Paranormal Magazine

For years, Britain’s biggest UFO mystery had been kept under wraps, but now an Air Force official has admitted that an “extra-terrestrial” craft did visit the air base at Rendlesham Forest in 1980.

Former Deputy Base Commander Col Charles Halt claimed that even though the incident was later covered up, “extra-terrestrials” had been the cause of the close encounter in Suffolk.

Halt had led a group of airmen who reported seeing a triangular UFO taking off into the air, leaving traces of radiation behind.

“The UFOs I saw were structured machines moving under intelligent control and operating beyond the realm of anything I have ever seen before or since,” the Daily Star quoted Col Halt, now retired, as telling investigator Gary Heseltine.

“I believe the objects that I saw at close quarters were extra-terrestrial in origin,” he said.

He added that the Air Force later issued “dis-information” to throw the public off the scent.

His comments were hailed as “sensational” by former Ministry of Defence UFO investigator Nick Pope.

“This may help us to finally solve Britain’s biggest UFO mystery,” Pope said.

“It blows the MoD’s line that these events had ‘no defence significance’ out of the water,” he added.

[via naturalplane.blogspot.com]

[The following is from Wikipedia]

Lt. Colonel Charles I. Halt, USAF and the Rendlesham Forest Incident

Charles I. Halt is a retired United States Air Force Colonel and the former Base Commander of RAF Bentwaters, near Woodbridge, Suffolk. After serving in Vietnam, Japan and Korea, he was assigned to Bentwaters as deputy commander. The Rendlesham Forest Incident of late December 1980 occurred shortly after that and he was an important witness to events on the second night of sightings.

In the late hours of 27 December, and early 28 December 1980 then Lieutenant Colonel Halt led a patrol to investigate an alleged UFO landing site near the eastern edge of Rendlesham Forest. During this investigation they witnessed several unidentified lights, most prominent of them being a bright flashing light in the direction of Orford Ness. In January 1981 Halt composed an official Air Force memorandum listing details of the events. The memo was then dispatched to the Ministry of Defence. Halt also made an audio tape recording of the incident.

After retiring from the US Air Force in 1991, Halt made his first public appearance in a television documentary, where he confirmed the authenticity of the Rendlesham Forest Incident. In 1997 he was interviewed by Georgina Bruni for a book about the Rendlesham event, You Can’t Tell the People. He has also appeared in several television documentaries.

It is like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, with unsuspecting victims swooped on by avian attackers.

Stuart Urquhart, a solicitor from Bristol, was on holiday with his wife and two children in Helford, Cornwall, when he suffered three six-inch cuts to his head in a buzzard attack.

Mr Urquhart, 36, was jogging on a quiet lane near a river at around 9am, when he felt a searing pain in the back of his head before turning around to see a buzzard flying away.

He said: “I thought somebody had thrown some heavy sacking or carpet at me but I couldn’t see anyone. I carried on a few paces and then saw blood running down me and noticed a buzzard flying off into the trees.

“I have brown hair and I wasn’t sure if the buzzard had mistaken me for a big, slow rabbit, so I decided not to take any chances, and invested in a hat.”

Mr Urquhart, who was given a tetanus injection after the attack earlier this month, spotted the buzzard two days later on a telegraph pole. It swooped down with its talons out but Mr Urquhart managed to dive out of the way

Last week, Paul Powell, a plasterer from Shurdington, Glos, was also attacked by a buzzard while out jogging.

Mr Powell, 38, suffered four puncture wounds to his scalp after a bird sunk its talons into his head.

He said: “I felt an almighty thud at the back of my head. At first I thought someone had hit me… and then I saw this big bird flying just above me. Then I felt a burning sensation and noticed there was blood dripping on to the ground.

Mr Powell ran for cover, but the buzzard attacked him a second time. He was taken to hospital and also given a tetanus injection.

Ciaran Nelson of the RSPB said that it was very rare to see a spate of buzzard attacks.

“These are the only incidents of buzzards attacking humans we have heard of in the last year, so to have two in such a short period is exceptionally unusual,” he said.

“It is most likely that the birds are feeling territorial and are being extra defensive, as July and August is the period when their young will be starting to leave the nests.

[Source and more info: Telegraph (uk)]

Reviewed by: Fergus McShane

Directed by: Fernando Meirelles

Price: £15.99

(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)

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It’s difficult to portray the physical conditions of human suffering on screen and have the audience thoughtfully empathise, especially if the condition is to do with the removal of vision (impossible to present in cinema). But this is exactly the apocalyptic setting of Blindness.

From acclaimed director Fernando Meirelles, of City of God and The Constant Gardner fame, Blindness is a visceral, sense-deprivating film based on the novel from Spanish Nobel Prizewinning author Jose Saramago.

When an outbreak of sudden blindness occurs in a nameless metropolis and quickly develops pandemic proportions, similarly nameless victims are quarantined in a derelict hospital: a brutal, unforgiving home. Only Julianne Moore’s character keeps her sight as she is forced to watch the world descend into chaos, all the while taking care of her husband (Mark Ruffalo) and a ramshackle group of infected followers.

In a style reminiscent of Children of Men, Meirelles portrays a dystopian world that questions just how quickly our society would crumble in the face of adversity. Realistically, too quickly is the answer we get… While Blindness may not have been too well received at cinemas, this chilling, bold and thought provoking alternate reality is definitely worth keeping your eyes open for on DVD.

Reviewed by: Fergus McShane

Directed by: Catherine Hardwicke

Price: £15.99

(2 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)

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With the vampire resurrection now in full swing, it comes as no surprise to see the infamous gothic villain hitting cinemas in search of younger blood to allow the revival a few more years of popularity. When Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) moves to a small, gloomy town to live with her father, she gets involved with some of the less than usual residents, a family of vampires. Falling in love with vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattison), she must risk everything to be with him and stay alive in the process.

Aimed squarely at female teens, Twilight ticks all the necessary boxes by providing a strong female lead (from the Buffy school of thought) and a brooding, good-looking vampire to make the girls swoon. And entering into this period of post-gothic vampire films, Twilight has all the atmosphere, mood and temperament you would expect from what can best be described as Emo-drama.

Twilight may not have the same level of insight or quality as some of director Hardwicke’s other teenage market offerings, most notably Lords of Dogtown and Thirteen. But as a good quality adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s vampire-romance novel series, Twilight is a surefire sensation among teenage fans that will undoubtedly grant the franchise vampiric ever-lasting life.

Reviewed by: Fergus McShane

Directed by: Scott Derrickson

Price: £19.99

(1 votes, average: 2 out of 5)

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Another year goes by, and Hollywood doles out another set of remakes. Among them, The Day the Earth Stood Still stands out, being the modern version of a cherished 1951 sci-fi cult classic. Unfortunately, this particular remake doesn’t quite live up to the status of the original.

When humanoid Klaatu arrives on Earth with a gigantic ominous robot, the end of the world is in sight, with a group of alien worlds having deemed humankind too destructive to be allowed to live.

More of a thriller than the thought-provoking, war-questioning original, The Day the Earth Stood Still runs with the idea that a modern sci-fi should first and foremost be used to provide spectacle over substance. And while the film looks utterly impressive, the message is muddled – Keanu Reeves’s Klaatu comes to Earth to stop the destruction of the environment, but he instead gives Earth another chance simply because of humanity’s ability to love. Will this really solve any of the problems humans were condemned for?

Opting to cash in by cliché rather than character, The Day the Earth Stood Still languishes in its own destruction. A pity, given that there are some great actors present (Jennifer Connelly, John Cleese and Kathy Bates) who are just not allowed to perform.

Reviewed by: David Valjalo

Format: PS2

Publisher: Square Enix

Developer: Atlus

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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A hybrid of lifestyle-sim and paranormal mystery is a rarity in games. So too is a title as stylish and engrossing as Persona 4. No prior experience is required before entering the teenage world of Persona, where high schools meet ghouls and nothing is quite what it seems (not least the Japanese horror staple of the television set).

You assume the role of a new arrival in a foggy old town and quickly fall into a world of angst, murder and… daily chores. Though the opening act is more of an interactive movie designed to immerse the player in Atlus’ wonderfully spooky world, more crucially it serves as an introduction to the idiosyncrasies of the Role-Playing genre for the uninitiated.

The lifestyle aspects (day jobs, school, dietary concerns) are brought to life by a brilliant script translation and voice-work whilst the Role-Playing steadfast of turn-based battles and point-building is invigorated by a simple interface and slick character design.

With the Playstation 2 (surely) approaching the end of its ten-year tenure, it’s hard to think of a better send-off than Persona’s world of sleek design and luring, deceptively addictive gameplay. An inviting world of Japanese beauty where nothing is at all what it seems.

Reviewed by: David Valjalo

Format: Wii (also available on DS)

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Revolution

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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This is a director’s cut in the loosest sense: more a re-release of the heralded PC point-and-click game with added content courtesy of famed artist Dave Gibbons (Watchmen).

You assume the interwoven roles of everyman George Stobbart and journalist Nico Collard as they unravel a plot woven around a café bombing in a beautifully drawn Paris. For the story to still engross over ten years since release is testament to the skill of the original team and it’s a medieval web of relics and revelations that stands up to – and overshadows – any Dan Brown concoction.

Though the characters are as charming as ever they were, the puzzles are the stars of the show. Never too frustrating (there’s a clever hint system if you must know) and always well-thought out, they act as small tiles in the mammoth mosaic of the main story which leapt and bound across two equally great sequels.

The additional scenes make the smart move of adopting the look, feel and nuance of the original game, fitting in and providing exposition rather than overpowering the original story. The Wii controls are a fitting substitute for a mouse and keyboard and make investigating the locales an arm-achingly immersive joy.

Broken Sword provides a fresh slice made from an old recipe; a remembrance not a rebirth but a fitting salute to a classic adventure game.

Reviewed by: David Valjalo

Format: PS3, Xbox 360

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom (in-house)

(1 votes, average: 3 out of 5)

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Assuming the role of Chris Redfield, it’s time to go once more unto the breach and do battle with a village of marauding zombies and their unquenchable thirst for your blood. The second game in the series to bring in a mandatory and (mostly) trustworthy sidekick, the action in Resident Evil 5 is, paradoxically, the same but… different.

After the critical and commercial success of the franchise’s reinvention/ resurrection with Resident Evil 4, Capcom were always going to stick to the new, improved formula. The control scheme and set-up are almost identical to its predecessor (no strafing here), albeit with a few structural changes. Partner Sheva replaces the need for a munitions box and also mucks in when the going gets tough (often with mixed results).

It’s the new features – on-the-go inventory, sprint command, co-op play – that ultimately prove Resident Evil 5’s curse, placing the title in a grey area between solitary survivalist horror and arcade action thriller. Separating the story into rapid-fire chapters removes any real sense of threat and the action oriented story that eggs players on from one set-piece to another is too aggressive and brash to be intriguing, memorable or even fun. More than the additions to the series’ hallmarks, however, it’s the removal of Resident Evil’s deadliest weapon – silence – that renders it a little pale in comparison to what has gone before.

Nick Redfern explores one of the most intriguing of all paranormal phenomena, incidents in which people apparently become immersed in another period of history.

Within the specific genre of science fiction, fantastic tales of time-travel to the far-flung future or to the distant pasta re ten-a-penny. From H.G. Wells seminal novel of 1895, The Time Machine, through the classic 1984 movie The Philadelphia Experiment, about an alleged time travel experiment in 1943, to today’s revamped Doctor Who, there is one thing such flights of fancy have in common: the journeys through time are all achieved through the use of highly advanced technology.

However, there are many reports on record of people who seem to have crossed the time-barrier entirely at random, and without the means of Sci-fi style technology.

One of the most famous examples of what some researchers think may have been a definitive Time Slip involved two British women: Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain, who firmly believed they had traveled through time while visiting the gardens of the Petit Trianon at Versailles, France.

It was August 10, 1901, when the pair paid a trip to the Palace of Versailles. While walking through the grounds, both Moberly and Jourdain were overcome by distinctly oppressive feelings of gloom and uneasiness. They would later claim to have met a wide variety of individuals, all garbed in 18th century clothing, and who they came to believe had been members of the court of none other than Marie Antoinette.

More controversially, the women said they saw a figure who may very well have been Marie Antoinette herself. Did Moberly and Jourdain really cross the time-barrier into centuries past? To this day, the story has as many believers as it does detractors. But there is one important factor of which to take careful note: their amazing story does not stand alone.

You can read the rest of this feature in Paranormal Magazine issue 38

From his home in Texas, Englishman Nick Redfern has probed mysteries on both sides of the Atlantic, becoming one of the world’s best known UFO researchers, monster hunters and chases after all things paranormal. Here Nick has a stab at compiling a list of his ten most intriguing and exciting investigations…

10. “In 1999, I has the opportunity to interview a man who had a curious and somewhat disconcerting encounter in the Staffordshire town of Penkridge…”

9. “Salavador estimated that the source of the growling was within thirty feet of him and he got the impression that a hostile entity was circling him.”

8. “There were about three of four of us watching as something was speeding across the screen; and this was fast, very fast.”

7. “Deep within the maze of dark old tunnels, distinctly strange and diabolical  things are said to lurk.”

6. “A tall tale designed to see how gullible I was, or something stranger? To this day, I am still not sure”

To learn more about Nick’s investigations and to discover which cases are in his top 5 the full feature can be found in Paranormal Magazine issue 38

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