Real-Life X-Files
Page 33
Forshaw, Joseph. 1998. Encyclopedia of Birds. San Diego: Academic Press.
Jordan, E.L. 1952. Hammond’s Nature Atlas of America. Maplewood, N.J.: C.S. Hammond.
Keyhoe, Donald E. 1953. Flying Saucers from Outer Space. New York: Henry Holt.
Marchal, Terry. 1966. Flatwoods revisited. Sunday Gazette–Mail State Magazine (Charleston, W. Va.), March 6.
“Monster” held illusion created by meteor’s gas. 1952. Charleston Gazette (Charleston, W. Va.), Sept. 23.
Peterson, Roger Tory. 1980. A Field Guide to the Birds. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 174–75.
Reese, P.M. 1952. Cited in Sanderson 1967.
Ritchie, David. 1994. UFO: The Definitive Guide to Unidentified Flying Objects and Related Phenomena. New York: MJF Books, 83,96.
Sanderson, Ivan T. 1952. Typewritten report quoted in Byrne 1966.
———. 1967. Uninvited Visitors: A Biologist Looks at UFOs. New York: Cowles, 37–52.
Chapter 47
Milk-Drinking Idols
Throughout the Hindu world on September 21,1995, statues of Indian deities sipped spoonfuls of milk in supposed fulfillment of a devotee’s dream.
As the phenomenon progressed, it spread from the deity Lord Ganesh, the elephant-headed, multihanded, Hindu god, to other idols, including Nandi the Bull, and statues of Lord Shiva, who is often depicted in human form with a serpent around his neck. Spreading across India, the milk-sipping phenomenon soon extended to other parts of the Asian continent as well as to Europe and North America where it was duly noted on television and in newspapers.
An Indian psychiatrist explained: “All people are vulnerable to such credulousness. Hindus were especially susceptible because this was the season of pitr baksh when the devout offered milk for the souls of their ancestors” (Nickell 1996). So many Hindus were caught up in the excitment that milk supplies were depleted and prices soared—even for canned and powdered milk, although only “Kachcha,” unboiled milk, was supposed to be accepted by the deities.
Skeptics pointed out that many of the statues were made of baked clay, which absorbs liquids prodigiously by capillary attraction. States Julia Higgins, professor of polymer chemistry at London’s Imperial College, “Break a flowerpot, dip it in water, and the water disappears like mad.” With glazed statues, only a bit of the glaze need be absent, say from a tooth (as indeed seemed the case in one statue), for capillary attraction to work.
But what about relatively nonporous materials like marble or even nonporous ones such as brass and other metals? Some people noticed milk pooling at the bottoms of such statues but could not explain how it was getting there. The secret was discovered by the federal Department of Science and Technology in New Delhi. Researchers there offered a statue milk mixed with a red dye and observed that while the milk quickly disappeared from the spoon, it soon coated the statue due to surface tension. Explained the secretary of the Indian Rationalists’ Society, Sanal Edamaruku: When a spoonful of milk is offered to a “wet idol” (many of the idols had been ritually washed) the spoon is naturally tilted a bit and the milk imperceptibly drains over the idol. In such a thin layer it is virtually transparent, especially on marble or other white or light-colored surfaces. “The basic principle behind it,” says Edamaruku, “is that when two drops of a liquid are brought together it leads to the formation of one drop.”
Hoaxing was apparently responsible in a few cases. For example, India Abroad reported (September 29, 1995): “At a temple in the Bengali Market area of the capital, canisters with pipes running into them were found in the backyard. The canisters had gathered the milk fed by the devotees.” And at a temple in Toronto investigated by CSICOP Fellow Henry Gordon, a well known magician and author in Canada, the attendants refused to allow him to lift the small, thirsty idol from its large base. (He was also refused the opportunity to give the idol water and thus test the claim that it drank only milk.)
Although the widespread phenomenon reportedly ceased after one day, possibly due to official expectations, it continued in some homes in New York City for a time. Reported the Miami Herald, “It took ‘the miracle’ exactly eight days to reach Miami from India.” On the other hand, at certain sites, such as the Ganesh temple in Toronto’s Richmond Hill suburb, nothing ever happened.
Nature magazine (September 28,1995) reported that “science took a hammering from religion” over the affair, but it did so only on the propaganda level. Nature seemed heartened by the statement signed by prominent scientists in Madras. It called on educated Indians to help ensure “that primitive obscurantism and superstition did not hold sway over a society on the threshold of the 21st century.”
My own involvement with the phenomenon was initially to monitor developments and answer news queries, as well as write a short article about the events for Skeptical Inquirer magazine. At the end of May 2001, however, I had an opportunity to study the phenomenon with Indian skeptic Vikas Gora. He was visiting the Center for Inquiry, where I have my office and paranormal-investigation lab, and we spent an entertaining and illuminating afternoon replicating and discussing the milk-drinking effect. Vikas had witnessed the original “miracle” and had considerable first-hand knowledge about the entire matter.
Figure 47.1. Indian skeptic Vikas Gora demonstrates the milk- drinking-idol effect in the authors lab.
Figure 47.2. Statue of Ganesh appears to drink a spoonful of milk as it is drawn—seemingly mysteriously—onto the figurine.
Our experiments confirmed that it is not important what effigy is used, although white is best if milk is the beverage of choice. (A Casper the Friendly Ghost figure proved as thirsty as any other, for example.) When a colored figurine is used, water may be substituted for the milk. The statue does need to be wet for the first demonstration, but thereafter each successive dribbling sets up the next apparent sipping. Also the effect works best if the spoon is brimful of liquid.
References
Nickell, Joe. 1996. Milk-drinking idols, Skeptical Inquirer 20:2 (March/April 1996), 7. (See this for additional news sources.)
Notes
Chapter 3. Magicians Among the Spirits
1. I used principles and evidence detailed in my books Pen, Ink and Evidence (1990), Detecting Forgery (1996), and Crime Science (1999). The scrapbook consists of fifty–six leaves (112 pages) of unwatermarked, machine–made “wove” paper about 6 5/8 by 15 1/4 inches high, bearing ledger–style vertical rulings; it is bound with pasteboard covers (having marbled–paper exteriors and leather spine and corners) in the manner of many mid–nineteenth–century “blank books” (see Nickell 1990,164). The dated clippings and writings are consistent with their time periods, ranging from 1856 to 1910.
2. Another clipping—annotated “1861/Adrian, Mich.”—notes that on January 26, Ira E. Davenport wed “Miss Augusta Green of this city.”
Chapter 8. A Study in Clairvoyance
3. Mr. B gave readings for three women, offering about a dozen assertions for each in a rambling style but scoring only one or two “hits” with each. Even those were dubious: for example, he told one woman, “I’m getting some sickness vibes with you, as if you had been in the hospital not too long ago, had been through something that came close to being an operation.” He also said he saw a brother. She credited him with success by switching the focus from herself, saying (to applause), “I’ve a brother who had an operation, and I’ve been in his hospitals lately.”
4. Dahmer’s grisly crimes came to light with his arrest on July 22,1991; he was sentenced February 17,1992 (see Croteau and Worcester 1993).
Chapter 9. The Kennedy Curse
5. This contrast in approaches is illustrated with regard to the Shroud of Turin in my “Science vs. ’Shroud Science,’” Skeptical Inquirer 22.4 (July/August 1998): 20–22.
Chapter 13. The Silver Lake Serpent.
6. A native American named John John was cited as relating how, long before, two members of his tribe who had camped on the lake shore were frightened by the appearance of a monst
rous serpent. The Senecas have a legend of Djo–nih–gwa–donh or the Great Horned Serpent. (See Jesse J. Cornplanter, Leg–ends of the Longhouse, New York: J.B. Lippincott, 1938, 73–80.)
7. “Boniface” refers to the landlord in Irish dramatist George Farquhar’s comedy, The Beaux’ Strategem (1707). The term has come to mean “a hotel proprietor; innkeeper.” (See Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd ed. New York: Dorset & Baber, 1983.)
8. This appears to be a variant of “nigger in the woodpile,” an offensive expression referring to some hidden factor that has an adverse effect on something. (See E. M. Kirkpatrick and C. M. Schwarz, eds., The Wordsworth Dictionary of Idioms, Ware, U.K.: Wordsworth Reference, 1993, 240.)
Chapter 15. Paranormal Lincoln
9.Among other implicitly paranormal claims relating to Lincoln are the “mysterious coincidences” that are often claimed between him and President John F. Kennedy. See Martin Gardner, The Magic Numbers of Dr. Matrix (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus, 1985) and Bruce Martin, “Coincidence: Remarkable or Random?” Skeptical Inquirer 22(5) (September/October 1998): 23–28.
Chapter 28. The Gypsies' “Great Trick”
10.Other sources suggest the term may derive from hokey–pokey, an alteration of hocus–pocus.
Chapter 31. The Cryptic Stone
11.The carved grooves also contain metallic scrape marks and traces of what appears to be black paint.
Chapter 37. The Secrets of Oak Island
12.Although the presence of coconut fiber on the island is unexplained, similar fiber has been reported on Sable Island, some two hundred miles to the east and the site of numerous shipwrecks.
Chapter 42. Spirit Paintings
13.Spirit photography was reportedly “discovered” by Boston photographer William H. Mumler, who noticed “extras” on recycled glass plates from which previous images had not been entirely removed. In 1862, Mumler began producing spirit photographs for credulous sitters but was later exposed when some of the entities were recognized as living city residents (Nickell 1995, 31).
Chapter 43. Watching the Spirits Paint
14.If it is true, as earlier stated, that the picture seemingly appeared on the “canvas” nearest the sitter, all that would have been needed was for the pair of panels to have been casually reversed as they were taken down from the frame and carried to the sitter.
15.1 have wondered whether the Bangses might have produced a picture in “real time,” working on the rearmost panel (reversed for the purpose) while the sitter viewed the progress. Such a scenario (too lengthy to detail here) would present many difficulties, and one would think even a credulous sitter would catch on. But it might still be possible.
Chapter 44. Stigmata
16.1 also discovered that one could produce the opposite effect, renewing the bleeding of a cut that was many hours old, by applying hydrogen peroxide. This has implications to cases of stigmata in which bleeding was reported over an extended time, although there are many ways of accomplishing such an effect.
Index
acupuncture
Adams, Bruce
alien creatures, abductions by, ; implants from
“Alien Autopsy,”
Allison, Dorothy
Altea, Rosemary
alternative medicine. See medical intuitives; snake oil
Anderson, George
Anderson, Gerald
Anderson, Harry
Andreasson, Betty
Andrews, Colin
angel, cloud
Angel, Jack
Angela of Foligno
Applewhite, Marshall Herff
Arnold, Kenneth
Arnold, Larry E.
astrology
Atlantis
auras, ; defined, ; photographing
“automatic” writing
Avebury (prehistoric stone circle),
Aykroyd, Dan
Aymar, Jacques
Baden, Dr. Michael
Baker, Robert A.
bandwagon effect. See copycat effect
Bangs sisters
Banner of Light, The,
Barbados coffins mystery
Barber, Theodore X. See fantasy proneness
Bard, Ron
Barker, Gray
Barnum, P.T.
Beale treasure
Belhurst Castle
“Believe It or Not!” See Ripley, Robert L.
Bentley, Dr. John Irving
Bernadette, Saint
Bigelow, “Texas Charlie,”
Binga, Tim
biolocation
Biot, René
bitters
Blair, Frederick
Blankenship, Dan
Blavatsky, Helena P.
“bleeding” statues. See also
weeping icons
Boone, Daniel
Boston Strangler case
Boulderado, Hote
Bowdoin, Henry L.
Brazel, William
Brookdale Lodge
Brooks, Noah
Browne, Sylvia
Bruse, James
Bush presidential family
bust developer
Byrd, Richard E.
Camp Chesterfield. See Chesterfield, Camp
Campbell “brothers,”
candle effect,
Cardan, Jerome
Cardiff Giant
Carnarvon, Lord
Carr, Robert Spencer
Carrington, Hereward
Carroll, Don
Castreca, Anna Maria
Catherine of Genoa, Saint
Cayce, Edgar
Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS)
Chacon, Christopher
Chapman, Ethel
Chappell, William
Charny, Geoffroy de
Chase Vault (Barbados)
Chesterfield, Camp
Chevalier, Canon Ulysse
Christ Church Cathedral
Christian Science
Christina of Stommeln, St.
Ciotone, Dr. Robert
cipher stone
clairaudience
clairsentience
clairvoyance
“clairvoyant remedies,”. See also psychics
Clark, Jerome
Clarke, Arthur C.
Clement VII (Avignon pope)
“cloud angel,”
Cockell, Jenny
Cody, William F.
Coggins, Guy
Cohen, Daniel
Colburn, Henrietta “Nettie,”
Colby, C.B.
Colchester, Charles J.
“cold reading” technique
Coleman, Fred B.
Colombo, John Robert
Colorado Academy
Colorado Man
communion wafers
Conrad, Mikel,
contagion
Conway, Helen
Cook, Mary Jean
Coolidge, Grace
copycat effect
Corpus Christi (festival)
Corso, Philip J.
Creighton, A.O.
Crogi, Passitea
crop circles
Crowley, Aleister
crystal skull
crystal tears
curse: defined, Kennedy. See also crystal skull; Devil’s Hole; Devil’s Triangle; Tutankhamen
cypress knees
D’Arcis, Bishop Pierre
Dash, Mike
Davenport, Augusta Green, n.2Davenport Brothers (Ira and William)
Davenport, Zelie
Davis, Dr. Henry
Davis, Patti
Davis, Perry
Delgado, Pat
Demaio, Dominick
demonic possession
Denenberg, Herb
Devil’s Footprints, the case of
Devil’s Hole
Devil’s Triangle
Dietz, Albert G. H.
DNA
Dorio, Louis
dowsing
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan
Dracula, Count. See also vampires
dream interpreters
Dr. McBain’s Blood Pills
Dr. Worden’s Female Pills
Drysdale, Dr. Dougal
Duguid, David
Dykshoorn, Marinus
Eastmond, John
Ebon, Martin
Edamaruku, Sanal
Eddy, Mary Baker
Edward, John
Edwards, Frank
egg trick, Gypsy
Ellacombe, Rev. H.T., 15 E-meters
energy healing
Fairplay (Colorado)
fantasy proneness
Fairbault, E. Rudolph
Farnsworth House
Fell, Barry
Ferguson, Birgitta Wallace
Ferguson, Rev. J.B.
Finnan, Mark
“Fire by mental power,”
Fischer, John F.
Flatwoods monster
Fletcher, Dr. Richard
Flying Saucer Review
Forest City Man
Fort, Charles
Fowler, Raymond E.
Fox Sisters (Maggie and Katie)
Francis of Assisi, St.
Freemasons
Frei, Max
Friedman, Stanton T.
frog, giant
Fuller, Paul
Furneaux, Rupert
galvanometer
Ganesh, Lord
Gaskins, Tom
Genoni, Tom, Jr.
George VI (King of England)
ghosts: haunted cathedral, haunted inns, images in clouds, photos of,. See also “poltergeist” effects; spiritualism
Gillett, Truman S.
Glastonsbury Abbey
“golden door” photographs
Goodwin, Doris Kearns
Gora, Vikas
Gordon, Henry
Gould, Rupert T.
Grand Island Holiday Inn (New York),
Grant, General U.S.
Grave Creek stone
Green, Andrew
Green, Laura
Gresham, William Lindsay
Guadalupe, Image of
Gypsies. See Roma