REASON 3. OBSERVATION.
I had the chance to observe and hear the Walters speak at the Ozark UFO Con- ference in April 1990. I listened with an open mind, and actually came away feeling as though there might be some substance to their talk. But one thing bothered me, I got the impression that many of the things they were saying were ad-libs. Several of the stories they told are not recounted in any written ma- terial I can find, and I thought that Ed would start a story and then look to Frances to "back him up", sometimes it almost seemed as though they were play- ing with each other, that is, seeing who could add more and more. Now this was just an observation on my part. Recently I bought Zan Overall's book, GULF
BREEZE/DOUBLE EXPOSED dealing with the "ghost/demon" photo. I was very sur- prised when I read the following on page 12. I only bring it up because I had a chance to see, first hand, what is being talked about in the book.
Heres the set up
Overall is interviewing a girl named Linda who was present at many of the parties held at the Walters home. Ed would make up stories, some he even said had really happened to him like travels to Africa etc., which really didn't happen.
ED AS STORY TELLER
Z.O. "And about the African trailer story you say his wife would say--" LINDA "Yes, she would always join in, I mean, about the trailer." Z.O. "And back him up."
- LINDA
- "Yeah, they would add things and it would make it seem like it really happened to them."
Z.O. "And you said that one time he told stories for three or four hours?" LINDA "Yeah, at Mr. Buck's Christmas party. He sat by the campfire and told stories all night."
(Note: It would seem that for a man with such a highly developed storytelling bent, it would be no problem to tell a long story while "hypnotized," carry on an emotional monologue while cruising with Duane Cook, editor of the Gulf Breeze Sentinel, looking for a UFO, or pass a lie detector test, all things Ed has done that are pointed to as evidence for the reality of his stories.)
We are left with a picture of a man who loved to spin yarns for hours, who could hold an audience, whose wife would chime in with convincing little de- tails. This picture should be kept in mind when considering Ed's present-day claims and stories and his wife's testimony backing them up.
End of copy from Gulf Breeze Double Exposed.
It should be noted that you can not make someone do anything while in the hyp- notic state THAT THEY WOULD NOT ORDINARILY DO. That is, if a person is honest and would NEVER steal in their ordinary waking state, you will not get them to steal while hypnotized, however if they don't see anything wrong with stealing they would probably do it. This can be applied to Ed. If storytelling is an intricate part of his nature, comes naturally, he likes doing it, then it would be possible for him to "tell a story" while hypnotised. BB ]
REASON 4. SLEIGHT OF HAND.
I love stage magic...sleight of hand. I am only a watcher. I enjoy disecting each trick, learning when and how the switch is made. Stage magic is nothing but an illusion. Convincing the audience that they saw something happen which really didn't happen the way they think it did. To accomplish this the magician creates an air of expectation, plants suggestions, misdirects attention. Essen- tially, from the moment the magician steps onto the stage the trick begins, the audience EXPECTS something to happen, afterall, he IS a magician and that is why you are watching. He then tells tells you what he will do, what trick will be performed - make an elephant disappear. "Watch this VERY CLOSELY." he sug- gests, directing your attention to one specific point. Suddenly the music be- comes louder, the stage is filled with people walking back and forth creating distractions, then in a blink, the elephant is gone...and you are left holding the rope!
What does this have to do with Ed Walters? Well, when I read his account of the January 24th "encounter" witnessed by Duane Cook, I began looking at Ed more as a magician and I read Ed's, Cook's and Maccabee's description from that viewpoint. A synopsis of the event follows:
The two source's here are the March 1988 MUFON Journal and the book,
- Here's the set up
- Ed was at home, once again experiencing the "hum" in his head signaling the arival of the craft. It was about 5:15. Ed tried to get the MUFON investigator assigned to him on the walkie-talkie. Unable to get a re- sponse, he called Duane Cook at the Sentinel office. "`It's here! I know it's here, I can hear the buzz,...'", Ed says to Cook. "`You want me to come over there or do you want to come over here?'", Cook says to Ed. Ed decides to drive his own truck and go to the Sentinel office. He brings his video camera and Polaroid. They leave the Sentinel office and head east on Highway 98.
Once on the highway Ed begins his litany. "`They spoke to me!!'", he screams. "`It's here, Duane, it's here.'" "`My right eye is moving!!...Look at my eye. Is it okay?'" He tells Cook he is feeling "stabs of pain" in various parts of his body. "`It was just like a knife sticking in my brain,...'" Ed then tells Cook that they need to get to a more remote area. Cook suggests Soundside Drive, Ed refuses. They drive on, Ed finally stops on a deserted road off of the main highway. All the while, Cook is videotaping.
Now stopped, they both exit the truck. Ed walks to the front of the truck, Cook continues to tape. Ed begins screaming again. His left hand contorts. Cook sug- gests he drop the camera since Ed had already told him he had been previously warned, "`photogrpahs are prohibited.'" Ed says to Cook, "`it is after you, too, and you should get back into the truck.'" It has become too dark to tape, and its drizzling. Cook gets into the truck, Ed remains outside yelling at the UFO and imploring it to "`do it'" The pain subsides and the hum diminishes, finally going away. Ed walks back to the truck and stands at the driverside door. "`I think it's gone, Duane.'" Cook asks how to turn the video camera off. "`Leave it on,...It will help me to remember what happens.'" Suddenly the UFO "blinks" on and Ed, not even aiming his camera gets a perfect picture while Cook scrambles to get out of the truck. Amazingly, the UFO appeared in the exact place where Cook would not have been able to see it! BUT COOK DID SEE
So, what happened here and how does it relate to stage magic? Good question. Up until January 24th, no one had ever seen Ed either with the UFO or in the process of taking a photo of the UFO, with the exception of Ed's wife Frances and a high-school friend, Patrick Hanks (December 27, 1987). With so many photos taken this became a point of suspicion. The January 24th episode, in my opinion, was an attempt on Ed's part to give him more credibility by providing a credible witness.
It's 5:15PM, just 15 minutes from the time the regular MUFON investigator, nor- mally stationed at the school field, is to be in place. Ed is hearing the hum but instead of waiting for the MUFON representative, he calls Duane Cook, a very high profile figure in the community and probably one considered to be a good observer and honest person, and asks him to help. He calls Cook and says, "it's here". By doing this he gets rid of the MUFON person and replaces him with a very credible, well-known person in the community.
Ed is the magician and Cook is the audience. Cook is primed, he already be- lieves Ed is seeing UFOs. He EXPECTS to see one. Ed just told him it was in the area. It is Ed who decides to drive to the Sentinel office and continues to drive eventhough he is experiencing severe pain. It is Ed who decides when and where to stop. Throughout the entire episode Ed distracts Cook by scream- ing, cursing, and asking bizarre questions. Throughout the entire episode, it it Ed who is in control.
After they stop Ed continues the charade. He gets out of the truck and writhes. He tells Cook they could be after HIM too!! He gets Cook back into the truck, then tells him "they" must be gone because the pain and hum are gone, subse- quently getting Cook to relax and drop his guard. Cook wants to turn the video off but Ed stops him saying to leave it on so he can "remember what happens"! HAPPENS!? That's a PRESENT tense. If it's over then why say "happens"? Unless of course you know IT ISN'T REALLY OVER. Those words no sooner spoken when POOF!!, the UFO blinks on in JUST THE RIGHT PLACE for Ed to take a great shot and Cook to see NOTHING but the flash from the camera! But thats the idea!
Cook says, (GBS page 340) "Then it dawned on me that if he got it in the photo- graph, and I watched him take the photo out of the camera, and if I watched as he separated the negative from the positive, that would be as good as having seen it myself!"
And:
Ed quotes Cook in GBS as saying, "`I know one thing. I saw you shoot this pic- ture. And this is the picture that I saw you pull out of the camera, and I peeled.'...`But I can flat guarantee anybody that I saw you take this pic- ture.'"
That is exactly what Ed was going for. A credible, reliable witness, a re- spected member of the community to testify that HE SAW ED TAKE THE PICTURE OF THE UFO. Cook saw the flash and he saw the picture, but he NEVER SAW THE UFO. He got to hold the rope, but he will never be sure if the elephant was really there.
A very similar "sleight of hand" occured on March 17, 1988.
A similar incident oocured on March 17, 1988 at Shoreline Park. The SRS was constructed on March 13th and taken to Shoreline for a test run. Dari Holston, Duane Cook and the Neumanns were present, nothing was seen. Four days later it was again taken to Shoreline and the following episode ensued.
Around 8:15 PM Ed & Frances met with Duane Cook, Dari Holston and Peter Neu- mann. Ed and Frances chose the location of the shoot, setting up plywood at a shoreside picnic table as a windbreak. Ed states that he handed Peter Neu- mann two unopened boxes of film which were then opened and loaded into the two Polaroid cameras. Each exposure in each film pack was coded with the same ser- ial number appearing on each box. Ed took one control shot to establish loca- tion and a second one to determine if lights from Pensacola Beach would show. They did, but only the brightest.
At 10:00 PM everyone left leaving Ed and Frances alone...or so they thought. Ed says, "Only a minute after everybody left, I heard a hum - the first in over an hour." He then saw the UFO "wink" in and took photos 36L & 36R. The flashes lit up the trees in front of the cameras. It was now 10:10 PM. The photos ejected and Ed walked to the truck to look at them. Emerging from the park he saw Duane and Dari sitting in their car and motioned them to come over. According to Ed, all watched the photo develope before their very eyes.
All the witnesses had left Ed & Frances but had remained in the parking lot. They all saw the flash from the cameras, but again, no one saw the UFO because, according to Ed, it appeared in the only spot in the park where it could not be seen from the parking lot!
Afterwards Ed took two more photos making five in all. He then asked another witness to look at the exposure counter on the camera and state aloud how many exposures were left on the camera. It read 5, for a total of ten accounting for every shot - or so he wanted all to believe.
Once again...what happened? Well, for an hour and forty-five minutes, nothing, just like March 13. But within moments of everyone leaving the UFO appears, allowing Ed one quick but PERFECT shot and then its gone! It appeared in the only area where it could not be seen from the parking lot. Keep in mind that Ed and Frances were very familiar with Shoreline Park and that it was they who chose the spot for the shoot. Once again, controlling the event.
BUT you say, Ed handed Neumann two unopened boxes of film. That's right he did, but we don't know if they were FACTORY sealed and in the dark it would be hard to tell. BUT he took five shots and there were five left, that makes ten and that's how many are in a film pack. WRONG. We really don't know HOW many were in the film pack. First, those packs can be reloaded, for example, if you have several exposures left in one pack and several in another you can re-load a single pack and make a full one. Second, the camera really doesn't care how many exposures are in the film pack, everytime the pack is taken out and re- inserted, the film counter re-sets to ten. It doesn't matter if you have two exposures left it will read ten. Third, the film packs are coded with serial numbers matching the exposures, they are not sequential, meaning photos could be taken and easily re-inserted since order would not be important.
Once again, Ed controlled the situation and we don't really know what actually happened. **********************************
We will probably never really know what happened at Gulf Breeze. What I have tried to present is evidence of a different nature not relying specifically on the photos but looking at different aspects of the case in a different way.
The fact that Ed took approximately 40 excellent photos is enough to rouse sus- picion. That he quickly copyrighted them is again uncharacteristic of your av- erage witness. But Ed ISN'T your average witness. He is a successful, intelli- gent businessman. He loves to tell a good story, so much so, that he couldn't restrain himself from embellishing his accounts of incidents in the book. He loves to play practical jokes and to create illusions. I will go so far as to that I think each time a criticism was leveled at him he viewed it as a chal- lenge and found ways around it. A bad assumption is that one would have to be pathological to do what Ed has done, that's not true, you just need to love a good game.
In conclusion I would like to quote a paragraph from BODY MAGIC by magician John Fisher:
Nothing shows more vividly the way in which we see what our assumptions lead us to think we see than the experiment carried out by the Russian film director Poudovkine. Having filmed an expressionless close-up of the actor Mosjoukine, he intercut the same shot in such a way that it followed on from footage of a plate of soup, of a young girl lying dead in her coffin, and of a child at play respectively. Then he showed the finished print to an audience, who had to report what they saw. They all noticed how the actor gazed hungrily at the soup, sadly at the death scenec, happily at the child. And yet they had seen the same impassive face three times. Preconcieved ideas can more than lead you astray. They can actually make you see what simply does not exist.
I suppose that can work both ways.
END
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In fairness I have sent a copy of this series to Ed & Frances Walters and have asked for their comments. BB
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