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Sarkozy’s G8 Ennui

He was bored, the poor man. You could see it in his eyes and his body language. Miles away from home in a country he’s not madly keen on, talking the talk and little else with a bunch of other G8 leaders.

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, didn’t really enjoy himself at this year’s G8 yak-fest in Hokkaido, Japan, if French commentators are to be believed.

There was certainly none of the buoyancy or tactile back slapping of last year when Sarkozy floated into Heiligendamm, Germany on his presidential cloud, fresh from an electoral victory and smiled away as he handed over his mobile ‘phone for then Russian president, Vladimir Putin to have a chat.

Instead he was rather low-key with his efforts thwarted from the outset.

He mooted the idea of increasing the whole shebang from a G8 to a G13 to include some of the other major world economies. But nobody else in the Old Boy’s (and one Girl’s) club seemed to be up for it.

So bang went Sarkozy’s big idea. And India, China, Brazil and others will have to wait their turn until the rest of the leaders actually wake up to the fact that they probably can’t continue meeting to make no decisions without some of the world’s other major players. Or there again perhaps they can. Clearly Sarkozy is and was in the minority on this.

Most of the other leaders turned up at Hokkaido with their better halves among their entourage. Not so Sarkozy, as Carla stayed behind poutingly putting the final touches to her third album, due for release in a couple of weeks time.

Equally important for Sarkozy of course was how the G8 was playing back home in France. Simple, it wasn’t - well not very much. Apart from the time difference, which always puts a bit of a dampener on these things in terms of news reporting, nobody was really interested.

Ingrid’s still in town, the Tour de France wheeled into action last weekend and there’s “real” work to be done back where Sarkozy thinks he knows he’s needed.

There’s the launch of the Mediterranean Union in Paris next weekend, with a fair number of Middle East leaders pitching up followed by Bastille Day celebrations to enjoy.

There’s his first address as EU Big Cheese to the European parliament in Strasbourg to be delivered. France has just taken over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union.

There’s a country to run and a whole continent to be knocked into shape, and instead Sarkozy has been banging heads and getting nowhere fast as far as he’s concerned.

Sure the G8 may have renewed their commitment to reduce global emissions, but that won’t really have grabbed many people’s imaginations back home in France, a country which has invested heavily over the years in low/non (choose your camp choose your definition) carbon-emitting nuclear power.

And even though they called for called for “swift action” on oil prices which they’ve - surprise, surprise - realised are “having a negative impact on the world,” Sarkozy was still left wondering where the oil producers had been in the discussion.

Then of course there was the food thing. While his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, never passed up an opportunity for a trip to the Far East and relished his time there, Sarkozy is in contrast the most American of French presidents (as is often pointed out in the press) and there’s nothing he reportedly enjoys more than a burger and fries.

Quite how he managed to brave his way through a shoeless meal of sushi and sashimi leaves the imagination somersaulting.

No, by Sarkozy’s action man, power-packed, let’s get things done standards, Hokkaido won’t have perked his spirits much.

Perhaps though he had the chance to wheedle out of Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi a blueprint for taking over a country’s media. Maybe he’s done some behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing with Russia’s recently elected president, Dmitri Medvedev. Or better still come up with a plan to resolve the “Irish-EU-Lisbon no” problem with Britain’s EU-ponderous prime minister Gordon Brown.

Who knows? Roll on G8 2009 in La Maddelena, Italy, Carla’s country of birth.

Johnny Summerton is a Paris-based broadcaster, writer and journalist specialising in politics, sport and travel. For more on what’s making the headlines here in France, log on to his site at http://www.persiflagefrance.com

Betancourt’s Unsung Hero

Since the dramatic rescue last week of 15 hostages held by Colombia’s leftist rebel movement the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, much of this country’s attention - if not the world’s - has been focused on Ingrid Betancourt.

Finally though one of France’s leading national daily newspapers, Le Figaro, has caught up with reports that have appeared elsewhere around the globe.

In today’s issue it carries the story of the man without whom we would probably not have been able to share in Betancourt’s joy as she stepped out of the ‘plane on to the tarmac and into the lenses of countless cameras last week.

William Perez is the man Betancourt has herself described since her release as her “guardian angel.” He was the one who fed her like a child when she was going through the darkest of her dark days during more than six years in captivity.

When Betancourt gave up the will to live and refused to eat saying she wanted to die, it was Perez who urged her to remain strong, who spoon fed her, who constantly reminded her she had to stay alive with “a spoonful for her daughter M

Sarkozy’s Union-Bashing Barb

Sometimes a politician can believe his or her own spin just a little too much that it leaves many onlookers gasping in disbelief and checking their ears to make sure they’ve heard correctly

Such has been the case here in France since Saturday when the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, came up with what surely has to be the most unlikely interpretation of recent events in this country.

Speaking to a gathering of the governing Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) party faithful, Sarkozy had the temerity to declare that strikes were of no consequence in France any longer.

“France has changed so quickly and much more deeply than we can imagine,” he said with a huge smile on his face.

“From now on whenever there’s a strike in France, nobody notices it,” he maintained.

Evidence, as far as he was concerned, of the success of both his politics and that of the UMP.

It was a remark which of course received thunderous applause from the gathered party faithful, but has left many observers wondering which planet Sarkozy has been living on for the past year, let alone which country.

What was commonly known as the British disease in the 1970s has over the last couple of decades become something of a French malaise. And even since Sarkozy took over the reins of power 14 months ago, the French have been going about their daily business - work - and their seemingly national pastime - striking - with alarming regularity.

Forgotten it would seem was the week-long mayhem throughout the country last November as France was literally brought to a standstill when transport workers went on strike to protest against planned pension reform.

January’s demonstrations by taxi drivers in cities up and down France over a government-commissioned report proposing to deregulate the granting of licences, or fishermen blocking ports to demand compensation for rising fuel prices seem to have slipped Sarkozy’s mind.

There again it’s easy to ignore the uncomfortable as in both cases the government caved in to pressure.

Maybe Sarkozy had a case of selective recall following the series of protests in spring by schoolchildren, teachers and parents against planned job cuts in education. Or the day of (in)action by civil servants over similar job losses. And let’s not forget that just last week lorry drivers yet again blocked major arteries around Paris, causing massive tailbacks as they continued their demands for compensation in the face of rising fuel prices.

Perhaps there was supposed to be a certain irony in Sarkozy’s comments. He is after all in supremely confident mood at the moment and undoubtedly on a certain wave of euphoria after welcoming “home” Ingrid Betancourt - regardless of France’s questionable (non)role in her liberation.

And of course he’s head honcho in a manner of speaking of the 27-member European Union for the next six months as France holds the rotating presidency, and he’ll oversee the launch next weekend of the Mediterranean Union in spite of opposition from many of his European partners.

But probably his comments should be taken more as a simple case of remobilising the troops on the domestic front ahead of the long summer break and before the autumn politicking recommences. That’ll be just the time incidentally when the Socialist party should be making the headlines as it tries to “pull together” and overcome its own internal divisions by electing a new party leader.

Sarkozy’s remarks might not have played well with the man and woman in the street, but as his approval ratings have shown - currently stuck in the mid-30s - he seems to have decided that popularity isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.

Plus it cannot have done too much harm preaching to the converted and taking pot shots at the perceived inefficacy of the unions and the opposition Socialist party in the face of a government that seems determined to crush both.

Johnny Summerton is a Paris-based broadcaster, writer and journalist specializing in politics, sport and travel. For more on what’s making the headlines here in France, log on to his site at http://www.persiflagefrance.com

UK UFO Encounters Blamed on Chinese Lanterns, But is That the TRUTH?

A clerk at the Tern Hill Hall Hotel told UK newspapers that the launch of Chinese lanterns for a wedding reception was behind the mass sighting of UFOs by soldiers and civilians on June 7, 2008. However, some experts disagree. Even if the lanterns were released as claimed, they would have been too small to account for the objects that were witnessed, photographed and filmed. Mark Hanley, a British UFO Researcher says that he has investigated many cases involving the release of Chinese lanterns.

“These objects are easily identified.” Hanley says. “The size, colors and shape of the objects from the Tern Hill Hotel do not match what people described or photographed… Lanterns burn up after a short time and do not behave in the manner described by witnesses of the UFOs observed on June 7th… The hotel told me that they announce the release of lanterns in advance to avoid complaints from residents and local businesses that say they are a distraction and may cause fires.” Hanley claims that the hotel has been cited by local fire authorities on previous occasions.

Hanley’s statements are at odds with those of Stuart Willett, the manager of the Tern Hill Hall Hotel. Willett says, “We’ve had inquiries from residents before, but it’s the first time it’s been classed as a UFO.” He claims that the hotel has not previously announced the release of Chinese lanterns, but Anna Musgrave disagrees. She is a local resident and owner of a business that is near the hotel. According to several UK newspapers, Anna says: “I had one of those lanterns land on my property (prior to this incident) and the ____ thing caused damage. The hotel staff told us that they would be launching those ______ things, but there was still damage. I complained to the authorities…”

Whether or not the hotel was responsible for the June 7, 2008 sightings is a question that literally remains up in the air. However, that’s not the only sighting that some people are trying to debunk. The sighting of what the Shropshire Star newspaper called “a huge unidentified object rising from the ground towards a police helicopter in Cardiff at 12.40am on Sunday June 8…”is now also being blamed on the Chinese lanterns, despite the fact that they would have all burned up long before that encounter.

David Clarke, a self-described “UFO expert” that helped the British government prepare the MOD files on UFOs for public release told the BBC: “Call me cynical, but what are the chances that a flying saucer would come down from outer space in exactly the same place where lanterns have been released?” He fails to notice the time discrepancy or perhaps doesn’t care. Since most UFO researchers believe that many of the MOD files were whitewashed before being released, his opinion should not be seriously considered.

The helicopter crew involved in the UFO incident made it clear that the object they saw with their eyes could not be seen with night vision goggles. Marshall Clayton, an employee of Night Owl Tactical (maker of night vision goggles) says that would not be the case if what came at the helicopter was a Chinese lantern. “Any object that is self-illuminating would easily be seen with the goggles. Especially if it has an active flame… a candle or battery powered light would stand out.”

It’s important to understand that other objects were seen and photographed on the dates of June 7-8, 2008. Shaun Williams, 12, was taking some daytime photos with a digital camera near his house. When he got home and reviewed the photos, a classic disc-shaped UFO appeared on one of them along with an aircraft he was trying to photograph against a clear blue sky. Shaun said, “I couldn’t believe it when I looked back at my pictures and this strange object was there.” The object did not resemble a Chinese lantern in any way, shape or form.

It’s been thirty years since Steven Spielberg shocked audiences with his ground-breaking film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The film was fact-based with fictional characters. As we near the thirtieth anniversary of its release, it’s sad to see that the news media is still obsessed with a need to provide skeptical explanations for each and every UFO sighting or encounter. They still believe that the burden of proof is on us, but do not hold other news stories to that same standard.

For MORE on these stories including details, photos and video, visit http://Newsletter.UFOguy.com

Author: Bill Knell is a popular paranormal author, speaker and consultant. Author’s Website: UFOguy.com Terms To Use Article: Permission is granted to use this article for free online or in print with inclusion of the author

How Much is That Alien in the Window?

UFO activist Jeff Peckman teamed up with UFO Experiencer Stan Romanek during a recent press conference to call for a ballot initiative to create an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission in Denver. Peckman believes that the commission will help to prepare the city for extraterrestrial visitations. Romanek is a Colorado native who believes he has already been visited by aliens many times and presented what he claims is proof of those visitations in the form of a video of “a living, breathing alien.” The video was filmed in 2003 while Romanek was living in Nebraska. He claims that he set up a camera to capture evidence of a Peeping Tom that was regularly peering into a room where one of his daughters slept.

Romanek released what he said was a small portion of the video to the news media at the press conference with Peckman. Reporters that attended the event say that the video was dark and appeared to show what is commonly described as a small ‘grey’ type of alien peeking in a window that is said to be eight feet above the ground. The ’alien’ was bobbing up and down and blinking its eyes during the brief segment. Jason Sheehan, a reporter, self-proclaimed UFO witness and admitted believer attended the press conference and made this statement about Romanek’s video in the Denver Westword News, “I was just disappointed. It looked so patently fake, so ridiculously cheap and goofy.”

I am objective and try to maintain an eclectic view of UFOs and the evidence available to support the existence of extraterrestrials and their visits to the earth. I dislike judging what may first appear to be lackluster evidence for UFOs and ETs too harshly. After all, we’ve been practically brainwashed by the government and mainstream media to believe that UFOs and Aliens are just figments of deluded or overactive imaginations. Others will say that computer generated graphics provide a new and easy way for almost anyone to create fake aliens doing all kinds of things. Those kinds of objections being thrown at us 24/7 are bound to influence our opinion when it comes to viewing evidence like the Romanek video.

Portions of the alien video presented to the press have been posted on the internet. If those postings are real, you can take at look and decide for yourself. If you care to wait, the video will soon be part of a documentary currently titled as “Starseed: The Stan Romanek Story.” Romanek says he has sold the rights to his alien video to a film company. That makes me want to ask him, “How much is that Alien in the window? The one with the bobbing head and blinking eyes. How much is that Alien in the window? Will your documentary be a huge disappointment or a big and wonderful surprise?”

I should not be so sarcastic, but part of the problem with Stan Romanek’s video is his decision to sell it to a film company before it has been fully examined, researched and authenticated. I can certainly understand the frustration of anyone with video, photos or information that they’re trying to incorporate into a documentary only to find that it’s already been put out on the internet. I have had my own articles, information, video and audio recordings placed online by others without even so much as a brief mention giving me any credit. However, I also believe that the value of the Romanek video would not be lessened by showing part of it to the public prior to the release of the documentary.

If the same small segment shown to reporters was released to the public it would give UFO researchers and video experts time to weigh in on it. If they could not find enough objections to dismiss it as a hoax, that would increase the value of the video and make people want to see his documentary when it becomes available. Instead, we find ourselves in the familiar ‘grey’ area of a yet another UFO Experiencer wanting people in and out of the UFO research community to accept his evidence without seeing all of it.

Romanek and Peckman claim that one Denver film expert concluded that the video had not been doctored. The same expert says that if the image appearing in the window was a puppet, it would be a very expensive and elaborate puppet. That’s a non-starter. We could just as easily say that someone filming a video of a star in the night sky without special effects was not faking it even if they said the star was a UFO. Zack Hildebrand of Wonderhouse Productions in Hollywood says that it could cost as little as $100 to create a simple ‘puppet’ to do the things the alien in Romanek’s video does.

Members of the Rocky Mountain Paranormal Researcher Society have already dismissed the Romanek video as a fake and created one of their own to show how easy that would be to do. However, a visit to their website shows that their primary interest is in Ghost Research. They proudly display photos of themselves with the cast of the Ghost Hunters television show. That leads me to believe that members of the Rocky Mountain Paranormal Researcher Society subscribe to the same view held by the Ghost Hunters which is to debunk first and ask questions later.

Without full access to the video, we are left to examine the claims of Stan Romanek based on his story and the evidence he has publicly displayed. During a lecture he recently presented at the Auraria Campus in Denver, Colorado, Romanek said that he videotaped his first encounter with a UFO east of the Red Rocks Amphitheater near Denver in 2000. He also spoke about government agents, extraterrestrial beings, unusual craft, balls of light, threats, floating objects, bizarre communications, advanced scientific equations, implants and more.

On the surface, Romanek’s story seems awfully conspiratorial. However, there are many pros among what some consider to be a number of cons. One is that some of the objects he has filmed were also independently videotaped by Jeff Woolwine of Phoenix, Arizona. Jeff says that many of the objects he has caught on video came right up out of the Superstition Mountains. He also claims that Native American drawings in those areas show the objects have been doing this for a long time. Many of Romanek’s videos are filmed near mountains.

Another interesting pro is the mathematical prowess shown by Stan Romanek. According to Dana Thibault, a researcher who claims to have been involved with Romanek for a year, Romanek suffers from dyslexia and has the math competency of a fourth grader. Despite his apparent disabilities, Stan has managed to produce complicated equations that predict little known celestial events and allege to provide information about zero point propulsion.

Romanek claims to that he received the equations from extraterrestrials. He does have scars and markings that are similar to those that appear on other people who claim to have been abducted or contacted by the ’grey’ type of aliens. However, some of his photos leave much to be desired. It’s possible that he reads too much into the photos. That is also a common trait among abductees and contactees. If I were to casually look at the evidence for his case apart from the alien video, I could easily conclude that he was in some sort of contact with aliens.

If Stan Romanek wants people to take his story and alien video seriously, he will have to open himself and his evidence up to the same sort of scrutiny, examination and critical analysis that so many who came before him have had to endure. It’s not a pleasant process, but in a world where most people are either true believers or skeptics, there are just not a lot of other options. For more, visit http://newsletter.ufoguy.com

Author: Bill Knell is a popular paranormal author, speaker and consultant. Author’s Website: UFOguy.com Terms To Use Article: Permission is granted to use this article for free online or in print with inclusion of the author

The Haunting Story of Alexandra Holzer

Alexandra Holzer had anything but a normal childhood. One of two sisters, she is the youngest born to Ghost Hunter Hans Holzer and Countess Catherine Buxhoeveden. She explained some of the funny, offbeat and frightening moments of her youth in Growing Up Haunted: A Ghostly Memoir (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2008). To understand Alexandra, you really have to know a bit about her parents, so we’ll begin there.

Hans Holzer is generally considered to be the father of modern spirit investigation. The author of over one hundred and forty-five books and novels, Hans wrote Ghost Hunter in 1963 and established the methodology that many within the field of paranormal investigation use today. He received his Ph.D from the London College of Applied Science and has made appearances on popular television programs such as In Search Of and Murder in Amityville.

Countess Catherine Buxhoeveden, also known as The Haunted Countess, is a direct descendent of Catherine The Great of Russia. Born at Castle Rovina in Merano, Italy, she grew up and eventually married Hans Holzer. Catherine helped research many of the topics for his books and added her own intuitive, imaginative and inspired artwork to those projects. The Countess lives on Long Island and often shows her art work in The Hamptons.

After reading almost all of her father’s books, I was thrilled to speak with Alexandra over the phone. She instantly communicates a sincere interest in spirit investigation. However, it would be wrong to believe that she is just some chip off the old block. Alexandra makes it clear that she and her father do not see eye to eye on a number of issues. One of them happens to be the subject of demons.

“My father doesn’t believe in demons…he says spirits are beings of light” she told me matter-of-factly. Hans is not alone in his assessment of evil spirits, however, it does cut a swath across research by others that do believe in them including Ed and Lorraine Warren, well-known ghost hunters and authors in their own right, and his own daughter. He also seems to find fault with some of her conclusions as evidenced by a recent debate over a photo she showed to him and her mother. Alexandra describes the situation:

“After rediscovering my ability of sight and tapping into my sixth sense, I began taking photo’s around my home. The results showed anomalies which I concluded were not manmade from the environment of my home such as dirt, dust or in-door rain. I became excited and had my mother take some of her own photos. I explained to her that the objects were probably the physical manifestations of spirit guides, family members that passed over and so on. She was just as excited and in her low-key mellow way, just as astonished to see what appeared on her bedroom curtains and floors. Shapes taking form, an arm here, a leg there… That began the topic of our orb conversations. Sounds like a bucket of chicken: You get the wing, oh look here’s the breast!”

“ I took it another step forward by taking some photos during a function at my sisters house in Riverdale, New York. I wasn’t just interested in preserving family moments, but was searching for evidence of life after life on film. What I believe to be a face appeared in one of the photos. It was just behind my sister and seemed to come out of her curio. After looking at the photo a couple of times, she agreed that the anomaly was a face. That’s when the orb fight began.”

“My mother, sister and I went to show the photo to my father. Well, Mr. Ghost Hunter didn’t exactly see eye to eye with us. He emphatically stated, ‘That’s not an orb! I can’t see what it is, BUT it’s not a person!’ That’s all it took to start a ten minute verbal battle over the photo and its contents. I said, ‘Look there is the head,’ and he’d reply, ‘That’s not a head, it’s the light coming from the room!’ I’d say, ‘It’s shaping here like a person,’ he’d reply, ‘That’s not a person, it’s a bug of some sort perhaps, but it’s not a person!’ We ended the argument by agreeing to disagree, but I was still red-faced angry over the whole thing and the argument was far from over as far as I was concerned.”

That’s what is so terrific about Alexandra. She has a passion that rivals her father’s when it comes to spirit investigation. That passion came through during own phone conversation and in her description of her relationship, agreements, disagreements, admirations and frustrations with her dad. She says, “Life with my father is difficult, confusing and inspiring all rolled into one.” Alexandra continued:

“As a child, he was there for me to hold my hand crossing the busy New York City streets. He was there to take me to the pediatrician when I was sick, but always felt uncomfortable sitting in the waiting room. He complained about the germs in those places. Despite that eccentricity, he was entertaining and very considerate of my likes and dislikes. He once made the mistake of bringing me toast with orange marmalade when clearly, strawberry was my favorite. I bellowed at him at the ripe old age of seven and said, ‘Father, that’s NOT the right jam!’ Laughing, he just smiled, left the room and returned with a new batch of toast and strawberry jam.”

“I long for those days and wish for more, but my father never allowed me into the paranormal side of his life with the exception of telling me stories from the past. As old age set in, it was too late to get involved with that. The man I once knew had become more difficult and less forthcoming of his business. Today, all I can do is develop my own path and try to carry on what little he’ll let me until he passes. When he does, I will be able to continue without walking on eggshells or being fearful of insulting his ego. He’ll be in a better place, smiling again, and devising a plan to haunt me I am sure!”

I was nine years old when I became aware that my father’s military career and the friends he knew from those days provided proof positive that Extraterrestrials were visiting our planet. That awareness became the catalyst which launched my interest in the paranormal. It caused me to read books on the subject (including Ghost Hunter) and watch people like her dad on television. I wondered when Alexandra first became aware that her father was a famous Ghost Hunter? She provided the following answer:

“I was around the age of nine or ten years old. It was Christmas Time and my mother began wrapping up some of my father’s books as gifts for the school teachers. I attended prep school in Manhattan, so the environment was quiet, proper and subtle. One day before Christmas break, my class sat watching our History teacher as he opened up his gifts. I hadn’t a clue what we got him, but was excited to watch him open the present. I picked out the silver, shiny paper that apparently left glitter all over any hands that touched it. As he looked at his hands, I felt very bad and sunk into my chair. He laughed it off and with a smirk continued to open the package.”

“When the paper fell to the floor, a bunch of books appeared and the look on his face went from a smirk to a serious grin. ‘What could it be?’ I wondered. ‘What the heck did mother buy this poor man?’ As the other kids and I crowded around him to find out, the teacher showed us the covers of the books that emerged from the wrapping. They were titles like ‘The Ghost Hunter‘, ‘ESP and You, ‘Witches’ and ‘The Lively Ghosts of Ireland’ by Dr. Hans Holzer! Oh no…that is MY father! I couldn’t believe it. He wrote those? What the heck does he do for a living? I sank to the lowest point in my chair at that moment. As if to add insult to injury, I fell off that chair to the ground with a thunderous thud! It was at that moment that I wondered if I should switch schools right away or maybe just leave the planet!”

As a Paranormal Researcher with more years of experience than I care to admit and children of my own, I can understand how strange it must have been for Alexandra to face her father’s unusual claim to fame. My own kids always enjoy listening to my radio and television interviews, but it can confuse them at times. After all, I am not exactly dealing with conventional topics. With that in mind, I wondered what Alexandra’s earliest memory of her father’s ghost hunting might be? She told me:

“I was around the age of eleven when my father came bursting into my room announcing he would be on television that evening. He gave me the time, channel and show’s name. I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Yeah, okay whatever.” But when the time came for the show to air, I was not going to get off that easily. He stormed back into my room and announced it was on. My mother, sister and I (and the cat) went into the living room to watch my father on television. He sat there smiling, commenting and folding his arms. Although it seemed really funny at the time, I can now understand his sense of accomplishment as I am now trying to accomplish the same thing. I might have been bored when I watched those shows, but I was also impressed and sensed his fame.”

My paranormal ‘awakening’ occurred at the age of nine. I wondered how and when Alexandra became interested in spirit investigation. Now thirty seven years of age, she says that a ghostly experience of her own at the age of thirty two was what propelled her into the world her father had dominated for so long:

“I was folding laundry and I heard my late aunt’s whisper of a voice in my ear. She passed from a rare form of Lymphoma two years before. I had experiences as a child and never felt alone, but this was something foreign to me that suddenly became familiar. As I began to open up and allow her in, the dreams came, then the messages and soon, I was able to read people naturally. I didn’t ask for this second sight or to be a medium to help others. My aunt allowed me to get back to my roots and chose the right time for me. I could have picked a better moment, like before I had four children, but that is not how it works.”

Alexandra Holzer has partnered with Carly-Rose Singer and Shira Etzionis to form a kind of Charlie’s Angels threesome of east coast ghost researchers called New York’s Pretty Paranormals. Each one of them brings something to the table of spirit investigations including Alexandra’s vision of what Ghost Hunting should be. “I want to help people,” she tells me. I can understand her vision and admire the fact that she and her partners want to do more than just show up at someone’s house with a bunch of gadgets and an emotional detachment that is unhealthy for all involved.

There is an honesty and sincerity that comes across when you speak with the youngest daughter of Hans Holzer. She is motivated, enthusiastic and with as many goals as she has talents, she is so much more than just the daughter of a famous Ghost Hunter. You’ll be seeing a lot more of Alexandra Holzer. She hopes to create and host a television show about the paranormal and I cannot think of anyone better suited to do that. She’s also a prolific author with several books currently available and more on the way.

Alexandra Holzer is available for radio, internet and television guest spots and print interviews. She is also available for Speaking Engagements. For more, visit http://AlexandraHolzer.GothicMoods.com

Author: Bill Knell is a popular paranormal author, speaker and consultant. Author’s Website: UFOguy.com Terms To Use Article: Permission is granted to use this article for free online or in print with inclusion of the author

Did Howard Hughes View a Captured UFO and Its Occupants?

Did Howard Hughes ever get a chance to view a captured or crashed UFO and its occupants? I have long pondered this question and there may now be an answer to it. According to a former employee of Hughes Aircraft, he did. The visit allegedly occurred not long after the crash of an alien spacecraft near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. You may think this story belongs in the BELIEVE OR NOT file and you may be right, but I feel compelled to pass it on to you anyway.

Linda is a retired teacher. She taught in public and private schools for over thirty years and has emailed me an impressive array of diplomas and certifications. She also emailed a few photos and some paperwork that verifies the fact that her father probably worked for Howard Hughes. Because she asked for anonymity, I cannot say much more about her or divulge where she currently lives at this time. I have encouraged her to come forward at some point and tell her own story in her own words.

Linda says that her father was involved with Hughes Aircraft as early as 1942, but the timeframe that concerns this story is the year 1947. It was during the summer of that year that Howard Hughes was obsessed with getting his oversized wooden seaplane nicknamed the “Spruce Goose” ready for a test flight. Officially known as the H-4 Hercules, the aircraft flew only once on November 2, 1947. The amount of time and work that went into getting the Hercules ready for that flight was unbelievable.

Her father worked closely with Hughes during the Hercules project and later became a full-time employee of Hughes Aircraft. The two men met after he was referred to Hughes by a mutual acquaintance just after the USA declared war on the Axis powers and entered World War II. Linda told me that Hughes used as her dad as a “problem solver.” He had a knack for being able to look at most any mechanical problem and quickly suggest a practical solution. He also had the kind of temperament that allowed him to work with the eccentric billionaire.

Hughes was besieged with a number of problems during the summer of 1947 including a U.S. Senate inquiry into the way he had managed funds for the Hercules and XF-11 Photoreconnaissance Aircraft projects. Linda says that shortly after he testified at the Senate hearings, Howard Hughes returned to oversee work on the Hercules and spoke to her father about his possible involvement in an important government project.

According to Linda, Howard Hughes and her father were not friends and her dad would probably not be considered a part of Hughes‘ inner circle if such a thing existed. However, he did spend a lot of time with Hughes during the Hercules project and the two had a casual working relationship as long as her father delivered the goods. She told me that her dad said he was busy brainstorming with some engineers when Hughes summoned him into an empty office. Hughes had a kind of inquisitively stern look on his face and that usually meant that he wanted some advice on how to solve a problem or was about to start a new project.

Howard stepped away from the door to the office, but didn’t close it. There was enough noise outside of the office so that no one could hear their conversation anyway. Howard sat down on a stool near the window. Linda’s father stepped over to where he was sitting and listened intently. Hughes hated repeating himself and despised people that were not good listeners. Hughes told her dad that he had been contacted by a “high ranking member of the United States Armed Forces” while he was in Washington, D.C.

The billionaire was used to receiving unusual requests from the military. He was known as someone that could keep a secret and solve complicated problems. According to Linda’s father, this one might have been the mother of all the most secret and complicated situations that the government ever faced. Hughes said that he visited a military base on the way back from the congressional hearings. He didn’t mention where it was located and provided few details about what happened there.

Linda’s father said that Hughes seemed uncomfortable talking about his visit to the base. He hated situations that he couldn’t personally control and seemed to indicate that the entire event was orchestrated and controlled by the military. With the exception of Hughes, no civilians were present. Howard said that they showed him a new type of aircraft. Most of it was in pieces and it was obvious that the thing had crashed or been shot down. Hughes assumed it might have been something that the Russians cooked up.

It wasn’t until Hughes got closer to the material that he noticed it was anything but conventional. He didn’t pick up or touch any of it, but told Linda’s father that it looked like “the damnedest stuff I’ve ever seen.” The military officers present told him that despite the fact that it was in pieces, the material was extremely resistant to heat, cold and pressure. They also said that it was almost impossible to penetrate, yet it might have been an implosion that caused the crash. Howard never said if it had any writing on it and provided no further details about the material or the aircraft.

Hughes told Linda’s father that the dead bodies of the crew members from the aircraft had also been recovered by the military and were mostly intact. He said they allowed him to view the bodies and described them as looking like “dwarves” or “deformed midgets” wearing seamless flight suits. He added no details about where or how they were being kept. Instead, he got right to the point. “They want me to figure this thing out and I want you on board,” Hughes explained. That was the end of their meeting.

A few weeks later Hughes took Linda’s father aside again and told him to forget about their previous conversation in the office. He gave her dad the impression that there were too many hassles and not enough money for him to get involved with that project. Her father felt it was more plausible to believe that Hughes wouldn’t have been able to run the show and didn’t want to get involved with something he couldn’t fully direct. Or, perhaps he knew or had learned something more about the project that turned him off to it.

It wasn’t until many years after their conversation in that office that Linda’s father came to realize that Hughes might have been talking about a crashed UFO and, specifically, one that probably crashed or was shot down during the summer of 1947. Her dad had never shown any type of interest in UFOs or Aliens. Linda believed he might have come across the information about one of the UFO crashes from the tabloids that his wife read. The timing would have been correct because I saved issues of the National Enquirer and other supermarket tabloids during the 1970s and recall articles about alien and military encounters and UFO crashes.

I asked Linda if her dad might have been kidding her about the Hughes incident. “Oh, no,” she said, “Dad never told tale tales. He had enough true stories about Hughes and other important people he met throughout the years… He didn’t need to make up stories… I am certain he was telling me the truth.” I also asked Linda how many times they discussed that story after he first told it to her. She replied, “Not more than a couple of times… He wasn’t interested in UFOs… He told me the story on a whim because he thought it might give me a chuckle or two… Dad had nothing to add to the story and I believe that’s why we never discussed it much.”

Unfortunately, her father passed away a few years ago. I doubt he realized the impact that the story had on his daughter. Before she heard it, Linda barely gave the subject of UFOs a second thought. Afterward, she slowly became fascinated with the subject and told me, “My father told me that what Howard said he saw sounded a lot like what the tabloids were describing as crashed alien spaceships… and the bodies that he viewed fit the descriptions of aliens… I do not believe everything that politicians tell me, but I never saw a reason to disbelieve what they were saying about UFOs. What would they have to gain by lying about them? It wasn’t until my father told me the story about Howard and the material that I began to doubt their denials…”

Linda said that she started reading UFO articles published in some of the mainstream newspapers and magazines. Those tidbits awakened a casual interest in learning more about the subject. However, after retired Colonel Jesse Marcel came forward to expose the Roswell UFO cover up, she went out of her way to learn as much as she could about UFO crashes and military encounters. “I purchased a used copy of a book by Donald Keyhoe and read it cover to cover,” Linda told me. “That book opened my eyes… I now believe there is much more to the subject than what we‘re being told.”

I asked Linda why she waited so long to tell the story she heard from her father about Howard Hughes and the strange aircraft. “I am a very private person… I believe in doing all I can to promote education and to encourage students to stay in school. I want them to go as far as they can in life… I do not want to become the poster child for government conspiracies… You seem legitimately interested in discovering the truth about UFOs and Aliens. I believe that if people have a chance to learn about the story that my father told to me, they might feel compelled to come forward and share their own experiences and information with you.”

I have a million more questions for Linda, but it is obvious that her father was given little more than a thumbnail sketch about Howard Hughes experience with a strange object and its occupants. He was only able to tell her what Hughes had told him. Not the best scenario, so I cannot say for sure that this story involves a crashed UFO and it‘s occupants. I can say that I believe Linda’s dad heard a story about a strange aircraft and unusually tiny crewmembers from Howard Hughes and that he told it to his daughter just the way he heard it, straight from the horse’s mouth.

I have been researching Linda’s story for about a week. I have spoken with her over the phone on several occasions. With her permission, I recorded the calls and subjected them to a voice stress analysis using an inexpensive testing unit I purchased a few years ago. If accurate, the results indicate that she was not being deceptive during our conversation. As a experienced UFO researcher, I was pleased that she cooperated with various requests I had for more information. That is almost always a good sign.

Linda has emailed enough documentation to make me believe that she is who she claims to be and that her father was employed at Hughes Aircraft. The materials she provided indicate that he probably worked for Howard Hughes on specific projects as a consultant before he became a full time employee. Because Hughes never told him that he actually saw an alien spacecraft or referred to the dead crew members as aliens, we have to fill in the blanks with some careful speculation.

If Linda’s story does anything, it proves that people out there are sitting on important information about UFOs because they still fear the repercussions that can result from coming forward to share it. The blame for that may be placed on the doorstep of a news media that seems incapable of covering anything deeper that where politicians attend church or how old they are. They ignore real news and issues in favor of serve serving statements from government flunkies bent on forwarding an increasingly outdated agenda. For more, visit http://newsletter.ufoguy.com

Author: Bill Knell is a popular paranormal author, speaker and consultant. Author’s Website: UFOguy.com Terms To Use Article: Permission is granted to use this article for free online or in print with inclusion of the author

Vietnam UFO Crash Metal May Be the Smoking Gun

According to Officials at the state run Vietnam News Agency, “An unidentified flying object exploded at about 10am on May 27 over the northern part of Phu Quoc Island.” Colonel Nguyen Van Qui, a military commander on the island was the source of the report and no civilian, commercial or military aircraft are said to be missing in that area of southern Vietnam or nearby Cambodia.

The object that crashed was first seen in the skies over Cambodia where officials said it appeared as a “fire in the sky.” The thing exploded shortly after that and what was left of it crashed on Phu Quoc Island. Citizens of a commune on the island retrieved a piece of metal from the crash that they described as measuring “one metre by about 60 centimeters.” The metal is unusual looking and appears to have symbols engraved or stamped into it.

Additional pieces of metal were recovered by members of the military and civilians. At this writing, there are fourteen pieces in possession of the Military Command of Phu Quoc District. The metal debris rained down in Ganh Dau and Cua Can communes on Phu Quoc at about 10:20 a.m. on May 27, 2008, according to Lam Quang Chanh, a spokesperson for the provincial People’s Committee.

While it’s entirely possible that the sightings and recovered material may have nothing to do with an Alien Spacecraft, the events surrounding this crash are similar to other incidents involving UFOs. For example, some of the symbols that appear to be engraved or stamped into the metal (if they are genuine) are similar to those described by witnesses on the thing that crashed near Kecksburg, Pennsylvania, in the 1960s. An I-beam from the Roswell UFO Crash in 1947 was also reported to have unknown symbols on it.

Phu Quoc Island is a popular tourist destination located in the Gulf of Thailand. It has thirteen resort areas and several urban centers. The island was once considered a backwater area known primarily for the production of anchovy sauce and black pepper. Once a French territory with rubber and coconut plantations, Phu Quoc Island housed a prisoner of war camp during the Vietnam War. Vietnam and Cambodia struggled over possession of the island for years after the war until it finally became a part of Vietnam in 1975.

UFO crashes are rare events. When they occur in an area of the world that may not be under the control of the usual cover-up suspects, an opportunity presents itself for the nation and people involved to share what has happened with the world. Vietnam is a Communist country with close ties to China, so there still may be a tight lid clamped on this event at some point. If that doesn’t occur, we may have a chance to see the smoking gun that proves intelligent Alien life forms exist and are visiting the Earth.

You can see a photo of the debris, view other photos related to this article and read more at http://newsletter.ufoguy.com

Author: Bill Knell is a popular paranormal author, speaker and consultant. Author’s Website: UFOguy.com Terms To Use Article: Permission is granted to use this article for free online or in print with inclusion of the author

Twice an Orphan - Barmy Bureaucracy or Welfare of the Child? You Judge.

Last weekend here in France an 11-year-old boy, Joris, found himself effectively orphaned for the second time. He was taken into care after his father, 34-year-old Aboubakar Coulibaly, was deported back to his native C

The Effects of Global Warming

When you hear about the effects of global warming it is important to understand that the effects we are experiencing today are moderate compared to what the future will see if we do not take preventative action. Over the next century researchers and environmental professionals are stating that the effects of global warming will continue on a constant inclined curve. Temperatures heating up a little bit each decade until the earth’s temperatures reach the sweltering levels that we experienced in history. Scientists believe that the earth’s temperatures will rise between 2-9 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050.

The Arctic and the earth’s northern latitudes will feel the most of the effects of global warming as they continue to escalate. As the Arctic packs and glaciers begin to melt from the increased temperatures the tundra and seas surrounding the areas will continue to absorb the warmth which was once reflected back into space. Climate models show that if temperatures throughout the rest of the world rise to 3 degrees Fahrenheit they will more than likely rise to at least 7 degrees Fahrenheit in the Arctic. From this the oceans throughout the world will become full with melting glaciers and ice from the Arctic likely to rise by at least 3ft.

As the temperatures continue to rise this will force the ocean to evaporate quicker and therefore more rainfall will be experienced. The problem with this effect is that the rainfall may hit areas of the world which do not need it at all causing massive floods and monsoons. Subtropical areas like India are expected to be the target of this particular effect of global warming. On the other hand it is safe to say that droughts are going to be more of a problem than flooding.

There are predictions that the future effects of global warming may have its benefits as well. In the northern part of the world such as Canada, the warmer temperatures will mean longer growing seasons and more rainfall. This of course then will put an end to any food shortage that may be occurring and provide a new sense of prosperity to countries throughout the world which have been struggling to survive.

Many of the changes and effects listed above are already taking place today on a smaller scale of course. Sea levels are rising due to thermal expansion of the ocean, in addition to melting of land ice. Amounts and patterns of precipitation are changing as well but only slightly in comparison to what has been predicted for the future. Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns increase the frequency and intensity of other extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, heat waves, and tornadoes.

Other effects of global warming include higher or lower agricultural yields, further glacial retreat, reduced summer stream flows and species extinctions. As a further effect of global warming, diseases like malaria are returning into areas where they have been extinguished earlier. This is only the beginning of the effects global warming can have on our earth. As the greenhouse gases continue to increase and enter the atmosphere these effects are only going to increase in severity making it harder and harder to maintain our quality of life.

Many people find it hard to believe that the effects of global warming can become as severe as scientists are predicting but the patterns support these theories. When you read studies comparing today’s weather to weather 20years ago there are already signs proving the effects of global warming. Pay attention to the weather today and the severe weather being reported from all over the world and you will begin to see the effects within your own life as well.

We can all do our part to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases within our atmosphere. No matter how small the act might be (saving electricity, conserving fuels, etc) every action makes a difference when we are all making these eco-smart decisions. There are no doubts that the effects of global warming are only going to persist and increase if we do not do something today. The fact is that even if greenhouse emission gases were completely eliminated today it will still take years to eliminate the threats of global warming. This is why it is so important to do what we can today!

Communication Manager for http://www.theglobalwarmingoverview.com. An unbiased platform about global warming and the environment. News, forum, debate, information to take educated action as a global environmental citizen.

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