Dear Uncle Robert,

I hope that this little package and its contents finds you and Aunty G in good spirits, good health and in a state of good cheer. I miss you both terribly. I really hope that I will get to come to B' more this year; I bought a new suit...now I gotta get the money for my ticket (-:

Uncle Robert, about this photo that you sent to me: to say that it is amazing would be the understatement of the year, perhaps the millenniums...you know, in my lifetime, I´ve seen some pretty amazing UFO photos, perhaps hundreds, taken from the 1950´s to the present, by people from all over the world. Of course being a natural skeptic (do I take some of this after my Aunty G?), the majority of the photos that I´ve personally seen have looked obviously faked.

Then of course, there have been photos that I´ve looked on with deep curiosity and scrutiny, in which the objects were either too distant or blurry for me to really draw a conclusion of any kind.

But then, there have been a few, a very small few, that I have seen and when I looked, I couldn’t really decide. These have been the photos that have filled me with wonder and glee and astonishment.

Your photo, Uncle Robert, is absolutely one of those.

Believe it or not, the night before I got this print you sent me in the mail, I was reading about a scientific study performed at the University of Colorado in 1968 (a portion of which I´ve reprinted for you so you can laugh and see how long they´ve been thinking about this stuff and what kind of answers people can come up with when they ask really stupid questions), a part of which was to determine criteria for the ``scientific´´ examination of photographs of UFOs...

There were a couple of things which struck me right away as I looked at the photo that you took. Firstly, the clarity and sharpness of the buildings in the foreground of the photo (one can clearly see the wooden or iron lattice pylons on top of the building directly under the object) show the sharpness of the entire landscape (and the steadiness of your hand) as you snapped.

(Of course, I wondered if your hand would have been as steady if you had been all excited, trying to take a picture of something like this moving real quick. LOL)

But secondly, what really struck me was what appeared to be the tremendous speed (how can you describe faster than lightning - or the speed of light??) at which this object appeared to be traveling....probably much quicker - as they say, than the ``twinkling of an eye´´ - from the right to the left of the photo (to my eye at least).

This object, to my mind at least, gave me the impression that it was really in a big hurry to get somewhere, at the end of an earth day, perhaps late for an appointment of some kind.

Absolutely astonishing. And in downtown Baltimore, of all places....with so many people around (-:

You know what Uncle Robert? I´ve read probably thousands of pages of first hand testimony from people from all over the world who have come forward with documents which described things that they have seen or experienced— strange objects, psi phenomena, mystic experiences, sudden changes in consciousness, energy fields, ect.—which would appear to not have any mathematical or accepted scientific explanation.

For example, not too long ago, I was viewing a report about a guy in Siberia who actually built a huge pyramid, out in a field somewhere, not far from an old, partly de-commissioned Russian military base. According to the report, it seems that people from all over the region come to the site to walk around and kinda hang out inside the thing, to feel, as they described it, the ``positive energy force-field vibrations´´ that this structure generates.

No sugar-honey-ice-tea.

They swear out that the fresh beef/pork/lamb meat that the man keeps in the pyramid does not age at all, but stays fresh (okay, it IS Siberia), but that also, the bottles of water that the cat keeps inside the structure don’t freeze, until they are brought outside the structure.

We’re talking about SIBERIA now, okay?...a place where a warm day in winter can be 30C degrees below freezing...where snow and ice rock the house and in some places still, there are no electric lines for little space heaters for your hind-parts, okay?!?

Better than that though, however, are those pesky radar signals (wouldn´t you know it: that old Russian military base still maintains a functioning radar system) that the radar station keeps picking up – kinda like different kinds of energy bursts, blips, bleeps and bloops – which come from this pyramid in the neighborhood.

Oh, and I forgot to mention: the thing is made completely out of PLASTIC AND FIBERGLASS.

The really cool thing about what I saw was the attitude of the people in the village. The townspeople that were interviewed....several hundred it seems....have been making regular pilgrimages to the pyramid because of the POSITIVE HEALTH BENEFITS that they have all reported. People who have suffered with bronchitis and asthma all their lives have reported definite improvement...they are breathing clearer than with Vick´s Vapor Rub or Soltice...people who have suffered from high blood pressure, migraine headaches and other symptoms of general un-wellness have all reported marked, definite IMPROVEMENTS in their physical conditions...they even say that the drinking the water the man keeps in bottles inside the thing has been proven to provide positive health benefits when sipped in moderation.

Frankly, I don't know. Like I said, I'm a born skeptic. And I never left anything in Siberia.

But you did get your masters degree in Chemistry and I did study enough physics and trig to work in engineering for a time so, you know, we both do have some respect for math and for people who work with numbers because their lives depend on it.

So what kinda made me wiggle my ears was when a retired Soviet cosmonaut, who lives in the area, spoke up.

Kinda reminded me of a Russian version of Story Musgrave....anyway, this cat had been suffering from depression in recent years, I guess he would be in his late fifties-to-early sixties. He said that regular visits to the inside of the structure has cured him of chronic depression. He spoke very movingly of how before he began to visit the pyramid, he had really suffered from what we would call clinical depression, for quite a few years; so much so, that he had lost his zest for life: he was listless, without enough energy for day-to-day living....and insisted that over a period of a few months, after visiting the structure, his mood improved considerably. In fact, he described the relief he experienced "as if the weight of the world had fallen from his shoulders"....and that, he found a whole new lease on life.

Man, this guy sounded like he was giving a real, southern-fried-Baptist-style testimony to me if I ever heard one! But since it came from a man who has actually TRAVELLED INTO OUTER SPACE in a Soviet-made rocketship, (I can imagine he was not a C student in math) let's just say he´s got a lot more CREDIBILITY than most Baptist preachers.

And so as these things go, I guess it all depends on what and who you believe, doesn´t it???

All I wanted to say to you, Uncle Robert, is that I believe in you.

Because you are one of the really BIG people who taught me to think for myself, to questions conventional wisdom and accepted authority.

You have shown me that it is possible to struggle in any place in the world that I choose to....and not sell out. You have been, and will forever be, my primary role model as an example of honesty, courage, self-respect and dignity.

You and Aunty G have continued to demonstrate to me the value of discipline and mental toughness. That integrity is my primary tool, not for success alone, but for my survival as a human being on this planet.

I am a richer person because you both have shared your lives with me, for my entire lifetime.

And I have forgotten nothing.

I hope you will be able to enjoy the little things I have sent for your comfort...I only wish I could have sent more.

In the meantime, take care of yourself and I´ll try to call you soon, okay?

Love Always,
Rev