2020-02-01_Fortean_Times

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LETTERS

Smackingnoises

Thesound of ballerinas’vaginal

contractions, whetherinouter

space or on terrafirma (Peter

Brookesmith,“Is anybodyout

there?”FT387:32), might have

interested Martial, subject ofmy

unheralded doctorate. In poem

18 of Book 7, he describes the

poppysmata–smacking noises

–emitt ed by his loverGalla.

Cunnus non tacet,ipsa taces,he

writes; “You shut up,but your c––t

doesn’t”.Thedependable Mary

Roachattri butesthis sort of thing

to air trapped behindthe penis

duringsex (Bonk:TheCurious

Coupling of Sex and Science,2008,

p.264,footnote). Muchlater,

and totally lacking Martial’s

epigrammatic delicacy, Henry

Millergives us “Squish-squish”

(Tropic of Cancer,1934,p.118), and

JohnnyRotten described sexas

“Two minutes and 52 secondsof

squelching noises”, whichseemed

ratherreductionistofhim.

RichardGeorge

St. Albans,Hertfordshire

Crater&cat

Further to the AstralBulletin

[FT385:8-9], there is an article

by Jonathan Mayo inMail

Online(5 October), givinga

theoretical timelineforthe

Chicxulubimpact, which it is

widelybelie vedcausedthe mass

dinosaurextinction. Quoting

astudyfromthe Universityof

Texas, he states that one day

after impact“Debris from the

craterisstill heading into space

at high speed.Withinweeks,

someofitwill beorbitingthe

Sun. Fragmentswill eventually

landonMarsand on themoons

of Saturn andJupiter. This debris

maycontainlivingmicrobes

and so have exported life from

Earth into space.”That could

complicate the search fortruly

alien lifeoncelestial bodies.

• Regarding theoriginofthe
  phrase “togrinlikeaCheshire
  Cat” [FT387:58-59], Rob Gandy’s
  cheese theory sounds themost
  likely to me.Youhave the
  image ofagrinning cat,and it
  originates in Cheshire.Simples!
  (Now, don’ tget me started on
  the fact that meerkats arefrom

he [Steve] created thefirstUK

fanzineOrpheus”isincorrect.

Thereweremanyfanzinesbefore

that, including theexcellent

Gothique,whichstartedin1 965

and the short-livedTwylight

andInsightfrom 1967and 1965

respectively.The HorrorFilm

ClubofGreat Britainproduced

magazines in the 1960s. Myown

fanzineShadowwaspublished

from 1968.Theseare afew of the

horrororiented‘zines,but there

were alsomanySFmagazinesin

the 1960sand earlier,suchasPete

Weston’sgreatZenith.

DavidASutton

Shadow Publishing

Rendlesham errata

MattSalusbury,writingsabout

the returnto Rendlesham of

Col.CharlesHalt [FT387:28-

29 ], states:“It’s good to see the

UFO communitydoing basic

journalisticfact checking–more

is needed in this field.”Ironically,

he thengoesontoget aname

wrong:LtBruce Inghamshould

have been Lt Bruce Englund.

Later on, when he quotes Col.

Halttalkingabout the use of

light-alls, he inserted theword

‘torches’ inparenthesis. Light-

alls areactuallytrailer-borne

units,consisting ofagenerator

and powerfullights, mounted

on telescopic poles.Theyare

normally usedby maintenance

personnel to light up aircraft

parking areas andwould need a

vehicle to move them.

Andy Robertson

St George’s Quay,Lancaster

Fortans

As afollow-up to the

correspondence on tiny

astronauts[FT387:73-74], may

IreferyoutoJohn Wyndham’s

short story ‘Meteor’(publishedin

the collectionTheSeeds of Time).

In this,avessel fr om Forta arrives

on Earth.Itspassengersare

under instruction tocooperate

withand support the natives.

However,the vessel, beingonly

acouple of feet across, is taken

forameteor.The Fortans(who

resemblefour-legged beetles)

have unfortunate encounterswith

acat andsomerats and arefinally

Africa,not Russia.)

• IenjoyedMarkGreener’s
  review ofAstrobiologyby Andrew
  May[FT387:61]. He makes some
  goodpoints. However, Ithink that
  the evolutionaryconvergence
  theoryhementionshas some
  weaknesses in this context.It
  seems to me thatit is onlyby
  chance that thehumanrace
  cametobe. Massextin ctions
  have occurred in the past,one
  of whicheradicatedthe vast
  majority of dinosaurs, and it
  wasthisthat is believed to have
  broughtmammals to prominence.
  In addition, accordingtogenetic
  studies, the human population
  mayhavedropped to as lowas
  2,000,about 70,000yearsago.
  Similarevents mayhave
  happened on other planets, so
  who can saywhat intelligent

lifemay have evolved there?

Natureisaremarkablething,

as amply illustrated on our

ownplanet.Ithink itwouldbe

somewhat unimaginative to

assume that planets withsimilar

environments to Earthwould

have human-likeintelligentlife.

There’ smorethanone wayto

skina(Cheshire) cat.The aliens

inStar Trekareusual ly human-

like,forobviousreasons, butthat

is notreal life, althoughImust

admitIavoid wearingred shirts,

justincase!

DaveMiles

By email

Fanzines

Just asmall correction in Eric

Hoffman’sreviewofSteve Moore’s

bookSelene[FT387:64]. “In 1971

SIMULACRACORNER

Danny Bentham andKate Firks sawthis tree in the grounds of Saltram

House in Devonand thoughtit loo kedlikeawitch in profile.

Wearealwaysgladto receivepicturesof spontaneousforms

and figures,oranycurious images.Send them(with your postal

address)toFortean Times,POBox 240 9, LondonNW 54 NPor to

[email protected].

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