colombiareports - Colombian authorities confirmed that a "giant fireball" that fell from the sky in the Santander department, central Colombia, was a meteorite.
The Colombian media has been buzzing with eye witness accounts of the fireball, which caused a massive explosion at 3:15PM local time Sunday.
Andina.com reported that Bucaramanga Mayor Fernando Vargas confirmed that the phenomenon was a meteorite that left a crater 100 meters in diameter when it crashed into the earth in the San Joaquin municipality in Santander.
Colombian air force helicopters were commissioned to fly over the area to try to locate the source of the explosion.
The director of the University of Nariño's Astronomic Observatory, Alberto Quijano, told RCN Radio Sunday that he believed the object was a meteorite.
In rural areas of Santander, police received reports that the explosion had shattered windows in the area.
Click for video NOTE: there are a lot of conflicting accounts to this incident...some say the meteorite exploded near the ground and others are saying it collided with the earth and caused a large crater in rural central Colombia. Waiting for more details...Lon
MUFON CMS - North Carolina - 9/4/2010: I was in front yard of my residence doing some weeding. Time around 6:45 p.m. Still daylight though sun was lowering.
-I heard a small aircraft pass over and glanced up and observed a small single prop plane proceeding east, nothing out of ordinary. As it passed out of range a glint of sunlight caught my attention. It was at a rather higher altitude than the small plane which had just passed.
-Initially it seemed to be a large commercial jetliner. Pretty much the shape of a standard fuselage. It shone brilliantly in the sunlight like polished aluminum. It was proceeding westward at a fairly stately pace.
-I didn't think very much of it at first, even returned to my gardening. Then I realized that there was something unusual about this aircraft... it seemed to have no visible wings or stabilizer. I again looked up and sighted it to check out my impressions. Indeed, I was unable to discern any wings or stabilizing structures. No lifting surfaces. Long cigar tubular configuration. It emitted absolutely no sound my hearing could discern. Very brilliant reflective surface. No odd motion... it just proceeded along at a leisurely clip.
Had a vague impression of a row of shapes along the flank not unlike standard passenger aircraft windows. May have been a white glow at rear of craft but no vapor trail.
-I was not particularly emotionally affected during or after this event, only curious and somewhat dubious of my observational skills. However, I have since seen several jumbo jets at even higher altitudes and could still discern their wings and hear them.
-The craft made no dramatic disappearance...simply faded into the distance.
Humanoid Power: A Show of Force in Argentina? By Luis Burgos, Fundación Argentina de Ovnilogía (FAO)
Even as remarks still circulate regarding the astonishing photo of a strange entity in Laguna del Monte (Buenos Aires) taken in March 2010 and which prompted our essay “Los Seres de la Laguna”, a new humanoid event has take place at the very edges of another body of water in Buenos Aires: Vitel Lagoon, less than 70 kilometers distant from Laguna del Monte, in a straight line.
Geographic Location
A little under 150 kilometers south of Capital Federal, along National Route 2 and in the municipality of Chascomús, this body of water has along its shores the well-known Estancia La Horqueta, built as a summer retreat for tourist purposes, covering 7 hectares and with over 70 more hectares of open fields. It was built in 1927 and its current owner, Enrique Pierri, is a great fan of trees and plants, causing it to be surrounded by dozens of different species, among them an 80-year-old Lebanese cedar: the main protagonist of this story.
The Story Begins
June 19, 2009 was anything but a normal day in La Horqueta, as a powerful gust of wind toppled a 20-meter tall Lebanese cedar whose trunk measured over a meter and a half in diameter at its base. It was literally uprooted, constituting a mass weighing two and half tons, including the gigantic piece of earth that was torn out with its collapse. According to witnesses located in the main house, some 100 meters distant, a loud noise was heard when it came crashing. A nearby eucalyptus was also toppled by the wind storm. Over time, its large branches were cut down and lifted by a crane – a device which was unable to make the cedar “stand straight” again, suggesting the need for a “boom-type” machine of greater capacity to undertake the task. Months went by and many tourists took pictures of themselves standing beside the toppled cedar or else on top of it, as a visual souvenir.
Humanoids Appear?
Luis Antonio Pavoni, 36, has been La Horqueta’s caretaker since 2008. He lives there with his family, and after 10:30 p.m. on July 19, 2010, his wife remarked about the insistent barking of the family’s dogs. When he went out to check, he was able to ascertain that they were indeed nervous. Pavoni, jumbo flashlight in hand, noticed that the braver of the animals would not follow him, but rather, only the humblest and kindest dog of the pack joined him in his search. But this dog was barking toward the fallen cedar, some 100 meters away from the house. Pavoni aimed his beam at the location and saw A PAIR OF RED EYES WITH AN EXTERNAL ORANGE HALO (emphasis in the original – SC) some 80 centimeters off the ground and very close to the cedar. Believing that it might be a hare, he went back into the house and grabbed a carbine. When he returned to the original site, he ascertained the presence of TWO ADDITIONAL PAIRS OF EYES BEHIND THE FIRST (emphasis in the original – SC), one beside the other, but somewhat behind the first. He did not notice any silhouettes at all from the three pairs of eyes. Nor did he hear any noises or sounds of any kind whatsoever. Only the barking of his dog, refusing to go near the unknown. After some three minutes, the eyes disappeared and Pavoni returned home.
The Unexplained
Enrique Pierri – the estate’s owner – arrived the next morning, July 20th, and the first thing he asked was: “Who lifted up the cedar?” To which the caretaker replied: “No one.”
Upon visiting the site, the enormous Lebanese cedar now stood upright. Set once more in its place, as though a whole year hadn’t elapsed. And there, without question, is where the mystery begins.
During the “on-site” investigation, we ascertained the existence of three “poles of attraction” or “behavior guidelines”, as our friend Fabio Zerpa calls them: The lagoon, some 120 meters away from the cedar, the ever-present mill, some 100 meters away, and the electric power lines some 70 meters distant from the sight. With these assurances of the “UFO Landing Phenomenon”, we combed the area looking for marks on the ground.
In this order of affairs, we were not surprised when Eduardo Galeano (FAO-Chascomús) detected a strange SEMI-CIRCULAR IMPRINT (emphasis in the original –SC) in an empty field some 120 meters distant from the cedar. It measured 9.60 meters and was almost erased by the passing of time. It had 15 centimeter borders and next to the pluviometer installed on the premises [...] perhaps it was indicating a direct relation to the diminutive entities seen by Pavoni beside the cedar.
Epilogue
We can recall some UFO events in which trees were the main protagonists, such as the famous Ombú tree of the “La Aurora” farm in Uruguay (1976) , but when all is said and done, we are facing an EXTRAORDINARY CASE, perhaps the only one of its kind. Having consulted Quique Mario of CEUFO regarding some similar events in the key province of La Pampa, where the most unusual events of Argentinean UFO case histories have occurred, he said that they never had a similar case in that region. With regard to the probable morphology of the entities, their red eyes – reported by witnesses in 2002 and 2003, are reminiscent of the heyday of the CATTLE MUTILATION epidemic. Around that time, strange animal mutilations also took place in Chascomús. And as a conclusion, entering into the realm of hypotheticals, we can suppose that this new humanoid incursion in Buenos Aires, beyond its own goals which are unknown to us, hoisting the now-famous cedar may ha been A SIGN OF POWER or A SHOW OF STRENGTH (emphasis in the original – SC), much as if any one of us, had upraised or readjusted something that was in our path: a potted plant, for example. Even so, investigation is ongoing....
On-Site Investigation by FAO conducted by: Eduardo Galeano (FAO Chascomús) Leonardo Villamea and Cristian Villamea (FAO Quilmes ) Patricio Barrancos, Daniel López and Franco Puglisi (FAO Capital Federal) Cristian Salvatierra and Luis Burgos (FAO La Plata)
Source: Diario Popular (Argentina) Date: 09.06.10 Reported by: Patchi LaFata Argentina: A UFO Stole Water from a Military Base in Santa Fe
An effort was made to conceal the case for years, but the proof is undeniable
The case emerges 11 years later and makes manifest the strange repetition of events related to ufology that are intentionally concealed from the public. The episode occurred on the evening of 24 November 1999 at an army base located in the provincial capital of Santa Fe. A strange “imprint” appeared on the ground. The official story suggested a gag among army officers, but research showed that several witnesses directly observed the presence of a 40-meter-long flying object. But that isn’t all, because no one was able to explain the reason why the water tank and two water cisterns that supply the troops were left completely empty.
The exciting story of the event and its subsequent investigation was made known by Grupo Vision OVNI resulting from field work by experts Luis Brussa (general research), Ariel Maderna (photography) and engineer Fabian Rossi (calculation and diagrams).
“After having learned of the event, I decided to go to the base to carry out investigations. Ten days had elapsed. I invited two researcher friends – Ariel and Fabian – to come along. So we grabbed our gear and went out to conduct field research, which is unquestionably the most pleasant and interesting aspect,” says Brussa regarding the origin of the event.
A Search for Truth
“Upon arrival, we were greeted by two soldiers. We told them that we were researchers of the subject and wanted to carry out some studies. They whisked us off to a superior officer, to whom we had to explain matters in greater depth, why we were doing it and what we would do with our conclusions. Permission was granted,” states the researcher.
He later explained that “the soldiers themselves led us to the impression, located in the remotest area of the base, which covers six blocks. We started by looking at the imprint and other facilities, such as sheds, the water tank, trees, wires and the cistern, which supplies water and has a depth of 15 meters and a diameter of 2.5 meters.”
The first clue emerges here. According to the story that Sgt. Carlos Villano told the researchers, “the cistern was practically drained the night of the event.” The officer also stated that the morning following the event, the principal of the primary school that operates on the base’s premises called him to report a lack of water in the school’s rest rooms. “I was sent to the cistern to see what was going on, thinking that the fuses had blown, but they were fine,” said the officer. At the same time, he found that the cistern and tank were both out of water, while noticing the circular impression for the first time.
Direct Witnesses
Another witness was Claudio Chena, the water basin’s custodian, who was 25 at the time. “He said that he was a professional photographer and showed us pictures taken of the event. He also explained that he was playing soccer with his cousin in the base’s soccer pitch, which is in the front of the base, facing Avenida Freyre,” comments Brussa.
“Claudio said that after 9:00 p.m., they saw a bright light toward the water tank, and that the lights went out throughout the district, but not the streetlamps, which remained on. They paid little mind to the situation, thinking the lights were from a truck driving along Calle San José, behind the district,” states Brussa in his account.
The researchers canvassed the base’s neighbors, and came across Marta. “This woman said that on that evening, they were watching TV with the family and suddenly became aware of a persistent, even buzzing sound, a sensation similar to that of an earthquake, which Marta had felt in Córdoba, and she compared it as being alike. She stated that the TV set and the household lights experienced at least two brownouts, although power was not entirely lost,” says Brussa.
Another key witness was Aidé, who already knew of the imprint. Aidé is Colombian and is married to a renowned rural doctor. Her son is an architect. On the night of the event, she was standing in the doorway facing Calle Salta around 8:45 p.m. when she saw “a light having a circular shape, with a luminosity similar to that of a fluorescent bulb, and it flew at low speed. The treetops concealed it. It didn’t give off sparks or lights, smoke or any wake at all. It didn’t change shape, nor did it blink or explode, or even accelerate. It just moved on a fixed course, maintaining its brilliant light and shape.”
“She only saw a single object, which in her estimation, was between 30 and 40 meters wide and at a distance of some 150 to 200 meters. She added that at that time se felt a sense of tranquility and total silence during the approximately 12 second duration of the event,” states Brussa’s report.
Characteristics of the Imprint Found at the Base
Shape: Circular. Measurement: 5.30 meters: Interior: 1.2 meters. Characteristics: the inner print was not perfect. The external print presented a shape with hexagonal edges, not very defined, toward the south. Organic vegetable matter: grass. Size: 3 to 4 cm. tall. Color: Natural green at the center of the print; dark brown within the print itself. The virgin soil surrounding the grass was similar to that at the center of the print, natural green and regular height. Complementary Data: The print was seven meters distant from the water tank. Ten meters away on the left is a shed containing two water cisterns which provide water to the tank. Water comes from the street network and fills both cisterns. An electrical pump sends water to the high concrete tank. Water was missing from the cisterns the day after the event. They [the cisterns] have a diameter of 2.5 meters and a depth of 15 meters. The cistern panel connected to the electric pump did not short-circuit.
Particulars of the Case
Date of the Imprint’s Appearance: 24-25 November 1999, between 21:00 on the 24th and the morning of the 25th. Investigation conducted: 4 December 1999 Locality: City of Santa Fe, Argentina Place: 12th Infantry Regiment, Avenida Freyre 2500, between Salta and Juan de Garay streets. Weather conditions at the time: clear skies, 33 degrees (C) ambient temperature
NOTE: I reported a sighting by a friend who lives in the Gwendraeth Valley, South West Wales, UK a few days ago. Since then, I went back to examine the photos and discovered that at least two other craft were captured on one of the exposures. Those images were enlarged (below). I am asking anyone who has witnessed similar activity and craft w/ evidence, especially in the UK, to please contact me. I'd especially like to keep tabs on activity in Wales and southwest England...Lon
newslite - A police force has revealed a catalogue of more than 150 supernatural and paranormal cases which have been reported to them in recent years.
Details of investigations involving ghosts, UFO's, aliens and fairies were released by Devon and Cornwall Police after a Freedom of Information request.
In some examples people have called the police force to deal with spooks in their houses, or even to a field infested with fairies.
However, most of the paranormal reports revolve around UFO sighting, and peaked in 1996 when a variety of strangely shaped spaceships were spotted.
In odd news the 1996 peak also coincided with the release of the movie Independence Day and the popularity of the X Files on TV.
Other odd examples reported to Devon and Cornwall Police include someone who said they had encounters abusive aliens in a field and another who claimed to be one.
**********
Meet the 'Real Bard'
dailymail - Scientists have used state-of-the-art 3D computer technology to create what they say is the first true likeness of William Shakespeare.
The image shows every wrinkle on the playwright's face and the figure's haunted stare is radically different from existing images which purport to be of the Bard.
The warts-and-all image is featured in a TV documentary called Death Masks. (U.K. History Channel on 9/13)
Director Stuart Clarke said: 'The results from this forensic examination are startling.
'They show strong evidence both forensically and historically that this 3D model may be, in fact, the way Shakespeare looked in life.
Clarke's team have also produced 3D likenesses of Napoleon, Julius Caesar, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
The recreations are based on scans taken from death masks - and in some cases masks made during life.
The producers of the show claim that the images will challenge viewers' perceptions of what some of history's most famous figures looked like.
The image of Napoleon is said to be significantly different from that which the French have become accustomed to, while the 'real' face of Washington is nothing like his image on the dollar bill.
But the recreation of Shakespeare is likely to cause the most controversy. The Bard's true likeness has been the subject of speculation for centuries and many experts dispute that the death mask used in the programme is Shakespeare's.
It was found in Darmstadt, Germany, in the 1840s and German scientists linked it to Shakespeare after carrying out a series of tests.
They say it proves the writer suffered from cancer towards the end of his life.
Forensic anthropologist Dr Caroline Wilkinson insisted there were 'a large number of consistencies' between the 3D image and portraits of the writer.
But Shakespeare Birthplace Trust chairman Stanley Welles rejects the validity of the new image and the death mask, adding: 'Shakespeare was not a national figure at the time, not in the way he is today, and it is unlikely a mask like this would have been made.'
NOTE: this production was aired in the U.S. last year...it has been updated a bit and will air in the U.K. on 9/13. Very interesting documentary...Lon
**********
Father Sacrifices Newborn Daughter to Satisfy Deity
dnaindia - In a shocking incident, a father scarified his newborn girl child to keep his promise to his family deity Kitotarmata. The man, Narottam Mana Devipujak, threw his child in a drain near his house in Sundarpuri, a busy slum area of Gandhidham.
"We have arrested the accused for this heinous crime," said MK Jadeja, police inspector of A-division police station, on Monday. "Narottam Devipujak was produced before the magistrate in Gandhidham court today."
According to the details of the case, the incident took place on Janmashtami night. Narottam, who sells vegetables from a kiosk, had vowed that he would offer a male goat to the goddess if a son was born to him. But if a girl child was born, he had sworn that he would straightway offer the child to the deity.
When his wife gave birth to a baby girl a day before Janmashtami, he decided to give her as an offering to the goddess. When everyone was glued to the TV watching the birth of Lord Krishna, he slipped away with the baby and threw her in a gutter close to the temple of the deity. Then he returned home, pretending as if nothing had happened.
Later, however, he did tell about what he had done to his wife and his in-laws. His neighbours sensed something amiss when they did not see the newborn baby for three consecutive days. On finding out what had happened, they reported the matter to the police. After a thorough search, the police recovered the body of the baby from the drain.
"Whatever THEY say is the opposite. THEY never tell the truth. The government is poisoning the water supply to dumb-down the population to make them more easy to control. 911 was an inside job. It was a staged event to launch the Iraq war to set up a domestic police state here in the United States."
********** Human Remains Found in Tiger Shark Caught in The Bahamas
tribune242 - Just as the deep sea fisherman was about to cut the hook from the shark’s wide open mouth and let him go, out jumped a human foot.
“Everything was intact from the knee down,” said Bahamian investment banker Humphrey Simmons, “it was mangled, but there was still flesh on the bone.”
That ended a day of fishing for Mr Simmons and his two companions who spent most of the morning trying to get away from sharks.
By the time the unusually heavy Tiger shark was landed at the Defence Force’s Coral Harbour base and his distended body cut open, the body of a man, minus his head, was found. The leg that the shark had regurgitated was the man’s left leg. Inside was his severed right leg, two severed arms and a torso in two sections.
Obviously, as Mr Simmons’ 10-year-old daughter observed, this shark had its prey all to himself. There was no sign that another shark had fought over the body. It is believed that the man had drowned before the shark swallowed him.
Mr Simmons, of Cable Beach, a banker with Xanthos Investment, and his two deep sea fishing companions — Keith Ferguson and Stanley Bernard — left Marshall Road, South Beach before 6am Saturday in Mr Simmons 30-foot Pursuit, “Azulardo.”
“We went 35 miles south of Nassau and started fishing about 7.45am,” said Mr Simmons. “After about 45 minutes we pulled up a fish, and a shark took it.
“We left the area and went two miles further south and let out the lines again. Keith pulled up his line and before reaching the surface the shark had broken the line.”
The weather was calm with winds about 4mph blowing from the southwest.
“I always watch that before I go out,” Mr Simmons laughed.
Trying to get rid of the sharks, Mr Simmons moved again, this time about two to three miles further south. By then they were about 38 miles from Nassau.
“While pulling up my line,” he said, “I noticed that it was extra heavy. I called “Boy” (Stanley Bernard) and asked him to go get the shot gun.”
By then the men were fishing in water about 1,000 feet deep. They had decided against landing the shark because there was too much tension on the line.
“I then thought about what might have been going through that shark’s mind,” said Mr Simmons. “Usually when you catch a shark on the line, and are pulling him up, when he sees sunlight, he heads back down, and either cuts the line or breaks it.
“While pulling him up there was also a grouper on the line, and he was trying to get the grouper, but I had both on my line. He came up with his mouth wide open, but he couldn’t get the grouper because it was also on my line.”
As the shark neared the surface, Mr Bernard shot him several times in the head.
“We tied the rope around his tail fin, and pulled him towards the boat. We were going to cut the hook out of his mouth and let him go when he regurgitated a human foot — intact from the knee down. It was now about 10am.”
The men then tried to get BASRA and the Defence Force, but could raise neither — “it was probably because they were out of range for our VHF radio,” Mr Simmons commented.
They decided to take the left leg and the shark to Nassau.
“There was so much stink coming from the shark’s belly and the belly was so huge that we thought that there might be more bodies inside,” said Mr Simmons.
At about 10.30am the men headed for Nassau, dragging the heavy shark behind. About a half hour later they saw a Defence Force boat and flagged it down.
The Defence Force’s Enduring Friendship vessel EF-28 pulled up alongside them, heard their story and took the shark on board. It was then about 11.30am when they followed the Defence Force boat to Nassau, arriving at about 12.30pm at the Coral Harbour base.
The shark’s body was offloaded, cut open and inside was the remains of a headless man.
Mr Simmons said he was a “black man, of heavy build and heavy structure. He had neither clothes nor any identifying marks.”
Police are now awaiting DNA results to tell them if the remains belong to one of three men who are still missing at sea.
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force said still reported missing are 62-year-old Frank Brown, Sr, and 47-year-old Delton Newton, who disappeared after their boat experienced engine trouble in waters off Clifton Pier last week. A man who disappeared from a boat in Acklins last week has also not yet been found.
However, Mr Simmons said that Mr Frank Brown Jr stopped at his home, looked at the photographs of the body parts and confirmed that they were not those of his father.
buffalonews - For the last decade, volunteers at the Iron Island Museum in Buffalo have known something odd was going on inside the former church and funeral home where they discovered 24 canisters of unclaimed cremated human remains.
Pictures would go missing from tables. Shadows darted about and, occasionally, a voice seemingly came out of nowhere to bid hello. Volunteers dismissed it as "Charlie the Ghost" acting out once again.
But now "Charlie" has been reunited with his true identity.
He is war veteran Edgar L. Zernicke, whose ashes were in one of the canisters tucked into a basement closet and left behind by Church Funeral Home, which was later sold to Amigone Funeral Home, which donated the building to the museum in August 2000.
Did the graveless Zernicke personally speak from the great beyond to inform Iron Island officials it was him they were experiencing?
No, but something almost as strange occurred.
"We had a psychic from Atlanta come here last year, and he climbed up into the attic. When he came back down, he said the man's name begins with an E, it's Edgar," said Linda J. Hastreiter, president of the museum at 998 Lovejoy St.
At the time, she thought nothing of the information, but her interests were stirred when she started doing research to find out if any of the ashes were those of war veterans.
"I checked the list of names from the ashes and there was the name Edgar Zernicke on it," Hastreiter said.
She concluded the psychic was indeed correct about the ghost's identity.
She says her certainty is fortified by the fact that no one but the museum's volunteers had access to the names affixed to the canisters with the remains, meaning there was no way the psychic could have known there was an "Edgar" among the canisters.
Inspired, Hastreiter redoubled her efforts as the regional coordinator for the Patriot Guard Riders' Veteran Recovery Program, which aims to find the unclaimed remains of U.S. military veterans and provide them with a proper military burial.
In recent years, there has been a national movement to locate and bury unclaimed veterans' remains, which, in some cases, have collected dust for decades in the basements of hospitals, funeral homes and other institutions.
"I Googled the name Edgar Zernicke, and his name came up as a Marine who fought in the Sandino Rebellion in Nicaragua in 1928. He later joined the Navy in the early 1930s and moved to Buffalo and lived in the East Delavan area working as a tool and die maker," Hastreiter said.
Zernicke died at age 87 in 1992.
In order to provide him with a military funeral, Hastreiter was required by law to get permission from the long-dead warrior's family.
Additional research on the Internet guided her to Zernicke's grandson, Kenneth Zernicke, in Maine, who told her that Edgar's son, now 74, has been living in Spain for decades.
"I was able to send the son an e-mail, and two days later I received an overseas call from him. He was thrilled to hear that we want to honor his father, and he sent us a written release to have him buried. He had thought everything had been taken care of by his sister," Hastreiter said.
Amigone Funeral Home, the current repository of the 24 canisters of ashes, will hold a funeral service for Zernicke in the museum the evening of Sept. 22.
Two days later, hundreds of Patriot Guard Riders from across the state and friends of the museum "who have gotten to know Edgar's ghost and his story" will travel in a procession to Bath National Cemetery, where he will be buried among fellow veterans.
Does this mean Edgar's ghost will be moving on as well?
"We're leaving that up to Edgar," Hastreiter said. "He's welcome to stay at the museum as long as he wants, so long as he doesn't come home with me."
Haunted by the fact that other veterans remains might have been among the 24 canisters, Hastreiter added she has now verified that 10 other canisters contain the ashes of unclaimed local veterans, mostly from World War I and World War II. Government records and the Internet site Ancestry.com, she said, helped her unearth the information.
To bury these 10 vets later this month with Zernicke, she says she needs to locate their relatives for permission. The names of those veterans and their death dates are:
William Wasilewski, March 12, 1979; Frank Wakowski, Dec. 7, 1983; Robert E. Sweeney, March 10, 1986; Alfred Gerwitz, July 10, 1986; Elmer Vogt, April 4, 1983; Ted Wrobel, Feb. 24, 1982; Neil Lembke, March 10, 1982; Louis Danza, Dec. 7, 1977; John E. Havice, Oct. 5, 1983; and Osborne Sellars, Feb. 17, 1982.
Hastreiter can be reached at the museum or by calling 892-3084. Her e-mail address is ljhgold@aol.com.
But even if family members cannot be reached, a new state law that takes effect starts on Nov. 11, Veterans Day, will allow for burial of unclaimed veterans' remains after a reasonable effort has been made to try and find their relatives.
ANOMALIST BOOKS Works on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries. Please check out their excellent and diverse catalog
Become a fan of 'Phantoms and Monsters' at Facebook
"The latest news from beyond the mainstream" Join Ben & Aaron for their weekly podcast! Check out Mysterious Universe Plus+ all access format!
Spirit Rescue International Providing no cost professional spiritual help, support and guidance worldwide SPIRIT RESCUE INTERNATIONAL - HAUNTED HELP Spiritual, paranormal and supernatural guidance and support using remote viewing and other complementary therapies - all are welcome
Join the Phantoms & Monsters Wiki A NETWORK OF INVESTIGATORS, ENTHUSIASTS AND THOSE SEEKING THE TRUTH THROUGH PARANORMAL EDUCATION AND DISCUSSION
Have you had a close encounter or witnessed something unusual?
Send us an email
Busy Weekend of UFO Sightings in North Central Texas
lightsinthetexassky - Labor Day weekend has been one sighting after another, for this investigator and spouse. It seems that all you have to do is 'look up' and pay attention.
It started Friday (09/03/2010), at exactly 16:18 hrs. As we were driving down I-20, headed west from Fort Worth towards Weatherford, Texas I noticed a tiny, perfectly square-shaped white cloud in the sky. It was the only cloud in the entire western area of sky. If held at arms length, a pencil eraser would just cover the whole cloud, it was that small. After noticing the cloud, my spouse mentioned it saying, "Look at that tiny square cloud. It must be a UFO."
We continued to watch the cloud and it began to morph into an oval shape. It held that shape some 5 minutes and then morphed again into what looked like a kidney bean, hanging perpendicular to the ground. For the next 10 minutes that we could still see the cloud, it held that same shape, never dissipating, or growing. Once we passed below it, it was no longer in our line of sight. We continued on home. I did take 2 photos but you can barely see anything through the bug guts on the windshield.
Later that night, at 21:00 hrs., I was outside with a friend when I noticed a light off in the southeastern sky. I would estimate this light to be at 110-115 degrees ESE, 10 degrees AGL.
As I watch the white light it appeared to twinkle, much like a star, therefore I assumed that is what it was. A few minutes later I turned my attention to my friend with whom I was conversing, then moments later when I looked back at the "star", it was gone. There were no clouds.
At 10:45 I was texted by a friend, that 5-6 double-bladed helicopters were seen in Comanche, Texas, flying approx. 300 feet AGL, with no lights on (except for 1 chopper), headed north towards my location. My spouse and I immediately stepped outside, to watched for these 'unlit' helicopters. At one point I thought I heard helicopters in the distance (ESE) but could see nothing, then very quickly the sound of choppers was drownd out by the traffic noise of Hwy 180 (North of my location).
I didn't see or hear anything else that evening but I wonder if the object I saw had anything to do with those military craft in stealth mode.
The temperature at 22:00 hrs, was 68 degrees, dew point- 48 degrees, humidity- 47% ,Barometric pressure- 30.18", winds- 0 mph, clear sky, visibility- 10 miles, ceiling- unlimited. Perfect for an evening watching the stars and 'other things'.
Then on Saturday, 09/04/2010 at 21:25 hrs, I stepped out my back door and my attention was drawn to a bright orange light in the WSW sky. The object was just a few degrees above the horizon, which would put it right at the tops of the distant trees (900 ft. away).
At first I assumed it was Venus but the object began to rise in elevation, approximately 2 to 3 degrees. The object stopped it's ascent and I reach in the door and grabbed my camera, taking two shots. I then got my binoculars and looked at the light.
The object was a bright white orange light and for all appearances I would have dismissed the object as Venus. However, Venus does not ascend from the West, nor does it move 2 degrees or more in 3 seconds. I also know what Venus looks like, with the naked eye and through both binoculars and telescope. This did not look like Venus. I called to my spouse who also looked at the light, saying "it's Venus." After saying that, within seconds the light turned red and disappeared completely.
I went back inside, pulled up an astronomy website, checked and saw that Venus had set an hour earlier. I wrote a short report, attached the original photo and sent it off to MUFON's Director of Research. He did not know what the object is either and confirmed that it wasn't Venus.
I must add that my digital still camera will not focus on anything at night, unless the subject is unusually large and bright. It had no problem focusing on this light.
-----
MUFON CMS: On Saturday, 09/04/2010 at 21:25 hrs, I stepped out my back door and my attention was drawn to a bright orange light in the WSW sky. The object was just a few degrees above the horizon, which would put it right at the tops of the distant trees (over 900 ft. away).
At first I assumed it was Venus but the object began to rise in elevation, approximately 2 to 3 degrees. The object stopped it's ascent and I reach in the door and grabbed my camera, taking two shots. I then got my binoculars and looked at the light.
The object was a bright white orange light and for all appearances I would have dismissed the object as Venus. However, Venus does not ascend from the West, nor does it move 2 degrees or more in 3 seconds. I also know what Venus looks like, with the naked eye and through both binoculars and telescope. This did not look like Venus. I called to my spouse who also looked at the light, saying "it's Venus." After saying that, within seconds the light turned red and disappeared completely. Total viewing time: 10 minutes.
I went back inside, pulled up an astronomy website, checked and saw that Venus had set an hour earlier. I wrote a short report, attached the original photo and sent it off to MUFON's Director of Research. He did not know what the object is either and confirmed that it wasn't Venus.
Attached photo is a cropped version of the original I sent to *(Name deleted--SGonzalez/CMS).
I must add that my digital still camera will not focus on anything at night, unless the subject is unusually large and bright. It had no problem focusing on this light.
**********
Spanish Officials Confiscate UFO Evidence From Majorca Sightings
telegraph - On a cold November night in 1979, Josep Climent was leaving the local cinema in Soller when he and others noticed strange lights circling the Ofre, a peak of more than 3000 ft in the Tramuntana mountain range. Grabbing his old Minolta camera, Climent took a black and white image of what he saw. Within days it had been circulated around the world as proof of UFO activity in Majorca.
Did Josep Climent and other local Soller residents really see a UFO or OVNI, the Spanish equivalent, that night or were they just witnessing a natural astronomical phenomenon of some kind? As it happened, at the same time as Climent claimed to have seen abnormal activity in the sky, a commercial plane leaving Palma for Tenerife was forced to make an emergency landing in Valencia apparently because airborne unidentified objects were interfering with its route. Spooky stuff and yet some would say the whole story was exaggerated and perhaps even manipulated by Climent.
Only the other night, IB3, one of Majorca’s main television channels again broadcast the testimony of Josep Climent relating to his supposed sighting of UFOs. Many eye witnesses in Soller corroborated his story. Since the airing of the programme I have spoken with various locals in the town of Soller. To my surprise most have backed the concept of UFOs, some explaining that strange vibrations have even been recorded on the sea bed about 1000 metres off the coast of Port Soller giving possible proof to Climent’s long held theory that there is a hidden UFO base there. Several people claimed to have filmed or photographed strange objects on the horizon but had chosen not to release them to the media for fear of ridicule.
One elderly woman told me that in her youth she and her father had seen a piercing light emanating from a remote area of the Tramuntana mountains. They had been on foot accompanied by a donkey which, she said, grew agitated and refused to budge when it neared the site.
As for Josep Climent, he is still disgruntled that the negatives from his Minolta camera, requisitioned by the Spanish army at the time, have never been returned despite repeated requests. Just as the British Army has relaxed the rules on the release of such historical data so too has the Spanish Army and yet curiously there seems to be no trace of the negatives.
Perhaps when Josep Climent witnesses his next UFO, he will be canny enough to squirrel away the negatives, not in the hope of material gain or personal notoriety of course but purely for the sake of posterity.
***********
World's Shortest Man
“The world record for the world’s shortest man has been claimed by a 24-year-old Colombian named Edward Nino Hernandez – who is just 27 inches tall. Nino has been officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s shortest man, after the previous record holder – China’s 22-inch-high He Pingping – sadly died in March. Nino, who weighs just 22lb, has recently embarked on a career in acting – playing a tiny drug thug who gets killed in a shootout. Nino, who says that he loves dancing, previously earned money by dancing in department stores.”
However, his time as the world's shortest man is unlikely to last long, according to Guinness World Records officials. His crown is expected to be snatched from him by Nepal's Khagendra Thapa Magar - who, at 22in (56cm), currently holds the title of the world's shortest teenager - just as soon as he turns 18 on October 14.
***********
Dead Join the Living in a Family Celebration
With fanfare befitting a parade, the shrouded remains of 17 bodies were removed from the family crypt, some sprayed with expensive perfume, others splashed with sparkling wine. Five brass bands took turns belting out cheerful melodies, and each emerging corpse was lifted onto the shoulders of its own set of revelers. The celebrators then joyously trotted about, dancing with the bones of the dead.
“It is good to thank the ancestors in person because we owe them everything,” said Rakotonarivo Henri, 52, an out-of-breath farmer who had just set down his dead grandfather and was moving toward the remains of his aunt. “We do not come from mud; we come from these bodies.”
Every society has its own customs regarding the deceased, an interplay between those who are and those who were. In many countries, a visit to the cemetery commonly satisfies an urge to be near a buried loved one. Flowers may be placed on the grave. Words may be whispered.
Here in the central highlands of Madagascar, that practice is taken much further. Ancestors are periodically taken from their tombs, and once the dancing stops and the bundled corpses are put on the ground, family members lovingly run their fingers across the skeletal outline protruding through the shrouds. Bones and dust are moved about in an effort to sustain a human shape. Elders tell children about the importance of those lying before them.
The ritual is called a famadihana (pronounced fa-ma-dee-an), and in this nation, a huge island in the Indian Ocean, millions practice it, often in conjunction with their various religious faiths, though not always with the same understanding of what it means to be dead. Continue reading at Dead Join the Living in a Family Celebration
***********
Shroud a 'Radiation Photo' of Resurrection?
WND - Scientists are building the case that the image of a crucified man on the Shroud of Turin was created by radiation that emanated from the body itself, a theory remarkably supportive of the traditional resurrection account that is central to Christian theology.
A scientific paper co-authored by attorney and historian Mark Antonacci and physicist Arthur Lind argues that the image of the crucified man in Shroud of Turin might constitute what amounts to a photograph taken at the instant Jesus' body transformed as he rose from the dead.
Jerome Corsi's "The Shroud Codex" is a thriller of faith and action. Get it autographed at WND Superstore!
In the paper, "Particle Radiation from the Body," Antonacci's and Lind's argument centers around the 29 unique or unusual features that scientists over the past four decades have found on the Shroud's body image and fiber.
Among the 29 features are the following:
* Lack of fading of the image;
* Uniform coloring around each fiber of linen;
* All fibers collectively colored with the same intensity;
* Oxidation and dehydration of fibers;
* Stability of the body image to water and heating;
* Insolubility of the body image to acids, redox and solvents;
* Equal intensity of the body image for frontal and dorsal views;
* Negative images of the body with left/right and light/dark reversals that develop into highly resolved, photographic quality images;
* Three-dimensionality encoded through the space between the body and the cloth.
"All of these features can be accounted for by radiation, and only radiation will account for them all," the authors conclude.
For instance, the authors noted the Shroud's frontal and dorsal body images are "encoded with the same amount of intensity, independent of any pressure or weight from the body," such that the bottom part of the cloth that bore all the weight of the crucified man's supine body is not encoded with a greater amount of intensity than the frontal image.
"Radiation coming from the body would not only explain this feature, but also the left/right and light/dark reversals found on the cloth's frontal and dorsal body images," the authors note.
In arguing that the source of light that created the body image on the Shroud came from within the body, the authors observed that "neither the outside or inside of the tomb, nor the outside or inside of either the front or back sides of the cloth" are found on the Shroud's image.
"This means that the source of light does not originate outside of the body, the cloth or the tomb, but with the body itself," they write. "The weave of the inner part of the cloth containing the frontal and dorsal images is not even part of the distinctive images, which they too, would have been, if the light came from anywhere outside the body."
Antonacci and Lind ask, "What if the man's body became insubstantial or dematerialized instantly leaving behind some energy in the form of the basic particles of matter, such as protons, neutrons and electromagnetic waves, such as gamma rays?"
They answer that the part of the cloth that was originally closest to the body would have received the most radiation, while the part originally farthest away would have received the least – a phenomenon that "would result in true three dimensional information being encoded onto the two dimensional cloth," precisely as is found on the Shroud.
"The evidence acquired from more than a century of scientific, medical, archaeological and historical examination of the Shroud is not only consistent with its authenticity as the burial garment of the historical Jesus Christ, but with every element of his passion, crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection as described in the Gospels," they concluded.
WND previously reported on the work of graphics artist Ray Downing to produced a computer model of the face imprint on the Shroud of Turin, leading to a two-hour History Channel special presentation, "the Real Face of Jesus?"
Mark Antonacci is the founder and president of the non-profit Resurrection of the Shroud Foundation and author of the book "The Resurrection of the Shroud."
Arthur C. Lind, Ph.D., is a physicist who created Lind Scientific after retiring from the Boeing Co. in 1998; he obtained a doctorate in physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1966.
Unedited description: UFO found in Haiyan County, Zhejiang Province of China tuesday night, disappeared after nearly 3 hours. This is already the second time occurred UFO in China eastern city. August 31 night eastern, Chinese city of Zhejiang Haiyan southwest sky , there is a bright luminous object in the sky. The object moved to westward slowly. It stayed nearly 3 hours to disappear. Witnesses said the object was a round and blue objects can light. It is more larger and bright than the surrounding stars, and the circle shape sometimes become into a rectangle. A lot of people saw this UFO. The evening of July 7 this year, Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport near also found UFO, it was the fast-moving , airports were closed, nearly 20 flights were delayed.
NOTE: this seems to be a legitimate sighting. The shape change to a rectangle object is intriguing. Your thoughts? Lon
ANOMALIST BOOKS Works on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries. Please check out their excellent and diverse catalog
Become a fan of 'Phantoms and Monsters' at Facebook
"The latest news from beyond the mainstream" Join Ben & Aaron for their weekly podcast! Check out Mysterious Universe Plus+ all access format!
Spirit Rescue International Providing no cost professional spiritual help, support and guidance worldwide SPIRIT RESCUE INTERNATIONAL - HAUNTED HELP Spiritual, paranormal and supernatural guidance and support using remote viewing and other complementary therapies - all are welcome
Join the Phantoms & Monsters Wiki A NETWORK OF INVESTIGATORS, ENTHUSIASTS AND THOSE SEEKING THE TRUTH THROUGH PARANORMAL EDUCATION AND DISCUSSION
Have you had a close encounter or witnessed something unusual?
Send us an email
newscientist - Some 16 million years ago, north became south in a matter of years. Such fast flips are impossible, according to models of the Earth's core, but this is now the second time that evidence has been found.
The magnetic poles swap every 300,000 years, a process that normally takes up to 5000 years. In 1995 an ancient lava flow with an unusual magnetic pattern was discovered in Oregon. It suggested that the field at the time was moving by 6 degrees a day - at least 10,000 times faster than usual. "Not many people believed it," says Scott Bogue of Occidental College in Los Angeles.
Now Bogue and his colleague Jonathan Glen of the United States Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, say they have found a second example in Nevada. The lava rock suggests that in one year, Earth's magnetic field shifted by 53 degrees (Geophysical Research Letters, DOI: 10.1029/2010GL044286). At that rate, a full flip would take less than four years, but there could be another interpretation. "It may have been a burst of rapid acceleration that punctuated the steady movement of the field," says Bogue.
Peter Olson of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, remains sceptical and points out that the effects could have been local rather than global.
Earth is overdue for a reversal, and rapid shifts would cause widespread chaos - for navigation and migratory birds for instance.
**********
Full Inquest Into Death of David Kelly Comes Closer
guardian - The attorney general's office is examining files relating to the death of David Kelly, a move which could herald a full inquest into the weapons inspector's death.
Officials acting on behalf of Dominic Grieve, the government's senior law officer, had requested the Ministry of Justice to supply reports of Kelly's post mortem examination, and now have them.
The move came after a group of prominent legal and medical experts called for a full inquest into the 2003 death of the scientist. A spokeswoman for the attorney general said the files had arrived in the office this week after being requested "quite a while ago".
Officials will examine the documents this week before making recommendations to the attorney general, who has the power to order a full inquest.
An inquest at the time was suspended by the then lord chancellor, Lord Falconer, ahead of the Hutton inquiry, which investigated the circumstances of Kelly's death. The inquiry concluded he had killed himself by cutting an artery in his wrist. However, it applied a less stringent test than would have been used in an inquest, where a coroner has to be sure "beyond reasonable doubt" that a person intended to kill themselves.
Last month, nine experts including Michael Powers, a QC and former coroner, and Julian Blon, a professor of intensive care medicine, said in a letter to the Times that they believed that the official cause of death, haemorrhage from the severed artery, was "extremely unlikely".
"Insufficient blood would have been lost to threaten life," they said. "Absent a quantitative assessment of the blood lost and of the blood remaining in the great vessels, the conclusion that death occurred as a consequence of haemorrhage is unsafe."
********** NASA Going to the Sun
space - NASA is developing an ambitious new mission to plunge a car-sized probe directly into the sun's atmosphere, boldly going where no spacecraft has gone before.
The spacecraft, called Solar Probe Plus, is slated to launch no later than 2018, NASA announced Thursday.
The space agency has picked the five science experiments to ride aboard the new sun-exploring spacecraft. The instruments include a solar wind particle detector, a 3-D camera, and a device to measure the sun's magnetic field, among other tools.
"This project allows humanity's ingenuity to go where no spacecraft has ever gone before," said NASA's Solar Probe Plus program scientist Lika Guhathakurta in a statement. "For the very first time, we'll be able to touch, taste and smell our sun." [Amazing New Sun Photos]
As Solar Probe Plus approaches the sun, it will face temperatures exceeding 2,550 degrees Fahrenheit (1,399 degrees Celsius) and powerful radiation blasts.
The spacecraft is expected to take unprecedented, up-close view of our home star, enabling scientists to better understand, characterize and forecast the radiation environment for future space explorers, NASA officials said.
Researchers submitted 13 proposals for the Solar Probe Plus Mission in 2009. The five NASA picked should cost a total of $180 million for preliminary analysis, design, development and tests.
"The experiments selected for Solar Probe Plus are specifically designed to solve two key questions of solar physics: Why is the sun's outer atmosphere so much hotter than the sun's visible surface, and what propels the solar wind that affects Earth and our solar system? " said Dick Fisher, director of NASA's heliophysics division, in a statement. "We've been struggling with these questions for decades, and this mission should finally provide those answers."
The five experiments are:
Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons Investigation: This experiment will count the most abundant particles in the solar wind -- electrons, protons and helium ions – and measure their properties.
Wide-field Imager: This telescope will make 3-D images of the sun's corona, or atmosphere. The experiment will actually see the solar wind and provide 3-D images of clouds and shocks as they approach and pass the spacecraft.
Fields Experiment: This study will make direct measurements of electric and magnetic fields, radio emissions and shock waves that course through the sun's atmospheric plasma. The experiment also serves as a giant dust detector, registering voltage signatures when specks of space dust hit the probe's antenna.
Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun: This experiment will take an inventory of elements in the sun's atmosphere. It will use a mass spectrometer to weigh and sort ions near the spacecraft.
Heliospheric Origins with Solar Probe Plus: This component will provide an independent assessment of scientific performance and act as a community advocate for the mission.
The Solar Probe Plus mission is part of NASA's Living with a Star Program. The program is designed to understand aspects of the sun and Earth's space environment that affect life and society.
**********
UFO Filmed Over Norway / 2nd Sighting of 'Green Strobe From Above' in Pennsylvania
What is being called "astonishing" footage of a UFO was disclosed recently. The footage was taken in the northern region of Norway on August 13.
Of interest is that the video was taken in the same area of last year's "spiral" event. A witness to the UFO made the following statement:
"This was in the same area where the Spiral UFO of December 2009 was observed, however any connection with this or the HAARP/EISCAT facility is unknown."
Hi, my name is Erica and I'm not sure exactly how to go about this, but here goes. Last week my girlfriend told me a story about how a few days before she was driving down Ransom RD. Duryea Pa. and she saw some green flash of light coming from the tree line.
So she had me look it up because she believed it was some UFO or something because she said she could see the source of the light one second and then it was just gone. After I looked it up I came across a bunch of things about the "green flash" that comes from the sun at sun up/down. Until last night I thought that's what it had to be.
Well last night we were driving through Ransom again(not in the same section) and in the complete darkness like right in front of us there was a green little bit of light, like a lazor pointer, and then we drove under it and it was like I don't even know how to explain it, it was almost like it expanded over the car or something and then it was gone.
Like a quick strobe light, of green all through the car. It was like it came from straight above us.
I figured i should let someone know about it, it's the 2nd time it's happened. thanks for your time and sorry if this is just me being dumb.
**********
Iranian Authorities = Barbarians
BBC - An Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery now faces being whipped for indecency, her son says.
Iranian authorities sentenced Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani to 99 lashes after the Times newspaper published a picture purportedly of her without a headscarf.
The Times later published a correction, saying the photograph was of a different Iranian woman.
After an international outcry, Iranian officials temporarily halted Ms Ashtiani's stoning sentence in July.
There are fears the death sentence could still be carried out by hanging.
Ms Ashtiani's son has given several interviews saying he was told of the new sentence of 99 lashes by people who have recently been released from the prison in Tabriz where his mother is being held.
On 28 August, the Times published a picture it said was of Ms Ashtiani that it had obtained from one of her lawyers.
The lawyer, Mohammad Mostafei, who has fled Iran, said he received the picture from her son, Sajad Ghaderzadeh - a claim Mr Ghaderzadeh denies.
Mr Ghaderzadeh said the new sentence was "an excuse to increase [the authorities'] harassment of our mother".
In an open letter, he said his mother had been sentenced to receive 99 lashes "on false charges of spreading corruption and indecency by disseminating this picture of a woman presumed to be her without hijab".
He said he did not believe the sentence had been carried out but that her family and lawyer had not been allowed to visit her for two weeks and she had not been allowed to use a telephone.
Mr Ghaderzadeh said the family was appealing against the sentence.
In May 2006, a criminal court in East Azerbaijan province found Ms Ashtiani guilty of having had an "illicit relationship" with two men following the death of her husband. She was given 99 lashes.
But that September, during the trial of a man accused of murdering her husband, another court reopened an adultery case based on events that allegedly took place before her husband died.
Despite retracting a confession she said she had been forced to make under duress, Ms Ashtiani was convicted of "adultery while being married" and sentenced to death by stoning.
In August, Iranian TV aired what it said was a confession from Ms Ashtiani of her involvement in her husband's 2005 murder.
**********
Arthur C. Clarke Predicts the Future
Arthur C. Clarke predicting the future in 1964...he truly was a man of vision. Hopefully, there are more like him still with us.
latimes - It isn't much to look at: a gray lump of rock behind an ugly metal grill, attached to an even uglier building. You have to crouch down to see it, and its admittedly modest (or maybe nonexistent) charm can seem trifling compared with the glories of St. Paul's Cathedral or Westminster Abbey.
Unloved and neglected, lost in the shadows of gleaming bank towers and the bustle of a city hard at work, the London Stone gets short shrift from the tourist hordes and even Londoners themselves. But it's one of the city's most ancient and storied relics. Modern legend even says London's existence depends on it.
This chunk of limestone has sat in or around the same spot on present-day Cannon Street, in London's financial district, for at least one millennium, possibly two, throwing up mysteries and inspiring myths as to its origins and purpose.
Was it a mile marker? Did it represent the center of London? Was it a place of sacrifice, a symbol of authority, a source of mystical power, a guardian spirit?
No one knows for sure. But Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and poet William Blake all wrote about the stone. One 15th century rebel declared himself ruler of London by striking it with his sword.
Its fame put it among an elite group of rocks and boulders in the British Isles: Stonehenge in southern England, the Blarney Stone in Ireland and the Stone of Scone in Scotland, which is still used in the coronation of British kings and queens.
Unlike the others, however, the London Stone has slipped out of the collective consciousness.
"It's an iconic stone, but I don't think many people know about it," said Andy Round, who works at a nearby financial firm. "If you stop people on Cannon Street and ask, 'What is the London Stone?' they'd probably look at you blankly."
Although it's not much bigger than a hatbox now, the block once crowned a larger slab set deep in the ground. Grooves along the top appear to attest to some sort of human use.
According to John Clark, an expert in medieval history who worked for many years at the Museum of London, the stone may have been brought here by the Romans and erected as a monument in the forecourt of a grand palace close to the current site. Or perhaps the Saxons planted it there, smack in the center of a new grid of streets built under King Alfred, who resurrected London in 886 after it was sacked by the Vikings.
heritage-key - The London Stone is one of the city's most mysterious and maligned ancient treasures. Not only is its provenance largely a mystery and entwined in myth and uncertainty, but its current predicament sees it visible only through a small grill on one of London's busiest commercial streets. What is known, however, is that it is of Roman origin - and was possibly used as a milestone to mark out distances between all the cities of newly-conquered Britannia. Yet rumours abound that it was brought to the city by Brutus the Trojan, the legendary founder of London. 'So long as the Stone of Brutus is safe, so London will flourish," says a centuries-old proverb. Thus the London Stone's removal, like the Tower of London's ravens, is said to forebode the city's destruction. Its supposed power was at its zenith during the middle ages, when it was believed that anyone who touched the stone would ritually take control of London. The fable was cemented in folklore when Jack Cade, the leader of a peasants' revolt against King Henry VI's monarchy in 1450, struck the Stone with his sword, claiming himself to be the Lord of London.
The Stone enjoyed a renaissance during the Victorian age, when it was set into an ornate stone casing on the side of St. Swithin's Church in Cannon Street. Yet the church was badly damaged during the Second World War, and the stone had to be moved to a new building on the same site. There it has stayed, through many changes of ownership of the building - even having been swamped by advertising hordings until recently while its home became a sports shop - and today rests inside a metal grating at knee height, sometimes backlit at night.
ANOMALIST BOOKS Works on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries. Please check out their excellent and diverse catalog
Become a fan of 'Phantoms and Monsters' at Facebook
"The latest news from beyond the mainstream" Join Ben & Aaron for their weekly podcast! Check out Mysterious Universe Plus+ all access format!
Spirit Rescue International Providing no cost professional spiritual help, support and guidance worldwide SPIRIT RESCUE INTERNATIONAL - HAUNTED HELP Spiritual, paranormal and supernatural guidance and support using remote viewing and other complementary therapies - all are welcome
Join the Phantoms & Monsters Wiki A NETWORK OF INVESTIGATORS, ENTHUSIASTS AND THOSE SEEKING THE TRUTH THROUGH PARANORMAL EDUCATION AND DISCUSSION
Have you had a close encounter or witnessed something unusual?
Send us an email
A week or so ago, I posted Humanoid / Cryptid Encounter Reports - Japan after I received an email from a reader who wanted to know of any known reports from Japan. The response was quite favorable, so I have decided to periodically post cryptid humanoid encounter reports, historical accounts and lore from various locations worldwide. In this post, I'm focusing on legendary and modern cryptid humanoids of China.
HAIRY BEAST
Location/Date: Hong Kong, China - March 1955 - evening
Doors were barred in Hong Kong as the police searched for a hairy beast, said by terrified residents to be a shaggy animal over 6 ft tall. One man, a village gardener named Law Chiu had fought it and lived. The thing attacked him about 50 yards from the family temple. It was covered with long, shaggy gray hair. It stood upright when it came at him. He punched it in the stomach but the creature fell on him and they grappled for some time. The creature then went away, loping on all fours. Some time after that a woman saw a strange animal galloping past her vegetable garden on four legs, and as proof she exhibited large triangular footprints in the soft earth. They were unlike those made by a man or ape.
Source: The Saucerian Review
**********
FAMILY ABDUCTED
Location/Date: Ping Wu, Szechwan Province, China - March 7 1987 - midnight
A family of three, including a young child was awakened by a loud high-pitched hum coming from outside their small home. All three went outside to investigate and were nearly blinded by a beam of yellowish light coming from a huge reddish orange object shaped like a straw hat that hovered above them, slowly spinning. The hum grew louder and all three had a strange floating sensation then blacked out.
They all woke up and found themselves strapped to three steel tables in a circular room. The woman began screaming then a tiny hatchway opened in the wall and five 3-foot tall humanoid creatures stepped into the room. They were human in shape but with featureless faces with three huge whitish eyes on their foreheads. Their skin appeared transparent and bluish in color. The creatures said nothing as they proceeded to remove blood from the arms of all three abductees. They then inserted long needles into their knees and ankle joints. The husband and the child appeared to have been in a trance-like state during the incident. Electrode like devices were taped to their skulls and the woman was again able to hear the loud high-pitched hum that they initially heard outside their home. One of the beings made an incision on the child's thigh that was immediately healed by a pencil like device that was passed over it. Moments later the room became dark and everything began spinning.
Their next conscious memory was walking on a roadside 7 miles from their home.
Source: Lillian Crowner Desguin
NOTE: Rare but unconfirmed abduction report from communist China...Lon
**********
3 NIGHTS...3 ABDUCTIONS
Location/Date: Peking, China - May 1, 1981 - 9:00pm
The witness was sleeping at a hostel dormitory with many others when a voice woke him up telling him that he was going to be taken onboard an object. A small craft then entered the room apparently passing right through the wall. A beam of light shone on him and he was apparently then reduced in size and lifted up into the object, which left at high speed.
Inside the craft he saw a lighted circular chamber and was able to see stars through an opened porthole. In the center of the room there was a screen showing a constellation and stars. Seated at the screen was a blond young woman. She spoke to him and took him to a large launching area where many objects of different shapes and sizes were parked near a control tower. Later he was returned from where he had been taken from.
The next eveing, the witness was again sleeping when he heard a voice inviting him inside an object. He was lifted up and taken onboard a craft through a porthole. Inside he met two "normal" Chinese girls and the blond woman from the previous encounter. They were shown a screen where they saw a series of images showing different periods of Chinese history, concluding with a view of the earth as it used to be. They landed at the "launching" area where he saw numerous human like beings. He found himself being transported through the air and then placed on a slab where he was given a detailed physical examination. He was later returned.
The brother of the main witness reported seeing a large craft like object that entered his room and landed on the floor. Several small men dressed in one-piece garments and carrying what appeared to be "surgical" instruments emerged. They laid the witness down on his bed and opened up his stomach. They sewed it back up and departed without saying a word.
The very next night, the witness was sleeping when he felt somebody push him. He opened his eyes and saw a strange man standing in front of him. The man was covered completely with short gray hairs and had two long fangs in his mouth. The being waved an arm and the witness floated up into the air and into a landed object outside the house. The witness was then taken to a large base where he saw many similar hairy beings that appeared to be engaged in repairing landed UFOs. While the witness was being brought back to his home a blond girl who he had previously encountered asked him several questions and he was also allowed to ask some himself.
Source: Gordon Creighton, FSR
**********
CRASHED ALIEN CRAFT
Location/Date: Gobi Desert, Outer Mongolia, China - 1982 - unknown time
Chinese military units accidentally stumbled upon a crashed alien spacecraft in this isolated desert region. A retrieval team was summoned and the site properly cordoned off. Everything possible was done to avoid any information leaked to civilians and to other Chinese military sections. The craft was slightly damaged and abandoned by its crew. It was about 10 meters long and about 2.5-3 meters in diameter. Its shape was cylindrical, with a very durable surface. Sophisticated equipment apparently used by alien entities was found inside the cabin, with chairs for 2 or 3 entities. The cylinder was loaded upon a platform on a flatbed truck or railroad carriage and moved to a must secured underground Government research installation in a military range southwest of Beijing under the Taihang-Shan Mountains. The alien spacecraft was subjected to extensive study and research. Another UFO, which crashed in 1973, was also stored at the site.
Source: Anton Anfalov
NOTE: The Taihang Shan Mountains contain a network of underground tunnels for Chinese strategic missiles. Speculation is that part of that underground network is used to hide rumored crashed UFOs as well as remains of alien beings.
In January, 2005 in the area that borders Nepal, tourists returning from Nepal were talking about a possible UFO crash in that country. The talk was also rampant in Katmandu, capital of Nepal and other Nepali cities. The crash site is in the deep Himalayan border of Nepal and China. According to sources, the crash site may have been close to Mount Everest and is totally inaccessible from either side. The rumor is that the Chinese military was actively looking for the crashed craft. It is also rumored that the 'human-like' extraterrestrials were not allowing anyone to get close to the site.
Unusual activities and some tremors were felt all over the Himalayan regions from both the Indian and Nepalese side. Also UFO activity increased sharply in that area, possibly related to the supposed crash. It is possible that the crash was nothing more but a Chinese spacecraft. China had some secret military projects in that area.
In January, the weather is so inclement that is almost impossible to reach the area, everything is frozen over. According to some, it is possible that underground UFO bases in the region were damaged by the tremor and strange aftershocks were being felt since the huge 9.0 Richter scale quake in December 2004 in Sumatra, which caused the huge tsunami...Lon
**********
TWO TALL SHIPS SAILING ON THE CLOUDS
Location/Date: Yugiu, Jiangsu, China - 1523 - daytime
A teacher named Lu Yu who lived in the village of Yugiu was standing outside his home under a torrential rain when he noticed two “ships” which were sailing on top of the clouds above some ruins across from his home. On the two ships “which measured more than ten arms each” he could see several tall men wearing each one a hat and multicolored clothing. They were holding a “pole” in each hand as the ships moved quickly overhead.
The teacher Lu Yu then alerted “ten well read men” who stood beside him to observe the phenomenon. The ships then descended over the teacher and the ten other men and took the men onboard the ships. The multicolored clothed beings “then passed their hands over the mouths of the well-read scribes who could not speak anymore.” At this time other men appeared on one of the ships, escorted like a Mandarin and accompanied by a monk.
Some time later the ships flew away, through the clouds and were seen descending about a kilometer away near a cemetery. When the ships left the “ten well read scribes” were able to speak again. But five days later, Lu Yu died of unknown causes.
Source: Shi Bo “China and the Extraterrestrials” 1983
**********
THE YEREN
The yeren, otherwise known as the Chinese wildman, is a hairy humanoid that is said to inhabit the dense forests of China. About man-sized, it has quite distinctive red hair.
The yeren usually sounds like a bipedal, more human-like version of an orangutan. It could be an orangutan that has evolved to fill a more ground-dwelling niche, with associated bipedalism and thus it ends up looking like a Bigfoot or missing link through sheer coincidence. Bipedalism has evolved independently in the ape family at least two times, so it is at least slightly possible that this has happened yet again with an isolated population of orangutans.
In some reports, yeren sound less like bipedal orangutans and more like standard an ape-like hominid such as Bigfoot. These reports typically describe a creature varying between six and seven feet tall, with a heavy, muscular build and anatomical features that lean more towards the human side than towards the ape side. Fur colors are also more variable, with less instances of red. Some reports in this category sound so human-like than the yeren is thought by some researchers to be a primitive species of human, such as a Neanderthal man.
**********
THE CYNOCEPHALI
The Cynocephali exist in the mythology of Europe, India and China though there have been sporadic encounters through the centuries. The legends in the Chinese culture originally said that the Cynocephali resided somewhere in the wild lands west of Tibet and north of Persia (modern-day Iran). The Cynocephali were described as shapeshifters who could change from human to dog, but who always retained some animal features when they became human again.
If real Cynocephali exist, it is hard to decide what sort of animal they might be. It was once thought that these legends might be garbled accounts of baboons, monkeys with dog-like snouts. Further studies have suggested that the Cynocephali tales are actually based on dog ancestor origin myths from various tribes in the Chinese wilderness. According to these Western writers, whole races of people were deliberately killed because they weren't human, they were "really" monsters.
Andina.com reported that Bucaramanga Mayor Fernando Vargas confirmed that the phenomenon was a meteorite that left a crater 100 meters in diameter when it crashed into the earth in the San Joaquin municipality in Santander.
