Table of Contents...........1 The Empath and the Savage...2
ufo update.......................9 the science conflict.......14
Unseen Worlds................19 real fake article...........25
THE EMPATH AND THE SAVAGES BY JOHN MORRESY
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ART BY KHANG LE
he Anpreene observed the onrush of human history with cold curiosity. They were perplexed by a race so heterogeneous and so volatile, and fascinated by a planet so perfectly suited to the projected needs of their own people. Water was abundant on this world, and the atmosphere was rich. Wherever this world differed from the home worlds of the Domination, the difference favored the new planet. Its dominant race was energetic, with some physical resemblance to the earlier, smaller stages of Anpreene development. It appeared strong enough to provide useful servants while not sufficiently durable or intelligent to be a source of danger. The residents of this pleasant planet were brisk, scampering little creatures who lived their lives at an incredibly accelerated pace. Study of them promised to be interesting. The Anpreene were a long-lived people; their ways were methodical and unhurried. They investigated every action and its possible consequences with great care and did not undertake a conquest lightly: Their race disliked surprises. Concealed from human perception they narrowed the focus of their instruments, closing on a suitable objective. Earthly years whirled by beneath them, and earthly creatures scurried through their little lifetimes. The selector focused on a sequence of events and probabilities It locked on a single person and a single instant. The Empath and the Conceptualizers took their places around the selector locus, and the Assessors gathered to observe. The selector hummed. The Anpreene
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ship, the surrounding space, the narrow gathering beam that reached downward to the robed figure, and the heap of smoldering green wood were all instantaneously plucked from the weave of space and time and held suspended in an otherwhere and otherwhen. The first specimen was drawn aboard the ship lt was a female of the earthly species. She collapsed in a heap on the base of the focal area, her wrenched legs and lacerated feet unable to support her weight. Raising herself on one bruised, bloody hand, she lifted the other high and cried, “Praise God! Praise to Thy name, O Lord! Thou hast delivered Thy servant from the wrath of the enemy!” She attempted to rise but could not. She began to recount her sufferings and told of torments inflicted on her and others for reasons the Anpreene Conceptualizers had difficulty assimilating. Her speech grew wild and incoherent. They let her rant on, uninterrupted, until she slumped forward and was silent. “The creature believes that she is in the presence of a superior being from her racial myth,” the Conceptualizers transmitted. “This myth appears to hold great significance for these creatures. We suggest immediate action in accordance with her belief.” In a gentle, melodious human voice, the Empath asked, “Why hast thou sultered so, my daughter?” She raised her head and gazed upon the towering white-clad figure of the Anpreane, shining with a subdued golden aura. “I would not deny Thee! Not even on the rack would I deny my God and Savior and His one true faith, and Thou hast plucked me from the flames!” The Empath searched deep in her tortured mind for the proper terms in which to couch its response. It stretched forth a pale hand in a gesture of benediction “My child, the cup cannot pass. This is but a foretaste of the joy that awaits when thou hast passed through the fiame. Be steadfast.” the
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Empath said. A look of fear came into the hollow, haunted eyes, and then the woman said, “Thou art just in all things, Lord. Thy will be done.” The selector hummed once again, and the woman vanished, returning to her pyre within a nanosecond of her departure. Her scream as the flames rose around her was drowned out by the rumble of the fire and the cries of the crowd. From that time and place, the selector took a total of twenty-eight specimens, snatching each one from the instant before death — when the blade was at the nape or the knot was just about to close on the throat or the rising smoke and flame brought an end to long agony. The selector could not erase memories, but it could take specimens who would never have the
“
I would not deny Thee! Not even on the rack would I deny my God and Savior and His one true faith, and Thou hast plucked me from the flames!
”
opportunity to speak those memories to others of their species. All those from that period reacted in a similar manner. When the selector had hurtled the last one back to his destined end on the block, the Anpreene returned their ship and all aboard it to normal time and space and turned to the next stage of their exacting duties. For the Empath alone, there was no task awaiting. The Empath was released at once to enter the trancelike stale, called pentracane by the Anpreene, which restored body and mind after
close communion with an alien identity. Deprived of pentracane, an Empath would be overwhelmed by the sheer vital force of an intruding presence; the alien manner and thinking process would be ineradicable. While the Empath restored its mental and physical integrity, the others aboard the Anpreene vessel were busy. Conceptualizers structured and collated their findings: Assessors evaluated them; and all the while the selector replenished its power for the next gathering of specimens. After long deliberation, the Assessors concluded that the physical heterogeneity of this race had directly and drastically influenced its social development. Unlike the Anpreene, who were a single people with a single purpose, these creatures were fragmented to the point of chaos. Their differences appeared to be deep-seated and the cause of great cruelty it remained to be determined whether this fragmentation was a phase on the race’s way to civilization of a racial characteristic inherent in all. The Assessors communed; the Empath and the Conceptualizers prepared themselves for the next contact. The earth spun through more years; the ship moved to another part of the planet, and the instruments began their search once more. This time the first specimen was a male. He blinked. Looked hard at the Empath, then smiled sardonically “So. A clever trick, l admit, whisking me here just as I expect to die.” he said in a tongue quite different from that of the first group. “Tell me, where are the rest of the tribunal? Where are the fat priests and the nobles who dine on the people’s trash? Are they hiding somewhere, cowering in tear of the words of a condemned man?” He looked at the featureless walls, then shook a fist and cried in a thundering voce, “Well may you hade from my words, you butchers! But seek where you will, no place will give you refuge.You will kill me, but my words
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will live and rouse the people to action. We will burn your churches, burn your chateaus, burn your tax rolls, and feed the flame with your bloated guts. Oh, yes. My lords and masters, the people will rise. They’ve long been patient. but their patience is coming to an end. Does my lady wish a new pendant to grace her white bosom? Squeeze the blood from a thousand peasants. and she shall have her bauble. Does my lord desire a new team for his carriage? Take the food from a thousand hungry children, and give my lord his horses. Or perhaps my lord the archbishop...” He spoke on, in a torrent of words and angry gestures, while the Conceptualizers fired his speech into the cultural patterns the ship’s instruments had gathered and the Empath probed his mind for a framework in which to structure communication when the Conceptualizers advised it. But the Conceptualizers concluded, “This creature believes his function is the repeated and forceful expression of a fixed belial-structure. Productive communication is extremely unlikely, We recommend no exchange.”
When the specimen had completed his speech, he was returned whence he had come. The second specimen said much the same as the first, but the third said the exact opposite of the first two. though he used many of the same terms and concepts. In all, the selector took nineteen specimens from this period. and the Assessors found them to represent eleven distinct and irreconcilable views of the social reality. Deliberation on these specimens resulted in a strong reaffirmation of the original conclusion and created much confusion among the Assessors. A race so utterly disunited as to border on total individualism was all but unimaginadie to the Anpreene. Such a race might be spoken of in theory, but in existence it could not long survive. Survival requires unity and unity ensures survival This was the basic law of the Anpreene Domination, the fundamental principle governing the lives and thoughts of twelve planets and sixteen colonies, and at was beyond question. And yet this race not only survived its fragmentation but appeared to thrive
on it. During the interval—brief by Anpreene standards—in which the Acquistors were gathering information and the Zetetics, were organizing it for the next mission of the Conceptualizers and the Empath. The Population of the planet increased twentyfold. Their technology advanced to the level of powered transportation and atmospheric flight. On the advice of the Zetetics, specimens from this period were gathered not from a single locus but from a variety of sites on the planet. And, as a Cautionary measure, the Anpreene ship was moved to a higher, safer orbit. The first specimen was a woman, dressed in layers of worn and dirty clothing. She fell to the base of the focal area but quickly clambered erect and looked about wildly until her eyes fell upon the Empath. “Who the hell are you? Where is this place? What happened to the tank?” she demanded. Her language was utterly unlike all the others’. The Empath probed for a proper response. “You will be returned soon
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enough, comrade. All we ask of you is a few minutes of intelligent talk.” She spat. “Talk, hell Get me back so I can stop that tank.” “You will stop the tank, I promise you. But you will die.” “Do you think I don’t know that?” She took a step toward the Empath, shielded her eyes from the surrounding light, and studied the white-robed figure closely. “What are you, anyway? Some kind of priest? No, a priest wouldn’t call me comrade. Well, you can keep your comrade, too. I’m not dying for the party any more than I’m dying for God.” “Why are you dying, then?” the Empath asked the woman. “To blow a tankful of those bastards
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to hell. To let my friends escape so they can kill more of them. Satisfied? Now get me back where I belong.” “You will be returned.” “Do you think you can keep me here until I lose my nerve? I don’t know who you are or how you got me here, but you won’t keep me without a fight,” the woman said. reaching into her ragged coat and lurching toward the Empath. She was returned at once. The Empath weighed what it had drawn from her and informed the Conceptualizers, “She did not believe that she was in the presence of a deity She was willing to take Anpreene life in order to return to her companions and destroy the aggression vehicle.”
“She was extracted from an extreme aggression condition. The vehicle she sought to destroy had already caused harm to those in close bond with her,” the Conceptualizers explained. “She wished to make it possible for others to live on. But she could do so only by the sacrifice of her own continued existence. She was aware of that.” The Conceptualizers made no response. The second specimen was a young boy, Slightly built, barely of the age at which this race matured. He gazed at the Empath with a look of fearful reverence, then bowed deeply. “What is the marked cloth binding this specimen’s forehead?” the Empath asked. “I sense a significance, but its purpose is not clear to me.” The Conceptualizers explained at once “It is symbolic, not functional. The symbolism relates to a period on which our data are incomplete, but there are indications that the wearing of this cloth proclaims one’s willingness to die in battle.” “It is strange that a people so eager to die should instead thrive. What is the nature of their battle?” “It is a conflict of machines guided by members of this ace. This specimen seeks to inflict damage on a large water-transport vehicle by hitting it with the atmospheric flight machine in which he travels,” the Conceptualizers explained. The specimen straightened, bowed again from the waist, then fell to his knees and prostrated himself. When he began to speak, the Empath was perplexed by his revelations, although the desired response was clear at the first brush with the boy’s consciousness. “Like the true Divine Wind, you fall upon the vessel of the enemy and destroy it utterly.You have blossomed into a flower of death to bring honor upon your Emperor and your family.You will be forever numbered among the samurai.” the Empath said in the Doy’s language. Even as it uttered the words,
the Empath felt a sense of peace, fulfilment, and happiness deep within the boy. “The boy believed that an Empath was something that at once partook of both divinity and the boy’s own nature.” reported the Empath when the youth was gone. “This race seems to have as Many divinity myths as it has individuals.” “Perhaps a stage in development. The specimens of the second taking strongly demed divinities and related myths,” the Conceptualizers pointed out. “They appeared to worship an abstract communal concept of selective application.” “But that’s irrational, considered in relation to the beliefs of those we’ve probed in the first taking.” “The irrational appears to be not merely tolerated but highly valued among ths race, and its acceptance increases as the race grows.” the Conceptualizers informed the Empath. “The battle in which these specimens are engaged is almost planet wide. It appears to us that they have carefully divided the planet into imaginary units, and groupings of these units are Systematically endeavoring to destroy one another.” “Is there unity within each grouping? Have they progressed to at least that level?” “Thay have not. The groupings are temporary. Within the groupings, and within the units, are strong indicators of latent fragmentation leading to repetitions of this conflict among reorganized groupings. The race appears to be self-destructive.” concluded the Conceptualizers. The Empath paused and reflected, Yet they go on. Further specimens from this taking revealed little. They were fatigued, or their minds were warped with hatred or befuddled with horror, and the Empath was pained by contact with them. The last specimen from this period was drawn from a crowded place behind the battle lines. He was naked,
and the bones showed through his dry, taut skin. His head wag shaven, his dark eyes sunk deep into a skull-like face. He stood motionless in the focal area. blinking those hollowed eyes, and when the Empath touched him, there was nothing within except numb, hopeless resignation. Then the eyes focused. The blinking stopped. The specimen looked directly at the Empath, robed in white, seated above him, and the Empath gasped and turned aside, shaken. The specimen vanished immediately. “He believed I was his deity,” the Empath murmured. “And he hated me!” No more specimens were taken from that period. The Empath, exhausted by the contacts of this taking, the largest of all, went at once to sink deeply into pentrecane. The Assessors labored mightily to evaluate the findings and saw in their work a tangle of paradoxes. These creatures were isolates, yet they could form collectivities and feel loyal to them to the point of death,
even though the collectivity was temporary and arbitrary. That was madness. They believed in things imperceptible to the senses and extraintellectual, and believed with an intensity that endured great suffering and accepted a horrible death.Yet they could suffer such pains and repudiate the very myth that justified them. That was madness. They fought one another, with every weapon of mind and body, and all that their developing sciences could provide, and they used those same powers of mind and body and science to preserve and enhance life, Madness. They were irrational. Atmosphere, genetic history. some malign radiation... something had made this race of beings absolutely mad, the Assessors concluded. This conclusion was not altogether discouraging. It was clear by now that the race of Earth was sure to destroy itself in a very short time. There would thus be no need for an Anpreene contact and no risk of having to bring Anpreene military power to bear against these little creatures. For all their
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ferocity, they could not withstand the unified might of the Anpreene Domination. They would resist, and it would be necessary to destroy them. And the destruction of even such a race as this would leave a scar upon the Anpreene memory. Far better to let them bring about their own inevitable downfall. During these deliberations. the population of the world below them had doubled and redoubled. The satellite and nearby planets had been visited. The Anpreene ship withdrew to a safe distance, beyond the orbit of the satellite. and began preparations for a fourth and final sampling. In the opinion of the Assessors, a fifth sampling would be impossible; the race would be extinct. The final sampling consisted of a single specimen, a male, plucked from an enormous craft constructed in orbit above the planet. It was one of three such craft, and all indications were that it would be destroyed by an internal malfunction as it reached the rim of the solar system. The selector focused, hummed to life. and reached out for the gray-haired man who stood on the operations bridge of the great orbiting ship. His subdued reaction surprised the Anpreene. He glanced about the focal area and seemed to comprehend the situation at once. Folding his arms, smiling, he said to the Empath. “So. you’re out here after all. We weren’t mistaken.” “Address this specimen in friendly terms, as an equal,” the Conceptualizers instructed. “We come in peace and friendship. We are the Anpreene, and we are your friends,” said the Empath. “You even speak my language. Quite well, too. Telepathy, or have you been studying us from up here? Or perhaps you’ve been living among us?” “A portion of the Anpreane are Empaths, with a power akin to what you would call telepathy. It cannot be explained further in terms you would comprehend. We have been studying
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you since… since your year 1560.” The man from the Earth ship made a low. whistling sound and shook his head slowly. “You must have seen some incredible things,” he said. “Tell me, what have you learned about us?” “Relate our conclusions,” the Conceptualizers ordered. “Your race is irrational” The man seemed startled, then amused. He looked directly at the Empath and said, “If it took you five hundred years to see that, you certainly aren’t a race that jumps to conclusions. We’ve all known about that for a long time.” The Empath struggled with the man’s reactions, This one was not like the others. Words were seldom a clear reflection of inner states in any case, but with this particular man, words and inner states seemed to be
“
“My race doesn’t like dying quite as much as you think. But we can accept death if it has a purpose.”
”
self-contradictory on almost every level “I do not understand your reaction,” the Empath admitted. “Did you expect me to be terrified? To attack you? To beg and scream for your mercy?” “None of those things.You are not given to such reactions. What is puzzling is your immediate understanding and acceptance of the situation. It is unlike the reactions of the other specimens.” The man nodded and said, “I suppose that’s true. The others must have thought you were a god. Or a demon.”
“That is accurate.” “Well, I don’t consider you either. and I’m glad to see you. In fact, I was hoping to find you, or someone like you.” “Explain.” “Those ships—the one I was on, and the two others — are going out to look for other worlds like Earth and other intelligent races. And before I’ve even left the solar system, you’ve proved to me that my mission can succeed. Of course I accept the Situation, I rejoice in it!” “Have you no fear that an intelligent alien race might constitute a danger to your own race?” the Empath asked. “There’s always that possibility. I’m sure it’s occurred to every person that ever looked up at the stars.” He hesitated, looked carefully at the Empath, then went on. “Still, you’ve been here for five centuries and haven’t attacked us or interfered with us in any way we’ve been aware of. You aren’t too different from us in appearance, and you can speak our languages. These are encouraging signs. Apparently you’re a much longer-lived race than we are, probably with a totally different time orientation and value system. A very rational people, too: thoroughgoing, cautious in judgment, farsighted. I don’t know why you’re here, but I see no evidence of outward hostility What is the nature of your mission?” “Tell him all,” instructed the Conceptualizers. “Our mission is like yours,” said the Empath. “We seek new worlds for the Angreene Domination Yours is the most suitable we have discovered,” “Do you intend to try to take it?” “Our Assessors judge that aggressive action will not be necessary Your race will soon destroy itself. According to Anpreene calculations, your destruction is long overdue.” “Some earthly calculations give the same result, And yet we’ve managed to hang on. We may surprise you.” “The Anpreene would prefer to avoid conflict with such a race as
yours.” “I’m not a spokesman for my race, but I think it’s safe to say that we’d rather be your friends than your enemies. I hope we can be. But tell me, Empath, what do you plan to do with me now?” “You will be returned to your ship and to formal time and space. Your absence will not have been noticed. A faulty coolant valve will cause the ship to explode in seven to eighteen seconds after your return,” “The main valve on C deck, the one just aft of the food processors? the gray-haired man asked. The Empath conferred with the Conceptualizers and then said yes. “Is this your doing?” the man asked cautiously. “No. It is a predicted malfunction.” The man was silent for a moment. Then he looked up, past the Empath, and asked. “Will the others make it?” “All indications are that they will survive.” “Then I suppose it’s worthwhile.” “Again your attitude is confusing,” the Empath admitted. “Your race seems fond of life, and yet it accepts death willingly. You are dying not in some struggle based on a belief, as your race often does, but in a mere mechanical malfunction. Yet you seem undisturbed.” “My race doesn’t like dying quite as much as you think. But we can accept death if it has a purpose.” “What is the purpose of your death?” the Empath asked. “I’ve helped to bring my people to the stars. Even if I don’t make it, others most certainly will.” When the man had been returned to his ship, the Assessors declared the proximate phase of the mission complete and ordered preparations for the long homeward voyage. The Empath and the Conceptualizers, their hardest work done, started wearily for their respective living compartments. The Empath felt drained of vitality. It had been trained from youth to
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assimilate the life patterns of alien races and had done so on several earlier expeditions, but never with a race so frenzied and spasmodic in its ways. Attuning to the human race had been an exhausting duty. Even pentrecane had been scarcely enough to sustain wholeness. “An interesting race,” the Conceptualizers observed. “But mad. Their frenzy is the working out of their madness.” “I found much good in them.” the Empath responded. “Observe the discipline of the Empath. Do not overlook the fact that these creatures are inferiors and potential enemies. Also, that they are mad.” The Empath. still steeped in human attitudes and reactions, made no immediate response. After a time, in inner communication, which in
weariness was left unguarded, open to the Conceptualizers, the Empath reflected. Yes. they are mad But there is splendor in such madness. The Anpreene left the solar system in something more of a hurry than was their custom. The journey home was uneventful. The Empath spent the entire trip in deep pentrecane and arrived fully restored and revitalized. This proved to be fortunate, for much unexpected work lay ahead for the Empath. When the Anpreene ship returned to normal space within the Domination, the armada from Earth was waiting peacefully to greet it.
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UFO UPDATE
“Aliens in Arizona” by Sijia Wang
By Harry Lebelson
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P
hysical evidence remains the decisive factor in the search for UFOs, but would finding it really be enough to prove their existence? People assume that if the evidence itself were alien to anything we know on Earth. verification of its being extraterrestrial would be immediate. If, however, the article were made of materials familiar to us. its authenticity would likely be
their appearance is in order. The most intriguing of the two specimens is the Ubatuba, Brazil, magnesium sample, reputed to be part of an unidentified flying object that exploded off the coast of Brazil in 1957. The other specimen, a seven-centimeter metallic bar etched with symbols, allegedly materialized in the Charleston, South Carolina, home of William Herrmann. The metal ingot is supposedly a “gift of friendship� from extraterrestrial visitors. On September 14, 1957. Ibrahim Sued, a well-known Rio de Janeiro columnist, received a strange letter from one of his readers. A fisherman who was fishing with some friends near the town of Ubatuba, Sao Paolo, Brazil, reported that they had seen a disk maneuvering at unbelievable speeds in the sky. Suddenly the object made a sharp upward turn, climbed rapidly, and exploded into flames, sending thousands of fiery fragments into the sea. A small number of these pieces fell close to the beach and were picked up by the fishermen. Three small fragments were sent to Sued, who sent them to the late Dr. Olavo Fontes. the Brazilian representative of the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO). The fragments were of a fissured, dark gray, and highly oxidized metallic substance. A white powdery substance was seen in the cracks of the samples. doubted. Upon receiving the pieces, Fontes This problem surfaced recently kept one and sent the two others when Omni acquired two metal to APRO in Tucson, Arizona. In samples purported to be extrateran attempt to analyze the material, restrial. The bizarre circumstances surrounding their discovery led the Fontes submitted his sample to the magazine to commission an analysis National Department of Mineral Production of the Agriculture of the samples by the MassachuMinistry of Brazil, Dr. Luisa Maria setts Institute of Technology (MIT) A. Barbosa, a chemist-technologist, in Cambridge. But to understand better the significance of both spec- reported that “the spectrographic analysis snowed the presence of imens, some background regarding Alien Anthology Edition / OMNI / 10
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“...thus confirming the network to be magnesium oxid.”
and showed it to be absolutely pure. No impurity or other metal was detected in the sample analyzed; even trace elements, usually found with any metal, were not present.” Additional analyses were made of the metal, two of which were done by the Brazilian Army and Navy. The results of these additional tests are unknown, however Unfortunately, because of extensive laboratory testing, sample 1 has been completely oxidized. Meanwhile, in the United States. APRO, which had possession of the two remaining samples, submitted a portion of sample 2 to a U.S. Air Force spectrographic laboratory for analysis. For unknown reasons,
magnesium of a high degree of purity and the absence of any other metallic element.” To ensure the accuracy of this report, an additional spectrographic analysis was made by Elson Teixeira. He stated that “’the spectrographic analysis identified the unknown metal as magnesium 11 / OMNI / Alien Anthology Edition
the entire piece was burned before conclusive results could be obtained. The air force requested another sample, but APRO refused the request. The next series of tests was conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory on another portion of sample 2, The results of this analysis showed that sample 2 was less _pure than sample 1 was reported to be by the Brazilian scientists. A comparison of the test results of all three samples shows that each varies in purity. In his 1969 study of the Ubatuba magnesium samples, Dr. Walter W Walker, who has a Ph.D. in metallurgy, stated, “The Ubatuba magnesium has been widely acclaimed as direct physical evidence of the extraterrestrial nature of UFOs. But. as of the present, after more than a decade of investigation, the extraterrestrial nature of the Ubatuba material has yet to be conclusively proved or disproved. The lack of subsequent verification of the Ubatuba purity has been the reason that all investigations to date have discounted extraterrestrial origin.” Walker continues: “Little further study along the line of chemical analysis would be fruitful. It is also apparent that the structural aspects of the Ubatuba samples have been ignored. These are the aspects that show the most promise for further study.” Now, ten years later, the controversy still persists. Advocates and detractors alike continue to voice their opinions. Carl Sagan. a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, states, “There have been debates on the purity of magnesium samples from purported crashed UFOs, but their purity was within the competence of American technology at the lime of the incident.”Yet a two-page CIA foreign-intelligence
information report, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and dated January 29, 1976, states, “There is a rumor that fragments of a possible UFO found in Brazil bore a relationship to superconductors and magnetohydrodynamics.” Omni’s own efforts to clarify the mystery of Ubatuba led to Robert Ogilvie. a professor oi metallurgy at MIT, who conducted an analysis of a fragment supplied to the magazine by APRO. The specimen was examined by metallographic analysis to determine its mechanical and thermal history. Electron probe microanalysis was employed to determine the chemical composition and the distribution of elements within the specimen. Results of these tests showed the metal to be pure magnesium. No impurities or alloying elements, such as aluminum, zinc, manganese, or tin. were found. An oxygen x-ray map picked up magnesium and oxygen x-ray signals, thus confirming the network to be magnesium oxide. “My conclusion,” says Ogilvie. “is that the specimen from Brazil has a composition that would be found in magnesium weld metal. However, the structure is indeed unusual. In my opinion it could only have been formed by heating the magnesium very close to its melting point in air. It would be necessary to hold the temperature for only a minute or so. This would produce an oxide coating on the material, which is clearly visible. Also, oxygen would diffuse down the grain boundaries, thereby producing the oxide network. It is therefore quite possible that the specimen from Brazil was a piece of a weld metal from an exploding aircraft or a reentering satellite.” Another intriguing example in the search for extraterrestrial substanc-
es is the William Herrmann case. Despite its sensationalists overtones and parallels with the film Close Encounters at the Third Kind, the Herrmann case has generated little or no. publicity. Herrmann had decided to minimize the details of his experience because of his wish for privacy. However, because of a
“Now, ten years later, the controversy still persists.” recent turn of events, he has decided to publicize his case in the hope of acquiring some insight into the origin of the phenomenon. The Charleston UFO observations began on November 12. 1977. On a clear day, with 20-mile visibility, Herrmann observed a bright-silver, metallic disk. The object was describing strange triangular patterns
in the sky near the South Carolina Electric and Gas power towers adjacent to the Ashley River basin west of Dorchester Road, this object was also seen by other residents in the North Charleston area. The sighting would set the stage for a series of inexplicable events. In a brief period of a year and a half, more than 40 sightings, 9 of which were by Herrmann, of a similar object occurred in the Charleston area. Not only has Herrmann photographed the object, but he claims to have been abducted by alien visitors on two separate occasions, March 18, 1978, and May 16, 1979. Perhaps the most significant event, in terms of validating his experience, was the materialization of the metal bar in his home on the night of April 21, 1979. While Herrmann was in the bedroom of his mobile home that Saturday night, the room suddenly brightened. He looked around and saw a ball of blue light emanating from the top of his dresser. The light grew in intensity and then, just as suddenly began to fade. As it
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did so, Bill made out a faint obcontaining 4 to 6 percent antimony. ject in the center of the vanishing Two small metal fragments of the ball of light. Dazed and puzzled. Herrmann bar were sent by Omni Herrmann crossed the room and to MIT for metallographic and picked up a rectangular bar similar electron probe testing. Results of to a small ingot of precious metal, MIT’s analysis fairly duplicated Overwhelmed by the experience, APRO’s conclusions. The specihe remained silent and distant as men was made of a cast alloy, and he pondered the strange, symbol its composition approximated that like markings engraved in the bar of lead water pipes or of lead grids Immediately after regaining his from an automobile battery. This composure, he notified Wendelle analysis corroborated APRO’s findStevens, who had been the initial ing that the fragments contained investigator in the case. Stevens 6 percent antimony. The second notified APRO. which arranged time Herrmann was abducted, he for Dr. Walter Walker to analyze was told the following by an alien the bar. A careful visual and microaboard the UFO; “In regard to the scopic examination revealed that bar. we have been authorized to the artifact was a casting. Precision give solely and without favor to thermal analysis and qualitative and you, it is a gift of respect and apsemiquantitative chemical analysis preciation.You are one of the few identified the material as hard lead to receive such a bar It has much 13 / OMNI / Alien Anthology Edition
value to us . . .though it is regarded as worthless to you when its value is estimated according to your primitive measure of comprehension.” A statement that was made by Dr. Walker some time ago while studying the Brazilian magnesium specimen best sums all this up, “Perhaps the extraterrestrials used methods within our technology and material available on Earth, and therefore their handiwork cannot be distinguished from our own.” Whatever the conclusions, pro or con, one thing is certain, events of this type help to give us a better understanding of an enigma yet to be solved. Of course, the whole world is waiting for the moment when the proverbial flying saucer lands on the White House lawn (see “Illegal Aliens,” page 84), Until then, however we’ll have to settle tor random chunks of metal accompanied by stories so weird they cannot be ignored. If you know of anyone who has knowledge of, or possesses, any hard evidence relating to the UFO phenomenon, contact the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization. 3910 East Kleindale Street, Tucson, Arizona 85712, or phone 602-3231825.
“...world is waiting for the moment when the proverbial flying saucer lands on the White House lawn”
The science conflict By James Oberg
Artwork by James Canterbury
F
riction between science and flying saucers has generated a blizzard of sparks over the years. The sides are well defined: Establishment scientists traditionally dismiss UFO data as fanciful fiction, while UFO enthusiasts portray themselves as outcast Galileos, prophets of a new scientific revolution. Advocates of Unidentified Flying Objects insist that they are onto some extraordinary phenomenon unaccountable by contemporary science. The favorite theory involves alien spacecraft, but growing splinter groups promote various psychic, interdimensional, cross-temporal, conspiratorial, or even more bizarre hypotheses. Whatever it is, UFO enthusiasts assert, the confirmation of extraterrestrial beings could be a key to the next great breakthrough in human knowledge. Few could argue such a premise. Early in 1977, the wire services reported that astronomers now favor scientific studies of UFOs. According to The New York Times, “unidentified flying objects should be investigated further, a majority of trained astronomical observers said in a survey disclosed recently,” Closer analysis showed that the private pro-UFO survey
those polled responded that UFOs “certainly” or “probably” deserved study, with a few more agreeing that they “possibly” deserved study more to the point, only one-quarter of 1 percent of the astronomers thought that UFOs were important enough to warrant their personal attention. But the poll did nevertheless seem to bestow some measure of scientific respectability to this topic, previously ranked among the lunatic fringe. The poll was symptomatic of the changing image of UFOs, and the new status of UFO researchers. After three decades of exuberant if amateurish fieldwork, furious propagandizing, and aimless theorizing, a number of UFO groups have finally begun to play the game using rules of science. Accepting the burden of proof, they have mounted an Impressive scientific program designed to demonstrate, finally, that UFOs exist. On a dark hillside in Texas, whiteuniformed men monitor a battery of instruments, hoping to catch and record the subtle physical effects alleged to accompany UFO visitations. In photographic laboratories across the country, data processing specialists analyze computerized seeking evidence of forgery and potential proof of authenticity. A com-
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puterized data base in Chicago prints out pattern analyses of UFO sightings, seeking a signal behind the noise of thousands of annual reports. Pieces of metal picked up near alleged landing sites undergo spectroscopic examination in well-equipped laboratories. These are the techniques of science, applied to a subject long regarded as beyond the fringes of science. But these are the techniques that will produce proof, if proof is possible. Standards are now tighter and the experience of UFO investigators greater, so that many “unknowns” have diminished. More and more cases have been solved, but always a fraction remain unsolved, unexplained, unidentified. This residue of unknowns is the basis for UFO enthusiasts’ hope. Skeptics disagree, saying that inherent limitations in human perception, memory, and knowledge will always introduce a small artificial residue of unknowns. So what kind of data will stand up to scientific standards, no! as a leftover residue of mysteries but as a definitive list of recorded events? Laying aside the possibilities that alien ambassadors will land at the White House or that the fabled “secret captured flying saucer” will ever be rescued from alleged governmental oblivion, hard
evidence for the reality and respectability of UFOs must come from laboratories now engaged in scientitlc research. The “Project Starlight International” team, privately but generously funded by some Texas millionaires, has assembled an array of instruments that could produce incontrovertible evidence. They have cameras, radar, spectrometers, magnetometers, radiation sensors, gravitometers, and a small laser beam to communicate with extraterrestrials should they happen by.
“If we search for ten years with what we’ve got and we don’t find anything, then we’re going to have to admit that nothing is there.” The Starlight UFO trap has now been in full operation for nearly three yearsNew equipment continues to be added, including a radar set and computerized alert system that automatically telephones volunteer skywatchers in the vicinity of a computed UFO position. The system works well in drills—but nothing substantive has resulted. The most exciting recent events have dealt with a fierce wood tick infestation on the hillside where the Starlight equipment is mounted. Whiteclad UFO watchers bend to their technical tasks amid the fumes of sulfur bombs. They watch a sky full of airplanes, meteors, satellites, kites, balloons, birds, ball lightning, migrating wind-blown spiders, and maybe, just maybe, something else. But, as Starlight project director Ray Stanford told colleagues at a 1976 UFO conference, “If we search for ten years with what we’ve got and we don’t find anything, then we’re going to have to admit that nothing is there.” One of the most visible aspects of the phenomenon is a growing collection of UFO photographs. While the vast majority of UFO sighting reports are made by honest, perplexed, often reluclant witnesses, most photographs are hoaxes. To separate out the possibly authentic photos, if any at all, experts use photoanalysis. For example, Dr. Brtice Maccabee. a researcher for the National Investigations Committee
on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), has made densitometric scans of a famous 1950 photo from McMinnville, Oregon. The scans support the skeptical “Condon Committee” conclusion that the photo could in fact be of a large structured disk 50 feet or more in diameter. But another expert, computer specialist Robert Sheaffer, concluded fhal the photo was made with a smudged lens and that the object appears to be hanging from an overhead power line. Condon Committee investigators later changed their minds and agreed with Sheaffer. Specialists at the “Ground Saucer Watch” (GSW) office in Phoenix also apply advanced data processing techniques to photographs. Their work has raised howls of protest from traditional UFO groups because many of the more famous photos have been denounced by GSW as frauds. However, GSW has compiled a small list of photos that they suggest
Artwork by Thomas Rickson
Again, other researchers disagree, and scientific debate is raging on the validity of such processing techniques. Computer scientists have a favorite proverb; “Garbage in, garbage out.” It means that bad input data can be manipulated to produce nearly any output desired, but it will be useless. That, so far, seems to be the fate of UFO computerized data banks, since data processing specialists have criticized them for not having sufficient control over the validity of input data. UFO proponents, appealing to mathematical formulas from information theory, claim that a proper computer program can filter out the garbage and sift through to the authentic residue. Nor have laboratories produced any specimen that could not have been obtained from ordinary sources on earth. Exotic space metals or artifacts continue to oe reported, but none have passed the investigation of prof-
essional laboratories. Yet these debates have changed markedly from the days when UFOs were the topic for screwball religious cults, nasty insinuations about wiinesses’ sanity and/or sobriety, and knee-jerk gullibility. Today’s arguments must stand up to the timetested standards of scientific research. Perhaps they will reveal something, perhaps not. But it’s the only way to find out for sure. •• In light of the need for better scientific research about UFOs. it is particularly frustrating to read published reports that “NASA has rejected a White House request to reopen the governmentsponsored research program.” But the real story is not so open-and-shut as these pessimistic accounts would indicate. Actually, the story began when President Carter promised to release all UFO data, if elected. Once elected, he discovered that the Air Force’s “Blue Book” files were already being declassified, and everybody denied having any other files. Carter’s science adviser, Dr. Frank Press, was assigned the task of answering UFO-related mail from the public. A flood of mail arrived, demanding that the “real secret files” be released. Overwhelmed with queries, Press asked NASA director Dr. Robert Frosch if NASA might handle the mail. In the letter, one paragraph innocently asked if NASA would consider convening a panel to decide if anew c-ficial investigation was warranted. Following several months of consideration, NASA said that it could see no reason to undertake a new investigation. However, Frosch offered fo make NASA laboratories available to analyze any UFO “physical evidence” that might be submitted. Six months later, nothing has been officially submitted. Six months later, nothing has been officially submitted. •• If UFOs are alien spacecraft {and while this is the leading theory, many other schools of thought have come and gone), it’s likely that earth’s spaceships may have been able to encounter them in outer space. Stories have sprung up about how “our astronauts have seen them too!” In fact, each story can be traced back to authors’ misunderstandings, distortions, exaggerations, or just plain fabrications. There does not appear to be a single case on record of American or Soviet spacemen encountering anything extraordinary in terms of normal space occurrences.
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If UFOs are alien spacecraft (and while this is the leading theory, many other schools of thought have come and gone), it’s likely that earth’s spaceships may have been able to encounter them in outer space. Stories have sprung up about how “our astronauts have seen them too!” In fact, each story can be traced back to authors’ misunderstandings, distortions, exaggerations, or just plain fabrications. There does not appear to be a single case on record of American or Soviet spacemen encountering anything extraordinary in terms of normal space occurrences. The most famous case, however, continues to thrive. It deals with a UFO seen by astronaut James McDivitt on the Gemini-4 mission in June 1 965. McDivitt insists that the beer-can shaped object was just another man-made satellite, but some observers have suggested that it was a glimpse of his own booster rocket in a nearby orbit.
“Dr. Harder, however, insists that the “tadpole” really was the UFO, despite what McDivitt thinks, and that it was being propelled by a plasma jet. “
A “tadpole” photograph was released by NASA soon after the flight, taken from a series of movie frames. McDivitt claims he shot a few exposures with two still cameras, but it did not turn out. He didn’t touch the movie camera, and the blob of light released by an overeager photo technician shows only a window reflection, he insists. APRO’s Dr. Harder, however, insists that the “tadpole” really was the UFO, despite what McDivitt thinks, and that it was being propelled by a plasma jet. Dr. Harder chooses to disregard any astronaut’s testimony and build his case on a few frames of reflections. UFO believers can only hope that most UFO evidence is not so insubstantial. Positive proof of a genuine UFO encounter could be extremely valuable for the entire human race. It could be financially rewarding for the owners of that proof. And it could spell financial ruin for one prominent UFO skeptic—unless, of course, he was the one delivering the proof.
Photograph by Julian Assange
The National Enquirer, a weekly tabloid newspaper with a circulation in the millions, has a standing offer of $1 million for “positive proof.” The London-based whiskey bottler Cutty Sark, Ltd., recently unveiled an even bigger prize of one million pounds Sterling, or about $1 ,800,000 at the presenf exchange rate. Lesser awards also are available in the absence of positive proot. The Enquirer annually grants up to $10,000 to witnesses of a UFO incident judged “most scientifically valuable” by an independent panel of UFO specialists (the “Blue-Ribbon Panel,”see box). And Cutty Sark has announced plans to award £1 000 to Ihe best-written essay on the UFO problem. Moreover, a number of London belting houses have accepted various wagers on the imminenl visitations of extraterrestrials. But the world’s most famous “anti-UFO bet” has been set forth in the book UFOs Explained. Author Philip J. Klass, a senior editor of Aviation Week magazine and the nation’s leading UFO skeptic, claims he has challenged UFO believers “to put their money where their mouths are.” Klass has offered to pay $10,000 to anyone who agrees to his bet, if and when certain criteria are met establishing that a true UFO visitalion has occurred. Every year until that happens, Ihe wagerer must pay Klass the sum of $1 00 (up to a maximum of $1 000, after which payments cease but the bet remains in force). Less than a dozen UFO enthusiasts have signed up to date, usually on ins-
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ide information that “this year the government is going to announce UFO contacts. ...” Such predictions have appeared in print nearly every year for a quarter of a century, but people still seem to believe them. Klass has become a little richer because of them. Only one UFO buff has maintained his bet in force, apparently more for publiciiy than persuasion. Stanton Friedman makes a living off his lecture tours proclaiming the reality of UFOs, and he responded to Klass’s needling by formally agreeing to the bet a few years ago. Additionally, Klass has offered to buy back all copies of his book UFOs Explained if events prove h : s assertions incorrect. But pro-UFO scientist Robert Mc- Campbell has done Klass one better. He has offered to buy back copies of his book UFOIogy from anyone not satisfied with it, proof or no proof. • • Actually, Philip J, Klass already had been setting off multimegaton detonations among the ranks of UFO believers. Miffed wh.en UFO experts in 1 968 ridiculed a serious (and siili tenable) suggestion that many UFOs were actually ball lightning, the by nature combative aviation reporter. threw himself into serious investigations of what were regarded as the “best” classic UFO cases. He often dug up startling (and embarrassing) new evidence bul has become a pariah in UFO circles (Hynek retuses to appear together with him, and Hynek’s “UFO bibliography” handout
pointedly ignores Klass’s two books). With the death of astronomer Donald Menzelin 1976, Klass has emerged as the nation’s leading UFO skeptic. He spurns the word “debunker,” with its connotations of knee-jerk dismissals and unorthodox points of view. Instead, Klass attempts to investigate UFO cases more deeply than might other researchers who have subconscious desires to actually find proof of extraterrestrial visitors.
Concentrating only on the generally acclaimed “best cases,” Klass often has exposed the superficiality of work done by pro-UFO experts. In 1 977, he joined with other scientists and educators in forming the “Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal,” a group that has denounced easy acceptance by the public of allegedly baseless bc.io’s in astrology, the Bermuda Triangle, ESP, “ancient astro-
nauts,” and other.so-called modern myths. Klass heads a small but potent band of skeptical investigators called the UFO Subcommittee. At the very least, this group demands the tightening of standards in so-calleci scicir.ific UFOIogy. The level of carelessness of many pro-UFO experts has markedly declined, so progress , is being made.
Artwork by Charles Manson
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Photograph by Abigail Penn
Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS), 1 909 Sherman Suite 207, Evanston. IL 60201 . Self-styled pinnacle of UFO activities, this small group generally depends on other groups for data. Dr. Allen Hynek does the public appearances and fund raising, while researcher Allan Hendry carries out actual coordination and in-depth investigation. Two publications: CUFOS Quarterly Bulletin , $1,5/ yf.; and international UFO Reporter, $12/yr. Aerial Phenomenon Research Organization (APRO). 3910 E. Kleindale, Tucson, AZ 8571 2. Among the longest surviving UFO groups (represented in 50 countries), APRO is held together by the dedication of its cofounders Jim and Coral Lorenzen, who have recently led the group to specialize (critics say monopolize) in “UFO abduction cases.” APRO Bulletin, $10/yr. for 12 issues. National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NlCAP), Suite 23, 3535 University Blvd., Kensington MD 20795. Another old group, unfortunately in a downhill slide following a decade of organizational in-fighting. NICAP Bulletin, S10/yr. Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), 103 Oldtowne Road, Seguin, TX 78155. A vigorous, expanding group acting in concert with CUFOS. MUFON UFO Journal, $8/yr. Ground Saucer Watch (GSW), 13238 North 7th Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85029. Highly professional organization (membership by invilation only), which applies vigorous scientific standards to UFO investigations. Ouanerlv inuma; free with membership. Project Starlight International (PSI), PO Box 531 0, Austin TX 78763. Somewhat mysterious organization with Ihe best array of gadgets yet assembled to measure UFOs—if only they could find one. Irregular bulletin sent in exchange for cash donations.
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THESE PEOPLE ARE WATCHING AND WAITING Committee Against UFO Secrecy (CAUS), 191 E 161st St,, Bronx NY 1 0451 . New offshoot of GSW, this small group is using Freedom of Information suits to extract allegedly secret hypothetical government “UFO files.” Newsletter $10/yr. 20th Century UFO Bureau, 756 Haddon Avenue, Colling wood, NJ 08108. This group, associated with Dr. Carl Mclntyre’s “20th Century Reformation Hour,” believes that some UFOs are angels and signs of the imminent Second Coming. However, other UFOs are sent by Satan to confuse people lest they recognize the angels, UFO Subcommittee of the “Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal,” 923 Kensington Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14215. The first formal organization of UFO skeptics, who tackle the “best UFO cases” on record, often with spectacular success, much to the dismay of most UFO buffs. Reports of activities are included in the Committee publication The Skeptical Inquirer (formerly Zetetic), $1.2/yr. The National Enquirer’s Blue Ribbon Panel of UFO expert’s (who review “best cases” for cash rewards). Two regular members (James Harder and Leo Sprinkle) are joined by a changing cadre of obscure “UFO experts,” including this year’s Willard Armstrong and John L. Warren. More respected UFOIogists have declined offers of membership. Send contest entries to UFO REWARD, National Enquirer, Lantana FL, 33464. All entries will be evaluated.