I know by now that whenever I receive e-mail from Pat Mason of MORA it's often interesting and occasionally poignant. The most recent communiqué from Pat was no exception. She wrote me a cryptic note of puzzlement concerning a newly discovered web site that bore an equally cryptic title: EON-4.
As I visited the site and read its contents, I learned that the title EON-4 is actually a kind of code designation which represents the "Earth after the discovery of extraterrestrial life." The EON-4 Project is allegedly a U.S. government operation out of the Groom Lake's Area 51 near Nellis AFB in Nevada. The project's leader is identified as Major General Chas. W. Nichols. The web site's documents state that EON-4 erupted from the claim that in recent years we have not only established radio contact with an advanced, extraterrestrial civilization but have also acquired the wherewithal (from them) to allow the successful teleportation of human subjects ("explorers") to their distant world. Incidentally, this incredible information is being published on the Web, so says the author of the EON-4 material, because it is no longer possible to keep the results secret. This remarkable outcome, they claim, is due to a growing awareness of the original radiotelescope contacts among scientists around the world.
After reading these compelling documents, I became intrigued by the "explorers," three humans purportedly beamed through space to some distant, alien land. On all three of these adventuresome individuals, the EON-4 site provides basic personal information (e.g. dates of birth, occupations, schools attended). Of the three wayfarers, I decided to attempt to verify the scholastic credentials of one Dr. John E. Lange (I chose educational achievement because a search of this nature can be implemented using electronic mail and database search functions as opposed to less expeditious phone calls, the postal service, or actual travel). Dr. Lange's brief biography indicates that he obtained a BS in geological science from Brown University, an MS in mathematics from Syracuse University, and a PhD in applied astrophysics from Boston University. Since the EON-4 material did not state otherwise, I assumed that real names were being used.
I immediately contacted Ms. Ann Rockwell, the executive assistant for Brown University's Alumni Relations Department. I asked her if she had any record of a John Eric Lange having obtained a BS degree from Brown. She referred to the most recent alumni record book as well as the computer database of all of Brown's alumni records. Guess what she discovered? Her records do not indicate that a John Eric Lange ever attended Brown University.
Nonetheless, records can sometimes be in error. So, with that in mind I contacted, Dr. Douglas Anderson, the chairman of Syracuse University's Mathematics Department. I asked Dr. Anderson in an e-mail query if he knew of a John E. Lange or had any record of such a person attending the mathematics graduate school. Dr. Anderson replied that it was against university policy to answer such inquiries via e-mail. He noted that he would consider my request if I sent it to him in writing. I have mailed the inquiry and will await his answer (to be added here when received).
Moving on, I then contacted Professors Theodore Fritz and Kenneth Brecher of Boston University's Astronomy Department. I asked Drs. Fritz and Brecher if they knew of a past doctoral student named John E. Lange and if Boston's astronomy department offers doctoral degrees in applied astrophysics. To my utter shock and disbelief, Dr. Fritz replied that his department has no record of a John E. Lange. Professor Brecher added that while they did offer degrees in astrophysics, they had no program of "applied astrophysics," a term which he considered an "oxymoron" and was not familiar with.
The impression conveyed by this little investigatory exercise is that the credibility of the EON-4 material is suspect. In yet another effort to give them the benefit of the doubt, I turned my attention to Bradbury, an extremely intelligent 12 year-old chimp who purportedly preceded the "explorers" in a test journey to that distant planet. EON-4 documents state that Bradbury had been trained by Dr. Lauren Hutchinson, a researcher from Cornell that worked with chimpanzees for NASA efforts. I next contacted Dr. John Bertram of Cornell's department of zoology and veterinary medicine to inquire about Dr. Hutchinson. Dr. Bertram replied that he was not familiar with Dr. Hutchinson or her work and that she was not listed in Cornell's campus directory. He did indicate, however, that there was a possibility that she may work out of Cornell's Medical School in Manhattan or their main campus in central New York state. With a new lead to pursue, I accessed the faculty directory search feature for the Cornell Medical School complex and no matches could be made on Lauren Hutchinson (even spelling variations of the name yielded nothing).
In making all of my initial inquiries about John Lange and Lauren Hutchinson I never revealed the nature of the EON-4 web site or explained any of its premises. In view of all these fruitless inquiries, is it still possible that these people exist and have somehow been overlooked? Assuming that EON-4 is offering truthful and accurate information, of course it's possible but certainly not likely. In my opinion, the probability is high that the EON-4 material is not at all what its face value suggests. I invite curious readers to access the EON-4 site * and examine their claims.
Michael A. Frizzell, Research Director
The Enigma Project
May 23, 1996
* Unfortunately, the EON-4 website now appears to be
defunct
- September 14, 1998