The UFO Enigma - 1990 03 - Volume 10 no 7

Magazine Overview

The UFO Enigma, Volume 10, Number 1, published in March 1990 by the UFO Study Group of Greater St. Louis, Inc., is a monthly newsletter dedicated to the investigation and reporting of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Membership is $8.00 per year.

Staff and Officers (1989-90)

The issue lists the following officers: John Schroeder (President), Margaret Myers (Recording Secretary), Peggy Roppolo (Historian), Forrest Crawford (Vice President), Helen Hanke (Corresponding Secretary), David Rapp (Chief Field Investigator), Spencer Wolling (Treasurer), John Roppolo (Librarian), and Frank Brown (Marshal). Ken Hanke serves as Enigma Editor and Helen Hanke as Assistant Editor.

Upcoming Events

A March Study Group meeting was scheduled for March 11th at 2:00 p.m. at the Boatmen's Bank Building in Webster Groves. The meeting was to feature Alex Horvat, Missouri MUFON Director of Public Information, who would brief members on local UFO cases and present criticisms of Carl Sagan's SETI project. The meeting's agenda also included a UFO update on activities in the St. Louis area.

February Meeting Recap

The February 11, 1990 meeting of the UFO Study Group featured "sharing time," a review of recent UFO articles in tabloids by Frank Brown, and an update on the Greenville, SC sighting investigation by Forest Crawford. The main presentation was by Dr. Patricia Shaw, a Clinical Psychologist who attended the T.R.E.A.T. (Treatment & Research of Experienced & Anomalous Trauma) Conference at Virginia Polytech Institute. Dr. Shaw discussed the clinical syndrome related to alleged UFO abductions and treatment modalities. The conference was closed and sworn to secrecy, attended by physicians, psychologists, and engineers. The focus was on treatment of anomalous trauma, with investigation secondary. Dr. Shaw noted the need to establish a database and standardized questionnaire for abductee experiences. She mentioned Rima Laibow, MD, who is involved in a controversy regarding the use of hypnotism in investigations. Dr. Shaw stated that abductees' experiences varied, but there was no agreement on the classical sequence of abductions. Information needed includes ongoing events, orienting experiences, capture, tours of the environment (including alien messages), return to Earth, and aftermath. Approximately 300 alleged abductees were examined, with varied answers but generally not appearing traumatized. Dr. Shaw also discussed the work of T. Edward Bullard, MD, on folklore and myths, noting that examinations by aliens seemed intrusive and evasive.

Research and Clinical Perspectives

Dr. Shaw highlighted that the consensus at the conference was that progress requires focusing on the definition of a UFO and estimating the phenomenon's extent. She mentioned Dr. Davit Pritchard's work analyzing implants in abductees using spectrographic equipment, which had found a resin-like substance. Dr. Kenneth Ring compared UFO abductees with near-death experience subjects, finding similarities in childhood sexual abuse and sensitivity to alternate reality and psychic phenomena. Physiological differences in abductees, such as increased sensitivity to light, hearing, humidity, decreased metabolic rate, lower body temperature, and altered brain structure, were also noted. A pediatrician and two gynecologists reported cases of women who were no longer pregnant after previously reporting pregnancy, though this could be natural re-absorption.

Dr. Shaw stated that the French government provides more support for UFO studies than the U.S. government. In France, Gendarmes investigate sightings, with 98% found to be hoaxes but 2% remaining unexplainable. The general consensus is that if a person appears traumatized, a clinical specialist should be involved as a consultant. Hypnotists could inadvertently influence abductee responses unless great care is taken. The general feeling at the conference was similar to Budd Hopkins' views, suggesting abductions may decrease after a person is no longer in a reproductive mode, with cycles possibly occurring every 28 days. Dr. Shaw emphasized the need for clinicians to help make a case for UFOs and for collaborative efforts to define and resolve the enigma.

The Probe: UFOs and the USSR

Alex Horvat's article discusses information obtained from the CIA's "Foreign Broadcast Information Service" (FBIS) and its "Foreign Press Note" (FPN). An FPN detailed a UFO sighting in eastern Siberia near Dinegorsk in January 1990, mentioning a crash of a shining globe. The USSR Academy of Sciences is reportedly studying fine mesh, small spherical objects, and glass pieces recovered from a sphere, with Dr. V. Vysotsky suggesting it is evidence of high technology. The fine mesh threads were composed of elements including silver, nickel, alpha-titanium, molybdenum, and beryllium compounds, laced with gold wire.

Another sighting in Omsk on October 21st involved a shining sphere observed for five minutes, with radar not picking it up. Projections of bright beams were seen. A similar event occurred in Altay Kray, 375 miles away, where the object was visually observed traveling at approximately 4,350 m.p.h. Soviet Physicist Yuriy Platov dismissed these claims as fragments from an unsuccessful Soviet rocket launch, a rebuttal that the author suggests is common when dealing with UFOs and creates mistrust.

Energy Machine Moves Small Flying Saucer

John E. Schroeder reports on a Parapsychology Committee meeting where Warren Bartling discussed Joseph Newman's "Energy Machine." Bartling, a former product development engineer, explained the principle behind the machine, which Newman claimed was revealed to him by voices. The machine reportedly utilizes the energy of collapsing flux in a magnetic field. Bartling stated that Newman built a three-foot flying saucer that levitated remotely. The process involves a hollow permanent magnet wrapped in copper wire, linked to a battery and a disc with solenoids. This system produces alternate positive and reversed fields, multiplying flux and directing energy flow. The machine is claimed to produce significantly more energy than it consumes, approaching a perpetual motion machine. Newman's book, "The Energy Machine of Joseph Newman," is available for $38.50.

Walter Palmer shared information from "The New York UFO Report" about a UFO operating on antimatter with an anti-gravity booster, and a military shuttle mission potentially placing a laser beam weapon in space. John Schroeder summarized a tabloid article about an agreement between Presidents Bush and Gorbachev to activate a "Grand Slam" laser weapons system to deter alien invasion.

Palmer also noted an essay about a UFO that jammed electronic equipment on a Russian Air Base near Voronezh, followed by the appearance of tall creatures. Another story described a UFO crash in South Africa at high speed, which slowed down and was destroyed on impact after being fired upon by Mirage jets, leaving a crater. An investigative team collected aluminum-like debris.

Earnie Joyce shared a news photo of a UFO over the Egyptian pyramid that had magnetically drawn a two-foot black box to it. John Schroeder reported on two acquaintances who described incidents where pinkish, purplish balls of ionized light darted around their homes after a UFO sighting. Jane Reed commented on a tabloid story about a propeller plane from 1954 that landed in Brazil 35 years later with 92 skeletons aboard.

Iva Schwietzer recounted a 1989 incident where alien forms were seen on videotape recording television broadcasts. Eleanor Schroeder reported an investigator claiming UFO sightings preceded the Pearl Harbor attack, with both sides assuming the saucers were secret weapons of the other. Marjorie Sherrill read a tabloid article about egg plants grown in a field burned by a UFO 200 years prior, which turned brassy orange and had seeds like ball bearings.

Dr. Pacelli Brion hopes to bring a parapsychological UFO contactee to the next Parapsychology Committee meeting.

Book Review: An Alien Harvest

John Roppolo reviews "An Alien Harvest" by Linda Moulton Howe. The book, published in 1989, presents a case for alien intervention in animal and human lives, focusing on cattle mutilations. Howe chronicles cases starting in 1967, suggesting alien technology, possibly laser surgery, was used for the precise, bloodless cuts. The book links these events with nocturnal lights and UFO sightings, and Howe presents information on government "cover-up" of UFO information. The review notes the book's costliness but highlights its substantial presentation of photos, articles, and text, including transcripts of hypnotic regressions of witnesses conducted by Dr. Leo Sprinkle.

The Probe: What Do the Experts Say?

Alex Horvat's column discusses how experts have often been wrong about the future. He cites examples from the late 19th and 20th centuries where experts underestimated technological advancements like aircraft, superhighways, the A-bomb, gene splicing, and intercontinental ballistic missiles. He notes astronomer William Pickering's dismissal of flying machines in 1910 and "Science Digest's" 1948 prediction that moon landings would take another 200 years. Vannevar Bush, head of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development, underestimated the 3,000-mile rocket. Horvat argues that technological developments are accelerating at an unprecedented pace, making it difficult to assimilate them. He references Carl Sagan's suggestion to encourage "experimental societies" and proposes space as a potential area for such experimentation, believing it could help humanity develop attributes to solve Earth's problems.

Calendar

The calendar lists upcoming events for March 1990, including Parapsychology Committee meetings, UFO Study Group meetings, and Library/Archive Committee meetings in the St. Louis area.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The issue reflects a strong interest in UFO investigation, abduction phenomena, and the potential involvement of advanced technology, both terrestrial and extraterrestrial. There is a critical stance towards skepticism, particularly when it dismisses evidence without thorough investigation, as seen in the discussion of Soviet physicist Yuriy Platov's comments. The publication also touches upon the psychological aspects of UFO experiences, including trauma and the use of hypnosis in research. The editorial stance appears to be one of open inquiry into unexplained phenomena, while also acknowledging the challenges of scientific validation and the need for rigorous data collection and analysis. The inclusion of book reviews and discussions on technological advancements suggests a broader interest in science and the future, framed within the context of UFO research.