Your Editor has finally come by copies of the last two
editions of Colin Andrews' CPR International Newsletter
(Vol 2 Nos 2 and 3). In both these issues Andrews' increasingly
desperate claims almost begger description. In Vol 2 No 2 Andrews
describes his 1993 visit to England. Almost as soon as he leaves
Gatwick Airport Andrews spies what I believe to be one of Jim
Schnabel's M25 formations, which Andrews promotes (without even
bothering to investigate) as genuine. It seems that Andrews has
still not learnt the hard hard lessons following his embarrassing
experiences at Operation Blackbird in 1990. Andrews goes on to
discuss his lecture at the Hilton Hotel on Malta. This lecture
was promoted by George De Trafford and allegedly attracted
various high ranking dignitaries from the South African, German
and French Embassies in Malta.
In another amusing article Andrews discusses the Bythorn
formation. It seems that Andrews received "fax after
fax" from one of his "confidential sources"
(George Wingfield ?) who desperately tried to convince Andrews
that the formation was a hoax by someone called "J"
(Jonathon Richardson). Ultimately Andrews just can't make up his
mind about Bythorn. On page 7 are drawings of some of the
ludicrous 1993 formations. Andrews even promotes Erik Beckford's
wheelchair symbol (T246) as well as a running stick man (T253).
In volume 2 no 3 Andrews begins by questioning the methods and
motives of several of his opponents, including his former
colleague John Macnish. However, Andrews begins with perhaps the
greatest piece of hypocrisy yet published by the world's greatest
living cereologist :
"Many people would like to simply dismiss John Macnish's book, without looking at his evidence, as just another attempt to debunk the phenomenon. However, to do so would be a refusal to research the mystery with honesty and objectivity. Therefore, we felt it important to delay the newsletter [ie to panic] so Colin could spend the appropriate time cross-referencing John's material with his data base."
Andrews begins by showering Macnish with praise, stating that Cropcircle
Apocalypse is "invaluable in helping to sort out the
man-made component from the genuine". Andrews then falsely
alleges that Macnish was introduced to the subject because he
read the "first book" on the subject Circular
Evidence. Once again Andrews omits to refer to BUFORA's
earlier published works or to Meaden's The Circles Effect and
its Mysteries.
Andrews attacks Macnish for what he calls "tactics of
trickery" which were "deplorable". He describes a
meeting where Macnish allegedly tried to trick Andrews into
saying things he did not want to say. John Macnish, quite
naturally, has denied these serious allegations.
Next Andrews accepts that many of the 1991 and 1992 formations
were man-made. He even discovers (seemingly for the first time)
the names of some of the people who have been duping him (eg
"Jim Schnable" and "Doug Bowers"). Despite
this (and without any supporting evidence) he accuses Doug and
Dave of "back engineering" their hoaxes to earlier
years.
Later, Andrews alleges that Hampshire Police covered up the
sighting of a large orange-coloured UFO seen over the field where
Doug and Dave were being filmed making the Sutton Scotney circle
by John Macnish. Presumably he is also accusing Macnish of
covering-up the film he must have produced of this astonishing
sight if he was there with Doug Bower at the same time. Andrews
then makes the following incredible statement :
"WE MUST BE ABLE TO TRUST THE REPORTS OF RESEARCHERS or the entire field looses credibility. It is very difficult to sort out real anomalies when mixed with over-active imaginations, self delusion or lime light seeking. This is probably the greatest threat to finding the truth that we all seek; more so than governments, skeptics or the like.
Later, Andrews states that:
"The majority of people who initially started the crop circle research are honest, inquisitive people who set out to do their best, with the resources they had, to unravel the mystery of the circles. Many of them have lost their mortgages, homes, family, friends and colleagues, (some very close to their soul) as well as their professional respect."
As regular readers will know, this is simply not true. Those
researchers quoted by Andrews were dishonest conniving people who
saw the opportunity to make huge sums of money by conning
millions of people via the mass suppression of unwelcome evidence
and the dissemination of gross untruths about themselves and
their work. They cared not one hoot for the feelings of the
farming community when they scaremongered over the
"contaminated" crops, nor did they care about the
credibility of UFOlogy with their stupid promotion of the exotic
alien mythology. Instead they lied and lied until they had
created a monolithic mythology that is still spreading out around
the world causing annoyance and even hardship to farmers. No
Colin, there is no sympathy for you, only complete and utter
contempt from hundreds of farmers all over the world.
Amusingly Andrews goes on to describe the infamous HSC
spagyrik analysis as being "analogized" (you mean
ANALYSED Colin). He still seems to think that this is a
scientifically accepted technique despite numerous comments to
the contrary. Little wonder that HSC refused to answer
your letters Colin - in 1989 you used their test results to
scaremonger and promote yourself on TV but never paid them for
the cost of their work !
Again poor old Dr Levengood is dragged up and promoted as an
"eminent biophysicist". According to information in
your Editor's possession Dr Levengood still believes that Jim
Schnabel's Dharmic Wheel formations are genuine non-hoaxed
formations - isn't it time someone at the "scientific"
Project Argus told him about Jim Schnabel's confessions in 1993 ?
Despite being enthusiastically promoted by Andrews, poor old
Dr Levengood is quickly demolished with the following :
"Many tens of formations which Dr Levengood has felt
showed the signs of authenticity, are _proven man-made
formations_" (my emphasis, PF). Andrews then
doubts whether Schnabel really did make the Dharmic Wheel
formations, although he previously accepts the convincing
formation-under-a-stamp method employed by Schnabel to prove his
hoaxing. What was that you said about us being able to trust the
researchers Colin ?
Later Andrews claims that Delgado, Taylor and Meaden did not
deserve to be "tricked" into promoting hoaxes as
genuine on film. In a desperate attempt to claim some sympathy
for his current predicament Andrews states :
"Whatever the cause of the circles turns out to be, and I am far from convinced that they are all a hoax, the people trying to understand it do not deserve the tactics being used. We have not been trying to trick anyone; we have simply been trying to understand and communicate an exciting mystery".
If Andrews has not been trying to "trick" anybody,
why did his "definitive" book cover up proof that his
co-author had fallen for the 1986 Cheesefoot Head hoax
perpetrated by a group of Cornish farmhands ? If Andrews was not
trying to "trick" anyone, why did his
"definitive" book knowingly omit eye witness testimony
of the force that actually creates the crop circles ? If Andrews
was not trying to "trick" anyone, why did he falsely
promote himself as a Chief Officer at Test Valley Borough
Council?
Andrews goes on to discuss how he was "woken up in the
early hours" of Operation Blackbird and then "put in
front of cameras to declare an event before I had even seen it.
Of course, it was easily discovered to be a hoax". Readers
will recall that in fact according to numerous published sources
(eg Round in Circles page 165) Andrew himself telephoned
the media and made these ill-advised statements on camera instead
of actually going down into the circles and examining them !
In between boughts of accusing John Macnish of falsifying
statements, dowsing non-existent energy lines and accusing Doug
and Dave of being liars Andrews claims that :
"The good news is that now we have these people out in the open [ie the hoaxers] and we know what they have been up to, we can really get down to the work. I had long thought that the pre-1989 data would be vital in working out what is occurring with the phenomenon. 'Circular Evidence' is worth much more to the serious researcher than our follow-up, 'Crop Circles - The latest Evidence', because it covered the very period when the phenomenon was low key; the uncontaminated period, which includes when D&D claim their hoaxing career began. So now we have listened to the hoaxers representatives and to some of the hoaxers directly, we are in a position to check details we recorded in that period against their claims. And BINGO - The patterns that have impressed me over the years and that I always felt represented the real mystery, stand with NO CLAIMS and no explanations."
Doesn't this sound as if Andrews is admitting that for years
and years he and Delgado knowingly promoted circles which they
did NOT believe represented the "real mystery" ?
"Even Ken Brown, Doug and Daves' biggest fan and personal representative, quoted me publicly as saying there was a handful of patterns that I would, hand on heart, say 'these are genuine'. Although he took the details back to D&D, they did not challenge my choice. Why ?"
So, it seems clear. Here we have it in black and white.
Andrews AGREES that "only a handful of patterns" are
"genuine". Which ones we ask ourselves ? Well here's
Andrews' latest list :
the 1986 single at Headbourne Worthy (claimed by Doug and Dave)
the 1985 quintuplet at Goodworth Clatford (also claimed by Doug and Dave)
the 1988 "Celtic Cross" at Longstock (admittedly not claimed by Doug and Dave, but a little bird told me that Andrews himself knew who had made it!)
So much for Andrews' "genuine" formations ! Readers
will be interested to learn that despite his published acceptance
that "only a handful" of formations are
"genuine" Andrews continued to promote dozens of Doug
and Daves' formations at his crop circle lecture at the Cricklade
Theatre, Andover on July 27th. It seems that even Andrews doesn't
know which formations are "genuine" and which ones are
hoaxes !!
Once again Andrews goes on to question the "motives and
honesty" of Doug and Dave, as well as the TODAY
newspaper :
"Concerning the dishonest nature of media reporting of these events, I think the time has long since passed when we should challenge the media head on. Unless they are prepared to give balanced and honest accounts [ie promote Andrews' view, PF] all of us doing serious research should refuse to talk to them. Honesty is the bottom line, if they are to print such nonsense we should be sure to leave their handy work on the shelf..."
Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but it was only a few short
years ago that Andrews was prepared to say ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING to
the media as long as they published his name and views, so why
the sudden turnaround ?
There is an awful lot of other rubbish in this newsletter but
I will only deal with one more - Colin Andrew's failed attempt to
promote that old chestnut - Professor Gerald Hawkin's
"diatonic ratios". Andrews states that "accurately
stomped diameters would give 3.6 +/- 1.7 hits, only 1.6 standard
deviations above random [you mean "average" Colin], but
the circle makers in 1981-88 were 4.9 standard deviations above
randomness ["average"]. This means the unidentified
primary hoaxers were about 2,500 times more successful than Doug
and Dave or any other plank stompers could have been. The
simplest and most direct conclusion to make at this time (March
1994) is that the diatonic ratios were put there
deliberately."
Of course this is statistical gobbledy-gook. It is a nonsense
to calculate statistical probabilities when both these datasets
are so heavily contaminated with hoaxes (something Andrews has
just admitted in print !). The clustering of circle diameters has
already been successfully explained by several commentators as
the result of the use of circle-making equipment of a set length.
In correspondence with me during 1992 and 1993 Professor Hawkins
accepted that Doug and Dave may well have made many of the
circles he had analysed, so why does Andrews omit publishing this
fact ?
Andrews summarises his arguments with the following :
"Clearly Doug and Dave and other field artists have made substantial numbers of formations, at least in the last few years. How much of our criteria for authenticity still stands ? The crop circle competition [of 1992] showed that patterns can be made, but all competitors damaged the crop they worked it. They also did not show the prenodal bend, just above ground level, that we look for in authentic formations, or the real 's' swirl..."
Once again Andrews appears to be guilty of rewriting crop
circle history to suit his own ends. Readers will recall that
according to Cropcircle Apocalypse Rupert Sheldrake
admitted that the West Wycombe competition pictograms were
"very, very good" and that the competitors had done
"fantastically well". Sheldrake's illuminating comments
are shown on film in John Macnish's new video Crop Circle
Communique II.
To summarise, this newsletter must be the most outrageous set
of lies yet published on the subject. It ends with the offer of a
"Research Workshop/Tour" in which Colin Andrews offers
"hands on participation" costing # 250 for a three day
tour of the hoaxes in the Beckhampton area. The tour includes a
night-time meditation inside Stonehenge (most visitors can only
observe from a distance) as well as flights over circles,
brain-storming and dowsing. According to information reaching The
Crop Watcher CPR's Australian representative Dr Patti
Barton has decided not to organise a lecture tour in Australia
due to a lack of interest in the subject. Even UFO Research
Queensland turned down a request from Andrews to lecture to them.
As we watch, the crop circle believers who invented the
mythology are talking to a rapidly declining international
audience. News of their deceptions and cover-ups is spreading
fast around the world. Farmers everywhere are becoming wise to
the great crop circle fraud that has been perpetrated at their
expense. The Crop Watcher calls on the Circles Phenomenon
Research Group to disband, to issue a public apology and to offer
its remaining finances to an agricultural charity.
Congratulations for pulling off the greatest stunt in UFO
history.
Readers will recall that in CW20
we examined claims made to Colin Andrews by the Japanese
representative attending the United Nations Society for
Enlightenment and Transformation lecture :
"Following last minute discussions at the United Nations with the Japanese representative appearing at the symposium, I was happy to be able to celebrate with the audience the Japanese and Chinese government's decision to openly research and release information on the UFO. The Japanese representative told me of plans, which have now been set in motion, to inform their people of the truth surrounding the UFO. A huge multi-million dollar museum now being built in Japan, is the first phase of the public education program."
Writing in the CPR International Newsletter (Fall 1993,
vol 2 no 2) Colin Andrews discusses this claim in some detail.
Andrews states that during lunch at the United Nations he was
introduced to "a Japanese government official" Mr
Johsen Takano, Professor Chiang, Yoang Yung, Chairman of the
Taiwan UFO Science Assocation, John Schuessler, Michael Hesemann
and Dr. Rauni Luukanen-Kilde of Norway. During lunch Andrews
claims that Takano suddenly produced plans of the proposed Hakui
City UFO Museum. Andrews states :
"[Takano] explained that this was the beginning of a very
important government program following adoption of a new policy
to educate the Japanese people about the UFO phenomenon within
the next three years. ... This was the first I was aware of the
Japanese government's decision to reveal information about the
UFO and other related phenomena. I could not believe what I was
hearing, yet at a deeper level, I have expected similar
developments from the west in a similar time frame".
Well, according to Andrews it seems that even the Chinese
Government has decided to educate its peoples about UFOs and crop
circles ! Andrews claims that he has been invited by the Chinese
Government to run a "series of lectures" at "a
large University in Taiwan" during April 1994. There is a
drawing of what the Japanese UFO Museum will look like ("the
conventional Adamski-type UFO") and the subjects to feature
in this "museum" will include "aerial phenomena,
abductions, crop circles, and radio transmissions related to S.E.T.I.".
Andrews quotes Takano stating that the Museum has a budget of
5,400,000,000 yen (approx $ 50 million US). Hakui is a small
coastal town 310 miles to the west of Tokyo.
Expose
Now new evidence has emerged which casts a wholly different
light on these sensational claims. In the Spring 1993 issue of
Tim Beckley's "UFO Universe" magazine, Anthonio Huneeus
has published an article titled "Japan's UFO Mystery
Tour". In it he states :
"In 1989, shortly after Kaifu became Prime Minister, the Japanese press reported that the small textile town of Hakui was receiving funds to build a UFO museum. The Japan Times quoted Mayor Kazuo Shiotani saying that 'our idea is that if we build a museum or a library devoted to UFOs, we will be able to attract more conventions and tourists. We want Hakui to be a town that everyone in Japan knows.' The same article quoted excerpts from Kaifu's 1983 letter. According to The Wall Street Journal's Tokyo correspondent, the Hakui funds were part of an 'extravagant # 2.4 billion furusato sosei - or 'home town creation' plan, aimed at boosting communities nationwide'. The plan consisted of giving 100 million yen (about $ 770,000 US) to various towns and villages. 'All the recipients have to do is find a way to use the money', continued the article, which reported Hakui's 'alien project' of 'building a UFO museum shaped like a flying saucer'."
So, now we see Colin Andrew's claims in a wholly different
light. In no way was this an official Japanese Government Project
to inform the public about the UFO phenomenon. Neither were there
any connections with the Chinese Government or the US Government.
Instead it was a crafty attempt by the mayor of a small Japanese
textile town to attract tourists and establish his town on the
Japanese consciousness ! Readers are invited to calculate the
huge difference in the sum of money quoted by Andrews and that
quoted by the Wall Street Journal !
Further into Huneeus' article it becomes clear that Johsen
Takano, the "Japanese government official" who spoke to
Andrews at the United Nations, is actually an employee of the
Hakui City Council, as well as being a long-time UFO buff.
According to a UPI press release dated 7 Jan 1994 Josef
Takano, 38, has a personal collection of "thousands" of
UFO books and his interest in the subject stems from his student
days. According to Takano "We are not seeking to offer any
conclusions on the existence of UFOs. Rather, we just want to
provide people with information so that they can make their own
judgement."
The idea for creating the UFO Museum probably formed following
pro-UFO statements made by former Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu in
1983, when he wrote a letter to the leader of his own political
party, the Liberal Democratic Party stating:
"When you ask me if I believe in UFOs, I'll say I'd like to though I've never seen them, because the existence of UFOs is a perfect dream."
Kaifu's interest in UFOs stems from a meeting he held in 1967
with Mr Takio Oda, "a very influential person in the Foreign
Ministry". Kaifu went on to state :
"It's been one of my desires to watch a UFO ever since, but it has never materialised".
Amazingly Kaifu admitted that he had searched for UFOs in
trips to the Pacific Islands, Australia, Switzerland and
Antarctica. "I hope my dream to encounter a UFO comes true
in the future".
In November 1989, shortly after Kaifu became the Japanese
Prime Minister, Kaifu gave a brief interview to students at
Waseda University in Tokyo, where the question of founding an
official government UFO organisation was raised. Kaifu responded
:
"... If young people display a serious interest in similar phenomena, we should perhaps think of forming a UFO data collecting group under the auspices of the Ministry of Education".
In 1990 the Hakui City School Board organised a Space &
UFO symposium which attracted 50,000 people to see the exhibits.
The organisers managed to obtain a letter of endorsement from
Prime Minister Kaifu to Major Shiotani dated June 4, 1990.
Perhaps this letter is one reason why Takano appears to have
claimed to Colin Andrews that the UFO Museum was an official
Japanese Government-backed project ?
Plans for the UFO Museum proceeded from this date, although
now four years later it is still only a concept on paper. In late
1991 Prime Minister Kaifu stepped down from his premiership and
was replaced by Kichi Miyazawa. However, Tokuo Moriwaki, who is a
graduate in political science from Waseda University, has set up
the Japan UFO Political Party, one of dozens of single-issue
"mini parties" which dot the Tokyo political spectrum.
Moriwaki has tried since 1986 to get elected to the Upper House
of the Japanese Diet (Parliament), but has so far failed.
So, once again a claim made by Colin Andrews in the public
arena has turned out to be quite false. Once again the public
have been mislead. And once again we call on Andrews to issue a
public retraction.
