Officers and Directors of Understanding, Inc.

 

Daniel W. Fry

Founder and President Emeritus

 

Officers

President:                                    Jeffrey Perry

Executive Vice President           Barbara L. Yates

Secretary:                                    Virginia Perry

Recording Secretary:                 Barbara Yates

Treasurer                                     Clarence R. Gahlbeck

 

Directors

Dr. Daniel W. Fry                        Jeffrey Perry

Hetty Miller                                   John W. Boushka

Dr. Robert Reid                           Laura Gilbert

Rev. Ben T. Cullen                      Audrey G. Standefer

Virginia Perry

 

Associate Directors:

David Porter                                Walter Nelson

 

International Honorary

Directors:

Per Axel Atterbom                      Sweden

Edith Nicolaisen                          Sweden

Herbert D. Clark                          Canada

 

Legal Compliance

"Understanding," began with nine members in El Monte, California in 1954. It was incorporated as a non-profit organization in March of 1955 in California. It is presently licensed and recognized as a non-profit corporation in Oregon and Arizona.

 

The purposes and goals of the organization are too lengthy to reproduce fully. They have been condensed for this purpose. The full content of them is to be found in the Articles of Incorporation. The By-laws of the organization delimit the activities, administrative responsibilities and guide lines for organization of individual units.

 

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Philosophy and Objectives

of

Understanding, Incorporated

 

The basic philosophy of Understanding, Inc. is best expressed in the belief that there are more areas of agreement between all men than of disagreement and that finding those areas will bring about understanding, cooperation and peace to all inhabitants of this planet.

 

Objectives

1. To chart the areas of mutual agreement in the social science of today as postulates of behavior for man toward his fellow-man.

 

2. To chart in like manner the areas of worldwide agreement in the spiritual sciences by means of which rapid advance in the understanding of the true goal of life and in the practice of right relation-ships to the Creator of all men.

 

3. To engage in scientific and other research, study, analysis and investigation of any and all things which contribute toward the establishment of truth and the advancement of all mankind.

 

4. To acquire and hold such property, funds and facilities and to engage in any lawful business activity incidental to or necessary or desirable for, the accomplishment of the purposes set forth above.

 

5. To solicit the association, cooperation and assistance of individuals, organizations or corporate entities having similar aims and purposes.

 

6. To authorize, subject to the supervision of the directors of the corporation, units which shall function to carry out its purposes.

 

7. To operate exclusively for scientific, charitable, religious, literary or educational purposes.

 

3                                                    Understanding

 

Table of Contents

 

OUR ECONOMY OF SCARCITY   .................................................................................             3

THE LAST ASSEMBLY   .................................................................................................             5

Poet’s corner   ..........................................................................................................             7

THEORY JUNKIES   ........................................................................................................             8

ufo department   ......................................................................................................             11

HOW TO "GET SOMEWHERE" IN LIFE   ....................................................................             15

GOING SOLAR   ................................................................................................................             17

THE RATIONALE BEHIND GHOSTS   .........................................................................             19

THE HERB GARDEN   ....................................................................................................             20

BULLETIN BOARD   ........................................................................................................             21

FLASH   ..............................................................................................................................             22

 

 

The Staff

 

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

associate editor ....................................................................  Florence D. Fry

Circulation editor..................................................................... jeffrey perry

 

Subscription Rates

One year, six issues, $4.00. (Foreign, $5.50) Published by Understanding, Inc., a non-profit organization.  Contributions are U.S. income tax deductible.  Address all correspondence to: Understanding, Inc.  Star Route Box 588F, Tonopah, AZ, 85354.  Tel. 602-386-3832

 

UNDERSTANDING                    4

 

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

 

OUR ECONOMY OF SCARCITY

As this editorial is being written, the officially announced rate of inflation in the United States is slightly above 13% per year. Those who have to pay for things however, whether it-be food, clothing, housing, health care or education, know that the true rate, if stripped of the usual `adjustments' and downward manipulation, is much closer to 18%. Under the Federal Administration's present policy of encouraging unlimited increases in the cost of energy, which, of course, raises the cost of everything else in like proportion, the rate is accelerating rapidly and, even though the long-heralded recession may have some damping effect, may well reach 24% by the end of this year. Nothing has been done during the past five years, by any government agency, and nothing is being done now, which could possibly have any significant effect on the rate of inflation. The reason is that officialdom simply refuses to recognize the great and basic change of concept that has come about in the economy of the United States and, to a lesser degree, a number of other countries.

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The U.S. economy was originally built upon a concept of abundance. Companies or corporations, engaged in the production of goods, competed with each other to produce more and more of their product at lower and lower prices. Those who succeeded, got the majority of the trade and became large and successful, through the sheer volume of their business. Today, the concept is totally reversed. The thrust is now to produce fewer and fewer goods and, because of the scarcity, to sell them at higher and higher prices. The average corporation today, can make and sell half as many products as it did a few years ago, and still make twice as much profit. (If it can convince the public that the shortage is greater than it actually is, it can make five times as much.) The so-called "sugar shortage" of several years ago, was one of the latter cases.

After a blast of publicity in the various news media concerning a coming sugar shortage, the price was jumped in almost daily increments, until it had doubled, tripled and finally quadrupled. During all of this period there was always an ample supply of sugar on the shelves of every supermarket visited by your editor during his lecture tours throughout the country, and, while in El Paso, Texas, where sugar was 60¢ per pound, he walked across the bridge into Juarez, Mexico, where he found that anyone could buy all of the sugar he wished at 10¢ per pound. (The Mexican markets had not been informed of the "shortage", and knew nothing about it!)

At the end of the first quarter after the squeeze had begun, the largest sugar company in the U.S. announced in its quarterly report, that it had made five times as much profit in that quarter as it had in the previous one. In the same report it also stated that it proposed to try still another raise of 10¢ per pound to see if the public would stand for it! At this point, however, the public was fed up, and the purchase of sugar dropped until every sugar warehouse was full, whereupon, the price was gradually dropped until a point was found where the public would buy just enough sugar to keep the mills in operation, whereupon the price was pegged

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at that point. This process is known as, "finding the ceiling", and has been applied to many products during the last few years, always with a preliminary announcement of an impending shortage.

It is now well realized by all industry and food-producing concerns, that it is more profitable to produce a small amount of goods at a high price than a larger amount at a lower price. So long as this concept continues in vogue, there is nothing anyone can do to halt or even control inflation.

President Carter's explanation for his policy of encouraging unlimited increases in the price of petroleum products is that the more the oil companies are permitted to gouge the public, the more they will scurry about, finding new sources and drilling more wells in order to increase the amount of their product for sale. This, of course, will never happen. The oil companies are doing very well just as they are, and would not dream of producing a lot more of their product, and thereby risk having to lower their prices. More oil will, of course, be produced, but at a rate that is always a little below the needs of the country, so that the price can be constantly levered up. Even though the oil companies are admittedly making much larger profits than last year, the number of new wells being drilled is very substantially less. All of this does, of course, require considerable cooperation among the various producers. A cooperation that at one time would have been labeled, (and prosecuted), as "conspiracy in restraint of trade", but which is now so common and universal that no number of `watch dogs' could possibly police it, is now largely taken for granted.

To the relatively high-income portion of the public, and to the politician who sets his own salary, the pinch has not yet become significant, since the cost of living represents only a small part of their income. But to the millions of senior citizens who are living on their savings or a fixed income, the situation has become a constantly worsening nightmare.

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THE LAST ASSEMBLY

Juliana Lewis

We are not a charm school. In our inner-city ghetto high we do not like goodie-goodies. We put down everybody except the sexiest dudes, male or female. Not to say that we're all systems go for "Super-Fly". But if you think of us in those terms, you'll be close to hitting the spot. And so you won't be too astonished to hear what took place at our last assembly of the year.

But then again, maybe you will be surprised. After all, we ourselves weren't quite prepared for what happened. Something took us unaware, something that went wrong, something that led us to overstep even the bounds of what passes in our school for good taste. What was it? Did the devil make us do it? Maybe you can listen and help us figure it out.

The last assembly of the school year, by tradition, belongs to the seniors, in our school as in most others. The program is turned over to seniors to will us what they will and prophesy the rest. You know, in the form of the class will and testament and any of that jazz they want to turn out. It's always been left up to them that they could do whatever entered their heads. Evidently nothing alarming had come out of seniors' minds. But that was before this year...

The Farewell Assembly starts off cool. A skit presents a classroom scene.

The loud-mouth teacher comes on strong with her favorite four words, "Shut up! Thank you!" Looks as if the loud-mouth class has met its match. All at once the teacher's four words change to, "Give me that knife!" The class obliges by tossing the switchblade

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knife at her. She picks it up. Then another four-word exchange, "This is a poem!" And she begins to read. The class falls asleep. Now her four-word warcry is, "Wake up! Thank you!" But she has had it. Ramming her hat down over her head like a combat helmet, the old battleship sails off.

That portrait of a teacher was only the curtain raiser. Now the senior announcer makes a play for audience participation and swiftly gets it. "Some teachers are all right. Some teachers are. . ." Before you could say "Scat!" the missing word is supplied loudly from off-stage: "S... ! "

We are down to the last will and testament. The reader begins, "Carlos Warner wills Assistant Principal Shipley a new school!" Then the items willed become more and more personal, and it builds up like a symphony. "Rene Smith wills her makeup remover to Miss Roberts"; someone else wills a man to the unmarried woman assistant principal; a girdle to a certain teacher; a bust to another. The parts of the anatomy called out begin to sound like a medical dictionary, a list of symptoms, or a case history.

With the next one singled out we strike pay dirt: "And Johnny Ayres wills Mr. Parks his ... manhood." This hits like a bombshell. For a moment we are real quiet, which never happens. Then a roar goes up over the auditorium. Mr. Parks evidentially had stepped out of the auditorium a moment but returns just in time to hear his name called and the reference to his missing manhood. He bolts back out the exit in full view of the audience. Mr. Parks, who had served as a senior sponsor, had met his end-of-the-year award. It takes several minutes before the uproar dies down and we all file out to a flashy march played by the band. We always cut a fine figure to music and we like it that way.

What was wrong with that? Well, we caught some flack over it. Students couldn't sit through class for talking about it, and the teachers had their feelings ruffled. "Did you hear what. .", "Did you see what. .?" It was all rather distracting, and we don't need more distractions to the learning process. When you count

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that some dudes don't have much of an attention span to start with, then you add all those interruptions from the hall-walkers and intruders banging on the door... Or rather, you subtract all that time lost from our learning time, then there isn't much left, is there?

What it all began to amount to was one more contribution to conning ourselves out of an education, this time an unnecessary one, because we could have avoided it.

Or could we? What brought it about? Was the fault our own, dear Brutus, or in the stars? Did we move onto that stage as inevitably as Greek figures into tragedy? Or as a pendulum swings back when it has gone too far?

We're not much for post-mortems in our school. We don't even call it Monday-morning quarterbacking. We don't analyze, we don't look back much, even in anger. Yesterday was yesterday, yesterdays are quaint, like yesterday's songs and street talk. We want to be where it's at now.

But wait a minute. Maybe we do look back in anger when our system of pay-backs is involved. We do believe in pay-backs, you know. Say a student or a teacher does something to you that you don't like. You let her know you plan to get her at the end of school.

That must be part of what the farewell assembly was about: pay-backs. Maybe an older brother at home or somebody on the street or in the hall bigger than you were has conned you out of something that was yours. Or your locker was ripped off, just when you thought you had a little privacy, more than you ever had at home where you were pushed around and crowded in on. So you take it out where you can, you hit back at somebody, like the teachers and the administration?

But there's got to be a reason why the pay-backs were worse this year than before. Maybe the idea got around that in school the tail wags the dog? A substitute teacher said that once about our school. If the tail is wagging the dog, how will the tail know when to stop? We didn't know. That must explain what happened.

It was a bummer, that last assembly. If this kind of thing had gone on, they'd be letting us con ourselves

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right out of an education before you know it.

That's why it's good that somehow somebody got the idea of another assembly to apologize for the last assembly. A special bell was rung, and whoever was still around school at that late date got to go hear us say we were sorry.

Once a teacher gave us a thought from a philosopher named George Santayana. It was that man is the only animal able to despise himself, and that is his great gift. When we despise ourselves enough, we forgive ourselves and are forgiven. And isn't that where it's at now, man?

Poet’s corner

 

THE WAY YOU REACH ME

KEATS JAYNES

If I could reach the world

The way you reach me with your smile,

Then I could make proud armies kneel,

And lay their weapons down,

And rise, each man

To love his neighbor as himself.

 

If I could reach the stars

The way you reach me with your eyes,

Then I could gather light to shine

In every human face,

And warmth to glow

In every human heart.

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Color Blind

by

Clem Block

If all of us were color blind,

I know it's then that we would find,

That of the problems facing nations

There'd be not one of race relations.

 

The color of a fellow's skin

Is just on top and very thin,

He's really just the same down under,

But how we treat him makes one wonder.

 

I asked a preacher---a nice fellow

If souls were white or black or yellow

He said he thought the soul of man

Was neither white nor black nor tan.

He said he thought that it was true,

 

From listening to a God he knew,

That we would someday, somehow find

That even Christ was color blind.

 

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THEORY JUNKIES

Curt Damien Stoller

One of the worst problems plaguing intellectual life today is the excessive confidence which people place in what are only "theories" and "hypotheses".

How many individuals today stake their mental health and well-being on the "theories" of psychologists such as Erich Fromm, Rollo May or B. F. Skinner? It doesn't seem to matter that only a few years ago, many of the very same people hastily surrendered their lives and their futures to completely different psychological theories, theories such as those of Freud, Adler and Jung.

It is not merely psychological "theories" which mesmerize us. We are enthralled by any kind of theory which can boast the least plausibility. Once we find one, ah, then it is love at first sight! There are people today from every corner of the civilized world who literally regulate their lives by the educated guesses of social scientists or anyone else who is in print or on television.

Surrounded by scientific conquests on every side, the lone individual feels dwarfed and embarrassed by his own ignorance. To compensate for these feelings of intellectual inferiority, he hides behind "theories". Here he finds a welcome refuge from the poverty of his own individual ignorance. To have a theory somehow proves that one is intelligent, that one is "reading". "Hypotheses" and "theories" are the very stuff that intellectuals are made of. And in the land of the intelligentsia, the most important commandment is this: say anything, but never ever show your ignorance.

To admit ignorance is strictly taboo. It goes against every canon of academic behavior. After all, with so many theories, what possible reason could there be for resorting to anything as lowly and base as admitting one's ignorance. Even being wrong is better than being ignorant!

Ignorance today is unmentionable and an embarrassment. It has taken the place that sexuality once

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occupied. It is obscene, and "theories" have become our favorite defense mechanism against it, our new fig leaf. "Theories" provide a socially acceptable security blanket against our overwhelming fear of complexity. They are our escape from the very modern world that we have created. And as our society becomes more and more complex, people become more and more addicted to "theories".

If our fear of ignorance did not make "theories" addictive enough, our insatiable thirst for novelty in reading material makes us even more dependent on them. We have thus become a nation of "theory junkies", unable to cope with our own incomprehension, always on the prowl for some new "theory" to fill our emptiness. With hungry eyes we perpetually stalk them in the libraries, book stores and magazine stands where they live.

Obviously we are not criticizing those who adopt a theory out of some practical need, knowing all the while that it is only a theory. Realistically, it is simply impossible to live a risk-free existence where every human decision would be given the guarantee of absolute certainty. Even if we desired such a boring world, who would have the time to wait for complete certitude? We would never be able to do anything.

What we are attacking are not the pragmatic necessities which force people to adopt theories in the absence of certitude, but the forgetfulness in people's minds which allows theory slowly to take on the appearance of simple fact. We don't "entertain" ideas anymore. We wed ourselves to them, and then seek a divorce as soon as the marriage is consummated.

"Theories" are fine as long as we remember what they are. A good theory is the educated guess of a very well-informed mind. As such, it often turns out to be immensely practical. Some of the most beneficial discoveries in the history of civilization owe their existence to "theorizing". Without it, there would be no technology of any kind, and we would be without most of the things that we most depend on in our day-to-day lives.

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But if it is true that there is nothing more. practical than a good theory, this still does not change the fact that a theory is only a theory, and not knowledge pure and simple. This is what is forgotten and ignored. Every day more and more people see the world of knowledge and the world of theory as a seamless whole. They simply refuse to perceive any difference between legitimate scientific findings and the educated guesses used to interpret these findings.

In philosophy, where this confusion often proves relatively harmless, there is little problem. Philosophers often think that Sophism died with the death of its worst critic (Socrates). But Sophism also has its history, and unfortunately, much that goes under the title of philosophy is nothing but Sophism in disguise.

But what about more influential philosophical and scientific theories, theories which have a decisive effect on human life? What, for instance, is the effect of social theories which are taken as facts in clinical work, such as in the treatment of the mentally ill? Since patients in state mental hospitals often forfeit their civil rights by being legally committed, they often become the victims of whatever particular psychological "theories" the institution subscribes to. Theories which psychotherapists swear by one day are often renounced within a year's time. Mental patients are simply at the mercy of whatever psychological theories are currently in vogue.

In the past, when education was a privilege of the few, this confusion of theory with fact was restricted to a small segment of the population, and only affected the larger populous in proportion to the influence of an educated aristocracy. Where excessive trust in "theories" existed at all, it was always concentrated in a minority.

But today, with mass education, this voluntary bondage to theory has taken on enormous proportions. In the United States and countries where large portions of the population are literate, it is easy to find significant numbers of people who willingly submit their minds to whatever "theories" and expert opinions are popular at the time. Everyone wants to appear sophisticated.

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Adhering to "theories" is the passport to this sophistication.

Through television and inexpensive literature we are constantly besieged by new theories and opinions. Each day witnesses the birth of some new theory of art or literature, some new theory of history, culture or economics. There are even theories of theory itself! The death toll of old theories is almost as high as the birth rate of new ones. In such a situation, it is no longer a minority that is affected. Today, a majority of people live out their lives in the semi-real/semi-imaginary world of hypotheses and educated guesses!

Given the enormous pressure put upon scholars to publish, how often do specialists "pretend" to understand subjects which they actually do not understand?

How often, for economic motives, do they present to the public as fact what they know is mere hypothesis and theory? And finally, how often does the public "pretend" to understand the very things which the scholars and specialists publish?

Maybe overly assertive intellectuals should be given some kind of artistic outlet to prevent them from taking out their self-affirmations on Truth.

The fact is that we have all become too dependent on "theories" : We simply put too much confidence in them, and abuse both ourselves and the theories in the process. In our idolatry of "theory", we end up by making a mockery of words like "know" and "understand". We have raped these words and emptied them of all their power and truth.

The word "speculation" is symptomatic of this. Here is a term which originally meant "to see and know". Now it means nothing more than "to guess".

We are all doing too much "guessing" for our own good, even educated guessing. What we need is not more theories. We already have more than we know what to do with! On the contrary, what is needed is a way of un-learning theories.

At the very least we could use some moderation, some mental asceticism. The expressions, "I don't

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know", and "I don't understand", are used much too rarely by people today.

This problem is not going to be solved by the fanatical elimination of all theories, or by the outlawing of all theorizing. That would be as reckless as our present infatuation with them. To maintain some kind of critical distance between ourselves and the theories we adopt - that is what is most needed today.

The history of human atrocities was bloody enough when only a minority of people were actively hypnotized by educated guesses. What is the prospect for a world in which a majority of people are easily led to confuse theory with fact? That is the question we must seriously ask ourselves today.

ufo department

The following material was received from Robert D. Barry, UFO researcher and lecturer, in a letter to the Associate Editor.

 

The 16m.m. UFO motion picture footage I have was given to me in June, 1975, by a Canadian television station. I was speaking for the weekend in the Province of Manitoba at the time. They had been in a UFO wave for about six weeks at that time, with nightly sightings. The Canadian folks gave the UFO a nickname. They called it, (or, for that matter, any UFO they saw), "Charley Red Star". It seems the name "Charley" is a typical nickname they give to almost anyone and anything. "Red" was part of the name since the UFO approaching the area had a red glow about it. "Star" was what the object appeared as in the distant sky when making its approach to the Carman, Manitoba area. Of course, as it neared, it grew in size and brilliance. Hence, the name "Charley Red Star".

A Canadian television station in Manitoba, after two weeks of nightly activity, decided to send out a newsman and a cameraman in an attempt to secure a

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story and footage. They teamed up with the Carman, Manitoba weekly newspaper and the publisher, a couple of reporters and the television duo set up viewing areas at three locations, each about a mile apart from one another and in the general area where the activity had been the past two weeks.

The first night failed to reveal anything unusual. However, the second night, May 13, 1975, it paid off around 10:30 P.M. Charley Red Star came in at low level and landed near a microwave tower about one mile from the cameraman. The two other cars, stationed at two separate locations, also about a mile each from the landing, swiftly moved in.

They got to within a half mile when the craft lifted and hovered at tree-top level for a few seconds. It was at this point the cameraman began to film. While the craft was at ground level it suddenly shot up to tree-top level.

The two other cars, now nearing the spot, estimated the craft was about 60 feet in diameter. While hovering, it suddenly shot up and nearly out of sight so swiftly, the cameraman didn't have time to move his camera.

At this point, the craft stopped again momentarily. The cameraman didn't even have time to move the camera to center on the craft when it suddenly zoomed

across the viewing range near the top area, and dipped slightly, then out of range on the extreme right of the camera viewing area.

While the film was being edited back at the television station, they discovered one frame of 16m.m. film to contain a flash which came from the craft and illuminated the entire area. At this point, the craft was then hovering above the trees, after rising from ground level near the microwave tower. The flash was not seen by the cameraman. They were filming at 16 frames per second.

The next frame, after the one with the flash, the craft then shot out an estimated three thousand feet, or slightly more. It then appeared in the upper left viewing range of the camera. After seeing the craft there, the

18

cameraman did not have time to center it. The craft, without warning, shot from left to right viewing range and out of camera range in a second, possibly less.

The television station went to work and took footage of the one frame with the flash in it, then incorporated this into the film report on their TV newscast. They showed the flight of the craft in normal speed, then showed it again in normal speed, then slowed the action down to 1/40th of the original speed. When this was done, one could easily follow the craft across the screen.

We figured that the craft, from the hovering position, had to attain a speed of over 33,000 M.P.H. to reach over 3,000 feet distance in 1/16th of a second, since it had made that jump in one frame.

When it shot from left top to right top of the camera viewing range, its last action filmed, it moved so fast one could hardly follow it across the screen when shown at regular speed of the projector.

The actual UFO footage totals about 3½ minutes. However, the overall film footage is just under 11 minutes, as there are interviews. They include the owner of a small airport near Carman who saw the craft on several occasions, an interview with an RC Police Officer who chased "Charley" in his police car at nearly 100 miles per-hour but couldn't get any way close to the craft. This was on another occasion when the craft was near tree-top level. Also, they interviewed a commercial airlines pilot who saw the craft, as well as a spokesman for an observatory who spoke very highly of the UFO footage.

To my knowledge, no one in the United States has a copy of this footage. I was told one person did have it, but I have never been able to get this confirmed. Nat ional Enquirer attempted to get footage for a story they did on "Charley" but they failed. Others have attempted to get footage. likewise, they have failed. There may have been a clamp put on the station by the Canadian government not to let this footage out. If so, I consider myself fortunate, as I managed to get a copy just a few weeks after the incident. The film is in color. The UFO

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appears as brilliant white since it was considerably nearer to the camera, only about one mile away, when the footage was taken. But at a distance, when approaching the Carman area, it appeared red. As it neared, it changed color until it was a bright white.

I was originally given a videotape of the footage, two inches. I took it to Washington, D. C. and had a firm convert it to 16m.m. sound/color. I have a copy of the print plus the negatives of the footage and sound track. If you might be interested in the film, let me know and we'll see what can be arranged.

There have been many new startling UFO incidents in recent months. One of them is that of the Adriatic Triangle off the eastern coast of Italy. UFOs shooting up and out of the sea and disappearing into the heavens as viewed by fishermen, sailors and pilots of commercial airliners.

Also learned, through one of my contact sources within government circles, that the craft that crashed in New Mexico during the year 1962, 80 miles south of Holloman AFB, that a star map was discovered on the metal of the craft in its control room.

I was further told that none of the government scientists recognized the star scene as being any part of the Milky Way Galaxy. If so, this would indicate some may be coming from a near-by galaxy, maybe Andromeda, two million light years from us. If so, we then must think in terms of teleportation.

Well, I think I have provided enough letter material. Almost enough for a small booklet. Ha ha. Sorry for the lengthy letter but trust the both of you might enjoy it anyway.

Have just completed a manuscript for a 30-page booklet titled, UFOs - What's Ahead. When it comes out, I'll send you a copy. Oh, yes, I have enclosed a lousy photostat of NASA Photo No. 75-H-604. It's the best I could do. The original photo is much, much better.

This was taken by Mariner 9 during the fly-by mission over the planet Mars. In the original photo,

20

the area where I have arrows pointing, shows up about dead-center in the overall 8x10 picture by NASA. I did some close-up shots with my close-up lens attachments on the 35m.m. camera and managed to get some excellent slides, which I have incorporated into a slide presentation.

This area, when seen in a clearer and close-up picture, shows to be some type of constructional area on the surface of Mars. The overall area covers about 3½ miles and in the original photo, it is easy to see that several different levels are involved in the constructional area.

I might suggest that you write to the Audio-Visual Department of NASA, in Washington, and request this photo by number. It would be well worth the time and effort, I'm sure. Again, thank you for your time.

I recently spoke with Roland Swank, co-director of Systems Management Associates, consisting of 40 scientists and engineers who investigated the UFO phenomenon during a ten year period in the 1960s and into the '70s. He is also a senior systems analysis engineer at General Electric. UFO group (SMA) headquartered in Paoli, Pennsylvania. Our conversation occurred 4-17-79.

We discussed some NASA/UFO topics including UFOs over the moon the day before Armstrong and Aldrin set down on the moon. We have some of these pictures in slide form; two UFOs approaching the surface of the moon.

We then discussed the Paul Villa UFO pictures and he also mentioned Dan's footage. He was very impressed by the pictures as well as his "close encounter of the third kind" experiences. Roland spoke very highly of your husband. As a matter of fact, SMA had quite a discussion on Dan's experiences and were very much impressed.

 

Kindest personal regards,

Robert D. Barry

 

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HOW TO "GET SOMEWHERE" IN LIFE

Bertolino

Everyone shares the desire to "get somewhere" in life. It's an inborn craving that won't be denied. And there is a way of satisfying this desire to "get some where", but many, in fact most, people either ignore it or are unaware of it.

As we become individuals, we thereby invite and attract to ourselves better experiences. It's a fact that as we learn to live correctly and rightly, outer events seem to arrange themselves to our personal advantage or betterment.

As we "tune in", so to speak, to the high frequency of universal good, and hold ourselves to this high level of living and thinking, we are thereby enabled to succeed in our endeavors, and succeed in a really grand manner.

It turns out that all the admonitions urged upon us from many sides to live a good life, are actually, in fact, the key to our own success in life. High-minded living, consisting of beautiful thinking and generous, loving action toward others, is the most practical way to bring about our own success and to live a life that is, indeed, worth living.

We must go to work on ourselves and cease to concern ourselves with what other people think, do, say or believe. We must stop wondering if we are loved and appreciated by others, and become loving and appreciative persons ourselves.

Give yourself over to the service of mankind and just see what happens in your life. If you are really sincere in your efforts to dedicate yourself to serving others, it will seem miraculous the way your efforts are magnified and multiplied. If you will only provide the impulse and the willingness, along with the intent to do good, mighty forces will go to work in your behalf.

Allow nothing negative to enter your consciousness if you desire to accomplish great amounts of good in the world. When jealousy, criticism, and any other form of unkindness are altogether eliminated from your consciousness, then there will be a void, and this is the void

22

which will become filled to overflowing with new powers, unaccountable wisdom and courage heretofore unimaginable by you. You can actually count on receiving it.

While you work on your progress and exert your efforts to advance spiritually and ethically, remember to keep as cheerful, as joyous, and as pleasant as possible. This inner sunshine, alone, will assist you greatly in enabling you to lead a charmed life.

See only the good in every human being you contact. As you practice viewing each individual with respect and love, you will become the most gracious, well-mannered, magnificent personality, and all this will occur without any conscious effort on your part.

A virtuous man is destined for attainment. Character determines a man's destiny. If you crave bigger, more interesting experiences in your life, and if you're weary of a monotonous, dreary, daily existence, practice the virtues. Discover what they can do for you.

The reason that most of us don't make any real, measurable progress in our lives is that we don't progress spiritually and morally. This is a case of not put ting first things first in our lives. Our spiritual and mental life must rise before our worldly circumstances will rise. But there is a cosmic law that guarantees our progress in the world will accelerate correspondingly with our inner progress.

Many of us desire to rise in the world but we either do nothing about this desire, or else we approach it in the wrong way. The only correct approach to satisfying our worldly ambition and desire to attain something in the world is to begin our work inwardly. It's an "inside job". We truly have to work on ourselves first of all the happiest people in the world are those who are utilizing their full powers and capacities. The reason for the unhappiness and frustration of many individuals in this world is that they are wasting and neglecting their true capabilities. They're building a mud but of their lives when, if they only realized it, they could just as easily build a mansion. The years go by all too quickly

23                                                  UNDERSTANDING

and, at the end of his life, the typical person goes to his grave with his potential still hidden.

In order to prevent this terrible waste of so much human potential, we must go to work on our lives. In addition to working on our spiritual development, there are other aids to bringing out the best there is in us.

Making an effort to keep ourselves in top physical condition is one method, and it's a fact that most of us don't do all we could to bring our bodies into this peak physical condition.

A positive, cheerful mental attitude is also a great aid in achieving our true, natural potential.

A sincere attempt to eliminate all dead-end, trivial, unsatisfying activities from our lives also helps greatly in our efforts to "get somewhere" in our lives.

Even if you have already experienced success in your life, there still remain more accomplishments and achievements which could be yours. Every man's true potential is unlimited and inexhaustible. So even though you have already attained even a high degree of success by the world's standards, you must recognize the fact that there yet remains within you, much unused ability and power.

It should be your goal in life to daily increase your accomplishments, and to steadily perfect yourself mentally, physically and spiritually.

Every man is a disguised "superman" and this "superman" or "superb man" awaits our recognition and call to action. Our work is to arrange and rearrange our lives as we would a stage setting until our daily lives are set up and organized in a manner which brings out the very best in us.

We should actively seek out experiences and occasions which make us feel truly alive, and which arouse us to ambition and accomplishment. Never, never, never be willing to settle for dullness and lack of progress in your life. Examine yourself and your daily living and discover what it is that is retarding your growth and your progress. These obstacles can be discovered and removed from our lives so that we can go on to better and

24

better experiences.

Don't make the mistake of accepting yourself as you are now, or the world as it appears to be. These are only temporary appearances which can be transformed into something far better than what you now see. And you are the one who can make this transformation.

It is not practical or even sensible to look to outer conditions or other people for what we want. All we can possibly need is contained right within ourselves. Work on drawing out of yourself the highest that is in you. As you do, you will indeed be surprised to discover how much more you are capable of doing and being than you heretofore realized.

The time is coming when men will finally realize they must work on themselves as a sculptor chips away at a piece of marble until a perfect form is left standing in place of only a chunk of marble. We must, likewise, chip away at our faults, our lacks, our mistaken ideas, and our self-defeating habits. When this process of relinquishing all our imperfections is completed, we will then stand erect, glorious, and perfected as we were always intended to be.

Recognize your superior position in the world and remember you share this superior position with every other human being. Every person is superior to the world about him and so-called "reality", but very few people actually realize it.

Begin right now to exercise your superiority in the world by rising in thought and action to the highest and noblest ideals you can comprehend. This is the proper way to "get somewhere" in this world, and it is the only way.

25                                                  UNDERSTANDING

GOING SOLAR

In previous issues of this publication we have presented some of the problems and obstacles which tend to slow the adaptation of solar energy to the energy needs of this country, and of the world. Because of the tremendous amounts of capital invested in the discovery, re fining and marketing of fossil fuels, and because any substantial conversion to solar energy would tend to lower the value of these huge investments, there is an understandable reluctance in financial circles, to back, or even to advocate any major development in the area of solar energy conversion. Since all government officials have been somewhat influenced by the opinion of those who control the majority of the nation's wealth, they too manifest a considerable reluctance toward any action which might substantially stimulate the development of solar energy, although some do a great deal of talking about it. (It is true that there are some public officials who are genuinely interested, and do not necessarily believe that "What is good for Standard Oil, is good for the nation". These men are, however, still in the minority, and are as "Men crying in the wilderness of oil profits and domination".)

The trite and timeworn excuses that the commercial development of solar energy would require many years and would be prohibitively expensive, may fool some of the people, some of the time, but cannot survive any careful and precise examination of the facts. The truth is that the time required to develop the means to supply our energy needs from the endless and unlimited bounty of the sun will be, as it is in any technological project, inversely proportionate to the degree of need, the encouragement offered by the government, and the amount of financing available! The need is already present, and is becoming greater with each passing day. The encouragement is still inhibited by the solemn pronouncements of those "experts" who are employed by the fossil fuel industries, that practical solar energy usage is still at least twenty years in the future. (These pronouncements might be more credible to your editor if he had not first heard them more than twenty years ago, when he first began to work with solar energy concepts, and hardware). The problem is that, as more oil is discovered, the development of alternate energy sources is put off until the shortage becomes more acute, the demand greater, and the profits larger.

If the United States were at war, (which heaven forbid), and if victory depended upon large supplies of additional energy, the world would witness a rate of solar energy development beyond the wildest imagination of modern day technology. The alleged difficulties and complexities of electrical generation from solar sources are the inevitable result of the over-complex habits of thought in today's technology.

If a group of modem technologists were given the task of designing and building a windmill to pump water and/or to grind grain into flour, they would first spend a year or two, and several millions of dollars, in considering the project. They would then spend four or five more years, and a half-billion more dollars to produce a small pilot mill. The mill would work O.K. but the interest on the investment would be so great as to render the system totally impractical for general use, and the entire project would be abandoned for another twenty years.

Several centuries ago, the small country of Holland, which had a considerable portion of its land below sea level, was faced with the pressing need to pump large quantities of water to avoid the flooding of its land. The internal combustion engine and the electric motor had not yet been dreamed of, nor were there any sources of supply for either, and human labor could not have begun to cope with the problem. Instead of spending many years and billions of guilders in studying the problem, however, the people of Holland simply began to build simple windmills according to the best concepts available at that time. These windmills could, and would, be criticized by modern technology as cumbersome and inefficient, yet they were built. They were relatively simple devices and they did the job at a very good cost effect ratio.

Although most of the major centers of technology

27                                                  UNDERSTANDING

in the U. S. seem to be hopelessly bogged down in a snarl of governmental and technological red tape, there are still a few energetic individuals who believe in simple and direct thinking, followed by immediate and direct action. Some of these individuals are already doing instead of merely talking, and it will be these few who will lead the way in the rapidly approaching age of solar energy.

 

THE RATIONALE BEHIND GHOSTS

By Dr. Ron Anjard

Do you believe in ghosts? Many do, many don't! But if you've ever had your own personal encounter, you quickly become the proverbial believer. Have you decided what they are? Let me share some important ideas.

First, are you familiar with the work now being reported by many professional and medical experts? Dr. R. Moody, in his best seller, "Life After Life", for example, indicates that life does continue after death. Dr. Kubler Ross, famous author and lecturer, concurs and indicates that those going through transformation are greeted by spirits - their loved ones while they were on earth. She also goes on to state that we always have spirits close to us to help us. The data is coming in from around the world that there is life after life. True!

With this being the case, simply, ghosts are entities who have gone through transformation, death, but who will not admit it to themselves. They're in a "quasi state"; an entity who wouldn't "let go". An excellent example of this is the case of a haunted house which has been published, (I don't remember the exact source). The owners or visitors would feel someone choking them or shaking them whenever they walked into a particular part of the house. An individual with sensitivity finally saw the ghost, an elderly man, and was able to actually communicate through thought transfer. This man, the ghost, wanted to know why people kept coming into his

28

house, and disturbing his privacy. He also didn't understand why nobody talked to him. Everyone seemed not to care about or even notice him. It took many sessions for the "sensitive" to finally convince him he had actually died. When first told, he literally couldn't believe it. When he finally accepted the fact he was "dead", he disappeared forever. Since then, the guests and owners have been able to use the house without fear, without problems. True!

Incidentally, there are many who do see ghosts while others in the same situation can't. My aunt, in downtown busy Brooklyn, has described a variety of ghosts, especially elderly ghosts. She's encountered these while living in older buildings, hotels, homes and clubs.

So, if you have an encounter, feel empathy for the poor spirit, for he really doesn't know his situation. Ghosts are people who have not let go. They have not accepted their transformation. Hopefully, this helps in understanding the reality, the rationale, of ghosts.

THE HERB GARDEN

BY Lana Ivie

Herbal remedies as healing agents have been used by every race upon the earth. Early mankind, by means of trial and error, found that certain plants, roots, barks and seeds possessed medicinal properties. The same plants were being used for the same purposes all over the world before communication was established between the various lands.

A Chinese book on medicinal herbs was written about 3000 B.C. The early Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Hebrews, Arabs and others all practiced herbal medicine.

29                                                  UNDERSTANDING

In our country, the American Indian had uses for almost every growing plant. The early colonists and settlers also had home remedies which they brought from their own lands. A great many more were added when they learned the Indian uses for the same and many new plants.

Herbs are still used in medicine in many parts of the world today. Modern Science, at one time showing contempt for folk medicine, is today doing research into herbal remedies.

The use of herbs in cooking has also been going on for centuries. Many modern cooks are finding more and more uses for herbs in a variety of dishes.

Many herbs have cosmetic uses. The market today s flooded with herbal shampoos, face creams, lotions, etc., and the "back to nature" products one sees everywhere.

Yes, herbs are enjoying a tremendous revival in this country. They are available in many health food stores and supermarkets and by mail order.

Many of them are easily grown in your own garden or indoors. Most herbs will grow in any type soil and often with a minimum of sunlight. They make attractive and fragrant plants inside or out and some make beautiful hedges and borders.

ANISE

(Pimpinella Anisum)

Anise is an annual plant which likes a warm, dry, light soil. It should be started from seed in early spring and allowed a good deal of sunlight. Plants should be thinned to approximately 8 inches apart. Plant anise in a permanent place since it does not transplant well, due to its fragile root. The plants grow to approximately 2 feet in height and have two kinds of leaves. The leaves on the upper part of the plant grow opposite each other, have short stems and are elongated and feather-like in shape. The lower leaves grow alternately. on the plant, have longer stems and are oval-shaped with toothed edges. The plant's tiny whitish flowers grow in umbels.

30

It is a strongly scented plant grown mostly for its licorice-flavored seed.

Although it is mostly the seeds that are used, anise leaves are also appetizing in fruit salads, soups and stews and are used for tea.

The seeds are used to flavor cough medicine and many liqueurs. They have been used for hundreds of years to flavor cakes, cookies, and candy. Tea is made from the seeds by using 1 teaspoon per pint of boiling water, straining and serving hot. It has a soothing influence and induces sleep. Anise was used for colic in infants, and is said to help in cases of gas in the stomach, to remove nausea and for other disturbances caused by overeating. It is stimulating for the vital organs such as the heart, liver, lungs, etc.

The seeds should be harvested in late summer during the early stages of ripening just as they are turning from green to brown or grey. This is when the seeds give the most flavor and when they contain essential oils. Seeds to be garnered for the next year's planting should be left on the plants until fully ripe. Dry the seeds thoroughly before storing them. Let them cure for several days in an airy room, then give them a day or two in the sun.

Anise is one of the oldest known herbs. It was mentioned in ancient Egyptian records. Originally from Egypt and Greece, it was taken north to Europe and England by the Romans. It is one of the first European herbs to have been planted in America. The Indians used it for flavoring, as had man in other areas from ancient times.

Gervase Markham, an authority on horses in the 17th century, often prescribed balls made of garlic, licorice and aniseed for restless horses.

In folklore, the anise plant was said to keep away the "Evil Eye" and anise hanging over the bed was said to keep one fair and youthful.

"..... for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin..... "

Matthew

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BULLETIN BOARD

Announcing Understanding UFO '79 Convention. Theme is "We Are Not Alone". An all day program exploring the enigma of life from beyond our world.  Saturday, October 26, 1979 at the Astara Convention Center, 800 W. Arrow Hwy., Upland, California. Convention brochure will be out September 1. Those wishing more information, contact Understanding Headquarters.

 ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦ 

Welcome to the newest member of the editorial staff of Understanding. He is Mr. Norman Lederer who has become the Book Review Editor. Mr. Lederer was impressed with the quality of our publication and volunteered to lend his talents to selecting and reviewing for our readers, books which will be of interest to all.

 ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦ 

Mr. Lederer is Dean of Occupational and General Education for Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has much experience in the book market and reviewing and we are very, very fortunate in having him take an interest in Understanding.

 ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦ 

If you have books that you would like to call to his attention, address him at 4800 East Huron River Drive. His first review will appear in the September-October issue.

 

FLASH

Available For The First Time!

A new book by Daniel W. Fry!

Those of you who have read and enjoyed the serious writings of Mr. Fry, now have the once in a lifetime opportunity, of becoming acquainted with his lighter side, through this 50 year collection of his hitherto unpublished verse.

 

His gradually developing and expanding philosophy of life, from early youth to maturity, is reflected in this volume of sometimes serious, but more often humorous, looks at life and its many problems.

 

Published by Exposition in New York, this excellently done, hard-bound book will endure for a lifetime. The publisher's price for this treasure is $5.00, but we have a few copies available to our readers and their friends which will be mailed postpaid upon the receipt of the introductory price of $4.00, if the order is received before August 1, and if the limited supply has not already been exhausted. Mail your order to, Verse & Worse, 1606 Mountain View Drive, Alamogordo, New Mexico. 88310. You will be glad you did!!

 

UNDERSTANDING

 

 

 ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦ 

 

UNDERSTANDING INC., CONVENTION TAPES

 

Would you like to be able to have an Understanding convention in your own home? Would you like to present all of the lectures to your friends and acquaintances? They are available NOW!

 

AVAILABLE NOW - Cassette Tape of the 'Man in Space' convention lectures. AL WRIGHT, (Project Director for the 'Space Shuttle') - "The Age of Aero-Space Transportation."

 

PAT CODY, (Director of Aero-Space Education, Pacific Region, U.S.A.F.) - "Our Aero-Space Heritage."

 

DR. RAY BROWN, (H.M.D., Ph.D.) - "Your Health In Space." DR. DANIEL W. FRY - (President of Understanding, Inc.) - "Preparing to Live in Space."

 

DR. MERVIN STRICKLER, (Chief of Aviation Education Programs Div., F.A.A.) - "Russian Aero-Space Education Training."

 

All tapes - $5.25 ea. (Postpaid). Send orders to 'Tapes', c/o Understanding, Inc., Star Route Box 588F, Tonopah, Arizona 85354.

UNDERSTANDING, INC.,    CONVENTION TAPES

 

 

THE WATTS POWER PYRAMID PAC

 

NEW CONCEPT IN PYRAMID DESIGN

 

People from Space ship suggested the new design of the Pyramid now being offered by the Plastics Division of Dixie Venus Books Corp. Opening a NEW DIMENSION in PYRAMID POWER. Used single or truncated point to point doubly, at a price low enough, for experimentation.

 

FOOD Application - Waldorf salad made with tart cooking apples and placed under the pyramid for forty-five minutes before serving will be quite tasty. Any salad left over will keep under the pyramid until the next evening meal without the browning of the apples. Buy tomatoes slightly green let them ripen under the pyramid taste improves greatly especially on cantaloupes, which have been left under for only one day before peeling. Milk will stay fresh from ten days to two weeks without refrigeration. Meat will not spoil but will dehydrate.

 

COSMETIC application - Water left under for several days can be used for drinking and after washing the face with warm water (as you regularly do) dry it then pat on some pyramid water and let it air dry. Put face cream under the pyramid for about two weeks and use it. Complexion will greatly improve in looks. Use pyramid water on cuts and bruises - it helps them heal.

 

Special Introduction Offer - Two (2) pyramids of clear strong plastic 14" x 14" base measurement plus liquid filled compass plus instruction sheets ..... $20.00 Plus Two Dollars ($2.00) for packaging and postage.

 

Add One Dollar ($1.00) more west of the Rockies and if Florida resident add 4% sales tax (.80).

 

A Book by John L. Watts

"The Reason for life - and now - Visit Venus"

$3.75 plus 50c shipping charges.

 

DIXIE VENUS BOOKS CORP. - Old Sugar Mill Road

Rural Route #6 • Box 1905

Port Orange, Florida 32019