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From: Georgina Bruni <georgina@easynet.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2000 07:25:46 +0100
Fwd Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2000 08:11:20 -0400
Subject: UpDate: Nick Pope's Weird World - August 2000


Weird World by Nick Pope
www.hotgossip.co.uk


Welcome to the August column, and the usual mix of news, views
and gossip from the weird and wonderful world of UFOs, alien
abductions, paranormal phenomena and anything else that grabs my
attention.


Summer Conference

For those of you who check this column at the beginning of each
month, you have time to book tickets for what promises to be the
hottest conference of the Summer. The Unusual Experiences
Conference is being held on Sunday 6 August between 9.30 am and
6pm, at Marlborough College in Wiltshire.

The literature promises lectures on UFOs, ghosts, anomalous
lights, Near Death Experiences, ancient sites, crop circles and
synchronicities. A massive twenty speakers are scheduled to
appear, including Robert Bauval, Lucy Pringle, Michael Roll and
Peter Sorenson. Tickets are £10 in advance or £12.50 on the
door.

Further details can be obtained by checking out:

www.paradigmshift.com/flyer.html

or by telephoning the organisers on 01672 861435/539124. Enjoy
yourselves.


Turin Shroud

Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince are the formidable writing team
behind controversial titles The Templar Revelation and The
Stargate Conspiracy. Now, in a long overdue move, the first book
they wrote together has been published in paperback. Turin
Shroud is the story of, well, you’ve guessed it, the Turin
Shroud. But prepare to be shocked and amazed by what you read.
You’ll join the authors on what was an extraordinary journey of
discovery, where they undertake an investigation worthy of any
great detective. The book suggests that the Turin Shroud was
faked by none other than Leonardo da Vinci, but I won’t tell you
how, or even more sensationally, why. You’ll have to read it
yourselves. Well-researched, gripping, irreverent and heretical,
this book comes highly recommended. It costs £6.99 and is
published by Corgi Books.


Turkey Conference

I know I said I’d write an account of the conference I attended
in Istanbul, but I’ll be writing this up for the next edition of
UFO Magazine.


Lesbian And Gay Abductees

Randle, Estes and Cone have caused much debate over their
sensational claim that 50% of abductees are lesbians and gay
men. An outrageous claim designed to generate some publicity for
their book, or a genuine attempt to kick-start a debate on an
important new finding? There are numerous views, but this issue
has certainly got people talking, and indeed an e-mail from
Randle and Estes prompted a rare online offering from Budd
Hopkins, no less. I’ve discussed this with both Budd Hopkins and
with John Mack, in the margins of the conference we attended in
Istanbul on 23-25 June.

My view, for what it’s worth, is this: while 50% seems a totally
outrageous claim (and at odds with my own research and
investigations), I have noticed a slightly higher proportion of
lesbians and gay men among the abductees than chance alone would
suggest. So while there are unanswered questions about the
methodology used by Randle and his colleagues, their claim does
strike me as something worthy of a closer look.

Now, it’s way too early to say what - if anything - this might
mean. Science doesn’t yet understand homosexuality, and is
undecided as to whether it’s caused by genetic or cultural
factors, or a mixture of both. So if we don’t understand
homosexuality, we can’t hope to understand why it might be
(slightly) more prevalent among abductees than among the
population as a whole.

One idea that might occur to those abduction researchers who
believe the alien agenda involves the removal of genetic samples
to create human/alien hybrids is that it has something to do
with genetics. Given that lesbians and gay men are less likely
to have children, are the abductors attempting to utilise genes
that are less likely to be passed on to the general human
population?

These are dangerous waters, both because of the prejudices that
exist against homosexuals, and because of the ways in which
abductees can be ridiculed by debunkers and certain sections of
the media. But this is a potentially significant piece of the
puzzle, and is something about which we’ll doubtless be hearing
more over the next few months.


Books Books Books

The Watkins Books Summer catalogue is out now, and is packed
with new titles on various esoteric subjects. Mysteries, the
paranormal and self-development all f eature strongly, so check
out www.watkinsbooks.com for details of numerous interesting
books.


Desmond Leslie And George Adamski

A regular reader of this column asked me to say something about
Desmond Leslie’s appearance at the UFO Conference held in San
Marino on 3/4 June, with specific reference to whether he still
stood by the testimony of the contactee George Adamski. The
answer to that is that he most definitely does. Now, that’s not
to say that Adamski couldn’t be - as Leslie put it - "silly".
But as he said, we all are, sometimes. Does that mean that
Adamski exaggerated a bit? Maybe. But Desmond ended his
powerful and witty speech by making the following statement:
"George Adamski was an honest man". I’m not sure I can add much
to this.

Although I wrote a brief summary of Adamski’s story (and those
of most of the other better-known contactees) in chapter 2 of
The Uninvited, the best way to assess the story is by reading
Flying Saucers Have Landed, the book that Desmond Leslie and
George Adamski co-authored.

Additionally, try Adamski’s two subsequent books, Inside The
Spaceships and Flying Saucers Farewell. And if you can get a
copy, the very rare George Adamski: The Untold Story by Lou
Zinsstag and Timothy Good is well worth reading.

All I can tell you is this: I very much enjoyed meeting Desmond
Leslie and chatting to him at length over various meals during
our stay in San Marino. He’s a charming and intelligent man, who
came across as entirely sincere. He knew Adamski very well and
spent a phenomenal amount of time investigating the man and his
claims - claims he stands by nearly fifty years after they were
first published. Adamski died in 1965 and few of those who now
write about him ever met the man, so to my mind the view of
Desmond Leslie must count for a lot.

But at the end of the day, it can’t be proved either way. Only
George Adamski knew for sure, and he took his secrets to the
grave.

Nick Pope
London
August 2000

Nick Pope’s three books, Open Skies, Closed Minds, The Uninvited
and Operation Thunder Child are available from all good
bookshops and from the usual Internet book sites. His UK
publishers are Simon & Schuster. In America, The Overlook Press
publish his books in hardback while the paperbacks are produced
by Dell Publishing.