There's a lot of rumours and whispers about Roswell.

On or around July 2, 1947, something crashed in the desert near a military base at Roswell, New Mexico. Something that might not have been altogether human in origin... 

The headlines screamed: 'Flying Disc captured by Air Force.' Yet, just 24 hours later, the military changed their story of 'capturing a mysterious object' and claimed the object they'd first thought was a 'flying disc' was a weather balloon that had crashed on a nearby ranch.

But last week came an astonishing new twist to the Roswell mystery - which casts new light on the incident and raises the possibility that may have been visited by aliens.

Lieutenant Walter Haut was the public relations officer at the Roswell base in 1947, and was the man who issued the original and subsequent press releases after the crash.

Haut died last year, but left a sworn affidavit to be opened only after his death.

Last week, the text was released and asserts that the weather balloon claim was a cover story, and that the real object had been recovered by the military and stored in a hangar. He described seeing not just the craft, but alien bodies.

When he arrived at the base, he was apparently told by a nurse (who later disappeared) that a UFO had crashed and that small humanoid extraterrestrials had been recovered. But Haut is the only one of the original participants to claim to have seen alien bodies.

Haut spoke about a clean-up operation, where for months afterwards military personnel scoured both crash sites searching for all remaining pieces of debris, removing them and erasing all signs that anything unusual had occurred.

Haut then tells how his commanding officer, Colonel Blanchard took him to 'Building 84' - one of the hangars at Roswell - and showed him the craft itself. He describes a metallic egg-shaped object around 12-15ft in length and around 6ft wide. He said he saw no windows, wings, tail, landing gear or any other feature.

He saw two bodies on the floor, partially covered by a tarpaulin. They are described in his statement as "about 4ft tall, with disproportionately large heads". Towards the end of the affidavit, Haut concludes: "I am convinced that what I personally observed was some kind of craft and its crew from outer space."

What's particularly interesting about Walter Haut is that in the many interviews he gave before his death, he played down his role and made no such claims. Had he been seeking publicity, he would surely have spoken about the craft and the bodies.

Did he fear ridicule, or was the affidavit a sort of deathbed confession from someone who had been part of a cover-up, but who had stayed loyal to the end?

Another military witness who claimed to know that the Roswell incident involved the crash of an alien spacecraft is Colonel Philip J. Corso, a former Pentagon official who claimed his job was to pass technology from the craft recovered at Roswell to American companies.

He claims that discoveries such as Kevlar body armour, stealth technology, night vision goggles, lasers and the integrated circuit chip all have their roots in alien technology from the Roswell crash.

So, with this new evidence, just what is the truth? Have we been visited, or is this another in a very long line of tales of wonder about extraterrestrials and visitations from another world...?

After the failed terrorist bombings in London today, we are a country desperate for good news...

And maybe this is a glimmer on the horizon.

In a breakthrough that could potentially lead to a cure for HIV infection, scientists have discovered a way to (potentially) remove the virus from infected cells.

German scientists have engineered an enzyme which attacks the DNA of the HIV virus and cuts it out of the infected cell.

The enzyme is still far from being ready to use as a treatment, but it offers a glimmer of hope for the more than 40 million people infected worldwide.

That enzyme was able to eliminate the HIV virus from infected human cells in about three months in the laboratory.

The researchers engineered an enzyme called Tre which removes the virus from the genome of infected cells by recognising and then recombining the structure of the virus's DNA.

This ability to recognize HIV's DNA might one day help overcome one of the biggest obstacles to finding a cure: the ability of the HIV virus to avoid detection by reverting to a resting state within infected cells which then cease to produce the virus for months or even years.

The researchers who developed the enzyme were optimistic about their ability to design additional enzymes which would target other parts of the virus's DNA.

However they warned that there were significant barriers to overcome before the enzyme could be used to help cure patients.

"The most important, and likely most difficult, among these is that the enzyme would need efficient and safe means of delivery and would have to be able to function without adverse side effects," wrote lead author Indrani Sarkar of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden.

So there you go, hope for so many. It might not be much, but it's something wonderful on a day of nightmares!

So, in a moment of madness, I applied for the BBC's reality TV show The Apprentice.

I filled out my application form (and even told the truth), and sent off a recent (undoctored) picture, and I now have made the next round of auditions!

I'm off to London on the 6th of July for my audition. If it goes well, they're saying it'll take 3 hours. 

So if my audition takes 5 minutes, you'll know I bombed!

I'm really doing this simply for the experience, for it's all these new things that make life so exciting. So I won't be disappointed if I don't get very far in the audition process. I can't see myself getting all the way to the show, but as a project manager, I can't possibly do any worse than last year's contestants.

Watch this space for my exciting audition news.

I could be Sir Alan Sugar's next Apprentice! 

So the UK banks are planning to remove free banking. They are claiming that as the Government forces them to reduce their fees for various charges (such as late-payments and bounced cheques), they will need to charge for their services.. 

They say nothing's free and banking certainly isn't. With hefty charges, minimal interest, and a whole lot of messing around, I'm sorely tempted to stick all of my money in a box under the bed.

There's no way out! All the banks seem to be as bad as each other and there's very little we can do with our money as we NEED banks to manage our finances.

In this fast-paced world there's precious little time to spend writing cheques and using the postal system. Banks have made themselves invaluable.

Personally, I'd like to see a Government Bank; a non-profit making organisation designed to actually help people with reasonable fees.

But of course, in this world where everyone's out to make money, there's no chance of that ever happening.

So, it's an end to free banking. When the banks start charging we'll be paying for their services AND paying for their exorbitant late-fees.

It's a lose-lose situation for the customer, a win-win for the banks.

And they will get away with it! 

The world is a funny place, isn't it? 

When production companies make these huge high-budget movies, do they get together with talented writers and storytellers and creative, arty types. Do they brainstorm until they’ve created a sensational story…

Apparently not, for with the likes of Ghost Rider, you’d be hard pushed to find a story in the last few years worth of superhero blockbusters.

Now I’ve said for a long time that with the superhero genre being so fashionable, it IS possible to have a deep and meaningful story in a movie like this one. It doesn’t have to rely on special effects and explosions alone.

But sadly, in our current age of glossy, ultra shallow movies, engrossing scripts and enthralling acting are few and very far between.

Fantastic Four 2 is a decent mix of story and action. It doesn’t rely too heavily on story, but what there is is funny and reasonably clever.

The main characters are back, and this time they are used to their powers and are trying to get on with their lives as both people and the Fantastic Four. The wedding between Mister (Stretchy) Fantastic and the Invisible Girl is in the air and this time they’re going to get married, no matter what.

Or so they think…

Now, call me a hypocrite, but after all that moaning about there not being enough story in movies, I have to say: there’s not really enough action in this movie. There’s plenty of action here, but it’s just not enough.

In fact it’s never enough (and it probably never will be). There are some cracking scenes with the Fantastic Four saving the London Eye, but aside from a few impressive scenes, there’s still not enough powers in this movie. They don’t really do any fighting or battling any major bad guys, which, is the meat and drink of an action movie, isn’t it?

So this was an action movie, without the action. It was the sugar-free cola of action films.

But that’s not to say it’s bad, I would have preferred more… Another 30 minutes of scrapping and outrageous use of super powers.

It’s the same for the Silver Surfer. While an interesting character, he really doesn’t get a lot to do. I would have liked to have seen some proper fights between him and the Fantastic Four.

A sadly wasted opportunity.

About Galactus: Without spoiling the story too much, our fantastic foursome encounter the Silver Surfer, a being of great power and herald of Galactus - a being of even greater power and known throughout the galaxy as The Destroyer of Worlds.

However, the film company didn’t like the original purple and blue image of Galactus, so they decided to change his iconic outfit to – well – a big cloud-thing. This is the kind of change I don’t like in movies. While I appreciate they felt that a cloud could have looked better artistically on the big screen than a towering bloke in a strange helmet, why use Galactus if they’re only going to use him in name alone?

I just don‘t get it - and I probably never will...

Final Word: Now, after all that you probably think I hated the movie, but I really did like it. In a world of oh-so-weak superhero movies, this one actually stands out as something special. For an action movie, there are lots of missed opportunities for heart-stopping fights, but it really does work and it’s much improved on the original. It’s a more mature movie, which is exactly what you want from a sequel.

It’s also very short. At just 93 minutes I was surprised by how quickly it was over. I felt I’d only just sat down when the end credits were rolling – a good sign by anyone’s standards.

Overall, Fantastic Four 2 left me wanting more.

I wanted more action, more powers, more – everything.

8/10 – Fant - nope, I won't do it - Highly entertaining.

Thanks for your emails of concern about the flooding in Sheffield.

Apparently, Sheffield Train Station is now closed due to flooding and Sheffield is pretty much cut off from the rest of the UK.

I live at the top of a hill, so no problems for my house, but thousands were stranded yesterday and it looks like another bad day for thousands in South Yorkshire. A lot of people I know cannot get to work and the atmosphere is pretty bleak!

There are great worries about the Rotherham Reservoir, and the Council intends to perform a controlled draining at some point today, to avoid thousands more houses being flooded. 

Hard to believe in this day and age that flooding can be such a terrible issue.

Mind you, we did have a lot of rain... 

This week's column is now live.

Its all about the classes of Warhammer 

You can see it by clicking here

Oh boy I'm going to get killed for this, but I realised something this week:

Diet's suck.

They don't work, and they're rubbish.

Why? Because, as soon as you start denying yourself things, you're limiting yourself and no longer listening to your body.

SO, I've given up on diets and I'm going to follow a more flexible way of living. I'm going to listen to what my body wants. I am going to make every effort to eat more slowly, and to stop eating when I'm full.

So, more exercise and less complaining.

Watch this space! 

With the final Harry Potter book just around the corner, the world isn't safe for those people who want to keep book seven's mysteries a secret.

There are hackers claiming to know the last book's secrets, and with countless people having read the book (and more every day), I'm sure the newspapers will do anything they can to spoil the secret long before the release date.

But in this age of increasing spoilers, what can you do? Hide away under the bed? Avoid the world?

Or simply avoid the newspapers, and the internet?

No one seems to care about protecting the sanctity of things any more and now information on TV shows, books, and movies, is revealed long before it's ever given a public release.

The whole mystery and surprise seems to have been lost.

I aim to vanish from the face of the earth on the week preceeding the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, for I want to experience the magic of the final book free from spoilers, but in a world where people seem to care less and less about the desires of others, will I manage to go another four weeks without Harry's final quest being ruined for me?

I can only hope... 

The most interesting thing I noticed about today was just how much my cravings had diminished.

I'm much more sensitive to the subtle desires of body and mind now I'm dieting, and I am considerably less desirous of cake and crisps today - which can only be a good thing.

And tomorrow - those cravings will be even less.

So today I had:

• One chicken noodle salad
• One fruit juice smoothie
• One packet of fresh mango
• One chicken / butternut and assorted nut salad
• Two large glasses of milk.

Oh and five Jelly Babies (when travelling). Maybe it's the uncertainty and randomness of travel that makes people eat crap. I don't know. I had eaten the first one without thinking (maybe it's boredom), and before I knew it, four of its friends were making their way into my stomach (they taste so nice, though). 

So, overall, not a bad day. I already feel a bit healthier and, dare I say it? Slimmer... 

Eating healthily is a delicate balancing act. You can juggle a bunch of tasty and healthy foods all day long, but as soon as you add chocolate, it's like your resistance crumbles and the whole house of cards comes falling down.

I think it's all about resistance, and not stopping exercising when you've had that chocolate bar, as, contrary to what your brain tells you - exercise DOES make a difference...

Well day one is over, and that was the worst (I say that tentatively in case day 2 is worse than day 1 in which case ignore that sentence entirely!)

The actual day wasn't too bad. With work and everything it's easy to forget about chocolate, crisps, and hydrogenated fats on delicious Krispy Kreme doughnuts (to which I have become rather partial), but as time passes and it's back to the hotel, the desires start to creep back...

The pack of Jelly Babies on my desk didn't help. I actually found myself (subconsciously) reaching for them a few times. 

But I resisted, because I know that it's all in the mind. Cravings really do fade - you just have to stay on top of them and deal with them face on every time they pop up.

And there were cravings. I've eaten so much high calorie, sugar-laden food lately that my body was in shock. It was crying out for doughnuts or pizza or chinese food.

And being denied, my mind and body were complaining. It was a two-sided assault.

I was strong. And in the end, I had over the course of a day:

• One apple. Actually, I only had a bite as I realised it was rotten.
• Two nectarines and a handful of raspberries.
• Two mangos.
• One assorted sushi platter.
• One prawn pasta salad. 

Total Calories: Oh I'll work it out tomorrow...

I didn't go to the gym for a swim, as I couldn't be bothered (I wanted to say arsed which, I feel, is much more descriptive - and true).

I went to bed feeling a bit peckish, but quite satisfied with my progress, and kept telling myself that tomorrow will be a much better day. 

OK, I give up. I can't go on!

I'm officially a bloater. A porker. A total glutton of epic proportions.

I can't eat any more.

So, I hereby announce that for the next week, I am not going to eat a single cooked thing; not a rich chinese meal in sauce, or something draped in butter.

It's nothing but healthy, organic fruit vegetables, and rice this week*.

And definitely, absolutely and categorically NO CAKEY!!!

Will I manage to go the whole week...?

Watch this space for daily updates!

Wish me luck! 

*This also means Starbucks, ice cream, and chocolate of ANY kind!

But sushi is OK.

I went to Lea today, which is a place I've fallen in love with. It's in Derbyshire, not far from Matlock and is a picturesque village far from the hustle and bustle of daily life. It's a tiny place in the middle of the Derbyshire hills, and I reckon it gets about a hundred cars passing its main street a day.

It's like the Shire (without the annoying furry-footed pipe smokers!)

So I've been trying to get to the Jug and Glass for some nosh for a few weeks now. But they're always fully booked.

But this time I wasn't going to take no for an answer (unless, of course, they were fully booked). I managed to book a table for the Sunday carvery lunch.

WOW! It sure does live up to its reputation. The carvery, for eight pounds, was amazing. Lovely succulent beef, and roast potatoes and huge crispy Yorkshire Puddings.

But by FAR the best bit was the vegetables. They had caramelised carrots, red cabbage laced with cider, and oh-so-rich gravy brimming with ale. In fact, pretty much ALL of the vegetables had some form of alcohol in them. You'd think it was a pub, or something...

It was all sensational. I'd highly recommend this tiny pub in the middle of the most wonderful surroundings Derbyshire has to offer.

Phone the Jug & Glass on 01629 534 232

Or you can see their website by clicking here. 

I'm a bad boy. I ate way too much and had to slink off when someone was overheard saying "who stole all the Yorkshire Puddings?"

Erk! It wasn't me, sir...

<burp>

To finish off, I went to the absolutely FANTABULOUS Coach House, which was a quick waddle down the street where I had tea and a generous helping of their Sticky Toffee Pudding, which is sticky, AND toffee and Pudding (three words I absolutely adore). 

This home-made cake has been single-handedly responsible for adding about five pounds on my waist over the past month. It's basically a huge slab of feather-light toffee sponge, covered in hot toffee fudge sauce and surrounded by a moat of rich cream.

Delicious! 

I got to meet the (very humble) Wonder Woman chef who bakes these cakes today, so there was some hero worship from me. She may not have a magic lariat, but she's kick-ass in the kitchen.

Anyone who can make cakes like these deserves my eternal allegiance. Forget bribery, extortion, and forced worship through dark magic. Just give me good cakey and I'll be subserviant to anyone! 

So, can you now see why food should never touch my lips.

Again?

Ever!?

It's not big and it's certainly not clever.

People are so obsessed with weight it's getting beyond a joke. We've already got size zero, but what next, negative sizes? 

I saw a picture of Victoria Beckham at a baseball game in America this week, and thought: oh my god, she looks like a little girl.

Now, I don't mean in her mannerisms, but she really looks like a little girl. She's got little girl legs and a tiny waist. It all looks out of proportions. And the skin on her face is sooo tight and her head seems WAY too big for her tiny body.

Now I really do admire Posh (she's put up with all kinds of crap and she's still gone out and done her own thing), but this is just getting ridiculous.

What kind of image is she setting to people, that it's OK to be stick thin?

Love her or hate her, you cannot deny that being so painfully thin cannot be healthy for anyone.

No logo is worth £400,000.

Yes, I'm talking about the Olympic Games logo (again), which I still think is horrendous.

And, apparently, so does everyone else. 68% of young people interviewed said they hated the logo - a logo that was specifically designed to appeal to them. Well done the idiots who commissioned such a monstrosity. You've really got your finger on the pulse of youth culture...

Last thing I'll say (today) is that - surprise surprise - the Government has launched a competition to design a new "watered down" logo for use by community groups. Apparently, this was their intention all along.

Of course it was! And we believe the London Congestion Charge is really being spent on decreasing CO2 emissions...

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell (the idiot who had final say on the Games' logo) - you're a complete idiot. Nothing is worth £400,000. You squandered taxpayers money on this hideous nonesense and have the gall to tell us you think "it's terrific!"

Someone said the logo looks like Lisa Simpson giving oral pleasure to a naughty gentlemen. I'm inclined to agree...

When I first saw the animated image of the 2012 London Olympics logo, I thought: Hmm there's something that'll cause problems for all the epileptics...

And I was right. It turns out the five second image has been recalled and needs urgent rework as it's caused epileptic fits in countless people across the UK AND even reactivated fits in some who have been dormant for many years.

So it's yet another example of WHY the Government should never have won the bid for the 2012 Olympics.

It'll all end in tears - mark my words!

The Creation Museum is located in Cincinnati, and is a fantastic high-tech look at the universe, from the Church of Creation's perspective.

While it's said to be stunning, it has humans mixing with dinosaurs, and claims the universe was built in six days and is only six thousand years old...

Hmmm. 

I'd HATE to dismiss anyone's religion but I think common sense should prevail here. After all, there's enough scientific evidence to prove that the universe is older than 6,000 years...

But the Church is a curious oddity. First it said dinosaurs didn't exist; now they're saying humans and dinousaurs co-existed together (and humans even had the little critters as pets)...

Whatever you believe, the Creation Museum looks to be an awesome spectacle. 

Check out the Creation Museum 

Just leave your belief on the doorstep! 

Someone asked me to talk about the 2012 Olympic Games and how it's only the people of London who are paying for the costs of hosting these event.

I personally feel that the UK is totally unsuitable for hosting the Games. Having to build a whole new stadium (and all the extras) at a ludicrous cost is plain foolish. We'll be paying for it forever, and if it's anything like Wembley Stadium, it won't be finished until 2015... (the Athletes' Village will be a series of tents on Clapham Common and the a la carte food will be a selection of McDonalds and Burget King...)

While I know there are millions of people who love the Olympic Games, I personally have no particular love for them, and I certainly wouldn't want to be paying for them. Especially when I thought hosting them was a dumb idea in the first place.

After all, I don't think anyone else would be particularly interested in forking out the cost for me to play online games.

Hmm. Maybe there should be a tax for that after all.

But the Government has said the UK will make a tonne of cash from the Olympic Games. Personally, I'm dubious...

We'll see what happens in the next few years; after all, 2012 is a looong way away.

OK, so it doesn't actually stink, but whoever commissioned this most certainly does!

I am, of course, talking about the hot topic of the UK's 2012 Olympic Games logo.

Before I rant a bit more, you can see the logo by clicking here

Awful, isn't it?

Now, I can see where they were going with the 2012 theme, but, COME ON! It's ghastly. It lacks any style and looks as though it was created in about two minutes by a four year old with Microsoft Paint.

And it cost (apparently) a whopping FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS!

Now the Government has craftily covered itself by saying the logo will evolve as time goes on - so what will the figure be by 2012, five hundred, six hundred, a million pounds?

It's a shameful waste of money, and I've a feeling that we'll be bearing the brunt of the ridiculous costs of the Olympic Games before long. 

If it's anything like the new Wembley Stadium, it'll cost twice as much as budgeted, and Britain will be broke well before the games actually start!

Or the stadium will be half finished and the Athelete's Village will be a bunch of tents somewhere in the middle of Brixton Prison.

Whooppee! Just what I always wanted, another beta invite to yet another hackneyed Korean MMO.

Now, I'm not slagging off the Koreans, but COME ON, give us something new instead of the same old and tired versions of the same old and tired games.

I'm sure they've got development companies churning these things out like we made boy bands in the '90s. 

Anyway, go see Sword of the New World for yourself.

But don't say I didn't warn you!

I'm exceptionally grumpy today as a friend sent me some green tea yesterday.

Now, I've been caffeine free for years, and as such, the damn stuff has a profound impact on me.

So when I was sure these were decaf teabags (after all, anyone who knows me would only send me caffeine-free, right?) I had lovely two cups before bed.

Then, exhausted as I was from a long week of training on my new job, I went to sleep at 10:00pm...

Only could I visit the Land of Nod?

Nope. Not a chance.

It was wide-eyes for way more than four hours... 

I managed to drop into a vague sleep-like doze around 3:00am, and finally fell asleep properly at about 6:00am. So it was a bit of a grim night.

But it made me realise quite how much of an effect caffeine and other stimulants have on us. My mother has never slept well, all her life, and it was only when I persuaded her to try caffeine-free tea that she finally realised that it was those three or four cups of strong tea a day that was keeping her awake at night.

She now sleeps through the night, every night.

So, I will be sleeping soundly tonight, but it's a sober reminder of how there's a price to pay for all those stimulants and bad things we stuff into our bodies without a thought.