Hi all,
I haven't posted on this blog for some time, as my main interest, namely looking at Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) has occupied my time (take a look at my blog at http://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com.) However, after reviewing the material on this Anomalies blog I hope to post here more frequently.
I found the following item in "New Scientist" Volume 215, number 2877, 2012, page 14.
"A woman with two missing fingers has grown them back - albeit as part of a phantom limb.
The woman was born missing two fingers on her right hand.
Aged 18, she has the hand amputated after a car accident. She later began to feel that her missing limb was still present, and that the phantom hand had short versions of the missing fingers.
Paul McGeoch and colleagues at the University of California, San Diago, slowly trained her to feel that all five phantom digits were full (Neurocuse, DOI: 10.1080/13554794.2011.556128)
"The deformed hand was suppressing the brain's innate representation of her finger," he says. The innate representation kicked back in again after the accident.
Comments:
To read more on recent research on phantom limbs please take a look here.
I find this a fascinating area, which continues to expand the idea that the human brain is plastic, that is it can reform and change. For more on brain plasticity click here.
The possible connections to out-of-body-experiences and even abductions, have been explored elsewhere, in previous posts on the ufo blog. Please take a look at:
Quirkology
A sense of presence
Alien hand syndrome
Am I really here?
Sense of self returns
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Friday, October 28, 2011
"Destroyed" Frederick Valentich file turns up
Hi all
Appendix six to the final report on the Disclosure Australia Project's five year search for Australian government UFO files concerned the disappearance of Frederick Valentich (click here) on 21 October 1978. While looking through Australian government files for UFO related material, the Project also kept an eye out for any papers concerning Frederick Valentich.
On 10 August 2004, I submitted an FOI request to the federal Department of Transport requesting a copy of their accident/incident investigation report on Valentich - their file reference V116/783/1047. Their reply on 1 September 2004 in part read "I understand that file V116/783/1047 has been destroyed by the National Archives of Australia." An electronic search of the NAA's records failed to find any trace of this file. It did indeed appear that it was no longer with us.
Fast forward to earlier tonight, when I was browsing the NAA website and to my amazement there was file - safely in the Archives!
File series B1497 control symbol V116/783/1047 DSJ - Cape Otway to King Island. 21 October 1978 - Aircraft missing (Valentich). Date range 1978-1992. Barcode 10491375. Location - Melbourne.
There was one hitch thought, the status of the file is shown as "closed." This in theory means that although the file is in the NAA you can't access it. Then I noticed that the reason for it being closed was that in 2008 when the status was shown as closed, the 30 year rule did not apply. Via the Archive Act you can only access files with papers on them providing they are more than 30 years old.
Now it is 2011, so one should be able to access papers on the file provided they are dated 1978, 1979 or 1980. The Archives still won't let you access papers less than 30 years old.
Needless to say, I have just lodged an application for access to the files, which should get me the 1978-1980 papers. This process can take up to three months, so I will keep you posted. However, finally we might get to see what the Department of Transport's investigation found.
Appendix six to the final report on the Disclosure Australia Project's five year search for Australian government UFO files concerned the disappearance of Frederick Valentich (click here) on 21 October 1978. While looking through Australian government files for UFO related material, the Project also kept an eye out for any papers concerning Frederick Valentich.
On 10 August 2004, I submitted an FOI request to the federal Department of Transport requesting a copy of their accident/incident investigation report on Valentich - their file reference V116/783/1047. Their reply on 1 September 2004 in part read "I understand that file V116/783/1047 has been destroyed by the National Archives of Australia." An electronic search of the NAA's records failed to find any trace of this file. It did indeed appear that it was no longer with us.
Fast forward to earlier tonight, when I was browsing the NAA website and to my amazement there was file - safely in the Archives!
File series B1497 control symbol V116/783/1047 DSJ - Cape Otway to King Island. 21 October 1978 - Aircraft missing (Valentich). Date range 1978-1992. Barcode 10491375. Location - Melbourne.
There was one hitch thought, the status of the file is shown as "closed." This in theory means that although the file is in the NAA you can't access it. Then I noticed that the reason for it being closed was that in 2008 when the status was shown as closed, the 30 year rule did not apply. Via the Archive Act you can only access files with papers on them providing they are more than 30 years old.
Now it is 2011, so one should be able to access papers on the file provided they are dated 1978, 1979 or 1980. The Archives still won't let you access papers less than 30 years old.
Needless to say, I have just lodged an application for access to the files, which should get me the 1978-1980 papers. This process can take up to three months, so I will keep you posted. However, finally we might get to see what the Department of Transport's investigation found.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Yowies on the move
Hi
I thought sightings of Australian Yowies were a a thing of the past. But number 278 of the English Fortean Times magazine (September 2011 page 19) carried an article which read:
"Just before 2.30am on 17 May 2011, while driving south along the Pacific Highway north of Grafton in New South Wales, Australia, a professional driver identified in media reports only as Dean took the Centenary Drive bypass, and moments later he clearly saw in the middle of the road, just up ahead what seemed at first to be a large person stooped over, wearing a big overcoat.
"But as his headlights illuminated it, this hitherto bipedal entity dropped down onto all fours and swiftly bounded into the scrub fringing the road. Slowing down, Dean peered into the bushes, and saw the entity silhouetted against the sky. "It had an almost sort of a square, shaggy block head sitting straight on its shoulders - I'm a pretty big guy but it made me absolutely awestruck how huge its body was." He said "It had its arm up against a tree and it had about a foot of hair hanging from under its biceps."
He estimated it was at least 6 feet (1.8m) tall and seemed to be covered in jet-black hair. At the time of his sighting, he had never heard of the Yowie - Australia's very own supposed man-beast."
I thought sightings of Australian Yowies were a a thing of the past. But number 278 of the English Fortean Times magazine (September 2011 page 19) carried an article which read:
"Just before 2.30am on 17 May 2011, while driving south along the Pacific Highway north of Grafton in New South Wales, Australia, a professional driver identified in media reports only as Dean took the Centenary Drive bypass, and moments later he clearly saw in the middle of the road, just up ahead what seemed at first to be a large person stooped over, wearing a big overcoat.
"But as his headlights illuminated it, this hitherto bipedal entity dropped down onto all fours and swiftly bounded into the scrub fringing the road. Slowing down, Dean peered into the bushes, and saw the entity silhouetted against the sky. "It had an almost sort of a square, shaggy block head sitting straight on its shoulders - I'm a pretty big guy but it made me absolutely awestruck how huge its body was." He said "It had its arm up against a tree and it had about a foot of hair hanging from under its biceps."
He estimated it was at least 6 feet (1.8m) tall and seemed to be covered in jet-black hair. At the time of his sighting, he had never heard of the Yowie - Australia's very own supposed man-beast."
Where do you report strange entity sightings to?
Suppose you were out one day in a remote locality and saw what you took to be a strange entity. Where would you report it to? You might talk to the local ghost society; a big cat organisation; a UFO group or a paranormal research society.
I recently read an article in issue 278 September 2011 of the English Fortean Times magazine pages 56-57, written by Merrily Harpur, about sightings of strange creatures in modern Britain.
"People who see them often report them to the national ABC research group Big Cats in Britain, for want of anyone else to tell."
Reports cited in the article include a Gotham farmer's description of an animal "Very large, the size of a small bull - six feet (1.8m) long; very muscular build, with a huge head and its tongue hanging out..." It had a long tail and it ran at speed as they chased it in the Land Rover, "clearing a six foot (1.8m) fence with ease."
Another report came in September 2002 from an Army commander on Salisbury Plains. A commander in a tank on exercises reported "...a large ape-like creature. It looked scared...Its fur was similar to an orang-utan in colour, and the length and flow of it. Its face looked black, or darkish, but I couldn't see its facial features...it was very fast and seemed to run with large strides...Its height...must have been 6 feet plus."
Even weirder was a report from a Canadian woman living in Lancashire, who on 19 March 2001, reported that while sitting in a car about midnight, by a lake she and her husband heard what sounded like the tide hitting a sea wall. Then they saw "...a strange animal crawling around...the shape and outline of the animal was quite different to a fox...It hopped once then stopped...we turned on our headlights...It was about the size of a medium-sized dog, except for its legs, which seemed to be much too long for its body. Its limbs were twisted and gnarled...It was brownish in colour, with no fur at all, and I do not recall a tail or ears...it was best described as 'Gollum' ( a character from the Lord of the Rings movies)...It looked up at us...It had a face, almost human-like but deformed in a way...It crawled away eventually..."
I recently read an article in issue 278 September 2011 of the English Fortean Times magazine pages 56-57, written by Merrily Harpur, about sightings of strange creatures in modern Britain.
"People who see them often report them to the national ABC research group Big Cats in Britain, for want of anyone else to tell."
Reports cited in the article include a Gotham farmer's description of an animal "Very large, the size of a small bull - six feet (1.8m) long; very muscular build, with a huge head and its tongue hanging out..." It had a long tail and it ran at speed as they chased it in the Land Rover, "clearing a six foot (1.8m) fence with ease."
Another report came in September 2002 from an Army commander on Salisbury Plains. A commander in a tank on exercises reported "...a large ape-like creature. It looked scared...Its fur was similar to an orang-utan in colour, and the length and flow of it. Its face looked black, or darkish, but I couldn't see its facial features...it was very fast and seemed to run with large strides...Its height...must have been 6 feet plus."
Even weirder was a report from a Canadian woman living in Lancashire, who on 19 March 2001, reported that while sitting in a car about midnight, by a lake she and her husband heard what sounded like the tide hitting a sea wall. Then they saw "...a strange animal crawling around...the shape and outline of the animal was quite different to a fox...It hopped once then stopped...we turned on our headlights...It was about the size of a medium-sized dog, except for its legs, which seemed to be much too long for its body. Its limbs were twisted and gnarled...It was brownish in colour, with no fur at all, and I do not recall a tail or ears...it was best described as 'Gollum' ( a character from the Lord of the Rings movies)...It looked up at us...It had a face, almost human-like but deformed in a way...It crawled away eventually..."
Monday, June 27, 2011
"In praise of the weird"
Page 30 of the 18 June 2011 issue of the "New Scientist" magazine carries an opinion article written by William Laurance (click here) , a professor at James Cook University, Cairns, Australia, titled "In praise of the weird."
It opens with the recent publication of an 8 second long amateur video, taken in Northern Tasmania. This blurry footage shows a long tailed mammal "...trotting across a meadow with an oddly stilted gait." The person who took the video believes the animal is the extinct Tasmanian Tiger.
Laurance himself, upon seeing the animal on the video thought that it was in fact a red fox. A faecal sample obtained from the animal, was subjected to a DNA test which said it was, indeed, a red fox.
The article then goes on to talk about "cryptobiology" "mythical, mysterious or supposedly extinct species."
Laurance acknowledges that there are some credible people undertaking this study. He names David Bickford, National University of Singapore, a tropical ecologist (click here) ; and Aaron Bauer, an evolutionary herpetologist, from Villanova University in Pennsylvania. (Click here.)
"But for mainstream scientists being a cryptobiologist isn't easy. Some have paid for their efforts."
However, he notes that new animal discoveries continue to be made including that of "The Mindoro fruit bat, discovered in the Phillippines in 2007, has a 1 metre wingspan." (Click here.)
In conclusion, "...we should celebrate the intrepid efforts of cryptobiologists. Yes, they chase bizarre creatures and flit around the fringes of conventional science, but we ought to appreciate their adventurous spirit rather than be disdainful."
It opens with the recent publication of an 8 second long amateur video, taken in Northern Tasmania. This blurry footage shows a long tailed mammal "...trotting across a meadow with an oddly stilted gait." The person who took the video believes the animal is the extinct Tasmanian Tiger.
Laurance himself, upon seeing the animal on the video thought that it was in fact a red fox. A faecal sample obtained from the animal, was subjected to a DNA test which said it was, indeed, a red fox.
The article then goes on to talk about "cryptobiology" "mythical, mysterious or supposedly extinct species."
Laurance acknowledges that there are some credible people undertaking this study. He names David Bickford, National University of Singapore, a tropical ecologist (click here) ; and Aaron Bauer, an evolutionary herpetologist, from Villanova University in Pennsylvania. (Click here.)
"But for mainstream scientists being a cryptobiologist isn't easy. Some have paid for their efforts."
However, he notes that new animal discoveries continue to be made including that of "The Mindoro fruit bat, discovered in the Phillippines in 2007, has a 1 metre wingspan." (Click here.)
In conclusion, "...we should celebrate the intrepid efforts of cryptobiologists. Yes, they chase bizarre creatures and flit around the fringes of conventional science, but we ought to appreciate their adventurous spirit rather than be disdainful."
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Psychic spies - remote viewing
Hi
If you have been following the topic of "remote viewing," then an article in the April 2011 issue (number 272) of the English Fortean Times, by author Jim Schnabel, may be of interest to you.
Schnabel's article starts by mentioning the use of remote viewing in 2007 and 2009 to try and locate US Army privates who were missing in action overseas.
John B Alexander is quoted as saying about the information provided by a number of remote viewers: "Most of the input that came back was pure garbage...It was so non-specific, what could you do with it?"
Paul Smith, who was involved in the other case said "...I thought the project was fairly successful." (p.30.)
Remote viewing continues:
Hal Puthoff was involved in an official US government sponsored remote viewing program in the 1970's. He is quoted as saying "...a lot of the individual remote viewers...were recontacted by various federal authorities and asked for help" after 9/11. (p.30.)
Another former military RV Lyn Buchanan "...set up a project in the late 1990's-the Assigned Witness Program- in which a team of remote viewers would solve crimes, but apparently has since abandoned it." (p.32.)
Ed Dames:
"Ed Dames, a former member of the military remote viewing unit who is now a fixture on late-night paranormal-oriented talk radio, claimed recently, on the basis of his remote viewing data, that President Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii..."
The military program:
Schnabel then reviews the Government sponsored RV program in the US "The programme had supporters at virtually all levels, from junior intelligence analysts and operations officers up to senior agency officials and even key senators and their staff." (p.32.)
"Yet for all its promise, the remote viewing programme eventually lost support, and was terminated. Later, it was almost entirely declassified-as if to emphasise that US intelligence would never venture into the parapsychological realm again." (p.32.)
Today:
There are numerous individuals who have set up RV companies. "From browsing the RV-related websites and speaking to people who are still connected to that world, I get the impression that money-oriented remote viewing-in trading and betting contexts-is an activity on the increase." (p.36.)
"There are rumours of ARV teams that ply unsuspecting casinos, and even hedge funds given over to ARV guided trading." (p.36.)
My comment:
Schnabel's 1997 book "Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies" is still very relevant today.
If you have been following the topic of "remote viewing," then an article in the April 2011 issue (number 272) of the English Fortean Times, by author Jim Schnabel, may be of interest to you.
Schnabel's article starts by mentioning the use of remote viewing in 2007 and 2009 to try and locate US Army privates who were missing in action overseas.
John B Alexander is quoted as saying about the information provided by a number of remote viewers: "Most of the input that came back was pure garbage...It was so non-specific, what could you do with it?"
Paul Smith, who was involved in the other case said "...I thought the project was fairly successful." (p.30.)
Remote viewing continues:
Hal Puthoff was involved in an official US government sponsored remote viewing program in the 1970's. He is quoted as saying "...a lot of the individual remote viewers...were recontacted by various federal authorities and asked for help" after 9/11. (p.30.)
Another former military RV Lyn Buchanan "...set up a project in the late 1990's-the Assigned Witness Program- in which a team of remote viewers would solve crimes, but apparently has since abandoned it." (p.32.)
Ed Dames:
"Ed Dames, a former member of the military remote viewing unit who is now a fixture on late-night paranormal-oriented talk radio, claimed recently, on the basis of his remote viewing data, that President Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii..."
The military program:
Schnabel then reviews the Government sponsored RV program in the US "The programme had supporters at virtually all levels, from junior intelligence analysts and operations officers up to senior agency officials and even key senators and their staff." (p.32.)
"Yet for all its promise, the remote viewing programme eventually lost support, and was terminated. Later, it was almost entirely declassified-as if to emphasise that US intelligence would never venture into the parapsychological realm again." (p.32.)
Today:
There are numerous individuals who have set up RV companies. "From browsing the RV-related websites and speaking to people who are still connected to that world, I get the impression that money-oriented remote viewing-in trading and betting contexts-is an activity on the increase." (p.36.)
"There are rumours of ARV teams that ply unsuspecting casinos, and even hedge funds given over to ARV guided trading." (p.36.)
My comment:
Schnabel's 1997 book "Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies" is still very relevant today.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
"Ever wanted a third arm?"
Hi
The brain has a "mind map" of body parts. This sense of "self", of knowing which bit of the universe is you and which is not, is very important. If an arm or leg is amputated, but your "mind map" thinks the appendage is still there, you will experience phantom limb pain.
I came across an article in the April/May 2011 issue of the Australian magazine "Cosmos", page 24, titled "Ever wanted a third arm? It's all in your head" written by Benjamin Skuse, which goes the other way.
"Swedish scientists have managed to convince people that they own three arms, or that they're the size of a Barbie doll, using tricks in a laboratory setting.
"The research addresses some of the oldest philosophical and psychological questions about the relationship between body and mind, and has potential applications in prosthetics and robotics.
" "We demonstrated that the body image is much more flexible then previously thought, even allowing healthy participants to experience awareness of an extra third arm," said study author Arvid Guterstam from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet.
"The experiment reported in PLos ONE involved sitting a participant at a table with a rubber prosthetic arm placed next to the right arm. Touching the subject's right hand and the rubber hand with two small brushes at corresponding locations, the scientists stimulated a feeling of owning the prosthetic arm by synchronising the strokes.
" "Instead of choosing to experience only one hand as your own, we surprisingly, found that the brain accepts both right hands as part of the body image," said Guterstam. On going projects question whether the perceived body can be shrunk to the size of a barbie doll, or if the brain can accept a body of a different sex. "This might have important bearing on the development of advanced prosthetics, where the patient can experience and control an extra arm," Guterstam said."
My comment:
I seem to recall accounts from my reading in which people believed their body size had varied during an unusual experience. I'll try and locate some references on this, for a future post.
The full article may be read here.
The brain has a "mind map" of body parts. This sense of "self", of knowing which bit of the universe is you and which is not, is very important. If an arm or leg is amputated, but your "mind map" thinks the appendage is still there, you will experience phantom limb pain.
I came across an article in the April/May 2011 issue of the Australian magazine "Cosmos", page 24, titled "Ever wanted a third arm? It's all in your head" written by Benjamin Skuse, which goes the other way.
"Swedish scientists have managed to convince people that they own three arms, or that they're the size of a Barbie doll, using tricks in a laboratory setting.
"The research addresses some of the oldest philosophical and psychological questions about the relationship between body and mind, and has potential applications in prosthetics and robotics.
" "We demonstrated that the body image is much more flexible then previously thought, even allowing healthy participants to experience awareness of an extra third arm," said study author Arvid Guterstam from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet.
"The experiment reported in PLos ONE involved sitting a participant at a table with a rubber prosthetic arm placed next to the right arm. Touching the subject's right hand and the rubber hand with two small brushes at corresponding locations, the scientists stimulated a feeling of owning the prosthetic arm by synchronising the strokes.
" "Instead of choosing to experience only one hand as your own, we surprisingly, found that the brain accepts both right hands as part of the body image," said Guterstam. On going projects question whether the perceived body can be shrunk to the size of a barbie doll, or if the brain can accept a body of a different sex. "This might have important bearing on the development of advanced prosthetics, where the patient can experience and control an extra arm," Guterstam said."
My comment:
I seem to recall accounts from my reading in which people believed their body size had varied during an unusual experience. I'll try and locate some references on this, for a future post.
The full article may be read here.
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