Chapter 35 - Something Changed

[Victoria Steele]

Mr. Twigsnapper,

I have gotten the sense somehow that I am observing something VERY IMPORTANT happening but I just can't interpret what I am seeing and hearing. I know that you have a reason for every single thing you say and of course (if you guys haven't figured it out by now) I am sure that you are ONE of the "sources" that Paul has mentioned have been helping him during the last couple of years. I sense this, its never been said, and I might be off base. If I am, somebody say something, do one of those CheK slaps on me and I'll straighten right up.

But who else could you be? Mr. Twigsnapper? You know so much!

Everybody, just reread the wealth of information that has come from this man, who admits knowing Dr. Brown well. Starting, at least that he has admitted in the mid fifties. He admits being some kind of an agent, and I believe him. And look at the way Paul responds to him, Yes MR> Twigsnapper SIR. So I think that I am right here aren't I. My this forum is almost as exciting as the book.

So what was the deal about the "shooter in the shadows" . Are we ever going to find out what the heck you were talking about? Linda Bolland, you have said you like puzzles. What do you think of this? And by the way, thankyou for your overview of things happening politically in 1933. I found that wonderful and insightful. And it sort of answers the question that we all had earlier when it was noted that Dr. Brown went immediately to the NRL after suggesting that while he was a seaman first class in San Diego. I think that it was Mark who said .......or someone else ......HOW DID HE DO THAT SO FAST? ... I KNOW THE NAVY AND THEY DON'T MOVE THAT FAST. So obviously Dr. Brown had someone watching over him even earlier than this latest discussion.

And did he get his "stuff", back I wonder? Victoria

[Annemarie]

I wasn't sure whether to post here or on the section about the lost finger, so I guess I'll just start here.

Oh My Goodness! Christmas Eve 1936? What an awful thing to have happen! Townsend! You should have been home with your family! I can just imagine how awful that must have been for both of them, and they had a baby then too! About two years old? Babys second Christmas ? With Dad in the hospital? That had to be terrible.

But reading between the lines here. He was following through on an experiment, probably building something. And that probably was typical of the man, as it is for any researcher. And the paper said another man was at the controls of the lathe. What did he do to get in the way of that blade?oh, just to awful to contemplate.

How did Dr. Brown react to the loss of his finger? Some people go through a depression and some seem to go right on. What happens later? Was he terribly self concious of it?

Never a good time to have that sort of thing happen but the fact that it happened on Christmas Eve when he probably shouldn't have been working to start with. Thats just sad. Annemarie

[Paul S.]

Everybody is asking great questions here...

Linda Bolland wondering just how the Senate Majority Leader gets enlisted to intervene in the return of a certain Lieutenant from active duty to reserve status. I wish I had an answer to that one. Perhaps a visit to the National Archives is in order.

And what of the lost finger, which Annemarie mentions but which was not included in this chapter. As noted elsewhere, the info about the lost finger came to light only recently, and conflicts with what we had believed to be an earlier account of that tragedy. I probably should have included that business in this chapter, and the details that Annemarie discusses (i.e. reactions to the incident) are quite pertinent, but right now the only info I have on the whole deal is that news item from 12/24/36.

So until or unless some other info on this topic comes to light, I think we're going to leave this one in the background while the work progresses, and come back to it on "the second pass."

--PS

[Trickfox]

My guess is that Dr. Brown was probably winding a high voltage transformer coil and allowing an assistant to control the speed of the lathe.
One slight move could catch your finger if you are holding the wire trying to guide the position of the windings.

Just one of those wild vision I guess.

trickfox

[Mark Culpepper]

Trickfox,

I think that you are probably right, because I can not imagine that Dr. Brown would have intentionally gotten too close to that thing, especially if he was not a machinist himself and I have never read anywhere that he was. So what you said makes perfect sense. For a moment I thought that he might have somehow gotten his wedding ring caught ... but it would have taken the wrong finger ... but thats still might have been a contributing factor. Excellent observation on your part.

Mark C.

[Victoria Steele]

Guys ... (and Annemarie and other ladies, of course)

Twisgsnappers little story of the "shooter in the shadows" has been working on me. After he told us that story he mentioned a friend who had died... Triboulet? ... and quoted some interesting things from him, especially the part about "Peace growing out of the barrel of a gun" and I have to tell you its really started me thinking, especially today, of how much we all take for granted.

I know its memorial day. I have already been to one bar-b-que and destined for still another one today. (Hey, its Texas and I'm one of those visitors that just HAD to take a few days away) So start the big grills, the wild one from California is coming to visit. Thinking of starting a few great rumors before I leave .... but thats another story altogether.

And of course, we remember the brave men and women who have died. How could we be so callous to not remember them. They are the distant past .... except for the fresh wounds now, so its easy to nod in the direction of all those crosses and whisper a prayer ..... and then ask where the mustard is.

But what about the guys who are never mentioned? And I believe that Pauls Mr. Twigsnapper is one of them. What about him? And what about his friend who died at nearly one hundred he said ..... Twigsnapper said people didn't remember him ..... so what about all those who died without anyone ever knowing they were there in the first place? What about the "shooters in the shadows?" Victoria

[Paul S.]

I should mention that there was one additional element that came to light just as I was finishing Chapter 35 that probably should have been included during that 1936 period. I will probably introduce this in a subsequent chapter, which will mean there will be some overlap, but it certainly won't be the first time...

Anyway, I realize now that something I thought TTB was doing in Zanesville in 1937 he was in fact doing earlier than that.

Below you should see two photos, of TTB operating equipment in the basement of his Zanesville home. The equipment appears to be his Sidereal Radiation Detectors. The pictures I have are dated "1937" but since he has all of his fingers we now know that they were earlier than that. At least, 1936, and possibly earlier.





The info that accompanies these (two) photos says that this equipment was provided by, or is on loan from, the Navy! However, this is NOT the equipment mentioned in the "can I have my stuff back?" letter that was mentioned in Chapter 35.

So, what we do know is that he was in fact working with this equipment in, say for sure, 1936. What we don't know is how exactly the equipment came to exist, what exactly it did, what the Navy's real interest might have been, or how it came to be in his basement in Zanesville.

Another day... another mystery...

--PS

[Mark Culpepper]

WHAT A GREAT PIECE OF OBSERVATION note the finger being there .... so this HAS to be BEFORE Dec 24, 1936.

Which means Paul that the other information that you have been given regarding that photograph has to be suspect too, right?

So it mentions a date that was wrong ... which means to me .... that the information about the location was wrong too. And looking at it carefully. Well, I don't know what his basement in Ohio would have looked like, but it sure doesn't look like many I have seen. Just the passing thought.

And here is something really interesting ( I am excited here, I think I just found something really important!) .......... why is he wearing earphones, I thought. Then I remembered something that you said about transmissions into Germany ....... the MI5....... tower mystery and all later ....... and I remembered that you had spoken about Camp X and stuff there ........ and that the person running that website had positively identified that photo of Townsend Brown as being "England in the mid fifties and definitely an MI5 tower. .............. so that running in my head I took a look at that Camp X site and there are some photos of the equipment used. YOU TELL ME. IS IT SIMILAR EQUIPMENT. IF IT IS NOT RADIO EQUIPMENT HE IS MESSING WITH THERE .... WHY DOES HE HAVE EARPHONES ON HIS HEAD IN THAT ONE SHOT? Mark C ps...... everybody else look at this stuff too, sorry I didn't include the URL I'll get it later. PAUL, AM I RIGHT?

[Mark Culpepper]

OK "MANS" intuition here at work, stand back.

Dr. Brown is wearing a white suit. IF he is in Ohio, it has to be summer time. After Memorial Day. Before Labor Day. The RULES you know! Like white shoes for the ladies. AM I RIGHT VICTORIA, ELIZABETH.

By the clock on the wall its nearly three pm. Does that help????!!!!

Anyway, continuing here. IF he IS NOT in Ohio then I would think the only appropriate places for a suit like that would be .... somewhere tropical, or some boating club somewhere, or maybe Newport ????? or ????? ..... well, that gets too hard and I am falling down a rabbit hole here that has no end.

MY IMPRESSION though is that this whole thing is a photo op. And there is something in his expression that is not what usually on his face! Where is the smile? He is extremely nervous I think. (His expression almost matches the look he had on his face in that "group" lab picture with his father in Zanesville.

Add that to that fancy white suit (which I don't think he was all that comfortable with) and to me I whiff .... demonstration maybe? And if you guys don't recognize that equipment really, then what IS it? Maybe he had some investors coming to see what he had? Something BIG was coming down, I'll just bet!

Now I am guessing that this is after the cruise and obviously before the end of summer 1936. So, how long is that?

When did the Navy say they didn't want him any more? Sometime after that I'll just bet that this photo was taken! Sort of a "family album " type moment. For the "archives" or something similar? Would he have been showing something off to other Caroline members? Don't ask me where ... but am I maybe on a good track here? Mark C.

[Trickfox]

I just received the most wonderful and delightful correspondence in years from a man in France named Robert Triboulet.

As best as I can tell Robert Triboulet is a delightful and brilliant scientist who recently contributed to a published paper on Optical Parametric Oscillators for the French Aerospace Agency.

With the help of my friend Pascal, we located this possible relative of the Triboulet familly which Mr Twigsnapper and Paul have recently spoken of.

To my total delight Robert Triboulet wrote back that both himself and his father have met Raymond Triboulet who recently died, and he included a couple of little stories that I will translate promptly and post in this section of the forum.

He also included a personal war time anecdote about the Canadian Forces who came to the assistance of the French in WW2 and how much respect he still has for French speaking Canadians.

It was an honor to receive such a delightful answer to my inquiry from Mr. Triboulet, and I shall try hard to reciprocate with my thanks to his reply.

I am overwhelmed with the language and passion that Mr. Triboulet used to communicate his appreciation for Canadians, and I can only state that if the rest of the Triboulet familly were as gracious as this individual, then I can now fully understand Mr. Twigsnapper's appreciation of this familly name.

Translation of the Robert and Raymond Triboulet anecdote sent to me is located in the "general disscussion" forum in section:
viewtopic.php?p=1716#1716
Trickfox