I must apologise to Jun-Ichi Takanashi for consistently
spelling his name wrongly in CW16.
This was caused by slow and agonising brain death following
Reading's failure to reach the play-off finals by a mere four
points.
International UFO Reporter, 24 pages, A4 format,
professionally produced with illustrations. Subscription rates
available from the J.Allen-Hynek Centre for UFO Studies, 2457
West Peterson Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 60659, USA.
November/December issue contains a valuable account by Michael
Swords of his archive research into Gray Barker, best known for
his seminal They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers
(1956), the book which first established the motif of sinister
threats from Men-in-Black desperate to silence UFO investigators
and their witnesses for ever. Swords makes a strong case for the
infamous visit from three Men-in-Black being a visit from
intelligence agents out to keep Barker away from technological
secrets (rather than UFOs). George Wingfield sit up at the back
there ! Richard Haines presents a curious physical trace case
from the Urals. Ole Jonny Braenne analyses the famous Spitsburgen
UFO crash of 1952, concluding that the story is pure fiction.
Editor Jerry Clarke takes on the super skeptics. January/February
1993 issue contains a second fascinating article by Walter Webb
describing his 31 year association with J. Allen-Hynek, the
father of modern UFOlogy. A must for historians of the subject.
Chris Rutkowski asks some critical questions about the extent of
crop circle hoaxing in Britain whilst Ballester Olmos describes
the release of previously classified UFO reports by the Spanish
Air Force. Budd Hopkins takes Carl Sagan to task for his apparent
dismissal of the abduction experience whilst Kevin Randall
questions various skeptical attacks that have been made against
the alleged crash of an alien craft at Roswell in 1947. Two
excellent issues. Sadly the March/April issue is almost wholly
devoted to the astonishingly virulent argument that has developed
around the "Linda Cortile" case - an alleged abduction
by aliens in down-town Manhattan involving one of the world's
most well known political figures as well as several other third
hand witnesses. A group of skeptics appear to have discovered
some highly damaging evidence about this case but their method of
presenting this damming evidence seems to have stirred up a real
old hornets nest. We even have John Mack - Head of the Harvard
School of Psychiatry - claiming that "Linda" is
"clinically, characterologically, humanly ... incapable of
such a deception". Oh dear ! Now I predict that in a year or
two that will be another high powered academic career in ruins.
When will they learn ???
UFO Times, BUFORA, 2c Leyton Road, Harpenden,
Herts, AL5 2TL. Summer issue (nos 19-20) contains an article
about the "Multi- Stimuli Hypothesis" by Robert Moore,
who surveys numerous rational explanations for UFO reports. Also
an Investigations Diary and reports on the numerous
misidentifications of the Daily Star airship which attracted a
lot of media interest in 1992. The highlight of issue 21 is its
emphasis on UFO cases from all over Europe. Issue 22 features an
alleged abduction in the Quantock Hills of Somerset plus the
controversial Mary Seal- inspired "Global Deception"
conference. May/June issue contains more on the Quantock case,
notes by Clive Potter and Robert France on "The Shadow of
Man" project. Cynthia Hind dissects the South African UFO
crash case whilst Gordon Millington reviews the infamous
Villas-Boas case.
MUFON UFO Journal, 24 pages, $ 3.00 per issue. Write to
103 Oldtowne Road, Seguin, Texas 78155-4099, USA. November 1992
issue contains Jim Schnabel's infamous "Confessions of a
Crop Circle Spy!" article, a must for all crop circle
afficionados ! There is also an Open Letter to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations appealing to the UN to
begin funding research into UFOs. Fat chance eh ! The most
controversial and damaging aspect of the January issue is Walt
Andrus' unashamed promotion of the Gulf Breeze hoax - this
despite the discovery of the model which Ed Walters allegedly
used to fabricate his spaceship photos and despite the fact that
an alleged accomplice has confessed !!! How dare MUFON
continue to promote this blatant and deeply damaging fraud of a
case in UFOlogy's name. The February issue concentrates on Fire
in the Sky, the new UFO movie by Paramount Pictures, with a
revealing interview with Travis Walton himself. Both January and
February issues contain correspondence on the Swangate hoax.
March issue discusses UFOs that shoot back, the rather
predictable expose of Gerald Anderson - an alleged witness to the
1947 crash of an alien spaceship at Roswell, New Mexico - and
there's another facetious article by Dr Willy Smith. Sadly the
most important piece of information in this issue is hidden away
on page 15 rather than being promoted on the front page as a
triumph for skeptical UFOlogy over the true believers. John
Coates of Houston has recently tracked down State Policeman R.N.
Ferguson, the officer who first called at the tiny hamlet of
Hopkinsville, Kentucky, in 1955. Coates reports Ferguson's
opinion (at the time of his investigation in 1955) that there was
nothing to the story, for he found little evidence of any
encounter with little goblins and he recalls that the witnesses
were "not the most stable people you'll ever meet".
This classic UFO story allegedly features several adults shooting
at a group of tiny alien creatures (it is pretty much without
parallel in the English-speaking UFO literature) but Ferguson
found only one bullet hole - a SQUARE hole 1 inch across - in a
window, which he concluded had been "cut out with a razor
blade". Furthermore - and you never hear this in the classic
retelling of the story - there was a science fiction film showing
at the local theatre that week. Perhaps it was "The Day The
Earth Stood Still" ? The May issue contains Michael
Strainic's fascinating discussion of crop circles and squashed
porcupines. Jim Schnabel has an important article about
Munchausen's syndrome and its implications for alleged paranormal
experiences (particularly for alien abduction claims). An
absolute must for any objective researcher. The June issue is
just out, with a full report on the Louisville, Kentucky
helicopter-UFO chase described in our last issue, a very amusing
report on the ultimate UFO Conference (where the UFOs just turn
up to display their supremacy to any old UFOlogist who just
happens to chance along) and there is the "inside
story" of "Linda Cortile" - currently the centre
of one of the most vitriolic arguments in American UFOlogy for
many years.
The Journal of Meteorology, Vol 18,
no 179, May/June 1993. 54 Frome Road, Bradford-on-Avon,
Wiltshire, BA15 1LD. Issue 174 carries further comment by David
Reynolds on possible locations for the possible crop circle at
Assenuncuria in 1590 (described in Robert Plott's The Natural
History of Staffordshire, 1686). There is also a drawing and
description of yet another circular ice trace - in the River Don
near Toronto, Canada - this too rotates due to the flow of water.
Issue 175 carries a full report on the damage caused by a tornado
in the Norfolk village of Long Stratton on 14 December 1989 as
well as an account of the 4th TORRO Conference on Ball
Lightning held at Oxford Polytechnic on 11 July 1992. Issue 176
carries another excellent account by Dana Mack of what its like
to drive alongside a tornado in Oklahoma. If you're interested in
Ball Lightning get issue 178 - there's a full statistical
analysis of more than 2,000 BL events from Russia and Austria.
Issue 179 carries a full report on swirled traces found in snow
in the mountains of Iran (1968) and Turkey (1975) by a university
geologist, Dr. Alan Wells. The Turkish swirls were found in deep
thawing snow at a height of around 1,800 metres in the Munzur
Mountains. The drawing shows that there were at least six anti-
clockwise swirls, all six to eight metres in diameter, with
several cases of over-lapping. During my university studies I did
discover well documented accounts of polygonal markings heaved
out of thermafrost in the Siberian tundra, but I found nothing
like these swirled traces. There is also a good summary of
Operation Bluehill summarising Meaden's latest views about the
extent of crop circle hoaxing.
Wonderland, a sideways glance at the weird, wonderful
& bizarre. This is a new magazine published by Craig Harris
of 5 Willow Court, Droitwich, Worcestershire, WR9 9HL. 16 pages
A5, 60p per issue, # 2.00 for 4 issues per year. This is a
relatively skeptical magazine containing articles on UFOs,
cryptozoology, apparitions, men-in-black, puma sightings, etc
etc. You name it it'll be in here.
High quality aerial photographs of crop circles available from
Richard Wintle, Calyx Photo News, Marlborough House, 26 High
Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 3EP. Telephone 0793-520131 and
ask for Julie.
Quality aerial photographs of the 1992 Wiltshire formations.
6" x 4" = # 1.25. Posters also available. For a full
list and detailed description please send a sae to Anthony Horn,
23 Sea View Drive, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO11 3HY.
The Crop Watcher is printed by Northern Arts Publishing, Roper
Lane, Thurgoland, South Yorkshire. S30 7AA. Telephone 0742
883235.
Crop Circles, A Mystery Solved by Jenny Randles and
Paul Fuller (Robert Hale Ltd), # 5.99 pb. A new and extensively
updated edition will be published in August 1993, price # 7.99.
Finally, our best wishes go to Ralph Noyes, who is in hospital
following his accident. All the best for a speedy recovery.
