Scientists Develop 'Nanoworms' To Target Tumors

Scientists at UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and MIT have developed nanometer-sized “nanoworms” that can cruise through the bloodstream without significant interference from the body’s immune defense system and—like tiny anti-cancer missiles—home in on tumors.

Their discovery, detailed in this week’s issue of the journal Advanced Materials, is reminiscent of the 1966 science fiction movie, the Fantastic Voyage, in which a submarine is shrunken to microscopic dimensions, then injected into the bloodstream to remove a blood clot from a diplomat’s brain.

Using nanoworms, doctors should eventually be able to target and reveal the location of developing tumors that are too small to detect by conventional methods. Carrying payloads targeted to specific features on tumors, these microscopic vehicles could also one day provide the means to more effectively deliver toxic anti-cancer drugs to these tumors in high concentrations without negatively impacting other parts of the body.

“Most nanoparticles are recognized by the body's protective mechanisms, which capture and remove them from the bloodstream within a few minutes,” said Michael Sailor, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC San Diego who headed the research team. “The reason these worms work so well is due to a combination of their shape and to a polymer coating on their surfaces that allows the nanoworms to evade these natural elimination processes. As a result, our nanoworms can circulate in the body of a mouse for many hours.”

“When attached to drugs, these nanoworms could offer physicians the ability to increase the efficacy of drugs by allowing them to deliver them directly to the tumors,” said Sangeeta Bhatia, a physician, bioengineer and a professor of Health Sciences and Technology at MIT who was part of the team. “They could decrease the side effects of toxic anti-cancer drugs by limiting their exposure of normal tissues and provide a better diagnosis of tumors and abnormal lymph nodes.”

The scientists constructed their nanoworms from spherical iron oxide nanoparticles that join together, like segments of an earthworm, to produce tiny gummy worm-like structures about 30 nanometers long—or about 3 million times smaller than an earthworm. Their iron-oxide composition allows the nanoworms to show up brightly in diagnostic devices, specifically the MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, machines that are used to find tumors.

“The iron oxide used in the nanoworms has a property of superparamagnetism, which makes them show up very brightly in MRI,” said Sailor. “The magnetism of the individual iron oxide segments, typically eight per nanoworm, combine to provide a much larger signal than can be observed if the segments are separated. This translates to a better ability to see smaller tumors, hopefully enabling physicians to make their diagnosis of cancer at earlier stages of development.”

In addition to the polymer coating, which is derived from the biopolymer dextran, the scientists coated their nanoworms with a tumor-specific targeting molecule, a peptide called F3, developed in the laboratory of Erkki Ruoslahti, a cell biologist and professor at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research at UC Santa Barbara. This peptide allows the nanoworms to target and home in on tumors.

“Because of its elongated shape, the nanoworm can carry many F3 molecules that can simultaneously bind to the tumor surface,” said Sailor. “And this cooperative effect significantly improves the ability of the nanoworm to attach to a tumor.”

The scientists were able to verify in their experiments that their nanoworms homed in on tumor sites by injecting them into the bloodstream of mice with tumors and following the aggregation of the nanoworms on the tumors. They found that the nanoworms, unlike the spherical nanoparticles of similar size that were shuttled out of the blood by the immune system, remained in the bloodstream for hours.

“This is an important property because the longer these nanoworms can stay in the bloodstream, the more chances they have to hit their targets, the tumors,” said Ji-Ho Park, a UC San Diego graduate student in materials science and engineering working in Sailor’s laboratory.

Park was the motivating force behind the discovery when he found by accident that the gummy worm aggregates of nanoparticles stayed for hours in the bloodstream despite their relatively large size.

While it’s not clear yet to the researchers why, Park notes that “the nanoworm’s flexibly moving, one dimensional structure may be one the reasons for its long life in the bloodstream.”

The researchers are now working on developing ways to attach drugs to the nanoworms and chemically treating their exteriors with specific chemical “zip codes,” that will allow them to be delivered to specific tumors, organs and other sites in the body.

“We are now using nanoworms to construct the next generation of smart tumor-targeting nanodevices,” said Ruoslahti. We hope that these devices will improve the diagnostic imaging of cancer and allow pinpoint targeting of treatments into cancerous tumors.”

Other researchers involved in the development were Michael Schwartz of UC San Diego, Geoffrey von Maltzahn of MIT, and Lianglin Zhang of UC Santa Barbara. The project was funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Nanoworms Target Cancer Tumors
Nanoworms Target Cancer Tumors

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Worst / Funniest TV Commercial EVER!

'Frankie & Johnnie's Furniture' commercial - bad TV commercials have been a sort of a tradition in the New Orleans area. 'Seafood City' commercials are notorious for bad acting and ridiculous dialogue. Enjoy!

Frankie Johnnie's Furniture Commercial
Frankie Johnnie's Furniture Commercial

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UFO Events In Wisconsin Dells Area

Accounts of bright moving lights in the sky and even alien abduction have been reported from the Dells area, and UFO reports can be found on a Web site and in a new book.

The site, www.ufowisconsin.com/ lists reports of the sightings from across Wisconsin including in the Dells area and in other nearby towns such as Baraboo, Portage, Oxford, Lyndon Station. The Web site and the book, "UFO Wisconsin: A Progress Report" are the work of paranormal researcher Noah Voss of Sun Prairie.

Voss has been trying to collect reports, identify and explain UFOs for more than a decade. His interest in the subject started as a child. He said in a phone interview that as far back as when he was in grade school, he would write reports about UFOs and Big Foot. "I've always been enthralled with mysteries," he said and as he got older he went to space camp and then conferences on the paranormal.

These days, he's a speaker at conferences on the unusual such as a recent one in Madison. He will also be a speaker at four or five more conferences this year, plus appearing on radio shows and at book signings around the state.

Voss is also ready to check out UFO reports, although he concedes those that report a bright light in the sky are the most difficult to verify even while they are the most typical. "There's not a lot of data to cross reference," he said referring to reports of lights in the sky such as one in December 2007 from people in Oxford. In that report, the family reported seeing a "single, large, bright, golden light" that disappeared and then five such lights appeared. Another in December 2004 from a Wisconsin Dells person describes a solid red light in the sky that turned strobe light.

Voss doesn't believe all the lights in the sky reported are alien spacecraft. "It truly means unidentified objects, not aliens." The lights could be ball lightening, flare drops, a hot air balloon, military exercises or other "common or mundane explanations."

One Lake Delton family in April 2001 reported on the Web site seeing a balloon-like object floating in their home and lights outside. The report goes on to say the family was abducted and examined by aliens. The man claims to have an implant from the aliens and having been abducted before as a child.

Most reports are just of lights in the sky. Some lights in the sky are verified. Voss said one of the 100 reports in the book is of lights seen by both a private pilot and the pilots in a major airline. The pilots described the lights in different ways and thought it might be a search light, except it seemed to bounce around the plane and moved quickly closer than further away. That light showed up on radar and it wasn't any known aircraft, Voss said. The pilots spotted it southeast of Madison and watched it for some time, before it turned north. It could have continued into the Dells area.

Sometimes lights can be verified through checks of flight data and other information, Voss said. "I'm not able to check each one."

The reports on the Web site are self-reported and anyone can make a report. Most do not include a full name, but only the location and date.

When a UFO supposedly lands than Voss said, it can be checked with scientific equipment such as radiation detectors or physical evidence may be left behind.

UFO Events Wisconsin Dells
UFO Events Wisconsin Dells

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Search For Illusive Mande Burung Continues

The story of an apelike creature’s existence in remote villages of Garo Hills in Meghalaya continues as a local non profit organisation – Achik Tourism Society (ATS) – making an effort for the last decade to ascertain whether an ape popularly known as Mande Burung is found in the deep dark jungle of Garo Hills. Here’s a report by Saidul Khan on this interesting and amazing story. Is it a myth or a reality?

In search for an illusive creature, a group of young enthusiasts travel into the deep dark jungles of Garo Hills in Meghalaya. The group usually makes a visit on information received from local people on the sighting of this mammal – Mande Burung assumed to be an ape like termed as Yeti, sighted in Himalayan region of Nepal. Those who have seen this ape like mammal have interesting stories to reveal. It is reported by the villagers that on one occasion, a man who was passing through a forest was captured by this mammal and forcibly made him do breast feeding. This was reported on January 18, 1999. His account said, “The milk was sour with a mixture of bitterness.”

On July 2005, a lady, who was sleeping with her child, heard of peculiar scratching sounds outside her thatched hut sometime at night. Later, a big hairy creature entered her house. Terrified but remained calm, she saw the creature in the full light of the firewood, which was kept burning at her house. The creature after sometime just stamp out the fire and disappeared into darkness, the lady was not harmed in any way, she revealed.

The story of Mande Burung is a tale or a reality, fact yet to be ascertained. But then from where the scratch mark and footprints come, research continues. The government of Meghalaya after 1997 sightings ordered probe, report is yet to be made available. The Achik Tourism Society wonders whether government was serious to take this matter.

The recent sightings of this mammal were in April 2007 in Durabanda village of Garo Hills. Eye witness says that two adults with two young ones were seen. Another eyewitness said a female Mande Burung chased away a human in the same village. It was also sighted in Chokpot, who was in search for crabs in a nearby stream.

The Achik Tourism Society, which has been in search for this, came out with some evidences on the survival of this mammal, if it really exists at all. They have collected some samples of hair recently, which is the only biological evidence they have, other than some imprints, footprints and scratch marks on tree trunks. The hair has been sent for deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA) and forensic test. This will throw some light on if at all the hair is of that ’Unidentified Giant Creature’.

The ATS has also come up with very comprehensive report and descriptions of Mande Burung or the so-called Bigfoot. It is big, apelike creature with thick hair covering its entire body. The colour of the hair is reported to be black or blackish brown. It has some kind of foul odour/smell emanating from the body. It has a footprint/pug mark size from 13 inches to 15 inches in length. It may be around 7’5" to 9’ tall. It may weigh around 300 kgs. It is noted to be herbivorous creature, who eats banana, tubes, tree roots, fruits, berries, barks of some trees, sawe trees and is also reported to eat crabs. It walks on two legs (biped). (As reported in 2002 sighting). It sleeps in the nest built on the open ground (as reported in 2002 sighting). It is shy and is basically harmless (as reported in 2005 sighting). It is a creature with phenomenal strength.

There has been many incidents reported on this illusive creature. The 1997 sightings in Silkigre village, near Chokpot is of immense importance. It is said that some village women folk’s who went to the jungle to gather firewood’s have claimed to have seen a hairy giant near the stream.

This news then had spread like wildfire in the jungle, this time because the villagers refused to go to their field for cultivation due to fear psychosis, which gripped the entire village tightly. The forest officials from Baghmara visited the spot and investigated the claim, report yet to be made available.

Search For Illusive Mande Burung Continues
Search For Illusive Mande Burung Continues

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Strange, Secret Places On Google Earth

Compilation video of unusual formations and places found on Google Earth.

Strange Secret Places Google Earth
Strange Secret Places Google Earth

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Florida Teacher Fired For Wizardry After Performing Magic Trick

The stories in the news about inappropriate relationships between teachers and students have been overwhelming. There was even a substitute teacher in New Port Richey who got in trouble after investigators say she had a relationship with an underage student.

Well, another Pasco County substitute teacher's job is on the line, but this time it's because of a magic trick.

The charge from the school district — Wizardry!

Substitute teacher Jim Piculas does a 30-second magic trick where a toothpick disappears then reappears.

But after performing it in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land 'O Lakes, Piculas said his job did a disappearing act of its own.

"I get a call the middle of the day from the supervisor of substitute teachers. He says, 'Jim, we have a huge issue. You can't take any more assignments. You need to come in right away,'" he said.

When Piculas went in, he learned his little magic trick cast a spell that went much farther than he'd hoped.

"I said, 'Well Pat, can you explain this to me?' 'You've been accused of wizardry,' [he said]. Wizardry?" he asked.

Tampa Bay's 10 talked to the assistant superintendent with the Pasco County School District who said it wasn't just the wizardry and that Picular had other performance issues, including "not following lesson plans" and allowing students to play on unapproved computers.

Piculas said he knew nothing about the accusations.

"That... I think was embellished after the fact to try to cover what initially what they were saying to me," he said.

After the magic trick, Rushe's principal requested Piculas be dismissed. Now, Piculas believes the incident may have bewitched his ability to get a job anywhere else.

"I still have no idea what my discipline involves because I've never received anything from the school district actually saying what it entails," said Piculas.

As a substitute teacher, the Pasco County School District considers Piculas to be an "at will employee." That means the district doesn't need to have cause for not bringing him back at all.

Florida Teacher Fired Wizardry
Florida Teacher Fired Wizardry

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Japanese 'Live Lobster Catcher' Arcade Game

Remember those coin-operated “claw” games in the 80’s, where you could snag some fuzzy dice if you moved the robot hand with enough skill?

Well the Japanese arcades have a weirder, more sophisticated version. Having long moved on from useless stuffed animal prizes, the clientèle are hungry for something more interesting and substantial… like a delicious live lobster!

This “Sub Marine Catcher” arcade game, photographed in Osaka’s trendy Namba district, allows Japanese gamers to try their hand at catching live lobsters. It takes some skill, because lobsters are wary of being grabbed by an electric claw and they dash away.

If you do manage to snag one, you’ll really impress your date - and the arcade manager will give you a plastic baggie to take it home for a nice romantic dinner. Or, at the very least, your junior high school friends will think you’re cool.

Japanese Live Lobster Arcade Game
Japanese Live Lobster Arcade Game

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Chupacabras Killing Dogs In Argentina

A dog was found dead with a puncture mark in its throat and completely drained of blood in the Argentinean city of Rosario. No signs of a struggle were evident, nor were bloodstains found on the ground. The animal shared a terrace with another dog that did not suffer any violence whatsoever.

This incident likely took place in the early morning hours of Thursday. Daniel Angel R., a resident of the Echesortu district of Rosario, heard some barking from the terrace on which he kept his dogs, but paid no attention to it, since there was nothing unusual about the situation.

According to information provided by the local newspaper "La Capital", the owner of the property went up to the terrace areound noon, finding one of his dogs dead under a grill. Upon examining the body, Daniel R. did not find any other signs of violence beyond a deep, clean wound in the neck area which allowed him to see the animal's bones. No signs of a struggle were evident in the area, not even a drop of blood on the ground.

The frightened man took the carcass to the city's 6th Sheriff's Office, where he filed the corresponding police report. The dog's lifeless body was taken to the Instituto Medico Legal, where an autopsy shall be performed in order to establish the cause of death.

Chupacabras Killing Dogs Argentina
Chupacabras Killing Dogs Argentina

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The 'Sissy Breeze' Ghost Photo

This ghost picture, taken by the late Robert D. Walsh at a mill in the United States, was published in 1929. The lady appears to be looking downward, as she descends. It is an incredible photograph and story:

"(The) photo is what was published local in 1929. Far as I know, it made no big impact at that time. I now reside in the UK and just really needed to let you have this. Personally, I think it is genuine and probably one of the best I have ever seen for existence of life after death. (The) picture was taken in what was then called Fanham Wood Mill in early January 1929, by builders aid Robert D. Walsh. Mr. Walsh was renovating the inner staircase and needed a photographic aid to measure timber needed for the project (timber was expensive even then). Mr Walsh did not see anything other than the staircase and timber jointed roof, whilst taking the photograph, and he swears nobody other than himself and his dog were present. However Mr. Walsh did think his dog was being 'different' that afternoon, but he just thought it was because the dog was in a strange place (Note: Mr. Walsh did not say what he meant by referring to 'different.'). Mr. Walsh did renovate said mill several weeks later, and says he did not see or hear anything unusual at all. The
photograph was given to us by Mr. Walsh's great granddaughter who wishes to remain anonymous. Mr. Walsh died in November 1943, having sworn many times to the authenticity of the enclosed photo."

Followup: "The photo is actually better in my opinion than the
picture you have. I do not have a scanner and so a friend took the original
photo's picture with a Fuji camera.

I also have other photos that were taken at the same time, quite possibly on
the same day; but I don't know for certain. These pictures are of mundane
shots of the mill from inside. One of which also shows something 'odd,' but I
cannot make it out. And it is not quite so exciting as the one I have already
sent.

I must be open with you at this point and tell you the reason I am giving you
this picture. I am now getting on in years, and have no family to carry the
name (I never married, nor had children), and I just feel I really owe it to my
history to at least allow the name to go on in some form, or that maybe the
picture will help you with your findings.

When I was a little girl, my older sister (now deceased) always used to tease
me that "Sissy Breeze" would come looking for me if I was naughty. This was
obvious reference to the picture I have sent you. It may be silly - I really do
not know, but that reference is the only descriptive information I have ever
heard with that picture and history in mind.

Needless to say I never saw "Sissy," thank heavens.

The stairwell and staircase in the picture is displaying an expensive rug on
the floor, my fathers great grandfather I believe acquired this through
gambling!!. Anyway I have that actual carpet in my attic now, and it
probably is worth quite a bit."

Sissy Breeze Ghost Photo 1929
Sissy Breeze Ghost Photo 1929

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Killer Ravens!

Like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds', large groups of ravens are flocking together to attack defenceless victims and eat them alive.

Throughout the country, farmers have reported a rise in the number of calves, lambs, and sheep pecked to death. Animals not killed have been left in agony as the birds eat their eyes, tongues and the soft flesh of their underbelly.

Farmers are demanding the right to destroy the protected birds, but the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says it does not see any need for a change to legislation.

The birds - which have acquired mythical status over the centuries, with six being kept at the Tower of London with their wings clipped in case they leave and the kingdom falls - were almost exterminated in many areas during the 19th century. But in the past 20 years they have made a comeback, with colonies as far afield as Inverness, Devon and East Sussex.

'Raven attacks have become a huge problem across a wide area of the country,' said Johnny Hall, head of rural policy for the National Farmers Union of Scotland, which has been hardest hit. 'It's not just an issue with them taking lambs. We have substantial evidence of them attacking adult sheep and calves too. The attacks are so horrific that it's causing mental suffering to people who find the animals.'

Farmers in west Wales also say sheep have fallen prey to the growing raven population. 'The attacks on livestock are becoming a problem, but there's not a lot we can do about it,' said a spokesman for NFU Cymru.

Killer Ravens United Kingdom
Killer Ravens United Kingdom

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The 'City In The Sky' UFO Video

The 'City In The Sky' video made on October 14, 2004 and narrated by Rich Giordano.

City In The Sky UFO Video
City In The Sky UFO Video

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Video: Kurdistan UFO / OVNI

Video was made in January 2008 in the mountains of Kurdistan.

Video Kurdistan UFO OVNI
Video Kurdistan UFO OVNI

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Paranormal Investigation at Cox's Mill Hotel

Ghostbusters are being called to a haunted hotel in Cheddar to find out if guests from the afterlife are 'checking in'.

Managers at Cox's Mill in The Cliffs have called on Ghost Hunters South West to investigate the ghostly goings on which have been reported by staff, locals and guests.

Manager Marz Harvey said: "I took over the job about nine months ago and everyone said the pub has a ghost and stories about hauntings.

"I didn't really pay much attention as every old building supposedly has a ghost, but then guests who couldn't have known what local people were saying started to report the same stories.

"We invited the paranormal group in April and it did a study in the hotel. It said it would have some interesting findings to show us and is putting together a DVD of some of the film footage it shot during their stay."

Some guests have reported a spooky feeling, while others have actually seen or heard something that cannot be explained.

Before Ghost Hunters South West visited the hotel it told its medium Sarah she would be visiting somewhere in Somerset. Straight away she said the words 'cliff' and 'water'.

Marz added: "This used to be called The Cliff Hotel and obviously we are right next to water, so that really impressed me. She knew all that before being told where she was going. That was impressive."

Marz says several members of staff have noticed items have been moved around and his boss has seen a figure of a ghostly lady sitting down in the corner of the bar.

When the ghost hunters carried out their investigations on April 11, one of the guests saw them wandering round the hotel and decided to join in. The group is now preparing a report for Marz and his team and will be revisiting Cox's Mill later in the month to carry out another investigation.

Paranormal Investigation Cox's Mill Hotel
Paranormal Investigation Cox;s Mill Hotel

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UFO / OVNI Sighted Over Piura, Peru

Some residents of Piura believe that we are not the only ones in the universe, but sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are no longer strange. A Piuran attorney was terrified when he felt the phenomenon’s murmurs.

PIURA – Those who delight in speaking of aliens may calmly be considered insane. It has even been observed that people have forged alleged proof in an effort to achieve notoriety, or were also part of a psychosocial phenomenon. However, this phenomenon is rampaging in our city. On April 19, a researcher from Proyecto UFO managed to pick upn an object at 11 p.m. , flashing orange and silver lights in the desert between Piura and Paita. Since 1999, the Proyecto, formed by four good friends, decided to look into these sightings. They overcame their fear of the unknown and always organize vigils for sightings. They are convinced of an alien presence during the last Aerosport Festival organized by the Peruvian Air Force (FAP). There are hundreds of videos circulating on YouTube, where we find a news report from the defunct “Hechos” publication, reporting a sighting at the Los Cocos urbanization on February 8, 1994. Is there any truth to all this? Now, attorney Luis Vazquez Coronel offers us an astonishing story, “Cerro Pilan, a UFO highway”. Terrifying.. Vazquez Coronel, who also teaches English at a renowned school, was nearly indifferent to the UFO phenomenon. When he heard Anthony Choy, former head of the Oficina de Investigacion de Fenomenons Aeroanormales (OIFA), a dependency of the FAP itself, discuss sightings in Chulucanas, he was overcome by curiosity.

To date, Vazquez Coronel has made 16 trips and is terrified by each experience. He neither makes conjectures nor indulges in guesswork – he only tells the truth as he knows it. His close encounter of the first kind occurred in July 2007. He discusses that hapless trip in his book: in the company of two friends from Piura and two other locals, he came across a weird light in the village of Palo Blanco.

“A star that made an abnormal movement,” as he describes it. Fear gripped their bodies, because this light was chasing them. Beating naysayers to the punch, Vazquez Coronel writes: “They say that these red and turquoise lights are seen around the mines, and it can’t be true, because [they] follow a definite trajectory.”

He had two unusual experiences in subsequent trips. He was able to see a vessel irradiating “luminous triangles” in the blink of an eye over Cerro Pilan. “It was shaped like a hanging parachute,” he explains. All of this is recorded in photo and video formats. The adventurers ascended the summit of Cerro Horquetudo in 10 minutes and also noted the presence of lights. Hearing echoes [in the darkness] froze their blood colder than the North Pole. It is for this reason, they say, the very few dare the ascent, out of a fear that the peak will bewitch them. “People would opine that this is insane,” we argue, and he replies: “People feel very comfortable with reality, with what they know.” Some prophets claim that the increase in sightings heralds something, but Vazquez Coronel’s testimony concludes by saying that the only thing palpable is fear.

UFO OVNI Sighted Over Piura Peru
UFO OVNI Sighted Over Piura Peru

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Flying Humanoids Reported Over Mexico...Again!

Once again, there are more reports of flying humanoids or 'witches' in Mexico

From 7/4/07 - Testimony from dozens of persons and police officers depict seeing what appear to be witches flying through the skies of remote Mexican towns. Several people videotaped the strange phenomenon. The creatures appear to infest the skies over an old cemetery.

Flying Humanoids Reported Over Mexico Again
Flying Humanoids Reported Over Mexico Again

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Philadelphia / New Jersey Funeral Directors Sold Illegal Body Parts

Families who claim the corpses of more than 1,000 relatives were dismembered and sold in an illegal body-parts scandal sued funeral directors and others on Tuesday.

The class action suit represents hundreds of people who claim their relatives' body parts were harvested for medical use without their consent.

It charges seven individuals, and the funeral homes and human tissue services with which they worked, with conspiracy, negligence and the intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The seven were indicted by a grand jury last September and accused of harvesting bones, skin and tendons in unsanitary conditions, and selling them to hospitals with the risk that they could infect patients who received them.

The defendants allegedly made $3.8 million from sale of body parts obtained in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey between February 2004 and September 2005 in an operation that was "ghoulish, greedy, dangerous and criminal," the grand jury's report said.

In all, the scheme took tissue from 1,007 bodies, including 244 from Philadelphia funeral homes.

The suit, filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common pleas, alleges that after removing parts from the corpses, the accused replaced harvested bone and tissue with foreign objects such as PVC piping "so that bodies would still appear normal for their pending visitations, funerals, or post-mortem proceedings."

The defendants also falsified medical documents in order to take the body parts, including one claiming that the wife of a deceased man had given permission for his tissues to be harvested. The man, James Bonner, had never been married to the woman named in the document, the suit says.

"We must hold the responsible parties and their accomplices accountable," Larry Cohan, an attorney representing the families, said in a statement. "These families have experienced terrible suffering -- they deserve to know the truth and get on with their lives."

Plaintiffs' attorneys are also representing the families of "hundreds" of people who received body parts harvested in the operation.

Named in the suit are Michael Mastromarino, Christopher Aldorasi, Lee Cruceta, Kevin Vickers, Gerald Garzone, his brother Louis Garzone and James McCafferty.

Five of the accused face criminal charges at a trial scheduled to begin on September 2.

Funeral Directors Sold Body Parts
Funeral Directors Sold Body Parts

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Tourism Bureau Offering Reward For Proof of Lake Pepin Monster

For some, Lake Pepin in Lake City is known as a great spot to reel in that big one, or for it's beautiful scenery many enjoy while sailboating.

But there's something else, something that isn't as obvious to the naked eye.

It might be considered a mystery for those of us who don't live there, but ask any local and they'll swear it's real.

Nestled about 40 miles northeast of Rochester is the largest lake on the Mississippi River.

Lake Pepin is home to sailboats and anglers, but a creature of a different kind has been spotted amongst the waves.

Steven Raymond, lives in Lake City says, "I said slow down, and when I turned around and looked again, the log went under water."

Steven Raymond knows the people of Lake City, but he has no idea what he saw when fishing on Lake Pepin.

Steven says, "What we had seen was three distinct humps and one of the humps looked like a face sticking out of the water; just before he slowed the boat down, I took a picture."

That was three years ago and Steven says he can't find the picture.

Even so, a snapshot just won't cut it.

Larry Neilson, Lake City Tourism Bureau says, "That's why say you have to have some sort of DNA sample to go along with it, but we don't anyone to harm Peppie because he's obviously a shy and elusive creature and hasn't harmed anybody else and we don't want people harming him."

According to the Minnesota Historical Society, he was first sighted by a fishermen back in 1871.

The city tourist expert isn't arguing.

Larry says, "If the state historical society says it happened, it must have happened."

Steven says, "We developed the picture and I said, that looks like a sea monster!"

Not monster, but a creature called Peppie, living 80-feet below the waves, with humps, fins, and very shy.

Steven says, "Does anyone have a picture of a sea monster and I'm going, wait a minute, I do, and it's real!"

People like Steve don't need convincing.

They already believe in what others simply call a legend.

To discover exactly what these local sightings are, the Lake City Tourism Bureau has offered a $50,000 dollar reward for "undisputable photographic and scientific evidence" of the creature known as Peppie.

Reward Proof Lake Pepin Monster
Reward Proof Lake Pepin Monster

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Cougar Kills Livestock in El Canuelo, Spain

The La Cala cougar is clearly not scared of travelling for a meal.

The celebrated wild cat that was first spotted in La Cala a year ago has apparently turned up in Campillos.

As reported by the Olive Press, he has been SLOWLY moving inland, and now the “panther-like” feline has been accused of killing over a dozen Iberican pigs in a hilly area, known as El Canuelo.

The pig farmer told the Olive Press that the animal had been seen by a number of his staff.

“He’s black with shiny hair and is very agile and moves quickly,” explained Ramon Garcia Valdecasas, adding that in the same attack he had also injured nine other animals.

“They were very significantly injured, with huge gashes to skin,” he said.

The farmer, who has over 300 of the so-called ‘Pato Negra’ pigs on his farm, has denounced the attack to the Guardia Civil.

He revealed how a couple of his employees had seen the animal a week after the incident in early April. “But it fled after they shouted at it,” he said.

He has now applied to Campillos town hall to shoot the animal. “It is very dangerous to have a large wild cat like this roaming around.”

Seprona, the Guardia Civil’s wildlife arm, insist the attack was more likely to have been by a pack of wild dogs.

The theory is based on the fact that the animals were killed without being eaten, a classic sign of an attack by dogs.

The town hall has also been taking the attack seriously.

Mayor Jesus Galeote organised a hunt with a number of councillors some days after the attack.

As we reported in the Olive Press, he was last spotted with a mate in the hills near Monda.

Stable owner Malcolm Platt said: “There were two of them and they were four or five times larger than a normal cat.”

He had previously been seen above Alhaurin in October and before that a number of readers told us he had been seen in the Majadilla del Muerto estate above La Cala and further along near Mijas.

British oil worker Gary Jacks told us how he had seen the cat three times near his home at the foot of the Sierra Gorda near Alhaurin.

“He was big and very scary. bigger than our Great Dane with a long black tail.”

Cougar Kills Livestock El Canuelo Spain
Cougar Kills Livestock El Canuelo Spain

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Colossal Squid Has Largest Known Eyes and Natural 'Cloaking Device'

For starters, the giant species has the world's biggest eyes, as well as light-emitting organs that may serve as cloaking devices, scientists say.

As the 1,091-pound (495-kilogram) female gradually unfolded yesterday, she revealed her two 10.6-inch (27-centimeter) eyes (photo), stunning a team of international experts in a lab at Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand's national museum.

"They are clearly the largest eyes ever recorded from any animal," said biologist Dan-Eric Nilsson, of the University of Lund in Sweden. "About the size of a soccer ball."

The animal is the largest known specimen of a colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni)—and the largest captured squid of any species.

A fishing net had accidentally caught the giant in Antarctica's Ross Sea in February 2007. The squid was kept frozen until the scientific team could be assembled. (See a photo of the squid's capture.)

Nilsson, a specialist in animal eyes, said measurements of the squid's pupils would reveal more about the sensitivity of squid eyes.

"That will tell us everything we need to know about how much light they can actually pick up down there. But the massive size indicates the animal is very visual."

One of the eyes was found to be damaged. The team will use only nondestructive methods to examine the other eye, as the creature is destined for permanent display in the Wellington, New Zealand, museum.

"Absolutely Phenomenal"

"[The eyes] are absolutely phenomenal," said biologist Steve O'Shea of the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand.

"And underneath those eyes … around the outside, are two rows of beautiful bioluminescent [light emitting] organs."

The small dots of light generated by these organs are all the squid's prey would be able to see of the giant, O'Shea said. Colossal squid are thought to hunt in total darkness at a depth of about 3,300 feet (1,000 meters).

"The prey might well look at [the squid] and think, Well, I can't be bothered with those two tiny little specks of light. And all of a sudden this great big thing lunges in and latches on to it with vicious hooks" (photo of tentacles with swiveling hooks).

The light from the glowing organs, or photophores, might also help conceal squid as they venture near the surface, O'Shea said.

"The body of the animal is translucent, [but] these very large eyes are anything but translucent.

"If you are a predator approaching from below, you've got two silhouettes of the eyes. So those rows of photophores then beam down light of an equivalent intensity to that from above, so the eyes are rendered invisible." O'Shea said.

"It's a very successful cloaking device."

The squid likely eats prey that also glow—potentially a big problem, given the animal's somewhat see-through belly.

"You don't want to fill your stomach up with things that are glowing, because you're sending out a bright signal to all your predators."

However, evolution may have solved that problem.

The inner lining of the squid's mantle—the large covering just above the head (photo of squid's full body)—is filled with dense, dark red pigment, which would block any light from within, O'Shea said.

Colossal Calamari

The size of the squid's beak (photo)—estimated at between 1.6 and 1.7 inches (43 and 45 millimeters)—suggests the giant was not fully grown, O'Shea said.

"We know from beaks recovered from the stomachs of sperm whales that squid grow considerably larger. So although [the new specimen is] very large, it's certainly not the maximum size."

When fully unfolded, the animal is predicted to measure 26.2 feet (8 meters) long.

Though the giant specimen is being handled with kid gloves, squid specialist Tsunemi Kubodera admitted the team had snacked on a smaller colossal squid used in a practice run for the project.

"It's edible, but the texture and smell … [the flesh] contains ammonia, so it's nearly the same taste as giant squid, but it's much more muscular—tougher," said Kubodera of Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science.

"It tastes very bitter," he declared. "Not so good for humans, but sperm whales like the taste very much."

Eric Warrant of Lund University studies deep-sea animals that thrive in darkness.

He said that, as the fishing continues to increase around Antarctica, it is possible more colossal squid will be caught unintentionally.

"It's too early to say whether fishing techniques … are going to impact on the populations of these squid, Warrant said.

"But if it turns out that we get more and more of these squid being caught, I think that would be the time to make a [conservation] policy about them."

Colossal Squid Largest Eyes Cloaking Device
Colossal Squid Largest Eyes Cloaking Device

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Iron Man: The Science Behind the Fiction

A couple of things make Iron Man different to your regular comic-book superhero movie.

First, there is the hero himself, Tony Stark, a scientific genius who for once is not the timid or bespectacled geek we are used to in Hollywood, but is charismatic, confident, and a hit with the ladies.

Stark is played by Robert Downey Jr, and we think he deserves to go in any list of the top 10 coolest fictional scientists

But it is the technology that Stark uses to turn himself into Iron Man that gets us going. The tech in the movie is probably more firmly rooted in reality than you might think – unless, that is, you are a regular New Scientist reader.

We have spotted at least five classes of tech in the movie that we have written about before. So, for those keen to find more about the real science behind the fictional Iron Man, read on…

Superhero skin

Stark is a brilliant engineer who has made billions from building weapons. Kidnapped in Afghanistan, he questions his life, and resolves to put his genius to better use: to protecting rather than destroying. To that end, he builds himself a suit of armour that gives him superhuman powers. Watch a short excerpt from the film showing the suit's capabilities

No such suit exists – yet. The leg sections of a wearable exoskeleton have been built, however.

This contraption does not yet give the wearer added strength, but it does make the backpack they are carrying feel lighter, by transferring its weight to the ground. This can makes a 36-kilogram (79-pound) load feel about 80% lighter. Other teams are building similar suits, and a Japanese company plans to sell one later this year.

Flying machines

Of course, the coolest thing about Stark's suit is not its strength but its ability to fly. In the film, Stark zooms to Afghanistan, just in the nick of time to stop warlords killing a group of poor villagers.

It couldn't reach Afghanistan, perhaps, but SoloTrek was a flying exoskeleton that was apparently capable of travelling more than 200 kilometres. (The project shut down after a crash in 2002.)

Danger and possible financial ruin hasn't put everyone off. UK inventor and pilot Stuart Ross reckons his Rocketbelt packs enough power to lift him 2500 metres in the air and plans to test fly the latest model this year.

Friendly bots

In the movie, Stark has a friendly robot to help him build his armour. It looks too clever to be true, but in fact it is highly reminiscent of AUR. Built last year by MIT scientists, AUR is a robotic desk lamp that calculates where you are looking and moves its flexible neck to shine light on that spot.

And while Stark's robotic helper doesn't always correctly guess what he wants, as real-world software grows evermore sophisticated, it too is making the same mistakes humans do.

In the great tradition of robots in movies, Stark forms emotional bonds with his. At one point, his assistant Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) catches him in what looks like a compromising position with his robots ("Let's face it, this isn't the worst thing you've walked in on me doing," says Stark).

Will humans and robots ever have relationships like this? It's certainly something NASA is trying to figure out. Should robots be better tools or better teammates?

Owners of the robotic vacuum cleaner Roomba seem to think the latter, treating the machine more like part of the family than a tool.

Cunning computing

Moving from robots to software, when Pepper sees a video clip sent by terrorists who have captured Stark, she uses nifty real-time translation program to understand their demands.

The most fashionable way for software right now to learn how to translate is for it to scan through thousands of previously translated documents. But the approach doesn't always work, with sometimes unfortunate results.

This is just some of the tech used in Iron Man that is rooted in reality. Others include a 3D tactile interface that Stark uses to design his armour, targeting software that homes in on human heads, and the problem of ice formation when flying.

For the scoop on technology that will no doubt feature in the sequel to Iron Man – you know where to look.

Iron Man Science Behind Fiction
Iron Man Science Behind Fiction

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Crocodile Spotted in Welsh Lake

Fisherman Steve Jenkins, 38, was walking his dog on the bank when he spotted what he thought was a log swim away.

He said he realised it was a crocodile and called the police.

Police officers and RSPCA inspectors visited the scene but could not find the reptile.

Mr Jenkins said: “People think I was seeing things but it was definitely a crocodile, about a metre in length with a long tail.

“I’ve been ribbed mercilessly since I reported it to the police - people whistle the tune of Crocodile Shoes when they see me.

“But I don’t care what people think, I know what I saw.”

Mr Jenkins was walking his dog along the bank of six acre, 20ft-deep Pluck Lake in Swansea, Wales, at around 11.40am on Sunday.

He was looking at a white van submerged in the water when he saw what he thought was a log begin moving by using its tail.

He walked closer and saw what he thought was a 3ft long reptile.

Mr Jenkins dialled the emergency services and reported the creature but two officers from South Wales Police visited the scene and could find no trace of it.

RSPCA inspectors have also visited the pool but found nothing.

Expert Paul Brain, professor of natural history at Swansea University, said it was possible for crocodiles to survive in British waters.

He said: “The crocodile would simply slow down or even shut down for a while during cold weather then spring back to life when the water gets warmer.

“There are a lot of exotic pets out there and this could be one which outgrew its tank and the lake may have been a suitable place to dump it.”

Inspector Emma Tyler, of South Wales Police, said there had been no further reports of the crocodile and no further action was expected at this stage.

She said: “We are not planning to do anything else.”

Crocodile Wales
Crocodile Wales

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Squeeze Boobs, Buy Game

In Japan, business is war.

And nowhere is this truer than in the gaming industry where every game developer tries to outsmart (and thereby, also outsell) the next rival, by coming up with innovative ways of doing business.

So the creators of the PC-based game Married Women Harem: This is the Married Women Paradise Inn, came up with an unusual ad strategy to draw customers—through boobs (genuinely-fake ones).

If you go up to the fifth floor of the recently-opened megastore (September 2007) of the Japanese electronics retailer, Sofmap, in the heart of the Akihabara shopping district, you’ll be greeted with not the regular pile of fliers and brochures, but life-sized cardboard cutouts fitted with ginormous silicone-boobs draped in sexy lingerie.

And what’s more, they’re meant to be fondled.

That’s right.

A large sign that reads, “Squeeze All You Want,” actually tells a buyer that’s it quite all right, to cop a feel.

What could happen next is that you may want to fill out that (pre) order form, before you exit the store.

Squeeze Boobs Japanese Game Retailers
Squeeze Boobs Japanese Game Retailers

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Videos: Top 10 UFO Sightings in Japan

TOP 10 Japanese UFO Footage Part 1

Japanese top 10 UFO Footage Part Two

Videos Top 10 UFO Sightings Japan
Videos Top 10 UFO Sightings Japan

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UFO / OVNI Video: Saltcoats, North Ayrshire, Scotland

Phone video taken of an UFO / OVNI over Saltcoats, North Ayrshire, Scotland.

UFO OVNI Saltcoats Scotland
UFO OVNI Saltcoats Scotland

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Half Man, Half Chimp: Future Reality?

A leading scientist has warned a new species of "humanzee," created from breeding apes with humans, could become a reality unless the government acts to stop scientists experimenting.

In an interview with The Scotsman, Dr Calum MacKellar, director of research at the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, warned the controversial draft Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill did not prevent human sperm being inseminated into animals.

He said if a female chimpanzee was inseminated with human sperm the two species would be closely enough related that a hybrid could be born.

He said scientists could possibly try to develop the new species to fill the demand for organ donors.

Leading scientists say there is no reason why the two species could not breed, although they question why anyone would want to try such a technique.

Other hybrid species already created include crossed tigers and lions and sheep and goats.

Dr MacKellar said he feared the consequences if scientists made a concerted effort to cross humans with chimpanzees. He said: "Nobody knows what they would get if they tried hard enough. The insemination of animals with human sperm should be prohibited.

"The Human Fertilisation and Embryo Bill prohibits the placement of animal sperm into a woman The reverse is not prohibited. It's not even mentioned. This should not be the case."

He said if the process was not banned, scientists would be "very likely" to try it, and it would be likely humans and chimps could successfully reproduce.

"If you put human sperm into a frog it would probably create an embryo, but it probably wouldn't go very far," he said.

"But if you do it with a non-human primate it's not beyond the realms of possibility that it could be born alive."

Dr MacKellar said the resulting creature could raise ethical dilemmas, such as whether it would be treated as human or animal, and what rights it would have.

"If it was never able to be self-aware or self-conscious it would probably be considered an animal," he said. "However, if there was a possibility of humanzees developing a conscience, you have a far more difficult dilemma on your hands."

He said fascination would be enough of a motive for scientists to try crossing the two species.

But he also said there was a small chance of scientists using the method to "humanise" organs for transplant into humans. "There's a desperate need for organs. One of the solutions that has been looked at is using animal organs, but because there's a very serious risk of rejection using animal organs in humans they are already trying to humanise these organs.

"If they could create these humanzees who are substantially human but are not considered as humans in law , we could have a large provision of organs."

He wrote to the Department of Health to ask that the gap in the draft legislation be addressed.

The department confirmed that the bill "does not cover the artificial insemination of an animal with human sperm".

It said: "Owing to the significant differences between human and animal genomes, they are incompatible and the development of a foetus or progeny is impossible.

"Therefore such activity would have no rational scientific justification, as there would be no measurable outcome."

Dr MacKellar disagrees. He said: "The chromosomal difference between a goat and a sheep is greater than between humans and chimpanzees."

Professor Bob Millar, director of the Medical Research Council Human Reproductive Sciences Unit, based in Edinburgh, agreed viable offspring would be possible. He said: "Donkeys can mate with horses and create infertile offspring; maybe that could happen with chimpanzees."

But he said he would oppose any such attempt. "It's unnecessary and ridiculous and no serious scientist would consider such a thing. Ethically, it's not appropriate.

"It's also completely impractical. Chimps would never be a source of organs for humans because of the viruses they carry and the low numbers."

Professor Hugh McLachlan, professor of applied philosophy at Glasgow Caledonian University's School of Law and Applied Sciences, said although the idea was "troublesome", he could see no ethical objections to the creation of humanzees.

"Any species came to be what it is now because of all sorts of interaction in the past," he said.

"If it turns out in the future there was fertilisation between a human animal and a non-human animal, it's an idea that is troublesome, but in terms of what particular ethical principle is breached it's not clear to me.

"I share their squeamishness and unease, but I'm not sure that unease can be expressed in terms of an ethical principle."

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "It's just not a problem. If you inseminate an animal with human sperm, scientifically nothing happens. The species barriers are too great."

HYBRIDS ARE AT CROSS PURPOSES

EVEN though hybrids of humans and animals have never been created, many other creatures have been crossed successfully.

Lions and tigers have been bred to create ligers, the world's largest cats.

And there are also zorses (zebra and horse), wholphins (whale and dolphin), tigons (tiger and lion), lepjags (leopard and jaguar) and zonkeys (zebra and donkey).

As well as these hybrid mammals, there are also hybrid birds, fish, insects and plants.

Many hybrids, such as mules, are sterile, which prevents the movement of genes from one species to another, keeping both species distinct. However, some can reproduce and there are scientists who believe that grey wolves and coyotes mated thousands of years ago to create a new species, the red wolf.

More commonly, hybrids mate with one of their parent species, which can influence the genetic mix of what gets passed along to subsequent generations.

Hybrids can have desirable traits, often being fitter or larger than either parent.

Most hybrid animals have been bred in captivity, but there are examples of the process occurring in the wild.

This is far more common in plants than animals but in April 2006 a hunter in Canada's North-west Territories shot a polar bear whose fur had an orange tint.

Research showed that it had a grizzly bear father, and it became known as a pizzly.

In 2003, DNA analysis confirmed that five odd-looking felines found in Maine and Minnesota were bobcat-lynx hybrids, dubbed blynxes.

Half Man Half Chimp Future Reality
Half Man Half Chimp Future Reality

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Hillary Clinton Encouraged UFO Declassification By President Clinton

Barack Obama may be coming on like a rock star and the second coming of a JFK in the charisma department, but Hillary Clinton’s arrival at the White House may be destined in the stars.

A new Clinton constituency among truth seekers in Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) may have been uncovered by Canadian researcher Grant Cameron from the Office of Science and Technology Policy, who, via the Freedom of Information Act, gleaned information that Hillary Clinton coaxed her husband while he was president to declassify government documents on UFOs. The information found by Cameron comes from nearly 1,000 pages of correspondence and documents.

It seems that Hillary was under the influence of Laurance Rockefeller in wanting to pry loose information about extraterrestrials.


“In March 1993 billionaire Laurance Rockefeller initiated an extraordinary approach to your husband’s administration via the Office of Science and Technology Policy headed by Dr. John Gibson,” Stephen Bassett, Executive Director of the Paradigm Research Group, wrote yesterday in an open letter to Clinton. “A memorandum from Mr. Rockefeller’s attorney Henry Diamond dated March 29, 1993 conveyed a request to meet with Gibbons “to discuss the potential availability of government information about unidentified flying objects and extraterrestrial life. Rockefeller, a friend and supporter of you and your husband, wanted to meet with the President and inform him “there is a belief in many quarters that the government has long held classified information regarding UFOs which has not been released and that the failure to do so has brought about unnecessary suspicion and distrust”, and that “many believe that the release of such information on a basis consistent with national security would be a significant gesture which would increase confidence in government.”

It was not as though Hillary was kept in the dark about what has become to be known as “the Rockefeller initiative”.
Rockefeller tried to convince Bill Clinton to essentially be the “Disclosure President”.

Had President Clinton listened to Rockefeller, “a then 46-year truth embargo on providing the full facts to the American people regarding an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race” would have been broken.

“You were aware of this initiative from the beginning as was a key advisor to the President, John Podesta,” the New York senator was reminded by Bassett.

“You and your husband met with Rockefeller at his Wyoming ranch in August of 1995. Your husband tasked a close friend, Associate Attorney General Webster Hubbell, to look into the UFO issue at the Department of Justice and elsewhere. He tasked John Podesta, his eventual Chief of Staff, to reform and accelerate the document declassification process. You were kept informed on the ongoing initiative and helped draft a letter from Rockefeller to the President.”

While very little has been heard lately from the Clintons on matters extraterrestrial, Podesta, the founder and now CEO of the Center for American Progress, went on in 2002 and 2003 to call for the release to the public of all UFO and related documents in government files.

“In 2004 Governor Bill Richardson, UN Ambassador and Secretary of Energy during your husband’s administration, made a similar request for documents pertaining to the events in Roswell, New Mexico during July of 1947,” Bassett wrote in his letter.

Additional relevant documents to those unearthed by Cameron are expected to be released soon from the Clinton Presidential Library.

The Paradigm Research Group would like Hillary Clinton to have an even more meaningful milestone in American history other than becoming the first President of the United States who happens to be a woman.

“While this would be an admirable legacy, what the American people need is less legacy and more truth. The people have lost patience with “in loco parentis” government that treats them like children and candidates with long lists of issues they can’t discuss because it is not convenient to their campaign or the people “can’t handle the truth”.

“Because you have been introduced to these matters within the context of the White House, because you aspire to the highest office in the nation, you have an extraordinary opportunity and primary obligation to address what is easily the most profound issue of our time—an issue with major national security and policy implications.”

Scores of people in the United States believe that there is life on other planets.

Moreover, this could be the one unchartered constituency where Barack Obama hasn’t been.

That’s because the only unidentified flying object with which Obama has close up experience is the one called the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

UFO Declassification President Clinton
UFO Declassification President Clinton

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