Phantoms and Monsters

'Queen Anne's Revenge' dive expedition begins this week

The artifacts raised from the Queen Anne’s Revenge shipwreck site in the coming weeks will be smaller in size but big in excitement.

An eight-week dive expedition begins this week with final preparations for work in Beaufort Inlet at the wreckage of the ship considered to be the flagship of the infamous pirate Blackbeard.

While divers with North Carolina’s Underwater Archaeology Branch aren’t planning to bring up any of the remaining cannons or anchors during this dive, they will be excavating from the forward hold area on the east side of the wreck site, which correlates to the lower portion of the ship.

The QAR team is expecting to find ballast stones and smaller artifacts, but the excitement is in the unknown as it’s a lesser explored area of the shipwreck.

“They are moving into areas that haven’t been excavated or looked at before. We don’t know what they may find,” said Sarah Watkins-Kenney, director of the QAR lab in Greenville, where all the artifacts are taken for conservation once they are recovered from the site.

But before excavation work can begin, there is preparation work to be done.

Watkins-Kenney said the team will be getting the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries research vessel ready for use as a staging area at the dive site.

During the second week, they will be setting up at the shipwreck site as well as doing monitoring of the corrosive condition of the anchors and cannons that have been fitted with aluminum rods called sacrificial anodes, that change the electrochemical process that corrodes iron in saltwater, reducing and potentially reversing the amount of salts absorbed by the objects while they are underwater.

The excavation and recovery of artifacts is scheduled to begin the week of Sept. 17.

“It’s a full eight-week dive expedition, weather permitting,” Watkins-Kenney said.

While the goal continues to be a systematic recovery of artifacts from the site, there is a one notable change this year.

Longtime QAR project director Dr. Mark Wilde-Ramsing, who was deputy state archaeologist for the N.C. Underwater Archaeology Branch, retired effective Aug. 1 after more than 30 years with the state.

QAR field conservator Wendy Welsh is acting as field supervisor for the dive expedition.

The QAR dives have traditionally been made possible through a partnership of a variety of organizations and agencies and this year is no exception.

The Division of Marine Fisheries has assisted with a research vessel while Coast Guard Station Fort Macon will serve as a landside staging area and Fort Macon State Park assists with housing crew during the dive.

Once conserved, artifacts are displayed by the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort.

Also among the partners are East Carolina University, UNC-Wilmington, Friends of the Queen Anne’s Revenge and Nautilus Productions.

Updates on the dive expedition will be posted on the Facebook page at Blackbeard’s – Queen Anne’s Revenge. Information on the QAR project can also be found online at qaronline.org. - jdnews

Blackbeard: Or: The Pirate of Roanoke

National Geographic: Blackbeard - Terror at Sea

Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate

**********

The Baltic Sea UFO Saga Continues

That strange object most commonly referred to as the Baltic Sea UFO is making headlines again.

The object at the bottom of the Baltic Sea was detected on sonar in June 2011 by Ocean X Team. Based on these initial sonar images, the media and members of Ocean X Team fueled speculation that the object could be a crashed UFO resting on the sea floor. The treasure-hunting outfit set out on an expedition in June 2012 in hopes of identifying the object. According to some sources, an identification has been made. But others, including Ocean X Team believe the object’s identity is still a mystery.

The website Life’s Little Mysteries published a story by Natalie Wolchover on August 30 titled “‘Mysterious’ Baltic Sea Object Is a Glacial Deposit.” Wolchover points out claims by Ocean X Team that an expert has been unable to explain the mysterious object. After contacting that same witness, Wolchover alleges that neither this expert, “nor any of the other experts contacted about the Baltic Sea object, think there is anything mysterious about it.” She goes on to state, “The expert analysis suggests this is just a glacial deposit that the Ocean X Team ‘discovered’ in a low-resolution sonar scan.”

But Ocean X Team co-founders Dennis Aasberg and Peter Lindberg claim that the only samples provided for analysis so far were collected in the vicinity. Samples have yet to be taken from the unidentified object itself. In their minds, the object’s identification is still a mystery.

This most recent article by Wolchover was republished by Fox News with the title, “Deep-sea Baltic UFO hunt turns up mere rocks.” If you’re detecting a bit of skepticism from Wolchover, you’re not alone.

The website Truthfall.com points out that Life’s Little Mysteries published an article in June 2012, also by Wolchover, titled, “Is the Baltic Sea ‘Sunken UFO’ an Elaborate Scam?” in an attempt “to debunk any explanation which did not fit with the standard historical model.” Truthfall goes on to state that, although the object may turn out to be a glacial deposit, “no expert to date is on record stating this as fact. It is merely a hypothesis based on rock samples of rocks found near the object (not of the actual object itself) yet LifesLittleMysteries.com makes the proclamation as though it were undisputed fact.”

The team suggests that straight edges on the object, revealed by newly released multi-beam sonar images, support the notion that this submerged mystery is something manufactured.

Another Ocean X Team expedition is scheduled to leave Sweden on September 8, following the disappointing outing in June that resulted in multiple equipment failures.

And if you just can’t get enough of the Baltic Sea UFO, you’re in luck. A documentary is reportedly being made about Ocean X Team’s discovery of the strange object and their subsequent expeditions. - openminds

History - UFO Files : Deep Sea UFOs: Red Alert

The Everything UFO Book: An investigation of sightings, cover-ups, and the quest for extraterrestial life (Everything Series)

**********

Television news can make you ill

With 24-hour news channels bringing a constant stream of images from far-flung conflict zones into our lives, we are increasingly able to watch global drama unfold almost minute-by-minute.

But scientists say that constant exposure to distressing television footage could actually be having a long-lasting negative impact on our mental health.

A study found repeated exposure to violent images following terrorist attacks and from war zones led to an increase in physical and psychological ailments among a cross-section of American viewers.

Researchers from UC Irvine said the study sheds light on the lingering effects 'collective traumas' can have when a population is fed a steady diet of graphic media images.

However, study leader Roxane Cohen Silver said: 'I would not advocate restricting nor censoring war images for the psychological well-being of the public.

'Instead, I think it's important for people to be aware that there is no psychological benefit to repeated exposure to graphic images of horror.'

People can be fat AND fit as study finds obesity doesn't automatically lead to ill-health
The study included assessments of more than 1,000 participants' health in the weeks before and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and the initiation of the Iraq war in 2003.

It also looked at their media exposure and acute stress responses.

Researchers found people who watched more than four hours a day of 9/11 and Iraq War-related television coverage were more likely to report both acute and post-traumatic stress symptoms over time.

They were also more likely to report doctor-diagnosed physical health ailments two to three years later.

Seeing two particular kinds of images in the early days of the Iraq War was associated with post-traumatic stress symptoms over time: soldiers engaged in battle and dead U.S. and Allied soldiers.

'The results suggest that exposure to graphic media images may be an important mechanism through which the impact of collective trauma is dispersed widely,' Silver says.

'Our findings are both relevant and timely as vivid images reach larger audiences than ever before through YouTube, social media and smartphones.

'When we consider that graphic images of individuals being overcome by the 2011 tsunami in Japan were shown repeatedly, that a vigorous debate occurred last year regarding the release of the gruesome death photos of Osama bin Laden, and that vivid and disturbing images of 9/11 will likely appear on our television screens marking the anniversary of the attacks, we believe that our paper has something important to say regarding the impact of repeated exposure to graphic traumatic images.'

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the study appears in a forthcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science. - dailymail

Making Sense of People: Decoding the Mysteries of Personality (FT Press Science)

Psychological Treatment of Chronic Illness: The Biopsychosocial Therapy Approach

Sick and Tired of Feeling Sick and Tired: Living with Invisible Chronic Illness

**********

Yangtze River Turns Red - Officials Have No Idea Why

For a river known as the “golden watercourse,” red is a strange color to see.

Yet that’s the shade turning up in the Yangtze River and officials have no idea why.

The red began appearing in the Yangtze, the longest and largest river in China and the third longest river in the world, yesterday near the city of Chongquing, where the Yangtze connects to the Jialin River.

The Yangtze, called “golden” because of the heavy rainfall it receives year-round, runs through Chongqing, Southwest China’s largest industrial and commercial center, also known as the “mountain city” because of the hills and peaks upon which its many buildings and factories stand.

The red color stopped some residents in their tracks. They put water from the river in bottles to save it. Fishermen and other workers who rely on the river for income kept going about their business, according to the UK’s Daily Mail.

While the river’s red coloring was most pronounced near Chongqing it was also reported at several other points.

Officials are reportedly investigating the cause. - abcnews

The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time

The River Dragon Has Come!: The Three Gorges Dam and the Fate of China's Yangtze River and Its People

Spirit Rescue International™
Providing no-cost professional spiritual help, personal support and guidance
Take the first step towards genuine peace of mind
---------------
Sign up for the
Spirit Rescue International Newsletter

The Spirit Rescue International™ Haunted Help Forum
Discussion of paranormal and spiritual phenomena,
including peer support for those with questions or concerns

*Join Our Group On Facebook*

Join Eric Altman and Lon Strickler
*LIVE*
each Sunday at 8 PM ET as we go
Beyond the Edge!

--> Buy official 'Beyond the Edge Radio' gear <--

ANOMALIST BOOKS
Works on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries. Please check out their excellent and diverse catalog