Manfred Cassirer (UFOs and more)

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Manfred Cassirer (UFOs and more)

			Books by or involving Manfred Cassirer

			Dimensions of Enchantment: The Mystery of UFO Abductions, Close Encounters and Aliens by Manfred Cassirer Breese Books Ltd., London, England, 1994, 208 pp., paperback, $10.00. Available from Strange Bookshop.

			http://www.hypermax.net.au/~auforn/Book_list.html This is a most rare UFO book, not only for being a thoughtful analysis, but also that it approaches the phenomenon from a parapsychological perspective. Although there are some minor factual errors, including more than the usual grammatical fiubs (even Fort°òs name is misspelled), this is not the work of a sloppy thinker. In Dimensions of Enchantment , Manfred Cassirer operates very much in the tradition of Charles Fort. That is, Cassirer presents and uses case data in the pursuit of larger game, as Fort used the strange and inexplicable to formulate a philosophy of an indeterminate universe. And like Fort (although perhaps more workmanlike and certainly less humorous), Cassirer has provided cases of strange phenomena that can be enjoyed all by themselves. But to simply get a kick from reading one case after another and going no further would be missing the point. Thus, while one can read the many stories of UFO percipients and derive pleasure from their unusual and enchanting essence, one can also see that these cases are being employed to extrapolate common features which may begin to suggest certain possibilities as to their origin and nature. Nonetheless, Cassirer doesn°òt make an effective case for UFOs as parapsychological so much as he demonstrates that the extraterrestrial hypothesis, based on the data, is absurd. The thrust of the book is not what these phenomena are, or even a serious attempt at an explication. Rather, it is shown that whatever is behind UFO events operates at a frequency beyond our current comprehension. That is not to say that all of its manifestations are incapable of being understood, as the undeniable physical aspects of UFO encounters are noted. What Cassirer seemingly reveals, but never fully exploits, is that percipients are interacting with an intelligent, oscillating energy. An examination as to the origin and purpose of this energy certainly seems within the scope of this work. One can hope that, in the future, Cassirer will focus his attention more directly on the nature of these phenomena and attack the mystery and not merely acknowledge that these dimensions have an ineffable quality. There is much to praise within these pages; Cassirer has formed his opinion after looking at the parameters of these events, and he is not averse to challenging the conclusions of others in the field. A theme running throughout the book is the slamming (correctly, I believe) of American ufology. One can only conclude that he is quite knowledgeable in this regard. Therefore it is intriguing that he states that “hoaxes are comparatively few and far between.” Knowing the state of affairs in the United States should have led to the conclusion that hoaxes are commonplace. If they aren°òt, then we have wrongly denigrated a legion of authentic photographs of otherworldly vehicles! Dimensions of Enchantment may break little new ground for European ufologists, but it is practically revelatory for an American ufology stuck in a rut, an American ufology unwilling to break the bonds of the nuts and bolts position. For those adventurous souls willing to cut through Cassirer°òs often dense prose and to drop all pretense of “knowing” the UFO phenomenon, Dimensions of Enchantment should earn a permanent spot on the UFO bookshelf.

			The Poltergeist Phenomenon, An Investigation into Psychic Disturbance John and Anne Spencer Copyright ©1997 John and Anne Spencer

			http://www.invink.com/x621.html The Poltergeist Phenomenon, An Investigation into Psychic Disturbance John and Anne Spencer Copyright ©1997 John and Anne Spencer Investigations started in October 1973, when Manfred Cassirer received a call at the Society for Psychical Research from an agitated Mr. Alf Taylor, one of the people who operated the Kentish Garden Guild, a small garden shop attached to some allotments. Manfred and his colleague, Pauline Runnalls, visited Taylor for a preliminary interview. The first incident was recorded on 26 April 1973, when Taylor arrived at the shop to find his colleague, Tony Elms, somewhat agitated. Powdered substances were hitting the ceiling; a pewter jug on a shelf shot across the floor (even when sealed inside a plastic box); pellets of fertiliser were lifting themselves out of a bin and moving up to the ceiling, some even hitting customers. Perhaps more alarming, a seven-pound weight came off a set of scales. At one point the two men and their colleague Clifford Jewiss were forced to abandon the shop early because of the disturbances. On another occasion Elms’ shirt was cut to shreds by a saw forced down his back. Manfred notes that poltergeists are generally not harmful, though they can be mischievous and disturbing. He comments on this case: ‘However that might be in general, there had been a quite disturbing incident in which Mr. Taylor had been hit on the head by a box of trowels and forks, while Mr. Elms had fared even worse and was in fact a rather frequent target of spiritual spite.’ With the poltergeist’s usual creativity in using immediately available resources, caps of bottles in the shop would come off mysteriously, and the contents spill to the floor; over a hundred-weight of Maxi-Crop fertiliser had to be destroyed when containers were found to have been tampered with. Manfred noted ‘the impressions of hands’ - as if the fertiliser had been scooped out prior to being thrown at the ceiling. It appears that Taylor was at least one of the foci of the poltergeist, as he experienced attacks in his own home and in the presence of friends. Elms was another. (Alternatively, one of the men was the focus and the other suffered from ‘contagion’.) The shop was subject to apports - in particular, showers of matches - on one occasion, half a hundredweight of peat. Perhaps inspired by certain crosses and religious symbols that appeared, Elms attempted an amateur exorcism. The result seemed to have been an increase in the level of sound and violence of the poltergeist, and further attacks on Taylor. Fertiliser and other locally available materials were used to produce some communicating writing; in particular, the date 1659 appeared on a wooden panel. Other images and words appeared using the fertiliser, perhaps most astonishing being a skull-like face that formed on the counter. The investigators witnessed several phenomena. On their first arrival they were showered by bonemeal from ‘an indeterminate point of origin’. During the following two hours they were subject to several experiences, though as Manfred cautiously put it: ‘It was not always possible to determine with only two observers the precise order or sequence of the incidents or the exact position of everyone present at any given moment.’ The incident which he suggests must finally rest the doubts of the sceptics arose on a second visit a year later. Many events occurred during that second visit, but ‘the beaker incident’ was the one Manfred was most impressed by. Given the possible hazards of drink inside the shop being contaminated by fertiliser (as had happened on one occasion), Manfred, his colleague Pauline Runnalls and two others were to have their cup of tea outside. Four beakers were placed on a car bonnet. A beaker moved by itself and lightly touched Pauline on the head (all present, including Manfred, were adamant that they were standing in a group some way from the car). Pauline, brilliantly, took the initiative and requested the return of Elms’ holiday money-and was immediately hit on the head by a penny and 5p piece.

			The Society for Psychical Research (SPR), privately published monograph ‘The Persecution of Tony Elmos’by Manfred Cassirer: