Info-ParaNet Newsletters Volume I Number 497 Monday, November 4th 1991 Today's Topics: Re: Ogden Gifs Re: Jupiter as Second Sun Meier Tapes AZ Mute Reports Early Australian UFO history. Tv Show... Dr. Fredrick Bell SETI BBS (none) When the normal becomes the paranormal... AZ mutes "REVELATIONS" Re: FOX Show Re: Roswell Re: The End of freedom Eschatology 101 Re: UFO shows Re: Crop Circles Help Mr. Edis find books ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Linda.Bird@f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (Linda Bird) Subject: Re: Ogden Gifs Date: 2 Nov 91 05:31:00 GMT Mike, Aren't those Ogden gif's you posted about the drawings I made of the object and not gifs of the laser photocopies?? Thanks, Linda -- Linda Bird - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Linda.Bird@f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Linda.Bird@f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (Linda Bird) Subject: Re: Jupiter as Second Sun Date: 2 Nov 91 05:07:00 GMT Hi Vlad, Thanks for jogoging my memory again on that article. I'll look for it this weekend.^^^^^ (that's supposed to be "jogging") Ah, it's getting late....... Say, do you folks down under receive a newspaper cartoon called "Calvin & Hobbes?" Its about a 6-yr old boy and his stuffed tiger doll. Anyway, cute cartoon in a cartoon book featuring these two characters: Calvin is walking with his tiger in the woods (the tiger doll becomes a real tiger when no other people are present) and Calvin says, "I was reading about how countless species are being pushed toward extinction by man's destruction of forest." Next frame, he continues, "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." Interesting statement, don't you think? Regards, Linda -- Linda Bird - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Linda.Bird@f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Linda.Bird@f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (Linda Bird) Subject: Meier Tapes Date: 2 Nov 91 05:36:00 GMT Hi MIke, How's it going? Was wondering if you've had a chance to make the Meier tapes for me, or is there a snag? If there is a problem, please call me collect - I sent you my phone number. Thanks, Linda -- Linda Bird - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Linda.Bird@f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jim.Speiser@p666.f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Speiser) Subject: AZ Mute Reports Date: 2 Nov 91 05:26:14 GMT This is a PRELIMINARY report on a series of cattle mutilations that have taken place in Cochise County, AZ. So far 11 head of cattle have fallen victim over the past few months. The most recent incident took place last week in a town outside Sierra Vista. The images shown on local television depicted a cow with its neck slit and its udders and genitals removed. It was a bit hard to tell from the TV pictures, but the wounds did not seem to be of the "classic" variety, i.e. laser-sharp edges, etc. Today I spoke with Det. Mike Raffity of the Cochise County Sheriff's Office. Raffity told me that a strong lead had been developed linking the incidents with a Satanic cult in the area. Although he did not personally see the animal shown on TV, he told me that the wounds were made with a sharp instrument but were not laser-precise, nor were there any other strange or tell-tale clues that paranormalists look for. He seemed to have been recently given a crash course on "classic mutilations" by way of phone calls from around the country, possibly including one from Linda Howe. Raffity also told me that reports of "total" exsanguination were just media exaggeration. The cow probably had 1 or 2 pints left out of the normal 4 gallons or so. -+----------------- --MUSING MODE ON Raffity would not, of course, divulge the nature of his lead, but I raised the question with him as to whether this were the first time a strong lead had been developed linking a mute with a Satanic cult. He seemed surprised at this, and told me that they've found cow's heads suspended from Satanic altars, and they know that cow's blood is used for a purification ceremony. This raises the question in my mind: Is our treatment of "classic" mutes as something different from cult activity based purely on the degree of the precision of the cuts, and the degree of exsanguination? Or is Raffity missing something major here? Or am I? Sure, I know there are other signs, lack of tracks, etc., but if Raffity is correct, and Satanic activity CAN account for SOME mutes, why can't they account for all of them? Jim -- Jim Speiser - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Jim.Speiser@p666.f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bill.Chalker.UFORA.Associate.NSW@f8.n1040.z9.FIDONET.ORG Subject: Early Australian UFO history. Date: 1 Nov 91 06:22:00 GMT For anybody interested in the history of the Australian UFO controversy up to and including 1959, please see my entery in Jerry Clark's UFO Encyclopedia Volume 2, "Emergence of a Phenomenon", which is due out in about November. Jerry bought the manuscript of Vol. 2 with him in his Australian visit during September. It looks like a gold mine of information. Regards from Bill Chalker. -- Bill Chalker UFORA Associate NSW - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Bill.Chalker.UFORA.Associate.NSW@f8.n1040.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jim.Speiser@p666.f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Speiser) Subject: Tv Show... Date: 2 Nov 91 06:41:47 GMT In a message to Jim Speiser <31 Oct 91 00:12> Jim Dritsas wrote: JD> knows, who knows what the TRUTH REALLY IS... There's the rub, alright.... As to Moore and Lear, the former has admitted to having aided and abetted government disinformation activities, and the latter is a known former CIA operative. So when we cast aspersions on their credibility, we're not just whistling "Dixie." Jim -- Jim Speiser - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Jim.Speiser@p666.f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Clark.Matthews@f816.n107.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Clark Matthews) Subject: Dr. Fredrick Bell Date: 2 Nov 91 16:26:00 GMT Hi, Andre! In a message to John Burke <17 Oct 91 17:25> Andre Eichner wrote: AE> Yes... in the Video he has a pyramid on his head. He sells the AE> head-pyramids for 300DM ($200) in germany. Nur 300DM?! Spottbillig um 600DM!!! :-) [Cheap at twice the price] Bin neugirig, braucht mann einem Spitz am Scheitel einen zu tragen? [do I need a point on my head to wear one?] :-( AE> Here was another guy in Berlin, last week. He's speaking about AE> ufo's and the greys in USA: Virgil Armstrong. Did you know about him? Virgil Armstrong? Never hear of him. Please tell us more -- it's very enteresting to hear about the goings-on in Europe. Could you tell us how much Fred Bell charges for his lectures there? Best, Clark -- Clark Matthews - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Clark.Matthews@f816.n107.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: kirk!ge-dab.ge.com!ASTRO.dnet.ge.com!MX%carr Subject: SETI BBS Date: 3 Nov 91 19:52:25 GMT From: 'MX%\'carr@kirk\""@ASTRO.dnet.ge.com There's a new 9600 Baud BBS at (614) 258 1710, which intends to focus primarily on SETI. Though not set up yet, they plan to have a UFO conference as well. They are looking for amateur astronomers who want to participate in optical SETI. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ecn.purdue.edu!lush Subject: (none) Date: 3 Nov 91 20:31:29 GMT From: lush@ecn.purdue.edu (Gregory B Lush) Subject: When the normal becomes the paranormal... I thought I'd share a quick calculation that anyone can do. First, a little background. I was taught in high school biology that people move, jump, breathe, etc. by flexing muscles and that these muscles obtain the energy to do this unremarkable work from food energy which we eat. So, in order for our body to do work, we must burn food energy in a similar manner to a steam engine burning coal. We count this food energy in calories. The body stores the extra energy if one does less work than one ingests in the form of food energy. The FDA recommended daily allowance of food energy for a male is about 3000 calories per day. In physics class, energy is described in simple terms as being of two forms, potential (PE) and kinetic (KE). If you take a ball and lift it off the ground, you increase its potential energy by doing work against the apparent pull of gravity. In an ideal world with no friction and perfect energy conversion, the amount of work required to lift the ball would equal the potential energy gained by the ball. When the ball is released, this potential energy is changed into kinetic energy, the energy of motion. The velocity at the moment that the ball hits the ground from which it was lifted can be found by conservation of energy principles, PE = KE 2 m g h = 1/2 m v where m is the mass of the ball, g is the acceleration due to gravity, h is the height to which the ball was raised, and v is the velocity at the point of impact with the ground. Now let us do a homework problem. It is quite easy for a backpacker hiking in Yosemite to gain 2000 feet (approximately 600 meters) in altitude in a single day. An average-build male carrying about a 50-pound pack weighs about 100 kilograms. The acceleration due to gravity, assuming it constant over the range of altitudes walked, is 9.8 meters/second^^2, or about 10. Thus, the potential energy gained by the backpacker and his pack is, 5 PE = m g h = (100 kg) * (10 m/s2) * (600 m) = 6.0 x 10 Joules There are about 4 Joules/calorie so a backpacker can easily gain about 1.5 x 10^^5 calories in potential in a single day--to say nothing of the work done to walk, talk, breathe, drink/eat, digest during the day. This is 50 times the work available in the potential energy of the food eaten during an average day. What is going on here? Where does all this extra energy come from? When I first discussed this with friends, the response was that the mitochondria store energy. But a backpacker can go weeks in the back country hiking up and down peaks, walking, sweating, taking pictures--all requiring human effort and energy. Many people have fasted for weeks or months while still being as active as when they ate regularly. How much energy can be stored in the mitochondria, I don't know, but that argument doesn't satisfy me. Am I missing something? Do you and I break the laws of physics every day of our lives? Does that mean every motion we make is paranormal? Greg (lush@ecn.purdue.edu) -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Sheldon.Wernikoff@p0.f605.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Sheldon Wernikoff) Subject: AZ mutes Date: 3 Nov 91 20:58:00 GMT In a message to all <01-Nov-91> Jim Speiser wrote: JS> This raises the question in my mind: Is our treatment of JS> "classic" mutes as something different from cult activity based JS> purely on the degree of the precision of the cuts, and the JS> degree of exsanguination? Or is Raffity missing something major JS> here? Or am I? Sure, I know there are other signs, lack of JS> tracks, etc., but if Raffity is correct, and Satanic activity JS> CAN account for JS> SOME mutes, why can't they account for all of them? Hi Jim, John Altshuler, M.D. presented a paper at the Chicago MUFON symposium entitled "Tissue Change in Unexplained Animal Mutilations". The proceedings are available for $20.00 from MUFON, 103 Oldtowne Road, Seguin, TX 78155-4099. What follows are his conclusions re: the cattle mutilations. "Gross examination of unexplained animal mutilation deaths suggest that these animal deaths were not caused by accidental death, predation or cult sacrifices. Microscopic tissue examinations have been extensively compared to known human tissue changes secondary to high heat. It is difficult to avoid the inescapable conclusion that the changes in animal tissues in these unexplained deaths had dissection with an instrument causing high heat. By what instrumentation and means this is accomplished remains a mystery. for what purpose is even more enigmatic. The fact that these animals are found in remote areas, away from human or animal tracks, off roads and away from highways, found within hours of having been seen alive at a time of unusual observed aerial phenomena all suggest that extraterrestrial factors must be considered as a plausible explanation of the ever increasing numbers of unexplained animal mutilations." I'd sure like to hear what some other pathologists have to say about Altshuler's conclusions....some of the non-ET, non-cult hypotheses. I've never seen anything in print anywhere. Has Skeptical Inquirer ever done anything that you know of? I really found your post of their PR on NDE's thought provoking. BTW, did you know that the leading cause of "accidental" death in cattle is electrocution by lightning? I am certain that Satanic activity does account for some mutes, just as hoaxers account for some CC's, but many cases in both areas remain unexplained to my satisfaction. Take care, Sheldon -- Sheldon Wernikoff - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Sheldon.Wernikoff@p0.f605.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Don.Ecker@p0.f3.n1012.z9.FIDONET.ORG (Don Ecker) Subject: "REVELATIONS" Date: 4 Nov 91 05:10:00 GMT I just received Jacques Vallee's newest book "REVELATIONS" from Ballantine Books and read a great deal of it this weekend. Yes, in my opinion Vallee will once more stand the UFO field on its collective head. Vallee, probably one of the most gifted and intelligent researchers, has cut a wide swath through the UFO arena. Many UFOlogists are not going to like what Vallee has to say about research and investigators this time around. Folks like Bill Moore, Stan Friedman, John Lear, Bob Lazar, Wendelle Stevevs, Linda Howe, Bilkum Cooper, etc. have been subjected to Vallee's critical analysis and reasoning and according to Jacques they have come up very short. Roswell? Well according to Vallee just because it has been investigated, it ain't necessarily so. For example people always quote Jesse Marcel when he described the debris. Well, according to Vallee: "The material recovered in the crash itself, while it remains fascinating, was not necessarily beyond human technology in the late Forties. ALUMINIZED SARAN, also known as SILVERED SARAN, came from technology already available for laboratory-scale work in 1948. It was paper-thin, was NOT DENTED by a hammer blow, and was restored to a smooth finish after crushing." REVELATIONS page 83. No, I would guess that many people in the UFO field will not take kindly to Vallee's assessment of the flying disks and the people that chase them. What will be interesting however, is to see how long it takes before many people are screaming that "Vallee must be a government plant". That seems to be the fate of anyone who breaks from the fold. I still think that he is one hell of a researcher, and I do NOT agree with all his conclusions, but I DO think they are necessary. Don Ecker -- Don Ecker - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Don.Ecker@p0.f3.n1012.z9.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kay.Mclaughlin@p0.f134.n109.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Kay Mclaughlin) Subject: Re: FOX Show Date: 25 Oct 91 19:14:00 GMT JS> Fellow ParaNetters, be prepared for an onslaught of inquiries from JS> your friends and neighbors who never thought much about UFOs. All of a JS> sudden they're gonna be real interested, and that's good, but they're JS> gonna say to you, "Hey, what about that Lazr guy?", and that's bad. JS> Because as soon as they find out how squirrely his story is, they're JS> gonna be real disillusioned, and we may not get them back. JS> What a shame. Jim, I saw a blurb in USA Today, that the ratings were sooo high on that show that a series is being considered. Kay -- Kay Mclaughlin - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Kay.Mclaughlin@p0.f134.n109.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kay.Mclaughlin@p0.f134.n109.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Kay Mclaughlin) Subject: Re: Roswell Date: 25 Oct 91 19:23:00 GMT SM> I am new to Paranet, but I have found nothing in this section about SM> Roswell, the most dramatic example of what is happening and the most SM> dramatic example of the government (almost) screwing up. What am I SM> missing? --- Steve, Stick Around! It's a topic here, but not the Only one! Regards, Kay -- Kay Mclaughlin - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Kay.Mclaughlin@p0.f134.n109.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Steve.Rose@p0.f134.n109.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Steve Rose) Subject: Re: The End of freedom Date: 27 Oct 91 06:19:00 GMT CM> there are *so many* such American agencies -- most of them military, CM> so they can operate without restriction in the U.S. -- and they all CM> have classified, or "black" budgets. Oh? Never see much of that money ever make it to the lowly technical levels. Guess it must be another of those 'live at the top' scenarios. CM> the KGB apparatchiks *did not* follow their orders. With a proud CM> history of 70 years of savage terrorism and repressionbehing them -- CM> they couldn't bring themselves to live up to it! Their instincts were CM> astonishingly humane. Watching the coup fail was as gratifying And I believe the local grunts can be counted on doing the same. What makes them any less capable of critical and/or humane judgement? The old addage, "_______ are people, too" seems to fit. CM> underlings may be incapable of conscious choice: Remember the CM> disturbing little stories coming out of Groom Lake, Tejon Ranch, and CM> other places? -- you know, the stuff about guards "wh talked like CM> robots" and cadres of soldiers forced to drink "pine" while undergoing CM> indoctrination? So bear with me a while longer, and let me use my No more bizzarre or true an account that the popular 'Big Foot' sightings of today. CM> Imagine these people being carefully vetted and then culled out of the CM> military manpower pool and directed to units where they can be turned CM> into human monstrosities that would make Stalin, Beria, and Hitler CM> envious. Through careful concealment of fundig, total control of CM> certain geographic areas, absolute secrecy, and "perverted science" (a CM> fine old phrase originated by Churchill, to describe the Nazis), this CM> could be done. Quite an imagination! As they say nowadays..."Sell it to Hollywood." CM> So many of these people may not be able to help themselves. In fact, CM> they may be beyond help entirely. As you can tell...I don't take to that view at all. I see bigger attrocities being committed in full and open view of all...with no attempt at any coverup. I call it collecting taxes and blatent, crass commercialism. Two biggest ways a fool is parted from their money. CM> But the people on top? They know exactly what they're doing. How do you think they got there in the first place? CM> Depressed, Don't be. Just put in your 80+ years and check out like a true champ. We're not going anywhere, either. ;-) -- Steve Rose - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Steve.Rose@p0.f134.n109.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dan.Smith@p0.f134.n109.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Dan Smith) Subject: Eschatology 101 Date: 28 Oct 91 22:19:00 GMT I have a hard time remembering so many details, so I use a hypothetical "big picture" to help keep up with the information overload in the paranormal field and elsewhere. This is the only way for me to keep track of who's doing what to whom and why. So now I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours! What follows is an amalgamation from many sources. Since the plot is so thick, I start with Wm. S. in supposing that all the world is a stage. The modest proposal is that we put Copernicus back in the dustbin, and trot out the cosmological anthropic principle backed up with the holographic metaphor to explain objective reality. Yes, the starry skies are the shadows on the walls of our cave. No, the Apollo Project was not a Las Vegas hoax, but an example of using the quasi-magical powers of our technology to objectify the universe. Our Midas touch helps to turn the orb of the moon into a sensory hologram we call a rock. Each star and galaxy is a link between the cosmic mind and our minds. 10 to the power of 10 (10^10) is the magic number of immensities. Molecules -> Cell -> brain -> people (souls) on Earth -> stars in the Milky Way -> galaxies in the universe. UFO's do not tank up on anti-matter and put the pedal to the metal, but rather they pierce the trans-dimensional, holographic veils of Bohm's "implicate order" back into the "explicate order" of Earth. To say that they come from other stars is true only in a metaphorical sense. I only restate the issue between the "nuts and bolts" ufologists and the paranormal types. And which of us are the nuts? Continuing with the holographic metaphor, the earth could have been created out of a chaotic "dreamtime" by cooperating groups of spiritual adepts who gave form to our globe through a grid system of sacred sites and temples, with Egypt as H.Q., perhaps. The earth and heavens gradually congealed into a form recognizable to us. Science and technology have completed this process by coercing physical processes into rigid habitual patterns that we call the laws of physics. From spiritual adept to scientist, there has been a nearly complete spiritual devolution. A devolution facilitated, perhaps, by greater degrees of memory loss at birth, and by greater physical retraints on our paranormal abilities. The earth has served as melting pot, and provided basic training (boot camp style!) for some 10^10 souls. The emphasis on this level of reality has been on developing individual consciousness, a la existentialism. And now we have evolved about as far as we can go in the direction of materialism and individualism. We are bursting the seams of our rigid yet fragile reality that we have helped to create. If reality truly is a combined projection of our minds and a cosmic mind, then we are aproaching an interesting situation. Communication and biofeedback technology amplifies and focusses our global consciousness. Paranormal phenomena can manipulate that process on a mass scale. A potential for global psychokenesis is being unleashed. What will be the threshhold or critical mass for gloabal effects, e.g. earth changes? The strong anthropic principle of physics suggests a teleological omega point where a final singularity of consciousness is the quantum mechanical keystone for the world. This will be the true big bang, against which the astrophysical big bang is only a sort of mirror image. This scenario is radical, but at least it is preferable to the universal entropic heat death offered by science. Rather less earth-shaking is a proposal for a Singularity Early Warning Network (S.E.W.N.) that would be an informal network of paranormal investigators, fringe physicists, and concerned world citizens. We would discuss patterns and trends relating the paranormal to current events and to eschatological scenarios. Channeled sources would also be reviewed. The participants would have to negotiate a delicate balance between information dissemination and rumor control. There is some urgency to put in place a S.E.W.N., considering the inevitable enthusiasms surrounding the upcoming Christian millenium, which lend themselves to positive and negative exploitation by terrestrial and extra-terrestrial agents. As a case study consider the following: A number of channeled sources are picking up on the Arguelles harmonic convergence time table for global transformation as running from 1987 to 2011-12. Neatly bisecting this is the Nostradamian eclipse of 8-11-1999, that is centered over the eclipse predicting, crop circle infested, megalithic sites of southwestern England. The situation calls for more investigation. If nothing has materialized by that benchmark we can put the S.E.W.N. back on track for a longer haul. Well, I hope some others are willing to stick their necks out, so that we all might get a clearer view of the bigger picture(s). ... ---- -- Dan Smith - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Dan.Smith@p0.f134.n109.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John.Powell@p0.f134.n109.z1.FIDONET.ORG (John Powell) Subject: Re: UFO shows Date: 31 Oct 91 05:13:00 GMT -=> Quoting ncar!cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com!vanth to All <=- n> You mean this 'Beyond Reality' thing (what a stupid title!) is a n> series? I saw an episode on psychic healing or some such thing (I n> taped it, but haven't watched it yet) advertised for last Friday, but I n> didn't know it was going to be a series. Does anyone know what else n> they have in store for us? I saw the episode Sheldon noted. It was pathetically bogus. These shows are not even dramatic recreations like Unsolved Mysteries, they are labelled as based on fact which means virtually nothing... John. ... Absence of Evidence is not Evidence of Absence. -- John Powell - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: John.Powell@p0.f134.n109.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John.Powell@p0.f134.n109.z1.FIDONET.ORG (John Powell) Subject: Re: Crop Circles Date: 31 Oct 91 05:58:00 GMT -=> Quoting Sheldon Wernikoff to John Powell <=- Hi Sheldon, hope you're fine. SW> I think we'll be seeing a great deal of significant new SW> discoveries and innovative research re: the circles effect. It seems as if that is happenning. Being able to conclusively and repeatedly determine a hoax from a true crop circle is step number 1. If that means sending samples to a lab and waiting a week then so be it. Especially nice is that we have about 6 months before the show starts again... Step number 2 is creating a circle ourselves that will selectively pass or fail the above testing... SW> It is encouraging to note that these professionals are coming SW> forward despite all the talk of "hoax", and the potential of SW> ridicule by their peers. Obviously, they feel confident enough in SW> their convictions that there is "something" to the phenomenon, and SW> are willing to take that risk. I maintain my view that they shall SW> be proven to be correct in their beliefs. Well, the shameless media-presented (and sponsored by who knows...) ploy to discredit the totality of the phenomenon with this single pathetic prank, (which essentially amounted to just a personal attack on Delgado), might have worked well in the past but things/people change. I'd bet that there are many professional people who were quite willing to ignore this phenomenon until their intelligence was insulted by that stupid Dynamic Geezer Duo hoax... SW> One writer on another echo queried if anyone has done any Kirlian SW> photography studies on CC plants. Not to my knowledge, but I am SW> examining the possibility. This technique certainly could yield SW> some intriguing results, and possibly provide us with another means SW> of ascertaining authentic formations. It just could/maybe/possibly/dunno yeild a quick & dirty, in the field, way of determining whether or not a circle sample _should_ be sent for further analysis... I guess that could be important if the trend/scope continues for next year's 'crop.' SW> I will continue to do my best to keep you informed on the latest SW> developments, and appreciate the opportunity to facilitate the SW> understanding of a most complex and elusive curiosity. Sheldon, you're doing a terrific job! John. ... Absence of Evidence is not Evidence of Absence. -- John Powell - via FidoNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: John.Powell@p0.f134.n109.z1.FIDONET.ORG -------------------------------------------------------------------- From: kirk!ge-dab.ge.com!ASTRO.dnet.ge.com!MX%carr Subject: Help Mr. Edis find books Date: 4 Nov 91 16:32:54 GMT From: 'MX%\'carr@kirk\""@ASTRO.dnet.ge.com To: Multiple recipients of list SKEPTIC From: Taner Edis I've noticed that while I keep about half a shelf of 'skeptical' material around the house, I have practically none advocating any of the points of view that tend to be criticized in this discussion group. This could leave me open to the charge that I'm seeing only one side of the issue, and that getting my information about ideas considered to be nonrational or pseudoscientific primarily from sources admittedly critical of them was at least unbalanced. While my opinion is that it is rather unlikely that skeptics are engaged in misrepresentation or worse, occasionally experiencing fringe arguments firsthand could still be useful. However, the difficulty is finding sources that are not a waste of time, and go beyond simple naivete, questionable motives or plain sloppiness. So I'd like to ask if there are any suggestions for me to take a look at some book or other. It need not be convincing (that may be setting standards that are too difficult to satisfy), but merely a responsible and semirational defense of an alternative viewpoint. The local secondhand bookstores carry a fair amount of fringe (not in terms of sales!) literature, but it's all Shirley MacLaine and friends, so might just as well be called the `loony bin' (one store does label the section as 'Wacky Phenomena'). So that's out. I should go through back issues of Skeptical Inquirer and see if any book that might fit the bill has been reviewed, but I thought I'd still see if participants of SKEPTIC could help me... * Creationism: Otherwise intelligent people defend it, so maybe something is out there besides Morris & Co. Any knowledge of a creationist tract that does not depend on religion or other metaphysical grumblings about 'materialism' etc.? Denton's 'Evolution: A theory in Crisis' has been suggested, but from what I know about it, it may not fit the bill. * Psychic phenomena: This should be promising, after all, parapsychology can be said to be a borderline case between science and pseudoscience. Surely a decent book has been written by a practitioner that does not insult ones intelligence. There was a recent book called something like 'Parapsychology: the Controversial Science', but the jacket gave me the impression that it depended a lot on the usual 'garbage in, garbage out' with elaborate statistics. * UFOlogy: I haven't seen a wide eyed UFO proponent book since I was in that phase in high school. Maybe there is something better in existence, but I'm rather comfortable with the thought that I might go through the rest of my life without reading another. * Others in the endless list.... Thanks, Taner Edis ********To have your comments in the next issue, send electronic mail to******** 'infopara' at the following address: UUCP {ncar,isis,csn}!scicom!infopara DOMAIN infopara@scicom.alphacdc.com For administrative requests (subscriptions, back issues) send to: UUCP {ncar,isis,csn}!scicom!infopara-request DOMAIN infopara-request@scicom.alphacdc.com To obtain back issues by anonymous ftp, connect to: DOMAIN ftp.uiowa.edu (directory /archives/paranet) Mail to private Paranet/Fidonet addresses from the newsletters: DOMAIN firstname.lastname@paranet.org UUCP scicom!paranet.org!firstname.lastname ******************The**End**of**Info-ParaNet**Newsletter************************