Interesting developments
J. Pharabod
>I was asked to cease porting some of your info and opinions into the
>GT net's "Mysteries of The Unexplained" echo... it seems that we were
>explaining too many mysteries!
>Garrison Hilliard (Thu, 7 Jul 1994 10:07:43 +0200)
Are you suprised ?
Now, let me remind that I submitted or re-submitted 4 mysteries to this
Skeptic group recently:
1) The mystery of these people whose brain is only 10% or maybe 2% of a
normal brain, and who seem perfectly normal. Michael Lilliquist, who
works in that field, agrees that it is a real mystery. Reference:
"Is Your Brain Really Necessary?", by Roger Lewin, _Science_, Vol.
210, 12 December 1980 (pages 1232-1234).
2) The mystery of astronaut Slayton's encounter with a "disc", while
he was flying a P-51 fighter.
3) The mystery of what really crashed near Roswell. Robert Sheaffer
himself, who generally is not Scepticus Maximus regarding the U.S.
authorities (especially the military), agrees now that may be it was
not a Rawin target weather device.
4) The mystery of this recent article in _Nature_ which in fact (IMHO)
confirms at least partially Benveniste's findings about "water
memory", though it claims (with some reservations) the contrary in
it's abstract. Reference:
"Human basophil degranulation is not triggered by very dilute
antiserum against human IgE", by S. J. Hirst, N. A. Hayes,
J. Burridge F. L. Pearce & J. C. Foreman, University College,
London, _Nature_, Vol. 336, 9 December 1993 (pages 525-527).
(Warning: I don't say that I believe Benveniste, I just don't
understand why it has been said that this recent British study
completely contradicts his findings).
I hope that these mysteries will soon be explained.
J. Pharabod
Carr, Paul
about Astronaut UFO sightings in general. He believes that all the known
sightings are explained - and for the most part, simply never happened. I'll
go back over it and see if he addressed Slayton's 50s sighting, and if so,
repost the relevant portion here.
============================================================
Paul Carr
Martin Marietta Astro Space (for whom I do not speak)
Princeton, NJ
Carr#m#_Pa...@msgw.vf.ge.com
"The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is
reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall."
- - - Thomas Paine, _The Age of Reason_
============================================================
Robert Sheaffer
J. Pharabod <PHAR...@FRCPN11.BITNET> wrote:
>
>Are you suprised ?
>
>Now, let me remind that I submitted or re-submitted 4 mysteries to this
>Skeptic group recently:
>
> he was flying a P-51 fighter.
Yes, as we all know, ordinary mortals may be mistaken when they think
they see something unusual, and may report it incorrectly. But as
far as _astronauts_ go, they are infallible. If they say they saw
a flying disc, with portholes or whatever, then you can bet that's
*exactly* what was out there.
>
>3) The mystery of what really crashed near Roswell. Robert Sheaffer
> himself, who generally is not Scepticus Maximus regarding the U.S.
> authorities (especially the military), agrees now that may be it was
> not a Rawin target weather device.
He does?
Well, only if you mean it in a trivial sense, like "It wasn't
a weather balloon from a forecaster, but a research balloon from
a military scientist." It was still a balloon-borne radar target.
>
>4) The mystery of this recent article in _Nature_ which in fact (IMHO)
> confirms at least partially Benveniste's findings about "water
> memory", though it claims (with some reservations) the contrary in
> it's abstract. Reference:
>
>I hope that these mysteries will soon be explained.
I have a better mystery. At the banquet of the recent CSICOP conference
in Seattle, after Randi talked about Benveniste, Elizabeth Loftus
was going to talk about false memories. In introducing her, Susan
Blackmore said something like "even though I'm nearly as old as she is,
I always feel like she's the teacher and I'm the student." Then Loftus
replied in the same vein, "If she's nearly as old as I am, I simply
_must_ find out what facial creme she is using, she looks fantastic!"
Blackmore quickly replied, "Memory water!" :)
--
Robert Sheaffer - Scepticus Maximus - shea...@netcom.com
Past Chairman, The Bay Area Skeptics - for whom I speak only when authorized!
"As women and as lawyers, we must never again shy from raising our
voices against sexual harrassment. All women who care about
equality of opportunity - about integrity and morality in the
workplace - are in Professor Anita Hill's debt."
-- Hillary Rodham Clinton, 8/9/92, at an American Bar
Association luncheon honoring Anita Hill
"I want to make it very clear that this middle class tax cut, in
my view, is central to any attempt we are going to make to have
a short term economic strategy and a long term fairness
strategy, which is part of getting this country going again."
-- candidate Bill Clinton, ABC News Primary Debate,
Manchester, New Hampshire, 1/19/92
J. Pharabod
>Yes, as we all know, ordinary mortals may be mistaken when they think
>they see something unusual, and may report it incorrectly. But as
>far as _astronauts_ go, they are infallible. If they say they saw
>a flying disc, with portholes or whatever, then you can bet that's
>*exactly* what was out there. (R. Sheaffer - 13 Jul 1994 05:50:30 GMT)
Excellent debunking! Brilliant, thoughtful and thorough!
>>3) The mystery of what really crashed near Roswell. Robert Sheaffer
>> himself, who generally is not Scepticus Maximus regarding the U.S.
>> authorities (especially the military), agrees now that may be it was
>> not a Rawin target weather device. (J.P.)
>He does?
>
>Well, only if you mean it in a trivial sense, like "It wasn't
>a weather balloon from a forecaster, but a research balloon from
>a military scientist." It was still a balloon-borne radar target. (R.S.)
Maybe, but the important thing is that this would mean that there was
a cover-up - something He never envisaged before.
J. Pharabod