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AUSTRALIA
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M AL AYSIA
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IGATESSIGHTINGSOF
EY. MILITARY F
ED CRAFTAND ASKS: . S I N I S T E RSECRET
R PTANES?
FOs come in all shapesand sizes.but T T every now and then a particular shape .f I u r aa*a t o t lec o m e o a rl rc u l a rl \ c o mmon. This has happened previously il with disc-shaped and cigar-shaped objects, but is happening now with triangularshaped craft. This type of craft is sometimes called The Silent Vulcan, but is more usuallr'referred to as The Flying Triangle. .\s alwavs.there are some variations in accounts from witnesses, but there are enough common features to suggest that one n'pe of craft is involved. The Flying Triangle is generally described as being over 100 metres in diameter, and as being black or grey in colour. The triangular shape is most apparent when viewed from belorv - in other words, the craft is fairly flat. and shaped rather like a slice of pizza. ,\ significar-rtnumber of reports also talk of' the object being wedge-shaped, or shaped like a boomerang. There are frequelrt reports of three lights mounted on
the underside of these craft, with one light in e acn corner. some w l tnessestell of a fourth light mounted in the centre of the craft, in between the more visible lights. The lights at the edges of the craft are generaily described as being red, while the central light is white. Of course, many UFO sightings occur at night, and in the case of the Flying Triangle, it is the fact that the lights seemed to be flying in a triangular formation that is often the thing that first attracts the attention. But unlike aircraft lights, these do not appear to flash. TH E
FIR S T
WAVE
The first major wave of sightings involving the Flying Triangle occurred in the Hudson Valley area of New York State in March 1983. Witnessesreported 'flying wings', or 'V-shaped' UFOs. One eyewitness said the craft was 'so huge it filled up the entire sky'.
A Mony Flying Triongles moy be nothing more thon misidentified Sreclth . bombers or ne\ /, prototype fighrer
,, : ;'
oircroft. But photogrophic evidence (insei) from
Over the next four years, hundreds of people in the Hudson Valley area claimed to hav e s een lhis c ra fr. But it was eventsin Belgium in 1990 that were to bring the Flying Triangle to world attention, and woulcl result in one of the most spectacular and well documented UFO encounters of all time. Since a wave of sightings that had occurred on 29 November 1989, Belgium had been experiencins a lot of UFO actir ity, with many good-quality reports being submitted by reliable rvitnesses. These included trained observers such as military personnel and members of the Belgian
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T h e f l y i n g tri o n g l e cleorly behoves in o woy thqt is beyond fhe cutting edge of our technology N i c k P o p e , M in istr y o f De fe n ce
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police force - the type of people who are less likely to rnisiclentifv a conventional object or phenomenon. Many of the sightings spoke of a larse, triangular-shaped object. As a resulr of this, the Belgian Air Force asreecl to sendjets r.rp to inr,estigateshould a particularlv interesting sighting occur. On one rather ernbarrassingoccasion, aircraft \vere sent up to investigate, onlv to find that the UFO sightings hacl been generated by people seeing lights from a laser
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hoppen more frequently thon the scepticswould cqre to odmit. The Flying Triongle siglrfings over Belgium ore perhops the most fomsus instonce, bur old Minisfry of Defunce files, ovoiloble qt the Public Records Office ot Kew, reveol mony oiher cqses - including some instonces where the RAF lounched iets to rry ond intercept UFOs.
display. As a resuk, the Air Force decided that it would only send r,rpaircraft if visual sightings were correlated by radar evidence. On the night of 30 March 1990, and in the early hours of the following day, this is preciselywhat happened. RADAR
E V ID E N C E
The sightings were focused on the Wavre repion, and manv of these reports spoke of three lights flying in a perfect triangular formation. Many people clearlv sarv that these lights were on the underside of a huge, triangular-shaped crafi. The object n'as picked up by two different ground radar bases,one operated by the Belgian Air Force, and one by NAIO. As a result of this, orders were given to scramble two F-I6 fighters kept on Quick Reacrion Alert br. the Belgian Air Force. The fighters soon picked up rhe obiect on their radar, and then used the radar to lock on to the craft. But somehow the craft broke this lock on several occasions,and seemed to be able to move almost instantly from a hovering state to over a thousand kilometres per hour. This evasive action suggests that the craft rvasunder intelligent control, but the acceleration involr.ecl in the manoeuvres performed n'ould have killed any human occupants. The Beleiar-r Air Force was quizzecl about these evelrts, and co-operated rr.ith a Belgian UFO research group in carrving out a detailed investigation. The Chief of Operations of rhe Belgian
P
.9 o
f
U
Two particular reports are especially noteworthy; the first was a siehting from RAF Cosford in Shropshire. In this case, an entire military guard patrol reported seeing t4. UFO pass directly over the base.They made frantic checks Traffic Air rvith duty C orrtrol l ers,but drew a com pl ete bl ank - there w ere r t o air craft in the area. S E C U R ITY
Air Staff, Colonel Wilfred De Brouwer, candidly admitted that they had assessed that the UFO was a solid. structured craft. which had carried out an unauthorized penetration of Belgian airspace. In view of the fact that military and political figures routinely deny the existence of UFOs, this is quite an admission.
A fhis obiecr wos photogrophed over Togresk, Russio, in 199O. Reports of sightings of Flying Triongles hove come from qll ocross Europe, os well qs rhe US, Austroliq
N IGHT
S I G HT I N G S
Three years later, the Flying Triangle put in another appearance, this time over Britain. Most of the sightings occurred in the early hours of 31 March 1993 and, perhaps because of the late hour, many of the witnesseswere police officers on night patrol, and service personnel on guard duty arorurd military bases. The descriptions were uncannily similar to the Belgian sightings, with many people reporting three lights moving in perfect formation, rvhile others who had a closer view reported that the lights simply marked the edgesof a huge, triangular UFO. A number of witnessesreported another characteristic which has frequently been reported in relation to the Flying Triangle a lorv, humming sound that appears to come from the craft.
ond Jopon.
TH R E A T
The rnost sensational report submi tted that ni ght cam e N'Ieteorological from the Officer at RAF Shawbury, r,r.hichis only a ferv kilometres from RA.F Cosford. Har,ing heard about the UFO sighting at C osford, he w ent orrtsidet o see if he coulcl see anything. To his absolute amazement, he saw a triangular-shaped craft flying directly towards the base, emitting a low, humming sound. He estimated the size of the object as being only a little smaller than aJumbo jet. The witness reported that the object then fired a beam of light at the ground, and swept this beam from side to side, as if it was lookir-rg for something. The ligh,t then rvent out, and the craft passed slowly overhead, almost directly over the base, The Ministry of Defence launched a full investigation into these sightings in a
'.t' 151
desperate attempt to find an explanation. The Ministry had always maintained that UFOs were 'of no defence significance', but were now facing a dilemma. There was no way in which they could continue to say that these events were of no defence significance when numerous military witnesses had reported an unidentified triangular craft flying directly over two key military establishments. The Ministry tried to tie the sightings in with some more mundane occurrence. Assuming that at least 90 per cent of UFO sightings have conventional explanations,
1*i -.'-l
-.J' +'
#g l*, The Air Force hqs orrived of lh e c o n c l u s i o nth o t q n u mb e r o f q n o m q lo u s p h e n o me n o hove been produced wirhin Be l g i o n o i rsp o ce Col. WilfredDe Brouwer,BelqionAir Force
wffi
*:i|r.,.,
-
they ran a detailed series of checks, first looking for aircraft A The Eorlv worning centre ot oertasecond ::"fi"':rir"'"*::i;#*5i*'l'H":i!-S or'osexr' activity, airship flights or weather RAF Fylingdoles in Yorkshire, i:"::ilJr"-:"';' balloon launches. They even Englond, frocked the re-entry into TYuratat^ z lsYNlonchecked with the Royal the Eorth's qlmosphere of debris a teesilar 3o'sor ?;;:::t3li; ll;i?, ","'ill-oraarzzsas iil Observatory at Greenwich to see if from o Russion rockef, Cosmos Har 50-50 (t^'r' ,,,. ree3 :r l;i:l3l;z;*;'"'" iliililaelzzsae .1.-"-** 5r'"' J^'--. there might be an astronomical ";.;? $ar il.;; rar Apr 2238. r'ur zzJ6' Bur rnelr rheir report reporr (inser) eeslli 1993 ,33" "t''ll"]-^":;""^nnaissance llnseU ^---- F *t: i."""1ur ocean.1eoco1la"is.1"lii" -- rr ",;;""-:1.:::.'";,.*-,::i,.,.,1"":.,";, r""r.1,.,,;1 explanation, such as unusual mete?r';",:""XlX"t""ili:;t' could nor exploin how the rhe UFo ,,.,. ]"".1',:.'i;: l'.:::".... u ;:[: orite activiry but all their investiga::""1 s sishrins i hri ns h hod o d l rosred o sred ror h hours' ou rs' s ":l n::"""X n1"-= ll:fi :*l'".l,* di'.f tions drew a blank. ffi'""r"," iilY*?TlT.iv""l#*lu:;:-.-t19.One theory was that the lights in the sky were caused by the re-entry altitude seen at 1.10 a.m., the UFO sightinto the earth's atmosphere of a ings had occurred over a period of several Russian rocket. But while this event might hours. There lvas clear1r.1ro \vav in which have explained a particular concentration sightings such as the one fiom RAF
ffi -"'"'"""'*H*:;'."--'"t"'.Ffii"Jj':i":i**Th'f":
Shawbury cor-rldbe explainecl like this, so this theory had to be eliminated. P R OTOTY P E
P TA N E S
It has been sr-rggestedthat the Flying Triangle ma1'be some sort of secret, prototVpe craft. For many years now there have been rumours of a hypersonic replacement to the Lockheed SR-71Blackbird, and it is alleged that this aircraft is called Aurora. The Belsian Air Force has investigated the possibility that the triansle seen in 1990 was an American F-117 Stealth fighter, but had received a categoric assurancethat no American aircraft was invoh,ed. It rvas always unlikely - secret aircraft are tested
t:t;..::
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RIGHT TO KNOW The Brirish Ministry of Defunce hos been investigoting UFO sightings since lhe l95Os, ond its reoson for foking on interest is to look for evidence of ony he defence ro rhe defence*of the Unired The Ministry receives up fo 3OO rrts eoch yeor, ond they cloim thot per cenl of sightings con_be Buf mony
,-exclusiveh'in approved ranges and danger areas. and would not fly into heavily defencled airspace without proper diplomatic clear:rnce. Otherrvise, a diplomatic inciclent is riskecl,rvith the possibilitv that the :rircraft mav be intercepted, and the se cl ct c r ali r r r adepr r l rl i ,. For similar reasons.the British Ministrt' of Defence rejectecl t1-reidea that an American prototYpe urircrafi rr'as responsible. \{'hile go\rernments rr'ereunable to provide an answer, \'\rerethe leal oper-atorsof this craft enjoying their confi.rsion?Ther-eis a n i n t er es t ing c on n e c ti o n b e trre e n th e sightings in Belgium ancl the L K: both u'avesof sightingsoccurred late at night on
30 March, and in the early hours of the next day. A rrd i f these U FO stori es had been pi cked up bv the nal i onal medi a. the slor ies rvor-rldhar,e appeared on... 1 April. \A4ro rvould pa,vmuch attention to a UFO story that appeared on April Fool's Day? Is this coincidence, an elaborate hoax, or a sign thertthe intelligence behind the craft has a senseof l-rlrmour? -\lthougl.r these rr'avesof Flving Triangle sightings :rr-cimportant, not least because of tl-re rnilitarl'r'r,itnesses,and the National Securitv implications, it should be rememberecl that sishtings of this object are reported on an almost daily basis, often by pilots. The casefiles of everv UFO group in
V One of the Belgion F-16 pilois who flew ofter the UFOs felr thol he wos 'chosing something thot's ploying wirh us... it hos complete conlrol over everything,' ond cloimed rhor his colleoguesfelr the some woy.
o j
= ! d o
-o
someof In the next ls.izr, UFO FILE inue.stigates the mosLhigh$ train.edand reliableqeuitnesses to LIFOs- aircraft pilots.
a
: , ji1:
t was 4.20 a.m. when Ronald Seigel was awoken by the noise of his bedroom door r creaking open. He heard footsteps approach the bed, and the sound of hear.ybreathing filled the room. Paralysedr'vithfeaq Seigel could only lay back, smelling the musty odour of the approaching entity. 'There seemeclto be a murky p res enc ein lhc ro o m.' Se i g e l recalls. 'I tried to throw off the covers and get up, but I r'r,as pinned to the bed. There was a weight on my chest. My heart was pounding. I strained to breathe.' Next, the creature touched his neck and arm, and whispered in his ear. 'Each word rvasexpelled from a foul mouth of tobacco.'
Seigel remembers. 'The language seemed strange,almost iike English spoken backrvards.'Seigel, still unable to move, looked at the clock on his bedside table. 'This is no dream,' he thought. SH AR ED
E X P E R IE N C E
Suddenly, the entity shifted its weight and straddlecl Seigel's body. The bed started to creak. 'There was a texture of sexual intoxication. I started to lose consciousness. Suddenly the voice stopped. I sensedthe intruder moving slowly out of the room. Cradually the pressure on my chest eased.'By now it was 4.30 a.m., a n d R o nal d S ei gel- arr emi nent professor of psychology at the University of California, Los
,\rgeles - had just been subjected to attack from rrhat manl'would cail a psychic entitf For centuries,people from cultures spanning the globe have described similar attacks. Usually occurring at night, just before falling asleep or waking up, these attacks invariably subject their terrified victims to complete paralysis,a pressure on the chest and heightened sensualawareness. Like so many other 'supernatural' episodes,the universal similarity of the experiences would suggesta genuine phenomenon, but where do these 'presences'come from? If folklore and many of today's psychic investigatorsare to be believed, these entities are malevolent earth-bouncl spirits -
the incubus is often blamed for the crushing weight on the chest and the feeling of sexual arousal that occurs during these attacks. However, by looking elsewhere for explanations for these universal ex periences.psychologists. including Ronald Seigel, are concentrating on the common, but rarely talked about, phenomenon of sleep paralysis. ST E EP
\A/hen we wake up in the morning. this paralysisis usually gone. But just occasionally something goes \\,rong with the mechanism that keeps dreaming and waking life apart. In such
P A TTE R N S
Every night, whether we remember it or not, each of us dreams. We may forget the dreams in the morning, but while the fantastic scenesare going on, our brain is extremelv actiYeand our body completeiv paral,vsed.This parah'sisis essentialbecause otheru'ise rve rvould act or.lt our dreams,lith disastrous consequences.Normalh', the musclesare completelv relaxed and unresponsive to rvhat the brain tells them to do. Onlv the musclescontrolling the eyesand the breathing are unaffected.
i:* demons and witches who attack us in our sleep. One of the most widespread folkloric traditions involves the 'Old Hag', a term coined in Nerfoundland. Canada. for the terri$ring figure often encountered during night-time attacks.And the same Old Hag appears throughout the world. Cermans call it 'Mare' (from which the rr'ord'nightmare' originates), Scandinaviansuse the name 'Mara', and the Greeks,'Mora'.
\
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,J r
iii t, .\
D REA M
, r . . i. 1
TOVER
Another popular variation on the Old Hag tradition is the incubus the 'demon lover' or spirit that indulges in sexual intercourse with the lir'rng. Derived from the Latin incubaremeaning'to lie down on',
, i\
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cases,we can feel the paralysis coming on just as we fall asleep or wake up, and we cannot move, speak or cry out. This is s leeppa ra l y s i sa.rrd i s nearly alwaysaccompaniecl by a rapid heart rate, difficulq, in trreathing and a feeling of terror. The ordeal is all the more frightening becausethe sufferer is co ns c iousof his or h e r surroundings but trapped in what scientistscall a hypnogogic
33 W h y [ i s ] o n e p o rfi cu l o r htlllucinotory episode experienced in preference to qll other possibilifies? WilliomDement,Neurologist
n\i
body can follow, and people describe shaking or juddering, rippling and contorting. Strange lights can flicker around the room. These can be flashine lights, little stars,or glowing shapes. Occasionally,the whole room seems to be lit by an eerie glow and objects are surrounded by coloured haloes or strange sparkles. Bu t t hc most fri ghteni ngaspect of sleep paralysisis the feeling of a nearby presence. You may see nothing - and have no reason for your conviction - but you know there is someone there in the room with you. In many cases,the presence is actually visible (the = _.9 eyesare often open during sleep o :o paralysis) and can take on any number of forms - human, animal, demonic, even 'alien' - and can t apparently change shape at will. o l
'a
,, hallucination. This is a twilight state between sleep and wakefulnessin which our dreams are so vivid, they seem alarmingly real. For many sufferers, the first sign o f s leep par aly s isi s a s tra rrg en o i s e . Sometimes descpibedas a whining or humming, it can also sound like footsteps, the thrum of a motor, or e ve n ' loud s c r eam i n ga n d h i g h p i tc hed laus ht er ' . Vi b ra ti o trso [ th e
AT IE N
D R E A MS
E
This 'visitor' experience has led a number of researchersto conclude that the classicalien abduction scenario is, in fact, nothing more than sleep paralysis.In his paper entitled Alien Dreamtime,retrred psychologist Robert Baker recounts the tale of the well-known abductee, \44ritley Strieber. 'In the wee hours of the night,' Strieber explains, 'I abrr-rptlywoke
E I E
't o o I E o
t
o o I
d
l
i'=g t ,,.
'
up. There was somebodl quite close to my bed. I coulcl see bv the huge, dark eyesr'r,hoit u'as...I coul dn' t move.corrl dl rI cl '\ out . couldn't get awav... Everr muscle in my body was stiff to the point of breaking. I could hardh'breathe.' As Baker points out. if one comparesStrieber'srecollections with Ronald Seigel's,there is not a lot of difference berrveenthe two. 'The acconnts are, for irll practical purposes,identical,' Baker states. 'The essentialand significant difference is that the sleep r,ictimsgoing to paral1'sis... knorvledseable therapists are told about sleep paralysisand hallucinations, whereas those going to believers in alien abduction are told they have been abducted.' Baker's sceptical vierv of alien abductions is that these are nothing more than modern sleep paral ysi smyths.The humm ing
.
noises and eerie vibrations of sleep paralysis become the alien crafi, the Old Hag's caressing becomes the alien's probing, and the f loatin g a nd flying s ens aliol ls become the journey to the stars. The only problem with this theory is that it does not account
to be more to sleep palall'sis than
lol all a bd rrctio n e xp er ienc es .
the confused brain plaving tricks
There are nllmerous
on the sleeper.
cases of
rhr liqlrt a nd ma ss a hdr r c t ions .
Hufforcl has been stnrck bv tl-re
the colrtent fof these sleep paralvsishalltrcinations] so consistentlvthe same rr.ithoutapparel)t regard lirr crrltr,rre?'Hufford corrr' l rrdcs that sci ent if ic research in tl-risarea has not e\,en begun to address rhe qrresti on.but con cer ns i tscl l sol eh w i th arra lysing the ph,vsiologicalprocesses of'sleep paralvsis. A TTE R N A TIV E
R E A TITY?
renrarkablv consistent content of
It mav be that there is a perfectly 'normal' explanation to tirese
rvitnessed.And the same objections
t he hellr r c i r r r r l i o r r sa r r d , i r r
peculiar and harrorving
can be levelled asainst clairns that
particulal, the Olcl Has attacks.
experiences. C)r it may turn out
all'strpernatural'
What he linds most curions is that
that ther sprirrg florn arrother
these attacks have been reported
r e a l m - a c c c s s e dr i a t h e
from coLrntries ali over the r,vorld by
s t r b c o r r s c i o r r sr n i r r d - t h a t i s a s r e a l
apparently normal and healthl'
and ruriversal to those rvho
people. Moreor,er, manv of these
experience it as the external world.
some of which have beerr
encounters are
the result of sleep paralysis.
CONSISTENT
CONTENT
-\ more objectir.earrd level assessrnent of the sleep paralysis phenomenon is provided by the behaviotrralscientistDavid.f. Hufforcl. In his landmark book, The Terror -l-hatComesin the I'light, Hufford arglles that there appears
subjects have hacl r-ro contact rvith
But ur-rtil the specific contents of
folklore traditions and disclaim anv
sleep paralysis hallucinations
belief or interest in the paranormal.
been thorouehly
In contrast to ordinarv b:rd clreams, which var,v enormously in colrtent, '\{hy,' asks Hufford, 'is
have
investigated and
explained, oLlr understanding of this particrrlal phelromenolr
e sr
urii rcrnairr irrcompiete.
ffi
AS A TEENAGE PHENOMENON, MATTHNW MRNNING
MADE
HEADLINE NEWS WITH HIS PSYCHIC EXPERIENCES. Now,
HE IS RECoGNIZED
INTERNATIONALLY
AS A HEALER
TI I hen Matthew Manning was a little boy, he wanted to be a farmei when he grew up. But in flf I t February 19670when he wasjust 1I yearsold, Maniring became the centre of inexplicable w poltergeist activity. This lasted for ovei four years and changed his life forever. Unlike many other victims supposedly affected by a poltergeist's powerful forces, Manning eventually learned to channel the psychic energy he was creating and make it work for him. At first, this came through in a series of extraordinary automatic drawings and writing. He documented his teenage experiences in The Linh in 1973 and has since gone on to write four more books about his psychic abilities. Nowadays, Manning devotes his skills to healing. His years of exposurq to the media have made him something of a showman, with his ponltailo sometimes flamboyant clothes and chunky gold jewellery. But ,rs years of tests in scientific laboratories around the world have proved - there is nothing fake about Manning's abilities or his devotion to his profession. .( fn No Foith Required, Monning writes obout the mony
"â&#x201A;Ź ^#
&* As q young child did you think you were sPeciol? No. If anything, I was something of an introvert. I was extremely shy and refused to speak to strangers.
Whof sort of things hoppened during the poltergeist outbreqks? Furniture and objects moved around. Things started to appear out of nowhere. Among them rvere a couple of bread rolls, one of which is still kept in the freezer at my parents' home! It was analvsedby a lab which found that it had been baked after 1840. but before 1914. How
did you feel qboui
whof
wqs
hoppening? It was disturbing, notjust for me but for the whole family. We didn't know what was happening. Once my bed started to shake and lift up from the foot end. Then it suddenly swung out. I don't think I actually realized it had lifted off,the ground until it came crashing down in the middle of the room. That was the time I was the most frightened.
scientific lests in which he hos porticipoted over fhe yeors, ond his subsequenl concenlrotion on using his powers to heol people.
Did the phenomenE occur onywhere other thqn in your home? Yes.In 1971,when I was 15, the phenomena were witnessed by a large number of people - mostly fellow
pupils and teachers - at Oakham, my boarding school in Leicestershire.
How did your school friends reoct? At first, the other boys at school were frightened by the poltergeist activity. But they soon got used to it. There were some very odd experiences though. I slept in a dorm with 25 other boys. My bunk-bed would shift across the room. Sometimes there would be chaos as objects shifted around the dorm. Stones, crockery, cutlery came out of nowhere and whirled around.
Whot did the feochers think of rhis? There was so much disruption that the headmaster considered suspending me. It was out of control. But then something happened.
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appearance of writing on the walls of my bedroom at home. Between 3l July and 6 August 1971, 503 signatures, nearly all with a date, were scribbled around the room, mainly on one wall, but also on the ceiling and even in a lampshade.
Did onyone witness this qutomotic writing qs it hqppened? Nobody was in the room when the writing materialized - the doors and windows had been securely locked. Many of the names have since been traced to the parish records for the area. The original owner of the house - Robert Webbe, who died in 1.733- had indicated through auromatic writing ro me that he would bring 'half-a-thousand signatures of friends and family'.
Whqf kind of qttention did this octivity bring?
Whof wqs thot? One night, I was writing an essay The interest in me grew until it I'mah e a le r - n o t a f a d t h for homework. I had my pen heale4not a spirituat"heale4 exploded into a media circus. By poised above the paper. I couldn't not an eaangelical,crystalor the time I was 19, I was regularly think what to write next and my appearing on national television. eaencolour healer mind had obviously drifted off. At that time, throush automatic nU Then suddenly my hand went w ri ri ng. someonecal l i ng hi msell * â&#x201A;Ź g # down on the paper and I started D r P enn senr me medi cal writing. It stopped after a couple of sentences. diagnoses of people based on their date of birth. I looked at what I'd written, but it clearly wasn't in my handwriting and didn't seem to make any sense. Why did you stop giving such diognoses on It had nothing whatsoever to do with what I was television? supposed to be doing for homework. I was in Germany' around i974. The producer of the TV show I was appearing on said he'd had a medical How did you feel? problem diagnosed at hospital three days previously. I was actually quite frightened. I felt that something He thought this would make a good demonstration of had got in or through me. I remember tearing up the my powers. On the show, I made my diagnosis and paper and throwing it in the bin. But what was the producer said it was spot on. But when he interestins about the incident was that there was no checked with the hospital results later, he found that poltergeist activity for about three days afterwards. I later discovered that what had happened was called automatic writing. This was in some way releasing the energy that had gone into moving objects and creating the poltergeisractivity.
How did your life chonge qfier rhis? I discovered I could switch myself on or off like an electric light switch. As well as the lvriting - and later drawing - I found I couid see auras surrounding people. I alrvavsfound it interesting doing the drawings because I never knew until I had finished what I was going to draw. Whof
wos the sfqngest
fhing
fhct
hoppened fo you during this time? The most amazing phenomenon was the
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my diagnosis was totally wrong - I had just said what he'thought was his condition. This made me wonder whether what I was actually doing was tapping into the subconsciousand reading minds. Perhaps I was sensing fear and feeding it back to people. I realized that this could have devastating consequences,so I stopped the TV appearances.
Whqr did you do next? I became involved in a lot of scientific research. I was hooked up to electroencephalographs, to measure my brainwaves,electrocardiographs, to measure my heart beat, and I was shut away in Faraday cages fdevices used to screen out all electromagnetic waves] to
influencing blood cells and enzymes.They know that I can have an effect, and I know it when I feel the energy flowing through me. B,vthe same token, I'd be an idiot to say all the healing results I get are only connected to what I do with my hands. I know that it has a lot to do with psychological pou,ers,the patient thinking positively. do you think Becquse of your reputotion, thqi people might hove greoler expecfolions
they're going to get betfer?
measure my electrical output.
Yes.But frankly, at the end of the day, none of this is important. The only thing that I'm concerned about is that somebody does get better. If that happens, does it really matter how it's being brought about?
Did rhe scientistsfind onyrhing unusuol?
Whor hoppens during q consultqfion?
They found that I had a brainwave pattern that they had never seen before. It actually came from a part of my brain that is dormant in everybody else. In one experiment, I was asked to project psychic energy while instant photographs were taken of my head. The photos showed some sort of energy coming frpm me that grew stronger aftet several minutes. One of the most controversial experiments found that I could kill cancerous cells.
I often play music because I find it inspiring. I start by placing my hand on the patient's shoulders. I find that psychologicall,vthis already has an effect because it says,'I'm with you, I'm supporting vou, you're no Ionger alone.' Whoever I'm rvorking with, I'm very careful about what I claim. I never use the word 'cure'. And I never impose my beliefs on others. One thing I'm not is a faith healer. Healing can'work on a sceptical person and I alwaystell people that no faith is required.
When did you foke up heoling full-rime? In the late 1970s.People now come to me from all over the world, hoping I can treat problems that orthodox medicine can't solve.I sometimesget up to 2,000 letters a week asking for help. Obviously I can't see everyone. I tend to favour those with life-threatening diseases.I also try and spend as much time as I can with children or people with children.
How do you know thot your heoling skills reqlly do hqve on effect? I spent eight years doing experiments with scientists,
Whot do you think is hoppening when you ore heqling someone? I find it terribly difficult to put into words. I suppose I feel what I'm doing is channelling some form of universal, unconditional love. I suppose this is one of the reasons I've stopped doing scientific experiments. We tend to only accept what can be quantified and measured. Nobody has quantified love in a science lab, but we don't say it does not exist. We measure Iove by the effect that it has on people's lives.And that, in the end, is how I view my healing.
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=== n 2 S ept e m b e r 1 9 8 9 . \{ ' i l tre d Doricent, aged 17, rvas reunited r v it h his t am il l i n h i s h o m e v i l l a g ei n =:-== southern Haiti. Teenagers often re b el ar r d leav e hom e . b u r Wi l t-re d ' sc a s e rra . d ilf er ent . He h a d b e e n d e a d l -o r I8 months. His family had witnessed his buri a i a n d had a deat h c e rri frc a tero p ro v e i r. \\ ill^r ' edhad beerr a p ro m i s i rrgs tu d e n t, a rrd r , r asador ed b y h i s l fa m i l y . Bu t. i n Ma rc h 1988.he s r r d d e n l yg re w v e ry i l l a n d d i e d . His body bec a me h i d e o u s l ys w o l l e n and gave off such a foul stâ&#x201A;Źnch that his grieving father had to make hurried arrangelnents for the funeral. But Wilfred was not dead. Unbeknown to his father, he had been turned into a zombie - a 'living corpse'. Acting on nenatf of enemies of Wilfred's father in a ,ri bitter land dispute, a",bahor (a Voodoo priest who practises black magic) had
administered a powerful coup.poudre, a poisonous powder spell, which" sent Wilfred ipto a coma. Shortly afterwards, he rvas declared dead.
A Voodoo followers use copious omounts
S TA V E
The night following the funeral, \Arilfred's to mb w as broken i rrto and hi s body w as removed. The brrhorgare \A'ilfred a drug made from the hallucinogenic plant that Haitiarrs call concombreZombi (zombie's c u cumber). and sl apped hi m back i nro something approaching consciousness. Wi l fred w as then transporredi n chai ns ro .a remote mountain farm to work as a slave. After IB mon(hs - no one knorvs how 'Wilfred made his way back ro his asroni shed but del i ghted fami l y. Lareq W i l fred tol d an ol d fri end rhat he had been fully aware of everything that was happening to him as hb was being
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ZOMB IE
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Voodoo spirir of Dombolo Wddo. The snqke is o symbol of W6do's ossociollon with weolth, luck ond hoppiness. -.,,,.
strike down the healthy and make the dead walk again? Voodoo, known as Vodoun in Haiti, is dominared by a belief in rhe loa- spirits of the land, air, fire and water, afid also of dead ancestors. Followers of Voodoo believe that every aspect of life is influenced by these loa, who are a manifes: tation of God - Le Gran Maitre - and who act as hi s i ntermedi ari esi n human af f air s.
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A Altesse, o powerful Voodoo priesl, cloims lo hove turned hundreds of people into zombies. He olso odmifs thot mony of his viciims died from suffocoiion becouse they were,left in their tombs too long.
) Wilfred survived | 8 months os o zombie, but suffered so btrdly from rhe experience rhot he had to be imprisoned to preVent him htrrming himself.
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prepared for burial, but he could not speak or move a muscle. He recalled the lid being nailed to the coffin and hearing h i s l -a mi l yc ry i n g a s h e w assl i pped i nto hi s Haitian-style grave - a concrete tomb above the ground. But he *as not the Wilfred of before. Dull and sullen, he would sometimes run away.for no apparent reason. A medical expert who exgmined Willred conc l u d e d rh a t h i s c o n d iti on w as c o n s i s te n t w i th h a v i n g sul fered brain damage due to $l lack of oxygen when he was buried alive. Wilfred's story sounds more like a script for a horror film, but is in'f,act j u s t o n e o [ h u n d re d s o [ c a s e s o f H a i ti a n s w h o have been turned into zombie slaves.So what is the basis of the V,oodoo power. that priest's I enables him to
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S}IRITS
What makes Voodoo unique among Caribbean religions is that a large part of its belief systemis linked to the dark side of human nature. Thi s i s refl ected in t he activities of the Petro Loa- ill-tempered, menaciirg and vengeful spirits - who are extremely powerful. Petro loa will only help if a promise of servrce ts made to them. and will take violent revenge if' that promise is not fulfilled. Some of these Petro loa are -
called
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partners in black magic to carry out harmful services in exchange for a substantial sacrifice. Usually, this iakes the form of a pig, a goat, atrull or occasionally a corpse from a cemetery. But there are also stories. that human sacrifice may be involved. As recently as September 1994, shortly before the Americans invaded Haiti, a three-day Voodoo ceremony was allegedly held in''the ruling junta's riiilitary headquarters to prevent the"US invasion going ahead. During the ceremony, the most violent Petro loa were invoked, and unconfirmed reports claim that as many ds 13 people were offered as'sacrifice - including a pregnant girl. . Perhaps it was coincidence,, but by midOctober, three American GIs had commit ted suicide, including Geraldo Luciano who blew his brains out while, by all accounts, happily plapng d game of cards. SECRE T
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In a country where the priests are often local law-enforcers, 'and where poliqical and judicial murders are commonplace, no one can say with certainty whether human sacrifice occurs or not....: But there is no doubt that black magic referred to as 'the work of the le.ft hand' -n is.practised by a number of sectsthat have " splintered.off from the main Voodoo communities. These sects operate under the strictest secqecyand are shunned by mainstream Voodoo practitioners. The most.infamous sects, the Bizango and the CotchorlCtris,are renownâ&#x201A;Źd for making human sacrifices, calling rlp the dead to inflict harm on others and turning people into zombies - atlegedly as punishment for way'rruard social tiehaviour such as adultery or land theft. In the' remoter parts of Haiti. Voodoo is very power-
ful - the priest at Wi'lfred Dor i c e n t' s l o c a l c h u rc h . P6r6 Clude, says that the Haitians ur.i g0 per cent Catholic, l0 per cent Protestant and
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100 per cent Voodoo - and neirly everyone belieVesin zombies. But it is not thg fdar of zombies that haunts most Haitians - it is the fear of being turned jnto one.
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T HE L I V I NG
DE A D
There is no greater torment among the Voodoo faithful than the prospect of losing their souls, .which is what happens when you become a zombie - it is a sentence o[ living death. After 'resurrection'
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by the bakor,which must happerrwithin a few days of burial to prevent death by suffocation in the'coffin, the zdmbie's senses are numb and he suffers flrom loss of memory and personaliry. Easy to manipulate, he is then used as slave labour on remote plantations and construction sites, which are often owned by the unscrupulous bakor. Some zombies. however, manage to escape captivity. It is claimed that. the spell c.4n be ,reversed if rhe bakorwho cast it dies, or if the zom''bie is fid salt. But, occasionally, the lack of orygen ln the colnn causes too much brain damage for the zombie to be of
zombificolion os on
Doc' Duvolier ond his murderous secret pofice Lsed Voodoo ond the threot of inslrument of reprcssion during his l4-yeor rule of terr.or
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any use. \Arhen this happens, he is left to roarn irr the forests. I t i s r r o t c a s y l b l a z o m h i e l o r t 't t r r t t l o h i s old way of life. Unlike
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r t 'c t 'p t i o r r w h e r r h e c a m e h o t n e .
a r r d v i l l a s e r s f r e q u e n t l y r e i e c t z o m b i "t * h 'o r e t r r r n t o t h e f c r l d . T h e y a r e f e a r c d b e ca u se . according to Vo<-rdoobeliefs, special powers a r t ' a t l r i b t r l e d l o t h e r n . r v h i c h t h e y m a y u se to seek revenge on those who have harmed them. As a result, lhey face a life as social
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qâ&#x201A;Ź rd ,# outcasts, f'orced to scrateh out an exrstellce s o m e w h c r e b e r w e e r t l h e r e a l m s of the livirrg arrd the dead.
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.\Arhena relative dies, S6'mefamilies leave nothi ng to charrce. Irr addi ti on t o per formi rff ri l ual s to sertclt l re spi ri ts of t he dead safely on their way, a family rvill often have the head of a dead relative removed heforc brrri al .or l he heart pi erced wit h a stake, just in case he, or she, has been turned into a zombie. Another precaution is to spray the bocly with br,rllets. P OW E R FU T
P OIS ON
The of being trtrned into a zombie "fear suggeststhat Voodoo sorcer\/ is extrernely porverfttl. But jr-rst hcirv potent is it? A meri can anthropol ogi st and e t hnobotar-ristDr \\'ade Davis has don.e extensive lesearch on the zombie phenomenon. He believes that, part of the ar-lswerlies in the poisonous potion that the bahor admmsters l o hi s vi cti m to set the pl ocess of 'zombificationl. in motion. This poison \,,, made from a combination of h.r-ort remains, poisonous plants and traces of the l ethal B ouga toad arrd prrffer flsh - is so l oxi c that i t onl l has to be ab sor bed through the skin to be effective. In Davis' opinion, some Voodoo bakors are ski l l ed poi soners w ho knol r h ow t o di spensethe ri ght amotrrl to{ deacllyir t gr eclients to slo'rv down the metabolism of theii victims to the point where they
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appear dead. Too much, arid it would not be possible to revive the 'corpse'. After burial, the bakorbreaks into the grave and administgrs a strong antidote - the socalled zombie cucumber This may be [rue. but does it explain Voodoo spells that rely on ritual rather than poisonous potions for their effect? Take the caseof WestIndies' record-breaking Test cricketer. Brian Lara. Early in 1 9 95. t he land a ro u n d L a ra ' s h o m e w a s found scattered with an eerie assortmenl of powders, black candles, chicken,heads
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G In Voodoo, good ond bod ore olwqys found togethea To get qt one you must first peel qwoy the other
strongly enough then it is more likely to happen.' But where does that leave nonbelievers- especiallyscepticsfrom a different cultural background: who have been victims of a Voodoo hex? V oodoo devoteesare convi ncedt hat t he power of their faith=?ffects us all, regardless=ofour beliefs..|. Gatfi.Dowling, a South C ufrti na l ar* er' ,l o" rrndour ro hi s cosrwhen he discoveled a root - a svmbol of a V oodoo curse - i n hi s.house.S oon af t er wards, Dowling suffered a ruptured appendix, his wife caught chicken-pox, along with their baby, who also,contracted measl es.To make mal tersw orse.h is eldest son developed a serious respiratory infection. Coincidencb? Perhaps. But it is ible to know for certain.
D o m i n i c S w o rd s. Vo o d o o Re se o r ch e r
n\ ffi@ ffitr and entrails. It was thought to have been the work of a notorious local practitioner V Vooiloo reprisols, of Voodoo-styleblack magic. " including rituol Lara, a supremely giFled batsman. folmurders, reoched lowed his sensationallyprolific 1994season fever pitch during with a string of low siores. Was this simply Hoiti's 1995 a s por t s m an' sdr a m a ti c l o s so f fo rm o r;h e presidentiol elecfions result o[ a Voodoo hex? which were o""rr."ri Few question the powerful connection by UN peocekeepers 'and between mind body. In his book, from fhe U5. Passageof Darkness(19S8);Dr Davis points Governmenls from out, '-Even d.oc.torsof the most traditi'onal neighbouring isl.onds sort admit the role psychologyplayson our refused to porticipote well-being)' He maintains that Voodob os observers for feor appears to work because i1. forms such a '" of becoming strong part of the Haitians' cultural expecembroiled in fhese ta ti ons . ' lf one b e l i e v e s i n s o m e rh i n g reprisols.
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SENTENCE
One judge in New Orleans, where there is a thriving Voodoo community amongj immigrant Haitians, was not prepared t{ wait to find out. He recently convicted a V oodoo practi ti oner of artemptedm ur der . on the basis that he had obtained a Iock of the j udge' s hai r w i th the i nren t iolr . . of E.. putting a hex on him. C ri ti cs argue thal thi s ki nd of r esponse is simply playing into the hands of an ageold superstition. But some Voodoo researcherS take a more open-minded view. They are willing to believe that there might be at least a grain of truth in the Haitian proverb that states,'the closer you
r'urnerabre :"* ffi :";J:r"il|"::.'. i::
n the early hours of a February morning in 1995, agents from the Federal I Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sr-rrroundedthe Player's Club, a group of luxury apartment buildings in Raleigh, North Carolina. \{hen Kevin Mitnick, one o f Am e|ic a' s m os t n o to ri o u s computer hackers,emergeclfrom h i s flar r lr e lr r t hor it i e ss w u n g i n to action and arrested him. It was the climax of a nationwide hunt by a computer team of'FBI ager-rts, scientistsand amateur sleuths, h e a ded br c or npr r te rs e c u ri ty expert Tsutornn Shimomura. Shimomura's obsessionrvith catching Mitnick began rvhen the hacker broke into his home computer in December 1994. Mitnick stole $l million worrh of
software fiorn Shimomura's ma c h i n e arrd l eft hi m taunti ng AJter that, the voicemail messages. ernbroiled in a battle two became of wits that finallv ended with Mitnick's arrest. N A T IO N AT
S E C U R ITY
Kevin Mitnick first came to public attention as a teenagerin 1982, when,asa 'prank' he used a computer to accessthe US Air Defense Command. By the time he was arrested, he was found to be in possessionof over 20,000 credit card details and numerous secret passr'vordsto sensitivecomputer databasesaround the'rvorld. Mitnick had also acquired the abiliry to control the three central o ffi c e so f tel ephorrecompani esi n New York City, and all the
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$''.1 r Voluoble dolo con be effeciively 'locked' insideo computerusing encryptionsoftwore,bur potient progrommerswho enioy o chollenge con often find o woy in - somelimes wirh devosroringresulrs(inser)'
:-{ g { $ ,, , ,,-,!==
tel ephonesw i tchi ngcentresin C al i forni a.l f he had w anted t o, Mi tni ck coul d have accesse dt he nation's major stock exchange computersor mi l i tary contro l centresand hel d the w orl d to fi nanci alransom.A l though his court caseis still in process, Mi rni ck coul d. theoreti cal l yb. e sentencedto 100 yearsi n prison. Mi tni ck i sj ust one of an i nfamousband of anarchi c w ho have hit computer sci enti srs
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the headlines in rccent le:rr-s.
n o t c i r l r '\ t h e s a n r c s i r r i s t c r tl i r e a t
Another is Nlark Al>elc, alscr
as \Iitrrick s. both shaled ir
knor'vn as Phiber Optik, r,r.hon'as
1 : r s c i n a t i o nr r i t l i t e l e 1 - l i r o ne
imprisoned on T.fanuarv 1994 for targeting phorrc companies'
s v s t c n r s .L i k e \ I i t n i c k . - \ b e n e h a cl cleviserlx'als of obtaininq- ilee
central colnputers. He rvas-jailed
intelnatiorral calls br hacking ititc)
for a year ancl a dar, ltut rvas
telecontmunication contlol
releasecl on 7 Novernber 1994.
ccntres. This are:r ol conrputer h a c k i n s i s k n c x r 'r r a s 'p h l e a ki n e ',
Althoush Abcne's crirnes clicl
arrrl, [irt olrti,,n\ ]( !t\otr., il is rrol appleciatccl bl the likes of Rritish Telcconr ancl -\nrerican Tclephone irncl Teleslaph. -\ntither, slightly childish, -\ltene trick involved 'l'iling-' homc phones in the UK to p:rv pirones in the US so that a
' ',r'-t;ril*tb# ..- hold thd:nrod!
ffifi;;:*y., I
,.Wefe not mel. Such o feot,
possible,
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cornptrtelizeri r,oice dentanded ten ( c n l \ e \ e r '\ t i r n c t h e r e c e i vt'r u a s picked up. \\Ihilc tl-ris rnav have been a relzrtivclv harmless prank, phr-cakers have the abilitl' to 'steal' cellular phone nrimbers and charge thcir calls to the orisinai o\vllers bills. The,v can also re-route their dornestic phone costs so that the amount shorvs up
telephone-line connection (rrrodcm) - offers new
:
o p p o r t r r r r i t i e s a r r r l c h a l l e n g e s fo r h a c k e r s l i k e M i t n i c k a n c l A b e ne . Honre shoppirrg arrd banking \ c r \ i ( ( 's a r e a l r e a d y a v a i l a h l e o ve r thc Internet, gi r i rrg determi ned computer fia t r d s l e r s t h e c h a n ce to o E I
o
_s a job in \4lashinston. The juclge
hljzrckbank accorurt and credit ' carcl cletailsas the\r travel across the inforrnation superhighway.A report published bv the US FecleralTrade (lornmission in May 1996 has sone as far as stating that 'Cyberspircehas become the new
rejected this ofler and gave Abene the maximum
sentence pcissible.
Many pcople believe tl'rat the phone companies hacl pressured the.judee to make an example of Abene to detcr other rvould-be hackers and phreakers. Br r t \ t litn i c k a r r d A b e n e a r e j r r s t the tip rif thc icebers. With most , , f lir e r r , r r 'l d 's l a r g e s t c o m p l r r r i e s clepencling o1r .onllluters t() rLllt
S1L IHocker s] per for m o useful function, fest i ng fhe security of '1..,' sqfety-criticol g o v e rn me n f c o mP u f e r s R i chord Longhurst,.nef mogozi ne
Mn\ ' r'
t heil blr s i n e \ \ e s . t i r e s c o p e f o r c ( ) nr l) ut er c r i n r e i s n r i n c l - b o g g l i n g . \ nc l a: \ \ e l l o \ c i n t o t h e t i s t
o .a a o o
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d
iu'ouncl !-10 million a day in 1995.,,-::
T_tEl I_ r_J!_g Y_ P.lry U\ cl-
thr-oughcomputer fraud. Examplesof this include the
The Internet - a netrvork of
headlinc-hitting case of hackers
con)puters that calt be accessed by
i rrterl eri ngw i th the magneti cst r ipS on slrpermarket loyalty cards to' gi ve themsel vesexl ra bonus p oint s,
anyone, anl,where in the rvorlcl,
on, fbr exarnple,a neighbotrr's home telephone bill. Tl.resecr-irnes o .g = a rc not t r eat ed lis htl r - s i rrc t' o A 1990, the cost of phreaking has co sl U K t elephoDec o rn p a rri e a s rr f { estinratedf400 milliorr.
-\ccorcling to a recent survey oll(llr( tr.rl lrr \JatIitqemelll ' ( . ( , r r \ l l l t i u r ( r P . \ . I K b u s i r r e s se sl o st
c L' nt ur \ , r t i l l t h e l a r - c e t elec r ) r r r n r r r r r i c u t i o r g r itints be the , ' t r lr r i, t r r r t . , 'I c r 1 , r 1 c 1j 1 1 1 a :
.E I
fiontier for scanr artists.'
lvith the aid of a computer
and a
Itern$rernainingto be deleled: 229&
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HAC K E R
CT A M P-D O W N
Abene \ras particularly vocal about his expkrits, cven broadcastinshis techniqrres on a rr.eeklyNerv Ycrrk radio shol'. This n-asone of thc factors that brought l-rirnto the attention of' the telephone companies and causedl-ris downfall. In conrt, a fbrmer CIA agent, realizins that Abene's l a l e n t s\ v er eloo goo d to rr' a s tei rr prison, offered to supervize him in
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l-!tt!11!ty.tllt{li which can be used in exchange for goods, servicesor airline tickets. . One particularly worrying trend, a cc or ding t o c ons u l ta n tP e te r Jenner who heads the international computer security division at Management ConsultancyPA, is the growing . involvement of organized and well-equipped criminals in 't . computer fraud. EA S Y
) A huge voriety of informotion exisls on lhe Inlernel, complete wirh full colour illustrqtions. Much of rhis will be illegol, while some will iust be offensive. So for, there is no method for keeping potentiolly dongerous moteriql off of rhe Internet, ond the system remoins open lo obuse.
MO N EY
Organizations as diverse as the Mafia and the IRA need money to support their criminal activities, and computer fraud is a relatively low-risk way of raising large sums of money. They can do this by coercing a company employee into interfering with the computer sy-stemand diverting money to a false bank account, or by 'planting' one ol their members in the company to do it for them. 'The
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people perpetrating these crimes rarely get caught,' saysJenner.This is because it is extremelv difficult to track down, let alone prosecute, the person committing the crime. However, this is not always the case.One of the most audacious examplesof cybercrime came to public attention in October 1996 with rhe arrest of seven compurer criminals. Using relatively unsophisticatedcomputer
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equipment - and a few corrupt British Telecom employees - the so-called 'hole in the wall gang' planned to hack into the telephone lines running between cash dispensersand central banking computers. Hundreds of thousands of customer PIN numbers - the secret four digit figures that have to be typed in before money can
be dispensed- could be obtained in this way. The PIN numbers could then be decrvpted. and loaded on to a nerv bank card. Using a network of inter national thieves,money could be obtained from machines across tl-reglobe. Police claimed that the heist could have crippled the UK's financial institutions, had it sncceeded. D A TA
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At the moment. con-rputerfraud seems to be a problem that only affects the profits of big businesses. But as more and more people connect to the Internet, cybercrime could end up being a problem that affects everyone. The Internet provides a forum for anyone to publish any information they want, irrespective of the legality. Hundreds of thousandsof documents exist on the Internet, which could prove lethal if they got into the wrong
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consultant from Manchester, married with two children, was convicted of dorvnloading child pornography from the Internet to his home computer. He was fined f9,500. His arrest rvaspart of a massivepolice s\roop codenamed, Operation Starburst,rvhich involved police forces from seven c o n n tri e s .incl udi ng the U S , Cermanv and Hong Kong.
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SE tF -R E G U TA TION Yet poiicint tlte Internet to stop online c lr ilr l p o r r r o q r a p h y i s a mamnloih
- some n'ould say
irnpossible - task. One of the main problenrs is that different laws
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applr' in cliff-erent countries, and the hrternet does nol fall under the juri-s6li61i6r.r of anv one place. If one corlntrv clecides to crack down on child pornographr', paedophiles can sirr-rph transfer their material to another countrl rlhere the laws are more lenient. \Iaterial can then be
hands. Instructions for creating crude and sophisticated explosives - even atomic bombs - can be found, as well as ordering details for firearms and other dangerous weapons. Methods for committing su i ci d eex is t ,as well a s i n s tru c ti o n s on how to perpetrate and literally - get awaywith murder. You can even find advice on how to change your identity and fake vour own death. The abundance of illegal information on the Internet creates the ideal breeding ground for would-be criminals. And with tens of millions of people alreacly on-line, the chances of catching the criminal element of this sprawling communication network is practically nil. POL ICI NG
T HE
NET
Another example of the communicatiotr'free-for-all' is the proliferation of child pornographv on the Internet. In November 1995, Christopher Sharp, a 48-year-oldmanagement
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uploaded olt to the Internet and irccessedbv anvone, anl,where in the rrorid. Unsuspecting users can sometimes str-rmbleacrossthis kind of r.rraterialaccidentally. hr the caseof online p a e d o p h i l ia.some progressi s being made by the use of allon\'lriolls' tip-offs'. Anyone who finds paedophile material on the Internet can contact special groups who passthe information on to the relevant authorities, and so far this is proving fairly successful.However, there are many ways of disguising u n s a v o u rymateri al i f a person i s
determined and skilled enough. Renegade hackers like Kevin Mi rni ck are al rr' avs prepared to chal l errgethe so-cal l edexpert sand break their'ur-rbreakable'systems. But, given that so much dangerous material exists on the Internet, are hackerslike Mitnick the real cy'bercriminals?If their highprofile computer skills keep the experts on their toes and drives this area of computer technology forward, perhaps the increase in securi tyknow l edgecan be use d t o bani sh l he si ni ster.anonymous information off of the Net - before it gets out of control
In lhe next zssue,SCIENCE FRONTIERSinuesligrtleshou our increasing dependenty on computer technologl could ultimately proae fataL
SIBLT.
N ETIC Ri,'f ITCTROMAG E APO NSB E I N G T E S T E D A N UN S U S P E C T I N G
c? DavroGuYarr STIGATESONE
ctArMsrN OF AN ANSWER nlony Verney looked forward r,r'ith excitement to his retirement. T,ogether with his wife Doreen, he had bought an idyllic woodcutter's :,rinrural Kent, England. But things r ot wor k out a s p l a n n e dfo r th e Ve rn e v s - the elder ly c oup l e h a d n o t c o u n te d o n being guinea pigs for a horriFying experili:t:f:f::irl, ment in microwave weaponry courtesy of th e B r it is h gov er n m e n t. o f 1983, 1 9 8 3 . Gil In th. l"r t he, ,I--er s um m er of th e c ouple r et ir e d to th e i r Snsel and Gretel horne. A
Cottage dated back
the Battle of Waterloo
b e g an per m eat in g th ro u g h ilie' building. By October, ihâ&#x201A;¬,,rvolume increased and, V e rn e y . a ccor ding to
up through the ground.' For the rrt davsand ni ghts.the coupl e barel ysl ept . \\' i rhi rr three neeks, the bombard- m ent
ern \vere l i t up ar ni ght w i th srrang epinl and yellow lights, casting eerie sl among the w oodl and trees.
POTICE
DENIATS
Decidine to locate the source of ':
ming, the Verneysset out late at rr! 24 November. It proved to be a fu-tilb cise, as the souncl seemed to move aiound. r. H ow ever.duri ng thei r foray.they ran inr o a police patrol not far from their cottagd!: was 1 a.m., and the policemen cled heard the sounds. But when Verney an official complaint at the police the following day, he rvas told it *ur,';ini I .9
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(,o
.9 o 'b E o l
matter for the oolice'
and to
Environmental Health Department:::,,'',:l$ D espi te repeated attempts to p matter before the council. Vernev reii no response.Frustrated and debilitate next contacted an acousticseneineer a local firm in Maidstone. Arriving at cottage that same evening,
the e
obtained a very strong reading ofthe vi ti ons. C oni erned, he al erted E nvi ronmental H eal rh D epartmenr to t he
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problem, but they again refused to get At this point, Verney reported lin,Vo!1e0, i*ii:;;:ii;ii !,it; was becoming intolerable inside
iAhbour, meanwhile, had told the ,about an odd btrilcling that had r ec t ed c lo s e b y . tw o o r th re e l e a rs usly. The two-storey building, surmded by high hedges, had no windows the first floor, and reminded Verney Army bunkers built during ,:L,ip{,,German
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!r,;@rta WarIL oddly, the ground floor windows 1;1t.'...,.1.',1'tost wâ&#x201A;Źre protected by thick net curtains typical of those used to protect specialgovernment . ildings from bomb blasts.Verrreyalsodisfea{ that the telephone number of the tding was 'classified'. This building was, felt, the origin of the disturbances
,5,PlClONS
AROUSED
no one in authority to turn to, Verney to London to hire his own recordipment. Explaining the sitr,ratiorrto rs of a shop specializing in electronic appliances, Verney was told by the . two s hop as s is ta n ts'.[t s o u n d s a s rh o u g h .
Def enc e. ' A f t er
a s h o rt c o n v e rs a ti o n .
tronics scientist and a date was set for hnician to visit the cottage. ar r anged, th e e l e c l ro rri c ss c i e n ti s t. we qhall refer to as 'Mr D', arrived ;lottage on 18 January 1984. Ten
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minutes after \Ir D set up his equipment, Yernev rvas astonished by the arrival of a local Environmental Health officer. Appearing agitated, the officer remarked ro the scientist, 'So you're Mr D?' and proceeded to cross-examinethe scientiston his equipment. He left shortly afterwards. Following his departure, Mr D and the Verneys began a vigil, hoping to capture necessarydata to prove what was going on. Most unusually, it was a quiet evening, with no humming noises or ground I'ibrations. By 10 p.m., Mr D decided to return home, and packecl up his equiprnent. Artonv Verney drove him back to London. Shortlr' after they left, the noise and vibrations began in earnest, and Doreen Veruev suffered a nisht of 'bombardrnent'. After seven months of suffering, the Verneys reluctantly decided to sell their
home. Sale of the property was set for completion on 24 May i984. In his diary for 20 May, Verney recounted the night was hell, with the noise at its highest level ever, and vibrations tearing through the grounds at frightening velocity. The cottage was literally shaking in its foundations, and did so until 7 a.m. Pitifully debilitated, the Verneysmoved to Sussex,where they devoted the rest of their lives trying to discover who was responsible for their cruel treatment. Prime \Iinisters
33 tt l n my o p i n i o n, the V e rn e y cq se w o s bqd timing. He wqsn'f o lorget - he wqs i u st co u g h t u n w i ttingly in o milifory experiment Reseorcrer Dr ArmenViciorion,Conspirocy
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,, Thatcher and Major, and a iro:t of otirer Ministers and government depar-tnrent-\. were extensivelyquestioned.\\hert he rras quizzed, the Deputy Chief C,onstabie of Kent Police stated that the issiresraised
Gerrrrarrr.to pl epare pi l ots for torture the elent tl'reir planes crashed behii
br t he \c r r t r r '. d i d r o L
e n e n r \ l i n e . . H o l l o r c l p e r s o n a l l y o b s e r vr
f all r r it h i r r r h c i r r r i . d i c -
\ \TO per.orrnel' corrnrl si ngi n agony' l e.rrl r of rhe el ectl omagneti ctorture.
t ior t t , l K r r r :
Police.'
Pr-ilateir. i'Io\fc\ er. thc \\crr tuld flri. \ \ n: . t r t \ [ u D i r r t e l l i genc e n r a t t e r . T h e \ c l nr r \
\ [ oD t .l l i i n r . r r t o d e r t i it .
and
borh
the
\\ e nt
\-ernevs to
tl-reir
sraves in 19t!16riith the nratter unresolr-ed. It A Dorgle Cottoge seems on unlikely lorgef for o coverl militory operotion, olthough fhere is the chonce thot it wqs torgeted inodverfently. Antony Verney, ifs owner during fhe mid-l98Os,
r to u l d
be
very
eAS\ to disrniss the \-elnevs claim. :rs thntasvrr'ere it not for the fact thirt urr.rchof their story has been authenticated.-\ 90-minute tape recording of the noisesrecordeclinJanuary 1984was analvsed bv Frecl Holroyd, a former Army intelligence officer. Holroyd stated that the sounds corresponded to 'white noise' in the audible spectnlm of microwaves.
wos convinced lhe source of the microwove ofiock
ET E C T R O MA G N ET IC
wos fhe neighbouring
Holroyd also pointed out that the technology involved in producing these sounds was used in a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) installation in West
form (inset), olthough, not surprisingly, the owners deny ir.
TOR TU R E
MEDICAL
BACK.UP
The \-ernevs' medical records gr-irn picture of their sufferin$i, I983. shortly be[ore the activity couple received a clean bill of healtlfil their local health centre. Yet, bv eailil Doreen was suffering from severestornaah cramps and vomiting. the first symptomsof radiation sickness. By August, she-:. admitted to a London hosoital su from ovarian cancer. She later had a
ber ofstrokes and spent the rest ofhei as a semi-invalid and in severe pain..::.:,:,,,:L Antony Verney fared little medical records from 1984 docu tinuous pain and a disturbed Within a yeaq he had permanent his soine. and lost all his teeth. The Verneys are not alone in be sets for microwave and other electriiij netic weapons. One of the best mented casesis the civil rights activists demonstrated outside the C ommon nucl ear bomber a
Microwaveweaponssystem (no. l) 1972
dctivists
of
, lhe U5 in Britoin, o hdve been d'by o microwove on in I985. Their could be eosily but for the I'Cvidence- one of msi for exomple, os suffering ofter winter's r the bose.
Britain in 1985. In a dossier prepared by fbrmer activist,Kim Besly,details of alleged microwave assaults directed at the peace campaigners are fully catalogued. Victims' symptoms include retinal bleeding, nausea, nosebleeds, dizziness, palpitations, and heaclaches. The list of srrnptoms \\'ere rer-ierled ltv th e N o b e l Pri z e n orni nee D r R obel t Becker, a medical scientist rrho alscr analysed the recordings made br' \-elner and others. Dr Becker concluded: '\lrs Besly'speople certainly fit r,vellinside of the EM field exDosuresvndrome...'
Another case involves Robert Strom, an emplovee of the Boeing Corporation - a major US defence contractor. His life was cut short after contracting leukaemia as the result of exposlrre to Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) radiation. Strom alleged that, in 1983, Boeing set him the task of firing an EMP simulatcir hundreds of times a day as part of a secret experiment to test the hazalclsof E\'IP exposure.In 1990,Boeing settlecl the crrseout of corrrt fbr $500.000. SECRET
E o o
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MILITA R Y
P R OJECT
Lr par:rllcl. Bc.reingrier-e also operating a secret L S -{ir For-ceprograntlne at a missile site in Lrcliilur. -\rother Boeing employee, Jim Dalton. rias erposed to EMP radiation that senelated 600,000natts r,vithinfeet of n'here he rrorked. The exposure of Boeing staff tci this radiation was trot accidental. As far back as 1971, Boeing knew there were consiclerable risks involved. At that time, Boeirrs medical stalf wrote they were 'in a unique position to evaluate some aspectsof the biological effects on man'. These experiments, and many more besides,provided the necessary'science'tc-r develop anti-personnel electromagnetic weapons. This new-age armoury has manv benefits for the military and intelligence community. Foremost, perhaps, is that they are invisible and deniable. \Arhetherused on the battlefield or in the bungalow elecrromagnetic weaponsare destined to become a
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