Is Mr. Hoagland
Grabbing at Straws?
By Marshall Masters
January 1, 2000
We thought it was
a bit risky for Mr. Hoagland to predict a major impact event for November
7, 1999, based on information given him by a source named "Tony,"
but he made that prediction nonetheless on August 19,1999. (Dumb luck
that, Richard.)
But wait, this is
a three-act play. On November 6, 1999 Mr. Hoagland dismisses our published
data regarding the August 11, 1999 eclipse over Europe without offering
any data to back his claims, but did promise to make that data available
at a future date.
True to his word,
on December 28, 1999 Mr. Hoagland finally publishes an article with further
proof dismissing our August 11, 1999 data in which Mr. Hoagland writes,
"I had, much to my current chagrin, been made aware of this by a
reader named "Tony" back on August 23rd." According to Mr. Hoagland's
article, he then double checks Tony's work and further says, "I watched
very carefully. As I did, it became clear to me that what "Tony" had alleged
was correct."
Mr. Hoagland, this
"Tony" fellow has already led you down the garden path with
your November 7, 1999 impact prediction, and now he has you grabbing at
straw with regards to our August 11, 1999 eclipse data.
So, let's set the
record straight once and for all, and just for good measure we'll throw
in one last look Nostramdamus just to see what "Tony" has to
say about that as well.
|
Richard
C. Hoagland, founder of The Enterprise Mission, recipient of the Angstrom
Medal, former science advisor to CBS News and Walter Cronkite.
Solar
Eclipse,
August 11, 1999
|
What Mr. Hoagland
Has to Say
The following quotes are taken directly from the Enterprise Mission website,
from articles published from August 18, 1999 to December 28, 1999 and are
presented in date order.
Taurid Object Spotted During Solar
Eclipse - Is This the "Big One?" 8/18/99
http://www.enterprisemission.com/eclipse.htm
"With the world watching the skies during the highly publicized final
solar eclipse of the millennium, many of us wondered whether there would be
a "sign" or portent of change. The Internet had spun around with tales of
the latest interpretation of the quatraines of Nostradamus, predictions of
all sorts of disaster (bad star), and some very solid predictions that perhaps
something unusual would be seen. Our friends over at the Millennium Group
had been following the progress of Comet Lee (much to the consternation of
our pals at JPL) and had even predicted that Lee might be unexpectedly visible
during the eclipse due to anomalous perturbations in its orbit."
"Inside Source" provides Details
of "Impact Events" 8/19/99
http://www.enterprisemission.com/call.html
"In order, the source reported
that all three objects would strike the Earth on November 7th, 1999 (one day
into the fall passage through the Taurid Meteor Stream). The first would come
down in Siberia (a symbolic recreation of the Tunguska event?), the second
would strike in central Manitoba, Canada if it did not bounce or "skip" off
the atmosphere because of its shallow intercept course, and that the 3rd would
hit in the Atlantic ocean off the Northwestern coast of Africa.
It was this final claim that "rung
our bell" in terms of taking the caller seriously. For over a year now we
have privately suspected that this would be the target area of the "precursor
event," the first planned disaster which may start a cycle of bad hair days
for all of us. Part of the reason is that this is the same location as the
impact event depicted in the movie "Deep Impact," but there are several other
reasons for being concerned that this is a target area which we will relate
in upcoming articles."
"Trust No One, Mr. Hoagland"
Part 3 of 3? 11/06/99
http://www.enterprisemission.com/egyptair.htm
"Meanwhile, we are now convinced that the original "Millennium Group"
video objects are not legitimate, that they were misinterpreted by TMG and
by us until we were able to get our hands on better quality video of the eclipse
(Full report to follow). So if our original reason for looking at November
7th as an "event date" was due to trusting someone else's flawed analysis
(and then being told that there were "3 objects" by our mysterious caller),
doesn't that make the whole thing illegitimate?
Not necessarily. What if we stumbled on to a "real" problem by following
a false trail? Certainly, some of our contacts have indicated that they were
aware of a "November problem" well before the Millennium Group's article."
"Trust No One, Mr. Hoagland"
Part 4 of 4 12/28/99
http://enterprisemission.com/TMG.htm
It was quite clear to me that the TMG objects were probably flood lights
of some kind mounted on stanchions in the background. The mysterious "Object
C" seems to be nothing more than someone in the crowd using a flash camera
to record the event.
Eclipse Objects
A, B, and C
Revisited -- The Real Proof!
Our answer to Mr. Hoagland contains images that have been on our site for
some time, plus several new images that offer significant insights into this
story. These images are presented in the date order in which we received them,
along with comments that I hope will help clarify matters.
Eclipse --
August 11, 1999
 This
eclipse was special, in that also coincided with the prophesies of Nostradamus.
Consequently, the world watch this event with both joy and trepidation.
Those who believed in the prophesies, expected to see a huge comet during
the eclipse, and were greatly disappointed.
Yet, this event continues to stir the imaginations of many. The original
story published August 18, 1999 by TMG, Solar Eclipse
as Seen From Turkey by Marshall Masters still holds the TMG record
for the most widely read article every published on the site. As of this
writing, it currently stands as 10th most popular article on the site.
Six months after the first publication of this article, it still being
read by well over 3,000 site visitors every month. When TMG analyzed the
site traffic logs in September 1999, we learned that a significant percentage
of those readers were from the various agencies of the United States Government.
|
Sighting of
Objects A, B,
and C from NASA Video Feed
 In
my first TMG article
Solar Eclipse as Seen From Turkey, I
analyzed MPEG files with NASA video feed imagery of the August 11, 1999
eclipse in Turkey using Apple QuickTime 4 Pro. During
that analysis I identified three visual objects, which I labeled Objects
A, B, and C.
At that point, the immortal words of Sherlock Holmes
took root: "The game is afoot." And so began a long and partially
unfulfilled search for answers as to the real identities of Objects A,
B, and C.
|
Close-up Composite
of Objects A, B, and C
 The
first real breakthrough in identifying Objects A, B, and C came via an
extremely talented man by the name of Joseph Malinoski. He sent me a single
composite image which I first published in my third eclipse article titled,
Solar Eclipse as Seen From Turkey Update
#2 - August 24, 1999 by Marshall Masters
|
August 11,
1999 Eclipse
Imagery from MIR Space Station
 After
publishing the article, Solar Eclipse
as Seen From Turkey Update #2, a storm of contreversy sprang
up around the true identities of Objects A, B, and C.
Many people, like Mr. Richard Hoagland in his December 28, 1999 article
speculated that the objects were really camera flashes from the ground.
These explanations did not make sense to me having worked as: A professional
photographer for 6 years; photojournalist for the U. S. Army for 2 years;
and as a science feature news producer for CNN for 2 years.
Still the same, it was obvious that we needed to corroborate our initial
findings. This was a frustrating process as NASA was and still is a stone
wall when it comes to talking about these objects. However, we did get
cooperation from the Russian Space Agency vis-à-vis excellent imagery
from the MIR space station captured at the time of the eclipse.
|
Composite
of Objects A and C
as Seen From the MIR Space Station
 The
imagery from the MIR space station helped us to positively identify Object
A and Object C, as shown in this composite image. In this breathtaking
image, you can see both Objects A and C in low Earth orbit over the European
continent.
|
Russian SB16
Missile Booster
as Seen From MIR Space Station
 Oddly
enough, the brunt of the controversy had swirled around Object A, and
a bit on Object C. Nobody ever commented on Object B until Mr. Hoagland
decided that it was a camera flash. Mr. Hoagland also decided that Object
A was a camera flash as well.
Nonetheless, this second image from the MIR Space Station, settles the
issue of Object A once and for all. Object A was a spent Russian SB16
missile booster, which also happened to create a lot of concern for Floridaians
when it disintegrated over the Atlantic shortly thereafter.
|
Comparison
of NASA Video Feed with
MIR Imagery of the August 11, 1999
Eclipse Over Turkey
 Thanks
to MIR Space Station imagery provided by the Russian Space Agency, we
were able to close the books on Objects A and C.
This left us Object B as the only remaining item on the "unknown"
list. Likewise, it also left us with an immutable wall of silence from
NASA that remains to this very day.
|
Object B from
August 11, 1999
Eclipse Over Turkey
 This
is Object B. It has yet to identified, and after many of months of trying
there is no real hope in site. I will admit that at the outset I thought
that it was Comet Lee. Later analysis showed that it was not Lee, but
given that Lee is now headed towards towards the furthest reaches of our
system I wish I had been right.
Object B is not a man-made object, a camera flash, or a speck on the
lens Rather, it is the real McCoy and it is out there. Furthermore, our
government does not want us to know what it is, or where it is going.
Like Object B, we must forge forward through the darkness.
|
Object B from
August 11, 1999
Eclipse Over Turkey
(Gamma shifted for low-resolution monitors)
 This
image of Object is extreme close-up generated from the original NASA MPEG
video feed. We prepared a gamma shifted copy of the image above for easy
viewing with older PCs with lower resolution monitors and video cards.
In Mr. Hoagland's article I notice that he upgraded his computer system
and used Windows Media streaming media to evaluate the original NASA video
feed.
In terms of quality, Real Networks and Windows Media both run a close
second to MPEG. MPEG is the digital television standard. The CNN site
used a reduced quality Real Networks conversion of the original MPEG feed.
Likewise, Mr. Hoagland most likely viewed a reduced quality Windows Media
conversion of the original MPEG as well.
|
One Last Look at
Nostradamus
Since
TMG published my first Eclipse article, we have watched with amazement at
the continuing success of the story, and likewise so has our government. At
least, that is what our site logs tells us.
In the news business, they would say "this story has legs." For
some reason, it continues to draw interest well after the event has passed.
In this case, the principle reason can be found in the prophesies of Notradamus.
Born, Michel de Nostre-Dame, the man we know simply as "Nostradamus," lived
in France from 1503 to 1566. As a physician and astrologer, he became famous
for his predictions of future events in his masterpiece: The Centuries.
The Millennium Group views the writings of Nostradamus as an intellectual
alarm clock. The biggest problem we have with the writings of Nostradamus
are the translations, many of which seem flawed as they do not take into account
the usage of the French language during the time of Nostradamus.
While prophesies are not always fulfilled, they have through the centuries
been an enduring part of Western culture. While he certainly has had his misses,
he did call it on money when he predicated Napoleon, Hitler, and the Challenger
disaster.
On June 19, 1999 The Millennium Group published an article titled, COMET
C/1999 H1 (Lee) = NOSTRADAMUS COMET? by Colonel James B. Ervin. His
article was an analysis based on the popular prophecy book, Nostradamus
1999 -Who Will Survive, by Stefan Paulus.
In his article, Colonel Ervin quoted the two quatrains that seemed to apply
most to the appearance of Comet Lee.
Century 10 - Quatrain 72
The year 1999, the seventh month,
from the sky will come a great King of Terror:
Resuscitating the great King of the Mongols,
Before and after Mars to reign Happily.
Nostradamus never says that there will be an impact in the Sept. month,
but nonetheless, a great many people seemed to think that it would happen.
However, Mars (God of War) has in fact reigned happily just as predicted.
Before in Kosovo, and after in Chechnya .
Century 3 - Quatrain 34
When the eclipse of the Sun will then be,
In broad daylight the monster will be seen:
Everyone will differ on the interpretation,
High price unguarded: none will have prepared.
A real point of contention in this particular quatrain is the phrase
"In broad daylight the monster will be seen." What
amazed me when I read the various interpretations is that it generally
assumed that we will see the monster with our own eyes. Yet, the quatrain
does not specifically say how we would in fact actually see the monster.
Perhaps, Nostradamus had actually seen the "Monster" through
the Internet in his vision.
Unfortunately, his prophesies concerning recent times have been often misinterpreted
and worse yet, used by those in power to rudely dismiss legitimate concerns.
Consequently, I felt compelled to write a fairness article on behalf of Nostradamus,
titled Comet Lee and the Nostradamus Prophecies
which was published on September 7, 1999.
A Final Thought
One thing I wish to make very clear, is that I have presented this information
to clarify this matter and it is not intended as a personal or professional
attack on Mr. Hoagland. Rather, I believe Nostradamus summed it up best when
he said, "Everyone will differ on the interpretation."
Mr. Hoagland, I cannot help but wonder if you've been the unwitting minion
of a very clever misinformation operative. We see our share of these operatives
as well, and flushing them out is an imprecise and very human process. And,
sometimes things just happen.
In
my opinion you were misled to the wrong conclusion, but that you were absolutely
right for publishing that conclusion because it has renewed the debate.
A lot of good Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice for precisely this
kind of freedom. You do them honor.
Rather than sinking a headstone on Object B (possibly at the behest of some
misinformation operative), your article has resurrected a vital issue has
risen like the Phoenix of ancient myth. Thank you Mr. Hoagland.
In closing, I wish to point out a recent development. The Russian Military
has recently announced that the they've changed their policy on the use of
tactical nuclear weapons. During the Cold War, they would never dream of using
them. Now, they have decided that tactical nuclear weapons are real option
in certain circumstances, and as of the first day of this new millennium,
those circumstances will soon be defined by an iron-fisted ex-KGB operative.
Perhaps we need to know the answer to Object B after all.
Marshall Masters
M-Core
All material is copyrighted
by THE MILLENNIUM GROUP and may not be used without their express written
permission.