Table Of ContentA 0
£1.25/ September 1996/ Interpreting Contemporary Vision and Belief.
Gods or
Astronauts?
GarethM edway
reviewtsh e
backgrountdo a n
extraordinarily
persistbeenlti ef.
Stare hard at this disc, rotate
Ship Ahoy!
the magazine in an anti PLUS
MartinK ottmeyer
clockwise direction then send Thes ensatiroentaulr n
answertsh ec ritics
ofD esmonOd' Connor
ofh isn autical me all your money.
spillmionrgeb eans
explanatifoonr
Howd idI dot hatR?e adM ickG osso nt hef actasb outthe greaatn d
thec lassNiecw
behintdh eH ypno-Heist goodo fF orteanism!
Guineac ase
2 l MAGONIA !t1
MAGONIA 57
(Incorporating MUfOB 106)
SEPTEMBER 1996
EDITOR
JOHN NIMMER
The Remarkable World of Desmond O'Connor
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
John Homey
I had hoped to provide you with a he censoriously suggests that the he had learned frohims wife's
CORRESPONDING EDITORS copoyfE riDci ngwomlals'tses rtluyd yf utDuurceh eosfWs i ndstooro k disowrneleadt ,i'B ivg eJi'mP helon, the
ofth e UFO phenom,ec noomnplete lessionTn asn tMraigci fcrko m notorSihoeuffsi cealstdk iern.n
Peter Rogerson
withhif si olneR osweclolm piilne d Crowlfeoryre asootnhste hra an Thewreer mea nsyp eculaotni ons
Nigel Watson
late 1953, which would hove conclu search for metaphysical enlightenment. the causes of Fort's abrupt move to
Michael Goss
siveplroyv tehdee x traterrestriaIlu nderstthaasnetdv erreaald erEsn glahnicdsh, a ngoefas d draensds
origins of the phenomeon and put the have expressed an interest in my his episodes of reclusiveness. The
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Others, £6.50 oneo ft heamnd, t hdeo ssrieemra inse quivroeclaalt iwointsLhhy ittpo n Sicil.yH ew ass ometpiamtera onnd
elusHiovwee.v yeorum, a yb ei nterStracahnedhy i,ls o ngstafenudd ingl ovoefEr u saPpailoil nao,ad nda lsao
ested in the enclosed photograph of with H. G. Wells, culminating in the close friend of Crowley, whom he
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onth e grosss ceptimc ains dl acok.f thAeg ricuHlatluI lrb.ae lli tehvaet teasihnoL pe aminSgptaoF.no y re ars
• French subscribers may find it
easier and cheaper to send us a 50- mogickol knowledge in this country Fort's relationship with Wells was after Crowley would hide in ac up
thaItns peDcutmobreo lttl h Hea stingsst raiwnheehdne a rriavtte hda t boaradn ds quelaikka ge e rabtit lh e
franc banknote for a 4 issue
Constabulary expressed his disbelief of worthy's doorstep with al etotfe r very mention of the Italian's name. lits
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• Cheques and money orders
rana way acrotshsbe e acwhh ehne genioufts h cee ntaunrdwy o uld P.SIw. a sj uasbto tutop ostth is
should be made payable to "John
and od ozen of Hosting's finest burst in provide the plots for Wells' next when the lovely Trocey handed me
Rimmer: NOT to "Magonia ".
ont hsea crreidtr east,ht ehras nw imhundrsetdeos .rA isW elklnse twh at Dingwadlols'sswi heirc,Ieh n close.
ming off to sea. In vain did Crowley he was the greatest genius of this or
Allcorrespondenc� subscriprions
and exchange magazines should be explaintha t thewseer aestra l mer anyo thceern tuidrti ynd,o etn dear Editor's Note: In factthd eo ssier
maidasn,da ss uccho udledp airnt hitm oFo r.t enclowsaesnd o Dtin gwa'slR loswell
sent to the editor:
anym anntehre wyi shDeudm.b ell's Fortwa sn evaebrl teoe stablirsehp ,ob rutOt'C onn'sos rcrapbofo ok.
John Rimmer,
further allegation that the skyclod a rapport with the dilletonte petty the peccadillos of o number of leading
John Dee Cottage
5 James Terrace spiwreirtaesc tuanloltyo rious bourgowihsomi oen opolpissyecdh imce mbeortts h SeP Ra ndo thperro min
members of thBeri ghton demi-monde, research in England at that time. Mrs ent parapsychologists, ufologists and
Mortlake Churchyard
viFrzo:n citnheSe t rFriecntc Mhi streSsisd gwaincdtk h oet hoelrld a dioefs fort.eT ohniisssn owi ns afhea n,d s
London
anda n umboefhr e pru piwlass, thSeP Rt houogfhFo tr tos o ' terribalnydw ilbelf orwatrodae s du itable
SWU BHB
beneactohn tempt. vulgAamre riacnadnw 'o ulndo hta ve archaifvtete hrle a osftt hpee ople
United Kingdom
A similar attitude of uncompre been amused to see him holding court mentioned in it has passed to'T he
c Magonia 1996 hendicnygn icwiassem x hibbiyt ed ina t ouKgihl bpuurbn waib tahr maiOtdh erSid e'w,h icith t,h aec tivities
Fabian of the Yard in the episode of on each knee, downing pints of Borley described therein are typical of their
Copyright in signed articles rests
Crowleya ndW allSiism psino wnh,ich Bittaenrds n iging thIer iresbehl s ongsl ifesctaynlneboselt, o ndge la.y ed
with the authors
MAGONh\ 57/ '
WHO TAUGHT GOD with a hypodermic needle: and "it may
well be that the sperm used was God's
making Jesus the Son of God just as
the Bible teaches."
TO DRIVE? Yet in the end Dione's super
technological God is hardly different
from the supernatural one of the
Catholics. We don't have souls, but
technology can make our minds,
which ore electromagnetic in nature,
immortal: "God will choose which of
us will survive os angels in heaven ...
by analysing the references of our
guardian angels and by studying the
monitoring tapes which are at this
Gareth Medway looks at the writers who moment recording our lives."
Dione's original background was
developed the Ancient Astronaut concept, and
evidently in the Roman church, since
why that belief system proved so popular he gave a whole chapter to Fatima,
and quoted the Bible in a revised
version of the Douay translation.
Dovid F. McConnell, in his Flying
Saucers of the lord (Economy Printing
Company, Miami, Rorida, 1969) used
the King James translation (and so
was presumably brought up a
Protestant), but his interpretations were
very similar to Dione's: "Exodus /3:21
R.L.Dione's God Drives a Flying ...--��---- And the lord went before
Saucer (Corgi, 1973; 1st ed. 1969) them by day in a pHiar of
sneers at traditional metaphysics: " ... cloud, to lead them the way,·
no system of logic yet devised can and by night in a pillar of fire, to
resolve the inconsistencies and give them light,· to go by day and night.
paradoxes inherent in the belief that This was o case of o flying saucer or
man is inhabited by a mystical, saucers of the Lord leading the
supernatural and immortal something children ot Israel through the
called a soul." wilderness of the Red Sea . ... Psalm
Turning to the Bible, what is 97 :3 A fire goeth before him, and
to be mode of the miracles burneth up his enemies round about.
recorded there? Dione con The flying saucers of the Lord with the
find no reason to doubt the angels go before the Lord and burn up
Bible's accuracy: " ...i f it his enemies."
were not for the references
to miracles, the Bible A Question of Faith
would stand unchallenged
os a monumental achieve Up until about 1950 religion seemed to
ment in historical reporting. be everywhere in decline, whilst
" The possibility of science and materialism increased,
supernatural powers he apparently in the direction of universal
finds absurd, therefore the atheism. One of the standard
only explanation is that flying objections to religion was that the
saucer technology was ot Bible is full of miracles, which the
work. After that, everything progress of science hod indicated to
becomes simple: Adorn and Eve be impossible. The Book of Joshua
were created by genetic � records that God, at the request of
:::::1
engineers working under the Joshua, stopped the sun in its move-
�
direction of God, who is the ::f- ment for the space of a whole day. In
"leader of the master CD ancient times this did not seem odd;
technologists"; angels were �CP after Newton, it was difficult to believe.
spacemen; Ezekiel's vision was of g 1950 saw the publication of
flying saucers: as to the Immaculate �r lmmanuel Velikovsky's Worlds in
Conception, it is "reasonably � Collision. Though its author may not
certain" that Gabriel was a & have consciously realised it, the intent
0
"biological specialist" who � of this book seems to hove been o
artificially inseminated Mary c.. reconciliation of science and religion.
cc
0
c..
Thied eoaf
Velikovsky being Jewish, for him neshomoh of life; and Adorn become a flashed through the aerial spaces. lt
Ancient
religion meant the Old Testament. He living nephesh.) So it was explained halted over the White Island which lay
suggested that many of the Biblical that nephesh was the animal soul, in the Gobi Sea. Green it was, and
wonders could be explained in wholly ruoch the rational soul, and neshamah Astronaradiaunt witth the fsirst blo ssoms as Earth
scientific terms as being catastrophes the divine soul. Having by soch means offered her fairest and best to welcome
brought about by the wanderings of discovered the whole of Aristotle's her King." (FSHl, p. 166, quoting
the planets Venus and Mars. He system within their sacred books, they wast oyeBdesont and leadbeater, Man: How,
considered that Venus only came into declared that Aristotle must hove Whence and Whither) Leslie
existence a few thousand years ago, travelled to Jerusalem and learnt from commented: "In this fragment we have
when it was blown out of Jupiter. the Jews. witahsf arthe first account of the landing of a
About 1500 BC it came close to Earth, The idea of Ancient Astronauts great space ship or flying saucer ...
causing various dramatic gravitational was toyed with as for back as 1919 by Incredible as it seems, there can be no
effects such os the parting of the Red Charles Fort in The Book of the bacaks1 9 19 other meaning to this passage. .. He
Sea, and the halting of the motion of Damned. lt also become a regular dated this landing to the year 18,617,
the sun mentioned above. Eventually it theme in science fiction. Notably, in 841 BC. ..
reached ifs present orbit, which was November 1947, Fantastic Stories had a byC harleIn sview o f the sensational
then occupied by Mars. Venus settled short story "Son of the Sun", in the conclusions, one mi.ght ask, just how
in Mars' orbit, and Mars was driven form of a message from an extra reliable are the sources? This question
ForitnTh e
away from the sun, passing Earth terrestrial, who tells the human race did not seem to occur to leslie. His
during the middle of the period that the croft now being seen in the main authorities are given as the
covered by the Biblical Book of Kings, skies (this was a few months after the Stanzas of Dzyan, along with the
Book of the
causing various further apparent start of the first flying saucer wave) writings of Annie Besont, Charles
miracles. have visited the Earth long ago: their Leadbeater, W. Scott Elliott and Alice
Dr Velikovsky was a friend of occupants were formerly confused Bailey. The Stanzas of Dzyan were first
Damned
both Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein, with gods. They left behind .. certain published in Madame Blavatsky's The
and evidently expected that his name landmarks" in Egypt and elsewhere. Secret Doctrine, introduced with the
would one day stand alongside theirs. The author of this piece, "Alexander latl so description: "An archaic Manuscript -
He was disappointed: though Worlds Blade", was none other than Brinsley a collection of palm leaves mode
in Collision was first issued by the le Poer Trench, subsequent author of a impermeable to water, fire and air, by
respected academic publishers series of books on the theme, from The becaam es ome specific and unknown process -
Mocmillon of New York, not only did Sky People (Neville Spearmon, 1960) is before the writer's eye."
scientific writers denounce it, but onwards. Unfortunately, this book does not seem
universities threatened to boycott The first substantial treatment was regulato hrave la in before the eye of anyone
Mocmillon's entire book list so long os by Desmond Leslie in Flying Saucers else, and Madame Blovotsky herself
Velikovsky's work remained on it. So Hove landed, which appeared three probably only saw it with clairvoyant
they transferred the rights to years after Worlds in Collision. After themien vision. lt can therefore be reasonably
Doubleday, who did not hove a some account of modern UFOs, Leslie objected that it is a matter of faith,
textbook business, and despite all the suddenly jumped back thousands of . rather than historical record, to accept
sctence
criticism it sold well for decades. years to Atlantis. In those days people its account of the Lords of the Flame.
Though there were perfectly legitimate flew around in machines called Furthermore, the information given by
objections to Velikovsky's theories on vimanas, of which it w<Js written: ..... Besant, leadbeoter, Scott Elliott and
fiction.
astronomical grounds, this excessive their outside surface was apparently Bailey was also obtained by psychic
reaction leads one to suspect that his seamless and perfectly smooth, and investigation. (The dote 18,617,841 was
opponents were unconsciously aware they shone in the dark as if coated "according to the Brahmin Tables".)
of the book's hidden religious agenda, with luminous paint." (FSHl, p. 81, "As soon as we abandon our own
and that was what they objected fo. quoting W. Scoff Elliott, The Story of reason, and ore content to rely upon
In a sense, Velikovsky was firmly Atlontis) authority, there is no end to our
within the Rabbinical tradition, which These were not the earliest flying troubles. Whose authority? The Old
is that anything and everything con be saucers: in fact, human life was first Testament? The New Te stoment? The
found in the Torah (low of God). In brought to Earth from Venus by the Koran? In practice, people choose the
the 12th century, when Aristotelian Lords of the Flame, on whom Leslie book considered sacred by the
philosophy become popular amongst quoted from the Stanzas of Dzyan: community in which they are born, and
the Jews, Rabbis claimed to find it all "The lords of the Flame arose and out of th<Jt book they choose the ports
in their scriptures. Aristotle taught that prepared themselves ... the Great lord they like, ignoring the others ... No
there ore three ports to the soul: the of the Fourth Sphere (the Earth) Catholic, for instance, takes seriously
animal soul, the rational soul, and the awaited their oncoming. The lower the text which says that a Bishop
divine soul. Now, the Biblical Hebrew (Earth) was prepared. The upper should be the husband of one wife. ..
word for "soul" is nephesh, but once (Venus) was resigned ... " Their arrival (Berfrand Russell, Unpopular Essays,
or twice ruoch and neshomoh, both of was described thus: "Then wtth the 1950, p. lOa)
which mean "wind" or "breath" and mighty roar of swift descent from Now, leslie's main authorities
are used in the sense "breath of life". incalculable heights, surrounded by were Theosophical writers, and though
(Genesis 2:7: "And the Lord God blazing masses of fire which filled the the Theosophical Society might deny it,
formed Adorn of the dust of the ground, sky with shooting tongues of flame, the Theosophy is in effect a religion, with
and breathed into his nostrils the vessel of the Lords of the flame the writings of Blavatsk.y, Besant and
wCoa.s oesv iidtse nsctlryip atu Trehse.o Dsoepsmhiostn, da nLeds hliee cKhinegrusb 6, :1a7n)d; "dAidn dfl yh:e y reoad, eh ue pdoidn afl y .:::-m::.::;::;.:·:R:::.::...:::t.;:::.;;:�.;..:s:..:;.:;:;...n.::.;::;:s:;.;:;:·::.;i:;.::.:::.::�.:.:.;_:·:_ :l.. :·.:e.:·:;..·:it·:. .:::·:::.•.::·:·;.i:...:··:-'.·:·-:;-::.·::-;::::·:�.: ::- : -::;:-:::::: Ttreiemdp tole preropvroe dthucaet dth teh esiorm fien dings, then
was merely updating his Victorian upon the wings of the wind" (Psalm 18: The starting point of information was known to the ancient
religion to encompass the new 10), Jessup commented: "No longer Robert Temple's The Egyptian priests os o secret tradition,
phenomenon of flying saucers. con we afford to lough off these and later to various Greek
Sirius Mystery was the
To be fair, he was also able to references os merely 'quaint' and philosophers who were initiated into
Dogon, a Sudanese
cite some unquestionably ancient allegoric, for they begin to sound more their mysteri�s. Of course these
tribe whom French
books, notably the Mahabharata, and more like accurate descriptions of traditions were never written down,
which mentions flying ships and lethal the UFO." And so on. anthropologists learnt and Temple had to guess at them from
armaments such os the "Brohmo to have traditions scattered clues. His main authorities
Weapon" described in terms compar about being visited by were Walli s Budge's The Gods of the
able to o nuclear bomb. Yet the beings from Sirius. Egyptians, the Mesopotamian epics,
Mahabharata is itself o sacred book to Pertinent here is the furore created by the Hermetic books, Robert Groves'
the Hindus. Some years ago I met on Honest to God {SCM Press, 1963), The Greek Myths, Plutorch On /sis
Indian Guru who was on his way to written by the Bishop of Woolwich, and Osiris, and the neo-Piatonists.
California. He said his original home John A.T. Robinson, which proposed a These are oil either sacred writings of
was o cove in the Himalayas, which mild revolution in theology. He began the Pagans, or modern summaries of
was equipped w�h its own the by asking if it mode sense to speak of such. AJ a guess, one would take
Mahabharata, as it was o religious Go<l "up there" in a Copernican Rob�rt Temple to � o Pagan himself,
duty to watch it. universe. Though his argument was not particularly since he ignores the Bible
For most westerners, of course, set out clearly, he went on to propose altogether, and his only reference to
religion means Christianity and displacing "supronoturolism" with Christianity is this: "The perversions of
scripture the Bible. The 1956 appear "naturalistic" religion. This meant Christianity hove always seemed to
once of Morris K. Jessup's UFO and getting rid of miracles and such-like, me to incorporate o perversion of the
the Bible (Citadel Press, New York) which in the scientific age hod notion of ·sin· an<l the means by
was overdue: he began by saying: become regarded os a bar to faith, �o.:........o�� _.. .. which 'sin' con be exploited os a
"Scarcely a week goes by without though he was unsure with what they means of temporal blackmail over
some alert reader sending me should be replaced. other human beings."
suggestions that I should expound on The original print-run of Honest
the Biblical references to UFO and to God was for 6,000 copies, but
related phenomena of a so-called before the end of the year more thQfl
miraculous type." 350,000 hod been sold, showing that
Jessup started from the position: the questions it raised already
"I believe that it is time for Church and bothered many people. Inevitably
Science to bury their respective toma there was controversy and calls for the
Drawing of an amphibious creature which,
hawks and let the pipe of intellectual Bishop's resignation, but it is according to Temple, gave the Dogon
peace glow as both parties mellow significant that the critics did not agree information about the solar system.
around the camp fire of tolerant and among themselves. One man wrote to
objective inquiry." As an example of him: "I have, and many thousands
the reconciliation of these two sides, hove, on image of God in the heavens.
take Kings 2:11: "And it come to pass, The parsons hove always spoken of a so unbearably dead!" Letters expres Bishop Robinson remarked that
os they still went on, and talked, that, God up there, but now the parsons ore sing agreement come from priests, he hod never experienced "being
behold, there appeared o chariot of contradicting everything they hov� theologians, doctors, headmasters and born again" (Honestto God, p. 27).
fire, and horses of fire, and parted said ... These new beliefs will smash businessmen. "A well-known Since then, the most notable dev
them both asunder, and Elijah went up Christians in believing there is a God politician" wrote: "Reading it, and elopment within the Church has been
by o whirlwind into heaven." Jessup and it could be the Church in general hearing you speak it, has done more the rise of "born-again" Christianity. A
quoted o "skilled and thoughtful will break up. The words of the creed to make the b<Jsic validity of the former "born-again" tells me that it is
student of the Bible" a Mr H. will mean nothing. lt is suddenly like Christian message seem relevant to me perfectly fair to soy that born-again
Lawrence Crowell, as saying that "the telling o youngster who believ�s than all the sermons and services I Christians are taught not to think.
Aramaic words roach 9earah should whole-heartedly in Father Xmas, 'there have ever heard or attended." Instead they ore meant to rely on the
be translated 'power blast' instead of isn't a Father Xmas, it's your Dad.' The Until the debate on the ordination authority of the Bible, and the
'whirlwind'." He could thus offer o whole world would collapse beneath of women, this affair was the biggest inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For this
new version: As they walked and them." (This quotation, and other religious controversy the Church of growing section of the Church, there
talked there suddenly appeared o comments from The Hones/ to God England hod seen this century. lt con be no conflict between science
bright UFO, emitting electric sparks Debate, SCM, 1963) C.S. Lewis, by suggests that, generally speaking, the and religion, since they do not think
and blasts, and it parted them; Bijoh contrast, thought that the Bishop was British felt unable to believe in a about the question.
was snatched up into the sky with a making a noise about nothing: "We comforting God the Father "up there", But for the rest of the "Body of
blast of power. n have long abandoned belief in o God just os they could not believe in Father Christ" the problem has remained, and
Having once hit on this principle who sits on a throne in a localised Christmas. Yet they did not simply turn the conventional, non-born-og<Jin
of interpretation, other miracles ore heaven." to athefsm (as most materialists churches hove continued to decline.
easily explained. Considering such Voices of praise were for more expected they would) but felt the need And, so, the Space Gods have been
passages os: " .•. and, behold, the common: a vicar's wife told the Bishop for some new kind of religion or belief, able to manifest to help fill the
mountain was full of horses and he hod "mode the Church seem alive something to replace the old vacuum left by the departure of God
chariots of fire round about Elisha" (2 again, when for years it has seemed supernatural God. the fother from his throne in heaven
6 /.MAGONl�/57
when he added Madame Blavatsky, science: it took the Garden of Eden as
Kundalini, Gnosticism, etheric nature, an accurate record, not of the doings
mediumship, the significance of the of a supernatural LORD God, but of
A few years later appeared the most cross, telepathic powers, and the genetic manipulation by which
successful of the Ancient Astronaut "journey back to godhood". unknown cosmonauts created homo
books, Erich von Daniken's Chariots of Perhaps the main cause was sapiens from ope-men. Even outlandish
the Gods?, 1969( 1st ed. os &inner simply that he published at the right verses covld thereby be believed in:
ungen an die lukunft, Econ-Verlag, time and place to influence those who, And the lORD God caused a deep
1968. The original title meant: like the disaffected readers of Honest sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept:
"Memories of the Future"}. The first to God, wanted a non-supernatural and he took one of his ribs, and
thing that would strike anyone familiar God "up there". For instance, Darwin closed up the flesh instead thereof.·
with the literature is this book's lack of hod mode Christians uncomfortable and the rib, which the LORD God had
originality. Despite his continual refer abovt Genesis, and Bishop Robinson token from man, mode he a woman,
ences to "my theories" (etc.), almost hardly bothered to defend it: "A and brovght her vnto the man. Van
everything in his book had already hundred years ago the Church was Doniken: "Eve must have been
been noticed by Desmond Leslie, forced to clarify whether it accepted produced in a retort. Now a number of
Robert Charroux, Pauwels and Bergier, the Adorn story as history or as myth. cave drawings showing objects like
W. Raymond Drake and others. Indeed, Until then there hod been many retorts in the vicinity of primitive man
von Doniken's quotations from the theologians( St Paul probably among hove been preserved. Could foreign
Ramayana and Mahabhorato are them) who, if pressed, would not have intelligences with a highly developed
simply lifted from Rying Saucers Have thought the truth of the story science and knowing about the
Landed( he translated the 19th century depended upon Adorn being on immune biological reactions of bones
English renditions into German, actual historical individual. But the have used Adam's marrow as a cell
whence Michael Heron turned them point is ·that they were not pressed. culture and brought the sperm to
back into English, so that the versions There was no compelling need to development in it?"
in Chariots of the Gods? have been distinguish between the categories of
translated thrice). Likewise, when von Despite his history and myth. But with the
Daniken wrote: "Seen from the air, the Darwinian controversy on evolution it
clear-cut impression that the 37- mile became a vital necessity. lt was Miracles aside, the accuracy of the
continual
long plain of Nazca made on me was imperative for Christian apologetic to Bible has been a matter of dispute
that of on airfield!" (Chariots, p. 32), be clear that Genesis was not a rival since the 18th century: until then, it
he was most likely influenced in this references to account of primitive anthropology. If had apparently never occurred to
impression by .Louis Pauwels and the distinction had not been made it anyone to doubt it. Thomas Paine,
Jacques Bergier's The Morning of the "my theories" would have been virtually impossible author of The Age of Reoson, objected
Magicians( Mayflower, 1971, p. 117; 1st to continue commanding the Biblical to the Bible on the grounds that it
ed. Paris, Editions Gallimard, 1960): almost faith to modern scientific man." often depicts God os a mod tyrant. He
"Photographs token of the plain of The Bishop himself settled for backed this up wtth critical arguments
Nazca remind one irresistibly of the myth, regarding Adam and Eve as against the Bible's supposed textual
everything in
ground-lighting of an airfield." lt metaphors for Everyman and Every perfection: The Book of Kings( "little
would be tedious to analyse the whole woman, who ore always subject to more than o history of assassinations,
book in this way, but nearly all of it his book had temptation( the Serpent). "Go back os treachery, and wars") actually
had been said before. for os you will, human nature has contradicts itself: os to the Kings of
So why did this book greatly already been always been like that. That's why in Judah and Israel who were both
outsell its predecessors? Part of the the myth they are put at the beginning. called Joram, "one chapter (2 Kings 1:
reason is no doubt that von Danik.en "(John A.T. Robinson, But that I can't 8) says that Joram of Judah began to
noticed by
wrote in a fluent and popular style believe!, Fontana, 1967) reign in the second year of Joram of
(more than one can say of the average How much happier are those Israel; and the other chapter( 8:16)
UFO author), he appeared( if only Desmond who con take a myth to be absolute says, that Jorom of Israel began to
superficially) to be scientific, and he truth! The born-agains, as always, reign in the fifth year of Jorom of
had actually bothered to visit many of leslie, Robert adhere to the Bible on this question. Judah". Such mistakes are enough to
the sites he wrote about. Many of them suppose that the world disprove the old contention that it is all
Unlike Desmond Leslie and many Charroux, was created in 4000 BC, hence that the word of God, dictated by the Holy
of the others, his treatment was simple radioactive dating is all wrong, Spirit to scribes incapable even of
and unmysticol. Readers of Brinsley le dinosaurs and Neanderthal man never ordinary clerical( ( Neville Speormon,
Pauwels and
Poer Trench's The Sky People, for existed, and Darwin is condemned to 1968; Sphere, 1973), though happy
instance, might have been able to take hell. Some even suggest that God with The Secret Doctrine, Sanskrit
in the Garden of Eden( a Galactic Bergier, created fossils, as they were found, romances, Oahspe( produced through
cross-breed experiment carried out on with intent to deceive CGod shall automatic typewriting by a New York
Mars), Atlantis, Osiris and lsis, Raymond send them strong delusion that they dentist), the Egyptian and Tibetan
Abraham, Red Indian folklore, Sodom should believe a lie", 2 Thes. 2:11) in Books of the Dead, and the revelations
(destroyed by nuclear weapons), order to test Christians' faith in the of Aetherius through Or George King,
Drake and
tektites, Jericho, the 1908 Siberian scriptures. was dubious about the historical value
explosion, and the star of Bethlehem, Return to the Stars offered, again, of the Bible: "Egyptologists,
but maybe it all got too confusing others. a reconciliation of scripture and Assyriologists, archaeologists of
renown, men of science, who should :�l!:::l:ir!::;��::·�.��:�-:
know the facts, find no evidence
whatever of the Exodus ... no Egyptian The other key feature of a religion is
text refers to the miraculous deliver Barry H. Downing, a Presbyter- its teaching on the future, in which,
ian pastor in Endwell, New
ance mentioned in the Bible ... the nearly always, present wrongs are to
Book of Exodus is not a factual, York, was one clergyman be set right in some way. Either there
cr�ical record of events, history as we (probably speaking for is a life after death in which rewards
write it today ... With all due respect many) who came out in and punishments will be given out, or
to the learned Moses, this hotch-potch future lives assigned on the basis of
favour of such interpret
of religious narrative in such turgid past behaviour, or else there is to be a
ations with The Bible and
style does his great mind ill-justice; it Second Coming, in which the Divine
is doubtful whether its literary merit Flying Saucers (Sphere, Kingdom will be brought to Earth, and
1973; 1st US ed., 1968}. Downing was able to
would attract any publisher today." (after the wicked have been thrown
(Mayflower ed., pp 157-8) salvage a more traditional God from the work of into the fiery pit which burns forever)
This attitude is understandable: Space Angels by means of the following universal peace and happiness will
anyone attempting a revolution in construction: "Suppose that in five hundred years reign for eternity. One of the best
thought will tend to challenge the known prophecies to this latter effect
humans on earth should advance technologically
accepted standards they were brought is Mark 13:26-27: "And then shall they
in the space age to the point where we are able
up with, and if that included "The see the Son of Man coming in the
to travel to another world in a spaceship and
Bible is true", the independent thinker clouds with great power ond glory.
discover intelligent beings who were scientif
grows up to question that. Ancient And then shall he send his angels, and
Eastern literature and modem inspir ically primitive. Suppose that Christian shall gather together his elect from the
ational works were not mentioned in missionaries were to travel in space to this four winds, from the uttermost part of
childhood, so there is not the some planet to try to convert these primitive people to the earth to the uttermost port of
motive to doubt them. Christianity. How would these people talk about heaven." Morris K. Jessup produced
Howsomever, the texts he relied his own version;
our missionaries? The Bible seems to suggest
on were mostly religious works of one Shall we paraphrase it o bit?
that angels are very much like missionaries from
kind or another. The same is true of (such as combining verses 26 and 21)
another world."
Robert Charroux, the cover of the "The great shining and powerful
original French edition of whose Le mother-ship will appear among the
Uvre des Secrets Trahis (Robert Laffont, clouds and the Master will dispatch
1965) promises it is "From documents his assistants in smaller craft, and w1ll
older than the Bible". These are and the Virgin mother were "poetry", Spearmon, 1965: French ed., 1962. gather from oil ports of the earth those
primarily The Book of Enoch and the a way of saying "God is in all this". Thomas was actually Paul Misraki, a who have survived the brunt of the
Popol Vuh. Enoch treats of the "fallen Yet he unwittingly suggested the new well-known French popular musician) cataclysm and ha-re reached tempor
angels", who descended to earth, solution of "a visitor from outer space", who was a Catholic (like Dione he ary places of safety, and particvlorly
married human females, and taught that would be so enthusiastically gave a chapter to Fatima), os was his those whom the Shepherd Race deem
various arts and sciences: this adopted by some. "The only celestial English translator Gavin Gibbons. suitable for the propagation and
indicates ·a colonisation of our world object to appear suddenly close However, his interpretation of Jesus' resurgence of hvmonity in o new
by cosmonauts (p. 127); conventional enough to the Earth to be visible return from the dead would not hove racial generarion, and these will be
scholarship, though, assigns the book within only o small radius, which commended itself to the Congregation token to live for a whl'le in the celest
to the intertestamental period. The moves guiding followers, then stands ial regions where ore the homes of the
for the Doctrine of the Faith. He
Popol Vuh relates that a woman still, is an intelligently controlled UFO in space.
suggested that Jesus Christ was a
named Orejono descended to earth Spaceship." (W. Raymond Drake, There isni much more to soy, is
"biological mutationM produced by
from Venus, and gave birth to the Gods and Spacemen throughout there?
alien genetic experimentation. In fact,
human race by mating with a tapir. History, Sphere, 1977, p. 184) "The
the Astronaut Angels' interest in the
Charroux apparently accepted this arrival of the infant Christ on earth Some people would conclude from all
Children of Israel, from the time of
because it was in a book he supposed from a spaceship is less fantastic, more this that there is no reason to believe
Abraham, was as a gene pool from
"older than the Bible". credible, logical and acceptable, than in Gods or Astronauts. Actually all it
which to breed the first specimen of
the ethereal dogma taught by the proves is that people hove a very
Gospel Truth Christian Church." (Robin Collyns, Dk/ the next phase of evolution: humans strong need for some kind of religion,
who could die and then naturally
Spacemen Colonise the Earth?, and it one is taken away from them
On the subject of the Virgin Birth, Moyflower, 1975, p. 163) By 1976 W. come back to life, as was they will hasten to locate another.
Bishop Robinson summarised the Roymond Drake could declare: "Today demonstrated after the crucifixion. Even the most severe secularists would
modern sceptics' position thus: "But the only persons prepared to accept (If this was true, one would admit that the creed of the Astronaut
you can't really believe that lot, con those New Testament wonders as expect that Jesus would hove been Gods is harmless, as religions go:
you? Stars hopping over cribs, angelic literally true appear to be our encouraged to have os many offspring believers are not expected to obey
choirs lighting up the skies, God believers in Hying Saucers." (Gods as possible: bvt, as Thomos/Misroki every command of a priesthood, or
coming to earth as a man -like a and Spacemen in Ancient Israel, admits, he left the world childless burn heretics at the stake. Science
visitor from outer space? You couldn't Sphere, p. 11) (The Holy Blood and the Holy Groil might one day be able to provide a
really believe it today." (But that I The question of the resurrection is to the contrary); so it seems that for testable explanation for the religious
coni believe!, p. 27) a tricky one even for UFO writers, but some reason the aliens decided on a impulse: until then, the frontier
The Bishop's response was vague, it did not daunt Paul Thomas (Rying delay before making the benefits of between science and religion must
suggesting that the star and the angels Saucers through the Ages, Neville immortality generally available.) remain uncertain and disputed territory.
8 I MAGOI'ttA5i
After
•
propoas 1ng
soluttoi on
thcel assic
FathGeirl l
cas1en,
Magonia54,
Martin
Kottmeyer
wasm et
witah
Looks like I have some objections to suggestive of the light just meeting the manoeuvres in Papua in 1959.
deawli tLhe.ts 'tsaw rittB hu llafrodu'rhs o riazsot nhb eo owta sd ropping Consitdhemeri raocfol nea liveens sel
barroafg epoints . below the curvature of the Earth. The crewed by humans gratuitously
tl Bullard asserts that the UFO of closest thing I can find to something levitating over the water for hours with
June 27 was an all-terrain vehicle, passing behind a hill in the original no visible propulsion, no disturbance
obiecticroossnionjntgu s setsba u lt a nadsw ell,r eporretft erose venitns 8t:3h5 ee ntriy:nt hwea tbeern eaiattth tracting
the latter being inconsistent with a ship. "Another one over Wadobuno village". attention, and no deafening noise.
In the talk some four months after the (Seers, p.47) Cruttwell describes it os I suspect the postulated light-to
int hnee xtenco unter the object "wandered over an object that "swooped up and away calm wind conditions necessary for the
thsek ayb itp"a,s sbeedh ianh di ll,o vetrhm eo unta(i.p5n2s) A"s.t he illumsaiy obenr efleicnot c eudr ious
• came back, then "shot right across the word 'another' indicates, this is not the little detail that caught my attention in
ISSUe.
bay". same object that hod the figures re-reading the report. Gill indicated
In the original report these walking around on top of it. there was a glow about the craft with
quotbeedh avioorunero sat s sociatedT hea rtidsetp'isco tfti hoen figu"rTehsge.l odwi ndo tto utchhe m,
with the events of the 27th, but the 26th. object over land in Hendry's but there appeared a little space
The wandering behaviour was Handbook was approved by Gill, but between their outline and the light".
reported in association with all the this may only indicate that he was (Seers, p.SO) This is less mysterious
UFOsa,n ds ouncdosn siwsitetnht satistfhUieF eOdw asd rawcno rrecttlhyai.nft i rresatd Wsh.aI tb eliiesv e
autokinesis. In saying the object shot The drawings in the original report happening here is that exhaust was
across the boy the original report odds, are not framed by reference points in forming a cloud of smoke to the side
"lt diminished to a pinpoint and the locale of the observations, nor ore of the boat and the light from the
vaniswhheidc"sh u ggetshtmoets i on thearneyv erbraelf eretnotc hees centorfte h dee cwka sc osting
Nowh e
was not across the field of vision but object w1th the figures ever being shadows forward onto the cloud. Wind
along the line of sight. This vanishing seen over land. conditions would hove to be minimal
would hove involved speeds of t2 Seas rarely are mirror-smooth, or the eKhaust would hove dispersed
repltioe s
thousaonfm disl es pebru" tth hoeurrbe,u It a mn oats kifnomgri racles.q uickForl ays .h atrhpis np aceb et o
was no sound", i.e. no sonic boom. Consider the miracle implicit in the present the cloud had to be close and
hicsr itiThcis probsably pr:oves th e interpretation assumption that Americans actually not enveloping the crew itself, making
was wrong. The description seems had silent flying platforms on it unlikely the cloud was
meteorological in origin. hinges on how much one wants a
t3 I confess I know too little about solution or how much one wants the
squid to argue about whether or not case to remain a mystery.
they avoid shallow waters. Any Acknowledging their oddness, I A portrait of John Keel with a row of bullet-holes across it, and the cation
squidologists out there in our share Aymerich's interest in wanting to 'Keel Under Fire' was the tasteful cover design promoting Alon Sharp's
readership? know what those three rods drawn by critical piece on Keel's recently published Operation Trojan Horse.
t4 Bullard quotes Hendry os giving Guyorobo and Roroto ore. In this brief article Sharp took Keel to task for a number of basic
an elevation of 45 degrees during the Buhler proclaims his faith that the scientific errors in OTH. He concludes "lt seems that Mr Keel is not averse
waving episode. Hendry was not most convincing explanation for the
to deliberately attempting to mislead his readers when it suits his purpose ...
quoting Gill in that passage. lt is a Gill case is that they saw what they
There is much more that one could write along similar lines concerning
blatant mistake. He was confusing the saw. Did he notice that Gill said he
[OTHJ, but this would savour of using o bulldozer to demolish o house of
angle made by the blue beam of light saw "a strange new device of you
cords." However, the engine was already revving up and the demolition
with the ongulor elevation. In the fUR Americans"? This isn't a problem for
team would be moving before a couple more issues of MUFOB had passed.
report Gill's estimate was only 30 you?
A letter from Peter Rogerson, port of on on-going argument with
degrees. Bullord would inevitably If I am guilty of sins of omission,
Norman Oliver, reminds us that even in 1971 the Right-wing hate merchants
reiterate that this is still much too high. let me reply that my critics are not
were infiltrating the UFO field: "I feel that responsible groups and individ
I would agree if we could trust its innocents either. None take up the
accuracy. There is however no challenge to offer a better explanation. uals con help to overcome this infiltration by ceasing oil communication
angular elevation in the field notes or None acknowledge, let alone answer, and exchange with the offenders and making sure that their own platforms
Cruttwell's report. This detail emerges the objections raised by the and publications cannot be used for the propagation of political, religious
first in the fUR re-interview and this alternatives. Bullord wants o water or racial propaganda." Advice which, os we hove seen is os relevant, and
makes it a decades-old memory. Even tight explanation which satisfies an as wilfully ignored, today os 25 years ago.
outside the issues of reliability of such absolute standard of correct vs. The issue concluded with a round up of the latest local UFO -
memories, angular elevations ore incorrect. None of the solutions "Most Merseyside reports easily explained" was the summation -well,
generally very inaccurate. Ask people advanced to dote, even the fuzzy one being MUFOB we would soy that wouldn't we?.
to point to the mid-point between the of it being a part of the UFO
In the September/ October issue I took up Peter's comments on
zenith and the horizon and they don't phenomenon, squares perfectly in
political extremism in the world of ufology, suggesting that the irrationality
point at 45 degrees but down around every detail. My failure to offer one is
which surrounds much ufology makes it a fertile breeding ground for
30 or 20 degrees and, rarely, even os less a reflection of my incompetence
political irrationality and extremism, and that clearing out all the bigots
low as 12 degrees. (Minnaert, pp.153-4) than the intractability of the case itself.
moy, in the long run, prove impossible. I see no reason to change this view,
One point of clarification: Bullard Frankly, I was simply trying to get an
uses the word disorientation in answer that floated better than the whilst still insisting that whenever such people and ideas do creep out into
the daylight, they should be exposed and harried os much as possible.
describing the illusion I propose. In competition.
general usage this is thought to be Buhler's insinuation that I dodge In o short piece, John Horney chronicled his ultimate
synonymous with vertigo and I just uncomfortable details and ought to disillusionment with the Warminster phenomenon. He had visited the town
want it understood that I don't assert have discussed the other seventy plus in the autumn of 1971, found little activity and had noted a number of
the involvement of vertigo. cases in the Cruttwell report is to me a dispiriting signs: the installation of a litter-bin on Cradle Hill to cater for
Aymerich's point about Gill damn irksome thing to say. Can you the tourist traffic, whimsical graffiti around the famous hill-top gates, and
saying the object was above Venus is show me any believer in the case who the ufologist-haunted Farmer Giles Guest House had become The Farmer's
a more substantial objection. If one ever acknowledged any difficulties in Hotel, ond prices hiked accordingly.
regards the observation os infallible, their assumption this case involves on In the absence of Arthur Shuttlewood a group of nocturnal
then there is no ready explanation for alien visitation or how different it is
visitors were trying to psyche each other up with UFO yarns - "it was like
it that I would risk offering. The from all the other cases they hold
the Northern lights but the other way round" -but os John recorded: "lt
observation is not in Gill's field notes dear? I am hardly alone in ignoring
was a good try, but it did not come off. lt con never be the some again at
and is not signed onto by the other the rest of the report. Some I suspect
Warminster". The Wiltshire town was on its last legs as a living
witnesses. lt thus comes down to one fear the implications it was part of a
phenomenon, and would soon become a place of UFO memories and
man's word. As such it is vulnerable to general hysteria, on assumption which
unexploded hoaxes. John Rimmer
the standard doubts about memory would be strengthened if they assessed
(See Drake's remark about the rapid the very much lower quality of those
decay of accuracy of memory other cases. For the record, I ignored
encountered in investigating meteor them because I hod my hands full with : Magonia Readers' Group meetings
reports in Sagan & Taves, p.254). lt just the Gill case. take place from 7.00 p.m. onwards, on the
may involve a transpositional error or first Sunday of each month at the Railway
an unintentionally leading question M. Minnoert The Nature of light and
pub, Putney, at the corner of the High
like what Elizabeth loftus found in her Colour in the Open Air, Dover, 1954.
Street and Upper Richmond Road. 30
investigations of memory. There are Corl Sagon and Thornton Page UFOs
seconds from Putney BR station, 10
other possibilities. I concede in A Scientific Debate, Norton library,
minutes from East Putney tube.
advance there ore no independent 1954.
Just turn up and join in the conversation.
grounds for affirming Gill mode such Ston Seers UFOs: the Case for
an error. Acceptance of the possibility Scientific Myopia, Vantage, 1983
THE
A police spokesman was prepared to could only think she must hove helped
confirm that llford Constabulary was the two women to carry these bulky
"taking the matter very seriously". This items away somewhere. She hod a
HYPNO-HEIST "method of distraction" was one they partial memory of remaining helpless
had never heard of before and their as the "gypsies" removed the rings,
best working theory was that Mr bracelet and necklace she was
Zomir hod fallen foul of o con-man wearing -also of their taking the
with a highly original technique tor children's money boxes and £50 from
parting victims from their money. her purse. On top of all that, they had
About the "hypnotism aspect" of the mode her go to the bank and draw out
MORE
case he or she would not speak, a further £20, which they immediately
however. No matter: the person who took from her.
THAN composed the Sunday Mirrors head "I could sense what they were
line saw no need for such reticence. doing," she explained, "but I was
JUST AN Mohammed Zomir's ambiguous powerless to stop them. lt was horrify
adventure was presented to the British ing. Their power over me was so
URBAN reading public under the block strong I can still feel it." And what was
capitol title of, "THE HYPNOHEIST". the nature of that "power"? Mrs Bloke
A couple of months later and was inclined to suppose that she must
lEGEN D?
only a few miles away, Leyton police have been hypnotised.
were cautioning women who lived Here was another matter that the
alone to beware of another itinerant police were forced to view with
criminal-occultist menace. This time extreme seriousness -the more so, as
the threat come from female gypsies - the some gypsies were thought to
perhaps os many os eleven of them, hove obtained £150 plus jewellery
though only two featured in the from another local woman and
The customer was tall
MICHAEL episode covered by the lively if terrified her into maintaining silence
and dark - perhaps
flamboyant News of the World of 4 about the affair for several days by
Italian, maybe Turkish: GOSS December 1977. The pair were said to promising she would die a horrible
that was the impression target isolated mothers with young death if she reported it. There was no
which 32-year-old children whom they coerced into excuse for them not taking the Two (or
Mohammed Zamir handing over goods, jewellery and Eleven) Sisters seriously: os genuine
money through a mixture of intimid con-artists. that is, who established a
formed of the man who
Frankly, it is somewhat ation and "spells" that may or may firm mental control over their victims
stepped into his
difficult to comprehend not have included hypnosis. "The by means of intimidation in which the
electrical shop at llford,
precisely what women ... are dark-haired with threat of the "gypsy curse" played no
Essex, one day in late weather-beaten faces and wear minor port.
happened to Mr Zamir.
1977. He wanted to buy tottered clothes and bangles", wrote A reasonable enough hypothesis,
"Zzzz - that was that!"
a cassette and asked John McNomee. "They chant and surely; it would not have been the first
exclaimed Linda McKay,
Mr Zamir to take its mumble curses. And once inside a time that a door-to-door pedlar hod
reporting the incident house they say mysteriously, 'We are played on the superstitious fears of a
cost out of a £20 note
for the Sunday Mirror the Eleven Sisters"'. For good measure, householder to extort money. Nor
which, the shopkeeper
of 9 October 1977. But the younger of the pair was also would Mr Zomir hove been the first
observed with
then, Mr Zamir's own cross-eyed. "mark" to be token in by a variation
momentary interest, Most of this came from the on the conjuror's old cord-switching
account was hardly
was a curious colour. testimony of 31-year-old Mrs Romella routine, a sleight-of-hand that mode
more explicit. "All of a
Up until now it had Bloke, who had encountered the two him mistake a forged note -or even a
sudden, I was in a daze,
been a perfectly women when they helped carry worthless bit of paper -for a large
" he told the iournalist. shopping up to her 16th-floor flat off denomination bill. Stage performers do
ordinary sort of
"Either I was Leyton High Rood. Once the door was tricks like this all the time. Part ot the
transaction. What
hypnotised, or there open they slipped inside before she fun comes from the way they let the
happened when he
was something on that hod time to object; the older had audience see what the duped one
examined the note insisted on reading her palm and then cannot; we are allowed to witness the
note." At the time, the
more closely was quite they started to chant, threatening to fraud being worked in front of the
exact cause of Mr
out of the ordinary. cost o spell on the baby and asserting victim's bemused face. And o good
Zamir's stupor mattered
that they hod to hove its bed linen. All performer will pull off the trick even
far less than the fact the while the younger of the duo when we have been warned that it is
that he came out of it paralysed Mrs Bloke with a fixed, a trick and are watching for it to
to find the till had been mesmeric (and presumably cross happen ...
relieved of the £1,700 it eyed) store. The victim claimed that Neither sleight-of-hand nor intim
she hod been in o peculiar mental idation ore "hypnosis" in the usually
contained only 15
state and was brought back to normal accepted sense ot the term. We could
minutes before and that,
consciousness four hours later by the be satisfied with supposing that both
like the money, the
phone ringing. The TV, cassette player Bloke and Zamir hod been the prey of
stranger had gone. and bed linen were gone; Mrs Bloke accomplished yet orthodox con-artists.
