‘RUMORS OF ALIENS TRAIL COMET’

December 3, 1996
Source: The Albuquerque Journal - New Mexico

 Rumors of Aliens Trail Comet

Charges that a spacecraft is headed for Earth behind the Comet
Hale-Bopp have taken on a life of their own

By John Fleck
Journal Staff Writer

   An alien spacecraft is headed toward Earth, tailing Comet 
Hale-Bopp. NASA and the U.S. government know about it and are 
suppressing the telescope images that would prove it.

   Those charges, lurking on the Internet and talk radio since 
the comet was discovered in 1995, have exploded in recent weeks.

   The talk has been fueled by nationally syndicated late-night 
talk show host Art Bell and discussion groups on the Internet, 
where anyone who wants can weigh in.

   Despite debunking by scientists, the conspiracy theories have 
gained a momentum of their own, with the scientists who offer 
explanations immediately lumped in with the conspirators.

   The debate has grown so intense that, two weeks ago, one 
Internet critic called Alan Hale, the New Mexico astronomer who 
discovered the comet, "an Earth traitor" after Hale helped 
debunk one of the latest "mystery spaceship" sightings.

   "This whole thing is nutty," said Hale, who said he is 
alternately amused and aghast at the uproar surrounding the 
comet that bears his name.

   The most popular tale is that the spacecraft is either out to 
destroy us or save us.

   The government knows about it, according to the conspiracy 
theorists, and is keeping it from the public.

   Their evidence is a hodgepodge of speculation, information 
allegedly gathered telepathically from the aliens and 
astronomical data that, scientists say, have been misinterpreted 
out of ignorance.

   Neither Bell nor any of the other chief conspiracy theorists 
responded to Journal requests for comment.

   Hale-Bopp would seem an unlikely subject for an international 
cover-up, scientists say, simply because anyone who wants can 
take a look.

   Now 270 million miles from Earth and growing brighter, the 
potential comet of the century is hanging out there for anyone 
with a cheap telescope or even a pair of binoculars to see.

   Hale, who lives in the mountains outside Cloudcroft in 
southern New Mexico, has been observing the comet every night 
it's visible, and hasn't seen anything amiss.

   "Don't take my word for it," he says. "Go out and look at it." 

   Since Hale and amateur star-gazer Thomas Bopp discovered the 
comet in July 1995, the conspiracy theorists have latched onto 
the comet with a vengeance.

   The evidence for the alien presence is hung from bits of truth. 

   As astronomers gather more data on the comet's orbit, they 
have revised their calculations of its orbit. That has led to 
calls from conspiracy theorists that Hale-Bopp has "changed 
course," something no comet could do.

   Conspiracy theorists have also made much of a perceived 
paucity of publicly available images from the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration's Hubble Space Telescope.

   Hubble comet pictures taken in September and October, 
published recently in the magazine Science News, do not seem to 
have reduced the vehemence of those arguments.

   For the record, NASA scientist Jay Bergstralh, who is heading 
up a portion of the space agency's comet research efforts, said 
he has heard of no such conspiracy.

   The discovery of "mysterious objects" in telescope pictures 
of the comet has been trumpeted by the conspiracy buffs, only to 
have astronomers identify them as stars in the backgrounds of 
the pictures.

   "What's upsetting is that they won't take the time to learn," 
said Harvard-based astronomer Daniel Green.

   If there was a mysterious object flying alongside the comet, 
said Green, amateur and professional astronomers around the 
world watching the comet would have seen and reported it.

   "That's the way science works. That's the way astronomy 
works. You can't hide anything," said Green, who works for the 
International Astronomical Union, an international clearing 
house for such information.

   The "mysterious object" pictures have nevertheless raised the 
conspiracy talk to a crescendo in recent weeks, led by 
late-night talk radio host Bell, whose syndicated show runs in 
Albuquerque on KOB AM (770) from midnight to 4 a.m.

   Last Thursday night, a guest on Bell's program claimed to 
have "remotely viewed" the alien spacecraft, using a sort of 
telepathic eyesight.

   Hale said the Internet has been both a curse and a blessing. 

   Anyone with a computer and a telephone connection can 
"publish" information on the Internet, a worldwide computer 
network.

   That has allowed the Hale-Bopp conspiracy theories to spread 
quickly, but it has also given scientists an equal forum.

   But with Hale-Bopp getting brighter and likely to be major 
public spectacle next spring, Hale expects the wild talk to 
continue.

   "It's just going to get worse," he said. 


Copyright © 1996 Albuquerque Journal


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