UFO ROUNDUP Volume 8 Number 36
Volume 8
Number 36
September 24, 2003
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
NEW YORK RESEARCHER HAS STRANGE ENCOUNTER ON THE ISLE OF MALTA
On Sunday, September 4, 2003, at about 4 a.m., New York researcher Eugenia Macer-Story, author of Doing Business in the Adirondacks: True Tales of the Bizarre and Supernatural, had a strange experience in her hotel room in Bughba, a village on St. Paul's Bay on the Mediterranean island of Malta.
"I had an unsettling experience in the early hours of the morning," Eugenia reported, "In the dark I reached for a door latch linked to an outside balcony window overlooking Megalithic ruins used by the hotel as a tourist attraction after hearing distinctive ghostly noises inside the room. I felt a sharp pain in the fold of flesh between thumb and index finger and assumed it was either a ghostly cut or I had injured myself on the sliding metal door latch."
"When I looked at the injury under electric light," the author, a self-described clairvoyant, added, "I was surprised (and frightened-E.M.S.) to see that a series of small craters like puncture marks or small burns were on my hand. I put antibiotic salve on the wounds."
"My immediate thought is that they were burns from acid. Later, the idea of venom occurred to me. The burns were what might be called 'second degree' and turned purplish and ugly before healing in about a week."
Eugenia added that the prehistoric ruins are known locally as "the Bughba temple," and they were first excavated and surveyed by a British archaeologist back in 1928. Artifacts from the site are now in a museum elsewhere on the island of Malta.
In the late 1970s, there were strange "manimal" reports from the Megalithic ruins at Gozo. The creature, which one magazine called "the Caliban of Malta," was described as slender, sinewy, covered with brown or black hair and having three-digits on its hands and feet, plus pointed, swept-back ears. Witnesses claimed to have seen the "manimal" hopping and leaping about the Gozo ruins and clinging to the side of stucco walls. (Email Interview)
CHUPACABRAS CONTINUE THEIR RAMPAGE IN CHILE
"Nocturnal attacks that end with large numbers of slain sheep in pens adjacent to homes have acquired unaccustomed frequency, with owners none the wiser until the following morning."
"The third of these attacks in recent months occurred between Thursday night," September 11, 2003, "and Friday morning," September 12, 2003, "at Santa Lidia de Cartago, 14 kilometers (8 miles) west of the city of Pemuco" in Chile.
"Alfonso Mendoza, owner of the dead and dying animals, lost between 20 sheep and lambs. The first attack was on Thursday and claimed the lives of 5 animals; the second was on Friday morning and took 7 more, plus 8 agonizing animals which must be put down. Among the wounded was the family's pet sheep, which had been raised by hand after its mother's death and treated with antibiotics."
"Despite the fact that the farmer believes dogs were likely involved, his experience and the difference in the attacks on each day has left him wondering if a 'lion' (puma in Chile; cougar or mountain lion in the USA--J.T.) could have been responsible, since the animal sometimes descends from the snowy cordilleran peaks (of the Andes-- J.T.) or else another type of animal."
"He was hoping to know for sure this weekend, which he planned to spend standing guard with a shotgun, since he has already lost a third of his flock, which is improved Suffolk stock."
"'If dogs are involved, they must be eliminated, since they still attack after being sated,' he said. He notes that an event of this type has not been wtnessed here in three years, and that the 'stunt' represents a loss of at least 200,000 Chilean pesos to him."
"A situation that eludes his grip (understanding-- J.T.) is that the first night the attacking animals ate part of the sheep; but on the second assault, they only attacked for the blood, which in his opinion is not customary in dog attacks."
"Another case occurred on the road to Cato, where it was ascertained that a dog attack did indeed take place, since paw prints of a large canine were stamped on the wood that served as the roof of the sheep pen."
In northern Chile, Chupacabra attacks occurred near the city of Calama.
"According to statements made by Jaime Ferrer, a paranormal phenomena researcher, the Chupacabras have not stopped their attacks on Calama."
"The ufologist stated that the latest incident occurred on the Avenida O'Higgins, only meters (yards) from his home."
"'One of my neighbors came to my place of work to say that his cat had been attacked by something very weird. In fact it had an enigmatic wound on its neck, where a total lack of fur is evidence that it could not have been caused by a dog or some other animal, nor through a fight with a member of its own species,' said Ferrer."
"He added that the animal (cat) was very nervous, allegedly from its experience with the Chupacabra. 'I believe that its life was spared for being a male, since the creature prefers females, and I believe it's because they are the ones responsible for protecting life and giving birth.'"
"'It must be understood that this being remains in Calama. Many have seen it. It's generally not the same one that was filmed in the south, since my research has shown that there are countless species of said creatures.'" (See the Chilean newspapers La Discusion de Chillan for September 14, 2003, "Third attack on sheep claims twenty more," and La Estrella del Loa for September 13, 2003, "Creature attacks continue in Calama." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales, Liliana Nunez, Gloria Coluchi y Jaime Ferrer para estos articulos de diario.)
UFOs AND COW MUTILATION REPORTED IN ARGENTINA
Luminous UFOs were sighted over Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, last week, and a cattle mutilation was reported in Santa Fe province.
On Tuesday, September 9, 2003, at 5:50 a.m., "mysterious pulses of light were seen for several minutes over the Pompeya district of Buenos Aires. The lights then moved slowly to the north," toward Tigre and the Rio Parana. "A witness photographed them with his SONY 360 camera."
On Wednesday, September 10, 2003, "at 6 a.m., a UFO floated for more than five minutes over the Flores and Aledanos districts of Buenos Aires, moving very slowly at an altitude of approximately 1,500 meters (5,000 feet), occasionally pulsating with an intense luminosity."
Many hours later, at 7:40 p.m. that Wednesday, "an intense, very luminous sphere" flew over El Centro and the Avenida Nueve de Julio in Buenos Aires. "This object had a luminosity brighter than that of a planet. The incredible scene continued as the object moved its position over the Avenida La Plata and the Avenida Boedo, where hundreds of people witnessed the phenomenon."
In Susana, a town of Santa Fe province 400 kilometers (250 miles) northwest of Buenos Aires, "a cow sustained a strange mutilation and was found under most mysterious circumstances. The animal was missing both of its ears, and its veins had been completely drained of blood." (See the Argentinian newspaper La Opinion for September 19, 2003. Muchas gracias a Ricardo E. D'Angelo y Norberto Mollo para estos casos.)
HOVERING RED UFO SEEN IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
"As he looks up at a bright moon, spindly shadows fall across John Gonzalez's face through the branches of a small tree on his front lawn."
"It's a Saturday night, and just like every night since they saw a strange red light in the sky" on Saturday, August 30, 2003, "Gonzalez and a handful of other residents on 20th Street in Montebello," California (population 62,150) "are out looking for UFOs."
"Twice in late August, most recently on August 30, residents say they saw the strange, flashing red light high in the skies above Montebello," a suburb of Los Angeles, "triggering the near-nightly vigil on Gonzalez's block."
"As he surveys the skies, his friend cleans the lens of a telescope on a tripod. Next door, another neighbor and his son are waiting on the front lawn, a video camera perched upon a tripod at the ready."
"While residents swear they saw something very unusual, nobody--not police nor local astronomical agencies--has given them a satisfying explanation as to what it was."
"'It was something military, or something advanced,' Gonzalez believes. He recalls how in the past witnesses confused the (F-117) Stealth bomber with a UFO. 'Maybe it will be like the Stealth bomber. You know, all these people seeing the strange flying triangle in the desert and then, ten years later, we find out what it really was.'"
"The residents' accounts of the weird light are nearly all alike. They say the light moved slowly up from the horizon, then began to turn on a path parallel to the horizon. The light then emitted a bright flash and began moving faster. It disappeared and reappeared a few times, then faded away."
"Several residents videotaped the object."
"Officials at the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Air Force and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada/Flintridge all said they have no record of anything in the skies on August 24 or August 30 (2003)."
"Fear of ridicule caused some witnesses to decline to give their names to a reporter. One man, who said he scans the skies nightly with binoculars, said he's convinced people might think he's crazy."
"'I have a high-profile job. There's no way I can let you use my name.'"
"Whatever the light was, it hasn't returned since August 30. But that hasn't stopped Montebello's nightly UFO watchers from gazing skywards."
"'As long as there are no laser beams coming down, we're cool with it,' said Gonzalez." (See the San Gabriel Valley Tribune for September 12, 2003, "Red flashing UFO over L.A. baffles residents." Many thanks to Jim Hickman for this newspaper article.)
DiDOMENICA INVESTIGATES RUMORED MOON BASE
Ufologist Claude DiDomenica has a new E-book CD-ROM out, which explores the strange history of Project Horizon, an actual plan to build a NATO base on the moon.
He reports, "In 1959, a technical task force that included the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorized the Project HORIZON study. The primary objective of the study was to build the first permanently manned moon base by 1966."
DiDomenica explained, "I first learned about Project HORIZON from the controversial 1997 book, The Day After Roswell, by U.S. Army Colonel Philip E. Corso. Although the general theme of the book was about the extraterrestrial presence, there was an interesting chapter called 'Project Moon Base.'"
"In July of 1997, I contacted the historian of the Corps of Engineers to verify that the Project HORIZON study existed. He replied and told me, not only did the study exist, but he would be happy to send me a copy."
After receiving the report, DiDomenica said, "I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did I receive the document but three appendices of Volume I that were not included in The Day After Roswell, and the complete Volume II of the study," which runs over 300 pages.
"I took great care in scanning Volumes I and II and created a user-friendly communication system," DiDomenica stated, "I also wrote an overview, explaining my theory that, at this time, we do indeed have a moon base that is so secret, perhaps not even the (USA's) president is aware of its existence."
"As far as I know," he added, "approximately three- quarters of the 400 pages of previously-classified U.S. Army documents have never been released to the public."
DiDomenica said he felt that "this provocative CD-ROM creates more questions than it answers."
DiDomenica's E-book is available for purchase at this Web site: http://ufonetwork.com/projecthorizon/
FAMILY SPOTS A UFO IN SOUTHERN OHIO
On Saturday, September 13, 2003, "a spectacularly large object" was seen to the northeast of Silcott Road in Seaman, Ohio (population 1,039), a small town on Routes 32 and 136 approximately 37 miles (60 kilometers) east of Cincinnati.
"From the side of the house," eyewitness Mandy, 21, her mother, her sister and a friend "observed a triangular-shaped formation of lights on one large object. The lights reportedly flashed in sequence. The triangular arrangement of lights was composed of four or five lights, with the peak of the triangle facing downward, at the bottom."
Mandy described "the lights flashing as if on a train or row of lights. "The lights were on the outer edge,' she said, 'assuming the lights that were flashing in sequence were along a triangular outer edge.'"
"She said the colors would change but would do so in a unanimous fashion, all red or all yellow, etc. and would flash along the outer edge of the object in a slow sequence at first. Then the flashing sequence escalated in speed after several minutes into the sighting."
Mandy "first observed the object when taking her dog outside around midnight. The object caught her attention due to its brightness in the sky. She said the UFO was not quite as big as the full moon from her vantage point. She said that there was a very large object and it hovered in place for about one hour at an elevation she estimated to be 45 degrees above the horizon."
"She said that her mother, who is skeptical about UFOs, decided to have her report the object because it seemed so unusual. The witnesses said the large triangular object was estimated to have been 12 miles (19 kilometers) northeast of their location" and over Belfast, Ohio.
Kenny Young of Cincinnati UFO Research noted that Belfast "is only 5 miles (8 kilometers) northwest of Serpent Mound State Memorial in Locust Grove, Ohio."
(Editor's Note: The Serpent Mound is one of the largest pre-Columbian ruins in the USA, dating back thousands of years.)
Elsewhere in Ohio, on Friday, September 19, 2003, at 2:10 p.m., John G. and his father "saw two black helicopters fly over our house" in Springfield, Ohio (population 65,368), located on Route 68 approximately 84 miles (134 kilometers) northeast of Cincinnati. "The black choppers approached from the east," John reported, "Flying low at 40 to 60 miles per hour (64 to 100 kilometers per hour--J.T.)." (Many thanks to Kenny Young for the UFO report. The Springfield sighting was an Email Form Report.)
NIGHT SAUCER SPOTTED IN SYKESVILLE, MARYLAND
On Tuesday, September 16, 2003, at 8:30 p.m., Stephen Brady was outdoors in his hometown of Sykesville, Maryland (population 4,197) when he spotted a flying saucer.
Stephen reported, "I was walking around outside at 8:30 p.m. and saw what appeared to be a UFO hovering in the sky. It looked like it was in the shape of a saucer."
"I ran back to the house and got a pair of binoculars and upon further inspection saw that it definitely had more than one light. I tried focusing and counting the lights on the object. I counted about 8 to 10 yellow lights around the perimeter of the UFO and one large dim one in the very center underneath the object. It was dark, but the moon gave me enough light to tell that it was in the shape of a disk or a saucer."
"It seemed to be tilted at about a 45-degree angle to the left. After watching it for a while, I saw it shift position. It had turned in the opposite direction and was now facing the right. So I told everybody in the house, and we all drew closer to get a better look at it."
"Then I saw it shift again. This time it went straight up and down, like some sightings were reported to be. Again it moved. It turned to the right as before. The object remained stationary in the sky and appeared to be hovering. From our neighborhood, it appeared to have a bearing of 060 degrees east-southeast and have an elevation angle of about 30 degrees" above the horizon.
Sykesville, Md. is on Route 32 about 15 miles (25 kilometers) west of Baltimore. (Email Form Report)
UFO SIGHTED IN WISCONSIN
On Wednesday, September 3, 2003, at 5 a.m., the male witness was outdoors in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin (population 12,925) and "it was a very clear sky on that particular morning. I had just sent my daughter off to college. At 5 a.m., I stood alone in the driveway, observing the stars, when I noticed a commercial jet on its way to the St. Paul/Minneapolis airport" in neighboring Minnesota. "It was using the flight corridor from east to west."
Suddenly, "an object approached from the west (Minnesota--J.T.) It was a very bright white light moving faster than the jet. It flew directly over my head with no sound at all. It appeared to be at a lower (flight) level than the jet. It continued to move to the northeast. This all took place in less than a minute."
Chippewa Falls, Wis. is on Highway 63 about 15 miles (25 kilometers) northeast of Eau Claire, Wis. (Many thanks to John and Jenny Hoppe of UFO Wisconsin for this report.)
UFOs SEEN IN DERBYSHIRE
"UFO experts have confirmed that that a mystery object has been seen hovering over Bolsover," Derbyshire, UK "and one resident has video footage to help officials investigate the spooky goings-on."
"Eagle-eyed local Jim Webley, 56 and his wife, Christine, first spotted the 'peculiar' object in the Derbyshire skies over the Bank Holiday weekend and say the strange blob-like sphere returned twice last week."
Jim "grabbed his video camera when he saw light glowing through the window net of their Portland Avenue home."
"'We looked out and saw a white sphere in the sky. We watched closely as it seemed to be glowing red and green,' he said, 'It looked very strange. I know it couldn't be an aeroplane--it was the wrong shape.'"
"Co-spotted Christine, 48, says they are convinced the object was not an aircraft or a star, adding, 'We are both just really anxious to find out what it is.'"
"East Midlands UFO Research Association has already viewed the video and a spokesman" said, "'We can't tell if it is a visitor from another planet. It certainly isn't an aircraft or star--it is at the moment an Unidentified Flying Object.'"
"The couple say the blob-like object returned to the Bolsover skies again on Thursday," September 4, 2003, "and on Sunday night," September 7, 2003.
"Says Jim, 'It was definitely the same object. It was darting around the sky with its green and red flashing lights and travelling in a circular shape (path--J.T.). We want to know why it keeps coming back.'"
"Now UFO spotter Jim is keeping a log as well as two hours of video footage of the strange object."
"The couple say the UFO appears in the Bolsover sky in the direction of Ashover from around 10 p.m. to midnight and have urged other locals to keep their eyes peeled in a bid to solve the mystery." (See the newspaper Mansfield Today for September 12, 2003, "Bolsover man snags UFO on video camera." Many thanks to Jim Hickman for forwarding this newspaper story.)
SWASTIKA CROP CIRCLE APPEARS IN GERMANY
"A giant swastika-shaped crop circle has been discovered in a cornfield near Berlin."
"German police say they are baffled by the illegal symbol and have no idea how it got there."
"A police helicopter pilot discovered the Nazi symbol, near the Berlin-Schoenefeld Airport, as he was flying back to base."
"Authorities believe it could have been there for some time but had not been noticed as it lay just outside the fly zone and was not visible to either passengers or airliner pilots."
"Officers are now searching for clues as to who is behind the swastika, which measures more than 65 feet (20 meters) in diameter."
Discovery of the "crop swastika" came at the same time as the arrest of three Germans in connection with an alleged neo-Nazi terrorist plot.
"Authorities arrested three more suspected neo-Nazis believed to be plotting to bomb a groundbreaking ceremony for a Munich synagogue. At least 10 people across Germany have now been arrested in the past week on suspicion of involvement in a terrorist plot."
"The ceremony is planned for November 9 (2003), the anniversary of the Nazis' 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom in which thousands of Jewish businesses and synagogues were vandalized. German president Johannes Rau and the country's main Jewish leader, Paul Spiegel, are expected to attend the ceremony."
Curiously, the new synagogue is set to open on the 65th anniversary of Kristallnacht. The recently- discovered "crop swastika" is 65 feet in diameter. (See Ananova for September 19, 2003, "German police baffled by swastika crop circle.," and the Minneapolis, Minn. Star-Tribune for September 14, 2003, "Germany: Neo- Nazis nabbed in plot," page A18.)
IN MEMORIAM: UFO EDITOR GRAHAM W. BIRDSALL
World-reknowned ufologist and magazine editor Graham W. Birdsall passed away at 5:05 a.m. on Friday, September 19, 2003 following a brief illness.
A few days earlier, Graham had been rushed to a hospital in Leeds, UK for an emergency operation to stem a brain hemorrhage. He underwent a seven-hour operation but did not regain consciousness.
Born on April 7, 1954, Graham was one of the best- known ufologists in the world and the long-time editor of UK's UFO Magazine. He is survived by his wife, Christine, his daughters, his mother, brothers and sisters.
Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, September 30, 2003, at St. Mary's Parish Church, Whitkirk, Leeds, UK.
From the UFO Files...
1924: CHILLIN' WITH THE ILLUMINATI
(Our Story So Far: Nesta Bevan was the youngest daughter of a Hertfordshire banker who had her first brush with the paranormal at Brownshill Court, Miss Winscombe's boarding school for girls in Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK. Her second came in 1902 when a London fortune-teller described her future husband. Two years later, Nesta met and married Arthur Webster, a middle-aged district police official, on a trip to India, which led to the next step in her strange career.)
"The Websters settled in Surrey where for ten years they enjoyed a peaceful country life, gardening, farming and raising a family. During that time Mrs. Webster had a strange experience which determined her future career. She happened to read an essay about the Comtesse de Sabran and her lover, the Chevalier de Boufflers. As she read, the feeling came over her that she had once known these people and taken part in the events described in their correspondence. Now she realized why certain parts of Paris had always seemed familiar; it was because she herself, in a past life, had witnessed the procession of tumbrils bearing (French) aristocrats to the guillotine."
"Nesta Webster had once lived as the Comtesse de Sabran. That seemed the most likely explanation for her extraordinary sense of identity with the life and times of the countess. Others occurred to her, such as the possibility of an ancestral memory or telepathic thought- messages from someone living or dead, but she was more inclined to the theory of reincarnation. An acquaintance of hers was Miss Jourdain, one of the two ladies who had caused a sensation with their book, An Adventure, describing how, on a visit to Versailles, they had been transported back to the Eighteenth Century..."
(Editor's Comment: Paranormal Event No. 3! The time- travelling Miss Jourdain puts Nesta Webster right in the middle of the New Age movement.)
Nesta tried her hand at a book of her own, a novel entitled The Chevalier de Boufflers, which was well received, particularly in France. "She was delighted to hear that a Frenchman, whose grandfather had been guillotined, commented, 'No one could have written that book who had not lived at the Court of Marie Antoinette."
While researching the novel, Nesta first came across information about the strange sect of the Illuminati, founded on May 1, 1776 at Ingolstadt in southern Germany by a renegade Jesuit named Adam Weishaupt. (For more on Weishaupt, see UFO Roundup, volume 5, number 6 for February 10, 2000, "1748: Unforgettable Adam Weishaupt," page 6.)
(Editor's Note: Curiously, Ingolstadt is the city where Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's fictional "Dr. Frankenstein" created his famous monster. Today it's the home of automobile manufacturer Bayerische Motorenwerk, a.k.a. BMW.)
However, the onset of World War I put a temporary end to Nesta's literary career. "The Websters were living near Chanctonbury Ring in Sussex, a high lonely spot ideally situated for spies signalling to the enemy. It was rumoured locally that something of the sort was happening, and the authorities called upon the police experience of Mr. Webster, asking him to investigate."
In no time at all, counterspy Nesta was flooding Whitehall with voluminous reports about "mystery flashes seen at night (my emphasis--J.T.), carrier pigeons intercepted and other happenings of a highly suspect nature" in Sussex.
"In her autobiography Nesta described how together" she and her husband "'traced out on an ordnance map the points at which these phenomena occurred and a curious line of communication could be traced out between Aldershot (British Army headquarters--J.T.) and the sea.' This was taken seriously enough for two (intelligence) officers to to be dispatched from London to make further inquiries."
(Editor's Comment: Apparently the UFOs had Aldershot under surveillance from 1914 until 1918.)
During the latter part of the war, Nesta resumed her literary efforts, churning out The French Revolution, which re-introduced Adam Weishaupt to the English-speaking world. She followed up with two more books on the Illuminati, Secret Societies and Subversive Movements and Boche and Bolshevik.
"Readers were thrilled by the mystical nature of her crusade and its air of high moral righteousness, which distracted attention from the weak points and improbabilities in the details of her thesis. In the period of turmoil and revolution following" World War I, "conspiracy theory was rife, and the notion of a central anarchistic command, secretly directing anti-social operations throughout the world, flourished in high places...Her writings acquired an influential following. In 1920, she began a series of lectures to officers of the (Royal) Artillery, the Brigade of Guards, and the (British) Secret Service."
Contending with Nesta for the top spot on the bestseller list was Victor E. Marsden's English translation of The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. And when Marsden died suddenly in 1921, conspiracy mania reached its peak. But then the Times exposed The Protocols as a fraud, a rewrite of an 1864 satire by French author Maurice Joly, and the furor died down.
(Editor's Note: By the way, we're in the centennial of The Protocols' first public appearance. They ran in serialized form in Znamya (Russian for The Banner) from August 23, 1903 to September 7, 1903. The newspaper was published in what is now the Ukraine by anti-Semitic activist Pyotir Krushevan.)
By now convinced that the Illuminati was still active and a danger to the world, Nesta struck back at her critics with her 1924 book, World Revolution: The Plot Against Civilization. "Her cast of conspirators did include many of Jewish origin, such as international financiers, and 'apostate Jews who have thrown themselves into the revolutionary movement,' but she insisted that these types represented as great a threat to Jewish culture as to that of all other peoples. Thus she was no blind anti-Semite, as her detractors, as well as many of her followers have represented her."
In the latter 1920s, Nesta moved further to the political right. She became a member of Sir Oswald Mosley's Union of British Fascists and became friendly with both Mosley and William Joyce, who became notorious as "Lord Haw-Haw" in World War II. Nesta "wrote numerous articles for the right-wing journal, The Patriot, published by her patron, the Duke of Northumberland."
"She admired Mussolini more than Hitler, but her hatred of Communism led her to support the National Socialist regime, and in 1938 she even denied the Jews in Germany were being unfairly persecuted, dismissing all evidence to the contrary as a product of conspiratorial propaganda."
"In Hitler she discerned a staunch opponent of Bolshevism and Pan-Germanism alike. But in this, as in many other of her opinions, she was proved wrong, her faith being shattered in 1939 when Hitler signed his pact with Stalin."
"As she grew older Mrs. Webster became more and more pessimistic about the chances of saving humanity from the universal (one-world) government of the Illuminati. Having trained herself to detect conspiracies in history, she began to find them all around her in her daily life. She took to answering her doorbell with pistol in hand."
"Yet to the year of her death, in 1960, she kept up fierce literary battles with her critics and enemies, real and imagined. The last book she wrote was the second part of her autobiography, Crowded Hours, covering the period of her most notable activities. No publisher could be found for it during her lifetime, but in 1972 it was accepted by the right-wing Britons Publishing Company in Devon. But Crowded Hours has never been published, and never will be."
"As if in direct confirmation of its author's belief in conspiracy, the manuscript, the only copy, was mysteriously abstracted from the publisher's office by an American visitor whose identity has never been disclosed. He could have been an agent of the lluminati, belatedly suppressing the last of Mrs. Webster's revelations; or perhaps the reason for the theft was to protect the reputations of former Nazi sympathizers named in her reminiscences."
As a Fortean researcher, what I find most intriguing about Nesta Webster is her involvement, like Weishaupt, with various aspects of the paranormal or, what we might call today, New Age beliefs. For Adam Weishaupt, it was the Knights Templar, the Cathars, the Kabbalah, necromancy and pyramidology. For Nesta Webster, it was clairvoyance, reincarnation, time travel, the Illuminati and UFOs. Both Weishaupt and the female "anti-Weishaupt" had feet firmly planted in the New Age.
That in itself would make for an interesting field of study for sociologists of the future. (See the books Eccentric Lives, Peculiar Notions by John Michell, Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, New York, N.Y., 1999, pages 68 through 71; and Behind World Revolution: The Strange Career of Nesta H. Webster by Richard Gilman, Insight Books, Ann Arbor, Mich., 1982, pages 75 through 185. See also UFO Roundup, volume 8, number 35 for September 17, 2003, "1894: Mystery at the girls' school," page 8.)
That's it for this week. Join us in seven days for more UFO, Fortean and paranormal news from around the planet Earth, brought to you by "the paper that goes home- -UFO Roundup." See you next time.
