Month: July 1998
Negative Capability: Mesospheric clouds and the Mark of Zorro
EXPLAINING THE Z Following Blather's blabbers about the mysterious July 10th *Z* in the sky, a cornucopia of diverse explanatory theories have reached HQ. 'There never was an explanation which didn't itself need to be explained.' - Charles Fort Dr Carl Bradbury at the Atmospheric Physics Department at Manchester Institute of Science and Technology was in touch, and while he didn't himself witness the 'Mark of Zorro' he does have a theory -- and only a theory, mind -- to explain them: Mesospheric clouds. 'Mesospheric clouds around 83km (altitude take the form of either Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMC) or Noctilucent Clouds (NLC), which can be observed during the summer in the latitude range 50-70N in the twilight arc of the Earth's shadow. These clouds are known to be comprised of water-ice crystals which form at the Mesopause (the top of the mesosphere) as a result of the extremely cold temperatures...
Alphabeti Reticulans
It was without success that Blather tried to contact Ms. Myler and Mr. Ansbro -- stars of last week's issue. However, we did stumble across the news that the Irish Centre for UFO Studies is planning a talk of some sort in the Bull Island Interpretive Centre (this centre is finding out about wildfowl, not extra-terrestrials) in Clontarf, Dublin at 2pm on Sunday 26th July. Blather may or may not have someone on the scene. +Recent predictions+ Jupiter and the Moon So, there's no information yet -- in the media or elsewhere -- that the recent ICUFOS predictions were successful. As mentioned last week, it was cloudy on July 14th, making it difficult to see juxtaposition of Jupiter with the Moon, but I'm sure they made the best of it. In the days *preceding* July 14th, there were plenty of other odd phenomena in our skies, much of them seemingly...
Mammoth Hunt: The Giant Elephants of Nepal
Back in Blather 1.52, mention was made of having seen and heard retired Royal Engineer Colonel John Blashford-Snell at UnCon98, speaking about his 'Mammoth Hunt' to Nepal. Back then, Blather promised to bring you a discussion of the book Mammoth Hunt -- In Search of the Giant Elephants of Nepal, co-written by Blashford-Snell with actress Rula Lenska. Well, finally perused, and finally closed a matter of hours ago, Mammoth Hunt is one of those rare books that can only be described as a Damned Good Read. Around 1987, Blashford-Snell (hitherto referred to as JBS) was made aware of rumours concerning 'giant mammoths' which were pillaging villages in remote areas of Nepal. JBS, who has been leading expeditions to remote regions for many years -- with Operation Raleigh, Discovery Expeditions and the Scientific Exploration Society -- decided that Nepal was a good place to bring the *clients* of Discovery Expeditions. In...
Myth on the Loose: St. Maelrun’s Well
Anyone familiar with the historical and monumental landscape of Ireland should be well aware of the mass proliferation of 'Holy Wells'. Any self-respecting parish has perhaps half a dozen of these places, some of them are on said to be on the sites of ancient monasteries, and are often named for the Saint said to have founded or lived at the monastery. Others are less obviously historical, but are allegedly endowed with some form of healing powers, and usually named for some saint, whether or not the canonised one even hailed from Ireland at all. Places with water said to have healing powers are not confined to Ireland, one major example being Lourdes in France. Crossabeg, the Wexford parish that this Blatherskite hails from, lies north of Wexford town, and is surrounded on three sides by the windings of the Slaney estuary. A compact (yet somehow decentralised) parish of circa...
On the Boyle
While endeavouring to steer clear of any more weak puns regarding Boyle, Co. Roscommon, things *do* appear to have come to a head -- again. A surprisingly hefty article appeared on page 4 of The Irish Independent on Saturday July 11th 1998, containing much apocrypha drawn by journalist Ian Doherty from Eamon Ansbro (of ICUFOS) -- often spoken about in previous Blathers -- and Betty Myler, a spokesperson of the newly formed 15-member Western UFO Society in Boyle (mentioned previously in *Prophecies Fulfilled*). Before what? Doherty first focuses on Myler; '"People never really looked up to the sky before, so they weren't seeing any alien activity,"' she says. She doesn't say *before what*. I will agree that to some extent, that 'people' just don't look up -- those who have lived or worked in the upper floors of buildings will know that passers-by are usually oblivious to the fact that...
Silly Season: Monsters, UFOs etc
Today's issue (July 3rd 1998) of that not particularly erudite newsheet *The Star*, carries a report titled *Look out, it's Eskie!*, which tells the tale of a lake monster sighting on Lough Eske , a few miles north of Donegal town, in north-western Ireland. Diners and staff at Harvey's Point Hotel saw 'something' moving about, around 300m (328 yds) from the shore on Sunday 28th June at 2:30pm. Local B&B boss Annabel Clarke reckons that the beastie was up looking for food, while her husband Kieran commented that '"some lakes in Donegal are said to be connected by current to Scotland"'. Disappearing rivers, caverns, connecting lakes (which does happen, e.g. Lough Mask and Corrib) are all classic motifs in lake monster lore. I even seem to recall claims of links between Scottish and North American lakes! Chokin' on Brekkie The article is accompanied by a photo of the hotel's banqueting...