IIG Public Update #7

February 2008

The applications keep pouring in, with no end in sight. That pretty much summarizes our January at the IIG. Here are the details:

DAUGHTER WHO SEES IN THE DARK

Faithful followers of the IIG will remember Thomas C’s claim that his daughter can "see in complete darkness." Well, we were unable to meet up with the Cs in Arizona, and so we are hoping that they will come to Los Angeles. While the Cs seem sincere, we are going to be more strict about accepting applications from out-of-towners. We are now asking all applicants if they are willing to travel to L.A. before we accept their applications. Which brings us to:

APPLICATION UPDATE 2008

Our application for the $50,000 can be found here. There are a few changes, but the general principle (that an applicant must produce the ability they claim under proper observing conditions) remains the same.

LONG ISLAND HEALER

Bob T. from New York was unable to heal CFI COO Bob Ladendorf of his broken hand. Undeterred, Bob T. is ready to come out to Los Angeles, and prove his skills. He requires that we assemble 100 sick people, and then he will "make them feel better." Needless to say, we will require a different protocol before we schedule a test.

UFOs on DVD

Michael Horn’s UFO DVD "The Silent Revolution of Truth" features ten whole minutes of skepticism from IIG investigator Derek Bartholomaus. Well, apparently, Michael isn’t too happy about the tiny nugget of good sense in his otherwise credulous presentation.

You'll also noticed that the inept skeptics, represented by Derek Bartholomaus of IIG, to whom we gave ample time in The Silent Revolution of Truth to prove his case against Meier, have likewise failed to back up their "similar trees equal the same, therefore, model tree" theory. Nowhere in his scripted, 25-minute presentation (which we edited down) did he produce a photo, such as Meier's above, nor did he show a miniature tree such as he claimed Meier used, etc. And the guy actually wanted more [emphasis his] screen time!

Really, is there anybody left who thinks these guys have any credibility?

This is in reference to Derek’s claim that the trees in Billy Meier’s 1970’s UFO film are models, and therefore the UFOs are concomitantly small. Horn continues:

You might want to watch it very carefully again and notice how you make the brilliant jump from some "similarities" in some trees to stating that they are "the same tree". Several people also wondered why you didn't seem to notice the dissimilarities of the trees you were referring to. Exactly what brand of logic and/or scientific integrity were you demonstrating for us?  Since when is similarity, partial similarity at that, the same as...the "same"? Another huge red flag was that you never actually showed the model tree, a model tree with a model UFO next to it, any model tree, etc. Is it really asking too much of you and your organization to put your money where your mouth is...after seven years? Why didn't you just ask Jeff Ritzmann to send you one photo of a model UFO next to a miniature tree that duplicates Meier's? [emphasis his]

Pasted below are three supposedly different trees from three supposedly different locations. The first picture contains no markers, and the second picture shows the top "bite" (in red), the lower bulge (in green), the yellow and blue circles highlight identical hanging branches, and the white circle shows the same bend. Judge for yourself.

As for why we didn’t show "the" model tree: we don’t have it. There is no record of it since 1985. Why didn’t we use "any" model tree? Horn is asking us why we didn’t go to the hobby shop, and buy a random model tree that looks nothing like Meier’s model tree, and present it as evidence for our case. Of course, Horn parses details to avoid to real issue: the "Beamships" look like Christmas tree ornaments and/or garbage can lids.

There has been no shortage of fiercely-worded emails from Michael Horn. You can read them here.

MONTANA VORTEX

Nick N. of Montana has applied for the $50,000 challenge claiming that he can harness a vortex that will create a shrinking effect visible on camera. We found this picture on the internet, apparently of Nick, being affected in the "after" picture.

Note the smoke detector and the change of focus. We are taking his application seriously, and are in discussions with him about an appropriate testing protocol.

IIG TURNS EIGHT

This month marks the eighth anniversary of the Independent Investigations Group! Presents are accepted.

RANDI CHALLENGE REACHES CONCLUSION

It’s true, James Randi is discontinuing his million dollar challenge in two years: http://www.randi.org/joom/content/view/144/1/#i4. The IIG’s $50,000 challenge will remain in effect, and we will continue to serve as an administrator of preliminary tests for those seeking Randi’s million before the deadline.

THAT’S ALL

So now, we’re off to form our "protocol development sub-committees," and keep the wheels rolling. If someone wins the $50,000, you’ll read about it here first. Enjoy Valentines Day, Black History Month ("the coldest month of the year, just in case we wanted to have a parade."), President’s Day, Darwin Day, Thomas Edison’s birthday, Susan B. Anthony’s Birthday, the first "Super-Duper Tuesday," and Leap Day.

- IIG