27.1.12
THE STRIEBER ENIGMA
25.1.12
DOWN MEMORY LANE
Noe Torres and Ruben Uriarte. Aliens in the Forest: The Cisco Grove UFO Encounter Roswell Books, 2011.
The story was reported by Shrum’s family to a local astronomy professor shortly after the incident, and was subject to a perfunctory air force investigation. In early 1965, after reading an article by Donald Keyhoe in True Magazine, Mrs. Shrum wrote to him, which launched a NICAP investigation by Paul Cerney and others.September 4 1964 2200 CISCO GROVE (CALIFORNIA:USA)
While hunting in the Cisco Grove mountains, factory worker Donald Shrum (28), became separated from his two companions, and found his expected route back to camp ended in a sheer drop. He was forced to retreat to a canyon with a granite outcropping, sparse bush and few trees. He briefly took refuge in one of these trees, when he heard what sounded like a bear crashing about. When the creature had gone, he got down and made three signal fires. Shortly after he saw a light, which he thought was a lantern, below the horizon. When the light darted up and over a tree he changed his mind and assumed it was a rescue helicopter. However it came closer and hovered without sound or motion, he realized it was something extraordinary and climbed about 3.5m up the 8m tall tree.
The light was white, 20-25cm diameter, and was accompanied by 2 or 4 other objects a regular distance away. The light circled the tree, there was a flash and a dark object fell to the ground, and he noticed a dome shaped object about 400m away. His attention was attracted by noises, as two figures emerged from the bush from slightly different directions. The figures seemed to be curious about the hoot of an owl. A third figure, moving in a noisier and clumsier fashion than the first 2, then arrived. Shrum climbed further up the tree. He now saw that the first two beings were about 1.6m tall, dressed in silvery grey hooded suits. The 3rd was a of darker grey, had no neck, two red flickering eyes, and a rectangular opening for a mouth, these features suggesting it was a robot of some kind.
The two humanoids then tried to climb the tree, one boosting the other up, but without success. The robot then proceeded to attack him with some kind of gas, which made him pass out for a few moments, then awake retching, He fired three arrows at the robot, which struck with a spark, then some of his clothing, which he set alight, his bow, canteen (which the two men examined with interest), and some silver coins, The attacks continued through the night, the men trying to climb the tree all the while. As dawn broke a second robot joined the first, they stood face to face and sparks flew between them, and the area became filled with the gas which rendered Shrum unconscious again, for some time.
When he awoke again, nauseated and suffering from exposure, the beings had all gone. He then made his way back to the camp, being found by one of his companions en route. Back at camp, he found the 3rd man had also nearly got lost, and had seen a large bright glowing light descend. Back at the scene he retrieved two of the arrows, the metal heads of which appeared to have been ground by a file.
21.1.12
THE INFINITY PUZZLE
15.1.12
HITLER'S JEWISH 'PSYCHIC'
13.1.12
HYSTERIA AND HYSTERICS
Jan Goldstein. Hysteria Complicated by Ecstasy: The Case of Nanette Leroux Princeton University Press, 2011
In his book Scull traces the arguments between those who saw hysteria as a mainly physiological problem and those who saw it primarily psychological terms. The former included the French neurologist J-M Charcot, who ran the Salpetriere asylum which all the authoritarian élan of the ‘Napoleon of the Neuroses’, a term he took fairly literally judging by his photograph on p110! (left). The latter included his one time pupil Sigmund Freud.12.1.12
WRITTEN IN STONE
And so on and so on. From our vantage point in the 21st Century, because our science has achieved so much in a few hundred years compared to the thousands before spent travelling by horse and lighting our houses with candles, we now seem to feel it as an affront that we cannot solve every problem going, including that of what these enigmatic edifices, some incredibly old, were used for. Were they temples? Were they developed for something more intricate than that? Or were they, as quite a few folk writing today would have it, keepers of occult knowledge that can speak meaningfully to us even now.
I think that it is fair to say that Richard Cassaro falls into the last category. In brief, Written in Stone tells of a spiritual message that transcends time and is part and parcel of every major ancient civilisation that left large stone buildings behind. When this vital piece of information to humankind was covered up, firstly by Judaism then by Christianity, it was smuggled into the holy buildings of the latter by the mediæval guilds of stonemasons so that the enlightened could decode it. The stonemasons evolved into modern, speculative Freemasonry where, although the message itself was still transmitted from one generation to the next, the meaning was forgotten and has had to be rediscovered now.
Some gripes. Firstly, I found that quite a few of the pictures suffered from being too small. I have nothing against pictures if you can see what points they are trying to make. If you cannot then it is a waste of time, effort, ink and paper to put them in. Early on in the book they tend to crowd around the text in a breathless fashion, competing with the writing for attention. I personally feel it is much better to have either fewer and larger pictures or a bigger book. It may seem a minor point, but it had enough impact for me to mention it specifically. I find this is becoming a trend in books dealing with speculative archæology, and an irritating one at that. As I say, pictures are only of any use if they can be seen clearly, so I hope that this is something that can be worked on for the future.
It could have been trying to read around the pictures, but I also felt that the author was rushing sometimes. The presentation seems very busy, and (in his eagerness to impart his world view) he segues from one subject to another at speed. I would have preferred more time explaining fewer examples, but maybe that is a personal issue.
The next point to be made is about the Freemasons, and it is this. No-one, not even the Freemasons themselves, knows quite how they originated. They themselves have speculated that they were descended from the aforementioned mediæval guilds of stonemasons who came over from the Continent after constructing the wondrous Gothic cathedrals and went around Britain to spread their (possibly occult) knowledge by building ours. When they, or rather their descendants, had finished this noble and holy task they settled here and kept their secrets by admitting members of the gentry to their lodge meetings. Thus, everything has been preserved until the present day.
The trouble with this is that there is very little evidence for it, and some Masonic scholars even dispute this version of events. There are also plenty of researchers who are convinced that Freemasonry came about as the Knights Templar were forced underground in 1307. Richard Cassaro does not address the issue of the uncertain origins of the Freemasons. He just assumes that speculative stonemasonry spawned the organisation, with no alternative offered or debated. I have to say that, to miss this point out in a book that hinges on the claim that the hidden knowledge descended specifically from actual builders in stone to a gentlemen’s club with rituals is baffling, to say the least.
Having said that, the book does raise intriguing questions as to the spread of both spiritual concepts and architectural features in the ancient world. The author’s observation that the triptych (in this case one feature flanked by two smaller, such as a tower or a doorway) as being universal is rather striking, and something that does not seem obvious until it is pointed out. Then, it seems widespread and something that asks for an explanation, which leads us back to the book.
Richard Cassaro’s theory, however, that the concept of the dying and rising god/king was fairly common in Europe then, with the advent of monotheism, was diverted from its use as a tool of Hermetic wisdom and changed into an instrument of general suppression is fascinating. Certainly there were many gods who died and rose again, and they were worshipped around the time that Christianity was forming. The idea that our old selves “die” and we, spiritually, are “reborn” is commonly available today – ironically, especially in the notion of the born-again Christian. It was not the case in a Western world dominated by Christian orthodoxy. I will stick my neck out and say that it is a fairly safe assumption that Freemasonry, especially in the ritual of the Third Degree, has preserved the idea of spiritually dying and rising, so in that respect at least I concur with the author. However, I remain to be convinced as to the road that this knowledge took to get there. -- Trevor Pyne
This book may be ordered here:
http://www.deepertruth.com/store.php#ecwid:category=0&mode=product&product=6675290
7.1.12
HISTORY OF SATAN
Probably the earliest references to Satan are in the opening chapters of the Book of Job, from which it appears that heaven was regarded as a celestial courtroom, in which God was the judge and Satan the prosecutor. (In those days you were not given a defence lawyer, neither on earth nor in heaven.) A prosecutor – the word Satan actually means ‘adversary’ - is not inherently evil, but, if one takes the view that we are all ‘miserable sinners’, then he is obviously someone to be feared.
Over the centuries many other concepts were added. Early in the sixth century (BC), the Hebrews were taken away to captivity in Babylonia. But in about 538 Babylon was conquered by the Persians under Cyrus the Great, and so they came into contact with the Zoroastrian religion, whose scriptures state that: “In the beginning, there were two Spirits, Twins spontaneously active; these were the Good Spirit and the Evil, in thought, and in word, and in deed.” Eventually, Satan would become identified with the Evil Spirit. This was quite different from the earlier concept that all things, good or bad came from God, as in Isaiah 45:7: “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.”
One passage that has created considerable debate is Genesis 6:2: “the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” The ‘Sons of God’ were presumably angels, who are normally supposed to be sexless, so how could this be? The inter-testamental Book of Enoch explained that Semihazah, the leader of the Watchers (angels whose task was to watch over the universe) persuaded two hundred fellow angels to engage in sexual intercourse with human women, as a result of which they were expelled from heaven. The early church father Origen connected this story with a passage in Isaiah (14:12): “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” “He rejected the notion that the passage could be a reference to the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar.”
Accordingly, Lucifer became the leader of the fallen angels, and was identified with Satan, though the latter was not mentioned in the Book of Enoch; among Christians the name Semihazah became forgotten. Ironically, Lucifer, which means ‘Light-bearer’, referred to Venus as the morning star, whereas at the very end of the Bible Jesus is quoted as saying that “I am . . . the bright and morning star.” (Revelations 22:16) Also, 2 Peter 1:19, in the Latin version, “suggests that the prophets of old are a lamp for light the way until Jesus as lucifer rises within our minds”, although the Authorised Version renders ‘lucifer’, as ‘the day star’.
In the New Testament, Satan appears by name, but also translated into Greek as Diabolos, which likewise means adversary, and whence we get the English word Devil. A vision of the future in Revelation 12:9 reads: “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” It may have been the phrase ‘the old serpent’ that led Satan to be identified with the serpent who tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, indeed I have known people who believe that this is stated in the Bible, although in fact it is one of many features of Christian belief and theology which have no scriptural authority.
Though some Jews and Christians thought that the deities of the Pagans were simply non-existent, most held that they were real, but actually evil spirits deceiving the human race. The Greek word daimon meant a spirit, or a God. Accordingly, the word demon came to signify a devil.
4.1.12
KEEP OUT!
He starts with one of the best-known cases, the claims of Bob Lazar that he was employed at a secret base in Nevada, the notorious Area 51, on the task of investigating the workings of a fleet of alien spacecraft which the US government had somehow acquired. Lazar certainly had some technical knowledge and experience, but he also claimed to have received an MS in electronics from the California Institute of Technology and an MS in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but no evidence could be found to support these claims. Some of the things Lazar claimed were true and some were false, the resulting confusion giving plenty for believers and sceptics to argue about.
Those who believe that the US government possibly holds the secret of the saucers are also fascinated by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Among these people was Senator Barry Goldwater, who wrote to a UFO researcher in 1975 stating that he had tried to find out what was in a certain building there.
Redfern informs us: "The building to which Goldwater was referring is allegedly a super-secret location that many UFO researchers believe houses the remains of one or more crashed UFOs, along with the cryogenically preserved remains of their deceased alien crewmembers. Its memorable moniker is Hangar 18."
One theory about the persistence of such stories is that they are encouraged by officialdom to hide research into new aircraft designs and weaponry. This is supposed to discourage serious journalists interested in defence matters from investigating because they don't want to be associated with a subject as disreputable as ufology.
Almost everybody who reads this review will have heard of the British hacker Gary McKinnon, who is awaiting possible extradition to the USA concerning alleged damage to NASA computers. Redfern mentions him in passing, as he has written about him at length elsewhere, but he gives more space to another British hacker, Matthew Bevan, who hacked into Wright-Patterson in 1994 and 1995 using a Commodore Amiga 1200, a computer that was primitive compared to those readily available today. However, Bevan got away with it, as the judge dismissed the case after the US authorities refused to supply the evidence to support their charges.
What puzzles me about such cases is why it was apparently so easy for such people to hack into US government computers containing lots of classified information. Why do the US authorities employ such incompetents to manage their computer systems?
The main theme of secret bases includes a chapter about bases on the moon, thought by some to have been built secretly by the USA (who else?). However, Ingo Swann used his amazing remote-viewing talents to determine that lunar bases were the work of extraterrestrials. If that doesn't seem incredible enough, it is true that Swann actually worked for the US government's remote viewing program, which investigated the possibility of using such talents (if they really existed) for intelligence gathering.
There are chapters on other topics, including one on stories of strange creatures, phantoms, and even cannibals haunting the London Underground railway system. This book is great fun to read, especially if you are unfamiliar with the topics discussed. -- John Harney.
Comments:
cda: I feel a comment on the Goldwater matter is necessary. As far as I can tell, Senator Goldwater once requested access to the Blue Book files at Wright-Patterson AFB, nothing else. This was during the period 1961-65 while General Curtis LeMay was the USAF Chief of Staff. Goldwater's request was refused (presumably by LeMay himself). In March 1975 Goldwater replied to a constituent who had asked him about UFOs and related this story of "ten or twelve years ago". Although Goldwater used the phrase "above top secret", at no point did he say he was trying to access bodies or UFO wreckage. He was merely trying to access USAF files, like writers such as Keyhoe and organisations such as NICAP and APRO. It was only years later that the Goldwater story mushroomed into rumors about artefacts and bodies, and a top secret room known as the "Blue Room". Tim Good, writing in Above Top Secret, talks about Goldwater trying to see UFO artefacts but not bodies or actual craft. Nick Redfern appears to See more...
By cda on KEEP OUT! on 05/01/12
Nick Redfern: CDA: You say: "Nick Redfern appears to take the story a stage further and talks about the senator seeking the remains of bodies and crashed UFOs, all supposedly stored in a secret building known as Hangar 18." Where the hell are you getting that idea from? Certainly not from my book, I know that much! Here are my exact words from my "Keep Out!" book as they relate to what I say in the book about the Goldwater saga: QUOTE: 'On March 28, 1975, the late and renowned Barry Goldwater – who served as a Major-General in the Air Force, a Senator for Arizona, the Republican Party’s nominee for President of the United States in the 1964 election, and the Chairman of the U.S. Government’s Senate Intelligence Committee - wrote the following, highly thought-provoking words to a UFO researcher named Shlomo Arnon: “The subject of UFOs is one that has interested me for some long time. About ten or twelve years ago I made an effort to find out what was in the building at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base where the information is stored that has been collected by the Air Force, and I was understandably denied this request. It is still classified above Top Secret.” 'Well, it’s certainly not every day you receive in the mail a letter like that – and from a U.S. senator and a presidential-nominee. Unless, that is, the subject-matter of the letter left a deep, lasting impression upon that same senator and nominee, which it clearly did.' END OF QUOTE. I made no specific statement - at all - that Goldwater was on the hunt for alien bodies. Rather, directly after referring to Goldwater's letter to Shlomo Arnon, I state in the book that UFO researchers believe the place Goldwater was trying to access is where alien bodies are stored, and that it has become known as Hangar 18. Saying some UFO researchers believe there might be bodies at Wright-Pat is very, very different from, as you word it: "Nick Redfern appears to take the story a stage further and talks about the senator seeking the remains of bodies and crashed UFOs." There's no statement in my book about Goldwater seeking bodies or crashed craft, only that this is what some investigators conclude. By Nick Redfern on KEEP OUT! on 09/01/12.
cda: Quite right Nick. I ought not to have implied that you said this in your book (which I have not read). However it is true that some UFO extremists HAVE said this about Sen. Goldwater. I should have made this clear rather than extrapolating from John Harney's review. I am still curious who first used the term 'Hangar 18'. By cda on KEEP OUT! on 12/01/12