Just as the dawn was beginning to break over the hills of Griffith Park, a small Spacecraft Landing Device settled gently to earth among some tall brush that would conceal it from the view of casual passers-by. Its arrival had not escaped detection completely, since two stations of the radar warning network had observed a blip on their screens in a place where no aircraft had filed a flight plan. However, the blip was a small one, it was alone and moving rather slowly and, since no hue-and-cry was raised from any other source, it was recorded simply as one more 'anomaly' among the many others that had been seen and recorded before.

A Professor of Astronomy quartered at the Griffith Park Observatory, had arisen early that morning and was in the act of making coffee, when he observed a most unusual phenomenon. An object which, even in the dim morning light, he could see was neither an aeroplane nor a helicopter, came into sight at the upper right-hand corner of his kitchen window and, descending at an angle, seemed to be landing on a spot just below his line of vision from the window. He spent almost a full minute puzzling over what it might have been. It had been coming down too fast to have been a descending weather balloon, but not fast enough to have been a falling object. (He knew, of course, that there were no such things as 'Space Ships', except the rockets which were launched at

2 UNDERSTANDING

our space centers, and, after all, he had some important things to do today, which was why he had arisen early, and, dismissing the object from his mind, he concentrated on his coffee.

Meanwhile, two individuals, who seemed at first glance to be ordinary earthmen, had stepped from the landing craft and were making their way downward through the brush toward the city below them. The one in the lead, whose name was Rom, was speaking, "This is one of the most interesting research projects ever assigned to us," he was saying. "For a long time, there has been a controversy among the members of the Interplanetary Research Council as to whether there was any intelligent life on this planet, which its inhabitants call 'Earth'. It has been known, of course, that there is a rather primitive but rapidly expanding technology in use here, but those who use it seem unable to distinguish between technology and intelligence. In fact, they have been reported to be pursuing their technology to the point where it threatens to destroy them entirely, yet they not only continue blindly in its pursuit, but seem to worship it as well! It has been argued that no being with any spark of intelligence would follow such a course. At any rate, we are here to settle the matter by first-hand observation."

By this time, they had emerged from the brush to a side street, and were approaching its intersection with Franklin Ave. Several newspaper racks stood on the corner, and the two men paused to examine the papers they held. "It is well the board gave us a short course in the written, as well as the spoken language of this race," Rom said. "It will enable us to determine what sort of events take place here, and how they are reported.

"The large headline says that the Arabs and the Israelis are at war for the fourth time in 26 years."

"Hmmm," said Rom's companion, "I wonder why they are doing that?"

"It seems," said Rom, who was reading the article, "that in the first war the Arabs said they were going to take all of the Israelis' land and 'push them into the sea'. It didn't quite work out that way, and the Israelis took some of the Arabs' land instead. Every war since then the Arabs say they are fighting to get back their land, but each time they lose a little more. The Israelis say they don't want the Arabs' land but they must keep much of it so that future wars will not be fought on their soil. Each of the two relatively small groups of contenders are sponsored by one of the two most powerful nations on the planet, which furnish them with the weapons and materials they must have in order to fight. The two large nations are constantly in fear lest the fighting of their two small protégés should bring them into unwanted

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1974 3

conflict with each other, since they would then be forced to use weapons whose unlimited destructive power would probably destroy all of the civilization on the planet. They constantly exhort the small nations to stop fighting, yet at the same time, they continue to supply them with the weapons and materials without which they could not fight!"

"Stop! Stop!" groaned Rom's companion. "My head is spinning trying to grasp all this nonsense! You say the Arabs fight to get back their land, but keep on losing more. The Israelis don't want the land, but have to keep it to do the fighting on! The two major nations furnish them with the weapons with which they fight, and then worry about being drawn into the fighting, and of having to destroy all of civilization in the process!

"I think we have learned enough and had better get back to our space-craft as soon as possible. It would be terrible to be trapped on a planet where everyone is insane! We can safely report that there definitely is no sign of intelligent life on this planet, and that within a short time there may not be any kind of life at all!"

LETTERS FROM HUNGARY

I have always been interested in the East European Countries, probably because we never did learn much about them in school, neither in Geography, History nor Modern Languages. We only received tantalizing snippets of their cultures and general atmosphere from the music of Chopin and Smetana, from the knowledge that the language of Romania is a member of the Romance languages, like French, Italian and Spanish, and numerous other bits and pieces gleaned here and there.

Consequently, when an opportunity of writing to an Hungarian girl presented itself to me, I immediately grasped it. Her name is Klara and she is an University student in Budapest. She studies Psychology, Languages and Literature. This includes Hungarian and English. Her study of the Hungarian language involves the study of Finno-Ugarian Linguistics, since Hungarian and Finnish are kindred tongues. Both belong to the Finno-Ugarian family of languages as distinct from the Indo-European family with its Germanic, Romance and Slavic branches. Needless to say, Klara and I write to each other in English!

I told her that I was a Philosophy student and asked her about the study of Philosophy in Hungary. Her reply was that everyone at her University must study Philosophy for two years. The course is divided into three parts-(1) Before Marx, (2) Marx, and (3) After Marx. Those who specialize in Philosophy study ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, etc., just as we do in the West. She mentioned the famous Hungarian

4 UNDERSTANDING

Philosopher, George Lukacs, who wrote philosophical and literary essays, and the aesthetics of Marxism. However, she said that she, personally, did not like Philosophy for to her it "did not answer anything," and asked how I proposed to use it.

Our studies are not the only thing about which we write, of course. We also tell each other of our hobbies and spare-time pursuits. During one summer she worked for a month to earn enough money to go to Bulgaria. In her spare time she enjoys going to the cinema and likes the films of Ingmar Bergman.

She wrote me of an English Film Week which was held in Budapest. The films shown were "Bloody Sunday," which she said was a great success, "Family Life," "Railway Children" and "The Boyfriend." The English film delegation informed the Hungarian audiences that these were not necessarily the best, but the most typical.

I told her of my interest in music, and this involved a discussion of the two great Hungarian composers, Franz Liszt and Bela Bartok, Bartok being one of the founders of modern European classical music. He lived between the two World Wars and had to move to America because of the Hungarian political system. He was the first to collect Hungarian folk-songs and use them in his works.

She mentioned another Hungarian composer, Kodaly Zoltan, of whom I had not heard before. She told me that he also collected folk-songs and wrote a "folk-opera" from these entitled: Hary Janos. She sent me a record of this folk opera together with a modern Hungarian pop record.

Then, last summer, we actually met! She came to London to attend a vacation course on English for foreigners, and I was traveling through London on my way to Dover to get a boat to France. She was staying in an hostel near the city centre, so we met there and went to a nearby restaurant for an English cup of tea!

We had a very interesting conversation-her spoken English was just as good as the English of her letters. Her impression of the English people she had met in London was a good one. She said they were always very kind and helpful when she asked for directions.

Soon, (too soon!) it was time for me to catch the train to Dover. By the time I got in it, it was absolutely packed. People and luggage were crammed everywhere in an eagerness to reach the romantic land of sun and wine. And, as we trundled into the darkness, I thought, "Why aren't there more holiday-makers going to Hungary?" Then I thought, "Well, I suppose a pen-friendship is at least a beginning in that direction."

LORNA STANLEY

Sheffield, England

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1974 5

RECENT UFO SIGHTINGS

(With so many UFO sightings reported recently by the news media, we can only briefly record some of the news items.)

Southwest Ohio Nest for UFOs (Illinois State Journal, Dayton, Ohio, Oct. 12, 1973 UPI). At least 16 sightings of unidentified flying objects were reported in about 12 hours in the Southwestern Ohio area during the night, including one photographed by a policeman.

Governor Says He Saw "Flying Object" (St. Louis Globe Democrat, Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 18, 1973 AP). Add the name of Governor John J. Gilligan to the list of persons on record as saying they have seen an unidentified flying object. Gilligan told newsmen he and his wife watched a "vertical shaped, amber-colored" object for a period of 30-35 minutes, while near Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the 15th of October.

UFO Reports on the Rise Across Country (St. Louis Democrat, Oct. 19, 1973). A Payne County, Okla. couple reported their car was followed by a strange glowing object that emitted varying low and high pitched humming sounds and turned at 45 degree angles.

In Pascagoula, Miss., two boatyard workers claim they were taken aboard a bluish saucer-shaped craft and examined by silver-clad creatures with pointed ears and claw-shaped hands. (Dr. Allen Hynek and Dr. James Harder, after 4 hours of interviewing the men, even under hypnosis, are convinced the encounter was real.)

Though the Air Force remains silent, scientific observers in Southern Missouri say they watched four Air Force jets chase strange glowing lights into a thundercloud, and Navy radar planes are frequently seen on patrol over the Ozarks.

Residents Fail to Catch UFOs (St. Louis Globe Democrat, Oct. 20, 1973). Nervous St. Charles residents chased blinking red, green and white lights in their pick-up trucks, in the Weldon-Springs Harvester area, but were outdistanced by the UFOs.

67,000 Get Glimpse of UFO (Medford [Ore.] Mail Tribune, Oct. 21, 1973 UPI). Baton Rouge, La. A multi-colored unidentified flying object hovered briefly over crowded Louisiana State University football stadium Saturday night and disappeared. State police in helicopters pursued the object to the southwest.

Copter Narrowly Misses Collision (Plain Dealer, Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 21, 1973). A crew of four aboard an Army helicopter, en route to Cleveland, narrowly missed a mid-air collision with an object, described as "unlike anything produced on earth." Crew at first thought the red light was a radio beacon, but as it approached the helicopter, the pilot took evasive action to avoid a collision. The strange craft hovered over

6 UNDERSTANDING

the helicopter only a few seconds but the communications blackout lasted ten minutes.

UFOs Reported in Louisiana and Indiana (Dayton Daily News, Oct. 10, 1973 UPI). New Orleans: Several persons fought mosquitoes and chill bumps to get a glimpse of red and green lights whirling atop an unidentified flying object, hovering in the night skies, for over two hours in southeast Louisiana. Police in Eaton, Ind. said they tracked a strange flying object with flashing red, white and blue lights for several hours Tuesday night. Military radar at nearby Baer Air Force Base picked up the flying object, but officers were unable to contact the craft or determine what it was.

It's UFO Time in Bay Area (San Francisco [Calif.] Examiner, Oct. 17, 1973) In a period of 4% hours, the Coast Guard received a dozen calls describing various colored flares, light flashes and glowing objects. These reports generally concerned objects seen off the coast, from Jenner in Sonoma County south to Santa Cruz.

The San Francisco police also received reports of UFOs, 15 to 20 in an hour. Calls were also reported in Oakland and Marin County, as well as in San Jose.

(Space precludes listing more.)

THE CONTROVERSIAL UFOs

Interpretations of what has been seen in the skies are many. There is the explanation that in September the planets Venus, Mars and Jupiter were at their brightest and while near the horizon could have been mistaken for "alien" craft. And others hold that the sightings are of "natural objects" (i.e. space debris) or intentional frauds (i.e. plastic bags with small lighted candles).

A Stanford University survey of 400 scientists indicated that 10% believe UFOs are vehicles from outer space, while another 10% held that idea to be "preposterous," while the remainder were puzzled or uncommitted.

A sociology professor at the University of California, Herbert Blumer, calls the rash of UFO sightings the "phenomenon of collective hallucinations." His research has indicated that "There is a definite connection of general uneasiness as a background and the sudden appearance of strange objects."

There are also leading scientists who believe that life exists in outer space, though not necessarily what we would consider "human." This belief stems from the discovery of amino acids (the building blocks of life) in the meteorite which recently fell in Australia.

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1974 7

Dr. John L. Hall, a Dallas psychiatrist, said there are several answers to the UFO reports. "First, some people are crazy; second, some people have been known to lie; third, they could be victims of genuine misperceptions of physical phenomena-like a mirage on the desert. And, fourth, you can't rule out the fact that there may actually be terrestrial things that are a part of the unknowability of the universe, things out-side our technical knowledge and which we can't possibly know."

Individuals, when questioned, often remark that the sightings are the result of government testing of some "secret aircraft" or part of the Skylab project.

Dr. John A. Ball, Harvard College astronomer, speculates extraterrestrials could but are not communicating with us. They may consider earth a wilderness area that must develop naturally-perhaps as a wildlife sanctuary. Even as we seek answers of life processes in wildlife sanctuaries or zoos, so perhaps extraterrestrial s may be observing man on earth.

Because there is insufficient collated data to determine the validity of extra-terrestrial visitors to earth, J. Allen Hynek, among others, feels the need for an official government agency-sane, nonsensational and unprejudiced-to explain the sightings. He notes that "flaps" have not gone away because we ignored them!

Then, there is the small town on the Texas coast-Palacious-with a population of 4000, which has issued a town proclamation to officially host the UFOs in American skies; and the owner-manager of radio station KLOO, Robert L. Hauglum, in Corvallis, Oregon, who offers a $10,000 reward "to anyone who brings live to the station an outer space being which hasn't been on earth before." He would insist the creature be examined by medical specialists.

In Arkansas, two Martian pranksters, garbed in aluminum foil, were fined on charges of "malicious mischief."

So it goes, each to his belief, though with far less ridicule than just a few years ago.

♦ ♦ ♦

One never begins to grow old until he can no longer smile.

♦ ♦ ♦

Is there any human being that doesn't have something to say to us? Even the most case-hardened criminal, if we would but listen and study his situation and value what he has to teach us, might help prevent the crime that sent him to prison.

ALLAN A. HUNTER

8 UNDERSTANDING

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

Children Need Lots of People

(Citizen-Journal, Columbus, Ohio, March 19, 1973)

The children with the best adjustment to life are found in orphan-ages. It comes not from discipline or harsh treatment, but because the child's world is not confined to two parents, but to many. The child who grows in a world of diversified adults-teachers, room monitors, supervisors, playground athletes, and a wide range of friends-can drink love from many fountains.

There is a dark man with smile-wrinkled eyes at Children's Hospital in Boston who comes closer to appreciating the world of growing up than anyone I know. He is Dr. Graham B. Blaine, Jr., psychiatrist.

His passionate interest in life styles is well known. He has published a book called "Are Parents Bad For Children?" Dr. Blaine admires parents as much as he does youngsters, but feels that our children should not be confined to a world of parents and brothers and sisters, to the exclusion of others.

In his work, Blaine says: "I was aware of a growing conviction that something was drastically wrong with the way we are bringing up our children. These young people seemed to be embarking on adult life guided only by their rejection of the values and goals of their parents."

Rejection. An accurate word. It seems as though teenagers sift their parents' minds to learn what to treat with contempt. The human family is designed for love and harmony. Today it produces dropouts, disaffection, drugs and loneliness. And yet, almost all parents try-each according to his talents-to be good mothers and fathers. The trouble with parenthood is that it is controlled by amateurs.

Blaine favors bringing the grandparents back into the family picture. They too have something to offer children. This is true of aunts and uncles, most of whom are seen only on holidays.

Fear of failure-morally or materialistically-forces many of our young to turn to what we call the drug culture. It's an easy escape from facing impossible goals. It promises relief from tension and, more important, acceptance by school friends. This is a love substitute.

If the parents do not encourage disagreement in table conversation, the kids remain silent. A father cannot relate to a young boy by patting him on the head and saying: "Okay son. What's on your mind? we have five minutes." The magnetic silence of the family around the television set is not togetherness. It's an assortment of separate worlds.

Dr. Blaine thinks the child's sphere should be enlarged with more

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1974 9

relatives, teachers, neighborhood friends so that each little boy and girl can seek understanding from many sources. The idea is to spread the responsibility.

The saddest thing, the doctor says, is for a child to come home from school, open the front door, and yell "Hello!" to an empty house ...

NATURAL LIVING

In Genesis it says that God has made us out of the soil of the earth and He breathed into us the breath of life.

What does this all mean? It means simply this. If we do not have the proper vitamins and minerals of the soil we cannot be healthy.

It is necessary for our well-being that we use all nature's resources. Natural healing is simply the art of living naturally. It means that we seek to take advantage of Nature's curative possibilities, of Nature's desire to help us maintain efficient, healthy bodies. We must live in conformity to natural law. Once we realize the marvelous things accomplished through the forces of Nature, it is easy to understand the significance of natural living.

There is nothing new about the natural healing art. It is when we drift away from natural living that we become rundown to such an ex-tent that disease enters into the body. There were no doctors in the beginning, and there would be no need for doctors today if people would live the natural life. You, who are sick, remember that in the beginning of time when man was created, there was also created, everything for his health and well-being.

BEN SCHIAVO

THOUGHT JEWELS

Beloved (You)

We all have, at times, feelings of inadequacy, but to make mistakes is much more honorable than to escape making them through never moving. Obstacles and setbacks should be accepted with a shrug, do not try to go around them.

We cannot be mature as long as we solve our problems in childish ways. Maturity demands an intelligent appraisal of disappointments, as well as an appreciation of successes.

Responsibility is the price we pay for independence. If you will not try to do a little more and a little better than you can easily do, you will never learn what you are really capable of doing.

Amouriaae

10 UNDERSTANDING

Poet’s corner

UNDERSTANDING

Understanding is the way that will bring to men release

From the conflicts and the tumults that bar the road to peace;

Understanding joined with love is the path to harmony,

Understanding of all lands is the door to unity.

If the greatest mathematician of the century was right,

Understanding is far better than display of martial might;

The one who found the formula that atomic power released

Saw that understanding could unite the West and East.

But both the East and West must understand that God

Has a purpose that is greater than any system's rod,

And every country of the earth some day will see that light

Is a better hope for harmony than the most extensive fight.

Then rise, oh sons of God, and determine you will lead

The world to wider wisdom than the vales where warriors bleed,

Rise and with God's help proclaim that understanding

Is a more important program than any airplane landing.

And when men find the Cosmic Power that shapes atomic forms

Can also aid the human mind to still the raging storms,

Then guiding men to peaceful realms by its superior worth,

The glory of the Lord at last shall cover all the earth.

FLOYD IRVING LORBEER

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1974 11

LOST SHEEP

Go out to find the lost sheep
Don't leave them
to die in the dark.

Pity those lost in the mist
Who think they are freed by luck
Who laugh at the prayers and the beads
And wander far in the dark.

Love the outright villain
Pity his misguided path
And show him love and friendship
Give him light to come back.

Why throw rocks and shut doors
And say you're glad you're not like that

His misery is your concern
His darkness is
your fault

Go out and find the lost sheep

With enough love at first
they'd not stray at all.

-MARGARET KRUTSINGER

♦ ♦ ♦

Everyone has a special role in the world and only God can judge right from wrong. Each has his unique character and function. Appearances are deceiving, so be slow to criticize the speech and behavior of others.

OOMOTO

♦ ♦ ♦

Miracles are not contrary to nature but only contrary to what we know about nature.

-ST. AUGUSTINE (A.D. 353)

♦ ♦ ♦

Everyone is your neighbor. Your path through life meets many strangers each day. Think of them as instruments created by God the same as you are. Do not dwell on the pointless differences between you. Rather be aware of how much you have in common.

-REV. W. W. LINDENSCHMIOT

♦ ♦ ♦

Listen, or thy tongue will keep thee deaf.

-AMERICAN INDIAN

12 UNDERSTANDING

world report

UFOs in Vietnam

(Daily Courier, Grants Pass, Ore., Oct. 17, 1973)

CHICAGO (UPI)-U. S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. George S. Brown says unidentified flying objects "plagued" the United States during the Vietnam war and even triggered an air-sea battle in which an Australian destroyer was hit.

"I don't know if this story has ever been told," Brown told a Tuesday news conference, but "they (UFOs) plagued us in Vietnam during the war."

Brown, a former commander of the 7th Air Force in Southeast Asia, said "We didn't call them that. They could only be seen at night in certain places."

Plants Grow Faster in Moon Soil

(National Enquirer, Sept. 16, 1973)

Scientists have achieved amazing growth of common vegetables planted in moon soil brought back by the Apollo 14 astronauts.

"In some cases, vegetables grew two or three times as fast in lunar soil than in other types of soil," said Dr. Charles H. Walkinshaw, 37, plant pathologist at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas. "We planted vegetable seedlings in synthetic material mixed with tiny samples of lunar soil, Iowa corn-growing soil, and Hawaiian volcanic soil. In our experiments, carrots, lettuce and radishes achieved the greatest height and weight in lunar soil.

"Cabbage, brussels sprouts and broccoli also grew better in lunar soil, but to a lesser extent.

"Microscopic examination of these vegetables revealed higher concentrations of such minerals as iron, aluminum and titanium in most cases. Satisfactory amounts of other minerals were also found.

"Ferns and mosses had similar beneficial effects when grown in lunar soil brought back by the Apollo 11 and 12 astronauts."

He said more than 10,000 experiments were conducted before tests were halted because of funding cutbacks.

Space officials said there is considerable moon soil left for future experiments,

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1974 13

but not enough for more extensive studies.

Dr. Walkinshaw said, "if and when a colony is ever established on the moon, we could use lunar soil to grow plants in a lunar greenhouse. "However, the full potential of these experiments can't be realized without more tests with additional soil samples.

-ALLAN A. ZULLO

Plants Are Emotional, Too

(Omaha World Herald, Omaha, Neb., February 26, 1973.)

Moscow (UPI)-Soviet scientists think ordinary flowers feel fear, joy, pain and other human emotions, the newspaper Socialist Industry reported Sunday.

"In our experiments we used hypnosis to switch human emotions on and off and received definitely positive answers as to the ability of plants to get emotionally involved," psychologist V. M. Pushkin said.

During the tests, he said, a hypnotist put a human subject to sleep and told the subject pleasant and unpleasant things "which aroused emotions of joy or sorrow."

An encephalograph attached to the subject's hand and to a leaf of a plant some distance away "recorded similar emotions in the plant." When the subject smiled, Pushkin said, the plant flourished its petals. When the subject was told it was cold and began shivering, the plant began to shrivel as if also chilled.

Pushkin said despite the research evidence, "it is too early to call this a discovery. It is safer to use the word hypothesis.

"It can be supposed that human mentality, human perception, man's thinking and memory all basically are a specialization of the information service which takes place at plant cell level."

Such a conclusion, he said, "makes it possible to approach the analysis of the origin of the nervous system. The responses of plant cells should help in understanding the functioning of human brain cells."

Expanding Knowledge

(Daily Courier, Grants Pass, Ore., Sept. 27, 1973)

SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP)-The research conducted by the Skylab 2 astronauts may provide a tremendous payoff in expanding man's knowledge of himself, his earth and his sun.

No one can predict the benefits. But the thousands of photos and miles of tape could lead to an endless source of pollution-free energy, a catalog of the world's resources and new metals and materials.

The payoff will be slow in coming, however.

14 UNDERSTANDING

Years may be required to evaluate completely the data obtained from the Skylab 1 and 2 crews and that still to come from Skylab 3. After the Skylab 2 astronauts returned to earth NASA Administrator James B. Fletcher summed up the importance of Skylab this way:

"Skylab marks the transition of the space program from a period dominated by exploration to a period dominated by exploitation of the space around us as a global resource.

"Space is a place, a very unique place and a new important resource that can be used for the benefit of people everywhere on earth . . . " Skylab 2 brought home 77,600 pictures of the sun snapped through six solar telescopes and more than 12,000 pictures and 18 miles of computer tape gathered during earth resources surveys.

Add to that 30,000 sun photos and 3,000 earth photos collected by the Skylab 1 crew, and scientists declared it a bonanza.

Perhaps, more important, the astronauts came back in apparent good health, proving that man can adapt to the weightless environment of space.

The photos and sensor data will be studied to determine if a space science can be developed for locating hidden oil and mineral reserves; assessing agricultural potential, arable land and diseased and healthy crops; estimating timber volume; mapping snow cover and assessing water runoff; charting air and water pollution and their sources; fore-casting weather and determining fishing grounds.

India Loses Million Children a Year

NEW DELHI, India-Malnutrition claims the lives of one million children in India every year, parliament was told recently.

A survey by a national institute revealed that 65 percent of Indian children in the lowest income group suffer from so-called moderate malnutrition and 18 percent from severe malnutrition.

Protein and calorie deficiency also produces retardation in children under the age of six, which prevents them from getting an education and renders them dependent on others through life.

Since 1970 the government has been providing a supplementary diet to children under three in tribal areas and in urban slums. In 1971 the program was extended to children in the three-to-five age group, and since then to all children in drought-stricken famine areas. Expectant and nursing mothers also get supplementary diets.

♦ ♦ ♦

There is no smaller package than a man wrapped up in himself!

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1974 15

An Oil Pollution Solution

Oil tanker spills make the headlines and cause much concern. There is, however, another major source of pollution of the world's beaches less publicized. Fortunately, a solution to this latter problem seems to have been found.

This major cause of oil pollution stems from routine tanker operations. Before taking on a new load of crude oil the sea water used as a ballast, on tanker return trips, is flushed into the ocean. This usually includes a small amount of crude oil left from the previous load. In this manner, the world's tanker fleets annually dump an estimated one million tons of oil residue into the oceans.

Because Professor Eugene Rosenberg of the Tel Aviv University decided to do something about the dirty beaches an oil-eating strain of bacteria has been developed.

As told in Time Magazine (May 21, 1973), Professor Rosenberg with Biochemist David Gutnick isolated a genus of bacteria called arthrobacter, which feasts on crude oil. Then they developed a particularly fast multiplying new strain, which they named RAG-1.

Bred in salt water, enriched with phosphorus and nitrogen com-pounds, the strain gobbles up the paraffin content of crude oil and leaves only small droplets of dewaxed oil that break down quickly in nature and become harmless carbon dioxide and water.

Experiments with tankers have proven the efficiency of the strain, which is good news to ship owners. The nutrient ingredients are inexpensive, and the bacteria work so well that tanks need not be washed and scraped when periodically repaired, which can be a hazardous operation.

Rosenberg believes that the bugs may even turn the ballast water into profit. He estimates that after the bacteria have cleaned the tanks the ballast could yield tons of dewaxed oil which can be made into gasoline and other petroleum products. And further, the bugs can be harvested to produce high-quality animal food.

RAG-1 cannot harm other life in the ocean. Says Gutnick, "We took the bacteria from nature. They are there and they are fastidious about what they like and do not like." When the bacteria run out of oil, they conveniently die and are themselves eaten by fish.

♦ ♦ ♦

But for the desire to understand

Life would be empty, without a plan

Since deep inside each mortal soul

Is a medium of exchange-of purest gold

FERN SHAEFER

16 UNDERSTANDING

Life is what our thoughts make it.

♦ ♦ ♦

UFOs INTERNATIONAL

Like an Overturned Soup Plate

(San Francisco, Calif., Examine, Oct. 23, 1973)

LIMA, PERU (UP)-A Lima architect said Monday he stood 50 yards from a flying saucer "shaped like an overturned soup plate," photo-graphed the object and offered his pictures as proof.

"I never thought I would see a flying saucer, much less photograph one," said Hugo Luyo Vega. He offered both his pictures and the word of a client, whom he had taken to the Lima countryside in search of a home site, as proof of the event. He said he and his client had driven about 54 miles inland along the Rimac River when they came to a stop near a valley surrounded by hills.

In the midst of their survey, he said, "my client, obviously excited, told me he saw a shining object in the bottom of the valley that was advancing toward us extremely slowly. The car was not far away so I ran back for my camera.

"When I pointed my camera and took the picture, the object was less than 50 yards away from us and about 20 yards off the ground. Suddenly the object changed direction, headed toward the East and in-creased its speed. It rose off the ground as if trying to avoid some high tension wires that came down from the top of one of the hills and crossed the valley, and disappeared from view."

Hugo Luyo said the object was the color of burnished silver, and shaped like an overturned soup plate with a cupola on the top.

"At the very top of the cupola, there was a round object, giving off a fixed sky blue light. Lower on the cupola, we could see a row of small windows, like port holes in a ship."

On the bottom of the object, he said, was what appeared to be "the Propulsive force of the object ... a dark red throbbing light that was aimed toward the ground from a sort of turbine in the middle of the up-side-down plate. Near the turbine-like part we could see protuberances like half eggs.

The architect said only about 30 seconds elapsed from the time they spotted the object until it disappeared.

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1974 17

"But, from the minute that I held in my hand the Polaroid photo graph, I had proof that what my client and I saw was not an optical illusion," said Hugo Luyo. "In the middle of the three by four inch photograph we could see the flying saucer, even the row of rounded windows. After this experience, I am convinced that flying saucers really exist. So is my client."

UFO Over Hokkaido

(Mainichi Daily News, Japan, Aug. 28, 1973)

SAPPORO-People in Hokkaido are talking about strange unidentified flying objects which hovered in the dark sky last weekend.

At around 9:00 p.m. Friday crew members of a cuttlefish boat off Yoichi Town, Hokkaido, caught sight of a bright orange-colored object the size of the moon, in the sky to the north. At 8:30 p.m. the next day, junior high school students reported witnessing four flying objects lingering and flying, like orange balls in the sky.

On Monday afternoon a policeman in Hakodate, at the southern tip of Hakkaido, reported sighting of a red object with black smoke, falling into the sea. As there was no accident involving aircraft at that time, the mysterious object seen at broad daylight was believed to have been a meteorite.

(A photo was included with this report in the CBA International Flyer showing the large size of the UFO compared to nearby stars.)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear "Understanding":

Enclosed please find Three Dollars for a one-year's subscription to "Understanding." The last fifty cents will help with postage.

I am interested in hearing from those who have had a flying saucer experience, are involved with ESP, the occult and nutrition. I could use much correspondence.

l, personally, was born on earth but have not been on or near Earth for about 3000 years. Earth needs help. I believe in unification of every-thing. I hope to help the Infinite Creator in any way I can. Peace.

I am Ted Haebler, 23 Dale Avenue, Quincy, Mass. 02169.

♦ ♦ ♦

Oomoto

18 UNDERSTANDING

book reviews

God Drives a Flying Saucer

(GOD DRIVES A FLYING SAUCER by Dione, Bantam Paperback, $1.28)

The author, Dione, has earned a Ph.D. and has been a teacher in Connecticut. This medium-sized report on UFO-reports is important to people who cannot spend years reading everything that has been written on UFOs. It also offers a single thesis which can be supported by every-one who knows UFO Literature: God is not supernatural but super-technological.

It has been difficult to interest the majority of high school students in the Bible and other scriptures, as well as physics. The link now postulated by Dione, and others before him, may well succeed in reversing the recent unpopularity of religion and physics.

Our technology can be improved only by those who have passed all the elementary physics courses in college. And, elementary astronomy is no drawback if they want to invent spacecraft. The kickback from physics is not immediate. It can be expected after we have assembled a better spacecraft and made our first voyages in it.

The thesis by Dione has some little known sightings in Connecticut, and it represents the unofficial Catholic attitude and thought about UFOs by citing various appearances of angels in areas which were purely Catholic at the time. These appearances have been run under the title of "miracle" so far and have been given location names as Fatima and Guadalupe.

The cover-photograph appears to be a time exposure, using tripod, we hope and some 5 seconds shutter. It could be a negative taken at night, or it may be an actual view of a flying saucer at daytime. Any-way, the saucer looks rather dark on a white background, and shows changes of shape. This appears to be a photo of a hovering UFO, using rather low power. It does not look like a "pearl in the sky" as the Manusa book of Hindu scriptures describes the "vimana."

-VON C.

(The reviewer is a scientist for the Von Carstanjen Research Company)

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1974 19

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Congratulations to New Officers

At the October 20th, 1973 Annual Business Meeting of Understanding, Inc. the following officers were elected to serve for the year: President: Dr. Daniel W. Fry; Executive Vice-President, Mrs. Grace Graham; Vice-Presidents, Mrs. Margaret Little and Dr. Olin Byerly; Recording Secretary, Mrs. Florence E. Bohnert; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Sharon Tucker; Treasurer, Mrs. Kerttu Campbell; Subscriptions, Mrs. Clara Ledbetter; Membership and Organization, Mrs. Florence E. Bohnert; Geographic Files, Mrs. Esther Ellsworth; and Friend-ship by Mail, Mrs. Melva Campbell.

National Directors chosen for the year are: Dr. Daniel W. Fry, Mrs. Angela Kilsby, Mr. Thomas Tucker, Ms. Virginia Arnold, Mrs. Tahahlita Fry, Mr. Lee Yates, Ms. Florence Durkee, Mr. Harvey Campbell, and Mrs. Connie Heddons.

Honorary International Directors are: Mr. Per Axel Atterbom of Sweden; Mr. Anthony Brooke of England; Miss Edith Nicolaisen of Sweden; and Mr. Herbert D. Clark of Canada.

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20 UNDERSTANDING

Wouldn't It Be Wonderful-

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Gabriel Green Lectures

"Flying Saucers and Past Lives" was the title of a recent lecture sponsored by the Inglewood (Calif.) Unit #15. Gabriel Green, UFO researcher and President of the Amalgamated Flying Saucer Clubs of America (AFSCA) was the speaker. Studies have indicated that past life regressions "have brought out historical and scientific data from more advanced civilizations of the past."

Lecture on Eckankar

ECKANKAR, the Ancient Science of Soul Travel, was the subject of a lecture by Mr. John Eggan, to members and friends of the Buffalo (N. Y.) Unit #37. Norman Weis contributed his findings on recent UFO sightings as well.

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