◆ SpookStack

122 ufo contact view with the Queen. They have never been pub- lished before. The press reports quoting questions and answers from the interview were falsified, as no reporters were allowed inside the palace during the interview! | left London and arrived in Amsterdam on the 15th of May, 1959. Miss Rey d’Aquila and some news- paper reporters were at the airport to meet me. | was still suffering from the cold | had caught in Scotland, so | excused myself and was taken to a small hotel on the outskirts of Amsterdam. The next afternoon | was called to a television rehearsal for a program that was to be given that evening. This was on May 16th, and | showed my film on the program. The reception by the public of my subject and the film was very good. After the rehearsal, we drove back to the hotel, picked up my luggage and left for The Hague. Miss d’Aquila had arranged transportation by automobile, and | arrived at The Hague about midnight. My hotel was in a quiet residential district, across the street from a beautiful park. The first day was set aside for me to rest. That morning | unpacked my camera and walked through the park to the ocean. Several restful hours were spent strolling around and photographing the local scenery. | had been placed in this secluded hotel purposely to avoid the press. When the newsmen could not locate me, they became very irritated. Those in charge of publicity would not say where | was stay- ing, and the manager of the hotel had been given orders not to reveal my presence. For one day and evening | was able to relax. On the morning of May 18th, | had breakfast and readied myself for the visit to Soestdijk Palace near Utrecht. The Palace car was to call for me at about 10.30 a.m. This was an informal meeting, so my bus- iness suit was proper attire. | had been carefully coached on the proper etiquette and conduct in the presence of my royal hosts. When the car arrived, | was introduced to the chauffeur who held the door open as | entered. To evade the press, we avoided the customary highway to the palace. We entered the palace garden through a gate opened by a guard who saluted smartly as we pass- ed. | noticed the highway in front of the palace was empty as we turned into the grounds. A winding driveway, bordered by massive shrubs, brought us to the huge entrance. My mind was so taken up in trying to remember all the instructions | had been given that | failed to notice much about the palace itself, except that it was white. The chauffeur had spoken very few words as we rode along and had given me a mind to relieve my throat when | coughed. It was 11.00 a.m. when the car stopped in front of the entrance. A uniformed attendant opened the door, saluted, and escorted me up the broad steps to the palace doors, which were opened by two doormen dressed in royal blue, who also saluted. When | entered, one of these men helped me out of my top coat and muffler; the other escorted me into a large library with high ceiling. | had been nervous with anticipation, but a feeling of calm and ease came over me as | stood in the presence of the Queen. She and the others present were standing when | entered the room. The Queen’s secretary came forward and introduced me to Her Majesty, Queen Juliana. In turn, | was presented to Prince Bernhard; Lt. General Schaper, Chief of the Royal Netherlands Air Staff; Professor Jongbloed, of Aerial Medicine; Dr. M. Rooy, Telecommunica- tions; and Mr. Kolff, President of the Royal Nether- lands Society for Aviation. When the Queen acknowledged the introduction, | completely forgot all the instructions and could not remember the formalities that should have been foll- owed. Instead, | acted upon my feelings and was at ease, for here was a feeling of welcome as among friends. The Queen graciously asked if | drank coffee. When | replied that | did, coffee was served in large cups of beautiful design, while we remained stand- ing. After all had been served, we were asked to be seated. That coffee was the best | had had since leaving America! We were at one end of the library, seated in lounge chairs assembled in a horseshoe position. Directly across from me sat the Queen. Next to her was the Prince, and on my right, next to the Prince, was a gentleman who acted as spokesman for him. As | remember, this gentleman was Mr. Kolff. Seated on my left were the other three gentlemen already named. The secretary was seated a little apart from the others. Small pastries were served, and as we sat enjoy- ing the refreshments and indulging in informal con- versation, | noted that Her Majesty wore a light blue frock. The men were dressed in black suits with white shirts and black ties. Cigarettes were passed. Then the secretary opened the topic for which | had been summoned. She ref- erred to my two books and asked a question regard- ing my trip around the moon. | was aware of having been granted only forty-five minutes, so | made my answers as brief as possible. The astronomer and Air Force chief asked que- stions next, trying to discredit the interplanetary visitors. As | think of it now, perhaps my answer was a little rude in the presence of royalty, for | said: | have known of no major officials of our Air Force, and few astronomers, who have told what they actually know about the visitors from space. It is a known fact that the secret files and confidential reports of the Air Force have never been released to the public, or even to high officers in the govern- ment. | am inclined to believe this applies to all governments.” | think Her Majesty knew exactly what | meant, for she gave a tiny smile of acknowledg- ment. | pointed out that most of the findings of our Earth satellite had been published in my books at least three years before. Many questions were asked about inhabitants of ufo contact 131 pulses come from the animal’s glands and its react- ions are wholly automatic. The make-up of an animal allows no room for freedom of choice, searching curiosity or doubt or conflict between impulses and ethical standards. An animal knows nothing of that strange voice called conscience, which tells us what is right and what is wrong. Only Mankind is equipped with the conflicts which arise, because it is created in God’s Image. And only Mankind is equipped with a soul which enables it to master the problems caused by these conflicts. Today, thousands of scientists are at work on the most momentous task Mankind has ever faced: an attempt to understand a physical Universe which is unending in time and space, complicated in its detail and impressive in its orderliness, and to understand its origin and how it functions. It is no longer a sufficient explanation of the aims of science to say that it seeks to find the physical laws which govern the Universe and increases Man- kind’s control over it, because science’s field of endeavour has increased in size. The basic elements of science are collective experiences, observations and the setting of certain goals at which to aim. From these the scientist tries to make a model of time, proportions and cause. When one gains new knowledge the old model is not rejected, it is just altered where the new knowledge points to an alter- ation. By reason of the fact that the scientist is willing to alter his model of the Universe, he shows that he does not demand to know the final truth. His scientific laws are at most only re-writings of the observations he has made. The laws of science do not control the reality but attempts only to explain it. Therefore the laws can be altered when one attains new knowledge. NEW AIMS. The tasks which science sets itself are never-end- ing. For truth is no static concept. For every new answer arrived at, a dozen new concepts come into view. Science stands before new frontiers in many fields of endeavour: the nucleus of the atom becomes more and more enigmatic — the origin and composition of the Universe is still shrouded in mystery — the inner functions of living organisms still allow of no ex- planation. Science’s Golden Age lies ahead of us. The scientist works in an atmosphere where doubt is an accepted fact of life and exaggerated ortho- doxy taboo. Thomas Huxley says of the scientist: “For him scepticism is a first duty and blind faith an unforgivable sin’. A result of scientific progress is that traditions, which are the buttresses of faith, have been swept aside. The sciences and religion have therefore often collided. And yet it is one of the tragedies of our time that science and religion have become adversaries. Because to achieve a sol- ution of the conflict it has been tempting to adopt a policy of peaceful co-existence, to divide our ex- periences into two different areas, to give science control over the one and religion control over the other. Let science explore the physical world, whilst religion takes care of the other, people say. When science has reached its limits, then religion can take over and explain that which allows of no explanation. This is a fateful step to take. To separate the two worlds could only be done if scientists were not Christians and no Christians were scientists. But science and religion do not reign over two separate kingdoms. INVISIBLE. It is not possible to build a wall between religion and science. Gradually, as science is enabled to ex- plain some of the mysteries of the Universe it comes into areas which were previously unknown or only accepted on a basis of faith. Every new experience — physical or spiritual — must fit into a pattern which gives both faith and mean- ing. It is Mankind that explores the Universe, exper- iments, and seeks for the truth. It is not just a detail, it takes part itself in the process of creation. Man- kind itself is the greatest result of the Creation. The fact that more and more of the wonders of Creation are being disclosed is of direct concern to Mankind. Science and religion can be compared with two windows in a house, through which we can observe the world around us or our neighbours. (There are other windows to be found in the house: Art, Lite- rature and History). Whatever we may see through the windows of this imaginary house, it must fit in with the model we have of the Universe and our place in it. Where it does not fit, we must alter the model, alter our aim and try to increase our ability to under- stand the Creation. In our modern society it would appear that many people think that the advances made by science have caused such things as religious belief to be- come out-of-place and old-fashioned. They cannot understand why we should ‘believe’ in something, when science can tell us that we ’know” so much. The simple answer to this assertion is that we are aware of more of nature’s mysteries today than people were before the advent of scientific research. There is absolutely no reason to believe that God cannot retain His place in our modern times in the same way as before we began to examine His Crea- tion with telescope and ion-accelerators. Even though science is no religion, it is, by nature of its assumptions, its application and its search for the truth, a religious function. The Creator reveals Himself through His Creations. As Charles A. Coul- son says: ’’Science helps us to create a picture of God”. We must remember that science only exists because there are people, and its concepts exist only in people’s understanding. Behind these con- cepts lies reality, which God can reveal to us.