the

Skeptieal Inquirer
');, ()(J

THE BRAIN& CONSCIOUSNESS

Explaining Alien Abduction Fantasies Past-Life Regression: Misuse of Hypnosis The MJ-12 UFO Documents The Verdict on Creationism

Suffolk 'UFO' lights

Ian Ridpath's specious response (Sf, Letters, Summer 1987) to my letter about "The Suffolk 'UFO' Lights" should not go unchallenged (If only to show that the first skeptical explanation that comes to mind for a UFO report is not necessarily correct). Readers may wonder why it is "understandable" that Ridpath's identification has been challenged (apparently a reference to my challenge). In fact the most understandable challenge (laced with ridicuie) has come from UFO buffs. My challenge, which applies only to the identification of lights, is made with regret; Ridpath and I agree on the general approach to UFO reports. Consequently my challenge should have been surprising, not "understandable." Ridpath's quotation from Col. Halt's tape is correct as far as it goes. But he fails to mention that, 15 seconds later, Halt asked, "Is it (the light) back again?" Clearly the light had disappeared for a while. A little later Halt was told (first) that the light was "coming up" (on 110) and (iater) that "it's dying"! This behavior is inconsistent with the Orford Ness light (regular flashes at 5-second intervals). However it is consistent with the Shipwash light vessel (not "lighthouse"). It produces three regular flashes every 20 seconds, the interval between flashes being 2.5 seconds. Thus not only is there a 5-second (if the second flash is missed or not mentioned) but there is a 15second eclipse as recorded in the tape! I did not ask Ridpath to explain "the second light"; I asked him to explain (I quote from the tape) "Two lights! One light to the right and one light to left!" I could also have asked why two lights together were not seen before or after this point. If the two lights were Orford Ness and Shipwash they should have been seen continuously together (although one is ten times more powerful than the other). But since the two beacons are 15 apart it is unlikely that this is the correct explanation. The implication of the tape is that the lights were close together (as they would need to be if seen through binoculars).
220

It is not clear that "the first and brightest flashing light" was seen from well inside the forest. Is Ridpath now referring to the light seen on December 26? The light seen on December 29 was not bright; it was "a strange, small red light." At the time, Halt and his team were near the edge of Rendlesham Forest and able to see out to sea. The alleged "landing site" is not deep in the forest, as Ridpath implies. Halt's bearings are admitted to be imprecise; he gave them as "approximately 120 degrees," "about 110, 120 degrees," and "about i i 0 degrees," ai: though at one point he gave a "bearing , of 110" (all magnetic). But these bearings average ll5 magnetic (110 true), the precise bearing of Shipwash. An error of plus or minus 5 is to be expected in the circumstances. Ridpath has no right to assume that the bearings were taken "on the move" or "weaving between the trees"; this is special pleading!

Steuart Campbel1 Edinburgh, Scotland

Hamlet as psi researcher

Gwyneth Evans ("Pseudoscience and Children's Fantasies," S/, Summer 1987) remarks that a belief in witches is not necessary to the enjoyment or understanding of Macbeth. ..." A much better Shakespearean role model for psi research is provided by Hamlet. This noble hero shows the true skeptical and undogmatic spirit by always making allowance for his own bias. Though inclined to believe in the paranormal ("There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy"), he compares observations with the scientifically inclined Horatio, who had refused to believe in the apparition until he saw it with his own eyes, and even then reported to Hamlet only that "I think I saw him yesternight." Even after conversing with the ghost, Hamlet is still open to the possibility that the message about his father's murder may be a creation of his
THE SKEPTiCAL iNQUiRER, Vol. 12