Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Info-ParaNet Newsletters Volume 1 Number 477
Info-ParaNet Newsletters Volume I Number 477
Tuesday, September 17th 1991
Today's Topics:
HVUFO Round 4 [4/6]
HVUFO Round 4 [5/6]
HVUFO Round 4 [6/6]
Confirmation
Dave and Doug on Hoaxes
The Continuum
Re: Implants
Re: Leslie Watkins/alternative Iii
for Paranet newsletter
Re: Leslie Watkins/alternative Iii
Crop Circles=RMN story#1
Crop Circle-RMN arte#2
2ntry:Crop Circle #1
op circle RMN #3
iv!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jim.Speiser@paranet.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Speiser)
Subject: HVUFO Round 4 [4/6]
Date: 15 Sep 91 22:56:00 GMT
Round 4 Part 4
(2774) Fri 13 Sep 91 12:08p
By: Maury Markowitz
To: Jim Speiser
Re: UFO Tape
St: Rcvd 2773<>2775
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EID:43e5 172d610d
@MSGID: 1:250/712 28d0f08a
JS> [Lights attached to a blimp? That certainly seems to be an
JS> Please explain the support for your theory.]
Jim sent me a letter from Lew Allen about the tape. He told me that JPL had
looked at the tape and concluded that they could not be planes and were
attached to a blimp. I replied that I bet that they had not had a chance to
view the tape in depth, and that it was probibly an off-the -cuff remark...
here are some samples, judge for yourself...
"The examination has been only visual - I don't think we can apply the effort
needed for a really quantitative analysis."
Boy, sounds like what I predicted pretty closely.
"We would guess that the lights are
attached to one rigid object - a guess might be an airship (blimp) of some
sort.
"
"A guess might be..." Need I say more?
JS> knowlege of the field. You will be nothing short of fascinated to
JS> find that sound propagation depends on a NUMBER of factors, and
JS> distance is not the most important of them. Wind direction, for
JS> instance, has FAR more influence on the distribution of sound than
JS> does pure distance.
I finf this no supprise at all, conidering I did most of my 3rd year physics
labs in a RF/soundproof room. My statement to Jim was that it was quite
obvious that the object in question was MUCH futher away (as seen by two
factors, the lights are MUCH brighter on the second tape, and the seperation
between them is more obvious). I have no information on the wind direction,
but Jim did mention that the tape was taken on a windy day. Perhaps you would
agree that the sound of the wind, combined with the effects of wind on sound
"movement" could perhaps explain the masking of the sound of aircraft engines?
Considering that the tape implied that this was the only difference the people
noticed (at least, they said that they could hear the engines on the tape) was
the sound, and I have no other information, I did not find it supprising at all
that this was the case. I also gave the example of the club's 182 taking off,
which was SILENT, even at full power and pitch, on a windless day (that's why I
was on the ground, I hate jumping when there's no wind) at less than a mile.
No, I was not at all suprised to find that they did not hear the engines. Are
you?
JS> I could go on, but I believe I have embarassed you enough. I'm
JS> always pleased to see good, healthy skepticism in ALL areas.
JS> That's how we "do" science. The submission of unsupported
Thank's for your explaination on what science is. I never picked that up in
my 5 years of university. Yes, that is sarcasm. And I remain completely
"unembarased" by your points, they didn't say anything.
cont...
--
Jim Speiser - via FidoNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Jim.Speiser@paranet.FIDONET.ORG
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jim.Speiser@paranet.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Speiser)
Subject: HVUFO Round 4 [5/6]
Date: 15 Sep 91 22:57:00 GMT
Round 4 Part 5
(2775) Fri 13 Sep 91 12:20p
By: Maury Markowitz
To: Jim Speiser
Re: UFO Tape
St: Rcvd 2774<>2776
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EID:43e5 172d6296
@MSGID: 1:250/712 28d0f36c
JS> Have a nice day.
Well, it's sure off to a good start. I guess getting insulted one one net was
not enough.
JS> Interesting. You do know that Phil I. tracked some ultralights to
JS> a small airstrip, right? I have a file from him here somewhere, if
JS> you want it. It's about a year or so old, but might have a bearing.
Really? I don't think they let ultralights fly at night up here, and they
don't have lights.
JS> By: Jim Speiser
JS> To: John Hicks
JS> Re: Hudson Valley Tape [3/3]
JS> St: Local Sent
JS> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
JS> In a message to Jim Speiser <09-04-91 23:48> John Hicks wrote:
JS>
JS> JH> Interesting. You do know that Phil I. tracked some
JS> ultralights to a
JS> JH> small airstrip, right? I have a file from him here somewhere,
JS> if you
JS> JH> want it. It's about a year or so old, but might have a bearing.
JS>
JS> Yes, I'm aware of that. It was what convinced him that there were
JS> two things going on at once: (a) an object of unknown origin, and
JS> (b) some pilots goofing around. At least some of said pilots were
JS> operating from Stewart Air Force Base, which was supposedly closed.
JS> The pilots have certainly thrown a monkey wrench into the whole
JS> deal, but the object remains unexplained.
Jim, I'd like to know what makes you think that aircraft are NOT an
explaination. The tape you gave me showed one "unexplained" object being
explained on the other as aircraft. Do you think that the fact that no one
else got close enough to tape it from where they could see it better (and hear
it, of course) is enough to make me think that planes are not a good enough
explaination? Sorry, not to me.
JS> By: Michael Schuyler
JS> To: Jim Delton
JS> Re: Hudson Valley Tape
JS> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
JS> In a message to Jim Speiser <09-03-91 21:59> Jim Delton wrote:
JS>
JS> JD> RE: Cockpit lights
JS> JD> to other aircraft. I don't even think a 152 has cockpit
JS> JD> lights of the type that would provide that sort of
JS> JD> illumination, I think is just has downward focussed spot
JS> JD> lights likethe reading lights in commercial aircraft. I
JS>
JS> That is exactly right. The average 152 has a red focused light that
JS> shines directly on the panel. I'm a pilot. If the notoriously
JS> bare-boned Cessna 150 series has a bright white light in the
JS> cockpit, I sure never have found it.
JS> --Michael
Now HERE's some INFORMATION. Here's a guy that completely blows me away
without even having to "embarase" me. This information can be DAMBING, if no
other plane has white cockpit lights and a window behind the wing.
cont...
--
Jim Speiser - via FidoNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Jim.Speiser@paranet.FIDONET.ORG
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jim.Speiser@paranet.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Speiser)
Subject: HVUFO Round 4 [6/6]
Date: 15 Sep 91 22:58:00 GMT
Round 4 Part 6
(2776) Fri 13 Sep 91 12:26p
By: Maury Markowitz
To: Jim Speiser
Re: UFO Tape
St: Rcvd <2775
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EID:43e5 172d635d
@MSGID: 1:250/712 28d0f4e2
The Beech I jump from has the former but not the latter, etc. Again, it was
the pilots at the club that thought that the 152 would better match the light
patter (one large one with a small one behind it), but that was with MY opinion
that that's waht we were looking at. Since getting dragged into this idiocy,
I've even notcied that planes turning towards you with white lights on the
wings would provide a similar patter, which matched OTHER evidence in that the
object slowly makes a turn towards them. Fell free to attack this as well, I
don't care.
So, I hope I've replied to all of you. BTW, take the "aircarft
identification test tape" and please put it where the sun don't shine. Thank
you.
So, now I'm in a GREAT mood. Perhaps I should go drown some cats or
something... One last time people, don't call me, I'll call you. And to you
Jim, you just ruined what could have been a real good friendship.
Maury
p.s. Just an opinion, of course.
--
Jim Speiser - via FidoNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Jim.Speiser@paranet.FIDONET.ORG
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jim.Speiser@f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Speiser)
Subject: Confirmation
Date: 15 Sep 91 22:59:00 GMT
Can someone from ParaNet please netmail Maury at 250/712 and testify that the
preceding messages were cross-posted here from SCIENCE? Thanks....
Jim
--
Jim Speiser - via FidoNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Jim.Speiser@f37.n114.z1.FIDONET.ORG
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: aixssc.ibm.co.uk!rob
Subject: Dave and Doug on Hoaxes
Date: 16 Sep 91 21:35:02 GMT
From: Robert Trevelyan <rob@aixssc.ibm.co.uk>
I have not been around for a week and have missed all the fun by
the looks of things,
In England the crop circle season is now over as just about all fields
have been harvested. Recent events have brought about details of a
ministerial meeting in London about a year ago when Margaret Thatcher
was still PM.(though she was not present at the meeting).The purpose
of the meeting was to discuss Crop Circles and three ministeries were
involved in this namely Defence, Agriculture and Environment.
It was agreed at this meeting that the cause of Crop Circles was completely
unknown and and the meteological theory was *out of hand* and that all
crop circles were *not* hoaxes although there had obviously been a fair
few hoaxes.
Responsibility for keeping a watch on crop circle developments was handed
over to the Ministry of Defence whose brief was to take *appropriate action*.
The MOD were to update the other two ministries but during this meeting
the word 'disinformation' was mentioned on several occasions.The above
details were passed on by someone who attended the meeting.
During the last few weeks it appears as if this disinformation campaign
has actually started by the arrival of Dave and Doug. There is at present
no way of finding out who is behind the disinformation campaign but it is
certainly being seen to happen.The newspaper 'Today' has now produced two gents in the 60's who claim to have been creating crop circles for the last
13 years.They can obviously only fool a few people with these claims as even
if all crop circles were hoaxes two people of any age would not be able to
create formations all over the English countryside let alone the world.
The assertation by the Today newspaper, famous for quoting that the 1990
pictogram at Alton Barnes was a Sumarian warning to double your wells as
there was going to be a drought,(could have been mistaken for oil wells
in the Gulf that needed the warning), that this explains the crop circle
phenomenon is absurd.
The scam relied largely on catching one of the leading Circles experts in
a trap which was carefully laid for him. This was undertaken by a informing
Pat Delgado that a strange crop circle formation had appeared in a field in
Sevenoaks, Kent, England, the paper said they believed it to be a hoax and
that the farmer also was sure it was a hoax. They asked if Pat D would give
a professional opinion.
Pat Delgado agreed and travelled to Ightham near Sevenoaks and was taken to
see the formation which, to his amazement, was an 'insectogram' formation
closely resembling the ones in the Hampshire in June and July of this year.
All the features were present of the usual 'insectogram' although imperfect
but Pat D gave his unqualified blessing which was recorded on tape and he
was filmed in the formation by a camera crew in a helicopter. The trap had
closed in on him.
The Today newspaper then waited until Sunday before bringing two alleged
hoaxers, Dave and Doug to Pat Delgado's house.There they confronted him
with a film taken of the two hoaxers making the formation in Kent that
Pat D had said was genuine.They claimed to have been faking circles for
13 years near Winchester and so on..Pat Delgado had to then make any
concessions that the Today newspaper demended of him. It is interesting
to find that at a later stage of the confrontation Colin Andrews appeared
and fought back by cross-questioning Doug and Dave. He soon found that
they were unable to answer many questions and their minders withdrew them
before their case was badly damaged.
Obviously at the stage the irreparable damage had been done to Pat Delgado's
reputation but nevertheless no concrete evidence had been presented that
Dave and Doug had faked any other known circle or pictogram apart from the
bogus one at Kent which has been conveniently removed in the meantime by
harvesting. The two appeared on TV on Monday to demonstrate to the press
and the TV how they create such a formation in a wheatfield in Chilgrove,
Sussex.The dumb-bell formation which they produced was a pathetic mess and
could be clearly seen on TV as such although the two hoaxers complained
that was due to over-ripe wheat.
The story in the Today Newspaper originated from a shadowy outfit called
'MBF Services' who suplied the story to Today and have doubtlessly paid
Dave and Doug, also indemnifying them against all lawsuits and claims
of criminal damage from Hampshire farmers.
MBF Services have been tracked down to an accomodation address in
Shepton Mallet near Bristol, England and are registered clients of an
expensive up-market firm of accountants, Barclay Jackson. All attempts
to identify the people behind MBF Services have failed and the Today will
either side-step or remain silent. The firm of accountants describe their
clients as a 'scientific research and development' company but obviously
what or whoever is behind this front has a great deal of financial backing.
Undoubtedly this is infact a well organised and long planned attempt to
rubbish the crop circle phenomenon and may even turn out to be
government-inspired but when the 1992 season brings its new crop then
this fiasco will end.
I have personally met both Dave and Doug about 2 years ago at the site of
of a formation near Winchester. Dave is retired and has a hobby of recording
bird songs on a portable tape machine. He told me,whilst at the side of the A272
main road that passes by Cheesefoot Head Winchester,that he had been
wandering through some crop fields recording bird songs back in the 1970's
when he came across a flattened swirled area of corn. A bit amazed he
wandered around the formation trying to ascertain what it was and unknowingly
left his tape recording. Basically when he played back the tape after he had
been in the crop circle he heard voices on a tape which was a brand new tape
previously, the voices were not heard whilst he was alone in the formation
but nevertheless he claimed he recognised the voices as a converstion he had
had 30 years previously. I am not sure how he knows this or even if I believe
what he told me but it kinda shows he did not hoax crop circles back then
and was very enthusiastic about the crop circle we were by at the time and
could offer no explaination of how it had been created.
Doug was the more genial of the two he said at the time, back in 1990,
that he 'could just imagine them [UFO's] darting between two clouds', that
were at the time directly over Winchester, 'and creating a crop circle'
The day was very overcast and the clouds were the dark grey variety we get
quite a bit in the UK but there was a bright gap between two of these.
He definatley gave me the impression he was interested in UFO's and the
like and said to have taken photographs of crop circles (plain circles)
back as far as tha mid 70's but I never saw any of these.
One thing that really struck me is that they were not very pleased with
either Pat Delgado or Colin Andrews as they believe they (PD and CA) had
not given Don Tuesley, one of the original crop circle researchers, any
thanks for his help in the then current book 'Circular Evidence'. Dave
and Doug believed that the fame had gone to both Pat Delgado's and Colin
Andrews heads and that they did not give anyone else any credit for help
they received. I know both Pat Delgado and Colin Andrews and totally
disagree that this is the case as they go out of their way to credit any
photos or information received from anyone. I have had the privilege of
having a mention in their book 'Crop Circles- The latest Evidence' for
finding the first pictogram, although Pat D seems to call me Bob and adds
an extra L. I am not alone in being credited with information or photos
as one can see in their books.
Sorry to waffle a bit but my opinion is that Dave and Doug are off their
trolley and I do not believe all crop circles are hoaxes by 'D+D hoaxes'
or not. There is a genuine phenomenon and it is not a vortex, note that
D+D never claimed to have created any formations in Wiltshire.
PS. If you see a grey Nissan Sunny by the side of a field with two gents
in their 60's in it thats Dave and Doug hoaxers extraordinaire.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DISCLAIMER: |
| The views expressed in this document are not a corporate view |
| nor reflect the views of my employer by any means but are my |
| own personal views on this subject . |
| |
| Robert Trevelyan UKnet: rob@aixssc.ibm.co.uk |
| AIX Communications VNET: TREVELR at BASVM2 |
| Voice: +44-(0)256-56144 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael.Corbin@p0.f428.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin)
Subject: The Continuum
Date: 16 Sep 91 00:55:00 GMT
After a small delay, the premier issue of Continuum, ParaNet's official
bi-monthly news magazine is ready to go to press. This is a final call for
you to get a free first issue, by sending your name and mailing address via
this network or email to mcorbin@scicom.alphacdc.com.
Don't miss out!! It ships on Friday, September 20th.
Mike
--
Michael Corbin - via FidoNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Michael.Corbin@p0.f428.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jim.Speiser@f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Speiser)
Subject: Re: Implants
Date: 16 Sep 91 17:54:00 GMT
In a message to All <09-15-91 16:22> Keith Basterfield wrote:
KB> explain the x-ray in conventional terms. I later reported that a full
KB> mouth x-ray had failed to detect any such "implant".
That's fascinating, Keith. Is the implication here that the "implant" was
recovered, or simply that the first x-ray may have been in error?
Jim
--
Jim Speiser - via FidoNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Jim.Speiser@f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jim.Speiser@f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (Jim Speiser)
Subject: Re: Leslie Watkins/alternative Iii
Date: 16 Sep 91 17:58:00 GMT
In a message to Jim Speiser <09-15-91 11:24> Peggy Noonan wrote:
PN> So, on AltIII, do you indeed have a file on that Leslie
PN> Watkins story or did I misunderstand? And if so, probably the best
I have a letter from the author in a file here. Apparently the whole thing
was a work of fiction. I think the file is called ALTERN3.TXT, or something.
You're welcome to download it, or I can send it to Alpha (unless its there
already?)
On the Ogden thing, did you see where there are now some cattle mutilations
taking place in the Idaho Falls area?
Jim
--
Jim Speiser - via FidoNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Jim.Speiser@f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: media-lab.media.mit.edu!kjohnson
Subject: for Paranet newsletter
Date: 17 Sep 91 13:33:05 GMT
From: Keith Johnson <kjohnson@media-lab.media.mit.edu>
To all UFO readers (alt.alien.visitors) and Paranet readers:
Recetnly, I posted to S.R.E. newsgroup a brief synopsis of 'mantra' meditation.
In other words, I chant the names of God as a daily meditation - sacrifice
for spiritual benefit, my question to the net is -
does anyone beieve the greys or Nordics to be 'yogis' of any sorts?
Are the greys or Nordics visitors religious in any way? Do they have a concept
of deity - do they chant Hare Krishna or any other sacred mantra - are they
maybe devotees of Lord Shiva - who always bestows great material opulance to
his devotees? Just curouius.
The reason for asking is because these visitors apparently have great technology
and maybe are sharing it with our government (/)(?) Perhaps they really
are demons in astral/etheral bodies who can materialize or take on a gross
body temporaily for their own reasons at will. Or, maybe, they are yogis
who are advanced and acan actually ha help us with our problems of famine,
overnment corruption, ignoramnce from the absolute truth, war and even
death.
I was recently talking to fellow seekers who agreed that enlightenment
means 'liberation from ignorance' or ultimately - freedom from death - por
or even better put - 'immortality'. Are the greys immortal??
Have they achieved what some mystics have claimed to have achieved??
Please email your responses to kjohnson@media-lab.media.mit.edu
keith j.
boston, ma
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Peggy.Noonan@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Peggy Noonan)
Subject: Re: Leslie Watkins/alternative Iii
Date: 18 Sep 91 00:49:00 GMT
>ALTERN3.TXT, or something. You're welcome to download it, or I
>can send it to Alpha (unless its there already?)
>On the Ogden thing, did you see where there are now some cattle
>mutilations taking place in the Idaho Falls area?
Hi Jim,
Thanks very much for the filename. I'll check Alpha and see if it's
here and if not, I'll call your BBS for the file. It helps to knoow
what you're looking for!
No, I didn't see about the cat.mutes. nedaho Falls! Mu
--sorry, bad line noise -- mucho interesting stuff. Where could I
learn more
BTW, I have an old atlathat doesn't show a town with a name like
Ammon on Idaho's map. Can you give me an idea where to look or have
I misunderstood the nam
Thanks, again, for all your help!
==Peggy==
--
Peggy Noonan - via FidoNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Peggy.Noonan@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Peggy.Noonan@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Peggy Noonan)
Subject: Crop Circles=RMN story#1
Date: 18 Sep 91 00:50:00 GMT
Source: The Rocky Mountain News
Date: Sunday, September 15, 1991
Page: 44, Science & Environment
Title: Crop-Circle hoax claim debated
(Two articles appear under that title.
The second will follow in a separate item.)
Subtitle: Confession of trickery fails to persuade pair from
Boulder County that mystery is solved
Author: Bill Scanlon, News Environmental Writer
Precise, mathematical crop circles probably weren't made
by a couple of guys dragging a board, either, say two Boulder
County investigators who are attending the first "Cornference"
in Glastonbury, England.
Claims last week by two 60-year-old Englishmen that they
fabricated 200 of the circles only make Tere Kristovich of
Louisville more certain that the circles are an intriguing mystery.
People are going to extraordinary lengths to discredit the corn
circles, Kristovich said by telephone form southern England.
"There seems to be an element of some kind of coverup. You don't
cover up something unless you have something to cover."
David Chorley and Douglas Bower last week said they created 200
of the circles over the past 12 years as an antidote to boredom and
to chortle at the claims that they were made by superior
intelligence. About 400 of the circles showed up this summer in
souther England, 750 worldwide.
They claim to have made the circles by dragging a plank over
cornfields, while wearing baseball caps with wires attached to the
brim. By focusing the wire on a distant objects, they could make
precise geometric lines, they said.
"Even if it is a hoax, it's certainly not these two turkeys,"
said Kristovich. "Some of the circles are geometrically perfect --
the works of geniuses. The circles are brilliant."
The intriguing questions are these, say Kristovich and her
partner, Kit McCray of Boulder: Why are humans enraptured by the
mystery? Does it speak of a yearning for a shift of consciousness?
Kristovich says she and McCray aren't pushing a particular
theory but are intent on keeping the curiosity alive so it can be
solved.
Some of the circles are geometrically precise and mathematical.
Some look like petroglyphs of Hopi Indians, who preach harmony with
Earth.
Hector Cruz, a chemical engineering student at Colorado School
of Mines, says some of the circles are not obvious hoaxes.
Those circles have an electromagnetic field that affects
magnetic and videotape, he said. Crops are bent over but not
broken, and the stalks are interwoven, he said.
Cruz doesn't believe it's UFOs but says the Star Wars project
may be making the circles with electro-magnetic pulses or lasers.
Or it may have be [sic] linked to Earth's magnetic poles shifting.
-30-
--
Peggy Noonan - via FidoNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Peggy.Noonan@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Peggy.Noonan@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Peggy Noonan)
Subject: Crop Circle-RMN arte#2
Date: 18 Sep 91 00:51:00 GMT
Source: The Rocky Mountain News
Date: Sunday, September 15, 1991
Page: 44, Science & Environment
Title: Crop-Circle hoax claim debated
(Two articles appear under that title.
The first appeared in a separate item.)
Subtitle: Former magician who investigates cornfield marks says
the have all trappings of graffiti
Author: Bill Scanlon
The intelligent lifeforms that created the 750 cryptic crop
circles worldwide most likely are farmers or their teen-age kids,
who are laughing their overalls off right now, says an investigator
of the phenomenon.
Crop circles, like graffiti, appear at night, spread from coast
to coast and have all the trappings of a social fad, says Joe
Nickell,a former magician who says they have nothing to do with
UFOs or swirling wind.
Now that a pair of 60-year-old English farmers have admitted to
creating 200 of the hoaxes, some believers say the new ones may be
frauds, but the earlier ones were metaphysically created.
Might as well believe that most graffiti are copycat, but the
first were sprayed in the dead of night by other-worldly beings,
says Nickell.
Other investigators sharply disagree with Nickell, saying the
number, complexity and suddenness of the circles points to
mysteries in the atmosphere or beyond.
The crop circles appear only in areas of the world served by
modern electronic media, talk shows in particular, says Nickell.
A farmer reports, "I sure didn't see any circles when I went to
bed but in the morning, there they were." What planet would be so
nefarious to make cornfield art only at night? Nickell asks.
The circles have become increasingly complex and artistic, and
those with mathematical symbols might have been done by university
students, he said.
"Like goldfish-swallowing, it's a process of social contagion,"
said Nickell, who also likened it to a joke or a graffiti slogan
swiftly spreading from coast to coast.
Nickell, a doctor in English at the University of Kentucky and
a former private detective, has written several, books challenging
claims of the paranormal.
He traces the crop-circle phenomenon to the late 1970s, about
the time of the movie, _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_ was
released. Pranksters burned circles in the ground to show UFO
landing spots or made circles in fields.
In southern England, the swirling circles forged a life of their
own, he said, clustering around Warminster, known as the UFO
capital of the world.
As for claims that the circles are formed by wind vortices:
Why, say meteorologists, did nature wait till a dozen years ago to
produce winds to make such circles?
-- Bill Scanlon
-30-
--
Peggy Noonan - via FidoNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Peggy.Noonan@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Peggy.Noonan@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Peggy Noonan)
Subject: 2ntry:Crop Circle #1
Date: 18 Sep 91 00:52:00 GMT
Source: The Rocky Mountain News
Date: Sunday, September 15, 1991
Page: 44, Science & Environment
Title: Crop-Circle hoax claim debated
(Two articles appear under that title.
The second will follow in a separate item.)
Subtitle: Confession of trickery fails to persuade pair from
Boulder County that mystery is solved
Author: Bill Scanlon, News Environmental Writer
Precise, mathematical crop circles probably weren't made
by a couple of guys dragging a board, either, say two Boulder
County investigators who are attending the first "Cornference"
in Glastonbury, England.
Claims last week by two 60-year-old Englishmen that they
fabricated 200 of the circles only make Tere Kristovich of
Louisville more certain that the circles are an intriguing mystery.
People are going to extraordinary lengths to discredit the corn
circles, Kristovich said by telephone form southern England.
"There seems to be an element of some kind of coverup. You don't
cover up something unless you have something to cover."
David Chorley and Douglas Bower last week said they created 200
of the circles over the past 12 years as an antidote to boredom and
to chortle at the claims that they were made by superior
intelligence. About 400 of the circles showed up this summer in
souther England, 750 worldwide.
They claim to have made the circles by dragging a plank over
cornfields, while wearing baseball caps with wires attached to the
brim. By focusing the wire on a distant objects, they could make
precise geometric lines, they said.
"Even if it is a hoax, it's certainly not these two turkeys,"
said Kristovich. "Some of the circles are geometrically perfect --
the works of geniuses. The circles are brilliant."
The intriguing questions are these, say Kristovich and her
partner, Kit McCray of Boulder: Why are humans enraptured by the
mystery? Does it speak of a yearning for a shift of consciousness?
Kristovich says she and McCray aren't pushing a particular
theory but are intent on keeping the curiosity alive so it can be
solved.
Some of the circles are geometrically precise and mathematical.
Some look like petroglyphs of Hopi Indians, who preach harmony with
Earth.
Hector Cruz, a chemical engineering student at Colorado School
of Mines, says some of the circles are not obvious hoaxes.
Those circles have an electromagnetic field that affects
magnetic and videotape, he said. Crops are bent over but not
broken, and the stalks are interwoven, he said.
Cruz doesn't believe it's UFOs but says the Star Wars project
may be making the circles with electro-magnetic pulses or lasers.
Or it may have be [sic] linked to Earth's magnetic poles shifting.
-30-
--
Peggy Noonan - via FidoNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Peggy.Noonan@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Peggy.Noonan@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Peggy Noonan)
Subject: op circle RMN #3
Date: 18 Sep 91 00:52:00 GMT
Source: The Rocky Mountain News
Date: Sunday, September 15, 1991
Page: 44, Science & Environment
Title: Crop-Circle hoax claim debated
(Two articles appear under that title.
This item is a side bar accompanying those two articles.)
CROP CIRCLE LECTURE
Kit McCray and Tere Kristovich will show slides of crop circles and
present information from their recent trip to England in a Sept. 21
lecture at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, beginning at 7 p.m.
Cost is $8, $6 for students. To order tickets, call 273-3234. The
pair also will speak at the Divine Science Church, East 14th Avenue
and Williams Street, on Sept. 27, and at the Events Center in
Boulder on Sept. 28.
-30-
[Note: Location is Colorado. Out of state callers use area code
303 and Mountain Time Zone.]---
--
Peggy Noonan - via FidoNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Peggy.Noonan@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Peggy.Noonan@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Peggy Noonan)
Subject: iv!!!
Date: 18 Sep 91 00:56:00 GMT
Hi Linda,
Quick note despite line noise -- got the package and it's fabulous!
Thanks so very much! Yours is in the mail.
More next time.
==Peggy==
--
Peggy Noonan - via FidoNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Peggy.Noonan@p0.f150.n30163.z1.FIDONET.ORG
********To have your comments in the next issue, send electronic mail to********
'infopara' at the following address:
UUCP {ncar,isis,csn}!scicom!infopara
DOMAIN infopara@scicom.alphacdc.com
For administrative requests (subscriptions, back issues) send to:
UUCP {ncar,isis,csn}!scicom!infopara-request
DOMAIN infopara-request@scicom.alphacdc.com
To obtain back issues by anonymous ftp, connect to:
DOMAIN ftp.uiowa.edu (directory /archives/paranet)
******************The**End**of**Info-ParaNet**Newsletter************************
