6. CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 6
19��]9�9 rrhe New Centurv
I
8
191�[1919 Portents of Var 20
ln�J19l9 rrhe Roaring rlventies 36
19J�]9J9 A Shrinking rVorlcl 44
194�JI949 Disaster and Recovery 52
191�]1919 Alien Encounters 66
196�]969 The Space Race 86
197� ]979 Challenge of the Paranonnal I02
198�]989 Society and the U ncxplained II4
T�e 199�� �rhe Future Beckons I26
an� onwar�... I3 8
Further Reading 139
Index I42
Acknowledgen1ents 144
7. INTRODUCTION
D u ri ng the twe ntieth ce n t ury the s t ra n gest
t hings have h appened bot h in the worl d s of
scien ce and of parascience.
So-called normal science has witnessed a
revo lution so i m me n se as to equal or even surpass
those pion eered by N e w to n a n d Galileo. vVe h ave
reached upward and outward int o space ,
DrJWII1g or the p robed the in terior of t h e a tom,
'Jersey Dev1l'.
Phrlacielphi<J f venrng discove red h idden rad iation s ,
Bu/letrn. jdnudry 1909
revealed a ghost u niverse fil led wit h
time-travel ling phantoms and created
techn olog ical miracles u nforeseen even by
the writers of science fictio n. The si n i s ter
side to th ese achieve m e n ts is the
un leash i n g of natu ral catastrophes and
the forgi n g of weapons capable of ending
life on Eart h . No sin gle ce n tury i n history
can m atch this record of i nven t iven ess,
with its unl i m ited poten tial for crea tion
a n d destru ction.
In t he wake of t h is o-
�
a l l o iJin � char<re
u
�
by t he forces of ration alism has come a
deluge of p a ran ormal p h e n o me n a I h a t
seem s t o herald a ret u r n t o t h e distant age
of s uperstition. Ve have been asked to believe in
f�tiries and spacemen , we have sought f(Jr meaning
ITJ
8. i n past lives a n d we have u sed com p u t ers to probe
t h e futu re . Our ocea n s h ave teetued with m o n sters,
o u r fields h a ve been speckled wit h m y s te rious
circ les a n d our sk ies h ave been overflown by
dazz l i n g fleets of U FOs.
It seems ap propriate, as the cen tury draws to a
close, to review the logbook of the last h u ndred years,
examining some of t hese remarkable even ts and
developments to see how t h i n gs may inter-relate.
To t h i s end I h ave d evised a c h ro nol ogy of t e n
m os t e x t raord i nary decades , descr ib i n g m a n y of
t h e broa d trends a n d i n dividual mvsteries that
I
h ave paralleled, a n d often o u t stripped , t h e realities
of I�Kt a n d t h e l�mtasies of fiction . They h a ve
woven t hei r way, l ike an i n visible threa d , through Sw John Hunt leading the Everest
exped1tion of 1951 The
t h e a n n als of t h is lascinating H1malayas have been the scene
of several alleged sight1ngs of the
period to cre;:tle a tapestry of Abom1nable Snowman.
awesome bea u t y o u ts h i n i n g
,
a n yt h i n g i n t h e pages of t he
Ambim1 Nights.
So c l i m b aboard ou r m agic
carpet for a ride t h rough the
t we n tieth century. V h o
knows w h a t wonders w e
s h a l l confi·on t?
ITJ
9. THE NEW CENTURY
; s t h e twe n t ie t h centu ry dawn ed , t h a n ks to
fi_ Da rwi n s t h eo rv of evolu t ion, t he b i rt h of
psych oanalysis as pion eered by S i gm u n d Freud
'
'
a nd t h e e x pe r i m e n tal research of Anton Pavlov,
science seemed dose t o creat i n g an ordered,
predictable world peopled by aut o m ata: a godless
U n i verse w i t h n o s p i r i t, no soul and no aherlile .
More encou rag i n g were the first l�1lteri n g steps
�ravitv-free enviro n m e n t as sc i e n t is t s a n d
i n to a u
aviators converted age-old dreams i nto real i t y.
'
Yet, as t rad it io n al rel igion declined , t h e hu m a n
spi rit rebel led. creat i n g n e w modes of e x p ression
f(:>r its i n ner worl d , as if to prove to sci ence t h a t all
was n ot qui t e as s i m ple as i t seemed.
[JJ
10. 19��
Boxi n g Day. the t lu-ee m e n left i n charge
had vanished. :'o weapons had been
14 FEBRUARY touched a n d there was no trace of a distur
bance. The last log entry by the men. dated
T H E VAN I S H I NG AT H A N G I N G ROCK
15 December, referred to t he calmness of
O n e oft he most astonishing disappearances t he sea after the ending of a s t ra n ge storm
on record t ook place at Ha nging Rock, not renlrded twen t�· miles away, a n d men
ncar : lclbournc, 'inoria, :ustralia. T h i s t io n ed t hat they were afraid, praying and
w a s recorded i n 1 he book Pirnic at 1/anging allirmi n g that 'God is oYer all'.
Roth by Joan Lindsay (1967), a n d was also
19�1
t h e subject of a n cthcrcal and eerie 197 5
film of the same title by Peter 'eir. The
book, although labelled a novel, is by impli JUNE
cation based on Ctrt. It tells of a school
AN EARLY CLOSE E N C O U N T E R
party on a day outin g at the isolated beauty
spot, a n d hm,· four teenage girls and a The first rcconlcd dose encounter of the
female teacher vanished after setti n g off, i n third kind (or alien contact) occurred at
sight o f m a n y colleagues. t o explore a rock Bournbrook, 'est ilidlands, England, when
lace in the bush. One girl retur n e d in a an objefl like a 'hut' was seen in a garden by
slate of deep shock. Another, in an equallr a youth. It contained two slllall men. under 4
cat atonic rondit ion, was found a week lat er. feet tall, wearing khaki suits and helmets, one
:'either could explain what had occurred. of whom approached the wimess bd(lre
The three missin g members of the part}' rctuming i nside. The o�jefl ncated an clcr
were llC cr found. A strange pink cloud trical glow around its base and took oil' sky
seen hm·ering near br reinforced the ward wit h a whooshing noise.
supernatural ,·iew that ther had slipped
19�11
into anothct· d imen s ion or time. The eve n t
strtL(·k a cl10rd deep in t h e psyche because
of i t s diren rhallcnge to s(·icnti(i(· omn ipo 0 AUGUST
tence. On the other hand, whereas manr of
T I M E S L I P AT V E RSAILLES
the people a n d plares did historically exist,
the Joan Lin dsay no'el rontains serious Two English srhoolteachcrs, A n n e :tuber
errors of f;lct and no contemporary media ley a n d Eleanor Jourdain, were on holiday
accounts refer to the vanishings. 'hen in France. Visitin g the grou n ds of the
asked in 1977 if she had i nvented it all, the Palace of Versailles 011 a hot sun ny day,
author replied, e nigmatically, that this was they claimed to have been projected more
impossible to answe r because 'fact a n d fic than a century back in time. They came
tion are so dosclv i n t ert wi ned'.
I
across the Petit Trianon, the small chateau
giYcn by Louis X'1 to llarie-,ntoniette, as
19��
it had been on 10 August 1792, the h is t oric
day when the French royal family was
MID-DECEMBER forced lo flee. The 1 wo women wa ndered
pat hwa'S that no longet· existed, saw
THE L I G H T H O U S E D I SAPP EARAN C E
people in old-fashioned clothi n g and even
On G Dc(·ember, .Joseph :loore Jell for witnessed a woman busy pai nting who
three weeks' lca'e from t he desolate Eilean stared them ti.t ll in t he face and bm·e t h e
:lor ligh t house on the Flaunan I sles, west resemblance o f :laric-Antoinetle herself.
of Lewis, Scotland. 'hen he returned o n Only f(lllowin g later 'isits to the scene.
T H E N E W C ENT U R Y
11. Above: the Pet1t T nanon, Versailles.
Below: Eleanor ]ourda1n and Anne Moberley
T H E N E W CE NTU R Y
12. when they noted that pathways they had momentum and remained constant
trodden in 190 I had since 'anished, and throughout the rest of the century. The
when subsequently researching the history slaughter or world wars and countless
of the grounds, did they come to under bloody local conflicts brought many
stand many of these e'ents. bereaved rush i ng to Spiritual ist churches
The women stood by their story until for comfort.
their deaths, despite sceptical claims that The real reason for this sun:ess was that,
they had stumbled across a costume party while conventional religions called for Ctith
(the existence of which was ne,·ei- verified). as a path toward solace, they had no way of
They described a llat feel to the imagery combating the ad'ance of science. Indeed,
and other strange sensations typical of some sects hn.>ke away and attempted to
more recent sl i ps through time: and some bring hack a p u ritanical way of life and to
modern researchers think this is indeed restore literal belief in the truth of the Old
what happened. Somehow they slid Testamelll stories that had by now been
through the years or 'tuned into' a memory severely eroded by rationalism. On the
left by the Queen in the grounds of the other hand, Spiritual i s m olfen�d hard evi
chateau. dence, albeit in the guise or m ediu m s pass
ing on often ,·ague tittle-tattle about dead
I�Ol
relatives and friends. But for many that was
sufficiently persuasi'e.
The only answer science had was to cry
'cheat' and, often without any proof of this
T R I U M P H OF T H E S P I R I T
assumption, to argue that people were
As the century began, mysterious e'ents deluding themselves. Thm, at one and the
such as these confirmed the 'iew of many same time, Spiritualism established a har
ordinary people that science was mistaken rier that science, with all its might, could
to presume that all things could be barely dent: and it offered hope to a world
resol'ed. The scient ilic desire to pro'e the fast being stripped to its spiritual bones.
soul redundant was matched by the increas Inevitably, as a consequence of this and
ing belief in Spiritualism. the maxim that one could fool some people
This mm·ement had begun in the eastern most or the time, charlatans cashed in.
United States after simple messages, Phoney mediums sprang up all over the
believed to come from beyond the grave, place. The new gadgetry of science, from
were received by the contro'ersial Fox sis photography to X-ray tubes, was hi-jacked
ters in llydes'ille, 1:ew York. The belief for 'experiments' in which dubious spirit
that the dead were in another dimension images, floating clouds or ectoplasm (the
and that contact with them was possible transient 'matter' of the spirit world) and
spawned both religious institutions and the other such doubtful practices became rif(·.
Society f(>r Psychical Research. The latter, It was some time before Spiritualism was
based in London, aimed to persuade scien able to set its own house in order and as a
tists to study such reports, and like its reli consequence a growing rili developed
gious counterpart, it was soon to spread between the popular hclie,·ers and the sci
around the world. entific sceptics, who accused these gullible
The religion of spirit messages, with folk of believing only because they wanted
preachers known as mediums, proliferated to and not because the evidence dictated it.
in the 1890s and was legally constituted This rift widened as the century progressed.
into the Spiritualists' National Union in :'owadays, Spiritualism has waned
1902. The appeal of the mm·ement gained slightly, but it has also become big business.
T H E N E W C E N T U RY
13. thanks to the install! celebri ty status belief tha t Spiri t u a lis m p rov id es f(u· so
alllmtcd by TV. Doris Stokes, Doris Collins, many.
St e phen O'Brien and many others hm·e As to whether it is tru th or delusion, like
brought their min istrations to the world, all spiritual m atte r s t hroughout history,
packi ng Tnnes such as the Sydn ey Opera that q uestion remains a maller or faith.
llouse, theatres in London' s 'est End,
19�4
etc., and dra wing in enormous ratings for
the media. In response , scientific vigilante
groups such as CSICOP (Commillee for the SEPTEMBER
Scientific lm·es t igat i on or Claims of the
THE LEA P I N G M ON ST E R
Paranormal) have launched themselves as
guardia u s of rationalism, sniping away on Spri ng - he el ed Jack was a bizarre neatur e
the fringes of the s u pema t u ral. b r i ngi ng often re po rted i n Viet orian Lon d on d uring
down the occasio nal victim, hut largely fail the n i n eteenth cen t u ry. He h ad grown to
ing to penetrate the armour of hope and legendary status. With his grotesque f<Ke,
ancl clad in a black cape, he would appa r
en t ly leap out of nowhere ami allack people
in the streets, often lea v i n g them wounded
though not dead. His name derived ti·om
h i s repu t ed abil i t y to jump huge distan ce s
i n one bou nd . Although 1 here were isol ated
sight ings in London even after World War
Two, t he l a st pro m ine nt o n e was in Liver
pool in I !JO-t when the fig u re was said to
have jumped over a b u ildi n g in William
I lenry St reet. llowever, research by scep ti c
Paul lkgg revealed this as an e x agg eration
of a true story of a religiou s zealot who
claimed the devil was chasing hi m a n d who
leapt d angerousl y from rooftop to rooftop
to escape the att ent ions of the police and
lire services. Legend has assoc i a t ed this
spur io u sl�· with a mani fe st at ion of the
archetypal Victorian monster.
19�� JANUARY
I T H E B I N BROOK POLT E R G E I S T
On e of 1 he most frighteni n g polt ergeist out
breaks struck Binbrook Fa rm, in Lin
colushire, England. Ohjects 1110'ed around
the room on t h e i r own, hundreds of chick
ens were found ski n n ed and slaug h tered
Above and opposite: two 1mag1nat1ve popular rendenngs, from
1877 and 1904, of Sp1ing-heeled Jack. noiselessly even after a guard had been
I
111ou n ted, and m yst erious fires spra n g u p
from nowhere. In o n e case a teenage se r -
THE NEW CENTURY []]
14. On the tomb.stonc, "ith upraised arms and rnge In C'ery feature,
towered the terrific form of 5pring-11ecled Jnck. Frl'eZt'r and Unk.4
.stood transfixed; their glwstly h<1rdcn slippl'd slowly to the gross,
but they remained gnpin;:-, tcr:l6r-struck. 'cn;:cance hud fallen I
T H E N E W CEN T U R Y
15. ,·;utl ca u gh t ablate as she wa s sweeping the o f fire sell down t wo feelers toward the
f l oor and was hospitalitcd with serious groun d at Ynysybwl.
inju ries. The ii J( ide nts lasted t w o months I t was argued that some of the lights
and then ceased as ra pidly as they began. were probabl y mispercep tions of the planet
The case became a pro totype f()r future 'enus, t hen bright in the night sky, or
allacks of this nat u re the world O'er. Opin meteor a c t ivit y , which was liule understood
ion at llrst was that 'c'il spirits' were to at the time. In any c ve lll, the myst erio us
blame, but this altered later to the para li ghts helped l ary Jones to circulate her
scientific theory that some unknown b u t religio us message, and when t he y finally
latent energy within a traumat ized vinim d i s a ppeared, her influ ence declined.
'leaked' out and was somehow t ranslated Kevin lcCiure conducted detailed
i nto de stmn i v e phys ical force. Science research into the maler and regards the
m ai ntai n s that such cases arc mere como phenomenon as an i mportalll phase in the
dence or f:thrication. de velo p meut of religious v isions- strong in
Cat holic communities of I rcland, France
Sp ain ,
19��
and but rare outside. :lodern
researchers, however, think that these lights
JANUARY may be produced by t he ground itsciL
Rocks arc kuown to generate electrical sig
L I G HTS O F I N S P I RAT I O N
nals wheu p u t under strain, e.g. during
E gryn i s a small village north of' Barmouth earthquakes. Short -liwl glowing plasmas
on the mid-Wales coast. In l!JO:> it became seem to be created in the atmosphere as a
the cent re of a trad itional lethodist reli result of this l;mh line act ivity. In the years
g i ou s revival that was dramatically st imu prior to the Welsh revi'al, they wac termed
lated by a fanner's wile named 1lary Jones . 'spooklights'. Tod ay . of cou rse, the same
The p rincipal reason f(>J· her astonishing lights wo u ld be seen as UFOs.
achievements was the matute•· in which Researcher Paul Devereux has coined the
strange light phenomena allached them term 'ea rthlight' to define these glows and
selws 10 her per son. llundrcds of' people has f(mnd a bull line running right past
saw them and her r;une soon sprea d. The the Egryn chu rch.
t i ny chapel became a !(Jcal point fo1· pil grims.
19��
The lights were first wit ness ed by a train
dri,·er at l'ensam in early January a t a time
when Irs Jones was pre ac hing in the town. 30 JUNE
lie said t h ey resembled glowing balls of fire
T H E TU NGU SKA S KY C RASH
that streaked away in many direrlions, then
conver ged with a t remendous explosion An eart hlight t o end all carthlights was seen
li ke thunder. Another person described a hy remote villagers in the Siberian taiga
bright blue bar that straddled a pi t ch - dark forest near the Stony Tunguska River. Its
country road. And many witnesses claimed origin remains the su �j erl of intense con
to han: seen the l ight s ho'ering d i rectly trm·eJ·sy but its impact is beyond dis p u te.
O'er lary Jones and inside chu rches where Shortly alicr 7 a . m . that morning, a white
she preached. mass, brighter than the sun, appeared in the
There followed six months of dazzling sky above northern Eu rope, creating ground
li gh t shows in the skies that brought jour shadows. Within seconds it swept across the
nalists s cu rry ing fi·om as (;u- a field as desolate land scape miles high in the aunos
Lo ndon and lanchester. These were d ra phcre and t urned into a column climbing
matically concluded on 2:� July w hen a bal l 'ertically upward and visible for hundreds
T H E N E W C EN T U R Y
16. of miles arou n d . There fi1llowed a series of conlt't's tail . If a piece ol romet h a d h it the
huge explosions which were hc<Jrd sixty Eart h , it wou ld ha' e largely 'aporized a n d
m iles from th e impact point. spr i n kled l i n e dust 0T r t h e grou nd. Locals
�linutes <Jfter the e'ent. a shock wa 'e i ndeed referred to a black rain t hat accom
spread outward. It uprooted trees and panied the Tunguska i m pact. Particles of
smashed rooftops more t h a n se 'enty miles d us t tlll-0nl into t he a t m osphe re cou ld also
fro m t h e centre of destruct ion. If was felt as ha·e p ro d u ced t h e lum inous clouds.
an earth trem or in (;ermany and recorded :'cvertheless. <Jfter n uclear weapons were
e'en in Britai n . :lc<Jsured on widely d is lirst detonated in 19·1:-l and t h eir t
c lfec s
persed seismogr<� p h s, the wa'e '<IS power wc..-e seen to be remarkably similar to t h ose
ful enough to circle t he Earth-twice� in Siberia. a pop u la r parascience t heory
Fm· seH·ral subse q uen t nights �t range eme t·ged. 'as the Tung u s ka explosion t h e
luminous douds lit t h e skies <Jho'e Europe result o f a nuclear-powered spa'cecrali t h at
and Ahica. They glowed pink and yellow exploded on its way i n to the atmosphere?
and were bright e nough fiJr people to read Sup porters poin ted out t hat lora! rein
newspapers outdoors in t h e absence of any deer d ev e loped scabs on t heir bodies and
<Jrti liri<Jl lighti n g. there was some limited evidence li>r exces
Because of the remoteness of the im p<�ct sive radiation i n the area (although meas
zone and the i n tenention of the Russi <J n ured only fol lowing man-made nuclear
reYolution it w<Js al most twenty years belilre detouations by t he USSR, which compro
a scien t ific expedi tion reached Tunguska. m ised t h e findings). K u l i k had l(mnd n o
Astrono mer Leonard Kulik e x pe cted to find local people who s u lkred radiation sickness
e·idence of <1 meteor t hat h<Jd exploded on on his 'is it in I !l28; a n d by I 940. when he
impact. l c;n·in g a h uge crater and fragment s wen t again, direl'l eyewit nesses to t h e e' e nt
behind . In fact, he fou nd neither crater nor were still f(nmd alive and well -i m probable
ft ·agments. Trees at t he exact centre or t he had they been ·ery c lose obse rvers to a
e x plosion , a l t hough st r i pped of h<�rk, were n u clear impart.
still stand ing; t hose in <1 SIIITounding area Several more recent exped it ions haYe
many miles across were llallened . fou nd eYidence consistent w i t h t h e comet
The meteorite theory was all but t h eory, i nclud in g cle ments and c h e m i cals
destmyed by t his e'idence , which dearly on the g ro un d . r precise mappin g of the
showed t h at the object had exploded high impa ct damage also fits the idea. I loweve1·,
in mid-air. so t hat t h e area immediately ot her Russian scientists who h ave 'isited
below was to some extent shielded . Th ere the area t hin k t h a t somet hing u nexplained
were also repons by local tlnesters that t h e was to blame. Theories as diYerse as a l u m p
glowing mass h a d seemed to cl t an ge d i rec o f an ti-maller explod i n g o n con tact wit h
t ion in m i d-flight - a bet partially Yind i t h e atmosp here, a n d e ve n a n u clear- pow
rated, d espite much argt1ment, b y a e ro ered space rocket fro m t he fu t u re which
dynamic reconstruc t ion. acciden tally crossed a t i m e barrier and t he n
Scientists now 1�1'0111' 1 he view that t he detonated, haw been proposed , bu t ,,·ith
object was a small comet. To create an out murh linmdati on.
i m pact of <1 I :! -megatonne nuclear bomb. as Yet if the Tunguska explosion was
this obj ect had done, it wou ld need to he raused by an impact from a piece of debris
seYcral h un d red feet in diameter, br bigger from outer space, one th ing is certain. Surh
t han a meteol'. a happen ing is not all t hat rare and may he
Comets are composed or a solid cru mbly expected by chance every few h und red
cot·e ami ice th<Jt vapo ri tes in a shell on the years. Smaller ones wil l occu r seTJ'al t imes
o u tside. Th is p roduces t h e characteristic a century. It would ha'e been pure l urk
[]] THE NEW CENTURY
17. gTH�ARCH I
that the I !10� object exploded
tiveh· unillltabited area. Tlte next one could
just as easily do so oYer London. Tokyo
mer a rela
or
MUSEUM I the heart of :lanhauan, with all too ohYious
ronseq11ences.
l"ft"
T t·. IIIIJ"'J(I :"'� . . . .
CAUGHT!!!
A�L��:� ; !!
JlJJ 17 JANUARY
I !,��,��-�:kE�,��:�� tommooitie' of �ew
• • •
Je rsey. LS:, were plagued with sigluings of
a giatll hat-like cr e al l t r e with a face t h a t was
likened variously 10 a mule, a dog or a kan
garoo. It was said to he terrorizing local
brms, la ndin g. lcaYing strange marks and
then leaping into the sky.
The prints were in the f(mn of a single
hoof and seemed 10 pass straight OYer
obst ar le s such as fe nces. They were also
[(>Und on heaches in deep snow.
In matn· ways the tracks resembled those
left in the still mvsterious incident in Febru
ary Hl:'i?i when residents of 'illages over a
large area of South Devon awoke onl'
morning to find a line of single hoofjnints
etched into a snowd rift. It spread f(H· many
LEEDS DEVIL miles over the landscape a n d eYe n crossed
Captured friday After a rooftops as if unimpeded!
In 1909 reports began on li January
Terrific Struggle. when policeman shot at the thing as it
a
EXKTJUl""Y.l> r.:.:n.t-�1 t:l." llF.RI!: Al'
11noo no A "t:l-:1(. flew n'er the Delaware RiYer in Penns'1'a
The r-rl'nl. J'rlchli'JI,
}"<!'roduu• :llon.el<'r f""hl<'h nia. Sounds like a sh r iek ing whistle were
ltn�t lJN"G l"C"rrurlrla•
'J',..o �l:>tf'•.
heard. On 21 Jan uary firemen at 'est
Swims l Flys! Gallops.
Collingswood. :'ew Jersey. were rep111edly
allacked b' the :�- foot monster with glowing
.Ex.WbUed �al"''l.1 l'h11lar<t ey es. It then perched on a roof and they
lu ,. ll:o••''�'" !'lt .... t CJI�te.
A UVING DRAGON
turned their hoses on to it, to its apparent
disgust! In lew Jersey. the sightings of the
•- F_,_,me Than
t.l.oe I'"IJIN !llnn•t.•ro creature in conjunction with the finding of
ot �Tth<>lftJr7.
no�·y !tl�!il Tilt-: the hooljnints soon ga,·e rise to hyster ia.
81loiiT Ill' A I.II'I:."U.IR.
and the name Jersey Devil' was coined,
uro s·rru.so nt>
�1-.:''iATlO:-.· ... I� from a local legend
IT"lUO nU.T.
The wa'e ended with reports from �lorris
THi.::ATRE ,·ilk, l'ennsyh·ania. that the creature had
GA.,:Vrt ('0:'�n '"l'Ol'"J Y A t'T>F.l""TJJ.l!l
A poster tn the Phrlaceiphra Pubf:c Leager of a to the
1 Oc ADMITS TO ALL
precu"5or
jcr;ey Devil, th1s one exhtbited 1n captiVIty
T H E N E W C ENTURY
18. flown into a barn and become trapped. The The first flight by a Zeppelin; LZ-1, over Lake Constance.
doors were sealed and rein forceme nts Genmany. 2 July 1900.
rapidly sent for. U n fortunately, when the
barn doors were opened, and despite there In fact, the first sighting occurred in the
being no other obvious exit route, the autumn of 1896, in Sacramento and later
J ersey Devil had van ished into the hinter San Francisco, California, when a cigar
world from which it had arrived and was shaped object with bright lights was
never heard li·om again. reported floating in the aiL According to
At least, not until 1 966, when Ohio had a research by Jerome Clark, frontier humour
terrifying spate of visions of a creature pos had a field day. As the sightings continued
sessing a n u mber of similar features that almost nightly, many tall tales were spun
became k nown as 'mothman'. simply to outdo rival provincial papers.
Eccentric inven tors came forward to claim,
through agents, t hat they had b uilt the
devices, then vanished without ever making
public their secret.
A further outbreak was reported across a
P H ANTO M SCARE S H I P S
wider area of the western and mid-western
As the first primitive aircraft were flying on states in April and May 1 897. The first
dangerous short hops around the world, flights by genuine airships - which began in
the inexplicable appearance of a wave of Europe - were still some mon ths away. But,
strange airships soon developed into a mys like the previous wave, the 1897 airships of
tery of epic proportions. the western USA swiftly disappeared.
T H E N E W C ENT U R Y
19. In Elml. howner, the problem suddculy
bectnw g-lohal, as scallcrcd reports came in
h·mn :l'r Zealand, ,ustr;tlia and especially
ti·otn Britain.
On :!:� :larch, a policeman on patrol in
l'etcrhorough, north-east of Cambridge.
heard a buzzing engine aiHI looked up to
sec a single floodlight auached to a dark
cigar-shape silhoueued against the sky.
Local police suggested it was an illuminated
kite. but as more reports J(,llowcd, rumonr
spre;td that the Cermans were llying Zep
pelins on spy missions. There was real ten
sion between the two imperial nations in the
nm-up to World 'ar One; but althoug-h
the activities of airship b u il der Count Fenli
nand von Zeppelin were well allested, it is
certain that no such spy missions were C'er
laun<·hed ag-ainst Britain in this way. nor did
the Germans ha'e the capability to do so.
On 14 :lay. the captain and new of the
St Ofaj: steaming in the :orth Sea on· Blyth.
:'lort h u mherlaud, saw an object apparently
materialize out of thin air above. It was
again described as a cigar with lights.
An e'en more remarkable incident took
place on Il-l :lay which has all the hall
marks of a UFO landing. If it were
reported today. fe,,· details would need to
be a<ljttsted for it to be i u terpret cd as an
alien contact, rather than - as it was at the
time- a precursor to a Cerman im·asion. German army! The terrain was also
Punch and Judy s h owman. l1 r C. Leth crushed llat.
bridge, was walking home late at night m·er There were other reports of airship pilots
Ca e rphilly :fountain in Smtth Wales when standing bes ide their craft, in one rase
he saw a cigar-like object 011 the grou n d . requesting water. But alter a few days the
Two men wearing strange fur coats were sightings tailed otT, lca'ing the usual spent
talking- in an unknown language and reacted lation about mistaken identity and mass
instincti'ely when they saw the intruder, hysteria.
picking up something from the ground and The sightings began again, howe'er, in
jumping into their craft. which soared sky late Ell:!. One incident. above Sheerness,
ward over some telegraph wires. As it rose. Kent, on 14 OctohlT, was then taken so
t wo powerful searchlight beams were seriously that questions were asked in the
switched on. one at each end of the <Tall. Honse of Commons- possibly the first ever
The witness returned to the site with p u b lic debate on UFOs. Lord of the Admi
li·iends to find objects on the grass. includ ralty and future prime minister, Winston
ing a piece of blue paper with unknown Churchill, had the dubious pri'ilege of
Titing and printed m atter abo u t the being the fi1·st go'emment ollicial under
T HE NEW C E N T U R Y [[]
20. pressure to come up wi th an answer and Tnal flrght of the Zeppelrn LZ -� over· Lake Constance, 1908
warned of the need not to underestimate
the Cerman forces. A law was passed that ing light-in-the-sky pheno m e na not viewed
prohibited airship flights without prior as airships. One. on 30 Ik cember 19i7,
authority and allowed the police or army to inn>h·ed a golden egg sha pe seen ,-ising
shoot one down if it failed to respond to from power lines, pu n ching a hole in the
warning si�nals. :'o such inridcnt, fortu cloud cover which then gradually tilled in
nately, occur r e d . until no longer visible.
The final fling of these airship waves :lodern researchers suspect that there is
hel(>re war erupted came on the night of 2 I some sort of natural phenomenon of a
Feb nt ary 1913 when reports lloodcd in glowing, electrical nature, possib ly akin 10
li·mn scwral pans of Britain. :lost interest De·ereux's earthlights. 'hen seen in 1977,
ing was one from the small village of Exhall th e ionization caused the douds to disperse.
in Warwickshire. It was just a typical Today we understandably view these things
description of a lighted object, but was to as alien cran, hut in 1909 and 191 :�.
I
acquire more relevance because the same immer sed in pre-war hysteria , were they
location has since generated several bscinat- seen as scareships?
[[] THE NEW CENTURY
21. P O R TE N T S O F W A R
T his traumatic decade, punctured by
rebellion and reYolution, culminated in the
titanic and bloody clash or Vorld Var One, the
'war to end all wars'.
Meanwhile the scientific reYolution gathered
relatiYity turned our notion or the U niYerse on its
momentum. Albert Einstein's 'general theory' or
head. The f(wm taken by basic conceptions such as
speed, size, shape and time was rdatiYe to where
you were and what you were doing. Atoms were
composed of energy fields in constant Hux within
largely empty space, beyond the grasp of our
normal senses. New Yistas opened up, ready f(w
exploration. The UniYerse had suddenly become a
vastly more complicated place.
22. 1911 SEPTEM BER
M I RAC LE B L E E D I N G
This was one of 1he first well-attested hands bled at rhe c entre poin t . lo ng
report s of miracle bl eed i n gs. , pi ct u re of' hel ie,·ed to he where nails were placed
Christ in the French ,·illage dlllrch at llire d u ri n g cruc ifix ion ami familiar f'rom many
hea u -e n - Poitou began to ooze blood from religious port raits . We now know Ji·01n h is
the hands and the forehead. While scientists torical evidence, howe'er, that crucifixion '
argued thar ir was ju st pi gment ation from victims had n ails hammcred t h rough rhe
rhe pa in t seepi n g out. the de'o ut llocked ro bones ar rhe wr is t as 1 he fleshy palm was too
t he s ite, convinced t ha t t he local priest was soh t o support rhe hanging weight of a body.
somehow responsible. The location of t he The b leed i ng intensified l(>r six months ami
bleedi ngs was e xact ly t hat of the rep u t ed at t he same t i me a nearby stat ue of t he
wounds of Ch r ist when crucified, i.e. on the Virgin 'wept' rears. Afier the priest's death in
hands and crown. Yet, interestingly, rhe I �115 all these eiTerts ceased.
15 Septembre 1911 Decembre 191l
P O RTE N T S OF W A R
23. 1911 1 4 APRIL
lfR E M O N I T I O N O F D I SAST E R
The Tita uir, lll l i l t in t h e norl heru En g l is h
port or L i e rp ool and stea m i n g li·om
'
So u th;am p t o n t o New Yor k, is p robably t h e
most i n b mous n a m e i n marine h istory.
Se'eral days i 11 1 o her m aiden voyage, t he
so-ca l led ' u nsin kable' l i ner s t ru c k a n
u nseen iceberg. was holed deep a n d c a n ied
1 :>00 passengers a n d crew to t he bot t om of
t h e At lan t ic Ocean . ;lore p eop le wou ld
ha'e been saved fro m her hu ge cont i nge n t
had n o t t h e owners. u l l edy nm vi n ced o f
h e1· s ec u ri t y n egl ect e d t o pro v i d e e n o u g h
.
lilt.·boats.
A side efkct of t he shocki n g disaster was
t o set in mot ion one or the m ost po w erlia l
psych ic experiences e·er recorded. For t h e
fi rst t i m e t hen: was open t a l k o f precogni
t ion - the abil i t y to s e e t h i n gs before t h e y
h app e n .
No fewer t h a n twenty cases arc k n ow n o f
p eo ple who had p re m on i t io n s of disa st er
bcli:>re t h e ship sailed. Some rdiased t o
board ; ot hers had relat ives amon14 t h e pas
s enge rs and sen se d u a ge d y . Famed n ews
·
paper writer William Stead, who had
h i mself wrillen in a n art icle t hat such a
t ragedy could happe n , was warned expl ic
i t l y in writin14 by a psychic t hat he was i n
great d a n ge r during April I D I 2 a nd should
' avoid water and t ravel at t hat t i me. H e
ignored t he w a rn i n g and paid w i t h h i s l i fe.
Even more incredible was t h e case of
ret i red seam a n 1organ Robertson who was
stru gg l i n g to se ll his short stories. I n I H!IH,
experiencing write1·'s block in his New York
aparl m e n t , h e suddenly had a v isi o n in
1 w l a ich he saw a h u ge l i n e r sutler a catast ro
phe w i t h an iceberg. I n h is t ra nce. he heard
dearly t h e word s 'April' and ' u nsi n kable'.
I n spi red by t hi s episode, he wrote his
story 'The 'reck o l the Titan', i n w hich his
ncar-ident ical su pe1·s h i p , t h e SS T itan. s i n ks
on her m a i den voyage ali e r s t r i k i n g a n
-------------
PORTENTS OF WAR
24. C R ETAC E O U S PA R K
S i r ;rt h u r Conan D ovic's I inion o r S U r'1'
u n seen iceberg, w i t h l w n dreds peri s h i n g i n g d i nosaurs had rea l - I i i (· i n s p irat ion li·mn
needlessly beca use o l i n adequate l i iCboat lege n d s and s t o ries fi1·st hmught hac k by
CO"l'L eigh t een t h -cen t u ry m issionaries li·01n the
Scept ics argued t h a t t h i s was m e re coi n c i Ali·ica n Con go. Th e n , in lat e El l :� . the
d e n ce . Fo nne1· s e a m c 1 1 1 1 1ay u n d ers t a n d Gerl l l an gon• n u n c n t sen t out t h e l i rst sci
ably have h a d q u a l m s about t h e s a f e t y or e n t ilic exped i t ion to ascer t a i n the l i kely
such a big l i n e r. �lm·em·tT, Tita n or Tita 11ic t n l l h beh i n d t h ese t a les.
was au oh'ious choice or n a m e l i ll · a h u ge Captain Frei h ei T von Stein set out on a
s h i p . Yet Rober t s o n kit s u re he h a d an lon g and t reacherous walk t h rough t he
u n seen presence gu i d i n g his hand. Or j u n gl e swam ps of the Likou l a regw n ,
cou l d it ge n u i n e l y h ave been precogn i t ion � encou nteri n g Tnomous s n akes, deadly
i nsects all(l h ea d h u n t i n g p yg l l l ies as he ven
t t u-ed into u ncharted t erritory sit u a t ed h u n
or m i les fi-om any towns or c i t ies.
Left survrvor> packrng the Trtanrc lrfcboats.
Below: the last moments of the "unsrnkable' liner. dreds
,her q u es t i o n i n g n a t ives a n d w h i t e h u n t ers
who had explored the region , h e repea ted l y
h eard lege n d s a b o u t a large beas t , sol l l e :.!0-
:Hl li long. wh ich i n h abited a local l a k e .
The creat u r e , n a med /1/Vkt•lt lllhe111be, was
said to han a lon g n e c k and brow n body
·
all(l t o be bigger t h an a h i p popot a m u s . I t
l i ved i n t h e l a ke caves a n d sur[Kcd periodi
cally t o eat leaves fro m a f lower i n g I i a n a
plant cal led uwlo111ho, stretch i n g its n eck
u p wa rd rat h e1· like a giraHi.· . : a t i n:s who
had ap proac hed the a n i m a l i n can oes h a d
been a t t acked and d rowned when t h eir
boats san k , but t h ere were no clai m s t h a t
t h e 1 1 1 o n s t c r a t e i t s prev.
V o n Stein never saw the o-ea t u re but was
s hown a t rack by n a t ives w h o swm-e t h a t a
s peci m en had recen t l y en tered t h e river
s y s t e m at t ha t poi n t . l i e cou l d a d d l i t t l e
except t h at t h e an i m a l wh ich left t h e m arks
was abo u t t h e s i ze t h a t h ad been dcso-ibed
and u n fiu n i liar t o h i m .
T h e �cncral view o r zoologi s t s was t ha t
t h e lege n d s m i g h t h a 'l' h ad a bct u a l basi s ,
part i cu l a r l y because t h e creat w·e w a s n o t
dep i ct ed as a tcrril)·i n g or carn ivorous beast
(as is normal with such stories) but
described as a p lacid p l a n t eater. I I erbivo
rous d i n osau rs such as U ro nto.lt/ 1/ nt. llo u r
ished in t h e Cret aceous era a n d it was j u s t
conceivable t ha t a tc"· s p eci m e n s s t i l l sm·-
P O R T EN T S O F W A R
25. · . ;· .
:.·: ·..
'
·.
Skeletdl model of o,p/odocus, the Cretaceous d1nosaur govern m e n t put d i llicult ies in the wa y.
These trips estab lished m u ch u sefu l data,
vived locally. B u t in the absence of proof, asse m b l i n g match i n g acco u n ts a n d reports
nobody seemed inclined to be too exci ted of how in 1 9[ 9
> a gro u p of pygmies ca p
by a collection of stories. t u red a n d ate o n e of t h e creatures. But t h e
Subsequ e n t attempts to m o u n t d i nosaur scientists only had tantalizi n g near m isses,
h u nts fa iled because of hostile n atives. I n as when one huge l u mbering beast
the 1 940s, however, a new field of research sp lashed i n to the water j u st o u t or sigh t .
was lau nched by a group of pro fessionals American explorer Herman Regusters
who called t h e m selves 'uyptozoologists'. visited in the 1 980s and his party claimed t o
They collected data and tried to create s e e t h e crea t u re several t i m e s a n d h e a r its
public i n terest by searc h i n g for h i dden t h roaty roar. They took some d i m , d i s t a n t
creatu res such as moliflf mbnnbf. I n 1 958, pictu res t h ro u gh t h e d e n se t r e e cover.
one o f their n u mber, Ber nard H e u ve l m a n s , Local sci en tist D r .Iarce l l i n Agnaga, fi·om
published the first detailed accou n ts i n ' O n the zoological ga rde n s in B razzavil l e , also
t h e Track of U n k n ow n An i m a l s ' . made several visits a n d i n :l ay 1 9H3 came
D u r i n g t h e 1 970s an American s pecialist closest yet to captu r i n g proof when h e wan
in reptiles visited the area several times and dered o u t i n to t h e sha llows to come within
sh owed i l l u strations of d i n osa u rs t o a rece n t a few h u n d red feet of a bas k i n g mokl'le
eyewitness of t h e crea ture, who picked o u t m/Jembe. For half an hour the a n i mal
a DijJ/odoms as the most s i m ilar o n e . browsed on Iiana leaves before sinking
The first serious expeditions specifically b e n e a t h the water. S a d l y , t h ro u gh a combi
desi gned t o fi n d the animal were orga n ized nation of h u m a n error, m isfort u n e a n d the
by Professor Roy lt ackal , a biologist a t the extreme climate, none of h is p h otographs
U n i versi t y of Chicago, with the re ptile spe s u rvived the t re k home.
cialist, J a mes Powe l l . llackal moun ted sev The .J apanese have since tried twice, and
eral more Yisits before the n ew Congolese a you n g B ritish ex-army man, B i l l Gibbons,
P O R T E N T S OF W A R
26. D•nosaur and human t•-acks 1n D•nosaur Valley State Park. dinosaurs did lin� i n t hese swamps d u ring
Glen Rose. Texas. (See also page 39.)
the late Cretaceous geological period some
sixty-fi·e m illion years ago and the area has
has been there t wo more t i mes (most remained almost una ltered.
,·ecently in 1992) in what has been dubbed It i s perhaps feasible t hat a few such crea
'Operation Congo'. This was s u pported by t u res may ha·e su n·i'ed in t h is remote
a paranormal magazine which sold region. But as 'estern society intrudes
dinosaur T-shirts to raise funds! e'er furt her into Africa, they are hou nd to
lt uch anecdotal e'idence has been gat h come under t h reat . I t may be a race against
ered and latest t h in king is t hat the creature extinction to come up with hard e'idence
is an e'OI'ed 'ersion of Allantosaurus. Such abou t t he world's last su rvi'ing d inosa u rs.
PORTENTS Of WAR
27. t h e non·ls in volved ext raord inary dept h of
191J 13 MAY research k nowledge about distant ami
fu t u re t i mes - fi-mn the B iblical era to Vic
T H E T E S TA M E N T O F torian London .
PATI E N C E WORTH Prior to her etHoun tcr wit h Pat ience, M rs
Curran's wri t i n gs had exh ibited no h i n t of
On 1 his dale I'earl Curran and a fi·iend, sophist ication or skill; and a fter she died,
using a ouija board i n t h e C u rran home at Pat ience ldl sile n t , Jea,·ing behind the m ys
St Lou is, M issouri . first saw the name ' Pa t tery of her highly pra ised literary genius.
C' speh out by t he moving glass. Pea rl's So was t h is a real con t act fi·om a departed
h usband. deten n i n ed !0 prove the i ncom spirit or did Pearl Curran tap some hidden
ing message a t ri<·k or t h e m imi, p retended creat ive source from wh ich gn·at writers
he had once known an I rish man named have long derived inspi rat ion?
Pa t . For a t ime t hat fict it ious individual sent Automatic writers today continue the
messages ,·ia t he hoard , bill soon a n ew and t rend. Rosemary B rown, a London house
more powerful voice took con t rol. On 8 wife, writes m usic t h at she says is dictated by
J u ly. t he cryptic words that llowed out dead composers such as Beet hm·cu aud
whent''cr Pearl Cu rran used the device Liszt . Healer :latthcw :Ian n in g has created
were explicitly signed ' Pat ienn· 'ort h ·. f:.thulous pai n t i n gs in 1 he style of a rt ists stKh
Patience, belying her name, soon out grew as Diirer ami Picasso. A woman in t h e USA
the slow ouija hoa rd , graduat ing first to au!O has in f(>J·mcd me t hat she is cu rreutly seek
matic Ti l i ng; pen in hand, she would 't ake ing an agent to market t h e autobiogra phy of
over' �Irs Curran and write lengt h y scripts, Billy the Kid, determined to correct t h e
and finally took to sending words straight f;1Jse imagr of h is outlaw days fl·om beyond
into the consciousness of her medium. t h e grave. I have also received tapes fi·om a
It req uired some cHi>rl to ext ra<t i n for :'ew York med i u m , Bill Ten uto, containing
mation abou t hersel f fi'Om Pat ietl<T. She verbal messa14es abou t t he real purpose of
was reponedly a Quakn girl who emi his m u nl c1· spoken by li:mner Beat ie, John
grat ed fi·01n Dorset to t he U SA in the seven Le n n o11 . : lr Ten uto also reports that
teen t h cen t m-y a n d died you ng d u ring a n Len non is d ictating new music to some
I ndian attack. S h e spoke in a rchaic lan world renowned song writers.
gu age. complete with spelling and usages
t hat l i n guistic sc holars veri fied as bei ng
t otally correct . Lat er. lwH'·er, she began to
u t ilize a more modern idiom.
Pa t ience 'ort h seems to have expressed
1914
E
hersel f fi·eely in literary limu. Across
twent y-five years she came up wit h mill ions
of words, including widely an·Jaimed
I :- ���-J:�j<� �>;:l� ��t�e:.:.�,,��:ught
0 -- -
e-� st
at :I ons i n Fland e1·s in August 1 9 1 4 .
novels, plays and poems, some of w h ic h Legend has i t that spect ral interven tion
were published without rcferetHe to t h eir may have saved t he day fiJ1· the Allies.
bi tarre <Tca t ion. Pat ience 'dirtated' t hem B 1·it ish t mops made a D u n k i rk-style with
with aston ishing rap id ity. Once, when d rawal against a l l t h e odd s and a vastly
asked h>r a mol l o of about I � 0 characters to su perior Cerman army. Although t h ere
put on t h e wall of t h e :l isso u ri state c1pital, were sound reasons as to w h y t h is was pos-
she <h·afted a literary ode of exact ly the sible ( t h e British had bet ter wt·apons and
requi red lengt h . in t h e brief time i t t oo k fi>r highly d iscipli ned sold iers). the victory
!'carl C u rran to write dow n t h e words. An d II fro m the jaws of defeat was h ailed as a m i r-
PORTENTS OF WAR [[]
28. acl e by pol i t icians keen to rally t h e t roops A corner o f the ANZAC pos1t1on at Gdllipol1. scene o f the ill
and the nation after what had almost been fated Allied landing of Apnl 19 1 5 .
a cat astro p h e .
A fe w w e e k s lat er (in late September) t h e h ad done anyth i n g- oth e•· t h a n i n v e n t a tal c .
Lon d o n EPt'niug Nt·w� t:arried a s h ort piece I ndeed . when asked to q u o t e h i s sources,
of fict ion by Art h ur M achen called Th e h e e x p l a i n e d that t h ere were n o n e as it was
Bowmen' in w h ich a sol dier at Mons u n t r u e . B u t by then so m e pe o p l e were so
i n vo k es t he s p i ri t of St Ge01·g-e, bel i eve d t o t a ken i n b y t h e accou n t , t he y refused to
ride t o t h e rescue of E n gla nd whenever she beli eve 1lachen 's denials!
is i n p eril . The s a i n t a n d a ho s t or a n g-e l ic In Ul l 5 t h e s t o ry was p roc u red by all
bowmen reinforce t h e d es pn a t e Allies a n d manner o r bod ies, rel i giou s a n d m i l itary
t he Germans are heavily felled b y magical a l i ke . 'i t n esses, u s u a l ly secon d - h an d , came
an-ows t h a t leave no m a rks. forward w i t h tales t h ey had h eard fro m
The talc h a d a g•·eat dlect on B r i t is h ' m e n at t h e fro n t ' and en· u t u a l l y act ua l eye
morale. It was re pri n t e d , o f i e n by c h u 1-ch wit ness acco u n t s s u rfacl'd fro m so ld i ers
j ou rn als, as proof of d i v i n e support of t h e clai m i n g to h a ve seen the p han tom
war, a n d soon became t a ken for fact . Even bow m e n .
t u all y a special bookl e t was p rod uced t o sat In july I 9 I 5 l ach e n fu elled t h e l i re b y
isfy d e m a n d . prod uci n g a book . The Bowllll'll !111(/ Othn
Appare n t l y i l achen n e·e•· p ret e n d e d h e Lt•gnul.' of the Wa r. H e d escribed how h is
PORTENTS OF WAR
29. fict io n had become acce p t e d as fact a n d group {the First - F i ft h ) was. This was not a
reallirmed that i t was no m o r e tha n a st ory. regim ent b u t a battalion , a m u ch s m a l l e r
Yet it did not p re,·e n t the book beco m i n g a body of m e n .
ru naway best-seller in many co u ntries . l l istorical records , indeed, note t hat on
do ubt less with m a n y readers believi n g the 1 2 August (not 21 August as repo rted)
fi ct io n .
,
au thor's disavowal t o be t he rea l m a n y of these m e n v a n ished . though not
B y t he e n d o f the war the legend had i n to a my s t e r ious clo u d. : l oreover, even
beco me so entwined that so m e psychic their puzzling loss is part ially explained.
a u t hori t i e s even alleged that : I achen had 'ar records show that the group um t i n ued
' t u n ed i n to ' real w i t nesses to t h e ,·ision a t to fight , and t h a t a ft e r hostilities ended, the
t he Fron t, usi n g t elepathy directly from the bodies of some 1 22 of t he 266 m iss i n g m e n
troops a t :lons. H e o n l y thought t h at he were f u n d . Presumably o t hers were killed
o
had i n v e n t e d t h e st ory. It was rea l l y tru e ! i n the light i n g but thei1· bodies had not
Lat e r in t he war, a nother s t r a n ge eve n t bee n t raced three years lat er.
occUlTed which, l i k e the bow m e n a t :lons, Frederic k Reichardt's son con linned i n
sti l l holds sway today. This did, a t least, 1 9� 2 . afte1· h i s father's death, t hat h e had
have som e f act ual basis i n war records. been told the story of the vanish i n g ' regi
It s u rfaced in 1 965 when an old soldie1· a t me n t ' d m i n g the G a l l i poli ca m paign soon
a li h ieth reu n io n o f t h e :- e w Zealand a n d a fier his birt h i n 1 93 2 . T h u s it had not sud
Australian t roops i n voh·ed i n the Gallipoli denly been i m·ented at the fi ftieth reu n ion
campaign came forward. Sapper Frederick in J 9(i5 , as m a n y sceptics had p r e,·iously
Reichardt and two others told o n afTida,·it argued . Clearl y it was based on some sort of
how on :.? l Au gust l �� 1 5 an entire regi m ent act ual episode.
(the First - Fourth :'orfolks) was seen to As for the s tra n ge cloud, lkgg d iscove re d
m arch towards I I ill (j() above the hot that a very u m t s u a l m i st a n d clo u d f() n n a
deserted Su'la Bay area of the Dardanel les tion was re liably see n to have covered the
i n Turke y . Directly above t h e m ho"Cred a area on :.? I A u g u s t a n d that this was noted
very s t ra n ge cloud. below which another in the record books on the oppos i t e page to
colum ned cloud perched upon the hill t h e reference to t he d i sappeara nce of the
slope. Despite the wind. this cloud never Firs t - F i fth soldiers n i ne days preYiously.
moved . The seyeral hu ndred soldiers Bcgg co ncluded that the two u nrelated
marched o n a clange m u s ofTens i,·e i n to the e·euts were con fused in the m i n ds of
mists but ne,·er e m erge d fro m the br side. Reicha r dt and his colleagues clown the
An hour later the cloud l i fted and the men years. part icularly given t h e scars o f war
had disappe are d with it. In late 1 9 1 8 , after they had endured after 1 9 1 5 . A cmious
the war. the Turks denied that they had ever misty cloud was i n deed see n . A few hun
ca p t u red or en gaged these m issi n g troops. I t dred men did vanish, hut not i n expl icably
was as i f they had been spirited away. so. ,ud the l i n k between the two events
An exce l l e n t in Yest i gation of his torical that has f()rged a supernat ural lege n d was
data was mounted by researcher Pa u l Begg merely a coi n ci d ence.
who checked facts that were widel y or com·se. nobod y can ever prove, as
ass u med by ot her a u t hors to be tru e . these eyewit n esses co n t e n ded t o thei r dyi n g
I n deed, t h e s tory freque n t l y appeared i n day . that the 1 44 m en s t i l l u n accou u ted for
mystery hooks m·er the next three decades . did uol vanish in so m e supern a t u ral fash
Begg s ' research, l w-e·er, encou ntered ion. As s uch the legend will e n d u re .
som e serious prob l e m s .
The Firs t - Fo u r t h was a p parent l y not Bowmen ofMons. b y A . Forest1er. used in the Christmas
i n voh·ed i n am· va n ish i n g tric k , but another london /1/ustrored News. 1 9 1 5.
The
ed1t1on of the
PORTENTS OF WAR
31. 1916 SUMMER 1917
G H O STLY P H OTO G RA P H FA I R I E S AT T H E B OTTO M OF TH E
O n e o f ' t h e f1 r st i m p ressi v e phot ographs o f GARDEN
an appari t ion was t a ken in Ti n ge1ri ck .
B u c k i n g- h a m s h i re . s o u t hern E n gl an d , by a Alt hough lf.:w p eo p l e , even i n r u ral co m m u
re t i red police d e t ec t in� i nsp ect o r. ! l is p i c n i t ies , any l o n ge r bel ieved i n Elirics, t wo
t u re showed t h ree women c1�j o y i n g a you n g cousins in t h e suburb of Cot t i n glcy.
garden p a r t y ; h u t i n t r u d i n g i n t o t h e image on t h e o u t skirts o f Bl·adf(Jrd , West York
was t he f i g u re of a sem i - t ransparen t . ghost sh i n >, England, cert ainlr did. And t he ev i
l i ke dog. i o bml y at t h e t i m e remembered d ence t hey p roduced was a t t he heart o f a
s ee i n g i t ;I p jw a r or depart . 'as it a pet st rangt> rase t h at received wide pu b l ic i t y .
back rrom I h e gran�? Fou rt ecn -yt•ar-old Elsie 'rig h t o ft en
p l ayed 1ri t h I 0-ycar-old F1·ances Griffi t h s in
The ghostly dog at the ·l rngewick tea party. t h e wooded beck at t he rear of h e r house.
PORTENTS OF WAR
32. The famous photograph of the Cottlngley gnome. later was gazmg not at the weird spm t s but
adm1ned to have been a hoax.
s t ra i ght at t he camna. W h e n l a t e r asked
about this odd i t y . the girls explained t hat
For bot h girls it was a m agical place, f(n· they saw liliries all or the t i me but having
t hey had regu larly obser'ed fairies - s m a l l . yo u r photograph taken was a nove l t y !
et hereal, flying cre a t u res - li m n i n g o l l t or A m on t h l a t e r Frances fi l m ed Elsie play
t hin air in the b u shes. i n g with a gnome. The m a n n er in which
Their stories were not believed. Elsie's her ha nd was out s t re t ched was later
father was part icu larly dism issive, and ascribed by psychic sou rces t o mystic e n er
mainly u n happy t hat they got dirty or wet gies, though Frances m a t lt_' l' of bct l y
in the process, co n duct in those days u n be explained i t as the res u l t o f h e r ineptit ude
coming of a yo u n g lady. behi n d the l e n s . The girls showed these pic
Opi nions changed. howe'er, o n a day in t u res to li'iends and t ried t o convince ! l r
j u l y when the girls bo rrowed his camera. Wright , who s t i l l thou ght the m lakes. I t was
�lr 'right de'Cioped one photograph on o n l y two years later when ! I rs Wright . who
which so m e s t ra n ge white blobs showed up. was i n teres t ed in the supern a t u ra l , took
These crys t a l l i zed i n t o a n imag e of danci n g them t o a meet i n g o f psychics in B radf(Jrd.
fai ries parading i n Ji·ont o f Frances, who that the story too k off
PORTENTS OF WAR
33. Psychic researchers, who moun ted an
i nvestigation, were divided abou t the
authenticity of the two photogra phs. It was
pointed out that the i mages looked suspi
ciously two-dimensional and i n focus,
whereas the background 'iews of the girls
t hcmsel'CS were more fuzzy. �loreo'el·, the
fairies had surprisingly modern hairstyles.
Even noted fairy lore experts fou n d that a
bit m uch to sw::�llmv. l'obody examined the
original plates and, on the assumption that
'a pictu rc is worth a thousand words· , the
testimon y of the two girls went u nchal
lenged. Little heed was paid to the fact,
either, t hat Elsie h ad worked for a photog-
P O R T E N T S OF W A R
34. Above left and right: two of the 'Cottingley Fa1nes'
photographs.
Left: the banks of the beck at Cottingley, playground of the
'fa1ries'.
rapher for some months and was quite a
talented artist, constantly drawing fairies
(because, as she remarked, she was always
seeing them).
The girls we1·e reunited in 1 920, but
although they were lent a new camera, in
the presence of others they always failed to
produce an image. Left on their own some
time later, they d id, nevertheless, obtain
three more fairy photographs. Finally, in
August 1 92 1 , a noted psychic was sent to the
PORTENTS OF WAR
35. hc(-k and 'saw t he bi rics along will1 you could sec t he head o f t he hat p m t hat
Frances. btl l 110 photogra phs proved possi was hold i n g up t he gnome. I t was st icki n g
ble. " her t h a t t h e girls mo'ed apart and o u t of t h e figu re's ches t : alt hough Conan
sl Opped seei u g a n yt hi n g s t r a n g e. B UI t hey Doyle had t hought t h is t o he a psyt:hic
had left a legac y of fi'e p hotographs t h a t umbilical coni �
con t i n ued to i n t rigue bclie'ers and As f()]· t he fifth im age, w h ich is somewhat
doubters al i ke. less dear or t wo-di mensional , a curious dis
lh coi u cidence Sir Art h u r Conan D oy l e crepancy has e m erg ed . Elsie said t hat i t was
was w r i t i n g an a rt icle on bi ri e s f(>r t h e also a hoax _just l i ke t h e other f(HJ r , b u t
Chris t m as 1 920 ed i t io n or S/rand magaz i n e Frances u n t i l h e r dea t h w a s adamant t ha t
precisely w h e n t h is saga bega n . I l e used t h e t h i s w a s t h e o n l y real f;1iry photograph t h e
fi r st t w o photographs ( a n d t h e lat t e r t h ree l w o girls ever took.
d u r i n g a El2 1 sequel) to press his case t hat These hoax phot ogra p h s date from a
f iries were real. I I is belief i n them p art ly
a t i m e w he n t h e world was on a t h reshold
dcri,-cd fi·01n his fat her, diagnosed m e n tall y bet ween d y i n g bel iefs i n magic and folklore
i l l . wh o had long reported seei n g t hem . ami emergent scien t ific supremacy. They
Doyle a l so held d e e p Spiritualist rom·ic offer many t e l l i n g lessons to su pe rn a t u ral
t ions about t h e existence of other d i m e n researchers. Lat er popu larizat ion of o t h e r
ston s . stra nge i m ages suggest 1 hat 1 hese lessons
In 1 92 2 , Do y le , ha,· i 1 1 g
doued h i s hcs t -selling lictious t o foc u s o n
psychic researc h . published h i s work o u e l c
largel y aban went
H oax
.
largely u nheeded c'cn
more h i-tech societY
or
i n a much
n o t , t h e Cot t i n gley (airy pho
men t a l s , The Coming of 1111' Fairit'.l, w hich tographs h;n·e one fi nal t w ist t o ollc1·, w h ich
legit i m i zed the phot ograp h s of Elsie a n d may n e v e r h e resol'ed. Bot h Elsie 'right
Frauces for all 1 he world to sec. Fairies and Ft·atJCcs G r iffi t h s , c·en o n t heir death
were a popular t opic of co n n·rs at i o n . . l ore bed s, i n sisted t hat regardless o f t h e status of
books f()llowed and fairy sight i n gs w e re col their much debated phot ographs t here
lect ed, a few still be i n g re po rted e'en were real fairies and cl'cs in Co t t i n g le y
toda' . heck and t h a t t hey bot h often saw t h e m .
. l uch later. w i t h t h e adn'l l l of modem
���7
tec h n ology. the rat her d u bious nat u re of
·
the Cott ingley phot ograp h s soon bec a m e
·
MAY - OCTOBER
!TH E FAT I M A M I RACLE
c i d c n t . Com p u t er e n hancement t ech
n i q u e s d e , e l o ped fi·om t h e deep space pro
gra m m e showed t he fa iries to be
t wo-dimensional and p robably mere paper O n I :� :-. J a y 1 9 1 7 t w o girl s and a b o y aged
c u t -o u t s . But the two wome n , still a li'c fi ft y be t ween () and 9 years old were tending
'cars after t heir ad'cn t u re , refused to s h ee p i11 t he ru ral area of F<' l i m a , in nort h
l
admit 1 h a t t h e y had been cheat i n g. I n 1 966 e rn l'ort ugal , when a beam o f light flashed
Elsie s pok e of fil m i n g ' fi gmen t s or my i mag fro m the sky and a small, glo w i n g figu re of
ination· and on B BC T' in 1 97 1 just a woma n , clothed in a st ra n ge rad iance,
wanted t o lea'e 1 he sul�jcct 'open ' . a p pea red . She spoke of coming from
Th e t r u t h . i f t ru t h i t he. e m erge d o n l y a hean·n and asked t h e c h i l d ren t o ret urn on
d ecade lat e1· sho n h· bd(Jrt' t he cousins the L :l t h of each successi·c motl l h . The
died. Both finally co n f(-s sed t hat t he fi rst ston· soon got out and o n the U t h o f each
((m r photogJ-aphs were o u t r ight h oaxes. motl l h a cr ow d gathered. Only t h e origi nal
The i m ages were s i m p l y pa per d raw i n gs by t h ree wit nesses C'er saw t h e being. Tl 1 ey
Elsie. I ndeed t he y pointed to the fact t hat called it a n 'a ngel': hut t h e c h u rd1 a u t h m-i-
P O R T E N T S OF W A R
36. t i cs soon i n t erpreted it as ' t h e 'irg i n � l a r y ' . S1nce the visions at F,it1ma, the v1 1lage has become a world-
1amous centre of pilgnmage.
Prophecies w e r e give n : one of t h e i m m i
l l l' l l t R u ssian Re'o l ution and t h e other
1919
abo u t 'oriel 'ar Two. :' e i t h e r . howc'lT,
was p ublicly rC'caled un til alter t h ese
e'c n t s occurre d . : t h i rd prophecY was MAY
gi'en by t h e c h i ld ren u nd er seal to t h e ' a t
i r a n t e l l i n g of a m ; u o r t ra u m a s t i l l to come.
l LIVING FOSSIL
This third p ro p h ec y was reportedly : m i ner extract i n g roal b r below t h e s u r
opened i n secret by the pope i n 1 9!i0 but - r;�re of the :'et h erseal Colliery north-east o f
desp i te i n structions to do so - not t h e n B i rm i n gham in the E n glish �lidlands
revealed t o t he world . R u m o u rs as to i t s fo u n d a small brown toad bu ried a l i 'e
co n te n t i n clude a n uclear war. n at u ral i n side a coal sea m . :'ot rese m b l i n g a n y
global disaster a n d the dcst rurt ion of t h e normal toad , it measured o n l y :� i nches i n
Cat holic Ch urch . d i ameter, a n d ap peared t o b e b l i n d a n d to
The fi n a l ·i s i t of t h e · a n gel' was on 17 ha'e no mou t h . B u t it was u n doubtedly
OctoheL A crowd o f 70,000- 1 00,000 ga t h a l i ve a n d adjusted t o i t s s u rrou n d i n gs o'er
ered t h is t i m e from fa r a n d w i d e t o s e e a t he next few <Ia ys.
p redicted ' m iracle'. �lany on lookers There are m a n y o t her reliable i n st ances
i u sisted that a hole was p u n c hed t h rough a of small a n i m a l s bei n g f(m n d ali'e i nside
ra i n do u d at noon and a s p i n n i n g d isc, pre l u m ps of mck. The coal seam wou ld h a'e
su mably the S u n , pou red down great heat limned 200 m i l l ion yea1·s ago, so most scep
and b l i n d i n g rad ia n ce o n to the grou n d . t ics assu m e that the a n i m al some how
bclc)re corksuewi n g eart hwards a n d t h e n e n t ered a cra<·k and became t rapped t here
retreat i n g u p aga i n . :'o a t t est able photo after its birt h in recen t t i mes. H owe'er,
graphs of t h i s phenomenon exist despite t h ere are t h ose who speculat e t h a t t h e crea
exten si'e eyewit n ess accou n t s. t u re m i ght h ave en tered w h e n the rock first
Sce p t ics argue t h at t h is was an opt ical formed and t h en li'ed i n 'suspen ded a n i
i l l usion brou g h t o n by mass h y ste ria and m a t i o n ' for m i l len n ia , or t h a t it was tele
i n t e nse expect ation. A more recent t h eory ported t h ro u g h t i m e a n d space d i re c t l y i n t o
h as de'eloped t ha t t h ese 'isits were rea l l y t h e rock c;n- i t y .
b y a l ie n s i n a lJ FO masquera d i n g as a reli In tnllh, nobody k nows how t h ese
gious m i racle. embedded a n i m a l s get t h ere.
P O R T E N T S OF W A R
37. THE ROAR I N G TWE NT IE S
T h i s decade, f(: n- all i ts postwar u n certa i n ties,
was in many ways a n e xc i t i n g period.
Electri c l i gh t i n g and cars were beco m i n g
com mon place. T h e ci nema was a popular a rt for m .
R a d i o w a s e n te r i n g many h o m es a n d ' t a l k i n g
rad io' (televis i o n ) w a s u n der develop men t . Scie nce
e m phasized t he way in w h ich i n v isible rays could
t ravel t h rou gh space a n d c reate action a t a
d i s ta nce.
All t h i s a ffected the worl d o f the para n o r m a l .
Science fictio n , t o o , looked to t he fu t u re w i t h
st ories of robots a n d c i v i l i za t ion to c o m e , refl ect i n g
t h e s p i r i t o f t h e age. A n d h a v i n g conquered t h e a i r,
t h o ughts t u rned to t h e n e x t grea t fro n t i e r. O n e
d a y we m i g h t h a ve t h e abi l i ty to reach t h e stars.
38. l�ll
After some weeks of wrangles with the
Egyptian government over ownership of
T H E C U RS E OF K I N G T U TA N K H A M U N
the bejewelled golden artefacts and other
marvels in this long-sought historic treas
ure, Carnarvon developed a strange malady.
The Earl o f Carnanon had spent many At first it was thought to be a fever, then
years in Egypt with his young protege and blood poisoning was diagnosed. In early
mentor Howard Carter expending vast April I 923 he collapsed into a coma at a
sums of money in the search for the fabled Cairo hotel. I I e ne,·er recovered .
treasure-laden tomb of the boy king According to eyewitnesses, including his
Tutankhamun . By late 1 92 2 , on the verge family and I fowarcl Carter, at the very
of giving up the quest in despair, he made a point of his death the hotel lights flickered
discm·ery that was to turn into one of the and went out. The electricity was off for ft,·e
most frightening stories of the century. minutes in an unexplained power loss.
On 4 �ovember, the sealed tomb was Back in England, apparently at the same
found in t he onlv small area thcv had not
I I
moment, the Carnarvons' housekeeper
so far searched. The carl was back in Eng- noticed the family terrier let out a terrible
land but sailed immediately to the Valley of howl and collapsed dead on to the carpet.
t he Kings near Luxor. On 2() :'ovember, 'hen these stories were all combined,
with Carter and the crew, he cleared the the notion rapidly took hold that there was
last pieces of rubble to enter the sacred a curse associated with the tomb. It was
ruins that had remained untouched for considered that the dead king's spirit had
3000 years. As an early omen, the lucky been disturbed and was seeking revenge.
canary that the team had with them was Although the curse theory seems some
eaten by a cobra that stole into its cage. what tenuous, a number of people loosely
This snake was the anciellt protective associated with the opening of the tomb did
symbol of pharaoh kings. I m mediately. die at a relatively early age. The nurse who
dread descended upon the local workers. looked after Carnan-on during his fatal ill
ness, for exam ple, died in childbirth when
View from the N1le of the Valley of the Kings just 28.
THE ROARING TWENTIES