There is a reason I retired after being a UK police forces exotic fauna advisor. Anyway, if I learnt one thing between 1975-2007 it was that you need scale to estimate a cat's size.
This cat does not look in the least bit melanistic (black) but seems to have a mottled pattern. Could be one of the smaller "non native" cats.
Seriously, all the data shows these cats have been around and breeding since "at least" the 19th century -the police know it, the farmers and villagers know it, naturalists know it but we have to say "non native" because first the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries & Food (MAFF) and then the Department for Environment Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) say they are not there. Ask DEFRA about the drawer full of "big cat" paw print casts in Bristol. I was shown them by accident in 1998.
"Hybrid of a wild and
domesticated cat".......utter s**t water.
Big cat sightings: 'Huge' black beast photographed stalking through suburban gardens
ByTom Bevan
Carole Desforges spotted the mystery animal prowling on the lawn opposite her home on the outskirts of Plymouth in Devon
Beast: Some are questioning whether this strange creature could be the latest big cat sighting
Strange images of a huge black beast stalking through suburban gardens could be fresh evidence of big cats on the loose in Britain.
Office
worker Carole Desforges spotted a mystery animal prowling on the lawn
opposite her home on the outskirts of Plymouth in Devon.
She managed to get a few snaps of it through the window before it ran off.
Carole, 59, first thought it was just a fox - but having reviewed her pictures she is now not so sure.
Some friends have suggested it could be a puma, lynx, leopard - or an unknown beast of Plymouth.
But Carole said: " I guess it remains a mystery.
"I enjoy the speculation about it all.
"I don't know what it is, but people have been suggesting it could be some kind of big cat.
"A puma or a lynx have both been mentioned.
"I don't know what it is, but I have never seen anything like it before.
"I was in the living room and saw something blurry outside through the living room door.
"I grabbed my phone and took a picture.
"I originally thought it was a fox but since I shared the photo, people have been having all sorts of ideas."
Her son Dave Desforges added: "Mum might think it's a fox, but I am not convinced."
Latest figures show there have been an estimated 200 big cat sightings in Devon and Cornwall over the last 13 years.
A tiger was said to have been spotted in Exmouth in Devon.
A puma was spotted in Efford by a Plymouth man who called to report it to police.
The number of calls, which hit 220, peaked in 2001 when there were 30 in a year.
Four
people have also reported to the emergency services they believe their
livestock could have been killed by big cats thanks to claw marks on the
corpses.
Not all sightings are reported to police, with some going straight to big cat groups.
Danny
Bamping of the British Big Cat Society said: "In Britain 75 per cent of
the reports are of big black cats, but the unanswered question is what
they are.
"There's no doubt in my mind that there could be black
leopards, but the animal seen was possibly a hybrid of a wild and
domesticated cat."
Oh, a few years back there were black foxes in Devon but I've not heard from
the lady down there since 2006? A white one was running about
Cambridgeshire in the late 1990s.
Yes, fox cubs are born black and here you can see why that other fox
item tells of the black fox dying. Its mother probably got killed and it
hadn't learnt the skills to survive.
Published:
17:42, 27 March 2012
| Updated:
02:06, 28 March 2012
According to legend, a black fox
brings bad luck, but an amateur photographer could hardly believe his
good fortune when he spotted the rare animal near his house.
It is believed to be only the second time a black fox has been spotted in Britain. John Moore, 58, from Bassingbourn, near
Royston, Herts, saw the creature, with its distinctive white-tipped
tail, in fields behind his home.
Killed: The black fox, with its distinctive white-tipped tail, runs through a field close to the village
Bad omen? The accident happened on a busy road in Bassingbourn just four days after the fox was first spotted
Unusual: The black fox is so rare - with the
colouring caused by a defect gene - that there are only a handful of the
breed left in the country
Lucky: John Moore from Bassingbourne in Cambridgeshire
His wife Cheryl, 64, first spotted what she thought to be a black sack blowing in the wind last week.
Mr Moore then spotted it for himself last Thursday but it has disappeared by the time he managed to get his camera out.
He then spent four days watching for
the black fox, which has a distinctive white-tipped tail and is believed
to be one of just a handful in the country.
'I've heard black foxes are mythical creatures because they supposedly don't exist,' he said.
'My
neighbour thought it was a stray dog but I looked through my binoculars
and realised it was definitely a fox, especially because of its
white-tipped tail.
'I
didn't realise how rare it was until I did some research. An RSPCA
officer told my neighbour the organisation had never seen one before as
they are that rare.
The black fox is
in fact an ordinary red fox which has black fur or is going through a
phase where the colour of its fur is particularly dark.
The phenomenon is normally seen in growing cubs and generally the fox will develop to have a dark chestnut coat. But
a few red foxes will remain black due to a rare genetic flaw dating
back hundreds of years. Only a handful of them are thought to exist in
Britain.
Unwelcome sight: In medieval times, the black fox was considered a bad omen by superstitious villagers
Colouring: The black fox is in fact an ordinary
red fox which has black fur or is going through a phase where the colour
of its fur is particularly dark
WHY DOES THE BLACK FOX REPRESENT BAD LUCK?
In Gaelic tradition, black foxes are
bringers of bad luck.
Rural communities used to tell of a fox as
'black as night, so that it could live in a man's shadow and never be
seen.'
Centuries-old superstitions are often found attached to black animals, such as black dogs and black cats. It is thought to originate from when the black dog was said to bring disaster and doom to whoever saw the animal. In Medieval times, villages were very afraid of the sighting of a black fox and considered it to predict trouble or bad luck.
In North America, foxes with black coats are often found with a variable amount of white or white-banded hair in the dark coat.
Mr Moore added: 'I first saw the black fox last week so when it appeared again yesterday I was ready with my camera.
'I managed to get within 100 metres of it but then it ran off.
'I was really pleased with the photos. I wanted to get them because when we spotted it before no one believed us.
'They thought we must have been mistaken, but from these pictures there's no mistaking it.'
Mr Moore even believes there is a second black fox living in the fields. 'I caught a glimpse of a second one but I'm not sure if it's a cub or a male and female fox,' he added.
The
red fox was introduced to America by the peans and black foxes exist in
much greater numbers there because they were not hunted as widely.
In the UK their pelts were highly prized in the fur trade and it is believed the genetic strain became much scarcer.
Only one other black fox has been spotted in Britain before in Preston, Lancashire in 2008. Some people took it as a bad omen as only a few weeks later the banks in Britain nearly collapsed. But it seems the bad luck was turned inwards and a few weeks later a woman found the dead animal on her farm in Heapey, near
Chorley, Lancashire, after it had been seen by neighbours hanging around
the area, looking gaunt.
Omen: Only one other black fox has been spotted
in Britain before in Preston, Lancashire in 2008 in a graveyard - but it
was found dead weeks later
Kevin
Hehir, 48, from Ribbleton in Preston, spotted the animal on September 8
whilst he was out walking and managed to take pictures and record
footage. At the time,
he said: 'I thought it was the Devil looking at me. Then I thought,
"It's a myth, there's no such thing". But I managed to get right up to
it and it's definitely a young black fox.' On
hearing it had died, he added: 'What a shame. At the time it looked
weary and like it was on its last legs. I'm pleased that I managed to
get a picture of it. Far from being unlucky for me it brought the
sunshine and dry weather for the harvest.' *************************************************************
I know I make these appeals now and then and I never ever get any responses but if I am one thing it is thick persistent.
If you live within the City and County of Bristol, I would very much like to hear from you if you have seen a UFO. If you have video footage of a UFO. If you believe you live in a haunted house then, again, please get in touch. Strange creature, big cat -let me know.
And if you live in the United Kingdom the same thing applies. I would very much like to hear from witnesses to any of the above and, please, be assured, after a few decades I have heard and seen a lot and I do not laugh at people no matter how odd an event might seem (even to them).
I ought to also point out that I am, as an historian, also interested in hearing of strange or weird events and sightings family members may have had in the past and spoke about -and if there are any photos....!
So, please, if you can help contact me at the usual email rather than public Comments on the blog.
THANKS
A photographs of a captured thylacine from the 1930s
Emily Rothery goes on the trail of a dog-like creature that brought terror to the Lakes
An artist s impression by
Helen Thorburn
There
are many dog-like creatures found in the folklores of northern Britain
and they have some weird and wonderful names - Barquist, Gytrash,
Padfoot, The Grim, Striker or Skriker.
They are names that once
struck fear into the hearts of all who believed in their existence. The
mythical black creature was considered to be an apparition that
appeared at night and was said to portend death. It was reputed to be
much larger than a normal dog with huge glowing eyes and was often
associated with electrical storms and the devil.
They are said to
be myths dating back to Celtic times but in the Lake District in the
early 19th century a mysterious creature known as The Girt Dog of
Ennerdale was eventually found to be an altogether different kind of
hound.
In 1810 a savage predator began mercilessly killing sheep
in the Cumberland valley of Ennerdale. The attacks went on for months
with up to eight sheep a day being slaughtered. Alarm spread, children
were kept inside for safety’s sake and a £10 reward was offered for its
capture.
A thylacine bagged by an Australian hunter
Eventually
it was spotted but it was not what the locals expected. It was
described as having the qualities of both a large cat and a large dog,
tawny in colour with dark stripes running down its back.
Local
farmers and their neighbours abandoned normal duties to track down the
blood-thirsty carnivore, which seemed to have an uncanny ability to
evade capture. It ignored poisoned meat that was put down and led the
hunters a merry dance as they followed it on forays into Wasdale and
then south into Lancashire.
It was said that normally brave
hunting dogs that had been set on its trail would cower and whimper when
a scent was picked up. Thus a belief began to take hold that the
creature was indeed supernatural.
One experienced hunter by the
name of Will Rothery was one of the first to get a clear shot but was so
alarmed as the beast approached that he dropped his musket, lost his
reputation and made a run for it.
As news of the wily predator
spread across the county the locals were joined by professional huntsmen
but still the beast evaded capture until eventually, after a long
chase, the Girt Dog was run to ground and mortally wounded by a man
named John Steel. By this time it was said to have killed 300 sheep and
terrified a whole community.
The Girt Dog’s bloody reign had
come to an end and the carcass, which weighed 112lbs was paraded around
the area before being stuffed and displayed in The Hutton Museum in
nearby Keswick. Unfortunately, in the 1950s a curator decided it was
becoming moth-eaten and threw it out.
It is now commonly believed
that the Girt Dog of Ennerdale was, in fact, a thylacine, a wolf-like
marsupial, also known as a Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf. The exotic
predator had possibly escaped from a travelling menagerie or circus,
but the true origins will never be known for certain.
Hounded out
The
thylacine, commonly known as the Tassie tiger, has been considered
extinct for nearly 80 years but recently a team of intrepid British
naturalists believe that compelling evidence of its presence has been
found in Tasmania’s north west.
It is thought this was a relatively shy, nocturnal creature with a stiff tail and abdominal pouch like a kangaroo.
Its reputation as a sheep thief led to a bounty being placed on its head and this resulted in its likely extinction.
Okay, let us get this straight. It is a popular misconception that in hunting the term "bag" or "bagged" means a shot fox or animal. The term originated in fox hunting where captive foxes were released from sacks ("bags") for hunts. If the houndsmen could get to the fox before the hounds then the fox was "bagged" for the next hunt. This is all detailed in The Red Paper: Canids along with hunting books and literature and examples. http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/the-red-paper-canids/paperback/product-22092321.html
I am also sick and tired that people cannot buy books or do any original research but cite absolute fantasy sources as references.
There was a case in Rogerson's IntCat from 1977 and as I could not find details anywhere else I decided to purchase the source cited by Rogerson -Portraits Of Alien Encounters by Nigel Watson.
The book arrived. I checked the index. No location or source as in IntCat. I read the book. Then re-read it -it is quite a good book and gives a lot of background to some cases that were only mentioned in brief in FSR or BUFORA Journal. So if you can get a copy (published in 1990) I'd recommend it for some fascinating case studies.
However, even on second reading I couldn't find the report. Even Nigel thought it was in the book. So I contacted him again and he checked but could not find it -so he's checking on an article he wrote that might mention the case.
But this is a perfect example of what I wrote about yesterday: you check the original source. In this case, again, the IntCat cited original source...was not. Now if you are putting together a slap-dash potpourri then you can expect this. However, if you are pronouncing on the short-comings of investigators and researchers and cases then you need to make sure that if you are creating a data base those criticisms do not come back to bite your arm-chaired arse.
Yet, several Ufologists suggested that this was a "great" or "worthwhile" catalogue and reliable. And they cite the catalogue -online and in print.
I just hope the more expensive books do contain the reports claimed!
update
In fact the case in question was not in the more expensive book and Nigel Watson could not find any case notes. Unbelievable. This is why critics can so easily dismiss Ufology because they can respond with; "So you made this up? You didn't make it up? So where is the file and case notes?"
As for Rogerson to call him a "sceptic" is an insult to sceptics. A sceptic is someone who follows the trail of evidence whether physical or anecdotal and reaches a conclusion based on that with no prejudice.
A debunker is someone who does not look at evidence and if he/she does and it is not what they want to read will change or put a spin on it so it falls into their outlook on the subject and 'proves' they are right.
Rogerson not only got facts wrong -deliberately or by quoting suspect sources or gave wrong sources. The Emma Funk case he notes was reported on p. 49 of Coral and James Lorensens The New UFO Breakthrough. I knew for a fact that this book was by Brad Steiger and Joan Whritenour and it is a very few brief lines. As a source it is therefore "noted" but offers nothing.
Rogerson's IntCat is full of such glaring errors as well as very biased conclusions and is not really a referable catalogue but more a ramble for debunking.
Seriously, buying old books that are referenced as containing pre-1960s Entity-CE IIIK cases can be a financial drain!
Just got some 1972 editions of the UK mag Gemini and Portraits Of Aliens by Nigel Watson and am awaiting a few books but the biggest addition, though sadly it is digital not print, is the entire British UFO Research Association digital archive going back to 1959.
Lucky since a good few of my original copies were..."purloined" in the 1970s.
Why, why, why will no one take Ufology seriously? Simply because Ufologists make such a mess.
Not only do the Ufologists argue amongst themselves ("well, I never investigated that case so I won't accept it!") but the information they post and publish can be a mess. I have mentioned in other posts a case from 1930 that is quoted and cited repeatedly by people claiming to be credible UFO researchers with many years experience. They will either give a reference of "Rogerson's IntCat"/"Magonia IntCat" or "Jerome Clark -UFO Encyclopaedia" However, not one of them has cited the original source.
When I began working with the late Franklyn A. Davin-Wilson in the 1970s he impressed a point into my brain that has stuck ever since and it is the basic rule of serious research. Brinsley Le Poer Trench give "A" as a reference. You check "A" to see whether it is the original source. If "A" is not the original source then find that original source. So, when you summarise the case you include as many references to that case as you can including the actual source.
Charles Fort (in whose name "Forteans" title themselves but it needs to be pointed out that he did not want this -it was done after his death) was born in 1874 and died in 1932. So a lot of what he thought were mysteries or challenging scientific orthodoxy are things we know about today -whether asteroids or natural phenomena. I love his books -I have a 1942 first printing of The Complete Works Of Charles Fort. However, the man had many thousands of notes and I can tell you, unless you put those notes in order things can go badly wrong.
The "mystery" canids who ran amock in Cavan, Ireland, in the 1870s. Livestock killed, people attacked went insane. My thought? Rabies -it was not that uncommon in mainland Britain in the 19th century. So, I took all of Fort's references. Nothing. I searched newspaper archives. I resorted to asking Dublin Central Library and their archivist checked -nothing in newspapers on the date given, day before or after. So, the "asylum" where some of these "mad folk" were taken. Had quite a dialogue with the hospital archivist and historian -nothing in the records that he could find after a search.
But Fort gave the newspaper titles as well as dates and locations. Fort was either having a laugh and realised no one would check -perhaps proving a point he was making?- or had completely screwed up his references. It's all detailed in my Canids book.
Also, because I went to the original sources and trawled through archives rather than just copy what someone else had written not only did I prove beyond doubt that the "Girt Dog of Ennerdale" was not what Forteans and "cryptozoologists" claim -either a Tasmanian wolf (Thylacine), tiger or a "cryptid" but a very large dog. I also dug out details on the coyotes of Epping Forest -including an illustration of one that was captured. I dug up photographs of the mystery sheep killer of Badminton and much more and I fully referenced everything so other researchers can check. If you have a vested interest in selling books or polishing your ego my declaring things a mystery or, ridiculously, a "cryptid" then you like to keep the lies going. And people accept them as fact.
Now, I have done similar with accounts of unknown sea creatures and even the paranormal, hoping that if I dig deep enough I would find facts that could not be explained away and have solid data to go on. But no. It has taken me 30-45 years in some cases to track down facts and present a case and offer an explanation. I hated this but I then realised that only by sorting through the lies and false data would I get facts -through knowledge the truth.
I guess that's why I am not popular with "cryptozoologists", "paranormalists" and their ilk. If they want to believe utter rubbish to make their lives brighter then let them but I'll not humour them.
The same applies to Ufology. P.C. Alan Godfrey was allegedly abducted by aliens at Todmorden, Yorkshire, 1980. Hypnosis was used but even he says he is not that convinced by what came out under hypnosis -is it true, imagination? He has no idea. When you have 'investigators' who just have percipients hypnotised and the sessions video taped and collect those tapes, releasing no full case notes then you immediately have to give those reports a very low credibility rating. If you really want to have a collection go for porcelain pigs because what you are doing is contributing nothing that serious scientists or researchers can study.
"One of the
most unique accounts of alien abduction comes to us from the Ilkley Moor
in
Yorkshire, England. The witness and subject of this case is a former
policeman named Philip Spencer. Spencer claims that in the early morning
of December 1, 1987, he was taken aboard an unidentified flying craft,
and after his release managed to snap a picture of one of the alien
beings.
The Ilkley Moor is very much as you would picture it. Reminiscent of the
setting of the moors of Baskerville Hall in Conan Doyle's "Hound of the
Baskervilles," it is an eerie place. It has been said that "The Ilkley
Moor can scare you to death during daylight, and at night it's even
worse."
It is a place of mystery. There is the Swastika stone;
boulders etched with strange markings; the Badger Stone; and the Twelve
Apostles stone circle.
Many times the only living creatures on the moor are the sheep. Ilkley
has other legends too, like the hovering lights at night, which bring
occasional reports of UFOs. There are strange, swirling lights that are
filtered through the fog and seem to have a mind of their own. Possibly
some of the mysterious sights can be attributed to the not too distant
Menwith Hill Military Base, or the nearby Leeds Bradford Airport.
The activities of these two facilities will not, however, explain what
happened to Spencer. There were also stories of strange creatures that
roam across the moor at times.
After four years of being a policeman in another city, Spencer had moved
his wife and child to the Yorkshire area to be closer to her family. He
was walking across
the moor on this December morning heading for his father-in-law's house
and on the way was hoping to get some photographs of the strange light
tricks of the moor. To be able to get the images he desired he was using
a high ASA rated film to compensate for the poor light in the area.
Unfortunately,
the picture that he took was somewhat blurred, but there is no doubt
that the creature in the photo is a one of a kind being which basically
resembled the small grays.
Along with his camera, Spencer also took a compass to navigate through
the fog before sufficient daylight shone through the moor. As he was
searching for some photo angles, suddenly he caught the sight of a
strange looking being in the slopes ahead of him. He aimed and snapped a
picture of the creature which seemed to be gesturing for him to stay
away.
It then ran away. Spencer gathered his wits and took off in
pursuit of the being. Today he says he doesn't know why. It was just an
impulse reaction. He arrived just in time to get a glimpse of a flying
craft with a domed top rise up from the moor and disappear into the sky.
Atop the dome was a whitish square. He was not able to get a photograph
of the object.
There was silence now. When he saw nothing else of the being or its
craft, he began to walk to the nearest village. This walk took about 30
minutes, and during this time, a couple of thingsf things became apparent to
him. First of all, his compass now pointed south instead of north, and
secondly, the village clock showed the time an hour ahead of his... Spencer was confused now. Did he see what he thought he saw?
To
answer this burning question, he headed by bus to the nearest town with
instant film development. Sure enough, he had a picture of the
creature! It looked to be about 4 foot tall, and had a blue-green tint
to its skin. He knew he had something of importance, or at least, he
thought he did. He found the proper channels to contact UFO investigator
Peter Hough.
Hough knew what he was hearing was a "too good to be true" case, and it
worried him, but after meeting Spencer, he was convinced that he was a
man of integrity and was not seeking fame or fortune for his picture.
There was no reason to not believe what Spencer had told him. Hough
began a thorough investigation. The film with the alien picture would be
the first thing to undergo professional scrutiny.
The alien picture was first looked at by a wildlife photography expert.
The object in the image was not an animal of any known kind. It could
not be determined either way if the figure was animate or static. A
reconstruction of the original site did establish the alien's height at
or near 4 and one half feet.
The photograph was next sent to
Kodak laboratories in Hemel, Hempstead. An analysis showed that the
object was indeed part of the original photo, and not superimposed. This
conclusion did not, of course, determine what the creature was.
Next, the picture was sent to the United States for computer enhancement
and analysis. Dr. Bruce Maccabee, optical physicist with the United
States Navy rendered his expert opinion;
He stated that the slow film speed used for the low light conditions
made the film too grainy for proper testing. "I had great hopes that
this case would prove definitive. Sadly circumstances prevent it from
being so," Maccabee stated.
Something strange was noticed in the picture. Appearing on the hill at
exactly the spot where Spencer says the UFO was is a white square. Could
it be that he had gotten a part of the UFO in the shot unknowingly? He
was not sure." But trying to find out whether there was a transcript of the hypnosis session looking at the one missing hour threw up all sorts of junk. Where was the second photo showing the sqyare UFO? No one knows. No one answers emails it seems. In fact, some sites state no second photo was taken. If you look at the "I'm a Skeptic -Pay Attention To Me!" pages you usually find they resort to insults or bad language which puts them in the same category as the "pro-UFO" people. One skeptic mentioned that this photo meant that P.C. Alan Godfrey's abduction case was now shaky since he claimed to accidentally bump into a UFO and entity on the moor. Yes, it was another "WTF?" moment. What? How? When? Who the hell said this??? Well, it appears that Ufologists, particularly in the United States, do not understand Police Forces in the UK. It is not one force covering "the quaint little country" but many regional police forces and rules and regulations can vary between each. So, it seems some read "Police Constable Alan Godfrey, Yorkshire" and then "a former policeman named Philip Spencer. Yorkshire" and there it was. The pseudonym (as the percipient was hoping to join the local force having moved from another area so wanted no Godfrey type press!) "Philip Spencer" was "so" similar to "Alan Godfrey" (real name) that it must be Godfrey who took the photo.
At times it gets so frustrating. I found UFO discussion forums that I normally try avoiding, referring to Alan Godfrey taking the photo. One person asked "Why are we suddenly talking about Alan Godfrey and the Ilkley photo?" No responses. So, folks, Alan Godfrey did not take the photo.
Personally, even without seeing all the cropped/enhanced/"images based on" guff had my doubts. I still do. To just write "I spoke to this guy. He seems nice. He's got a very poor quality photo but he's an ex-policeman so it seems genuine" is like Desmond Leslie saying "George Adamski is a nice guy. Genuine. These are crap photos but he was in space, you know. He is genuine"...you get the point?
Without full transcripts or access to percipients Godfrey and Spencer are both given low ratings -Godfrey isn't sure about what came out under hypnosis even!
I will not refer to David Haisell and the Gerry Armstrong case (though it does point to "how to do everything wrong" if you are interested). But if our main bulk of data on UFO abductions in the UK is to be based upon a few scraps a writer has seen on a video tape or from a session sat in on then it means UK research and investigation is no such thing. An 'investigator' who plies their trade and makes a living from writing and selling books is going for the "money-maker" and stuff the facts. This is not how it works in serious research and investigation.
The middle class, middle aged 'schoolboys' who like to claim notoriety from saying "its all rubbish" because they ignore any real work that involves them moving from their comfie chairs are simply asses who think dropping in the odd insult or name call will make them appear "hardcore" -these people and their sites and a waste of time. If they find all of this a huge laugh and ridiculous why spend so much time contributing nothing? If you have a web page and you are a "skeptic" but ignore any data that challenges your explanation then you are as bad who believes "in AD 9 a giant red mother ship was seen over Italy and released many scout craft" is fact. Read the account in the original text where the word used is "burning shield" (in other words meteorite).
In one morning in 1980 I was double checking accounts Desmond Leslie gave in The Flying Saucers Have Landed and within two hours threw it onto the floor with a note taped to the cover (I think the note is still there) which had written on it: "Never EVER even think about using this as a reference source!" You see, cases clearly reported as meteorites and other natural phenomena were being re-worded so that "a fiery spear cut through the sky" became "a mother-ship". And those Leslie quotes are still being cited by "Ufologists" over thirty years on.
And then we have the "gods" of Ufology. Jacques Vallee I once held as the Ufologist whose example should be followed. But just basic checking of his books - Challenge To Science, UFOs In Space: Anatomy of A Phenomenon and Passport To Magonia- showed that the theories and speculation were founded on totally erroneous data. Even sources that were suspect when Vallee wrote the books were cited. What seemed to be more like a natural light phenomena were mixed in as were reports of seemingly solid craft (flying saucers) which meant that, of course, you could not find a solution or the truth to "UFOs" or "flying Saucers".
Sugar. Paper. Cabbage. Come up with a theory that makes sense.
All of Vallee's work seems to be based on a mix of nonsense but he is Jacques Vallee so Ufologists do not question his work. He wrote it. It's a fact. It does not meanthat there are no interesting cases cited in his books but the actual sources for each need to be checked. Vallee's work has spawned a whole heap of work by others who just jumble up faery stories and folklore and UFO accounts (some not even 50% accurate) and shout "Vallee was right!"
And then we have "Ultra-Terrestrials" and cosmic jokers thanks to John Keel. Yeah, I would put my life on the line based on his information. You realise I'm being sarcastic? Keel was a journalist and writer who found out very early on just what sells. It was how he made his living. Again, love his books because they are like a big adventure story but, as I found, not all the things he wrote about were 100% accurate in detail. Misquotes was a good one or, again, using sources that were known to be disreputable as factual.
One idea that the British Army, during World War II, set up a UFO investigation was utterly ridiculous. Firstly, as Air Vice Marshal Sir Victor Goddard pointed out to me, and also in print, he was in charge of RAF Intelligence and the RAF would have been the body to carry out such an investigation. It did not beyond the usual questioning of pilots who saw "foo-fighters". But the biggest argument against a UFO study taking personnel and money was the War. I spoke to Sir Victor and later others who had high rank during the Second World War and they all said the same thing and I paraphrase here: "At that time we were expexting an all-out German invasion. We knew that we could not expect to survive when that happened. To suggest that at that time we were going to launch a full investigation into someone seeing a light is ridiculous"
Ancient Astronauts. Oh don't get me started. I would never say that extra-terrestrials had never visited Earth in the past but, really, stating like lobotomised fools that every one of Humankinds achievements were down to aliens is insulting to peoples of the past and present. And, despite churning out these images of "ancient alien visitors" what else are "Ancient Astronaut Theorists" (?!) doing? They are looking for any image they can interpret as "Grey Aliens".
If a Fool leads a Fool you can bet that eventually there will be a whole gang of fools bumping into walls. Hard evidence? None. Star Child Hoax is just that -it's in my last book, you know.
And we have this argument that you must declare which UFO origin theory you support. Now, that means if you go into reports you will only look at cases or 'evidence' that supports your theory. This is not scientific in any way. It is a hobbyist outlook.
You can say "I've always thought the Extra Terrestrial Hypothesis was solid" and you can go and select the cases you want. You may make a good case but the evidence has to come from double and triple checked and reliable sources. "John Keel wrote that this case---" Get out, now!
A popular expression amongst Ufologists at the moment is to accuse someone of "attempting to re-invent the UFO wheel" which means that if you have found data bases to be very untrustworthy and want to cooperate with other researchers in building up a more accurate data base, free to all to use as they will, you are "trying to re-invent the UFO wheel". It is very insulting to say the least and I think that is how it is intended to be taken.
You see, if you point out that a data base has flaws in case details, non-existent reference or poor reference sources and a mix of cases from various subjects thaty makes a totally incredibly bad data base and the response is "So what?" You have to wonder how credible those "researchers" are.
When you say fully co-operate and exchange data so everyone has the same data base that each can add to or point out known explanations to referenced cases. It is simple. It is how scientists and researchers co-operate in a study. When some of those researchers state it is not important to have the original source of a case "because blah-blah" didn't need to givev that type of information well....
Yarmouth, June 22, 1957. Three 7 feet tall creatures resembling bananas exiyed from a dome flying saucer and spoke unintelligibly to a farmer before re-entering the flying saucer and departing. Source: private.
Was that true? Who reported it? Has the account been published and if so when, by whom in what publication? Well, hey, this is me so it's a fact, Okay? AND there is a photo (slightly enhanced)
I have been investigating and studying UFO reports and entity-CE IIIK cases since 1974. It took less than a day when I was compiling case data for the AOP UFO study to realise several phenomena were mixed into the bag and so I seperated the reports then, establishing A, B and C.
I went to look for data supporting A -found it.
For B -found plenty.
For C -the misidentifications, hoaxes, false reporting by UFO writers -a great deal of data. Any serious researcher should be able to do that. But in 1983 I was told by the "darling of UK Ufology" "I know this"....but damn if the darling did not carry on ignoring the facts "known". With others I was "too nuts and bolts".
Am I pro-ETH? Am I pro "UFOs of the mind"? Am I pro-cosmic joker or the "Magonia connection"? No. I have ideas and theories but I do not taint the work I do by going and looking for reports to back up my theory. I assess all reports without bias and to try to draw me out and say I support "this" or "that" shows researchers are not being serious.
When I get to the point that I think I have enough data to support a theory then I will publish that theory with fully referenced case sources. In 2016 I am hoping that my work on a theory pertaining to the current abduction nphenomenon will be ready to publish. When it is I expect to be one of the most hated people around.
But if you are a Ufologist, a cryptozoologist, paranormalist or any other kind of "ist" and you are serious then you check every reference source even if it means hours trawling through newspaper archives or musty old books. A report that has not been checked out is a report that should never be used.
An artist s impression by 
Seriously, buying old books that are referenced as containing pre-1960s Entity-CE IIIK cases can be a financial drain!
There was silence now. When he saw nothing else of the being or its
craft, he began to walk to the nearest village. This walk took about 30
minutes, and during this time, a couple of things