The Ledger is collecting accounts of frustrating 50 cent or $1 encounters on the Polk Parkway that led to bills for much more. If you feel that youve been cheated by a toll basket, a video camera or SunPass, let us know.
Email Ledger investigative reporter Rick Rousos at rick.rousos@theledger.com or call him at 863-802-7509.
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SRINAGAR(SANA): Chairman Hurriyet Conference Syed Ali Geelani, has stated that the three-year tenure of present government of occupied Kashmir would be remembered for oppression and brutality. “Under Omar Abdullah’s government, hundreds of innocent civilians were killed, thousands inured and tortured by the Indian forces. He is also responsible for the fake encounters and custodial killings,” he stated.
Syed Ali Geelani maintained that Kashmir will continue to suffer economically and politically as long as it is under illegal occupation of India.
Syed Ali Geelani, who is in New Delhi, in a statement issued from Srinagar expressed serious concerns over the plight of the passengers stranded on Srinagar-Jammu highway due to snowfall. He said that the grim situation and chaos arising due to snowfall was a result of the occupation.
Geelani said that the problems being faced by people due to snowfall are offshoots of the Indian occupation. If Kashmir would have been free, the region would have been economically prosperous with our trade reaching as far as Central Asia.
He said that although the puppet administration was claiming about its achievements by dishing out huge advertisements to newspapers, on ground it had turned out to be an absolute failure. “A few inches of snow have exposed the bad governance of Omar Abdullah-led administration, burying all his claims, he added.
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The Government on Tuesday tried to bury the ghost of the Batla House encounter even as Congress stalwart Digvijay Singh, who reiterated that the shootout was fake, seems determined to revive the past to reach out to hardline elements ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls.
The difference between the party and the Government appeared a well-orchestrated move to exploit the Batla House encounter for political gains. Though the Government fielded two senior Ministers to refute Digivijay Singh claims, questions are being asked if the powerful Congress general secretary could have put the Prime Minister and Home Minister in the dock without backing of the party high ups.
Rejecting Singh’s demand for a probe into the encounter, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday reiterated that it was a “genuine encounter” and that there was “no scope for reopening the matter”. But Singh did not waste any time in backing his stance. “I stand by what I said on Batla House encounter but too much time has passed for a judicial inquiry now,” Singh told reporters after Chidambaram’s clarification.
Negating Singh’s charge, Chidambaram said, “After I took over as Home Minister, we came to the conclusion that the encounter was genuine.”
The Home Minister said from the very beginning Singh held a “personal view” that the encounter was fake and that he respected that view. “But every authority, who has looked into it (the case), has come to the conclusion that it was a genuine encounter. So, while there is a difference of opinion, I think the matter rests where it stands today. I don’t think there is any scope for reopening that matter,” he said.
Singh raked up the issue on Wednesday after party general secretary Rahul Gandhi faced protests during his campaign visit to Azamgarh, which is home to those who were killed in the encounter.
Singh had also dragged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh into the controversy by stating that he did not press for reinvestigation into the case as both of them were of the view that the encounter was true.
The September 19, 2008 Batla House encounter led to the killing of Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chandra Sharma and two Indian Mujahideen terrorists while two other Indian Mujahideen terrorists were arrested while another fled.
The BJP questioned Sonia and Rahul’s silence on the issue and sought a clarification from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“If Chidambaram as Home Minister says the Batla House encounter was genuine then how did Digvijay Singh term it fake in the presence of Rahul Gandhi in Azamgarh yesterday?” BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad asked. He added, “Will Sonia Gandhi and Rahul open their mouths and clarify the issue or will they continue to play vote bank politics over it. The Congress is even courting the terrorists and their families in their bid to do so.”
Another BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said, “Let the PM come out of his silent mode and explain to the nation what are the facts of the Batla House encounter in which a brave police officer had to pay the price as fell to the bullets of terrorists. And, here’s a Congress leader giving morale booster to the terrorists and demoralising the police force by his antics.” Javadekar questioned Sonia and Rahul Gandhi’s silence saying, “Digvijay is his Majesty’s voice. You cannot remain mute spectators.”
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Home defence bill unlikely to lead to a rash of bloody encounters.
By Terry Prone
Monday, January 16, 2012
ST FRANCIS was just addressing a sparrow as Sister Bird up there on the big screen when a man sat down beside me in the cinema and squeezed my 13-year-old knee. (The other knee was the same age, but he chose to fondle only the one on the right.)
I’d been watching a film about saintly gentleness, but, uninfluenced by that soft stuff, I backhanded the man with a closed fist and yelled loudly enough to bring a rush of usherettes with torches they shone into the row where I sat. In the sudden brightness, I looked at the man beside me. My father.
My father, who clearly couldn’t make up his mind whether to be admiring of my right hook or furious at my over-reaction. Knowing I was headed to the Fairview cinema, he’d decided to drop in on Saint Francis and give me a lift home, if he could find me in the dark. When he did locate me, the knee squeeze was by way of a greeting. It took a lot of explaining to the cinema staff and we never saw the rest of the movie.
I mention this because my response to the knee squeeze is a continuing aspect of my personality. I over-react with an enthusiastic hostility disproportionate to my physical strength, not just to knee squeezes, of which I’ve experienced remarkably few, other than the paternal one in the cinema, but to any invasion of my space or premises.
A couple of years ago, when I arrived into the front of the house and, in the process of unloading groceries, brought shampoo down to the bathroom, I found that room so spattered in blood it looked as if someone had impulsively decided to butcher a sheep in the bath using a hatchet.
Now, any normal householder in that situation would retreat. Since someone had invaded my home, the safe option was to go right back out the front door and once out in the cul de sac, to call the gardaí. Me, I grabbed the nearest thing to a weapon that was handy and started to follow the blood spatters. They led to the sitting room, where one of the floor-to-ceiling windows had been half pulled off its runners. After a search of the rest of the house revealed nobody hiding under a bed or in a wardrobe, I put in a call to the local cop shop, which first sent around a car and later a forensics guy.
You didn’t have to be a detective to work out what had happened. The would-be thief had broken the glass unintentionally, leaving a series of Everest-like peaks poking up at crotch level, and then stepped unsuccessfully over the Everests, one of which had got him (or her, although we all, in our lamentably sexist way, thought guy, not girl) sharply at some point in his person that was well-supplied with blood vessels, one of which had been punctured or even severed in the process. Dropping splatters as he went (at some speed, you could see by the angle of the splatters) the individual had gone searching for the bathroom, tried to control the blood flow while standing in the bath and, diapered in my best bath towel, had returned the way he came, stepping on the splatters he or she had made first time around, and, presumably protected by the towelling nappy/bandage, had gone out over the glassy Everests and fled. I observed that a simpler way to get in would have been to get a rock from the garden and break the window.
When you need a fix, your thinking processes aren’t the best, the lead guard said.
The forensic evidence was in such abundance, I thought they’d have the perp by nightfall. And said so. One of them muttered something snide about watching too much CSI.
Matter of interest, what’d you have done if you’d been in the house when the intruder broke in? the lead guard asked.
Well, if I could put my hand on the pepper spray I have somewhere…
She took her cap off, scratched her head, and put the cap back on firmly.
Pepper spray is illegal. If you know where it is, give it to me. If you don’t, throw it out as soon as you find it. What’s this? she demanded, holding up the weapon I had carried.
It’s a thing for tenderising cricket bats.
All four of us examined the gadget, which had a rock-hard cricket ball stuck firmly on the top of a sturdy short pole. I couldn’t remember who had given it to me or why cricket bats needed tenderising. The forces of the law ignored all that. Instead, they sat me down and told me that in the extremely unlikely event that — as has been my confessed intention — I had managed to brain the intruder with it, I would have been charged with murder.
I couldn’t believe it. They added that even if I had neither pepper-sprayed nor belted the intruder, but that, while on visitation to my home, said intruder had slipped on my too-smooth tiles, I could have been done for that too.
In which context, I was neutral to positive about the new home defence bill, which seems to allow a homeowner to defend their life and property with reasonable force rather than obliging them to evacuate the premises and leave the intruder in possession. However, when the Irish Council for Civil Liberties immediately came out against the new law, I expected to be moved to a more negative frame of mind.
The spokesman on the radio laid heavy emphasis on the messages sent by the new law. Those seemed to be headed for two audiences. The first were homeowners, who might get the message that lethal force in defence of their property was now acceptable. The second were criminals, who, realising that message-receptive home owners were now likely to arm themselves to the teeth, would, in preparation for lethal force encounters, arm themselves to the teeth. The inference to be drawn seemed to be that your good old-fashioned traditional cat burglary would now turn into a shootout at the OK Corral.
This ignores the reality hammered home by my unfortunate and inept burglar: the bulk of home invaders are not organised planners given to factoring into their thinking the putative defence strategies of homeowners. The majority are on their own, broke, in need of a fix and driven by impulse. Of that sad, if frightening, group only a tiny minority will encounter the people from whom they steal, and so mutual violence is a rarity, rather than the norm.
Nor will homeowners be turned into vengeful killers by a new piece of legislation. The sending of messages, whether those messages are sent directly through public announcement/advertising or indirectly, through legislation, has a poor track record when it comes to changing behaviours (like smoking, for example). Nor is there evidence of an eager, malleable audience for such messages.
One highly publicised killing, spurred by a maelstrom of paranoia, isolation and previous terrors, does not a murderous cohort make.
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CONWAY Kennett High got a mild measure of revenge Saturday night in a rematch of the 2011 Division III finals with Somersworth on the road, winning 5-0.
The Toppers had won the previous four encounters, including the one a mere 308 days ago at the Verizon Center in Manchester, 8-3, to cap off an undefeated season and spool Kennetts bid for a third straight state championship. This time around it was all KHS on Saturday, who put together a total team effort to improve to 6-0 in Division III.
It was another real solid defensive effort, Michael Lane, Eagles head coach, said. The kids came ready to play. hellip;Its been over two years since we last beat them so it was nice to get the monkey off our backs.
Goalie John Bishop recorded his league-leading fourth shutout of the season with 16 saves while his defense built a fortress in front of the net.
Defensively we continue to play really well, Lane said. Coach (Justin) Frechette has been working hard on our defense and it shows every night. All five defensemen (Matt Kelly, Chris King, Dan Rivera, Dane Rivera and Robert Moody) have real good attitudes. I dont think theres a defenseman in the league playing better than Matt Kelly at the moment hes been lights out. Chris and Dan have both just really stepped their games up this season. Dan gives us a physical presence on the ice while Chris has made such a smooth transition to defense from forward in less than two years. Dane and Robby are the younger guys and theyre getting better and better. Im really happy with the defense at this point.
Lane said the Eagles came out flying Saturday and their uptempo play wore the Toppers, who have just 14 players, down quickly.
KHS took the lead for good just 2:12 into the first period with Justin Munck lighting the lamp when he tucked home the rebound of a Nick Massa shot. Kelly also assisted on the goal.
The boys from Conway doubled their pleasure two and a half minutes later with Connor Todd scoring from Kevin Murphy and Dillon Smith.
At 9:09 of the first, Murphy made it 3-0 from Todd to close out the first period scoring.
Kennett spent a fair amount of time in the penalty box on the night, but successfully killed off four in the first period and five in the second.
Our penalty kill was very good, Lane said. There werent a lot of undisciplined penalties, we were simply being aggressive and physical which I can live with.
Kennett sealed the victory with a pair of third period goals. Anthony LaRusso scored 2:57 into the frame from Munck and then Munck scored from Cody Richard and Massa at 8:55.
Justin and that line (Richard and Massa) are working real hard, Lane said. Theyre starting to click and Justin is such a good finisher.
Lane said Bishop was tested a couple of times, but was equal to the challenge on every occasion.
Sometimes you just have to play the game and hope no one gets hurt. Such was the case Wednesday when Kenentt took to the Ham Arena ice to play a struggling Laconia-Winnisquam club.
The Eagles won the first meeting 12-0 last month in a game in which the boys from Conway didnt take shot in the final 22 minutes.
Wednesday was an opportunity for the younger Eagles to get plenty of playing time which should help KHS in terms of depth later in the season.
It was nice to finally play at home, Lane said, and it was nice to get a win and nice to get the younger guys lots of ice time. This game was a good opportunity for the younger kids, plus we were able to rest some of the upperclassmen who played a lot Tuesday (in a 5-3 win at Bedford in a non-league matchup).
Richard opened the scoring two minutes into the game with assists going to Munck and Massa.
Three minutes later, Munck lit the lamp with the asset going to Moody, a freshman, who finished with a career-high four points.
Gabe Lee extended Kennetts lead to 3-0 when he converted a pas from LaRusso and Moody.
L/W got on the scoreboard with 3:46 to play in the first period, scoring a power-play goal.
Kennett answered quickly with Smith finding the back of the net from Murphy and Todd.
The Eagles ran their lead to 5-1 just 90 seconds into the second period when defenseman King scored with assists going to Todd and Smith.
KHS added one more tally in the second period, courtesy of Moody, who took a feed from Murphy and made no mistake.
Kennett added four goals in the third period: Lee from Gallo and Moody; Todd shorthanded; Massa from Richard; and Nathaniel Swift from LaRusso.
Freshman goalies Josh Kondrat and Bobby Davis shared the duties in net. Kondrat made six saves while Davis had two stops.
There are just three undefeated teams left in Division III Kennett, Souhegan and Alvirne. KHS isnt scheduled to meet Alvirne until Feb. 15 and will play Souhegan in the regular-season finale Feb. 25.
Division standings as of Monday were Kennett, 6-0; Alvirne, 6-0; Souhegan, 7-0-1; Pelham-Windham, 5-1; Portsmouth, 4-3; Moultonborough/Interlakes, 4-3; John Stark/Hopkinton, 4-3; Hollis/Brookline, 3-3; Belmont-Gilford, 2-3; Somersworth, 2-4; Pembroke-Campbell, 1-3; Manchester West, 1-5; ConVal, 0-5-1; Kearsarge, 0-5; and Laconia-Winnisquam, 0-7.
Weve got to keep controlling what we can control, Lane said. We cant worry about Alvirne and Souhegan, well see them in February. We need to concentrate on the teams we play.
Its a light week for the Eagles in terms of games. Kennett plays just once, hosting Pembroke Academy on Saturday at 3:30 pm at Ham Arena.
Weve got a week to get ready for them, Lane said. Its the right time for a light week with it being midterms this week.
The Eagles will open next week at home against Kearsarge on Monday at 5:20 pm They beat the Cougars 8-0 in North Sutton on Jan. 7.
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Close Encounters of the Third Kind was recognized as a motion picture phenomenon.
From its first openings, critics were awed. Audiences responded in record numbers. There was vital renewed interest in UFO phenomena, and even that phrase, Close Encounters of the Third Kind became part of our language. A Columbia Presentation in Association with EMI, it came to the screen with impeccable credentials. The writer and director was Steven Spielberg, director of Jaws, among the all-time worldwide boxoffice champions. The producers were Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips, producers of the Academy Award-winning The Sting and Columbias explosive Taxi Driver. Special photographic effects were created (from Spielbergs concept) by Douglas Trumbull, who fashioned the visual imagery for Stanley Kubricks 2001 A Space Odyssey. The Technical Advisor was Dr. J. Allen Hynek, the outstanding authority on UFOs in the world. The musical score was composed and conducted by John Williams, who had scored both Jaws and Star Wars.
Backed by an advertising-promotion-publicity campaign, steeped in the excitement of the movie itself, Close Eenounters generated enthusiasm and acclaim.
Versions of the Close Encounters of the Third Kind laserdiscs, DVDs and Blu-ray contain many extras about the making of the film. When compiling this column, I tried to find other information that may not have been part of some of those extras but that certainly pertain to the film. Enjoy!
UFOS, The Controversial Phenomenon
It was shortly after dark and ten or twelve men all watched it. It seemed to move toward us, then partially away, then return, then
depart, It was bluish…then reddish…luminous, not solid.
? Jimmy Carter, President of the United States, from his official UFO report submitted when he was Governor of Georgia.
No direct evidence whatever of a convincing nature now exists for the claim that any UFOs represent spacecraft visiting Earth from
another civilization…
? From The Condon Report, submitted to the United States Air Force by the scientific team headed by
Dr. Edward Condon of the University of Colorado.
Intelligent beings from other planets regularly visit our world in an effort to enter into contact with us…NASA and the American
government know this and possess a great deal of evidence. Nevertheless, they remain silent in order not to alarm people…I am
dedicated to forcing the authorities to end their silence.
? Gordon Cooper, astronaut, at a UFO conference.
These are among the comments, pro and con, which have fueled one of the most intriguing controversies of our time. It is estimated
that more than 18 million Americans believe they have seen Unidentified Flying Objects. Of these glowing discs, shimmering
lights or pulsating spheres, did any originate outside our own solar system? Do they represent attempts by intelligent beings to
observe or contact us?
The release of the motion picture, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, deepened the controversy. The film eschews the sci-fi trappings moviemakers had relied on since Georges Melies fired a plywood rocket at a cardboard moon in the early silent era. Instead, Spielberg rooted his imagery in an awesome body of scientific data, which has been growing daily, ever since mystery
airships were first sighted in the skies over Europe during the late nineteenth century. (These sightings were first dismissed as
hallucinatory hysteria. But as one investigator later pointed out, scientific knowledge of powered flight in 1896 and 1897 could not
have led to the invention of airships with the characteristics the witnesses described.)
Spielbergs guide, as he immersed himself in three decades of UFO detection, was the distinguished astronomer, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, former director of Ohio State Universitys MacMillin Observatory. In 1948, Hynek became the nations leading UFO sleuth when he
was retained by the Air Force to head Project Blue Book, a continuing study of UFO phenomena.
Hynek admitted he began the project as a skeptic. Twenty years later, after investigating 12,600 reported sightings, he felt that only the outer shell of a scientific breakthrough had been probed.
About 95% of UFOs turn out to be IFOs ? Identified Flying Objects such as advertising planes, Venus, or weather balloons, he
later stated. It was the official attempts to dismiss the remaining 5% as hoaxes and hallucinations which disturbed him.
How can hallucinations appear on radar, break tree branches and scare animals? he asked. How can they leave physical traces or
stop cars? Were dealing with something far more complex than hallucinations or apparitions.
Such speculation contradicted the official Air Force position that no sightings, categorized as unidentified, represent technological developments beyond the range of present knowledge.
Parting company with the Air Force, Hynek founded the Center for UFO Studies in Evanston, Illinois, where the monumental task of computerizing, cataloging and investigating more than 100 daily UFO sightings continues. It was here that Spielberg, following the monumental success of Jaws, sought the truth that would underlie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and found even the films
title.
To help categorize UFO sightings, Hynek had divided them into three kinds of close encounters, sighting a UFO, physical evidence of the encounter, and actual contact with alien visitors.
It was an encounter of the first kind in 1947 that launched the modern era of American UFO sightings. Kenneth Arnold, a Boise,
Idaho businessman and an experienced Air Rescue pilot, reported seeing nine disc-shaped objects flying in loose formation. Their
motion was undulating, he told newsmen, like a saucer skipping over the water.
The term flying saucer became part of the language.
Its a misnomer, if there ever was one, stated Hynek, pointing out that UFOs come in a dazzling range of shapes and sizes, from
luminous tear drops to diamond shaped projectiles to brightly lit chariots, depending on the observer.
What President Carter witnessed in Leary, Georgia in October 1969 fits that description. Carter was waiting for an outdoor meeting to begin when a sharply outlined, self-luminous object appeared in the sky. Ten or twelve of us watched it; the brightness attracted us, he recalled in an official UFO sighting report. It made no noise but it was clearly visible for several minutes. While the President is the most prominent world figure to have filed a UFO sighting report, he is hardly alone. Among the other Americans who believe they have sighted a UFO are John Gilligan, Governor of Ohio; astronauts James McDivitt and Gordon Cooper, and scores of people from all walks of life, including scientists, airline pilots, astronomers and government officials. Encounters seem to come in waves, according to researchers. In 1939 and again in 1946, Scandinavia was a center of UFO activity. A
sudden rush of sightings in the southern United States in 1952 was followed by similar waves in France and Africa in 1954 and South America in 1957. (UFO reports became relatively infrequent until 1967 when they again accelerated.) To skeptics, the fact that UFO reports come in clusters confirms the mass hysteria or hallucination theory. To those who believe they represent some extraterrestrial visitation, the answer is equally clear. Each new wave signifies a separate incursion of the earths
atmosphere.
Most professional UFOlogists refuse to accept either theory, on the grounds that there is insufficient data to support a positive conclusion. But when the answer does come, Hynek predicted, it may shatter some of our most cherished scientific tenets. Remember that for 99% of his cherished existence, man believed that the earth was the center of the universe, he points out. What makes us so
certain that our present belief structure is any more sacrosanct? The sensationalism surrounding close encounters and the risk of public ridicule makes investigating UFO reports ? and Close Encounters of the Third Kind particularly ? extremely difficult.
A person may not be reluctant to report to friends, or even to the police, that he has seen a strangely behaving light, says Hynek. But he has quite a different attitude when it comes to revealing a close encounter with a UFO, particularly if humanoids were involved.
The concept of extraterrestrial visitors is not as improbable to many scientists as it is to the general public. They reason that since there are billions of suns in the universe, apparently capable of supporting planetary systems, it would be miraculous if we didnt share the cosmos with other life forms. In Hyneks view, there is one significant obstacle to accepting a concept of cosmic travel. As an astronomer, he points out, I know what distances are involved and I dont think people appreciate how vast the universe is. For an alien civilization; from another solar system to reach us, he continues, it would require technological skills so advanced that our science cannot envision them.
Meanwhile, the documentation grows, as more than 100 UFO sightings are reported daily, throughout the world, some 5-10% of which
defy identification or rational explanation. A Newsweek story on the subject of contacting other worlds, summed up the speculation this way: Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.
Taking a step beyond the visions of the past
In an obscure building near the boat basin at Marina del Rey. California, a series of remarkable experiments continued for more than a year. They had nothing to do with the pleasure boats and luxury yachts docked a few hundred yards away. Instead, they were devoted to a different kind of craft which millions of people have imagined and only a few have claimed to have seen.
Thirty-four-year-old inventor and filmmaker Douglas Trumbull and a staff of 35 skilled technicians were at work ? in well guarded secrecy ? envisioning the extraterrestrial vehicles which would fill the sky (and the screen) in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
This creative imagery is on view when the
movie, which probes the mystery of UFO phenomena, is viewed.
These are the pictures human stars. But following its initial New York and Los Angeles openings, equal credit for what one critic called its stunning impact went to Trumbulls photographic effects, including a climactic 30-minute visual feast. An acknowledged leader in his field for his work on Stanley Kubricks 2001 A Space Odyssey, Trumbull admitted that in Close Encounters of the Third Kind… we have attempted to take a step beyond the imagery of the past. The challenge was straightforward ? to draw upon documented reports of UFO sightings throughout the world, to create lights, shapes and vehicles which might represent the technology of an advanced society, somewhere in space. His imagination; he admits, was fired by the research of Dr. J. Allen Hynek, who served as the films technical adviser.
Trumbull is something of a space specialist himself, a reputation he picked up when doing backgrounds for animated films made for NASA and the Apollo 17 program. One of his short subjects, To the Moon and Beyond, was a hit of the 1964 Worlds Fair. Seen by Kubrick, it led to his assignment on 2001 A Space Odyssey.
Trumbull next created the special effects for The Andromeda Strain, then wrote, directed and produced the space drama, Silent Running. At first, Spielberg who conceived the visual effect concepts, doubted that Trumbull would agree to design the effects for another directors film. But there was no one else, he felt, who could cope with the challenge. Spielberg admits he breathed a sigh of relief when he received Trumbulls rapid response to the draft screenplay: I feel this is the movie Ive waited all my life to do. When do we start? A native of Los Angeles, Trumbull had come a long way since he started as a free-lance technical illustrator, then joined Graphic Arts (a Los Angeles
animation house) to do background drawings. The he became vice-president of Future General Corporation, formed in 1973 and was considered one of the worlds leading developers of new motion picture processes and entertainment concepts.
He was not without pure imagination and ideas. These included a new audiovisual ride system for amusement parks, using motion picture film and effects and Shows-can, a revolutionary process for movies to be shown on a mammoth screen larger than any utilized to date. Future Generals expansion had seen it take over four buildings in Marina del Rey, of which the newest structure was acquired solely for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Under Trumbulls direction, it was transformed into a 13,000-square foot miniature studio, crammed with sophisticated optical and electronic equipment. Included was a unique sound stage completely shrouded in black, it had dolly tracks running both horizontally and vertically, linked to delicate electronic controls.
Another advancement which contributed to Close Encounters of the Third Kind was Trumbulls invention of what is known as a motion control system. Without going into much technical detail, he explained, its a means of controlling every camera movement ? panning, tilting, dollying ? to achieve an illusion of reality, while focusing on fantasy, in a way that was impossible before.
Would Trumbull care to describe the process ? and his work ? in greater detail?
Its so mind-blowingly complicated, he admits with a grin, that sometimes even I dont fully comprehend it. In film, he later went on to doing special photographic effects for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner, and worked on the Back to the Future ride at Universal Studios Orlando. He has recently narrated and appeared in a series of documentaries including Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan, made last year.
Francois Truffaut
Francois Truffaut, the brilliant French filmmaker who wrote, directed, produced and sometimes even plays major roles in his own movies, said he never expected to act in another directors motion picture, nor in America. He did both with Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It was his admiration for the work of Spielberg that prompted Truffauts American screen debut. Steven attracted me, he said. I knew his work. I had confidence in him. When he called me in France and said he had written the role especially for me, I didnt think he was serious. I assumed he thought I spoke English. Actually, Truffaut did, but he was hesitant to admit it and felt more comfortable in his native language.
When Spielberg explained that the script called for him to speak French, with another actor cast as his interpreter, Truffaut asked to have the script sent to him. Steven sent me one script in English, then another in French, he recalled. I read it and I knew I would be able to act the part, so I accepted.
While his films, including the Academy Award-winning Day For Night, have been made on much shorter schedules and much smaller budgets, he was lavish in his praise of the younger generation of movie makers, many of whom he has influenced. Describing Spielberg, he commented: Steven is remarkably modest, despite his successes. He is very stable emotionally and very even-tempered. He may be full of anxiety, but he knows how to hide it; there was a strong feeling of confidence on his set. And his energy is tremendous.
Directors who have had the strongest effect on him include Hitchcock (who inspired his mystery thriller, The Bride Wore Black) and the late Ernst Lubitsch, whose photo he carried wherever he traveled. Lubitsch knew that to make people laugh, or cry, or become concerned, you had to tell an interesting story, Truffaut pointed out. His movies were at the furthest end of the scale from documentaries.Concerning his own reputation for upbeat films, he admitted,That is intentional. I dont like films which end in failure or futility. If you ask people to bear with you for two hours of story telling, you must leave them with a sense of optimism or even exultation. Endings which have a double meaning are fine, because so much of life is ambiguous, but not those which make life seem cheap or useless. He was particularly pleased, on reading Spielbergs script, by its climax.
It was absolutely perfect, he said during an on-set interview. But I would never tell you how the picture ends, since I wouldnt want anyone to spoil one of my films that way.
Francois Truffaut was born in France and became a lover of films at seven years old. He left school at age fourteen to work. At 15, he founded a film club and met the French critic Andre Bazin. He directed his first short film in 1954 and two years later helped Roberto Rossellini with several projects. When he married Madeleine Morgenstern, the daughter of an important film distributor, he was able to form his own production company which he called Les Films du Carrosse. His big break came in 1959 with his first big full-length feature The 400 Blows. He had two daughters (though was later divorced). He continued to work in films after Close Encounters of the Third Kind, his last writing on the project The Man who Loved Women (1983). He died in 1984, right after that film was released at the young age of 52 from a brain tumor. His salary for Close Encounters of the Third Kind was $75,000.
Dreyfuss and Spielberg reunite
Richard Dreyfuss had been described as a sought after young actor. But what pleased him most was that the seekers invariably rank among the industrys most brilliant and respected directors.
His first starring vehicle was The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz for Canadian director Ted Kotcheff. In American Graffiti, he worked for George Lucas who went on to make Star Wars.
The pounding adventure of Jaws allied him with Steven Spielberg, while The Goodbye Girl linked him with Herbert Ross of Funny Lady and The Turning Point. Dreyfuss was then reunited with Spielberg in what the actor called the most demanding and emotional effort of his career, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
In the film, Dreyfuss portrays a power lineman who is among the first to witness bizarre lights and shapes in the sky over Indiana. The experience drives him to the emotional edge and lures him to a remote southwestern plateau where the answer to the mystery may be waiting.
Jaws was an exhausting physical challenge, Dreyfuss pointed out. But making Close Encounters of the Third Kind was something more, an emotional experience in which I was bombarded by the most dazzling visual effects I had ever seen achieved. Despite the impact of the movies in which he has appeared, Dreyfuss did not regard himself as a star. Not yet. As he said for a BBC interview in 1978, Ive been working at my craft since I was 15 years old and I still dont feel Im completely trained as an actor.
Dreyfuss called his attitude realistic rather than modest. I think every actor hopes to become a star, he continued. The only one who ever said, No, I just wanted to be a working actor ? and made me believe him ? was Henry Fonda. And hes a star in the truest sense of the term.
Dreyfuss favorite actors, besides Fonda, were Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro. Fonda is the only one he has came to know, having joined him several years prior in a Los Angeles stage revival of The Time of Your Life.
There are certain people you grow up to regard as sources of wisdom and talent. I used to stay up all night watching television for Fondas best work. He has given three or four performances that I think cant be beaten. For me, Fail Safe and The Grapes of Wrath were particularly remarkable films, Dreyfuss stated. He regards Brando as the greatest actor, with a genius for imagination and attention to detail. He excels in those areas more than any other screen personality, the young actor said in the interview. De Niro, he believes, is the best young actor of the generation.
Bogart, Tracy, Cagney and Garfield were earlier stars he worshiped. Some of his other favorites at the time included Jack Nicholson, George C. Scott and Al Pacino.
Watching a great actor at work is always a thrilling experience, he said. It teaches you a great deal ? including how much theres still left to learn.
In an interview with People Magazine in the late 1970s, he claimed, Jaws, was, I felt, really my first huge challenge, and most of it was physical. The amount of work we did, and the terrible time we had with the shark and filming was at times disheartening, but I took it one day at a time, showed up for work, and we worked it all out. I was absolutely thrilled with the results of Jaws. After the music score was added and the editing was completed, we had a private screening and I just sat there in amazement at what this new director was capable of. That is why I didnt even hesitate when I was asked to play in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. My role in this film is much more emotional, the complete opposite of Jaws. After all, I have to really go bonkers but in a realistic way because it is not the fault of my brain but something that has been put there. His last few films included Piranha 3D in which he played a short part in the opening, a take-off of his character Matt Hooper from Jaws, even wearing the famed ocean costume.
Spielbergs fascination with life in the Galaxy
Close Encounters of the Third Kind follows nearly four years of speculation, curiosity and intrigue. Much of the interest focused on the films 30-year-old director, Steven Spielberg, working for the first time from his own screenplay. His first feature, The Sugarland Express, had prompted high praise from critics such as the New Yorkers Pauline Kael, who called it …one of the most phenomenal directorial debut films in the history of movies.
Spielbergs second picture was Jaws of course among the industrys all-time worldwide box-office champions. With Close Encounters of the Third Kind Spielberg probed the mystery of UFO phenomena, a subject which has held a lifelong fascination for him. Otherwise, relatively little was revealed about the project. Principal locations were protected by round-the-clock security guards. Those involved were sworn to secrecy. Spielberg insists that while the air of mystery heightened interest in Close Encounters of the Third Kind… that wasnt its purpose. He and special effects designer Douglas Trumbull were experimenting with new forms of visual imagery. To reveal them prematurely, he believed, would diminish their impact and spoil the fun.
The extraordinary reception which greeted Close Encounters of the Third Kind in its initial New York and Los Angeles openings confirmed that Spielbergs secrets were worth protecting. Oddly enough, the picture was not Spielbergs first cinematic encounter with UFO phenomena. As a 16-year-old schoolboy in Phoenix, Arizona, he acquired his first super 8mm movie camera and used it to make a 2 1/2-hour movie, Firelight, about strange lights in the night sky. Firelight cost $500 to make and earned back its cost in its one and only public screening. We packed the family station wagon that same night and moved the next day to San Francisco. Ive only looked at that film a few times myself since then, he recalled. The subject never lost its fascination for me, he said. Im awed by the possibility of other intelligent life forms in outer space, perhaps a civilization hundreds of millions
years old and far more advanced than ours.
Spielberg switched from UFOs to war stories after his family moved to San Francisco, but continued his filmmaking in 8mm and 16mm. Then he advanced to California State College at Long Beach and to 35mm. One of his short subjects, titled Amblin, won awards at the Venice and Atlanta Film Festivals and brought him to Hollywoods attention and would later become the name of his production company. Signed to a directors contract by Universal Pictures, he had just turned 21 when he directed Joan Crawford in his first television feature, Night Gallery, That was followed by more television films, particularly the ambitious ABC-TV chiller, Duel, which went on to set foreign boxoffice records as a theatrical release.
Moving on to the big screen, Spielberg made an impressive debut with The Sugarland Express, followed by the spectacular success of Jaws. But even while Jaws was in preparation, he was at work on the first 25 pages of the screenplay that would eventually become Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Every movie is, or should be, a new kind of challenge to its creators, says Spielberg. In Jaws, the challenge was to make terror interesting and novel, not just terrifying. In Close Encounters of the Third Kind the challenge grew out of how little we really know about UFO phenomena. How does Spielberg describe the film?
Its a cosmic mystery, he replies. In that sense, I hope that it answers a few questions and suggests new and even more provocative ones. Spielberg contacted Jim Henson to help create the first alien shown, but he declined.
Locations
From Wyoming to Alabama to a remote hillside in India, Hollywood veteran Joe Alves spent months in search of the proper scenic backgrounds. In Wyoming he found the bizarre but natural setting he sought for the film and one which matched the description in Steven Spielbergs screenplay. It was here, at Devils Tower, a unique mountain setting in a desolate area near Huelot, Wyoming, that he found the place so fittingly majestic and visually and emotionally inspiring for the backdrop where the climactic sequences were to take place.
From Wyoming, the company moved to its major location in Alabama and established headquarters in Mobile. On the outskirts of the city, a World War II dirigible hanger had been found after another cross-country search and was converted into a movie sound stage six times the size of Hollywoods most spacious stage. In planning the set required for the films spectacular climax, it was found that the largest such space in Hollywood fell far short of accommodating it. The hangar measured 450 feet long, 250 feet wide and 90 feet high. Its conversion and construction of the sets demanded staggering amounts of varied materials. They included: 54,000 board feet (approximately 10 miles) of lumber; 19,000 feet of steel scaffolding, 29,500 feet of nylon canopy, 16,900 feet of fiberglass, two miles of steel cable, 5,000 yards of cloth backing, 1 50 tons of air conditioning, 26,000 square yards of terrace concrete slabs and 7,000 yards of sand and clay fill dirt.
The nature of the set itself and what transpired within it was, from start to finish, veiled in top secrecy. Only those required for the filming were permitted entrance after displaying proper identification badges, checked by an around-the-clock-security force.
It was felt that, for maximum impact, the audiences exposure to these sequences should be when the complete motion picture is shown in theaters.
Away from the hangar, a spectacular sequence was filmed in Bay Minette, Alabama, a small town 30 miles east of Mobile, where hundreds of cattle, sheep, cars and trucks, together with 2000 evacuees, joined in a continuation of the mass exodus scene.
From Alabama, Close Encounters of the Third Kind moved to Washington, DC for scenes in which ABC Televisions noted news anchorman Howard K. Smith played himself. Next, came a journey to distant India.
In Bombay and other nearby settings after months of negotiations, Spielberg directed stirring scenes in which Francois Truffaut, in his search for a solution to the mystery of the skies, observes the awesome spectacle of thousands of Hindus praying and chanting as they respond to the bewildering phenomenon.
The India close encounter scenes, which had taken the film company around the globe, pointed up the worldwide extent of the continuing UFO mystery.
Musical Score
The musical score for Close Encounters of the Third Kind reflects the genius of John Williams…at the time two-time Academy Award winner…eight time Oscar nominee…. composer-conductor of Star Wars and Jaws. To mirror the scope of writer-director Steven Spielbergs vision, Williams composed a remarkable eighty minutes of original themes, then enlisted the services of a full 110-piece philharmonic orchestra, during weeks of stereo recording sessions.
The result is a bold, sweeping surge of music that dramatically complements the images on screen and stands by itself as a listening experience. Williams said of the 5 tones used that have become famous, The five tones were chosen based on nothing more than the facts that the intervals were far enough apart and that the tones were pleasant to the ear..and the last note raises up one tone. When I was sitting at the piano going through thousands of ideas, we decided we were not going to write a jingle or commercial rhyme. We wanted the first note to bed for a response.
Williams was careful in creating a score that would be memorable to the audience after they left the theater. He felt that when people walked out of the film, they would be, in a way, stunned with what they saw. He knew this score would be a bigger challenge for him and spent four months composing the score, careful to make the ending as fantastic and awe-inspiring as the visuals themselves. Arista Records issued the score as a stereo sound track album. They also released adisco single, based on the pictures recurring theme, but it was disco producer Meco who made the charts with his disco version (previously Meco had hit the #1 top 40 spot with his Star Wars theme, though his theme for Close Encounters did not make the top ten.) The larger theaters would play the theme during all sittings except that Columbia sent a note to the theaters not to play the final musical sequence.
Close Encounters at Charles C. Gates Planetarium in Denver
For one group of dedicated star gazers, theres a special significance to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. They were the astronomers and technicians who designed the exciting,, informative, star shows seen at major planetariums.
The renowned Charles C. Gates Planetarium in Denver fashioned a brilliant space spectacular around the Close Encounters of the Third Kind theme. It began with a sky full of IFOs (identifiable flying objects) which are frequently mistaken for UFOs…weather balloons, meteors, aircraft lights and shooting stars.
Then it moved into genuine UFOs which, despite scientific sleuthing, remain a mystery. The possibility that these objects come from advanced civilizations, beyond our solar system, is raised in fascinating detail. Finally, the three kinds of Close Encounters are defined, and while Columbias key art of a lonely road and glowing sky fills the planetariums vast dome, the narrator draws the conclusion that…We are not alone…
The presentation was enhanced by the STP Star Projector, an instrument which could simulate the position of the stars and planets from any point on the globe at any precise moment in time.
It was a dynamic show which the Gates Planetarium agreed to make available to any other planetarium in America on request…and without expense. The project was based on several ideas
? The fictional tale which Steven Spielberg unfolds in Close Encounters is based on extensive, accurate scientific research.
? The films technical adviser is Dr. J. Allen Hynek, professor of astronomy at Northwestern University, former director of the MacMillin Observatory and one of Americas most respected astrophysicists. (In fact, Dr. Hyneks taped comments were a fascinating part of the Gates presentation.)
? Everything about Close Encounters of the Third Kind…the creative talent…the scope of the production…the special effects technology…guaranteed an association the planetarium would be proud of. Science and industry museums, college planetariums, observatories and other institutions which indulge in sky watching also did their part across the nation, many others creating UFO displays for the public.
Close Encounter Trailers
The sense of anticipation…wonder…and growing excitement… that was the heart of the Close Encounters of the Third Kind campaign. A five minute trailer was made available. Unique in length, unique in concept, it suggested that what you will soon see has never been seen before, showcasing the stars, the story and the scope of production…in a way that made moviegoers eagerly await the film itself. Two thousand trailer prints?in three versions, 70mm, 35mm
scope and 35mm flat ? were struck off to satisfy every exhibitor situation. Putting the trailer to work was essential. Spielberg along with the Columbia advertising department also worked hard to create an advertising campaign that would provoke a sense of wonder and fascination. Several dozen designs were created but rejected by Spielberg who wanted simplicity and wanted the same image used world-wide. He envisioned a long road in the country with a glimmering light at the end. The artists went to work and the famous image that covered books, posters, soundtracks and souvenir books was born. This is an image that still lives on in peoples minds and when one sees it, even without the film title, usually know exactly to what film it pertains. It won several awards in advertising and awards with-in the movie industry.
Dolby sound
In 1979, the name Dolby for millions of hi-fi and stereo cassette owners had grown to mean the finest, truest sound possible. Motion picture audiences who had experienced the Dolby sound system in such films as Star Wars and A Star Is Born began to recognize the added dimension of entertainment they could expect when they saw the name Dolby. Soon they would experience the remarkable contribution the Dolby system made to the total enjoyment impact of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The film was released with Dolby encoded prints in 70mm six track stereo in selected theaters and in 35mm stereo optical nationally. Keeping in mind that the huge 18 to 35 year old audience was the same audience who enthusiastically purchased Dolby equipped stereo cassettes and playback machines, and automatically recognized what the name Dolby meant in terms of entertainment, many experiencing it with Star Wars, Columbia prepared special advertising-publicity-promotional material for all theaters using the system with the film.
Columbia heavily urged theaters equipped with Dolby to take advantage of the material to generate cross-plugging tie-ins with every major store specializing in sales of hi-fi and stereo equipment (eg Radio Shack) as well as department and variety chain stores carrying these items. They urges theaters to make each of these sites a showcase for Close Encounters of the Third Kind by posting one-sheets and stills,in their front windows and in-store displays…combining Dolby and the movie and Dolby equipment the store sells. They provided stores a supply of Close Encounters of the Third Kind iron-on patches and T-shirts that could be offered to the stores customers who bought Dolby equipment. Columbia Suggested that the store tie in which a local radio contest promotion would work well by contributing Dolby equipment for prizes, and that it could use any of the contest promotions for their own in-store promotions which they could advertise in newspapers and radio. The link between Dolby and Close Encounters of the Third Kind ? Dolby stereo equipment which is heavily advertised and promoted ? and stores selling Dolby equipment ? could be forged into a chain of excitement that turned-on the huge 18 to 35 years of age audience for each engagement.
At the time, Dolby sound was relatively new, its biggest claim to fame to date was Star Wars, in which hundreds of theaters converted to Dolby stereo. By the time Close Encounters of the Third Kind was released, hundreds of additional theaters had installed the equipment, and in talking with Dolby for this column, there was a big upsurge in installations prior to (and due to) the release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. While the larger cities by this time had many of the theaters equipped, smaller town across the country and indeed around the world began equipping their theaters for Dolby Stereo. In 1965, Dolby first introduced Dolby A noise reduction for the professional market. That was followed by Dolby B for consumer products in 1968. By 1970, Harman Kardon had equipped their first cassette tape recorder with Dolby with others following. In 1976, Dolby introduced Dolby Stereo®, a highly practical 35 mm stereo optical release print format. The same year, Dolby introduced Dolby Surround with A Star is Born, which encoded the two tracks of any stereo source with four-channel surround sound and in 1984 Dolby released AC-1, their first digital encoding system. 1991 brought Dolby AC-3, now known as Dolby Digital, its first application was as a sound format for films. In 2005, Dolby True HD was introduced for HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc. And two years ago in 2010, Dolby held the first public demonstration of 5.1-channel surround sound on a mobile phone using Dolby Mobile technology.
Merchandising Close Encounters
T-shirts, posters, souvenir books, paperbacks, hardcover and photo-novel books, toys, apparel, wall decorations, belt buckles and jigsaw puzzles ? all bearing the distinctive ad art look for Close Encounters of the Third Kind were available at thousands of the nations stores participating in the mighty merchandising campaign. Columbia Pictures set up deals with over one hundred nationwide companies that included products that had to do with the movie, and some were merchandised as UFO material.
UFO Phenomenon
We are not alone…
That thought ran through the Close Encounters of the Third Kind campaign, linking the reality of UFO phenomena with the imagery and dramatic excitement on screen.
It was the basis for two exceptional accessories which Columbia created to back the movies engagement. The first was a special UFO one-sheet which bluntly states the facts of UFO sightings throughout the world. The upper portion of the poster is Columbias powerful key art ? a desolate road and a glowing starry sky. Below, moviegoers would discover that every fifteen minutes, someone sees a UFO…that they range in shape and size from tiny luminous tear drops to glowing projectiles as large as a football field… that UFO experiences are classified under three kinds of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, of which the third kind is the most extraordinary, contact with alien beings.
It was an intriguing second one-sheet to diversify a theaters campaign…an attention getter for wild posting.
The second promotion piece was a UFO sighting report, in the form of a strikingly graphic gatefold brochure. Again, Columbias ad campaign was combined with UFO fact. But primarily, it was a self-addressed mailer on which anyone who thought hed seen a UFO ? and fifteen million Americans already had ? could describe the experience to the Center for UFO Studies.
The sighting report provided a dramatic adjunct to the promotion effort. But it had to be distributed away from the theater. Paperback retailers, planetariums, libraries, schools and community centers were again ideal outlets. So were astronomy, sci-fi and UFO clubs ?whether privately organized or linked to schools or colleges. Another approach was to give the report to groups whose members seemed most likely to have a UFO experience ? private airplane pilots, members of law enforcement agencies, power repairmen (like the character Richard Dreyfuss portrays in the picture,) truckers, and other night workers whose jobs take them out into the open.
Theaters were urged to distribute sighting reports to the press, with your other publicity material, to make the key point . . . that Close Encounters of the Third Kind is based on a mystery as vast as the universe itself.
Radio advertising campaigns
Radio was a powerful and imaginative part of the Close Encounters of the Third Kind campaign. But only if it was effectively used. The promotions were to be limited to intelligent, articulate on-air personalities…preferably those with some knowledge of UFO phenomena or a lively, open-minded interest in the subject. They were not be handled jokingly or directed at the lunatic fringe. If there was any risk of that happening, theaters were urged to pass on a promotion, no matter how attractive it appeared. There were bound to be other radio personalities who shared the conviction that we are not alone…
The following were radio spots issued by Columbia Pictures. They were sent on 45rpm records, and also in script form for theater managers to give to their favorite DJs to dramatize:
? Who or what is out there? Most scientists agree with Dr. J. Allen Hynek that to assume we are the only life in the universe is unthinkable. They believe that there are literally billions of planets, in other solar systems, with the capacity to support life. Does that life resemble human or animal life on Earth? Are there civilizations in space whose science surpasses ours? Have they bridged the vast light year gap to observe or visit us? Does that explain UFO phenomena? Or will the answer, when it comes, prove even more traumatic?
Close Encounters of the Third Kind comes to the screen in the midst of one of the most heated controversies of our time. Expert opinion ranges from the firm conviction that, at this moment, we are being watched by extraterrestrial forces..Watch in amazement Close Encounters of the Third Kind. now showing at a theater near you.
? Do you believe that you have had a close encounter? If you do…
youre in good company. More than fifteen million Americans have filed UFO sighting reports, including President Carter, Governor Gilligan of Ohio and astronauts James McDivitt and Gordon Cooper.
We invite all listeners to hone in their own intriguing, baffling, dramatic UFO experiences.
Those that merit further inquiry will be submitted to the Center for UFO Studies, headed by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, for investigation and you will receive free passes to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. (To accomplish this, the radio station would reprint the UFO Sighting Report for those listeners who genuinely suspected they may have had a close encounter.
By using a telephone delay system, the host would screen out the hoax and crank calls which would detract from the provocative premise of the promotion. All callers whose stories were aired would receive some reward related to the movie…a Close Encounters of the Third Kind T-shirt…an iron-on patch…a LP record album… a subscription to the UFO Reporter… copies of both Steven Spielbergs novelized screenplay and The Hynek UFO Report.
? If you could ask one question of an extraterrestrial visitor, what would you ask? This is a radio switch on the Scholastic contest.
The contest would be preceded bv an intriguing description of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Then listeners should be challenged to ask one ? and only one ? question of an alien visitor. Answers would be phoned in or mailed in on postcards…at the stations option.
Again, iron-on patches…T-shirts…posters…and paperbacks or movie passes made excellent prizes. And since the contest would result in one first place winner, he (or she) should receive a reward worth vying for, like a powerful pair of binoculars or a super 8mm camera outfit, in keeping with the Close Encounters of the Third Kind theme.
Alternate versions of the contests was created by varying the questions. For example…
An extraterrestrial visitor can take ten items back to his
own planet to describe life on Earth. What ten items would
you choose?
Where on Earth would you want an alien visitor to land… and why?
What is the most important thing about life on Earth youd want a UFOer to know? These contests had the same objective…challenging listeners to use their own imaginations…luring them toward the challenging premise of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
? The sound of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Throughout the film, five haunting musical notes are heard.
Invariably, they signal some startling new surprise.
Theaters were urged to use those five notes as the basis for an intriguing radio contest, scattered through the broadcast day. The idea is that whenever they were heard…between records…during a newscast…at just about any time…listeners would rush to the phone to associate them with Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The first ten people to reach the station received Close Encounters of the Third Kind merchandise like T-shirts, paperbacks, posters, iron-on patches, etc.
It was an ideal contest for a tie-in with major retail outlets which is featuring Close Encounters of the Third Kind merchandise. And from the stations standpoint, it was an effective way to keep audiences tuned to their station alone.
Filming formats, Premiere and Theatrical engagements
Close Encounters of the Third Kind was filmed in 35mm with Panavision cameras and lenses with color by Metrocolor in Culver City, CA with a budget of just under $20 million. Negative format was 35mm Eastman 100T 5247 and the 65mm blow-ups were on Eastman 100T 5254. Many of the special effects were shot in Super Panavision 70. The 70mm prints had an aspect ratio of 2.20:1, 35mm 2.35:1. 6-track stereo accompanied the 70mm engagements while 4 track stereo for 35mm.
The film had a special showing on November 7, 1977 at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York. Attending was John Belushi, Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Burnadette Peters, and of course the cast and some of the crew and a slew of Broadway stars along with more Hollywood royalty. The official New York premiere occurred November 15, 1977. The film had a Royal performance on March 13, 1978 at the Odeon in Leicester Square in the UK. Close Encounters of the Third Kind grossed $300 million dollars. If Jaws had not already cemented Spielbergs name in the fine Directors of Hollywood league, certainly Close Encounters of the Third Kind did just that, and basically gave him freedom to pick and choose the films he wanted to make from that period on.
When Close Encounters premiered at the Ziegfeld, they added bolted speakers with 3/4 plywood front baffles (later a THX technique), 8 Cerwin-Vega Baby Earthquake subwoofers and 21 Bose 901 surrounds powered by 3500 watts (a lot for the time) and achieving a clean 110db sound level. The film played at the Ziegfeld for 23 weeks. The Special Edition later played for 4 weeks.
Reviews
It deserves an historic place in movie entertainment.
Jack Kroll, Newsweek
Spielberg has taken the standard science fiction plot, stood it on its head and shaken some sense into it.
David Castell, Films Illustrated
Steven Spielbergs giant, spectacular Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which opened at the Ziegfeld Theater yesterday, is the best ? and most elaborate ? 1950s science fiction movie ever made, a work that borrows its narrative shape and its concerns from those earlier films, but enhances them with what looks like the latest developments in movie and space technology. If, indeed, we are not alone, it would be fun to believe that the creatures who may one day visit us are of the order the Mr. Spielberg has conceived ? with, I should add, a certain amount of courage and an entirely straight face.
Vincent Canby, The New York Times
God is up there in a crystal-chandelier spaceship and He likes us.
Pauline Kael
A stunning confection of innocent charm, infectious optimism, suburban autobiography and cathedral-like beauty, Close Encounters ranks among the most personal blockbusters ever released by a Hollywood studio. And one of the finest.
Ian Freer, Empire
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a daring film concept which in its special and technical effects has been superbly realized. Steven Spielbergs film climaxes in final 35 minutes with an almost ethereal confrontation with life forms from another world; the first 100 minutes, however, are somewhat redundant in exposition and irritating in tone. Yet much advance public interest gives the Columbia Pictures release a strong commercial potential.
AD Murphey, Variety Magazine.
A celebration not only of childrens dreams but also of the movies that help find those dreams.
Frank Rich, Time magazine
The final 30 minutes are shot through with trademark Spielberg visual mystery and splendour that makes his brand of cinema perpetually exciting.
Almar Hafildason, BBC
And the few negative reviews that were very rare:
This might be the most expensive gibberish ever put on screen.
Rex Reed
The dumbest story ever told.
Molly Haskell, New York magazine
Awards
Close Encounters received nine Academy Award nominations including Best Director (Spielberg). It won a special achievement award for Frank E. Warner for sound effects editing, and an Oscar for Best Cinematography. But the awards didnt end there. Spielberg took home the Saturn Award for Best Director, Best Writing, and John Williams for Best Musical score. It won the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design/Art Direction, a Grammy for best original score and a citation fron the National Board of Review. In 2007 the film was added to the prestigious National Film Registry.
The Extended Cut
When Close Encounters was released, Spielberg told Columbia that he had been working on a sequel but did not give details of the story or characters. Columbia was extremely interested in financing this sequel and gave the go-ahead for a sequel and Spielberg stated that he was writing one in early 1978 and would begin shooting that summer.
It wasnt until 1979 that Spielberg wrote a story for the sequel entitled Night Skies which he turned over to writer-director John Sayles. He actually paid Nasa $500 to reserve space in the cargo bay of a space flight because he wanted to film the moon and the earth from space. But that project never came to fruition , so Spielberg suggested restructuring of the original into a special edition of the film and the studio agreed and Steven Spielberg released a special edition of Close Encounters of the Third Kind that would cut seven scenes from the original 135 minute cut. Six additional scenes were added to the special edition, which was actually three minutes shorter than the original but would show Richard Drefusss character entering the mothership. The Blu-ray contains both of these versions in addition to a third.
UPDATE: 70mm engagements
World Premiere held on November 15, 1977 at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York
Released 16 November 1977
New York (Manhattan): [Walter Reade] Ziegfeld
Released 18 November 1977
Los Angeles (Hollywood): [Pacific] Cinerama Dome
Released 14 December 1977
CALIFORNIA
Costa Mesa: [Mann] South Coast Plaza,
Los Angeles (Hollywood): [SRO] Paramount (cont. from Cinerama Dome),
Lakewood: [Pacific] Lakewood Center,
Orange: [Syufy] Cinedome,
Pasadena: [SRO] Hastings,
San Diego: [Mann] Cinema 21,
San Francisco: [UA] Coronet,
Santa Clara: [UA] Cinema 150
COLORADO
Denver: [Cooper Highland] Cooper
HAWAII
Honolulu: [Consolidated] Waikiki 3
ILLINOIS
Belleville: [BAC] Cinema,
Calumet City: [Plitt] River Oaks,
Chicago: [Plitt] Esquire,
Evergreen Park: [MR] Evergreen,
Skokie: [MR] Old Orchard
KENTUCKY
Louisville: [Redstone] Showcase
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston: [Sack] Cinema 57
MICHIGAN
Livonia: [Nicholas George] Mai Kai,
Southfield: [Nicholas George] Americana,
Southgate: [Nicholas George] Southgate,
NEW JERSEY
Paramus: [RKO-Stanley Warner] Triplex Paramus
NEW YORK
Pittsford: [Loews] Pittsford Triplex
OHIO
Toledo: [Redstone] Showcase
OREGON
Gresham: [Moyer] Rose Moyer,
Portland: [Luxury] Eastgate
PENNNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia: [Sameric] Sameric
TEXAS
Fort Worth: [ABC] Ridglea,
Houston: [ABC] Alabama,
Houston: [Loews] Town and Country Village
UTAH
Salt Lake City: [Plitt] Regency
WISCONSIN
West Allis: [Marcus] Southtown
Released 21 December 1977
CALIFORNIA
Monterey: [Kindair] Cinema 70,
Palm Springs: [Metropolitan] Camelot,
Santa Barbara: [Metropolitan] Granada
INTERNATIONAL 70MM ENGAGEMENTS
AUSTRALIA (Released 16 March 1978)
Sydney: Hoyts
DENMARK (Released 3 March 1978)
Copenhagen: 3 Falke Bio
MEXICO (Released 30 June 1978)
Mexico City: Hollywood Cinerama
SWEDEN (Released 3 March 1978)
Stockholm: Astoria
UNITED KINGDOM (Released 13 March 1978)
London: Odeon Leicester Square
All of the engagements included in this document were presented in 70mm. The majority of the prints were in six-track Dolby Stereo. Selected engagements were in non-Dolby-encoded six-track stereo, and others were six-track Dolby Stereo prints booked into theatres that had non-Dolby-brand, Dolby-compatible equipment. These presentation variations were not always clearly accounted for on theatre marquees and in the original newspaper advertisement materials.
The Rolling Roadshow
Founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas by Tim and Karrie League, The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema hosts 35mm screenings of movies in famous places all over the world with their traveling portable projection system and a blow-up-screen. Past events had included Fistful of dollars in Cortijo el Sotillo, Spain, A Christmas Story in Cleveland, OH, The Lost Boys in Santa Cruz, CA, It Came From Outer Space 3D in Roswell, NM, The Goonies in Astoria, OR, The Warriors in Coney Island, NY, Clerks in Red Bank, NJ, Jaws at Marthas Vineyard, MA, Field of Dreams at the Field of Dreams, IA, The Shining at the Stanley Hotel, CO, Poseidon Adventure on the Queen Mary, CA, Escape from Alcatraz on Alcatraz, CA.
They did a special showing of Close Encounters of the Third Kind at Devils Tower, Wyoming. These had turned into very popular events with hundreds gathering for the showing, some traveling around the world to attend seeing these films on their actual locations. Many called it the ultimate thrill to see the movie at the actual location of the final incredible half-hour of the film.
One of Spielbergs most popular films, Close Encounters is among his first golden days group of pictures which some consider their favorites of the director. The films message and summary will live on for years to come, the fact that, We are not alone.
To discuss this and other Silver Screen columns, join us in The Silver Screen forum thread Here
All materials in this and other Silver Screen columns are copyright their respective studios, Blu-ray.com and the collection of Robert Siegel. This edition all artwork, publicity and production photos/drawings original copyright Sony/Columbia Pictures. Special thanks to member Michael Coate for 70mm playdates.
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A civil rights lawsuit accusing the New York Police Department of flouting the constitutional rights of livery cab passengers has been allowed to move forward by a federal judge, who denied the city’s attempt to have the suit dismissed.
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Michael Kamber for The New York Times
Munir Pujara, a lawyer, above, and Terrence Battle, brought a civil rights lawsuit against the New York Police Department, stemming from separate episodes in which each was pulled from a livery cab, detained and searched.
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Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times
In the case of Terrence Battle, a radio executive, he asked officers why they were patting him down after stopping the cab he was in at 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 30, 2010, and “one officer said that it was routine,” according to the complaint.
The lawsuit, brought last May by two men, Terrence Battle and Munir Pujara, stems from separate episodes in 2010 in which each was ordered out of a livery cab, then detained and searched.
The men are represented by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which, after interviewing a dozen livery cab drivers from Brooklyn last spring, found that officers — acting under the Taxi/Livery Robbery Inspection Program, or TRIP — were routinely detaining and searching livery passengers without suspicion of any unlawful activity.
Christopher T. Dunn, the group’s associate legal director, said the department’s cab-stopping program, begun in 1994, “has morphed into a ‘stop, question and frisk’ operation for livery cab passengers.”
He added: “Given that livery cars are the only cabs available outside of Manhattan, virtually everyone who is a victim of this program is either black or Latino.”
The issue of police officers’ treatment of livery passengers emerged after Mr. Battle, 38, and Mr. Pujara, 37, came forward to relay details of separate encounters with officers that left each man shaken. In pursuing the case, the civil liberties group has been unable so far to determine, using police data, how typical those two encounters were.
The problem is that while officers generally fill out a stop-and-frisk form after each encounter with a taxi passenger, there is nothing on those internal questionnaires that identifies the stop as having been conducted under the TRIP program. Under the Bloomberg administration, the number of question-and-frisk encounters mushroomed to 601,055 in 2010 from 97,296 in 2002. In the 3.9 million street stops carried out since 2004, over 80 percent of those stopped have been black or Latino.
In his ruling, Judge Richard M. Berman of Federal District Court on Friday rejected the city’s argument that the stops of Mr. Battle and Mr. Pujara were isolated incidents. Rather, he said, their complaint alleges a routine practice, one they would probably face again in the future.
“The pleadings suggest a widespread custom or failure to train,” wrote Judge Berman, who added that he was not yet ruling on the truth of the plaintiffs’ allegations.
Celeste Koeleveld, a senior attorney for the city’s Law Department, said on Saturday that the city and the Police Department disagreed with the judge’s ruling.
“The Police Department is as interested as anyone else in making the program run correctly,” Ms. Koeleveld said. “And the written policy in place complies with the law, and I think the only question raised by the lawsuit is one of practice.”
To Eugene J. O’Donnell, a professor of police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the case underscores how officers sometimes struggle to articulate nuances in the laws they must apply.
Law enforcement, Professor O’Donnell said, “demands that you know the law, instruct subordinates what the law is and engage in an ongoing commitment to tailor your practices to comply with statutory and case law, which constantly evolves. This has seemed to concern the department less than it should.”
At its heart, the TRIP program is meant to help protect livery cab drivers, who have become targets for robberies and murder. By displaying a simple window decal bearing the words, “This vehicle may be stopped and visually inspected by the police at any time to ensure driver’s safety,” a driver consents to being pulled over by any officers seeking to check on his well-being. The plaintiffs in the suit seek to address the narrower issue of passenger treatment after the stop, not the legality of the stop itself.
In their encounters, Mr. Battle and Mr. Pujara said that officers had gone too far in removing them from taxis and searching them without any reason to believe either had committed a crime.
In Mr. Battle’s case, he asked officers why they were patting him down after stopping the cab he was in at 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 30, 2010, and “one officer said that it was routine,” according to the complaint.
The complaint added, “He pointed to a TRIP decal on the car, which Mr. Battle had not previously noticed, and told Mr. Battle they were allowed to search him under TRIP.”
Mr. Battle was returning from his work as a radio executive, to his home in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and was just outside his front door. When he became upset, the officers reiterated that his mere entry into a cab with a decal opened him to their search. And they said that “their actions were part of a routine stop under TRIP,” the complaint says.
It was much the same for Mr. Pujara, a lawyer who works for a social services agency, after officers in the Bronx stopped the livery cab he was riding in just before midnight on Sept. 3, 2010. He asked the officers if they had any reason to pull him from the cab. They said they did not, according to the federal complaint.
An officer, after referring to the decal on the cab, told Mr. Pujara his treatment was “part of the program,” according to the complaint. Mr. Pujara questioned the legality of the stop because he had heard about the program from a client he once represented.
Neither Mr. Battle nor Mr. Pujara was charged with any offense after their encounters, and they were simply freed to go. Each filed a complaint against the officers with the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board, which substantiated their allegations and labeled the stops an abuse of authority, sending the matter back to the department for possible discipline.
The men are also seeking unspecified damages. The case is now proceeding to trial.
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via press release:
NEW E! SPECIAL REVEALS HOW UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTERS TURNED ORDINARY PEOPLE INTO HOLLYWOODâ??S MOST FASCINATING STARS WHEN â??SCOUTED TO STARDOMâ? PREMIERES JANUARY 9TH AT 9:30 PM ET/PT
Exclusive Interviews, Rare Footage, And Never Before Seen Photos Take Viewers On The Road To Discovery For Jewel, Audrina Patridge, Selita Ebanks, Chrissy Teigen, Lucas Grabeel And More
â??I went from being homeless to buying a really nice house. I remember my lawyer showed up to a show backstage and handed me a check for a million dollars, it was pretty amazing.â? â?? Jewel to E!
Los Angeles, January 4, 2012 â?? With obsessed fans around the world, larger-than-life careers and booming bank accounts, itâ??s hard to imagine that some of Hollywoodâ??s biggest names – such as Justin Bieber, Will Smith and Cameron Diaz – were at one point complete unknowns. In the all-new thirty-minute special â??Scouted to Stardom,â? E! explains how these mega-stars happened to be at the right place at the right time and were thrust onto the rollercoaster of celebrity life. In exclusive sit-down interviews, buzz-worthy names including Audrina Patridge, Chrissy Teigen, Selita Ebanks, Jewel and Lucas Grabeel, share their stories of discovery. Find out how grabbing a drink at a bar, taking a trip to the smoothie shop and laying by the pool led to fame and fortune for these stars when â??Scouted to Stardomâ? premieres January 9th at 9:30 PM ET/PT on E!
Tinseltown playboy Ashton Kutcher was not looking for celebrity and fortune when fame found him â?? find out how he went from obscurity to magazine covers and red carpets in E!â??s new special. Additionally, E! cameras go back to where some famous faces were first scouted. â??High School Musicalâ??sâ? Lucas Grabeel returns to the shopping center where he was spotted, Victoria Secret angel Selita Ebanks stops by a New Jersey theme park for the first time since she was scouted there as a teen and model Chrissy Teigen relives her experience of being scouted while working at a surf store.
However, as this special reveals, even for these stars who fell into celebrity â?? the ultimate Hollywood fairytale â?? the road to fame and success is not easy. â??The Hillsâ? sexy star Audrina Patridge, who was scouted while tanning poolside at her apartment complex, shares exclusively with E! the juicy details behind her mega-hit television series that launched her into superstardom. â??Lauren wasnâ??t that friendlyâ? the stylish stunner reveals to E! about her forced friendship with Lauren Conrad when the show first began filming, â??I was like, â??Wow, this girl does not like me. Sheâ??s not nice really.â?? Maybe â??cause she doesnâ??t know me.â? In addition to feeling like an outsider with her new onscreen friends, Audrina explains that fortune wasnâ??t part of the package either, â??The first season that we filmed, I wasnâ??t really getting paid at all. I would call the producers and tell them, â??Listen, I donâ??t know if I can do this anymore. Like I canâ??t even pay my rent.â? While Audrinaâ??s road to fame was bumpy, four-time Grammy nominee Jewel was already at a low point in her life when she was discovered by a local radio DJ while singing in a coffee shop. Jewel was homeless and living out of her car unaware that she would eventually have a string of top forty hits.
â??Scouted to Stardomâ? premieres January 9 at 9:30 PM ET/PT on E! And donâ??t miss a new episode of E!â??s â??Scoutedâ? immediately following at 10pm ET/PT with a special guest appearance by Josie Maran.
Select exclusive quotes from â??Scouted to Stardomâ? include:
â??I never set out to be famous. I was rewarded on a massive scale for being myself. Thatâ??s a gift. Thatâ??s a gift that people gave to me.â? – Jewel
â??Itâ??s just crazy how laying out by the pool one random day and meeting a producer changed my whole life drastically.â? â?? Audrina Patridge
â??I felt like such a nobody. I came from nothing. I came from nowhere.â? â?? Chrissy Teigen
â??If I learned anything from dreaming as a child and then having those dreams come true, is that you must dream bigger and, Iâ??m trying to do that everyday.â? â?? Lucas Grabeel
â??My first time walking in on a Victoria Secret fashion show was, I was just kind of the girl in headlights.â? â?? Selita Ebanks
â??I remember going to Dennyâ??s and washing my hair in the sink. Some woman was going into the bathroom and she said, â??She looked nice enough. I wonder how she got that way,â?? and I felt really bad about myself.â? – Jewel
About E! Entertainment
E! is televisionâ??s top destination for all things entertainment and celebrity. E! is currently available to 98 million cable and satellite subscribers in the US and the E! Everywhere initiative underscores the companyâ??s dedication to making E! content available on all new media platforms any time and anywhere from online to broadband video to wireless to VOD. Popular programming includes E! core franchises, E! News, The Soup, Chelsea Lately, Fashion Police and â??True Hollywood Story,â? as well as the networkâ??s hit series Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Khloà amp; Lamar, Kourtney and Kim Take New York, Ice Loves Coco and Kendra. Additionally, E!â??s Live from the Red Carpet signature events keep fans connected to their favorite stars on Hollywoodâ??s biggest nights. E! is a network of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal, one of the worlds leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience.
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VANCOUVER, Jan. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –
TSX: GPD
Golden Predator Corp.
/quotes/zigman/51250 CA:GPD
+1.59%
(the “Company”) is pleased to announce the results of nine additional
diamond drill holes from the Sleeman Zone at its flagship Brewery Creek
Project, where the Company continues to define a zone of continuous
gold and silver mineralization now extending at least 450 m along
strike. All of the holes released contained significant gold
mineralization with five of the holes having from two to four distinct
mineralized zones. Highlights of the current release include:
BC11-323 with 35.1 m of 1.63 g/t gold and 136.72 g/t silver including
20.70 m of 2.43 g/t gold and 226.23 g/t silver from depth of 142.84 m;
BC11-335 with 29.7 m of 1.18 g/t gold from depth of 174.3 m; and
BC11-341 with 10.7 m of 4.06 g/t gold from depth of 22.0 m.
“The continuity of the gold and silver grades, and the thickness of the
Sleeman Zone continues to exceed expectations,” said Chairman William
M. Sheriff. “With Sleeman remaining open in all directions, we look
forward to our aggressive 2012 drill program to continue to expand this
important deposit.”
A complete table of results and location map can be found on the
Company’s website at:
http://www.goldenpredator.com/documents/GPD-NR12-02-Brewery-Creek-Jan-9-2012-FINAL.pdf
Sleeman Zone Geology
Mineralization at the Sleeman Zone is hosted in altered intrusive rocks
occurring as a tabular zone dipping moderately to the south-southwest.
To date, gold mineralization has been drilled to a vertical depth of
approximately 200 m from surface, extends horizontally well over 400 m,
and is open in both directions along strike and down dip. The
geochemical signature of the gold bearing zone at Sleeman is distinctly
elevated in lead, zinc and silver. A 16.5 line km IP survey was
completed in late 2011. Surface geochemistry, magnetics and IP all
support the existence of a potential target well in excess of 1 km in
strike length. The Sleeman Zone deposit is currently open at depth as
well as in both directions along strike.
Brewery Creek Project
The Company completed 209 core holes for 31,210 m and 135 RC holes for
24,243 m at Brewery Creek in 2011. Drilling has been concentrated on
delineating the two 2011 discoveries at the Bohemian-Schooner and
Sleeman Zones, with significant additional drilling on the North Slope
and Classic Zones. Results are still pending for 124 core and RC holes.
Resource modeling in support of an updated resource estimate is well
underway.
The Brewery Creek Project is a past producing heap leach gold mining
operation with a total of 278,484 oz Au produced from seven
near-surface oxide deposits along the property’s Reserve Trend from
1996 through 2002, when the mine (operated by Viceroy Resource
Corporation) shut down due to low gold prices. The 187 km2 property is located 55 km due east of Dawson City, accessible by paved
and gravel roads from the junction of the North Klondike and Dempster
Highways. In May 2011 the Company staked an additional 204 quartz
claims east of the historic Brewery Creek property, increasing the
Project to a total of 997 quartz claims.
The Project is in receipt of all necessary permits, including the Class
3 Mining Land Use permit required to conduct additional exploration.
The Brewery Creek Project is authorized under a Type A Water License
with an expiry date of December 31, 2021, subject to the restrictions
and conditions contained in the Yukon Water Act and Regulations. The
Project also has a production license with an expiry date of December
31, 2021, and the ninety-three mining leases covering mine facilities,
pits, waste dumps and adjacent drill indicated deposits have expiry
dates beginning in 2016. In addition, a Socio-Economic Accord with
Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation with respect to the Brewery Creek
Project is in place.
Sampling Methodology, Quality Control and Assurance
Samples were fire assayed for gold by ALS Chemex and ACME Laboratories
in Vancouver. All assays are reported as drilled intervals and are not
to be interpreted as true widths. Refer to the Company’s news release
dated October 27, 2011 for a complete discussion of sampling methods,
quality control and assurance.
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and
approved by Michael Maslowski, BSc, CPG, the Company’s Chief Operating
Officer and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument
43-101.
About Golden Predator Corp.
Golden Predator Corp., Yukon’s Gold Company, is a well-funded exploration company mandated to create a mid-tier gold
producer. Golden Predator’s road-accessible advanced properties include
its flagship Brewery Creek Project on which the Company is moving
aggressively to a near term production decision, as well as its Grew
Creek and Clear Creek Projects.
Golden Predator has the largest controlled land position in the Yukon,
with exploration holdings in excess of 1,400,000 acres (over 5,700 km2), and is committed to strong relationships with Yukon First Nations and
communities. Golden Predator’s management and technical teams continue
to lead aggressive exploration programs in the underexplored regions of
the Yukon, and are driven to bring value to shareholders and leave a
positive legacy.
No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority
has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. This
press release contains projections and forward-looking information that
involve various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such
forward-looking information can include without limitation statements
based on current expectations involving a number of risks and
uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. There are
numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and
Golden Predator’s plans and objectives to differ materially from those
expressed in the forward-looking information. Actual results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated in such
information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking
information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the
dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by
this notice. Except as required by law, Golden Predator assumes no
obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstances
or management’s estimates or opinions change.
SOURCE Golden Predator Corp.
Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
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Aliso Viejo Dog Ruins Coyotes Day
Local coyotes have been known to attack pets. Here are some tips to stay safe outdoors.
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