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MUTUAL UFO NETWORK UFO JOURNAL SEPTEMBER 1996 ^ NUMRFR 341 $3 THE PENTHOUSE "ALIEN 99

MUFON UFO Journal - 1996 9. September

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Page 1: MUFON UFO Journal - 1996 9. September

M U T U A L U F O N E T W O R K

UFO JOURNALSEPTEMBER 1996 ^ NUMRFR 341 $3

THE PENTHOUSE "ALIEN 99

Page 2: MUFON UFO Journal - 1996 9. September

M U F O N U F O J O U R N A LO F F I C I A L P U B L I C A T I O N OF THE MUTUAL UFO N E T W O R K S I N C E 1967

SEPTEMBER 1996 NUMBER 341

EARWITNESS: BUDD HOPKINS INTERVIEWED Sean Casteel

NEWS 8. VIEWS: Penthouse "Alien" Walter Andrus

ABDUCTION REPORT CONSISTENCY ANDSTATISTICAL INFERENCE

DAN WRIGHT REPLIES

Stuart Appelle, Ph.D.

Dan Wright

ABDUCTION NOTES (International Perspective) John Carpenter

THE UFO PRESS

READERS' CLASSIFIEDS

THE OCTOBER NIGHT SKY

Karl Pflock & Dennis Stacy

Walter N. Webb

8

12

14

16

21

22

CALENDAR Events & Conferences 22

DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE

COVER: The Penthouse "Alien"

Walter Andrus

Photos by Walter Andrus

24

MUFON UFO JOURNAL(USPS 002-970)

(ISSN 0270-6822)lOSOldtowneRd.

Seguin, TX 78155-4099Tel: (210) 379-9216FAX (210) 372-9439

EDITOR

Dennis Stacy

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Walter H. Andrus, Jr.

COLUMNISTSWalter N. Webb

John S. CarpenterT. David Spencer

ART DIRECTOR

Vince Johnson

Copyright 1996 by the Mutual UFO Network. All Rights Reserved.No part of this document may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of

the Copyright Owners. Permission is liereby granted to quote up to 200 words of any one arti-cle, provided the author is ciedited, and the statement, "Copyright 1996 bii the Mutual UFONetwork, 103 Oldtowne Rd., Seguin, Texas 78155," is included.

The contents of the MUFON UFO journal are determined by the editors and do not necessari-ly reflect the official position of the Mutual UFO Network. Opinions expressed tire solely thoseof the individual authors.

The Mutual UFO Network, Inc. is exempt from Federal Income Tax undei Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. MUFON is a publicly supported organization of the typedescribed in Section 509 (a} (2). Donors may deduct contributions from their Federal IncomeTax. Bequests, legacies, devises, transfers or gifts are also deductible for estate and gift purposes,provided they meet the applicable provisions of Sections 2055, 2106 and 2522 of the InternalRevenue Code. MUFON is a Texas nonprofit corporation.

The MUFON UFO Journal is published monthly by the Mutual UFO Network, Inc., Sequin,Texas. Membership/Subscription rates: $30 per year in the U.S.A.; $30 foreign in U.S. funds.Second class postage paid at Seguin, TX.

POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to advise change of address to: MUFON UFO JOUR-NAL, 103 Oldtowne Rd., Seguin, TX 78155-4099.

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MUFON UFO JOURNAL

EARWITNESS

Photo by Dennis Stacy

Books by Budd Hopkins

• MISSING TIME: A Documented Study of UFOAbductions, Richard Marek Publishers, NY,1981

• INTRUDERS: The Incredible Visitations atCopley Woods, Random House, NY, 1987

• WITNESSED: The True Story of the BrooklynBridge Abductions, Pocket Books, NY, 1996

September1996Number 341PageS

An Interview with Budd Hopkins

by Sean Casteel

Q ln the almost ten years since the publication of your• last book, "Intruders," your status as a researcher has• risen to the point where you are routinely called "the

world's foremost expert on alien abduction." How would youcharacterize that period of time, the time between books, whenyour star was clearly in the ascendancy? It's sort of a show-biztype question, I know, but please bring us up to date on some ofthe ups and downs of that time in terms of your research if youwill.

Hopkins: A long, complex question. Well, the first thing Ishould say is that I never felt from the beginning that I was justgoing to write books on UFOs for an occupation. My basic rea-son for writing each of the three books was that I had discoveredaspects of the phenomenon that I felt absolutely needed to bemade public. And when I finished and published "MissingTime," I had discovered at that point certain issues, such as theidea that abductions were extremely widespread, because peopledidn't necessarily remember all of it, which was a very differentview than we had, say, after the Hill and the Pascagoula and theTravis Walton cases, where the person remembered a great dealwithout hypnosis.

But when I found that many people remembered virtuallynothing, I realized that it was presumably a very widespreadphenomenon. I also discovered and wrote about screen memo-ries, which until that time 1 don't think had been known or dis-covered or written about. I discovered the issue of physicalmarks after abductions, the scars. And, very importantly, the factthat this was a repeat experience, that it didn't necessarily justhappen once. All those things were so important, those patternswhich I had noticed in a number of different cases, that I felt thatthey required a book.

And then I did nothing about it and felt I wasn't going to doanything more, until or if there was some other major discovery.And of course what I wrote about in "Intruders" is the whole gy-necological, genetic focus, the reproductive focus of the UFOphenomenon, which is of course of extraordinary importance. Sothat required the second book. Still, I had no intention to write athird — only if something else came up of equal importance.And in "Witnessed" I had not only the issue of a witnessed ab-duction, but the idea that it suggested alien—at least tentative

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MUFON UFO JOURNAL

I feel like the

guy in the old

story who

was being

ridden out of

town on a rail

after being

tarred and

feathered,who said "If it

wasn't for thehonor of the

thing, I'd be

very upset."

September1996Number 341Page 4

alien—involvement in trying to shape or af-fect human politics. Plus the other longrterm alien involvement in human lives,what I call the Mickey and Baby Ann phe-nomenon. And so therefore that demanded abook. But I am not going to write a fourthbook unless something else turns up in myresearch that requires further exploration,further publication.

Q: I think I'm still trying to grapple withthe issue of your relative fame in the fieldand the acknowledged fact that you're thegranddaddy of them all.

Hopkins: Well, of course, that's the issue ofhow you're regarded by your contempo-raries, and it may be better for them to talkabout [it] than me.

Q: Okay.

Hopkins: Certainly, one becomes a target.And the one thing I will say is that one is asdistinguished by one's enemies as by one'sfriends, and the fact that I was the target ofthe "Nova" program, I suppose that's the fi-nal sign of recognition in a strange, perverseway.

Q: That you're so important that they choseyou as a target?

Hopkins: I feel like the guy in the old storywho was being ridden out of town on a railafter being tarred and feathered, who said"If it wasn't for the honor of the thing, I'dbe very upset."

Q: That's a familiar joke that occurs to mesometimes, too. But to the new book. Overand over, one is forced to consider the ex-tremely complicated way the events in"Witnessed" are constructed and fit togetherinto a narrative that eludes any easy defini-tion. Can you sum it up for us? Can you re-state the story in simple terms and point outthe ultimate significance of the majorevents to an audience unfamiliar with thebook and its many players?

Hopkins: Well, I would say it does eludeany kind of short analysis. I have neverdealt with as complicated a series of events.Neither of the books that I've written hadnearly as many individuals and witnessesinvolved in the same case. The inter-lockingpieces of this case are infinitely more com-

plex and numerous than they were in eitherof the earlier books. I just say simply at theoutset that one of the most important as-pects of this book is the fact that in this onecase at least, it would seem that the UFOoccupants are deliberately showing off byabducting someone in fu l l view of an im-portant political figure, perhaps several im-portant political figures, and other wit-nesses, peripheral witnesses. They were tak-ing the most overt step that they have yettaken, so far as I know, in terms of affectingthe way the abduction and the UFO phe-nomenon is viewed by the world. Just as thepublic side of this event, the November 30,1989. witnessed abduction, just as that is ofextraordinary importance, just as importantare all the, let's say, interpersonal and muchmore subtle involvements of alien intelli-gence in human lives over a long-term pe-riod that this case also revealed. These pat-terns aren't solid yet because of the smallnumber of cases involved, but one is thealien "co-option" that I go into, and theother is the long term involvement in pair-ing off abductees from childhood on andobserving their behavior.

Linda Cortile by Dennis Stacy

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MUFON UFO JOURNAL

Q: I'm going to get to that later. I havesome questions.

Hopkins: But those things all of course areextremely important and basic to Linda'scredibility and all of these other issues. It'svery hard to sum this book up, as peoplewill discover when they try to read it.

Q: That's probably why I asked that ques-tion, to try to make explaining it easier.

Hopkins: Well, it's not easy to do, as youwell know.

Q: What are your hopes and expectationsfor the new book? You talk a great dealabout anticipating the inevitable rejectionby the debunkers.

Hopkins: Oh, yeah. Well, that's alreadyhappened. You see, the book doesn't have toexist — the debunkers will not read it, mostlikely, and they will not do anything morethan they've already done, which is simplyto say, "This didn't happen because it can'thave happened." That's the basic skepticalline. I just hope that, well, if we assume thata very, very large number of Americans andpeople around the world accept the realityof the UFO phenomenon, there's anotherenormous group that is extremely intriguedby it. And of course there's a smaller groupthat would never accept it even if it hap-pened to them. But the large middle groupthat's intrigued but not persuaded that this isgoing on, may find this book shoving theminto the "persuaded" category. I think that'sone of the hopes I have for it. I majorlyhope that this will persuade some of theother witnesses who were there that night tocome forward—and some of the peoplewhom I've dealt with in the book who stillhave withheld their names and public state-ments—that it will move them to come for-ward, too. That's a basic, basic hope.

Q: We've touched on this before, and Iknow you don't want to be put in the posi-tion of flattering yourself, but I did want toask how you think the book will be viewedby your fellow researchers and the UFOcommunity in general?

Hopkins: It's hard to guess in advance howit will be received. I must say that several ofmy colleagues, who I name in the book,David Jacobs, Jerry Clark, Richard Hall, for

example, have read large sections of themanuscript very approvingly with sugges-tions. I think the book will still come as amajor surprise to most everybody in thefield. Because people are going to find outthat whatever they had heard in bits andpieces about this case, that what theythought they knew, was actually only a tinypercentage of what was actually going on.So, I assume surprise, I certainly hope so,will be a major reaction.

Q: That was something I was happy to seewhen I was reading, how much more wasthere than we had been told through yourlittle intentional leaks.

Hopkins: Exactly. I think that's basic. PeterRobbins, who is my assistant, read themanuscript and said that he felt like heknew only ten percent of the actual casematerial prior to finishing it.

Q: At one point you told me it was very dif-ficult to finish "Witnessed" because thestory you were telling never slowed downlong enough to complete the writingprocess.

Hopkins: Well, it always went to some ex-tent in fits and starts, but there would be anumber of incidents happening quickly andfalling on one another, and there would besort of a lull, but there have been incidentssince the manuscript and book was com-pleted and a number of incidents which hadoccurred in the year and a half or so before Iended the essential chronology of the book,but it just has to stop someplace. And Ifound a convenient place to stop and thatwas it. So, there will be more going on,though.

Q: That's the second part of my question.Have any new and significant events hap-pened since completing the book?

Hopkins: I'm not prepared to go into anynew material for the reason that I've learnednot to bring up any material, no matter howimportant, unless I'm prepared to bring it upvery fully and completely. In other words,unless I'm ready to sit down and write onparticular incidents, let's say a 30 or 40-page article, I'm just going to have to bequiet about it until such a time as I do havethe energy to bring things more up to date.

In this onecase at least,it would

seem that theUFO occu-

pants are de-liberatelyshowing off

by abducting

someone in

full view ofan importantpolitical fig-

ure, perhapsseveral im-portant politi-

cal figures.

September1996

Number 341Pages

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MUFON UFO JOURNAL

But the

strange thing

is that

there's this

tremendous

remorse after[co-option].

And a

tremendous

sense of

helplessnessthat a personwas taken

over, but this

is extremelywidespreadand I think

we're goingto hear more

and more[about it].

September1996Number 341Page6

Q: Well, you may want to dodge this ques-tion, too. Since the book's completion, haveyou had any further contact with "the thirdman"? And is there any hope remaining thathe will come forward and verify his in-volvement?

Hopkins: Well, the answer to the first ques-tion briefly is "No." There's been no con-tact. And the answer to the second is hope. Iprofoundly hope that he will come forward.That's where it stands. The ball is in hiscourt.

Q: So you don't think he's'just said a defi-nite "No" and that's the end of the discus-sion?

Hopkins: Well, after all, I do not know himin any kind of an intimate way. The extentof my knowledge of him on a first-hand ba-sis is all in the book for people to judge, andthey can guess how well I know him basedon what they read there. We have had theone meeting and it's very hard for me toread another's mind and their intentions, butI would say anyone who advances very farin the world of politics and diplomacylearns how to play their cards very, veryclose. And I would say this man is such aman.

Q: One impression I have from reading"Witnessed" is that a very high stakes gamewas being played that required a great dealof courage and perseverance on your part,as well as on the part of the Cortile family.Did you ever feel that things were danger-ously out of control, like you had steppedinto some kind of suspense movie and therewas no way out?

Hopkins: Well, I myself didn't. I definitelythink that Linda and her family absolutelydid. I mean, I saw the change physically inLinda and her husband, and the edginess,the worry and so forth. Because Linda wasreally bearing the brunt of it. I was aware, Isuppose, that I could have been potentiallyat risk, but so long as I maintained as cor-dial a relationship as I did with Richard andDan, I felt safe. I did not put in the booktranscripts of the number of long, tapedrecordings that I sent to them. But I did mybest to keep them calm, cool and collectedunder the circumstances because these menwere going through the tortures of thedamned themselves. I think that one of the

interesting points to remember is that withany intelligence area, all intelligence oper-ates on a need-to-know basis. And herewere two men, highly placed in their intelli-gence/security roles, but who had previ-ously been told nothing about the UFO phe-nomenon at all. It was as new to them as itwas to the officers at Roswell when thething crashed in their midst. They had toimprovise from the beginning and they hadno information to go by, so they were in thesame boat as the rest of us were. Actuallyworse off in certain senses.

Q: When I read over and over how you hadto drop these tape recordings off at whatwas called a "drop"—that definitely was fa-miliar from gangster and spy movies . . .

Hopkins: Yeah. But it was the only way todo it. I mean, they refused to do a post of-fice box, and if I wanted to get somethingto them and if they were refusing a post of-fice box and I had no address, then a drop isthe only other way out.

Q: Do you still have the ring that you weregiven?

Hopkins: Yes.

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MUFON UFO JOURNAL

Q: I'd like to learn more about theMickey/Baby Ann syndrome. You said inthe book that after discovering this aspect ofabduction in the Cortile case, it turned uprepeatedly in a few other cases as well. Is itpossible that you and other researchers aremaking these discoveries on a planned,timed-release basis that is partially underthe aliens' control? Once a phenomenonturns up, then there seems to be an orga-nized pattern where it recurs.

Hopkins: Well, that's certainly a very goodpoint. And it's certainly a possibility. It's avery, very hard thing to learn. You see, thisis the problem about this: At every step ofthe way, UFO researchers have been infi-nitely more conservative than daring orwide-ranging in their approach to the sub-ject. Mainly because we didn't want to seem"wild-eyed," leading and so forth. So, therehave probably been over the years manyhints of this phenomenon which, when weheard about them, we simply went right onby them. I know that after "Missing Time"came out in 1981, and I was besieged withcases, that often people described a sexualaspect of their experience. I'd first began tonotice these cases in the 70s. I mean, a manmight have said "I think they were doingsomething to my penis." But when thosethings would come up, I would simply passthem by. I asked no further questions, I ex-plored it no further. It was unpleasant, andI'd just assume, "Well, they're just explor-ing the whole human anatomy." And ofcourse, once I learned the reproductive as-pect of this phenomenon, then wheneverthese remarks or hints came up, I was smartenough, or at least quick enough on the up-take, to ask some follow-up questions. AndI think exactly the same thing is happeningwith this as with many other aspects of thisphenomenon once we hear something evensuggested in passing, now that we knowthat it does relate to a certain pattern, we'resmart enough at least to ask a few follow-upquestions and to try and find out a little bitmore about it. It could be a'matter of ourown previous dimness, then, as one of thealiens parceling stuff out on a timed basis.Either one could be a contributing factor.

Q: You talked about the emotionally trau-matic repercussions that sometimes resultfrom this controlled pairing of people. Forinstance, in the book there's all the dramaand indecision over who fathered the little

boy. But have you discovered any beneficialeffects as a result of this phenomenon?

Hopkins: Well, I will say right now that,believe it or not, one couple who met in thisbizarre way have recently gotten marriedand seem happily married. This happenedvery, very recently. So, we do have one pos-itive outcome. We have other cases wherethere's an enormous degree of ongoing sad-ness, however. So, I guess it depends a loton the person's age and situation and mari-tal status when they finally discover one an-other in the real world. I suspect this ismuch more widespread than we thought.And see, again, the most interesting a'spectof this in terms of the credibility of the caseis that the very first example of it was LindaCortile.

Q: So do you have a theory as to why thealiens need this particular kind of psycho-logical testing? How it serves them to pairpeople off and put them through all thattesting and preparation?

Hopkins: Well, I can make guesses.Obviously, when you speculate as to alienmotives and what they need and so forth,you're always on shaky ground. But, as Isay, in knowing what we know about the re-productive patterns here, what may be ge-netic engineering of some sort, and certainlythe production of hybrids, the thing alwaysto be remembered is that human beings arenot fruit flies. And it takes generations forchanges to take place and perhaps this is away of speeding up the process, whoknows? It's certainly a way in which theycould leam by observation how human be-ings interact from the earliest time of theirbecoming acquainted with one another.

Q: The co-opting scene, the scene on thebeach, the "Lady of the Sands" thing, Idon't know what specifically'to ask, it's al-most like a science-fiction cliche: "thealiens took over my body."

Hopkins: Exactly, exactly. No doubt aboutit. And it sounds that way. And of courseit's a kind of a basic component of paranoiafor a lot of people. You know, the godsmade me do it, or Satan made me do it, orwhatever it is. The voices made me do it.But the strange thing is that there's thistremendous remorse afterwards. And atremendous sense of helplessness that a per-

It's very hard

for me to

read an-

other's mindand their in-

tentions, butI would say

anyone whoadvancesvery far in the

world of poli-tics and

diplomacylearns how toplay their

cards very,very close.

And I wouldsay this [thirdman] is sucha man.

September1996

Number 341Page?

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MUFON UFO JOURNAL

Sean Casteel

is a freelancewriter living

in Ventura,

California,and a fre-

quent con-

tributor to

the Journal.

His WorldWide Web

page can be

found at:http://www.p

hantoms.com/~phantom/se

anc.htm

son was taken over, but this is extremelywidespread and I think we're going to hearmore and more cases. I had never heard of acase quite like it, though, un t i l Linda.

Q: Did you ever find out what happened toDan?

Hopkins: We have no idea. That's one ofthe issues where the way I left it in the bookis exactly the current state of my knowledgeof it. I don't know.

Q: Either assumed dead or locked awaysomewhere?

Hopkins: Something.

Q: One thing I thought was particularly in-teresting was how he was a security agentand you were able to get his picture from avideo tape where he was standing aroundGorbachev and so forth. The idea that hewas involved, that he was in that close prox-imity to —

Hopkins: On that level, I know. Well, itwas a tremendous shock to Linda when shespotted him.

Q: Confirmation anxiety.

Hopkins: Yeah. Exactly.

Q: Is there anything you wish to add?Would you care to make some kind of finalstatement for publication about what it allmeans?

Hopkins: Final statements, boy! Let me justsay this, that I feel extremely grateful forthe support that I've had in the UFO com-munity, the research community, through allof the attacks that have been launched onme and on all of the various witnesses inthis case. I feel a great deal of gratitude thatpeople have waited to read the whole storybefore making up their minds. And that sup-port has been very, very, it's been a rock torest on for me which has been extremelyhelpful. So my gratitude is extended andheartfelt.

Bob Guccione's Penthouse Alien

They're billed on the cover of the September 1996 issue ofPenthouse as the first authentic photos of an alien, accord-

ing to editor and publisher Bob Guccione. "[They] may well bethe most important pictures in the history of photography,"

writes Keith Ferrell. former OMNI edtior,adding that only a photograph of JesusChrist would be comparable.

"Had the government—and particularlymilitary intelligence—known of [its] exis-tence ... before publication it would neverhave seen print."

The picture is attributed to the daughterof a German scientist who escaped toAmerica at the outset of World War II."How we got in touch with each other is ourbusiness," Guccione says but, "I have ab-solutely no doubt that these pictures aregenuine." To continue repeating statementsfrom this fictional article is a travesty to the

September readers of the MUFON UFO JOURNAL1 QQfiNumber 341 What else can one expect from such a mag-Page 8 azine as Penthouse ?

There is nothing fantastic about "BobGuccione's alien." Anyone who visits theInternational UFO Museum and ResearchCenter in Roswell, New Mexico, can photo-graph the same "alien" as I did last summer.It is on public display as a featured attrac-tion complete with a mannequin in surgicalclothing, while the "alien" lies on a hospitalgurney. This is actually the model used bythe producers of the HBO film "Roswell,"directed by Paul J. Davids, a MUFON mem-ber in Los Angeles It was constructed torepresent one of the alleged bodies recov-ered at the Roswell crash in New Mexico inJuly 1947.

Keith Ferrell says "it's worth remember-ing that Penthouse, its editors and crew,never give up." My only comment to thesepeople is that they should be ashamed ofthemselves for trying to perpetrate a hoaxupon their readers with such a shoddy story.

— Walter Andrus

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MUFON UFO JOURNAL

ABDUCTION REPORT CONSISTENCY

AND STATISTICAL INFERENCEby Stuart Appelle, Ph.D.

m a forthcoming review of abductionexperience theory11 conclude that a

statistical examination of abduction narra-tive "consistency" is one of the ten most im-portant objectives in evaluating this phe-nomenon. So I was quite pleased to see suchan analysis by Dan Wright in the June 1996MUFON UFO Journal.21 strongly agreewith Wright's recognition of this issue asone of central importance, and I applaud hiseffort in this direction.

However, the inferences Wright drawsfrom his tabulations require additional ex-amination. Specifically, he sees "myriadcorrelations" that no reasonable personcould dismiss as merely "massive coinci-dence." Consequently, without determiningthe statistical probabilities associated withthese tabulations, he asserts that "whateverthe precise odds of such a high number ofcorrelations occurring by chance alone, theyare certainly astronomical." But in the ab-sence of actually knowing the odds, by whatstandard is "chance" to be determined?Wright's certainty notwithstanding, theyardstick for "chance" can never be subjec-tive impression, a measure that is oftengrossly inaccurate.

Conflicts Between Subjective andStatistical Measures of Chance

There are many aspects of statistical in-ference that underlie conflicts between sub-jective and statistical assessments of"chance." I will discuss just three of themost common. The first stems from the factthat when dealing with human behavior, apriori probability cannot always be deter-mined from the number of response optionsalone. For example, if subjects are asked to"pick a number between 1 and 10," contraryto "common sense" there is not an equal apriori probability of selection for each ofthe 10 possible answers. This is because re-sponse biases in the general population fa-vor picking the number "three."Consideralso a well publicized study from psychol-ogy. In this research, the backgrounds of

identical twins — separated at birth andcompletely unaware of each other's exis-tence — were examined for "commonal-ties." The analysis revealed numerous com-monalties that seem well beyond most indi-viduals' intuitive sense of "chance." Yetother research found similar commonaltiesin a small sample of randomly paired col-lege students, suggesting no deviation fromchance in the statistical sense, and hence noneed for a special explanation for the twinfindings.

These examples illustrate that whetherthe response set is known in advance (aswith a set of numbers) or unknown (as withabduction narrative content), normative hu-man behavior must be assessed to determinethe theoretical expected response frequen-cies.

A second aspect of conflict between sub-jective and statistical measures of "chance"has to do with cumulative probability.Consider the frequently cited "birthdayproblem."3 How likely does it seem that ina group of just 23 people, two will have thesame birthday? Intuitively, this seems veryunlikely (perhaps even "certainly astronom-ical"), but the odds turn out to be 50/50 (.5).And in a room of just 35 people, the proba-bility is .85. This is because of cumulativeprobability. The odds for any two peoplepicked at random having the same birthdayis only about 1 in 365 (very unlikely). Butthat is true for every pair of people, so theodds of some birthday occurring twice forsome pair of individuals in the group is re-lated to the cumulative probability for everypossible pair of individuals. Cumulativeprobability is something that intuition rarelytakes into account.

A third source of conflict between intu-itive and statistical inference relates to theissue of replicability, and stems from thefact that random processes will sometimesproduce apparently non-random (beyond-chance) outcomes. A "fluke" outcome,which may look impressive in isolation, willbe revealed as a fluke only through repeatedtesting.

Stuart

Appelle is theeditor of the

Journal ofUFO Studies,

availablefrom CUFOS,2457 WestPeterson,

Chicago, IL60659.

1. Appelle,Stuart (in press).The abductionexperience: Acritical evalua-tion of theoryand evidence.Journal of UFOStudies.

2 . Wright, Dan(1996). SortingEntities: Findingsof MUFON's ab-duction tran-scription project.MUFON UFOJournal, June(#338), 3-6.

3. Gardner,Martin (1972).Mathematicalgames: Why thelong arm of coin-cidence is usu-ally not as longas it seems.ScientificAmerican, 227(4), 110-112.

September1996

Number 341Page9

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While it maybe reason-

able to criti-

cize scien-

tists for de-manding

more fromufology than

they do from

other areas

of inquiry, itis unreason-

able to criti-

cize them forrefusing to

settle for

less.

September1996Number 341Page 10

But there is another aspect of this prob-lem. Let's say we find an impressive set ofcommonalties among one group of abduc-tion reports. Then, in examining a secondset of abduction reports we find a com-pletely different set of commonalties. Doesthis add to or detract from the argumentthat narrative consistency demonstrates nar-rative veridicality? An unsophisticated (in-tuitive) approach to these data might sug-gest that the collective result strengthensthe argument of veridicality, because addi-tional commonalties were found. However,if abduction reports accurately describesimilar events, the same commonaltiesshould be reported across different sets ofabduction reports. The collective result inthis example is actually more consistentwith a random process at work, reflectingonly the a priori probabilities for findingsome (as opposed to any particular) com-monalties.

Without control experiments and replica-tion it is easy to misinterpret any single out-come, non-chance or otherwise. This is whycontrol and replication are foundations ofthe scientific method, and why, in their ab-sence, scientists reserve acceptance of novelfindings (even in the most mundane areas ofresearch).

DETERMINING "CHANCE" FORABDUCTION REPORT CONTENT

As Martin Gardner3 has noted,"Estimating the probability that a hiddenlaw is at work behind a series of apparentcoincidences is a difficult task, and statisti-cians have developed sophisticated tech-niques for doing so" (p. 110). As discussed,these techniques must address the issues ofa priori probability, cumulative probability,and replication. In the case of abductionnarrative consistency, this process must startwith a control experiment in which abduc-tion narratives are "made up" by a popula-tion of subjects screened for the absence ofabduction experience histories, but other-wise selected at random. Because a properlyconducted experiment of this kind has notyet been carried out, an evaluation of thedata Wright describes remains a matter ofsubjective impression, not statistical infer-ence.

Nevertheless, a post hoc analysis ofWright's findings may be a useful exercisein examining the validity of subjective im-pression. This can be done making no as-

sumptions whatever, and with virtually nomathematical sophistication.

The database for Wright's analysis con-sists of approximately 2000 "case factors"reported across 216 cases. Of these, Wrightidentified 68 case factors he regards as "ob-scure" and which appear in at least 4 differ-ent cases (i.e., were selected by Wright asevidence of "consistency"). Accordingly,we can ask: what a priori probability of oc-currence must exist for a case factor to ap-pear in 4 out of 216 cases purely by chance?The answer is 1/54. That is, an abductionreport "factor" mentioned by only 1 inevery 54 control subjects would be expectedto be mentioned by 4 out of every 216 sub-jects purely by chance.

But how likely is it to find as many as 68such factors among 2000? The calculationof this is actually fairly involved, and can-not be described in a way that is easily re-lated to "intuition." Instead, I suggest thereader consider that only 1 out of every 30(68/2000) or so case factors (29.4 to be ex-act) need meet Wright's criterion of "com-monalty" to account for the finding he ob-tained. I leave it to the reader to decide ifthis outcome seems "astronomically" be-yond chance.

• |k|the same way, we can examine the11 almost extreme commonalties Wrightreports. He identifies 9 items of content thatoccurred "in as many as 20 cases." The apriori probability needed for a factor to oc-cur in 20 out of 216 cases purely by chanceis 1 in 10.8 (on average, such an item wouldhave to be mentioned by one in every 10 or11 control subjects). Unlike the previous sit-uation, this may seem a rather high a prioriprobability of occurrence for factors catego-rized as "obscure." However, Wright appar-ently defined "obscure" in terms of a fac-tor's mention in the media ("books, maga-zines, or TV programs"), not by its intrinsicproperties. Thus, a repeated mention ofgloves, gurneys, fingernails, examining-table restraining straps, flashlight-like de-vices, and other not-so-improbable objectsare pointed to as examples of highly im-probable commonalties. In any case, evenwith this finding (Wright's most extremeexample) only one such factor need exist forevery 222 in the MUFON database to ac-count for the 9 factors Wright reports.

As mentioned before, these numbers arenot based on assumptions, intuition, orsubjective impression. They derive entirely

Page 11: MUFON UFO Journal - 1996 9. September

MUFON UFO JOURNAL

from the reported outcomes themselves. Inthe absence of actually determining the apriori probabilities associated with theseoutcomes, the reader, like Wright, willhave to decide their significance in termsof subjective impression. But strictly in nu-merical terms, it is at least an exaggerationto characterize them as "certainly astro-nomical."

INTERPRETING DEPARTURES FROM"CHANCE"

In making statistical inferences, there isanother problem lurking behind that of ac-curately determining "chance." Even if a setof data cannot be attributed to chance, whatthey can be attributed to may still be un-clear. That is, a non-chance outcome onlyprecludes a random event. It does not, in it-self, identify the cause of the event.

Commendably, Wright mentions some al-ternative explanations for beyond-chanceconsistencies in abduction experiences (e.g.,psychological and sleep disorders), if onlyto dismiss them as inconsistent with thephenomenology of the abduction experi-ence. However, there remain methodologi-cal issues which could account for the con-sistencies he reports.

For example, the 216 case studies wereobtained from 17 investigators, an averageof about 13 cases per investigator.Therefore, considerable opportunity existedfor each investigator to influence contentwithin the block of abduction narratives heor she obtained. Similarly, interactions be-tween investigators create opportunities forshared information which, in turn, could af-

• feet consistency across investigators.Interactions among the experiencers them-selves create additional opportunities for ab-duction report content to be shared. Finally,the use of transcripts from repeated hypno-sis sessions on the same experiencers(Wright notes that the 216 cases generated766 tapes, so repeated sessions were appar-ently quite common) exacerbates the poten-tial for shared information to find its wayinto abduction narratives over time.

Because each of these situations may al-low factors unfamiliar to the media to be-come familiar to abduction researchers andexperiencers, Wright's fundamental premiseof factor "obscurity" is potentially compro-mised.

There are other issues that impact the in-terpretation of the data, but I do not wish to

belabor the point. It is not my intent to-demonstrate that the obtained commonaltiesare indeed an artifact of investigator influ-ence, just that they could be. And in the ab-sence of evidence (not simply argument) tothe contrary, interpreting the results of thedatabase as proof of alien visitation is by nomeans necessary even if the results were un-questionably beyond chance.

SCIENCE AND UFOLOGY

Lest my remarks be misinterpreted, Iwant to emphasize that they are not an at-tack on the "alien" explanation per se. Theyaddress only the data presented in Wright'sarticle, not all data and all arguments whichbear on this explanation of abduction expe-riences. I also want to repeat that Wright'scontributions to the MUFON abductiontranscription project are to be commendedand appreciated. This is hard work, and nei-ther the methodological problems inherentto the database nor the limitations in inter-pretability due to the absence of control ex-periments can be attributed to Wright. Theseare problems to be addressed by others inthe field.

N evertheless, on some of the most funda-mental grounds of statistical inference

and scientific procedure, the tabulationsWright presents do not, as he would have it,lead inexorably to the "reasonable ... verysimple conclusion [that these] experienceswere real, were accurately reported, and in-volved the same group of entities."Although this explanation may ultimatelybe shown to account for the consistenciesWright reports, such a conclusion is hardlythe straight-forward automatic suppositionhe describes. And to interpret scientists'caution in accepting this conclusion as evi-dence of their "herd mentality" or their be-ing "plainly afraid to contemplate... intelli-gences higher than their own" is unfair anduninformed, amounting to no more than theskeptics' characterization of ufologists asjust a bunch of gullible fools.

It is also strategically unwise. Ufologistswho are serious about establishing a rap-prochement with the scientific community(I realize that many are not) must under-stand that research findings will be acceptedas true anomalies only if they have been ob-tained, analyzed, and presented according tothe rules of science. This means runningcontrolled experiments where possible, car-

Even if a set

of data can-not be attrib-uted to

chance, whatthey can be

attributed tomay still beunclear. That

is, a non-

chance out-come only

precludes arandom

event. It does

not, in itself,identify thecause of theevent.

September1996

Number 341Page 11

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MUFON UFO JOURNAL

rying-out appropriate data analyses, andsubmitting one's work for peer review.While it may be reasonable to criticize sci-entists for demanding more from ufologythan they do from other areas of inquiry, itis unreasonable to criticize them for refus-ing to settle for less.

Accordingly, concerned ufologists shouldstop demanding acceptance from the scien-

tific community (or carping about not hav-ing it) and start earning it. The data DanWright is tabulating may be a step in that di-rection. But it is far from the complete jour-ney, and sidetrips down avenues of exclam-atory rhetoric and ad hominem criticismwill only extend that journey further.

Dan Wright Replies

Dan Wright isthe Manager

of MUFON'sAbduction

TranscriptionProject. He

has con-

tributed

numerousarticles tothe MUFON

UFO Journalover the

years.

September1996Number 341Page 12

T he opportunity to respond to StuartAppelle's critique of my article,

"Sorting Entities," in the June 1996 issue ofthe MUFON UFO Journal is appreciated.Dr. Appelle's remarks concerning the poten-tial for statistical significance in the find-ings I presented are well taken. In turn,some clarifications are in order and hope-fully will place his criticisms in proper con-text.

A full accounting has revealed that, forthe 216 abduction-related cases used in thearticle, there were 2,174 separate recordedfactors, an average of 10.1 descriptive fac-tors introduced for each case. [In actuality,of course, some cases revealed many newfactors, others few or none.]

The mean average mentions of those2,174 factors in all 216 cases would be ar-duous to compile. However, it may be in-structive to cite the frequency of some ofthe more well known: Levitation of the sub-ject was recalled in 104 cases; a grey-skinned entity in 76; oversized entity eyesin 96; laying on an examining table in 108;a being's reassurance (e.g., "We will nothurt you.") in 85; and use of a needled in-strument in 53 cases.

It was in the knowledge of commonali-ties such as these that I chose 68 "odd" fac-tors (i.e., rarely if ever mentioned in print orelectronic media). A hundred more couldhave been selected had time permitted.Some thoughts on these obscurities thatwere not part of Dr. Appelle's observations:

First, likening mentions of the odd fac-tors to finding duplicate birthdates in acrowd is to mix different fruits in the bas-ket. There are, after all, only 366 possiblebirthdates, so with each one selected theodds against a "hit" do decrease. In contrast,every person under hypnosis is free to men-tion anything. The potential universe is not

just 2,174 factors; in fact it is infinite. Thatseveral subjects recalled specifics such as arailing or raised platform within a room on-board, therefore, might indeed be signifi-cant.

Dr. Appelle's second serious oversight isto ignore the very foundation of my paper.For at no point does he ever address the cor-relations of odd factors, instead preferringto brush aside individual characteristics. Forexample, randomness does suggest that in-valid cases might occasionally and coinci-dentally share mention of a "flashlight"(i.e., rod-like instrument with a glowing tip)or an examining table raised and lowered.But as I posed in the paper, what would bethe chance of multiple cases among the 216sharing several of those obscure details?

In that an odd factor appears on averagein only one case out of nineteen (11.6 out of216), the odds against random chancequickly escalate when more are added. Evenif we ignore the infinite range of possiblecharacteristics, the chance that any two fac-tors are shared by two separate cases is, for •simplicity, 19 x 19/215, or 1.68 to 1. Forthree factors shared by two cases, the sim-plified formula is 19 x 19 x 197 215, orabout 32 to 1. As a fourth, fifth, six, seventhand even eighth factor is added to the mix,the chance of just two cases having suchcommonalities randomly is very high in-deed.

That said, I was not comparing merelytwo cases at most points in the paper.Perhaps Dr. Appelle missed my statement,"... nine pairs of cases (10 cases in total)each have seven of the odd factors in com-mon." And shortly thereafter, "... eight pairsof cases in the study have eight of the 68obscure characteristics in common." Onedoes not need an advanced mathematics de-gree to realize that the odds against random-

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MUFON UFO JOURNAL

ness in that context are certainly astronomi-cal.

The third major oversight in Dr.Appelle's critique is to ignore my compari-son of odd-factor correlations with the find-ings earlier in the paper of four primarycharacteristics: entity height, skin tone, gar-ment type and garment color. Once again,multiple cases with numerous shared oddfactors were also tied together in detailedterms of entities' physical descriptions. Thesum of these separate sets of findings evenfurther lengthens the odds against chancetestimony.

I have been reserving a full-blown statis-tical analysis for a point when we havecloser to 500 cases in the database.However, if my esteemed colleague has acompetent statistician in mind willing towork with the available data, an arrange-ment can surely be reached.

As sidebars, Dr. Appelle remarked thatindividual CE-4 subjects might trade ac-counts and thereby influence one anotherand that abduction researchers might alsoshare what to look for. In that abductee sup-port groups are now commonplace, experi-encer contamination is possible to some ex-tent. But since the subjects are coast-to-

• coast, and because most insist onanonymity, one may not presume fairly that,on anything approaching a wide scale, thedetails of abduction events are traded andthen bleed through into consciousness underhypnosis. That would discount both thestrictures for discussion in many supportgroups and the tenets of regressive hypno-sis.

Moreover, a majority of the abduction re-searchers in the Project are not even famil-iar with one another. If it were not clear toDr. Appelle or others, there is a very strongcommitment to confidentiality held by allthe hypnosis practitioners. Without prior ap-proval of their clients, they simply do notshare details of the accounts.

Finally, I wish to address Dr. Appelle'sconcern over my so-called "ad hominem"challenge to the larger science establish-ment. While I applaud his editorship of theJournal of UFO Studies and its overture tothe broader community of entrenched physi-cal scientists, I would point out that theyhave had half a century to climb aboard. Toignore a UFO reality at this point is to turn adeaf ear to the many thousands of multiple-witness reports, documented physical ef-fects, and government documents uncov-

ered. Frankly, MUFON has enough profes-sional scientists to do the work in store. Tothe rest I can only say the train has alreadyleft the station; catch up if you choose.

We no longer wring our hands when anastronomer justifies the account of a struc-tured vehicle at close range as Venus. Andwe are way beyond the need to prove tothem that alien abductions occur on a regu-lar basis. It is our good fortune that MU-FON adds a dose of common sense to its in-vestigative practices, an element many sci-entists could surely use.

From my intimate knowledge of its data-base, short of a watershed case theAbduction Transcription Project will neverprovide undeniable proof. Instead, we havea firm base of correlated testimony. Hence,we are now ready to go beyond the square-one IF question (i.e., "if abductions occur")to determining what these multiple groupsof entities are up to. Adhering to a strict sci-entific method of organizing control groupsto fabricate abduction stories, replicating<al-ready solid findings and so forth must bebalanced with the need to move on.

I might be impressed by Dr. Appelle'slecture on probabilities were he to addressthe sum of the parts I originally presented.The correlations in my article constituted anintellectually honest effort. I am at a loss toexplain a response which flails at isolatedfactors, then questions my conclusions as ifthey were based on individual pieces ratherthan the whole.

MUFON COMMUNICATIONNUMBERS

MUFON Headquarters: Seguin, TXTelephone: (210)379-9216

Fax: (210) 372-9439

MUFON UFO HOT LINE 1-800-UFO-2166

WORLD WIDE WEB -http://www.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/MUFON

MUFON e-mail address —MUFON_HQ @ aol.com

MUFONET-BBS (512)556-2524

MUFON On CompuServe - "Go MUFON"to access the Forum

MUFON Amateur Radio Net40 meters - 7.241 MHz - Saturday, 8 a.m.

Eastern Time

"To ignore aUFO reality at

this point is

to turn a deafear to the

many thou-

sands of mul-tiple-witness

reports, doc-

umentedphysical ef-fects, andgovernmentdocuments

uncovered."

See also the

following by

Dan Wright:

• "The Entities:Initial Findings ofthe AbductionTranscriptionProject," Part 1,MUFON UFOJournal,February, 1994.

• Part 2, March,1994.

• "Sexuality,Aliens, Hybrids &Abductions,"February, 1996.

September1996

Number 341Page 13

Page 14: MUFON UFO Journal - 1996 9. September

MUFON UFO JOURNAL

JoKn Carpenter 0 '- °

^^Inj^^M

o

John

Carpenter'scolumn ap-

pears in the

Journal on aregular basis.

His E-mail

address isStarmanJC®aol.com.

Some recentexamples:

• July 1996

Telepathy vs.Channeling

• May 1996

The Science ofNova: No OtherViewpointsAccepted

September1996Number 341Page 14

International Perspective

Before journeying outside the boundariesof the United States in the past several

years, I believed that Americans basicallyhad the major slice of UFO cases and his-tory for the past 50 years. I also thoughtthat MUFON was still essentially anAmerican organization, and that Americaninvestigators must be well ahead of the restof the world in knowing about UFO dataand knowing how to investigate properly.

This smug nationalistic att i tude has beencommon among many Americans who havenever really talked to investigators fromother countries and learned what a wealth offascinating information exists without anypublicity or fanfare. These case files inother countries also extend back to the1940s as well. Yet, Americans might natu-rally assume (as I had i n i t i a l l y ) that theywere probably poorly investigated andtherefore unreliable or probably influencedby rumor and hysteria. Another aspectwhich sadly obscures or diminishes the in-ternational knowledge base is that some ofthe speakers are not dynamic and labor un-der the constraints of language barriers aswell, thereby presenting an unpolished orquestionable image to American audiences.But as 1, too, learned to give my presenta-tions through simultaneous, on-stage trans-lators, 1 found that the shine, polish, and oc-casional humor in my presentations alsodisappeared because the focus had shifted tosimply getting the most serious and basicinformation translated. Therefore,Americans have been content to basicallytravel about the United States, collectingAmerican accounts from American re-searchers and feeling that they are "up todate" on all UFO research.

This was the same naive atti tude thatblinded me to the quality, depth, and dedica-tion of other researchers and "in-the-trenches" investigators in other countries. Infact, many American investigators couldlearn some valuable perspectives, ap-.proaches, and innovative ideas from foreignresearchers. Unknown to nearly allAmericans is the fact that Brazil, SouthAmerica, has 181 UFO groups in over 102

different cities! Some of these dedicated in-vestigators have been in the field for 30-40years. Irene Granchi, author of UFOs andAbductions in Brazil, is a legend in her owncountry, having performed research forabout 50 years. Psychologist Gilda Mourahas worked with approximately 50 ab-ductees and has been studying brain scansto correlate any findings possibly related toabduction trauma. Most of her importantwork is unknown to the world.

I was fortunate to have witnessed a toplevel, national meeting of Brazilian re-searchers while in Curitiba. I was so im-pressed with their dedication, sincerity, en-thusiasm, and concern for UFO research be-ing conducted properly. They are not inter-ested in all the hysterical conspiracy theo-ries running rampant in the United States.The reports of captured beings in Varginhais a most serious case under careful investi-gation. I was impressed by these events.andreport on them in my new research video re-garding this case.

Just 10 days later I was speaking again inSouth America on the other coast at theFirst International UFO Conference inSantiago, Chile. Again I was impressed bynot only the years of experience of some ofthe Chilean investigators, but also thewealth of case material that is practicallyunknown to Americans. Did you know thata UFO crashed in the desert of North Chilein 1993 — and that bodies and debris wererecovered? Did you know that the UnitedStates had been involved? Did you knowthat Japan supposedly bought pieces of thewreckage for study? The source is a high-ranking military man that the investigatorsare carefully courting. The conference itselfwas held at a university and attended bydoctors, psychologists, professors, journal-ists, and other professionals. The tone wasserious, skeptical, scientific, and mature.Commercialism and fanaticism were bothnoticeably absent.

Italy boasts a strong tradition in UFO re-search led by the vivacious dedication ofRoberto Pinotti, a veteran of UFO sciencefor at least 30 years who knew J. AllenHynek well. Pinotti organizes conferencesin Italy and edits two polished publications,UFO and Alieni. To not know Roberto is tonot know a strong slice of UFO history.Also publishing a top-notch, slick publica-tion from England, entitled UFO Magazine,is Graham Birdsall, a straight-forward, fact-seeking gentleman who searches for the

Page 15: MUFON UFO Journal - 1996 9. September

MUFON UFO JOURNAL

lastest UFO data worldwide with youthfulenthusiasm and professional dedication. Hehas been giving England an ongoing seriesof respectable conferences with qualityspeakers such as Stanton Friedman andGraham Hancock (Fingerprints of theGods). Birdsall recently reported that hugetriangular-shaped crafts were seen risingfrom the waters surrounding England byfishermen. I had the honor of working withMr. Birdsall and Stanton Friedman in Brazilwhen we three interviewed chief investiga-tor Vitorio Pacaccini concerning theVarginha case (included in my video).

In the Netherlands, therapist HildaMusch has been collecting important dataon abductions as evidenced by several re-ports shared with me. One subject describedan implant being inserted up the nose after astaring procedure at close range into theeyes. Another case described the presenta-tion of a hybrid child in some kind of labo-ratory setting. These people had had practi-cally no exposure to any abduction litera-ture at all according to Hilda.

• |U| Australia, experienced investigatorI 111 Keith Basterfield told me about a casein which an Australian woman described anabduction with many classic details, includ-ing being asked to hold a strange-lookingbaby in a nursery setting — and describinga hybrid creation in the same detailed waythat Americans have for several years.Basterfield stated that this woman had hadno exposure to any abduction material —and that not many UFO books make it eas-ily to Australia anyway. Also in Brisbane,Australia is hypnotherapist GlennysMackay, organizer of the upcoming interna-tional UFO conference in Brisbane, October11-13. She has worked with abductees care-fully over several years now and relates thefollowing encounter:

"A married couple, both university grad-uates who run their own business in NewSouth Wales, were traveling with their twochildren when they encountered a blindingflash of light and 45 minutes of missingtime. Under hypnosis, they described theabductors as being two meters tall in a hov-ering spaceship. They were placed on atable, samples of blood and skin were takenfrom their bodies as they lay unable tomove. They claimed there were four differ-ent types of aliens present, including alizard-like humanoid. The aliens communi-cated telepathically, telling them that their

lives were not in danger. She experiencedsevere stomach pains; he developed a golfball-size blister on his right toe. Both hadred dots on the back of their necks.

"Under hypnosis, husband reports, 'Ourcar is stopped by the side of the road and Iam slumped over the steering wheel. We aresurrounded by a group of aliens. Two arecarrying my wife off into the field, they areextremely tall with no visible coloring; theirfaces look like giant-size ants and moths.They are talking to me, but no words arecoming out. They tell me not to be afraid.They want samples. I look up and see alarge spacecraft hovering over my head.Now I am lying on a table inside the craft. Iam screaming and crying and pleading withthem to let me go. A large thick piece ofplastic is wrapped around my waist. Later, alarge steel rod is drilled into my right eye —but it's a strange sensation with no pain. Mybody is raised off the table, and I am sus-pended in mid-air. A piece of wire is placedinside me. I can feel it touching and scrap-ing my spinal cord. I'm overcome with afeeling of warmth.'

"His wife reports, 'I am on a table. Thereare a lot of strange faces looking at me.They look like they're wearing ice-hockeymasks. There is a dome ceiling and lots ofwindows. I feel cold but no discomfort. Thelast thing I remember is being carried to thecar.'"

I hope to interview a number of ab-ductees in Australia when I speak for theirconference. I will present these findings in alater column. There is much going on in theworld that we do not really hear about eas-ily. Dr. John Mack is also helping to gathersuch international data as he is making adocumentary regarding the conscious, day-light sighting of a UFO and two beings by62 sincere and credible schoolchildren inAfrica. We must stop to realize there is agold mine of quality information out therein the world.

We should pay our respects to the quietbut dedicated efforts of our internationalcolleagues, who hold vital pieces of thisUFO mystery. In the future, they shall try tobe heard over the noisy clatter of Americanufology. We should be looking more fre-quently beyond our own boundaries if weare to effectively understand this endlessenigma.

"Our car is

stopped bythe side of

the road andI am slumpedover the

steering

wheel. Weare sur-

rounded by agroup ofaliens. Twoare carrying

my wife off

into the field.They are ex-

tremely tallwith no visi-ble coloring;

their faces

look like gi-

ant-size antsand moths."

September1996

Number 341Page 15

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MUFON UFO JOURNAL

FASTWALKER

by Jacques

Vallee, in col-laboration

with Tracy

Torme.Frog Ltd.,1996, quality

pb, 220 pp.,$14.95

Jacques Vallee

is the author of

numerous

classic studies

of the UFO

phenomenon,

including:

• Anatomy of aPhenomenon,Henry Regnery,Chicago, 1965.

• Challenge toScience (withJanine Vallee),Henry Regnery,Chicago, 1966

• Passport toMagonia: FromFolklore to FlyingSaucers, HenryRegnery,Chicago, 1969

September1996Number 341Page 16

O1

Reviewed by Karl T. Pflock

F asnvalker might have been an entertain-ing novel. It might even have been an in-

teresting work of "ufological" nonfiction.But the author seems never to have beenable to decide what it was to be, and thepublisher appears to have been equally torn,labeling it "F1CTION/UFOLOGY."

When I pick up what purports to be anovel (says so, right here on the cover), Iexpect an entertaining read, a story whichcompels me to suspend my disbelief at leastfor the duration, which drags me in by thelapels on the first page and sweeps mealong right through the last paragraph. If Iget anything else from it—enlightenment,knowledge, food for thought—that's abonus which must flow naturally from thestory, characterizations, and action. To bor-row a line from my old and dear friend, thelate and very great science fictioneer RobertHeinlein, a fiction writer's first duty is toentertain—the rest, if any, is gravy.

Jacques Vallee is not the first nor, alas,will he be the last author to violate this car-dinal rule of word-carpentry. Ayn Rand and,yes, even Robert Heinlein, come immedi-ately to mind. But Fasnvalker is the mostrecent unfortunate example of such to landon my desk.

A rework of Vallee's French-languageAlintel. published in France in 1986, theAmericanization and action of Fast\\>alkerseem almost entirely to be attributable toborrowings from Tracy Torme" s screenplay,on which Vallee notes he leaned heavily.After the stage is set and a number of char-acters are introduced via a number of sub-plots of varying degrees of plausibility—some of which, both characters and sub-plots, just frizz into dangling loose ends,others of which are only semi-realized or -resolved—Fastwalker ambles through thetrials and tribulations of Peter Keller, intre-pid tabloid-TV "journalist," with the occa-sional participation of abduction (UFO[?]/Secret Government [?]/both [?]) victimRachel Rand (for which read, obligatorylove interest, convenient heroine in distress,very frizzed dangling loose end). Also alongfor the ride, now and again, is Doctor

Helmut Borodine, televangelist, grand po-tentate of the Brotherhood of GalacticScience—a flying-saucer religious cult—and, as it turns out, still another victim ofamoral aliens (?Vamoral agents of theSecret Government (?)/both (?)—not tomention he's the most interesting and fullyrealized character in the book (even if heand his scam [?] owe more than a little tothe Church of All Worlds in Heinlein'sStranger in a Strange Lund).

With the assistance (?) of various andsundry spear carriers—most of whomclearly were plucked from the Home forRetired Saturday Matinee Extras—the intre-pid trio try to penetrate the UFO mystery, tolearn the truth behind the flying saucers.This takes place against an occasionallyglimpsed background of a World in Crisis:the entire population of Mexico is threaten-ing to cross the border en masse but refuseto pick field crops when they get here,Russia is about to go to war with Ukraine,militiamen are on the march, the EnergizerBunny is on strike, etc. (All this, by theway, is merely by the way—a flicker in andout backdrop—and we never learn—orcare—if anyone anywhere gets raped, pil-laged, or incinerated.) Oh. yes. and theMillennium is nigh, sorta. in the form of animminent landing of Space Brothers in the

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MUFON UFO JOURNAL

midst of a huge and sweaty gathering ofBorodine's Brotherhood.

With me so far? It turns out (surprise)truth closely resembles Vallee's messen-gers-of-deception take on UFOs and possi-bly related manifestations. Here Valleeseems to be attempting to stuff absolutelyeverything anyone ever claimed or wantedto believe about such things into this "itain't what it seems" framework. It's allhere: abductions, CEs of every imaginablekind, underground bases, Area 51 (moreconvenient to the Las Vegas strip than any-one other than Bob Lazar could haveguessed), contactees, angels (?), demons (?),crop circles, benign (?) Intelligences fromsomewhere/-when, power-mad generals andinsiders and outsiders of all sorts (I mustconfess, it is fun figuring and trying to fig-ure out which Famous Ufologists/Spooks/efal certain characters are standing in for).Name it, it's here. And in an attempt tomake sure the reader grasps how all this fitsinto the overarching "ufological" context,Vallee follows the example of Jules Verne,setting up various awkward expositoryscenes through which the reader must sufferas the book's characters babble on to and at

each other about things which (mostly) theywould have to know already or likelywouldn't give a hoot about if they didn't.Yawn.

In the end ... well, I don't want to spoilthings for those with the fortitude to stickthis one out to the end.

Vallee is one of the most important fig-ures in UFO research. He has made manysignificant contributions to the field anddoubtless will continue to do so. While 1have considerable difficulty with most ofhis key current interpretations of the data,he is a thoughtful and provocative re-searcher whose ideas are always stimulatingand worth considering.

But if you're looking for entertainmentwith a UFO angle, Fasnvalker the book isnot the place to look. Wait for the movie. Jf,as seems likely, it is produced from a TracyTorme script, it is bound to be rip-roaringgood fun.

Bottom line: Buy Fasnvalker only ifyou're a completist and you must have it foryour UFO-book collection and/or you can'tresist the fun of guessing which characterstands for whom in the "ufological" pan-theon.

Karl Pflpck,

writer and

long-timeUFO re-

searcher, isthe author of

The RoswellUFO Mystery:

Legend andReality, forth-

coming(1997).

CAPSULE REVIEWS

Dennis Stacy

related books and publica-tions continue to fly out of

publishers' cupboards like saucers. One ofthe best of the summer offerings, for mymoney, is Forbidden Science, JacquesVallee's journals from 1 957 to 1969, now inpaperback from Marlowe & Company.(North Atlantic Books did the hardback in1992: was it really that long ago?) The pe-riod covered was an extraordinary time forufology, beginning with the famousLevelland, Texas, case and ending with theclosing of Project Blue Book, a week afterthe last entry. As might be expected from adiary, Vallee's view here of UFOs, the AirForce, and certain prominent ufologists, is apersonal and intimate one. It's also interna-tional in scope, as Vallee's UFO researchand personal life take him from France toAustin, Chicago. Moscow, and points be-tween. The following entry, for Saturday, 1

July, 1967, will give you the flavor of thewhole:

"A correspondent of mine in Missouriannounces to me the death of FrankEdwards due to a heart a t tack. Allen's sec-retary tells me that he already knows aboutit: a lecture agency has contacted him to fillout Edwards' public-appearance schedule.Hynek immediately jumped up and agreedto do it. Yet a few days later before goingoff to Canada he was telling Fred[Beckman] and me:'It's finally over, allthose lectures: only two more and I give allthat up. I'm wasting too much time, the realresearch isn't getting done.'

"He was going to rest at his cabin atBlind River in Canada and start the study ofthe problem again from the beginning. Alas!The music starts playing, the spotlights areon, the drums roll, and there is Allen rush-ing onstage again."

FORBIDDENSCIENCE byJacquesVallee,Marlowe & Co.,NY, 1996, pa-per, 475 pp.,$14.95ISBN1-56924-808-7

September1996

Number 341Page 17

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MUFON UFO JOURNAL

CONTACTCARDS by KimCarlsberg &Darryl Anka,Bear & Co.Publishing,Santa Fe,NM, 1996,$30.00ISBN1-879181-32-0

NEW LANDS byCharles Fort,John BrownPublishing,London, 1996,paper, 244 pp.,$24.00ISBN1-870870-62-X

Vivid pictures emerge from the past overthe days, weeks and years of personalitieslike Hynek and James McDonald, and ofcourse, last, but hardly least, of Vallee him-self, along with the feelings of excitementand frustration at being that rarest of crea-tures then as now, alas a scientific ufolo-gist, searching for clues in the reports them-selves, when punched-card computers al-most held out the hope of being able to sortthe chaff from the wheat, when it seemedthat if the Air Force itself would nevermount a serious investigation into the phe-nomenon, the University of Colorado justmight.

In a field now rife with rumors of con-spiracies and riddled with unsubstantiatedclaims and obvious hoaxes. ForbiddenScience is almost a nostalgic walk downmemory lane, as well as a timely warningthat those who ignore history are almostcertainly consigned to repeat it. If you'renew to the field, or merely in need of a re-fresher course, read this book and try to re-member why you became interested inUFOs in the first place.

t the arguable opposite end of the UFOspectrum is the second collaboration by

author Kim Carlsberg and artist DarrylAnka from Bear & Co. Publishing out ofSanta Fe, New Mexico. The first wasBeyond My Wildest Dreams: Diary of aUFO Abductee, in which Carlsberg, thenstill photographer for the popular TV seriesBaywatch, recounted her own UFO experi-ences. That volume had the virtue of beinghandsomely illustrated by Darryl Anka,whose art is literally out of this world.

September1996Number 341Page 18

I'd like to be as charitable about ContactCards: An Extraterrestrial DivinationSystem, but I honestly can't. Anka's art isstill mostly to be admired — as art — butit's hard to put much stock in this set's card-board cover blurb that "Anka is also ac-claimed internationally as the channel ofBashar, an extraterrestrial being, known forhis practical teachings on moving beyondlimitations." Not on my block he's not.

The set consists of 60 three-and-a-half-inch square cards divided into five cate-gories of 12 cards each: Aliens (with redborders). Ships (purple), Stars (yellow),Planets (blue), and Circles (green). The kindof symbols we're dealing with here can begleamed from the two accompanying exam-ples. Each card has a specific meaning andinterpretation attached to it which appear inthe accompanying 275-page hardback in-struction manual authored by Carlsberg,leaving one to wonder if Bashar, who wouldpresumably be more informed, were onsummer sabbatical. The cards are suppos-edly employed in a manner similar to thetarot and other divination systems.Whatever.

Curiously, given the vast variety andcomplexity of crop circle art displayed overthe last few years, the symbols adorning theCircles set here are wan by comparison, the

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MUFON UFO JOURNAL

least imaginative and impressive of all thecards. And the prose doesn't fare much bet-ter. Here, for example, is an excerpt fromone of the Circle cards, the "Sun God":

"Resplendent and glorious am I, the SunGod, who casts beneficent rays of light andlife and dispels the shadows of the night.

"I inspire new growth and am the drivingengine for the changing seasons. I assert myaureate presence through every window thatis opened to greet the dawn.

"Rise and shine! Action is the order ofthe day. I am Helios, whose fiery chariotleads the way. My incandescence illumi-nates the farthest horizons and reveals eachrise, fall and bend of the journey's path."

The Egyptians and Zoroastrians werewriting better Sun hymns several thousandyears ago. You'd think with all that experi-ence under his belt that Bashar could havecome up with something a little more pol-ished, poetic and profound.

A |JL| ̂ %speaking of poetry and profun-f\t il l^dity, there's New Lands byCharles Fort, the second in an ambitious pa-perback series by Fortean Times of Englandto revise and reprint the collected worksconsisting of four far-ranging books ofCharles Fort, sometimes referred to as thefather of modern ufology and most every-thing else weird and the least bit unusual.(He was born in 1874 and died in 1932.)

Let me get my minor cavils and com-plaints out of the way early. First, the printis too damn small for someone of my gener-ation with aged eyes, rendering the pagescrowded and somewhat hard to read. Inturn, this leads to a significant discrepancyin page numbering from Fort's collectedbooks as first published by Henry Holt(1941) and later reprinted by Dover (1974).No longer can one simply reference, say,Fort, page 767.

The good news is that this is the first cor-rected version of New Lands to appear inthe 73 years since its original publication in1923, same being supplied by Mr. X ofCanada. Also new is the Introduction byJerome Clark and the excellent index bySteve Moore of Fortean Times (which is ineven smaller type).

The title, as Clark points out, comes fromRalph Waldo Emerson's 1838 essay onNature: "There are new lands, new men,new thoughts." But even here Fort isn't oth-erwise completely original or unique;shortly before the turn of the century H.G.

Wells had already authored his classic taleof Martian invasion, War of the Worlds.What Fort would emphasize is that a wholehost of "New Lands" lies out there just be-yond our ken and current knowledge, thetacit implication being that this would al-ways be the case. Put another way: Fort wasfundamentally opposed to "end solutions,"especially when they prohibited by procla-mation both alternative theories and the in-troduction of new data. It was Fort's con-tention that data, any data, which didn'tconform to existing paradigms was simplyexcluded, or "damned," out of hand, hencethe title of his first book. The Book of theDamned (1919).

How prescient was Fort? Consider thisoff-hand remark (Chapter 9, p. 129, this edi-tion) which first appeared in print somethree-quarters of a century ago: "That all lu-minous objects that are seen in the skywhen the planet Venus is nearest may not beVenus; may not be fire-balloons." This isone of the classics of the field before therewas such a field. At $24 it's not cheaplypriced, but then neither is the above item.On the other hand, if I had a choice betweenchanneling Bashar or Fort. I'd choose Fortevery time. Peace.

A CATALOG OF UFO-RELATEDPHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS

by John F. Schuessler

400 reported medical cases, 105 pages

$15 plus $1.50 for postage and handling.

ORDER FROM:MUFON, 103 Oldtowne Road

Seguin,TX 78155-4099

"That all lu-

minous ob-

jects that areseen in thesky when the

planet Venusis nearest

may not be

Venus; maynot be fire-

balloons."

Charles Fort

September1996

Number 341Page 19

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DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE - Continued from Page 23

by postcard or letter to which agencies you filed theUFO hotline number 1-800-UFO-2166. We thank eachand everyone of you who advised MUFON this monththat you had made the 800 UFO hotline number avail-able to police agencies in your immediate area.

FINAL REPORT ON AMERICA WEST AIRLINECASEThe UFO Research Coalition has published the FinalReport on the America West Airline Case, May 25-26,1995, dated July 1996. A copy may be obtained for$10 plus $1.50 for postage and handling by writing toMUFON in Seguin, Texas. A preliminary report waspublished in the April 1996 issue number 336 of theMUFON UFO JOURNAL.

CROP CIRCLES REPORTIn the summer of 1992, Project Argus investigated oneof the most remarkable mysteries of the century, thesudden and baffling appearance of hundreds of huge,magnificent shapes—dubbed "crop circles"—in thefields of England each summer. Made of grain flattenedmethodically to the ground in intricate patterns, theywere a form of landscape art which quickly attractedworldwide attention. But the "artist" was unknown.Where did they come from? What agent or force rou-tinely generated them overnight? Could they be productsof something other than human activity? It seemed ap-propriate to seek to answer such questions with the in-struments and methods of science.

Everyone interested in the study of the crop circlephenomenon should have a copy of the Report on theResults of Project Argus: An Instrumented Study of thePhysical Materials of Crop Circles, edited by MichaelChorost, in 1993. Since MUFON provided $2,500 to fi-nancially support this ambitious team project, we have asupply of the 115-page books for sale. A copy may bepurchased for $15, plus $1.50 for postage and handlingin U.S. funds, from MUFON in Seguin, TX. (No creditcards accepted.) This is the first time that MUFON hasoffered this book for sale.

MUFONET-BBSPete Theer recently provided a copy of the MUFONETBBS Network Nodelist detailing every BBS System inthe network worldwide along with their configuration in-formation needed for another BBS to contact them.Because of the detail in the list, we are only publishinga summary in the Journal. Thirty states are representedwith Texas having 18 and California 13, followed byFlorida with 9. Eleven foreign countries are represented,led by Brazil with 36, Denmark, 25, Germany and

September1996Number 341Page 20

Australia 20, and followed by England and Scotlandeach with a dozen. The MUFON-BBS data number is(512) 556-2524 for computer buffs who would like toparticipate in this private net.

BUDD HOPKINS'S NEW BOOK HAS BEENRELEASED

Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn BridgeUFO Abductions is now in book stores nationally. Thepublisher is Pocketbooks, a subsidiary of Simon andSchuster (hard cover 399pp, $23). More good news toreport—Budd Hopkins and his fiancee, Carol, weremarried on August 24, 1996, in Wellfleet, MA (CapeCod). MUFON extends its congratulations to both. Carolattended the MUFON Symposium in Greensboro wheremany people had the pleasure of meeting this lovelylady.

MUFON State andProvincial Home PagesThe following chapters now have their own siteson the World Wide Web. Remember that eachURL or address is preceded by http://

Georgiawww.mufonga.org/

Ontariowww.interlog.com/~epona/mufonont.html

North Alabamaiquest.com/~jheeger/mufon.html

Coloradowww.net 1 comm.com/~COMUFON 1

South Carolinawww.scsn.net/users/whopkins/mufon.html

Minnesotawww.wavefront.com/~jhenry/index.html

Arizonawww.xroads.com/%7enoack/mufon.html

Californiawww.jetlink.net/~mcorrado/

Michiganwww.msu.edu/user/trumbull/mufon.htm

YOUR AD HEREReach more than 5000 readers and fe l low ufologis ts .Advertize your personal publications, products, research pro-jects, local meetings or pet peeves here. Fifty words or lessonly $20 per issue. Add $10 for box and bold heading. Sendad copy & check, made out to MUFON, to Dennis Stacy, Box12434, San Antonio, TX 78212. Must be MUFON member orJournal subscriber.

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THEANOMALIST4Just out! Articles by Colin Wilson ("An Egyptian Slate ofMind"). Montague Keen ("Crop Circles"), Michael Cremo("Forbidden Archeology"). Steven Mizrach ("Wired Spirits").Paul Schlyter ("Earth's Second Moon"), Larry Dossey. LorenColeman and others. Only S9.95 plus $2.50 s/h. Checkspayable to Dennis Stacy. Box 12434. San Antonio. T.X 782 12.

STUNNING NEW DOCUMENTARY"High Strangeness in the Sangre de Cristos" may I'oieverchange the way you think about cat t le mutilations. UFOhotspots, bigfoot, Roswcll. alien agendas & the uovermnentVMS 75 mins, $29.95 plus S3.95 s/h to: D. B. ClemensProductions, PO Box 471, WestclilTe. Colorado SI252. Visitour Web site at: http://rainbow.rmi.net/-trstill

FANTASTIC LOOKING CHUPACABRAS T-shirts: "Catch theKiller" in sizes S, M. L, XL. $13.00 + $3.00 s/h. Also available,Chupacabras wind ornament plans. Build your own HappingChupa. $5.00+$].00 s/h. Check or money order to: Robert Miller,PO Box 578124, Modesto. CA 95357-8124. Canada add $3.00.

LEADING LECTURERS on 2-hr videos. Karla Turner on abduc-tions: Kent Jeffrey on Roswell; Glen Campbell on Area'51: Dr.Roger Leir on implant removals: Dr. Joe Burkes on CSETI. manymore $19.95 each. To order or for complete list write MUFONOrange County, PO Box 51323. Irvine. CA 92619.

TAMPA FL UFO CONFERENCE Sept. 1 3 - 1 5 . Dr. CourtneyBrown ("Cosmic Voyage"); Dr. Roger Leir, implants: BuddHopkins ("Witnessed"); Colin Andrews. 1996 circ les: JohnCarpenter, alien photo; Linda Howe, strange entit ies: MichaelLindemann. current events. Other topics, lectures, video room,experiences meeting, parties, exhibits. Free program ProjectAwareness, PO Box 730, Gulf Breeze, FL 32562 or (904) 432-8888. 24hrs. Email UMRB73A<i'prodigy.com

VIDEO/AUDIO TAPES on UFOs, crop circles, aviation myster-

UFO REALITYThe UK's new four-color, glossy, bi-monthly magazine isnow available in North America. Each issue features seriousarticles, news features & interviews from around (he worldpertaining to the UFO phenomenon. Sample copy S5: sixissue subscription $30. Dealer inquiries invited. Also lookingfor interested writers, researchers & photographers. OrionMarketing, 1807 Cold Springs Road, Liverpool. NY I 3090.

UFO CHRONOLOGY MAPLarge wall chart with instant index & guide book, featuringclassic UFO cases, spectacular landings, fantast ic alienencounters & most dramatic UFO sites. Just $9.95. postagefree. Also free: 3 large classic UFO illustrations, plus twoUAPA magazines, a $9.00 value. UAPA-B, Box 347032,Cleveland, Ohio 44134.

TWO PICTURES OF TWO GREYSYou've seen the ships, now meet the crew! Not easy to viewdue to the fact that you can see right through them, but father& brother grey are visible to most! Send check payable for$5.00 (s/h included) to The Foundation for UFO Research,RE: Pictures, PO Box 13891, Tucson, AZ 85732.

UFO & UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENACONFERENCE

Where: Airport Sheraton Inn. Minneapolis/Si. Paul. When:Sal. Sun. Oct. 5th & 6th. Speakers: Hopkins, Steiger,Friedman. Andrews. Randle, Stevens, Clark. Winters, Turi.Hilberg. Moseley. Bielek. Schellhorn. $30/day at door plus$30 banquet. Advanced, reduced-rate t icket info: HorusHouse. Box 55185. Madison, Wl 53705 or call 608-537-2383.

THE EXCYLESMia Adams' Hue story about her contacts wi th ETs &romance with intelligence agent. Included is the agent's reportoutlining the agendas of alien confederations on Earth &intelligence agencies network created to deal with them. Send$16.95 + $2"s/h to Excelta Publishing PO Box 4530, Ft.Lauderdale, FL 33338.

iev NDE, Face on Mars & other fascinating topics. Free list &sample newsletter from The Eclectic Viewpoint. Box 802735-M.Dallas. T.\ 75380. Future lecture hotline (214) 601-7687.

ATTENTION UFO ABDUCTEES: Searching many modern writ-ings as well as both Old and New Testaments, the author hasfound the answer to the big question: Why are they here? Read"The Agenda." $10 plus $2.50 s/h. from B. Fox. PO Box 6057.Walker Branch. Roswell. NM 88201.

WORLD UFO NETWORK: New group that presents facts &open-minded thoughts, great bi-monthly newsletter plus uniqueclub benefits, including gov't documents, book locator, tons ofvideos at dirl cheap prices. $5.00 for five years. Write for applica-tion toZach Smith. 7816 Ainger Rd., Olivet. Ml 49076.

FULL PAGE INTERNET AD $6.95/month. No setup fee.Advertise your wares, business or self on the World Wide Web.250 words, minimum 6 months. MC/Visa. Reliable server. Fast Tlconnection. Two color giaphics. Offer includes internet address.l-SOO-894-9025 Fax: I-630-416-1309. http://www.internelwks.com.

THE AGENDA: The Bible tells us exactly why UFOs are here,what their agenda is. and what God has planned for them. Read"The Agenda" by B. Fox, PO Box 6057. Walker Branch, Roswell,NM SS201. $10.00 plus $2.50 shipping.

NEW VIDEO ON BRAZILJohn Carpentei presents interviews, drawings & photos fromVargmha. Get real story, not Internet gossip. "AliensCaptured in Brazil''" Other new Carpenter titles: "Face inWindow." "Multiple Participant Abductions," "ProfessionalWoikshop." $29.95+$3 s/h each. Check, money order toCarpenter Research. 4033 S. Belvedere, Springfield. MO.65S07.

U. F. OMEN WRIST WATCHThe ultimale collector's item. I8K gold plated, quartz move-ment, replaceable battery, black strap, black dial, white alienface, black eyes. Send $25 check or MO only to U.F.OmenSociety, PO Box 1825, Rockford, IL 61 I 10. CA residents$2.07 sales tax. IL residents $1.56 sales tax.

September1996

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Ihe-NIGHTSKY.Walter N. Webb

October 1996Bright Planets (Evening Sky):Jupiter (-2.1), in Sagittarius, can be seen in the S at duskthen advancing westward until it sets in the WSW soon after10 PM daylight time in mid-October. Find it below the Moonon the 18th.Saturn (0.6), in Pisces, stands in the E at dusk and moveswestward during the night. The gas giant is below the Moonon October 23.

Bright Planets (Morning Sky):Mercury's best morning appearance of the year occurs duringearly October. Despite this, the nearest planet to the Sun sti l lis difficult to pick out. Use binoculars. It is low in the E at twi-light about 24° to the lower left of Venus.Venus (-4.1) rises in the E about 3:30 AM. The blazing planetapproaches and passes the star Regulus during the 1st week ofOctober. Venus can be seen one-half degree above the star onthe 3rd and one-half degree below it on the 4th. Then the cres-cent Moon approaches and passes the pair from the 7th to the9th.Mars (1.3). moving from Cancer to Leo, rises in the ENE af-ter 1:30 AM, ascending to the SE by dawn. The reddishworld approaches and passes Regulus during the last week ofthe month, being only 1.2° apart on October 29.Saturn sets in the W as morning twilight begins.

Partial Solar Eclipse:On October 12 extreme northern Maine is the only place in theU.S. to experience a small partial eclipse of the Sun. Around8:30 AM the Moon appears to "nick" the solar disc and even-tually covers a maximum of less than 5% of the Sun's diam-eter. It is all over about 3/4 of an hour after it begins. FartherN and E in Canada somewhat more of the Sun will be hidden.For safe viewing, project the solar image through a binocularor telescope eyepiece (or a pinhole in a card) onto a white sur-face. Do not look through these instruments (or the pinhole) atthe Sun!

Meteor Shower:Radiating from the warrior Orion's upraised club in the south-ern sky, the Orionid meteors peak on the morning of the 21stat about 20 or so per hour. The absence of moonlight after 1AM will aid in observing these mostly faint swift objects. Butkeep your eyes peeled for occasional bright fireballs as well.

Moon Phases:Last quarter—October 4

New moon—October 12

First quarter—October 19

Full moon—October 26

September1996Number 341Page 22

Co

The Stars:Though it is increasingly hard to avoid light-polluted skies,October is a good month to try to find a sky dark enough toexamine the dim silken ribbon of the Milky Way. This monthit stretches from SW to NE. passing directly overhead innorthern latitudes in the evening. The celestial river is thecombined light of billions of stars too remote to be resolvedwith the unaided eye. Within its boundaries we find, from SWto NE, the constellations of Auriga the Chariot Driver, Perseusthe Champion, Cassiopeia the Queen, Cepheus the King.Cygnus the Swan. Aquila the Eagle, and Sagittarius theArcher. Also there are many deep-sky objects of interest in theMilky Way which are accessible to telescope observers.UFO investigators should be aware of several IFO candi-dates near the horizon in the midevening October sky. The re-fracting or bending of light through turbulent layers of air andhaze near the horizon may cause celestial objects to appear tomove and change color, brightness, and shape. The low-alti-tude objects to look out for this month are Capella (NE).Aldebaran (ENE), Fomalhaut (SSE), Jupiter (SW). andArcturus(WNW).

September 7-8 — Fifth Annual Midwest Conference UFOResearch. Big Cedar Lodge, South of Branson, Missouri. For infor-mation write to QUEST, 2661 S. Patterson, Springfield, MO 65804or call 417-882-6847.September 13-15 — Tampa UFO & Metaphysical Convention. AtCamberley Plaza Hotel, Tampa, Florida. For information: ProjectAwareness, P.O. Box 730, Gulf Breeze, FL 32562 or Tel: 904-432-8888; Fax:904-438-1801.September 14-15 — New Hampshire MUFON's 6th Annual UFOConference at the Yokens Conference Center in Portsmouth, NewHampshire. For further information write to Peter R. Geremia. 571Bracket! Rd., Rye, NH 03870.September 20-22 — Missouri MUFON UFO Conference. Hosted byMUFON of St. Louis at the St. Peters Holiday Inn Select in St.Peters, MO. For information contact Bruce Widamann at 314-946-1394October 5-6 — National UFO and Unexplained PhenomenaConference at Airport Sheraton Inn, Mmneapolis/St. Paul. For infor-mation contact Horus House Press, Inc., P.O. Box 55185. Madison,Wl 53705 or call Tel/Fax 608-537-2383.October 11-13 — Australian International UFO Symposium inBrisbane, Queensland,Australia at the Mercure Hotel, 85-87 NorthQuay. For further information write to Glennys M. Mackay, 106Dykes St., Mt. Gravatt, Brisbane, OLD 4122, Australia.October 12-13 — The UFO Experience — North Haven,Connecticut at the Holiday Inn. For further information write OmegaCommunications, P.O. Box 2051, Cheshire, CT 06410-5051.October 18-20 — North Alabama UFO Conference in Huntsville,Alabama at the Space Center Marriott Hotel, 5 Tranquility Base. Forfurther information write: UFO, P.O. Box 10056, Huntsville, AL35801 -0056 or call 205-533-7321.October 27— International UFO Conference — TorslandaConference Center outside Gothenberg, Sweden. For more infor-mation, write to UFO - Sweden, Andreas Ohlsson, P.O. Box 175, S-733 Sala Sweden.November 9-11 — Eighth European Lyons Congress in Lyons,France. For information contact SOS OVNI B.P. 324-13611. AixCedex 1, France.January 18-24,1997 — The 6th Annual International UFOCongress Convention at the Gold River Resort in Laughlm, Nevada.For information call 303-543-9443.

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DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE - Continued from Page 24

Pattie Weixler, M.S. (New Albany. IN) in Counselling;Jane A. Hull, M.A. (Minot, ND) in Counseling; BradM. Biglow, M.A. (Gainesville, FL) in Anthropology;and Theodore Parks, M.A. (Yakima, WA) inAerospace.

DAVID WEBB RESIGNS AS EASTERN REGIONALDIRECTORDavid F. Webb was elected Eastern Regional Directoron February I , 1994. On June 24, 1996, he asked to berelieved of this responsibility, since his job required alarge amount of traveling and he was unable to processthe UFO reports from the eastern region in a timelymanner, creating a proverbial bottleneck. The Board ofDirectors understood the situation and reluctantly ac-cepted Mr. Webb's resignation. As David pointed out,the job responsibilities of the position are far more time-consuming than they were 20 years ago when he servedin the same post.

Until such time as a replacement is secured, all east-ern region State Directors should send their processedUFO sighting reports directly to the Deputy Director ofInvestigation, T. David Spencer, 6700 Woodcrest,Austin, TX 78759.

MUFON is now seeking candidates to fill the unex-pired two-year term of Mr. Webb. Obviously, the inter-ested individuals must live in the eastern region of statesto qualify. This is an opportunity for a State Director,Assistant State Director or State Section Director to as-sume greater responsibilities on the MUFON Board ofDirectors, since this is an elective office. People inter-ested should send a short letter to Walt Andrus enu-merating their education and experience to fill this im-portant post until the regular election in 1998.

MEMBERSHIP AND FUND RAISING DIRECTORSAs a result of the State/Provincial Director's Meetingand action taken by the MUFON Board of Director'sMeeting in Greensboro, NC, two new vital positionswere created on the Board in order to expand MU-FON's membership base and to seek out sources of fi-nancial help to promote additional research projects.For MUFON to continue its leading position in thefield, it is imperative that these two important goalsmust receive priority attention. Financial contributions ofthis nature to a nonprofit corporation are tax exempt un-der the Internal Revenue Code.

A person uniquely qualified in promotion, advertis-ing, group motivation and organizational team partici-pation is being solicited to become the MembershipDirector. An individual having proven fundraising tal-ents and experience with nonprofit organizations wouldmake an ideal candidate for the position of Fund RaisingDirector. Interested people should submit a resume oftheir qualifications, education, and experience to WaltAndrus for the Board's consideration and evaluation.

Every member of MUFON should be i n v i t i n gprospective new members, however we need an orga-nized and formal program to achieve our membershipgoals.

FIELD INVESTIGATOR'S EXAMSAnyone who has purchased and studied the 4th editionof the MUFON Field Investigator's Manual is eligible totake the exam via mail when they feel they are ready.The 100-question test may be secured from MUFONheadquarters in Seguin and returned to this office forgrading. In localities where field investigator trainingclasses are being conducted, the instructor may ordersufficient quantities of the test and administer the examat the completion of the training classes. For currentmembers, the new manual may be purchased for $25plus $3.50 for postage and handling from MUFON inSeguin. '•

Due to a vacancy on the MUFON Board of Directorsfor the position of Director for Field InvestigatorTraining, we are seeking interested candidates. Pleasestate your qualifications in a short letter and mail toWalt Andrus.

MUFON NATIONAL UFO HOTLINEMUFON has been introducing its National UFO Hotline1-800-UFO-2166 or 1-800-836-2166 to the public.Designed to obtain UFO sighting reports from policeagencies nationwide, we are now prepared to expand itscoverage. The majority of our calls, to-date, have beenfrom people who called the 800 directory and askedfor "UFO" to report sightings or to seek UFO informa-tion.

To send letters to every police department and sher-iff's office throughout the U.S.A. would obviously beboth expensive and time-consuming. We would like forevery State Director, State Section Director, FieldInvestigator, and Field Investigator Trainee to notifyyour local sheriff, police chief, and state highway patroloffice of MUFON's 800 number via a postcard thatthey may post on their bulletin boards or at the dis-patcher's desk.

Presently, we are attempting to answer all calls "live."An answering box records the calls received late atnight or early mornings. These sighting reports will bemailed or telephoned to the nearest State SectionDirector, State Director, or Field Investigator for a per-sonal interview. Brief replies to these cases under in-vestigation may be made to MUFON on the 800 num-ber. (The answering box is limited to three minutes.)However, this number is not to be used for other MU-FON communications. The MUFON business officenumber is (210) 379-9216. Please advise Walt Andrus

Continued on Page 20

September1996

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Walter AndrusNEWS FROM AROUND THE NETWORK

MUFON 1996 UFO SYMPOSIUMM U F O N ' s t w e n t y - s e v e n t h I n t e r n a t i o n a l U F OSymposium was held July 5, 6 and 7 at the beautifulHol iday Inn Four Seasons in Greensboro, Nor thCarolina. The success of the symposium must be at-tributed to the great work of the host committee with ourexpression of appreciation for a job well done.

For those of you who were unable to attend the sym-posium, both video and audio tapes were made for yourconvenience as a permanent record of the outstandingspeeches delivered. The entire symposium on three six-hour cassettes recorded on VHS E.P. is available onNTSC (U.S. format) for $110 and PAL (European for-mat) for $155. VHS individual presentations (StandardSpeed) may be purchased for $23 each by specifying thespeaker's name and PAL tapes at $35. Shipping andhandling costs are included in the above prices. SendU.S. money orders or U.S. checks (no credit cards orc a s h ) to Danny Barger, 2 1 0 2 H e a v n e r Road,Lincolnton, NC 28092. Telephone (704) 735-3232.Please allow 3 to 4 weeks for shipping.

Audio tapes are also available at $8 per copy, $15 fortwo taped sessions, with a special price for a completeset of tapes (about 20% off). Orders may be placedwith Steve Dean. Aurora Productions, P. O. Box 445,Lake Junalaska. NC 28745 (telephone 704-926-2269)specifying which speakers you want. Mastercard, per-sonal checks, or postal money orders are accepted forpayment. The complete set of tapes are enclosed in aspecial MUFON commemorative container.

In addition to the video and audio tapes, the everpopular MUFON 1996 International UFO SymposiumProceedings may be purchased from MUFON in Seguinfor $25 plus $1.75 for postage and handling.

FUTURE MUFON SYMPOSIUMSBill and Linda Murphy have invited everyone to attendthe MUFON 1997 International UFO Symposium atthe Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids,Michigan, on July 11, 12, and 13, 1997, hosted byMichigan MUFON. Michael Curta and Colorado MU-FON will host the 1998 sympos ium in Denver ,Colorado, the Mile High City. Susan and Rob Swiatekand the Northern Virginia MUFON organization wi l lhost the 1999 symposium in Arlington, Virginia.

Bruce A. Widaman, Missouri State Director, hasplaced an official bid for the year 2000 symposiumscheduled for St. Louis, Missouri. Kelley and Henry

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Owens plan to have Georgia MUFON host the sympo-sium in Atlanta, Georgia, for the year 2002. This leavesan opening in 2001 for the Western Region. Here is anopportunity for Northern or Southern California to placea serious bid to host the MUFON symposium, since itlast graced the Golden State in San Francisco (1979) andPasadena (1983).

NEW OFFICERSCarsten Jakobsen (Kolding) has been appointed thenew Representative for Denmark. He is also a memberof the Skandinavisk UFO Information (SUFOI) andJysk UFO Center (JUFOC) in Denmark. MississippiState Director, James A. Scarborough, Ph.D., pro-moted J. R. Gil l is (Gulfport) , former State SectionDirector to Ass i s tan t State Director for southernMississippi.

Laurence "Larry" T. Childs, Washington StateDirector, selected nine State Section Directors for vari-ous counties to f i l l existing vacancies. They are JeromeKasher, M.D. (Forke) for Clallam County; Ms. JanKelly Stappart. R.N. (Friday Harbor) for San JuanCounty: R. David Demick. B.A. (Tacoma) for PierceCounty: Michael V. Rickey ( C e n t r a l i a ) for LewisCounty; Christopher G. Nied, B.S. ( R i c h l a n d ) forBenton, Franklin, and Walla Walla Counties; Theodore"Ted" Parks, M . A . ( Y a k i m a ) and Mark J.McWhorter. D.V.M. ( Y a k i m a ) Co-State SectionDirectors for Yakima and Kittias Counties: MaureenAnne Gano-Smith. B.S. ( P u l l m a n ) for W h i t m a n ,Adams, Columbia. Garfield, and Asotin Counties; andErnest L. Poeckh, B.A. (Lacey) forThurston County.

Other new State Section Directors designated thismonth were Linda C. Kerth. Ph.D. (Velarde, NM) forRio Arriba County; Donald L. Hirth (Long Beach.MS) for Harrison, Jackson, and Hancock Counties:Sharon K. Hines (Fort Washakie, WY) for FremontCounty; Martha A. Luzader, M.A. (Callao, MO) forMacon County: and Todd C. Ganas (Savannah, GA) forChatham, Effingham, and Bryan Counties.

NEW CONSULTANTS AND RESEARCHSPECIALISTS

The fol lowing three Consultants are recognized:Ronald E. Prather, Ph.D. (San Antonio . TX) inComputer Science; Mark J. McWhorter; D.V.M.(Yakima. WA) in Veterinary Medicine; and Linda C.Kerth, Ph.D. (Velarde, NM) in Psychology.

Six new Research Specialists volunteered their talentin August, consisting of Dianne Cameron, M.A. (SanFrancisco, CA) in Poli t ical Science: Veronica J.Durham, M.S.W. ( H u n t Station, NY) in Social Work;

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