Category: Uncategorized

Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little weirdo hails from Madagascar and is able to boast to being the largest nocturnal primate on record, which I suppose is saying something, considering the size of its cousins. Named after French naturalist Jean-Louis-Marie Daubenton – who, incidentally, also gives his name to the island on which this creature is found – the Aye-aye is characterised by the odd way that it searches for food.  It knocks on the door and takes what it wants, though far be it for me to mislead you, what it actually does is rap its knuckles on tree limbs to find grubs.  It then uses its elongated middle digit to extract the grubs for a fine meal indeed.  Though all this is overshadowed by the fact that the Aye-aye is one of the ugliest primates to exist, possibly excepting certain members of the homo-sapien genus; it kindly tops our list of 7 Seriously Strange Animals.

 

Blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus)

 

 

 

 

 

In a world where the neigbours are some of the oddest creatures around, the blobfish takes the cake for the weirdest thing to come out of the ocean since our earliest ancestors.  This deep sea fish get its name, quite obviously, from its gooey-gelatinous body, which, while certainly a hindrance with the ladies, is actually how it’s able to live out its life in the depths of the ocean and remain largely out of our reach.  Where most fish use gas-bladders to regulate their depth, the blobfish lives at a depth that requires a little ingenuity, enter is silly putty like flesh.  Blobfish flesh is only slightly more dense than the water it lives in, it is almost entirely without muscle tissue – I’m guessing that makes it the target of much ridicule amongst its social circle.

 

Yeti Crab (Kiwa hirsuta)

 

 

 

 

 

A relatively new addition to weird animal lists, the Yeti Crab was found in the South Pacific in 2005 by a group of marine biologists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Its name pays homage to a cryptid that is near and dear to my own heart and characterises the odd hair-like fur that covers all of its appendages.  Researchers believe the fur serves to detoxify poisonous minerals from the water that are emitted by hydrothermal vents in its habitat.  The Yeti Crab is also, among other things, a blind albino, which is an unusual characteristic to say the least.

 

Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An oldie but a goodie, the platypus has long been one of the weirdest animals on the planet.  For years it defied classification, this semi-aquatic, egg-laying, venomous, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal confounded European naturalists upon its discovery in 1799, with some considering it to be an elaborate fraud.  The “unique” features of the platypus make it an important subject in the study of evolutionary biology and a recognisable and iconic symbol of Australia.

 

Halibut (Pleuronectidae Hippoglossus)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, some of you may be wondering why I would include such a delicious and wildly popular menu item…err fish, but I’m going to bet that nearly all of you have no idea how weird this fish really is.  Halibut is a flatfish, from the family of right-eye flounders, and that should give you a clue to my reason for including it.  A bottom feeder, the halibut starts life like any other fish, hatched from an egg and swimming with a vertical body structure.  Though what you might not expect is that this fish is a real life transformer.  When this fish reaches the ripe old age of six months, one of its eyes spontaneously migrates around to the other side of its head (so that both eyes are on one side) and it simply…lies down.  Spending its adult life laying on its side, halibut are farmed by housing them in underwater shelving units, literally stacking them on top of the other.  I bet you’ll never look at fish & chips the same way again.

 

Dugong (Dugong dugon)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dugong, as mentioned in my recent piece titled A Mermaid’s Song, is both strange and wondrous.  A member of the order sirenia, dugongs are basically…Sea Cows, mammoth and lumbering, it’s an odd thing that they’re famous for having been mistaken as mermaids by lonely fishermen.  Their days consist of lazing about in the shallow coastal waters of 37 different nations, munching on kelp and other goodies found on the seabed and watching out for marine predators like sharks, killer whales and crocodiles.  One look at the picture and you have to wonder how anyone could mistake that mug for beautiful woman.

 

Rock Climbing Catfish (Lithogenes wahari)

 

 

 

 

 

 

People were shocked to find the fish with “hands” – and now scientists are even more shocked to find a fish that happens to be a skilled rock climber. It would seem the march of evolution is indeed inexorable. The newfound catfish, Lithogenes wahari, shares traits with two different families of fish — Loricariidae (armoured catfishes) and Astroblepidae (climbing catfishes). It has bony armour that protects its head and tail, and a grasping pelvic fin that helps it to climb vertical surfaces such as rocks.

Driving through busy downtown streets, you approach an intersection governed by a traffic light, the signal is green for you, but for some reason you have the urge to stop or slow down. At the time you haven’t the slightest idea why or where this urge comes from, but in a split second the answer is revealed when a speeding truck careers through the opposing red light, creaming a delivery van that was in the very spot you would have been had you not slowed down.  Are you psychic?  Possibly, though there may be another explanation.

You sit quietly in your favourite reading chair, enjoying a new novel, when suddenly you’re hit by the worst feeling that something has happened to a dear friend, someone you’re very close to.  Seconds later the phone rings, it’s that friend and you hear, tragically, through the sobbing, that her beloved husband has just had a heart attack.  Is this ESP? Perhaps, though we might be able to define it a bit more narrowly.

What I’m referring to here is a little known but supremely interesting phenomena called Presentiment Effect.  A term coined by Dean Radin, PhD and Senior Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychology at Sonoma State University, and author of Entangled Minds; Extrasensory Experiences in an Quantum Reality.  Dr. Radin has been working for more than two decades to provide answers to some of the more difficult questions regarding consciousness, and in that field there are many difficult questions.

Presentiment Effect is the term used to describe anticipatory responses to emotionally significant events prior to the occurrence of the event.  Quite simply, it is a confirmation (of sorts) of precognition.

Dr. Radin and others have been conducting experiments for nearly 20 years in an attempt to isolate and define the effect, and what they’ve learned is quite impressive.  Most of these experiments consisted of double-blind studies wherein subjects were exposed to emotionally significant visual stimulus (whether positive or negative), while a skin-conductance measure and a photoplethysmograph for fingertip blood volume (an indicator of autonomic arousal) were monitored to look for reactions to the media being presented.[1]

The results of these experiments were intriguing to say the least.  What Dr. Radin and his colleagues found was that a significant incidence of test subjects showed a premonitory ability for visual media that would generate an emotional response.  His subjects would be isolated in a room and asked to look at a series of images on a computer screen.  The images would be displayed at regular intervals of sixteen seconds (later revised to an acceptable period of time as to ensure the subject had returned to baseline physiology).  The images were randomised and included both emotionally significant and insignificant material.  As it turned out with the majority of subjects, milliseconds before the image was displayed, both a galvanic skin response and blood flow responses were recorded prior to the image appearing on the screen.  This only happened when the image was emotionally significant, with the highest positive result correlating to erotic images.

In short, the test subjects were able to react to the content of the image before it was presented to them, and this is a fascinating idea indeed.

Further study has Dr. Radin working to determine if calm stimuli results in a calm premonitory reaction, as compared to arousing pictures eliciting an aroused reaction.

Now, what we’re talking about here is milliseconds of precognition on a subconscious level, but the basic facts of the issue are clear; there is a certain incidence of people in the general public who have precognitive ability.  I don’t necessarily think that this makes them psychic, though I can see how some might jump to that conclusion.  I personally see a connection between Dr. Radin’s work and the Akashic Record or Zero Point Field phenomenon, as I’ve discussed in previous articles.

According to philosopher of science Erwin Laszlo[2], the akashic records are not confined by the boundaries of time.  Information has no past or future, it has only the present, and so it should be possible to access “records” from our future, accounting, at least in part, for the results of Dr. Radin’s experiments.  It would appear that zero point field research is bound to converge with studies into the presentiment effect.

Speaking to real world applications or uses for such ability, in our distant past, those who were able to anticipate danger first survived longest, and thus their genetic material was pushed forward through the evolution of the species.  And as I’ve mentioned in previous articles, through the study of the work of French biologist Rene Peoc’h and his robot loving baby chickens[3], premonitory or extra-sensory talents may have been far more prevalent in prehistoric times, with the incidence and effectiveness of those traits waning like a vestigial tail among the population.

The facts are that presentiment effect appears to be a real and measurable phenomenon, and that it appears to be congenital among our entire population.  Whether there is cause to connect it with any higher form of psychic aptitude remains unanswered, but the research is ongoing, and I suspect that we’ll be seeing some interesting conclusions in the near future.

What is it with conspiracy theorists and their authority arguments?  They’re almost as bad as religious extremists; dealing in absolute terminology and finding evidence for absurd ideas in all those empty spaces that our knowledge has yet to illuminate.

This isn’t to say that I disagree with all of their theories.  I’m actually somewhat of a believer in a great many of their speculations, but I wish they would realise that their ideas are just that, speculation and conjecture.  Take the History Channel’s hit show, Ancient Aliens, hosted by Giorgio Tsoukalos[1], David Childress[2] and George Noory[3] among several others.  They present some compelling arguments, though that’s really all they have; authority arguments.

Now, if all you’re interested in is producing a popular television show, then authority arguments will do you just fine, but if you’re looking for the truth, then you’ll have to delve a little deeper than terms like, “must have been”. “could not have been”, “impossible” and “had to have extraterrestrial help”.  The basic assumption made by pretty much everyone on the show is simply that ancient peoples (our ancestors), were incapable of doing any of the things that history records them doing; from the building of megalithic monuments and henges, to more complex construction projects (such as Angkor Wat or Machu Picchu).  I don’t pretend that I know any more than they do about these ancient sites, or about the people who built them, but my ignorance will not be punctuated by an acceptance that they could not have been built by our ancestors.

But I get ahead of myself too easily.

As most everyone should know by now, the Ancient Astronauts theory (or theories, as the case may be) is a collection of unanswered questions surrounding the origins of some of the world’s most mysterious places, artefacts and traditions.  It says, quite simply, that aliens are responsible for all things relating to those unanswered questions.  And to my own chagrin, they use the same straw men and authority arguments as creationists do.  The only difference between them is the name that they give to the mysterious being that fills our gaps of knowledge.  Instead of “God did it”, they offer “aliens did it”.

The Ancient Astronaut theory can be evoked any time there is a mystery presented throughout our history, but some make more sense than others.  There are too many different theories and questions to cover in this forum, but they tend to break down into a few manageable categories: buildings, legends and art (cave art and petroglyphs).

The theories surrounding buildings pretty much all maintain that ancient humans could not have built the things that they did without the assistance of greater, alien technology.  The problem enters where the absolute terminology these theorists use crosses paths with examples and demonstrations of simple construction techniques that can prove that those peoples would most definitely have been able to undertake and complete such projects, without help from aliens or gods.

The legend theories tend to be an attempt to replace God with extraterrestrials, and as Arthur C. Clark put so eloquently “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”, this is the basic premise of the ancient alien theory in this regard.  The theorists typically point to any angelic or divine interaction noted in either the bible or in other religious texts as evidence not for God, but for the interference of aliens on our ancient ancestor’s development.

The art theories, which admittedly tend to comingle with the legend theories, are largely finger pointing exercises.  The theorist simply points to any disc like object found in any ancient artwork, and says “see, there they are!”

Though as I said above, I’m on board with a lot of what they say, these theorists, I’m just uncomfortable with the language they use. Absolutes are unforgiving, and when dealing with places, artefacts and ideas that are so old, absolutes have no place in the discussion.  If there is even the slightest chance that our ancestors could have done the things that were done, without the help of an other-worldly or divine power, then we must give them the benefit of our doubt.  Consider the advances in technology that have been experienced since the mid 19^th century up to present day.  Our world has changed so much that it would be unrecognizable to our ancient ancestors, and yet we know that all this technological savvy is the product of our own ingenuity and perseverance.

In any event, I would be prone to accept an ancient astronaut theory over a divine theory pretty much any day, but that’s just me, the decision is really for you to make, not me.

Urban legends used to be the kind of thing that was shared around campfires, the stories told by school kids at sleepovers and the warnings offered to freshman by sophomores.  Urban legends are supposed to be the juvenile and hyped up generational lies that we all assimilate through a lifetime of trials and tribulations.  Their role is to make it difficult for anyone to discern what is real and what is fantasy, especially in the realm of paranormal exploration…but today is a different day.

Today is a day of unsubstantiated rumour and bold face lie being redressed in the form of credible testimony through internet chat rooms, discussion forums and blog comments.  Even now, the powerful networking tool Twitter is being used to disseminate wholly untrue stories of encounter, abduction, affect and abuse.  Everything from horrific encounters with snarly beasts in the dark, to alien abduction, to the weird effects of psychic influence, and still we crave more.

Among this growing mountain of anecdote, hearsay and prejudice are some legends that warrant a little closer scrutiny though, something about them endears their story to the eye of the sceptical observer (namely me), and makes them stand out from the crowd.   One such story is something I hesitate to mention; to a former me this would have been the stuff of ridicule and disbelief, but something today causes me to take notice of the common theme in the many accounts I’ve witnessed on this strange topic.

On January 16^th 1998, Texas Journalist Brian Bethel submitted a blog post to a newsgroup recounting a tale of supposed terror and mystery.  Brian claims that he was approached by a pair of children, who asked for his help, and in a fit of panic, he fled to the safety of…well, anywhere but there.

Ok, so you probably don’t buy that a grown man would be so intimidated by a couple of young children, but then, you don’t know the whole story, and neither did I until I went digging.

The story Brian submitted to the news groups (and I’m not entirely certain if the story was submitted on the above date, or if the event occurred on that day, but that date is often referred to when the story is discussed) described a rather innocuous situation in which he found himself in the Winter of 1998.[1]  Mr Bethel, while spending time in a park somewhere in Texas, was approached by two young boys, often said to have been somewhere around 14 years of age, the boys allegedly asked for Bethel’s help in getting home from the park.  The accounts generally agree that the boys were both confident and insistent in their request for Bethel to drive them home in his nearby car.  Bethel claims that he was inclined to help, until the children began acting strangely.

Accounts vary greatly on the specific turn of events that let up to Bethel making the decision to leave the park, and not in the company of the children, but all are quite clear on the point that Bethel’s fear piqued when he finally noticed the children’s eyes.  He said in graphic detail that the children’s eyes were black as coal; no pupils, no iris, no sclera, nothing but cold solid blackness.

Brian Bethel’s account is intriguing, in so much as it is entertaining, but there is little supportive information to back up his claim, and one might be inclined to think that a journalist (as he has been confirmed to be) would be aware of the “evidence factor” in such a story.  The critical observer would ask such questions as, ‘why were you at that particular park on that day?’, ‘were there any other witnesses?’, ‘what were the children doing prior to approaching you?’, and maybe ‘what did you do following this encounter?’  I personally might have had a field day poking holes in his story, though after the fact, I’ve come to find a surprising number of similar reports flooding those same message boards in recent years, and this leads me to a much broader look at the Black-Eyed Kids phenomenon (also known as B.E.K.).

The first black mark in the record against the Black-Eyed Kids is the fact that Brian Bethel’s encounter is the first ever recorded.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that there were no encounters prior to January 1998, but if there were, those people have yet to speak up.  Without exception, every BEK account I’ve read or heard about has taken place after 1998, and most have been in the last few years.  This also doesn’t necessarily discount the phenomenon as fantasy or hoax either, as there are potential explanations that might account for the rather sudden appearance of these Black-Eyed children.

One such account, is a compelling, albeit second hand (or actually third-hand) telling of a fairly recent BEK encounter via Jason Offutt on his blog titled ‘From the Shadows, True Tales of the Paranormal’.[2]

Bill was driving through Afton, Okla., a town in the northwestern part of the state on historic Route 66 just south of the Will Rogers Turnpike, when he stopped to see some old friends.

“I saw they had a new dog; a very stout dachshund,” Bill said. “I asked them about it and Michael said, ‘The weird kids left her when they left town.’”

Bill asked Michael and his wife about these “weird kids.” They told him a group of young people had knocked on their door and begged to come in and talk. The “weird kids” were driving an old van, but Michael thought it was in good shape because it didn’t make noise.

“However, he and his wife felt uneasy and didn’t let them in,” Bill said. A few of the kids left the van and walked the dachshund Michael and his wife ended up with. “But they didn’t seem too attached to (the dog).”

Bill asked Michael if these young people were Mormons.

“Hell, no,” Michael said. “They didn’t dress right and they were junkies.”

“Junkies?” Bill asked.

“Yeah,” Michael said. “Their pupils were huge.”

The kids’ eyes were solid black. Looking into their eyes was like staring into a void.

Turned away at the door, the black-eyed kids eventually left, to the relief of Michael and his wife. Some time later, Michael saw the dachshund wandering around town, felt sorry for it, and brought it home. Michael and his wife are thankful the black-eyed kids never returned for it.[3]

 

 

Bill, which is a pseudonym given to the “victim” in this case by Offutt, it would seem was the unwitting prey of a group of young hippy punks, or was he in fact a narrow escapee of a horrible fate at the hands of the Black-Eyed Kids?  I am obligated to reveal that this story is not supported by any facts, dates, locations or actual names, so I’m inclined to believe Offutt is spinning a bit of a yarn at our expense.

There are other accounts though; some more and some less compelling than Bill’s narrated experience, one message board in particular offered seven BEK testimonials on a single page of discussion. [4] Though I do warn before you dive into that content, I found the whole thing to be a demonstration of internet one-up-manship, and even though each individual encounter may have its own merits, they don’t seem any more credible than the possible fiction above.

The reason I present these various tellings of Black-Eyed Kid encounters is not only to illustrate the many discrepancies found throughout the accounts, but more so to illustrate the glaring similarities that run through every encounter I’ve studied.

There are three main characteristics of a BEK encounter, 1) the children appear normal in dress and behaviour until they begin to interact with the witness, 2) the children’s eyes, which are normally noticed late in the encounter or possibly only in retrospect, are completely black, and 3) there is a feeling of overwhelming foreboding and terror associated with contact.

When I consider these characteristics, I’m stricken with the notion that there is another such phenomenon that elicits that same sense of fear and panic in witnesses; Schattenwesen.

More commonly known as Shadow People, or even the Hat Man; Schattenwesen is marked by the single trait that every report of a Shadowman encounter contains a highlighted sense of fear and panic, and of a definite sense that the entity meant harm to the witness.[5]  I have long theorised that this effect may actually be a defence mechanism by, what many claim, is the physical manifestation of an inter-dimensional being.

In-so-far as I am sceptical of these Black-Eyed Kid reports and aside from some anecdotal evidence gleaned from a few trusted sources, I suggest that, were these beings to exists, as described by our anonymous witnesses, they might actually be further incarnations of IDB incursions into our reality.

If Schattenwesen are a real phenomenon, and I admit that this is a stretch, then is it much more of a stretch to correlate them with these Black-Eyed Kids?  I will continue to seek credible accounts of the BEK phenomenon, and in turn to present the most complete picture I can create of the reality we may be facing, as it pertains to creepy kids who ask for help from strangers.

 

---

[1] I have not been able to find an original copy of the post submitted by Mr. Bethel, though there are several versions of it to be found on popular message boards, usually in paraphrased content and with subtle variation to the details.

[2] Here though, is the unfortunate disclaimer I must include, Jason Offutt it seems, is much more of a novelist and fiction author, than a researcher, investigator or even a paranormal pundit, so in that spirit his telling of this story may not be entirely above board.

[3] Source: http://from-the-shadows.blogspot.com/2009/02/encouter-with-black-eyed-kids.html

[4] See: http://www.haunteddiary.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=12;t=000132

[5] See Paranormal People’s Article: Bringing Shadow People Into the Spotlight

131_BlackHoleMiniature black holes, cosmic rays, “God” particles, time travel and maybe even the end of the world.  This is the myriad of doomsday predictions and complaints being aimed at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, otherwise known as CERN.  Some of these predictions are superstitious fear mongering, others are misinterpretation of facts and others still are the foundation of pure ignorance, or are they?

To be clear, the above list is more like a to-do list for CERN researchers than a prophetic outlining of end-of-the-world propaganda (with the distinct exception of that last item on the list).  In fact CERN’s nuclear physics department, the team heading up the construction and operation of the Large Hadron Collider are hoping to do exactly what the ‘Dooms-day-ers’ are warning about.  They want to create a few miniature black holes, they want to reproduce the effect of cosmic rays on earth bound particles, and they want to shake hands with this so-called God particle (otherwise known as the Higgs Boson particle).

Quick, everybody run for the bunker, before we’re all sucked into oblivion by CERN’s crackpot scientists.

Or…pick up a few science journals, browse a few reputable physics websites, have a look at the Wikipedia entry on the LHC project, and I assure you, you’ll find out a few things that may be both surprising to you and much less disheartening than the fear mongering agenda would have you believe.  You’ll find that this collection of the greatest minds in nuclear and astrophysics the world has to offer, is actually not funded and controlled by Doctor Evil and his spandex wearing henchmen.

They have taken and will be taking every possible precaution, in planning, execution and control of the potential dangers of this project.  They have calculated the effects of these various phenomena to a degree that most of us laymen can’t even comprehend.  They know, with as much certainty as is theoretically possible, exactly what will happen should they be able to create a mini-black hole, they know precisely what dangers to expect from creating Higgs Boson particles and they want to assure us that they know what they’re doing.[1]

However, some of these learned men do not agree with the public position of CERN officials; some of these respected and intellectually powerful men are quite nervous with what is about to happen along this 18-mile underground proton race track on the Franco-Swiss border of Geneva.

The most obtuse point I wish to make here, is that there is no high level government conspiracy in this particular issue, which is trying to create some planetary weapon or universal ray gun to supplant our galactic enemies on the grand stage of the universe.  The science is simply too complex for government egos to manipulate, and the truth of it is, CERN is in the business of expanding our collective knowledge through honest and transparent research, not political conspiracy and arms dealing.

But I am not one to speak so highly of the infallibility of men, whether for religious purposes or for scientific ones; and herein may lay the most profound problem we, as the inhabitants of this spinning blue ball will face in the cumulative history and potential of our species.  Are we smart enough to contain and control the powers that created the universe?

It is a fantastic and amazing thing that human evolution has brought us to this point of understanding.  That we can understand and observe the particle components that contributed to the creation of matter in our universe is an achievement worth celebrating on a most fundamental level.  It is a wondrous achievement and one in which we should all share, especially if our greatest minds are able to create and study the fruits of that labour.

But what if they’re wrong? What if, as Holger Beck Neilson and Masao Ninomiya have postulated, there are unseen effects and forces at play, forces that could prove disastrous for the project, for humanity and even for Earth itself?  Think that’s unlikely?  Well, in the name of science and technological advancement, I give you Chernobyl.[2] Unlikely or not, it can and usually is, the simplest and most innocent oversight that causes the greatest human suffering in the name of science.  That is, when our collective brainpower isn’t already focused on human suffering, ala Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Physics is the study of stuff, weird stuff, stuff that makes up the stuff we can see and the stuff we can’t see, and quite often, that stuff holds the potential to both create and to destroy, but in the case of the physics being studied via the LHC, it is the stuff that is little understood and which can all but erase our existence under the right circumstances.

Black Holes; these massive and terrible (or beautiful) intergalactic consumers, caused by the collapse of giant stars and feeding on the wastes of galaxies, are arguably the most powerful and destructive force in the universe.  And you may now be asking, why, exactly, these scientists want to create that force here on Earth.  It’s all in the name of progress, and is basically an exaggerated sense of “just because we can-ism”.  They want to study the decay rate, and in turn, confirm or deny the existence of Hawking Radiation (the invisible stuff said to be emitted by full size black holes, in a weird sort of self-regulating strangeness), and in all fairness, the black holes they’re talking about are both microscopic and expected to decay in a fraction of a second.[3]

Though there’s always a ‘what if’; what if their cute little pet black hole doesn’t behave as expected? What if it doesn’t decay, what if it holds some heretofore unknown property that makes it the biggest mistake ever conceived of by man?  Well, we’ll likely never find out, since if this part goes wrong, the results could be catastrophic, to the degree that the black hole could devour the entire planet in the blink of an eye, as well as everything else in our galaxy, and ultimately wipe our existence off the radar of anyone or anything in the universe.

The next item in CERN’s little bag of tricks is the Higgs Boson particle, which, for lack of a better understanding, is the “God” particle in question above.  In an effort to dispel any misunderstandings of that unfortunate term, coined by popular (or unpopular) media, we are not talking about revealing the power of God, we are talking about understanding a small part of how matter came to exist following the Big Bang.  I’m not in a position, intellectually, to give you a run down on the physics of Higgs Boson particles, since this is the stuff of cutting edge physical science, but for the lack of my own understanding, I can offer you a somewhat diluted explanation of what the science means in everyday terms.  It is believed that Higgs Boson particles are the root of all matter in the universe, that they have , in effect, created everything we can see and touch in our reality (hence the unfortunate term, the “God” particle).  The process by which these particles create matter is highly complex, and, I might add, entirely theoretical at this point, since they haven’t yet been proven to exist.

A fairly easy to understand explanation of how the Higgs Boson’s work (as found on the Exploratorium website) is as follows:

“Imagine you’re at a Hollywood party. The crowd is rather thick, and evenly distributed around the room, chatting. When the big star arrives, the people nearest the door gather around her. As she moves through the party, she attracts the people closest to her, and those she moves away from return to their other conversations. By gathering a fawning cluster of people around her, she’s gained momentum, an indication of mass. She’s harder to slow down than she would be without the crowd. Once she’s stopped, it’s harder to get her going again.” [4]

In this explanation, the Higgs Boson particles begin to cluster around the particle of matter (known as Higgs Clustering), providing mass to the central particle, (the Celebrity), in turn lending its own collective mass to any other particle coming into contact with it.  It is this study of mass that intrigues CERN’s physicists, and through that study, they hope to confirm certain portions of String Theory.

We may already have seen some repercussions of this endeavour however, as renowned Physicists from the Niels Bohr Institute, Dr. Holger Neilson, and Masao Ninomiya of the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics have attempted to show through their own independent mathematical theories.  There may be a temporal paradox in play, suggesting that the LHC is capable of creating a theoretical vehicle for time travel.[5]

On the surface that seems entirely fantastic and even a little more like science fiction than anything else, but as Neilson points out, recent setbacks –deemed to be sabotage by media outlets- point to a partial corroboration of his theory.  The LHC construction project, like many other mega-building projects, has been plagued with accidents and technical set backs, and Neilson contends that these set backs may actually be the result of a temporal effect, reaching backward through time to prevent the creation of the Higgs Boson particles.

He suggests that there seems to be some future force that seeks to protect its own existence from some cataclysmic effect brought on through the Higgs Boson experiments.

“While it is a paradox to go back in time and kill your grandfather, physicists agree there is no paradox if you go back in time and save him from being hit by a bus. In the case of the Higgs and the collider, it is as if something is going back in time to keep the universe from being hit by a bus.”

I don’t for a second pretend to understand the extremely complex mathematical theory put forward by Neilson and Ninomiya, but their arguments have been supported by others in the field of theoretical physics.  Neilson’s chief point is simply that we (meaning the science of physics) do not understand the ramifications of creating such a particle, that there could be and likely is some unseen effect or attribute of the particle that could be catastrophic.  In pursuit of answers to this predicament, Neilson has suggested a relatively simple test for determining if there is any appreciable impact of a backward-causation effect, essentially a card trick, but it seems that CERN officials have rejected the idea of restricting experimentation at the outcome of a card game.[6]

“Since LHC will produce particles of a mathematically new type of fundamental scalars, i.e., the Higgs particles, there is potentially a chance to find unseen effects, such as on influence going from future to past, which we suggest in the present paper” – Holger B. Neilson

So, when physicists disagree about the potential dangers involved what should we, as bystanders, believe?

Neilson suggests that the LHC project will remain “jinxed” as it moves ahead, and that the backward-causation effect may become stronger, more aggressive and/or deadly as we march ever closer to the creation of these particles.  It isn’t difficult to see that through the ingenuity of mankind, and with our dogged determination, we will achieve our goals on this front, regardless of the drive and motives behind it, and one viewing this turn of events from the outside might be given cause to wonder if this determination will ultimately be our undoing.

The timeline of events here seems coincidental as well; the original commencement of LHC testing was to begin in mid September of 2009, the “jinxing” of the project caused (apparently) a number of set backs which pushed that start-up to mid November 2009.  As the schedule of experimentation begins, the pursuit of Higgs Boson particles and of miniature black holes could extend into the future as far as mid 2012.  And even as I type that number, I am stricken with a sense of foreboding.

The year 2012, of course, being significant through the ancient Mayan calendar as a time of great change and transition for the world; some claim it to be the end of the world; others claim it to be a time of ascendance and transformation for humanity.  Others yet pass it off a just another apocalyptic fantasy, derived from pseudoscience and presented as a means of control over the populous.  In light of the above however, I’m given pause to wonder if there is some merit to the idea that there will be a great transformation of reality at the end of this wild and wonderful roadway.

Is there any reason to fear the work of honest science?  No, not intrinsically.  Is there cause to rally against CERN and their ground breaking research in the name of scientific advancement?  Probably not.  Is there any connection between the LHC experiments focused on “God” particles and black holes, and the end of our world at the close of 2012?  Who knows, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

---

[1] See: The Safety of the LHC; http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/en/LHC/Safety-en.html

[2] For information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster

[3] Detailed commentary on the effect of miniature black holes can be found at: http://physics.aps.org/articles/v1/14

[4] See: http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/cern/ideas/higgs.html

[5] Story via New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/science/space/13lhc.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

[6] Holger B. Neilson’s proposed test is outlined here: http://arxiv.org/abs/0707.1919

EVP And The Ghost Box

Paranormal investigations have become extremely popular over recent years, with many amateur enthusiasts seeking out ghostly phenomena and proof of the unknown. The area of research which seems to be the most popular, and indeed the most accessible by all is EVP or electronic voice phenomenon. The thought of capturing voices and receiving messages from those passed away on ordinary audio recording devices is an area that intrigues all and I am certainly no different.

I have been a paranormal investigator for many years now and recently have focused my attention on studying and recording EVP. I have used many methods for capturing EVP evidence ranging from leaving old cassette recorders taping in empty rooms, to contacting ITC (instrumental Transcommunication) devices on Skype. Some methods seem to be more successful for spirit communication than others and one of the most interesting  and thought provoking methods I have found lately is that of  the ghost box.

The designer of one of the first ghost box‘s (the Franks Box), Frank Sumption designed a device that produced random audio segments and white noise through an AM tuner. The noise that was created was then thought to be manipulated by spirits to form words, and unlike ordinary EVP recording this enabled the possibility of having a 2 way conversation, hearing voices of the dead in real time! Following on from Franks work, more recently paranormal researchers and developers have found ways to modify basic portable radios to continually sweep the AM or FM band frequencies, the most famous being the Shack Hack. These hacked radios which are generally now known as ghost box’s have a similar effect to that of the Franks Box, creating  tiny audio snippets and background static as it sweeps the frequency ranges. This method has caused a lot of debate in the paranormal field, are we just hearing bits from the radio waves or is it possibly spirits or other beings coming through trying to communicate with us? Of course, it goes without saying, yes we do capture tiny audio segments from broadcasting radio stations, but that is the whole point of the modern day ghost box. It is these tiny pieces of raw sound that in theory is remodulated by possible entities to talk to us.

 

My Methods And Experiences

The setup I use is quite simple really, I connect the ghost box to a set of desktop speakers and have an external microphone connected to my laptop. I will then start my ghost box, sweeping the AM band and then record the session on my computer using software such as Audacity (which is free) and Cool Edit Pro. In the recorded session, you will hear the audio coming from the ghost box and my voice as I ask the questions and try to communicate with the other side. You don’t have to use a PC to record the session though, any ordinary Dictaphone, digital or tape will do. Occasionally, I may even film the session in case any visual phenomena in the area manifests as I am recording. Once everything is set up I will then proceed to try and establish some communication by asking various questions and talking in general.

Ghost Box Setup Video

The questions I ask vary depending on the responses I hear and as with most ordinary EVP recording I wont hear all of them until I play the recording back, but a lot of the time you will hear the voices as they are being said live in real time! It is always good practice also to ask questions that require more than a yes or no answer, the longer the sentence you capture, the harder it is to debunk by normal means. Other things I may ask are things that only I, or anyone in the room with me would know and more often than not I will hear the answers to my questions being said correctly. What are the odds of hearing an exact and correct answer to questions asked at that precise moment in time coming through randomly on the radio waves? On all recordings, my own name is always being said and this is the same with all ghost box users, their name will always come through very frequently.  All this tied together makes it highly improbable that you are co incidentally hearing nothing but natural radio segments. I have kept an online diary of all my ghost box recordings, all in order up to the present day and I have found the more I use it, the stronger the communication seems to be becoming.

Ghost Box Diary Play-list

In the oft-misunderstood spirit of Halloween, as the days grow shorter and the nights grow darker, the cool winds of autumn pull at our coat tails and coloured leaves litter the streets.  We revel in the excitement of our children, as visions of ghouls and ghosts become mixed with sugary notions of fun and costumed trickery.

October is the month of dying seasons, when our thoughts often turn to those people that have passed before us.  In contrast to the historical idea of Samhain (commonly referred to in Wiccan circles as All Hallows Eve) and also known in Catholic traditions as All souls Day, most people these days take pains to celebrate this typically convoluted and commercialised holiday at the end of October, the vast majority having little idea of the real sentiment behind the celebration at all.

Mixed in with these month long advertising frenzies for plastic costumes, candy and a general condoning of impious attitudes toward the dead, is a yearly flood of interest in what may be the most misconstrued item of occult renown the world has ever known; the Ouija Board.

If you were to step out your door and ask any number of people you may run into on the street, what a Ouija Board is, there will be no mistaking the widespread familiarity people have with this lettered board and harmless planchette; people will expound on the creepy powers of Ouija, they will warn of the dangers and extol memories of past transgressions, usually at the mercy of some terrifying encounter with demonic influence, and most will relay the idea that the Ouija Board is an ancient practise of magical commune with the dead.  Most would do this, though most would be completely wrong.

The Spirit Board, as the Ouija is generically referred, is by all accounts a very recent invention.  In fact Ouija, a word whose etymology is entirely unknown and is widely believed to be completely made up, is a trademarked product name, owned by Hasbro.  Yes, the toy company.

The Spirit board and each of its hundreds of various incarnations is, in all seriousness, a toy; though it didn’t necessarily start out that way.  A man by the name of Charles Kennard, along with his attorney and associate Elijah Bond, made application to the US Patent office for a planchette and lettered board on May 28, 1890, and subsequently received US Patent #446,054 for what they termed ‘Psychographs, with sound producing numbers’.  In the patent document, at the very top, the classification for the product is specified as “Toy or Game”.[1]

In 1901, Kennard, through the ‘The Kennard Novelty Company’, handed production of the Spirit Board over to his employee William Fuld, who coined the term Ouija (most believe he fabricated the word from the French “oui” , meaning ‘yes’ and the German ‘ja’, also meaning ‘yes’).  It was Fuld’s ingenious marketing of the product, hence forth known as the Ouija Board, that skyrocketed it’s popularity among both competitors in the Toy and Game making industry of the turn of the century, but also among the wildly growing Spiritualist movement of the same time.

During his reign as the worlds only Ouija manufacturer, Fuld was the complainant in many trademark and patent infringement lawsuits, against others who saw a financial opportunity in selling what may be the highest profiting entertainment device conceived of prior to modern electronics.

At the conclusion of Fuld’s life in 1927, he held exclusive rights to the use and manufacture of the game, though his estate brokered a deal with the budding toy manufacturer Hasbro in 1966, to have them purchase the rights to the Ouija franchise, and since that point, the Ouija Board has been manufactured and distributed by the Hasbro Toy Company exclusively.[2]

This somewhat bland history of the Ouija Board -now also known by many other names, such as The Angel Board, The Spirit Communication Board, Planchette Ghost Board, Ghost Board, and a host of other such terms- says nothing about the game’s ability to either communicate with the dead, or to open gateways of spiritual commune, or to scare the bejesus out of kids and adults alike.  It says nothing about the efficacy of the concept of Spirit Board communication as a tool for Ghost Hunting or spiritual research, and it says nothing about the legitimacy of the concept as anything more than a novelty.

The legendary ability of Ouija Boards to facilitate question and answer periods between educated paranormal investigators, or ignorant teenagers or even robe wearing psychic charlatans, and the dearly departed, is founded on nothing more than the glorified marketing of Mr. William Fuld at the height of western society’s most gullible period of development.  This was a time when flimflam was a respectable profession among salesmen, when snake oil and mechanically aided séance were rampantly offered to anyone with the means to afford the scam. (Though one wonders how far we’ve really come)

In your impromptu street survey (as suggested earlier), you would certainly have encountered a preponderance of expert advice for how to deal with the Ouija Board, and likely at least a few warnings to avoid the use of this toy, for fear of inviting such forces as demons, inter-dimensional creatures, evil spirits and even the devil himself, right into your home, or even your own soul (depending on the theistic beliefs of the advisor in question).  Popular culture has simultaneously vilified and mystified the reputation of the Ouija Board; there is a general consensus that mistreating or disrespecting the so-called power of the Ouija Board is akin to taunting a violent bully when there’s no way to escape his inevitable wrath.

In fact, the government of Great Britain has banned the sale of Ouija board and the like since the 1970’s, though this legality is based more on the idiotic behaviour which people will partake in on their own accord, rather than any demonic or otherwise influence exerted by the board.

In reality, the Ouija Board, by that name or by any other, is a simple collection of cardboard, or wood, and plastic.  There is no ritualistic practise in its manufacture or sale, there is nothing special about any part of it, except…the person who intends to use it.

And a great many people have criticised the intention of the people who would find themselves using such a toy for anything other than party tricks.

Dr. Jimmy Lowry has been outspoken about the fallacy of Ouija Boards, and of the mindset that fools regular people into believing that the simple act of placing your hands on a plastic planchette will somehow open a doorway to another realm.  His theistic damnation of the toy does seem to be a bit much, but his point remains as poignant to the agnostic as to the devout parishioner.[3]

So what is happening when a pair of would-be mediums tempts the spirits with the use of a Spirit Board?

The most popular theory, the Ideomotor effect or automatism -essentially this is the psychological process by which an idea or suggestion creates a subconscious action intended to complete the idea- is a fancy way of saying that the results achieved by users of Ouija Boards is entirely self-inflicted.[4] Others suggest that there is an element of telekinesis involved, which might explain the vastly divergent results experienced by so many people; some experience immediate and dramatic response from the board (or from their own psyche, depending on which explanation you subscribe to), while others experience little to no response at all.

But throughout all of this we are faced with a truth, a truth that is ignored by so many people, in so many various positions and endeavours on spiritual fronts.  In our world, our reality, which includes some of the strangest natural phenomena, some of the weirdest science and the oddest environmental influences conceivable by man, why do we jump to the conclusion that the effects shown to us (or by us) through the Ouija Board are the will of ghosts or demons?  Is our obsession with death and the hereafter so compelling that we actively seek out ways to express our own hopes and fears in that regard through toys?

The answer to that last question is most definitely ‘yes’, though the first question is a little harder to satisfy.  Of the possibilities, most significantly including the untapped powers of the human brain, we give credit for the awesome potential of mankind to the mysteriously safe entities of fantasy and dream.  It’s a cop out…it’s an excuse and a way to avoid the ultimate culpability, to avoid the admission that we are all, ultimately accountable for our actions, our words and our thoughts.  If we buy into the marketing of Fuld or his predecessor Kennard, and we accept that it is the influence of the hereafter that affects our fates, then we are no longer responsible for where that influence takes us.

In the end of it all there is no reason to fear the Ouija; it is not a demonic doorway, nor is it a tool for communicating with the dead…it remains a toy, and a fun house mirror of our own fears and fantasies.  Though, in so much as there is no factual reason to avoid the game of fortune telling with a Spirit Board, there is also no reason to connect it to what should be a hallowed celebration of those people who have passed on before us.

---

[1] See (via Google Patents) US Patent #446,054: http://www.google.com/patents?id=0aU_AAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&source=gbs_overview_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

[2] See the Wikipedia entry for Oujia Board: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouija

[3] For more information on Dr. Lowry, see: http://www.paranormality.com/ouija_board.shtml

[4] See the Wikipedia entry for Ideomotor Effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideomotor_effect

A 1991 Roper poll, titled ‘Unusual Personal Experiences’, conducted on behalf of Dr. John Mack and Robert Bigelow, showed that nearly 2% of all Americans not only believe in alien abduction phenomenon, but have experienced it first hand.[1]

This means that, at the time of the study, roughly 4 million Americans were willing to admit having had some level of exposure to alien abduction phenomenon.[2]  The number of reported abductions on an annual basis world-wide is staggering, if not elusive; the actual number is unknown, for several reasons, but estimates put it high in the hundreds of thousands (conservatively).  If we guess at a figure of 100,000 abductions taking place in a year, that means that on average, there are 250-300 people being abducted every day around the world.  That number becomes frightening fairly quickly if we allow a more liberal estimation.

Where the obvious discrepancy in these estimates comes from, is the unfortunate but understandable fact that the vast majority of Abductees (also known as Experiencers) are reluctant to come forward.

This is not the case for all Abductees however.

On September 19, 1961, a young Portsmouth New Hampshire couple were driving home from a vacation in Canada.  While on their late night interstate drive, they happened upon a “strange point of light” in the sky.  As the story goes, the couple stopped along the roadway, just south of Groveton New Hampshire on US Route 3, to walk their dog before completing the final leg of their long journey home.  Shortly after their pit stop, the couple suffered what seemed to be a lapse in memory, and found themselves again driving along Route 3 with no recollection of having gotten back into the car.

I am of course, referring to the infamous abduction story of Betty and Barney Hill, and the above is one of the many variations of their abduction story that have surfaced over the years.  Betty, born Eunice Elizabeth Barrett, a direct descendant of European Pilgrims who immigrated to the US aboard the Mayflower in 1620, married to Barney Hill, an Ethiopian-American, is touted to be the Mother of Alien Abduction Stories.

Depending on the specific version of the story you happen upon, the Hill’s were either on their way home from their Canadian Honeymoon (which is not correct), or just on their way home from visiting family, when they chanced to see a bright light in the sky above them.  Their account tells of a wild chase through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, playing cat and mouse with what ultimately was found to be an immense alien craft, littered with coloured lights.  They tracked the craft along the lonely mountain roads, watching it’s movements through a pair of binoculars they happened to have with them.  Nearly an hour into the sighting, the Hill’s found themselves confronted by the craft and its inhabitants as it descended onto the road in front of their car.

Different versions of the story offer different details on what happened next, some suggest that Barney exited the car with a pistol in hand, others say he was curiously drawn to the ship.  Whichever version you believe, the apparent results remain the same.  Mr. and Mrs. Hill suffered abduction at the hands of an alien species whose apparent intent was to examine this stereotypical American couple in great detail.

If, for a moment, you forget that we’re talking about the first and most famous widely accepted alien abduction story in modern history, it might actually seem just like any other, and what strikes me about this accounting, in all its convoluted glory, is that each element of this case has become a sort of founding compass for all abduction stories to come after it.  You could say that it holds all of the classic abduction story characteristics, though of course, it is the classic abduction story.

You end up with 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th kind encounter scenarios, lost time, implants and medical experimentation, hypnosis recovery, and even government cover-up (depending who you believe).[3]

After the alleged abduction, Betty Hill went on to become the first UFO/Alien related celebrity the world had ever known.  The Hill’s story was told the world in the way only Betty could tell it, on radio, on television, in newsprint and through the gossip chains of Middle American households, and with that fame came both opportunity and criticism.

On September 21st, two days following the incident, Betty reported the event to Peace Air Force base by telephone, and the following day participated in an investigative interview with Maj. Paul W. Henderson.  The findings of that investigation were less than charitable, citing that the Hill’s had most likely observed and misidentified the planet Jupiter in the night sky.  This may have been the result of deliberate government efforts to conceal the nature of the encounters, or it may simply have been that Mrs. Hill was unconvincing in her initial report.  It is widely known that she withheld certain details in her telephone report, and that some details were completely different in the Major’s findings.  Thus begins the sceptic’s examination of her testimony.

It has been said that following her interview with Major Henderson, Betty borrowed several books on UFO’s, extraterrestrials and abduction from her local library, which bears a significant amount of criticism from those who understand the fallacies of eye witness testimony.  The difference between her original statement and what she swears to after this cursory research is, as critics claim, more than suspect.

In the early 1960’s however, and considering the fantastic nature of her claims, the populous was eager to soak up her every word.

In successive weeks, the Hill’s recounted their story, adding detail as they went along.  Betty endured horrific nightmares and both husband and wife began displaying tell-tale signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, at the time a psychological concept still in its infancy.  Through her post-abduction research, Betty came across a book written by retired Marine Corps Major Donald E. Keyhoe, and apparently due to something she found relevant in the book, she attempted to correspond with Keyhoe, who was the then leader of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP).  Keyhoe eventually put the Hill’s in contact with fellow NICAP member and astronomer, Walter N. Webb, who conducted a six hour interview of each Mr. and Mrs. Hill, now famously known as The Webb Interview.  The results of the Webb interview are pointedly bland; NICAP held a standard policy of general scepticism and from that position, Webb remained unconvinced of the truth behind the Hill’s encounter.

The subject of Betty Hill’s dreams quickly became the focus of the Hill’s story, which has also become known as the Zeta Reticuli Incident, after the amazing detail eventually recovered from both Betty’s dreams and from later hypnosis sessions, in which she describes star maps and other features of the alien ship with surprising depth.  And though it may be an astounding assessment at this point, this is where the story gets really weird.

From shortly after the Webb Interview until her death in 2004, Betty Hill repeatedly extolled the fantastic circumstances of her abduction, as remembered through her dreams, to nearly anyone who would listen.

The following is a reasonably accurate paraphrased account of Betty’s dream, found on Wikipedia.com[4]

“In the dream, Betty seemed to be struggling to regain consciousness; she then realized that she was being forced by two small men to walk in a forest in the night-time, and of seeing Barney walking alongside her, though when she called to him, he seemed to be in a trance or sleepwalking. The small men stood about five feet tall, and wore matching uniforms, with caps similar to those worn in the U.S. Air Force. They had no hair on their heads, and had large bulbous foreheads.

In the dreams, Betty, Barney, and the small men all walked up a ramp into a disc-shaped craft of metallic appearance. Once inside, Barney and Betty were separated. She protested, and was told by a man she called “the leader” that if she and Barney were examined together, it would take much longer to conduct the exams. She and Barney were then taken to separate rooms. Though the leader and the other men spoke to her in English, their command of the language seemed imperfect, and they had difficulty communicating.

Betty then dreamt that a new man, similar to the others, entered to conduct her exam with the leader. Betty called this new man “the examiner” and said he had a pleasant, calm manner.

The examiner told Betty that he would conduct a quick exam and a few tests to note the differences between humans and the craft’s inhabitants. He seated her on a chair, and a bright light was shone on her. The man cut off a lock of Betty’s hair. He examined her eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, throat and hands. He saved trimmings from her fingernails. After examining her legs and feet, the man then used a dull knife, similar to a letter opener to scrape some of her skin on to a glass slide.

The doctor removed Betty’s dress. He told her to lie on a table. Saying he was examining her nervous system, he dragged a machine somewhat resembling an EEG device over her front and back body. The doctor cleaned his hands with a liquid and put examination gloves on. He took out a hypodermic needle some four to six inches long to conduct what he said was a pregnancy exam. He used a wet swab on her navel. He thrust the needle into it, which caused Betty agonizing pain, but the doctor rubbed her forehead and the pain vanished.

Betty was told that her exam was complete, and that she and Barney would shortly be returned to their automobile. She began conversing with the leader, only to be interrupted when another man rushed into the room and – seemingly excited – spoke with the leader in a strange language. They hurriedly left the room, leaving Betty alone.

Returning in a few minutes, the leader examined Betty’s mouth and seemed to be trying to pull her teeth from her mouth. When this was unsuccessful, the leader asked why her teeth were fixed while Barney’s came out of his mouth. Laughing, Betty told them that Barney wore dentures because humans often lose their teeth as they age. The leader seemed unable to understand the concept of old age. She tried to explain what a year was, but he didn’t seem to understand.

 

In the dream, Betty asked the leader if she could take an artefact from the ship in order to prove the reality of the encounter. The leader let her take a large book whose pages were filled with symbols filled in columns.

She then asked the leader where he and his craft had come from. Betty wrote that, in response, from the wall the leader “pulled down a map, strange to me … It was a map of the heavens” marked with numerous stars and planets. (Clark, 281) There were different types of lines between some of the stars which denoted, she was told, trade and exploration routes. The leader asked Betty if she knew where the Earth was located on the map. Betty responded by saying that she did not, being unfamiliar with the map. The leader then said that because of her ignorance, it was impossible to explain where he had come from.

Betty then suggested that humanity would like to meet other inhabitants of the universe, and tried to persuade the leader to openly announce their presence on Earth. Amid her pleas, the men brought Barney into the room. He seemed to be in a daze.

The men began escorting the Hills from the ship, though an argument broke out amongst the men in the strange language they’d spoken before. The leader then took the large book from Betty. She protested, saying that the book was her only proof of the encounter. The leader said that he personally did not care if she kept the book, but the other men of the ship did not want her to even remember the encounter. Betty insisted that no matter what they did to her memory, she would one day recall the events.

She and Barney were taken to their car, where the leader suggested that they wait to watch the craft’s departure. They did so, and then resumed their drive. Betty stated that the event was miraculous and exciting, but Barney said nothing.

Betty’s dream concluded with her asking, “Now do you believe in flying saucers?” Irritated, Barney said, “Don’t be ridiculous.”

While Betty thought the dreams might reflect actual events, Barney was more sceptical, thinking that his wife had simply had a number of unusually vivid dreams.”

It wasn’t until three years later that Betty and Barney Hill underwent hypnotic therapy at the capable supervision of Dr. Benjamin Simon of Boston MA.  Simon’s sessions with the Hill’s were extensive and as controlled as could be managed in a hypnotherapy setting.  Ultimately, Simon too was unconvinced of the truth behind the encounter.  He was one of the first to suggest that Barney’s recollection of the events was likely the result of memory transference from Betty’s continuous retelling of the encounter since that night, but he was not the last.

In the years after this precipitous event, Betty and Barney tried to go back to their normal lives, Barney was a hard working US Postal Service employee, and Betty a social worker, but thanks to John H. Lutrell’s story in the Traveller on October 25, 1965, the Hill’s fame was secured, and their story was printed for all to read shortly after in John G. Fuller’s book, The Interrupted Journey.

The Zeta Reticuli Incident, as Betty Hill preferred to call it, is perhaps the most famous abduction case in the history of UFOlogy; followed by such incidents as The Walton Incident, which was the inspiration for the hit sci-fi movie Fire in the Sky, and the Rendlesham Forest Incident.  Whether the details were embellished by Betty Hill, or recounted word-for-word as gospel certainty, the underlying truths to the story remain difficult to deny.  On that night, on the dark and lonely US Route 3 in New Hampshire, Barney and Betty Hill encountered something that changed their lives.  They became the impetus for many more abductees to come forward and share their stories, and like so many of the incidents that have happened since, and which happened before 1961, theirs is one of the foundational memes of UFO culture worldwide, whether by accident or design.

Did Betty Hill meet with, discuss the comedic value of dentures with, and ultimately come to respect actual extraterrestrials?  We may never know for sure, but if the incidence of similar reports every year since then is any indication, we may know more than we did sometime soon.

 

 

---

[1] An approximation of the 1991 Roper Poll is available here: http://www.freedomofinfo.org/poll/roper06.html

[2] The Roper Poll in question is no longer available from the Roper Organization, though many UFOlogists have published and analysed the data from that poll with included commentary.  See: http://www.viewzone.com/abduct.html and http://www.hyper.net/ufo/abductions.html and http://www.alienresistance.org/arforums.htm

[3] The four kinds of alien or UFO encounters are defined as: 1^st– A sighting of one or more unidentified flying objects, 2^nd– An observation of a UFO and of associated physical effects from the object, 3^rd– Observation of alien beings or operators of said UFO, 4^th– Abduction by alien beings or associated UFO.

[4] Source URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_and_Barney_Hill_abduction

The power of the human mind is vast, so vast that our potential may never be known, our intellectual evolution may outrun our ability to understand precisely what it is that we’re ultimately capable of.

“Let me tell you this; mine is no mesmerism, miracle or magic. Mine is genuine DIVINE POWER.” – Atharva Veda

Although we cannot all be as convicted as Veda in our declaration of psychical powers, it has been conceded on many levels, that all mankind has the ability to use the mind beyond simple domestic labour.  And it may be said that while a great many people embark on a metaphysical journey, even a meta-psychical journey, some of us may happen on that path purely by accident.

Beginning with what may be the most famous case of believed alien abduction in history, the missing time episode of Betty and Barney Hill on September 19, 1961, wherein the world (for the most part) is satisfied that the Hill’s left our planet aboard a vessel, constructed and operated by an intelligent alien species.  We are to believe that what they experienced on that lonely road in Groveton New Hampshire, was none other than the first widely accepted UFO abduction in modern record.

Since the time of that abduction, some 47 years ago, there have been literally thousands of reports, some well documented, others questionable and most lacking in any kind of verifiable substance.  Though there is one element of what is the questionable majority of these thousands of reports that stands out; not the extraterrestrial influence, not the reputation of the abductee, but the phenomenon of missing time.

Taken on its own, Missing Time phenomenon is a troubling idea, especially so for the experiencer.  It often involves hours of blank recall, of untold injuries, mysterious and startling travel and often a sense of some external force that has exerted its will upon the experiencer, usually manifesting in the form of an alien abduction.  But for the empirical observer, there is little connection between the phenomenon and the belief that aliens are involved in any way.

To the believer, there is little doubt that there is some external and typically extraterrestrial will at play, and those who claim to have experienced such events are adamant that Missing Time is a symptom of a larger abduction experience, though there are other explanations that are often overlooked in the name of overzealous categorization of these events.

One such explanation might be the highly misunderstood idea of accidental hypnosis.

“MESMERISM, n. Hypnotism before it wore good clothes, kept a carriage and asked Incredulity to dinner.” – Ambrose Bierce

There are few people who lack at least a basic understanding of what hypnosis is, though there are equally few people who understand the long standing history of the condition of hypnosis on the human psyche.

The concept of hypnosis, while not known by that specific term, dates back to ancient Hindu and Persian meditation teachings, as a self-healing practise of introspection.  In more modern settings and through the evolution of magnetism, western and European science began to experiment with mesmerism, coined in homage to the first western scientist to study its effect in a clinical setting, Franz Anton Mesmer.  Mesmer began working with hypnotism, also known as animal magnetism (though that term is condemned for its highly misleading nature), in the mid 18^th century, and his involvement is what brought the practise to mainstream culture as a form of entertainment.

Perhaps the most famous 20^th century character to have used hypnosis with any professional credibility is the venerable Dr. Sigmund Freud, though he was certainly not the last practitioner of psychology to tempt the fates with the use of hypnotism.

The glaring difference between the efforts of Franz Mesmer or Sigmund Freud, and the silly idea of accidental hypnosis is exactly what it seems.  Freud and his modern or even historical contemporaries were deliberately inducing a hypnogogic state with the intended purpose of sweeping aside rational control over the conscious mind in favour of interacting directly with the subconscious mind.  A practise which they became quite good at I might add.

Mesmerism, as it is commonly known in entertainment circles, has become the stuff of magicians.  There was a time when Las Vegas was the home of some of the most talented Mesmerists the world has ever known, and the likes of Chris Angel and David Blaine are examples of the heights to which this craft can be taken, but again, this is all deliberate exploitation of the mechanism that allows the human mind to exaggerate the separation between conscious and subconscious thought processes.

While it is entirely natural, and thought to be a defensive attribute of our highly evolved brains, what can be done deliberately, can also, always be done accidentally.

In much the same way as the so-called ‘Mind Freak’ can convince you that he just levitated, or drove a spike through his heart or whatever else his overly dramatic act entails, everyday activities can fool you into thinking some of the strangest things, and under the right circumstances, can completely hypnotise you and cause you to believe that events have occurred, which most certainly have not.

Some of the most mundane things we encounter everyday hold the potential to throw us into a hypnotic state, and in fact, these things do exactly that on a regular basis.  Watching television, listening to music and even driving a car, all of these things are, as the swinging pocket watch was to Freud, a mechanism that causes the subconscious mind to assert dominance over the conscious mind.

For the experienced driver, it’s an worrisome thing to be travelling a stretch of familiar road, letting your mind wander and then suddenly realising you’ve completed your journey with only a vague recollection of having operated the vehicle.  Or late night TV watching, settling in and being swept away by the ideas and images that flash before you on the screen, suddenly realising hours later that you haven’t moved, you may not even have blinked, but the time passed and you have no recollection of any events outside of the frame of the TV show.

It’s no real coincidence that the majority of Missing Time reports have the experiencer travelling at night, and on lonely roads; seemingly perfect conditions for a little lapse in concentration, but what if you combine the effect of driving while fatigued or distracted, with soothing music and low visibility?

You can fairly easily see where this is going, but the suggestion is not that these victims of missing time are simply guilty of a lapse in concentration; absolutely not.  This ability to separate our conscious attention from the subconscious operation of a motor vehicle is not a new idea, it’s one that’s been tested time and again, and modern car manufacturers use ingenious techniques to keep drivers alert while on the road.  No, the subtle difference here is, where the masses are capable of achieving a light state of hypnosis through mundane and familiar acts or behaviours, there are those among us who are far more prone to hypnotic suggestion than others, and it is those people who may be finding themselves at the mercy of their subconscious mind in at least a portion of these missing time reports.

The experience would be frightening, terrifying even, and it is no wonder that induced hypnosis would be successful in retrieving altered memories from an earlier period of accidental hypnotic action; the two processes would compliment each other nicely.

This, obviously, is not to say that all reports of Missing Time are the result of accidental hypnosis, nor is it to say that all reports of alien abduction are false, misrepresented or mistaken; it is only the suggestion that among the many thousands of storied claims that are tossed about the arena of doubt and ridicule, we should stop and think once in a while about much more earthly factors that could be playing much larger roles than we had previously acknowledged.

1) Start by picking your Favourite number

2) Multiply by 3, then

3) Add 3, then again Multiply by 3

4) You’ll get a 2 or 3 digit number….

5) Add those digits together.  If you end up with another two digit number add those digits together until you have one digit.

Now Scroll down…

With your number in mind check the list below to find which fortuitous path I have divined from the universe for you:

1. Become a lecturer on the quantum physics science tour
2. Start a New World Religion and recruit Sylvia Brown
3. Read War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, then send him a written critique
4. Quit your job and become a faith healer for your local homeless shelter
5. Stay on your current path; you are righteous and wholesome
6. Start a Sherlock Holmes re-enactment society in your basement.
7. Announce your candidacy for the office of the President
8. Invent and apply for a patent on a free-energy device
9. Send the value of your last three paycheques to Paranormal People
10. Drool in the corner for an hour every day
11. Become a Scientologist
12. Start a religious-military cult and populate it with those who got #10

Okay, you can stop picking other numbers, the Universe has spoken. I’ll be expecting payment before the 1st of the month.

Have I made my point, or should we go on?

This has been a lesson in the virtues of critical thinking.  I suspect that the vast majority of you got a chuckle out of the above math magic, and then quickly decided it must be some sort of a scam (others may already be looking for accepted payment methods), and I also suspect that the point of the above test is not lost in the humour of it all.

It would seem, from the vast array of tom-foolery going on the in the western marketplace, that the people of America (the Continent) are entirely the most gullible people on the planet.  There are exceptions of course (so cool your jets on that strongly worded email for a minute), but occasionally there comes a product that is so fantastic, so wondrous, so ridiculously fake, that we can’t help but open our hearts and our wallets as we clamber over one another to get a piece of material happiness.

In the paranormal world especially; we enthusiasts, hobbyists, researchers and investigators are inundated with a catalogue of products that are touted to offer us exclusive insights into the ethereal world of ghosts, ghouls and goblins.  In a perfect world, these products would be constructed based on science, based on proven methodologies and on commercial accountability.  They would be backed by fiscally responsible and morally dependable companies, and they would be marketed with transparency and honesty.

Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world.  Of the untold numbers of products and devices that the paranormal community is bombarded with, there are some that stick out as being…worthy of some scrutiny.  In recent years such devices as the K2 Meter and the notorious Ovilus I have dragged the paranormal research community through the proverbial mud.

Whether we’re talking about an overly sensitive and poorly designed EMF meter, or in the case of the Ovilus, a pre-programmed random word generator, the consequences are the same in every instance.  Flocks of would-be ghost hunters swarm various online retailers in hopes of purchasing one of these devices that’s purported to change the metaphysical world forever.  Invariably, these devices are debunked by learned men and women in the field, but not before a host of lesser informed people wastes their time and money on the product, and worse yet, not before so-called evidence of paranormal activity is showcased with a thank you nod to these ridiculous pieces of electronic crap.

Now, however, we have a new technological enemy; one that is combined with a trusted name, a financial giant and with a long standing history of general consumer popularity…the I-phone.

I should say, right of the bat that it isn’t the I-phone itself that’s the problem.  In-and-of-itself it truly is a technological marvel, providing instant and easy connectivity between people and information; a perfect tool for today’s culture and society.  No, it isn’t the I-phone itself, it’s actually an I-Phone app that I’m questioning today.

Ghost Radar, developed by none other than Spud Pickle.[1]

As outlined on the Spud Pickle website for this particular application, Ghost Radar measures quantum flux (quantum fluctuation) in the atmosphere and translates that into any one of a variety of display modes, from a cartoony graphic radar screen, to a numerical value.

I had to give my head a shake when I first read the above on their website.  I mean, the I-phone seems like a pretty sophisticated device, but I don’t recall hearing that it could measure quantum flux.  After all, it’s only a cell phone, albeit, a cell phone on steroids.

By the developers own admission, the I-phone itself doesn’t have the necessary equipment on board to actually measure quantum flux.  Among its many capabilities, the I-phone and the I-pod touch carry a host of electronic gizmos that make them work as a cell phone, mp3 player, mobile computer etc (respectively).  Such as Wi-Fi transceivers, touch sensors, gyroscopes, accelerometers, speakers and microphones, some of which are designed to allow the device to be aware of its physical environment, and to display its various media according to its attitude or movement.

It does not, however, house any type of laser micrometer; its chronometer is not accurate to within one millionth of a second (as would be required for quantum measurement), it doesn’t have the hard memory necessary to house the highly complex calculations and mathematical theories needed to quantify any such fluctuation, and simply put it doesn’t have the ability to see quantum particles, nor does it even have the basic ability to detect electromagnetic frequencies (EMF).

Right off the bat, the I-phone fails as a ghost hunting device, just from a look at its hardware; but what really does this software do?  Is it anything more than a glorified random output generator?  All indications are that the answer is �?no’, it is nothing more than a cleverly programmed cell phone application that generates seemingly non-random display results.

On the Spud Pickle website you’ll also find a host of user testimonials, most of which are nondescript kudos to the developer for making such a �?cool app’, but some are more detailed pseudo-analyses touting unbelievable results.  And I warn you, beware what you believe from some anonymous tribute to a questionable device.  This application is not capable of doing what the developer claims, however, just as any analog or digital recording device can be manipulated by ambient energies to provide mysterious EVP’s, so too can the I-phone be manipulated by the same energies, though this is not a technological market cornered by Apple, nor is it the exclusive domain of the Spud Pickle application developer.

On an aside from the above, Digital Dowsing, the makers of the infamous Ovilus I (the “I” being an indication of a generational product), have terminated production of the Ovilus I and have since replaced that product with their own I-phone app: I-Ovilus.

Now, while I’m personally pained by their lack of creativity with the naming of their application, I want to point out that this transmutation of their original abomination is no less ridiculous, and in fact, since the I-phone contains none of the measurement hardware contained in the original Ovilus, the I-Ovilus is in fact even more useless than its namesake.

The moral here, besides the obvious, is that in our pursuit of an understanding of this strange and beautiful world around us, there are no easy answers.  There is no button to push, no machine to rely on and no computer to tell us the answer.  This remains a burgeoning field of academic study and lain before us is a long and winding path of hard work and experimentation.  If anything, the popularity of the above devices and applications is a simple testament of the divide between those in the paranormal community who seek truth, and those who seek notoriety, and even yet, those who seek only cheap thrills.

Authors Edit: January 26, 2010

In the three months since this article was posted, I must say that I am astounded by the lack of critical examination, of even my own assessment of the Ghost Radar application.

In the above article, I played a trick on you.  I laid out the hardware requirements that such a device would need in order to measure “Quantum Flux”  But it seems, either the reader is ignorant of just what quantum flux is, or is not concerned with the truth behind such idiotic gizmos.

Quantum Flux is an idea, rooted in the science of physics, that pertains to a measurement of magnetic fluctuation. Quantum, a fancy way to say the resulting measurement, is simply a study of magnetic fluctuations within superconductors.  It is not related to paranormal phenomenon whatsoever.

There are those, however, who have speculated and theorized about there being an energy, which they have called quanta (not to be confused with Einstein’s labeling of light matter as quanta), that is responsible for a connectivity between all matter, living or otherwise.  It is, with a certain auspicious amount of ambiguity, this quanta that the Spud Pickle developers claim is measured by the Ghost Radar app.

How though? How does one measure an energy that no one has ever been able to prove exists.  In fact, the current state of quantum physics suggests that such an energy does not exist. It should be said that these people mentioned above, whom believe this energy exists, are not physicists, they are not physcial scientists and they are not well schooled in the various theories of quantum physics.

If such an energy exists, it remains laughable that the makers of the Ghost Radar I-phone app gained some miraculous understanding of a purely theoretical and fantastic idea of universal connectivity, there-by allowing them to program the application to measure this energy.  An energy that no one can prove even exists.  But for arguments sake, if we take for granted the idea that they did achieve this feat of physics mastery, are we supposed to now believe they found that the best way to proceed with this ground breaking research and knowledge was to make it into an i-phone app?

I suppose the Nobel Prize is much overrated these days.

I’ll suggest now, that if you don’t see the flaw in this situation, then you deserve to get caught in their scam and lose your hard earned money.

---

[1] See: http://www.spudpickles.com/GhostRadar