• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MsMarmiteLover

  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegan
  • Travel
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Wine
  • Gardens
  • Supperclubs/Events
  • About
    • Published Articles
    • Books
  • Shop
    • Cart

Probe Ufo conference, Blackpool

March 31, 2008 2 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized


Having been rudely let down (not even one of his customary glacial emails that I get frostbite opening) by my original ‘date’, the Prince of Mordor, for the conference, I decided to go it alone. This decision was encouraged by a series of delightful emails that I received from Matthew Delooze, one of the speakers at the conference, all of which referred to me as “mate” or “lad” and repeatedly expressed concern that I possessed sufficient capacity to drink enough Northern ale. Eventually I timidly admitted that I am in fact a girl (and rather a cheap date at that! Two drinks normally being my limit). He thought that my name was a boys name as

“girls up here tend to be called Irene or Carol”.

Drove up at the crack of dawn Saturday, took 5 hours but the weather was fine, and listening to Goldfrapp made the journey pleasant and dreamy.
First impressions: how old everyone was! Uranian third agers… Jean, the white haired organiser, was at the front desk wearing a pair of alien gray earrings, plus there was an ‘alien’ in purple greeting people.
Around the hall at the YMCA, stalls sold crystals, incense, alien dolls (costume and appearance based on true sightings), crop circle outings and books. One goth mum and her whey-faced chav daughter sold dvd’s.
Quickly a young man named Ben Emlyn-Jones introduced himself. He writes a blog called Hospital Porters Against the New World Order.

A couple of women sat next to me and told me about Dean Warwick who apparently died on stage whilst giving a lecture at a probe conference just over a year ago. Controversy rages about the cause of his death but the general consensus is that he was shot by an ELF (extremely low frequency?) weapon on the orders of the military. Amazingly the conference continued after this…
These women chatted noisily throughout the lectures, adding asides and comments like a Shakespearian audience.
Jean gets up and announces that Chris Everard who now lives in France, cannot give his lecture, because he could not get a passport. He believes that he has “trod on a few toes with his new dvd”. Behind me, the grey-haired ones were murmuring agreement and disapproval. Justified or not, a collective paranoia permeates the whole event.
First up was a balding pony-tailed man, Dr Jeff Merrifield (or Buster Merryweather/Uncle Albert from Only fools and horses…as Matthew Delooze called him), who showed slides and talked about an amazing place in the Italian Alps called Damanhur. The slides and the story were fascinating but his lecture was poorly presented and prepared (apparently he was a last minute replacement)..
He went to this area originally because he wanted to visit CERN (the world’s largest particle physics laboratory) and also there were reports of spontaneous combustions going on.
Damanhur is a solar temple. In 1978 Oburto Airaudi had a revelation and started to dig at the back of his house. It took 16 years to dig out a space larger than St Pauls, and 3 months for the first chamber. The diggers were not builders, and it was all done by hand, dug out of mountain rock, using buckets. The whole operation was undertaken secretly and any visitors were blind-folded. One guy in the village guessed and grassed them up to the authorities saying they hadn’t paid tax on what they were producing. The Italian authorities at first reacted by wanting to close down the temple as planning permission had not been sought but eventually welcomed the place, seeing it as a tourist’s attraction. Nowadays the catholic church are trying to get in there (watch this space for a Marian sighting?). There are no tourists there only “seekers”.
Dr Merrifield showed slides and film of this extraordinary place: different caverns/rooms representing different elements, with secret staircases, mosaics, glass work, a cupola. There were painted Egyptian symbols and menhirs with serpents. Sacred language is built into the design.
Some of the chambers: a hall of metals in which copper and brass and chrome are applied to terracotta; a hall of mirrors; an earth room with stained glass panels depicting the 7 ages of man(often portraits of the Damanhur inhabitants); a water room.
One has intense experiences inside the temple, and children in particular react to the energies and go crazy there.(I’ve seen this manifested in my daughter when we go to Avebury).
People who are part of the community after a while take an animal name then a vegetable name. The community follows moon phases and solstices. They partake in drumming and various creative workshops.
An important element of the temple is “Selfica”: which are energy captivators using spirals/ copper a bit like Reichs’ orgone accumulators, and there are 300 tons of selfic technology built into temple.
This “[gigantic] ‘battery’ has been constructed according to the science of ‘Selfica‘, which, say the Damanhurians, is ‘an ancient science derived from the basic form of our universe, the spiral. It was known to the Egyptians, the Celts, and the Arabs, who utilized it up to the 8th Century B.C.”
Outside as part of the landscape, stone spirals are traced on grass which people walk around and meditate in.
The Damanhurians paint their houses with butterflies and suns and flowers.
A local Olivetti factory been bought by them. Adriano Olivetti believed in maintaining rural communities so he built several of his factories in the country. This factory now houses several craft workshops.
I must visit this place.

Recent posts

Roasting tin recipe: Butternut squash, peppers and feta

February 12, 2026

Butter Paneer Masala – a high protein curry

February 1, 2026

High protein cottage cheese cake recipe

January 13, 2026

Previous Post: « socpa repealed
Next Post: ufo conf pt 2 »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lapis

    April 23, 2008 at 9:57 pm

    Wish we had met you at the Probe Conference. Hope you will make it to our event in June. Same venue but I think you will find it quite different and we'll teach you how to drink some northern ale. Check us out at http://www.lapisufo.com

    Reply
  2. marmitelover@mac.com

    April 23, 2008 at 11:38 pm

    thanks for your comment… and the offer! I'll now check out your blog.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

msmarmitelover

Using spring roll wrappers in different ways: this Using spring roll wrappers in different ways: this time fried rice paper ‘flowers’. Easy, crunchy, instant snacks #ricepaper #snacks
One pan roast: butternut squash, preserved lemon, One pan roast: butternut squash, preserved lemon, red pepper, garlic, cumin and feta with that sliced spring onions and coriander leaves. Healthy lunch and easy to make Maje it vegan by replacing the feta with smoked tofu #lunch #vegetarian #ovenmeals #roastingtin
Last week for my birthday, my sister and I went to Last week for my birthday, my sister and I went to a Russian spa @gobanya.hoxton in Hoxton. After tea and a wet sauna, a large Latvian man called Oleg whipped us with giant bunches of oak leaves. This ‘parenie’ felt great, like forest bathing. The smell of the leaves, the stimulation to the circulation. Then we were given a salt and honey scrub, a mud pack, and finished with shots of vodka and  plates of pickles. Fantastic experience, highly recommend. #london #spa #russianspa #birthday  by the way the music is by my favourite Russian pop star
I made a cottage cheese burnt basque cheesecake. I I made a cottage cheese burnt basque cheesecake. It went down very well. #baking #highprotein #grandma
I made that cheffy viral thing where you set light I made that cheffy viral thing where you set light to a tin of oily fish - in this case Waitrose sweet cure mackerel- and put it on toasts either herbs and lemon. It was a big success, really delicious. The setting light gives the fish a smoky bbq flavour. Great camping trick! My mum liked it!
A london pub at Christmas: carol singing, free roa A london pub at Christmas: carol singing, free roast potatoes, paper hat making, eccentric musicians, high camp, low arts. King Charles 1st in King’s Cross #london #christmas #pubculture @the_brahms__and_liszt
Last night made a French onion soup with toasted c Last night made a French onion soup with toasted cheese on top and lots of white wine. Perfect food for zero degrees 🧤🧦🧣❄️recipe: half a dozen brown onions sliced thinly softened in olive oil. 5 cloves garlic crushed and added once the onions are soft. Several fresh bay leaves. 3 vag nope I meant veg stock cubes and 1.5 litres of hot water. 1/3 bottle white wine or a glass of dry sherry. Or both. Simmer for a while then add sourdough bread topped with grated cheese at the end. I used cheddar. Serve hot, sprinkle parsley if you have it and good black pepper. I used kampot black peppercorns. #winterfood #soup #homecooking
I did a private afternoon tea supper club yesterda I did a private afternoon tea supper club yesterday. Thanks to @bro0907 and @imogenrodgersofficial for their help #london #afternoontea #supperclub
I went to a pre Christmas event at @themontgomerie I went to a pre Christmas event at @themontgomeriegarden hotel in Bloomsbury last night. It was hosted by the German tourist board promoting Saxony. I saw mini workshops of crafts from Nuremberg- these little 25 point Moravian paper stars ( each one takes an hour to make), finely whittled & carved wooden Christmas decorations , @meissen_germany porcelain, smoking wooden figurines ( filled with incense, nutcrackers, authentic stollen, Nuremberg ginger bread, white mulled wine and some lovely canapés. Going to try to make a stollen myself. You must always cut it in the middle, so you can put it together so it doesn’t get stale. I found out Colditz, the famous TV drama is in Saxons. I’d love to visit. It all got me in the Christmas mood @visit_germany @visitsaxony_ @visitdresden #christmas #stöllen #germanyinlondon
On the secret platform of the jubilee line at Char On the secret platform of the jubilee line at Charing Cross, now disused, we were treated to a fabulous cheese inspired fashion show by the fashion students of @ualfoundation and @3ddafoundation The cheeses featured were cantal, comté, tomme de savoie, saint nectaire, fourme d’ambert, époisses, Brills-savaging, Camembert, Brie and langres. The outfits were so creative and deeply researched by the designers. @thecheeseexplorer explained that during the tastings, some designers had never tasted those cheeses before. Anglo French @tatty_macleod came and is one of the judges. It was surreal and fun. Afterwards we were treated to a groaning cheese platter table at the bottom of the escalators. Then I joined the commuters of the london tube journeying home. Food and fashion are often opposed: to be fashionable you must not eat. This turns it on its head. @hopscotch_season #london #cheese #fashionandfood #cheesesoffrance
Sunday lunch autumn vibes: munchkin pumpkin blue c Sunday lunch autumn vibes: munchkin pumpkin blue cheese soufflés; baked fish stuffed with dates ( an adaptation of @ghilliebasan’s recipe in The Moroccan cookbook) with couscous and almonds; roast potatoes, carrots with preserved bergamot: mile high filo pear pie: open fire and candles and family #cooking #family #london #sundaylunch
Took Ophelia @ophelia.rose.2022 to @kenwood_house_ Took Ophelia @ophelia.rose.2022 to @kenwood_house_hampstead_heath for the Halloween trail. It was a little bit scary & I had to shoot & hold her hand at the same time. It’s a lit trail around the gardens and house with food, performances and set pieces. #grandma #london #outings #grandmacore #halloween #thingstodoinlondon
Just had this window built by @odgjoinery and stai Just had this window built by @odgjoinery and stained glass window to match the front door by @wstoneglass beautiful work. Thank you so much. #edwardianhouse #victorianhome #stainedglass #joinery #restoration #london #kilburn
My book Msmarmitelover’s secret tea party is now a My book Msmarmitelover’s secret tea party is now available on @ckbk which is like Spotify for cookbooks - check it out or buy a signed copy from my website #afternoonteaparty
Next door there are 2 damson trees in the grounds Next door there are 2 damson trees in the grounds of the council flats. The ground smelled like jam. I picked a few kilos, 3 kilos after sorting through. I put them, crushed, stones included, in a clean glass container, with 1.5 kilos of sugar and 2 litres of gin ( I may add another), I’ll leave them for 3/4 weeks then filter. Damson gin for Christmas.
Went for an evening of Turkish music and entertain Went for an evening of Turkish music and entertainment @kibele.london Fantastic margarita cocktails, great food, generous portions and wonderful entertainment. In the end we all got up and had a go at belly dancing, #turkishfood #london #londonnights
Sour cherries from the garden for my midsummer sup Sour cherries from the garden for my midsummer supperclub in the garden this Saturday 21st June. Tickets available, link in bio. Also at this link: https://substack.com/redirect/5a700a44-49c1-4e6d-834f-8d4851f98f45?j=eyJ1IjoiMWUzYm4ifQ.njFJL9K8WpzSqVZ5HFSvq84gnJeUD7reFZV9LrDwYtI #midsummernightsdream #supperclub #og #sourcherry
Went with influencers to @standrewslakes in Kent w Went with influencers to @standrewslakes in Kent with @ourfinland @lakelandfinland @pcagency to experience Finnish food such as Karelian pies with egg butter, cinnamon buns, blueberry pies, and pea soup which they have with mustard and sour cream. We did zip lining, kayaking, saunas, whipped ourselves with birch sticks, ate in a gorgeous wooden bbq shed @arctic_cabins at the end of all this activity we were all tired but happy. @miramakeup @holidaywiththeheathers @amie_jane__ @onehungryasian @iamtimchung @travellingtuesdays @helimendetravels @charlotteemilyprice #presstrip
@camille.osullivan @camilleosullivanpics and @grah @camille.osullivan @camilleosullivanpics and @grahnort @wiltonsmusichall god this woman is talented. She did a solo show of The Rape of Lucrece. Her voice! #theatre #shakespeare #london
Made Fermented Cucumber dill pickles from @nickvad Made Fermented Cucumber dill pickles from @nickvadasz book The Pickle Jar. At @katzsdeli in New York they sell half sours and full sours. I reckon these are 3/4 sour. The white mould is fine btw. These are delicious #pickleperson #fermentation #guthealthy
Follow on Instagram

Archives

Copyright © 2026 msmarmitelover