Something About Nothing: May Reveal the Source of Origins

By B. W. Van Riper

There is creation. Of course! And, it is, according to Webster's unabridged dictionary: "The act of bringing into existence from nothing the universe or the world or the living and nonliving things in it."

But what's behind creation? What incentive inspires bringing something into existence?

That is, What is the source of origins? The clue is probably right there in front of us, but hidden in plain sights.

In this idiosyncratic rendition, a small number of witnesses are compelled to look, to seek. That's what this story, or tale, is about. Looking. Seeking. Vision.

And it's not just about searching the universe for answers. But it's not just about searching ourselves for essence, either. Yet both are intertwined and advanced by an alien prominence that is both dazzling and daunting.

More than anything, the alien eminence is a reflecting mirror. Of blunt candor. A mirror image of a mirror image. -We're in it/up to our very chins, treading the boards, anguishing about losing our balance, seeking affirmation.

We cannot know the possible answers, though, until and unless we ask the challenging questions. And we cannot fear asking the difficult questions, or seeking the vexing answers, because they may cause discomfort and inconvenience.

SOMETHING ABOUT NOTHING...may reveal the source of origins, and it may reveal something about us that is provoking.also something that is promising. And an endeavor that is more hopeful in its prospects that fraught in its outlook has more charm than angst.

This may be the Final Venture.

In that context, and more than a metaphor, NOTHING could be the author of everything. Not an absence but a presence. Not a deficit but a salience. Not a void in the nature of things but ht essence in the core of everything.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477202302

B. W. Van Riper

Originally from Chicago, he is a Michigan transplant, now of many decades. He graduated from Adrian College. Serving in the Korean Conflict, he returned to Michigan and attended the University of Michigan, acquiring an A.M. and a Ph.D. Human relations intrigued and moved him early on. His educational pursuits followed that interest into counseling, counseling psychology, and counselor education. The author went on to teach graduate students in counseling principles, practices and theory, as well as to supervise outreach counseling practicums—all of which prepared graduate students for licensing in careers in counseling and therapy. As a professor emeritus as well as when he was employed at Eastern Michigan University, he continued to prepare manuscripts for publication in professional journals. But gradually, and then completely, his attention turned to issues in which he had a vital and vested interest. Two manuscripts became books. This will be his third book, and a fourth is in process. Still, above all, he is devoted, not so much to scholarship or writing fiction, as to his family. This most recent book reflects on that love and affection, as well as on the influence family has on its members in terms of the bond embracing heritage, endowment, and legacy. He claims it to be ‘fiction with a heart.’ He enjoys writing, loves what he writes, but doesn’t always love what he’s written. Self-expression is a very powerful inspiration, and liberating, in his estimation. Consequently, it is inherently rewarding. One thing that becomes clear in his books is that issues more so than characters are integral. This is so, he asserts, because characters in a work of fiction are not real, no matter how much effort is put into making them so, whereas issues are likely to be both real and vital. Originally from Chicago, he is a Michigan transplant, now of many decades. He graduated from Adrian College. Serving in the Korean Conflict, he returned to Michigan and attended the University of Michigan, acquiring an A.M. and a Ph.D. Human relations intrigued and moved him early on. His educational pursuits followed that interest into counseling, counseling psychology, and counselor education. The author went on to teach graduate students in counseling principles, practices and theory, as well as to supervise outreach counseling practicums—all of which prepared graduate students for licensing in careers in counseling and therapy. As a professor emeritus as well as when he was employed at Eastern Michigan University, he continued to prepare manuscripts for publication in professional journals. But gradually, and then completely, his attention turned to issues in which he had a vital and vested interest. Two manuscripts became books. This will be his third book, and a fourth is in process. Still, above all, he is devoted, not so much to scholarship or writing fiction, as to his family. This most recent book reflects on that love and affection, as well as on the influence family has on its members in terms of the bond embracing heritage, endowment, and legacy. He claims it to be ‘fiction with a heart.’ He enjoys writing, loves what he writes, but doesn’t always love what he’s written. Self-expression is a very powerful inspiration, and liberating, in his estimation. Consequently, it is inherently rewarding. One thing that becomes clear in his books is that issues more so than characters are integral. This is so, he asserts, because characters in a work of fiction are not real, no matter how much effort is put into making them so, whereas issues are likely to be both real and vital.

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© 2012 B. W. Van Riper. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 6/20/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-0232-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-0231-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-0230-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012907950

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Prologue

In Retrospect

Alpha

On Board

A Passion For The Puzzle

Outré

Virtual Reality

The Myth Of Empty Space

‘. . . What Can The Matter Be . . .’?

Rumor Has It . . .

Ocd

Errata

Strange Happenings

Whispers

On Coming

X

First Light

Quo Vadis?

Ordinary People/Extraordinary Circumstances

Creation

Knotty

Reading The Stars

Dilemma

Divine Design

In Contemplation

Me & My Shadow

The Proof Is In The Pudding

In The Dumps

Lingering Effects

Lost

About Testifying

Idiosyncratic

Daylight

The Sky Is Falling

Hustle-Bustle

Commissioned

Mythical Mist

The Apex

Accommodation

It’s Not How They Convey Things . . .

‘Round & Round The Mulberry Bush’

You Can’t Be Serious

Purport

Bewitched

Chaos

Menace

En Route

If

Static

Highlight

Firefight

Just Another Theory

Up For Grabs

Residuals

No Go

Terra Incognita

In The Name Of God

On Going

On The Path

Searching The Dark For The Light

Much Ado About Nothing?

An Enigma That Is No Riddle

What’s Up?

Wonders Never Cease

Dream Streams

Dimensions

The Human Condition

What It Was

Ultra-Ized

Touch Of Harmony

Out Of The Blue

Genesis

Questing

Illusions

Epilogue

Prologue

A dark light shines . . . on a deep subject–

We know almost nothing about ‘what’s out there.’ You might say that most of us are in the dark about what’s in the firmament. That’s because so little is known about the darkness. But we’re told by those who are informed that there’s lots of stuff in the darkness that can’t quite be discerned.

Presumably, the darkness is full of matter and energy, dark matter and dark energy. Moreover, the quantity of these substances is far greater than that of the known substances. In fact, astrophysicists believe that more than 95 percent of the universe of galaxies is comprised of these mysterious dark essences . . .

We learn that astrophysicists suspect the recently discovered dark matter contains particles of a yet-to-be-known nature, while they think that dark energy is a force that counteracts gravity and accelerates the flight of cosmic bodies into space. –Or, maybe, something else. What else? Suppose, for instance, dark energy is an essence that is more than a force. What more? Possibly, something remarkable that remains to be seen–

. . . When we, who are less informed, look out at the skies above us, we see celestial bodies floating around and about in a lot of what seems to be empty space. But what do we know? In fact, most of us refer to everything in space that doesn’t shine or show itself as ‘nothing.’ Now we have to wonder about this other stuff that’s ‘all over the place’ cluttering the canopy above and around us; stuff we can’t see, and used to think was nothing. Now we’re learning how to look at space in a new way, that is, with vision more so than by sight.

With all the recent research into dark matter and dark energy (not to mention black holes), it makes us wonder just what ‘nothing’ is. For sure, it’s not as simple as it used to be to just dismiss ‘nothing’ as–nothing. Rather than dismissing space as nothing, we are becoming compelled to look at nothing as a something that is unknown. –Come to think of it, Isn’t that the way with creation? . . . to make something out of nothing . . . As inquisitive people might say about this curiosity, maybe there’s more to this dark stuff than meets the eye. So–suppose there is something to this nothing? And it’s a remarkable something. Hidden in plain sight . . .

IN RETROSPECT

Alpha

It was a strange story, I must admit. Well, it was more than strange. It was bizarre, because there really was no way to properly describe it.

I started out by thinking it was about one thing and later realized it was about quite another, but the two were related, actually I learned they were intertwined. First, there was my extraordinary experience with supernaturalism; that event was both thought provoking and vexing. Then, there was my exposure to a notion that there was something about nothing that gripped me and would, in time, make me shake my head because it caused me to consider and speculate about a topic that boggled my mind–

Creation! Of course, I had given some thought to that matter over the years as a passing fancy. The turning point came when I was prompted by events to ask myself, What is the source of creation? I do not know where that question came from, but I know it drove me to distraction. It also drove me to the library and Webster’s unabridged dictionary. And there it was, defined in no uncertain terms, The act of bringing into existence from nothing the universe or the world or the living and nonliving things in it.

I saw in that definition something remarkable. But neither the Hand of God nor an act of Mother Nature would suffice to resolve this intrigue.

At any rate, that’s a part of my story that emerged as my experience with supernaturalism developed. But it was the story of supernaturalism that got all the attention/and some disdain.

There were very few who believed our story, when I and my cohorts made the effort to tell it. That is, when we tried to make sense of our experience, my cohorts and I got lost in a bunch of words and descriptions and depictions that got all muddled and didn’t make much sense when we attempted to explain and report the nature of our enterprise/event/wonder–see, that’s exactly what we encountered–the enigma of etymology.

The story, or the tale as our critics described it, was implausible. We knew as we told it just how inconceivable it sounded. We knew, even before we told it, it was still going to sound implausible. And, we knew it was never likely to be considered less than implausible/by anyone.

My strange experience? At first, I thought it was the story of aliens and the nature of the universe and the reactions of people to a phenomenon, but that wasn’t it. That was only a part of it. It was an experience about understanding the human condition. Not exactly revelatory, it was more an examination of people and their ideas about existence and essence. And it was about how people make themselves/or not. –But I didn’t realize any of that stuff at the time.

You get boggled and tongue-tied, frustrated and embarrassed, trying to make sense of a something very strange that seems nonsensical to everyone you tell it to. And you’re made vulnerable by the disdainful responses to your genuine effort to enlighten people.

Lemme say, at the very least what I experienced was baffling. No sleep, nagging thoughts, noxious residuals. It was like a hangover that hung over. One of those things that is so provokingly embracing, you just cannot escape its clutch.

At home, in another failed effort to make an escape from my daunting thoughts, I picked up the paper in an attempt to bypass my recollections. That didn’t work. I couldn’t concentrate on the news. My typical avoidance behavior was, as usual, unsuccessful, always because my provoking memories were so vivid.

When I put my paper aside, I sighed discontentedly at my musing. My wife must have heard the familiar sound of galling fatigue, and she guessed what was behind it. That sound was one repeated periodically over many weeks, that is, as a result of my quirky tour of duty. It meant that I was still struggling with an experience that was both daunting and exasperating. Worst of all, it was not only enduring for me, it continued to provoke those around me as well.

Something in the news? my wife asked with feigned interest, hoping to relieve my troubled thoughts, because she knew the true source of my exhaustive paralanguage.

Masking the reason behind my expressive nonverbal behavior, I tried to divert further inquiry by mentioning, I was just reading that Einstein’s theory of relativity might be in jeopardy, because some physicists believe they’ve discovered something that travels faster than the speed of light. So–what’s next?

The attempt to distract my wife didn’t work. In fact, it alarmed her. (So much for deaf ears.) She worried that I might be getting involved in mental misadventure again.

I smiled thinly. There was something of the sub rosa going on between us as we guessed at one another’s thoughts. Following a loud silence, I fell into strained reflection. My wife fell into daunting reverie. Neither one of us wanted to upset the other, but we did a poor job of calming things down, so the worries prevailed.

My thoughts went back to that time that never passed into the past. My present and future were contaminated by that abiding memory. All due to the fact that I could not come to grips with an experience that was and remained not only whimsical but spectral.

It was curious about the dynamics of the experiential episode that precipitated so much thought and emotion. From the very beginning, when it was reported to an ad hoc committee of expert authorities selected by a government agency sponsored by the Department of Defense, the committee members doubted almost every element of the testimony provided by the members of our group, who went by a rubric/Gang of 12.

Scrutiny aside, surprisingly, all the experts ended up doubting almost all of their doubts. As for those of us who were witnesses to the event, we started out firmly convinced our report was an accurate chronicle of our impressions, believing that our depiction of the experience was both vivid and valid, but we ended up questioning our own perceptions.

Over days of tangled exchanges, the select panel of jurors parried and thrust. We felt more like defendants on trial than witnesses to a remarkable incident. At times, over days of meetings, our group and the panel came together, but we never connected. Respect and regard for each other did improve over time, but agreement on purpose and outcome was never reached as adversarial positions remained distant and unassailable.

Almost every night I’m inclined to review the process our Gang of 12 experienced before the committee of our reviewers. I can’t help wondering about the dilatory nature of the process and the barren product of it. But one thing that is perfectly clear and clearly annoying is that the whole affair remained up in the air; and, I’m still up there.

My wife’s up in the air with me, so I’ve got company. But that means the two of us are made miserable by our involvement. It’s not fair that she is made a victim of the circumstances surrounding the curious event. Of course, I’m the cause of it, and that’s an added burden for me.

The thing is all my troubles started with this infernal interest in astrophysics, which I really knew nothing about then, and know not much more about now. The subject intrigued me then and still does. I read an article that kicked off my interest and took off from there. I went far beyond the scope of my knowledge to a near fixation with the subject.

I started with an interest in some of the more engaging provinces of astrophysics and wound up philosophizing about what was behind the cause of things in the firmament, went on to ponder about the cause of causes, and finally began a speculative search for the source of origins–of everything. What I wound up with was a theory forecasting the remarkable nature of something about nothing, and not just any nothing, everyday nothing, the nothing-to-it kind of nothing, but the Nothing/what I thought might be an original cause.

Most of that speculation came after my experience with an extraordinary phenomenon. I drove myself to distraction trying to find the connection between my astronomical studies and my specter. Whatever the connection was, it eluded me/but it didn’t stop me from groping for it.

I still think it’s true that there is a profound connection among those matters, but I can’t pursue this search or obsession or illusion any longer without paying a psychological price for the endeavor. And there’s my wife and family and friends and colleagues to consider. They’re all concerned about me. So, I don’t want to go off on a tangent again. But in curious ways that I don’t fully comprehend and can’t describe, I’m unable to help myself. The project is always on my mind, in my way, under my skin, grabbing me, seizing me, riveting me. What can I do?

My experience with the event, in all its ramifications, was fascinating. Yet, as remarkable as it was, it was an experience that created a great deal of pain for me, very little satisfaction, few results, uncertain rewards, and lingering doubts about my mental health and mental acuity. –Nevertheless, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world/or out of it.

–But perhaps I’m getting ahead of my story . . .

ON BOARD

A Passion for the Puzzle

Idea and Reality are not always the same. The Idea can change the Reality– While the Reality can be indelible and enduring/viable and sustaining, the Reality only has a place in our thinking as an Idea. –In the mind, if not in the end, there is no Reality without the Idea.

I’ve always had this yen for something not quite definable. It wasn’t nirvana, but I was looking for satisfaction in an endeavor that I hadn’t yet found. Something beyond what I had experienced/even though things were good at home and at work. It’s hard to describe this need, but I felt it/quite strongly.

My job was rewarding, challenging, and even exciting, but it wasn’t enough. My mind always seemed to be seeking stimulation. So it wasn’t that I was discontent. I just needed something to move me. I had this urge/gnawing wild-hair thing. Anyway–

Before I had to man the phones and begin my trading day, I had some time to glimpse a brief article devoted to a revelation in astrophysics. It wasn’t the kind of news that ordinarily got my earnest attention. What got my interest, the trigger so to speak, was the news that our knowledge of the nature of the universe was going to change substantively because of recent discoveries. And I was wondering–

There’s a lot of stuff going on in the great beyond. But we don’t understand much of it. Even those scientists in the know, by their own admission, haven’t fully understood many aspects of it. Now those scientists, especially the astrophysicists, are learning about even newer things, momentous things; so they have to wonder how much more there is for them to learn. As for the rest of us, we uninitiated, there is far more to learn about the nature of galaxies than we’ve ever imagined.

I have to say that I found this dark energy/dark matter stuff that I was reading about, not just of passing interest, but mind-boggling. Why I found it so profound, I’m not sure. I just found myself thinking that we used to hear about new stars and new galaxies, then astrophysicists and astronomers began informing us about dark stars and black holes as well as the possibilities of parallel universes/the multiverse. Such findings get to be almost too much for most of us to comprehend. But, curiously, not for me. In spite of my lack of knowledge in this area, I was inexplicably intrigued by the implications in this recent article. At the time, under existing circumstances, I’d have to say it was completely out of character. I guess some things just grab a person. Certainly, for me, this appeared to be one of those things.

When it comes to understanding something like astrophysics, it’s not only confusing and difficult to grasp all these recent findings, it’s a little scary, too. Sure, it’s interesting and exciting, that is, until you realize how complicated and mystifying it is. –From what little I’d read about astronomy and astrophysics, it was clear that I wasn’t the only one struggling with this problem of deciphering ‘what’s up.’ –I guess even Einstein thought it was pretty remarkable the universe was comprehensible at all. I’m with Einstein on that. But, other than that, Einstein’s not with me. It’s not that we aren’t on the same page; we aren’t even into the same book. It’s not shameful, though, to admit to my ignorance of these technical sciences.

With all the same scientific information available to them, even astrophysicists aren’t all on the same page. That’s kind of daunting. But they say that’s because there are theories that are convincing but contradictory; they call these differences antinomic because, although they’re dissimilar and conflicting, they’re still reasonable and viable. I call theories like that paradoxical.

I don’t really get it. You’ve got two or three theories that don’t agree, but they’re still acceptable. I suppose it’s like there’s more than one way to skin a cat; there’s more than one way to reach your goals. –So maybe I do get it/sort of. Still . . .

For most of us who aren’t exactly in-the-know, we can’t get our heads around scientific contradictions that are amenable and don’t compete for prominence. We’re not used to dealing with paradoxes where ideas and theories do not vie for preeminence. We’re looking for right answers/not a bunch of right answers. For most of us, there’re the pros and cons of abortion, the death sentence, religion, political ideologies and such. We don’t think of competing or conflicting stands or opinions as being different as often as we think of them as being right or wrong. So being worthy but different, that’s hard for many of us to fathom/or maybe to accept.

Anyway, speaking for myself, when it comes to science, I glimpse or glance at the news, regular or revelatory, without subjecting reports to close scrutiny, because I don’t have the wherewithal. Without the means to analyze the nature and substance of what I read about in the way of scientific discoveries, I can be oblivious, giving an unaffected shrug when reading reports of scientific discoveries. But it has begun to bother me lately that I don’t take more of an interest.

Rather than becoming indifferent or even dubious, with something like astrophysics–quite a remote science to me–I naturally defer to a higher order of thinking. So, dependent on the expertise of our cognoscenti, ‘the brains,’ I hope that our astronomers and astrophysicists, especially, will keep their sights on the dark skies and their heads out of the white clouds. Meanwhile, I have been content to keep my feet, and thoughts, on solid ground/grounded.

In the midst of my ideational musing, I was shaken out of my reverie by a familiar, oftentimes annoying, presence. When my neighbor in the next cubicle looked in on me, I could tell that he was seeking a diversion. A frenetic example of the more flamboyant traders on our floor, he asked in his typically animated way–

What’s up?

Nothing much, I answered, hoping he would cut me some slack so I could finish the item on dark energy and dark matter that had so intrigued me and caused my reflective moment.

What’re you reading?

Actually, I’m reading about what’s up, I mentioned kind of tongue-in-cheek.

He looked puzzled as he expressed an aspirated ‘huhhh.’ I allowed him to stew in the juices of consternation for a moment before explaining–

"An item on the nature of what’s in the galaxy. That’s what I’m up to. And, that’s what’s up. Got it? Up! I exclaimed, jerking my thumb toward the ceiling. He gave me a bewildered look. I clarified for him: Celestial stuff. New finding. Dark energy and dark matter. –‘You know about them?"

"Not much. I happened to glance over a piece while I was skimming Newsweek or Time a while back. I know it’s weird science. –It’s nothing, right? You know I’m a practical guy. I’m interested in applied science more so than the theoretical stuff. And astrophysics is way too theoretical for me."

So you’re a Ben Franklin kind of guy. I have to admit, I was kind of surprised this guy that worked next to me was interested in anything scientific, because outside of work he was into strip joints, bars, and folderol.

Yeh, Ben Franklin/from what I know about him. I’m that kind of guy/useful stuff.

He was mainly interested in the applications of scientific discoveries, I volunteered.

Then he’s my man. Practical. A man after my own heart.

He might have accepted the science, but he would’ve wanted to know to what use dark energy and dark matter could be put. Or, he probably would’ve lost interest.

Me, too. But I’d also want to know if there’s any money in it. And can we trade it on the exchange. –Anyway, so you’re reading about this stuff, and you know what?

"Very little. ‘First I’ve ever heard of them. Interesting phenomena though. Fascinating. –Mind-boggling."

Must be enticing if you’re reading about them and not the business section of the Wall Street Journal.

That’s my source, I said holding up the paper. There’s more than economic news in the Wall Street Journal, I responded, drolly.

OK, Sport, tell me what you’ve discovered that’s so ‘fascinating,’ so mind-bending, so mind-blowing.

Well, I was thinking about an extrapolation. Suppose dark energy and dark matter are influencing what we do and who we are without us realizing it, that is, not overtly, but covertly.

Stuff that moves us around like chess pieces?

Well, who knows? We’re talking about what’s in and around us. All of it out of sight. Consider that over 95 percent of the universe is comprised of these dark essences we just recently discovered. It’s just hard to imagine that we’ve known so little about so much that’s out there.

You imagine it, Einstein. I’m saving my imagination for flicks and floozies.

Yeh, but for this stuff you don’t have to suspend belief. It’s the real thing.

"It may be the real thing. They don’t really know, do they? So, it’s only astrophysical gibberish at this point."

Oh, it’s more than gobbledygook, doubting Thomas.

And you’re Gullible Gulliver, the space traveler. You’ve got your head in the clouds. Me, I’ve got my feet on the ground.

You’ll never get anywhere unless you learn to fly.

"You need a time-out. Use your energy to take your matter to the movies. You want to do some stargazing, see Avatar. –And you can do it with your feet on the ground."

My co-worker left my cubicle for his own with a wave and a wry smile, also a last minute jibe, As for energy and matter that can subliminally influence our thoughts and actions, we’re already there. We’re made up of chemistry, and physics is what moves us. Now, if you’re talking about managing us, and not just maintaining us, well, my friend–you’re not into science, not even science-fiction, you’re delving into phantasmagoria.

–Not in my mind was dark energy and dark matter silly science. In my mind this was intrigue beyond immediate comprehension, and the science was authentic.

I didn’t know where my allegiance to the nature of astrophysical science was coming from. How. Or why. I was just compelled–to nurture it.

Outré

Elsewhere–

It was late that evening at Palomar when the unforeseen occurred and caused the scrutiny that could not find any satisfaction or relief. His crimped brow and wordless expression said, clearly, what was on his mind: puzzlement.

Professor Kingston was mulling over his sighting with uncertainty. He ran his tongue over his front teeth nervously, unable to explain what he thought he might have discovered, might have because it seemed so unlikely an occurrence.

You look as though something you’ve seen isn’t plausible. So what’s causing your disquiet, Kingston? Professor Goble asked.

I don’t know if I can even explain it. A haze–

A haze? That’s not so strange, is it? You mean like a cluster of some kind?

It’s a haze, but it’s the kind of haze, Goble. Not like anything I’ve ever come across in the observatory.

Show me.

I don’t know if I can. It kind of comes and goes. And–it dances.

It does what?

Come see/that is, if I can find it again. As I say, it’s a whimsical phenomenon.

It must be. Let me take a look. –And how did you happen to find this oddity?

I came upon it when I linked with NASA’s ‘scope’ and dragged in Kepler-11. –Just take a look. If it’s there, it’ll jump right out at you.

"I don’t see anything–Whoa! What is that? –D’jou get pictures?"

I tried to. You try. Be my guest.

I’ve got a bead on this thing and should get good pictures. –I think I’ve got our proof.

We’ll see.

Pictures were taken, but they didn’t turn out to be anything but the array of planets around Kepler-11/no haze. The swirling mass photographed was approximately two-thousand light-years distant, but the problem was that the two astrophysicists weren’t certain that the haze was that far away or whether it only appeared to be when they trained cameras on it.

We could ask colleagues to check it out, Goble suggested. Kepler-11 is under surveillance by several university teams.

"But what are you going to ask them to check out? That’s the problem. We haven’t got anything substantive to examine. Maybe it’ll