2020-02-01_Fortean_Times

74 FT389

LETTERS

Colavitoconjecture

InitiallyIwas unsurewhether
to use theword “conjecture” to
describe Mr Colavito’sthoughts
as summarised in the UFO
files [FT388:30], as theword
is frequentlyused derisively,
but Ibelieve it’sapositi ve use
of theword in this instance.
He certainlyrecognises the
contradictions inherent in
the fixation on governmental
recognition that manyUFO
adherents hold close to their
belief systems. MayIoffer a
couplemorecontradictions?
Firstoff,manypeople use
“UFOs” to speak of something
theyare sureare alien-controlled
vehicles. Ignoring whatever
purposethesevehicles may
have,mypoint is that “UFO”
is no longer an accurate label
as theyhave beenidentified
by these individuals, correctly
or incorrectly–makingthem
IFOs (identifiedflying objects).
Unfortunately “IFO” doesn’t
look as cool on paper as “UFO”,
whichreallyfits the image of a
saucer-shaped spacecraft.Also,
being so sureup-fronttakes away
some of the “scientific”veneer of
beingarational observer.
Secondly, going alongwith
Colavito’s observationsabout
the fixation on governmental
reve lationsabout the “truth”,
let’sjust considerthis alleged
situation from ET’sviewpoint.
We can assume that whatever
technology the presumed aliens
possess, theymostlikel yhave
the ability to monitor our cease-
less electronicchatter of the
past 60years, and so areaware
that governments are“hiding
the truth”. Somy conjecture is
this: by not circumventing this
massive “cover-up of the truth”,
these otherworldlyvisitorsare in
effect colluding with these same
“evil” governments.Agreeing in
effect thatwe shouldn’thave the
“truth”, thatwe can’thandle the
“truth”. Notveryappealingto
quasi-religiousfancies, is it?
Manyyearsago Ibefuddled
aUFO adherent friend of mine
whenItoldhim thatIdidn’t
discountthe idea of space
visitors but Iabsolutelydidn’t
caresince theyhaven’tcared to
makethemselves important to us

in anypracticalway. When they

openaSpace Pizzastand on the

corner,come backtomeabout

aliens.

WilliamHohauser

New York

Delta Blues

Presumablythe reason the

Mississippi Delta [FT388:16-17]

is so nameddespite actually

being an alluvialflood plane is

because the latterdoesn’tquite

have the same ring to it. Can

youimaginefor example Marc

Cohn singing “touched down

in the land of the alluvial flood

plane blues in the middle of the

pouringrain” on his hit song

‘WalkinginMemphis’?

SimonAtford

Wiltshire

Secreted horse skull

According to the second edition

of the self-publishedSpirits of

Frederickby AlyceTWeinberg

(1992), theownersofan1810

stone house inWalkersville,

Maryland, discovere dduring

renovations in the 1980sahorse’s

skull in the dining-room ceiling.

Weinberg writes: “One day

when constructionworkerswere

chippingawayatthe ceiling,one

member of the crew reached his

hand inside the crackedplaster

andpulled out the skeleton of a

horse’shead.It waspickedclean,

bleached and almost intact with

its jawboneand someteeth...

Thereisnoindication of how

the horse might have died,or

whetheritwas afamilypet or

reliable steedthat plowedthe

fields or whetherthe boneswere

found inafield thatwas cleaned

by scavengers.Wasithidden

as aghoulish prank orformore

sign ifica nt reasons?”

Weinberg does not makethe

connection,but readingthis,

Iimmediatelythought of FT

articlesabout animal skeletons

entombed in old buildings, often

at thresholds or within meta-

phoricallyimportant fixtures

suchashearths, most likelyas

magicalwardsagain st evil or ill

luck. Granted,ahorse isaless

obvious householdprotect or

thanthe usual cat or dog, but

the apparent placementabove

the familytable seemsresonant

enough.Imust note, however,

thatWeinbergdoes not tell us

whether the 1980s diningroom

wasusedfor that purpose as

early as 1810.

She goes on torelate that

twoweeks after the skull’s

discovery ,the homeowners’own

horse, Dawn,wasfound dead “of

unknown causes”.Thehomeown-

ersviewedthe discoveryas an

“omen”,a“forebodingofthe

death ofabelovedfamilypet”.

“For Karen Green,” Weinberg

writes,“the memories of herown

horse and themysterious dining

room skeleton will be inextri-

cabl ylinked.”Asuperstitious

readerwould go further,and sug-

gest that disturbing the skull had

causedDawn’s death.Inany case,

at the time ofWeinberg’swriting,

“Themystery skull is sittingat

thebottom ofacloset,waiting

to be mounted asaconversation

piece.”

Icannotmakethisaconversa-

tion piece withWeinberg, who

died in 1987,soIthoughtI’d

presentittoFTreadersinstead. I

alsorecommend her slim, engag-

ing book to anyone interested in

the loreofAppalachi aorthe mid-

Atlanticstates. Moreover, now

thatIampromoted to full profes-

sor and in theoryempoweredto

be as eccentric asIlike, Iwould

be pleased to hear from anyread-

erswith knowledge offorteana

in western Maryland or the

surroundingregion. My postal

address is c/o the Department of

English andForeign Languages,

FrostburgState University,101

BraddockRoad,Frostburg MD

2153 2, and my email addressis

[email protected].

Prof Andy Duncan

Frostburg State University,

Maryland

Scientific Spoofs

Havingworked onchemorecep-

tion,Iread David Hambling’s

piece on human pheromones

[FT384:15]with interest.Ol-

factants have been claimedto

affectvarioustypesof human

behaviourforalong time; so why

not acontraceptive thatcould

be sniffed? In 1965aJSGreen-

stein publishedaspoofpaper

in arespectedjournal about a

fictitiouscontraceptivethat

had its effectvia the olfactory

system^1 .Hecalledhis invention

Armpitin and gave it achemical

formula that included several

nitrosogroups (representedby

the symbol NO).ThemoreNOs

ther ewerethe moreeffec tive

the chemicalwasasacontracep-

tive.The paperwasapparently

seriouslyreviewedinanannual

reviewofPharmacology, and

Greensteinwassaid to have

receivedvariousrequestsfrom

pharmaceutical companies

about the patent. If anyone really

took this seriously, theycouldn’t

have pickeduponclues in the ti-

tle or bothered toread therefer-

ences. One sentenceread:“One

must also admit toameasure

of inspiration that can onlybe

described as heaven-sent”–and

carriedareference toapersonal

communication from acertain

Gabriel,A.

Manyforteanswill know

Isaac Asimov’s spoofs in

Astounding ScienceFictionon a

time-travelling molecule^2 and

agoosethat lays goldeneggs,^3

butthose published in ‘serious’

scientific journals can beeven

morefortean.Afavouriteof

mine is one on dragonsby Peter

Hogarth.Not onlyisthe paper^4

fun butafollow-upreview^5 and a

response^6 from the authorwere

bothpublishedin the eminent

journalNature.

NOTES

1 JuliusSGreenstein,‘Studies on a

New,PeerlessContraceptiveAgent:

APreliminary and FinalReport’

(Canad.Med.Ass.J.,25Dec 1965,

vol.93, pp1351-1355).

2 IAsimov,‘TheEndochronicProp-

erties ofResublimated Thiotimoline’

(AstoundingScienceFiction,Mar

1948).

3 IAsimov,‘Pate de Foie Gras’

(AstoundingScienceFiction,Sept

1956).

4 PeterHogarth ,‘Ecological

Aspects of Dragons’(Bull.Brit.Ecol.

Soc.1976,vol.7(2), pp2-5).

5 RobertMMay,‘The Ecology of

Dragons’(Nature,4Dec 1976,

vol.264, pp16-17).

6 PeterHogarth, “The Ecology of

Dragons:areply ’(Nature,16 Dec

1976, vol.264, p607).

Ron Gardner

Upton Snodsbury,

Worcestershire