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Monday, February 28, 2005

They Cut Him Out!
Where was Richard Hall's contribution? - Wendy Connors
http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/2005/feb/m25-039.shtml
Either I missed Dick Hall, or they left him on the cutting roomfloor
along with John Mack. - Kyle King
http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/2005/feb/m25-006.shtml



I wonder why - because he is an out of date bore.
Oh well may be next time Dick!

You can purchase this show either on VHS videotape or DVD format for US$29.95 by going to:

http://www.abcnewsstore.com/store/index.cfm?fuseaction=customer.product&product_code=S050224%2001&category_code=HOME


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Oh Dear!


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TIGER MYSTERY PHOTOGRAPHS
By MARGARETTA POS
27 Feb 2005



The man's brother was in Hobart last week and showed the digital images to staff at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.

He also showed them to Parks and Wildlife Service officers.

The shots were taken recently in the Lake St Clair region.

However, the German visitor did not leave any images for further study. He has since left for Melbourne.

Last night TMAG marketing manager Peter West said the museum was unable to comment about the veracity of the images.

"All I can say is that the German was here last week," Mr West said.

"He was the brother of a visitor who took the photographs. There were images of a tiger in several of them.

"But the museum is not in a position to confirm whether they really are of a tiger.

"All I can say is that the photographs were brought to us. We don't have them and cannot comment about them."

The Tasmanian tiger is generally believed to be extinct.

The last tiger in the Hobart Zoo died in 1936.

Since then, there have been many reported sightings, but none has been verified.

Recently, a major project to clone a tiger at the Australian Museum in Sydney was axed because the DNA sample to be used was not good enough.

http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,12385481%5E921,00.html
AND:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12394117-1244,00.html

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Hunt on for the Black Panther
February 27, 2005
The Sun-Herald



Natalie Schmitt delves into her backpack and suddenly dry retches. It's not yesterday's sandwiches that trigger the zoologist's reaction, it's the kilo of leopard excrement she has nestled in her hands. "I'm glad you can smell how strong and pungent the odour really is," she says with a scowl. Leopards, indeed, should be ashamed of themselves. But on this occasion, faeces from no other animal will do. Acquired from a private zoo, the leopard scats are about to be used as bait - big cat bait.

Schmitt, a documentary presenter, is in the Blue Mountains with a crew from Perth-based Storyteller Productions to attempt to film or trap the mysterious black cat that for decades has plagued Sydney's west and north-west communities including Richmond, Grose Vale, the Hawkesbury and Lithgow. The crew has been commissioned by the Discovery Channel to produce a one-hour documentary about the possible existence of panthers (black leopards) in NSW. And they are setting down the last of eight infra-red motion sensor camera traps that have been strategically scattered throughout the Blue Mountains National Park.

Big Long Story - Have a look;
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/02/26/1109180165887.html?oneclick=true

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Saturday, February 26, 2005

WHAT THE HELL IS IT?
Turtle from Outer Space


"From Eric Vasallo – This photo is from a house owner who took the picture for landscaping purposes. It seems a creature appeared the moment she took the picture. There's a blurry trail behind the creature, and it seems to be looking right at the person who took the picture. She has no pets and the home is fenced in. She's even looked through the grounds to
see if she could find this strange turtle with spiked armor. We don't know what it is. Some people have mentioned that it may be a reptilian species of aliens. This isn't a joke.
[The picture was taken] in early October in Miami Shores, Florida."

"Honestly, it's my sister's boss that lives in Miami Shores. She doesn't have any statuary or lawn ornaments and no pets in her home. She's really freaked out about it and doesn't
really want to talk about it. She's an older French lady that is scared to believe in stuff like this – especially in her own backyard. The picture I sent you is what she got back
from the photo developers." – Eric Vasallo

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ABC Jennings Special

Well I had a look see, this two-hour primetime special reports on the entire scope of the UFO experience started oh so well, no sensationalized crap, great graphics, production and case selection... but the last hour towards the end it all went down hill fast... the normal them & us problems took over and ufology came out as normal looking like a bunch of odd folk... how sad... with all the data they could have used the program could have shone.

Dr Michio was a great asset, Friedman got in but just, the skeptics sounded dumb they have no real grasp for the details - but the subtle hints in the text did make it harder for us all to swallow... It was the hand of Peter Jennings that dulled the topic... something positive may come of all this, may be new members and data but I think it's another loss.


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Thursday, February 24, 2005

STILL AROUND & IN ACTION
Paul De Blog

Since last Wednesday I have been very busy with university, I had too fly up to Sydney for another meeting, that started the backlog and again, this week, another follow up journey… so my posts are a little disjointed and some days I have missed the period totally… but that’s life, be rest assured I have not gone away – sorry Dianne Harrison.


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REMEMBER


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Horse power to reel in eel
Kelly Ryan
24 Feb 2005
Melbourne Herald Sun


FISHERMEN have called in the cavalry to catch a monstrous eel terrorising a Victorian trout farm.

A dozen brave men, a nimble horse, and underwater cameras are among the resources anglers believe necessary to catch "Nessie Down Under".

Yarra Junction drink distributor Kevin Cook was last night saddled up and ready to ride to Tommy Finn's Trout Farm to round up the rogue eel.

"If I manage to catch it on a line, I am going to tie the rope to the saddle and haul it out," Mr Cook said.

The keen horseman was confident his bay mare Ceddar was "nimble and quick" enough to escape damage from the eel.

Watsonia nurse Gerry Branagan claimed to have seen the monster fish just before dawn yesterday after waiting all night with a bait of canned cat food, sheep's liver and two-day-old prawns.

"It came out of one of the ponds and went straight for the prawns and I flicked on my headlights and just couldn't believe the size of it," she said. "Ten brave men at least are needed to catch that eel -- it was almost the length of my car.

"My concern is that it would drag one man into the water after it if it was caught on a line."

There is a $1000 bounty on the eel, which is believed to have washed into the Millgrove trout farm from the nearby Yarra.

Reputedly 4m long and weighing as much as 100kg, it has eluded capture for more than a week.

Trout farm operations manager Gary Wales said Nessie threatened to make or break him.

"The trout have been spooked by the monster and they have gone into hiding at the bottom of the ponds," Mr Wales said.

"I had to give refunds today to people who couldn't catch a fish.

"And I have had a few cancellations as well -- people are too scared to bring their kiddies in case Nessie jumps out and starts chomping on them."

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12352436%255E2862,00.html

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Reward Offered for Melbourne 'Loch Ness' Eel
ABC.au

The operators of a trout farm are offering a $1000 reward to anyone who catches Melbourne's own Loch Ness monster.

A giant eel, believed to be around four metres long with a head the size of a football has been spotted at the trout farm at Warburton.

It is believed the eel washed into the farm's ponds during this month's record breaking storms.

Farm manager Gary Wales says efforts to catch the giant creature have so far been unsuccessful.

"We don't want it harmed, this things probably 30-years-old, and he's come here probably by mistake and he's found himself a good little home and plenty of food," he said.

"We hope to catch him alive and take him to the Melbourne Aquarium."

He says he has never heard of such a large eel before.

"No. Maybe it's Nessy, Nessy's offspring maybe, who knows, but no, it's a big eel."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200502/s1307064.htm

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Warning: artistic aliens at work
By Bonnie Malkin
Sydney Morning Herald
February 24, 2005

A minor Picasso in suburbia ... the image of the mystery man was outlined with red paint but no one knows who did it or what it means.
It appeared overnight, but no one knows where it came from. It's 60 metres long and 30 metres wide, but no one knows what it means.

The image of a man, a dollar note, a wave and a tombstone appeared on Reg Bartley Oval in Rushcutters Bay about four weeks ago, residents say. And it has been puzzling them since. "It must have been done in the middle of the night because I noticed it first thing in the morning," said a resident, James Potts.

"It's actually a bit annoying. I don't mind it for a day, but a month is too long."

Exactly how the image was created remains a mystery.

A resident and regular dog walker, Alison Pearce, said weedkiller might be responsible. But residents have even less an idea of what the image means.

"Somebody reckons it's something to do with surfing, maybe a surfing logo," said Mr Potts. Ms Pearce said it could have something to do with the tsunami. A fellow resident, Howard Hillman, said perhaps a lawnmower was to blame.

Sydney City Council said it did not know about the image, but it was able later to shed a little more light on the mystery.

"The graffiti on the grass was originally done with some sort of red paint," a spokesman for the council said. "As there is no method to safely remove paint without permanently damaging the grass, the City decided to wait to see what effect the paint would have and whether the grass would naturally grow over the paint before taking action."

The grass would be fertilised to encourage rapid growth, while the areas most damaged would be returfed.

Rose Bay police had received no report of vandalism.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/02/23/1109046992057.html?oneclick=true

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Sunday, February 20, 2005

Melbourne CH10 Tonight - NCIS



EPISODE: Vanished

GENRE: Drama

DATE: 20 February 2005

START TIME: 9:25 PM

DURATION: 1hr

DESCRIPTION: NCIS investigates after a Marine Super Cobra helicopter is abandoned in a crop circle in West Virginia with its crew missing.


http://mindeec.tripod.com/adtp/ncis-8-25-04.jpg

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Cyclist meets big cat
Melbourne - Herald - Sun17 feb 2005


AUTHORITIES are investigating a report that a big cat stalked a cyclist near Lorne.

Mountain biker Nicholas Pearce told police he saw a large black cat in Bambra State Forest on Tuesday. Sen-Constable Simon Paliaga said Mr Pearce, 24, saw the black cat coming towards him when he got off his bike for a drink.

"Mr Pearce was visibly shaken and upset when he relayed his tale," Sen-Constable Paliaga said.

The Department of Sustainability and Environment is investigating the incident.

This latest big cat sighting follows 15 mysterious footprints found on a Blairgowrie Beach and an amateur video of a reported big cat in December.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12271601%255E2862,00.html

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The Platypus: Is it a Bird?
Thursday, 17 February 2005
ABC WIDE BAY QUEENSLAND HOME
Presenter: Jodie Van De Wetering



It has a leathery bill and lays eggs, and the first European naturalists to see the platypus thought it was some kind of hoax from the colonies.

And the latest genetic research indicates there might be more 'duck' in the duck-billed platypus than we've previously thought.

Humans, like all mammals, have two bits of DNA called chromosomes that determine whether we're male(XY) or female (XX).

But the platypus has not two, but ten sex-determining chromosomes, so a male platypus is an XXXXXXXXXX, while his mate is an XYXYXYXYXY.

This structure is unique to the swimming, breathing contradiction we call the platypus - although it bears a passing simmilarity to the genetic structure of modern birds!

Scott Burnett from the Wildlife Preservation Society says we know much more about the platypus than we did a few years ago, but information is still sketchy on the elusive aquatic animal.

That's thanks to the efforts of those geneticists who've charted the DNA of the platypus, but also a dedicated team of volunteer platy-spotters across the state.

These volunteers record where platypus have been seen, and what they were doing.

Mr Burnett says the platypus is, despite its status as one of the world's strangest creatures, a remarkably resilient character.

http://www.abc.net.au/widebay/stories/s1303937.htm

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Tassie tiger cloning 'pie-in-the-sky science'
Sydney Morning Herald
By Deborah Smith, Science Editor
February 17, 2005


The more than $350,000 spent trying to clone the extinct Tasmanian tiger had gone to "pie in the sky" science and it was sensible for the Australian Museum to have abandoned the project, scientists said yesterday.

A University of Tasmania zoologist, Randolph Rose, said millions of dollars more would be needed to try to resurrect the thylacine and this money could be better spent on living animals such as Tasmanian devils, which have been ravaged by a mysterious facial tumour disease.

"Let's save what we've got before spending huge amounts of money on a very difficult problem," he said. "Cloning an extinct animal is pie in the sky science."

A La Trobe University researcher, Mike Westerman, said it was a pity the project had been stopped. "But available resources are limited and it is an eminently sensible decision. What they are trying to do is far too difficult, given our state of knowledge."

The museum team had worked out the partial code of two genes from parts of the cell called mitochondria, and the partial code of one gene from the nucleus. Tasmanian tigers had about 17 mitochondrial genes and 30,000 nuclear genes.

"The technical difficulties are immense. Let's work them out on rare living animals first and then apply it to something incredibly more difficult [like thylacines]," said Dr Westerman, who had extracted DNA from thylacine skin and worked out the code of two mitochondrial genes in the 1990s, before the museum project began.

Karen Firestone, a scientist who worked on the museum project until 2003, said trying to build a library of all the thylacine's genes had proven to be "fraught with difficulty".

But she believed other methods might work. "I still think there are avenues that could be pursued. But it is up to the museum what it wants to support or not. It's not my call."

The museum's director, Frank Howarth, said about $20,000 remained from donations to the project, including $337,000 from private benefactors, mainly the Discovery Channel, and $20,000 from the State Government. The museum covered the cost of a quarter of a senior researcher's salary for about four years.

He said he was confident more donations to continue the research could have been obtained. "But it would have been unethical to continue seeking external funds for something where we thought the chances of success were slim, if not non-existent."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Science/Tassie-tiger-cloning-pieinthesky-science/2005/02/16/1108500157295.html

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Saturday, February 19, 2005

Mmmm... Roswell UFO Crash Material...

I don't think so...? But have a look.

Mysterious Metal
This metal was found while metal detecting in 1985 approx. 38 miles outside of Roswell. Have contacted organizations dealing with UFO study, etc. but so far no one has been able to determine what it is, nor the meaning of the symbols.
--Christopher S. runnich@yahoo.com


http://www.coasttocoastam.com/gen/page825.html

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Strange corpse has some muttering
the word ‘chupacabra’
Last Update: 02/10/2005 11:15:05 PMBy: Reed UptonVideo


Some New Mexicans say it’s the weirdest thing they’ve ever seen: a creature – and that’s the best word to describe it – found on Albuquerque’s West Mesa.

To some, it’s simply intriguing. To others, it’s downright scary. The creature belongs to Robert Wheeler.

“It was found out on the West Mesa,” says Wheeler. ”A friend of mine was out there shooting and kicked it out of the dirt.”

“It looks like a gargoyle” said Wheeler’s friend Steve Garcia. “It has these sponge-like lips.”

Garcia and Wheeler say Hispanics seem most affected by the creature – and what it might be.
“[To people of] Spanish heritage, it’s the chupacabra,” says Wheeler. “The goat sucker is what they call it.”

A Google search will reveal many images of what people imagine the mythical chubacabra ranging from a demented Grinch-like beast to something more closely resembling the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Wheeler delivered the creature to a New Mexico Game and Fish office where Eyewitness News 4 shot video of it – and recorded responses from people entering the office on regular business only to see the dried corpse. They weren’t sure what to make of it.

“Any guess as to what it could be,” Eyewitness News 4’s Tom Joles asked one of the drop-ins.

“Something prehistoric, I assume,” answered the viewer.

http://www.kob.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=17037&cat=HOME

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Mystery of UFO deepens
By PHIL BECK
19 feb 2005


THE status of an unidentified flying object seen above the Midland Highway Monday night remains a mystery.

Co-ordinator of UFO Reports and Sightings Tasmania Keith Roberts said yesterday the report now fell into the 5 per cent of UFO sightings which could not be explained.

"We checked up with the airport, helicopter companies, crop dusters, the Navy and the Department of Defence and drew a blank with all of them," Mr Roberts said.

"Out of 100 reports, there is usually a ready explanation for 80 per cent and further investigations explain another 15 per cent.

"This report, however, falls into the 5 per cent which are not explained. But we are ready to receive more information which can help."

Monday night's report was made by a 43-year-old Kingston woman who was driving north on the highway with her sister and a friend.

They first spotted a bright light near Brighton about midnight but by the time they were near the Bothwell turnoff the bright light appeared to be heading towards them.

The woman, who said she was not one to believe in aliens, said the object was about half the size of a house and had one red pulsating light on one side and a similar blue light on the other. They had pulled over and got out of the car, and within minutes the object was hovering about 30m above the ground less than 300m away.

She said the craft was shaped like an AFL football as it came towards them, but when it was closer she guessed it was saucer shaped.

Mr Roberts said he hoped other people would come forward with information on the sighting.

"At the moment we are left with an unexplained object," Mr Roberts said.

"There was a similar sighting in the same area in the 1970s, when a driver saw a bright mass of light before his car conked out."

http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,12298852%255E3462,00.html

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Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Dick Hall Not Going To Talk - What Again!

That old fossil is at it again, if we did’nt love the old coot then it would be a good kick in the butt and off to bed for you young Dick Hall... by I digress take a look at his last post... again with Stanton Friedman, read on.




"Stan, I give up trying to communicate with you. This is going nowhere, so I decline [not] to participate any longer... - Hall"

http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/2005/feb/m08-032.shtml

Do you remember this "Dummy Spit"!

PRA Director John Auchettl posted this after an exchange with Dick Hall .

"The problem with Dick and Jan is that they can not conceive a life that runs parallel to their beliefs. The Corso anomaly popped into their quantum world, without their approval
and worst of all, who was this Colonel and what did he know about Ufology... - Auchettl"
http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/2003/jan/m11-010.shtml

"John... Until you explain your epistemology, no discourse is possible... - Hall"
http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/2003/jan/m11-017.shtml

How many times has he done this trick? Dick Hall has a child like way of skipping out of an issue when his argument breaks down or he gets himself into a corner, not a very intelligent way to conduct an open thoughtful discussion.

What a champ - And we all love him, well.....!

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Richard Saunders And My Blog
A Love Story Begins


President of Australian Skeptics & Mystery Investigator
Now this is progress, King Richard of the Australian Skeptics, an all round good chap has put a link to my Blog on his home page. When I was told this I just had to go and see… and yes, yes, yes…

Well done Richard you’re an honourable insightful person, are you sure you’re a Skeptic?

A man who understands, the power of, satire & humour.

Go See:
It’s down the very very bottom left hand side.
http://www.mysteryinvestigators.com/richard/index.html

Mystery Investigators
http://www.mysteryinvestigators.com/index.htm
<---- Look over to the left Richard - a Link just for you.

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POPULAR MECHANICS?
Not very smart are they? Go have a look - Oh Dear - And they make Millions out of this crap!

UFOs And The Great Outdoors
BY CLIFF GROMER
http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/outdoors/1277516.html?page=1&c=y


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Freak thunderclap heralds coldest February day
Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia - Feb 2, 2005
Milanda Rout

This report is a bit old but the story is still interesting

"A FREAK clap of thunder exploded over Melbourne early yesterday, waking thousands of sleeping residents across a 90km zone.

The sound wave travelled from Melton to Rosebud in four minutes.

It shook houses in its wake and vibrations caused by the thunder were recorded at five seismic testing stations.

The big bang was a prelude to Melbourne's coldest February day on record. The mercury barely nudged 13C as the city surpassed its average rainfall for February with 46mm in 48 hours.

The thunderclap frightened hundreds and generated a flurry of theories over what caused it -- from an earthquake to a sonic boom from a jet, or even a meteor.

"It sounded like a train come through the house," said Campbellfield resident Bill Brown of the tremor.

"The kettle and the toaster were jumping on the counter.

"The whole house was shaking and I was bloody frightened."

Seismology Research Centre director Gary Gibson said the big bang was not caused by an earthquake but rather a freak clap of thunder.

He said it started in Toolern Vale, near Melton, about 3.07am when a single lightning bolt struck. It destroyed a power pole just metres from houses.
Mr Gibson said a massive burst of thunder exploded as a result of the lightning, creating a powerful sound wave that travelled about 1km each three seconds.

"It's like an explosion going off and the sound waves going in all different directions," he said.

The vibrations were first recorded by testing stations in Mount Macedon 69 seconds after the lightning strike.

The sound wave then registered at Tullamarine, followed by Richmond and Belgrave.

Residents in Rosebud were the last to feel the vibrations, four minutes after the initial thunderclap to the city's west.

Mr Gibson said the vibrations measured less than one on the Richter scale.

Toolern Vale resident Michael Maxey said he was woken about 3am by the enormous bang.

"It was unbelievable. I was too scared to get out of bed," he said.

Mr Maxey, 37, said the house shook and trembled for 20 seconds.

He went outside and realised a power pole just 200m from his house had exploded after being struck by the lightning.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12128331%255E2862,00.html


Big bang: lightning blew apart this 22,000 volt power pole in the middle of the night leaving nearby Toolern Vale residents fearing a bomb had exploded or a plane had crashed.Picture: Trevor Pinder

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Monday, February 14, 2005

Australian Synchrotron Monash University
http://www.synchrotron.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=1



Design Objectives
Following national and international consultation, the design objectives for the Australian Synchrotron are:


  • energy of 3 GeV to provide high performance in the x-ray energy range 100 eV to approximately 65 keV
  • competitive with other third-generation compact facilities under construction
  • adequate beamlines and experimental stations to satisfy 95% of the research requirements of an expected Australian user community of 1,200 researchers
  • internationally competitive performance for essentially all Australian industry requirements.

A key measure of the performance of the machine is provided by either the brightness curves for undulators or flux curves for wigglers. The brightness for a 22 mm in-vacuum undulator is presented at this link - http://www.synchrotron.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=1134


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DAVID SUZUKI In Melbourne

DATE: Wed 2nd March 2005
TIME: 2.00pm for tea and 2.30pm talks begin
AT: Melb Museum, The Age Theatre, 11 Nicholson St, Carlton


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Charles Fort 1925 letter - up for auction - Got US$966

This would be a wonderful item to have, one of my heros!


A curious signed letter by Charles Fort (1874-1932), the "patron saint" of research into anomalous phenomena, is up for auction on eBay. The three-page letter from 1925 is "vintage Charles Fort, as he expounds his views on the stationary earth, visitors from outer space, farming ants, black rain, superstitious birds and more." (Thanks, Loren Coleman!)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=37879&item=6509857367&rd=1#ebayphotohosting

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/02/13/charles_fort_letter_.html

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Friday, February 11, 2005

UFO Review issue 8 - February 2005
Stuart Miller - UK
http://www.uforeview.net

UFO Review, Issue 8 February 2005 is now available at:

ISSUE Size 3.2Mb
http://www.uforeview.net/issue%208.pdf

Top left hand button on page marked "Current issue".

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Thursday, February 10, 2005

A Mysterious Streak Above Hawaii



"Explanation: What in heavens-above was that? Not everything seen on the night sky is understood. The Night Sky Live (NSL) project keeps its global array of continuously updating web cameras (CONCAMs) always watching the night sky. On the night of 2004 December 17, the fisheye CONCAM perched on top of an active volcano in Haleakala, Hawaii, saw something moving across the night sky that remains mysterious. The NSL team might have disregarded the above streak as unconfirmed, but the Mauna Kea CONCAM on the next Hawaiian island recorded the same thing. The NSL team might then have disregarded the streak as a satellite, but no record of it was found in the heavens-above.com site that usually documents bright satellite events."

FORUM:
http://bb.nightskylive.net/asterisk/viewtopic.php?t=291

CREDIT:
Night Sky Live Collaboration

ALSO:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050208.html


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Chickens falling from the sky
Frances O'Shea
10 Feb 2005



THE sky is falling, said Chicken Little. And now chickens are falling from the sky.

Twice in the past six weeks plucked chooks have plummeted on to two roofs at Fletcher, in Newcastle, NSW.

Both times, tiles were smashed, suggesting the birds had fallen from a great height.

Police have been called and the search is on for an answer to the strange phenomenon.

One theory is that someone is using a giant slingshot to launch the probably frozen birds into the air.

After the first chicken fell on to the roof of Stephen Leung on January 2, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority thought it may have fallen from an external luggage locker on a light plane.

That theory now seems less likely after a second chook came crashing on to Warwick Slee's house sometime during the weekend. Mr Slee lives less than 1km from Mr Leung.

The Slee family were away last week and returned home on Sunday afternoon to a foul smell.

Mr Slee was trying to find the source of the smell when he noticed three smashed tiles on his roof.

He climbed into the roof cavity and found the remains of a chicken.

"It was a bit of a shock," Mr Slee, 28, said. "You don't expect a chook to come flying through your roof."

Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman Peter Gibson described the incidents as "just too odd".

http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,12203853%255E953,00.html

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Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Professor Geoffrey Opat
Physics, UFO sightings Investigator


Members of PRA had a special get together to collect boxes of files, tape, slides, film and file records on the UFO subject, left to them by one of their senior members, noted physicist, Professor Geoffrey Opat. Geoffrey dead in Mar 2002, aged 66. He was quite man, who kept his research on the subject to a very select circle of friends. The gathering at Melbourne University was attended by researchers and investigators. His sudden death was a great loss.

"Geoffrey Opat was born in Melbourne on 16 November 1935 and completed his secondary education by being Dux of Brighton Grammar School. He then entered the University of Melbourne, graduating as a Master of Science in 1958 and with a PhD in theoretical physics in 1961. He spent the following three years as a Fullbright Fellow at the University of
Pennsylvania in the USA.

Following the sudden death of his father, also at an early age, in 1964, he returned to Australia and was appointed Senior Lecturer in Physics at the University of Melbourne. Although his training was in theoretical physics, he formed a research group in experimental particle physics that flourished for over a decade and culminated with his appointment to the Chair of Experimental Physics in 1973. - Professor Tony Klein"

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PENGUIN BOOKS 70 YEARS OLD


"Penguin was founded, 70 years ago, with a revolution in book distribution. Following his wife's advice, Allen Lane launched his "paperbacks", costing a mere sixpence, in Woolworths. They quickly flooded the country's bookshops. Lane was guided by two principles: he would publish only the best books. And they would be handsome books. Penguin, and its flock of subsidiary imprints, notably Pelican, went on to do more for the education and cultural uplift of the country than all the universities and their teachers combined."

http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1396997,00.html

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Peter Jennings Reporting
UFOs — Seeing Is Believing



To be airs in USA - Thursday, Feb. 24 from 8-10 p.m. ET on ABC.

READ:
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=468496&page=1

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DICK HALL GETS IT IN THE NECK - AGAIN!


That out of date war horse is at it again, it seem as if age has got the better of our Dick Hall. He seems to grate more than a few on the forum and it is not getting better for poor old Dick! Take this recent exchange at UFOUpdates, most interesting read.

"Dick, once again you have made a claim unsupported by any evidence about secret science:

1. Many great scientists have done outstanding science in secrecy.. think Glenn Seaborg, Enrico Fermi, Luis Allvarez as the tip of the iceberg... all were Nobel-ists.

2. In the second place, it is clear that it is Air Force Policy not to admit to flying saucer reality.Should they advertise in the papers... "wanted scientific analysis of possible trace effects produced by flying saucers?" We are looking for any scraps of info that might help us understand the technology... call this toll free number....

3. The woman in question was local and available and talented. The point of her work was to provide rapid information... not to submit a paper for a scientfic journal to be sent all about for "Peer review" and eventually to be published or maybe not. Classifiied research is done to provide information rapidly to help in problem solving... not for publish or perish. For all we know several others may have done small pieces of some what related research. The USAF certain;y had plenty of very talented people in New Mexico and elsewhere to look at the big picture.

In short then, plenty of real science is done when the results are concealed from the public. There are plenty of scientific peers working in secrecy.

Remember, one can't tell one's friends without telling one's enemies. Secrecy is an important way of protecting our security.

Is all classified research first rate? Of course not. Is alll unclassified research first rate, even if published in a peer reviewed journal? Of course not.

I was fortunate in my 14 years of work on classified programs to work with a number of outstanding scientists and engineers. We had access to exotic materials, topnotch instrumentation, advice from very sharp people.

How much time did you work on scientific programs, classified and unclassified, to provide a basis for your conclusions? I asked you this before... no answer then.

You have been on the outside and the shades are drawn. How can you make a judgement in this matter?


Stan Friedman

http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/2005/feb/m06-017.shtml
From: Stanton Friedman
Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2005 15:11:15 -0400
Fwd Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2005 14:13:46 -0500
Subject: Re: Socorro & Balloons - Friedman

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Tuesday, February 08, 2005

40th Annual Conference on Anomalous Phenomena
THE INTERNATIONAL FORTEAN ORGANIZATION (INFO)

PRESENTS: - "INTO THE DEEP"
FortNite '05! - FortFest Chair, P.O. Box 50088, Baltimore, MD 21211.

AT: - American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM), Baltimore, MD,March 19, 2005!
AT: - Carlyle Hotel in Roland Park, Baltimore, March 20,2005


SATURDAY at AVAM:
LECTURE PROGRAM IN THE LOVE SCULPTURE BARN, 9:30 AM -6:00 PM

J. P. O'Neill:
Author of The Great New England Sea Serpent: An Account of Unknown Creatures Sighted by Many Responsible Persons Between 1638 and the Present Day with fabulous "Fish Stories from
the Cryptozoo."

William Sullivan, Ph.d:
Ethnoastronomer/archaeoastronomer, acclaimed author of The Secret of the Incas: Myth, Astronomy and the War Against Time and Consultant in Astronomy and Mythology to the Human Journey Project of the Center for the World Mythology (St. Paul, MN) with an amazing discussion and slides on "The Invisible Pyramid of Ollantaytambo".

John Michell:
Philosopher, the world's preeminent scholar on the sacred mysteries and powers of the Living Universe & the renowned Fortean author (Eccentric Lives & Peculiar Notions, City of
Revelation, Ancient Metrology, Dimensions of Paradise, View Over Atlantis, Twelve Tribe Nations And The Science of Enchanting The Landscape and more) with anot-to-be-missed illustrated talk, "Crop Circles: Bearers of Knowledge". A must.

Phyllis Benjamin:
Journalist/artist/poet, President of the International Fortean Organization (INFO) and Chair of over twenty years of FortFest and FortNite Conferences on "I think, therefore I had
breakfast", a short discussion of America's Twentieth Century Outsider Philosopher and Father of the Study of Anomalistics, Charles Fort.

Doug Skinner:
Fortean writer/artist/ Off-Broadway (with Bill Irwin) performer extraordinaire on "The Amazing Stories of Richard Shaver". Skinner continues his research into the strange and moving career of Richard Shaver, whose tales of underground caverns, and the rock books of the sea people (who may have been from Atlantis) convinced thousands of readers in the
'40s and '50s.

Phyllis Galde:
Editor of Fate Magazine and Publisher of Galde Press, will invite the audience to jump off the deep end with tales of "Ghastly Ghosts of the Sea: Watery Graves, Haunted Ships and Strange Disappearances".

Antonio Huneeus:
Chilian science journalist on "Aqua UFO: astounding reports, worldwide, on Unidentified Submarine Objects (USOs) including Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia, the mother of all underwater
anomalies".


SUNDAY SEMINARS at the CARLYLE: 10 A.M.-3:00 P.M.

Doug Rogers:
Of MUFON, "The Dilemma of Forbidden Knowledge vs the Status Quo regarding UFOs".

Sarah Estep:
Founder of the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena (AAEVP), author of "Roadsto Eternity" with electronic voice phenomena tapes and stories from Spirit and Space. Bring a tape recorder if you want to tape voices from Beyond during the lunch break.

Phyllis Galde:
"The Most Haunting Stories" from the files of Fate Magazine, a nostalgic, ghostly slide show.

Tom Howell:
Filmmaker and Psychic Investigator on "Psychokinesis Research in the States and Abroad: Energy Fields of Life".

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Can't put their foot on it
Melbourn Herald Sun - Milanda Rout - 08 feb 2005



BIGFOOT, panther, kangaroo or prankster?

That is the question being asked about 15 strange footprints found on a Victorian beach at the weekend.

Kate Perry, 32, and her friends were walking along Blairgowrie beach on Sunday when they saw the 20cm paw prints.

"We thought it was a panther, because we have heard stories about panthers being around Cape Schank," she said after seeing the large prints.

Ms Perry said they were shocked to find 10 to 15 large prints, about 2.7m apart, which went from a dune and stopped near a beach cave.

She would love to find out what left the prints behind. "It is hard to say what it is, but there is something out there," she said.

Melbourne Zoo senior keeper Benjamin Gee said he could not determine what or who left the paw prints after examining the photos. "It does share some characters of a big cat," he said.
"But on closer examination there is absence of rear pads, which cats have."

Mr Gee said the evidence suggested it was not a big cat because the paw prints were too deep. "But it's very difficult to say what it is because you lose a lot of the detail in the sand," he said.

One theory was that they could have been left by a kangaroo's front paw, but there was a lack of other paw marks.

Another strange aspect of the paw prints was the distance between them.

"There is no animal that would have that distance between prints except maybe a giraffe," he said. "And we know it is not a giraffe."

Sightings of big cats have been reported in Victoria for decades, including an amateur videotape that surfaced last year. But it was a big feral cat.

Some people believe big cats were left behind by US marines based in Sale, who kept them as mascots during World War II.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12181159%255E2862,00.html

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Paranormal U.F.O. Detectors &
Ghost Detector


If your into this type of equipment... but I would say its not going to find you much...

PRODUCTS:
http://www.abateelectronics.com/products.html

ABATE ELECTRONICS
27 NEWARK POMPTON TPKE FLOOR-2WAYNE New Jersey 07470USA

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Monday, February 07, 2005

James Gleeson
The National Gallery of Victoria

A must see!

James Gleesonborn Australia 1915
We inhabit the corrosive littoral of habit 1940
oil on canvas 40.7 x 51.3 cm
National Gallery of Victoria
Anonymous gift, 1941© James Gleeson
"Beyond the screen of sight"
29 October 2004 to 27 February 2005
The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/gleeson/

And Then:

18 March to 13 June 2005
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

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Old gaol alive with restless Souls
By KELVIN HEALEY
Sunday Herald Sun - Victoria - 06 feb 2005

Supernatural sights: Paranormal investigator Darren Done claims to have evidence of ghosts in Old Melbourne Gaol.Picture: Tim Carrafa

A TEAM of ghost hunters believes it has uncovered chilling new evidence of paranormal activity at the Old Melbourne Gaol.

Nocturnal investigations at the historic building -- where 136 prisoners were hanged -- have revealed at least three mysterious events. The latest ghostly encounter happened last Saturday night when a group of six people on a paranormal watch saw an unexplained light cross a walkway.

Paranormal researcher Darren Done, who led the team, said:

"It had all the appearances of someone crossing the walkway with a candle, . . . but whereas a candle would illuminate the area around it, this didn't."

Mr Done said group members tried to rationalise the occurrence, but came up with no explanation other than a ghostly presence.

The team also photographed mysterious orbs in the gaol, which Mr Done said were believed to be a sign of paranormal activity.

Using powerful microphones and surveillance cameras, Mr Done, 38, has conducted several ghost hunts at the former prison building, which was built in 1840.

His first ghostly encounter at the gaol was in the early hours of June 21, 2003, when the ghost hunters were startled by a cry for help.

Research revealed a prisoner, known as Lucy R, had committed suicide in the same area on June 21, 1865 -- 138 years to the day before the cry was heard. The group returned on the
anniversary last year and initially believed nothing occurred, but when reviewing audio tapes recorded on the night, heard a voice saying "get out", Mr Done said.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12158489^2862,00.html

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Sunday, February 06, 2005

~ 4000 Hits ~
Many Thanks Too You All

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TRUTH

All truth passes through three stages:
First, it is ridiculed
Second, it is violently opposed
Third, it is accepted as being self-evident
Schopenhauer

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ODD SPOT?
Spacewalking astronauts find goo on station's vents
Marcia Dunn
Associated Press
Jan. 27, 2005 12:00 AM

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Leaving the International Space Station unattended while they stepped outside, the two crewmen hooked up a robotic arm Wednesday and found some kind of gunk on the spacecraft's vents that may explain the frequent breakdowns in its air-supply equipment.

Spacewalkers Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov did not make all of the electrical connections on the experimental mini-arm tight enough and had to redo part of the job, but they managed to get full power flowing with just minutes remaining in their 5 1/2-hour outing.

"Everything's perfect," Mission Control radioed.

"Well, thank God, thank God," came the reply. Before going back inside, they were advised:

"Take a breather."

During their 225-mile-high excursion, the spacewalkers also inspected the station's vents and found a large patch of dark, oily residue and a white, honeycombed substance. It was not immediately known what the substances were.

The space station's Russian oxygen generator has broken down repeatedly, and engineers have speculated its vent may be clogged or corroded. The air-cleansing equipment also has a history of malfunctions.

The spacewalk was the first in Chiao and Sharipov's mission. The American and the Russian are 3 1/2 months into their six-month stay.

Because of the grounding of NASA's shuttle fleet, the space station has been limited to two residents instead of the usual three. As a result, no one was left inside during the spacewalk, but ground controllers kept watch over the spacecraft.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0127spacewalk27.html

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Friday, February 04, 2005

WHATS UP DOC?

Mystery Submarine Ours
04 Feb 2005


AN unmarked submarine off Victoria's west coast has had Portland residents intrigued this week.

A Portland resident called saying he had seen the sub yesterday, after photographer Bob McPherson took a picture of it on Wednesday. "A hell of a lot of people are starting to come down and look at it," he said.

A Defence Department spokesman yesterday confirmed an Australian submarine was in the area but refused to say why.

http://heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12141889%255E2862,00.html

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WHAT ON WITH THE WEATHER!

The high winds and rain we went through yesterday night (3rd Feb 2005) are reflected in this graph from our PRA friend at Melbourne University. In the graph you can see the Atmospheric Pressure is so low that it falls below the recorder limits... now that’s strange!



Dr Andrew Watkins
Position: Honorary Research Fellow
Location: Atmospheric Sciences Group, School of Earth Sciences
http://www.earthsci.unimelb.edu.au/~awatkins/
Postal: School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, VIC 3010 AUSTRALIA

JUST DOWN THE ROAD FROM ME


Floods: Heatherton Rd was closed due to heavy rain at Endeavor Hills.Picture: Nicole Garmston

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MoD's alien files are out of this world
By Cathy Newman and Jean Eaglesham



""The X-Files have been opened: in a victory for ufo-logists everywhere, the man from the ministry not only admits he has an open mind about the existence of extra-terrestrial lifeforms but also keeps a careful tally of UFO sightings.

Following a request under the Freedom of Information Act by the Financial Times, the Ministry of Defence has revealed it remains "totally open-minded" about the possibility that life exists beyond Earth.

The MoD has released a detailed log of reported unidentified flying object sightings. "Strange lights were seen in the sky" in Whitstable, Kent, just over two weeks ago - the same night a member of the public reported a "flying saucer" over Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire and a "sighting" at Chatteris, Cambridgeshire.""

READ MORE:
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/02ee9662-7589-11d9-9608-00000e2511c8.html




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The truth is out there:
declassified reports of UFO sightings reveal 88 sightings last year
By Robert Verkaik,
Legal Affairs Correspondent
03 February 2005


Details of Britain's most recent UFO sightings are revealed in previously secret documents disclosed to The Independent .

The files, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show that, last year, the Ministry of Defence's UFO unit received 88 reports from military staff and members of the

public worried about unexplained objects in our skies.

The classified files help to complete a picture of the scale of UFO sightings first revealed by this paper last month. These updated "X-files" show the most recent observations

were made on 15 January this year following two separate reports from Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, and Whitstable, Kent. The reports refer to "strange lights seen in the sky".

READ MORE:
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=607253

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Thursday, February 03, 2005

Babes Not Stud Muffins


STUD MUFFINS

Larger Image

"Despite Paul's delusion that something he did made someone think of the calendar idea, it has been around for a long time. It's one of those things which comes up every year, and now somebody has done something about it."

Here's the last time anybody had the time:

http://www.ratbags.com/studmuffins/

Peter Bowditch - peter@ratbags.com

Thanks Peter for that info, but King Richard and I are talking about babes. Each to their own I guess?



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ARE WE A HIT OR WHAT!

Yesterdays counter took 70 visits - Well they said it would never last!


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DARWIN DAY
How nice?

"This 2005 Darwin Day event designed for students!will be held on Monday 14 February".


SITE:
http://www.users.on.net/~skeptic/darwin/

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Barry Williams Visits Us

The great bearded burglar, one Skeptic God Barry Williams, only second to our King Richard Of The Skeptics - has passed out way, and we are merciful and grateful to breath thy essence, our blessing on thee. However, thanks to my spy(s) it seems that Barry thinks that I was trying to "seeking to find the genesis of the term "Malfunction Junction""

SEE: http://ufologist.blogspot.com/2005/01/what-is-ufo-malfunction-junction.html

Well sorry Barry, I would agree "Malfunction Junction" is as proverbial as white hair on thy face... but the case in point was UFO POLITICS related. May be next time?

"His research isn't too good either. I browsed his site and came to the bit where he was seeking to find the genesis of the term "Malfunction Junction" and claimed it stemmed from the 1970s. I know it had currency in the RAAF in the 50s and 60s, though not in any UFO context."
From: Barry Williams <skeptics@b...>
Date: Tue Feb 1, 2005 8:54 pm
Subject: Re: [qskeptics] Calendar gets publicity
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/qskeptics/message/31527

The Decent of Man

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