Later on I got the chance to talk to Dr Clarke face-to-face and raised the
points I do in my own coverage. Surely if the object really did levitate
silently into the air then that is one of the five observables; the implication
being that maybe this is something of extraterrestrial manufacture. Dr Clarke
replied that we don't know if it really manoeuvred like that because we heard
it second hand from Craig Lindsay. Did the two cooks actually say that? Also
the engine noise of the Harriers would have drowned out any noise the object
made, so maybe it was not really silent. It might have been an endopter drone
with internal rotors that are invisible from the angle it was photographed
from. This is speculation on his part, in fact he is bordering on the clown's
day off fallacy; but then it is also speculation by me. Until we get more
information there's no way to tell. Clearly Dr Clarke is biased by his general
disbelief in aliens; and I am biased by my opposite belief. The next speaker,
Dominic Chorney, talked about treasures of the occult. He is an antiquarian who
has a collection of old coins and some of them are strange in design with no
obvious issuing bank. Could they be tokens used by occultists? He displayed one
very interesting specimen from
Japan
that depicts some strange and scary creature that looks like a werewolf or
ogre. It is in fact probably a snow macaque, a species of monkey from
Hokkaido,
one of the Japanese islands. The rim of the coin has the island's name on it.
What stuck me is that snow macaques were the species studied by Lyall Watson
when he came up with his "hundredth monkey" theory, see:
https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/08/lyall-watson.html.
There was another coin from fifteenth century
Germany
with a Bigfoot like creature on it, a "woodwose". It is possible
coins like this were used as a talisman by the superstitious rather than for
financial exchange. In one case, its owner had driven a hole through it,
probably so they could hang it round their neck on a string. It makes me wonder
where they got the idea for the creature depicted, long before mass media.
Darren Naish is a pop scientist who researches the fossil record and ancient
extinct animals. He gave an interesting talk about aquatic reptiles and
archaeocetes, ancient creatures from the whale family. Unlike most of his
peers, Darren has an open mind about cryptozoology. He often associates with
the CFZ. There is a rumour that he is one of the witnesses of the Cornish
Owlman, although if this is true he has never admitted it. In the definitive
book on the subject, Jonathan Downes'
The
Owlman and Others, this witness is anonymous and nicknamed
"Gavin". Jamie Lewis and Andrew Bartlett are social scientists who
did a dialogue about what they call "bigfooters", people who believe
in Bigfoot and try to find it in the wild. They say they have no public
opinions about whether Bigfoot exists or not, but in the course of their
address they came across as very skeptical. They made a lot of the points
disbelievers do: Where are the bones? Where is the DNA? etc. There are
comprehensive rebuttals to these points that I have previously detailed, see
below. They mention the Minnesota Iceman and repeat the standard explanation
that is it a hoax. Not so in my view. See here for my position on these points
and many other similar ones:
https://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2022/11/cryptozoology-portal.html.
Lewis and Bartlett's central study is about the people who are enthusiastic
about Bigfoot and their psychology. I don't have a problem with such
scholarship, but it does tend to come in a package with the foundational tacit
subtext that what their subjects believe in is a cultural phenomenon based on a
falsehood, see here for another example:
https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2018/09/prof-karen-douglas-at-greenwich-sitp.html.
Next up was Mark Pilkington, somebody I'm very familiar with and I got to speak
to him briefly. I've researched his work closely and look forward to his new
book. He has adapted the thesis he applied in
Mirage Men to the modern post-2017 world. How is today's Trumpian
political class using "UFOria" for its own nefarious psychological
warfare strategy? Good question, but I don't see any reason, from what Mark
presented, to discount my suspicion that maybe we're being subjected to some
kind of elaborate double-bluff. Has Mark considered this possibility?, see:
https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2023/05/mark-pilkington-at-bases-2023.html.
Finally there was a three-person panel on ghost hunting with Alice Vernon, Ben
Machell and Sarah Sparkes. Alice and Ben are authors whose books look really
interesting. There was a merch stall at the back of the room, as I expected, but
I really shouldn't buy any more books until I've read the hundred or so I've
bought so far and not yet picked up. The three talk about their own favourite
investigators from the golden age of psychical research, the late 19th century
to the 1950's. Sarah loves Harry Price, a classic character who has come to my
attention too, mostly through my research into Helen Duncan.
Alice's
favourite is Molly Goldney. I was familiar with that name because she was
Price's assistant in the famous 1930 backstreet experiments with Helen. I
learned a lot from
Alice's
information because she has read Molly's private letters. It turns out Molly
had a very low opinion of Price and was far closer to one of his main rivals
than Harry would have liked.
Alice
said that Price forced Molly to do the internal body search on Helen against
her will and Helen's. From what I gather, from talking to Maggie Hahn and other
sources, Helen wanted and demanded this precaution. She even did it at her
private performances. Helen was desperate to prove herself to be a real
manifestation medium and was far more transparent than most of her peers, see:
https://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2020/02/helen-duncan-portal.html.
Ben's chosen expert was Tony Cornell, a very cautious and rational figure who
was often featured in the media. Unfortunately I was hampered by my usual drowsiness.
This seems inescapable when I'm sitting in a warm and comfortable auditorium,
especially if I had to get up early to be there; which I did. I had to catch
the coach to get to
London on time.
I tried to doze quietly and unobtrusively, keeping one ear alert so I could
hear the speakers' words in my stupor. There were about two hundred people
there and I looked for others that I knew. I recognized a few by sight rather
than name; but somebody I identified easily was Deborah Hyde, also known as
"Jourdemayne" the "skeptic witch". She has come up before
on HPANWO several times, for example see:
https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2013/11/consciousness-beyond-individual.html.
During the lunch break and afterwards we went to the Penderel's Oak pub on
nearby High Holborn. I'm pleased to say it is now a Wetherspoons. It was a trip
down
Memory Lane for me
because London Skeptics in the Pub used to meet in the basement bar there, for
examples see:
https://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2021/08/skeptics-portal.html.
I wondered if Deborah would join us for the same nostalgic reasons, but she did
not. Source:
https://forteanlondon.blogspot.com/2026/02/strange-central-2026-mysteries-monsters.html.
Colin, Miles, Chandra and another woman we met called
Beersheba,
had a great time sharing a few drinks and dinner. Another friend, Rhiannon, was watching at home on the live coverage, and the two of us shared our running thoughts during the proceedings. I finally headed home at
about
8 PM. As I've often said, the
social side of the conference scene is really the best part. In a way, the
speakers are just an excuse for us to get together. Times spent at conferences
are very precious to me and I look forward to the next one. I truly enjoyed the
day. Many thanks to all the speakers, organizers and delegates for Strange
Days. Hope there will be another one soon.
