* three-quarters of the population (74.5%) believe that some alternative treatments are at least as effective as traditional medicine

* half the population (52%) believe dreams can sometimes foretell the future

* a quarter of the population believe UFOs are probably spaceships from other worlds

In addition, 41.2% believe in ancient advanced civilisations, such as Atlantis; 37.2% in haunted houses; 28% in mind over matter (telekinesis); 19.9% in communication with the dead; 17.9% in creatures such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster; and 12.8% in psychics, astrologers and tarot readers being able to foresee the future.

The wide-ranging survey, subtitled New Insights to the Depth and Complexity of Religion in the US, also reveals marked differences in beliefs between the sexes and also between different geographical areas of the US.

The statistics quoted are averages. When broken down they reveal that twice as many women (27.2%) believe in communication with the dead, compared with 14% of men - producing an average of 19.9%. However, more men (29.1%) believe in UFOs, compared with women (23.2%).

The Eastern states also score higher in most categories, compared with the Midwest, South and West.

Almost one in five (19%) in the East had called or consulted a medium, fortune teller or psychic, more than twice the number in the South (8.4%) and almost double the figure for the Midwest (10.5%).

ouija.jpgOne in 10 (11%) of respondents in the East admitted to having consulted a ouija board to contact a deceased person, which is twice as many as in the West (5.6%).

The research, which was conducted by the Gallup Organisation and funded by the John M. Templeton Foundation, was based on the views of 1,721 respondents. Other parts of the survey sought their views on God - and America's four Gods: benevolent, authoritarian, distant and critical - sexual morality, The Da Vinci Code, abortion and terrorism.

Two dozen different studies are now in progress, based on the BSF findings, with publication due in Spring 2007.

The full 74-page report on BRS's initial findings is downloadable, free of charge

The tunnel appeared after a meditation session. After another earlier attempt at meditating, an energy field was seen to swoop down upon the seated fellow. It uttered an animal roar as it sped by - the meditator was completely terrified. The researchers compared what they'd seen to the invisible force scene from the movie "Predator".

Some of the other creatures who populate the Uintah Basin in N.E. Utah are only detectable because they block out the stars or by the enormous foot or claw prints that they leave behind.

The rancher and his family had moved there in good faith, bringing their expensive herd of Angus cattle to the property. They lost so many cows there that they eventually had to leave, allowing the research team to take their place. Whatever is there does not allow domesticated livestock to pollute its sacred ground.

Previous tenants had been warned not to try to dig anywhere on the land. In the 1770s the exploring Spanish had noticed underground activity there along with flying lights. The Ute tribe has 15 generations of tales to tell.

There are deposits of the rare hydrocarbon Gilsonite on the ranch.

The UFO underground mining activity is similar to the situation in Pine Bush, New York. Large black flying triangles are seen in both areas. The rancher had seen a craft entering the atmosphere through a hole in the sky. At night he was able to see blue sky through one of these openings, as if it were the entrance to another world. There was another tunnel up there whose entrance opened directly opposite their homestead. Many of the sightings of anomalous creatures were one-time events, as if the animals were just passing through our dimension.

When they first came to the land, the rancher's wife was greeted at the gate by an oversized wolf that had to lean down in order to gaze into her car window. This sighting is reminiscent of the paranormal black dog of Norfolk, England which inspired the Sherlock Holmes mystery, "The Hound of the Baskervilles". "Black Shuck" as they call him, once appeared in a church, killing two people on his way out. The burn marks he left as he retreated are still visible on the doorway. There had been no repopulation of wolves to the Uinta region. Soon after this encounter, the rancher's wife observed what seemed to be an RV out in the field. There was a dark figure seated behind a desk inside. When he stood up, he took up the entire doorway. He was wearing a black helmet with a visor, black clothes and boots. The next day she and her husband went out to the field. When she saw the 18" bootprints he'd left behind, she became hysterical. The RV-type craft has also been seen in Brazil where they are called "chupas". These UFOs have been known to hunt the Amazonian hunters who wait in the trees at night for animals to pass by.

A darting red light chased the horses off a cliff one night resulting in serious injuries. Sometimes the animals were seen to panic from the presence of invisible creatures. The rancher advised the research team to stalk the phenomenon as if it were a wild animal. He'd observed a multicolored craft one night which lit up the snow with its colorful lights. When a twig broke, the craft turned off its lights and turned towards him. The rancher thought that this was the type of reaction that one would expect from a living creature. In Dulce, New Mexico, sightings of enormous UFOs are not uncommon. One huge manta-ray shaped ship appeared to be covered with the skin of a sea creature. It was grey, dimpled, and wrinkled. A little ET was spotted with the same sort of skin. Some theorize that the craft themselves are alive. This echoes the words of Ezekiel in his first chapter, the famous Biblical UFO
encounter. Ezekiel refers to the "wheel within a wheel" form of the "Throne of God" and to the "living creatures" which accompany the wheels flying in the sky.

The area of N.W. New Mexico is also famous for its suit-wearing wolfmen and ghastly-faced ghost runners which have been know to keep pace with the patrol cars of the Highway Patrol. How do you know whether it was a Bigfoot who raided your garden? Answer: Only the fruit on the top of the tree is gone. Last week there was a sighting of a white Bigfoot up in Fort Apache, Arizona. Since these animals are known to appear on or near Indian reservations, the news was not a surprise.

FW: Thank you Mike for agreeing to do this interview and being one of the first participants in the latest addition to our "Knowledge is Power" web-site i.e., "the interview section."

In our private correspondence you certainly have convinced me of the "gravity" of what has erroneously become known as the Phoenix Lights; that title certainly doesn't represent what occurred on March 13th, 1997.

In any event, why don't we start by informing the readers of who Mike Fortson is . . . give us some background.

MF: I was born February 24, 1953, in Hertfordshire, UK. My parents are both Americans from Indiana. My father was a staff sergeant in the USAF stationed in London. I spent the first 18 months of my life in England, then Georgia for 5 years or so. Then in 1959 we moved to Kokomo, Indiana where I spent the next 16 years.

I graduated high school in 1971 and unfortunately my lottery number for the draft (Viet Nam) was under 60 and I was headed into the military. Lucky for me my test scores were high enough that the US Navy took me with a 4 year enlistment. During boot camp I was asked if I would be interested in the USN Ceremonial Guard in Washington, D.C. I said, "yes". I spent my entire Navy career (4 years) in DC doing military funerals in Arlington National, state dinners at the White House, participated in full honor arrivals for foreign heads of state. Highlights included; Nixon's inauguration, funerals for Presidents Johnson and Truman. I participated in over 1500 military funerals in Arlington National. I had a White House security clearance.

In June of 1972, I married my high school sweetheart. We have now been married for over 34 years. We have 3 sons, now aged 29, 30 and 32. Along with that comes the grand kids; twin girls 11, another grand daughter 8, 7, and my only grandson, 5 months.

I have been in sales since I got out of the Navy in 1975. In 1979 the auto recession pushed us out of Indiana and we were part of the rush to Texas. I worked in the oilfields until 1986. When oil dropped to $6 a barrel and we loaded up again and moved to Arizona. I now sell real estate in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

FW: Sounds like you've led a very rewarding and interesting life; having a "White House security clearance" certainly is an honorarium for one's resume.

Obviously your military career instilled a certain set of values within you, wouldn't you agree?

MF: Well, being raised with a military discipline and being in the Honor Guard at such a young age, I've almost always been held to a higher standard. My parents were strict and the Ceremonial Guard was very strict, so it's pretty much all I knew. Then we had three boys by the time we were 23 or 24. I guess the best way to measure our values is to look at our sons and the lives they lead.

Having and keeping a "White House Security Clearance" is a must for anyone in the Honor Guard of any branch of the US military. After all, most of the time I'm within arm's length of the President or other heads of state with a fixed bayonet on my rifle. Yes, one better have a very high security clearance. Truthfully, I did not fully appreciate what I had achieved in the military until I had been out for several years. You have no idea the work it takes to have your uniforms perfect. Your brass, shoes and gloves perfect. And since we were in the public eye so much, even our work clothes were starched and pressed. However, on the other side of the coin, I wasn't operating a 50 cal machine gun in the Mekong Delta.

FW:Most certainly the character of one's offspring is indicative of their upbringing, and you're obviously a proud father; my hat is off to you Mike, as it it is with all those who have served.

Turning to Ufology, prior to the events in March '97, what was your view of the subject if any?

MF: I had heard stories of Roswell, but for the most part...my beliefs or non-beliefs were completely non-existent. I pretty much never gave it much thought, if any. We've been told all our lives that "they" don't exist. That belief in UFO's/aliens is just fantasy, so I don't think I had an opinion one way or another. It's kind'a like being from Missouri...show me. (and "they" did)

FW: So, admittedly, prior to your "life-changing event," you were "ignorant to the subject," and had you been asked about it's validity, you would have dismissed it . . . correct?

MF: Correct. I had never sky watched looking for ET prior to March 13, 1997. Nor had I been in any in depth conversations on the subject. I probably would have said, "yeah, right" if someone had told me of an encounter with a UFO.

However, I do remember watching television and movies about UFO's/aliens. I was a Star-Trek fan in the 60's-70's. I also remember watching tv shows like; "Lost in Space", "The Invaders", "Space 1999", etc. movies like "ET" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". These were popular shows and we did enjoy them. I am also a "Star Wars" fan. But the depth of this was entertainment value only.

FW: Aside from being a sci-fi fan (something we have in common) in essence I feel you, like the rest of us were/are the end product of what I call "societal programming," as well as the input from our parents. In other words it's instilled in us that Ufology lies beyond the borders of normalcy, the subject is silly etc. For those of us ignorant of the subject, (as we all were at one time) we're left with only the a fore mentioned dogma.

As you approached March 13th, Hale-Bopp was visible, and there much ado in the media wasn't there?

MF: Yes, I believe that there were early morning and evening opportunities to view the comet. It was rare to see and I believe if not on the news every night, it was revealed by our local weatherman when viewing times would be. I really don't know of anyone who at least didn't watch it for a few minutes at least once. If I remember right, we would keep an 'eye" on it quite often. It was a rare occurrence and we both enjoyed being able to view it.

FW: So it was common knowledge about the comet, and "eyes were to the skies" so to speak? March 13th fell on what day of the week exactly?

MF: March 13, 1997 was on a Thursday.

FW: Do you recall your activities that day; if so please elaborate.

MF: No, not at all as far as any detail goes. In 1997, I worked for a company out of Chicago. I ran a home office for them. My territory was the entire state of Arizona. I would have worked, placed calls, placed orders, and handled company business. I probably got some groceries as I do almost all the cooking. We would have enjoyed dinner around 6:30 and crashed on the sectional sofa watching television (probably college basketball, as March Madness might be getting underway) Then I awoke from a brief nap and told my wife I was going to bed, I glanced to the television and the clock read 8:30. Nothing of any remembrance or importance occurred that day until 8:30 pm. It was just another normal day at the Fortson household. But, 8:30 pm., will be forever embedded in my memory. It was the exact minute when our lives changed forever.

FW: SO, it's now Thursday night at 8:30, March 13th, 1997 . . . what happened then?

MF: I guess now would be the proper place for me to cut and paste my original report I filed in March of 1997....

See: Eye Witness Mike Fortson's Original Report of 'The 'Phoenix Lights'

After the massive V shaped object left our field of view, we must have searched the sky for several more minutes. We wondered if anyone else had seen it. We confirmed again and again that it was ONE solid object. And we tried to reason how something that massive could stay aloft without making any noise. It was just too low and too slow, and for sure just way too big to be something of our Earth. The size of the object left us in a state of awe and mild shock. After several minutes of searching, hoping for one more glimpse we went back inside. Nannette sat on the sofa and I sat on a bar stool facing her. We just stared at each other for multiple minutes, maybe 10, maybe even 30, we don't remember. Then I got up and proceeded back outside and as I passed my wife, I said to her, "we just saw our first UFO!" She looked at me very seriously and said, "I know". We both went back outside and searched the skies one more time. Wanting really some kind of understanding for what we had just witnessed. But after several minutes of searching we gave up and resigned to the fact that there was no more for us to see. At this point, I'm pretty sure we just went to bed.

I did not call any radio stations. I did not call any television stations. I did not call the police nor did I call Luke AFB. Those thoughts never occurred to me to do as something that needed to be or should be done. At this point we thought that we might be the only ones to have seen this profoundly enormous object.

Schrodinger's cat - the idea that quantum artifacts can either be "alive" or "dead" depending upon the moment and circumstance of observation - can be used as a theoretical construct when it comes to the observation of a UFO, past or present.

Bell's theorem explains the elusive nature of quantum - and UFOs, if one accepts the premise that UFOs are quantum:

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle also applies:

The maxim that events (quantum events) are altered by their observation (measurement) also applies.

When a quantum element (particle) is observed (scientifically "measured") it is changed by that measurement.

In non-quantum reality, observed events are also distorted or affected by their observation.

For example, take a video camera into a room of people and the actions of those people will become quite different than they would be if no camera were present.

The exact behavior can't be determined, just as an observation of quantum artifacts can't be determined, as in Schrodinger's dead cat analogy or as theorized by Heisenberg.

UFOs are the missing link between Newton's (and Einstein's to some extent) physics and the quantum "reality" of Bohr, Heisenberg, et al.

UFOs, which we posit elsewhere here, are moribund, maybe even extinct, but a study of the phenomenon, with the discipline of quantum mechanics could forge a renascence of the things, even going so far as to defining that reality which eludes physicists consumed by dead-end theories like string or unified field.

Yes, UFOs may be dead, like Schrodinger's cat, but a new observation may revive them.

Unfortunately, those interested in UFOs, the mavens of the mystery, are not adept and the kind of reasoning needed to take the phenomenon from anecdotal reality to a physical reality.

And scientists are loath to get mixed up with UFOs and the scatterbrained people who champion the phenomenon.

So, where can one go with all this now? That's also an uncertainty....

Did aliens actually die in the 1947 Roswell Crash! Of course they did! We have enough courtroom witnesses to make this point. Did they autopsy the aliens to learn as much about these extraterrestrials as they possibly could.. Of course they did! Is the alien autopsy film that many of us have seen the actual film of the autopsy. Maybe and maybe not! Black operations gets a real kick out of this!

They know full well that those of us who have a need to dot every i and cross every t will analyze this to death. So all they have to do is create the slightest discrepancies and many will immediately call the film a fake!

For example, they might take the actual 1947 film and reproduce it on a film that was made in say 1963 (I am making this up!).

Immediately the experts among us will shout fraud and off they will go! "Pleased as punch" that they have proven the film is fraudulent.

Is the film fraudulent! Well yes and no!

In this example the film does represent an actual autopsy of an alien. It just doesn't happen to represent the autopsy of an alien who died in the 1947 crash. It is important to note that a number of aliens have died in crashes. Thus, it could be an autopsy of aliens who were involved in any one of a number of different crashes including the 1947 crashes.

Have "Black Operations" taught us something and still kept the peace among themselves? Of course they have! No panic here!

The facts are that aliens have died when their craft have crashed on earth.

The facts are some if not all of these beings were autopsied.

The facts are that the autopsies were probably filmed!

The facts are that we, the public, have been shown film that has been altered in some way to make us question our own judgment.

Thus, the public has been taught that aliens have died in extraterrestrial crashes on earth. The public has also been taught that our government is fully aware of these events and has done everything they can possibly do to learn as much about the extraterrestrials as they can.

In conclusion, I hope many of you will be able to make sense out of what I have just tried to inform you about. We, the public, are being taught about the beings from other planets coming to earth.

Sometimes with facts, meaning things are exactly what they appear to be! And sometimes through science fiction. Meaning the theme of story is essentially true even if the story itself is made up.

The best public example of this is the Steven Spielberg film "TAKEN." The story is made up but the behavior and abilities of our government are essentially true and the behavior, abilities and technology of the extraterrestrials as presented in the film are also essentially true.

But it's not a geyser; it's fed by a cold-water spring. In fall and winter it has a natural cycle, about 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off.

The only other spring like it in the world is in France. It's a point of pride in nearby Afton, Wyoming.

Al Hale, Afton, Wyo. Resident: "Well the folklore is that the Indians were the first ones to see this phenomenon."

Just before it erupts, the spring emits a deep gurgling noise. A rising puddle quickly becomes a surprisingly vigorous roaring creek.

Kip Solomon, University of Utah Hydrologist: "Well, everything about this spring is somewhat surprising. It's an extremely unusual occurrence."

The town of Afton built a structure to protect their water supply. It's very cold, very pure, and it tastes good. It's won national awards.

Rulon Gardner, Olympic Gold Medalist: "Of course! You know, Star Valley water. It's the best in the world."

Olympic gold medalist Rulon Gardner's great-great grand-dad is credited with the discovery.

Rulon Gardner, Olympic Gold Medalist: "He was up there logging. He went up and found a nice little place to get some fresh water. It was intermittent. It went, and stopped. So it was pretty amazing."

In late summer, scientists collected water samples. They're exploring an old theory involving a mysterious underground chamber.

Prof. Kip Solomon: "We can't think of another explanation at the moment."

Here's the theory: As groundwater flows continuously into a cavern, it fills a narrow tube that leads out. As it pours over the high point of the tube, it creates a siphon effect, sucking water out of the chamber. Eventually air rushes in and breaks the siphon.

Gerald Vanbrunt, Arkansas Tourist: "It's kind of like a toilet flushing. All the water goes out, it fills back up, and goes back out."

The spring water's gas content has now been tested at the University of Utah. The data strongly suggests the water was exposed to air underground; strong support for the siphon theory.

Prof. Kip Solomon: "Yeah, I think that we're a step closer to the answer."

Someday, science may have a definitive answer. For now, we can just enjoy the natural wonder of an on-again, off-again, mystery river.

The intermittent spring is at the end of a half-mile hike, in a canyon straight east of Afton, Wyoming.

The clues also suggest that police at the time were probably searching for the wrong kind of man.

The Ripper, who strangled and butchered five prostitutes in East London in seemingly motiveless attacks in 1888, is thought to have been aged between 25 and 35, about 5ft 6in (1.68m) tall and stockily built.

Laura Richards, head of analysis at Scotland Yard's violent crime unit, which conducted the study, said: 'For the first time, we are able to understand the kind of person Jack the Ripper was.

'We can name the street where he probably lived, we can see what he looked like and we can explain, finally, why he eluded justice.' Ms Richards and former Metropolitan Police commander John Grieve assembled a team of experts including pathologists, historians and a geographical profiler to see whether the case could be solved.

They analysed the Ripper 's killings and examined 13 witness statements taken at the time to come up with a person who, according to Ms Richards, was 'frighteningly normal, yet capable of extraordinary cruelty'.

Mr Grieve added: 'This is further than anyone else has got.

'It would have been enough for coppers to get out and start knocking on doors. They would have got him.'

The results of the team's study will be shown in Jack the Ripper: The First Serial Killer - Revealed, on Five at 8pm tomorrow.