The world continues to get creepier and creepier, with regard and respect for life falling ever deeper into the abyss of forgotten values. With FDA fast-tracking this new and potentially disastrously dangerous ruling, I'd bet that the health of the people will suffer. Perhaps it's more opportunity for them to 'thin the herd,' but I'd be more apt to think it's to do with profits, like everything else.
One example of pure greed reigning over the welfare of customers is the recent decision by McDonalds, renowned purveyors of obesity and early death, to eschew the output of domestic farmers in favor of cheap, unregulated foreign beef, injected with lots of drugs and raised on feed containing the remains of their unfortunate brothers and sisters. Is your stomach turning yet?
Ewww. Be careful out there.
======================================
Cloned Meat Decision Sparks Consumer Campaign
Caitlin G. Johnson
OneWorld US - view original
Thu., Jan. 24, 2008
NEW YORK, Jan 24 (OneWorld) - A broad coalition is urging consumers and grocery stores to refuse burgers, milk, and other products from cloned animals, following a U.S. government decision to lift a ban on the controversial foods.
Earlier this month, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) capped years of debate by lifting the ban on selling meat and dairy products from cloned cattle, swine, and goats. (There was not enough information to reach a conclusion on sheep, according to the FDA.)
Within hours, a petition hit cyberspace warning that "Genetically speaking, you meat eaters could be eating burgers from the same cow for years."
The petition will urge grocery stores to refuse to stock food from cloned animals. Signatures will be delivered to grocery stores, the U.S. Congress, and the FDA.
The campaign is sponsored by the advocacy group Friends of the Earth and a coalition of corporations, nonprofits, and politicians including Ben & Jerry's, the Consumer Federation of America, Union of Concerned Scientists, the Center for Food Safety, Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT).
The coalition says the FDA studies are inadequate to determine the safety of cloned meat because the sample size is too small -- there are only about 600 cloned animals in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- and because clones' offspring are not included in the assessment.
"The concern is that the majority of clones die either before or directly after birth. It took 227 tries to get Dolly. This indicates they're genetically abnormal," says Gillian Madill, genetic technologies campaigner for Friends of the Earth. "If we eat them, what are the consequences for our health? What about cancers and late-onset degenerative disease?"
"The FDA looked at short-term consequences, and even then, the evaluation is very limited and narrow in scope," Madill told OneWorld.
The FDA documents acknowledge that cloned livestock exhibit higher rates of prenatal death, large infant syndrome, and other "adverse outcomes."
These defects have given rise to concerns about animal welfare, too. The Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit advocacy organization, has called cloning "the most brutal livestock breeding technology" in use.
The group also questions the safety of food from clones. In March 2007, it released a report critical of the FDA's risk assessment, calling for longer-term, peer-reviewed studies.
"At the very least, we need to demand that Congress require labeling of this unproven, untested new food."
- Jaydee Hanson, Center for Food Safety
"The FDA hasn't done its job," says Jaydee Hanson, policy analyst for the Center for Food Safety. "You couldn't even get a new animal drug approved with research as weak as the FDA used. We need to stop, have the FDA go back and do this right."
The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), however, is satisfied with the ruling, citing a "growing international consensus" and data supporting the safety of food from cloned animals.
"We're comfortable telling the public that they should not worry about this from a safety point of view," says Gregory Jaffe, director of the CSPI biotechnology project. "First, only healthy animals that reach maturity will enter into the food supply, and the offspring of clones don't have any of the animal health concerns that clones have. DNA is not passed to us when we eat milk or meat from animals."
Although CSPI does not take a stand on the ethical issues, Jaffe says the animal welfare concerns are worth examining. "Clearly there are issues for the surrogate mothers and for the clones themselves," he notes.
Not Likely to Hit Stores Soon
Because cloning is an expensive technology, it is more likely to be used for breeding stock than direct food production -- which means the offspring of cloned animals are more likely than clones themselves to show up in the food supply.
Producers are wading into the market slowly, in the wake of recent opinion polls indicating that a majority of the public is uncomfortable with food from cloned animals.
Major cattle and meat industry groups have expressed support for the ruling. "[Cloning] allows ranchers to duplicate their best breeding animals to quickly improve their herd," says Mary Geiger, a member of the communications team of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. "Clones are conventionally born, there is no genetic modification -- essentially, they are twins."
Jeremy Russell, communications director for the National Meat Association, a nonprofit trade association, notes that cloned meat is not likely to be hitting the shelves of local supermarkets anytime soon. "I have heard some companies are rightly concerned that they don't want to upset their customer base, so they're choosing not to use any cloning technology. I am sure other companies will experiment," he says.
To address consumer fears, the National Meat Association says it is pushing for an industry-wide animal management system to track cloned animals and their offspring.
At the same time that the FDA announced its ruling, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a statement supporting the assessment but requesting that U.S. farmers keep cloned meat off the market "during this transition time."
"The fact that the USDA can't back the decision of the FDA -- one says it's ready for market, one says it's not -- signifies some sort of scientific miss there," says Madill from Friends of the Earth.
"We need to focus more on promoting small, local farms who use naturally grown crops and livestock instead of finding technological answers to save big agriculture and slaughterhouses," she says.
But if cloned foods do become more commonly available in U.S. grocery stores, the next battle will likely be over labeling.
"At the very least, we need to demand that Congress require labeling of this unproven, untested new food," says Hanson of the Center for Food Safety, who believes consumers have the right to be fully informed about what they're purchasing and eating.
As for policing the meat departments of stores who take the no-clone pledge, the campaign members are counting on consumer pressure to keep grocers -- and farmers -- honest.
“Almost all people are hypnotics.
The proper authority saw to it that the proper belief should be induced and the people believed properly.” — Charles Hoy Fort
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Lyme Induced Autism
One wonders why more isn't being done to solve these horrors. I'm glad at least some are looking into it. Do the others simply not care?
========================
Autism: Connection to Lyme?
research papers on autism and the connection to lyme:
Ongoing research papers on autism are looking at the possible relationship between Lyme disease and Autism Disorder. At present Autism spectrum therapy disorder seems to be affecting one out of every 150 children, and more males are affected than females. A spike was noted in the number of Autism cases in the mid 1990s and the percentage of cases overall are still remaining relatively high with the precise cause of this disease remaining unknown.
In view of a lack of awareness on the reason, a lot of theories do actually exist and the research is constantly taken on and most children do in time react to treatment. Some of the latest research has exposed a potential link with Lyme disease symptoms and the oncoming of Autism, while there's much to do, this possibility seems tantalising.
Lyme disease is often as a result of a bite from a small tick. Symptoms of this disease can range from aching joints, confusion, word memory difficulty or slurred words, heightened sensitivity to light and sound, and a hazy mind. If it progresses into a later stage Lyme disease it can be life-threatening and leading to Multiple Sclerosis style symptoms and resulting in severe debilitation. It can be treated with Antibiotics.
Some research indicates that up to 90 percent of children that suffer with syndromes associated with Autism are infected also with Lyme disease; even so it isn't being reasoned that Lyme disease symptoms are an accurate cause for each case of Autism.
More research is being looked at and the Lyme Induced Autism Foundation that was founded in 2006 is actively fundraising in order to raise sufficient revenue to bring on a more serious research in the relationship between these areas.
In view of this high incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorder amongst children since the mid 1990s a push through in understanding is in high demand and further research papers on Autism into an area such as Lyme disease might well give some hope for those sufferers and families affected.
Article source: http://www.autism.andallabout.com
========================
Autism: Connection to Lyme?
research papers on autism and the connection to lyme:
Ongoing research papers on autism are looking at the possible relationship between Lyme disease and Autism Disorder. At present Autism spectrum therapy disorder seems to be affecting one out of every 150 children, and more males are affected than females. A spike was noted in the number of Autism cases in the mid 1990s and the percentage of cases overall are still remaining relatively high with the precise cause of this disease remaining unknown.
In view of a lack of awareness on the reason, a lot of theories do actually exist and the research is constantly taken on and most children do in time react to treatment. Some of the latest research has exposed a potential link with Lyme disease symptoms and the oncoming of Autism, while there's much to do, this possibility seems tantalising.
Lyme disease is often as a result of a bite from a small tick. Symptoms of this disease can range from aching joints, confusion, word memory difficulty or slurred words, heightened sensitivity to light and sound, and a hazy mind. If it progresses into a later stage Lyme disease it can be life-threatening and leading to Multiple Sclerosis style symptoms and resulting in severe debilitation. It can be treated with Antibiotics.
Some research indicates that up to 90 percent of children that suffer with syndromes associated with Autism are infected also with Lyme disease; even so it isn't being reasoned that Lyme disease symptoms are an accurate cause for each case of Autism.
More research is being looked at and the Lyme Induced Autism Foundation that was founded in 2006 is actively fundraising in order to raise sufficient revenue to bring on a more serious research in the relationship between these areas.
In view of this high incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorder amongst children since the mid 1990s a push through in understanding is in high demand and further research papers on Autism into an area such as Lyme disease might well give some hope for those sufferers and families affected.
Article source: http://www.autism.andallabout.com
An Exceptionally Dangerous UFO
Wow! It would seem that some UFOs are not to be trifled with. This harrowing tale from a test pilot indicates that there's still a lot to be learned from people who are currently fearful of the consequences of telling us that which we should know, for some very good reasons, unfortunately. As you'll find out, Lt. Col. Edwards was very lucky to be such an exceptional pilot.
One wonders just how many other incidents of the type told herein have accumulated and if they continue on to this day. UFO nastiness appears to extend beyond the activities of the evil boxes that terrorized those in South America...
=======================================================
Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards Tells His Son Of His UFO Encounter As A Test Pilot
Brian Vike - Director
HBCC UFO Research
1-27-8
Date: April 1955
Time: Midday.
Location of Sighting: Edwards AFB Turbine Testing Group.
Number of witnesses: 2
Number of objects: 1
Shape of objects: Cigar, orange, glowing and stationary at 6K'.
HBCC UFO Research Note: Permission was granted to leave the serviceman's name in this report. Also 3 prior test pilots lost their lives to other UFO encounters which you will read below. Also I should point out that this story has never been told before. Also I will not be releasing the other documents I have received due to the personal information they contain in them.
Obituary for Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards was run in The Dallas Morning News. I have added the text version of the obituary and also have the actual obituary which I have scanned and added as an image.
EDWARDS: LT. COL ROY JACK EDWARDS, RET., born July 4, 1922 in Oklahoma City, OK. Jack enlisted in the USMC in 1941. He was a 1947 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, where he was a classmate of former President Jimmy Carter. He served his country in World War II, Korean and Vietnam Wars and was a commissioned officer from 1946 to 1970. The special assignments included; Senior instructor, Modern Naval Weapons Systems, U.S. Navy Academy; Weapons Development Officer, Air Launched Unguided Weapons, Pentagon; Commanding Officer Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265 Vietnam.
He retired June 30, 1970. Jack is survived by his wife, Julia Herrmann Edwards; sister Cleo Christofferson; sons Frank, Bradford B, Mark C and Drew H Edwards and four grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by Ruth C. Edwards. Visitation with the family will be from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m., Friday, November 28, 2003 at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home. Military Graveside Services will be held at 1:00 a.m., Saturday, November 29, 2003 at Hillcrest Memorial Park in Dallas.
Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards obituary - scanned image.
http://www.hbccufo.org/videos/Lt._Col._Roy_Jack_Edwards_Memorials.jpg
----------
Decoration, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized to Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards:
1. - American Defense Service Medal
2. - American Campaign Medal
3. - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
4. - Victory Medal WW II
5. - Navy Occupation Service Metal
6. - National Defense Service Medal w/1*
7. - Vietnam Campaign Medal w/1*
8. - Vietnam Service Metal w/4*
9. - Air Medal w/5*
10. - Navy Commendation w/combat "v"
11. - RVN Cross of Gallantry w/palm
United States President Jimmy Carter's letter.
http://www.hbccufo.org/videos/United_States_President_Jimmy_Carter.jpg
HBCC UFO Research Note: Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edward's son told me he fought tooth and nail one would say to have his father buried with military honors. He contacted so many ranking officers and politicians throughout the military/government in hopes of having his wishes carried out, which over time they finally were granted and his Dad was put to rest with military honors.
One had to wonder why this wasn't carried out straight away, with no hassles for the family who fought to have these rights in place for their Father who served with courage and honor on and off the battlefield. Was it due to a UFO experience which almost ruined Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards career.
In the military records I have here for Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards, it states in bold capital letters that Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards served his country "Honorable" But what there is no mention of in these military records is an amazing UFO encounter Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards had back in 1955 while holding a position of a test pilot at Edwards AFB. I also will add, Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards almost lost his life during his encounter with the UFO, loss of vision, everything went fuzzy, so his body reacted to whatever the Unidentified Flying Object was giving off and also losing control of the jet aircraft for a while as it suddenly had mechanical problems, again due to the UFO he came face to face while in flight.
Now here is what I and Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edward's son find really unusual and or the cover up starts, the powers to be whom ever these people are, having Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards stationed in Gifu, Japan at the time of his UFO encounter. This is listed on Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edward's military records, according to his son who I spoke at length with on Friday 25, 2008 by way of telephone, Jack Edward's son says his Father was not stationed at Gifu, Japan, but rather at the Edwards AFB where he was test flying the Super Sabre jet fighters at the time of the UFO incident. His son can remember this so clearly, plus as his son mentioned, we would have known if we were in Japan. (different country) They weren't ! So this appears to be a complete cover-up by the military to hide any possible leakage of Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edward's UFO sighting.
The report on Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards UFO Experience.
Full Description of event/sighting: Subject: My father, a Super Sabre test pilot at Edwards AFB chased an Orange Cigar shaped UFO.
In 1955 my deceased (3 years ago) father Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards USMC (Ret. USNA Class of '47 - same as Pres. Jimmy Carter) revealed an experience he had as a young test pilot to me just 2 years before he died. He claimed the reason he never shared his UFO chase encounter was the deep fear the military had threatened him, during debriefing upon returning to base, for disobeying direct orders he would lose all his military benefits along with a less than honorable discharge.
Let me explain the whole set of circumstances involving his chasing the stationary "Orange Cigar" shaped UFO at an altitude of approx. 6K'. He was stationed at Edwards AFB for a 2 year stint to conduct final testing of the new version Super Sabre fighters and other experimentals. At this time I was only 6 years old.
During a test flight in clear sky conditions when my father initially contacted ground control he sighted a definite large UFO. He was firmly "ordered" to "break away immediately and return to base" with his chase (observation) plane. His observation plane complied. However, my fearless USMC trained mindset father told me that his raw intrepid instincts kicked in, thus, ignored ground control because he knew he probably wouldn't ever get another opportunity to confront a UFO and pursued.
So, he made a linear flight towards this stationary positioned cigar shaped orange glowing object and described w/o any surface area indicative as having any source of propulsion which he estimated to be about 2 football fields in length and slightly more than 50 yards in circumference. As he reached a range of about 3-4 miles from the UFO it emitted a single burst of blue light rendering my father to instantly lose his ability to see and disabled his plane's communications equipment. Striped of his sense of vision and communication to ground control he was in a very precarious position to say the least. But he managed to bank his craft to a soft right direction and kept his altitude from dropping by keeping his stick from going forward. He said he considered bailing out but wanted to ride out some time (knowing he had enough fuel) in hope the shock of what ever incurred to him and his plane would be temporary.
To his recall, his sight returned in slow blurry stages until he regained full sight acuity in a time frame of about 10-15 minutes. Now capable to see his instruments, horizon and most important recognizing familiar terrain landmarks he tracked his return to Edwards' airfield still w/o communications. Although my dad was relieved to have survived this unique dangerous experience during his stern debriefing by his CO for disobeying direct orders, he learned 2 unpleasant things. The reason he was ordered to return to base ASAP, he was informed by his CO that the same UFO had caused the deaths of 3 prior test pilots. Back in those days the subject of UFO sightings or encounters were a silent taboo especially among test pilots for fear of losing their hard earned test pilot flight status. If my father had known of this critical information prior to his UFO encounter, he claimed he wouldn't have pursued the UFO and would've obeyed ground control orders.
As a reprimand for disobeying direct orders he permanently lost his status as a test pilot and reassigned to a USNA weapons department teaching position at Annapolis, Md. Additionally, he wasn't allowed to ever fly turbines (jets) in the future. Eventually, after a few years at the pentagon in Wash. D.C. he petitioned and was permitted to fly choppers (CH 46).
PS - I have my father's Military DD214 Discharge records as verification reference. (HBCC UFO Research is in possession of the documents as they were faxed to me on Friday, January 25, 2008).
HBCC UFO Research Note: A Military cover-up, which seems to be nothing new from all the servicemen I have spoken with. From being threatened with loss of pensions, their lives, you name it. These are the stories military personal relate to me. The story above which was related to me by the son of Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards is another indication what the military/government will go to, to suppress any information about a UFO sightings brought out into the public domain.
It may be folks like Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards and his son, and others who are, or who have served in the military who have knowledge of UFO events and can come forward to relate their experiences. There has to be thousands of men and women who have served, or serving in the military who have been told to keep silent over what they saw or else. We will not know about these unusual events unless folks come forward.
Brian Vike, Director HBCC UFO Research and host of the Vike Report UFO Eyewitness radio show. email: hbccufo at telus.net Website: http://www.hbccufo.org http://www.brianvike.com, http://www.hbccufo.com, http://www.hbccufo.net HBCC UFO Research International: http://www.hbccufointernational.org/
Radio show host for the Vike Report, eyewitness relating their experiences.
http://jancikradionetwork.com/innerstreamsradio/show/vike_report/index.html
Just added, the Vike Report Radio Show Blog. You can check the blog out for archived radio shows and all the new and upcoming programs I do.
http://thevikereport.blogspot.com/
HBCC UFO Research, Box 1091 Houston, British Columbia, Canada - VOJ 1ZO
One wonders just how many other incidents of the type told herein have accumulated and if they continue on to this day. UFO nastiness appears to extend beyond the activities of the evil boxes that terrorized those in South America...
=======================================================
Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards Tells His Son Of His UFO Encounter As A Test Pilot
Brian Vike - Director
HBCC UFO Research
1-27-8
Date: April 1955
Time: Midday.
Location of Sighting: Edwards AFB Turbine Testing Group.
Number of witnesses: 2
Number of objects: 1
Shape of objects: Cigar, orange, glowing and stationary at 6K'.
HBCC UFO Research Note: Permission was granted to leave the serviceman's name in this report. Also 3 prior test pilots lost their lives to other UFO encounters which you will read below. Also I should point out that this story has never been told before. Also I will not be releasing the other documents I have received due to the personal information they contain in them.
Obituary for Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards was run in The Dallas Morning News. I have added the text version of the obituary and also have the actual obituary which I have scanned and added as an image.
EDWARDS: LT. COL ROY JACK EDWARDS, RET., born July 4, 1922 in Oklahoma City, OK. Jack enlisted in the USMC in 1941. He was a 1947 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, where he was a classmate of former President Jimmy Carter. He served his country in World War II, Korean and Vietnam Wars and was a commissioned officer from 1946 to 1970. The special assignments included; Senior instructor, Modern Naval Weapons Systems, U.S. Navy Academy; Weapons Development Officer, Air Launched Unguided Weapons, Pentagon; Commanding Officer Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265 Vietnam.
He retired June 30, 1970. Jack is survived by his wife, Julia Herrmann Edwards; sister Cleo Christofferson; sons Frank, Bradford B, Mark C and Drew H Edwards and four grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by Ruth C. Edwards. Visitation with the family will be from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m., Friday, November 28, 2003 at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home. Military Graveside Services will be held at 1:00 a.m., Saturday, November 29, 2003 at Hillcrest Memorial Park in Dallas.
Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards obituary - scanned image.
http://www.hbccufo.org/videos/Lt._Col._Roy_Jack_Edwards_Memorials.jpg
----------
Decoration, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized to Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards:
1. - American Defense Service Medal
2. - American Campaign Medal
3. - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
4. - Victory Medal WW II
5. - Navy Occupation Service Metal
6. - National Defense Service Medal w/1*
7. - Vietnam Campaign Medal w/1*
8. - Vietnam Service Metal w/4*
9. - Air Medal w/5*
10. - Navy Commendation w/combat "v"
11. - RVN Cross of Gallantry w/palm
United States President Jimmy Carter's letter.
http://www.hbccufo.org/videos/United_States_President_Jimmy_Carter.jpg
HBCC UFO Research Note: Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edward's son told me he fought tooth and nail one would say to have his father buried with military honors. He contacted so many ranking officers and politicians throughout the military/government in hopes of having his wishes carried out, which over time they finally were granted and his Dad was put to rest with military honors.
One had to wonder why this wasn't carried out straight away, with no hassles for the family who fought to have these rights in place for their Father who served with courage and honor on and off the battlefield. Was it due to a UFO experience which almost ruined Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards career.
In the military records I have here for Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards, it states in bold capital letters that Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards served his country "Honorable" But what there is no mention of in these military records is an amazing UFO encounter Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards had back in 1955 while holding a position of a test pilot at Edwards AFB. I also will add, Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards almost lost his life during his encounter with the UFO, loss of vision, everything went fuzzy, so his body reacted to whatever the Unidentified Flying Object was giving off and also losing control of the jet aircraft for a while as it suddenly had mechanical problems, again due to the UFO he came face to face while in flight.
Now here is what I and Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edward's son find really unusual and or the cover up starts, the powers to be whom ever these people are, having Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards stationed in Gifu, Japan at the time of his UFO encounter. This is listed on Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edward's military records, according to his son who I spoke at length with on Friday 25, 2008 by way of telephone, Jack Edward's son says his Father was not stationed at Gifu, Japan, but rather at the Edwards AFB where he was test flying the Super Sabre jet fighters at the time of the UFO incident. His son can remember this so clearly, plus as his son mentioned, we would have known if we were in Japan. (different country) They weren't ! So this appears to be a complete cover-up by the military to hide any possible leakage of Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edward's UFO sighting.
The report on Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards UFO Experience.
Full Description of event/sighting: Subject: My father, a Super Sabre test pilot at Edwards AFB chased an Orange Cigar shaped UFO.
In 1955 my deceased (3 years ago) father Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards USMC (Ret. USNA Class of '47 - same as Pres. Jimmy Carter) revealed an experience he had as a young test pilot to me just 2 years before he died. He claimed the reason he never shared his UFO chase encounter was the deep fear the military had threatened him, during debriefing upon returning to base, for disobeying direct orders he would lose all his military benefits along with a less than honorable discharge.
Let me explain the whole set of circumstances involving his chasing the stationary "Orange Cigar" shaped UFO at an altitude of approx. 6K'. He was stationed at Edwards AFB for a 2 year stint to conduct final testing of the new version Super Sabre fighters and other experimentals. At this time I was only 6 years old.
During a test flight in clear sky conditions when my father initially contacted ground control he sighted a definite large UFO. He was firmly "ordered" to "break away immediately and return to base" with his chase (observation) plane. His observation plane complied. However, my fearless USMC trained mindset father told me that his raw intrepid instincts kicked in, thus, ignored ground control because he knew he probably wouldn't ever get another opportunity to confront a UFO and pursued.
So, he made a linear flight towards this stationary positioned cigar shaped orange glowing object and described w/o any surface area indicative as having any source of propulsion which he estimated to be about 2 football fields in length and slightly more than 50 yards in circumference. As he reached a range of about 3-4 miles from the UFO it emitted a single burst of blue light rendering my father to instantly lose his ability to see and disabled his plane's communications equipment. Striped of his sense of vision and communication to ground control he was in a very precarious position to say the least. But he managed to bank his craft to a soft right direction and kept his altitude from dropping by keeping his stick from going forward. He said he considered bailing out but wanted to ride out some time (knowing he had enough fuel) in hope the shock of what ever incurred to him and his plane would be temporary.
To his recall, his sight returned in slow blurry stages until he regained full sight acuity in a time frame of about 10-15 minutes. Now capable to see his instruments, horizon and most important recognizing familiar terrain landmarks he tracked his return to Edwards' airfield still w/o communications. Although my dad was relieved to have survived this unique dangerous experience during his stern debriefing by his CO for disobeying direct orders, he learned 2 unpleasant things. The reason he was ordered to return to base ASAP, he was informed by his CO that the same UFO had caused the deaths of 3 prior test pilots. Back in those days the subject of UFO sightings or encounters were a silent taboo especially among test pilots for fear of losing their hard earned test pilot flight status. If my father had known of this critical information prior to his UFO encounter, he claimed he wouldn't have pursued the UFO and would've obeyed ground control orders.
As a reprimand for disobeying direct orders he permanently lost his status as a test pilot and reassigned to a USNA weapons department teaching position at Annapolis, Md. Additionally, he wasn't allowed to ever fly turbines (jets) in the future. Eventually, after a few years at the pentagon in Wash. D.C. he petitioned and was permitted to fly choppers (CH 46).
PS - I have my father's Military DD214 Discharge records as verification reference. (HBCC UFO Research is in possession of the documents as they were faxed to me on Friday, January 25, 2008).
HBCC UFO Research Note: A Military cover-up, which seems to be nothing new from all the servicemen I have spoken with. From being threatened with loss of pensions, their lives, you name it. These are the stories military personal relate to me. The story above which was related to me by the son of Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards is another indication what the military/government will go to, to suppress any information about a UFO sightings brought out into the public domain.
It may be folks like Lt. Col. Roy Jack Edwards and his son, and others who are, or who have served in the military who have knowledge of UFO events and can come forward to relate their experiences. There has to be thousands of men and women who have served, or serving in the military who have been told to keep silent over what they saw or else. We will not know about these unusual events unless folks come forward.
Brian Vike, Director HBCC UFO Research and host of the Vike Report UFO Eyewitness radio show. email: hbccufo at telus.net Website: http://www.hbccufo.org http://www.brianvike.com, http://www.hbccufo.com, http://www.hbccufo.net HBCC UFO Research International: http://www.hbccufointernational.org/
Radio show host for the Vike Report, eyewitness relating their experiences.
http://jancikradionetwork.com/innerstreamsradio/show/vike_report/index.html
Just added, the Vike Report Radio Show Blog. You can check the blog out for archived radio shows and all the new and upcoming programs I do.
http://thevikereport.blogspot.com/
HBCC UFO Research, Box 1091 Houston, British Columbia, Canada - VOJ 1ZO
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
How they'll choose who fills the concentration camps...
They're frightened of us. Every one of us. Hence those 800 concentration camps. This will choose the inmates. S 1959 will give them the power, even though it's illegal. They don't care about that. William Cormier waxes eloquent at Justanothercoverup.com. Sorry that I'm not writing more, really, but... there's just too much going on right now.
==================================
Spychief Plan To Police Internet Is Likely Tied To S 1959, Thought Crime Prevention Bill
January 20th, 2008 · No Comments
Would Americans be outraged if the government decided to read every piece of our personal mail? Think about it, letters and notes which are sent to a lover, things we all say in anger, regret later, and never follow-through on? What about confidential financial information, plans to trump your competitor with a new product or service, and a host of personal issues that are too numerous to mention? People in the United States have become accustomed to their privacy and believe it is one of those “unalienable constitutional rights” which are guaranteed to all American citizens that most of us take for granted. Our constitution and Bill of Rights demand it, yet here we are, one year before Bush leaves office, and the government is planning on doing almost exactly what I described. The only difference is that instead of snail-mail (which can also be opened), the government’s proposed directive covers any and all computer communications and correspondence that everyday citizens send and receive on their computer systems. This includes any all financial information as well as personal matters of anyone in your home;the communications of your teenagers will be monitored as well, and issues that are normally kept within the family unit(s) will suddenly become part of your governmental profile.
Now that our society if firmly entrenched in the digital world, a multitude of personal activity is carried out on the Internet. Millions of people use dating services, communicate with prospective “dates” and often bare their souls. We know this occurs on a regular basis by the huge amount of people that are finding successful relationships and oftentimes marriage through the internet. People often find it easier to discuss extremely personal matters on the Internet because the embarrassment and shy nature of many of the people who use these services tend to become more honest and speak of matters they never would have in person - all because of the unique privacy the internet has offered those who are seeking friends, lovers, and permanent relationships. How will these services perform when the subscribers know that every word they write is monitored and read, possibly ending-up in a file on that individual with the FBI or other law enforcement office, most likely Homeland Security?
Don’t forget the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007, also known as “The Thought Crime Prevention Bill.” S-1959 is the vehicle Homeland Security will use to judge and imprison those who they deem are guilty, but it is this directive that will help to compile what they will classify as “thought crimes”, and suddenly, like those who lived in fear while attempting to keep themselves alive in other societies that traded personal privacy for “security”, Americans will be fearful when they use any means of communication, worried that words said in anger or while being particularly emotional could be used against them and given credibility when none actually exists. In similar situations and throughout history, families were broken-up, the people as a whole lived in misery and fear, always afraid they would be picked-up by the Gestapo or other governmental storm troopers merely because they had communicated with someone the government blieved to be a “dissident”.
Many of those that were caught-up in the government’s witch-hunt were enlisted to spy on their neighbors to keep from being arrested themselves, and in the era of Stalin, Hitler, Mao’s China, and the old Soviet Union, these tactics were used to turn entire populations into informants and spies; as more and more people were arrested, those who were attempting to save themselves would often make-up stories about innocents they believed the “authorities” wanted to hear, others were turned-in and eventually the stench of mistrust was felt throughout the respective countries; even family members had to be careful, ever watchful that someone from within had been compromised and was attempting to escape their own death or incarceration by implicating another family member. Anyone that was identified as a dissident or radical was arrested, executed or sent off to a concentration camp. What was left behind was a terrified, subservient populace, easy to manage through fear and intimidation, and cowed into submission because they watched members of their own family and friends being arrested, even executed in front of them for crimes that never existed. (The implementation of similar programs in the United States could very well result in similar situations as were experienced with other societies that were morphed into “police states.” This is surely a matter where we can look upon our past in order to know what to expect from our future. One constant is that history always repeats itself. )
For reasons none of us fully understand, our Congress is powerless to stop Bush and Cheney from doing as they damn well please, and even though they have broken laws and committed war crimes, lied and stand in utter defiance of Congress and the people, neither is touchable and act with impunity, safe in the knowledge that Congress is too cowed to impeach. To allow these tyrants to gain the power to read any email or computer communication they desire is unconstitutional on its face, and now that the Supreme Court is stacked, a directive such as this is likely to succeed in court if legislation isn’t passed to prohibit any such intrusion(s) into the privacy of innocent Americans. This is what the government is proposing:
Scholars and Rogues posted an insight into this situation that makes perfect sense, and I agree with them, there are no coincidences!
Make no mistake, this is the directive that will give S 1959 its teeth. If they make it retroactive, think about the many emails we have written, sometimes blowing-off steam, all the time critical of those attempting to steal our most basic liberties. How much can you say on the Internet or in private communication with family or friends until you’re branded as a dissident and find yourself guilty of a “thought crime?” Why is the government becoming so aloof from the people that they trample on our most basic rights of privacy, evidently attempting to sneak it through as quietly as possible.
We already live in a society where the FBI or other law enforcement agencies (sic) can break into your home while you’re away, search your home, and then plant surveillance devices as they leave. If their search and subsequent surveillance draw a blank, the “suspect” is never told of the incident. The governments request to have access to all of our computer communications is an intrusion into the very essence of privacy. We believe that our home is our castle, that mail used to be private, and now the privacy of the Internet is being assaulted and the average American is being treated as a suspect, guilty until proven innocent, and no one knows exactly what will be the deciding factor in declaring whether an individual is a “dissident.”
If the government has complete control of the Internet and could access all communications, think of the Congress, attorneys, investigative (sic) reporters, groups that actively protest the government, opposition parties, whether they be Democrat, Republican, or Independent, and the many entities “Big Brother” would like to peek into and search for anything they can claim is anti-government. How will Americans communicate on a mass scale as we do now attempting to fight elements that seek to steal our freedoms, knowing that when we do, everything we write is cataloged and filed to be used against us at a later date? As it stands now, the legality of the current program is in question, therefore, unless it’s terrorism related, is information that has been gathered illegally. We know they are reading and watching now, but this “vast new initiative”, if implemented, would then make that information legally obtained (IMO), thereby circumventing almost all of the criminal law we have on the books in regard illegal search and seizure, the right against self-incrimination would disappear, and Miranda would become meaningless. The very nature of the program is one of surveillance and intimidation, followed by an eventual removal of dissidents who were posing a “credible threat” against the government (sic).
This “vast new initiative to police Internet traffic” is presented in such broad terms that it defies common sense and logic. The imposition of a program this draconian has the potential to turn neighbor against neighbor. We were suspicious and contacted Congress and the media by the thousands or hundreds of thousands demanding an answer as to why HR1955 and S 1959 were needed and written in such broad language, a list of other questions, and why we needed this law when it is obvious we have an abundance of laws currently in force that effectively address violent behavior or any such conspiracy to plan or attempt to destabilize our country . As the Bill is written, it could be interpreted any way they choose, and in circumstances like that, it’s always the people who lose. To the best of my knowledge and belief, There’s A Press Blackout on S 1959, the Thought Crime Prevention Bill; Why? Even though HR1955 and S 1959 are of great concern to the public, all we received for our efforts was a statement issued by the House of Representatives that was double-speak and avoided the primary issues as if they were the Black Plague.
Senate Bill S 1959 is still in committee, and now this “vast new initiative to police Internet traffic” is introduced out of thin air, and to anyone looking closely, this “initiative” is an intricate piece of the heart and soul of the “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007.” The “Thought Crime Prevention Bill” is the framework to implement and create the program, and this directive is obviously one of many tools to monitor and sort through the nations email and other communications. None of us are exactly sure “what” it is they will be searching for, however, it’s obvious that Bush and Cheney are violating the last vestiges of privacy we have, effectively treating our entire population as suspects instead of respecting our most fundamental rights of privacy and due process of the law.
This directive, initiative, or whatever it is must not be allowed to go into effect, or remain in effect if it’s currently in operation. This wanton invasion of privacy is hurled at us with absolutely no probable cause, and the number of constitutional amendments and criminals laws, state and federal, which it violates is staggering. With a directive in place that allows the government unfettered access to all of our personal computer transmissions, it would be an incredible stretch to keep labeling the United States as a democracy. Once we are stripped of those rights that afford us privacy and the expectation that our lives will be free from invasive and illegal searches, when Habeas Corpus is suspended for anyone that is designated as an “enemy combatant, the very essence of democracy disappears!
This directive, which could already be in operation, exemplifies our initial fears in regard the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. Whereas S 1959 loosely defines the concept of “Thought Crimes” and potential threats against the government, this is an enabling act that will provide the detailed information which Homeland Security would likely rely upon to determine who it was that were actually guilty of these (sic) crimes. From past experience, we know the FBI has investigated peaceful protest groups and a host of others whose only “crime” was belonging to, or having ties to organizations that vigorously oppose our loss of liberty and the failure of the Bush administration to comply with the rule of law; thousands have been added to “terrorist watch lists” by virtue of their peaceful disagreement with the government:
The above figures were posted on November 1, 2007. Based on how fast this list has been growing I believe we can safely project the total is well over a million and still growing. How does a “dead-beat Dad” qualify in anyone’s reality of having committed a crime or act so horrendous that it merits inclusion on the “terrorist watch list? ” It also states “Drug Enforcement Administration suspects“. If they are only suspects and included on this list, when the round-up occurs there’s little-doubt that “suspect” will equate to being guilty. We need a better break-down of what type of individuals are on this list. When you note people as innocuous as “dead-beat Dads” being added to this list, we have to question if this “terrorist Watch List” is nothing more than a list of undesirables this administration would like to - or has plans to purge from our society.
For those who have diligently been participating in the fight against HR1955/S 1959, a companion measure has shown its ugly head that provides the real teeth for S 1959; it’s important to note that many parts of this program are being kept secret from members of Congress, and that doesn’t bode well for the American people:
Americans are again being saddled by an illegal wiretapping program, however this one is exceptionally bold, violates countless issues of privacy, due process, and essentially makes everyone in America a “suspect.” No information that we process through the Internet will be “private” or exempt from the governments prying eyes. This is an unconscionable attack against the basic privacy that every American is guaranteed under our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Monitoring America’s email and private computer communications is the epitome of a “police state”; the “National ID Card” was just approved, all of which are tools to track, monitor, and catalog us for whatever awaits those who are on the “Terrorist Watch List” or other lists that DHS has or will be compiling in the future. Based on the scant information that has been released, there doesn’t appear to be any “exemptions” and at first glance, it looks like our children’s communications will be monitored as well!
Is this program already operational? In the below press release, it states:
Was the money to “jump start” this illegal surveillance program approved when it was requested - and if so, is it already operational in selected areas to test its capability - or is the entire program already functional? These are questions that must be answered immediately; even though Mike McConnell didn’t state this program is in any way associated with S 1959 and the “Thought Crime Prevention Bill”, anyone of average intelligence that examines the intent of the program can easily make the connection and understand that McConnell’s plans for “policing the Internet” is the actual mechanism the government will use to identify and subsequently begin cataloging all of those who are guilty of “thought crimes” and supposedly pose a threat to our national security.
As citizens that refuse to give-up our freedom(s) and privacy without a fight, this is a segment of the program that must be fought-out in the courts, our legislature, and in the court of public opinion. Matters as serious as these must be injected into the Presidential debates, and above all, we as patriotic Americans must force this issue out in the open and somehow, break the “press blackout” that has been imposed on all aspects of the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. Once again, we are faced with an urgent call to action, and this time, we need to re-double our efforts and drown Congress and the White House with emails and calls demanding that this program and its successors be suspended pending further legislative and judicial review.
As we first predicted when HR 1955 was passed in the House, this Bill threatens the very essence of freedom and democracy in the United States. There is no matter that is more serious than protecting our basic rights of privacy, freedom, due process of law, equality, and the inherent right that every American possesses in regard self-incrimination; this latest “request” by the government to obtain unfettered access to our most private information and documents very clearly demonstrates that President Bush and the intelligence community have now departed from any semblance of democracy and are now running this country as if it were a dictatorship, and if we don’t rise-up and make ourselves heard, much louder than before, saving our country from tyranny may prove to be impossible.
For your convenience, the below link reveals a huge amount of phone numbers and extensions that will facilitate making phone calls as we again call to demand that our government honors our own laws and constitution. Try to make at least two calls per day, and as we did last time, keep making those calls on a daily basis, and invite your friends to do the same. Pay special attention to the Presidential candidates, and if they refuse to address this matter, then why even consider voting for them in 2008? Tell them so in no uncertain terms that they will not receive your vote unless these issues are brought out in the open.
Send copies of your email and letters to the local editors of your newspapers, and cross-post this information on every discussion and political forum you can find. Last time, the House of Representatives responded with a statement that was double-speak; if we can keep up the pressure again, this time we shouldn’t stop until we break the press blackout and the issue is brought forth so that the entire population will know about its existence rather than being confined to those of us who receive our news from the Internet. It’s hard to believe that the situation has actually become worse, but as you read SpyChief Mike McConnell’s request and understand that every last bit of privacy we possess is being threatened, the real possibility exists that if we don’t join together in solidarity on a massive scale, this concept that we call freedom could very well disappear forever, and as patriotic Americans, none of us can stand idly by while Bush and Cheney are attempting to destroy the very foundations of democracy and freedom.
WHITEHOUSE TELEPHONE DIRECTORY
William Cormier
==================================
Spychief Plan To Police Internet Is Likely Tied To S 1959, Thought Crime Prevention Bill
January 20th, 2008 · No Comments
Would Americans be outraged if the government decided to read every piece of our personal mail? Think about it, letters and notes which are sent to a lover, things we all say in anger, regret later, and never follow-through on? What about confidential financial information, plans to trump your competitor with a new product or service, and a host of personal issues that are too numerous to mention? People in the United States have become accustomed to their privacy and believe it is one of those “unalienable constitutional rights” which are guaranteed to all American citizens that most of us take for granted. Our constitution and Bill of Rights demand it, yet here we are, one year before Bush leaves office, and the government is planning on doing almost exactly what I described. The only difference is that instead of snail-mail (which can also be opened), the government’s proposed directive covers any and all computer communications and correspondence that everyday citizens send and receive on their computer systems. This includes any all financial information as well as personal matters of anyone in your home;the communications of your teenagers will be monitored as well, and issues that are normally kept within the family unit(s) will suddenly become part of your governmental profile.
Now that our society if firmly entrenched in the digital world, a multitude of personal activity is carried out on the Internet. Millions of people use dating services, communicate with prospective “dates” and often bare their souls. We know this occurs on a regular basis by the huge amount of people that are finding successful relationships and oftentimes marriage through the internet. People often find it easier to discuss extremely personal matters on the Internet because the embarrassment and shy nature of many of the people who use these services tend to become more honest and speak of matters they never would have in person - all because of the unique privacy the internet has offered those who are seeking friends, lovers, and permanent relationships. How will these services perform when the subscribers know that every word they write is monitored and read, possibly ending-up in a file on that individual with the FBI or other law enforcement office, most likely Homeland Security?
Don’t forget the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007, also known as “The Thought Crime Prevention Bill.” S-1959 is the vehicle Homeland Security will use to judge and imprison those who they deem are guilty, but it is this directive that will help to compile what they will classify as “thought crimes”, and suddenly, like those who lived in fear while attempting to keep themselves alive in other societies that traded personal privacy for “security”, Americans will be fearful when they use any means of communication, worried that words said in anger or while being particularly emotional could be used against them and given credibility when none actually exists. In similar situations and throughout history, families were broken-up, the people as a whole lived in misery and fear, always afraid they would be picked-up by the Gestapo or other governmental storm troopers merely because they had communicated with someone the government blieved to be a “dissident”.
Many of those that were caught-up in the government’s witch-hunt were enlisted to spy on their neighbors to keep from being arrested themselves, and in the era of Stalin, Hitler, Mao’s China, and the old Soviet Union, these tactics were used to turn entire populations into informants and spies; as more and more people were arrested, those who were attempting to save themselves would often make-up stories about innocents they believed the “authorities” wanted to hear, others were turned-in and eventually the stench of mistrust was felt throughout the respective countries; even family members had to be careful, ever watchful that someone from within had been compromised and was attempting to escape their own death or incarceration by implicating another family member. Anyone that was identified as a dissident or radical was arrested, executed or sent off to a concentration camp. What was left behind was a terrified, subservient populace, easy to manage through fear and intimidation, and cowed into submission because they watched members of their own family and friends being arrested, even executed in front of them for crimes that never existed. (The implementation of similar programs in the United States could very well result in similar situations as were experienced with other societies that were morphed into “police states.” This is surely a matter where we can look upon our past in order to know what to expect from our future. One constant is that history always repeats itself. )
For reasons none of us fully understand, our Congress is powerless to stop Bush and Cheney from doing as they damn well please, and even though they have broken laws and committed war crimes, lied and stand in utter defiance of Congress and the people, neither is touchable and act with impunity, safe in the knowledge that Congress is too cowed to impeach. To allow these tyrants to gain the power to read any email or computer communication they desire is unconstitutional on its face, and now that the Supreme Court is stacked, a directive such as this is likely to succeed in court if legislation isn’t passed to prohibit any such intrusion(s) into the privacy of innocent Americans. This is what the government is proposing:
January 13, 2008, 12:00 am
Dancing Spychief Wants to Tap Into Cyberspace
Siobhan Gorman reports on the U.S. spychief.
Spychief Mike McConnell is drafting a plan to protect America’s cyberspace that will raise privacy issues and make the current debate over surveillance law look like “a walk in the park,” McConnell tells The New Yorker in the issue set to hit newsstands Monday. “This is going to be a goat rope on the Hill. My prediction is that we’re going to screw around with this until something horrendous happens.”
At issue, McConnell acknowledges, is that in order to accomplish his plan, the government must have the ability to read all the information crossing the Internet in the United States in order to protect it from abuse. Congressional aides tell The Journal that they, too, are also anticipating a fight over civil liberties that will rival the battles over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Part of the lawmakers’ ire, they have said, is the paltry information the administration has provided. The cyberspace security initiative was first reported in September by The Baltimore Sun, and some congressional aides say that lawmakers have still learned more from the media than they did from the few Top Secret briefings they have received hours before the administration requested money in November to jump start the program. Please note that the funds to “jump start” this program were requested in November. If I were to hazard a guess, this program is already running somewhere in tests, or for all we know, may already been implemented. This administration hasn’t exactly been truthful with the people or Congress. MORE
Scholars and Rogues posted an insight into this situation that makes perfect sense, and I agree with them, there are no coincidences!
All your Internets are belong to ATT & the NSA
Two seemingly coincidental bits of news crossed my desk yesterday morning. First, the Wall Street Journal contains excerpts of an interview with Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell in which he outlines a vast new initiative to police Internet traffic “for abuse.”
Meanwhile, AT&T announced that it plans to extend its initiative to examine packets of information on its network for illegally traded content, becoming, in effect, the Internet’s traffic cop.
Let’s see…the world’s largest telecom company states it’s in negotiations with major entertainment conglomerate to police the Internet on their behalf, on the same day the DNI announces the government wants more eyes on Internet traffic?
Mike McConnell is an old friend to the major telecom companies, having most recently stumped on their behalf to grant them retroactive immunity from prosecution in the NSA’s illegal surveillance program. He’s also a big fan of privatizing national security functions, favoring everything from outsourcing background checks to enlisting credit bureaus to handle the work of verifying identities. I find it not at all unfeasible that even as AT&T is offering its services to Big Content, Big Government is waiting expectantly in the visitors’ room for its turn at the till.
There are no coincidences.LINK
Make no mistake, this is the directive that will give S 1959 its teeth. If they make it retroactive, think about the many emails we have written, sometimes blowing-off steam, all the time critical of those attempting to steal our most basic liberties. How much can you say on the Internet or in private communication with family or friends until you’re branded as a dissident and find yourself guilty of a “thought crime?” Why is the government becoming so aloof from the people that they trample on our most basic rights of privacy, evidently attempting to sneak it through as quietly as possible.
We already live in a society where the FBI or other law enforcement agencies (sic) can break into your home while you’re away, search your home, and then plant surveillance devices as they leave. If their search and subsequent surveillance draw a blank, the “suspect” is never told of the incident. The governments request to have access to all of our computer communications is an intrusion into the very essence of privacy. We believe that our home is our castle, that mail used to be private, and now the privacy of the Internet is being assaulted and the average American is being treated as a suspect, guilty until proven innocent, and no one knows exactly what will be the deciding factor in declaring whether an individual is a “dissident.”
If the government has complete control of the Internet and could access all communications, think of the Congress, attorneys, investigative (sic) reporters, groups that actively protest the government, opposition parties, whether they be Democrat, Republican, or Independent, and the many entities “Big Brother” would like to peek into and search for anything they can claim is anti-government. How will Americans communicate on a mass scale as we do now attempting to fight elements that seek to steal our freedoms, knowing that when we do, everything we write is cataloged and filed to be used against us at a later date? As it stands now, the legality of the current program is in question, therefore, unless it’s terrorism related, is information that has been gathered illegally. We know they are reading and watching now, but this “vast new initiative”, if implemented, would then make that information legally obtained (IMO), thereby circumventing almost all of the criminal law we have on the books in regard illegal search and seizure, the right against self-incrimination would disappear, and Miranda would become meaningless. The very nature of the program is one of surveillance and intimidation, followed by an eventual removal of dissidents who were posing a “credible threat” against the government (sic).
This “vast new initiative to police Internet traffic” is presented in such broad terms that it defies common sense and logic. The imposition of a program this draconian has the potential to turn neighbor against neighbor. We were suspicious and contacted Congress and the media by the thousands or hundreds of thousands demanding an answer as to why HR1955 and S 1959 were needed and written in such broad language, a list of other questions, and why we needed this law when it is obvious we have an abundance of laws currently in force that effectively address violent behavior or any such conspiracy to plan or attempt to destabilize our country . As the Bill is written, it could be interpreted any way they choose, and in circumstances like that, it’s always the people who lose. To the best of my knowledge and belief, There’s A Press Blackout on S 1959, the Thought Crime Prevention Bill; Why? Even though HR1955 and S 1959 are of great concern to the public, all we received for our efforts was a statement issued by the House of Representatives that was double-speak and avoided the primary issues as if they were the Black Plague.
Senate Bill S 1959 is still in committee, and now this “vast new initiative to police Internet traffic” is introduced out of thin air, and to anyone looking closely, this “initiative” is an intricate piece of the heart and soul of the “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007.” The “Thought Crime Prevention Bill” is the framework to implement and create the program, and this directive is obviously one of many tools to monitor and sort through the nations email and other communications. None of us are exactly sure “what” it is they will be searching for, however, it’s obvious that Bush and Cheney are violating the last vestiges of privacy we have, effectively treating our entire population as suspects instead of respecting our most fundamental rights of privacy and due process of the law.
This directive, initiative, or whatever it is must not be allowed to go into effect, or remain in effect if it’s currently in operation. This wanton invasion of privacy is hurled at us with absolutely no probable cause, and the number of constitutional amendments and criminals laws, state and federal, which it violates is staggering. With a directive in place that allows the government unfettered access to all of our personal computer transmissions, it would be an incredible stretch to keep labeling the United States as a democracy. Once we are stripped of those rights that afford us privacy and the expectation that our lives will be free from invasive and illegal searches, when Habeas Corpus is suspended for anyone that is designated as an “enemy combatant, the very essence of democracy disappears!
This directive, which could already be in operation, exemplifies our initial fears in regard the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. Whereas S 1959 loosely defines the concept of “Thought Crimes” and potential threats against the government, this is an enabling act that will provide the detailed information which Homeland Security would likely rely upon to determine who it was that were actually guilty of these (sic) crimes. From past experience, we know the FBI has investigated peaceful protest groups and a host of others whose only “crime” was belonging to, or having ties to organizations that vigorously oppose our loss of liberty and the failure of the Bush administration to comply with the rule of law; thousands have been added to “terrorist watch lists” by virtue of their peaceful disagreement with the government:
President Bush called upon every agency of government to provide his administration with the names of every so-called person of concern contained in their millions of files. Those records included not just potential terrorists, but also deadbeat dads, people wanted by the federal Marshal, and Drug Enforcement Administration suspects, among others. But they all found themselves on what has come to be called the “terrorist watch list.” By June 2004, that list had swelled to 158,000 names. In May of this year, it clocked in at 755,000. Today, only five months later, it’s at 860,000 and counting, according to the Government Accountability Office. LINK
The above figures were posted on November 1, 2007. Based on how fast this list has been growing I believe we can safely project the total is well over a million and still growing. How does a “dead-beat Dad” qualify in anyone’s reality of having committed a crime or act so horrendous that it merits inclusion on the “terrorist watch list? ” It also states “Drug Enforcement Administration suspects“. If they are only suspects and included on this list, when the round-up occurs there’s little-doubt that “suspect” will equate to being guilty. We need a better break-down of what type of individuals are on this list. When you note people as innocuous as “dead-beat Dads” being added to this list, we have to question if this “terrorist Watch List” is nothing more than a list of undesirables this administration would like to - or has plans to purge from our society.
For those who have diligently been participating in the fight against HR1955/S 1959, a companion measure has shown its ugly head that provides the real teeth for S 1959; it’s important to note that many parts of this program are being kept secret from members of Congress, and that doesn’t bode well for the American people:
Part of the lawmakers’ ire, they have said, is the paltry information the administration has provided. The cyberspace security initiative was first reported in September by The Baltimore Sun, and some congressional aides say that lawmakers have still learned more from the media than they did from the few Top Secret briefings they have received hours before the administration requested money in November to jump start the program.
Americans are again being saddled by an illegal wiretapping program, however this one is exceptionally bold, violates countless issues of privacy, due process, and essentially makes everyone in America a “suspect.” No information that we process through the Internet will be “private” or exempt from the governments prying eyes. This is an unconscionable attack against the basic privacy that every American is guaranteed under our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Monitoring America’s email and private computer communications is the epitome of a “police state”; the “National ID Card” was just approved, all of which are tools to track, monitor, and catalog us for whatever awaits those who are on the “Terrorist Watch List” or other lists that DHS has or will be compiling in the future. Based on the scant information that has been released, there doesn’t appear to be any “exemptions” and at first glance, it looks like our children’s communications will be monitored as well!
Is this program already operational? In the below press release, it states:
The cyberspace security initiative was first reported in September by The Baltimore Sun, and some congressional aides say that lawmakers have still learned more from the media than they did from the few Top Secret briefings they have received hours before the administration requested money in November to jump start the program.
Was the money to “jump start” this illegal surveillance program approved when it was requested - and if so, is it already operational in selected areas to test its capability - or is the entire program already functional? These are questions that must be answered immediately; even though Mike McConnell didn’t state this program is in any way associated with S 1959 and the “Thought Crime Prevention Bill”, anyone of average intelligence that examines the intent of the program can easily make the connection and understand that McConnell’s plans for “policing the Internet” is the actual mechanism the government will use to identify and subsequently begin cataloging all of those who are guilty of “thought crimes” and supposedly pose a threat to our national security.
As citizens that refuse to give-up our freedom(s) and privacy without a fight, this is a segment of the program that must be fought-out in the courts, our legislature, and in the court of public opinion. Matters as serious as these must be injected into the Presidential debates, and above all, we as patriotic Americans must force this issue out in the open and somehow, break the “press blackout” that has been imposed on all aspects of the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. Once again, we are faced with an urgent call to action, and this time, we need to re-double our efforts and drown Congress and the White House with emails and calls demanding that this program and its successors be suspended pending further legislative and judicial review.
As we first predicted when HR 1955 was passed in the House, this Bill threatens the very essence of freedom and democracy in the United States. There is no matter that is more serious than protecting our basic rights of privacy, freedom, due process of law, equality, and the inherent right that every American possesses in regard self-incrimination; this latest “request” by the government to obtain unfettered access to our most private information and documents very clearly demonstrates that President Bush and the intelligence community have now departed from any semblance of democracy and are now running this country as if it were a dictatorship, and if we don’t rise-up and make ourselves heard, much louder than before, saving our country from tyranny may prove to be impossible.
For your convenience, the below link reveals a huge amount of phone numbers and extensions that will facilitate making phone calls as we again call to demand that our government honors our own laws and constitution. Try to make at least two calls per day, and as we did last time, keep making those calls on a daily basis, and invite your friends to do the same. Pay special attention to the Presidential candidates, and if they refuse to address this matter, then why even consider voting for them in 2008? Tell them so in no uncertain terms that they will not receive your vote unless these issues are brought out in the open.
Send copies of your email and letters to the local editors of your newspapers, and cross-post this information on every discussion and political forum you can find. Last time, the House of Representatives responded with a statement that was double-speak; if we can keep up the pressure again, this time we shouldn’t stop until we break the press blackout and the issue is brought forth so that the entire population will know about its existence rather than being confined to those of us who receive our news from the Internet. It’s hard to believe that the situation has actually become worse, but as you read SpyChief Mike McConnell’s request and understand that every last bit of privacy we possess is being threatened, the real possibility exists that if we don’t join together in solidarity on a massive scale, this concept that we call freedom could very well disappear forever, and as patriotic Americans, none of us can stand idly by while Bush and Cheney are attempting to destroy the very foundations of democracy and freedom.
WHITEHOUSE TELEPHONE DIRECTORY
William Cormier
the Soul of the World tests everything
"It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting... Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams master the lessons we have learned as we have moved toward that dream.
That's the point at which most people give up... At this point, tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself, and that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity."
- Paulo Coelho
That's the point at which most people give up... At this point, tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself, and that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity."
- Paulo Coelho
Saturday, January 19, 2008
CDC/Kaiser ’Groundbreaking’ Morgellons Study A Fraud!
Yesterday, Margarite emailed me a copy of the CDC's press release about their Morgellon's "study," noting the ominous interest of and partnering with the Armed Forces Pathology Lab. Indeed. They probably inadvertently created it via the toxic effects of chemtrail fallout. There are some indications of that possibility extant in the research conducted to date... none of which CDC acknowledges, but is readily available by merely Googling it. Sounds eerily typical, doesn't it? I noticed the paltry sum of $338,000, which will buy diddly squat. If that.
I've posted Morgellons pieces here at High Strangeness and they still help people, directing them to the research foundation. The fact they get so many hits right up to now is indicative of the widespread global interest and deep concern for this very, very creepy disease. I've seen macro videography of these fibers moving. That is scary. I once even got a phone call from a reader thanking me for my efforts. That pretty well shocked me, since I haven't exactly posted voluminously about it.
Today I found this article over at Rense. It's pretty complete but doesn't mention the military and has a slightly higher figure for the amount to be spent. That's not important at the moment... the message is though...
==============
CDC/Kaiser 'Groundbreaking' Morgellons Study A Fraud!
By Cliff Mickelson
CMicke1065@aol.com
1-19-8
Much sound and fury is currently being generated by mainstream media concerning the recent CDC announcement that Kaiser Permanente has been selected by the CDC to conduct a "groundbreaking" study into the causes and nature of what the CDC and Kaiser both euphemistically (and erroneously) term Morgellons "syndrome."
In the opening news conference statement to the press, The CDC's principle investigator Dr. Michele Pearson, with his Kaiser counterpart, Dr. Joe Selby at his side, sets the tone for a CDC position on this issue that can only be described as disingenuous at best.
"There is insufficient information," intones Dr. Pearson, "to determine whether persons who identify themselves as having this condition, have common cause for their symptoms or may share common risk factors."
This statement speaks volumes. One can only suppose that the good doctor is either stunningly under-informed or is a deliberate liar. In light of readily available information that has come into the possession of this writer, Dr. Pearson and his friends over at Kaiser Permanente appear to be fully informed as to the scope and nature of this affliction.
Furthermore, the CDC is quite clearly aware that there already exists a large body of professional Morgellons research that has been done under the organized auspices of former Morgellons Research Foundation scientist Dr. Randy Wymore.
Dr.Wymore, the current head of Morgellons research at the prestigious school of pharmacology at Oklahoma State University, has personally briefed CDC officials in the past. Nonetheless, the Atlanta based organization showed very little interest in the subject of Morgellons or in Dr. Wymore's revolutionary findings concerning the growing danger this affliction poses to society at large.
The CDC is also aware that there exists a large compendium of additional work available for referencing. A great deal of research has been performed in the last few years by a select number of other professionally qualified medical-field researchers including such well known notables as Dr.William Harvey, Dr. Hildegarde Staninger, and Dr. Rahim Karjoo
In his opening CDC press conference statement Dr. Pearson uses the term "common risk factors" as a descriptive term... For those who are the uninitiated, that is CDC doublespeak for drug abuse or delusional mental illness.
This denigrating and underhanded remark is a direct slap in the face of Morgellons patients, many of whom are children, senior citizens, teachers, nurses or other medical professionals. Such eye-opening statements belie the truth behind the thought processes taking place in the halls of the CDC. They give the astute observer an inkling of what lays in store for "Morgies" who are trusting enough to ignore the telegraphed meaning of such implied signals.
For reasons they have apparently chosen not to make public, the CDC has therefore deliberately decided to ignore, negate and suppress the considerable body of nearly three years worth of ongoing, highly qualified field work by others outside the CDC nexus. They have chosen instead to form an unholy alliance with the largest HMO/insurer in the world, Kaiser Permanente.
By marginalizing professional research that has already taken place during the CDC's long and curious absence from the Morgellons issue, they are now seen to be suddenly setting themselves up as the sole judge of any consequence in the public eye. This is a very dangerous and powerful position for an organization with a track record like the CDC to be allowed to place itself in. Morgellons sufferers had best beware.
In what is probably the biggest conflict of interest since convicted felon Henry Blodget was hired as a Wall Street securities analyst, the Kaiser "fox" is now being given the keys to the CDC's hen house. In return, it appears that the CDC expects the obliging chickens to gratefully invite him in for dinner.
It may well be that the CDC announcement concerning the much ballyhooed Morgellons research grant is little more than self-serving bureaucratic sound and fury...or it may be that a much darker and deadlier game is being played. A cursory study of the CDC's woeful lack of past interaction with the Morgellons community will open a Pandora's box of questions that beg answers .
There is little doubt that the CDC knows how to play the political game. Based on past experience, many Morgies are of the opinion that the Kaiser "study" is little more than under-funded pork, a shuck, a jive, political chicanery and, at worst, a cynical lip service designed to throw a fog over the clever methodology of how bureaucracies with something to hide engage in issue assassination.
So why, we might wonder, would the Mandarins of the CDC engage in such transparently duplicitous behavior? Why would they spend hard earned tax dollars for information that already exists and could be had with a simple conference call or two? Well, the answer is at once simple and yet Byzantine.
It is germane to note that by their own malfeasant admission, over the last eight years the CDC has received thousands upon thousands of requests for help from Morgellons victims. All of these pleas, until now, fell upon deaf ears. Not one red cent was ever spent to determine what it was that was taking place not only across America but around the world as well. Meanwhile the CDC has spent millions of taxpayer dollars on an unending parade of fizzled "non-event" epidemics that have come and gone during that same time frame. A number of these high dollar non-event epidemics affected less than a dozen people across the country while others never materialized at all!
As the white rabbit would say: Curiouser and curiouser!
Now, at the behest of the Morgellons study, the CDC is dipping into the trough of public tax dollars once again. This time however, the bucket has come up woefully short. A pitiful $360 K is all that is earmarked for this study!
Let's think about that for a moment. $360 K is less than the price of an average split-level home in Los Angeles County. What will 360 K buy in today's world of bloated research budgets? The salaries of the research staff alone should total more than that. What can we assume will be the cost of high technology tests and other high tech equipment needed to insure accurate Morgellons test results? Modern research tests can easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Private researcher, Dr. Hildegarde Staninger, reports that she has independently spent $39,000 of private money on such tests and that many more tests are still in need of performing.
It doesn't take an accountant to figure out that three hundred and sixty thousand dollars is not going to buy much in the way of a reliable study...and..It doesn't take a Weatherman to figure out which way the wind is blowing in the halls of the CDC.
Morgellons activists need to wake up and smell the coffee. The CDC has no intention of solving the Morgellons mystery. Those who think otherwise need to review the history of the CDC's hostile and dismissive interaction with the Morgellons community over the span of the last eight to ten years. Under modest scrutiny it becomes painfully apparent that this study is a farce and a fraud.
What it is actually being sold to the gullible among us is smoke and mirrors. For a variety of hidden reasons the CDC is offering up the public expedient of having done their "part."
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the daggers are being sharpened in the dark hallways of Kaiser and the CDC. Morgellons victims who, in their current desperation, rush to embrace these bureaucratic assassins of Faith and Hope would do well to wear extra body armor.
-Cliff Mickelson
I've posted Morgellons pieces here at High Strangeness and they still help people, directing them to the research foundation. The fact they get so many hits right up to now is indicative of the widespread global interest and deep concern for this very, very creepy disease. I've seen macro videography of these fibers moving. That is scary. I once even got a phone call from a reader thanking me for my efforts. That pretty well shocked me, since I haven't exactly posted voluminously about it.
Today I found this article over at Rense. It's pretty complete but doesn't mention the military and has a slightly higher figure for the amount to be spent. That's not important at the moment... the message is though...
==============
CDC/Kaiser 'Groundbreaking' Morgellons Study A Fraud!
By Cliff Mickelson
CMicke1065@aol.com
1-19-8
Much sound and fury is currently being generated by mainstream media concerning the recent CDC announcement that Kaiser Permanente has been selected by the CDC to conduct a "groundbreaking" study into the causes and nature of what the CDC and Kaiser both euphemistically (and erroneously) term Morgellons "syndrome."
In the opening news conference statement to the press, The CDC's principle investigator Dr. Michele Pearson, with his Kaiser counterpart, Dr. Joe Selby at his side, sets the tone for a CDC position on this issue that can only be described as disingenuous at best.
"There is insufficient information," intones Dr. Pearson, "to determine whether persons who identify themselves as having this condition, have common cause for their symptoms or may share common risk factors."
This statement speaks volumes. One can only suppose that the good doctor is either stunningly under-informed or is a deliberate liar. In light of readily available information that has come into the possession of this writer, Dr. Pearson and his friends over at Kaiser Permanente appear to be fully informed as to the scope and nature of this affliction.
Furthermore, the CDC is quite clearly aware that there already exists a large body of professional Morgellons research that has been done under the organized auspices of former Morgellons Research Foundation scientist Dr. Randy Wymore.
Dr.Wymore, the current head of Morgellons research at the prestigious school of pharmacology at Oklahoma State University, has personally briefed CDC officials in the past. Nonetheless, the Atlanta based organization showed very little interest in the subject of Morgellons or in Dr. Wymore's revolutionary findings concerning the growing danger this affliction poses to society at large.
The CDC is also aware that there exists a large compendium of additional work available for referencing. A great deal of research has been performed in the last few years by a select number of other professionally qualified medical-field researchers including such well known notables as Dr.William Harvey, Dr. Hildegarde Staninger, and Dr. Rahim Karjoo
In his opening CDC press conference statement Dr. Pearson uses the term "common risk factors" as a descriptive term... For those who are the uninitiated, that is CDC doublespeak for drug abuse or delusional mental illness.
This denigrating and underhanded remark is a direct slap in the face of Morgellons patients, many of whom are children, senior citizens, teachers, nurses or other medical professionals. Such eye-opening statements belie the truth behind the thought processes taking place in the halls of the CDC. They give the astute observer an inkling of what lays in store for "Morgies" who are trusting enough to ignore the telegraphed meaning of such implied signals.
For reasons they have apparently chosen not to make public, the CDC has therefore deliberately decided to ignore, negate and suppress the considerable body of nearly three years worth of ongoing, highly qualified field work by others outside the CDC nexus. They have chosen instead to form an unholy alliance with the largest HMO/insurer in the world, Kaiser Permanente.
By marginalizing professional research that has already taken place during the CDC's long and curious absence from the Morgellons issue, they are now seen to be suddenly setting themselves up as the sole judge of any consequence in the public eye. This is a very dangerous and powerful position for an organization with a track record like the CDC to be allowed to place itself in. Morgellons sufferers had best beware.
In what is probably the biggest conflict of interest since convicted felon Henry Blodget was hired as a Wall Street securities analyst, the Kaiser "fox" is now being given the keys to the CDC's hen house. In return, it appears that the CDC expects the obliging chickens to gratefully invite him in for dinner.
It may well be that the CDC announcement concerning the much ballyhooed Morgellons research grant is little more than self-serving bureaucratic sound and fury...or it may be that a much darker and deadlier game is being played. A cursory study of the CDC's woeful lack of past interaction with the Morgellons community will open a Pandora's box of questions that beg answers .
There is little doubt that the CDC knows how to play the political game. Based on past experience, many Morgies are of the opinion that the Kaiser "study" is little more than under-funded pork, a shuck, a jive, political chicanery and, at worst, a cynical lip service designed to throw a fog over the clever methodology of how bureaucracies with something to hide engage in issue assassination.
So why, we might wonder, would the Mandarins of the CDC engage in such transparently duplicitous behavior? Why would they spend hard earned tax dollars for information that already exists and could be had with a simple conference call or two? Well, the answer is at once simple and yet Byzantine.
It is germane to note that by their own malfeasant admission, over the last eight years the CDC has received thousands upon thousands of requests for help from Morgellons victims. All of these pleas, until now, fell upon deaf ears. Not one red cent was ever spent to determine what it was that was taking place not only across America but around the world as well. Meanwhile the CDC has spent millions of taxpayer dollars on an unending parade of fizzled "non-event" epidemics that have come and gone during that same time frame. A number of these high dollar non-event epidemics affected less than a dozen people across the country while others never materialized at all!
As the white rabbit would say: Curiouser and curiouser!
Now, at the behest of the Morgellons study, the CDC is dipping into the trough of public tax dollars once again. This time however, the bucket has come up woefully short. A pitiful $360 K is all that is earmarked for this study!
Let's think about that for a moment. $360 K is less than the price of an average split-level home in Los Angeles County. What will 360 K buy in today's world of bloated research budgets? The salaries of the research staff alone should total more than that. What can we assume will be the cost of high technology tests and other high tech equipment needed to insure accurate Morgellons test results? Modern research tests can easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Private researcher, Dr. Hildegarde Staninger, reports that she has independently spent $39,000 of private money on such tests and that many more tests are still in need of performing.
It doesn't take an accountant to figure out that three hundred and sixty thousand dollars is not going to buy much in the way of a reliable study...and..It doesn't take a Weatherman to figure out which way the wind is blowing in the halls of the CDC.
Morgellons activists need to wake up and smell the coffee. The CDC has no intention of solving the Morgellons mystery. Those who think otherwise need to review the history of the CDC's hostile and dismissive interaction with the Morgellons community over the span of the last eight to ten years. Under modest scrutiny it becomes painfully apparent that this study is a farce and a fraud.
What it is actually being sold to the gullible among us is smoke and mirrors. For a variety of hidden reasons the CDC is offering up the public expedient of having done their "part."
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the daggers are being sharpened in the dark hallways of Kaiser and the CDC. Morgellons victims who, in their current desperation, rush to embrace these bureaucratic assassins of Faith and Hope would do well to wear extra body armor.
-Cliff Mickelson
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Sightings Continue On In Puerto Rico
And still they go on... strange... very strange...
Absolutely Bizarre Red Fireballs
Hover Over Puerto Rico
From Scott Corrales
Inexplicata - The Journal Of Hispanic Ufology
1-15-2008
Puerto Rico - Fireballs Over Ponce
A report from Lucy Guzman, Ovni.net
A cellphone report received on Saturday 01.12.08. Domingo Morales phoned Andrew Alvarez to make a report on sightings in the City of Ponce. Mr. Alvarez told him to phone me. Mr. Morales reported the following:
1. His brother, a resident of Valle Alta, Ponce, told him that on Friday, January 4 2008 at 9:30 p.m,., his wife called him over to look at a fireball over their house. Upon going outside , he saw an immense ball of red fire. The wife didn't see it approach, rather she saw it suddenly appear and light up on the spot. It remained static for some 20 minutes at an approximate altitude of 300 feet. It spent 20 minutes lighting on and off. The fireball finally diminished the intensity of its color and began moving SW in a zig-zag pattern, going up and down. It had the apparent size of a baseball stadium floodlight.
2. On Saturday January 5, 2008 at 9:40 p.m., Domingo's brother phoned again, this time to have Domingo climb onto the rooftop of his house to see if it was possible for him to see the fireball, as he (the brother) was seeing it. Domingo lives in Los Caobos, but was unable to see the object from his home. According to Domingo's brother, the fireball was over the same site, above his house and exhibiting the same behavior.
At 10:40 p.m., the fireball reappeared. This time, Domingo's brother saw it with nearly all of his neighbors. One of the neighbors was able to photograph it with a cellphone. On this occasion, a twin-engine plane flew over the area 15 minutes after the fireball vanished. This [fireball] did not appear suddenly, it came in from [the town of] Adjuntas.
3. On Sunday, January 6, 2008, Domingo and his wife decided to visit Domingo's brother to see if the were lucky enough to see the fireball. Just as they got out of the car, at 9:30 p.m., they saw two white balls of light to the SW which appeared to be joined. They looked like two orbs to the naked eye, but binoculars revealed them to be two plate like objects joined together. These were higher up, at some 5000 feet. (Domingo is a pilot, and is therefore able to calculate altitude better than the average witness). In plain sight they looked like two joined golf balls. They separated a minute later -- one heading south and another to the north.
5 minutes later, Domingo phone FURA [P.R. police aerial reconnaissance] and was told that they were going to send their helicopter for a look. Domingo never saw the helicopter engage in a fly-over. Domingo recalls that while he observed the two orbs, a woman and her daughters stopped to ask him if they were seeing the fireballs. She added that the fireballs had been visible since November in that location, becoming apparent between 9-10 p.m. and as early as 5 p.m.
4. No sightings were reported on Monday, January 7.
5. Today, Saturday, January 12, Domingo will return with a camera in an effort to take pictures of the objects.
(Translation (c) 2007, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Lucy Guzman, Ovni.Net)
Absolutely Bizarre Red Fireballs
Hover Over Puerto Rico
From Scott Corrales
Inexplicata - The Journal Of Hispanic Ufology
1-15-2008
Puerto Rico - Fireballs Over Ponce
A report from Lucy Guzman, Ovni.net
A cellphone report received on Saturday 01.12.08. Domingo Morales phoned Andrew Alvarez to make a report on sightings in the City of Ponce. Mr. Alvarez told him to phone me. Mr. Morales reported the following:
1. His brother, a resident of Valle Alta, Ponce, told him that on Friday, January 4 2008 at 9:30 p.m,., his wife called him over to look at a fireball over their house. Upon going outside , he saw an immense ball of red fire. The wife didn't see it approach, rather she saw it suddenly appear and light up on the spot. It remained static for some 20 minutes at an approximate altitude of 300 feet. It spent 20 minutes lighting on and off. The fireball finally diminished the intensity of its color and began moving SW in a zig-zag pattern, going up and down. It had the apparent size of a baseball stadium floodlight.
2. On Saturday January 5, 2008 at 9:40 p.m., Domingo's brother phoned again, this time to have Domingo climb onto the rooftop of his house to see if it was possible for him to see the fireball, as he (the brother) was seeing it. Domingo lives in Los Caobos, but was unable to see the object from his home. According to Domingo's brother, the fireball was over the same site, above his house and exhibiting the same behavior.
At 10:40 p.m., the fireball reappeared. This time, Domingo's brother saw it with nearly all of his neighbors. One of the neighbors was able to photograph it with a cellphone. On this occasion, a twin-engine plane flew over the area 15 minutes after the fireball vanished. This [fireball] did not appear suddenly, it came in from [the town of] Adjuntas.
3. On Sunday, January 6, 2008, Domingo and his wife decided to visit Domingo's brother to see if the were lucky enough to see the fireball. Just as they got out of the car, at 9:30 p.m., they saw two white balls of light to the SW which appeared to be joined. They looked like two orbs to the naked eye, but binoculars revealed them to be two plate like objects joined together. These were higher up, at some 5000 feet. (Domingo is a pilot, and is therefore able to calculate altitude better than the average witness). In plain sight they looked like two joined golf balls. They separated a minute later -- one heading south and another to the north.
5 minutes later, Domingo phone FURA [P.R. police aerial reconnaissance] and was told that they were going to send their helicopter for a look. Domingo never saw the helicopter engage in a fly-over. Domingo recalls that while he observed the two orbs, a woman and her daughters stopped to ask him if they were seeing the fireballs. She added that the fireballs had been visible since November in that location, becoming apparent between 9-10 p.m. and as early as 5 p.m.
4. No sightings were reported on Monday, January 7.
5. Today, Saturday, January 12, Domingo will return with a camera in an effort to take pictures of the objects.
(Translation (c) 2007, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Lucy Guzman, Ovni.Net)
Fireballs Over Puerto Rico - UFOs Or Military?
This report by Lucy Guzmán de Pla, relayed by Scott Corrales of IHU discusses in detail the newest series in a very long line of Puerto Rican sightings and continues the bizarre and frankly creepy practice of UFOs being dangerous, selectively, to the peoples of Hispanic countries in the Americas. This practice started long ago with the Tulpas, nasty box-shaped objects (shades of the Borg) that would chase people relentlessly through the forests and towns, injuring and even killing people with beams of energy.
To me, it increases the strangeness level of UFOs by several orders of magnitude and the pull on me to go there and South America as well, where it began, is strong, very, very strong... just need to figure out how to fund it with time, money and resources and do it.
Fireballs Over Puerto Rico -
UFOs Or Military?
From Scott Corrales
Inexplicata - The Journal Of Hispanic Ufology
1-14-2008
To our Readers: In view of the resurgence of the phenomenon of "mystery fireballs" over the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, we are reprinting a feature by Lucy Guzman (who almost ten years later is still researching the confounded things!)about the wave of enigmatic bolides that occurred during the last decade. We hope that this may provide a context in which to understand the current spate of sightings over the city of Ponce -- Scott Corrales.
Fireballs Over Puerto Rico: UFOs Or Military Devices?
By Lucy Guzmán de Pla
Late 1997 and early 1998 represented a period of considerable activity in Puerto Rico: The U.S. Navy was conducting maneuvers as a prelude to operations in the Middle East, while floating missiles washed up on the beaches of Loíza, Yabucoa and Humacao. If tests were being conducted 200 miles off shore, why would these missiles wash up on beaches? An armed forces communique distributed to the media simply stated that the missiles were harmless and that "currents" had caused them to drift toward the island.
Simultaneously, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was preparing its Coquí II Project and the launching of 11 rockets from February 12 to April 9th from the former U.S. military base at Camp Tortuguero. This project was met with strong opposition by the Comité Contra los Experimentos Ambientales, the mayor and municipal assembly of Vega Baja, and other ecological, civic and religious organizations protesting the absence of information on the project. They were fearful of a repeat of the events which transpired in 1992, as well as of the fact that the boosters would release into the atmosphere a chemical compound known as "bromo-trifluoro-methane", whose use is forbidden by international treaties due to its devastating effect upon the ozone layer.
NASA assured local residents, protesters and environmentalists that there was nothing to fear. However, a NASA official acknowledged that bromo-trifluoro-methane had indeed been used in 1992, but insisted that this time, aluminum trimethrol (TMA) would be employed, stating: "The reason for which we have chosen TMA is precisely because it has not been recognized as a harmful chemical."
The project's goal was the evaluation of the electrical properties and turbulence of the upper atmosphere. Five of the twelve rockets launched five kilograms of TMA into the atmosphere while the remaining six contained instrumentation necessary to carry out the project.
According to Mr. Maximo Cerame Vivas, scientific advisor to the Economic Development Administration, TMA would oxidize and turn luminous once in space, enabling it to be visible from the ground and that scientists would determine the impact of atmospheric turbulence upon communication satellites in orbit. After 20 minutes had elapsed, the TMA would break down into carbon dioxide, water vapor, aluminum oxide and other substances in the upper atmosphere without having any harful effects on the lower atmosphere or on Earth itself.
There were also reports of mysterious fireballs on the island during this same time period. One of these cases was that of Mr. Antonio (Tony) Sánchez, who experienced a possible CE2K with evidence. The case produced secondary effects on witnesses, researchers and also produced electrical effects in the Sánchez home. The event's characteristics led me to dig a little deeper into the case and share it with you, our faithful readers.
The Sánchez Family's Experience
It all started on Sunday, March 22, 1998. Mr. Sánchez's family was enjoying a peaceful domestic day in his home in San Juan, Puerto Rico's Ocean Park neighborhood. Suddenly, at around 11:30 P.M., Mr. Sánchez, along with his wife, son and dog, heard a loud sound which lasted "approximately 5 minutes." They gave it little significance, until another even louder sound split the air 5 minutes later, originating from the Sanchez's backyard. Mrs. Jose Trudel, Sánchez's wife, began screaming; the two-year old child cried and the family dog hid and refused to emerge. Heading towards the gate that led to the back yard, Mr. Sánchez went to find the source of the noise, since his wife claimed having seen a flash of light in originating in the same area.
Upon reaching the gate, Sánchez was startled to see a ball of fire measuring some 3 feet in diameter--deep red in color--which gave off rays or sparks from its middle. He was unable to see through the brightness, which was accompanied by a sort of steam similar to highly-illuminated water vapor. According to Sánchez testimony, the ball resembled a slowly-descending sphere that remained suspended in the air for some 8 seconds before suddenly disappearing, leaving nothing behind but what appeared to be water vapor.
Shortly after, red and white lights made themselves visible on the home's walls. The lights rose gradually [sic] but the family was unable to ascertain its provenance. A few minutes later, the Sánchez's heard the sound of a low flying aircraft. By the sound, the elder Sánchez thought it sounded like a military airplane, stating that his ability at distinguishing aircraft noises came from having worked at the local international airport.
On Monday, March 23, Sánchez noticed strange dark marks on the screen of his T.V. set, also noticing that whenever came close to the gate leading to the backyard, a strange itch would invade his body; dizziness would soon follow, along with a pressure on his chest. The entire area seemed bathed in heat.
Beginning to worry, he decided to place a call to the F.B.I.. An agent flatly told them that "they" had nothing to do with such matters and advised him to contact the local police headquarters. Sánchez had little luck there, either. A police officer (identified as Agent Quiñones) advised him to place a call to Channel 11. In doing so, Sánchez managed to speak to reporter Susan Soltero, who agreed to visit his home along with reporter Margarita Aponte and a cameraman. Soltero conducted an interview, produced a video for Channel 11's news broadcast, and advised Mr. Sánchez to contact Dr. Andrew Alvarez, an anthropologist and freelance UFO researcher. On Tuesday, March 24, both men managed to speak about the matter and agreed on an appointment for Friday, March 27.
Sánchez's Neighbor Suffers Physical Effects
Luis Carrido, Sánchez's next door neighbor, was curious about the events and decided to investigate. When he showed up, Sánchez was on the phone, so Carrido decided to enter the backyard on his own, where he spent approximately 15 minutes. He entered then entered the house and told Sánchez that he was leaving since he was feeling dizzy and fatigued.
Two hours later, Carrido was taken to San Pablo hospital in the town of Bayamon, complaining of fever, an itching sensation throughout his body, dizziness, general discomfort and red blotches all over his skin. The blotches felt like air bubbles inside his skin, and were hard to the touch. He was placed on an I.V. by a physician and subsequent tests performed could find nothing wrong with him.
Carrido received a telephone call while in the hospital: an alleged "secret agent" asked him to refrain from making any comments on the case and what had transpired there. Even more curious was the fact that Sánchez also received a similar call with a the same indication. Even more curious is the fact that the attending physician at San Pablo hospital also received a phone call (according to Sánchez), and that he was replaced by "a very strange doctor" who followed up on Carrido's progress.
Tuesday, March 24th: Carrido was surprised at the change in care givers. A "very strange" doctor entered the room, did not utter a word at the patient, gave orders for a medication to be injected into the IV, and promptly left.
Wednesday, March 25th: Carrido was told that he "had to leave the hospital". The patient explains that the "strange doctor" must have put some kind of antidote into the IV, since all his symptoms had vanished.
A few days later, Carrido returned to the hospital to request a copy of his medical record and the names of the attending physicians. He was told that patient records were erased every two days from the computer and that his request could not be met.
the EPA investigates
At the request of Dr. Andrew Alvarez, a team from the Environmental Protection Agency visited the Sánchez home twice. During their initial visit, says Sánchez, they turned up wearing what appeared to be space suits. They unloaded their equipment, which consisted of: two Geiger counters, one with a wide area sensor, the other with a narrow area sensor; two Hand-held flame ionization detectors; one photo ionization air monitor. All of them wore EPA badges on their outfits.
The team headed for the backyard and concentrated their investigation on the site where the fireball had first been seen. They consulted among themselves, took soil samples, interviewed both Sánchez and Carrido, and when they were done, they took off their uniforms, threw them in a bag and gave it to Sánchez to dispose of, advising him that:
1. No radiation had been found on the site.
2. No abnormal contamination had been detected.
3. That there was something strange there, but they had no idea what it was.
4. He should avoid going into the backyard for the time being.
After approximately a week and a half, Sánchez still did not have a reply from them and decided to call them in hopes of getting one. The phone call resulted in a second visit.
The day that the EPA team returned, Drs. Andrew Alvarez and Edwin Velázquez--who investigated the Sánchez case--happened to be present at the residence. A special agent also visited the house and proceeded to interview the EPA team and the scientist accompanying them, after which he left. The EPA team then told Sánchez that he would have the results of their research "within a week and a half." As of June 1998, Sánchez still does not know what occurred in his own backyard and if his family can once again make use of their property without fear of any hidden hazards, or if the fireball may cause secondary effects upon them down the line.
Drs. Alvarez and Velázquez Research the Case
When Alvarez and Velázques reached the Sánchez home, reporter Margarita Aponte was also on the scene. The latter wanted to interview them, but they were unable to contribute much since their own efforts had not yet begun and they still knew very little. They unloaded their equipment, spoke to witnesses, and visited the site of the curious events.
They found no traces of:
1. Radiation
2. Gentian-wave [sic] anomalies
3. Electromagnetic field anomalies
They obtained samples of:
1. Soil
2. A metal fragment
3. An oily substance
Photographs taken:
1. A television set that presented electromagnetic anomalies. Slides were taken of the T.V. set while it was off.
2. Even while off, the T.V. set presented spots which increased and diminished in size and had a silvery, spherical appearance.
3. The site in which the events took place.
Remarks:
1. Surrounding leaves presented small nests or spiderwebs "apparently" made by small insects. This did not draw their attention.
2. The surrounding foliage appeared withered and had experienced changes in color.
3. Fungi were growing on the plants.
4. An oily substance was found on the leaves.
5. The family dog, which had formerly enjoyed going to the backyard, refused to approach the area.
6. T.V. set presented spots which increased and diminished in size and had a silvery, spherical appearance
7. After 4 days, the leaves of the surrounding plants became elongated.
Provisional Results Based on the Evidence
1. The slide photos taken of the T.V., to the researcher's surprise, presented what appeared to be perfect, highly detailed human silhouettes. Sánchez claims one of them resembles "an indian."
2. The strange oily substance was taken to Masa Laboratories in Bayamón where it was analyzed by one Dr. Colón. The test shows that it is a NASA "patented" oil for use in aeronautical devices.
Note: The oil sample was sent to another laboratory and results are still being expected. The slides are still expecting analysis and the investigation is ongoing.
The Researchers Suffer Physical Effects
Friday, March 27: while Alvarez and Velázquez conducted their field research, they were stricken by an overpowering itchiness. This led them to finish their work and interview one final witness before leaving.
Saturday, March 28: Alvarez still felt the itchy sensation and was also debilitated.
Sunday, March 29: Alvarez became aware of something strange on his skin.
Monday, March 30: Three welts appeared on Alvarez's back and thighs, resembling boils. Concerned by this, the researcher phoned both Velázquez and Sánchez to see if they had experienced any symptoms. They had not.
When the researchers returned to the Sánchez home, Channel 11 reporter Susan Soltero was on hand to conduct a follow-up report. She interviewed Alvarez and videotaped the boils on his body.
While the researchers where on site, a putative "Secret Service Agent" calling himself Mr.Smith phoned Sánchez. Speaking in perfect English and in an authoritative tone, he ordered Sánchez to remain quiet and to stop all media exposure, since "they" were already in control of the situation. Sánchez expressed the fear that the situation might be of an otherworldly nature; the "agent" told him not to worry, since "nothing" existed outside this world. When a phone call was placed to the phone number given by the alleged agent, they discovered it belonged to a Federal Government Agency located in the Bronx, New York. The agency appears to have no connection whatsoever to the Secret Service and of course, there was no Mr. Smith working there.
Other Witnesses to the Incident:
1. Luisa de la Torre -- saw the same fireball at the same place, date and time.
2. Tita Mercado -- while visiting some friends in Ocean Park, she became aware of luminous spheres that appeared to be burning with fire. She claims that the spheres had points and seem to originate from the Barrio Obrero district, flying over their heads and into the sea, hovering above the reefs from one side to another, changing places two or three times.
3. Anonymous Friend of Tita Mercado -- A friend of Ms. Mercado whose name is being kept confidential told her that the night before the event he noticed a van with enormous floodlights aimed at the water on the road that comes from Canóvanas and links up with the 65th Infantry Highway. Allegedly, the van operators pulled Ms. Mercado's friend over, advised him to remain silent about what he had seen, and made a tape recording of his voice before letting him go.
4. Mrs. Garcia -- claims to live in the Ocean Park area and says that the balls of light are quite common. At night, she says, she has seen beautiful lights that change colors, acquire saucer-shapes, appear to have floodlights, fly along the beaches and enter and exit the sea.
Similar Cases on the Island During this Period
1. Federico Alvarez (no relation), President of the UFOSCIPR Organization (a local group devoted to UFO research) reported that on the evening of February 22, 1998, cases similar to the Sánchez event were reported in the town of Jayuya's Monte Puntita. He investigated the case and took soil samples which were sent to a lab. The lab results show that the soil was contaminated with lithium and titanium. Giant ferns had been split in half and a path of burnt vegetation could be clearly seen.
2. Dr. Andrew Alvarez was reminded of May 5, 1997 case in which some witnesses saw a fireball descend. A fire erupted on the mountainside. Alvarez investigated the case but found no evidence whatsoever.
3. On January 12, 1998, the Noti-Uno radio station reported that fifteen people had seen a fireball hovering over Americo Miranda Avenue and Barrio Obrero for about 45 minutes, before it disappeared toward the Fort Buchanan area. The news media later reported that a weather balloon had crashed. However, the weather bureau had nothing to say in this regard.
4. On January 12, 1998, Marina Molina Maldonado phoned "Noti-Uno" to say that in the early morning hours, residents of Arecibo's Barrio Candelaria had witnessed the passage of an enormous blue fireball which caused power failures, triggered alarm systems and even caused clocks to tremble [sic]. Mrs. Molina, her teenaged sons and several neighbors witnessed the unidentified flying object, indicating that the object "resembled the sun". However, an environmental group from that city indicated that it was probably a military experiment which could cause harm to the Tortugueros Nature Preserve.
Conclusion
The Sánchez case remains open, since no clear explanation for the events at this location has been reached. Dr. Alvarez tends to believe, despite the lack of solid evidence on which to base his conclusion, that what happened at the Sánchez home was apparently terrestrial in origin and may be linked to U.S. Navy operations being conducted off the Puerto Rican coast during that time period.
Translation (c) 1998 and (c) 2008, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Lucy Guzman.
To me, it increases the strangeness level of UFOs by several orders of magnitude and the pull on me to go there and South America as well, where it began, is strong, very, very strong... just need to figure out how to fund it with time, money and resources and do it.
Fireballs Over Puerto Rico -
UFOs Or Military?
From Scott Corrales
Inexplicata - The Journal Of Hispanic Ufology
1-14-2008
To our Readers: In view of the resurgence of the phenomenon of "mystery fireballs" over the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, we are reprinting a feature by Lucy Guzman (who almost ten years later is still researching the confounded things!)about the wave of enigmatic bolides that occurred during the last decade. We hope that this may provide a context in which to understand the current spate of sightings over the city of Ponce -- Scott Corrales.
Fireballs Over Puerto Rico: UFOs Or Military Devices?
By Lucy Guzmán de Pla
Late 1997 and early 1998 represented a period of considerable activity in Puerto Rico: The U.S. Navy was conducting maneuvers as a prelude to operations in the Middle East, while floating missiles washed up on the beaches of Loíza, Yabucoa and Humacao. If tests were being conducted 200 miles off shore, why would these missiles wash up on beaches? An armed forces communique distributed to the media simply stated that the missiles were harmless and that "currents" had caused them to drift toward the island.
Simultaneously, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was preparing its Coquí II Project and the launching of 11 rockets from February 12 to April 9th from the former U.S. military base at Camp Tortuguero. This project was met with strong opposition by the Comité Contra los Experimentos Ambientales, the mayor and municipal assembly of Vega Baja, and other ecological, civic and religious organizations protesting the absence of information on the project. They were fearful of a repeat of the events which transpired in 1992, as well as of the fact that the boosters would release into the atmosphere a chemical compound known as "bromo-trifluoro-methane", whose use is forbidden by international treaties due to its devastating effect upon the ozone layer.
NASA assured local residents, protesters and environmentalists that there was nothing to fear. However, a NASA official acknowledged that bromo-trifluoro-methane had indeed been used in 1992, but insisted that this time, aluminum trimethrol (TMA) would be employed, stating: "The reason for which we have chosen TMA is precisely because it has not been recognized as a harmful chemical."
The project's goal was the evaluation of the electrical properties and turbulence of the upper atmosphere. Five of the twelve rockets launched five kilograms of TMA into the atmosphere while the remaining six contained instrumentation necessary to carry out the project.
According to Mr. Maximo Cerame Vivas, scientific advisor to the Economic Development Administration, TMA would oxidize and turn luminous once in space, enabling it to be visible from the ground and that scientists would determine the impact of atmospheric turbulence upon communication satellites in orbit. After 20 minutes had elapsed, the TMA would break down into carbon dioxide, water vapor, aluminum oxide and other substances in the upper atmosphere without having any harful effects on the lower atmosphere or on Earth itself.
There were also reports of mysterious fireballs on the island during this same time period. One of these cases was that of Mr. Antonio (Tony) Sánchez, who experienced a possible CE2K with evidence. The case produced secondary effects on witnesses, researchers and also produced electrical effects in the Sánchez home. The event's characteristics led me to dig a little deeper into the case and share it with you, our faithful readers.
The Sánchez Family's Experience
It all started on Sunday, March 22, 1998. Mr. Sánchez's family was enjoying a peaceful domestic day in his home in San Juan, Puerto Rico's Ocean Park neighborhood. Suddenly, at around 11:30 P.M., Mr. Sánchez, along with his wife, son and dog, heard a loud sound which lasted "approximately 5 minutes." They gave it little significance, until another even louder sound split the air 5 minutes later, originating from the Sanchez's backyard. Mrs. Jose Trudel, Sánchez's wife, began screaming; the two-year old child cried and the family dog hid and refused to emerge. Heading towards the gate that led to the back yard, Mr. Sánchez went to find the source of the noise, since his wife claimed having seen a flash of light in originating in the same area.
Upon reaching the gate, Sánchez was startled to see a ball of fire measuring some 3 feet in diameter--deep red in color--which gave off rays or sparks from its middle. He was unable to see through the brightness, which was accompanied by a sort of steam similar to highly-illuminated water vapor. According to Sánchez testimony, the ball resembled a slowly-descending sphere that remained suspended in the air for some 8 seconds before suddenly disappearing, leaving nothing behind but what appeared to be water vapor.
Shortly after, red and white lights made themselves visible on the home's walls. The lights rose gradually [sic] but the family was unable to ascertain its provenance. A few minutes later, the Sánchez's heard the sound of a low flying aircraft. By the sound, the elder Sánchez thought it sounded like a military airplane, stating that his ability at distinguishing aircraft noises came from having worked at the local international airport.
On Monday, March 23, Sánchez noticed strange dark marks on the screen of his T.V. set, also noticing that whenever came close to the gate leading to the backyard, a strange itch would invade his body; dizziness would soon follow, along with a pressure on his chest. The entire area seemed bathed in heat.
Beginning to worry, he decided to place a call to the F.B.I.. An agent flatly told them that "they" had nothing to do with such matters and advised him to contact the local police headquarters. Sánchez had little luck there, either. A police officer (identified as Agent Quiñones) advised him to place a call to Channel 11. In doing so, Sánchez managed to speak to reporter Susan Soltero, who agreed to visit his home along with reporter Margarita Aponte and a cameraman. Soltero conducted an interview, produced a video for Channel 11's news broadcast, and advised Mr. Sánchez to contact Dr. Andrew Alvarez, an anthropologist and freelance UFO researcher. On Tuesday, March 24, both men managed to speak about the matter and agreed on an appointment for Friday, March 27.
Sánchez's Neighbor Suffers Physical Effects
Luis Carrido, Sánchez's next door neighbor, was curious about the events and decided to investigate. When he showed up, Sánchez was on the phone, so Carrido decided to enter the backyard on his own, where he spent approximately 15 minutes. He entered then entered the house and told Sánchez that he was leaving since he was feeling dizzy and fatigued.
Two hours later, Carrido was taken to San Pablo hospital in the town of Bayamon, complaining of fever, an itching sensation throughout his body, dizziness, general discomfort and red blotches all over his skin. The blotches felt like air bubbles inside his skin, and were hard to the touch. He was placed on an I.V. by a physician and subsequent tests performed could find nothing wrong with him.
Carrido received a telephone call while in the hospital: an alleged "secret agent" asked him to refrain from making any comments on the case and what had transpired there. Even more curious was the fact that Sánchez also received a similar call with a the same indication. Even more curious is the fact that the attending physician at San Pablo hospital also received a phone call (according to Sánchez), and that he was replaced by "a very strange doctor" who followed up on Carrido's progress.
Tuesday, March 24th: Carrido was surprised at the change in care givers. A "very strange" doctor entered the room, did not utter a word at the patient, gave orders for a medication to be injected into the IV, and promptly left.
Wednesday, March 25th: Carrido was told that he "had to leave the hospital". The patient explains that the "strange doctor" must have put some kind of antidote into the IV, since all his symptoms had vanished.
A few days later, Carrido returned to the hospital to request a copy of his medical record and the names of the attending physicians. He was told that patient records were erased every two days from the computer and that his request could not be met.
the EPA investigates
At the request of Dr. Andrew Alvarez, a team from the Environmental Protection Agency visited the Sánchez home twice. During their initial visit, says Sánchez, they turned up wearing what appeared to be space suits. They unloaded their equipment, which consisted of: two Geiger counters, one with a wide area sensor, the other with a narrow area sensor; two Hand-held flame ionization detectors; one photo ionization air monitor. All of them wore EPA badges on their outfits.
The team headed for the backyard and concentrated their investigation on the site where the fireball had first been seen. They consulted among themselves, took soil samples, interviewed both Sánchez and Carrido, and when they were done, they took off their uniforms, threw them in a bag and gave it to Sánchez to dispose of, advising him that:
1. No radiation had been found on the site.
2. No abnormal contamination had been detected.
3. That there was something strange there, but they had no idea what it was.
4. He should avoid going into the backyard for the time being.
After approximately a week and a half, Sánchez still did not have a reply from them and decided to call them in hopes of getting one. The phone call resulted in a second visit.
The day that the EPA team returned, Drs. Andrew Alvarez and Edwin Velázquez--who investigated the Sánchez case--happened to be present at the residence. A special agent also visited the house and proceeded to interview the EPA team and the scientist accompanying them, after which he left. The EPA team then told Sánchez that he would have the results of their research "within a week and a half." As of June 1998, Sánchez still does not know what occurred in his own backyard and if his family can once again make use of their property without fear of any hidden hazards, or if the fireball may cause secondary effects upon them down the line.
Drs. Alvarez and Velázquez Research the Case
When Alvarez and Velázques reached the Sánchez home, reporter Margarita Aponte was also on the scene. The latter wanted to interview them, but they were unable to contribute much since their own efforts had not yet begun and they still knew very little. They unloaded their equipment, spoke to witnesses, and visited the site of the curious events.
They found no traces of:
1. Radiation
2. Gentian-wave [sic] anomalies
3. Electromagnetic field anomalies
They obtained samples of:
1. Soil
2. A metal fragment
3. An oily substance
Photographs taken:
1. A television set that presented electromagnetic anomalies. Slides were taken of the T.V. set while it was off.
2. Even while off, the T.V. set presented spots which increased and diminished in size and had a silvery, spherical appearance.
3. The site in which the events took place.
Remarks:
1. Surrounding leaves presented small nests or spiderwebs "apparently" made by small insects. This did not draw their attention.
2. The surrounding foliage appeared withered and had experienced changes in color.
3. Fungi were growing on the plants.
4. An oily substance was found on the leaves.
5. The family dog, which had formerly enjoyed going to the backyard, refused to approach the area.
6. T.V. set presented spots which increased and diminished in size and had a silvery, spherical appearance
7. After 4 days, the leaves of the surrounding plants became elongated.
Provisional Results Based on the Evidence
1. The slide photos taken of the T.V., to the researcher's surprise, presented what appeared to be perfect, highly detailed human silhouettes. Sánchez claims one of them resembles "an indian."
2. The strange oily substance was taken to Masa Laboratories in Bayamón where it was analyzed by one Dr. Colón. The test shows that it is a NASA "patented" oil for use in aeronautical devices.
Note: The oil sample was sent to another laboratory and results are still being expected. The slides are still expecting analysis and the investigation is ongoing.
The Researchers Suffer Physical Effects
Friday, March 27: while Alvarez and Velázquez conducted their field research, they were stricken by an overpowering itchiness. This led them to finish their work and interview one final witness before leaving.
Saturday, March 28: Alvarez still felt the itchy sensation and was also debilitated.
Sunday, March 29: Alvarez became aware of something strange on his skin.
Monday, March 30: Three welts appeared on Alvarez's back and thighs, resembling boils. Concerned by this, the researcher phoned both Velázquez and Sánchez to see if they had experienced any symptoms. They had not.
When the researchers returned to the Sánchez home, Channel 11 reporter Susan Soltero was on hand to conduct a follow-up report. She interviewed Alvarez and videotaped the boils on his body.
While the researchers where on site, a putative "Secret Service Agent" calling himself Mr.Smith phoned Sánchez. Speaking in perfect English and in an authoritative tone, he ordered Sánchez to remain quiet and to stop all media exposure, since "they" were already in control of the situation. Sánchez expressed the fear that the situation might be of an otherworldly nature; the "agent" told him not to worry, since "nothing" existed outside this world. When a phone call was placed to the phone number given by the alleged agent, they discovered it belonged to a Federal Government Agency located in the Bronx, New York. The agency appears to have no connection whatsoever to the Secret Service and of course, there was no Mr. Smith working there.
Other Witnesses to the Incident:
1. Luisa de la Torre -- saw the same fireball at the same place, date and time.
2. Tita Mercado -- while visiting some friends in Ocean Park, she became aware of luminous spheres that appeared to be burning with fire. She claims that the spheres had points and seem to originate from the Barrio Obrero district, flying over their heads and into the sea, hovering above the reefs from one side to another, changing places two or three times.
3. Anonymous Friend of Tita Mercado -- A friend of Ms. Mercado whose name is being kept confidential told her that the night before the event he noticed a van with enormous floodlights aimed at the water on the road that comes from Canóvanas and links up with the 65th Infantry Highway. Allegedly, the van operators pulled Ms. Mercado's friend over, advised him to remain silent about what he had seen, and made a tape recording of his voice before letting him go.
4. Mrs. Garcia -- claims to live in the Ocean Park area and says that the balls of light are quite common. At night, she says, she has seen beautiful lights that change colors, acquire saucer-shapes, appear to have floodlights, fly along the beaches and enter and exit the sea.
Similar Cases on the Island During this Period
1. Federico Alvarez (no relation), President of the UFOSCIPR Organization (a local group devoted to UFO research) reported that on the evening of February 22, 1998, cases similar to the Sánchez event were reported in the town of Jayuya's Monte Puntita. He investigated the case and took soil samples which were sent to a lab. The lab results show that the soil was contaminated with lithium and titanium. Giant ferns had been split in half and a path of burnt vegetation could be clearly seen.
2. Dr. Andrew Alvarez was reminded of May 5, 1997 case in which some witnesses saw a fireball descend. A fire erupted on the mountainside. Alvarez investigated the case but found no evidence whatsoever.
3. On January 12, 1998, the Noti-Uno radio station reported that fifteen people had seen a fireball hovering over Americo Miranda Avenue and Barrio Obrero for about 45 minutes, before it disappeared toward the Fort Buchanan area. The news media later reported that a weather balloon had crashed. However, the weather bureau had nothing to say in this regard.
4. On January 12, 1998, Marina Molina Maldonado phoned "Noti-Uno" to say that in the early morning hours, residents of Arecibo's Barrio Candelaria had witnessed the passage of an enormous blue fireball which caused power failures, triggered alarm systems and even caused clocks to tremble [sic]. Mrs. Molina, her teenaged sons and several neighbors witnessed the unidentified flying object, indicating that the object "resembled the sun". However, an environmental group from that city indicated that it was probably a military experiment which could cause harm to the Tortugueros Nature Preserve.
Conclusion
The Sánchez case remains open, since no clear explanation for the events at this location has been reached. Dr. Alvarez tends to believe, despite the lack of solid evidence on which to base his conclusion, that what happened at the Sánchez home was apparently terrestrial in origin and may be linked to U.S. Navy operations being conducted off the Puerto Rican coast during that time period.
Translation (c) 1998 and (c) 2008, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Lucy Guzman.
Monday, January 14, 2008
What to Take With You When You Need to Leave in a Hurry
Many thanks to Tedd St. Rain for posting this over at MySpace. With the way things are going, and looking ahead as far as possible, I sincerely believe that this information is going to become real important, real quick, therefore, here it is...
Survival:
When the shit hits the fan and you head for the hills, some basic knowledge will help you.
Attitude is everything. Some of you may read this and think "yeah, o.k., now get on to the good stuff". What you must realize is that without the proper mental attitude, the other topics will be of little use. If you have done your homework, and practiced the techniques described, you will survive if you have a positive mental attitude. Tell yourself that you WILL get out of this. You WILL persevere.
I have seen some survival books talk as though collecting water is easy, catching game with snares is simple, and survival is something that can be taught in books. When I was young, I lived in the country. On Friday afternoons, I would take water proof matches, a liter of water, my bow and some arrows or my trusty Ruger 10/22, a ground blanket, and spend the weekend making snares, fishing with equipment I made, and hunting for my dinner. I used primitive fire making methods and only used matches when I had to. I can tell you that there is nothing easy about any of this shit. There was much I didn't know at the time, but I had read lots of books. I probably knew more at 11 than most people ever do. Cable TV was unheard of, and computers were magical talking 'entities' as seen ..rek. For me, society was full of unnecessary trappings that only made men soft and weak.
By Sunday I was ready to return home. I shot a few birds and rabbits, caught a few fish and ate well. But I learned something that many people do not realize. To survive you must battle three things in this order:
Exposure
Dehydration
Food Gathering
You can die in a few hours if you cannot retain body heat. You can die of exposure in 72 degree weather! You will develop hypothermia when your body loses heat faster than you can produce it. You need calories to generate body heat. People can die of hypothermia in warm water. The water is cooler than they are, subsequently the water absorbs body heat until their body can produce no more. It is a slow death.
When you breathe your breath causes water loss. Perspiration causes water loss. Evaporation from your eyes causes water loss. If you cannot replace these losses you will die. Drink water with little microbes, parasites, etc. and you will develop diarrhea. This will increase your fluid loss and you will die even faster. Food is the last thing you will need. In moderate climates, you can survive without food for up to 30 days. You will die without water in one or two in the desert! Finding edible berries and plants are the last things you need to learn. Conserving fluids and body heat are the primary survival skills. If you can survive long enough to get real hungry you are doing a good job. In extreme cold food is more important because your body converts food to heat.
Taking Inventory:
First examine what you have to work with. Seat cushions from a vehicle are insulation. Glass with imperfections, bifocals, binoculars, etc. can be used to focus the suns rays enough to start a fire. Thread stripped from a foam seat cushion and wound together can be used to lash things together, make fishing nets, sutures for stitching wounds, etc. Remember your priorities. Shelter, Water, and food. You will have to balance these priorities and make decisions. You will burn calories while walking, calories that will be hard to replace. You will also perspire, can you afford the water loss? If the enemy is searching for you, you will have to move to a safe location.
Exposure and Body Heat - Winter:
Time is running against you here. You must work quickly and conserve energy. After you have taken inventory, build a fire. Hopefully you will have matches or a lighter. You must conserve these valuable items. Before you build your fire, pick a place for your shelter. Now gather combustible materials. Cones from pine trees don't burn. Bark doesn't either. DON'T waste matches trying to ignite them.
Gather material in this order:
Very small match stick thickness twigs. Have at least a good double handful. They must be dry. To find dry sticks in the rain, look under the overhang of an embankment, under-side of logs, dead dry roots pulled out of an embankment, the center of a stump or dead tree dug out with a knife or hatchet.
Small sticks a little bigger than the ones above. You will need more of these. Some of these may be a little wet. Bigger sticks, Twice the thickness of the ones before, even more of these. Keep moving up in size until you are collecting branches and small logs. If the wood is available you will need as much as you can gather in an hour. Drift wood will work if it's dry.
Now that you have your wood it's time to build your fire. Take your time and do this right. DON'T throw the fire together haphazardly. This will only waste fuel and increase the risk of the fire not lighting. Every match you have is like gold. Do not waste them. If you do this right you will only need one.
Take a medium size branch and lay it down. Now build a tiny lean-to with the smallest sticks by leaning them up against the branch. Take more and and lay them perpendicular to first layer, and parallel to the big branch. Use lots of very small sticks and leave enough gaps between them for the flames to rise up through and ignite the upper layers. If it's raining or windy cover yourself with something to protect your fire. Now add the bigger sticks to the top of the your neat little lean-to, using a tee pee shape, and surrounding the little lean-to on all sides. Leave a small gap up close to the big branch to get your match under the pile. If you have a small slip of paper or lint from pockets, put it under the lean-to and ignite it. As your fire grows, start adding more and more sticks to get the fire very hot. Now add the larger sticks, the heat will dry them if they are damp. (Not if they are green or soaked through.) Keep building your fire in stages. DON'T wait too long to add the next size larger sticks. The heat generated from the rapidly burning small ones is needed to dry and ignite the larger ones. As soon as you can, put some bigger stuff on by laying them across the big branch on the ground. Once your fire is going, DON'T let it go out. If you need more fuel gather more, and start building your shelter.
This is the fastest shelter I know of:
If there a snow bank nearby You are going to dig a cave in the snow. You want the opening to be away from the wind. The cave has to be very small. For a snow shelter to be effective it must be below freezing. If not, melting snow will saturate your clothing and you will freeze. Hollow out a place to lie in the snow. If you have something to line the floor with it will be much warmer. If you have nothing but plastic or something, try to find evergreen tree limbs to line it with. You want as much between you and the cold ground as you can. You will lose more heat by being in contact with the cold ground than you will from the air. The air in your cave will warm and retain heat. If you have a small heat source you can place a vent through the roof to allow gas to escape. You must ration your heat source. You will need it more at night when the temperature drops. Luxuries to add will be more insulation, seat cushions, etc. and a door.
A "Ranger Pile" is a shelter used by small parties who lack bulky camping equipment or who for tactical reasons, must not risk fire or shelter construction. First layer of men, four or five lays very close together on two ponchos snapped together. Next layer lays on top of the others, cross ways. Another layer on top of them. Remaining ponchos are snapped together and pulled over the top and tucked in around the sides. If a quantity of DRY pine needles, leaves, etc. can be quietly collected, this can be used for insulation stuffing. Just pile it on each layer before the next gets on. This is how small recon teams survive without carrying a lot of bullshit with them.
A vehicle will block the wind but the compartment is too big to retain body heat. You will freeze if you stay in a car. Strip cushions, carpet, floor mats, insulation, etc. from the vehicle to line your shelter with. If you have tools and can remove the hood or trunk lid you can use these for a reflector to direct heat in one direction from a fire. NOTE: You will not need a car in the woods so put it to use.
If you are fortunate enough to have the materials to construct a lean-to, build one similar to the way you built your fire. Keep the openings away from the wind, and towards your fire. Use a reflector to direct the heat into your lean-to.
Clothing - Winter:
Thin material should be put closest to your body, as should wool. If you have extra foam from seat cushions, stuff your shirts and pants with it. It will work as insulation. Extra clothing can be stripped in to pieces of about 5" x 4' and used as wrapping for extra socks. You want to have the material that best holds in heat closest to your skin. This same concept can be used when you have the luxury of a sleeping bag. Sleeping bags are designed to hold in heat much better than clothes. When you get into a bag, remove all of your clothes and lay on them. Naked, your body heat will be trapped between your skin and the bag. Otherwise your heat escapes through the thin material of your clothing, and stays between your clothes and the bag, until it dissipates. If you have no clothes for the environment, you will have to use the shelter for clothing. Keep your shelter VERY small and use insulation. This is your only chance to survive.
If there is plenty of snow and ice you will have a good water supply if you have a fire and a container to melt it in. DO NOT EAT SNOW. It will lower your body temperature and bring on hypothermia. Always melt it and get it warm first.
Do not drink alcohol of any kind. It will thin your blood and increase your urine output. If it's strong enough, you can use it as a disinfectant.
You may want to find a book named "White Dawn". It chronicles the lives of three men who were lost in their small whaling boat in the arctic back in the 1800's. It is an excellent work of fiction but provides many accurate details of how northern aboriginal peoples survive in their climate.
Exposure - Desert states:
Since there is nothing in the desert to hold in the heat, it dissipates quickly after the sun goes down. Deserts can drop to near freezing over night. During the day the temperature will soar and fry your brain and dry you out and kill you. For this reason any movement should only be at night. For shelter you must get out of the sun. If you can, dig a hole to get in and cover it. Do not strip off your clothes. Have you ever wondered why Arabic people wear those long, heavy, hot looking clothing on their heads and bodies? It is because moisture evaporation is your worst enemy in the desert. Clothing helps keep in this moisture and slows evaporation. It must be loose enough to allow heat loss. You will need to stay warm at night, refer to the Winter topic above.
Water is THE most important thing to consider in the desert, it must be conserved. Long term drinking of urine can make you sick, but if it's all you have you will have to drink it. Succulent plants like cactus also contain water, as do the bodies of snakes, lizards, and other animals. Suck every drop you can from them, but avoid the poison glands in snakes (they are right behind the head in the neck). The only two parts of animals in North America that cannot be eaten are the livers of the polar bear and bearded seal. They contain toxic amounts of Vitamin A.
If you have plastic or a poncho you can collect water at night in the desert. dig a hole (or use support sticks) as wide as the plastic. Make a hole in the plastic at the center. Stretch the plastic over the hole and weight down the edges with rocks. Press down the center of the sheet or tie it to a rock to pull it down. Place a container under the hole. When dew forms on the plastic it will roll down hill through the hole and it into your container. Use your poncho during the day as shade. Again do not drink alcohol, it will increase your urine output and aid in dehydration. I know...it sucks.
Exposure - Tropical & sub-tropical states:
Here, heat and sunlight are your worst enemies. Insects and water contamination are also major problems. The heat and humidity of the jungle makes for rapid bacteria growth. Any untreated wound will fester within a few hours. In a day or two a cut can become bad enough to cause gangrene. You must protect yourself by turning down sleeves, blousing your pants to keep insects out, and wearing gloves and a hat.
Water must be boiled well to kill parasites. Safe water can be found in water vines. These are very thick vines that hang down from large trees. Cut one at a 45 degree angle, move up the vine and cut it off about three feet up or sever it to release the suction. Hold your mouth under the vine and the water will flow out. This water is safe to drink without boiling. Try not to let it run along the exposed outside of the vine though, that area will have tiny insects living on it.
Streams are usually as deep as they are wide. Diffenbachia (or "dumb cane") can be crushed and added to water to stun fish. Mangoes, bananas, coconuts, and other fruits are safe to eat if you wash them with sterile water first.
Some miscellaneous things for tropical & sub-tropical states:
Blow guns are difficult to make, but I'll tell you how for the hell of it. Take a limb and split it length-wise. Scrape the bore of the weapon into both halves. It must be perfect. Allow it to dry and polish the bore halves smooth. The two sides must fit perfectly. (This is harder than it sounds). Bind the two back together with bark or vine strips. Darts are made from any wood that can be sharpened. To launch the dart a small tuft of fiber (like cotton) balled around the base of the dart.
During the rainy season in tropical states, grubs can be found in the center of trees. They are a great source of protein. Build a platform or hammock to get off of the ground when you sleep. Insects will eat you alive if you don't. Mud can be used to keep mosquitoes off. The tropics are a garden of Eden compared to the desert or the arctic. With a little common sense anyone car survive.
I don't know of any poisonous plants that don't taste extremely bitter and nasty. If the leaf tastes mild it is probably OK to eat. When in doubt, try a little piece first and wait a couple of hours. If nothing bad happens try twice as much and wait again. Keep doing this until you've tried enough to have made you sick. If you are still OK then it's probably safe to eat. There are exceptions to this rule, most notably among berries. Some berries don't taste too bad but are poisonous.
You should educate yourself before going to a new area. Pictures in books never look like the actual plant. Generally, if it crawls, walks, or slithers on it's belly it is safe to eat.
Remember, your job is to stay alive long enough to make sure they don't.
Survival:
When the shit hits the fan and you head for the hills, some basic knowledge will help you.
Attitude is everything. Some of you may read this and think "yeah, o.k., now get on to the good stuff". What you must realize is that without the proper mental attitude, the other topics will be of little use. If you have done your homework, and practiced the techniques described, you will survive if you have a positive mental attitude. Tell yourself that you WILL get out of this. You WILL persevere.
I have seen some survival books talk as though collecting water is easy, catching game with snares is simple, and survival is something that can be taught in books. When I was young, I lived in the country. On Friday afternoons, I would take water proof matches, a liter of water, my bow and some arrows or my trusty Ruger 10/22, a ground blanket, and spend the weekend making snares, fishing with equipment I made, and hunting for my dinner. I used primitive fire making methods and only used matches when I had to. I can tell you that there is nothing easy about any of this shit. There was much I didn't know at the time, but I had read lots of books. I probably knew more at 11 than most people ever do. Cable TV was unheard of, and computers were magical talking 'entities' as seen ..rek. For me, society was full of unnecessary trappings that only made men soft and weak.
By Sunday I was ready to return home. I shot a few birds and rabbits, caught a few fish and ate well. But I learned something that many people do not realize. To survive you must battle three things in this order:
Exposure
Dehydration
Food Gathering
You can die in a few hours if you cannot retain body heat. You can die of exposure in 72 degree weather! You will develop hypothermia when your body loses heat faster than you can produce it. You need calories to generate body heat. People can die of hypothermia in warm water. The water is cooler than they are, subsequently the water absorbs body heat until their body can produce no more. It is a slow death.
When you breathe your breath causes water loss. Perspiration causes water loss. Evaporation from your eyes causes water loss. If you cannot replace these losses you will die. Drink water with little microbes, parasites, etc. and you will develop diarrhea. This will increase your fluid loss and you will die even faster. Food is the last thing you will need. In moderate climates, you can survive without food for up to 30 days. You will die without water in one or two in the desert! Finding edible berries and plants are the last things you need to learn. Conserving fluids and body heat are the primary survival skills. If you can survive long enough to get real hungry you are doing a good job. In extreme cold food is more important because your body converts food to heat.
Taking Inventory:
First examine what you have to work with. Seat cushions from a vehicle are insulation. Glass with imperfections, bifocals, binoculars, etc. can be used to focus the suns rays enough to start a fire. Thread stripped from a foam seat cushion and wound together can be used to lash things together, make fishing nets, sutures for stitching wounds, etc. Remember your priorities. Shelter, Water, and food. You will have to balance these priorities and make decisions. You will burn calories while walking, calories that will be hard to replace. You will also perspire, can you afford the water loss? If the enemy is searching for you, you will have to move to a safe location.
Exposure and Body Heat - Winter:
Time is running against you here. You must work quickly and conserve energy. After you have taken inventory, build a fire. Hopefully you will have matches or a lighter. You must conserve these valuable items. Before you build your fire, pick a place for your shelter. Now gather combustible materials. Cones from pine trees don't burn. Bark doesn't either. DON'T waste matches trying to ignite them.
Gather material in this order:
Very small match stick thickness twigs. Have at least a good double handful. They must be dry. To find dry sticks in the rain, look under the overhang of an embankment, under-side of logs, dead dry roots pulled out of an embankment, the center of a stump or dead tree dug out with a knife or hatchet.
Small sticks a little bigger than the ones above. You will need more of these. Some of these may be a little wet. Bigger sticks, Twice the thickness of the ones before, even more of these. Keep moving up in size until you are collecting branches and small logs. If the wood is available you will need as much as you can gather in an hour. Drift wood will work if it's dry.
Now that you have your wood it's time to build your fire. Take your time and do this right. DON'T throw the fire together haphazardly. This will only waste fuel and increase the risk of the fire not lighting. Every match you have is like gold. Do not waste them. If you do this right you will only need one.
Take a medium size branch and lay it down. Now build a tiny lean-to with the smallest sticks by leaning them up against the branch. Take more and and lay them perpendicular to first layer, and parallel to the big branch. Use lots of very small sticks and leave enough gaps between them for the flames to rise up through and ignite the upper layers. If it's raining or windy cover yourself with something to protect your fire. Now add the bigger sticks to the top of the your neat little lean-to, using a tee pee shape, and surrounding the little lean-to on all sides. Leave a small gap up close to the big branch to get your match under the pile. If you have a small slip of paper or lint from pockets, put it under the lean-to and ignite it. As your fire grows, start adding more and more sticks to get the fire very hot. Now add the larger sticks, the heat will dry them if they are damp. (Not if they are green or soaked through.) Keep building your fire in stages. DON'T wait too long to add the next size larger sticks. The heat generated from the rapidly burning small ones is needed to dry and ignite the larger ones. As soon as you can, put some bigger stuff on by laying them across the big branch on the ground. Once your fire is going, DON'T let it go out. If you need more fuel gather more, and start building your shelter.
This is the fastest shelter I know of:
If there a snow bank nearby You are going to dig a cave in the snow. You want the opening to be away from the wind. The cave has to be very small. For a snow shelter to be effective it must be below freezing. If not, melting snow will saturate your clothing and you will freeze. Hollow out a place to lie in the snow. If you have something to line the floor with it will be much warmer. If you have nothing but plastic or something, try to find evergreen tree limbs to line it with. You want as much between you and the cold ground as you can. You will lose more heat by being in contact with the cold ground than you will from the air. The air in your cave will warm and retain heat. If you have a small heat source you can place a vent through the roof to allow gas to escape. You must ration your heat source. You will need it more at night when the temperature drops. Luxuries to add will be more insulation, seat cushions, etc. and a door.
A "Ranger Pile" is a shelter used by small parties who lack bulky camping equipment or who for tactical reasons, must not risk fire or shelter construction. First layer of men, four or five lays very close together on two ponchos snapped together. Next layer lays on top of the others, cross ways. Another layer on top of them. Remaining ponchos are snapped together and pulled over the top and tucked in around the sides. If a quantity of DRY pine needles, leaves, etc. can be quietly collected, this can be used for insulation stuffing. Just pile it on each layer before the next gets on. This is how small recon teams survive without carrying a lot of bullshit with them.
A vehicle will block the wind but the compartment is too big to retain body heat. You will freeze if you stay in a car. Strip cushions, carpet, floor mats, insulation, etc. from the vehicle to line your shelter with. If you have tools and can remove the hood or trunk lid you can use these for a reflector to direct heat in one direction from a fire. NOTE: You will not need a car in the woods so put it to use.
If you are fortunate enough to have the materials to construct a lean-to, build one similar to the way you built your fire. Keep the openings away from the wind, and towards your fire. Use a reflector to direct the heat into your lean-to.
Clothing - Winter:
Thin material should be put closest to your body, as should wool. If you have extra foam from seat cushions, stuff your shirts and pants with it. It will work as insulation. Extra clothing can be stripped in to pieces of about 5" x 4' and used as wrapping for extra socks. You want to have the material that best holds in heat closest to your skin. This same concept can be used when you have the luxury of a sleeping bag. Sleeping bags are designed to hold in heat much better than clothes. When you get into a bag, remove all of your clothes and lay on them. Naked, your body heat will be trapped between your skin and the bag. Otherwise your heat escapes through the thin material of your clothing, and stays between your clothes and the bag, until it dissipates. If you have no clothes for the environment, you will have to use the shelter for clothing. Keep your shelter VERY small and use insulation. This is your only chance to survive.
If there is plenty of snow and ice you will have a good water supply if you have a fire and a container to melt it in. DO NOT EAT SNOW. It will lower your body temperature and bring on hypothermia. Always melt it and get it warm first.
Do not drink alcohol of any kind. It will thin your blood and increase your urine output. If it's strong enough, you can use it as a disinfectant.
You may want to find a book named "White Dawn". It chronicles the lives of three men who were lost in their small whaling boat in the arctic back in the 1800's. It is an excellent work of fiction but provides many accurate details of how northern aboriginal peoples survive in their climate.
Exposure - Desert states:
Since there is nothing in the desert to hold in the heat, it dissipates quickly after the sun goes down. Deserts can drop to near freezing over night. During the day the temperature will soar and fry your brain and dry you out and kill you. For this reason any movement should only be at night. For shelter you must get out of the sun. If you can, dig a hole to get in and cover it. Do not strip off your clothes. Have you ever wondered why Arabic people wear those long, heavy, hot looking clothing on their heads and bodies? It is because moisture evaporation is your worst enemy in the desert. Clothing helps keep in this moisture and slows evaporation. It must be loose enough to allow heat loss. You will need to stay warm at night, refer to the Winter topic above.
Water is THE most important thing to consider in the desert, it must be conserved. Long term drinking of urine can make you sick, but if it's all you have you will have to drink it. Succulent plants like cactus also contain water, as do the bodies of snakes, lizards, and other animals. Suck every drop you can from them, but avoid the poison glands in snakes (they are right behind the head in the neck). The only two parts of animals in North America that cannot be eaten are the livers of the polar bear and bearded seal. They contain toxic amounts of Vitamin A.
If you have plastic or a poncho you can collect water at night in the desert. dig a hole (or use support sticks) as wide as the plastic. Make a hole in the plastic at the center. Stretch the plastic over the hole and weight down the edges with rocks. Press down the center of the sheet or tie it to a rock to pull it down. Place a container under the hole. When dew forms on the plastic it will roll down hill through the hole and it into your container. Use your poncho during the day as shade. Again do not drink alcohol, it will increase your urine output and aid in dehydration. I know...it sucks.
Exposure - Tropical & sub-tropical states:
Here, heat and sunlight are your worst enemies. Insects and water contamination are also major problems. The heat and humidity of the jungle makes for rapid bacteria growth. Any untreated wound will fester within a few hours. In a day or two a cut can become bad enough to cause gangrene. You must protect yourself by turning down sleeves, blousing your pants to keep insects out, and wearing gloves and a hat.
Water must be boiled well to kill parasites. Safe water can be found in water vines. These are very thick vines that hang down from large trees. Cut one at a 45 degree angle, move up the vine and cut it off about three feet up or sever it to release the suction. Hold your mouth under the vine and the water will flow out. This water is safe to drink without boiling. Try not to let it run along the exposed outside of the vine though, that area will have tiny insects living on it.
Streams are usually as deep as they are wide. Diffenbachia (or "dumb cane") can be crushed and added to water to stun fish. Mangoes, bananas, coconuts, and other fruits are safe to eat if you wash them with sterile water first.
Some miscellaneous things for tropical & sub-tropical states:
Blow guns are difficult to make, but I'll tell you how for the hell of it. Take a limb and split it length-wise. Scrape the bore of the weapon into both halves. It must be perfect. Allow it to dry and polish the bore halves smooth. The two sides must fit perfectly. (This is harder than it sounds). Bind the two back together with bark or vine strips. Darts are made from any wood that can be sharpened. To launch the dart a small tuft of fiber (like cotton) balled around the base of the dart.
During the rainy season in tropical states, grubs can be found in the center of trees. They are a great source of protein. Build a platform or hammock to get off of the ground when you sleep. Insects will eat you alive if you don't. Mud can be used to keep mosquitoes off. The tropics are a garden of Eden compared to the desert or the arctic. With a little common sense anyone car survive.
I don't know of any poisonous plants that don't taste extremely bitter and nasty. If the leaf tastes mild it is probably OK to eat. When in doubt, try a little piece first and wait a couple of hours. If nothing bad happens try twice as much and wait again. Keep doing this until you've tried enough to have made you sick. If you are still OK then it's probably safe to eat. There are exceptions to this rule, most notably among berries. Some berries don't taste too bad but are poisonous.
You should educate yourself before going to a new area. Pictures in books never look like the actual plant. Generally, if it crawls, walks, or slithers on it's belly it is safe to eat.
Remember, your job is to stay alive long enough to make sure they don't.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
FKN Newz - 9/11 The Emperor's Clothes
Brilliant! Deek nails it... the lot... in eight minutes fifty seconds flat. Bravo, d00d, bravo!
New planet! YaY! And it’s a lot like here... hmmm...
From BBC News... this sounds exciting... you just know there's good stuff on this world!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6589157.stm
New 'super-Earth' found in space
Wednesday, 25 April 2007
Astronomers have found the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date, a world which could have water running on its surface.
The planet orbits the faint star Gliese 581, which is 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra.
Scientists made the discovery using the Eso 3.6m Telescope in Chile.
They say the benign temperatures on the planet mean any water there could exist in liquid form, and this raises the chances it could also harbour life.
"We have estimated that the mean temperature of this 'super-Earth' lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius, and water would thus be liquid," explained Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory, lead author of the scientific paper reporting the result.
'Is there life anywhere else?' is a fundamental question we all ask...
Alison Boyle
London Science Museum
"Moreover, its radius should be only 1.5 times the Earth's radius, and models predict that the planet should be either rocky - like our Earth - or covered with oceans." Xavier Delfosse, a member of the team from Grenoble University, added: "Liquid water is critical to life as we know it."
He believes the planet may now become a very important target for future space missions dedicated to the search for extra-terrestrial life.
These missions will put telescopes in space that can discern the tell-tale light "signatures" that might be associated with biological processes.
The observatories would seek to identify trace atmospheric gases such as methane, and even markers for chlorophyll, the pigment in Earth plants that plays a critical role in photosynthesis.
'Indirect' detection
The exoplanet - as astronomers call planets around a star other than the Sun - is the smallest yet found, and has been given the designation Gliese 581 c.
It completes a full orbit of its parent star in just 13 days.
EXOPLANET GLIESE 581 C
Mass: Five times Earth's mass
Orbit: 13 days
Temperature: 0C - 40C
Distance: 20.5 light years
Constellation: Libra
Indeed, it is 14 times closer to its star than the Earth is to our Sun.
However, given that the host star is smaller and colder than the Sun - and thus less luminous - the planet nevertheless lies in the "habitable zone", the region around a star where water could be liquid.
Gliese 581 c was identified at the European Southern Observatory (Eso) facility at La Silla in the Atacama Desert.
To make their discovery, researchers used a very sensitive instrument that can measure tiny changes in the velocity of a star as it experiences the gravitational tug of a nearby planet.
Astronomers are stuck with such indirect methods of detection because current telescope technology struggles to image very distant and faint objects - especially when they orbit close to the glare of a star.
The Gliese 581 system has now yielded three planets: the new super-Earth, a 15 Earth-mass planet (Gliese 581 b) orbiting even closer to the parent star, and an eight Earth-mass planet that lies further out (Gliese 581 d).
The latest discovery has created tremendous excitement among scientists.
Of the more than 200 exoplanets so far discovered, a great many are Jupiter-like gas giants that experience blazing temperatures because they orbit close in to much hotter stars.
The Gliese 581 super-Earth is in what scientists also sometimes call the "Goldilocks Zone", where temperatures "are just right" for life to have a chance to exist.
Commenting on the discovery, Alison Boyle, the curator of astronomy at London's Science Museum, said: "Of all the planets we've found around other stars, this is the one that looks as though it might have the right ingredients for life.
"It's 20 light-years away and so we won't be going there anytime soon, but with new kinds of propulsion technology that could change in the future. And obviously we'll be training some powerful telescopes on it to see what we can see," she told BBC News.
"'Is there life anywhere else?' is a fundamental question we all ask."
Professor Glenn White at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is helping to develop the European Space Agency's Darwin mission, which will scan the nearby Universe, looking for signs of life on Earth-like planets. He said: "This is an important step in the search for true Earth-like exoplanets.
"As the methods become more and more refined, astronomers are narrowing in on the ultimate goal - the detection of a true Earth-like planet elsewhere.
"Obviously this newly discovered planet and its companions in the Gliese 581 system will become prominent targets for missions like Esa's Darwin and Nasa's Terrestrial planet Finder when they fly in about a decade."
The discovery is reported in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6589157.stm
New 'super-Earth' found in space
Wednesday, 25 April 2007
Astronomers have found the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date, a world which could have water running on its surface.
The planet orbits the faint star Gliese 581, which is 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra.
Scientists made the discovery using the Eso 3.6m Telescope in Chile.
They say the benign temperatures on the planet mean any water there could exist in liquid form, and this raises the chances it could also harbour life.
"We have estimated that the mean temperature of this 'super-Earth' lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius, and water would thus be liquid," explained Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory, lead author of the scientific paper reporting the result.
'Is there life anywhere else?' is a fundamental question we all ask...
Alison Boyle
London Science Museum
"Moreover, its radius should be only 1.5 times the Earth's radius, and models predict that the planet should be either rocky - like our Earth - or covered with oceans." Xavier Delfosse, a member of the team from Grenoble University, added: "Liquid water is critical to life as we know it."
He believes the planet may now become a very important target for future space missions dedicated to the search for extra-terrestrial life.
These missions will put telescopes in space that can discern the tell-tale light "signatures" that might be associated with biological processes.
The observatories would seek to identify trace atmospheric gases such as methane, and even markers for chlorophyll, the pigment in Earth plants that plays a critical role in photosynthesis.
'Indirect' detection
The exoplanet - as astronomers call planets around a star other than the Sun - is the smallest yet found, and has been given the designation Gliese 581 c.
It completes a full orbit of its parent star in just 13 days.
EXOPLANET GLIESE 581 C
Mass: Five times Earth's mass
Orbit: 13 days
Temperature: 0C - 40C
Distance: 20.5 light years
Constellation: Libra
Indeed, it is 14 times closer to its star than the Earth is to our Sun.
However, given that the host star is smaller and colder than the Sun - and thus less luminous - the planet nevertheless lies in the "habitable zone", the region around a star where water could be liquid.
Gliese 581 c was identified at the European Southern Observatory (Eso) facility at La Silla in the Atacama Desert.
To make their discovery, researchers used a very sensitive instrument that can measure tiny changes in the velocity of a star as it experiences the gravitational tug of a nearby planet.
Astronomers are stuck with such indirect methods of detection because current telescope technology struggles to image very distant and faint objects - especially when they orbit close to the glare of a star.
The Gliese 581 system has now yielded three planets: the new super-Earth, a 15 Earth-mass planet (Gliese 581 b) orbiting even closer to the parent star, and an eight Earth-mass planet that lies further out (Gliese 581 d).
The latest discovery has created tremendous excitement among scientists.
Of the more than 200 exoplanets so far discovered, a great many are Jupiter-like gas giants that experience blazing temperatures because they orbit close in to much hotter stars.
The Gliese 581 super-Earth is in what scientists also sometimes call the "Goldilocks Zone", where temperatures "are just right" for life to have a chance to exist.
Commenting on the discovery, Alison Boyle, the curator of astronomy at London's Science Museum, said: "Of all the planets we've found around other stars, this is the one that looks as though it might have the right ingredients for life.
"It's 20 light-years away and so we won't be going there anytime soon, but with new kinds of propulsion technology that could change in the future. And obviously we'll be training some powerful telescopes on it to see what we can see," she told BBC News.
"'Is there life anywhere else?' is a fundamental question we all ask."
Professor Glenn White at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is helping to develop the European Space Agency's Darwin mission, which will scan the nearby Universe, looking for signs of life on Earth-like planets. He said: "This is an important step in the search for true Earth-like exoplanets.
"As the methods become more and more refined, astronomers are narrowing in on the ultimate goal - the detection of a true Earth-like planet elsewhere.
"Obviously this newly discovered planet and its companions in the Gliese 581 system will become prominent targets for missions like Esa's Darwin and Nasa's Terrestrial planet Finder when they fly in about a decade."
The discovery is reported in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
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