Info-ParaNet Newsletters Volume I Number 306 Monday, September 24th 1990 Today's Topics: Oregon lake bed design Re: Need Radar Experts & Historians KECKSBURG INCIDENT CROP CIRCLES Re:OUT THERE by Blum Re: Oprah Winfrey Gulf Breeze Six: Deja Vu Re: BERMUDA TRIANGLE Re: Betz comment Re: Kecksburg, PA Crash Story Re: Betz comment Blum Re: Betz comment Re: Paranet Newsletter 305 CROP CIRCLES Re: Kecksburg Ufo Blum Re: Oprah Winfrey Crop Circles Re:out There By Blum Re: Kecksburg, Pa Crash Story Re: Betz Comment Crop Circles Articles Crop Circles in the USA Seti Update KECKSBURG, TUNGUSKA, AND TELEVISION RE: Paranet/MUFON BBs systems ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: valley!stan@rand.org (Stanley L. Kameny) Subject: Oregon lake bed design Date: 23 Sep 90 04:36:47 GMT +> Supposedly the design is a Hindu symbol of some sort. +> Also, supposedly, survey markers were found. +Now if we could just teach the UFO's to draw that way, instead of destoying +wheat fields...we'd all have something. :-) The Oregon lake bed design was the work of an artist who had 5 other guys help him execute it. He explained his deed to the authorities afterwards, and they fined him ($200 or some small fine, I don't remember) for defacing the lake bed. More easily explained than the crop circles. Those have several strange aspects: no known source, no known method of bending the wheat stalks without otherwise damaging the plants, and many people would be required to create the patterns overnight. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Clark.Matthews@f320.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Clark Matthews) Subject: Re: Need Radar Experts & Historians Date: 23 Sep 90 05:03:00 GMT > the 'ghost aircraft' (as they were called) frequently > circled low, > projecting powerful searchlights on to the ground. Just like the 1896-97 "airships"! Of course you're right, James. The "aeroplane" sensations in Britain and Europe during the 1920's and '30's caused quite a lot of comment. Perhaps the most extensive public disclosure ever made by the RAF about unknown aircraft was during the "aeroplane" scare of the late Twenties and Thirties. The "aeroplanes" would cruise slowly around in abominable weather, often quite low & slow over LONDON and the home counties. The RAF had to repeatedly say that the weather made flying & interception impossible. There was quite a scandal, since the French theorists were already insisting on the practicality of near-extermination of cities by aerial bombing (biplane bombers in three waves of 100 aircraft each. Wave one: HE bombs; wave two: incendiaries; wave three: poision gas). This was before Hitler, of course. And none of the sensation caused the Liberals to stop the disarmament that went on for ten years, until it was too late. > Good luck with your research! Many thanks! Best, Clark -- Clark Matthews - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Clark.Matthews@f320.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Paul.Faeder@p0.f0.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (Paul Faeder) Subject: KECKSBURG INCIDENT Date: 23 Sep 90 04:35:50 GMT In an article of <20 Sep 90 15:16:33 GMT>, ZAK@cu.nih.gov writes: > 1. Why has it taken all these years for these people to > come forward? I don't think that they were "in hiding" so to speak. I think they did come orward at the time of the incident but these sort of events just don't seem to et the press coverage that they deserve. Of course the fact that they may appear on a nationally syndicated TV show may act as an inducement for those that were "hiding" to come out. Does it seem as if the UFO phenomena is coming of age? The phenomena seems to be gaining heightened awareness. It seems to have graduated from newspaper tabloids to TV tabloids to syndicated TV (Unsloved Mysteries). Friday night, 20/20 had a segment on the England crop circles/pictograms. I don't mean to imply that these pictograms are UFO related, it's just nteresting to note the fact that they did cover it. I don't recall ever seeing a story of this type ever reported on 20/20. -- Paul Faeder - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Paul.Faeder@p0.f0.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Paul.Faeder@p0.f0.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (Paul Faeder) Subject: CROP CIRCLES Date: 23 Sep 90 04:51:15 GMT In a message of <22 Sep 90 01:21:00>, Frank Cox (1:207/320) writes: >I was wondering if anyone has considered that perhaps the "Crop Circles" >may be a manipulation at the cellular level? On a recent television show, >(sorry, the particular broadcast escapes me) showed a very interesting >configuration of certain cellular structure within the circles as >compared to plants outside the affected area. I think the show you're referring to was Unsolved Mysteries. On Friday past, 20/20 did a segment on these circles/pictograms. The kicker is, that while the 20/20 camera crew and reporter were interviewing crop watchers (people who watch fields for signs of circles forming), the most elaborate and largest pictogram was being formed on the field that was being watched. Since it was dark, no one noticed this pictogram until the next day. Now, if these circles are man made, I find it a bit hard to believe that none of these crop watchers noticed a large number of people trampling down some wheat. These pictograms have become elaborate; almost like a work of art. Whether they are formed physically or by some sort of energy field, there is an intelligence behind it; but what is the purpose? I'm curious if anyone has heard of any estimates of man hours to create the most elaborate pictogram. I think it was Colin Andrews who said on Unsolved Mysteries that there are only 7 hours of darkness available at that time of year. With this estimate we could determine the number of people that would have to be involved. I would guesstimate it at several hundred. -- Paul Faeder - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Paul.Faeder@p0.f0.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Paul.Faeder@p0.f0.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (Paul Faeder) Subject: Re:OUT THERE by Blum Date: 23 Sep 90 05:08:51 GMT To: keith@pecan.cray.com (Keith A. Fredericks) >I recently posted a whole bunch of references to the published work >on remote viewing. Yes you did Keith and I wanted to ask you about the remote viewing experiment that you had participated in. Can you tell us about it? As far as the references you posted, do you have any on hand that you could copy and mail to me? I'll give you my address, but don't feel obligated. It's: Paul Faeder RD 1, Box 229A Bushkill, PA 18324 -- Paul Faeder - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Paul.Faeder@p0.f0.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jim.Speiser@f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Speiser) Subject: Re: Oprah Winfrey Date: 22 Sep 90 01:31:00 GMT John: I gotta say, I was somewhat less than impressed with Mr. Blum myself on Oprah. Something about not letting facts get in his way... I don't recall if he gave out any cosmic statistics on Oprah, though.... What is your final verdict on his book? I've heard an entire spectrum of opinion on it, from utter hogwash to very enlightening. I have yet to read it myself. Jim -- Jim Speiser - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Jim.Speiser@f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jim.Speiser@f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Speiser) Subject: Gulf Breeze Six: Deja Vu Date: 22 Sep 90 01:33:00 GMT > The spaceship's arrival would be heralded by war in > Lebanon and a shakeup of the U.S. military ... > > I know this is just a coincidence, and doesn't mean a thing, but it's > still > kind of spooky ... But where's the war in Lebanon? -- Jim Speiser - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Jim.Speiser@f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jim.Speiser@f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Speiser) Subject: Re: BERMUDA TRIANGLE Date: 22 Sep 90 01:48:00 GMT > all other variations. How does one sort the real from the creative > evidence? It's a tough question. But one that needs asking. My (admittedly very armchair) method is to take in all the literature on both sides of an issue, first the proponents, then the skeptics. Let the skeptics do the sorting out for me. Then I judge the skeptics' counter-arguments, and see if they have any more validity than the proponents. Party-poopers that they are, most of the time they have common sense on their side. I think the Bermuda Triangle is no exception. See for instance Kusche, Larry: "The Disappearance of Flight 19" and "The Bermuda Triangle Mystery - SOLVED." Kusche does an excellent job of exposing those portions of the mystery that others had hoped would be kept "covered," in order to make sure it stayed a mystery. Jim -- Jim Speiser - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Jim.Speiser@f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jim.Delton@p0.f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Delton) Subject: Re: Betz comment Date: 22 Sep 90 02:08:00 GMT RE: the O-2's If I had one wish (and I couldn't wish for money) (and it had to be related to UFO writers) I would wish that all the various and sundry authors get a go*da*ned camera and take it with them once in a while!! The info about the planes being seen zipping into the local airport and shortly leaving again would be more "concrete" if they had some photos. Ditto for the Coynes claims of helicopters buzzing them. I guess i should keep a camera handy too as I've been warned to expect a visit soon. -- Jim Delton - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Jim.Delton@p0.f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jim.Delton@p0.f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Delton) Subject: Re: Kecksburg, PA Crash Story Date: 22 Sep 90 02:25:00 GMT I read an article in our local paper last week that said the Residents of Kecksburg were upset that there was going to be an unsolved mystery segement, that they had told the producers that the whole thing was a hoax and that everyone originally involved had admitted it was a hoax years ago. Sound familiar, no matter which side of the fence you are on???? -- Jim Delton - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Jim.Delton@p0.f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jim.Delton@p0.f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Delton) Subject: Re: Betz comment Date: 22 Sep 90 02:29:00 GMT RE: O-2's Gee, that's a fair piece of change for such a stupid looking airplane!! I'm suprised they are still making them. -- Jim Delton - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Jim.Delton@p0.f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jim.Delton@p0.f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Delton) Subject: Blum Date: 22 Sep 90 02:41:00 GMT >>We predict...gvt will release definate proof... Boy if I had a dollar for every book I've read that in I'd have half a months phone bill!@! I think just about every serious authour gets just a tad emotionally caught up in his research which leads them to believe they have been the ones to finally put the pieces together and that the fat lady is about to sing. -- Jim Delton - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Jim.Delton@p0.f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jim.Speiser@p0.f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Speiser) Subject: Re: Betz comment Date: 22 Sep 90 15:47:00 GMT Jim: I think as far as the Coynes are concerned, your wish came true. I believe they videotaped a copter buzzing them, in front of witnesses. Jim -- Jim Speiser - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Jim.Speiser@p0.f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lopez!preacher@sharkey.cc.umich.edu (Preacher) Subject: Re: Paranet Newsletter 305 Date: 23 Sep 90 17:19:45 GMT +From: Thomas Lapp TZ +Subject: RE: Decoding RTTY +Date: 23 Sep 90 03:13:06 GMT ++ I wrote: ++ > Yes there is a modem card for demodulation of SW signals. Back +And John Hicks wrote: ++ All you need is the usual card, software, and the appropriate radio ++ receiver. You can then copy mil RTTY. Of course, you may not be able ++ to descramble it...... ++ The gear's fairly expensive, but not prohibitively so. +you can get a card for around $100. Of course your radio to hook +it too is the expensive part: $250 low end to $1500 high-end. But +if you've already got a SW receiver and a computer, cost is only +around $100... + - tom There is a company called - Software Systems Consulting 150 Avenida Cabrillo, 'C' San Clemente, CA 92672 Which sells a Demodulater and software for the IBM computer. I use it all the time (everyday) to pick up RTTY stations. The price for the package is $99.00. The phone number to find out more about the package called 'PC SWL' is (714) 498-5784. I have found this program to do all that I ask it to do. I have also found it works best on an AT computer. Although it does work very well on my XT also. With this all you will need then is the radio and you too can be listening to the news. -- Some people too big, | mailrus!sharkey!lopez!preacher Some people too small, |----* the only insane one on lopez *---- Some people just right but they talk too much. -- My Grandfather -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Brian.Clark@f11.n289.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Brian Clark) Subject: CROP CIRCLES Date: 22 Sep 90 22:44:00 GMT > I was wondering if anyone has considered that perhaps the > "Crop Circles" may be a manipulation at the cellular level? > On a recent television show, (sorry, the particular > broadcast escapes me) showed a very interesting > configuration of certain cellular structure within the > circles as compared to plants outside the affected area. > And again I apologize for not remembering the exact > cellular structures affected. However, from the > information I gathered there, and a theory that may be > plausible, is that the plants are being manipulated at the > cellular level. The manner in which the plants bend over > without harm is very similar to a plants natural ability to > follow the Sun during the day. Hmmm... interesting hypothesis - but if you saw the "20/20" broadcast on Friday, you would have seen pictures of the most recent pattern found which included not only perfect circles, but forked lines coming off of them in asymetrical ways.... hard to believe that something would cause that naturally... any possible connection between these patterns and the "landing strips" in the dirt patterns in S. America?? -- Brian Clark - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Brian.Clark@f11.n289.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: rcw@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM (Robert White) Subject: Re: Kecksburg Ufo Date: 24 Sep 90 08:15:51 GMT In article <68295.26FAF8AE@paranet.FIDONET.ORG> Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin) writes: > >Very interesting piece that they presented. I would be >interested in knowing more about the alleged trajectory that the >program stated the object took where it seemed to make a couple >of "controlled" turns. Also, the blue light that it emitted. ^^^^^^^^^^ >Would that be characteristic of a space capsule? > >Mike > The object would have had to have been under some sort of control ... Anything that large (several feet across) would have had a cataclysmic impact in free fall. It would have devastated much of the northeastern United States, and probably left an impact crater that was miles across. The meteorite that formed Winslow crater in Arizona is somewhat smaller than the stated size of this object. Yours -- Robert C. White, Jr. Right lane of .signature closed, merge left The WhiteStar Corporation rcw@scicom.alphacdc.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin) Subject: Blum Date: 23 Sep 90 22:03:00 GMT > I was in a used bookstore the other day and found a > paperback copy of "Beyond Earth: Man's Contact With UFOs" > written by Ralph Blum with Judy Blum. Anyone know if > there's any relation to the Blum who authored "Out There"? I do not know if there is any relation there. > Ralph Blum was born in 1932, educated at Harvard and the > U. of Leningrad. In 1971 he married Judy Henson from > England. I find this very interesting. I would be most interested in knowing why he studied at the U. of Leningrad. Sounds like CIA recruitment material to me. Mike -- Michael Corbin - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin) Subject: Re: Oprah Winfrey Date: 23 Sep 90 22:05:00 GMT > I vaguely remember Carl Sagan doing some kind > of workup in one episode of Cosmos in which he started with > the estimated number of stars within a certain distance > and, using small percentages, concluded that there are > probably millions of planets populated with intelligent, > technological beings. (what a paragraph!) Probably > talking about the same thing. > As for Blum's figures, I > didn't notice, but I wasn't particularly looking at them > either. Remember, no known newsman has passed algebra. I believe that the statement that Blum makes regarding the various possibilities for life in the universe came from the famous "Green Bank Formula," a theoretical formula arrived at by the panel of scientists (Sagan, I believe, was there) speculating on how many near stars could support planets much like Earth based upon matching them with similar conditions in our own solar system. This formula is discussed in Keyhoe's books as well. Mike -- Michael Corbin - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin) Subject: Crop Circles Date: 23 Sep 90 22:12:00 GMT My belief on the crop circles is that they are the result of Star Wars testing. The argument connecting them with UFOs is very weak and does not even hint at a connection -- aside from some of the reports that you hear from the "Adamski-types" about strange craft in the area, etc. Since the crop circles are a relatively new aspect, I feel that they will be found to be a result of an earthly cause. I liken this to the Marfa lights of Texas. Although that phenomena has escaped explanation, it has been thoroughly demonstrated that it is not the result of UFOs. A perfectly natural explanation will be discovered, thus adding to the ever-increasing catalog of explainables. Good point you bring up about the cellular structures of the plants. This might even reinforce the Star Wars aspect in that they are testing a new sort of weapon similar to the neutron bomb. Mike -- Michael Corbin - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin) Subject: Re:out There By Blum Date: 23 Sep 90 22:13:00 GMT > From: keith@pecan.cray.com (Keith A. Fredericks) > Jim, the opinion you have expressed here about remote > viewing is > clearly at odds with the scholarly work performed on the > subject. > > The evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of a conclusion > that remote > viewing is a real effect observed many times by reputable > scientists > under proper experimental protocols. Is there any material that you have that you could present here as an excerpt? Mike -- Michael Corbin - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin) Subject: Re: Kecksburg, Pa Crash Story Date: 23 Sep 90 22:16:00 GMT > I read an article in our local paper last week that said > the Residents of Kecksburg were upset that there was going > to be an unsolved mystery segement, that they had told the > producers that the whole thing was a hoax and that everyone > originally involved had admitted it was a hoax years ago. > Sound familiar, no matter which side of the fence you are > on???? Very. -- Michael Corbin - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin) Subject: Re: Betz Comment Date: 23 Sep 90 22:17:00 GMT > I think as far as the Coynes are concerned, your wish came > true. I believe they videotaped a copter buzzing them, in > front of witnesses. As much dough as they have made from their hotel room regressions and other "fanfare," they could have rented a helicopter for their segment of "Solved Mysteries." Mike -- Michael Corbin - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin) Subject: Crop Circles Date: 23 Sep 90 22:19:00 GMT > Hmmm... interesting hypothesis - but if you saw the "20/20" > broadcast on Friday, you would have seen pictures of the > most recent pattern found which included not only perfect > circles, but forked lines coming off of them in asymetrical > ways.... hard to believe that something would cause that > naturally... any possible connection between these patterns > and the "landing strips" in the dirt patterns in S. > America?? Something that I would like to interject here is that they have the similarities of snow flakes in their symmetrical designs only. Could this have anything to do with some type of electromagnetic exposure? Mike -- Michael Corbin - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin) Subject: Articles Date: 23 Sep 90 22:22:00 GMT To all, including UUCP: If you have interesting articles or contributions that you would like to present to the ParaNet users, we have the capability of receiving FAXed transmissions. Please keep this in mind. Thanks, Mike -- Michael Corbin - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David.Stager@f320.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG (David Stager) Subject: Crop Circles in the USA Date: 24 Sep 90 01:35:00 GMT BATES CITY, Mo. -- Circles up to 40 feet wide and similar to ones seen in England have popped up on farms in Kansas and Missouri, and farmers aren't sure what they are. The farm of Roger and Lynda Lowe attracted national attention this week when their sorghum field became the latest to sport one of the circles. Meteorologists speculate the patterns may be caused by atmospheric disturbances. They consider the chief culprits spinning winds, called dust devils, or microbursts, which are downward rushes of cool air that produce wind shear. Similar circles have been reported recently in three other fields -- two in Kansas and one in Missouri. All the circles are near roads and trees. Residents say nearby trees did not lose limbs as they probably would have in heavy wind. Farmers say no crop disease could have caused the damage. No tire tracks or footprints have been found. In each case, people who live near the circles neither heard nor saw anything unusual. The Lowes, who live 25 miles east of Kansas City, believe the wind is to blame rather than ghosts or aliens. Others agreed. "Crop circles are a phenomenon that have been going on in England since the early 1980s," said Barry Karr, spokesman for Skeptical Inquirer, a journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. The organizati on is dedicated to debunking UFO and ghost sightings. "I am quite certain that we have no alien visitors in our skies," said Philip Klass, a member of the organization. Glen Marotz, a meteorologist and professor of civil engineering at the University of Kansas, believes the wind is responsible. "When the atmosphere is faced with an energy imbalance, it acts like you would expect it would. It tries to get rid of them," he said. "One way is to create a spinning vortex. There is nothing uncommon about that," Marotz said. Lowe harvested the sorghum and obliterated the circles Thursday. He said he lost about $1,000 of the crop. Ruth McCahon said she and her husband gave little thought to a circle 30 to 40 feet wide on their farm until they heard about the Lowes. "It has us wondering, `What on earth?"' said Mrs. McCahon, whose lives 85 miles southeast of Kansas City. Some circles found elsewhere have proven to be the doings of mischievous farmers or neighbors who would rather propagate stories than irrigate crops, Karr said. Circles have popped up in the past in Florida and Canada, Karr said. -- David Stager - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: David.Stager@f320.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David.Stager@f320.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG (David Stager) Subject: Seti Update Date: 24 Sep 90 01:41:00 GMT Sophisticated electronic equipment hooked to a radiotelescope dish will conduct the first-ever systematic scan of the southern sky as part of the search for extraterrestrial life. The search will be conducted, according to an article in the current issue of Popular Mechanics, at the Argentine Institute for Radioastronomy, outside Buenos Aires. This summer, equipment was shipped from Harvard University, part of the Megachannel Extraterrestrial Assay II (META II). It was to be installed in the second of two instruments custom-built under the direction of physicist Paul Horowitz. With processing muscle on a par with a supercomputer, they are among the most advanced devices ever contrived for finding interplanetary radio transmissions from alien life forms. Many scientists suspect these messages are buried amidst the cosmic background noise bombarding Earth every day and may be the way to find intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. The equipment bound for Argentina was to be hooked up to a 98-foot diameter radiotelescope. A similar search of the northern half of the sky has been under way at the 84-foot Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Oak Ridge radiotelescope in Harvard since 1985. The two META installations represent the most thoroughgoing approach yet to a quest that began 30 years ago. For three months in 1960, astronomer Frank Drank used a new 85-foot dish at Green Bank, W. Va., to tune in emissions from Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani, two nearby sun-like stars. No signs of life were found, but Drake's thinking caught on. The premise was that with about a billion trillion stars in the known universe, most of them much older than our own, there is bound to be someone somewhere trying to get a message out. Some 50 Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) scans have been carried out with radiotelescopes since then. In 1981, a device called Sentinel at Harvard was powerful but could only monitor one very narrow band at a time. Researchers had to try to guess not only where the aliens were, but on what frequency they would transmit. SETI researchers reason that aliens wishing to contact an unfamiliar culture would base their choice of frequency on some universal constant, such as the radio frequency emitted by hydrogen, the most common element in the universe. An engineer on the program came up with the idea of wiring together numerous Sentinel processors in parallel to produce META, a spectrum-analyzer capable of monitoring more than 8 million narrow frequency bands at once. META would still require operato rs to guess at alien frequencies, but it would at least greatly decrease the risk of missing a signal purely by chance. In 1983, Horowitz's team got funding to build META from the Planetary Society in Pasadena, Calif., which also backed Sentinel. The system, comprising 25,000 chips, 500,000 hand-soldered connections and 150 processors -- each containing a VAX microcomputer -- was completed by 1985. The ceremonial switch was thrown by Steven Spielberg, a major META supporter, and the first continuous SETI search was on. NASA has planned a more ambitious effort using the world's largest radiotelescope at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, to scan all the sun-like stars in the southern sky at a broader range of frequencies than META. A parallel effort coordinated by the Jet Propulsi on Laboratory will make briefer checks of every star within 1,000 light years of Earth, using smaller radiotelescope dishes. If Congress fails to fully fund the $100 million program, NASA still plans to begin SETI searching on some level in the next couple of years. -- David Stager - via FidoNet node 1:207/109 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: David.Stager@f320.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ZAK@cu.nih.gov Subject: KECKSBURG, TUNGUSKA, AND TELEVISION Date: 24 Sep 90 17:44:26 GMT From: Mike Dobbs + One service that this forum is really useful for is letting people know + when TV or Radio shows are going to be aired on subjects that are of + interest like field circles, UFOs, etc. I would encourage those who + get advanced information would post it so that as many people as possible + can tune in. Please. I don't watch _Unsolved_Mysteries_ on a regular basis, and I wouldn't have see the Kecksburg stuff if someone hadn't been kind enough to warn this list in advance! From: Michael.Corbin@f3206.n207.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin) + Yes. Very interesting piece that they presented. I would be + interested in knowing more about the alleged trajectory that the + program stated the object took where it seemed to make a couple + of 'controlled' turns. Also, the blue light that it emitted. + Would that be characteristic of a space capsule? Doesn't this sound like the Tunguska incident at the turn of the century? -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Thomas Lapp Subject: RE: Paranet/MUFON BBs systems Date: 24 Sep 90 19:46:48 GMT I get the info-paranet digest, and some messages give me the impression that this digest is a digest of messages in one echo of a BBS network (MUFON network?). It also sounds like there are other echos carried by these boards as well. Does anyone know if the network of boards includes any in the northern Delaware area? I wouldn't mind logging onto one of these boards to see what is there. Also, today's Wilmington (DE) {News-Journal} has an article about Hugh Horning, a retired DuPont employee who is the Delaware director of MUFON. Does Horning run a board? - tom -- internet : mvac23!thomas@udel.edu or thomas%mvac23@udel.edu (home) : 4398613@mcimail.com (work) uucp : {ucbvax,mcvax,psuvax1,uunet}!udel!mvac23!thomas Location : Newark, DE, USA Quote : I know how to spell banana, I just don't know when to stop ********To have your comments in the next issue, send electronic mail to******** 'infopara' at the following address: UUCP {ncar,isis,boulder}!scicom!infopara DOMAIN infopara@scicom.alphacdc.com ADMIN Address infopara-request@scicom.alphacdc.com {ncar,isis,boulder}!scicom!infopara-request ******************The**End**of**Info-ParaNet**Newsletter************************