CNI News - Volume 19.5 June 17, 1996 Published by the ISCNI News Center Editor: Michael Lindemann The stories in this edition of CNI News are: 1) UFO RESEARCHER ACCUSED OF PLOT AGAINST POLITICIANS Key Figure In "Radium Plot" Heads Long Island UFO Network 2) CROP CIRCLE EXPERT COLIN ANDREWS REPORTS GLYPH DISCOVERED WITHIN STONEHENGE 3) THE SAUCERS OF JUNE -- HISTORICAL RECOLLECTIONS 4) SPIELBERG PLANS ANOTHER "ET"-TYPE FILM 5) SAGAN: NEW DISCOVERIES SHOW OTHER PLANET SYSTEMS NOT LIKE OURS, BUT LIFE "OUT THERE" STILL LIKELY ISCNI encourages you to respond to stories in CNI News. * Public responses can be posted on the Forum message board in "News Center Feedback" * Private responses can be emailed to ISCNI, subj: CNI News Editor The subject matter of CNI News is inherently controversial, and the views and opinions reported in the news are not necessarily those of ISCNI or its staff. The next edition of CNI News will appear on Thursday, June 20. ======================================================== 1) UFO RESEARCHER ACCUSED OF PLOT AGAINST POLITICIANS Key Figure In "Radium Plot" Heads Long Island UFO Network RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (Reuter) - Investigators uncovered an apparent plot to assassinate several Long Island, New York, local politicians with radioactive material, Suffolk County authorities said on Thursday, June 13. District Attorney James Catterson told a news conference that two men had been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. The alleged plot was "something out of a novel," he said, with radioactive material and weapons discovered in a house in Bellport, Long Island. Catterson said one of the suspects, 47-year-old John Ford, was soliciting people to use radium isotope against Suffolk County Republican Party leader John Powell when an informant alerted the District Attorney's office on Wednesday. Ford was then recorded on tape outlining the plot. Catterson described Ford as a former court officer and president of the Long Island UFO Network [LIUFON]. The other man arrested was identified as 42-year-old Joseph Mazzachelli of Manorville, but no further information was available on him. "The plot was where an individual obsessed with hatred for mainstream political figures, with ballistics people would spread radioactive material in the seat of [the victim's] car, in his food or some proximity to him in the hope that he would contract incurable diseases and cause his death," Catterson said. Apart from Powell, others targeted included two other Republicans, county legislator Fred Towle and Brookhaven public safety director Anthony Gazzola. Long Island is the political stronghold of Republican Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, but he was not on the plotters' list. Investigators found five canisters of radium, a low-level radioactive material, in Ford's home, Catterson said. "Any potential threat to public health and safety has been eliminated," Catterson said in a statement. "There is no danger to the community and the material has been removed to a facility capable of its proper disposal." Investigators also found a cache of rifles and handguns, ammunition, a mine sweeper, gas mask and assorted militia literature, the Suffolk County District Attorney said. It was not known whether the men belonged to a militia. A third suspect was arrested Friday [June 14] in the alleged plot. Police found a small quantity of radium and weapons in the Medford, New York home of Edward Zabo, who was taken into custody, officials said. Further arrests were expected, officials said. ======================================================== 2) CROP CIRCLE EXPERT COLIN ANDREWS REPORTS GLYPH DISCOVERED WITHIN STONEHENGE [CNI News has just received the following press release from Joyce Murphy ([email protected]) at Beyond Boundaries. The exact nature of the "discovered glyph" is unclear, but we will report further information as it becomes available.] World-renowned crop-circle investigator Colin Andrews reports a glyph discovered within Stonehenge. The very best Stonehenge investigators in the world, including the English Heritage Society,were not aware of any glyph's previous existence at this sacred site. Every square inch of Stonehenge has been recorded in the past, which makes this find even more amazing. Professor Gerald Hawkins, author of "Stonehenge Decoded" and "Beyond Sonehenge," is now studying the implications of the pattern which Colin says may be the foundation of the crop circles phenomenon. The glyph, partly covered by lichen and obviously not a fresh carving, was discovered shortly before dusk while Colin was in the company of a Beyond Boundaries group. Upon sighting the unusual symbol Colin requested the assistance of a Glasgow newspaper photographer who was covering a story about the expedition. The side lighting on the photograph revealed more of the intriguing shape which is now is receiving international interest. More study of this phenomenon, along with investigation of current crop circles is being planned by Beyond Boundaries for July. For more information concerning this discovery and to obtain photos, email [email protected] or call 1-800-259-8747. ======================================================== 3) THE SAUCERS OF JUNE -- HISTORICAL RECOLLECTIONS [CNI News thanks UFO Roundup editor Masinaigan for permission to reprint the following item from Roundup number 18.] June is traditionally a big month for UFO sightings. The famous Kenneth Arnold case took place on June 24, 1947. But there have been other, equally interesting UFO events that took place in June. Here's a sample... June 16, 1909 -- Dong Hoi, Vietnam -- Van Thi Binh, 7, and her sisters were awakened by a whooshing sound at around 3 a.m. As they looked out the window, they saw a glowing "bolide" flying slowly in an eastward direction over the city. The bright white glow lit up the rooftops, and the "bolide" was seen by Vietnamese fishermen offshore. They watched it for 8 to 10 minutes before it abruptly dropped into the South China Sea. Although it couldn't possibly have been a bolide or detonating meteor (not at that slow speed!), it was written up as such in the French magazine L'Astronomie. (See the book ANATOMY OF A PHENOMENON by Jacques Vallee, page 28) June 20, 1953 -- Brush Creek, near Willow Creek, California -- Two prospectors saw a UFO land in the meadow. An occupant came out of the object. He was described as 3 feet tall and wearing silvery gray tight-fitting garments and a hood or helmet. Ignoring the two astounded miners, the occupant carried a small silver pail to the creek, filled it with water, and then walked back to the UFO. Two minutes later, the UFO "shot into the sky without a sound." June 30, 1954 -- Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada -- A British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) Stratocruiser airliner, piloted by Capt. James Howard, approached Goose Bay at 9 p.m. local time, on its New York to London flight. Suddenly, Capt. Howard saw a large object "something like an inverted pear suspended in the sky." The UFO was accompanied by six saucers -- three forward, three aft. The Goose Bay tower told Howard that there were no other aircraft in the area. Capt. Howard and his co-pilot, Lee Boyd, watched as the large UFO reshaped itself "into what looked like a flying arrow -- an enormous delta-winged plane turning in to close with us." The large UFO paced the BOAC Stratocruiser for over 15 minutes before departing. Other witnesses included chief navigator George Allen, chief radio operator Douglas Cox, flight engineers Daniel Godfrey and William Stewart and stewardess Daphne Webster. June 26, 1972 -- Port Beaufort, South Africa -- Farm worker Boer de Klerk was watering cattle in a krans (pasture) at Braeside, a large farm just outside Port Beaufort. Suddenly, he saw a plume of smoke in the sunny cloudless sky. The smoke drifted towards him and then exploded into a roaring fireball. Terrified, de Klerk dropped his bucket and ran to fetch the owner, Bennie Smit. Rounding up a group of his workers, Smit returned to the spot and found the bright orange fireball flying aimlessly around the pasture. As the men climbed the fence, the fireball halted, then backed away from them, and then climbed up, up and away. ======================================================== 4) SPIELBERG PLANS ANOTHER "ET"-TYPE FILM [The following item is excerpted from a longer story that appeared in AOL News Profiles on June 14, from Reuter/Variety.] HOLLYWOOD - Sixteen years after Steven Spielberg's "E.T. The Extraterrestrial" became a box office smash, the director's DreamWorks studio has bought a screenplay and the feature film rights to the book, "Extraterrestrials: A Field Guide for Earthlings," sources said. The project, which will be re-titled "Alien Zoo," is about an alien ship that crash lands on Earth, where the aliens are moved to a zoo. When they escape, they begin wreaking havoc. The project, which Disney also bid on, is a special-effects, big-budget vehicle. The book was published in 1994 by Camden House and was written by Terence Dickenson and Adolf Schaller. ======================================================== 5) SAGAN: NEW DISCOVERIES SHOW OTHER PLANET SYSTEMS NOT LIKE OURS, BUT LIFE "OUT THERE" STILL LIKELY [The following comments are excerpted from an article by Carl Sagan titled "So Many Suns, So Many Worlds," which appeared in Parade Magazine on June 9, 1996. Sagan is discussing newly discovered planets around the stars 51 Pegasi, 70 Virginis, 47 Ursae Majoris and 55 Cancri.] The masses of these planets seem to range from a little less than Jupiter to several times greater than Jupiter. What is most surprising about them is how close to their stars they are, from 0.05 AU for 51 Pegasi to a little more than 2 AU for 47 Ursae Majoris. [AU = astronomical unit, the distance from earth to the sun or 93 million miles.] There may of course be smaller, Earthlike planets in these systems not yet discovered, but the layout is not like ours. In our solar system, we have the small Earthlike planets on the inside and the large Jupiterlike planets on the outside. For these four stars, the Jupiter-mass planets seem to be on the inside. How that could be, no one now understands. As for life on these new worlds, it is no more likely than on our own Jupiter. But what is probable is that these other Jupiters have moons, like the 16 that circle our Jupiter. Because these moons, like the giant worlds they orbit, are close to the local star, their temperatures, especially in the 70 Virginis system, might be clement enough for life. At 35 to 40 light-years away, these worlds are close enough for us to begin to dream of one day sending fast spacecraft to visit them, the data to be received by our descendants. To me, it appears likely that in the coming decades we will have information on at least hundreds of other planetary systems close to us in the vast Milky Way Galaxy--and perhaps even a few small blue worlds graced with water oceans, oxygen atmospheres and the telltale signs of wondrous life. # # #