CONTENTS

For May, 1963

 

 

NEWS MANAGEMENT AND UFOS   ............................................................................             2

BERT SLATER COULD LEAVE AND RETURN TO HIS BODY   ...........................             3

world report   ...........................................................................................................             5

RADIO STATION FOUNDATION POURED   ..............................................................             10

LIVING UNDERSTANDING   ..........................................................................................             11

MORE ABOUT E.S.P.   ....................................................................................................             12

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR   .........................................................................................             13

SAUCERS MAKE THE BRITANNICA   ........................................................................             14

THINGS TO REMEMBER   .............................................................................................             15

SOME SPECIFIC PROGRAMS   ....................................................................................             15

bulletin board   ........................................................................................................             16

 

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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                               MAY, 1963                                                  NUMBER 6

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

 

NEWS MANAGEMENT AND UFOS

During recent weeks it has become fairly obvious that United States government spokesmen have withheld information from the American people during times of crisis when it was felt to be in the best interests of national security to suppress certain facts.

During the unsuccessful invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles several years ago, the United States officially denied any connection with the invasion attempt. But later it became apparent that the U.S. had quite a bit to do with the attack, even to the point of offering air cover for the invaders, which reportedly was withdrawn at the last minute at the urging of presidential advisors who feared that world opinion would not support the invasion.

More recently a Congressional investigation was launched into so-called "news management" by the U.S. government, after a top government official was reported to have said that the government has a right to lie when national security is at stake.

And early in April a column written by an associate of the nationally known columnist Drew Pearson states plainly, "It can no longer be doubted or denied that government spokesman lied to the American people during the Cuban crisis. The misinformation was put

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out by order of President Kennedy himself, who hoped by deceiving his own people to mislead the enemy."

The column goes on to list all the occasions on which Drew Pearson has made unflattering statements about U.S. administrations which were hotly denied at the time, only to he proven later. It also states the opinion that James Hagerty, who was President Eisenhower's press secretary during his eight years in office, was the most skilled news manager of them all, doing a "masterful job of polishing and protecting the Eisenhower image for eight. years." Hagerty once accused Pearson of 10 errors in a single story, the column states, adding, "This was the story that President Eisenhower and his right bower, Sherman Adams, had accepted vicuna coats from textile tycoon Bernard Goldfine; also that Adams had received several rugs. 'Lies!' cried Hagerty. A House investigation later confirmed both men had accepted coats, and Adams himself admitted receiving what he preferred to call `mats' instead of rugs."

The point that all persons interested in unidentified flying objects might study in all this is that if federal government spokesmen have lied during times of crisis in the interests of national security, who is to say they haven't lied about UFOs in the interest of national security?

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BERT SLATER COULD LEAVE AND RETURN TO HIS BODY

I first "met" Bert Slater sometime in the 40's. He had seen something I'd written, and wrote me a long letter. He lived in Payson, Arizona, a little burg a hundred miles from a railroad, up in the Tonto Basin country.

Bert was an old prospector, sailor, adventurer. He'd done a little writing, and he was quite a student of occult things. For years we corresponded regularly. Later I sold him a little printing outfit, just the thing for an old man to putter at, getting out dance programs, letterheads and other odd job printing work.

Bert told me he could leave his body at will, flit over the country, visit distant friends, even peek in to see what they had for dinner, though he could not make his presence known to them. He said this was traveling in the Astral plane, but I don't think it was, really,

MAY, 1963                                   3

though very close to the plane of consciousness just above this one.

The reason I don't think he ever got into the Astral was that he never met anyone else there, which makes me think he just missed the Astral. He could return to his body at will, and go about his business as before.

He explained how he discovered the trick, a result of an accident. He was prospecting one day, and fell off a bluff, striking his head on a reek. When lie came to "he" was floating five or six feet above his body, and looking down at it. It looked dead, and in a sense, it was. But after trying several times, he got back into it, stirred it to life, and made his way back to his little cabin.

Now, at this time I was going through a most difficult time. I had suffered an injury to my sacroiliac, and was unable to do any kind of physical work. I looked well, and people could not understand why I did not work. I tried, but always the back went out, sometimes knocking me cold. I had it put back in place 17 times, when I stopped counting.

My wife had to make the living, though I did manage to make a little working on a small weekly newspaper. Finances were in a bad way, and it looked as though I might be an invalid for life. In humiliation, and near despair, I often wished for death, and had there been an honorable way out, I would have taken it.

I began to badger Bert to tell me his secret of leaving his body. For a long time he wouldn't do it, parrying my questions, and avoiding the subject. At last, he gave in.

First, you chose a quiet time of night, when everyone else was asleep. Lying on your back, with feet straight out before you, hands at sides, you breathed slowly and deeply for several minutes. Next,. you fancied that you were lying on a sort of platform, with rollers or castors at each corner. Then you mentally propelled yourself, feet, first, along this platform, as if you were simply sliding right out. of the body, like a katydid might slide out of its cocoon.

He said I might not succeed the first time, but to try again. He said it might take three or four attempts, before I got the hang of it. Well, lie was right. The first time I tried it, nothing happened, except I felt silly. Nothing the second time, either. But on the third attempt, I literally began to slide out of my body, and it scared hell out of me. I remember it most vividly, though it was 25 years ago.

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It's difficult to explain the thing. First, I was lying straight out, relaxed but not sleepy. Then, as I began to mentally propel myself along the platform, I began to move, slowly at first, then faster and faster. It was like being sucked into a vortex of some kind, by an unseen force. My courage, never too strong, left me, and I began to fight to get back into the body, poor weak thing that it was. I grabbed at things, like a man drowning.

Well, it, was all over. Now I was safely back in. My heart pounded like a trip hammer for a long time. It was one of the most poignant, and frightening experiences I can remember.

I never tried the stunt again, and I don't suggest others do, either, unless they know more about the occult world than I did, at the time. Here's why: There is a possibility, I've since learned, of possession. In the plane jut above this, there are thousands of elemental beings, cruel, selfish, wicked and evil beyond anything we can imagine. These elementals, or earth bound spirits, are constantly seeking an opportunity to return to earth, and indulge their carnal appetites, rather than to progress into the more refined spheres of higher development.

It is possible that one of these beings could enter a vacated body, cause it to do their evil bidding, before being driven out. It might be impossible to drive them out! In fact, whenever I read an account of an ordinary peaceful citizen suddenly going berserk and committing a terrible crime, I can't help but wonder if possession by a real demon may not be the explanation.

During such times, when the real person has left the body, it is not really dead. Respiration, at a slow rate, continues, as certain automata takes over, and sees that the brain is supplied with oxygen. Too, the body is connected with the spirit by the psychic umbilical cord, which can stretch to any length, and serves as a communicating medium between the two. Should an ordinary danger confront the body, the spirit would be warned instantly, and instantly it would return.

Bert said he had often been able to remain out of his shell for several hours. He did not know how long he could stay away, and never felt any ill effects from his strange adventures. In fact, he said he usually felt relaxed and rested.

So, there may not really be any danger in this sort of thing. Most

MAY, 1963                                   5

of us are surrounded and guarded by watchful angels, who can, we suppose, warn us of the approach of evilly disposed entities, or prevent them harming us. Yet, if there is danger at all, it is a dreadful sort indeed. No one but those with strong wills and minds should ever for one moment leave their physical house unguarded.

Bert died, an old man, a few years ago, and I never got to meet him, face to face. Bert loved the world, and I dare say he returns, now and then, to the places he knew so well. His attitude toward life, and the larger aspects of life which concern some of us, was most wholesome and natural. He agreed with Elbert Hubbard, who said: "There is nothing supernatural. The so-called 'supernatural' is but the natural, not yet understood."

-Vollie Tripp

Chico, Calif.

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world report

The Hazards of Landing, On the Moon

(From New Orleans, La., Times-Picayune, March 10, 1963)

WASHINGTON-A team of Russian radio-astronomers reports there is no dust layer on the moon. Instead, the lunar crust consists of a highly porous material somewhat like granite which they call "lunite."

What's more, the Russians say the moon has a hot core with temperatures 30 miles below the surface reaching "thousands of degrees."

The surface findings run contrary to the notion accepted by most astronomers that there is a dust blanket varying from inches to hundreds of feet in depths. However, the Russian report confirms an observation by a Stanford University radio-astronomer who said last fall that the moon's crust was 80 percent porous to a depth of several yards and had the consistency of "cotton candy."

The Soviet scientists used a novel approach to get their measurements, which they claim to be highly precise.

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A 12-foot disk made of a material which absorbs radio waves, was placed on top of a mountain near Gorki in central Russia. The radio-telescope which observed the moon was then trained on this "artificial moon" for comparison. The measurements yielded data on surface density, heat conductivity of the surface material, its mineral makeup and indicated the existence of a hot core.

An American astronomer reported this week that the surface of the moon may be made of cobwebby "fairy castles." Thomas Gold, Cornell University astronomer, said finely powered Portland cement closely matched the light reflection characteristics of the moon. When Gold stirred cement powder in a vacuum, he found it settled into "fairy castles" full of caverns and empty spaces.

Gold suggested a spaceship landing on the moon may sink out of sight in this material. The Russians did not speculate on the strength of "lunite." But a brittle crust also could be a hazard to explorers.

Researchers Seek Proof of Life After Death

(From Grants Pass, Oregon, Daily Courier, April 9, 1963)

Editor's Note-After Hamlet talked with the ghost of his father, he said to his friend, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Modern scholars, too, are interested in apparitions and spirit communications, often as possible proofs that, human life continues after physical death. The Rev. Dr. Thomas S. Kepler examines these psychic researches in the second of five articles taken from his book, "The Meaning and Mystery of the Resurrection." The book is published by Association Press, copyright by the National Board of YMCAs.)

There are some today who find the chief proof for life after death as they delve into psychic research, backing up their arguments with the new views of science regarding the nonmaterial nature of the universe.

Frederick W. H. Myers, Sir Oliver Lodge, Alexis Carrel and J. B. Rhine are four scholars different in their approaches yet all relating their thought to the mental nature of the universe and the validity of extrasensory perception.

Wrote Frederick W. H. Myers : "I have assumed that man is an

MAY, 1963                                   7

organism informed or possessed by a soul. This view obviously involves the hypothesis that we are living in two worlds at once, a planetary life in this material world, to which the organism is intended to react; and also a cosmic life in that spiritual or metetherial world, which is the native environment of the soul.

"We gradually discovered that the accounts of apparitions at the moment of death-testifying to a supersensory communication between the dying man and the friend who sees him-led on without perceptible break to apparitions occurring after the death of the persons seen, but while that death was not known to the percipient; and thus, apparently due, not to mere brooding memory, but to a continued action of that departed spirit."

The researches of Sir Oliver Lodge led him to see his universe in this manner:

"I have gradually come to the view that the main realities of the Universe are not in matter at all, but in the ether in space.. . We ask: Shall we survive? Survive what-our temporary and indirect and secondary connection with matter? You see that this question of survival ... is what we used to call a husteron proteron-("the cart before the horse.') The marvel is that we are associated with matter at all."

Dr. Alexis Carrel, a medical doctor with the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, also saw the spiritual nature of the universe where extrasensory perception is possible.

"The beauty pursued by the mystic is still richer and more indefinable than the ideal of the artist ... It requires an elevation of the mind toward a being who is the source of all things... whom the mystic calls God. "He who wants to undertake this rough and difficult journey must renounce all the things of this world and, finally, himself ... His mind escapes from space and time ... He reaches the stage of unitive life ... He is in God and acts with him.

"There is the existence of a psychic principle capable of evolving outside the limits of our bodies. . . Sometimes ... personality seems really to extend beyond physiological duration."

J. B. Rhine of Duke University in recent years in his experiments has reported instances in which persons "knew" about the deaths of loved ones before the news was given them in a conventional way. Clairvoyance and precognition prove that mind can transcend

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both space and time, which possibly intimates immortality on the scientific level. According to Rhine

"Now all that immortality means is freedom from the effects of space and time; death seems to be purely a matter of coming to a halt in the space-time universe. Therefore the conclusion that there is at, least some sort of technical survival would seem to follow as a logical derivation from the ESP (extrasensory perception) research."

Ruins Indicate Highly Developed Culture

(From a United Press International dispatch in early April, 1963)

BEERSHEBA, Israel-Israeli archeologists reported today they have uncovered the ruins of a 4;000-year-old town in the Negev. They called it "one of the most exciting finds" in years. The ruins include an altar, cemetery, copper tools and ingots and an ax unlike any yet uncovered. They said the ruins indicate a highly developed culture.

(Editor's Note: understanding magazine looks at articles such as the above with great interest, because they offer evidence that highly developed civilizations have existed in the past, and that perhaps the fabled caveman came down from a higher civilization destroyed by nuclear war instead of coming up from apes.)

Noisy Ghost In England

ASHTON KEYES, England (United Press International -- A noisy ghost with a taste for pop songs is rocking and rolling a house trailer near here, a Church of England vicar said today.

The Rev. John Johnstone said the ghost makes the trailer "dance" and throws things about inside every time the 13-year-old boy who lives in the trailer sings pop songs.

But the ghost quiets down, the vicar said, when he sings hymns to it.

Johnstone said the ghost began haunting the trailer where the boy and his mother live when the roof was removed from a haunted cottage nearly eight months ago.

"I went to the trailer Sunday to pray, carrying my Bible, and commanded the ghost to quit this home and leave this woman in peace," the vicar said. "But when I left, the trailer rocked and shook and things flew through the air. It was terrifying.

The only thing to do now, ". he said, "is to move the trailer."

MAY, 1963                                   9

Sheriff's Posse Hunts `Monster'

(From The Record, New Jersey, January 30, 1963)

SONORA, CALIF.-Reports of a: screaming, 10-foot monster sent a sheriff's posse into the mountains yesterday looking for a burglar and a bear.

The monster reports started Sunday when a man phoned the sheriff's office saying, he'd seen the most horrible thing, a humanlike creature standing 9 to 10 feet.

Then followed reports of weird screaming.

Three sheriff's officers heard the screeching yesterday when they went into the area 35 miles east of Sonoro between Long Barn and Pine Crest.

Last night an officer found a 14-inch footprint in light snow.

So Tuolumne County Sheriff, Miller D. Sardella, set out for the mountains with a posse today.

Said Undersheriff Fred Mitchell, who stayed behind to calm worried residents

"They're looking for a burglar, rather than a monster. We've has as many as 18 cabins in the area looted in one weekend." Mitchell explained: the 10-foot monster was probably a bear standing up.

The screaming? "Mountain lions have been known to screech like a woman," be said.

The 14-inch footprint was that of a man's boot, headed toward a recently looted cabin.

Where Did the Robins Go This Year?

(From Richmond, Calif., Independent, March 8, 1963)

A Mills College professor said today the East Bay's migratory robin population has disappeared.

Dr. Howard Cogswell, biologist and former Richmonder, noted for his work on robins, said he could offer no explanation for the disappearance. But he said scientists were sure "something has happened."

Dr. Cogswell said that a "very carefully taken" bird census at Joaquin Miller Park outside Oakland disclosed at least 35,000 robins. there in January of 1957., He said a check of the roost this year located "not over 2,000 birds."

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Mystery Trails Of Vapor Off Coast

(From New Zealand Herald, Feb. 21, 1962)

Capt. F. P. Ladd, chief pilot of Tourist Air Travel, Ltd., reported hearing a blast yesterday which he believed could have come from a rocket fired well out at sea.

He was waiting in his amphibian aircraft at 11:25 a.m. for a passenger at Moko Hinau Island.

After the blast he saw vertical twin contrails rising vertically into the sky to the North.

He drew the attention of a lighthouse-keeper to the trails which lasted at least 15 minutes.

Capt. Ladd said they were not air craft trails, although he knew Air Force Vampires were exercising over Auckland yesterday. A Navy spokesman said no naval ships would have fired a rocket in the area yesterday.

New Drug Improves Memory of Witness

(From San Francisco Chronicle, March 9, 1963)

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Civil Aeronautics Board disclosed yesterday that for the first time it has used-and used successfully a drug to jog the memory of a witness in the investigation of an airplane accident.

Testimony of the Witness, a Federal Aviation Agency physician and the only survivor of the crash, gave investigators most of the information they have obtained on the sequence of events before and during the crackup of an FAA airplane during flight emergency practice at Canton Island in the Pacific last April 26.

All four crew members-FAA employees-and the one other passenger were killed, and the physician, Dr. John B. Miller, FAA resident physician at Canton, was injured seriously.

Use of the drug sodium amytal brought to mind circumstances that Dr. Miller had been unable to remember after the accident, the CAB said.

"Men from other planets have been watching this world for years. We can't see them, because, they know the trick of invisibility." -- Ray Neilson, addressing the third flying saucer convention in London.

MAY, 1963                                   11

RADIO STATION FOUNDATION POURED

 

 

The foundation for Radio Understanding's building atop Radio Hill at Merlin, Oregon, has been poured. Five members of the Understanding, Inc., board of directors are pictured at the site (right) , left to right, Gerald Cooper of Sacramento, Calif.; CIeve Twitchell of Medford, Oregon; Dan Fry of Merlin; Ron Hansen of Pacific Grove, Calif., and Steele Goodman of Sacramento. The cinder blocks in stacks about the foundation will be used to construct the walls.

 

 

 

 

Dan Fry, right, and Steele Goodman give a, preview of what is to come when work on erecting the walls of Radio Understanding's building starts soon. With the advent of the dry season in Oregon, work is expected to progress more rapidly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LIVING UNDERSTANDING

(Three persons from Understanding Unit # 21 at Miranda, Calif., along with a friend from San Jose, Calif., spent two-and-a-half months with members of Cleator, Ariz., Unit #49. Bonnie R. Miller of Unit #21 felt inspired to write the following concerning the visit.)

Living understanding was a rich and rewarding experience at. the home of the B. F. McGuires, Cleator, Arizona, during January, February, and part of March, 1963. In the living of the concept of understanding, we find that the foundation of such a plateau of light becomes strong and enduring, and in no other way, save through the living. Walt Whitman has said, "Were you looking to be held together by lawyers? Or by agreement on paper? Or by arms? Nay, nor the world, nor any living thing will so cohere."

The foundation of any new plateau of light must be laid upon the rock of the ONE morality. Mores and-.moral codes change, but not the underlying morality that supports the universe. Co-operation, honor, integrity, honesty, truth, and principle underwrite the Cosmic orders. Our word must be our bond. "I will write it upon their hearts," sayeth the Lord. To these no courts, papers, nor the legal  action of men are necessary; "Excepting your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will in no wise enter the kingdom of Heaven."

Only upon this foundation of integrity can understanding arise in which any can be accounted worthy to channel the Divine Will. A state of "consciousness that knows no separation must be achieved, for only in this pure air of the' spirit can conflict and diverse opinions be resolved. Force, or competition are destructive and have no part on the plateau of understanding. Did not the Master say, "Resist not evil, but OVERCOME evil with good?"

Organizations are not the answer for they are the ways of the old order-the world and its many systems. In the latter days a new law was given; for Christ could not be born in the inn (the institutions of men)-to him who hath ears to hear-movement, spontaneity of action are the laws of right action.

As in the days of old, any new concept of awakening man is subject to attack by the forces of darkness. Was not the Christ-child

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hidden in Egypt? The forces of darkness attack through our weaknesses and there are many; for we all fall short of the Glory of God. All men play the Judas and betray the Christ. Pettiness, jealousy, resentment, lust for gold, fear, hate, self pity, guilt, inferiority complexes, and sins so subtle that they lie below the threshold of consciousness are the avenues through which the forces of darkness control the minds of men and enslave their bodies. Consent is given in ignorance.

Very few people on earth today are ready for even routine responsibility. What of initiate responsibility P Each must check his inner resources that he may not be found wanting.

The path of sacrificial offering through which the new proceeds consists of non-resistance, non-violence. This is the action that absorbs opposing forces and a new perfection manifests. In seeming paradox, the result is passive resistance that cannot be assailed. It is a Ghandian demonstration.

When this has been achieved in conscious livingness, the old structure, exhausted and absorbed, emerges from its own ashes, like the phoenix, new and beautiful-containing the old elements, transmuted. The years the locusts have eaten have been restored. The losses suffered by Job have been restored double, a new octave attained. It is the law.

Restoration comes through conscious understanding. The new and true body is not that which it was before, nor yet is it the new form, but it is a living consciousness through any form. Things are seen and evaluated from moment through all change. Values are seen in their true relationships.

In the fulfilled consciousness, there is the living awareness of all that life implies in the transition that took place. In this awareness is a bond of light-a living fire, which is the means by which people are drawn together. It is a bond, a communion, a leaven in humanity that makes it conscious of brotherhood. Sacrifice is the spark that opens this gate for transmission between people. It is at this point that any who is ready can receive.

Only in walking the path, living the truths, meeting the tests, running the gamut of experience can one set foot on the plateau of Understanding and know brotherhood and sonship.

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MORE ABOUT E.S.P.

If E.S.P (Extra Sensory Perception) is demonstrable by average people as well as the "gifted" ones, then why aren't more people acquainted with this term and why aren't more people using it to help themselves and friends, I'm often asked.

I feel the best answer to this question, though perhaps not the most logical, is that the average individual wouldn't recognize a good demonstration of E.S.P., if it stared them straight in the face with E.S.P. written all over it.

As a typical explanation of what I mean- You, dear reader, try to remember back to the last time you turned around in a crowd to find someone looking at you-perhaps close by or maybe they were half a room away- What made you turn to this exact spot? Maybe it. was a friend of yours or maybe you had never seen the person before or since. To me this is a very good demonstration of E.S.P. on your part, but would be brushed lightly aside by most individuals as just something that happened, and would never, ever be associated with E.S.P. ability.

This suggests a good practice exercise for those wanting to develop their E.S.P. abilities-one which will build confidence in the individual's ability to start demonstrating E.S.P.

Either in the quietness of your own home or amidst the hustle and bustle of any office or theatre audience, concentrate your gaze on the back of the head of some individual who doesn't seem to be preoccupied with some matter of importance to him or her, since such a person is not going to make a good subject for a beginner. Don't try too hard. Just concentrate on the fact that they are going to turn around and look at you. An equally good thought to use is -- I'm watching you.

By concentrating on a spot just behind the top of the ear of an individual, you will usually get the quickest. results.

If you haven't tried it, don't knock it. If you have tried it or are going to try it, you can rejoice in the knowledge that at last you are able to demonstrate one phase of E.S.P. ability.

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"A great many scientists believe that aging is a disease. If it is a disease, there has to be a cure."

-Dr. Manley Boss, University of Miami researcher.

MAY, 1963                                   15

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Friends,

We look forward every month to the reading and receiving of Understanding magazine.

It seems to give us an upliftment of consciousness. A feeling of joy and expectation for wonderful things in our life and affairs. We are beginning to believe that there is more to this battered old world than appears on the surface.

We like to hear of new things and new experiences; we are not satisfied with the old things as they are.

We would like to extend our thanks to Dan Fry and all of those who help in any way to bring to us this most inspiring and stimulating magazine.

Bless all of you.

Lovingly,

May and Don Knight

 

Dear Sirs:

... I would like to learn more of the "understanding" and the universal life and living, if you understand me. I am not very good to ,write the English, but if you can, or if is possible for you to understand Swedish, you can let me know, because it is so much things I would like to talk about. About our friends in other planets -- our own living and the understanding. I think it is very possible to be a very much better people, if we learn much more. Write soon. I be glad if you will do that.

Most Sincerely,

Peter Agren

Stockholmvagen 5 c

Nykoping, Sweden

(Editor's note: Readers of Understanding magazine are encouraged to write to Mr. Agren at the above address.)

 ♦  ♦  ♦ 

TRIUMPH, IDAHO

A New Age Village

Convention dates June 21, 22 and 23. Cabins will be available for campers to cook and put their sleeping equipment in, Interesting new age speakers will be present. Located six miles south and six miles east of Sun Valley, Idaho.

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SAUCERS MAKE THE BRITANNICA

(The following is a press release received from the Encyclopedia Britannica.)

CHICAGO-Reports of Unidentified Flying Objects, commonly known as "flying saucers," are still being investigated daily by the 'U.S. Air Force, says Professor Joseph Hynek, Chairman of the Astronomy Department of Northwestern University, in an article on the subject in the 1963 Encyclopedia Britannica. For the first time Britannica has devoted an article to flying saucers.

Since 1947, says the article, the U.S. Air Force has investigated more than 7,000 reports of Unidentified Flying Objects. In 1947, when a civilian aviator first reported "disc-like" objects in the air over Mt. Rainier, Washington, the Air Force began officially investigating each report of the phenomena. The peak year was reached in 1952 when 1,501 reports were made. In 1961 the number dwindled to 488 but reports are still coming in and are still being investigated.

Virtually all the reports received by the Air Force are highly subjective, lacking such verification as pictures, material fragments, and other more precise technical data, says the article, adding that during the fifteen years investigation, the number of unexplained cases fell from an early value of 10% to as little as 2 or 3%.

"Nonetheless," says Britannica, "it must be recognized that knowledge of the universe and of the physics of our atmosphere is still imperfect. UFO sightings, as long as they continue, will merit serious study and may lead to advances not only in physical knowledge but in the area of human behavior as well."

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THINGS TO REMEMBER

(Submitted by Unit #22, Riverside, Calif.)

"Be not simply good; be good for something."

-Thoreau

"Flattery is like perfume. The idea is to smell it, not swallow it."

-William Inge

"I find the greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving."

-Oliver Wendell Holmes

MAY, 1963                                   17

"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials."

-Chinese Proverb

"Remember that what you possess in this world will be found on the clay of our death to belong to somebody else. But what you are will be yours forever."

-Henry Van Dyke

"I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it."

-Abraham Lincoln

"He who receives a benefit should never forget it; he who bestows it should never remember it.."

-Pierre Charron

"For all the sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, it might have been."

-Whither

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SOME SPECIFIC PROGRAMS

This magazine has as one of its principal purposes to bring about a greater degree of understanding among all the people of the earth.  In order to work toward this goal, it is desirable to achieve as wide a circulation as possible.

To work toward this end, we are undertaking two specific programs. First, we are launching a drive to place this magazine in as many libraries around the world as we possibly can. Members of the magazine staff themselves plan to donate subscriptions to libraries out of their own funds. We invite our readers to participate in this drive as well, either by purchasing subscriptions for libraries of their choice on their own, or by forwarding funds earmarked for gift subscriptions to libraries.

Second, we are placing the handling of editorial submissions to Understanding on a strictly business basis. Payment will be made for articles and poetry published, commencing with material received after May 10, 1963. Details of payment offered and how manuscripts should be prepared are listed elsewhere in this issue. We hope by this move to upgrade the editorial content of the magazine, increase the competition for our editorial space and thereby widen the scope of our readership.

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bulletin board

 

Coming Lectures

Michael V. Barton (Michael N), flying saucer investigator, author and lecturer, will address the Inglewood Unit of Understanding on Saturday evening May 18 at 8 p.m. in the Inglewood Business and Professional Women's Clubhouse, 820 Java St. His topic will be "Forever Young, Forever Immortal," concerning individuals who have lived unusually long and useful lives.

A convention will be held June 21, 22, and 23 at the new age village at Triumph, Idaho. A number of new age speakers will be present. Triumph is located six miles south and six miles east of Sun Valley, Idaho. Cabins will be available.

Legislative Matters

Two readers have written in requesting mention of two pending legislative matters, one a United States House of Representatives bill, the other a proposed State of California measure. Understanding, as a non-profit, non-partisan organization, does not actively tale part in political matters, but individual members are free to and are furthermore encouraged to-take part in them.

A letter from Ruby Strong of 4340 Scotts Valley Dr., Santa Cruz, Calif., urges opposition to H. R. 728, which would authorize the president under certain conditions to regulate the distribution of medicinal sustenances. It is feared by opponents of the bill that the measure might give the president power to force vaccinations and

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fluoridation of water supplies on persons not wishing them.

Edwin A. Koupal, Sr., of 5101 Ortega St., Sacramento 2D, Calif., urges opposition to California state senate bill no. 814 which would prohibit the practice of hypnosis in the state after July 1, 1964, except by dentists, physicians, surgeons and psychologists, and by lay persons engaged in the therapeutic practice of hypnosis prior to the effective date of the act. Mr. Koupal says he feels the bill's definition of hypnosis is too ambiguous and all inclusive and he is critical of the so-called grandfather clause which would allow everyone now practicing hypnosis to continue doing so, but with no lay persons to replace them after they have gone on.

News of the Units

The Twin Cities Unit of Understanding (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.) continues to roll along, putting out an excellent newsletter. During April the unit planned to view some film strips on "Radiation." President Johanna Van Poperin took part in a local women's. club luncheon with a theme geared to "Space."

Understanding Unit #22 at Riverside, Calif., has heard talks by D. B. Fairfield on "The Temples of the Far East," Col. Arthur. Burks on "The Wisdom Pool," Dana Howard on the report of Mariner II concerning life on Venus and Neva Dell Hunter on "Blueprint of Space" during recent months.

The Underwood, N. D., unit has been having interesting discussions on space, the world market, organic gardening and the book `'Silent Spring." Members are also keeping a scrap book of unusual clippings.

A new slate of officers has been elected by Unit # 2 at Nevada City, Calif. They are Celia H. Barnes, president; Verdabelle Ebbert,  vice president; Carmen Brand, secretary; Florence Harper, treasurer, and August Ebbert, librarian. All may be addressed care of Tyler Road, Nevada City, Calif. D. B. Fairfield gave a talk for the group recently.

Neva Dell Hunter of Monroeville, Pa., addressed the San Francisco Unit of Understanding during March. Her topic was "A Space Age Blueprint."

Board of Directors Meeting

Five of the nine members of the board of directors of Understanding, Inc.,

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made it to Merlin April 27 for a meeting. Groups from several nearby units in California and Oregon were able to attend. Board members toured the building site for Radio Understanding, where the brush has been cleared and a foundation for the building poured. The group urged members throughout the organization to concentrate on three specific projects: 1. corresponding with residents of other countries; 2. getting copies of Understanding magazine and of "White Sands Incident" and "Atoms, Galaxies and Understanding" in libraries throughout the world, and 3. getting Radio Understanding on the air. Understanding members in other parts of the United States and the world were encouraged to undertake any projects they wish, as long as they are projects for positive good.

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Bell Telephone laboratories scientists have found that voiceprints, like fingerprints, are so distinctly individual that experts may someday be able to recognize one from millions of others. Even if the speakers yell, whisper, try an accent or fill their mouths with marbles, the patterns remain essentially the same.

-Telephone News, Pacific Telephone Co., March, 1963.

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