VICTORIA, B.C. – The 1996-97 Hale-Bopp comet controversy began after
\nChuck Shramek, an amateur astronomer from Houston, called Art Bell’s
\nprogram on November 14 1996 to report that he had a photograph showing
\na large object behind the Hale Bopp comet. This led to several radio
\nshows on the issue and included different guests. <\/p>\n
Contents 1 Dr. Courtney Brown on Art Bell 1.1 Hale Bopp’s companion
\nphotos controversy 1.2 Brown’s last appearance on Art Bell 1.3 Brown’s
\npublic statement 2 Ed Dames on Art Bell 2.1 A disinformation campaign?
\n3 The Heaven’s Gate cult suicide 4 External Links <\/p>\n
Dr. Courtney Brown on Art Bell <\/p>\n
Dr. Courtney Brown, Director of the Farsight Institute<\/a>, Hale Bopp’s companion photos controversy <\/p>\n Later, when Bell and his co-host Whitley Strieber found out that Brown’s last appearance on Art Bell <\/p>\n On January 16th, 1997, Brown went on the Art Bell show for the last Ed Dames on Art Bell <\/p>\n Art Bell invited former top secret military remote viewer Ed Dames A disinformation campaign? <\/p>\n On March 30, 1997, an anonymous posting that was later shared over [1] (http:\/\/www.csicop.org\/si\/9707\/art-bell.html<\/a>) External Links <\/p>\n * November 1996 photo of Chuck Shramek showing Hale-Bopp’ companion (http:\/\/www.v-j-enterprises.com\/hbenig.html<\/a>) <\/p>\n * November 15, 1996 – The Farsight Institute remote viewers describe Hale-Bopp comet companion (http:\/\/www.v-j-enterprises.com\/brown.html<\/a>) <\/p>\n * January 16, 1997 – University of Hawaii’s Dr. Dave Tholen claims that The Farsight Institute photos are fake (http:\/\/www.sc.eso.org\/~ohainaut\/Hale_Bopp\/hb_ufo_tholen.html<\/a>) <\/p>\n * January 20, 1997 – Dr. Brown releases a public statement about Hale-Bopp photos (http:\/\/www.tmgnow.com\/repository\/cometary\/shechinah\/cb.html<\/a>) <\/p>\n * January 30, 1997 – Art Bell interviews remote viewer Ed Dames on his show where he introduces his Hale-Bopp warning (http:\/\/www.firedocs.com\/remoteviewing\/transcript_ab970130ed.cfm<\/a>) <\/p>\n * March 6, 1997 – Art Bell interviews remote viewer Ed Dames and he mentions Hale-Bopp (http:\/\/www.firedocs.com\/remoteviewing\/transcript_ab970130ed.cfm<\/a>) <\/p>\n * March 26, 1997 – CNN reports Heaven’s Gate suicide (http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/US\/9703\/26\/mass.suicide.too\/index.html<\/a>) <\/p>\n * March 30, 1997 – "The Watcher" comes to the Farsight BBS and claims that there is a disinformation campaign against RV (http:\/\/www.firedocs.com\/remoteviewing\/oooh\/politics\/censor03.html<\/a>) <\/p>\n * April 27, 1997 – Art Bell interviews remote viewer Ed Dames who * September 1997 – interview with Whitley Strieber about Hale Bopp (http:\/\/www.beyondcommunion.com\/communionletters\/9709tgs.html<\/a>) <\/p>\n * November 1999 -Space.com article claiming that Hale-Bopp may have had a satellite (http:\/\/www.space.com\/scienceastronomy\/solarsystem\/hale_bopp_991123.html<\/a>) <\/p>\n * December 14, 1999 – Strieber claims Hale-Bopp may have a companion after all (http:\/\/www.unknowncountry.com\/news\/?id=36<\/a>) <\/p>\n * October 6th, 2002 – One of Strieber’s most recent statement about Hale-Bopp’s companion (http:\/\/www.unknowncountry.com\/journal\/?id=104<\/a>) <\/p>\n
\nwho had previously been on the Art Bell show to discuss spirituality
\nand extraterrestrial life, including the issue of life on Mars, offered
\nremote viewing data on Bell’s radio talk show shortly after Chuck
\nShramek came forward with his photo. Brown spoke about data obtained by
\nhis remote viewers that seemed to support photographic evidence
\nobtained by Shramek. He said that the data suggested that it was a
\nlarge object that could be complex, artificial, and technological in
\nnature and that it was located behind Comet Hale-Bopp. To target the
\nHale Bopp companion, Brown said that his remote viewers used a verbal
\ncue and did not use any photographs as a target. Brown claimed that the
\ndata was highly interesting and suggestive, but he never claimed that
\nthe data was 100% accurate. <\/p>\n
\nBrown’s web master had received photos showing a companion to the
\nHale-Bopp comet, they urged them to come on his show to discuss it. The
\nweb master claimed to have received them from an astronomer at a major
\nuniversity who wanted to stay anonymous and whom she knew and with whom
\nshe spoke on the telephone. Brown and the Institute\u2019s web master spoke
\nabout the images on the Art Bell show, and the web master claimed that
\nher source told her that he would have a news conference announcing the
\nimages in one to two weeks. The news conference never took place, and
\nBrown and the Institute\u2019s web master appeared discredited in the
\npublic\u2019s eye. After notifying Brown on January 14th 1997 and against
\nBrown\u2019s urgings, Bell released Brown’s photo on the Internet on January
\n15, 1997. This further evolved into a major scandal shortly after when
\nBell was contacted by Oliver Hainut and David J. Tholen, both
\nprofessors from the University of Hawaii. They said that the posted
\nphoto that Brown’s web master received was an altered copy of one of
\ntheir recent comet photos, and they provided a comparison as evidence.
\nThere has never been an independent corroboration of this claim, and
\nsome postings of a technical nature have appeared on the Internet
\ndisputing this claim. Since the original version photos obtained by The
\nFarsight Institute have never been released, this issue has never been
\nresolved. <\/p>\n
\ntime where he said he would not reveal the name of the astronomer who
\nhad given his web master the original film. He said the web master had
\ncommitted herself not to reveal the astronomer’s identity and only she
\nknew the astronomer’s name. He also said that it\u2019s possible that this
\nprofessor had good intentions but was tricked by someone else. He did
\nnot want to jeopardize the astronomer\u2019s reputation and their agreement
\nof confidentiality. He also raised the possibility of a libel suit if
\nhis webmaster disclosed the professor\u2019s name since it would jeopardize
\nthat professor\u2019s reputation now that the photos were being disputed as
\nhoaxes. Brown argued that it was a mistake to have talked about
\nsomething that was not a product of the Institute and his efforts to
\nbring the focus back to remote viewing failed. [edit] Brown’s public
\nstatement In a January 20, 1997 public statement, Brown suggested that
\nthe comet photos sent to him were part of a "wide-scale and highly
\norganized disinformation campaign" with "resources that extend beyond
\nthose of any university or professor," and that The Farsight Institute
\nhad walked into a trap by talking about the photo. "Disinformation
\ncampaigns," says Brown, "are not unusual in the area of
\nextraterrestrial life." This major scandal involving the astronomical
\nphotos destroyed any significant public credibility either Brown or The
\nFarsight Institute may have had previously about the Hale Bopp comet
\ncontroversy. January 16, 1997 was the last time Brown was invited to
\nappear on the Art Bell radio show. The Hale Bopp story continued in
\nfull force on the Art Bell show, with the so-called Hale Bopp
\n"Companion" being popularly referenced as "Hail Mary." <\/p>\n
\non his show more than once between January 1997 and March 1997. Dames
\ntalked about his company’s remote viewing data that showed that the
\ncomet’s companion carried a plant pathogen targeting Africa that will
\nkill all plant life. He said that his remote viewing data showed that
\nthis was engineered by aliens who wanted to eliminate humans from the
\nearth. He explained that all plants, including all food, will
\neventually be destroyed. That people will have nothing left to eat as
\nthis will cause a massive starvation worldwide. <\/p>\n
\nthe internet, went up on The Farsight Institute’s bulletin board. It
\nclaimed to come from a spy who identified himself as "The Watcher" and
\nwho worked for an unidentified agency. He wrote that there was a
\ncampaign to discredit remote viewing because intelligence officials
\nwere not comfortable that it became declassified. This declassification
\ntook place in the mid 1990’s, shortly before whistleblower Dr. David
\nMorehouse, a former CIA & military remote viewer, published his
\nbook that also details a disinformation campaign against his
\ncredibility. The Watcher’s posting also said: "What Dames does not
\nknow, but I am telling him now by writing this, is that several of the
\npeople who view for him are feeding him false information purposely.
\nHis predictions are nothing but fairy tales." Indeed, Dames’
\npredictions never came true but there was no way of verifying the
\nsource of the anonymous posting. [edit] The Heaven’s Gate cult suicide
\nOn March 27 1997, a secretive cult group called Heaven’s Gate chose the
\nappearance of the comet as a signal for their mass cult-suicide in San
\nDiego. They claimed they were leaving their earthly bodies to travel to
\nthe space ship following the comet. It was speculated that members of
\nthe Heaven’s Gate group committed mass suicide based on rumors Bell
\naired, but others discounted this, noting that the Heaven’s Gate
\nwebsite stated that "Whether Hale-Bopp has a ‘companion’ or not is
\nirrelevant from our perspective." <\/p>\n
\nWhitley Strieber, Art Bell’s co-host, later went on the Today Show with
\nformer astronaut Edgar Mitchell in regards to the cult suicide, to
\nexplain how important it is that the subject of extraterrestrial life
\nbe addressed by science before deciding what is going on. <\/p>\n
\ncontinues to stand by his company’s RV data about Hale Bopp companion
\non its way to create destruction on Earth (http:\/\/www.firedocs.com\/remoteviewing\/transcript_ab970422ed.cfm)<\/a> <\/p>\n