SUBJECT: THE HILL ABDUCTION CASE                             FILE: UFO2706



PART 5


 
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    REPLY:  By Terence Dickinson 

      The  question  raised by Steven Soter and Carl Sagan  concerning  the 
    pattern  resemblance  of  the  Hill  map  and  the  computer  generated 
    projection of the Fish pattern stars is certainly a key question worthy 
    of  discussion.  Next month two authors will make specific comments  on 
    this point. 
    
      Briefly,   there is more to discounting the Fish interpretation  than 
    pattern resemblance.  We would have discounted the Fish  interpretation 
    immediately  on  pattern  resemblance alone.  The  fact  that  all  the 
    connecting lines join stars in a logical distance progression, and that 
    all the stars are solar type stars,  is significant. Ms.  Fish tried to 
    fit  hundreds  of other viewpoints and this one was the only  one  that 
    even  marginally fit and made sense in three dimensions  and  contained 
    solar  type stars.  in this context,  you could not "have just as  well 
    drawn the lines...to lead the other way". 
    
      Naturally there was a desire to find a resemblance between a group of 
    nearby  stars and the Hill pattern!  That's why Marjorie Fish built six 
    models  of the solar neighborhood containing the relative positions  of 
    up to 256  nearby stars.  The fact that she came up with a pattern that 
    fits  as  well  as it does is a tribute to  her  perseverance  and  the 
    accuracy of the models.  Stars cannot be moved around "to optimize  the 
    desired  resemblance".  Indeed Marjorie Fish first tried  models  using 
    nearby  stars  of  other  than strictly solar type as  defined  in  the 
    article. She found no resemblances. 
    
      The three triangle dots selected from the background dots in the Hill 
    map were selected because Mrs.  Hill said they were more prominent than 
    the  other  background  stars.  Such testimony was  the  basis  of  the 
    original map so we either accept Mrs.  Hill's observations and  attempt 
    to  analyze  them  or  reject the whole incident.   We  feel  there  is 
    sufficient  evidence compelling us not to reject the whole incident  at 
    this time. 
    
      We  too are demanding rigorous standards of evidence to establish the 
    reality  of  extraterrestrial  intelligence.   If  there  is  even  the 
    slightest possibility that the Hills' encounter can provide information 
    about  such life,  we feel it is worth pursuing.  The map is worthy  of 
    examination by as many critical minds as possible. 




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