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Starchild Funding - Dec 18, 2003 Update 

Hi, Everyone!

Christmas and New Year's greetings to all, wishing you and yours the very best!

2003 has, without question, been the best year yet for the Starchild Project. After four years of struggle, we finally received the necessary help from England and private contributions to get the skull's DNA tested by a topnotch ancient DNA laboratory. There were some ups and downs in that process, but ultimately we learned that we are on a solid track to prove beyond doubt that this amazing relic does indeed come from a once-living being who was not entirely human.

Boiled down tightly, the year's highlights were these:

(1) To test the DNA of normal human bone, it is put in a chemical bath that reduces it to its constituent elements in a few days. Nine months later a small part of the Starchild bone has not and will not dissolve in that chemical bath. This is, obviously, indicative of something highly unusual about at least that part of it.


(2) When the bone was treated like stone rather than bone, it was analyzed and its mitochondrial DNA was recovered. This is the DNA that resides outside the nucleus and passes down from females exclusively. The Starchild's mtDNA was that of a typical Amerindian female, which fits well with our theory that the Starchild was one of the legendary "Starchildren" created by impregnating native women with the seed of Star Beings, however that improbable seeding might have been arranged (naturally or by external, in vitro means).

(3) The critical test was for nuclear DNA, which analyzes the chromosomes and tells about both parents. If the Starchild did indeed have an "alien" father, this is where it would show up. However, the geneticists found that the primers they currently have to use are not yet sophisticated enough to "grab" the Starchild's nuclear DNA for replication and sequencing. They are confident that in another year or two the primers will be sufficiently advanced to do this task, at which time we should find out for sure exactly what the Starchild is or isn't.

(4) While we wait for the advanced primers to come online, other compelling tests are available for analyzing the bone and its chemistry. We should definitely try to determine why it won't dissolve in chemicals that quickly and thoroughly reduce normal human bone, and why it seems to be much harder than normal even though it is half as thick and weighs only half as much. Obviously, something is very aberrant in such bone.

(5) If the bone chemistry should come back highly anomalous, or even moderately anomalous, it would make the wait for the primers a heck of a lot easier for everyone who follows this case closely. Also, it would focus the kind of attention on the Project that we've been unable to secure up to this point. It NEEDS to be done!

Given the above five points, where are we now? Basically, at a crossroads. We can (1) continue the struggle and move forward with the testing of the bone chemistry; or (2) do what we're doing now, waiting for the time to pass until the DNA primers become developed enough to do what needs to be done with the nuclear DNA.

This is exactly where we were, in fact, in September, at the time of the last update, when I made the same plea for continued support to get the bone chemistry analyzed. However, at that time I was still weighing options and had not settled on a definite plan of action, so I was unable to be specific in outlining what I wanted to do and what I required to do it. Now I'm clear on what seems the best course of action for us and what needs to be done to accomplish our goals. It goes as follows:

I need to go to Japan to get the bone chemistry analyzed. Recently I asked Marie Ueda, whom many of you know from her regular attendance at UFO conferences, to take some time during a recent visit to Japan to determine the situation over there regarding interest in the Starchild. She tells me there is indeed interest in it among the Japanese UFO community, and that I should go and make personal contact with them. If I do that, she assures me, I would be able to make my way around the country with their guidance and support, thereby greatly reducing the language difficulties I always assumed would prove fatal if "English-Only" Lloyd went. With her advice in mind, I am now prepared to go and do it myself rather than foist it off on someone else.

To the best of my knowledge, the top lab in the world for what we need done is the Kureha Special Laboratory in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. That's about 200 kilometers northeast of Tokyo. What I need to determine is whether or not we can trust the results of any analysis we get from them. This was no different during the long struggle to find the proper DNA lab. Just because a lab exists, that doesn't mean we can trust any result they give us. If one person working on the analysis has a private agenda that is strongly antithetical to what we're trying to accomplish, we're toast. Such tests are too easy to sabotage. We might as well not even try it.

If you, the regular readers of these updates, collectively decide to support this effort, I will go to Japan to secure the backing of leaders of the Japanese UFO community. Then I will go to the Kureha Lab and meet with the people in charge. I will explain our special needs regarding the Starchild and determine if they can give us the level of wholehearted support we know is required. If we can all get on the same page, we will strike a deal and they will tell me how much bone (and money!) they need to do the tests we require. I will then return to the States, go to where the skull is being kept under close watch, supervise the removal of the proper amount of bone, get that bone safely and securely to the lab, and the tests will be completed.

If you care to inform yourself about the Kureha Special Lab to see what they're about and what services they offer, go to http://www.kureha-special-labo.com/bone_c.html. If you don't want to go to that much trouble, here it is in a nutshell: (1) preparation of bone and tissue samples; (2) measurement of bone mineral composition; (3) measurement of bone density; (4) measurement of bone strength [very important to us!]; (5) bone morphological analysis; (6) bone histomorphometrical analysis. These tests won't be quite as definitive as the nuclear DNA test we have to wait for, but collectively they could produce results that would put the Starchild on the world map as THE relic with the strongest chance of proving itself to be of other than Earthly origin. In my opinion, that makes the trip to and through Japan more than worth the difficulty and cost. But it's up to you.

Another hot iron in the Starchild fire is a major article I've written for a new magazine called "Phenomena" --(view the cover at www.phenomenamagazine.com ) -- which will be on newsstands in the U.S. (all Barnes & Nobles) and Britain (Watkins Books and WH Smiths) in mid-January. In that article I sum up where things stand now after five years of laboring to get the Starchild recognized by mainstream science, and to get it analyzed such that no one can successfully argue with the results, whatever those results might be. If anyone reading this wants or needs to see the article before making a contribution to the Project, please contact me and I'll send you its text via email. Otherwise, be on the lookout for it in January -- "Phenomena." It's a good article in a good magazine, as is my other favorite, "Nexus" (www.nexusmagazine.com), also topnotch. (For those with any interest, the "Nexus" website provides access to my three major articles on the Intervention Theory of origins, of both life and humans. Just go to the first page of the site and scroll down to find them.)

On another front, let me mention the excellent series of UFO documentaries the Sci-Fi channel has completed to analyze the famous UFO sightings/landings at Roswell, Kecksburg, and most recently, Rendelsham Forest. All three have been hosted by Bryant Gumbel, a New Orleanian from way back. If anyone reading this knows how to get in touch with Bryant or with any of the producers of the Sci-Fi show, please let them know about the Starchild Project and direct them to the website, www.starchildproject.com. Who knows? Maybe they'll decide to do a show about the skull. I realize Hollywood's wheels grind with glacial slowness, but they have to start grinding somewhere. Any help any of you can give us in this regard will be greatly appreciated.

This is the time of year when certain fortunate people find they have a need to donate money to any of various tax-exempt causes or funds in order to drop themselves into a lower tax bracket. If you or anyone you know with an interest in what we're doing is in that position, please be aware that a significant contribution to the Starchild Fund can easily be routed through the tax-exempt portion of the Truthseeker Foundation in San Diego. The Truthseekers have been extremely generous and helpful with our efforts to get this challenging work completed, and they will provide all the documentation necessary to qualify a donation as tax-exempt.

Testing of the bone chemistry is a group decision you all will have to make, but make individually. The famous British scientist Rupert Sheldrake believes in something he calls a "morphic field," in which living things far removed from each other somehow tap into a kind of omnipresent "feeling" that guides many of their actions. Monkeys on one island learn how to wash certain types of food before eating it, and soon monkeys on a distant island with no possible means of contact begin to wash the same food, too. THAT is the result of a morphic field at work. I hope and assume the same will apply in our situation.

When I announced in a previous update that the nuclear DNA analysis wouldn't happen for another year or two, contributions to the Starchild Fund dried up virtually overnight. The morphic field spoke and I listened. I went back to work doing my own research in preparation for writing my next book, which--by the way--I intend to have completed in 2004. Now I'm asking that morphic field to speak again.

My best guesstimate is that I'll have to spend anywhere from one week to two weeks in Japan doing what needs to be done. Given the high prices of everything in Japan relative to the US or Britain, two weeks there could go as high as $5,000 counting the flight to and from New Orleans. Strictly a ballpark figure. And that's not counting the testing costs, which I won't know until we determine what we need versus what we want. This is nowhere near as serious as the money needed to do the DNA testing, but it nonetheless has to manifest from somewhere, somehow, at a time of year that is the worst possible season to ask for such donations.

It's your call, folks. I don't know how else to say it. In the past I've been criticized for being too low-key and matter-of-fact in these updates by not stressing the importance of the things I describe. Okay, let me try to fix that. THIS IS SOMETHING WE NEED TO DO! IT'S IMPORTANT! IT COULD HAVE A HUGE IMPACT ON HOW THE WORLD'S MEDIA VIEWS WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO!!! I hope that's clear enough.

I stand ready to go and do the work if you want me to. However, if collectively you all decide not to support this effort, if the morphic field stays silent, I'll remain stateside and wait along with the rest of you until another year or two grinds past. On the other hand, if the response is positive and strong, I'll go to Japan in the latter half of February. That should give me enough time to do all the advance planning such a complicated trip requires.

As always, if you decide to contribute you can use PayPal if you have access to it, or make checks (in dollars, please, if overseas) to The Starchild Fund and send them to:

Lloyd Pye
The Starchild Fund
6805 Veterans Blvd.
# L-3
Metairie, LA 70003
USA

However it goes, I want to thank you all for being such staunch supporters of this fascinating effort to solve what I honestly feel is the most important scientific mystery in the world today. You are among the few who know enough about it to even quibble with my opinion, but I'm sure we can all agree this enigma NEEDS to be, and MUST be, investigated as thoroughly as possible until it is resolved, finally, once and for all.

Thanks for listening, and have a GREAT New Year!!!!

Starchild Funding - May 17, 2003 Update 

Hi, Everyone:

Down the rabbit hole we go! This is the first report from the geneticists regarding the DNA testing on the Starchild skull. If you're interested, read on. If not, take the blue pill. If annoyed, let me know and I'll remove you from my mailing list.

 

 

STARCHILD UPDATE – MAY 17, 2003

 


Some of you may have noticed that in the last update I didn’t mention money for the Starchild Fund because, frankly, I didn’t know if we would need any more beyond this first test for Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Remember, mtDNA exists outside a cell's nucleus and is passed down from female to female; male cells have it but they don't pass it on. It’s not DNA from inside the cell's nucleus (Nuclear or Diagnostic DNA), which is what we most need to sequence because that reveals information about both parents.

If the Starchild is an "alien-human" hybrid, as we suspect, and its mother was human, then its mtDNA will be human also. Only if it is pure alien will its mtDNA skew away from human. (Recall that if it is “other,” wholly or partially, we have nothing to compare it to. “It” could well be a form of “us,” an “us” we don’t fully understand or recognize.) Also, we assume it had a human mother because eggs are so much larger and easier to genetically manipulate than sperm, which makes a human “Mom” the most technically efficient way to hybridize. This is reinforced by the so-called “Star Being” legends handed down by indigenous tribes from North and South America (Meso-Americans).

With all that said, I can report that the Mitochondrial DNA of the skull found with the Starchild skull was extracted without difficulty, and she is indeed a human female. She also proved to be classically Meso-American, as determined by our two geneticists who happen to specialize in this arcane area of expertise. In other words, she’s clearly a native of where she was found, which is what we anticipated from Day One. What we needed to know was whether she and the Starchild were genetically linked to conform to the Star Being legends about native women impregnated with alien hybrids. It turns out these two were not related, which means she wasn’t his mother but rather a dedicated companion or guardian, willing to take her own life to die alongside him after she buried him.
 
Unfortunately, the Starchild's Mitochondrial DNA did not extract cleanly. The "bars" that are “read” (you've seen the strips of darkened gel bars that constitute a DNA fingerprint) were "fuzzy" and "indistinct" in the places they did appear, but fewer were present than is normal. This provides some interesting possibilities. One would be physical degradation of the specimen, which is possible because the Starchild was buried for 900 years in soil that could have been acidic. We have no soil sample to test, but we can take note of the staining pattern on the skull, particularly the charred-looking areas of the right-side eye socket, sphenoid bone, and temporal bone. That could easily be a result of soil acidity.


Acidity or not, the degradation was such that the few readable "bars" produced a pattern that did not match the expected Meso-American template. Instead, and quite surprisingly, it was closest to Europeans! Naturally, this can quickly get the blood pumping: ("What? A European in northwest Mexico in 1100 AD?? That’s 400 years before Columbus!!"). However, there is another option, which the geneticists addressed with heartfelt chagrin. Although they did everything possible to avoid contaminating the sample, there is always a remote chance it happened. The fact it was “fuzzy” and “indistinct” mitigates against a recent contamination, because recently recovered mtDNA would most likely have been clean and easy to read. Yet degradation of a recent sample is also remotely possible.


So where does this leave us? Where do we go from here? Farther down the rabbit hole, of course. We have no choice but to run a 2nd test to try to clarify the first ambiguous result. However, this 2nd test will be carried out using a different protocol in order to speed the process considerably. Recall that this first test used "softening gel" discussed in the last update. Instead of the normal week of submersion in that gel, a full month was needed to soften the Starchild's bone enough to initiate processing it. Rather than go through that ordeal again, this time they will use the “detergent” method.


The gel method was used to test the largest possible piece of the sample. The detergent method will include sanding away the entire top layer of the 2nd sample, down to the matrix where the marrow is stored. That thin top layer is the part I estimate was held by approximately 3,000 pairs of hands during the 18 months I showed it to audiences in the U.S. and Canada. If there has been seepage into the bone by the oils from human hands, that thin top layer will contain it. Naturally, they removed the topmost portion of that layer prior to starting the 1st test, but looking back, it might not have been enough.

With the entire layer abraded away, it will leave only the core matrix and the inner layer of parietal bone that no human could ever have touched (which is why a parietal section is being analyzed). This will provide a much smaller sample to test, but it should also be absolutely "clean." Furthermore, the detergent method requires only two to three weeks to complete, so the geneticists have assured me they will know by the first week in June.

 

If the 2nd test contradicts the first, then obviously we will have to run a 3rd test to act as a tiebreaker (it’s hard to imagine three contaminated tests in a row). If the 2nd test confirms the first, which is that the Starchild had a European mother, then we have opened up an entirely different can of worms from what we expected. Most of you will be aware of the so-called  “Kennewick Man,” a skeleton found in Washington State in 1996. Because it was 9000 years old and had European features, Native Americans went ballistic because that would indicate they did not have “squatter’s rights” to all of the Americas. So if the Starchild bloodline is indeed European, it’ll be the Kennewick squabble all over again.

 

If that eventuates, we’ll worry about it then. Now our concern is making sure we do whatever can to try to sequence the Starchild’s Nuclear DNA, which is what we must have to determine the heritage of its potentially alien father. And let’s all keep in mind that if the 2nd test results are as indistinct as the 1st, then even if a nuclear extraction is possible, it might be equally difficult to interpret. But let’s not dwell on negatives.

 

We are still solidly in the hunt to do what we set out to do on Day One, which remains the heart of this entire effort. For the first time ever, we in the Alternative Knowledge community have within our possession a bone relic that could scientifically prove our contentions about alien life forms, and with a degree of evidence no one can effectively dispute. If Nuclear DNA is recoverable and clearly says "other than human," it will be only a matter of time before our controversial position is acknowledged as a fact.

With that said, I end where I began, pointing out that I didn’t mention the Starchild Fund in the last update because I didn't know if this first test would recover anything at all. We now know there is recoverable DNA within the Starchild, and now the trick is to tease it out in a usable fashion. Thus, it is clear that we will need more money to extend beyond the funds allocated by our British benefactors. We still have to consider the two tests the geneticists suggested, the bone chemistry and the bone histology. We could easily need another Carbon 14 test to double-check our date for it. We need to formally calibrate the hardness of the bone, which has proved so surprising to the geneticists. And we've always needed a forensic sculpture of how the Starchild might have looked in life. This would be a clay model wrapped around a replica of the skull, which costs several thousand dollars.

If you go to the Starchild Project website, www.starchildproject.com, you will see we have added a "Donation" button from PayPal. As you know, I have tried hard to keep from "commercializing" this endeavor, but I think we're past the point where we can be criticized for making our financial requirements clearly understood. We need money. We always have. This is not easy work, nor inexpensive work. These updates make that clear. If you have considered helping us in the past but never got around to sending your check, maybe the ease of PayPal is right for you. If you have already contributed but feel you could again, please do so. And now I have something to sweeten the pot a bit.
 
The recent slide presentation I gave in London was filmed by Cognoscence, Ltd., which sponsored the lecture. They have sent me 50 copies of "An Evening With Lloyd Pye" to make available for shipping to purchasers here in the U.S. and Canada. It is 2 hours and 10 minutes long, covering 90 minutes of "origins" material, both of life and of humans, which lays a solid groundwork for the Starchild's potential place in the grand scheme of life on Earth; then it closes with 40 minutes of astonishing Starchild material. This is an impressive, high-quality videotape that provides an excellent distillation of my best work in all the areas of my research. I'm very proud of it. Also, it's not just available in the U.S. and Canada. This goes for any country in the world, period. Cognoscence, Ltd., charges the approximate equivalent of $25 U.S., which includes shipping and handling.
 
These hot-off-the-press videos can be ordered through Cognoscence in London (contact: b.mckenzie@btinternet.com), or in the U.S./Canada through me (lloyd@lloydpye.com). However, anyone donating at least $100 to the Starchild Fund, by PayPal or check or direct deposit, will receive a videotape as a bonus reward for your generosity. Also, as another incentive, anyone who prefers a signed copy of my book, Everything You Know Is Wrong—Book One: Human Origins, can choose that instead of the videotape. Again, I apologize for finally edging into commercialization, but at this point we have no choice. The testing ball is now rolling, hard, and it will clearly continue to roll for quite a while.

 

[One last point: for those who have already sent in $100 or more, the videotape and book offer is not retroactive at this time. We all realize that is not fair, and we intend to correct it as soon as we can in the future. However, the simple truth is that tapes and books cost the same money we don’t have, so all copies are currently limited and must be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. If this incentive program causes our financial pressures to ease, then we will purchase extra tapes and books and pass them along as warranted.]

 

Lloyd Pye

www.lloydpye.com

Lloyd@lloydpye.com

New Orleans, LA

 

Starchild Funding - September 6, 2002 Update 

Several developments about the Starchild. 

SHORT VERSION:

1) A 30-minute streaming video of me explaining in detail the Starchild's background and its salient features is available at http://wjtv.com/unexplained/MGBFDR0DI5D.html. It can only be viewed with a RealOne Player, which is available to as a free download on the site. Worth the effort. A lot of info in a tight package.

2) I'll spend three hours on the Art Bell radio show Monday evening, Sept. 9th. This can be received worldwide with a live audio stream available at www.artbell.com. Tough to hear it live, but available later in archives.

3) The Learning Channel will replay the documentary "Mystery of the Skulls" the following night, Tuesday, Sept. 10th. Check details below for times, or check local listings. See DETAILS for what to watch for.

4) There are developments in terms of choosing which lab to approach to do the diagnostic DNA testing. Unfortunately, contributions have not broken the $5,000 barrier, so this is irrelevant as of now. However, I expect the Art Bell show to stimulate contributions, so I don't consider this a lost cause by any means.

DETAILS:

1) Recently I was filmed extensively for a small exposure on WJTV, a CBS affiliate in Jackson, Mississippi. The whole 30 minutes of filming can be accessed via a streaming video available at the station's website, http://wjtv.com/unexplained/MGBFDR0DI5D.html. It must be viewed with a RealOne Player, but a free download is available at the site. Don't pay for the advanced version that is offered. All you need is the free one to view this clip. That process will request the modem speed of your computer, so if you don't know it, try to figure it out before you start (56K or a DSL speed). If you don't know it, choose the slowest number they quote in your category and that should be sufficient.

2) I'll be on the Art Bell show Monday night, Sept. 9th, with George Noory guest hosting, from 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Pacific Time (12-3 Mountain, 1-4 Central, 2-5 Eastern). We will spend a lot of time talking about the Starchild and where things stand with it since it was shown on The Learning Channel's "Mystery of the Skulls." If you can't get it on a radio, it streams live on the internet. Go to www.artbell.com and follow the instructions. People in ANY country can listen this way. (Australia, New Zealand, England, etc.; adjust for time zones.)

For those who can't listen to it live, or can't stream it live, it can be replayed from the Art Bell show archive for a nominal cost. Go to: https://members.premiereinteractive.com/pcd/document?ikey=99989IGTZ for details.

3) "Mystery of the Skulls" will have its first replay on The Learning Channel on Sept. 10th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time, and 8:00 p.m. Central and Mountain time, with a repeat two or three hours later (check local listings). Now that I've seen it, I can provide to those who saw it and those who missed it some fascinating insights into how it was put together and what was selected to be broadcast.

Ancient skulls are only dealt with in roughly the first 20 minutes---the Starchild and the so-called "coneheads" of Peru, the only two types of genuinely weird ancient skulls currently known. Once they leave the stage the rest of the show is padding, as you will see. What you will also see is some adroit visual sleight-of-hand.

When they discuss the coneheads, notice they never point out that their brains average twice the size of normal human brains. They emphasize head binding as the cause of their distinctive "look," and they show some old black-and-white footage of native people with beautifully sculpted "coneheads" of their own. What they also don't tell you is that any human head bound that way in infancy will produce an adult with a permanent "soft spot" on the top of their skull that never closes. This is not mentioned because the coneheads have no such opening in their skulls, and in fact seem to grow extra thickness there to compensate for the design weakness inherent in it. Also, notice the extraordinary thickness of the conehead skulls when viewing the ones that have holes cut in them from trepanning. That extra thickness relative to normal humans is not mentioned.

In the discussion of the Starchild, everything comes down to the testimony of Dr. David Sweet of Vancouver, Canada, who did the first round of DNA testing on it, the forensic DNA that was meant to do no more than tell us if it would be worth our while to pay $20,000 for diagnostic DNA testing. If DNA couldn't be recovered at the forensic level, it would be pointless to pursue it at the diagnostic level. Forensic DNA was recovered, and it was stated to be X and Y chromosomes. Initially, in Dr. Sweet's written report to me, which is reproduced at the Starchild website (www.starchildproject.com), he says he can't say what it is. But on the show he states emphatically that the Starchild must be human and nothing else. This is patently false but HAD to be included in the show or it couldn't have been shown on national TV.

Also notice that after Dr. Sweet makes his claim, the narrator glibly says, "So ALL of these unusual skulls are human," which implies the coneheads are somehow connected to the forensic testing done on the Starchild, which is also patently false. So far as I am aware there has never been ANY testing done on the coneheads, and they need it every bit as much as the Starchild does. We can only comfort ourselves with the knowledge that if the Starchild tests positive for not being entirely human, every conehead will be tested in the way they should be now.

Before you ask WHY this was done, understand that ALL such shows have only one objective: to create documentaries around subjects that will create compelling COMMERCIALS to entice viewers to watch them. Once they are watching, however, viewers can't be left with the impression that UFO's or bigfoot or ghosts or possibly alien skulls or whatever, can possibly be real. That's not their job as they see it. They're in business to entertain, not freak people out with the truth.

4) There has been some movement in regard to testing the DNA. I made contact with a commercial lab (as opposed to an academic lab, which lets grad students do their work and cannot be trusted) in Florida called Paleoscience. They are one of the best, if not the best, commercial labs for testing ancient DNA in the U.S. Certainly the people who do their work are outstanding in the field. Recently they were seriously considering accepting the Starchild job, but then for reasons I've not been told, they backed out and now refuse to do it.

In dealing with them, I got the impression they feel they don't owe our "community" anything, and that the nature of our subject makes us "untouchable" even though they are a commercial entity and our money should be every bit as good as anyone else's. We are being excluded from consideration for no other reason than they think we are "kooks" and "nuts" for wanting the Starchild skull tested. So if anyone reading this would like to express their disappointment in this decision, please contact Paleoscience, Inc., Miami, Florida, 305-662-7760. www.paleoscience.com or info@paleoscience.com.

It might do them good to know I have at least this kind of support behind me, and who knows? Maybe if they are contacted by enough people, they might reconsider what I feel is a selfish, shortsighted decision.

In a similar development, the #1 ancient DNA lab in the world is run by a Swede named Svante Paabo in Munich, Germany, now with able help from an American named Mark Stoneking. We approached both Paabo and Stoneking three years ago when we were first exploring costs for diagnostic DNA testing, and they were not interested, probably for the same reasons Paleoscience is not interested. However, I have recently found out that Paabo's lab has lost a great deal of its government funding, so now perhaps they will have to seek out business to help pay the bills. This could be good news for us if we manage to collect enough contributions to put us in position to make them (or Paleoscience, for that matter) a serious offer.

As always, it comes down to money. I'm still hopeful but, frankly, not optimistic at this point that we will make what we need to get underway by the end of September. However, if we get close, I will definitely extend it into October. I'm not going to shut the door if we are anywhere close to what we need. Let's all keep our chins up and keep plugging away. That's the only way to make something as important as this happen.

Lloyd Pye
504-889-7605

 

Starchild Funding - August 12, 2002 Update 

News. I've been selected to appear at a major international conference during the last weekend of next March in Amsterdam. Sponsored by Nexus Magazine, it will include Laurence Gardner, David Hatcher Childress, Jim Marrs, and Dr. Steven Greer, among others. Details can be accessed through this link:  www.nexusconference.com  Those able to attend should be well rewarded for their effort.
 
Below is the "pitch letter" I've sent to the producers of every top television news and interview show I can think of. You know them all. They're not responding because I have to send it in "over the transom," as they say in the book business. Flunkies see it first, and nearly all of them are afraid to kick it "upstairs" for fear of looking gullible. Notice, I make no mention of the word "Starchild" in it, or how long we've been trying to get it noticed and covered by mainstream media. Let them find out about that if they take the bait.
 
The point of sending it to you is this: it's a very tight distillation of the Starchild's outstanding anomalies. If you can think of any people you know in any substantial media position, I'd appreciate it if you'd consider copying the letter part of this and forwarding it to them with their name plugged into the "Dear        :" slot. If you don't know anyone, then this is just another misfire. But it only takes one solid connection to get a snowball rolling.
 
As always, thanks for your time and consideration. I leave for Atlanta Thursday morning, doing a major AM radio show Thursday night ("The Royal Treatment" with Royal Marshall at 9:00 pm for those in the Atlanta area), then I'm meeting with someone in the story department at CNN on Friday. Wish me luck!
 
 
Dear        :
 
When cranio-facial plastic surgeon Dr. Ted Robinson of Vancouver, Canada, was presented with a highly unusual bone skull, he was so baffled he undertook an intensive six-week journey through the annals of human skull deformity. He found no record of such a unique deformity in the history of medical research. So what could the skull be? THAT is a question you might want to explore in more depth.
 
On July 9th this highly anomalous skull was featured in a new documentary on The Learning Channel entitled "Mystery of the Skulls." Several of its many anomalous features were discussed. Here are the top 10:
 
1) It is composed of generalized human skull parts (frontal bone, sphenoids, temporals, parietals, occipital), yet those parts are completely reconfigured into shapes never seen before.
 
2) That reconfiguration is somehow "perfect." Cranial deformity is invariably asymmetrical and "ugly" looking relative to normal. This skull is astonishingly symmetrical and "beautiful" in its own odd way.
 
3) Its unusual shape is definitely natural and not the result of head binding of any kind. Head binding always results in certain distinct landmarks (unnatural smoothness of the bone), which this skull does not exhibit.
 
4) In life its neck would have been 1/3 the size of a normal human neck, and that neck was positioned directly under the skull's center point. Normal human necks must be set well behind the center point because a normal human face is essentially "hollow" (sinus cavities, nasal passages, and mouth all take up space).
 
5) This skull had no frontal sinuses, not even vestigial ones, which is vanishingly rare if not impossible. The difference between "normal" sinuses and this skull in X-rays is astonishing.
 
6) Its chewing muscles were 1/3 the size of normal, indicating its lower jaw (mandible) was greatly reduced in size and chewing capacity. (The mandible was not recovered with the skull, but a piece of the maxilla was.)
 
7) Its teeth were small but looked relatively "normal." However, fairly worn, "adult"-looking teeth nonetheless had new teeth resting in the bone above them, apparently ready to drop down to replace the worn ones.
 
8) Its brain was fully 1/3 larger (1600 cc) than the normal human brain that would fit in a skull of its size (1200 cc). There was no physical abnormality of the brain (hydrocephaly, Crouzon, etc.). Its veins left indentations throughout  the skull's inner surface which are clearly visible in X-rays. Also, it seems either not to have had a cerebellum, or its cerebellum landmarks cannot be easily identified as such.
 
9) Its eye sockets are extremely anomalous, less than half the depth of normal eye sockets and skewed well down from the normal position. Assuming it had eyeballs (it has optic nerve openings and optic foramens), they would have bulged off the face much more than usual, and they would be positioned near the middle of the nose rather than level with the upper bridge.
 
10) Its most "impossible to understand" feature is that its bone density is 40% of normal. Also, it weighs less than half of what it should weigh. No matter what kind of deformity a human skull suffers, whatever is there--however distorted or asymmetrical--should be normal bone or, at most, only a few percentage points away from normal density. A being that lived and flourished with a skull weighing half of normal human weight and 40% of normal human density would seem to be something that is, at best, not entirely human.
 
Carbon 14 testing proves this skull is 900 years old. 900 years ago if you were born with one malformation of your skull, you were in trouble. If you were born with two, you were in serious trouble. If you were born with three or more, you were dead or your parents got rid of you. This skull has NOTHING about it that is "normal" in the accepted sense, yet it lived and grew strong (it has many robust "islands" of connective bone between two of its rear cranial sutures, all of which are well-knitted) for at least several years and probably more.
 
Taken altogether, these anomalies make this skull "the most important bone artifact on Earth at this moment in time," as has been written about it. Your job, as I understand it, is to seek out fascinating true stories lurking in the hinterland, waiting to be brought to national attention. This skull is most certainly that, and then some. If you'd like to learn more about it, please get back to me and I'll provide all the information you require.
 
Lloyd Pye
504-889-7605

 

August02

Starchild Funding - August  9, 2002 Update

Hi, Everyone:
I promised I'd give an update when I returned from San Francisco, and this is it. Things did not go well. When the senior producers at KRON got a close look at what the Starchild was and heard its bottom line (that it might well be an artifact that could prove the existence of alien life), they got cold feet and cancelled my slot on their morning show. They had invited me on the strength of it being on The Learning Channel, which they didn't see but apparently assumed must have been vetted for public consumption. And, in fact, it WAS vetted by getting David Sweet to say on the air what he really can't legitimately say about it, which is that it is human. That is NOT the truth now, wasn't the truth on the show when it aired, and probably won't EVER be the truth. I had no intention of regurgitating that line of pap, so they bumped me rather than put me on the air. Of course, that's the way the game is played when it comes to the media and alien life, as most of us know all too well.
Getting bumped by KRON was surprising, but not incomprehensible. Americans will know--and those outside the U.S. should know--that television here is heavily influenced by conservative Christians. The Moral Majority and other groups maintain extensive "watch" groups on television programming at all levels, and they issue monthly, quarterly, and yearly "report cards" on which networks and which local stations are putting out the kind of material they deem "appropriate." This is why, for example, you almost never see a sympathetic treatment of free needle campaigns to combat the AIDS crisis, or the issues of Lesbian/Gay relationships, and--of course--any serious analysis of the idea that UFO's and aliens might be real, which would challenge the conservative Christian notion that man is the apotheosis of God's design.
Whether that is or is not what happened, the bottom line is that I got bumped from KRON and could not then find a slot on either their rival morning show or the top talk radio shows in the Bay Area. In short, it was a total and complete strikeout. I wish I could report better news in this regard, but there it is, for better or worse. It does, however, provide a small insight into the kind of hurdles I've been trying to get over for the past three+ years. Nobody makes it easy.
The good news is that I think I can get in to see people at CNN later this month. Not people low on the food chain, which will do no good, but people higher up in decision making roles. That's still no guarantee of getting on the air, but it's a much better chance than hoping to appear at the local level where pressure from local boycotters has to be taken into careful consideration for each piece they air. CNN is national and global, so they CAN resist. That doesn't mean they WILL resist, but CNN has much more counter-clout than even the strongest conservative Christian group. I think they can air virtually anything they choose to air. The problem with them will be getting them to agree to let it be handled in-depth on a major interview show and not just as a snippet or sound-bite on a news show. I intend to do my very best to get an in-depth interview, which can do us a tremendous amount of good. (If anybody reading this has any good connections at CNN, let me hear from you. Yours might be better than what I have at this point.)
As for contributions to the Starchild Fund, the news is not much better. In the two+ weeks since I sent out my last missive of this nature, we have exactly 15 contributions for a total of $3700. That's it. Two were for $1000 (THANK YOU! You know who you are); two were for $500 (THANK YOU, too. You also know who you are); and the rest was made up of a $200, a couple $100, several $50, and a $25 and a $20. Thanks to you ALL for stepping up to the plate. (For what it's worth, there have been NO contributions for the past two days, and only one two days ago. The trickle seems to be drying up.)
What this means, of course, is that at this rate we will not get anywhere near to what we need to get the DNA testing done. I will, of course, be able to use the money in hand to try to get on TV and raise the Starchild's profile, so we can consider it very good SEED money to try to kick-start our mutual endeavor. But clearly I have done something wrong in presenting this need to those of you who get these updates. There is no doubt that 600 people will read this over the next couple of days, and 600 people donating $50 each would give us what we need. The sad thing is that each person who sends $50 or $100 always apologizes and says they wish they could send more. I'm sure they would if they could. Those are the kind of people who habitually give to good causes. I just don't know the secret of motivating those who seldom if ever give to causes like this.
Someone wrote me a note suggesting that everyone has been taught that "Anything too good to be true is probably not true." He cautioned that by making the Starchild look so compelling, I was defeating my own purpose by triggering that attitude in people. Maybe so. I just don't know how else to do it. The Starchild IS a real, true, bone skull with more anomalies about it than ANY other skull in recorded history. (Check with Dr. Ted Robinson for verification of that fact; he's a cranio-facial plastic surgeon who researched it to the hilt.) The Starchild IS shaped and designed to fit inside the classic "Grey" head. The Starchild IS uniformly 40% the density of normal human bone, which seems useful for a being spending a lot of time in reduced gravity, but definitely NOT within the acceptable range of humanity...not even close.
If all that makes it seem "too good to be true," then hold your money and wait for a miracle somewhere down the line. I'm willing to provide a diligent second round of effort in ITS behalf and in behalf of all of YOU who have some kind of stake in seeing the UFO cause proved to be legitimate. But you get what you pay for in life. If you don't want to contribute to this effort, that's fine with me. I'll go on with my life as I have been for the past couple of years. If I should strike it rich, I'll cover the bill for everyone and pay for the whole thing out of my own pocket, which I would be delighted to be able to do because of how strongly I believe in the likelihood of a positive result in our favor. I wish I knew how to effectively spread my conviction to others without coming off like some kind of "too good to be true" huckster, but obviously I don't. This is simply the best way I know how to approach people, straightforward and matter-of-fact.
Maybe the owners would have been better served putting someone else in charge of this. I have suggested that to them many times, and gratefully relinquished control when Chad Deetken and Ted Robinson took it over for a year or so. But they had to give it up for the same reason I did the first time around, and what is shaping up to be the reason I will have to do it this time around, too---APATHY. You'd think an opportunity to PROVE the reality of aliens and UFO's would be motivation enough, but apparently it's not. If anyone has any ideas about how to turn this around, I'd like to hear them. If not....well, then not.
I don't plan to send out any more of these until the end of September when the current funding campaign officially ends. At that time I'll let everybody know the final results and what the disposition of the collected funds will be. Stay tuned.....

Starchild Funding - July 2002 Update 

Good news, bad news. Good news: on the 19th I filmed a 5-minute segment about the Starchild skull for the CBS affiliate TV station in Jackson, Missississippi. That station produces the country's only regular news segments dealing with the Unexplained, and last year they won an Emmy for it. In addition, I leave tomorrow (22nd) to appear live for 5-minutes on a morning show of NBC's affiliate in San Francisco (29th). If 5 minutes doesn't sound like much, I was on-camera for The Learning Channel for about 6 minutes, so a lot can be done with 5 minutes. This trip is important because I have to illustrate in at least a few major local markets that I'm a good presenter of the Starchild information. If I do well, I should be invited to appear at the national level.
To further the goal of gaining national exposure, I intended to try to get on similar local morning shows in any of the other major markets that would have me: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and most important of all, Atlanta, home of CNN. If I went to Atlanta, I had every intention of taking the Starchild to them so they could see for themselves how powerfully telegenic it is. The goal there, of course, would be to get on with Larry King or Connie Chung or any of their major interviewers who could provide a long-format (half-hour) presentation in front of an audience large enough to put our funding effort over the top.
Bad news. I paid for appearing on the Jackson show (no local TV gives any pay, only exposure), and I will also pay for the San Francisco show (you have to be there in person; locals don't do remotes) because I made a committment to them. However, I made that committment believing UFO fans would be as excited as I am about the second chance The Learning Channel provided to reignite the Starchild Project. Unfortunately, it's been 12 days since "Mystery of the Skulls" aired, and so far I have THREE donations totaling $200---two for $50 and one (from Australia!) for $100. This is embarrassingly unacceptable. 
Now I have NO plans to do anything more than the San Francisco show. I had intended to try to contact Los Angeles stations while I was on the west coast...Seattle...San Diego...possibly Las Vegas. But for me to do that out of my own pocket would be beyond unfair, it would be stupid. Three years ago, when I mounted a similar publicity tour for the Starchild, I came out of nowhere with it and for a long time could provide only theories and opinions about what it might be. To establish FACTS about it, I had to drive 70,000 miles, pound a heck of a lot of pavement, and knock on countless doors. In the end I got what was needed, but the price was steep. It chewed up $20,000 in first-round donations, and left me with a personal shortfall of $50,000.
I'm not complaining, I'm informing. I made my decision and I live with it because I did gain something valuable in return: now I can speak about the Starchild with AUTHORITY and CONVICTION. More importantly, I now have undeniable test results that can't be dismissed by some "expert" saying, "He doesn't know what he's talking about." I DO know what I'm talking about. Three years ago we were guessing---today we KNOW, and what we know is that the Starchild is VERY LIKELY to prove out to be not entirely human. Not one test we've had done on it has indicated anything other than we're on the right track. That's why we've stuck with it. 
What I'm bringing to the table in behalf of UFO fans is KNOWLEDGE and EXPERIENCE. But I'm not bringing any more than the several hundred dollars the trip to San Francisco will cost me. Fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice, shame on me. This is something the UFO community is either going to swing behind and support fully, or they're going to let this opportunity wither and die the way the first round did. It's not my call. If you collectively decide that you want me to act in your behalf, I will. But not under the present circumstances. Understand: I'm not asking for my lost $50,000 to be reimbursed. It's been two years since that happened, so I'm over the worst of it. However, I DO require committed support this time around.
If the collective body of the UFO community wants a definitive answer to the mystery of the Starchild, ALL of the individuals who make up that body should CONTRIBUTE. Everyone who has said, "Why doesn't someone DO something to MAKE the government acknowledge the reality of UFO's?" should contribute. Everyone who has said, "Why is it that when it comes down to our word against their word, THEIR word is what the media always believes?" should contribute. Everyone whose belief in UFO's has caused them to be ridiculed by family and friends, should contribute. Everyone who is tired of government and media brushing us off like flies because we can't organize ourselves enough to rally around even ONE worthwhile cause, should contribute.
This whole sorry mess reminds me of a saying my mother used to nag me with to get me to grasp the idea of accepting individual responsibility to serve the common good. Maybe it will sound familiar to you, too. We ALL need to be reminded of it once in a while, if only to serve the good intentions of our mothers.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
Personally, I've done my share. The Starchild's owners have done theirs. They took out a second mortgage at one point to keep the project afloat. Now the wife of the pair is quite ill with an exotic malady that is draining their finances even more. Yet despite all the money problems the Starchild has caused us, you will notice that in three+ years there have been NO Starchild T-shirts, posters, bumper stickers, or even Mardi Gras masks! (We were offered that as a business opportunity by a company here in N.O.) We've said no to ALL offers to commercialize the Starchild because we don't want to allow establishment scientists to be able to say, "You can't believe a word those people utter because they're only in it to make money." Imagine if that complaint against us was true! The media and the public wouldn't believe us no matter WHAT the DNA tests said.
They tell me that motivating the collective consciousness of a large group of people is one of the hardest things in the world to do. How does one person isolated from thousands of others find a way to galvanize them all to act in approximately the same way at approximately the same time? Good question! All I can do is tell you this: TIME IS SHORT. The novelty of The Learning Channel appearance will wear off in a few weeks at most. We'll be a rerun in two or three more months. If I don't act SOON, the bloom will be off the rose and I won't be able to get the major networks or interview shows to consider the Starchild as "news." I'll be behind the curve with not much hope of catching up. So now we come to the crux of the matter.
I'll be back here in New Orleans in about two weeks, around August 5th or 6th. If, in that time, there has been a SUBSTANTIAL increase in donations, both in number and in size, so that I'm looking at some serious money, I will reignite my campaign to get on local TV shows in major markets and try to work my way up to national awareness. If that substantial increase is NOT there, I will notify everyone to just forget about it, stop sending money, and I'll return any amount over $250 that I've received (the rules of donation are on the website). We'll call the whole thing off and I'll resume the life I've been leading for the past two years.
For those who can't or won't bother to read the website, here it is in a nutshell: we're offering a MONEY-BACK guarantee for any amount over $250 if we ultimately don't collect enough to initiate the test, OR if we initiate it and get a POSITIVE result (the Starchild is something other than human). If we initiate the test and get a result that is NEGATIVE (the Starchild is, after all, a weirdly deformed 100% human), then everyone who gives over $500 will get a prorated return of any money that is left after all the bills are paid. This is to illustrate the point that we're not in this to make money for ourselves, we just want a definitive answer one way or the other so we can move on with our lives. Living in "Starchild limbo" is not much fun.
Please pass this plea along as far and as wide as you can. IT'S IMPORTANT! And don't expect any wealthy people to come to your rescue. I'm not approaching them and they're not approaching me. This is not THEIR responsibility, it's YOURS, you who are members of the worldwide UFO community. It's YOU who will get to rub a successful result into the noses of the friends who ridicule you, so I think it's fair that YOU should pay for trying to secure that result. $50 or $100 from each of you would easily do the trick.
Now it's simply an individual decision that each of you have to make. When I return on the 5th or 6th of August, I will promptly post a score sheet to let everyone know how things stand. Again, this is purely an appeal to your collective consciousness...the collective consciousness of ALL UFO FANS everywhere.
Think about this one long and hard. And if you need any more convincing, PLEASE, go visit the website: http://www.starchildproject.com/. Find out what you're contributing to, why we need your money, and what you can expect in return for it. And don't let the next few days of Stock Market turmoil influence your decision.
That, too, shall pass....
Lloyd Pye