Cheiro

Cheiro's Book of Numbers: The Complete Science of Numerology

Society Palmist, Astrologer and Numerologist

One of the names most associated with (relatively) modern numerology is that of Cheiro. Cheiro was a twentieth century psychic and clairvoyant who was particularly famous for his use of palmistry, astrology and Chaldean numerology.

Biography
Cheiro was born in Ireland in 1866, his real name being William John Warner. He later used the name Count Louis Hamon and the working name Cheiro (the latter derived from cheiromany, meaning palmistry). As Cheiro he developed a reputation as a clairvoyant and was often employed by the rich and famous. Among the predictions attributed to him were the deaths of Queen Victoria, King Edward VII and the Cza of Russia. Any psychic successfully predicting such high profile events today would probably be whisked off by the security forces for interrogation!

Books
Cheiro spent much time on occult research and published many of his findings in a number of books. These were very popular and you can still buy many today. He also wrote Cheiro's Memoirs: The Reminiscences of a Society Palmist in which he discusses his life and work.

One of the best known of Cheiro's books was his Book of Numbers. This, as the title suggests, dealt specifically with the field of numerology. The book is claimed to contain knowledge gained by Cheiro from Brahmins in India. Although the Book of Numbers is old-fashioned in writing style and content, many modern numerologists still believe it to be full of wisdom.

All original material copyright Trevor Mendham 2004 - 2008 Please read the site usage terms.

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Numerology
What Is Numerology?
Numerology is a method of attempting to find meanings and correspondences between people, places and things by taking their names and translating them into numbers. Numerology could possibly be classified as a form of scrying since it is sometimes used to produce predictions, however it's probably more widely used to gain insight rather than foresight. The most famous numerologist of (relatively) modern times was probably Cheiro. The basis of numerology is very simple: take the names or words which you wish to analyse, look up each letter on a table and add the results together. The most commonly used associations in Western numerology are shown below:

1 A J S

2 B K T

3 C L U

4 D M V

5 E N W

6 F O X

7 G P Y

8 9 H I Q R Z

For example my name - Trevor - works out as: 2+9+5+4+6+9 = 35 Thus, according to numerological principles, I have some form of sympathetic relationship with other people and ideas that also equate to 35. Some people prefer to reduce the final result still further, continually adding the digits until only a single digit answer is left. So in my case 3 + 5 would become 8. An obvious criticism of numerology is that the choice about which words or names to use is arbitrary. All English words have synonyms. When it comes to names, how can I tell whether to use "Trevor", "Trevor Mendham", "Trev" or some other variation? Some proponents of numerology argue that this is the whole point. The different variations of names represent subtle variations and correspondences that go to make up a complete individual. Numerology is a lot more than simply providing a single simplistic statement.

Gematria
Numerology in English seems arbritary to some. It arguably makes more sense in a language such as Hebrew where letters, words and numbers are interchangeable. In Hebrew, since every letter is a number then totalling the values of a word makes much more sense. Some have argued that some words and phrases in Hebrew were deliberately designed to correspond in a numerological fashion. The numerological analysis of Hebrew texts, in particular the Torah, is known as gematria and has been used in Kabbalistic analysis.

Scrying and Divination

The term scrying comes from the word descry in its sense of discovery. This in turn is thought to originate from the French words descrier and descrie. Traditionally the use of the word scrying was restricted to divination via the medium of a crystal. Today the word scry is often used to refer to any method of divination through psychic, occult or other paranormal means. That is the sense in which I'll use the word on this site - with my apologies to the traditionalists.

Note that divination does not necessarily mean learning the future (that in itself opens a whole debate about determinism and free will!). Scrying can equally well be used to discover what happened in the past, what is happening now and how best to react to it.

Does Scrying Work?

There is, of course, great debate as to the value of scrying. Some believe that divination genuinely taps into an occult or psychic force. Either the scrier or the materials possess genuine power, possibly some form of psi power. Sometimes it is an external power that is being channelled during the reading. The Skeptics on the other hand reject it all as nonsense. If it appears to work then it is simply coincidence. Such a blanket refusal to accept facts doesn't sit well with those of us who've experienced the power of divination (and, before any Skeptic jumps in, I've also studied statistics and understand terms like "confirmation bias"). A middle way might be to say that neither the scrier nor the materials contain any inate power. Instead they are a simply a channel through which the "psychic" gets better attuned to their subconscious and taps into information that was already there but undiscovered. This is sometimes called "eyes shut" divination, a derogatory term indicating lack of self-awareness on the part of the worker. Whatever the mechanism, the fact remains that for many people some form or other of divination works. And that's really all that matters.

Psi Power
The term psi comes from the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet and is used as an informal abbrevation for "psychic phenomena". As such it covers all uses of the mind beyond the reach of accepted science. It is not an acronym and should therefore not be typed as "PSI" - a mistake I know I tend to make myself!

What Is Psi? What Is ESP?

The term psi is sometimes used interchangeably with ESP. In fact ESP stands for "Extra Sensory Perception". As such ESP covers phenomena known as "anomolous cognition", for example mental telepathy. Psi is a more general term that also covers "anomolous operation". In other words, ESP is the subset of psi that deals with knowing things - psi itself is a much wider field that also includes using the power of the mind to do things.

Jose Silva's Ultramind Esp System

Parapsychology and Psionics

Psi research, studying the potential untapped power of the human mind, is the main focus of parapsychology and parapsychological research. The applied usage of psi power is known as psionics. This is what we informally call "mind over matter". Parapsychology and psionics are hotly disputed subjects, with many critics dismissing them out of hand. It is true that many apparent psi successes are difficult to reproduce under laboratory conditions - however perhaps this is not surprising for something that comes from the mind. Psi powers fit into the category of phenomena for which there is little solid scientific evidence but a wealth of anecdotal experience. It could be classified as "unproven but interesting". Despite the dismissal of parapsychology by much of the scientific establishment, there are some groups doing serious research into the subject, for instance Edinburgh's Koestler Parapsychology Unit (KPU).

Types of Psi
Some of the mental powers that fit under the category of "psi powers" include:

Clairvoyance / Clairsentience Precognition Telekenisis (also called psychokinesis) Telepathy Teleportation

Some people argue that all forms of scrying are in fact subconscious application of psi powers.

The Koestler Parapsychology Unit

Edinburgh University
The Koestler Parapsychology Unit (KPU) at Edinburgh University might not be overjoyed at being listed alongside Edinburgh's ghosts! It's not a site for ghost-hunters, true, but its scholarly reseach into parapsychology (psi) definitely makes it appropriate for any site concerning Wyrd Edinburgh. The Koestler Unit is part of the University of Edinburgh where it is attached to the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences. The Unit is named after the writer Arthur Koestler who, along with his wife, left a bequest to fund a Chair of parapsychology. The first person to occupy that position was Robert Morris who chaired the unit between 1985 and 2004. The Koestler Parapsychology Unit describes its mission as: "the study of apparent new means of communication, or exchange of influence, between organisms and environment" Areas of interest include ESP, psychokinesis (PK), out-of-body experiences (OOBE) and near death experiences (NDE). Past research has included testing the effects of weak magnetic fields on human perception and "Testing a model for dyadic ESP in the Ganzfeld". And no, I didn't understand that second one either. Paul Stevens of the KPU tells me that it: "could be paraphrased as 'Seeing what happens when 2 people try to be telepathic', a study in which I suggest it's more of a psychic nudge than 'mind-to-mind' talking. N.B. No ghosts were harmed in the carrying out of that study..." Current research (Feb 2005) includes the detection of staring and the possible effects of magnetic fields on human subjective randomness.
External Links: Koestler Parapsychology Unit

Clairvoyance
What Is Clairvoyance?

The Clairvoyant or, The Sleepwalker, c.1865 Courbet, Gustave 18 in. x 24 in. Buy this Giclee Print at AllPosters.com

The term clairvoyance means "clear seeing" and is sometimes referred to as "second sight" or "the third eye". It is often categorised as a form of psi power / ESP although some people prefer a more mystical explanation. Strictly speaking, clairvoyance refers only to visual information. A classic example of clairvoyance is remote vewing. However the term is also used rather loosely and some people also use the word clairvoyance to refer to picking up sound (technically, "clairaudience") and other information that is beyond the strict definition of the term. In adition, clairvoyance strictly refers to obtaining information from the current time period. However in practice the term is not always restricted to contemporaneous events. Many clairvoyants also claim to receive images the past and/or future (the latter being precognition). In this case, their clairvoyant abilities are seen as part of a larger psychic power. The combined term for all these forms of psychic information gathering - clairvoyance, clairaudience, precognition and more - is "clairsentience". What is known informally as a psychic clairvoyant reaing will often contain elements of all these disciplines depending on the abilities and preferences of the psychic or medium. Parapsychologists have studied clairvoyance for years however there is still no clear evidence one way or the other since it is difficult to test and measure. Some people believe that clairvoyance is a natural ability, others that it can be learned - you can buy

training courses or attend classes that claim to develop and improve any latent natural ability one might have. It has been suggested that such abilities might be connected with the pineal gland in the brain however I'm not personally aware of any scientific research to support this. At the other extreme, clairvoyant powers are often claimed by spiritualists and mediums and the developing of such powers is considered to indicate an increasing rapport with the spirits. The experience of clairvoyance differs from person to person. In the field of ESP and psi research, it normally takes the form of simply sitting in a room and concentrating. Informally, many clairvoyants prefer to use various techniques and equipment as suits their personality and beliefs. There is a viewpoint that all forms of scrying are in fact simply clairvoyance exhibiting itself through a mechanism of the psychic's choice.

Remote Viewing
What Is Remote Viewing?
Remote viewing is a form of parapsychological scrying where the psychic attempts to gain information at a distance - possibly even from a different time. The term was first popularised by Russell Targ and Hal Puthoff of the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). No tools are used in remote viewing, instead the viewer attempts to mentally "see" the location and obtain the information required. Remote viewing can take place at any distance. At its simplest it can be used to determine written information sealed in an envelope. However the more interesting applications involve discovering what is in a room many miles away. There have even been suggestions that remote viewing could be used for extraterrestrial contact purposes to seek out intelligent alien life. One feature that distinguishes remote viewing from other scrying and clairvoyance techniques is that the psychic is usually not told exactly what they are looking at or for. Instead the target will be described vaguely, or perhaps only given as a map reference. There are a number of different remote viewing protocols that test different variations of the basic skill. How does remote viewing work? Nobody really knows. It could be that we are simply using one label to refer to a number of different psychic and/or psi abilities that achieve similar results using different methods.

Remote Viewing and the CIA

Remote viewing hit the headlines when it was revealed that the US intelligence and security agencies had been actively studying it as a potential spying tool. In the early 1970s the CIA believed that the USSR was investigating psi skills. They decided to do their own research into the potential of such parapsychological techniques and how they could be applied. They began with an eight month long test programme known as the Biofield Measurements Programme. The results were apparently highly impressive and the CIA was convinced to continue funding the research. This led eventually to the larger Project Star Gate which existed to research any and all psi abilities. Officially, the US remote viewing research ceased in the 1990s. However given the nature of the agencies involved it is difficult to be certain of anything. Proponents of remote viewing believe that it is a skill that can be learned and that improves with practice. You can buy training courses claiming to allow you to learn and/or improve remote viewing skills. I've never tried one of these so I can't say whether or not they work.

Types of Alien

Arcturians Hyadeans Pleiadians Zeta Reticuli

Arcturians

Connecting with the Arcturians David K. Miller

The Arcturians - or Arcturans - are said to be a highly advanced life form orginating in the star system Arcturus. Arcturus is situated in the constelation of Bootes and is one of the brightest stars in our sky. As the brightest star in Bootes it is called Alpha Bootis. It is a red giant and is around 37 light years from the Earth. In astronomical terms that makes it a close neighbour.

Advanced Extraterrestrial Lifeforms

The idea of an alien life form that has been visiting Earth from Arcturus is frequently associated with the writings of Edgar Cayce. According to Cayce, the Arcturians are a "fifth dimensional" lifeform. They are highly advanced both technically and spiritually. This idea of spiritual enlightenment is a common feature of descriptions of Arcturians. Often they are said to have completely transcended the physical plane. Sometimes these transcendent beings choose to inhabit physical bodies here on Earth. At other times their messages are said to be channeled through receptive humans. Many people believe that they have been in contact with the Arcturians. The Arcturians are almost always described as being benevolent, attempting to guide humanity and help it to advance whilst avoiding destruction. Some people think that the Arcturians - if they exist at all - are more likely to be a metaphor for spiritual advancement than literally being an alien race.

Media
The idea of advanced alien life originating from Arcturus has been taken up in TV and films, for example Stargate: Atlantis.

Perhaps the most significant fictional Arcturians are from the Star Trek universe. They were introduced in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Here they are portrayed as a militaristic race of clones with what looks like melting skin.

Edgar Cayce
Edgar Cayce (pronounced "Casey" as in "Jones") was - and probably still is - one of the most famous psychics ever to have come out of America. Although he died way back in 1945 he still has many followers and there is a not for profit Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE) dedicated to his work. The ARE was founded by Cayce himself in 1931 and is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. To many skeptics, of course, psychic abilities do not exist there Cayce cannot have been psychic, QED.

Who Was Edgar Cayce?

Cayce was born in 1877 near Hopkinsville, Kentucky. He had an ordinary life until, in 1900, he suffered an attack of laryngitis as a result of which he lost his voice. Cayce was eventually cured of his laryngitis following the involvement of local hypnotist Al Lane. Lane put Cayce into hypnotic trance from which Cayce is said to have diagnosed and cured his lack of speech. Cayce then worked with Lane offering diagnoses and cures free of charge to members of the public. These rapidly diverged from pure hypnotherapy with Cayce often working from letters without actually meeting the "patient". As word spread of his abilities Cayce found himself more and more in demand. He moved out of Kentucky, eventually arriving in Virginia Beach. Here he worked full time as a professional psychic with an ever increasing profile and associated workload. He died of a stroke in 1945.

The Sleeping Prophet

Cayce was known as The Sleeping Profit. This is because his readings were given from a self-induced state that resembled deep relaxation or sleep, possibly a form of autohypnosis. Whilst in this state people would ask him questions to which he would respond with - his followers claim - great accuracy (although during his latter years some of his responses became rather Delphic in nature).

During the latter years of his life, Cayce's readings were recorded and later transcribed. Many thousands of these transcripts are maintained by the ARE. Much debate takes place as to the value of these records. Some claim they prove Cayce's abilities, skeptics say that they fail to distinguish between information "discovered" by Cayce and that given to him in advance. How did Cayce's psychic powers work? It's usually suggested that he could tap into some higher power or state of being, perhaps even the Akashic record. Cayce was also a believer in reincarnation. This begs the question of whether the Sleeping Prophet will reawaken.

Alantis
One of Cayce's great interests was the lost city of Atlantis. According to him the final destruction of Atlantis was triggered by the misuse of an occult blue crystal (sometimes associated today with the stone larimar). At the risk of sounding frivolous I can't help thinking of the Doctor Who story "Planet of the Spiders"! Cayce believed that many people today are reincarnated Atlantean souls.

911 or Global Warming?

One prophecy that has gained a lot of attention in recent years concerned the destruction of New York, which would occur around the end of the twentieth century. Many people have taken this as a prediction of the terrorist destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001. However this seems to be stretching a point since the same prophecy also has much of the rest of the US seaboard destroyed! The relevant passage from 1934 reads: "Watch New York, Connecticut and the like. Many portions of the East coast will be disturbed, as well as many portions of the West coast, as well as the central portion of the United States. Los Angeles, San Francisco, most of these will be among those destroyed before New York, even. Portions of the now East coast of New York, or New York City itself, will in the main disappear." Those looking to validate Cayce's predictions might do better to relate these words to the increased global awareness of the threat of climate change. Elsewhere Cayce says: "The Earth will be broken up in the western portion of America. The greater portion of Japan must go into the sea. The upper portion of Europe will be changed as in the twinkling of an eye. Land will appear off the East coast of America. There will be upheavals in the Arctic and in the Antarctic that will make for the eruption of volcanoes in the torrid areas" The fact that these events haven't happened yet may not be relevant. Is it possible that Cayce was somehow tuning in to the psychic zeitgeist of the early 21st century?

The Akashic Record

Akashic Records Collective Keepers of Divine Expression

The Akashic Record - also known as the Book of Life - is said to be a cosmic record of all life that has ever been along with everything that it has done, thought and felt. It is a record of everything connected with mankind and reaches back to the dawn of the universe.

The Mind of God?

The Records are not kept physically but rather are imprinted on the astral plane via Akasha - the "astral light". The word comes fom the Saskrit word for "sky" or "space". As such the Akashic Records are nowhere yet everywhere - accessible and influential. Some people have described the Records as "The Mind of God". Various mystics and religions are believed to have had direct access to the Akasha, being able to refer to its knowledge and hence gain wisdom. Since all life is connected to the Akasha, it is said that anyone can access the Records and become a "witness". Even for those who aren't aware of the Records, they still have influence even without reading them consciously. Information from the Akasha is said to reach us in dreams and intuitions, shaping our thoughts and guiding our actions. Edgar Cayce was particularly interested in the Akashic Record. In The Law of One he recounts a channeling session with an entity named "Ra". Ra explains that the information gained through channeling comes from the Akashic Record, also known as the Hall of Records. It's interesting to note the overlap between the ancient concept of the Akashic Record and modern ideas involving consciousness studies, quantum theory and racial memory.

All original material copyright Trevor Mendham 2004 - 2008 Please read the site usage terms.

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Atlantis
The legend of the lost city of Atlantis has been popular for centuries - it appears to have originated with Plato in his tale Critias. It still holds a significant place in the popular imagination and continues to inspire books, movies and even TV series such as Stargate Atlantis. Some people have even wondered if there might be a connection with the TV show Lost.

Atlantis Grimando, Scott Buy this Pre-Matted Print at AllPosters.com

What Is Atlantis?
Atlantis is a legendary lost city, possibly an entire continent. It is said to have been submerged beneath the sea, possibly as a result of volcanic activity or a huge earthquake. According to Plato this happened around 9,000 BCE. What makes the idea of Atlantis so appealing is that it wasn't just any city - it was, so the story goes, the rich heart of a great civilisation. Over the centuries this Atlantean civilisation has been credited with everything from cultural superiority through to secret, ancient wisdom, psi powers and connections with aliens and UFOs. Some people have even suggested that Atlantis was in reality an alien colony.

According to some of these more extreme versions of the Atlantis myth, the Atlantean civilisation could have survived the sinking of their island and continued as an undersea nation. Exactly why such an advanced people should choose to do this is unclear.

Where Was Atlantis?

The search for Atlantis has occupied many people and no definitive trace has ever been found. Edgar Cayce predicted that Atlantean remains would be found near Bimini Island and this prediction has been connected with the Bimini Road. Throughout history various theories have been proposed that locate Atlantis all over the globe. Plato himself located it around the Straits of Gibraltar and Spartel Island has been suggested. One of the most popular possible locations is the island of Thera, known today as Santorini.

Spartel Island
The Spartel theory fits in well with Plato's account, being located in the Straits of Gibraltar. Spartel Island is today 60m below the water, however research published in 2005 suggests that it could have been above the sea until hit by a tsunami around 12,000 years ago. This is roughly consistent with Plato's assertion that Atlantis was destroyed some 9,000 years before he was writing. However Spartel Island appears to have been much smaller than would be expected of Atlantis and no trace of man-made structures has been found.

Thera / Santorini
According to this theory, the legend of Atlantis is a misreporting of the ancient Minoan civilisation. The Minoans were based in Crete and some 75km to the north of Crete was the island group called Thera (or Thira). Today this is more commonly referred to as Santorini. The islands that make up Santorini are volcanic. The main volcano erupted massively at some point during the period 1650 to 1600 BCE. This eruption destroyed the main city on the island and the resulting tidal wave and climate changes might have been significant factors in the downfall of the Minoan civilisation. For this theory to be accurate Plato must have been seriously misinformed, having both the location and date wrong.

Does Atlantis Exist?

Did Atlantis ever really exist? Was it just a folk tale that caught on? Or perhaps just a metaphorical setting invented by Plato? No-one knows.

If there was indeed a civilisation as advanced as the Atlantean one was reputed to be then it is surprising that no confirmed traces have ever been found. However the oceans of the world are very large and there's a great deal down there that we have yet to explore. Whatever the truth behind the legends, the allure of possible vast riches and ancient wisdom will probably mean that people continue to search for Atlantis for many years to come.

Bimini Islands
To many people Bimini is simply a beautiful island chain in the Bahamas that's given its name to styles of boat tops, hats and even a fishing knot (the Bimini Twist). Tourists visiting the island on vacation buy their flight tickets and book their hotels without realising that they could be travelling to within a few miles of some of the world's most enduring legends.

What and Where Is Bimini?

Bimini is situated in the Bahamas about 50 miles East of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Although often referred to simply as Bimini Island it is actually an island chain stretching some 28 miles. The largest of the islands are called North Bimini and South Bimini. Although North Bimini is seven miles long, only the southernmost three miles are actually inhabited. The northern section of the island is very narrow and consists mainly of shoreline and mangrove forest. For the tourist, Bimini is famous for its waters and its boat fishing. Angling and scuba diving are popular activities. Ernest Hemingway was a great fan of Bimini and stayed at the Compleat Angler. Bimini Airport (BIM)is situated on the South island.

Legends
The Fountain of Youth
The search for the legendary fountain of youth has occupied many explorers over the centuries. One of the most famous of these was Ponce de Leon who discovered Florida whilst searching for the mystic fountain at the beginning of the 16th century.

It is said the locals - possibly from Puerto Rico - told de Leon that the fountain could be found in South Bimini. Although he reportedly visited the island, the fountain of youth remains undiscovered as of today.

Atlantis
One place that certainly does exist is Bimini Road. This is a strange stone formation found under the waters off of North Bimini. What is the Bimini Road? Nobody really knows for sure. Skeptics assert that it is simply a natural phenomenon that has no significance. Others claim that the Bimini Road appears to be man made - or rather, made by some form of intelligence. It is suggested that the "road" could be the remnants of an older civilisation that has since been submerged. The obvious candidate for such a civilisaton would be the Lost City of Atlantis. In 1968 Edgar Cayce predicted just this, saying that a portion of an Atlantean temple would be found "under the slime of ages and sea water near Bimini". Is the Bimini Road then the best evidence yet for the existence of the fabled city?

The Healing Hole

The Northern part of North Bimini Island is full of mangrove creeks. Hidden away amongst these is the Healing Hole. The Healing Hole is a pool connected to a underground maze of twisty little passages - I couldn't say whether or not they are all alike. The interaction between this underground tunnel formation and the sea tides results in the pool at the top being filled with mineral rich fresh water. The water in the pool has been said to have curing and restorative properties. Some say that there is a magical element to this power, others simply that the minerals themselves are beneficial to some people. Many tourists and other visitors have reported a general sense of well-being after a trip to the Healing Hole.

Santorini, Greece

Image copyright Paul Cowan / iStockphoto

Santorini is an island grouping in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey. The name Santorini comes from Saint Irene. The entire grouping was once known as Thera but today that name is used specifically to refer to one island. Thera is the largest island of the group, others are Therasia, the Kameni Islands and littleAspronisi. The islands are known both for their natural beauty, night life and romantic restaurants. Santorini beaches and hotels are a popular vacation destination for tourists and ofen visited by cruise ships. The modern capital of Santorina is Fira - also spelt Phira - which is a village located at the top of a cliff and the mount is home to many restaurants, hotels and shops. Many tourists find their holiday accomodation here, from self-catering apartments to luxury hotel suite. Another popular cliff-top village is Oia which is famed for its sunset, called by some the best in the world. To the wyrdologist Santorini is probably best known not for its walks, beaches and traditional Vinsanto wine but more as one of the suggested locations for the lost city of Atlantis.

And Was Atlantis Builded There?

Why should Santorini be the location of Atlantis? The suggestion is that the legend of the lost city - or continent - might have been a reference to the ancient Minoan civilisation. The Minoans were a rich, advanced civilisation who were based in Crete. Santorini or Thera was a major Minoan settlement.

The Santorini islands were home to much volcanic activity, in particular a massive eruption of Mount Santorini somewhere beteen 1650 and 1600 BCE. It has been suggested that the tsunamis and long-term climatic disturbance caused by this eruption could have wiped out not only the inhabitants of the islands themselves but also most of the Minoan civilisation. The date of the eruption would seem to tie in with the sudden and otherwise unexplained disappearance of the Minoans.

Plato
The written legend of Atlantis begins with Plato's Kritias and Timaios dialogues and much of the story there would fit with the Santorini theory. Plato's account of Atlantis and its destruction would seem to be consistent with what we know of the ancient Minoans and their possible destruction following volcanic eruption. Unfortunately there are two major respects in which Plato's account differs from the Santorini event: the time and the place. Plato believed that Atlantis had been destroyed some 9000 years before he was writing in around 360 BCE, which is way off. Plato also stated clearly that Atlantis was located around the Straits of Gibraltar (the Pillars of Hercules). Another criticism of the Santorini-Atlantis link is that the ancients were familiar with volcanoes - if they had been referring to a volcano they would have said so. So the theory that Santorini was the location of Atlantis is not without its drawbacks, however many people consider it one of the most likely possibilities. If nothing else it should give you something to talk about on the flight!

Hyadeans
The Hyadeans are, some believe, an advanced alien race that are discussed in connection with connected with some UFO sightings and contactee activity. As the name suggests they are from the Hyades star system.

The Hyades
The Hyades star cluster is the nearest such cluster to Earth at a distance of 151 light years - not much in galactic terms. It is part of the constellation of Taurus. The cluster spreads across 80 light years in diameter although the bulk of the stars are concentrated in the central 10 light years in diameter. The cluster is estimated to be some 790 million years old.

The Hyades were known to ancient astronomers and were mentioned as early as 750 BCE by Homer.

The Alien Race

The Hyadeans apear to be one of the "minor" races of the galaxy and most of the little we know about them has been passed on by contactees of one of the other races. It is believed that the Hyadean species shares a common ancestry with humanity through the Lyrians. They are thus often classed as being on "our side" as opposed to on the side of the draconian reptile races. The original Hyadeans were believed to have fled from the constellation of Lyra as refugees from the Lyran wars between the human races and the reptillians. Their Hyadean descendants are sometimes described as being of the Nordic type in appearance.

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Pleiadians

Pleiades, Stars & Comets Art Poster Print

The Pleiadians (or Pleiadeans) are said to be a race of extra-terrestrial aliens from the Pleiades star cluster. They have been said to have been involved in contactee events the most famous of which is that of Billy Meier. An alternative name for them is the Plejarens.

The Pleiades
The Pleiades star cluster is better known as the Seven Sisters. To astronomers it is M45. The cluster is approximately 440 light years from Earth in the constellation of Taurus. There are some 500 stars in the Pleiades cluster, most of which are blue. Many are bright and around a dozen can be seen with the naked eye. The cluster has thus been known for thousands of years and appears in the mythology and folklore of many peoples. The name "Seven Sisters" refers to Greek mythology and the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione.

The Alien Race

The Pleiadians are said to be refugees from the Lyran Wars. Their home planet is now a world called Erra which orbits the star Taygeta - a B6V star known to astronomers as 19 Tauri. The Pleiadians are said to resemble humans in form, however they are highly advanced spiritual beings. They have connections with higher planes and superior mental powers. They are sometimes said to exist in a different space-time plane or dimension.

They have reportedly travelled to Earth many times in their Beamships, helping to give human evolution the occasional "push". More recently they have contacted various humans to warn that humanity is in danger of desroying both itself and the planet Earth.

Billy Meier
Probably the most famous Pleiadian contactee is Billy Meier. Meier was born in Switzerland in 1937 and believes he has been in contact with extraterrestrial beings since the age of five. Meier's public contacts began in 1975. He claims to have communicated with various Pleiadians both by telepathic contact and in person, his main contact having been with an Erran called Semjase. Meier has also produced many UFO photos showing, he claims, the Pleiadian Beamships. One of Meier's most controversial claims is that he is the only human being on Earth today to have had direct contact with the Pleiadians.

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UFOs & Aliens

Billy Meier
Billy Meier is well known in ufology. He is probably one of the most famous UFO contactees and proponents of the extraterrestrial hypothesis. Unlike many contactees, Meier claims to have knowledge of not just one alien race but of an entire galactic history as well as many Earthly mysteries. Skeptics consider Meier's view of the universe to be more mythology than history.

Biography
Meier was borrn in Switzerland in 1937. His real name is Eduard Albert Meier-Zafiriou "Billy" is a nickname given to him by a friend who thought he resembled Wild Bill Hickock. When young Meier was for a short period a member of the French Foreign Legion. After leaving this he travelled the world extensively. In Turkey he lost his left arm following bus accident. Meier married in 1966 and has three children. In 1975 he founded the Free Community of Interests for the Fringe and Spiritual Sciences and UFOlogical Studies (FIGU).

UFOs and Aliens

Meier claims to have had extensive contact with extraterrestrial alien beings since the age of five (1942). These contacts were initially informal and took place on and off until 1964 at which point there was a long break.

Pleiadeans
Meier's alien contacts began again in 1975. Unlike the earlier visits, these times the aliens provided Meier with photographic evidence and more information to be disseminated to the people of Earth. Meier's main contact from 1975 was an alien woman by the name of Semjase. She claimed to be a Pleiadian, from the star cluster of Pleiades more commonly known as the Seven Sisters. According to Meier the Pleiadeans live in "another space-and-time configuration" and call themselves by the name Plejarans. Meier has released many photographs of the alien spacecraft. These he calls beamships they are similar in appearance to the classical UFO or flying saucer. He also has 8mm movie film sequences.

Meier also claims to have been given small samples of alien metal.

Skeptics
Meier's claims are a cause of much controversy. Many people dispte the authenticity of his story and in particular of some of his photos. Meier has responded by saying that some of his photographs were doctored in an effort to discredit him. According to his website: "In addition, it is a known fact that numerous photos of Billy's were carefully manipulated in the past to show strings and similar anomalies and were widely distributed in attempts to discredit him. However, the decision as to their authenticity ultimately lies with each and every individual."
External Links: Billy Meier

Zeta Reticuli
The binary star system Zeta Reticuli is in the Reticulum constellation, some 39 light years from Earth. Zeta2 Reticuli has similar characteristics to our sun and is a possible candidate for a planetary system. In 1996 the discovery of a Zeta Reticuli planet was announced, however this was later found to be incorrect.

Aliens
Zeta Reticuli is well known to ufologists as the alleged home of an advanced alien race possibly the ubiquitous Greys. According to reports these Extraterrestrial Biological Entities (EBE for short) are small less than four foot tall - with grey skin. They have large, insect like eyes. They are in many ways the archetypal alien race which has inspired many UFO novels and movies. According to one source the Zeta Reticulans can travel the 39 light years from their home to Earth in around 90 of our days. Zeta Reticulan science is said to be highly advanced, especially in the fields of genetic engineering. They apparently have a highly ordered social structure. Some people have suggested that the Greys with which we are familiar may in fact just be a servitor class working for another alien race, possibly reptillian in nature.

Hill Abduction

The possibility of intelligent life on Zeta Reticuli was first popularised following the Hill abduction incident. Betty and Barney Hill famously claimed to have been abducted by aliens in 1961. Betty later drew a star map which was interpreted as showing the aliens to have come from Zeta Reticuli.

Project SERPO
More recently Zeta Reticuli has been the focus of Project Serpo. This was allegedly a top secret US government project launched in the wake of the Roswell incident. According to people claiming to have reliable information, Project Serpo (possibly once known as Project Crystal Knight) involved the exchange of information between the US government and aliens from Zeta Reticuli. It is even claimed that Earth astronauts have visited the Zeta Reticuli homeworld of the Greys on their jumpships. The status of project Serpo is hotly debated. The Serpo website continues to drip-feed the release of more information however some people have claimed that it is either a hoax or deliberate misinformation to cover up the real truth behind the UFO phenomenon.

Project Serpo

Over the years there have been many claims of secret contact between extraterrestrial aliens and human governments - or at least agencies of those governments. One of the most well known of these is Project Serpo which is said to have run between 1965 and 1978.

What Is Project Serpo?

The Serpo Project is - allegedly - a secret information exchange programme that began after the famous Roswell incident of 1947. Despite the controversy over Roswell, many believe that a UFO did indeed crash there and that alien artefacts and technology were retrieved. Some go further and believe that a live alien being was also recovered from the wreck. Communication was eventually established with the alien and contact made with its home planet - somewhere in the Zeta Reticuli system. The alien was able to return home and an exchange of information between the two worlds began. The program was initially called Project Crystal Knight and later renamed Project Serpo (the reasons for the name are not clear). This program led eventually to a number of volunteers from the US armed forces visiting the aliens' home world in 1965. They lived there for some years, most returning home in 1978. As with all such stories, Project Serpo is a subject of much disagreement. Some believe it is literally true, others that it was nothing but a clever hoax. In the middle are some who believe that it contains elements of the truth that have been accidentally or deliberately warped and exaggerated. One thing we need to remember is that even if the Serpo story itself does turn out to be a hoax, that doesn't automatically mean that no such exchange has ever taken place. Assuming that the Serpo exchange project really did exist, is it - or anything similar - still going today? Well, the amount of publicity that it - and Roswell - have received make it unlikely that it continues in the same form. If I was in charge of such a project I would rename and relocate it then leak disinformation under the original name.

Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart was one of those rare people who achieved fame during her life and still more fame through her death. Or, to be precise, her disappearance. Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas in 1897. She didn't set out to be an aviator, initially training in medicine. It was only following a flight with Frank Hawks in 1920 that she decided she wanted to be a pilot. Earhart quickly set about learning to fly and by 1922 was setting records (an altitude record of 14,000 feet). In 1928 she achieved worldwide fame when she became the first woman to cross the Atlantic ocean by plane, on a flight piloted by Wilmer Stultz. In 1932 Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic.

Disappearance

The last known flight of Amelia Earhart began on March 17th, 1937 - Saint Patrick's Day. With her navigator Fred Noonan Earhart set out from California on what was intended to be a round the world trip in their plane the Electra. Unfortunately an accident at Honolulu meant that the trip had to be delayed whilst the Electra was repaired. The attempt to fly around the world began again some two months later. The Electra set off from Oakland and by July 1st reached Lae, New Guinea. On July 2nd Earhart and Noonan took off from Lae heading for the tiny Howland Island. They never arrived. The last sighting of the Electra, Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan was over the Nukumanu Islands.

Theories
Theories as to the reasons behind Earhart's disappearance abound. The simplest explanation is that a combination of storms and equipment problems led the Electra to use more fuel than expected, meaning that it was unable to complete the journey. However many people could not and still will not accept this idea. One theory that became popular was to blame the problems on Fred Noonan. It was said that he was insufficiently familiar with the equipment on board the plane and even that he was an alchoholic. There doesn't seem to be any solid evidence behind this accusation. Some people have taken this scapegoating of Noonan to be deliberate misinformation designed to cover up a darker truth. Perhaps the most well-known story behind the end of Earhart's last flight involves capture by the Japanese. In some versions of this story Earhart was working for the US govenment and using her mission to spy on Japanese installations when she was shot down and captured. Another version has Earhart used as an innocent patsy by the US government, her disappearance being a deliberate conspiracy to provide them with an excuse to examine Japanese military installations in the area under cover of a rescue mission. Many of these stories have Earhart taken by the Japanese to the island of Saipan. Some even say that she was eventually repatriated to the US where she lived under an assumed name. Both US and Japanese governments have consistently denied knowledge of the fate of Earhart and Noonan. A 1991 Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed no classified files on the case. But no good conspiracy theorist would trust an FOI request that came back negative. The idea that Earhart was working for US intelligence was dramatised in the 1943 film Flight For Freedom. It's not clear how much this film created the conspiracy theory as opposed to reflecting it. Even if the theory was already in circulation, the film popularised it. The idea that Earhart had been captured by the Japanese was given new life in 1966 with the publication of The Search for Amelia Earhart by Fred Goener.

Finally there is, of course, the UFO connection. Some people have suggested that Earhart might - either unwitingly or in collusion with the US government - have made contact with alien spacecraft. Depending on the nature of the proposed aliens, Earhart was either blown out of the sky or abducted. There's even an episode of Star Trek Voyager based around the latter idea - the writers of The '37s appear to buy into the idea of Noonan as an alcoholic.

Antigravity
Antigravity - or anti-gravity - is one of the staple technologies of science fiction that could have immense benefits if turned into science fact. It is often discussed in the context of space travel (some people think that UFOs might use antigravity drives and that the US government has captured a UFO with such a drive) however the impact would perhaps be even more powerful here on Earth. A clean, simple antigravity mechanism would make air travel much cheaper and cleaner, cutting the need for carbon based fuels. It could also be applied to other surface transport to make it cleaner and cheaper by reducing friction. A practical antigravity device would have huge social and environmental benefits - and also be extremely valuable. It's no surprise that so many people have spent and are spending so much time researching this area. But is antigravity really possible or are they wasting their time?

Does Antigravity Exist?

The concept of anti-gravity seems logical at first sight: if gravity is another force like electricity or magnetism then it should be possible to control that force. Most antigravity experiments aim to either "shield" against gravity or control it so that it works for rather than against us. The problem is that nobody really knows what gravity is. It so far eludes a unified theory and remains distinct from the fundamental forces of electricity, magnetism and the nuclear force. If gravity is not a force but actually a result of the geometry of the universe as postulated by Einstein then antigravity as such is in conflict with this theory. Despite this theoretical problem, many people continue to research antigravity (or at least "gravity control" if not zero gravity). Some people even claim to have achieved it and have built what they claim to be antigravity devices. Many of these so called antigravity devices do not control or negate gravity but simply compensate for or oppose it by the use of an electromagnetic force. That doesn't mean these devices are useless, far from it. However in general they are not "true" antigravity.

Another commonly seen form of antigravity machine is based on the peculiar properties of the gyroscope. Such machines are truly amazing and certainly appear to be defying gravity. However many of those who understand such things say that in fact gravity is still at work and simply compensated for by the other forces interacting in the system. Of course, to some people the contradiction between antigravity and relativity is not a problem: they point out that no scientific theory is perfect and that relativity is already in conflict with quantum mechanics. Many people look down at antigravity research in the same way that they do at attempts to create perpetual motion or cold fusion. Maybe they're right and antigravity as such is a theoretical impossibility. But just think what other wonderous discoveries might be made by these maverick researchers whilst they poke at the the edges of accepted science.

The Fermi Paradox

Image copyright Diego Barucco / iStockphoto

The Fermi Paradox is named after physicist Enrico Fermi and is often used by skeptics to "prove" that either intelligent alien life doesn't exist or that we are unable to communicate with it.

What Is The Fermi Paradox?

The paradox is that if advanced extraterrestrial civilisations exist, as many believe, then we should have encountered evidence of them by now. Yet we have no such conclusive evidence, merely ambiguous and controversial UFO sightings. As Fermi is reported to have asked: Where are they?

Resolving The Paradox

The paradox rests on two assumptions: 1) advanced alien life exists and 2) we have not encountered it. The easiest way to resolve the paradox is thus to challenge these assumptions.

Alien Life Does Not Exist

This is probably the most depressing option. Either our ideas of the universe are wrong and we are a lone freak of the cosmos, or alien life has evolved elsewhere but it's the nature of intelligent life to quickly destroy itself.

We Have Encountered Alien Life

Some people suggest that alien life does exist and we have encountered it - but it is so different to us that we simply haven't recognised it. Perhaps it hasn't recognised us either.

Positive Resolutions
Both those options resolve the paradox but in a "negative" way - they confirm that either alien life exists or it is so strange that it might just as well not exist. There are ways to resolve the paradox that do not rule out encounters between humanity and advanced alien civilisations. Most of these have been explored by science fiction writers many times.

The Prime Directive

Probably the most optimistic approach to the Fermi Paradox is the Star Trek idea: a federation of benign, intelligent aliens that avoids interference in the development of young races. When we're ready, they'll reveal themselves.

Quarantine

A less pleasant suggestion is that aliens have visited us - and have judged us unworthy and/or dangerous. Earth and humanity are thus under strict quarantine. If we do ever leave our solar system, who knows what they'll do.

The Experiment
Perhaps the reason we've never had contact with the aliens is that humanity is some sort of experiment. There are many people who believe that aliens have intervened at crucial moments of human evolution and/or history.

Humanity Who?
Although it would be a blow to our collective ego, perhaps we should admit that we're really not very interesting. If there are indeed thousands of planets on which life has evolved, why should the advanced species bother with ours? We haven't even broken the light barrier! We might merit the occasional scientific expedition, little more. Those are just a few possible ways to resolve the Fermi Paradox, there are many more both positive and negative. The paradox is interesting and raises important questions but it is not proof that we will be forever alone.

Gulf Breeze, Fl
The city of Gulf Breeze is situated in Santa Rosa County, Florida. The town proper (as opposed to the wider region with the same postal designation) consists of some 6,500 people and is mostly famous for as the home of the Zoo of Northwest Florida. To tourists with an interest in the weird it is famous as a UFO sighting hotspot, in particular the UFO flap from the 1980s.

The 1987 Incident

The main witness in the 1987 Gulf Breeze UFO incident was Ed Walters, a local building contractor. Beginning on November 11th 1987, Waters reported a number of UFO

sightings and encounters. According to Walters he not only witnessed the UFOs but was spoken to telepathically by them. Walters describes a grey-blue Adamski-saucer shaped UFO which emitted a distinctive humming noise. After he started photographing the craft, it reportedly used a blue beam of some form to immobilise him whilst a voice in his mind told him not to be scared. What makes this incident more interesting than many other similar ones is that Walters took a number of photographs of the UFO over a period of weeks. These pictures were published in the Gulf Breeze Sentinel, the local newspaper, and the story attributed to an anonymous "Mr. X" rather than Walters.

Sighting or Hoax?
Any "close encounter" is controversial and the Walters incident is no exception. Doubts were raised about the Waters photographs when it was reported that the occupants of his old house had discovered a model UFO in the attic. The model was a match for those appearing in Walters' photos - and inside the model were house plans in Waters' hand. This discovery has led many to conclude that the whole incident was a hoax. Waters has denied that any hoax took place, saying that the model was not his work. He attributes the finding of the model to professional debunkers and a misinformation conspiracy. Despite the apparently damning evidence of the model, there is no concensus on the validity of the Gulf Breeze Incident. It's often forgotten that although Waters was the main witness he was not the only one - his reports were merely the first and hence most famous of a wave of sightings. Many other people also reported seeing the UFOs and some also took photographs. Personally I agree with those who find it inconceivable that someone could fake the sighting and photos with so much skill then do something as stupid as leave a complete model in the attic! Of course even if the 1987 incident was real it doesn't necessarily mean the UFOs were alien spacecraft. The town of Gulf Breeze is near a naval station and an airforce base, so the idea of a secret military experiment is plausible. Whatever the truth behind the 1987 flap, Gulf Breeze today remains a hot spot for UFO reports and a popular destination for ufologists, both believers and skeptics.

IFOs

A key characteristic of a UFO is that it is an unidentified flying object. Describing something as a UFO doesn't necessarily mean that it is an alien spaceship or a psychic phenomenon, it simply means that it has not (yet) been identified. The vast majortiy of UFOs sightings turn out to have a very ordinary explanation. In this case the sighting is reclassified as an IFO: an identified flying object. Some of the most common forms of IFO responsible for UFO reports include (in no particular order):

Bright planets Meteorites The moon Aircraft Satellite re-entry Balloons Blimps Laser light displays Wedding lanterns (fire balloons) Birds

It's important to remember that although the vast number of UFO reports turn into IFOs like the ones listed above, a stubborn minority refuse any conventional explanation and remain a mystery. Those who seek to debunk the entire UFO field often focus on the IFOs and brush off the unexplained sightings as hoax, error or delusion.

Brain Entrainment
BWE
Brain entrainment - also known as Brain Wave Entrainment or BWE - is a well known scientific process that is familiar in many fields. At one end of the spectrum you can buy BWE products for personal use. At the other, it is also often associated with conspiracy theory, the new world order and even UFOs. This is understandable when you consider that BWE is, in effect, mind control.

What Is Entrainment?
Brain wave entrainment is simply a case of adjusting the brainwaves to a desired frequency, either faster or slower than the one at which they are currently running.

Why would you want to do this? Well there are a number of positive reasons. It's claimed that such entrainment can help to relax or stimulate a person. BWE is often incorporated with devices you can buy for relaxation or concentration, for instance some sound-light machines. Entrainment techniques are also often used by hypnotic CDs etc. The most common forms of entrainment use flashing light (not suitable for epileptics) or sounds. For instance, binaural tones can create the desired beat frequency. The theory is that if this frequency is used as a stimulus to the brain for a period of time then the brain's own frequency will adjust accordingly. Sometimes a "matching and leading" style technique is used. For example, to slow one's brainwaves the frequency could start high then gradually reduce.

Mind Control
The darker side of entrainment comes from claims that it has been/is being used on people without their knowledge. Some people believe that governments have used BWE possibly low or high level sound, possibly via some other form of mechanism such as radio waves - to sedate, harass or degrade the performance of their own or other people. Some people have speculated on the infamous "woodpecker" signal being a cold war BWE style mind weapon. Such alleged covert uses of entrainment often involve Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) transmissions. As to UFOs, some people believe that aliens use a form of BWE to sedate abductees and later control their emotions, possibly via an implant. Then, of course, we have the grand unified conspiracy theory that the New World Order is working alongside the aliens to control the human race using BWE as one of their techniques. That idea is one I find too worrying even to comtemplate.

Sound Light Machines

Important: If you suffer from epilepsy or or otherwise affected by flashing lights or rhythmic sound do NOT use a sound light machine without consulting your doctor.

Mind Modulations Proteus Light & Sound Mind Machine

Sound / Light machines have been around for some years. Many claims are made for them, some people even refer to them as mind machines. Sound Light Machines are essentially used to create an "altered state of consciousness". That doesn't necessarily mean anything weird, it could simply mean extreme relaxation. Some people use sound and light machines to enhance lucid dreaming, meditation and even learning. Others use them to unwind and/or refresh. I remember buying one of the early units on the market, a crude frame wih two LEDs and an irritating buzz! Technology has moved on a lot since then and modern sound light machines are far more sophisticated. All sound light machines on the market consist essentially of three parts:

Eye Shade A light plastic shade is worn over the eyes. This contains one or more LEDs positioned over each eye which flash during use. Cheaper soundlight machines usually have only one LED per eye or multiple LEDs of the same colour. More advanced (and more expensive) units have multiple LEDs of different colours. In some cases the lights for each eye can pulse independently. Sound Source The sound to accompany the flashing lights is usually a series of pulses generated by the machine and listened to via headphones. Depending on the sohpistication of the unit there will be different ranges of sound and tempo. Some machines can be connected to an external audio source and will synchronise the light show with that. Controller The controller is the heart of the sound light machine, allowing you to select different programmes and options. Its job is to control the flashing

LEDs and either synchronise them to the music or provide synchronised sound pulses. The controller is usually a separate unit, on some products it is built into the eye shade.

How Does a Sound Light Machine Work?

The theory behind a sound-light machine is that is synchronises with and adjusts the rate of your mind and body functions. The more sophisticated units use a multi-phase approach in an attempt to match then lead your brainwaves. This is sometimes called the frequency following response. When you first use the unit you might be surprised at how many different colours you "see". It seems that the brain is good at generating impressions that, from a strict optical perspective, cannot be there. If using an advanced machine you might be surprised by the number of different visual experiences that can be produced by a few LEDs! Accompanying the light will be sound. Assuming you are not using music synchronisation then this will be a series of rhythmic pulses, possibly binaural. Just let yourself drift off, relax and enjoy. I've bought several light sound machines over the years. My current unit is the excellent Proteus. Although it has a multitude of programs I've found that there are only half a dozen I use on a regular basis. Some of these produce some of the deepest relaxation I've ever experienced. As of yet though I don't seem to have developed any psychic powers! As with all these things, what matters is whether or not it works for you. The only way you'll know that is to try it for yourself.

Information on El Chupacabra
The Goat Sucker: Fact or Legend?
Folklore regarding El Chupacabra - a name which means goat sucker - goes back many years. However the modern chupacabra era probably began in 1975 with the arrival in Puerto Rico of the "Moca Vampire".

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The Moca Vampire

1975 saw a wave of UFO sightings across Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean region. Coinciding with this a large number of Puerto Rican farmers reported unexplained animal killings - everything from ducks to cows and, of course, goats. The animals had reportedly been cut open and their blood removed. The first reports of this strange phenomenon came from the town of Moca, hence the name Moca Vampire ("El Vampire de Moco"). Various explanations have been put forward for the Moca Vampire, everything from alien mutation of cattle to escaped crocodiles! Whatever the explanation, as the UFO flap died down so did the animal attacks.

Enter the Chupacabra

After a period of quiet, the cattle mutilations began again in Puerto Rico during the early nineteen-nineties. This time there was no convenient wave of UFOs to provide an easy explanation. Once again animals were being killed and their blood removed. This time it seemed to be mainly goats that were being targetted, hence the name "goat sucker". An important difference from twenty years earlier was that this time there were witnesses, people who claimed to have seen the chupacubra. It has been called a "living gargoyle". Most witnesses describe a weird bipedal creature about four feet tall, somewhat lizardlike with grey skin or scales down its back. It also has large eyes and excellent night vision. The similarity between this description and the standard image of the "Grey" alien is striking, adding fuel to the extra-terrestrial hypothesis.

Over the next couple of years, sightings of the creature spread out from Puerto Rico across Mexico and much of Central America. Exact figures are difficult to come by but it is estimated that several thousand animal deaths have been attributed to the goatsucker. In 2000, the BBC reported that a Nicaraguan farmer claimed to have shot a chupacabra and to have later found the remains. Zoologists examined the creature and declared it a dog, however the farmer, Jose Luis Talavera, rejected this insisting that he shot and killed a chupacabra. More recently - summer 2004 - a farmer in Elmendorf shot and killed an unusual creature. Some people have suggested that the Elmendorf Beast might be a chupacabra.

What is the Chupacabra?

To a cryptozoologist, chupacabras - if they exist at all - are unknown creatures. It would be nice to think that they are a previously undiscovered, monstrous species, possibly some form of surviving dinosaur. More probable is that they are some form of Alien Big Cat (ABC). "Alien" in this sense simply means out of place rather than from another world! Illegally imported panthers are one hypothesis. Of course there are other possible explanations. Some people still hold to the UFO cattle mutilation idea. Others think that the cupacubra is an alien creature released accidentally or deliberately - by the UFO visitors in the nineteen seventies. Still others believe it to be the result of some stramge genetic experiment that escaped from a research laboratory. Unless and until a goat sucker is caught, we'll probably never know.

Wednesday, 6 September, 2000, 15:07 GMT 16:07 UK Experts sink teeth into goat-sucker

Goat-sucker stories have circulated for centuries

By Central American correspondent Peter Greste For centuries, Central Americans have spoken of a mysterious and terrible vampire-like creature that roams the countryside, slaying livestock by sucking out their blood.

The chupacabra creatures are said to attack their victims at night, leaving a trail of carcasses with their throats torn out. Despite the stories, and many people's unshakeable belief in the chupacabras, nobody has ever been able to find any material evidence until now. A farmer in Nicaragua claims to have shot and killed one of the creatures as it attacked his own flock of goats.
These remains are said to be of a chupacabra

The farmer Jose Luis Talavera described how he staked out his ranch one night after at least 70 sheep and goats had been drained of blood and saw two chupacabras among the flock. "We shot at them in the distance," he said. "We hit one and wounded it, but they both ran away before we could catch them." He described the creature as having the naked skin of a bat, and a head like a bull, with a crocodile-like crest running down its neck. Evidence Mr Talavera said he later found the decaying skeleton in the mouth of a cave near his farm outside Malpaisillo, a rural town about 45 kilometres north-west of Managua, and handed it over to the local authorities for examination. Now, zoologists like Edmundo Torres, of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua. have given their verdict. "It's a dog, without any room for doubt," he said. "This is a common dog. There are no fangs or anything that could suck blood," according to another university official, Dr Carlos Alberto Gomez. The explanation has not satisfied Mr Talavera, though.

This is a common dog - there are no fangs or anything that could suck blood

Dr Carlos Alberto Gomez

"The animal that was discovered in that rural zone was different from a mere dog," he insisted. "Its teeth were rose-coloured and it reared up on its hind legs to suck the blood from at least 120 sheep." Omen Others in the region too have spoken darkly of what the coming of the chupacabra means. One protestant preacher Francisco Ortiz said the creature was a "wake-up call" heralding the end of the world. "The light is yellow, but it could change to red at any moment," he said. "Its a signal to men and women that we're going home to God."

Its a signal to men and women that we're going home to God

Francisco Ortiz

However, a local feminist group that has been encouraging women to raise their own sheep to win financial independence had its own theory. The group suggested that a Nicaraguan patriarchy unleashed the creature to hold on to power. Anthropologists say the legend of the mysterious chupacabras is centuries old, and spans the length of the Andes and Central America. Local believers have blamed all manner of ills on the creature, from losses of livestock to bad fortune. Despite the official verdict about the latest discovery, many are still convinced that the chupacabras are very much alive and very dangerous.

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Alien Big Cats

Close view of a snarling male puma Edwards, Jason Buy this Photographic Print at AllPosters.com

ABCs
Alien Big Cats (often called ABCs) do not (usually) have anything to do with UFOs and visitors from other planets. The word "alien" in this context simply means "out of place". Unlike many cryptids ABCs are not creatures unknown to science but previously wellknown creatures in unexpected places. It is their location that is anomalous rather than their existence. ABC are sometimes known as Phantom Cats however the word "Phantom" is probably even more misleading than "alien". ABCs are found throughout the world, however for some reason we seem to have more than our fair share here in the UK. They have been reported throughout Britain and captured or killed ABCs range geographically from the leopard shot on the Isle of Wight (1993) through a jungle cat hit by a car in Shropshire (1989) up to Scotland and the famous "Felicity the Puma" of Cannich (1980). These are simply a few of the confirmed cases - there are many, many more sightings annually. A 2006 report by the British Big Cat Society (1) revealed that there were 2123 reported sightings between April 2004 and July 2005.

What Are Alien Big Cats?

As with any strange phenomenom many big cat sightings are undoubtedly the result of incorrect observation, media hysteria and downfright fraud. In addition, some of the tales fit better into the categories of folklore and legends of the supernatural. That said, many big cats have - as mentioned above - been confirmed. They are real, they exist. So what are they and where do they come from? The description of ABCs varies from location to location, however most seem consistent with known species of large, wild felines. In the UK the most common reports are of large black cats or brown/sandy ones. Pumas probably account for many of these. So where do they come from? One obvious source is accidental release into the wild from zoos, private collectors, etc. Travelling circuses are another possible source. Of course, most such escapees would probably have died out quicky. However it's possible that some managed to live on and breed, learning to hunt or scavenge. In the UK many such colonies could have originated with the passing in 1976 of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act (2). This required owners of big cats to be licensed. It's suspected that many owners released their animals into the wild rather than comply with the terms of the Act.

References: (1) British Big Cats Society (2) Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976

Crop Circles
Crop circles ('agroglyphs') caught the media's attention and shot to prominence in the 1970s, although reports go back as far as the 17th century. Today they are largely ignored with most people having written them off as hoaxes. Despite that there are still rashes of sightings and many people ('cereologists') still study and write about them. Crop circles formed the basis for the 2002 M. Night Shyamalan movie "Signs". You can even buy a Crop Circles 2006 Wall Calendar.

Crop circle, Danebury, Hampshire, England Russell, Ron Buy this Photographic Print at AllPosters.com

What Are Crop Circles?

Crop circles are areas of flattened crops that occur without explanation in a field. A distinguishing feature is that they appear regular rather than random. The design of crop circles varies from simple circles to far more intricate designs, some reminiscent of fractal geometry. They often have at least a degree of symmetry. Another interesting feature of crop circles is that they usually seem to appear over night. Some people have chosen to read this as evidence of the fact that they are man-made.

What Causes Crop Circles?

There are many possible explanations for crop circles. Many are, without doubt, manmade hoaxes. A number of people have come forward over the years and "confessed" to making circles. Often their methods for doing so without disturbing the surrounding crops are highly ingenious. Although it is a fact that many crop circles are fakes, the known hoaxers do not account for all known circles. As with UFO sightings, although the majority can be explained there is a core that remains interesting. The fact that many crop circles are hoaxes does not necessarily mean that all of them are hoaxes. We cannot tell for sure how all crop circles are formed. Some of the theories behind the origin of these remaining crop circles include:

Aliens A popular theory is that crop circles are made by alien visitors. Sometimes the circle is thought to be caused by the alien ship landing. Some of the more complicated crop circle formations could, it has been suggested, be aliens trying to communicate with us. Weapons A technological explanation proposed for the circle phenomenon is that it is the side effect of some weapon being tested. One suggestion is that is could be some form of satellite mounted weapon, possibly a microwave beam. Such ideas lead naturally into the realms of conspiracy theory Natural Phenomena Some form of rare natural occurence could possibly be the cause of some circles. One suggestion is that the flattened fields could be the result of ball lightning.

Earth Mysteries Information

The Strange Side of our Planet
Like so many aspects of the wyrd the term earth mysteries doesn't have one single, simple definition.

History
The phrase appears to have originated in the 1970s. Initially the term "earth mysteries" was reserved for those subjects on the fringe of archaeology. This mainly consisted of looking at ancient sites - standing stones, burial mounds, sacred places etc - with an emphasis on their mythic, spiritual and possibly paranormal importance. A student of earth mysteries needs to be equally at home with geomorphology, astronomy and ancient folklore. This study of earth mysteries tied in well with the theory of ley lines and the study of leys quickly became labelled an earth mystery. The category could also be said to include scrying techniques such as dowsing which some believe tap into unknown earth energies. At the time earth mysteries began gaining a foothold, much of the orthodox archaeology profession had little time for it. Materialism was the order of the day and anything of wider scope - in particular concern for the spiritual aspects of the past - was looked down upon. Since those days the profession has come a long way and intelligent modern archaeology treats earth mysteries with respect, albeit with a difference in emphasis.

Today the term earth mysteries has expanded even further and has come to be used to refer to any strange featues of our planet Earth including ball lightning, crop circles, and lights in the sky. In connection with the latter - and aerial earth mysteries in general - the field is often of interest to UFO researchers. Meteorological phenomena have been the source of many UFO reports; whilst on the other side of the coin, many believe that UFO activity accounts for many unexplained earth phenomena. Gaia theory features prominently in modern earth mystery studies. Whilst there are still many people who devote their energy to individual phenomena in isolation, earth studies are increasingly taking a more holistic view. Earth mystery researchers today frequently look at the interaction between different elements of the vast, ancient planetary system to which the human race belongs.

Dowsing Facts and Information

What is Dowsing?
Dowsing is a form of scrying or divination that concentrates on locating objects, usually beneath the surface of the earth. The most well-known form of dowsing is locating water by using rods and for this reason dowsing is often known as water witching. Although water dowsing with a rod is probably the most common form, dowsing skills can be applied to finding many other things than water and use a variety of tools such as a pendulum - or even no device at all.

Dowsing Tools
The most common traditional dowsing tool was the Y-shaped forked stick. Opinions vary as to what type of wood is best, however most agree that a fresh piece of wood is more effective than an old one. Today many people use metal dowsing rods, and you can buy a variety of specially made instruments. There is some speculation that the metal might help in focussing the "fields" - magnetic, psychic or otherwise. A popular alternative to the traditional Y-shapes dowsing rod is a pair of L-shaped rods. The short section of one rod is held in each hand with the longer section pointing straight ahead. When the target is near, the rods will cross.

Many people prefer to use a brass dowsing rod. Some metal dowsing rods come with a coating on the handles to prevent the user's own natural electrical currents from interfering with the dowsing process. You can even purchase high-tech long-range dowsing rods - top of the range models that are intended for long distance dowsing. Other people prefer to use a simple pendulum. This is the method frequently used for map dowsing.

Does Dowsing Work?

There is no doubt that dowsers do locate water and other targets. The questions are 1) is dowsing more effective than chance? and 2) what is the mechanism? The Skeptics claim that dowsing is simply a result of involuntary muscular movement the ideomotor effect. According to them, dowsing gives results no better than luck. Despite that, dowsing has been used for thousands of years and is still used regularly by many people today. I personally know a professional civil engineer who uses dowsing regularly in his career. Whether he is using some psychic force or is simply tapping in to information his subconscious already "knows" doesn't matter to him - so long as it works.

An Introduction to Gaia Theory

Background Facts and Information
Many people today would associate the phrase Gaia Theory (or, if you prefer, Hypothesis) with New Age, pagan or paranormal topics. In fact when it was first proposed Gaia had none of those associations. It was - and still is - a respectable mainstream theory.

James Lovelock

Gaia 5 in. x 7 in. Buy this Note Card at AllPosters.com

The scientist most associated with Gaia Theory is James Lovelock. He first stated the hypothesis in 1972 in the journal Atmospheric Environment journal. Essentially the theory involves viewing the Earth not as a collection of disparate systems but on a more holisitc level. Our planet - and all the life on it - is part of one huge, selfregulating system. Lovelock defined Gaia as: "a complex entity involving the Earth's biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and soil; the totality constituting a feedback or cybernetic system which seeks an optimal physical and chemical environment for life on this planet" Thus life and the side-effects of life influence and are influenced by the environment. This creates a feedback mechanism that is largely self-regulating. For example, if the atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide rise then more plants grow - which remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It is interesting to note that since life on Earth began the heat from the sun has increased by 25%. Yet in all that time the actual surface temperature has remained near constant. This suggests that there must be some form of control mechanism.

Daisyworld
A thought-experiment concerning the validity of the Gaia hypothesis is the Daisyworld model. This depicts an extremely simple ecosystem consisting only of black and white daisies, along with an increasing solar temperature. Computer models show that Daisyworld does indeed respond in line with Gaia theory. Obviously the real world is orders of magnitude more complex than Daisyworld, however the success of this simulation suggests that the Gaia hypothesis is viable. Unfortunately in Daisyworld even the Gaia effect eventually breaks down when put under enough stress. With our current levels of pollution and environmental damage we should bear that in mind. Any cybernetic system will break if you push it too far. Are we on the verge of killing Gaia? Lovelock has been careful to stress that at no time was he proposing a sentient Gaia. However others have been attracted to that concept and have proposed various forms of strong, mystical Gaia hypotheses.

The Mothman
The West Virginia Mothman was a strange creature, the story of which has similarities with that of the Cornish Owlman. Both incidents took place at around the same time, both involved what appeared to be a giant flying creature, both happened when other strange events were occurring locally and both were one-off flaps (pardon the pun) that have not recurred since.

Sightings
The Mothman story took place towards the end of the 1960s around the Charleston and Point Pleasant areas. The first sighting appears to have taken place in 1965 when a witness saw what was described as an "angel". It's not clear whether this was actually the Mothman "monster" or a seperate unconnected incident. The main sightings appeared between 1966 and 1967. As always in these cases the descriptions from witnesses - frequently scared - vary considerably. Most describe a winged creature slightly larger than a man. One witness described it as like a giant butterfly. The Mothman was frequently described as having a grey or brown body, sometimes with red eyes. It was often seen in flight.

Although the Mothman itself didn't appear to threaten anyone directly its appearance did coincide with a number of other strange phenomena. UFO sightings, animal mutilations, etc also occured about the same time. And, of course, the end of 1967 saw the Silver Bridge disaster. The Silver Bridge that connected Point Pleasant and Gallipolis collapsed killing 47 people. This happened towards the end of the Mothman period. Coincidence? Probably, but an interesting one.

What Was The Mothman?

Even skeptics accept that something was seen during the Mothman incident. The number of witnesses is simply too high to dismiss it out of hand. The explanations, of course, vary tremendously. To many skeptics the whole Moth man incident was simply a misidentification of some natural if unusual species, perhaps a large bird. In 2002 the Skeptical Inquirer published an article entitled Mothman Solved which suggested the whole thing was simply Tyto alba - the common barn owl. Personally I have difficulty with the barn owl hypothesis. The creature isn't rare enough to have been wrongly identified by so many people over such a period of time. And if such incorrect identification happened once, why has it not happened again possibly elsewhere? Another hypothesis is that the Mothman was a creature rather more rare than the common owl, possibly a sandhill crane. Again, similar objections can be raised - why has not such misidentification also arisen elsewhere? An idea that makes more sense to me is that the Mothman was an extremely rare creature, possibly one of a kind - a cryptid. Perhaps it was a totally non-native creature that had escaped captivity, or one of the few remaining members of a nearly extinct species. Others prefer more paranormal explanations. The link with aliens and possible UFO activity is easy to make. Could the Mothman have been the result of alien genetic experiments? Might it have been an alien creature itself, possibly an intelligent one? Of course it's not only aliens who conduct experiments. Some people have suggested that the whole thing was a result of secret cold war experiments into propaganda or mind control. Or was the Mothman some form of supernatural entity? Something like a Banshee, foreshadowing the Silver Bridge disaster. Unfortunately we'll probably never know.

The Cornish Owlman

The Cornish Owlman (sometimes "Owl Man") is one of the lesser known cryptids. Unlike many of the more famous "monsters" in the field of cryptozoology, it appeared only in one specific place for a very short period of time. There is no body of folklore surrounding it and there have been very few recent sightings. It could easily be dismissed out of hand were it not for the curious circumstances surrounding it.

What is the Owlman?

The Owlman was seen during the years 1976 - 1978 in the county of Cornwall. More specifically, it was seen in the vicinity of the Mawnan Village. Some of the sightings were reported to the well-known cryptozoologist Tony "Doc" Shiels who reportedly coined the name "Owlman". The first sighting took place on April 17, 1976 and was reported by two girls, June and Vicky Melling. They reportedly saw a large, feathered "bird man" hovering over the Mawnan Church on Morgawr's Mile. The sighting left the two girls so frightened that the family cut short its holiday. Similar sightings were reported over the next two years and a picture of the Owlman emerged: a partially feathered man sized owl with pointed ears and clawed feet. It was a silvery grey colour with slanting red eyes. Some people have seen similarities between the Owlman and the better known mothman. There were several sightings of the Owlman between 1976 and 1978, all in the vicinity of Mawnan Church, after which it seems to have disappeared. There have been one or two reports since then but not many.

Strange Days
What makes the Cornish Owlman story so interesting is that it didn't take place in isolation. The sightings happened at a time when many weird things were going on in the area. During the spring of 1976, the weather in Cornwall went through extreme shifts between unusual heat waves and cold snaps. Animals behaved strangely - there are reports of packs of dogs, cats and birds terrorising people. In addition there was an upsurge in UFO reports. Add to all of this the fact that Mawnan Church is reportedly situated on a ley line and the whole thing becomes worthy of investigation. Something strange was happening in the area at the time. The strange goings on in Cornwall at the time can be connected to the Owlman story in many possible ways. To a skeptic, it suggests a possible wave of mass hysteria. After the

first sighting was reported the prevailing atmosphere of weirdness could have induced others to believe they saw something similar. Another possibility is that there really was something strange in the region at the time, possibly some form of freak earth energy or other power. This could possibly be connected with the unusual weather and animal behaviour. If this were the case then even if the Mothman sightings were hallucinations they would remain interesting as another symptom of whatever was really going on at the time. Of course, the irresistable connection is with the local UFO flap. Is it at all possible that the Owlman was actually an alien visitor passing through, or possibly an alien pet that had somehow escaped? As a footnote, it's interesting to compare the Cornish Owlman with the West Virginia Mothman.

Information on Cryptozoology
The Study of Unknown Creatures and Hidden Animals
Many people mistakenly confuse cryptozoology with the study of mythological creatures. In fact it is a completely different science, being a variant of the more traditional zoology. The word cryptozoology literally means "the study of hidden animals". Cryptozoology has no interest in unreal creatures. Instead it is the study of living creatures that might exist now or have existed once but are not yet known formally. These potential creatures are known as cryptids. Cryptozoologists are not interested in fantasy stories except when they contain clues as to the possible nature of a real creature. For a creature to be classed as a cryptid there must be at least some evidence for its existence. This evidence will often be anecdotal, for example folklore and individual sightings. The stronger the evidence, the more likely the cryptid is to exist and the more interesting it is to a cryptozoology researcher.

Do Cryptids Exist?
A good cryptozoologist will accept that not all cryptids actually exist. Some will simply be myths, the sightings a combination of story-telling, exaggeration and honest error. Rather than set out to prove that a creature does exist, instead they will set out to prove whether or not it exists.

A cryptid does not have to be a "monster". Many of the most interesting and scientifically verified cryptozoological discoveries have been new species of existing creatures or creatures living in unexpected places/times.

Examples of Cryptids
Mysterious Creatures That Might Exist

Alien Big Cats (ABCs) In the UK there are frequent reports of big cats living wild Bigfoot / Sasquatch North American / Canadian man-beast Bunyip Aboriginal creature which originated in the Dreamtime Chupacabra The "goat sucker" The Loch Ness Monster Affectionately known as "Nessie" The Skunk Ape Florida's ape-man Tsuchinoko A Japanese snake The Wendigo Possibly a relative of Bigfoot

There are, of course, many more - for details see the list of cryptids.

An Introduction to Ley Lines

Old Straight Tracks
Ley lines were initially a mainly British interest, however ley research has now spread to most countries of the world - and beyond! The word "ley" derives from "lea", an area of open country.

What Are Ley Lines?

The concept of ley lines (although he didn't like that name) was first suggested by Alfred Watkins in 1921 then popularised by his 1925 book The Old Straight Track. Watkins noticed whilst out walking in Herefordshire that a number of significant places were in

clear visual alignment. On studying detailed maps of the area he went on to find a number of other such lines on the landscape - what we now call ley lines. Watkins was not the first to notice these remarkable alignments. He himself referred back to a paper by G.H.Piper which noted: "A line drawn from the Skirrid-fawr mountain northwards to Arthur's Stone would pass over the camp and southern most point of Hatterill Hill, Oldcastle, Longtown Castle, and Urishay and Snodhill castles."

What Do Ley Lines Mean?

The existence of ley lines is undeniable. You can find your own simply by taking a detailed map of an area and marking points of significance. You will probably see quickly that there are very clear lines to be found - ancient sites often fitting on to a perfect straight line between natural features. The lines certainly exist. What - if anything - they actually mean is a more difficult question. Ley lines today have taken on a high degree of mystical, new age and sometimes paranormal significance. Some people even like to associate them with UFO phenomena and ley lines on other planets have been investigated. Remote dowsing has sometimes been used for this purpose. Watkins himself considered ley lines to be simply an anthropological artefact. He theorised that ancient Britain had supported a network of travel routes. For ease of navigation, these were generally straight lines which went between clearly visible landmarks. As travellers used these routes, so other sites were naturally built along them much as service stations are built along major roads today. The people who created these travel routes were called "dodmen".

The Mystical Significance of Ley Lines

The more mystical approach allocates to these lines some deeper significance or power. It is hypothesised that this power could be sensed - consciously or otherwise - by the mystics and seers responsible for selecting the ancient sites. An alternative mystic view is that the presence of the sites on the ley lines actually creates a power. A system of ley lines which converge on one particular point - of which Glastonbury is a famous example - can thus be seen either as ancient builders recognising a place of power or as a place gaining importance from the focus of lines of power. What could that power be? Different people have different opinions, covering everything from fluctuations in the earth's magnetic field through to psychic resonance from alien UFO landings.

The Sceptical View

The Skeptics, of course, prefer to dismiss it all as coincidence. Whilst accepting that ley lines exist they argue that if you place enough points on a map then you will be bound to find some straight lines purely at random.

Talking With Aliens: A Universal Translator?

24-Oct-08 One of the problems facing any science fiction story or SETI style project is communication between humanity and an alien race. Even assuming the aliens use symbol-based communication, how do we learn their language when we have no cultural historical or cultural reference points? Most fiction gets round this problem by assuming some sort of Star Trek style "Universal Translator". Such an interplanetary Rosetta Stone is way beyond our current technology however it might have just come one small step closer to reality. The Telegraph reports that Dr John Elliott of Leeds Metropolitan University is working on a computer program to help analyse alien messages and work out their language. Elliot's theory is that any language must have a structure and it should be possible to decode some of that structure - for instance identifying verbs and adjectival phrases even if we don't know the meaning of the "words". To assist in this pattern recognition Elliot is analysing the syntax of dozens of different human languages. Elliot also suggests that we might be able to deduce something about the aliens' intelligence level from the complexity of their language. Personally I think we just need look at whether or not they know how to use apostrophes correctly.

ET Vote Obama?
13-Oct-08 We already know that zombies support Barack Obama for president, now it appears that aliens might also be showing an interest in him. New video footage released on YouTube shows several UFOs flying above an Obama rally in Philidelphia. The UFOs were seen by several people, so they aren't just lens flare or other camera artefacts. Of course a UFO isn't necessarily an alien spaceship. Other suggested explanations for these sightings include laser reflections, weather balloons and surveillance drones.

Or maybe they really were aliens, but they're not interested in politics - just big Bruce Springsteen fans!

Stretford UFOs Were Balloons

17-Aug-08 The Manchester Evening News reports that last weeks rash of UFO reports in the Stretford area were the result not of alien activity but of children. Three youngsters were spotted releasing home made hot air balloons just before the reports. Balloons of some sort are a frequent cause of UFO reports that later become IFOs (Identified Flying Objects). Stephen Mera of the Manchester Association of Paranormal Investigators and Training commented: I think we'll see more of these throughout the summer. It's not the first time and it certainly won't be the last. Topic Tag: Ufology

Talking With Aliens: A Universal Translator?

24-Oct-08 Filed in: UFOs | Science and Inventions One of the problems facing any science fiction story or SETI style project is communication between humanity and an alien race. Even assuming the aliens use symbol-based communication, how do we learn their language when we have no cultural historical or cultural reference points? Most fiction gets round this problem by assuming some sort of Star Trek style "Universal Translator". Such an interplanetary Rosetta Stone is way beyond our current technology however it might have just come one small step closer to reality. The Telegraph reports that Dr John Elliott of Leeds Metropolitan University is working on a computer program to help analyse alien messages and work out their language. Elliot's theory is that any language must have a structure and it should be possible to decode some of that structure - for instance identifying verbs and adjectival phrases even if we don't know the meaning of the "words". To assist in this pattern recognition Elliot is analysing the syntax of dozens of different human languages. Elliot also suggests that we might be able to deduce something about the aliens' intelligence level from the complexity of their language. Personally I think we just need look at whether or not they know how to use apostrophes correctly.

Talking With Aliens: A Universal Translator?

24-Oct-08 One of the problems facing any science fiction story or SETI style project is communication between humanity and an alien race. Even assuming the aliens use symbol-based communication, how do we learn their language when we have no cultural historical or cultural reference points? Most fiction gets round this problem by assuming some sort of Star Trek style "Universal Translator". Such an interplanetary Rosetta Stone is way beyond our current technology however it might have just come one small step closer to reality. The Telegraph reports that Dr John Elliott of Leeds Metropolitan University is working on a computer program to help analyse alien messages and work out their language. Elliot's theory is that any language must have a structure and it should be possible to decode some of that structure - for instance identifying verbs and adjectival phrases even if we don't know the meaning of the "words". To assist in this pattern recognition Elliot is analysing the syntax of dozens of different human languages. Elliot also suggests that we might be able to deduce something about the aliens' intelligence level from the complexity of their language. Personally I think we just need look at whether or not they know how to use apostrophes correctly.

Scotch Tape Emits X-Rays

23-Oct-08 New evidence - if any were needed - that strangeness is often a lot closer than we think. Associated Press reports that humble, everyday Scotch Tape you buy in the stores can emit X-Rays! The discovery was made by researchers at the University of California, LA, whilst peeling Scotch tape in a vacuum. The team were following up older reports from Russia in 1953 that peeling sticky tape could produce X-rays. The researchers were sceptical about the Russian reports, however they found to their surprise that X-rays were indeed emitted when Scotch tape was peeled in a vacuum. The high energy pulses were sufficient to allow the researchers to take Xray photos of their fingers. The mechanism behind this discovery - called triboluminescence - is unclear and has a number of scientists puzzled. One theory is that splitting a crystal separates out positive and negative charges that then neutralise each other and release energy as light or - in this case - X-rays. However this theory fails to explain why quite so much energy is released, especially given the nature of the adhesive on the tape.

The researchers are keen to avoid worrying people about using sticky tape and stress that their experiments require the tape to be peeled in a vacuum. Team member Juan Escobar said: "We don't want to scare people from using Scotch tape in everyday life".

Scientist develops programme to understand alien languages

By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent Last Updated: 6:01pm BST 15/10/2008

A computer programme which could help identify and even translate messages from aliens in outer space has been developed by a British scientist. Nasa to beam Beatles' track across space UK astronomers to broadcast adverts to aliens Scientists tune in to 'radio message from the aliens' Even if there are extra terrestrials are one day discovered, scientists fear their alien tongue may make it impossible to understand them. But John Elliott of Leeds Metropolitan University believes he has come up with software which at least will decipher the structure of their language - and be the first step in understanding what they are saying.

Dr Elliott's programme would compare an alien language to a database of 60 different languages in the world to search see if it has a similar structure.

He believes that even an alien language far removed from any on Earth is likely to have recognisable patterns that could help reveal how intelligent the life forms are. "Language has to be structured in a certain way otherwise it will be inefficient and unwieldy," he told New Scientist magazine.

Previous research had shown that it is possible to determine whether a signal carries a language rather than an

Dr Elliott, from Leeds Metropolitan University, has gone a step further by devising a way to pick out what m

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SRC="http://adc.telegraph.co.uk/b/basf/sep08/300x250.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 BORDER=0></A> All human languages have "functional terms" that bracket phrases - words like "if" and "but" in English. According to Dr Elliott, such terms in any language, are separated by up to nine words or characters. This limit on phrase length seems to correspond to the level of human cognition - how much information we

In an alien language, analysing these phrases might make it possible to gauge how clever the authors of the m If they are much smarter than us, there would a lot of words packed into the phrases. The programme should also be able to break a language up into crucial words such as nouns and verbs, even It can, for instance, locate adjectives from the fact that they are almost always next to nouns.

Because languages have different word orders, Dr Elliott is amassing a library of the syntaxes of 60 human to

If a message is received from outer space, it could be compared against this database. Scientists would then b Earthly languages.

Dr Elliott admits that in order to translate what the aliens are actually saying it may still be necessary to have

But US linguist Dr Sheri Wells-Jensen, from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, points out that "you ha She added: "My money is on being able to understand aliens."

Scotch Tape Emits X-Rays

23-Oct-08 Filed in: Science and Inventions New evidence - if any were needed - that strangeness is often a lot closer than we think. Associated Press reports that humble, everyday Scotch Tape you buy in the stores can emit X-Rays! The discovery was made by researchers at the University of California, LA, whilst peeling Scotch tape in a vacuum. The team were following up older reports from Russia in 1953 that peeling sticky tape could produce X-rays. The researchers were sceptical about the Russian reports, however they found to their surprise that X-rays were indeed emitted when Scotch tape was peeled in a vacuum. The high energy pulses were sufficient to allow the researchers to take Xray photos of their fingers. The mechanism behind this discovery - called triboluminescence - is unclear and has a number of scientists puzzled. One theory is that splitting a crystal separates out positive and negative charges that then neutralise each other and release energy as light or - in this case - X-rays. However this theory fails to explain why quite so much energy is released, especially given the nature of the adhesive on the tape. The researchers are keen to avoid worrying people about using sticky tape and stress that their experiments require the tape to be peeled in a vacuum. Team member Juan Escobar said: "We don't want to scare people from using Scotch tape in everyday life".

Christmas could bring with it a new hazard as you wrap your gifts X-ray-emitting sticky tape. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have shown that simply peeling ordinary sticky tape in a vacuum can generate enough X-rays to take an image of one of the scientists' own fingers (see videos). "At some point we were a little bit scared," says Juan Escobar, a member of the research team. But he and his co-workers soon realized that the X-rays were only emitted when the kit was used in a vacuum. "We don't want to scare people from using Scotch tape in everyday life," Escobar adds. This kind of energy release known as triboluminescence and seen in the form of light occurs whenever a solid (often a crystal) is crushed, rubbed or scratched. It is a longknown, if somewhat mysterious, phenomenon, seen by Francis Bacon in 1605. He noticed that scratching a lump of sugar caused it to give off light. The leading explanation posits that when a crystal is crushed or split, the process separates opposite charges. When these charges are neutralized, they release a burst of energy in the form of light.

As long ago as 1953, a team of scientists based in Russia suggested that peeling sticky tape produced X-rays. But "we were very sceptical about the old results," says Escobar. His team decided to look into the phenomenon anyway, and found that X-rays were indeed given off, in high-energy pulses. When the researchers placed a small plastic window in their vacuum chamber, they were even able to take an X-ray image of a finger, using a dental X-ray detector. Their results are published in Nature1.

Mechanoluminescent mystery
"Of the total electron discharges, only one in ten thousand makes X-rays," says Escobar. The energies of the individual X-ray pulses, typically a few nanoseconds long, are about 15 kiloelectron volts.

The sticky tape can even help to take an X-ray image (superimposed) of a human finger.Carlos Camara, Juan Escobar and Seth Putterman The energy of the X-rays is directly related to the amount of charge that builds up at the surface of the tape as it is peeled. The scientists calculate that this charge was ten times greater in their study than typically seen in similar experiments. "We are not exactly sure why the tape is so heavily charged," Escobar says.

The sticky-tape X-ray machine is also baffling others in the field. "You wouldn't have thought that so much of the mechanical energy would come out as X-rays," says Ken Suslick, an expert in mechanoluminescence at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. "The adhesive on the tape is an amorphous liquid, not crystalline. What's causing the transfer of charge, of electrons or protons, what the accepting and donor groups are these things are much less clear." The researchers suggest that the high charge density generated by peeling the tape could be great enough to trigger nuclear fusion. Michael Loughlin, a nuclear analyst at the international nuclear fusion experiment, ITER, in Cadarache, France, is sceptical. But he adds that if he is proved wrong, a system that could provide fusion reactions at the flick of a switch would be very useful. Suslick now intends to revisit mechanoluminescent systems he has worked on in his lab to search for X-rays. Meanwhile, Escobar and his colleagues plan to look at different types of adhesive to see whether they get the same effect. But the biggest challenge will be to figure out exactly how it works, Escobar says. "That's first on our list."

References
1. Camara, C. G., Escobar, J. V., Hird, J. R. & Putterman, S. J. Nature 455, 10891092 (2008).

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22 Oct, 2008 Posted by: Don Parry If you haven't noticed, when Scotch tape is adhered to information printed on Thermal Paper, such as used on many cash registers, the ink directly under the tape disappears very quickly. I have never tried other brands of tape to see if the same effect occurs. Normally, the ink on thermal paper fades away anyway over a period of a few short years, but maybe the X-rays have something to do with the increased rate of fading. o 22 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: Nelson Cote Just a comment if the tape is a polyester film then there is some degree of crystallinity which can be shown under X-ray diffraction. The viscoelastic liquid which is the adhesive is the amorphous one. In applying adhesive to polyester
o o

film the tape manufacture may have exposed the tape to Corona treatment and what you maybe seeing is some trapped ions under vacuum when peeling the tape. You may want to peel a roll of polyester that has no adhesive but has been Corona treated prior to the test, and a control roll of same PE of same thickness but has not been treated. If the film is PP then you should see similar behavior, most PP films to promote adhesion do get some sort of surface treatment and that could be plasma , Corona or flame that lead to the formation of some ions that may still be trapped within the film(polymer). o 22 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: mark mitry I've always been fascinated by the faint purple glow I see when opening a BandAid wrapper in a very dark room. I assume the photons are released by bond breakage on the glue polymers used to seal the wrapper. But if Scotch tape can release X-rays, I wonder if BandAids can, too? Who knows, it may be a widespread phenomenon across many adhesive products... o 22 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: Dan Kuehner Hope these guys are wearing their dosimeters. Wouldn't want them to go the way of Madame Curie after she played with radium. o 22 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: Richard Shagam I loved the movie and the fibril extension process occurring during peeling. Quite descriptive! Several papers published in the J Adhesion some time ago come to mine as also describing pressure sensitive adhesive fractoemission detected from arrays of detectors with varying sensory capacity. I've included the references for others. I'll look forward to reading the new paper once I have access to compare the results. MA ZY, et al, JOURNAL OF ADHESION, 1988:25:63-77, DICKINSON JT, DONALDSON EE, J ADHESION 1987:24:199-220, DONALDSON EE, et al, J ADHESION 1986: 19:267-286 o 22 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: BJ Love This is fascinating, and the video is great. You can tell that these folks are as astounded by the results as anyone else. Maybe there is something to the old joke about duct tape holding the universe together... o 22 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: Josh Kopel You should try athletic tape. If you peel it in the dark, you can actually see a green light where the tape is pealing. o 23 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: Rolando Reyes You should really try fiberglass trape, it brightly flouresces in dim light as you peel it off the roll. o 23 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: Vin Reil Chew a wintergreen Lifesaver in dim light in front of a mirror to see sugar generate light I've heard.

23 Oct, 2008 Posted by: Vin Reil These powers... I can't control them... From now, I shall be called Radioactive Tape man! o 23 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: Randy Yang To Mr. Juan Escobar Another phenomena I have noticed is with a product that I have used for many years - Breath rite strips. This product is package in an individual packet, sealed with an unknown adhesive. When you peel the package open in a dark room, visible light is produced. It would be interesting to know if other energy is emmitted. James Levinson, O.D., F.A.A.O. o 23 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: james levinson I have also noticed that "Breath Right Nasal Strips" emit a blue-white light at the junction of the strip and the backing, while peeling the backing away. Since I use these and usually apply them in the dark at bedtime, I observe this frequently. o 23 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: John Wentz To John Wentz you baet me to it! I have noticed the same effect when using "Breath Right Nasal Strips" and often wondered what caused it. Wouldn't it be something if we were emitting X-Rays in low doses to our selves every night and not knowing it. o 23 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: MIchael Cochennic these experiments are really amazing, I'm wondering if it would be possibile to make a set up to detect if exists any preferential direction of the Xrays. Paolo Corelli o 23 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: paolo corelli There someone goes, always stealing my thunder. I've known about this in not-soscientific terms for about 20 years. Do it yourself! Just open a bandaid wrapper in the dark and watch the pretty green light from the adhesive coming apart. o 23 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: Tony Sutter If the effect is strong enough to expose x-ray film, perhaps this effect could be used to make tiny battery free portable x-ray machines. The tape could be wound on a magnet assembly, and then magnets external to the pocket size vacuum box could be used to unwind the tape. This could be a revolutionary way to bring better dentistry to third world countries or better first aid for field medics. o 23 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: Derrick Andrews Next, someone needs to check out the un-sticking of velcro in a vacuum! o 23 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: Katharine Coyne Years ago, in a photographic darkroom, I noticed a faint glow from the unpeeling of the cloth-backed sealing tape on a Kodak film can. I was told that a variety of
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adhesive tapes produce this glow because of the liberation of electrons and subsequent excitation of air molecules. Now, I suppose, all these tapes will produced x-rays- at least in a vacuum. I wonder if this might help further our understanding of the molecular basis of friction between different surfaces. o 23 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: P Cooper To Nelson: The ink under the tape disappears quickly just because it is dissolved by the adhesive liquid, I think. o 23 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: Deyan Yosifov In Breathe Right strips, the luminescent effect occurs both in peeling apart the wrapper, and in removing the backing paper from the strip. Roll photographic film (120, and 127 when it still existed) has a strip of tape that secures the film to the backing paper. It has long been an item of darkroom lore that this tape should be removed slowly to lessen the possibility of fogging the film from electrostatic discharge. For something this mundane to generate X-rays is marvelous and astonishing. o 24 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: Bradley Yearwood Scotch Magic(tm) tape adhesive is designed to avoid contact electrification. The values of voltage produced by other brands is much higher, so if 15KeV xrays are easily produced, perhaps 150KeV wouldn't be impossible. o 24 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: william beaty TEACHERS: for some school science activity suggestions involving adhesive tape, search on keywords "sticky electrostatics." o 24 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: william beaty Gentlemen: If X-rays can be created by something as benign as sticky tape maybe there is no need for scientists to allege that galactic black holes create the X-rays seen in space. Recall that Black holes were created by scientists to explain the Xrays seen in space (because only a black hole had enough energy to create an Xray). Maybe there are NO black holes. Maybe the X-rays seen in space are created by some other as yet unknown process rather than being discharged from a black holes in space. This discovery may be proof that black holes do NOT exist. o 24 Oct, 2008 o Posted by: James Wotal, Attorney

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Precognition
What Is Precognition?
The term precognition means "prior knowledge" and is used to refer to any form of knowledge about future events that cannot be explained by normal means. Examples of precognition can be as basic as a feeling - "something bad's going to happen" - or a detailed vision of future events, for example in the form of a precognitve dream. Such visions can be clear and straightforward or as cryptic and ambiguous as the prophecies of Nostradamus. Where precognition is taking place at an emotional level of gut feeling, it is sometimes referred to as "presentiment". Premonitions and prophecy are common in history and folklore. On a small scale most of us have probably experienced them ourselves - knowing what someone is about to say or thinking about a friend moments before they phone. There are three main problems with establishing the validity of precognition. The first is that very often what appears to be some form of ESP may in fact simply be subconscious intuition. It can be difficult to tell them apart. For instance, there are a lot of non-verbal cues that could give us an idea of what someone is about to say or do, especially if we know them well. The situation is made worse by the fact that many premonitions and predictions are vague. Was an event really predicted, or was the prediction vague enough to have referred to any number of possible events? It's easy to make a vague prediction appear right after the fact.

The third major problem is statistical. Many, many instances of precognition occur every day - most are false and never reported. How many times have we "felt" that we shouldn't fly today, or that this will be our lucky week to buy a lotto ticket? Most of the time these premonitions come to nothing. Yet on the rare occasion one proves right and we tell the media about it, that particular premonition becomes big news. Parapsychology researchers attempt to devise experiments to avoid these problems. The most well-known involves Zener cards. A deck is shuffled and the psychic attempts to predict the order in which they will be dealt. In such an experiment no-one knows the order of the cards so there can be no subconscious cues, the outcomes are specifically defined and the results can be analysed statistically.

Philosophy and Physics

If precognition does exist, it poses great philosophical questions and challenges much of our world view. Does it mean that the future is fixed? Is the prophecy definite or simply a likely possibility? Can we change the predicted future or will our actions simply bring it to pass? Such questions have formed the basis of much science fiction. It's interesting to note that precognition might not actually be in conflict with the laws of nature. Many of the fundamental equations of the universe are "time reversible" - time could equally well run backwards as forwards. Why should we not remember the future? Our perception of time as being one-way is itself the oddity, a phenomenom known as the "arrow of time".

ESP
What Is ESP?
ESP stands for Extra Sensory Perception. This is a blanket term given to a number of different psi powers studied in parapsychology. There is a lot of overlap between ESP and various forms of psychic divination - some people suggest that they may be different manifestations of the same phenomena. The key word is "perception". ESP refers to knowing about things in a way that cannot be explained by the normal senses. This is known technically as "anomolous cognition" and as such it differs from "anomolous action" which refers to using the power of the human mind to do things. Some of the most well known forms of ESP include:

Aura Reading Clairvoyance Precognition Telepathy

Learning about people via a coloured aura surrounding them Remote sight Advance knowledge of events To "tell the future" Mental communication

Some of the lesser known forms of ESP include: Clairalience Remote sense of smell Clairaudience Remote hearing Clairgustance Remote sense of taste Psychometry Determining the history of an object Retrocognition Anomolous knowledge of past events

Telepathy
What Is Telepathy?
The term telepathy is used in a variety of different ways. It can refer to almost any form of "mental communication" and is generally considered a more active psi power than ESP. The standard science fiction style of telepathy involves literal communication between two or more minds. Telepaths have psychic conversations with each other at a distance. Such a literal vew introduces all sorts of difficult questions - would such communication consist of transmision of language? That would seem inefficient and would suggest that the evolution of telepathy post-dates language. If telepathic communication is not linguistic, how would mental symbols map between different minds? In fact telepathy can be much subtler than that. The term itself derives from the Greek words "tele" (distant) and "pathia" (feeling). Telepathy does not have to involve complex messages and conversations, nor does it have to be two way. Any form of mind to mind communication would be classified as telepathy. The most famous telepathic experiments are those involving Zener cards. Here one person attempts to transmit a symbol to another. Such telepathy - if it exists - would be simple one-way transmisssion of an image.

An extension of the zener card experiments involves attempts to transmit more detailed images. For example, the sender might concentrate on a picture of a house whilst the receiver draws roughly what they "see". This allows for the more human and emotional aspects of the mind to come into play. Unfortunately it also makes interpretation of the results more difficult. How does one judge the degree to which the received picture "matches" that which has been sent? Does a triangle on top of a square match a house? Or a sailboat? At its simplest, telepathy need not even be conscious. Many of us have had a "feeling" that someone we know is in trouble or needs our help. This "remote empathy" could be considered a form of unconscious telepathy at the raw emotional level. Unfortunately such intuitive feelings are impossible to test under laboratory conditions and are immune to rigorous statistical analysis.

Does Telepathy Exist?

So, does mental telepathy exist? Can we learn how to do it? The skeptics would, correctly, point to the lack of convincing experimental evidence and the fact that instantaneous mental communication at a distance would break many of the currently accepted scientific theories. Those who have experienced some form of telepathy would say that lack of a scientific theory to explain their experiences simply points to a failing of the current scientific model of the universe.

Zener Cards
The Zener Cards are so well known that almost everyone recognises them, even if they don't know their name. The cards were developed by J.B.Rhine and named after his colleague Karl Zener. They are sometimes spelt "Zenner cards". There are five designs of Zener Card: Circle, Cross, Wavy Lines, Square and Star.

A standard pack of Zener Cards consists of 25 cards, five each of each design.

There are two main types of experiment for which Zener Cards are used: precognition and telepathy. In a precognition experiment, the cards are shuffled and the subject tries to predict each card before it is put aside. In this sort of test the experimenter has as little knowledge of the next card in the deck as the subject. For a telepathy experiment, the experimenter draws a card and thinks of it. The subject then tries to ascertain the design. In this case, since the experimenter knows the nature of the card, it is important to design the experiment to rule out subconscious clues being inadvertently passed between the two. Another complexity with this sort of experiment is determining the extent to which a particularly good (or bad) result is attributable to the sender or the receiver. When performing these experiments it is vital that the subject is not told the results as each card is turned. Otherwise knowledge of which cards have and have not been used would allow more accurate guessing of those remaining. It would be the Zener equivalent of "card counting". It is also necessary to have a good knowledge of statistics when analysing the results of these experiments for possible evidence of parapsychology or psi powers. Chance guessing would suggest five "hits" in a test. Therefore a result of eight hits might seem impressive. In fact it would not be statistically significant on a single test. Such a result would only become significant if repeated over many runs. An unfortunate drawback of the early Zener Cards was that they were printed with a picture of Duke University on the back. As a result the cards were "one way" - not symmetrical in design. This feature can be used by mind magicans (mentalists) to perform apparent psychic feats. Modern Zener Cards usually have a geometric design, but even some of those you can buy on the market today still have a one-way back.

Psychometry
Psychometry differs from many other forms of divination in that it is primarily concerned with seeing into the past ("retrocognition") rather than the future ("precognition"). Psychometry in parapsychology should not be confused with the psychological discipline of psychometrics which concerns testing and analysis of psychological traits.

The word psychometry was invented by US physiology professor Joseph R. Buchanan in 1842. It literally means "soul measurement" - from the Greek "psyche" (soul) and "metron" (measure). The basis of psychometry is that the psychic takes an object and - usually as a result of physical contact - is able to "see" its past. This might take the form of knowing to whom it has belonged or simply feeling strong emotions connected with it. For example, has this weapon ever been fired in anger? At its most effective, psychometry allows the psychic to gain a picture of the events surrounding the past of an object. If this information is accurate then it could potentially be of use in detection of crime.

How Does Psychometry Work?

Touch or, at the least, close proximity appears to be essential for effective psychometric reading. Many scryers have reported greater success with metallic objects - that could provide some clues to a possible scientific basis for the phenomenom. Buchanan hypothesised that an object contained some form of "memory" of its past, a sort of soul, that psychics can read and interpret. Some people liken this to the theosophical concept of the Akashic reord. Others have suggested that psychometry is in some way akin to aura reading. Another theory is that psychometry is unconscious ESP. The object is essentially acting as a focus for the reader's psi power. "Pseudo-psychometry" is an effect often presented by mind magicians ("mentalists") and there are many ways to achieve the effect of which the most well-known is probably Theodore Annemann's. As always, the fact that something can be faked does not mean that it is never genuine.

Retrocognition
The term retrocognition refers to the knowledge of things that have already happened. That doesn't sound too exciting until you add the words "which could not be known by normal means". In many ways retrocognition is the opposite of precognition and is sometimes called postcognition.

Retrocognitions

Like precognition, retrocognition is a psi ability that can take many forms. For instance psychometry can be considered a form of retrocognition. As with precognition, retrocognition can occur at many leels. At its simplest it's simply a "feeling": regonising a place, person or set of circumstances; somehow "knowing" what happened in a certain situation. The common feeling of "deja vu" could be a low level form of retrocognition. As always, skeptics often explain such feelings as coincidence or information subconsciously gathered by ordinary means. More difficult to explain away are the examples of retrocognition where someone is consciously aware of the details of a previous happening. These "visions" can either be seen as a movie or through the eyes of one of the participants. Unfortunately this is one of the many forms of psi ability that is not amenable to laboratory testing - for most psychics, such flashes occur spontaneously and cannot be reproduced at will. Perhaps the most spectacular form of retrocognition is past life recall or regression. Here the events perceived often occured in the far past and could not possibly have been known about by normal means. Whether the psychic really "lived" these lives or is picking up on some sort of historical "psychic shadow" is a question for philosophers. It doesn't change the nature of the experience.

Spiritualism
The basic ideas behind spiritualism are far from new. People have been channeling and communicating with spirits and generally getting messages from "the other side" for thousands of years. However the specific name spiritualism is usually reserved for a particular brand of mediumistic transcommunication that became popular during the Victorian era.

Talking to the Other Side: A History of Modern Spiritualism and Mediumship

What Is Spiritualism?
Spiritualism is based around the theory that the spirits of the dead still exist and that certain adepts - mediums - can contact them. The mediums pass messages, comfort and advice to and from the other side. Spiritualism is sometimes described as a religion. Many spiritualists are certainly religious and there is a Spiritualist Church. However the basic tenets of spiritualism don't require any particular faith other than that in the survival of the consciousness. The question of exactly where the communicating consciousness resides is unanswered. A popular idea is that the spirits are on some form of "higher plane". Some spiritualists also believe that the spirits are somehow more advanced or knowledgeable than us and hence better able to provide guidance. Many spiritualists speak not directly with the spirits but with their own "spirit guide" This guide acts as a go-between, relaying messages between the medium and the target entity.

History
Credit for spiritualism as a movement is usually given to Emanuel Swedenborg who lived from 1688 to 1772. Swedenborg claimed to be able to contact the spirits and to be a powerful medium. He wrote numerous books, which he said were actually written through him by those on the other side. Swedenborg's version of spiritualism was more explicitly based on Christianity than the modern version. Modern spiritualism began in the mid nineteenth century. It was brought into the limelight by the Fox sisters, Catherine and Margaretta. In 1848 the Fox sisters claimed to have made contact with a spirit entity. Unlike many such contacts before, those with the Fox sisters were accompanied by various table-tappings and other physical forms of communication such as automatic writing. It was these phenomena that really caught the imagination and formed the basis of many of the trappings associated with spiritualism today. The Fox sisters became a public sensation and spiritualism spread quickly with mediums cropping up all over the place producing ever more spectacular examples of transcommunicaction in an attempt to outdo each other.

Fraud
Interest in spiritualism began to wane around the 1920s when many mediums were exposed as frauds. Magicians such as Houdini used to visit various seances and expose the fraudulent methods in use. Some of these were crude, others highly sophisticated.

It must be remembered that becasue many - or even most - of the mediums were frauds it does not necessarily follow that they all were. Spiritualism today still has many followers, many of whom are intelligent people well aware of the fraudulent methods used in the nineteenth century.

Mediums
The term medium is a generic name for someone who communicates with the spirits of the dead. Within this basic definition there is a great deal of variation.

Spiritistic Seance, from "Fotografie Di Fantasmi" by E. Imoda, 1912 French Photographer Buy this Giclee Print at AllPosters.com The most well known concept of a medium is somone who sits with one or more people in some form of seance. Hands are usually held and the medium goes into a trance from which he ort she communicates with the spirits of those present, either directly or through some form of spirit guide. This is the form of drawing-room spiritualism that was most popular at the end of the nineteenth century. It was often accompanied by dramatic table tappings, movements of furniture, lights, etc. Such theatrics have gained a bad reputation and seances - or sittings - today are usually much more sedate affairs. A full-blown seance isn't actually necessary. Many mediums today simply sit quietly with their client and allow the information to come to them. Others prefer the wider canvas of the public spectacle, be it live shows or on TV. You can also buy the services of many self-proclaimed mediums via telephone or mail.

The mechanism behind mediumship remains uncertain. Some people believe that many spiritualist mediums are in fact psychic mediums - they are, without knowing it, obtaining information through latent psychic powers rather than by communicating with spirits. Others, of course, dismiss the whole thing as a combination of deception, cold reading and self-delusion. Famous mediums - psychic, spiritualist or otherwise - have included Helen Duncan, John Edward and Sylvia Browne.

External Links: The Institute of Spiritualist Mediums

Psychic Mediums

Image copyright Achim Prill / iStockphoto

The term psychic medium is inexact and arguably tautologous. By some definitions any medium could be described as "psychic". Some of the best practising mediums would reject the distinction drawn on this page. Rather than hard and fast categories it might be better to think in terms of a spectrum with "psychic" at one end and "spiritualist" at the other, the areas in between fuzzy and difficult to quantify.

What Is A Psychic Medium?

Where a distinction is made, a medium is sometimes said to be psychic if they have paranormal powers in the mundane, day-to-day world. Such powers are normally of the

form known as psi power or ESP. Psi powers of special benefit to medium during a reading include: Telepathy Precognition Retrocognition

Clairvoyance

Using these powers a psychic medium can obtain information about a client's past and possible future without the need to contact the spirits of the deceased. Some in the profession describe themselves as psychic mediums specifically to distinguish themselves from those who work by contacting the "other side". Note that such use of psi powers by a medium does not imply any fraudulent intent. Some would argue that all authentic mediums are in fact psychic but simply not aware of the fact. Others point out that it really doesn't matter how a reading is achieved so long as it is useful and accurate.

Psychic Mediums and Spiritualism

It's also important to remember that being psychic does not preclude someone from also being a spiritualist medium in the more traditional sense. It's possible that many spiritualist mediums - whether they realise it or not - augment the information they obtain from the spirits with that obtained through ESP.

The Fox Sisters

The Fox Sisters - Catherine (Kate) and Margarette (better known as Margaret or Maggie) - are probably the most famous mediums in the history of spiritualism. In many ways they can be said to have created the nineteenth century spiritualism movement. The Fox Sisters remain highly controversial. Most people today are skeptical about their claimed abilities, however some still believe. Even though one sister confessed to fraud she later recanted her confession, leaving the record muddled.

History
The Fox family lived in a house in Hydesville, New York that had an established reputation as being haunted. Beginning in March 1848 (when Margaret was about 12 and Kate about 10) the family started to hear unexplained noises during the night.

Later on that month Kate reportedly began to communicate with a spirit she called Old Mister Splitfoot who was haunting the property. Initially this communication was very simple - Kate would say "Do as I do" and the "spirit" would then repeat a pattern of claps or taps. Sort of "Spirit hear, spirit do". Margaret later joined in the communications. Over time the communication became more advanced with Kate, Margaret and Mr Splitfoot evolving a code whereby he could respond to questions by means of taps. This communication was demonstrated to friends and relatves and eventually the identity of the spirit was established as Charles B Rosma, who said he had been murdered and buried in the cellar of the house. As word of the girls' activities spread, they were split up and sent away to separate relatives to avoid the excitement. However the rappings and communication went with them and it wasn't long before they began public demonstrations. Older sister Leah became manager to the two girls and their career quickly took off as they amazed and entertained both ordinary people and high society on both sides of the Atlantic. Unfortuntely the Fox Sisters were also overly familiar with another spirit - alcohol. Eventually they argued, Margaret made her public confession and the Sisters' career disappeared. They were finally buried in paupers' graves.

Fraud?
In 1888, when the Sisters were at a low ebb, a reporter offered them $1,500 to explain their methods. Margaret agreed and on 21 October 1888 - in front of an audience of some 2000 people - she dmonstrated how she could create rapping noises at will by simply cracking the joints of her toes (something I personally have tried without success!). Needless to say, after this confession the public lost interest in the Fox Sisters and what was left of their career as mediums was all but over. Kate continued to perform but could no longer draw the crowds she once did. Margaret could no longer work as a medium perhaps for this reason Margaret later retracted her confession. It would seem to be a cut and dried case of a simple fraud taking in those who wanted to believe. However there is a final twist to the story: in 1904 a skeleton was found buried in the Hydesville house where the story had begun. Exactly as the young Fox Sisters had claimed all those years ago.

Telekinesis
What Is Telekinesis?

Telekinesis - also known as psychokinesis or PK - is the act of making physical changes to reality by the power of the mind alone. As such it is a significant step up from telepathy which involves the exchange of information but no physical activity. A more general term for this form of psionic activity is "remote influencing". When people think of telekinesis they usually think of large scale, spectacular effects such as are depicted in science fiction - lifting objects, even throwing them around. Such forms of PK would also fit in with the poltergeist phenomena - some people have speculated that poltergeist effects are the result of unconscious telekinetic activity, often originating from young people going through puberty. Such large scale telekinesis is known as "macroscopic PK". Although spectacular it is extremely rare, even in anecdotal evidence. More easy to measure and - arguably reproduce is "microscopic PK". This involves very small changes which only become evident through statistical analysis. Most scientific research into telekinesis involves micro PK and large numbers of trials with random apparatus. For example, automatic dice rolling machines or ball bearings bouncing into different slots. The psychic operator attempts to influence the results. Most of these tests show little if any deviation from the norm, however by combining the results of many such experimental runs into a "meta-analysis" some researchers have claimed statistically significant results.

How Does Telekinesis Work?

Applied psi powers - psionics - which actually affect the material world pose a massive problem for conventional science. Telekinesis would appear to contravene many of the accepted "laws" of physics. In order to produce a scientific model of PK we would have to posit some force generated by the mind that is powerful enough to affect matter, that can be controlled and focussed sufficiently to achieve the desired results yet cannot currently be detected or measured. For this reason some skeptics choose to reject telekinesis out of hand as "impossible". An alternative approach might be to take a more holistic view of the universe. Perhaps the psychic operator doesn't actually "make" anything happen but simply "persuades" the universe to respond in a certain way. Could psionic abilities such as telekinesis simply be the will of the observer giving the universe a little "nudge" so that the probability wave collapses in the desired direction? If so, it might be possible to learn how to do telekinesis at some leveland potentially develop any natural abilities. Perhaps. But it hasn't worked for me.

Teleportation
What Is Teleportation?
Teleportation - also known as teletransportation or matter transmission - involves the (near) instantaneous movement of people or objects across space. It is arguably the ultimate in psi abilities and is a staple of science fiction. It is also one of the least documented examples of psionic ability. Even anecdotal accounts are rare. The traditional psychic approach to teleportation is simply of "thinking" oneself to another place. This has been known by various names such as "jumping" or "jaunting". Certain obvious questions arise: Would just the body be transported or also clothing? What about something being held? What about someone being held? How exactly would the psychic "aim" their target point? Pure thought driven teleportation is likely to remain in the realms of science fiction. More interesting is the possibility of mechanically assisted teleportation, either of people or objects. This is normally what is meant by the term "matter transmission".

Transportation or Reproduction?
Some ideas in modern physics such as quantum mechanics and wormholes might allow for the possibility of teleportation or matter transmission. These posibilities remain theoretical and, currently, limited to the world of particle physics and not the macroscopic, large scale world which we inhabit. Theories of teleportation usually fall into one of two camps: either the object is instantly transported, or it is broken down at one end, encoded, and rebuilt at the other. Instant transportation would be preferrable, however it is difficult to reconcile such instantaneous travel with the current laws of physics except by considering wormholes or other "twists" in the fabric of space time. Effectively we would be taking "short cuts" through the universe. Reproducing an object might be more appealing on a theoretical level. If it can be encoded then all that is being sent is information and this can travel at light speed. One disadvantage would be that such a form of teleportation would be dependant on a fixed "receiving" station and hence less flexible. In addition, it poses huge moral, philosophical and religious questions with regard to the transportation of human beings. Even assuming the technology exists to scan "me" in exact detail, if I am destroyed here and recreated there... am I still me? And what about my "soul", whatever that might be?

If matter transmission depended on reproduction then it might be better to restrict its use to inanimate objects. The teleporter beloved of science fiction still remains a distant dream. It's fairly certain that in our lifetimes we won't be able to teleport down to the store to buy a pint of milk! We may never be able to do so. But in some far future, might it just be possible to contact the store and tell them to teleport a pint of milk straight to our kitchen?

Angel Numbers
Numbers have always been an important part of human life, from counting how much food is available to predicting the movement of the stars. In our modern digital age numbers are even more prevalent. It's no surprise that people try to interpret these numbers, for example through numerology.

What Are Angel Numbers?

Angel numbers are, some people believe, a method used by the angels to communicate with us and pass on a message. We can recognise such a message in the way that certain numbers or combinations of numbers appear to occur frequently, perhaps seeming to "leap out" at us and grab our attention. Repeated digits or patterns of digits are thought to be especially significant. Recognising such angelic communication and interpreting it are different matters. Many people have attempted to provide guides to the meaning of different numbers, for example Doreen Virtue in Angel Numbers. Others would argue that the meaning of particular numbers is more personal. Rather than trying to find a universal "key" to angel numbers we should instead take note of them and try to learn how they relate to our lives. Then, over the years, we might be able to build up our own guide to our personal angel language. Not everybody accepts that such repeating numerical patters are divine messages. Skeptics point to coincidence combined with the way our minds tend to notice things more after we become aware of them once. Others believe that such numbers may well be significant form of synchronicity without necessarily being angelic in nature. Even if the presence of the numbers is mere coincidence, is it possible that we notice them because the angels draw them to our attention? Though I'm not sure that even the angels know the meaning of 4 8 15 16 23 42...

The Four Leaf Clover

The four leaf clover is a popular charm. It is a symbol of luck in many countries but is perhaps most associated with Ireland where it is often connected with the fairy folk. It is also said that a four leaf clover was the original Irish shamrock - this is unlikely as the word "shamrock" derives from seamrog which simply means "little clover"and could apply to any number of plants.

What Is A Four Leaf Clover?

There are a number of very similar plants that resemble clover and are often confused. The "official" four leaf clover is from the White Clover plant Trifolium repens; as the name suggests this usually has only three leaves. Other similar plants include Water Clover (Marsilea Quadrifolia) and Oxalis (Oxalis triphylla). As can be guessed from the names, four leaf examples of these are not uncommon.

Why Is The Four Leaf Cover Lucky?

There's no obvious reason why the four leaf clover should be considered lucky except for its scarcity. Some people have estimated that only one white clover leaf in 10,000 has four leaves. The leaves of the clover are sometimes associated with various gifts, for example Faith, Hope and Love. The fourth leaf - which is usually smaller - is Luck. In the Christian tradition the first three leaves are sometimes associated with the Holy Trinity, the fourth being God's grace. It's not clear why some clovers develop four leaves and not others. It could be partly due to genetic or environmental factors. This is supported by the fact that four leaved clovers are often found together in patches. In earlier times it was said that these areas where four leaved clovers were abundant were places of power associated with the fey. Today you can buy four leaf clovers by mail order, some of which are specially bred. These are often incorporated into products such as cards, keyrings, jewelry and other stuff. Some people even go as far as having a picture of one as a tattoo. How such a plant compares in the luck department to one found growing wild is not known. But then as far as I know noone has yet scientifically tested the "luck factor" of a wild four leaf clover.