a tragedy, and they carried a report to that effect alongside their front-page story. Predictions Elwell said, in his own account, that in 1987 he forewarned two shipping companies of trouble, one of these being the British ferry company P&O Ferries. Less than two weeks after P&O replied to Elwell, to reassure him that their procedures were designed "to deal with the unexpected from whatever quarter", their ship, the Herald of Free Enterprise, capsized at the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge with the loss of 188 lives. The editorial lead to Elwell's account read: <blockquote>In 1987 Dennis Elwell attracted considerable attention in the UK press. Within days of forewarning two British shipping companies of potential trouble at sea, one of them met serious misfortune with the loss of the Herald of Free Enterprise. Elwell's attention to the prospect of shipping disaster was prompted by the March 1987 solar eclipse in Pisces.</blockquote> Elwell said that the correspondence was examined by journalists, after which a number of newspapers carried the story of the "warning ignored". This was followed by an appearance on the BBC's Kilroy TV show, and further press attention later the same year. Elwell's correspondence with P&O was also reported in the Channel 4 documentary series Witness in June 2000, in a programme examining the rise in the influence of astrology. Criticism Amongst the astrological community some reporters of the Herald of Free Enterprise event have been critical, arguing that such predictions lack specific information, and are unable to be replicated in a situation that would be of value to anyone. Leading sceptics, such as James Randi and Geoffrey Dean, have been critical of Elwell,Researchers Respond Retrieved 9 June 2011. engaging in public exchanges concerning the legitimacy and value of astrology in science. Suitbert Ertel was also frequently locked in such arguments with Elwell, and was to write critically of him: Dennis Elwell, despite being well informed, ignores all this research. He refers to a no-authority in statistical matters, Dawkins, who has published nothing in this field. Further, he ignores most favourable judgments on Gauquelin research by H.J. Eysenck, whose score of published statistical studies in mainstream psychology has hardly been excelled by anyone. For me, therefore, the way Elwell uses his intellectual capacity to downgrade scientific research on Gauquelin effects is utterly irresponsible. Bibliography Books Elwell, Dennis, (1987) Cosmic Loom, Unwin Hyman. Articles The Future of Astrology Elwell, Dennis "Here's