Although Shuttlewood was acquainted with numerous people, among them UFO researchers, he never had or cultivated any relationships where other people might be considered his 'followers'; however, the first paragraph of the FSR editorial raises the question of 'cultism':
An important prerequisite for any serious study of the UFO phenomenon is that the student should overlook nothing; that in addition to his essential attention to reports of aerial mysteries, to stories of landings and of alleged occupants of flying saucers, he should bear carefully in mind the claims of the "contactees." We have never made any bones about this, although we have stipulated that such claims should be considered only when shorn of the cultism that inevitably surrounds them.
It should be evident to anyone who has read case study books of the so-called 'contactees' that 'cultism' has never been a factor in the cases (profiled in previous blog articles) of Shuttlewood, Daniel Fry, Orfeo Angelucci and Truman Bethurum.
In his editorial, Bowen next presented his perspective of the case -
When events around the Wiltshire town of Warminster began to break into the news in 1965, "Flying Saucer Review" became very interested. Accounts of poltergeist-type noises and of coincident, fleeting lights in the night, together with the remarkable report from the Reverend Phillips' family, duly appeared in our pages ("The Warminster Phenomenon": FSR, Vol. 11, No. 4 July/August 1965). Thereafter, in no time at all, a photograph, of what was claimed to be a flying saucer seen over Warminster, was published in the "Daily Mirror". When somebody described the object as a "Thing," the capital "T" caught the imagination of the public, and the newspapers of the world scrambled to outdo each other with reports from Warminster.
The sensational furore alarmed us, and, plagued by a succession of phoney-looking photographs of follow-up objects, it was decided to maintain a discreet silence in our pages.
Reading this, I recalled that authors with a superficial knowledge of seance accounts have concluded that 'simulacrums' seen in photographic evidence are obvious signs of fraud. What these authors have overlooked are the controlled conditions for the test seances and resulting photos along with the numerous testimonials of researchers supporting authenticity. In "Leaves from a Psychist's Case-Book" (1933) unwavering 'skeptic' Harry Price was left to formulate the only theory he considered possible after a close and thorough study of cooperative trance medium Helen Duncan's materializations and other phenomena: "Every orifice of her body was medically explored-and we found nothing... We formed the opinion that Mrs. Duncan was a regurgitator, i.e. a person who could swallow things and bring them up again at will..." In his own words, Prince observed about the 'cheesecloth' (ectoplasm) during a seance with the entranced Mrs. Duncan: "There appeared to be yards of it. Some of it was trailing on the floor; one end was poked up her nostril; a piece was issuing from her mouth. It moved, it writhed, it waggled, it squirmed on the floor, it spread itself out like an apron... All these transformations and permutations took place in a red light bright enough to read small print by." Price did not comment about the allusive photographic detail of the ectoplasmic 'veils' shared by materialized people and simulacrums alike (see the final photos in these previous blog articles: 1 and 2). Similarly, Bowen was quick to conclude the flying saucer photos were "phoney-looking." A similar hasty conclusion might be made by a reader who first considers evidence collected in the annals of Instrumental Transcommunication, the subject of another previous blog article. Several ITC detailed case study books are available to be read without charge online. Also to consider are the numerous testimonials about the facet of unexplained phenomena called 'precipitated paintings' associated with Spiritualist mediums and Madame Blavatsky.
Bowen further commented:
From the midst of the red-hot clamour there arose the figure of Arthur Shuttlewood. This enthusiastic and persistent small town journalist was destined, according to his published claims, to become Britain's most vociferous contactee. (See Arthur Shuttlewood's two books: "The Warminster Mystery", Neville Spearman Ltd, London, and "Warnings from Flying Friends", Portway Press, Warminster.) Predictably a vigorous cult grew up and centred on Warminster's rolling downlands: in the words of one detractor, it was a "Cradle Cult." We continued with our policy of "wait and see."
Elsewhere in these pages, readers will find an account by Mr. Shuttlewood of a "sighting." They will also catch more than a hint of a typical contactee "message"; at the same time they will observe that non-cultist investigators also visit Cradle Hill.
Bowen offers no evidence to support the allegations of "cultism." Bowen followed this commentary with these three paragraphs.
At long last, a group of observers not connected with the "regulars" at Warminster, have obtained worthwhile, perhaps significant, pictures of something very unusual in the skies above the hills frequented by Britain's currently active contactee.
While the existence of these photographs underlies the fact that the Shuttlewood claims should not be cast aside, these words should not be construed as an exhortation that the "messages" he relays should be believed uncritically. Instead his claims should be observed within the context of the overall UFO phenomena.
Arthur Shuttlewood, a phenomenon within the Warminster Phenomenon, states that scores, even hundreds, of UFO manifestations have occurred around Warminster, and that he has had messages from the "operators." It should be remembered that Mr. Shuttlewood is but one among hundreds of contactees around the world-many of them going unpublicised and unknown-and we should never cease to ask ourselves what could be the reason for "that" phenomenon.
The photograph that is the basis for articles in this issue of FSR ("Photographs from Cradle Hill" by John C. Ben and "The Warminster Photographs Examined" by Percy Hennell) would later be identified as a hoax in the articles "Experimental UFO Hoaxing" by David Simpson ("MUFOB", March 1976) and "An Account of Experimental Hoaxing" by David Simpson and Ken Raine ("Magonia", July 2001). These events show the difficulty of editor Charles Bowen in assessing the credibility of witnesses and evidence.
My predicament is very different from Bowen's as I have had the advantage of considering six books written by Shuttlewood and have been able to listen to audio recordings of his lectures. These circumstances are a reminder that an author's personal integrity is important to consider in relation to his or her credibility. The details Shuttlewood offered about his career and background have never been faulted.
Although there were many longer articles in the same issue of FSR, the Shuttlewood article "Ellipsoid, Plume ">This contribution is an extract from a longer article submitted by the author. The portion which was omitted covers an incident which allegedly took place on February 18 this year, and during which he claims he again saw the "pyramid-carrying UFO" together with a vision of a silvery circle and cross... a pattern "chock a'block of 'nines'" which he considers of great significance.
Further information about the incident is included in Shuttlewood's third book "UFOs: Key to the New Age" (reviewed in a previous blog article).
Throughout the course of many decades reading metaphysical books, I have often noticed that case study books about 'unexplained phenomena' are inaccurately reported by overtly skeptical writers who seem confident that their readers will never make the effort to themselves read and consider with an open mind the original source accounts. 'Disinformation' can be recognized when there may be found lies, contradictions, assumptions, vague and unsubstantiated generalizations, and/or data where no meaningful source is cited. In some instances, disinformation consists of acceptable conclusions interspersed with questionable ones to enhance them. Sadly, some people engaging in a disinformation campaign, propaganda operation or cover-up are not following his or her own conscience but have chosen to follow protocols ordained by others who themselves may be functioning irresponsibly.
I recently listened to two lectures (1967 and 1971) by Charles Bowen that were included on the Wendy Connors Faded Discs Audio Archive of UFO History CD "UFOs Across The Ponds: An Audio Retrospective of British ">- that in 1953 the Robertson Panel's report was utilized to fulfill a CIA directive to debunk all flying saucer and flying saucer books indiscriminately. This agenda could still be influencing public awareness six decades later.
