______ _______ ____ ------ / / // ____// |---------------------------------------------- U K / / // ___/ / / ' November 22nd, 1997 / / // / / / / N E T W O R K part 1 Issue 85 --- (_____//__/ -- (_____/------------------------------------------------ The United Kingdom UFO Network - a free electronic magazine with subscribers in over 40 countries. This issue comes in 3 parts. If any part is missing please mail: ufo@holodeck.demon.co.uk giving the issue number. The issue will be reposted to you. Please put the details as below in the subject section e.g. Repost {82} part 1, part 2 or part 3. In this issue: -------------- Editorial --------- UK.UFO.NW IRC channel THE DESERT RAT UK.UFO.NW SKYWATCH 1997 United Kingdom News ------------------- [UK 1] British Airways pilots sightings [UK 2] If anyone's out there, please wait until we've microwaved the dinner [UK 3] Nine see 'UFOs in Star Wars battle' [UK 4] Aliens get spaced out for Scots [UK 5] Men In Black [UK 6] Alien Spotter: Did you see a Southall UFO [UK 7] Thirty Years ago in Horsham World News ---------- [W 1] A Russian scholar says our solar system has 2 Earth's [W 2] Bandai rings the changes [W 3] Safety board in spotlight of TWA probe after FBI bows out [W 4] How Mars Hotted Up for Life [W 5] USAF future testing of an Airborne Laser [W 6] SETI@home - SETI@home is a grand experiment to harness the spare power of hundreds of thousands of Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) - uk.ufo.nw says: well worth a read Letters ------- Real Estate on the moon the Name a Star article Wall Street Journal article. Editorial ========= UK.UFO.NW IRC channel Our search for guests for the UK.UFO.NW IRC (internet relay chat) channel has been and continues to be very successful. However we would like your help. Do you know of anyone who would make an interesting guest on the channel, whether they be ufologists, abductees or other. If you do please get them to mail us at: ufo@holodeck.demon.co.uk or send us their details i.e. e-mail address etc and we will contact them. Recent previous guests to the channel have included: Stanton Friedman, Matthew Williams, Michael Lindemann, John Velez Confirmed near future guests include: Dan Sherman: http://www.earthworld.com/ppd/ (Project Preserve Destiny) Graham W. Birdsall: http://www.ufomagazine.co.uk/ (UFO Magazine) All meetings where invited guests are in attendance become moderated. This works very well keeping the channel tidy. Visitors to the channel are able to ask questions of the guest through the channel administrators Crow & Raine. Connecting to the UK.UFO.NW IRC channel is very simple. It is not even necessary to have a dedicated IRC program. You will find full connection details at the foot of the e-zine. THE DESERT RAT Some of you seasoned internetters will need no introduction to 'The Desert Rat'. Others of you may be more familiar with the name Glenn Cambel. Infact both are one and the same. Glenn is probably the most knowledgeable civilian on Area 51 / Groom Lake. Glen wrote and edited 37 issues of 'The Desert Rat' which ran from January 1994 to the Fall 1996. It has to be said that 'The Desert Rat' was a classic. If you have the time it is well worth reading the back issues. For this particular type of e-zine there is little to touch them. Interesting, exciting, thought provoking. The good news is 'The Desert Rat' is back with us. Or as Glenn would say it never really left. It was just taking a rest. Checkout Glenn's web site at: http://www.ufomind.com/ Current & back issues of The Desert Rat can be found at: http://www.ufomind.com/rat/ Biography taken from Ufomind/PsiSpy - "The Mothership" web site." Biography Alias: Psychospy Occupation: Owner and director of the Area 51 Research Center, which is chiefly a mail order company that sell books and documents relating to Area 51. The company is housed in a mobile home in Rachel, Nevada, and has two employees apart from Campbell. Campbell says that all profits from the company "support our continued research." Prior Occupation: Computer programmer. Worked in "C" on the IBM PC writing software for banking. Employed by small company in Cambridge, Mass. Source of Support: Campbell says he is supported by income from the mail order business as well as savings accumulated while he was a programmer. Residence: Spends most of his time in Las Vegas; usually visits Rachel on the weekends. Major Works: Author of Area 51 Viewers Guide, a 115-page self-published guide to the public lands surrounding Area 51, as well as references and local lore. (Available from author for $15 plus $4 p/h). Author of Groom Lake Desert Rat, an on-line newsletter published at least monthly since Jan. 1994. Back issues available on WWW. The 1997 Skywatch The date of the 1997 Skywatch proved to be a weekend that would be remembered world wide, unfortunately not for the reasons hoped for by all UFO enthusiasts, but for the tragic death of one of the World's most beautiful and well loved ladies, Princess Diana, Princess Of Wales. It is uncanny that the UK UFO NW was visiting Wales that weekend and we wish to extend our sincere condolences to the families and friends of all involved, not least of which Princes William and Harry, who are now forced to live their lives with nothing more than memories of a truly wonderful mother. Our best wishes go with you. SKYWATCH 1997 UK.UFO.NW would like to thank Lloydy for organising this years Skywatch and for writing the below informative and amusing report about our weekend. Skywatch 1997 By Lloyd Bayliss The preparations for the 1997 Skywatch event began not long after the ''96 event was done and dusted - such was the success of that weekend. Within weeks it was decided that the '97 event would move to Lloydy's home turf, the mountains of South Wales. Almost immediately, preparations began and prospective sites were sought out and suitable campsites were evaluated. In early '97 the founder of the UK UFO NW, Dave Somen and close friend Paul_J met up with Lloydy at South Wales and checked out the three 'short listed' sites. The original plan was to spend each of the two nights at different locations, but after being impressed with the first site an a little disappointed with the second, the third one blew everyone away. With stunning views of the Black Mountains to the right, the Brecon Beacons to the left and views overlooking Llangorse Lake and beyond stretching out into the distance in front, the third site was chosen to accommodate the skywatchers for both nights. The site was located near a small mountain top car park on the B4560 running over Llangynidr Mountain. A short walk down a green path would take you far enough away from curious eyes, though close enough to the cars for supplies and security. The campsite was a small Caravan Club site called 'Clydach Gorge' off the A465 "Heads Of The Valleys" road at Clydach, around ten miles from the Skywatch site itself. The following months were spent booking the campsite, getting photographs and details to the skywatchers, informing police Etc, and by the end of August, all was ready! The date set for the "Quest International Skywatch 1997" was the weekend of 30- 31 August, slightly later than the previous year's event and thought by some to be perhaps a little too late in the summer for such an occasion. However, the date was set and preparations completed, all that remained was for people to turn up and the skies to remain clear. Suffice to say, people turned up, and we'll leave it at that! The enthusiasts attending this year's vigil were : DAVE_UFO, PAUL_J, LLOYDY, DOUG_LGM, CROW, RAINE, ESPE, HIDEOUT, NESSUS, TOM and JON. Dave, Paul and Hideout met up with Lloydy at the Little Chef cafe on the A465 at Gilwern just after midday. Doug was picked up from Abergavenny train station thirty minutes later and it was on to the campsite to do battle with a tent that could easily have housed a small circus! The daunting mass of canvas and aluminium poles once again surprised everyone with its willingness to be formed into something resembling the shape of a tent! A crew with such a wide spread of expertise ranging from the academic to law and order could never be foxed by a fabric abode, a ground sheet on the other hand - now that's another matter! After stopping off at the railway station to pick up Espe, a short trip to the local DIY store soon cured the groundsheet problem and it was on to the supermarket for some extra "supplies". And that was it, everything was set. All that remained was to sit back, enjoy the pleasant late summer sun and wait for Crow and Raine to turn up. And wait. And wait! A couple of hours later they rolled up, Crow as cool as ever and Raine just as bubbly. Then, suddenly, the time had come for Skywatch '97 to begin proper. Cameras, coffee, passengers and food were loaded into the cars and it was onward and upward, and upward, and then up some more until we reached the spot for the night's activities on the side of Llangynidr Mountain. The skies were still fairly clear, though a slight chill was just starting to make itself felt in the early evening air. After ferrying most of the kit from the small car park, first on the agenda was food - of course! Much had been heard about Dave's major contribution to this year's festivities, the amazing, all in one, portable, throw away Bar-B-Quick! Dave had brought seven, yes seven, of these wonderful labour saving devices on the strength that not only could we cook on them throughout the two nights, they would also serve to keep us warm if the temperature dropped a little too far below the comfort zone. Nice idea but, I'm not sure who said (if indeed anyone ever has!), "the best ideas are not always the most successful ones!" After spending over twenty minutes trying to persuade this wonder of modern technology to burst into flame (a faint glow would have sufficed!), it was finally decided that it was actually cooling the air around it! At this point Jon, a friend and colleague of Dave's turned up to join in the proceedings. Now, Jon just happens to be a fireman, and so his talent for controlling fire was put to good use in attempting to persuade 'Barbie' number two to give off a little heat. It turns out that Jon's extensive training had not been wasted and soon we had two miniature furnaces (OK, slight exaggeration I grant you) piled high with burgers and sausages. With nightfall drawing ever closer and the light fading fast, some patchy cloud began to bubble up, slowly massing together to form a slightly worrying veil over much of the dusk sky. It may have been the long distance aroma of burning sausages, but it was around now that another local skywatcher, Tom, turned up. He arrived in style dressed in full combats and riding a brand new Yamaha XT 600. A few nervous glances were shared among some of the other members of the gang until Lloydy announced "Ah, Tom's here at last!" With the cloud thickening fast and a suggestion of a few spots of rain, skywatching quickly became a case of "oh look, I think I can just see a star behind that cloud!" With a lack of sky to watch, talk naturally turned to stories of strange lights, unusual craft and crop circles. Nessus and his girlfriend were the last of the skywatchers to arrive and conversation was soon joined between him and Espe over an incident that had occurred in Nessus' locality involving seemingly intelligently controlled lights following a car. Espe countered with possible explanations involving static electricity and a lively debate was enjoyed by all. Eventually the two parties agreed to discuss the topic in more depth at a later date and a truce was drawn up around a beefburger, a hot dog and a couple of cans of lager! As far as stories go though, the most memorable of the evening had to be that of Tom's tale of a prehistoric teradactile! The story goes something like this... Some time ago, an article appeared in a magazine telling of a road crew blasting a tunnel through a mountainside in France. Apparently, after one particular blast, when the dust settled a baby teradactile staggered out of the gloom, coughed once and promptly fell over dead!!! Tom swears blind he read the story but he can't remember which magazine he saw it in! Draw your own conclusions, but whatever, it certainly brought some jocularity to the evening! After settling down behind some windbreakers and umbrellas to do some serious cloud watching (skywatching was well out of the question by this time), things began to get more and more uncomfortable as the temperature dropped and the rain began to fall, lightly at first then with an urgency that suggested it was there to stay. As one young lady, who shall remain anonymous, fell heavily for Paul_J (literally - over his feet and straight down a bank), the reluctant call was made to 'Abandon Skywatch' at around midnight. And so it was with slightly dampened spirits and very dampened feet and bums, the kit was hurriedly packed away and thrown into the cars for the short journey back to the campsite. By the time we reached our temporary canvas home, the rain had reached epic proportions and spirits were sinking almost as fast as our cars were sinking into the mud of the campsite. After a subdued beverage, most people decided to call it a night and try to catch some sleep and hope for better weather for day two. Our disappointment in finding little change in the weather overnight was soon forgotten when the devastating news of Princess Diana's fatal car accident was heard over the radio. This terrible news combined with the distinct lack of sky to watch and little prospect of any improvement in the weather for the weekend served to mark the end of Skywatch '97. A quiet (and wet!) stroll around a local trading estate killed some time while train timetables were waited upon and then it was time to leave, each member of the Skywatch team heading for his or her own corner of the country. Although the event itself was a washout (Skywash '97 was a favourite term of endearment!), it is still good to meet up with the people that make up the UK UFO Network and to put faces to old and new Internet friends alike. A trek down South seems to be on the cards for next year's event, so roll on Skywatch '98!!! United Kingdom News =================== [UK 1]****** Source: United Kingdom UFO Network British Airways pilots sightings The United Kingdom UFO Network are currently investigating a number of sightings that have occurred in the Midlands (UK) over the last two weeks. Sighting No. 1 Thursday 13th November 1997 a British Airways ATP - twin propeller - aircraft BA 1858 (flight number not confirmed as yet) with an official departure time of 6.35pm (departure time may have been slightly later, this has yet to be confirmed) departed Birmingham International Airport on route to Aberdeen, Scotland. At 7pm numerous witnesses including police and security at Birmingham airport heard on their vehicle radios one of the pilots of the ATP aircraft make a report to Birmingham's air traffic control (ATC). The pilot said that they had just seen what was described as a shooting star pass underneath the aircraft. ATC requested the aircraft's heading and altitude and asked them to phone once they had reached their destination. Enquiries were made at Birmingham ATC who confirmed that they had infact received the radio message as described above. We were informed that the sighting had taken place in Manchester Airports air space. This confused us somewhat as to why the pilot had contacted Birmingham while in Manchester's airspace. One possible reason could be that Manchester's air space starts only 12 miles from Birmingham. It is possible that the aircraft's radio frequency was still tuned to Birmingham when the sighting occurred. It is known that the pilots have made an official UFO report to Manchester's ATC. Enquiries are underway with a uk.ufo.nw investigator who works for British Airways to contact the pilots. More news on that as soon as we have it. Enquiries were then made with a contact at Manchester Airport who through his own investigations was able to confirm that the sighting was reported officially to Manchester ATC. Things now get a little strange. Sighting No. 2 One week exactly prior to this sighting on Thursday 6th November 1997 a British Airways ATP pilot on route from Aberdeen to Manchester at 6.45pm reported to Manchester ATC a basketball sized object passing down the right side of the aircraft from front to back. The aircraft's altitude was 17,000 feet, travelling east to west and 20 miles from Stoke. This was not apparently recorded as an official sighting. Further enquiries are underway on this sighting and we'll report when we know more. Sighting No. 3 Twelve and a half hours after sighting number one at 7.35am on Friday 14th November 1997 a male worker operating his fork lift truck in the grounds of a large metal works in Perry Barr, Birmingham reported seeing two orange spheres in the sky. We have now spoken to the witness who was able to furnish us with the following details. He saw two bright orange spheres travelling across Perry Barr towards Kingstanding, Birmingham. He estimated their height to be approximately 2,000 feet and 8 to 9 miles from him. The spheres appeared to be travelling together in the same direction and at great speed. Total time of the sightings was approximately one minute. Once again further enquiries are underway and we are hoping to have more details for you next issue. [UK 2]****** Source: Daily Mail newspaper Publish Date: Friday 7th November 1997 If anyone's out there, please wait until we've microwaved the dinner By James Clark For years they have scanned the skies, awaiting a signal from a distant galaxy. So far, scientists searching for extra-terrestrial life from the Jodrell Bank complex in Cheshire have nothing to report. That's not to say someone out there isn't trying to make contact. But even if they were, the centre's multi-million pound technology would fail to detect them - because of interference from microwave ovens in homes nearby. As one exasperated eavesdropper put it yesterday: "The single most important breakthrough in our history could be lost forever thanks to something as simple as a Cornish pasty being cooked for some chap's tea." Jodrell Bank's chief enigineer, Dr Tony Batilana, explained: "It is like that crackling you get when you're listening to the radio and someone turns on a light switch. We're listening to signals so far away that this can obliterate them." Mobile phones, video recorders, TVs and other household electronics also cause problems. "Astronomy has been a fascination for mankind from the dawn of time," Dr Batilana added. "So it would be extremely sad to write off all posibility of pursuing our inquiry for the sake of a microwave." Officials from the centre's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence section have asked the local council to limit the number of household electronics in nearby Holmes Chapel. Congleton Council planning officer Richard House explained: "A special consultation zone has been set up to keep disruption to a minimum. But although we can limit the number of houses built, people can own whatever they like." First to feel the force of the regulations is the hotel firm Hayley, which is carrying out an 'electronics audit' at its conference centre near Jodrell Bank. Manager director Norman Bellone explained : "It's bizarre that something so seemingly insignificant can affect something so mind-boggling. But we'll do what we can." [UK 3]****** Source: The Sun newspaper Publish Date: Thursday 6th November 1997 From: Vadir Nine see 'UFOs in Star Wars battle' Sighting date: 16th August 1997 Exclusive By Yvonne Bolouri Nine neighbour's claim to have seen an amazing Star Wars - style UFO battle over their homes. Stunned David Ledger and his girlfriend Karen Williams watched as a huge orange object cruised silently overhead as they took their dogs for a midnight walk. Soon more star shaped craft appeared - and the couple frantically roused neighbours in Kirkcaldy, Fife, to witness the sighting. David, 35, said: "The Orange object covered three - quarters of the sky in about 30 seconds then stopped. "What looked like a shooting star zig-zagged towards it and it shot off in the opposite direction. This happened at least five times. One UFO passed right over our heads." All nine friends watched as the glittering craft attacked and dodged each other in a 45-minute lightshow. Another witness, labourer David Walker, said: "They weren't shooting stars. Shooting stars do not stop, hang about for a minute then fly away again." UFO expert Malcolm Robinson - who has probed the so-called Falkirk Triangle hotspot - said: "I can find no rational explanation." NINE SCOTS TELL OF UFO MYSTERY Exclusive By Yvonne Bolouri and Arlene Russo Just before turning in for the night David Ledger and girlfriend Karen Williams took their dogs out for a walk. Then as they stood gazing up at the stars, David and Karen watched open-mouthed as a massive orange object silently glided over the rooftops into view. Within minutes the young couple were battering on neighbours doors and rallying pals to watch spellbound as a Star Wars-type battle unfolded before their eyes. None of the nine independent adult witnesses doubt their own judgement. They know what they saw with their own eyes but were too alarmed to discuss in detail what they saw. Now, for the first time, they agreed to tell The Scottish Sun what really happened that starry, August 16 night in the skies over Kirkcaldy, Fife. In addition, top Scots ufologist Malcolm Robinson has taken sworn and signed depositions from all nine. Each can remember the incident with crystal clarity. David, 35, said: "Karen and I had just let the dogs out and were standing looking up at the sky. It was a lovely night and the sky was very clear. "Then from a corner of the roof we watched a large orange object glide overhead and out towards the River Forth. Dazzling "It moved really fast and had covered three-quarters of the sky when it suddenly stopped. "A dazzling blue flash lit up the sky and what looked like a shooting star zig- zagged at top speed towards the orange UFO which then zipped off in the opposite direction. "I was so determined everyone should see this I ran off and banged on my neighbour's door. "Karen ran up the street to her mum's house and dragged her mum and brother Stephen out to see it. "It ended up with nine of us standing in the middle of the garden watching this amazing sight with small crafts zipping over the sky for nearly an hour. "If I haven't got so many others to watch it, no-one would have believed us. We weren't seeing things. What happened was very real." Karen, 24, added: "I didn't have time to feel frightened. "I just raced up the road to my mum's while David was yelling on the neighbours. Everyone must have thought we were mad but we didn't care. We just wanted them to look at the sky and see this before it was too late." Karen's sister, Marcelle, 24, said: "I can hardly believe all this has happened right on our doorsteps. I may not have believed before, but now I know UFOs exist." Brother Stephen, 23, added: "Karen told us there was something amazing going on in the sky and we just locked the door and ran down to where everyone had gathered. "We stood and watched with everyone else. There were loads of pod-like lights zipping around the sky, but they weren't going straight - they were weaving from side to side, gliding in front and behind each other. "I had grabbed our video camera but it didn't record it clearly. There was so much going on and it must have lasted for a good couple of hours because it was still going on when we decided to go home." Amazingly Steven and his pal David Walker had experienced their own close encounter, two years earlier, walking on country backroads towards Cowdenbeath. Stephen said: "I was already convinced about UFOs. David and I watched a large silver object, shaped like a teardrop, descend into woods near Kirkcaldy, two years ago. We never really talked about it. Now and again we'd bring it up between ourselves. "We watched this craft for ages, hovering just above the woods about 100 yards from the road. "It was shiny silver, more a sort of silvery grey metallic, but it hung around for ages, and when it turned, its underside was just a dazzling light. "Now I was standing again with David watching another phenomenon." David, 21, said: "It was unbelievable. My wife Nicola and I heard all this shouting so we went to have a look from our verandah. Everyone was out in the garden below so Nicola and I joined them. "At first we couldn't see anything. Then we saw all these white lights and four or five of them were flying in some sort of pattern, weaving and diving from side to side. They were travelling very fast. One went behind another and it disappeared then the same thing happened again. It really was very unusual. None of us had ever seen anything like it before. "They weren't shooting stars because they did not fall and they did not leave a trail behind them. Also, shooting stars do not stop, hang about for a minute then fly away again." Another witness, social care worker Terry March, also rushed outside. He said: "I saw a star-like object which was being attacked by another similar object. Then I saw a large flash, like a laser." And Alfonso Clark, 23, said: "I am now positive there is much more to this than meets the eye. Before all this happened I'd have found it all pretty hard to believe." Jim Fay and his son Mark were watching TV when David came banging on their door. Jim, 49, said: "Both of us rushed outside to see what all the commotion was. "We watched four or five lights, all travelling sideways, Criss-crossing over each other, cutting through each other's path with the most amazing precision. All this activity seemed to be heading towards the River Forth. We watched it for about 35 minutes. We couldn't believe what we were seeing." Mark, 13, said: "I only told a couple of my pals about it because I thought everyone would think I was mad. "Dad and I watched these lights. They were like stars only much too fast, cutting through each other's path, sometimes in front, sometimes behind but they moved sideways, not in front of each other. "I was glad David had shouted on us or else we'd have missed it." Conspiracy theorists believe the strange objects are similar to UFOs caught on a NASA video of the Space Shuttle Discovery Mission STS-48. A leaked video from the live link television broadcast showed a mysterious white object as the satellite left the earth's atmosphere. When a large flash appeared in the bottom corner of the screen, the object stopped, turned 90 degrees and shot off into space. The video shows more than 10 unknown objects moving around. One is saucer shaped with a reflecting surface and resembles a triangular craft. David Ledger has since become obsessed with solving the mystery of the strange sky objects. He spends hours on the Internet contacting UFO groups. He said: "It's like a driving force within me. I am compelled to find out more about those star UFOs. "Those mysterious star UFOs came into my life and I want to know why. They have left a lot of mysteries unanswered and I believe this has happened for a reason. "Since this has happened to us I'm desperate to get to the bottom of it. "Funnily enough, those who have never seen anything like this are the first to sneer and make fun of it. Ignorance is bliss. "But people are speaking up nowadays, so we may be closer to getting answers than we think. " We'll never break new ground on this unless people are prepared to speak up and not be put off by those who make fun of them. I think it's us who will have the last laugh because I'm convinced there's definitely something out there. Sightings "If alien forces are watching us, it's a lot more intelligent than we are. Mention UFOs to some folk and they start talking about wee green men. It's a lot more sophisticated than that!" The sightings have created a huge stir in research units throughout the world, alerted through the Internet. Scotland's leading UFO specialist, Malcolm Robinson said: "I have been investigating this and can find no rational explanation for the sightings at all. "The Ministry of Defence has confirmed there wasn't commercial or military aircraft on that night at that time. HM Coastguard have no record of anything and neither do the police. "My job is to investigate all phenomena and find the rational explanations. "Only when all other areas have been exhausted will I admit to real phenomena and in this case I have no doubts whatsoever. "This is Scotland's first multi-witness UFO sighting which makes this case stand head and shoulders above all others and has been a genuine UFO sighting." Did you see anything? Did you see anything unusual in the sky as Saturday night turned into Sunday morning on August 16th? If so we want to know! The truths out there and we want your help to uncover the mystery. Call Yvonne Bolouri on 0141 420 5290 or 0141 420 5291 today. She'll call you right back so don't worry about the costs. And don't forget to also contact us UK.UFO.NW at: ufo@holodeck.demon.co.uk [UK 4]****** Source: The Sun newspaper Publish Date: Friday 7th November 1997 From: Vadir Aliens get spaced out for Scots By Yvonne Bolourl Extra-terrestrial beings are no strangers to Scotland. In fact they seem to be regular visitors. Over the past year, there have been numerous sightings with locals convinced what they have seen is real. In September last year, two women out walking with their kids claimed they stumbled across 100 little grey beings and their space ship in a deserted field near the Falkland Hills in Fife. They saw the aliens following orders given by a tall, tanned, flat-faced leader with a bulbous head. Then, last November, Banchory Academy girl Lesley Fitzgerald, 14, snapped a mystery object over Balmoral, in Kincardineshire, days before the Queen arrived on holiday. That was just weeks after RAF jets were scrambled to Inverness to investigate an invader penetrating top security airspace over the Royal estate. Construction worker Jim Macleen, 54, caught a UFO on camera four times in five months over his factory in Mount Vernon, then again in Ruthergen, Glasgow. Experts confirmed the pics were authentic. Bruises Two party plan Ann Summers sellers drove from Alves, Invernesshire, to Elgin, Morayshire, when a UFO followed their car. Jane McIntosh, 23, and Diane Pirrie, 19, were so terrified they rushed to the police. Then forestry worker Robert Taylor hit the headlines 18 years ago after claiming he was attacked by aliens, and showed off the bruises. Robert, now 78, stumbled across a saucer-shaped craft in a clearing in Dean's Forest near his home in Livingston. He says: "Two spheres dropped from the craft. They took a bit of skin from my chin, but I don't know anything else because I passed out." A series of UFO sightings gripped Scotland in February 1995. Civil servant David Gribben claimed he saw a UFO heading towards the Isle of Jura as he left the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow and a Navy chopper investigated. Hundreds of callers jammed The Scottish Sun switchboard claiming they had spotted a UFO over the country after the incident. Mum-to-be Jane Adamson thought she'd gone into labour when she spotted a UFO in Falkirk - a few miles from Britain's UFO capital Bonnybridge. And Falkirk granny Margaret Ross, 64, stunned experts after filming a space ship on her camcorder. Quick-thinking Jim McNeish, 55, also grabbed a camcorder when he saw a huge ball of bright light expand to seven times its normal size before shrinking back again over the skies in Grangemouth. Hundreds ring to say We saw Star Wars too By Yvonne Bolourl Star - gazing Sun readers reckon we are not alone. Our switchboards were jammed yesterday after we told how nine neighbours in Kirkcaldy witnessed a Star Wars battle in the skies in August. Restaurant worker Andrew Middleton, 53, of St Andrews, Fife, said: "I saw the same phenomenon on the same night. "I came home from work after midnight and was making myself a cup of tea when I decided to have a cigarette. "I don't smoke in the house so I went into the garden and lit up. It was exactly 12.50am when I saw a huge bright yellow light in the sky. It zig-zagged across the sky like a graph then shot down behind the house next to me. "The nearest house is about 500 yards away and I was cursing it because I couldn't see where it went to. "The flash was a bit like lightning but instead of lighting up the sky in that split second, it lit up a ziggy line like you see on a graph." Mum-of-three Kathy Steel, 44, of Kirkcaldy, said: "I saw it too. "There was a blue object, a big blue light with lots of white lights all darting around it. I shouted to my daughter and husband to come and have a look but they were too busy watching television. "It was amazing. At one point I counted eight separate lights all flying at tremendous speed zig- zagging around the sky. "I'm not a fanciful type and I know what I saw with my own eyes that night." Vicki Lamble, 20, of Kirkcaldy, said: "I was really glad to read your story because I saw it to on the same night as the others. "I was looking out the window and at first glance I thought it was a helicopter in the sky. Dazzling "Suddenly the light became so bright, realy dazzling, like a star then it started to change shape and colours. "It went from round to oval. It's really difficult to describe. I called my friend Lesley and we watched it until the next morning. It was fascinating. We sat up and watched all these lights zipping about the sky. "The speed was incredible - and all those different colours and shapes. "It was great to read that other folk had seen similar things." Nightclub bouncer Kevin Neary, 29, of Stonyburn, West Lothian, said he saw a similar scene over Bathgate three months ago. He said: "I was on my way home from work, with two guys who had been to the club when I saw two orange lights over the hills in Bathgate. "They looked like orange street lamps but they were high in the sky, then I noticed another two behind them. "I pointed them out to my mates but they were pretty drunk so they were taking the mickey. "I was stone-cold sober, because I had just finished work, so I didn't say any more but I kept on watching. "Two other lights suddenly fell from the darkness alongside the others, so there were six of them and they were all buzzing about the sky like wasps. "I could see another four further back in the sky, there was about a dozen in all but it really really freaked me out. "Next day one of the guys who had been with me confessed he'd seen it as well but said he'd deny it because he didn't want folk to think he was mad. "I don't care what folk think. I saw it and I don't mind putting my name to it - It was amazing." Alan Melville, 32, of Kirkcaldy, saw the same thing at Kinghorn Beach three miles from Kirkcaldy a couple of years ago. Promotions boss Alan said: "My girl friend and I have also seen huge orange objects drifting through the sky and believe me, seeing somethink like that realy changes your perspective on life. "You forget the day to day drudgery and all your complaints when you witness something so fantastic. "One night we had gone for a drive when we saw a big orange ball object in the sky. We watched it change shape and colour and we've seen lots of little objects chasing each other around the sky, darting in and out of the clouds. "We've seen this a couple of times and it's very reassuring having someone else with you at the time. "The last time we just looked at each other and said: 'Are you seeing what I'm seeing?' And it's a relief when the other person says 'Yes!' Balls Office worker Fiona Lowrie, 26, from Kirkcaldy said: "I've witnessed UFOs twice this year in this area. "The first was on April 24 at 6.30 in the morning. "My window looks over The Forth and I saw three orange balls floating in the middle of the sky, they were like dancing and the middle one moved quickly in between the two overs. I dragged my fiancee out of bed and watched them for a minute. The other time was on September 11 at 7.55 at night and I got the fright of my life. "I looked out my window to see this huge black triangle just 200ft from my house with three blinking lights. "I just about had a heart attack. It stayed there for about 15 seconds before zooming off. "I now keep a camera at my window because there's definitely something out there." Hairdresser Caroline Anderson, 22, of Glenrothes also reckons Fife's a UFO hotspot. She said: "I've been watching odd lights in the sky over Glenrothes for the past year. "Just before Christmas last year I saw a huge orange ball which caught my eye because it was so bright and just sort of hovered in the one place for ages before it turned bluish then green then it disappeared. "I've been looking out for it ever since." Care worker Jim Maxwell, 35, from Beith, Ayrshire, said: "I didn't see that particular sighting but I saw something a couple of months ago which I thought was really strange. "I was on night duty and I noticed a bright light in the sky around 5 in the morning. "I thought it was a shooting star and I was expecting it to whoosh across the sky. "It was too fast and far too high to be a plane. My work mate saw it too. We never did find out what it was." [UK 5]****** Source: The Sun newspaper Publish Date: Friday 7th November 1997 From: Vadir Men In Black by Arlene Russo A top UFO expert last night claimed he has secret documents that expose a real life Men In Black - style group covering up thousands of mystery Scottish sightings. Author Nicholas Redfern alleges that for over 50 years, secret government officials have ordered RAF pilots and radar operators to keep quiet about alien craft they have tracked. But Nicholas, 33, believes this is all about to change. He said: "Government's are running scared. They cannot hide it any longer. "We are being visited by extraterestrials. This is not about little green men and flying saucers. This is a serious defence issue. "Six or seven other secret Ministry of Defence Department's are involved. They're the real Men In Black and this is where the really good UFO reports end up." Nicholas has gained unprecedented access to thousands of previously classified Defence and RAF files. Strange He claims a conspiracy of silence has suppressed details about the flood of Bonnybridge UFO sightings, adding: "for some inexplicable reason UFOs are attracted to Bonnybridge. Something in that area is attracting them. This is happening nowhere else in Britain. "The number of alien abductions in Scotland has also increased and the Government knows more than it claims. "These flying objects are witnessed by trained military - expert witnesses at the forefront of defending our country." Redferns own obsession with UFOs was sparked as a 14 year old, when his father Frank recounted a strange experience. In 1952, while serving with RAF, Neatishead, Norfolk, radar mechanic Frank tracked a fast moving UFO. The next day it returned and was filmed. However, photos, radar tapes and records mysteriously disappeared and the incident was forgotten. Nicholas said: "as far back as 1953 pilots were warned not to discuss UFO sightings outside official channels, not even with their families." But he reckons that kind of attitude could soon be about to change - with Government's softening us for amazing revelations about alien visitors. The said: "in the last three years Britain has released 2,000 pages of declassified UFO material. "Nicholas Pope, a Government official has spoken out extensively about his role as the MoD's UFO frontman. "The US Government, CIA and FBI have also been pumping out declassified documents. "This is being done deliberately. World Government's are slowly acclimatising us to the fact that UFOs exist. Strange "The problem has been that UFOs enter our airspace and our pilots can not intercept them. "World Government's don't want to admit that they are not in control of our skies. "They may not be about to tell us the whole truth even now, but they can no longer deny that something strange is going on in our skies." Nicholas is convinced authorities will admit within five years that we are being visited by extraterrestrials. He went on: "the powers that be imagine there will be worldwide hysteria when they say UFOs exist. I disagree. We've lived for half a century with the threat of nuclear war hanging over us. "In the same way, when we receive official confirmation that UFOs exist, for the first fortnight it will the front page news. "But we'll all go back to normal life." Despite that, Nicholas warns us to forget the cuddly ET image. He claims the first credible face-to-face encounter occurred near Balmoral in November 1958 - and bears out his theory. Two terrestrial army soldiers heard a gurgling sound from a group of trees, then saw two figures over 7ft tall emerge. The soldiers fled in terror and were chased by a disc-shaped UFO, which swept low then vanished in a trial of spikes. Now he is convinced UFOs deliberately target military installations. He adds: "they are studying our defence capabilities. Maybe they are trying to see if we can withstand an attack. Aliens are out for their own ends. They abduct us and interfere with our thought patterns." But maybe visitors from other planets have very good reasons for being wary of us. Nicholas added: "let's face it, were not very friendly. If we spot a UFO, we try and blast it out of our skies. "Humans are too aggressive and unpredictable for aliens. "But aliens are reprogramming our patterns of thought. Squirrels "It's no coincidence many abductees go through a life change. "They become vegiterians, are more concerned about the enviroment and develop artistic qualities. "So maybe in another 50 years, once our thought patterns are more peaceful, aliens will make open contact. "On the other hand, they are an advanced species. We're like ants to them, so what can they learn from us? "Just as we have no interest in speaking to squirrels, maybe they have no desire to speak to an intellectually inferior species." [UK 6]****** Source: Ealing Gazette Publish Date: 24th October 1997 From: mickjones@cix.compulink.co.uk (Mick Jones Alien Spotter: Did you see a Southall UFO. A UFO group is trying to find if the truth is out there after one of its members saw an unidentified flying object hovering over Southall - for the second time in six months. Elaine Waite, 42, spotted the metallic globe earlier this month in the south-east sky as she was walking to work along Dormers Wells Lane, Southall. She says it appeared to be hovering over Norwood Green. But UFO experts at the Ministry of Defence (MOD) say its unlikely to have been an X-File type of craft. They believe it is most likely to have been the sun reflecting off an aircraft as it approached Heathrow Airport. Elaine, a school classroom assistant, saw the phenomenon on October 2 at 8.2Oam. She said: I was just walking along the road and I saw it. It was a bright day and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It was like a silver or metallic globe and over the far side of Southall. It just hung in the sky appearing not to move. I got a good look at it. It must have stayed there for around eight seconds before it disappeared. I know people will say it was an aircraft. because Heathrow is nearby, but it just vanished and didnt fade away as a plane would. Elaine saw a similar object in May appearing to hover over Brent River Park. She said the UFO was similar to that filmed by Christopher Martin as it hovered over Bromley-By-Bow, east London, in September. But Alien Encounters, a magazine devoted to UFOs, got experts to examine the film and most concluded the objects were probably balloons. Elaine is a member of the UFO Postal Network which investigates sightings and the effect they have on people. She wants to launch an investigation into her own sightings and has appealed for anyone else who saw the object to contact her. She said: If anyone else saw this aerial phenomenon I would really like to hear from them. I do hope someone can shed some light on this. I am not a mad teenager thats gone off my trolley, I am just a concerned person who wants some answers. But a UFO expert at the MOD shattered the flying saucer theory. He said: We havent found a UFO yet. Most of the sightings weve investigated have proved to be aircraft flying in the area. This one could have been the sun reflecting off an aircraft. If there had been a UFO flying near. Heathrow I think the airport would have spotted it. The airport has very good radar equipment. Anyone who has seen a UFO can write to Elaine at 23 Manaton Crescent, Southall UB1 2SY. And don't forget us at: ufo@holodeck.demon.co.uk [UK 7]****** Source: West Sussex County Times Publish Date: 3rd November 1997 From: "Phil Light" Thirty Years ago in Horsham THE UFOs reported flying over Horsham in last week's County Times are on the move again. This time the shining objects have been spotted at Storrington and Shermanbury. William Greenwell, of Shermanbury, and his family saw an object in the sky to the south east of their Shermanbury Place home on Monday night. The object gave a kaleidoscope effect, "with colours of a brilliance I have never seen before - reds, greens, blues and a central whiteness that was almost too bright to watch," he said. "It sounds ridiculous I know. I'm not a crank or anything and I'm quite prepared to accept that there's a rational explanation, but this is what I saw." That same night, Paul Quick, of Hampers Lane, Storrington, spied a glowing ball "one and a half times the size of a bus" land on the Downs. "It was the shape of a rugby ball on its side and was quite bright, but not dazzling." Mr Quick's family saw the object land on the Downs before it slithered down the side of the hill and disappeared. But Hove Police, who were alerted by the Quicks, said the object was the planet Venus. World News ========== [W 1]****** Source: Voice of Russia (Radio) Date: 5th November 1997 A Russian scholar says our solar system has 2 Earth's A Russian scholar says our solar system has 2 Earth's. He says a planet whose mass and dimensions that equal those of our home planet is located behind the Sun, on the other side of the solar system. It never shows up because it takes it and the earth exactly the same time to orbit the Sun. Nonetheless, it can be seen if a space satellite with a telescope aboard is launched towards Mars or Venus. [W 2]****** Source: The Electronic Telegraph Publish Date: Tuesday 11th November 1997 Bandai rings the changes By Michael Fitzpatrick The people who brought us Tamagotchi are about to launch a similar key-ring alien that will metamorphoses every time it's near a mobile phone user. Designed like the Tamagotchi to bring out our motherly instincts with demands for air and food, the Wave UFO will also transform its LCD features when a mobile phone goes off within one metre of it. The new cyber alien-pet will be the next big thing, says Bandai. It expects it to outsell the once massively popular Tamagotchi. With the virtual pet boom in Japan now in decline, Bandai decided its next move would be to cash in on the Japanese obsession with mobile phones. They are so cheap and plentiful in Japan that at one point they were coming free with every hamburger. Japan watcher Izumi Okamoto says: "Riding alongside the required Tamagotchi in every schoolgirl's bag is a mobile and a Pocket Bell pager. It didn't take long for Japan's largest toy company put two and two together." In another bid to fill the vacuum left by the drop in Tamagotchi sales, Bandai has a scored hit in Japan with Angel Scope fortune telling machines. Children punch in personal details on the key-ring-size toy and up come predictions from Japan's best-known fortune- teller. [W 3]****** Source: Sky News Date: Sunday 16th November 1997 Safety board in spotlight of TWA probe after FBI bows out With the FBI's withdrawal from the investigation into the explosion of TWA Flight 800, the hunt for terrorists and saboteurs has given way to a study of frayed wires and a vapor-filled fuel tank. The National Transportation Safety Board begins public hearings Dec. 8, but spokesman Peter Goelz said no one should expect an answer to the most important question "what caused the explosion " any time soon. The loved ones of 230 people killed when the Boeing 747 was ripped apart on July 17, 1996, are wondering if they will ever know. "Maybe this will be like the Kennedy assassination, where there are some people out there that think there was a second gunman. But you have to rely on the people who have conducted this investigation and have faith in the job the FBI has done,'' said Richard Bergman of Los Angeles. His best friend, Eugene Silverman and Silverman's wife and two daughters died in the explosion. James Kallstrom, an FBI assistant director who headed the criminal investigation, sent a letter this week to the families of victims of the disaster to announce the agency was suspending its probe. He said the investigation "has found absolutely no evidence to cause us to believe that the TWA Flight 800 tragedy was the result of a criminal act.'' So barring some new evidence, one of the biggest criminal investigations in the nation's history has concluded with the finding that no crime was committed. "It is very disappointing that another government agency is reporting they do not know what caused this. We are looking forward to the day that some agency does know what caused it,'' TWA spokesman Mark Abels said. On Thursday, NTSB Chairman James Hall told a congressional committee that he hoped a probable cause could be identified by the end of next year. Goelz said the agency will continue to draw upon the FBI's expertise. Bernard Loeb, the NTSB's director of aviation safety, said investigators continue to dig into several theories on how enough electrical energy might have entered the center fuel tank to touch off a blast. Loeb said the agency is concentrating on the fuel measuring rods, the fuel pumps, static electricity and chafed wiring. "None are more important or more likely than the other,'' Loeb said. [W 4]****** Source: BBC News Date: 14th November 1997 How Mars Hotted Up for Life French scientists have proposed a new theory to support the idea that life once evolved on the planet Mars. They say that thick clouds of carbon dioxide ice acted as a blanket over the planet, keeping the surface warm enough for liquid water to flow there. Their theory is published in the journal 'Science'. This report from Andrew Luck-Baker of our Science staff. People sometimes call Mars the 'Red planet' - but nearly four billion years ago, it was the 'White planet'. The Martian surface was hidden beneath thick white clouds. Below there were erupting volcanoes, oceans, lakes and rivers. This is the portrait of ancient Mars painted by scientists at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris. It's a world away from the dead, rust-coloured desert shown in the pictures recently beamed back to us by the now defunct Pathfinder mission. That space probe, together with previous studies of the Martian landscape and rocks, provided a convincing body of evidence that water once flowed on the planet - according to Dr Francois Forget. "Everyone agrees that more than 3.8 billion years ago, the climate on Mars was much warmer than it is today. And this is suprising because at that time, the Sun was about 25 percent less bright than it is today, so it's not obvious how you explain why Mars was warmer back then." Today Mars is far too cold for water to exist as a liquid. That's partly because the planet has an extremely thin atmosphere. But 3.8 billion years ago, Martian volcanoes had created a dense atmosphere containing a lot of carbon dioxide. According to the French scientists' calculations, the subzero temperatures in the Martian skies would have caused some of the carbon dioxide to form small snowflakes, creating a planet- wide blanket of cloud. Clouds like these would have had a very strong greenhouse effect, trapping the incoming warmth of the Sun between them and the Martian surface. Francois Forget says conditions would have warm enough for water to flow. "In our (computer) model we can easily reach temperatures higher than the freezing point of water. Hopefully the observations of the spacecraft Mars Global Surveyor (now orbiting the planet) will help us estimate what the climate conditions were in more detail. I think the global average temperature was slightly below zero degrees Celsius, but of course it would be higher or lower depending on the latitude, seasons and time of day. That means that, because there was liquid water there over a long period of time, it's likely conditions were suitable for life". These findings will fire the enthusiasm of other scientists hoping to detect signs of life today in planetary systems around other stars. If the French team is right, the conditions suitable for the origin and evolution of life will extend much further from a star than previously thought. There could be many more planets in the Universe than astronomers had expected, comfortable enough to be homes for extraterrestrial organisms. [W 5]****** Source: Pentagon statement Date: 1st October 1997 From: Adrian Haynes USAF future testing of an Airborne Laser KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFNS) -- Pentagon officials announced Oct. 1 approval of the Air Force's environmental planning connected with future testing of an Airborne Laser. That approval, in the form of a "Record of Decision," is the last step in the Air Force's Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Airborne Laser. It clears the way for the Air Force to house and test its YAL-1A Attack Laser, a laser-carrying Boeing 747 aircraft, during the Program Definition and Risk Reduction Phase. Under that phase, the prototype aircraft, currently under development, will be based at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. There, the aircraft will complete its integration of the weapon system and undergo ground and flight testing. Also in this risk reduction phase, the aircraft will use the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico for short-range diagnostic testing of the laser under low- and high-powers. This phase will end with the YAL-1A Attack Laser conducting expanded-area testing on the Western Test Range. This is an area off the California coast in the Pacific Ocean, operated by Vandenberg AFB and Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center. There, the aircraft will complete long-range testing of the weapons-class laser, under low- and high-power conditions. Included will be a test that will show how well the YAL-1A Attack Laser can destroy a theater ballistic missile shortly after being launched. The YAL-1A Attack Laser has been characterized as a revolutionary step forward in defensive systems. The aircraft will carry a chemical oxygen iodine laser capable of destroying Scud-like missiles shortly after being launched from hundreds of miles away. In battle, the aircraft would be over friendly territory, flying at an altitude of around 40,000 feet, looking toward enemy airspace. It would detect an enemy theater ballistic missile shortly after launched as it clears any clouds. The YAL-1A would then lock on to the target and use its chemical laser to destroy it. The weapon system includes a modified Boeing 747 freighter aircraft, a weapon's class laser, laser-fuel storage tanks, and a low-power laser that can acquire and track a target and then direct the primary laser on to that target. Also included is a laser-beam control system and a beam director (a telescope enclosed in a turret at the front of the aircraft) that will focus the laser's energy on a target. Associated with all this are computerized controls, communications, intelligence and related systems needed to manage and control the YAL-1A Attack Laser. Predicated on successfully completing this phase, a second airborne laser will be built and undergo a series of operational performance testing. Beyond that will come the production phase in which five additional aircraft are projected. During this environmental process, the Air Force examined six locations and conducted hearings with the general public. In a process that took more than two years, officials determined that there would be a minor socioeconomic benefit and no significant adverse environmental impacts. The Air Force will continue to consult with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service and further evaluate migratory patterns of various marine mammal and animal species. The Airborne Laser Program Office, a unit of the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB Calif., is managing the program here. [W 6] Source: SETI web site URL: http://www.bigscience.com/setiathome.html#experience SETI@home SETI@home is a grand experiment to harness the spare power of hundreds of thousands of Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI.) When the experiment launches in Spring 1998, computer users from all over the world will be able to participate in a major scientific experiment. Each participant has the slight but captivating possibility that his or her computer will detect the faint murmur of a civilization beyond Earth. What is SETI@home The SETI@home program is a special kind of screensaver. Like other screensavers it starts up when you leave your computer unattended and shuts down as soon as you return to work. What it does in the interim is what makes it unique. While you are getting coffee, or having lunch or sleeping, your computer will be helping the Search for Extra- Terrestrial Intelligence by analysing data specially captured by the world's largest radio telescope. While the SETI@home program is running you will be able to choose from three main "visualizations" of the experiment. Science Mode in which the analysis taking place on the local machine is shown in real time, the significance of each result is explained, and the process is illustrated to a level understandable by high school science students. Sky Progress Mode which shows how the entire experiment is covering the sky, and summarizes at a glance all the potentially interesting results found so far. The background for this visualization will usually be an accurate image of the bright stars in that region of the sky, but participants may choose more abstract representations as well. Earth Progress Mode focuses on the people participating in the experiment. A spinning globe of the earth will be shown with a highlight for every individual or organization who is currently participating. The total number of computers involved will be displayed in real time, and participants who have been involved the longest, or have analysed the most data will be featured. SETI@home will be accompanied by a Web site showing the current status of the search, providing various educational material and links on SETI, astrobiology, and astronomy, and hosting the download of the client software. SETI background Current SETI research consists primarily of radio astronomers searching for narrow-bandwidth radio signals (radio waves are able to penetrate interstellar dust clouds, and narrow-bandwidth signals are not found in nature). There are a handful of such projects. Some are focusing on particular nearby stars, others are scanning star-dense parts of the sky. The SETI Institute 's Project Phoenix is the best known of these projects. All the SETI projects use special-purpose signal analysis hardware, typically Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) machines with millions of frequency channels. This analysis, though impressive, barely skims the surface of what is possible. Real-time searches can only check a small number of bandwidths, frequency drift rates and pulse periodicities. The Science behind SETI@home SETI@home is real science. The data is from the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico, the largest and most sensitive radio telescope in the world. By the time 50,000 PCs are involved, the scope of the search will rival all current SETI projects. SETI@home may indeed detect a signal that would otherwise be missed. The project has three major components: Data collection. SETI@home is working with SERENDIP, a SETI project based at UC Berkeley. SERENDIP has ongoing time at the Arecibo radio telescope. SERENDIP has designed a PC-based system that will extract a limited frequency band of their signal, sample it, and write it in real time to a digital tape. These tapes will be mailed to a file server in the U.S. Data analysis. SERENDIP has developed a program for SETI@home that searches for strong signals at 4,000,000 different combinations of frequency, bandwidth, and chirp (the drift in frequency with time) illustrated here. The diversity and sensitivity of this analysis exceeds anything that can be done in real time. Distributed computation. Big Science has developed software that divides the radio telescope data into chunks, distributes these chunks to clients, and collects the results. It also manages the distribution of architecture-specific versions of the analysis code, and takes care of various security concerns. A data-flow diagram illustrates the entire process. Project Status SETI@home was conceived in 1995. The project is a collaborative effort of several astronomers and computer scientists. It is funded by donations and corporate sponsorships. Prototype versions of the software where developed during 1996, including the distributed computation mechanism, the signal analysis program, and the screensaver graphics. The project has been endorsed by the scientific community, including the Planetary Society, the SETI Institute and its president Frank Drake. A paper on SETI@home appeared at the 5th International Conference in Bioastronomy in July 1996. We plan to begin technical testing of data analysis and distributed computation at the end of 1997, and to launch the experiment in the 2nd quarter of 1998. The current focus of efforts is fundraising. To launch the project successfully we need approximately $200,000 and solid promotional relationships. Personnel The founding members of the SETI@home team are: Dan Werthimer, Chief Scientist. Dan is Principal Investigator of the Project SERENDIP at UC Berkeley. He has been actively involved in SETI observations for 17 years, and is the designer of the SERENDIP data collection hardware. David Gedye, Project Director. David is Vice President of Engineering for Virtual University International. He has ten years experience designing and building multi-user environments, most recently as Director of Online Games for Starwave Corporation. David P. Anderson, Technical Director. David is Chief Technical Officer at Tunes Network Inc. He has published about 60 papers in distributed systems and other areas of Computer Science. Woodruff T. Sullivan III, Project Scientist. Woody is a Professor of Astromony at the University of Washington, and has been an active member of the academic SETI community for more than 20 years. The following members of The SETI Institute form the SETI@home advisory panel: Jill Tarter Tom Pierson Kent Cullers John Dreher Acknowledgements Jeff Cobb from the SERENDIP team did a great job writing and testing initial versions of the client analysis code. Many thanks to Craig Kassnoff, who participated in the project's formative discussions and made key introductions. Thanks also to Starwave, who sponsored the scientific feasibility study. Ralph Derrickson has supported the project from its inception, and given much needed business advice. Recent News & How you can help September '97. More than 35,000 people have joined the SETI@home mailing list, many after seeing Dan Werthimer discuss the project on the Discovery Channel. More than 1500 people have offered programming and design help in response to a request on this web site. If you were one of them, and have not received a reply, we apologize sincerely. We've been overwhelmed by the response and are not yet ready to use volunteers effectively. Also this month -- the first magnetic tape of test data from Arecibo was returned to Berkeley. This will be used to test the analysis algorithms, and get an initial sense of the terrestrial interference characteristics. August '97. Dan Werthimer was interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered. Other stories this month included one by PC World. The SETI@home mailing list grew to 10,000 people. Senior members of the SETI Institute accepted invitations to sit on our advisory board. June '97. The SETI@home web site was established, and David Gedye was interviewed by the New York Times. We recently used this part of the web site to call for volunteers with skills in programming, graphic design, and science education. The response was overwhelming, and we already have more volunteers (at least 1500 of them) than we can respond to on an individual basis. If you have volunteered but have not heard back, please bear with us. As of September 1997, the crucial issue for the SETI@home project is funding. If you represent an organization that would consider becoming a sponsor of the SETI@home project, or you are a successful fundraiser and would like to help the project, please send email to the Project Director David Gedye. If you would like to help us test the first version of SETI@home (currently scheduled for late 1997), or you would simply like to be on our mailing list, please enter your full email address and Letters ======= From: Jorgen Westman Real estate on the Moon Hi! Jorgen from WUFOC here. Can you remember where a person was able to buy a piece of real-estate on the Moon? This was up some months ago... Kind regards, Jorgen Westman. -- uk.ufo.nw says: The below letter refers to an advertisement taken from numerous national UK newspapers which we thought would interest readers. It appeared in the last e-zine {84}. From: Name withheld the Name a Star article I had your UFO Network Newsletter forwarded to me and read with interest the Name a Star article. Not, you will understand, because I have an interest in having a star named after me, but because I work very close to the response address. For your information 3 Humber Road London NW2 is a residential address and is certainly not part of the Millenium Business Centre. This does not, of course, mean that the offer is not legitimate, however I will not personally be subscribing! --- From: Brian Straight Wall Street Journal article. Today's Wall Street Journal (Friday 7th November 97) has a front page article called "Maoists for Martians: Here, UFOs Make for Serious Science." Quite an intersting article--unfortunately, I don't have time to type it all. If you know someone who subscribes to the electronic edition, you might be able to get the text. uk.ufo.nw says: If anyone has the article we would certainly like a copy for the e-zine. --------------------------------------------------------------------- UNITED KINGDOM UFO NETWORK STATEMENT uk.ufo.nw statement: The articles or text appearing within these pages are not necessarily the views or opinions of United Kingdom UFO Network. REPORTS Please forward all reports to: ufo@holodeck.demon.co.uk WWW Visit us on the World Wide Web at http://www.holodeck.demon.co.uk/ BACK ISSUES & FILES For information on receiving back issues and other files send mail with REQUEST INFO in the subject area to: ufo@holodeck.demon.co.uk IRC - (INTERNET RELAY CHAT) The meetings take place at 11pm (2300hrs) each and every Saturday night. Times will vary depending on your location in the world. If you would like to know the time in your part of the world send a mail to: ufo@holodeck.demon.co.uk In the subject section put: IRC TIME INFO In the message of your mail please put: a) Your Country b) Your location c) Nearest major City Connecting to our weekly UFO meetings on the IRC (internet relay chat) is now easier than ever. If you are using at least one of the following web browers: Netscape 3 ++ MS Internet Explorer 4 ++ Simply visit one of the below url's (world wide web) addresses. When the 'ultrachat' page has loaded you will see a large grey filled box somewhere on the screen. It may then take a few more seconds for the java script to load and run. The grey area will then turn white and you will be asked to enter a nickname. Your own name or a nickname will suffice here. Once you press return you will be presented with various bits of information scrolling up the screen. After a few seconds you will be connected to the uk.ufo.nw #UFO channel. Down the right hand side of the screen you will see a list of the people currently on channel. At the bottom of the screen is where you type your messages. The large upper left section of the screen is were you read and follow the proceedings of the meetings. Don't be shy. We are all a friendly bunch. Give it a go. You'll soon get the hang of it. We'll be happy to offer any assistance that you may need. http://www.holodeck.demon.co.uk/ultrachat.html http://www.maygale.org/07/eyesonly http://www.geocities/Area51/Cavern/2646 http://www.tedric.demon.co.uk/ultrachat.htm http://www.ultranet.org/webchat/ufo.html http://web.ukonline.co.uk/colin.light/ultrachat.htm http://web.ukonline.co.uk/phil.light http://www.ufo.grid9.net/ufo.html http://www.us.ultranet.org/webchat/ufo.html http://www.no.ultranet.org/webchat/ufo.html http://crowman.demon.co.uk/ultrachat.html If you are using one of the dedicated IRC programs such as the excellent MIRC available free from: http://www.mirc.co.uk/index.html enter one of the below irc server addresses into your program. The nearer the server to your location the faster the connection. If one fails then try another. London.UK.EU.UltraNET.Org Belgrade.YU.EU.UltraNet.org Kalemegdan.YU.EU.UltraNet.org Singidunum.YU.EU.UltraNet.org Bor.YU.EU.UltraNet.org Zemun.YU.EU.UltraNet.org Gloucester.UK.EU.UltraNET.Org Uppsala.SE.EU.UltraNET.Org Johnson-City.TN.US.UltraNet.Org Haifa.IL.AS.UltraNET.Org Mons.BE.EU.ultraNET.Org Neuilly.FR.EU.UltraNET.Org Hofors.SE.EU.UltraNET.Org Bergen.NO.EU.UltraNET.Org Once you are connected to a server join channel: #UFO The uk.ufo.nw #UFO channel is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Visit the channel at any time. There is usually someone there to talk to. For those of you needing help connecting to our IRC meetings send your questions to: ufo-irc-advice@crowman.demon.co.uk If you want to be a little more adventurous and perhaps use one of the dedicated IRC programs such as the excellent MIRC visit the below urls for advice: http://www.crowman.demon.co.uk/ultranet.htm http://web.ukonline.co.uk/phil.light/irchelp.htm SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION The UK.UFO.NW free fortnightly e-zine covering UFO reports and information from the UK and around the world is now available by subscribing to our new List Server. Send mail to: listserv@sjuvm.stjohns.edu In the main body of the mail put: subscribe ufo fn ln note: in place of fn put your first name. in place of ln put your last name. For example: subscribe ufo John Smith A confirm mail will then be sent to you which you need to reply to within 48 hours to be put on the e-zine mailing list. 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