"Angel Hair" - spiders or UFOs? A "new" old Australian case located.

Introduction:

In 2001 I published a catalogue and analysis of known Australian "Angel Hair" cases (click here). "Angel Hair" is the name given to falls from the sky, of a substance which carpets an area of the ground. Debate has raged over whether the falls are due to spiders, or to something connected to the UFO phenomenon.

"New" old case:

While in the South Australian State Library recently, I came across details of another Australian fall, previously unknown to me, from 1963. It was reported in the Western Australian newspaper, the "Sunday Times" dated 8 September 1963, as cited in the UFO magazine "Panorama." published by the former Adelaide group UFOPIA (Volume2 number 6 of 1963.)

The details:

At 8am on 29 August 1963, a fall of "air silk" (as the newspaper put it)  began, which lasted for two hours. Lengths of a substance up to about 30 feet (9 metres) glistened in the sunlight as they fell from the sky. The material fell over a wide area which included the locality of Cue, Western Australia (latitude 27deg 26min S; 117 deg 54 min E); Mt Magnet (50 miles - 80kms - south of Cue); and Big Bell (18 miles -29kms - NW of Cue.)

One eyewitness, Mr A N Deas, of Cue said the material had the appearance of large cobwebs and drifted in from the East on a slight breeze.

Other eyewitnesses, Mrs P Thomas and her three children, reported seeing what appeared to be two "balloons" moving across the sky at about 8.30am.

A public analyst, Mr P Asotoff, conducted a chemical analysis of the substance. He reported that the strands of the material measured 2.5 to 3 microns across. It was not synthetic; or plastic and not asbestos. He detected the presence of Glutamic acid, which is associated with silk compounds. Mr Asotoff is quoted as stating "it is spiders web."

Research:

In the analysis section of my 2001 paper, I wrote that the data on known Australian "Angel Hair" falls revealed that:

1. The geographic areas of falls clustered between latitude 25 and 38 degrees South of the equator.

Cue, WA, is at latitude 27deg 26min South, which fits in the above range.

2. The calendar months with the highest number of falls are May and August.

The Cue fall was in August.

3. All falls occurred with start times between 8.20am and 4pm and were daytime events.

The Cue event started at 8am.

4. An odd fact which I noted was that all falls which occurred in the season of winter, occurred in the morning; and all spring/autumn falls took place in the afternoon. Why this should be so is unknown to me.

The August 1963, Cue event took place in August, i.e. winter in Australia, and in the morning. Thus Cue once again fits the previously observed pattern.

5. All falls were of lengthy duration, ranging from 40 to 300 minutes.

The Cue event is reported to have taken place for 120 minutes.

6. In rural locations (Cue is rural) the air temperature at the time of the event was in the range 7.2deg C to 15.2deg C measured at the nearest meteorological observation site.

We do not have temperature details for the Cue event.

7. In all cases set in rural surroundings, the wind speed was reported to be "light" at the nearest meteorological observation site.

Cue eyewitness, Mr A N Deas reported a "slight breeze."

8. Cloud cover was 2/8 or less in 11 out of the 15 cases where this factor is known. It was a cloudless sky in 9 out of the 15 cases.

This factor is unknown for the Cue event.

9. "UFOs" were reported in 8 out of the total number of cases in the catalogue. Their shape was described as round (5 cases); elongated (1 case) with 2 shapes not known.

Cue eyewitness Mrs P Thomas reported seeing what she thought were balloons (presumably round) in the sky at 8.30am.

10. Falls were recorded over a large distance, i.e. 40-80kms.

The WA fall was reported to have been noted at places 80kms apart.

Comments:

It is fascinating, 11 years after producing a catalogue and analysis, to have located another Australian "Angel Hair" event.

The data from Cue, closely resembles that discussed in the original 2001 analysis.

Have readers of this blog come across any other Australian "Angel Hair" cases not reported in my 2001 catalogue?

Vallee on McDonald - part two

Dear readers,

This post will continue from my previous one (click here) which started taking a look at what Jacques Vallee's diaries told us about James E McDonald, as seen from Vallee's perspective.

"Chicago. Thursday 9 June 1966.
...Afterwards Hynek bought me lunch...Naturally we compared notes about McDonald, and we discovered we had the same impression: extremely positive and enthusiastic at first, then a certain feeling of mistrust towards the man, an uneasy reaction that was hard to define." (p.188.)

"Chicago. Sunday 12 June 1966.
Tomorrow Hynek goes to Wright Field to meet with the Base Commander, General Cruikshanks. He wants to find out just how impressed he was with McDonald's arguements...In his answer the Secretary of the Air Force says he has "Carefully studied" his ideas: indeed the Air Force will go ahead with university-based investigations, which McDonald wanted to scratch as  academic, worthless and irrelevant." (p.188.)

"Chicago. Thursday 16 June 1966.
...Hynek seems more preoccupied and tense than ever. The source of his worries is McDonald's abrasive, insulting ways, so diametrically opposed to his own gentle and witty personality. I pointed out that McDonald's radicalism would in fact make the way smoother for him. He is preparing a lecture before the American Optical Society in which he will argue that a serious, sober study is needed. In contrast, McDonald now advocates throwing everything overboard." (pp188-9.)

"Chicago. Thursday 23 June 1966.
Hynek can't sleep anymore, caught as he is between McDonald's vitriolic attacks and the Air Force's desertion...Finally he picked up the phone and woke up the Lorenzens to share his distress with them. They told him that Jim McDonald had had a strong interest in UFOs for the last four years. So, why is he pretending to have suddenly "discovered" a scandal? Why has he picked Hynek as his primary target?"  (p.192.)

"Chicago. Sunday 26 June 1966.
Jim McDonald called me yesterday from Tucson to get more data about power failure cases. We ended up spending an hour on the phone talking about the general situation of the field. He confessed to me that his radical campaign bore little fruit so far. He acknowledged he had not succeeded in convincing Kuiper either. Even his friend Brian O'Brien, with whom he had another meeting last Friday, remains skeptical. One would think he would learn something from this. Yet he continues to claim that the lack of interest in the subject among scientists is all Hynek's fault. He has clearly been indoctrinated by the folks at NICAP especially Keyhoe and Hall. In a conversation with McDonald, Hall has even insinuated that Hynek doesn't really know much about the UFO problem, and that he had only done research on "five or six cases," which is patently false. Hyneck's only interest in the whole thing, Hall told McDonald, is the money he gets from the Air Force!...Jim tries to recruit me for his camp.

"If it wasn't for your influence, and all the research you brought over from France, Hynek would still be arguing that ninety-nine percent of those reports are due to Venus or to marsh-gas!" he said. "It's time for you to move on."

Yet I don't see what good McDonald's approach will do, if he keeps behaving like a bull in a china shop." (p.195.)

"Chicago. Sunday 10 July 1966.
...when I think about the coming year it seems probable that the UFO scene will now be narrowed to two main groups...On one side will be the university group that will be funded by the Air Force, and on the other side NICAP which will find a strong supporter in McDonald. I think he has enough ambition to see the UFO problem as a springboard that can send him to the foremost echelon in American science.

The other day he told me on the phone that "Hynek's hesitation demonstrated he wasn't the man of the situation." The implication was that he Jim McDonald was the one who should lead ufology to its ultimate victory and that I should rally under his banner. He certainly is a true man of action, capable of organizing a vast campaign, leaving no detail uncovered. He does not have Hynek's subservient attitude towards power, his obsequiousness towards the military. For example, McDonald has clearly seen through Hynek's harmless pleasure at having a jeep and a driver at his disposal in Michigan. What he fails to recognize in Hynek are the other important and subtle traits in his character...Where was McDonald all these years?" (p.197.)

Vallee on McDonald -part one

Dear readers

Adelaide has slipped into its third month of autumn, bringing rain with it. Our climate is technically classed as "Mediterranean," meaning that we have long hot summers, and rain falls mainly in our winter time. So autumn rain is always most welcome.

I have been closely following the postings of my co-blogger, Keith Basterfield, on the work of Dr James E McDonald, through Ann Druffel's book "Firestorm." As regular readers of this blog will know, I am a keen student of the work of Jacques Vallee. Druffel cites Vallee's comments about McDonald in "Firestorm."

I thought it might be useful to bring out my copy of Vallee's "Forbidden Science: Journals 1957-1969," (published by North Atlantic Books. Berkeley, CA. ISBN 1-55643-125-2) to see what Vallee himself wrote about McDonald. As few people seem to have copies of Vallee's Journals, I'd like to share references from the book with readers.

"Chicago. Wednesday 8 June 1966.
A major event has happened in the last few days. A friend of Brian O'Brien has launched a bold new campaign that is taking everybody by surprise. His name is James McDonald, forty-five years old, professor of atmospheric physics at the University of Arizona. Having suddenly become interested in the subject, he read many books, including Anatomy and decided to do his own research. Through O'Brien he asked to be authorized to spend two days at Wright Field. He began by requesting to be shown all the cases of "globular lightning." He was amazed and horrified at what he saw; case after case that obviously had nothing at all to do with electrical discharges in the air. So he asked to see more and started reading the general files, getting increasingly upset as he kept on reading.

McDonald moved very fast once he realized, as he told us bluntly, "that the explanations were pure bullshit." So he bypassed the Major and went straight to the General who heads up the base, to tell him exactly what he thought of Blue Book. After forty-five minutes, which is much longer than Hynek ever spent with the General, they were talking about the humanoid occupants! Then he flew back to Arizona and started contacting all the amateur investigators, one by one, from APRO to NICAP. He made an appointment to see Hynek.

We have just had lunch with McDonald today, and it is clear that an entire era has come to a crashing end. This man has many contacts, many ideas, and he is afraid of nothing.

He reached the campus about 11:30 and Hynek took him on a tour of the observatory. At noon I went to pick them up, and I drove them back to Hynek's office, where we all sat down. McDonald signed the Guest book, and I presented him with a copy of Phenomenes Insolites.

After that the serious business began, with a forceful attack against Hynek.

"How could you remain silent so long?"

I jumped in before a fight could erupt.

"If Allen had taken a strong position last year the Air Force would have dropped him as a consultant and we wouldn't be here talking about the phenomenon."

McDonald brushed aside my comment.

"I'm not talking about last year. It's in 1953 that Allen should have spoken out! Public opinion was  ready for a serious scientific study."

"In 1953 I was nothing, a negligible quantity for the Air Force," replied Hynek. "Ruppelt regarded me with considerable misgivings, as a first class bother. He didn't like to have a scientist looking over his shoulder."

"Yet he says some nice things about you in his book."

"That didn't stop him from playing very close to the chest whenever I was around. He didn't let me see his cards."

The debate remained on that level, with McDonald insisting that Hynek had a duty to say something while Hynek would only concede that he had been "a little timid."

Bill and I kept trying to explain to McDonald that any forceful statement by Hyenk would have thrown him out of the inner circle. It could even have precipitated a decision by some General to put the files into the garbage.

Eventually we set aside our differences and the four of us went to lunch. At the restaurant the discussion became more constructive. Hynek retraced in detail the real history of Project Blue Book, truly an incredible tale. Thus he explained how, following Ruppelt's departure, he had seen a succession of unqualified, uninterested officers at the head of Blue Book. He was almost never invited to give an opinion. Hardin neglected his duties completely, he said. He spent all his time following the stock market while waiting for retirement. Indeed, today he runs a brokerage office. McDonald was astonished, although he ought to have some experience of how the military runs. I can see how difficult it will be for the public to understand the situation, when the history of this incredible period finally gets written down." (Vallee, pp186-187.)

James E McDonald and the paranormal

Hi all

Introduction:

Some readers of this blog will be aware that I have had a long term interest in the paranormal and associated areas (click here .)  I have long advocated for the study of paranormal phenomenon, e.g. poltergeists, precognition, which crop up in connection with many UFO encounters, particularly abductions (click here.)

There are numerous examples of where this happens (click here) , and my own research regularly turns up such data. However, I was surprised to see mention of James E McDonald and the paranormal, when re-reading Ann Druffel's "Firestorm", her book about McDonald. Due to the fact that I have never come across any other reference to this material before, I suspect very few readers will be aware of it, so I present it below:

Washington:

McDonald's first public talk on the UFO phenomenon took place in Washington, DC, when he spoke to the local chapter of the American Meteorological Society. In looking for explanations put forward to account for the UFO phenomenon "He presented eight broad categories which various groups - ranging all the way from arch-skeptics to "kooks" - were using to explain the reports.

1. Hoaxes, fabrications and frauds;
2. Hallucinations, mass hysteria and rumours;
3. Misrepresentations of well-known physical phenomena (meteorological, astronomical, optical etc.);
4. Advanced Earth technologies (test vehicles, satellites, re-entry effects);
5. Poorly understood, rare atmospheric and electrical phenomena;
6. Psychic phenomena - psychic projections, archetypal images, (parapsychological phenomena);
7. Extraterrestrial probes;
8. "Messengers of salvation and occult truth." (p.157.)

Difficulty:

McDonald himself said "Categories 5 and 6, to the extent that they constitute explanations in terms of the still-unknown, were intrinsically difficult to handle in logical fashion...I would emphasise that I now regard category 6 as the only important alternative to category 7." (Source cited by Druffel as: McDonald, James E. "The Problem of the Unidentified Flying Objects," summary of a talk given October 19, 1966 to the District of Columbia chapter of the American Meteorological Society, Washington, DC, pp1-2.)

As Druffel notes, "This was a most unexpected statement, ...He was saying that if true unknowns (UFOs) are not from an extraterrestrial source, the parapsychological/psychic hypothesis was the next logical choice!" (p.158.)

Druffel continues "Most veteran UFO researchers living today don't even remember that he even referred to the psychic/parapsychological hypothesis." (p.158.)

"One of the very few colleagues in the UFO research field who remember that McDonald initially listed the psychic/parapsychological hypothesis is Dr Berthold Eric Schwarz, a psychiatrist and veteran parapsychologist. He feels that McDonald might have been criticised early on by certain colleagues for his open statement of category 6." (p.159.) Click here for information on Schwarz.

Meaning:

"It has never been clear precisely what McDonald was suggesting in his own "category 6." No know recording of the AMS talk exists. We have only his hand-out summary to guide us...McDonald dropped category 6 from his list immediately after the AMS talk and never referred openly to it again." (p.160.)

"McDonald was fearless in his search for knowledge, and was privately interested in various aspects of parapsychology...He read widely on the subject...He never discussed parapsychology with his colleagues in atmospheric physics...However, a few objective researchers in the UFO field, including some scientists, shared this interest and, with them, he discussed the subject freely...Hall stresses, however that their discussions about parapsychology were never directly related to UFOs, but were treated as  separate subject." (p.160.)

Comments:

Ten years after Druffel wrote "Firestorm," a copy of the October 19 1966 McDonald paper is now available on the internet (click here.)

On page three of the paper, one can see that there are indeed eight categories of hypotheses shown. However, here in the full paper, category 6 is simply listed as "Poorly understood psychological phenomena" and not Druffel's "6. Psychic phenomena - psychic projections, archetypal images, (parapsychological phenomena);" Why this discrepancy exists is not known to me. Can any readers throw any light on this?

UFO abductions - a change of tactics?

Hi all,

My co-blogger, Pauline Wilson, recently drew our attention to the precognitive sentient phenomena (click here for her post) hypothesis of John B Alexander. In one statement, Alexander, said "Every time researchers get close to an understanding of the situation, the parameters are altered or new variables are entered into the equation." (pp227-228 of Alexander's book.)

When I read Pauline's post, at this point I was transported back to the late 1980's and early 1990's. Here in Australia, we were inundated with accounts of UFO abductions. I recall spending day after day, sitting listening to Australian men and women giving me detailed descriptions of their encounters with a variety of strange entities. Many of these visitations took place in the bedroom.

My fellow researchers were also spending their time interviewing and working with these intriguing accounts. There were strong similarities in the data we were all gathering. Our discussions were all about this one type of UFO event. Overseas researchers spoke of abductions being the end of UFOs in the skies; and close encounters of other kinds. They said that abductions proved the ETH. Abductions would reveal all. The UFO phenomenon was about to be explained. Full disclosure was at hand. The aliens were here to create hybrid beings which would take over the Earth.

It seems to me that the UFO phenomenon has altered. Abductions haven't ended our research. The UFO phenomenon hasn't been fully explained. Despite what some elements of the field say, full disclosure has not happened. In fact, it seems to me, that it is the abductions which have gone away.

Close encounters:

The same may be said about close encounter reports. Colleagues I have spoken to, report a decrease in the numbers of close encounters as a percentage of total incoming reports. Back in the 1970's it seemed that every fourth or fifth incoming report was a close encounter. People reported UFOs near the ground, on the ground and UFOs chasing cars at close range. Today, just about every UFO report I read about is a vague light in the sky, often a video clip; a cluster of lights which could be balloons, or maybe an odd small angular diameter object seen in the day time. A look at the websites of Australian UFO groups UFOR(Qld); TUFOIC and UFOR(NSW) confirmed this view.

The phenomenon has altered again. Gone are the days of numerous close encounters; and gone are the large numbers of abduction reports.

What does this mean? Were we in some way getting close to some kind of understanding? If so, what? More importantly, what comes next?

New book alert - "The Search for Aliens"

Dear readers,

My latest new book discovery at my local library is "The Search for Aliens: A Rough Guide to Life on Other Worlds" by Piers Bizony. 2012. Rough Guides. London. ISBN 978-1-40538-324-0 (click here.) This 260 page book takes a look at the origins of life; the search for life on Mars; aliens at the movies; SETI; the search for extrasolar planets; plus one chapter headed "Kidnapped by Aliens." This post covers this particular chapter, the subject matter of this blog.

Introduction:

"Why do thousands of people believe that extraterrestrial spacecraft have already visited us? How can we distinguish between credible "close encounter" accounts and credulous nonsense? Just because you've seen an alien in your bedroom doesn't necessarily mean you're insane."

Project Blue Book:

The author takes a brief look at the USAF Project Blue Book (click here) and the work of Dr J Allen Hynek (click here) for that project. "Far from investigating alien corpses in hidden bunkers, Hynek was encouraged to find natural explanations wherever possible." (p.215.)

Loose definitions of CE1s to CE3s follow. The project's demise in 1969 is noted "...further funding could not be justified 'either on the grounds of national security or in the interests of science.'" (p.217.)

Under this sub-heading, there is also a short note that "The UK's National Archives contain a wealth of ufo-related material..." (p.217.)

Roswell:

"The most famous UFO story of modern times..." is covered in just over one page of text. "A succession of old timers, publicity chancers and one or two genuinely puzzled witnesses have come forward over the years to tell their versions of the Roswell story..." (p.218.)

There are mentions of projects Mogul ( click here) and High Dive ( click here) as official explanations for the Roswell event. "Some conspiracy theorists point out that although Mogul was underway in 1947, High Dive didn't start until the 1950's. But how would they know? And are these conspiracy theorists actually being paid by the US government to sow further confusion?" (p.218.)

The author's conclusion? "Roswell and almost all other UFO sightings have prosaic explanations. Those few cases that remain completely mysterious are just that, products of our lack of explanation, not proof of alien contact." (p.220.)

Area 51:

A quick overview of Area 51 ( click here) includes the statements: "Frequent reports of triangular UFOs in the skies around Groom Lake in the 1980's are best explained by the sinister shadow of the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter..." (p.220.) "No matter how sleek the styling of Groom Lake's military machines, none are proof of extraterrestrial technology being hidden at Area 51, nor of airplanes retro-engineered from advanced alien counterparts that crash-landed decades ago." (p.220.)

Alien abductions"

This area of UFO research is covered in four pages. "Leaving aside the frauds and self-publicists,  hundreds of perfectly sane people genuinely believe they've been visited by aliens. Just because a person believes in something, doesn't make it true." (p.222.)

Dr John E Mack's ( click here) work is cited, followed by a quick look at the incubus ( click here) and succubus and accounts of their existence throughout recorded history.

Sleep paralysis:

One explanation put forward for alien abductions is sleep paralysis and the author takes a page and a bit, to explain this hypothesis. "It's not surprising that some people may interpret this kind of physical and psychological experience as an alien abduction." (p.224.)

After mentioning the work of UK psychologist Dr Susan Blackmore, the author writes "Blackmore is not alone in thinking that many abduction narratives owe their origin to biological and neurological causes, rather than extraterrestrial interventions." (p.225.)

"Alien looking aliens:"

"The strangest element uniting almost all 'close encounters of the third kind' witness reports is that the aliens appear more or less human, or at least humanoid." (p.225.)

The author argues that "Even if aliens did happen to come from a world just like ours, they still wouldn't look like us, because of countless tiny variations in their evolutionary history." (p.226.) "...it becomes obvious that creatures from other worlds are not under any obligation to look like humans." (p.227.)

Resources:

This section of the book includes sections on astrobiology sources material. There is a section headed "Technical papers"  which includes Blackmore and Cox's 2000 paper "Alien Abductions: Sleep Paralysis and the Temporal Lobe" from the European Journal of UFO and Abduction Studies, 2000. pp.113-118.

Also, under "Websites" are:

"National Security Agency, UFO documents Index, http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/declass/ufo/index
If all the UFO documentation in America was stacked up, it would probably reach to the Moon. The US government's spookiest intelligence agency has released plenty of material in response to numerous requests."

UK National Archives: Unidentified Flying Objects.
http://www.ufos.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
Whatever your feelings about flying saucers, the newly released UK government archives contain a few intriguing mysteries, and some embarrassing admissions - such as the fact that shortage of funds prevented officials from investigating some of the more interesting reports. 

US National Archives: Unidentified Flying Objects
http://www.archives.gov/foia/ufos
The motherlode for UFO enthusiasts, rich in myth and secrecy, with enough material to keep us in movie plots for generations to come." (p.248.)

"A time to remember"

Dear readers,

The English magazine "Fortean Times" is always a source of articles which make me think. Another fascinating article appears in the March 2012 issue (pp56-57) penned (or typed) by one Rob Gandy.

A management consultant, Gandy, had an unusual experience in December 2006, which he shares with us. After working on bicycle repairs, then talking to his wife, he lost a portion of his memory for recent events. At first, his wife thought he had experienced a stroke. However, the diagnosis was Transient Global Amnesia (for more click here.) His memory slowly returned.

Gandy points out that a FT contributor, Gail-Nina Anderson, who also had a TGA episode, joked that "...if she had been on a dark lonely road when she experienced TGA, she would have been able to attribute the time lapse to aliens."

Gandy then writes "A stereotypical; event in ufology is that someone is driving through the countryside at night when their car enters a luminous cloud, or similar; then the driver finds himself miles down the road with half an hour missing."

"A number of commentators have argued that many, if not all, perceived UFOs are actually forms of a rare meteorological phenomena. Therefore, my speculative interpretation of these events is that they do involve rare meteorological phenomena and these phenomena can induce TGA in humans who get too close to them."

What is the frequency of TGA?

"Estimates...varies from a minimum of 2.9 cases per  100,000 population (Spain) and 5.2 per 100,000 (USA); but among people aged over 50, the rate of TGA incidence is reported to range from approximately 23 per 1000,000 (in a US population) to 32 per 100,000 (in a population in Scandinavia.)"

Gandy argues that some people who have a TGA episode, might arrive at an interpretation of an alien abduction, in their world view.

Lost time:

"I surmise that most, if not all, reported episodes of lost time are not, "lost time: but "lost memory," and suggest that there are rare meteorological phenomena that can induce memory loss on a temporary basis."

Comments:

I find the meteorological part of Gandy's hypothesis a bit of a stretch. Why do we need a rare meteorological phenomena to cause a TGA? TGA's happen to some people, in a variety of circumstances.

I do however, think that TGAs may have an involvement in some UFO encounters. Just as hypnagogic and hypnopompic imagery; (click here);  fantasy proneness; (click here) sleep paralysis (click here for a detailed article by Keith Basterfield) ; migraines (click here); false awakenings (click here)  and other conditions seem to be involved in some encounters. TGAs may account for element of some such events. Perhaps, many abduction accounts may involve one, or a combination of these triggers?