UFO ROUNDUP Volume 7 Number 08
Volume 7
Number 8
February 19, 2002
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
UFOs OR EARTHQUAKE LIGHTS? DEBATE RAGES IN TURKEY
"A powerful earthquake toppled scores of buildings in central Turkey on Sunday," February 3, 2002, "killing at least 42 people, injuring more than 150 and sending terrified residents running from their houses."
The quake came one week after five mysterious lights appeared in the night sky over Adiyaman, a city 300 kilometers (180 miles) southeast of Ankara. The hovering lights were videotaped for nearly six hours by the Turkish Security Directorate. Their presence a week before the big earthquake in Afyun has triggered a sharp debate in Turkey's UFO community.
According to Erol Erkmen of the Turkey UFO and Paranormal Events Research Group (the Turkish acronym is TUVPO--J.T.), "The lights, which are supposed to be alien/UFOs by some New Age groups, were also recorded on video cameras. Scientific studies indicated that some very similar events have been experienced in the region and all of them had the same characteristics."
"All of the places where the lights were observed were located along the active fault line," Erkmen pointed out, "It is proved that the lights, which were first thought to be (the planet) Jupiter, were earthquake lights, or anomalous light phenomena (ALP)."
However, Turkey's Sirius UFO Space Sciences Research Center stands by its assertion that the mysterious lights were unidentified flying objects. The group stated, "We repeat that the lights observed in Adiyaman skies could not have been earthquake lights or any other kind of plasma formation created by ionized electrically-charged particles. There is not a single sample of this kind of event in world chronicles, in which earthquake lights were recorded for so long." (About six hours--J.T.)
The center argued that, if the Adiyaman lights seen on the night of January 26 and 27, 2002 were indeed earthquake lights, "this dreadful event (the earthquake) would have occurred in Adiyaman and not in Afyun which is located 700 kilometers (420 miles) away." (Many thanks to Erol Erkmen of TUVPO for the news clips.)
RED UFO PLUNGES INTO LAKE ERIE NEAR CLEVELAND
"It was first thought to be a downed helicopter, then a meteor shower or Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis--J.T.) but whichever it was caused the U.S. Coast Guard to launch a rescue boat last night (Wednesday, February 13, 2002) and search Lake Erie off the mouth of the Black River."
"Sightings of red lights or flashes thought to be two miles (3 kilometers offshore) from the Elyria Water Works started being reported on Lorain (Ohio) police radio transmissions around 8 p.m."
"'We're out there doing search patterns,' said a dispatcher for the Lorain Coast Guard station, but nothing was reported being found late last night."
"Lorain police dispatchers said they had nothing to report."
"Lights from helicopters or possibly commercial planes were later seen in the air above where the Coast Guard boat combed the waters."
"Also traveling the airways were reports of unusual lights being seen from Bay Village (population 16,087) to Toledo (population 313,619), and Coast Guard radio traffic indicated a helicopter had been dispatched to take a look along the (lake) shore." (See The Morning Journal of Lorain, Ohio for February 14, 2002, "Unidentified red lights seen in night sky." Copyright 2002 by The Morning Journal, all rights reserved.)
Eyewitness T.S. reported, "I did not see it, but I may have 'heard' it. Over the late evening, there were several concussion-like sounds like sonic booms. They shook and rattled the windows of my cottage in Bay Village near the shorefront of Lake Erie."
Lorain (population 68,652) is on Ohio Routes 6 and 67 approximately 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Cleveland.
Bay Village is on Route 6 nine miles (12 kilometers) west of Cleveland.
Toledo is a large port city on Lake Erie located approximately 119 miles (190 kilometers) west of Cleveland. (Many thanks to T.S. for the Morning Journal news article and his report.)
(Editor's Comment: This isn't the first time we've had an unidentified submerged object (USO) on the bottom of Lake Erie. A similar case occurred in Ashtabula, Ohio a year ago.)
CHUPACABRA RAIDS A FAMILY HOME IN CENTRAL CHILE
"The Chupacabra phenomenon does not cease in Chile. Indeed, it seems to move to different sections of the country."
"Almost two years ago, the central coastal area of Chile witnessed strange animal deaths, particularly chickens. The animal mutilations took place in towns like Llo Lleo and Cartagena."
"However, today it is in the coastal area of Barrancas where the most recent animal mutilation cases have occurred. The dead animals, once again, presented signs of the absence of blood in their bodies, which is typical of Chupacabra attacks."
"A local family of Barrancas is shocked and frightened by what has taken place. They are not only afraid of being subjected to ridicule, but of the fact that the animal mutilations have taken place on their property. Furthermore, the fear is even greater due to uncertainty and of not knowing if the phenomenon will happen again or not."
"Another landlord, who did not want to appear in public, said he woke up frightened yesterday (Wednesday, February 13, 2002). He claimed that he was awakened by a strange sound made by one of the chickens outside. He quickly went outside with his son. They walked across the yard and found the dead body of a hen. It was headless and it had no blood."
The first incident "happened about 6:40 a.m. on (Monday) February the 11th. As a result, the following day, the family members discussed over breakfast how this could have possibly happened. They all seemed to agree that the crime should not go unpunished and that this must be prevented from happening again."
On Monday, February 11, 2002, a about 6:40 a.m., the family's "13-year-old daughter found five dead chickens. In this case, they were a few weeks old, and they were still located in the backyard. One of them was headless and appeared to be 'bloodless' as well."
"They blamed their dog, a young German Shepherd, for the death of the birds. As punishment, they locked the dog up. However, they soon realized that it was someone--or something--else other than the dog, as they had found another dead chicken the following day (Tuesday, February 12, 2002) while their dog was locked up inside the house."
"'We used to enjoy staying out on the porch until late at night. Now, we have to go inside early because we simply do not know what we are dealing with,' said the girl's father."
"He also stated that they have looked around their property for any clues as to what might have caused the death of the chickens, but with inconclusive results."
(See Diario Lider de San Antonio for February 14, 2002. Muchas gracias a Dr. Virgilio Sanchez Ocejo de UFO Miami para eso articulo de diario.)
MYSTERIOUS LIGHT FLASH ILLUMINATES THE SKY OVER ARICA, CHILE
An unusual light phenomenon has been reported in Arica, the northernmost city in Chile, just south of that country's border with Peru.
"A photojournalist for a major (Chilean) domestic media source was returning to the city of Arica from the area near Visviri after covering the Raid Altiplanico (a local fiesta--J.T.) for his newspaper. Accompanied by a group of officials from the small city of General Lagos, he was driving through the town of Molinos in Arica province, the the middle of the Lluta Valley, when they noticed that a powerful beam of white light filled the entire area at around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday (February 10, 2002)."
"At first they thought it was lightning and paid little heed."
Hours later, however, "the photojournalist discussed the event with a resident of the Puerta Norte Building in the town of Cardenal Raul Silva Henriquez. The resident confirmed having seen the same phenomenon from" that town. "'I thought it was a lightning strike because the flash was only a few kilometers away from us. But I'm certain it wasn't because it covered a rather wide radius of illumination. I have a few relatives who also saw it from Arica,' said the informant, who preferred to remain anonymous."
"'I saw a flash of white light, as though from a flash bulb, that lasted only an instant. When we commented on it in the van, we all thought it had been lightning. But thinking back on it, it couldn't have been just this,' the photojournalist said."
"'I saw other colors swirling and, I don't know if it was my imagination but I saw a red spot in the air. I think something fell...entered the atmosphere. It was strange. I'd never seen anything so powerful. It lit up the whole valley. Suddenly the sky was filled with light.'"
"Fifteen other cars on the road also witnessed the phenomenon. Among them was Maria Saldias, a homeowner who was participating with her husband in the Raid Altiplanico. 'I saw a very powerful light. What was odd is that everything was super-clear, no signs of rain anywhere. Even the stars could be seen. Up there (in Visviri--S.C.) we heard some thunderclaps, but it was cloudy, unlike the valley.'"
"'All the people participating in the Raid saw it,' Maria said. 'We thought it could have been car (head)lights or a short-circuit in the power lines. We talked about it later when were down in the city (Arica) and reached the conclusion that it had been something weird. We had never seen anything so powerful. It was like in the movies because the sky lit up completely. Lightning bolts don't cover so much space.'"
Yet, this wasn't the first time the horizon-to-horizon anomalous light phenomenon (ALP) had been seen in Arica province.
In 1993, "while working on the preparation of the decorations needed for a fiesta, Elisio Osorio, an Aricano (city resident--J.T.) dwelling on the slopes of Morro de Arica (mountain), remembers having seen the skies of Arica light up completely. 'We were making an assembly of several structures (for the parade--J.T.) when suddenly, around 4 a.m., the sky over the city lit up. It was impressive. We couldn't see any connection to lightning.'"
"Other residents of Arica told this newspaper that in September of last year (2001) the very same phenomenon was seen from Pampa Chaca. 'While I drove in the morning from Iquique (north) toward Arica, I saw the entire sky light up. I thought I was seeing things, but after discussing it with others, I was told that they too had seen the same thing in the vicinity of Arica,'" a witness reported.
Arica is located about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) north of Santiago de Chile, the national capital. (See La Estrella de Arica for February 12, 2002, "Strange phenomenon in the sky." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales, autor de los libros Chupacabras and Other Mysteries y Forbidden Mexico, y tambien Gloria Coluchi, para eso articulo de diario.)
WOMAN VIDEOTAPES A UFO NEAR SALTA, ARGENTINA
"Adriana Acosta, a 24-year-old woman from Salta, who is in the second year of studies of the Architecture program at the University of Tucuman, managed to film for three consecutive minutes the impressive maneuvers of an unidentified flying object (UFO) which appeared and disappeared in the mountains located to the northeast of Salta."
"The event occurred on Saturday, February 2, of this year." (2002--J.T.)
"'It was a truly amazing event, and all of the members of my family and some residents of the barrio Tres Cerritos (neighborhood) were witnesses to it,' said Adriana, who lives at Calle Las Acacias 700 (street)," Tres Cerritos, Salta, Argentina. 'We kept quiet about the subject to avoid being the target of pranks or practical jokes, but we decided to come forward and present our filmed document, after having read in El Tribuno that there was a delegation of specialists in Salta who were getting ready to go out to Cachi where these events take place on a daily basis, according to the press.'"
(Editor's Note: Cachi is a small town about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west-southwest of Salta. It's on the edge of the Salar de Hombre Muerto desert, in a very remote region of northern Argentina. If any of our South American readers have more information about the continuing UFO flap in Cachi, please email UFO Roundup at Masinaigan@aol.com.)
"'What we wished was to have the images I captured with my Samsung X14 (videocamera) analyzed by the experts,' she stated. Adriana added that her sighting of the craft was the result of a number of coincidences."
"'The time was 9:15 p.m. on Saturday (February 2, 2002). I was looking for my cat to feed it. We had moved to our new house (in Tres Cerritos--J.T.) only two weeks earlier, and we'd lost our pet. However, he returned that day, thin and apparently ill. He was on the roof and refused to come down. My father, an electronics technician, had brought home a Rottweiler dog, and this was the reason he wouldn't come down. Therefore, I decided to climb to the roof.'"
"'Suddenly I raised my eyes and saw--directly above the hills that give the barrio its name--that strange light. It was above the line that marks the top (the ridge--J.T.) and gave off alternating flashes of silver and red light. I thought it might be a car or a helicopter , but it couldn't be. I remained motionless, looking at it, when suddenly it moved from one side to another, and another object, exactly alike, emerged from its side, although its colors were opposite. When one flashed silver, the other flashed red, and so forth.'"
"'I called my Dad immediately, since he was working in his laboratory. When he saw what I was seeing, he told me to find my camera, which I did immediately, and we went out to the second story of our house, which had broad windows facing the place where the UFO could be seen.'"
"'My Mom, Gloria, and my three sisters--Marianela, 21; Marisel, 19; and Liz, 10--followed us and were stunned by the sight. Especially my Mom who has always been skeptical about UFOs.'"
"'When I started filming, the thing remained right there, and it moved from one side to another. Sometimes there were two objects melding into one. I was trying to capture the images but everything seemed to be going wrong. The camera had no batteries. Some three minutes went by until I was able to make it work. Fortunately, the light or lights remained there. They moved. They went from north to south and vice versa. At some times they went away. At times they came closer. We had the impression that they were spinning permanently on their own axes.'"
"'The spectacle was strange and overpowering because it wasn't just unusual. It was something no one had seen before. I have no doubts that the objects were foreign to this world. All of my relatives and neighbors who saw it say the same,' Adriana pointed out, excited at the recollection of her experiences."
Adriana estimated that the UFOs were there for "seven to ten minutes" and "then vanished at an unreal speed towards the north." (See El Tribuno for February 15, 2002, "The footage is startling! A student managed to capture a UFO on film."
Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y tambien Mercedes Casas de CEUFO-Proyecto Condor para eso articulo de diario.)
TRAPEZOIDAL UFO SIGHTED IN MAGSTADT, GERMANY
On Sunday, February 17, 2002, at precisely 1 a.m., Debra Rauch was out walking in her hometown of Magstadt in Germany when she "saw a strange light approaching from the southwest."
Looking up, Fraulein Rauch saw that "there was an orange trapezoidal shape looking like it was on fire. It started out huge and was going northeast and looked as if it was being controlled. It was not falling to Earth. I have to say it was an awesome sight. It got very small and then it disappeared."
Debra estimated that the object "was 3 centimeters (just over an inch) long" just before "it vanished over the horizon." (Email Form Report)
MYSTERIOUS RASH AFFLICTS CHILDREN IN SEVERAL STATES OF THE USA
"Hundreds of youngsters in at least seven states have broken out in a mysterious rash, and some health investigators suspect it might be caused by a new or yet-to-be-identified virus."
"The red, itchy rash (or dermatitis--J.T.) is thought to be more an annoyance than a serious health threat, but it has managed to temporarily close schools, for whom answers have been elusive."
"Students in Pennsylvania, New York (state), West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Oregon and Washington (state) have complained about the rashes on the face, arms, legs and body. For the most part, the rash goes away when the students leave school."
"In the Quakerstown (Pennsylvania) Community School District, where nearly 170 students at all nine schools were confirmed to have the rash, an environmental company collected air and water samples and examined carpets, floor mats, vacuum bags and clothing, but all tested negative for contaminants."
"Dr. Norman Sykes, who examined about 30 suburban Philadelphia students who came down with the rash this month, suspects the culprit in Quakerstown is either a mutation of the childhood illness known as fifth disease or a virus not yet known to science."
"Fifth disease, so-called because it was once considered one of the five main childhood illnesses (like measles, mumps and chicken pox--J.T.) produces a low fever and cold-like (rhinovirus) symptoms, followed by a rash."
"Though Sykes's patients had these same symptoms, a blood test turned up no evidence of the virus that causes the disease." (See the Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune for February 16, 2002, "Mysterious rash plagues hundreds of students," page 9A.)
(Editor's Comment: I just hope this turns out to be a mutated virus and not some more "unintentional collateral damage" from those stupid chemtrails.)
READER FEEDBACK:
FILM IN A DIGITAL CAMERA!?
Barbara Farrish writes, "I'm wondering what kind of 'film' one would use in a digital camera. Something doesn't work here--digitals don't use film at all, they record on disk, CD or memory chip. At least I think that's what the little thingy is called. But they don't need film and there's nothing to develop. Maybe he could have taken it home and plug it into his computer. But that's not what this (news story) says." (See UFO Roundup volume 7, number 5, "Man finds a saucer in his NYC tourist photo," page 5.)
(Editor's Reply: You are absolutely right, Barbara. That's exactly what Derek did.
The fault here belongs to your editor, who is still stuck in the Twentieth Century when all cameras carried film. My mistake! And if you think that's bad, you should have been at my workplace the day I picked up Zack's portable CD player and asked if it was a frisbee. Good thing I didn't throw it.)
MORE ON ROBERT E. HOWARD
Rick Lambert writes, "I enjoyed the article about Robert E. Howard and the inspiration for his Conan stories. But did you know that L. Sprague de Camp only quoted a small part of REH's letter? The whole section is much more revealing."
"Here's what REH wrote to his friend and fellow author Clark Ashton Smith in the letter of December 14, 1933: 'While I don't go so far as to believe that stories are inspired by actually existing spirits or powers (though I am rather opposed to flatly denying anything--REH) I have sometimes wondered if it were possible that unrecognized forces of the past or present--or even the future--work through the thought and actions of living men.'"
"'This occurred to me when I was writing the first stories of the Conan series especially. I know that for months I had been absolutely barren of ideas, completely unable to work up anything sellable. Then the man Conan seemed to grow up in my mind without much labor on my part and immediately a stream of stories flowed off my pen--or rather off my typewriter--almost without effort on my part. I did not seem to be creating, but rather relating events that had occurred. Episode crowded upon episode so fast that I could scarecely keep up with them.'"
"'For weeks I did nothing but write of the adventures of Conan. The character took complete possession of my mind and crowded out everything else in the way of story-writing. When I deliberately tried to write something else, I couldn't do it.'"
"'I do not attempt to explain this by esoteric or occult means, but the facts remain. I still write of Conan more powerfully and with more understanding than any of my other characters. But the time will probably come when I will suddenly find myself unable to write convincingly of him at all. This has happened in the past with nearly all my rather numerous characters; suddenly I find myself out of contact with the conception, as if the man himself had been standing at my shoulder directing my efforts, and had suddenly turned and gone away, leaving me to search for another character.'"
"Again thanks for the article." (See UFO Roundup, Volume 7, number 5, "1932: Slouching towards Valhalla," page 6.)
(Editor's Comment: As a matter of fact, Howard was still "powerfully" writing Conan tales at the time of his tragic death in June 1936. But Rick has a point. Was REH an author? A channeller? Or a little of both? You decide.)
From the UFO Files...
1863: THE PRESIDENT'S PSYCHIC
Yesterday was Presidents Day here in the USA. And it follows closely on the heels of the birthday of one of our country's best known presidents. People overseas know him as the bearded fellow on the USA's five-dollar bill. Namely, Abraham Lincoln, who was president from March 1861 until his assassination in Washington D.C. in April 1865.
One of the most intriguing things about Lincoln was his pronounced interest in Spiritualism. After the death of his son Willie in 1862, Lincoln "assertedly saw many mediums--Charles Colchester (also known as "Lord Colchester," who claimed to be the illegitimate son of a British viscount--J.T.), Lucy Hamilton, Charles Redmond--but only one, Nettie Colburn Maynard, has left an account of these singular meetings."
Nettie Colburn was born in Connecticut, the daughter of Colonel Albert V. Colburn, an officer on the staff of Gen. George B. McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac. The Colburn family was prominent in the Spiritualist movement in the New England states. After her father and older brothers joined the U.S. Army following Lincoln's call for volunteers in the American Civil War (better known in "Mother Dixie" as the unsuccessful War for Southern Independence--J.T.) Nettie came to Washington, D.C. with her cousin, Mrs. Parthenia Hannum, looking for work in the federal government.
An impressive array of witnesses backed Nettie's claim that she performed channellings for Lincoln. "The wife of former congressman Daniel E. Somes of Maine, a Lincoln intimate, affirmed them. Mrs. Elvira M. Dupuy, a Washington socialite, was another to support Mrs. (Nettie Colburn) Maynard's account. 'My husband,' she stated flatly, 'was a visitor to seances where Mr. Lincoln was present.'"
Mrs. Dupuy "herself attended a seance in 1862 at the home of a Mr. Laurie in Georgetown, with Mrs. (Mary Todd) Lincoln present and Miss Nettie Colburn the medium."
(Editor's Note: Today the Laurie House is the most haunted in Georgetown. It was built by Rev. James Laurie, who in 1803 constructed the Associated Reformed Church at the corner of H Street and New York Avenue in Washington, D.C. Originally it was a Scottish-Irish Presbyterian Church. But in the 1850s, Mrs. Cranston Laurie became an ardent Spiritualist, and the church became a mecca for New Agers of the era. Lincoln himself attended this church on a sporadic basis during his presidency.)
According to Mrs. Dupuy, "At this (1862) seance, remarkable statements were made by Miss Colburn, which surprised Mrs. Lincoln to such a degree that she asked that a seance might be given to Mr. Lincoln."
(Editor's Comment: Mr. Dupuy has been six feet under in Arlington for nearly a century. But his wife has carved out a whole new career for herself as "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark." Just kidding, Cassandra!)
Nettie Colburn's "first sitting at the White House, as she recalled, occurred shortly after she had met Mrs. Lincoln at the Lauries' in Georgetown. She was invited to the White House in December 1862 at eight one evening. The meeting took place in the Red Parlor (now the Red Room--J.T.) Lincoln came in soon after Nettie arrived. She was struck at once by his magnetic presence. The group formed the familiar circle of the seance, and she obediently went into trance."
"As she recovered consciousness, she sensed a suppressed excitement in the room. 'I shall never forget the scene around me when I regained consciousness,' she said, 'I was standing in front of Mr. Lincoln, and he was sitting back in his chair, with his arms folded upon his breast, looking intently at me.'"
"A distinguished looking man whom she did not recognize leaned forward and whispered in Lincoln's ear, 'Mr. President, did you notice anything peculiar in the method of address?'"
"As if shaking off a spell, Lincoln raised himself in his chair and glanced quickly at a full-length portrait of Daniel Webster (famous Senator from Massachusetts--J.T.) that hung over a large piano. 'Yes,' he replied, 'And it is very singular, very.'"
"From the conversations," Nettie "was able to piece together what she had said in trance. It was very much what some imagined the late Senator from Massachusetts might have said. She--or the spirit voice--had told the harassed President not to delay enforcement of the controversial Emancipation Proclamation beyond the new year." Lincoln "was told to stand firm 'and fearlessly perform the work and fulfill the mission for which he had been raised up by an overruling Providence.'"
(Editor's Note: Lincoln had first met Daniel Webster at a political meeting in Chicago in July 1847. Keynote speakers at this event were the newspaper publishers Horace A. Greeley and Thurlow P. Weed.)
"The next meeting, on February 5, 1863, was equally portentous. On an impulse, the President had accompanied Mrs. Lincoln to a seance at the Laurie house. Nobody--not Lincoln himself--knew he was coming until, filing out of a Cabinet meeting, he climbed into a carriage with Mrs. Lincoln. But Nettie had told the host to expect him."
Later the same year, Nettie "was closeted with the President and two (Army) officers she had never seen before." (One was probably General Henry W. Halleck, Lincoln's Chief of Staff--J.T.)
"Mrs. Lincoln had graciously welcomed her but had then drawn off to a corner with Congressman Somes. There was a specific reason for the privacy."
"'Mr. Lincoln quietly stated,'" Nettie wrote in her book, "'that he wished me to give them an opportunity to witness something of my rare gift.'"
"Promptly she put herself into trance. An hour later, when she regained consciousness, she was standing by a large map of the Southern States. 'In my hand was a lead pencil.'"
"To the military, the President said, 'It is astonishing how every line she had drawn conforms to the plan agreed upon.'"
"'Yes,' replied the older soldier (Halleck?), 'It is very astonishing.'"
"And then Lincoln bent over and whispered to Nettie, 'It is best not to mention this meeting.'"
Nettie's last meeting with Lincoln took place in late February 1865, just prior to his second inauguration. Her cousin, "Parnie" Hannum, was there as well. Nettie was planning to return to New England to care for her ailing father, the colonel.
(Editor's Comment: If ever you take a good magnifying glass to those old photos of Lincoln's second Inaugural Ball, a startling face will jump out at you--the face of John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin. Amazingly, Booth was a guest at the Inaugural Ball the night of March 4, 1865.)
"'What they (her spirit guides) have predicted for you has come to pass,' she said, 'But they also reaffirm that the shadow they have spoken of still hangs over you.'"
"The President made an impatient gesture. 'Yes,' he said, "i Know. I have letters from all over the country from mediums warning me against some dreadful plot against my life. But I don't think the knife is made nor the bullet run that will reach it.' And then a melancholy expression that she would always remember fell over his face, and he said, 'Well, Miss Nettie, I shall live till my work is done, and no earthly power can prevent it.'"
Nettie married one of her father's junior officers, Lieutenant William E. Maynard, and the couple moved to White Plains, New York, where she lived for the remainder of her life. In her old age, conscious of the illness that was sapping her life, she wrote an account of her meetings with Lincoln.
The book immediately touched off a controversry. Both Robert Lincoln, the late president's oldest son, and Lincoln's former law partner, William Herndon, flatly denied it. But Nettie had people to corroborate her account, particularly Mrs. Somes and Mrs. Dupuy.
Since then, a "smoking gun" has turned up--an 1862 letter, in Mary Todd Lincoln's own handwriting, recommending "Miss Nettie Colburn and Mrs. Parthenia Hannum for employment" at the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington, D.C.
It appears that the full account of Abraham Lincoln's involvement with the paranormal has yet to be written. Meanwhile, I can think of two disturbing questions that ought to be pondered.
(1) Whatever happened to all of those letters Lincoln received from psychics, clairvoyants and assorted sensitives, warning of the "dreadful plot" against his life?
(2) Was the carnage of General Sherman's march through the South planned...
in the Spirit World? (See the books The Door to the Future by Jess Stearn, Doubleday and Company, New York, N.Y., 1963, pages 131 to 135; Mary Todd Lincoln: Her Life and Letters by Justin G. Turner and Linda Levitt Turner, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, N.Y., 1972, pages 122 and 123; The President's Wife: Mary Todd Lincoln--A Biography by Ishbel Ross, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, N.Y., 1973, pages 182 and 183; and Washington: City and Capital, American Guide Series, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1937, pages 490 and 491.)
That's it for this week. Join us next time for more UFO, paranormal and Fortean news from around the planet Earth, brought to you by "the paper that goes home--
UFO Roundup." See you in seven days.
UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 2002 by Masinaigan Productions, all rights reserved. Readers may post news items from UFO Roundup on their websites or in newsgroups provided that they credit the newsletter and its editor by name and list the date of issue in which the item first appeared.
