Monday, April 21, 2014

 

A never-investigated CE2 from 1967


In going through all the various documents and material from the National Archives, I found this interesting CE2 case that seems to have never been investigated. It also seems to have never seen print. 

So to remedy that, here's the CE2 physiological effects case from October 25, 1967, from Nova Scotia.






The full case report reads:

25 October 1967  3:15 pm AST
Mr. XXXXXXX, Brookfield, Colchester Co., NS 
Also seen by two other witnesses  
In a letter to the Canadian Forces, he writes: “On October 25, 1967, 3:15 pm AST, while going from Truro to Moncton on the “Cabot Train,” my job being the rear brakeman or flagman, I had the experience of seeing at close range a UFO. It was at the side of the track and at treetop level. When I first looked up at it I thought of something falling from the sky, as there was green vapour coming billowing from the top of it (which was the exhaust end when in flight). It gave off a terrific radiation, as I tried to look at it I covered my face with my hands and peered through my hands with one eye and then the other. It seemed as I looked away from it that I could not believe my eyes and it was difficult to visualize what I had seen. It followed along beside and at the rear of our train from just ¼ mile part Wentworth or nearly to Westchester and then followed the top of the mountain range toward the west. As it drifted away from our train it tipped to a 45 degree angle, the rear top end to the left and later rolled on ¼ turn so the flat sides were up and down. Shortly, a jet from a higher altitude came in sight, diving, at the same angle the demon was positioned, and directly towards the exhaust end of the UFO. The UFO then levelled out and a thin short exhaust was seen from behind it until it took on the shape of a cigar and it just looked like a cloud, with the jet plane pursuing it. The jet caught up with it as far as I could see when they went out of sight (we are not at Nappan) toward the west at to the left of the Sun, time 3:50 PM AST. Two men on the train witnessed the “thing.” A sleeping car conductor and an inspector from Montreal, I have their names. One week after, the hair on the back of my hands disappeared and my hands seemed to wither up some, they felt funny. My eyes got sore and seemed swelled hard. Two weeks later I thought I was taking pneumonia. My chest or ribs in front got sore. My throat got sore and still is. My forehead got greasy and later seemed to dry up. Now my eyes are sore and I had to get my glasses changed but they are still sore. I reported this to the RCMP and thought the Air Force would contact me and I’d get some help but have heard nothing. I tried to talk to my doctor and have asked him for penicillin but he refused. I guess he thinks I’m nuts. Can you tell me anything about the thing: what kind of radiation, atomic, electro-magnetic, solar or what? What medication? I would like to talk to the crew on the plane that chased it sometime. Any help you can give I will greatly appreciate.” 
The duration of the sighting is noted as 40 minutes. 
The report on file noted: “No exercises were held by our base in that area at the time specified. A letter has been sent to Mr. XXXXXX acknowledging receipt of his letter and the forwarding of the information.”

There is no indication that this case was ever followed up. One would think that even out of curiosity, someone at the military base or within the RCMP would have contacted him to see how he was doing. It's doubtful this was a hoax, because he reported it to two different official agencies. If he was mistaken (and the other two witnesses were as well), it's not clear what this might have been. Far too long for a bolide. A military vehicle? 





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Thursday, April 10, 2014

 

Earthquakes, UFOs, and all that stuff


Some new research has been published in a scientific journal about the relationship between UFOs and earthquakes. Ostensibly, however, the research is about luminous objects called earthquake lights are observed at or around the time of significant seismic events.  The paper is available at:

http://srl.geoscienceworld.org/content/85/1/159.extract

This is significantly different in scope from the Tectonic Strain Theory of UFOs, proposed many years ago by Michael Persinger, a Canadaian neuroscientist who believes that most UFO reports can be explained as energy releases from tiny seismic events deep underground. (He's also the guy who says UFO abduction experiences can be explained by electromagnetic effects on the temporal lobe in the brain.)

Anyway, I had originally thought this made some sense, until I began studying the data and the evidence to support the theory, in detail. In short, I found it lacking. I prepared a long treatise on why this was so, in my opinion. It's available online at:

http://psican.org/alpha/index.php?%2F20130514760%2FUFO-News-Articles-and-Editorials%2FThe-Tectonic-Strain-Theory-of-Geophysical-Luminosities.html

Supporters of the TST didn't take kindly to my criticisms, so a bit of a heated exchange erupted in scientific journals regarding whether UFOs really could be explained as energy from seismicity. (This was actually quite significant: to debate a theory of UFOs in a recognized scientific journal!)

Curiously, I was the only critic of the theory among all of ufology. Practically everyone else seemed to think it made perfect sense, apparently. 

http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.1984.58.3.840?journalCode=pms

The TST theory continued to chug along, and I continued to voice concerns, until it seemed to have reached its peak... or nadir. Proponents claimed that UFO investigators were at risk of dying of cancer because the energy released by the seismic events - which are what were reported by witnesses as UFOs - would cause the cancerous cells to multiply in people frequenting UFO hotspots. And those, of course, would be UFO investigators.

A medical researcher found this as absurd as I did, and we published a note about this in a major medical journal.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1269166/?page=2

So, are UFO sightings and earthquakes related?

You be the judge.




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Ann Druffel's recommendations about working with UFO abductees


Noted ufologist Ann Druffel published an article all the way back in 1987, making recommendations on how to deal with UFO abductees.

At the time, alien abduction research was still in its infancy, so her suggestions and her classification of UFO abductees (and contactees) is interesting reading for those wishing to "support" people who are now known as "UFO experiencers."

In short, she found that only two of the six classifications of UFO abductees would benefit from support groups, and that ufologists working with most abductees would have a lot of difficulty. She also spoke out very strongly on having clinical professionals such as psychologists and medical doctors (including psychiatrists) help evaluate and treat abductees for their "emotional damage" caused by either the trauma of their experiences themselves or by the consequences of their coming forward with their stories. In many cases, Druffel noted, abductees/contactees have histories of neuroses, relationship issues, social problems and poor work histories.

And yet, here we are, more than 25 years later, and abductee "support groups" are continuing to chug along, often without adequate medical support for people with emotional trauma.

Thanks anyway, Ann.





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Recent comments about UFOs and the state of ufology


A talk I gave at Dream Big, the day before Neil deGrasse Tyson gave his presentation. I spoke about the state of Canadian ufology, and in particular, what people in Canada really are seeing and reporting.

https://soundcloud.com/uofmstudentlife/ufo-phenomenon-in-canada-talk

And the review of the talk:

http://www.communitynewscommons.org/our-city/education/increased-ufo-sighting-discussed-at-dream-big-event/

And as well, I was a guest on the Paracast recently:

http://www.theparacast.com/podcasts/paracast_140406.mp3

And the ensuing discussion:

http://www.theparacast.com/forum/threads/chris-rutkowski-and-the-canadian-ufo-report-april-6-2014.14868/




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Thursday, April 03, 2014

 

Bill Clinton and UFOs


It didn't take long for the Conspiracy Theorists and Disclosure Proponents (CT&DPs) to jump on the recent comments by Bill Clinton in response to questions from Jimmy Kimmel about UFOs. 

First salient point: He's not saying anything he hasn't said before. 

Second point: He said there were no aliens at Roswell. So, since CT&DPs insist politicians (even retired ones) lie about everything, there really must have been aliens there. (Corollary: Paul Hellyer, darling of CT&DPs, says aliens are definitely here, so being a retired politician too, he must be lying. And therefore aliens do not exist.) 

Third point: Clinton stated a belief held by most astronomers and the public that aliens probably exist elsewhere in the universe. Which is nothing that you can't read about in any pop science publication. 

In other words, there's no news here, people.


http://dailycaller.com/2014/04/03/bill-clinton-on-aliens-if-we-were-visited-some-day-i-wouldnt-be-surprised/

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