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Speaking of all this impact, let us inspect what has happened to "impact" the life of a kindly, old scientist, who possibly ( according to one Python skit )smells of berries...

The VERY last Word, on Aussie Bloke...from the REAL Dr. Gartrell...

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http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9767410%5E2682,00.html

Caught in a comet's tale

By SAMELA HARRIS

June 7, 2004

A RETIRED Adelaide physicist has been dragged into an Internet hysteria – about a comet hitting Earth – by an imposter who has cast him as a doomsayer.

The drama has been unfolding around the world for a month, but has only just come to the attention of an angry Dr Grant Gartrell, a victim of identity theft and, as a result, the man credited with the end-of-the-world predictions.

"I am very displeased to be caught up in a hoax," he said.

Dr Gartrell's name has been widely published on the Internet as the originator of a prediction that comets were heading for Earth.

The 60-year-old, who now runs a blueberry farm at Mt Compass, has written a thesis on comets, but says that's where the connection ends.

Returning on Saturday from a caving conference in Tasmania, he found his telephone message bank and his e-mail crammed with messages from overseas – including one from a US journalist keen to break the comet story.

The person posing as Dr Gartrell first posted messages on Internet sites from "Aussie Bloke". He then identified himself as Dr Gartrell.

According to the hoaxer, the world does not have long to go and, tomorrow ,"the first dust cloud reaches earth", with a "darkening of skies".

The first comet impact is supposedly scheduled for June 18-20, with second and third impacts a few days later. "I have no idea who is posing as me and making predictions of imminent cataclysmic cometary impacts," Dr Gartrell said.

"I am one of the authors of an article on meteors which appeared in the Australian Journal of Physics in 1975 but, although still interested in it, I have not actively worked in that field much since that time."

Hundreds of Internet pages have been devoted to claims that comets are approaching Earth. Some tell people to go to a remote place with supplies and wait for the end.

"There is more chance of winning the lottery than of a comet striking earth," Dr Gartrell said.

"There is always a finite possibility of the impact of space debris and I am certainly in favour of the work being done on early-warning systems, but I have no knowledge whatsoever of any ... imminent threat. I have never met any of the people who are making such claims on the Internet and, for my own part, I am planning travel arrangements for conferences I expect to attend in several years time."

The Advertiser

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See what happens when one pulls a practical joke of COSMIC proportions? Real people get hurt...

Richard

WooT! I'm GLAD he came forward.

I'm glad it's a hoax.

Wish I could be as certain about the alleged 'recording".

I'm not, however.

I've been working on this thing for a few days now. As of this evening I'm reasonably certain it is a REAL RECORDING (I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with this story though at this point). However, some things have intrigued me about this audio recording.

The digital data is real, I can't seem to decode it at this point. The morse code is real. THe callsign, technically BEACON says "HOBO". It is sent several times in the background. I've yet to locate any radio station with a CWID of HOBO. (I've run a spectral analysis of the audio using just the frequencies that encompass the actual CW signal and have pretty much verified the morse code). CW for those who don't know is another name for morse code (stands for continuous wave, I won't explain details here, message me if you want better explanation).

There is not one, but two sets of digital data. They SEEM to be communicating. It's a type of packet structure, as I though, judging from the spectrum analyzer, I just can't read it. Probably encryped. (shrugs)

I'm trying to get some other software to help me examine it more carefully. No promises though.

The "signals", in particular "Snowball" suffers at least once from something we hams call QSB, or FADING. Some of the other stations show QSB as well. That tells me that is most likely a real received radio signal.

I have not located the original source of the recording. If anyone knows, or the real recording person is reading this, contact me ASAP. I'll keep your identity confidential (even if you tell me it's a hoax, which is fine, but you'll have to prove you recorded it, I'll expect an original tape or the full recording, not just the smal amount we have now). I've got to have some verification you're who you claim. If anyone KNOWS who did it, contact me, please.

Here's my immediate but, perhaps not complete, conclusion.

1) Dr. G's name, as someone suggested was hijacked (we suspected this all along).

2) There is probably NO comet strike at this time :) (as we suspected)

3) The radio recording is, in all probability REAL (but also probably NOT related to this particular story) -- which makes me even that much more inclined to figure that one out as an aside.

4) The psychology of hoaxers like this are ... well, like a Profiler would say, pretty much the same. I've personally dealt with so many of these people over the years that I'm reasonable certain when I see a hoaxer pop up his evil head, in particular when it comes to these sorts of "scientific anomalies". They all have a very similar modus operandi. They all post similar messages (especially some of the stuff I pointed out before). And they all have this kind of "in your face" and "I dare you to prove me wrong" attitude.

ALL of them without exception try to give you some "scientific facts" mixed in with the nonsense, just enough to make you wonder, especially if you're not very well versed in science. I caught a whole bunch of mistaks and posted SOME of those here previously.

I guess that brings this thread to an untimely end (or timely?) Though, I will still be watching the sun and moon over the next couple of weeks for signs of inordinate dimming. :) What really scares me though, isn't the "hoax", it's that damned recording. If it is real, and I'm reasonably certain it is a real recording, then SOMETHING is going to "impact" around 23 June... someplace. What that is, where it is going to impact and why, remains a mystery at this time. That's it for now, folks. Best wishes to all , and THANKS forputting up with me. Rick