Paul Vigay
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Paul Vigay
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1964|10|24|df=y}}
| birth_place = Croydon
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2009|02|20|1964|10|24|df=y}}
| death_place = Portsmouth
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| nationality = British
| fields = Computing
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| known_for = Crop circles, RISC OS, UFOs
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Paul Vigay (24 October 1964 – 20 February 2009) was a British computer consultant, notable for work in developing and supporting RISC OS software and named as a leading expert on UFOs and crop circles.
Biography
Vigay was born on 24 October 1964 in Croydon. His sister, Frances Vigay, became an anti-nuclear campaigner at the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp. He attended the Horndean School in Waterlooville, passing 10 O-Levels. His use of BBC B computers while there led to a lifelong interest in computing. He edited the Acorn section of the Micronet 800 on-line magazine in the late 1980s, and continued to support RISC OS users after Micronet 800 was withdrawn. He was the senior computer technician at Bohunt Community School for several years, maintaining a LAN of over 300 desktops around the school, until he worked for Argonet ISP from 1995 until 2005 when he opened Orpheus Internet to serve Argonet's previous customers and continue support for RISC OS users. He was also a skilled computer programmer, creating an anti-virus app and a lottery prediction app using statistical analysis, among others. According to BBC News, Vigay had a long interest in UFOs, hauntings and the occult and first became involved with crop circles in 1990 while developing equipment to detect electric current flow behind walls and floors.{{cite news
|title= Crop Circle expert - Paul Vigay
|work= BBC News
|quote= Having had a long interest in UFOs, hauntings and the Occult, Paul first became interested in crop circles in 1990 when he was developing some electronic equipment to detect electric current flow behind walls and floors.
|date= 7 January 2004
|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/southampton/features/cropcircles/expert1.shtml
|accessdate= 2010-01-05
}} He contributed research for the 2002 film Signs.{{cite web | url = http://www.eofftv.com/s/sig/signs_main.htm | title = Signs (2002) | accessdate = 2011-02-04 | publisher = www.eofftv.com| quote = MISCELLANEOUS, Researcher: Paul Vigay}}
Death
Vigay's body was found off Portsmouth beach on 20 February 2009 after being reported missing the previous evening.[http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/newshome/Body-found-washed-ashore-in.5001144.jp Body found washed ashore in Southsea], Portsmouth News, accessed 2009-12-30 Police said that it remained unclear whether Vigay committed suicide or died accidentally. According to a hearing at Portsmouth Coroners Court, Vigay had split up with girlfriend Andrea Smith on the night of his death. Smith found a short note Vigay left which said "I love you," and included Vigay's telephone code and computer passwords. The British newspaper The Telegraph reported that a coroner termed his death a "mystery".{{cite news
|title= Death of UFO expert Paul Vigay 'a mystery'
|newspaper= The Telegraph|location=London
|quote= The death of leading international UFO expert, Paul Vigay, is a mystery, a coroner has admitted, after he drowned without leaving a suicide note.
|date= 21 January 2010
|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/ufo/7036018/Death-of-UFO-expert-Paul-Vigay-a-mystery.html
|accessdate= 2010-01-05
}}{{cite news|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2010/01/21/Death-of-UFO-expert-unsolved/UPI-75921264099505/|title=World News Death of UFO expert unsolved|date=21 January 2010|work=UPI.com|publisher=United Press International, Inc.|accessdate=6 January 2011}} He was buried at The South Downs Natural Burial Site near Petersfield.
References
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External links
- [http://www.vigay.com/ Vigay.com]
- [http://www.cropcircleresearch.com/articles/pvigay.html Crop circle Research:Personal profile] by Paul Vigay
- {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20051126084041/http://www.paulsdomain.co.uk/aboutme.html |date=26 November 2005 |title=Paul's Domain: 101 things you probably didn't know (or want to know) about me }}
- [http://www.riscos.org/ RISCOS.org] Website run by Vigay.
- [http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/srcropcircles/int.vigay.html NHNE Crop Circle: Paul Vigay interview], interview from June 1998
- {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129011002/http://www.paulvigay.org/ |date=29 January 2012 |title=Paul Vigay Book of Condolence }}
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Category:British computer programmers