The X Factor - Volume 11 (1996)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS authon: FergusFleming,Peter Hough, Graham Coleman,David Guyat( London.

- Insettrich LersinglAl(G, Picture Ubrary.

Topham Johnshn/l'lt whohdpedin liket+ thankaf}rhose lhe X Factor. ;, TheRoundstreer fou Good.

Dr [. H.lwire,

h):; +J

F*;j .q _.9

a cleric

Romans - or mavbe the Eelptiarls, or the

fiom the Spanish colonv of \Iexico -

Phoeniciarts, or the Greeks, or everl settlers

ltirnour-.

from the lost citl' of'Atlantis.iNoboclv con-

t

1773, Friar Orclortez -

hearcl an Hidd en

extraor-dinalv

in the. jr r ngle. not f hr f r om

his norkplace in tl-resotrth of the cotrtrtrl', \\:asiln er)ormous, empty cin'. His cur-iosit1, arousecl,he rr-radehis parishioncrs crarrv hirn to the site. There, sure enor.rgh,\\'asa cit\', but it r,r''as trnlike air)rcitv Ordonez had ever encoLlntered. Strup;gling throuel'r the r:rinfbrest, he sarv monunfental str-ucttrres exceeding;in scaleand gratrdeur Lrnvthing to be found in Europe. There were pvramicls. palaces, streets and cburtyards, all brrilt to an astonishing degree of craftsrrr:rrr s lr ip. . \ r r d c ove ri r)g l h e i r rv a l l s r,rt' rc hieroglyphic.s. lincs of inclecipherzrble \\-l'ren Orcloncz reportecl his fincl - he gar.eit the name Palenque, after a nearbv i'ill:rSe - an offrciai ;,survey u,as put iu motion. Its conclrrsionswere that Paltnque must. somel-iorv.have been the work of the

sider-ecl fbr a moment

;

tl-rat they hacl found

the re rnains of a civilization as great as anv in Er.rrope's past - the Mal'a.

.9

5

aI-â&#x201A;Ź|!-,xJ,_P,,!."9_.|_.ty."l_,!,!!.._9*.:=*....,.'_,".

The Ma1'a first erncrged :rs a distinctive group il arbotrt2,6008C1.

In the follorvins centuries, thev expandeclthr-ough Clerltral Amcrica forrning ir series of citl' states bound together b1'shar-edrelisious beliefs and, p:rrticuliu'ly, bv Lracle.

For' ol t' r a mi l l errrri rrnll h(' \ \\(' l c anl crl l fl the most adr,anceclraces in the rvorlcl.Thc,v built better roarls than the Romans, and w-erc better scientists th:rn the flreeks.

Their- pvrarnids were the eqr-ralof thosc in Egl,pt. Tl-rev had the highest population dcnsitiesin pre-industrialArnerica - Tikal, fo r t xarrrpl e. l r ci l r i rr rrhat i s no\\

o

E

r The Moyo builr

o o

dozens of

:

observotories, whelb

=o

priests chorted the

u:

movemenls of lhe plonets with omozing dccurocy.

In turn, priests become revered figures, ond rheir effigies qdorned mony buildings, pots ond voses (inser).

o

flunternirla, cor,eled all :ueli o1' 129 sq kltl t._t

ancl contirinecl :ul estilnatcd populatiorr of

-..

ar le a\r r0 .{XX).

Theu,.in

aborrt ,\11900, it all coll:rpsecl.

Only

ir feu, satellite states sul'\'ivecl. Ancl rrlrt rr tlrc 5p :rr r is lr ir r v ader l ( . t . r r t lal Arnelica in the ltith centrrr\,, these statcs also clisappe:rlecl. \,\rhat underpinned this dramatic rise? Wrat lay bchincl its sudden

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Iall? Fol centuries it rcntainecl tr nl)'ster\,,

*$5 --;-f*,r" I

and onlv recentl)' have lve bcirun to piecre toscther the jiesar,r.of tr{:rva historr'.

.ry*y4:"t9 t!__-.=_';_ -t".t.9-9-:*y*J The reason fbr otrl ignorance lies, primar-ilr. rr'ith tlrt'5p :rrris lr . \ \ ' lr er r r lr t ' r r r r liv er l in (lcntral Arncr-ica, tl'rev colonized it rvith systern:rtic thororrghrrcss. Not sittisfiecl rvith killirru llre ir errt rr r ie. lr r r r l c les t lor ir r q t lr eir

â&#x201A;Źz

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cities, thev also clirl thcit- best to eradicate lul\ tl'lr((' o I tlre inc liger r or r r r ] r r lt r r lc . Pr ic s t s brrr-neclu.r'itten recorcls, believins then

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lr-

'r'l",li ,r

to

be l-reretical.A ver-t,fen, manuscripts - four in irll - n,er-ckept :rs itcms of culiosi[', brrt other\\'isc a rnillennirrnr of accrrrrrulatccl rr,isclornrr.asconsigrred to thc fl:rrnes.

Shortlv a{icl Ordorrcz lediscovelecl tlie \,l:rva civilizirtion iu the

l8th

celltur\', a

nuntber of scientists investig:itcd the nrirrs *

A The pyromid of

of

Kukulcon or Chich6n

Iti et'ogl r pl ti cs.

P :rl enqr,re.

L,ach

n'as prrzzl ecl

Tl tcr

\\ ( l e {'l rr i , '11 .11 16;n.

bv

*.

"Jr'

tl -re

Itzi is built to on

kind o1' rvr-iting, but n-h:rr rlicl ther nrearn?

exoct ostronomicql

The first breaktl-rr-ough canre in the r.r.ricl-

configurolion. At eoch equinox, the

19th centtrrv rvhen a French pliesr. Clhalles BrasseLrr, cleciclecl tci inlestig:rte Clentral

setling sun cqsls o

America. Diegiug thlough \ aticarr alchives

shodow on the steps in the shope

itr Rorle, he unearthecl a rnarrrrsclipt rvr-ittetr bv tl-re Spanish clerics u'ho hacl over--.

of o moving snoke.

seen the clestnrction of \lir|a

|ecor-cls. Iti

nas a firll clcscription of the \Izrvurcalendar.

Anc,l zrlongsicleeach hieloelr 1th lr'as-rr'ritterr a Spalrislr tllrnsllrtiorr.

F o l t l r e f i r ': r l i r r r c . i r r t l r r s r l i : r l r r r r r r rIi r d a c l i r n l - l s c o f r r l l r t l r i s l r r r l l r a l i l r r r ' p r t,r l cce ssors coulcl cio. The ,\Iar.:r,it becirnte clear, rvere superbll

acconrplishecl :rstronorners

:rrtclmatheuratici:lns. Ther'hacl not olle but o

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@ ' -c

3

.:

thlee interc'onnectecl c:ilend:rrs. The first t t t e l r s r r r tt l t i r r r c i n 2 6 ( ) - r l a r c r t l t 's i r r 2 0 - d a r 'tnonths'. This, in ttrrn, \,oulcl interact rvith ,r,"..rn.1, 365-cl:u',c:rlenclar'.The hvo calenclirrsrtere arrangecl to coincicle ol)cc evel'\' i-r2r'e:rrs to give rise to a 'bundle ', the Mar':r

"", ,

deeper. Usirrir ttre latest cocle-cracking computers, thcr, cleciphered sorne rnore N l arrthi t' rocl l pl ri c' . \A l rat tl rev cl i scor cr cr l rvasa blooclr"ancl terrifvirrp socieq,i The Ma1'a possesseda staggcring^rlrra)' of gods - at lcr:rst 166 - r'r,iro hacl to be appezrseclrvith constant ritrrals. For the nto\l l )1i 1. l tl tese| i trral si rrrtl l red l l l o or l. lr r eariv Mava historl', urnirnalbloocl sufficecl, br.rt they soon proql-essed to hurnans.

Priestsand rulers endrrreclhorrible acts of'

:==::: =-

' rl

6ffi 1k W e found o lor ge num be r of books... ond qs they confoined nothing Ibut] super gtition ond lies of the devil, we bur ned them ol l ,l562 B i s h o pD i e g od e L o n d o ,

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.

={,;rL -*-'* k u o',

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blooclletting

:g:=

{, '{

tant occasions, incluclecl hurnan sacliflce.

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S t ) i u r p o | l a l l l r u r s l h c i d t 'a o l b l o ,r cl tl r a t

5l{ii*;

.

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u,hich, on particular-lf irnpor-

o rc .q

(.,

it pclrncatccl everv uspect of N'lavzrlife c\-en slz)rt. A traclition:rl game u'as plaved in

a uicle, steppe<1 corrrtvarcl rvitl-r trvcr

tealns cornpetiDg to pass i'r bzrll th|otrsh zr

.*

o

= 2

stone ring rncirurtcd high ?rn thc n'all, cin either sicle of the court. lt rvlis :r little like

equivalent of a century. \eitlrer

of the :e. [ r or v erer . wc lc us c f ul

for- measuring lar$e periocls of time, so the \'Iar,ir devised a thircl calenclar known

as

o j

: E

ilre Lorrg Corrrrt. T his als o c or r es por r ded

o

nith

o

the 52-year c,vcle, br-rt rneasured time

in blo cks e qrrita len t t o i. 125

r ear s . Thc

\lara rrsed th is srstc m t o c alc r r lale ev er r t s ir r

'-

their ancient history, The rvhcjie sy.item was

o

strtrctrrled aro rrrrd ur ec i: e olr s elv aiior r . of the pla rret \ e rrrrsrvhos e c olr r s e t lr ey plot t ed rr' it lr arr erro r o f o rrh 1, 1s qc onc ls pc r \ c al. ,6

Mo ?ElxJ*Y_E _sJlg"4Jl*o***."

Later archaeologicai

Iincls rgveaiecl more

I,Iar-a secrets. Almost er,ery major builcling rvas placed to chart the pattem of the stars.

It seerned as if the Vlava rverc obsessed by the hear-ens and the calgndars. Onb temple in Pa lerrq rre.fo r ex ar nple. r , r asI bt r nd { c r harâ&#x201A;Ź 365 steps, corresponcling

exactlv to

llt e r rtrrrrb er of d ars ir r a r ear .

I t rras rrol un lil

t lle l9i0s ar r d l9f i0s .

Itc-' rr'e ve r'. rlra t scier r lis ls \ \ c l' e ablc t o dig

thing happened, Maybe theywere attacked by outsi ders;perhaps one of the ci t y st at es became ambitious. Nobodv knows for sure. But the war glyph =.,.a-star sign sprouted on temples throughdtt,rhe land.

In the absence of an overall ididbi,'-the result was disintegration. One by one, the Maya retreated to thei r sfrorrgho lds and were destroyed.

HAND

OF

GOD

A rrother theory rel ati ng to the Maya'sdis-"appearance concerns their reliance on the cal endaras a tool of predi cti on.The M aya were an extremely fatalistic race who believed that all events w.ere predetermined by the gods and therefore uncharigeable. Moderr-r interpretatious of ,. hieroglyphs and the calender show that the Maya predicted the arrival of a hr.reely

basketball but with one major di{I'erence:if' yo u los l. y oll c t led . I h e l o s l n g l e a m c o u l (t expect one of tlvo options. Either their heads were used as balls .for the next match, or they were tiecl together in a riast, human ball and rolled clown the courtyarcl . stepsuntil they were dead.

Maya blood did not flow indiscriminately, however. It was linked to the sun as a sym bol of t he lif e ftrrc e .a n d e v e ry c l e a th was seen a3 a benefit to their extensive network of cities and asricultural subnrbs. \ Sa cr if ic e anc l blo o c l l e tti rrg s u p p o rl e d . rather than destroyecl,their lif-estyle.

1 - i {. .

RITUA T

M URD E R

In the last few years,cryptologists, building on the findings of the 1950s and 1960s, have discovered a nelv element"to Maya hieroglyphics. T\â&#x201A;Źy were not only pictorial but phonetic, relying on a subtle combina. rry l i o n ot v is ual and a rrra l m e s s a g e sMa g l yphs ar e s lill ir r d e c i p h e ra b l e .b u t th o s e th a l hav e been lr au s l a te dp o rtra y a l a ta l l y fractureclsociety. l ner e was no s i l rg re .u n i l y rn g p o w e r l n the Maya world. Individual city statesrr,rled i'their own territogy, relying on mutual tra d e benef it ar r d a s h a re dc u l tu re to k e e p the peace. In abor.rtAD900, howeveq some- .

) The sun god odorned dozens of Moyo buildings, ondl mony people were socrificed to invoke his fqvour. Among those socrificed were losers of the troditionol Moyo bollgome - o sport where o'boll hod ro be possed through o hoop (inset).

il ii

clestr-r.rctivcforce - u,hich took tl-rc form of :r powcrful

grid -

around

the

time

\ D g U ( ) .T l r i s . f o l t l r c M a r a . n a s : r l o r ce l h cy t o r r l d r r e i t l r e r f i g h r r r o l d e n r . l t s c e n r e d to sigr-rifv thc cncl of tl'reir'face .

I r i s p o s s i t i l e t l r l r t ( l r t ' \ l r r r ': r . l r a r i r r g e r r r l r r l r i d f o r o v c r 2 . j 0 0 'r t 'l r r ': . r r c l e i rr r l d cd arouncl ,\D900 by a rzrce that they interpreted as this clestructive god. ()nc- theorv stzrtesthat rather tharn ofl'e r rcsistance. the \{aLya acceptecl their destnrction

.

as preor-

.'tQffi@+-*--

They offered socrifices of their own blood, sometimes eutfing fhemselves qr oun d i n pieces ond they lefr them in fhis woy qs q sign Moyo Trcnslotion

by AlfredM. Tozzer

.:__====-**;%.n.

'

--: daineclb1' thc eods, zrndsirnplvallowed I h e t t l s c l v t 's l o l r e s l t r t r g l t t e l e d .

H , , \ r e r e r '. : r s r r i l l r r n r r c l r o f l l r e \ l a va r va v o f l i l - e . t l r i s i s o r r t ' o f r n a r r r i r r l e l p r e t r r ti o r r s. o rc o

Attempts

at obliter-ating Mal'a heritauer b,v

o

the l6th celltrlrv Spanish cxplorers - combinccl nith general erosior-r catrsecl b_vthe

I

hot, tropical climirte - almost succeeded in

>

E o E

I o

concealing

tl-rc Maya's existence fbrer,er.

Artd todal', despite lticlespread irttct-est iu the Nlzrva peopie, the tnrth rrltirnalc

tlcrrtist

bchincl their

r t 'r n a i r r s o r r e o f

l l i \ l o r \ 's l r c s t - k c p t \ e c r e l s .

o ilj

8 q

o{'

o o 'o

= j

_9. o

'"

TOI]CFI AnT S T O RIE S O F P E O P L EW H O HAVE BEEN OF C UREDB Y P S Y C H I CH E A T I N GEVIDENCE THE PARANORMATPOWERSOF THE MIND OR A RE T H E YJ U S TA C A S EO F NAT URE COUNST? TAKING ITS OWN INEXPTICABTE et ir ed c ir il s e rra n tJ i m Williams, OBE, began to suspectthat something rvas sel$e seriousl,vwrong nith his health after a knee-replacement operation in Novernber 1993.

Over the next ferv months, he lost a considerableamount of $,eight, suffered from extrerne tiredness and swollen ankles, and began to look gaunt and jaundiced.

In April 1994,Mr Williarns'w'ent to hospital in \{eston-super-Nlare for a biopsy. The surgeons found a massivetumour on his liver, equivalent in size to a grapefiuit.

It was diagnosedas malignant and inoperable. In fact, the tumour was so advanced that radiotherapv and ch em ot her ap)\ r er e .u l e c t o ,,i .

HAN DS . O N

H EtP

Dr Richard Lalson, Mr William's GP, suggestedhe be admitted to a hospice fbr the terminally ill.

'I rvasflattened and then began to mentall,v prepare m,vselffbr death,' the cancer r,ictim said. 'I wasn't scaredor frishtened but felt a senseof acceptar"rce.'

Mr Williarns and his rvife,June, were on friendl,v terms r,vithhvo psychic healers, Len and Rae

Hodghton. After Len 'heard a v o i c e ' i n structi ng hi m to hel pJi m, the couple administered healing three times a week. On the da,vs thel' did not attend,June took over. At the same time, Mr \{illiams was pllt on a low-fat vegetarian diet bv Dr Lawson.

Remarkablr', his condition started to improve almost immediately'.

'After one rveek,'Len Hodghton explains, 'he was eating, had lost his yellor'v r o mp l e xi on and rrascomi ng dorvnstairs.At the end of the second,he wanted to be taken out

to a restalrrant. At the end of the third rveek, he wanted to go to see a shorr'A . w eek al tcr that. he dr ove R ae.mrsel f arrrl.l rrrreal l the way around rhe Merrdi p H i l l s.'

In early August 1994, Dr Lawson senl Mr \\ i l l i ams Ibr an ul tra - sound scan.It shorr' ccl that the tumo ur had shrunk bv arorrnd 50 per cent .

81 October.i t had reduced by another 20 per cent.

A further test, zrlrewmonths Iater, shorved the grorvth was now barelv 2 sq cm. Incredibly, Jim Williams' recovery continued to accelerate,and soon the tumour had completelv disappeared.

MIN D

OV E R

MA TTE R ?

Jim Williams' 'miracle' cure is far from r-rnique.In the UK alone, there arc many thousandsof pcopl c rri th si rni l al stori csof l ravi rrgheerrcrrredthrough l-realing,:rnd rnany healers who lav claim to a high rate of'success.

So does psvchic healing rv<irk?

The simple alls\\'er is that, despite y'earsof extensive research, llo one reallr' knor'r's.Ir-rthe first place, there is tr-emendous conftrsion abtlut \rl)at is mearrI b,vpsychic healing. Unorthodox healing techniques come in such a bervildering arrav of forrns that

! .9 3 E

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i ,9

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it is extremelv difficrilt to establish whether healing takes place paranormally or through some other inflr,rence,such as autosuggestion.Dr Daniel Benor, a leading researcherin this area, b e l i ev esps v c hiche a l i n g i s a n umbrella term that best describes a l l fbr m s o[ ' healin e i n ro l ri n c mind over matter. ,ENE RG Y

ir,..' ilrl.,.,

N

iSrir:., ri-:i:i:ij:,1,i:l:,

M E D IC IN E '

Central to virtr.ralh'all these healing methods is the belief that some form of energv is channelled through the healer to the 'patient' which is believed to bring abor-rt the cure. Indeed, manv patients report feeling heat, cold or a ti n gling s ens at iond u r i n g treatment - e\ren in casesrvhen they were unaware that tirev rvere being treatecl. But just lr'hat this energy is, or where it comes from, is a source of huge contro\rers\r.

Depending on their personal beliefs,some healersdescribe this energy as 'universallot'e', or the power of God. Indeed, pra,verhas been sholt'nin a number of'case stu diest o pr odr r c ei m p rc s s i re results.Other healers,such as Harry Edrvards,rvho forurded the UK National Federation of Spiritual Healers in I955, beiieve that they have no special po\{ers o

A Psychicheoler Mothew Monning hos

o

.= .!

5

_9

been rigorously tested by o number of scienfists.In one experiment (insef righr) Monning wos oble lo offect the growfi role of gross seeds. In onother, (inser lefi) his obility to influence the mind of o mole volunleer wos monitored on on EEG,which showed o morked convergencein the broinwove octivity of the fwo men.

coincides with the natural remi ssi onof an i l l ness.In other s. medical researchhas shown that belief in the effectivenessof th,e,,'.:l:'.rii. r' healer is enough to trigger the,:,,rr','::::::r: body's self-healing mechanisms.':l..,a.jiii This brings the charge from ,,,,..,,.,:r,,* sceptics that if someone wants to,.;rlr!tl..li be cured, they will believe they ar*,iii cured. The recovery may be short lived, however.becauseall that has happened i s that the sympto m s have been temporarily suppressed bv the mi nd.

5 5.

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s

focus on their patients mentally and 'direct' healing thoughts at them. This is apparently what happened to Tony Pritchard in September 1994.

After treading on a drawing pin, Mr Pritchard's leg became seriously infected. Antibiotics failed to treat the infection, and he was admitted to Wycombe General Hospital. An operation was performed on the leg without success,and doctors consideredamputation.

,9 I

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other than the ability to awaken a healing force within the patient.

In rare cases,such as the British 'psychic slrrgeon' George Chapman, the healer claims to be the 'instrument' of a deceased physician.In a healing session.

Chapman goes into a trance during which he is controlled by his spirit doctor, who then proceeds to 'operate' with invisible surgical instruments on the spirit body of the patient. This body is thought to be a duplicate of the physical body, and a change in one is reflected in the otheq for good or bad.

Many healers also claim to work effectively without ever having to see their patients. They simply

D IST A N T

H E A TIN G

Mr Pritchard's wife, Linda, got in touch with healer Ray Brown and asked him to help. \Alhen he arrived at the hospital, Mr Brown was refused admittance because visiting time was over. Undaunted, he returned to his car and went into a trance, allowing his 'spirit guide' to take over.

Mr Pritchard was unaware of any of this. But that night, he 'felt something going on' inside his leg.

The strange sensation continued the following day. \Alhen the hospital doctors next examined his leg, they were astonished.It was completely free of infection, and the patient's leg was saved.

No one can deny the incredible recoveries of some patients, but is there any evidence that paranormal forces are at work?

Just because healing is unorthodox does not mean that i t i s p s y chi c.In some cases.i t i s reasonable to assume that healins

SEARCH

FOR PROOF

On the other hand, cures that are I : ri :,.,,:r effected without faith and i:,.1l with no knowledge that such a treatment is being attempted ut . , .,,li:i.:ll in the caseof Tony Pritchard .,,,{ would seem to suggest that Some il:..,1..r:i* paranormal influence occurs t t.'..:l.ll'.:.:.l.\ between healer and patient. Onel , '':'r,,,.,.,1i: area w here thi s appearsto wor k is in the psychic healing of animals.

Healers such as Betqt Shine and Charles Siddle treat animals as w el l as humans.They have many testimonials from vets certifying that animals they were unable to help improved considerably after heai i ng had taken pl ace.

In an attempt to discover what

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,iii.eihnisms are at work in psychic ihe'aling, US and Canadian ',scientistsenlisted the help of the :.;gifled British healer Matthew ,,,Manning. Extensive tests and 'experiments were carried out ,'between 1977 and 1982.

NVINCING

RESULTS

Mind Science Foundation Antonio, Texas, a seriesof rirrrents was conducted under irlaboratory conditions to see i f Manning c ould in fl u e n c e a :,rVolunteer'sautonomic rrervous system,which controls the involuntary actions of the heart,

glands and some muscles.

At a point in the experiment selectedaI random. Manning imagined the volunteer, who was in a separateroom. becoming emotionally disturbed, and at the same time pictured the pen on the polygraph, which was recording the volunteer's physiological responses,making large sweeps.

After twenty trials, the scientists concluded that Manning had successfully activated the volunteer's nervous systemby the power of his mind alone. In other testsit was found that he was able to reduce the growth of

cancer cells and to prevent the destruction of red blood cells.

Professor F. W. Lorenz of the Department of Animal Phlsiology at the University of California also tested Manning. He used a number of volunteers, and monitored their brain activity w'ith an electroencephalograph (EEC) machine. The tests demonstrated that Manning's brainrr'avesbecame synchronized with those of the volunteers. Earlier expenments by scientistsin Toronto, Canada, indicated that these rvaves originated in a part of the brain that is dormant in most people.

{ Chorles Siddle

D IME N S ION?

describes himself

S P IR .ITU A L

os o spirituolisf

These results provide tantalizing er.idence that psychic healing can affect biophysical systems,and suggestthat a paranormal component may well be involved in at least some healing processes.

But, whether this is proof of the existence of a spiritual realm, which many healers are convinced lies at the root of their abilities, is a question that has so far proved to be beyond the reach of parapsychological research.

onimol heoler ond cloims fo work with o spirir guide, Buster Lloyd Jones, o veferinory surgeon who died 3O yeors ogo.

Siddle olso cloims fhqt he con defecl o condition iusr by plocing his honds on on onimol.

n 1985, astronaut Colonel Gordon Cooper, one of the first Americans to orbit the earth, stood in front of a wr United Nations panel chaired by the then Secretary General, Kurt Waldhiem, and made an alarming statement. 'I believe that... extraterrestrial vehicles and their crews are visiting this planet from other planets, which are a little more technically advanced than we are on earth. I feel that we need to have a top-level programme to scientifically collect and analyse data concerning any tl?e of encounter, and to determine hou.best to interfere with these visitors in a friendly fashion.'

Cooper's qualifications for this statement, he claimed. were that he had 'been into the fringes of the vast areas of which "the1"' travel. Also, I did have occasion in 1951 to have two davs of observation of

many flights of "them", of different sizesflying in fighter formation... the,vrvereat a higher altitude than we could reach.'

Here, then, was one the US's greatest pioneers, a man who had held the record for the longest flight into space - 34 hours - admitting to some of the most powerful people in the world that he had had encounters with intelligently controlled alien craft. But could these alleeations possibly be true?

A An onomqlous

.,,:::. :':

sfreok of light posses over the surfoce of the Moon in this photogroph token during the Apollo l2 mission.A number of photos from ihis mission contoin strqnge lights or

A

H IS TOR Y

OF

S IGH TIN GS

Since the formation of NASA in 1958, a number of its test pilots and astronauts have testified to witnessing UFOs and aircraft of unknown origin. The first to formally announce a sighting was Joseph Walker, pilot of the pioneering X-15 air-

o b i e c t s , i n c l u di n g one showing whof mony UFOlogists cloim is o brighrly lit croft hovering over one of lhe oslronouts (inse!).

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An FBI file, dated 2 Septernber 1965, states: 'The solrrce believes that the inforrnation rnay be classified. Thc sourcc said, for example, that fcensored] had seen a motion picture frlm showine a missile separating and a UFO appearing on the screen.

Prior to the flight of Gemini 4, lcensored] said to r,vatchout for something interesting because the spaceship had devices aboarcl to detect U FOs...'

EV ID E N C E

OF

A

C OV E R -U P z

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self part of a formation

oI'UF()s r'vhile flvins

A studl' of the FBI's documentation on this o caseraisestr,r,osignificant points. Firstlr',the o reference to a'motion picture film' held bv 4-o NASA shor'ving a UFO in flight confirrns s that NASA has in its possession data on UFOs to which the public at large is being z denied access.Secondly',the mention of the Gemini 4 mission is intriguinu, since o ne of thc pi l ots, James McDivitt, has confirmed that during the rnission he clid indeecl vierv some form o f rrni denti fi ed ob-j ect.

Although McDivitt does not belier.e that the object was anomalous,he does not adhere to the theorl' of UFO sceptic James Oberg F that the object lvas merely * the second stage of the Titan rocket that launched G.emini 4. As researcher Timothl' flood stares in his 1996 book, Be\ord,lbp Secret,'ifthis is the case,the onlv puzzle remaining is McDivitt's apparent failA This glowing disc Lrre to recognize his or'vnrocket'. wos photogrophed

':..,:.,::i""'ar 314,ooofcet.

Des pit e t hes e s ee mi n g l r re l i a h l e e 1e rv i t' ness accountsJ NASA refused to back its p i l o ts . P hot ogr aph s a n d h l rn c o n ta i n i n g i.. ii:1.:,,, anomalies\verenever released,and the offi".i cial line statecl that the Ul'Os had been identified as 'flakes of ice'. Br-rt althor.rgh ::.':NASA denied having anv interest in UFOs, , ::::,,,,..;:: ' 'this was soon proved to be a lie. ...i.: : : During

19115,the US Federal Bureau of Inlestisation (FBI) learned fiom a confi,,:'..dential source that a NASA informant r,vas

covertll, 'leaking' information on UF()s.

Receiving the data were t\\'o individuals 1-from Pittsbursh rvho, to quote the FBI, 'had personal interests in UFOs', and r,vholvere 'acquainted r,viththe NASA employec'.

from lhe Apollo l3

M O ON

MY S TE R IE S

Follor'vins the Gernini missions, the space race moved into fr-rllthrotde with the Apollo programme. Follou,ing President Kennedr-'s promise to land an American on drc N,Ioon, p rrbl i c i nl eresr bccame fi rmh focrrssedon the mvstcries of space - and particularly rnan's ncn frontieq the Moon. So, rvhen the astronalrtsof Apollo 11 finall,vtook their first tentative stepson to the surface of the Moon on 20Jul;' 1969, o'en the rnost hardened of sceptics must have irt least considered the possibility that somc form of evidence for extraterrestrial life tvould be found.

Despite clairns that nothing r.rnusual was seen br, the astronauts. rumours hal'e

commond module, Odyssey. In onother photogroph, ollegedly ioken during the Apollo l5 mission, o blue obiect hovers over the Lunqr Rover (insef lefr). Alrhough NASA deny hoving ony inleresl in UFOs,o | 967 operoting monuql (inser righf) oullines the procedures NASA stoff must follow when hondling reporls of UFO sighrings.

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The evidence for this encounter on the Moon, horvever,is ver_ythin. Otto Binder, a II99Ifrll]fnlptr rrl{l?LNc R[!cnrs o. srcrrNcs former NASA ernplovee claimed that it was ' fl ,l' ,*t*- :.^ s' ;*;i.' ,,'5'l .L:.i :i :,,,crcd::oncc.,rrs or,erheard bv amateur radio enthusiasts ;it,'!,.;'"Ii ij:1J;ll .it,&,$tlit,*triTif:rj;",, able to pick up a 'confidential '

NOTE

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An !nK.nt,riedobjec, observed

cl-rannel' reser\reclfor such messages. For the record, Neil A rmsrrong. the fi rsr man t o set foot on the Moon, has informed investigator Timothy Coocl that 'There were no objects reported, found, or seen on Apollo 11 or anv other Apollo flight other than of natrlral origin.'

The onl,v corroboration for this story came from Maurice Chatelain, a NASA communications expert. In an interview given in 1979, Chatelain confirmed that a time clelay in the transmission of the dialogue beh.\'eenMission Control and Apollo 11 allorved NASA to censor information regardir-rgthe'visitors'.

Uncierno ci:'currstanceswill thc ori3in of thc objcct bc discusscdrvith tl:e obselvcr oI pelson rnakingthe call. ,".:,, rno !er.pjroucnuh5.r .-l:: rrdriny,oilcr jtrformt o' '-." ""'{Jrrrlr ";.;.....: ^r rneoserrcr o,.uieobscrver!o. rcs,j."r"';;;;.h ;;il"",l_,j;'e,*,, t2) 1"",";t11'"' " (3J ^-O?t:

u," ot;"ct sishtcd, i. e., sfurpe,srze,

Locationoi the objectr st?-ie,city, eic.

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tA C K

OF

E V ID E N C E

There is, ho'lvet,eq no \\rav of verifving that the Apollo 11 UFO irrcident took place.

Manl' researchersare dubior-rsof the claims made by Binder and Clhatelain,despite their career credentials, and NASA deny censoring the transmissions. Holver,et a similar case invohdng the Space Shuttle Discoaerl not onl),brings the 'Cosmic \{ratergate' into the 1990s, but also adds a bizarre twist to cl ai msof astronarrl s'al i cn cncounl er s.

At around 6.30 a.m. on 14 March 1990, D onal d R atsch. a ' radi o ham' f r om Baltimore, Marylar-rd, was rnonitoring the radio transmissionsfiom Discoaer^1when circulated that during their stay on the Moon, the crerv were ne\rer alone. For example, related below is rvhat is alleged to be a classified conversation between the Apollo 11 crew and Mission Control: Apollo 11: I4hat was it? I\hat the hell uas it?

That's all I want to knou. ThesebabieszLterc huge, sir... Oh, God,yu zuouldn'L belieue it...

N,4J7l;\\hat... rAhatthehell'.sgoing on?

Apollo 11: 7 hq're here,under the surface.

N;ASA: r+\hat's there? Mission Control calLing Apollo 11.

Apollo 11: Roger,we'rehere,all LJreeof us. But ute'ue found someuisitors... Thq'ue beenherefor quite a whilejudgtng b1 tlte installations... I'm telling yu there are other spacecraftout there.

Thq're lined up in ranhs on thefar side of lhe crattr edge...

,'rF'.

h e h c a r d t h t ' f o l l o r v i l l g c o m m u n i ca ti o n : ' H o usl on. L)i srnuer 1'.-.' ;""".;';;;;;; h a v e a f i r e . ' S h o r t l v a f t e r . R a t s c h cl a i m s, all

aclditional

transmission

was heard:

'Houston, this is -Di.ircuzry.We stilt have the j';'! al i errspacecral irrrrderobservance . ' Qui te rratrrral l y.thi s astoni shi n g tion prompted numerous indi including Bob Oeschleq a former

SS 1B Wolter Schirro oboord Mercury 8 wos the first of the osfronouts to use the c o d e n q me ' 5 o n f o Clq u s ' t o in d ic o t e . . . f ly in g s q u c e r s Mouri ce C hotel oi n, former N A S A empl oy ee

trffi

specialist with NASA, to make their: inquiries. After an intense period of,i{

c a t i o n . O e s c h l e r c a m e l o t h e c o n cl u that the message was not, in fact,

fiom the Shuttle. Instead, he ventured thdt the sisnal emanated from the area around Fort N{eade, Marl'land - home to the US National Sccuritv Agency, which has longstanding involr.ement in the investigation of UFO reports. Oeschler could only con:. ch,rdethat the transmission was 'an institii.: tionally orchestrated hoax for some i ntel l i gcnr' epurpose .

NASA'S

D OU B TE

.:t ' B IU FF,.

A seni or N A S A sorrrce.how ever,has informed Oeschler that the Sfr.rttt*t'*d#'... indeed involved in a UFO incident in thil:..

-.-same tirne frame.

Furthermore,

Oeschlert

,

z

reports, the encounter lasted for eight 1..,,,,n horrrs.arrd carrsedsi grri fi cantproblem sf or D i .stot,ct )' s el ectri cal svsl ems.Quest ions,it goes w i thotrr sayi rre.remai rr unanswer ed, - . _arrd the casci s sti l l rrrrderi rrvesti gat ion ,It al so appears that U FOl ogi st shungr y l or more evi derrcervi l l rrot be sati sf iedunt il N A S A adnri rs offi ci al l y that i rs as[ r onaut s

o o

have had genuine alien encounters. Ruf the l '

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P o

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space asency has kept tight-lipped

on the

srrbj ectof U FOs for 30 years.so i t-seem s ; likely that such an announcement r,rill not be forthcoming.

In !,henext issze,UFO Flr.E looksat l:r. zuhichcouldsuggestthat intelligentalten euirience life ha; beenuisiting earthlor thousandsof years.

-:, =:.t-

CTTRTSRONTXSON USES THE PROCESS OF AUTOMATIC WRITING TO RECORD HIS DREAMS WHICH, HE CLAIMS, ARE TERRIFYING PSYCHIC PREMONITIONS OF THE FUTURE he claims of Chris Robinson - TV repairman turned TV star - seem at first to be so incredible as to defy belief. But, perhaps w: uniquely for one who professes to have psychic powers, his stories are backed up by a wealth of documented evidence.

The 45-year-old from Bedfordshire had no history of paranormal encounters until he began to undergo a series of disturbing experiences in 1989. Soon, he began keeping records of his dreams and gradually learned how to uirravel their meanings. The implications for Robinson were enormous, as the dreams often spoke of violent occurrences such as terrorist attacks and plane crashes. What was he to do with information about events that he so strongly believed were going to happen? Ignore it and suffer the awful guilt of knowing that he might have been able to avert a tragedy? Or go to the authorities, whoo if they didn't assume he had some inside knowledge of the crimes he had to recount, would dismiss him as a crank?

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{ Before going to sleep, Chris Robinson writes o specific question of his 'spirit guides' ond writes the coded, cryptic qnswers qs he dreqms.

N N When did you first storf hoving these dreom premonitions?

It was in 1989when I was 37. I can't explain rvhl' they should have started at such a relativelr' late age.

Whor form did your dreoms ioke ot first?

People spoke to me in my dreams; first it rv:rsrnv dead grandrnotheE and then sonreoneI didn't kncxv- a soldier nho u'asto become a regular risitor-.Thev \{ere ver\r vivid, frishter-ring dreams. Ther seemed to contain rvarnings.

Whot did you do?

I found that I hacl difficr-rln'rernemberinsthem when I awoke in the mornine - in"rportantcletailswould be lost. But I discoveredthat I cor,rldmake notes in rny sleep,a kind of ar,rtomaticu'riting. I l.ould have no recollection of making the notes, but there they were when I woke up.

How detoiled were your notes? \{rhen I say thel"re notes, they are just that. I have to fill in a lot of gaps and the picture is not always immediately clear. There are clues though - words that I've drawn a box around signify the key rvord is something close to the one I have'written down.

Con you give on exqmple?

I once drerv boxes around the words 'Holland' and 'head' - to me that meant someone connected rvith the Middle Eastwas going to be mnrdered. It turned

out that the dream was refcrring to the killins of an arms smnggler. It happened in Belgium, and he was shot in the neck.

Yvonne Fletcher and Keith Blakelock have come to me in my dreams. \,\4-ryI have been chosen, I have ncr idea. It rnay be connected to a number of near-death experiences and out-of-body experietrces that I hacl as a child during a period of ill-health.

Your dreoms don'l seem fo be very precise.

If you mean do I drearn names and dates and foresee exactlywhat's going to happen, as if I'rn watching a Whqr did you do wirh the informqtion qbout film, then r-ro- it's not like that. It's ofien a rhe IRA once you pieced it together? painstaking process of examining my notes and I went to the police. I rvasapprehensive,of course, looking for a clue, or a connection. PerhapsI clon't but I was on good terms r'vith a local Detective g e t p rec is em es s agebse c a rrs el h e . Inspectoq who seemed ^S S spirits can't know exactlywhat will svmpathetic and passed on . & & happen, or perhaps the infcrrmation to his sr.rperiors. Once transmission process is too difficult. the dreams startcd comirrg true Somethinghappened...a Over the years, I'r'e learnt to and the information I gave them spirit choseme, and these recognize certain symbols. I've was accurate, they started taking a dreams were here. I don't alwaysbeen scared of does ever lot of interest, you can be sure. know what started it. since I was bitten as a chilcl and so I associatedogs with terrorists and e â&#x201A;Ź Didn't the police find ir qll murderers who, becauseof their o b it s u s p ic io u s ? #F evil acts, terrify me in real life.

Oh yes. They wondered how I could know about the One frequent, bllt very curious, feature of my

terrorists' plans and of course suspected that I rnieht

dreams is that I have for,rnd myself noting down

be involved in some way-.But if that was the case why

postcodes. Obviousll', this was very helpful in

nould I come to them? Soon they realized that I

pinpointing where an incident wotrld occur. Once I noted down 'LE1r, which I fbuncl out vvascentral l,eicester (it isn't me who knolvs what the codes

any more than I do, even norv. Maul'officers

correspond to, but whoer,er sends rne the dreams).

Lrken a strollg interest in me, even br-tgging rny home

Sure enough, an IRA. bomb exploded r.rnder a car

and listening in on my phone calls.

there two days later.

Where do you fhink the dreoms come from?

I think they are sent to me by r,r.hat you might call 'drearngr.rides'. \,Vl-rether this rneansthey are spiritsof the dead or from another dimension I can't say.The spirit of the dead soldier gave me details about bornbs. Later, the spirits of murdered police officers

could help them - they didrr't know holr, itl,vorked will denl

askins me for help, or even talking to me, but they'r'e

Whot is your ottitude towqrds the sceptics?

I feel sorry for them, to tell the truth. There's nothing that I, or anyone else, can do to change their minds. They've closed their minds and in my opinion they're the ones who are missing out.

Hove your powers been tested?

Yes.I've done a lot of work with dream researcher Dr Keith Hearne, who has observed and monitored me as I sleep. He was with me when I predicted the escape of two IRA prisoners from Brixton Prison, and he was with me when it happened a few days later. Dr Hearne has been working on a paper about me for severalyears now.

Not everyone has been so supportive. Dr Richard Wiseman refuses to accept my powers are genuine, and I feel that the tests we did were unfair. Even so, I did more than enough to convince a fair-minded person that I was for real. I was set to appear on James Randi's TV programme, but when they found out the accuracy of my predictions they changed their minds. Apparently, they only wanted guaranteed faihlres on the show in order to back up Randi's sceptical approach.

One of the TV appearances I have made was on the British TV show This Morning with Richard andJudy, where I amazed the hosts by successfully identi$ring an object in a sealed box they brought on to the show

Con you direct your dreqms in qny woy?

If I want to find out the answer to something specific I'll address a question to the spirits on the top of my notepad and look at what I've written the following morning. There seems to be a specific cut-off point of three weeks. I can't dream of events beyond that.

Con you find out onything - the winning numbers in fhe Nqtionol Loftery, for exqmple?

V One of fhe stories rold in Chris Robinson'sbook {inser} concerng the time he drove to on RAF bqse where he believed on IRA qttqck wos imminenf. Affer being interrogoted, he wos dismissed. A month lqter, q

Unfortunately, no. Perhaps my'dream guides' don't want me to use them for my own personal gain, but only to warn or help others.

Do you think the future is pre-determined ond thot we hqve no free will?

No. If there was nothing that could be done to avert a bomb or a murder, say,I don't see why I would be told about it. It seems to me that there are a number of possible outcomes to a particular event, and that I'm only seeing one of those outcomes - this would suggestthat the future is not absolute.

bomb wqs found ot fhe bose ond sofely detonoted.

Does this imply we live in one of qn infinite number of similor or porqllel universes?

U

) E

-i

= o

It may be that we have all lived before and I am somehow tuning in to past events.If you accept that the universe is expanding and will one day implode on itself, the cycle of creation and destruction might start again. If so, the circumstances might be identical. Alternatively, because of some law we don't understand, there could be minor alterations. I have come up with a number of theories to explain what is happening to me, but I don't think I'11ever know. All I can do is carry on dreaming and aim to use my gift - sometimes it seemslike a gift, at other times it's a curse - in a responsiblemanner.

ww

4 1

I l

he Boeirrg 747jumbo.jet Maid of the Seas hacl barely reached crr,risins altitude when it s\'veptover Scotland : en route to New York. It was three days before Christrnas, 1988, and the passengers remainecl blissfully unaware of what awaitedthem. The explosion,lvherr it came, tore a gaping hole in the aircraft's fuselase, sending the airliner ph,rnging to earth. The casualtiesrvere horrific. All 259 passengers and crew aboard perished.

Eleven more people cliecl in the small Scottish border town of Lockerbie, as rvreckagefrom the airliner rained down on the streetsand houses.

Pan Am rvasfined over $600,000by the Fecleral Aviation Administration (FA{) for security lapses at Frankfurt airport, where the bomb was allesedly smuggled aboard flieht 103. This effectivelypointed the finser of blame fbr the bombing at Pan Am. and led to 300 court actions

being filed against the airline by relatives of the victims.

Despite the seriousnessof the atrocity, the Lockerbie caseslowlv simmered on the stoves of government investigators for almost three vears.The reason for this official tardinesssoon emersed. A US journalist, Jack Anderson, revealed that in March 1989 Presiclent Georse Bush and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher agreed, during a transatlantic phorre call, to 'limit' r i rrvesti sat th ei r respccti e i ons.

VE I t

OF

SECRECY

Anclerson stated that this pact was agreed to avoid discrediting the British and US intellisence community. His claims were potentially devastating for the two governrnents - it implied that both intellisence agencieseither knerv of or were involved in th e bomhi ng. The di fhcrrl ry l br i rnesri gators lies in proving this cluplicity.

i

+ tampering, no explanation has been given.

It is now known that the five-man DIA team were returning from Lebanon, where they had been searching for US hostages held by the Iranian-backed militia fighters, Hezbollah. \A4-rilein Lebanon, McKee is said to have come acrossa secret CIA operational group known as 'CIA

A s f ar as B r it ai n a n d th e U S w e re c o n cerned. there was proof of Libyan respon: sibility for the bombing. That position b e cam et he of f ic ia l l i n e . a n d re ma i n ss o to this day. llowever, informed observers p o i n t t o a wealt h o f c o n fl i c ri n g i n fo rm a tion and suggest that blaming Libya is n o th ing m or e t han a p o l i ti c a lw h i te w a s h .

The evidencefor this - and Anderson's : claims of a US-British cover-up - was

One' , w ho w ere col l aborati ng w i th Manzur Al-Kassar, a Syrian drug baron.

Convinced that the CIA One group was a US front for overseeing drug-running to the West, McKee had secured a sample of heroin to take back to Washington to challenge the authorities with.

Al-Kassar'srelationship with the US rvas highly classified.He had forged an alliance with the CIA and rvas permitted to ship heroin to the US in exchange for his help in the release of US hostases.

under t he pro s p e c t o f mu l ti -mi l l i o n law-suits, had hired the group to ntly investigate the events leadt o t he at r oc ir y .T h e i r re p o rt w a se x p l o "

sive. It was also eflectively covered-up.

CIA

IMPTICATED

Interfor's report was based on eyewitness aceounts and the testimony of at least 11 . ,...r.rrru*.d sourceswithin 'the intelligence a g enc iesof f our We s te rng o v e rn me n ts ' .It - revealed that a secret, five-man Defense In telligenc eA gency (D IA ) te a m h e a d e db 1 Major Charles 'Tiny' McKee was aboard th e plane. A s uit c a s eb e l o n g i n g to Mc Ke e was allegedly recovered and emptied by the CIA before being returned to the site . to be 'found' again. The case contained se ns it iv eint elligen c e d o c u m e n ts . a l a rg e amou nt

o o o o 6

s i

5

of cash a nd t r av eller s c heques .

a n d a s iz eable q u a n ti tl o f h e ro i n .

In credibly . an uni d e n ri fi e d b o d l w a s a l s o removed from the crash site. But despite these extraordinary examples of evidence

o 'g

6 o o

,i '

,l

{ Toking three minules ro foll from lhe sky, the wreckoge of flight lO3 lrovelled over 9 km before impocting on the Sherwood estole in Lockerbie, Houses

were blown oport by exploding oviolion fuel, while ofhers ' : .

were deslroyed by folling debris. The' E o o

p

deod olso roined from the sky thot nighry the bodies of

â&#x201A;ŹI .9 6

7O possengers were recovered from one property olone.

V lt is believed fhot

Alt houeh

t he US Dr r r g E n f i r l c c u t c . l l t

f l i g . . l i t 1 0 . 3 s a v c I l t t c 'r f i r l

a 1 e : r d . Th e i r

o Toshibo rodio

Achninistr:rtion (DEA) knelr, of'his heroirr

conceoledthe bomb

piper line

thot deslroyed flight lO3. Bombs such os

offici:rls rriaintnin tl-rat tiris rr,asa carefirlll cotrtrollecl 'sting' operation u'hich rloulcl

intelliscncc, n.ho notifierl Al-llrssar. He, i1 turn, :rrrrurgerl to lrirve a bomb planie.cl

rhis (inser),designed to

hitve eventuallv

cripple oircroft, often

hieh- plof ile

insiclc the suitcirse that usuallv carried,ttii r ( g u l r r ' l r e r ', r i n s l t i p r r r e r r l . T l r i s r v o r r l d r l i s-

use boromelric

explanatiolr, saving it rvasjust one 1es of a

pose o{ N,{cKereallcl his eviclence, at}d thus

triggers. When rhe

protect his CllA-b:rcked tracle in nirrcotics.

plone reoches o certoin

glob:rl nLlrc()tics nenr.ork controllecl bv 'The ()ctripus', the shadou'r' nettr.olk of

height - ond, therefore,

high- r ' ar r k ins

presrure - it detonotes.

int elligenc e agenc ies .

t hr or r s h

Fr a n k f l r r - t

lestrltecl in

ar r es t s .

Mirnv

elem ent s

ailport,

a series of clotrbt

this

u 'i t l 'r i n \ '\ 'e s t c r n

r e p ( ) r 't s L r s s e s t c dt h a t - \ I c K e e 's t r a \ e l p l a r s \ \ c l c i n t r r ( ( 'p t t r l l r r r t l t e l ) ( ) t l e d t o Syr i a r r

Hou'ever, at this point :in altcluative s r t 'r ) a ui o s l r g g e s l ( '( l i t s t 'l l t , r l r r l e r f c r l i r r l e sti g l t l o t s . I r r J r r l r l 'l ) X H .a r r l t r L t t i a r t A i l h tts r r 'a s b l o r r r r l l , r r r r l l r e s k r l x t l r e I S N a n b a ttl t-

TIVES AT RISK Ac c olc ling t o I nt er f or irtvestigirtions, NIajor' 'Tinr" N'IcKee, having rrrrc:rrthed

cririser- \'incenrte,s, resulting in the cleaths of 2 ! l {) l ) i l s \ c t) g e l s . D e : 1r i t t . [ 'S s r l r l t . r r r <.r r ts I I r a l this rr'as :r trasic

t he illc eal nar c ot ic s c oll l l e c t i o n , f c a l e d ' t hat I his t ear r i' s ] r es c ue I o p e r a t i o n ] a n c l

rcvenge.

tl-rerir'lii.es n,orrld bc enclanscrecl ltv the

P()plllal

ciouble-clealing'. After reportins the rnatt er t o his s uper ior s - a n d g e t t i n q n o response - an iurgr\' \'IcKcc bookecl his tcam on the ill-{atccl Piur Am flight

103,

intenclins to expose the CIA colrrrption hirnself' l'hcn

he lettrrnerl.

Tlt e plc s enc e of NI c Kee a n d h i s t c a n r o n

lrlrrrl-lirre

2rcciclent, clisbelieving

Irlrrriarrs \\( te Thcr'

hil.ecl the

h e l l - b e r rt

oll

Svrian-based

Florrl lol the Liberatiorr of P l r l t s l i t r e . ( 'e r r c l l r l ( . o n r r r u r r r r l {P F I .P- GC ) I t r r r r t i t - f , ) r - t a l i r l l i r ( k . I r r r l t 'r 't l r t l c u d e r sl r i p of Ahrnecl .Jibril, :rn explosives expert, p l a r t s r r t 'r 'e r p e e r l i l r p u l i n p l a c e . .fi b r i l 's l e r t n t '<l o f . \ l - K : r s s r r r ( . 1 . \ - l t r o t c t t c r l d l r r g p i l r c l i r r e l r r t r l ; r c r s r r r r t l tr l . \ l - l r " r s s a rt o sr r b sti tute a borrib insicle the n()rlnal heroin-

.: '

.. : luJ.n suitcase.In this scenario,the subse' .. rentdeaths Tliy McKeeand his team "f ly coincidental. , er e is , howe v e r,a th i rd o p ti o n th a t dovetails with the known Syrian and

';.

involvement. This view holds that Interfor theories merge rather rge. Faced with exposure of his ipipeline, and aware that the Iranians planned a spectacular revenge for the attack, Al-Kassarand his CIA 'con-

igenc e agen ts w h o w e re a b o u t to tJreir knowledge of top-secrel.CIAtioned drug trafficking.

) The opium fields of the Bekoo Volley provide for one of the

DEN AGENDA

world's lorgesl drug

and informed opinion now point and Iran as being responsible for

enterprises.Monzur - Al-Kossor (inset left), o moior norcofics ployer; wos ollegedly

:

approached by the allied forces to join the fight against Saddam Hussein in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Could it be that the

. ' .: theydemandedfor their co-operation I , fti.: in this conflict was to have all charges inst them dropped?

This, too, may have

La multi-layered strategy.Not only did tnqg Syria S1i1 and Iran into into,the the allied .""d f.i" it also blurred the involvement of

shippingdrugsfo the U5 wirh rhe help of rhe ClA.He moy hove

ollowedAhmedJibril

Westernintelligencein drug trafficking.

(inserright),o Syrion

The centrepiece of this strategy was to blame Libya's Colonel Mu'ammar Gaddafi, who was widely regarded by the world's governments as a dangerous and devious leader. His past financins of terrorist orsanizations, including the Irish R epubl i can A rmy (l R A ). ca,rsed under standabl efri cri on. S i tri ng arop a wealt hy and independent oil-based economy, Gaddafi refused to align himself

terrorist, to use fhe

ClA3drugs pipelineto ploceo bomb on the PonAm flighr.

IN T ER FOm ' ' 'reâ&#x201A;Źe.*

.,' ,,:: * " mrl$r1e

rtr*gggx*;'#i**;g::ilffi ttt'' n ."{ "T,^*il jnffi $;Tl'*{rT{$$!"*::;lg"':n:ri:rr:":iiii:}, T .'J3t*.*

f i}:;,it" * ffi':,'1"'q:i:i;:]l-$gifur*$'-;it*#* ':?*i -**---*-*-*'--.-'*--

i +p, E

Libya's leader. William Casey,former Director of the CIA, was pre-occupied with finding new ways to bring Gaddafi down.

Constantly pressing his viewpoint home, Casey eventually gained the support of senior Cabinet members to undertake military and covert operations designed to topple Gaddafi. Blaming Lockerbie on

E

; -: 3 o

6 E p o d o o

6

_â&#x201A;Ź !

E o

to rulder-

in

The sfory of the lockerbie disoster is one of supr eme impor tonce for qnyone w ho sfeps on fo on oircrqft D ovi d Johnston,Lockerbi eR eseorcher

mine his authorit\'.

Horver,er,

F#

e&.'tsw:i:'

!

him n'as one nt()re opporlultitv

L)epartrrrernt:rr-c u'ithholrline the tr-uth,' 'flirficant :rnnouncecl,rl:rkins his position clcur orr the joint LIS-British cover-up. 'frafrciuri \\'cllt olt to savthat 'irrtetllisence cxl)erts aroturcl therl'orlcl clisagree'n'ith the Blitish :rncl US position. 'I think Oongress

Nlarch

1996,

US

Clonsressman .fatnes Traficant took the floor of the House of Represcntatives to

=-=4:':;---::1-9:ffiffit* {'

WW

speak out o\,er the contintring cotrspiracr'.

Perrnitted exilctlr' 60 seconds to mzrke his

dcserves the tnrth. I think the lamilies of the yictirns of 103 deserr.e the truth.'

S o l a r '.T n L f i c l r r r l 'r : r p p t . a l s h a r r ' l a l l e n o r r

point, the strzLigirt-ralkitreRepubliciln \{ellt fbr the juuular. 'I think the CIA anclJustice

cle:rl'ears, and, for the rnoment, ofllcial conf i r 'r n : r l i o r r o f 5 r 'r i a 's a r r r l I l l r n 's i r r r o l r e m e r r t

in thc l)ombins rcmains unlikelt.

A nerv inr.cstigzrtionhas also bcen seriouslvh:imperreclbl Britain. The bornb's tirner srvitcir - a crucial piecc o1'cvidencc- r'enains in the possessionoI' British intellisence, u,ho rcfrtse to give it to investigators or explain their reasonslbr this perversc staltce. hrevitabll! there are firrtl-rerallcsations of srrppressecl evidence levelled against the CILA. In the nrean tirrre, the families of l l t e r i c l i n r s t r r t ' l e l i l o c o r r c l u <l e th a t

the re u,ill rrcver be 2urvsort of inclependent trial or irn'estis:rtion bl' the US or British governltletlts. Re-opening the case may flnallr, rer,eal the nrtrrkv trans-Atlantic doubie-clealine that has strrrounded st()ry fbr ltlmost a decirdc.

this

ff:

TFIT,

t.....,l.'.',,'.,,.,1.i.'

:::]]:] Ii.liti:l:]r ]i:l]t. i:].] '::

iiri:r.]::ra:.r:l]l:.,:'.

n O c t ober 1 9 9 1 ,.| o h n Polvelson, a professor at the .]:',,,11]:' l,,,,.

University of Colorado, wrote a letter to the iVeu York ffi Tincs.Commenlillg on a projcct tcr l:,I tl::lr'lr:rr::lr:l::::lr make Mars habitable, he stated that a similar operation had :1.:rr:'t:t:tirrt:rr::,:::.r::t: once been launched to earth. l:t::itl:tl:t:rr:l:'rl:ait:.r:. lr,:rl:::lrli::r':lri:,i,r':r: A plan 'prepared on Venus in approximately 200 rnillion BC, has rrecently been discovereclin a cave in Colorado,' Porveisonrevealed.

'Faced with the problem of their ow-nplanet becoming uninhabitable throush irreversible g l o bal r v ar r nir r g.\ ' c rrrrs i a rr economistscalcuiatcd the costs and benefits of heating r.rpa ':,:,:t1...,.,,',,,',.,,t., -,' barren earth.' . .'.,,r ::.ll:':.'.:.'t'.r'' ... , ,,,::,:t:t' ::::,:]::,1,:r::rirrr'i The plan r,ventahezrd,r,r,itha r'l]rttt::']:i: ri]]]]:i:,:ltt,rrlt.: massivespacelift bringing the ' iiihabifants of Venus to earth.

LlJnfortunatell: they were all eaten bil dinosa.r.s, and hurnan eyolution had to start auain,' wrote the professor.

GRE E NI NG N t hou gh

, ,,',,,. '' ',',,',.',,',',,:, .:...: .:)::) :.:. :.:: )

M AR S

his lcttcr was obv ious lr

a joke, some readerswere sufficiently taken irr to ask Ponelson for the location of the Colorado cave.\{hat is not a j o k e. hower er .is tl re i d e a th at pr om pt ed t he l e tte r i rr the first place: making Mars, our nearest planetary neighbouq a habitable environment for Man. I t t s c a l l e r l I e r r a l o r m illo " "' n the transformation hos t i l e

planet

into

of a a p la ce

where humans misht rvork and live outdoors, much as

@

r:u

1I1l,'rf

*

I

-,.iT?

l';{o.'fl"+ ,'{' A A roinforesl, oceon, deserl, morsh

.: ...._,.)

qnd sqvqnnoh form port of Biosphere 2,

',,,,;a|E-

o mossive greenhouse-like

focility (inser)

in the Arizono desert designed to

l:,1

recreote the experience

iH

,::,.

of storting

life

on q new plonet.

thel

do on earth.

Like

manv

fzrntastic ideirs, it had its birth

such in

scicrrccfictiorr. Books like Farmer in llu: Skrbr,Robert Heinlein ancl l-lLeSand.soJ Xktrs by Arthur' [i.

Cl:rrke in the early 1950sgot the ball r-ollins and, bv 1961, Carl Sagan,the late professorof E

o

;.z 6 E p

6 G

o

o

f, ; -_.9o o

o @ l

colonizecl. Ratirer, it \vas cxtremely colrl - sometinres as lol

as minus

1 2 0 '( . - r r i t h r r o l l o r r i r r g \ v a l e r o r o x \ g c n . D e s p i t c t h e s e r r t t p r o l r r i si n g s i g r r s . N A S A l : r r r r r c h c r l m o r e M a r sbound probes :rnd continued to drarv up cletailed plans for a

( lornell U niver-sitr,, rl,:rsseriously discussingthe possibilitl'of terlafbrming in the respected jorrrrrzrlStience.

rnanned rnission to the Red Planet.

Tu,o nuclear-boostecl rockets, each r'r'ith zr cre\\r oI six, u'orrld have set off on l2 Novcrnber 1981 and arrir,ccl on Mars thc fbllorving

L IF E

ON

MA R S ?

August. Thev u'or.rld har,e stayed for

It u,as not just its rclative closeness

3 ( l r [ a r ': h e l o r e r e t r r r r r i r r g l o e ar th

to carth that rnade N{zrrsthc target

in .\rrsrrst 1983.

f c r r t hc s t ' t c r n r [ i r r m i r t g r i s i , r r a l i c s .

E

that Mars rvas tro

llslt r ,n ( ) m \ l tt td spl tr'c sC i ertces al

o .9 o

scientists kncl

ear-thlv paraclise u,iritirrg to be

I t r r c r t 'r h a p p e r r e d . T h e p u bl i c's

Pcrcir,al Lorvell, ir rvell knorvn

i r r t t r t 's t i r r s p l t t c c x p l o l a t i o r r

American

r v a r r e d .a r r d t l r e i r r c l e a s i r r g

astr()n()mer of the early

20th centun', claimed to see

cornplexitv and cost of sending a

through his telescope lvhat looked

mission to Mars pushed the project

like ir r,ast nct\{ork

f r r r l l r c r '<l o r v r r l h c a g e n d a . B u t sti l l .

ol canzrls,

bordered bv vegctation, on the surface of N,Iars.

But even belbre Man first stcppcd fbot on the Nloon in 1969,

n-ith fears of global lr,armins and other environmental

clisasters

hirppeninu on earth, sciertists and r r r i l c r s t o r r l d r r o r l r c l p t h e r r r s el ve s

e xa m ining t he po s s i b i l i ti e so f h o u to kick-startliFeon Mars.

B ios pher e2. a g i a n t g re e n h o u s e co v er ingov er t hr e e a c re so f th e Ariz ona des er t .is o n e a l te mp t b e i ng m ade t o s im u l a teth e creation of an artificial. off-world e n v ir onm ent .W ith i n Bi o s p h e re2 are five 'biomes' (selCsupporting

Sd r$ Ou r de ce ndonfs cqn creote o New Eqrth perhqps even q New Eden - on the next world outwqrds from the Sun ArthurC. Clorke,fhe Snowsof Olympus

'=',ffi,IlrFF h a bit at s ): gr as s la n d tro . pical rainforest, mangrove swamps.and a m ini- oc eanc omp l e te w i th a c o ra l reef and a white-sandbeach. \44ren the $200 million faciliq was being built in the mid-1980s by billionaire businessman Ed Bass, hopes were high that Biosphere 2

(so called because earth is knor,vn as Biosphere 1) rvould provide the blueprint for new r'vorldson other planets.Thomas Paine, former NASA administrator and Chairman o f th e US N ati onal C ommi :si on on Spacer.vasparticularlv enthusiastic.

'Learning to "live off thc land" on resource-rich Mars will double the territor,v available for life,' said Paine, 'ancl encourage our descendantsin another century to settle countless planets circling distant suns.'

I

j

o

o

r-

In 1991, Biosphere 2 rvasready'.

Eight 'biospherians'- four men and for.rr\'vomen, aged betrveen 29 and 69, from the US, England and B el si trm.arrd l ed b1 sci encegur u John Allen - entered the facilitl'.

The doors nere sealedand they began their mission: to see if Biosphere 2 could support the team n'ith adequate food, water and air for two years.

But well before the nvo ,vears were up, things started to go wrong.

Oxygen plummeted to dangerously low levels,r,vhilethe carbon dioxide concentration sky-rocketed.Some vegetation grew rampantly under these conditions, r'vhileother plants - particularly those that needed pollinating - died off. Meanrvhile, cockroachesand ants flourished and overran the faciliq'.

Allen's team was ousted in 1993 and the follorving year a new group

#'=

{ A computer-generofed view of how q terroformed Mors might oppeor in

:.f,. i-',

AD4OOO,bosed on reseorch done by

", Arthur C. Clorke for his book The . ..'',,'.,..

Snows of Olympus (inser). The imogb !l ,,,,,,,, bosed on on ocluol Mortion londscope;.',l',1::'':,'

?+

= = i+ -=

t;,. ;

F i F

E.. !

F F

.=;:

= :9

F

=-

0 6

t

.t"-'

E <

&r ; E

e$

o

_9

= o

of scientists lvas assigned to thc

tcchnologies, to \\rarln up Mars and

project, this time to cottdlrct

rnelt the ice that exists on some of

serious experiments on the effect

its surface. Colonizers lr,ould have

of increasing leveis of carbon

to be patient for Frigg's pian to pa,v

clioxide in the earth's atmosphere.

dividends, thor-rgh - 21,000 r'ears

The focr-rshas shiftecl frorn crcating a habitable environment on another planet, to understanding orlr o\\ n pla ne t lnd im plor illq olt t Iife here. Sealing up the Biosphele r.ith another cultisl.r p;ror.rpof srLlvivllisls is o rrt of t hr ques t ior r .

| ! s=.

9_"9*gpJ_"T_"1_N_9-_=_Il1J.9.R .\t th t' s am e lit t t e as th i n g . rrt re going badll'\'vrong fcir the biospheriansin Ner,ada,scientists and rvriters elservherecontinned to nurse N{artiandreams.In 1992, Britain's principal terrafbrming researcher\{zrrnrr.J.Fogg, building on previous ideas, proposecl the use of 'grecnhortsegases' (fluorocarbons),among other

would have to passbefore conditions were rolerable ro human beings.

In contrast. other terraforming theoristshave suggestedthat by using large orbital mirrors. Mars might be warmed sulficientl1 to be h a bit ablein as lit r l e a s 5 0 y e a rs .

CO M P UT E R

IMA G IN G

This was not lhe view taken by Arthur C. Clarke when he returned to the subject of Mars. i n 1993.in his boo k T h e Sn o wos l OIlmpus.His vision of a terraformed Mars was made real b y com bining ac tu a l p h o to g ra p h i c i magesof t he plan e t. ta k e n b y NA S A ' sV ik ing pr o b e i n 1 9 7 6 .w i th a c om put er gr aph i c sp ro g ra m . T h e result was a seriesof images that showed how. over many centuries.

Ma r s m ight be m a d e i n to a g re e n and inhabitable planet.

It all may seem impossible. But. huma n explo ratio n as ide. t he migra tion to an d c olor r iz at ion of initia lly in ho sp itab le env ir onm ent s is a consistent theme of biological life on earth. For example, in the US, a deserr in Nebraska has. over a few centuries. become green aga in be ca use o [ c lim at e c hanges .

If scien tists can som ehow alt er t he atmosphere of Mars. might not this v Al 26,400 metres, Mors' Olympus Mons is the Solor Syslem's lorgest volcono. Now inoctive, lhe volcono once

currently inhospitable planet eventually flourish with life, too?

The enduring lure of the final frontier is evident when one considers NASA s continued research into ways of reaching Mars using post-Shuttle technology.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin has suggesteda'cycler' spacecraftthat runs a continuous 2Gmonth round trip to the planet. The cycler craft would use graviqt to help it travel to and from Mars, which it would orbit while its cargo and crew were sent down to the planet.

spewed forth oll kinds of chemicols, including woter, into ihe ofmosphere, suggesting rhor life once existed lhere.

FUTURE

S C IE N C E

Such projects are still at the drawing-boardstage. learning from the mistakes of past attempts to reach the Red Planet. In 1992, NASA's Mars Observer probe vanished into space en route to Mars and, in November 1996, Russia'sMars 96 probe stalled in mid-journey. This was Russia's o eleventh failed attempt to send = p an unmanned craft to Mars. o But even if scientistscan .9 overcome the technical difficulties and produce reliable, z fast transport, there is one more

important problem thev first have to solve:how to protect rockets and satellites from lethal

;:TilT:;'l-1"""'.

In the next lsszr,a, SCIENCEFRONTIERS loohsat the dangersposed@ man-made pollution in space.