CONTENTS

For September, 1963

 

 

NONVIOLENT TENSION   ..............................................................................................             2

SPEAK KINDLY TO THE ANTS   ..................................................................................             3

AN EXPERIMENT IN ESP   ............................................................................................             4

world report   ...........................................................................................................             6

SAYRE, PA., UNDERSTANDING UNIT OFFICERS   ................................................             10

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING   ....................................................................................             10

book reviews   ............................................................................................................             12

Poet’s corner   ..........................................................................................................             13

bulletin board   ........................................................................................................             14

 

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THE STAFF

 

EDITOR ........................................................................................... Dr. DANIEL W. FRY

asst. editor .............................................................................   cleve twitchell

circulation manager ...........................................................  edna basmajian

staff artist ...................................................................................  gus tanasale

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UNDERSTANDING

VOLUME VIII                               SEPTEMBER, 1963                                 NUMBER 9

Dedicated to the propagation of a better understanding among all the peoples of the earth, and of those who are not of earth.

 

NONVIOLENT TENSION

Last month we were discussing an article by the Rev. Martin Luther King, American Negro leader, written while he was imprisoned at Birmingham, Alabama, following a civil rights demonstration. In it he outlined the feelings of the American Negro and explained why he thought direct action in the form of demonstrations in U. S. cities was necessary to gain more equality for the colored race.

The racial issue aside, Dr. King makes one point in this article which it might be well for many of us in the New Age field to ponder. He says, "You may well ask `Why direct action! Why sit-ins, marches, etc.? Isn't negotiation a better path?' You are exactly right in your call for negotiation. Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored.

"I just referred to the creation of tension as a part of the work of the nonviolent resister. This may sound rather shocking. But I confess that I am not afraid of the word tension. I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth.

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"Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must, see the need of having nonviolent gadflies to create a tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.''

In the new age field, we hear so much about high vibration and harmony that we tend to come to the conclusion that the ideal state of existence is one in which tension and disagreement cease to exist. Such a state sounds appealing, but the danger in looking upon it as an ideal is that when disharmony and disagreement creep into new age groups-something that almost inevitably happens from time to time-the participants become discouraged and say to themselves, "Well, if we can't have harmony among ourselves all the time, then we might just as well give up the idea of having an organization at all. "

Dr. King has a point when he says that there is a type of nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth.

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SPEAK KINDLY TO THE ANTS

Two hundred or more years ago when people believed in witches, communication with animals was suspected of being the work of the devil. But I have proved, to my own satisfaction, at least, that such communication depends on complete absence of hate or antagonism, and the presence of an encompassing love. My friend Faith insisted on this, when she taught me to rid my home of ants.

Faith had invited me to lunch with her in her home. As I sat down to my place at her table, a fly buzzed around my head, and I batted at it with my hand. Faith got up from her chair.

"I thought they were all out," she said, without irritation. "Come here, little fly, and sit on my nice warm arm and I'll take you outside."

To my complete amazement, the fly, after hovering a second, alighted on the upheld arm. Faith carried it to the door and let it go.

SEPTEMBER, 1963                  3

"I had a visitation of ants this morning, too," she said casually. "I just asked them to leave, and they went."

After I recovered slightly, I asked how she did it.

"They are God's creatures, just as you and I are," she told me. "remembering that Love is the center of Life, you speak to them as equal in God's plan, and without anger or irritation."

The incident was forgotten, until long after the visit. One day, shortly after I had moved into a new house, I found a procession of tiny invaders crossing my kitchen floor and climbing to the sink where cookie crumbs had been scattered by a small grandson. My first thought was extermination, and then I remembered Faith and her lesson. I leaned over the busy little workers and spoke.

"You are God's creatures and I love you," I said. "But I am Cool's child, too, and this is my home. You do not belong here. I ask you to go to your home and leave mine. Please go home, now." I said the words aloud and watched. At first nothing happened, and I repeated my request. Then one tiny creature appeared confused, and turned back. Believing my message had been received, I went away, but I first removed the temptation of the sweet crumbs. When I came back an hour later, they were all gone, and they did not return.

Alice is a fire watcher in the San Bernardino mountains. She talks to the birds, telling them to come for food. Humming birds buzz her, when the syrup container she bangs in a tree near her cat walk is empty. One afternoon she noticed that a rock seemed to have changed shape. Presently the added shadow moved, and she saw the wide cat, head of a puma, or mountain lion. Leaning over the elevated railing, she spoke to it.

"You don't belong Here," she said. "You'll scare the deer and I want them. Please go away." The shadow departed and she never saw it again.

Rose lives in the mountains in summer. When she and her husband first moved into their summer place, the area was infested with rattlesnakes, close to the house. Rose was afraid to go out of the cabin, afraid that one of the reptiles might get in an open door. She went out on the cement terrace one day and spoke.

"There is lot of room for you farther up the mountain," she

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said. "I love you all, but I want my home to myself. Please go." The snakes disappeared.

My only failure with ants concerned the small red desert ants. They entered a trailer I was occupying and seemed to be all over. I stepped on one, and I sprayed the bathroom floor with insecticide. When I remembered Faith's lesson, it was too late. I had started a war, and love could not enter. No statement or request worked. I believe that Love is the only requisite.

Flies and mosquitoes do not respond to my words, but flowers do. Other people have demonstrated that spoken love, or even strongly felt love, improves the growth of roses, perhaps other flowers. Alice talks to all animals. Rose speaks to snakes and is heard. But I am a friend of ants and when I talk to them lovingly, they heed my message.

-June W. Leland

Riverside, Calif.

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AN EXPERIMENT IN ESP

Some time ago my wife and I attended a gathering of men and women interested in psychical phenomena. There were eight or ten of us in addition to the hostess; and each was asked to recount some personal adventure of a supernormal nature. The meeting proceeded interestingly, though with no extraordinary results; and F. and I were sorry when we had to be the first to leave. But as we said our good-byes, we had no idea that, the most remarkable part of the experience was still to come.

Late that night, I was aroused from sleep by some peculiar sounds from my wife's direction. They were inchoate, wordless, as if she were in pain; and I cried out instantly, "What's the matter?"

She awoke with a gasp, and spoke as if in intense relief.

"Oh, I've-I've just had the most dreadful nightmare!" she exclaimed, as she turned toward me in the darkness. "I was calling -- calling and calling for yon to rescue me, and for the longest time you didn't seem to hear!"

"Rescue you from what?

"From something that was holding me. A tight grip that was

SEPTEMBER, 1963                  5

clamping me down-like iron bands binding every part of my body.

I tried to move my legs and feet, but could not extricate them. I tried to move my arms, my hands, but it was as if I was in a prison. There was no way to escape. It was terrible-terrible, until just now you called out and broke the spell."

Though it was most unusual for my wife to have a nightmare-I can recall her reporting only one other in the course of many years we tried to dismiss the matter as "just another of those inexplicable incidents. "We did not as vet suspect any connection with yesterday's gathering.

I still did not suspect any connection when, the following noon, our hostess of the previous day telephoned. At first I wondered as to the point of the call, but after a time she surprised me by asking, "Did F. have any unusual experience yesterday afternoon at about six?

"Why at about six?"

"Because then, sometime after you had left, the rest of us tried an experiment. Feeling her to be the most psychic person of us all, we formed ourselves into a circle, joined hands, and concentrated upon her, hoping that she would get our message."

"Well, I'll ask her," I answered, doubtfully. "But she didn't tell me of receiving any message."

Not until later did I recall the nightmare, which I had not thought of mentioning to our hostess. Was there a connection here? Might the linking of hands not have been like a band to tie my wife? Had she not received the impression telepathically, though at a time when her mind was on other things and did not actively register it? Had the subconscious message not revealed itself during sleep, giving her the fearful impression that some unseen force was clamping and tying her? Of course, we have no proof, but the experiment and the explanation of coincidence seem plausible.

Thenceforward, we decided, we would participate in no psychical experiments-not, at least, unless we knew clearly what risks we were taking.

-Stanton A. Coblentz

P.O. Box 332

Mill Valley, Calif.

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world report

Odd Craters Cause Stir In England

(Understanding magazine has received numerous news clippings concerning this event, excerpts from which follow.)

LONDON, England (United Press International, July 25, 1963) -Air Minister Julian Amery was asked today to access the possibility that the mysterious crater in farmer Roy Blanchard's barley field might have been made by an unidentified flying object.

In science fiction circles, UFO's usually are referred to as "flying saucers."

The Blanchard Crater, about eight feet wide with four trenches radiating from the edge, was discovered near Charlton almost two weeks ago.

It was the first of a series of crater findings at opposite ends of this island that has given Britons their best mystery since Scotland's fabled Lochness Monster first popped its head out of the water back in the 1930's.

The crater caused Labor party MP Roy Mason to submit a question for Amery asking him "to assess the possibility of its having been made by an unidentified flying object."

Army bomb experts who have dug about seven feet down in the crater have said their instruments indicate there is something metallic underneath. But no one knows what.

In Scotland, police and bomb disposal men were just as baffled by two other craters. These were discovered on James Brown's farm, 21 miles south of Dunbar in East Lothian.

Each of the craters is about 1.6 feet across and 2 or 3 feet deep. Forty feet away are great lumps of earth with channels up to 44 feet long radiating away.

Nearby are a series of square holes about a foot wide and two feet deep.

Brown himself advanced a rather straightforward hypothesis.

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"There appears to have been two big explosions and a lot of little ones," he said.

But a spokesman for the Scottish command said the army had taken a look without determining a possible cause. For a moment he mulled over the problem of the craters and commented

"They're popping up all over the place now. These men from Mars-if that's who caused them-are becoming a nuisance."

LONDON-(New Zealand Herald, July 25,1963)-An Australian claiming to be a astrophysicist suggested yesterday that a flying saucer from somewhere near the planet Uranus caused the mysterious crater discovered in a potato field at Charlton, Dorset.

The Australian, who gave his name as Dr. Robert Randall and claimed that he had worked on rocket research at Woomera, South Australia, suggested the saucer was 500 feet across, weighed 600 tons and carried a crew of 50 whose mission was peaceful and exploratory.

He suggested that the saucer made a forced landing and bounced across three fields before righting itself and flying off ...

LONDON, July 27, 1963 (United Press International) - The "thing" that excited British flying saucer fans for two weeks turned out to be a meteorite today.

Army bomb disposal experts dug up the meteorite, about the size of a tennis ball, from beneath a crater near Charlton and announced they planned to turn it over "to the scientists."

"Our interest is at an end," said Maj. H.P. Quartrough, the army engineer who finally identified the thing.

More Strange Lights Seen in Illinois Skies

(From United Press International, Aug. 10, 1963)

Mount Vernon, Ill.-Those mysterious lights in the skies over southern Illinois coal fields have begun chasing cars at Mount Vernon, residents claim.

Former Mount Vernon Mayor Harry Bishop said he saw one of the lights follow a car along the Centralia road last night between 10 and 11 p.m. When the southbound car turned off and stopped, Bishop said, the light turned, hovered over the auto for sometime, and then moved off westward.

Mount Vernon police said nine persons reported seeing the lights. Throughout. the week residents of Fairfield, Ill., 32 miles east of

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Mount Vernon, have reported mysterious lights in the sky. A team from Scott Air Force Base, Belleville, Ill., plans to investigate the incidents.

Bishop, who lives north of Mount Vernon, said he called his neighbor after spotting the light. The two said they watched the light for about 30 minutes. They said the mysterious object was "bright red, about, the size of a washtub and 400 to 500 feet high."

Robert Trammel, a former army pilot who saw the light, said it appeared about the same color and intensity as a radio tower warning light and seemed to be about 1,500 feet high.

Other viewers said the light looked "like a piece of paper with holes in it," changing colors from red to white to silver.

Coronary Disease Linked To Sugar, Not Fats

(From London Sunday Times, June, 1963)

LONDON-A new theory on the cause of coronary heart disease suggests that civilized man is dying of a surfeit of calories through taking too little exercise and too much sweet and starchy food. Professor John Yudkin, of Queen Elizabeth College, London, says the incident of the disease is more closely related to the consumption of carbohydrate than of fats.

He urged, in the "Lancet," that the specific effect of sugar should be examined. Being more readily absorbed than starch, it might in time lead to disturbances in fat and carbohydrate metabolism.

We eat as much sugar in two weeks as our ancestors of 200 years ago did in a year. It provides about 20 per cent of our total intake of calories and nearly half of our carbohydrates.

"The use of sugar in the manufacture of a greater and greater range of more and more tasty confectionery, cakes and biscuits, results in our eating also more fat, flour and other components of these foods," he said.

White Fluff Lands Over California

(From Palo Alto, Calif., Times, June 17, 1963)

A "white silk-like fluff" drifted down from Mid-peninsula skies this morning, landing on streets, yards and people.

Police switchboards were flooded with calls from residents expressing concern over the identity of the milk-white strands. "At least it's not snow," one perspiring, shirt-sleeved Mountain View merchant commented.

SEPTEMBER, 1963                  9

Los Altos police said some callers feared the strands were atomic fallout.

The explanation?

A Stanford biologist, Dr. Peter Raven, said the phenomenon occurs at this time of the year when spiders are hatching. The newly hatched spiders spin "little floaters" that "act like parachutes," he said.

(or was it Angel's Hair? -Ed.)

UFO Spends Two Hours Over Southern California

(From Arlington, Calif., Times, June 26, 1963)

"It wouldn't be any good to try and lie to you ... I just can't describe what I saw. I've never seen anything like it," said A. W. Creech, still baffled by an unidentified flying object that he and other residents on De La Vista in Rubidoux saw hovering over their homes last week.

Betty Ables, 6702 De La Vista, said she was lying on the living room couch when the children came yelling into the house. Her 9 year old son Danny was saying the "moon has fallen." Her daughter Sue, who will be a sophomore at Rubidoux High next fall, thought that, a man in a parachute had caught fire in some high voltage wires.

When the immediate excitement was over and the group could collect its senses for a better look, this is apparently what they saw: a red glow hovering in the sky behind a clump of trees about one block from the corner of De La Vista and Pacific. The object had a silver dome over it and "antennae" protruding from it where the glow, and the dome met.

Children playing in their yards in the area at about 9 p.m. last Tuesday said they saw the object come up from behind the trees like a moon. Others, on Vista de Oro, said they saw it first when it flew over the hills between the high school and Pedley, coming from the direction of Corona.

There were no disagreements as to where the object was hovering, how long it was there, or what color it was. It allegedly remained in the area for an hour, then proceeded slowly towards Mt. Rubidoux, where it remained for another hour before rising suddenly and disappearing.

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Only the children who saw it earlier in the evening say they saw the silvery dome over the glow. All of them saw the antennae.

Eerie Craft Looked Like a `Saucer'

(From Edinburgh, Scotland, Dispatch, July 26, 1963)

Three people today claimed to have seen what looked like a "flying saucer" passing over Edinburgh and the Lothians in a south-westerly direction.

One of the witnesses, Mrs. Ruth Scott, of "The Thicket," Roslin, Midlothian, said today

"The silver-grey object traveling very slowly was high overhead when my son, Simon, called out: `look mummy!'

He was pointing to this saucer-shaped machine. I could hardly believe my eyes. It certainly was not any type of known aircraft to my knowledge."

Ten-year old Simon Scott, a pupil of the Rudolph Steiner school in Edinburgh, said: "I am not an aircraft spotter or anything like that, but. I do know an airplane when I see one.

"This was nothing like that. It had a flat base and rounded top. The base was dark, the side a silver grey and the dome a silvery blue. The base seemed to be rotating. It moved very slowly in the sky and after about three minutes it disappeared above some clouds."

The third witness was Mr. J. G. Ben Odotte, from Kenya, a student at. present staying with Dr. Philip H. Scott and Mrs. Scott. Mr. Odotte, studying law and economics, said:` The object was clearly visible for at, least two or three minutes. It was a blue sky yesterday at 12:30 p.m. when Simon called me.

"It bad no wings or fins. It. looked like a saucer with a cup on top upside down.

"The eerie thing about it was that it made no noise whatsoever, although there was a definite movement from the base of the saucer."

The mystery object baffled control tower personnel at Turnhouse. "Nothing like that has been seen here. Nor has anything taken off that could be mistaken for a flying saucer," an official said. "All we have is aeroplanes."

Edinburgh City Police said that they had received no reports of the objects.

SEPTEMBER, 1963                  11

SAYRE, PA., UNDERSTANDING UNIT OFFICERS

Mrs. Walter Covell, standing, president of Sayre, Pa., Unit .#51, Mrs. Harry Shay, left, vice president, and Mrs. Frank Nigl, secretary, pose for camera following election of officers June 30. Other units are invited to send in photos of their officers.

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WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

(From "THE UFO INVESTIGATOR," NICAP, 1536 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Washington 6, D.C., Jan.-Feb., 1963.)

A moving picture showing two or more UFO's, recently filmed from an airplane near Auyantepuy, Venezuela, has been reported to NICAP by Dr. Askold Ladonko, our adviser in Caracas. A detailed report was secured by a U.S. Air Force attaché.

The film was taken in December, 1962, by Mr. Ali Rafael Diaz, who was flying over Angel Falls with his family and guests. Mr. Diaz was photographing the falls, using an 8 mm camera and color film, when a luminous object rose from the base of a mountain and ascended vertically at high speed. When the UFO cleared the mountain top it passed in front of cumulus clouds, indicating its proximity to the observers and also that it was not an astronomical object.

When first viewed by the staff of the newspaper El Universal, the luminous shape appeared as an oval-shaped object. But according to a later report to NICAP, enlargements showed two shapes, and a more complete analysis was then made by Dr. Herman Kabe, Director of the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Investigation. The report to NICAP states that filtered green light resolved the glowing area into four disc-shaped objects, one in the center, the others around it.

A USAF attaché at the U.S. Embassy is said to have viewed the film and to have asked for either the original or a copy. Mr. Diaz is reported to have filled out the U.S. UFO questionnaire which is used for reporting sightings in foreign countries.

NICAP was invited to send a representative to examine the film, but costs of the trip prevented this. Efforts are being made to obtain a copy, also the detailed analysis by Dr. Kabe.

 

From "THE LITTLE LISTENING POST," 4811 Illinois Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., June-July, 1962.)

In 1964, when Earth is again close to Mars, NASA plans to bunch "mother" ships to orbit Venus and Mars 5000 miles from their surface. From these will be launched 304lb. "baby ships" to nose down and parachute to the planets. What they see and feel will be transmitted to the "mother ship" for relay back to Earth.

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Mars' moons were first seen in 1877. Many observatories saw them then -- yet the same telescopes, operating previously, had not picked them up. Theory is they were constructed by Martians close to that date; one is changing its speed of rotation, thought to be hollow...

Two subscribers dropped in from Canada and told a strange story. About a year ago, there was discovered on the beach of the St. Lawrence River a huge chunk of metal which later proved to weigh 3000 lbs. "It had not been there the night before, and it could not have dropped from the sky since, despite its great weight, it made no hole for itself in the sand; no nearby tracks shed light on the mystery." It was simply suddenly there-laid there by some levitating means??? The Canadian Gov't took up the mystery and discovered the object was so hard, it was almost impossible to cut off pieces with any kind of torches, etc. The substance fit no known analysis. It had tooling marks and grooves. The Gov't succeeded in trucking it away for further study, and later turned it over to a scientist in the UFO field...

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book reviews

 

"The Unity Way of Life" - Marcus Bach

In his book Marcus Bach has dealt with the growth of the Unity movement from its beginning and very humble start, to its present important place in the world of today. He describes its amazing growth, from an initial prayer centre and printing establishment, to a present development of thirteen hundred acres. There are now chapels, cottages, motel units, classrooms, study halls, a cafeteria,

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order. Baha'u'llah declared that in our time religion must unite people or else it has no social value. He declared that religion must show men how to build a just world. He emphasized that justice is the greatest good in the sight of God. To show men how to achieve this, he outlined a pattern of world order.

Baha'u'llah's vision of a united world begins with each man and woman. Individuals must have a high moral standard and a new basis of belief if they are to become citizens of one world.

Baha'is believe in one God, even though men have called Him by different names. God has revealed His word in each period of history through a chosen Individual whom Baha'is call "the Manifestation of God". He restates in every age God's purpose and will. His teachings are a revelation from God. Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Christ, and Muhammad were Manifestations of God. Each gave men divine teachings to live by. Baha'is believe that true religion is the real basis of civilized life.

Since there is one God, these Manifestations of God have each taught the same religious faith. They have developed and adapted it to meet the needs of the people in each period of history. This unfoldment of religion from age to age is called "progressive revelation". Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Baha'is Faith, is the Manifestation of God for our time.

This is the basis of Baha'is belief: One God has given men one Faith through progressive revelations of His Will in each age of history, and Baha'u'llah reveals the Will of God for men and women of the present age. This basic belief enables Baha'is to unite and work together in spite of different religious backgrounds.

Baha'u'llah emphasized certain principles to help bind people together in a united world:

Men must seek for truth in spite of custom, prejudice and tradition.

Men and women must have equal opportunities, rights and privileges.

The nations must choose an international language to be used along with the mother tongue.

All children must receive a basic education.

Men must make systematic efforts to wipe out all those prejudices which divide people.

SEPTEMBER, 1963                  17

Men must recognize that religion should go hand-in-hand with science.

Men must work to abolish extreme wealth and extreme poverty.

-Mrs. Henry R. Glass, Secretary

Spiritual Assembly of the

Baha'is of Alhambra

505 N. Electric Avenue Alhambra, California

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Poet’s corner

 

 

Sphinx

Carved from solid stone,

How can it be known, Sphinx,

Why you crouch patiently

Before Earth's greatest temple?

Heir of dim Atlantis' lore,

Do you guard a secret store

Of ancient treasures in your depths,

Awaiting some near or far tick of time

To disclose what no mere human being knows?

-Grace Hess,

La Jolla, Calif.

(First published in Fullerton News Tribune)

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bulletin board

 

Understanding Annual Meeting Set For October 12-13

The annual meeting of Understanding, Inc., will be held Saturday and Sunday, October 12 and 13 at Chico, Calif. The Chico Unit of Understanding will be the host unit this year.

Complete details will be announced in the October issue of Understanding, but thus far it is known that the meetings will be held at the Hotel Oaks in Chico. The hotel itself has rooms with double bed for $6.50 and twin beds for $7.50, and there are motels within walking distance. Reservations for rooms may be made through the Chico unit president, J. L. McGury, P. 0. Box 313, Chico, Calif. 95927, (phone 916 342-0411).

A highlight of the meeting will be a talk by Dan Fry, president of Understanding, on the evening of Oct. 12.

Coming Events

Dr. Joseph Hansell, world traveler, lecturer, teacher and researcher, will address the Inglewood Unit of Understanding, Unit #15, on the topic "UFO Research in South America" on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 8 p.m. in the Business and Professional Women's Clubhouse, 820 Java st., Inglewood, Calif.

George Adamski will give four lectures in the San Francisco Bay Area during September, showing slides and movies given him by the Danish government. He recently returned from a lecture tour through Europe, on which he visited the Vatican just before Pope John died.

SEPTEMBER, 1963                  19

The lecture dates are San Jose, Sept. 12, San Francisco Sept. 13, Oakland Sept. 14 and Sacramento Sept. 15. Units in these areas may be contacted for further information.

News Tidbits

The books of Understanding stickers printed and offered by Buffalo, N.Y. Unit #37 have been cut in price from $1 to 50 cents per book of 108 stamps. Order from Paul R. Weast, 95 W. Humboldt Pkwy., Buffalo 14, N.Y.

Organizations who are exchanging publications with Understanding are encouraged to change the address to which they are mailing them to P. 0. Box 76, Merlin, Ore. 97532. Other mail should still be directed to P.O. Box 22, Station C, Pasadena, Calif. 91104, however.

When we reviewed the Urantia Book in the July, 1963, issue, we listed the price as $12. In the meantime, however, the price had gone up to $15, so anyone ordering the book should take note of this fact.

From the Rev. Frank E. Stranges comes word that a motion picture titled "The Earth May Die Tomorrow," based upon his books "Flying Saucerama" and "My Friend From Beyond Earth," is in the casting stages. It will be a science-fiction-based-on-fact type of film, shot in color and with special effects. The budget of $250,000 has already been provided for and all that remains is for the actual shooting to take place, it is reported.

News of the Units

Twin City, Minn., Unit #41, sponsored Dr. Gilbert and June Holloway for two weeks in July. They report:

"We booked Dr. Holloway on WDGY radio station on "Night Beat," an all-night telephone two-way conversation show. He gave a lecture on "The Reach of the Mind," then gave individual ESP readings over the air. The first evening the station had a backlog of 2,000 calls, so they put him on Sunday with "Flying Saucers" as the subject ... the same thing happened. They put him on Monday night again and the same thing happened (this also on ESP). Finally WDGY rented the Hotel Leamington Ballroom and for a week advertised this meeting ... which was on ESP. 1500 people came. We distributed material on Understanding, and were introduced from the stage, and much was said about Understanding,

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and some kind words about us.. . people stayed until midnight. So our lecture series was a tremendous success."

Santa Cruz, Calif., Unit #9, has a new member, Karl Vaughn Schaaf, born July 29 to unit leaders Karl and Connie Lee Schaaf.

Buffalo, N.Y., Unit .#37, recently elected new officers. They are M. LaVerne Griffith of 6259 Hamm Rd., Lockport, N.Y.; Beverly W. Pierce, vice president; Mrs. Elizabeth Mower, recording secretary; Mrs. Lorraine Sterling, corresponding secretary, and George B. Adams, treasurer.

Riverside, Calif., Unit #22, heard a talk by Dr. Harold Hull of the local Church of Life on "The Power of Laughter." The unit plans to hear Dr. Joseph Hansell on Sept. 20.

Inglewood, Calif., Unit #15, heard a talk by Mrs. Myrtle Morgan, D.D. on "A New Activity in Interplanetary Communication" during July.

Vista, Calif. Unit #4, has decided to hold four Understandorama, conventions per year at Harmony Grove, near Escondido, Calif. The unit has worked along with other Southern California units in the past in putting on Understaudoramas which have been quite successful.

Miramonte, Calif., Unit #58, entertained Wayne Aho during July. Visitors came from a radius of 50 miles around.

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