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The Magnetic Event: A New Clue To An Enigma by Nicholas A. Reiter FORWARD: This document is a summary of observations, and a call for further research. However, please allow me to begin with a story. In the wee hours of a June morning in 1992, a distant relative of this researcher experienced an encounter with the Anomalous. Luke, a young fellow recently graduated from college, awoke with a jolt at approximately 0430. His senses were in high gear, and his mind raced. Luke walked downstairs, drew a drink of water, and went to the bathroom before returning upstairs to bed. Upon entering his bedroom, Luke observed a strong green light flooding in through both windows. The light was simultaneously accompanied by a pungent smell of burning graphite or sulfur. Luke related that even though he was terrified out of his wits, he felt oddly relaxed and assured. Like an automaton, the young man went to his bed, and collapsed onto it. For an unknown period of time, Luke was "trapped" on his bed. An invisible force pinned him on his back to the mattress. Although he felt himself slipping in and out of consciousness, Luke sensed that someone was moving about the room. This unknown party seemed to be warily keeping out of Luke's direct field of vision. After a while, the holding force eased, and Luke fell into a dream. Brown and Grey owl-like creatures were standing around the dream - Luke on a barren desert plain. The scene persisted for a time, and them finally dissolved into blackness. At 0700, Luke Ellis awoke with his alarm. He was sore, confused, disoriented; and above all, felt very alone. "If I could have only been a mouse peeking out from a closet..." Every researcher of the Anomalous Event has muttered these or similar words to her or himself, time after time. I am no exception. What would that tiny mouse have seen? Odd shadowy figures milling around a bed? Or merely the tossing of a young man caught in a nightmare's grip. Perhaps it would be something even stranger! Not long ago, one of the technicians at the R and D facility where I am employed asked me a very scholarly question. "If these things are real, couldn't an abductee hide a camcorder in their own bedroom and get the action on film?" At the time, I really didn't have a decent answer to this query. Somewhat later, I was informed by a well known, published abduction researcher that such an approach has indeed been tried a number of times. This gentleman went on to say that no positive results have even been achieved because "they" (the entities) always seem to know when a recording device is in the place. Accordingly, "they" will either not show up, or will simply find a way to work around the annoyance. In this latter category, we find anecdotes which range from abductees being "mentally commanded" to turn off the device, to unexplained temporary power outages. We may infer that the Intelligence behind the Anomalous knows a trap when it sees one! It is not known to me if any positive evidence for an abduction could be obtained with a recording camera hidden on an abductee's property be a third party, without the knowledge of the abductee. The legal and ethical implications of this scenario would be both staggering and intricate! How would the recording device be triggered if it was employed? IR or ultrasonic motion detectors might work, if an unknown abducting entity did not recognize their placement. Just how clever is the unknown? We, the curious and the driven, should not be dissuaded. There exists, I believe, another option for gaining knowledge of the physical dimension of the abduction event. Why not enlist the aid of small, inconspicuous sensors or detectors, whose purpose would be to record by mechanical means the occurrence of physical events. We need not catch an abduction on video tape! Consider self powered or mechanical indicators for such qualities as heat, light, electrical fields, magnetic fields, physical vibrations, or changes of mechanical strain or load. These detectors of events would be simple and elegant, and would, by necessity, be able to show up any signs of tampering. When the green light streamed through Luke's windows, were there fields of energy present? When Luke was commanded into his bed, would there have been an acoustic or magnetic signal responsible for this state of apparent mental control? We desire to put an end to unwanted abduction events, yet the physics and technology (if it is such) of these events must first be uncovered and modelled. In February of 1993, I embarked on an experimental adventure and research project which I felt would "start the ball rolling," so to speak. What presented itself to me and my spectrum of volunteers is summarized in this document. This almost year long endeavor has been successful in ways I would not have predicted; ever. The reader is encouraged to study this report in a manner which is slow, careful, and deep. Frankly, there is much within these pages which eludes my own ability to guess causes and effects. THE PLAN AND A SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE It seemed logical, at the onset of this project, to draw upon the results of my earlier research. As many readers will recall, my previous work in the field (which I refer to as Abductology), concerns the relationship of magnetic and electro-magnetic fields to anomalous events and experiencers. This work was summarized in two reports previously published in the Bulletin of Anomalous Experience (The Magnetic Implant Response, (Vol. 2, No. 4) and Magnetism, UFO Abductions, and the Anomalous, (Vol. 3, No. 4). For the purpose of clarification, I will briefly review the results and observations which, to a large extent, form the basis of the present work.
By late 1992, I was convinced that magnetic fields or modulation were very deeply connected with the abduction experience. Prior research and literature in this area is limited, but is quite available and very interesting. Michael Persinger, et al. have theorized that geo-magnetic interactions with the human brain and neurological processes are responsible for some hallucinatory experiences, such as death-bed visitations or religious visions. In an article appearing in The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, Persinger presents evidence that electro-magnetic fields from earth faults played a role in a Canadian case involving ghostly entities and poltergeist activity. An extraordinarily significant clue to the magnetic connection presented itself to me in the form of testimony from four independent experiencers/abductees (testimony acquired over the course of the period June 1991 thru 1993. The experiencers reporting were acquaintances made during and after the MR Random Series tests). These individuals, each without knowledge of the other, reported that the sensations of the Magnetic Response were quite similar to those experienced either before or during an abduction event! The choice seemed completely natural to begin the search for physical abduction event evidence with a device which would register or record the presence of a magnetic field. To my knowledge, no other abduction researcher has ever attempted the distribution of magnetic field detectors to experiencers for in-home use. Magnetic detection has been a staple of serious UFO field investigation for many years. Nevertheless, magnetometers and gaussmeters, whether home built or procured commercially, have typically been employed at reported UFO landing site, or for aerial research. We find references in European UFO literature from the mid 1960's which indicate that home built inductive magnetometers were used successfully be a network of UFO enthusiasts in England and on the continent. Aerial UFO activity was said to have triggered many of those machines. There also exists a very limited body of literature from psychic investigators and "ghost hunters" which reports that magnetic and E-M disturbances have been looked for and confirmed in haunted houses or buildings. Very well, magnetic fields it would be! I next required a plan of operation, and the proper equipment. As the winter of 1992/1993 passed, my strategy became formalized, and the next phase of my search for clues Abductological began. Every endeavor should be preceded by a clear statement of intent; an objective. I desired to find answers to three basic questions:
Objectives defined; I next settled on an operating strategy. A quantity of no less than 10 discrete magnetic field disturbance indicators would be built by myself and distributed to volunteers. Among this group would be "classical" hypnotically regressed abductees, experiencers of anomalous or abduction-like events who had never been regressed and at least two or three individuals who were, to their own knowledge, non-experiencers. The devices, which I dubbed Magnetic Event Markers, or MEMs, would be set up by the volunteers in an in-home location where unusual events would likely occur. In almost all cases, even those of the non-experiencers, this location was the bedroom of the volunteer.
The core of this project was the MEM itself. A drawing of a MEM (FIGURE A) and a photograph of an in-place unit (PHOTO-A) are included for reader reference. The following criteria were considered for the form and function of this device:
Physically, the design of the MEM was frozen, except for a few variations in the materials used for the magnetic pointer. (See Fig. A) Most MEMs used pieces of plastic soda straw though four units ended up having small diameter wooden dowel rods. Upon construction, all MEMs were set up and tested by me with a 2000 gauss magnet. For all MEMs, pointer deflection and sticking would occur when the test magnet was brought to within 1.1 to 1.5 meters, with the test magnet held at 90 degrees west of north with respect to the oriented MEM pointer. On 20 March 1993, the first MEM, (#1) was set up in my residence as a control. My intention was to take a couple of weeks to look for quirks and any operational shortcomings, such as susceptibility to vibrations and air currents or drafts. I felt that since my life had been so agonizingly anomaly-free (up to that time!) it would be interesting to observe what magnetic events if any might be detectable from natural or man-made sources. Over two weeks passed and #1 remained stable, with no deflections discovered. I determined that a draft-blocking cover, such as a mason jar or a plastic cup was desirable. Otherwise, the MEM seemed complete, and relatively insensitive to any vibrations other than direct bumping or shaking. By April 12, MEMs #2, #3, #4, and #5 had been received and set up by volunteers. The project was now in full swing! As the remainder of the year passed, more MEMs were built and distributed. By mid November, fifteen MEMs had been built, and twelve had been put into service. As April turned to May, results began to trickle in, and some were surprisingly positive. My mid May, however, I felt that several issues had arisen which had to be acknowledged.
Let us now turn to the collection of MEM summaries. THE SUMMARIES MEM #1 MEM #2 MEM #2 was placed into service on 4-13-93. It was set up on a dresser in Mr. and Mrs. Green's bedroom, approximately 2 meters from their bed. Between 4-12 and 7-15 no sticks were observed on the MEM, except for two occasions when the unit was accidentally bumped and re-set by Mrs. Green. No anomalous activity was observed or remembered as occurring in the house. On 7-18, I received a telephone call from Mr. Green. He informed me that on the night of 7-15/16 something unusual had occurred in his house, and that in the morning he had discovered a stick on the MEM. That evening I paid Mr. Green a visit. Green claimed that he had vague memories of being up and moving about the house in the wee hours of the morning. Furthermore, he described a disturbing recollection of "something" having sex with him. Starting the day after, Mr. Green's penis became red and inflamed and remained in such a state for several days. When we spoke by phone, Green had mentioned that be had been unable to reset his MEM after the nocturnal stick. The manner of action of the MEM pointer suggested to me that some charge or residuum was causing the pointer to stay in a potentially deflected position. When I visited the Greens that evening, I brought with me a home built, but highly accurate, Hall effect magnetic gaussmeter. After listening to Mr. Green's story, he and I walked through the house with the gaussmeter. On the second story of the home, we discovered an unusually high magnetic ambient, and a very unusual and interesting region of magnetization in the Green's bedroom closet. A detailed description of this anomaly is provided in Appendix A. I personally verified that the MEM could not be reset. To me it appeared that the dresser, or even the plastic of the MEM base was charged electro-statically however no measurements were available to confirm this. The MEM remained un-resetable for several weeks. Eventually, in August the MEM was functional again. From that time until the end of 1993, no further sticks were reported, neither were any unusual personal events recalled. MEM #3 White reported one stick on the evening of 4-20. In retrospect, he felt that this did not appear to correspond with any unusual personal event, and may have resulted from a bump to the MEM cover. Dr. White kept his MEM until 6-27 when it was given to an abduction experiencer in the area. All records of the MEM after that point are lost or unavailable. White reported no further sticks from 4-20 to 6-27. MEM #4 MEM #4 was set up on or about April 12 in Miss Pink's bedroom. The unit was located about 1 meter from the head of the bed. A plastic cup was employed as a cover. From the in-service date to the end of 1993, Miss Pink kept a log of MEM sticks and unusual events. A total of 10 sticks were recorded, all of them apparently nocturnal. Pink was kind enough to summarize her notes for me, and I shall transcribe them here, in a condensed form. In her words... 5-5: MEM - Feelings I should get rid of it. Visual flashes of taller beings. I suspect flashbacks of previous events. MEM #5 MEM #5 was placed into service on April 12, 1993. The unit was set up in the Browns' bedroom. It remained there for most of 1993, however occasionally it was taken with Mrs. Brown when she would travel. From May until December of 1993, Mrs. Brown kept a journal on her computer of all recalled unusual events in her life. Perusing the printout of this wonderful effort, we find nearly twenty entries which detailed some very peculiar occurrences. A thorough analysis of Mrs. Brown's case would require many pages in and of itself. I feel that it would be outside of the purpose of this summary to delve into the details of most of Mrs. Brown's encounters, and her own evaluation of same. Mrs. Brown's experiences seem to fall into several distinct categories, which I have labeled for tabular use. These are: A. Abduction event, perpetrated by apparently physical alien entities. The following table provides a more coherent view of unusual activities, and their relationship with the MEM.
Note A: On these two dates, Brown has recalled that during the night she awoke with an overwhelming urge to get out of bed and manually "stick" the MEM. In both cases, she claim that she "caved in" and did so. Periodically, Mrs. Brown would remind me that on many occasions she would have difficultly resetting the MEM after a stick. This effect would last up to several days in some instances. Other times, no difficultly was noted. At my suggestion, Mrs. Brown procured a standard "Boy Scout" compass and searched her home for magnetic anomalies. My notes tell me that this was done on or around July 12, 1993. Brown found one spot, in the center of her office, where the compass needle appeared to deviate noticeably (>10 degrees) from N-S. No plumbing, wiring, or appliances could be immediately pinned down as explanations for this. We must acknowledge, however, that more sophisticated instruments would have been necessary to quantify this, and confirm lack of "conventional" causes. Mrs. Brown continues to use her MEM, though I shall consider the period of this summary to be through 12-1-93. MEM #6, #7 MEM #8 MEM #8 was set up in the Teal bedroom, with a plastic cover. Records indicate an in-service date of June 3, 1993. From that time to the present, MEM #8 has not experienced any sticks. I have verified, personally, that the unit is working properly. In light of events relating to MEM #1, the absence of any sticks on MEM #8 should be duly noted. MEM #9 Mrs. Indigo has apparently been the target of abductions and paranormal activity for most of her life. More recently, at least one of her children has displayed indications of nocturnal abduction events. Both Indigo and her oldest child have observed nocturnal light type UFOs. Indigo is a licensed hypnotherapist and has a background in psychology. She has never been hypnotically regressed for her anomalous experiences, but has recalled details and images spontaneously. Indigo has experienced considerable "peripheral" anomalies such as poltergeist activity, the singular "sulfur" smell in her home, and difficult-to-explain telephone harassment. On July 12, 1993 I was speaking with Indigo on the telephone when a screeching, probably digital, tone jammed our conversation for about five seconds. On the evening of June 13, Mrs. Indigo observed a spurt of unusual electrical activity in her house. At least two light bulbs blew out violently, and several digital clocks in the house "glitched" and reset themselves. The microwave oven became inoperative. The following morning, a stick was found on the MEM. A second stick was found on the morning of June 23. Indigo has retained memories of an abduction-type event occurring during the night. According to my notes, Indigo claimed that after this, her MEM was not resetable for several days. The pointer would cling to her fingers when a reset was attempted, as though her body was electrically charged. On July 1, a third stick was discovered after a night when an abduction event apparently took place. Indigo claimed memories on entities and indications of a severe nose bleed on her pillow. Again, the MEM was impossible to reset and this time remained so for at least a week. Within the period between the July 1 event and the end of the year, Indigo claims that several other sticks were found on her MEM. However the dates and circumstances of these events are not known, because Mrs. Indigo's notebooks came up missing in December, after an apparent house break-in! MEM #10 MEM #10 was placed on a shelf in Mr. Orange's office. A cover was apparently not employed. From July 30 to the end of 1993, no sticks were reported by Orange, except those incurred by occasional accidental bumping of the shelf under the MEM. In all of these instances, the MEM was immediately reset by Orange. We have noted that Mr. Orange's shop is relatively close to the great San Andreas fault. (<1 Km) MEM #11 MEM #11 was put into service on August 6, 1993. It was placed in the Purple bedroom. A cover was employed. On the morning of August 20, Mrs. Purple awoke with memories of a disturbing dream. In it she had been leading a group of women through a large building on a cleaning assignment. Purple was surprised to discover blackish-brown dirt or material under her fingernails as she was dressing for the morning. A stick was found on the MEM. A second stick was noted on the morning of September 8. Purple could not consciously recall any specific unusual events which accompanied this stick. From September 8 to the end of 1993, no further MEM sticks were observed. Mrs. Purple claims that no unusual events transpired in her life during this period. MEM #12 MEM #13 MEM #13 was set up on August 13, 1993. Mrs. Blue began a log of MEM sticks and unusual events. She reported to me that several sticks had occurred between August and September. However, the calendar which had served as a log appeared to come up missing in December, and thusly we have no true record on MEM activity. As of the date of printing of this document, Blue was still unable to find the log. Should the MEM log re-surface, an addendum document will be issued. MEM #14 MEM #15 MEM #15 was set up in the Reds' bedroom on a dresser near their bed. A plastic cover was employed. Between November 17, 1993 and February 22, 1994, Mrs. Red kept a wonderfully thorough log of abduction, or unusual, events and MEM activity. Mrs. Red had developed a series of ingenious "indicators" to mark abductions; outside of the MEM. While these cannot be discussed here, it shall be noted that they involve certain marks on the body, and a very unique, repeatable effect related to a change in body chemistry. These indicators, combined with partial memories and conscious recollections of unusual feelings, provide a useful base with which to compare MEM activity. I have condensed Mrs. Red's data into a convenient table.
The reader will observe that around mid-January, a pattern of abductions occurring "on the road" (Mrs. Red only), and daytime in-home abductions began to occur. Mr. and Mrs. Red feel that this was due to a parallel experiment being conducted under my supervision. An RF plasma bulb device was being tested by the Reds as part of an anti-abduction experiment. Events ceased except for those occasions when the unit was not turned on at night, or had malfunctioned. This project is continuing, and will be the subject of a future report.1 MEM #1 - A MYSTERY COMES CALLING As stated previously, MEM #1 was retained by me as a control. Although certain member of my extended family have experienced unusual personal events, my own life has been relatively free of inexplicable phenomena. Early on, I had anticipated that if "control" MEMs exhibited sticks, in frequency comparable to "experiencers" MEMs, then any link between magnetic fields and anomalous events would likely be a matter of certain individual's sensitivity to widely occurring magnetic phenomena. If, on the other hand, control MEMs may be dealing with something far more intimate and physical. From the twentieth of March until April 29, 1993, my MEM remained undisturbed and un-stuck. Upon waking on the morning of 4-30, I discovered a stick. I could recall no unusual events from the previous night, and felt sure that a stray bump to the bookcase must have caused the stick. I reset the MEM. The following morning, May 1st, I found my MEM pointer to be stuck once again. A third stick was discovered on the morning of May 7. I suspected that perhaps stray air currents were disturbing the MEM pointer, as I was not using a cover at the time. A large cup was placed over the MEM. On the morning of May 9 and again on the morning of May 15, sticks were discovered. Another was observed in the late afternoon of May 17, although later that evening, my spouse informed me that she had jostled the bookcase while cleaning. After May 17, I took the plastic cup back off, feeling that it had no effect on MEM sticks, and only made the MEM harder to observe. From May 17 until September, MEM #1 continued to register sticks. I have tabulated these events as follows. The indicated date reflects the date of discovery. "D" or "N" represent a "daytime" stick discovered in the evening or afternoon; or a "nocturnal" stick discovered in the morning. Starting June, I also began to record the "handedness" of the stick. (As determined by which way the end of the pointer closest to a north facing observer had swung).
Throughout the spring and summer, I strove to find a connection between MEM sticks and mundane phenomena. I ascertained what level of shaking the bookcase was necessary to cause a stick. I also semi-quantified the strength of drafts needed to move the MEM pointer. I became convinced soon away that there were not culprits. Heavy trucks passing on the street or low flying crop dusters did not cause a deflection. Even turning house circuit breakers off and on with loading did not create enough of an H field disturbance to move the pointer. No heavy appliances or steel masse sare within five meters of the MEM, and no ferrous plumbing exists in that part of my house! I was perplexed. By September, I felt that I, at least, should devise a plan to find out exactly WHEN sticks were occuring. This would hopefully provide clues to the cause of the sticks. From September 19 to September 25, I took my MEM down for retro-fitting. Small aluminum foil tabs were attached to the MEM pointer and side-arms. Fine wires were connected to either arm and strung behind the bookcase and along the wall to my bedstand. Here, a nine volt battery and a load miniature piezo alarm were connected. A solid deflection of the MEM pointer would now complete a circuit and set off an alarm loud enough to "wake the dead"! The retro-fitted MEM was placed back into its' original position, and set. By October 1, five nights had elapsed without a MEM alarm. During the night of October 1/2 I recall slipping in and out of some light non-descript dreams. Suddenly I was awakened by a quick double beep from the MEM alarm. Apparently the point had swung, rebounded, and swung again before coming back to a neutral hanging position. I sat up in bed. For a moment I remember seeing a dim flash of light through the blinds, like the faintest of faraway lightning. However, without my glasses, I am extremely myopic, and I saw no details. I turned to look at my bedside clock. It was 0325, October 2. I proceeded to walk through the entire house. All was quiet and normal. The dogs were silent on the back porch. A cursory check out the front door revealed neither visibly amiss, or any audible indications of traffic or airplane. By 0345, I had returned to bed. On October 4, I removed my MEM, and installed another compass type magnetic field detector. This unit, which I called the optomem, consisted of a freely handing magnetized pointer which when oriented N-S, cuts the beam of an opto-coupler. Any deflection of more than about 5 degrees by the point causes the opto coupled transistor and diode to make contact and set off my bedside piezo alarm. I felt that the new optomem would be more sensitive and versatile than the old MEM. A large plastic bowl was placed over the optomem to shield out drafts. (Which the new unit was more susceptible to). Early in the morning of October 8, I was awakened by a loud beep, of about 1 second duration, from my alarm. I turned to look at the clock and was astonished to find the time to be 0325! Once again, a house check revealed nothing. I had just climbed back into bed, when at 0338, a second beep occurred! Annoyed, I disconnected one of the leads on the piezo alarm. (I have to get up at 0500!) The "wake up calls" continued. I began to use the optomem intermittently, disconnecting it on some nights. My sleep requirements were being sorely denied! At no time when beeps occured did any other confirmable unusual event or condition appear. They just happened. The following table shows that these nocturnal alarms followed a very distinct pattern:
Note A - On this night, I had disconnected the piezo alarm. At about 0130, my wife and I were awakened by the sound of our youngest son crying upstairs. The stairway light, which we leave on as a nightlight, and which Deb and I both recalled being on when we retired, had been turned off. My wife turned the light back on and comforted our son. For curiosities sake, I reconnected the piezo alarm. At 0200 it went off with a "standard" one second beep. I re-disconnected the alarm. The nature of the alarms I was registering suggested the following characteristics of the force causing them: A. The single one second beep indicated a transient magnetic field or pulse of short duration. (>1 second). A longer field dwell time would have caused the point to stay defected for a greater period of time. B. Unless we are, or were, dealing with an intense H field rising and falling over a minuscule period (micro-seconds), then it seems likely the peak strength of the transient field would have been in the range of 5 x 103 to 2 x 104 gammas. This was supported by experimental simulation of the "beep" event with a horseshoe magnet and Hall effect gaussmeter. It occured to me that the transient nature of my elisve magnetic "guest" would lend toward inductive coupling into a recording device of some sort! On the evening of October 24, I set up a cassette tape recording in my bedroom about .5 meter from the optomem. An inductive telephone pick up coil was plugged into the recorder. A fresh, low noise C-60 cassette tape was loaded and the recorder was set to "record". The tape recorder was plugged into an appliance timer which was set to come on at 0315. The plan was to have the tape automatically start rolling at 0315 and record any signals received inductively by the pickup coil. The recorder would shut off at 0345. All was quiet until 0155. The optomem beeped once. Another 1 second beep occurred at 0205, a third at 0207 and a fourth at 0213. Cursing, I undid the piezo alarm. I had intended to leave the optomem on through the recording period, but I desperately needed by sleep! The tape rolled at about 0317 and shut off at 0347. Later in the day I played the tape back over a monaural player at high volume. No strong audio indications of an inductively received signal were noted. However, at one point in the tape, barely above the background hiss and hum, a short (<200mS) "chirp" was heard. I played the chirp back into a storage oscilloscope, however I could not trigger the scope to store the trace because of its' low amplitude. Visually, one perceives a tone burst, about 200mS wide containing a tone of about 50KHz. It is noteworthy that this tiny audio event falls at about T+10 min. into the tape, placing it at about 0325-0327. From October 25 to November 2, I ran my audio cassette nightly. Additionally, an old single pen chart recorder was set up across the room from the optomem, with a 1500 OHM pickup coil fed into the chart recorders 0-10 mV input. The chart recorder was run nightly with a chart speed of 2 inches per hour. No chart deflections or audio-tape signals were noted, nor did the optomem go off. On November 2, the opportunity came around, in my eyes, to learn a little more about the transient field. At 0200, November 3, we in Ohio would set our clocks back one hour. It would be valuable to observe the time of occurrence of any further transients. If the signals continued to occur at 0315 to 0345, then I would infer that their source was probably artificial and tied to the local schedule. If, however, the signals began to show up at 0415 to 0445, then the source would not be tied to a man-made or local time "clock". Before retiring, I disconnected both the tape player and the chart recorder. I had the vague, though unscientific, feeling that the transient had been actively avoiding any detection beyond the scope of the optomem. In the wee hours I was awakened by a "standard" 1 second beep. My bedside clock read 0226. Thirteen minutes later, at 0239, a second beep occurred. I disconnected the alarm, and went back to sleep whilst feeling a bit like the target of an unseen joke. As I write this summary, it is the seventh of February. Since that night of the time change, I have received no optomem alarms. Very recently, I dismantled the optomem, and placed the old MEM back on my bookshelf. My invisible guest, the magnetic event, has gone. What Has Been Learned? In the strictest scientific sense, we must admit that few solid conclusions may be drawn from the MEM project. Primarily, this is due to the many caveats and logistical loopholes which become apparent during the course of the project. I feel confident, however, that some reasonable evidence has presented itself for the following: 1. Mechanical magnetic event markers set up in the residence of experiencers of unusual personal events (units #'s 2,4,5,9,11,13,15), tended to register multiple deflections over a period of several months. Most of these deflection occurred nocturnally. Additionally, most deflections were noted on mornings following nights when unusual events occurred, or were thought to occur. 2. MEMs set up by non-experiencers (unit #'s 3,8,10,12), remained mostly undisturbed and non-deflected. We should note, however, that MEM #1 which was thought to be a non-experiencer control (me!), registered some very vigorous and unusual activity. 3. In two instances where MEMs were placed in nearby or adjacent residences, (#1/#8 and #11/#12), one MEM deflected and the other did not. We could infer that the force responsible for the deflection is very localized, possibly "in-house". It would be wrong to disregard several other key observations which were admittedly more speculative and esoteric: A. The personally observed and measured magnetic anomaly and the Green residence may have been directly related to the single MEM stick there, and the accompanying unusual event. B. The Green anomaly may have corollaries with the apparent residual effects observed by Brown, Pink, and Indigo. C. Brown and Pink independently conveyed testimony about the overwhelming "mental commands" or urge to jimmy or destroy their MEMs. To quote Miss Pink, "they don't like it!" D. The deflections registered by the "Optomem" at my residence seemed to form a consistent pattern of time of occurrence. The 0315 to 0345 motif is very much in character with the 0200-0430 "anomaly window" which many abductees and experiencers have told me about! I cannot claim to know that the unusual actions of the Optomem were indicative of what was "going down" at the other MEM volunteers' residence. If we state that this experiment showed that abduction or unusual events are accompanied by a magnetic disturbance, can more be said? What, if anything, can be gleaned from the evidence to identify the source of this very real magnetic event?
A thorough perusal of several texts on geo-magnetism, failed to provide a mechanism which comfortably fits the above criteria. Disturbances known as micropulsations have the short time period to qualify, but tend to be very weak; ranging from ~1 gammas to about 50 gammas. Giant pulsations, which appear to be related to solar activity are much stronger, but tend to have longer periods and may cover an entire hemisphere. However, we should not rule out a complex, unstudied geomagnetic effect as a possible cause. Perhaps a strong tectonomagnetic pulse could be amplified and focused by ferrous minerals under a house. Then again, why would an event like this occur with time-clock precision on a local human schedule? The MEM project has served its' purpose. We have acquired evidence which suggests that abduction events and related anomalies possess a physical reality in the form of detectable, measurable magnetic field disturbances. Once again, my call to arms goes out! Here is yet another handle with which to grasp the Anomalous. As always, duplication and independent confirmation are essential. The opportunity exists for intrepid researchers to make further discoveries in this genre. Do electrostatic disturbances accompany abductions? Simple aluminum leaf electroscopes could be employed for this. How about placing UV sensitive badges around abductees' bedrooms to check for the presence of UV or Cerenkov radiation? How about army surplus nuclear dosimeter badges to look for ionizing radiation? In keeping with my previous research ethic, I remain personally available as a consultant and source of assistance to the serious investigator who seeks to do work along these lines. Moving with a quiet, determined pace; using simple instruments and cleverness, we will uncover the secrets of this greatest of enigmas. As I close, I would like to extend my deepest thanks to my wife, Deb for tolerating my admittedly peculiar passing time; to Barb, who helped start it all; and to that wonderful Spectrum of volunteers, Red through Indigo, who made the MEM project possible. APPENDIX A SUMMARY OF ANOMALOUS MAGNETIC CONDITION DISCOVERED AT THE RESIDENCE OF MR. GREEN - JULY 1993 (21 SEPTEMBER 1993) On July 15/16, an abduction related anomalous event occurred at the residence of Mr. Green outside of Gibsonburg. The focus of the event seemed to be Green himself. Green phoned me two days after the event, and related such details as he could recall. Grenn remembered having a bizarre nightmare, and recalled being up and moving around the house in the wee hours of the morning. For several days afterward, he said that his penis was inflamed and red. The morning following the event, Green found that his small mechanical magnetic event mark (MEM), had tripped. When I spoke to Green on 18 July, he said that for some reason he was unable to reset the MEM. It seemed to him as though his very body was magnetic or perhaps electrostatically charged. The MEM pointer wanted to stick to his fingers! That evening, I paid Green a visit. I brought along my homemade gaussmeter on the offhand chance that there might be some residual magnetic field in the house. This unit utilized a linear output Hall transducer, the output of which is amplified by an FL357 opamp and is displayed on a small LCD meter. Current calibration is set at 100mV per gauss. At this level the ambient geomagnetic field is around 45 to 55mV on the meter. Upon arriving at Mr. Green's place, we sat down and re-discussed the sequence of events. Following our talk, we proceeded to walk around the house with the gaussmeter. On the first floor, (the house is an older 2-story, recently remodelled), no discernable deviation from ambient level was noticed. As we climbed the stairs, the ambient level rose slightly, to about 65mV. By the time we made the upper landing, the level had settled at about 75 to 80mV. As we walked through each room on the second floor, the gaussmeter held fairly steady. This itself was a little puzzling, because the reading seemed to be rather non-directional. It seemed as though the ambient level had simply increased, maintaining the same directionality as the earth's field. In the second story bathroom, we noted a higher field reading which was due to an electrical fuse box on the wall. The reading in Green's bedroom did not deviate from the enhanced ambient until we neared the room's closet. We opened the bi-fold doors of the closet and explored further. Within the closest was an area of considerably stronger flux density. Green and I spent about 10 minutes carefully examining the situation. We moved clothes and hangers out of the way, and assured ourselves that there were no screws or nails in the vicinity of the high reading. A set of plastics coated set tube shelves was situated about 18 inches away for the area of highest reading, and did not appear to be noticeably magnetized. The magnetic area we discovered had its' locus approximately five feet up from the floor, and about 12 to 14 inches out from the back wall. Moving the gaussmeter around slowly, we discovered the apparent centroid of a spherical field! Maximum reading on the gaussmeter was 110mV, indicating a level of about twice the earth's field. The strength of the field seemed to increase rather abruptly at a point about 6 inches from the centroid. Despite the fact that this is rater un-natural, I was visualizing a sphere or bubble of magnetic flux. This was an anomaly. Magnetic fields do not behave in this fashion. Classically, there are depicted lines of force connecting an N pole and a S pole where static or permanent magnetic fields are concerned. The only analogy which came to mind was the circular magnetic field surrounding a current carrying wire. However, here there was no wire, no current, and the field seemed to be spherical. In all fairness, I cannot rule out the possibility that the gaussmeter was malfunctioning. I find this to be unlikely, though, because the unit worked nicely before I went to the Green's house, and was easily calibrated and zeroed. It has worked fine since. On September 4 I re-visited Mr. Green's home and examined the ambient magnetic conditions once again. No unusual fields were observed on the first floor. The second floor was now down to the same background level as the first, with the exception of the closet anomaly. Opening up the closet doors, I found that some physical re-arranging had been done, and it was a little more difficult to get the original magnetic "bubble". The strength of the field was less now, seemingly, and did not cause the gaussmeter reading to rise over 75mV. It also was apparent that the field was less defined. I discovered that a section of the nearly steel shelving was noticeably magnetized. I have not, at this date, conducted any more experiments at Green's residence. All has been quiet there of late, and his MEM is now resettable. REFERENCES 1. "Are Earth Faults at Fault in Some Poltergeist-Like Episodes:, Michael A. Persinger and Robert A. Cameron. The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research Vol. 80, No. 1 January 1986. 2. "A Hyper-Sensitive UFO Detector", Dan Lloyd. Flying Saucer Review, Vol. 13, No. 2, March-April 1967. 3. "An Investigation of Reported Haunting Occurrences in a Japanese Restaurant In Georgia", B. Brown, W. G. Roll, M. C. Maker. Proceedings of Presented Papers - 35 Anniversary Convention of the Parapsychological Association, Las Vegas, Nevada Aug. 9 - 13, 1992. 4. "A Wave Theory of PSI Energy", William Joines. Research in Parapsychology - 1974, (Research Brief), Edited by J. D. Morris, W. G. Roll, R. L. Morris. Scarecrow Press, 1975. 5. "Geomagnetism", by Sydney Chapman and Julius Bartels. Oxford University Press, Amen House, London 1940. 6. "Introduction to Geomagnetism", by W. D. Parkinson. Scottish Academic Press Ltd. Edinburgh, 1983. 7. "Physics of the Earth - VIII Terrestrial Magnetism and Electricity", Edited by J. A. Fleming, Dover Publications, New York, 1949. CORRECTION AND ADDENDUM - 09 JAN 1995 On 04 January, 1995, I left my place of work and proceeded to the home of a friend who had requested my help in fixing his stereo system. After accomplishing this task, I ate a quick bite with my friend and his wife. During the meal, I noticed that the clock on the kitchen wall said 2115. I was a bit shocked that time had flown by so soon! Knowing full well that I might be in "hot water" with my spouse and kids, I bid my adieu and left. As I drove over the moonlit county roads towards home, I glanced at the dashboard clock of my car and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was only 2025. Knowing that my clock was accurate, I realized that my friend must have neglected to set his kitchen clock back when the time change had occurred earlier in the autumn. Suddenly, my thoughts went back to that event which happened over a year earlier involving the alarm signal given by my "opto-MEM". Early that morning, the beeper had gone off at 0226. I had erroneously assumed that if the "beep", previously occurring in the window between 0315 and 0345 continued to occur after the autumn time change, it would either continue at the 0315 slot or would be shifted to 0415. I had reasoned that if the beep time remained the same, then the cause of the alarm was something tied to the local time and was probably of artificial origin. Conversely, if the beep occurred at 0415, then it's cause was some force not on the local schedule; something not "man-made", possibly geomagnetic or atmospheric. I had placed this projected time wrongly! For some reason, I was backwards. Actually, an event resulting from an "external" cause SHOULD have occurred in the 0215 window, which was the case on 02 Nov. 1993 (0226, 0239). I plead that the reader will have mercy on me for this error, yet two interesting points arise in light of it: 1. Why did the opto-MEM activity cease after the final 0226 / 0239 event (02/11/93)? 2. Since the spring of 1994, probably over 200 individuals, many of them with scientific backgrounds had the chance to read and review The Magnetic Event. (It was not published, but only privately distributed). To date, no one apparently has caught the error!!! Or if they did, it was not brought to my attention... To any who found this mistake and who were unable to contact me, I give my congratulations. |
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gammas.