Re: 'Guardian' (London) falls for dead cosmonaut website

From: Bad Weather (alanroby74spam_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 09/09/04 

Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2004 15:08:30 -0700

THAT STORY WAS TRUE. I HEARD THAT THE ITALIAN BROTHERS EVEN RECORDED THE
HIGH-PITCHED GIRLISH DEATH SCREAMS

"Jim Oberg" <jameseoberg@houston.rr.com> wrote in message
news:AH00d.5957$ug2.1507@fe2.texas.rr.com...
>
>
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,,1299695,00.html Lost in space
>
>
> At the height of the space race, two Italian brothers set up a listening
> post in the hills above Turin and began probing the heavens for US and
> Soviet unmanned satellites. One day in early 1961, weeks before Yuri
> Gagarin's epic space flight, the Judica-Cordiglia brothers were startled
by
> a sound that differed from the usual bleeps of the unmanned satellites
they
> were used to tracking. According to the website Lostcosmonauts.com, the
> brothers clearly heard "the beat of a failing heart and the last gasping
> breaths of a dying cosmonaut". The incredible story of a failed Soviet
> mission unfolds on the site, and adds to the archive of unknown Soviet
space
> missions.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Francis French
> To: 'jameseoberg@houston.rr.com'
> Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 11:21 AM
> Subject: FW: Inaccurate science story in the Guardian
>
>
>
>
> Hello Jim,
>
> Below is a message I just sent to the Editor of the UK's "Guardian"
> newspaper. Perhaps you'd like to join me in sending them a letter /
E-mail?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Francis.
>
> Francis French
> Education Programs Coordinator
> Reuben H Fleet Science Center
> PO Box 33303, San Diego, California 92163
> www.rhfleet.org
> Tel: (619) 238 1233 ext: 808
> Fax: (619) 685 5771
> E-mail: ffrench@rhfleet.org
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Francis French
> Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 9:20 AM
> To: 'editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk'
> Subject: Inaccurate science story in the Guardian
>
>
>
> Dear Ms. Bell,
>
> I am a longtime reader of The Guardian, both in print form and, since I
have
> moved to the USA, the online edition, as a reliable source of news. I was
> therefore appalled to see the folllowing story on your Web Watch page:
>
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,,1299695,00.html
>
> which I understand is also repeated in your print edition, regarding the
> "Lost Cosmonauts" website.
>
> The claims of the website owners have long been proven to be utterly
> ludicrous. While the Soviets did cover up names of cosmonauts who never
flew
> for many years, and downplayed details of failed missions, US tracking
> stations knew immediately of any true Soviet manned spaceflights. It has
> also now been almost 15 years since a clear and comprehensive history of
all
> Soviet space activities began emerging from the former USSR, and there has
> never been any evidence whatsoever in this enormous body of material proof
> to support any of the claims made on the website. In fact, they have been
> comprehensively disproven.
>
> If Sean Dodson had done even the most basic amount of journalism - such as
> doing a google web seach on the subject - he would immediately have come
> across sites like this:
>
> http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/trackind/Torre/TorreB.html
>
> Which clearly and comprehensively disprove the claims. There are many
other
> works, such as the work of respected space historian James Oberg, which do
> the same.
>
> I am disheartened to see that Mr. Dodson not only chose to highlight this
> website in your normally accurate newspaper, but also described it as
"adds
> to the archive of unknown Soviet space missions." The Guardian has long
been
> a good source of accurate journalism, and Mr. Dodson suggesting such
> nonsense does your newspaper a descredit.
>
> I hope that you will do the right thing, and publish a retraction. At the
> least, I hope you pass this message on to Mr. Dodson and request that he
> does at least a modicum of research on items he highlights in his column
> before including them. After all, there are plenty of websites stating
that
> humans never landed on the Moon and offering "proof." Does the Guardian
plan
> to promote them also?
>
> I look forward to a reply from you and / or Mr. Dodson.
> Thank you,
> Francis French.
>
> Francis French
> Reuben H Fleet Science Center
> PO Box 33303, San Diego, California 92163
> www.rhfleet.org
> Tel: (619) 238 1233 ext: 808
> Fax: (619) 685 5771
> E-mail: ffrench@rhfleet.org
>
>
>
> ----------
>
>
>
> Jim sent off this email too:
>
>
>
> Dear Editor:
>
> When confronted with a heaven-sent (or outer-space-sent) opportunity to
> unveil some purportedly hidden chapter in space history, I urge your
editors
> to be more prudent in looking around to see if it's not some old lost
> science fiction book chapter. In the struggle to separate fact from
fantasy,
> please put it a little more effort to be on the right side. An obvious
place
> to start should have been the headquarters of the British Interplanetary
> Society in London, surely the most prestigious amateur space history
> organization on Earth (and possibly the galaxy). They might try to
persuade
> you, as I would, that the 'lost cosmonauts myth' is a long-discredited
piece
> of space folklore, based loosely on some sincere but misguided radio
> listeners, and many misinterpreted clues. It was a legitimate possibility
in
> the bad old days of the Space Race, some historians doubted it even then
> (me, for example), but post-Soviet access to Russia has fully and finally
> discredited it.
>
> Jim Oberg
> Houston, Texas
> www.jamesoberg.com
>
>
>