|
| | Research Articles |
| Pierre GUÉRIN | A Scientific Analysis of Four Photographs of a Flying Disk Near Lac Chauvet (France) | 447-469 |
| | Related:
Journal of Scientific Exploration Volume 9 Number 2 /1995 - Comment on McMinnville UFO Photos
| |
| | Abstract: A series of four photographs of a disk-shaped object apparently
flying in the sky was physically analyzed. Certain details led us to develop a
mathematical model of the supposed trajectory. The model was validated by
measurements on the photographs, which demonstrated that the disk was distant from the camera, flying along a straight and horizontal trajectory, and
was not a fabrication |
| R. D. Nelson et al. | A Linear Pendulum Experiment: Effects of Operator Intention on Damping Rate | 471-489 |
| | Abstract: An attractive pendulum consisting of a two-inch crystal ball suspended on a fused silica rod is the focus of an experiment to measure possible
effects of conscious intention on an analog physical system. The pendulum is
enclosed in a clear acrylic box, and provided with a computer controlled mechanical system to release it from the same starting height in repeated runs. A
high speed binary counter registers interruptions of photodiode beams, to
measure velocities at the nadir of the pendulum arc with microsecond accuracy. In runs of 100 swings, taking about three minutes, operators attempt to
keep swings high, i.e. to decrease the damping rate (HI); to reduce swing amplitude, i.e. to increase the damping rate (LO); or to take an undisturbed baseline (BL).
Over a total of 1545 sets, generated by 42 operators, the HI - LO difference is
significant in the direction of intention for five individuals, and the difference between intention and baseline runs is significant and positive for five
other operators. The overall HI - LO difference is reduced to non-significance by strong negative performances from several operators, four of whom
have comparably large scores in the direction opposite to intention. Analysis
of variance reveals significant internal structure in the database (main effects
F,, ,,= 2.845, p = .025). Subset comparisons indicate that male operators
tend to score higher than females, and that randomly instructed trials tend toward higher scores than volitional trials, especially for male operators. Trials
generated with the operator in a remote location have a larger effect size than
the local trials.
While direct comparisons are not straightforward, it appears that effects of
operator intention on the pendulum damping rate may be similar in magnitude and style to those in other humanlmachine interaction experiments. Although this result fails to support an experimental hypothesis that the analog
nature of the pendulum experiment would engender larger effect sizes, it does
confirm a basic similarity of consciousness effects across experiments using
fundamentally different physical systems. |
| P. A. STURROCK | Applied Scientific Inference | 491-508 |
| | Abstract: The purpose of this article is to use the principles of scientific inference to provide guidance in evaluating complicated issues such as those raised
by the study of anomalous phenomena. Specifically, the article presents a formalism (a "protocol") for organizing and combining the many judgments that
must be made in the scientific evaluation of the relevant hypotheses. All judgments are to be expressed as probabilities, and the rules for combining probabilities are derived from Bayes' theorem. Setting up a problem in a manner
that permits such an analysis can be helpful in imposing a structure and discipline upon the analysis, and also in exposing relevant questions that might
otherwise have remained hidden. Furthermore, the introduction of probabilities makes it possible to put on a sound numerical basis such assertions as "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." One finds that extraordinary evidence can be built up from many (but not very many) items of
unspectacular evidence, provided the items are truly independent.
The proposed procedure permits a clear separation between a statement of
initial prejudice and an evaluation of the significance of considered evidence. However, it would be even better to set out explicitly the considerations on which the prejudice is based, and to view those considerations as
part of the evidence to be evaluated. The procedure also draws a clear separation between the roles and judgments of data analysts (who assign probabilities to specified statements, based on the evidence), and those of theorists
(who assign probabilities to the same statements, based in turn on the considered hypotheses).
In order to reach a consensus on any topic, it is recommended that probability
estimates be made by teams of experts, all team-members being presented
with the same data but acting independently, and procedures are proposed by
which individual estimates may be combined to yield a consensus estimate. |
|
| | Essay |
| John BELOFF | The Mind-Brain Problem | 509-522 |
| | Abstract: The mind-brain problem, which is still with us, raises the question as to whether the mind is no more than the idle side-effect of our brain
processes or whether the mind can, in some degree, influence behavior. Here
we rehearse the arguments on both sides plus some desperate recent attempts
to eliminate mind altogether. |
|
| Dean I. RADIN | Guest Column: On Complexity and Pragmatism | 523-533 |
|
| | Letters to the Editor |
| | Comments on James Warwick's Book Review of Cross Currents | 535-538 |
| | Related:
Journal of Scientific Exploration Volume 7 Number 4 /1993 - Cross Currents by Robert 0. Becker [Warwick, James]
| |
| | Further Comments on the Unreliability of Home Blood Glucose Monitors | 538-539 |
| | Related:
Journal of Scientific Exploration Volume 8 Number 3 /1994 - Complementary Healing Therapy for Patients With Type I Diabetes Mellitus [Wirth, Daniel P. & Mitchell, Barbara J.]
Journal of Scientific Exploration Volume 9 Number 1 /1995 - Erratum
| |
|
| | Book Reviews |
| Michael C. IBISON | The Interrelationship Between Mind and Matter edited by B. Rubik | 541-545 |
| Theodore ROCKWELL | The Interrelationship Between Mind and Matter edited by B. Rubik | 545-546 |
| Emily Williams COOK | A History of Hypnotism by A. Gauld | 546-553 |
| Angela THOMPSON | The Allagash Abductions: Undeniable Evidence of Alien Intervention by R. E. Fowler | 554 |
| | Review: Raymond E. FOWLER,THE ALLAGASH ABDUCTIONS - 1993 | |
| Henry H. BAUER | Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels with Science by P. R. Gross and N. Levitt | 555-563 |
| Stuart EDELSTEIN | Perilous Knowledge: The Human Genome Project and Its Implications by T. Wilkie | 563-565 |
| Lori Anne NEALE | The Body, Self-Cultivation, and Ki-Energy by Y. Yuasa | 565-568 |
|
| Roger NELSON | The Second Euro-SSE Conference | 569 |
|
| | Abstracts of the Second Euro-SSE Conference |
| Robert MORRIS | Investigating Anomalies in Human-Machine Interaction | 570 |
| Jessica UTTS | Decision Augmentation Theory: Can Precognition Explain PK Data | 570-571 |
| Walter VON LUCADOU | Psychological Correlates of Experimental Human-Machine Anomalies: Influence, Selection, or What? | 571 |
| Zoltan VASSY | Correlation without Causation: on the Nature of Parapsychological Phenomena | 571-572 |
| B. E. P. CLEMENT | Conceptual Modeling in the Temporal Domain | 572 |
| Harold ASPDEN | The Experimental Pathway to New Sources of Energy | 572-573 |
| Harold E. PUTHOFF | On the Feasibility of Converting Vacuum Electromagnetic Energy to a Useful Form | 573-574 |
| Bernhard HAISCH | Zero-Point Field, Inertia, and Mach's Principle | 574 |
| Roger NELSON | Anomalous Interactions: Intention, Information, and Consciousness | 574-575 |
| S. JEFFERS, J. SLOAN | The Double-Slit Experiment as a Potentially Sensitive Detector of Anomalous Effects | 575 |
| Euan J. SQUIRES | The Implication of Quantum Theory for an Understanding of Consciousness | 575-576 |
| Jacques BENVENISTE | The Transfer of Specific Molecular Signals by Electromagnetic Means, and Its Consequences in Biology and Medicine | 576 |
| L. PYATNITSKY | Consciousness Influence on Water Structure | 576-577 |
| Zbignew WOLKOWSKI | Recent Advances in the Phoron Concept: An Attempt to Decrease the Incompleteness of Scientific Exploration | 576-577 |
| Roeland VAN WIJK | Understanding the Benefits of Subharmful Doses of Toxicants | 577-578 |
| Zoltan DIENES | Tests of Sheldrake's Claim of Morphic Resonance | 578 |
| Suitbert ERTEL | The Maharishi Effect in Transcendental Meditation: Fancy or Fact? | 578-579 |
| Archie E. ROY | The Great Crop Circle Mystery | 579 |
| Robin ALLEN | Science, Pseudoscience, and the Crop Circle Phenomenon | 579-580 |
| Léon BRENIG | Remote Sensing: A Tool for UFOLOGY | 580 |
| Paul DEVEREUX | "Earth Lights": History and Latest Developments Concerning Research into Anomalous Light Phenomena | 580-581 |
| George EGELY | Ball Lightning: The Last Enigma of the Atmosphere? | 581 |
| Erling STRAND | Project Hessdalen-A Field Investigation of an Unknown Atmospheric Light Phenomenon | 581-582 |
| Susan J. HOWAT, Deborah L. DELANOY, Robert L. MORRIS | Remote Staring Detection and Personality Correlates | 582 |
| Deborah L. DELANOY, Sunita SAH | Cognitive and Physiological PSI Responses to Remote Positive and Neutral Emotional States | 581-582 |
| | Comparison of the SenderINo Sender Conditions Using an Automated Ganzfeld System | 583-584 |
| Ian STEVENSON | Six Modem Apparitional Experiences | 584 |
| Peter A. STURROCK | The Role of Heresies in Scientific Research | 584-585 |
|
| | SSE News |
| | Odier Research Foundation Publishes Bulletin | 587 |
| | 14th Annual Meeting: Announcement and Call for Papers | 588 |
Collection: Libriufo
