VICE President George Bourne officiated this week in the absence of Brian Ireland who was away globetrotting. We exchanged news of members before George proposed that he paraphrase any questions members might have of our speaker so that we could all hear what the question was. In the past, many of us could hear the answers but had failed to hear the question, so George’s innovative proposal was warmly welcomed.

Our speaker this week was Howard Robinson, the distinguished Biologist and Chemist from near Worcester who enlightened us about the hoaxes in science. He began by advising that asserted facts and figures should always be considered intelligently, something that the more jaundiced of us do as a matter of course anyway.

However, the examples he quoted, of people believing the great moon hoax of 1835, the Cottingley Fairies of 1920 and spaghetti growing on trees in 1957, clearly demonstrated that some of us will believe anything. Similarly, the Piltdown man of 1912, the Rum affair, the Loch Ness Monster and more recently, crop circles, have had their share of notoriety.

Howard explained that the reasons for the hoaxes included mischieveness, to mock the establishment, for revenge, to make money or even to be remembered and be famous.

In the questions that followed, UFOs surfaced, with some members having had personal experiences of these unexplained happenings. George Bourne thanked Howard for a fascinating insight into this murky area of fact or fiction.

On 25 August we will have our own version of Question Time chaired by Clive Allen followed on 1 September with John Rockley’s recollections of being a news-user.

CHRIS DONOUGH