Volume 3, Issue 4, page 3

Are 'Missing' Ships,
Dinosaurs, Persons
Mere Collected 'Recor
NE QUALITY which, at first glance, all
,) material things seem to have in common
is the ability to record. Rocks carry
erosion scars, stains, moss, or other traces
of their own contacts with their environment.
Most animals can be trailed by their scent
record (which record, incidentally, is often
written on air). Water carries dissolved traces of where it's been.

Some records, such as an unheard sound
wave, are soon lost while a scratch on a diamond could last quite awhile. The very shape
of a living plant or animal can serve as a
record of' its progenitor's mode of life. The
recording capabilities of the human organism
on the atomic, cellular, organic, and mental
levels, and along the genetic and theta lines
(or how shall we class past lives?) on the
paraphysical levels are nothing short of fantastic. We know this from personal experience.
Is there any proof that this transcendent capacity for keeping track of the past is reserved for homo sap?
The relative accuracy of available records
appears to depend to a great extent on the observer's ability for correct interpretation.

Just suppose some intelligent entity were
to set up an experiment on a cosmic scale. He
(she? it?) incorporates certain controlling
parameters, subsequently known to some of the
participants as "laws of nature". Some type of
telemetering equipment, such as a soul or
spirit, is installed in the more mobile or
adaptable units. (Small portions of the entity
could be assigned such duty.) The experiment
is then activated as an operating universe in
which every, or almost every, component is
capable, to a greater or lesser degree, of
maintaining its own historical record in a
manner usable to the prime entity.

When it desires to examine some of the
records in detail, the entity can take certain
units out of' the picture in a manner calculated not to disturb the remainder too much. A
pet cat disappears and no one thinks much
about it. After a tornado, there are thousands
of missing items which no one really expects
to find. When an extensive sampling is necessary, a war could provide diversion to cover
the removal of an enormous number of items.
A certain percentage of' dead, wounded, and
missing is taken for granted by the combatants.

Occasionally, the telemetered signals might
report an impending crisis of such urgency
that the requirement for immediate detailed
data would allow no opportunity for misdirection, and the removal of recording units from,
say, a ship like the "Marie Celeste" would
arouse a mild curiosity in the remaining population. Of' course, any entity capable of setItAto
Xs -- '
1956 The A
By ARDEN BERGQUIST
4fr''
ds'? ``= .:-Y