News Briefs 08-05-2006

Down the rabbit hole we go …

• Lest we forget, it was the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster last week.
• Brilliant Japanese artist Kenji Yanobe created art in the forbidden Chernobyl zone that is stunning.
• I also forgot to add a link to the giant mechanical time-travelling elephant that swaggered its way through London recently. Now that is true Art. Brilliant.
• The UK’s Ministry of Defence says UFOs are caused by natural phenomenon. I failed to find an article that doesn’t have a witty headline about gas or a goofy picture.
• Ex-MoD official turned UFOlogist Nick Pope says UFO sightings are stronger than ever, despite the Condign Report.
• Accused British hacker Gary McKinnon believes there is a cover-up, and claims to have found evidence to prove it. Ouch, banned from using the internet — don’t go hacking sensitive US files, Kat!
• Stanton Friedman is convinced the truth is out there, and wrote a scathing review of skeptical Harvard psychologist Susan Clancy’s book. I’m repeating it because none of you slackers read it last time.
• American Chronicle opinion writer R. Lee ponders the history and use of the term little green men, and its effect on serious research.
• ThothWeb has a great article about eight of the world’s most amazing alien encounters, from Africa to America.
• SETI is accused of being a waste of time by scientists who say nothing is out there. A wise man once said, “If you don’t search, you’ll never find anything.”
• Are these photographs the best evidence ever taken of UFOs?
• A Queensland woman witnessed something eerily similar, and photographed it. Weren’t you looking at property near Rosewood, Greg?
• An Australian tourist photographed a UFO in Penang. Yes, the hotel PR officer is really named Virginia Scully.
• Having your head in the clouds is a legitimate hobby to a growing number of cloud-spotters. A poet tries to put their head in the heavens, whereas a logician tries to put the heavens in their head (and their head splits), wrote GK Chesterton.
• More cloud-spotters means a guidebook must be written for initiates (Amazon US or UK).
• If you’re interested, head on over to the Cloud Appreciation Society for some great pics.
• A rare mirage has appeared off the coast of China, a phenomena recorded throughout history as the home of immortals. Includes photo slideshow.
• China will use Egyptian techniques used to preserve fading murals to save ancient Chinese books and manuscripts.
• A group of 900-year-old tombs has been found in China’s Inner Mongolia region.
• In Greece, all religions except Christianity, Judaism and Islam were illegal, but computer scientist Vasillis Tsantilas has won a lawsuit that will allow pagans to worship ancient gods once more. I hope that includes the Mysteries of Eleusis.
• Archaeologists in Cambodia have completed the first part of piecing back together the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle, Angkor Wat. It’s a shame most of it has been looted and damaged.
• An amazing