Posted by pointy100-2 on
URL: https://www.shado-forum.com/Message-From-Chris-Bentley-tp1506442p1506449.html

Having read Chris Bentley's letter, I am surprised at his tone which I
understand may come from personal distress but I think is unhelpful. I
have read all the messages on the board since the reported deaths of
Ed and Mike and I see no justification for `disgust' and nor can I
identify anyone who warrants the charge of being `awful' and `cynical.'

I certainly don't think it is picky to want to know when the deaths
occurred. I was one person who asked for clarification of Ed's date of
death as those sort of details matter to me (and others I suspect)
even if, as Chris implies, they aren't of any significance to him
personally. The initially reported date of Mike's death was wrong.
This type of confusion over dates happens all the time with celebrity
deaths so it is not at all surprising that we see it happening here.
Two different dates were reported for Ed's death. It's not a personal
attack on Chris Bentley or Fanderson to seek some accuracy on these
important points.

It has already been pointed out that one factor undermining confidence
in the news is Fanderson's convention of using 2105 for 2005. It may
be what they have always done, but for those who are not familiar with
this, then of course that is going to raise questions about validity
of the story especially, as Chris himself acknowledges, people don't
want to believe what is generally agreed to be a difficult story to
accept. The deaths of the two leading actors from UFO occurring so
close to one another is by anyone's standards a bizarre and tragic
coincidence.

Although there may be by now a significant body of information from a
variety of sources confirming this story, people will continue to come
to it new over the next few days and maybe even weeks. They may not be
aware of all the corroborating details and nor will they necessarily
know anything of the quality of the sources. Few of us have the
privilege of having personal contact with Ed or Mike's family or
associating with people who do. They will have to sort it out for
themselves and may need to ask questions to do so. Surely we can allow
that.

I'm sure like me, most of you were in a state of shock and disbelief
when you first heard the news. As a community, perhaps we can show
some understanding to one another as people struggle to come to terms
with what are, for most of us, significant losses.

All the best to all who are affected by these most unhappy events,

David

For the record, I have never believed this was a hoax





--- In [hidden email], Marc Martin <marc@u...> wrote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> From: Chris Bentley
> To: Marc Martin
> Subject: Re: Ed and Mike
>
> Hi Marc,
>
> It is disheartening, is it not, that at this sad time there are UFO
fans who
> are not prepared to believe what other fans are telling them,
accusing them
> instead of perpetrating some sort of sick joke?
>
> Perhaps you might care to inform those people via your forum that
myself and
> my Fanderson colleagues have been personal friends of Ed Bishop for
a great
> many years, having come to know him over the course of his frequent
> appearances at our conventions (he only missed one event in two
decades) and
> his tireless assistance with various club projects and publications.
Ed's
> honourary life membership of the club was bestowed many years ago in
> recognition of his close patronage and keen involvement with the club's
> activities, and he was still enthusiastically embracing that role
only a few
> short weeks ago when we discussed his ideas for the forthcoming
September
> convention in Borehamwood.
>
> Ed also worked closely with me two years ago while I was writing 'The
> Complete Book of Gerry Anderson's UFO', selflessly spending many
hours with
> me going through the details of different aspects of UFO's
production and
> making many invaluable contributions with information which had not
come to
> light before. He also jumped at the opportunity to write the
foreword for
> the book and I was both touched and honoured by his faith in me to
write the
> book that he felt the series deserved.
>
> Given our relation with Ed, it is unthinkable that any of us who are
> involved with Fanderson would ever have dreamed of reporting his
death on
> the club website (or would ever report anyone else's death for that
matter)
> if there were any chance that it was not true. Indeed, we did not do so
> until after I had personally spoken to Ed's wife Jane on the
afternoon of
> Wednesday, June 8th.
>
> Although she was clearly very upset, breaking down in tears twice
while she
> spoke to me, she related the tragic circumstances of earlier in the
day -
> how Ed had died that morning. I don't know if Helen Weber may have
> interpreted Jane's information to indicate that Ed's death took
place on the
> Tuesday from the perspective of those of you in the US, given the
difference
> in the timezones (anything between four and eight hours behind the UK) -
> here in the UK though, as related to me by Jane, it was Wednesday
morning,
> June 8th, when Ed passed away.
>
> It was also Jane who informed me that Michael Billington had died on
Monday,
> just as you had also been told by your own source. I admit that I took
> Jane's information in this regard entirely on trust, but it appears now
> that, on the detail of which day Mike died, we were all misinformed by a
> third party. The Fanderson report was corrected yesterday in reponse to
> additional information as it has filtered through, and it will
continue to
> be updated as further information becomes available.
>
> Frankly, it is entirely immaterial to what extent the dates and
times are
> accurate and I am appalled that certain people feel inclined to be picky
> about this when the rest of us are grieving. Did Fanderson not
provide the
> correct service to fans by breaking this news on the internet as
soon as it
> was possible to do so with the information that was available at
that time?
> Writing that piece for the club website was one of the hardest
things I've
> ever had to do, coming as it did at a time when I was still in shock
myself
> at learning the news.
>
> I have to say I really am disgusted at the reaction by some members
of this
> so-called fan 'community' who have contributed to the SHADO forum in the
> last few days with their ridiculous accusations of a hoax perpetrated
> entirely by Fanderson. What awful, cynical people they must be.
>
> Thankfully it is heartening to see that those individuals appear to
be very
> much in the minority, as the vast majority of your correspondents
(as well
> as those on the Fanderson forum) clearly have the common sense to
recognise
> that no one in their right mind would have made this news so public
were it
> not so terribly true.
>
> Kind regards,
> Chris
>
>
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