In CW22 we featured the
first response to a circular letter to Meaden's peer group -
those scientists who were publicly associated with the 1990
Circles Effect Conferences held in Oxford. In our previous issue
Dr Tokio Kikuchi of Kochi University, Japan, made clear that
despite his concern at the extent of hoaxing he was still
prepared to consider an atmospheric solution to some crop
circles. Having circulated Dr Kikuchi's response Dr John Graham,
the Director of Studies at Shuttleworth College, Cranfield
University, also responded (letter dated 30th August 1994). This
is what he has to say :-
"Dear Paul, Many thanks for your letter of 19 August. In
response to your request perhaps I can make a few (personal)
points :
(1) The majority of circles/formations are probably
man-made. A few, simple, circles are very possibly not. However,
until hoaxers stop hoaxing or we catch a real one "in the
act" as it is being formed, we cannot be fully certain. I am
wary of the Skeptics (as I am of many other groups) because, like
so many, they are trying to get the facts to fit their theory.
(2) Terence Meaden is one of the few to be doing it
properly, i.e. vice versa. Accordingly, as time goes by and we
accumulate more evidence, so he will revise his hypothesis until
it is thoroughly tested. Normal, proper scientific procedure.
Hence we should expect what he is saying in 1996 for example to
have moved on from what he was saying in 1993.
(3) I have read Tokio Kikuchi's letter in the Crop
Watcher with interest. I too am uneasy about the word
'plasma'. Perhaps this is just because I have a biological
background where plasma is found in blood, and I don't know so
very much about physicists' plasma ! However, the key factor is
that some sort of vortex is involved - from my own observations
of crop damage, both in circles and in non-geometric
configurations, I feel certain that this is the most likely
culprit.
I hope these few remarks are of help to you. If you wish me to
comment further on any specific points do please let me know.
Best Wishes, Yours Sincerely,
Dr John Graham."
The Crop Watcher has circulated copies of this letter
and Dr Tokio Kikuchi's letter in CW22 to all six members
of Terence Meaden's peer group as detailed in CW22 page 16 and we await
further replies with interest.
Dear Crop Watcher, Let no one - bar the odd author, perhaps -
again accuse Andrew Collins of plagiary. He's just too good at
making up the stories himself. Alien Energy is the latest
example.
For the record: On page 44 Andy talks of me being, 'suddenly
stunned by a burst of light that emanated from a position
directly beside (me)'. Actually it came from above, and I didn't
feel particularly stunned - a little surprised maybe. On the same
page he writes that my partner saw nothing. This is untrue; if
he'd asked her, she would have told him that she witnessed the
same thing I did. On the following page, Andy reports that I told
him that I, along with three others, 'witnessed a ball of light
at close quarters'. This is untrue, and the first I've heard of
such a story. There was a report, relayed to him by a third
party, concerning an event I'd supposedly witnessed. I promised
to give him details, but he never got back to me. Instead, he
simply made the story up.
On page 148 there is an account of a visit to the edge of the
East Field, Alton Barnes, in which Andy, his partner Debbie, Pam
Price & I, 'all clearly heard a peculiar noise emanate from a
position just metres away from where we stood'. Andy goes on to
describe the noise as, alternately, 'a fishing reel being cast
... over the crop ... appearing to curve around in an arc ... and
heard one final time in the field on the opposite side of the
deserted Pewsey Road'. 'No-one could offer any simple explanation
for this unusual event', he says. Well, I could, and I remember
doing so. I also remember full agreement from Pam & Andy at
the time. It was clearly road noise from an approaching, then
arriving, and then departing vehicle. I even remember waiting for
another vehicle to pass so we could verify the effect. I do not
recall, however, seeing any 'huge aerial flash' above Knapp Hill,
apart from the usual head-light play. To anyone familiar with the
area, this is quite usual.
In the reference section to Chapter 8 (pages 235-236) he takes
issue with the conclusions Jim Schnabel & I reached in our
1992 'Rolling Their Own' piece for The Independent Magazine.
Without going into depth, it is obvious that Andy has not
recently re-read the article, did not appreciate the points
raised, nor has he responded to the numerous offers made to him
(at the proof-reading stage of his book) to listen to tapes which
clearly illustrate that UBI possessed a greater, 'flair
and enthusiasm' for crop circles than Andy describes. Neither has
he recently spoken to Jim or myself at any length on the subject.
It shouldn't be necessary to mention that firm evidence would be
a pre-requisite of acceptance by The Independent. In the
real world, it's not quite so easy to get away with writing tosh.
A curious aside; researchers not suffering from a short-term
memory disfunction will remember it was Andy who informed us that
John Martineau had claimed authorship to Jim's 'Dharmic Wheel'
formation of 1992, suggesting that it might have been,
"automatically rolled". Does he still believe this ? I
am confused. However, should Andy agree to a detailed debate on
this topic - in any sensible forum - I would be more than happy
to oblige.
On the subject of our infamous balloon 'experiments' in the
Pewsey Vale in 1992 (ref Chapter 10 p237); Andy awards great
significance to their dates - he even suggests, ridiculously,
that they may have been as late as November that year. Again, he
made no effort to check. If he had, he would have found the real
facts entirely inconsistent to the ones he portrays.
There is much true mystery in the world, possibly encompassing
Alton Barnes - it's formulation is unnecessary. That aside, I'm
sure Andy's book is highly entertaining.
Robert Irving
London.
PF notes: Andy Collins will be responding to
Irving's letter in our next issue, when a full review of Alien
Energy will appear. I can confirm that in late September -
two years after The Independent Magazine article appeared
- I was contacted by Paul Randall, one of the members of the UBI,
following Andy Collins' intervention. Randall alleged that the UBI
had never made more than two circles and were not Kronig's
mythical "A team". I readily agreed to attend an open
meeting to discuss this claim but I have yet to hear from the UBI
as to details of this meeting. In the meantime I have received a
tape recording from Irving of various interviews and telephone
conversations he held with members of UBI during 1991 and
1992. These tapes will form the basis of several articles which
will appear in future issues.
The Irish UFO and Paranormal Research Association (IUFOPRA)
have informed us that two grass circles appeared on a freshly
mowed lawn at a house in the Mourne area of County Down, Northern
Ireland, on June 25th. The circles appeared within 48 hours of
cutting and changed shape over the following 72 hours. The
smallest was 14 feet in diameter whilst the largest, which
appeared to have a spur attached, was 16 feet in diameter. We
await further news with interest.
Colin Andrews' colour poster of the "best" 1993
formations has caused one or two people to sit up and take notice
! Colin has promoted the two "Bohemian" formations made
by the Wessex Skeptics (recently admitted to in Volume 8, No 1 of The
Skeptic) as well as Erik Beckjord's wheelchair symbol !
Robert Fischer of Saint Max, France, has sent me a copy of
issue 36 of Lumieres dans la Nuit. This issue features
photographs of three unexplained ground markings, at Col de
Vence, (1985 and 1993), Saint-Geniez (Sept 1993) and at d'Aumont
(Sept 1993). The first traces involved a sunken circle and a
grass circle, both of which may be unusual fungal growths (??).
The middle case looks like a classic crop circle. The last case
is composed of three sets of dark rings on a light sandy soil.
The rings almost touch eachother and allegedly nothing grows
inside them. Joel Mesnard undertook an investigation and
concluded that they were probably hoaxes as the rings were made
up of what might be ground tree bark which was largely
superficial to the soil.
Readers will recall the appearance two years running of the
"APBO" hoax near Cherry Burton on Humberside. It
occurred to me that if these letters were not created by any of
the known circlemakers (eg Jonathon Richardson, or the
Cambridge-based Mandelbrot-makers) then perhaps these were the
initials of the hoaxers responsible. Whilst doing an interview
with BBC Radio Humberside on August 30th I learnt from the
presenter Russell Merryman that this hoax appeared on land owned
or leased by Bishop Burton agricultural college. On September 8th
I wrote to the college enquiring whether or not this hoax did
indeed appear on their land and whether or not their students (or
perhaps, as with the Southwell hoax discussed in CW6 page
28, rival students from another college) were responsible. On
October 19th Howard Petch, the college Principal, kindly
responded with the following:
"I have little information to assist your enquiries.
However, there has been evidence of one small, poorly constructed
and obviously man-made (with footprints etc) corn circle at Mill
Hill in 1994. Quite a number of other incidents have occurred
over the previous few years but we have no idea whether students
(our or others) were responsible."
Also, having assisted the Strange But True? team at
London Weekend Television in their research into crop circles, I
contacted David Alpin, the producer (who I met at the Fortean
Times Unconvention in June). In a letter dated 25 October David
states "I decided not to include crop circles in this series
of STRANGE BUT TRUE? because we did not have an
appropriate story. A great many subjects have been investigated
and rejected in the making of our programmes, so that we could
present viewers with the very best and most fascinating of
mysteries to watch and decide on". A book, based on the
series and written by Peter Hough and Jenny Randles, is currently
on sale, price not yet known !
Did anyone see the alleged photographs of the Virgin Mary in
the Sunday Express magazine on November 13th ? "Its a
Miracle" featured photographs of several locations said to
have produced miraculous events. According to the text "The
Virgin Mary supposedly appeared here [at Conyers, Atlanta, USA]
in the sky, right, to a young woman in 1988. Since then, many
other claims have perpetuated these sensational scenes of
pilgrimage and evangelism. Preachers address the vast
congregations by loudspeaker, and the crowds scan the sky with
cameras, hoping to capture a divine image, below. A foundation
called Our Loving Mother's Network has been set up here, partly
to keep believers updated on the latest sightings". The
attached photographs appear to show a huge glowing cloud
formation with spiralling arms. Does this indicate rotation ? If
so, is this some kind of plasma vortex phenomenon ?
r.p.v. ??
Also, did anyone see the article in New Scientist, 20
August 1994, describing advanced military technology ? The
diagram included an "unmanned aerial vehicle" (a kind
of remotely-piloted vehicle) which seems strikingly similar to
the drawing of the "daylight dumbbell" case reported
from Novato, California, on April 15th, 1989 (see IUR, Vol
14, No 5, pages 12-13).
Did anyone tape Pat Delgado's appearance on TV's What's My Line in November ? If so I would like a copy please !
One of our "deep throat" sources has informed us
that he has submitted four sealed envelopes to ITN's Schofield's
Quest which contains predictions of crop formations to appear
in 1995. It is expected that Schofield - if he can find the time
- will open these envelopes "live" on TV late next
summer.
The Amersham group's hoaxed giant penis near Chequers (which
featured in many national newspapers this summer) finally made it
to BBC TV's "Have I Got News For You" on November 18th,
when crop circle guru David Icke was one of the guests. Curiously
Reg Pressley was promoted by presenter Angus Dayton as the
leading member of the Circles Phenomenon Research Group. No doubt
Colin Andrews will have something to say about this!
Paul Vigay of Portsmouth is currently under threat of legal
action from Circlevision following comments attributed to him by
the Portsmouth News on July 30th. In a highly contentious
interview Vigay alleged that he had recently attended a public
lecture in London when he had a "run in with a pair of
hoaxers, or 'circle debunkers'" who "showed a sequence
of time lapse pictures that appeared to show a crop circle being
hoaxed". According to the Portsmouth News "Paul
stood up and said he could produce the same sort of pictures with
computer manipulation in a few minutes". The article
continues by alleging that these un-named "hoaxers"
"backed down" once they had seen Paul Vigay's
computer-produced images.
According to correspondence in my possession on January 12th
1994 Paul Vigay wrote to Circlevision to clarify similar claims
he made at the December 4th BUFORA lecture. Vigay states
that "under no circumstances have I, either at the BUFORA
lecture or subsequently, accused you, your husband or his company
of lying. Also, under no circumstances would I make any statement
to damage your reputation or inhibit your business. However, it
remains a matter of fact that photographic and video evidence is
less effective in today's technological environment, with the
latest developments in computer technology, both hardware and
software allowing one to manipulate images in any way one
desires. This does not imply or suggest that you or Circlevision
have used such methods, but it should be pointed out to
researchers that such techniques exist." Of course this is
not what Vigay claimed at the BUFORA lecture, when he
appeared to imply that Circlevision was presenting
computer-enhanced images of circle-makers at work at night rather
than real-world images.
With this letter Vigay supplied Circlevision with laser copies
of a computer-generated image of the Barbury Castle formation as
viewed from high above the formation. Apparently this image is
not the same as that shown by Circlevision at the BUFORA
lecture.
In correspondence with me Paul Vigay maintains that the
comments in the Portsmouth News article did not refer to
Circlevision or the BUFORA lecture. However, he has
refused to name the people discussed in the Portsmouth News
article or the location of the lecture discussed. Readers may
find it difficult to believe that the MacNishes are not the only
video makers who recently presented a public lecture in London
about crop circles. It seems even more unbelievable that whilst
Vigay accepts that Circlevision did not fabricate their nocturnal
photographs of circlemakers at work this other un-named company
did !
Following these developments Circlevision have placed this
disturbing matter in the hands of their solicitor and asked the Portsmouth
News and Paul Vigay for an apology. In the meantime Vigay has
accused Doug Bower of lying about the number of crop circles he
and Dave Chorley made, and now your Editor has also been accused
of being a liar (on the public area of the E-mail system)
following the lawsuit threat bought against me in 1989 by Colin
Andrews, Pat Delgado and Gordon Creighton ! All this material
will form the basis of a full article which will appear in our
next issue.
Colin Andrews has been collared by the CIA in Alresford
High Street, a secret message was passed on ... perhaps it will
appear in his third book The Signs of Change ... Reg
Pressley is planning a new crop circle video ... A well known
questing UFOlogist appeared in court on November 23rd in the East
Midlands charged with obtaining services by deception.... Rupert
and Ishtar are on good terms ... John Alexander's wife Victoria
is trying to obtain a copy of The Informer as Erik
Beckjord alleged to her that Jim Schnabel is the Editor ...
Robert Irving's admiralty office is located near Bath ... George
Vernon tried to appear on Schofield's Quest, but Doug
Bower and Reg Pressley had already beaten him to it ...Chad
Deetken refused to accept a drink from Adrian Dexter ...
Alien Encounters: An Interpretive Approach to the UFO Phenomenon and Crop Circle Mysteries
by Gordon Millington
A former army officer and college lecturer, Gordon is an
accredited investigator for the British UFO Research Association
and a consultant for Flying Saucer Review. He has
contributed to many publications concerned with the paranormal
and has an eclectic concern with the possible meanings of such
phenomena. A limited first edition of Alien Encounters is
available now in hardback for only # 9.95 + # 1.50 p&p. Write
to The Leonine Press, 8 Burnfield Drive, Rugeley, Staffs, WS15
2RH.
3rd Stone
A magazine with an upfront, no nonsense approach to ancient
sacred sites and symbolic landscapes with a nod and a wink to
folklore, ufology and parascience. Latest issue # 2.50 from
G.E.M., PO Box 258, Cheltenham, GL53 0HR. A GEM Publication.
You'll never hear surf music again !
The NEW UFOlogist
Issue 2 of The New UFOlogist is now out ! See your
Editor make a complete burke of himself discussing the
"GAO" Roswell Report in glossy print !
International UFO Reporter, November/December
1993 issue (Vol 19, No 3) contains a fascinating UFO case study
from Alberta, Canada. From the description offered by David
Thacker it is difficult to tell what was really seen, and for
once even a clever dick like me has to reserve his opinion ! The
UFO resembled the triangles seen over Belgium, the Hudson Valley,
New York, and, more recently, in northern England. Multiple
independent witnesses reported seeing a dark triangular-shaped
object with red circles at each apex. Christopher Allan takes the
Roswell UFO crash to task, Randle and Schmitt of CUFOS
respond.
The Journal of UFO Studies, New Series, Vol 5
(1994) contains two articles of interest to crop circle
researchers. In "An Assessment of the Crop Circle
Phenomenon" Joachim P. Kuettner of the U.S. National Center
for Atmospheric Research dismisses a meteorological explanation
for all but the simplest of crop circles, because (allegedly) all
known vortices create inwardly flowing spiral traces rather than
the divergent traces found in crop circles (so what about
expanding ring vortices then ?). Amazingly Kuettner claims that
nocturnal descending vortices have "not yet been observed in
the atmospheric sciences". Despite this he is happy to leave
the door open slightly for a previously unrecognised vortex,
largely because of Arnt Eliassen's 1991 letter to Weather.
Kuettner suggests that the plasma vortex is "scientifically
improbable" whilst asserting that historical crop rings have
a much closer association with UFOs than the modern-day crop
circles. Jenny Randles and myself hope to submit a response to JUFOS
challenging some of these statements. It is astonishing that
Kuettner's article should contain an excellent photograph of a
crop circle with slanting edges discovered near Dellroy, Ohio, on
June 28, 1965. There is also a photograph of a smouldering
circular patch of grass found near Killaly, Saskatchewan,
discovered on November 14, 1979 after a white light had been seen
the previous night (not the most persuasive UFO association I've
ever read). In both photos there is evidence of a ring vortex
effect - at Dellroy the crop radiates outwards in all directions
whilst at Killaly the central zone is untouched. If these are
hoaxes, how did the hoaxers know how to mimic ring vortex effects
! There is also an amusing review of the crop circle literature
by UFO historian Michael Swords. Available from the same address
as IUR, CUFOS, 2457 West Peterson Avenue, Chicago,
Illinois 60659.
Annals of the Enquiring, Vol 4 No 3 (July/Sept
1993) contains numerous Fortean events and some valuable case
material. I was particularly impressed to learn that the March
31st 1993 sightings over Britain, Ireland and the continent had
positively been identified by the a Dr T S Kelso of the USAF as a
rocket fragment of COSMOS 2238. Other articles include UFOs and
star maps, Weeping Madonas, BVMs, psychometry. Issue 19 contains
photos of the two crop circles at Seaforde, Northern Ireland,
which were found last August. This issue contains a statistical
analysis of UFO waves, case studies of frogs falling from the sky
(complete with whirlwind association) and news of the video of
the Exmoor Beast. #6 for 4 issues. Write to 8 St John Street,
Wells, Somerset, BA5 1SW.
MUFON UFO Journal, Feb 1994 issue contains a
statistical analysis of the content of abduction reports by Dan
Wright. Psycho-social UFOlogists will take great comfort from the
finding that 95 % of abductions occur in the witnesses' own home
(often the bedroom), as this seems to support the theory that
abductions are altered states of consciousness akin to lucid
dreams rather than objectively real events. A second article
examines an important radar visual case involving a reddish light
that paced two aircraft in successive incidents over Paraguay.
No, I can't make out what it was ! Glenn Campbell perceptively
reviews Bob Lazaar's claim to have seen captured alien technology
on a top secret US base. March issue continues with Dan Wright's
statistical analysis of abduction cases. Wright's conclusion -
that "numerous entity types have been visiting our planet
with some regularity" - must be the most ridiculous
statistical inference made throughout recorded history ! Kevin
Randle and Donald Schmitt present a chapter by chapter precis of
their latest update on the controversial Roswell case. Fred
Whiting describes his part in the current US Government
Accounting Office's investigation into the Roswell affair. The
April issue again concentrates on the pro Roswell debate, with
Kent Jeffrey appealing for UFOlogists world-wide to sign the
"Roswell Declaration" (no, your Editor didn't). Write
to 103 Oldtowne Road, Seguin, Texas 78155-4099.
Enigmas, the Journal of Strange Phenomena Investigations,
issue 24 Vol 4 contains many fascinating in-depth research
articles on subjects as diverse as poltergeists, man-beasts in
Australia, alien abductions and another Nessie sighting. The
highlight of this issue, for me, is an update on the Bonnybridge
UFO wave, detailing Malcolm Robinson's concerted attempts to
solve an intriguing UFO video case. Issue 37 Vol 5 Keith
Basterfield summarises the state of abduction research in
Australia, the UFO conference at Falkirk, hauntings and stigmata,
UFO cases. 44 pages A5. # 10 for 5 issues per year. Write to 41
The Braes, Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, FK10 2TT, Scotland.
Phenomena, published by SOS OVNI, the
leading French group. Available from SOS OVNI, Boite
postale 324, 13611 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 1, France. A small
English supplement is provided if, like me, you can't read
French. Jan/Feb 1994 issue contains important revelations about
the origin of the famous UMMO hoax and the controversy
surrounding Jose Pena's confession. There is a summary of the
proposal to set up a UFO reporting centre for the EEC. Details
are supplied of a classic CE3 at Tronville-en-Barrois in the east
of France. A family of five witnessed a luminous dome-shaped
object, two bright lights, ground traces and even entities. A
sixth independent witness to the scene claims to have seen a car
with its headlights on and the driver walking around with a
powerful torch. It transpired that the driver was on the run from
the gendarmerie and had stopped at the precise spot where the
alien craft was reported. The full case report will be published
in a later issue of Phenomena but it is clear that this case
illustrates how complex social processes within the family
contributed to the group misperception involved. Issue 20
(March/April) contains a dubious ground trace case involving a
bright light and a circular ground trace. There are also reprints
of articles on the Williamette Pass photo (from IUR) and a
mass outbreak of mystery helicopters, unidentified helicopters,
UFOs and animal mutilations in the San Luis Valley, Colorado.
Issue 22 contains a major article on the Face on Mars and a
photographic case from Normandie.
The Ley Hunter, 121, # 1.75 per issue. This excellent issue contains many constructive articles examining earth mysteries, ley-alignments and sacred sites as well as links with natural light phenomena and other anomalous phenomena. This excellent issue contains two well researched articles on ghost routes and corpse roads as well as an annotated map showing the location of 11 fairy mounds in County Sligo. Coincidentally the fairy mounds are all located within 6 kms of a steep escarpment. Is this because the ancients witnessed illuminated plasma vortices forming in the lee of these hills and rationalised them in terms of the prevailing fairylore motif ? Ray Cox has a letter pleading for clemency over the crop circle phenomenon. There is an important summary of Devereux's latest work with the International Consciousness Research Laboratories following his field trips to Hessdalen and Marfa (where Devereux and Ohtsuki agree that "at least 90 per cent" of the Marfa Lights were believed to be mirage-type refraction effects of car headlights). Devereux makes some important comments on his latest thinking about the postulated plasma vortex. At Hessdalen Devereux met four Russian scientists who described their laboratory-produced plasmas. A paper was presented on behalf of an absent Chinese delegate describing observed vortex behaviour in experimentally-produced plasmas and in photos of the Hessdalen lights. Devereux met with our own Prof. Ohtsuki and had some enlightening discussions with him. Devereux concludes:
"Out of all these conversations, ..., a number of subtle factors relating to light phenomena came more clearly in focus for me. One of these was the possibility of light phenomena leaving ground traces on suitable surfaces. I have held (albeit with increasing doubts) to such a possibility all through the crop circle hoo-ha, and had all but relinquished it. But enough data came together for me during the conference, ..., to convince me that there may well be something in the matter, and will be proceeding to explore it further."
Available from PO Box 92, Penzance, Cornwall, TR18 2BX. Three
issues per year for # 5.25.
Regular readers will already know of John Erik Beckjord, the
intrepid Bigfoot hunter and "Director" of the
"UFO, Bigfoot and Nessie Museum" of Marina del Rey,
California. Beckjord first shot to crop circle fame with his
ancient "TIFFINAG" interpretation of crop circles
appearing in Wiltshire in 1991. Beckjord responded to what he
believed were messages from alien beings by creating the
"TALK TO US" message in a field near Avebury. According
to MUFON UFO JOURNAL, issue 301, Beckjord claims to have
received "8 responses" to this message. In the Washington
Post (3rd July 1991) Beckjord has even tried to flog
photographs of Senator Edward Kennedy's Face on Mars in an
attempt to attract publicity. Some animated letters from Beckjord
have appeared in MUFON UFO JOURNAL, numbers 279 and 281.
At 10:30 pm on August 19th Beckjord rang me from the Barge
public house to allege that I am the Editor of The Informer
and that I have libelled him by accusing him of fabricating his
photographs of the Loch Ness Monster! Beckjord claimed that he
had exposed me at a public meeting attended by 50 people !! He
subsequently repeated these false claims in writing where he
states:
"Now what is this crap you write [in The Informer] ... Total nonsense and irrational. You write garbage, in an attempt to insult, yet avoid libel, at same time. You can't do this and be clear you dumb yob. Your writing is convoluted, turgid and idiotic. Not university level. State your insults clearly. Eschew obfuscation. P.S. Informer #7 Not up to level of #6 (Schnabel). J.S. edits better than you do. This issue was weak. Your Vigay & Macnish article is bullshit clouded in mindless drivel. Not clear as is C.W.".
So, if I read these allegations correctly, in between having a
full time job, editing The Crop Watcher and co-editing The
New UFOlogist, it seems that I am producing The Informer
in my sleep !
In another scribbled messages Beckjord writes:
"Too bad you piss off so many people - you could otherwise socialise at The Barge and at conventions - but instead you must sit at the fringe - outside, outcast - pity."
A third note states:
"Everyone now knowsabout you-know-what, and that you refuse to reveal where you got your B.A. degree (if at all) - pity."
So, as you can see, Beckjord appears to be alleging that I
have lied about having a university degree. If you want a copy of
my degree certificate (Sheffield 1982) or my postgraduate diploma
(Kent 1983) please let me know and I'll send you copies !
I have since discovered that Beckjord made a similar drunken
phone call to Jayne Macnish at Circlevision on the same night as
he made his threatening phone call to me. According to Jenny
Randles Beckjord pestered her repeatedly in an attempt to obtain
my telephone number, even though it is freely available in the
telephone directory.
In a press release dated August 15th Erik Beckjord alleged
that all the crop circle researchers are "major rat(s)"
who are victims of an alien experiment to evaluate our psychology
and social systems. Apparently we humans are "experimental
animals" who are "destroying our cages" . With
sentiments like these it is not surprising that Mr Beckjord
currently has extensive legal problems.
The Crop Watcher has learnt that Associated Press have
paid Peter Hough damages for breach of copyright following their
widespread publication of the Ilkley Moor entity photograph,
which was given to them by Erik Beckjord following one of last
year's crop circle conferences. Presumably Associated Press will
attempt to recover their damages from Beckjord when he returns to
Britain this summer. In the meantime Beckjord is alleging that a
team of lawyers are working flat out on his behalf, without pay,
to deny that Hough owns the copyright to the Ilkley Moor entity
photograph.
Finally I have learnt from one of my subscribers that when
Beckjord rang me from the Barge he boasted that I had accused him
of being a liar ! If anyone has a tape recording of Beckjord's
allegations against me I would be very grateful for a copy. In
the meantime I am still awaiting a written apology from Beckjord.
CW24 will be out by February 1st. Highlights will
include the historical crop circle photographs discussed on page
2, a review of Alien Energy, a reply from Andy Collins to
Robert Irving's letter in this issue, the result of my
investigations into the astonishing event involving Colin Andrews
and two army helicopters at Alton Barnes on July 21st, plus a
possible literary reference to more historical crop circles. Oh
yes, we will also be examining Levengood's article in Physiologia
Plantarum 92 !
Crop Circles, A Mystery Solved by Jenny Randles and
Paul Fuller, Robert Hale Ltd (2nd edition), ISBN 0-7090-5267-7,
price # 6.99.
