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MoD files released on UFO sightings
Submitted by Tiggs: Secret files on UFO sightings have been made available for the first time by the Ministry of Defence. The documents, which can be downloaded from the National Archives website, cover the period from 1978 to 1987. They include accounts of strange lights in the sky and unexplained ...
Plant Rights
An ethics panel commissioned by the Swiss government has determined that the arbitrary killing of plants is morally wrong. From The Weekly Standard:
A "clear majority" of the panel adopted what it called a "biocentric" moral view, meaning that "living organisms should be considered morally for their own sake because they are alive." Thus, the panel determined that we cannot claim "absolute ownership" over plants and, moreover, that "individual plants have an inherent worth." This means that "we may not use them just as we please, even if the plant community is not in danger, or if our actions do not endanger the species, or if we are not acting arbitrarily."
The committee offered this illustration: A farmer mows his field (apparently an acceptable action, perhaps because the hay is intended to feed the farmer's herd--the report doesn't say). But then, while walking home, he casually "decapitates" some wildflowers with his scythe. The panel decries this act as immoral, though its members can't agree why.
The author of the Weekly Standard article appears to have some kind of conservative agenda. (He's a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, which makes him suspect in my book.) However, the basic facts about the Swiss ethics panel appear to be correct. The text of the panel's report, titled The Dignity of Living Beings with Regard to Plants, can be downloaded as a pdf file.
From my point of view, what makes this interesting is that it represents the fulfillment of a satirical prophecy. Back in 2004 I posted about the spoof Society for the Protection of Plants. It only took four years for the satire to become true.
FairDeal Homeopathy
FairDeal Homeopathy promises it won't lie to its customers. They only guarantee that their remedies are "as effective as all other homeopathic remedies."
They also won't promise that their products can help you if you're ill. Although they do note that if you believe in their remedies they might help, because of the placebo effect. But they caution that if you're "actually ill" you shouldn't expect their products to cure you. "Homeopathy of any sort," they note, "is not a medical treatment, neither is it a substitute for evidence-based medicine and proper medical opinion."
On the testimonials page you find comments from "Miss Emily B. Leiver" and "Mr C. Lumsey." At which point it becomes obvious that the entire site is a parody. (Thanks, Terry!)
Update: I just received this email.
Dear Sir,
I just happened across your website entry on FairDeal Homeopathy.
I actually developed the site for the guys at FairDeal, and can assure you
that while the site is very unlike all other homeopathy websites, the firm
itself is anything but a hoax, and does sell homeopathic remedies* (payment
by PayPal only, dispatch to UK only) to anyone who wishes to buy one.
I'm sure the guys will be grateful if you could clarify this in your entry.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any more information, or
if you wish to get information "from the horse's mouth" as it were, you can
contact FairDeal direct on info@fdhom.co.uk
Best regards,
Richard Lockwood.
*remedy is in no way meant to imply curative properties, guaranteed as
effective as all other homeopthic products
To which I replied:
Thanks for your email.
So let me see if I understand. FairDeal Homeopathy will sell people something. Customers will receive a product in the mail. But FairDeal tells their customers straight up that the product is basically a bottle of water.
Is that an accurate summary?
-Alex
And received this response:
Hi Alex,
Almost. Their remedies are in pill (lactose tablet) form sourced from the UK's biggest supplier of homeopathic products. They are identical to any other homeopathic remedy you can buy; they're just a lot more honest about what they do.
Best regards,
Richard.
So I suppose FairDeal Homeopathy is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it is real, in so far as it will sell people something.
Unexplained Poltergeist
"This incident took place around 20 years ago in Lincolnshire, England, where I live," writes Helen. "A friend of mine, who lived some miles away, came to stay for the...
The Ancient Secrets of Levitation
Great stone structures and megaliths around the world stand as mysteries to how they were constructed. Is it possible their builders possessed the powers of defying gravity?...
Chile: Winged Creature in Angol
The witness confesses that when "the animal" was close to him, flying off with a gentle beat of its wings, he was unable to control a bowel movement, a fact that he has tried to keep confidential on account of the customary jokes that tend to emerge in such cases.
FBI: No Evidence of Marilyn Monroe 'Sex Tape'
Laurie Boeder reports that the FBI has effectively debunked a New York memorabilia dealer's claim that a videotape he allegedly sold for $1.5 million showing Marilyn Monroe engaging in sex...
"Looney Toons" Alien Proposal
You have probably already heard about this: Man Pushes Creation of Panel: Prepare City for Space Aliens. Jeff Peckman had made a strange request of the Denver city council....
Catholic Astronomer Says "OK to Believe in Aliens"
From an article in the Vatican newspaper comes a statement from the Reverend Jose Gabriel Funes. This statement gives full approval for a Catholic to believe in aliens. Funes is...
Press Release: New Research Reveals Unexplained Geometric Shapes in NASA Moon Images
Unidentified Lunar Objects share controversial and thought provoking images sure to challenge scientists and compel the public to insist on answers.
Close encounters of the second kind in Stratham
The New Hampshire Seacoast has long been famous in UFO lore, both for the “incident at Exeter” and as the area of residence for the two most renowned “alien abductees,” Betty and Barney Hill. Few people, though, may be aware of the incidents in Stratham, close encounters of a second kind that occurr...
Vatican admits alien life could exist
The pope's chief astronomer says that life on Mars cannot be ruled out. Writing in the Vatican newspaper, the astronomer, Father Gabriel Funes, said intelligent beings created by God could exist in outer space. The search for forms of extraterrestrial life, he says, does not contradict belief in God...
From the Archives: The Nazi Air Marker Hoax
We live in paranoid times in which people are apt to interpret harmless objects (such as battery-lit sweatshirts or cartoon characters) as imminent threats. But we're really no more paranoid than previous generations. A case in point is the Nazi Air Marker Hoax of 1942.
On August 10, 1942 the Army public-relations office issued a press release warning the public of "secret markers" that had been found on farm fields throughout the eastern United States. These markers were patterns formed by the arrangement of fertilizer sacks or the way a field had been tilled. From the ground they looked like nothing, but from the air they formed the shape of arrows, apparently created by Nazi sympathizers in order to guide enemy bombers straight toward military factories and airfields.
There was a big public outcry. Editorials warned of the need to guard against the enemy within. But a few days later it turned out that the "secret markers" were really just random patterns. A case of military pareidolia. The Army admitted the story "may be untrue." In one case the pattern had been created by the Department of Agriculture, which had directed a farmer to plow his field in that way to help stop soil erosion.
More about this (as well as pictures of the "air markers") in the Hoaxipedia.
Press Release: Shadows In The Dark Radio 24 Hour Broadcast on April 20th
WILKESBORO, NC - (April 14, 2008) - Internet radio program Shadows in the Dark celebrates its one year anniversary on BlogTalkRadio with a 24-consecutive-hour paranormal broadcast live from the haunted Smithey Hotel in Wilkesboro, NC at midnight Eastern time on April 19, 2008, continuing through April 20 until midnight.
The Urban Legends Slide Show
A gallery of odd and arresting viral images -- some real, some fake, some persistently enigmatic -- as circulated on the Internets. Start here......
Press Release: The UFO Experience Reconsidered - Science and Speculation
Rob Mason attempts to reduce UFOs to science. Unlike many books on this subject, even the speculations of this book have a scientific basis.
Operation Knot So Fast
Eighty-three people have been rounded up by federal officials in Florida and accused of participating in sham marriages. A company called All Kind Services was staging fake weddings, complete with props, so that the couples could have photographs of their "wedding day" to show officials. From the Orlando Sentinel:
The four-tiered cake the newlyweds were about to cut was plastic. The glasses and plates on the reception table were empty. And the bride wore casual shoes under her wedding gown. Those were among the clues that caught the attention of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials after they searched the offices of Winter Garden-based All Kind Services U.S.A. in August 2005. In a back room were the cake, the fake reception hall and a rack with several wedding dresses.
"The cake is the first clue," said Mark Garrand, assistant special agent in charge of ICE in Orlando. "It's not real. The glasses [on the table] are not filled. And the running shoes are a nice touch, too." Investigators soon realized that the photos and props were identical in many of the 25 marriage cases they were probing.
(Thanks, Joe)
Free worldwide telescope launches
Submitted by Stance: A free program launched today will effectively turn every computer that downloads it into a mini-planetarium capable of displaying high resolution images of millions of stars, planets and other celestial bodies. The project, called the WorldWide Telescope (WWT), is the result of...
Upon Which I Open My Mouth
For those who give a damn, here’s the two hour mp3 clip of me speaking on Haunted Voices Radio about paranormalnews.com and other things.
UFO Photographed over Northern Ireland
Here is a photograph that is bound to raise some controversy between UFO proponents and debunkers. A man named Michael Harkin, from Galliagh, contacted the Derry Journal informing them...
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