Skeptical News for 2 November 2002Skeptical News for 2 November 2002Archive of previous NTS Skeptical News listings
Monster Watch
By Buck Wolf
ABC NEWS
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/WolfFiles/wolffiles239.html
"Look! Up in the sky! Bigfoot has sprouted wings, and he's coming your way."
Ask FlickChick
TV Guide
http://www.tvguide.com/movies/flickchick/021031.asp
(Tenth Item)
"I'd like to know the name of the movie that was made about a family in Pennsylvania whose house was haunted. The family name was Smurl. I've seen bits and pieces of it on TV, but have been unable to watch it in its entirety — I usually catch it while Halloween movies are being shown."
My Interview with a Vampire
By Justin Kendall
Des Moines CityView
http://www.dmcityview.com/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=46&SectionID=39&SubSectionID=70
"Blood drinkers and energy suckers — vampires are flesh and blood in Des Moines."
Conference attempts to explain the paranormal
By Alison Herget
The Collegian [Penn State]
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2002/10/10-28-02tdc/10-28-02dnews-08.asp
"About 100 students watched mysterious images of graveyards and translucent spirits projected onto the screen in 102 Forum Saturday."
Say, what's that sound?
by Lee Bacchus
The Province [British Columbia]
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/news/story.asp?id=%7B9A7471A9-35B9-49B4-95DD-B78E0D22164D%7D
"They hang out in our art galleries."
If they are anywhere, they're here
By JENNIFER KOWALEWSKI
Mansfield News Journal
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/news/stories/20021027/localnews/380293.html
"If ever there was a place still haunted by those that met violent deaths, the Ohio State Reformatory would be it."
Man explores 'The Shadows of Moundsville'
By Timothy Karan
VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/s_99098.html
"At the end of a long, isolated hallway within the abandoned depths of the former Moundsville State Penitentiary in Moundsville, W.Va., lies a room called "The Sugar Room.""
Halloween fun is less innocent for some, who think it's all about the
occult
By Glen Leyden
The Star [Tinley Park, IL]
http://www.starnewspapers.com/star/spnews/news/27-sp5.htm
"Halloween is a night when mischief is rewarded with sugar and goblins in the closet come out to play."
Ghostly goings-on at Devon's old haunts
BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/news_features/2002/ghosts.shtml
"The Torbay Investigators of the Paranormal are on a ghost hunt - and you can help them. The group visits haunted buildings to see if they can spot evidence of spirits. And they've even got the equipment to prove ghostly goings-on..."
Under the spell of black cats
By RENEE LePERE
Charlotte Sun
http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/102902/np5.htm?date=102902&story=np5.htm
"First, there are the eyes."
The legend of the Black Monk lives on
by Jim Stevens
Lake Country Reporter
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1399&dept_id=173059&newsid=5864848&PAG=461&rfi=9
"There is serenity, a sense of peace and calm on the grounds of Nashotah House Mission Seminary."
Tackling 'witch' murders in Tanzania
By Daniel Dickinson
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2372907.stm
"Communities in northern Tanzania along the shores of Lake Victoria are stepping up their efforts to eradicate the murder of old people, mainly women, who have been accused of witchcraft."
Wiccan works her solitary magick
Charlotte Sun
http://www.sun-herald.com/Newsheadline.cfm?headline=2983&banner=1
"Call her "Annelle." It's not her real name, but since it's the name of her guardian angel, she feels safe using it. And if her real name were to appear here, she fears there could be repercussions with her job, her family, her children."
Kokomo hires firm to identify cause of annoying hum
Associated Press
http://www.indystar.com/article.php?humpm1029.html
"City officials have hired an acoustics consulting firm from Massachusetts to study a mysterious hum that dozens of residents say has caused sleeping and health problems."
Virgin tears claimed to cure the ill
By FIONA ADOLPH
Sunday Times [Perth]
http://www.sundaytimes.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,5364409%5e2761,00.html
"OIL from Rockingham's weeping statue is producing miracles, according to the parish priest."
Aliens manipulate humans
by Jason Okamoto
State Hornet [California State University]
http://www.statehornet.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/10/30/3dbf96d0038c3
"President Donald Gerth looks like an alien from another planet if I ever saw one. This is not intentionally meant to be insulting, but rather just a natural response to the way the way the guy looks. Or that's what the alien beings would have me believe."
SETI venture plagued by cheating
Silicon.com
http://www.silicon.com/public/door?REQUNIQ=1035988333&6004REQEVENT=&REQINT1=56180&REQSTR1=newsnow
"SETI@home administrators are allegedly ignoring claims that the project is being sabotaged by cheats."
Voodoo and the city
by Leatrice Spevack
Toronto Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/GIS.Servlets.WireFeedRedirect?cf=tgam/travel/travel_config&date=20021030&archive=travel&slug=TRVOOD
"You loathe your boss, your main squeeze has become infinitely less squeezable and your neighbours are driving you nuts. Maybe what you need is a little good old-fashioned voodoo. And what better place to find it than in New Orleans, home to heaps of haunted houses, vampire chronologist Anne Rice, cemeteries cluttered with spooky crypts and enough voodoo hoodoo to cure -- or at least try to fix -- whatever ails or irks you."
Local Wiccans meet fundamentalist group
By Russ Brickey
The Exponent [Purdue University]
http://www.purdueexponent.org/interface/bebop/showstory.php?date=2002/10/30§ion=campus&storyid=christiangroup172
"Beware Halloween."
Stage fright
By JEN FISH
Portland Press Herald
http://www.pressherald.com/news/york/021030haunted.shtml
"Eva Gray, a New York opera singer, stood on the stage of the Biddeford City Theater. The date was Oct. 31, 1904 — Halloween night."
UFO film sparks fresh ET debate
BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/have_your_say/news/ufo.shtml
"Many people say they have seen "something strange" and some claim that what they saw was a spaceship. Others say they have met aliens."
Happy haunting
by Arwen Ungar
Oregon Daily Emerald
http://www.dailyemerald.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/10/28/3dbd880bb2d7a
""Remember," Bill Smee said in a barely audible whisper. "Injury to the body is not always the worst that can happen.""
Left Behind Aims For TV
Sci Fi Wire
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-tv.html?2002-10/25/09.00.tv
"Producers of the Left Behind movies—based on Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins' Christian-themed apocalyptic best-sellers—are readying a TV series that will take the franchise onto the small screen. Cloud Ten Pictures' chief executive Peter Lalonde announced that the series is slated for broadcast in Canada in early 2003. The series will also be available on video and DVD in both the United States and Canada, Lalonde said in a statement."
Haunted houses, ghosts and Bigfoot ... in Mat-Su? Oh my!
By Eowyn LeMay Ivey
The Frontiersman [Wasilla, AK]
http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2002/10/28/news/news1.txt
"The bare branches shake in the wind, and the clouds trail across a nearly full moon. The nights are growing darker and house windows are alight with jack-o-lanterns."
Boo in Boulder
By Erika Gonzalez
Rocky Mountain News
http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/books/article/0,1299,DRMN_63_1508283,00.html
"Like any parent, Ruth Savig was skeptical when her young daughter woke her in the middle of the night, complaining that a big man was shaking her bed."
In Rumor of Cow's Death, a Reason to Kill
By John Lancaster
Washington Post
DULENA, India -- It began, by most accounts, with a grisly rumor: Five men had been arrested after stealing a cow -- revered by Hindus as the mother of all humanity -- and skinning it alive just steps from the construction site of a new Hindu temple. Something had to be done.
Jurors ask about Henning's mental state
By Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Albuquerque Tribune
http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news02/102302_news_linda.shtml
"Jurors today went into their third day of deliberations in the first-degree murder trial against Linda Henning after pausing earlier to ask about her mental health."
One charge has Henning jury perplexed
By Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Albuquerque Tribune
http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news02/102502_news_henning.shtml
"Jurors in the Linda Henning murder trial, now into their sixth day of deliberations, said today they are continuing to make progress in reaching verdicts on all but one of 20 charges."
Guilty without a doubt: Jury next to decide on death penalty for
Henning
By Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Albuquerque Tribune
http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news02/102602_news_henning.shtml
"Linda Henning had been prepared for the worst, her defense attorneys saying they had been clued in for bad news by juror questions just hours before."
Motions fail; Henning will take the stand
By Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Albuquerque Tribune
http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news02/102902_news_henning.shtml
"His last-ditch legal arguments didn't completely fail, but they didn't exactly succeed either, so defense attorney Gary Mitchell was preparing today to put his client on the witness stand."
Conviction came despite lack of body
By Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Albuquerque Tribune
http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news02/102902_news_hennside.shtml#011001_linda.shtml
"Jurors last week convicted Linda Henning of murdering Girly Chew Hossencofft, but they did so without benefit of a key piece of evidence: Hossencofft's body."
Henning quickly spared execution
By Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Albuquerque Tribune
http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news02/103002_news_henning.shtml
"The decision whether Linda Henning would die at the hands of the state came swiftly - quite a jolt in a murder case that stretched over three years, a trial that spanned more than a month and a verdict that took almost a week to come by."
Strange phenomena spook some old homes' residents
By SCOTT TAYLOR HARTZELL
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/10/30/SouthPinellas/Strange_phenomena_spo.shtml
"Days after a truck killed Van and Judy Sutphin's son in December 1968, the doors in their Old Northeast home opened and closed mysteriously."
Haiti Turning to Spirits for Help
By PAISLEY DODDS
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=535&e=5&cid=535&u=/ap/20021030/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/haiti_spirit_politics
"Shaking bundles of pungent leaves and swaying to a frenzied drum beat, hundreds of Haitians flock to a temple to beg the spirits for U.S. visas and lucky lottery numbers."
Ghost Town's Curse Haunts New England Forest
by Robert Winkler
National Geographic News
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1030_021030_BirdersJournal.html
"Was Connecticut's tiny Dudleytown, which was settled in the mid-1700s, cursed from the start? That's the only explanation many people have for the disproportionate number of horrors that befell the residents of the town before it was abandoned a century ago."
Believing in Bigfoot
By Jessie Milligan
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/living/4402614.htm
"In the dead of night, they wait for the giant swamp ape they believe lurks along the creek bottoms of Texas, Arkansas and beyond."
Strange lights in the Gulf Coast sky
By Billy Watkins
Jackson Clarion-Ledger
http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0210/30/o01.html
"Charles Hickson has no proof."
Who you gunna call? State allows ghostbusters into old Capitol
Associated Press
http://newsobserver.com/nc24hour/ncnews/story/1876021p-1865679c.html
"Tales of slamming doors, muffled voices and books flying off shelves have long been part of the mysterious history of the old state Capitol building."
Tread lightly, spirits
by Bill Lubinger
Cleveland Plain Dealer
http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/living/103606044927920.xml
"It wasn't a dark and stormy night."
Searching the local haunts
by CARLA CROWDER
Birmingham News
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/1036059476276180.xml
"The setting seemed ideal: An 1823 mansion with creaky pine floors and fluttery lace curtains. And nearby, a pitch-black cemetery where the roots of ancient, gnarly oaks poke at the graves of the home's early occupants."
Who You Gonna Call?
By Jody Callahan
Memphis Commercial Appeal
http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/local_news/article/0,1426,MCA_437_1514145,00.html
"Shelley Sullivan firmly believes she's been visited by something she can't quite explain."
Dead But Awake: Is It Possible? By Daithi O hAnluain
Wired
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,55826,00.html
"Two British scientists are seeking £165,000 ($256,000) to carry out a large-scale study to discover if clinically dead people really have out-of-body experiences."
NASA hires writer to debunk Apollo theory
By Ted Streuli
Galveston County Daily News
http://www.galvnews.com/report.lasso?wcd=5535
"Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon, was harassed in Los Angeles last month by a man who claims NASA faked the six manned lunar landings."
NASA commissions book to prove moon landing really happened
By Seth Borenstein
Knight Ridder Newspapers
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/business/technology/4397818.htm
"More than 33 years after the United States landed men on the moon, NASA is spending more than $15,000 to convince people that it really did happen and that the space agency didn't make it all up."
Might your eerie, ghostly encounter be sleep paralysis?
By DOUGLAS JORDAN
Gainesville Sun staff writer
http://www.gainesvillesun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=GS&Date=20021031&Category=DAYBREAK&ArtNo=210310306&Ref=AR
"Neil Faulkner has told more than a few ghost stories. In fact, he swears he used to live in a haunted house in Williston."
Ghostbuster U
By COLETTE BANCROFT
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/10/31/Floridian/Word_for_Word__Ghostb.shtml
"Amid layoffs and an uncertain economy, many people are rethinking their careers, willingly or not. Always on the lookout for opportunity, we submit the Diploma Course in Parapsychology. It's a certification program offered by the American Institute of Parapsychology, headquartered in Gainesville (although the distance-learning course allows you to earn your degree by mail and e-mail)."
Strange stories ripple beneath Erie's surface
By Paula Schleis
Akron Beacon Journal
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/local/4410661.htm
"Somewhere below the surface of Lake Erie, she slithers, mysterious and misunderstood."
Legendary beasts creep, slither in the state's forests and waters
BY RON WOLFE
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/story_style.php?storyid=10596
"Arkansas is full of creepycrawlies. Most haven't been spotted for many a Halloween, but that's what monsters do: They lurk. Craig Ogilvie, a travel writer for the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, tracked old newspaper and other accounts of monster sightings to log some of the Natural State's most unnatural residents."
River Edge man pursues 'the truth' about UFOs
By BRIAN ABERBACK
Bergen Record
http://www.bergen.com/page.php?level_3_id=48&page=5491064
"Information is power, especially when you're trying to make a convincing argument that UFOs exist."
Ghosts making contact via computer? Stories abound
By David Hoye
Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/story/5011823p-6019855c.html
"Manfred Boden was at his computer when letters and entire lines of text on the screen began changing by themselves. Gradually, the German cabinetmaker saw a message from a recently deceased friend take shape: "I am here ... Manfred ... Yours, Klaus.""
Haunting residents: When a house guest is a ghost
by Connie Nelson
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/stories/417/3382118.html
"A door suddenly slams, shattering the silence in an empty room. A TV blares on, as if by itself. Car keys left on the kitchen counter disappear, only to be found later in the shower. The sound of muffled voices filters down from the attic."
Gravity down ... or up?
By Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell
Whittier Daily News
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,207%257E12026%257E959767,00.html
"Pat Gschweng and Terry Clark parked their Chevrolet Silverado at the bottom of a hill at Rose Hills Memorial Park, put the vehicle in neutral, then laughed as it eerily rolled up hill, seemingly against gravity."
Nontraditional Healer Arrested After Death of Patient Injected With
Unknown Substance
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021031/ap_on_re_us/patient_dies_1
"A man seeking help for a persistent rash died after a nontraditional healer injected him with an unknown substance, police said. The healer and her assistant were charged with manslaughter."
And things that go bump in the night
By Laura Dempsey
Dayton Daily News
http://www.activedayton.com/ddn/life/daily/1031haunted.html
"It was a setup straight from Hollywood: Four young women, back home for the summer after their first year of college, sharing a house that belonged to one of their grandparents."
Do ghost horses stand ready?
by ANDREW BRUCE
GUELPH MERCURY
http://www.guelphmercury.com/topstory_021031102546.html
"If a ghost chose to haunt anything in the city, what better place than the federal Armoury building downtown? It cries out for a ghost or two."
Lie Detector Roulette
By Brendan I. Koerner
Mother Jones
http://motherjones.com/news/feature/2002/43/ma_148_01.html
"Bill Roche was so close to his dream job. An overachieving police officer in a Bay Area suburb, Roche had made detective while still in his 20s. Confident that his law-enforcement résumé was sufficiently impressive after seven years on the force, he applied to become a U.S. Secret Service agent in 1997. Throughout the yearlong selection process, his interviewers lauded him as an excellent candidate. But before he could earn his earpiece and Ray-Bans, there was one last detail to take care of: Roche had to submit to a lie detector test."
Law says haunted homes can be family secret
By Matthew Strozier
Stamford Advocate
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-heldhaunted.10.31tflmoct31,0,5745498.story
"Some nights as she was tending to her young children, Diana Hughes thought she felt a presence in the old Shippan house, something passing by or footsteps down the hall."
Don't Say Ghostbuster, Say Spirit Plumber
By JOHN LELAND
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/31/garden/31BOO.html
"IT was a dark and stormy night — well, it was drizzly anyway — and for the Atlantic Paranormal Society, things were taking a sudden dark turn. The group had come to this harbor town near Boston at the request of a young couple named Jeff and Bekka Caruso, who reported strange goings-on in their small, waterfront house. There had been barking noises, the couple said, and a dresser had inexplicably emptied its contents on Ms. Caruso."
Experts say truth stranger than fiction — ghosts are real
By WILLIAM LANEY
Wapakoneta Daily News
http://zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5912463&BRD=2059&PAG=461&dept_id=380634&rfi=6
"Legends abound of ghosts haunting castles, of apparitions inside homes in which a violent death took place, or spirits walking on bloodied battle sites. Stories of ghosts have spurred thousands of books, including a series of books about Ohio's apparitions."
Shock as porn film interrupts the ghosts
By Steve Madeley
The Express & Star
http://www.expressandstar.com/artman/publish/article_15659.shtml
"Halloween television viewers watching a giant ghost hunt live from Dudley Castle were horrified when the show was abruptly cut off to be replaced by an explicit sex film."
House of Horrors
ABC NEWS
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/primetime/DailyNews/amityville_021031.html
"When George and Kathy Lutz moved into the three-story colonial in Amityville on New York's Long Island in December 1975, they were thrilled."
Ghost Hunter Investigates Sacramento Underground
KCRA-TV
http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/1751910/detail.html
"Halloween is the one day out of the year that's filled with images of ghosts and haunted houses. But for paranormal investigators, spirits are real, and dealing with it is a year-round job."
Court House fails to give up ghost
By Jim DeBrosse
Dayton Daily News
http://www.activedayton.com/ddn/local/daily/1101ghosthunt.html
"The six ghost hunters quietly descended the hidden spiral staircase inside Montgomery County's Old Court House and, opening a small door, entered the back of the dark rotunda that once served as a courtroom."
WHEN OLD HAUNTS TAKE ON A DIFFERENT MEANING
Grimsby Telegraph
http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=59380&command=displayContent&sourceNode=58907&contentPK=2938053
"Ghouls, ghosts, apparitions and poltergeists will be spiriting around the Grimsby area tonight to mark Halloween. But where can North East Lincolnshire residents find a safe haven from these ghastly creatures? Perhaps the only option is to lock your doors and windows and stay safely indoors. But if you must go out tonight, reporter Tim Jays can exclusively reveal the places which people petrified of the paranormal should avoid. With the help of Grimsby ghostbuster and parapsychologist Robin Furman, we have found the area's top five most haunted places. If the supernatural is not your thing, then steer clear of this quintet of spine-tingling sites. However, if you are curious, then read on and maybe pay a visit - but remember, you do so at your peril!"
A familiar haunt
By Lesa Ingraham
CADILLAC NEWS
http://cadillacnews.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5898334&BRD=2061&PAG=461&dept_id=376393&rfi=6
"Sitting in her living room, Sharon Johnson can hear the soft sounds of an upstairs rocking chair creaking against the hardwood floor. She knows there isn't anyone sitting in it."
Bigfoot's indelible imprint
By Marco R. della Cava
USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-10-31-bigfoot-cover_x.htm
"There are times in life when we must summon every shred of courage to stand tall and unflinching in the face of fear. This is not one of them. It is 2 a.m., and outside a flimsy tent lit by a full moon something stirs in this primeval forest."
Is Success In The Stars?
by Virginia Citrano
Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/home/2002/11/01/cx_vc_1101zodiac.html
"America's richest people would do a Chinese daddy proud."
Gettysburg Residents Talk About Their Ghosts
WISN-TV
http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/news/1753230/detail.html
"Throughout the years, many people have talked about unexplained sightings in Gettysburg."
Local Ghost Busters
By Sonya Pfeiffer
WTVD-TV
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/news/103102_NW_ghostbusters.html
"Think there's no such thing as a haunted house? A hard core group of paranormal researchers says think again. Now they've got some science they say backs them up."
City's ghost sightings faded into the night
By RANDY ERICKSON
La Crosse Tribune
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2002/10/31/stories/news/z3randy.txt
"Ancient Celtic tradition holds that on Halloween the veil between the physical world and the spiritual world lifts for a night, allowing spirits of the dead to visit the living. The Celts would dress up as ghouls and go around whooping it up on Halloween night to scare away the spirits, who the Celts thought wanted to inhabit their bodies. As if."
Ghost Hunter
By ELAINE JACOBS
Indiana Gazette
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5903653&BRD=1078&PAG=461&dept_id=151025&rfi=6
"Saying Tony Greenawalt is fascinated with Gettysburg is an understatement. Green-awalt, 50, has been to the site of the historic Civil War battle more than 200 times since his first visit as a student at Blairsville Elementary School."
Students, visitors report seeing ghosts haunting college campuses
By JESSICA WEHRMAN
Scripps Howard News Service
http://www.naplesnews.com/02/10/neapolitan/d846178a.htm
"Some college alumni just can't bear to leave their alma mater."
Truth in the Tales: Recent research reveals haunting details relating
to Tyng legend
By HOLLY BEDARD
Nashua Telegraph
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/Main.asp?SectionID=17&SubSectionID=327&ArticleID=66952
"We've all heard some great urban legends in our time. Some we believe, some we dismiss. All of these stories are based if somewhat loosely on fact, but what if research proved a story to be true? Would it be so easy to dismiss?"
'It Just Gives Me The Willies'
By John Sharify
KOMO
http://www.komotv.com/stories/21155.htm
""It just gives me the willies," says Maureen Nelson."
Ghost Hunters Descend on Parkersburg, West Virginia
by Erika Celeste
VOA
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=DD5244F0-A88A-4E4B-84F294863375446E&title=Ghost%20Hunters%20Descend%20on%20Parkersburg%2C%20West%20Virginia&catOID=45C9C784-88AD-11D4-A57200A0CC5EE46C&categoryname=Arts%20%26%20Culture
"Historic Parkersburg, West Virginia is home to a Victorian downtown filled with museums, hotels and... hauntings. This morning, 75 people from around the country have gathered for a three-day conference on the paranormal at a ghosthunters convention. President of the American Ghost Society, Troy Taylor, cautions people to keep an open mind before they scoff."
Halloween special: Are ghosts among us?
By DEB WUETHRICH
Tecumseh Herald
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5903288&BRD=2078&PAG=461&dept_id=380356&rfi=6
"When he was growing up, Tecumseh resident Dr. John Trent said he became accustomed to the presence of a ghost called "Herman" who shared his grandparent's residence in Taylor. There would be unexplained voices, footsteps, or items inexplicably out of place. Then there was the clincher."
PA couple hunts ghosts in haunted hotels
by JENNIFER JACKSON
PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/sited/story/html/110326
"When guests check into a hotel, the last thing they want to see evidence of people who have stayed in the room before them."
Ghost hunters find lingering spirits locally
By Chris Richburg
Rock Hill Herald
http://www.heraldonline.com/local/story/1876368p-1865913c.html
"There is "life after life," if you ask Lino Camarda. While many people believe death is the end, Camarda believes that it merely opens a door to another world."
Ghosthunters record voices, spot 'orbs' in farmhouse
By Joni Edmondson
Shamokin News-Item
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5896070&BRD=2311&PAG=461&dept_id=482260&rfi=6
"When things go bump in the night. When photographs mysteriously flip over in their frames. When candles are found turned upside-down in their holders. When you think you might have spirits sharing your house. Who ya gonna call?"
Kensington resident finds Sprucevale healthy haunt for spirited
interest
By JEFF MARTIN
Lisbon Morning Journal
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5901291&BRD=2131&PAG=461&dept_id=363764&rfi=6
"This is not the story of local haunts - specifically those areas in and around the Sprucevale area and Beaver Creek State Park - but rather the story behind one man's interest in the unknown."
A GHOST STORY? Art school's brush with afterlife
By KEVIN L. McQUAID
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=SH&Date=20021031&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=210310457&Ref=AR&Profile=1060
"They say her name was Mary, and that eight decades ago she lived in the Bay Haven Hotel on the dusty North Trail."
Now he sees it, now they don't
By SUSAN CLARK PORTER
Finger Lakes Times
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5902111&BRD=1206&PAG=461&dept_id=237369&rfi=6
"Phil Jordan's got a purrfect Halloween story."
That haunted feeling
By MELIA BOWIE
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/10/31/TampaBay/That_haunted_feeling.shtml
"At the historic Cuban Club in Ybor City, according to legend, the piano plays by itself, a woman wails and the elevators carry invisible passengers."
HOMEOPATHIC CARE ON NHS 'A GREAT SUCCESS'
by NICOLA STOW
Aberdeen Press & Journal
http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=84092&command=displayContent&sourceNode=83929&contentPK=2936821
"A pioneering scheme that allows people in the Highlands to access homeopathic treatment on the NHS was yesterday hailed as a huge success."
Hunt for haunts
By TOM ZUCCO
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/10/31/TampaBay/Hunt_for_haunts.shtml
"Almost every city or town in America has some place people think is haunted. An old building, a cemetery, a brokerage firm . . . "
Ghost hunters scour U. of Montevallo house for spooks
By CARLA CROWDER
Tuscaloosa News
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021031&Category=APN&ArtNo=210310548&Ref=AR
"The setting seemed ideal: An 1823 mansion with creaky pine floors and fluttery lace curtains. And nearby, a pitch-black cemetery where the roots of ancient, gnarly oaks poke at the graves of the home's early occupants."
Friendly ghost no problem so far
By ALONZO WESTON
St. Joseph News-Press
http://www.stjoenews-press.com/Main.asp?SectionID=81&SubSectionID=272&ArticleID=33854
"Del and Joyce Sutherland have a roommate they've never met. All the St. Joseph couple knows about its houseguest is that she's a nun, she has a cat and she doesn't like nudity on TV. Oh yeah, the Sutherlands also know their roommate is dead."
Might your eerie, ghostly encounter be sleep paralysis?
By DOUGLAS JORDAN
Gainesville Sun
http://www.gainesvillesun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=GS&Date=20021031&Category=DAYBREAK&ArtNo=210310306&Ref=AR
"Neil Faulkner has told more than a few ghost stories. In fact, he swears he used to live in a haunted house in Williston."
The death grip of a voodoo queen
By William Hageman
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0210310070oct31,0,2491455.story
"Ina Fandrich runs her hand over the front of the tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1."
Day of the dead revives creepy tales
By JENNIFER HICKS
Norwich Bulletin
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20021031/localnews/405454.html
"Blood pumps faster through the veins of Jewett City residents this time of year."
Four tribes will appeal Kennewick Man ruling
ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/93315_kennewick29.shtml
"Four Northwest Indian tribes have filed notice that they will appeal the ruling of a federal judge who rejected their request to rebury the ancient skeleton called Kennewick Man."
Government files appeal notice for ancient skeleton
Associated Press
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2002/10/30/oregon/news03.txt
"The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday filed its appeal of a ruling that overturned former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's decision to allow Northwest Indian tribes to rebury a rare and ancient skeleton known as "Kennewick Man.""
Mother-daughter team investigates the unexplained
By Lauren Janis
Burlington County Times
http://www.phillyburbs.com/burlingtoncountytimes/news/news/41736653.htm
"Sheila and Crissy Tindall stepped between headstones at Tabernacle Cemetery. It was just days before Halloween and the rain fell hard and cold from the night sky, but they weren't afraid."
Ghost investigator to visit Millbrook
By Robert Lachman
Millbrook Round Table
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5887920&BRD=1705&PAG=461&dept_id=71853&rfi=6
"Linda Zimmerman is a true-to-life ghost investigator. She will share some of her experiences when she visits the Merritt Book Store in Millbrook on Nov.2. at 7 p.m. to give a talk and slide show presentation."
Ghostly Virginia pops out at surfers for supernatural
By Joe Szadkowski
Washington Times
http://www.washtimes.com/entertainment/20021031-13721618.htm
"The study of ghosts has been going on for centuries as believers and nonbelievers have tried to document concrete evidence of the spirits' existence. Illusionist Harry Houdini, inventor Thomas Edison and author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle all have looked into these apparitions, with mixed results."
They Called It Witchcraft
By MARY BETH NORTON
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/31/opinion/31NORT.html
"In 17th-century New England, almost everyone believed in witches."
At Halloween, be true to your ghoul
By Linton Weeks
WASHINGTON POST
http://www.msnbc.com/news/828218.asp?cp1=1
"Music kicks on for no apparent reason in an empty dorm room. Mysterious mist moves across sacred ground. Students speak of unspeakable visitations. It's just another day at Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., near the Mason-Dixon Line."
IN SEARCH OF SPIRITS
by Joseph Giordano
Dundalk Eagle
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5886068&BRD=1997&PAG=461&dept_id=224663&rfi=6
"Sometimes they come back. And it's the job of the Greater Dundalk Paranormal Investigators to get them on tape."
A wicked display: Drew exhibit demystifies witch lore
By Laura Bruno
Parsippany Daily Record
http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/02/10/30/news3-witchcraft.htm
"Witch hunters of 16th century Europe swore by it. With chilling precision and thoroughness, the 7-inch-tall by 2-inch-thick handbook was a popular reference guide at witch trials."
Documenting Edgar Cayce
By JENNIFER P. BROWN Kentucky New Era
"A documentary film that traces the life of local clairvoyant Edgar
Cayce will be shown Saturday at Hopkinsville Community College."
Big spooks on campus
By JESSICA WEHRMAN
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
http://www1.caller.com/ccct/national_world_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_812_1510478,00.html
"Some college alumni just can't bear to leave their alma mater."
Holistic care soothing alternative for patients
by Karen Meiman
Business Courier
http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2002/10/28/focus3.html
"Lee Ann Lamb's daily routine became nearly unbearable after she
underwent radiation for ovarian cancer."
Witchcraft: Arts and Sciences
"There's no abracadabra or broom-flying at Andreas Starchel's School
of Witchcraft."
Cyber Snake Oil
"You can find just about anything on the Internet, apparently even a
cure for cancer. Or at least that's what Raw Health, a whole foods and
detox product website run by Kris Pletschke is claiming. And Raw
Health isn't the only online health site making such claims. This week
on "CyberCrime," we investigate the growing number of websites raising
concerns with health care professionals. Watch to find out whether
medical miracles truly exist online, or if the people behind these
sites are simply taking advantage of ill customers' desperation."
Voters in two cities look at fluoride issue
"Voters here, as in Kalispell, are being asked whether their drinking
water should be augmented with fluoride, touching off a debate on the
additive."
When there's no logical explanation for things that go bump in the
night
"It seems that paranormal activity isn't restricted to stately old
hotels, abandoned schools or farmhouses in the middle of nowhere.
According to experts, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to
find a culture in the world that doesn't have its share of ghost
stories."
Americans Haunted By Belief In The Paranormal
"It's not any seasonal unrest in the spirit world that keeps ghost
hunters busy around Halloween. It's the incessant calls from the
media."
Savannah's Unseen inhabitants
""They're heeeere.""
A business contact to the spirit world
"There are no flowing robes, clattering bracelets or dimmed lights
where Natalie Davis plies her trade."
'Haunted hanging' pub on sale
"One of the oldest pubs in Wales, where 180 people are believed to
have been hanged in the 17th Century, has gone on sale."
Owner is tired of telling people Satan's chicken feet never stepped
across the floor.
"It's bad enough when Ray Gonzales hears that the devil showed up at
his dance hall, but to say that the Evil One danced with every woman
there is going a little too far."
Joseph Brean and Anne Marie Owens
Saturday, November 02, 2002
TORONTO - Biblical scholars
were outraged yesterday to
hear that an ancient stone box
that could be one of the
greatest archeological
discoveries of our time
shattered into several pieces
while being shipped from
Israel to the Royal Ontario
Museum in Toronto.
The box is believed to have
contained the bones of James,
the brother of Jesus, and could
be the first archeological
evidence of Jesus's existence
"Here, when we know the
value, know how precious it is,
this terrible thing happens,"
said Hershel Shanks, editor of
the journal that announced the discovery of the box last month. Called an
ossuary, the box is inscribed: "Ya'akov [James], son of Yosef [Joseph],
brother of Yeshua [Jesus]."
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IN THE NEWS
Today's Headlines – November 1, 2002
REVERED SCIENCE: PANELS BACK SMITHSONIAN FUNDING SETUP
The Smithsonian's scientists should be able to count on a steady source of
federal dollars because the research done at the institution is unique, two
studies ordered by the White House concluded yesterday.
The unusual scrutiny of the Smithsonian's science budget came after the
Office of Management and Budget suggested shifting the money to the
National Science Foundation. Under the proposal, Smithsonian researchers
could apply for grants from the NSF but wouldn't be guaranteed anything.
The two studies, by the National Academy of Sciences and the National
Academy of Public Administration, considered the strategy and reached
identical verdicts: Bad idea.
A withdrawal of core funding would probably disrupt the Smithsonian's
science work, which dates to its founding 155 years ago, the studies said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49321-2002Oct31.html
SCIENTISTS SAY A QUEST FOR CLEAN ENERGY MUST BEGIN NOW
Meeting the world's rising energy needs without increasing global warming
will require a research effort as ambitious as the Apollo project to put a
man on the moon, a diverse group of scientists and engineers is reporting
today.
To supply energy needs 50 years from now without further influencing the
climate, up to three times the total amount of energy now generated using
coal, oil, and other fossil fuels will have to be produced using methods
that generate no heat-trapping greenhouse gases, the scientists said in
today's issue of the journal Science. In addition, they said, the use of
fossil fuels will have to decline, and to achieve these goals research will
have to begin immediately.
Without prompt action, the atmosphere's concentration of greenhouse gases,
mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, is expected to double from
pre-industrial levels by the end of this century, the scientists said.
"A broad range of intensive research and development is urgently needed to
produce technological options that can allow both climate stabilization and
economic development,"the team said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/01/science/01CLIM.html
JOURNAL SCIENCE RETRACTS DISCREDITED RESEARCHER'S PAPERS
WASHINGTON - In the largest block retraction ever published in the
prestigious journal Science, eight papers by discredited researcher J.
Hendrik Schon are being withdrawn at the request of his co-authors.
Schon, 32, was a science superstar at Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs. He
published more than 80 papers in top journals, such as Science and Nature,
and was sought out by other researchers because of his reputation for
spectacular results with difficult problems in material sciences and
electronics.
But when his work was questioned by other scientists last spring, an
outside investigating committee appointed by Bell Labs concluded that Schon
had fabricated data or altered experimental results in at least 16 projects
between 1998 and 2001.
Schon, the committee found, "did this intentionally or recklessly and
without the knowledge of any of his co-authors."
http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/600633p-4650167c.html
NEARLY HALF OF PLANT SPECIES MAY BE THREATENED
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The percentage of the world's plants threatened with
extinction is much larger than commonly believed, and could be as high as
47 percent if tropical species are included, researchers said on Thursday.
The study, published in the November issue of Science, challenges earlier
research that estimated the number of species in danger of extinction was
about 13 percent.
Previous studies of extinct plants underestimated the numbers because they
failed to include many plants growing in tropical countries such as Ecuador
and Colombia.
Plants are becoming extinct for many reasons, including global warming and
human encroachment into area habitats, said Peter Jorgensen, a researcher
at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis who coauthored the new study.
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=sciencenews&StoryID=1665429
FEDS WEIGH PROBLEMS, ETHICS OF SMALLPOX STUDY
WASHINGTON (AP) - Researchers want to begin the first studies of the
effects of a risky smallpox vaccine on toddlers and preschoolers - a
proposal raising such thorny questions about safety and ethics that the
government is seeking public reaction before giving the OK.
Among the issues: The vaccine is made of a live virus called vaccinia that
can cause its own infections until the injection site scabs over, so
researchers plan to keep inoculated children out of day care or school for
a month. But will youngsters tear off their bandages and put relatives,
playmates or others at risk?
And is it ethical to test in healthy children a vaccine that could cause a
life-threatening reaction when they probably won't benefit from it - unless
a bioterrorist attacks with smallpox?
After research oversight boards had mixed reactions, the Food and Drug
Administration announced Thursday that for the next month it will accept
public comment on whether the University of California, Los Angeles, and
Cincinnati Children's Hospital should inoculate 40 2- to 5-year-olds with
smallpox vaccine. They would be the first children to get the shots since
routine vaccination ended in 1972.
http://www.newsobserver.com/24hour/science/story/601046p-4652178c.html
U.S. FINDS HURDLES IN SEARCH FOR NONLETHAL GAS
The quest for an effective "nonlethal" chemical agent like the one that
killed more than 100 hostages in Moscow last weekend has tantalized U.S.
military and law enforcement officials for years.
But even though the government has undertaken several research projects
into incapacitating gases and aerosols since the mid-1990s, the effort has
proceeded slowly in the face of thus-far insurmountable technical hurdles
and concern about violating the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.
A Pentagon spokesman this week issued a statement saying "the U.S. military
is not currently involved in any programs or research related to the
development or procurement of incapacitating agents," did not plan any such
research and has not stockpiled any agents.
But as recently as May 2000, the Defense Department paid $69,931 to a
Michigan-based firm to begin a multiphase project "to demonstrate the
feasibility of innovative, safe and reliable chemical immobilizing agents."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48722-2002Oct31.html
NO LINK BETWEEN ANTI-MALARIA DRUG AND VIOLENCE, ARMY SAYS
WASHINGTON (October 30, 2002 4:49 p.m. EST) - An Army investigation of
possible medical and behavioral causes behind a series of domestic killings
and suicides at Fort Bragg, N.C., has ruled out the anti-malaria drug
Lariam, officials said Wednesday.
Speculation about possible explanations for the killings has run the gamut
from the stress of combat to psychotic side effects from Lariam. Three of
the four soldiers involved in the killings had recently returned from
Afghanistan.
Elaine Kanellis, an Army spokeswoman, said she could not discuss findings
from the investigation report, which is not yet in final form.
USA Today reported Wednesday that the investigators found no common link in
the four killings, except that the soldiers were all in troubled marriages.
http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/599163p-4642303c.html
NAVY MUST DELAY SONAR SYSTEM, JUDGE RULES
A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the U.S. Navy from
deploying a submarine-hunting sonar system that environmentalists argue
could harm whales and dolphins.
Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte said, however, that the Navy must be
allowed to train with the system. She ordered both sides back to court Nov.
7 to develop a plan that would allow the Navy to train with the sonar
during the eight months before the case goes to trial in June.
It was the latest skirmish in a dispute between the Navy and
environmentalists in a suit brought by the Natural Resources Defense
Council and the Humane Society of the United States.
In her 58-page ruling granting the preliminary injunction, Laporte found
that the environmentalists probably would prevail in proving violations of
four environmental laws, including the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/01/MN224060.DTL
COLORADO RIVER WATER SPREADS FLULIKE VIRUS
Health officials at the Grand Canyon say they're figuring out ways to
prevent future outbreaks of a flulike virus that affected dozens of hikers
and rafters this summer.
A report released this week reveals that water from a sewage treatment
plant at Glen Canyon Dam upstream has tested positive for Norwalk disease.
The virus was also found downstream in the Lee's Ferry area.
National Park Service scientists say they will test further to determine if
there are other sources of the virus along the Colorado River.
Chuck Higgins, a regional public health specialist with the National Park
Service, says researchers are certain the virus is spreading through river
water.
http://www.azstarnet.com/star/fri/21101RRaftersIllness.html
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November 1, 2002
A new study of 32,100 people living within five miles of
the Three Mile Island nuclear plant near Harrisburg, Pa.,
found no significant difference in the overall rate of
cancer deaths compared with the general population. The
study did find some differences when cancers were analyzed
by time period, type of cancer and sex of the patient.
The study, by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh's
Graduate School of Public Health, said that their
surveillance "provides no consistent evidence that
radioactivity released during the nuclear accident has had
a significant impact on the overall mortality experience of
these residents."
But the study also said that "several elevations persist
and certain potential dose-response relationships cannot be
definitively excluded."
Contact: Ann Cairns
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 29, 2002
GSA Release No. 02-46
The date was December 11, 1972, and the occasion was the
last Apollo mission to the Moon. Apollo 17 astronaut
Harrison Schmitt landed in the Valley of Taurus-Littrow,
the only scientist and the last of 12 men to step onto the
lunar surface. Standing in a brilliantly sun-lit valley
deeper than the Grand Canyon and gazing at a nearly full
Earth in a deep black sky, Schmitt's questions about the
origins of the Moon and terrestrial planets and their
subsequent history took on very personal significance.
Today, geoscientist Schmitt, literally one in six billion
human beings to combine science with actual lunar
exploration, continues to ponder those big questions.
He'll share some of the results of his synthesis of the
research of many others on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at the
annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in
Denver, CO. At the GSA Planetary Geology division's
Gilbert Lecture and Award Ceremony, Schmitt will discuss
"A Lunar Field Geologist's Perspective 30 Years Later:
Shocking Revelations about the Moon, Mars, and Earth."
Shocking? The orange "soil" or pyroclastic glass that
Schmitt found on the Moon, for example, continues to
provide clues about the origin of the Moon. In Schmitt's
view, it also reveals why the prevailing Giant Impact
hypothesis of the Moon's origins doesn't work.
"The major problem with this hypothesis," says Schmitt,
"is that the interior of the Moon is not cooperating. Most
importantly, the lower lunar mantle, based on analyses of
the Apollo 17 orange pyroclastic glass, has a chondritic,
that is, primordial elemental and isotopic imprint. This
primordial imprint would have disappeared or have been
significantly modified if the mantles of the Earth and
the impactor had already formed as required by the
current Giant Impact hypothesis.
According to Schmitt, "If the Giant Impact hypothesis
is not compatible with this evidence, alternatives to
it should be considered, including capture of a small,
independent planet from a solar orbit near that of the
Earth's."
Similarly, many scientists agree that the Moon's 50 or
so basins greater than 300km in diameter, as well as
most other ancient lunar craters, were formed at about
the same time by an apparent "cataclysm" 3.9 billion
years ago. According to Schmitt, "the primary argument
against this hypothesis is found in the sampling sites
for Apollo and lunar meteorite samples of impact-created
glass for which formation ages have been determined.
These samples have come largely from the surface of the
Moon most affected by the 14 youngest large basin-forming
impacts and debris thrown from them. These 14 youngest
impacts are, indeed, 3.9-3.8 billion years old based on
the dating of Apollo samples. A variety of volcanic and
impact evidence indicates that it is highly unlikely that
all the 35 or more older impact basins formed during the
same interval.
"One of the most exciting aspects of studying lunar
origin and evolution is applying that understanding to
the early Earth and Mars," says Schmitt. "And herein
lies a 'shocking' revelation about the possible origin
of Earth's first continents."
The 2500km diameter basin on the far-side of the Moon,
known as South Pole-Aitken, records an impact of an
extraordinarily energetic object near the end of the
period of smaller scale saturation cratering that followed
the solidification of the lunar crust. South Pole-Aitken
is just the most obvious manifestation of possibly three
or four other such huge early impacts, including the
3200km diameter front-side basin called Procellarum.
Schmitt estimates that the Procellarum basin formed at
about 4.3 b.y and South Pole-Aitken at about 4.2 b.y. If
these formation ages are in the ballpark, they suggest
an explanation for detrital zircon (ZrSiO4) crystals of
about the same ages in very old sedimentary rocks on
Earth. Early impacts of the scale of South Pole-Aitken
and Procellarum, occurring in water-rich environments
such as the Earth and Mars, would create thick sheets
of impact generated rock melt on a continental scale. As
these magma sheets crystallized, zirconium concentrations
may have reached levels that produced the very old zircons.
And what about Mars? Schmitt also suggests that there is
evidence for and reason to believe that Mars had both
early (older than 4.2 billion years) and late (younger
than 3.8 billion years) oceans due to separate periods
of intense volcanic eruptions that included abundant
water. The shores of these two oceans appear to have
been identified in the data returned by the Mars Surveyor
spacecraft now in orbit around that planet. Further, he
speculates that the most stable ecological niche for
Martian life has been the boundary between the subsurface
water ice zone and liquid water expected beneath that
zone. If simple, one cell life forms evolved on Mars in
parallel with their evolution on the Earth prior to 3.8
billion years ago, they may have adapted to survive in
this global niche as the surface of Mars became hostile
to any life.
"Extrapolating what we now know about the Moon and
applying it to Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury -- the
terrestrial planets -- is one of the primary scientific
returns of lunar research. But looking ahead, the Moon
will also mature our thinking about the gas giants and
other parts of the solar system," says Schmitt. For
example, whether as a result of a cataclysm or not,
where did the objects originate that created the 50
or more large basins on the Moon? He'll continue to
contribute to that work, this time with his feet firmly
planted on Earth, while developing a business rationale
to return to the Moon for its energy resources.
"A Lunar Field Geologist's Perspective 30 Years Later:
Shocking Revelations about the Moon, Mars, and Earth"
Harrison H. Schmitt
October 31, 2002
Filed at 5:00 p.m. ET
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A man seeking help for a persistent
rash died after a nontraditional healer injected him with
an unknown substance, police said. The healer and her
assistant were charged with manslaughter.
The coroner's office was analyzing the substance. The cause
of death for Roberto Caceres, 54, was unknown Thursday.
Four doctors had failed to control Caceres' rash by the
time he went to Reina Isabel Chavarria's home office in Van
Nuys after hearing of her through Spanish-language
newspapers and talking to some of her clients, police said.
Police said Chavarria's assistant Margarita Montes gave the
injection to Caceres, who went into convulsions and was
taken to a hospital. He died Monday.
Along with involuntary manslaughter, Montes and Chavarria
were charged with practicing medicine without a license.
Montes, 28, pleaded innocent Wednesday; arraignment for
Chavarria, 48, was set for Nov. 19.
Chavarria and Montes were jailed in lieu of $25,000 bail
each. They could be sentenced to up to nine years in prison
if convicted.
The treatment room contained candles, religious figurines
and what appeared to be a shrine made up of voodoo dolls,
investigators said. A dog slept on the treatment table that
was used to give injections, homicide Detective Al Aldaz
said.
``This should be a warning for people to have more
confidence in traditional medicine instead of being treated
by somebody rubbing an egg on their back or giving them
herbs or ointments,'' Aldaz said. ``The person receiving
these treatments had no idea of where they got this
medicine or even if it's clean.''
Scout executive: 'Mother Nature would be acceptable'
Thursday, October 31, 2002 Posted: 10:33 AM EST (1533 GMT)
PORT ORCHARD, Washington (AP)
-- Eagle Scout Darrell Lambert has
earned 37 merit badges, worked
more than 1,000 hours of
community service and helps lead
a Boy Scout troop in his hometown.
But the 19-year-old has another
distinction that may lead to his removal
from the Boy Scouts: He's an atheist.
Last week, Lambert was given roughly a
week by the Boy Scouts' regional
executive to declare belief in a supreme
being and comply with Boy Scout policy,
or quit the Scouts.
The official and Lambert were to talk
again this week regarding Lambert's
answer.
"We've asked him to search his heart, to
confer with family members, to give this
great thought," Brad Farmer, the Scout
executive of the Chief Seattle Council of
the Boy Scouts, told The Sun of
Bremerton.
"If he says he's an avowed atheist, he
does not meet the standards of
membership."
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_700600.html?menu=news.quirkies
Police in Montenegro are hunting a conman who sold schoolchildren a
'miracle syrup' which he said would help them get better marks in class.
Education chiefs in the small Balkan state asked police to step in after
worried parents alerted teachers.
The children had told their parents they were surprised the syrup had not
brought them better grades.
"He was offering us syrup promising us we would be able to learn much
easier, have a better memory and feel healthier. He said we'd never get any
bad marks if we drank it," one child told the local daily Vijesti.
Police are now looking for a "retired doctor from Bosnia and Herzegovina".
Doctors confirmed the syrup was not harmful to the children.
Story filed: 12:48 Thursday 31st October 2002
True Believers
""I don't believe in Bigfoot. I thought I'd let you know that I
absolutely do not believe in Bigfoot," begins Chester Moore Jr. The
audience shuffles and murmurs uneasily, as if they have been tricked.
"How many people here believe in Bigfoot?" Almost everyone warily
raises a hand. Moore delivers. "I think that believing is for
religion, and I've accepted the fact that we have a hidden species of
primate in North America." Sighs of relief break out among the
believers."
Who You Gonna Call?
"We've all had those odd, uncanny experiences: The dog inexplicably
barking at the basement steps, odd creaking noises throughout the
house before bedtime, barely audible whispers, flies massing at
windowpanes, a spectral play of light at the end of a hallway. Most
people sleep easy with rational explanations for these phenomena."
FDA Seizes 'Autism' Supplements
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021017/hl_nm/fda_supplements_dc_1
"The US Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) said on
Thursday it had ordered the seizure of hundreds of bottles of a
dietary supplement that the agency said falsely claimed to treat
autism."
Polygamy Puzzle
"The author of a purported Attorney General's Office memo describing
widespread criminal activity in the polygamous community of Colorado
City remains unknown more than two weeks after it surfaced."
End Game
"A promotional piece inserted recently in copies of The Burlington
Free Press bills itself as a "personal invitation to attend a Bible
prophesy adventure in the Book of Revelation." The colorful brochure's
cover proclaims, "Armageddon now! Time is running out for planet
Earth." Another section mentions "world crisis" and promises "Hope
beyond terrorism.""
Exit the Unicorn
"As he walked out of the courtroom after the jury found him guilty of
murder in the first degree, Ira Einhorn puckered his lips and seemed
to whistle to nobody as it finally dawned on him that he would be
trading in his crisp navy suit and future hopes for an orange jumper
and life in a cage."
Ira's End
"Justice finally found Ira Einhorn."
Tarot card expert says sniper not schooled in correct use
"Time was when a Gypsy would shuffle the tarot deck and lay out the
cards to tell a fortune. But the use of tarot cards recently by a
sniper in the Washington, D.C., area is turning the tables. The
discovery of a card with "I am God" scrawled on the back, coupled with
reports of additional cards left at the sniper's other crime scenes,
leaves police and the public to interpret the meaning."
The sage of Aquarius
"An Aries wants a firm handshake and the bottom line. The Aquarius
steers clear of confrontation. Scorpios, like Ted Turner and Bill
Gates, are fierce, stealthy competitors who hate flattery."
Peru, in Purple, Venerates 'Lord of the Miracles'
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021019/en_nm/peru_miracles_dc_1
"When Maria got sick with cancer, her Peruvian parents couldn't afford
the costly drugs that doctors said would save their only daughter."
'Ghosts' elevator traps 28
"It probably wasn't a ghost, but 26 people visiting the Queen Mary's
Ghosts & Legends tour got more than they expected when they were
trapped inside an elevator on Sunday, officials said."
Andhra police seek divine help
"The police in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh are
invoking the gods in their fight against left-wing rebels."
'Miracle' in city: Lakshmi idol changes colour
"Deep Ghosh, a trader in fish fodder, and his wife Rita had sat down
for dinner on Sunday night at their Chetla home, when they noticed
something rather strange. The idol of Goddess La-kshmi had changed
colour and acquired a distinctive greenish hue."
Panamanians Beg Pardon at Black Christ Festival
"Thousands of Panamanians, many of them thieves, prostitutes and drug
dealers, on Monday came to purge their sins at the annual Roman
Catholic festival of the black Christ, Panama's wildest and most
chaotic celebration of faith."
Geller goes in search of a battle armed with psychic powers
"URI Geller, the celebrity psychic, will take to the sky above central
Scotland today in the hope that his paranormal powers will unearth one
of the country's most mysterious historical secrets."
Psychic 'solves' battle riddle
"Psychic Uri Geller is planning to take to the air to confirm his
belief that he has solved one of Scotland's greatest mysteries."
Clinton aide slams Pentagon's UFO secrecy
"One winter night in 1965, eyewitnesses saw a fireball streak over
North America, bank, turn and appear to crash in western Pennsylvania.
Then swarms of military personnel combed the area and a tarp-covered
flatbed truck rumbled out of the woods."
Maybe we're not alone after all
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=63973&category=REGION&newsdate=10/22/2002
(See also http://www.fox23news.com/Global/story.asp?S=981962&nav=8ob8BwFt)
"Was it a terrorist missile, an off-course alien space craft or just a
zippy mosquito with a hearty autumn constitution? Local authorities
hope the FBI will know for sure."
Thames torso police seek fresh clues in Nigeria
"Detectives investigating the death of a five-year-old boy whose
severed torso was found in the River Thames last year, have arrived in
Nigeria to seek fresh clues in their inquiry, police said on
Wednesday."
Ghostly goings-on at bridge
"Everyone knows horses are intelligent creatures but a farm owner from
Shropshire believes his animals have a spooky sixth sense."
'Ghost mystery' of accident black spot
"Villagers think a ghost could be to blame for a series of accidents
on a country road."
Serenade For A New York City Ghost
"Walk into the Merchant's House Museum on East 4th Street and you are
transported back in time, to the genteel life of wealthy New York in
the 19th century."
If the truth is out there, Sci-Fi Channel wants to know
"The Sci-Fi Channel has jumped into the UFO fray - for real this
time."
Outing UFO Clues Good for Ratings
"On the face of it, Fox Mulder would be proud of a group of Washington
insiders who are throwing their weight behind the UFO movement."
UFOs: Seeking the Truth Through Savvy Marketing
"Call it a conspiracy (or savvy marketing), but a new poll released
this week says a majority of Americans think the truth about
unidentified flying objects (UFOs) is out there, yet the government is
concealing it from them."
Caught between a rock and hard place
"When Ho Hsien-jung and Lin Sheng-yi's startling publication, Taiwan
-- The Cradle of Civilization, hit bookstores last year neither of
them expected it to become a best-seller. They did, however, expect
the book to be taken more seriously in academic and governmental
circles than it was."
Primeval terror (since 1929)
"Of all today's holidays, Halloween seems like the most primeval. Its
bats, witches, spooks, skeletons and monsters surely indicate roots
reaching back before the dawn of science and Christianity; the whiff
of prehistoric campfires clings to its sable robes. Well, guess
again."
If These Walls Could Talk
"A faded red book, "Southern Illinois University: A Pictorial
History," tells the history of the campus through a series of black
and white photographs of distinguished, brick buildings."
Haunted Hangout of the Hereafter?
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpid=348&show=archivedetails&ArchiveID=875777&om=1
"According to owner Nan Wheatley, Vina Rae's Grill & Graze Cafe
located in the old high school gymnasium at Avard should change its
name to the Grill & Ghosts because of mysterious sights and sounds
occurring in the old building."
FG crop circle genuine, says scientist
"A circle that cropped up in Lyle Spiesschaert's wheat field this
summer is the real deal, not a hoax, say a scientist and expert who
specialize in crop circle studies."
Some ghost stories may not be fictional
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5813092&BRD=1099&PAG=461&dept_id=99012&rfi=6
"Stories about things that go "boo" in the night aren't always purely
make believe."
Ghost Story
""Call the real estate guy right now, 'cause we're selling this
house!""
Local ghost hunters dare to make contact with things that go bump in
the night
"Their T-shirts feature a headstone with the slogan, "Wanted dead, not
alive." They carry mysterious silver briefcases in the dark of night."
Radio Talk Show Host Bell to Retire
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021025/ap_on_en_mu/people_bell_2
"Radio talk show host Art Bell, whose overnight talk of UFO sightings
and conspiracy theories made him famous, has announced his
retirement."
Radio Legend Art Bell to Announce Retirement
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021024/people_nm/media_bell_dc_1
"Radio host Art Bell, famed for his lengthy discussions on creepy
conspiracy theories, will announce his retirement on air in the wee
hours of Thursday, his syndicator Premiere Radio Networks Inc. said on
Wednesday."
A tour of our most notorious haunted manors
"One step beyond the appeal of visiting this country's sights is the
thrill of seeing its heritage of the unseen. The supernatural is a
thriving culture in Denmark, whose ancient history has borne plenty of
restless souls doomed to wander the halls and towers of tens of the
country's palaces and manors to the delight - and terror - of
sceptical and superstitious types alike."
'Girly Ghostbusters' probe paranormal
"A warning to any ghouls or spirits prowling the creepy cemeteries and
mansions of the Waterloo Region: Ghostbusters are hot on your vaporous
trails."
Being Skeptical Assists Psychic When Connecting
"John Edward is skeptical and he wants others to be the same."
Nice to Know A House Is Haunted
""'He' sat there in midair, smiling at me from in front of the cold
fireplace. Hands clasped around his crossed knees, he was nodding and
rocking. He faded slowly, still smiling and was gone. . . . He was the
most cheerful and solid-looking little person I'd ever seen.""
Ghost hunters develop camera to detect paranormal activity
"Michael Lynch doesn't live in the Twilight Zone, although he's spent
enough time there to pay taxes."
Shroud of Turin inspires study, skepticism, faith
"Despite several scientific tests that seem to show it is a forgery,
the Shroud of Turin still has the power to enthrall not only the
devout, but also a cadre of scientists who claim the debunkers are
wrong."
Mysterious phenomena can disappear without an explanation
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/osceola/orl-ocomud27102702oct27,0,5885715.story
"Some things are better left unexplained."
'Planet X' is a gift to doomsday buffs
http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/today/accent_d39b0b8f505ac09b008d.html
"What is it about astronomy that draws cranks by the cartload? And why
do they delight in spewing bad-science-based doomsday scenarios and
scaring the bejabbers out of everyone?"
Halloween horrors! Beastly sightings part of Wisconsin lore
"Little did Linda Godfrey know that a routine newspaper assignment in
1992 would become such a big part of her life."
Of soothsayers and skeptics
"Dust off the crystal ball, get the cards out and don't throw out the
tea leaves — they might all prove useful."
Turn to Pravda for the real news
"When American news gets too depressing, as it has lately with the
sniper, the pending war with Iraq and the apparent unavoidability of
the next election, I turn to Online Pravda to find out what's on the
minds of our good friends in Russia."
Owners: Spirits lurk in historic hotel
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5860092&BRD=982&PAG=461&dept_id=467992&rfi=6
"A local historian once told George Kutlenios, owner of the Holly
Hotel, that good things come to those who own the landmark building.
In 1978, when the restaurateur was struggling to rebuild and make the
burned-out hotel into a success, those words from long-time Holly
resident Vera Cook Husted were comforting."
Press reporter joins hunt for hotel ghost
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=982&dept_id=498575&newsid=5860251&PAG=461&rfi=9
"Is the Holly Hotel haunted? Certainly people over the years - owners
and patrons alike - have experienced strange occurrences there."
Ghosts, monsters, unexplained phenomena, haunt state
"Arkansas can be a pretty scary place, and not just during the week of
Halloween."
Meet the new Zionists
"At first sight, the scene is very familiar: one that happens in
Washington DC and other major American cities all the time. On the
platform, an Israeli student is telling thousands of supporters how
the horrors of the year have only reinforced his people's
determination. "Despite the terror attacks, they'll never drive us
away out of our God-given land," he says."
Horse attacks may be witchcraft
"Animal welfare experts say there may be a link between sporadic
attacks on horses and witchcraft."
Giant Pig Attacks Alaska
"Well, no one has actually called it a flying pig as of yet, but it
might as well be. Just like the poor Connecticut residents whose story
I brought to light when their neighborhoods were viciously bombarded
by the cacophony of Mister Softee ice cream trucks, the people of
Alaska are in trouble."
'Miracle' water goes on trial
"Water said to be empowered by alchemy and touted as a miracle cure is
under the spotlight of the NSW Supreme Court in a case described by
one silk as the new age on trial."
Is Mother Teresa's miracle a fake?
"The apparently miraculous recovery of a poor tribal woman from a
stomach tumour has divided India between those who believe it should
be the basis for Mother Teresa's canonisation and those who view it as
an organised fraud. Monica Besra, a West Bengali, claims she was cured
after offering prayers to Mother Teresa on the first anniversary of
her death in 1998; the Catholic church in the state says her cure
satisfies the criteria for a miracle because it was 'organic,
permanent, and immediate'."
Anti-depressants have little more effect than placebos, claims study
"The mood-lifting effect of the most popular anti-depressants is
barely more than people experience when they take a dummy sugar pill,
according to analysis of secret pharmaceutical company trials."
Murder of 'cow killers' in India prompts much soul searching
"A Hindu religious leader has welcomed the murders of five men accused
by a mob of killing a cow, India's most sacred animal, claiming that
the life of the creature is more important than that of a human."
Witch thinks positive in bid to lure 'ghostly' Loch Ness monster
"AMERICAN scientists used millions of pounds of equipment and mini
submarines. Screaming Lord Sutch used a haggis and a sandwich. But
none of these heroic efforts yielded firm proof of the existence of
the Loch Ness monster."
Researchers are in Bullhead City to investigate alleged bigfoot
sighting
http://www.mohavedailynews.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2002/October/21-1834-news5.txt
EDITORIAL
In this issue we return to the theme of the ETH, which this newsletter was originally started to discuss, with the aim of
getting believers in the ETH to present the best evidence for it in a clear and rational manner and to list those UFO
incidents which they thought should be presented as the most promising indications that the ETH might be true, and
might eventually be shown to be true. It was all in vain, as most ETH enthusiasts greatly resent having their favourite UFO
reports subjected to critical examination and seeing all the flaws and inconsistencies in the stories laid bare. However, we
intend to persist in exposing the weaknesses of the case for ET spaceships and their occupants, in the hope that some
ufologists will eventually see sense.
LACK OF EVIDENCE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT OBJECTION TO THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL
HYPOTHESIS
John Harney
IT IS generally agreed that most UFO reports can be explained if sufficient and accurate information about them is
available to investigators. It is said, though, that a small number of reports remain unexplained despite careful
investigation, and that it is reasonable to suppose that these are sightings of extraterrestrial spacecraft. This is known as
the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis (ETH).
The ETH is superficially attractive and apparently rational. Among the great mass of UFO reports are some genuine
sightings of ET spacecraft and these are discovered by a process of elimination, rather like separating gold from gravel.
Problems arise when a report seems impressive and is touted by believers in the ETH as definitely or probably a genuine
sighting of an alien craft. When this happens, any further investigations or critical examination of the evidence and
testimony tend to be unwelcome.
In cases where seemingly impressive reports have been subjected to further investigation, though, evidence usually
emerges to show that there are mundane explanations available, or that there are serious flaws and inconsistencies in
the evidence and testimony.
We are often told that certain cases can not be explained as misperceptions or hoaxes because there were multiple
witnesses, so they must be genuine UFOs. In the first issue of this newsletter, I briefly discussed the Trindade Island
case of 16 January 1958, in which a UFO was allegedly seen and photographed from the Brazilian navy vessel Almirante
Saldanha, and noted that there was no agreement as to how many witnesses there were. (1) Anyone who reads the
literature on this case will also note that there are no statements available from these witnesses. It was simply asserted
that there had been many witnesses, even though the US Assistant Naval Attaché, when he boarded the ship, could not
find anyone who claimed to have seen the UFO.
Since I published this, no one has been able to produce any statements made by these alleged witnesses, only
statements by the principal witness, and by one or two people who were not even there at the time, assuring us that
many of those on board the Almirante Saldanha actually saw the object.
This is the way UFO events tend to be treated when investigators wish to bolster their belief in the ETH. They are inclined
to accept any details which point to exotic explanations and do not inquire too closely into the reliability of the evidence
and testimony.
Perhaps it would be helpful to those who are puzzled by the rejection of the ETH by many ufologists, if I try to set out the
serious objections to it. Some of the objections which are made are false or irrelevant, so I think it is a good idea to try to
compile a list of genuine ones. I'll start with a list which includes what seem to me to be a mixture of valid and invalid
objections, given by Dr J. Allen Hynek in a lecture in 1983, (2) with my comments added:
1. "Failure of Sophisticated Surveillance Systems to Detect Incoming or Outgoing UFOs."
This seems a fairly sound objection. Spacecraft entering orbit, and space shuttles and satellites re-entering the
atmosphere are routinely detected and tracked, as are many meteors. Yet UFOs are not tracked and spectacularly bright
UFOs somehow fail to appear on satellite pictures. It is, of course, claimed by some ETH believers that UFO tracking
information is kept secret, but surveillance is carried out by different nations. There are also many amateurs who track
satellites and observe satellite re-entries and meteor showers, and would surely notice and make careful records of
anything unusual and share them with other enthusiasts.
2. "Gravitational and Atmospheric Considerations." Extraterrestrials could not function on our planet as
the beings in CE3s are said to do. They could not walk about with ease or inhale our air or, even more
to the point, levitate.
CE3 sightings rarely have independent witnesses. This is not a problem unless we choose to believe such stories and
take them as being real physical events rather than delusions. Before we start to explain or theorise about a UFO event
we need to establish the facts of the case. Only if we can satisfy ourselves that the incident really took place as
described should we include it in a list of UFO reports requiring explanation, by means of the ETH or otherwise.
We do not know what beings from other planets could or could not do if they landed on Earth, as we have no information
about them. Anyway, if any of these CE3 sightings could be authenticated, then we would just have to accept them.
3. "Statistical Considerations". Distant worlds would not - could not - dispatch as many spacecraft in
the numbers UFO reports indicate.
Here we have to assume that a certain proportion of UFO reports are sightings of ET spacecraft. But even if we assume
only about one per cent of reports to be genuine, this amounts to a large number (which somehow escape detection by
surveillance systems).
This is not a valid objection because it is purely speculative. Assuming that intelligent beings exist elsewhere in the
galaxy, we have no knowledge of what they are capable of doing. For example, it has been suggested that a sufficiently
technologically advanced civilisation could produce a self-reproducing universal constructor, known as a von Neumann
machine after the man who first showed that such a machine is theoretically possible. Once these machines got going
they could produce as many spacecraft as required at no extra cost to their inventors. (3) So, at least in theory, there is
no limit to the number of alien spacecraft which could be visiting us, if we are willing to consider the possibility that they
might exist
4. "Elusive, Evasive and Absurd Behaviour of UFOs and Their Occupants." The beings and the craft
that bear them do not act as we would were we to travel to a faraway planet.
As with objection 2, we have no good reasons to take such observations too literally, and even if we do it is not
reasonable to suppose that ETs would behave as we would expect them to.
5. "Isolation of the UFO Phenomenon in Space and Time: The Cheshire Cat Effect". UFOs appear and
disappear, staying visible for no more than brief periods of time; their being observed at Point A does
not mean that they will be seen at Point B even if last spotted heading in that direction.
It is not easy to interpret this. Presumably Hynek was referring to what Jenny Randles has called the Oz Factor where the
UFO is seen only by a single witness or a small group of witnesses, and other people in the vicinity at the same time
notice nothing unusual. To most rational ufologists such reports suggest a psychological explanation should be sought.
6. "The Space 'Unworthiness' of the UFO". Most UFOs are too small to sustain a crew over the vast
distances of the cosmos.
This does not make sense. Obviously, interplanetary or interstellar spacecraft would be too big to land on or to enter the
atmospheres of planets but would go into orbit and launch smaller craft for this purpose. This is familiar from accounts of
manned and unmanned space missions, as well as science fiction stories.
7. "The Problem of Astronomical Distances". Extraterrestrials could not get here in any reasonable
time. (Hynek considered this to be a fatal objection.)
A number of answers to this objection have been suggested by scientists and science fiction writers, including
suspended animation and generation starships, where those who arrive at the intended destination are descendants of
those who originally set out on the voyage. It can be argued that the vast distances involved make interstellar travel
unlikely, but they certainly do not make it impossible.
Most of the objections to the ETH raised by other scientists also have no validity. For example, Carl Sagan argued that
even if only a very small fraction of UFO reports were genuine, then there would have to be an unfeasibly large number of
interstellar spacecraft. (4) All of Sagan's objections are purely speculative, and he dismisses UFO reports simply
because he was able to explain a few which he investigated.
So far we have only one valid objection to the ETH which is that UFOs are not detected entering or leaving the Earth's
atmosphere. If such observations were obtained and authenticated it would surely go a long way towards convincing
many sceptics that we are indeed being visited by ETs. The other objections are incapable of being verified or are simply
wrong, or purely speculative.
The main practical objection, which we have not yet dealt with, is that after 55 years of UFO investigations we not only
have no verified observations of UFOs entering and leaving the Earth's atmosphere, but we also have no other clear,
accurate and undisputed observations which strongly suggest ET visitations, and no undisputed physical evidence to be
linked with the alleged activities of ETs and their spacecraft. We should also take into account the fact that all those who
have claimed contact with ETs - whether they are called contactees or abductees - have failed to provide any new and
important facts about other planets, etc. which were not already known and which could eventually be verified. For
example, if the contactees of the 1950s had published precise, detailed descriptions of other planets, and if these
descriptions had been found many years later to have been true and accurate, then they would have to be taken very
seriously. But, as we all know, the vital information which will confirm the truth of the ETH always slips from our grasp,
usually just when it seems it is about to be revealed to the world.
Many ETH believers insist that the evidence is kept secret by US government agencies. They never explain how these US
agencies manage to persuade every other government in the world to keep the saucers secret also. They never explain
how any government agency can keep secret something which it does not control. Of course there is some government
secrecy about UFO reports, but this concerns UFO investigation projects, not the UFOs themselves. Any individual or
organisation, official or amateur, can conduct secret UFO investigations. Many of them do this so that they can work
undisturbed by news media, cranks and the idly curious. They also do it because they wish to respect the rights of
witnesses to privacy.
If there are genuine, ET, UFOs they can appear anywhere at any time and be seen by anyone. If there is physical
evidence to be had it can fall into the hands of any individual or organisation. To maintain total secrecy about vital UFO
evidence is simply impossible.
Thus, while many objections to the ETH have been put forward, it is at least logically possible. The only valid and
important objection to it is simply lack of evidence.
Notes
2. Hynek, J. Allen, 'The case against ET', in Walter H. Andrus, Jnr., and Dennis W. Stacy (eds), MUFON 1983 UFO Symposium
Proceedings, 118-26, Mutual UFO Network, 1983 (quoted in Clark, Jerome, The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial, Visible
Ink, Detroit, 1998, 212)
3. Tipler, Frank J., 'Extraterrestrial intelligent beings do not exist', in Regis, Edward, Jr., Extraterrestrials: Science and Alien Intelligence, Cambridge University Press, 1985. Tipler's argument is that as ET spaceships are apparently not present in our solar
system even though there has been plenty of time for ETs to evolve and develop von Neumann machines, then they don't exist.
However, he admits: "But the evidence is not utterly conclusive; beings with extremely advanced technology could be present in our
solar system and make their presence undetectable should they wish to do. The point is that a belief in the existence of extraterrestrial
intelligent beings anywhere in the galaxy is not significantly different from the widespread belief that UFOs are extraterrestrial
spaceships. In fact, I strongly suspect the psychological motivation of both beliefs to be the same, namely 'The expectation that we are
going to be saved from ourselves by some miraculous interstellar intervention . . . '"
4. Sagan, Carl, 'The extraterrestrial and other hypotheses', in Sagan, Carl and Thornton Page (eds), UFOs - A Scientific Debate, Cornell
University Press, 1973
WASHINGTON - More than 33 years after the United States landed men on
the
moon, NASA is spending more than $15,000 to convince people that it
really
did happen and that the space agency didn't make it all up.
Stubborn conspiracy theorists claim that NASA's six Apollo-program
moon
landings were faked. After decades of belittling and ignoring them,
NASA has
decided to fight back. It hired James Oberg, a Houston-based former
aerospace engineer and award-winning author of 10 books on space, to
confront skeptics point by point. Many scientists already have done
that on
the Internet, but skeptics remain unconvinced.
"Ignoring it only fans the flames of people who are naturally
suspicious,"
Oberg said Tuesday in an interview.
Last year, Fox television twice broadcast a show entitled Conspiracy
Theory:
Did We Really Land on the Moon?, and NBC's Today show staged a debate
on the
topic. Last month, Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, punched a
conspiracy theorist who had been pestering him to swear on a stack of
Bibles
that the landing was real.
After the Fox show first aired, NASA put out a one-paragraph press
release
titled Apollo: Yes, We Did.
Yet a 1999 poll found that 11 percent of the American public doubted
the
moon landing happened, and Fox officials said such skepticism
increased to
about 20 percent after their show, which was seen by about 15 million
viewers.
Stephen Garber, NASA's acting chief historian, said Oberg's
10-chapter,
30,000-word monograph "is not going to convince the people who believe
in
these myths. Hopefully, it'll speak to other people who are
broad-minded."
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/4400099.htm
Are we alone in the universe?
We may never discover whether or not extraterrestrials
exist. But researchers continue to refine their search.
Discoveries that water likely flowed on Mars at one time
and that Jupiter's moon Europa may house a subterranean
sea have intensified the hunt for alien organisms in our
own solar system. And the identification of approximately
100 extrasolar planets in recent years has raised hopes
of finding inhabited worlds similar to Earth elsewhere
in our galaxy.
In THE SEARCH FOR ALIEN LIFE, our latest special online
issue, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN authors review the evidence
for and against the existence of ETs.
Buy the issue, read the articles and, the next time you
gaze up at the night sky, make up your own mind.
SPECIAL ONLINE ISSUES - the fast and convenient way to enjoy
classic Scientific American articles on the specific themes,
topics and events affecting our world today.
Download your copy today.
28Oct02
THE Utah State Court of Appeals has dismissed Robert Paul Rice's claims that the Utah State Prison is
violating his right to practise his religion by failing to provide him with a "vampire" diet.
The court also showed no sympathy for Rice's complaint that he wasn't allowed a conjugal visit when a "vampress" is
available so he can partake "in the vampiric sacrament (drinking blood)".
In his appeal, Rice claimed when he was brought to the prison in June 2000 he noted in his information sheet that he
was "a Druid" and that "the order of the Druids that I follow is the order of the Vampire".
When he later became a member of Wicca, his "vampiric dietary needs" changed, he said.
Prison spokesman Jack Ford said Rice's records showed he was a Catholic.
Rice, sentenced to one to 15 years for felony weapons possession, theft and burglary, said he could drink milk and eat
fruit, grains and vegetables. But he won't eat meat.
"We aren't customising the meals to what each inmate wants. We do have alternatives," Ford said.
As for the kiss of the "vampress", forget it.
"Without any question we do not have conjugal visits in Utah," Ford said.
This report appears on news.com.au.
By SUSANNA LOOF
Associated Press
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/29/hallowen/main527379.shtml
By Jacob Dalton
TechTV
http://www.techtv.com/cybercrime/internetfraud/story/0,23008,3389209,00.html
Associated Press
http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2002/10/28/build/health/fluoride2.php?nnn=3
By Dana George
Traverse City Record-Eagle
http://www.record-eagle.com/2002/oct/27scary.htm
By JOHN JURGENSEN
Hartford Courant
http://www.ctnow.com/features/lifestyle/hc-para.artoct31.story
By Jennifer Rose Marino
Savannah Morning News
http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/103102/LOCghosts.shtml
By Linda A. Moore
Memphis Commercial Appeal
http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/business/article/0,1426,MCA_440_1514139,00.html
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/2380527.stm
By Macarena Hernandez
San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/specials/halloween/2002/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=665&xlc=852909
Uproar over damage to stone box linked to Jesus's brother
http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=%7B854A5813-2190-497B-8E7B-1C7431822203%7D
National Post
Friday, November 01, 2002
Science In the News
The following roundup of science stories appearing each day in the general
media is compiled by the Media Resource Service, Sigma Xi's referral
service
for journalists in need of sources of scientific expertise.
from The Washington Post
from The New York Times
from The Associated Press
from Reuters
from The Associated Press
from The Washington Post
from The Associated Press
from The San Francisco Chronicle
from The Associated Press
http://www.sigmaxi.org
http://www.mediaresource.org
http://www.americanscientist.org
inthenews@sigmaxi.org
Normal Cancer Rate Found Near Three Mile Island Plant
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/01/health/01NUKE.html?ex=1037155401&ei=1&en=ba2c88f5b6fea19d
By MATTHEW L. WALD
A Moonwalker's Perspective 30 Years Later: Harrison Schmitt
to Offer "Shocking Revelations" at GSA Annual Meeting
Geological Society of America
Denver, Colorado
Phone: 303-357-1056; Fax: 303-357-1074
acairns@geosociety.org
Gilbert Lecture – GSA Planetary Geology Division
Tuesday, Oct. 29, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Nontraditional Healer Arrested
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Patient-Dies.html?ex=1037106727&ei=1&en=d239b30688361024
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thursday, October 31, 2002
Atheist Scout given a week to declare
belief
http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/West/10/31/atheist.scout.ap/index.html
Police hunt conman who sold miracle syrup to schoolchildren
From Ananova at:
Skeptic Newssearch - 10/29/02
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skepticsearch/
BY MICHELLE MARTINEZ
Dallas Observer
http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2002-10-24/news2.html/1/index.html
By Erin G. Edwards
Nashville Scene
Reuters
BY JOHN DOUGHERTY
Phoenix New Times
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/2002-10-24/news.html/1/index.html
BY SUSAN GREEN
Seven Days Vermont
http://www.sevendaysvt.com/-thisweek/feat/02.html
by Howard Altman
Philadelphia City Paper
http://citypaper.net/articles/2002-10-24/cb2.shtml
by BRIAN HICKEY
Philadelphia Weekly
http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/article.asp?ArtID=4541
by Karen Youso
Minneapolis Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/stories/389/3383416.html
by Julie N. Lynem
San Francisco Chronicle
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/10/27/BU169447.DTL
By Monica Vargas
Reuters
By David Rogers
LONG BEACH PRESS-TELEGRAM
http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204%257E21474%257E938742,00.html
By Omer Farooq
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2342657.stm
Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?artid=25908396
By Robin Emmott
Reuters
http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=humannews&StoryID=1613066
by DAMIEN HENDERSON
Glasgow Herald
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/22-10-19102-23-46-53.html
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2351449.stm
By Richard Stenger
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/space/10/22/ufo.records/index.html
By CATHY WOODRUFF
Albany Times Union
Reuters
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23189650
Shropshire Star
http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/october02/25th/horses.asp
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2360815.stm
By Vera Haller
Newsday
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-ghost1024.story
By Randy Cordova
Arizona Republic
http://www.arizonarepublic.com/smartliving/articles/1028ufo28.html
By Mark Baard
Wired
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,56004,00.html
By Leonard David
i
http://www.space.com/news/ufo_poll_021025.html
By Gavin Phipps
Taipei Times
http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2002/10/27/story/0000177336
By Laura Miller
Salon
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2002/10/28/halloween/index.html
by Jessica Yorama
Daily Egyptian [Southern Illinois University]
http://newshound.de.siu.edu/fall02/stories/storyReader$1114
Alva Review Courier
By Lisa Waggoner
Hillsboro Argus
By Trina Trice
Clayton County News Daily
By DON FARMER
Naples Daily News
http://www.naplesnews.com/02/10/marco/d848924a.htm
By KRISTIN DIZON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/92721_ghosts25.shtml
Associated Press
By Sue Zeidler
Reuters
By Rebecca K. Engmann
Copenhagen Post
http://cphpost.periskop.dk/default.asp?id=25536
by COLIN HUNTER
KITCHENER RECORD
http://www.therecord.com/topstory_02102691649.html
By TRACY RZEPKA
Jamestown Post-Journal
http://post-journal.com/news/story/10262002_new05Being.asp
By Stephanie Cavanaugh
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8549-2002Oct24.html
Associated Press
http://www.ljworld.com/section/stateregional/story/110685
By Mark Houser
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/news/s_99183.html
By Ramsey Campbell
Orlando Sentinel
By Michael Alicea
Palm Beach Post
by Jim Lundstrom
Appleton Post-Crescent
http://www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/et_6734004.shtml
Canadian Press
by David Grimes
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
By GARY GOULD
Oakland Press
By GARY GOULD
Oakland Press
By MELISSA NELSON
Associated Press
by Matthew Engel
The Guardian [UK]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,820528,00.html
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2367587.stm
By JOSH PLOTNIK
Cornell Daily Sun
http://cornelldailysun.com/articles/6592/
Australian Associated Press
http://www.theage.com.au/breaking/2002/10/28/FFXZUY38T7D.html
by Helen Rowe
Glasgow Sunday Herald
http://www.sundayherald.com/28561
By Julie Robotham
Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/20/1034561389128.html
by Luke Harding
The Guardian [UK]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,816499,00.html
by John Ross
The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/inverness.cfm?id=1056952002
Mohave Daily News
MAGONIA SUPPLEMENT 41
http://www.magonia.demon.co.uk/arc/00/ms41.htm
22 October 2002
1. 'The ETH and its proponents', Magonia ETH Bulletin, No. 1, March 1998
NASA FIGHTING BACK TO CONFIRM THAT U.S. REALLY FLEW TO MOON
from The Miami Herald
THE SEARCH FOR ALIEN LIFE
- Available NOW for just $5.00 -
http://sciam.rsc03.net/servlet/cc?lJpDVXTElrLimpJFgmlrLimpJlDhknE0ET
It's a question that every school kid has probably asked
at some time - and scientists in particular want an answer.
http://sciam.rsc03.net/servlet/cc?lJpDVXTElrLimpJFgmlrLimpJlDhknE0EU
Prisoner demands 'vampire' diet
http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,5373493%255E13762,00.html
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