Hi all
I have just been looking at various blogs and news sources on the net which have carried the story about the "missing" Australian Department of Defence UFO files.
Unfortunately, most accounts base themselves on the original Sydney Morning Herald newspaper's story. It would seem that almost no one thought to contact credible Australian UFO researchers to find out if the story's main theme, that the DOD's files had been "lost," was in fact true!
A check with people here, would have found that the truth was that many DOD UFO files are safely held by the Australian Government Archives, and that anyone can digitally read them by going to the NAA wesbite at http://www.naa.gov.au/ clicking on Recordsearch and typing in the key words "flying saucers."
The Australian UFO Research Association, of which I am a member, has a list of all the 150 or so Australian Government UFO files (many DOD files) which it located during the five year search for such files. The findings of the project may be seen at http://disclosureaustralia.freewebpages.org
If any reader would like a copy of this list, then simply send me an email at keithbasterfield@yahoo.com.au and I will happily forward you a copy.
Hopefully, this story about the DOD files being lost, will now die.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Adelaide talk by Linda Moulton Howe
Hi all
The Adelaide, South Australia, based Australian UFO Research Association (AURA) is hosting a talk by investigative journalist and UFO researcher, Linda Moulton Howe. Details are as follows:
Date: Monday 18 July 2011
Venue: Tiffins on the Park, 176 Greenhill Road, Parkside (corner of Hutt Road), Adelaide.
Doors open: 6.30pm
Seats reserved until: 6.45pm
Talk starts: 7pm
Entry fee $20 per person, pay at the door.
Title: "ET's, Time Travelers and Self-Activating machines."
To reserve a seat (no tickets issued) phone 04 222 78 103.
The Adelaide, South Australia, based Australian UFO Research Association (AURA) is hosting a talk by investigative journalist and UFO researcher, Linda Moulton Howe. Details are as follows:
Date: Monday 18 July 2011
Venue: Tiffins on the Park, 176 Greenhill Road, Parkside (corner of Hutt Road), Adelaide.
Doors open: 6.30pm
Seats reserved until: 6.45pm
Talk starts: 7pm
Entry fee $20 per person, pay at the door.
Title: "ET's, Time Travelers and Self-Activating machines."
To reserve a seat (no tickets issued) phone 04 222 78 103.
New book alert - Seargent
Dear readers
I came across a new book the other day which I found of interest. It's title is "Weird Astronomy: Tales of Unusual, Bizarre and Other Hard to Explain Observations." The author is Australian David A J Seargent. Published 2011 by Springer. ISBN 978-1-441-9642-36.
David has been an amateur astronomer for many years, specialising in observations of comets, and is a well known contributor to astronomy magazines. He holds a doctorate degree in Philosophy, but is now a full time writer on science topics.
This book, according to his own words "...is about the weird side of astronomy - anecdotes, oddities, factual trivia, and titillating tales." (p.v11.) Here you will find tales of unusual observations, which at the time challenged the establishment, but now seen from a distance, allow us to see that even these sort of apparently anomalous events can be used to see the bigger picture.
The UFO connection:
I believe this is the same David Seargent who was one of the founders of The Australian Centre for UFO Studies back in 1974, alongside Harry Griesberg, (click here )and who wrote the book "UFOs: A Scientific Enigma" published by Sphere in 1978. This book was one of the first truly scientific Australian UFO books.
I came across a new book the other day which I found of interest. It's title is "Weird Astronomy: Tales of Unusual, Bizarre and Other Hard to Explain Observations." The author is Australian David A J Seargent. Published 2011 by Springer. ISBN 978-1-441-9642-36.
David has been an amateur astronomer for many years, specialising in observations of comets, and is a well known contributor to astronomy magazines. He holds a doctorate degree in Philosophy, but is now a full time writer on science topics.
This book, according to his own words "...is about the weird side of astronomy - anecdotes, oddities, factual trivia, and titillating tales." (p.v11.) Here you will find tales of unusual observations, which at the time challenged the establishment, but now seen from a distance, allow us to see that even these sort of apparently anomalous events can be used to see the bigger picture.
The UFO connection:
I believe this is the same David Seargent who was one of the founders of The Australian Centre for UFO Studies back in 1974, alongside Harry Griesberg, (click here )and who wrote the book "UFOs: A Scientific Enigma" published by Sphere in 1978. This book was one of the first truly scientific Australian UFO books.
Livingston, Scotland UFO encounter revisited
Dear readers
Well, Adelaide is now in the grips of winter. Minimum temperatures down to 5-7 degrees C and maximum daytime temperatures hovering about 15 degrees. It's a lovely time of the year to be in my favourite pub, sitting by a roaring log fire, with a glass of superb South Australian red wine at hand.
The other day, I was there at the pub, and discussion with my friends turned to what they know is my passion - the UFO phenomenon. I was telling them about an encounter in Scotland, based on a recent piece I had read in the English Fortean Times (FT) magazine (Issue 273, May 2011 page 26.)
The Livingston encounter:
The event took place on the 9 November 1979 near Livingston, Scotland and the witness was Bob Taylor. Here's part of the article from the FT.
"Taylor encountered a large sphere hovering between the forest floor and the tops of the trees...two smaller spheres detached themselves from the object and rolled toward him. Taylor could see the spheres, hear the sound as their spines touched the floor and was conscious of "a strong pungent smell that was overpowering" ...he passed out...'
The article continues: "...David Slater's excellent "Musing on Anomalous Culture" blog has suggested a possible cause for Taylor's bizarre experience. He notes that Deadly Nightshade (Belladonna) is indigenous to the area, the berries of which contain atropine, a poison that can dramatically affect the body's central nervous system in a number of ways, with perceptual distortions and hallucinations being common.
"Is it possible that Taylor naively picked and ate some of the tasty-looking berries or even just touched or crushed them? Slater's theory is highly speculative, but all the elements for it exist in known reality ..."
Slater's full article:
To read Slater's full blog article, click here.
Well, Adelaide is now in the grips of winter. Minimum temperatures down to 5-7 degrees C and maximum daytime temperatures hovering about 15 degrees. It's a lovely time of the year to be in my favourite pub, sitting by a roaring log fire, with a glass of superb South Australian red wine at hand.
The other day, I was there at the pub, and discussion with my friends turned to what they know is my passion - the UFO phenomenon. I was telling them about an encounter in Scotland, based on a recent piece I had read in the English Fortean Times (FT) magazine (Issue 273, May 2011 page 26.)
The Livingston encounter:
The event took place on the 9 November 1979 near Livingston, Scotland and the witness was Bob Taylor. Here's part of the article from the FT.
"Taylor encountered a large sphere hovering between the forest floor and the tops of the trees...two smaller spheres detached themselves from the object and rolled toward him. Taylor could see the spheres, hear the sound as their spines touched the floor and was conscious of "a strong pungent smell that was overpowering" ...he passed out...'
The article continues: "...David Slater's excellent "Musing on Anomalous Culture" blog has suggested a possible cause for Taylor's bizarre experience. He notes that Deadly Nightshade (Belladonna) is indigenous to the area, the berries of which contain atropine, a poison that can dramatically affect the body's central nervous system in a number of ways, with perceptual distortions and hallucinations being common.
"Is it possible that Taylor naively picked and ate some of the tasty-looking berries or even just touched or crushed them? Slater's theory is highly speculative, but all the elements for it exist in known reality ..."
Slater's full article:
To read Slater's full blog article, click here.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
This blog makes "Best 50 UFO blogs" list
Dear readers
It's nice to be recognised for what we do. This blog just made it to the "Best 50 UFO blogs" as judged by Forensicscience.net (click here for their list.)
Thank you readers for your support.
It's nice to be recognised for what we do. This blog just made it to the "Best 50 UFO blogs" as judged by Forensicscience.net (click here for their list.)
Thank you readers for your support.
Australian Department of Defence loses UFO files
Hi all
Recently, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) newspaper ran a story that the Australian Department of Defence had "lost" its UFO files. (Click here for the full story.)
Interestingly, the Australian UFO Research Association (AURA) was mentioned in the story.
It was AURA members who spent the period 2003-2008 locating, examining and documenting the contents of about 150 Australian government UFO files. The results of their search may be viewed on the Disclosure Australia website. (Click here for that website.)
As the person who compiled a listing of thes files, I have now sent a copy to the Department of Defence's Freedom of Information section, mentioned in the SMH story, in order that they at least know what files they did have!
Recently, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) newspaper ran a story that the Australian Department of Defence had "lost" its UFO files. (Click here for the full story.)
Interestingly, the Australian UFO Research Association (AURA) was mentioned in the story.
It was AURA members who spent the period 2003-2008 locating, examining and documenting the contents of about 150 Australian government UFO files. The results of their search may be viewed on the Disclosure Australia website. (Click here for that website.)
As the person who compiled a listing of thes files, I have now sent a copy to the Department of Defence's Freedom of Information section, mentioned in the SMH story, in order that they at least know what files they did have!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Childhood abductions and false memories
Hi all
Introduction:
During the 1980's and 1990's I undertook a large amount of research into UFO abduction accounts, reported by individuals, both in Australia, and elsewhere in the world. I was the only Australian abduction researcher to present at the global 1992 abduction conference held at MIT.
Like every other abduction researcher I was confronted by adults who recalled childhood abductions, and by children who told of personal encounters.
A Melbourne six year old boy told of little men entering his bedroom; Wayne, aged 35 from Tasmania spoke of recalling events from age 4; a Sydney man related memories of an encounter at age 3 or 4 while in England.
I wondered as to the reliability of adults remembering things from a young age,and I wondered as to the reliability of children's' accounts.
The Grand Delusion:
Recently, I was reading New Scientist magazine (number 2812, p38 dated 14 May 2011)and noted an article by Graham Lawton, titled "The Grand Delusion." Part of it seemed relevant to my wonderings.
"We've known since the 1960's that memory isn't like a video recording - it's reconstructive," says psychologist David Gallo of the University of Chicago." Memory is fallible and suggestible.
"It is probably true that all autobiographical memories are suspect" Kimberley Wade, University of Warwick. Research has shown some of our memories of specific events are false."
The last comment about specific event memories, made me question whether anyone had undertaken research into the possibilities of inducing false memories into children?
I went to the net and found that, not only had someone looked at this very topic, they had done it using a false memory of a UFO abduction! How specific could you get?
Abducted by a UFO:
The article was titled "Abducted by a UFO: Prevalence Information Affects Young Children's False Memories of an Implausible Event."
Authored by Henry Otgaar; Ingrid Candel; Harald Merckelbach and Kimberley Wade it appeared in the Journal "Applied Cognitive Psychology" 2009. 23:115-125.
The article summary reads:
"This study examines whether prevalence information promotes children's false memories for an implausible event. Forty-four 7-8 and forty-seven 11-12 year old children heard a true narrative about their first school day and a false narration about either an implausible event (abducted by a UFO)or a plausible event (almost chocking on a candy.) Moreover, half of the children in each condition received prevalence information in the form of a false newspaper article while listening to the narratives.
Across two interviews, children were asked to report everything they remembered about the event. In both age groups, plausible and implausible events were equally likely to give rise to false memories.
Prevalance information increased the number of false memories in 7-8 year olds, but not in 11-12 year olds at interview 1.
Our findings demonstrate that young children can easily develop false memories of a highly implausible event."
The true narratives were such things as the child's first day at school, verified by their parents.
One false narrative was:
"Abducted by a UFO: Your mother told me that when you were 4 years old, you were abducted by a UFO. This happened when you were alone outside. Your mother was inside the house. The she suddenly saw through the window that a UFO took you."
Findings:
Among the study findings was "A substantial number of children (over 70%) falsely remembered that they were abducted by a UFO. Although previous studies have looked at the cognitive characteristics of individuals who report UFO abductions (Clancy, McNally, Schacter, Lenzenweger & Pitman, 2002; McNally,Lasko, Clancy, Macklin, Pitman and Orr, 2004) this is the first study that succeeded to implant false memories of UFO abductions."
My comments:
While appreciating that this is an academic study, there are some clear implications for UFO abduction research. If it is possible in an academic setting to implant a false memory of a UFO abduction, could UFO researchers either inadvertently or deliberately implant such memories in children, or adults during their investigations?
I encourage readers to add their thoughts.
Introduction:
During the 1980's and 1990's I undertook a large amount of research into UFO abduction accounts, reported by individuals, both in Australia, and elsewhere in the world. I was the only Australian abduction researcher to present at the global 1992 abduction conference held at MIT.
Like every other abduction researcher I was confronted by adults who recalled childhood abductions, and by children who told of personal encounters.
A Melbourne six year old boy told of little men entering his bedroom; Wayne, aged 35 from Tasmania spoke of recalling events from age 4; a Sydney man related memories of an encounter at age 3 or 4 while in England.
I wondered as to the reliability of adults remembering things from a young age,and I wondered as to the reliability of children's' accounts.
The Grand Delusion:
Recently, I was reading New Scientist magazine (number 2812, p38 dated 14 May 2011)and noted an article by Graham Lawton, titled "The Grand Delusion." Part of it seemed relevant to my wonderings.
"We've known since the 1960's that memory isn't like a video recording - it's reconstructive," says psychologist David Gallo of the University of Chicago." Memory is fallible and suggestible.
"It is probably true that all autobiographical memories are suspect" Kimberley Wade, University of Warwick. Research has shown some of our memories of specific events are false."
The last comment about specific event memories, made me question whether anyone had undertaken research into the possibilities of inducing false memories into children?
I went to the net and found that, not only had someone looked at this very topic, they had done it using a false memory of a UFO abduction! How specific could you get?
Abducted by a UFO:
The article was titled "Abducted by a UFO: Prevalence Information Affects Young Children's False Memories of an Implausible Event."
Authored by Henry Otgaar; Ingrid Candel; Harald Merckelbach and Kimberley Wade it appeared in the Journal "Applied Cognitive Psychology" 2009. 23:115-125.
The article summary reads:
"This study examines whether prevalence information promotes children's false memories for an implausible event. Forty-four 7-8 and forty-seven 11-12 year old children heard a true narrative about their first school day and a false narration about either an implausible event (abducted by a UFO)or a plausible event (almost chocking on a candy.) Moreover, half of the children in each condition received prevalence information in the form of a false newspaper article while listening to the narratives.
Across two interviews, children were asked to report everything they remembered about the event. In both age groups, plausible and implausible events were equally likely to give rise to false memories.
Prevalance information increased the number of false memories in 7-8 year olds, but not in 11-12 year olds at interview 1.
Our findings demonstrate that young children can easily develop false memories of a highly implausible event."
The true narratives were such things as the child's first day at school, verified by their parents.
One false narrative was:
"Abducted by a UFO: Your mother told me that when you were 4 years old, you were abducted by a UFO. This happened when you were alone outside. Your mother was inside the house. The she suddenly saw through the window that a UFO took you."
Findings:
Among the study findings was "A substantial number of children (over 70%) falsely remembered that they were abducted by a UFO. Although previous studies have looked at the cognitive characteristics of individuals who report UFO abductions (Clancy, McNally, Schacter, Lenzenweger & Pitman, 2002; McNally,Lasko, Clancy, Macklin, Pitman and Orr, 2004) this is the first study that succeeded to implant false memories of UFO abductions."
My comments:
While appreciating that this is an academic study, there are some clear implications for UFO abduction research. If it is possible in an academic setting to implant a false memory of a UFO abduction, could UFO researchers either inadvertently or deliberately implant such memories in children, or adults during their investigations?
I encourage readers to add their thoughts.
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