FT343

[XEPER_]

Mine came today! Looks an interesting issue although I have to say I doubt the cover art would draw in new readers.
The piece about writing on the clouds will be good I think, and the little cartoon on the editorial page tickled me!
I don't normally read the Strange Deaths these days, but I did this time for some reason. The one with the guy boiling his wife alive was pretty traumatic to read.

On another note, remember I subscribed to Terrorizer and they only sent one issue? Well I cancelled the subscription, got a refund, then they sent me the last TWO issues during the week. Idiots, but I ain't complaining about a freebie!

 

[Ermintruder]

The piece about writing on the clouds will be good I think

It is. But it curiously-omits mention of the Russian Air Force's alleged attempts in the 1930s to project images of thousands of additional aircraft onto the clouds around them. Project Bluebeam, almost....

I have to say I doubt the cover art would draw in new readers.

Agreed. Septic sepia sickliness. Bring back FT covers that are true works of art, not lame lino prints.

 

[Dinobot]

I don't know, I like the cover of this issue of FT (my copy hasn't arrived yet, so I had to resort to looking it up on Twitter)

 

[XEPER_]

I don't know, I like the cover of this issue of FT (my copy hasn't arrived yet, so I had to resort to looking it up on Twitter)

Yeah, it's all subjective. I quite like the idea behind it, but it's not very appealing to my eye.

 

[GNC]

Mine arrived in its porn-esque brown envelope. The cover reminded me of those Fleetway Comics Summer Specials, so I have no problem with that. Only read the Isle of Wight article so far, but it sounds an intriguing place to visit if you know what you're looking for. The chocolate-drinking ghost in IHTM is weirdly specific, the best kind of specific. Can't help but wonder if it was a real person who went otherwise unnoticed, though.

 

[XEPER_]

Your's comes in a brown envelope? Mine has always come in a clear one. I think I mentioned this before - it always seems to have the BACK cover on the clear side which seems a waste of free advertising, even if it would only be seen by the postmen.

 

[GNC]

It's arrived in a brown envelope (cardboard) ever since the polythene wrapped issues stopped arriving even though I'd subscribed. Must be some kind of preferential treatment, maybe they suspected prying eyes (and fingers) were intercepting those issues when they fancied a free FT?

 

[GNC]

Really enjoyed this issue, nice mix of stuff. The Holy Blood Holy Grail article was very revealing, glad I never read the book (I did read Dan Brown and left it at that).

The last two paragraphs on the UFO column about what happened to previous writers Clarke and Roberts were... very strange. Andy Roberts has disappeared? Bit worrying when over the page Jenny Randles is telling us about her justified paranoia.

 

[GNC]

Was the second picture caption on page 18 written by FT's bovine copy editor?

 

[XEPER_]

The last two paragraphs on the UFO column about what happened to previous writers Clarke and Roberts were... very strange. Andy Roberts has disappeared? Bit worrying when over the page Jenny Randles is telling us about her justified paranoia.

Yes that was a bit odd, although I just got the impression it meant Roberts has stopped dealing with FT, maybe due to a fall out.
Ultimately, it seems UFOlogy is so completely dead, two guys earning a wage from a monthly column have had to give up writing it for lack of material.

 

[Graylien]

Which Clarke? Dr David Clarke? Is he not still teaching journalism at Sheffield?

 

[GNC]

Which Clarke? Dr David Clarke? Is he not still teaching journalism at Sheffield?

He is and according to this month's column he's said all he's going to say about ufology. Doesn't say why he's had this change of heart, though it's possible he's sick of the whole thing, infighting and all. Roberts remains a missing person, as far as we know.

 

[ChasFink]

I just got my copy today, and since my letter ("Erratum squared") was printed therein, I have no complaints.

 

[Tigerhawk]

Got my copy today, and the world seems a better place!

 

[Dr_David_Sutton]

Was the second picture caption on page 18 written by FT's bovine copy editor?

I see what you did there! None of us spotted that one!

 

[GNC]

I'm sure the readers found it amoosing.

 

[Tigerhawk]

It was very moooving! (Says me hell bent for leather!)

 

[Dinobot]

It was very moooving! (Says me hell bent for leather!)

Haven't we herd this before?!

 

[ramonmercado]

Just arrived.

 

[PeteByrdie]

Just arrived.

As has my FT344. Do they send yours by carrier snail, Ramon?

 

[ramonmercado]

As has my FT344. Do they send yours by carrier snail, Ramon?

When I was a Mod it arrived borne by a Liveried Courier from Fortean Towers.

Now its by walking pigeon post.

 

[Dinobot]

Carrier Snail? You mean Escargot is now delivering FT?!

 

[AgProv]

still reading back over old copies... the article on the Isle of Wight was fun. Thought-provoking. Two observations:

i) The island is only a litle bit larger than Anglesey and in Roman times would have been equally remote and difficult to get to. People standing on the Hampshire side of the Solent might well have seen a sinister, mysterious, cloud-and-mist shrouded island - near enough to see but near impossible to get to. And it was all Celtic Britain in those days, so it's completely logical this island was a Druidic centre, belonging to a shadowy invitation-only cult devoted to mysterious and arcane religious practices as well as alleged socio-political meddling. (Stephen Knight, in one of his "Brotherhood" books on Freemasonry, said much the same about the modern Isle of Wight, so arguably things haven't changed much...). It also occurs to me that if the romans saw an offshore island devoted to Druidism practically the moment they set foot in England, then this might well have warned them about Angelsey and what to expect there. Yet the Welsh monopolise that particular narrative...

ii) Wight is the only English county which doubles its size - and shrinks again - in the course of any 24 hour period, I wonder - really speculating here - if this kind of thing acts as a battery-charger (wave power...) and makes it more rather than les likely weird things happen inside the area delineated by ever-changing tides?

 

[McAvennie]

Mine arrived in its porn-esque brown envelope. The cover reminded me of those Fleetway Comics Summer Specials, so I have no problem with that. Only read the Isle of Wight article so far, but it sounds an intriguing place to visit if you know what you're looking for. The chocolate-drinking ghost in IHTM is weirdly specific, the best kind of specific. Can't help but wonder if it was a real person who went otherwise unnoticed, though.

That was my thought, apart from the lack of footprints in the snow. Seems the most likely solution, the policewoman came in unexpectedly for some unspecified reason and didn't tell the other copper on shift, then had gone to the bathroom while the kettle boiled missing the writer, then slipped out unnoticed after drinking her cocoa. Only thing is how does she get out without leaving footprints in the snow?

 

[McAvennie]

He is and according to this month's column he's said all he's going to say about ufology. Doesn't say why he's had this change of heart, though it's possible he's sick of the whole thing, infighting and all. Roberts remains a missing person, as far as we know.

Also catching up slowly on a mountain of back issues… Did Roberts ever turn up again?

 

[GNC]

Also catching up slowly on a mountain of back issues… Did Roberts ever turn up again?

Not that I can remember!

 

[AgProv]

Revisiting 343 as a random pick from the Stash of back articles. Page 54, The Last Trump, leapt out at me. I went back to check the date of the magazine. August 2016. Therefore dating from before Donald Trump became President and before the election happened; I recall at the time nobody seriously believed the voting American public would fall for it in sufficient numbers, and that Hilary Clinton would get it. Therefore any speculation on what Donald would do as Pres was academic and it would never happen - DT could only become president of the USA in some dystopian alternative reality.

The author, Ted Harrison, discusses the sort of people who are supporting Trump, the arguments advanced for why he should be Pres, where his core fanbase is, and how Trump himself has been building the myth to enhance support. it also advances a few predictions about a Trump presidency.

And looking back at this with hindsight from February 2023.... (Ted, we need a follow-up?)

 

[Ogdred Weary]

Revisiting 343 as a random pick from the Stash of back articles. Page 54, The Last Trump, leapt out at me. I went back to check the date of the magazine. August 2016. Therefore dating from before Donald Trump became President and before the election happened; I recall at the time nobody seriously believed the voting American public would fall for it in sufficient numbers, and that Hilary Clinton would get it. Therefore any speculation on what Donald would do as Pres was academic and it would never happen - DT could only become president of the USA in some dystopian alternative reality.

The author, Ted Harrison, discusses the sort of people who are supporting Trump, the arguments advanced for why he should be Pres, where his core fanbase is, and how Trump himself has been building the myth to enhance support. it also advances a few predictions about a Trump presidency.

And looking back at this with hindsight from February 2023.... (Ted, we need a follow-up?)

By July (presumably when the article was written) it did look like a reasonable possibility that he would become president.