; Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal

Friday, January 10, 2014

Daily 2 Cents: Was 'Mothman' Military Technology? -- Death by Atomic Wedgie -- Dolphins Get High on Puffer Fish


Was 'Mothman' Military Technology?

This is a very interesting note in John Keel: Not An Authority On Anything:

Mark Pilkington has alerted me to the fact that the current issue of Soldier of Fortune magazine (Feb. ’14) contains an article entitled “UFO Mystery Solved: “Mothmen” Were Actually Green Berets.” The writer, Harold Hutchison, claims that special operations forces near Point Pleasant were testing high-altitude, low-opening (HALO) parachuting for use in Vietnam; and that the jumpers used luminous paint to be seen during the tests. And this, he says, explains the Mothman sightings. I’m not convinced that every Mothman report can be chalked up to a paratrooper; but it’s a plausible explanation for some, and certainly for some of the UFO reports. There was a lot going on in Point Pleasant that year...

There is more at Soldier of Fortune: Mothman Sightings Were Merely Green Berets

NOTE: I'm not buying this explanation for all the sightings...and, frankly, this 'military' angle seems somewhat contrived & convenient. The area in and around Point Pleasant, WV has a high number strange activity despite the Mothman sightings. Lon

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Death by Atomic Wedgie

A former marine is facing a murder charge for killing his stepfather with underwear, investigators say.

Thirty-three-year-old Brad Davis is accused of suffocating his stepfather during a fight days before Christmas in Pottawatomie County.

Investigators say both men were drinking at the home near McLoud Dec. 21 when Davis' stepfather, Denver St. Clair, spoke "ill of Davis' mother."

According to an affidavit, Davis claims his stepfather "swung first," then Davis fought back, giving his stepfather an "atomic wedgie." Davis said after the fight his stepfather stopped breathing.

Davis called 911 and St. Clair was deceased by the time officers arrived at the scene.

According to the affidavit, St. Clair had multiple blunt force injuries to his face and his "elastic underwear waistband had been stretched up over his head," leaving a ligature mark around his neck. Blood was found in the living room and kitchen areas.

Investigators say Davis admitted hitting St. Clair several times until St. Clair lost consciousness. It was then, according to the affidavit, that Davis "grabbed St. Clair's underwear and gave him an 'atomic wedgie'."

On Dec. 27, the state medical examiner determined St. Clair died of blunt force trauma and/or asphyxiation.

"We continued our investigation and uncovered evidence that led us to believe that this was more than just a fight," said Sheriff Mike Booth.

After investigators acquired a warrant to search Davis' cellphone they found photographs that show St. Clair lying in the living room floor in a smear of blood, according to the affidavit, and there were pictures prior to having his underwear pulled over his head as well as after. Investigators believe the photos show the crime scene had been altered prior to officers' arrival.

Davis was booked into the Pottawatomie County Jail where a judge ordered him held without bond for first-degree murder. -

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Dolphins Get High on Puffer Fish

Using a remote-controlled camera disguised as a sea turtle, marine biologists watched as young dolphins got themselves stoned by ingesting a nerve toxin released by puffer fish. And as if sharing a joint, the dolphins could be seen passing it around.

Puffer fish, when provoked, protect themselves by releasing a nasty toxin that can be deadly. But the dolphins appear to have figured out how to make the fish release it in just the right amount.

After chewing on the puffer fish and passing it around between one another, the dolphins appeared to enter into a trance-like state.

"[T]hey began acting most peculiarly, hanging around with their noses at the surface as if fascinated by their own reflection," noted zoologist Rob Pilley. "It reminded us of that craze a few years ago when people started licking toads to get a buzz, especially the way they hung there in a daze afterwards. It was the most extraordinary thing to see."

The behavior was recorded on camera by the makers of the nature documentary, Dolphins: Spy in the Pod — a series produced for BBC One.

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Zambian opposition leader charged with calling president 'a potato'

Zambian police have arrested and charged an opposition leader with defamation, after he compared the president to a potato, a party ally told AFP.

Frank Bwalya, head of the Alliance for a Better Zambia, allegedly referred to president Michael Sata as "Chumbu Mushololwa" during a live radio broadcast Monday.

The Bemba term literally refers to a sweet potato that breaks when it is bent and is used to describe someone who does not heed advice.

"The police decided to arrest and charge him with defamation of the president," Eric Chanda, the secretary general of Alliance told AFP.

If convicted, Bwalya faces a maximum jail term of five years.

Bwalya, a former Catholic priest and supporter of Sata when in opposition, is just the latest opposition leader to run afoul of Zambia's leader.

In September, Nevers Sekwila Mumba of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy was questioned by police after calling Sata a liar.

Ex-president Rupiah Banda has been hauled before the courts on numerous corruption charges.

"President Sata is the same old man who was on all radio stations defaming former presidents Banda and Mwanawasa and nobody arrested him," said Chanda. - Times Live

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America’s Largest Mass Graveyard May Become a Public Park

Over 1,500 unclaimed or out-of-luck New Yorkers are buried each year in the isolation of a giant graveyard on Hart Island. But these unmarked graves may soon be getting more visitors.

At one time or another, a half-mile piece of land off Long Island in New York has served as: a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp, a work house for the poor, a quarantine hospital for Yellow Fever victims, a women’s asylum, a corrections facility for delinquent boys, a Nike missile base, and a drug rehab facility called the Phoenix House.

Today, the 131-acre Hart Island is the largest graveyard in the country and the largest public cemetery in the world, with nearly one million poor, unidentified, or unclaimed New Yorkers laid to rest in its potter’s field since 1869. The only signs of life are the inmates from Riker's Island who are brought in four days a week to dig trenches for future coffins.

As a privately owned island purchased from the Siwanoy Indians in 1654, the landmass got its name from either British explorers who dubbed it “Heart Island,” or as a nod to the “harts” that once lived there when it was a game preserve. Boxing matches were held on the island in the mid-1800s, until it was purchased by the government for use as a Civil War training camp and then turned into a mass graveyard to serve the country’s most populated city.

New York City has established nine potter’s fields, or common graveyards, since the 1600s. The city’s criminals, destitute, and family-less residents have been laid to rest under, areas such as Washington Square Park, Madison Square Park, and Bryant Park, but Hart Island is the largest by far. In 1869, Louisa Van Slyke, a 24-year-old New Yorker, was the first person to be interred on the island. Five years later, up to 50 people a week were being buried there during the hot summer months, so a steamer was commissioned to transport the corpses to their resting places. “These poor waifs and strays of humanity had a melancholy ending,” an 1874 New York Times article reads. “They went out of the world without any friendly solicitude concerning them, and public charity accords to them the decencies of burial. Continue reading at The Daily Beast

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Need a Favor

Hi Folks....I hope everybody has a great weekend. Sunday's radio show on BTE will be very interesting...David Weatherly is a tremendous author, colleague & guest. I have (another) small favor to ask. I am attempting to build up my business presence on Google+...following my page at https://plus.google.com/+Stricklercelebs/posts would be much appreciated. Enjoy your weekend...Lon

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The Roswell Legacy: The Untold Story of the First Military Officer at the 1947 Crash Site

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