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| ISBN-13: | 9781785352614 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Collective Ink |
| Publication date: | 07/29/2016 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 200 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
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Ultimum Mysterium
Beyond the Cutting Edge of Science
By Anthony Burns
John Hunt Publishing Ltd.
Copyright © 2015 Anthony BurnsAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-78535-261-4
CHAPTER 1
A Bizarre World
Prehistoric man hardly understood the workings of nature at all. No one knew what the stars were, or the moon, or the sun. Thunderstorms, earthquakes, volcanic activity and eclipses of the sun or moon were all perceived as supernatural events, perpetrated by angry and capricious gods. Virtually all natural phenomena were seen as inexplicable and therefore miraculous. But over the years – and the centuries – a few intrepid souls took it upon themselves to start investigating the phenomena in a systematic way to find out what was really going on.
One of the earliest pioneers was Pliny the Elder who boldly sailed across the Bay of Naples to observe the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 – an exploit which was to cost him his life. Later investigators included Galileo, who built telescopes to observe the moon and planets, and Sir Isaac Newton who demonstrated that white light was a mixture of colours, as well as formulating his famous law of gravity. Benjamin Franklin demonstrated the electrical nature of thunderstorms by flying a kite with a wire attached. He found that he got an electric spark when he touched a key which he had fastened to the end of the wire. And, in the early twentieth century, Alfred Wegener proposed the theory of continental drift in which he suggested that convection currents in the earth's mantle moved the continents around – an idea which was initially rejected by scientists until the evidence provided by rock strata, fossils and magnetic field reversals confirmed this theory. Today, plate tectonics is mainstream geological science, explaining once and for all the reasons for seismic and volcanic activity. Little by little, the mysteries of nature have been unravelled until today, what were once regarded as 'supernatural' events are now seen for what they are – natural occurrences that follow definite laws. The 'capricious gods' of yesteryear have disappeared, to be replaced by a new scientific understanding.
Or have they?
Even as I write, in the early part of the twenty-first century, there is yet a substantial body of reported phenomena which seem to defy all attempts at any kind of scientific explanation. These are mostly of a subjective nature, and are often dismissed by scientists as hoaxes or figments of the human imagination.
Scientific knowledge is built up by proposing hypotheses which are then tested through a series of repeatable experiments. If the experimental results appear to favour a particular hypothesis, this then becomes accepted by scientists as mainstream theory. But no theory is ever conclusively 'proved' by experimental results: it can only be disproved. Acceptance of any scientific theory is thus always provisional.
When it comes to investigating so-called 'paranormal' phenomena, however, scientists have long been challenged to devise repeatable experiments which could, once and for all, confirm or refute any such reports. Many still do not believe such phenomena to be genuine, and so refuse to consider the issue at all. Not all scientists have taken such a cynical view, however, and systematic research on the paranormal has successfully been carried out on numerous occasions. We shall examine details of this research in Chapter 4.
We must remember that hoaxes have long been rife in this area, the case of the Cottingley Fairies being a classical example. Early in the twentieth century, a pair of young girls cut out some pictures of fashion models from a magazine and photographed them in their parents' garden at Cottingley, near Bradford, Yorkshire. They then passed these off as genuine photographs of 'fairies' which they claimed to have seen in the garden. For several decades, even the scientific experts of the day were duped by the pictures. It was only when she was in her seventies that one of the perpetrators finally owned up to what she and her companion had done all those years ago.
Sometimes the application of a little common sense is all that is needed to explain away a spooky story. A particularly ghoulish tale concerns Hagberry Pot, a small, but very deep pool in the River Ythan (the name rhymes with 'python') in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. In 1644, the Laird of the nearby Gight Castle commissioned two divers to retrieve some treasure which he had previously dumped in the pool to prevent it from being pillaged. One of the divers disappeared and was never seen again; the other reemerged from the pool in a state of abject terror, saying that the Devil was down there, surrounded by a lot of serpents. Despite the diver's protestations, the Laird coerced him into going down once more into the pool, to fetch the treasure. A few minutes later, however, the diver's dismembered body floated back to the surface of the pool.
So what really happened at Hagberry Pot, that day? We can safely dismiss any reference to the Devil; this was almost certainly a product of the poor man's fevered imagination. And the serpents? The Ythan, like other rivers in the area, is a renowned fishing river, notably for salmon, trout – and pike. Pike fish have long, eel-like bodies and powerful jaws with sharp teeth; they can grow quite large and are notoriously aggressive. This leaves little doubt as to what must have happened to the two divers: they were attacked by shoals of hungry pike. Mystery solved.
Not all mysteries are as easily explained as this, however. There is a substantial body of well-documented cases, much of it historical, but some more recent, for which no rational explanation has ever been forthcoming. These cases are not hoaxes, but even modern scientific theories cannot explain them. There is insufficient space in this book to give an exhaustive account of all such cases, but it is worthwhile recounting a broad selection of typical examples. The remainder of the chapter is devoted to this. Several of the cases referred to are fairly well known, others less so. The one thing they do all have in common, though, is that they are unexplained. The first such case is from the same historical period as the Hagberry Pot incident.
Case 1: The Battle of Edgehill (1642)
The Battle of Edgehill took place on 23rd October 1642. It was the first major battle of the English Civil War, and resulted in a defeat for the Royalists. The story of the battle didn't end there, however. A pamphlet published three months later (in January 1643) contained the following quotation:
Between twelve and one of the clock in the morning was heard by some shepherds, and other country-men, and travellers, first the sound of drummes afar off, and the noyse of souldiers, as it were, giving out their last groanes; at which they were much amazed ... But then, on the sudden ... appeared in the ayre those same incorporeall souldiers that made those clamours, and immediately, with Ensignes display'd, Drummes beating, Musquets going off, Cannons discharged, horses neyghing (which also to these men were visible), the alarum or entrance to this game of death was struck up ... Till two or three in the morning, in equal scale continued this dreadful fight ... so amazing and terrifying the poore men, that they could not give credit to their ears and eyes; run away they durst not, for feare of being made a prey to these infernall souldiers, and so they, with much feare and affright, stayed to behold the outcome of the business.
(Quoted from The Penguin Book of Ghosts by Westwood & Simpson)
Those who had witnessed this terrifying vision reported it to a magistrate and a clergyman, swearing that it was true. In the nights following, many people gathered to see if anything would happen, and they saw exactly these same sights. Reports reached the King (Charles I) who sent six 'reliable officers' to investigate the story. Not only did the officers take sworn witness statements, but they saw for themselves the vision in the sky. They even recognized several of their colleagues who they knew had died in the battle. On their return, they reported all of this to the King on oath.
Similar visions were later reported from Naseby, Northamptonshire, following the battle there in 1645.
Today the road from Banbury to Kineton crosses a small part of the Edgehill battlefield, but the greater part of the site is now owned by the Ministry of Defence, and is closed to the public. There have been no reports of similar sightings in recent times. However, a small monument to the battle stands at the roadside near Kineton.
Evidently something extraordinary did happen, both at Edgehill and later at Naseby, following the battles there. The fact that so many people witnessed these events strongly suggests that some underlying physical principle was at work about which we know nothing – but which suggests that there must be something very peculiar about the nature of time.
Here is another well-documented case, this time from the beginning of the twentieth century:
Case 2: The Palace of Versailles
This case was reported independently to the eminent scientist, Professor Sir WF Barrett FRS by two schoolteachers from Oxford, Miss Anne Moberley and Miss Eleanor Frances Jourdain, regarding their visit to the Palace of Versailles in August, 1901.
Their extraordinary experience evidently began when they noted a 'very sweet air' circulating through the famous Hall of Mirrors where they were sitting. They left the building, walked down to the end of the Grand Canal and then turned right, where they followed one of the many woodland footpaths there. They observed that the weather had become overcast, although it had been sunny and bright that morning. Coming to the Petit Canal, not far from the Grand Trianon, they recognized the latter and tried using it as a landmark to get their bearings. Passing it on the left, they came to what they described as 'a broad green drive, perfectly deserted'. They crossed the drive and, turning to the right, saw some buildings. Miss Moberley reported seeing a woman shaking a white cloth from an upstairs window, but her friend evidently did not. Further ahead, the path divided into three, and the ladies saw two men on the central path. At first, they thought these men were gardeners because a spade and a wheelbarrow were standing close by; but the men were wearing tricorn hats and long green coats, which seemed rather strange. It became evident that these men were not gardeners after all. The two directed the ladies (by a hand gesture?) to continue along the central path.
At this point, Miss Moberley felt an unaccountable sense of sadness and depression, but did not mention this to her friend, as she did not wish to spoil the visit for her. (Miss Jourdain later reported having had a similar feeling at this point.) To the left, they caught sight of a sinister-looking man sitting beside what they described as 'a light garden kiosk'. He was wearing a cloak and a wide-brimmed hat, and had a hideously pockmarked face. The trees behind him looked somewhat unreal, similar to trees in a tapestry.
A second man suddenly emerged, seemingly from nowhere, forcefully urging them to take the path straight ahead, which they did. Like the pockmarked man, this man also wore a cloak. He vanished as abruptly as he had appeared, although the sound of running footsteps persisted for some time afterward. The two ladies continued along the path, crossing a small bridge over a miniature ravine. Their route took them through part of the forest and then alongside a meadow with long grass, which gave an impression of greyness and wetness. Further ahead, Miss Moberley (but not Miss Jourdain) caught sight of a lady sitting at an easel, sketching. The lady was wearing a light summer dress and a wide-brimmed hat. Miss Moberley described the lady's features as pretty, but not young.
Some time after their visit to Versailles, Miss Moberley saw a painting of Marie Antoinette with her two children, and immediately recognized her as the lady she had seen sketching at the easel.
Was this case a time slip? Or was it, as Professor Barrett insisted, a 'remarkable collective hallucination'? I offer no answer to this, but the next case also bears the hallmarks of a possible 'collective hallucination'.
Case 3: The Phantom Guest House
This case involves a Mr and Mrs Clifford Pye who were on holiday in Cornwall in 1933. They were travelling by bus from Wadebridge to the coastal village of Boscastle, where they intended to find a guest house. Just before the road drops down into the village, the bus stopped to set down a passenger. At this point Mr Pye noticed a large house on the left-hand side of the road, which he thought looked eminently suitable. He writes:
It [the bus] had come to rest almost outside the gates of a rather substantial house, standing on the left-hand side of the road. It stood back from the road some twenty yards or so, there being a semicircular drive from the gate outside where we had stopped to another gate twenty-five yards further on. The garden front was screened from the road by a hedge over which we could just see from our seats in the bus. The house was double-fronted, and of a style of architecture which I judged to be from the late 1860s or early 1870s. It had a fresh, trim appearance, and seemed to have been recently painted, the woodwork and quoins of the house being of a rather reddish, light chocolate colour. The most striking feature, however, was on the lawn, where, among beds of scarlet geraniums, there were several wicker and cane chairs and tables over which were standing large garden umbrellas of black and orange. No person was seen, nor do I recollect having seen any sign notifying that it was a guesthouse,though I had no doubt that such was the case. I called my wife's attention to the place and she immediately replied that it was 'just what we are looking for' but, before we could come to any decision, the bus moved off and in two or three minutes we were down in Boscastle.
(From The Personality of Man by GNM Tyrrell, p 65)
Mr and Mrs Pye were not greatly attracted to Boscastle and so, while Mr Pye stayed to look after the luggage, Mrs Pye set off back to the guest house which they had just seen. An hour and a half later, Mrs Pye returned, looking tired and frustrated, saying that she could not find the guest house, and that she had booked a room at a different one in Trevalga, about a mile further up the road. As they travelled back, by bus, Mr Pye thought he knew where the original guest house was; but when they looked again, it wasn't there. All they saw was an expanse of open fields.
The proprietor of the Trevalga guest house later told them that there was no house anywhere in the area resembling the one they had reported seeing.
In her book Time Storms, the author Jenny Randles gives numerous examples of apparent time slips. The next three cases are taken from her book, the first of which is an interesting case bearing resonances with the previous one.
Case 4: Montélimar, France
In October 1979, the Simpson and Gisby families from Kent went on holiday together to Spain, driving there through France. Seeking accommodation for the night, they drove along a back road near the town of Montélimar. They noticed that there was no other traffic on that road, and that it seemed suspiciously quiet. They came to a small hotel where they checked in for the night, but it looked strangely antiquated and the staff wore old-fashioned clothes. Next morning, when they paid the bill, it turned out to be ridiculously cheap. And a policeman, of whom they asked directions, had evidently never heard of motorways.
On the return leg of the trip, the two families decided that they would use the same hotel again for their overnight stay. They found the road again, but the hotel was not there! Photographs of the hotel, which they had taken on their first visit, were missing from the film when it was developed.
Case 5: The Road to Bedford
In September 1973, a young Bedfordshire man was driving home from the village of Little Houghton, Northamptonshire, in the early hours of the morning. As he had a long journey ahead of him, he had had very little to drink. He noted the time of 2 a.m. on the church clock, as he drove past, but recalled nothing more until, some five hours later, he found himself wandering around Bromham, Bedfordshire, on foot. The car was nowhere to be seen. Although uninjured, he presumed that he must have had an accident with the car, and had carried on walking.
He managed to contact a friend, who drove him back along the road to look for the car, eventually sighting it in the middle of a muddy field near Turville. But there were no tyre tracks in the mud, and the gate was shut. On examination, they found the car locked, and the young man realized that the car keys were in his pocket. The field was too muddy for the car to be driven out, and the farmer had to tow it out for them with his tractor.
Two years later, the young man suddenly recalled that he had seen a fuzzy white light ahead of him as he passed the church, but had been aware of nothing more until he found himself wandering around Bromham.
Case 6: A Missed Meeting
Another case, not unlike the previous one, involved a company representative, Jorge Ramos of Linhares, Brazil. On 20th April 1981, he set off from home at 6.30 p.m. to attend a business meeting. Although his destination was only a few miles away, however, he never arrived. His abandoned car was found the next day, with the key still in the ignition. All of his papers, files and demonstration materials were still in the car and intact. It thus appeared that Mr Ramos had been abducted.
Five days later, in a distressed state, he telephoned his wife. He told her that, while driving to his meeting, he had seen a white glow ahead of him, which had enveloped the car. He had then found himself apparently floating in a dreamy state. He was now some 600 miles from where the car had been found, unaware that five days had passed.
The cases described thus far have featured apparent dislocations in both time and space, as experienced by the subjects. The next few cases, again well documented, suggest that it is sometimes possible to foresee future events, often – but not always – through dreams. I begin with two fairly well known cases:
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Ultimum Mysterium by Anthony Burns. Copyright © 2015 Anthony Burns. Excerpted by permission of John Hunt Publishing Ltd..
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Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction,I: The Puzzle,
1: A Bizarre World,
2: Even Scientists Dream,
3: Does Astrology Work?,
4: The Scientists Investigate,
II: The Physics,
5: What is Time?,
6: The Pixellated Universe,
7: Brains, Computers and Consciousness,
8: Rule by Mathematics,
9: Science at the Crossroads,
III: The Philosophy,
10: Philosophy and Science,
11: Limits to the Imagination,
12: Building a Universe,
13: The Physics of Astrology,
14: The Making of Man,
Postscript,
Further Reading,