Page 15 - 201002 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - February 2010

February 2010_june_july_2009.qxd 18/02/2010 9:04 AM Page 15 The Radford Files 15 The Radford Files JOHNNY CARSON Skeptic on Skeptic EXPOSES Fellow investigators talk UFOs URI GELLER in Aztec, N.M. By Benjamin Radford New Mexico, land of two national laboratories, is home to lots of scientists. Whether employed developing supercomputers, testing explosives or doing autopsies on extraterrestrial crash victims, there are plenty of PhDs walking around. But New Mexico native David Thomas is not your ordinary egghead. He’s also one of the country’s top skeptical investigators. Thomas has degrees in physics and mathematics recovered was said to have been 99.99 feet in In addition to providing laughs and unexpected from New Mexico Tech, where he develops diameter. punchlines, Carson would from time to time use earthquake-detection equipment. He also Scully’s best seller stated that the dead his show as a means of exposing scams and teaches a course on critical thinking and alien bodies and spacecraft were hauled off to a fakes who were taking advantage of the public distinguishing science from pseudoscience. Oh, top-secret U.S. government hangar somewhere. at large. Famed psychic Uri Gellar appeared on and he plays mean bass in local act Vigilante But two scientists (Scully’s informants Silas M. the show in 1973. Carson himself set up the Band. Newton and Leo GeBauer) had managed to get props for Gellar’s act without Gellar or his He’s president of New Mexicans for ahold of alien technology that could locate oil manager being able to see them before filming. Science and Reason (NMSR), which tackles all and gold! Despite Gellar’s claims of having genuine manner of curious claims, from the world- “Turns out that these two gentlemen mental powers, he was unable to reproduce his famous Roswell crash to creationism to were oil swindlers,” Thomas explains. “They usual tricks with the props that Carson contrails (or chemtrails, those white lines in the were con men. GeBauer worked as a tech at an provided. This method of proving Gellar a fraud sky following airplanes, claimed by conspiracy auto parts supply place. He was not a top-secret had been suggested by Carson’s friend James theorists to be toxic). “We also look into fringe government scientist. Newton, also a con artist, Randi, a trained stage magician (like Carson science and paranormal claims,” he says. In would tell investors of the recent crash of an himself) who later appeared on the show in fact, Thomas and his group have offered to test alien ship, the analysis by top-secret 1987 to expose the supposed faith healer Peter people with alleged powers right here in government labs, and the discovery of magnetic Popoff. Though Popoff claimed that his Albuquerque, including psychics and dowsers. devices that could find oil and gold. Then came knowledge of the audience’s problems came Unfortunately, Thomas says, “at the last minute the pitch. Newton told the investors that he from “Godly visions”, Randi provided Carson they chicken out, and they really don’t want to could get them access to this incredible ‘alien’ and his audience with video that showed have a scientific test of their paranormal powers technology—for a price.” Popoff’s wife describing the people for him to for one reason or another.” The scam was exposed when J. P. Cahn, heal via a microphone which broadcast to a Thomas is perhaps best known for a reporter for True magazine, secretly obtained speaker hidden in his hearing aid. applying his knowledge of mathematics and a sample from the alien spacecraft and had it computers to the Bible Code, the hidden tested. They found it was “the same aluminum messages supposedly found in holy texts. The that we use in pots and pans,” Thomas says. Bizarre Salt Facts code was the subject of the 1997 best-selling Cahn wrote an exposé, and it was the beginning book The Bible Code, by Michael Drosnin. of the end for the Aztec UFO story. The men If the world's oceans evaporated, enough salt Thomas demonstrated that the patterns Drosnin were put on trial, and the Oct. 14, 1952 front- would be crys- tallized to cover Britain to a and others were finding were artifacts that page headline of the Denver Post read “ ‘Saucer depth of 50 miles. resulted from “data mining.” That is, if you run Scientist’ in $50,000 Fraud.” a computer program through enough massive Despite the 1952 public exposure of the Being hygroscopic, salt spread on dusty pieces of text (whether the Bible or War and Aztec UFO hoax, other writers have since floors in equestrian centers and indoor arenas Peace or Moby Dick), looking for enough jumped on the Aztec UFO bandwagon, insisting retains moisture and keeps down dust. patterns (every 10th letter, every 12th letter, that the whole thing was (of course) a etc.), it will eventually spit out some words and government coverup. The fact that Roswell had Until recently, salt bars were the standard jumbly sentences that could be interpreted to been capitalizing financially on its reputed UFO currency of Ethiopia. make sense. It’s the sort of thing that the crash was not lost on the citizens of Aztec, who veritable room full of monkeys with typewriters began their own annual convention celebrating In ancient Greece, slaves were traded for salt, would be able to generate, given enough time the UFO. For the first few years, Thomas was hence the expression "not worth his salt". (and no breaks to write George W. Bush’s asked to speak, but the invitations dried up after speeches). he explained the hoax: “Since then they really In his painting The Last Supper, Leonardo da New Mexico’s biggest mystery is of don’t want to hear what I have to say,” he notes Vinci put an over turned salt cellar in front of course the Roswell crash, but there are several wryly. the ill-fated Judas. lesser-known cities that also claim to have Though many people were disappointed received extraterrestrial visitors at one point or to find out that the Aztec UFO was a scam, the In old Japanese theaters, salt was sprinkled another, including Aztec. “The Aztec story story holds important lessons for Thomas, on the stage before performances to prevent really took off in 1950,” Thomas says, “when a skeptics and the public at large. It shows how evil spirits from casting a spell on the actors writer—a Hollywood reporter named Frank easily people can be fooled by a wild story and ruining the play. Scully—published a book called Behind the promoted by a gullible reporter—and more Flying Saucers. It was the first full-length importantly, it shows that just because you read In Arab countries salt was used to seal a American book on flying saucers. It described a best-selling book about a UFO crash bargain, and also as a sign of friendship. 16 humanoid bodies that were recovered (supported by “top-secret government together, along with their undamaged scientists”) doesn’t mean it’s true. Or at least The Druids used salt in their rituals at spacecraft. Scully had informants who told him that’s what they want you to think. Stonehenge. It is thought that this was as a that the disc landed near Aztec, N.M., back in symbol of the life-giving fruits of the earth. March of 1948.” The disc that was allegedly