22 December 2025
Netflix's “The Manhattan Alien Abduction” was released in October 2024, a month shy of the 35th anniversary of the alleged abduction of Linda Napolitano from her Manhattan apartment. Unlike the more credulous alien abduction fare available to watch on streaming, the hook of this 3-episode series is that they had a skeptic on board who believed that the abduction was a hoax. That she was skeptical may be a ho-hum descriptor, and I would say that this person wasn't a skeptic in a way that our card-carrying members would understand it - as an approach to life. Rather, they had become skeptical of what had unfolded in their eventual home years before their arrival.
1 November 1990
With immigration a topical issue, some New Zealanders may be interested in an article in a recent Omni (January 1990) which looks at apocalyptic prophecies. In it Mark Harwell of Cornell University's Global Environment Program offers cheer to those fearful of nuclear winter: "Move to New Zealand. It's way the hell south and has 30 sheep per capita. You can survive on lamb chops until the smoke clears out of the stratosphere."
1 November 1989
Thanks again to members who have sent me material. I now have so much, that for the first time, I shall have to hold some over until the next issue. Thanks to H. Ruis of Tokoroa who kindly sent me the reply from Irene F. Hughes. It now appears that the psychic never visited N.Z. at all and her facilities are only available from her Chicago office and not from Auckland. She was not willing to send out copies of her citations for crime busting.