The mystery of Planet X
QUESTION
Did a British schoolgirl name the planet Pluto?
In THE late 19th century, there was a widespread belief among astronomers that there was a more remote planet in the solar system than neptune.
Percival Lowell started looking for this mysterious Planet X, but died in 1916 unaware that two faint images had been recorded the previous year.
It wasn’t until February 1930 that Clyde Tombaugh, a 23-year- old researcher at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, identified the ninth planet.
The name of Pluto for the new planet was the idea of 11- year- old Venetia Burney. She suggested it to her grandfather, Falconer Madan, former librarian at Oxford’s Bodleian Library.
He passed it on to astronomer Professor Herbert Hall Turner, who cabled the idea to the USA. Other suggestions included Zeus, Minerva, Atlas and Persephone, but the Lowell Observatory unanimously chose Pluto. Venetia was awarded £5 by her grandfather for her efforts.
Pluto was a fitting name not only from a mythological standpoint — it is the name of the god of the underworld, a dark and distant place — but also because it began with ‘PL’, Percival Lowell’s initials.
not everyone was convinced Pluto was a real planet, owing to its small size and irregular orbit. In 1992, its status was questioned, then in 2005, a planet-like object larger than Pluto was discovered and named Eris. The following year, Pluto was downgraded to a dwarf planet.
Venetia went on to became a chartered accountant and maths teacher.
Tim Mickleburgh, Grimsby, Lincs.
QUESTION
Has there been an increase in UFO sightings since lockdown?
ACCOrdIng to the ufostalker. com website, there were 482 UFO sightings last month worldwide, an increase of eight per cent on May 2019.
This visual guide on the website can help identify hotspots, trends and patterns of activity. This is useful for those trying to establish if UFOs follow flightpaths, particularly for those who think they are related to geomagnetic and seismic activity.
This theory tries to prove that strange lights or luminous objects in the sky are caused by tectonic strains in the Earth’s crust. The maps could also help show if UFOs follow the ley lines that criss-cross the planet or if they cluster around military sites.
The downside is the quality of its database. Clusters of sightings might be caused by increased media interest in an area, while a bright meteor could trigger a wave of UFO sightings.
A similar UFO data map can be found at ufo-hunters.com.
Though there has been a rise in UFO sightings, encounters with landed craft and their occupants are rarer than in the 1970s. Alien abductions were also more frequent in the 1980s and 1990s. Keep watching the skies! Nigel Watson, author, Captured By Aliens? A History And Analysis Of American Abduction Claims, Plymouth, Devon.
QUESTION
What cars were in Titanic’s hold?
THE only automobile aboard Titanic was the 1912 renault Type CB Coupe de Ville owned by William Ernest Carter of Pennsylvania. Costing $5,000 — worth $132,000 today — it was one of the most desirable vehicles of the era.
It had an unusual sloping nose, a shaft rather than a chain drive, and the radiator, which was so prominent on other cars, was behind the engine.
The son of an iron and coal magnate, Carter was a leading member of the Philadelphia fast set.
In May 1911, the Carter family sailed aboard the Lusitania for England for the coronation of george V and Queen Mary. They rented rotherby Manor in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, for the hunting season. On April 15, 1912, the night of the sinking of Titanic, Carter was separated from his wife Lucile and their two children, who boarded a lifeboat with their maid. Lucile was commended for taking the oars and rowing the boat to safety. As one of the last lifeboats was lowered, Carter stepped aboard with J. Bruce Ismay, chairman and managing director of the White Star Line, which owned Titanic. Carter’s manservant, Alexander Cairns, and his chauffeur, Augustus Aldworth, perished.
In the aftermath of the sinking, Carter and Ismay were criticised in the Press for saving themselves.
The Carters’ marriage sensationally collapsed in 1914 on the grounds that he had deserted his family aboard Titanic and that following a polo accident he had physically and mentally abused his wife.
‘When the Titanic struck, my husband came to me and said: “get up and dress yourself and the child,” ’ declared Mrs Carter. ‘I never saw him again until I was put aboard Carpathia.
‘He was leaning over the rail as we climbed up from the boats to the deck and all he had to say to me was: “I have had a jolly good breakfast, but I never thought I would make it.” ’
She further claimed he horsewhipped her after she had chastised him for pulling the legs off a cricket.
The renault played a key role in James Cameron’s movie Titanic. It is seen being hoisted onto the ship at the beginning of the film, and Jack (Leonardo diCaprio) and rose (Kate Winslet) subsequently consummate their relationship in the back seat of the car.
Henrietta Morse, Elsworth, Cambs.
QUESTION
In the film No Country For Old Men, was the shotgun with a silencer a movie prop or a real weapon?
FUrTHEr to the earlier answer, some firearms have silencers built into their barrels and so do not require a licence for the moderator, only the weapon.
One such firearm is the de Lisle, based on a short magazine Lee-Enfield Mk II, which was used in World War II for Commando raids. A British firearms manufacturer now builds a modern copy.
Mike Robinson, Cramlington, Northumberland.
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