-Caveat Lector- Infamous Nixon tape gap to receive further analysis By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press WASHINGTON (August 8, 2001 12:17 p.m. EDT) - The National Archives moved another step forward Wednesday toward uncovering what was said during the infamous 18 1/2-minute gap on one of President Nixon's tapes recorded three days after the Watergate break-in. Before they get a chance to decipher the series of clicks, hisses and buzzes heard on the gap, audio experts interested in the challenge will have to pass tests to prove they can really retrieve voices from the tape. And, according to ground rules the archives announced on Wednesday, they have to prove they won't mangle the fragile original tape in the process. "The tests will determine whether they have the technology of retrieving voices - or whatever was on the original tape - and that the tape will come back to us in its original condition," said Susan Cooper, a spokeswoman for the archives. The gap is part of a recording made June 20, 1972, in the old Executive Office Building as Nixon chatted with his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman. Public disclosure of the erasure, late the following year, eroded Nixon's credibility at a time when his presidency was unraveling over the June 17, 1972, break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate. This isn't the first time experts have tried to figure out what was on the tape. A panel of experts set up in the 1970s by federal judge John Sirica, who presided over the Watergate criminal trials, concluded that the erasures were done in at least five - and perhaps as many as nine - separate and contiguous segments. The panel never figured out what was erased. Steve Wingate, Webmaster ANOMALOUS IMAGES AND UFO FILES http://www.anomalous-images.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om