Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Wayne Betz with the sphere.© Florida Times-Union Archive/WJCT |
Maybe you've heard of the Betz mystery sphere.
In 1974 the Betz family of St. George Island, Florida, found a heavy metal sphere in their yard.
However, they believed the sphere might be a historic cannonball. The sphere was clean and free of corrosion. It turned out to be stainless steel.
The Betz's said the ball behaved strangely. They said it reacted to the sound of a guitar and it made a throbbing noise that scared the dog. When rolled on the floor, it changed direction on its own.
One "expert from a research firm" found radio waves coming from it and a magnetic field around it. Attempts to x-ray the ball were unsuccessful.
Speaking of mystery spheres and objects.
There are UFOs and UDOs. They have two things in common. The U and the O.
Unidentified Flying Object or Unidentified Dug Object - they are both unidentified. And second, they are both objects, which means they present a puzzle or challenge to the inquiring mind. And whether they fly or not, the problem of identification remains, and it is fun to try to figure it out.
There has been a change in terminology. Once referred to as UFOs, they are now often referred to as UAPs. So what is the significance of the change?
What do I always say about definitions? There is nothing more important if you are going to talk about something in a way that actually accomplishes anything significant.
I often talk about mystery objects. Dictionary definitions usually say something like and object is something material can be perceived. But there are other definitions for the word. For example, there are programming objects, and a sentence might have an object and a subject. But for now, let's stick with the one meaning. An object is separate from its surroundings. In other words, it has recognizable borders and maintains some degree of stability or constancy over time. It isn't really so easy to define some words that are used all the time and taken for granted without really diving into it any farther. It really isn't so easy to be what I would call precise.
Anyhow, I think there is a very significant difference implied by the change in terms. So what is a phenomenon? I'd say something like it is an experiential reality. It takes the subjective into account. Not just the objective. Here is what I got from Bing. Phenomenalism posits that reality is dependent on our perceptions and experiences, suggesting that objects and events only exist as they are perceived by our senses. In contrast, Realism asserts that reality exists independently of our perceptions and experiences, and that objects and events have an objective existence regardless of whether we are aware of them. While Phenomenalism emphasizes the subjective nature of reality, Realism emphasizes the objective and independent existence of the external world.
You might say that the noise of a log falling in the forest with no one around is real and exists, but if you take the view of phenomenalism, being perceived or experienced is part of its being. It seems to me that the change in terminology admits the significance of the subjective element of perception or experience.
I won't bother to address the replacement of "flying" with "aerial" other than ask how flying might be different from moving or "appearing" to move through space. It also acknowledges that these "unidentifieds" have been observed to move through water and possibly even land. So there is now an additional separate term for the underwater UFOs, or USOs.
It is not clear that all of them are really objects - depending upon the definition. Some might be forces or even appearances, and some could even be illusions. At this point, the main constant is the unidentified part and that doesn't seem like a very productive way to classify things. Should you lump so many diverse unidenfieds" together?
We think of seeing an object but ignore how that happens. Do you actually see the object, or do you see light reflected from the object? The light is focused on the retina where the rods and cones react and send signals to the brain where the patterns are analyzed again and interpreted. Each part of the system contains noise and is a possible source of error. A hard punch might make you see "stars" when the retina reacts to the force. And the central processing system can easily misinterpret, for example with the man well-known and studied visual illusions.
When eyewitness reports are corroborated by radar or other technological sensing, a greater confidence is given, but those systems, like humans, are not perfect either. The development of radar systems gave rise to signal detection theory because of the signal to noise problem and false returns. A similar kind of thing can happen with metal detectors. The world is full of signals but also noise. Distinguishing one from the other is a pervasive problem.
In all my years of schooling one of the most useful things I ever learned was signal detection theory, which attempts to quantify and formalize the problem of decision making in noisy environments. Here is a brief introduction. Signal Detection Theory: 10 Examples and Definition (2026)
And another of the most useful things I ever learned is operationalism, which emphasizes defining things by the operations used to measure them. It is mostly used in scientific settings but is also very useful in almost all aspects of daily life. It asks you to be specific and detailed about how you measure and therefore define things. See Operationalism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
I feel like those signal detection theory and operationalism will help explain some of the mysteries of quantum physics. If you view, as I do, that awareness of all material things is surrounded by a cloud of uncertainty, or you might say noise, so when a "particle" goes through the slit as in the famous double slit experiment, if you view a particle as noisy or cloudy rather than a clean particle, you can think of different ways to explain the unexpected results. They talk of particle states as being probabilities, which seems to me to be is just another way of talking about relative uncertainty.
When making an assertion, ask yourself how do you know? And try to answer that question very specifically. How did you determine that? What were your criteria? It will often be difficult ot answer those questions. There will be many times when it all goes unquestioned. For example, you look at an animal and quickly determine it is a cat. How do you know? What caused you to come to that conclusion. The criterial attributes will not always be clear. Usually, it will come down to something as simple and vague as "it looks like a cat and I know what a cat looks like" but if you had to really tell someone else how to tell a cat from a fox or a dog by appearances alone, you might find it more difficult. If you were challenged to tell someone how you can identify fox and a cat or dog, it becomes more difficult. Simple things like four leges, fur, and tail do not distinguish between them.
I say all that to point to the problems of identifying mystery objects or metal good metal detector signals. It is the same kind of process. The same kinds of challenges exist, and the same kinds of errors can occur.
The Betz mystery sphere appeared to change direction on when it was rolled across the floor. If it was very perfectly formed, as it would have been as a ball check valve. Any deviation in the floor could have caused a change in momentum or direction. There are many possible explanations for the weird behavior of the ball. And perception and interpretation plays a roll.
I'll have to stop there for today.
Sorry, but the UFO files and the matter of certainty and uncertainty are just too interesting and fun for me. They are very relevant for treasure hunting and metal detecting although the connection might not be immediately obvious. I've tried to hint at some of the relevance without going into great detail.
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| Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com. |
Wednesday's peak surf decreased since the last chart I posted. That isn't unusual.
The tides are moderate and the surf remains small for the week.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net
