield, about
scare," said H.G. Wessberg, spokesman for
side," Cagle explained.
"It took only three strides to cross the high- 35 miles north of San Francisco. Police also Sweden's defense staff.
"But in the siX other cases we've had
way!" Mr. Cagle also stated, "I don't believe found a paw print measuring 3 inches long.
. it was a bear or a human because bears usual- Witnesses estimated the big black cat weighed recently we've been down there with divers
ly run on all fours, and this creature ran up- about 150 pounds and was 2 feet high and 3 too and have indications of foreign
. intrusion. "
right with its knees slightly bent, unlike feet long.
SOlJRCE: Register, New Haven, CT
"It may seem funny that two of the inhumans.
.
4/11/88
cidents have turned out to be underwater
-'The whole thing has been blown out of
cliffs - but then cliffs and submarines look
proportion," Cagle stated. "I have never be- CREDrr: Jon Singer
alike too ... [sonar] .... You can't tell until you
lieved in anything such as a Bigfoot; however,
More KaDga-na_OI'II
get down and inspect the area," Wessberg
saw something that night that ] have riever
Poppla'
Up
Ia
deney
said.
seen before."
In the last two weeks, the Swedish navy has
The Hohokus kangaroos are still hop-hopIn spite of this remark; the interview was
detonated an unprecedented number of anticoncluded by Cagle saying, "There is definite- hopping around. Or so it seems.
A school teacher 10 miles away in Pompton subamrine mines and lobbed depth charges
ly something out there."
Lakes,
N.J., thinks she saw a baby kangaroo and anti-submarine grenades liberally into
SOURCE: R. Henry, Town Crier,
coastal areas off Stockholm and Gothenburg,
last week.
Manila, AR, 5/24/88
on
the west coast, after submarine intrusions
"It
was
like
a
very,
very
large
rat,
sitting
CREOrr: Forteana News, Lou Farish
up. It was very stiU. Then it hopped up, like 3 were reported.
For years, the Swedes have reported
feet. I thought, 'This is strange,'" said
Bigfoot In Peall8Wlvanla
.
unidentified foreign subs snooping in Swedish
Last week I experienced a closeup sighting Audrey Smith.
territorial waters, especially near naval bases.
Strange indeed.
of a large strange foul-smelling creature that
No intruders have actually been' caught,
The jumpy marsupials were last sighted in
in comparison to an extra large gorilla would
Hohokus a month ago.' Five residents. there although a Soviet sub ran aground outside a
make the gorilla look like a chimpanzee.
I was at Sleepy Hollow where the ramp reported seeing something large that hopped. naval base in southern Sweden in 198\. The
Soviets said the incident was caused by a
Police think people are seeing things.
.
bridge goes across Loyalhanna Cree~ with the
Pompton Lakes Police Chief Albert Ekkers navigation error.
intention of doing some lantern fishing. I
A Swedish government report has idenparked my car and I was in the process of had his doubts about the latest kangaroo
tified the ihtruders as Soviet submarines.
lighting my lantern whenl he~d a scuffling report.
"I don't doubt that the woman saw some- Sweden - which is officially neutral - has
racket up on the hillside in .the woods only 25
feet away from me. It also sounded like burst- thing, but if you see a beaver or groundhog lodged diplomatic protests with Moscow,
standing on its hind legs, you might mistake it which has denied all of the accusations.
ing wood.
.
This year, the Swedes have vowed to sink
I got my three-cell spotlight. I studied the for something else," says Ekkers.
Then again, Pompton Lakes is only \0 intruding subs, rather than simply force them
large creature in every detail. It had reddish
.
brown fur, extra large fiery eyes that glowed miles from the old Jungle Habitat Game Park to the surface..
SOURCE: The Philadelphia Inquirer, PA
orange color like a bear's eyes. I also noticed that went out of business in 1976.
6/8/88 .
"Maybe some of them escaped," Ekker
that the eyes were constricting due to the
CREDIT: H. Hollander
says.
bright light at close range.
Pursuit 92

Second Quarter 1988

SwedellD Says it MIlY Have Hit

Intruding Submarine
The Swedish navy said yesterday that it
jolted and possibly damaged an intruding
submarine in a depth-charge attack off the
coastal town of Oxelosund on May 31, but
that the submarine managed to escape.
"We have strong indications that the depth
charges were so close that they jolted the submarine, and there is a chance that it was
damaged," a defense staff spokesman told
Swedish television. ". can not recall us ever
having been so close to hitting an intruder."

SOIJRCE: The Philadelphia Inquirer, PA

6/10/88
CREDIT: H. Hollander
{Ed. Note: Before World War II, Sweden saw
mysterious planes and rocke/so After World
War II, Sweden has heard mysterious submarines in their waters - but nothing caught.}

Bu.ed to Heaven

"There is absolutely no way Aunt Rachel

could have known that Mom had died,"
Ruth's son, Richard, of Fairfield, said Tuesday. "We hadn't called her family yet."
Like other twins, the sisters often thought
alike. One would say, ". just knew," when
she received news of the other one, family
members recalled.
". visited Mom at the Brethren Home in
Greenville on Friday and she seemed real
good," said Donna Denlinger of Brookville,
Rachel's daughter-in-law. "But she was concerned about her sister and said she didn't
think Ruth would pull through."
Ruth Stanton had been in the hospital nearly three weeks, her son said. A diabetes s1,lfferer, she had had an emergency appendectomy, then a stroke and apparent heart
failure.
Rachel had had a heart condition practically all her life. "We knew sometime it would
come but we just weren't expecting it right
now," Mrs. Denlinger said.
The sisters' 94-year-old mother, Saloma
Clawson, also resides at the Brethren Home.
She plans to attend both funerals.
The women were born June 13, 1913, to
Edward and Saloma Clawson in rural Preble
County. They arrived some two hours apart,
family members said.
SOIJRCE: (AP) Circleville Herald, OH
5/11/88
CREDIT: John Fry via COUD-I

A white-robbed "messiah" appeared

before swooning attendees of a prayer
meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. Then he vanished
at the No. 56 bus stop down the road, according to a reponer's eyewitness account in the
official newspaper Kenya Times.
The robed man had been preceded by a
bright, shining star that appeared June 4 over
the poor, shanty township of Kawangware in
west Nairobi.
A week later, evangelist Mary Akatsa announced to her prayer meeting the appearance
Coaple Driven Oat by Spoob
of "a very imponant guest." The crowd
A couple who say they fled from their Notchanted "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth," tingham council home because of bizarre
and dozens collapsed as the robed man stroll- ghostly happenings yesterday won the next
ed through the throng with Akatsa.
stage in their fight to be housed as a homeless
"Strange sporadic light wafted on top of family.
.
his turbaned head, his feet and his entire
A judge gave them permission to seek a
body," reponer Job Mutungi wrote of the in- High Court ruling on their rights.
cident. Mutungi said the man then spoke in
John and Helen Costello, who are in temclear, unaccented Swahili.
porary bed and breakfast accommodation,
The man promised to return and bring the allege that they left their home last May
devotees "a bucket ful of blessings."
because they could no longer stand the
Then he accepted a ride from an Indian frightening supernatural occurrences.
named Singh and asked to be dropped at the
The city council refused their application to
No. 56 bus stop "to alight and head for be re-housed on the ground that it would have
heaven."
been reasonable for the couple and their
In a spread that included a picture of the children to continue to occupy the house.
swanhy visitor - a bearded, intense-looking
The council said Mr. and Mrs. Costello,
man in a white robe - the paper asked, "Did who are now being temporarily housed, were
Jesus Christ Come To Nairobi?" It carried homeless intentionally and it was under no
Mutungi's account.
legal duty to house them.
The newspaper also happens to be conductYesterday Mr. David Watkinson, for the
ing a circulation drive under the tutelage of a couple, accused the council of failing to comteam of British tabloid expens.
ply with its duty under the Housing (HomeSOURCE: The Philadelphia /1Il/lIil"I'I". PA
less Persons) Act.to make all the necessary in6/23/88
quiries in order to discover whether there was
CREDIT: H. Hollander
any supporting evidence for their "very
remarkable account" of why they had been
Twin. Die Within Houn
forced on to the streets.
.
of Each Other
Mr. Justice Nolan described the circumIn Dayton, Ohio, twin sisters Ruth Standon stances of the case as "highly unusual" and
and Rachel Garber, born hours apart 74 years said that, though he had some misgivings, he
ago, died within hours of each other.
would give leave so that Mr. Watkinson could
Mrs. Stanton of Trotwood died at Good argue his case at a full hearing.
Samaritan Hospital in Dayton on Sunday at
At the heart of the family's case is a claim
7:16 p.m. Mrs. Garber, died in the emergency that others also witnessed the spooky goingsroom at Wayne Memorial Hospital in Green- on at their home but were not seen by council
ville at 10:25 p.m.
housing officials.

Second Quarter 1988

Mr. Costello, 52, who is unemployed, and

his 51-year-old wife told the council how they
had returned home one day last May with
their daughter Sharon, who is severely disabled with autism and now in a special home,
when they heard the sound of "heart beats"
which brought Sharon to her knees.
The couple, who have two other daughters,
Suzie, 18, and Rosie, 13, say they witnessed
over a period of time power plugs mysteriously pulled from their sockets, a guitar being
played apparently by no one, a typewriter activated and paper ripped from the machine,
furniture unexplainably moved and bedclothes in Sharon's bedroom mysteriously
removed from the bed.
The council was not represented at yesterday's brief hearing.
The couple claimed they could communicate with the "spirit" and the response
was a series of knockings.
SOIJRCE: John Ason, Doily Post, England
4/14/88
CREOrr: J. & C. Bord via COUD I

PIcto....ph. of May.. Deciphered

The secret of the writing of the ancient
Central American Maya people has been uncovered after baffling archeologists for
generations, the West German news magazine
Stern said yesterday.
Stern, in a report released ahead of publication, said West Germany archeologist
Wolfgang Gockel had deciphered the Mayan
writing system, one of the world's most
significant after Egyptian hieroglyphics and
Babylonian cuneiform.
The writings, scratched into soft limestone
with stone tools, look like a series of square
pictures, depicting figures of men, animals,
birds and abstract patterns.
Stem said they described power struggles
and sexual intrigues at court, wars and natural
disasters, giving a picture of a highly
sophisticated and structured society.
Archeologists had believed for decades that
the writings were secret messages sent between
priests and could probably never be
understood.
Gockel's researches, the magazine said,
reveal that when a blood sacrifice was due,
Maya men and women purified themselves
beforehand by fasting and abstaining from
sex for several days.
Most of the writings were concerned with
the lives of individual rulers, who had titles
like "Lord of Time" and "Holder of True
Power." Birthdates and rulers' dates of accession were painstakingly noted.
The writings Gockel unraveled come from
the south Mexican town of Palenque, which
1,300 years ago was one of the most powerful
city states in Central America.
.
Gockel, who lives on a remote Finnish
island, could not be reached for comment.
SODBCE: Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ
6/23/88
CREDrr: Nancy Warth

Pursuit 93

The Notes of Charles Fort

Dedphered by Carl". Pab.t
ABBREVIATIONS
(extended from Vol.2/, .#1)
A
An Soc Met De France

bet
(Bid)
B.M.
Bull Ac Sci Brux
Bull Seis Soc Amer

C-211 +

Aurora

Annales de la Societe Meteorologique

de France
between
blood
[1 British Museum)

[1 Bulletin o/the Scientific Academy 0/

Brussels)
Bulletin 0/ the Seismographic Society 0/
America .
Choas, p. 21 i and more
Celestial Objects

Cel.Objs.
disappearing
disap.
English Mechanic
E. Mee.
England
Eng
. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine
Ent Mo. Mag
Ghst .
Ghost
hour .
h
I, II, or III
slight, moderate or great earthquake
lnd
lndi.ana
lnf
Inferior
Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal Jc.urnal 0/ the Asiatic Society 0/ Bengal

(Continued from PURSUIT Vol. 21; Darjiling I Jour. Asiatic Soc Bengal
#1, page 48.)
i9-373.
1852 May 29 I Spon Comb of the
1852 Ap. 91 LT, Ap. 10 I Cor writes Carter I See July 29.
that at 7 p.m. a fiery column had
been seen as if up from the sun. I of 1852 before July ;" Black rain /
Kilkenny. I (Kilkenny Moderator I
Ap.8.
B.M:) I Sc. Am 7-3361 (See May 23,
1852 Ap. 17 I Metite I Giitersloh I '54.)
A.J. Sci 2/1.51290.
1852 Ap. 19 I ab 7 p.m. I Chatham I 1852 June I I q - polt I.ab 7:30 a.m.
I q. I South Wales' I Windows
another sky fire I LT 21-8-c.
shaken violently and bells ring. I LT
. 1852 Ap. 20 I Met I Oxford I Ac to 8-8-d.
Lowe "Curious. Repulsed by
1852 June I A I Am J. Sci 21141131/
Aurora. / Rec. Sci, 1/137.
15/55.
.
1852 Ap. 26/ Aurora - sun-coll!mn
1852 summer I Unknown insects in
I 7:22 p.m . .I The sun column again
great numbers found on mountains in
seen - by E.J. Lowe, Beeston. I near
Yorkshire, near Settle - fly, someNottingham I L.T: 28/8/f.
what shorter than the honey bee, dark
1852 April 30 I 5 p.m. I New Har- thorax, abdomen marked with altermony, Ind I Tornado. I Finley's nate .
Rept.
[Reverse side) rings of black and red;
1852 Ap. 30 I Th. stone I India I See wings grey, marked with a black,
transverse line nc;ar the tips - forceps
March 18.
.
1852 May 2 I 9 p.m. / Rain at Paris, like jaws of caterpillar, but at the tail.
1852 summer 1.1 Unknown insect I from cloudless sky I C.R. 44-786.
1852 May I qs I India ( Darjiling I The Naturalist, N.S., 8-93 I See Ent
Mo. Mag, Dec., 1881, p. 1591 jan.,
BA'I1.
1883, p. 188 I Jan., 1882, p .. 189.
1852 May 2 I bet. 8 and 9 p.m . .I
1852 July, Aug, Sept I LT index I
Large meteor detonated like cannon
Great thunderstorms.
fire. I Alsace.
[Reverse side) Le Moniteur, May 20. 1857 July 7 I Italy and Jamaica I q's
I BA 'II 18th - Asia Minor.
1852 May 23 I Freshford is 8 miles
[Reverse side) Sim q's, Feb. 18, 1889.
N.W. of Kilkenny.
.
1852 May 23 I Fresh ford , Kilkenny,
Ireland I ac to Rev. James Meave, of
Freshford I Nat. Hist Rev 1/247 I
Several years before,
[Reverse side) a peculiar black cloud
and fall in th storm of black rain. I
Year of Tuesday - May 23.
1852 May 291 noon I Waterspout at

Pursuit 94

1852 July 7 I 7:30 a.m. I Rumbling

sound and q. I Jamaica I Timb's
'53-249.
.

L 'Astronomic
Living Age

L'Astro
Liv. Age
m
mag
Mass
M. Post
Myst. dth
Nat. Hist. Rev.
N.M.
N (op)
N.S.
Proc. Eng.
Proc. S.P.R.

. minutes
magnitude
Massachusetts

Morning Post [1 London)

Mysterious death

Natural History Review

No more
[1)

New Series
[1)

Proceedings o/the Society lor

Psycnica/ Research

R.A.
R.N.
Smithson Misc. Collee.
Smithson Rept.
Sup. Ext.
VXCE

Right Ascension
Royal Navy

Smithsonian Miscellaneous
Collections
Annual Report 0/ the Smithsonian
Extraordinary Superstition
[library call letters)

1852 July II and Dec 41 Livorno lit

I Sounds I Rumblings I Feb I, Jan
27, Nov 10 I rise and fall of sea I See
1816.
1852 July 13 I Carlisle I Met I BA
521232.11/
[Reverse side) Y 5.
1852 July 16 I evening I q and tho
storm I Athens I The Geologist
4-145.
1852 July 20 I - 21 h I Venus Inf
Conjunction Sun I (A I).
[BCF, pp. 400-401)

French Academy. Examined by M.

Cahours,
[Reverse side) who said it was colored
by minute organisms - spores of
mushrooms or of a fungus and of
minute organisms of the class of
monads.
1852 Aug 20 - 25 I [newspaper clipping) / Destruction of Santiago de
Cuba by an Earthquake. I Port of
Spain Gazette, 24th September, 1852.
1852 Aug20 I [L T), 6-d I Spiritual
Manifestations.

[Great) I q I

1852 Aug 21/ one of greatest recorded lEtna -last 9 months

"Etna"
I Rodwell.

1852 July 24 I [LT), 4-e I Singular

Chase at sea.

1852 Aug 28 I 5:15 I Crieff I q and

loud rumbling noise like distant
thunder I Timbs 1853-249.

1852 July 24 I III

Armenia I BA 'II.

1852 July 24 I [LT), 6-b I Myst. dth.

1852 July 29 / Spon Comb I the
Carter I See May 29.

1852 Aug 3 I Poonah, India / Fish. I

Liv. Age 52/186.

1852 Aug 7 I M. Chacornac saw a

star of 7th or 8th magnitude. 121 h
- 36 m R.A. I - 14,33' Declination I On 20th, looked for it and it
had disappeared. I C.R. 40-836.
1852 Aug 7 I List of other disap. stars

IDec 30,18521 July 5,18531 Oct 5,

1853 I Dec 27, 1853 ('53) I Dec 30,
1853 I Jan 10, 1854 I Jan 26, 1854 I
Jan., 1854 I Oct 26, 1854 I last Dec.
1854 I Jan 25, 1855 ..

1852 July 8 I Rhodes, etc. I q I II

[Light) I BA 'III July 7 - W. Indies
I and Italy.

1852 Aug. II I Ext. hail at Thourout

I Bull Ac Sci Brux 19 - pt 3 - 28.

1852 July 8 I Wedde, Holland. I

Stone I BA 60-104.

1852 abo Aug 15 I (Bid) I Cr-35-832 I

At Reims, red rain. Sample sent to

1852 first week in Sept I D-1121 Th.

stone of Andover, Hams I L.T.,
Sept. 16, '52.
[BCF, p. 117)
1852 Sept 2 / [LT), 8-f I 3-3-f / Ext
story I a fasting girl.
1852 Sept I Va I Severe q I Bull Seis
Soc Amer '13/129.
1852 Sept 4 I Metite I MezoMadaras, Siebenburg. I A.J. Sci
21221272.
1852 Sept 4 I Transylvania I Met
stones closely resembling those of
May 13, 1855 I See. I (F).
. :
;

I'

1852 Sept 9 I (moon) I Brilliant ~tar

like meteor from 4:15.to 4:45 a.in. I
varied remarkably I "Venus and the
moon were curiously in the same
regio!1. IE Mec 90/188 I (See 11.) I
(wrong date).
1852 Sept II I B Assoc 1853/8,35 -

Second Quarter 1988

said that after the disap. one observer

saw Venus in nearly the same place.
[Reverse side) Lord W. says that a
drawing that he had received, giving
lilts position rei to moon, makes me
doubt whether lilt could be Venus at
all." Seems was widely [o)bserved.
He mentions [end of note).

thunder and lightning / California /

[Smi)thson Misc. Collec. 37139. /
[pro)bably a met.
1852 Nov. 26 / Moluccas and Cuba /
qs / BA 'II.
[Reverse side) Sim q's Feb 18, 1889.

1853 March 4 / [L T), 6-g / q / Inverness.

1853 March 6 / 17 miles east of Bettiah (Bet.) / Segowlee / metite / J.
As. Soc Ben.30/132 / See Aug 25,
1865.

1852 Nov 27 / II p.m. / (Mass). / q.

sound of explosion and roar / An Sci
[BCF, pp. 400-401 / See July 20, D 1854-326.
1852.)
1852 Dec. 2 / Jena / Large met / BA
[BCF, pp. 520-521)
69-282.
1852 Sept 16/7 p.m. / q. / Manilla / 1852 Dec 2 / Bustee / N.W. Prothen volcs at Albay and Taal / A.J. vinces, India / (F).
Sci 21171135 [235?).
1852 Dec 6 / See Aug 15. / Meeting
1852 Sept 16 / q. / Manilla nearly of French Acad / (C.R. 35-833) /
destroyed / others to 22nd / then Oct Was discussed a fall at Rheims of liII - 13/ An. Reg.
quid like blood or of highly colored
1852 Sept 20 -21 / night / Etna starts iron rust.
long duration. / Cosmos 2/55 / See [Reverse side) A chemist had found in
stone, Feb 10, '53. / several months. it little globules of organic matter.
1852 Sept 24 / [LT), 8-f / Etna / They appeared to be "sporules of a
fungus. However, a commission apNov. 15-8-e.
pointed to examine the substance.
1852 Sept. 25 / St. Ives / Met listed
by Lowe as "Large and Curious". / 1852 Dec 6 / Substance / Reims / See
Rec. Sci., 11137 / 8-35 / BA 53-14. Aug IS, 1852.

1853 Mar 6 / Segowlee, India / and

1861, May 12/ Butsura / neighboring
sta[te) / CR 85/678.
[Reverse side) Wedge-stone / D-118.
[BCF, pp. 123-124)
1853 March 12 / Lowville, N.Y. /
bet. 2 and 3 a.m. / shock and great
explosive sound / not known whether
q or meteor /
[Reverse side) A. J. Sci 2116/294 /
BA'II.
1853 March 13/ ab 5 a.m. / or twice?
/ q / Niagara and Toronto / Timbs
'54-268.

1852 Sept. 25 / Th. stone / India /

See March 18.
1852 Sept 25 / q / Philippines / BA
'II.
1852 Sept 28 / 8:45 a.m. / Met seen
all over Silesia. / BA 60-92.
1852 Oct 5 / Namur, Belgium / Met
streak lasted for a long time. / BA
67417.

1852 Dec II / 8 a.m. / Silesia and

Germany / det met / BA 60-104.
1852 Dec 17 / California / q / BA
'II.
1852 Dec 17 / Met cloud in storm /
Gt. Brit / D-97.

[BCF, pp. 101-102 / See March 18,

1852.)

1852 Oct II / A nebula discovered in 1852 Dec 17 / from the report of

Taurus. Toward end of 1861, an- Lieut Higginson, R.N., of the Coast
nounced by Prof d' Arrest, of guard service / 5:30 a.m. / That
Copenhagen, that it had vanished. / [Reverse side) he saw the main body
fall in the sea near Dover, and,
A. J. Sci 2133/437 / 2135/108.
1852 Oct 13 / q. / Manilla / See Sept searching on the beach, found several
hot meteoric stones. / L.T., Dec 29,
16.
8, e, 1863.
1852 Oct 13 / (F) / 3 p.m. / Metite of
Borkut, Hungary / A. J. Sci 1852 Dec 18 / Yellowish dust in
China / Ref - May 16, 1846.
21261299.
1852 Dec 30 / See Aug 7, 1852. / star
[Reverse side) BA '60.
0
1852 Oct 25 / Times of, 6-e / At of 9th magnitude / 8 h, 47 m / + 17
44
/
It
disappeared.
(Hull) "haunted house" sounds -

1853 March 16 / Lowville, N.Y. /

loud explosive sound and shock /
Am. J. Sci 2116/294.
1853 March 20 / ab 5 a.m. /4 shocks
and rumbling sounds / Niagara /
Timbs '54-268.
1853 March 24 / [LT), 8-f / Met.
1853 March, late in / March 28? /
Shock at Haiford / Times, Ap. 4,
1853.
1853 March 30 . [L T), 5-e / q. /
Wales .
1853 Ap. I / (Fr) / Fr / Sh-res and
Avranges / (q / C.R., 36/661) / Rennes and Laval / (699 / 748 / 800).
1853 Ap. I / 10:45 p.m. / Jersey and
Guernsey /'q and rumbling / LT, Ap.
5-7-e. / Also Havre, 5~-b.
1853 Ap 8 / Rain as black as ink near
Croyden /
[Reverse side) GardEner's Chronicle,
Ap 16.
1853 Ap. 12/ [LT), 8-d / Sun phe.
1853 Ap. 21-22 / Persia / great q /
20,000 lives lost / [BA) 'II.

after a rainstorm appeared enormous

numbers of "vers" four to five
"pouces' long. Of several hundred
examined, all were
[Reverse side) females, full of eggs all very lively. In 1841, worms of the
species had been named Mermi's
Nigrescens.
1853 June I / (obj) / 4:30 a.m. / sun
rise / Obj or spot N of sun like small
new moon. Other abo liz degree
beyond first. Like a large star.
Reported by Prof. A.C. Carnes, of
[Reverse side) Burritt College, Te(ln.
/ Sci Amer 8/333.
1853 June 22 / CI. burst at Ahmedabad / Times of India, Aug 26, 1868.
1853 July 5 / Star 9th mag /16 h, 8 m
/ - 22 0 8 m / Looked for, May next
year. Had disappeared. / See Aug 7,
1852.
1853 July 8 / [L T), 8-a / Spon Comb.
1853 July 9 / (Augs) / "Little suns"
in sky 1 An. Soc Met de France
1853/227 /
[Reverse side) Like little suns - great
number of red points in sky at Urrugne. / / / A 75 [stamped).
[BCF, p. 416:
A great number of red points in the
sky of Urrugne, July 9, 1853 (An.
Soc. Met. de France, 1853-227).
Astro. Reg., 5-179- C.L. Prince, of
Uckfield, writes that, upon June II,
1867, he saw objects crossing the field
of his telescope.
They were seeds, in his opinion.)
1853 July 9 / Hail / Rouen / C.R.
37-612.
1853 July 9 or 5 / Ice / Rowen, Fr. /
(D-180).
[BCF, p. 189)
1853 July II/Persia / great q /
10,000 lives lost / [BA) 'II.

1853 July 13 / Mayon vole / Philip

pines / Ref, Feb I, 1814.
1853 May 24 / (It) / Det met / 1853 July 15 / q - darkness /
Ragusa / See 1805. / had been pre- Cumana, Venezuela / "on the
Spanish Main" / q and "frightful
ceding phe.
dull heavy sound and sometimes a
1853
noise and deep darkness / Timbs
scratching sound. For 4 weeks.
1853/ Norfolk, Va. / fishes / D-175. 1853 May 24-25 / aurora and atmos- '54-269/
phere / L.T., May 27-7-d / 11:20 [Reverse side) An Reg, 1853.
1852 Oct 31 / Nov I / detonations / [BCF, p. 183:
-1:22 a.m. / Nottingham / AuroraEtna / LT, Nov. 15-8-e.
Cosmos, 13-120, quotes a Virginia
red haze on horizon all night. 2 mock 1853 Aug. 6 / Eruption of mountain
[BCF, pp. 603-604)
newspaper, that fishes said to have
moons. / Streamers moved easterly. of Korabelott, near Taman, in the
1852 Nov. 9 /4:30 a.m. / q. / Liver- been catfishes, a foot long, some of
On Feb 21, '52, they moved westerly. Crimea /
pool/etc. / A. Reg.
them, had fallen, in 1853, at Norfolk,
[Reverse side) Whole time a patch of [Reverse side) Timbs '54-267.
Virginia,
with
hail.)
1852 Nov. 9 / q. / Manchester / M.
orange light in Leo.
1853 Aug 9 / Eng / mets mostly from
Post, Oct 9, 1863.
1853 about / Light like Coggia's at 1853 May 25 / bet 10 and II a.m. / Cassiopeia / BA 53126. / / /
1852 Nov 9 / North Wales / morning Paris / C Rendus 73/755.
Croydon / Sun appeared to be partly [Reverse side) 2 / 16 / 24.
/ q and a sound "more fearful than
obscured by a dark cloud of almost 1853 Aug II / A / Am J. Sci
the most violent thunder (?) / Timbs 1853/ Sleeper Susan C. Godsey, near circular form with prismatic outlines. 2116/288.
Hickman. Ky / See Oct 27, 1873.
'53-248 - from letter in Times.
/ LT. May 28-4-f; 30-8<; June 3-3-f. 1853 Aug 12/ ab 8 p.m. / Cornwall /
[BCF,
p. 134)
1852 Nov 9 / Arirona / Fort Yuma /
1853 May 28 / between 9 - 10 p.m. / Liskeard to TavislOck / q and sound
began qs that continued almost daily 1853 Feb 10 / Girgenti, Sicily / A Weld. Maine / great numbers of vivid like thunder / Times, Aug 20-7-a.
drawing of it in L'Astro 21131, with nashes of lightning / sky slightly
for
[Reverse side) many months / BA "veinules noires" traversing the pate smoky or dingy at horiron / 1853 Aug 16/ Waterspout over Leghorn / Timbs '54-280.
/ See Dec 5, 1846.
191142.
Smithson Inst Rept, 1855-280.
1853 Aug 18, etc. / 29, etc. / qs /
1853
Feb.
10
/
Stone
in
Girgenti,
Sici1852Nov. 10/ [LT),4-f /Sup. Ext. /
[BCF, p. 413:
Greece / C.R. 42-24 / Timbs ly / L'Astro 2-131.
Blackley.
About May 30, 1853 - a black '54-270/
1852 Nov. 20/ France and Java / q's 1853 Feb. 10/ Stone / Sicily / See Et- point that was seen against the sun, [Reverse side) There had been no volc
by Jaennicke (Cosmos. 20-64).)
na, Sept 20 - 21.
/ BA 'II.
activity. Denied that. as said by Paris
[Reverse side) Sim qs Feb 18, 1889.
papers, had been fire and smoke.
1853 Feb 26 / [LT), 5< / Singular 1853 May 31 . June I / night /
(Larvae) / In gardens of Louvain, 1853 ab Aug 20, etc. / New Comet
1852 Nov. 23 / abo midnight / q and Meteor at Lincoln.

..

Second Quarter 1988

Pursuit 95

~~--

bet Leo and Ursa Major I LT 23-7-1'/

24-S-g I 26-7-1' I 30-9-c.
IS53 Aug 23 I Met "Curious" I by
Lowe! Highfield House i Rec Sci
1/137".

---

1853 Oct 31 1
CR 371746.

------------------------------------

C~erbourg

1 Aurora /

1853 Nov. 2/ IL T), 8-e / Rara Avis.

IS53 Aug 26 ! 7:51 p.m. i bolide /

Constantine. Algeria I C.R. 37-431.

1853 Nov 7. / 6 p.m. / Pembrokedock (London?) / luminous band in

sky I stationary 20 minutels) ! from 5
principle stars of Cassiopeia to lOla
and Kappa Ursae Majoris I LT,.Nov ..
11-4-1'.

1853 Aug 26 I Mazzow 1 me! train /

10 minutes I BA 60-17.
.

1853 Nov. 25 I Comet in Cassiopeiai

An Sci D 1854-360.

IS53 August 30 / Vulcan; (3) / M.

Jaennicke. of Frankrort on the Main.
had seen - not sure of date - black
point on sun.
[Reverse side) Round, well defined,
and no penumbra - next day nOI
seen. / Cosmos 20/64 / Webb, Cel.
Objs . p. 44.

1853 Dec 10 I LT - o-7-f / 4:45

p.m. / Rev. N. Straton'writes from
Aylestone Rectory for information of
comet he had seen near Venus. There
was a new telescopic comet at the
time.

IS53 Aug 26 I Mazzow 1 met train I

10 minute I BA 60 / N.M.

IS53 Sept / Hurricane in Atlantic /

Am J. Sci 6S-I, 176.
IS53 Sept 2 I
2116/446.

A / Am. J. Sci

1853 Dec. 21 IGermanyl det met!

BA 60-92.
1853 Dec 27 / See Aug 7, IS52. / Star
10th mag I 4 h, 14 m / + 23 58' !
looked for, following March - had
disappeared.

1854 Jan 29 / Woman found. Ban- 1854 July 4 / great q. / Japan / BA

try, Ireland / Devoured by dogs - . '1 L
supposed have fallen and injured 'self IS54 July 17 / Germany / det met /
! L.T., Feb 6/5/e.
. BA '60.
IS54 Feb 7 ! IL T). IO-c ! Supposed
wreck.
1854 Feb II and 12 !(It")/phe and qs /
Italy i See 1805.
1854 Feb 12 / (It) 1 Consenza / q
preceded by explosion in the sky
which was clear / See 1805.
.
1854 Feb. 15/ Hurricane / Gibraltar
I Field, March 4. Ill

[Reverse side) 349 / 732 / 900.

1854 Feb. 14/ Harrison, Ohio ITor"
nado / Finley's Rept.
1854 Feb 25 I Turin i 7:20 p.m. I
great met / seemed to fall from Canis
Major 1 C.R. 3S-511.
.

..

Pursuit 96

1854 July 18 / Davenport. Iowa /

Tornado! Finley's Rept.
1854 July 19 / See July 19, 1868. /
3:30 a.m. / Violent q. / Argeles.
HaUles' Pyrenees / L.T . July 28.
1868.
1854 July 20 / (night) / Sound like
that 'of an explosion and q in Vienne,
15 kilometres south of Poitiers / CR
39-697.

lIi54 July 20 / 2:45 a.m. / in the

Pyrenees / shock / Timbs '55-277.
1854 Feb 26 ! Op Mars / (A I).
1854 Aug / Whirl/Roslin / L.T.,
1854 Feb. 26. 27 I Heavy rain .! Aug 25/10-a, 1854..
Hobart Town 1 Proc Roy Soc Van 1854 Aug I 1 Gottingen / met train /
Dieman's Land 1855-1. .
BA 60-16.
1854 Feb 2S / - I - 45/ Venus Inf con- IS54 Aug 51 Fr / [LT), 12-e / q /
junction with Sun i (A I).
Pyrenees.

IS53 Sept. 3 / mel 1 ab I a.m. I 1853 Dec 30 1 star 11th mag / See
Maidenhead I Mel like Slar thai ex- Aug7,1852./3h,33ml + 20051!
panded to size of moon was seen in It disappeared.
1854 March I 1 Switzerland and
Londo[n). / Times. Sepl 4-6-7-8 /
1854
Tyrol / det met / BA '60-104.
detonaled at Cardiff and Dolgelly. .
IS54 II Sleeper Susan C. Godsey, 1854 March 1 Disap i City of
1853 Sepl / Times bound wilh Oct near Hickman, Ky. / See Oct 27, Glasgow / O'Donnell, Strange Sea
Dec.
1873.
Mysteries, p. 12 / VXCE.
1853 Sepl. / (invader) I Ab 8 p.m. 1854 (?) / / Village of Swanland, near
one evening on Loch Seavig, Hull. / Proc. S. P.R., vol8/ Accord- 1854 March 7 1 [L T), 8-d / Sup. Ext /
Scotland, told by Mr T.K. Edwards ing to t:Jotes dated in the year 1854, by Devonshire.
[R'everse side) 10 Dr Phipson,' Mr John Bristow,
1854 March 16/ Paris i psychO-lUbe
"Familiar Lellers," p. 21, he in a [Reverse side) a master joiner, of like town ghosl / Owen, "Footfalls,"
boat, a luminous obj Ihat moved Manchester, who was then working in p.282.
loward him, bUI then curved away, a joiner's shop in Swan land - and
IS54 March 16 / Ap. 6, II 1 (It) !
visible 2 minutes.
told in the year 1891 - pieces of Sounds / Strangle) Sounds i Cosenza
1853 Sept 9 I [LT), 7-c / Ghst ! wood nying about the shop. No girl / See 1816.
here.
Chelsea I 12-5-r.
IS54 March 30 / IL T), 7-d / New
1853 Sept 10 I IL T), 9-a I New Com- ISecond page) Pieces of wood cut off, Comet! Ap. I-II-d I 14-S-b.
and falling tonoor would leap up on
el.
bench and dance among tools. Move 1854 Ap. 4 ! Fr. I Falling stars in a
IS53 Sept II -II/Comet - nebula in as if borne along on
fog I morning of 5th, odorous fog i
Great Bear I An Sci D 1854-360.
Cosmos 15-36.
[Reverse side) gently heaving waves.
1853 Sepl 30! Ascend mel I Gl. Brit. 1854 Jan 3 ! Wels / Large Met / BA 1854 Ap 5 ! dry f9g / Paris / odorous
fog / Cosmos 15/36.
69-282 .
1853 OCI 5 / See Aug 7, 1852. I Slar 1854 Jan / See Aug 7, 1852. i star 9th 1854 Ap. 16, etc. 1 City of San Salva12thmag/Oh,33m/ + 846'/ mag / 21 h, 28 m / - 12 53' / In dor destroyed by a q. / A.J. Sci
2/181277 1 Rumbling sounds from
Star not catalogued. It disappeared. following July, had disappeared.
'.
.
12th.
IS53 Oct 7 I New comet near B Virgo 1854 Jan. 5 / [LT), 7-f / Aurora.
1854 Ap. 25 1 q. / Lake Ontario i
on 7th i LT, Oct 7.
1854 Jan 10 1 See Aug 7, 1852. / star
doubtful / 'Canadian Jour 2/27S.
11th mag /4 h, 26 m / + 21 24' / It
1853 Oct 18/ [LT), 7-e 1 Ext.
1854 May II / [L T), 12-b / IS'-9-f /
1853 Oct 26 / Large met, in disappeared.
Met.
Pomerania, left a spiral train that 1854 Jan 13 / Spain and Mexico /
1854 May 15 / Horbourg. near Colcontracted into a ball and then passed Sim qs / 14th - Chile / BA 'II /
[Reverse side) Sim qs, Feb 18, 1889. mar (Haul-Rhin) 1 Red rain. I Ref into a Z. / BA 60-16.
Mav 16 - '46 /
1853 Oct. 28 / Det met / Eng / stones 1854 Jan. 20 / Brandon, Ohio / Tor'IRe~erse side) See March, 18621 Ap .
nado ! Finley's Repl.
1 Hanover! BA 60-92.
1863.
IS53 Oct 28/ Dedernstraart, Holland 1854 Jan 20 / Holmes Chapel / Mac1854 May 22! (Ch) / a Vulcan /
clesfield, etc. / Athenaelum), Jan 28,
/ Metite fell. 1 LT, Nov 5-7-<1.
(various objects) / reported by Greg
18[54)
/
Whirl
(N)
/
91.
1853 Oct 28 / Sound! det met / 3:57
by "a friend of his". 1 B. Assoc
p.m. / Great daylight met I Beeston / 1854 Jan 22 / Aerial soldiers / 1855/94/ (N) op I C-2~+.
Buderich / C-211 +.
BA 541414.
[BCF, p. 413)
IS53 Oct 28/ Beeston! 3:57 p.lm.) ! [BCF, p. 422:
"Phantom soldiers" that were seen 1854 June 23 / Manteno, III. / Tormet seen and det like dista[nt)
thunder I L.T., Nov 1-5-1' ! Nov at Buderich, Jan. 22, 1854 (NOles and nado / Finley's Rept.
Queries, 1-9-267).)
3-IO-b.
1854 July 2 / Fr 1 Eaux-Bonnes ! q /
IS53 Oct 29 ! Violent eruption and 1854 Jan 26 / See Aug 7, 1852. /2
a new island off coast of Formosa. ! stars 123 h, 27 m I - 4 15' / LookTrans China Branch Roy Asiatic Soc ed for in July following, had disappeared.
1855-147.

1854 July 18/ Weld, Maine / Sounds

allrib to distant tho storm / Rept
Smithson. Insl. 1855-282.

C.R. 39/204, 205.

1854 July 4 / Slrehla, Germany!
stone fall / ac to Wolf's Catalogue /
BA 60-92.

1854 Aug 10 / aflernoon / Bradford

Co., Pa / Tornado / Finley's Rept_
IS54 Aug 27 / 6 p.m. / Louisville,
Ky. I Tornado / Finley's Rept.
1854 Sept I / 10 a.m. / Paris / fogsulphurous odor / Cosmos 15/37.
1854 Sept 5 / Fehrbellin, Potsdam /
Metite I BA '60 /
IReverse side) Brandenburg, Prussia
/ (F).

1854 Sept 5 ! metite / Linum, near

Fehrbellin '/ rattling or hissing / no
great detonation i
IReverse side) A.J. Sci 21321140.
1854 Sept II /7 p.m. / Stirling, Scotland I Perthshire I dense mass copper
colored vapor. / no thunder / no rain
I L.T., Sept 14-12-d.
1854 Sept 22 I [L T), 9-c / 26-8-f /
29-10-1' i Tidal phe.
IS54 Sept 24 / Herefordshire /
Sounds like Cardiganshire / several
hours. 1 Proc. Eng. 19/144 / 7441
[BCF, pp. 406-409)
1854 Sept 26 / Aurora / Paris / C.R.
39-752.
1854 Oct IS / Durham / Derby / 9
p.m. ! met larger than moon / BA
67-417.
1854 fall / Lights like signals / Scioto
Co., Ohio / See Lum Objs.
1854 Oct 17 / IL T), 8-b / Remarkable
if true.
1854 Oct 18 I Siderite said to have
been seen by a sh'epherd to fall. /
(Fletcher) / Tabarz, near Gotha, Germany / BA 60-92.
1854 Oct 26./ See Aug 7,1852. / star
at 7 h. 30 m I + 23 54' / Looked
for later, disappeared.
1854 Oct 30 I [LT), 5-b / Rare birds.

(To be continued)

Second Quarter 1988

The Society For The Investigation of The Unexplained

Mail: SITU/PURSUIT, P.O. Box 265, Little Silver, NJ 07739-0265 USA Tel: (201) 842-5229
GOVERNING BOARD
Robert C. Warth President; Gregory Arend, Vice-President; NancyL. Warth. Secretary
and Tre~surer; Trustees: Gre~orv Arend, Marie Cox, Nancy Warth, Robert C. Warth.
Martin Wiegler, Alb"ena Zwerver.
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
Dr. George A. Agogino, Distinguished Director of Anthropology Museums and
Director, Paleo-ln~lan Institute, Eastern New Mexico University (Archaeology)
Dr. Carl H. Delacato, Director, The Institute for the Rehabilitation of the Brain InJured, Morton, Pa. (Mentalogy)
Dr. Stuart W. Greenwood, Operations Manager, University Research Foundation,
University of Maryland (Aerospace Engineering)
Dr. Martin Kruskal, Program In Applied Mathematics and Computational
Mathematics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
Dr. Samuel B. McDowell, Professor of Biology, Rutgers the State University,
Newark, New Jersey (General Biology)
Dr. Vladimir Markotlc, Professor of Anthropology, Department of Archaeology,
University of Alberta, Canada (Ethnosoclology and Ethnology)
Dr. Michael A. PerSinger, Professor, Department of Psychology, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada (Psychology)
Dr. Frank B. Salisbury, Plant Science Department, College of Agriculture, Utah
State University (Plant PhYSiology)
Dr. Berthold Eric Schwarz, Consultant, National Institute for Rehabilitation
Engineering, Vero Beach, Florida (Mental Sciences)
Dr. Michael D. Swords, Professor, Department of General Studies Science,
Western Michigan University (Natural Science)
Dr. Roger W. Wescott, Professor and Chairman, Department of Anthropology,
Drew University, Madison, N.J. (Cultural Anthropology and Linguistics)
Dr. A. Joseph Wralght, Chief Geographer, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey,
Washington, D.C. (Geography and Oceanography)
Dr. Robert K. Zuck, Professor and Chairman, Department of Botany, Drew University, Madison, N.J. (Botany)
ORIGINS OF SITU/PURSUIT
Zoologist. biologist. botanist and geologist Ivan T. Sanderson, F.L.S., F.R.G.S., F.Z.S . in assllciation with a number of other distinguished authors, established in 1965 a "foundation" for the exposition and research of the paranormal - those "disquieting mysteries of the natural world" to which
they had devoted much of their investigative lifetimes.
As a means of persuading other professionals. and non-professionals having interests similar to
"their own. to enlist in an uncommon cause. the steering group decided to publish a newsletter. The
first issue came out in May 1967. The response, though not overwhelming, was sufficient to reassure
the founding fathers that public interest in the what, why and where of their work would indeed survive them.
"" ..
Newsletter No.2. dated March'1968, announced new plans for the Sanderson foundation: a structure larger than its architects had first envisioned was to be built upon it. the whole to be called the
SOciety for the Investigation of The Unexplained. as set forth in documents filed with the New Jersey
Secretary of State. The choice of name was prophetic. for Dr. Sanderson titled one of the last of his
two-dozen books "Investigating the Unexplained." published in 1972 and dedicated to the Society.
Another publication was issued in June 1968. but "newsletter" was now a subtitle; above it the
name PURSUIT was displayed for the first time. Vol. 1. No.4 in September 1968 ("incorporating
the fourth Society newsletter") noted that "the abbreviation SITU has now been formally adopted as
the designation of our SOciety." Issue number 4 moreover introduced the Scientific Advisory Board.
listing the names and affiliations of the advisors. Administrative matters no longer dominated the
contents; these were relegated to the last four of the twenty pages. Most of the issue was given over
to investigative reporting on phenomena such as "a great armadillo (6 feet long. 3 feet high) said to
have been captured in Argentina" - the instant transportation of solid objects "from one place to
another and even through solids" - the attack on the famed University of Colorado UFO Project headed
by Dr. Edward U. Condon - and some updated information about "ringing rocks" and "stone spheres."
Thus SITU was born. and thus PURSUIT began to chronicle our Investigation of The Unexplained.

Printed in U.S.A.

ISSN 0033-4685

,,'

..

.. :",
'

IScience is the Parsait 01 the Unexplained'

ARROW OF TIME

Journal of SITU
The
Society for the
Investigation of
The Unexplained

How to glue a ribbon on itself without folding it.

See article "Tbe UFO Impact - Part m" on page 109.

Volume 21
Number 3
Whole No. 83
Third Quarter
1988

The Society For The Investigation Of The Unexplained

Mail: SITU/PURSUIT, P.O. Box 265, Little Silver, NJ 077390265 USA Tel: (201) 8425229
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to THE SOCIETY FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF THE UNEXPLAINED.
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PUBLICATION
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THE QUARTERLY
JOURNAL OF THE

rsuit

ISOCIETY FOR THE

INVESTIGATION OF'
THE
UNEXPlAINED

'SCIENCE IS THE PURSUIT OF THE UNEXPLAINED'

Content.
Pa. .
Editorial

97

Lyonesse: The Lost Land of Cornwall (Part I of II Parts)

by Jon D. Singer, M.A.

98

Shaksper's Werwolves: A Lycanthropic Reading of

King Lear and The Winter's Tale
by David E. Robson, M.A.

104

The UFO Impact (part III of a IV-Part Series)

by Jean-Pierre Petit, Ph.D.

109

Katie: Nostradamus Automatic Writing, Possible Direct Writing

and Psychic Nexus of an Illiterate (Part II of II Parts)
by Berthold E. Schwarz, M.D.
.'

116

A Radio Technical Device in the Ancient World?

by R. Furduy, Ph.D.

128

Ancient Engimas
SITUations

131

Some Further Considerations of the Mars-Venus Cycle and

Natural Constants in Relation to UFO Waves
by Keith L. Partain, M.Sc.

132

SITUations

134

SITUations (Lizardman)

136

Cryptozoological Comments
by Jon E. Beckjord, M.BA ..

138

Letters to the Editor

140

The Notes of Charles Fort

Deciphered by Carl J. Pabst

141

What are the 6mits and potentials of

human vision?
A housewife claims she sees, with her
unaided eyes, the major moons of the
planet Jupiter when it is visible in a night
sky. Her drawings of each moon's location is confirmed repeatedly by astronomers. A person sees the electrical field
(aura) of another person and 'reads' that
person's physical condition. A man
awakes and sees a young boy sitting at
the foot of his bed. When asked what he
is doing there, the boy replies, "I live
here" and instantly vanishes. Later,
upon telling a neighbor of his experience,
he is told that a boy of that exact description died in that house three decades
earlier.
But, if these are rare physical vision.s,
what about other types of sightings (and
these should, 1 imagine, be of particular
interest to Forteans)? For instance, a
person falls from a high place and unexpectedly survives. Upon recovery, he or
she tells of watching their entire life in
precise, reverse-sequence detail as it occurred. 1 asked one such survivor if she
only saw the highlights, to which she
replied, "I saw everything - every kindness, every touch, every hurt I had caused. It was all there. Everything, including
things 1 had long forgotten or wanted to
forget. Everything was there."
And what about the out-of-body experience (OBE) where people describe
events in time and place never visited
before but their descriptions verified to
the minutist detail by others. Or the vast
variety of "hallucination" and "apparation" visions that are claimed but are unverifiable?
(see 'visions' on p.

140)

Pursuit Vol. 21, No.3, Whole No. 83 Third Quaner 1988. Copyright 1988 by The Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained. ISSN 0033-4685.
No pan of this periodical may be reproduced without the written consent of the Society. Roben C. Warth, Publisher and Editor, Nancy Wanh, Production
Editor, Manin Wiegler, Consulting Editor, Charles Berlitz, Research Editor and Oceanographic Consultant.

Third Quarter 1988

Pursuit 97

Lyonesse:
The Lost Land of CornwaU
Its Connection 110 Atlantis and Mega8th Mysteries
by

JOD

Dou..... Singer, M.A.

(Part I of II Parts)

SeWy Isles

"Between Land's End and Scilly Rocks

Sunk lies a town that ocean mocks."
-From Historical Records of Cornwall
by Thomas Hogg, quoted by Robert Hunt 22
In this article we will examine the evidence for Lyonesse,
the various theories about. it conc~ved by a number of
scholars and we will look at sightings of ruins beneath the sea.
I believe that there is, in fact, some evidence for Lyonesse but
its story is quite complicated and the search for clues leads.
one down a labyrinth of reports, rumors and legends.
The submerged kingdom of Lyonesse is familiaiar to
readers of Arthurian epics. It is a fabled land mentioned, for
example, by Tennyson in Idylls of the King. Yet it is odd that,
while Lyonesse is best known as the homeland of the famous
knight Sir Tristan (or Tristram), little has been written about
it. Much, indeed, has been written about the romance of
Tristan and his lady Iseult but little has been published about
the doomed knight's mysterious country.
The lost kingdom, believed located somewhere west of
Cornwall, England, was supposed to be the seat of many
cities, towns and splendid churches. In a night of horror, it
sank beneath the stormy waves of the Atlantic - a British
Atlantis. To this day, Cornish fishermen and a few tourists
occasionaily claim they have seen submerged ruins when the
waters are calm. A few even insisted that they have retrieved
artifacts from the depths. It is also claimed that two noble
families of England are descended from those lords of
Lyonesse who escaped from the surging waves of the deluge
by riding their horses to the safety of the Cornish mainland ..

The Origin of the Name "Lyonesse"

The very meaning and origin of. the name, Lyonesse, appears to be lost in mystery. The name seems Celtic but its age
and meaning are unknown. The name resembles the English
word lion but the resemblance is only coincidental. Incidentally, the spelling itself varies greatly. Some books add an extra n or change the y to an i. In several texts, the fmal e is occasionally dropped. The variety of spellings has led to the rise
of a number theories about the location of Lyonesse itself. I
use the form Lyonesse, which is one of the more popular
modern forms. It is the spelling used by O.G.S. Crawford,
founder of Antiquity magazine, and one of the first modern
investigators of the enigma of the sunken land of Tristan.
Thomas Westropp spelled the name as Lyoriesse, Lyoness
or Lennoys.36 Westropp wrote that it, " ... was never placed
on early maps and there is no evidence that it affected either
the Irish or Iberian beliefs, though it secured a place in
English literature through Tennyson and Swinburne." I
checked Swinburne's Tristram of Lyoness and learned that it
was primarily a retelling of the Tristan and Iseult love story
but added no interesting details on the lost land itself.
Pursuit 98

Adanlic
Ocean

A.D.H. Bivar reported that the fabulous region's name

was sometimes spelled Leoneys, Leonoys, Leones, among
other variations. 4 Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur referred
to Lyonesse as Lyones, Lyonas or Lyonesse. Richard Carew
in 1602 wrote it as Lioness.
E. Brugger wrote in 1924' that Lyonesse could be traced to
several old French spellings such as Lohenois (or Leoneis)
and Loenois ..
A couple of investigators have traced the old medieval
(Middle English or Old French) forms of the name back to
putative Latin original forms. If the Latin forms of the name
could be accepted, one could, perhaps, pinpoint the sunken
land's location and trace not only old Roman accounts of it
but one could then locate sunken ruins. Brugger traced. the
name Lyonesse back to Loudonia or Loudonesia, an old
Latinized name of Lothian, a region of Scotland! The problem with that identification is that Lothian is still dry land
whereas Lyonesse sank beneath the sea. The theory re~ts on
complicated linguistic athletics whereby Brugger had
endeavored to twist various early forms of the name of
Lothian to get a spelling resembling the name Lyonesse. He
sidestepped the issue of the submersion of the homeland of
Tristran by picking up the country from its traditional location off Cornwall and by depositing it hundrec:Is of miles
away in the unlikely glens of Caledonia. This is a pretty good
.
.
howler of a hypothesis. .
Brittany has been suggested as another source of the name
of the sunken realm. As I noted in my article on the lost cities
of France,3' that land has its share of sunken-city tales, such
as Ker Ys, which date from the time of King Arthur or just
after. Robin Palmer traced the name back to an older Celtic
(actually Latinized Celtic) named Lugdunensis. That
awesome name means something like Fort of Lug Country,
being named after the god Lug. John Morris noted in. The
Age of Arthur that Lyonesse was in Brittany,France and its
name was derived from the Latin original, pagus Leonensis,
a place in northwest Brittany. It is still known today as Leon.
One can find a map of the latter Roman Empire in the Fourth
and Fifth centuries A.D. which has several provinces in Gaul
(France) named Lugunensis (Lugdunensis in Latin).6 Places
named after the god Lug, one of the most powerful Celtic
gods, were common in western Europe so if Lyonesse was not
in Brittany, it could have been named after Lug or Lud
(however sPelled). Indeed, it is likely that the Breton theory is
erroneous because in sever8J. versions of the epic of Tristan,
the knight goes from Lyonesse to Brittany, a fact often
downplayed by those linguistic athletes who wish to chafige
.

Third Quarter 1988

the traditional location of the lost realm to some other locality. In fact, Robin Palmer wrote that while an early form of
the name was Lugdunensis, she located the country of
Lyonesse off the Cornish coast. The problem of the submerged land's location is made more complex by the fact that there
was a British kingdom in Brittany called Cornouaille but it
appears that Tristan's home was in the British Isles, not
France.

The Appearance of Lyonesse

Now that we have traced the origin of the name to a CeltoRoman form, we can discuss the appearance of the country
itself. What did it look like? Did it have towns and cities? Do
we have tales giving the names of those drowned towns?
Two early English historians whCJitscribed Lyonesse were
the Sixteenth century scholar William Camden and the Seventeenth century historian Richard Carew. I will refer to
Camden's report later but here are a few notes. 1 This is
Carew's description of Lyonesse, which he spelled Lioness,
"Lastly, the encroaching sea hath ravined from it the whole
country of Lioness, together with divers other parcels of no
little circuit; and that such a Lioness there was, these proofs
are yet remaining. The space between the Land's End and the
Isles of Scilly, being about thirty miles, to this day retaineth
the name, in Cornish Lethowsow, and carrieth continually an
equal depth of forty or sixty fathoms (a thing not usual in the
sea's proper dominion), save that at midway there liveth a
rock, which at low water discovereth his head. They term it
the Gulf, suiting thereby the other name of Scilla. tt
In the Eighteenth century, the scholar Rev. Mr. William
Borlase wrote, Of the Great Alterations which the Islands of
Scilly have undergone since the time of the Ancients (1753). I
do not have the complete text but here is a quote from O.G.S.
Crawford's article,' "The flats ... which stretch from one
island to another, are plain evidence of a former union subsisting between many many distinct islands. The flats between
Trescaw, Brehar and Samson are quite dry at a spring tide,
and men easily pass dry-shod from one island to another,
over sand-banks (where, on the shifting of the sands, walls
and ruins are frequently discovered) on which at full sea,
there are 10 and 12 feet of water!' Trescaw and Brehar are the
older names of two of the Scilly Isles - Tresco and Bryher
today.
In 1871, Robert Hunt, Fellow of the Royal Society, summarized accounts of Lyonesse based on earlier research
dating from the Nineteenth century and earlier times. 22 He
stated, "A region of extreme fertility, we are told, once
united the Scilly Islands with We!!tern Cornwall. A people,
known as the Silures, inhabited this tract - which has been
called the Lyonesse, or sometimes Lethowsow - who were
remarkable for their industry and their piety. No less than 140
churches stood over that region, which is now a waste of
waters; and the rocks called the Seven Stones are said to mark
the place of a large city. tt
At the beginning of the Twentieth century C. Lewis Hind's
travelogue 20 discussed the mystery of Lyonesse and reported
on a converation he had with a couple of unnamed coastguardsmen at the Longships Lighthouse near Cape Cornwall.
It is curious that they, native Cornishmen, apparently knew
less about the lost land than the English visitor! Nevertheless,
they did shed some light upon the el~sive land. Hind spoke
with them saying, "They say that the lost land of Lyonesse
lies between. tt He was referring to the area of water between
Cape Cornwall and the Scillies, thirty-four-and-a-half miles
away.
Third Quarter 1988

Hind reported, "The coastguards were dubious, 'There's

deep sea there,' said the bearded one, 'though the Seven
Stones between here and Scilly be land sure enough,' tt and
"'We call the sea out yonder the Lioness,' said the shaven
one. That sounds like Lyonesse. tt
Hind continued, "I told them that the land of Lyonesse is
supposed to have stretched from the Longships Lighthouse to
the Scilly Isles, and thence northeastward to Lizard Point,
and that some suppose that the lost Cassiterides once formed
part of Lyonesse. tt
It seems that at that point, there was a "scholarly folklore
corpus," to coin a phrase, about Lyonesse which was far
more detailed than the simple tales of the local people. The
Cassiterides were either the Greek name for Britain or else a
separate island group. I will discuss the Cassi~erides mystery
in a later monograph as they ultimately proved to be a
separate, albeit related, tale.
Archaeologist Lucille Taylor Hansen developed an
elaborate theory about Lyonesse. \8 She included a rough map
of her concept of Lyonesse, and depicted it as a huge, irregularly shaped landmass curving far to the north and west
of Tresco in the Isles of Scilly. In fact, she asserted that portions of the ancient country extended as far north as an area
northwest of the western coast of Ireland. She mentioned
several Roman accounts of the Isles of Scilly, which were called Sulina, Syllian or Silis in Latin, among other forms. The
Isles were named after the southern British tribe of Silures. It
seems that after the fall of Rome, the name was changed
from Sulina to Lyonesse. The Roman accounts dated from
the Third to the-Fourth centuries A.D.
Furthermore, Hansen insisted, evidence for Lyonesse
could be found in E.K. Bowley's book, The Fortunate Isles.
Bowley was certain that the present Scilly Isles were the
hilltops of a single, partially submerged land. The large island
had a jutting peninsula which stuck out into the Atlantic. At
its end was the city of Ys. As I noted in my report on lost
cities of France, Ys is usually located in the Bay of
Douarnenez, Brittany, France, not off Cornwall. Hansen
thOUght that some portions of the ancient landmass were still
dry land during the Bronze Age of the Second Millenium
B.C. She added that beyopd the Isles of Scilly there was a
land at the edge of the continental shelf (which was then not
submerged). On that land, which was called the Cassiterides,
was the lost city of Cassidies north of the Scillies and south of
Ireland. This larger land would be part of what I would like
to call "Greater Lyonesse. tt Cassidies would be a second city
beside the capital located at the Seven Stones in the Scillies
themselves. Unfortunately, she did not give the source of the
name Cassidies, and she did not describe that city in any
detail. This greater country existed, she said, at the time of
Atlantis and sank in stages as the sea levels increased while the
great iceflows melted.
It is clear that Lyonesse was at least thirty miles in extent
during the Dark Ages of King Arthur's time (c. 500 A.D.) but
in earlier ages, in the Bronze Age and the last Ice Age, it may
have been of much greater extent, being part of the nowsubmerged region which once connected the British Isles to
each other and to mainland Europe.

The Sunken Cities of Lyonesse

In 1871 the writer Robert Hunt wrote about the rocks and
reefs which the people of Scilly called the Seven Stones. 22 He
quoted Borlase's early story, _"The Cornish call the place
within the stones Tregva; i.e., a dwelling; and it has been
reported that windows and other stuff have been fished up,
Pursuit 99

COAST-LINE

or

SCILLY ISLES
... 4 wouhl be if the land __ ,.iMd &Or..t above
III preNnl ,_,.

......r.. ./; ( ..
"."._,' "."""If
,.' . . . )
, T'NS ... .r

.-........J

(J

TN \., f.lhoo:- ................. _

SCAtE

O=======_.......'~61

t=....~....

,,.1'
/

(J
Map taken from "Lyonesse" by O.G.S. Crawford, Antiquity, Vol. 1, No.1, 1m.

and that fishermen still see the tops of houses under water."
From a single dwelling, we learn, the concept of undersea
ruins has been expanded to include evidence, including sightings, of a sunken town. In the 1920's, Crawford added further data on this mystery. He said, " ... The rocks called the
Seven Stones, seven miles west of Land's End, are said to
mark the site of a large city." Unfortunately, Crawford did
not give the name of the city.
Geoffrey Ashe, however, was Qne of the few writers who
did give the enigmatic metropolis a name, the City of Lions. I
Again, though, we have no detailed description of the city nor
did Ashe give the source of his data.
Hansen told us that off a place on Tresco Island in the
Scillies, called Cornish, people have found artifacts from the
sunken city when storms washed up antiquities onto the
beach. The city was called simply "the town" or by the more
exotic name, "city of the lions." Alas, no description of the
city was given and skeptics can argue that the flotsam was
from sunken ships, not a lost city.
.
Hansen did note that the esoteric City of the Lions had an
acropolis but did not cite any source nor did she reveal further details about the city's appearance. From the name, we
might guess that City of the Lions is derived either from a
mistranslation of the name Lyonesse or else, perhaps, there
were monumental sculptures of lions decorating the city's
public buildings and plazas, like the sphinxes of ancient
Egypt. It is curious that we have here the recurring number
seven which often appears in connection with sunken-city or
Pursuit 100

lost-city legends. For example, I may remind readers about

our own American legend of the lost Seven Cities of Cibola.
One wonders ifthe name is simply a description of seven large
rocks or could there be a wider implication, perhaps a
reference to such things as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters, the
star cluster which was important to ancient mariners.
One wonders why most authors do not give the names of
the sunken cities. Nevertheless, there have been a few cracks
in the vells of time and the names of a few of the lost cities of
Lyonesse have been discovered beside the phantasmal City of
Liom.
.
Hunt gathered together a few more medieval reports of
sunken towns and cited Whitaker's Supplement to Powhele's
History 0/ Cornwall, which I have not yet been able to obtain. Whitaker accepted the idea of the lost land of Lyonesse
but was skeptical of the large number of destroyed churches.
Two medieval writers, William and Florence of Worcester
(England), claimed that Lyonesse had had 140 churches but
Whitaker said, "The number of parish churches lost is so
astonishingly great as to baffle the power of evi~ence, to
preclude the possibility of conviction. I, therefore, take upon
me to reduce the number from 140 to 40, - to cut off what
any dash of Worcester's pen niight have casually created, the
first "figure." The number of 40 is still so impressive that one
gets the idea that there was a large population on Lyonesse.
The legend of the churches must date from Worcester's time
(the Middle Ages) althOugh Christianity reached western Britain during the Third, Fourth and Fifth centuries - i.e., durThird Quarter 1988

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ing the last centuries of Roman rule and the beginning of the
Dark Ages just before the Anglo-Saxon invasions; Alas,
Hunt did not give any lengthy accounts of Lyonesse
geography. He did quote an 1854 translation of The Chronicle oj Florence oj Worcester which reported that in 1099
" ... the sea overflowed the shore, destroying towns .... " The
names of the towns were not printed but it is obvious that
there were more than just the enigmatic City of Lions.
Hunt then told a folktale about an unidentified lord of
Goonhilly whose ancestor had escaped from Lyonesse on the
eve of its cataclysmic doom. Hunt told us that that nobleman
had founded Chapel Idne or the Narrow Chapel which had
been an ancient chapel in Sennen Cove village in Cornwall.
Goonhilly itself is in southwest Cornwall between Mullion
and St. Reverne, and southeast of;Mount;s Bay. Tradition
reported that this lord, " ...owned a portion of the
Lyonesse ... " and escaped from the deluge but, " ... by this
war of waters several large towns were destroyed, and an immense number of the inhabitants perished." Again, names of
the large towns are not revealed, either because records were
lost or the authors who recorded the story were simply not interested in what must have seemed like "mythical
geography." There is also at least one tale of a sunken town
in Sennen Cove, which I will refer to later on in this artiCle.
Sir Galahad, one of King Arthur's most famous knights,
was said to have come from Lyonesse. In fact, he allegedly
ruled a part of that land. Ashe reported' that Galahad's province was a district named Surluse but he did not say in what
part of the sunken realm that land was located. He did not cite
any sources of data on Surluse other than vague references to
certain Arthurian epics. Perhaps the name was derived from
Old French or Middle English. E. Brugger wrote that old
forms of the name of South Wales were Surgalois, Surgales,
Sorgales and Sugales. These sound like Surluse. Since the
Silures lived in southern Wales and since they gave their name.
to the archipelago now called the Scilly Isles, it could be that
Surluse is a garbled form of Siluria. Indeed, as we will see
later, Siluria was in fact one of the Roman forms of the name
of the Scilly Isles. It is not improbable that certain Silures colonized the islands. Perhaps Surluse was in northern Lyonesse
since people could sail quickly from southern Wales to the
legendary land's north coast.
Brugger added that there were at least two towns in
Loenois, as he spelled Lyonesse, using an Old French spelling. One was Albine while the other was Lusin or Luisin. He
was unable to identify them with any place in Cornwall or
mainland Europe. He assumed that they were mythical.
These towns are mentioned in the medieval epic called the
Prose Tristan.
Two more cities in Lyonesse were named by Joseph BEdier,
in his modern retelling of medieval tales composed by BEroul
and Gottfried von Strassburg, among other early bards.
He says Tristan's father, King Rivalen, had a castle named
Kanoel. There are no footnotes or explanations of the name
and there were no maps of Lyonesse locating it but the text
explained that it was somewhere on the seacoast. A second
castle in Lyonesse was Lidan, castle of the royal seneschal
Denis of Lidan. There, also, are no clues to its location and
descriptions of it and Kanoel are very scanty. Robin Palmer
. noted Z6 that Lyonesse had castles but did not describe its
geography in any detail. Perhaps she was referring to Lidan
and Kanoel.
Another city of Lyonesse was mentioned by a poet named
Francis Brett Young. According to A. Bivar, Young's 1944.
poem, "The Island," referred to the tombs of Tristan and

Third Quarter 1988

"Isolt" as he spelled"Iseult, in a place in Lyonesse which was

called Careol. If Careol was not the City of Lions it could be
some other place, a city where the royal necropolis was
situated. If that name is not imaginary but derived from an
old chronicle, then if Lyonesse is ever found Careol may be a
Dark Age British equivalent of King Tut's tomb. It could
have been a sacred city inhabited by the living but nearby, or
within it, were the crypts which held the sarcophagi of the
rulers of the doomed country, but that is only speculation until some fortunate archaeologist manages to discover
Lyonesse.

.. .it may here be noted that in the Scilly Islands (which the
Greeks entitled Hesperides) is a monument thus described:
"Oose to the edge of the cliff is a curious enclosure called
Troy Town, taking its name from the Troy of ancient history;
the streets of ancient Troy were so constructed that an enemy,
once within the gates, could not find his way out again. The
enclosure has an outer circle of white pebbles placed on the
turf, with an opening at one point, supposed to represent the
walls and gate of Troy. Within this there are several rows of
stones; the spaces between them represent the streets. It
presents quite a maze, and but few who enter can find their
way out again without crossing one of the boundary lines. It is
now known when or by whom it was constructed; but it has
from time to time been restored by the islanders. '"
This Troy Town is situated on Camperdizil Point.
'Lyonesse, a Handbook for the Isles of SciUy, p" 70"
from Archaic England by Harold Bailey, pub. by Chapman
-Editor
and Hall, London, 1919, pp. 585-586.

Theories about Lyonesse

I have already mentioned a couple of unlikely suggestions
locating Lyonesse in Scotland and Brittany. Other researchers
link Lyonesse to Atlantis.
One of the most popular theories about Lyonesse would
have us believe that it was a Dark Age kingdom that existed
around 500 A.D. and sank in 1099, as I noted earlier. First, I
would point out the fact that an obelisk-shaped standing
stone was actually found a few years ago in Cornwall. This
standing stone bore both the names, in Dark Age Latin, of
Tristan and King Mark! Thus, even though nobody, to date, has
found an inscription with the name of King Arthur on it (at leaSt
no authentic Dark Age inscriptions bearing that monarch's
name have been unearthed despite on dubious fmd at Glastonbury) we can accept the idea that Tristan was a real person,
albeit a different individual from the medieval romances. He
was more likely a half-barbarian, half-Celtic and half-Roman
warlord, and he probably resembled the fictional hero Conan
more than the chivalrous knight of later romances. But since he
was of royal blood, he may have had some Oassical education,
and may not have been as crude as some of the barbarian invaders or lower-class natives. Perhaps he was somewhat noble in
bearing although the idea of chivalry was not invented until
some 550 or 600 years after his time.
L. Sprague de Camp reported ,0 that an ancient standing
stone was found a few miles from Fowey, Cornwall, near the
south coast. The stone was found adjacent to a highway. It
had fallen over (or had been toppled over) but local history
buffs Set it upright atop a modern plinth, to which they attached a plaque with a transliteration and translation of the
inscription on the stone's side, and can be seen today at the
intersection of Routes A3802 and B3269.
The stone is seven feel tall. One side of it is a cross while on
Pursuit 101

"

I 2

"

MECiALI'I-HIC TOMB
OP/, LARGE CIST

III

STONE C.'II4CLE

""ENIIIR

5 6

.sdu:

'

~ I!J ~.,

..... 5TONI! AOW

BRONZE AGe VILLAGE

IRON A.Je YlLLAct~

&I

IRON Abe CEMETERt'

uo

PORTS

'"

P060U

'.

ROMAN STP/,UCTURI!

P/,O""AN MILESTONE

EARLY CIIURCH

MAP OF
CORNWALL

Map laken from The ArclIaeology of Cornwall and SciUy, Methuen aod Co., London, 1931.

the other side is an inscription, barely legible due to its great

age. The awesome inscription says that Drustanus, son of
Cunomorus, is buried at the spot, or rather, at the original
find-site a short distance away. I do not know if anyone has
searched for the tomb. Drustanus is an old form of the name
Tristan. Because some scholars point out that Drust or
Drustans was a Pictish name, then perhaps Tristan was a
Pict, which would be evidence for "the Lothians are
Lyonesse" theory. However, Fowey is a long way from the
Lothian region so it is possible that Tristan was named after a
Pict, possibly someone who had intermarried with his family.
Cunomorus is also known from other sources. His name is
the "Latinized" name of a Cornish king Cunomor or Cynvawr, to give the Dark Age and later Welsh forms. Cunomor
ruled territories in both southwest Britain (Cornwall and
Devon) as well as the British colony in Gaul which became
known as Brittany. Actually, he ruled parts of Brittany, not
all of it but he was one of the most powerful kings of Dark
Age Britain. He even had a fleet, the restored RomanoBritish fleet which the monarch Ambrosius Aurelianus, older
brother (or so it said in some legends) of King Uther Pendragon, had restored, or else, the fleet was a separate creation
of Cunomor's dynasty. In the inscription, Cunomorus is
named as Drustanus' father although in the epic, he was
Tristan's uncle. Cunomor was sometimes called March Cynvawr in Welsh.
The next clue can be found on the north coast of Cornwall.
Pursuit 102

A Celtic folklore expert, Sir John Rhys, reported that

Lyonesse had a nort.hem extension which stretched from,
' north Cornwall to Lundy Island. Hunt revealed that on the
north shore of Cornwall there once stood a great city called
Langarrow or Langona. It is far obscurer than Lyonesse but
its tale is similar. Since Rhys suggested that a now-sunken
land may have extended north of Cornwall and that it was
part of Lyonesse, then Langarrow may have been one of the
cities of Lyonesse. Hunt stated that Langarrow was located
between the Gannell and Perranporth. It was ruined about
before his time or around 900 A.D. The city was
900
very large and had seven Cia rches (here is that, recurring
number again). Its people fished, hunted, farmed and mined
metals. Mining was their chief industry. The city flourished
for a long time until a change occurred. Convicts were sent to
construct harbor works at the mouth of the Gannell River. At
first they lived outside the city but later they persuaded
their masters to let them live inside it as servants in wealthy
mansions. Intermarriage took place in still later times so that
these "eyil" ways began to spread among, the populace. God
lost patience with the "evil," fallen nation and decided to
puriish it with an "old-fashioned" deluge.
As Hunt recounted the tale, ..... the anger of the Lord fell
upon them. A. storm of unusual violence arose, and continued blowing, without intermitting its violence for one moment, for three days and nights. In that period the hills of
blown sand, extending, with few intervals, from Cran~ock to

years

Third Quarter 1988

Perran were formed, burying the city, its churches, and its inhabitants in a common grave. To the present time those sand- .
hills stand as a monument to God's wrath; and in several
places we certainly find considerable Quantities of bleached
human bones, which are to many strong evidence of the correctness of the tradition."
If this was not just a Christian horror story, perhaps the
bones were from shipwrecks and were washed up, or else the
skeletal fragments were from prehistoric or later burials. Or
they could really be the last remains of the doomed inhabitants of the buried city. If Langarrow ever existed, it could
have been the Pompeii of Dark Age Cornwall. Hunt claimed
that in his time (c. 1871) heaps of woodashes mixed with
shells were found beneath the sand. These were, he thought,
traces of the convicts' campfires. He added that the shells
were from shellfish which the convicts ate. Legend reported
that the convicts lived in caves or huts so excavators may yet
find ruins of their dwellings and their artifacts, as well. The
Gannell River itself has been gradually mling up, ruining the
trade of a town called Crantock. Perhaps somebody should
search for the lost harbor works of Langarrow. In fact, in
1835 a buried church was found near the traditional location
of Langarrow. Local lore said that the church had been
founded by St. Pirran, a contemporary and follower of St.
Patrick.
Indeed, Dean and Shaw9 said that two churches of St.
Piran were submerged near Perranporth and one was excavated but they gave no details. Thus if sunken and buried
churches could be found, then we have hope that archaeologists could locate and excavate far more fascinating ruins of
buried or sunken cities in the area. One of the elusive buried
towns, which is nameless, was said by author Arthur Norway
to have been buried beneath Gwithian Sands near Gwithian
on the northeastern shore of St. Ives Bay. Now that we have
found circumstantial clues for the Dark Age land of
Lyonesse, we can move backwards in time to examine the
Roman theory.
"~eral authors such as Crawford and Hansen pointed out
the fact that the few Roman writers who mentioned the Scilly
Isles often used the Latin form of their name in the singular.
That means that the Romans knew that the Scillies were one
large island which broke up into the present archipelago as
portions sank or else there was a very large main island surrounded by smaller isles. This large island was usually called
the Siluram Insulam in Latin, which meant Silura Island, apparently named after the Silures tribe of southern Wales.
Crawford Quoted a Roman schola:r named Solinus (c. 240
A.D.) who spoke of them as being one large island. A second
Roman writer was Sulpicius Severus (c. 400 A.D.) who also
used the singular fOIm of the n~e when discussing the Scilly
Isles. Solinus, however, had more details on the inhabitants
of the isles than Severus. Crawford Quoted Solinus' passage
about the Silurians, who, at least in the Cornish archipelago,
were more primitive than the rather advanced Celts of the
British mainland. Perhaps they were mixed with more
primitive aboriginals who "had adopted the Celtic language
after Silures had arrived from Wales." To continue with
Solinus, we learn that, "A tempestuous channel separates the
island of Silura from the coast of the British tribe of the
Dumnonii. Its inhabitants even to-day (sic. - J.S.) have
primitive customs; they do not recognize money; they give
and exchange goods; they obtain the necessaries of life by
barter instead of by purchase; they worship gods and men
and women alike claim to foretell the future."
Third Quarter 1988

Crawford claimed that Severus and Solinus were the only

Roman authors who mentioned the Scillies by name but
Hansen reported that the" Romans in the Third century
A.D. helped the natives build dikes which held back the encroaching sea. II Unfortunately, she did not name her source.
The Romans also banished political prisoners to the SciUies.
For example, the Emperor Maximus (c. 383-388 A.D.)
banished prisoners there. Earlier emperors sent prisoners
there in 280 A.D. One Tiberianus was sent to the islands
which were called Insula Syllian. He was a convict who lived
around 380 A.D. Hansen added that an emperor named Marcus (Marcus Aurelius? - J.S.) banished a false prophet to Insula Silis but gave neither source nor more data.
Many ancient megalithic, Iron Age and Roman Age sites as
well as Celtic sites have been found on dry land throughout
Cornwall and the Scilly Islands. Have any been found underwater? Two eminent British archaeologists named Peter
Fowler and Charles Thomas reported in 1979 that a stone cist
(grave) off the southeast coast of Bryher Island in the Scillies
yielded Romano-British artifacts dating from 75 A.D. to 350
A.D. This site dated from pagan times and may confirm
Solinus' text. The site is located on Brow Beach. Nobody has
found a sunken Roman city off the coasts of the Scilly Isles,
however, Fowler and Thomas noted that certain ruins at
Nornour in the Eastern Isles of the Scillies suggested that
there may have been a Celto-Roman temple complex whose
main site has not yet been found.
Fowler and Thomas added that the Romans knew of the
Scillies as Silina or Sillina. They thought that the isles were
one large island about the size of Guernsey of the Channel
Islands in the English Channel or Barra Island in the
Hebrides (off west Scotland). They suggested that the island's
name in Celtic was not only Silina (the Celto-Roman name)
but En-noer, meaning The Land in Old Cornish. That name
is reconstructed" from similiar sounding names in medieval
documents. Those documents date from between 1193 to
1380 and use the forms Ennor, Enor, Inoer and Enoer. St.
Mary's was then used as the name of the island of the same
name. It was first the name of a church in the town of Old
Town but then the name was given to the whole island in
place of the old Celtic name. Thomas and Fowler reported
that the old, large island had had forests of deciduous
trees as well as herds of feral Red and Roe deer. Feral pig
remains were excavated at archaeological sites. Thus the ancient land had ample supplies of timber and animals although
the landscape was rather different in appearance from the
present Scillies.
The feral herds must have been descended from animals
brought over in Celtic or Roman times and then turned wild
after ttie decline in population following the fall of Rome.
Fowler and Thomas mentioned the Roman accounts of
Solinus and Severus who referred to the Scillies in the
singular. In fact, they thOUght that the present or older Celtic
names of individual islands were originally names of regions
of the larger Silina. For instance, Breghiek was the name of
St. Martin's and Tean Islands. Goenhely (Briny Wasteland)
was the name of the Eastern Isles but now it survives as the
islet of Ganilly. Bryher, meaning "Place of HiUs" included
Bryher and Samson Islands. Tresco Island was Trescaw,
meaning "Homestead of the Elder Trees."
The Search for Lyoneise and complete bibliography will appear in
Part 1/ of this article.

Pursuit 103

Werwolves:~
A LYC8nthropic Reading
of
King Lear and The Winter's Tale

Shaksper's

by David E. RobsOn,
ABSTRACf
This paper conitects werewolf folklore and the mental illness of lycanthropy 2 to readings of King Lear and The
Winter's Tale. Werewolves within the plays are identified by
legal, medical, dramatic, and etymological relationships to lycanthropy.
INTRODUCTION
As Anthony Burgess put it, "the Elizabethans were a
healthily superstitious race. "] I think it is going too far to say,
as Robert Graves once did, that Shakespeare "knew and
feared'" the moon goddess but it is certainly fair to say he
knew and wasn't above using the traditions, superstitions,
and beliefs which handed themselves down to him. Sir James
Frazer asserts that Falstaff dies "between twelve and one,
e'en at the turning of the tides" because people all along the
east coast of England believed that a man could not die until
the tide was nearly out. S Significantly, they believed it well into the 19th Century and may still. The Sunday sermon seems
a more plausible origin for the belief than lunar myth, 6 but
does it really matter if people believe it? For a writer, the issue
is belief. Such beliefs carry automatic credibility (i.e., they
seem right); if they are theatrical, so much the better.
Shakespeare liked to work from sources. Perhaps it made
him feel a scholar, as well as a play botcher (to botch something once meant to mend it). People working from sources
quickly learned tp distrust their own powers of invention; instead, they gain a knack for fabrication as large "artistic"
problems are reduced to small "technical" ones. 7,S Shakesp~are was perfectly well aware of shapeshifting lore (or lycanthropy)' and wrote it into his plays if he needed a laugh. 10
This happens literally in The Winter's Tale, with the entry of
a singing werewolf - Autolycus. He was also aware of lycanthropy as a mental illness, or delusion, and wrote it announcedly into King Lear, first when Edgar was driven into
hiding (II,iii), and again when Lear chose to be "a comrade
of the wolf and owl" (II,iv). And so, gentlefolk, follow me
into the plays but beware: We be stalking werewolves there.

Contention 1: Autolycus is a werewolf

Granting a premise of magic by illusion, I' the rest is simple
sleight of hand. The Winter's Tale is a romance and therefore
carries a magical premise. 12 Northrop Frye divides romances
into'''and then' stories, in which B follows A, and 'hence'
stories, in which B is presented as a credible effect of A," so
that the story incorporates a sense of logic. J3 Sometimes, he
asserts, the effect is to reverse the action up to that point."
All Leontes' actions were headed for unrelieved tragedy, then
the action became comic "with two recognition scenes," Frye
observed.IS,16 The point at which the action changes is distincly marked at the end of Act III: Antigonus exits pursued by a
bear, Perdita is found, the Time Chorus spans sixteen years
to tell us she is alive and prospering and wooing a prince.
Pursuit 104

M.~.

(The break, therefore, comes after the Time Chorus, not

before.)
.
.
Frye also observes that Shakespeare "abandons" Greene's
Pandosto at this point. 17 Shakespeare was a source man and
it seems out of character for a source man to drop one source
without having another in mind. I would suggest WYokin de
Worde's printing of William of Po/erne as a good bet for a second source. II Set in Sicily wi~h plenty of magic and
comedy, the romancehac;i been "immensely. popular"" i~ its
time. Plot elements. common to both seem to match up, particularly if one t~kes the dyptich structure as indicating a shift
from the story of Leontes to the story of Perdita: A courtier is
chased by a bear, a royal child adopted by fanners ends up
wooing royalty, the lovers flee to Sicily with some unconven- .
tional assistance. The only.thing is, William was helped by a
werewolf. Is Autolycus a werewolf?
.
By etymology alone, his name equals auto + lyk6s (= self
+ wolf = wolfself = werewolf). His first spoken lines announce that in his time he wore "three-pile" velvet, that he is
a thief "littered" under .Mercury, a "snapper-up of unconsidered trifles." Then what's he wearing now? Is it: the
"wolfhede" mask of Anglo-Saxon . law? If so, he is a
werewolf by legal definition, and punning on it with canine
references in his character-note speech.
.
Shakespeare read Ovid, so he knew of "bodies changed to
different forms," but he may have read Homer, too. Robert
Eisler20 writes:
.

Auto-Iykos, 'he himself a wolf,' is a synonym for

'werewolf,' 'man-wolf.' The earliest [person of this
name known to literature] is t.he Homeric Autolykos,
the grandfather of Uly'sses; ~tie master-thief"who steals
the helmet made of a boar's head. According to [the]
Odyssey the god Hermes - sometimes reputed to be
. the father of Autolykos - gives him the gifts of successful thieving and safe perjury. Accorc.Iing to Hesiod
he can make all stolen goods invisible, a feature to be
connected ~ith the wolf's ~ap or dog's cap (~ynel!) of
'invisible' Aides. [Thus] there existed, obviously, a
matriarcha.l, were-wolf genealogy for Odysseus. (Condensed) .
.
.
The circumstances Ovid relates of Autolycus' birth match
Shakespeare's well but they are, .to say the least, confusing. 2 ,
Mercury and Apollo both saw Chione, Daedalion's daughter,
~d wanted her. Mercury put the girl to sleep bymagic.and by
the time Apollo came
I
... to take the pleasure .
The other god had taken first. In time
A son was born, Autplycus, a schemer
With an inheritance, honestly come by,
of sheer dishonesty; the kind of fellow
To make white black, or vice versa, worthy.
Son of his father.
Third Quarter 1988

But which father? Frye contends "there seems to be no deputy dramatic figure for the second action unless Apollo, working through Paulina and an offstage oracle, has theatrical
ambitions."22 There is a perfectly good one in Autolycus,
named son of Mercury and putative son of Apollo. Shakespeare knew well enough that paternity could sometimes be
complicated.
Autolycus enters, singing his merry song and boasting of
his status as a thief. He wears his knavery outwardly in private, a badge of honor to his guild, or he would not tell us so.
Therefore, he wears the "woltbede" mask imposed on outlaws by Edward the Confessor. Three readings of the "wulfesheved" law are: 23 24 2S
A . wolf's head, which the English catl wulfesheved,
from the day of his outlawry.
From the time he is outlawed, he wears a wolf's head,
so that anyone may slay him.
He shall be driven away as a wolf, and chased so far as
men chase wolves farthest.
Taken together, these readings appear to constitute a
reasonably complete statute. Therefore, Autolycus is a
werewolf by legal definition.
He is also a werewolf by location, season and the technical
requirements of comic relief. Robert Burton reports lycanthropy "troubleth men most in February and is nowadays
frequent in Bohemia."26 It is "a winter's tale," February is
the tailing month of winter, and Autolycus makes his first appearance in Bohemia. Another writer 27 notes that Apulia was
once called Bohemia, which further indicates Polerne as the
second source.
Properly performed, the transformations of Autolycus occur on-stage, while the audience watches. When the Clown
enters, Autolycus pulls the mask back, leaving his costume in
place, and "grovels," whining like a whipped dog. When
next Autolycus enters he has, with the Clown's money, transformed himself to a higher type of man - a peddler. He next
exchanges garments with F10rizel and appears as a courtier,
having resumed his original form. Each transformation of
clothing changes his manner. However, as a visual reminder
to the audience of who and what he is he wears the woljhede
as a beard, and then a cloak, turned fur-side in to show he is
versipellis. I think there is something intrinsically funny about
a werewolf singing of "daffodils and doxies" and he fits right
in with the bestial rage of Leontes, Antigonus being eaten by
a bear, the dance of the Satyrs in the festival, and the wolfish
descent of Polixenes on the shepherds as he outlaws his son
and drives him away, "chased so far as men chase wolves farthest. "
Contention 2: Lear is a Iyamtbropic play
The kindest thing one can say of Regan and Goneril is that
they are viragos. The etymology of virago is "werewolf."28
On Edgar's disappearance (lI,iii), he says that he will reappear as a lunatic beggar and specifies a particular kind, a
"Turlygood." A Turlygood is a lycanthrope. Lear, the
fugitive King, is wulfesheved by definition; when he makes
his last appearance on stage, he enters howling. All of these
things, taken together, spell lycanthropy.
Robert Burton Z9 discusses "diseases of the imagination, or
injured reason" as being:
three or four in number, frenzy,.madness, melancholy,
dotage, and their kinds: hydrophobia, lycanthropia, St.
Vitus' dance, possession of devils.
Under a single subsection 10 Burton links
Third Quarter 1988

Dotage, Madness, Frenzy, Hydrophobia, Lycanthropia, Chorus Sancti Viti, Ecstasis

as if they were phases of a single progressive disease. Striking
from the list canine rabies, S1. Vitus' Dance and demonic
possession, the King's psychology may be seen in proper
Elizabethan (or Jacobean) terms as progressively deteriorating from dotage to madness to frenzy to lycanthropy. Burton
defines dotage as "folly;" frenzy as "clamorous" dotage,
"continual, with waking or memory decayed;" madness as:
a vehement dotage, or raving without fever, far more
violent than melancholy, full of anger and clamour,
horrible looks, actions, gestures, troubling the patients
with far greater vehemence both of body and mind,
without all fear and sorrow, with such impetuous force
and boldness that sometimes three or four men cannot
hold them.
Lycanthropy Burton characterizes as:
wolf-madness, when men run howling about graves and
fields in the night. [Lycanthropes] lie hid all day and go
abroad in the night, howling at graves and deserts; 'they
have usually hollow eyes, scabbed legs and thighs, very
dry and pale.' (Condensed)
Edgar enters (lI,iii), announcing that he 'Escap'd the
hunt" and seeks to preserve himself in the base, poor shape
of man "brought near to beast." He will grime his face with .
filth, elf his hair in knots, blanket his loins and run naked
through the countryside howling (i.e., "with roaring voice"),
scratching his limbs with anything that will make him bleed.
"Poor Turlygood! poor Tomll' ... Edgar I nothing am," he
says, and exits. DoucelZ states:
.
Turlygood is the corrupted word in our language for
Turlupin. The TurlupiJiS were known at frrst as Beghords or Beghins, and brethren and sisters of the free
spirit. Their manners and appearance exhibited the
strongest indications of lunacy and distraction. The
common people alone called them Turlupins; a name
obviously connected with their wolvish howlings.
(Condensed)
The existence of Turlupins is confirmed in French Ecclesiastical History as Brothers and Sisters of the Free Spirit. J] If
the etymology proposed is correct (i.e., Turlygood =
Turlupin = wer-Iupin), then a Turlygood is a werewolf or
anyway, a man suffering Iycanthropic delusions. The physical
description also seems to match that of condemned werewolves. Jacques Roulet, "The Lycanthrope of Angers"
(1598), was a feeble-minded, epileptic beggar, aged 35, accused as a werewolf after being found in some bushes J4
. half-naked, his hair unkempt, his hands smeared with
blood, and his nails clotted with shreds of human flesh.
Montague Sqmmers Jl cites Boguet, who judged many
werewolf trials, as noting that the werewolves who came
before him to be tried,
owing to their nocturnal coursings through briars and
brambles over the countryside, 'were all scratched on
the face and hands and legs, and that Pierre Gandillon
was so much disfigured in this way that he bore hardly
any resemblance to a man, and struck with horror those
who looked at him. .
Edgar did not want to be bothered. That much is obvious.
And so, it appears that he disguised himself not only as a
lunatic, but as a recognizably dangerous lycanthropic lunatic.
Edgar is wulfesheved by law, werewolfic by design.
Returning to Burton's c1assificatio~s, one may take Lear's
dotage and therefore his folly as being the self-evident psyPursuit 105

chological set-up of Act I. Bystanders at the love-trial may

well have been tempted to ask him, as Kent and Cordelia in
effect did, "Just who do you think you are?!' To answer that,
one must return to the fact that Shakespeare was a source
man. The likely main source appears to be the poem "Leir
and His Daughters" recorded in Layamon's The B'rut 36 (for
technical reasons 17 ) but it would be in character for a source
man to go farther - possibly to Geoffrey of Monmouth,
possibly to myth. Squire3B reports that the "far-off original"
of Lear was
the British sea-god 'Llyr Llediath.' The chief city of his
worship is still called after him Leichester, that is, Llyrcestre, still earlier, Caer-Llyr. (Condensed, emphasis
added)
"Worship" = "adoration" = "love." Any crossword fan
knows this. "Abasement" is the act of adoration or worship,
especially before a diety; also, humiliation. "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased," says Luke 14: 11.
The set-up of abasement, prayer (in the legal sense) and
reward indicates Shakespeare conceived Lear as a priest-king
who believed himself a demi-god endowed with magical
powers, particularly over wind and rain; this is the nature of
his folly. From the moment Cordelia refuses to abase herself
in prayer of reward, his folly grows ever more'c1amorous and
continued; this is the nature of his frenzy. Lycanthropy is a
kind of madness and madness, a kind of action. Lear flits
between ordinary madness and lycanthropy from the moment
he vows to be "comrade of the wolf and owl" (JI,iv) until the
final scene, when he re-enters, howling.
Following the play on the level of action alone, one sees the
set-up: the cited line in II,iv shows the decision; Kent's discussion (III,i) suggests a strange wolfish howl softly woven in the
winds offstage. The audience discovers (III,ii) that the howling was Lear, attempting to raise a storm.]9 Brief scenes furthering the secondary intelligence plot 40 distract the audience
while Shakespeare moves the characters from place to place,
but the layouts of I1I,iv and IIlI,vi are identical: a fool, a
knave, a fugitive disguised as a lycanthrope, and a pitiable old
sorcerer (howling mad and therefore Iycanthropic) are twice
joined under one roof, on one stage, in one act. Glpucester's
first entry (III,iv) confirms Lear's madness and his iegal status
as wulfesheved;4. his second arranges the escape, concludes
the intelligence subplot, and sets up the "Wild Hunt" for
Lear. (It might be noted there are perfectly good reasons having nothing to do with symbolism41 that he recognizes neither
Kent nor Edgar.) 'Lear's next entrance'(IV,vi, ','fantastically
dressed with flowers") shows he is now a camouflaged outlaw
who believes himself a wild man. Therefore, the nature of his
madness ,is lycanthropy and his last appearance (V ,iii)
specifies that he re-enters, howling. The question is, would an
audience of Shakespear's time have recognized these
elements? I believe the answer is "Unquestionably, yes."
Eisler'] reports:
[In] the Twelfth Night pageant of 1515 produced at
Greenwich for Henry VIII 'came out of a place lyke a
wood 8 wyldemen, all apparayled in grene mosse.' In
1575 Queen Elizabeth [was received at Kenilworth by
the poet Gascoyne, who emerged] from the wood as a
'wild man,' entirely covered with ivy and carrying a little uprooted tree. [Eisler argues that the 'wyldeman's
costume' is] originally' a hunter's 'camouflage, [and
that] the 'Green Man' is known as Ie Loup Vert at
Jumieges (Normandy). The 'Green Wolf or 'Grass
Wolf is [therefore] by no means a creature of
Pursuit 106

WeIsb wolf pads from the mid-fifteen hundreds on display in the Natlonlll' Museum of Willes.
'

mythical imagination 'but the archetypal figure' of the

disguised outlaw and, werewolf hiding and feeding in
, the cornfields and vineyards when' the crops' are ripe.
(Condensed)
As with Edgar's disguise, the physical descriptions of lycanthropy match those presented in the play.
That Regan and Goneril become lycanthropic is also
demonstrable,
although their transfoqnations 'are
metaphorical (and therefore characteristic) rather than literal.
Their actions are whorish from the start because their love is
for sa,le; Cordelia's is not, so she seems pure by contrast"
(l,i). The trial-by-magic (III,vi) reverses the judgment of the
trial-by-Iove, but by' then the damage is done. Lear
characterizes his daughters as "she-foxes," 'an interesting
word which relates them by image to the maenads, or "raving
women," of Plutarch. CharacteriZed as sterile huntresses clad
in fox-pelts, the maenads sometimes took lovers, worshipped
the "Great Hunter;" ~d beat' the woods' by night in the
"Wild Hunt. "45.46 For this reason, and to show they are filthy
rich, Regan and Goneril should wear fox-fur' stoles or
something of the sort 'in their stage entrances:
.
That Shakespeare used this set-up is hinted ill Goneril's
chat with Oswald.{I,iii) and confirmed upon Oswald's death,
when Edgar makes a point of reading and interpreting her letter to Edmund. As soon as .Lear calls down the curse of
sterility upon her, ,she bec9mes maenad. However, for
Shakespeare, the sisters' progressive frenzy of lycanthropic
cruelty originates in their jealousy of (and hatred for) each
other. Each tries to outdo the other in c~uelty to Gloucester as
a fawning display of devotion to Edmund. Shakespeare openly shows this (and tells it). Nevertheless, he makes one fiction
fit another by casting Lear as "The Hunted," Edmund as the
"Great Hunter," and Regan and Goneril as his raving
devotees. The etymological trace is stamped, upon their
characters like DNA: virago = amazon' (without breast =
without heart) = she-fox = maenad = she-wolf (harlot) =
werewolf. -The layout is exact if one accepts etymology, antique psychology, and lycanthropy as valid bases"for literary
criticism.

Third Quarter 1988

CONCLUSION
The question remains whether Shakespeare believed in
witchcraft, werewolves, and the like. Robert Graves asserts he
did; Shakespeare's own treatment of the material on stage
clearly indicates he did not. Casting Autolycus as a werewolf
(if he was so cast) was nothing more than a sight-gag designed
to raise an immediate laugh and let the audience know the
tragedy has turned to comedy. However, it is a. very good
sight gag, scholarly in character, the sort of thing one
wouldn't expect from a mere commercial hack who had little
Latin and less Greek. When Shakespeare presents Lear on the
heath raising a storm by magic, it is Lear (not Shakespeare)
who believes the storm was raised by magical means. Shakespeare has already taken pains to show the audience the storm
was in progress before Lear got there, ensuring that all the audience sees is a deluded old man who hasn't the sense to come
in out of the rain yet thinks he moves the powers of heaven
and earth at will.
Yet, even if he didn't believe in them himself and felt no
motive to educate the public by debunking them, he wasn't
above using them. Magical elements were popular motifs of
the public imagination and popular then (as now) meant boxoffice.
NOTES
1. For antiquarian reasons, Kittredge's spelling of Shakespeare and

the Middle English spelling of werewolf are used in the title.

2. Lidman relates werewolf folklore to the medieval wildman (see
Mark J. Lidman, "Wild Men and Werewolves: An Investigation
into the Iconography of Lycanthropy," Journal of Popular
Culture, Fall 1976, pp. 388-397). That the mental illness of lycanthropy is still extant is demonstrated in psychiatric journals (see
Frida G. Surawicz, M.D., and Richard Banta, M.D., "Lycanthropy Revisited," Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal,
Vol. 20 No.7 (1975) pp. 537-542). Clinical observation o.f two
Iycanthropes and interpretation of MMPI data shows a syndrome of progressive mental deterioration and delusions compatible with acute schizophrenia or toxic psychosis; these are consistent with symptoms of atropine ingestion (nightshade isa weUknown ingredient of werewolf ointments). The .painting, !'A
Wild Man and Woman" by Jean Bourdichon (15th C~tury)
depicts a man and woman covered with fur standing before a
cavc with a castle in the background. Russell writes as captiori to
the reproduced painting, "The legendary wild people of medieval
forests were sometimes associated with the wild hunt and with
witchcraft (see Jeffrey B. Russell, A History of Witchcraft:
Sorcerers, Heretics, and Pagans, Thames and Hudson, Ltd.,
London, 1980, p. 49). See also Daniel 4:33 (King James Bible) for
the case of Nebuchadnezzar, who "was driveri from men, and
did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of
heaven, tiD his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails
like birds' claws." Burton (Robert Burton, The Anatomy of
Melancholy, (621) categorized Nebuchadnezzar under the
heading of lycanthropy as did Eisler (see Robert Eisler, Man Into
Wolf, Philosophical Library, Inc., New York, 1952, Note 118, p.
162); Eisler suggests that Nebuchadnezzar's case took the form of
"bovine therioanthropy" and adds "there is no reason to doubt
the historicity of an access of melancholy madness in the life of
this king, since his own inscriptions politely record a four-years'
suspension of interest in public affairs."
3. Anthony Burgess, Shakespeare, Alfred A. Knopf, New York,
1970, p. 169.
4. Robert Graves, The White Goddess, Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
New York, 1948 (1975 reprint), p. 426. Graves asserts, "Shakespeare knew and feared her. One must not be misled by the playful silliness of the love passages in his early Venus and Adonis, or
by the extraordinary mythographic jumble in his Mid-Summer
Night's Dream." See note 10 herein for comment.
5. Sir .James George Frazer, The Golden Bough (abridged), The

Third Quarter 1988

MacmiUan Company, New York, 1922 (1967 reprint), p. 40.

6. Ecclesiastes 9:11 (King James Bible) ends, "but time and chance
happeneth to them all." In maritime services, it is frequently read
"time and tide."
7. In a.Master's thesis, "Two Studies in Technique," David E.
Robson, University of San Diego. Discussed tangentially in essay
"On Translating," p. 206, and essay "On Adapting," p. 2-3.
First essay written Dec. 1981, Camp Covington, Guam; second
written Oct. 1982. Thesis approved March 1983 at San Diego,
CA.
8. John Gardner, The Art of Fiction, Alfred A. Knopf, New York,
1984, also addresses technical problems indirectly, p. 15.
9. It would have been impossible to be alive at the time and not be
aware of witchcraft, of which shapeshifting is an aspect. Five
notorious Iycanthropes were tried in France and Germany within
Shakespeare's lifetime; the Peter Stubb case (1589) in Cologne
was retold as a pamphlet in Holland and translated and printed as
a pamphlet in London (1590). It may be read in The Werewolf
with only the typeface changed (see Montague Summers, The
Werewolf, BeD Publishing Company, New York, 1966 (reprint of
1933 London edition), pp. 254-259.
10. See Falstaff as Heme the Hunter in Merry Wives of Windsor; see
also the hilarious plight of therioanthropic Bottom in MidSummer Night's Dream (re: Graves' assertion, Note 3 herein, one
wonders if the expression "half-assed" existed before Bottom.)
II. Magic by iDusion is not magic at all; cj. Master's thesis, Robson,
p. 13.
12. The romance tradition is inherently magical and filled with supernatural elements.
.
Ii Northrop Frye, The Myth of Deliverance: Reflections on Shakespeare's Problem Comedies, University of Toronto Press,
Toronto, 1983.
14. Northrop Frye, The Myth of Deliverance, p. 4.
IS. Northrop Frye, The Myth of Deliverance, p. 31.
16. Northrop Frye, Fables oj Identity: Studies in Poetic Mythology,
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1963, "Recognition in
. The Winter's Tale," pp. 107-118.
17. Northrop Frye, The Myth of Deliverance, p. 31.
18. In Master's thesis, Robson; pp. 5-6. I confess a personal and sentimental interest in finding traces of William in The Winter's
Tale; however, Shakespeare certainly could have read it.
19. Irene Petit McKeehan", "GuillOume de Polerne: A Medieval BestSeller," PMLA, 1926. (See also Summers, The Werewolf, pp.

222-224.
20. Robert Eisler, Man Into Wolf: An Anthropologicallnterpretation of Sadism, Masochism, and Lycanthropy," Philosophical
Library, New York, 1952, Note 112, "Personal Names Meaning
Wolf," pp. 142-145.
..
21. Ovid, M.eta.morphoses (Rolf Humphries, Tr .), Indiana University
Press, Bloomington, 1955 (i968 reprint), p. 269. Ovid avoids the
paternity problem by saying Chiorie had twins.
22. Northrop Frye, The Myth of Deliverance, p. 31.
23. Eisler, Man Into Wolf, Note 112, p. 145.
24. Eisler, Man Into Wolf, Note 112, p. 145.
25. Venetia Newall, Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Magic, The Dial
Press, New York, 1974, p. 171.
26. Robert Burton, The Ana.tomy of Melancholy, Vintage Books,
New York 1977 (originally published L~ndon 1621). It might be
noted that Shakespeare could not have used Burton as a source
- he had been dead five years when the book came out;
however, their work methods appear similar in that both
transmuted materials which had been handed down to them.
27. S.L. Bethell, The Winter's Tale: A Study, Folcroft Library, Inc.,
1970, pp. 32-34. Strongly suspect this is a reprint of a 19405 text,
in that footnote dates reference nothing later than 1944. On the
point of Bohemia's non-existent sea-coast, BetheU suggests three
possibilities: (a) it had one, c. 1270; (b) in 1481, the name was also
used of Apulia (South Italy); and (c) the sea-coast of Bohemia
was as much of a standing-joke in Shakespeare's time as an admiral of the Swiss Navy would be in ours. Bethell favors the
Pursuit 107

standing-joke theory.
28. Webster'S New World Dictionary o/the American Long
William Collins + World Publishing Co., N~ York, 1974, p.
IS86.
29. Robert Burton, The Antltomy 0/ Melancholy, Pt. I, Sect. I,
Subsea. III, ""Division of Diseases of the Head," p. 139.
30. Robert Burton, The Antltomy etc. , Pt. I, Sect. I, Subsea. IV, pp.
13~143.
"
31. Howard Staunton (181()'1874) quotes a lengthy passase from
Dekker's 0 per se 0 (1612) describing Bedlamite begars in his
The Complete lilustfflted ShaJcespetlre, Vol. III, p. 118, originally
published by Routledse, 1858-61.
32. Staunton, SluJkespeore, p. 119.
33. Webster'S New Intemationtll Dictiontlry, Second Edition. No
citation was found in Samuel Johnson's DictiORllry, the word
had also apparently slipped from the dictionary by the time
Webster'S Third International was pub6shed.
34. Russell Hope Robbins, The Encyc/ojJedili 0/ WitclrcrtQt and
Demonology. Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, 1979, p. not

recorded.
3S. Montague Summers, The Werewo({. p. 116. Since this note deals
with Edgar's "transformation" it is perhaps not impertinent to
mention the most excellent and learned demonologist Jean
Bodin, who affums that the Iycanthropes he tried "washed themselves with water" when they wished to resume human form,"
which is noted as being in aood apeernent with Sprenger's statement (Malleus Ma/eflCtlrum) that a man who has been changed
into a beast loses that shape when he is bathed in running water
(Summers, p. 113). Presumably, Edgar's Utransformation"
back to human form as a peasant was accomplished by sinillar
means.
36. Roger Sherman Loomis and Rudolph Willard, eels., Medinal
English Vent' and Prose, Appleton:Century-Crofts, Inc., New "
York, 1948, pp. 7-13.
,
37. The ""technical reasons" are: (I) The outline of aetion matches
well between Layamon and Shakcispeare, although Layamon presents the tale so that Coidoille committed suicide after much torture; also, Layamon pve Leir only thirty kniJhts in his train. (2)
At 433 lines, it is apProximately the right length for a
"treatment. "
38. Charles B. Squire, The Mythology 0/ the British Islands,
Gresham Pub. Co., London, 1905. (Reprinted by Bell Publishing Co., 1979, as Celtic Myth and Legend, Poetry !md
Romance), p. 270.
"
39. Robbins, Ent:ydopecIia 0/ WitcharQt and Demonology. as per
Note 34 herein, p. not recorded. Robbins notes two well-knoWn
instances of storm-raising in the history of witchcraft, of which
one "classic" example is the involved trial of the North Berwick
Witches (IS90). Attempting by magical means to wreck the ship
on which King James of Scotland was returning from Denmark,
the witches christened a cat Uand bound to each part of that cat
the chiefest part of a dead man and several joints of his body."
For whatever reason, the ship was apparently slowed down by
contrary winds and the witches claimed credit, for which act of
using witchcraft with regicidal intent, they were executed. Anthony Burgess notes (Note 3 herein, p. 223) that James became
much more tolerant of witchcraft when he became King of
England and, towards the end of his life, flatly denied the work-"
ings of witches and devils as "but falsehoods and delUsions."
James had, as Montilgue SlQIlIIICI'S notes (The Werewo({. p. 192)"
"a far more skeptical mind t~ is vulprly supposed" and said
on the subject of werewolves, James stated, "if anie such thing
hath bene, I take it to haue proceeded but of a naturall superabundance of MeIanc:hoIic:" (KinJ James, DaemonoIogIce, 1957).
It would appear that if James believed Iycanthropes were mad,
Shakespeare (ever mindful of the importance of pleasing important members of the audience) pve him just what he wanted. It
may be here noted that in the storm-raising scene, Le8r's howling
has U. most eerie quality," as Summers wrote of t~ voice of the
wolf (Summers, The Werewo((. p. 64).
Pursuit

108

40. uThe secondary intelligence plot:" Gloucester was set up by

Edmund as spy. By Biblical and Hammurabic injunction,
blinding was one punishment of spies. Of course, Kent was the
spy, not Gloucester; Kent was Cordelia's agent provocateur. It
would appear she gave Kent the mission of keeping Lear from
c:oming to physical harm, if possible, while encouraging him in
his delusions and stirring up" enmity against him. Every action
Kent takes from the time he enten in disguise until Lear is on the "
heath is openly provocative. His exit and Cordelia's (I,i) are identical"in character, in that they are equally classy and provocative.
If this casts suspicion on the purity of Cordelia's motives, good!
(See Note 44 herein).
41. "His daughters seek his death," says Gloucester, conflf1lling
Lear's status as wulfesJreved. Lear's madness is confmned by the
contrast presented in Gloucester's sanity. "
42. Gloucester is a sane but not imaginative man and he only sees
what he expects to see. He has no reason to expect to" see Kent,
believing him to be comfortably banished" to France with CorHe has even less reason to expect to see Edgar, knowing
that he banished him himself. Further, there is no reason to
believe he would recognize Edgar beneath all the blood and dirt
of his Iycanthropic disguise. Thus Gloucester sees what any sane
m8n would see, a lunatic only.
43. Eisler, Notes IS8 and IS9, "Green Men;" "The Green Man as "
Camoufla&ed Outlaw," Man Into Wolf, pp. 184-188.
44. "'Cordelia's Motives:" As the unmarried daughter, Cordelia
presumably was living with her father at the palace and therefore,
knew about the prospect of sustaining not only her father but 100
~niJhts. Goneril mentions the problems caused by" 100 knights
and squ~, so it appears the actual number was substantially
greater. A little arithmetic shows that (given the modest assumption of close order drill formations with columns four horses
abreast and the horses spaced at IS-foot intervals) Lear's 100
knishts" alc,me formed an armored column 400 feet long.
However, knights are not much good without a support
organization; each knight requires a squire, and each knight/squire set requires an armorer. That's 300 men and 200 horses, not
to mention remounts and draft animals. If Lear has that many
people in his train, he lik~y has such ordinary support personnel
as cooks, bowmen, and suppliers (200). The army would pick up
an additional 200 camp followers quickly; medieval armies usual" Iy did. Taken together, that's 700 people and 200 mounts, 100 remoUnts and minimum of SO draft horses, forming a column
about a quarter mile long. One can almost feel sorry" for Goneril
" on flnt sight of that column: six months each supporting them
would bankrupt both households. Given this layout it would appear Cordelia's plan was to let her father wear out his welcome,
then raise an invasion and rescue him, "seeming at last the better
for having seenied at flnt the worst. The result, if it came off,
would be the disinheritance of both her sisters, making Cordelia
heir apparent to all of England as well as France. There was no
love lost between" these three sisters. Cordelia just planned to outfox the other two.
4S. Eisler, Man Inlo Wolf, p.3S.
46. Eisler, Man Inlo Wolf, Note 98, "Solitary Animals Converted to
the GregariOus Life," pp. 109-110.

delia:

SELECr BIBLIOGRAPHY
This bibliography is intended to be brief and highly specialized,
rather than complete. Interested readen may track down sources as
discussed and identified in the notes.
Burton, Robert. The Anatomy 0/ Melancholy. Random House, Vintqe. New York, 1977 (reprint of 1932 Dent edition, London;
orisinally published London, 1621).
Eisler, Robert. MQn Into Wolf: An Anlhropologicallnlerpretation
of Sadism, Masochism, and Lycanthropy. A lecture delivered at a
meeting of the Royal Society of Medicine. Philosophical Library.
New York, 19S2.
Summers, Montague. The Werewolf. Bell Publishing Company.
New York, 1966.
~
Third Quarter

1988

The UFO Impact

(The ...1D01ogIcaI .........'

Part m of IV-Part Sed..

bvd_....... Petlt
Introduction
A serious problem arises regarding UFOs. If they are extraterrestrial vehicles, how do they cross the fantastic distances
between us and the closest stars? Special relativity behaves
like a steel wall. For today's scientist travel faster than c, the
speed of light, is nonsense. In fact, this limitation cames from
some fundamental geometric features of space-time. The observation of light rays tangent to the planet Mercury showed
that space-time had a certain curvature due to mass content.
Then, after Einstein we considered space-time as a fourdimensional hypersurface. Any regular n-dimensional surface
has a n-dimensional local Euclidean tangent-space. This
tangent-space is similar to the ordinary tangent-plane
associated with any point of a two-dimensional sphere.
[Note: The author discusses this two-dimensional concept
further on, Ed.)
Actually, the work of Einstein, in 1915, and then the work
of Minkowski, showed that this four-dimensional tangentspace was not a simple four-dimensional Euclidean space,
where the Pythagorean theorem works, but a pseudoEuclidean space. This peculiar geometric feature introduced a
fundamental limitation to the velocity of light. If interested,
the reader will find useful material in two books, called
Everything Is Relative and The Black Hole, William "Kaufmann, editor, 95 First Street, Los Altos, California 94022,
USA.
To sum up, in our four-dimensional space-time frame of
reference, to go faster than c is as stupid as to go deeper than
the center of a sphere.
Thus, if an interstellar voyage could be managed someday,
it would imply some fundamental changes to our scientific vision.
About tbe Absolute Constancy of tbe Velocity of up.
I am presently pl1blishing a paper in the international toplevel journal The Modern Physics Letters A. titled IIAn Interpretation of the Cosmologic Model With Variable Light
Velocity." The paper has been accepted after a six-month,
hard mathematical fight with the referee.
In the classical description, all physical contants: c, velocity
of the light; G, gravity constant; h, Planck's constant; K,
dielectric constant, )1, magnetic permeability of the vacuum;
me, mass of an electron, and so on, are considered as absolute
constants in space and time. Notice that c, K and)1 are not independent. In effect, c comes from Maxwen's equations
through
1

= -JjiK"

Notice" that light rays are nothing but the characteristic

paths associated with the Maxwell equations system, describing electromagnetism, from the mathematical point of view.
All that is classical. In other words,light is an electromagnetic
wave.
Also, in classical description, the universe is expandina,
since the big bang event. But the size of galaxies and atoms do
not change. They behave like frozen regions of space (see my
book Big Bang, same editor). The radius of a black holes
does not change, either.

"f~:!';"d Qli"~r"!r 1988"

HORIZON

o
..... 1 - The borlzoll ct aDd the cIIIIracterIIde Ieqtb R(t)

The big bang theory is not perfect. As an example, if we

fonow the Einstein-de Sitter model, expansion corresponds to
a law R".. tV] where R represents a cosmic characteristic
length, say, the distance between two clusters of galaxies, and
where t is cosmological time.
Consider an element - an elementary particle - where
time is close to t =0. Suppose it produces an electromagnetic
wave at the velocity c. "This wave wiD expand as a sphere
whose radius is the "horizon" ct. It is obvious that in the
primeval state of the universe the horizon ct was smaller than
the characteristic length R (See figure 1).
Under such conditions, how could the universe be so
homogeneous, if all the particles ignored each other during
the primeval period? How could men have the same opinions
if they never talked to each other? This is the fIrSt paradox.
The second paradox is the fonowing: Before t = 700,000
years energy-matter was mainly contained in primeval
photons, born at t= 13 seconds, when mutual matter/antimatter annihilation occurred. After t = 700,000 years matter
possessed almost all the energy of universe and light was
nothing but some tenuous ash. During the first period, which
we call the radiative period, R..,t I/Z Then, after t=700,000
years the law corresponds "to R tV], since we have a twovelocity cosmos. This is surprising because our physics says
that matter and light should be equivalent, through the
E = mc 2 relationship.
The universe possesses a certain amount of additional oddities, Some galactic redshifts do not fit in, at all, with the
general pattern for" they give relative velocities, in some
clusters of galaxies, which should be larger than 10,000 kIn/so
Quasar's energy emissi~ is stiD unexplained. We fmd only"
one half the necessary mass in our galaxy, in order to prevent
its explosion due to centrifugal force, and so on.
Einstein's theory comes from a basic assumption: the
geometric feat\1res of universe and its mass content are supposed to be closely related. Geometry is due to the presence of
matter, and mass is nothing but a geometric feature. If R is a
tensor describing the geometry of the universe and T the
energy-matter tensor, then the basic field equation that Eins"
tein introduced in 1917 i s : "
R=xT

Pursuit 109

where, x is the well-known Einstein constant, that has to be

"I found it was identical to the cosmic perimeter at any time,
aDd as such-the problem of the homogeneity of universe was
determined.
""' :
"solved. In addition, it was no longer necessary to search for
In books we find that x was determined by considering
some peculiar situation. Attention was focuSed on the field as - what could be the sign of the curvature of space-time (k = I,
produced by a single mass m, in steady conditions. Then"'Eins- "' -: pOsitive, k = -I, negative, or k = 0, zero curvature), for the
tein built the necessary link between the old, classical Newtomodel"gave the single solution k = -I (negative curvature).
"The universe was no longer expanding and the redshift, as
nian description and the relativistic description and he found:""
x = - 8lTa
predicted by Milne, was derived from the secular variation of
c1
h. The:relation R ""t 2/3 had to be interpreted as a gouge reloOn the other hand the field equation must mute into the
lion and did not correspond to a radial velocity, associated to
the Doppler effect. In spite of such strong change the Hubble
classical description at short range and for a short period. As
law still exists and the age of universe remains unchanged.
such, the field equation must be "divergentless.'; It is just a
But the Planck length and time were found to vary like Rand
mathematical property. hi the small neighborhood of spacetime this mathematical property degenerates into the more
t, whereas the quantic barrier, towardnhe t = () singularity,
vanished. A fascinating" perspective for theroretical physics. "
familiar property, i.e. where energy-matter is conserved.
This zero-divergent property has a conquence: x must be
Well, what does change in this magic model?
an absolute constant. If not, all our knowledge in physics
The answer refers to the voiumetric density of energy for diswou~d just collapse, but as x is determined from a steady
tant sources like quasars. In the classical description, as
quasars fluctuate in time," we associate with them a maximum
situation, nothing obliges us to assert that c and a are
diameter cT, where T is their period of fluctuation. Then we
separate constants. The ratio a/c 2 must be an absolute constant - that is all. This is the aspect of general relativity that I
compare their volumetric power density to the equivalent for
normal galaxies supposed not to "expand with the universe.
enhanced in my recent paper in Modern Physics Letters A.
Then we find that the quasar, as large as a star, produces as
Many authors have tried to consider a, m, & h as variable
in time. Milne (1932) supposed that a and h could vary. He
" much energy a whole galaxy.
denied the expansion process and suggested the red shift, Le.,
In the new model "I presented, c ~as larger when the light
was emitted" and the galaxies were smaller. Combining the
the variation of the light frequency v in time coUId be due to
two effects I found that the volumetric power density for distant
some secular variation for h, and he suggested h "" t. In addition he supposed the energy hv would remain constant in
quasars (z = 3)" should be 1000 times smaller. Interesting, no?
time.
This work is very new. I passed the first barrier of the
referee's criticisms. Now this will have to be criticized by the
Hoyle suggested a secular variation of a and mass content
international scientific community. Perhaps somebody will
p. To fulfill the divergentiess condition" of the field equation he
had to introduce some source term in it, which corresponded
find some error in the structure - then again, perhaps not.
to continuous creation of matter. Later, in "1958, he published
But even in the first case, and my French colleagues agree,
a paper with Narlikar in which he suggested that the'variation
something will remain, because it could not be a naive matheof a could explain the expansion of the "earth and the initial
matical mistake.
aondwama breakage into parts: "the actual continents. ""
Advanced Cosmology
Dirac tried also to move the constants a and h, but, sur-"
prisingly, nobody touched c . '
"
The reader will say, "OK, but what is the connection with
the UFOs?" I will reply that this work started precisely from
In my recent paper I have presented a model in which all
it. "
the "constants can change with respect to cosmic tim"e. FollowI will have to "now give some concepts that, perhaps, will
ing Milne I tried to eliminate all possible witnesses of the expossibly seem difficult for the nonspecialist.
pansion. As such, I "supposed that the Compton length
In 1915 Albert Einstein developed, in a very brilliant and
(associated to panicles), the Scharzschild"length (associated to
elegant way, his theory of special relativity. Then, he inthe general relativity" and black" holes), the Jeans length"
troduced his field equation. In 1917 his cosmic model was not
(associated to stellar systems) followed the" variation of R in
so brilliant. In effect, Einstein did not know that the universe
time. Then the particles, the black holes and the galaxies exis a nonsteady object. Following this antic vision he" tried to
pimded with the universe. As a consequence of this geometric
build a steady universe. But the field equation did not work,
assumption I found that all the energies -:- radiative, gravitathe only solution" being a universe, as pointed out by.de Sitter,
tional, and so on - were conserved. For example mc 2 was
conserved, but not m, alone!
"
"
occupied by vacuum! It was Ugly... ""
Then ,Einstein modified the field equation (as Hoyle did
The classical model saved mass, not energy: In this new
some years later). He introduced the so-called cosmologic
model the energy content was saved, not the masses. The
constant A. '
"
dependence between the constants and R can be given as the
following:
"
R=xT+A
Nobody knew what this strange constant could describe.
m""R
a"=I/R
But" later, in 1921 the Russian .. Friedman, considered a
C~~I/RII2
nonsteady universe and built a model from the field equati"on,
Any cosmic velocity V ~~ i/Rlil
without any need of this cosmological constant. Einstein was
very disappointed and said,
"
h" R312,,,, t (notice we refined Milne's old idea).
R s~{2!3 "
-"If I had known that the universe was nonsteady' I
would have found it before Friedman." "
found a single "law describing both matter and light
In '1918 "scien~ists tried to' introduce electromagnetic
worlds. It was no longer necessary to assume that the matter
features in the four-dimensional model. But soon it appeared
pressure was zero (dust universe). When I comp.uted the
horizon from the following integral:
"
that the c1assic?l description could not aCcept both gravitation
and electromagncli ~m. Snmt> 1I('~1i1 ional degree of freedom
Horizon =
c(t)dt = R(t)

as

J'

""Pursuit 110

Third Quarter 1988

BIG BANG

~.---------

MAXIMUM EXPANSIQN

BIG CRUSH

Fig. 1 - The two-dimensional spherical space-time model

would have to be added. Also, in 1918 mathematician Herman Weyl supposed that length could depend on local electromagnetic energy content. An electromagnetic energy concentration would alternate lengths, but not angles. But Einstein
found some serious objections with this theory. He showed
that two atomic clocks working in two separate regions of
wiiverse with different values of electrical potential would differ more and more in time. In particular, this would cause an
enlargement of the spectral lines, which should be observable.
In 1919 Kaluza introduced a fifth dimension and showed
that the Maxwell equations could then take place in the
model. In addition Klein showed that this five-dimensional
frame of reference produced quantic features, through the
Klein-Gordon equation, which is a different formulation of
the SchrHdinger equation.
Time passed. Seventy years later, people rediscovered
Kaluza's work. This gave nothing but the superstring theory
which refers to a ten-dimensional description. Today's
fashion consists of adding new dimensions to the universe.
My personal opinion is that the method is good, but not the
interpretation of these additional dimensions. In papers, the
scientists say that they are too small to be measured (their
order of magnitude is always found like the Planck length,
i.e. 10- 33 cm). I think, among the ten dimensions, four are
measurable through a metric operation, the other six are not.
Take, for example, the fifth dimension as introduced by
Kaluza. Call XO the "chronological variable," identified as ct
in the classical, Xl, xZ, x3 the space markers and x' as the fifth
dimension. Kaluza and Klein showed that if x' is changed into
- x', matter and antimater are interchanged, and, similarly
the wave function 'I' of quantum mechanics is replaced by its
conjugated form '1'*. I say, "if we find a physical process that
interchanges 'I' and '1'* for a set of particles, these particles
will be transferred to the antipodal part of universe, and
similarly, the antipodal matter will take their place."
To visualize, take a sphere. For any region of the sphere,
find its antipodal region. For France it would correspond to
New Caledonia. The image of the eXchange, as suggested
before, would correspond to an abrupt exchange between
France and New Caledonia. As a consequence all the transfer.red atopls would behave in this new frame as antimatter,
. without the possibility of meeting one another.
Well, a description of the whole theory would deserve a
Third Quarter 1988

book. In addition I would have to translate quite sophisticated mathematical concepts into ordinary language, which is
not very easy. I The central idea is that the universe has a complex geometric structure. The following will give a didactic
image of such a structure. Take a closed two-dimensional
space-time, represented as a sphere. The north pole represents
the big bang singularity. The equator represents the maximum extension configuration. Then, this universe would collapse towards a second singularity, the big crush.
Consider a parallel of this as a sphere with a ribbon, on
which we indicate the arrow of time, to represent a certain
neighbor, duration, in time .. It Corresponds to a certain state
of this closed universe, at a distance t from the big bang. Cut
this ribbon. The following, figures 3-a to 3-f, show that this
ribbon can be glued on itself without folding it, if its selfcrossing is authorized. If we consider two associated regions
of this spacetime, each facing the other, we see that their arrows of time are opposite. If we draw a letter like R or G we
see that the corresponding letter on the "other" fold is like in
a mirror. We would then say these two are enant;omorphic.
It is a rather good model to illustrate the geometric duality
between matter and antimatter. In effect, if we reverse all the
characteristic quantities of an object (Le., matter, charge,
time, space), it becomes an "anti-object."
As you probably know, we do not know where the cosmological antimatter has gone. Normally, after the t = 13 second
mutual annihilation, one should find some equivalent quantity of antimatter, somewhere. But computation ensures that
the cosmic mixture matter-antimater, under such conditions,
should have encountered a complete annihilation.
Andrei Sakharov suggested in 1979 that two universes
could exist, whose arrows of time should be in opposition.
They would be connected by the big-bang singularity, which
is a good answer to the eternal question "How was the
universe before t =01"
Hawking suggested in 1987 that the arrow of time could be
reversed after the maximum extension. As such, the universe
could live its own events backwards. In 1977 I published two
papers at the French Academy of Science of Paris, entitled:
-Univers .enantiomorphes it temps propres opposes .
-Univers en interaction avec leur image dans Ie miroir du
temps.
Pursuit 111

--------------

ARROW OF TIME

OPPOSITE TIME ARROWS

Fig. J - How to glue

Pursuit 112

ribbon on itself without folding it.

.Third Quarter 1988

Fig. 4 -.Enantiomorphic relation (Twin Universes).

I suggested the Universe could be "the two-fold cover of a

four-dimensional projective space." In other words it would
correspond to the image of a "four-dimensional ribbon,"
glued on itself. The black hole would then be some sort of
button hole.
Now we see what could be the significance of the fifth
dimension x', as introduced by Kaluza in 1919. It would be
perpendicular to the four-dimensional space-time hypersurface.
The universe, as a whole, evolves from a strange divorce. At
the time t = 0 it is "glued on itself" along a "single-sided"
four-dimensional hypersurface. Time does not flow. It is impossible to define any orientation. Then, the symmetry breakage occurs. The arrow of time appears, and, at the same time,
the concept of space orientation gets a real meaning. The
strange configuration of this space-time suggests two twin universes with opposite time arrows. But, in fact, there is only
one. If one could turn this universe around, he would come
back to his starting point with a reversed arrow of time, an
idea which is somewhat difficult to grasp. Fortunately, in the
model this is not possible for, at any epoch, this journey takes
a time equal to the age of universe. In other words, as
presented before, the horizon (the path associated to the
fastest vehicle: the photon) is always as large as the perimeter
of the universe. You cannot phone yourself, or light your
path with a lamp.
The twin appearance mirage creates the concept of antimatter. But, following this description, antimatter is strictly
identical to matter. They are just two different images of a
same object.
The parity is violated. If it was not, time would riot flow.
The violation of the parity principle is the price to pay ~o get
time's arrow.
As I said before, I think that the accumulation of electromagnetic energy along a border (a two-dimensional border
for a three-dimensional container) would create surgery in
space-time. Figures 5-a to 5-d illustrates this topological.
space-time surgery. Here we use two-dimensional contents
associated to a one-dimensional border (a circle). As you can
see the contents of two circles are exchanged. In the same
way, I think that when a. UFO "dematerializes," the content
of a particular border along which a tremendous amount of
electromagnetic energy is focused, emitted by the wall, is exchanged with the associated content of the antipodal region
of space-time.
In my previous paper I evocated the shock-wave
phenomenon as a catastrophy (in the mathematic meaning of
Third Quarter 1988

the word, as introduced by the French mathematician Rene

Thom, Field Medal). A shock wave was described as an effect
of nonlinear acoustics, which caused the concentration of
sonic energy and modified the value of the velocity of sound.
Similarly, in a material medium, nonlinear optical phenomena occur, with some change of the local value of light
velocity, but in the classical theory one considers that the
velocity of light is an absolute constant. I consider, personally, as an extension of Weyl's theory, that the concentration of
electromagnetic energy should modify the value of the velocity of light in a vacuum. This would generate an unstable
energetical situation, because this variation of c would reinforce the energy-absorption phenomena, which would cause
at least a surgical change between the two conjugated folds of
space-time.
Why UFOs Don't Need a Propellar for Interstellar Journeys
Let us return to this didactic image of an expanding
universe. This is more familiar to our brain than a "gauge
variation." We could associate the universe to a sphere made
of metal. Imagine that "God" warms the sphere and causes a
dilatation of it. If the energy distribution is uniform the
radius of curvature would be the same in every point. But,
suppose God warms just one place, and later some place else.
The dilatation process becomes quite irregular.
A person who lives in a point of this spheroid universe is informed about a small part of space. The gauge effect will
make her unable to observe directly this extracosmological
oscillation. Suppose the universe expands, and you want to
measure this expansion, but unfortunately your scale expands, too! So you can't. This relative expansion will be observed if and only if a hyperspace transfer is performed from
a region to the corresponding antipodal region.
Introduce another image. (See figure 6.) Archibald Higgins
(who is the central character of my books) looks at a mirror.
His image seems to be compressed or elapsed, but he does not
feel any change in his own body. Inversely, if the image was
the real Archibald Higgins, it would feel the same on the
other side of the mirror.
In fact, the important object is the geometric structure called, mirror. The big bang is nothing, as suggested by Richard
Feynman, other than a hypersurface of zero extension. I
introduced in 1977, in two reports, the concept of a spacetime mirror. Andrei Sakharov focused on the time-mirror
concept, but in my mind, introducing the enantiomorphic
relation between these two "twin universes," this should be a
"space-time mirror."
Pursuit 113

/
BORDEAUX BOTfLFS

>

CHIANTI BOTrLFS

Fig. 5 ....:... Space-time SIIrKery.

Fig. 6 - Relative fluctuaooa due to the osdIIating mirror.

Pursuit 114

Third Quarter 1988

-.-

---,--~----

---'

AD drawings In this article were done by the author.

FIg. 7

Sakharov suggested the two folds of space-time could be

linked by the big bang singularity. In 1977 I suggested that the
black holes could be another kind of a link. In fact, they are
"CPT invariant" (C for the charges, P for parity and T for
time). Thus, a vehicle that would pass through a ten thousand
solar mass black hole would appear "on the other side" with
a reversed arrc;>w of time (therefore, this is a black hole on this
side, too!).
The next picture shows, with a two-dimensional didactic
model, how the image and the object forms a single reality.
When an octopus looks through a single-sided mirror the
world of the object and the world of the image are identical.
Suppose the antipodal portion of space associated with the
neighbor of the Earth would be "compressed," due to
natural extracosmological oscillations. If our vehicle is
transferred, its atoms would be larger than the atoms of the
antipodal region. This would mean that some energy would
have been lost during transfer. You possibly know that
energy is nothing than the measurement of the object's
length. Following Einstein's theory, if an object gains energy,
it is shortened. If it is enlarged, it loses energy. The conservation of energy is a basic principle in my model, included in
the hyperspace transfer. Thus, the atoms of the "transferred
vehicle will materialize in the twin-fold with relativistic
velocities. To recover 50010 of the lost energy, when appearing
in a two-times compressed twin universe, you need to cruise

Third Quarter 1988

at 86010 of the velocity of the light which corresponds to this

fold. Notice that the relation Rc 2 =constant gives a higher
velocity in a "smaller" twin-fold. That is, for hyperspace,
cruises seem to correspond to a velocity higher than light

velocity.ln./act, nobody can overstep the geometric bound c,

co~pond;ng to the fold he lives in.
Cosmic instability produces these relative gauge fluctuations between adjacent space-time folds. I think that such
phenomena should alternate the magnetic field and the electric charge of black holes. That, I am trying to show in my
present work.
Travel is possible only if the cosmic conditions are suitable.
UFOs must wait for these conditions as sailors awaiting the
good wind. This is my interpretation for the wave phenomena
of UFO sightings.
Conclusion
I am presently writing a book about all that. While writing
this paper I realize how difficult it is to transform the
mathematical concepts into today's words and to convert the
Kaluza-Klein relativistic frame of reference into Moebius ribbon, and so on. I hope the reader will not be left completely
confused by this.
My next paper [part IV] will be devoted to the sociological aspects of the UFO problem.

Pursuit 115

Katie: Nostradamus Automatic Writing,

Possible Direct Writing and Psychic Nexus
of an Illiterate (Part II)
bv 8-.01d E. Schwan, M.D.

Example 9: January 21 or 23,1988.

When I arrived at the office, at 8:40 a.m., was immediately aware of changes in the research room. There were
massive amounts of' gold' Covering the exteriors of both sealed
specimen bottles. The three gold flecks on the aortic rings
capped bottle were the same. There was a solitary gold fleck
on the external surface of one of the bovine aortic rings in a
different unsealed jar of mixed human and bovine rings
which were placed on top of the mini-lab. There was also a
fleck of gold on a white sheet of paper inside the locked, sealed mini-lab. The one-on-top-of-the-other position of the aortic rings was unchanged, but the tunica externa of one of the
human aortic rings was partially separated. The double
pagoda-like structure was unchanged. (See Figures 8-13).
ID. a room crowded with various experimental props, the
following changes were noted: a cigarette on top of the minilab was in a vertical position with a styrofoam ball balanced
on top. A blank sheet of plain eight and one-half by eleven inches white paper on a clip board and accompanying black
Flair soft-tipped pen, placed on a chair by the bedside, was
now filled with ancient French writing; and the plastic capped
pen was completely cut in the middle with the exposure of one
centimeter of black felt-like wick. The previously disarranged
Cox Masonite rings on a nearby leather topped end table now
had the rings one on top of the other with a drug company ornamental acrylic paper weight, with beans transfixed inside,
placed in the center of the stacked rings. Two teaspoons were
bent and intertwined. One was curled on itself, including partial bending of the bowl. There was no change in the PrattKulagina-Cox Coffeebox. I
On a fonnica-topped table, two 1.5 volt AA batteries, with
the positive poles in apposition, were balanced one on top of
the other. As a control, this feat tOQk several minutes to accomplish. Four boxes of thirty-five millimeter film were
pyramided one on top of each other and the conjoint stem of
a pair of forceps was bent seventy-fiv~ degrees. No other
changes were noted. The specimens were vid~otaped and
photographed in situ. Katie and her daughter left the ,office at
11:00 a.m. Daily inspections and videotaping of the
specimens revealed no subsequent changes.
On February 8, 1988, a ,specimen of "gold" which
measured approximately 5.5 by 2.0 centimeters, was removed
with forceps from the side of the aortic rings bottle and put in
a plastic envelope and sent to William Edward Cox of the
SORRAT research project, Rolla" Missouri" for physicalchemical analysis. It is hoped that the colored water and double pagoda can also be analyzed through physical-chemical
and biological techniques. It would be interesting to see the
microscopic anatomy of the double pagoda as well as to speculate on the possibility of DNN fingerprinting of the specimen, and comparison with other ,known sources.
These tumultuous events were presaged by Katie's comparable mood swings. From tbe nadir of a depression with
dangerous potentials for her life and health to euphoria and
personal emancipation, the paranormal concomitants crested
in tandem with Katie's exhilaration. She had made major
,decision$ and, as she proclaimed her psychic ode to joy, they
Pursuit 116

were reinforced by the spectacular subjective reappearance of

the entities and, in particular, the late, genial Waldo,l whom
Katie benefited in his life at his time of despair and, now,
whom she felt was coming to her rescue at the time of her
crisis. The following was found on the bedside chair the
morning of January 22nd:
Par fen du ciel
presque aduste,
L 'wrne menace
encore ceux alien,
vexee Sardaigne pa
la Punique faste,
Apres que lairra son
Punique.
By fire from the sky nearly burned, the urn still
mena~es those alien, Sardinia is vexed by the
magnificence or ostentatious luxury of Carthage.
Afterwards a poem will be recited about Carthage.
The meaning of the translation is obscure, but it is consonate with the dark and foreboding previous messages that
might have been symbolic of Katie's personal quandry. This
second message, within hours of the first one which was
videotaped in statu nascendi could be congruous in its emotional tone with Katie's recent (still dormant) despair and, as
symbolized in the translated comparison of Sardinia and Carthage, Katie was infuriated by an older, jealous sister. The
flurry of psychic activity might have coincided with her
clinical flight into health, and her ecstasy. To' what extent, if
any, these events were influenced by possible heteropsychic
factors cannot be determined, but the possibility should not
be ignored. Although, it is impossible to prove discarnate influence, whether from Nost~adamus, Waldo, UFO entities,
or others, these explanations cannot be disproved. Katie accepts the simple, str~ight-forward claims of their origins at
their face value. This attitude is not unlike the dynamics with
the split-off entitie~ in multiple personality disorder. Yet she
has these spectacular paranormal abilities about which she is
never fanatical. She has no desire to convince others of her
viewpoint or impress them with her feats. She has amnesia for
much of what happens to her in the trance and she is so busy
with her family and occupation that she apparently seldom
thinks of these,matters when working.
, References and Notes
I. Richards, John Thomas: SORRA T: A History of the Niehardt
Psychokinesis Experiments, 1961-1981. The Scarecrow Press,
Inc.,'Metuchen, NJ, and London, 1982.
2. Merz, Beverly: "DNA Fingerprints Come to Court in Medical
News and Perspectives," Journal of the American Medical
Association, April IS, 1988 - Vol. 259, No, IS, 2193-2194.
3. On April 13, 1988, at .. :15 a.m" within twenty-four hours of
writing this material on Katie which pertained to the first editing of
the Waldo videotapes since his death, I was in a long line at the
post office and the lady in front of me turned around, introduced
herself, and asked if I ,was the doctor who had read the Waldo
eulogy at the funeral. She ,was a friend and admirer of Waldo and
appreciated' his complex, thoughtful, and different self-written
eulogy. '
,

Third Quarter 1988

Figure 11. Ooseup of epoxy sealed botde prepared and pbotographed January 17, 1985.

Figure 9. William Edward Cox's locked, sealed mini-lab: gilded

specimen botdes several hours later; gold speck on paper inside minilab.

Figure ll. Ooseup of botde with external gold

several bours after initiation of effects.

Figure 10. Closeup of botde with external gold (prepared December

11,1986).

Third Quarter 1988

FIgure 13. Ooseup of pagoda.

Pursuit 117

"5\x" Icc

"d~l{ouT

Llr~ ApJr dO/~{ltfJ)

PCl \" cl ~ l) rd/llT

f

~J? JI'
D Cl \"

2-

II u

F,.OoI"\ "

II

2..

Flgure 14. Katie's multiple witnessed automatic writing"'" being

videotaped (Febniary 3, 1918).

4. For his translation, George Andrews assumed that "fen" should

be "feu," that "wrne" should be "urne," that "pa" should be
"par," and "so" should be "sa" or "Son." He wrote, "in the
Middle Ages, the primary meaning of 'urn' was a funerary urn
containing the ashes of the deceased. The word 'alien' does not
exist as such in modem French, but there are many words based
upon it, all referring to mental iUness. Sardinia is vexed by the
magnificence or ostentatious luxury of Carthage (punique refers
to ancient Carthage, modem North Africa); 'faste' is the sort of
royal display customary in the courts of kings. The meaning of the
last phrase is obscure:'Apres que lairra son Punique.' Apres is
'after.' The only word I could find that 'lairra' might be derived
from is 'lai' which, in Medieval times, referred to a type of narrative or lyrical poetry, such as was sung by the troubadors. So the
meaning might be 'after a poem will ~ written or recited or sung
about Carthage (North Africa).''' He continued: "I am particularly intrigued by the reference to 'ceux alien,' IiteralIy 'those
alien,' in juxtaposition with fire from the sky and an urn containing funeral ashes." It is no surprise that Mr. Andrews would be intrigued by this verse, for he is the author of Extra-Terrestrials
Among Us (Llewellyn Publications, PO Box 64383, St. Paul, Min" nesota 55164-0383, U.S.A.) and is an authority on UFOs and a
leading exponent of the extra-terrestrial hypothesis.

Example 10: Febmary 3, 1_

an

Katie collapsed at her home and was rushed in"

ambulance to the emergency room at the hospital with uterine
hemorrhaging on February 2, 1988. When she came for her
session the next day, February 3, 1988, she appeared sallow
and fatigued. Her skin was warm and moist. She arrived at
noon with "gold" on her abdomen~ The stigmatization of a
Viking ship was forming on her abdomen. She quickly
entered a trance and was given a clipboard, paper and pen.
She wrote eight words in apparent old French.
Pursuit 118

5\x IJ~0- del{_q.<!.!

:if l~fVfJ)

C/ t: lJ rdJLIT
-\-". ~ ... ii\"

2U

2-

Flpre 15. WDHam Heary Belk, Ir. 's IIDROtatiORS.

(Both dnwiDp reduced III size

here.1

Six la" deubut

ate Apri darnns
par devrant
Six th~ beginning quote to act from the front. I
Two of the guests, Henry Belk, Jr., the father, who spoke
French and his son, Henry, III; were from Charlotte, North
Carolina. Katie might have affected the son's battery driven
transistorized wrist watch because he said the crystal digit
"should stop at twelve but it goes back to four" inst~d. [The
watch has been twenty seconds fast ever since.] Katie drew a
mask which Mr. Belk compared to a ceremonial mask in his
home. She then drew a rectangle and put a U in the center
with the numbers twelve and four on the sides and two and
two above and below (Figures 14, 15). At the end of the session, the son was surprised, for he suddenly recalled his gun
box and the combination to the lock which was twelve, two
and twenty four (12... 2 ... 24). When he returned home to
Charlotte, he was surprised to discover that the U or lock
latch and rivets to the gun box and lock were missing and"
there were no signs of a break-in and entry into his apartment, and the contents of the gun box were apparently intact.
[He later sent confirmatory photographs of this changed box
Figure 16.] Katie drew thr~ large, monument-like "stones
about which Henry Jr., the father, later wrote as follows:
"Some invisible person in your office knew (about) my trip to
Egypt before I did it ...The three large stones are the three
Giza pyramids." Katie also "treated" the son's painful
muscles in the region of his left hip. When I next spoke to
Henry Belk and" his son on the telephone, on May 19, 1988,
they said that shortly after leaving the session, Henry III had
Third Quarter 1988

Pe.I- dl.L
I

51

. ~che,
I CJ n 9 5,' e. c../e. .5 e I"Cl

tfi) TrOut/C.,

cl e
I

A'IVQ
figure 16. Henry BeIk,

m's gun boll with missing latch and lock.

noticed swelling twice normal in his right (non-wrist-watchextremity) elbow. (Henry Ill, is right-handed.) This subsided
when he was subsequently "treated" by Alex Orbito, the
Philippine psychic "healer" friend of his father's.
Katie had once met the father more than two years ago.
She and I had no advance knowledge of the Belks coming to
Florida and their attendance at the session. Henry III
videotaped Katie's writings with my upright Panasonic PK
958 TV camera while I used the portable Panasonic Camcorder Omni Movie PV 320 simultaneously for much of the
action. There were two other witnesses, a man whose wife
had once attended when Katie was at her best, and his wife's
nephew, who was visiting from England. The uncle did not
know of his nephew's keen interest in psi or about his
nephew's past experiences with an alleged haunting. Katie did
not know anything about this or the guests. When Katie was
departing, the stigmatization had nearly faded and Henry III
noticed "gold" forming on her face.
Mr. Belk and I have been friends for years and he has had a
life-long interest in psi. He knew Jacques Romano and
pioneered the "discovery" and scientific study of the Philippine psychic surgeons. He told us how he had recently met a
dermatologist who was involved with psycho-immunology,
an area of expertise that would be most applicable to the
study of stigmatization and the "gold" materialization.
Within twenty-four hours of her session, Katie was emotionally whipsawed from the panic of her collapse and being
rushed to the hospital, to the reprieve from emergency
surgery. Although split and tired, she came to the session
and, for the first time before four witnesses and myself, she
wrote in old French while being videotaped by two cameras.
Some of the participants were highly interested and empathetic and experienced with psi themselves. One might
speculate how these converging attitudes might have played a
role in Katie's obtaining the "energy" to produce her writing,
"gold," stigmatization and possible telekinetic watch effects.
If there were elements of possible precognition,as Mr. Belk
wondered in reference to his trip to Egypt, more information
would be desirable.
References and Notes
1. In his translation of the scrambled fragment, George Andrews of-

fered "standing" or "beginning" for "deubut" and ,iquote" or

"take an example" for "cite;" he suggested to "act" (agir) for "a
pir" or "after" if it was "apres." He questioned the meaning of
domns and felt that "par devrant" was probably "par devant"
which meant "from the front."
With such limited information, it is almost impossible to offer
any remotely responsible conjecture for the meaning of this
fragmented verse.
Third Quarter 1988

II,

",

Icz

Figure 17. Katie's multiple witnessed o~ _French automatic writing

(February 25, 1988). [Above note reduced In size.]

Example 11: February 25, 1988

The noon session of February 25, 1988, was attended by
eight people, including myself. Two couples were retirees.
One of the women had once developed "gold" flecks on her
forehead during a previous session with Katie. The daughter
of one of the couples was a surprise guest. She lived in Paris
and was married to a Frenchman. The other two participants
were professional security officers, a man and a woman who
had attended previous office sessions with Katie and who had
also once been involved with Katie in successfully obtaining
clues to crimes. Katie had hardly arrived, when I performed
the customary physical examination I and noticed how her
convenience-store styrofoam cup of coffee already had gold
floating on the surface. Almost simultaneously with this, and
while being videotaped, Katie went into a deeper trance and
proceeded with automatic writing to partially fill a page with
" old French (Figure 17). While writing, she softly said, "[ just
keep seeing the letters [in her mind's eye]."
Perdu Trouve, cache
de si long siecl~ sera
Pasteur demi honore
Aina qusla la
Lost, found, hidden
" For such long centuries will be
The half-honored shepherd
Thus, until the, Z
The young Parisian woman unsuccessfully attempted to
carry on a conversa1ion in French with the alleged entity Nostradamus. For the past few weeks, Katie had shown remarkable improvement in her physical, mental and emotional
status. She was regaining her customary strength, energy,
optimistic attitude and confidence. She looked forward to the
sessions but she never knew what would happen next or what
she could reasonably expect. This was the third time that
Katie was videotaped while writing in old French and the second time that there were many witnesses beyond myself or
her family.
The fragmentary verse would seem to be applicable to
Nostradamus and perhaps, with liberties of extrapolation, it
could also symbolize what Katie does or tries to do. [n some
ways, she might be a lone beacon of light in a revived method
of study which is centered upon her mediumship. [ have attempted to adjust clinical and laboratory methods to what she
does rather than trying to fit her into a procrustean bed of
sometimes sterile and aseptic techniques after catacylsmic
catechisms which can dampen the emotional nuances and still
the phenomena.
Pursuit 119

References and Notes

I. The "gold" and apports frequently happened just before Katie arrived or immediately upon arrival at the office. However, whenever feasible, she was physically examined before the sessions. This
included the head, hair, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, including
removal of dentures and digital palpation of the oral cavity. She
then drank coffee or water from a cup provided by myself. I inspected her chest, back, axillae, upper extremities and abdomen.
In many instances, under these conditions, "gold" still developed
on her body or, ostensibly, in her mouth or external auditory
canals. The same was noted for apports which seemed to come
from the mouth, ears, noSe, region of the eyes, or fall from her
hands or even, rarely, appear on the bodies or in the pockets of
others. Katie usually wore a cotton T-shirt and no undergarments."
When feasible, the temperature, pulse and blood pressure were"
taken before and after developments. Although Katie had many
episodes of stigMatizations and was suggestible; she never had dermographia. Her past medical history revealed no chronic condition other than her allergic diathesis, muu.nal myopia, and previous surgery for an ectopic pregnancy and a prolonged application of a body cast following a traumatically dislocated hip as a
young child. As already noted, she developed renal stones in adulthood. Her teeth were extracted at age nineteen. Perusal of her
mediclil records and laboratory reports, including hemogram,
urinalysis and blood chemistry profiles, revealed no gross abnormalities. In his classic encyclopedia, Nandor "Fodor has given excellent, relevant articles on apports and materialization (Fodor,
N.: Encyclopedia of Psychic Science. University BOoks, Inc., New
Hyde Park, NY, 1966). Also Fodor's later, insightful contributions should also be mentioned (ibid., The Haunted Mind,
Chapter VI: "Apports of a Carpenter," "Helix Press, Garrett
Publications, NY, ~959; ibid., Mind Over Space, Chapter XVI,
"The Marquis Vanishes,": and Chapter XVll, "The Marquis
Retreats," The Citadel Press, NY, 1962).
2. Although George Andrews stated that the meaning of the first
three lines were comp~etely clear, the fourth line might have been a
scrambled version of "Ainsi Jusqua la," which would give the incomplete phrase "thus until the."

Example 12: April 20, 1988

In a then infrequent telephone ~all to my condo on April
19, 1988, at 5:30 p.m., Katie said that Waldo and Nostradamus had come through to her two or three times while she
was at work; and also late in the afternoon at home "he
(Waldo; Nostradamus?) sat there and started talking to me all
this stuff. 'The ground is moving. Something is happening to
the ground; will be a nasty earthquake in California.' Put it in
my mind so I could see ... to understand. I'd see the waves. No
matter where I go I could feel the vibrations. Like the earth
were going to take a big burp. Second week of May." In"a second call that was audiotaped at 7:30 p.m., Katie again
reported seeing Nostradamus: "Looked a whole lot different
from when I saw him before. I look at him; it's the eyes like
they're looking straight on through you. They subdue you.
They hold you there, whether speaking or not. A huge red"
stone' the way the light hit it; on a chain he wore around his
neck. Face look disturbed. 'Listen to me. Get what I am telling you.' Worried look. Told [husband). (To Nostradamus)
'OK, I'm here; tell me what you want.' I walk out or through
the house and the floor is moving. It's still doing it. The entire
earth is shaking. Nostradamus had some kind of riddle or
"poem: 'The wind, the rain, the sun, the stars.' It didn't make
sense. "2
-In the research session on April 21, 1988, Katie confirmed
her recent Nostradamus communications and when she arrived and was examined under videotape, "gold" was noted on
her abdomen. She also said that she still felt the vibrations,
which no one else perceived during the session. Then she sudPursuit 120

Figure 18. Katie's amytbest glasS pendant apport (April 11, 1988).

denly developed violent paroxysms of choking. She opened

her mouth and an" amethyst cut-glass pendant 7.5 x4 centimeters and 2 centimeters thick at the center popped into her
7-Eleven thermal plastic cup of coffee (see Figure 18).
Although the television camera, was aimed at Katie's head and
upper body, it did not catch the projection of the amethyst. 3
However, the impact click was clearly audible and recorded
on a" lapel microphone. She did not synthesize the two temporally refuted events. The possible connectiQn between her
mentioning Nostradamus's huge red pendant and the
amethyst glass pendant with a hole cut for attachment (see
Figure 1 [PURSUIT Vol. 22 #2, p. 52) for Katie's drawing of
Nostradamus with red pendant on February 27, 1986). Katie
was physically examined before t~e apport and the coffee was
looked at, but it was not poured into an un"used cup and stirred beforehand. When the Pendant was removed from the
cup, it was noted that the round, blunt end must have exited
from her mouth first rather than the sharp-pointed part of the
tear-drop-shaped glass. In her frustration, Katie wished thai"
Nostradamus would appear himself rather" than using such
roundabout methods in his communications. During the session, Katie also developed the stigmatization of a cross ~n her
abdomen.
" At her request, an extra session" was held on April 23, 1988,
when Katie tried to" obtain clues to a grisly child "abductionmurder case. This traumatic and possibly successful session,
where she might have psychically ~phorized clues hitherto
unknown, and therefore hard to explain as purely telepathic
or subliminal, was coupled with extremely frustrating events
in her personal life. She was exhausted over recent unexpected reversals" from previQusly agreed- upon plans, hard
physical work, and ~ . nearly all-night-Iong auto drive where
Katie sat on a wooden tool box instead of an uphols~ered
cushion. As a consequence of her lost weekend, she missed a
therapeutic session, her twelve-year-old daughter missed
school, Katie had to cancel her reading lesson, and there were
derivative economic penalties. While in this push-pull, highly
stressful, split state where she was traumatized by specific
events that she could" not handle, and while a1~ being pulled
toward, interested in,. and motivated to pursue the heartrending child murder case, her literacy lessons,. and helping in
an experimental attempt to dematerialize a stainless steel plate
with twelve screws in a physician-subject's formerly comminuted fractured left femur, 4 Katie had a predictable flurry
of psychic activit)'.
Third Quarter 1988

On the late afternoon of April 20, 1988, the day before her
research session, when she returned from picking her
daughter up at school, she noted a piece of paper with writing
in old French on her bedroom dresser. No pen or pencil was
nearby. She wondered if this was the same sheet of bonded
paper that I had given her and upon which I had typed a
question directed to the entity, Nostradamus, on March 3,
1988, for if it was the typed question, the type-print was no
longer there. I did not recall giving her blank paper, but this
was impossible to determine. She wondered about a possible
dematerialization effect because of previous experiences during which she said a copy-machine-like product of a face once
occurred as she was holding the originally blank papers, twice
in succession, as well as other possibly related episodes
already described.
Also after supper, when her husband had returned home,
they were invited out to their friend's house. When there,
they were astonished to learn that the man's seventy-nineyear-old father and aged mother, who lived in the northwestern corner of North Carolina, had noted that shortly
after their return home from their Florida son's home, they
saw images' of Katie with strong Indian features, a man with
white, waist length, flowing hair, and a thir~ non-descript image on the inside of their bathroom door. The wife
remembered how she herself had sanded and stained the birch
door, and that there was no image then or at any time
previous to their return from the visit with their son in
Florida. While there, the father sought "healing" from Katie
for his deafness and traumatically induced arthritic knees
(one was plastic). At the time, Katie "treated" the elderly
gentleman in his son's home. On a few occasions, "gold"
allegedly issued from the man's external auditory canal and
his painful knees. The man felt that his hearing was improved
and the pain in the knees was sufficiently relieved so that he
was again walking two to three miles every day for the first
time in two months. In one of the sessions, Katie recalled how
blood suddenly appeared on her finger without any known
cause, while the same thing happenedto the old gentleman.
He said that they were united by blood. He and his wife also
recalled Katie's quip that he should keep exercising because
she would be watching him when they returned to North
Carolina. The man retorted that now he had to take his
showers while Katie's image was looking at him. The three
images were witnessed by the man and his wife, his son and
his girlfriend, and his other son and his wife .. The Florida son
and his ladyfriend gave Katie a signed report of what had
happened. These matters were reviewed and confirmed by
telephone interview, on April 30, 1988, of the elderly North
Carolina couple, and it was hoped that arrangements could
be made to photograph the images, which have persisted unchanged to this day.
In a letter received June 18, 1988, my North Carolina
friend, Henry Belk, Jr., wrote that he spoke to the wife on the
telephone. "Her husband has a hearing problem ... Spe says
that the image on the door is all made up by h~r son. Tain't
so. She frankly doesn't comprehend Katie, who she thinks is
a witch. End of search." My curiosity about these strange
claims is whetted. Nothing can be an acceptable substitute for
a field trip visit and first hand examination of the door with
the alleged images and in-depth interviews of the involved
persons. This case is unsolved.
Indeed, as predicated by the push-pull magnitude of events
in her life, there were further more interesting psychic
developments. I will arbitrarily cut off the ongoing psychic
nexus by mentioning how, on the day of Katie's research sesThird Quarter 1988

sion (April 21, 1988), with multiple witnesses and while being
videotaped, the entranced Katie went into a state of transfiguration with the murdered little boy and produced an apport
from her right ear of a child's silver medal of Jesus on one
side, and the Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus on the other
side. The psychic nexus, so far as Nostradamus is concerned,
continues as of this writing. 67 The page of old French that
Katie found on her dresser the afternoon of April 20, 1988,
was:
Les deux unis ne
tiendront longusment,
Etdans treize ans au
Barbare Satrappe:
Au deux costez seront
telperdement,
quuh benira Ie Bargu
sa cappe.
George Andrews wrote: "I have the impression that there
may be some missing words, as even allowing for errors in
transcription the meaning of the final lines is not clear ... it was
at the end where the definition went utterly out of focus. If
we speculate that what Katie was trying to transcribe was
something along the line of:
Les deux unis ne tiendront longuement,

Et dans treize ans au Barbare sa trappe;

Aux deux contes seront tel eperdument.
qu'on benira la Barge sa cape.
It comes out in English more or less like th'3:
The two united will not hold up (or maintain
themselves for long).
And in thirteen years to the Barbarian his trap (or
pitfall.. .not clear whether Barbarian falls into trap or
traps the two united ones);
On the two coasts there will be such loss (implication
of violent loss ... strange way of saying it ... may be
word or words missing).
Now for the difficult last line:
qu'on benira la Barge sa cape.
We know that Nostradamus frequently used images
related to Catholicism, one of them being the Catholic
Church symbolized as a boat. A sailboat w."uld have been a
traditional symbol, but a barge seems inappropriate. Also
'mettre la cape' is a term that applies specifically to sailing
boats, meaning to trim the sails when faced with a storm. A
barge does not have sails ... but maybe my guess at Katie's
meaning is wrong. If 'Bargi' is a scrambled version of 'Barque' rather than 'Barge,' it brings a plausible meaning into
clear focus:

qu'on benira la Barque sa cape.

that one will bless the Boat for trimming its sails."
It might be conjectured that the meaning of the verse is
to Katie's concern over an approaching earthquake,
based on information she received from the Phantom
Nostradamus. Katie might also have been influenced by the
television news and common talk of the sage's prophecies
which were not, fortunately, fulfilled at the popularly ascribed time. Katie's messages also might have been given greater
impact by the associated apports of the amythest similar to
the jewel she had drawn and "seen" on Nostradamus' neck
more than two years ago and the apport of the child's
religious medal subsequent to the Nostradamus message.
r~lated

Pursuit 121

Could the apport mean: "Pay attentjon to this mes,sage. It is

important?" These fears of impending catastrophe might
have been condensed with the trauma in her personal life
which threatened her marriage of thirteen years, and which
were, as in the child murder case, related to splitting incidents
with the potential for the further eruption of specific violence
and barbarism. Her family's desire to help a "friend~', was in
danger of backfiring and destroying their union. Indeed, she
had reason to take precautions, and stock of herself, trim her,
sails and receive blessings from On High. The melding of the
devout Nostradamus, his mystical apports and possibly
Katie's perception of threats to (the East and West) coasts (of
florida, the U.S.A.?) by some tidal wave secondary to a
massive earthquake might also have been'condensed with and
symbolized her titanic struggle for survival at a ti~e 'of crisis.,
References and Notes
1. Note the tear - drop -shaped red pendant hung around
Nostradamus' neck in a drawing by Katie on February 27, 1986
(See PURSUIT Vol. 21, No.2, p. 56).
'
2. On January 30, 1985, Katie's and her husband's close gentleman
frieed visited their home. According to Katie and her husband, the
man brought a "letter that didn't make sense. [My husbandl
found [hat every word had an 'A' in it; as he dropped the 'As' and
put the last letter to the front he got: 'I see mountains; I ,see
danger; I see water ... for water and fire meet. But where (?)... Remember your ancestors ... (?) ... beware of money changers.' (Signed:'Sun and Moon'). It was done with a pencil and he found it,on
the front seat of his truck. (At that time) he went to Sebastian
(town) and went around a curve and a big eagle flew in front of his
truck. (The eagle was) carrying a rattlesnake ... dropped it on the
front end of his truck. (Our friend) took it home and skinned it."
This history of an unusual [rain of synchronistic events was confinned on interviews of the husband and his friend, who, in the
meantime, had given the crypts to his son in college. The widely
known ancient Aztec-Mexican symbol of the eagle with a rattlesnake in its talons might be another interesting facet worthy of
further study in this enigmatic episode. This (lecal can be found on
the Mexican twenty-five pesos coin. The friend never had an experience like this before.
In reference to the psychic nexus, something further might be
said about this family friend, who has been close to Katie's husband and who might have acted like a psychic, magnet in several
previous Katie episodes, some of which I witnessed, and audiotaped or videotaped. For example, on June 6, 1984, the husband's
birthday, the man came to the house and Katie "zapped" his closed hands which contained six commercial radish seeds that I had
given him; one sprouted within seconds. Katie repeated the stunt
with me, and her husband recalled how earlier in the day "she had
cut a fresh tomato, put several seeds in her hand and most of them
sprouted." Also during that visit, attended by the friend and
myself, Katie put six commercial com kernels in my hand. She'
never touched my hand, but when I opened it there were only five
seeds left. When I got into my car at the end of the visit, Katie's
eight-year-old daughter said that I had the missing seed in my shirt
pocket; which, when I checked, was true. The daughter and others
were at no time near me.
Also, on June 7,1984, the friend came to Katie's house and she
"treated" his painful gouty arthritic right knee in my presence.
His pain was completely relieved and when the'man was subsequently seen by his orthopedic surgeon, his previously scheduled
surgery was cancelled. At that visit, I put six radish'seeds in the
man's hands. Shortly after Katie "zapped" them, one had
sprouted and one was missing. Again, Katie never touched the
man. Finally, on July 6, 1984, the man and three friends were at
Katie's house. Katie "treated" an X-ray technician's' painful
right shoulder (subacromial bursitis?) with immediate relief and,
~uring the "healing," the part-Choctaw Indian technician suddenly noticed links' of turquoise Indian jewelry in his outstretched
palm.

Pursuit 122

At one point in ~he evening, I gave Katie six radish seeds and the
family friend six ,radish seeds. Within a short time, the man felt
movement. When he opened his hands, he had five seeds and
when Katie opened hers she' had seven, one of which had germinated: Then the friend, who was sitting next to me the whole
evening, dressed only in swimming trunks, opened his hands again
and was shocked 'to discover that he 'had no seeds left. I wonder
about the possibly critical psychodynamic and physiologica! prerequisites for successes with physical psi.
, On June 2; 1988; Katie was given three Indian corn kernels ttiat
Mrs. Lois Hanggi, found on the ground at the site of reputed com
falling from the sky, over many' years' duration, near Evans, Colorado. Katie's attempts to genninate, the seeds in Mrs. Hanggi's
hands, as well as in her Qwn, were unsuccessful. Mrs. Hanggi will
, try to get seeds that she observed falling from the sky. (See PURSUIT: "Corn Fall Update," Volume 20, No.4, 1987, p.159)." Although Charles Fort's specul;uions on why com, frogs, fishes
and other biological materials might fall from the skies from time
to time, e.g., to' stock various sPecies and genera in areas that
might not have them, it is difficult to Clearly see any teleologiCaJ.
.. reason for Katie's apports that occasionally happen in her research
sessions. However, there are sometimes appealing psychodynamic
reasons for her ideoplastic apports and "gold."
3. Although Kati~'s ~ost ready-made amethyst apport was in harmony with her previous drawing of Nostradamus with a red pendant hung arourid his neck, the possible ideoplastic nature of the
event must not be lost sight of. This observation was made long
in the classical materialization studies of ~he medium, Eva C.,
by Von Schrenck-Notzing. A more up-to-date example of this process might have happened to Katie on May 5, 1988, during her
regular Thursday noontime videotaped session. Bill R., one of the
participants, brought in half an ordinary old-fashioned button
that might have been made from sea shells. In view of the events
during the ,previous' sessions with Katie, he wondered if, for
sp,ecific circumstantial reasons, his half-button, which seemingly
projected itself out-or-nowhere onto the floor in front of him in
his home, was the kind of "trivial event" that he might have
otherwise easily' overlooked as a possible apport. However, having
now seen these happeriings'in the Katie sessions, he was emotionally alert to their possibility and reality. He had concrete reason for
his' 'belief" in their occurrence. Within minutes of his declaration,
Katie developed paroxysmal coughing and then she spit out a halfpolished, rounded, purplish sea shell fragment which might have
been part of a button, similar, yet'different in color and dimensions, from the one Bill had brought to the session. In both instances, there is the structur~ similarity (the fractionated buttons)
and the temporal, suggestive, ideoplastic compliance on Katie's
part. This is analogous to other Katie-recorded data. Jule Eisenbud has psychodynamically elucidated the operation of similar
factors in some of Ted Serios' thOlightography, the production of
paranormal Polaroicis that coincided with suggestive-unconscious
preoccupations for the paragnost (Ted) and some of the guestswitnesses: part of the psychic nexus matrix (see Eisenbud, Jule:
The World of Ted Serios. Wm. Morrow & Co., Inc., NY, 1967.)
4. On May 4, 1988, I learned that this heroic experimental attempt at
dematerialization of the femoral plate was unsuccessful. For an
alleged successful instance of this involving a physician-inventor,
see my UFO-Dynamics, Book I, p. 266, Rainbow Books, Moore
Haven, Florida, 1983, p. 561. However, in the Katie experimental
dematerialization attempt, a woman participant who was sitting
next to the physician-subject with the left femoral plate - her
right thigh was in apposi~ion to his left injured thigh - reported
that two weeks after the session she noted a linear, red, flat scar
approximately four inches' in length. There were no associated
suture punctuate scars'. She had her scar photographed and she said
that it, was unchanged on August 17, 1988, when she was interviewed on the telephone in her California home. The role of psi,
suggestion and psychosomatic mechanisms that are possibly illustrated
this example might be germane to the claimed insiances of various S<;aIS without known cause appearing in some
UFO contactee cases.

ago

in

Third Quarter 1988

,5. Vallee, Jacques: Passport 10 Magonio, Henry Regnery Co.,

Chicago, 1969: see pp. 136-139 for a well-documented account,of
Singing Eagle's - (Juan Diego's) - materialization ofthe radiant
image of Tetlcoatlaxopeuh ("Stone Serpent Trodden on") or, to
Spanish ears, Santa Maria de Guadalupe, on his tilmil December
9, 1531. Also see Schwarz, D.E.: "Telepathy and Pseudotelekinesis in Psychotherapy," (Journal 0/ the American Society 0/ Psychodynamic Dentistry and Medicine, Vol. 15 (No.4): 144-155,
1968) for a psychodynamic study of the factors involved in
telekinetic experiments and the sudden "appearance," or noticing,
of an image at the time of a planned experiment with Joseph Dunninger.
6. On May 11, 1988, Katie's eighteen-year-old son unexpectedly
returned from his six-month sojourn in Connecticut. Before leaving for his home in Rorida, his traded his motorcycle for a jeep
and, when cleaning out his auto, he was surprised to fmd a
videotape of the Orson WeDes' telecast 'on Nostradamus. This
"coincidence, " or possible example of synchronicity in view of the
ongoing study with his mother, th~ specifics of which he was
unaware of, or up-to-date on, is mentioned in passing.
7. Katie called on Sunday, May 30, 1988, at 8:30 p.in. to ask about
"beer yeast treatment" for moniliasis. Nostradamus came
through and he advised that remedy which, upon application in a
Sitz bath, gave her immediate relief of her symptoms. She also
successfully advised her son's girlfriend, who had been similarly,
previously diagnosed by a gynecologist. Upon questioning, Katie
said that her mother never permitted the daughter; to assist with
the canning of tomatoes, green ~s or making of sauerkraut'
when they were menstruating, since it would spoil the food (see
Rahn, Otto: "Invisible Radiations of Organisms," Verlag "on
Gebriider Bornlraeger, Vol. 9, 1936, p. 215.) In this inStance,
Nostradamus, the physician~tity, whatever the scientific merits
of his recommended treatment, might have corresponded to the
Inner Self Helpers, psychic entities that are found in multiple personality disorder and which are helpful "to the therapist in guiding
therapy in the proper direction so that personality integration can
be achieved" (see Allison, R.D.: "Spiritual Helpers I Have Met,"
presented at the Meeting of the Association for the Anthropological Study of Consciousness, Menlo Park, California,
April 11-14, 1985).

Example 13: June 28, 1_

The first conjoint psychotherapy session in many months
was marked by an explosive outburst and Katie precipitously
left in a split, fragmented, depressed state. The stage was set
for the next day, for after'I returned from an errand, there
~ere two messages from Katie on the telephone tape answering machine. She said: "Sara has made her visit and she has
something interesting." I immediately called Katie and confirmed events, threw the Camcorder and camera in the car
and rushed to Katie's house, where I found her in the kitchen
looking at the glass bottle containing two recently prepared
small diameter bovine aortic rings in a 100/0 formalin solution
that she had received in the research session five days earlier,
and which was recorded. on videotape. She had originally
placed the bottle on the counter between her kitchen sink and
family room and nothing had happened until the time of her
message from the entity, presumably her great-aunt Sara,
which was at approximately 10:45 a.m. '
While I was studying the bOttle, videotaping and photo~
graphing, it appeared that two of the largMiameter bovine
rings that I had given Katie months ago, and which had
disappeared, were now in the bottle and apparently undergoing linkage. The vessel wall media was splitting and there
seemed to be an ever-widening oblique slit in the external
layer of the vessel. The two small-diameter rings were unchanged. There was a bronze-colored quarter-sized coin with
inscriptions in the bottle, vertically wedged in the bottom aor-

Third Quarter 1988

Figure 19. Ooseup of apported partially Unked large diameter aortle

rings, bronze colored coin and gold In 10010 formalin solution (June

lB,I988).

tic ring. Both surfaces of the coin were almost completely

,covered with "gold" and there was a column of. "gold" that
rose from the inferior surface of the coin, festooning toward
the surface of the formalin (see Figure 9).
While I was recording these changes, Katie off-handedly
remembered the Nostradamus message which had happened
through her automatic writing on a pink pad while she and I
were'talking on the telephone. When she went to get the writing, she was surprised because, instead of three to four lines
of old French verse, there were three extra lines which she
claimed were not there originally and might have been formed
by direct writing from the capped ball-point pen on top of the
pad or in some other unknown way. The message read:
De l'aquilon' les efforts
Scront grands,
Sus 1'Qccean sera la
Porte ouverte
Le regne en lisle
Sera reintegrand;
Tremblera Londres
Par uoille deScouvede.

Mr. Andrews' translation was:

The efforts of the young eagle
will be great,
under the ocean
the door will be opened
the reign over the island
will be restored;
London will tremble.
(The last line is undecipherable, as far as my ability goes.)
Katie attributed all the action to Sara and wondered if there
was any connection with her premenstrual phase, because she
usually felt "strong" at those times. She was still upset by extreme situational stresses and the defenses of repression,
denial and dissociation were sorely taxed. However, it can be
conjectured that more specific factors ~ight have been inPursuit

123

volved in the precipitation of these events. Instead of working

through some of the problems in conjoint therapy, Katie,
beset with frustration, impulsively bolted out of the session
and might have psychically acted out her conflicts and perceived transgressions. The production of a galaxy of spectacular psi, which was similar to the last previous explosion involving an attempt at paranormally linking aortic rings,
might have symbolized Katie's desire for retributipn. By
linkage - the piece de resistance psychosomatic experiment
- she might have indicated her desire to continue in therapy
and growth with her abilities.'
,
The meanings of the translated verse might have been
applicable to herself for, Katie, the "young eagle" was.attempting mastery. of the events that beseiged her as she sought
answers to her .problems, and restoration of her dignity .
(reign?) in her home (island). It might be speculated that the
door opening' .under the ocean is consistent with thi~.
However, it 'should also be meiltioned that, prior 'to this
episode of old 'French, Katie was aware of an unusual search
by one of the participants at the sessions. E.S., Director of
the EEG laboratory where Katie had recently been studied,
had told Katie and the group about his professional experience of once obtaining a history from a middle-aged couple
of European origin who claimed an encounter with a UFOlike craft under the sea. The 'couple were upset over this
event, which involved occupants, light beams, glowing metal
objects, telekinesis, haraSsment and, as in Katie's previous
assault, the woman was physically beaten. E.S., who had
never come upon such a history before, had seen the evidence
for that. At the time, the couple supposedly reported their encounter to the county police, F.A.A. and F.B.I. It is of inter'est that Katie might have ~ad some of her past condensed
with this information which, in some unknown way, might
have surfaced in this highly specific phrase of the quatrain.
E.S. sought to help in tracking down and documenting his
unique case.
As in pre.vious examples of old French and associated
phenomena, further questions might be considered. Were the
large diameter and' formerly miss~ng bovine rings that now
appeared to be linking apported into the formalin solution in
the glass jar? Did they materialize with the "gold?" Where
did the coin come from?
The history for the almost simultaneous automatic and
direct writing of the Nostradamus verse lends credibilitY:Jo
the former events which can neither be "proven" nor "disproven." The specimens, other than the Nostradamus
writings, were left as they were for further observation.
Should future biological or physical-chemical analysis be
done, it might be wiser to have the facilities and expertise
thoroughly arranged and thought through, as in the example
of the allegedly materialized double pagoda in the colored
water, than to prematurely and inadvertently destroy the
evidence in the quest for a quick "answer," and amateurish
meddling.
Discussion
Because ofalready mentioned circumstances, it is unlikely
that Katie's automatic and direct writing. were fraudulent. If
it were, various explanations would have to be considered.
Her husband is a high school graduate who is out working
most of the time, and his knowledge of Nostradamus is not
much more than Katie's. Prior to the series cif communications, it was limited to hearsay information and part of a
special program on cable TV. Furthermore, it would be a
giant step from that source to an illiterate person's producing
scripts in old French as described and while under the TV
Pursuit 124

camera on three occasions, twice with multiple witnesses and

once with myself. Katie's seventeen-year-old son, who dropped' out of school in the tenth grade, and his friends, were
seldom.. home at the time the events occurred, and it is difficult to see how they would tie ~pable of concocting the
scripts under the time. frames described, and also how they
could have obtained their information. If an. expert and
author on Nostradamus could provisionally not ident~fy some
of Katie's scripts beyond stating that they came from an early
edition of his works, how would a teenage grade school youth
fare? The same questions might be more applicable to Katie's
young daughter who is in elementary school, attending learning disability classes and having ~ hard time mastering her
grade-level English. If someone were planting the writing, I
would ask who, in what way, and why? This would mean that
someone would have to have knowledge of the subject, access
to the data and the. usually lock~d l:J.ome when rio one is there,
plus the motivations and finances to undertake such a stunt.
Even a "g~nius" winner - professional debunker - of the
prestigious MacArthur Foundation award might find the
finances steep and the chances of detection too real to risk
such a venture for any ill-gruned notoriety.
Perhaps some scholar who is fainiliar with the more than
one thousand quatrains of Old French and an amalgam of
other ancient languages ~uld best 'be qualified to establish
whether the Katie ~ata is what it purports to be, the.authenticity of the translations versus alternative ones, .or, for other
technical reasons, to determine the likeliho~d of al,lthorship;
e.g. was it consisten~ material attributable to Nostradamus, to
someone else or, possibly, another agency, living or dead,
with material telepathically. or' clairvoyantly ecphorized by
Katie from such sources as tQe. minds of -living (or dead)
Nostradamus scholars, TV,. printed material' in existence
somewhere, or from combinations of the above.. including the
possibility that they inay have been chosen or composed by
Nostradamus after his death, which mesh with Katie'S hypothesized needs with her family's needs and others within the
psychic nexus? It should bestressed that Katie is illiterate and
can only write her name. Katie and her 'family prefer anonymity. There are no commercial gains to be had, and i(these
studieS were 'not being pursued in: psychodynamically structured, scheduled sessions that might have conditioned, reinforced or augme'nted the likelihood for the occurrence of psi,
it is unlikely, beCause of social and work factors, amnesia and
other components,' that anything would have been made of
the data, everi if it were recognized and acted uPon. As I have
indicated in the examples, the production of t~e scripts is
usually 'involved 'wiih other apparently paranormal events,
many of which'. have high ~redibility. Therefore, they might
be better understood in this context rather than by separating
them unnaturally from their continua and nexus. Still, every
event must be reported as it happened, .and because some
events might have approached acceptabJe paranormal validity
does not mean that pars pro toto reasoning could be justified
for all pOssible events. The latter l1).ust not be bent to experimental bias. To ~he best extent possible, the data should
always be presented in its. own matrix and nexus. The data
and the matrix are facts, natural history constants. However,
the interpretations can be flexible and open to challenge and
change. With more information, there is the paradox of an
enhanced ability to ascribe additional meanings as well as the
gainsaid knowledge that" there are 'many layers of varying
complexities wbich interdict any tendency to be dogmatic.
There can be many>' interpretations which, although
sometimes apparently contradictory on the surface, can also
Third Quarter 1988

be complementary.
In some of the examples, I have mentioned various possible
physical and physiological factors that could be profitably
pursued in Katie's case, and also similariti'es to Katie's trance"
entities and multiple personality disorder (MPD), and even to
the age-old question" of recycling possible possession. 14 As has
already been done in MPD, it would be interesting to see
what, if any, changes might be correlated with the various entities and possible psi effects while Katie was being monitored
with the electroencephalogram. s,6 Would there be changes in
background, left-right hemispheric symmetry or temporal
lobe functions? What differences might there be with the sensory evoked response? Would there be changes with cOmputerized tomography (CAT), magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI), positron emission tomography "(PET),"' the polygraph, 8 or the Burr-Ravitz' technique of measuring potentials
in the electro-dynamic fieids?
Study of Katie's often associated stigmata and her history
of bronchospasm might provide" psychic-dynamic and psychodynamic clues to the pathogenesis of allergic reactions. By
applying methods that have already been helpful in studying immunocompetence, 10, 11 during stress, neuroendocrine
changes might be found which correlate with Katie's stigmata
and paranormal pheQomena of the Nostradamus writings,
apports, metal bending and other psi phenomena. These and"
other laboratory studies 12 could be extended for the possible
rewards of new knowledge which would justify the efforts
and expense. If these things actually happened as reported
here, and as similar events "have" been recorded throughout
history, then any shreds of information; solid data, or correlations could be invaluable in the studY of dissociative states,
in health and disease, and the nearly boundless research opportunities in the currently overlooked role of paranormal
factors in these conditions.
I should mention the imaginable connection between
Katie's paranormal abilities and the savant syndrome. In
both cases, despite an enormous amount of investigation,
there is no tenable explanation for the occurrence of the
extraordinary talents that seem to develop out of nowhere
and sometimes almost overnight.13 Recently, Treffert 14 mentioned ESP as a possible savant skill. However, the question
might be turned around. Could psi be a missing link in interpreting this condition: viz. the paranormal apprehension of
the particular knowledge or skills, as has been hypothesized in
the case of genius. IS This reasoning is "also applicable to identical twins who often report similar shared choices, predicaments, tastes, and thoughts. In addition to these factors, telepathy might be the via regia of communications for events
dependent on rapport shared by the twins and which might
account for their over-a-lifetime multiple "coincidences."
This practical, psychic aspect might be as germane as the
usual explanations of identical genetic, anatomical and
physiological attributes. In both instances, the savant syndrome and the "coincidences" of identical twins raised apart
since birth, the remarkable events might be more strongly influenced by telepathic psychobiological bonds rather than
psychic abilities being but a ~ide issue, a result of their condition.
In both Katie's instance and the savant syndrome, there are
also the common elements of cognitive-social isolation due to
either environmental-situational factors or to physical states
of deprivation (i.e. blindness, cerebral "palsy, retardation,
etc.) If so, then why are these possible compensatory psi or
prodigy talents not more commonly noted in the legions affected by strokes, organic brain syndromes and other minus
Third Quarter 1988

states? 16 Some seminal thinking that might be pertinent to"

these matters is provided by recent studies on vigilance theory
by Tolaas 17 and Ullman. II Also, the rare and complex condition of prodigious specific memory feats as illustrated by the
stage performer, Harry Lorayne,19 whom I once observed
perform before physicians, might have similarities to the savant syndrome and Katie's psychic talents.
A striking difference between Katie and the savant syndrome is that for the latter, there is almost never any family
history for the various musical, mathematical, mnemonic or
artistic talents, whereas in Katie's case, bOth her parents gave
positive family histories 2o for psi. Also several of Katie's
mother's ancestors might have had high-quality"psi, and there
are indications for enhanced paranormal abilities for Katie's
children, the son more so at this time than the younger
daughter by a different husband. What could be learned from
new techniques in genetic "analysis? Finally, neuropsychological tests l might further elucidate the similarities and the differen<,:es in Katie and the sav~t syndrome.
" Hopefully, ongoing studies of Katie and her family will expand the scope and content of these observations in a way
that will help to explain some of her accomplishments.
Perhaps this would also be applicable to other psychically
gifted people, as well as to the wider "purpose of integrating
psi in a theory of the mind and its role with the brain in the
age-old mind-matter interface dichotomy. The closer one gets
to knowledge, the more one learns that this is but an illusion,
for how far away one is from ever really knowing! Writing is
only a partial skeleton for reality - or "knowing. " Whatever
the explanation,21 Katie does things that are worth
"knowing."
References and Notes

1. Allison, Ralph B.: "The Possession Syndrome; Myth, Magic and

Multiplicity." Presented at Second Pacific Congress of Psychiatry, Manilla, Philippines, May 12-16, 1980.
2. Allison, Ralph B.: "Difficulties Diagnosing the Multiple Personality Syndrome in a Death Penalty Case." The International
Journal o/Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. Vol. XXXII,
No.2, 1984, 102-117.
3.Allison, Ralph B.: "The Possession Syndrome on Trial."
American Journal 0/ Forensic Psychiatry. Vol. VI, Number I,
1985, 46-56.
4. Naegeli-Osjord, Hans: Possession and Exorcism. New Frontiers
Center," Oregon, Wisconsin, Colin Smythe, Ltd., Gerrards
Cross, Bucks, England, 1988.
5. Kluft, R.P.: "An Update on Multiple Personality Disorders."
Hosp. Community Psychiatry. 38, 1987,363-373.
6. Although an electroence"phalogram was done on Katie, April,
1982, following neurological consultation for syncope, it was impossible to locate the report, and the physician who had seen her
had moved away. She recalled being told that the tracing was
"normal." A base line sixteen-channel Nihen Kohden electroencephalographic recording on June 22, 1988, was essentially normal. During the tracing, Katie went into a spontaneous trance
and four entities communicated. With "Sara," who might be
characterized as being irascible and negativistic, low voltage fifteen to twenty-five cycle per second beta activity predominated,
whereas with the switch to the compliant and passive
"Elizabeth," the background of the recording yielded a highvoltage regular alpha activity varying between ten and eleven
cycles per second. Obviously, there were not enough control
segments to attribute any significance to these possibly associated
electrographic changes. A new entity, "Marie," popped out,
amid much turmoil. Apparently, she was French and she seemed
to understand some questions posed to her in that language by
the technician and,later, by a psychologist-language interpreter
who came to the laboratory. Despite "Marie's" appearance of

Pursuit 125

panic and plaintively calling out "fire" and "burning," there

were no striking changes in the background of the tracing other
than a marked increase in eye movement and muscle artifact. Attempts to communicate with Marie (and others, including
Nostradamus and Waldo) were not successful verbally, nor was a
trial at automatic writing with Katie using her right and left hand
alternately while entranced. Similarly, aside from pronounced artifact, there were no changes during modified hypnotic activation
(see Schwarz, B.E., Bickford,R.G., and Rasmussen, W.C.:
"Hypnotic Phenomena, Including Hypnotically Activated
Seizures Studied with the Electroencephalogram," Journal 0/
Nervous and Mental Disease, Vol. 122, No.6, December, 1955,
. 564-573). Thro.ughout the recording, the electrocardiographic
. artifact for contour and rate was unchanged. At the conclusion
of the base-line electroencephalogram, a six channel Oxford
ambulatory twenty-four hour monitoring electroencephalogram
was attached to Katie, who reported no possible psi effects until
she left her employer to come to the office for her regular Thursday research session. She was apparently unaware of the sudden
appearance of "gold"on her abdomen and left neck when she arrived. Review of the tracing presumably made at the time of .
those developments revealed no grossly discernable changes in
the background of the recording or other electrographic effects
other than artifacts. In addition to myself, all the tracings were
independently reviewed by ~.university expert physician electroencephalographer.
As in the EGG Laboratory, there were nQ stigmata or apports
that could, hopefully, be correlated electrographically. Although
there were no post laboratory recording session episodes of alleged psi; be/ore the base-line tracing, the technician, while in the
cafeteria with his colleague, went to cut his tomato when he
noticed that the stainless steel knife blade bent an estimated thirty
degrees. He associated this event to the impending recording session with Katie, about whom he had heard things, but whom he
had not met. Without thinking, he straightened the bent knife
blade rather than saving it as a possible specimen of the telekinetic aspects of the psychic nexus.
Katie's son, who has had high quality psi (see Schwarz, B~ E.:
"Presumed physical Mediumship and UFOs," Flying Saucer
Review, Vol". 31, No.6, Oct. 1986: 18-22) and allied abilities, including a local bigfoot experience shared with his girlfriend on
February 12, 1987, and a knack for finding fossils of ancient
animals (Vero Beach Press Journal, Vero Beach, FL, February
16, 1987, p. I, and ibid. May 23, 1988, p. 3 A) had seizures as an
infant, and he had an episode of electroencephalographically
conflI1lled temporal lobe epilepsy (right temporal spikes) on October 10, 1987, when he was looking at the flickering TV tube .
and he suddenly had an aura of "burning plasticodor"which was
followed with nausea, disorientation and furor. He had "visions,
heard voices" and, according to the ambulance attendants, he
"spoke a different language" (see McKenna, P.J., Kane, J.M.
and Parrish, K.: "Psychotic Syndromes in Epilepsy," American
Journal 0/ Psychiatry, 142, 1985, 895-904.) Both Katie and her
son could be ideal subjects for electroencephalographic studies,
including twenty-four hour ambulatOl:y EEG monitoring and
computer data reduction analysis, plus neurometric analysis. A
recent report about this fascinating mind-brain interface relevant
to Katie (and her son's temporal lobe epilepsy and fugues) is provided by Joseph (see Joseph, Anthony B.: "A Hypergraphic
Syndrome of Automatic Writing, Affective Disorder, and Temporal Lobe Epilepsy in Two Patients," J. Clin. Psychiatry, 47:5,
May, 1986.)
.
In reference to electrographic studies of presumed physical psi,
in the fall of 1981, I undertook studies with a mentalist who
claimed metal-bending abilities. Although the mentalist later
publiCly confessed that he had cheated and that he was part of a
scam, when I interviewed him on the telephone after the debacle,
he claimed that twenty of twenty-two events that I cited from
memory, not having the data at hand, were "coincidences." Unfortunately fOT the researches, the cognoscenti might have accepted the dishonest mentalist's naive, simplistic, black-or-white
Pursuit 126

explanations at face value. But most of the data still stood as

described and was !lnexplained. During those investigations, an
eight-channel electroencepJtalogram was taken of the mentalist at
the Essex County Hospital Center, where I was consultant to the
EEG Laboratory. The recording was within normal limits. Present during this experiment were the EEG technician, the supervisor of the laboratory, the.X-ray technician, the laboratory
secretary, and the adjacent ECG technician. The ECG technician
produced several car and house keys which the X-ray technician
was unable to bend. He scratched them for identification. While
the electroencephalogram was running, the ECG technician put
three keys in her left hand and two in her right. She clenched her
fists and while the mentalist's eyes were closed, he held out his
hands an estimated eight inches a~ve and below the woman's
clenched right hand, and "zapped" the keys. When he asked her
if she felt anything,. she said tingling and warmth and that a key
was starting to bend. At that time, no change was noted in the
recording other than increased eye movement and muscle artifact. When the technician opened her hands and the mentalist
opened his eyes, it was apparent that an automobile trunk key
had bent approximately 30 at the midpoint of the shaft. She is
left-handed. At no time during this procedure did the mentalist
handle the keys nor was there any ostensible. opportunity for
fraud, substitutjon, use of confederates, or other explanations.
The releVant normal control "tracing and section of the recOrding
when the key bending took place were also reviewed by two
acknowledged authorities in electroencephalography, who also
. noted nothing beyond the alpha waves, muscle artifacts and eye
blinks. With new technology, it would be practical to take portable EEGs on all the people attending the experiment - the
psychic nexus - to see if there were any correlative changes and,
if so, how they related to clinical phenomena and chronology.
The lack of any focal or paroxysmal discharges are consistent
with Hasted's citation of an EEG taken during metal bending
(Hasted; J.: The Metal-Benders, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, Boston and Henley, 1981). However, he reported waves in
the iower frequencies during metal bending, while we did not.
The Uphoffs (Uphoff, W. and M.J.: Mind Over Malter, Interactions 0/Masuaki Kiyoto 's PK Feats with Metal and Film, New
Frontiers Center, Oregon, WI 53575, 1980) mentioned related
Japanese studies on psychic metal benders Masuaki Kiyoto and
Hiroto Hamashita, who allegedly produced changes in electrical
energy when "concentrating." In my own previous studies, I
noted no conventional scalp EEG changes during presumed
telepathy. However, in a more recent study (Schwarz, B.E.:
"Clinical Observation in Telekinesis," Journal 0/ the American
Society 0/ Psychosomatic Dentistry and Medicine, V. 23 (No.2)
1980, 54-58) of poltergeist-protagonists' florid experiences, one
of them had an EEG reported by his neurologist as being consistent with a convulsive disorder.
Another telekinetic subject recorded in my laboratory had a
con"ulsive pattern during reading. It would be interesting to try
variations of the metal-bending experiments between the men--
talist (scalp EEGs) and subjects who were wired for depth electrography, which might be more likely to show changes. Also, it
should I\ot be too difficult to have an BEG wired to the mentalist
and connected to a telekinetic target box, so that when telekinesis
is precipitated, the EEG tracing videocamera can either be turned
on, or, if running through the experiments, the relevant EEG
segment can be identified. This would be similar technology to
that which Ullman and Krippner (Ullman, M., Krippner, S., and
Vaughan, A.: Dream Telepathy, Macmillan, New York, 1973)
found to be so successful in their dream telepathy studies and
Cox (Cox, W.E.: Afterword, in Richards, J.T.: SORRAT: A
History o/the Neihardt Psychokinesis Experiments, 1961-1981,
the Scarecrow Press, Inc., Metuchen, NJ) in the construction of
the mini-lab and the Cox-Calvin RSPK Automatic Filming
Device for the SORRAT experiments. The telekinetic fallout that
ha~ to some members of the EEG laboratory staff after the
experimental session was striking and consistent with the observation pertaining to mind-set, programming and belief (see
Third Quarter

i 988

Owen, A.R.O.: Psychic Mysteries of the North, Harper and

Row, New York, 1975; Batcheldor, K.J.: "PK in Sitter
Groups," Psychoenergetic Systems, 1979, Vol. 3, pp. 77-93).
The intrinsic difficulties in these researches of gifted paragnosts
pale by comparison with the self-proclaimed expert-professional
debunkers' extrinsic obstructions to this vital area of inquiry.
As in many matters with telekinesis, there are beneficial potentials and, as is obvious, there are major, potential deleterious effects. The work must mean something to somebody because,
when finishing my report on Joe A. Nuzum, a gifted telekinetic
paragnost, twelve of my key references, many of which were
autographed and had my personal annotations on the pages,
vanished from my locked office. There was no indication of a
break-in and nothing of value was stolen, but Nuzum's family in
Pennsylvania had subsequent repeated telephone harassment,
and the air was let out of Nuzum's automobile tires. Similar
"coincidences" could be cited with telekinetic allied UFO
research, where all the issues in separate envelopes of a series of
FSR (England) articles about a UFO contactee with telekineticthoughtographic effects were opened, scattered about and "lost"
in the back room of a northern New Jersey post office until
discovered by my persistent and irate secretary, and years later,
when most of the review copies of my UFO-Dynamics were
"lost" in the mail between the publisher's address of Moore
Haven, Florida, and the Palm Beach routing office. In both instances of the missing books, the police and postal authorities
were unable to help (See Schwarz, B.E.: "A Presumed Case of
Telekinesis," International Journal of Psychosomatics, Vol. 32,
No. I, 1985,3-21; Schwarz, B.E.: UFO-Dynamics, Rainbow
Books, Moore Haven, Florida, 1983). [also in PURSUIT Vol.
18, No.2, pp. 50-61.]
7. Hendrie, Hugh, Ed:: "The Impact of New Technology on
Psychiatric Practice." Psychiatric Annals, Volume 15, Number
4, April 1985; Garber, H.J., Weilburg, J.B., Buonoanno, F.S.,
Manschreck, T.C., and New, P.F.J.: "Use of Magnetic
Resonance Imaging in Psychiatry." A merican Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 1988, 164-171.
8. Council on Scientific Affairs: "Polygraph." JAMA, Sept. 5,
1986, Vol. 256, No.9: 1172-1175.
9. Ravitz, Leonard, J.: Electrodynamic Man: Electromagnetic
Field Measurements in Biology, Medicine, Hypnosis and
Psychiatry Biocommunications. Monograph accepted for
publication.
10. Calabrese, J.R., Kling, M.A., Gold, P.W.: "Alterations in Immunocompetence During Stress, Bereavement, and Depression:
Focus on Neuroendocrine Regulation." The A merican Journal
of Psychiatry: 144:9, September 1987, 1123-1133.
11. Taylor, Eugene: "Cyberphysiology: The Science of SelfRegulation." No.2 in a series, Time, Mind and Medicine. For
Archaeus Project: Dennis Stillings,. Ed'" 2402 University Ave.,
St. Paul, MN 55114, 1988.
12. Jule Eisenbud, M.D., at a university laboratory in Denver,
observed Katie materialize "gold" on four occasions between
June 10-15, 1988. During her visit, other psychiatric researches,
including testing for magnetic fields, were also done. Although
Katie developed "gold" around her right ear and nose during the
testing, there were no conclusive effects upon cursory analysis of
the data. I stress that the mechanism by which Katie produces her
gold or obtains her informations and the exact source of it is
unknown. However, by analogy, I have the example mentioned
in Dr. Eisenbud's letter to me, October 25, 1986 where Ted
Serios, his exceptional paragnost in Colorado, produced a striking thoughtographic Polaroid of the distinctive columns of my
former home in Montclair, New Jersey which Dr. Eisenbud had
only seen once and which Ted had never seen. Yet in some
unknown 'way Ted psychically produced a Polaroid which closely
corresponded to the reality, photographs in existence, or to the
engrams locked somewhere in the temporal lobe memory banks
of many persons. Ted was highly motivated and curious about
his planned-for visit to Florida and pursuing some researches that
might have been new to him and which picqued his unique

Third Quarter 1988

talents: e.g. search for the Conway pyramid under the sea and
part of the nearby wrecked 1715 Spanish Fleet. Ted's attitude
might have been similar to Katie's intense motivations whether
from traumatic events and conflicts in her life and her hoped for
resolution from psychotherapy as well as her desire to participate
in experiments (search for Conway's pyramid) which she was only dimly aware of and which were for reasons beyond our control
off bounds (symbolic for Oedipal conflicts). The brain might act
as a microcosmic computor with the potential to reach across
time and space and access information which serves the intersecting purposes and needs of the paragnosts and consultants.
13. Monty, Shirlee: May's Boy. Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1981.
14. Treffert, D.A.: "The Idiot Savant: A Review of the Syndrome."
American Journal of Psychiatry 145:5, May, 1988, 563-572.
15. Schwarz, B.E.: "The Telepathic Hypothesis and Genius: A Note
on Thomas Alva Edison." Corrective Psychiatry and Journal of
Social Therapy, Vol. 13 (No. I): January, 1967, 7-19.
16. Ehrenwald, J.: Telepathy and Medical Psychology. W. W. Norton, New York, 1948.
17. Tolaas, J.: "Vigilance Theory and Psi, Part I: Ethological and
Phylogenetic Aspects." Journal of the American Society for
Psychical Research, 80: 1986, 357-373.
18. Ullman, M.: "Vigilance Theory and Psi, Part II: Physiological
Psychological, and Parapsychological Aspects." Journal of the
American Society for Psychical Research, 80: 1986,375-391.
19. Lorayne, Harry and Lucas, Jerry: The Memory Book. Ballantine Books, New York, 1974.
20. Tenhaeff, W.H.C.: Proceedings of the Parapsychological Institute of the State University of Utrecht, Number 2, December
1962, 1-79.
21. While in New Jersey, on August IS, 1988, I went to a bookstore
to buy something special for a friend who had recently been
severely injured. When there, my eye fell upon Edgar Leoni's
Nostradamus and His Prophecies (Bell Publishing Company,
N.Y., 1982, p. 823). With no hope or intention of finding any of
the Katie-Nostradamus quatrains, I automatically opened the
book to page 272 and was surprised to find Century V:78 - the
verses and translation that took so much time and letter writing
between Mr. Andrews, then in Paris, and myself, in Florida.
Finally, a third request sent to Drury, Missouri, where he was at
the time, caught up with him and he sent me the highly personal
and relevant translation so applicable to Katie and which arrived
shortly before her thirteenth wedding anniversary. Naturally,
with this synchronicity which occurred as a postscript to this
completed study, I purchased Mr. Leoni's excellent book and,
thanks to his scholarship and erudition, I could easily find the
translations - except for the fragments of Example 12 of April
20, 1988 - that were either identical or similar to all of Katie's
material. The questions still remain: (I) How did Katie receive
the material through her automatic writing and possible direct
writing? (2) What would the meanings be for Katie, as seems
likely in some examples, and, if germane, for the world at large
and our timesJ For the interested reader-scholar, here is the key
for the Katie examples that correlate closely with Mr. Leoni's indexedOld French Nostradamus Centuries and Quatrains (and
translations):
Example I; V:16, p. 254.
Example 2; X:73, p. 434.
Example 3; 11:35, p. 172.
Example 4; 1:70, p. 150.
Example 5; IV:86, p. 305.
Example 6; V:47, p. 213.
Example 7; VIII:73, p. 34.
Example 8; 11:82, p. 184.
Example 9; 11:81, p. 184. Note the difference in Katie's and the
original Nostradamus wording, chronological and textual juxtaposition of these examples.
Example 11; 1:25, p. 138.
Example 12; V:73, p. 213.
Example 13; 11:68, p. ISO.
~

Pursuit 127

A Radiotechnical Device
in the Ancient World? .
byB. Fanlay
captured in the time of the plunder of the Jerusal~m temple
(70 A.D.).
The most important .object, the "shrine of the percept,"
was in the second, so-called ~'Holy of Holies" darkened
room of the tabernacle. It was there that, according to the
text, "seances of communications" between Moses and
"God" took place.
The concept of this text is staggering. To avoid stretching .
out a big marquee it was ordered that the rather strange frame
from the giant beams be built. The tabernacle only required
53 (!) beams - its outer fence 60 more. Taking into a~ount
their gold sheeting and size, such beams must have been very
heavy. It must have been a very strange and gigantic undertaking to the nomadic tribe. They were known to have wandered about the desert for many years and therefore, we must
assume, had to take into account ev~ry pound of transportable load. The frame of a portable temple should, we imagine,
have been made of thinner and lighter poles, not five meters
high and so great a mass. This paradox is explained only by
the fact that both the dimensions of the beams and the
number were dictated for the technical role they were to play,
namely, those beings who gave the technical task to Moses
and had calculated beforehand the dimensions and mutual
disposition of those beams so that. they could implement effectively their roles.
.
The "shrine of the percept," was the heart of the tabernacle. It was, according to the text, a wooden box, covered
inside and outside with sheet gold and had a special crown
around it - the dimensions being 1.25 x 0.75 x 0.75 meters.
From above, the shrine was adorned with a special sculptured
cover of golden cherubs. It was between the two figures of
these cherubs that the image of "God" periodically appeared
and the voice of "God" could be heard.

Let's look at the biblical legend about the story of the

"contact" between the patriarch Moses and God. This story
is repeated in other sacred books, too, such as in the Cabbala
and the Dead Sea SCrolls. Moses and his nomad tribe got into
close contact with "God" at the time of their wanderings
about the desert near the Sinai Mountain. There, Moses received detailed instructions about how to construct the socalled tabernacle, i.e. a prefabricated, portable temple.
Besides oral instructions, Moses was also provided with
two mysterious ~one tablets. Having built a tabernacle and
pIaclng these given tablets in the Shrine, Moses was thus able
to periodically keep in touch with the "Gods" or - if we
wish to say - the extraterrestrials.
According to the old text, the tabernacle was some sort of a
frame or a large rectangular marquee, oriented .lengthwise
from West to East. This structure, measuring 28 x 40 cubits
(14 x 20 meters), was composed of a fence of vertical, large,
squared beams (5m high, 0.75m wide and 0.25m thick) connected and fastened together with horizontal poles. Beams
and poles were made of acacia wood (shittam) and coated
with sheet gold. A fabric curtain was hung on them and
another curtain covered it from above creating a semidarkened area inside it. Around the tabernacle was a second,
larger, concentric rectangular fence - the so-called "outer
court of the tabernacle" measuring 25m x 5Om, made from
beams 2.5m high with a fabric curtain over it. The tabernacle
inside was divided into two rooms by a curtain which was
hung on the gold-covered beams.
There were three objects in the front room: a table, a lamp,
and an altar for incense. One can see the image of this lamp
on the triumphal column of the emperor Titus in Rome.
There, is a picture of the procession of Roman soldiers carrying the lamp, made of forged gold, on their shoulders. It was
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Figure 1. 1be scheme of the Santuary and Tabemade (Inner court): 1. verdcaI beam secdoDS; beams dlndIDg tile Inner court; 3. beams at
tile entrance of tbe Tabernacle; 4. beams supporting tbe outer court; S. tile Shrine (Ark of the Covenant); 6. die table; 7. the altar for In
cense; II. the lamp [candlestick); 9. the Altar of Sacrifice.

Pursuit 128

. Third Quarter 1988

Let's attempt to look at this information through the eyes

of a modern engineer. Preparing for this report, I consulted
with engineers and radio specialists and I consider the ancient
text to be of great interest to modern specialists. This text is
believed to reflect real historic events, namely the contact in
ancient times between a primitive nomadic tribe and representatives of a highly developed extraterrestrial civilization.
Moses and his co-tribesmen could only assume that these beings were some kind of powerful "gods." Let's assume further that these "gods" had a special need of some bulky
technical device on the earth's surface and that they supported Ii two-way radio communication with the operating
tribe. Could the tabernacle have been a receiver-transmitter
radio device? Theoretically it could have been, but unfortunately we do not know much about some of its important
details and can only judge by the chary text that survived it.
F'irst, we can note that, in principle, any set of metallic, wellgrounded objects can serve as a device for reflecting radiowaves. But in our case we don't just have an accidental set,
but some regulated system of metallized beams, providing
maximally effective work capability. Its typical features were
as follows:
I. All the dimensions of this construction Oong sides of the
tabernacle and its fence, the distance between the tabernacle
and the fence, the height of the beams, etc.) appear to be
multiples of 10 cubits (5 meters). It means the whole system
worked as an effective reflecting device for radiowaves with
the length of 10 meters (if we admit another length for the
cubit, namely from 40 to 64cm as it was in antiquity' in the
Near East - in this case the effective wave length would be
from 8 to 12 meters, that is, just the same metric range of
radiowaves).
2. Beams of the tabernacle, five meters high, could work as
semiwave vibrators, with conductive poles running along the
top. Each such beam would act as a particular metallic
resonator. Its silver foot with pins may have served for better
contact with the earth beings (earthlings).
3. Beams of the tabernacle's fence with the height of 2.5m
could have served as quarter-wave vibrators, separated on the
top, with both types of beams interacting most effectively
with IO-meter length radiowaves.
, Modern radio locators of remote signal detection work, as
a rule, in metric range, because it is less subject to the influence of atmospheric interference (thunderstorms, rain,
snow) in comparison with decimeter and centimeter ranges. It
is advantageous to get in touch with space objects (satellites)
in this range, too. There is one very essential detail: the errors
in placing elements (beams) of thin aerial lattice are within the
limits of 25cm, if we have the parameters in question. In
order to have a more shortwave range, the precision of placing its elements must be so great that primitive nomads
couldn't guarantee it without special instruments and
knowledge.
The objects inside the tabernacle (a metallic table with the
crown, the lamp and the shrine) played specific roles in the
supposed radio-technical device. Calculations show, that, if
the frequency is half of a reflecting (5m) radiowave, the
tabernacle can then act as a directing lattice for the irradiator,
situated in the shrine. If it is so, the influence of the lateral
walls of the tabernacle could compensate each other, and the
other walls could play the role of two directors and a reflector.
Thus, the tabernacle of Moses could be, according to our
hypothesis, a multifunctional radiotechnical device. On the

Third Quarter 1988

\~
III
110

'II

\\

II.
I'

'.,

t
:-

"

.. ;,

,. ....

1\

"

",

I,
I

\\\
I

la

Sa

9
Flgure 1. Details of the Tabemade: 1. ver1leal beam or pOlar; la.
connecting section of four beams; S. the Shrine (Ark of the C0venant); Sa. 8 cross-sedion of the Sbrine showing the Ten-Commandment stones lnslde; 6. the Table; 7. the altar for incense; 9. the altar
for burning (8 sacrafice).

one hand, it could act as a passive reflector of the metric

radiowaves. And, also, it could work periodically as a
receiver-transmitter. But it is necessary to have, as a receivertransmitter device, some generator and a source of feeding
apart from an aerial lattice. And again, our attention is
drawn to the most intriguing detail of the tabernacle, i.e. the
"shrine of the percept" with the mysterious stone tabiets inside it.
Our modern level of knowledge allows us to assert that, in
the box of such dimensions (as the shrine), a receiver-transmitter device and radioisotopic source of feeding could have
been placed. It is true that this device would have worked in
pulse regimen (along accumulation of energy and momentary
work in the regimen of receiving transmitting).

Pursuit 129

Undoubtedly, the "stone tablets" were most important

details of the shrine. Moses couldn't make them himself but,
rather, received them ready for operation. Apparently the
material these tables were made of only seemed to nomadic
cattlemen to be stone, because they didn't have other
analogies. One may suppose that Moses received from extraterrestrials two blocks of a complicated electronic device the radioscheme consisting of crystalline elements, modules
and a radioisotopic source of feeding. Probably, these blocks
began to operate (switch on) only after they were assembled
and placed inside the shrine. It is quite possible tl)at switching
was done by remote control. The order of putting these
blocks into the shrine was defined originally by the text (10
conunandments).Let's recall that, on the tablets "it was written on either side with the hand of the God." Letters or intervals between them or some ornament are likely to have served
as contacts between the two tablets and the both tablets and the
body of the shrine. It is likely, inside these tablets, there was
an isotopic source of feeding providing the work of the entire
receiver-transmitter device for a long period of time.
There is some guess about the principle of operation of the
ancient device for the reproduction of sound. It seems to be
of the same principle of operation as the so-called plasmicacoustic installation of the French inventor, Z. Cleine, where
the sound is generated at the expense of acoustic vibrations of
a high-temperature plasma cloud. The shrin~, however, was
of a more complicated structure since a pictllre appeared between the two figures of the cherubs.
The shrine was, physically, very dangerouS! to man. More
than once the ancient texts mention this fact: For instance,
there is a story concerning Philistinians who perished because
they looked into the shrine after they captured it. Another
story is about the man, Oza by name, who perished when he
touched the shrine carelessly with his hand when transporting
it. His death, perhaps, resulted from the affect of electrical
discharge.
Those, who commissioned Moses to build the tabernacle
understood that the work with the shrine was very dangerous'.
Only a few men were allowed to do it - those who got the instructions on industrial safety measures, so to say. Those who
were allowed inside the temple were obliged to put on special
clothes: underwear (an insulator) and streetclothes - highly
metallized chasuble (the conductor). All the clothing, according to the descriptions, was similar to a so-called "Faraday
cage." It is known, that man can be in an electric field of very
high tension without any harm if he is inside a grounded
metallic cage. Nevertheless, one might not always get inside
the "Holy of Holies" even in his protective clothing; Moses
was warned about it more than once. The shrine was especially dangerous at the time when "the tabernacle was illuminated by the light" or "overshadowed by the cloud."
The texts described the deaths of those people who failed to
follow the instructions. For instance, there"s an impressive
episode when Miriam, the wife of Aaron, perished because
she came into the tabernacle to be "overshadowed by the
cloud." Moses and his brother Aaron were warned repeatedly
after such cases.
Thus, according to the ancient texts, the tabernacle gave a
chance to get into contact with cosmits[ETs). One can wonder
if it would not have been easier to supply Moses with a portable receiver-transmitter device than to force him to build
and transport so bulky a construction (the tabernacle). But it
seems to us the tabernacle was not only a receiver-transmitter
device, but also served for some other purpose(s). Let's
Pursuit 130

/ 'i.e , ,

Figure 3. Roman soldiers carrying

the lamp in 70 A.D.

remember that Moses' tribe had wandered about the desert

for 40' years. Meanwhile, the way from the valley of the Nile
to the valley of the jordan makes up about 1000 km and it
was possible to cover this way even with the string of carts for
a period of half a year. The route of the tribe was complicated
and intricate, and resembled the trajectory of the Brownian
motion of a molecule. Passing from place to place and the
duration of the stops were dictated by "instructions from
above," which Moses had received. The instructions were
also given in the form of special signals: as "c1oudly
columns" in the daytime and as "fiery columns" at night.
We can only guess what "columns" they were. One hypothesis holds that they were areas of highly ionized air along
the channel of directed microwave radiation' which were
transmitted from Space to the Earth. Extraterrestrials led this
ray from Space along some route and pointed where to stop'
and set up the tabernacle. Perhaps they were able, with its
help, to carry out the charging of their power sources by
utilizing some of Earth's sources (ley lines, electrical fields,
etc. ?). The directed microwave' radiation created for them a
channel for such a charge. Let's remember that Moses' journey took place in the zone of the East African rift system one of the most tectonically strained zones of the Earth.
Strangers from Space could, with the help of the tabernacle, carry out some scientific research investigations as well,
for instance, a probing of the Earth by means of electromagnetic waves. In this case, again, the tabernacle could act as a
particular geophysical frame or' a dipole. This question might
be solved by specialists. One thing is certain however: the
tabernacle was some sort of technical device which was, of
necessity, moved from place to place along the Earth's surface and I suggest the cosmits [or ETs) exploited the tribe of
Moses for this purpose.
Editor's Note: Other work, by Dr. Furduy and his cOlleagues, is
described in the SITUation on the next page. Furduy and Burgansky
are the authors of a just-published book in the USSR, Mysteries oj
Ancient Times.
~
Thjrd Quarter 1988

Related SITUations

istence of intelligent life on other planets.

The question arises: 'How could they have
AndeatE.......~.
possibly known it all?'
We are not the first to search for an
Looking at Malta from the air, the eye
picks out hundreds of small trenches, each 63 answer. Many peoples had legends and myths
ems to 123 cms wide and about 70 ems deep, about aliens who had visited our planet and
traversing the island in every direction like shared their knowledge with terrestrials. But
this is the easiest way to explain things - one
rails.
of
the most fascinating enigmas is the cave ciMany of them run in parallels, then some
of them merge while making a sharp turn or ty in Peru.
The pyramids of Egypt pale beside this unielse change direction gradually. These trenches cross the mountains and sometimes come que city with hundreds of corridors, passages
abruptly to an end on a steep slope, only to and rooms cut in the granite rock. The room
continue their way down in the valley in the walls were skillfuUy polished and are as
smooth as a mirror. It would take much time
same direction.
and
effort to build such a city even with
Then they enter the azure waters of the
Mediterranean and stretch for several hun- modem technology.
Who could have built it? Let's forget about
dred metres along the sea bed.
Who made this mysterious network of aliens for the moment and put the question
trenches on the rocky island thousands of differently.
What if ancient builders knew some special
years ago?
I, MOSIN, Candidate of Geologist, Miner- technique for stone treatment, such as the
alogist R. FURDUY and engineer G. BUR- ability to soften the hardest stone, for examGANSKY sought to unravel the mysteries of ple? These are not idle questions. According
to the French author R. Sharou, one of
our planet's past.
Bolivia's museums has samples of rocks with
Researchers studying all the data available the imprints of human palms and feet on
about the mysteries of ancient times, divide them. The ingenuity of ancient Indian
builders is exceptional too.
them into several groups.
Those who visit India are eager to see the
The fll"st relates to facts which testify to the
ancients' high level of knowledge. Late in main attraction in Ahmadabad: two minarets
1900 archaeologists discovered a strange dating back to the eleventh century. They are
mechanism on board a sunken ship, with 23 meters high and separated by a distance of
eight meters. Tourists climb one of them, and
signs dating back to the 1st century BC.
The operating principles and the purpose of the guide climbs the other. Then he begins to
the device - which was made up of some 20 rock the tower and the other minaret is set in
motion, to the tourists' amazement.
gear wheels - were unclear for a long time.
Intuition alone was not enough to build the
The researchers went through a great deal
of trouble in finding out that the device was moving towers. If we agree that the ancient
used to determine the time of the Sun and the builders knew the secret of precise calculation,
Moon's rising and setting, and calculate the then we can conclude that once a highly
movement of the planets in the solar system. developed civilization existed. Maybe the
In fact, scientists were dealing with a myths about the vanished Atlantis have
primitive computer. Obviously it helped those something to do with it ...
Why, then, was the knowledge it possessed
at sea fmd their way by co-ordinating their
not disseminated all over the world?
movements with the stars and planets.
There could be a different reason. Many
Engineers got interest~ in the device too.
They noticed that the teeth of its gear wheels rulers were quite ignorant: why invent a
were cut precisely at an angle of 60 degrees. machine when you have enough strong slaves
Closer analysis has shown that the device to do the job? It is quite possible that at the
could not have been manufactured by hand. apex of its development the civilization emThe conclusion was that the ancient Greeks barked on the road of self-destruction. At
had special equipment to produce such least one example fuels this idea.
At the beginning of this century, ardevices on a mass scale. That was quite a surchaeologists discovered an ancient city near .
prise.
Many mysterious artefacts have much to do Moenjodaro in Pakistan.
Excavations revealed that it belonged to a
with astronomy, knowledge of which was indispensable for navigation. Both seafarers civilization which existed for a thousand years
and traveUers used stars as their guides. But and was one of the world's most advanced.
then, what about the ancient African tribe of The way the city ceased to exist is one of the
Dogons which had the most precise informa- greatest mysteries. Researchers came forward
tion about Sirius? What did they need it for? with different hypotheses: a drastic change in
The tribe's legends had it that the period of climate, floods, epidemics or enemy invasion.
All of them were quite vulnerable: flood
revolution of the star's satellite is SO
Latest research has given the figure 49.9 years and epidemics had to be ruled out for lack of
and many other facts known to the ancient evidence; nothing suggested enemy invasion
Dogons have been recently confirmed by either - not a single skeleton had traces of
violent death. The disaster, no doubt, came
science.
They refer to the star's unusual density and like a bolt out: of the blue.
the spiral form of innumerable galaxies in the
D. Davenport of England and F. Vincenti
Universe. There are even references to the ex- of Italy came forward with a sensational

Years.

Third Quarter 1988

hypothesis. They maintained that it was the

same fate which befell both Hiroshima and
Moenjodaro. The analysis of lumps of clay
scattered in the ruins showed that they had
hardened very quickly. A more detailed
analysis revealed that the fusion occurred at a
temperature of 1400-1600 degrees C.
There are many traces of a powerful explosion in the city. There is a distinct epicentre
where the houses were razed to the ground.
The further from the epicentre, the lesser the
destruction. The general picture is reminiscent
of the nuclear explosions in. Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. And in India, they found a human
skeleton whose radioactivity was SO times
higher than usual.
there are many Indian legends confrrming
this hypothesis. One of them describes a terrible fiery weapon which had no smoke. After
the explosion, "darkness feU on earth, hurricanes were raging, sowing evil. Dust clouds
soared up into the skies with a deafening roar ..
It seemed that the Sun was moving in circles..
The world enveloped in the flames was in
fever. Elephants ran amok ... '"
The legends also describe th~usands ofpeo-.
pie, elephants and chariots burnt to ashes by
the horrible weapon. Water boiled and fIsh
were charred. Soldiers jumped into the river
to wash off the dust lifted by the explosion: it
was their only hope of survival.
If this stunning hypothesis is correct, one
can easily imagine the level of development of
the civilization which possessed such a powerful weapon of destruction.
The astronomic calendars of the ancients,
and their knowledge of mathematics, geometry and construction suggest that there really
existed a highly developed civilization. But
then its 'traces' should have some meaning.
What meaning is thert in the Malta trenches?
Again, there are many hypotheses. One
maintains that they are cart tracks driven by
ancient animals. This supposition was proved
incorrect because the carts in question would
not have been able to manueuver in them: the
radius of turn was too small.
Another deals with the hundreds of limestone balls found on the island. The authors
maintained that they could have been used as
platform supports for cargo transportation.
However, it is improbable that such sharp
trenches could have been left; the tracks
would have been more rounded.
There is yet another hypothesis according
to which the trenches are nothing but water
supply canals. But they can be seen both on
the mountains and in the vaHeys. Of course,
water could have been pumped upwards, but
archaeologists found no evidence of this. And
why have.an irrigation or water supply system
on a rocky island which practically is unsuitable for agriculture?
Other explanations are even more incredible: iron runners, writings which can be read
only from the air, the remains of a transport
system, which connected Europe and Africa.
All these suggestions are unconvincing. The
mysteries of the past have yet to be unveiled.
SOURCE: Soviet News, Moscow, USSR
7/14/88

Pursuit 131

Some Further Considerations

of the
.
.

Mars-Venus .Cycle and Natural Constants

in Relation to UFO ..Waves
.

by Keith L Partain, M.Sc.

Since late 1985, readers of PURSUIT have seen my at,~ .:.. cp

=x _
Substitute Jt for x, and
tempts to relate natural constants and planetary cycles to the
- cp
controversial question of UFO cycles or waves. 1.2 Although I
strongly assert that my observations have empirical support, I
;n-;=Jt-l
freely admit that we humans have a profound ability to perceive cyclical rhythms in nature where, in fact, none exist;
The value of Jt - 1 is roughly 2.14. The synodical year of
that we can superimpose a cyclic. texture onto random noise
Mars is also very close to Jt - 1 in that it is 2.135 years.
and declare the discovery of a pattern. As a result, Fourier
Venus' synodical year approximates . Could this be a sort of
analysis is much in vogue in anomalistics - as it should be.
Fortean "E = mc 2 " or Jt.; = Mars - Venus X (unknown conWith that acknowledgement of correct criticism made, let me
version factor) for these two apparently unrelated cycles'?
state that one can have "too much of a good thing" (vide inI also might add that thesYnodical year of Venus is not exfra) as two researchers discovered. The value of simple and
actly; ... but Jt and; "get into the act again~' when we exdirect analysis should not be undervalued; and with that
amine Venus' synodical year .of 1.599 terrestrial years (apapologia behind us, allow me to proceed to what I suspect
proximately;), which is the following
I've uncovered.
n 12 + cp) = 1.599 (approximately)
Since the publication ~f the first two articles in this (infor2
mal) series, I have been continuously evaluating my data and
If this itself. approximates reality," what is the mechanism?
conclusions. To briefly reprise my previous work, I argued
Interestingly enough, there are some models accepted to some
thatan elaborate statistical study performed by Dr. D.R.
extent by modern mainstream science which could account
Saunders! actually demonstrated two natural constants "hidfor the phenomena. One ~ample is possible moderation of
den" in the length of one putative UFO wave. The cycle or
the solar wind by the inferior conjuctions of Venus and Merwave had a length of 5.083 years;.that is virtually the product
cury. 6 Note that Mercury's synodal year (approximately 116
of Jt (3.141526) and cp (1.6180339). For some time we've
terrestrial days) multiplied.by 16 = 1856 days, or roughly,
heard from the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelliyears. Less recognized (or ignored) models are geophysigence) folks that the ideal data to radio into space would be
cist Cartiou's controversial "vortex gravity.' 17 Another piece
mathematical - such as prime numbers. Natural constants
of valuable research was published in 1981: Harnischmaclter
immediately come to mind, and this logical conclusion as
and Rawer r~rted that changes in the ionosphere could be
well: The converse may well be true that sentient nonterrescorrelated with Positions of the planets Jupiter and Venus;
:trials might use natural constants to signal their existence. Not
they also reported that use of Fourier analysisactually mask.only did this wave Saunders uncovered recur cyclically (think:
ed the presumed effect in the study undertaken by a predeJt), but it followed a spiral pattern (think: ;, which has a
cessor. (One could imagine a d~ carbon copy or, perhaps a
spiral distribution) in a spatio-temporally invariant fashion.
The term "spatio-temporal invariant" simply indicates an in- . signal processed beyond recognition. This is, of course, not to
say Fourier analysis lacks value; quite the contrary. Rather,
dependence from variability to time-and-space; and what
any tool should be properly, not "promiscuously" applied.)
. could be more invariant or constant than natural mathematical constants?
..
The above models address some of the question of solar inSaunders depicted this 5.083 year wave as beginning in . varianc~ in the Jt; cycle; what of the solar variance of the
Mars-Venus cycle? Before I tum to that, I would like to men1947. Figure 1 graphically demonstrates its global distribution that 46 o( the 8-year and 9.&:year long-term simultantion. The fact that eight-ninths of the waves (88.91170) occurred
eously ~urning . cycles uncovered by economist Edward R.
over land (whereas only 101170 of the earth's surfac~ is inhabiDewey' suggested (to me, at least) strong correlation with
ted) struck me as a defiance of mere chance: As far as I could
. superior conjunctions of Venus (i.e., when Venus is behind
uncover, Saunders' formal dlua does not extend past 1973
the Sun). Clearly, Venus andits role in solar system dynamics
(although I would appreciate input" in that respect) well-docu(and solar-terrestrial dynamics) should be carefully conmented data fitting these putative waves have surfaced (e.g.,
sidered. With that in mind, I will present again the
1977 UFO data in Middle East.) From that data, I predicted
remarkable solar variaitce of the Mars-Venus Fortean
in INFO Journal #53 (September 1987), a UFO flap or wave
(because it deals with UFOs and other Forteana) cycle, or the
in early 1988. 4 Even with the marvelous help of Pl!RSUITs
Fort-Knight hypothesis so-called in my first two papers.
research staff, r cannot categorically assert that a wave
Wheri I discussed the Fort-Knight hypothesis with one recentered on Australia and its environs despite a remarkable.
searcher, I was wryly told to consider Fourier analysis - but
case or two' well known to PURSUIT readers; my contacts
from "down under" were not as responsive as I'd hoped. .. anyone reading Damon Knight's words 1o could see that he
(See FIgUre .)
..
had employed signal analysis! One can run the risk of "watering down the data," as it were: muting an already weak
Other concems I have had in the intervening years had to
signal.
.
do with the Jt 4> cycle (which I showed to be sunspot inBe
that
as
it
may,
I
did
take
to
task
the
processed
data
variant) and the Mars-Venus cycle Fort's biographer Damon
Knight uncovered in 1968-1970. The cycles seemed so dif- . related by Knight to Mars-Venus (and I secured permission
from Knight to further evaluate his graphs, etc., as I seejit)
ferent as to be wholly unrelated; then, in 1988 I noted:

n;

Pursuit 132

Third Quarter 1988

The 5.083 year eyclrs from 1947-1988 (1988 not yet confirmed
"FLAP." Data adapted, after Saunden).
Note
11+=5.083

F.I97l
G.lm
H.I983
1.1988

A.I947
B.I951
C. ]957

D.I96l
E.I967

n+

and saw further correlation with low sunspot activity and the
Mars-Venus cycle. The period Knight notes (1877-1892) was
one of over-all moderate sunspot activity; there is a curious
climb, however, in Fortean data towards the end of Knight's
Mars-Venus correlation, just as !be sunspot cycle moves upward. The question was: which data? Except for that variation, the data agree quite weD with solar variability for "the
Mars-Venus cycle. One must, however, note that the d~ta
Knight refers to Mars-Venus was subjected to signal analysis
AND that some anomalies have shown some possible links to
increased solar activity such as transient lunar phenomena. II
With that in mind, I can respect the need for new analysisof
that segment of the data Knight had correlated, starting with
the raw data itself and acknowledging the possibility of solarcycle variance. When one looks at the big picture, one can appreciate the possibility that sunspot cycles really do have an
affect on preternatural phenomena. Consider the Tri-State
Spooklight: In my research on it,12 the only truly weird, provocative and yet, ironically, reliable sightings occurred at the
bottom of a sunspot cycle with concomitant geomagnetic
quiet. I had encountered this before I knew that Dr. Michael
Persinger (a SITU Scientific AdvisorY Board member) had
been investigating a possible link between a quieter
geomagnetic field and more accurate parapsychological input
(GESP); the parapsychologist, Charles T. Tart, has works in
progress along those lines. With this in mind, I do not believe
suggesting that this could be extended to a much wider range
of Fortean phenomena (such as the Mars-Venus cycle data) is
out of the question.
And I assert most strongly that dismissal of the possibility
that epochs of the planet Mars and UFO waves (as weD as a
wider range of phenomena, such as occurred in the summer
of 1986)13 are in some way related has been premature. And,
to sum up all three of my articles, if we can think of communicating with nonterrestrial sentients with prime numbers
or natural constants, can we wholly f'J.Ile out the converse may
have been true since 1947?
One fmal equation may clearly outline the almost perverse
ubiquity of Jt and
In the third equation in this article, I
showed how easily 1t and could be employed to approximate the Venus synodical year, 1.599 terrestrial years.
Observe:
[In
+ 12J = 1.599
2
In fact, it equals the average !lynodical year to within three
hours; In terms of a synodical year that can vary in days, we
are looking at a tiny - less than 10/0 - difference. Worth
considering...
.
One hallmark of anomalists and Forteans is that we dare to
ask WHY? Indeed, I argue that intelligent speculation is call-

+:

(n+)

Third Quarter 1988

ed for. In other words: if the

cycle really exists (and is
not just an inkblot test of a propensity to see nonexistent
cycles), then why did the cycle commence in 19477 The cliche
is, of course, the atomic bomb. An honest anomalist - Fort
andlor Sanderson come to mind - overlooks the cliche and
looks deeper. In a vast cosmos, it is dubious that the atomic
destruction of one planetary biosphere would mean much to
beings outside our asteroid belt, much less beyond the Virgo
supercluster. On the other hand, the late, great Richard Feynmann published his epochal work on Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) that year. Nuclear bombs can devastate a world
- but QED is showing surprising application in diverse
fields, such as unified field theory ... something that could give
us a much wider "playground" than just this planet. Master
the quantum dynamics of say, gravity .... WeD, you get the
idea.
.
.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I. Partain," Keith L., "A Preliminary Study of the Relationship
2.

70-71.
3.

4.
S.

Saunders, D.R. "A spatio-temporal invariant for major UFO

waves." Courtesy Mimi Hynek, CUFOS. 1980.
Partain, Keith L., INFO Journal #53 September 1987, "Letter
to the Editor," P.. S.
SITUation: "The Mundrabilla UFO in Western Australia,"
(various media sources), PVRSVn, Volume 21, #1, 1988, p.

14.
6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Between So-Called UFO Waves, Natural Constants and

Planetary Cycles," PVRSVn, Volume 18, #1, 1985, pp 34-3S.
Partain, Keith L., "The Mars-Venus Cycle, Vortex Gravity and
Fortean Phenomena," PVRSVn, Volume 20, #2, 1987, pp

II.
12.

13.

Firsoff, V.A., Interior Planets, pp. lOS-III.

Sanderson, Ivan T., Invisible Residents, 1970, pp. 169-170. Re:
Carstiou's highly controversial theory and equations.
Harnischmacher, E. and Rawer, K., "Lunar and planetary influences upon the peak electron density of the ionosphere,"
Journal oj Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics, Vol. 43, No.
7, pp 643-648, 1981. They write, "If Burkard's view is adopted,
one should not use Fourier analysis but detennine the Moon's
influence hour by hour." (p. 643).
Dewey. Edward R. and Mandino, Og, Cycles. Hawthorn,
1971, pp. 188, 192-193, 19S.
Knight, Damon, Charles Fort: Prophet oj the Unexpillined.
Doubleday, 1970, pp 114-117. Re: signal analysis, "C.L.
Mallows of Bell Telephone Laboratories ... kindl), put the annual Fort data through a computer analysis" (p.. 114.) (I further corroborated this by examination of Bell Lab analytical
procedures and by copies of the original analysis - and the
Knight/Mallows correspondence - secured from Syracuse
University. It was most definitely signal analysis.)
Corliss, William R., (compiler), Mysterious Universe, The
Sourcebook Project, 1979, pp. 237-239.
Partain, Keith L.,. The Tri-State Spooklight: An Investigative
Report oj an Oklahoma Anomaly, (unpublished; IDS. completed 1985; see: ibid., PVRSVn, Volume 17, #3, 1984, p.

128).
PVRSVn, Volume 19, #2, 1986, pp. 49, 82-83, 90.

~.

. Pursuit 133

section, mostly contemporary curious and unexplained events

Reutlingen, W.G.
to Tannay, France

Ho. . . Cat Walked

600 MDa - to HODle
A house cat named Gribouille (pronounced
Gre-boo-e) walked over 600 miles (1000
kilometers) in eighteen months from Reutlingen
in southern West Germanyback to Tannay. a
town about 60 miles west of Dijon in France.
The owners, Mr. & Mrs. Marguard were on
business in ReutIingen, but their cat evidently
did not appreciate having to go along on the trip.
She hid under the sofa there and could not be
enticed out even with food.
One day GribouiIIe disappeared and could not
be found. No one suspected. then, the young
cat was heading back to France.
Experts sayan average. healthy cat can find
its way home from nine to ten miles away, but,
generally, after 12 or so miles most cats homing instincts wane, so that a more-than-600-mile
trip would seem impossible.
For Gribou iIIe , however. it meant she had to
traverse the mountains of the Allgau and
Schwarzwald (Black Forest) in Germany and
the Vogesen in France plus cross the many
rivers and canals, as well. that are in between.
And, of course., she had to sneak past the watch-
ful eyes of the German and French borderguards, too.
One can only imagine what she ate and where
she slept en route but for a year and a half she
walked. Finally, she reached her hometown and
. Pursuit

134

Dish~veled, .emaciated and nearly blind,

Gribouille returned home to France.

Solar FIB..a BlaDled Fo.. Lo..

appeared one day in the garden of the house
of G .....a. Ho.1Da Plgeo_
where she was born, at the home of her first
Hundreds of West German homing pigeons
owner, Christiane Grisard (who gave her to the
are flying aimlessly around, and pigeon fanMarguards when she was a kitten).
ciers here suspect that gigantic gas eruptions
Gribouilie was almost starved, had infected
on the surface of the sun may be to blame.
and nearly blind eyes. Ms. Grisard discovered
The West German Homing Pigeon FederaGribouille being cleaned up by her mother. the
tion in this land said that 40 percent of 4,000
cat who gave her birth.
Now, Gribouille gets her beloved saucer of . birds were released last weekend in Denmark .
cream each day and is welcome to remain at had failed 10 make it home to their various
lofts.in West Gennany. "Nothing on this
home for good.
scale has ever happened to us before," said a
SOURCE: Ein Herz fur Tiere magazine, .
spokesman for the pigeon fanciers.
No. II, 1988 [Gennany]
The mystery of the missing pigeons could
CREOrr: translated by member 432
be explained by huge solar flares reported to
BlBa Paatben ID tile Madtlaaa? have burst out of the sun Sunday and Monday, bombarding the Earth. with unusual
Even in the jungles of South America,
radiations. The pigeon fanciers fear the rays
black panthers are a rare sight. But the Canamay .. ~ve . disturbed the Earth's magnetic
dian Wildlife Service has cOllected 24 sightings
of black panthers in New Brunswick and 20 in . fleld, which pigeons use to fmd their way.
SOURCE: Inquirer, PA
Nova Scotia in the past 10 years. Two more
7/1/88
men are sure they saw a black panther last
CREOrr: H. Hollander
week.
The eyewitnesses can't fmd a biologist to
believe them. The experts say these people
3.000 . .da. PIgeo_ M~ID.
might - just might - have seen an eastern
cOugar, even though the cougars are tawny, . More than 3,000 valuable racing pigeons
are presumed lost over the English Channel,
and probably extinct.
having failed to fmd their way home from
SOURCE: Hera/d, Calgary, Canada
France after they were set loose in a competi7/19/88
CREOrr: Jon Singer
tion June 25 .
Third Quarter 1988

It is the second unexplained disappearance

of homing pigeons in Europe in a week. On
Thursday, the West German Homing Pigeon
Federation said that 40 percent of 4,000 birds
released in Denmark the weekend before had
failed to return to their various lofts in West
Germany.
Such disappearances are virtually unprecedented among these carefully bred pigeons.
Some of the lost British pigeons are worth
more than $54,000 each.
Mary Hamilton. secretary of the Sheffield
and District Homing Pigeon Federation. called the channel incident "a disaster on a vast
scale." And a spokesman for the West German group said, "Nothing on this scale has
ever happened to us before."
The pigeons use the Earth's magnetic field
to navigate. Pigeon owners believe the birds'
internal navigation systems were thrown off
course, possibly by microwave ovens, radar
signals, radio frequencies or a solar flare.
The channel incident began when more
than 5,000 birds were released in Nevers,
France. for what should have been a 14-hour
sprint home to northern England, where
pigeon racing is a popular betting sport.
But by Friday night, six days after their
release, only 1.500 had arrived home.
"The really appalling thing. from the
pigeon fancier's point of view, is that these are
the best birds, " said ornithologist Chris
Mead.
SOURCE: (AP) Inquirer. Philadelphia. PA
7/3/88
CREOrr: H. Hollander

Scleatlats Ll8ten.... to No....

Mad. by Plan. In a Drought
Drought-stricken plants emit high-pitched
noises as their cell structure breaks down, and
scientists are trying to determine if the sounds
are attracting destructive insects.
Researchers from the Agriculture Department have been using electronic gadgets for
more than four years to hear com and other
drought-stressed plants make noises as cell
structure, break down from a lack of water
traveling from the roots to the leaves. The
noises are too high-pitched for humans to
hear.
When there is adequate water in the soil,
the water and nutrients flow upward in the
plant's water tubes under tension. If the soil
lacks enough water. the tension becomes too
great and the tubes fracture.
One potential benefit from research into
the sounds that plants make would be new
ways of letting irrigation farmers know precisely when to water their fields. The research
could also aid in developing new plant varieties. which would be better equipped to move
water and nutrients from roots to leaves.
Robert Haack. an entomologist at the Agriculture Department's North Central Forest
Experiment Station in East Lansing. Mich .
and a colleague, Bill Mattson. said they believed there might be a connection between
the noises and the flocking of some insects.
such as bark beetles. to drought-damaged
trees. But they said they needed more data.
Third Quarter

1988

The noises are at extremely high frequencies, in the lOO-kilohertz range. while sound
heard by humans is no more than up to 20
kilohertz.
Mr. Haack said that insects have long been
known to be attracted by certain influences.
such as color and scent. But he said that to the
best of his knowledge there has not been conclusive work linking the ultrasound of plants
to insect behavior.
Mr. Haack is starting his project by depriving potted white pine seedlings of water and
recording their sounds. The next step will be
to see if the recorded sounds attract beetles.
Eventually. Mr. Haack hopes to see what
role sounds made by trees play in the choice
of sites for beetles to mate and lay eggs.
SOURCE: Times. NY
9/4/88
CREOrr: Robin Selz via COUD-I

Fa.nv Sap Dead Daughter

Sent Winning Lotto Nu.ben
A grieving New Jersey family spending
some quiet time in Horida found a "sad
twist" in a $10.5 million state lottery jackpot
which the father attributes to an eerie dream
about his recently deceased 23-year-old
daughter.
Michael Gabriele Sr., 61. of Lyndhurst.
N.J . says his dead daughter gave him the
Lotto numbers in a dream. telling him to use
numbers she had tried in a New Jersey lottery

The next day. Gabriele and his wife Pauline

stopped to get gasoline at the Rally convenience store in Spring Hill.
"I said to my wife. 'Go play Cheryl's
numbers. Maybe she's trying to tell us something,''' Gabriele said.
They bought a ticket just hours before the
scheduled drawing. but never realized they
were winners until the following night.
Gabriele said he was at a picnic at his
brother-in-law's home in Spring Hill on Sunday when his wife checked the lottery results.
"I got a funny feeling," Gabriele said. "I
was surprised. but not surprised. It's hard to
explain."
"Now. I really believe it. It's just the
freakiest thing that it came out," Michelle
Gabriele said.
"We went from a nightmare to a dream,"
said her mother. "We went from the worst
time of our lives to the best."
SOURCE: (AP) Morning Call, FL
8/29/88
CREOrr: Joan Bingham via COUD-I

Icon Weep8 AgaIn

After Year8 La. . .

Constandini Cosma says her eyesight was

so poor she could hardly see, before the
Virgin Mary began "weeping" at St. Nicholas
Albanian Orthodox Church in Chicago.
Now. her eyes feel much better.
game.
"I believe." the 74-year-old parishioner
"My daughter said 'Why don't you play said.
the numbers?" he said. "She said I'd like to
She believes the icon that appears to shed
bring you a little happiness."
tears rewards those who have faith. Like
Gabriele played the six numbers and won a. thousands of others. she has stood in line for
multimillion jackpot in Saturday's drawing. hours to get a look at what St. Nicholas'
overcoming odds of 13.9 million-to-1.
pastor. the Rev. Philip Koufos, calls a "pheThe body of Cheryl Gabriele, 23, was nomenon, a miraculous sign."
It's the second time the icon shows wet
found at the foot of a 200-foot cliff in New
Jersey last month after police noticed her car streaks under the eyes. The fllSt time started
parked in a rest area for more than 24 hours. in December 1986 and lasted seven months.
according to New Jersey Parkway Police attracting millions to the small, 17-pew church
detective Ronald Karnick. The death is still on Chicago's Northwest Side.
Last week. a man who entered the church
under investigation. he said.
Michelle Gabriele. 31. said the circum- to pray spotted the new streaks. "We had just
stances under which her father chose the fmished a prayer service and I was in the bannumbers were "freaky."
quet hall." Koufos said. "He came running in
"As desperate as the family was three saying he saw something strange in the eyes. "
weeks ago. it's just like she [Cheryl] must
"We feel very blessed," Koufos said. "The
have seen it and l!aid 'You people cheer uP ... mother of God is saying 'I'm still with you. ..
she said.
When the viewer gets to the rail. the icon
"We're all thrilled that we're not going to hangs about 10 feet away behind a plexiglass
have any more financial worries. but we just shield. An usher helps visitors get the best
realize that winning $10.5 million is not going angle to see what Koufos calls the "trickles of
to bring our sister back," Michelle Gabriele tears." After a few seconds, another viewer
said. "It gives it a sad twist. We wish she steps up.
"People sometimes go around a number of
could be here to enjoy it with us."
Added brother Michael Gabriele. Jr.: "It times." Koufos said. "Some stay in the
church for hours."
had to be some kind of godsend."
"They come for all sorts of reasons." he
After Cheryl's death. the family decided to
get away from New Jersey to a condominium said. "Some come looking for consolation,
they own near Weeki Wachee. on Horida's contrition, out of curiosity - for every possiGulf Coast.
ble reason. Some are looking for cures."
Gabriele said that after his dream, he teleThe queue has parents carrying children.
phoned New Jersey to get the numbers that people toting Bibles and the devout clutching
had been found in his daughter's car.
basil leaves, an Albanian Orthodox practice.
.
"My fiance found the tickets in a side SOURCE: Express News, TX
pocket. and we felt they were sitting there for
9/16/88
a reason," Michelle Gabriele said.
CREOrr: Dennis Stacy via COUD-I
Pursuit

135

, LIzard M.n Mella HJue.tory

LIzard....... eoa.t Connection

An orange-eyed, green-skinned, three-toed, '

7-foot-tall Lizardman, who recently scared
the wits out of a South Carolina boy, flashed
his toothy grin in Pass Christian five years
ago.
Or so says Jeremy DeCoito.
"I was laying down and had a fan blowing
on me and I was looking at all the pictures on
Grandma's wall," said IO-year-old Jeremy,
who lives in Gulfport. "I heard a tapping on
the window and there it was."
It was the Lizardman - seven feet of green
scales, big teeth, fiery eyes and just plain
ugliness.
"It looked at me for a minute and ran
'around to the side of the house, and it shook
on the back door."
Yikes!
Spending a night with his grandparents,
Jeremy was only 5 when the thing peeked in
the house, which is at the end'ofaroad near a
swamp.
"Jeremy just went nuts," his grandmother,
ToKeep.Mo.........
Dee King, said. "He streamed to the point
.......dAlhr.
Where, when he jumped in the bed with us, it
A man who claimed last week he 'wounded made my husband a little pet:lurbed."
the red-eyed, green, scaly monster, "Lizard
. Two weeks ago, DeCoito spotted a drawing
Man," confessed Friday he made up the tale of the South Carolina Lizardman in a
"to keep the legend of the Lizard Man alive." Houston newspaper. "That's him! That's
Sheriff Liston Truesdale said Kenneth Orr, him!" the boy screamed.
26, of Florence, was arraigned Friday on a
"It has not left Jeremy's memory," Mrs.
charge of unlawfully carrying a pistol. The ' King said. "Now, he has me convinced. It is
count was med after the man told authorities UGH-Lee. It's horrible. It is not a fantasy."
he fJred several shots from his .357-caliber
A young man from Bishopville, S.C, said
Magnum revolver at a lizardlike creature he the Lizardman jumped on top of his car June
encoUntered Aug. 5 along U.S. 15.
29 and left weird scratches on it. Several other
Orr, who was released on his own recogni- people claim they saw the creature, though it
zance, initially reported to police that he has not been photographed or captured.
wounded the Lizard Man in the neck. He preOfficials believe Bishopville's Lizardman is
sented blood and scales, purportedly from the either a reptilian bigfoot, a misidentified bear
lizard creaiure, but Truesdale said it was im- or a hoax. . '
mediately apparent they came from a fish.
But if the beast exists, is it possible that the
The sheriff said Orr, an airman assigned to Pass Christian Lizardman has migrated to
Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, confessed South Carolina? Or is the monster still 'lurking
in the swamps of the Coast, while his nasty
Friday he fabricated his story.
"He admitted it was a' hoax," Truesdale relatives terrorize other areas?
No one has reponed seeing a local Lizardsaid. "He said he wanted to keep the legend
man, said Pass Christian police. But Mrs.
of the Lizard Man alive."
Lee County has been in the midst of Lizard King feels her home near the swamp sits in the
Man mania since last month, when a local middle of a perfect habitat for the humanoid.
"I'm getting a little afraid to be down here,
teenager reported he was attacked by a 7-foottall, green, red-eyed creature as he changed, a if these things are around," she said.
"I'm not bonkers. I don't believe in flying
tire in Scape Ore Swamp.
"There are still numerous people coming space ships. But last night I didn't sleep well."
through, wanting to see where all of this took SOIJRCE: Patrick Peterson Sun Herald.
8/13/88 Gulfport, MS
place," Truesdale said. "We've got some
people that haven't talked to us concerning CREOrr: Member #432
this, people involved in some alleged
sightings. We want to wrap this up and put it
h p Creatu...
behind us."
Once
SlgIded Locally
Truesdale said there's "no such thing" as a
While Lee County has only recently been
Lizard Man, but he's convinced people rnlve
stalked by a red-eyed, green Lizard Man,
spotted something in the area of the swamp.
"We've had too many reliable people teU- Beaufort County has been menaced by tales
ing us they've seen something," the sheriff of hairy marsh monsters for years.
"Over the years; people have seen tracks
said. "I think possibly it might" have been a
and heard sounds," said Dean Poucher, a
bear. I just don't know at this time, though."
souRcE: (UP1) ChrOnicle. Houston, TX Beaufort County resident who is intently
foUowing the saga of the Lee County Lizard
8/13/88
Man, sighted by a teenager in July.
CREOrr: Scott Parker via COUD-I ,

The Northwest has its Bigfoot and the

Himalayas its Abominable
Snowman.
Brownstown, S.C., has Lizard Man.
One witness said the swamp creature is 7
feet tall with red eyes and three fingers on
each hand.
Sheriff Liston Truesdale said he is gett:i:ng
calls from people who said they' saw the
creature, "and these are reputable people."
"We're running down a whole lot of
rumors, but we'll cover what we can," he added.
Christopher Davis, 17, told the sheriff he
had been attacked several weeks ago by the
creature in Scape Ore Swamp as he was
changing a flat tire about 2 a.m.
The swamp has been swamped with TV
crews and other curious people hoping to
catch a glimpse.
8OlJBCE: Post, NY
7/21188
CREDrr: H. HoUander

Pursuit

136

In 1970, Poucher, the (ormer executive director of the Greater Beaufort Chamber of
'Commerce, found I:limself standing in tracks
similar to the 14-inch ones found in Lee
County.
"They were a lot larger and a lot wider than
my boot," Poucher said of the 17-inch tracks
he found on Old Island 18 years ago. '
Poucher, and a group of hunters and their
dogs had boated to uninhabited Old Island, a
narrow slice of land island located in Trenchards Inlet, to hunt for deer.
,It was a typical December day for hunting,
Poucher said, "the island was small and we
fIgured we could cover it in no time."
But Poucher's two hunting dogs refused to
move out of the boat that had carried them to
'the small piece of land.
After maneuvering through the island's
thick underbrush, without the aid of the dogs,
Poucher came upon the tracks - not made
by the deer they had come to hunt.
The prints the hunter found were "mashed
down with water in them" in an area that
looked as if a "tank had come. through
there," he said. "We couldn't imagine what,
had made them. It was the first and last time I
ever went on that island." ,
Today, Poucher said he still does not "have
the slightest idea what made those tracks."
Over the years Port Royal and Fripp Island
residents have told tales Of large hairy
creatures, and pilots stationed at the U.S.
Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort have reported seeing large goriUas on islands in the
flight path of the runways, he said.
But "if there is anything out there I'm positive it's not there now" because of increased
development, he said.
. "In everyone there is a need to believe in
some kind of Boogie Man - and this thing
really answers that need." Poucher said.
801JRCE: Wendy'Eden, Beaufort
Gazelle. SC 8/15/88
CREDrr: #432

Lizard M . . Update
Within the past week, there have been three
reported sightings of the Lizard Man, according to Lee County' Sheriff's Department
reports.
On Aug. 12, a Lee County man told law
enforcement officials that he had seen something "not human" running across a field off
of S.C. 527 in Elliott.
By the time deputies arrived on the scene,
however, there was nothing to be found.
The foUowing day, the sheriff's office
received a report from a Florence man who
said he saw a lizard woman.
The most recent sighting was on Aug. 15
along Cedar Creek Road. At about 7:30 p.m.
a Lee County woman informed officials that
she had seen the Lizard Man standing in front
of her door since the previous morning.
A Sheriff's Department report indicated
that there was no evidence of the seven foot,
red-eyed, three-toed creature in the vicinity.
SOIJRCE: Bishopville Observer. SC
8/17/88
CREOrr: #432
Third Quarter

1988

"Lizard Ma""" "fact.

Lee
County

...... Jww. Two men NpOI'I8d that

cntalUre dIued 1hIIm !rom Iha MaIIlP CIrI8
right a.1hey went gelling walllr from
jlrlng.

D
D

Lata Junt- Chrl, Oavll Id hili car was

puthecI . . . . .n c:IIawd II a tpMd up 10
40 mph by craalure u ha wet c/leIlging
.lIath IIIIOUI 2 a.m"
"
July 14 Tom 8IId Mary Waye.. car Will
raportad ""-ad up".
J\l1y 24 NUmllllul tl1lCk5 ... foun4.

SOIJRCE: Columbia State, SC

8/15/1988

Spotter's Ra.k HeI.,. Liard Ma.

The latest sighting of Lee County, S.C. 's,
famed Lizard Man has gotten Sheriff Liston
Truesdale's attention.
An Army colonel from Bishopville saw the
creature a week ago, and Truesdale says he's
inclined to believe the man saw what he said
he saw.
"
"If you can't put credibility in it with a
status like that, I don't know who you could
believe, because he (the colonel) was really
trained to observe things," Truesdale said.
But Truesdale said Friday that the Lizard
Man was first sighted eight or nine months
earlier.
Last fall, a construction worker, George
Holloman, saw "a large object that at first he
thought was a tree," Truesdale said. "Then
he looked around and saw it moving."
"We didn't know it then. None of this
came out until we had that automobile chewed up by an animal," Truesdale said.
Asked later about the sighting, Holloman
described sometJIing "huge and black, and
when a car passed and light reflected from its
eyes, they looked sorta reddish. Then he
stated that it ran back into the swamp,"
Truesdale said.
Truesdale won't release the name of the
colonel who saw the Lizard Man last week.

Third Quarter 1988

Truesdale said the colonel was driving on

McDuffy Road, about 1 \il miles from Scape
Ore Swamp, at 11:10p.m.last Friday, when a
creature ran across the road in front of him.
The man said the creature was about eight
feet tall and brown. Earlier reports had the
Lizard Man about seven feet tall and green.
"Its unusual height is what's getting the
people's attention," Truesdale said. "That
and its speed. He said no human being can
move that fast.
SOURCE: Lynn Ingram, Charlotte
Observer, NC 9/3/88
CREOrr: UFO Newsclipping Service

Beadel' Links UFOs.

LIardMa.
The fellow 9n the other end of the
telep~one line sounded as sane as anyone I
know and sober as a Baptist judge. In fact, he
said he was a lay Baptist preacher.
"You ought not" joke about the Lizard
Man," he said. "I have been studying these
things for 30 years, and they're real. I repeat,
sir, they're real."
"I know" these things are reai. We have
spotted them .. .I saw one as a little boy. My
wife saw one about a year ago. It attacked our
trailer ...
I asked questions, and I'm convinced the
fellow believed his own answers. For instance,

he described in fine detail the location of that

spotting a year ago.
I won't share exact directions to the site,
because folks there wouldn't appreciate this
sort of publicity. But I visited the pond where
he said his wife saw the Lizard Man, where it
allegedly attacked their mobile home. The
pond is only about a half-hour from downtown Charlotte.
The fellow said his wife and young son saw
the creature emerge from the pond. They
described the creature as dark and scaly, with
broad shoulders and a small head. It had no
visible ears and only a slit for a mouth.
The creature disappeared back into the
water, but later that night it attacked the
trailer, which was about 100 yards from the
pond.
""
The Lizard Man banged on the trailer so
hard, the fellow said, that the mobile home
rattled on its pilings .
"I didn't see the thing, but my family did. I
saw the shadow that night, and I heard the
sounds."
"I found some tracks the next morning,
but I think they were dog tracks. In my
studies, sir, these things leave no tracks."
He and his wife talked about reporting the
incident to authorities, he said. Finally, they
decided to keep the story to themselves.
"Who would have believed us?" he asked
me.
"I see your point," I said.
The fellow said he saw his fIrSt Lizard Man
in his back yard when he was only 11. That
creature, he said, was a scaled-down version
of the one described by his wife and the folks
in Bishopville.
That first sighting 30 years ago sparked his
interest. He has been studying Lizard Men
ever since.
He has learned, he said, that Lizard Men
are somehow connected to UFOs.
Which, of course, he also has seen.
"We have seen UFOs out in Nevada, over
the Hoover Dam ...One night, we saw one
right over the power generating station. It
hovered right over the power plant."
The fellow said he learned in Nevada that
there's usually a strong smell of sulfur when
an unidentified flying object passes overhead.
When he investigated around that pond
near Charlotte where his wife and son saw the
Lizard Man, he said, he found the grass
crushed and yellow in one spot - and the
strong odor of sulfur.
The. fellow said he's not sure where the
creatures are coming from. Only that they're
not from around here.
They could be from another planet. They
could be from another world we can't travel
to in our scariest dreams and wildest imaginations.
"
"After 30 years, it's starting to come to a
head now. These things are starting to show
up.
"So we watch the skies, and we watch the
woods .....
SOURCE: ADen Norwood, The Observer
Charlotte, NC, 9/18/88
CREOrr: Member #432

Pursuit 137

Cryptozoological
CODlinents
by JOD E. BeclQonB
Lizard Man
I won't try to recap each and every event regarding Lizardman, but as to the overall question of what is going on, I have
some news and views.
Is it a hoax? For the most part, no. A few people have tried
to cash in on it and a few others have tried to keep it going,
perhaps for the economy of the town, but several incidents '
have taken place that have changed my original opinion that
Lizardman might have been a mere three-toed and three-fmgered Bigfoot or Skunk Ape. First, a "three-and-three" type
like that would be unique in the annals of Bigfoot reports
anyway, but the newer information now has me thinking in
terms of not Lizard-Man but Lizard-Lizard.
These things are tracks found by sheriff's deputies, and
two reports of a two-legged, small dinosaur similar to the
supposedly extinct (65 million years) Coleophysis. First, the'
tracks found by two sheriff's deputies in July of 1988 (see
fIgures) are not your typical Bigfoot tracks at all. They have
two big pads and three toes with claws on them, which sank
into the dirt about 14 inch with a stride of six feet between
them, and measured about 14 by 7 inches. The deputies could
barely make a mark with 260 pounds upon one shoe, and the
tracks went 400 yards with broken tree limbs at ten-foot
heights being found, and upset garbage cans along the way,
as well. Even stranger, the creature' was there while the
deputies were there. When they got back to their car they
found "Lizard-Lizard" tracks on top of their own incoming
tire tracks, a thing that has happened with Bigfoot in Stevens'
Creek and at the Elk Wallow (dermal-ridge-prints) incident,
at Walla Walla, both in Washington State. (We could now
play the music theme from " Twilight Zone "). These tracks
were too deep to fake with a big, hoax foot. They weren't
carved out since no side tracks nor marks were found. They
weren't hammered in since they varied.from step to step, and
there were simply too many of them. And the thing was still
there when the deputies were checking out the tracks. I sug-'
,gest that such tracks - with such depth, stride, and ~ize, plus
distance - are unfakable. I have 'followed dozens of sets of
Bigfoot tracks and I know whereof I speak. (.t. .am no armchair theorist.) The rules for tracks apply just as well for
"Lizard-Lizard" as for Bigfoot~
Also, Bigfoot usually doesn't show claws and rarely has
long slender three toes, plus double pads. But, a small
dinosaur might. Still later, an army colonel reported to the
Sheriff's department he saw a two-legged, dinosaur-type
thing crossing a road in the same general area. Jan Tuten of
the State newspaper says that there were some plans to try to
hypnotically regress the colonel to get more details.
Now when I say small dinosaur, I mean one six, eight or
even ten feet in length. Standing on, two legs, as some
dinosaurs did, they would look a bit like a bird with big rear
legs and smaller front legs. A longish tail usually trails out
behind and is used for balance. Of these critters, some were
camivourous and others were herbivorous. Coleophysis,
while ten feet long, was not much over 6-feet high while walking. It is somewhat chilling to learn that CoelophysiswCJS acarnosaur, which means it ate other animals. Based on some
reports from Ireland this may be borne out, but more on that
below.

The last item involves an Ohio Bigfoot investigator, who

went to South Carolina to check out the facts. He was a brave
man, for he wore long rock-and-roll-style qair since he often
'plays in a band. doubt I could survive in the South under
those circumstances. In any case, he went in August and met
many of the principals in the events, and while there he says
he met another man who was out to go fishing who also saw a,
small dinosaur, similar to Coelophysis, crossing a road
several hundred yards away. This informant even took a'
photo of it using a tiny camera, and he is attempting to
enlarge this picture. (We have volunteered to assist him with
some Hollywood photo labs.)
Thus we have: '
1. a greenish two-legged creature with three fIngers on each
hand chasing a boy with flShburgers in his car, '
2. 400 yards of deep three-toed, clawed tracks, '
3. one sighting of. an erect, small dinosaur-type, cre~ture.
4. another sighting of same, pc;>ssibly' with a photo.5. a huge swampy area that could, hide thousands of
mysterious creatures"
'
and, also, reports from Ireland of a creature described as
looking like - you guessed it - a Coelophysis, living in a
lough, and gobbling up sheep for lunch, thus, a meat-eater,
too.
This creature was' reported in a 1977 issue of the INFO
Journal and the article ,described many reports of a creature
resembling the small "dinosaur," on Achill Island, Ireland.
The creature supposedly lives in Straheens' Lough and is
alleged to emerge from time to time at night to snap up an
odd sheep or two. The locals have seen it at least seven times,
and maybe more. I find it faScinating that this guy has not
read this report, yet came up with the same description. Even
more fascinating, in 1968 a tourist drove past the lough,
which is quite small, and took a photo of a dinosaur-like
creature that was later published in the Dublin Herald that
summer. Peter Costello saw this photo and said that it was so
ugly and far-out that it was uilbelieveable.(And thus he did
not believe it.)
,
Last, in 1983, magician Tony Shiels declared another
"Monster-Mind" Year, and while we were filming a ten-foot
white !!Iug-like thing at Loch Ness, Shiels was in Ireland getting a long-range photo of a large, ,white wedge - sort of like
a semi-submerged shed roof; ,that moved...;... in Straheen's
Lough. Looking at his photo extremely close-up, odd faces
can be made out at the front and the rear of this thing. ,
Now, to proceed fw:ther, in ,other Irish loughs, and in
Loch Ness in Scotland there have been many sightings of
water monsters that have a long slender neck with a carnivourous-type head - often seen chasing fish. Such a long
slender neck can he seen on the fossils of Coelphysis (see the
Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs by Dr. David Norman)
and the elongated head is very close tothe Scottish and Irish
monster reports.
So, are' Nessie, Irish lake monsters and the
"Lizard-Lizard" of South Carolina all the same type of
thing? Well, perhaps some of the time - some of them, some
of the time. If we also tQss in Mokele M'bembe of the Congo'
(Republic, of the) swamps, and Roy Mackal has'reported that
the natives picked both a brontos~urus as well as a plesiosa~
as being similar to MM, then maybe little old Coleophysis has
many relatives in several continents.
(1 offer a reward to anyone who can find this issue of that paper the Dublin Evening Herald lune 5th, 1968 with the article and photo.
1 will pay $15.00 or give a year 's 'subscription to PURSUIT -IE8).

Pursuit 138
' , ._ _' _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _i"' _ _ - . ._ _ _ _ _ _~I"

Third. Quarter 1988

_____

" _ _ I ! , _ _ _ _ _ __

Pbotographic reproductions of plastereasts of alleged Lizardnuin footprints - JEll.

The upshot of this investigation, which started over a mere

greenish Bigfoot, is that the data now seems to indicate that if
we want to hunt up relict dinosaurs we no longer need to fly
to' the Republic of the Congo and let the African mosquitoes
eat us up just to see one. Now we can fly to Darkest South
Carolina for a mere $198.00 and seek our own American
mini-dinosaur, the tlLizard-Li'Qlrd of Browntown"! rand
allow the American mosquitoes to eat-up-Beckjord [Ed.]].
Note: The author requests we say that all investigators are urged not
to shoot or try to kill this creature, despite its meat-eating proclivities.
It is rare (if it is physical) and on top of that you might hit this
visiting California investigator in the background.
SITU members who wish to fund an investigation trip should write
to Box 6534, Malibu, CA 90264.

Let's Be Realistic
In Loren Coleman's Mysterious America, Ivan Sanderson
is quoted two years before his death as being in a quandary
over whether or not to let the "paraphysical stuff" come out
in cryptozoology. Being a zoologist, he was stuck on the
horns of a dilemma. Sadly, death solved this problem for
him. He was concerned that the media would make fools of

Third Quarter 1988

us all, and wondered if it was honest to try to sweep all the

paraphysical stuff (anomalies) under the rug. I now think we
might as well come out with it - Bigfoot, Nessie, phantom
panthers, Big Bird, etc., etc., are not zoological, and we
ought to quit pretending they are. Hanging on to this myth is
making real fools of us.
What we really need to do now is to advance boldly a step'
upward, including SITU, and start saying to the media, and
in articles, that the creatures of cryptozoology are more likely
to be actual aliens of some undetermined kind, than normal
animals. The overall evidence indicates this: blood anomalies
recently uncovered, extreme abnormal weights for Bigfoot,
rock-still Yetis, sudden-start and sudden-stop tracks (i.e.,
tracks from/to nowhere) and Bigfoot entities that become
balls of light (Ball Lightning?) when either shot at or photographed. The list is endless. Since it is now silly to talk of
biological beasts when they aren't, we might as well be bold
and talk about aliens, from outer space, inner space, or
parallel worlds and the evidence for them. "Credibility" has
not gotten us a dead Nessie nor a dead Bigfoot to examine.
.
J.E.B.

Pursuit 139

Letters to the Editors

Dear Editor:

I've enjoyed the last three or so years of your publication

PURSUIT. The world of Forteana is ever changing and
thanks to your team of writers and researchers I can keep up
in the Fortean world!
The article by Gary Mangiacopra, "Sky Anomalies Oceanic Mysteries"in PURSUIT, Vol. 21, If}. was most interesting. This is an area of mysteries that I had never heard
about. I'm sure that Charles Fort would have been proud!
Keep up the most excellent work!
.
-Russ Fletcher

Dear Mr. Eden [c/o PURSUIT]

Thank you for 5eQding me two copies of your magazine
PURSUIT with your article about psychic photography In it.
Unhappily, it confirms my conviction not to supply information or photos in the future. to similar enterprises. Not that
you are not doing a good job as you see it, but the article contains a number of what I can only call suggestions as topossible fraud, or delusion ... spirits fooling us is directly from the
pages of the Fundamenta1ists.
On top of that, you reproduced my pictures REVERSED,
left and right reversed, which of course does matter. Finally,
you refer to the monks as Domini~ans when of course they
would have been Franciscans since the Dominicans were the
ones who came to burn them, being the arm of the Inquisition
- all this is clearly stated in my books. Just sloppy reading.
Sorry.
-Prof. Hans Holzer
(Reproduced with the permission of Dr. Holzer)

Mr. Eden responds:

I am genuinely grateful that Professor Holzer allowed ine
to use his ghost slides for the article in PURSUIT. My interpretation of the photos was radically different from his own,
and I am truly sorry if this offended him .. Furthermore, the
Professor is correct in pointing out that the images were
left/right reversed from his published versions.
In his book Psychic Photography, the ghost imageS seem
to be moving to the left of the page but in my picture they are
moving to the right. This error was my fault and neither
PURSUIT nor the society (SITU) are to be blamed. A local
. photography shop developed the prints for me from ready-toview stereo slides and apparently the left/right reversal ~ixup
happened at that time.
Holzer says that I "refer to the monks as Dominicans when
of course they would have been FrancisCans ... " However,
this "Dominican" idea came directly from page 87 of the
hardcover edition of Holzer's Psychic Photography. There he
wrote:
"One can clearly see the lighted candles they carry in
their hands and the expression of grim determination
upon their faces. The white robes seemed to indicate
that these men were of .the Dominican order."
In any case, it was most gracious of Professor Holzer to let
me study his fascinating materials and I hope that he will con- .
tinue to share his important resources with serious scholars
and researchers in the future.
-Daniel Eden
Pursuit 140

Dear Editor:
After you published my article in PURSUIT ("Ancient
Methods of Navigation," Vol. 21, Nl), I"madea major breakthr~)Ugh. I believe that I now have tangible PROOF that is so
strong that not even our most diehard critics can deny it:
I'm sharing research with a colleague in California who has
been working on a lot of the same subjects and, in many
areas, he's miles ahead of me.
My navigation article was published as an unproven
theory. i now have proof that both latitude and longitude was
correctly measured ~t least'" 5,000 years ago. I have a map
drawn in 1778 by a Spaniard named Miera. He, supposedly,
was a member of the Dominguez-Escalante expedition
througti Utah 'in 1776. But the details of his map are so accurate that it holds centuries of. leg work. Careful study proves it to be a composite of at least a dozen older source maps.
Now get this: BOTH THE MAPS IN HAPGOOD'S
BOOK ARE SHOWING ANTARCTICA WITH NO ICE
CAP, CORRECTLY! This puts the time at least 5,000 years
in the past and maybe more. The Miera map is dated 1778;
the chronometer was invented in 1780.
My colleague and. I will be gathering new information for
. an article in P~RSUIT. Meantime any readers involved in
the same subject will be welcome to have input of the information they have and we, in turn, will share our findings.
-Evan Hansen
.

Upcoming 1989 Conferences

The UFO Experience: A weekend with Researchers and Contactees sponsored by Omega Communications, P.O. Box
2051, Cheshire, CT 06410 on Nov. 11-12, 1989 at the
Ramada Inn (exit 12, 1-91) in .North Haven, Connecticut.
. Expected speakers include Walter Andras, Jerome Clark,
Vickie Cooper and Sherie Stark, Ellen Crystall, Dr. Michael
. 'Gross, John Keel, William Moore, Dr. Kenneth Ring,
Whitley Strieber and David Webb. You may obtain further
details by writing to the above address.
At the same time, for our European members, the Basel
Psi Days will feature a conference Nov. 9-12, 1989 on
"Transcommunications" A Dialogue with the Unknown.
Simultaneous translation of German, French and English will
be available. For further information please write to 1989 Psi
Days, Swiss Industries Fair Basel, Congress Dept., P.O. BOx
CH-4021, Basel, Switzerland.
.
('visions' continued from conrents page)

New, private research is being done with external electrical

stimulation directed to the precise area of the brain that can
cause various 'visions' ranging from human-like entities to
temporary blindness depending upon the variation of the
electrical energy that is used.
The eyes play only a limited role in much that we "see." I
suspect that sighting reports, the most important evidence in
Fortean research, will take on a whole new significance when
how we "see" events is better understood.
Third Quarter 1988

The Notes of Charles Fort

Deciphered by Ca..ld. Pabst
ABBREVIATIONS
(extended from Vol. 21, #1 & #2)
Astro. Reg.
attrib.
Belg.
B.D.
Bull. Heb. Assoc.
de France
D. News
CetT
cire.
Devonsh Dvls

Astronomical Register
attributed
Belgium
Fort's Book of the Damned

(7)
London Daily News

Frgs
F.S.A.
La Sci Pur Tous
or L.S.P.T.
N.Q. or N. and Q.
Rept.
Symon Met
Trans Bombay Geog Soc

Ciel et Terre

Trans China Branch

circumstances
Devonshire Devils

(Ver)

(Continued/rom PURSUIT Vol. 21,

#2, page 96.)"

1855

Frogs
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries

La Science Pour Tous

Notes and Queries
Report

Symon Meteorological Magazine

Translations of the Bombay Geological
Society
Transactions of the China Branch of the
Royal Asiatic Society
(7)

weather. I Zoologist 134660 I a list

of abo 20 species.

Strange Sea Mysteries I VXCE.

1855 Feb. 28 I 3:05 p.m. I Turkey

1854 November I Insects I (+) I 1855 I List of qs in Turkey I C.R. 1855 Feb I Sailing ship, James (Constantinople) I For 24 hours
Chester, found abandoned near before, torrential rains and thunder.
(Flammarion, The Atmosphere, p. 42-93.
[Reverse side) Then strong odor of
467) I Ac to M Tissot, in a violent 1855 to 1861 I N.M. I Detonations where M!lrie Celeste found. I
wind thousands of insects, most of ground and sky I Valley of Visp I [Reverse side] See Elliott O'Donnell's sulphur and great q. I Timbs '55-265.
them alive,
"Strange Sea Mysteries". I ([S]ee a 1855 March I I Trewman's Exeter
A.J. Sci 2137/5.
clipping - Dec 5, 1872.)
[Reverse side] alighted upon a plantaFlying Post of I That the footprints
1855
I
List
of
the
qs
of
Nice
I
very
tion near Turin. Some larvae; some
1855 Feb 7 I [LT), 5f I Astro phe.
had been found
full grown. Said belong to an order of many I C.R. 411215, etc.
[Reverse side] also in morning snow
1855 I Not said this year I Dymoch 1855 Feb 8 I q. I Eastern Canada I
hemiptera seen only in Sardinia.
at Woodbury.
Hall, Derbyshire I strange murders I Canadian Jour. 3/197.
"
1854 Nov I Turin I Insects. Some
1855 Feb. 8 I This night heavy fall 1855 March 8 I Trewman's Exeter
were larvae and some adult. All ap- See March IS, 1901.
snow
followed by rain and wind I Flying Post of - that someone had
peared to be 0 f a species 0 f
1855, ab I Sleeper - Susan Caroline
traced marks till came to a
Torquay
Directory, 21st.
[Reverse side] hemiptera that w[as) Godsey - near Hickman, Ky. I See
[Reverse side) large toad.
1855 Feb. 8 I Much in papers of
known in Sardinia. I Bull. Heb. July 14, 1869.
1855 March 28 - 31 I France I Dry
severity of the winter.
Assoc de France 5/242.
(1855)1 Disap. Clergymen 11855, LT
fog; odor very strong I Cosmos
1855 Feb. 8 I Devonsh Dvls 1162/ 0
1854 Nov 13 -14 I Dr Kane in Arctic Index I (4).
15-36.
- final) III
writes, Arctic Explorations, 1428,
[BCF, IJ' 1056)
1855 April 23 I [qrieff, near Comrie
[Reverse
side]
2257
that he had looked in vain for ex1855 Jan. / China Sea I shower of
I several miles I Crieff, Perthshire,
81
pected meteors in 48 hours.
sand and ashes I no known vole I
Scotland I Slag or cinders. Cir-"
[Reverse side] In 8 hours, Nov 14 - IS,
2176
Trans China Branch Roy Asiatic Soc
cumstantial story of its fall, but
he had counted 51, or what he con[BCF, pp. 305-310 I See The Book oj.
1855148.
[Reverse side) scientis[ts] said refuse
sidered a normal number.
the Damned, chapter 28.)
from a nearby furnace. Also Prof
1855 Jan 7 I 4:15 I Great met and
1854 Nov. 141 [LT), 8-e I Met. Ext.
train for considerable time - at 1855 Feb 19 I Daily News of, 2-6 I Shepard's opinion that might have
1854 Nov. 17 I Heppens, Embden, sunset, near Chiltern Hills. I BA Devonshire I "A farmer named Fer been genuine. I Am. J. Sci.,
ris, who attended a" feast at Black 21281275.
etc. I det met I BA 60-105.
56-60.
hamton,
[BCF, pp. 405406 I See October 3,
1854 Dec 4 I It Sounds I Heavy 1855 Jan 10 I Ext. cold and snow in
[Reverse side) Devonshire, a few
Cairo, which inhabitants had never
1839.)
rumblings near Siena I See 1816.
nights ago, was found next morning
1854 Dec II I Ice, large nakes I India seen there before. I C.R. 40-1150 I lying on his back, dead, in a field. His 1855 Ap. 17 I [LT), 12-c I RemarkBut April more ext.
able discovery at Tynrich.
I D-178.
face, nose and eyes were very much
1855 Jan 16 to Feb 7 - I During this eaten by birds, or some kind of ver- 1855 April 21 I See Jan 10. I Thertime of severe weather cor writes of min.
mometer suddenly 27 degrees and
[BCF, p. 187)
rare birds caught or shot near Stow
then lower. At 1:10 p.m., snow fell.
1854 Dec. 23 I morning I q and tidal market. I Zoologist 134629.
1855 Feb 18 I from midnight to 5 [Reverse side] Then great hail - then
wave I Japan I An Reg 55-195.
1855 Jan 23 I Heavy rain 19:15, q of a.m. I Samos, Greece I" shocks the thermometer went to zero, but 5"
1854 Dec 23, 25 I q's I W. coast, considerable violence IN. Zealand I remarkable for their regularity I C.R. p.m. suddenly went up 27 degrees and
42-93.
then torrents of rain, which destroyed
U.S. I A.J. Sci 71-73.
An Reg. III
1855 Feb. 21 I L.T. 23-8-e I Extraor several hundred houses.
1854 Dec. 231 q. I Wave reached San [Reverse side] 10.
1855 Jan 25 I Star seen. I See Aug 7, dinary nock of wild birds on Hayling 1855 Ap. 23 I (Ver).
Francisco, from Japan, in
[Reverse side) 12 hours and 38 1852. I Star then disap. I Not placed. Island near Portsmouth
1855 Ap. 24 and 25 I Remarkable
minutes. I Panama Star, July 21, 1855 Feb. I Extreme cold in England. [Reverse side) during the extreme coldness in France I C.R. 41166.
of
weather.
Many
thousands
1868.
I See "footprints ". "
1855 Ap 25 I Moluccas and Panama
widgeons, ducks, and geese.
1854 Dec. 28 I (It) I night 13 shocks 1855 Feb I The coldest February on
I q's I 27 - Norway I 29 - Asia
1855 Feb. 221 Trewman's Exeter flyI Alessandria I Timbs 55-277.
record. Not one mild day between ing Post of I "Vast quantities" of Minor I BA '\I I
[Reverse side) Sim qs Feb 18, 1889.
1854 Dec. 28 . 29 I (Fr) I q I Jan 15 and Feb. 24. I
birds driven
[Reverse side) Eastern Evening News [Reverse side) by severe weather to 1855 Ap. 28 I Crieff I ac to Timbs
Marseilles I Nice / C.R., vol. 40.
coast of Cornwall, from northern 1856-273.
1854 Dec 28 - 29 I night I q in France (Norwich), Jan 8, 1908.
and extraordinary inundations of 1855 Feb I See Leeds Devil, Jan 21, regions, swans, geese, ducks - but 1855 May I - etc. I Vesuvius I An
such birds anhrushes, finches.
1909.
rivers I C.R. 40138 I q = p. 194.
Reg 185583 I CR 40/1227 I
0
1854 last of Dec I See Aug 7,1852.1 1855 Feb I Many rare birds driven to 1855 Feb 28 I 30 N 40 0 W I crewless [Reverse side) Active at least to 8th I
coast of Norfolk during the severe ship I James Chester I O'Donnell, Timbs '56268 I Details, Nature 643.
Star 10th mag disap. I not placed.

Third Quarter 1988

Pursuit 141

1855 May I I Smoke and fire at

Vesuvius, after 5 years of inactivity. I
Nature 6-43 I Great nows of lava.
1855 May I No q's in BA 'II.
1855 May I Cold, wind, rains, such as
never known before at Naples I C.R.,
40-1228.
1855 May I I Vesuvius in the morning I Nature 6-44.
1855 May 8 I [lT], IO-d I Ghst I
Devonshire.
1855 May I No q's in BA 'II I But
see Vesuvius.
1855 May 10/10 p.m. / q. / Belg I C
et T 8/38.
1855 May II / (F) I Island of Oesel /
metite I A J. Sci 2124/295 / Russia /
[Reverse side) BA 60-92.
1855 (?) May 131 Th. stones / Fall of
meteoric stones at Bremervorde, near
Hamburg, during a tho storm /
[Reverse side) A.J. Sci 2121/146 / 5
p.m. / One weighed 7 pounds. / 5
p.m. - C.R.
1855 May 13 / Time of Vesuvius,
which active at least to Sept / C.R.
41- i!ldex volc.
1855 May 13 I (F) I near Hamburg I
Met stones close[ly] resembling those
of Sept 4, 1852 I C.R., June 25, '55 I
[Reverse side) Am. J. Sci (21211146 /
241295) / BA 60-92.

1855 July 25 / 6 p.m. / Waterspout,

or precipitation from cloud, at Oxford / Timbs '56:274.
IS55 July 25 and 26 / q's I France I
Switz, Germany, Italy / An Reg.
IS55 July 25 / Began series of q's at
Valais, near Sion. I la Science Pour
Tous, 1-5 I Kept up for months. 3
kinds of sounds - detonations like
artillery l'ire - a rolling sound - one
more like thunder.
[Reverse side) Houses badly damaged. No atmospheric phe.
IS55 July 25 / 12:51 a.m. / q in
France' / Switzerland / C.R.
41/pages.

[BCF, pp. 401-402)

1855 Aug 23 / Isle of Wight - jagged
lumps of ice, 3 to 7 inches in circumference / .
[Reverse side) Symons Mel. 13-105.
IS55 Sept I / [lT], 10-<1/ Lunar phe.
'IS55 Sept / l.T. bound with Oct
-Dec.

[Reverse side) IT 19-II-f /24-IO-b/

2S-5-f / See Jan I-IO-e. Talk here of a'.
Comp 10 Procyon nashesiSee Jan. I.
1855 Dec. 19/ ab 6:15 a.m. / Great
met and train 10 minutes / Bedfordshire and NOllingham / The met
almost the

(Reverse side) seeming size of the

IS55 Sept 27 / Waterspout 35' miles moon - first seen near H .17 Camelfrom Calcutta / Jour Asiatic Soc opardi and vanished between Capella
and Mu Persei. / l.T. 21-5-f /
Bengal 29/372.
IS55 Sept 30/ Venus InfConjunction 22-5-d.
with Sun / (A I).
IS55 Dec 19/ Beam? /6:13 a.m. /
IS55 Oct 2 (IT), IO-b / Flies / Glou- Met and train like a comet's tail left
behind / BA '56-61.
cestershire.
IS55 July, ctc I (q) / Fr) / Valais, IS55 autumn / Sounds of Cardigan- IS55 Dec 19 / (Cut) / (3) / Met especially near Sion I qs / 3 kinds of shire / l T, Nov 9, IS58 / See Index, large as moon - visi[ble) 10 minutes
/ E.J. low[e) / Rec Sci 1/138.
noises - like gunfire / nearby Mysl. phe.
1855 Dec 19 / Activity of Vesuvius
rumbli[ng] 1 distant rumblin(g] / l. [BCF, pp. 407-40S / See I84S/ /.]
Sc. P.T. 115.
nOled in la Sci Pour Tous, Aug 4,
1855 Oct. 3 / Near langres, stone 1859, as still continuing.
1855 July 26 / warm water / abo fell. / C.R. 55/591.
.
1855 Dec 19 / Began eruption of
.sunset i near Os tend 1 C.R. 44-786/
1855
Oct
10
/
Spherical
lichens / Vesuvius / La Sci Pour Tous 1-140.
large drops of water falling from a
[Reverse side) cloudless sky. Warm lecanora / like Esculanta / found on [BCF, pp. 407-408 / See I84S/ /.)
Dorset grounds by Sir W. C
water and c(lntinued y.; hour.
Trevelyan.
1856/ Sleeper Susan C. Godsey, near
IS55 Aug I / Fr /(lT), 12-f / Milan, [Reverse side] Nothing findable in Hickman, Ky. / See July 14, 1869.
1-2-\, / 2-II-b 1 (q).
.
any book, by Ed.itor Gardeners' 1856/ Rugeley / Polt / murder there
IS55 Aug / Moon phe / [IT), Sept Chronicle) Fe[b] 9, IS56.
1855, ab Dec / J. P. Cooke / Was
1-IO-d.
IS55 Oct 10 / Gardeners' Chronicle this Palmer?
IS55 Aug 5! Aerolite / also in 1856/ of March IS, IS56 / These things
E. Mec. 79/3S3.
from local trees.
1856
1855 Aug 5 / Petersburg, lincoln [Reverse side) Seem[s) W:C.T. would
1855 May 16 / afternoon / lapeer
have known the local trees. / Or he 1856 Jan / [LT), 10-e / Variable
Co., Mich / Tornado / Finley's Rept. Co., Tenn. / (F).
wrote this?
stars / Hind's of Dec.
Aug. 5 ! Th. Metite / 3:30 p.m.. 18550 22/ T
k' A
I' /
1855 May 17 / Slag / It'vonl'a / See IS5S
'2
I
ct. .
aratna t, ustra la
1856 Jan 2 / 10:10 a.m. / Beeston /
slags in B.D.
'
mi es W. of Petersburg, loud
/ LT J 31 10
Loud report unlike thunder. "Could
report and. fall of metite "during or . severe q
,an - -a.
[BCF, p. 71)"
just before a
IS55 Nov 5 / It Sounds / "Subterra- it be the bursting of a meteor? / BA
185'5 May IS / [l T], 7-f / i9-9-a / (Reverse side) severe rainstorm ". / nean sounds / Melfi / Rapollo / '56-59.
Vesuvius.
A.J. Sci, 2131/264 / When first dug Rionero / Atella / etc. / See 1816.
1856 Jan 7 / 5 p.m. / Great met and
1855 May 22 / Jefferson and Cook out it was too hot to be handled. 1855 Nov. II I. Japan and Spain / train that remained - like a comet's
Cos., III. / Tornado / Finleys Rept. Nickel in it too minute to be record- Sim q's / BA 'II /
tail / Southampton /
1855 June 7/ (F) / near Ghent / 7:45 . ed, though manganese at .04 percent [Reverse side] Sim qs Feb. 18, 1889. [Reverse side] Looked like a pillar of
is noted.
fire / LT 8-7-f.
Pm. / Met. stone / A.J. Sc't' 2/24/296 (Front side) Very black and shining IS55 Nov . II / q / Yeddo , Japan /
/ 32/140 '/
30,000 killed / la Sci Pur Tous 1-140. 1856 Jan 7 / 4:55 p.m. /' Met
crust as if coated with pitch. .
[Reverse Sl'de) Sh aped I'k
I e a sea ur- .
1855 N
14 / E
t'
I t t "around 10 minutes in daylight / Oxchin / BA 61/33.
. 1855 August 10/ Met - by lowe _
OV.
xcep IOna empes ford / Canterbury / etc. / Ken[t] /
at Beeston and listed 'by lowe as of some kind in Europe.
.
Southam [pton) / Brighto[n] / BA
1855 June II/Observatory 3-137 /
"Curious". I Rec. Sci., 1/137.
1855 Nov. 18/ Waterspout / Tunis / 56-601,57-140 / Times quoted.
Vulcan I At Naples, Ritter and
Timbs '56-274.
1856 Jan 7 / abo 5 p.m. / (Brighton) /
Schmidt saw with naked eye a black IS55 Aug II ! Great eruption Mauna
body crossing sun's disk. /
Loa / A.J. Sci 2121/139, 144, 237/ 1855 Nov 14 and 20 / Stat / Zurich, "Apparently proceeding from a star'
Switzerland / A rain that resembled that I think is the planet Jupiter. / B
also vol 22.
[Reverse side) CR 83/623.
red wine /
Assoc '57/142.
[BCF, p. 413:
1855 Aug II / "On the 11th of
side]
Tissandier,
les
June II, 1855 - a dark bod v of August, a small point glowing like (Reverse
1856 Jan 7 / Meteor immediately
Poussieres, de I'ai~, p. 69.
such size that it was seen, without Sirius was seen at the height of 12,000
under Jupiter / Canterbury (?) / B
telescopes, by Riller and Schmidt, feet on the northwestern slope of 1855 Nov. 30 / evening / large .Assoc 1856-55.
Meteor / London / l.T.-1-5-d / ab 7
crossing the sun (Observatory, 3-137). Mauna Loa. This radiant
1856 Jan 7 / 4:51 p.m. / SouthampSept. 12, 1857 - Ohrt's unknown (Reverse side) point rapidly expand-' p.m. in Worcestershire.
ton / met train / M.W.R. '07/391.
world; seemed to be about the size of ed, throwing off corruscations of 1855 Nov. 30 / [LT), 7-b /
1856 Jan 7 / det met / l.S.P.T. Mercury (C.R., 83-623) - Aug. I, light, until it looked like a full-orbed Waterspout in Tunis.
1-161 / Meteor at Havre / C.R.
1858 - unknown world reported by sun. I A. J. Sci 2121/144.
1855 Dec 5 / q / France / C.R.
42/61, 78.
Wilson, of Manchester (Astro. Reg., 1855 Aug II I 11:30 p.m. ! At Till- 41/1158, 1160 I l.S.P.T. 1/31.
9-287).)
ington, near Petworth, reported by 1855 Dec 5 / Earthquakes in the 1856 Jan 7 / Riverhill, Sevenoaks /
fell from a point 3 or 4 degrees south
1855 June 13 / Singular cloud-belts in "Mrs Ayling and friends" - Rept B Pyrenees, at Chaum, followed or
Ga. / A.J. Sci 2120/412.
A [1]856-54 - over behind [hi)lIs a preceded by snow. / la Sci Pour and east of Jupiter. / BAss. 57/142.
Tous 1-31 /
bright light
1856 Jan 7 / Not said an ascend met /
1855 July 10/ 20 h, 15 m I q severe [Reverse side] [w]as seen in the [s)ky (Reverse side] 2 nights later, while "Ie visible from [1)0 to IS minutes in
and rain / los Angeles, Cal I ref, a red body [fr]om which temps elait beau auparavant", snow various
May 13, 1850.
projecte(d] (s]tationary rays ro[se) again fell . .
[Reverse side] places, and in
1855 July 25 / Milan / severe shock I slowly - the brightnes[s) [of] it 1855 Dec 5 / France and Celebes / qs Wiltshire, 20 minutes / Intel Obs.
rainy. / Next day, a thick fog. / obscured the stairs) - it was "like a /6- Spain /12 - France / BA 'IIi 4/160 /
red m(oon), it rose slowly an(d] [Reverse side) Sim q's, Feb Iii, IS89. [Front side] 29 + .
Timbs 56-266 /
(Reverse side) Also q Switz . France,' diminished slow[ly). remaining visible 1855 Dec. IS / Unknown star near 84 1856 Jan. 7 / Eng and France / Met
Germany.
'o[ne] hour and a half.
Geminorum - 9th mag. / by Hind / train / BA 60-94.

Pursuit 142

Third Quarter 1988

1856 Jan 7 / 5:05 p.m. / Met train /

~ hour / Havre / C.R. 42-61 /
[Reverse side] Great deal on page 78,
etc. More thl!-n 20 minutes.
1856 Jan 8 (?) /5 p.m/Details, greal"
meteor of Havre and Rouen / La Sci
Pour Tous 1-44, 69 / train - 20
minutes.
1856 Jan. 23 / Steamship Pacific left
Liverpool for N.Y. / Disap. /
[Reverse side] O'Donnell, Strange
Sea Mysteries, p. 20 / VXCE.
1856 Jan 30 / (+) / Switzerland /
"Wohlen (Berne) and Mollis (G1aris)
/ Caterpillars / Cosmos, N.S.,
50/353 / (0-93).
[BCF, pp. 96-97 / See 1806 winter.]
1856 Feb 3 / 8:25 p.m. / Great det
met / France / CR 42/pages det - p.
281.
1856 Feb. 3 / (det met) / 8:05 p.m. /
Met / Paris / C.R. 42-237, 279 /
[Reverse side] Loud detonation heard
at Sommevoire / p 281.
1856 Feb. 3 / Eng / Belg / Switz /
Germany / France / great det met /
BA 60-94.
1856 Feb 3 / ab 8 p.m. / Meteor seen
at Paris / La Sci Pour Tous 1-78.
1856 Feb 4 / q. / Switzerland / Valley
of Visp. / BA 'II / (not connected).
1856 Feb 9 / 2:30 p.m. / at Pau /
Series of sharp detonations. Sky
cloudless. / C.R. 41/356 /
[Reverse side] BA '60.
1856 Feb. 16/4 p.m. / Met / violent
dets. / BA 60-106.
1856 Feb 16/ q - Cal- / BA 'II /
meteor, Eng.
1856 March / U Geminorun / fluctuation of light in periods of 6 to 15
seconds, by Pogson - see Sep. 26,
1856. / J.B.A.A., 13-326.
1856 March 2 / Eruption Great
Sangir, in the Moluccas / Timbs
'57-271 / Another on 17th.
1856 March 2 and 3 / Vole., Island of
Great Sangir / (Aberdeen Journal,
Aug 13) / Also hot springs opened up
and cast out boiling water. / March
17 - a
[Reverse side) new eruption. Loss of
life abo 3000.
1856 March 2 / bet 7 and 8 p.m. /
Began eruption of Sangir / La Sci
Pour Pous, 1-279/ 3,000 perished.
1856 March 17 / See March 2, 3.
1856 March 2 and 17 / Eruption of
Great Sangir / 12.5 E /4. N. / News
of the World, Aug 3, 1856.
1856 March 14/ "On March 14, a[t]
about 4 o'clock p.m., a loud report
w[as) heard similar to the explosion
of a powder magazine" and concussion felt. / (Wiltshire) / Timbs
'57-270.
1856 April, etc. / Witchcraft / Staffs
/ LT, 1857, March 7-12-e /24-1O-f.
1856 Ap 2 / Op

Ma~s

/ (A I).

1856 Ap. 7 / India / Kangara / q / I /

[Light) / BA '11.

Third Quarter 1988

1856 Ap. 8 / Colmar, Haute Rhine /

"Aerolite meteor? Or April6?" / BA
60-94.
1856 May 19 / [LT), IO-b / Ext
destruction of sheep.
1856 May 23 / Peculiar appearance of
atmosphere at St. Martin / Proc.
Amer Assoc 18561237.
1856 May 30 and 31 / Many deaths of
swallows / N.Q. 1-12-index.
1856 June 4/ During a storm, water
of Lake Ontario suddenly went up 3
feet. / La Sci Pour Tous 1-232.
1856 June 9 / Guilford Co, N. Car /
large hailstones - strong flavor of
turpentine / A.J.S.-2-22-298.
1856 June 25 / 2 a.m. / Shock at
Adelaide, S. Aust / Bedford Times,
Oct. 15, 1856.
.
1856 July 7 / morning / ~osmos
111200 / Ac to M. Legnp, two
residents of Cham bon: Fr~nce, had,
upon July 7, seen passing In fro~t of
the moon, a human figure - dlsappeared - then a pond surrounded by
b~shes and tr~s - not identified
with any terrestrial scene.
1856 July 8 / Miss. / evening / A.J.
Sci 2122/448.
1856 July 8 / train 20 min / Hancock,
Ala. / 6 p.m. / remarkable meteor
seen / A.J. Sci 21231287.
1856 July 8 / The meteor / abo 4 p.m.
/ A.J. Sci 2123/138.
1856 July 8 / "Mass of Larva" fell
ten miles west of Aberdeen, Miss., ac
to a newspaper.
[Reverse side] As large as a barrel /
A.J. Sci 2124/449.
1856 July 8 / Pontotoc, Miss / Col R.
Bollon writes met explosion and 3
met clouds of long duration which
[Reverse side] developed into an M
with an enclosed N. / Amer Met Jour
4/521.
1856 July 8 / Alabama / 4 p.m. /
Meteor / Am J. Sci / 2122/448 /
23/138, 287.
1856 July II/Caucasus / During
day, sun a red ball "shorn of his
rays". 5 p.m., a q. 300 houses
destroyed. /
[Reverse side] Lloyd's weekly newspaper, Sept 21-12-1.
1856 July II/morning / Rumbling
sound and violent shock / Schemeka
(Caucasus) /
[Reverse side] Timbs '57-270.
[BCF, pp. 767-768)
1856 July 16 / Shock at ClermontFerrand soon followed by a hailstorm
/ Cosmos 11-43.
1856 July 23/ Whirl in Staffordshire,
near Barlaston / Dublin Commercial
Journal, Aug 9.
1856 July 23 / Caucasia / great q /
[BA] 'II.
[BCF, pp. 767-768 / See July II,
1856.]
1856 July 25 / Great submarine eruption in the Straits of Onimah, in
[Reverse side] Lat 54 and Long 165.

Not said Nor S or E or W. / Timbs

57-272.

1856 Aug 7 or 14th / [?]Ist / Ac to the

Sligo Journal, copied in Lloyd's
1856 July 25 / Kilkenny Journal / Weekly Newspaper. Several persons
saw an object supposed to be the exNothing.
pected comet
1856 July 25 / Kilkenny / b. rain "of [Reverse side] (1556). "It had the apa densely sable hue" / News of the pearance of a large oval with a flowing
World, Aug 10-3-2 /
tail. The body was a brilliant red, and
[Reverse side] See May, 1854?
the other portions of a pale blue tinge.
[BCF, pp. 767-768 / See July 11, The head was inclined toward the
1856.]
southwest."
1856 July 26 / Deluge and hail size of 1856 Aug 8 - 10 / Unusual meteors /
"ordinary eggs" at Liverpool / Eng.
Newry Examiner, Aug 2.
1856 Aug 9 / Fire / Bedford Ttmes,
1856 July 30 / 9:30 p.m. / Aug. 16. / Owner of a vacant house in
Remarkable meteor / Paris / C.R.
Glasgow visited it at noon
43-487.
[Reverse side] and found the roof of
1856 July 30 /31/ Aug I / Obj? / N. the butler's pantry on fire_ "Will it be
and Q. 2-2-105, quoting the Limerick
believed that there had not been a light
Observer / July 30 - at Corbally, at in the house in six weeks?" Said that
10:30 p.m. - seemed be a fire rising only thing could be thought of was
. on a mountain to the east, then a globe
that mice had nibbled matches.
of fire with a tail seemed to be 18 in1856 Aug 9 / Bedford Mercury of / In
ches long to a globe size of an
[Reverse side] orange _ watched it the Glenesake Mountains - a large
one hour _ next night again - rose a number of
few minutes later and was high in sky [Reverse side] sheep - at least 100had been killed by foxes in a few
at 11. 3rd night, rose abo 10:40 seemed smaller but far exceeded size of nights_ .
Jupiter. Then it occurred to one of the 1856 or 57 / CrocodjJe / In the Gentlewitnesses might be comet of 1556 man's Magazine, Aug, 1866, George
which the astronomers were expecting, R. Wright, F.S.A., tells of a young
which failed to appear.
crocodile which had been killed by
1856 Aug 1, about / Editor of some laborers, who had seen it run
Limerick Observer, Aug 7 - Aug 7, from a stack of wood, 1856 or 1857, at
Over-Norton, Oxfordshire - on a
writes that his own observations had
[Reverse side] convinced him that his farm. Also see Field, 1861 or 1862.
[Reverse side] It was preserved by a
friends had seen Jupiter.
naturalist and pronounced undoubted1856 Aug / q in Hondurus / Harpers
ly a crocodile. / November issue, C.
Mag 14/164.
Parr writes that 30 years before a per1856 Aug 3 / See Oct. 12. / (Malta) / son near Over-Norton had been purbet. 2:30 and 4 p.m. / N.M. / 2 q's, sued by a young crocodile, about a
Malta / Times 19-7-b /
foot long, and had then killed it. Said
[Reverse side] For Zante, see Dec 29, that several years later another been
'20 / Ap. 9, '22.
seen there. / Aug 67., cor sends ac1856 Aug 3 / Frgs / Aberdeen Jour- count of one 3 feet long killed in Stafnal, Aug. 13 / "The post-runner, be- fordshire abo 40 years before. /
tween Redearth and Kessock, when [Second page] Field, Aug 9, 1862,
passing Artafelie, on Sunday (10th) writes he had examined the preserved
last, was sudderuy enveloped in what specimen - a young crocod.iIe abo 14
inches long. The natura1ist F.T. Buckappeared
[Reverse side] to be a shower of frogs. land writes. / Aug 23, 1861 - a cor
They feU fast upon his hat and writes that in the woods near where
shoulders and dozens of them found croc killed
an easy resting place in his coat [Reverse side] another was still seen ocpockets. The air was quite darkened casionally ac to credible persons.
with them for about thirty
[BCF, p. 592)
[Second page] yards by fourteen or fif- 1856 Aug 10/ News of the World, 7-1
teen yards and the road was so densely / Explosion at Dorking. Origin
covered with the dingy little creatures unknown
that it was impossible to walk without [Reverse side] but thOUght be from
[Reverse side] treading on them. They escape of gas.
were about the size of a bee, and were
1856 Aug II/Mauna Loa / An. Reg.
quite lively when they found them'56-16.
selves on the road." / Make ref. Inver1856 Aug / Bedford fires / Period flTeS
ness Courier of 8th.
/ See Sept, Oct, 188O, Canada.
1856 Aug 9 / (Comet) / Account in
Limerick Observer / On 3rd night not 1856 Aug. 6 and 15 / Windover / Ac
to The Bucks Advertiser of the 9th
so large "but still far
[Reverse side] exceeded . the most there was at Windover on Aug 2 a
brilliant form in which the planet myst fire in the farm house occupied
by Edwin CoUins
Jupiter has even been beheld."
[Reverse side) ab II p.m. There was no
1856 Aug 5/ [LT], 7< /11-8-<: / Sept known cause for the flfC and it was
8-9-<: / 12-6-f / Comet in Ireland.
thought incendiary. / - of the 23rd,
1856 Aug 5 / (not F) / Aerolite / See told that Elizabeth Chapman was
charged with setting flfC to
1855.

Pursuit 143

[Second page] the property of Mr.

Jason, a baker, upon the 6th and 15th.
There was no evidence against her.
Said that she was suspected because
there had been such fires where she lived before - no details.
[Reverse side] given. Said that no
reason to think there had been the men
that she said she saw: no marks in
ground where she said she saw them.
The magistrate said that the case was
suspicious but that there was no
evidence against the prisoner and discharged h e r .
[Third page] As to the fire near- the
oven Mr Jason learned that the fife
began in the roof over
[Reverse side] the oven but that there
had been no oven-fire for 30 hours.
1856 Aug / Have D. News for Aug.
1856 Aug 12 / Series / See Aug 18
Sept II, 19(11.
1856 Aug 12 / Probably not Moulton
and Morton, too. Mistake in a news
paper. / / /
[Reverse side] McCann / God or
Gorilla / [note cut off] on [note cut
off].
1856 Aug 12 / Fire / Someone in Bedford, opened the door of an upper
room in home of Mrs Moulton, of
Bedford.
[Reverse side] "Volumes of smoke
issued therefrom and directly after the
bed furniture was in flames." This in
the morning. Night before someone
with a candle had been in the room
and it was thought a spark from it had
smouldered all night. / Bedford
Times, Aug 16 /
[Front side] See other notes.
.
1856 ~ug .12 / At the mq~est some:
~dy mqulr~ as to e1ectncal condi".
"
Itons at th.e ltme.
[Reverse Side] Callc;d an . mquest because the coroner mvesl1~ated. See~
that there. had been conSiderable ram
but nothmg remarkable had been
noted.
1856 Aug 12/ Mortons house adjoining store yard of Howards foundry. /
. [Reverse side] News of the World, Aug
24.
1856 [August 12] / Moulton (see other
notes) it is said was a foreman in
Messrs Howard's iron foundry and lived in Horne-lane. Morton was a
traveller for same firm and lived in
Home-lane [Reverse side] Said he was in Ireland at
the time. / Said that the Moulton fife
was on morning of 13th, / At Mortons
the sulphur fire - afternoon of 12th.
The first bed fire I Y. hours later also contents of a chest.
[Second page] On morning of 13th eight o'clock - some "dirty linen" in
a closet upstairs. Meantime Mr
Howard had communicated with Mr
Morton. who returned on 16th. Had
been no further fires. Mr. M.,
[Reverse side] night of 16th, took off
stockings and other clothes, which
were damp, and threw them on the
floor. On the morning of 17th they
were found burning. Then a succession

Pursuit 144

of abo 40 fires.
[Third page] In rooms, in closets, in
drawers of bureaus. Neighbors and
police came in - began to fear for
their own safety. Not only objects all
around but their own handkerchiefs
[Reverse side] flamed. / As to the fire
in cellar of James Howard, in High
Street - George Garratt testified that
the fire occurred abo time Mr. M.
returned from Ireland [Fourth page] He said that the candle
fell from the candlestick which he was
carrying into some turpentine, which
he had not seen on the floor. The
flame ran along this, but it [word missing]
[Reverse side] toward the cask of turpentine from which he had supposed it
had leaked, the cask itself did not bum
though the fire in the cellar was
serious. When earlier in day he had
been to the cellar he had
[Fifth page] seen no turnpentine on the
floor. / The brimstone was in a small
eanhware jar placed in a bassinette of
wickerwork.
.
[Reverse side] Said that the burning
brimstone had flowed over into bas.
and floor - burning bas. and floor. /
Things in the yard that took fire there
and not in the house were placed next
to things that had burned in the house.
[Sixth page] Property of the Mortons
not insured. The house was insured.
(ver.) / Ann Fennimore as to matclies
testified had ignited the brimstone with
the third match, having fBiled with
. two.
. .
[Reverse side] Ab 1l.1 ounces of brimstone been used. / Had been used in
no other room of the house. /
[Seventh page] At the inquiry Mr
Howard protested agains.t the fire in
his cellar being investigated, saying
that it had been an ordinary fire with
nothing of .the mysterious to it, and
not relating in any way
[Reverse side] to the fire in Morton's
house. However, according to the Coroner. a relation existed at least in the
rumors that it was the purpose of the
inquiry to quiet. / Considering this attitude of Howard's, it may be that
Garratt told details accordingly. The
one mysterious cire that I think of is a
leak in a cask of turpentine - fire running along it - no fire in the caSk. It
was a good-sized fire.
1856 Aug. 12 / Other data in Bedford
Mercury. Aug. 23 / 3 children in the
house. / There was a peculiar odor by
which there was a fire - but described
by another as only "the smell of fire. "
[Reverse side] The Moulton fire not
mentioned in Bedford Mercury.
1856 Aug 12 / No Bedford Directory
in B.M. / for Moulton.
1856 Aug 12/ Called "inquest" / The
coroner only one who investigated.
1856 Aug. 12/ Bedford Times of23rd
- The first myst fire (see Sept. 29) was
in a straw mattress soon after the
sulphur fire put out - after that a new
fire every 5 minutes ac to
[Reverse side] testimony before the
coroner at Bedford. / on fire on 13th /'
then three days and no fire / mostly in

closets and chests,"but on 17th carpet

afire / brimstone burnt on 12th /
Testimony of
[Second page] Mrs Morton and Ann
Fennimore, servant. / Nclther house
nor furniture insUred. First fire on 17th
like the other Bedford case (also 12th)
/ upon entered a room finding bed on
fire.
[Reverse side] Morton was away from
home till 16th. Mrs. Morton was
home. The verdict of the Jury was that
the fIrSt fire was accidental, but that as
to cause of other fires not enough .
evidence to show. / It is said that in the
.
cellar of ,
[Third page] the house of Morton's
employer, James Howard, on another
street, there had night of the 16th been
a fire, and this outbreak as well as
public curiosity and gossip, had
brought on the inquiry,
[Reverse side] but seems clear this fire
was accidental. Qeorge Garratt, a servant, had gone with a candle to a
ce1Iar, and the candle had fallen into
turpentine spilled on the floor.
1856 (Aug 12) / A witness testified that
in investigating generally he had picked
up a piUow and had examined it. Then
he was called upstairs to another fire.
He says that it was extraordinary but
while he was upon this
[Reverse side] upper floor, the pillow
that he had picked up burst into flames,
/ Point against bt'imstone Permeation
in the house _ Things that been burned and other things put out in the yard
_ here some of the other things burst
into flames
.
. .
1856 Aug 12 / Seem have to accept
that the. fu;;t fire so soon. foU~ed by
the beginrung of the senes did have
relation - that som~ that wanted
fires saw ~ opportumty.to . .
[Reverse Side] have a senes asSOCIated
wi~~ the accide~tal. / But seems th~ a
spmt-pyromaruac had ftrSt of all tiPped over the brimstone.
1856 Aug. 12 / Like a spirit thing
vengeful against both Morton and his
employer. / As if in first case confounding Morton and Mowton.
[Reverse side] Here enters sUggestion
of a thing that could put bits of candle
about like Hampstead, 1921 or San
Fran, 1892 - also Lciaminston Feb.,
1921.
1856 Aug 17/ Suffolk Chronicle, 23rd
/ Early mom. at Ramsey, Essex.
Stroke of lightning and
.
[Reverse side] cartful of wheat sheaves
in a field burn. Not said if rain - but
said fire not easily put out because
water not available. .
1856 Aug 12 / "Times" / London
Times, August 21, 1856 / [typescript] /
In the London Times. August 21,
1856, there is an account of a series of
occurrences that, the writer thinks,
would not be out of place in one of
Mrs. Radcliffe's novels, but seeming
strange in the matter-of-fact columns
of the Times. because it was as if old
theories -of spontaneous combustion
and demonic possession would come
back-

A house in Bedford - owner away

- seryant in charge - and, upon
August 12th, to get rid of vermin, she
had fumigated the house with sulphur.
The sulphur had set a floor afire. It is
said that this fire was soon put out.
Five days later, the occupant of the
house, named Howard, returned. In
his room he took off his stocltings,
which were damp, and threw them
upon the floor. They burst into flames.
The next day, in the presence of different witnesses, in different parts of
the house, no less than thirty fires
broke out. The matter was taken to a
magisirate's co!Jrt. Here, one witness
testified that he had found damp
towels, in his bedroom, on fire, and a
woman testified that she had opened a
box of clothing, finding them burning.
By the morning of the 18th, "the
greater part of the property in the
house had been charred or burnt to a
tinder." It is said that there had been
hope of connecting the burning of
sulphur, of five days before, with these
combustions, but that this idea had to
be abandoned.
[page] 186
. .
.
,
th~~ two p~YSICl.ans had gIVen thetr
oplDlon that tnflammable ~ulph.urous
fumes had .pem~ted all ~lIngs I!l, t~e
house. A discUSSion o~ !his posstbility
b~ one, of the ,phYSICIans, ~d by
~Isagreetng ~ts appears m later
ISSues of the. TImes. Usually, as to
human reasomng, my o~ and that of
everyb.ody else, I take a View t~at m~y
be a little gloomy, but I outlme this
discussion in the Times, with the idea
of giving a more joyous sidelight upon
logical processes, as they are, always
correlating to something taken for a
dominant and not as they are ideally
supposed 'to be:
That oxides of sulphur are not inflammable but that a combination of
sulphur ~d phosphorous is - the
phosphorous might have been derived
from the matches used to set the
sulphur afire - but that would have
been an oxide of phosphorous _.
nevertheless the aforesaid combination
is inflammable - but to permeate a
whole house, many matches must have
been used - but the testimony in court
was that only a few had been used but many matches must have been used - but combination of sulphur and
phosphorous is of a very disagreeable
odor - but no odor had been noticed
in the house - but that the sulphur did
it anyway -'- but, for fumigating purposes, sulphur has been burned in
millions of homes, never followed by
such phenomena - but the sulphur
did it.
[BCF, pp. 909-910]
1856 Aug 16 / night / Rouen / Immense cloud of small white moths
[Reverse side] burst over the town. In
morning covered the ground, almost
all dead. / Inverness Courier, 21st.
(10 be continued in Vol. 21 #4.)

Third Quarter 1988

The Society For The Investigation of The Unexplained

Mail: SITU/PURSUIT, P.O. Box 265, Little Silver, NJ 07739-0265 USA Tel: (201) 842-5229
GOVERNING BOARD
Robert C. Warth President; Gregory Arend, Vice-President; Nancy L. Warth, Secretary
and Treasurer; Trustees: Gregory Arend, Marie Cox, Nancy Warth, Robert C. Warth,
Martin Wiegler, Albena Zwerver.
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
Dr. George A. Agoglno, Distinguished Director of Anthropology Museums and
Director, Paleo-Indian Institute, Eastern New Mexico University (Archaeology)
Dr. Carl H. Delacato, Director, The Institute for the Rehabilitation of the Brain InJured, Morton, Pat (Mentalogy)
Dr. Stuart W. Greenwood, Operations Manager, University Research Foundation,
University of Maryland (Aerospace Engineering)
Dr. Martin Kruskal, Program In Applied Mathematics and Computational
Mathematics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
Dr. Samuel B. McDowell, Professor of Biology, Rutgers the State University,
Newark, New Jersey (General Biology)
Dr. Vladimir Markotlc, Professor of Anthropology, Department of Archaeology,
University of Alberta, Canada (Ethnosoclology and Ethnology)
Dr. Michael A. Persinger, Professor, Department of Psychology, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada (Psychology)
Dr. Frank B... Salisbury, Plant Science Department, College of Agriculture, Utah
State University (Plant Physiology)
Dr. Berthold Eric Schwarz, Consultant, National Institute for Rehabilitation
Engineering, Vero Beach, Florida (Mental Sciences)
Dr. Michael D. Swords, Professor, Department of General Studies Science,
Western Michigan University (Natural SCience)
Dr. Roger W. Wescott, Professor and Chairman, Department of Anthropology,
Drew University, Madison, N.J. (Cultural Anthropology and Linguistics)
Dr. A. Joseph Wralght, Chief Geographer, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey,
Washington, D.C. (Geography and Oceanography) .
Dr. Robert K. Zuck, Professor Emeritus Department of Botany, Drew University,
Madison, N.J. (Botany)
ORIGINS OF SITU/PURSUIT
Zoologist, biologist. botanist and geologist Ivan T. Sanderson, F.L.S., F.R.G.S., F.Z.S., in associa
tion with a number of other distinguished authors, established in 1965 a "foundation" for the exposition and research of the paranormal - those "disquieting mysteries of the natural world" to which
they had devoted much of their investigative lifetimes.
As a means of persuading other professionals. and non-professionals having interests similar to
their own, to enlist In an uncommon cause, the steering group decided to publish a newsletter. The
first issue came out in May 1967. The response, though not overwhelming, was sufficient to reassure
the founding fathers that public interest in the what, why and where of their work would indeed survive them.
Newsletter No.2, dated March 1968. announced new plans for the Sanderson foundation: a structure larger than its architects had first envisioned was to be built upon it, the whole to be called the
SOciety for the Investigation of The Unexplained, as set forth In documents filed with the New Jersey
Secretary of State. The choice of name was prophetic, for Dr. Sanderson titled one of the last of his
two-dozen books "Investigating the Unexplained," published in 1972 and dedicated to the Society.
Another publication was issued in June 1968, but "newsletter" was now a subtitle; above it the
name PURSUIT was displayed for the first time. Vol. I, No.4 in September 1968 ("incorporating
tile fourth SOciety newsletter") noted that "the abbreviation SITU has now been formally adopted as
the designation of our SOciety." Issue number 4 moreover introduced the Scientific Advisory Board,
listing the names and affiliations of the advisors. Administrative matters no longer dominated the
contents; these were relegated to the last four of the twenty pages. Most of the issue was given over
to investigative reporting on phenomena such as "a great armadillo (6 feet long. 3 feet high) said to
have been captured in Argentina" - the instant transportation of solid objects "from one place to
another and even through solids" - the attack on the famed University of Colorado UFO Project headed
by Dr. Edward U. Condon - and some updated information about "ringing rocks" and "stone spheres."
Thus SITU was born, and thus PURSUIT began to chronicle our Investigation of The Unexplained.

Printed in U.S.A.

ISSN 0033-4685

"',1:""

'SdelJce is the Pursuit 01 the UlJeJrplailJed'

Journal of SITU
The
Society for the
Investigation of
The Unexplained

Ceza Maroczy, deceased Hungarian and world-ranked chess

master. Even after death, apparently, "his game wasn't
up." See "Chess With A 'Dead' Partner," p. 179.

Volume 21
Number 4
Whole No. 84

Fourth Quarter
1988

The Society For The Investigation Of The Unexplained

Mail: SITU/PURSUIT, P.O. Box 265, Little Silver, NJ07739-0265 USA Tel: (201) 842-5229
SITU (pronounced sit'you) is a Latin word meaning "place." SITU is also an acronym referring
to THE SOCIETY FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF THE UNEXPLAINED.
SITU exists for the purpose of collecting data on unexplaineds, promoting proper investigation of individual reports and general subjects, and reporting significant data to its members.
The SOciety studies unexplained events and "things" of a tangible nature that orthodox science,
for one reason or another, does not or will not study.
You don't have to be a professional or even an amateur scientist to join SITU.
MEMBERSHIP
Membership is for the calendar year, January-December: in the United States, $12 for one year; $23
for two years; 533 for three years. Membership in other countries is subject to surcharge, to cover higher
cost of mailing. Amount of surcharge, which varies according to region, will be quoted in response to
individual request. Members receive the Society's quarterly journal PURSUIT plus any special SITU
publications for the year of membership. Original ""back issues" and reprints (issues of PURSUIT dated
prior to the current pUblishing year) are available for all past years. Send check or money order for total
amount with request identifying issues desired by Volume, Number and Year. Price \S 53.00 per copy,
postpaid within the U.S. Please allow four to six weeks for delivery.
SITU welcomes members' participation. Articles, photographs, newspaper and magazine clips, book
reviews and other contents including "letters to the editors" should be sent to SITU /PURSUIT at the
above address if they are to be considered for publication in PURSUIT. The Society assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material and will not return unaccepted manuscripts unless prov.ided with an
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All mail, including changes of address, library orders, postal errors, back-issue requests, renewals,
gift memberships and donations, should be sent to SITU /PURSUIT at the post office box address at
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OPERATIONS AND ORGANIZATION
SITU has reference files which include original reports, newspaper and magazine clippings, correspondence, audio tapes, films, photographs, drawings and maps, and actual specimens. Reasonable
research requests will be answered by mail, but because of the steadily increasing demands upon staff
time, a fee for research will be charged. Members requesting information should enclose an addressed,
stamped envelope with the inquiry so that they may be advised of the charge in advance.
The legal affairs of the Society are managed by a Board of Trustees in accordance with the laws of
the State' of New Jersey. The Society is counselled by a panel of prominent scientists designated the
Scientific Advisory Board (see inside back cover).
IMPORTANT NOTICES
The Society is unable to offer and is not obligated to render any services to non-members.
D The SOciety does not hold any political, religious corporate or social views. Opinions expressed
in PURSUIT concerning such matters, and any aspect of human medicine or psychology, the social
sciences or law, religion or ethics, are those of the individual member or author and not necessarily
those of the Society.
The Society's membership list is restricted to mailing the journal PURSUlTand special SITU publications, and as necessary to the administration of SITU's internal affairs. Names and addresses on this
list are not available for sale, rental, exchange or any use except the foregoing.
D Contributions to SITU, but not membership dues, are tax deductible to the extent permitted by
the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, and in some states as their taxing authorities may permit.
D

PUBLICATION
The Society's journal PURSUlTis published quarterly. In each year the issues are numbered respectively from 1 through 4 and constitute a volume, Volume I being for 1968 and before, Volume 2 for
1969, and so on. Reduced-rate subscriptions to PUBSUITwithout membership benefits, are available
to public libraries and libraries of colleges, universities and high schools at 510 for the calendar year.
The contents of PURSUIT is fully protected by international copyright. Permission to reprint articles
or portions thereof may be granted, at the direction of SITU and the author, upon written request and
statement of proposed use, directed to SITU/PURSUIT at the post office address printed at the top
of this page.

THE QUARTERLY
JOURN.F THE

r.SUlt

ISOCIElY FOR THE

~~STIGATION OF
UNEXPLAINED

'SCIENCE IS THE PURSUIT OF THE UNEXPLAINED'

Contents
Page
Editorial .......................................................... 145
Relic Hominoids, Relic Cosmogonies, and Recent Revelations
by John W. Patterson ...................... '" ........... " ..... 146
More About mants, Goblins, Satyrs and
Other Strange Hominid Monsters in Europe
by Ulrich Magin ............................................... 155
Lyonesse: The Lost Land of Cornwall (Part II of II Parts)
by Jon D. Singer, M.A .......................................... 158
The Roots of the Dogon Mystery
by Vladimir V. Rubtsov, Ph.D ................. '" ................ 165
The UFO Impact (Part IV of a IV-Part Series)
by Jean-Pierre Petit, Ph.D .................................... : ... 169
Psychoscopy
by Prof. Willem Tennaeff ..................... '.' ................. 172
The Shroud of Turin: Mystery or Mystique?
SITUation ........................................................ 176
Chess With A "Dead" Partner
.
by Alex Gardner ............................................... 179
Letters to the Editor ................................................ 182
Hook Reviews . . . . . . ............................................... 183
SITUations ........................................................ lH4
The Notes of Charles Fort
Deciphered by Carl J. Pabst ...................................... 189

In all of Man's recorded history, only

in the past century has he been able to
travel into the sky and return to Earth
safely. And, only in this present genel3tion have Ii very limited few of our earthlings travelled beyond this planet's atmospheric blanket and returned safely.
Time travel and interdimensional exploration could be among Man's next major adventures. Some have already claimed to have experienced one or both but
almost never under controUed conditions,
i.e. being available for "scientific"
scrutiny and evaluation.
Can the spirit of man leave his physical
body and return to it, and if the essence
leaves it finally at physical death does it
survive in a different dimension?
We offer here events where two World
Chess champion contenders, one quite
living the other now deceased, are engaged (via a medium) in a serious chess dual.
Also, we have the results of a recent investigation of the mysterious Shroud of
Turin - a curious, alleged remnant of a
gannent that covered Christ shortly after
his death. And, too, we have data on the
subject called psychoscopy [si-kos-kope], i.e. the use of a physical object to
obtain descriptive details of a subject or
event as it is or was at a different time
or place.
Are these clues to non-physical consciousness or existence and if so can the
transfonnation involved be any more or
less complicated than a snowflake
evaporating or refonning?

Pursuit Vol. f I.

~o ..4. Whole No. 84 Fourth 90arter 198~. Copyright 1988 by T.he Society forthe Investigation of the Unexplained. ISSN 0033-4685.
No part of thiS penodlcal may be reproduced Without the wntten consent of tile Society. Robert C. Warth, Publisher and Editor Nancy Warth Production
Editor, Martin Wiegler, Consulting Editor, Charles Berlitz, Resean:h Editor and Oceanographic Consultant.
'
,

Fourth Quarter 1988

Pursuit 145 .

Relic Hominoids, .Relic Cosmogonies,

and Recent Revelations.
by doha W. Patt....oa
Abstract: This paper approaches current opinions outlining
the origin oj Homo sapiens et al. Controversy arising concerning the Australopithecine animals and related jossil
"men" is touched upon. Sasquatch, the Yeti, the Almas, and
the like are re-evaluated. Certain observations made' during
the course oj this "crypto"-zoological study neCessitate my
"laying the cards on the table" oj convictions. Thisguided
reorientation oj various researchers' adopted mindsets could
serve to redefine the semi-awkward "crypto" oj cryptozoology.
Hypotbetieal Prologue
Intolerable climactic fluctuations in many areas of the
planet push the majority of the most delicately tuned ecology
towanls the equatorial wnes. Plants and animals alike (exceptill$ men and their technological interventions), prefer the eCozones mirroring their former world (Ref. 1). Species able to
disperse and survive, do so in search of all that new territory
offers. Didelphis virginiana, known today as "road kill" or
the common opossum, is an example. Captured animals are
found so far north in Canada that their ears and prehensile
tails show years of repeated frostbite damage! Men spread
their range nearly pole to pole by modifying their environment and channeling resources in from neighboring ecosystems. Now that stars beckon man's spirit of conquest in spite
of a temporal dependency on 100070 fabricated life-support
systems.'
.
Species that existed near the poles of the former earth retained the nature to populate the colder areas. They enlarged
their ranges as the post-flood polar regions also enlarged.
Those Iifeforms surviving a wild flux in this battered world's
climate dominated. Others faced extinction. Most extinction
rates varied with the individual abilities to migrate to favorable areas and take hold. Many species now faced another
threat of extinction.
Agrarian men turned hunter dido't help such animals as
the wooUy mammoth which provided food, clothing, tools,
some architectural materials, and the thriU of the kill. Nondomesticated animals avoided man and the danger he presented. Animals such as Sasquatch, the Almas, the Yeti and
the like practiced siIperior self-preservational behavior.
Almost total avoidance of many was necessary due to the distorted man-likeness they possessed. As man killed man with a
twisted passion, so men would destroy such huinanoid monstrosities. The "monsters" retreated to the wilderness. 'We
still hunt them today.
Implications: Current Iifeforms are obviously survivors,
not in the tautological, Darwinian sense but in a more fascinating way. We survived the fall of mabbul, (the ancient
me Hebrews gave to "the waters above"), into teom, (the
former oceans) and ragia, (the former sky), which toppled
and then feU to earth. We have come thru the subsequent
localized disasters, aftershocks from the Great Flood. Who
can say what sort of terrestrial and extraterrestrial induced extinction events shook portions of the earth before the fall of
mabbul? The Hebrews needn't record events on the other side
of the globe. !fnot for the media this author would stiU be igPursuit 146

norant 'of Mt. St. HeJens' multi-megaton explosion. I was only a few thousand miles away and never felt a tremor.
We are surrounded by surviving life, holding out year to
year, some gaining, some losing a foothold before the great
. shakings to come. We are participant witnesses to this struggle to perpetuate the species, to endure to the end.
. Competition, catastrophe, and general extinction has not
. only reduced the original diversity of plant and animal manifestations but comparably narrowed the family of man. Our
ancestors were a varied lot with the fossil record bearing
testimony to such. Alongside of fossil "men" we find the.
bones of various "ape" creatures. Where one draws the line
(if one needs a line), between these fossil men and apes is a
game with rules that permutate every time a new shred of the .
"originstruction" manual is unearthed.
Inferences: No evidence exists to date that forces one to
conclude that man's presence in this world, is the result of
solely natural processes spewing forth replicating, information-enriched life, out of the uncertain oscillations of entropic
energy states.
Part One: On Becoming
An author confirming my early suspicions about today's
vogue history of man is Jeffrey Goodman. Inquiring skeptics
do not appreciate this "errant" anthropologist spreading his
highly speculative opinions. Goodman's independent style
aild willingness to uniquely approach the issue of human
origins is refreshing. To begin, let's consider some points raised in his book, The Genesis Mystery. (Ref. 2)
They are:
1) Coexistence of various hominid species
2) Lack of change within species over time
3) Evidence of recent dates for species assumed extinct
4) Evidence of "modern" man further back in earth
history' than accepted
5) Macroevolution's failure to produce Homo sapiens
6) Interventionary theory
.
A~ the outset I must mention that points 1) thru 3) directly
.impinge on the forthcoming subject of Sasquatchian-type
animals. Here we have "things" that are designated as being
"ethnoknown" (Ref. 3), (familiar to the indigenous populace), but are strictly rejected as obvious heresy (heresay?) by
vociferous "clergymen" of scientific occupation. What
makes such animals improbable or unexpected? Is it our
superior reasoning according to pure logic? Could it be those
gradually narrowed perspective(s) we have been force-fed
since 10th grade biology class? I suspect the latter.
I wiU briefly list some '''coexistence'' material Goodman
presents in The Genesis Mystery:
-Hominoid aitimals living together in time,'(stratigraphic,
. geographic, and/or radiometric clues) lead one to suspect
Louis Leakey was right in seeing no 'simple' evolutionary
scenario leading to man. (Refer to p. ISO)
eAustralopithecines, Homo habilis, Homo erectus overlap
in time! (Refer to pp. 164-165)
eH. erectus, Neanderthals, and modern man coexisted!
(Refer to pp. 164-165, 170-171, and 174-176)

Fourth .Quarter 1988

If vaauely interested, you are urged to check into Goodman's book. I will not go into a rambling review here but only offer my thoughts on the recurrent interventionary idea(s).
As expected, if faced with the impotence of assorted
macroevolutionary ancestors and purely natural forces, many
then look to the twilight zone. Space "brothers," tinkering
spirits, and/or extra-dimensional Dr. Frankensteins are invoked to get mankind over the concocted hump of perpetual
monkeyshines. I am dismayed. What ever became of "In the
beginning God, (excuse me). created...?"
Goodman mentions "Ood," yet if only a tinkerer toying
with pr~stent matter, any "ex nihilo" concept slips back
into nothingness itself. Who needs such a god? Goodman's
research is warranted but his conclusions are the fruit of certain inherent evolutionary views he seems desirous to set
aside.
On the literary trail of Sasquatch, I have repeatedly encountered arguments against its reality that were tailored to
fit macroevolutionarY theory. Similarly so, Goodman addresses the failure of macroevolution to produce "modern"
man. So what are the current choices for our genesis as well as
relic hominoids? Here are some for starters:
(Narrative music is suggested during this discourse.)
Choice 1: Put on Ravel's "Bolero," sit back and envision
the following ..see gracile dinosaurs running, transformed into birds, dawn-age shreWs scurrying out from the shadows
now sitting comfortably reading the latest PURSUIT issue
imagine such wonders, trial and error, ad infinitum, millions
of years of small change all due to natural causes ...ah yes,
favorable DNA copying errors, feel the environmental
pressures surging, squeezing forth from the mold "fitter"
misfits, so they survive...even now, trust it happens today,
new species?, yes we indeed see microchange, so then maybe
later, (much later), even new genera, see a new orderl ... and
sift now thru the fOssil record for the multitude(?) of transitional forms ...keep sifting, don't give up ...contemplate the
outdated and useless religious behavior of men ...you are on
your own now and gradually you achieve macroevolutionary
nirvana? Please stop the music.
Choice 2: Now get out Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring," sit
back and entertain the previously detailed fantasy. This time,
however, the changes can come quickly, overnight (geologically speaking), in spasms, veritable leaps of luck propel you
to untold levels of biological complexity ...larger DNA copying errors tum out markedly differing "manuscripts," witness a phenotypical monster standing on the border of parental rejection, observe genotypical card shuffling flirting with
S2-card pickup ... and we hope the deck restacks itself on impact for the ongoing game of Iife...some forms maintain
stasis, resist (1) change, leaving the scene as they arrived ...
geographic isolation, microcosms of mutant species thrive,
migrating back into the old genetic mainstream as a new gene
pool, new kids on the block will see coexistence, ultimate
dominance, or likely extinction.. .leaving little or no fossil
clues as to their macromutation vacation, see tectonic
upheavals demolish their isolated "macro-evo-condo" ...dig
into the strata of your imagination and find only the "pre"
and "post" forms, be resolved, that valid transitional forms
are expected to be missing ...only "before and after" images
serve as the evidence ... speculate on man's spiritual aspirations merely the "opiate of the people," foolish rites springing
from ignorance ...the song is over and you have skipped
through the halls of saltation, punctuated equilibria as Darwin never dreamed possible. Mother Nature gets jumpy
under stress?
Fourth Quarter 1988

Choice 3: Take your pick of either Lizst's "Mephisto

Waltz" or Oukas' "Sorcerer's Apprentice," adjust the
volume and recall scenes from either of the above '~origin
dreams" as you are inclined ...yet now you leave the realm of
natural causes, expanding your awareness beyond our spacetime encapsulated reality ... somewhere along the way the
"Supreme One" intervenes (tapping some likely simians on
their heads?), thence arises new consciousness, soul and
spirit, and here we are today with bigger nuclear arsenals and
the rmest religious edifices your money can buy .....Qod"
nudges things along here and there as needful in our best interests ...SO then the Adam and Eve of religious yore were
literary constructs of the didactic design? ..our religions are
the evolutionary by-products of our consciousness rediscovering the long forgotten rlrSt tap from "The Ouider" of men's
affairs? ...now you know why we often scratch our receded
sagittal crests when in deep thought ... Hooray for the day we
will evolve into "gods" ourselves!? ... so much for this minilesson on theistic evolution.
Choice 4: Pull out Copeland's "Appalachian Spring" and
cue in his "Fanfare for the Common Man" as the rma1e.
Oase your eyes ...concentrate...reject the premise that life
spontaneously arose from non-life...accept the idea of archetypallifeforms coming into being supernaturally according to the desires of a ..Creator .....realize that all asserted
macroevolutionary events exist solely in the mind of the
"believer" and are not based on reality ... now observe these
created forms ("kinds," types), remaining essentially static
thru time not evolving into drastically new lifeforms ... think
of the ever - growing list of extinct, ancient life being
reclassified as extant, recent marvels ...witness wide variations
on a theme are possible with built-in genetic limits for each
ancestral form ... behold an original plan, design, or set of information being coded into all forms of life, DNA,
synergistically facilitating the existence and replication of
those lifeforms ...consider yourself the unique part of this
creative tour de force, endued with a special consciousness
range; soul (mind, will, emotion) and spirit (Creatorsensitive), in a physical housing, given in the first moments of
creation ...ponder those "religious" inclinations arising from
an internal "hungering" for communion with our Creator, to
obtain any possible hint of man's ultimate purpose in this
universe ... speculate now and sense, a special origin implies a
relatedly special destiny... you have just meandered down the
main garden path of special creation.
(Narrative music can stop now if desired.)
Granted there can be numerous variations, additions, and
recombinations of the above 4 general ideas about our origin.
All of the above and below ideas must invariably invoke a
certain religiosity and "faithing" the details along. We do not
observe wholesale macroevolution nor do we see archetypal
animals created ex nihilo today. Even if we did witness such it
cannot prove that's how it all originated initially.
Again we are forced to surmise the particular method(s).
Some variants indicate that man is the result of outside, extraterrestrial intervention (a lucrative theme for some paperback publishers). Others hold that the universe was seeded
(panspermia), with "intelligent" life (Ref. 4), that was encapsulated in space-voyaging bacteria, viruses, and so forth.
Earth was "suitable" and life is the harvest of some unknown
sower(s) out there or that were out there? Are we orphans of
the universe? Still I ask where and how did the sowers and/or
interveners come into being? And a distant radio chants,
"Same as it ever was, same as it ever was."
Pursuit 147

Go ahead, argue valiantly that we are spawn of people long

ago marooned on this world when their superstring transport
device malfunctioned. Anything goes in the diverse 20th century world views! To this author, most current origin theories
do mak!= great backdrops for science-fiction classics but do
not adequately explain what is observed.
The data is there, sometimes hard to fmd, and even "lost"
by those who see their own tenets are faltering from journal
to journal. What is "known" is not data itself but accepted
interpretation of data. Data can be massaged and normalized
to eliminate "noise" and control variability. Beware of those
built-in significances. Watch for a "drifting" in the original
objective sampling technique. Check out who funds the
research and determine their goals. Pure research is a rarity
these days. So be forewarned as you swallow (this paper included).
One can be misled by an opinion's professi~nal position,
d~s, age, and personality. In the fmal analysis, theory
choices should be personal versus borrowed. Theories should
be updated; reaffirmed, modified, or canceUed with new data
accumulation. This process will aid cryptozoologists and
origins researchers in their endeavors to unravel the
unknown.
Part Two: TIme Frames
Skeletal remains of a gigantic primate are unearthed by a
Yukon prospector. The bones are ir:rltially dated at 3 million
years old. Do cryptozoologists accept the dating? Might we
argue for a more recent date placing this animal within the
last millenium?What of intrusive strata, erosion, mixing, contamination, complex histories of adjacent" rockbeds, an incorrect applica~ion of the dating method and so forth? Alongside
the excitement of new hominoid evidences in North America,
the dating issue would figure prominent in the fossil foray.
Anomalous stones and bones are often besmerched by a
variety of charges. One salvo voUeyed ainis at the veracity' of
radiometric and stratigraphic dating. Another attacks where
the discoverer obtained his college degrees.(Refs. 5 and 6) If
you can't shake the evidence, then attack the collector, and
ultimately his findings and his professionalism are deemed
dubious. It may not be cricket but it happens nonetheless.
Briefly I will discuss select dating methodology and how it
relates to the discerning cryptozoologist.
Our planet's billions of birthdays were presented as a firm
foundation to me all throughout my school days. Radiometric and related dating procedures waxed more "dependable"
each year like that Timex watch which took a licking and kept
on ticking. Such a "given" was the springboard for envisioning all sorts of events transpiring on this planet.
For many, this dating "issue" is one .of those situations
where you can either take it up or let it lay. Certain groups,
namely the "young earth" creationists amass data and
elucidate hypothetical observations that question the "old
earth" premise.
In a very concise manner I summarize their views:
1) Decay rate constants of relevant radio-isotopes are
assumed to have been constant in the eons past.
2) Original (in the beginning ... ), isotopic ratios are also an
assumed "given" in the unobservable past.
3) Isotopic ratios are believed to have been changing in a
mathematically predictable way. (Given that I, 2, 3, or all
could come into play, "fool-proof" isochron graphs are
therefore negated. Slopes and intersections indicating
'geologic ages or isotopic ratios at "day one" or zero-time for
the sample(s) are not self-checki~g.btit self-deceiving data. It
Pursuit 148

is not uncommon for the "correct" isochron graph to be

superseded by revised updates that are more "acceptable" to
the chrono-folks consensus and verdict.)
4) Other "young earth" evidences can be demonstrated
adopting similar assumption-modes used by "old earth" advocates.
.
. 5) Overall, extrapolation of theoretically stable processes
into the unseen past is not the best sc~ence but merely "acceptable" and convenient.
Before leaving this question of timing, I will offer some interesting info on stratigraphic dating. Fossil homuuds and
relic hominids are soon to foUow so please endure these prerequisite opening ceremonies. .
" ... our geological clocks and stratigraphic concepts
need working on."
.
-William R. Corliss
1980, Unknown Earth (Quote 1)
The present-day geo-"Iogic" 'column had its genesis in the
minds of early creationists according to the late Luther D.
Sunderland (an origins researcher and' aerospace engineer). I
attempted to establis~ personal communication concerning
the info he had collected but he was hospitalized. He returned
to his Creator in 1987 ~fore we could discuss geology and
"young-earth" creationism.
Sunderland's research (Ref. 7) indicates the geo-column as
being assumption based on assumption. So it goes:
1) early progressive creationists assumed many cyclic ages
of creation, catastrophe, re-creation, etc.,
2) uniformitarian, "old earth" creationists resisting
Noachian Flood geology reinterpret the geo-column ,
3) evolutionists adopt this concept of "ages" and drop
creation theory,
4) most current - day sciep.ce retains this geo-column,
treating it like a guide or filing' system to chart ages and events
in the past.
. .
.
This all seems just fine until .one takes the time to weed
through the many oddities in the '''flle'' itself. I ~iU list some
of these in a: moment. Consi~er this. You discover errors
repeatedly in a filing system; not just misfiled items but whole
sections. are missing, inexplicably misplaced and/or sequentially arranged in reverse order. Who would feel confident the
file was !iependable enough to stake their professional reputation and "areer on such? .. .only sojneone who trusts in
"ideal". concepts while overlooking the troubling realities the
stones sil~t1y cry out to all.
.

And 'now some problems iit the geo-paradigm column:

-millions of years of strata are missing at sites, without an

adequate explanation,
-young, recent strata rest directly and very uniformly on
very ancient strata, unexplained in but a few cases,
-older strata sits ever so. neatly on younger strata covering
several thousands of square mil~s, NO OVERTHR~STING
here but hard reality in situ,
-every "known" age has been found lying directly on the
globe's basement floor;. the Precambrian fouO(l~tion of the
crumbling geo-column, .
.
-the entire geo-column, top to bottom; in order, all in one
locale,. (I am allowing a IO-cubic-mile area), has not been
found anywhere on this planet,
.
-"out-of-order" fossils, explained 'with geological lingo
even when no physical evidence exists to validate the geoevent still fresh out of the cerebral hat.
(Much of this list was gleaned from A.W. Mehlert's June
87 article, entitled "Why I do not accept the' Validity of the
Geologic Column~' (Ref. 8)
Fourth Quarter 1988

I stop here to point out that "index" fossils scattered hither

and yon, blow the concept of a long-term, geo-column out of
the water. Did the idea of "ages" needing to be indexed exist
in the mind alone? Is the paper idea yellowing before its
time?
In my time teaching the physical and biological sciences I
stressed over and over the fact that much of science is models.
Those working models, cellulose concepts, subject to, expected to change, seemed to defy the students' limited
comprehension. It was difficult for young and pliable minds
then, and now we "learned" ones refuse to accomodate_
reve8Ied truths when we've put much of ourselves into our
precious models. We have so over-conceptualized our ability
to recognize the real world that now most of us are mere
"yesmen." We sit in our seminars and conferences nodding,
numb to a wholly alien world awaiting us, a world void of our
stale visions.
"
Finally, within the framework of stratigraphic dating we
encounter the time warp referred to as biochronology. When
other dating methods are inapplicable then fossilized flora
and fauna serve as the indices. In a pig's tooth or some
microfossil we find info to date adjacent fmds. This, of
necessity, presupposes macroevolution as fact and select
fossils are time's signature.
Those out-of-place index fossils may surreptitiously slide
into a broader stratigraphic range or if necessary slip away into an "oddity" me for future analysis. For me, accepting
most biochrono-dates compares to purchasing milk with no .
expiration date after being told it must be fresh because the
yogurt shelved below it is not out of date. Such logic is so rife
with risk that compounded error easily becomes precedent.
An unmistakable hardline adherance among proponents of
both the young and old earth theories makes it difficult to
suggest adjustments or possible reassessments. Could the PreCambrian or "basement" rocks be vastly older than the
overlying sedimentary strata? Could all sedimentary layers be
several thousands of years old? Could the whole planet and
solar system be recent in origin? I believe these are questions
worth investigation rather than castigation. Historical science
is full of the radical, awkward, and "Clearly" impossible concepts overturning the fashionable thought-modes of the past.
I believe we are on the verge of great changes and a rippling
effect in all the sciences. The accepted age of the Earth occupies a flux state in my opinion.
Look into Corliss' Unknown Earth, Whitcomb and Morris' Genesis Flood, McCreedy Price's writings, and search out
their bibliographical references for more info on geological
enigmas. Reassess your cryptozoological time frames.
"In general, dates in the 'correct ball park' are assumed
to be correct and are published, but those in disagreement with other data are seldom published nor are
discrepancies fully explained."
-R.L. Mauger, Ph.D. (Geology)
1977, Contributions to Geology (Quote 2)
Part Three: Hominid Heresies
From King Kong to Mighty Joe Young and then Chewbacca the Wookie, we now watch Spielberg's sensitive Sasquatch, Harry. Misunderstood monsters wandering the
neighborhoods of our cultural mind receive additional reinforcement. Is a Sasquatch gentle and retreating? Is it possible
man may befriend a Sasquatch? Think again.
Consider the reports that Sasquatch has no patience with dogs
in general, ripping them apart like motheaten rag-dolls. As
the dog irritates so Sasquatch annihilates. Such behavior is

Fourth Quarter 1988

understandable from personal experience. I have no real

quarrel with K-9's yet many dogs will attack "that intruder."
Sometimes I get the impression that bipedal targets are all the
more a challenge. Let me defend Sasquatch behavior a moment.
I have methodically cruised many a stand of timber, waded
tree to tree through tupelo-cypress swamps and cottonmouth
dens, surveyed for future roads, houses, and cul-de-sacs.
Snakes were a nuisance and yellow-jacket nests are painful
memories. To this day, however, the belligerent dog in the
wood or on the street brings out defensive rage. Given the size
and strength of Sasquatch, I picture a threatening dog vs.
myself, and chances are the dog would become history. So I
give Sasquatch the benefit of the doubt concerning a possible
penchant for brutality. (I'm of the opinion that people are the
reason for troublesome dogs. Decent folk raise decent dogs.
Irresponsible owners produce most of the problems. Training, leashes, and fences are still available.)
Stories circulate of Sasquatch attacks targeting people. I remind myself first of election time in Haiti, labor camps near
the Arctic Circle, and the subways of New York City. Shifting my "awareness" into an alternate perspective through imagination is illuminating. One may sense how the other
"feels" be it man, animal, or inanimate object. In the case of
Sasquatch, it wasn't until the fall of '87 that I unwittingly
tasted "his" perspective.
After setting out for a healthy hike, I happened across a
fresh logging operation in my favorite tramping grounds;
choked streams, mud, twisted and splintered trees, massive
tire ruts, stumps, and drastic change. Though very close to
this thing in my past, I felt saddened, threatened. Later I
crossed an old meadow to discover a new housing development equipped with very territorial dogs and very proper
la~. Walking on, unharmed, I "left the asphalt to pace a
deserted dirt road. A jogger escorted by two dogs finally sent
me crashing into a grown-over clearcut just to lose myself in a
spot where all was wood and sky. Spooking two deer, I turned to count antler points only to see in the distance a hunter's
tree stand. I felt "hunted" then. I forged deeper into thick
growth and later sat down on a rotting stump, out of breath,
sweating, and pensive. Is this just a small indication of how a
Sasquatch reacts to the 2Oth-century closing in steadily and
relentlessly? Pardon my anthropomorphisms.
Scary tales, monsters in the basement, and howls in the
night serve only to cloud the issue. With all seriousness gone
aside, the Sasquatch researcher dons his weirdo shoes and
heads for the hills. A similar vague veil of weirdness is drawn
over my crypto-beast discussions with friends. I feel somewhat out-of-place in the juvenile section of the public library
rummaging through monster books. Worst of all, I have to
peruse 90"10 fodder in the "new" age/occult section to fmd
useful cryptozoology info. A lot of book shifting to the
science section is overdue for Sasquatch. It'll happen one day.
Sasquatch is like the platypus. Both have been treated by
the scientific world as impossible animals. Both have been
considered elaborate hoaxes. Both have eluded classification
as described by those reporting their characteristics. Both
have been proclaimed as unlikely by widely accepted macroevolutionary guidelines. Both have been seen only in isolated
areas of the globe.
"
Only the platypus is now fully accepted by the scientific
world. Only Sasquatch remains in the twilight of controversy.
Only Sasquatch however will alter the face of science that our
society sees. Sasquatch will leave egg-laden visages visible for
decades once" "he" is ~nally recognized.
Pursuit 149

Napier writes (Ref. 9) of the n~ to restructure evolutionary thought in relation to a Sasquatchian revelation.
Krantz has spoken publicly (Ref. 10) indicating that Sasquatch will not change evolutionary models. I must aaree
with both. They represent the attitudes of many. Once the
Sasquatch (et a1) fmd acceptance and are further scrutinized,
others will see new opportunity to blast holes in the earthen
dam of macro-evolutionary theory. Still others will continue
to hold fast to the crumbling heap Darwin erected over a century ago, up to their chins in the rising waters of scientific
revolution.
Some revolutionary ideas however can have inherent tenets
that hamper a broader acceptance of crypto-Iife. An assortment of Sasquatchery writers give a flesh-and-blood animal
attributes of the ethereal, astral, and/or the "goblin"-type
extradimensioaal being. This line of reasoning is the predictable result of our "advanced" culture's inability to fmd and
contain the Sasquatch. One might reason that because SOII)ething has eluded us this long with our techno-intelligentsia
antennae out, more than our day to day space-time is involved. I cannot readily reach such conciusions.
Similarly hard pills to swallow classify Sasquatch as a
Jungian archetypal projection slashing from the psyche
across the backdrop of the world's few remaining wildernesses. It is even suggested that internal memory functions
popping forth from genetically inscribed tablets buried in our
brains, are externalized as hairy hallucinations. Egadsl Sasquatch, a spectre from before the dawn of man? I? Please teD
me what made thousands of footprints in remote areas where
discovery would be unlikely. How much does an illusion.
weigh and what is its average stride? How do several individuals experience identical illusions at the same time? What
kind of genetic memory rips stumps apart, straddles fallen
trees, splits them open lengthwise (Ref. 11), and leaves no
claw marks? Can a Jungian projection produce an often
reported, awful stench and send dogs into barking frenzies?
Who informed the Sasquatchian "goblin" to manifest itself
in accordance with Bergmann's Rule (Ref. 12), to satisfy
logically height/weight/footprint size and stride length ratios,
and to follow other established zoogeographical principles?
For decades we have been chasing either a huge, flesh-andblood primate or one of the most elaborate, painstakingly
authentic, religiously repeated, and vastly widespread
shadows known to date.
. Ah yes, the BigfootlUFO connection stories, I almost
forgot to mention such. O.K., now that that's been considered I move on to other things.
Napier, Krantz, Green, Dahinden, Shackley et aI track the
sort of creature I believe is out there, very physically making
its mark on our lives. Leaving documented, researched footprints, making known its foraging behavior !n rotting timbers
and rock piles, having vocalizations recorded, jay-walking
our roads, and keeping just one big step ahead of us, sisquatch persists.
. As large as a Sasquatch is reported, its behavior is almost
cunning; a seemingly intentional, inteIligent, indiscernable
lifestyle. This bipedal giant could maneuver through the
wilderness faster than most men for a greater distance, essentially "vanishing" at will. Sasquatch sc:ems to prefer swiftly
strolling away, turning around, and slipping off into mystery,
again.
Earlier researchers (Ref. 13) have toyed with the idea of
Sasquatchian sensory abilities yet unknown to man. This cannot be ruled out. It could explain extended survival of the
species and relative high scarcity of COntact with man.
Pursuit 150

Bats with echolocation, birds aDd bacteria with biornaanetic compasses, and Bigfoot with .. ? It follows that there remains some sensory arrays yet undescribed in cryptolife.
Could Sasquatch sense other creatures' brainwaves pulsating
within some intensity gradient? Macrophages locate their
target by responding to orliin points of specific biochemical
gradients within our own bodies. What of a Sasquatch reacting to danger by instinctively "jamming" the normal brainwaves of an intruder (Ref. 14)? There is much we don't understand about our own "awareness." Dolphin brain structure, shark navigation, wh81e songs, and so forth (Ref. IS),
ought to teU us something about the chances that Sasquatch
holds secrets all "his" own. Sasquatch is no ordinary ape.
Something peculiar. is going on with this animal. Are there
clues as to what a Sasquatch could be?
In considering Sasquatch's taxonomic roots, we look back
in time. Earth's time and history are beneath our feet and the
bones of man and beast await discovery~ We've already
unearthed a myriad of fossilized life. Let us go to the bone
pile together.
Most researchers agree that Sasquatch is a primate but that
is where consensus tapers off. Some regard it a unique nonhuman primate and others envision a sub-man, another
elusive evo-Iink in the hallowed chain of life.
We now see the bone pile of primates. We carry with us a
general description of Sasquatch. Are there bones already
classified to point to Sasquatch genera? Pongid, hominid or a
"novel classification are our options.
Those living their lives close to the bones have brought new
animals, new names, and new controversies to the world.
AustralopitheCines, Homo this and that, Gigantopithecines,
Dryopithecines, and so on haunt the halls of paleontology. Is
Sasquatch one of the above? At present, after sifting the
data, the bones of Gigantopithecine affmities show the most .
promise. I explain later.
Australopithecines, even like KNM-WT 17000, a "hyperrobust" specimen ("robust" /"gracile" is now in debate),
are not big enough to match the dimensions of Sasquatch.
Present day gorillas would outsize A.boisei/aethiopicus,
robustus et a1. Sasquatch or a Gigantopithecus would both
dwarf the largest gorilla alive today. Sasquatch, if need be,
could pick up an Australopithecine and heave it a healthy 10
or 12 meters. See "Lucy" in the sky a'flyinl' (WIien ~he lands
she could tum into two different species.)
. Dryopithecines flunk out for the same reasons. They don't
weigh in enough for this match; Furthermore, the Zuckermanian school of paleo-professionals assert that Australopithicines don't have the right bone structures for the perpetual,
(Sasquatchian-type), bipedalism anyway. 'Nuff s8id.
Even those Homo sp. candidates are again ruled out due to
the recurrent norm for overall dimensions. Having giants in
our past and on the wrestling mat today do not depict the
norm. Memory fails me as to any of them being furry, domeheaded, forehead recessive, and/or generally Sasquatchian.
Homo sp. has been credited with such things as culture,
language, fare, and tool use. As yet I have come across no
record of Sasquatch cultural evidences. Screeches, squawks,
mutterings, and the like faD within animal vocalization parameters. Sasquatch pyrotechnics are undocumented. Lastly,.
tool use is no longer an exclusive human behavior. To see a
Sasquatch hurl objects, brandish a club, or pull brush
together to sleep in/on can still be varied animal behavior.
Beaver dam technology is impressive but it is not a watermark
in the human sense. Sasquatch does not fit into human or
."near-human" category. I hasten to add that being convinc-

Fourth Quarter 1988

ed of these "facts" is not a lifetime, hunting permit for Sasquatch trophies. I enter this debate later in the paper.
Our next evidential candidate is Gigantopithecus sp. This
fossil primate was big enough. From teeth and mandible sizes
we can extrapolate this animal to fit Bigfoot shoes.Postcraniai
bones are lacking, so it is all allometric conjecture. Nine feet
tall and 600-800 Ibs. have been repeatedly estimated. If data
on new Gigantopithecus evidence will ever come from the
Langson Province of N. Vietnam, we will then be able to further analyze the developing Sasquatch/Gigantopithecus connection. Coexistence evidence of Gigantopithecus and
hominid remains is reported. (Refer to Duke University's The
Chronicle, pg. 8, 11/11/86 or contact Malcolm Browne of
the New York Times News Service.)
Some closing observations on Sasquatch footprints are offered. Researchers say Gigantopithecus sp. is possibly leaving
the Yeti prints in the snows of the Himalayas and the sasquatch trails in North American woodlands. Yeti prints are
unmistakeably pongid yet Sasquatch leaves a more noticeably
huge, weight-specialized, hominid track. Does Sasquatch represent a yeti with man-like feet? On the other foot, do Yeti
podia represent a Sasquatch with mountain-climbing specialization and pongid attributes? Sasquatch feet could be argued
as evidence against being a relic Gigantopithecine and some
could propose an incredibly monstrous," ultra-robust strain of
extant Australopithecine lumbering along logging trails.
Never mind those troubling three-toed Bigfoot prints.
Eventually Sasquatch could be accepted and categorized
with a hominid status. How does a Sasquatch attain unto
"manhood?" The mantle of humanity has been placed on
and slipped off several solely "bone-known" creatures. We
can now inspect the probable methodology of a Sasqatch"
entering the recalcitrant lineage of man.
Part Four: Oem Bones Gonna Rise!
I'd settle for Sasquatch cranial andlor postcranial bones
whether they came from Washington state, Canada, the
Poconos of Pennsylvania, or a Florida swamp. If then dated
to a few millenia B.P., Sasquatch et al would swiftly attain
new credibility and new levels of logistical wranglings in journals bold enough to print such matters. [B. P. i.e., before present]
Imagine that pile of Sasquatch bones. The hills are thronged afresh with a bevy of Bigfoot hunters while the chosen few
scientifically usher "his" bones into a unique ape taxon, or
the hominid family, or maybe a new suborder of primate.
As with man-like fossils before, so it will be with any Sasquatch bones. Grafting of new ancestral branches into man's
family tree is directly related to the type of fruit the gardener
desires. Fossil finds can offer precisely the type of data the
finder expects. Politics of influence and professional opinion
reorient interpretation of what fossils indicate. Clear perception and unfettered reception of new evidence is often
hampered by the "weight of opinion." (Refer to Fix's The
Bone Peddlers, pp. 55-61 and Lewin's Bones o/Contention,
pp. 115-121, Refs. 16 and 17).
No boneslfossils recognized as Sasquatch are available.
\ We can still reconsider problems crypto-taxonimists are fac"ing. Aside from the prepond~ant pilgrimage to dig up persistently missing links, there remains the problems of undefined
ranges of sexual dimorphism, intraspecific polymorphism or
mosaic micro-evo diversity, and those coexistence cases
sprouting like kudzu.
Searching out the latest material on relic hominoids led me
to Myra Shackley's book, Still Living? (Ref. 18) One of the
most informative, scholarly, and up-lo-date sources on
Fourth Quar:ter 1988

EurolAsian relic hominoids is now available. Sasquatch is

not the main thrust of her work but is treated quite respectfully. Shackley offers relic Neanderthal man and also suggests
extant H. erectus to account for some Asian wildmen. These
relic "men" fit an overall stature within modern man's range
of variability.
At this point I offer further relevant data on both Neanderthal man and H. erectus. Classic Neanderthal man was
noticeably different in bone structure from modern man. It is
now without dispute that Neanderthals and Cro-magnons coexisted. Enough cranial specimens of Neander man exist that
demonstrate a mosaic of features blending typical "Neanderthalness" and "modem"looks (less of the "robust" specialization), all in one individual. Endocast studies and controversial
simulated vocal-tract studies of Neanderthal man
do not prove him a dim and dumb brute. Ralph Holloway in
Ancestors: The Hard Evidence, (Ref. 19) after allometrically
revised endocast studies of various Neanderthal crania
observes that Neander man is unjustly subjugated and
stereotyped. Specifics of his work suggest Neander man had a
brain basically resembling yours and mine. "Primitive" brain
aspects are not present when all" factors are considered. With
this in mind, should we rush to concluding Neanderthal
"freaks" are monkeying around in Asia? I doubt seriously
that the cultured, intelligent, and articulate Neander man as he
existed in his glory days, has now become a relic hominoid
bounding across the ridges and ranges of Asia. A stronger
case for dispersion, cultural degeneration, and extensive
regression must be demonstrated to envision Shackley'S
"Neanderthalmasti" hominoid. I could easier accept relic
Australopithecines of the"Black skull" variety being in Outer
Mongolia. Shackley's associated tool finds in the area of
hominoid sightings still remain inconclusive.
Now the hint of H. erectus being the fall guy instead of
Shackley's relic Neanderthal, meets with complications for
various reasons. Again from Origins 0/ Modern Humans and
Ancestors: The Hard Evidence, arises the realization that H.
erectus is also a markedly divergent creature in cranial structure. In certain skulls the "classic" features can melt away into wide polymorphism from continent to continent. Gradations into Neanderthaloid traits and in some areas
(Australia), even the hint of H. sapiens is evident. This has led
some (Ref. 20) to postulate dropping the species designation"
of erectus and create H. sapiens erectus as has already happened with Neanderthal man.
Most authorities balk at the idea of a H. erectus variant
coexisting with modern man. However, the late Louis
Leakey, Jeffrey Goodman, Myra Shackley, and this author
have taken to this view. Such an idea is not sweeping paleontological circles as yet. A few more years, a few more bones,
and I predict coexistence will strike again.
H. erectus crania in its most robust, "archaic," or highly
specialized morph appears ape-like. Tool use is ascribed to
this rugged hominoid breed. Have we a tool-using pongid or
simply a hominid? If we span the opposite end of this
hominoid's polymorphism spectrum, something else could be
surmised. Specimens of H. erectus are known now (which
those needing to do so), and conveniently being tagged "ar; chaic" H. sapiens. From the Kow and Mungo swamps of
Australia, recent, less specialized cranial morphs of H. erectus have been set on the table of debate. During a phone conversation with a certain "authority" at Duke University, I
was excitedly, emphatically, and emotionally informed that
H. erectus NEVER made it to the Australian continent. I still
question how this fellow knows s u c h . "
"
Pursuit 151

Fmally"I met with., a comfortable balance of reason and

speculation in a Dr. Matt Cartmill, Professor of Anatomy
and Anthropology at Duke University, while discussing this
case of H. erectus in Australia. After an informative and
balanced discussion, I was directed to recent material on the
issue. Why can't more people involved in such research be as
helpful? In a 1987 paper, "One Hundred Years Of Paleontology," Dr. Cartmill co-authored with Drs. David Pilbeam
and the late Glynn Issac, it was observed,
~' ... scientists who study human evolution have saddled
themselves with the paradoxical job of explaining how
causes operating throughout nature have in the case of "
Homo sapiens produced an effect that is radically "
unlike anything else in nature." (Quote 3)
I leave this debate over (non-classic) H. erectus vs. (archaic)
H. sapiens to return to Sasquatch. I hope the reader's consciousness has been raised to recognize the immense challenge
of rightly interpreting hominid fossils. Not only is there
challenge but there exists the recurrent danger of premature
analysis and subsequent fallacious conclusions. Check your
history books for confirmation. Every new announcement
and paper based on limited fossil evidence and unlimited conjecture is as safe as an eggshell crust overlying quicksand. An .
unfathomable morass of error eludes detection sometimes for
decades. Lastly, I mention the simple fact that scientists are
mere men and subject to the unsual assortment of personality
irregularities which spills over into their life's work and goals.
Part nve: Dead or Alive
Methodology that will obtain indisputable Sasquatch
evidence sharply divides many in heated debate. Should we
kill or capture? Films, photos, footprints, feces, hair, and all
the hundreds of hair-raising reports leave Sasquatch in limbo.
The majority want blood, bones, and Bigfoot breathing in
their faces behind the bars of the local zoo. Skeptics could
still get in the cage to locate "the hidden zipper if they so
desire.
What's the answer? Who will be the hero? Who wants to
be the villain? Should Sasquatch be declared a sacred cow,
free to roam from sea to shining sea? Perhaps. someone
should call their local chamber of commerce and argue Sasquatch in tourism revenues. Will providing the reality of Sasquatch serve to protect or endanger the species? To know, to
recognize, and to understand have helped other species. A
planned encounter appears as a logical step in the process of
becoming fully aware of the responsibilities we face in regards
to Sasquatch.
I can only suggest an idea detailing a no-kill encounter for
. hard evidence. If Sasquatch is to be a carcass, I again offer
points aimed at maximum utilization of the specimen for
potential research.
No-Kill Encounter (NKE)
At the outset I must leave the particulars such as appropriating funds, specific instrument design, and overall execution of the encounter to the able, interested Sasquatch
devotee. This idea may not be novel but to date I haven't seen
it in print nor heard of such.

NKE aspects:
1. Animal(s) will be marked for subsequent observation
and identification.
2. Marked animal(s) will be tracked electronically and at
times visually.
3. Samples of hair, epidermal tissue, and blood may be
recovered.
Pursuit 152

"4. Traced animal(s) might be trailed to an area of higher

concentration of Sasquatch, i.e., social den, home base,
nucleqs of local population, etc.
S. Footpnnts of corrobarative value could be" freshly
recorded and perserved eluring NKE.
6. Audio-visual preparedness could be enhanced during the
triangulation phase of tracking the animal(s).
The NKE device envisioned can be described as an electronically seeded "mudpie." Some of you may of had the joy
of childhood dirt-clod battles. A hit usually brought the standard groan. The more stoic of us could save face by shaking
off the impact. To keep "score" a slightly moistened clod
became a projectile that left its mark upon impact. Ah, those
were the good old days.
Similarly, a super-tenacious "glob" could be encapsulated
in some streamlined "egg." This egg is shot, ejected, or hurled at the target animal. Upon impact it splatters on the hide
throwing out web-like strands outwards into the hair. The
"glob now matted on the hide also carries a micro homing
device for tracking and triangulating. The glob material could
be phosphorescent and of bright orange color to aid in visual
tracking and subsequent spotting of the target animal. If the
glob is pulled off by the animal, samples of hair, tissue, and
possibly blood could be recovered.
Again the logistics of the transmitting device, receiver(s) on
land or in the air, and how to place the "glob" on the
animal(s) I must leave to the pros among us. Think it won't
work and it won't. Try it, modify it, and it may prove to be a
viable alternative to the "kill" scenario.
Now if someone is synchronistically fortunate enough to
sight Sasquatch et al, place the "glob" on the hide, and track
the tagged animal down into a confrontation situation, we are
faced with a dilemma. Does one shoot it with another glob
and let it run some more? Shall one shoot it with grizzly
sominex? Perhaps now one shoots it in the knees with a highpower rifle? Let's shoot it with video cameras and the like?
Maybe a handshake or a friendly wave will suffice in communicating no harm was intended in this willy-nilly chase
through hill and dale. In essence one finds themselves back to
square one. Evidence must now be obtained that will stand
firm in courts of skepticism.
I cannot answer these questions. I merely point out a hypothetical NKE drawn out to a possible crux. Someone will
surely suggest capture but I leave the implications and complications involved therein to the reader's common sense. It
seems we are led to the other alternative. Those who see no
way to end the disputes but to kill Sasquatch are invited to
consider this next portion of text.
.
When you enter Sasquatch territory ready for the kill,
think of what you are really after. Is this a personal rubicon
to cross? Is it the cover of Time and associated revenues ensuing? Is it a public cleansing, vindication, and revitalizing of
your tarnished aura? Is it merely the adventure? Is it that insatiable urge to know the unknown? Is it merely the only
solution to the lingering spectre of Sasquatch? - It is in your
sights, you hold your breath, your grip firm, fmger on the
trigger, and what makes you hesitate? - KABLAMM!!
I hope you do more than shoot, butcher, and haul some
bones and rotting meat out of the woods. Every bit of this
animal is worth an untold wealth of answers. There are ways

to minimally perserve the various tissues on the site of the kill

or later back at your base camp or vehicle. A cooler with
some ice and assorted Tupperware may be the limits of some
folks' concern. (If enough express interest I could offer further detailed protocol for select tissue salvaging.) If only a

Fourth Quarter 1988

Author's illustration of Sasquatch [emerging?]

portion of the animal is savtid rather than left to rot for

hours, then the total waste is lessened for a "kill" situation.
Consider a systematic tissue salvage operation.
.
A word of caution before going into Sasquatch viscera.
First, make certain the animal is dead. This is self-explanatory. Second, treat the carcass as if it were fuD of infectious
disease. Assuming no danger is present could be deadly. A
viral plague (AIDS) is traveling the-world in countless hosts'
body fluids and there may very well be something worse in
this unknown primate. Consider Sasquatch as a potential
disease vector and wear surgical gloves (double-gloving if
desired) when handling any part of the animal. Avoid
breathing the immediate air surrounding the carcass and/or
tissue. Some may chuckle now but weep later if I am correct
in this warning.
In summation, foDows a list of points for consideration
when confronted with a Sasquatch carcass.
1. CoDect and preserve tissue as soon after death as possible.
Postmortem deterioration foDows cessation of blood circulation.
2. Smaller pieces of tissue can be fIxed (preserved) more effIciently on the site.
3. Do not freeze the tissue in any conventional manner. Ice
crystal formation wiD destroy tissue integrity.
4. Attempt a varied collection of tissue from most organs
and areas of the animal.
5. Consider decapitation and retrieval of the cranium.
6. Try to wrap unsampled remains in plastic and seal before
leaving site. Conceal the carcass if left at site.
7. Transport and store tissue near but above freezing point.
8. Contact trustworthy professionals who will not complicate the situation. (e.g., S.I.T.U. or I.S.C. stafO.
9. Call your lawyer as you will need one.
10. Practice your best smile for the media.
Part Six: A Literary Twist-Tie
Skeptics keep themselves on a bed of ease. From the supine
position they comfortably assail the evidences of the
unknown, the unlikely and the unattractive alternatives. Fortean researchers must continue to bring attention to the unseen world peaking itself up out of the prevalent two-dimensional surface concept of reality.
Hopefully, when the skeptic arises from his attitude of a
mental sluggard, he too wiD recognize his bed of comfort is a
disorganized pile of old rags and rubbish. Rags of outdated

Fourth Quarter 1988

ideas and the rubbish of ad hoc revisions still keep many quite
comfortable. Those of us on the "lunatic fringe" have left
our beds to walk on, resolving the questions others cease to
ask.
An axe I grind, alongside many other writers, concerns the
overdue demise of macroevolutionary theory. Darwin's Industrial Aged, Victorian perspective (Ref. 21) produced a
theory of limited application that stiD in the 20th century we
are rewriting, revamping, and rethinking only to fmd it cannot explain life's origin, diversity, and complexity. The more
that is realized about the simplest ceD (Ref. 22) the less we can
accept any "natural" selection giving rise to such. Take a
quantum leap to the human brain (Ref. 23) and here is more
damning evidence against any sort of evolutionary impetus
gifting us with this overgrown organ.
If rigorously applied in all its ramifIcations, typical macroevolutionary theory inevitably lays mankind out 9n a slab of
ice in the morgue of hyper-materialism. It is no wonder the
"dead" rise up and walk elsewhere. Aware of this the
Neodarwinians either criticize the egocentric idea of being
human or tone down the "survive and reproduce" battle cry
of Darwin. The eternal struggle becomes symbiosis and our
supposed individuality a mere stumbling block to survival.
In spite of attempts to corral the human spirit, people wiD
continue to experience other realities. Supernatural things inexplicably alter lives everyday and there then comes a gravitation towards wider perspectives than those offered by the
lords of "mainline" science. From those engrossed with toppling televangelist programs to little flocks absorbed in the
ramblings of hillside "channelers," we witness spiritual
hunger.
Hunger is an aspect of man's existence. BiologicaUy speaking, the cyclic need to feed indicates a healthy internal
response. In humans a protracted lack of hunger is a sign of
stress in the system. Pure inteDectualism, obsessions, skepticism, and other sundry diversions do not satisfy nor explain
the hungering pilgrimage we are on to fInd "food," "that
peace" that goes beyond any understanding. It is a state of
being that man craves and only realizes after ceasing to strive
after it. It is this author's current pilgrimage that leads to the
fInal conclusions of this paper.
Man is indeed a blip on the great video monitor of eternity.
Time and space are transitory. Nevertheless, mankind is more
than one great spasm, twitch, and cough in the universe's
breathing. In spite of matter and energy being fInite, quantum uncertainties and mere fluctuations of one original
thought, eternity is within us.
The human factor in the universal equation vastly complicates purely mechanistic and materialistic views of our origin
and destiny. Again, the view from here, witnesses man as an
ambassador, uniquely representative of the infInite. In aU
cultures, past and present, we fInd ourselves worshipfuUy
conscious of an unseen heritage. We seek to awake from a
dream, to step out of the mist and shadow. We seek the
Source.
Whether we track Sasquatch, saurians, or sea serpents, we
come closer to the dream's end. We are designed to respond
to, pursue after, and be participants in the mystery of the
creation and ultimately the Creator.
This paper is dedicated 10 my son,
Michah Thom Patterson,
March 4, 1986-March ll. 1986
His dream was so brief and his journey so short_

Pursuit 153

REFERENCES CITED
1. Patterson, J. w. (1985). Dinosaurs and Men: The Case For Coexistence. PURSUn' /8, pp. 98-102.
.
2. Goodman, J. (1983). The Genesis Mystery. Random House, New
York.
.
3. Greenwell, J. (1985). Cryptozoology 4, pp. 1-14.
4. Hoyle, F. (1983). Intelligent Life. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston,
New York.
5. Frazier, K., ed. (1986). Science Con/ronts the Paranormal. Prometheus Books, New York.
6. Bray, w. (1988). The Paleoindian Debate. Nature 332, p. 107.
7. Sunderland, L.D. (1986). The Geologic Column: Its Basis and
Who Constructed It. Bible-Science Newsletter 24, pp. 1-2, 5-6,
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.
8. Mehlert, A.W. (1987). Why I Do Not Accept the Validity of the
Geologic Column. Bible-Science Newsletter 25, pp. 1-2, 5-6.
9. Napier, J. (1973). Bigfoot. E.P. Dutton and Co., Inc., New
York.
10. Krantz, G. (1979). "Sasquatch, the Anthropology of the
Unknown." Radio Canada Int'1. broadcast recording. Programs,
pp. 1-5.
11. Hewkio, J .A. (1986). Investigating Sasquatch Evidence in the
Pacific Northwest. Cryptowology 5, pp. 27-37.
12. Halpin, M.M., Ames, M.M., ed. (1980). Manlike Monsters on
Trial. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver and London.
13. Slate, B.A., Berry A. (1976). Bigfoot. Bantam Books, Inc., New
York.
14. Wolfe, M. (1975). Interview with Bob Morgan. PUIlSVIl'S, p.
70.
15. N01lman, J. (1987). Animal Dreaming. Bantam Books, Inc.,
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16. Fix, W.R. (1984). The Bone Peddlers. MacMillan Publishing
Co., New York.
17. Lewin, R. (1987). Bones of Contention. Simon and Schuster,
New York.
18. Shackley, M. (1983). Still Living? Yeti, Sasquatch, and the Neanderthal Enigma. Thames and Hudson, Inc., New York.
19. Holloway, R.L. (1984). The Poor Brain of Homo sapiens
neanderthalensis: See What You Please .. In "Ancestors: The
Hard Evidence" (E. Delson, ed.), pp. 319-324. Alan R. Liss Inc.,
New York.
20. Wolpoff, M., Wu, and Thome (1984). Modern Homo sapiens: A
General Theory of Hominid Evolution Involving the Fossil
Evidence from East Asia and Australia. In "The Origin of
Modem Humans: A World Summary of the Fossil Evidence"
(F.H. Smith, F. Spencer, ed.), pp. 411-483. Alan R. Liss, Inc.,
New York.
21. Rifkin, J. (1983). Algeny. The Viking Press, New York.
22. Denton, M. (1986). Evolution: A Theory in Crisis. Alder and
Alder, Publishers, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland.
23. Dawkins, R. (1986). The Blind Watchmaker. Longman Scientific
and Technical, Longman Group UK Limited, Essex, England.

HOMINID ORIGINS:
I. Begley, S., and Lief, L. (1986). The Way We Were. Newsweek,
11110, pp. 62-72.
2. Bower, B. (1987). Early Human Skeleton Apes Its Ancestors.
Science News /3/, p. 340.
3.8(>wer, B .. (1987). Family Feud: Enter the 'Black Skull'. Science
News /3/, pp. 58-59.
4. Bower, B. (1984). Fossil Find Fleshes Out Early Human. Science
News 17, p. 260.
5. Bower, B. (1987). Robust Hominids: Tooth and Consequences.
Science News, 4/11, p. 229.
6. Brain, C.K. (1984). Cultural and Taphonomic Comparisons of
Hominids from Swartkrans and Sterkfontein. In "Ancestors:
The Hard Evidence" (E. Delson, ed.), pp. 72-75. Alan R. Liss,
New York.

Pursuit 154

7. Brauer, G. (1984). A Craniological Approach to the Origin of

Anatomically Modern Humans in Africa and Implications for the
Appearance of Modem EUropeans. In, "The Origins of Modem
Humans" (F. Smith and F. Spencer, 00.), pp. 327-410. Alan R.
Liss, New York.
8.0arke, R. (1984). Australopitbecus and Early Homo In Southern
Africa. In "Ancestors: The Hard Evidence" (E. Delson, ed.), pp.
171-177. Alan R. Liss, New York.
9. Delson, E. (1987). Evolution and Paleobiology of Robust
Australopithecus. Nature 327, pp. 654-655.
10. Delson, E. (1984). Late Pleistocene Human Fossils and Evolutionary Relationships. In "Ancestors: The Hard Evidence" (E.
Delson, ed.), pp. 296-300. Alan R. Liss, New York.
II. Delson, E. (1988). One Source Not Many. Nature 332, p. 206.
12. Eckhardt, R.B. (1987). Hominoid Nasal Region Polymorphism
and its Phylogenetic. Significance. Nature 328, pp. 333-334.
13. Hitching, F. (1982). The Neck of the Giraffe. New American
Library, New York.
14. Johanson, D.C., Masao, F.T., Eck G.C., White, T.D., Walter,
R.C., Kimbel, W.H., Asfaw, B., Manega, P., Ndessokia, P.,
and Suwa, O. (1987). New Partial Skeleton of Homo habilis from
Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Nature 327, pp. 205-209.
IS. LanJbert, D. and The Diagram Group (1987). The Field Guide to
Early Man. Facts on File Publications, New York.
16. Leakey, R. and Walker, A. (1985). Homo erectus Unearthed.
National Geographic /68, pp. 624-629.
17. Lemonick, M.D. (1986). Redrawing the Family Tree. Time, 8/18,
p.64.
18. Lewin, R. (1987). Africa: Cradle of Modern Humans. Science
237, pp. 1292-1295. .
19. Lewin, R. (1987). Debate Over Emergence of Human Tooth Pattern, Science 235, pp. 748-750.
20. Lewin, R. (1987). Four Legs Bad, Two Legs Good. Science 235,
pp. 969-971.
21. Lewin, R. (1986). New Fossil Upsets Human Family. Science 233,
pp. 720-721.
22. Lewin, R. (1987). The Earliest "Humans" Were More Like
Apes. Science 236, pp. 1061-1063.
23. Lewin, R. (1986). Recognizing Ancestors is a Species Problem.
. Science 234, p. 1500.
24. Plates, Photo (1984). In "Ancestors: The Hard Evidence" (E.
Delson, ed.), pp. 2-12, 14-16. Alan R. Liss, New York.
25. Rightmire, G.P. (1984). Homo sapiens in Sub-Saharan Africa. In
"The Origins of Modem Humans" (F.H. Smith and F. Spencer,
ed.). pp. 295-325. Alan R. Liss, New York.
26. Sonakia, A. (1984). Early Homo from Narmada Valley, India. In
"Ancestors: The Hard Evidence" (E. Delson, ed.) pp. 334-338.
27. Spencer, F. (1984). History of the NeandertaI Debate. In, "The
Origins of Modern Humans" (F.H. Smith and F. Spencer, ed.),
pp. 149. Alan R. Liss, New York.
28. Stanley, S.M. (1981). The New Evolutionary Timetable. Basic
Books, Inc., New York.
29. Stringer, C. (1988). The Dates of Eden, Nature 331, pp. 565-566.
30. Stringer, C., Hublin, and Vandermeersch (1984). The Origins of
Anatomically Modern Humans in Western Europe. In, "The
Origins of Modem Humans" (F.H. Smith and F. Spencer, ed.),
pp. 51-135. Alan R. Liss, New York.
31. Trinkaus, E. (1984). Western Asia. In "The Origins of Modern
Humans" (F.H. Smith and F. Spencer, ed.), pp. 251-293. Alan
R. Liss, New York.
32. Walker, A. (1985). Fossil Boy. John Hopkins Magazine, 12/85,
pp. 36-45.
33. Walker, A., Leakey, R.E;, Harris, J.M., and Brown, F.H.
(1986). 2.5-Myr. Australopithecus boisei from west of Lake
Turkana, Kenya. Nature 332, pp. 517-522.

34. Weaver, K.F. (1985). The Search for Our Ancestors. National
Geographic /68, pp. 560-623.
35. Wood, B. (1987). Who is the 'Real' Homohabilis? Nature 327,
pp. 187-188.
.: ("Relic Hominoids, " continued on page 157)

Fourth Quarter 1988

More About Giants, Goblins, Satyrs and

Other Strange Hominid Monsters in Europe
by UIdeh Magin
"Giants and fairies. We accept them, of course." These
are the words of Charles Fort in his "Book of the Damned."
I accept them as well, of course. But that does not mean that
these creatures are real, nor that they are paranormal, and
Fort's books are full of things that he or others accepted,
which doesn't make these things more real.
The problem with sightings of European hominids is that
they occur completely isolated in space and time. If we had,
for example, certain areas where hominids are reported
regularly, we would have had less problems. Instead,we have
the situation that certain types of hominids have been observCd in all countries at all times, but never so close in space
and time that we could postulate a biological hypothesis.
The paranormal hypothesis is tempting, but of less value
here than in the U.S. Our European monsters may be observed, yet they never leave any clue as to their actual physical existence - not one footprint, not one bone, not one handful
of hair. To regard them as paranormal materializations,
therefore, is "of litde help.
We know very little about the process by which myths form
and develop, especially in cryptozoology. There is no easy or
simple solution. Perhaps satyrs really exist, perhaps there are
Neanderthal men or paranormal beings - all we have are
myths, a large number of hoaxes, and a long procession of
observations.
Americans, generally, seem to be unaware just how
developed the European landscape is - neither Loch Ness,
the Alps, nor any other "monster" area are wildernesses. To
the contrary, they are densely populated, so the idea of real
hominids is absurd (which does not say that it is impossible). I
think the real solution to the European hominid enigma lies
with the theories of Meurger and other Fortean researchers
who study how myths begin and take over a certain "subjective reality." Anyway, be your own judge. Here is a procession of large and small, hairy manimals.
Giant's Bones

Let me start this survey with a brief review of older claims

of giant's skeletons. Finding them was a fashionable pastime
at the beginning of the "modern times."
In 1577, at WiUisau near Lucerne in Switzerland, a giant
skeleton was excavated. Dr. Felix Plater, a famous Swiss
anatomist then, headed a commission of experts who reconstructed a 5,8m120 ft titan from old bones. The creature was
called The Giant of Lucerne and was put on display in the
town hall. Prof. J.F. Blumenbach, of Germany's Gattingen
University, became suspicious and visited the "giant" who,
as he was able to show, was a fanciful invention constructed
with the bones of a mammothP
In 1613 another giant was discovered in a gravel pit of
Chaumont Castle at St. Antoine. Workers discovered a grave
with the gothic inscription "Teutobochtus" rex." Coins" and
medals discovered at the site confirmed the age of the tomb,
which was believed to be that of an old Cymbern king. In the
tomb was a 7.6mi25ft skeleton, and a certain Dr. Mazurier
published a learned monograph about the discovery. Yet,
similar bones were later discovered at the castle, and they belonged to a mastodon, another prehistoric creature. Dr.
Fourth Quarter 1988

Marorier had faked the tomb and created the skeleton to gain
some money from the hoax. J
About the same time, a: giant's tooth was discovered at
Gloucester in Great Britain. While controversy still raged as
to whether the tooth should be buried in sacred earth or not,
the English physiologist and physician William Harvey explained that it was only an elephant's tooth. 4
There is also
ancient story of a giant's gmve in Arcadia,
Greece, as told by Herodotus in his Histories. A certain Lykas
of Sparta met a smith in Tegea, in Arcadia, who showed him
a grave in his back yard. The smith told Lykas he had discovered the grave while digging a hole for a new well. ". found a
3.2Sm/llft coffin . couldn't believe that people that size existed, so opened the coffin and saw that it contained a body
of the same size."
Regrettably, none of these misidentifications help us in
evaluating the sightings I will discuss next.

the

Satyrs

The anthropologist Vladimir Markotic has suggested' that

the image of the Greek god Pan may be that of an early
hominid, possibly a Neanderthal man. Yet satyrs, creatures
that resemble Pan in being a mixture between man and goat,
have been observed on this continent even in the 20th century,
so the Greek god Pan might just as well be the representation
of aHoma satyros, or whatever you 'd like to call such a biological
cocktail.
Pytheas of Marseille, the first Greek to sail the waters of
the North Sea along the German coast saw, among many
other marvels, satyrs there. He correctly reported that here
could be found a mixture between land and water that was
unknown in the Mediterranean, and he added that the people
who lived on the mainland and island had horse's hoofs in
place of feet. It has been suggested that this was a misperception, as the people in lite area wore wooden shoes, which may
have looked like horse's hoofs to the Greek seafarer. This certainly is an interesting explanation. 6
St. Anthony, the founder of the Monastic movement, encountered a satyr near Alexandria, Egypt in 300 A.D. While
not actually a European sighting, the report shows how far
spread the habitat of satyrs once were. St. Anthony was walking through an isolated canyon when he encountered "a
manikin with hooded snout, horned forehead and extremities
like goat's feet." They exchanged words, and St; Anthony
drove the creature away, as he naturally assumed that he was
dealing with the devilP
In 83 B.C. a sleeping satyr was surprised when he was
found in a sacred park near Apollonia. As Plutarch reports in
his work Sila, the satyr was caught and brought to Sila, the
governor, who asked him through interpreters who he was.
The satyr did not answer but managed to let out some meaningless grunts. Then the creature snorted like a horse, and
Sila, who was horrified, ordered it to be removed from his
view. The satyr, Plutarch tells us, was like those figUres the
Romans used to draw, paint and sculpture.' A similar story,
as told by Pliny, refers to a merman surprised sleeping near
whBt is now Lisbon, so Plutarch's report -may be a folktale.
Another of these classical reports comes from Pausianus in
Pursuit 155

his description of Greece. He quotes one Euphemus the

Carlan, who told him of a storm which brought him off
course when he was sailing to Italy. He was blown into the
outer sea (the Atlantic Ocean) where he discovered an island
populated by satyrs. The creatures had red hair, horse's tails
and raped the women of the sbip.'This was to be expected, as
the satyrs started as representation of the animal forces in
man and only later transformed into actUal beings that could
be observed. This is an evolutionary process many monsters
go through. The sea serpent, for example, started in Scandinavian folklore as a representation of the ocean, and was
observed only from about lSOO A.D. on.
Many satyrs have been observed by holy men in the Middle
Ages, but the witnesses preferred to call them "devils." Most
of these stories are of apparitions, and therefore are not really
the subject of cryptozoology. Luther saw one of them when
he was translating the Bible, for example. But I'll leave them
out, and pass to the 20th century, where the last reported
satyr was observed in Spain.
In 1948, Jose Pancho Campo, a shepherd. of Garganta la
Olla, in Caceres, was in his shed when he thought he heard a
woman say: "Oh, it's so cold." There was a thunderstorm
outside, so Jose invited the lady in. It looked like a giant nun
.in a black coat, and he had discovered that she bad "g(;lat's
legs." Naturally enough, he thought he had encountered the
devil! 10

Antonio Ribera, the Spanish ufologist who researched this

case, thought he was dealing with a humanoid, but no where
in the report is any UFO mentioned. Ribera l2 compares this
case with another one that occurred just two months before
the Spanish case. On July 17, 1967, a group of children between 5 and 12 years were playing near their town of ArcsousCicon in France. At 3 p.m. Patricia, the youngest of the
group, claimed she had seen a "little chinaman." She was
very scared. The otherS went to the place of the encounter, and
were frigl:l.tened by a sudden yellow, vertical flash. Soon they,
too, saw the manikin, about one meter/3ft tall, which was
running about in the bushes. It was black and very quick.
Ribera aqds that astronomers of Besancon saw a flying saucer
the very same day, but I'm not so sure if this is justification
enough to say that the black hominid was a UFO occupant.
WUd Men and ChUdren

The two strange humanoids from Spain (8) aad Fnoce (b).

If flying saucer occupants represent the future of mankind,

wild men symbolize its peaceful past. Wild men have been
observed all over the world, and one could take today's yetis
and Bigfoot as modern examples. They seem to have been
common in the Middle Ages - at least we have pictorial representations of them in many chronicles and churches .
The story of Kaspar Hauser, which was also discussed by
Fort, is one of the famous modern examples of children who
were supposedly reared by animals, or were nutured in woods
or forests when they were very young.
Somebody like Kaspar Hauser, who was called Peter, was
discovered on July 17, 1724 near Hameln in Germany,-the
town famous for the Pied Piper. This was a much discussed
case at the time, and the progress the child made was regularly discussed in the newspapers. 13 Another "wolf boy" was
found in the Wetterau in 1344.14
These are tragic, even inhuman stories about parents deserting their child, and the children surviving somehow, even
if we can never be sure if wolves or any other animals helped.
There is nothing cryptozoological or paranormal about these
cases, yet, these wolf children or wild men could be mistaken
for hominid creatures at twilight, or under conditions of fear.
A recent story about a boy reared by a dog in DUsseldorf,
Germany, which hit headlines there, and the rest of Europe,
in March 1988, was based on inaccurate newspaper reporting.
Parents had imprisoned their little boy in a shed, together
with a dog. When state officials finally discovered .the unfortunate boy, they reported that he and the dog were both in
poor physical condition. One sensationalist newspaper turned
this into the story of the boy being fed by the dog!
Some authors" have suggested that wjld men folktales
could refer to surviving Neanderthal men, yet the reports I
have point toward their being hermits or wolf children.

GobllDs
I've already published many sightings of European goblins,
so I can only add one new case. Like several others, this one
was assumed to be the pilot of a "flying saucer."
At the end of 1967, Mauricio Wiesenthal. saw a hominid
creature cross the road in front of his car at Sant Feliu de
Codines, near Barcelona. It was 70em/2.Sft in height and had
an egg-shaped head, but neither a neck, eyes, nose nor any
other facial features. Though it moved like a person, it had
very long arms and extremely large hands. It also had big feet
and seemed to be nude, though Wiesenthal thinks the creature might have worn a tight-fitting diver's suit. It was of a
green, phosphorescent color .11

Big Hairy Monsters

This is the core of the whole hominid monster problem,
but as Europe never had a real ABSM myth, like the
Himalayas or the USA, there are only a limited number of
reports, if you don't count the giant folktales of earlier times.
But there are some stories which sound surprisingly like big,
hairy monster reports.
.
The frrst report comes from an Arab, Ahmad Ibn Fadlan,
who was sent by the Caliph of Bagdad as ambassador to the
King of the Bulgard in June 921, but on his way he met a
group of Norsemen and travelled with them for three years.
In Norway, he encountered the "mist monsters" or "wendols," who lived in constant battle with the vikings.

Pursuit 156

Fourth Quarter 1988

"They made a low grunting sound like the rooting of a pig,

emitted a foul odor like the rot of a carcass after a month,
had gleaming red eyes that shone like fire, hair as long as a
hairy dog, and as thick, on all parts of their bodies except for
the palms of the hands and parts of the face."
This sounds suspiciously like the American Bigfoot, but the
wendols attacked at night on black horses, carrying torches,
and hid their faces behind bear masks. They also carried
swords and axes and liked to. eat their enemies brains. My
source speculates if the wendols could have been Neanderthal
men,I6 but I think it is far more likely that one of the Asian
peoples is described here - the Huns or Mongols being likely
examples.
In the 19708, a hominid monster roamed the coal pits,
graveyards and crossroads around the German town of Alsdorf, near Aachen, at the German-Dutch frontier. The
monster was said to be 2m17ft tall, with red, entangled hair,
only one eye in its forehead, but no nose, and a large mouth.
It ate chickens raw. The population, according to a
newspaper report, was very frightened, and police officials
received phone calls giving details of new sightings - but the
whole story was a tabloid hoax! 17
The last Yeti report has, again, dubious connections to the
UFO enigma. In September and October 1985, a true UFOwave hit Galicia Province in northwest Spain. Numerous witnesses observed balls of light diving into or coming out of the
ocean. Even big "mother ships" were reported. At the same
time, but never in connection with the alleged flying saucers,
big, hairy, gorilla-like creatures were seen stalking the fields ..
Spanish ufologists speculated that these apes were actually
saucer crews, but there seems to be no indication for such an
assumption in the sighting reports. II
This ends this review of European hominids - from black
goblins to goat people to big hairy apes - we've got a lot of
creatures here .. .if only one would pose in front of a camera,
or leave a footprint in mud or snow. But, regrettably, our
hairy neighbors are too elusive to do that. The only trace they
leave is on the retina of our witnesses' eyes!
("Relic Hominoids" continued from page 154)
EARTH HISTORY, MISCELLANY
1. Dalrymple, B.G. (1982). Radiometric Dating, Geologic Time,
and the Age of the Earth: A reply to "Scientific" Creationism.
U.S. Geological Survey, California.
2. Darby, J.N., A New Translation from the Original Language,
The Holy Scriptures, Holman Bible Publishers, Tennessee (1973).
3. Davies, G.L.H. (1987). Earth Science: Time for Reassessment.
NQture 326. Book Review Section.
4. Nee, W., The Mystery 0/ Creation, (1981). (translated from the
Chinese). Christian FeUowship Publishers Inc., New York.
S. Patterson, J.W. (not me!), (1986). Does Thermodynamics Demand Supernatural Origins? Origins ReseQrch. FaUIWinter 86,
Students for Origins Research, California.
6. Thaxton, Bradley and Olsen (1984). The Mystery 0/ Life's
Origin. Philosophical Library Inc., New York.
7. Watson, L. (1988). Beyond SupernQture. Bantam Books Inc.
New York.
8. Whitcomb Jr., J.C. (1972). The EQrly EQrth. Baker Book House
Co., Michigan.
OTHER SOURCES: .

1. Bradbury, W., ed. (1981). Sasquatch: Into the Unknown. The

Reader's Digest Assoc., Inc., New York/Montreal.
2. Browne, M. (1986). The Chronicle, (Duke University Newspaper), Nov. II, p. 8.

Fourth Quarter 1988

NOTES
1. Fort, Charles: The Complete Books 0/ ChQrles Fort, New York:
Dover, 1974, p. 164.
2. Kolosimo, Peter, Sie kQmen von einem Qnderen Stern, Munich:
Goldmann, n.d., p. 123.
3. Kolosimo, p. 124.
4. Kolosimo, p. 124.
S. Vladimir Markotic: The Great Greek God Pan - An Early
Hominid? in: Markotic (Ed.): The SasquQtch Qnd other
Unknown Hominids, Calgary, Western Publishers, 1984, pp.
lSl-264.
6. Heims, Paul Gerhard: Seespuk, Stuttgart: Henry Goverts, 1965,
p.18.
7. Strieber, Whitley: Communion - A True Story, New York:
Avon, 1987, p. 243.
8. Faber-Kaiser, Andreas: Las Nubes del EngQM, Barcelona:
Planeta, 1984, p. 1S4.
9. Berlitz, Charles: Das Ationlis Rlitsel, Vienna: Zrolnay, 1976, p.
63.
10. Benftez: J.J.: La PuntQ del Iceberg, Barcelona: Planeta, 1983,
pp.90-92.
11. Ribera, Antonio: GaleriQ de CondenQdos, Barcelona: Planeta,
1984, p. 68-70; also Olmos, Vicente-Juan Ballester: OVNIs: EI
Fenomeno Aterrizaje, Barcelona: Plaza y Janes, 1984, p. 69-71.
12. Ribera, p. 71.
13. Petzoldt, Leander: HistorischeSagen, Vol. I, Munich: CH Beck,
1976, p. 200.
14. Petzoldt, p. 202.
IS. LovrenceviC, Zvonko: Creatures from the Bilogora in northern
Croatia, in: Mark~ (Ed.)(above), pp. 266-273.
16. Eaters of the Dead, in: INFO JournQI Nr. 48, March 1986, p. 10.
17. WalIraff, GUnter: Zeugen der Anklage, Cologne, Kiepenheuer &:
Witsch, 1979, n.p.
18. KQrmQ 7, August &: September 1986 (Article in two parts).

This editor has had the pleasure of visiting with Mr. Magin
on several occasions at his home near Ludwigshafen in West
Gennany. He has been a frequent contributor, oflate, to PURSUIT and other Fortt:an journals.

3. Cohen, D. (1983). Monster Hunting TodQY. Dodd. Mead, and

Co., New York.
4. Hunter, D" and Dahinden, R. (1973). SasquQtch. Signet Books,
Ontario.
.
S. Simons, E.L. (1970). Gigantopithecus. Scientific American 222,
pp.76-8S.
6. Sprague, R., and Krantz, G., ed. (1979). The Scientist Looks Qt
the SasquQtch II. Anthropological Monographs of University of
Idaho. The Univpress of Idaho, Idaho.
7. Tschernezsky, W. (1960). A Reconstruction of the Foot of the
'Abominable Snowman.' NQture 186, pp. 496-197.
8. Walls, R.E. (1978). Comments and Queries on the Observed
Ecology and Anatomy of an Unclassified Species of Primate.
PVRSVrr II, p. 133.
9. Welfare, S., and Fairley, ed. (1980). Arthur C. CIQrke's
Mysterious World. A. and W. Publishers Inc., New York.
10. Wylie, K. (1980). Bigfoot. The Viking Press, New York.

QUOTES
1. Corliss, William R. (1980). Unknown Earth: A HQndbook 0/
Geologic Enigmas, p. 219, The Sourcebook Project, Glen Arm,
Maryland.
2. "The Quote Book" (1984). Radiometric Dating, p. 16. Creation
Science International Inc., P.O. Box 18339, Tucson, AZ 8S731,
USA.
3. Cartmill, M., Pilbeam, D., and Issac, G. (1986). One Hundred
Years of Paleoanthropology. American Scientist 74, p. 410.

(also see Addendum p. 183)

Pursuit 157

Lyonesse:
The Lost Land of Cornwall
Its Connectio.. to Atlantis and Megalith Mysteries
by

.lOB

Do..... SiDg..., M.A.

(Part II of II Pa.rts)
John Morris wrote with tantalizing brevity about widespread sea level changes in Britain during the end of the
Roman Empire. The Romano-British rulers of Britain wrote
to Aetius, a Roman governor-general in Gaul about 446,
seeking help after barbarian attacks and natural disasters.
The natural disasters consisted of a series of great floods
where many were drowned. Although some scholars insist
that sea level changes which occurred at this time were
gradual, reports from old documents and archaeological
evidence indicate that watery devastation was lengthy and
widespread. Morris pointed out that there was a dra.U:
change in the sea level in both eastern and southern Britain in
the 4405. The flooding occurred in both river valleys and
coastal regions. Exact dates of the sea level changes are still
uncertain while it is unknown if truly wide areas were affected
by sudden or gradual changes. Documents such as the letter
to Aetius indicate that there were violent deluies. In fact,.
these sea-level changes even took place in Mediterranean
coastal regions. Thus, the marine transgressions of the Fifth
century A.D. could hav~ inspired legends like Lyonesse.
It is also possible that similar floods at the end of the Ice
Age could have inspired tales like Atlantis when lands extending beyond the present-day shores of western Europe (and
western Britain) were drowned by sea levels which were raised
by meltwater from the vast glaciers. It is this possibility which
has inspired several investigators to suggest a link between
Atlantis saga and the epic of Lyonesse. .
Ignatius DonnellylZ suggested that the original Lyonesse
was perhaps a colony of Atlantis or at least a contemporary
civilization, existing around 9,000 B.C. The editors of the
1949 edition of Donnelly's work, Egerton Sykes and Atlantis
researcher George Isaac Bryant, identified the Atlantean
kingdom of King Euaemon (one of the sons of PoSeidon, according to Plato) with Lyonesse. They believed that
Euaemon's realm included both Lyonesse and mainland Britain, with the capital being still-undiscovered ruins suppOsedly situated beneath modem Bath, in England. Bath was a holy city in both Roman and Celtic times and its name in Latin
was Aquae Solis, Waters (Baths) of the Goddess Solis. Sulis
was a Celtic goddess of lakes and springs with healing
powers. The editor's evidence was based on research done by
a scholar named Comyns Beaumont who wrote under the
pseudonym Appian Way. Beaumont had written a 1925
book, The Riddle of the Earth. mentioning Atlantis and ancient Britain while a second 1920's author, Arthur Waugh,
had speculated on the same idea in his book, The City of
/JQth. Sykes also included a modem occult map of the Atlantean kingdoms, colonies and cities but gave no source for that
chart. It appears to have been derived from a Theosophical
publication since a famous book of their society, by W. ScottElliot, contains a similar map. 30 Sykes' Atlantean map depicts
Lyonesse as a huge landmass encompassing Ireland, Britain,
Pursuit 158

Western Scandinavia and the coasts of Holland, Belgium,

Nonnandy and Brittany. It extended far west of Cornwall to
the limit of the continental shelf. Scott-Elliot's map is not as
detailed as Sykes' as it lacks many of the names of cities and
lands but :it does have the islands of Ruta and Daitya in the
Atlantic, so both maps must be from an unknown master
map in same Theosophical publication or archive. Unfortunately, the Theosophical data is now incorrect for both
Donnelly and the Theosophists published their material
before m~dern geology and oceanography research discredited much of their concept of ancient history. Nevertheless, I
include references here to their maps in order to keep the tale
in historical context for some of their ideas influenced
modem investigators. It would be interesting to learn the
source of their maps. Donnelly also referred to Lyonesse in
another book, U about the catastrophic destructions of ancient civilizations (such as Atlantis) by comets, which he said,
collided with the Earth and sent floods or meteor showers
cascading down upon lost cities. Donnelly hinted that the
British Isles were the home of an advanced civilization and
that that culture's cataclysmic demise had inspired the later
Druid tales and even the Norse Eddas. the pagan Scandinavian creation myths and legendary histories. Donnelly concluded that Lyonesse, the main abiding-place of that lost
civilization, had extended far beyond the boundary of
modern COrnwall.
Lewis Spence suggested that Lyonesse was part of Atlantis u and that the name was derived from the name of Plato's
lost continent. He assumed that Lyonesse was derived from
Llyn Llio~, a mythical Welsh lake where the Great Flood
started according to Celtic lore. The overflow of water
submerged the land surrounding the lake. Later, the name
was transferred to the lost land around Cornwall. The names
Lyonesse and Llion were allegedly derived from Lin-!ion-tis.
But, again, until we fmd archaeological proof in the form of
ruins and inscriptions, however, this theory must remain as
guesswork.
L. Taylor Hansen though there might be a relatiQnship between Atl8ntis and Lyonesse. She thought the "lake of the
lyons," as she spelled Llyn Llion, was a volcano because she.
found a legend which stated that it was a boiling lake. Beside
theLake of the Lyons was the City of Lyons. When the lake
boiled over the great metropolis was destroyed. In her book,
The Ancient Atlantic. she had two maps of Lyonesse. One
was a sketch map and the other more detailed. In her opinion, Atlantean Lyonesse included the now-submerged portions of the continental shelf west of Cornwall and south of
Ireland. Unfortunately, again, nobody has found any sunken
cities in that area, as far as I know, although legends of such
are in abundance.
.
While there may not be any sunken cities off the coast of
Cornwall, there is evidence of ancient, sunken lands. For exFourth Quarter 1988

ample, Jill Walsh revealed,!! that as recently as 6,000 B.C.

there was land extending around present day Cornwall, land
which today is beneath the Atlantic. This long-lost Greater
Cornwall could have been what we call Lyonesse. Thus,
Rhys' old remark about lost lands extending north of Cornwall to Lundy Island are verified by modern geological
research. Even earlier maps of ancient western Europe can be
found in Herbert Schutz's book, Z9 which depicts the shorelines of 12,000 B.C. and 9,000 B.C. In both examples,
geologists and archaeologists tell us that the British Isles were
connected to each other and mainland Europe. The maps indicate now-submerged land around Cornwall which could be
what we call Lyonesse. The archaeologists insist that that
land's submersion was quite gradual, however.
A more detailed map of Ice Age western Europe can be
found in Francis Hitching's book. ZI Hitchings' map, based
on current geological research, depicted sunken countries surrounding the British Isles. He thought that the melting of
glacial ice increased the sea levels at a much more rapid rate
than that accepted by most geologists. The rapid rise could
account for deluge legends such as Atlantis and the Welsh
tales. Indeed, this map has now-vanished land in the region
corresponding to Lyonesse's traditional location around and
west of Cornwall. He cited as a source the 1975 report of
geologist Cesare Emiliani, in the esteemed journal Science. The
latter suggested that the melting of the glaciers could have
been more catastrophic than had been thought and that the
great melting could, for instance, have started the deluge
legends of American Indian tribes. Emiliani even went on to
assert that, just possibly, the story of Atlantis could be derived from such a disastrous flood. In fact, Emiliani even
quoted Plato's tale! Unfortunately, no fabulous City of
Lions has yet been found by the likes of Jacques Cousteau so
while it is clear that sunken land exists off of "Cornwall, the
evidence for links between Atlantis and Lyo~esse is primarily
speculation. However, megalithic ruins have been found
beneath the sea off Cornwall as we shall see.

The SearclI for Lyonesse: Sigbtings of

Sunken Cities and the Discovery of Evidence
There is evidence that large areas of land now submerged
beneath the Atlantic Ocean were still dry in the Megalithic
Age of c. 6,000 B.C. - c. 1,000 B.C. There is also archaeological evidence for sunken ruins dating from that age ruins which may have inspired the Lyonesse saga.
Anthony Roberts, ZI theorized that the megalith builders,
(those ancient tribes who built the giant stone tombs and
stone circles or similar monuments across Britain and western
Europe) were originally from Atlantis. He thOUght that they
"migrated from that land first to Lyonesse and then to mainland Britain. He asserted that Lyonesse extended far beyond
both Cornwall and the Scilly Isles, although it was not in
Atlantis itself. It was the nearest land to Atlantis, an outpost
or way station. It was supposedly holy because of its proximi-"
ty to the sacred country of Atlantis itself so it was very important to the Atlanteans. The latter passed through Lyonesse
and settled in Britain, moving to Europe by means of the
now-sunken landbridge which once connected Britain to
France. Roberts said that that landbridge sank around 7,000
B.C. but other writers, such as Walsh, reported that it sank
much later. Megaliths in Cornwall and neighboring English
counties such as Devon and Somerset are supposed to mark
the path of migrating Atlanteans. Roberts thought that the
Welsh and Irish legends of lost lands of Gloyw Wallt Lydan
Fourth Quarter 1988

and Liathan were those nations' names for Lyonesse but gave
no details. He added that Lyonesse itself was an extension of
the ancient kingdom of Logres, an old form of the Welsh
name of Britain. "
A similar theory was suggested by Atlantis investigator
Peter James, researcher for Hitchings' book, The Mysterious
World. James pointed out that the oldest of the western
European megaliths dated to about 4000 B.C. He added that
Atlantis may have submerged as "recently" as 4,100 B.C.
and that Plato's date of c. 9,000 B.C. may have been an error
of translation. Around 6000 years ago the ancient landbridges
connecting Britain to mainland Europe began to sink. Also,
that is the time when the Egyptian civilization began to rise.
Since Plato claimed that he obtained the story of Atlantis
from docUments first collected by Solon, the Greek law-giver,
who had in turn obtained them from the Egyptians, we can
see how errors could have arisen in translation. Indeed, Plato
himself said that the documents were translated by the Egyptians from the lost Atlantean language into Egyptian. Then
"Solon had translated the tale into Greek. If the original story
was written down around 3,100 B.C. when the first dynasties
of Egyptian pharaohs began to rule then there is only a thousand-year-long gap between the new date for the sinking of
Atlantis and the beginning of the historical civilization of
Egypt. Lyonesse, if it existed, would be one of the nowvanished homelands of the megalith builders. Thus it would
belong to the Neolithic Age, not the Dark Ages of King Arthur.
Egerton Sykes advanced a similar concept of a inegalithic
Lyonesse, whose demise occurred at a later date than that
suggested by Peter James. Sykes located Lyonesse on the
now-sunken areas of the continental shelf, like James, but
had some different ideas about its civilization. Sykes thought
that Lyonesse was a port city with Egyptian connections. He
felt that Celtic and Arthurian myths (such as tales about
voyages to the land of the gods in the remote western ocean)
were derived from similar Egyptian tales. He even suggested
that the name Lyonesse was derived from the Egyptian goddess, Isis (Lyonesse, for example). But that is not possible for
the languages are of different families, being that Celtic is
Indo-European and Egyptian is Hamito-Semitic. He added
that a meteor strike of 2260 B.C. had caused floods which
submerged land along the shores of western Europe," including Lyonesse,
From Renaisance times (the Sixteenth century A.D.) up to
the present, people have sighted ruins beneath the sea off
Cornwall and the Scilly Isles. They have also fished up artifacts which are cited as proofs of Lyonesse. A few archaeologists even found clues that suggest that the legend is
based on fact. Geoffrey Ashe,l reported that the Sixteenth
century English historian William Camden collected many
reports about Lyonesse, but he did not give any details of
them. He did reveal that Camden heard a very strange tale
about an enigmatic lighthouse rising up out of the waters far
to the west of any such structure built or known in his own
time. This lighthouse was supposed to be a building of
Lyonesse but it does not exist today, if it ever existed at all. I
do not know if anyone has tried to nnd its ruins. Ashe also
repeated the old story about the fIShermen who found artifacts and fragments of masonry, including window frames,
from sunken houses of Lyonesse. He added that the Cornish
name for Lyonesse was Lethowstow, although elsewhere it is
spelled Lethowsow. In the Seventeenth century, Richard
Carew reported that fishermen drew up not only fish but
fragments of submerged doors and windows.
Pursuit 159

I have already referred to the Eighteenth century antiquarian

Borlase's reports of underwater ruins at the Scilly Isles. He
added that, " ... windows and other stuff have been fIShed
up." That was proof, for him, of the lost land and city of
Lyonesse.
Similar tales date from the Nineteenth century but it is
uncertain if they are simply retellings of Camden's,Carew's
and Borlase's stories. Ignatius Donnelly told one such account lJ when he quoted an English writer, Thomas Ounn,
who had mentioned Lyonesse in an article in a Nineteenth
century British periodical, All the Year Round magazine (no
date given). Gunn said that in the generation before his time,
Cornish fIShermen had picked up strange household artifacts
from places which had once been dry,land. The relics could
be retrieved easily at low tide. Also, they could even see the
ruins of "quaint" habitations many fathoms below the surface of the ocean.
In 1871 Robert Hunt claimed that such discoveries were
still being made. He claimed, " .. flShermen still see ,tops of
houses under water."
In 191J7, C. Lewis Hind reported that people heard bells of
'the sunken churches ringing. That story reminds me of
similar stories of sunken beDs which mark the sites of sunken
cities. Such folktBJes are summarized in my earlier article on
Ys, the sunken city of France '[see PURSUIT, Vol. 17,
No.1, pp.37]~ A coastguardsman at Cape CornwaD heard
local folks telling about beD chimes from under the waves.
Thus a sunken city may exist off that part of CornwaD and it
would be different from the City of Lions off the shores of
the, Scilly -Isles. Or there may be only a solitary sunken
church, one of the 140 submerged churches mentioned in the
medieval chronicles.
In 1927, O.O.S. Crawford published an article about archaeological discoveries he made at partiaUy or wholly submerged locations in the Scilly Isles. His expedition took place
on March 16, 1926. Crawford was accompanied by Alex,ander Gibson of St. Mary's Island, who served as guide and
as a professional photographer. The two men searched for
vestiges of the lost Lyon~se and Crawford's aim was to
verify the old reports of sunken waDs in the sea. They chose
March 16, 1926 as the date of their little expedition as that
was the date of the lowest of the spring tides, a time when the
ancient boulder-hedges, of the lost land were visible and dry.
,Crawford hit paydirt when they walked out onto the sands
where the low tides had temporarily exposed the sea floor.
They found a line of stones which had in fact been placed
there by ancient men. The stones were not set in place by
natural forces but the waD was clearly artificial. The waD consisted of boulders about the size and shape of a milestone.
Some of the stones were still standing upright. SmaDer stones
which had once filled in the spaces between the larger stones
were scattered about on either side of the waD. The sands
beyond the waD area were bare of stones. The upright stones
were proof of the artificial nature of the waDs; a line of irregular boulders could be a glacial formation but this site was
defmitely the work of an ancient civilization. Crawford was
thrilled about his discovery. He had found proof that the land
had indeed been submerged after the waD was built. Nobody
built waDs underwater, he noted. The waDs really were submerged at high tide as the legends said. Crawford searched
for artifacts while Gibson took photographs. Again the archaeologist was successful. He picked up some primitivelooking flint flakes from stone tools. They were found on
tide-scoured sand below the low water mark. They were white
in color with a matte surface. Sand and water had smoothed
Pursuit 160

ABryh

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Tresco

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JJ
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AnnelO

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gPeI;scry BIIY

St Mary'

PorCh ':'ell;c
own, Pomt
-- P,m;nn;s _ -

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B,g

7\\7

Pool' , ,

St Ag';;;;iJ
o

...~.,

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Samso

l<;~

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GUg~' , - 'Heat!- '

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;;:

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CD

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u

MILES

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IISLES OF SCILLY
________________________

~l

Isles of Scilly from Disoo'Vering BritBin, 1982.

their surfaces.
Thus, Crawford had proved the old legends about sunken
walls and artifacts brought up out of the sea. But he felt that
the submersion of Lyonesse was,rather gradual and had taken
place not as a Dark Ages cataclysm but as a slow but steady
rise of the sea level during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages
from about 3,000-1,000 B.C. He noted that the stone wall he
studied was located off of the North Hill of Samson Island in
the Scillies, on the Samson Flats between Samson and Tresco.
Crawford published his results in the frrst issue of Antiquity
magazine. He even included a map depicting his concept of
the submerged land around the Scillies. The map was based
on old shorelines and the data of researchers who had conducted geological studies of the sea-level rise around the
Scillies. The old land fonned a vast, tadpole-sbaped region
about eight miles across. Erosion caused the dwindling of
natural barriers which let the sea roD in over Holland-like
lowlands. Thus each new stonn caused a steady sinking.
T. Dean and T. Shaw also reported briefly about
Lyonesse.' One eerie accountofbell-chimes'from beneath the
sea can be found in their book. It dates from the 1930's but
the exact date was unavailahle. They stated that Stanley
Baron, reporter for the now-defunct newspaper, the NewsChronicle. was visiting the town of Sennen Cove at the
western tip of CornwaD. He stayed overnight with a fIShing
family. After going to sleep he was awakened in the middle of
the night by a hideous cacophony of ringing beDs. The horrid
clangor lasted until dawn, playing no tune in particular but
sounding like frightening, random noise as if the bell-ringers
were damned souls from the infernal cathedrals of Satan himself. As the sun rose, the bizarre music faded away into
silence. The astonished reporter asked his hosts what was the
cause of the nocturnal noises. The fisherfolk replied that they
were the bells of the drowned churches of Lyonesse, ringing
beneath the sea as the waves rocked them back and forth.
They were so numerous that their ghastly chimes could be
heard on land. I do not know if anyone has lowered underFourth Quarter 1988

water cameras into the depths of Sennen Cove to search for

sunken cities but it could be a good place to start a search for

one of the lost metropoli of Lyonesse.
A noted archaeologist, Hugh O'Neill Hencken, also supported the idea of a megalithic Lyonesse. In 1932 he discussed
various ancient sites,' most on dry land. He referred to
Crawford's work and noted that sunken orpartiallysubmerged walls could be found at various places along the Atlantic
coasts, as in the Samson flats area beyond Samson Island in
the central part of the SciIIy ISles. The sunken walls were
fann-field walls like those on land. The old land was rustic
rather than urban, with scattered stone huts, stone grave
mounds (barrows) and monuments like standing stones.
When protective dunes on the coasts were eroded by winds or
storms, the sea flooded in and gradually overwhelmed the
low-lying plain. Hencken speculated that the Insula Silura
was a temple precinct where priests lived and oversaw a
megalithic burial cult since no large secular settlement like a
city had been found there.
Hansen gathered together many stories about artifacts fished up from the watery depths off the Scilly Isles. The best
time to hunt for artifacts, according to Hansen, is just after
storms when waves wash up relics from the bottom. She
claimed that hundreds of SciIIy Islanders go down to the
beaches to pick up the antiquities. The flotsam and jetsam
consisted of such items as bits of leaded glass, old coins, rings
and other jewelry. She insisted that these objects were n~
from shipwrecks but they were treasures from the drowned
"Oty of Lyons," as she spelled the City of Lions. After a
particularly ferocious storm in 1750, part of a column was
found. If it was not ballast or cargo from a shipwreck, it
could be evidence for a sunken Roman building. She said it
was still preserved today but had no photographs of it.
Another possible clue for the Roman theory about Lyonesse
was the fact that, Hansen'claimed, there was part of a Roman
road in the Scillies. One section was on Tresco Island and the
other part was on St. Mary's Island. She assumed that the
two Roman roads were separate portions of the same structure, with the missing connection being on the sea floor.
Hansen pointed out that relics from various eras of history
were washed up around the Scilly Isles as if the sea floor was
a veritable time capsule. This clue would be evidence for the
idea of the slow submergence of Lyonesse. That is, the
fragments of the country sank in stages, not all at once. At
the Crow Bar site in Crow Sound in the Scillies human skulls,
flint tools and megalithic walls were found. In a pub in Cambridge, England, Hansen had a conversation with a Cornishman who claimed that there were miles of rock hedges and
ancient roads under the sea. The fanners still build such stone
walls to this day.
The man added that one could still see the submerged treetrunks of drowned forests which once contained fruit or nut
trees but one wonders if the unidentified tale-teller was joking
at that point! To be sure, submerged forests, actually rows of
submerged treetrunks, have been found all around the
western and southern coasts of England. Indeed, in 1913 one
Clement Reid even published a book, Submerged Forests on
that subject. Most of the submerged forests date from the late
Stone Age but some may date from 6,000 B.C. or from even
later ages. A few submerged forests even date from medieval
times.
Hansen learned that there, also, were mines beneath the
ocean. Unfortunately, she gave few details about them. It
seems no archaeologist has investigated them. Among the
1ater relics washed up from the sea were window fragments

Fourth Quarter 1988

with Tudor-style diamond-shaped glass panes. It seemed that

portions of the former land of Lyonesse were still sinking in
Henry VIII's time. Some of the window-glass fragments even
bore heraldic symbols of dragons and lions, which were
golden in color. Hansen asserted that those were the symbols
of Lyonesse. It is too bad that she had no photographs as
proof. She noted that around her time (c. 1969) there were
still stories of undersea bells. A tour guide in the Scillies told
her that people told him that they heard beDs of a sunken
church ringing near an unidentified, abandoned mansion on
one of the SciIIy Islands.
Geoffrey Ashe also wrote about the sunken walls of the
SciIIy Islands. He pointed out that the ancient walls were
normally wholly submerged but, w.ere briefly visible at low
tide. At St. Martin's Island, partially or wholly submerged,
hut ruins have been found. The sunken hut ruins confirm the
old stories about houses sighted on the sea floor. But the huts
are scattered and, as far as I know, nobody has found a
sunken city there. At least part of the legend is apparently
true so maybe one day someone may fmd a sunken city there.
One hut dated from the Iron Age (c. 900 B.C.). A second
hut was round in shape ahd contained pottery which dated
from the Third and Fourth centuries A.D. when Roman
emperors were exiling dissidents to the distant isles. Was this
a hut inhabited by one of the native Silurian clans or was it inhabited by a lonely Roman exile? Ashe reported that the hut
was excavated in 1948 but did not give the archaeologist'S
name. In another excavation in the SciIIies, a stone grave
from the Roman period was studied. It yielded two Roman
brooches dating from the First century A.D. It was located
below the high-water line. Ashe added that in recent times,
exact date unspecified; a great storm split Old Man Island (in
the Scillies) in half.
People are still claiming that they saw the towers of
Lyonesse in our own times. In 1975, for instance, Robin
Palmer revealed that Cornish fishermen were still seeing
castles and turrets underwater, on clear nights. She was skeptical, though. Dean and Shaw had a more detailed yam. They
learned that Edith Oliver of Wilton (near Salisbury) claimed
that while Visiting Land's End, she saw, on two occasions,
many towers and buildings far out at sea. This report, if not a
hoax, may be a/ala morgana sighting (i.e., a mirage of cloud
formations or rock formations that appear to be city skylines
seen at a distance) or else, just possibly, some sort of psychic
vision. Local lore has it that the capital city of Lyonesse, or
some other large city of ~he lost land, is located on the ocean
floor off of Land's End.
In 1953, two scholars named H. Bailey and Alan Ross
published a new theory about Lyonesse. They tho~ght that
they found evidence for it in the text of the Arab geographer
Idrisi (also known as Edrisi). Idrisi wrote a book on world
geography, accompanied by a now-vanished silver map, for
King Roger II, the Norman ruler of Sicily. On that map, and
in the text, there was an island named Dns near Qmwalyh,
which is Arabic for Cornwall. Ons was a day's sail from the
tip of England, which fits the Scillies and Lyonesse. Here, we
note that only one isle is named, not the plural if an archipelago was being described. Since the Normans, who then
ruled Sicily, were from France then Idrisi could have heard of
Lyonesse from French Tristan epics brought from France or
England, which the Normans had also conquered. The
authors concluded that Ons was perhaps a misspelling of
Lyonesse, but I would like to suggest that it could be a garbled form of the Latin Lugdunenis, which is supposed to be the
root of the modern name.

Pursuit 161

One of the most recent accounts of Lyonesse research is an

article in a 1979 issue of Antiquity magazine. Dr. Peter
Fowler, Secretary to the Royal Commission on Historical
Monuments (England) and Professor Charles, Director of the
Institute of Cornish Studies, reported that many new sites of
submerged stone walls had been found around the Sciny
Islaiuls since Crawford's time, as weD as sunken hut ruins or
submerged cairns and tombs.
They offered several maps of sites of sunken walls and
huts. On one map, they depicted several clusters of submerged walls and stone huts. Most of the sites could be found
around St. Martin's Island. One wall site and six hut or burial
ruins were off that isle's southern coast while one ruined hut
was off the northeast coast. Four more sunken walls extended
into the sea off the north, south and west coasts of little Tean
Island west of St. Martin's. There was at least one sunken
wall and hut off the west coast of White Island north of St.
Martin's. South of St. Martin's Isl~d is the large island of
St. Mary's where two sunken stone huts were found in a cove
off its northwest shore. Several more sites of sunken walls
and huts were off the west coast of Tresco Island and the east
. coast of Bryher Island, both being west of St. Martin's. A
solitary hut or. tomb site was located off the west coast of the
small islet of Annet southwest of St. Mary's. More huts and
walls were underwater off the east coast of Samson Island,
which is due south of Bryher.
A second, enlarged map indicated similar structures in
more detail off the northeast coast of Samson Island, where
one could fmd submerged walls and cairns in a bay east of
North Hill where similar megalithic ruins were located on dry
land. More detailed charts showed undersea walls and huts at
Green Bay, Bryher and at Bar Point, St. Mary's Island. A
map of White Island north of St. Martin's gave clues to the
purpose of the drowned structures.
.
TheWhite Island walls are located off the west coast, in a
bay called Porth Morran. The map shows seven or eight walls
(some seem to be sections of broken walls which were formerly longer and more complex in plan). Three sites seem to
match walls on dry land, so it is clear that the walls sank slowly as the sea eroded the ancient region. There aTe a couple of
megalithic tombs on the northern part of the island which
give hints of the isle's ancient history. There are also some
unimportant cairns left when fields were cleared and stones
were piled into heaps which seem to have no value or historical significance.
. The conclusion is that these walls were farm-field boundary
markers, showing the limits of farmers' lands. They were not
.the fortification walls of an ancient citadel or lost city. Huts
were found but they were in small groups of two or three at
most. They, nevertheless, are proof of the old sightings of
houses beneath the sea, even though no splendid palaces of
barbaric kings have yet been detected. Fowler and Thomas
did not refer to Hansen's data on the sunken roads or mines
so either they did not know of those or dismissed them as
rumors. They did note that parallel lines of stones have been
discovered at Green Bay, Bryher Island, for example, which
~ as access ways or tracks between tJelds. Thtis there
were crude road-like structures, however,. they did not give
any details about more advanced Roman-style sunken roads.

De Doom of Lyonesse
When did Lyonesse sink? Modern research reveals that the
land sank slowly, in stages, not all at once in an Atlantis- or
Noah-style deluge. However, old documents such as the letters to Aetius reveal that violent floods struck portions of
Pursuit 162

southern: Britain and there could have been sudden localiZed

submersions.
Hansen suggested that portions of. Lyonesse began to sink
around 10,000 B.C. and I should point out that that early
Lyonesse was part of the Greater Lyonesse, the ancient landmass which united the British Isles to each other and Europe.
Much land was still above the waves in 6,000 B.C. or even
later, as indicated on Jill Walsh's maps of prehistoric
England. The third phase in Lyonesse history is the Bronze
Age, the time of fusion with or wars between megalith
:builders and chariot-driving Indo-European hordes. Edith
Ditmas wrote l l that a major submergence took place around
1700 B.C. a date ih the early Bronze Age. In fact, certain
British archaeologists and geologists even use the term
Lyonesse Transgression, which refers to the submersion of
coastal regions around England in 1700 B.C. Oddly enough, .
the effects of the Lyonesse Transgression are most obvious in
eastern Britain, even though Lyonesse itself was in the westl I
plan to discuss the submersion of land in eastern Britain in
another monograph on the North Sea but for now it is sufficient to note that man-made pits, cooking holes fdled with
prehistoric trash and Beaker People potsherds have been
found off the seacoast, underwater, at sites around C1actionon-Sea in Essex, eastern England. Thick bands of marine
-mud mark the progress of the waves and are an exceUent indicator to geologists that the ocean's inexorable waters have
conquered new territories. It is curious that while archaeological evidence of sunken settlements is abundant in
eastern England there are few, if any, legends of sunken cities
there. This tantalizing clue to the mystery of Lyonesse can be
found in Richard Harrison's book, The Beaker Fo/k.n
The neXt major submersion oCcurred around the Fifth century A.D. as Morrison told us. In 1979, though archaeologists Fowler and Thomas were rather dubious about widespread serious deluges at the fall of the Roman Empire, when
King Arthur and Tristan lived. They said that some mariIie
transgressions happened but were not cataclysmic. Sinkings
did take place in Somerset, western England but the floods in
the Scilly region were minor. However, a somewhat more
serious sea level rise took place later on, starting in the
Seventh century A.D. which was in the height of the Dark
Ages, even if it is a century or more after the time of Arthur
and Tristan.
.
Hansen claimed that a Cornishman told her that a. very
great subsidence of land struck the Scilly Isles and ComwaJI
in the Tenth or the Eleventh centuries A.D. Author Arthur
Norway reported that a Saxon chronicle mentioned a great
flood which hit in the year 1014, "This year, on St. Michael's
Mass Eve, came that mickle sea flood widely through this
land; and it run up so far as never before; and it drowned
many towns, and mankind too innumerable to be
computed. "
liunt told us that Lyonesse sank on November 11, 1099
A.D., his source being the chronicle of Florence of
Worcester, "On the third of the Nones of November (1099)
the sea overflowed the shore, destroying towns and drowning
many perSons and innumerable oxen and sheep."
Ditmas revealed that a later devastating fl~, swept over
the coasts in 1118 arid much of western Cornwall suffered
severely. Fowler and Thomas teD us that more subsidence
overwhelmed land in the SciUy Isles around the Thirteenth
. century and even as late as Tudor times.
One later flood surged over the Scilly Isles in 1478, on the
dawn of the Reriaissance. The last major sinking happened in
1538. .Hansen noted in that time, Tresco Island had had a cir-

Fourth Quarter 1988

cumference of ten miles. Today it is smaller. It had a large

forest inhabited by wild boars.
" Legend has it that there were a couple of survivors who
escaped the great flood which sank Lyonesse. I have already
mentioned the legend of the Lord of Goonhilly. There is a
more famous tale about Trevilian, another Lyonesse
nobleman who fled to safety by riding his swift white horse to
the shore. To this day, the Trevelyan family, said to be
descended from the fortunate refugee, has a coat of arms
depicting a horse leaping out of the waves, according to
Ashe. Hunt suggested that a certain ceremony performed at
Padstow (at least in his time, 1871) may not only be partially
pagan in origin but it may preserve the memories of
Lyonesse. On May Day the people take a ceremonial hobby
horse in a procession around the town. Then they submerge
the horse in the sea. The old people said that the ritual
prevented disease and death. It also protected cattle from
plague. Hunt supposed that the festival might have been
derived from memories of the white horse and Trevilian's
wild ride away from the sinking land.
Yet, in the eyes of most archaeologists, the submersion was
gradual. For the most part, the land sank so slowly that most
folk. were not threatened. They could move or sail away.
Even so, archaeologists have found the sunken walls of ancient farms and huts. If someone organizes a large wellequipped expedition, they may fmd more such walls. It is
highly unlikely but just perhaps, they may even discover the
domes and spires of the fabulous City of Lions. For some
portions of the legend of Lyonesse are now known to be based on fact.
What gods they worshipped, alas, were unspecified. They bad remained pagan while most of Britain was converting to various forms
of Christianity. Rome itself was still pagan in SoliDus' time but Christianity was spreading - J .S.

BmuOGRAPHY
1. Ashe, Geoffrey, editor, The Quest for Arthur's Britain. New
York, Frederick A. Praeger, Publishers, 1968, pp. 190, 199.
2. Baily, H. and Ross, A., "Idrisi on Lyonesse," Journalo/Celtic
Studies. II. 1955, pp. 3242.
3. B6dier, Joseph, The Romonce 0/ Tristan and Iseult, New York,
Random House, 1965.
4. Bivar, A.D.H., "Lyonesse: The Evolution of a Fable," Modem
Philology, February, 1953.
5. Brugger, E., "Loenois as Tristan's Home," Mockrn Philology,
November,I924.
6. Bums, Thomas, A History 0/ the Ostrogoths, Bloominston, indiana, Indiana "University Press, 1984, pp. 60-61.
7. Carew, Richard, Survey 0/ Cornwall, edited by Thomas Tonkin,
London, Francis Lord de Dunstandville and T. Bensley,
publishers, ISII.
S. Crawford, O.O.S., "Lyonesse," Antiquity. Vol. I, No. I, 1927.
9. Dean, Tony and Shaw, Tony, The Folklore 0/ Cornwall, London, B.T. Batsford Ltd., 1975.
10. De Camp, Catherine and De Camp, L. Sprague, Ancient Ruins
and Archaeology, Garden City, New York, Doubleday, 1964.
11. Ditmas, Edith, Tristan and lseult in Cornwall (privately published?), 1969.
12. Donnelly, Ignatius, Atlantis: The Antediluvian World, New
York, Gramercy Publishing Company, 1949, edited by Egerton
Sykes.
13.
, The Destruction 0/ Atlantis-Ragnarok: The
Age" 0/ Fire and Gravel, Blauvelt, New York, Steinerbooks,
1974.
14. Emiliani, Cesare, "Paleoclimatological analysis of late quaternary cores from the northeastern Oulf of Mexico," Science, Vol.
IS9, 1975, pp. 1083-8.
Fourth Quarter 1988

15. Fowler, Peter and Thomas, Charles, "Lyonesse revisited: the

early waDs of Scilly," Antiquity. Vol. LIII, 1979.
16. Goodrich, Norma, King Arthur. New York, Franklin Watts,
1986. On page 186 she noted that a reknowned French scholar,
F. Lot, had located Lyonesse near the Scilly Isles off the tip of
Cornwall but then claimed that Lot erred and assumed that
Lyonesse was really Lothian in Scotland. Her evidence was work
by a linguist named William Watson (author of the 1926 book,
The History 0/ the Celtic Place-Names 0/ Scotland. This is a
revival of the old "King Arthur was in the Scottish Lowlands"
theory based mainly on supposition. Most authors locate King
Arthur (and Lyonesse) near Cornwall. Again, I must add that
Lyonesse sank, whereas Lothian is still dry land!
17. Halliday, F.,A Historyo/CornwaD. Letchworth, Hertfordshire,
England, The Garden City Press, "1975.
Halliday suggested that the tale of Lyonesse was inspired by the
slow submersion of land around the Scilly Isles in about 1700
B.C.
IS. Hansen, L. Taylor, The Ancient Atlantic. Amherst, Wisconsin,
Palmer Publications/Amherst Press, 1969, pp. 339-340.
19. Hmcken, Hugh O'Neill, The Archaeology 0/ Cornwall and ScilIy, London, Methuen, &; Co., 1932.
1D. Hind, C.L., Days in Cornwall. London, Methuen &; Co., 1907,
pp. 163-164.
21. Hitching, F., The Mysterious World, New York, Holt, Rinehart
and Wmston, 1975, p. 164.
22. Hunt, R., Popular Romances 0/ the West 0/ England, London,
John Camden Hotten, 1871, p. 192.
23. Kondratov, Alexander, The Riddles 0/ Three Oceans, Moscow,
Progress Publishers, 1974 (Enslish translation by Leonard
Strolitsky). Kondratov noted, albeit all too briefly, that sunken
forests and settlement ruins had been found along the southwestern English coasts on the sea floor. These dated from SO to
2S centuries aao and were from different periods and cultures.
He reported on certain legends which located Lyonesse off the
tip of Cape Cornwall and the Scilly Isles. A large town, not named by Kondratov, was located there and it sank when Lyonesse
was inundated by a flood. There were also submerged tin mines
there. South of Lyonesse were the equally mysterious Tin Islands
or Cassiterides which also sank. He thought that the legend may
be based on fact but hoped that future archaeologists will investigate the area to verify or debunk the tale of lost cities there.
24. Morris, John, The Age 0/ Arthur. Chichester, Sussex, England,
"
Phillimore &; Co., 1977.
25. Norway, Arthur, Highways and Byways in Devon and Cornwall.
London, MacMillan and Co. Limited, 1900.
26. Palmer, Robin, Demons and Monsters and Abodes o/the Dead,
New York, Scholastic Book Services, 1975.
27. Reid, Clement, Submerged Forests. Cambridge, England, At the
University Press, 1913.
28. Roberts, Anthony, Atlantean Traditions in Ancient Britain.
London, Rider and Company, 1977.
29. Schutz, Herbert, The Prehistory 0/ Gemumic Europe, New
Haven, Yale University Press, 1983.
30. Scott-Elliot, W., The Story 0/ Atlantis and the Lost Lemuria.
Wheaton, Dlinois, The Theosophical Press, 1962. This book is
DOW largely out of date but it is regarded as a classic in the field as
it inspired many later Atlantis researchers.
31. Singer, Jon Douglas, "Lost Cities of France: Fact or Folklore?"
PlJIISVlT. First Quarter, 1984, P.O. Box 265, Little Silver, NJ"
on3C).(J265.
32. Spence, Lewis, Atlantis Discovered, New York, Causeway
Books, 1974 (originally published 1924).
33. "
,The History 0/ Atlantis, New York, University
Books, 1968 (originally published 1926>. These two books are
now largely out of date but are classics of Atlantis research and
contain many interesting legends, theories and a few itans about
obscure archaeological discoveries.
34. Sykes, Egerton, "Sunken Cultures of the North Sea and the
English Channel," New World Antiquity, MaylJune, 1973.
Sykes believed that Lyonesse sank around 2660 B.C. when a

Pursuit 163

Map from the back cover of Nigel's book (see source 1).
giant meteor hit the Baltic at Kaali, sending tidai"waves south and
west.
35. Walsh, Jill, The IsIIlnd Sunrise, New York, The Seabury Press,

1979.
36. Westropp, Thomas, "Brasil and the Legendary Islands. of the
North Atlantic: Their History and Fable. A Contribution to the
'Atlantis' Problem," Proceedings 0/ the Royal Irish Academy,

Vol. 30, 1912-1913.

37. Harrison, Richard, The Beaker Folk, New York, Thames and
Hudson, 1980, pp. 75, 98.

Further Data on Lyonesse

Since I finished the frrst edition of the manuscript, new
data on the lost land of Cornwall has come to my attention.
While the fabulous City of Lions has not been found, new
sunken ruins and artifacts of ancient tribes have been
discovered in the sea off Land's End at the western tip of
Cornwall. Other discoveries have been made around the Scilly Islands.
' .
Nigel Pennick, a British investigator of strange mystenes,
has just published a book, Lost Lands and Sunken Cities,
which discussed legends and archaeological evidence for
sunken cities in the British Isles, mainly along the coasts of
England and Wales. He did not have much on Lyonesse
although he did publish some items of which I was unaware.
Also he suggested that the sunken land in Mount's Bay
was part of Lyonesse (although I disagree and think that the
two were separate, unless if that lost region was part of a
"Grea.ter Lyonesse" which was the vast territory connecting
Britain to mainland Europe at the end of the Ice Age).
For example, Pennick pres~ts a map by Agnes Strickland,
which was frrst published by Beckles Willson in the latter's
1902 book The Story of Lost Eng/and. That map shows
"The Lion~se," as Strickland called it, as a rounded triangle
extending from the Long Ship's Lighthouse and Land's End
on the northwest to Lizard Point on the northeast, with the
triangle's apex being the Scilly Islands. The eastern side of
"Lionesse" was 50 miles long and the western was some 30
miles. A sunken woods and hill were located a league south of
Land's End. A second sunken forest was depicted in the area'
of Mount's Bay. A note stating that"fragm.ents of doors and
windows (either from the lost City of Lions or some other
sunken city) was placed a league south of Land's End. Whatever one may think of the fanciful map, Pennick did report
that a couple of archaeological sites have been found underwater in that region. (See map above)
.
For example, an archaeologist named Tebbut excavated a
stone cist on the central part of the shore of Old Man Island
in the Scillies. The tomb yielded Romano-British brooches
Pursuit 164

(elaborate pins). He also reported on excava~ioru: cond~

by Professor Charles Thomas at submerged Sites m the Scilly
Islands in the 1950's and 1960's. Artifacts and ruins were
discovered and. excavated at Great Arthur, Little Arthur,
Tresco and St. Martin's Islands. Thomas' team concluded
that the'sea had risen at least 14 feet on the average in late
prehistoric and early historic times (before the end of the
Dark Ages).
Pennick repeated the old legend which located the City of
Lions at the Seven Stones Reef in the Scillies. Neither Tebbut
nor Thomas found the sunken city but, Pennick noted, Tebbut had found two sunken stone hut ruins off Tean Island in
the Scillies. So there were sunken houses beneath the waves,
even if there were no splendid palaces.
Further Sources
1. Pennick, Nigel, Lost Lantis and Sunken Cities, London,
England, Fortean Tomes, 1987.
2. Thomas, Charles, Exploration 0/ a Drowned Landscape: Archeology and History 0/ the Isles 0/ Scil/y, London, 1985. I have
not rCad this work as of this writing but add it as a source for
other investigators and future editions of this work.

A Note on English Eartbquakes.

.
Pennick reported that several severe earthquakes shook the
usually peaceful countryside of old England, especially in the
Eighteenth century. Such earthquakes were strong enough to
damage and topple church steeples. Thus they c~~d have ~t
in tidal waves over low-lying coastal towns and Cities, washing
away wooden buildings and submerging old metropoli. Pennick revealed that one such earthquake took place on July 16,
1757 and it was felt from Cornwall to the Scillies. Its epicenter
was at (the now famous town of) Penzance, Cornwall .. The
Gentleman's Magazine noted in a 1799 issue that there had
been a strong earthquake in Guernsey of the Channel Islands.
There were earthquakes in Wales in 394 A.D. and in Cornwall in 424 A.D. which killed many people and caused wide-.
spread damage. On April 6, 1580, an earthquake felt as far
away as France and the Low Countries struck the English
Channel and demolished part of the cliffs and castle walls at
Dover. In 1692, part of Framlingham in Suffolk, England
was flooded by an earthquake's tidal waves. In April 22.
1884, the spire of the Colchester Cathedral in Colchester,
England; was shaken apart as if an invisible titan's colossal
hammer had struck at it.
Thus, earthquakes, great and small, may have been a
significant factor in the disappearance of Lyonesse.

~
Fourth Quarter 1988

The Roots of the

D0900

by Vladimir v. Rabtsov, Ph.D.

Memo: The Dogon are a rural West African people living

mainly in the territory of the Republic of Mali. Inhabiting a
remote region of our planet the Dogon have kept, to the present time, many of their beliefs and customs. Their rich mythology (and especially its most secret part known as the "clear
word," which is fully accessible only to the olubaru, i.e., top
dignitaries of the A va or the Society of Masks) contains, quite
unexpectedly, an exact and detailed knowledge of the Universe, which agrees with modem astronomy on many points.
For instance, the Dogon divide all heavenly bodies into stars,
planets and satellites; they know about the rings of Saturn
and the four "Galilean" moons of Jupiter. Their model of
the cosmos consists of two star systems - "external" and
"internal" ones. The external system forms "the spiral stellar
world" - Yalu ulo - which may be observed in the sky as
the Milky Way. The number of such worlds in the Universe is
infmite, and the Universe itself is "endless, but measurable."
The "internal" system of stars, which influences, in the
Dogon's opinion, the life of men on the Earth, includes the
constellations Orion and Pleiades, also Procyon, gamma
Canis Minor and some other stars. Its center is Sirius, named
"the navel of the world. " The star is thought of as triple, with
its main body named Sigi tolo and the satellites Po tolo (the
smallest and heaviest known star in the Universe) and Emme
yo tolo (which is somewhat larger and four times lighter).
Around the latter star, two other little bodies - Ara tolo and
Yu tolo - are orbiting. It is a well-known "unpleasant
enigma" to our science that parameters of the star Po fully
coincide with those of Sirius B (a white dwarf that revolves
around Sirius A, a big and hot star). But the parameters of
Sirius B were determined quite recently, with the help of sophisticated astronomical equipment. (Detailed description of
the "astronomical mythology" of the Dogon may be found
in references 1 and 2.)
Mr. Koungarma Kodyo, a native-born Dogon, who studies
philology in Moscow, was kind enough to discuss, with the
author of this paper, the question of the origin of his people's
mythology. Some results of this discussion are now presented
here.
Not A Dialogue As Yet
K.K. I confess that the general interest displayed at present
in our culture is somewhat unexpected to me. Although
achievements of the African thought have been recognized
during the past decades all over the world, it is mainly in the
field of arts. However, as I understand, you are interested,
first of all, in those strange coincidences with scientific data,
which may be found in the depth of our mythology?
V.R. Yes, that's right. Though, I do not believe these
"coincidences" may be considered out of their mythological
context. They are enigmatic just because they are inseparable
from it, included in a more or less "normal" cycle of cosmogonical mythos. But science and mythology are not only different pictures of the reality, rather, they are different approaches to the reality, which cannot be reduced to each
other.
K.K. And how do you explain such an unusual combination of the two types of world outlook in a single system?
V.R. Maybe, even more than two ... As for the explanation,
we have now, instead of it, only some suppositions. I believe
that the most promising of them is the paleovisit hypothesis.
Fourth Quarter 1988

Mystery
.

It ascribes your people's astronomical knowledge to a past

visitation to the Earth by an extraterrestrial expedition. The
problem of the search for traces of such expeditions is now
being seriously elaborated in science, but we still do not know
whether paleovisits did occur in the history of our planet. At
present it is nothing more than an unproved hypothesis.
However, the astronomical knowledge of your people is, to
my mind, one of the most convincing arguments in its favor.
K.K. I can't agree with you! It looks like jumping to conclusions without sufficient grounds. The information on stars
aand planets, which was reproduced in the works of Marcel
Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen is secret indeed, and not accessible to every Dogon. It was revealed to Professor Griaule
by decision of our Council of the Patriarchs only after the
Council weighed all possible consequences of this step. It is
no mere chance that the death of Marcel Griaule in 1956 was
marked by solemn ceremonies, intended only for initiates.
But I do not think that the source of the "clear word" should
be searched for in the outer space. Even if we assume that
there exists intelligent life outside of the Earth, it is almost improbable that our planet was once discovered by extraterrestrials. The Universe is too vast, and the potential of technology (apparently, not only ours) is limited.
Maybe in the "old days" our ancestors could observe
celestial bodie~ through instruments, once invented by ancient
civilizations of North Africa. The priesthood of Ancient
Egypt had apparently some equipment, which was kept
secret. Or perhaps, this was the knowledge itself that came
down from the Egyptians. The priests who observed the sky
for millenia could have learned much of it; and the decay of
the ancient culture would not necessarily result in the loss of
this knowledge.
V.R. Well, Professor Germaine Dieterlen, who has been
studying the culture of the Dogon for several decades, does
not believe in the paleovisit hypothesis either, just as you
don't..In her opinion, it is impossible to overcome interstellar
distances, and thus the source of the "Dogon astronomy" is
to be sought for on Earth, not in outer space.
Indeed, at present we do not know anything about extraterrestrial civilizations. Looking for radio-signals from outer
space has been in vain for the last 30 years. Meanwhile, one
can estimate mathematically that even the first civilization,
should it have arisen in our Galaxy, would have been capable
of study and settlement all throughout the Galaxy with the
help of spacecraft over several million years. But, in this case
these spacecraft would appear in our Soloar system as well.
Why do we not see any traces of such visitations?
One of the possible answers to this question is as follows:
Because we are not searching for them or are searching in a
wrong way. To look seriously for traces of ancient space
visits, it is necessary to develop methods that would unite
traditional methods of historical investigations serving to acquire information about ancient objects and new methods to
distinguish extraterrestrial objects from terrestrial. Then we
should apply these methods to a number of historical sources.
Only after that we would be able to conclude whether paleovisits were real facts of history or not. But for the time being,
we do not possess such integrated methods; therefore, any
conclusion about a supposed paleovisit evidence, either
positive or negative, is still not scientifically reliable.
Pursuit 165

Voices of the Past, Voices of the Present

K.K. You are right, of course, that to find something, one
has to search, and to fmd something new, we need new
methods of searching. But I am now thinking about another
thing ... For centuries we, the Dogon, have been thoroughly
preserving our originality, rejecting any influences from outside. I might introduce you to my friends, one of whom is a
Christian and another a Muslim, but in fact they are Dogon
and only Dogon. The patriarchs of our viDages are still influential; the Society of Masks organizes religious ceremonies
and celebrations, during which initiates recite, in the ritual
language 8;g; so. the history of the l!niverse. Apparently, only in such a way it was possible to preserve the knowledge in
which you are now so interested. But for us, that is for those
Dogon who decided and were able to go out into the "greater
world," it is sometimes difficult to combine the traditional
image of the world with the new, scientific one. Perhaps it is
just the' 'clear word, " irrespective of its terrestrial or extraterrestrial roots, that may become a bridge between both these
cultures.
V.R. Your thOUght is unexpected, but very interesting. It's
quite possible that you are "right, and the "Dogon
astronomy" is fated to become one of the keys to the mutual
understanding (or at least mutual respect) of science and
mythology. It would be doubly noteworthy if one could
prove, at the same time, its extraterrestrial origin.
K.K. Judging from your intonations, you yourself are not
quite sure of that.
V.R. WeD, I believe that to seek weak points of a
hypothesis means to promote its strengthening. There have
been many doubts regarding the paleovisit nature of the
"Dogon astronomy." It was the British popular-science
author Ian Ridpath 3 who expressed these doubts in a most
clear way. In his opinion, the astronomical lore of the Dogon
contains both something weD known to us and obviously incorrect data, and nothing more. Thus, Jupiter has much
more than four satellites; Sirius B is not the smaUest and
heaviest star in the stellar world (neutron stars are even
smaUer and heavier); Sirius C simply does not exist. Mr. Ridpath emphasizes that, despite their isolation, the Dogon stiD
were in contact with the external world: There existed French
schools in the Dogon region in 1907, and the White Fathers, a
Catholic group of missionaries, were very active there in the
19208. His main conclusion is as foDows: this knowledge has
been of a recent origin, being a "grafting" of data, borrowed
from the Europeans, to the ancient native mythology.
K.K. As far as I can judge, Ian Ridpath is under a delusion. Contacts and borrowing are not the same at aU. Besides,
these contacts were rather superficial and unwiUing:
sometimes we rejected everi what might have been safely accepted. The four successive stages of initiation - from the
"fore word" to the "clear word" - raise an effective barrier
from outer influences on the knowledge under protection.
Regarding the Sirius system's structure, it is hard for me to
judge, whether there exists "in fact" one more star. But the
pattern of this system foms the basis for calculating the
period between two Sigui ceremonies, our main rites, which
have been celebrated every 60 years, for at least, seven ceiJ.turies.
,
V.R. Yes, M. Griaule and G. Dieterlen revealed in their
paper4 a series of twelve masks, that remained from these
ceremonies. They mention other cultural objects as weD,
whose number should be 24, which would correspond to the
time interval of 1440 years:
Pursuit 166

MaD (fonnerly French SudaD) iu West Africa.

K.K. You should also note that the data, given to the
French researchers, are not the full "clear word." Some information still remains hidden; some other was reported only
in part. But, in any case, it would be absurd to initiate Europeans into the knowledge, just borrowed from them.
V.R. The more so, that it must have been borrowed quite
recently. After aU, Sirius B was discovered in 1862, its
unusual density was determined just before the first World
War. The spiral nebulas were sketched for the first time in
1845, but before 1925 nobody could be sure that they consisted of stars. The rotation of our Galaxy was ascertained in
1927, however its spiral shape only by the 1950s. Hence, the
age of these borrowings cannot be greater than 120 years. But
the knowledge about outer space is an organic part of the
Dogon mythology. Even its esoteric version is not at aU a systematic course of modern astronomy. It is just a mythology,
with aU its archaic traits.
Besides, the possibility of the existence of a third star in the
Sirius system has not been refuted at aU. Recently the French
astronomers, having studies 28 binary stars, discovered that
the orbit of Sirius B is subject to appreciable perturbations.
The most probable cause of these perturbations is a body of a
considerable mass (from 5 to 15 percent of the Sun's mass).'
But your initiates knew that such a body (Emme yo tolo or
Sirius C) did exist long ago.
K.K. Obviously, the astronomical knowledge of the "clear
word" was not borrowed from Europeans. But we have, at
the same time, no evidence of an extraterrestrial origin of this
knowledge. Yes, it is ancient indeed; yet, should we resort to
the paleovisit hypothesis while there existed in history quite a
lot of various cultures, which, as it seems to me, might invent
a telescope?
V.R. Do you think that would be enough? One can see
with a telescope a little star near Sirius, but it would be impossible to understand its nature without the knowledge of
the law of gravitation. The sensual data in themselves do not
provide a model of the world; to compose such a model, they
must be interpreted in a certain conceptual system. Even if
your ancestors (or, say, ancient Egyptians) had an astronomical instrument, it still would not lead them to the right con- "
c1usion of the Universe's structure.
K.K. And what determines the conceptual system which
transforms sensual data into a picture of reality?
V.R." Ultimately. it is the level of development of the
human practice. Our knowledge of the world we live in permits us to interact with it more or less successfully; but the
knowledge itself is determined by the "depth" and "direction" of this interaction. For instance, if we had no instrument to handle the matter at the sub-atomic level, there
would be""no possibility to create quantum mechanics. That's

Fourth Quarter 1988

why it is so difficult to transfer a theory, that has arisen in a

highly developed society, into a less developed one. Ho~ever,
it seems likely that a more complex and correct world picture
can be assimilated just as it happened with your ancestors: in
the form of an esoteric knowledge, that exists simultaneously
with a simpler, exoteric one.
K.K. Do you mean that it would be impossible to interpr~t
the data of astronomical observations in terms of thiS
"simpler" conceptual system?
V.R. At any rate, it would be impossible to interpret th~
correctly. So the gist of the problem is not only that the 10itiates of the Society of Masks know about Sirius more than
European astronomers do. Its true kernel consists first of all
in the remarkable fact that the "clear word" is a picture of
the world in which there are such notions as "symbol,"
"space," "'time," "Universe," "star," "planet,." "sa~ellite,"
etc. It is the deep comprehension of the cosmic realIty that
distinguishes the esoteri~ mythology of your people. Do you
remember how the planet Saturn is depicted on the walls of
your sanctuaries?
. .
K.K. Yes, it is drawn as two concentnc Circles, one
denoting the planet itself, and second - its ring.
V.R. Exactly! But Saturn never may be seen at such an
angle from the Earth! Incidentally, in the antiquity, ~t~rn
was sometimes represented as a human eye. Perhaps It IS a
representation of its ring as it might be observed through a
simplest telescope. But to depict in this case a circle one
should go out of the framework of his direct visual impression.
K.K. And go out rather far ... But don't you think that
when speculating about extraterrestrial civilizations, you are
going out of this framework even farther?
V.R. In the direction of truth, I hope. It's hard for me to
imagine that ancient astronomers could discover not only the
second satellite of Sirius, but its planets as well; or that they
determined the duration of the explosion of Sirius B, which
resulted in its transformation into a white dwarf. As you
know the star Po burst at "the first year of the life of man on
Earth~' and its brilliance progressively dimmed during 240
years ... Though, it is still a question whether the conceptual
system of the "clear word" was conveyed quite correctly in
the works of the French scholars.
K.K. As a linguist, I can say it has been conveyed rather ~c
curately. Or at least both parts have done for that everythmg
in their power. As for some specific data, the things ~re somewhat different; but linguistic difficulties are not crucial there.
Of course, some mistakes are always possible, but it would be
a much worse mistake to treat anything what cannot be explained simply enough as a result of mistranslation or misinterpretation.
V.R. The more so, that an involuntary modernization of
the "clear word" may be only one possible form of its misrepresentation. Our comprehension of the "Dogon
astronomy" is the comprehension in terms of the mode~n
science; but if this knowledge was in fact brought by paleoVlSitors it should contain something more.
.
K:K. Quite right. But don't you think that accepting. the
paleovisit hypothesis as the single possible one, you essentially
restrict the scope of your investigations? Please understand
me correctly: I am not going to refute it at all without con
sideration. But compare: the assumption of an ancient terrestrial source of the "clear word" leads us into the depths of
history; it tells us: you know little about it, search more attentively, and look at your past in a new way. Where doe~ ~he
paleovisit supposition lead us? As I can judge, a space Vlslta-

Fourth Quarter 1988

tion is just a chance (and very rare) event. Will the human
knowledge about the Universe and mankind's position in it
change considerably if this hypothesis finds some proof?
V.R. I might say: we'll make sure that extraterrestrial
civilizations do exist, and that interstellar flights are
realizable; but I understand you are interested in something
different. Well, let's develop a little the paleovisit hypothesis
and look at its possible consequences. I only want to warn
that my following considerations belong rather to science fiction, not to pure science. However, they are not just fantastic
ones either ...
"These Were Star Crashes, Where Intelligence
Was Dawning and Growing Up "*
Researchers widely Use the classification of hypothetical extraterrestrial civilizations (ETCs) proposed about 25 years ago
by N.S. Kardashev of the USSR Academy of Sciences: type 1
(similar to the terrestrial one) - energy harnessed: 4xlOI'
ergs per second; type 2 - some 4 x 1033 ergs per second; and
type 3 - capable of harnessing the energy that is equivalent
to the output of the Galaxy (some 4 x 10"" ergs per second).
Great power resources would enable astro-engineering activities that is, transformation of stars and galaxies for the
ben~fit of cosmic civilizations. On this assumption, the "evolutionary" concept of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is based. According to this concept, it is necessary to
look for ETCs among "the most powerful. .. known sources
of radiation in the Universe.'" The Soviet scientist, Dr. V.V.
Ivanov, has recently supposed that there was some relation
between the rise of the homo sapiens species and the explosion of a Supernova some 50,000 years ago approximately 30
parsecs away from the Sun. Dr. Ivanov believes that the artificiality of this Supernova is not improbable. 7
Let us now return to the Sirius system. Its history is rather
obscure. It is known that a white dwarf arises from a red
giant as this loses its mass. This process is accompanied by
ejection of a planetary nebula which eventually dissipates in
space. The course of events in multiple systems may be more
complicated because of possible mass exchange between the
components. Thus, Sirius B was once a red giant whose mass
exceeded that of Sirius A (that's why the former evolved more
rapidly). But when did Sirius B become a white dwarf?
The astrophysical data suggest that the lifetime of Sirius B
as a white dwarf has been 30 to 100 million years, if not overestimated. The initial orbit of the first satellite of Sirius A
was, most likely, circular; now it is a very elongated ellipse. It
suggests that the mass loss was accompanied by some considerable perturbations. Whether the "lost" matter was
dissipated into space, or it was captured by Sirius A, also depended on the initial parameters of the orbit. The situation
becomes even more involved if we assume the presence of the
second satellite in this system.
The historical evidence is equally uncertain, but there are
some grounds to assume that 2,000 years ago or so Siri~s
looked not white-bluish, as now, but red. However, thiS
alone does not mean that Sirius B still was then a red giant.
This could be no more than a temporary reddening of the star
due to certain instabilities in its outer envelope (what is
known as a pseudo-red giant phase).'
R.K.G. Temple in his work Z supposes that the astronomical lore of the Dogon was borrowed from an ancient tradition
common to all Mediterranean civilizations some five or six
thousand years ago. I had some doubts concerning this conclusion, but here is an interesting fact that seems to support it.
*The words of Maximilian Voloshin, a famous Russian poet.

Pursuit 167

The ancient Iranian name of Sirius - Tistrya - goes back to

the Sanscrit term Tri-stri. (three stars) and to an older IndoEuropean one of the same meaning. B.G. Tilak, who first
proposed this etymological: explanation (now generally accepted by the specialists) coUld not understand its sense and
therefore hestitated over the meaning of the word "Tistrya":
whether it meant really th~ "Belt of Orion," rather than
Sirius. However, nothing proves this ad hoc conjecture. On
the other hand, the name "three stars" is quite justified in
terms of the Dogon concept of this stellar system. It is significant that Sirius was also called "Tristryeni," which means
"many stars or a group of stars. "10
But the most common naine for Sirius in the ancient world
was "The Dog." The worship of the dog-wolf was widespread in the Indo-Europeab world. For example, the motif
of the fight against the dr8gon in the Slavonic mythology
grew out of an older motif of the hero-blacksmith, fighting
and fmally chaining up a monstrous dog. Dr. V.V. Ivanov,
having analyzed this myth, paid attention to its "heavenly"
aspect: "Over the whole territory of Eurasia, this mythological complex is associated both with the Great Bear ...with a
star near it as a dog which is dangerous for the Universe, and
also with blacksmiths ... '"
The great importance of the blacksmith in the Dogon
mythology is well known; and though Sirius is far from the
Great Bear in the firmament, it belongs to the same starclUster.
Thus, it is likely that the myth about the sky dog,
dangerous for the Great Bear and for the Universe as a
whole, that was chained up by sacred blacksmiths, is based on
a certain event in the history of the Sirius (Dog Star) system.
My idea is that it might be an artificial, astroengineering
intervention of a cosmic supercivilization into the evolution
of this system aimed, apparently, at preventing an explosion
of Sirius B as a Supernova. During mass ejection from the red
giant, its remaining core might preserve a mass exceeding the
Chandrasekhar limit (1.2-1.4 Sun masses). But this would inevitably lead to disastrous self-compression of the core and its
explosion as a Supernova. As a result, powerful streams of
matter and radiation would be ejected into the surrounding.
space. II
Explosion of a Supernova at such a small (on the cosmic
scale) distance from the Solar system might be fatal for the
terrestrial biosphere. This danger could be prevented by
removing the excess of the stellar matter from Sirius B. The
240 years of increased brightness of the star looks indeed like
a slow discharging of this "cosmic mine." Was it discharged
completely? Who knows ... the myth tells us that the blacksmiths only chained up the Dog, but it does not mean they
rendered it quite harmless.
The Dialogue Begins
K.K. What you are saying seems much more fantastic than
a "usual" paleovisit assumption. But this is really an answer
.to my question, even if somewhat unexpected. It only remains
to prove convincingly that there was a reaU paleovisit ...
V.R. Yes, and there may be here two possible research
directions. First, it would be necessary to study in. detail the
Sirius system, to look for the second satellite and its planets,
as well as for the supposed astroengineering structures there.
This could be done, for example, by radio interferometers
with a very long base. It might be even worthwhile to search
for intelligent signals from this star, although I rather doubt
that a supercivilization busy with its astro-engineering activities would try at the same time to satisfy our intellectual
curiosity.
Pursuit 168

K.K. I wish to emphasize once more that the "clear word"

was hidden for centuries first of all because we tried to keep it .
unchanged. The secret is not the end in itself. Having initiated
Marcel Griaule into this knowledge, we covered our half-way;
by discussing its content, you will cover your half.
V.R. But science has its own laws. A scientist puts forward
some hypotheses and tries to verify them on an empirical
material. At present we can't drop from consideration the
hypothesis of an ancient, but quite terrestrial, origin of the
Sirius lore, nor even the hypothesis of a recent borrowing. To
invalidate these conceptions the investigator has to predict, on
the basis of the paieovisit assumption, something now
unknown to the terrestrial civilization that may be proved by
experiment or observation. Yet, we are faced here with the
same difficulty as in the problem of extraterrestrial intelligence in general: the object under investigation has its own
free will, it is more interested in an equal contact, than in being objectively studied.
.
K.K. I don't think it is a difficulty: mutual understanding
would certainly open up new opportunities before you.
Ethnology is no physics; when studying the problem of contact with alien intelligent beings, it would be strange to pay no
attention t(j the interrelations between different terrestrial
cultures.
V.R. In other words, one can hope for such a contact?
K.K. OriIy hope? But what is our conversation? Is it not a
developing contact of various cultures?
REFERENCES
1. M. Griaule, G. Dieterlen. The Pale Fox. Continuum Foundation,.1986. (It is the long-expected English translation of the fundamental monograph of these famous French ethnologists,
originally published in Paris in 1965 as Le Renard pale.)
2. R.K.O. Temple. The Sirius Mystery. St. Martin's Press, 1976;
Destiny, 1987.
3.1. Ridpath. Messages/rom the Stars. Fontana, 1978.
4. M. Griaule, O. Dieterlen. "Un System Soudanais de Sirius,"
Journal de la Societe des A/ricanistes, 1950, tome XX, fase. 2,
pp. 273~294.
(For an English translation of this paper see the book in 2 above.
5. M. Walbaum, J.L. Duvent. "A la recherche des compagnons invisibles ~es etoiles doubles," Astronomie, 1983, tome 97, juin,
pp. 277-289.
6. N.S. Kardashev. "On the strategy of the search for extraterrestrial civilizations," Astronomiya, Metodologiya, Mirovoureniye, Nauka, Moscow, 1979 (in Russian), p. 318.
7. V. V. Ivanov. "The ancient Balkan and all-Indo-European ~ext of
. the myth of the hero-kiUer of the Dog and some Eurasian
parallels," Slovyanskoye i Balkanskoye Ya~koznaniye. Karpato- Vostochnoslavyanskiye Paralleli. Struktura Balkans/cogo
Teksta, Nauka, Moscow, 1977 (in Russian), p. 161, p. 210.
8. T.J.J. See. "Historical Researches Indicating a Change in the
Color of Sirius, between the Epochs of Ptolemy, 138 and of AI
Sufi, 980 A.D.", Astronomische Nachrichten, 1929, Band 229,
Sondemummer, SS. 245-272.
9. F.D'Antona, 1. Mazzitelli. "Constraints on the corona model for
Sirius B," Nature, 1978, Vol. 275, No. 5682, pp. 7'11>-727.
10. B.O. Tilak. The Orion or Researches into the Antiquity 0/ the
Vedas. Bombay, 1893, p. 127.
11. I.S. Shklovskiy. The Stars: their birth, life and death. Nauka,
Moscow, 1984 (in Russian), pp. 279-280.
This is the first of several articles that Dr. Rubtsov of MoscOw
is expected to write for PllBSua regarding "paranonnal"
events that have been observed and are being investigated in
the Soviet Union.

Fourth Quarter 1988

The UFO Impact

Epilogue
Part IV of IV Parts
by deaD-Pierre Petit
Introduction
The scientific world, it seems, has always refused new ideas.
The history of science is full of difficult fights between the new
ideas against the old.
Modem science pretends to be futuristic. Top-level scientists
are supposed to look far away towards the future, but the actual
truth is generally less brilliant. Man is man. A scientist is generally a person who uses his brain to get a respected social position
after doing a lot of work. Then, after all that work, the scientist's
social position remains very fragile and is, therefore, carefully
guarded by him or her.
"
Twelve years ago I used to do safaris in Kenya. (I was very fond
of this activity before the dumb accident that happened in my
laboratory that broke my back.) I particularly remember the
monkeys' trees. These animals have a three-dimensional territory .
The old monkeys defend their branches like mad against the young
ones who have a single idea in their little heads, namely, the conquest of a "good" branch, which implies the elimination of its
owner. This primeval vision sums up the research world (and some
other worlds), too.
Take for an example Albert Einstein. He, for many, is the example of a pure scientist, who only worried about scientific progress. By the way, he was so worried that he did not care as much
about his wife and children.
He developed his special theory of relativity in 1915. In fact,
he beat all the competition because other good scientists were also
in this race, thus giving to him world-wide recognition. Then he
worked on his field equation. This new formalism was suggested
by several people also working on it simultaneously. Einstein was
convinced he could win again, and so he focused on what was later
called the general theory of relativity.
Should you one day want to work on the field equation you would
have to use what is called a metric, that describes its geometric
structure. Einstein used a static one, for he believed then that the
universe was steady. Immediately his work became a real mess.
The physicist, de Sitter, showed that the only solution to Einstein's
theory would be to have a universe with no matter in it. In fact,
if a god would have built the Einstein universe, just to play with,
it would have either collapsed or expanded immediately for it was,
of neccessity, very unstable.
Einstein was very disappointed and modified his field equation
in a very cloudy way, introducing a mysterious so-called
cosmological constant. I From this point of view, if the special
relativity theory was a great success, i.e., a pure gem, his general
relativity was not as brilliant.
In 1918, as I said in a preceding paper, the mathematician Herman Weyl tried to extend the model to include electromagnetism.
Immediately Einstein enhanced some feature which annihilated
Weyl'sattempt. But such a tacticis normal. It is part of the game.
Then, in 1919 the young physicist, Kaluza, suggested a model
with five dimensions which took account of the Maxwell equations. In order to publish it, Kaluza was obliged to submit his paper
to Einstein. The genius carefully kept this work in his drawer while
Kaluza waited two years. Einstein hoped he could fmd a better
solution and wrote to Kaluza, "I am not convinced by your
theoretical arguments. You should work again and try to clear them
up."

Fourth Quarter 1988

Einstein refused to acknowledge Kaluza's paper when his own

work about the gravitational problem was nothing but a complete
failure.
Later, in 1921, an obscure Russian named Friedman tried a nonsteady metric, applying it to the field equation "just for fun. " Then,
(as you may know) he hit the jackpot. The first reaction of Einstein was to publish, at once, a paper in which he showed that Friedman was wrong. He considered the general relativity theory as
his personal property. A week later he realized he had made a
mistake, and he published another paper cancelling his first. Then
he was silent for several years, until Friedman was dead. Immediately, Einstein tried to regain his theoretical territory in a paper
he published with de Sitter, wherein the universe was non steady,
but Euclidean (it corresponded to the law, R orc t213).
If the universe would have been really Euclidean, the world
would have forgotten the very name of Friedman; but right now
the situation remains unclear and the Einstein-deSitter model remains just one possible model among the Friedman matrices. Friedman never received the Nobel prize. He would have deserved it
ten times over, but he did not belong to the "relativity lobby."
Science works like that, and scientists are not philosophers. It
is definitively not an open world. Every new, revolutionary idea
creates immediate anxiety for the old "monkeys" who keep to
the top of the tree. They think: What wiil be changed? What about
my position? Can I steal that?
If extraterrestrial explorers visit us, their presence must create
a terrible anxiety among scientists. In fact, if this is true, the whole
science of the earth could collapse suddenly and the teachers should
become the pupils!
I think very few scientists would be able to face such a reality.
If you. listen carefully about what they say, you will see that this
anxiety is very real (for 13 years I was the witness to it) for exampie, ten years ago a journalist asked a well-known French
astronomer, "What would you do if you were to see a UFO?"
To which the astronomer replied, "I would look in the opposite
direction. "
I remember a remark of Pellat, plasma physicist, and member"
of the scientific panel ofGEPAN in 1977. Also at that time another
member, Roland Omn~s, theoretical physicist and specialist in
cosmology, became upset about UFO reports, and said, "Truncated rays? It is physically impossible, and I will demonstrate that
fact in order to show that these reports are ridiculous!" Later, I
asked Pellat if Omnes had been able to do this. "No," Pellat
answered. "Hell, h~ found it could work!"
Such attitudes are typical. In 1977 GEPAN was created in France
for several reasons. First, the public asked for such a creation and
the government did not want to see this problem captured by some
private association, and possibly get out of control. Second, the
army thought that some usable technical thing could arise from
MHD. Third, Poher fought for its creation for years. The panel
contained three scientists (Pellat, Omne-s and Monnet), all from
the university and the French CNRS (The National Center for
Scientific Research). Others came from the Army, the National
Meteorological Service, the state police, and the last one, Faure,
was a psychiatrist.
Among the scientists of the group, Monnet, a friend of mine,
was neutral, but Pellat and Omn~s vigorously asked for the suppression"of GEPAN and they worked like hell for years to accomplish this! In the U.S. it seems that Dr. Menzel had a similar
activity.
I have shown how GEPAN systematically refused admittance
to any open minded scientist. In fact, I think they were all deathly
afraid of the SUbject: Remember the Condon Committee conclusions in the U.S. Their central point was, "In conclusion, it is not
a potential danger to our country or political structures." Then
Pursuit 169

the panel insisted on talking about the bad use that other persons
could do with the UFOs, possibly causing social disorder. It was
decided to fight against any opposition by training persons and
scientists, in order to reduce in importance any UFO sighting as
.
only some natu~l phenomenon.
The French GEPAN, from the beginning~ was organized like
the Condon Committee. 1be government expected a final negative
report after some years of pseudo research. But MHD dmmatically
changed the rules of the game. In 1979-80, as I told in my rust
paper, I got in touch with the young Alain Esterle (Ph.D. in
statistics), who had taken the place of Claude Poher, after the later
left GEPAN. The group was just a sleeper. They visited UFO
landing sites from time to time like Boy Scouts. Their reports were
ch~~.
.
I proposed hard scientific research, through MHO. Esterle got
interested in it and tried to developa project in Toulouse. He probably thought something could be picked up (for his own interest).
In the beginning the direction of the CNES (The National Center
for Space Studies) was not aware of the project. EsterIe had a lot
of freedom in this UFO department. When the military discovered
that, they said ingenuously: But that was not GEPAN's goal! Its
goal was to show that UFOs could be reduced to some set of natural
phenomena.
.
In fact, in everyone's mind, the conclusion was given before
the proceedings. There were no other possibilities.
At first, theArmy tried to hide this dangerous research elsewhere,
as in CERT (The National Center of Technical Study of Toulouse)
Centre National d'Etudes Techniques de Toulouse. But when that
was known, plus the stupidity of the researchers who tried to
manage it, the affair turned into a scandal and the people ofGEPAN
were blown away (gone with the wind). The personnel status of
the selVice was completely changed. Now Velasco is nothing other
than a weak servant and cannot make any decision by himself.
. GEPAN was absorbed and put under the control ofanother department, devoted to meteorological phenomena. Since Velasco
became the mayor of the village where he lives, he now devotes
a large part of his time to that activity. Once a year he is asked
to talk on TV, when some new observation occurs. Then he repeats,
like an ape, that his service has been taking charge of studying the
UFO phenomenon for the past 10 years. In reality, he is alone in
a room with a secretary, nothing else. The French debunking policy
was a success. Nevertheless, the joke cost more than two million
dollars in ten years.
Five years ago I was invited to a TV program devoted to UFOs.
Velasco and another representative of CNES were present. The
program was full of hot air, as expected. Velasco said he had a
box containing an extraterrestrial, he said. At the end of the program he showed its content - a meteorite!
During the show I met a scientist, Nusimovici, who ran a solidstate physics laboratory. I knew him 20 years earlier. He said in
1981, he analyzed in his laboratory in Rennes, some ground
samples sent by GEPAN, that showed some residual magnetism
after a UFO landing affair. He said, "Our magnetic nuclearresonance device showed that the excitation field could not be
smaller than two teslas. I was surprised because GEPAN said that
some samples were dug from one meter deep in the ground. "
I wrote to CNES, asking about this ground sample analysis. They
replied they had never given such samples to N~simovici's
laboratory. When asked, my friend said, "it's a lie." I believe
him for he h~s never been a joker..
Immunological Reaction
.In 1986 R. Peny Collins wrote a very interesting paper inPflll
SUTrabout the sociological impact of UFOs and I agree with him.
What is life on a planet? Billions of years ago it appeared, and
we do not know exactly how the first cells did not use energy of
Pursuit 170

the sun. They worked with chemical energy, and lived in oceans.
Then, live cells were able to use light energy and thus they could
invade the earth almost completely. They used this energy to
transfonn inert matter into proteins.
Eventually, a tribe of cells mutated and discovered it was easier
to pick the proteins built by other cells, and they became predators.
War was. thus invented making a more complex society. Some
made proteins from the sun's energy. Others ate them and used
this energy. Cells fonned colonies with specialized jobs: energy
captivation or stealing; energy storage; carrying information; then
infonna,ion storage, defense, homeostatic processes, and so on,
for we are such kinds of colonies.
Life goes from the simple ~ the complex. Human beings fonned colonies and tribes. In a tribe each man acts like a cell and is
devoted to a specialized job: food (energy) collection, food storage,
information storage, passing on information, defense, homeostatic
processes,eoc.
.
Then each tribe behaves like some sort of a cell, and later so
does each country. The stored knowledge is called culture or
ideology. It is the sum of individual experiences. The capturing
ofenergy becomes more and more sophisticated. With technology,
man invented capturing energy directly, short circuiting the
photosynthesis process. When he invented writing he discovered
a way to store infonnation without the brain. All technological
gadgets accelerated his rate of evolution and made him more and
more efficient, and as such, he became in charge of the planet.
Well, almost, because some microscopic viruses still contest his
supremacy by bringing us AIDS, cancer, and so on.
Presently, normal evolution should transfonn this biosphere into
a giant cell, with its own feedback, since social organization tends
to copy the cell's. organization.
Humanity is in great danger of self annihilation (a mutual
holocaust) and this situation, until the recent evolution of international politics, was getting worse each year. In 1984 my good old
friend Aleksandrov, "father" of the nuclear-winter theory, showed
with his co-worker, Stenchikov, that a 4000-megaton nuclear attack could induce a real and durable meteorological plague and
possibly destroy almost all living creatures on the earth's surface.
This effect, thus tending to reinforce the classical effect of terrible
nuclear weapons. Notice that Aleksandrov was mysteriously
murdered in Madrid in 1985 and some American scientists wrote
in the journal Scientific American what I consider to be iI. debunking, in order to cool this alanning threat witJi the pUbl.ic.
The ~ger got worse when it appeared it is possible to achieve .
the production of appreciable amounts of antimatter, through
specialized particle aCcelerators. Note that a milligram ofantimatter
is equival~nt to a 20-megaton bomb, and that two hundred grams
ofantimatter could produce the same destruction all over the earth
as a 4OOO-megaton attack. This fantastic ratio ofenergy to volume
would make possible concentrating the attack in a single war head
hidden, say, in an "observation satellite." Antimatter storage,
therefore, was no longer a problem for scientists who achieved
its stochastic cooling and found it possible to store antihydrogen
atoms, one after the other, in a classical crystal made of matter
in which tJte positron would annihilate with one electron, and the
negative nucleus ofantimatter would take its place within the crystal
structure, 'giving some sort of compounded crystal. A very useful,
but terribly dangerous, solid-state storage solution for huge quantities of energy .
Such a recent concept completely changed the M;AD (Mutual
Assured Destruction) strategy and possibly caused today's international, political change with respect to nuclear weaponry. Here
again, such a subject deserves a long chapter all by itself.
Then, some extraterrestrials could become interested in the alar- .
ming situation ofour poor planet and its very aggressive inhabitants.
Fourth Quarter 1988
.. :..

Have these people encountered such historical convulsions?

Possibly! According to the UMMO story it could have existed in
our galaxy, two thousand light years far away, to a poor planet
whose inhabitants encountered terrific selfdestruction with antimatter weapons. Why not?
The cause for the absence of open contacts with ETs is well
analyzed in Perry Collins' paper. A civilization like ours can be
compared to a living body. All the parts of this body work together
through a complex system of social laws. As said before, the national frontiers are quite comparable to the cytoplasms of living
cells. As in a living body we find constant wars between elements
and feed back - a homeostatic tendency. Nuclear war is similar
to the allergic phenomena, in which a living creature can be killed
by its own defense mechanism. MAD strategy is similar to advanced animals ritual behavior. And so on.
The information is not contained in DNA molecules but in pe0ple's beliefs, laws, and religions. It moves slowly and it represents
the natural and social extension of the biological evolution
phenomenon.
Life IS possible because the structures, the molecules based on
the carbon atom, are strong enough to resist shocks but flexible
enough to be partially altered and make possible energy transfer
and structural evolution. All the dynamism of life is resumed in
this mixture of stability and flexibility. The same for human
cultures. These cultures which survived were able to face new situations and traumas due to meetings with other cultures. Some collapsed, like the Aztec civilization, after Cortez arrived, where such
a small group, carrying very dangerous information (showing, for
example, that the emperor Montezuma was nothing but a man),
acted like a virus.
In the same way, as suggested in the UMMO documents in 1967,
a direct contact could produce a terrific social alteration in the
world. The religious mechanisms would no longer do their stabilizing duty. All the laws, rules, beliefs, habits, could seem suddenly
obsolete and doubtful. Humanity could become globally stunned,
desperately awaiting new laws, rules, beliefs and such a situation
could bring as many disorders as a Third World War.
In our blood the lymphocytes behave like policemen. All their
time is devoted to controlling the identity of the inhabitants and
to eliminate the undesirable invaders. A similar mechanism checks
the messages delivered by the DNA and its conformity to the
general structure pattern. This is the conservative aspect of a living being. The evolutive aspect lies in random combinations between two different chromosomic heritages. In a civilization the
intellectual world offers similar faces. Exchange between different
people and information flux, makes the thing somewhat moving.
Inversely, education of youth , propaganda, films, books, and now
TV tend to duplicate eternally the same cultural pattern. In the past
the intellectuals were priests of the dominating religion. Their duty consisted in the close interpretation of holy texts, even if these
were often in complete contradiction with natural evidence. The
word "researcher" is of very recent origin.
Today we tend to think that research is a free activity. However,
that is completely false for it contains a large amount of the
primeval, intellectually conservative attitude. Researchers are free
to mix and combine, some "words," "sentences" of the general
paradigm, but not to invent new words. For example, quantum
mechanics or relativity theories offer a wide range of speculation,
but must be considered as elements of the scientific paradigm.
Language itselfbehaves like a living body, whose elements would
be the users of their speeches and writings. These users must turn
inside this linguistic cage. Everywhere we find strong conservative
forces, which have been able to ensure survival of the structure.
In the 1950s, UFOs produced some disorder around the world.
Now, this has been completely smoothed over for several reasons.

Fourth Quarter 1988

First, as mentioned by Collins, the frequency of UFO sightings

has fallen which, of course, cushions the contact phenomenon. Second, our society has developed a natural cultural defense against
this cultural danger, i.e., a shell of scepticism has developed,
isolating our social system from this alien presence. Third, some
social phenomena going on with the UFOs, close to the well-known
cargo-cult effect, have completely confused the problem, as with
cults, pseudoscientific activities, pseudopsychosociological
theories, and so on, isolating the scientific community from this
question. Notice this could have been partially monitored by the
visitors themselves.
Anyway, alI this tends to operate a natural self-protecting
phenomenon. But let us return to Collins' paper. We find that in
many cases UFOs interferred actively in human affairs. Where?
In military "affairs, through the destruction of some nuclear
weapons. This is typicalIy a good, punctual action with very limited
information being disseminated, for all this would be immediately highly classified. I am deeply convinced that the military of the
main, advanced countries know exactly what UFOs are. As a
logical consequence, the military powers should then stop and take
account of these very impressive warnings. But the human being
is definitely not a logical creature. Inversely, he will tend to
"forget" or deny the warning message, like" a child.
Extraterrestrials take great care to avoid physical proofof their
existence in order to control this educational process. They behave
like an homeopathic drug, acting through their negative print in
the social tissue, and not directly. Is contact possible? I would say
yes if the contacted people accept the rules of the game, and if they
accept to behaving like negative prints of some alien action and
give up the idea to, immediately, have some solid proof of their
presence on the earth.
In ending this paper, I would ask you to consider the closing
part ofthe speech given by Andrei Sakharov in 1975, when his
wife received his Nobel prize:
Thousands of years ago human tribes suffered great privations
in their struggle for existence. It was important, then, not only to
know how to handle cudgels but also to develop the capacity to
think intelligently - to keep track of the knowledge and the experiences of each tribe and to develop a means that would establish
a basis for cooperation with other tribes.
Nowadays, humanity must address a similar task in that several
civilizations could exi~t in the infinity of space. Among those
societies there could be some that are more established and more
''performing'' than our own.
I support the cosmological hypothesis: The development ofthe
universe repeats itself, and follows basic characteristics that other
civilizations, including some more developed, are recorded in the
infinity oftime in the pages preceding andfollowing us in the 'Book
of the Universe. '
Nevertheless, we must not minimize our sacrificed efforts in
this world where, as weak lights in the dark, we have emerged
for a moment from the feeling of obscure unconsciousness to
become material beings. We must respect the irrationality ofargument and create a life which grants dignity to ourselves and the
goals we struggle to perceive.
[Ed. note: italics by the author]

This concludes a four-part series by Dr. Petit. We wish to

express our thanks to Ignacio Damaude Rojas-Marcos ofSpain
who put Dr. Petit in touch with PURSUIT, and naturally, to
Dr. Petit himself who is the Director of the Nation Center for
Scientific Research in France.
Also, as previously mentioned, Dr. Petit is the author of
several books available in English.
Pursuit 171

Psychoscopy
lip Pmf. wme.. YeDDaeR
The following is, we are told, a previously unpublished article in English, at least, by the renowned parapsychological
researcher Professor WilJem TenruJeff. We are Vel]' grateful to
Dr. Berthold Schwarz for bringing this paper to our attention,
to Com Matteson-LautJI van Aysma who did the English translation and, ofcourse, to Mrs. Niclri Tennaeff of Utrecht, Holland,
widow ofthe professor for her ptinnission allowing us to share
this material with our readers. [Editor}
In parapsychological research we encounter people who
call themselves "psychometrists," or "object readers." The
term "psychometry," which J .R. Buchanan used for the rust
time in 1842, is now generally considered to be outdated. The
term "object reading" is also considered inexact. The term
"psychoscopy," used for the first time by R. TlSClmer in
1926, would be the least objectionable. By "psychoscopist,"
we mean a paragnost who usually avails himself of an object
(a so-called "inductor") as an aid. .
The concept of paragnosis (extrasensory perception) is a
collective concept, the most important elements of which are
telepathy and clairvoyance in space and time. Clairvoyance in
time includes clairvoyance of the past, the present and the
future. C1airvoyance in space (telesthesia) should be cop.sidered as synchronous with clairvoyance of the present.
As an example of a psychoscopic test where the results depend upon telepathy, the following experiment, selected
wholly at random, will serve. It concerns a Mrs. L.M., whom
I tested in a series of experiments lasting sevCJ'a1 years. On one
of these occasions, I handed her an envelope containing a
passport that belonged to Mr. K., whom I personally know
very well. She put her right hand part way into the partially
open envelope. She made no effort to look at the photograph
which was to serve as an inductor but which contained the
clues for practical purposes. And then Mrs. M. commented
as follows:
. "Someone who reads and writes a lot. He is at home
in any field. He performs journalistic work. He is
Quickly stimulated. He leads a hurried and irregular
life. I see him writing while seated in a train. He picks
up every scrap of news. This is not just curiosity - he
has to keep abreast of everything that happens. He can
be curt at times. Stacks of paper lie on his desk. There is
an infernal disorder. He has a sense of humor. He
speaks foreign languages. Machines form part of his
environment. I hear a regular thumping sound. The air
reeks there. I smell a peculiar, vile scent. The uproar
there is awful. He himself does not work among these
machines, but he walks between them. He sits at a desk.
He has a feeling for poetry. He gets a lot of books sent
to him."
When we know what was totally unknown to Mrs. M., that
in those days Mr. K. was the managing editor of a provincial
newspaper, then we must allow that in this case we are faced
with a direct hit. I was in frequent touch with Mr. K. in those
days. I visited his office several times and there was ordinarily
an "infernal disorder." From time to time, during our talks,
he'd stroll into the composing room to give various instructions. It smelled of printer's ink, and there were. too, noises
familiar to every visitor to a printing plant. Mr. K. was
always after the latest news, traveled a lot by train in those ,
days, possessed a good sense of humor, was a lover of poetry,
Pursuit 172 .

Prof.

w.n,'c,

Tennaeff (1894-1981)

and sometimes gave me books which he had received for

review.
Considering all this, we are led to suppose that Mrs. H. was
able to pick up in her own mind the thoughts that crossed
mine when I saw the passport photo. In other wdrds, when
touching. the portrait, she had the power to bring to her mind
what I was able to remember when seeing the picture.
With this, we arrive at the essence of telepathy. Telepathy,
then, is the receipt in one's mind of thoughts (thOUghts tumbling into one's minds) that emanate from another person's
consciousness. It must be pointed out that the picture was no
more a prerequisite for my remembering all sorts of things
about Mr. K., than as an inductor it seemed indispensable to
the psychoscopist's "inneren" (things coming up in her
mind).
Experience has taught us that in numerous cases, psychoscopists seem to be able to pick up other people's thoughts
without the use of an inductor.
It is obvious that we cannot be satisfied just to point out
that it is possible to have a psychological explanation for telepathic phenomena (in other words, that we can compare
these phenomena with in falling thoughts). One must know
further if the more detailed content of these phenomena will
fit into such an explanation. That is to say, we must investigate whether telepathic phenomena can be classified under
the laws of memory known to us. This indeed appears to be
the case. :
Fourth Quarter 1988

When we observe psychoscopists during experiments and

ask them about their self-observations (introspections), it
becomes evident that they usually get their impressions in the
form of images being forced on them. They say that one or
another thought connected with the object handed to them as
an inductor is forced on them. We may regard these "forcedupon images" as the forerunners of veridical pseudo-hallucinations which occur to paragnosts. The "forced-upon images" underlie the veridical pseudo-hallucinations. Under certain circumstances they will turn into them. Here, of course,
we can draw a parallel between what we observe in our paragnosts and that which has been shown with regard to memory.
Research has caused us to realize that always, besides a
graphic memory such as we find with eidetics, a non-graphic
memory can be discerned. There exists with paragnosts a
gradual transition from non-graphic to graphic "knowing,"
just as one can establish a gradual transition from nongraphic to gra,phic memory.
The introspections of our subjects show us that their
"hallucinations," just like eidetic images, sometimes can be
exceptionally sharp and detailed. No more than with the
pseudo-hallucinations of the eidetics, do the veridical pseudohallucinations of paragnosts seem to be limited to sight. From
reports of experiments with psychoscopists, it appears that
hearing, tasting, feeling and pain hallucinations occur to
them.
From experience we know that one finds among psychoscopists, people who show by means of automatic writing and
related phenomena (for instance, dowsing), that they have
paragnostic abilities. Here also we can draw a parallel. For
has not psychological research shown that sOIl)e people
(predominantly those who belong to the motoric type) can
reproduce by means of automatic writing and related
phenomena forgotten (suppressed) incidents out of their
lives? One of the first to point this out was P. Janet, who influenced Freud a great deal.
That the inclination to compare themselves with people
who have a hard time trying to recollect a forgotten (suppressed) word or name is also shown by our subjects, as is
known to anyone who has questioned them about their selfobservations. If we try to bring to mind a forgotten (suppressed) word or name, we will often observe that, at first, names
or words which have some kind of connection with the
forgotten word seem to be thrust on us. Now, if we could
consider the telepathic phenomena as "infalling thoughts,"
we could then expect to observe similar phenomena with our
psychoscopists. That this is not a vain expectation is obvious
from the following, an example very much chosen at random ..
It pertains to the well-known paragnost, G. Croiset.
One day, when I was present, he asked a student what he
had to do with an Oedipus complex. "Have you an Oedipus
complex or are you interested in it?" When the student
denied it, the paragnost continued: "And yet you have something to do with it." The student denied that again. Then
there was a moment of silence, during which the subject
seemed to wait for complementary impressions. Then he said:
"Now I see other pictures. Did you see a person this morning
in a flood of tears that could not be stanched?" The student
answered that this morning he saw a patient in the eye hospital who showed an excessive flood of tears. When we ask how
Croiset came to talk about an Oedipus complex, then it will
be apparent that it is not difficult to give an answer. It is
necessary to know, though, that Croiset's brother Max is a
famous actor. He was many times the principal character in
the drama "King Oedipus." At the very moment when

Fourth Quarter 1988

Oedipus plucks out both his eyes, red beets are put on Max
Croiset's eyes, causing a flood of tears. So, for Gerard
Croiset, a flood of tears is associated with Oedipus and
whatever is connected with this person.
When we try to think of a name which we heard in the
past, or of an event which happened a long time ago, it can
happen that this name or event suddenly pressed on US seems
as if "it stands before our eyes." But it also can happen often
that such a name or such an event will be thrust upon us "by
bits and pieces." The total is built up of a number of
elements.
Now we can observe something similar with our psychoscopists. Quite often I have observed that they will get only a
few letters of a first or last name thrust onto them when they
get to know this in a par~ormal way. Also, they very often
"see" only a few elements of events occurring in the past of a
man or woman with whom they as paragnosts are in "telepathic rapport."
I found in my flles a case of one of my subjects, who when
in my presence, met a lady he did not know, and suddenly
"saw" the image of a pair of long white gloves and long earrings. The paragnost told the lady that both images went
together and had something to do with her, but he did not
know what to make of it. She then said that as a member of a
theatrical group she had recently played a part in which she
had to wear long white gloves and long earrings. She had to
change clothes for the second act. One evening one of the
gloves got caught in an earring. This agitated her a great deal,
especially since she had so little time to get dressed again.
On the other hand it does happen that events are suddenly
completely thrust onto the psychoscopist. But we also fmd
something similar in remembering.
If, for instance, one asks me the question, "In which year
was the Society for Psychical Research founded?", I will
answer, "In 1882." How do I know this date is correct?
G.R. Muller, who contributed a great deal to the development of the psychology of memory, has pointed out that one
finds a number of signs (exactitude-criteria) which form the
so-called exactitude-consciousness. These exactitude-criterias,
which we can learn to know through introspection are,
among others, the exclusiveness and the persistency with
which the "reproduced" years ("reproduced" name, etc.) is
forced on us. There is also the "fullness of images." What we
mean by the latter is the fact that we do understand that these
forced-upon images are connected to others. In the chosen example, for instance, not only was the year forced onto me,
but also the names of those who performed such important
pioneering work in the establishment of the Society. Besides
this were the titles of published works written by those
pioneers, etc.
In our experiments with psychoscopists we fmd that their
"impressions" very often are coupled with an exactitudeconsciousness. If we question them about their introspections
concerning this exactitude-consciousness, we will fmd that
here we are dealing with the same criteria as the ones we
found in memory research.
It is possible to give a complete account of this subject in
brief. We must be satisfied to point out that just as the state
of a lowered consciousness level (on the basis that it causes
one to be less inhibited) must be regarded as a favorable circumstance in reproducing, so this state seems also to benefit
"inneren. "
We, who have observed psychoscopists, know that during
experiments they fall into a state of partially lowered level of
consciousness. In most cases this lowering is so slight that we

Pursuit 173

Gerard Croiset (1909-1980) "psychic detective"

can only detect it with specialized physiological apparatus.

With a few subjects, however, this lowering goes so far that
there is cause to speak of trance and auto-hypnosis. Some
subjects try to induce the state of lowered consciousness level
artificially by means of a glass ball or a piece of crystal ..
The uninhibitedness which occurs as a result of the induced
auto-hypnosis seems to heighten the telepathic reception of
images. Here we must point out that the use of the glass ball
has also been introduced in psychoanalysis. Already at the
beginning of this century, a few of the students of Freud
began using this aid to bring the suppressed memories of patients under psychoanalysis to the col)scious level.
From experiences with psychoscopists one has to admit not
only that distance between experimenter and subject does not
play a role, but also that psychoscopists can break through
the time barrier. Experiments with psychoscopists show that
they are able to get "impressions" about inductors handed to
them at a previously determined future date by a totally
unknown person (unknown at the time of the experiment).
Recognition of this fact has led to engaging in the so-called
chair tests with the paragnost Croiset.
In these experiments we let the subject provide us with data
about someone who, on a certain date in the future, in a
chosen city, will sit on a chair chosen beforehand (drawn by
chance or not).. The precautionary measures one takes with
these experiments are of the kind to en.sure that no one knowing of the predictions made by Croiset could, in any way, influence the selection of the future occupant of the appointed
chair.
.
After I had made such tests for several years, I decided to
give others a chance to do so with Croiset totally independent
of me. In 1951 I found Prof. Bender (Freiburg i Br.) willing
to experiment with Croiset independently of me at my request. When the results seemed to parallel those of my researches, we embarked on a joint research in which we tried to
Pursuit 174

.enhance. the evidential force of the results of the experiments.

To achieve this, we secured the cooperation of Prof. Neuhausler (Munich) who showed us a method by which we were
able to judge the quantity of the obtained results and measure
them in numbers, thereby minimizing the possibility that the
results obtained could be attributed to chance. In quite a
number of cases this chance was so minimal, it was practically
nil.
Experiments with psychoscopists have led to the question
being asked how far some of them could be used for practical
purposes. Extensive experiments started in the Parapsychological Institute of the University of Utrecht have proved that some of them, under certain circumstances, seem to
be able to furnish data about lost persons, thefts and
murders; The Parapsychological Insitute of the University of
Utrecht,": initiated extensive research in this area with a few
paragnosts, including G. Croiset. The results appeared in a
number of publications. The American journalist, J .H.
Pollack, under my direction and with my permission, made
.use of this material. See J.H. Pollack: "Croiset the Clairvoyant," Doubleday, N.Y.
I have to stress, though, that the question whether the date
given by the psychoscopist has or has not any practical value
is of only minor importance to the parapsychologist.
Although in the pertinent publications quite a few cases are
found that have to be considered as direct hits from a parapsychological viewpoint, yet they are of little or no significance for practical purposes.
The py.blic (the man in the street) thinks quite incorrectly
that wagnostically talented persons are able to see all and
then some. Nothing is further from the truth. Continual
research has taught us that in nearly all paragnostically
talented persons we find a more or less specialized interest
which is determined geno as well as pheno typically. In
several of my publications I have pointed out that use of a
psychoanalytical approach to our test persons would give us
a knowledge of the causes of the urges which are manifested
in the direction of their interest. In my book Beschouwingen
oller het gebruik van paragnosten (View on the uses of paragnosts) I reported, for example, the case of a paragnost who
regarded it as more or less his mission in life to catch thieves,
and he succeeded repeatedly in dQing so. Talks with this subject brought out that, when he was about 17, his father
wrongly suspected him of having stolen one hundred and
eighty guilders. This suspicion caused quite a lot of difficultieS for him which ended only when his father got the
proof that a brother, who was supposed always to set an example, was guilty of the theft. The urge which this paragnost
showed to solve thefts was undeniably related to the psychical
trauma which this suspicion had caused in him.
In contradistinction to the urge to see certain things, there
is also the urge not to see certain things. It is self-evident that
this negative urge ought to interest us just as much as the
positive one. And the mor~ so, because many of the incomplete images that are considered to be shortcomings of
the paragnosts are closely linked to such negative urges.
Let us take the following case as a ~tarting point. It concerns a Mrs. H.J.R.-v.U. who in October 1958 happened to
meet Mrs. A.B., a I~f;\yhom I know personally. Often she
has given evidence of paragnostic gifts though, as a rule, she
does not like to talk about them, just as she does not like to be
.
called a. clairvoyant.
During the visit, Mrs. A.B. spontaneously asked her visitor
whether her father was possibly interested in the Gijabrecht
van Amsetl. as she got the impression that her father in some
Fourth Quarter 1988

way or other had something to do ~ith this tragedy. When

Mrs. H.J.R.-v.U. gave a negative answer, the paragnost did
not pursue the matter further.
On January 17, 1960, Mrs. H.J.R.-v.U.'s father died. The
family inserted the announcement of his death in the Twente
daily, Tubantia. of January 18, 1960, and Mrs. H.J.R.-v.U.
also signed the announcement. Under this announcement, at
a distance of 14 cms. we found an advertisement of the
University Extension Classes at Enschede, announcing the
performance of Vondel's tragedy Gijsbrecht van Amstel in
the "Twentse Schouwburg" (a theatre) by the Amsterdam
Theatre Group. Because both the announcements were
associated spatially as well as temporally, and both were read
by Mrs. H.J.R.-v.U., it goes without saying that here we have
a case of a so-called displacement ("Verschiebung"), which
certainly originated in a repression on the part of the
paragnost.
Some years ago 1 came into contact with a student who was
23 at the time. He was paragnostically gifted to some degree
and was quite willing to place himself at my disposal as a test
person. A series of psychoscopic experiments followed. On
the whole, they produced satisfying results. One day, when 1
handed him a cap as an inductor, the subject told me that this
object gave him a very unpleasant feeling. A policeman had
given me this object. The cap belonged to a man sought by
the police in connection with the murder of a newborn child
of his unmarried daughter. The student told 'me that he got a
feeling of fright, that he became terrified. Suddenly he threw
the inductor away, stating that he did not get any impressions
with this object.
Some days later (I had not given him any information with
regard to the origin of this object) the test person asked me
whether it had something to do with the murder of a newborn
child. When 1 asked him why he put this question, the paragnost informed me that he had had a dream about a man who
had put a newborn child under a heap of pillows. At that
point 1 could only reply that this "picture" was correct.
Afterwards a conversation followed about "displacements"
in time as observed by Whately Carington, S.G. Soal and
others.
Suddenly the paragnost exclaimed: "Now 1 know why 1
did not get any impressions a few days ago. Repression comes
into play here." Then he began to tell in detail about an event
in his childhood. His mother had a baby, so he was no longer
an only child. The great care his mother gave to the newborn
baby aroused feelings of repugnance in him, and one day, an
aunt who happened to visit them saw him deliberately throwing bricks into the cradle. His aunt reacted by giving him a
sound spanking.
When 1 asked him if he could fmd any connections between this experience of his youth and his not being able to
tell anything about the inductor given to him a few days ago,
the subject answered: "Well, that is clear. Unwittingly 1 identified myself with the murderer of the child. Something
within me told me: 'You might have done the same thing; you
are capable of doing something like that.' Therefore I did not
want to see it. " When I asked him if he could account for his
anxiety when he took the inductor in his hand, the subject
answered without hesitation that his anxiety was quite clear to
him now and showed a repression. He said: "Evidently, I
knew at once when you handed me the inductor that this had to
do with the murder of a child. Because of identification,
however, 1 must have repressed these impressions which caused anxiety. During my sleep, when censorship was weakened,
it loomed up in me, however."
Fourth Quarter 1988

Aside from this "displacement" ("Verschiebung") or substitutions which is based on "defense," of which I gave an example, we have also often noticed in dreams and pseudohallucinations of paragnosts the phenomenon of condensation or compression which is to be considered as a "performance of shortening" ("Abkurzungaleistung"). Though this
phenomenon can also be related to "defense," this need not
always be the case, however.
An interesting case of condensation is the following one
which is derived from the material Mr. W. Tholen procured
for me. This concerns a paragnost who,like Mr. Croiset, has
succeeded innumerable times in supplying details by telephone about missing persons, animals and objects. From
data in our possession it appears that in August 1964, he was
consulted on the phone by a doctor, unknown to him, whose
wife could not find three trinkets. Mr. Tholen gave a description of an antique cupboard which was supposedly in the consultant's home and where the missing objects were to be
found. Since the doctor did not possess such a cupboard he
understandably was quite mystified. One day he did find the
three trinkets but in three different cupboards. He then realized that the paragnost had amalgamated parts of these three
cupboards into a new piece of furniture.
Similar compressions which 1 have found repeatedly in my
material appear to exist in connection with both the past and
the future. In my files can be found field descriptions by
paragnosts in which situations both from the past and the
future blend with situations from the present time into a new
and at first unrecognizable whole. Croiset described ships no
longer present in a part of a river which had to be drained but
which had been moored there some days previously. (Shortly
before, a missing person had fallen into the water there.)

~
Pursuit 175

SITU.tIoD

Shroud of Turin: Mystery or Mystique?

The following article, in three parts, is
reproduced here as appeared in Our Sunday
Visitor. As the Editor of the Visitor states,
"This analysis was prepared by Peter Jennings
the weekly's European correspondent." We are
grateful to Ray Nelke, founder of COUD-I, for
his help in obtaining this material for use here.
Mr. Jenning's report is the result of recent attempts to re-detennine the age of the Shroud
and if, indeed, it is an authentic item dating back
to the time of Christ's death.
The portion titled The Shroud and Faith was
an editorial comment also from Our Sunday
Visitor presumably by Robert P. Locknow the
Visitor's publisher and editor-in-chief.
The three parts of this series appeared in the
Visitor's Oct. 16, 23 and 30, 1988 editions.

Part I
Editor's note: We have all heard the news that
the famed Shroud of Turin - claimed by some
to be the burial cloth 'of Christ - is a brilliant
medieval forgery. However, as Our Sunday
Visitor went to press, the official results of the
tests remained in the hands of Pope John Paul
n. News reports debunking the Shroud were
based primarily on leaJcs, and had not yet been
confirmed by the Chwr:h. While the Church had
long held that the Shroud was not what its suppolters claimed it to be, popular piety and
limited scientific testing had made it one ofthe
best known ofall relics in Christendom. In the
following feature, the first ofthree reports, Our
Sunday Visitor European correspondent Peter
Jennings, a vetenUJ student of the Shroud,
reports on its history and the most recent
developments in the fascinating story of the
Shroud of Turin.
The Shroud of Turin is without doubt the best
known, most analyzed and most written-about
relic in Christendom. This burned, waterstained, wrinlded piece of ivory-colored linen
cloth measuring 14 foot 3 inches by 3 foot 7
inces has dtfied some of the most detailed and
rigorous scientific tests.
Millions of Christians throughout the world
believe that the Shroud is the very cloth in which
the dead body of Jesus of Nazareth was laid,
unwashed, when it was hurriedly taken down
from the cross by Joseph of Arimathea and placed in a nearby new rock: tomb as the Jewish Sabhath approached.
"Then he (Joseph of Arimathea) brought fine
linen, took him (Jesus) down, and wrapped him
in the linen. And he laid him in a tomb which
had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a
stone against the door of the tomb." (Mark
15:46).
Pursuit 176

The above pbotographic reproduction is of

a negative of the frontal image of the Shroud
of Turin clotb.

The Vatican recently agreed to submit the

Shroud to Carllon 14 scientific tests. These tests
would allegedly detennine if the Shroud itself
dated back to the time of Christ through analysis
of its material. It is those tests - conducted independently at three universities - which supposedly conclude that the material of the Shroud
dates from the 14th century.
Ten years ago, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of its arrival in Turin during 1578,
the shroud was put on public view in Turin
Cathedral Aug. 27 through Oct. 8, 1978. During this rare exposition, the first since 1933,
more than 3 million people lined up" some for
many hours, in oroerto spend just a few secOnds
gazing at the magnificently preserved. ancient
linen cloth which bears the haunting imprint,
front and back, of a crucified man laid out in
death. The Catholic Church has never made any
official pronouncement about the Shroud. Yet
Pope John Paul II, preaching at a Mass
celebrated in front of Turin Cathedral on April
13, 1980, described it as "an extraordinary
witness of Easter, of the passion, the death and
resurrection. A silent witness, but at the same
time surprisingly eloquent. ,.

The Shroud has no authenticated history from

the time of the crucifixion of Jesus until the early
1350s, when it first appeared in the village of
Lirey, France, during the reign of King John
II. However, the compell ing life-size image
does correspond in every minute detail to the
.Gospel accounts of the suffering and death of
Jesus of Nazareth.
The completely naked, bearded image of a
man about 5-foot-II-inches high had been
savagely scourged, crowned with long sharp
thorns which penetrated the skull, and pierced
with a lance in the manner described by the
evangelists of Jesus.
With graphically stark reality, the Shroud
shows the honur of death by Roman crucifixion.
It was not until one of its rare public expositions in late May 1898 that a Turin lawyer and
amateur photographer named Secondo Pia was
given pennission to photograph the shroud.
Then, in the.early hours of the morning of May
. 29, 1898, the shroud finally revealed a secret
hidden for centuries. It was, in fact, a
photographic negative, light and shade being
reversed.
In 1978 Prof. J. Malcolm Cameron, a British
government pathologist and professor of forensic medicine at London University, said, "After
careful examination of lifesize photogIaphs, the
imprint on the shroud indicates that its owner
died oil a cross and was in a state of rigor when
placed in it."
Professor Cameron observed that anatomical
experiments carried out in 1940 showed that,
in order to support the victim in crucifixion,
"The nails would need to have been driven into the wrists and not the palms of the hands, "
as has been depicted by artists throughout the
ages.
"This mode of positioning of the nails in the
wrists damages the median nerve, causing the
thumb to bend over the palm, ,. emphasized Pr0fessor Cameron. The fingers on each hand of
the image are clearly visible, but there are no
thumbs depicted. This raises the crucial question: Could a medieval forger have got this
anatomiCal detail correct?
There is nothing in the fabric or weave of the
shroud to invalidate the claim that its manufacture is of the first century A.D. The Belgian
Prof. Gilbert Raes reported in 1973 afte.r his
microscopic examination of carefully selected
threads at his textile laboratory at Ghent University, that from a purely textile angle the shroud
can be described as 'a three-to-one herringbone
twill, the material being linen with a small admixture of cotton."
Prof. Philip McNair, professor of Italian at
Birmingham University, England, told Our.Sunday Visitor, "The total absence of wool in the
Shroud's composiiton is instructive to anyone
versed in the Mosaic Law with its prohibition
oftextile mixture. Leviticus 19: 19 commands:

Fourth Quarter 1988

'Nor shall a gannent of mixed linen and wool

come upon you.'
"The presence of even one wool fiber would
have excluded this cloth from ever having been
a Jewish burial shroud," stressed Professor
McNair.
Doctor Max Frei, the distinguished Swiss
criminologist, showed by careful analysis of
pollen grains, which he took from the Shroud
in 1973 and 1978, that at some time in its existence the cloth was exposed to the open air
in Jerusalem and the area around the Dead Sea.
Before his death in 1983, Frei managed to identify pollens from 58 varieties of plant on the
cloth.
The Shroud was caught in an intense fire at
Chambery, France, during early December
1532. Molten metal from the casket it was kept
in fell onto the folded cloth inside, causing
severe bum damage. Amazingly, the mysterious
image on the Shroud remained completely untouched. In April 1534, Poor Clare nuns applied
triangular linen patches to the wor.;t areas of the
fire damaged Shroud, which are clearly visible
today.
Some of the most striking scientific work on
the Shroud was done in the mid-1970s by two
young United States Air Force Academy captains, John Jackson and Eric Jumper. They used computer-photo analysis to discover that the
Shroud was not only a photographic negative,
but that it also has three-dimensional properties.
In 1976, they scaMed a photograph of the
shroud with a VP-8 Image Analyzer, a device
used by NASA to measure image density and
translate the information into a threedimensional picture. Ordinary photographs,
when subjected to this analysis, nonnally produce grossly distorted images, but the Shroud
image reproduced itself in perfect proportion.
This indicates that the image on the Shroud was
somehow encoded with information about the
distance the body was from the cloth at the moment the image was fonned.
Sindonologists continue to evaluate the conglomeration of biblical, historical, medical and
scientific evidence from the Shroud in the light
of the latest scientific tests. However, it makes
no difference whatsoever to Christian faith
whether the Shroud of Turin is the shroud of
Jesus or a fake 14th-century artifact.

Part II
"If the image on the Shroud is purely the
work of a medieval artist, it raises more problems for me as an art historian than if it is genuinely the Shroud of Jesus of Nazareth,"
stressed Anna Hulbert, a specialist in the convervation of medieval paintings, during an exclusive interview with Our Sunday Visitor.
Hulbert was commenting on leaked reports
that carbon 14 scientific studies of the Shroud
showed that the famed relic could not be traced to the time of Christ, and was likely a fabrication by a 13-century artist.
Hulbert, who lives in Oxfordshire, specializes
in the restoration of medieval English churches.
Trained as an art historican between 1963 and
1966 at the world famous Courtauld Institute
- a college of London Univer.;ity which constitutes most of the faculty of art history - she

Fourth Quarter 1988

has a particular interest in the history of

medieval art technique.
"In northern European art of the 14th century, there is an increasing emphasis on the sufferings of Christ, with detailed depictions of
scourge wounds. I have worked on such paintings and seen iMumerable examples, and I can
never remember one which suggested the use
of an archaeologically accurate Roman scourge
as on the Shroud. Also, the marks of the nails
are always shown in the palms of the hands,
never through the wrists.
"The later medieval scourge was usually of
knotted rope. Maybe other historians can bring
medieval 'Roman scourges' to our attention?"
challenged Hulbert, an Anglican who fir.;t
became interested in the Shroud after attending
a lecture about it when she was II years old.
Medical science has now proved conclusively
that in order to support the weight of a man's
body, the victim of Roman crucifixion would
have been nailed through the wrists, and not the
palm of the hands, as depicted by artists
throughout the ages.
Asked how she would explain the fact that
the image on the Shroud has not actually
penetrated the linen fibers, Hulbert replied
thoughtfully, "I cannot think of any known
technique used in the middle ages that would
have pennitted an artist to get the image on the
cloth without penetrating the linen fiber.;. An
artist would undoubtedly have felt that the more
it penetrated the cloth the more pennanent the
image would be," she continued.
"The biggest puzzle for me is how an artist
working in the 14th century, when light and
shade modeling was just gaining an importance
in art, contrived to produce an image which
relates entirely to the distance of the cloth from
the model, and this with sufficient accuracy to
be reproduced on the American VP-8 Image
Analyzer.
"I have not seen the Shroud under the
microscope, but I have had the opportunity to
make a close examination of the anonymous late
medieval 'Buxton Achievement' painting in a
Norwich, England, museum. It is the only
medieval English canvas painting I can think
of, and even on those parts which are too
damaged to retain any image, there is plenty of
evidence of painterly technique visible, even
under low magnification. The Shroud should be
compared to such an example before reaching
any conclusions as to its authenticity," said
Hulbert.
American microanalyst Dr. Walter McCrone
told this joumalist in London in September of
1980, "The Shroud is a fake, but I cannot prove it. There is a great deal of artists' pigment
on the cloth. How the artist did it I cannot say. "
Not invited to be part of the scientific team
that carried out detailed scientific tests on the
Shroud in the Royal Palace adjoining Turin
Cathedral from October 8 to 13, 1978,
McCrone worked from sticky tapes lent to him
by Dr. Ray Rogers of the Los Alamos
Laboratory, N. M.
In a subsequent scientific paper, Chicagobased McCrone wrote, "The only
microscopically visible aspect of the image is
a red pigmented organic paint vehicle. If all of

the image components visible microscopically

could be removed from the cloth, I believe there
would be no visible image remaining. The entire image appear.;, therefore, to be the work
of a highly skilled, well-infonned artist."
Asked for her view of McCrone's claim,
Hubert said, "It is particularly puzzling that the
image does not penetrate the linen fibers.
McCrone writes about pigment particles and a
curious yellow stain. One might expect that any
nonnal dye or stain from a medium or pigment
would have penetrated the cloth to some depth.
McCrone gives a scholarly list of quotations
from historians of painting technique, and illustrates his paper with photographs of the
Shroud under a wide range of magnification ..
However, he has not, to my knowledge, carried out any practical experiments to find out
if it can be done. I should like to take some
cloth, similar to that of the Shroud, and to paint
different intensities of iron-oxide brown, and
also vennillion, for the blood stains, in the
tempera technique researched by McCrone. Part
of the painted sample might be 'artifically aged,' perhaps by washing.
"If one the:l laid the sample under the
microscope, at relatively low magnification,
perhaps at 60 times, it would be possible to
compare the amount of pigment grain necessary
to achie.ve the same tones of brown, and of red,
on the Shroud and on the sample.
"McCrone has suggested that a 14th-century
artist could have enhanced an earlier image. It
is a pity that he did not have better opportunities
for studying the yellow stain in greater detail,"
said Hulbert.
Asked for her evaluation of radio-carbon
dating, she paused for a moment befor putting
it into perspective. "Carbon dating, like X-rays
or any other analytical technique, should be
regarded as one tool among many. It is chiefly
useful in the dating of undisturbed archaeological material. In the case of the Shroud,
one should calculate carefully whether any of
its known wanderings or adventures, such as
the 1532 fire, could give a distorted reading to
whatever date the radio-carbon laboratories
come up with," declared Hulbert.
It is science, and not the Catholic Church,
that is trying to prove the authenticity, or otherwise, of the Shroud of Turin, and it would be
quite ridiculous to dismiss the Shroud as a
medieval artifact on the basis of a none-tooreliable carbon test.

Part

The results of the carbon-dating tests on a

small sample taken from the Shroud of Turin
showed that the cloth - or at least the section
of the cloth tested - was woven from linen flax
gathered between A.D. 1260 and 1390.
"I see no reason for the Church to put these
results in doubt," delcared Cardinal Anastasio
Ballestrero, archbishop of Turin, and pontifical
custodiam of the Shroud, after his official announcement of the test results, at a crowded
news conference in Turin Cathedral Oct. 13,
1988.
"The Shroud of Turin will remain an object
of veneration," stressed Cardinal Ballestrero,
who added that he preferred to call the Shroud

Pursuit 177

.. an icon and not a relic."

cient Nubia (on the river Nile), dated on the
The caroon-dating tests, perfonned by three basis of an:haeology to the II th century; and
independent radiocaroon laboratories in the the third sample, from acope of S1. I,.ou.is d' AnUnited States, England and Switzerland, only jou, kept in the Basilica of Var in France, that
show the dates the linen flax was harvested. has been dated historically to the early 14th cenThey do not help to unravel the mystery of how tury. It was provided by Gabriel Vial, a French
the captivating image got onto the Shroud, textile expert from Lyon.
which had been revered by many Catholics as
"We realized at an early stage that it would
the cloth in which the dead body of Jesus was not be possible to do a completely blind test.
wrapped after the crucifixion. The Chun:h, The ShroUd sample could easily be identified
however, had never taken such a stand, stating because of its unusual weave, a 3: 1 herringthat the existence of the Shroud could only be bone twill (the warp, or lengthwise thread passes
. traced to the 13th century.
over three west, under one west th1"Cad). This
CaIdinal Ballestrero criticized the media, and is quite rare, and therefore we were not able to
in particular some sections of the British press, find known-age samples which matched that
for insinuating that the Catholic Chun:h was try- weave, " said Dr. Tite.
Dr. Robert Hedges, director of the Radio Caring to hide the results. "On the contrary, the
Chun:h wants scientists to continue their ex- bon Accelerator Laboratory at. Oxford Univeramination of the Shroud. The Chun:h will show sity since 1976, assured Our Sunday Visitor that
the same openness, inspired by its love for the there had been "no liaison whatsoever" bettruth, which is showed by pennitting the radio- ween the three laboratories while they were
caroon dating, as soon as a reasonable operative working on the measurements.
The first reports of the Shroud da~ from the
program on the question was proposed," emerly 1350s when it was in the possession of the
phasized Cardinal Ballestrero.
At a news conference in London, a few hours French knight Geoffrey de Chamy, who lived
after the official announcement in Turin that the in the village of Lirey about 12 miles from
Shroud was a medieval creation, Dr. Michael Troyes in France. Killed by English troops durTite, keeper of the resean:h laboratory at the ing the Battle of Poitiers in September 1356,
British Museum, who coordinated the radiocar- Geoffrey de Chamy took with him to the grave
bon tests on behalf of Cardinal Ballestrero, the secret of how he obtained the Shroud.
reiterated that "the results obtained by the three
In 1453, his granddaughter Ma'EB~t gave the
laboratories, with a 95 pen:ent confidence level, Shroud to Duke Louis of Savoy. In 1578 the
royal family of Savoy brought the Shroud to
are between A.D. 1260 and 1390.
"If you want us to give an accuracy up to Turin, where since 1694 it has been ~ept in a
99.9 pen:ent certainty, then the range of dates chapel specially built for it, which adjoins Turin
.
would be from aboUt A.D. 1000 to 1500," add- Cathedral and the Royal Palace.
ed Dr. Tite.
On his death in exile during 198~, ex-king
"Furthennore, the mean radiocaroon dates Umberto II, the last king of Italy, left the Shroud
obtained by the three laboratories were all within to Pope John Paul II, with the provi~ that "it
100 years of one another. Also, there was full must remain in Turin," The Pope was infonnagreement between the dates obtained by the . ed of the results Sept. 29, 1988.
Father Albert Dreisbach, an Episcopal priest
laboratories for the three known-age samples,
which they measured in addition to the Shroud. who runs a center in Atlanta devoted to studyThese results agreed with the known historical ing the Shroud, has taken issue with the tests,
dates for these control samples. Therefore, I according to a report from NG News Service,
believe there can be no doubt that the Shroud saying that, "It will be the caroon-14 dating and
not the authenticity of the Shroud," that will
is medieval in date," insisted Dr. Tite.
The three laboratories chosen by the Vatican be tested.
He claimed that the sample strip used in the
all used the new fast AMS (accelerator mass
spectrometer) method of radiocaroon dating testing, taken from the outside edge, was
perfected within the last decade. The facilities possibly not part of the original. cloth and "one
were: the Radiocaroon Laboratory at the of the most contaminated parts."
In any case, modem science can attempt to
Univeniity of Arizona (Tuscon). The Resean:h
Laboratory for An:haeology and the History of discredit the Shroud of Turin, but it cannot
Art at Oxford University, England, and the create a perfect duplicate. The Shroud is the
most remarkable and outstanding work of icon
AMS facility ETH of Zurich, Switzerland.
A small piece of linen, measuring one-by~ art in history.
seven centimeters, was cut from the bottom lefthand corner of the main body of the Shroud by
The Shroud and Faith,
Professor Giovanni Riggi of Turin on April 21,
The stories on the results of the '<8roon-14
1988. After being divided into three equal parts, dating of the S~ud of Turin leaked to the press
it was given to represenatives from the three seem to confinn what the Chun:h had officialradiocaroon laboratories, together with three ly held all along: The only real evidence
control samples dated from the 1st, 11th and available traced the cloth back to the 14th cen14th centuries.
tury and no earlier. Thus, it is impossible to say
During the news conference Dr. Tite reveal- whether or not the Shroud was in fact ~e burial
ed the identity of the samples as: a piece of cloth of Christ. And, of course, even if it could
fabric from an Egyptian mummy from the be traced back to the days of the New TestaBritish Museum collections and dated by con- ment, that would still provide no proof of its
ventional caroon dating to the time of Christ; authenticity .
Yet while newspapers were proclail:ning that
a piece of fabric from a Christian grave in an-

Pursuit 178

the scientific tests proved the Shroud to be a

fraud, the actual report - to be released very
soon if not shortly after this issue has gone to
press - will no. doubt be far more nuanced.
There is some serious question whether both the
fonn and results of the caroon-14 tests can be
so definitive as to rule out the Shroud's authenticity. And in any case, other teams of scientists still hold to earlier, different studies conducted - such as those tracing pollen samples
from the Shroud back to the region and time
of the historical Jesus - which would contradict
the blanket negative conclusion reported by the
press.
Secular reports that the Shroud is a blatant
fraud, with their hinted giggle that science has
once again defeated medieval superstitions, are
premature. The Shroud will remain a mystery,
and even with the disputed caroon-14 results,
a hundred other mysteries surround the linen:
How was the image made? How could it accurately by portrayed in a technology unheard
of at the time of its alleged fradulent creation?
Why would the genius who created such an
astonishing piece of art leave no other works?
And what of the reams of evidence which hint
at the shroud's existence in earlier days?
That said, no one can make the case that the
Chun:h would ever proclaim the Shroud authentic. Even in recent years, when the evidence appeared to be in the Shroud's favor, the Chun:h
held back for three important reasons: I) particular relics never are specifically defined as
authentic; 2) its cloudy history would always
remain a problem; and 3) faith is a mystery of
belief, not something which can be
authenticated.
Which brings us to a problem that surrounds
mysteries such as the Shroud, or claims of apparitions such as those at MedjugOlje. Too
many people can come to view such phenomena
as somehow central to their faith. If the time
comes when the Chun:h can no longer support
any trace of authenticity and rejects such
phenomena, too many have gone too far to just
abandon them. We've seen it at Bayside, we've
seen it at Necedah, we've seen it a thousand
times in the history of the Chun:h. A curiosity
can be no substitute for faith; and while, like
the Apostle Thomas we would delight in concrete proof of our faith, the very word "faith"
tells us that it shall not be in terms that science
can prove. The proof of our faith is in our hearts
and our deeds.
The miracle of faith today is its vibrancy in
our souls, not in unexplainable phenomena. If
we allow ourselves to be caught up in a sean:h
for physical proofs, we place science before
faith, a relic's existence before the truths expressed in the Nicene Creed.
One can only hope that further study might
cast greater light on the Shroud's origins. If indeed it is an artistic creation, we can delight ill
its beauty and mystery, .as we delight in' '
Michelangelo's Pieta. Art serves faith, and the
beauty of an icon is in the faith stirred, not in
the object itself. And even if the Shroud was
somehow deemed to be authentic, it would be
still a piece of cloth.

Fourth Quarter 1988

Chess With A "Dead" Partner

by Alex Ga..da...

Geza Maroc:zy in 1,904.

Chess Champion

Robert RoUans
Automatic-writing medium

The West German TV company RTL-Plus originally telecast

from Luxemburg, where programs on the paranormal were
presented by Rainer Holbe as a regular feature. After the TV company moved to Cologne this psychical research activity ceased for
a while, but was resumed on the 1st of October 1988 with quite
a sensational report about a strange game of chess between two
contestants, one in this world and one on the "other side" that
has been going on for more than three years.
It all began years earlier when a Swiss investment consultant,
Dr. Wolfgang Eisenbeiss of St. Gallen, as a chess enthusiast and
a psychic investigator became involved with an automatic-writing
medium, Robert Rollans (also a musician and composer), then living in Sankt Augustin near Bonn, and invited him to Switzerland
for tests.
'
Another acquaintance of Dr. Eisenbeiss, the world famous chess
champion Viktor Korchnoi (as written in German with a Swiss
spelling ofKortschnoi) a White Russian residing at Wohlen, Aargau
in Switzerland. Dr. Eisenbeiss hit on the idea oforganizing a game
of chess between Korchnoi and a former (deceased) chess champion with the moves to be transmitted through Rollans in order
to present convincing evidence of a life after death. With Korchnoi
having expressed willingness to cooperate, he elicited the names
of several chess players who had been champions round about the
tum of the century, when the favored style of playing was somewhat
different.
The controls of medium Robert Rollans were successful in finding and contacting one of these former champions - a Hungarian
named Geza Maroczy, born in 1870 and deceased in 1951, who
had been one of the world's three best players at the beginning
of this century. Maroczy indicated his readiness to participate, and
as "white" he made the first move on the IlthofJune 1985. The
move was King's pawn to K4; the symbol for this was written by
a control using the medium's hand. On the 15th of June a spiritcontrol of the medium announced in writing that Maroczy was present and would try to write a personal message. The erstwhile chess
champion managed to take over the hand of the medium. By way
of introduction he wrote two phrases in Hungarian which meant:
"Here is Maroczy, Geza. I am happy to greet you." (Actually
the 'c' in the surname came out like an's'). He then stated that
Fourth Quarter 1988

Viktor Kordmoi
Chess champion

he would continue in German and went on to answer a test question on chess sent by Dr. Eisenbeiss concerning the opening in
a particular game in a particular tournament. The reply was:
"King's pawn opening and French Defence." But after this the
communicant declared that he wa~ finding it increasingly difficult
to guide the hand of the medium, and he would let his friends continue. He signed off with [See you again] in Hungarian "Viszontlatasra," after which the style of writing changed to what
it had been before. It should be stated here that although the
medium, who is of Czech parentage, knows snatches of Hungarian
he knows absolutely nothing about the game of chess.
The reply to the test question had been correct. But this was only the beginning of an exhaustive process of identification that closely involved Lazlo Sebestyen, a journalist, chess historian and
member of the Hungarian Chess Society. Dr. Eisenbeiss's experience of psychic investigation had included many encounters
with what he terms' 'Fopgeister" or fop spirits. These are entities
that claim false identities, either due to a hoax mentality or to compensate for frustration or an inferiority complex perpetuated from
earthlife. Favorite guises, in Dr. Eisenbeiss' s experience, are Jesus,
Mary and various scriptural Archangels. (Perhaps, herein, lies a
clue to the innumerable Madonna apparitions sighted in mainly
Catholic countries - a spirit in Madonna form being acceptable
but all others ascribed to the Devil.) One such fop spirit claiming
to be a very emminent deceased person was exposed by Dr.
Eisenbeisss, through persistent questioning, to be a former
steel-worker.
So to forestall any doubts as to the true identity of the communicant that might later be made, or asperasions that the deceased chess
player might be a product of the medium's subconscious mind,
Maroczy was persuaded to divulge a wealth of information concerning his former life and, in particular, concerning tournaments
in which he had played. Growing more accustomed to using the
medium 's han~, Maroczy scribbled 40 pages of personal and professional information. From this, Dr. Eisenbeiss compiled 39 questions which he sent to Lazlo Sebestyen for confirmation, though
not disclosing that the data had actually come from the "other side. "
The historian, after thorough research into old records and consultation with two still-living children ofMaroczy's (both over 80),
Pursuit 179

,.
2.

a.

(,

c.

e..

Opening moves: White e4 (P-K4), Black e6 (P-KJ)

34tb exchange: Korchnoi (black) Maroczy (white)

was able to corroborate all 39 points save for a few minor

discrepancies.
But to this proof of identity came a striking piece of additionai
evidence. This was embodied in the "answer to a further question
that Dr. Eisenbeiss addressed directly to (the alleged) Maroczy
through the medium, and which concerned a game with a littleknown player called Romi at San Remo,ltaly in 1930. Maroczy
had been on the verge of losing but suddenly thought up a brilliant
tacticforhis next move (the41 st of the game), and won. Notanly
did the "dead" communicant recall all the details of the contest
but maintained that his opponent's name was correctly spelled
Romih and that he had played against Romih once in his youth
and lost. Thus the revenge game at San Remo was a particular personal triumph!
"The first move of the game between two worlds, or between
two dimensions, made by Maroczy as "white" on June 11th of
1985 was relayed by the medium to Dr. Eisenbeiss who entered
it on a chess protocol card and informed Korchnoi. Later" the.
countermove - black King's pawn one square forward - was
sent by Korchnoi to Dr. Eisenbeiss at St. Gallen, relayed back to
the medium in Sankt Augustin and communicated by his controls
of Maroczy. Then the third move of the game was scrawled in
symbol form by means of automatic writing - white Queen's pawn
to Q4 - and the medium, to whom the symbol was unintelligible,
relayed it to Dr. Eisenbeiss in Switzerland who informed Korchnoi.
Even before the sensational telecast by RTL-Plus, a written report
by Rainer Holbe was published in the RTL-Knaur pocketbook
series Unglaubliche Gesclzichten (Incredible Stories). This account
includes photographs of Holbe with investigator Dr. Eisenbeiss,
one ofViktor Korchnoi, three of the"deceased Geza Maroczy (one
with his wife), one of the medium Robert Rollans and photostats
of three pages of scribbled communication received through
automatic writing on June 15th of 1985, including the handwriting
of Maroczy - also a reproduction of the chess protocol card with
entries up to the 32nd exchange of moves (i.e. 64 individual moves),
the situation up to May 1988. Up to the end of October 1988 two

more double moves had been made. In September 1987 Robert

Rollans had left Sankt Augustin and become resident in Bad Pyrmont, just south of Hameln, Germany, The game was now in its
final stages. Maroczy has, besides his King, four pawns and one
rook or castle. Korchnoi has, besides his King, five pawns and
also one rook. That the game is taking so long is not just due to
the relaying but also to the repeated absence from Switzerland of
Viktor Korchnoi, when taking part in international chess tournaments. Dr. Eisenbeiss has to await his return before his countermove can be ascertained. Maroczy sometimes has expressed irritation ilt the long delays - an indication that the passage ofterrestrial time has its equivalent in the etheric spheres. * Maroczy
stated at the start that, being so long out of practice, he expected
his "adversary to win. Korchnoi has stated that, despite an oldfashioned method of playing, Maroczy is a formidable opponent.
When the game is ov~r, Dr. Eisenbeiss will be writing a full
report of the remarkable project that is his own brainchild.
A worn about the medium:
Robert Rollans is now over 70. When in his thirties he visited
a seance where some advice, purportedly from the' 'other side,;'
was given him regarding a musical composition. Some months later
he was sitting at 2 o'clock in the early morning before a sheet of
note paper with the intention of writing a letter. Suddenly an
unknown force directed his hand to scrawl a message that was unmistakably ff!Jm his deceased brother. He was nonplussed and at
first alarmed, but gradually became accustomed to serving as an
instrument for spirit-controls. Since the first scribbled message
he has filled over 3000 sheets. The automatic writing includes
philosophical and scientific discourses (one on the "big bang"
theory). Five hours of writing seem to go by like a minute. Only
after emerging from the half-trance can he comprehend what he
has written. One of his regular controls is his mother. Some years
ago he offered to place himself at the disposal of the parapsychologists of Freiburg University, but he claims he was ignored
by them.
"'[italics, by PUBSUa - Ed.]
~

Pursuit 180

Fourth Quarter 1988

Geza Maroczy (1870-1951) had been a world-leading chess champion.

Just before going to press, PUBSlJIT received the following communique from Dr. Eisenbeiss. Since this unique experiment was his idea we, naturally, are pleased to have him express his thoughts as part of this article. To quote Dr. Eisenbeiss:
The chess game is in its 38th move (exchange). It is a rookpawn end to the game with some advantage for Kortschnoi, but
still with an unclear outcome. But, the game is somewhat a peg
upon which a more important event is hanging since it is the
first time that the fact of life after death is being proved in a
way that "animists," among parapsychologists, no longer can
pretend such "proofs" can just be explained away and interpreted with the aid of living persons.
I will outline in a book specific situations which arose during
these several years of contact with the late Geza Maroczy situations that u1itmately prove that it can only be the late Maroczy who uncovered certain links and runs of course - and not
just the unconscious mind of a living (psychic) person. These
events justify their being presented and analyzed in a book, as
soon as the game is over. I hope that all the people who are
basically ready to believe in life after death, but still have some
doubts, will welcome such a presentation.
According to my view, it is of the utmost importance that
human beings not only think in earthly dimensions, but also in
spiritual ways. And, to start a person in this direction, it is best
if one deals with the reality of a life after death. We must realize
that our few years here on Earth are only a tiny (though important) cut out of a much wider reality and existence. When we
see this, not only does life become more beautiful but so does
our responsibility with regards to all our activity and thinking
and also life is enhanced with respect to our fellowman and finally, to our Creator.

Fourth Quarter 1988

Editorial Comment: We are grateful to Mr. Alex Gardner for

sending this article and the chess board drawings via Dr. Berthold SchwalZ, and to Dr. Wolfgang Eisenbeiss for his commentary here and the loan of the photographs, some of which
we expect to use in a follow-up article.

Dr. Wolfgang Eisenbeiss, originator of match.

Pursuit 181

Lette..s to the Editors

Addendum "
Dear Editor:
Subsequent to the completion of this article, I've come across
further material relevant to the geologic column. At the onset,
I apologetically report there are more respectable geologists out
there than I initially inferred. The database I utilized from
young-earth publications was far too narrowed in its treatment
of the geologic column. This is wholly my error. To correct
such I now include data which in my views makes the youngearthlflood-geology model as untenable. Flood geology has its
place. It explains many anomalies associated with the geologic
column. Such neo-catastrophism goes only so far and where
it trails off, the old-earth view carries on nicely.
Anthropologist, biologist, geologist, and theologian Dan
Wonderly answered many nagging questions and ended a fencesitting posture for me. His book, using non-radiometric
methods, presents data pointing to an earth far older than any
young-earth proponent allows. He clearly shows the Noachian
Deluge's inability to be responsible for all sedimentary strata,
especially those formed by processes of a non-catastrophic
nature. Wonderly's commentary on ancient coral reefs and
associated fossiliferous strata points clearly to an ancient earth
with extended periods of calm and sundry cataclysms here and
there.
Taking up the old-earth view is no overnight flip-flop for me.
15 years of ongoing research solidified my suspicions. Man indeed appears as a geologically recent arrival, planted in due
time with God only knows what harvest in mind. The "time"
plot thickens and our vision is enlarged to humble us all. So be it.
Reference: Dan Wonderly, God's Time Record in Ancient
Sediments, Crystal Press Publishing, Flint, Michigan 1977.
-John W. Patterson
Dear Editor:
"
Volume 21, #2, Whole #82, second quarter 1988 issue, spoke
about invisibility as a force. A very logical, interesting idea.
Since 1951 I have explored the phenomena called dowsing.
Dowsing is the learned communication between invisible forces,
deep mindlbody responses, and conscious processing. My
journey has brought membership with British, Canadian and"
American Societies of Dowsers, and has brought about the forming of the Northwest Society of Dowsers. The NWSD meets
monthly, and has held annual conventions since 1976. These
conventions draw from a number os States and Canada.
The variety of molecular particles, forming paths and form
with exact signatures, patterns, hidden in the substaoce of "invisibility is mind boggling. These hidden creations have color
and tone. They have form, just as sure as visible form exists.
Science tends to suggest imagination creates tha: form, and
dowsing is the idio motor response to that imagined field. I agree
in part. The mind does produce creative force that enters invisibility. Imagination is an energy. So is the Cosmos. So is
this vibrant, magnificient planet. So is invisibility, and that
which is visible. Man, life, and more exist as forces.
The idea that invisibility is a substance, and that within that
substance much is hidden away, makes sense.
The integrity demonstrated by radio waves, photo active
waves, TV signals, micro waves, X-rays, lasers seems
remarlcable. I would suggest that thought, imagination, produce
fields not so easy to examine results of, but very real. The
cosmos, the sun, planet earth, all involved in life and creation,
Pursuit 182

produce forces visible, and forces and form hidden by the

substance and force of invisibility, sometimes called an etherical
force or the ether.
By what ever name this force and substance is called, the
realization that it is an important part of our environment may
aid in exploring the mental and life fields. Healthy and stressing energies exist in the either, just as sure as roses, peaches,
poison oak, and arsenic exist in denser forms.
Ignorance of the hidden forces that permit the many species
of life to exist through the chains of necessary eco systems,
created over the eons of time and space is great. Any idea that
could open the window, letting in light and understanding of
how our mental fields, our life forces link with the hidden forces
in the ether, in invisibility, seems so very valuable. That mention of invisibility as a force, in PURSUIT, suggested such an
idea. Earth life cries for understanding.
"
-Mike O. Doney
Dear Editor:
A quick glance through Nostradamus revealed to me that
Katie's Example #4 is identical with N. 's quatrain I:70. but with
a "g" substituded for "q" in monarqueand parque. Also.
Katie's Example #6 is identical with"N. 's quatrain V:47. but
with "maralvera" substituted for N.'s 'marahera. " Schwarz
notes that Stewart Robb identified Examples I and 2 as N.
quatrains as well. but unfortunately doesn't give a specific cite.
I've been unable to locate them in N. (not necessarily significant. since the index in the Cheetham volume is so poor). but
have found that they contain elements inconsistent with other
N. quatrains. There is no index listing for Sabaeans. nor any
explici~ reference to the Crusaders. N.s one use of "Pharos"
(in V:27) is spelled "Phatos" (Cheetham) or "Pharos"
(Roberts). but not "Pharas." as in Katie's exmaple. Also. the
only supposed reference to "flesh" that I have found (in IV:7)
was spelled "cher" rather than "chair" though the latter is.
of course. correct French. As for Example 2: N. almost always
uses other locutions for "clergy ... The one example I have been
able to find where he used "clergy" (in VIII:98). he spelled
it "clerc" not "clerge."
-Mike Shoemaker
Dear Editor:
The editing on my "Cryptozoology Comments ,. inPlJllSurr
No. 83 ~as a delight. My !1ormal turgid prose was improved and
made readable.
The update on the Lizard-Lizard case from SC is that, so far,
the telephone solicitor (my error not a rock-and-roller) who obtained the alleged mini-photo of ' 'Lizard-Lizard" has refused to
publish it or even show it to anyone, thus adding to this cryptozoological mystery. Anyone with knowledge of the name and
address of the man who took the photo in the Browntown area
please contact us with that information.
A minor correction to my Cryptozoology Comments in the last
issue, and that is that the photo of a white long roof-shaped object
in a Loch on Achill Island was taken in Lough Keel, not Lough
Sraheen. But being a mile or two away, these beasties could easily lurch from one lough to another, and some have been seen on
land, doing exact that. From and to the sea, as well, one might
add. Once all the fish and/or sheep are gobbled up from one area,
lurch on to the next.
-Erik Beckjord

Fourth Quarter 1988

Books Reviewed
TIlE OUTCAST MANUFACTURERS, by Charles Fort,
reissued by INFO, P.O. Box 367, Arlington, VA 22210-0367,
$19.50 (Plus $1.50 p/h)
Reviewed by R.C. Warth
The International Fortean Organization deselVes a big thanks
and credit for reissuing this nearly complete serialization from
NewPearson's magazine going back to the tum of the century.
It is a view of Charles Fort's writing that was missing to most
of those interested in Fort's lore and legend.
While it is not on the subjects of Fort's four subsequent books
on unexplained phenomena, and in all likelihood Outcast
Manufacturers would have died in obscurity if Fort had not written Book of the Damned, it allows us to see Fort's development as an author, and in this reviewer's opinion, is more
readable. The book is a look at life in the waning Victorian day
before civilization "developed" into what we have today.
FAcrs " FALLACIES: STORIES OF THE STRANGE
AND UNUSUAL, by tbe Editors of Reader's Digest
(Pleasantville, NY 10570), 1988, 448 pps., iIIus., $14.95.
Reviewed by Robert Barrow
Yes, this is another of those entertaining, oversized
volumes found most appropriately on the coffee table or bedside stand, the sort of book that you can thumb thfough at
any point, anytime, and not fear having lost your place when
you put it down because it doesn't matter - this type of book
truly has no beginning and no end.
If issue must be taken with any aspect of this bulging
16-chapter compendium, it concerns the title. Assessment of
the work, as a whole, shows there is no particular fact vs. fiction theme, nor is there anything much to warrant the word
"strange" here. However, unusual aptly fits the bill, mostly
in the respect that Ripley's Believe It or Not offers us unusual
science, unusual people, unusual places and unusual events.
Should one realize from the outset that this entry encompasses a sort of "fun with fascinating facts" or "fun things to
know and teU" category, then, admittedly, there is much to
sample here in some 400 brief reports of generally 1-2 pages
each. Leaning more upon scientifically recognized and credible topics than the title suggests, however, we initially find
chapters such as "Wonders of the Natural World," "The
Surprising Animal Kingdom," and "The Astonishing
Human Body." Now do you understand what this book is
like?
Considerably to my delight, though, while often familiar to
readers of PURSUIT and related journals, the subjects
touched upon are presented with a flair. and there is
something for everybody: ancient miracles of engineering, intriguing inventions, mathematical oddities, eccentric people,
our future in space, etc. Somewhat bewildering for their appearance in these pages, nevertheless, are several sections excruciatingly intent on informing us about the origin of
various words in our vocabulary. How strange! How
unusual! How incredibly out of place in this book.
But pay no attention to my ramblings. F&F emits enough
sparkly to keep us turning pages for hours. After all, one does
become curious to know why one Andrew Jackson, Jr., of
Tennessee was granted a patent in 1903 to manufacture spec:
Fourth Quarter 1988

tacles for chickens (yes, I, too, thought perhaps they would

help the poor creatures read the EGGstra edition of the evening newspaper, but, alas, the specs were actually intended to
protect their eyes from pecking peers). And maybe we read of
his eggsploits, oops, exploits elsewhere, but the editors' piece
on "the embalming dentist," who in the 1700s displayed his
dead wife's body in his home for all of London to see and admire, keenly captures the essence of a Fortean love affair.
Then there's the French gentleman who earns a living by
eating metal objects such as razor blades, and lengths of
chain. And television sets .. And a Cessna ISO aircraft that
took him two years to devour.
As Reader's Digest continues to turn out these, quite
frankly, handsome volumes on often bizarre topics - and we
must keep in mind that the editors perform their task well at
creating books that attract all ages and a diverse readership we should be grateful that credible sources are consulted.
Among the contributors are Loren Coleman, Hilary Evans,
Bob Rickard and Paul Sieveking.
Still, one can hope that the ladies and gentlemen in
.Pleasantville come up with a more on-target title next time,
because despite some interesting material, it might have been
better for this release to have been called simply, Hey, Here's
Some Unusual Stuff
ABOVE TOP SECRET, by Timothy Good; Morrow, 1988,
$19.95
Reviewed by George Andrews
The publication of Above Top Secret by British researcher
Timothy Good is a landmark event that will put the cynics who
persist in denying the reality of UFO phenomena on the defensive from here on out.
Timothy Good employs a similar technique to that of Barry
Greenwood and Lawrence Fawcett in their Clear IntentPrenticeHall, 1984), using contradictions within government documents
to demonstrate that the government is perpetrating a cover-up.
However, Clear Intent was focused mainly on the devious activities of the Intelligence community within the United States.
The scope of Above Top Secret is not only international, it is
world-wide.
Timothy Good also deals with developments within the United
States, bringing up much material that was not included in Clear
Intent, but the main thrust of his book is a meticulously detailed investigation of what went on concerning UFOs within the
Intelligence communities and officialdom of England, Canada,
Australia, Russia, China, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. It
is particularly illuminating to compare the information contained in Above Top Secret with the information contained in Clear
Intent, as they supplement each other in remarkable fashion,
and the correlations provide powerful conf\rmation of their basic
hypotheses.
The publication of Clear Intent puts the cynics who maintain
that UFO sightings are all explicable in terms of weather
balloons, the planet Venus, swamp gas, mass hysteria or flocks
of geese in a difficult position. The publication of the worldwide evidence presented with such concise, conselVatively
understated, devastating effectiveness in Above Top Secret puts
those same cynics in an impossible situation, from which there
is no way they can recover their irretrievably lost credibility.
Pursuit 183

In this section, mostly contemporary curious and unexplained events

...................

Caaada'...... Uto....
When it fm broke surface on that warm
July evening in 1982, Sherman Hatt thought
ofa whale.
It was that big.
There was only one problem: Hatt was
looking out on Lake Utopia, a large freshwater lake in southern New Brunswick.
"It came out of the water, sawm along the
top of the water and then went back under.
We watched it for about a minute and a half.
We couldn't see a head or tail, just the hump
of the back - I'd say about IS feet long."
Hatt says the creature moved very quickly
and left a large wake as it swam through the
calm water.
As far as Hatt is concerned, there's only
one explanation for what he and three other
people saw that evening: it was the Lake
Utopia sea monster.
"I'd heard stories about it all my life but
tluit was the fll'St time I'd ever seen it," says
Hatt, a life-long resident of the Lake Utopia
area of southern New Brunswick.
There have been many other reported
sightings of the baffling creature, dating from
the arrival of the fIrSt settlers in the late 1700s
to last summer.
Whatever it is people are seeing in the
murky waters of Lake Utopia, it has become
the stuff of legends.
Now, Norma Stewart, a Fredericton writer,
is putting all the stories and legends into a
comprehensive account of the mysterious sea
serpent thought to inhabit the lake.
.Stewart is a believer even though she has
never seen the monster herself.
"I grew up there and it wasn't unusual to
hear stories about the monster. In fact, it was
an ordinary, everyday part of life," she says.
"It wasn't until 1 left and Came back that 1
said, 'Hey, this is unusual, guys. This isn't a
normal conversation for most people. Not
everybody has a monster in their lake.' "
She has looked at the scientific explanations
but stil1 believes Lake Utopia is being regularly visited by some kind of large aquatic
creature that probably uses the lake as a
feeding ground during migration to southern
waters.
In every instance, the creature is reported to
be black and very large - as much as 100 feet
in length. Most people say they just see coils
breaking the water: sometimes only one section, like Hatt saw. Others see two or three
coils coming out of the water like huge tires.
The creature moves quickly, kicking up a
large wave around it and a long wake behind
it.
Lake Utopia is very close to PassamaPursuit 184

quoddy Bay and the Bay of Fundy, an ann of

the Atlantic Ocean.
However, any migrating sea creature would
have to travel up a river and make its way
through a gorge and up a steep waterfall
before reaching a deep, natural canal that
connects the lake.
Nevertheless, Stewart believes it's possible.
.She says the gorge is honeycombed with
underwater caverns and tunnels that may be
the creature's secret route in and out of the
lake.
Several people have tried to catch the
monster by setting nets, but no one has ever
come close to snaring it.
. There has never been a scientific investigation of the Lake Utopia monster.
. However, there are two possible explanations.
.
bne is that the creature is actually a sturgeon, a big, ugly fISh commonly found in the
St. John River and valued by New Brunswick
fIShermen for its roe - caviar.
The other is that people may be seeing eels
piled together in a large ball. There are lots of
eels in Lake Utopia and it's not uncommon
for them to group together during migration.
But Stewart and Hatt scoff at those explanations.
"Sturgeon are bottom-feeders," says Hatt.
"And 1 dido't see any pile of eels. 1 saw one
very large, solid creature. 1 can't tell you what
it was but I can tell you it wasn't either of
those things."
SOURCE: Chris Morris, Toronto Star,
Canada 10/16/88
CBEDrr: Robin Selz via COUD-I

Objectll

.Ie.

AgaJa.t W....

An. elderly French husband and wife claim

objects flew mysteriously around their home
at night and asked police to investigate.
The police are skeptical, though Raoul
Fournier contacted the Catholic bishop of
Montpellier, France, should an exorcism be
needed.
"We've lived here for SO years and nothing
like this ever happened before," Fournier, 76,
said. Montpellier is in southern France.
Fournier said his wife, AngeIe, 73, his
grandson, Laurent, and himself endured
hours of objects inexplicably flying across a
room and smashing against walls, cowering
during the supernatural horror.
He said dishes, jars of jelly and other items
flew around a room on the ground floor from
11 p.m. Tuesday until 4 a.m. Wedn~y.
"It's unimaginable what happened.
Tfinkets, dishes and even our holy candle
brought back from Lourdes flew around at
high speed and crashed against the walls."

He said his wife, AngeIe, 73, was stil1

shocked by the experience and did not want to
talk about it. "Someone cast a spell on my
wife. But we don't have any enemies."
A doctor told police the wife was mentally
disturbed: Fournier didn't see the events she told him.
SO,URCE: Express-News, San Antonio, TX
ll1S/88

CBEDrr: Dennis Stacy via COUD-I

A Soviet V.lo. Poltergeist

From the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics:
In Moscow, a donnitory for women workem has
a poltc<rgeist. One that knocks before it enters .
And then swipes boots.
The daily newspaper Trod tells us that the
spirit recently introduced itself to three housepainters who live in the donn, by knocking
loudly on a door and then swinging it open and
shut..open and shut.
.
The intrepid females then commenced a
dialogue of sorts with the thing, and soon
established that it knocks once for yes and twice
for no.
But is there not a skeptic for every gull? The
Trod's reporter sought guidance about the
aforementioned Occurrence from a person identified as V. Troitsky, chainnan of the commission on strange occurrences for the Soviet
Academy of Sciences. Troitsky, who is also apparently the chainnan of circular logic, replied:
In our country, the principle is still current that
these things can't happen, because they could
never happen ...
SOURCE: Philadelphia Inquirer,
PA 10/27188
CREDIT: H. Hollander

'Cotton Ca.dy' Cov.... Trawl_

and British Tow.
Yesterday a 'cotton-floss' cloud (a sticky
white cobweb-material) engulfed a trawler off
the British coast. A Coast Guard spokesman
said, "We have no idea what it is or where it
comes from." By evening the curious "candyfloss" cloud had drifted over and settled down
covering some 30-square miles on and around
the town of Christchurch, Dorset.
SOURCE: Daily Mirror, London,
England 10/29/88
CREDIT: John Hapswith
[Editors Note: See a related such report in the
Notes of Charles Fort section of this issue for
1857 Nov 21, page 195 col. 2-3, presumably
from California. We might ask, since Clear
Lake, CA; Salt Lake, UT and the English coast
are mentioned here in these two reports, what
part (if any) does water play in this material's
occurrence and origin?]

Fourth Quarter 1988

RaIaDlakers Brought Relie'

to Athens, Georgia
Last summer, when northeast Georgia was
suffering from the worst drought in recorded
history, two Miami technologists brought a
strange device to the Athens area to make rain.
None had been predicted in the Athens area
that week but nearly an inch fell after the two
visited with their strange machine.
There was nonnal to heavy rainfall after their
visit, and weathennen were left scratching their
heads.
James DeMeo and Robert Morris, who have
been experimenting for the past decade with
orgone energy research pioneered by Wilhelm
Reich in the 1940s and 19505, said they made
the trip to help farmers, sponsored by money
from persons interested in orgone energy
research.
DeMeo holds a Ph.D. from the University of
Kansas, where he did his doctoral thesis on
Reich's work.
Orgone energy, as described by Reich, may
be seen in the blue hues of the air around mountains or in the wavy patterns of light rising from
hot pavement. He believed it could be captured
and used to better life for people.
Much of Reich's research was hailed by some
as a cure-all, but doctors and the federal government ordered him in th late 1950s not to market
his orgone technology or devices.
He disobeyed, was jailed and died in prison.
Whether it was DeMeo and Morris or nature
at work in Athens, the drought began to ease
within two days.
SOURCE: (AP) , Chronicle & Herald
Augusta, GA 10111188
CREDIT: John Sappington

.......
Mutilated
Cow
BafIIe Fof
___
, 0fIIcen
Chilton County authorities are puzzled
over the discovery of a headless, hindless,
bloodless cow, and devil worshopers have not

been ruled out as the culprits.

The remains of the 700-pound cow, that
was with calf, were found last week and
owner Millard Reynolds is as mystified as he is
anpy by what happened.
He is offering a SSOO reward to fmd who
did it, but says it won't be easy.
It could be a cult, "bunch of nuts or some
plain mean people, and we've got a bunch of
'em around here," said Maj. George Smith of
the Maplesville Police Department on Tuesday.
The cow had been separated from the rest
of his herd and Mr. Reynolds had spent a
week trying to coax is back into a pasture.
He nearly had succeeded, he said, with the
cow moving a bit closer to the pasture each
day.
Then, he was notified of the discovery last
week. What he found was a chil1ing sight, he
said.
"The head had been severed and thrown
several yards away," he said. "The hind
quarters were missing altogether and the inter-

Fourth Quarter 1988

naI organs had been stacked in a mound near-

south of Lucedale when they noticed the

by."
unusual sight in an open grazing field about
What puzzled him most, he said, was the 300 yards away. Witnesses said the objects
lack of blood in or around the cow's remains. moved toward the ground and suddenly turnHe Said he found a couple of small Patches, ed back, headina toward nearby woods where
"but not a trace of any blood around the they disappeared.
animal or any indication that it bad soaked in"I freaked out and started running and
to the ground."
reported it," 8Iackson said.
Mr. Reynolds, one of the area's most
No breaks have surfaced in the sherrif
prominent propery owners, said it could mean department's investiption of the UFO
the animal had been tilted so that the bloOd sighting,. offICials said Thursday.
Sue Lucius, the sheriff's nisht dispatcher,
poured into a container, but even that raised
questions.
said Bla8kson's telephone caD on behalf of the
"We've got people around here who call eisht witnesses was the only UFO sighting
themselves devil worshipers," be said. "I reported Tuesday, though several others calldon't know if they may be responsible for ed Wednesday "because they had heard
what happened and I'm trying to fmel out." about it and were sc:ared."
He said at fU'St he thought the cow milht 80IJIlCEa Cltuion-Ll!dger, MS
1212188
have been the target of poachers, but the lack
of blOod, the mutilation and neatly piled. CBEDrrl WiD Lee via COUD-I
organs have him be1ieving it may have been
done by design.
Abo..............
"1 thought initially somebody wanted some
A
hairy eisht-feet-tall "abominable mowgood meat, because the hindquarters have the
best part and it was missing, including the man" was reported sisbted in northern
tail," he said. "But, those other matters have Siberia by a Moscow University research
me wondering if it might be the work of a worker. Soviet state television reported that
Maria Bulkova sishted the beast from the
cult."
He placed the cow's value at about S3SO window of a log cabin. She said the creature
and said he is offering a S500 reward because was covered in white bail and emitted a "horhe has had livestock victimized in the past rible" cry, but did not repeat it. Similar
sishtings have been made for decades
"and I want to put a stop to it."
throughout Siberia, the most recent by a
"This whole thing is a mystery to me, " said
group of teenagers who said a gibbering
Mr. Reynolds, who said he has about SOD
head of cattle. "Whoever did it appeared to humanoid threw stones into a fm: they had lit.
80IJIlCEa Columbus Dispatch. OH
have known just where to go."
10/23/88
Maj. Smith said the mutilation appeared to
CBEDrrl Jon Fry via COUD-I
him to be the work of "mean people" who
were not after the animal's meat.
Giant M. .hrooDl
"We've got some nuts around here who
like to scare people," he said. "I don't think a Salvatore Terracina, a farmer near Gratteri, Sicicult is involved, but I can't say for sure it ly, has found an edible mushroom weighing 42
isn't, either."
pounds and measuring 8 feet in circumference,
. Maj. Smith said the Chilton County authorities reported yesterday.
Sherifrs Department is handling the investiTerracina said he would use the giant
gation.
mushroom - a species known as Pieurotus
SOURCE: Alvin Benn, Montgomery
Dstreatus that normally grows to as much as II
Advisor. AL 12128/88
pounds - as the basis of a banquet for friends
CREDrr: Will Lee via COUD-I
and relatives.
SOURCE: J.A. Siobodzian
Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA
IJFOe Not "ADlerlcaa-Jlad. SbdI'
1lI17188
Unidentified flying objects - definitely CREDIT: H. Hollander
now "American-made Stuff," according to
one witness - attempted to land in George
5 Deer Terrorize Teenager
County this week and were reported by about
Ia PA HODle
eight rural residents in Lucedale, Mississippi.
In Lock Haven, when l7-year-old Kelly Kyle
Deland Blackston, rT, of Basin told George
County Deputy Clyde Morris that two large decided to spend an afternoon alone at home,
flying objects decorated in red, green and blue she was not expecting company, much less funy
lights were spotted near his home around 8 woodland visitors to come crashing through the
p.m. Tuesday.
living room window to tenorize her.
"I know it wasn't American-made stuff,"
The teenager said she suffered a black eye
Blackston said. "It was about the size of a and a hoof mark on her back as a result of her
house, but I can't tell you the shape. It was bizarre experience with five deer about I: 15
real quick."
p.m. Saturday.
Blackston said he saw the UFO for only a
Ironically, her father, Richard, was away on
minute or less. He said the objects made no a hunting trip at the time in search of deer.
sound.
SOURCE: (AP)Times, Trenton, NJ
He and seven other Basin neighbors were
12/6/88
talking near a county road about 12 miles CREDIT: George Hansen
Pursuit 185

crptal BaD ......_ FIN

SaIIoN Ilepcm S...... G....

Even the owner of the Seventh Heaven

astrology shop in Hyannis, Mass., was surprised by the way the crystal ball guided her
fate.
A fire broke out Tuesday morning when
the sun, with the help of a crystal ball in the
display window, ignited a Tibetan cotton
scarf, filling the shop with smoke. The crystal
ball apparently acted as a magnifying glass,
concentrating the rays of the sun as it reached
a most inauspicious point in the sky.
"The sun struck it just right at the right
angle," said Richard Farrenkopf, the fU'e
chief in the Cape Cod community. The blaze,
which broke out before the shop opened,
caused about 51,000 in damage, he said.
The owner of the shop, Geri Giannandrea,
said she had been careful with cigarettes and
had unplugged electric devices because she
had a premonition several months ago that a
fU'e might oc::cur. Ms. Gianoandrea, an
astrologer who offers horoscopes on a local
radio station, said she also bought more fU'e
insurance at that time.
But, she said, "Who would have ever
thought that a crystal ball would have started
a fU'e?"
SOIJRCE: Times, New York, NY
12/4/88
CREDO': H. Hollander

Ghosts are fme around ancient English

castles, but the Navy says rumors of one stalking the depths of the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal have spooked a few sailors.
flickering lishts. Bumps in the night. Locked doors opening. Voices on disconnected
telephones. And a vanishing figure in a khaki
uniform. The fIgUre's even got a nickname:

'HauDted' House BuUdozad

A real-life version of "The Amityville Horror" forced authorities to bull-doze a house in
this. Chicago subum of Orland, IL after flames
mysteriously shot from an electrical socket and
smoky mists filled the air.
"Maybe it's ghosts, I don't know," insurance
adjuster Joe Skubisz said Friday, laughing and
quickly noting he doesn't believe in such things.
. "There's no truth to the rumor there was any
type of haunted situation there. It was strictly
some type of escaping gas. But the fire department wouldn't allow the policyholder to live in
.the house, so we had to payout the claim,"
said Skubisz, associate manager of a Travelers
Insurance Co. claim office.
While Skubisz believes there is some logical
explanation for the phenomena, arson investigators Steve Smith and Teny Hyland of the
Orland Fire District say engineers, chemists,
geologists, scientists and experts in explosives
ran every conceivable test and couldn't come
up with an answer.
They ruled out arson, natural gas, methane
gas, sewer gas, other vapors or electricity.
"We have no logical explanation now, but
maybe 50 years from now someone will come
up with an answer," Hyland said. "Right now,
we just don't know.
"The house was subjected to every kind of
test. It was demolished because there was
nothing left to test for. The only experiment ieft
was to let someone live in that house, " he said.
Fire officials recorded 26 separate reports of
strange happenings from March to August.
SOURCE: (AP) Chronicle Bozeman, MT

10/12/88
CREDIT: Adrienne Mayor

Pursuit 186

CJeorge.

At least that's what some of the men say

aboard the Forrestal, in its fourth month of a
six-month deployment in the Indian Ocean
and the North Arabian Sea.
1ltey. were interviewed by Lt. James
Brooks, who told the story, at the Mayport
Naval Station in Florida. '
"What Lt. Brooks had in mind was a fluff
piece to show the lighter side of the Navy,"
Mayport Navy, spokesman Lt. Park Balevre
said Thursday.
But Brooks said some sailors don't think
the ghost story is at all cute.
George lurks in two of the ship's below-thewater storage areas, one of them a former
morgue, spooked sailors claim.
"I've got one guy working for me now who
refuses to go down there alone," said Petty
Officer Daniel Balboa, in charge of the offICerS' mess. "Our last chief petty officer in
charge, who has since transferred, 'refused to
go down there at all.
"I've never seen any ghosts, but you can
hear weird things down there," said Balboa.
SOIJRCE: (AP) Detroit Free Press, MI

8/5/88
CREDO': M. Truzzi via COUD-I

Doubts on Lord'. Prayer

Jesus probably did not write or use. the Lord's
Prayer and might have uttered only a: few of the
phrases it contains, a group of biblical and
linguistic scholars has concluded. .
The participants at a weekend conference
agreed that Jesus probably never said the prayer
as a prayer and probably never taught it as one.
They concluded that parts of the prayer might
have been said by Jesus and that other parts
represented his ideas. That position was the
result of research conducted by the Rev. Hal
Taussig of St, Joseph's University in
Philadelphia and presented Friday. He told the
conference that a study of the Gospels and early Christian writings shows that the prayer is
not in the words of Jesus.
The Lord's Prayer shows up in the Gospels
of Luke and Matthew, which say J~sus taught
it "to his disciples.
The discussion was part of a forum called the
Jesus Seminar, whose 25 participants were from
colleges and universities and consider
themselves bibl,ical scholars rather than
theologians. The three-year-old forum is designed to raise public interest in effort to separate
what Jesus actually said from words that may
have been put in his mouth by early Christians.
It agreed with Mr. Taussig's research showing that Jesus probably did not ask God to
"deliver us from evil," and alm~t certainly
never said, "Thy kingdom come, ~ey will be

done" phrases that are included in the prayer.

Mr. Taussig said that he expects the conclusions to be accepted by biblical scholars but that
it might be harder to convince segments of the
fundamentalist community that believe in a
literal interpretation of the New Testament.
The scholars have spent years studying the
earliest available versions of the Gospels in
Greek and Coptic. Some know Aramaic, which
scholars. say Jesus probably spoke.
By superimposing early language patterns on
what is known of how people lived at the time
of Jesus and later during the early Christian era,
the scholars believe they can make fairly sound
decisions on what was said and what was attributed to others.
Robert W. Funk, a fonner theology professor
at Emory University in Atlanta and founder of
the Jesus Seminar, said that the earliest fragment of the Gospels dates from about 125 A.D.,
he said. "There were no big surprises after
that."
Funk said the earliest Greek and Coptic versions of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and
Luke are inconsistent with modem versions and
the life and customs as they were known to be
at the time of Jesus.
"For example, the early Christiail church borrowed heavily from Jewish practices and
customs and attributed some of those to Jesus, ,.
Funk said.
SOURCE: (AP) Philadelphia Inquirer,
PA 10117/88
CREDIT: H. Hollander

E1ephaDts Try to Save CaU,

Moul'n Its D.ath
For two days recently, a herd of elephants
nursed a wounded elephant calf after nudging
him along the road to the nearest human protection in the forests of eastern India, United
News of India reported yesterday.
It took the elephants six hours to cover the
two miles to their destination, a forest rangers'
office. The staff administered first aid to the
2 7year-old calf, but he later' succumbed to head
wounds inflicted by a tiger.
Tears rolled out of the mother elephant's eyes
as the rest of the hero formed a circle, raised
their trunks and trumpeted over the body.
UNI said the tale was related by S.G. Dehi,
project manager of forest development in
Simlipal National Park in Orissa state:
Dehi said the herd of about 25 elephants apparently was grazing in grasslands about two
miles from the rangers' office when a tiger tried
to seize the calf.
Devandra Nayak, a tracker for Project Tiger,
a government organization t1)'ing to save tige,rs
from extinction, watched the herd's progress as
it brought the calf to the ranger's office. Nayak
said the herd paused intermittently to let the
wounded elephant r e s t . .
. .,'.'
When the elephants reached a salt lick near
the rangers' office, the mother elephant picked
up a clump of dry grass in her trunk and fanned flies away from her calfs head wound.
The elephants apparently thought the proximity of people would keep the tiger from re. turning for the kill, UNI said.

Fourth Quarter 1988

According to the report, as the midday sun

shone down and the heat grew intense, most of
the herd sought shelter under some trees 300
feet away. The mother left her. calf in sean:h
of water.
The rangers took advantage of the herd's temporalY absence to wash the calrs wound and
apply ointment.
Then the mother returned, chasing the
rangers. She sprayed water on the calf to cool
him and kept vigil, with the rest of the herd,
until he died the following day.
SOURCE: (AP) Plain Dealer,
Cleveland, OH 12/5/88
CREDIT: Wayne Cermak

H..........o ... d __
T........... T....
Provincetown, on the very tip of Cape
Cod, is a fascinating summer vacation spot,
but for many of us it's even more delightful in
the fall.
With the tourist hordes gone you can
wander the narrow streets in peace, eat the
best seafood around and relax in the little
pubs along that centuries-old main street.
Today the talk in those pubs is of the Pr0vincetown Phantom, for it's exactly 50 years
ago this week since he was fmt seen. And
once seen, he was never forgotten.
For years the Phantom, also known as the
Black flash, terrorized the townspeople,
especially the children.
"We became afraid to be out after dark,"
Matt Costa, who now runs a flSb market and
restaurant in Provincetown, teUs me. "He'd
jump out on people, from behind a tree,
maybe, or over a wall- a fJgUre all dressed in
black. He was very agile; some people said he
must have springs on his feet. They said he
was over 7 feet tall."
The Flash fmt leaped out of the sand dunes
just before Halloween 1938 - "an elusive
superman, a superhuman leaping lizard dressed in black ... but his fierce eyes and long
pointed ears were a glowing silver," according
to Robert Ellis Cahill in New England's Mad
and Mysterious Men.
First the Phantom appeared to lone
children, who went howling home to their
parents, but by November he'd become
bolder and one night he came bounding along
downtown Commen:ial St., pushing people
off the sidewalk. Thereafter he was seen
several times a week. Some people claimed he
spat "blue flames" in their faces.
"One thing for sure, it kept us kids home
nights," says Costa, "or if we were out, we
went in bunches. Remember it was dark in the
streets then, and kids didn't have t1asb1igbts."
And so it went on for six years, from 0ctober to March each year. Provincetown was
a town in fear.
Once farmer Charlie Farley's dog got the
Flash cornered and Charlie, "thinking it was
some kind of animal," loosed off at him with
his shotgun. "The darned thing just Iauglled
and jumped my 8-foot fence in one leap,"
Charlie told police.
Then one night Sgt. Francis Marshall and
three other policemen chased the Phantom in-

Fourth Quarter 1988

to the schoolyard, wbich was surrounded by a

10-foot fence. He was trappedl But suddenly
he bolted for the fence, grabbed the top rail

and vaulted over.

Marshall. who later became police chief of
Provincetown. is retired now. Iivins in Yarmouth, Mass. He teUs me: "People wondered
how the Flash c:ould be in two plIKles almost
simultaneously, as some of the reports indicated. I believe it's because he was actually
three men. Yes, I know who they were, but
I'm not teIIins. They're all dead now, but they
have relatives here."
The F1ash's last recorded appearance was in
December 1945. That Disht he c:based some
kids into a bouse. One of thC children bad the
presence of mind to JO upstairs with a basin
of boiIins water and throw it over the naked
fJgUre crouchins outside the backdoor. The
Phantom retreated - never to be seen apin.

SOUIlCE: Mitchell Smyth, Toronto StIu.

Canada 10/29188

CllEDR: Robin SeIz via COUD-I

VIdeo 01 ~ ....,.
P ............... c....
In EJinheth City, NC. speI1bound jurors
and courtroom spectaton watdled a vide0tape of a hypnotized murder suspect that
defense attorneys bope will show be is under
the influence of multiple persona6ties, in-

cluding the devil.

Thomas Bonney, 45, of Chesapeake. Va.,
is aa:used of shootiDs his 19-year-old
daughter Kathy rt times and has pleaded not
gully by reason of insanity and unc0nscious-

ness.
Four of Bonney's 10 purported personalities, including Satan, vividly revealed
themselves on the videotape shown Thursday.
There are some 23 hours of the videotaped
hypnosis sessions, and the jury bepn reviewing them Friday.
The videotape is at the bean of the defense,
and his attorneys are trying to show another
personality dominated the man's bebavior at
the time his daughter was killed.
In one segment, Bonney unclenched his
teeth to lick flecks of foam from his lower lip.
His eyebrows sharply arched and his 1001
fmgemails clickiDa on the tabletop, he snarled, "You're just a mortal. You don't know

nothioa."

The distinct perscmalities that Bonney cxhibited on the videotape included Satan. Bonney's long4ead matemaI srandmother, and
Viking, anoble, friendly personality.
"I know everything," the Satan cluuader
boasted on the tape. "I can do what I want
to, when I want to. I control Tom."
The character of Mammy, Bonney's srandmother, called out in a feeble voice to Kathy
Bonney, but was interrupted by Satan.
"She ain't supposed to be livina jn here,"
the demonic character said, referring to B0nney's dead daughter.
Bonney then apparently went back to the
night last November when he alIepdly shot
his daughter. Kathy Bonney's nude body was
found a year ago next to the Dismal Swamp
Canal.

"The gun went offShe was sittioa there

screaming. and I was boIIaina. And I said,
'What are you aonna do?' And she said. 'I'm
sanna shoot you I I said the Satan

d1aracter.
Viking was the fU'lt personality to be revea1-

duriDs Bonney's evaluation by Dr. Paul

Dell, a psychiatry professor at Eastern
V"n-ginia Medical ScbooI who believes the
defendant has a multiple personality disorder.
80IJIlCEI (UPI) Detroit News. MI
11/12/88
CllEDrr: BiD KiDpley via COUD-I

ed

Atheltd H N.....D_th
&p. . . .ce
English philosopher Sir Alfred J. Ayer,
regarded by some as the world's most formidable atheist, told of a "near-death" experience this year and had the British public
wondering, for a while, whether an influential
voice for unbelief had been quited.
Ayer, who will tum 88 in thme weeks, known
mainly for his "Language, Truth and Logic, ,.
first published in 1936, wrote recently that he
has weakened "slightly" on the question of an
afterlife but not in his conviction that there is
no God.
Ayer, who had been hospitalized in London
for pneumonia, choked on a piece of salmon
and was told by his doctor that his bean stopped for about four minutes before he was
revived.
In recent years, anecdotal accounts have been
published telling of some people who briefly
"died" in a hospital and later recalled "seeing" a light at the end ofa long tunnel. orvariations thereof. before they regained consciousness. While some analysts have taken the
similarity of many experiences to be clues to
the existence of an afterlife, others have discounted such studies as unverifiable and
speculative.
In that context, the editor of the London Sunday Telegraph reported in a personal column
that Ayer had been technically dead in the
hospital and was happy to report that there was
nothing there.
.
But a brief letter then appeared in the
newspaper claiming. to the contralY. that Ayer
had had a remarltable experience in those
moments.
Ayer then wrote an article. explaining' 'What
I Saw When I Was Dead," for the Sunday
Telegraph. National Review, a New York-based
conservative magazine of commentary, published it in its Oct. 14 issue. Magazine editor John
O'Sullivan, an acquaintance of Ayer, commended the article as a "wlY" postscript to the
experience of a man he described as "perhaps
the most famous atheist living today. "
The philosopher wrote, "The only memolY
that I have of an experience, closely mcompassing my death, is velY vivid. I was confronted
by a red light. exceedingly bright. and also velY
painful even when I turned away from it. I was
aware that this light was responsible for the
government of the universe. Among its
ministers were two creatu~s who had been put
in charge of space. "

Pursuit 187

Charged with seeing that space was kept in

worlcing order, the ministers had failed to do
their work and space was like a "badly fitting
jigsaw puzzle," he wrote.
Summing up, Ayer confessed that his recalled experiences "have slightly weakened my
conviction that my genuine death, 'which is dlie
fairly soon, will be the eOd of me, though I continue to hope that it will be. They have not
weakened my conviction that there is no God.
"I trust that my remaining an adieist will
the anxieties of my fellow supporterS of the
Humanist Association, the Rationalist Press,
and the South Place Ethical Society."
SODRCE: John Dart, L.A. Times .
via Morning News, Wilmington,
DE 10/20/88
CREOrr: H. Hollander

aII8Y

Und... Study: Mo_enu .When

Life Neal'S Deat.
A Mafia hit-man who experienced it gave up
killing and now counsels abused wives. . .
A professional soldier who went througli it
in Vietnam refused to kill ever again.
In case after case, people who have had a
"near-death experience" have dramatically
changed their values, switched careers and
altered their lives. In shifts that often resemble
religous conversions, many have turned away
from competition and making money and have
moved toward cooperation, helping others and
appreciating life and nature.
A nationwide Gallup Poll in 1982 found that
. an estimated eight million Americans have had
a near-deatIJ.experience, in which they seemed
to be .JJHrtOved from their bodies and taken to
another vivid and inviting realm.
.
For centuries people have reported such experiences, but it has been only during the last
decade that psychologists, psychiatrists and
medical researchers have begun.to study these
incidents systematically.
Through in-depth interviews and personality
tests, researchers are trying to learn more.about
the phenomenon and the people who say they
have experienced it, said Elizabeth W. Fenske,
president of the International Association for
Near-Death Studies, which is based in
Philadelphia.
"Whether we believe these experiences are
hallucinations, dreams, medication-induced or
real, they are wonhy of study," said Bob
Sullivan, a Lansdale researcher who has examined the stories of more than 100 combat
veterans reporting near-death experiences.
Sullivan is treasurer of the group, which was
founded in 1981.
"When we first started studying these incidents, researchers in this field were classified
with tea-leaf readers and the occult,'~ he ~aid.
"While the majority ofscientists are still skeptical of these reports, there have been so many
of these experiences examined by serious scientists that they can no longer be dismiss!:d as pop-

pycock."
Near-death experiences were first described
to a mass audience in Raymond A. Moody's
1977 book, Life After Life. The book has sold
more than 3.5 million copies.
Pursuit

188

Although some researchers criticized experiences?" she asked.

Moody's accounts as unscientific,
Researchers say that about 35 percent to 40
psychologists, including Kenneth Ring of the percent of the people who have almost died can
University of Connecticut in Storrs, have done recall a near-death experience. As medical
more exacting scientific studies and substan- technology has become more sophisticated,
tiated most of his findings.
..
more people are being brought back from the
In recent years, research in this field has been brink of death, and reports of these experiences
published in suchjoumals as the ~can Jour- have increased.
nal of Psychiatry and th~ Journal of Nervous
As reports of the phenomena have increased
Diseases.
.
in the news media, people are volunteering to
Barbara Harris, a researcher at the Universi- about their experiences for the first time. "One
ty of ConneCticut Medical School in Farm- woman who is 94 wrote to tell us of an exington, said the phenomenon seeins to be perience she had when she was 17," Harris
universal, appearing in all cultures.
said.
Both Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist, and
The experiences described by people are
John Lilly, a scientist who has dOlie pioneer- amazingly similar. They usually report feeling
ing research on dolphins, said they had had peaceful and calm, being transported out of their
near-death experiences. Harris said that more bodies, entering a darlc. void such as a tunnel
women appear to recall such experiences than where they review their I ives, seeing a brilliant
men.
light, being reunited with dead relatives, and
Hanis has been wOrlcing with Bruce Greyson, then being told they must return to their physical
a psychiatry professor at the medical school, to bodies.
determine how near-death experiences change
One Philadelphia-area woman who reports
people's values. Since 1980, Greyson ha! given having had such an experience is Betsy Hoffmore than 40 personality tests to 400 people. man, director of the Haverford Township Free
A third had had near-death experiencs, ano.ther Library in Havertown. She said that she was
third had come close to death without having taken to Bryn Mawr Hospital with pneumonia
one, and one third had experienced neither.
in January 1961 and that physicians who treated
"The aftereffects of an NDE are profound, "
her thought she had died.
said Harris. ~'Universally, people witJI these exWhat she said she experienced was a scene
periences say they are no longer afraid to die. that changed her life forever.
They also become much more alive; not afraid
"I found myself in a lush garden with colors
to take Iisks, not afraid to put themselves out so vivid and beautiful, like nothing you can im.
for others."
agine in this life, " she recalled last seek. "My
Sullivan said that PeoPle who have had the father, who had died 25 years before, was there.
experience become much more interested in He was older but 1 recognized him immediatespiritual subjects, although not in organized Iy. He smiled and called to me. We walked
religion. .. A.Imost without exception, people througl) a hedge to a children's playground.
come back with a sense of purpose, with a feel- There was a little girl swinging, and my father
ing that they are alive in this world for a said to her. 'Honey, this is your mother.'
reason," he said.
"I had lost a baby in the hospital three years
Harris said it appears that these people may earlier but had never seen that baby. My father
have a greater ability to control their said to the little girl. 'Tip up your chin,' and
temperature, pulse and blood pressure. They ap- beneath it was a strawberry comma-shaped
pear to be more in touch with their brain's right birthmarlc.. He said, 'You can .tell this to
hemisphere, the part that controls intuition and anybody who needs to know' ... And then it was
. emotion, she said.
gone. "
She said researchers at the university were
After Hoffman woke up, she told her physiseeking to raise $1.2 million to equip a cian of the experience. She said he was furious
laboratory with sophisticated devices needed for because he believed a nurse from the maternity
precise measurement of the brain functions of ward had told her of the baby's birthmarlc., but
people who have had such experiences.
Hoffman assured him that was not the case.
"Since that experience, I have no fear of
Researchers stress that they do not know what
a near-death experience means. "They don't death," said Hoffman. "Death for me holds no
prove that there is life after death, although fear nor terror, because the experience assured
many of the p'cople who have.had them believe me of the eternity of the human spirit."
that," Sullivan said.
Fenske said that while most near-death exWhile scientists say they do not know what periences are positive, some people have been
caused the experience, a variety of extremely frightened by them and have returnpsychological, neurological and psysiological ed from them with a "sense of doom and
.explanations have been offered. .
gloom."
Some believe they result from insufficent pxShe said that her group's members have
ygen or a buildup of carl)(m dioxi"e near the spoken at nursing conferences and hope to train
time of death. Others say that at the time of nurses to counsel people. "Many people won't
death, a "stored program" is triggered in the tell their doctors because they are afraid of bebrain, causing the experiences. Mystical and ing laughed at." she said. "but they will talk
. religious interpretations also have been put . to their nurses. "
forward.
'
SOURCE: J. Detjen. Inquirer
Fenske said there are close paralleis with the
Philadelphia, PA 12/29/88
teachings of many world religions. "Could it . CREOrr: H. Hollander
~
be that religous prophets have had near-death

Fourth Quarter 1988

The Notes of Charles Fort

Deciphered by C.... d. P.ba
ABBREVIATIONS
(extended from Vol. 21 #1, Ifl & #3)

Am Soc Ent

B.D.
BirmJour
Cent ADler
Clbrst
dets

E.
Incend
Jour Chern Soc

American Society 0/ Entomologists

Birmingham Daily (Post or Press)
Birmingham Journal
Central America

NY Trib.

Object

Proc Roy Soc Edin

Proceedings 0/ the Royal Society

England
Incendiary

Religio Ph J
W.S.W.
Wtch

Journal 0/ the American Chemical Society

Y.B.

detonations or details

#3. page 144)

18S6 Aug 16 I at Rouen I "An immense cloud of small white moths

burst over the
[Reverse side) town and completely
covered everything in a few seconds."
I Bedford Mercury, Aug 23 I This at
night - in morning found on the
ground almost all dead.. I (Suffolk
Chronicle, Aug . 16) I Almost all fell
only upon one sid[e] of the river.
1856 Aug 17 I Messina I Terrific hailstorm from the N-W. Some of them
weighed 2 rostoli each [Reverse side] or size of oranges. I
Times, Aug 25 I I get from Trans
Bombay Geog Soc 13/15 .

strange man leave, was arrested upon

suspicion.
1856 Aug 25 I St. lves I Met listed by
Lowe as "Curious." I Rec Sci 11137.
[Reverse side] 293 I 371 I (132 I 53 I
371) 1147.
1856 Aug. 31 I Met listed by Lowe as
"Curious." I Rec. Sci 1/138 I Highfield House I by Lowe.
1856 Sept I I Ormesby St Margaret I
In tho storm, a fall of a column of
water. I N.Q. 2-2-328.
18S6 Sept 61 All day and night, fires
in London.

1856 Sept. 71 Essex Herald, Sept . 161

Account of a fire at Castle Hedingham
- reminds us of
[Reverse side) explanation of the
1856 Aug 17 I Great q. I China I had Moulton fire - of unknown origin,
been minor q's several days before I but thought that all night a smoulderTlDlbs '57-266.
ing from a spark from a candle - or if
1856 Aug 17 I Great q. I China I not that spon comb of a boll. of matDetails I La Sci Pour Tous 2-7 .
ches.
1856 Aug 21 I Letter dated [August 18S6 Sept 7 I Icicles I lloyds Weekly
21] from Arequipa, Peru - for several Newspaper of, 2-2 (quoting the Newry
hours each
Exan1iI:ter) that at Crossmaglen,
[Reverse side) night for several weeks a [Reverse side] Armagh, Ireland, been a
comet. I Bicester Advertiser, Nov . I, great fall of hail, which consisted
"strange to say, of icicles and sharp
1856.
18S6 Aug 211 Violent shocks I Algeria flakes of ice.'"
18S6Sept 71 Ice I Can't rmd in Newry
I Inverness Courier, Sept 41
[Reverse
side)
Several
villages Examiner nor Belfast paper.
destroyed.
1856 Sept. 10 I Date of the Manning1856 Aug 22 I Q destroyed town of tree ru-es / Essex Herald, 16th I near
Colchester .
Djidjelly, Algeria . I Cosmos-20-1..
18S6 Aug 22 and Oct 2 I Philippeville,
Algeria I C .. R . 43/589, 764, 5 144/586
[Reverse side] 461515, 589.

1856 Sept. 13 I Bedford Mercury of I

"There is now a very rme spot on the
sun."

1856 Aug 24 I News of the World of,

4-6 I Incendiarism in Spain described
as "insane mischief." In Andalusiaat Buendia, Andujar, Cordova,

1856 Sept 16 I [LT), 1O-e / 18-9-e I

2O-8-f I Spon Comb I At Bedford Aug 21-9-b.

Lucena, Seville,
[Reverse side] and Jaen.
1856 Aug 24 I lloyds Weekly Newspaper of, 2-3 I Much excitement at
Windover, Bucks. 3 fires of unknown
[Reverse side) origin. Two of them
upon premises of a Mr. Juson. A
woman named Chapman, who lived
next door, who had given the alarm in
both cases, saying she had seen a

1856 Sept 17 I (+) I Fu-es I Suffolk

Chronicle 20-4-4 / Bet 7 and 8 o'clock
night of (17th) - see note - at home
of Rev. B . Frankland, Wesleyan
minister at Manningtree,
[Reverse side] a rlre broke out in the
library. "What makes it appear more
mysterious is that a fire broke out in
the front parlor of the house, underneath the library, on the previous
afternoon,

Journal 0/ the MeteorologiCal Society

Morning Post [EnsIand)
mysterious
New York Tribune

Obj.

Cloudburst

Continued from PURSUIT Vol . 21.

Fourth Quarter 1988

Jour Met Soc

M. Post
myst.

0/

Edinburgh
ReI;gio-Philosophical ./.oumal
west southwest
Witch

Year Book 0/ Facts

[Second page] during Mr. and Mrs. F's

absence, when it was discovered by a
dressmaker working in another room.
The damage was con[Reverse side) fined to a few articles of
furniture and some skirting boards
near the rlreplace. There were no ru-es
in the grates in either room and yet the
flames broke out near the fu-eplaces in
the skirting."
[Third page] Seemingly no knowledge
of the Bedford fu-es. Said that the
police
[Reverse side) were investigating but
that no due had been found to the
mystery. I Manningtree, Essex.
1856 Sept 17 I Metite I Italy? I BA

60-94.
1856 Sept 17 I 10:30 a.m. I CivitaVecchia I great det met with train of
rlre I Cosmos 9/421.
18S6 Sept 20 I "Comet" I Luton times
of, quotes Cork Examiner I that
"Saturday night
[Reverse side] - 13th or 6th?) a
luminous object larger than the moon
was seen. At 10:30 p.m. it appeared in
the W.S.W. Sank rapidly below
horizon at 1I p.m.
18S6 Sept 24 I Fu-es I News of the
World 28-4-5 lAb. 1 a.m. 4 ricks of
hay on Boxted farm, abo a mile from
Boxmoor,
[Reverse side] Herts, on rlre. Ac to a
policeman on duty on the rai1road line,
all burst into flames simultaneously.
Ab same time on another farm a rick
on fire.. Consequently attrib to incen-

diarism.

LSOO. reward offered [Reverse side] and the Govt. offered

pardon to any informing accomplice
not an actual incendiary.
18!'i6 Sept 29 I Bedford Times, Oct II,
quoting the Banbury Guardian I That
upon a preceding Monday night at
Bicester a rlre on a farm. Next night
rlre upon another farm early in evening. 10 p.m.,
[Reverse side] rlre
another farm.
About same time liam on another
farm - very so,on afterward on
another farm. All these farms ab \Il
mile apart. A few minutes later
another rlre upon a farm 1 \Il miles
away. Nothing found out; thought
vengefulness of farm laborers against
introduction of threshing machines. I
[Front side] Bicester ab 35 miles SW of
Bedford.

Oil

1856 Sep 30 I (Cut) / Penang, India I

flash of lightning from clear sky I

Trans. Bombay Geog. Soc. 13/155 I
[Reverse side] Struck top ofa cocoanut
tree, where loose fibrous matter bumed for 3 hours.

1856 Oct I Incend. I See LT I Nov.

15-IO. e I 22-11-f I 2A-5-e I 18-)O.. a I
20-7-f I 28-8-a. .
18S6 I qs of Nice I from Oct, '56, to
Sept, '57 I CR 45-446.
1856 Oct. 5 I Bohemia I det met I BA

60-106.
1856 Oct. 12 I q. I Malta I Sea receded two feet and a half. I An. Res,
'S6-16 I Felt in Italy and Greece.

folk Chronicle, Oct. 41 Early in morning of 12th of Oct. fire in a bam on

same farm. I S. Chronide, Oct. 18.

18S6 Oct 12 I qs - met - vole. I

Times, 28 - (See Nov 9.) I That Etna,
which been quiet 2 months, emitted
smoke after the q. I (T - 31) I SO
houses thrown down in Rhodes) I
Island of Candia, houses shaken down
and many persons killed or injured 5 or 6 killed . I
[Reverse .side) Times, 31 / that th
storms, winds, heavy rains, and waterspouts occurring at Malta were unexampled in records of the Island .

1856 Sept. 29 I The Bicester fu-es /

Bicester Advertiser, Oct 18 - A committee formed to investigate - and

1856 Oct I Vesuvius active, especially

Oct 11 -12,23 - 27 / Inverness Courier,
Nov 27.

1856 Sept 28 I early morn. I Fire in a

stacksyard at Ramsey of unknown
origin. I Bedford Mercury, Oct. 4 I
[Reverse side] Ramsey, Hunts .
1856 Sept 28 I bet 11 and 12 p.m. I At
Barrow large stack, 45 yards long, on
rlre of
[Reverse side) unknown origin. I Suf-

Pursuit 189

1856 Nov. 9 117m. . Nov 19 I said

tbat the heavy I'IiD for 30 days after
the q had, on Nov 9, ended up with so
heavy a ran of hail that cartIoads and
boatloads were collected and aoId to an

p.m. - aItn"b to Cotopui,

(Reverse side) and thea to IIIlOtbcr far
distant vole I A.J. Sci 21231276.
1856 Dec. 13 I Met - Hiabfie(ld)
House - by ~[e) IIistcd by him asice contractor.
"Curious." "I lee Sci. 1/138.
1856 Oct. 121 L.T. lU-f I at Sorren- 1856 Dec 14. 27 I 1857 May 18, June
to I Before it a ''peculiarly dense and 6, Alii 15, Oct 7 I Mcts IOImatz I BA
IIkIneIIina fOB bad obscured the -'69-282.
Bay."
1856 Dec 15 I (LT), 10-7 I Flood at.
1856 Oct 12 I ab 2 a.m. I Malta in York.
sound Ute th1llldcr. "Seatries report a
areat red JIare in the heavens to bave 1856 Dec. 251 q I India I Bombay II
pnc:eded the outbreak." I L. "limes IlLiIht) I BA 'U.
21-k1
1856 Dec. 261 Ext hail I MelD Soc Sci
(Reverse side) "limes, Nov 12 - 500 Cberbourg 4-337 I
corpses dill out of ruins at Candia.
[Reverse side) Cosmos 8-58.
1856 Oct 121 q. I Crete 16000 houses 1856 Dec. 30 I q - clOId (one dcpee
destroyed I L.T., Jan 7-1O,-e, 1857 I above zero) and snow for sevcnl houn
1856.
I aty of Maico I An Rc&, 1857-23.
1856 Oct 121 "limes, Dec II that since 1856 Dec 30 I 4 a.m. I Dear equator
Oct 12, many sIiaht shoc:b been felt in and 20 or 22 dear- W. Lcqitude I
Malta.
La Sci Pour TOllS, 2-14 I Vessel felt
1856 Oct 12 I Rhodes I q I 3 Lm. I concussions and metaDic sounds.
Timbs 57-270 I at Palermo, ab 2 a.m., [Reverse side) In ~ weather.
Oct U.
1857
1856 Oct 121 q and rain I ab 1:50 Lm. _
I Malta, and afterward delupd with 1857 I Sleeper, Susan C. Godsey,
rain I said that bIItween Oct 17 and near Hickman, Ky. I See July 14,
Nov 16, 21 inches fell I 11mbs 57-270. 1869.
1856 Oct 12 I q aDd fOB I Q fe(l)t at 1857 Jan 21 [LT), 10.. I Explosion
Sorrento, Italy, abo 2 Lm. Before the q I powder mapzine I Time of q.
there had been a ''peculiarly dense and 1857, early in I Bewitched farm near
m-tllldliDa fOB." I L.T., Oct 18.
RuaeIey I An. Reg 1857150.
1856 Oct 12 I 3 a.m. I Shocb I Alex- [BCF, pp. 329-3311 See 184811.)
andria, EaYPt I Mom Post 30-5-1 I
1857 Jan 2 I 0cc:u1t of Jupiter by
also Cairo.
Moon.
1856 Oct 121 See Vesuvius this period.
1857 Jan 2 I Met of I (LT), Jan
1856 Oct 121 See Rhodes, Man:h '63. 6-12-d.
1856 Oct 13 I See Nov. 15, 1872. I 1857 about I Sun I "minimum" time.
Eclipse IUD aDd moon I both above
1857 I Mrs Stephens Monthly, in 1857
horimn?1 See Dec. ('I), 1881.
I an account of BarisaI Guns of Seneca
1856 Oct 13 I Mauna Loa IIiII in full Lake.
blast - bad been in erupdon 63 days.
1857 Jan I Meteoric: dust I Syria and
I An Rea '56-16.
EaYPt I ac to Ehrcnbeq I Le Courier
1856 Oct 27 I St Iva I met listed by des Sciences, N.S., 1163.
Lowe as "Curious" I lee. Sci., 11138.
1857 Jan 2 I 6:30 p.m. I Meteor _
1856 Oct 28 I Miuile throu&h a train Moon at time of ocx:ulation of Jupiter
wiadow near Wokiq. I M. Post I L.T. 6-12-d I
29-5-2.
[Reverse side) The ocx:u1t bad just
1856 Oct 291 LaybaI:h I met train 130 taken place. I at BJidacwater.
mini. I BA~17.
1857 Jan 91 bet. 8 and 9 p.m. I shock
1856 Nov. 8 I [LT), 7< I U-9-e I Dec I Cal. I A.J. Sci 2125/146.
31-7< I Jupiter.
1857 Jan 17 I Cinders I U.S. I m. I
1856 Nov. I Witc:hc:raft I parish of (29) I 0-71. [BCF, p. 73J.
Hoctbam I LT, 1857, Ap. 7-1~.
1857 Jan 25 I 3:20 p.m. I Beeston I
1856 Nov. U I (LT), 12-e I Myst slight shock and rumblina SOUDd I
L.T. 28-4-d.
"
drowaiq of 3 men.
1856 Nov 12 I (It) I Piedmont I (F) I 1857 Jan 29 I Jupiter, Moon and
Tnmano, Brescia I Medte I B.A., 60 Venus in a st. One I AsIro Rc& 11189.
I See 1883.
1857 Feb I New star in Orion? I See
1856 Nov. 22 I (LT), IU I CR 20144. I Index, "Astro".
Remarkable Fantasy.
1857 Feb 21 [LT), 8-b I Ext. fli&hts of
1856 Nov. 21 - 22 I N"1Iht I 2nd fire larb.
within a week, farm of Mr. Baker near 1857 Feb. 7 I (LT), 12-f I Lunar pile.
Nouiqbam I LT 24-~.
1857 Feb_ 14 'I Montbeliard I 4 a.m.
1856 Nov. 22 I [LT), IU I Fantasy. p.m. I q - SOUDd Ute cannon and
1856 Dec: 81 [LT), U-d I Myst. diIap. gust of wind I
of property in Derry.
[Reverse sicle) C.R. 44-874.
1856 Dec 12 lab. DOOIl I Quito, 1857 Feb. 16 I HoUand I Larae met I
Ecuador I ashes thickly faUiq to 7 lBA) 69-282.

Pursuit 190

1857 Feb. 18-1 (Hun) I Hungary, etc. I

3 a.m. I dct met seen I BA '60.
1857 Feb 24 I (LT), 5-b I Met I

BIackheath.
1857 Feb 25:1 Celebes I q. I BA '11.
1857 Feb. 28 I Parnalee I stone I 2
stones I abo noon I-good account I
A.J. Sci 21321401, 442 I terrifIC
sounds I
[Reverse side) 9-14' N 178-21' E.
1857 Feb. 28 I near viIIqe of ParnaIee, India I Rumblina in sky and
stonefall1ater. I Trans. Bombay Oeog.
SClo. 131Appendix B I
(Reverse side) See June 8, 1834.
1857 Feb 281 Pamallee, S of Madura,
Hindostan I dcts. I BA '61/35.
1857 March ,3 I Del met I Smyrna I
See 1805. 111:30 p.m;
1857 March 12 I (Sound and parahelion) 17:30 a.m. I A parahelion at Feinp (Montape, Orne) I The sound
from 5 to 5:30 p.m. I
[Reverse side) C.R. 44-574.
1857 March 12 I Felinp (Orne) I
Sounds Uke Wind shut[ting?) doors not the slightest wind at time - for 11
hour I C.R. 44/574 I
[Reverse side) La Sci Pour Tous
1857/143.
1857 March 21 I Mud I Corfu I EdinbUJBh New, N.S. 6/174.
1857 March 23 I (DarJmess) I BoltonIe-Moors. I Liv. Ase 55-61.
1857 March 30 I 4:35 p.m. I LT, Ap
I-11-f I At ~lChurch, Salop. -

waterspout, or broad band of cloud

endiD& in a
[Reverse side) point, from sky to earth.
Heavy rain fell. Nothing said of any-

thins JOins up.

1857 Ap. 1 I Heredia, Costa Rica I

(Fl).

1857 Ap. 5 I Stavropoll N side of the

Russia I (F).
1857 Ap. 61 [LT), 12-d I Sunspots.
1857 Ap. 61 MoIlICaIS I q. I I I [light)
I BA '11.
-1857 Ap. 6 I Met from ne[ar) Alpha
Persei to- near Venus I B Assoc
'58-139.
1857 Ap. 6 I Metite? I LT-21-8-f. I
Dr. Dusson, near Co1mar, France,
afternoon, heard a whistling sound
and saw a tJJack object rather
[Reverse side) pear-sbaped - from 11
to 15 inches Ions and thick as a man's
arm - not pear - it was spherical at
one end and pointed the other. Passed
ab 1110 yards above him.
1857 Ap 9 I q. I Asia Minor I II I
[mediumJ I BA '11.
~casus,

1857 Ap. 11/8:50 p.m. I Lake WinniI splendid meteor in

Hydra- moving westward I
[Reverse side) Greater than full moon
I train 5 or 10 minutes I moved very
slowly N or N.E. I A.J. Sci 212411581
BA6O-M.1857 Ap. 12 I Lightning in Nottingham - attrib to storm far away, near
Cape Oriz Nez I Jour Met Soc 351290

biaoshish, Minn

[Reverse side) "As far as NottiDgbam

lin Jour 14/299, distance give = 175
miles.
1857 Ap. 15 I (F) I Metite I Kaba,
Hungary I 10 p.m. I A.J. Sci
2128/424.

1857 Ap. 15 I (Hun) I Resinous I

Hungary I (0-72, 77).
(BCF. pp. 74, 79-8OJ

1857 May 2 I [LT), 7-f.

1857 May 2 I N.M. I b. rain I G1astonbury I Gardeners' OIronicle, May
9.

1857 May 9 I Venus Inf Conjunction

Sun I (A 1).
1857 May 20 I Dark I Persia I 122 I
(0-223).

[BCF, pp. 234-235)

1857 May 211 Deluge I France I An.
Soc. Met 5-179.
1857 May 231 [LT), 6-b I June 23-12-1
I 29-12< I Expected Comet.
1857 May 241 Vesuvius I At Naples
this day a whirlwind and
[Reverse side) a trombe marine. I
C.R., 45-1098.
1857 May 28/11:30 p.m. I Cheshire I
large met I BA 67417.
1857 June I A Langloft waterspout I
See July 3, 1892.
1857 June 13 I 4 p.m. I Schuyler,
N.Y. I Tornado I Fmley's Rept.
1857 June 13 I Deerfield, N.Y. I Tor'
nado I Fmley's Repon.
1857 June 13 I Oswego Co., N.Y. I
Tornado I Finley's Rept.
1857 June 14 I Japan I q. I II I
[Medium) I B.A. '11.
1857 June 16 111:28 a.m. I strons q. I
Clermont-Ferrand I q. and r01lina
sound I then thunder and hail I C.R.
45-34.
1857 June 171 Ap 1:45 p.m. on a farm
10 miles s.w. from Ottawa, m., cinders
that feU from a dense black cloud.
They were warm. Specimens were sent
to the Editor
[Reverse side) of A.J. Sci. They were
like volcanic bombs, glassy exterior,
cellular inside black. I A.J. Sci
2124/449.

1857 June 17 I Tornado I Oneida Co.,

_N.Y. I A.J. Sci. 2/24/290.
1857 summer I Swarm of V. cardui in
Piedmont like in 18791 Nature 20-255.
1857 July 4 I (LT), 6-a I body on Mt.
Snowdon.
[BCF, p. 422)
1857 July 20 I Met - St. Ives, Hunts.
I Met went up from Ursa Minor to
Camelopardalis, "remained stationary
[Reverse side) [fo)r upwards 5 minutes,
then slowly passed downward. I' BA
57-137.
'
1857 July 28 I (fISh [?)) I LT, Il-e,
quoting Nonhem (Wick) Ensign I At
Brora, large number of herrings
[Reverse side) scattered in one of the
Da1ihalm gardens, abo 11 mile from
the sea.
1857 July 30 I [LT), 12-d 122-12-1.

Fourth Ql,larter 1988

IS57 Aug 3 (1) / Ice / Cricldewood. ISS7 Sept 7 / Total eclipse of sun /
Peru / C.R. 47-6S8.
(0-177).

Ella /

[BCF. p. 186]

ISS7 Sept 12 / (Ch) / Wandsbeck / a

IS57 Aug 12/ Maximum of Perseids Vulcan by Ohrt / Observatory 3/137 /
and very abundant in Belgium / BA C-29+.
[BCF. p. 314/ See June 11. 18SS.]
57-153.
IS57 middle of August / Hancock Co. ISS7 Sept. 29 / Met - Highfield
Ohio / Someone saw an ange1 in the House - by Lowe - listed by him as
sky - but it came down and spoke to "large and curious". / Rec. Sci.
1/I3S.
her. / Sun. Feb S-8-6. ISSS.
IS57 Aug 13 / Stones in a horse's ISS7 Sept ? / ? [LT] 31-IO-f / July.
stonw:h / L.T IS5O. Ap. 29-3-e / See Aug or Sept / Vesuvius / and Oct
Jan . 1922.
10-8-d.
1857 Oct. 1 / Rain of stones / Orme
1857 Aug 13 / Obj at Nottingham /
[Reverse side] D / obje[ct] / "On Aug (yonne). France / La Sci Pour Tous
133. (1SS7). a ball as smooth and 2-402. col 2-x.
round as a billiard ball. and 1arger than ISS7 Oct. 1/ Orme / (F) / L'Yonne /
a cricket ball. fell N of Nottingham." stonefall / C.R. 45/687 / BA 60-94 /
/ E.J. Lowe / Brit Assoc [I]SS7/140. 4:30p.m. /
ISS7 Aug 13. 14 / tremendous tho [Reverse side] Bet. 4 and 5 p.m.
storms / The Nottingham Review. ISS7 Oct S / First shock / St Louis /
Aug 21. ISS7. gives more than a page See Oct 8.
to various accounts.
ISS7 Oct 6 / [LT]. 7< / 7-1O-c / 26-S-d
ISS7 Aug 13 / (with) / Th. Stone / / Floods / Italy.
Ciel et Terre. Dec I. 1901 / That
Musee de I'etat Independent Au Con- 18S7 Oct S / q - met / St Louis / New
go had received from M. Wagnez. Lands. p. 109.
18S7 Oct S / Centralia.
q. / BA
Commandant
[Reverse side] at Suruango. stone said '11.
fallen in a thunderstorm in 1893. [BCF. p. 406]
Spheroidal and had concentric "con1857 Oct 10/ [LT]. S-d / Vesuvius.
ches".

m. /

IS57 AII8 13 / Nottinghamd Review.

AII8 21 - after the great storm of the
13th. a large ball rather larger than a
cricket ball
[Reverse side] had been found in a
pasture at Calverton perfectly
spherical. of an olive green or grayish
color. and the surface polished like
marble. The object was taken to
[Second page] Dr Wilson. of Nottinsham. and he "pronounced it to be
a concretion or stone from the intestines of a horse. It weighed 17

ounces."
[Reverse side] "It was not above two
thirds the weight of marble. and a
slight bruise on the surface showed
that in its outward texture at least it
was composed of thin layers."
ISS7 AII8 13 / Chern News 23/I99l
An account of the calculus from a
horse - extracted from
[Reverse side] a horse" - and a sketch
of an aggegated object of very convoluted appearance.
1857 Aug / Stone in horses stomach of
layers / Zoologist 16421.
ISS7 Aug 13 / Earth ball or Intestinal
Calculus from a horse / See Chern
News. 23/199.
[Reverse side] Five inches in diameter
and weighed over 2 pounds.
Analysis in Jour Chem Soc 2A/42S. /
of alternate layer[s] of mineral matter.
and of
(Front side] mineral matter intermingled with substances of organic origin.
ISS7 Aug 31 / [LT]. S< / Locusts /
Ireland / Sept. 1-7-d / London /2-7-d
/ London.
18S7 Sept. 6 / Locusts. single ones various parts of England / N.Q.

24-397.

Fourth Quarter 1988

[Reverse side] fallen a "shower of

SIl8Br candy" covering a large area. "It
covered everything - leaves of trees.
rocks and the earth's surface alike.
Part of it was of the consistency of
syrup and part was crystallized." The
Editor writes that a boxful had been
sent to him. He said that it tasted like
unflavored candy
[Front side] and he invites persons interested to call upon him and see the
substance. "The specimens before us
are generally irregularly crystallized.
rounded at
[Second page] one end and irregular in
form at the other. as if broken off
from some surface to which they
adhered. They are from
[Reverse side] one fourth to liveeighths of an inch in length. some pure
white and "others of a delicate pink
hue. Their general appearance is that
of very small stalagmites such as we
have often seen in caves. A simiJar
shower occurred at Salt Lake some
years since." /
[FIrSt page. front side] (See July 3.
1881. / See abo June IS. 1893.) /
[Second page. front side] See July.
1922.
18S7 Nov. 2A / Spital. WindischGarsten. Austria / q. / I / [Ught] /
BAII.

18S7 Nov. 26 / KOnigsberg / det met

ISS7 Oct. 10 / (Hun) / (F) / Ababa. and "stonefall?" / BA 67417.
KarIsburg. Transylvania / Metite / BA
1857 Nov. 29 / 12:30 p.m. / 12:4S /
60.
Bayonne. France / qs and rumbles /
18S7 Oct. 20 / Vesuvius violent / La L. T . Dec 6-8-a.
Sci Pour Tous 2-408.
1857 (?) Nov. 30 / Jaboz Brown /
IS51 Oct 21 / Fishes / Meeting this [typescript] / [page] S3
date of Boston Soc of Nat Hist. letter Report of the British Association.
from Prof.
18S8:
[Reverse side] Hubbard. of Dartmouth Pror. Baden-Powell writes:
CoUege. read upon fall of fishes in a "The subjoined extraordinary statetown in Vermont. / Proc. of B.S. Nat ment is copied from the Tunes. of Dec.
H. 6-283 / N.M.
4. It bears the appearance of a simple.
IS57 Oct 29 / Precigne (Sarthe) / 6 straightforward account of fact. the
p.m. / magnificent meteor / Cosmos nature of which seems difficult to conjecture. It is here inserted simply in the
II-S06.
IS57 Nov II/Michigan / met / BA hope of attracting attention. and that
in time some light may be thrown
67417.
upon it by other observations:
ISS7 [November 11] / Ext death / fly "'Last night (Nov. 3) at IS minutes to
sting / [LT]. Nov. II-S-b.
9. it being very dark. I was ascending
ISS7 Nov IS / Deaune / Meteor and one of the steep hills in this neighborglobe lightning enter a room. / La Sci hood. when suddenly 1 was surrounded by a bright and powerful light
Pour Tous ISS7/403.
ISS7 Nov. 16"/ (Ch) / (0-68) / Hair which passed me a little quicker than
substance / Charleston. S.C. / or the ordinary pace of man's walking.
leaving it dark as before. This day I
globe lightning /
have been informed that the light was
[Reverse side] BA 67417.
seen by the sailors in the harbor. comrBCF, pp. 70, 418]
ing from the sea and passing up the
1857 Nov 17 / S p.m. / At Paris. by valley like a low cloud - Jaboz
the meteorologist. Dr Phepson. large Brown...
drops of warm water
1857 Dec. 16/ (It) / Salerno / great q /
[Reverse side] from a cloudless sky /
[BA] '11.
C.R.4S-906.
18S7 Nov 17/ S p.m. / Rain without 18S7 Dec 16/ See Dec 17. 18S2. / Cal.
clouds / Paris / La Sci Pour Tous 3-IS and Eng.
[Reverse side] Ab sunset.
18S7 Dec 16 - 17/ Simul / See Nov 19.
18S7 Nov. 19 / [LT]. 1O-a / Wtch / 1861. / also Dec 8. 1861.
Stourport.
18S7 Dec 16/ On morning of 17th (ab
18S7 Nov 21 / (Candy) / Uving Age S a.m.). remarkable aurora in
of. copying from the Napa Republican Belgium. / N.Q . 2-5-28.
/ That at C1ear Lake in the same coun- 18S7 Dec 16 / q of naples felt near
ty (look up Napa) had
Norwich. England. / N and Q 2-S437.

ISS7 Dec 16/ At 7:50 p.m., great met.

On 17th. at 4 a.m .. sky in n.w. fiery
red as if lighted by a conflagration at
Wokingham. Berks. / Times - 18t1i /
[Reverse side] Others say abo 7:4S p.m.
1857 Dec 16 / 10:IS p.m. / q. at
Naples / Tunes 26-74.

18S7 Dec 16 - Jan 4 / 84 shocks in

Naples / Tunbs 'S8-272.
18S7 Dec. 16 / q. / Naples" / Timbs
S8-271. / Had been a slight shock on
7th which threw down the come of
Vesuvius. / 16th at 10:10 p.m.
1857 Dec 16 / q in Naples / 2 hours
earlier. met in Eng / N and Q 219/28.
437 / q felt in E.
ISS7 Dec 16 / It / q and phe / See
I80S.
1857 Dec 16 / Great met near London
ab 7:4S p.m. Cor (19th) says saw
lightning at intervals ~ hour after.
Other letters.
18S7 Dec 16/ q - distant / See AiIg
26. '1:1.1839.

18S7 Dec 16 / See Aug 21. 1891. /

Ireland and W. Indies.
18S7 Dec 16 / Met. France and Etna /
July 19. 1899.
1857 Dec. 16 / q and distant met /
Sept 8. 9. 1891 / July 8. 1892.
18S7 Dec 16/ Vesuvius and meteor in
England / Dec 8. 1861.
18S7 Dec 16/ Great q. Greece / met.
Germany / Dec 28. 1869.
18S7 Dec 16 / (Algeria) / Met and
Vesuvius / (7) / Sept IS. 1878.
18S7 Dec 17/ Aurora. Deep blood-red
flames in sky of Belgium. abo S a.m.
Consternation. At Maines. fire engines
called out. / Times. 22nd.
1857 Dec 17/ Germany / Westphalia.
etc. / met-det / BA 60.

18S7 Dec 17 / Cambridge. Mass / St

Elmo's ordinary / Am. J. Sci
21191272.
ISS7 Dec. 19/ 9:03 a.m. / Charleston
/ q and rumbling / Bull. Seis A 4-117.

18S7 Dec. '1:1 / (F) / 2:25 a.m. / Metite

near Bassein. in Pegu. India / A.J. Sci
2/321142 /
[Reverse side] Great detonation / seen
200 miles away. "
1857 Dec. 28 / Ac to "Carribber" (Sir
George
Duncan
Gibb).
"Odd
Showers." p. 16 - the account in
Montreal Weekly Gazett[e] is from the

Leroy
[Reverse side] (N.Y.). near Rochester.
Gazette - that "during the heavy rain
of Sunday last" fell the live lizards.
some 4 inches in length.
18S7 Dec 27/ D-90 / lizards of Montreal / Wm. Andrews. Book of Oddities. p. 32 /
[Reverse side] Says that some
specimens of frogs said fallen from sky
preserved in Museum of Nat Hist.
Montre[a1]. These were Gibbs. / July.
ab 1841.
[BCF. p. 93:
Lizards - said to have fallen on the
sidewalks of Montreal. Canada. Dec.

Pursuit 191

28, ISS7.
S-6-I04.)

(/!Ioles

and

Queris.

1857 Dec 28 and 29 I Shocks in SaIa

and Potenza, Italy.
[Reverse side] Potenza was in ruins
from shock of 16th. I Timbs 185S-273.
ISS7 Dec 28 - 30 I (It) I q and phe I
See 1805.

1858
18SS I Artific iron I Mass I 152.
(BCF, p. 285:
The object that was said to have
fallen at Marblehead, Mass., in 185S,
is described in the Amer. Jour. Sci.,
2-34-135, as "a furnace product, formed in smelting copper ores, or iron ores
containing copper." It is said to be
fraudulent.]
ISSS I Klausenbourg Transylvania I
fIShes I Cosmos 315m.

1858 I Disap of man, and his money

belt found in a ring of earth. I See
Aug. II, 1886. I near Helena, San-

dusky Co., Ohio.

ISS8 I Sleeper Susan C. Godsey, near
Hickman, Ky. I See July 14, 1869.
ISSS Jan 7 I [LT],IkI, etc. I Great q I
Naples.
1858 Jan II and 12 I Sunspots noted
in La Sci Pour Tous 3-103.
1858 Jan 20 I Ohnetz I Large met I

BA 69-282.
ISS8 Jan 23 I (It) I Caggiano (Salerno)

I flash and q I See 1805. I See March

IS5S March 9 I q I Algeria I BA II I IS58 May 29 - etc. I at 1east to June

1st I list I ~ others before I Algeria 1st I Vesuvius I reflections from the
series beains back Oran before 1.8207 glare like an aurora I Morn Post, June
'
18SS March 12 - 19 I Great sunspot 10.
ISSSlast of May I at Mortagne I aux
noted in La Sci Pour Tous 3-142.
1858 March IS I Eclipse of sun I Herbiers I Thick rain of beetles
(GryUus domesticus) fell in cold wind
Leisure Hour 7157,
and seemed inanimate. I
185S March 15 I Annular eclipse of [Reverse side) An. Soc Ent.
sun and appearance of tremendous 18SSIXCV[
sunspot I Ast. Reg SilO.
1858 June I Insects like crickets 185S March 17 I [LT], 12-f I Aurora. half-frozen I La Sci Pour Tous, June
18SS March 19 I [LT], Uk: I q I S. 17, ISS8. 1223 I LaVend&.
Wales.
I85S June 2 I Donati's Comet disISS8 March 25 I Apparition I Etades I covered in Leo I Good in Am Sci Disc.
abo March, 1908.
I85S June 5 I At Boulougne-sui-Mer.
ISS8 Ap. 2 I Shock I Plymouth and Also at Folkstone and other places on
Eng\ish Channel. Bright sunshine Liskeard I See May 3, '09.
. ISSS Ap 9 - May 2 I Ap 9 - Japan I. water receded - in 5 minutes came
back.
13 - Austria I 19 - Asia Minor I 23
[Reverse side] (8 a.m.) S feet higher
- Japan I 24, Cent. Amer I 30 than
normal, with great wind and sky
Austria I
[Reverse side) Early in May ....:... densely obscured and then spin bright
Nicarqua I May 2 - Mexico I BA sunshine. I Cardiff Times, 12th.
1858 June 5 I 5:30 a.m. I Th storm
'II I Sim q's - Feb 18, 1889.
S of England. At Ramsgate, a
ISS8 Ap. 9 and 10 I Cyclone I An- violent,
"tidal wave". I
daman Sea I Jour Asiatic Soc Bengal
[Reverse side] Symons Met Mag 3-81.
27/323.
ISS8 Ap. 9 I Nottingham I Many 185S June 6 I Dry fog at Munster I ac
small meteors. Aurora at the time. I to M. Heis I no odor I Night of
seventh,
B.A. '58.
[Reverse side] dry fog and meteor
ISS8 Ap. II - 12 I (Fr) I q I Grenoble
(verified) I Cosmos 15/37.
I C.R. 46/764.
ISSS June 7 I d. fog and met I Dry fog
IS~8 Ap. IS I [LT], II-f I Aurora.
and a meteor at Munster I Cosmos
1858 Ap. 24 I 8:10 p.m. I Met 1h size 15/37.
moon from Canis Majoris I Hobart 185S June 8 I Rhymney, Wales I
Town I BA 67-290.
violent th storm and hail size" of
1858 May 41 Ouainton, 6 miles N.W. walnuts I Cardiff Times, 12th.
of Aylesbury. "Ignited globe" fell in a 1858 June 10 I "Pollen" I Scotland I
farm yard. Exploded with a loud
Edin N -, N.S., 10/116.
report.
[Reverse side] Fragments Dew in dif- ISS8 June (10-?) I Inverness-shire I
ferent directions. One hit a cow. I BA "sulphurous substance" I Proc Roy
Soc Edin 4/157.

m. .

gathered.

1858 June 121 Great storm I Liverpool and Ireland I Birm. Daily Post,
15th.
1858 June 12 I In Birm Daily Post,
June 6, 1868, a conventional scientist, ridiculing that the stones had
fallen from the sky. Says that there
were two such reports in the year
1858. He says were bits of pavement.
18SS June 121 Stratford-upon-Avon
I Great tho storm and large hail I 11
a.m. I Birmingham Daily press, 14th
I At Birm., one of the most terrific
tho storms remembered. Roads like
rivers.
18SS June 12 I Birm Daily press,
15th, cor writes that soon afternoon
on 12th the stones fell - hundreds
of thousands. "Nearly every stone is
angular, smooth at the. edges, dark
green and of a hard light substance
. which easily cuts glass." One of the
stones in his possession was
"somewhat globular and brightly
polished
[Reverse side) with a neck,
altogether like a dark-green pear
pip. Evidently crystallized." Cor
says that at 10:15 p.m. night before
the storm he saw a great meteor dar
into the tail of Ursa Major.
ISSS June 12 I "Unequalled'; tho
storm at Liverpool I Birm Daily
Press, 16th.

18SS June 12 I At Stratford upon

3.
Avon, pieces of ice 2 inches long fell.
185S Jan. 27 13:45 p.m. I Switzerland
I B.D. Press, 19th.
I det met I BA 60-106.
ISSS [June 12)1 Frogs with the Bir18SS Feb 3 I (dust) I Alexandria I
Dense clouds at noon obscuring the
mingham stones I Birmingham
Daily Post, June 9, 1868.
sun and the fall
[Reverse side] of a fme powder. An acISSS June 12 I (P) I in th storm I
Birmingham I stones like Rowley
count of a ship that sailed 40 or SO
miles and was still in these conditions.
ragstone I Symons Met 4/184.
58/152.
Attrib to sand from Sahara. I
lSSS [June 12] I For Birmingham
[Front side] Trans. Bombay Geog. Soc 1858 May 10 I Shock I Richmond, 18SS June 11 I Ice I at Plinlimmon
falls of 1868 and 18SS, L.T., June I,
(Cardigan)
I
Clbrst
and
5
blocks
of
14/A p.AllI.
Canada I 17th, another and sound like
186S.
ice lone 2 yards long by 3 wide I
18SS Feb. II I First phe at Lourdes I distant thunder I See Nov 9, 1810.
[Reverse side] 4 others a yard square [BCF, pp. 410-412]
story in Religio Ph. J, nov. 30, 18921 ISS8 May IS I Op Mars I(A 1).
each I Field, June 26, p. 531.
1858 June IS I afternoon I Th.
YRA. ++
ISS8 May 19 I Hun I near Cravitza, ISSS June 12 I Birm Daily Post, storm and electric manifestation
1858 Feb 16 - 17 I Switzerland? I Hungary I Metite I BA 60.
June 9, 1868, cor writes that from a greater than remembered ever at
brownish substance I Vierteljahrsschs ISS8 May 19 I Kakowa, Krasse- platform 3 and a half feet above the Broseley before lB. D. Post, ISth~
I Naturt. Geo-Zuer., 13/313 I Szoreny, Hungary I (F).
ground he had in ISSS gathered
1858 June IS I night I At Stour(Fassig).
1858 May 19 I Floods I Highwater [Reverse side) many of the stones bridge - "A most awful storm of
1858 Feb 19 I [LT], Uk! I Aurora I mark, St Louis I not exceeded until and also many little frogs .. all thunder and lightning, worse than
Isle of Man.
shrivelled up as if with heat." Said any ever seen or heard of in this
June 7, 1903 I NY Trib, Sth.
still had dried body of one of the lit- county before." I
ISS8 Feb 21 I - Greece I 24 - Mar- ISS8 May 21 I Vesuvius I A. Reg.
tle frogs. Said the stones were
tinique 127 - Moluccas I q's I BA
1858 May 24/2 qs 125, whirlwind on lighter than Rowley rag and looked [Reverse side] B.D. Press, ISth.
'II.
ISS8 June 16 I Extraordinary tho
land. Then a whirlwind on the sea. The porous.
ISS8 Feb. 21 I Rain of stones on a ship Vesuvius. I Naples - C.R. 46-1098.
storm at Birmingham I B.D. Post,
off coast of Florida I La Sci Pour 1858 May 24 I France and Germany I 18SS June I Birmingham I pebbles I 16th I With flashes of lightning,
See Aug 13, IS60.
Tous 3/160.
many balls of lire
q.1 BA 'II.
1858 Feb. 23 I 11:20 p.m. I Beeston I85S May 27 I At Naples a whirlwind 18SS June 12 I Birm. D. Post, 14th [Reverse side) fell from the sky.
Observatory I Magnificent meteor. on land - one at sea and eruption of - Dr. Ingletz writes, "Many hun- 185S June 16 I Ashbourne I Storm
dreds of thousands must have fallen, and "huge pieces of ice." I
Streams of auroral
Vesuvius. La Sci Pour TouS 3-231.
some of the streets being strewn with [Reverse side] Gardeners' Chronicle,
[Reverse side] lights immediately
before its starting point. I BA 59-82. 1858 last of May I (0-93) I larvae of them. They are like fragments of June 26.
bedIes I near Mortagne, France I may lava, of very low specific gravity. "
[lBCF, p. 422]
ISSS June 16 I At Chatworth, with
be same as crickets.
1858 June 12 I In Birm Journal (a th storm, pieces of ice 6 inches in cirI85S Feb 26 I It Sounds I Saponara I (BCF
QCI
weekly),
19th
shower
of
small
cumference I Birm Jour, 19th.
Sounds like gunfire I See ISI6.
' p. ;>VJ
18SS May 27 - June 5 I Vesuvius stones, mostly black, water-worn
ISSS March 3 I See Jan 23.
bits of flint, but colored pebbles,
violent I Cardiff Tunes, June 12 I
(to be continued in Vol. 22, III)
1858 March 5 I Hurricane I Madeira I [Reverse side] At least to June 5 I C. too. Fell allover the city. From canmany
pounds
of
them
vas
awnings
Times. 19th.
N.Y. Herald, Ap 141.

Pursuit 192

Fourth Quarter 1988

The Society For The Investigation of The Unexplained

Mail: SITU/PURSUIT, P.O. Box 265, Little Silver, NJ 07739-0265 USA Tel: (201) 842-5229
GOVERNING BOARD
Robert C. Warth President; Gregory Arend, Vice-President; Nancy L. Warth. Secretary
and Treasurer; Trustees: Gregory Arend. Marie Cox. Nancy Warth. Robert C. Warth,
Martin Wiegler. Albena Zwerver.
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
Dr. George A. Agogino. Distinguished Director of Anthropology Museums and
Director. Paleo-Indian Institute, Eastern New Mexico University (Archaeology)
Dr. Carl H. Delacato, Director. The Institute for the Rehabilitation of the Brain InJured. Morton. Pa, (Mentalogy)
Dr_ Stuart W. Greenwood. Operations Manager. University Research Foundation.
University of Maryland (Aerospace Engineering)
Dr. Martin Kruskal, Program In Applied Mathematics and Computational
Mathematics. Princeton University, Princeton. New Jersey
Dr. Samuel B. McDowell. Professor of Biology. Rutgers the State University,
Newark. New Jersey (General Biology)
Dr. Vladimir Markotlc, Professor of Anthropology. Department of Archaeology.
University of Alberta. Canada (Ethnosoclology and Ethnology)
Dr. Michael A. Persinger, Professor. Department of Psychology. Laurentian University, Sudbury. Ontario. Canada (Psychology)
Dr. Frank B. Salisbury. Plant Science Department. College of Agriculture, Utah
State University (Plant Physiology)
Dr. Berthold Eric Schwarz. Consultant. National Institute for Rehabilitation
Engineering. Vero Beach. Florida (Mental Sciences)
Dr. Michael D. Swords, Professor. Department of General Studies Science,
Western Michigan University (Natural Science)
Dr. Roger W. Wescott. Professor and Chairman, Department of Anthropology,
Drew University, Madison. N.J. (Cultural Anthropology and LingUistics)
Dr. A. Joseph Wralght. Chief Geographer. U.S. Co~st and Geodetic Survey.
Washington, D.C. (Geography and Oceanography)
Dr. Robert K. Zuck. Professor Emeritus Department of Botany, Drew University.
Madison, N_J. (Botany)
ORIGINS OF SITU/PURSUIT
Zoologist. biologist. botanist and geologist Ivan T. Sanderson, F.L.S., F.R.G.S . F.Z.S . in association with a number of other distinguished authors. established in 1965 a "foundation" for the exposition and research of the paranormal - those "disquieting mysteries of the natural world" to which
they had devoted much of their investigative lifetimes.
As a means of persuading other professionals. and non-professionals having interests similar to
their own. to enlist in an uncommon cause. the steering group decided to publish a newsletter. The
first issue came out in May 1967. The response. though not overwhelming. was sufficient to reassure
the founding fathers that public interest in the what. why and where of their work would indeed survive them.
Newsletter No.2. dated March 1968. announced new plans for the Sanderson foundation: a struc
ture larger than its architects had first envisioned was to be built upon it. the whole to be calIed the
SOciety for the Investigation of The Unexplained. as set forth in documents filed with the New Jersey
Secretary of State. The choice of name was prophetic. for Dr. Sanderson titled one of the last of his
two-dozen books "Investigating the Unexplained." published in 1972 and dedicated to the Society.
Another publication was issued in June 1968. but "newsletter" was now a subtitle; above it the
name PURSUIT was displayed for the first time. Vol. 1. No.4 in September 1968 ("incorporating
the fourth Society newsletter") noted that "the abbreviation SITU has now been formally adopted as
the deSignation of our Society." Issue number 4 moreover introduced the Scientific Advisory Board.
listing the names and affiliations of the advisors. Administrative matters no longer dominated the
contents; these were relegated to the last four of the twenty pages. Most of the issue was given over
to investigative reporting on phenomena such as "a great armadillo (6 feet long. 3 feet high) said to
have been captured in Argentina" - the instant transportation of solid objects '~from one place to
another and even through sol.ds" - the attack on the famed University of Colorado UFO Project headed
by Dr. Edward U. Condon - and some updated information about "ringing rocks" and "stone spheres."
Thus SITU was born. and thus PURSUIT began to chronicle our Investigation of The Unexplained.

Printed in U.S.A.

ISSN 0033-4685

PURSUIT Index 1988

Ancient Engimas - SITUations, 131
Basnyat, Kumar, 35
Beckjord, Jon E., 138
'Big Creature' Hoaxes - SITUations, 72
Bobb, Fred, 27
Books Reviewed, 40, 183
Chatelain, Maurice, IS
Cherokee 'Little People' Legends of
Nonh Carolina - a SITUation, 34
Chess With A "Dead" Partner, 179
Chinese Love Their Oddities
- a SITUation, 36
Collins, R. Peny, 74
Conference Reports, 87
CryptoZoological Comments. 138
Do Ghosts Barrier Oscillate?, 30
Eden, Daniel, 30
Forgotten Tesla Letter - Rediscovered, 27
Gardner, Alex, 179
Greene County Films, The. - An Approach
to Seeing U.F.O.s, 81
Hansen. Evan, 2
Katie: Nostradamus Automatic Writing.
Possible Direct Writing and Psychic
Nexus of an Illiterate
(Part I). 50, (Part II), 116
Letters to the Editor. 89. 140. 182
Levine, Gary, 81
Lizardman SITUations. 136

Lyonesse: The Lost Land of Cornwall,

(Part I), 98, (Part 11), 158
Mammoth Leyline in the American
Northwest, A?, 37
Magin, Ulrich, 155
Mangiacopra, Gary S., 67
More About Giants, Goblins, Satyrs and
Other Strange Hominid Monsters
in Europe, 155
Mundrabilla UFO in Western Australia, The
- a SITUation, 14
Notes of Charles Fort. The,
46, 94, 141, 189
Deciphered by Carl J. Pabst
Our Gods Were Physical Beings or
100 Trillion Gods, 84
Our Mayan Ancestors, IS
Partain, Keith L., 132
Patterson, John W .. 146
Petit. Jean-Pierre, 10, 62, 109. 169
Possible Human-Animal Paranormal
Events, 20
Psychic Connection. The. 74
Psychoscopy. 172
Radio Technical Device in the Ancient
World? A. 128
Relic Hominoids. Relic Cosmogonies. and
Recent Revelations. 146
Richards, John Thomas, 79
Robson, David E .. 104

Roots of the Dogon Mystery. The. 165

Rubtsov. Vladimir V., 165
Schievella, Pasqual Sebastian, 84
Schwarz. Berthold Eric. 20, 50, 116
Shaksper's Werwolves: A Lycanthropic
Reading of King Lear and
The Winter Tale, 104
Shroud of Turin: Mystery or Mystique?
- SITUation, 176
Singer, Jon D .. 98, 158
SITUations, 43, 91, 134, 184
Sky Anomalies - Oceanic Mysteries, 67
Some Further Considerations of the
Mars-Venus Cycle and Natural Constants
in Relation to UFO Waves. 132
Some Latest Information About 'Yeti." 36
Swords. Michael. D., 37. 87
Tennaeff. Willem. 172
Theory on Ancient Methods of Navigation.
A.2
Trying to Figure Out Those Human
Calculators. 26
UFO Impact. The. (Part n. 10.
(Pan II). 62. (Part III). 109.
(Part IV). 169
Warth. Robert C . 87.
What If Scientists Accepted PSI? 79
Will the 'Real" Stonehenge Please Stand Up
- SITUations. 80

Books Reviewed
Above Top Secret
Timothy Good, 183
Carolina Bays. Mirna Mounds. Submarine
Canyons And Other Topographical
Phenomena
William R. Corliss. 41

Facts & Fallacies:

Stories of the Strange and Unusual
Eds. of Reader's Digest. 183
Fellowship. The: Spiritual Contact Between
Humans And Outer Space Beings
Brad Steiger, 40

Geller Effect. The

Uri Geller & Guy Lyon Playfair. 4:!
Living Dinosaur. A: The Search For
Mokele-Mbembe
Roy P. Mackal. 40
Outcast Manufacturers. The
Charles Fort. 183

mustratioDS depict (upper left) disintegration of Planet

X; (center) Austrian farmer. attacked by two
Tatzelwunns in 1779; (upper right) two tools used by
dowsers; (bottom) psychokinetically altered objects in
a-sealed bottle.

TDle Society For The Investigation Of The Unexplained

Mail: SITU/PURSUIT, P.O. Box 265, Little Silver, NJ 0,7739-0265 USA Tel: (201) 842-5229
SITU (pronounced sit'you) is a Latin word meaning "place." SITU is also an acronym referring
to THE SOCIETY FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF THE UNEXPLAINEQ.
SITU exists for the purpose of collecting' data on unexplaineds, prom~ting proper investigation of individual reports and gene~al subjects, and reporting significant data" to its members.
The Society studies unexplained events and "things" of a tangible nature that orthodox science,
for one reason or another, does not or will not study.
You don't have to be a professional or even an amateur ,cientist to join SITU.
MEMBERSHIP
Membership is for the calendar year, January-December: in the United States, $12 for one year; $23
for two years; $33 for three years. Membership in other countries is subject to surcharge, to cover higher
cost of mailing. Amount of surcharge, which varies according to region, will be quoted in response to
individual request. Members receive the Society's quarterly journal PURSUIT plus any special SITU
publications for the year of membership. Original "back issues" anell reprints (issues of PURSUIT dated
prior to the current publishing year) are available for all past years. Send check or money order for total
amount with request identifying issues desired by Volume, Number and Year. Price ;,s' $3.00 per copy,
plus postage. Please allow four to six weeks for delivery.
'
SHTU welcomes member,' participation. Articles, photographs, newspaper and magazine clips, book
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.

_ THE QUARTERLY
JOURNAL OF THE

ISOCIETY FOR THE

-t
~STIGATION
RI

OF

UNEXPLAINED

'SCIENCE IS THE PURSUIT OF THE UNEXPLAINED'

Coateats
Page
Reincarnation: Making Sense of the Evidence
by D. Scott Rogo ....... " ............................ : ............ 2
Spontaneous Psychokinesis in a Sealed Bottle at Skyrim Fann
by Dr. John Thomas Richards, Ph.D .................................. 5
The Tatzelwunn: Mythical Animal or Reality? (part I of II Parts)
by Luis SchHnherr ................................................. 6
Dowsing for Water - Science or Superstition?
by Kenith W. Templin ............................................ 11
Thoughts On Disintegration of the Unknown Planet
by Dr. Stuart W. Greenwood, Ph. D ........... '" .............. , . " .14
Time Origin of the Foot and Decimeter
by Bart Jordan ................................................... 15
The Continent of Hiva
. "
by Dr. Horst Friedrich, Ph.D. . ..................................... 16
Sages in Chaos
by Dr. John Sappington, Ph.D ...................................... 19
Virtual State Art? The World of Psychotronics
by Duncan Laurie ................................................. 21
Unseen, Unspoken, Unknown (Re: The UFO Phenomenon)
by R. Perry Collins ............................................... 28
The 1908 Tunguska Explosion - Old Hypothesis, New Facts
by Alexei Borzenko ............................................... 33
An Update on the Kecksburg, PA UFO Crash/Retrieval Case
by Stan Gordon .................................................. 34
Damned by the Thought Police - An Anthropologist Confronts UFO Abductions
by Tom Bureh ................................................... 37
"Frank Buckland
~y. Ronald Rosenblatt .............................................. 38
BOoks-ReViews ...................................................... 39
SITUations ......................................................... 41
The Notes of Charles Fort
",
Deciphered by Carl J. Pabst ........................................ 45

PIIlIllvrr is grateful to Mr. Rogo, author of some 40 books

on parapsychology, for his pennission to publish, herewith, the
lecture he gave at the "6th International Congress on Interdisciplinary Discussion of Borde~ Problems of Science" in
Basel, Switzerland, November 1988.

The reader of these words surely realizes

that PURSUIT's purpose, as a joumal, is to
gather information from various sources and
to make available data that researchers have
gathered on specific topics of interest. But how
much more information on unexplaineds is
"out there" that could be available to us?
Communication is a major concern in any
coordinating unit as any major organization
knows whether in science, industry, the
government or, particularly, with the military
- to name just a few.
'Therefore, we may well ask: Will Mr. Rogo
communicate with us when he reaches the
"other side" to tell us more about reincarnation as one entity via Skyrim is, perbaps, doing? Will dowsing eventually be considered
as a reliable vehicle of communication for
locating sought information?
Mr. Schonherr's article about the
Tatzelwurm enigma is a classic example of
utilizing various eye-witness reports (here,
mosdy from past generations) to consolidate
information and, thus, we hope, to encourage
a search for their possible existence.
Dr. Sappington writes about four very influential, original, modern-day thinkers and
communications between them.
But, then again, in the several UFO reports
we can see how the writers are unable to learn
more about UFOs especially from government
authorities who rarely cooperate in communicating their vast amount of UFO data
simply by their saying that since UFOs don't
exist, therefore, there is nothing to discuss.
Lasdy is Carl Pabst's relentless, years-long
work to bridge Charles Fort's notes with
Fort's four major books as an example of one
man's efforts to get obscure data available for
all of us to use.
Perbaps it is an oversimplication but, in
part, it is nQt only the new"reports but also
the breakdowns in communication that keep
us, as a joumal, in contact with you in pursuit of the unexplained - and the uaexpressed.

TIie Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained. ISSN 0033-468S.

No part of this periodical may be rq>roduced without the written consent of the Society. Robert C. Wanh, Publisher and Editor, Nancy Warth, Production
Editor, Martin Wiegler, Consulting Editor, Charles Berlitz, Research and Oceanographic Consultant.

Pursuit Vol. 22, No. 1 Whole No. 8S. All materlaI is copyrighted by

yolume 22, No.1

Pursuit 1

Reincarnation:
Making .Sense ". of" the Evidence
by D. Scott Hogo
Belief in reincarnation is usually nothingmore than a matter
of personal commitment. There are, in fact. several ways by
which you can justify acceptance of the doctrine. Most people
rely on philosophical justifications - i.e., that reincarnation
explains the inequities and injustices of life; that it is a more
reasonable cosmological scheme than any other conception' of
the after-life; and that a majority ofthe world's peopl~s accept
and teach the doctrine. Millions of people simply can't be
wrong! These are all undoubtedly valid observations, but they
hardly prove the objective truth of the reincarnation bel ief. They
are but lines of specUlation that one can either entertain or reject.
We live today in a scientific and technological world, a world
that has long placed more stock in hard data than philosophical
speculation. Can belief in reincarnation ever become a scientific rather than religious matter? Just how well does the reincarnation doctrine fare when the hardcore evidence for its
legitimacy is critically examined? Does such evidence even exist
in the first place?
These were the questions I begal1 pondering three years ago.
My personal interest in reincarnation stemmed from my professional work in parapsychology, which had extended over the
course of several years. For the past ten years. my focal interest in parapsychology has revolved (in part) around searching
for evidence proving life after death. This is one of the field's
most central'points of concern, and it gradually and reluctantly
forced me to confront the reincarnation issue. I say "reluctantly" because, like most parapsychologists, my feeling had long
been that the subject of reincarnation didn't fall within the central concerns of parapsychology. Studying the eyidence for life
after death has been difficult enough ... but reincarnation? In fact.
to date, only one parapsychologist actively working in the field
has ever studied the reincarnation question in any depth. Dr.
Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia ha!! made a career
out of tracking down and studying cases of children who spontaneously remember their past lives: I guess most of us have,
until very recently. simply felt that the scientific investigation
of reincarnation was in good hands ... and that we could best busy'
ourselves elsewhere and with other research projects.
I came to realize that this attitude was extremely biased in
1978, when I first saw the movie Audrey Rose. This adaptation of the singularly striking novel tells the story of a young
girl terrified by vivid memories of her past-life death in a flaming car accident. Seeing such a case presented on the screen
- a case no different from many that" populate the growing
literature on reincarnation - made me realize my own previous
bias. It made me realize that any parapsychologist interested
in the survival problem has a responsibility to examine the reincarnation question in depth. So I set about ~tudying the evidence
as thoroughly as I could. My goals were to ascertain just how
good the evidence is. and whether it points to literal reincarnation or perhaps to some other metaphysical truth.
My first stopping point was the study of cases of spontaneous
past-life recall. Many people claim that they have suddenly
recalled scenes or fleeting memories of a past life. These experiences tend to come by way of dreams, mental imagery. waking visions, or deja-vu sensations. Dr. Fre'~erick Lenz, a
one-time San Diego psychologist, has even written' a book
devoted to such first-hand accounts. Lifetimes not only conPursuit 2

tains several interesting cases, but Dr. Lenz also claims that
such experiences arise from the context of a specific
phenomenologicalincubation syndrome. People undergoing
spontaneous past-life recall, he claims, first feel their bodies
getting lighter. They then see vivid colors dancing before their
eyes, the room will begin to vibra~, the experiencer will become
euphori~, and then the past-life scene or memory will burst into consciousness. Dr. Lenz's research was the first I had read
about this past-life memory syndrome. so I decided to explore
the phenomenon further.
I began collecting similar cases in 1981 and was able to roundup twenty hitherto unpUblished accounts. They closely matched the type of cases Lenz had published' in his book. The dat~
were unusual to say the least. I was never able to confirm the
existence of Dr. Lenz's "incubation" syndrome, hut what was
truly impressive was that some of my correspondents claimed
that the experience had brought with it utter conviction in the
truth of reincarnation. (Many of them had been uninterested
or skeptical of reincarnation before their paranormal experiences.) But the most important aspect of my cases was that
a few of them could be corroborated - in other words. pieces
of information cropped up in the accounts that the experiences
could not have come by normally. This feature most commonly highlighted past-life memories which came by way of dreams.
One lady from California, for instance, wrote to me about
a vivid dream she had as a young woman. She saw' herself as
the wife of a Norse leader killed by invaders. The most distinctive aspect of the dream was a cameo' signet ring she had seen
her "husband" wearing and which designated his rank. Many
years later. my correspondent discovered that cameos were
originally' a Scandinavian art form. and she uncovered several
photographs of ancient cameos that matched the one she had
seen in her dream.
.
This type of information cropped up in enough of my cases
to suggest that my contacts had been tapping into some source
of information beyond the reach of their day-to-day minds.
Sometimes these cases also profoundly affected my correspondents' lives.
:
For example, another obviously intellige'ntand articulate
woman wrote to me about a curious recurrent dream she had
as a child. She would find herself ~rossing a bridge situated
high above an expanse of water. The bridge could only be reached by ladder. and it.tended to sway in the.wind. My correspondent could never reach the other side of the bJ:idge in her dream.
which she found curiously troubling. Some thirty years later
she discovered that source of her information while perusing
a copy of Life magazine. It.turned out that the bridge represented
in her dream was the first cat-walk bridge over New York's
East River. It predated the building of the Brooklyn Bridge by
several years . .It was a very narrQw.and treacherous make-shift
consiruc'tion, and more than one' person was known to have
fallen to his/her death from it: .
But my correspondent's story didn't end there by any means.
She also wrote to me that, "I am convinced that I was one of
those [who fell from the bridge] because I 'have' never had that
particular dream again anti because a lifelong fear that I would
meet by death falling from a great height was dispelled 'with
the recognition of the bridge.~' This reaction. is similar to the
1

Volume 22, No. 1

testimony of those fortunate people who claim that they have

been cured of their phobias through "past-life" therapy - i.e .
through remembering under hypnosis the past-life causes of their
present problems.
Cases such as the two I have just discussed point to reincarnation, but they hardly prove it. Veridical features only seem
to crop up in a few cases of spontaneous past-life memory, and
these cases tend to get bound up in a morass of weak or nonevidential ones. You have to take the good cases along with
the bad, and any theory posited to explain the past-life memory
phenomenon must be capable of explaining both sets. To prove
the case for reincarnation, the skeptic would have to be presented
with more elaborate kinds of cases.
So my search for proof of reincarnation turned to the research
of Dr. Ian Stevenson, a psychiatrist at the University of Virginia.
For the past two decades, he has been collecting and investigating reports of children who literally seem born with
memories of their past lives intact. These r~ports tend to come
from cultures where belief in reincarnation is a religious tenet,
such as in India, Ceylon, Turkey, and among some tribes of
Alaskan Eskimos. It is here where we run into both problems
and possibilities, however, for the study of extracerebral
memory cases is not as clear-cut as many believers are prone
to think. The collected evidence is actually annoyingly contradictory.
--.
To be fair, some of Dr. Stevenson's cases are both very
good and totally consistent with belief in reincarnation. The
fascinating case of Ravi Shankar is typical, and Dr. Stevenson
included it in his seminal Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation. Ravi was born in Kanauj, India in 1951 with an unusual
birthmark under his chin. It looked like a tw~-inch-Iong serrated mark that somewhat resembled a knife wound. From the
time he first began to speak, Ravi claimed that he had lived a
past life in another district of Kanauj where he had been
murdered. He even gave the proper name of his former father.
Ravi talked so incessantly about his past life that his present
father tried beating him to get him to stop, but the boy's
memories kept on flowing into his mind. The truth of the matter was that, on July 19, 1951 the young son of Sri Jagewash
Prasad (the man identified by Ravi) had been murdered while
playing near his house. The boy's throat had been slashed and
he was then beheaded by a relative and an accomplice. Two
suspects were apprehended by the local police. They confessed, but had to be released on a technicality. Jagewash Prasad
later talked with Ravi at length, and became convinced that the
boy was familiar with details of his son's death about which
he alone was knowledgeable.
.
This case is fairly representative of extracerebral mem~ry
cases at their best. Dr. Stevenson has collected .over 2000 such
reports, and has published detailed analyses of about sixty-five
of them. There are three features that crop up in these cases that
point specifically to reincarnation: (I) The children usually
possess paranormally derived information about the "donor"
personalities; (2) they sometimes bear birthmarks o.r other marks
seemingly inherited from their previous lives, and (3) quirks
in their. behavior can often be traced back to idiosyncratic
. .
behavior patterns typical of the deceased.
With so many cases of such high quality in hand, you might
be thinking that the case for reincarnation would be considered
"proved. " But I found that it wasn't ... and not ~y a long shot. To
begin with, I found that these impressive and veridical cases
of past-life recall are actually very rare. They turn up now and
again in a huge body of cases that are mostly worthless. Many
of these less-than-impressive cases prove to be the result of fan-

Volume 22, No. 1

tasy and play-acting on the part of the child, yet these cases
read identical in pattern to those cases than turn out verifiable.
So what we may be dealing with is a psychological phenomenon
that, on rare occasion, become reinforced with paranormally
derived information. Some scholars have suggested that perhaps
the child first creates the fantasy, and then uses his/her psychic
powers to gather up information genui.nely pertinent to a onceliving individual.
This theory might strike you as pretty far-fetched, but even
cases of genuine extracerebral memory conceivably point
somewhat in this direction. Dr. Stevenson has published at least
one truly anomalous case from India in which the child recalled living a previous life in a neighboring town. The problem
with this case was that the "donor" person was still alive when
the child was born. He had died when the child was three
years old.
The child began talking about his "past-life" after almost dying from a near-fatal illness that overtook him at that time,
perhaps indicating a phenomenon akin to "possession" rather
than reincarnation. On the other hand, Dr. Stevenson's most
elaborate case was his detailed investigation of an even more
curious report that came from Lebanon. This one was problematic since Dr. Stevenson discovered that two children, at
different times, recalled the same past life. If that weren't
enough, one of the children seemed to be recalling his past life
by molding together information drawn from the lives of two
people who had been relatives. Certainly this case doesn't conform to the idea of simple reincarnation.
Supporters of the reincarnation belief who point to Dr. Stevenson's research like to call attention to his birth-mark cases (such
as Ravi's) as representing the best proof of reincarnation. But
even within this body of cases there exist problems with which
we have to contend. For example, cases are occasionally
reported from India in which young children claim past lives
as popular deities or legendary heroes. They will sometimes
be born with peculiar birthmarks that will match ones easily
discernible on public statues of these imaginary personalities!
We dare not suggest that these cases represent genuine examples
of. reincarnation, yet they conform to the same pattern - avec
birthmarks - as do most other cases of extracerebral J11emory.
Sometimes these children will even display sophisticated and
precocious information about the gods and heroes they claim
to have been!
It should be obvious by now that the phenomenon of extracerebral memory cannot in itself serve as proof of reincarnation. Some of the cases in the literature point in that direction.
But a careful examination of the published evidence suggests
that these cases may be resulting from a complex set of dynamics
other than straight-forward rebirth.
.
So while studying the evidence for reincarnation, it started
becoming clear to me that what is generally considered the "best
evidence" really isn't. That conclusion placed me in rather a
predicament, so I decided ~o change my research strategy. Why
not consider that body of evidence usually dismissed as evidence
for reincarnation by both psychologists and parapsychologists,
I thought? Maybe I could find something there that other researchers had ignored or failed to see. This course of action brought
me right back to that old standby, the study of hypnosis and
hypnotic regression cases. Finding myselfstudying these cases
came as quite a surprise, since the subject of past-life regression is no longer considered too kindly by critical students of
the reincarnation issue. The poor reputation that hypnosis has
earned as a tool in reincarnation research has probably been
best summed up by Dr. Leonard Zusne and Dr. Warren H.
Pursuit 3

Jones in their text Anomalistic Psychology. They write .that ,

... because suggestion is part of hypnosis, suggesting that the
subject go back beyond the point of his or her own birth and
examine his or her previous lives achieves precisely that result
- the subject all too willingly proceeds to do just that. This,
however, is no proof of reincarnation. The cases that have been
thoroughly investigated show beyond the shadow of a doubt that
one is dealing with hypnotic hypermnesia [improved recall).
coupled with the subject's unconscious wish for exhibition, for
romance to liven up a drab life, for fantasy as an ego-defense
mechanism, and similar psychological'needs, all reinforced by
the hypnotist's own beliefs in the reincarnation doctrine."
I don't think very many psychologists and parapsychologists
would disagree with this assessment. The main problem with
regression work is that people undergoing hypnosis are prone
to exhibit a curious phenomenon called cryptomnesia, or "hid- '
den memory. " They will tend to weave together stories based
on all sorts of information they have picked up over the years
but have consciously forgotten. These stories will therefore be
filled with obsc~re but accurate pieces of information, but this
information can usually be traced to books previously read by
the subject.
I really didn't think I would find much by studying the huge
mass of literature on reincarnation and hypnotic regression. But
the more I looked, the more impressed I became with the
evidence. Some cases can be found in literature that simply can't
be explained by the theory of cryptomnesia. I eventually extracted five such cases, and later added one previously unpublished report to my small collection. (This' case was
communicated privately to me by the physician who uncovered
it during his hypnotic work.) These cases represented a pretty
strong a priori case for reincarnation.
The case of George Field is somewhat of a classic, and it is
fairly representative of my'six cases, in general. George was
a teenager in New Hampshire who was first regressea in 1975
by the late Loring G. Williams. Each time he was hypnotized,
George would become a Civil War farmer from Jefferson, North
Carolina named "Jonathan Powell." George proved himself
familiar with both the history and the geography of North
Carolina while hypnotized, and most of his information proved to be accurate. The climax of the case, however, came only
when Williams took him down to Jefferson and hypnotized him
in the presence of the town historian. She questioned him in
detail about his life and about some of the prominent townsfolk
of the I 860s. George, speaking as "Jonathan Powell," was
totally conversant with the lives of these people, where they
lived, and their financial status. Since the historian was discussing historically obscure people who lived over a century ago,
it is unlikely that George Field could ever have picked up his
information normally.
One case that I personally found even more impressive was
published in 1984, while I was actively engaged in my studies
on reincarnation. It was brought to public attention by Dr. Linda Tarazi of Glenview, Illinois. Dr. Tarazi called her subject
"Jane Doe" in the report she sent in to Fate magazine, since
she wanted to insure her privacy. Dr. Tarazi initiated her hypnotic work with Jane back in the 1970s. The young woman turned out to be an excellent subject, and invariably became
"Antonia Micaela Ruiz de Prado" while entranced. This trance
personality claimed that she had been the daughter of a Spariish
military officer who lived in the 16th century. The story she
told was certainly colorful, and extended over her life' in
England, Germany and Spain --c where she ended up a prisoner
of the Inquisition. Dr. Tanazi's initial reaction to the story was

Pursuit 4

that it was ..... interesting and romantic but it was not unduly
impressive." She became more intrigued with the case, though,
when she realized how accurate her subject's information turned out to be. Jane offered the names of several Spanish churchmen and officers of the Inquisition during her trance sessions,
and especially while reliving her life in the city of Cuenca. Dr.
Tarazi was finally able to verify much of this information by
learning Spanish, going to Cuenca, and consulting 16th-century
town documents! The subject did not speak Spanish nor had
ever been to Spain.
Can these cases, then, be considered the ultimate proof of
reincarnation? To some people they probably will be, but I found
myself entertaining lingering doubts. When you really dig into
the literature on past-life regression, you begin to find the same
problems that hinder the study of extracerebral memory cases.
Some weird anomalies crop up that simply can't be explained
by any theory of simple reincarnation. For example, I came
across two cases during the course of my studies in which the
hypnotic subjects constructed their past-life stories by combin-,
ing incidents drawn from the lives of more than one once-living
person. Both of these subjects drew their information from the
lives of obscure individuals who were born with the same name,
but were otherwise unrelated. These cases are truly puzzling,
and it is, difficult to determine how they came about. 'cryptomnesia really can't explain them very well, but then neither
can reincarnation as we normally conceptualize it. Yet, any
cohesive explanation for past-life regression cases must be able
to explain both the best cases as well as these curiosities.
So once again my search for proof continued in even more'
far-fetched directions. These included the study of "cures" implemented through past-life therapy, often reported by
psychologists and psychiatrists 'who use hypnosis in their practices. Some of these cases read rather impressively. Several
clinicians claim that they have cured long-standing phobias or
'I behavior problems by making their clients confront the pastlife incidents that gave rise to them. Some of these' cases involve types of problems that do not normally respond to conventional psychotherapy - such as egodystolic homosexuality. *
I also found a few cases in the early literature on LSD research
and LSD therapy that look like genuine examples of past-I,ife
memory. 'This is an area of research and literature usually
overlooked by writers and even researchers interested in reincarnation.
So just where did my search for proof eventually lead me? By
the end of my investigations, I certa'inly didn't find any ultimate
or unchai'lengeable proof of reincarnation: But I did uncover
an impressive body of evidence that pointed, as a whole, in that
direction. Certainly something of cosmic importance is being
revealed in these cases that should be of interest and importance to us. The real problem was that, frankly, I ended up coming to the;conclusion that the whole way in which we usually
conceptualize reincarnation may be fundamentally in error. We
here in the West take a rather simplistic approach to the subject, often based on a rather naive understanding of ~as!ern
thought - the very cradle of the reincarnation doctrine. Few
of us ever take into consideration the simple fact that many world
religions offer competing and contradictory doctrines of rebirth.
For example, some schools of Hindu' thought talk about the reincarnation of the soul, while Buddhism rejects the very existence
of it permanent self. This religion talks only of rebirth of a person's cravings and personality patterns. Even within Hindu
(continued on the next page)
"
*These are ~ases where the client him/he'rself finds this pattern of sexual
adaptation unacceptable. It does not refer to homosexuality per Sf.

Volume 22, No. 1

Spontaneoas Psychokinesis In A
Sealed Bottle At SkyrllD Farm
bv 01'. .lohn no.a. Rlehal'd.
Skyrim Farm. several miles north of Columbia, Missouri, on
Wagon Trail Road, has been the site of many paranormal happenings associated with Dr. John G. Neihardt's Society for Research
in Rapport and Telekinesis (SORRAT) since the late Dr. Neihardt
formed this psi-study group in September of 1961. Along with target
object levitations, astral-body experiments with such mediums as
Joseph F. Mangini and Stephen W. Snider, and a whole range of
paranormal mental and physical manifestations of psi, sealedcontainer tests by William Edward Cox of the FRNM and other
parapsychologists have yielded a vast and variegated amount of information about the spontaneous occurrence of physical effects
which could not be caused by known physical forces. Dr. Neihardt's
long-time friend, Dr. Joseph Banks Rhine, became interested in
the SORRAT experiments in 1966, and advised Neihardt on the
construction of various observation boxes, larged sealed transparent
cubes in which psychokinesis of target objects could be monitored
for temperature changes, emission of radiation, and other effects,
as well as being photographed during SORRAT experimental sessions. In 1969, Rhine sent his chief psychokinesis-measurement
specialist and field agent, W.E. Cox, to Sky rim to observe the psi
activity there. This led Cox and his wife, Louise, to move to
Missouri, where he could study and report on continuing psi
phenomena, as I have described in SORRAT: A History of the
Neihardt Psychokinesis Experiments, 1961-1981 (The Scarecrow
Press, Metuchen, New Jersey, 1982.)
Since 1981, various experimenters have copied Cox's techniques,
with mixed results. Those who have left various tests for PK at
Skyrim Farm have obtained a variety of both positive and negative
results; quite simply, some experiments worked, and some did not.
Most recently, Fred L. of Missouri set up a typical sealed-bottle
PK experiment which finally proved a success, although not during a SORRAT group sessio!,! at Skyrim.
On June 17, 1988, I was present when Fred L.'s test bottle was
placed on the cluttered dresser in the study just off the livingroom
at Sky rim Farm, with the permission of Mrs. Alice Neihardt
Thompson, Dr. Neihardt's daughter and owner of Skyrim Farm
Stables. Mrs. Thompson is the present head of SORRAT and permanent resident at the farmhouse where most of the SORRAT experiments have taken place since 1961.
This test bottle was an ordinary Pepsi-cola single-serving container with a screw-top lid, with the label removed so that the contents of the bottle could be clearly observed. Into the bottle, Fred
L. had place four paper clips, four open safety pins, a slip of blank
paper, a piece of graphite from a lead pencil, a red pipestem cleaner
and a green pipestem cleaner. The cap ofthe botle had been brush-

(continued from preceding page)

thought there exists competing schools of reincarnation belief.
Some philosophical doctrines preach that reincarnation is a process of spiritual purification, while this idea is actively decried
by other Hindu traditions. Some world religions even teach that
only part of the personality reincarnates, while the rest does not.
So, after grappling with the reincarnation issue for two years,
I finally came to the guarded conclusion that rebirth of some
sort can best explain the evidence. But I could never figure out
just what specific concept of rebirth the evidence tended to document. I could speculate, but could do nothing more.
Today, I still remain both intrigued and puzzled by the
evidence.
.~

Volume 22, No. 1

ed with epoxy glue upon its interior threads and screwed firmly
in place. Then a unique grey enamel had been used as a dip; the
cap and about an inch of the bottle had been dipped into the enamel.
which had been allowed to harden, forming a simple, tamper-proof
seal for the test container. This bottle remained on the table-top
of the dresser at Skyrim, along with several other test containers
by other psi researchers, such as Dr. PeterPhilIips, W.E. Cox, Dr.
Berthold E. Schwarz and others.
Nothing happened in this bottle during SORRAT experiments,
such as the one during while Cox's coffeebox markings occurred,
and when the McConnell postcard exited from Dr. Schwarz's sealed
jar. in which there were also pipestem-cleaner bendings and other
effects.
However, as Mrs. Thompson has related many times, more spontaneous psi occurs at Skyrim than occurs during controlled experiment sessions. This has increased in frequency since Dr. Neihardt's
early experiments, in which effects usually occurred only when
the Sorrats were meeting as a group, and which led us to suspect
that the psi energy was a creation of our minds in rapport with one
another and amplifying the psi effects. By the early 1970s, however,
we could no longer hold to only this hypothesis, for once psi began
occurring, especially but not only psychokinetic effects in and out
of sealed boxes and other containers, we found that the PK occurred whether or not we were holding a SORRAT session, and
whether or not anyone was even in the farmhouse or nearby.
Significantly, as Dr. James McClenon reported in his and his
wife Wendy's The SORRAT Newsletter (Winter 1988 issue, 1001
Jones Avenue, Elizabeth City, North Carolina), a paranormally
produced entity letter told Fred L. in the fall of 1988 that there would
be a bending of the pipestem cleaners in his test bottle at Skyrim,
because he believes in the reality ofthe entities. Although no precise
date for this phenomenon was given in Fred L's entity letter, the
implication was that this would occur before the following spring.
On December 17, 1988, my wife and I visited Skyrim Farm and
talked with Alice Thompson on an evening when no SORRAT experiment was being held. We found that there had. indeed. been
spontaneous psychokinesis in Fred L.'s test bottle, about two weeks
earlier, at a time when there was no psi session in progress, and
when nobody was especially interested in that particular test bottle. Alice Thompson was not really aware of precisely when the
spontaneous PK occurred, but knew that it was not when anyone
had been present to observe or influence what happened. just as
had been the case for many other spontaneous ring linkages and
other test-container PK events. I stress that what happened was independent of the conscious attention of the Sorrats; the group and, .
so far as anyone can tell, no individual psychic in the group, was
consciously willing phenomena to occur in that particular bottle,
or any other test container at Skyrim, at the time when it occurred.
I saw that the red and green pipestem cleaners in the sealed bottle had bent and twisted together. Also, the safety pins had snapped shut and linked together like a bracelet. and the piece ofgraphite
had printed on the slip ofcard paper, "FRIEND FRED, DO GOOD
AND HELP afHERS. B. E., J.G. N. ," which initials we associated
with the Sioux holy-man Black Elk and his good friend, Dr. John
G. Neihardt.
.
Later, I learned that Fred L. had examined his test bottle and
affirmed that the seal was unbroken. He welcomed examination
of the test bottle by any other qualified researcher to verify the reality
of this paranormal phenomenon.
~

Pursuit 5

The TatzelwarlD
- MYthical Animal or Reality?
. by Lais Schtiaherr

(part I of II Parts)"
While reading Ulrich Magin's article on European dragons longburied memories of my childhood suddenly cropped up in my mind.
I remem~red the long winter evenings when father used to entertain us with storytelling, that subtle art being ousted more and more
by the media, specifically by television. One of hi~ favorite tales
d~scribed how a young herdsman encountered an abominable
"Tatzelwurm" while picking Edelweiss for his sweetheart.
Although I have thus imbibed Tatzelwurm lore at early infancy I
can not claim to have been "Tatzelwurm conscious" in my later
life. And I could hardly foresee then that an article in an American
periodical would bring this topic to my attention more than fifty
years later.
Abstract
The purpose of this treatise on the so-called Tatzelwurm is to
present and, at least, partly discuss: .'
,ea representative section of the literature on the subject,.
-a catalogue of about 160 sightings together with detailed case
histories for some of the entries,
esome of the arguments against and in favor of the Tatzel wurm
hypothesis (TWH)2 and the history of the' Tatzelwurm debate.
No definite conclusions regarding the TWH are suggested.
Science automatically discards hypotheses that cannot be tested.
While this is understandable from the viewpoint of the economics
of Science, the late Charles Fort 3 always stressed the temporary
and questionable character of all human knowledge. Ifa hypothesis
cannot be tested it should not be definitely "damned." Instead it
should be granted a sort of intermediate state, i.e. judgement should
be suspended in such cases.4 The following article must be taken
in this sense.

Introduction
..
What's in a Name?
There is always a certain danger. in giving a name to a thing not
yet adequately described, because a name suggests identity which
in turn can only be defined by description. It doesn't matter what
an observer calls a thing, but how he describes it. Yet, often a na~e
implies a sort of description. albeit a very rough and .rudimentary
one. Thus it is, perhaps, appropriate on first approach to have a
look at some of the various names the Tatzelwurm has been given.
Below, I have listed them in the form of a table, together with a
translation and one source mentioning it. Note that in the Alps the
term "wurm" (literally, worm) in former times has frequently been
used for "snake." Popular etymQlogy is often not very precise thus
posing many traps. Names marked by an asterisk have also been
us~ for scientifically known or for mythical reptiles. [Part TIl
Case Histories
1673.b. Italy/TS:Lago Nambino/Madonna d.Camp.
A dragon living in Lake Nambino 2 kilometers west of Santa
Madonna di Campiglio, used to devour sheep, goats and, once, even
a herdsman. A bear hunter, who managed to shoot the animal, went
mad. Around 1850 the carcass or the head and an alleged egg of
the dragon were still displayed in the church of Santa Madonna di
Campiglio. Later, during reconstruction, they were thrown away.
According to a more recent version herdsmen at Lake Nambino
noticed that cows returning to the sheds in the evening had already
Pursuit 6

been mil~. They observed an animal coming out of a crevice and,

clinging to the foot 9f a cow, was sucking milk from its udder. The
animal was shot and exhibited in the church of CampigJio.
Meusburger considers this second version a modem explanatory
myth and suggests the carcass might have been an artificially
reshaped animal (a Jenny Haniver, so to say).s
1750.x. ltaly/TS:SonnenberglBad Salt/Martell
The animal in this case was repeatedly seen. Its size and form
was that of acat but the snout was a bit elongated, its tail flat and
pointed. Apparently it was hairless because the inforniant is inclined to consider it as a lizard or perhaps a snake. In front it had
two paws and imprints in wet-soil showed they must have had clutches. When moving slowly it used the two paws, dragging its hind
quarters. In pursuing prey it moved in jerks, arching its back. G0ing downhill it retracted its paws, dashing along like an arrow,
scarcely touching the ground. Once it was observed catching a rabbit. In spite of repeated and careful observations only two paws
were ever seen.6

1779. AustrialS:MHsener Leitstube/Unken

Accordi.ng to oral tradition and a short text on a.painted wayside
shrine or votive.tablet on the way to the Schwarzbach gorge near.
Unken, a farmer was att!l.~ked by two Tatzelwurms while picking
berries in the so-called Moserer Leitstube. He fled in panic and
died at the. Thalbruck pass leading into the Heuthal (hay valley).
Ihave found three different reproductions of this votive tablet. In
the allegedly oldest and "inost faithful" one, (a print [see illustration] is now in the museum "Haus der Natur" at Salzburg), the
farmer lies half on ,his belly with his face visible in profile. With
the left hand he holds his nose apparently in an attempt to protect
himselffrom the (presumably poisonous) breath of the Thtzelwurms
which can be seen in the background crawling on a rock. (see also
MAglI6). These Thtzelwurms have tails, two pairs of feet, speckled skin and forked tongues (or is it fire?) coming out of their mouths.
If the perspective is rendered correctly (in this type of artwork this
is often t\,0t the case) the size of the Thtzelwurms mu!!t have been
in the order of meters. On a newer version of the tablet the text
reads: "In\udden terror died here, pursued by jumping worms,
Hans Fuchs from Unken 1779." According to Eckl178 a few years
Volume 22, No. 1

before 1898, a \Otive tablet in memory of a similar occurrence could

still be seen at the entrance to the Schidergraben; Salzburg.
The original votive tablet of the Fuchs case is either lost or has
been painted over. Flucher thinks the existing versions of the tablet
cannot be relied on and considers eve!, the victim's n!tme questionable. It is also doubtful that an artist, relying on hearsay and
tradition, was at all able to paint the Tatzelwunns true to nature
(FLu4/497).
1800.x. Austria/T:Mul.s See/Wattental
The Mtils See is a small alpine lake at 2,200 meters above sea
level and 17 kilometers SE ofInnsbruck. While hunting, a gunsmith
from the town of Hall came across a "crocodile" here and shot it.
Before it died it bit the hunter in the ann, which remained partially
paralyzed?
1811.05. Switzerland: 1m Boden/Haslital
On a very hot morning a teacher was checking sheep near a bam.
The sun was shining brightly through the door onto the inner wall
and there, under the crib, he perceived an ugly animal, nearly 1.80
meters long and thicker than a man's thigh. On its two stud-like
feet, 13 centimeters long and 50 centimeters apart, it rose to a height
of 30 centimeters and looked at the teacher. Its eyes were as big
as those of a large hen and its forked tongue darted about. Its head
was like a snake's head but broader, more flat and it had no turnedup nose. On its back the worm had short, thin hair but no comb.
"For the time of two Lord's Prayers," as the teacher said, they looked
at each other. Then the observer fled, horror-struck, as fast as
he could.
1826.x. Austria/T:Mt. Hinterhorn/KitzbUhel
One day a boy, who had regularly been sent to the UimmerbUhel alp for pails of butter and curd, didn't return. The next day
he was found beside the path leading to the alp. While he had
tossed away his 'Kraxl' (a wooden yoke to carry the pails), his
dead body showed several bites on it;
Bears and wolves were already considered extinct in the region
but some people had allegedly seen a big lizard. The most impulsive
hunters began a search for the monster which they ca!led
"HUckwurm" and alIegedly succeeded in killing it. Around 1870
a faded votive tablet could still be seen at the place showing a picture of the monster ("rather according to the painter's imagination"
as the infonnant remarks).
1833.b. Austria/U:Gambsfeld/Gosau
A young man was climbing through rocks when suddenly, from
under his hands, a wild animal einerged. It was of a fair, silvergrey -~oioi with three dark, elongated spots on its back~ Its head
was snake-like, and its body as thick as a man's arm. It was more
than 2 feet long and blunt at the rear. The animal had four short,
hardly noticeable, feet but it moved rather agilely. When it fled,
the man struck at it with his alpenstock [walking stick] whereupon
it bounded up onto the cane and bit him in the hand. He was able
to kill the thing but then he felt a burning pain and his arm swelled
up. Back at home a surgeon declared the bite poisonous and advised him to have theann amputated. The man, however, did not agree
to this and recovered after several months.
1845.x. Germany/B:Mt. Watzmann
Two boys I2 years old, intending to observe wood~hucks as they.
had already often done earlier, were climbing around in rubble
when they saw, on a stone, an animal they had never seen before.
It had a flat-pressed head and a blunt tail and was nearly as long
and as thick as a man's ann. Its color was reddish, "shimmering
in the sun as if studded with nothing but little starlets." The boys
didn't remember whether there were feet. When they began to throw
stones at the animal it rose "straight as an ,.rrow" and pursued them
spitting and injumps 3'h meters long as/they fled, running at right
Volume 22, No. 1

angles to the slope.

A hunter later told them that they were lucky to have reacted so
and admonished them "never again to hurt" a "Bergstutzen."
1845.09. Austria/T:PiIlersee/S. Ulrich/S. Adalari
For a period of more than a month a snake, measuring 4 'h meters
long by 13 'centimeters thick and moving in "perpendicular" undulations, was repeatedly seen by several people near a brook between St. Ulrich and St. Adalari, 17 kilometers NE of KitzbUhel,
Tyrol. AlIegedly, it had killed two sheep. It was shot at twice but,
if hit, was only wounded.
1857. b. Austria/T: WunnbachtallInnsbruck
The Wurmbach, a small brook, originates in the mountain range
of the Nordkette, four kilometers north of Innsbrock, at an altitude
of 1,100 meters. In the middle of the iast century several people
(1827. x., 1853.x.) claimed to have observed in this region a "Murbl,"
a peculiar animal 45 centimeters long and as thick as a
"Fatschenkind"s or as a man's thigh, reddish and spotted, like
Turkish Pers (a textile then fashionable with women). Others confused it with a "Fatschenkind" because the roundness of its head
was similar to that of a child.
188\.s. Austria/St: Mitterndorf
Two men were climbing up a rocky slope when suddenly one
of them saw a grey animal on a rock and at the same level as his
head, only half a meter away. At the same moment the animal unrolled and crawled slowly into a little cave nearby. It was 60 centimeters
long, as thick as a foreann and had a blunt tail. Its skin was grey
with fine scales "like a ring snake." In front, a short strong pair
of paws 2.5 centimeters long, could distinctly be seen. Besides that,
the animal seemed to have had two or three pairs of hindlegs.
Remarkable, too, were its broad nose and big eyes with prominent
eyebrows.
1883-4.07. Austria/T:Mt. Spielberg
An animal like a large lizard with a short tail, 30 centimeters
long and as thick as a forearm was seen for 20 minutes from a
mountain restaurant. The witness gave the animal a wide berth
when it assumed a threatening position, but could observe it for
some time. He was positive that it had .no hindlegs. Its skin was
green-brown, bare or delicately scaled, peering at him with a sharp
and terrifying gaze. The witness was sure that he hadn't confused the thing with any other known alpine animal.
1884.08.e. Austria/St:Gollingraben/Irdning
A 13-year-old lad was having vacation together with his father
on an alp, where the keeper warned them of the "Bergstutz" which
had, aliegedly, fatally bitten a dairy maid the year before.9 One day
when the boy, after searching for Edelweiss, had reached the bottom of a wall, an abominable animal crawled toward him to within
just 2 meters away. It was 50 to 60 centimeters- long, as thick as
an upper arm and tapered towards the tail. In front it had two
"dachshund legs" turned outward. No hindlegs were seen although
the boy didn't deny that such could have been present but hidden
by the.body. Its skin was bare and of a brown-reddish-greY color.
Specifically striking were its fixed gaze,its aggressiveness and the
spitting and snorting of the animal. No odor was noticed although
the keeper claimed the animal had a penetrating, foul exhalation.
The boy ran away as fast as he could leaving behind his shoes and
jacket, which the keeper had to retrieve later.
1893.s. Austria/U:Stodertal/Totes Gebirge
On a hot summer day a 17-year-old girl was walking her dog
who suddenly attacked an ugly, unknown animal that defended itself
by swinging around and slapping its tail, and spitting. The girl fearing for her dog threw a stone at the animal killing it at once. Now
she was able to examine the thing calmly. It was 30 to 35 centimeters
long and in the middle of its body it was 4 to 5 centimeters thick.
Pursuit 7

Its head was triangular and of a repulsive ugliness with protruding,

dark gleaming eyes. It had a long throat, very large nostrils and
feet like a lizard but more plump. The skin was like crocodile
skin, with a Color of dry earth, that was rough with sporadic bristly
hairs on its bac~. The animal was not emaciated but yet it looked
shabby. The girl left the cadaver where it was. Her former teacher
suspected a "Bergstutz" when she narrated the event to him.
1894.b. Austria/S:Ennstal, H. Lackner
Count Platz, owner of a property near Radstadt, Salzburg, was
told the following by a professional hunter in his service:
The hunter was approaching a narrow footbridge over the Enns
river when he became aware of a we~sel on the other bank, also
going towards the bridge. Suddenly the weasel stopped short and
then the hunter noticed the cause for this. In the middle of the footbridge a "Heckwurm"'o lay coiled up. The w~1 ra-:t to a mead,ow
nearby, where the hunter observed it makingjumps now and then.
It then returned with a root in its mouth and threw it on the
Heckwonn, which immediately disintegrated into pieces. The count
admonished the hunter and told him to tell the truth, but he assured
the count, upon his word and salvation, that he had not lied.
1895.b. Austria/St:Donnersbachwald?, carter
In a similar case to the one above: Draught horses refused to proceed on a bridge. A '.'worm-like animal" (Bergstutz or a snake) lay
on one of the bridge beams. While the carter was still undecided
what to do a weasel came by with a leaf in its mouth, and putting
it on the "wunn," the weasel gave a loud whistle whereupon the
"wunn" broke asunder at its mid section."
, 1901.x. Austria/S:Upper Murtal
A fanner searching for lost sheep observed a "Bergstutz" basking in the sun 15 paces distant. It was at least I meter long with
a head like a cat but with a broad mouth, and a color like that of
a toad or lizard, with no hair but large scales or something like
"plates" and most certainly with no hindlegs.'2 The animal produced a whistle-like sound (si,nilar to that ofa woodchuck) in getting ready to attack the witness, who fled.
1907-8.s. Austria/St:Murau
On a hot summer afternoon a hunter had to pass a rocky place
known for its abundance of snakes at 1,700 meters altitude. Suddenly he heard subdued lingual sounds and he perceived beside
him in the talus a "worm-like" animal, 40 to 50 centimeters long
and black with yellow spots. The animal quickly put its front and
hindlegs together, and jumped at the hunter. Drawing his hunting
knife he stepped back in order to get out of the line of attack, at
the'same time stabbing the animal four or five times. Apparently
severely wounded it fell or fled into a crevice and several attempts
to get it out were as unsuccessful as was lying in wait for the thing
several times later. The animal was 5 to 6 centimeters 'thick and
due to the speed of its movement its head and tail were hard to
distinguish. Its head was large and in its mouth teeth could be seen,
"larger than those of a snake." Its four feet were short, and its skin
smooth and very tough. The length ofits jumps were 2 to 3 meters.
The hunter supposed it must have had its young nearby, otherwise
it wouldn't have attacked him that quickly.
1908.s. AustrialT: Kufstein
The witnesses in this case are a Dr. Ing. Hennann Frauenfelder
and his father, a professor of natural sciences. The'men were in
a pathless area west of Kufstein, Tyrol, climbing up a crevice. Suddenly the son moved in and in the hollow thus created they perceived,
on one side, a hole approximately 25 centimeters in diameter, from
which a reptile's tail, 60 to 70 centimeters long was protruding.
The tail was 10 to 12 centimeters thick-in a circular cross section.
Both men seized the animal and tried to get it out of the hole, but
the thing dragged them towards the hole. Now they began to feel
Pursuit ~

uncanny, as they realized it had to be a rather large animal for it

to develop such a force. Yet the son tried to provoke it by beating
its tail, but without success. After ten minutes the animal disappeared in the hole. The tail was cool to the touch, stiff like a cable
and hard like a well-inflated tire. The witnesses felt the animal must
have been 160 to ISO centimeters long. It didn't crawl like a snake,
i.e. by muscular contractions, but rendered the impression it moved with the help of feet, although they could see none. "It was no
winding movement, but a dragging one" the witnesses said
(Flu4/502-503).
1908.06.10 AustrialSt: Mt. Strickberg/Preuneggtal
The informant remembers, that as a boy he and his father arrived at th~ right inoment to see an alleged "Bergstutzen" that had
bitten a lumberjack, who then had slain it. The lumberjack died
in spite of medical treatment. The animal was 30 to 35 centimeters
long and had the shape ofa large lizard with a broad head and mouth.
It had oqly one pair of legs, five centimeters behind its head and
"turned outward like those of a dachshund." The animal was not
hairy, b.ut smooth and of a dark, copper-red color. ACcording to
another Source, which doesn't mention a fatal result, the animal
was black, and "the forelegs were a bit longer than those at the
rea(' (from which one must infer. that it had four legs)
(Flu41504.62).
1914.05. ~ugoslavialS: Dobrowa/Postoj na~Adelsberg
On a Ilot day a soldier noticed a peculiar animal shaped like a
crocodile beside a stone. Threatened. it rose on its hindlegs. roiled its eyes and bared its teeth. It was 25 to 35 centimeters long and
8 centimeters thick. Its head was round with large reddish eyes.
It had,strong legs, with long clutches. The tail had a length of 20
centimeters (It is not clear whether this 20 centimeters have to be
counted extra or not). Its b<;ldy was grey and green, very,scaly and
had a peculiar odor.
The soldier threw his battle jacket over. it, wrapped it up and
quickly tied up the sleeves. At the same time the animal cawed
and cried horribly. Immediately, a larger animal ofthe'same kind
appeared'in the vicinity. The soldier, fearing an attack, dropped
his bundle and threw stones at the animal which then disappeared
growling between the rugged rocks. When the soldier showed the
catch to his commander the latter remarked: "Oh brother, fortune
favors fools, that's the Tatzelwunn. most dangerous and venomous
because ofthe surface of its skin." For a while the animal was kept
in a box. It ate mice, toads and ring snakes. Many of the native
inhabitants regarded it as a "genuine Thtzelwunn." Then the soldier
was ordered to hand it over to the Bezirkshauptmannschaft in
Adelsburg (then an Austrian administrative district). There, allegedly, it was also considered a Thtzelwunn and, as the witness thinks.
probably was killed and prepared. Two months later war broke
out and, thereafter, it was apparently no longer possible to trace
the whereabouts of this specimen.
1914.s. 'Italy/TS:Marlinger Berg
While plowing, a fanner roused an animal which then jumped
to and fro'in front of his oxen. A fann hand, leading them, tried
to slay it with his inverted whip stick. At that moment the animal
made an incredibly long leap, disappearing behind a wall of stones.
15 meters distant without having touched the ground in between,
The animal was 30 centimeters long, 5 centimeters thick and had
a short tail. Its head was round and frog-like. It had only two front
legs which always moved, simultaneously. Its color was black with
larger yellow spots. Neither before nor thereafter had the farmer
ever seen such an animal.
1914.07. Italy/TS: BraienlTiersertal/Ritztal
A boy of nine and his younger brother and sister came across
an unknown animal they had never seen before nor since. It had
a large head with protruding eyes, the rear of the body was short
Volume 22, No. 1

and it was perhaps 50 centimeters long. "It looked like a head with
a pointed body" the boy later said. On each side of the animal the
children perceived a 9O-centimeter-long greensnake,respectively,
each of which apparently were fighting with .... :th animal. All three
creatures moved across to the edge of the field and disappeared.
1920. f. Austria/T:Atterkarfdtztal
At the Alter glacier 5 kilometers NE ofSHlden some hunters found
a peculiar animal, partly frozen in the ice. They cut off a. hindleg
intending to use it as carrion for foxes. Back at Sijlden they told
of their discovery. After some days an innkeeper and a hunter climbed up to the place and dug the animal.out. It was 1. meter long with
a skin "like a stockfish." Its head,as long as a hand, had no ears.
Its set of teeth consisted of incisors and molars, with a gap in between. Behind the head there were a sort of fins or gills as long
as a finger and broad as a hand. They seemed to replace the forelegs which were missing. The remaining hind leg showed no
development of a foot. The carcass felt and smelled like a dried
salt-water fish. The innkeeper took the carcass home where it was
allegedly seen by many natives and foreign gue!!ts. Although he
had intended to bring it to Innsbruck for an expert examination he
forgot to do so several times. On July 31, 1921 his house was damaged
by a land slide. In the confusion or during the clearing work the
carcass was lost.
1921. AustrialC:Marfa Rain
A railway official claimed to have repeatedly seen animals with
a head like a crocodile, but with six feet instead of four. The natives
in the region called them "Kuscha."13 One such day an animal,
a male,'4 was run over by a train and could be examined. The thing
was 40 centimeters long and 35 millimeters thick. The head and
back were blue, the belly grey and the skin snake-like. In its mouth
it had many pointed teeth, two larger ones in the upper and lower
jaw, respectively. The eyes were big and yellow, the pupils like that
of a cat. From this, the informant concluded that the animal would
hunt for prey at night.
1921.s. Austria/S: Hochfilzenalm/Rauris
A poacher and an alpine herdsman were still hunting at an altitude
above 2,000 meters when they observed, on a rock, an animal looking at them "with a terrifying, sharp, hypnotizing gaze." The
poacher lifted up his rifle; shot quickly. At the same moment the
animal jumped in a giant arch, 3 meters high and 8 meters long
towards the men, who then fled. It was grey in color, 60 to 80 centimeters long, as thick as an arm, with a head like that of a cat and
as big as a fi~t. No neck was visible and its tail was thick but abruptly
tapered
"like a turnip." The witnesses were sure that the animal
had only two front legs standing out from the body, as could been
seen specifically during the jump.
1922.x. Italy/TS:St. Pankraz/Ultental
A girl of twelve was playing in a wooded area. Suddenly her
sister began to cry terribly. When she ran towards her she saw, at
a distance of2 to 3 meters crawling between the stones, an animal
she had never seen before. It looked like a giant worm, at least 30
centimeters long, with two paws behind its head and of a grey color. The skin was not scaly but had cross grooves like an earthworm.
At first the children were so terrified that they didn't think of running away, but then they fled because they feared "the animal would
jump at them."
1924.x. Austria/S:Weisspriacher Lantschfeld/Murtal
An incomplete skeleton, consisting of the occiput, and the dorsal vertebrae with 4 to 5 centimeter-long ribs, measuring 1.2 meters
in length, was found. A large part of it still hung together but the
front head, the coccygeal vertebrae and bones of extremities were
missing. A student of veterinary medicine considered it the skeleton
of a roe deer. The informant however refused this explanation
because of the small ribs and the fact that neither pelvic nor humeral

off

Volume 22, No. 1

bones or bones of extremities were found. At the exact place where

the skeleton was discovered, two years later a 12-year-old shepherd
boy ~lIegedly encountered a "monster, at least 2 meters long" (1926).
The boy was so frightened that he wouldn't return to the alp again
that summer.
1927.b. Mongolia:Gobi desert
When the American paleontologist Andrews 's applied for permission to conduct an expedition through the Gobi desert in the
.twenties the Mongolian prime minister asked him to catch, if possible, an "Allergorhai-Horhai." Andrews, had heard about the animal,
described as a sort of sausage, 60 centimeters long, without a head
or legs. It was considered so poisonous that one would die at a mere
touch of it. Andrews, eager for his dinosaurs agreed, should he
accidentally come across one. He suggested (with tongue in cheek,
perhaps) that he would use long metal prongs and dark goggles
so that the sight of such a poisonous creature wouldn't harm him
(And/93-95). Unfortunately, Andrews never had an opportunity
to encounter the extraordinary animal.
1927 :s. Austria/S:Leoganger Steinberge
Three lumberjacks observed an unknown animal at a distance
of 6 meters. Interviewed individually they gave the following
description: .
The animal was 50 to 60 centimeters long, at least as thick as
an arm with a cat-like head and small delicate teeth, but without
visible ears. The body had neither hair nor scales but on its head
there were some bristles. Hindlegs were not seen, neither when
the animal was between the dwarf pines nor when it jumped away.
It seemed to be very aggressive and its appearance was terrifying, specifically its gaze. It produced spitting/whistling sounds
like an irritated cat.
1927-8. Italy/TS:LUberhof/Flaas/TschUgglberg
Father Trafojer, the investigator in this case first interviewed the
witness. Josef Reiterer, in 1937." One evening. late in the fall of
1927 or 1928, after the sun had already set, Reiterer was just coming up from the mill with a flour bag on his back when he nearly
stepped upon a "worm" lying on a stone in the middle of the path.
Reiterer shrank back one pace, thought the worm was sleeping
but suddenly the thing performed a "Wappler,"'6 and rose like a
snake to a threatening position, sitting "like a cat on its tail" in
a manner that less than half of its length remained on the ground.
At the same time it turned towards the farmer and then Reiterer
saw, distinctly, a number of paws on its belly. The front legs were
the largest, the. others were diminishing in size towards the tail,
the last being "just as big as the teeth of a pit saw." The paws were
equipped with a number of toes. Reiterer, with his flour bag, stepped back slowly, pace by pace, keeping a watchful eye on the worm.
The latter was only 40 centimeters long, as thick as a boy's arm
and it had the shape of a wedge, with a small, thin tail at the end.
The strange, square head was on a thin, thumb-thick and very
movable neck 8 to 9 centimeters in length. In its open mouth a
pointed tongue was seen darting. Reiterer couldn't tell whether it
wa" forked or not. He also couldn't see ears, but its body was hairless
and rough like a big snail. The color of the body was a dark grey,
its belly a bit lighter. Reiterer could observe the worm for a while
until it went to one side and disappeared in the bushes. The movement was "winding like a salamander, simultaneously with all feet
on one side and then with all feet on the other."
Father Trafojer visited Reiterer again in 1944 and a third time
in summer 1947. At his request Reiterer produced two sketches,
one showing the animal in plain view, the other from the side.
In the first 7 or 8 pairs of paws are shown but, in the second, only
5. Reiterer had, however, not counted the paws, but he was
positive that the whole underside of the animal had been equipped with them.

Pursuit 9

----------------------------------------------1929.04.1. AustrialU :Tempelmauer/Mt. . Landsberg

A teacher searching for the entrance to a cave observed in wet,
moldy leaves a snake-like animal 40 to 45 centimeters long and
2.5 centimeters thick. It had two stub-like feet on its chest. The
head was flat-pressed, its skin nearly white, without scales but
smooth. The animal didn't move and stared at the witness with conspicuously large eyes. When he tried to seize it;the animal disappeared quickly into a nearby hole. The witness suggested it could
have been a rare species of a newt (or salamander?).
1929.05.1. AustrialT: Igls/Innbruck
While searching for lilies of the valley a merchant observed, in
a scarcely frequented place,I7 what he called a "Lindwurm." The
animal had a flat-pressed head, its snout being more broad than
pointed. Its eyes were like those of h.umans , lined black and its gaze
was uncanny "as ifthat of a devil." A neck was recognizable, and
forelegs were distinctly visible, 5 centimeters long and turned inwards. No hindlegs were seen and there could hardly have been
such.
Its total length was 70 to 80 centimeters' and behind its legs the
thing was approximately 5 centimeters thick. Its tail was blunt, the
body of a fair grey with a brown underside. When the observer
approached, the animal first remained in its position looking at the
observer. Then it turned around and crawled slowly into the 'underbrush 2 meters distant. The observer repeatedly laid in wait for
it at different times of the day, but it was never seen again.
193J.b. Austria/St:GesHuse Mts.
A poacher observed an animal at a distance of 10 meters and
described it as follows: The' Bergstutzen ' , is 50 te;> 55 centimeters
long and has a round head with short ears. Its' co(or is a dark grey,
lined very dark on its back. It has only two forelegs,' broad paws
like a dachshund and its appearance is frightening. At the .rear
"it walks on the Stutzen," i.e. on its tail, which is very thick,
and at the end pointed and bare. Th~ animal is alr~dy n,early extinct, 'but maybe somebody will get a glimpse of it in the most
severe of rock walls,. as I met one on a wall so difficult it was
inconceivable that such an animal could get off...
1933. Austria/C: Spittal/Drau
Workers removing a stone wall found, in a hollow space, a
peculiar living animal accompanied bY a number of snakes. It was
60 centimeters long, 5 to 6 centimeters thick, shaped like a roll
with a blunt rear end. Its head was as round as that of a cat, with
big eyes. Its gaze was described as frightening, angry, looking daggers and as evil. In front it had two little, bowed regs. Whether
there were hindlegs the observers couldn't tell for sure. (Meu3/82
speaks of four little legs). Its skin was dirty white with a yellow
tinge. Pushing a shovel underneath the animal and the snakes, the
workers threw them in the nearby Lieser river. The animal swam
across the river with remarkable velocity and was out of sight at
the other bank. A roadmender who came by claimed to have seen,
exactly at the same place, such an animal while mowing grass. It
was as thick as a man's arm with an estimated weight of 5 to 7
kilograms. He was so terrified thathe flung it into the river with
the scythe cradle (1924.06.).
1969.08. ltaly/TS:Lengstein
In the summer of 1969 a man, native'to the region, reported having observed an animal "baby-thick, 70 centimeters long with two
hindlegs." While looking at the observer the animal had inflated
its neck. It would have been easy for the witne~s to grab it but he
didn't dare to do so, "for fear it could squirt out a Poison." An unnamed lady from Hannover, Germany, allegedly an academic perSon and a zoologist, claimed to have seen the trackS 'of the" animal
and was apparently keen t~ catch it alive or at least to get a photo
ofit. Although she had set professional traps,lS the animal was always
Pursuit 10

successful in avoiding them: She had also set up a camera, but lost
interest'in the matter when it wasstolen.

NOTES

1) ~ PUBtJO,.,., VoL 19, No.1, 1986, pp. 16-22.

2) I'm using the term Tatze1wwm hypothesis (TWH) in the
. supposition of the existence in.the Alps of an aDimal species,
perbaps a reptilian variety or creatures with a worm-like
appearance, that.is either unknown to science or not considered indigenous to the Alps. '.
3) .There is no reference to the Tatzelwwm in the works of
Charles Fort, and I would be the last person to criticize this
fact. Until I began writing this article I was unaware of most
of the existing material even though I was born and have
lived for six decades here in Austria -- in a Tatzelwurm
uinfested" countIy~ so to say.
4) Charles Fort certainly would be delighted to learn that
modem psychology considers the inability to suspend judgement, the all-or-nothing attitude, a pathological trait.
. 5) On the history of such fmudsee Ley/91-94.
6) Franz Eberhofer, the informant in this case is the son of
witness EbeIhofer in case (1849.06. ?).
7) Natives to the area explained the presence of a crocodile
by the assumption that the Muls lake must have had or has.
an underground conn~tion with the sea.
8) A UFatschenkind" wasn't exactly a baby in ,swaddling
.. clothes as the term is understood today. It was a baby wmpped'up in a sort oUong bandage so that it had to lie still,
unable to move its feet or anns.Today in toy museums such
doll~ of that time c~ still be seen. They are often nothing
more than turned ce;>nes made from wood, with the bandag~ painted on.
"
.
9). Case (1883.). Apparently the girl was found dead. There
is no information whether she was actually bitten.
10) According to Hub/967 in Salzbwg every big worm is called Heckwunn as, f~r examples, the adder, .the ~lind worm
and, specifically, the ring snake.
.
II) A helief once held. in the Tyrol states the weasel attacked
. poisonous snakes by ~ of a ~Ozenge, which it Icept concealed in its jaws (Kob/346).
.
1.2) Forelegs are not explicitiy mentionoo. The wording of the
report, however, sugg~ts their presence.
13) The Slovenic name for iiza.ni is "kuscar." Maria Rain is
12 k,ilometers from the Au~tro-Yugoslavian border.
14) This sounds a bit suspicious. How many people are able
to distinguish the sex of .reptiles?
.
15) Roy Chapman Andrews (1884-1960) was a paleontologist
and director of the Ameocan Museum of Natural History
in New Yolk. He led exPeditions to China and Mongolia
and became known for the discovery of many dinosaur
fossils.
'.
. '
16) This investigator thinks this idiomatic term is derived "from
the shaking movements of the mill" and thus would mean
that the "wonn" started, i.e. tJUit a tremble went through
the "worm's" body.
.
.
17) Although this spot is only one kilometer from the center
of the famous winter sports resort of Igls it is, even today,
a ~ly visited place.
.'
.
18) This is the only known case where somebody has tried to
. catch the animal by means of a trap, snare, etc ..

Editor's Note: Here in Part I Bergstutz. AHorgorhai Homai.

Hlickwrmn. KuschkJl and Lindwurm all refer to the Tata:lwunn.
A more complete list ofnames, definitions and sourr:es will appear in Part n of this report.
~
Volume 22, No. 1

Dowsing for Water

- Science or Superstition?
byKeDlthW. TempliD
His gnarled hands gripped the two 'anns of the forked stick
so tightly that his knuckles turited white. With measured steps,
he walked across the field until suddenly the far end of the stick
swung down with such force that it twisted off the baric. He
announced that this was the spot to drill for a good water well.
His past success rate for finding water was high enough that
people paid him for his services - for without such guidance
one's chance of finding a well in this area was extremely poor.
This scene has been repeated countless times since the early
sixteen hundreds when the system was also used in Europe to
locate iron ore deposits. However, the U.S. Geological Socie-,
ty scientists have concluded, after years of data collection and
study, that water dowing is not a reliable method of locating
groundwater.
Various designations have been assigned the procedure: water
witching, water divining, or water dowsing. The first tem does
not refer to witchcraft, but to the fact that the forked stick must
be made of the springiest woOd available. Webster's dictionary
defines witch hazel as a most "pliant" wood. It is from the
dowser's choice of this wood, that the phrase "witching" came
to be applied to the technique. However, the teITD most generally
used today is "water dowsing."
As an electrical engineer and physicist working for a large
pump manufacturing company, I have travelled extensively and
encountered many water dowsers who would, with great sincerity, show me how they found a particular water well location.
In each case the far end of the forked stick would pull" down
with amazing forcefulness "pointing" to this very spot. I would
listen politely, but always thought to myself, "If that was a
straight stick and the far end bent down with such force, I would
believe that something pulled it down. But by holding two arms
of the fork one can do many things with it. Obviously these
dowsers are either good amateur geologists and the forked-stick
movement is just so much showmanship, or else they operate
in areas where there is a water table and it is impossible to drill
a dry hole."
Many years ago Roger Barron, manager of submersible electric pump sales for our company, told me of his experience with
water dowsing. He made a pair of L-shaped dowsing rods from
coat-hanger wire and demonstrated how, by holding the short
part of the ell loosely in each hand in a "pistol" grip position
with the long part of the ells pointing straight ahead, the wires
would swing horizontally and cross when over water. When
past that water, the wires would swing open and remain parallel.

Seeing Water Dowsing Work

We were outside the town of ChaIdon, Ohio, next.to a golf
course, getting ready to install a submersible electric pump in
an artesian well which was flowing 50 gallons per minute
without a pump. The town wanted more water and more pressure
and had bought our submersible pump for the purpose.
The installers found that the hoisting crane was not tall enough
to handle the standard 20-foot pump-discharge-column pipes.
Consequently, they went back to town to get a larger crane.
Roger had joined me in order to witness the installation, so
to "wile away the time" until the installer's return, I got out
the dowsing rods that he ,had made the night before and asked
Volume 22, No. 1

him to find a spot on the green, characterless golf course where

these wires would work, mark it and then let me see if I could
find the same spot. (No one was playing golf because of the
inclement weather, so we had the countryside to ourselves.)
While he was doiI'!g this, I sat on a power-cable reel and looked in the opposite direction from where he was working - for
I didn't want to be subconsciously influenced by knowing where
he had been.
He finally tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Come over
here to the edge of the golf course, hold the wires pointing ahead
and paraDel, relax and walk in a straight line towards that large
tree on the far side." As 1 started walking, 1 thought, "Even
if it does work, it will simply be that the wind had moved the
wires. " With this skeptically biased view, I was stunned to find
that suddenly the wires crossed with such positiveness that it
seemed that they had been pulled together with rubber bands!
I was so shocked that I stopped Walking. Roger said, "Look
down at your feet. " I looked down and saw nothing but a dry
leaf and commented that there were numerous leaves around.
He said, "Look in detail at that leaf right at your foot." As
I closely examined it, I saw that it was "staked" to the ground
with a short twig. This was his marie - something positive, yet
subtle enough that I couldn't possibly have subconsciously
zeroed in on it.
Before the day was over, eight different people tried it (each
without having seen a demonstration) and the wires crossed for
everyone at exactly the same spot! The water superintendent
said to Roger, "I never thought I would see the day that I would
put any stock in water dowsing, but I will have to admit that
something makes these wires cross for everyone at the same spot.
In another six months, we are going to drill a well in the next
lot, so why don't you detemine the best location for us to drill.
What have we got to lose?"
Roger said to me, "The wires worked OK for you, so let's
see what we can fmd." I hadn't recovered from the mental shock
of finding that there was apparently something to water dowsing, but I agreed to try. I walked allover the 100 by 200 foot
lot without any reaction, until I got to one comer. There the,
wires crossed so positively that I was again astounded.
Roger had a stick in hand with which he marked an X in the
dry mud. He said, "Now, let's go out in a lO-foot radius from
the mark and walk in a circle." As I did, the wires crossed at
two different places - each of which he marked. He said,
"Look at your marks." As I hunted up the maries, I was surprised to see that they were in a straight line across the comer
of the lot. He said, "Nowhere in this lot will they get water
except along this line. Also, this will be a better well than the
one on which we are working." We drove a stake at the center
of the line and marked it with a tag.
I thought to myself, "The well in the first lot was an artesian
well, thus the whole underground area was apparently flooded
and under pressure. They had simply drilled a well in the center
of the lot and obtained an excellent well. So, even if they drilled and obtained a good well where I had driven the stake, it
would 'prove nothing."
Six months later, we got word through our Cleveland office,
that they had gone out to the center of the lot and started to drill
Pursuit 11

a well. Two days later, someone stumbled upon my stake and

read the message on the tag. However, they decided that to move
the drilling rig now would mean two days of lost time and
money. After all, the well in the next lot was so very successful
and they hadn't used water dowsing for its location. So they
continued drilling but gave up at 450 feet, for there was no water.
They then moved the drilling rig to the stake I had driven,
which was approximately 80 feet away, drilled down to only
250 feet and got a beautiful well yielding 400 gallons per minute.
It was better than the well in which we had installed a pump
- just as Roger had predicted!
This experience caused me to seriously research the subject
of water dowsing to try to under-stand the physics involved.
Every experiment I conducted pointed to the fact that the human
physiological system was detecting an extremely small magnetic
field change. The dowser was not detecting water as such, but
was detecting the slight distortion of the earth's magnetic field
as a result of the presence of water.
Although water is not a magnetic substance, the earth's
magnetic field could be distorted by the difference in magnetic
penneability between the water bearing-strata and the surrounding material, or by earth currents flowing in the underground
water. This view of the phenomenon explains why it is so easy
to locate cast iron or steel pipe underground, because the pipe
materials are magnetically penneable and do definitely distort
the earth's magnetic field. (I have had 100% success in finding
lost buried pipes at numerous power plants and refineries
throughout the world.)
But what about the forked stick pulling down so hard that it
twisted off the bark and the ci;)wser couldn't prevent it?
The dowser never holds the forked stick lightly. He solidly
grasps each ann of the fork and bends them out quite severely.
He has actually made a "toggle" mechanism .like the snap
lightswitch on your wall. When the switch handle is moved past
center, the switch cannot be prevente.r1 from snapping. SimilarIy, the dowser is holding his wooden toggle on dead center in
a very sensitive equilibrium position. When his body detects
a change in magnetic field, his muscles respond and very slight
unconscious rotary wrist motion "trips" the toggle. Consequently the stick goes down simply becauSe it is releasing the energy
that the dowser initially put into the system when he bent the
springy fork. In so doing, it will twist off the bark and do all
they say it does, but it certainly isn't pulled down by an invisi.:
ble force.
There are many "instruments" of dowsing: forked sticks, bent
wires, balanced axe handles, pendulums, etc. Each method is
simply an extremely sensitive motion amplifier which expresses
the subtle muscular activity that develops when the dowser
senses a sudden change in magnetic field. The bent wires move
because of gravity repositioning them after a very slight rotary
wrist motion.
The magician, The Great Randi (sic), has a standing offer
of $50,000 to anyone who can scientifically prove the validity
of dowsing. Unfortuantely, most dowsers are not trained in the
sciences and so blindly accept his challenge. They try to find
buried jugs of water or, in a series of buried pipes, detennine
which one has water flowing in it, etc. In every test that I have
heard reported, they failed to simulate field conditions. As a
result, the dowsers are stunned by their failures and Randi claims
that once again he has proven dowsing to be nonscientific.
The dowsers believe that there must be some explanation .for .
their success, so they propose pseudoscientific theories which
sound reasonable to them. One such theory is that the forked
stick grew near water, therefore it seeks water and so pulls down
Pursuit 12

to point to the water. Naturally, scientists correctly consider such

theories to be nonsense and thus refuse to investigate the subject.
With the rational view of dowsing that I have proposed, let
us see if we can answer some typical questions raised by scientists as reported in Current Science (Vol. LIl, No.4) a public
school science paper.

1. "The Dowser Subconsciously Uses Surface Clues"

I was on a job in one of the southern states, investigating a
pump problem at a power plant. Usually such work involved
24-hour attention, but because of power-load requirements, tests
could not be run until later in the week. For entertainment back
at the motel, I got out my bent wire "dowsing rods" to show
our service man how they worked. While he stayed in his room,
I went out to see what I could find that would provide a good
test. In walking the length of the parking lot behind the motel,
my dow~ing rods crossed and released at IS-foot intervals for
a total of a dozen times. The reaction indicated pipes and not
underground water flows ... thought, "This is crazy, for they
certainly don't run that many parallel pipes into each motel
unit. "
I called out my friend, showed him how to hold the rods and
asked him to walk the length of the parking lot to see what he
could find. To his amazement the wires crossed at IS-foot interVals. By then 1'0ur more people had joined us out Of curiosity. When each of them tried it, they all obtained identical results,
in spite of the fact that most of the~ had not seen the results
of others nor had ever tried it. before.
The next day I checked with the motel maintenance man and
he said, "Oh yes, those are foundation drains buried every 15
feet." I didn't explain why I was asking and with the limited
time available, nothing more was said.
The following evening we had another dowsing session with
others atthe motel who were curious. They all (7 people total)
found die large water main running in front of the motel. The
very skeptical maintenance man was watching, but refused to
try it. Finally he said, "Your supposed underground pipe is right
in line with that fire hydrant (and so it was). You all unconsciously used that as an indication of where the supply pipe should
be. You are all wrong, fur they never put a hydrant on the main
line, but aIways come off with a 4-foot stub and then come up
to the hydrant. This proves that water dowsing is nothing more
than wishful thinking, using subtle surface clues."
The next evening the maintenance man came to my room to
tell me dult he had taken the time ~ go to the town water system
layout drawings and found to his utter amazement, that this was
the only place in the entire system that the fire hydrant. was
directly on the main line - ~ithout the usual 4-foot stu~! He
was no longer a skeptic.
..
Through a friend w~rking for one of the oil co~panies, I was
able to. bor;row a Proton, Free-Precession Magnetometer for one
day. This is an extremely sensitive and precise magnetic-fieldintensity measuring instrument utilizing the precession frequency
of the spinning protons of the hydrogen atom nucleus.
I obtained complete correlation with my dowsing rod data acquired the week before, when Ute area was an old orange grove.
I had driven a stake marking the intersection of two underground
lines. But now the whole area had been bulldozed in preparation for a housing development. My stake was gone. By means
of the magnetometer data, I found where the stake should have
been. I dug down about 8 inches and there was my original stake!
Another:extraordinary experience again shows the fallacy of
the "subtle surface clue" explanation for dowsing:
Our company installed four SOO-horsepower, 2300-volt river-

Volume 22. No.1

intake submersible pumps in a large concrete pit at the edge of

the Columbia river, to furnish cooling water to one of the atomic
reactors at the Hanford, Washington Atomic Energy Facility.
I was there to supervi~ startup of the pumps and wanted to
obtain motor- and pump-perfonnance data every half hour for
a couple of hours. I was alone at the site and had much time
to idle between readings. To help pass the time, I got out my
dowsing rods and walked around to see what I might find.
I located the underground pump-discharge pipe running up
the hill to the reactor site and the underground power conduits
without difficulty. But I was amazed to find a large flow of water
at one end of the concrete pit containing the pumps. It appeared
as though it was an underground "stream" flowing from the
desert straight into the Columbia river. To my astonishment,
I found another such "stream" flowing under the other end of
the pit. My dowsing rods indicated that it was not a conduit
or pipe, but underground flow of water.

2. "According to the Survey, the Water Witched Sites Yielded No More Water than the Non-divined Sites."
When I got into the field and actually talked to dowsers, well
drillers and ranchers who employed dowsers to locate their drilling site, I found:
a) There are many areas where there is a water table and one
can drill a good well anywhere. In these areas no one ever consults a dowser.
b) Where water is found only in very well-defined
underground flows the chances of obtaining water without the
help of a dowser are extremely poor. These are the only areas
in which dowsers are employed.
It is therefore obvious that the scientists are not comparing
"apples" with "apples."

3. "The Success Rate of Geologists is Far Greater than that

of Dowsers."
A well-known manufacturer of phafinaceuticals in Connecticut, built their research facility out in "the country" and so
needed their own supply of water. Geologists were hired to locate
a well site. After drilling three dry holes, they hired a water
dowser who, with his forked stick located a spot for a well.
When they drilled, they obtained an artesian well that more than
met their needs! (This was reported to our New York salesman
by the pharmaceutical company purchasing agent.)

4. "The Dowser Does Not Often Select the Same Spot TwIce
if Blindfolded."
Because the dowser must hold the dowsing device in a very
sensitive equilibrium position in order for motion amplification
to take place, it is not surprising that blindfolding upsets the
dowser's balance sufficiently that the motion amplifiers are
ineffective.
Eventually the foreman came to review my data, and I asked
him if there was any indication of underground water at each
end of the pit. He laughed and said that when they built the
pit, they dammed off the river from the pit area, and pumped
out the water. However, they found that" there was an
underground flow of water that had "been intercepted as it flowed from the desert into the Columbia river. They had to install
sump pumps to control the flow, because they were unsuccessful
in completely blocking it off. Then to their utter dismay they
dug into a second such stream at the other end of the pit 100
feet away. He said that by the time they poured concrete, they
were pumping 3,500 gallons per mjnute from the pit in order
to keep the water level under co~l.

Volume 22, No. 1

S. "If a Dowser Locates the Site for a Well and They Obtain Water, It Certainly is Not Proof that Water Dowsing
is a Scientific Fact."
Acquaintances of ours needed water for their house in the
country (near Vacaville, CAl. Professionals drilled a well at one
side of their property and went down 230 feet before giving up,
for they were still in shale, and there was no water. The driller
said that water was found either above or below the shale, but
not in it. They drilled a second well at the other side of the lot
but finally gave up at 360 feet for there was no water.
A geological advisor said to go down to the valley below,
where the shale is much deeper and water collects above it. They
were advised to buy some property, drill a well and pipe the
water up the hill to their house.
I checked with my coat hangers and found a "stream" flowing in the shale about 80 feet down, between their two dry holes.
They dug where I placed the marker and got twice as much water
as they needed at a well depth of 80 feet! This was certainly
an "acid test" of the reality of water dowsing. I have corresponded with The Great Randi (sic), but he completely discounts such incidents, for he said they are only anecdotal.
It is a shame that science has refused to look at the water dowsing phenomenon for these many years. There was an embarrassing time in our past history when scientists said that it was
impossible for stones to fall from the sky. They stated their view
with such authority that many museums discarded their meteorite
collections.
I have determined by actual test data that the dowsing reaction is the result of our bodies detecting a very slight magnetic
field distortion associated with underground water, and that the
dowsing instrument is simply a motion amplifier which amplifies
extremely subtle muscular reaction that results when the body
has detected the field change. This view very clearly answers
the usual objections raised by scientists and also explains why
dowsers fail in tests conducted by The Great Randi (sic).
If we are to make scientific progress it is essential that we
keep an open mind. This is not an easy task - especially in
the 'face of ridicule. However, one must always be extremely
careful that the data are valid and not being clouded by erroneous
assumptions.
I have always viewed an open mind as an extremely narrow
road which separates a field of gUllibility on one side from a
field of skepticism on the other. Let us always strive to walk
that narrow road.

EdItor's Note: Later we received the following from Mr.

Templin:
Thank you so very much for the fascinating An Experiment
in Dowsing" by Ivan T. Sanderson. His experimental result certainly flies in the face of all I have encountered. I believe his
results were accurately documented, but I have a lot of questions.
" Experience has shown me that medication, such as taking
aspirin, will prevent the wires from working. After about 6 bows
when the aspirin would be eliminated from my system, the wires
would again function beautifully. I would think that this should
not be if the human system is unnecessary.
If this is a reaction exclusive of the human system, then I
wonder if Mr. Sanderson ran the same experiment but used the
forked stick instead of L-shaped wires.
I find it absolutely astounding that the signal representing the
direction of flow, whatever the "force" or "field" involved,
could penetrate the magnetically permeable pipe without distortion. I hope some day to try to duplicate his results.

Pursuit 13

Thoughts .On Disintegration

Of The Unknown Planet
by .Dr. Stuart W. GreeDwood
In earlier material published in POBtJlJlT1 I have offered
the suggestion that the 260-day sacred calendar of the ancient
Maya of Central America pinpoints the location of a Planet X
that once orbited at 2.74 Astronoinical Units (A. U.) from the
Sun. The Earth orbits the Sun at 1 A. U., and Planet X would
. have been positioned in the heart of a region lying mostly between 2.2 and 3.2 A.U. that is today occupied by a multitude
of small planetary bodies and is tenned the Asteroid Belt. It has
long been postulated that the asteroids are some of the debris
remaining from the disintegration of a substantial planet in the
region, though the hypothesis is not widely accepted.
Clearly, any mechanism of disintegration sufficient to break
a planetof significant size into relatively small pieces (hundreds
of miles across or smaller) would have to be violent in the extreme, and no satisfactory.explanation has yet been offered. I
am here attempting a simple approach to oile aspect of the question in the hope that it may stimulate further examination and
. discussion. The approach I am adopting involves development
of a simplified treatment of the effects of the disintegration on
the .subsequent orbits of the broken-up portions after the
disintegration has taken place. Inspection of the current state
of the Solar System in light of this (and, hopefully, subsequent)
analytical treatments may result in an improved approach to the
question of whether a Planet X once existed and what happenedto~
.
..
Model of Planet X
Earlier, I presented in POBtJUITl a suggested model for
Planet X. Based on a probable average d,ensity one-half that of
the Earth, coupled with an assumption of a surface gravity equal
to that of the Earth (to be suitable for human habitation), I s~ted
that the planet would have had twice the Earth's diam~r and
have been four times as massive. I now add a further deduction
from the above and note that the escape velocity from. Planet
X would have been .J2 times that of the Earth, or 9.76 miles/s~
condo The most important assumption, of course, is that the surface gravity was the same as that oft~e Earth: we can only infer
this value from other con~derations, and our results will differ
from those given here if this should tum out" to 1:>e incorrect.
However, I will adhere to this assumption for the purpoSes of
this analysis with a view to revising it if necessary in light of
any future discoveries.
Let us also accept, for the time being, the assumption that
Planet X orbited at a distance of 2.74 A.U. from the Sun. Our
analytical results will not be too strongly influenced if some other
distance within the Asteroid Belt is subsequently adopted. The
orbit of Planet X is assUmed to have been Circular. At a distanCe
of 2.74 A.U. the orbital velocity would have been 11.19
miles/second.
Model of Disintegration Limits
Our model of disintegration limits as we suppose might have
occured then, follows:
.
At the start of disintegration, an element of the planet can
only depart from the orbit of the planet m:'d enter a new orbit
if it escapes from the planet's gravitational field with sufficient
residual velocity for entry into the new orbit. The maximum
variation from the circular orbit of the planet, fof a given residual
velocity after escape, occurs when the element is ejected rearward along the orbital path (for motion inward toward the Sun)
Pursuit 14

or fOlWard along the orbital" path (for motion ~u~ard awa~ ~m

the Sun). We therefore concentrate on these lmuting condibons.
At the end of disintegration, the few remaining particles have
negligible planetary gravitational field to overcome and only require sufficient velocity to enter the new orbit. Again the already
stated limiting conditions are assumed in regard to velocity
changes in the direction of the planet'S orbital motion or opposite to it.

MllesJSec

FIgure 1

10.3-....:...--n------.;~--.----------..

I
10.2

10.1

I"

10.0

.,I

I.

9.9
9.8
9.7. 0

2
I

Eartb

I 3
I

./PianetXI ....

5
Asteroid

Belt

At start of disiDtegratioo, velocity requirement to escape from

planet's gravitational field with sullicient residual velocity to reach
a gjven diStance from the SUD.

Mlles/Sec

Figure 2

4r----r---------------------------~

2
1

(,.0!-""7""::-:--....a.------l~-..;::10001:;..!3'-----+---~S
A.V. 1
At end of disintegration, velocity requirement to reach a given
distance from the SUD.

.'
Results of omputations
The results of computations using the above assumptions are
shown in the two graphs (see figures 1 and 2). At the start of
disintegration the smallest velocity requirement at Planet X is
that requi~ for escape from th~ planet's gravitational field: The
element then orbits in the same path as the planet, but free of.
its gravitational attraction. For the furthest point in its new orbit to be either inside or outside the planet's orbit a higher velocity isrequired at injection as the element must not only escape
the planet's gravity ~t also possess the required residual velocity
to enter a new orbit. It is noteworthy that the injection velocity
requirements ~me quite severe as the change in orbit calls
for motion:toward the inner planets, such as Earth. More modest
requirements arise for ejection outward from the Sun, for example toward the giant planet Jupiter.
The effect is similar at the end of Qisintegration, though the
Volume 22;No. 1

ejection velocity requirements are relatively small in comparison

with those at the beginning of disintegration.

Comments on the Results

It should be recognized that this simplified model provides
for the generation of new orbits of elements of the planet that
swing inward or outward from the original circular orbit of Planet
X, with all elements returning periodically to the location' of
the planet's presumed disintegration. It would be highly satisfying if this were the situation observed today - indeed there could
be little disagreement about the origin of the asteroids if it were
so. Of course, this is not the case, and several explanations may
be offered to account for the difference between observation and
simplified theory. The breakup of the planet would hardly be
"clean" - there would be substantial interaction between the
broken elements during and after the disintegration. The strong
influence of the planet Jupiter on all the orbiting elements would
be expected to profoundly affect subsequent motions. The present results are therefore of interest mainly for any broad
generalizations that might be drawn that could help in more
detailed, subsequent, analyses.
Lacking computational facilities for more intensive analytical
examination of the motions of elements of the original planet
and pending new evidence that may materialize from space missions to the asteroids, we therefore move out on a limb and offer the following tentative conclusions for consideration: .

n ..e

OrigiD of the Foot aDd Decl..eter

by Ban .lonlaa
"No edifice in the Old World has drawn more scholarly

notice than the Great Pyramid at Giza. None has been more intensively probed yet extensively misread. This is understandable.
The casing and capstone are gone from this wonder of wonders,'
making certain measures difficult, others impossible. While the
base of this great stone tent is tolerably measured, all efforts
to recover the intended height have failed. Hence, wholly
original perspectives andtechniques are needed, causing this
writer to reconstIUct the following schedule of "source
numbers" for the probable height: These source n~rs are
not merely speculative in that they parallel the tetrachordal cubit
measures mandated by AgatharchideS (a Greek geographer who
examined the pyramid when all was still intact).
Source Numbers for PyramidioD.of 33.13 Inches
11120 Statute Mile
Synodical MereuI)'
Synodical Venus
Synodical MaIS
Synodical Jupiter
Synodical Saturn
11120 Stablte Mile

528
'116
584
780
399
378
528

inches
inches
inches
inches
inches
inches
inches

1. Most of the energy of disintegration was required to break

up the planet and generate the energy required to escape
the planet's gravitational field.
2. The residual energy required to permit injection into new
orbits was relatively modest by space-flight standards.
3. The inner planets were protected somewhat by the higher
injection-velocity requirements for entry into orbits closer
to the Sun.
4. Elements injected outward toward Jupiter would be particularly influenced by that planet's gravitational field and
swept into more extreme orbits inward or outward from
the Sun.
.
In conclusion it may be noted that the present significant boundaries of the Asteroid Belt, which evidently contains only a small
fraction of the original elements, are apparently defined by orbital periods in synchronization with the orbital period of Jupiter
which results in orbital instability at the boundaries. Reference
may be made, for example, to Wasson' for an outline treatment
of this effect.

References
1. Greenwood, Stuart W., "The Tzolkin: An Interpretation, " PIJII
SlIlT, Vol. 18 No.2, 1985.
2. Greenwood, Stuart W., "The Unknown Planet," PfJll!llIlT, Vol.
19 No.4, 1986.
3. Wasson, John T., "Meteorites, W.H. Freeman and Co., 1985.

~
-The sum of 33. 13 and 5806.08 is 5839.21; this is higbly significant in that it is precisely ten times the synodical revolution
of the planet Venus. If the true height of the Great Pyramid
be 5839.21 inches and the true transit of the Great Star is
583.921 days, then Venus must preside over the edifice and
its measures. Therein lies a consideration. Whatever may be
assigned in the fublre to other aspects ofCheops' Pyramid, one
would hope for some resonance with the recovered measure.
-For this is the way of ancient thought. Measure is emblematic
and systematic. Above all, it is sacred. That which appears arbitrary by ancients is mostly misunderstood by modems. ADd
whatis true of the Old World is true of the New. In the CMacol
at Chichen Itza, for example, there js yet another settiDg of
the 583921 calculatiolJ enshrined jlJ the height of the GIeSt
Pyramid at Giza. Coincidence? Pedlaps, but how many coincidences make a fact?
.

NOTE
To amplify the above, it has been thought helpful to add the
following data below. Let it be viewed with a bit of mnemonic
humor in mind. Man has his measures in hand (wherein "pi
in the sky" is divided by his ten fingers):
SOLAR YEAR
PI/FINGERS
LUNAR YEAR
conversion

365.24 .:.31416 .:354.36 =

3.2808

LUNAR YEAR
PI/FINGERS
SOLAR YEAR
conversion

354.36 x
.31416 .:365.24 =
0.3048

Source Numbers for Pyramid of 5806.08 Inches

Ten Palindromic Miles: 48384 feet or 580608 inches
-The pyramidion, or capstone, begins and ends with the Stablte
Milel120 measure, establishing the foot and inch as we know
them. Embraced within these inch-per-foot measures are tile
inch-per-day measures of the synodical planet schedule,
resulting in a total of 3313 inches to be divided by 100. The
pyramid ~ retlects ten of what may be called the Palindromic
Mile (note: 48384 reads the same from right or left), resulting
in 580608 inches to be divided by 100. Dividing evenly into
the 5806.08 inches are 280 Saturn Cubits, 320 Jupiter Cubits,
336 MaIS Cubits and 448 Mercury Cubits (original
nomenclature). The other cubits, those of EarthlMoon and
Venus, divide unevenly and function uniquely.

Volume 22, No. 1

With our common conversions underscoring the time-factored

bases of the foot and the decimeter, it should be apparent to
advocates of each system that both are necesS8l)'. From their
inception, the Solar yardic and Lunar metric systems were considered dual-rule entities. The palindromic measures for Earth
reduce to statute mile and kilometer as indicated:
CIRCUMFERENCES
IN MILES
Equatorial
24902
Medial
24860
Polar
24818

DIAMETERS
IN KILOMETERS
Equmnrial
12756
12735
Medial
Polar
12714
Pursuit 15

The Continent of Hlva

bp'Dr. Hont Friedrich
Did quosi-continentallandmasses in the mid-Pacific
survive until os late os 1576?
In one of his recently published books on lost cities and ancient mysteries worldwide I which - in spite of, or because of,
being written in a highly original popular style - makes stimulating and challenging reading, David Childress has
amassed a bewildering wealth of material on archaeological,
prehistoric, ethnological, and geological odd facts and unsolved enigmas of the Pacific.
Many of these, to this very day, defy any plausible explanation, and thus, any integration into a unified whole, i.e. bito a
comprehensive scenario of prehistoric civilizations, movements of peoples, as well as geological events in that vast
Pacific region that encompasses half of the surface of our
planet. Therefore, for the more neoscholasticaUy minded
within our academic Establishment, who tend to regard the
sciences as repositories of more or less fIXed truths, these
unwelcome facts and discoveries quite obviously still constitute outrageous monstrosities and abominations that - consciously or unconsciously - are better swept under the carpet.
'
In this book Childress mentions, again and again, facts,
discoveries, doubts, legends, observations, and arguments
suggestive of that which may be the "missing link" in all
scenarios of Pacific prehistory, namely the former existence
of one or more, perhaps partly /ilI'Chipelagic, landmasses in
the mid-Pacific.
At least one of these quasi-continentallandmasses - and
this may come as quite a shock to many readers - may even
have existed as late as only 400 years ago and may have been
submerged only after 1600 AD. '
,
Childress quotes extensively from a rare, len8thy and
scholarly work by one John Macmillan Brown, 2 a distinguished scholar in New Zealand's academia who', between the
two World Wars, put forward a scenario of a sunken continent, or several quasi-continentallandmasses which, in his opinion, constitute the key to an understanding of Pacific prehistory. Though Brown had been Chancellor of the University of New Zealand and a great scholar, the neoscholastic
forces in our academic Establishment, adverse to the pioneering spirit of true research, have obviously been able to relegate his work to the tacit Index of Proscribed Books.
According to Childress (respectively, Brown), the Spanish
navigator Juan Fernandez, in 1576, had voyaged far out from
the Chilean coast into the Pacific and reported seeing, after
a month's sailing, "the mouths ofvery large rivers" of a large
quasi-continentalland, where white and well~d people lived. To possess "mouths of very large rivers" this landmass,
supposedly somewhere in eastern Polynesia, should have
been at least as large as e.g. Madagascar, Borneo, or New
Guinea. Fernandez had no doubt that he had discovered the
"grCat Southern Continent."
.
If we can believe a somewhat doubtful secondhand testimony, part of this quasi-continentallandmass may even have
survived until as late as 1687, when the English buccaneer,
Captain Edward Davis, sighted on latitude 28 "S a huge landmass stretching beyond the horizon. Sadly enough, he was
only hurrying past, this being the era when the Caribbean
buccaneers. via the Panamanian isthmus, swarmed into the
Pursuit 16

Pacific like wasps' - more or less exclusively the domain of

Spanish navigators up until then. Uke Fernandez' discovery,
this "Davis Land" was never seen again, but'as a small compensation Easter Island, was discovered when, later on, the
Dutch searched for "Davis Land."
, The discoveries of Fernandez and Davis would fit yvell with
Polynesian tradition that to the nQrthwest of Easter Island,
stretchiQ.g about as far as the Tuamotus, lay a quasi-continental landmass that was destroyed, or submerged, by some geological ~ent. This was the continent known as Hiva.
But, many a reader may ask, is such a thing really
believable? Has not all talk of sunken continents long since,
once,and for all, been disproved by geology? As a student of
the history, of the sciences I have to earnestly remind our
readers that our sciences are simply collective states of consciousness, where all ,- though many details sometimes seem
clear - is in a state of perpetual evolution, fluidity, and
uncertaiDty. It is a logical absurdity to expect, from such a
source which cannot provide them, defmite answers, final
results or conclusive proof.
And so it is also with the problem of any prehistoric quasicontinental landmass in the mid-Pacific. As Childress so aptly, and absolutely ooiTectly remarks, geoiogy is not an exact
science, but mostly a matter of ever changing opinion and
theorY. Uniformitarian geology, in vogue during the last hundred years, still cannot give us any defmite answer on the
enigmatic phenomenon of the Ice Ages, on mountain building, on the formation of coal, on the exact circumstances of
fossilization, on earthquakes, on the problem as to how it
came about that oceans and continental lands changed places
so often.
Quite obviously, occasioiw bombastic boasts from minor
minds and inflated egos within the Establishment notwithstanding, .geology then is siniply unable to be of any real help
in passing judgment, with defmiteness, on the question if
there ever have been submergences of quasi-continentallandmasses in the Pacific, or elsewh~. Moreover, though today
catastrophist geology seems again to be on the ascendent, the
possibility of some "sof cataclysm" cannot be excluded. Is it
conceivable that the quasi-continental landmass of Hiva
became submerged in such a "soft" manner, after 1576, so
that all the world outside Polynesia would have noticed this
event, e.g. would there have been some exceptional tsunami
waves, which the Spaniards would have been able to observe
beating on the shores of Peru?
It is this present author's opinion that this eniinently important question, if indeed quasi-continental landmasses in
the mid-~acific did exist as late as to be contemporary with
ancient Chinese, Mexican and Soqth American civiliz8ti.ons,
partly perhaps even with the Spanish conquest, should soon
be properly investigated. Since the relevant -branches of
Establishment science seem to be unwilling or unable to
tackle such a complex interdisciplinary problem, the responsibility will, once again, have to be shouldered by some nonconformist, extra-Establishment scholar.
For such research, the "continent of Hiva" would be a
good start. Part of any such investigation would, of course,
have to be a thorough study of the voyages' and the exact
routes taken by the early European, especially Spanish,
navigators such as Fernao de Magalhaes, Garcia de Loyasa,

Volume 22, No. 1

Alvaro de Saavedra, Ruy Lopei de Villalobos, Lopez de

Legazpi, Alvaro de Mendana, and also Sir Francis Drake. In
this way it could be ascertained relatively quickly if and where
great islands or mid-Pacific quasi-continental landmasses
could have been missed by European navigators between
Magalhaes' voyage of 1521 and Fernandez' (respectively
Davis') alleged discoveries.
Beside the mystery surrounding t1)e alleged continent of
Hiva, there are other reasons to speculate about the possible
existence, until relatively recently, of such possible landmasses there.
.
Austin Coates has writteri. a book of unusual excellence,'
for which he is eminently qualified, about the interrelationship between Oceania and Southeast Asia. This book is an
absolute must for anybody iriterested in the spread and
evolution of civilization on this planet, and especially for
anybody interested in the prehistoric problems of these
regions.
In this book Coates describes how in BC times the
dynamic but more or less peaceful spread of Oceanic
peoples from the Pacific westwa,rds into southeastern Asia
deeply influenced India, the Indochinese peninsula,
southern China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and even
Japan. He postulates that "The Pacific was the first part
of the world to support a large human population" and
thinks that this spread into Southeast Asia was due to
population pressure on the islands of Polynesia.
This seems to be a misconception, excellently argued as
the rest of Coates' scenario is. Could the tiny islands and
atolls of Polynesia really have been the "womb" whence
has originated an Oceanic population numerous enough to
deeply influence all those southeastern Asian regions
enumerated above?
This author is inclined to doubt and would find it far
easier to envisage a scenario, in which seafaring peoples
from just such quasi-continental, possibly partly archipelagic (like e.g. the Philippines) landmasses such as the
alleged continent of Hiva, somewhere in the mid-Pacific,
invaded southeastern Asia in prehistoric times.
This sounds somewhat reminiscent of James Churchward's controversial book' about an alleged prehistoric,
mid-Pacific great. continent which he calls "Mu." Closely
paralleling Coates' judgement cited above, Churchward
opens his book with the statement: "The Garden of Eden
was not in Asia but on a now sunken continent in the
Pacific Ocean."
Churchward's book is usually dismissed, by Establishment and extra-Establishment schol~rs alike, as fantastic
ideas without any foundation in fact. The present author
would like to sound a warning to the effect that we have to .
discriminate here. It is readily apparent that this book con:
tains parts of doubtful value (which, incidentally, can also
be stated of any publication from Establishment-related
sources) and that the author, sometimes, does not properly
name his sources. But there are chapters that make worthwhile and stimulating reading, e.g. what he reports about
William Niven's discovery of a prehistoric city under
volcanic ashes and Quaternary deposits in Mexico. 7
He also mentions the legendary Indian sage Valmiki, the
alleged author of the Ramayana, and claims that the latter
also spea,ks of the motherland of the original civilization of
India as lying to the East in the Ocean. It would be a good
idea to check, with the heJp of a Sanscrit scholar, the more
than 24,000 original Sanscrit couplets of the Ramayana to
Volume 22, No. 1

see if one could verify Churchward's claim.

This brings me to the problem what the ancient scriptures of the East (India, Tibet, and China) generally might
say about any formerly existing quasi-continental landmasses in the mid-Pacific. These ancient scriptures are extremely numerous - the Tao Tsang, the Taoist canon of
China, e.g. comprising nearly 5,500 volumes' - and
mostly they have not been translated into European
languages. Then there is the very real additional problem
of the possibly very numerous unpublished ancient manuscripts held under lock and key in temples and monasteries
of India, Tibet, Burma, and Thailand.
Churchward claimed to have received reliable information about Mu, the Motherland, from just such a source.
According to Childress, Prof. Brown visited Dunhuang,
on the Tibeto-Chinese frontier, where in 1900. an ancient
hidden library of Buddhist texts had been discovered inside
a cliff honeycombed with caves. One of these manuscripts
allegedly had fragments of an ancient map attached to it
which showed "parts of a continent in the Pacific Ocean,"
which Brown seems to have regarded as a major discovery.
As we see from the above. Churchward's claim that
traces of former quasi-continental landmasses in the midPacific can be found in the ancient scriptures of Asia, in
reality is not that far fetched as it may seem to some. However, an unbelievable amount of ancient scriptures and
manuscripts would have to be properly examinated and
evaluated, before any sound judgement on the merits of
Churchward's assertion could be given.
With respect to the scorn and. ridicule heaped upon nonconformist scholars like Churchward, this author would
like to add an observation which, he thinks, amounts to a
qualified and balanced judgement. Generally speaking,
ordinary mainstream scholarship within academia quite
obviously is not, per se, more reliable than qualified extraEstablishment scholarship, contrary to what is sometimes
claimed by inflated egos within the Establishment, who
like to present themselves as a quasi-priestly caste in sole
possession of the right of scholarly research and pronouncements.
It is an only too apparent, simple fact of life that, as
long as our academic Estblishment is organized hierarchically. in today's somewhat ossified structures, we are in
urgent need of extra-Establishment scholarship. We need
both branches of research, but especially extra-Establishment scholarship as a counterforce against arteriosclerotic,
i.e. neoscholastic tendencies, which inevitably arise in the
Establishment and are choking its connection with the lifegiving stream of the sum total of human thought. It is only
natural, and .beneficial, for a certain amount of tension to
arise between these two branches of research; human
decency, however, should never allow this tension to
degenerate into outright antagonism, which tends to resort
to dubious practices like ad hominem attacks.
To return to the question if one or more former midPacific quasi-continental landmasses might be mentioned
somewhere in the ancient scriptures of Asia, it does not
seem inappropriate to mention a recent publication, 9 very
meritoriously edited. by Donald Cyr, about the archaic
Chinese geographical classic Shan Hai Jing and very ancient Chinese world maps.
The round form of these maps is reminiscent of
mediaeval European or Arabian "world maps." However,
contrary to the European and Arabian ones, these Chinese
Pursuit 17

maps show a central landmass apparently something like

Asia, with a surrounding ring of ocean which, in its turn, is
agmn encircled by a ring continent, the land of
Sang in
the northeast possibly having to be identified with the North American continent.
Churchward proposes a scenario, according to which a
prehistoric mid-Pacific continent has beelJ the
"Motherland" of the original Chinese, and other peoples
of East Asia. With Coates' scenario we are 'on firmer
ground: there all the peoples of southeastern Asia, i~
cluding southern China, have partly Oceanic origins. If the
prehistoric truth should irideed tend toward such a direction, would it then be inapt to speculate, if riot that central
landmass on the archaiC Chinese world maps might originally have represented a mid-Pacific continent, the
"'Motherland?"
When we look at the Pacific on a. glo1;Je, envisaging a
mid-Pacific continent, then indeed this continent would be
surrounded by a "ring ocean," na~ely the Pacific, which
in its turn would again be encircled bya "ring continent,"
namely the continental landmasses of eastern Asia, the
Americas, Antarctica, Australia,and Indonesia;
If the (or one) original impetus for the birth of Chinese
civilization should indeed have come ironi' such. a midPacific land or quasi-continent, then. oni' might suspect
that the meaning of the central landmass on the archaic
Chinese maps - when the Oceani<; ancestors of" the
Chinese, along with this conc!!ption, were transferred from
the Pacific to China - changed, now' to mean the Asian
landmass instead of; originally; the mid-Pacific
"Motherland."
,
.'
Admittedly, these are somewhat speculative cons~dera
tions, but if they should only have Ii" kernel of truth in
rethink the problem of
them, then we would also have
the somewhat enigmatic origins of the Chinese script. An
ancient connection with e.g. the Polynesia rongo-rongo
script - partiy identical with the Dravidian script of the
Indus civilization on the one side, and related to that of the
Cuna Indians of Panama on the other 1o - could then
pc:rhaps not be ruled out.
There are other fields of Pacific and circum-Pacific research, where the existence' of one more late prehistoric,
quasi-continental mid-PacificJahdmasses would make it
easier to untangle some, as yet, rather dark prehistoric
probl~ms.
.
.'
.
old shibboleth of the peopling of the Americas Via
the Bering Strait during the Ice Ages, when supposedly dry
land connected Siberia and Alaska, notwithstanding there
have been mentioned, by many scholars, strange affinities
between not only a few -Amerindian tribes, especially of
South America, and the Malay and outright' Oceanic
peoples. Could it be for example, that the Malays original-
ed somewhere on a perhaps archipelagic mid-Pacific quaSi.;;
continental landmass, from where they- while invading
the Malay peninsula, parts of Indonesia, and the Philippines - also sent offshoots to South America?
Another strange enigina of Pacific prehistory has to be
mentioned in this connection. The unique Jomon pottery
of archaic Japan is dated to about 2S00 BC. Sherds of this'
unique and sophisticated prehistoric pottery have also been
found, on the other side of the pacific~ in 'Ecuador. 1I
Could it be that this Jomon pottery did originate with an
unknown proto-Japanese civilization on som~ mid-Pacific
quasi-continental landmass, from where it was only later

Fu

to

or

'FIle

Pursuit 18

brou~t to Japan, as ~eU as to Ediadpr? It sounds almost

less fantastic than to envisage some prehistoric Japanese
. craft carrying Japanese pottery to Ecuador. On the other
Mnd it seems thin the ancient Chinese of that. time knew
Fu"Sang, the North American continent, quite well. 9
. Charles Hapgood in his opus magnum; I Z indispensable
,for any such prehistori<; research,has a~irably rescued
from oblivion that verY ancient and exact cartographic
tradition, infinitely superior. to' Pdomey's, of which we
. find traces such as in 'the famous P~ri Reis map, b~t also in
ancient China. The Piri R,eis map :was rediscovered only in
1929., It cannot be excluded that other fragments of that
ancient worldwide caitQgr~phy may be found, which may
conceivably show quasi-continental landmasses in the midPacific!in late prehisioric times.
.,
.
Where might such a. fragment of im ancient, reliable
world map from BC times be found? The present author
suspect~ that the caves and ~onasteries of Southeast Asia
woul4 be a good guess. Has the Dunhuang map, mentioned above, been such a fragment? But since this ancient
and exact carto~apl:lic' tf~ditioil obviously 'has been the
product' of sOlI!e' pr~historic worldwide civilization, such
I fragments might ~onceivablY be found i.l~ywhere on this
planet.
. .,
.
Relereaas
.
I. David H. Childress,.LoSt Cities 0/ Ancient. Lemuria & the

2.

PacifIC. Stelle/Dlb:iois, 1988.

.
~ohii'Mac~ Brown, The Riddle o/the PacifIC. Auckland,
1924. ': .

..

. '.

3. Christopher Lioyd, Pacific Hdriions - The. Explomtion oj

the Pacific Be/Ore Captain Cook. London, 1946.
J
I 4. Carlos Prieto, EI Oceano Pacifico - riavegantes espanoleS del
.
siglo XVI. Madrid, 1972.
I John
C. Beagiehole, The. ExpIomtion 0/ the Pacific. London,
1934.':
. ,.
.
~. Austin Coates, Islands of the South; London, 1974.
6. James ChurchWlird, TheLost Continent 0/ Mu. London,
i
1959.
.
~
.
i 7.. William Niven'(1850-1937) had been arelatively wen-known
mineralogist and archaeologist in his day. He discovered a prehistoric city under volcanic ashes and Quaternary deposits be.neath the 'Valley of Mexico, in 1911, about which Churchward
reports pp. 228-261 ~f (6). Cf. also Ho.rs~ Fri~ch, Advanced
Civilization Contemporaries with the End of the Glacial
EpoCh?, in: NEARA JOURNAL. Vol. XXIIIlNo. 1-2, 1988.
8. John Blofeld, Taoism - The Quest/or Immortality. London,
1979.
.
9. Donald L. Cyr (Ed.), Dragon Treasures. Santa Barbara!
California, 1989.
10. Thor Heyerdahl, Americon Indians in the Pacific. London,
1952.
11. NEWSWEEK,. February 19,1962..
12. ,Char~es H. ~aP8C?od, !t(aPs 0/ the Ancient Sea ~ings. PhiladelphialNew rork, 1966.
,.
~

Notice
Reunited Birtluilothen and 'Adoptees .
to tell their st6*s of those
"amazing coincidetices" (synClumiicity, mother-ch,ild telepathy,
answered pmyer, etC.) that occurred during the ti'ine of separation by ad~ptiori aruJ whi~h' were c~nf.ilDled after reunion. .
Please: write me about your unCanny, intuitive' or surprising
incidentS'; Ail col'I'e$pondence will be confidentild. '
.
Doctoral candidate: LaVOnne Stiffler, P.O. Box 1144, Hobe
Sound, 'FI. 3 3 4 7 5 .
,
.

This is a callfor participants

Volume 22, No. 1

Sages in Chaos
by 01'. JObD SapplDgioD
Like Charles Fort, the fate of most anomalists is to labor in
obscurity and play to "small but appreciative audiences. If
discovered by the general public, they are quickly quarantined
as dangerous heretics. A relative few, however, emerge to capture the fancy of an entire generation. Among this select group
are Immanuel Velikovsky, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Albert
Einstein. Each, in his own way, managed to tum the world upside down. By virtue of their unique vision, they brought about
cataclysms in natural history, medicine, psychology 8nd physics
respectively. Although these disciplines often travel different orbits, it seem that their brightest stars encountered each other
with curious regularity. Einstein and Freud, for example, corresponded with each other. I Freud and Jung were traveling companions and Jung's ideas found their way into Velikovsky's
books. Velikovsky chose to live in Princeton, New Jersey, close
enough to Albert Einstein that the two were able to" sustain a
friendship. All were apparently aware of the observations and
conclusions of the others. In an ideal world one would hope
that a brilliant synthesis would emerge among the four.
But no. Anomalists, after all, are dissenters and rebels. If one
counters another, would we expect them to"fall into instant agreement? In ~ct, there would be no more reason to affirm the views
"of fellow anomalists than there would be to chant the doxology
of nonnaI science. Alas, the great ones were not looking for
synthesis and evidently took delight in finding fault with each
other. In response, there were no conversions to the other's belief
system. Their interactions were woven of ironies, unintentional
puns, synchronicity, humor and absurdity. ~s regards their
mutual encounters with the others, these r:nen we~ truly sages
in chaos.
"
An obscure manuscript published in 1941 reveals that Velikovsky had once focused his talent for iconoclasm on none other
than Dr. Freud himSelf. In "The Dreams Freud Dreamed,"
Velikovsky disputes the venerable father of psychoanalysis and
offers a most astonishing interpretation of Freud's unconscious
at work. 2 More on this item later.
Freud is not regarded currently as an anomalist. In his "own
time, some viewed him as a lunatic due to the forbidden nature
: of his observations. A~ong other things, he beheld a procession of the damned: These were ailments that simply defined
explanation. They imitated nerve disease, but somehow, neunil
damage never materialized. There were eyes that failed to see,
ears that failed to hear and tongues that failed to speak. Digits
tingled or fell numb. Legs that works fme while seated refused
"to function while standing. Alas, the most reasonable explanation was all too similar to a much older explanation: demonic
possession. Like a separate being within a being, "it appeared
to Freud that an evil nether-mind controlled the thoughts and
movements of its C"onscious host "the way a puppeteer rules a
marionette. Freud fixed his penetrating gaze at the dark waters
below. Froin the foreboding depths of the unconscious, rose fetid
bubbles of patricide, incest and perversion.] Cloaked in slips
of the tongue and recurring dreams, the nether-mind spoke in
puns and symbols ~ an innocent audience of passive bystanders.
To the Freud~s, ~ven positive aspirations were held to be the
product of twisted psychosexual motives. The surgeon was acting out aggression. Care of houseplants '1Vas a wish ~ be preg- "
nant. Launching a rocket to the moon was little more than a

Volume 22, No. 1

disguised phallic adventure to Freud's converts. In these tenns,

the current Voyager mission to Earth's sister "planet is not the
celebration of science it seems to be. Berieath its seeming innocence lies a desire to penetrate the heavenly body by radar,
then probe the valleys and mounds of Venus for hidden secrets.
Freud himself once announced the diagnosis of conversion
hysteria in a male patient and thereby sacrificed his credibility
among physicians of the day. However, he lived to see his Fortean "vision become nonnal science in Europe and America. As
father of psychoanalysis, he acquired eager followers. One in
particulaI:, Carl Jung, was entrusted to carry on the movement.
As Freud's scientific son, tall and blond in his three-piece suit,
Jung's task was "to prose~ytize the waiting world on behalf of
his short, Jewis~ patron.
"
Freud and Jung spoke ofancient mysteries. They speculated
that the most dominant of prehistoric men acquired numerous
females to breed and control. Other men were excluded from
this happy enterprise. When age sapped the vigor of the dominant male, he would be killed by his sons and the strongest would
survive to assume his place. The" instinct itself had somehow
also survived to be modified by civilization as the Oedipus myth
and the incest taboo, 4 As an intellectual issue, patricide served
as a provocative vehicle for discussion, but soon it became a
disquieting phantom in reality. Psychoanalytic folklore holds
that Freud and Jung once debated about an Egyptian pharaoh
who ascended to the throne by murdering his own father. The
new pharaoh then replaced his father's polytheistic religion with
a monothtristic alternative. Next, he forcibly converted the
masses to the new order. Freud saw it as pathology, an enactment of the Oedipal quandary. Jung"perce~,!:~d it to be a bold,
positive advance of culture. To Freud, the father, this evidence
was all too plain. Jung, the son, was positioning himself for
independence and symbolic murder for reasons that lurked past
the borders of his own awareness. Doctor Freud, it is said,.
fainted dead away. The year was 1912.'
indeed, Jung did have a mind of his own. He would go on
to " discover' , a collective unconscious where universal
tempIites for thought and behavior dwelled. 6 Jung's version of
the w.iconscious rejected the pervasive sexuality embedded in
that of his mentor. Years later, Jung and Pauli, the physicist,
would identify a principle they named "synchronicity."7 Far
afield from psychopathology, the principle holds that events in
na~re can be connected by meaning, similarity and pun rather
than cauSe "aDd effect. In particular, it is those nagging, improbabl~ and bizarre coincidences that beg to be explained in
just such a way. But, on "this day in 1912, Jung had no more
pressing matter on his mind _
the well-being of his fainted
mento~. Jung lifted the tiny, unconscious body of Freud and
carried "him into an adjacent room of New "York's Park Hotel.
Synchronicity .
Syncope.
Some three years before, Freud is said to have fainted in this
very room. Upon awakening he muttered to Jung, "How sweet
it must be to die."1
"
In the decades to come, Freud would be slain many times
by his disobedient flock of psychoanalytic sons. One by one
his hypotheses were punctured, modified or ridiculed by fonnerIy loyal followers. Some achieved modest fame in their own
Pursuit 19

right, but none, save Jung, had the knack for.seeing anoll'lalies
in human behavior. Among Freud's flock was the bright achiever
who earned his fame in other field. This was Immanuel
Velikovsky who would go on to write Earth in Upheaval and
Ages in Chaos as well as the seminal Worlds in "collision.
Velikovsky aspired to write but his star never shone among
psychoanalysts. His initial reverence for Freud led him to plan
a book on Freud's boyhood heroes. The book was to describe
Hannibal crossing the Alps with elephants, and Moses leading
his people through a parted Red Sea past a towering pillar of
flame. Instead, his research set him to thinking about the validity
of the cataclysms described in Exodus. Hanni.baI's elephants
soon yielded their imPortance to a frozen river of dismembered
mammoths in Alaska's Tanana Valley and its awesome implications. Moses' fabled missiori paled in .comparison to a l!lBssive
upheaval which had set mountains to meltiilg, ~as to boiling
and inverted the electromagnetic polarity of the world. 9 ,10
. As of the 1940s, however, Velikovsky was an aspiring student of the mind ... Freud's mind in particular. The major thrust
of psychoapalytic dogma was the vertical structure of the mind
with the most interesting ~ hidden at the. southern pOle. Unconscious motivation was seen by Freud's followers to propel
everything from the space program to a person's choice of Halloween costumes. Furthennore, they saw the.bulk of the world's
population wandering about balf. blind to its own motives.
Freud's converts alone were theilluminati, the conscious ones.
Indeed, it became a rule that.no one could practice the rites of
psychoanalysis until they themselves had achieved consCiousness
through years of therapy with a teaching analyst. Although FreUd
himself claimed to reject religion, he had helped to create an
odd parody of salvation. In religion, salvation is achievCd
through faith in God the Father. In analysis, patients were of. fered earthly awareness through. faith in the orimiscient
psychiatrist. Part of the game of analysis was to detect evidence
of unconscious influence in one's patients, or better yet, in one's
colleagues. Velikovsky may have planned to top them all with
his published reinterpretations of Freud's dreams. II It seems that
.. Freud supplied material from his very own night life to instruct
pupils on.the technique for rendering the unconsciQUs conscioqs.
Instruction of this kind would be easy given the brilliance of
the lighting at his level of awareness. Velikovksy, howe\1er, ~
the temerity to suggest alternative interpretations for Freud's
own dreams. The tactic is curious since ~t simultaneously endorses Freud's method while suggesting that the master was
oblivious to the true meaning of his own sleeping phantasms.
If the latter was so, then even the master had not achieved true
enlightenment.
.
Freud dreamed that he had written a monograph on a plant
and was thumbing through its pages when he came upon I!dehydrated specimen which evidently came from a heJbarium.
In his own analysis, Freud recalls seeing a book in a sto~ window that very morning about a plant known as the
AssOciations to these images called to mind another plant
familiar to Freud, the crucifer. Further associations and images
led Freud to an interpretation which satisfied him. He ~nclud
ed that the dream was an insignificant residue of the day's experiences and that he was too thoroughly absorbed in his interests. His rendition is very benign considering the bottomless.
pathology he was able to discover lurking in the most innocent
behaviors of his patients.

cYclamen.

. Velikovsky was not so forgiviOg. He translated the images

as a tangled cryptogram of bilingual puns revealing a landscape
of conscious material which had evaded Freud's notice on his
personal journey into consciousness. Monograph symbolized
Pursuit 20

monotheism, and herbarium could only mean Hebrew.

Cyclamen, afterall, contains the declaration, Amen! The German word "umschlagen" is not only the verb for "turning"
pages .. it also means "to convert." Dr. Freud stands naked
before us through the eyes of Dr. Velikovsky. Freud was tired
of the abuse heaped upon him for being a Jew and he wished
to convert to Catholicism" z
Obviously ~ Velikovsky was not bound by timid, ordinary
thinking nor was he afraid of tweaking the reputations Qf the
Titans.:As if to beg his own Kanna, Velikov!!ky went on to propoSe ideas so radical that Freud's seemed. trivial by comparison.
Like Freud, however, he maneuvered himself into vulnerability through the. sheer strangeness of the cosmology he crea,ted.
Establishment science was simpJy not rea9y.to consider Jupiter
belching forth a planet-size bolus let alone picture it careening
througli the solar system like Evel Knieval on Ii Harley. Nor
would they believe that in Ifte time of recorded history that Earth
and its creatUres were menaced by a <;osmic wrecking b811 now
known ,to all as Mars.
.
The further irony .of it is that Velikovsky might have joined
Freud, ~uilg, et al in the pantheon of psychoanalysis during the
heyday'oftheir.zeitgeist. Thllt group, at least, cQnsidered the
idea of an "archaic heritage" composed of "traumatic
memories" surviving from generation to generation. Surely the
forces Qf gradualism could not hav~ objected and maybe not
even noticed if Velikovsky had concluded that man's atavistic
terror of Doomsday stemmed froin the trauma of birth .. 3 How
palatable it might all have been if Eden was simply an analogue
for the endorphin-driven bliss of fetal dreaming. How comforting to read that the ech~s of cataclysm were little more than
the residue of a ruptured amnion and a horrifying expulsion intoa separate being.
.. .
.
. But, alas, Velikovsky had mocked the gods of normal science .
He would be hunted down relentlessly by the god oJ war in the
person of Harlow Shapley and his satellites. 14 Worlds in Collision had rocked the safety of time-honored paradigms in
astronomy, geology. biology and.several other science~. ~Ibert
Einstein was one of the fe\ establishment figures who had the
courage to listen. Einste.in had been in somewhat the same position himself in 1905 by insisting that electromagnetic radiation
could just as easily be conceived of as tiny wads as it could wave
fonns. Ten years later he speculatec;l that light could be influenced by gravity. Like Velikovsky, he had the chujzpah to .explain
reality in tenns of testable hypotheses. Einstein and Velikovsky knew each other well, having both' settled in Princeton.
Ironically, Princeton is wi~in eleven miles of Grover's Mill,
the site of the first alien landing in .Orson Welles' J~38.radio
adaptation of War of the Worlds. In any case, Einstein wrote
to Velikovsky, "I look forward with .pleasure to reaqing the
historical book that does not bring into dangef the. toes of my
guild. How it stands with the toes of tl:Ie other fa,culty, I do not
know as yet. ,., These' words appeared .~n a thank-you note.
Worlds in Collision had arrived as a dubious birthday gift when
the physicist turned seventY-six. The nOk iuso invokes a prayer
to Saint Florian, " ... spare my house, put fire to others."
Einstein was to die only a month after penning his thank-you
note. Although he supported Velikov~ky's right to ~ heard,
there is no evidence that he vvished to convert to catastropqism.
He remained tethered to the earth by his own verSion of gravity.
Freud, Velikovsky, Jung, and Einstein. All were linked .by
their proclivity to see anomalies where others saw only routine .
It is the v~ry nature oftha.t proclivity, however, that prevented
a chain of agreement from .fonni~g. It is, of course, possible
that readers do not agree with this conclusion.
(See Bibliography Page 40)
Volume 22, No. 1

Virtaal State Art?

The W~rld Of Psychotronics
by Dancan Laarle
Who can't sense in the Art world of the late 1980's widespread
disillusionment. boredom and impotence? Science and technology
have long since outstripped the" Arts in funding, education and public
acclaim. The artists run in and out of favor faster than the politicians. Greed, money, fame, cliques; a big hustle by the top !:Joys;
that's how it works, we all know that. \\brdspeak and worse; disinformation on the creative process. Our work: neurotic, cynical,
overintellectualized, impure -like us, like our culture. What happened to that function art and artist once held in directing our lives
toward that realm of human experience known as the sacred?
Assuming the sacred can still be conveyed by art, and that for
an audience it still exists, certain questions arise. One is whether
the sacred functions of life, interpreted by the artist, can in any way
counterbalance what Guenon spoke of so forcefully as "The Reign
of Quantity.': It seems unlikely when, as artists, we respond to the
impingement on our lives of so many political, moral. ecological
and even cosmic threats with merely symbolic gestures.
A possibility now exists which may entirely change that very
uneven balance. It lies in a little-known, much suppressed,
borderline scientific field known variously as psychotronics, radionics, gravity field technology, zero point technology, or virtual
state technology. My premise here is that inherent'in the
discoveries of this field-lie concepts and engineering that are much
closer to the creative process and the artistic mind than those of
the scientific community it simultaneously seeks to win approval
from and to overturn. And, as I shall try to articulate, underneath
the extraordinary claims of the psychotronic inventors and their
bizarre creations lies a deeply significant social, political fact; the
technical engineering exists that informed individuals can use to
transform the world and to regain control of the quality of their lives.
Therefore, I ask the artists reading this to evaluate the following
material in its potential, if true, to affect Art and Life both as an
experiential process and as a new medium, in and of itself.As Kan- "
dinsky in his 1912 essay, "Concerning the Spiritual in Art," once
equated representational art with materialism, so today's artist working in the virtual state must view all symbolic art, whether representational or abstract, as referencing only the outer surfaces of the
material world. Working through the virtual state, however. allows
the artist access to and influence over, the prematerial,.presymbolic forces of Nature and the human mind.
Current Theory
One must begin by esta!llishing what discoveries in current scientific thinking support the hypotheses of the psychotronic inventors
and theorists. Michael Talbot. in his 1986 book Beyond the Quantum discusses five such breakthroughs with great clarity. tying them
to many other aspects and problems confronting the scientific world
today. The first is the breakthrough experiment performed by Alain
Aspect. Jean Dalibard and Gerard Roger at the Institute of
Theoretical and Applied Optics in Paris in 1982. Aspect's team provided an experiment which brilliantly confirmed quantum theory;
the study of matter at the subatomic level. To quote Talbot:
"In short, Aspect's experiment proved one of the following
two possibilities: Either objective reality does not exist and it
is meaningless for us to speak of things or objects as having any
reality above and beyond the mind of an observer, or faster-thanlight communication with the future and the past is possible.
On these two points the conclusions of the Aspect experiment
Volume 22, No. 1

are unequi vocal. These are not hypothetical assertions. At least

one of the above two options must now be accepted as fact."
Sheldrake, a Cambridge biologist, postulates a field surrounding
animals and human beings, that molds their form and intelligence
and can communicate across space and time. Talbot then ties this
to the work of David Bohm, a theoretical physicist at the University of London and important theoretical founder of quantum theory.
Bohm proposes that we can only comprehend the workings of the
subatomic world if we assume the existence of a dimension that
supercedes our own. Next. Talbot investigates and articulates the
mathematical evidence put forward in 1983 by Sir Fred Hoyle,
founder of the Cambridge Institute of Theoretical Astronomy, which
indicates the universe was designed by a cosmic intelligence billions "
of years older than the age of the known universe. Then Talbot turns
to the biological work of Sir John Eccles who claims to have produced biochemical evidence supporting the existence of the human
soul. This work in tum is related to Karl Pribram's book Languages
of the Brain, whose pioneering work at Stanford in neurosurgery
led him to the conclusion that the brain operates in many ways like
a hologram.
Without elaborating on these fascinating discoveries, it is certainly possible to see that scientists in various fields have in recent
years concurrently come to an appreciation of the parallel experiences of certain mystical/transcendental religions. Such experiences have traditionally fueled artistic visionaries to produce
timeless metaphors which resonate all the depths of human feeling. On that basis, I will explore the reconnection of Art to Science,
based upon the engineering and theory that is emerging today. I
postulate that it is essential for the artist of the future to understand
and equivocate the work in his studio with these discoveries or risk
having it become an archaic remnant of the mechanistidreductionist
creed of Our time.

" Unorthodox Science and Technology

Pioneering "borderland" physicists and inventors in America,
some of whom I will discuss shortly, have developed practical applications for an exotic body of knowledge set down by Nikola Tesla
and others at the turn of the century and after. \\brk ongoing in
these unorthodox areas of science and technology include free
energy, radionic farming and healiqg. orgonomic and radionic
weather control, scalar weaponry, brain entrainment through extra
low frequency transmissions, wireless transmissions of electrical
energy and audio" components that transmit sound directly to the
brain itself.
"Today, free en~rgy motors. based on Tesla's discoveries, power
test vehicles in Germany and Japan, and could easily electrify power
grids in the U.S. Other"devices have categorically eliminated cancer
in laboratory animals and human beings under rigorous scientific
scrutiny. Still others ~ke the dangers of nuclear confrontation pale
by comparison: Thomas E. Bearden, physicist, nuclear engineer,
wargames analyst, author of several books on free energy motors,
scalar electromagnetics and psychotronic warfare - is a towering
personality in the effort to popularize new-age science concepts.
I will borrow material from his lecture given in July 1986, at the
U.S. Psychotronics Association Conference in Lake Forest, Illinois,
to give a somewhat simplistic explanation of the theoretical basis
for this new te~hnology in lay terms. My apologies for its brevity
and poverty of elaboration in light of his comprehensive efforts.
Pursuit 21

"Nikola Tesla, widely credited with being the founder and "
inventor of alternating current and wireless radio, among many
other accomplishments, first discovered in his Goloraao Springs
laboratory slightly before the turn of the century, a new wave
which is now termed a scalar wave or an electrogravitational.
wave. Out of his research and that of another distinguished scientist, T. Henry Moray of Salt Lake City, grew the rudiments of
a new technology utilizing scalar waves. This particular research
resulted in turning electromagnetic waves into gravitation.
"Why should this be a powerful discovery? If. You have two
free electrons, the electric field between the two electrons, as
we model it, pushes the electrons apart: The gravitational field,
however, attracts them, trying to draw them together. The repulsion ofthe el~tion field is 1042 times stronger thim the gravitational attraction. Now, suppOse you could turn all of that electric '
field into gravitational field energy, then the gravitational field
between those two electrons would be IQ42 times stronger than
.it is now. Today these inventors can't do that perfectly, but they
can do it a little bit with scalar technology. When you do it, you
gain a tremendous amplification factor. The inertial effeCts and
the gravitational effects become something ,that is not in the'current textbooks.
'
"Tesla originally called these phenomena 'cosmic waves.' Furthermore, he stated those waves that were the most powerful
do not ionize at al\; they leave no trace 'of their passage;
"This means they require very special detectors; they will not
show up on normal electromagnetic equipment. Tesla claimed"
to have detected these waves himself up' to 50 times the speed
of light. This discovery -led to the construction of his famous: '
tower at Wardencliff, Long Island, with which he attempted to set the entire earth in resonance, thus providing free electricity."
Bearden claims to have participated in experiments himself at
which velocities up to,8 times the speed of light were observed.
Tesla's D~scoveries
Now, where does this affect or apply in the world of ArtJ Essential to understanding and utilizing this technology are the numerous
experiments surrounding the Tesla coil, a common 'electrical, part
that became an early component of almost all electromagnetic
,devices and is u~ to obtain desired frequencies. Let me paraphrase .
Bearden's words to explain exactly how this coil was set up to obtain
the dynamics that have evolved into the'study of the area where
mind and matter interface. Understanding the language of that state ,
is to potentially uncover the energetic basis for the 'creation of all
form from pure thought and intention.
'.
A true Tesla coil haS two kinds of resonance going on in it
simultaneously and they are phase-locked together at the same
frequency. It has the normal LC resonance, the electric~1 resonance
we know from electrical' engineering. In addition, it has what
Bearden calls scalar resonance which is a function of the amourit
of copper wire you are winding around the coil and two or three
other factors. Several inventors in the' U.S. today know how to make
this coil in such a way that those two resonances are simultaneous-'
Iy at the same frequency and shared together. 'When you do that
and the gravitational or inertial resonance of the mass ofthe wire
is at the same frequency and in phase with the electrical frequency,
then that coil acts like magic. That is a true Tesla coil. Experimen~'
ting with such a device you may find sixty or seventy pound objects levitating and many other strange effects I will riot elaborate
on here.
.
One such inventor, Eric Dollard, is a self-described "wireless
engineer" who, as well as publishing articles on many aspects of
free energy and the new electromagnetics, is a highly skilled innovator who has experienced the creation of some very interesting
phenomena utilizing such Tesla coils. Dollard claims that the Tesla
Pursuit 22

" Magnifyjng Transmitter converts electromagnetic energy into what

is' called magnetodielectric energy, which he says, represents the
faster-than-Iigh~ side of electricity ~ which he goes on to relate
to the orgone energy discovered by Wilheim Reich. (Reich himself
claimed ~ have produced a motor which ran on orgone energy.)
In relating the dielectric field to orgone energy, Dollard claims to
have produced physical evidence of what Reich called cosmic
superimposition.
By pulsing low pressure gas (in a large bulb) with two superimposed dielectric fields (a current of many amperes flowing through free space without any electrons), Dollard was able to produce
brilliant spiral formations resembling galaxies in full color within
the gas of the bulb. In addition; he caused large,'organically shaped
sparks to be drawn off even the insulators'on the apparatus. Dollard
explains the nature' of this phenomenon as basically representing
the Golden Ratio'spiral. In his own words he explains: "
"Now this is also the same shape that living objects forin and
you find that all discharges, in general, of potential energy will
try'to form thi~ shape. You can see it in water patterns, in sand,
and P!ltterns in clouds in the sky. The patterns appear Over and
,over and over again, Just like the organic patterns burned'into
wood by the discharge of my Tesla coil; This is converted with
the orgone right there. This type ofmonopolar electricity is in
such a form that it'will grow into organic patterns -:- a prelife
pattern from the ether itself. Any type of energy like this, such
as a stream flowing down the side of.a mountain, a crack in a
piece of window ,glass, or fresh water percolating up through
the sand, all make these organic patterns based on the Golden
Ratio. Any time you have energy discharging you find this type _
of pattern. You-can say there is a shape in space which is the
log periodic spiral. It doesn't exist in a tangible form because.
it is something that grows and decays. Its size fits the wavelength
and frequency of the amount of energy to be discharged. It's
not like you can map space to see this particular spiral, but if
you release energy into space then the spiral' w'ill appear."
Clearly,. though not an artist by training, Dollard is among the
first to actually use the virtual state as a medium to generate or
perhaps precipitate a three-dimensional or holographic form visible to the naked eye. The implications for such a discovery are many
for the artist,.
We are definitely dealing with presymbolic forms that have little or no bearing on the personal imagery carried in the subconscious
of the creator. As such, they represent both an attitude and environment for-the artist that is as clear of self-projections and as open
to a scrupulous methodology as any in the laboratory. Though no
doubt irritating'to minds oriented toward'the fashionable emergence
of talented new artistic egos, such a procedure nevertheless involves
both a study of nature and aesthetics. It depends upon an individual's
ability to really grasp, in a disciplined way, a tl'!Jly new medium.
To better understand this new medium, it is necessary to understand more fully what today,'s physics calls the "Vacuum of Space"
and how it can possibly be the repository for a vast storehouse of
energy, information and form.

Scalars

Let Bearden further elaborate on what these' cosmic or scalar

waves are:

"If yo~ can, imagine a steel plate with tw~ sets off<?rces pressing on the plate very powerfully; the plate'is under a great deal
of stress. The forces however, all bahlnce, they sum to a zero
resultant. We have been taught to replace that system of vectors
with a zero vector, making spaceJor the vacuum of space) a
totally d~d, nondynamic eritity; w~en in fact, it is alive with
energy held ,n balance, in check. Now suppose I press on the
plate stronger and then relax, stronger and then relax. All the

Volume 22, No.1

"Nikola Tesla, widely credited with being the founder and "
inventor of alternating current and wireless radio, among many
other accomplishments, first discovered in his Goloraao Springs
laboratory slightly before the turn of the century, a new wave
which is now termed a scalar wave or an electrogravitational.
wave. Out of his research and that of another distinguished scientist, T. Henry Moray of Salt Lake City, grew the rudiments of
a new technology utilizing scalar waves. This particular research
resulted in turning electromagnetic waves into gravitation.
"Why should this be a powerful discovery? If. You have two
free electrons, the electric field between the two electrons, as
we model it, pushes the electrons apart: The gravitational field,
however, attracts them, trying to draw them together. The repulsion ofthe el~tion field is 1042 times stronger thim the gravitational attraction. Now, suppOse you could turn all of that electric '
field into gravitational field energy, then the gravitational field
between those two electrons would be IQ42 times stronger than
.it is now. Today these inventors can't do that perfectly, but they
can do it a little bit with scalar technology. When you do it, you
gain a tremendous amplification factor. The inertial effeCts and
the gravitational effects become something ,that is not in the'current textbooks.
'
"Tesla originally called these phenomena 'cosmic waves.' Furthermore, he stated those waves that were the most powerful
do not ionize at al\; they leave no trace 'of their passage;
"This means they require very special detectors; they will not
show up on normal electromagnetic equipment. Tesla claimed"
to have detected these waves himself up' to 50 times the speed
of light. This discovery -led to the construction of his famous: '
tower at Wardencliff, Long Island, with which he attempted to set the entire earth in resonance, thus providing free electricity."
Bearden claims to have participated in experiments himself at
which velocities up to,8 times the speed of light were observed.
Tesla's D~scoveries
Now, where does this affect or apply in the world of ArtJ Essential to understanding and utilizing this technology are the numerous
experiments surrounding the Tesla coil, a common 'electrical, part
that became an early component of almost all electromagnetic
,devices and is u~ to obtain desired frequencies. Let me paraphrase .
Bearden's words to explain exactly how this coil was set up to obtain
the dynamics that have evolved into the'study of the area where
mind and matter interface. Understanding the language of that state ,
is to potentially uncover the energetic basis for the 'creation of all
form from pure thought and intention.
'.
A true Tesla coil haS two kinds of resonance going on in it
simultaneously and they are phase-locked together at the same
frequency. It has the normal LC resonance, the electric~1 resonance
we know from electrical' engineering. In addition, it has what
Bearden calls scalar resonance which is a function of the amourit
of copper wire you are winding around the coil and two or three
other factors. Several inventors in the' U.S. today know how to make
this coil in such a way that those two resonances are simultaneous-'
Iy at the same frequency and shared together. 'When you do that
and the gravitational or inertial resonance of the mass ofthe wire
is at the same frequency and in phase with the electrical frequency,
then that coil acts like magic. That is a true Tesla coil. Experimen~'
ting with such a device you may find sixty or seventy pound objects levitating and many other strange effects I will riot elaborate
on here.
.
One such inventor, Eric Dollard, is a self-described "wireless
engineer" who, as well as publishing articles on many aspects of
free energy and the new electromagnetics, is a highly skilled innovator who has experienced the creation of some very interesting
phenomena utilizing such Tesla coils. Dollard claims that the Tesla
Pursuit 22

" Magnifyjng Transmitter converts electromagnetic energy into what

is' called magnetodielectric energy, which he says, represents the
faster-than-Iigh~ side of electricity ~ which he goes on to relate
to the orgone energy discovered by Wilheim Reich. (Reich himself
claimed ~ have produced a motor which ran on orgone energy.)
In relating the dielectric field to orgone energy, Dollard claims to
have produced physical evidence of what Reich called cosmic
superimposition.
By pulsing low pressure gas (in a large bulb) with two superimposed dielectric fields (a current of many amperes flowing through free space without any electrons), Dollard was able to produce
brilliant spiral formations resembling galaxies in full color within
the gas of the bulb. In addition; he caused large,'organically shaped
sparks to be drawn off even the insulators'on the apparatus. Dollard
explains the nature' of this phenomenon as basically representing
the Golden Ratio'spiral. In his own words he explains: "
"Now this is also the same shape that living objects forin and
you find that all discharges, in general, of potential energy will
try'to form thi~ shape. You can see it in water patterns, in sand,
and P!ltterns in clouds in the sky. The patterns appear Over and
,over and over again, Just like the organic patterns burned'into
wood by the discharge of my Tesla coil; This is converted with
the orgone right there. This type ofmonopolar electricity is in
such a form that it'will grow into organic patterns -:- a prelife
pattern from the ether itself. Any type of energy like this, such
as a stream flowing down the side of.a mountain, a crack in a
piece of window ,glass, or fresh water percolating up through
the sand, all make these organic patterns based on the Golden
Ratio. Any time you have energy discharging you find this type _
of pattern. You-can say there is a shape in space which is the
log periodic spiral. It doesn't exist in a tangible form because.
it is something that grows and decays. Its size fits the wavelength
and frequency of the amount of energy to be discharged. It's
not like you can map space to see this particular spiral, but if
you release energy into space then the spiral' w'ill appear."
Clearly,. though not an artist by training, Dollard is among the
first to actually use the virtual state as a medium to generate or
perhaps precipitate a three-dimensional or holographic form visible to the naked eye. The implications for such a discovery are many
for the artist,.
We are definitely dealing with presymbolic forms that have little or no bearing on the personal imagery carried in the subconscious
of the creator. As such, they represent both an attitude and environment for-the artist that is as clear of self-projections and as open
to a scrupulous methodology as any in the laboratory. Though no
doubt irritating'to minds oriented toward'the fashionable emergence
of talented new artistic egos, such a procedure nevertheless involves
both a study of nature and aesthetics. It depends upon an individual's
ability to really grasp, in a disciplined way, a tl'!Jly new medium.
To better understand this new medium, it is necessary to understand more fully what today,'s physics calls the "Vacuum of Space"
and how it can possibly be the repository for a vast storehouse of
energy, information and form.

Scalars

Let Bearden further elaborate on what these' cosmic or scalar

waves are:

"If yo~ can, imagine a steel plate with tw~ sets off<?rces pressing on the plate very powerfully; the plate'is under a great deal
of stress. The forces however, all bahlnce, they sum to a zero
resultant. We have been taught to replace that system of vectors
with a zero vector, making spaceJor the vacuum of space) a
totally d~d, nondynamic eritity; w~en in fact, it is alive with
energy held ,n balance, in check. Now suppose I press on the
plate stronger and then relax, stronger and then relax. All the

Volume 22, No.1

claim it as a right-brain corollary to left-brain logical functioning~

a sort of eidetic or paranormal method of affecting the matrix of
life at the subatomic level through symbolic directives.Perhaps;
if you consider what a genius is capable ofdoing with a few brushes
and some oil paint, compared to the same materials in the hands
of an amateur, you can grasp how little the tools have to do with
the process - but how impossible it would be to convey it withou't
them.
. The point I am trying to make about this. field of radionics to
the artist is that it is deeply metaphorical in nature, but its tools
are the screwdrivers, hammer, paintbrushes, welders, etc., of the
new virtual state medium and that it has extensive historical precedent in Shamanism and ritual magic. The interesting thing is that
the radionic tools often deeply resemble the same artistic tools and
attitudes we use now to construct "art objects or states." In fact.
they resemble artistic tools much more. in many ways, than the
radios and medical equipment they often superficially resemble.
The differences between the effects of each, however, are equally
as great; for with these tools, we can potentially reengineer reality.
We are talking about healing disease, producing measurable
energy from the vacuum of space; exploring and mapping the eidetic
world of the unconscious, communicating with the genetic matrix
of life, experiencing antigravity' and dematerialization, reengineering the molecules of all pollutants buried in the earth to
make them harmless, and realigning the collective human psyche
with the cosmic forces that originally created it. As artists, isn't
the possibility to work from a truly deep informational or energetic
basis in our work over the purely intellectual or emotional truly
irresistible? No one can even imagine today what will happen when
artists begin to understand and utilize this inexpensive and accessible
technology well enough to affect the culture as a whole ..
Kelly's Theories
Peter Kelly is a highly respected pioneer and inventor of a particular type of radionic device used by the agricultural community.
These devices utilize scalar waves to balance the soil radionically
without poisons and to control pests. In this manner, a small but
growing group of farmers has Severed their dependence on fertilizers
and chemical pest controls. In so doing, they have challenged the
economic forces that dictate the perpetual need for these chemicals
and fertilizers and the particular debilitating mind set accompanying them that has destroyed so many small farmers psychologically and financially.
I

In the summer of 1986, under growing pressure from the FDA.

Kelly was forced to shred all his manuals that described the functions and rates of his machines in therapeutic terms. This occurred
because an increasing number of operators were able to use his
devices to curedisease, including cancer, in themselves and others,
once they had determined how to tuse the machines satisfactorily
on their farms. The cures apparently resulted from the interaction
or "loop" created between the practitioner, the instrument and the
patient's subtle neurotransmitters deep within the chemistry (and
electronics) of the central nervous system: In essence. but over- .
simplified to be sure, the two cerebral cortex hemispheres of the
brain emit a scalar resonance that is focused and directed by the .
radionics device. energy as information in this case, to a point outside the body where this tiny signal acts. as a catalyst upon a larger
en'ergetic system, focusing it. realizing it, balancing it, whatevt:r
the stated intention may be.
.
Farmers, acting with the simple ingenuiiy necessary for survival
in their work, overcame intellectual resistance to this vastly different and nonmechanistic attitude toward rriind and matter and
began to transform their lives,
....
Th use Kelly's own words to describe how his devices work seems
most appropriate:

Pursuit 24

"We have reached a point in time of undersianding that we

create our own reality. This takes place o~ many leve.ls, but first
on a personal one.
.
.
"Specifically, for purposes of this discussion, radionics,.
psychotronics and free energy' will all manifest to their full levels
as the collective consciousness of mankind accepts the premise
'that we create our own reality."
In my discussions w,th Kelly he kept stres~ing the need to view
energy as information when approaching radionics. Michael Talbot.
in summing up his perspective on all the breakthroughs in science
he describes in Beyond the Quantum gives us these relevant
. thoughts:
'..
"Ch~lIenging evidence is being ofrered from a number of different (scienti.fil::) directions that infor.mation, not mass or energy.
is the' ultimate fabric of the cosmos. The level at which matter
and energy cease to be the currency of transaction, and information'becomes the coin of the' realm, seems to form another
level of. reality, another plane of existence, .as it. were. The laws
of physics that goVern the seemingly objective world also break
down, cause and etTect as we know them no longer apply, and
even the boundaries of tame evaporate. From this, one is led to
ask, if the ordinary laws of physics no longer operate I,It the level
of the information picture. do any laws operate at all? Is the level
of information govern~d by its ow'n, presently unknown, but
separate body of laws?"
.
"Now, why," Kelly supposes, "will scientists asking questions like this lead to breakthroughs in psychotronics? Very simply - because we create our own reality and as more people
become involved in the research and operation of mind-matter
devices and the more information is available, the grel,lter will
be the successes."
Again we are confronted with tite ph~nomenon and need for
realizing "critical mass" before major changes can occur. Kelly
continues:
..
.
"Early pioneers such as Dr. Abrams, .Ruth Drown and T.G.
Hieronymus bui It their devices on accepted scientific principles,
or created prinl::ipl~s which became (their) reality through their
acceptance and belief.
.
"Afte~ enough people accept and believe. then the results
become scientifically replicable. Enough momentum builds in
the world mind so that it becomes everyone's reality. This principle is, urifortunatei,Y, true with negative id~s and beliefs also."
It is clear that Kelly views radionics as a means of engi~eering
consciousness. He states in another context that the farmers initially
attracted to radionics and .who made it work were those "at the bitter end; one step away from bankruptcy." Now if modern physics
is correct in stating that this universe consists of patterns of energy
crossing and recrossing at their nodel points and resonant points
- creating in effect.a three-dimensional holographic pattern which
is the physical world itself - and that psychotronics is a way of
tuning into these patterns of energy and altering them, or healing
them. then this should have vast implications for the artist. .

. What if we, as artists, organized radionicl,llly amongst oU,rselves

and 'began to treat the whole art world', our wh~le culture, like, a
farmer treats his field - as an' unbalanced, disease-ridden, pest:
infected mess:""" and began systematically to restore balance to the
environment by realigning the primordial patterns of ene.rgy beneath
the forms instead of merely replacing Old forms with new forms.
What woul9 be the consequences? As preposterous as it sounds,
it is already 'in process ofbecoming a reality' in certain circles. But
before examining this, let me 'go. back to recent scienti.fic discoveries.
which' again strengthen and confirm the radical possibilities outlined
here.

Volume 22, No. 1

Recent Scientific Theories

One must ask if there is any precedence for such an activity that
occurs in a self-organizing way already in Nature? One researcher
anthropologist, Gregory Bateson, fell there existed a mysterious
"no thing" that was neither substance nor energy that interpenetrated
all we know in regular patterns. These patterns of information he
often fell. were circular in nature. within the brain or between the
brain and the environment; an odd confirmation of the "loop"
phenomenon so necessary in producing successful radionic treatment. He also suggests that this circular flow of information is intrinsic to the processes of self regulation and identity. This
observation of how information is processed by the mind also explains alot about tribalization and the preservation of values through
ritual, custom, and belief. It seems as though the information "net"
itself operates with innate intelligence through a process of relationship, that the fabric of life itself contains the imminent ability
to transcend its own parts.
This particular possibility leads me back to the earlier notion
of aesthetics being the outgrowth of the innate harmonization of
man to these larger information fields. Obviously, if modern man
feels the loss of such a connection, he will turn to some form of
collective activity to call back, as it were, that state of identification with Nature or at least some social replica of it. It is for this
reason artists often wind up interacting in a group manner despite
strong egos. fierce independent-mindedness and intrinsically antisocial dispositions. Before developing this point further, however,
we must ask. is there any evidence that such a "loop" exists between energy as information, or "intent" as the radionics practitioners call .it, and the actual metabolism of the brain? Not
surprisingly given the other unusual parallels put forward, there
is: Neurophysiologist, Sir John Eccles, who won a Nobel prize in
1963 for pioneering research on the synapse, asserts biological
evidence exists that proves a nonmaterial consciousness determines
which neurons in the brain fire and which do not.
The area Eccles refers to is known as the supplementary motor
area, or SMA. and is located at the top of the brain. In 1980, a
Swedish team of neurophysiologists at the University of Lund
developed new techniques to probe the SMA. They found that a
fraction of a second before motor action is effected blood flow increases to both the SMA and motor areas of the brain. Eccles' study
concluded that the discharge was not triggered by other nerve cells
in the brain but that a mental act of intention alone initiated the'
bursts of discharges in the nerve cell. He even found that different
intentions initiated different patterns of discharge in the SMA. He
concluded from this that some kind of complex code involving a
nonphysical mind actually plays the 50 million or so neurons that
exist in the SMA. like an instrument,
.
Though his conclusions go far beyond the parameters I have used them to substantiate, it is nevertheless quite interesting to
speculate that the hitherto ridiculed speculations of radionics may
indeed have a firm neurophysiological basis for their functional success. What the radionics device becomes is a precise biofeedback
instrument capable of selectively triggering the holographic
substructure of the brain and thus engineering the functions ofmental activity at a subconscious level. It has been the assertion for
centuries of mystics, shamans and visionaries that such activity is
by no means limited to the brain itself but can be affected at all
levels of material existence. It is, in fact, the way we already go
about manipulating and transforming our identity and environment.
What has been lost to us, the lowly individual, is the realization
we can effectively still implement radical changes upon ourselves
and our environment by exerting the will to do so, alone or collectively. It is the reemergence of this will in the artistic community
I will briefly discuss next.

Volume 22, No.1

I, personally, have participated with several groups of artists that

have tribalized around each other in an attempt to offSet the harsh
economic and emotional pressures imposed by the compulsive environment in New York and elsewhere. Though not fluent with radionics or psychotronics per se, as of yet, they have evolved ritual
ceremonies that break the stranglehold of materialism around their
lives, and have broken down the personal armor of their own identities enough to share resources freely and often work in harmony
for common objectives. This bonding or shared intent has gone
a long way towards producing the alternative mind Kelly has
postulated as being so fundamental to the implementation of the
truths inherent in psychotronic functioning. I can envision that such
groups, drawing on the collective power of their own common
fraternity, coupled with the knowledge and techniques of this new
technology, could act as catalysts upon the art world as a whole,
galvanizing it with a speed and efficiency that would stagger the
. mind.
Historical Notes
Lest anyone assume such activity will be greeted with pleasure
in the modem world, let me mention a few noteworthy historical
facts. Upon discovering the means to provide free electricity to the
world, Tesla, one of the most acclaimed engineers and inventors
of his time, was within a few years stripped of all resources, even
a laboratory; his inventions sabotaged and stolen, his personal life
vilified and his social status enormously diminished. T. Henry
Moray, who discovered the means of amplifying Tesla's energy,
had his person attacked and his lab sacked so often he took to wearing
a pistol at all times. Wilheim Reich was hounded out of Germany
and Scandinavia, and here in the U.S., he died in Federal prison
and his books and manuscripts were publicly burned. Ruth Drown,
a pioneer radionics inventor, was hounded by the FDA, publicly
vilified in national magazines and legally prosecuted for fraud and
medical quackery, spending a short term in a California prison,
despite the testimony of many important personages she had cured.
Meanwhile 'the authorities seized and destroyed all her instruments,
and when she emerged from prison her energy and funds were exhausted. A few months later, she suffered a series of strokes and
died.
AndrijaPuharich, M.D., L.L.D., isanextraordinarydoctor, inventor (over 75 patents in medical technology), physicist, and author
of many books and papers covering healing, ESP, and psychotronics.
He has conducted laboratory studies on most major physics and
healers of the last 30 years, bringing both Uri Geller and Peter
Hurkos to the attention of the world. No article on psychotronics
and art would be complete without some reference to this extraordinary individual's life and work.
Ofthe many and varied papers and books Puharich has produced throughout his life, I have chosen to focus and elucidate on his
suppressed and unpublished biography of Nikola Tesla, Tesla's
Magnifying Transmitter. In March of 1978. Puharich's editor at Dell
Publishing, who had commissioned this book on Tesla, telephoned Andrija to say he had developed a bizarre and debilitating disease
and could neither see him in person nor review his work, even
though Puharich had flown 3,000 miles expressly for that purpose.
This was in lieu ofa consensus reached earlier among Dell editors
and executives that they would give the book full backing for several
years until it could stand on its own and would not be brushed under
the rug by political manipulation. Then, in July of 1978. a colleague
of Puharich was approached by a CIA agent who showed him a
Xerox copy of this manuscript. Two more scientists phoned in short1y' with the same story; the CIA wanted him to know they had stolen
a copy of his manuscript.
Next, on August 7, 1978, Puharich got a call from an assistant
stating his home and laboratory in Ossining, New York, had been

Pursuit 25

..,

destroyed by a major fire of unknown origin. A week later, the

following picture emerged. One or more persons had entered the
house and had soaked the front entrance hall and the back entrance
porch with a highly flammable and s,moke-producing liquid'. They
had turned on all the gas burners of the stove and ignited the front
and back porch. It was concluded by ~xpert investigators that the
fire had been set by professional arsonists with the clear intention
of entrapping all of the occupants. Only the return of two of his
students and their calm handling of the situation prevented all the
other occupants from dying, and Puharich's important research
material from being des&royed' Not long before, the good doctor
had delivere<,l a secret report to the~ President Jimmy Carter, and
Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre, Trudeau , outlining his research
and conclusions on extra low frequency transmissions. After this
incident, Puharich made his way to a foreign country and went into hiding at the home of a friend.
The essence of Puharich's book and the information that was
perceived as being so threatening had to do with the effects of extreme low frequency (ELF) waves on biological systems. Puharich
describes these ELF waves as existing in a nine-dimensional
magnetic fiejd wbich is self-organizing, can'go through anything,
and is rtOII-atlenuatmg (i.e. it d8esfl't get weaker with distance).
Only the cell DNA, particularly in the brain, stops ELF fields. The
only beneficial frequencies are in the range of 7-9 cycles per second Hertz (Hz). Eight Hz is as the magnetic field of the sun and
7.83 Hz the Schumann resonance. or the frequency of the earth.
Puharich had discovered ,in his research that all healers gave off
an 8 Hz radiation in the course of doing their work. He afso kriew ,
the U.S. Navy was conducting extensive ELF testing in relationship, supposedly, to submarine, communications.
Now, what are the implications for this on our lives? In -the
presence of the protein kinase in the nuclei of the cell, the ELF,
interacts with the DNA molecule itself. Therefore, it can "tum on"
or "turn off' any gene, once the correct frequency is known. One
particular frequency, for example, can cause cancer in rats in two. '
days; another can reverse the process. One frequency can cause
depression in humans through signaling the release of cholinergic
neuropeptides in the brain. Others induce anxiety, mob behavior,
etc. Distance from the subject is of no relevance.
The foundation theory emerging from this and then developed
by Dr. Puharich and Dr. Robert Beck ofCalifo'rnia, is that external
magnetic fields can control biologic!ll spin-spin proton-proton
coupling COftstants in DNA, RNA, RNA transferases and hydrons
[charged wa~r molecules? - Ed.]
U.s. Navy ELF Research
In 1976, concurrent with Dr. Puharich's efforts to secure a wider
audience fOr his theories, the U.S. Navy established with the National Academy of Sciences a Committee on Biosphere Effects of
ELF Radiation within the U.S. National Research Council. A summary of the position of the committee stated, ''An environmental
,stimulus produciRg sensation without pain or discomfort is often
assumed to be harmless, but modem research has demonstrated
that the opposite may a1sobe true." Then, in 1984, after seven years
of secret testing the Navy released partial results. They showed that
ELF waves can:
"Alter: behavior of cells, tissues, organs and organisms; hormone
levels; cell chemistry; reaction ,time of irreversible chemical processes.
"Inhibit or Enhance: bone grow:th; cell dedifferentiation; ,RNA
synthesis and processes.
"Entrain: human brain waves; DNA transcription processes.
"Slow: aging process of cells.
"Cure: certain, diseases ~ altering ELF freque,ncy.
')\fJa': ~lIuristry and,time.perception in animals and humans.

"'/:~.~~~4.:{;(':',~;,.: "

,
"

''Affect: immune process. ,

.
"Cause up to six times higher fetus mortality rate in lab animals
than ir controls.:
"
. "Cause sterility in male animals. "
, "Produce noninvasiy~ genetic engineering.
,"Cause defects !lnd' alterations in embryos:"
Now. the SoViets, according to Jack Anderson's "Radio Waves
Studied for Anns Potential" article in the 7/31/85 Wclshington Post,
apparently were the first to realize that very low level radiation
could become the ultimate military weapon. From 1959 until 1978
mysterious microwave radiations were beamed at the U.S. Embassy
in Moscow. No~s Anderson, "Official reports concluded that the
Soviets may have'been trying 'mind control' or electronic induction of illness." He concludes: "Other highly classified ~nd wellfunded researcb in this spooky field continues in this country and no doubt in the Soviet Union as well."
Puharich, BeCk, Bearden, Kelly and others have been publishing
and lecturing about another interesting development along this line
for quite some time. "On July 4, 1976, the Soviet Uniol'! has been
bombarding many parts of the world of ELF transmitters. The U.S.
has since joined the game. A total of 14 giant transmitters are now
known to exist ~orld-wide. It should be pointed out that in the nine
years of transmissions, by' their government or ours, not once has
a 7-9 ijz signal been recorded, a f~quency which is beneficial
for human ,biological systems. "The ,potential danger from ELF
pollution (the above plus that' from 'video display termin!lls, TV.
power lines, etc.) to the genetic future of mankind is clear."
-Puharich
Psyc~otronics researchers, therefore. have also been at the
vanguard in warning people about ELF pollution. What do others
have to. say? The Bio-Magnetic Electric Research Society held a
confe~nce in July of 1986 in Madison, Wisconsin, to discuss just
that. Published research results cif ele~trical engineers given at that
conference concur in many tests tD.,date with Puharich's and Beck's.
In !ldditi<?n, Robert O. Becker in his book, The Body Electric, provides cqncIusive evid~nce linking the increase of mitosis in the blood
cells to the activity of the U.S. Navy's ELF antennas.
Lest the starice taken by Bearden. Puharich. Kelly, and others
be assumed insignificant today now that more of this infonnation
is jn the oPe,n. let me assure you this is not the case. Both Bearden
and Puharich personally told me of sinist~r devices they discovered
in their homes designed to kill them and their famiiies with ELF
waves oyer a sustained period of time. One was concealed in a lamp,
the other modified from the fan and motor of a home heating system.
Kelly published in his newsletter a remarkable account of someone
in a' trance-like condition trying to break into his laboratory and
radionically "disarm" it. I have heard many other similar tales, of'
life thre~ts and blackmail atiempts and discrediting campaigns
against those in this field that have attempted to effect what I have
suggested here in their lives.
'
T~e Artists's Responsibility
Now what is t,he relatio.nship,of all this to Art and artists? As
the most responsible body ofindividuals:entrusted with the ,power
of creativity, and the life,-affirmative values associated with creativity, artists have demonstrated throughout history the courage and
will to respond to the destructive forces plaguing the planet. Becoming aware that our own minds and bodies are being subtly turned
against us is a situation that deserves the universal ,outcry of the
creative community. Are we naive enough to think the politicians
are going to do anyth,il'!g about it? Most inlbrmation on psychotronics
is vast iq scale, extremely complex and, unfortunately, terrifying
- given the institutional hands it has fallen into. This report doesn't
even scratch the surface of that danger. The intention is to make
fellow artists aware of these issues and what can be done to counter

Volume 22, No. 1

I

them, on all levels. Official science and official art are so muddled
and "obscured that it is now tacitly assumed that only geniuses can
have access to basic truths. This image of human helplessness can
be shattered by responsible individuals utilizing the technology and
achievements outlined here. Given the precariousness of the world
situation today, it appears we have little to lose.
In recent times, it seems that it has been the artist more than the
philosopher, the priest, or the humanitarian, who has been the
spokesman of and for the sacredness oflife. Today, that might mean
functioning together at a level very similar to what it meant in native
cultures. We might have to utilize our creative potentials to survive, in very practical terms. Perhaps it is in facing these very grave
dangers and surmounting them that we will discover the real purpose of our work.
Let me add, in conclusion, a few other thoughts about this work
and how already we and our children have suffered enormously
for our complacency.
In the very simplest of terms, the sacredness of life is expressed
in play. Play and fantasy are, of course, a universal drive in al1
children, yet our society does not deem them important. Children
are forced to abandon magical thinking for the serious business
of developing rational scientific thought. Studies have shown that
play is essential to the development of the brain; it allows the child
to develop symbolic metaphoric thought which is the foundation
for abstract and creative thought. As" a result of suppressing
playfulness in our children, we have produced anxious, depressed, illiterate, violent, and highly suicidal ~ung adults. We can thank
television for that too; it floods the mind with both the stimulus
and the response the brain is supposed to make. in its shal10w twodimensional way. It strips the mid-brain. the limbic structure, of
its capacity to transfer imagery. We never develop symbolic,
metaphoric thinking to the degree we are capable. We never integrate the heart, our feelings, the anguish ofionging, with the "mind.
the logical, the rational. We live in a world forever made ugly by
our torn perceptions.
The United States Psychotronics Association
Our office' receives numerous inquiries about Tesla electromagnetics, radionics, Rife microscopes and frequency
generators, the Lakhovsky multiwave oscillator, hannful effects
of extremely low frequency (ELF) radiation, alternative
agriculture, holistic medicine, and all fonns of subtle energies.
While the Archaeus Project Library has numerous publications "
on these subjects, we always advise those who want the latest
and best infonnation to join the United States Psychotronics
Association (USPA) - membership is a mere $20 - and attend its annual meeting.
These meetings are held during the third week in July in a
different part of the country "each time, and generally draw from
300 to 400 people. A large area is set aside for commerc~ exhibits including jewelry, crystals, esoteric "books, electromagnetic devices and psychotronic "instrumentation.
The annual meetings feature such prominent speakers as
Christopher Bird (The Secret Life of Plants and Secrets of the
Soll), Thomas E. Bearden (Excalibur Briefing), Marcel Vogel,
Robert C. Beck, "Cleve Backster, Andrija Puharich and Valerie
Hunt. In addition to the lecture program at USPA conferences,
there are often outstanding experiential sessions. I have personally witnessed impressive demonstrations of hypnotherapy,
psychic metal-bending and anomalous electromagnetic effects.
Lectures and experiential sessions divide up in~ "hard" and
"soft." The "hard" sessions involve, among other subjects,
lectures on the technologies of electromagnetic instrumentation,

Volume 22, No.1

The Opportunity and the Challenge

Today, the discoveries I have mentioned have opened this world
to new uncertainties and thus, to new possibilities. It is the first
time since the late 16th Century when the Christian/Aristotelian
system of thought was shaken by the hermetic," monastic
philosopher-scientists like Kepler that we have seen a serious threat
to the mechanistic/reductivist creed. For a few decades, then as
now. the pantheistic idea tliat God was both imminent and transcendent prevailed. Today, it is quantum physiCs and not hermetism that
has opened the door to the fact the world is sacred. The people
who respond to these ideas are the people who feel good about
themselves and who are sensitive to life. For centuries we have been
chained to empirical studies, machines without magic, the dualism
of matter versus spirit, brilliant discoveries stripped of the life giving blood of philosophy. We traded the qualitative for the quantitative, geometry for calculus, harmony. balance arid proportion
for motion, projection and linear time. That's why the art we have
produced has been so irreverent, so cynical, so ugly. The real artists were always subversives reacting to a coarse dominant reality.
Now, at last, we are at sea again, in the mighty and awe-inspiring
worlds of cosmic functioning. Before all the terrified, emotionally
plagued-ridden custodians of that tight, mean, little intellectual
world of our recent past return with another host of perfect theories
to regain control and wrap up our lives and minds for another few
centuries, don't we, the artists, owe it to ourselves to have a brief
reign of irrational terror by waY of really good time? Why don't
we play a little with our radionic devices in the holographic
metaphors ofiife and"break this stranglehold of boring mechanistic
thinking and unfulfilled mystical longing? In the new paradigm,
art is as valid as science. Do we real\y have the guts to prove it?

Editor's Note: We thank the USPA for allowing PIJIIIJIJlr

to reprint this article that originally appeared in their Journal
of the United States Psychotronics Association, Vol. I, No. I,
Nov. 1988.
~ "
speculations on quantum mechanics, scalar waves and unified
field theories. The "soft" sessions involve lectures and
~monstrations of sound and color thempy, psychic powers, subtle energy healing and personal development programs.
The meeting schedule" is balanced by the welcoming atmosphere of the evening receptions and dances, where opportunities abound for participants to talk with some of the "Big
Names" in borderland science. If you are seriously pursuing
any aspect of psychotronic investigation, you will soon find
yourself in the middle of a" substantial network of individuals
who share your enthusiasm and who can connect you with many
new sources of information.
"
Other informational resources provided by the USPA include
a Newsletter, the Journal of the United StJJtes Psychotronics
Association, and the tapes of the conference lectures, which go
back for many years. There are also local chapters of the USPA
in almost every part of the country. (Those interested in joining
the USPA, in purchasing tapes and publications, or in finding
the closest USPA chapter should contact Robert Beutlich, Pres.,
U.S. Psychotronics Association, 2141 West Agatite, Chicago,
IL 60625;" [312] 728-8941.)
.
If your interests fall into any of the categories mentioned
above, then the USPA annual conference is the place for you
to go. You will make lifetime friends, obtain valuable information, meet the pros and, just as importantly, have a very good
time.
"

Written by Dennis Stillings, Director of the Archaeus Project,

2402 University Ave., St. Paul, MN 55114
Pursuit 27

UDseeD,UDspokeD,U~kDOWD
(Be: The UFO PlienoDlen~n)
by R. Peny CoIU.s
"The UFO phenomenon is the product of a technology that integrates physical and psychic phenomenon and primarily affects
cultural variables in our society thI'Qugh manipulation of
physiological and psychological parameters in the witnesses. ' ,
.....,. Jacques Vallee
There are aspects of the UFO situation which are completely
unrecognized by the public and generally ignored even among
those people intrigued by the SlJbject. There is evidence that
what we currently perceive !is the UFO phenomenon has played,
and is playing, an integral role in human history. Our reality may
not be entirely our own. Throughout the ages mankind, usuiuly
on an individual basis, has been significantly influenced by the
appearance of mysterious entities. Angels, demons, leprechauns
and the Virgin Mary are only a few of the many'types ofvisitors
we have perceived and the beings appearing now in conjunction with UFOs may well be another facet or even the source of
these events.
The American public would dearly love to see the a~ance
of a tremendous fleet of spaceships crewed by benevolent beings arriving to guide us through our nuclear adolescence' and
out into the universe. The truth is that these agents of our salvation have been among us for thou~nds of yearS'an~, in various
guises, have actually helped to shape our mythologies, our.
religions, our cultures and even our technologies. Joan of Arc'
was guided by supposedly "devine" apparitions. The Mormon
religion was created and shaped largely by the appearance of
beings thought to be "angels. " George Washington was known
to have met and talked with a "mysterious entity" who played
an important role in his decisions and actions. Hitler was very
. much engrossed in the "occult" and was noted to have had intricate nocturnal conversations with unknown and supposedly
"demonic" agents. Throughout recorded history there are
numerous references to tlte appearance. of unusual beings; both
human and otherwise, who have helped to guide and shape the
.
actions of historically pivotal individuals.
The phenomenon of UFO manifestations is but one aspect of.
a situation which encompasses our. entire planet and each individual upon it. The UFO phenomenon does, in fact, involve
a "control system" for the evolution. of ~uman consciousness.
We have been guided and manipulated at levels beyond our nor. mal perceptions. Our very souls may be tokens used by beings
as far beyond us as we are beyond the great apes. Our history
has, to a significant degree, been shaped for us: We are part
of an immense evolutionary process,' a struggle between: forces
whose natures lie at the outer limits of o,ur comprehension.
The present focus on UFOs, at least in the public mind, centers
around reports of numerous abductions of men, women, and
children involving medical examinations, induced amnesia and
genetic manipulations. It is my experience as !lD investigator
that these reports are real: I have come across several reports
of this nature and have no doubt that such activities are taking
place. They are, however, merely a sidelight to ~e actual nature .
of the phenomenon. UFOs involve much more than a few thousand abductions. The key to understanding this is that the general
public, at this time, would much rather believe in mysterious
dwarfs from. outer space engaged in biologi~al manipulations
of humans than in entities of hulJl!Ul fonn living in our midst
Pursuit 28

and guiding our destiny. The joke is that both situations exist
and it is in appreciating the humor of this joke that we begin
to understand what may really be.happening.
As Vallee notes .most astutely in his book Messengers of
Deception, the UFO phenomenon may not properly be the domain of the scientist. Scientists are concerned .with the elucidation of the natural world. UFOs are clearly artifacts used as tools
by intelligent beings. As such, the man best equipped to study
them is not the scientist, for he is the intelligence officer. UFOs
and their actions properly belong.in the realm of espionage and
counter-espionage. To really appreciate the sort of "joke" referred to in the last paragraph, we need to remind ourselves that
espiorulge and counter-espionage are words for deception. The
principle of deception is very straightforward. To deceive, you
attract the attent~on of your opponent towards what you want
him to see and you distract him frQm what you don't want him
to see. The public sees "saviors from space" and mysterious
"alien dwarfs." It does not see the real control system. It cannot, fOf if it did the system 'would not work. The evidence of
our evolution shows that it has worked,. and that it is working,
much t~ our long-tenn advantage.
The best introduction I know.to what I am saying here comes
from Dr. Brunstein, a physicist. who becime interested in UFOs
and wrote a most interesting book c~lled Beyond the Four
DimenSions. I'm quoting him out of context here, but his
phraseology is irresistible: '.,
"There is a contemporary secular fable that goes something
like t~is: Man is the maker of history. Therefore; we can
justifiably be optimistic about the future; eventually it will
be whatever we, as its thoughtful artisans, will it to be. There
is a subtle fallacy here,. however. 'It consists of the tacit
presumption of the domi'nance of MilO'S intentions - that
Man has co~sciously been charting his own historical course
rig~t along . This is the kind of error born of success and
is an attitude particularly found in the more developed parts
of the world."
:
Keeping in mind Dr. Bronstein's words, we might reflect on
one of the most consistent common denominators of the UFO
experience: the psychic effects encountered by alJp.ost all
witnesses whose experience is an extensive one.. UFO witnesses
have reported, on numerous occasions, that they have been calmed ~lepathically by the crews of these vehicles .. Men and women
having UFO experienCs have repeatedly -been subjected to
selective amnesia induced by these same beings. Often witnesses
have been psychically drawn to areas where their experiences
took place. UFO~ have consistently shown the capability to
significantly influence and control the' conscious and unconscious
thoughts of those people they interact with, and it has been
shown that this influence can be exerted at a distance.
It has been only recently that our own scientific researchers
have happenect upon the same sorts of processes. Let us look
very .closely at just what this means. The following quotes cople.
from authoritative people in this emerging field ~ the implications of their 'statemen~ are directly related to the UFO
phenomenon:. .
Lt. Col. John B. Alexander, in the December, 1980 Issue
of Military Review (the professioOaI journal of the United
States Army) s~id:
Volume 22, No. -1

"The use of telepathic hypnosis also holds great potential. This capability could allow agents to be deeply
planted with no conscious knowledge of their programming. "
Barbara Honeggar, White House aide, Reagan Administration, Office of Pelicy Development and published expert on government psychic research is quoted:
"The fundamental reason for the increased interest in
psychic warfare is initial results coming out of laboratories .
in the United States and Canada showing that certain
amplitude and frequency combinations of external electromagnetic radiation in the brain wave frequency range
are capable of bypassing the external sensory mechanisms
of organisms, including humans, and directly stimulating
higher level neuronal structures in the brain. This electronic stimulation is known to produce mental changes at
a distance, including hallucinations in various sensory
modalities, particularly auditory."
Larissa Vilenskaya, a Soviet-trained engineer, involved
in psychic research in the Soviet Union for more than ten
years, and now editor of Psi Research - The East-West

Journal on Parapsychology, Psychotronics and

Psychobiophysics, published by the Washington Research
Center, San FranCisco, California, wrote:
"Western observers and scientists, speaking about psi
research in the Soviet Union, emphasize that the results
of these studies can be applied for military pwposes. It
is my experience that official Soviet scientists are interested in using psi primarily to develop extended means
for mental influence at a distance."
Keep in mind that these developments have been on the scene
only in recent times. And keep in mind that the UFO
phenomenon, which had repeatedly demonstrated a mastery of
these techniques, has been around for a much greater time in
our history.
The UFO scene can be perceived most clearly as consisting
of two distinct parts: the "control system" and the "random
visitation scenario." There is considerable overlap in both parts of what we may perceive as ."random visitation" could,
in fact, be designed and enacted by the agency behind the control system. "Random visitation," however, does appear to
represent a large part of the UFO phenomenon and can be viewed as separate from those UFO actions which attempt to directly modify our behavior. Those actions can be collectively
grouped in the "control system" category and are numerous
and varied in nature.
One consistent aspect of the control system scenario is the
element of deception. This is most clearly seen in the interactions of UFOs with military forces throughout the world. There
is evidence, for instance, that UFOs have been involved in the
attempted theft of nuclear warheads from both land-based silos
and weapons storage areas. Careful thought would indicate that
a technology so advanced as to manifest UFOs would really have
no actual need to examine the mechanics of nuclear weapons
- such technology would be well within their grasp. It could
be, however, that the agency promoting these actions may wish
to alann our military forces in a significant way and to provoke
a heightened awareness of a hypothetical "alien threat. " What
better way than to remove nuclear warheads? If a UFO appears
to steal such .an item, appearance is the thing. The nuclear
weapon probably represents, to the UFO agency, only a
primitive technology. What is actually taking place involves the
intent to make us believe that we are threatented.
In a similar sense, the actions of UFOs as seen in other enVolume 22, No. 1

counters can be seen as demonstrations. UFOs demonstrate their

tremendous technological superiority in such a manner as to
stimulate research into that same technology. There have been
massive covert efforts in the United States to duplicate the UFO
technology for several decades.
One of the best examples of this "demonstration" effect took
place during a NATO exercise in Europe. This incident, reported
by a Belgian Anny officer, involved the overt display of a
specific type of weapon used by a UFO to destroy antiaircraft
missiles in flight. The NATO exercise involved the firing of
numbers of such missiles on several preselected coordinates.
For reasons at first unknown to the operators involved, all the
missiles fired on one particular set of coordinates failed and exploded prematurely. Upon examination of high-resolution films
made of the exercise, it was discovered that a circular, domed
UFO, hovering near the path of those missiles, was emitting
some type of intense beam which repeatedly destroyed the
missiles in flight. The films were examined extensively by both
Belgian and American military analysts. The point to be seen
here is that the UFO was apparently deliberately demonstrating
a beam weapon of significant capability in full view of military
observers. It repeated the demonstration several times. The
destruction of the missiles was not an act of self-defense - the
missiles were not attempting to intercept the UFO but were moving along repeatedly identical and preset flight paths. This
demonstration could logically have been an effort on the part
of the UFO agency to stimulate military interest in beam
weaponry and to remind us of the continuing reality of the UFO
presence.
There is another aspect of the "control system" concept which
needs clarification: the appearance of entirely human beings in
conjunction with such events. Humans are the product of the
evolutionary process of planet Earth and only planet Earth. Scientifically speaking, the probability of humans exactly similar to
ourselves evolving on another planet in our perceived universe
is very close to zero. Humans, however, have been directly
observed in UFO events involving a technology of mind and
machine far surpassing what we now possess. There are three
probable explanations for this is: (1) the humans involved are
a future earth; (2) the humans are not human
time travellers
at all but are able to appear as human; (3) there are alternate
worlds existing alongside our own which are different "probably earths," with entirely human populations and there exists a way to translate or travel between these alternate worlds.
It is my experience that the third explanation most closely approximates the real situation. Time travel, in the sense that it
is used here, is not possible (or at least, if possible, then extremely intricate, involving cause-and-effect laws of which we
are presently totally ignorant). The use of time travel to monitor
and alter past worlds would negate the origin or future world,
creating an infinite series of conflicting realities. Time travel
could be a part of the alternate world scenario in ways that
twentieth century science does not fully understand, but the
Simplistic concept of visitorS from our future here to guide us
in our present is logically impossible. Beings of different fonn
appearing to us and living among us.disguised as human beings
may have some basis in fact, but such situations would be
precarious to maintain. Should we as a species ever become fully
aware of such an operation, havoc would ensue and those in
disguise would be hunted down and most likely killed. The much
safer and more logical ~ourse for the controlling agency would
be to use humans as direct agents. The agency involved need
not be entirely human; in fact such an agency most probably
would consist of a federation of various types of advanced be-

from

Pursuit 29

ings, working in unison towards common goals.

What motivations might we perceive in the actions of such
a federation? What common thread runs from the appearance
of entities to the demonstration of superior technology? If our
civilization has been shaped for us in some fashion, how has
it been shaped and to where are we headed? Let us assume that
the UFO phenomenon, as representative of a federation of very
advanced beings, has been largely successful in the .guidance
of mankind through history to the present time. What might we
then perceive?
First of all, ~e do not seem to be directly enslaved by any
intelligent species of life. Secondly, we are an innately fierce
and independent group of beings, and have a long and bloody
history of warfare. We, as individuals, in groups and as a species
do not hesitate to fight to the death for our right to live as we
will. Human beings are among the most deadly and ferocious
killers ever to inhabit the eanb and, due to the wars we have
constantly waged against the elements, other camivor:es, ourselves
and literally anything else that stood in our way; we have rapidly
evolved a weapons technology of tremendous potential with the
skill and detenninat~on to use it, .if necessary. We may well have
been aided in that. evolution. One of our most outstanding
characteristics iii our ability to successfully wage war. In a
universe perhaps heavily populated with other lifefonns, we
. [presumably] have never been faced with invasion or occupation. Perhaps there are those who ~ in us apositive and potentially very powerful force, who have protected us while encouraging our innate savagery, and who may well have need
for us and our martial skills at some future point in time. Th~re
could be, at some presently. far-removed place in our universe,
truly alien beings, totally ~mical to life as we know it. The
existence of such beings and the possibility. of their encroach. ment could be the rationale for the control system we perceive
as the UFO phenomenon. Tbat control system is rapidly pushing
us towards technological and spirinial maturity -:- towards a point
in time where we should be capable of meeting any truly alien
threat on more than equal te~.
.
There have been UFO reports that may be directly representative of actions that are not staged, that are not demonstr.ations
and may have not been intended for our perception. The fact that
such reports are very seld()m submitted and are scarce in the
literature indicates that such direct activities are usually carried
out in a completely covert manner. These reports do exist,
however, and we m~st con~ider them in any complete analysis
of the UFO situation. The following are a few select examples
of such actions by UFOs:
. A man and a woman in a large .metropoli~an area an the
U.S. east coast were leaving a restaurant late one even ing in 1973. As they walked to their car they noticed an
unusual, glowing objec~ moving above the surrounding
high-rise buildings. They.stopped and watched the object
despite the unusually chilly weather that evening. As t,hey
watched, the UFO maneuvered close to a prominent nearby structure. It slowly moved almost directly over and
began to approach it. Just as a collision seemed
unavoidable, two large panels seeme<i to open on the
building, the craft glided into the opening, and the panels
closed. The couple, frightened by what they had seen, hurried home. They spoke to no one about their experience
for several years. Then, at a party~ ~ey met.~other resident of the city who worked as a private investigator and
who was interested in pFOs. The couple were drawn to
this man and several times got together .with him at dinners and other sOcial.events. Eventually they told him their

Pursuit 30

story. Th~ investigator added the re~rt to his private file

which was passed on to. me early. in 1983.
In ~arch of 1967 a family of seven were driving through
central Long Island (NY) when they noticed an unusual
flying object descending towards a nearby field. They pull~d over to stop and watch, amazed, as the object landed.
It was cl~;piy unusual and resembled the stories they all
tmd heard of "flying saucers." As they sat there, stunned, a large sedan drov:e 9ff the road and over the field
toward the object. As the 'car approached a door opened
on the object and two men stepped out. Both entered the
.automobile and it proceeded to drive back across the field,
.ont'? the road and away: The' UFO rose into ~e afternoon
sky and ~ into.the distance. (This report was originally
investigated by John .Keel.)
.A young woman named Bourriot was' driving towards her
home in Montperreux, France on a motorcycle when she
noticed a man, entirely human in appearance~ standing
on the left ~ide of the road, It was 10:45 p.m. on October
18, 1954 and' she was on Route N437 near an old factory. As she qbserved the man, two small dwarf-like individuals crossed the road and joined the man. The three
then proceeded towards a bright red light emanating from
the nearby woods. Miss Bourriot became frightened and
left the area, but not before seeing a luminous craft moving upwards at. great speed. A search the following morning revealed small footprints and ground traces exactly
. where she had seen the object. (This report surfaced due
to the effons of Jacques Vallee.)
In a town near Miami, Florida, the owner of a SJruiI.l supermarket was closing for the evening when 'he noticed
a birge, dark UFO hovering low over a field ilt the rear
of his building."'
immediately called the police and
within minutes 'il cruiser airived. Two officers stepped out
and the owner hurriedly took them to the rear door where
au three meri clearly saw the object hovering less than fifty
feet over a nearby field. As they w~hed,'the object began
lowering' two large cylinders to the ground below. Both
cylinders landed and began splitting open and "dissolving" at the same time. One contained a large sedan. The
Other contained several men, dressed in business suits; carrying briefcases. Within minutes the two cylinders had
completely disappeared and the UFO had moved off into
the evening sky: The men got into the sedan and drove
off the field; onto'a nearby road, and away. The'police
officers refused to pursue the car, even after being
'. repeatedly urged to do so by the store owner. They told
him that they "hadn't seen a damn thing," returned to
their cruiser and drov~ away. (Reported. to me by a
newspaperman oidhe Miami Herald staff.).

He

r"

. ;

A securitY guard in Ne~ York City 'was on patrol.before

midnight when he noticed an UDl.lsual aircraft .which he
soon realized resem~led an uni~nQfi~ flying object or
flying saucer. As he watched, it seemed to stop. near his
position and ihen began to descend. Am8zed, he continued
to ob.serve as the UFO slowly came down to land in a
parking lot less than a hu~dred feet away. Just as it touched
down, two men about fo~r-feet tall, d~ssed in black
clothing, emerged from the shadows and proceeded to
board the craft.' As soon as they were inside, the UFO
iifted off and moved away into the city sky. The entire
incident had taken less than ten minutes. (Again, we may
thank John Keel for this report.)
Volume 22, No.1

In August of 1983 a high-school sc ience teacher received

a frantic call from a student and her mother telling him
of a UFO which was circling low over their neighborllood.
As the teacher lived less than half a mile away, he told '
them to keep an eye on it, got into his car and drove over.
As he drove the entire town suffered a power failure and
all street lights, commercial and residential lights went
out. It was shortly before 10:00 p.m. in this Connecticut
town and as he reached the house and exited his car, the
teacher also saw the UFO, slowly descending over a nearby drive-in theater. He began walking towards it and as
it landed he ducked behind a hedge. Almost immediately
the softly glowing, discoid object began to reascend and
when he looked again he noticed two people, a man and
a woman, walking out from where the object had touched down. He thought of approaching them, but instead
remained concealed and watched they exited the theater,
crossed the street and got into a nearby parked car. Before
he could react, they drove away. He stated that the ~ou
pie were entirely normal in appearance, in their mid-'
twenties and drove a light colored Volvo. (This report is
a result of my own investigation in 1984.)
These cases strongly imply that UFOs are vehicles used by
human-appearing agents who directly interact with our world,
who live among us and who we could easily know as friends
or casual acquaintances. The numbers of such individuals, their
capabilities and the types and levels of their activities are completely unknown. If they represent an organized, active and
powerful agency which is, in fact, successful in molding human
history, we must consider our present position in terms of what
it could mean on an interplanetary or even interstellar scale.
Within the next one or two decades, our planet will be well armed with weapons of immense power. Orbital lasers, particlebeam weapons, kinetic launchers, forcefield defenses, thermonuclear devices and spacecraft of enormous maneuverability will be in place and operational within these very few years.
Ostensibly designed and developed to prevent nuclear war, these
weapons could enable us to playa significant role in the defense
of our planet.
As seen in my article (PURSUIT, Whole #74) on "Intervention, " UFOs have clearly challenged our military and intelligence communities throughout the world. Our response t6
that challenge is to continue to develop weapons systems of
awesome power, planetary in scope. This response is precisely
the one elicited by UFO incursions into military arenas. Our
history throughout this century has put us exactly into the position where we are able to develop such systems. Why? What
use shall we have for these weapons? What's coming our way?

as

When both the United States and the Soviet Union have in
place fully developed SOl systems, what shall we have accomplished? Precisely this: We shall have the capability to in- '
tereept and destroy almost every object that approaches our
planetary surface, SOl will not stop a nuclear war. It is very
evident from recent events that to destroy the Soviet Union all
that is needed is a fleet of Cessnas, each canying a thermonuclear
device. If a single pilot of relatively little experience can fly
from Germany to Moscow and land in Red Square in broad
daylight, a fleet of Cessnas, painted black, flying at night and'
piloted by experienced military aviators could devastate the entire USSR (should it still be necessary). No SOl system could
stop such an effort. In the same sense, thirty to forty Soviet submarines could easily approach the US coast and discharge
numerous innocuous vans and muscular hitchhikers. The hitchhikers could walk right into smaller targets with low-yield
Volume 22, No. 1

back-pack nukes, while the vans could drive into the larger target
areas carrying many megaton weapons. It is quite clear that an
SDI system, no matter how efficient, could not stop a nuclear
war. It is also quite clear that an SOl system of mutually shared
capacity, developed and deployed by the Soviet Union and the
United States, could very effectively provide a solid defense
against large numbers of vehicles approachins our planet from
interplanetary space. It is a fact that we have offered to share
our SOl technology with the Soviet URion. It is a fact that the
Soviet Union is pushing research and development in this area
as feverishly as ourselves. It is a fact that both sides employ
military intelligence analysts who are well aware that SDI cannot stop a nuclear conflict. There is only one conclusion to be
reached in light of such facts. Star-Wars research proceeds for
other reasons.
Shortly after President Reagan first met with secretary Gorbachev, he was speaking in front of a group of students in
Fallston, Maryland. The following (AP) newsclip tells the story:
President Reagan revealed Wednesday that his discussions
with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev touched not only on
"Star Wars," but the extraterrestrial.
In an address to students at Fallston High School here,
Reagan departed from his prepared remarks to say that in
his private discussions with Gorbachev at last month's
Geneva summit, he noted that "we're all God's children."
"I couldn't help but say to him, just think how easy his
task and mine might be in these meetings that we held if suddenly there was a threat to this world from some other species
from another planet outside in the universe," Reagan said.
The president went on to say that such an event would force
himself and Gorbachev to "forget all the little local differences that we have between our countries" and they would
find out "that we really are all human beings here on this
Earth together."
"Well, I don't suppose we can wait for some alien race
to come down and threaten us," Reagan added. "But I think
that between us we can bring about that realization."
The president then ended his remarks, without giving his
young audience a clue as to how Gorbachev responded.
Without further elaboration, Reagan's statement throws considerable light on such things as the SOl program and recent
advances in disarmament. We are, at some levels, aware of the
situation and are taking steps to be prepared for the eventualities
of its nature.
There are numerous indicators that our nation, at executive,
military and national security levels, is well aware of much of
what is being presented here. This awareness, at least, extends
to the"very real possibility of approach to our planet of truly
inimical vehicles not of terrestrial origin. The student of the UFO
phenomenon can find evidence for this awareness throughout
the literature. It is most succinctly illustrated in the book entitled Clear Intent, by Barry Greenwood and Larry Fawcett. A
quick review of statements by officials of the United States
whose jobs place them at those levels will serve here to remind
us just how much we do know.
Truman" Administration:
On August 5,1948, a report was submitted to the Air Force
Chief of Staff, General Hoyt S. Vandenberg. The report had
been prepared by the ATIC (Air Technical Intelligence Com,mand) and represented th~ considered opinion of many highly
qualified Air Foree intelligence officers. Entitled Top Secret
Estimate of the Situation, this report $tated in no uncertain
terms that UFOs represent manufactured ve1licles of unknown
origin whose technical characteristics far surpass our most

Pursuit 31

. In the' late ~950s a MIg-17 (shown m. photo) piloted by Lt. Arkady

~~ w~o~ec! to intercept a UFO iD central Russia, several

I....~:;.:i.'... :.,.'~ .'fIlUiiilrechniles'rroiilMoscow.
The .interCepticin attem was'UD-

":. ,. . . . . "'( . .

!!~;;~;~~;!r,~i~'~:~"""
'~ ..~~i1pmi"landiilg
~
pt
. :.'.D~
Lt. ~~ was first questioliethnd
.
. then abnaJdlYtraDSre.Ted to a remote nillitary base ne8r the Chinese

border

advanced developments.
What is being presented here?Does this chapter truly represent
Eisenhower Administration:
~alities of our existence? Is our planet infiltrated with others,
Vice Admiral R.H. Hillenkoetter served as Com!1Ulnder of
I.e., others so advanced.that the great majorjty of us have no
Military Intelligence in the Pacific theater during World War
idea of their presence? Are we really being molded, used, pushed
II, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and Secretary
towards a destiny w~ only dimly pen:eive? The answer is, yes.
of the Navy. His statement on UFOs is clear and to the point:
The nature of that destiny becomes more clear as we move
"The Air Force has constantly misled the American public
toward it. We are numerically the most ferocious creatures on
about UFOs. I urge Congressional action to reduce the danger
the f~e of the Eal. We are engaged in a stupendous effort
from secrecy."
throughout the globe to develop advanced weapons - weapons
Kennedy Administration:
which are planetary in their scope. We are rapidly evolving inCol. Joseph Bryan, Special Assistant to the Secretary of the
to a military force of tremendous potential. Why? And, why
Air Fon:e, said:
are we moving in this direction? If we are being guided in our
"UFOs are interplanetary devices systematically observing
growth, why are we being guided along this path?
. We, as a'woqd, are needed by beings from adjacent worlds.
the Earth, either manned or remote controlled or both. Infonnation on UFOs has been officially withheld. This policy
Without defining the exact nature of that need, it can be said
is wrong and dangerous." ..
.
t~at it involves our readiness to fight, to defend ourselves, to
, .;. :"': ')qhns9n A,d.~ni.stqafiQn: "';:;~1l ;.~~ .~~;
~
~
s~d up and die, if !leed be, in the effort to preserve our sur, .......< :.: " .. Dr. ~ob~q H~. ~search.p.~Y~l:loI9gist for,tJte US Air ~on:e'
." ;'v~Val as'~ men'. 'This applieS"to the so-called still "unfree".
. . I!lld hea(i"of the})ePartme~t,"~f~iQJoiY.'~nlverSitY,?~ iI: 'ConimUnist nations as much as to the Western world. Each of
linois, said: "The greatest risk of panic' would come from
the naqons 'ofEai'th'demands the rightto choose its own destiny
a dramatic confrontation between the assumed 'visitors' and
and will fight to the death for that right. Because of this tremena collection of humans who were unprepared and who had
dous spirit i$erent in our civilization, our humanity, we have
been told their leaders did not believe such visitors existed. "
rapidly evolved into. a technically advanced world which is
Nixon Adminstration:
literally armed to the teeth. We have been helped in that evoluIt was during the Nixon administration that public and Contion. If we consider that the UFO agencies have been largely
gressional pressures resulted in the cOmmission of the Universuccessful in guiding and shaping our culture, then our present
sity of Colorado to do an independent scientific study of
and near-term technological and military capabilities may have
UFOs, resulting in the Condon Report. (Unfortlinately, the
been encouraged with a purpose in mind.
Condon Report proved to be little more than a convenient
Many Americans have and still do look to the UFO as a symexcuse to get the Air Fon:e out of the UFO business at a
bol of salvation. The truth is that the agents of our 'salvation,'
".
some of whom use UFOs, have been among us for many cenpublic level.)
Ford Administration:
turies. Their job has been most difficult. They have endeavored
Gerald Ford, as a Michigan Congressman, was instrumento bring us to th~ point where we might stand on our own feet
tal in bringing the UFO subject to Congressionai attention.
and meet the. universe on equal terms. Their job has been to
As President, he said very little about the' SUbject.
protect us until we are ready and to guide us in such a way as
Carter Administration:
to help us become useful survivors in this universe. Their job
Jimmy Carter, in his campaign for the presidency. assured
may have involved the cultivation of assassins and madmen and
the public that the UFO subject would not be ignored. He
the deliberate t:J1ovement of nations. into deadly conflict. It is
admitted that he himself had see.n a UFO at close range and.
only in the pursuit of those conflicts that we have evolved the
stated that he would "open the files" of government UFO
technology and the.will to fight for our survival. Our $trength
developed from the blood of men and women spilled in battle
resean:h. Once in office, he, too, became strangely silent on
the SUbject.
.
.
- in the' legacy of the .seemingly senseless wars fought
. ~eagan Administration: .: .
.' .'
..
throug~out our history. It is o.nly through those wars that we
.... ., .... Rea~an, known to.be an'astute.PQlitlCiM; never allowed the
. have evolved the weapons we now have. It is only -through the
.~ :' ~=-';' ~~'.; "1' UFb" ~.uhJe~t:t~ ~ ~ir~.<r
ex~~t(~~"I~v~.(\R~ag~~~Iai~(j' : r";':'::deaths"of mtm"aiiCf women' engaged .-in warfare'that we now stand
.. ":": . known' a.s the "g~t cdmlllunicato~"had.~ 'te~~ency to 'go ". . 'r~ady'to fight' and die for our Jreedom and survival. 'The agents
of ou~\~v~lution have do~e an .e~cellent job'. We sh~1I soon be
.... '." too far i~. many o~ ~i~ p~~lic ~titte~e~~s. 'IHis speech In .
. '" . " ... Fallston, Maryland ~s llIl.e~aropl~ ~f~s ~ndeqcy. ~ speakS
ready for"just about anythmg. It IS only a matter of lime before
volumes of his knowledge of the UFO situ~tion.
something'tnily alien comes our way.'
~

; ,;....,. .'.,:; ... ;'"

.;.

a'tthe

Pursuit 32

Volume 22, No. 1

SITUation

The 1908 Tunguska &plosion "Old Hypothesis, N~w Facts

Dozens of books have been written about the

mysterious incident which occurred on June 30,
1908 in the wild oudying part of the Russian
Empire, in the vicinity of the Tunguska River.
A number of research expeditions in the area
have explored the matter in the past years, while
in the meantime many disputes and arguments
have kept the minds of scientists busy all over
the world. There are more than a hundred official hypotheses, trying to explain the origin
"of this "miracle . The world news media has
dubbed the unknown phenomenon "the
Tunguska meteor.
Today, we want to tell our readers of a version advanced by a man who has devoted his
entire life to investigating the Tunguska meteor.
He is AlexanderKazantzev, a scientist and sci-Ii
author.
The Tunguska incident is a phenomellQn
whose significance has not yet been fully realized. If the explosion had occurred four hours
earlier, the city of St. Petersburg would have
been destroyed, for the trajectory of its flight
was exactly over the capital of the Russian Empire. If it had happened 44 years later, it could
easily have been taken for a nuclear attack, and
a nuclear war could have started. So there is
eve!), reason to investigate this phenomenon still
deeper.
In 1946, I suggested it was an extraterrestrial
spaceship which exploded over the taiga. I
received an organized rebuff from some scientists, but can there be any other explanation for
the loop-shaped trajectory of the meteor flight,
considering the fact that a stone falls on the
Earth directly? There is no doubt that the object was piloted. Years passed and more expeditions went to the taiga in search of new material
proof. A group was sent by Sergei Korolyov,
chief designer of Soviet space missiles, who
wanted to receive a piece of the "Martian
spaceship."
They finally found this piece 68 years after
the incident, thousands of kilometers away, on
the bank of the Vashka River in the Komi
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. This
was a place on the continued trajectory of the
object's flight. Two fishennen found an unusual
piece of metal on the bank of the river which,
when it was accidentally hit against a stone,
emitted a shaft of sparks. This made the pe0ple send it to the capital. I held in my hands
this piece of metal of a silvery color, which
weighed one and a half kilograms. The scientists divided it into three parts and sent them
to tIu-ee different research institutes to be analyzed. As it turned out, this unusual alloy contained
about 67 percent of cerium, 10 percent of lanthanum, separated from all lanthanide metals,
which has proved impossible under terrestrial
conditions, and 8 percent of neodymium. The
find also showed 0.4 percent of ideally pure
iron, without any oxides. I shall not go further
into any technical details. I will only say that
the scientists were unanimous: It was impossible to get such a rare alloy of metals even with
using up-to-date knowledge.

Volume 22, No. 1

There was also one more curious detail: the

content of rare metals in the layers of peat and
ground where the explosion occurred is 600
times greater thali in any other place on Earth.
The following question suggests itself: Why
was a whole piece found thousands of
kilometers away, while there is only peat dust
on the site of the explosion? Where are the rest?
The expeditions carefully investigated the
vicinity, but found nothing. Perbaps, this explained the irritation on the part of the world
of science: if there is nothing, that's that. What
if there were no remnants at all? Supposing the
explosion was "self-destructive," that is, when
nothing but dust remains. There is an analogy
with modem high-temperature ovens for burning highly toxic waste. However, the metal
piece from Vashka still remains. The press
spoke about the find made in 1976, only five
years later. Here is the commentary by Valery
Fomenko, M. Sc. (Technology) and member
of the Commission on Anomalous Phenomena:
"When they studied the fragment in its original
shape, they concluded that it was part of a detail
in the form of a ring, a cylinder or a spherically shaped object with a diameter of around 1.2
meters. Experts claim that no equiprnentexists
capable of shaping details of such size under
the pressure of dozens of thousands of atmospheres. "
What kind of a component was it? What was
its function? Let's continue: "It can be assumed that it played the role of an additive for an
unknown kind of fuel. There is also another version connected with the unusual properties of
the alloy: It differs by more than 15 times in
different directions from the fragment. " [compass needle deflection? - Ed.] Perbaps, this
was part of a depository in the magnetic field
of matter and anti-matter, which served as fuel
for the spaceship? There may be another, also
interesting hypothes!s that the unusual
metal/magnet was part of an antigravitation
generator - the economical transportation
means of the future, like sci-fi authors predicted.
What if this is a meteorife, of all things? The
skeptics may ask. "No matter how alluring this
conjecture may seem, we have to reject it
because the content of rare elements in
meteorites does not differ from terrestrial matter. I shall say more: Even theoretically,
meteorites composed of pure rare metals cannot exist," Valery Fomenko concluded.
Well, what were the results of the investigation of the fragment from the Vashka? There
were none. We could not f"md ways of getting
alloys of this kind and the most important thing
- their purpose. This is a highly unrewarding
job "like knocking in nails" with a transistor. "
Therefore, the three fragments were stashed
away on the shelves of the storehouses, the
world of science stopped wondering and was
reasonably silent, while the enthusiasts continued their quest.
In 1967, John Bigbue, an astronomer from
California and expert in the Earth's man-made
satellites discovered ten small "moons" with

strange trajectories. Generally speaking, there

was nothing unusual about the discovery if the
American had not calculated the trajectories
retrospectively, which led him to the conclusion, that before December 18, 1955 all these
Earth's satellites constituted one body. The date
coincides with a flash in the sky, registered by
astronomers. The Soviet scientist Sergei
Bozhich advanced a conjecture that a spaceship
from another planet exploded in near-Earth
orbit.
A legitimate question arises in this connection: Hadn't anyone observed the strange body
through a telescope beflt.-e 19551 Sometimes on
a clear day we can see artificial satellites with
the naked eye. The observation of the "moons"
close to the Earth started later. The first satellite
was launched only two years later, continued
Alexander Kazantzev. But this is not that important, for the object could have emerged to
the site of the explosion from a different, higher
orbit. if the mysterious cosmic body was a
spaceship, it would be quite legitimate to suppose that it was black, consuming all the light
energy, which was used, with the help of thermoelements and not photoelement solar batteries, like the ones we use now. In this case
we would see only fragments of a spaceship
after the explosion, when they turned their noncolored side earthwards. This brings to mind
the famous satellite called "The Black Prince, ,.
which was mentioned by the American
astronomer Jacques Vallee in our joint article.
When my opponents on the Tunguska explosion claimed that the spaceship was not supposed to descend to the ~'s surface, they were
right, because only the landing module exploded
on the Tunguska River. The spaceship remained in orbit and waited 47 years for the reconnaissance module to return. While it was
waiting, it lost altitude until its mechanisms
broke down and there was an explosion. It can
be supposed that the computers' memory held
the idea that a spaceship falling down on an inhabited planet, may bring death and destruction
to its residents. We can only "guess why the
module exploded. Perilaps, its masters could not
cope with the controls under our atmospheric
conditions. Anything is possible.
The ten fragments of the spaceship which
continue orbiting the Earth, will elucidate many
things in the future, which may be connected
with the Tunguska catastrophe. They are quite
real, we can touch them with our hands. The
biggest of them is several dozen meters in
length. When we see it, we shall be able to learn
the purpose of the strange detail from the
Vashka River and many other things. We must
and we can find the terrestrial explanation for
events which happened on the Tunguska River
80 years ago.
SOURCE: Alexei Brozenko, Culture and
Life (USSR) Dec. 1988
CREDrr: Member #432
In"
""uPcoming PUllsurr issue Dr.
Vladimir Rubtsov of Khukov will better detail
this Vashka object and two other artifacts.

an

Pursuit 33

An Update on the Kecksbarg, Pa.

UFO Crash IRetrieval Case
by Stan Gonion

In my original article "The Military UFO Retrieval at Kecksburg,

Pennsylvania" (See PURSUITvol. 20 No.4), I covered the basic
history of this little known, apparent crash of an unidentified aerial
object in a wooded area in Southwestern Pennsylvania in 1965. Since
the publication of that report, our continuing efforts to find more
facts of the case have revealed important new details. Besides myself,
two other individuals have been most helpful in tracking down
government documents releated to this event. They are Robert G.
Todd, a well-known researcher il)to FOIA UFO documents, and
John Micklow, who is our (PASU's) Field Investigations Director,
a retired police office, and a former military intelligence officer.
Another Crash Witness!
From information we have received over the years from various
sources, we have always feltthatthere are other witnesses who had
seen the crashed object imbedded in the ground prior to the arrival
of military personnel at the impact site. Our belief is that several
civil ians as well as law enforcement authorities had the opportunity to look at the object. Except for telling their stories to a few close
friends, they have kept the secret of what they saw to themselves.
In September of 1988, we received a lead to another possible
witness of the crashed object. This tip payed off, and we soon began
to conduct interviews with a local resident who has given us supporting evidence to the object described by Pete (pseudonym for
the fireman in the first report). Jack, a pseudonym for the actual
witness, lived about a mile from the crash site at the time of the
occurrence. "Jack" had been listening to the radio, and had just
heard the report that possibly something had crashed in his area.
He drove up the road to the highest lookout point. This road is now
called Meteor Road, since it was this track that was jammed with
cars from the public during the night of the search in 1%5. When
he got to the hilltop, he looked down to the wooded area below
and saw a. group of about 10 people standing around and pointing
to something. Curious, he walked down the steep bank to see what
was so interesting. When he arrived at the spot, he 'noticed a series
oftrees had been knocked down, and about 20 feet away from him
and the group of onlookers was a strange object semi-buded in the
ground ..
It was (nearly) dark and Jack used his high-beam flashlight to
explore the device. His basic description is quite similar to that
described by Pete. But Jack claims that at the time he saw it, bright
blue sparks "I ike a welders torch" were coming from it. This sparking kept up for some time, but seemed to be almost SlOPped just
before he and the other left the site. The object made no sound,
but the observers were hesitant to approach it any closer. The people talked among themsel~ as to what the strange object was. There
were no homes in the area, and apparently none of these people
(we don't know their identities) ever officially called this report
in to the police. Jack's report of the blue sparks now brings up the
possibility that some of the reports of a blue light in the woods during the early evening hours, may not at all be dismissed as the prank
we had discussed before.
It also has to be pointed out that apparently Jack and the others
got to the site before Pete, the other members of the search team,
or the military did. Jack came in from the opposite side from where
the state police had initially entered, and Pete also came into ~he
area from a different direction. Jack mentioned that as they were
moving out of the area, they saw distant lights in the woods, and

Pursuit 34

~me of the people commented that whoever came out of the ob. ject was walking away, but it- was more likely, indeed, that they
were seeing the search parties beginning to arrive at the location.
Jack now makes the third person to independently take us down
to the wooded area, and direct us to the exact spot where we believe
the object was imbedded. One ofthe family members whose home
was taken over as a command .post by the military during the night
of the crash, recounted how the military trucks came down h,s road,
and int~ his field. The military cut their fence line sothatthey could
dri ve down close to the edge of the woods, not far from the crash
location, After the military pulled out of the area late the next day,
some of the family members went down into the woods to look
around. They found deep drag marks in the ground leading up from
the impact spot to the edge of the woods, which indiciated that the
military had winched the o~iect to remove it and loaded it on a truck.
Object Not Russian Satellite
I had written tHat tht; Air Force report on the Kecksburg UFO
indicated that that no space debris was expected on the date and
time of the incident. I quote from the report "Major Quintanilla
called SPADATS, and they knew of no space junk entering the atmosphere today." Yet over the years we had information that a Russian Satellite, designated as COSMOS 96, may have re-entered the
Earth's atmosphere on that date, and could possibly be a source
for the report.
For many years we tried to obtain a status from our government
on COSMOS %. FOIA requests were sent to the Air Force, NASA,
the Department of State, and NORAD, none of which would take
time to provide this information for us. Even NASA's Satellite Situation Report seemed to show conflicting information in regard to
COSMOS 96. Finally a January 5, 1989 response from the U:.S.
Space Command to John Micklow provided the information we
had been looking for.
According to the report "COSMOS 96 re-entered December 9,
1965 at 0818 GMT in the vicinity of 51.8 degrees North latitude;
274.8 degrees East longitude." This data appears to rule out
COSMOS 96 as the source of the Kecksburg UFO since it reentered
in the area of North Central Canada at 3:18 a.m. local time. The
fireball related to the Kecksburg event occurred at 4:44 p.m., or
more' than twelve hours later.
More on Project Moondust
It is of interest .to note. in the letter from the U.S. Space Command, this comment. "It is unusual for an object to survive reentry.
If in fact it does, and it is recovered, it is referred to the Foreign
Technologies Division at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio." Robert G.
'Todd's research into Project Moondust had indicated that the Foreign
Technologies Division of the Air Force, NASA and the U.S. State
Department, were all involved in one as~t or another with this
project. As I reViewed in our first report on the Kecksburg crash,
Todd had obtained an Air Force intelligence document under FOIA
which states the following. "Peacetime employment of AFCIN intelligence team capability is provided for in UFO investigation (AFR
200-2) and in support of Air Force systems command (AFSC)
Foreign Technology Division(FTD) Projects Moondust and Blue
Fly. These thrt:e peacetime projects all involve a potential for
employment of qualified field intelligence personnel on a quick reaction basis to recover or perforni field exploitation of
Unidentified Flying Objects. or known Soviet/Block aerospace

Volume 22. No.1

;-.;~.~JO..L""::~;io:
:.

....

.".

. : , . -..

,".",,, .' . , . '

~~ ~

'.

to

......

,---

'1 \

.. ;..--- ... ~ ........:':.:. .~.)r::....,/

.... ':~""

--" -'

......

".

The UFO crash site at Kec:ksburg, Penosylvania.

vehicles, weapons systems, and/or residual components of such

equipment."
In the past, colleagues and myself had filed FOIA requests with
FTD at Wright Patterson AFB for information on Project Moondust and the Kecksburg affair. No useful information was ever
received by us. After receiving me January 1989 letter from Space
Command ,. Micklow approached FTD concerning the object taken
from me site, and he received a most interesting response from FTD
unlike the typical turn-down letters common to FOIA requests in
recent years. The January 27. 1989 response states, "We are unable
to act upon your request because the information you seek is not
included within the definition of an agency record which is defined
as the product(s) of data compilation, regardless of physical form
or characteristics, made or received by the Air Force in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved by the
Air Force primarily as evidence of the organization, policies, functions, decisions, or procedures of the Air Force." FTD in the past
has claimed no knowledge of Project Moondust, while documents
obtained from me Defense Intelligence Agency clearly show that
FTD was on me distribution list for reports under this project. Todd's
records show that both Project Moondust and Project Bluebook
(UFO investigations) were FTD projects. In recent years there has
been much speculation that Moondust was still active in UFO
retrieval operations. but no evidence of this came forth until Todd
pressured the Air Force for an answer as to the status of Moondust. A July I, 1987 response to Todd. from Colonel Phillip E.
Thompson, Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff of Air Force Intelligence
states, "The nickname Project Moondust no longer exists officially. It has been replaced by another name which is not releasable.
FTD's duties are listed in a classified passage in a classified regulation that is being withheld because it is currently and properly
classified, and the authority for withholding is 5 U.S.c. 552 b(l)
and AFR 12-30, para lOa."
Todd, as well as myself, is quite convinced that the Kecksburg
UFO retrieval was carried out under a Moondust operation. My
impression is that certain elements of the 662nd Radar Squadron
were trained and prepared to respond very quickly to incidents of
this nature and did so at Kecksburg.
Months later, we located a former radar operator who was assign-

Volume 22, No. 1

The Kec:ksbarg fireball allegedly used by military.

ed to me 662nd Radar Squadron in 1965, but who unfortunately

was.transferred to anomer unit several months before the Kecksburg
affair. In subsequent interviews with this individual, we learned
a lot about the unit and it's involvement with UFO cases. This officer had a secret clearance, and there is certain information he
~as ~nable to reveal to us. As we describe these events please keep
In mind that NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense
Command, sta~ that they have never investigated UFO cases. yet
documents obtained under FOIA clearly show that such is not the
case. From documents obtained, we learned that the main functio.n of the .662nd Radar Squadron was to provide search, SIF,
height-finding radar data and data link, and voice air/ground radio
communications to the direction center, i.e. the Detroit Air Defense
Sector during Mode I and Mode II operations, and to operate as
a NORAD Surveillance Site in Mode III operation.
The former officer revealed the following information on the
662nd Radar Squadron: The primary objective of this squadron
was to provide input radar data for the Northeast quadrant of the
country to the NORAD network. They had direct input radar
coverage of the area. They had direct links with NORAD via
telephone, and omer communications links and their <;ontrol center.
Th~ often parti~ipa~edin drills with NORAD. The unit quite often
receIved UFO SIghting reports from the public, and would follow
the basic procedure of, first, contacting the local civilian
authorities, such as flight centers and airports to determine (if at
all possible) if the object could be an aircraft.
. Sec?nd, ifthis could not be confirmed, or if the size. speed and
dIrectIon of the object in question did not conform to an aircraft
they would follow procedures set up by NORAD to tum controi
?fme radar inform~tion directly over to meir Control Center (which
IS out of state). ThIS was accomplished by utilizing certain buttons
on their console, which would then directly link their radar to Control Center. Once this was accomplished, the local operator had
no control of his console. Once control was turned over, the Oakdale
radar unit had no participation in determining the status of the UFO
or in ~owing what action was taken, such as scrambling interceptor aIrcraft.
If fi~hters. were scrambled, they were usually dispatched from
bases In OhIO or New York. And, third, when a UFO would be
recorded by radar and observed, a written report was made by the
Pursuit 35

radar operdtor and watch commander. These reports would then

be forwarded to their control center and NORAD. These incidents
at times seemed to become almost a daily occurrence, and the
operators became so used to them that they would treat them as
routine sightings, but reporting procedures were still followed. The
officer stated "Some of them. the UFO's, would be unlike anything
that was flying atthe time. The speed of some of them was incredible. and simply would sometimes just vanish from the screen in
a second. No airplanes were capable of doing this."
The squadron was a 24-hour. 7-day week operation. The radar
station was always manned, and personnel there had high security
clearances. This officer had a secret clearance, other officers had
higher security clearances. It was not unusual that. when a UFO
was observed, tracked and procedures followed, the radar operator
originally spotting it on radar did not know what conclusion had
been reached as the Control Center would take charge, and the information was on a "need-to-know" basis only. But one thing was
certain, all UFO data from the squadron had direct input to
NORAD.
One aspect of the crash in the Kecksburg area, to those who have
examined the data. is the apparent slow speed and controlled trajectory of the object as it made its descent toward the impact site.
When looking over the terrain of that general area', it looks as though
the object knew where it wanted to go, selecting the deepest section of a wooded area, over miles of surrounding open fields.
The hundreds of onlookers to the military operation that night
in December of 1965, could only see lights from the ~earchers in
the distant woods. The actual impact site was basically in a hollow
of the woods surrounded by hills and fields. Unless you were at
the spot where the retrieval operation was taking place, you would
have no idea as to what was really occu.rring.

Brilliant Fireball Seen Over Pennsylvania

A brilliant fireball flashed across the sky over Lake Erie near
dusk, and particles of the unidentified object apparently were
the cause of fires at scattered points in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The bright flash was seen in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and
Pennsylvania.
Some small grass fires broke out in a wooded area at the west
edge of Elyria, about 20 miles west of Cleveland. A small fire
in woods just outside Kecksburg, near Mt. Pleasant, in
southwest Pennsylvania, also was under investigation.

10 Fires Reported
At Elyria, the fire department said there were about 10 fires
in an area of about 1.000 square feet. Lt. Jack Trumbull said
the pattern led him to believe they could have been touched off
by a fireball or meteorite which shattered as it hit the ground.
The fires were extinguished quickly and there was no major
damage.
Mrs. Ralph Richards, who lives nearby, said she saw a fiery
object fall among the trees shortly before the fires erupted. She
said it was of volleyball size.
In Pennsylvania, where st~te police had been swamped with
calls about the "burst of light" seen late in the day, Air Force
investigators headed for the fire.
Maj. Hector Quintinella, in charge of the Air Force's office
at Wright Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio, for investigating
unidentified flying objects, said a team had been dispatched from
the Pittsburgh area.
Erie, Pa., residents. far to the north of Kecksburg, reported
seeing a flash of light followed by a bright trail of "smoke ...
Federal Aviation Agency spokesmen there said it was probably
a meteor ...
Source: (AP) Dec. 9, 1965
Pursuit 36

The Air Force report on the Kecksburg UFO incident indicated

that various government agencies wanted to know more about the
object in Pennsylvania. Among these inquiries was one from Mr.
IL. Bourassa. Chief Special Facilities Division. OEP, Code Blue
Grass. Further research has revealed that Mr. Bourassa was the
. chainnan of the Federal Agency Representatives Meeting of the
Special Facilities Branch of the Office of Emergency Planning
(OEP) and Chief of the Special Facilities Branch from 1964 to 1968.
Todd has furnished this information relative to OEP. The Office
of Emergency Preparedness was set up in the Executive Office of
the President by an act of October 21, 1968 (82 Stat. 1194). as the
successor to the Office of Emergency Planning, which in turn had
been set up by an act of September 22, 1961 (15 Stat. 630) as the
successor to a series of agencies on emergency management dating
back to the Korean War period. The Office of Emergency
Preparedness (OEP) had the function ofadvising and assisting the
President in policy determination and coordination of emergency

preparedness activities.
So, possibly information on the Kecksburg UFO crash went
directly to the White House. There is no doubt that the military
was greatly interested in whatever crashed in the woods, and to
this day the veil of secrecy remains.
We continue at this time to pursue other sources of information
on the case. \\\: know that people exist who have infonnation relative
to the December 9, 1965 UFO crash/retrieval operation at
Kecksburg, Pa. If you have any knowledge relative to this event,
please contact us. Our policy is to keep identities of informants confidential.
For inquiries: Stan Gordon. Director of Operations
PASU, 6 Oakhill Ave. Greensburg, Pa. 15601
24 hr. Pa. UFO Hotline - 412-838-7768.

'Flying Object'

+ Search = Zero

State police in Greensburg Friday "officially closed" the Investigation of a reported unidentified flying object landing in a
wooded area near Kecksburg.
Capt. Joseph Dussia, commander of the Troop A headquarters.
said "we officially closed the investigation. We're satisfied it was
a meteor:.' which, from all indications, disintegrated before it reached the earth.
Dussia said a team of investigators, he~ded by State Police Fire
Marshall Carl Metz, found "absolutely nothing whatsoever (and)
no marks to indicate anything" after scouring the area in question
with geiger counters and other equipment all day Friday.
The search was touched off shortly after thousands of persons
in the Eastern United States and Canada reported seeing a fireball
streak across the sky.
Astronomers and U.S. Force officials said Friday the fireball was
probably a Geminid meteor from the constellation of Gemini, which
probably burned up in the earth's atmosphere.
.
A shower of meteors from the Gerriini constellation had been .
expected Friday, an astronomer said.
But Mrs. Arnold Kalp pf Acme RD I, said her son Nevin, 8,
saw an object plunge to the ground in the woods near their home
in Pleasant Township Thursday afternoon.
Mrs. Kalp told authorities she herself did not see the object but
said she did see smoke coming from the section of woods in which
it was supposed to have landed.
A long search by state police, military authorities and other
volunteers, however, failed to produce any evidence of any object
landing i,n the area.

Source: Tribune-Review Greensburg, PA Dec II, 1965

Volume 22, No. 1

DaDlDed by the Thought Police

An Anthropologist Confronts UFO Abductions
by

TOlD

The Beyond Self feature in the April '89 issue of Psychology

Today offers a particularly grating diatribe by anthropologist
and UFO skeptic Elizabeth Bird. In this feature (Invasion of
the Mind Snatchers), Bird manages to explain away all cases of
alleged UFO abduction as only the simple by-product of
confabulation.
Like many other skeptical seers wishing to save the world
from pseudoscience (usually in favor of their own personal brand
of pseudoscience), Bird displays an expected, yet regrettable,
knee-jerk bias against both the UFO experience and UFO proponents who advocate the legitimacy of the subject's study. She
begins her attack by attributing Whitley Strieber's Communion
experiences to the "New Age climate of the '80s. " Setting up
a strawman that portrays Strieber as some sort of flaky,
California-style guru is a cheap tar-and-feathers approach that
does much to discredit Bird's objectivity from the outset.
Bird proceeds with her argument-by-innuendo by attempting to
taint the credibility of Strieber, Budd Hopkins, and all other
UFO investigators willing to listen to the traumatized personal
accounts of alleged abduction victims, by negatively stereotyping them as "UFO buffs." Those unfamiliar with such trench
warfare tactics should recognize that the invocation of the term
"UFO buff" is a standard-issue weapon relished by members
of the vocal anti-UFO lobby. It is a gambit used frequently and
deliberately to suggest that only the uneducated and gullible have
any interest in the UFO controversy. Its repeated use tries to
mask the existence of the many PhDs, ScDs, MDs, and all of
the other members of the acronymed professions, who are involved in the study of the UFO mystery.
While cavalierly denouncing all UFO abductions, all close
encounters and all UFO sightings as well, Bird amply
demonstrates an ignorance of the facts associated with the UFO
phenomenon, her penchant for stereotyping, grotesque oversimplification, and lastly, outright delusion. For example, while
trying to convince readers of her familiarity with the
characteristics of UFO abduction scenarios, Bird informs
Psychology Today readers that "the aliens are almost humanoid,
two-eyed and gray, white or green." Green? Green? I don't
presume to know whatlatenightTV programming Elizabeth Bird
favors, but it would seem to be of the early '50s science-fiction
variety. As for myself, I am completely unaware of any significant number of UFO abduction accounts or close encounter
reports that describe aliens having either green skin or wearing
green garments. If Bird really did know anything about the contents of the UFO sighting report database, amassed over the
course of the past 40 years, she would not have made such a
preposterous claim.
Bird continues her exercise in oversimplification by stating
that alien vehicles are invariably saucer-shaped. In this statement she again appears to be dipping into her latenight TV encyclopedia of UFO "facts." While UFOs have frequently been
reported as being elliptical in shape, there is also a quite sizable
percentage of unidentified objects described as spherical or hatshaped, and in recent years, a preponderance of triangular,
boomerang, and chevron-shaped objects have been reported
throughout the United States.
When comparing today's UFO phenomenon to the witch trials
and persecutions of the early American era, Bird informs
Volume 22, No. 1

Barch
Psychology Today readers that twentieth century counterparts
talk of flying in UFOs, being subject to medical tests and being
raped by "lustful" ETs. Lustful? Lustful? As far as I know,
this attribute has not once been reported by even a single alleged abduction victim. Antonio Villas Boas, allegedly abducted
from a Brazilian field in October 1957, claimed that he had been
"seduced" by a remarkably human-looking female alien.
However, Villas Boas described the female alien's successful
attempts to arouse him to erection as being "purposeful," not
lustful. With this as the possible exception, there is simply no
mention whatsoever of lust being either an alien emotion or a
motive for their alleged human reproductive experiments. Here
again, Bird's deluded depiction of the facts reduces her credibility to near zero in the eyes of those who know what has really
been reported.
An anthropologist whose total UFO knowledge base seems to
have come solely from trade journals and old grade-B movies,
Bird also seems comfortable in appointing herself as the
spokesperson for the entire psychological community. In this
capacity, she states, "most psychologists agree that such (abduction) tales spring not from the alien world of extraterrestrials
but from the dark interior world of the human psyche;" Later,
like a third-world dictator, Bird arrogantly broadens the scope
of her self-proclaimed authority by stating, without clarification or reference, that "Psychologists and other researchers
generally agree that abduction evidence produced by ufologists
is flimsy at best and fraudulent at worst."
To this bit of arrogant pontification I can only say "Whoa,
Ms. Bird, whoa!" I would very much like to see the statistics
that verify this sweeping claim and indictment. And if Bird could
produce such statistics, which I seriously doubt, would these
statistics represent truly informed, objective conclusions? Or
would they reflect only the nay saying opinions of closed,
egocentric minds? And in regard to the opinions ofthese "other
researchers," for whom Bird speaks so brazenly, just who
are they? Where do they come from? What fields of expertise
do they represent? And what knowledge do these unidentified
and mysterious "other researchers" possess on the subject? If
Bird's command of the facts is in any way representative of the
UFO literacy level of anthropologists and psychologists as a
whole, it would seem advisable for them all to shred their
business cards, tear down their shingles, and go back to the
schoolhouse.
Furthermore,just because most psychologistsmightagreethat
abduction tales "spring from the psyche," such an agreement
provides absolutely no convincing argument that this conclusion is correct. Regarding what psychologists might agree on,
Bird should take note of the old adage that says, "Opinions are
like noses, everybody has one. " Why should psychologists, who
collectively show little interest in (or knowledge of) UFOs, have
an opinion that counts for very much in the eyes of society?
Decades ago-, back in the late 1940s and the early 1950s, when
sightingsofUFOs and "flying saucers" were first being reported,
psychologists were fond of telling us that UFOs were the result
of postwar nerves and mass hysteria. Those who troubled
themselves to check the facts found that these unqualified, reflex
explanations were pure, unadulterated drivel. The same is true
of Elizabeth Bird's armchair pronouncements today.
Pursuit 37

I guess what really bothers me about Bird' s criticism of UFO

abduction reports is her desire to be taken seriously on a subject about which she obviously knows so little. She damns Budd
Hopkins' efforts in dealing with UFO abdtictees. But she and
the vast majority of her fellow psychologists and anthropologists
refuse to step out from behind their lecterns to deal with abductees on a person-to-person basis. Now, in truth, Budd Hopkins
has very little in the way of a certified, professional background
that qualifies him to work with abduction victims. He is not a
psychologist, nor is he a scientist of any kind. Hopkins is a professional artist by trade. Budd has little to offer abduction victhns except a caring heart and a'willingness to try and help.
These might not be sufficient credentials to please such a social
scientist as Ms. Bird, but they seem to be enough for abduction
victims. After all, it's all they've got.
Perhaps my greatest frustration with Bird' s simplistic annchair explanation of UFOs and the UFO abduction enigma is
my layman's inability to persuasively debate her in her own
language. However, I do have one advantage over Ms. Bird.
I possess an absolute certainty that somewhere out there, right
at this moment, there are psychologists and, yes, even anthropologists, who have had their very own, first-person abduction experiences. They are psychologists and anthropologists
who, after tortuous self analysis and secretive consultations with
only the most trusted of their fellow p.sychologists, are positively
convinced that their personal experiences are not explainable in
scientific terms. Once these individuals have gathered up sufficient courage that will be needed to withstand the ridicule and

Frank Bucldand by

Ronal~

Rosenblatt

Francis "Frank" Trevelyan Buckland. (1826-1880), was one of

Victorian England's most colorful and eccentric naturalists.
Educated at Oxford, and a physician by training, Buckland served
in the British Army, but is remembered today for a series of articles he wrote for the British press, the Curiousities of Natural
History. Buckland was in the habit of bringing all sorts of strange
animals to live with him in his London home, and he was also
famous for trying to eat anything, in the hope of expanding the
horizons of the British cook.
The Curiousities. bearing such essay titles as "Hunt in a Horse
Pond." "My Monkey Jacko," and, "Robinson Crusoe at Portsmouth," still make entertaining reading. They tell us much about
attitudes towards animals in Victorian times when behavior. which
we would now regard as cruel, was commonplace. Buckland was
not a cruel man, and he genuinely loved animals. yet he casually
describes cutting off the tail ofa live monkey in order to "improve"
its appearance.
In the essay, "Hunt in a Horse Pond," Buckland touches on two
subjects familiar to Forteans. namely, frog falls, and toads entombed
alive in rocks.
Writing about the subjectoffrogs in general, Buckland mentions
the belief that frogs may find their way into the "... regions of the
air above the world. thence suddenly to descend, to the astonishment of rustics, and to the delight of those profound philosop\:ters,
newspaper naturalists,"
Buckland admits that "frog showers" may seem to occur, but
he is not to be fooled: "The actual fact, that considerable spaces
of ground have been suddenly covered with numerous small frogs.
where there were no frogs before, has been proved beyond ~
doubt ... but with Mrs. Siddons, we will exclaim, 'How gat they
there?' Simply as follows: - the animals had been hatched, and
quitted their tadpole state and their pond at the same time, days
before they became visible to, or rather observed by, mortal eyes.
Finding it unpleasant in the hot, parched fields, and also running

Pursuit 38

vilification of their peers, they will use the language of

psychology to refute Elizabeth Bird' s narrow-minded theories.,
In March 1968, while addressing the American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, atmospheric physicist James MacDonald issued a warning to members of the scientific community. Dr. MacDonald said to his fellow scientists:
, 'Our collective failure tei eXamine the scientific aspects
of the UFO problem will, I fear, be held against the scientific ,community when the ,full dimension of the UFO
evidence comes to be recognized. The sooner we take a
serious stance and confro'nt the UFO question with adequate scientific talent and staffing, the less embarrassing
will be the ultimate admission that we have been overlooking a problem of potentially enormous scientific impor'
'tance to all humanity."
Although Dr. MacDonald's warning was issued to a forum
of physical scientists, it was meant for all scientists. Those that
would permit anthropologist Elizabeth Bird to speak. for the
social sciences should also heed this warning. The failure of
psychology to confront the rising number of UFO abduction accounts with little more than cosmetic examinations and the
results of inhouse opinion surveys is truly an embarrassment
to a field of endeavor claiming to be a science. If it continues
in its patronizing treatment of abductee claims and those that
investigate them, history will come to regard the field of
psychology with the same contempt that Elizabeth Bird shows
for the J;tlew Age movement of today. And such contempt would
~
be justified.
a great chance of being then and there dried up by the heat of the
sun. they wisely retreated to the coldest and dampest places they
could find, namely, under clods and stones, where on account of
their dusky colour, they escaped notice. Down comes the rain, out
come the trogs, pleased with the chance. Forthwith appears an article in the country paper; ,the good folks flock toseethephenomenon." [See Fort Notes this issue (Feb. 1859-p. 46) - Ed.]
Thus, does Buckland dispo~ of the mystery of frog falls, an event
to which Charles Fort devoted much attention. Much in the manner of contemporary UFO ~ebunkers. Buckland heaps scorn on
the testimony of "rustics," implying that th~y are all stupid, and
not to be relied upon when they report strange events. The possibility
that country folk might know more about things that happen in the
country:than city dwellers apparently never occurred to Buckland.
Buckland's explanation, hmvever, leaves much unaccounted for.
What of cases where the frogs have appeared after a rainstorm on
the streets ofa town or city? Were the frogs "hiding" on the streets?
What of the cases where the frogs have been found on roof tops
after a rain? Why do mostly small frogs appear, rather than frogs
of different sizes? And what of those cases where the frogs are of
a species not known in the area, as in the instance of the small pink
frogs that fell recently in England?
Th,e ~ct that Buckland was a good friend of Professor Richard
Owen may account for his attitude. Owen was the self-proclaimed
enemy of the sea serpent and iill other zoological mysteries, which
he dismissed contemptuously as rubbish. Buckland's simplistic explanation of frog falls was just the sort of thinking that would have
been toOwen's taste.lt is rather interesting that although'Buckland
was a sOrt of Fortean character himself, living with monkeys and
foxes, e~ting all sorts of strange foods, he had no tolerance for Fortean mysteries', and preferred to "debunk" them with silly "explanations." This was a loss, for Buckland, with his'extensive knowledge
of animals and natural history, might have been able to make worthwhile contributions to the literature of cryptozoological and Fortean my~teries, had h~ been so inclined.

Volume 22, No. 1

Books Reviewed
THE GODS OF EDEN, by William Bramley, Dahlin Family
Press (5339 Prospect Road -300, San Jose, CA 95129-5020),
1989,535 pp., iIIus., $23.95
Reviewed by Robert Barrow
Actually, the long, long delayed release I was expecting from this
publisher would be entitled The Conrad Chronicle; that one never
showed up, but they sent this along instead, and it is apparent that
their energies were concentrated on Bramley's work at this point.
Gods is a scholarly written volume, more intent on making us
think than in convincing us of anything with brick wall fortitude.
The immediately given factor here is that UFOs have always been
with us, and the author sets out to explain their influence in terms
of historical wars and suffering, infamous eras of disease, and even
their relation to the world's political arena.
Concluding that UFOs have an extraterrestrial basis, Bramley
warns that apparently "it is the human race that must teach the extraterrestrial race compassion, and not vice versa .. .lt would appear that the only 'angels' and 'Space Brothers' available to you
are you and your "very down-to-Earth neighbors."
The volume boasts a great deal of well-researched material to
wade through, but most of it is provocatively displayed. Bramley
has a knack of exploring history, religion and current events and
combining them into something thoughtful, whether the reader
agrees with his beliefs or not. After all is laid out, however, his
theme might best be summed up when he at last suggests, "If Earth
is indeed owned by an oppressive extraterrestrial society, then there
must somewhere exist communication lines between human beings and the Custodial society... face-to-face contact between
humans and Custodians." Owned by? Shades of we-are-property
Charles Fort, but in a more serious vein?
I don't know. Conspiracy theory books are usually a turn-offfor
me these days, but Bramley's is something a little more, and certainly not unworthy of attention. Besides, as the publisher proudly
admits, the volume was published with acid-free paper; so, if you
don't get a chance to read it all right now, it will obviously be intact
in your library a few years down the road.
DISNEYLAND OF THE GODS, by John Keel, Amok Press,
New York, 1988, paper, 174 pp., $8.95
Reviewed by Daryl Collins
Is this Disneyland worth the price of admission?
"
A new book by John Keel? The very thought set my mouth to
watering, as I recalled his awesome masterpieces of the 70s, filled
with first-hand field investigations, and spiced with outrageous insights that no one else had even dared to imagine. But my anticipation turned to disappointment as I perused Disneyland ofthe Gods
(Amok Press, 1988). To use one of his fuvorite expressions, Keel
has given us a non-book. It is a collection of miscellaneous old
articles of his, mostly taken from SAGA magazine, thrown together
in no particular order, with no connective tissue joining them. As
would be expected, the results are highly uneven in quality.
The book starts out with a bad joke, and rapidly gets worse. In
overall tone, it is a mass of arrogant pontifications. bristling with
elementary errors. Keel loudly attacks the astronomers, the anthropologists, and just about everyone else in reach. Unfortunately. he reveals with crystal clarity that he knows nothing of what
their theories actually say or how their disciplines actually work.
All he knows is, whatever science may say, he doesn't like it. This
kind of cheap anti-intellectualism may impress a few uninformed
readers, but is unworthy of a writer with Keel's qualifications.

Volume 22, No.1

As one randomly chosen example of the way he garbles the facts,

consider the material on pages 25-26. He begins with a 1966 TV
debate between John Fuller and Donald Menzel, concluding that
"Menzel seemed to fade away after the show and died not long
afterwards." In reality, Menzel retired from Harvard in 1971, went
on to write The UFO Enigma, and died in 1976. In Keel's next"
paragraph, Ohio State University is somehow transmogrified into
"a small college"! Later, he says that Blue Book director Hector
Quintanilla accused Allen Hynek of "claiming that stars that were
not even visible on the night in question were mistaken for UFOs."
This is exactly backwards! In reality, it was Hynek who leveled
this accusation against the Air Force. Skipping a few pages, I note
that on page 45, the star Epsilon Bootis is claimed to be an incredible 103 million light-years away from the Earth! The Andromeda
galaxy is "only" 2.2 million light-years away; the standard estimate
for the star is more like 200 to 300 light-years. In other places, Keel
has reprinted two different versions of the same story, without checking to reconcile the differences. For example, the tale of the giants
of Ecuador ends on page 56 with an ''angel'' descending from heaven
to wipe out the giants, while on page 130. a meteor gets the credit.
This is not mere nit-picking. With such a high frequency of errors
in those very few places where Keel's statements can actually be
checked, how far can we trust his accuracy elsewhere, when his
allegations are far more bizarre?
Nevertheless, a few brief flashes of the old Keel do show
themselves, and there are some very interesting passages. The
chapter "Clones, Hybrids, and Sleepers," pages 131 to 138. is particularly notable in view of many of the rumors sweeping the world
of ufology today. Yet, he still gets the date of the Hill encounter
wrong. And most of these topics are explored in far greater depth
and detail in his earlier books, especially Operation Trojan Horse
and The Mothman Prophecies. Anyone wishing to study Keel's
thoughts should"read these books instead.
It is remarkable that in the same year, 1988, Jacques Vallee, often
regarded as a rival of Keel's, similarly published a book, Dimensions, consisting of rehashes of two of his earlier books. But later
Vallee atoned for this sin and returned to his old form, filling his
book Confrontations with new material. It is now high time for
Keel to do the same!

NEGLECTED GEOLOGICAL ANOMALIES: A CATALOG

OF GEOLOGICAL ANOMALIES, compiled by William R.
Corliss, The Sourcebook Project (p.o. Box 107, Glen Arm, MD
21057), 327 pp., $18.95
Reviewed by Robert Barrow
Eighteen years after his initial efforts at scouring familiar, obscure
and on-the-fringe scientific literature in order to publish the most
disturbing entries in book form, William Corliss now offers a
milestone tenth volume in his Catalog of Anomalies series. Added
to the numerous handbooks released previously by The Sourcebook
Project, a collection of Corliss' volumes at this point almost requires its own bookcase.
"
Neglected is the third catalog on topics geological. While the
previous two explored topographical phenomena and the origins
of physical, chemical and biological enigmas, this Sourcebook's
critical focus is upon geological discoveries whose reasons for existence are too easily brushed off by organized science or whose
identities appear so obvious that the scientific community...well,
neglects them.

Pursuit 39

Presenting, questioning and commenting on the evidence with

his usual high standards, Corliss entertains such subjects as cylindrical structures of rock found in dissimiliar material, non-anomaly
spherical aggregates whose composition may point to some complex mysteries about concretions in general, and the seemingly patterned or haphazard accumulations of aqcient.bo~es in bone .cave~;
crevices and other earth areas. ..... ; . 'i
;'
.
Often touching upon anomalies of large size, the book tackles
large sedimentary deposits and ma~sive flooding 06he planet, possible recent reductions in the polar icecover and giant basalt flows.
Nor are smaller puzzles ignored as Corliss lays before us various
"microdebris." including tektites and globular magnetic grains, as
he attempts to show that, indeed, strange things come in little
packages.
Superficial markings. unusual striations. natural glasses, stone
rivers, boulder trains and a number of other geological considerations are included, along with the occasional photo or drawing when
applicable. The quality of the volume is typically Sourcebook.
delightfully Bill Corliss, and worthy of any library that caters to
the scientifically curious.

THE INTERRUPfED JOURNEY, by John G. Fuller, a bookon-tape read by Whitley Strieber, a double 90 minute audio
cassette set released by Caedmon, a division of Harper Audio,
10 E. 53rd St., NY, NY 10022 (inquiries also to tel.
800-242-7737), 1989, $15.95.
Reviewed by Robert Barrow
The nation's bookstores are beginning to look more like record
outlets as a few giants of publishing such as Bantam, Simon &
Schuster and Harper & Row have ventured into books-on-tape sales.
Frequently abridged from the original books due to time and length.
: the tapes seem to find a growing appeal among ~aders w.~o ~!;!Ido~l
have time to read. and are generally narrated either by the author
or by somebody famous who ~an both rt!fid ;md speak ~t the same
time - a necessity for this format.
Harper Audio, coming on strong with some handsomely packaged
audiocassettes, has to date released rec~rdings of varied topics, such
as Michael Dorris's Native American novel. A Yellow Raft in Blue
Wciter(narrated by Colleen Dewhurst), funtasy writer Clive Barker's ..
The Great and Secret Show, Ron Kovic's Vietnam story, Born on
the Fourth ofJuly, and even two entries from eccentric film director John Waters, Shock Vcllue and Crackpot.
It's hardly surprising, then, to find something as extraordinary
as John G. Fuller's mid-sixties book on the Barney and Betty Hill
UFO abduction cases now assigned to cassette format. Nearly three
hours long,manyof The Interrupted Journey's most salient sections
are read by Communion's author/alleged abductee Whitley Strieber.
For whatever reason, Harper engaged Strieber to narrate in lieu
. of Fuller himself or even Betty Hill. and that is of little concern,
though having one of the Hill case participants reading might have
rendered the telling a bit more intim~te.
.This reviewer, nevertheless, highly recommends the tape, and
my praise, believe it or not, has nothing to do with Strieber's narration, articulately performed as it is. Indeed. the amazingly impressive part of the three hours comprises about 80 minutes and
is various portions of the Hills actual taped hypnosis sessions with
Dr. Benjamin Simon. Exploring the Hills' possible 1961 encounter
with UFO entities, Dr. Simon conducted ~veral hypnosis inquiriers
with the couple in 1964; three ofthem are excerpted here; Not only
do they provide us with some anxious me..pents of an iricident often
related in fear and bewilderment, the sessions also demonstrate
the accuracy ofthe NBC-TV movie on th~ Hills. "The'tJFO Incident," first broadcast in October. 1975.
These very important tapes have aged well and sound very clear.
Pursuit 40

Dear Editor:

PUiuJIJIJ', Vol. 21 #4 whole #84 4th Quarter SITUations

that, once again, a "Cloudbuster" has brought relief
. to a drought afflicted area of the country. Athough the article
(from the Augusta Herald 10111188) does not name the device
. . used, there Can be no doubt that one was employed. As a new
, member of S.I: T. U., this particular information only recently
came to my attention.
Colin Wilson's biography, Quest for Wilhelm Reich, explores
Reich's post-wwn work at "Orgonon," his facility near Rangely, Maine and also his so-called "OROP Desert Project," of
1954.
This expedition is noteworthy since Reich's operation of a
laJge Cloudbuster in the vicinity of Tucson, Arizona purportedly
attracted the "attention" of UFOs. Reich's cloudbuster use succeeded in quintupling atmospheric moisture and precipitated
cloud cover after only seven days operation. The area in question had not received rainfall for five years.
The optimism of the group plummeted when, for no immediately apparent reason, the clouds dissipated in a matter of
a few hours. That night, Reich observed "a large luminous ball
that rose slowly and hovered over Mt. Catalina for most of the
night of November 7, 1954." Reich believed that this "object"
somehow thwarted his efforts.
This' writer, a fonner broadcast journalist, hopes to discover
more about this "Reich Renaissance" and will pass along
whatever infonnation available to PlJIlSvrr. readers as soon
as it becomes available. Anyone with any related infonnation
is requested to send it along to me clo S.1. T. U.
P.S. Is there truth behind the "Legend of Spook Rock Road'''?
Is there really an intennittent low-gravity, telekinetic anomaly
in the vicinity of Suffern, NY? This writer is investigating. Any
infonnation W'~uld be appreciated.
-John J. Wagner
repo~

.. Reference: 'Colin Wilson - Quest for Wilhelm Reich, Anchor

:PresslDoubleday, Garden City, New Yoik 1981 . -(Continued from page 20)

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Freud, Sigmund. "Why War?" In P. Reiff (Ed) Freud: Character
and Culture. Collier Books, New York, 1963.

2. Velikovsky, Immanuel. "The Dreams Freud Dreamed,"

Psychoanalytic Review, Vol. 28, 1941, 487-511.
3. Appignanesi. Richard. Freud for Beginners. Pantheon Books,
New York. 1979.
4. Appignanesi, p. 55.

5. Appignanesi, p. 117.
6. Jung, Carl. Man and His Symbols. Dell, New York, 1971.
7. Jurig, Carl and Pauli, W. Synchroncity: An Acausal Connecting
Principle. Pantheon, New York, 1955.
8. Appignanesi, p. 118.
9. Velikovsky, Immanuel. Worlds in Collison, Dell, New York,
1973. (First printing, 1950).
10. Velikovsky, Immanuel. Eanh in Upheaval, Dell, New Yolk, 1972,
. (First printing, 1955).
11. Velikovsky, Immanuel. "The Dreams Freud Dreamed,"

Psychoanalytic Review, Vol. 28, 1941,487-511.

12. Salter, Andrew. The Case Against Psychoanalysis, Citadel,
New Yolk, 1968.
13. Stove, David. "The Scientific Mafia," in Pensee (Eds), Velikovsky Reconsidered. Warner Books, New York, 1977.
. 14. Stove, p. 38.
15. K)lllen, Horace. "Shapley, Velikovsky and the Scientific Spirit."
In Pensee (Eds), Velikovsky Reconsidered. Warner Books, New
Yolk, 1977:..

Volume 22, No. 1

In this section, mostly contemporary curious and unexplained events

Tl'UcII Drive.... Wile

Bowled Ovel' by W"eel
on Engl.... Moto...ay
A lorry driver's wife broke a leg when a
wheel from her husband's 38-ton juggernaut
rolled half a mile down a motorway and crashed into her.
Mrs. Linda Sadler, 32, was with her husband,
Brian, when his lorry lost one of its 12 wheels
on the M4 at Membury, Wilts.
He pulled on to the hard shoulder and told
his wife to stand close to the crash barrier as
he inspected the damage.
Seconds later the 2cwt wheel ploughed into
her as she stood in the narrow gap between the
lorry and the crash barrier.
Mrs. Sadler was knocked out and her husband
called for help from an emergency telephone.
She was taken to the Princess Margaret
Hospital, Swindon.
Mr. Sadler, 42, of Weston-SuperMare, Avon,
said yesterday: "She's lucky to be alive - that
wheel is actually the same size as her.
"It got stuck in a gulley like a 100pin bowling ball and toppled poor Linda right over the
crash barrier.
"I tried to grab her when I saw the wheel
hunling towards us, but it was too late."
Mrs. Sadler said: "If Brian hadn't grabbed
me, the wheel would have hit me square on and
I would have been killed outright."
She was keeping her husband company while
he delivered building materials to Hastings, East
Sussex. They were on their way home when the
accident happened on Tuesday night.
A police spokesman said: "To call it amazing is an understatement. The chances of this
happening must be several millions to one.
"The lady was lucky not to have been more
seriously injured. But she was standing in the
safest place, so you could call her pretty unlucky
to get clobbered in the first place."
SOURCE: Dail,v Telegraph, England
28 Oct. 1988
CREOrr: J. & C. Bord

Loo.e Tire KiU.

Man on Road
In San Diego, a man who stopped to help a
driver with a flat tire was struck and killed by
a tire that broke loose from a passing truck,
authorities said. Kevin Scott Stratford, 23, a
ranch hand from Carlsbad, died early Wednesday on Interstate 5 in Cardiff, where he had pulled his car behind the disabled vehicle, said
California Highway Patrol spokesman Jerry
Bohrer.
SOURCE: The Inquirer Philadelphia, PA
6 Jan. 1989
CREOrr: H. Hollander

Volume 22, No. 1

""pn OatUv. . t"e .II...

Ronald Reagan has survived the "zero factor" - a jinx that claimed seven presidents over
the past century and a half.
Every president since 1840 who was elected
in a year ending in zero died in office - until
Reagan.
The rema.rlcable string of concidences began
with William Harrison, who died soon after his
1841 inauguration.
The others: Abraham Lincoln, elected in
1860; James Garfield, 1880; William
McKinley, 1900; Warren Harding, 1920;
Franklin Roosevelt, 1940; John Kennedy, 1960.
Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy were
fatally shot.
SOURCE: The Toronto Sun,
Toronto, Canada, 21 Jan. '89
CREOrr: Robin Selz via COUD-I

Driven by Nlg"tmal''',
S"e Opened Fl'eezel' and Foand Her Mot"el'
A daughter haunted by nightmares about her
mother's 1985 disappeamnce pried open a locked basement freezer and found the woman's battered body, prompting her father's confession
to the slaying, police say.
Leonard Tyburski, 45, who told police he
kept the body in the freezer for 3'1z years
because he loved his wife and didn't want to
part with her, has been charged with muniCr,
authorities said.
"It has some indications of Edgar Allan Poe
and even some Alfred Hitchcock," said 35th
District Judge James Garber, who arraigned
Tyburski yesterday and ordered him held
without bond in the Wayne County Jail.
Tyburski, dean of students at Detroit's
Mackenzie High School, had cOoperated with
police investigating his wife's disappearance.
Dorothy Tyburski was 37 when he reported her
missing on Oct. 2, 1985. Tyburski passed a liedetector test and hadn't been considered a
suspect. The case, treated as a missing person
report, had been closed for two years.
But disturbing dreams by one of the couple's
daughters led her to suspect her mother's body
was somewhere in the house, police said.
Kelly Tyburski, a 20-year-old art student at
Michigan State University, "had nightmares or
dreams or whatever you want to call them, that
her mother was in a place where she couldn't
move, either tied up or locked up," Said police
Detective Richard Poniorski.
Later, Detective Keith Lazar said, the
daughter's dreams gave way to suspicions when
Tyburski began making up stories about why
the key was missing.
On Monday, she pried the lock off the
IS-cubic-foot freezer while her father was away,

police said. She found blood on the lid and sides

and her mother's clothed body bent over meat
wrapped in butcher paper, police said.
Later, Tyburski told police he killed his wife
during an argument on Sept. 28, 1985, Pomorski said.
SOlJRCE: (AP) The Capital, MD
4
'89
CREDrr: Mel Saunders via COUD-I

Jan.

G.....p ....... DlKovery

Bacb Hey_.....1 Cia...
The explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who in his
1947 Kon Tiki expedition crossed the Pacific
on a balsa wood raft to prove that ancient South
American peoples could have colonized the
Pacific islands, has at last been vindicated.
The proof cOncerns Easter Island, 2,300 miles
off the South American coast and the home of
more than 600 huge and mysterious statues
which have now been shown to have been built
almost certainly by immigrants from a pre-Inca
culture in Peru.
In the latest issue of the Geographical Journal, Mr. Robert Langdon, a distinguished
geographer, discloses that the South American
vegetable tapioca was long eaten on Easter
Island, but that this fact was obscured by the
translation errors of a British historian.
Tapioca, from the manioc or "yuca" plant,
was found to be part of the diet of the islanders
during an expedition in 1770 led by Capt. Felipe
Gonzalez on behalf of the Viceroy of Peru.
Unfortunately, says Mr. Langdon, the British
historian Bolton Corney, who became the sole
authority on the Gonzalez expedition, persistently either mistranslated the word "yuca" or else
did not translate it at all.
One of Corney's inaccurate footnotes stated
that yuca was a term "rather loosely employed
by voyagers." In fact, says Mr. Langdon, the
word meant manioc in many Peruvian languages
and had been used in English as far back as
1555.
The fact that tapioca had probably been imported to Easter Island from South America
thousands of years before has thus been concealed from scholars ever since 1908, when
Corney published his translation.
"If scholars had known in 1947 what Mr.
Langdon has now discovered, it would not have
been necessary for Heyerdahl to undertake his
Kon Tiki voyage," said a spokesman for the
Royal Geographical Society.
"Corney's mistranslation almost defies rational explanation," writes Mr. Langdon.
"Perbaps he simply could not believe that
manioc was cultivated on Easter Island in 1770:'
SOURCE: A. Berry, Daily Telegraph,
England, 24. Dec. '88
CREDrr: Janet Bord

Pursuit 41

w...... s.,. CIa

D .... ..,VIqIa
Hundreds of people, some clutching
rosaries, have been visiting a woman who says
the cross-shaped marks that suddenly ap~ on her body were drawn by the Virgin
Mary, in Amman, Jordan.
Lina Karabashi, 18, said yesterday she
fasted for three days at Mary's request
because she "promised me she will give me
communion today."
The Iraqi woman said the Virgin Mary
drew three crosses on her body Saturday as
she rested at Hussein Medical City, where she
underwent foot surgery Oct. 2.
Karabashi said the Virgin Mary has visted
her 10 times since Saturday and bas had
"long" conversations with her.
A Roman Catholic Church offlCial in Amman said: "We cannot yet determine if this
phenomenon is sacred," pending further investigation.
.

SOURCE: (AP) Toronto Star, Canada

1 Dec. '88
CREOrr: Robin SeIz via COUD-I

AFIyIa............
An unidentified flying object - a fast, silent
craft that looks like a banana with lights - has
northeastern Alabamans baffled.
Police chief Junior Gannany, of Fyffe, AL,
who went to check out reports to his office, said
the object was still hovering when officers arrived Friday night.
"We got out of the car and we turned off the
engine and the radio," he said.
"When we started towards it, it began moving away."
Garmany said the craft was "bigger than a
jumbo jet, " covered with green, white and red
lights and moving at about 500 or 600 kmIh.
An Oak Grove woman told the Fort Payne
Times-Journal the object was shaped like a
banana.
"There was a red light on each end a white
light in a line between them, " said the woman,
who asked not to be identified. "The top of the
curve was outlined in green light."
SOURCE: (AP) The Toronto Sun,
Toronto, Canada, .16 Feb. '89
,.CREDrr: Robin Se1z via COUD-I

M....... of-a H.......... MVIIa?

The Abominable Snowman, inspiration of
innumerable expeditions, was the invention of
a soldier's imagination, according to the journal of the Punjab Frontier Force Association,
which bas just published recollections of the
late Colonel Teddy Stead, who served in the
35th Sikhs in Abbottabad. .
In May 1916, says the journal, he was
ordered to take charge of the fort at Shabkadr .
where he took over from Ueutenant
"Daddy" Newman who, in Civvy Street, was
a Reuters correspondent.
Before Stead died he wrote ora correspOndence in the Calcutta Statesman alluding to an
incident that only he, Newman and one other

Pursutt 42

c:Oukt have witnessed. He rightly gUessed that

the playful Newman was responsible for penning some mischief which introduced to gullible 1'l"betans the metohkangmi, or Abominable Snowman.
.
Stead said, "I Wrote and asked Daddy what
on earth he was talking about, and got the
reply: 'A fJgDlellt of my imagination, old boy.
The Tibetans believe in ghosts which they call
yetis and so I have invented the Abominable
Snowman.'" .
Lt.-Col. Ivor Edwards-Stuart, editor of the
journal, told me yesterd&y: "Ste8d wrote
quite a lot for us. I would trust completely in
what he said and there is no doubt in my mind
that his word is reliable." So, it woUld seem,
whatever other phenomena have since been
observed, the original snowman belongs entirely.t.cJ Lieut Newman's imaainatipit.
. SOIJIlCE: D!ziIL Telegraph. England
28 Oct. '88
CllEDrrl J. & C. Bord via COUD-I

Malibu N

U.catcble Bell8tl..'
Deep in the wilds of Malibu, where the
mysterious meet the bizarre - often for lunch
- Southern California's latest roadside attraction was unveiled yesterday, featuring not on-,
Iy Bigfoot 8nd the Loch Ness monsteJ;", but also
food.
The C1)'PtOZOOlogy Museum, promising "the
best evidence for uncatchable and uncollectable
beasties - worldwide:' officially opened yesterday in the bar of the venerable Tranqas Beach
Restaurant.
.
A42-year-old diner - where a 'showcase
for rare creatures" used to mean that Dick Dale,
King of the Surf Guitar, would be perfonning
live in the lounge - the restaurant now advertises "yeti, Big Foot, Loch Ness,~. - Free
Admission. "
"This is something I've wanted to do for four
years now, but have never had the right opportunity, " said Jon-Erik Beckjord, the 38-yearold photographer-tumed-curator of the display.
Beckjord said he became hooked on the
search for legendary creatures in 1975 while
making a docuinentaIy on Bigfoot in ~ Pacific
Northwesl. Later, he helped launch the small
National CryptoZoologicaI Society, and in 1983, .
used night-viewing equipment developed in the
Vietnam War to record for 240 hours, Iion-stop,
the action on Loch Ness.
.
Like evel)'thing else about the ~h Ness
mystery, Beckjord's video was inconclusive.
Since 1933, when the wife of a Loch Ness
hotelier told an Inverness newspaper me'd seen
a whale-like creature frolicking in Scotland's
largest lake, thousands have sought ~e fabled
beast, but none can be sure they've seen it.
The Loch Ness display at BecIgold's museum
- a score or so of photos stapled to a cc;>rk
bulletin board - offers the standard grainy
blowups of what appears to be a floating brontosaUIUS along with lesser-known snapshots by
himself and others of something untterwater
leaving a long, white w~e.
.

To appease non-believers, he also has posted

a series of "Skeptical Theories" about what
Nessie actually is. ranging from pictures of
ducks to families of otters to rotten vegetation.
Also on display are plaster models of footprints allegedly left by Bigfoot, who some
believe roams the Pacific Northwest.
Among the items yet to come, he said, are
a life-sized reconsttuction of Bigfoot's head
(which is also big), and samples of what is
believed to be the creature's blood, hair and
stool.

Some items are Beckjord's; others are b0rrowed from fellow amateur adventurers, he
said.
.
And not evelY entry is meant to persuade.
."I believe in it," BecIgold said, "but the immediate ~on among most people is, 'Yeah,
right, and I'll bet you saw Supennan and Elvis,
too.' ."

SOURCE: S. Hubler, Los Angeles,

Herald Examiner, CA
7. Feb. '89
CRED.....:. Erik Beckjord via COUD-I

$2.7 MWioD From Dre.m

An Essex County woman, who said she
dreamed her winning numbers, yesterday claimed the entire $2.7 million jackpot from Monday's Pick-6 Lotto. There was no top prize winner in yesterday's 5-Card Lotto drawing.
Ida Crocco, 39, of Belleville held the only
ticket out of 3.6 million sold that contained all
six winning numbers: 5, 7,12,16,21 and 36.
Crocco said she had a dream Su~day night
in which a deceased uncle appeared and told her
what numbers to play. When she awoke Monday, she wrote the numbers down and used them
to buy the winning ticket.
SOURCE: -Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ
22 Mar. 1989
CREDIT: N. Warth

: T.le. of Saniv.1
The AnneniBn stolY last week about the man
who claimed to have survived after being buried
alive is not unknown in Eastern Europe, a
fonner colleague assures me. In 1954, a Russian newsplper reponed three young men with
long beards emerging from a mine near
Vladivostok, bombed nine years earlier. They
claimed to have lived on rodents, tinned rations
and water from an underground stream.
Inquiries also revealed the stolY three years
earlier of two Gennan soldiers found in a cavedin air raid shelter near Gdynia, Poland, claiming to have been buried for six years alongside
a stream and a food store. And, back in 1931,
a Left-wing Gennan magazine ran the stolY of
a Russian soldier from the 1914-1918 War who
emerged 'from a well-stocked food store in a
bombed Polish fortress. They can't all have
been lying.

SOURCI;: Daily Telegraph, .

16 Jan. '89
CRmlT: J. & C. .Bord via COUD-I

Volume 22, No. 1

G __ UDder Sle.e A.alD By 6-Foot SDakes

The island of Guam is besieged by six-foot
snakes.
The dot in the Pacific Ocean for millions of
years had no snakes of its own. But with World
War n arrived the brown tree snake, Boiga irregularis, apparently carried to the island unnoticed in militaay cargo.
The local animals had no defenses, and now
11 of 12 species of native bilds are extinct or
nearly so. The snake also has threatened six of
nine lizald species and two of three native bat
species.
SOURCE: Wash. Post, D.C. 12 Feb. '89
CREDIT: Jon Fay

Dirty RaID ID Czeclaoslovalda

From Prague, dirty rain, believed to cany .
sand from the Sabam Desert, covered houses
and cars in central Slovak with a thin layer of
dust, a newspaper reported yestelday.
SOURCE: (AP) The Inquirer,
Philadelphia, PA, 28 Feb. '89
CREDIT: H. Hollander
Ed. Comment: "Dirty" rain only in
Czechoslovakia and no other reports of similar
rain ordust fallout in the area hundreds of
kilometers between central Slovakia and the
Sahara Desert?

ChID... laterest ID Power

0'

"qr is
&troD.er ThaD West'. Skeptlds_

A scientist in a white lab coat scraped bits

of cancer tissue from a white mouse into two
sterilized glass dishes.
Two young men in slightly scruffy street
clothes sat on stools in front of the dishes. Each
extended his right hand over a dish, closed his
eyes and concentrated.
"They are giving off 'qi,'" whispered the
scientist, immunologist Gu Ligang.
Th experiment, a hybrid of modem scientific
method and seeming magic, is part of a growing effort among Chinese scientists to veritY and
analyze what many Chinese believe to be a
special human energy.
The belief in qi (pronounced chee) is central
to traditional Chinese medicine but is viewed
skeptically by Western scientists.
In this case, the two men giving off qi were
attempting to kill the cancerous cells in the
dishes.
Popular interest in qi and 2,OOO-year-old exercises to develop it, called "qigong," is sweeping China after the method had been suppressed for decades as superstition. An estimated 50
million adults practice qigong exercises, while
hospitals, schools and scholarly institutes across
China are researching qi.
'Qigong is a national cultural treasure and
an integral pan of Chinese traditional medicine's
theoretical system and healing methods," Vice
Minister of Health Hu Ximing said at a recent
Beijing conference of neady 600 scientists and
qigong masters from more than a dozen
countries.
Qi, the Chinese wold for air and gas, has a
special meaning in medicine - the breath of
life.

Volume 22, No. 1

Chinese traditional medicine teaches that qi

flows through the body in invisible channels,
like veins, and that illness is a result of
blockages in its flow. Traditional healing techniques, from herbal medicines to acupuncture to
qigong, are efforts to restore the distribution of
qi.
Gu Ligang's experiment with the cancerous
cells, like hundreds being done nationwide,
seeks to gather physical evidence of whether
some people, known as qigong masters, can
project their qi like a beam of energy to
manipulate matter and cure illness.
Mr. Gu, one of 30 qigong researchers at the
Beijing College of Traditional Chinese
Medicine, said some cancerous cells were killed in one sample in his experiment, but not
enough to prove anything.
Qigong masters, however, say their wode: pr0ves the mysterious force exists.
Hu Yulan, 59, said she has cured serious heart
and neurological illnesses by directing her qi
at patients.
Another master, Wan Sujian, said a 49-yearold peasant woman came to him after a surgeon
told her that a large tumor in her brain was inoperable and that she would die in two months.
Mr. Wan said the woman could barely walk
because of the tumor's pressure on portions of
the brain that control movement.
But after 10 treatments, he said, the woman
was walking freely.
"The tumor has shrunk," Mr. Wan claimed. He predicted complete recoveay.
Thousands of other qigong masters, who
operate ciinics without licensing or regulation,
make similar claims. Some say they canheal
bone fractures and diagnose ailments with Xray vision - even when the patient is absent.
Volumes of anecdotes of seemingly miraculous
cures have been published.
.
'There are many blank areas in science,"
said Liu Yaning, a biophysicist at the air force's
Xidiaoyutai Hospital i!1 Beijing. "In China,
many scientists believe the qigong masters will
lead a revolution in science."
But Western medicine, which in the past
decade has found chemical explanations for
acupuncture's ability to deaden pain, balks at
the concept of qi.
"I haven't been convinced by any experiment
that this energy exists or that it can be controlled," said Dr. David Eisenberg, an instructor
at the Harvald Medical School who attended the
qigong conference.
But Dr. Eisenberg, who studied traditional
medicine in China in 1979 and 1980 and wrote
a book about qigong, said he has seen startling
demonstrations of qigong masters' skills and
cannot simply dismiss them as fakes .
"There are phenomena in eveay culture that
suggest there may be an ability of humans to
sense and/or manipulate their own biological
fields, for lack of a better wold," he said. "I'm
troubled but not convinced."
Chinese scientists also are troubled. Many
who are testing qigong masters said they believe
some form of special human energy exists but
can't define it.
Books on qigong describe it variously as akin

to radar, infrared light, magnetism, subsonic

sound waves or all of those.
"I think qi is a big bag," Mr. Liu said.
"There are a lot of things in it - not just one
kind of energy or matter."
He added that his experiments, showing that
natural luminescence given off by qigong
masters' bodies is higher than that given off by
other people, have convinced him qi exists.
"There is much clinical evidence to see the
effect of qigong on many different diseases, "
said Dr. Lu Yongcai, a pathologist at the Beijing College of Traditional Medicine's Qigong
Institute. "We want to know the mechanisms.
That qi is present is no problem."
"Qi definitely can cause biological reactions.
That's a fact," said Zhou Yang, the Institute's
chief immunologist.
He said his experiments have shown that qi
can promote the proliferation of disease-fighting
T-cells in laboratory mice and stimulate the
development of the thymus, an important gland
in the immune system.
Chinese scientists at the qigong conference
said their wode: showed qigong masters can do
such things as kill or inhibit leukemia cells in
mice, promote healing of strained muscles and
broken bones in rabbits, and .sharpen
intelligence.
Dr. Eisenberg contended that most of the
studies suffered from poor design or lacked control groups and other standald precautions
against bias.
"There is at least as much likelihood that this
is a cultural, soceital wish fulfillment," he said.
"Qi is part of the culture ... They are wed to it,
they want to prove it."
But Dr. Gabriel Stux, who runs an acupuncture clinic in Duesseldorf, West Gennany, noted
that Western medicine also relies on techniques
not fully understood.
"Many drugs, you don't know how they
work. But you do a lot of pragmatic things,"
he said
SOORCE: (AP) Sun Baltimore: 1.1:D
6.Nov. '88
CREDIT: H. Hollander

X-Bay VisloD
From Beijing, a young Chinese doctor claims
to be able to stop cerebral hemorraging. accurately sex a foetus and kill an animal with just
one glance from her extraoldiruuy eyes, the daily Hainan newspaper said.
In an edition received here Friday. the
newspaper said Zhen Xiangling, 24, who is now
an anny doctor. became aware of her talent at
an early age.
When she was only three or four she was able
to see her parents' skeletons. which scared her
considerably. By the age of five she was able
to teU pregnant relatives what sex their child
would be.
Zhen could not explain the origin of her gift,
but said she could not approach X-ray machines
or certain people without feeling faint. Besides
seeing inside people, her eyes can kill animals
and break needles, the paper said.
SOlJRCE: (AFP) The Korea Herald,
24 Jan. '89
CREDIT: Robin Selz via COUD-I

Pursuit 43

B....ot Tracked
Stan Goldon, director of the Pennsylvania
Association for the Study of the Unexplained,
has identified parts of the Mon Valley and surrounding areas as sites with a lot of Bigfoot
activity.
The 1970's marked a time of many Bigfoot
sightings in the area. Over 130 incidences with
250 witnesses were reported in western Pennsylvania. A great many of these were reported
from Westmoreland and Fayette County, Indiana and Somerset counties, accolding to
Goldon.
The most recent repon was recolded by Gordon's group on Dec. 12, 1988. Two hunters in
Westmoreland County watched a Bigfoot
creature through their rifle scopes. The Bigfoot
went into nearby woods and the two followed
his tracks in the snow.
TIle area along the Monongahela river seems
to be another hot spot, aecolding to Goldon.
TIle creature is generally nine feet in height
with dirty white hair around the facC. TIle eye
color is predominantely red or green and a
slightly sulphurous odor is present.
Bigfoot creatures have never reportedly banned anyone and have been seen in groups.
Several have, however, approached people, so
they seem to be curious creatures, accolding to
Goldon.
Pemaps you are skill skeptical. GoIdon has
found that most sightings are reponed by people who were skeptics.
Anyone sighting Bigfoot should recoId ~ exact time, place and write a complete description of the creature they see; include features,
smells or sounds. Check the area for any fur
or tracks that could have been left.
Next, go to a phone and call either the police
who will forward the sighting to a resean:h
group or one of the hodine numbers: Goldon's
group, 838-7768 or the Pennsylvania Center for
UFO Research, which also handles Bigfoot
sightings, 823-1834.
Once located, the phenomena of Bigfoot can
be explained and the mystery surrounding the
half manIhalf beast will be put to rest.
For funher infonnation on Bigfoot, including
repons and cases, send a self-addressed stamped
envelope to PASU, 6 Oakhill Ave.,
Greensburg, Pa 15601.
SOURCE: Elizabeth Home,
The Valley Independent,
Monesson, PA, 24 Jan. '89
CBmrr: Stan Goldon via COUD-I

'Bigfoot' Tracked
Mysterious footprints in the Lost Nations
State Game Area in eastern Hillsdale County
have prompted rumors that they were made by
Bigfoot. The county Sheriff's Depanment
received a repon about the tracks on Feb. 6,
Sgt. Darrell Smith said. Deputies photographed and made plaster molds of about seven tracks
in snow on a trail, each about 22 inches long
and 10 inches wide, he said. Sheriff Gerald
Hicks said the tracks probably were a hoax but
that he dido't want to take any chances by ignoring the repon. "If people start to panic, someone could get hun," he said. "I want to en-

Pursuit 44

sure that people can walk through the woods

without someone getting unnecessarily nervous."
.
SOURCE: Detroit News, 15 Feb. '89
CREDrr: B. Kingsley via COUD-I

A Rotunda in Scotland MaW Be

The Round Table

IrIsIa To.b Design Studied

A 5,OOO-year-old Irish tomb has yielded new
evidence that it provided a dramatic light show
at sunrise of the winter solstice, making it the
oldest know~ .structure with an astronomical
function, resean:hers say.
Newgrange tomb, pemaps built centuries
before Stonehenge or the Great Pyramids, was
probably designed to use sunlight for ritual
rather than scientific. purposes.
The tomb lies within a mound of loose stones
about 90 yards wide and 35 feet tall. A corridor
snakes about 60 feet into the mound, leading
to a chamber with a dome-shaped roof.
The sunlight entered above the tomb's entrance through a gap measuring about eight inches tall and some three feet wide. As seen from
the chamber, the sun would appearin the lower
left hand comer of the gap, continue rising until it was framed by the gap, and then exit at
the upper right comer..

King Arthur's legendary Round Table has

been located in Scotland, but turns out not to
be a table at all but a: 2,OOO-year-old rotunda,
or large round building, built of stone, Britain's
authority on aristocracy said yesterday.
Arthur, aecolding to legend, was a sixthcentury Celtic king who fought Saxons invading
Britain and organized 1,600 feuding barons
around what was thought to be a table at his
fon, Camelot, in Cornwall of southwest
England.
Burke's Peerage, which researches anstocratic lineages, detennined in October While tracing the ancestry of a Scottish b8rony that
Camelot was located instead at Greenan castle
in the Scottish village of Ayrshire, which was
owned by the Kennedy clan from which President John F. Kennedy descended.
"The scholastic breakthrough in proving that
Scotland was the headquaners of King Arthur ... needs only the uncovering of the Round
Table to convince the world that other Anhurian
myths connecting the monarch witli England
and Wales are fallacious," saidHarold BrooksBaker, Burke's publishing director.
Now, researchers have located stones, apparently from a rotunda, in Stenhouse, 415
miles north of London and 65 miles northeast
of Ayrshire, and they believe the structure is
Arthur's RounQ Table.
The wold roonde was incorrectly assumed,
they said, to be an old Scottish adjective for
round, instead of the noun that means rotunda.
Known locally as "Arthur's O'on" or oven,
the rotunda was dismantled in 1943,. when the
stones were used to repair a dam at a local mill.
Roben Mitchell, a personnel adrilinistrator
from Miami and an Arthurian enthusiast, said
six .years of research showed the exact site
where the stones were buried when the river
Carron changed its course.
.
He estimated it would cost $320,000 to excavate the rotunda.
"Originally, it may have been a Roman temple or shrine to the goddess of victory, and it
would have been the oldest building in Scotland,
perhaps the whole of Britain, excluding
Ireland," Mitchell said. "Certainly, it's of
tremendous antiquity."
Mitchell, who worked on the project with
Nonna Goodrich of Claremont, Calif;, an
authority on Arthur, estimated that the stones
were 4Yz feet long and 4 feet in diameter, and
would reach a height of 22 feet when
reassembled.
"If it were ever excavated, it would be conceivable that it possibly could be rebuilt, as we
have a drawing of it from 1720," he said.

Has it or will it ever be tested? - Timothy

McCormick, Lincoln,
ADswer: Veronica's Veil is the towel which
legendary tradition says was used to wipe the
face of Jesus on His way to Calvary and His
death. Upon it the face of Christ was supposedly
miraculously printed. This relic is preserved at
St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Since this incident is not mentioned in Scripture; no historical
evidence exists to verify or deny its accuracy.
Veronica is sometimes identified as the woman
with the issue of blood. Accalding to the
legend, Veronica took the veil to Rome where
she cured the Emperor Tiberius with it, after
which she presented it to Pope St. Clemente.
TIle veil bas not been subjected to tests as bas
been the Shroud, nor is it publicly venerated.
There are several other veils which are said to
have miraculous images. One is in St. John
Lateran in Rome and another in Alicante, Spain.
Incidentally, the matte~ of the Shroud is far
from settled and many questions remain. For
instance, the scientists who studied the cloth
agree that the image was not painted on but
seemS to have come from a great burst of eneJgy
(beat) which seared the cloth. Also, the fact that
the image is a negative one, something not
known until the invention of photography late
in the last centurY, needs explanation. Until
these questions, among others, are answered,
the ShrOUd will continue to be unexplained.
:. Veronica's Veil has not received the attention of the faithful as bas the Shroud. Whether
it will be put to scientific testing is something
for the Pope to decide, but so far there is no
groundswell of opinion in that regard.

SOURCE: UPI, Matt Rees, the Inquirer

SOURCE: Fr. Frank.Sheedy,

Philadelphia, PA 28 ~eb. 1989

CREDrr: H. Hollander

CREDrr: Ray Nelke via COUD-I

. .

SOURCE: Press, Asbury Park, NJ

26 Jan. 1989

CBmrr: Member #432

T. . . . . Veronica's Veil
Question: Since it appears that the Shroud
of Turiil bas been dated to approximately 1350
and is apparently not the burial cloth of Jesus,
what is the opinion and state of Veronica's Veil?

m.

OurSurxlay Visitor, 19 Feb. '89

Volume 22, No. 1

The Notes of Charles Fort

Deciphered by Carl d. Pab.t

Abbreviations
(+)

ac
AI
A J Sci
An Reg

exceptional note
according
., [perhaps Almanac]
AmeIican Journal of Science

BCF
B.D.

AlUJual Register
A1I1IIIls of Scientific Discovery
Report of the British Association for the AdVlllJCe1l1e1lt
of Science
The Books of Charles Fort
Binningham Daily

bid
C-21
Ch
conj.
cor

blood
Fort's Chaos p. 21
Chaos Fort's working title for New Lands
conjunction
correspondent

C.R.

Comptes Rendus

(cut)

illustration
Fort's Book of the DlU1l1Jed p. 74
detonating meteor
[London] Daily News

An Sci D

B.A.

Ohst
Inf
It
J.F. Inst.
L An Sci
L.S.P. TOllS
met

meteor

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Monthly Weather Review
north or .,

Fletcher's List

Fr

France

YB

English Mechanic .,
extraordinary

(continued from Vol. 21, No.4)

ISSS June 16 I night I Even greater

th storm and damage by lightning at
Birm I B.D. Press, 18th I But
though great elec. storm, not so
much rain.
ISSS June 17 I Villages in the High
Peak of Derbyshire flooded by water
pouring down the hills. Thought
waterspout [h]ad burst.
[Reverse side] Houses washed away
in a few minutes. I Wolverhampton
I N. Staffordshire Herald, 26th.
1858 June 19 I 9 a.m. lOne of the
severest q's in Mexico I V.B. 59-271.
ISSS June 23 I d fog and met I [23]
- dry fog I 26 - brilliant met I 2S
- dry fog I Russia I Cosmos IS-SS.
ISSS July 16 I (Cut) I small toads I
France I near Dijon I C. Rend 47/1591 La Sci Pour Tous, 3/312 I
[Reverse side] La Sci 312S8, 304,
312.
ISSS July 16 I Tremendous tho
'storm at Dukinfield Park. After it,
thousands
[Reverse side] of young toads were
found. I Manchester Examiner, 203-61 Numbers very great - children
scooping up handfuls and filling
their pockets with them.
ISSS July 16 I In Hall-green and
Dunkinfield Park, ac to Manchester
Examiner, after a heavy
[Reverse side] th storm, thousands
of small toads I L.T., July 21-9-d I
[Front side] in Dunkinfield (Manchester).

Volume 22, No.1

IS5S July 16 I evening I shower of

small toads at Dijon. I C.R. 47/159.
IS5S July 16 I (Cut) I meteor explode near ship I Channel Islands I
Countryside Monthly 2/191.
[BCF, p. 1761 See April 19, IS34.]
IS58 - L Aug. I I (3) I Manchester,
by Mr. Robt. Wilsonl a Vulcan I
Astro Reg 912S7.
[BCF, p. 413 I See June 11, IS55.]
1858 Aug 2 I Near Seaford, a host of
sawflies. After a while, hosts of
[Reverse side] ladybirds. I Entomologist's Weekly Intelligencer 4/149.
[BCF, pp. 329-331, I See 184SII.]
IS5S Aug 4 I Germ'any: Berlin, etc. I
Met det? I BA '60.
IS5S Aug 9 - 10 I At sea, off Jedo,
Japan, hundreds of meteors I BA
65.
IS5S Aug II I [LT], 6-f, etc. I
Donati'[s] Comet I Comet I See
Aug. index.
IS5S Aug 11 I q I I [Light] I India,
Simla I BA 'II.
IS5S Aug. 13 I 6:30 p.m. I England.
I great meteor I BA 79-10S.
IS58 Aug 17 I [LT], 7-f I 20-9-f I
Sept 15-9-d I 17-9-c I Mets.
185S Aug 181 afternoon I near Iowa
City, Iowa I Tornado I Finley's
Rept.
IS5S Aug 19 I "Terrible hurricane
and excessive rain." I Piedmont,
Italy I
[Reverse side] Cardiff Times, Aug
2S-3-6.

Journal of the Fnmklin Institute

L' Annee ScieDtifique
La Science Pour Tous

M. Notices
MWR
N
NM
NS
phe
Phil Mag
Proc Roy
q
Rept
Sci Am
sim.
th
Timb's
V or volc
wtch

0-74
det met
D. News
E. Mec.
ext.

ghost
inferior
Italy

nothing more

New Series
phenomenon

Philosophical Magazine
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London
earthquake

report
Scientific American

Timb's Year Book

simultaneous or similar
thunder

Timb's Year Book

volcano
witch

IS5S Sept I Wtch. I East Thorpe,

Essex.
IS5S Sept 12 I Great increase,
Donati's Comet.
IS58 Sept 13 I det met I 7:15 p.m. I
In Bretagne, near Hede - an enormous
[Reverse side] meteor, with loud
detonations.
IS5S Sept 13 IN. of France and Germany I same? I det. met I B.A., 6094.
IS5S Sept 13 I 6/48 p.m. I near
Neuilly (Seine) I Remarkable meteor
I C.R. 47-S00.
1858 Sept IS I Met at Neuilly (Seine)
I C.R. 47-800.
ISSS Sept 2S1 30 I (+) I (Repeats I
Sound or q) I See Nov. I Danmoor
District, at Crediton, no vibration of
ground felt but rumbling sound
heard and was attributed to a supposed explosion of gun powder.
However,
[Reverse side] no such explosion had
occurred. This in evening. About 7
'p.m. on 2Sth, at Druids, near Asburton, in this district, a rumbling
sound was heard and in other places.
About S p.m., sound and vibrasion
as if of an explosion. In one place
was attributed to distant cannoading. I
[Front side] Quarterly Jour. Gelog.
Soc. London IS I (See June, IS89.) I
(ISS8 I Nov, IS93).
[BCF, pp. 407-4081 See IS48 I.]
, IS58 Sept 2S1 S p.m. I q. I Dorset I
Timb's 59-271.

IS58 Sept 30 I Nottingham I evening

I many meteors I BA 'SS.
ISSS Sept. 30 I Met - Beeston I by
Lowe - listed by him as "Curious."
I Rec. Sci., 11138.
ISSS Sept 20 - to Oct 10 I - great
q's, Turkey and Greece I Oct 3 Algeria /10 -Italy /16 - France I
25 - France I BA '11 I
[Reverse side] Sim q's, Feb IS, ISS9.
ISSS Sept 30 I Tremendous sunspot
I(NM) I Ast. Reg 7-19.
IS5S Oct 2 I Donati's Comet outshone Arcturas.
IS5S Oct 3 '; q I Algeria I BA II.
ISSS Oct 6 I [LT], 10-d I Comet and
the Astronomers. I See Oct index,
comet.
IS58 Oct S I evening I Many
meteors I B.A., 'SS.
[BCF, pp. 407-4081 See 184S I.)
ISSS Oct 16 I Fr I Vosges I (q.) I
Remiremont I C.R. 47/669.
ISSS Oct 16 I Q at Remiremont in
the Vosges, France, and sounds like
thunder I La Sci Pour Tous 3-392.
ISSS Nov. 5 I (Oct. see.) I M Standard of 16 I Cor writes that the
"mysterious noise" heard at Bude
must [b)een from explosion al
Devonport Harbor where a sunken
rock had been blown up.
[IS5S] Nov 9 I (Script 207) I Cardiganshire Sounds I L.T. 1858 I Nov
9/10/a I 13/S/f I 13 6 or 8 I ? I
20/12/c I Dec 119/f.

Pursuit 45

[BCF, pp. 407)408 I See 1848/1.]

1858 Nov 11 I Violent q. Lisbon.
Preceded by 2 days incessant rain. I
[Reverse side] The Geologist 2-32.

[Reverse side] Mrs Ellen S. Marvin,

1646E. ISthSt., ShcepsheadBay, N.Y.
[Front side] See letter. I [This letter is
missing.]

1858 Nov 11 I Beeston Observatory I

many small meteors I BA, '59.

1859/ Sleeper' Susan C. Godsey, near

Hickman, Ky. I See July 14, 1869.

1858 Nov 121 [LT), 100a I Aeroliths.

[BCF, pp. 23-24, 155]

1858 Nov 14 to Nov. 281 Male convolsionary I Religio Phil. J., Ap 8, 1876
I William Hutchinson, a well-to-do
fanner, about a mile from Springfield,
Erie Co., Pa., taken with convulsions.
Had been unusually healthy man. Most
violent fit every
[Reverse side] evening, about the same
time. No more until anniversary of the
lst tit-same hour and lasted till about the
28th. Ten years went by and each anniversary the same seizures. He travelled tour of Europe, Australia, West Indies to shake off the
[Second page] seizures, but each anniversary they returned. (This copied
from the N.Y. Herald) I S~ms to me
his fears before these dates brought on
the phe.
1858 Nov. 231 [LT)6-f I q.1 Portugal.

1859 Jan. I (II) I (Sounds) I Trevigiano

I detonations nOl accompanied by quaking I See 1816.
1859 Jan 41 Large met I Holstein I BA
69-283.

1858 Nov. 25 I 11:45 p.m. I Corle:,

Ireland I detonating meteor. Meteor seen
[Reverse side] and sound like loud clap
of thunder I Nat. Hist Rev. 6-26.
1858 Nov. 29 I ab 1 p.m. I Bianitz I
q in a thick fog I Cosmos 13-700.
1858 Nov. 29 I q I I I [Light] I Basses
Py~nks I BA 11.
1858 Nov. 30 I Pas de Calais I Met
streak I BA 60-106.
1858 Nov. 30 I 8:45 p.m. I Boscastle
I Iabez Brown I BA 58/1561 See 1857.
1858 Dec 61 [LT), 9-f I 10-9-c I Met
in broad day.
1858 Dec 7 I [LT) , 6-f 18-10-c 110-7-f
I Brilliant Aurora.
1858 Dec 8 I Island of Reunion I volc
in full eruption I
[Reverse side) Geologist 2-86.

1859 Jan 23 I Begins Mauna Loa I A.J.

. Sci 2128/66, 284 I 291301.

1859 Jan 28 I [LT), 7~ I Sun Spots.
1859 Feb 41 [LT), 100fl Ext effect of
a met.
1859 Feb. 7 I Aix, France I det met I
BA 67-417.
1859 Feb. 111 D-81 I Fish I Eng. 136.
1859 Feb I Some of the fishes alive, on
exhibition Regent's Parle Zoological
Gardens, ac to Frank Buckland. I Field,
March 19.
1859 Feb. 111 Fishes I Glamorganshire.
[BCF, pp. 83-85)
1859 Feb 25 I [LT), 12-a I 26-12-f I
28-12-e I Aurora.
1859 Feb, end of I Unusual number of
mets I Melbourne I BA '68-407.
1859 Man:h 12 I (N I Castillon-surDordogne (Gironde) I [W]hite, pliable
substance I La Sci Pour Taus 4/144 I
(C.R. 48-597) I
[Reverse side] In small grains I in space
of less than 8 kilometres.
1859 Man:h 181 Mottlesley Observatory
11:23 112 a.m. I "'From S to N. a few
degrees bel~ the moon .. I BAss.

1858 Dec 9 I Fr I Aussun, Haute

Geronne I Metite I B.A. 1860 I (near
Spain I See Dec 24.)

1859/84.
1859 March 22 I Quito at 8:30 a.m. I
after a slight atmospheric detonation,
[Reverse side] great q I Y.B. 60-269 I
BA 'II.
.
1859 Mar. 261 S I Spot Sun I Lescarbau[1]tl 104.
[BCF, p. 197]

1858 Dec 9/(F)1 Montrejeau 12 stones fall.

I C.R. 47/1053 I 48/index, Aerolite I
7:30 a.m. I
[Reverse side] Montrejean in C.R.
48.-193.
.
1858 Dec 9 I Metite of Montrejeau
(Haute-Garonne) I L. An. Sci 1860/16
I or M-Jean? I 7 a.m.
1858 Del: 14 I [LT), 6-f I Astro phe.

[BCF, p. 200 I See October 10, 1802.]

1859 March 28 I (F) I Metites of Harrison Co Indiana. I A.I. Sci., 2/28/409
I 4 p.m. I
.
[Reverse side] Dug up immediately.
"No wannth." Another was wann. All
with a black, vitrified surface.
1859 March 28 I Aerolite I also 1860
IE Mec 79/383.

1858 Dec. 231 qs I Iamaica and Philippines I BA 'II.

1859 Ap I Duisp ~r ghst I Cowes, Isle

of Wight I Real Ghost Stories, p. 90.

1858 Dec. 241 Molina, Mun:ia, Spain

I (F) I CR 66-639 I
[Reverse side] Near place of Dec. 9 I
(CR 66-639).

1859 Ap 1 I Ext. cold at ReMes I

Cosmos 14-515.
1859 April 4 I Pampanga (Mexico) I
Philippines I (P).

1858 Dec. 29 I Venus Inf Conjunction

Sun I (A I).

1859 Ap. 61 Fr I Vosges I q and sound

like thunder I See Oct 16, '58. I C.R.
48n52.

1859 I In village of Stoke Lane,

Somersetshire, England, showIer] of
small fishes, ac to

L.T., Ap 15-lo-b.

1859 Ap 12, 21 I q. I shocks I Siena I

Pursuit 46

1859 Ap 13 19 a. m. I Explosion powder

mill at Hastings I LT, Ap 15-1~.

1859 Ap. 22 I 1:14 a.m. I Meteor I

Beeston Observatory I fme aurora at the
time I BA '59.
1859 Ap. 29 I A I A.I. Sci 21281154,
408 ....
1859 May I Beuste I Basses-PyiEn&'s,
France I (F) I (CR 76-314).
1859 May 4 I Chambon I milky

substance in hail said been sulphuric acid

I Cosmos 14-675.
1859 May 8 - 17 I Period of unusual
number of shooting stars I Melbourne
I BA 68-407.
1859 May 27, June 10 I Dry fog I
verified I Cosmos 15/37, 88.
1859 May 27 and other days I France
I dry fog or thick smoke I at Paris I
strong odor of su Iphur or creosote I See
June 2 - 7.
1859 May 271 dry fog IParis I Dry fog,
strong, nauseating odor I Cosmos 15137.
1859 May 281 Ext. hail I Brussels I Bull
Ac Sci Brux 7-352.
1859 May 28 I Brussels I hail I Fassig
I 2/343.

[Reverse side] cor saw a small fish wriggling on gravel. Ab 2 inches long, and
resembled a young dace. 1ben other living fishes found. No stream near. No
pond nearer than a mile.
1"859 July 31 I Montpreis (Styria) I
Cosmos 19-567 I
[Reverse side] Metites of stone.
1859 July 31 I Metites I 9:30 p.m. I
Montpreis, Sty ria I 3 small hot stones
I BA 67-418.
. 1859 Aug 1"1 Beeston Observatory I
many meteors I BA 59.
1859 ab Aug I I Metite near Albany,
NY I L.T., Sept 30-10-e ..
1859 Aug 3 I Destructive gale at Bahia
I N.Y. Ev Post, 16th.
1859 Aug 7 I 8:30 p.m. I Gennany I del
met I BA 60-94.
1859 Aug 9 I Date of the moths I D
News, 15th.
1859 Aug. 10 I Met - at Beeston - by
E.J. Lowe -listed by him as "Curious.
I Rec. Sci., 11138.
1859 Aug 10 I Mets at Wolverhamp!on
I "very grand" I BA 59-95.

1859 May 29 I Large hailstones falling

gently near NOItingham.
[Reverse side] Some more than an inch
in diameter, ac to E.J. Lowe. I An Reg
1859nO.

1859 ~ug 10 I At Beeston Observatory

ab 70 per hour in '.4 pan of the heavens
I BA 59.

[BCF, p. 568)

1859 Aug 11 I Metite lab. 7:20 a.m.

I [N]onhem NY, Vt, Mass. I viglenl del
meteor I A.I. Sci 2/28/300 I
[Reverse side) Stone said fallen near
Albany - near Bethlehem.

1859 June 20 I Onowa Co., Kansas I

Tornado I Finley's Rep!.
1859 summer I Swanns of small wing
insects I "Thrips." I ScaIborough I See
Aug 25, 1869. I Sci Op. 2-292.
1859 summer I Swarms of insects like
in 1869 Aug 25 I Sci Opinion 2/292.
1859 June 2'-71 The smoke or fog very
thick at Munster I Cosmos 14-677 I See
May 27.
1859 July 4 I Fall of meteors I found
later I Taney Co., Mo. I Sci. News,
N.S., 1-148.
1859 July 4 I London I fireball I BA
67-418.
1859 Iuly 13 I N.Y. City I Tornado I
Finley's Rep!.

1859 Aug II I midnight I Siberia I in

the S. great detonating meteor I BA 61.

1859 Aug 11 I (F) I Sounds I ab 7:20

a.m. I Blandford, Mass I Troy, N.Y.
I Bennington, Vt. I Albany I 2 explosions. Ac to one witness, 3. Meteor was
seen by many. I
[Reverse side) Am J. Sci 31281300 I (F).
1859 Aug II I Meteor of I Stone said
to have fallen on a farm in the village
[Reverse side) of Iericho, ab 4 miles
from Bethlehem Centre, N. Y. IN. Y.
Ev Post, Sept 12. I
[Front side] About size of pigeon egg.

1859 Aug 13 I Sound I 10:15 a.m. I

Hopton - near E.Hasting I( +) I Norfolk I cloudless sky I.
1859 Iuly 13 I [LT] , 5-c -/ Singular [Reverse side) rumbli~g like distant canFatality to a family.
nonading I Times 20-7-f I Noticed at
1859 July 18 I Enfield I a little fly Brighton sky "perfectly cloudless.
"Chlorops lineata" in a hailstone I Ent. [Front side) Said was supposed to be
from cannonadi[ng) at ponsmouth,
Weekly Intelligencer, vol 7 p. 76.
where the Duke Constantine had recent1859 Iuly 21 I Conj Jupiter and Venus
ly arrived, but it was learned that no
I Observatory 24/156.
salutes there until
1859 Iuly 241 Elmira, N.Y. I Tornado [Reverse side) late in the evening. Ac
I Finley's Rep!.
to another cor at Wallistield, Suffolk,
Aug I Vesuvius active and "a sudden, loud rumbling noise
1859 July
overhead" bet 9 and 10 a.m. Another
devastating I Y.B. '60-276.
cor notes that at sea, near
1859 Iuly 25 I Milan I Hail I Fassig I
[Second page) Brighton he.had heard a
2/343.
succession of heavy rumbling sounds
1859 July 291 Celebes 1.S:ea waves I BA lasting from 10: 15 to 10:35 a.m.
'II.
. . . [Reverse side) This [LT) 27-5-f. He had
1859 July 30 I Fish I Nusseerabad, Raj- questioned boatmen who Sl!id that can. pootna, Iru!ia ac to cor to the Field, Oct . nonading at Spithead, from which
I, 1859 I After long absenCes of rai!!, through 50 .
.
a sudden heavy fall beginning 3 a. m. [Front side) miles away,. Cannonading
near his bungalow. Close to. where he had been heard when wind favorable.
stood
However, this morning the wind had not

aoo.

Volume 22, No. 1

been from di~tion of Spit~~ad' only 1859 Aug 30 I Dispatching date I q I

showing a tendency so to veer.
Norcia. Italy 1200 killed I LT 31-6-f.

ning. Charged as if with a constant

current.

Moon had a strong halo. Other dets. I

L.T., Nov. 4-4-f.

1859 Aug. 15 I Spot appeared on edge '1859 Aug 30 I D. News of I Vesuvius

of suli but the great spot appeared 25th. bursting out into patches of fire in all
I D. News 31-3-5.
directions.

1859 Sept 2 I Extraordinary electric current in telegraph wires in Italy from 5

. a.m., decreasing until 3 p.m. I D. News,
12th.

1859 Oct. 12 I in B.D. I 7:20 to 8: 15

I Solva, Pembrokeshire I Brilliant red
light with oblong nucleus rising in sky
south by east toward zenith. But stars
shone through it. Rays from it. I L.T.,
Oct 15-II-c I
[Reverse side) Oct 19, someone from
Hastingdon saw it - notes absence of
light in north, so thinks not aurora.
Thought glow from a foundry - but
visited the foundry and found it closed.

1859 Aug 181 Flashes from Mt. Hood,

Oregon I 19th and 20, clouds of vapor
from the crater and at night shafts of
flame I AJ. Sci 2/28/448.
1859 Aug 211 From 6to 7 p.m., large
sun spot visible to n.e . reported by E
J Lowe. I L.T. 24-12-e I
[Reverse side) 27-5-f I Another cor
writes been visible since the 15th. Others
- but all small compared with a new
one that began to appear morning of
24th, ab 4 times the siz[e) of Lowe's.

1859 Aug 28 - 291 night I Great storm

I England I France I C.R. 49-399.
1859 Aug 28 I The Aurora IN. Y. Ev

1859 Aug 22/- Norcia, Italy. q 125

- Sept 3. Sea waves at Salvador I Aug
31, q, Turkey I BA '11.
1859 Aug 221 (q and versus sky) lltal
I At Norcia, ac to Secchi. the stories of
fire and of other flames
[Reverse side) were absurd. I Cosmos.
N.S., 69/422.
1859 Aug 23/1eller dated [August 23]
I Naples I Times 29-8-c I Vesuvius
"bursti[ng] out into patches of fire in all
directions.
1859 Aug 221 (It) I Norcia (?) I q and
column of fire and smoke I See 1805.
1859 Aug 28 - 291 Cupola of the Aurora
at 12:45 open space surrounded by circle of light exactly on Alpha Andromedae.
[Reverse side] Lowe I [L11, Sept I-IO-b
I At 2:30 cupola, close to Gamma
Trianguli.
1859 Aug 281 At Beeston - the AuroraCupola I 12:45 a.m. - on A. Andromeda/l:15-2EofAlpha/2:30
- close to Gamma Trianguli I E J.
Lowe I LT, Sept. I.
1859 Aug 28 I 8:40 - 9 p.m. I Aurora
and position of rays given - by Lowe.
] E
I
I
[ Reverse Sl'dexact
y on A pha Andromeda I An Reg 1859-129.
1859 [Aug] 28 - 29 I Paris I Aurora I
C.R. 49/338 I Rome - p. 346 I Noyelles-sur-Mer p. 367, 397, 424.
1859 Aug 25 - Sept 31 qs and sea waves
at Salvador I BA '11.
1859 Aug 27 I N.Y. Ev. post. 3-10 I
Unprecedented drought in Maine.
Brooks dry that were never known to be
dry before.

1859 Aug 28/1n Times. Oct 5, Robert

Rawlinson publishes his meteorological
observations in Lapland from Aug 25 to
Sept. 7. Aurora noticed Aug 25 only.
1859 Aug 28 - Sept 4 I EXI. Aurora I
Am J Sci 2/28/407 I 29/92 1
[Reverse side) M. W. Rev 32/322.
1859 Aug 29 I Adelaide. S. Australia
17 p.m. I very brilliant meteor almost
immediately
[Reverse side] followed by aurora I
Newmayer. "Meteorological Observations. p. 241.
1859 Aug 29 - Sept 4 I "The week was
extremely remarkable in consequence of
an almost constant display of the
[Reverse side) Aurora Australia. I The
Age (Melbourne). Sept 8-6-5. I Evening of28, magnetic disturbance. Increased, morning of 29th.
1859 Aug 31 I Near Milan, Italy, a
deluge, called a waterspout I D. News,
12-7-2.
1859 Sept. II See 1891, June 17.
1859 Sept I I C-21 + I (Ch) 12 luminous
bodiesnearsun/MNotices20/13,I5,
88.

1859 Aug 281 Aurora seen in Jamaica

I probably first time on record I NY Ev
Post, Sept 29-1-4.
1859 Aug 281 Aurora brilliant in northem sky at Savannah. Georgia I NY Ev
Post, Sept 2-1-4.

1859 Sept 2 I The Age (Melbourne)

[Se]pt 3-5 -2 - The Aurora Australis
was again very beautiful and very
[Reverse side] conspicuous last night"
- in soulhern sky soon after sunset
shooting rays toward zenith.

1859 Aug 28 to Sept 4 I Auroral effect

I The horizontal ring of light I Between
Portland and Boston. telegraph operators
sent messages without their balleries. 1
An Sci 0 1860/414.

1859 Sept 2 1evening I Florida I brilliant

aurora I MWR '07-571.
1859 Sept 2 1 from midnight to 2 a.m.
1 in Chili I aurora in south - moved
from east to west 1 C.R. 49-109.

1859 Aug 28 - Sept 41 Long artile on

the Auroras 1 AJ. Sci 2/3217.
1859 Aug 28 1 The Aurora as seen in
Nova Scotia 1 LT, Oct 4-IO-c.
1859 Aug 291 [LT], 8-c I Outbreak of
Vesuvius.

1859 Sept 2/7 a.m. I France I telegraph

instruments charged with electricity I
L.T . Sept 6-5-d.
1859 Sept 2 1 Telegraph instruments
charged with electricity. I D. News,
7-2-51 Throughout France. in the mor-

Volume 22, No. 1

Post. 29th 1 Aug 28 unusually cold. 1/1

[Reverse side] 1859 Sept 20 1 N. Y. Ev.
Post of 1 Hysterical Revival in North of
Ireland.
1959 Aug 29. etc. I Aurora I great deal
in C.R., vol. 49.
1859 Aug and Sept I It I Sounds. I Norcia I Same as Jan. at Trevig.

[BCF. p. 412:
Sept. I. 1859 -two star-like objects,
that were seen by Carrington to cross
the sun (Monlhly NOlices. 20-13, 15.
88).]
1859 Sept I I Great magnetic storm I E
Mec 1111124.
1859 Sept I I Det. met I Tenn. I Am
J. Sci 2/29/138/10 a.m. I BA 60-94.
1859 Sept 21 The Aurora in Chile I C.R.
49-1009 I toward S. horizon moving
from E to W.

1859 Sept. 3 I Aurora again brilliant I

Southampton 1 D. News, 7-3-5.
1859 Aug 28 - Sept 41 (g.) Aurora 1 Am
J. Sci 2-28-index.
1859 Sept 4 I Waterspout seen at
, Southampton abo one o'clock I D. News
7-3-5 I
[Reverse side] That is, a downward projection from a distant cloud.
1859 Sept 5/2 p.m. till 4 I Halo around
the sun seen at Warwick I D. News
8-2-2.
1859 Sept 12 I Ext. whirl I Constance
(Manche) I C.R. 49/414, 824.
1859 Sept 12 I Saint-Ame (Vosges) I
Aurora I C.R. 49/584 I at Yzeure
(Allier) - 585, 603 I See 943.
1859 Sept 15 I Sc Am. 35/389 I John
H. Tice. St. Louis, Mo, known as an
alarmist weather prophe[t]. 11/
[Reverse side] Mr Weber s[note cut oft]
the spot.
1859 Sept. 151 Tice obj. I Tice was Supt
of Public Schools in St. Louis up to 1857
and then Principal of the Laclede
School. I Dec 1-1-4. World. 1883.
[BCF. pp. 413-414]:
1859 Sept 18 I q in Cornwall and great
gale s. of England and Channell Timbs.
60-269.
1859 Sept 20 I N.Y. Ev. Post of I
Hysterical Revival in North of Ireland.
1859 Sept 20 IN. Y. Ev. Post! Revival
in north of Ireland.
1859 Sept. 241 II a.m. 1 Vienna I det
met I BA 60-94.
1859 Sept. 24/9:30 - II p.m. lIsle of
Wight I Aurora I LT, Sept 28-IO-e.
1859 Sept 28 I 8:47 I In'the Dragon and
spreading from I met train I at Anvers
I Cosmos 15/421.
1859 abo last Sept I Very great aurora
in Australia I Nature 811524.
1859 Oct I I - midnight I Lymington,
Hants. I Bright light near northern
horizon - then Great Bear and sky
around tinged a deep rose color - a
similar ap. not so bright to the westward.
,I Coruscation from it. I LT, Oct 4-10-c.
1859 Oct II Aurora I C.R. 49/481, 548.
1859 Oct 7 I Waterspout burst near
Calcutta. I Jour Asiatic Soc Bengal
29-368.
1859 Oct 12 I Amiens I Aurora I CR
49/549.

1859 Oct 12 I (Aurora) I Aurora,

Nantes, ab 7 p.m., and at Montins. lIn
Vosges, at 8 p.m., like vast conflagration from S. W. to N.E. 6 or seven white
stripes radiating from a point below the
horizon.
[Reverse side] Ab 8': 15, luminous
masses. One bet tail of Ursa Major and
head of Dragon - other around Corona
Borealis and at time as far as Lyra.

1859 Oct. 19 I 6:20 p.m. I San Francisco I violent shock I I :20 a.m., 20th,
another violent shock. I
[Reverse side) S. F. Ev. Bulletin, 20th.
1859 Oct 19 and 231 Magnetic perturbations I Namur, Belgium I Bull de
I'Acad de Belgique 2/81157.
1859 Oct 21 I lightning and mets 15:45
p.m. I Diss, Norfolk I large meteor I
between 9 and IO p.m., much lightning
I LT, Oct 25.-12-f.
1859 Oct 211 Shock I Cornwall I See
Jan 13. 1860. I
[Reverse side] Times, Nov. I-IO-g.
1859 Oct 22 Ilf many mets, evidently
some not falling. I Diss, Norfolk I vivid
lightning in the east and many mets I
Same cor as Oct 21.
1859 Oct 211 Lightning at 7 p.m. in q
I at IO p.m. more vivid lightning in E
- I NOllingham I E. J. Lowe I LT, Oct
25-12-f.
1859 Oct 22. 13 p.m. I Flash of lightning and thunder in a snowstorm I Macclesfield I L.T., Oct 25-12-f.
1859 Oct 23/7:45 p.m. I Large meteor
on a night clear but with occasional
flashes of lightning I L. T., Oct 27/1 lIb
I This the year of Oct 23 - 24?
1859 Oct 25 I 7: 15 p.m. at Holyhead
- and abo 7:30 p.m. (Irish time?) at
Ballinaman,
[Reverse side) 13 miles west of Athlone,
in Ireland. At Holyhead, it was immediately followed by rain in a deluge.
I BA 61.
1859 Nov I I [LT], 7-a I Sun spots.
1859 Nov 12 I [LT], IO-a I Aerolites.
1859Nov.15/9:30a.m./NJ./N.Y.
I Meteor I A. J. Sci 2/301186.
1859 Nov. 15/9:30 lb!!!. I Mass. to Va.
I great meteor I At one place, Dennisville, left behind a column of smoke
estimated 100 feet in diameter. I
[Reverse side] BA 60-12.
1859 Nov 15 I (+) I 9:30.L!!!.., det.
met., New England to Va. - m!1 seen
in the region where report was loudest
(good). I J. F. Inst 69/205, 253 I
[Reverse side) A. J. Sci 2/291137, 298.
1859 Nov 18 - 26 I A luminous fog at
Geneva I La Sci Pour Tous 5-46.
1859 Nov 18 - 261 Geneva I luminous
fog I C.R. 4911011.
1859 Nov. 28 I Bohemia I met detl BA
60.
1859 Dec 15 I bet 2 and 3 a.m. I
Yorkshire I q and rallling sound I L.T.,
Dec 27-10-e.

Pursuit 47

[Reverse side] 3 other persons. ac to Mr.

1859 Dec 15 I [LT], 6-c I Piracy exRussell. in Nature 15/505 I D-192.
traordinary .
1859 Dec 20 I [LT]. lO-b I Ghst I [BCF. pp. 201. 414]
Maidstone.
1860 Feb 2 I See Feb 16. 1883. I
1859 Dec 21 I Colored snow I brown Alessandria. Piedmont. Italy /. (F) I
. - some places black. I GermanY. I [Reverse side] Details I La Science Pour
'.
:., ..
Tissandier I Les Prussiers del. Air, p. .Tous 8-154.
73 I Westphillia.
1860 Feb 3 I Stone fell. I Alexandrie.
1859 Dec 21 - 29 I Col. snow, diff Italy I L. S. P. Tous 8-154.
places, Germany I La Nat 8-105.
1860 Feb. 6 I morning I q and tho storm
I Athens I The Geologist 4-145.

1860

18.60 about I Soldiers I 210+.

(BCF, p. 422:
"Phantom soldiers" that were seen,
about the year 1860, at Paderborn,
Westphalia (Crowe, Night-side of
Nature, p. 416.]
1860 I frogs I "early sixties I Briton
Ferry. Glamorganshir(e] I E Mechanic
941118 11/
[Reverse side] C 55 [stamped].

1860 I The body at Blandford Churchyard, Peterburg, Va. I See Oct. 27,
1888.
1860 I Dymoch Hall, Derbyshire I
strange murders I not said this year I See
March 15, 1901.
1860 I Sleeper Susan C. Godsey. near
Hickman, Ky. I See July 14, 1869.

1860 Jan I I Hessle, Sweden I organic

matter I D-74.
[BCF, p. 76 I See March IS, 1806.].
1860 Jan. 131 q I Falmouth I Cornwall
I Daily News. Jan. 181 (Like oCt,.'2I,
'59) I See Timbs - 1861-257. I
[Reverse side] Better in Mom Post, 19th .
110:30 p.m. I all west Cornwall I times
- Jan 20 I Sound like of thunder.
1860 Jan 141 Ice I Blakiston I D-I77.
I

** I
[BCF, p. il86]
1860 Jan; 17 I about 11:45 a.m. I
reading I 3 letters in Times of Jan 20
- Explosion overhead.
1860 Jan 17 I 3 corso in Tunes of 20th
writes as t[o] sound "resembling the
discharge of a gun hig[h] in air" according to (not~ cut off] aerial sound according to all" heard near Reading. I
[Reverse ~ide] 24th, Cor writes heard
it and his'impression at "an immense
height". Ab 11:45 a.m.

1860 March I Remarkable disturbances

in North Temperate belt of Jupiter. I
[Reverse side] Observatory 23-215 ..
1860 March I - 2 I New Star I at
Moscow I A star to s.w. of the Great
Bear increased in size and turned red.
I Wolverhampton Chronicle. Ap 18. p.
3. col. 5 I
[Reverse side] At 9:45. night of I st, remained so till II :30, reaching half size
of moon. Then waned and in 'h hour
disappeared. A dark spot c[o]uld be seen
in its place.
1860 March 10 i 9 p.m. I Bradford I
Cheshire I Leeds I etc. I (Meteor) I BA
61-2.
1860 March 10/9:50 p.m. I Bradford
I met 2/3rds size moon I BA-'6O.
1860 March 151 Sound and ice I Ice of
Upper Wasdale, night of, in a "terrible
snowstorm" - "a singular rolling noise
in the air, which
[Reverse side] resembled the noise of
musketry." In morning the ice found.
.! LT, Ap. 7-7-e1 ice found morning of.
16th I- (D-177).
.
lBCF, p. 11i5]
1860 March 19 I 8:30 p.m. I Volc of
Isle of Reunion I C.R. 50-899 I great
but lasted I hour.
1860 abo March I Dark spot on Jupiter
I M. Notices 201244 I 59176.
1860 March 24 - 25 I night I Luminous
band ap and diasp regularly I called
Aurora I at Havana I La Sci Pour Tous
5/221 I

[Reverse side] C.R. 50-998 I II p.m.

to 4 a.m.

[Reverse side] Thick vapors and a burning wind. I C.R. 50-1198.

1860 June I Birm I See Aug 13.

1860 May ~ - 27 I Eruption of Katla,

Iceland I Rept. Smith. Inst
[Reverse side] 1885/510.

India I (F).
I Fall of stones I BA 67-418 I

1860 May 91 Eruption I Iceland I C.R.

51-68 I BAs. '60/86.

[Reverse side] Also here listed stonefall

at Kusiali, for Jan. 16. Mistake?

1860 June I See '58. I pebbles in storm

1860 Ap. 21 I New Concord, Ohio I '1 Wolverhampton I D-168 I N. III
metite I Sc,Am, NS, 2-325.
.
[Reverse side] Proc. Roy. I A paper.
1860 Ap. ~6 I 11:45 a.m. I Shock at [BCF, p. 17i5 I See April 19, 1834.]
Sylhet (near Calcutta) I Indian Field, 1860 June 2 - 12 I (F[r]) I q I Nice I
May 12, p. 89.
.
C.R. 50/596, 899,901/51167 I 52/252
1860 Ap. 27 I Shock at Surat I Indian I 53/638 I
Field, May 19. 1860.
[Reverse side 54/511, 1198.
1860 May I (?) I Met explosion. Fall 1860 June 3 I afternoon I Comanche.
ofstones over Guernsey Co, Oh[io]. So Iowa I Tornado I Finley's Rept.
violent heard (ov]er area ISO miles in 1860 June 31 evening I Kansas and Iowa
diameter. I.
I Tornado I Finley's Rept.
[Reverse side] Am J Sci 2/31/891 (F).
1860 June 7 I Asia !'d inor I q III [Small]
1860 May 1,/12:45 p.m. I Metite, New
I BA 'II.
Concord, Ohio. Detonations heard S.E.
1860 June 8 or 91 (th stone) I Raphoe,
Ohio and N. W. Virginia.
Donega[l], Ireland I Sandstone in
I 860 May 6/9 p.m. I Wo:verhampton hailstorm I Phil Mag 4/22/107 III
I "A most brilliant meteor." I W. [Reverse side] A 15 [stamped].
Chronic(le], May 9.
1860 June 8 or 91 Th stone I Ac. to lon1860 May 7 I Violent eruption, volc donderry Sentinel of Jun 15. 1860 I
Rotlugia, Iceland I La Sci Pour (Year Book of Facts
Tous-5-295.
[Reverse side] 1862-139) I During a th
1860 May 8 I A Vulcan.
storm at Raphoe, Donegal. Stone like
[Reverse side] NY Times, July 6, 1873. friable sandstone.
1860 May 8 I "Vulcan" I NY State I [BCF. p. 69]
New.
.
1860 June 161 Aerolite same date I See
1860 May and June I Dhumsalla I June 16, 1861.
Comb. I 128.
1860 June 16 I Kusiali, N.W. Provs.,
1860 June 16 I Kusiali, India I 5 a.m.

1860 May 12 I Flames of eruption of 1860 June 18 I Amesbury, Mass I and

volc Kotlugra~ Iceland this day visible Prospect. N. Y. I sulphur or pollen I Sc
at Reykjavic, 80 miles away I BA Am 2/3/46, 97.
1860-86.
1860 June 191 La Sci Pour Tous. June
. 1860 May 161 Turkey I q. I I I [small) 19, 1860 I That ac to Wolverhampton
I BA I I.
Advertiser, a great quantity of little
1860 May 19 I (bid) I Indian Field of black stones had fallen in a violent storm
I That ac to the North West Gazette of at Wolverhampton.
the 12th, "a shower of blood" had fallen I 860 June 191 B. stones I Wolverhampin the Jellasore district,
ton I There is no La Sci Pour Tous of
[Reverse side] over an expanse of about June 19. Nearest is 21sl.
SO beegahs.
[BCF, pp. 410-4121 See June 12, 1858.]
1860 IbId I Aliens Indian Mail. Aug 27 1860 June 20 I Comet seen on Atlantic.
- that the blood fell at Futteghur.
lab. 51 Nand 21 W. I abo II p.m .
1860 May 211 Nova I by Auwers I New
star of 7th mag in the cluster 80 Messier
in Scorpio.' On the
[Reverse side] 28th in England. by
Pogson. By.June 16. diminished to 10.5
mag. I Observatory 9-172.

ships time. 7 or 8 degrees above horizon

I nucleus and tail distinctly visible I L. T.
27-IO-f I
1860 March 281 (See 1859.) I Aerolite.
[Reverse side] Night of 24 - 25. 10:45
p.m., as seen at Wareham nucleus
1860 April I I Met from Auriga to
almost as brilliant as B. Aurigae I apVenus, which it crossed and instantly
[B~F, p. 408]
disappeared. I B Assoc 1860-6.
1860 May 21 I Scorpio nova described peared to be a little above a line drawn
I860Jan 1181 Guatemala I n I [medium]
by Auwers I by Pogson. May 28 I through A and B Aurigae; west of B
1860 April I Vesuvius still active I Y.s.
Iq/BA;11.
rather more than the distance between
Observatory 9-172.
'61-255.
A and B.
1860 Jan 20 I (Del Met) lab. 5:45 a.m.
1860 May 21 before I See Times. I great
I Plombieres I loud detonation suppos- 1860 Ap. III Dark or eclips[e] I Per1860 June 21 I 10: 15 - comet seen in
th. storms I Yorkshire.
ed ofa meteor, preceded by a vivid light. nambuco I D-230.
Cornwall I 1 degree west of north I ab
I C.R. 50-322 I Light illumined the [BCF. p. 243]
1860 May 21 I Nova Scorpii I in a 20 degrees above horizon, at 2 a.m. I
horizon (like so many q-lights). Detonanebula in S Nova I by Auwers I almost very brilliant in northeast. altitude about
1860 Ap. II I Light to E of sun, said
h
Ib J
10th d
I
tion was tremendous.
been Venus. I C.R. S0/1198+ I But
7t mag y une
own to a most 45 degrees I Times. 25-10-f I
I
vanishing
point.
I
(Reverse sl'de] June 23. I 1.30p.m., seen

I
J
1860 an 20 I Me teor PI om bleres
Venus was not visible to naked eye (p
1199) ~nd. as writer says, if obscured
(Reverse side] Nature 33-466.
. through break in clouds, at Shrewsbury
Cosmos 1~/592.
1860 Jan 20 15 p.m. I.Cassel. etc. I in-. sun. Venils instead of more visible.: 1860 May 22/10:27 p.m. I Met I Paris I Tunes 26-12-f. I At midnight it was
less vi~ible. I . . . ', _
,I ~.R. 50,997.
abo 4 degrees above horizon and abo 4
tense 'sudden light I BA 60-106. .. . should
t'
1860
May
27
or
30
I
q.
I
Italy
IBA:
\-I.
degrees
west of north.
,
[R
.
'd
]
V
I
f
C
.
everse,sl e
enus n onJunclon
1860 Jan. 29/V. I London I ab. 8a.m.
1860 June I Nothing in Wolverhampton
I "perfectlY round black object, ofap- Sun I July 18. 1860.
Chronicle, Ap 18 - June 13.
(to be continued in Vol. 22, No.2)
parent size of (Vulcan). passing over 1860 Ap -II I Sun obscured, province.
disc of surt until egress at abo 9:30 I by of Pernambuco. I That night at another
1860 June rWolverhampton I nothing
F. A. R. ~ussell and
place in P. I But Venus visible.
in Birm. D. Post, May - June.
1860 March 281 Khirogurh, N.W. Provinces, India I (F) I S.E. of Bhurthur.

'*

Volume 22, No. 1

The Society For The Investigation of The Unexplained

Mail: SITU/PURSUIT, P.O. Box 265, Little Silver, NJ 07739-0265 USA Tel: (201) 842-5229
GOVERNING BOARD
Robert C. Warth President; Gregory Arend, Vice-President; Nancy L. Warth, Secretary
and Treasurer; Trustees: Gregory Arend, Marie Cox; Nancy Warth, Robert C. Warth,
Martin Wiegler, Albena lwerver.
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
Dr. George A. Agogino, Distinguished Director of Anthropology Museums and
Director, Paleo-Indian Institute, Eastern New Mexico University (Archaeology)
Dr. Carl H. Delacato, Director, The Institute for the Rehabilitation of the Brain InJured, Morton, Pa. (Mentalogy)
Dr. Stuart W. Greenwood, Operations Manager, University Research Foundation,
University of Maryland (Aerospace Engineering)
Dr. Martin Kruskal, Program In Applied Mathematics and Computational
Mathematics, PrInceton University, Princeton, New Jersey
Dr. Samuel B. McDowell, Professor of Biology, Rutgers the State University,
Newark, New Jersey (General Biology)
Dr. Vladimir Markotlc, Professor of Anthropology, Department of Archaeology,
11Jnlversity of Alberta, Canada (Ethnosoclology and Ethnology)
Dr. Mlchaen A. Persinger, Professor, Department of Psychology, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada (Psychology)
Dr. Frank B. Salisbury, Plant Science Department, College of Agriculture, Utah
State University (Plant Physiology)
Dr. Bertholcll Eric Schwarz, Conllluitant, National Institute for Rehabilitation
Englneelling, Yero Beaclln, Florida (Mental Sciences)
Dr. Michael D. Swordlll, Profeor, Department of General Studlelll Science,
Western Michigan Unlvenlty (NaturaB Science)
Dr. Roger W. Wescott, Professor and Chairman, Department of Anthropology,
Drew University, Madison, N.J. (Cultural Anthropology and Linguistics)
Dr. A. Joseph Wralght, Chief Geographer, U.S. Coalllt and Geodetic Survey,
Washington, D.C. (Geography and Oceanography)
Dr. Robert K. luck, Professor Emeritus Department of Botany, Drew University,
Madison, N.... (Botany}
ORRGDNS OF SITU /PURSUIT
Zoologist, biologist, botanist and geologist Rvan T. Sanderson, F.L.S., F.R.G.S., F.Z.S., in associa
"tion with a number of other distinguished authors, established in 1965 a "foundation" for the exposi
tion and research of the paranormal - those "disquieting mysteries of the natural world" to which
they had devoted much of their investigative lifetimes.
As a means of persuading other professionals, and nonprofesslonals having interests similar to. I.
their own, to enlist in an uncommon cause, the steering 9ioup decided to publish a newsletter. The
first issue came out in May 1967. The response, though not overwhelming, was sufficient to reassure
the founding fathers that public interest in the what, why and where of their work would indeed sur
"vive them.
"
Newsletter No.2, dated" March 1968, announced new plans for the Sanderson foundation: a struc
"ture larger than its architects had first envisioned was to be built upon it, the whole to be called the
Society for the Investigation of The Unexplained, as set forth in documents filed with the New Jersey
Secretary of State. The choice of name was prophetic, for Dr. Sanderson titled one of the last of his
two-dozen books "Investigating the Unexplained," published in 1972 and dedicated to the Society.
Another publication was issued in June 1968, but "newsletter" was now a subtitle; above it the
name PURKJ87I' was displayed for the first time. Vol. 1, No.4 in September 1968 ("incorporating
the fourth SOciety newsletter") noted that "the abbreviation SITU has now been formally adopted as
the designation of our Society." Issue number 4 moreover Introduced the Scientific Advisory Board,
listing the names and affiliations of the advisors. Administrative matters no longer dominated the
contents; these were relegated to the last four of the twenty pages. Most of the issue was given over
to Investigative reporting on phenomena such as "a great armadillo (6 feet long, 3 feet high) said to
have been captured In Argentina" - the Instant transportation of solid objects "from one place to
another and even through solids" - the attack on the famed University of Colorado UFO Project headed
by Dr. Edward U. Condon - and some updated information about "ringing rocks" and "stone spheres."
Thus SITU was born, and thus PUBSUlTbegan to chronicle our Investigation of The Unexplained.
Printed in U.S.A.

ISSN 0033-4685