Reader Information

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Just the Facts?: ET Visits Government Center? -- Manned Mars Mission Planned -- 2nd 'Titanic' to be Built



ET visits government center?

An employee of the Bacolod City Treasurer’s Office was surprised to see a 2-feet tall figure that looked like an extra terrestrial creature standing beside her in her photo taken by a fellow city employee in front of the Bacolod City Government Center at about 4 p.m. yesterday.

The employee, identified as a certain “Emily Santodelsis,” had requested her co-worker, Arian Ponce, to take a solo picture of her using her cellphone. When she looked at the photo later she saw a strange looking creature that looked like an alien from outer space standing beside her.

In another photo of Santodelsis taken on the same day there appeared a streak that looked as if she was being hit by lightning in the head.

One of her co-workers prayed over her after the experience because she was scared and shaken by what she saw on her cellphone.

Several personnel of the Public Order and Safety Office, who were on duty to secure the vicinity of the government center for the arrival of the Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines, as well as other city employees who were preparing to go home, saw Emily while her picture was being taken but did not see any creature beside her.

Some employees have claimed that they had seen about four of these “extra terrestrial beings” in the area. - Visayan Daily Star

***********

The 'Inspiration Mars' mission planned for 2018

The first humans to visit Mars could be a married couple, after organisers of an ambitious manned mission to the Red Planet said that only a “tried and tested” male-female partnership could cope with the close confinement of a return trip.

Dennis Tito, the multi-millionaire financier and former rocket scientist behind the planned 2018 mission, said he was confident of raising the estimated $1.5bn to $2bn (£1bn- £1.3bn) needed to send a two-person mixed crew to Mars – but admitted that the total funding has yet to be found.

Mr Tito, who once worked for Nasa, promised to fund the Inspiration Mars mission for the next two years, and will ask other wealthy individuals and charitable foundations to contribute to the final cost of building and launching the manned space craft.

“I will come out a lot poorer because of this mission, but my grandchildren will come out a lot richer in terms of inspiration,” Mr Tito said at a press conference in Washington DC.

In addition to charitable and personal donations, Mr Tito said that he expected to raise money from television and media rights. The choice of a mixed crew of one man and one woman would heighten media interest, he said.

The privately-funded mission has signed a “space act” agreement with Nasa. A wide range of industrial partners has already approached the group with the hope of collaborating.

Selecting the man and woman who will become the first people to journey beyond the Moon will be a lengthy and complicated process.

“The requirements are going to be so high. It’s going to be quite a crew-selection process,” Mr Tito said.

The Spartan nature of the crew’s journey is outlined in a scientific paper to be presented this weekend by Mr Tito to an aerospace conference in Montana. There will be no luxuries or privacy, with both crew members expected to share the same small space for eating, sleeping and toileting.

“The journey is treated as a high-risk mission, which drives towards reliable – but minimalist – accommodations and provisions… that would meet only basic human needs to support metabolic requirements and limited crew comfort allowances,” the feasibility study says.

Jane Poynter of Paragon Space Development, who is an adviser on the mission, said that the man and the woman would have to be in a stable relationship.

“The idea of a man and woman going on this mission is an important idea. It’s important also that they are a tried-and-trusted couple,” Dr Poynter said.

“It’s also important that they are man and a woman because they represent humanity…and just as important they represent our children,” she said.

Each crew member will be psychologically profiled so that they are able to endure the long return journey together, with no prospect of an emergency abort procedure if things go wrong.

The fact that the two crew members will share the same living space for 501 days suggests that the man and woman will have to know each other intimately before the mission.

The feasibility study points out that a man and a woman working and living together may be better than two people of the same sex.

A key aspect of the mission will be trust between the crew and mission control, which must be staffed by people who are sensitive to the psychological needs of the two astronauts.

The plan is for the two crew members to spend an extended period of time living and working together before the mission begins. “Experience has shown that it is extremely difficult to train, select and evaluate a crew team without those individuals having had experience living and working in an isolated confined environment for an extended period of time, preferable for the full mission duration, but for at least six months,” the study says.

“Working on this mission will also be a means to train the skilled workforce needed for the future manned Mars mission…. Sending humans on an expedition to Mars will be a defining event for humanity as well as an inspiration to our youth,” it says.

“Social media provides an opportunity for people to meaningfully participate in the mission, likely making this the most engaging human endeavour in modern history,” it concludes. - Independent

**********

Plans launched for Titanic replica

An Australian billionaire is getting ready to build a new version of the Titanic that could set sail in late 2016.

Clive Palmer unveiled blueprints for the famously doomed ship's namesake Tuesday at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York. He said construction is scheduled to start soon in China.

Palmer said 40,000 people have expressed interest in tickets for the maiden voyage, taking the original course from Southampton, England, to New York. He said people are inspired by his quest to replicate one of the most famous vessels in history.

"We all live on this planet, we all breathe the same air and, of course, the Titanic is about the things we've got in common," he said. "It links three continents."

The original Titanic was the world's largest and most luxurious ocean liner when it hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank on April 15, 1912. Only 700 people of the more than 2,200 on board survived the most famous maritime disaster in history, partly because there were not enough lifeboats to carry everyone.

Palmer said an unknown when the original ship sailed — climate change — may play into a positive for the new ship's fate.

"One of the benefits of global warming is there hasn't been as many icebergs in the North Atlantic these days," Palmer said.

Passengers on board the replica will dress in the fashion of that period and eat dishes from the original menu, in dining rooms copied from the ill-fated predecessor.

Joining Palmer on Tuesday was Helen Benziger, the great granddaughter of Titanic survivor Margaret "Molly" Brown. Benziger, who agreed to serve on the advisory board for the Titanic II, said her great grandmother, who died in 1932, would have loved to see the Titanic rebuilt and complete the journey it never got to finish.

In what some may consider a temptation of fate for a remake of a notoriously "unsinkable" ship that sank, a representative of the Finnish designer of the Titanic II said it will be the "safest cruise ship in the world."

Markku Kanerva, director of sales for marine design company Deltamarin said that while the vessel is modeled after the legendary liner — the diesel-powered ship will even have four decorative smoke stacks mimicking the coal-powered originals — it will meet modern navigation and safety requirements.

In addition, plans call for a new "safety deck" featuring state-of-the-art lifeboats, safety chutes and slides. The new ship will also have amenities unknown a century ago, like air conditioning.

Palmer, who is funding construction of the ship himself, built his fortune in real estate and coal. Australia's BRW magazine estimated his net worth last year at $4 billion, although Forbes puts it at $895 million.

"I want to spend the money I've got before I die," he said. "You might as well spend it, not leave it to the kids to spend, there will be enough left for them anyway." - Xfinity

Shadow of the Titanic: The Extraordinary Stories of Those Who Survived

A Night to Remember


**********

Bronx mother-murder suspect posed with mom's severed head

The twisted Bronx man who allegedly killed his mother and chopped up her body reveled in the slaying by snapping a picture of himself holding her severed head, sources told The Post yesterday.

Bahsid McLean, 23, pulled out a cellphone camera, posed in front of a bathroom mirror and snapped the gruesome photo of himself smirking while holding his mother’s head under his arm like a trophy, the sources said.

Then McLean and a buddy stuffed his mom’s head in a bag, packed away the rest of her mutilated body, and dumped the parts with the neighborhood trash — in several locations, cops said.

One of the four bags holding the remains of Tanya Byrd, 45, a home health aide and devoted mother of three, was found in Morrisania early Tuesday morning by a father and son walking their dog.

Her body parts were wrapped in plastic, with some stuffed in luggage, cops said.

Detectives were already disgusted by details of the case: the brutal bedroom stabbing, the blood drained in the bathroom, and the body hacked with a brand-new power saw.

“He’s definitely sick,” a law-enforcement source said. “It’s a ghoulish act. This guy is so mentally defective to do that. That’s pretty outrageous. That’s hardcore s--t.”

Byrd was killed probably late Sunday night or early Monday morning in her Westchester Avenue home, sources said. McLean asked a friend, William Harris, 26, to help him get rid of the body, sources said.

Surveillance video picked up the two men in a Third Avenue hardware store in The Bronx, where they bought a power saw with cash, sources said.

A blade and a box were found in the apartment McLean shared with his mother; the saw was found in Harris’ home, sources said.

McLean was charged last night with second-degree murder, police said. Both men were charged with hindering prosecution and unlawful dissection of a human body. They blamed each other for Byrd’s death.

Cops said McLean killed Byrd because she “wanted him to grow up and move out and be a man.” - NY Post

Serial Killers and Mass Murderers: Profiles of the World's Most Barbaric Criminals

Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Witness: Flying Ray-Shaped Cryptid Sighted - Laredo, Texas


I received the following report last evening after the witness searched the internet for similar sightings:

I was driving home to my house at 1:20PM when I came across this stingray grayish-white looking thing flying over my car - coming from the lake we have here in Laredo, Texas going into the golf course next to it. It was roughly 3 feet wide - maybe bigger and it had a glide to it - no wings, just looked like a stingray - literally. It passed about 30 ft. in front of me and I watched it for about 10 seconds. It looked as if it was swimming, but flying. What could this creature be? I'm kinda freaked out by this. I jumped on the internet as soon as I got home and thank gosh, I'm not the only one. AR


I contacted the witness for further information which I added to the initial report. This is the first flying ray-shaped cryptid report I have received from Texas. It seems the sighting was between the Casa Blanca Country Club and Lake Casa Blanca located in east Laredo, TX. The witness was driving north / northest on Rt. 20. I have been researching this phenomena for several years and mentioned in my book Phantoms & Monsters: Cryptid Encounters as well. Below are links to the other sightings previously reported to me:

Winged Manta Ray Shaped Cryptid - Near Ashton, WV - 12/3/2004

Additional Ray-Shaped Cryptid Sightings in WV Ohio River Valley Revealed

Flying Translucent Ray-Shaped Cryptid - Hampton Bays, New York

New 'Flying White Sting Ray' Sighting - Hebron, Kentucky - 1/25/2012

New Flying Manta Ray Sighting - Lynchburg, VA

Reader Submission: New 'Flying Manta-Ray' Sighting - Jordan, Minnesota

NOTE: There were 2 reports of a large leather-winged 'V' shaped bird in Spring, Texas...but the reports differed from the others. I'd appreciate any followup the readers could provide:

Huge Leather-Winged 'V-Shaped' Bird - Spring, Texas

Reader Submissions: 2nd Sighting - Huge V-Shaped Flying Cryptid - Near Spring, Texas

Just the Facts?: Indiana Farmer Reports UFO / Bigfoot Encounter -- More Doomsday Prophecies -- Mysterious Derby Lights


Indiana Farmer Reports UFO / Bigfoot Encounter

New Washington, Indiana - 12/12/2012 - unedited: I was checkin my cows on gill road in southern indiana when and fireball looking object came over the trees an landed in my pasture. At this time my cows ran away scared for there lives an I was amazed. After this a apelike object jumped out the bottom of the space craft and made weird noises. So it continued to walk around the field in search for my cows that were now hidden in the barn. At one point in time it looked me in the eyes an made some for of that weird foreign language i mentioned before. At the moment i was scared for my life. After this he got back in and took off. I investigated the area and there was nothin to be seen. It was a horrifying event. - MUFON CMS

Silent Invasion: The Pennsylvania UFO-Bigfoot Casebook

Really Mysterious Pennsylvania: UFOs, Bigfoot & Other Weird Encounters Casebook One


**********


Creepy movie location...the Monroeville, PA Mall

The mall can be stressful, but it's downright scary in Dawn of the Dead George A. Romero's sequel to Night of the Living Dead was primarily shot on location at the Monroeville Mall, where four survivors of the zombie apocalypse have taken refuge. It is now a destination spot for both shoppers and horror lovers, as well as the occasional zombie crawl. - Mental Floss

NOTE: I have learned that many residents of southwest Pennsylvania are zombie fanatics. My colleague Eric Altman of BTE Radio is really into it...in fact, there's a video floating around of Eric dressed as a zombie dancing in his front yard on Halloween Night. Maybe we can find a copy of that again...Lon

**********

More Doomsday Prophecies....

The Mayan prophecy about 21 December being the Doomsday failed to leave the desired effect. But that has not deterred many from predicting the end of the world. People have found another set of prophecy that they believe will lead to the end of the world by the end of this year.

Two prophecies- one made by St Malachy and the other one made by non-other than Nostradamus has not let the dust to settle down around the Doomsday euphoria.

According to the prediction the world will end with the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and when comet ISON will pass through the earth.

The successor of Pope Benedict XVI is going to be the last Pontiff according to the prophecies. According to Popular belief: The next pope will be the last one because "Judgment Day" will take place while the soon-to-be-named papal successor is seated.

The prophecy is made by St Malachy a 12th century Irish Archbishop. He was known for some reported miraculous powers, such as healing and declaring prophecies.

He is also said to have had a vision of all the future Popes-- from Pope Celestine II (1143 AD) up to the reigning pope, Benedict XVI.

According to predictions, the successor of Pope Benedict XVI will be the last Pope to sit in Vatican before Doomsday.

A second prediction further strengthens the prediction. The prediction is made by Nostradamus, a 16th century astrologer. Nostradamus predicted the pope to replace Benedict XVI will "flee Rome" in the month of December, at a time when the sky has two suns.

Comet ISON, is expected to pass by the earth in December 2013. The comet will be visible from all corners of the earth even during the day time, appearing like a second sun. - Bhaskar

The Prophecy of Saint Malachy: The Soon Coming End of Days

Petrus Romanus: The Final Pope Is Here

Unveiling the Apocalypse: Prophecy in Catholic Tradition


**********

Mysterious Derby Lights Spark Alien Worries

A Loscoe woman has sparked a flurry of UFO speculation from internet users across the country - after witnessing strange flashes in the sky.

Dawn Ratcliffe, 30, of Milward Road, posted on a popular UFO spotting website when she saw the strange phenomena out of her window at around 10pm on Saturday, January, 26.

She was hoping other users of ufo-uk.co.uk might be able to offer an explanation as to what it was - and since then a host of people - from as far north as Lancashire - have come forward to confirm they too saw the spectacle - though its cause remains a mystery.

Dawn originally wrote: “I was sat on the floor in the living room talking to my boyfriend, facing the window, when outside I saw a massive white flash that lit up the whole sky. It only lasted a split second. It was like it had come from a ball of light, not like lightning. It definitely wasn’t a firework and we went straight outside to see If there was anything out there or an aeroplane or something, but the sky was clear. It was such an intense bright white flash.”

Site users immediately responded to Dawn’s post.

An Amy Mulier wrote:“Me and my friend also saw this. We were in Ripley standing at the back door chatting. It was a big flash of light that lasted seconds. It certainly caught our attention as it lit the whole sky up! We listened out for thunder thinking it was really close lightning but there wasn’t any.”

Dawn then posted what she had seen on the national Facebook group UFO UK with similar success. Users from Barnsely, Wakefield, Burton on Trent and Lancashire all claimed to have seen the ‘flash as Dawn described, but at slightly different times.

Explanations offered by other users have included alien visitors, solar flares, Government testing of large lasers - and just lighting.

But Dawn is keeping an open mind.

“I don’t think it was lightning or some sort of power surge,” she said. “It was a brilliant white light unlike anything I have ever seen before.

“I’m not saying it’s definitely paranormal or alien - I’m perfectly willing to accept it might be something else.”

Heather Dixon of the British UFO research Organisation, which looks to find rational explanations to UFO sightings, confirmed that it was investigating reports of strange flashes in the skies above Derby at the end of January.

The organisation has agreed to contact the News with its findings when they become available. - Ripley and Heanor News

**********

Beast on the Move: The Chupacabras Returns

By Scott Corrales

The Puerto Rican media approached the subject of the paranormal predator again in 2012, when reporter Yaritza Santiago wrote an article for El Nuevo Dia about the entity’s return to the scene, this time in the island municipality of Vieques. “A strange wild animal prowls the verdant fields and communities of this island municipality. This is the only way to explain the discovery of dead horses, hens and rabbits in situations that terrified Viequenses have ascribed to a panther that allegedly escaped from an American tourist’s possession. Others say it is a jaguar; still others speak of the return of the Chupacabras, whose existence they do not question for a second.”

Thirty chickens met an untimely demise on the property of José Martínez and his wife Jeami in Barrio La Hueca. The couple had gone off to a birthday party on the previous night, returning home an hour before midnight. They went to bed and Mr. Martínez woke up at half past five in the morning to feed the family animals. In cold glow of his flashlight, José was startled to find the roosters dead in their cages, with deep puncture marks on their backs, drained of blood. The couple told reporters that they had not heard any abnormal sounds in the night. Continue reading at Inexplicata

Chupacabras and Other Mysteries - authored by Scott Corrales

Tracking the Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction, and Folklore

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Rudi Nagora's Austrian Alps UFO Photos


I wonder how many people outside of ufology have ever heard of Rudi Nagora?

On May 23, 1971 at about 12:30 P M, one of the most convincing photographs of a UFO was taken by Nagora, a Munich musician. Nagora, along with his wife, were vacationing near St. Lorenzen, Styria, Austria.

After finding a suitable place to park his car, Nagora left his wife inside the vehicle while he scouted the general area before the two of them ventured out. Suddenly, he heard a "whizzing" sound coming from above. Looking up, he could clearly see a shining, silver disc which was between him and the cloud plane. The object was moving in a zig-zag pattern. He ran back to his car, told his wife what he had seen, and grabbed his camera.

Pointing his Agfa-Click camera at the object, he took a full roll of 12 exposures, capturing several stunning images. Now out of film, Nagora could see the object come even closer, and then shoot straight up, disappearing through the clouds.

After the approximately 5 minute sighting and film taking session, Nagora took his film back to Munich. UFO researcher Engineer Adolf Geigenthaler heard about the photographs, and began an investigation into the sighting. After careful examination, Nagoras photos were deemed legitimate by several reliable experts. The photos have never been debunked, and still testify today that we are not alone. - Michael Hesemann



-----

An Analysis of Multiple UAP Photographic Images
(May 23, 1971, Austrian Alps)
Richard F. Haines

ABSTRACT: This paper presents an analysis of 11 consecutive color photographs and related eyewitness testimony of an alleged unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) taken over at least a 10 minute period beginning at about 12:30 p.m. on May 23, 1971, about 30 miles south-southwest of Graz, Austria, by Mr. Rudi Nagora, 25. Details of the camera, lens, film characteristics, and other relevant optical and historical details are presented. Each frame shows a dark and/or “metallic” object in the daytime sky. Its flight path was determined on several adjacent frames by overlapping relatively unchanging cloud and fixed background details. No evidence of pixel distortion is found surrounding any image of the object as might be produced by radiated heat, nor is there evidence of double exposure, a suspension thread above the UAP images, or mismatch of pixel dimensions within the UAP image or outside it. There is evidence of finite object motion blur in some frames where stationary background detail is in focus. A geometric composite analysis of all images supports the view that the UAP’s three-dimensional form is not circular in planform but rather a blunt-cornered isosceles triangle with flat bottom and convex upper surface. The object remains unidentified at this time.




NOTE: I have always thought that the Nagora photos were a bit too convenient...but he really had no reason to perpetrate a farce. Lon

Alien Identities : Ancient Insights into Modern UFO Phenomena

If UFO's Are Real (UFO Library)

Project Delta-A Study of Multiple Ufo

Just the Facts?: 1Kg Meteorite Piece Recovered -- Comet Heading Towards Mars? -- Unknown Carcass in Wales



1kg meteorite piece found in Russian Urals...biggest chunk yet discovered

The fallen meteorite has turned into a cash cow in the Urals. Both experts and amateurs are aggressively searching the area for remnants, while entrepreneurs sell dozens of 'meteorite fragments' online, print t-shirts, guide tours and bake cookies.

The biggest officially-confirmed fragment of the meteorite was found on Monday by a local ski expedition.

"It weighs about a kilogram," Viktor Grokhovsky from the Urals University says, "We haven't precisely weighed it yet, since it needs to be conserved first so not to get acidified."

The number of fragments found by authorized meteorite specialists amounts to a few hundred by now. Online 'meteorite' sales, though, suggest there are hundreds more, only with no way of proving that any of them are real.

Grokhovsky believes bunches more are still to be found, including a possible biggest chunk that he says may lie at the bottom of Lake Chebarkul. It could be up to 60cm in diameter, he assures.

Scientists and divers promise to scrutinize every centimeter of Lake Chebarkul. Teams are on the spot with all possible gear that could be helpful in the search.

If you cannot find a meteorite, you can buy one. Numerous online announcements offer meteorite fragments of smaller sizes on sale. Prices differ from a few bucks to a few thousand. The most expensive offer is placed at a Chinese online store at the price of 100,000 yuan (about US$16,000).

Meteorite sellers assure their fragments are a real deal. They say the extraterrestrial object will bring good luck and help treat depression. If you can’t afford a meteorite fragment, there are t-shirts with 'meteorite' imprints, and more related regalia likely to appear on sale soon.

The meteorite may bring luck - and money - not just to the physical owners of either fake or real things and their speculators, but also to some serious businesses. A local confectionery company has applied to license the brand names of 'Mystery Meteorite', 'Urals Meteorite' and 'Chebarkul Meteorite' planning to produce cookies and sweets.

Tourists can now get a guided tour to Lake Chebakul to see the layout of the historic meteorite fall first hand. Local authorities hope the now-famous lake will attract crowds of tourists into the region.

The local museum shares that hope. It has set up a display of photos and videos of the dramatic meteorite crash, which includes both rare and viral images.

The meteorite descended on Russia’s Urals Region early on February 15. The shock wave blew out hundreds of meters of window glass, injuring nearly 1,500 people. Nobody was killed in the incident, a fact considered a miracle by many, especially as scientists said the meteorite explosion in the atmosphere was 30 times stronger than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. - RT

Field Guide to Meteors and Meteorites (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series)

Meteorites: Witnesses of the Origin of the Solar Systems

Meteorite Hunting: How To Find Treasure From Space


**********

Remember the 1970's oil crisis and long gas lines?


**********


China's 400 “cancer villages,” and the government only just admitted it

China’s “growth at all costs” approach to development has meant industries can spew waste pretty much wherever they want. Drinking water sources? Sure. Farmland? Fine. That approach has poisoned entire towns, sending cancer rates soaring.

There are now so many that they’ve earned their own moniker: “cancer villages.” Conservative estimates have found more than 100 of them in China. But the number of cancer villages could be as high as 400, though, say recent reports.

At least the government is now acknowledging their existence. This admission came in its newly unveiled plan to curb the release of toxic chemicals—a major move considering these matters pose potential threats to its stability.

China’s water pollution is visibly rampant.

Of course, trash is the least worrisome problem. In a survey of 40,000 chemical and petrochemical plants, 23% of hazardous plants were within five kilometers (paywall), or three miles, upstream of drinking water sources, reports the South China Morning Post.

It’s already costing China a lot. Speaking with Britain’s The Telegraph, Deng said, “If the issue [of ground water pollution] is not properly solved, not only will it kill people but it will also drag down the entire healthcare system because of the number of cancer patients it causes.” The government now plans to spend $850 billion to clean up its water. Its track record is lousy, though. It spent $112 billion on this from 2005-10, but 43% of the water it monitors is still dangerous to humans.

Of course, China’s scary air has stolen the show of late. As of 2011, Beijing’s lung cancer rate had leapt 60% in the previous 10 years, even as smoking rates stayed stable, the deputy director of the Beijng Health Bureau told China Daily. So how much worse was the air in January and early February, when it was literally off the pollution charts?

China Academy of Sciences is starting to form an answer. It just reported that January’s noxious fug hanging over Beijing and other major cities contained the same chemicals as the “photochemical smog” that killed more than 800 Los Angeles residents in 1940-50.

A similar type of smog enshrouded London for four days in early December of 1952, causing the premature deaths of some 4,000 people (pdf, p. 7). (Most of these were respiratory and cardiovascular disease; the cancer rate isn’t clear.)

The Chinese researchers looking into this winter’s smog epidemic found that 800 million people were affected, spread over 1.4 million square kilometers (540,000 square miles). Hospital admissions in major cities soared during that time. China hasn’t reported any resulting mortality rates yet. But then, it also took decades for UK authorities to assess the December 1952 death toll—and that fog lasted only four days. - QZ

**********


Unknown carcass washes ashore in Wales

This mysterious creature was washed up on Tenby’s South Beach over the weekend.

The photographs were taken by 27 year-old Peter Bailey from Tenby who was walking his dog along the beach on Friday evening.

He told the Western Telegraph: "I was taking my dog for her evening walk across the south beach when she started acting out of character by howling and running round in circles.

"I ran up to her to see if she was ok and then I came across this hideous looking carcass. I could see it had little hair left on it's decomposing body.

"Immediately I thought it was a horse but it had claws like a bear and a body of a pig. Surprisingly it didn't smell." - Western Telegraph

**********

Could a Comet Hit Mars in 2014?

A recently discovered comet will make an uncomfortably-close planetary flyby next year — but this time it’s not Earth that’s in the cosmic crosshairs.

According to preliminary orbital prediction models, comet C/2013 A1 will buzz Mars on Oct. 19, 2014. The icy interloper is thought to originate from the Oort Cloud — a hypothetical region surrounding the solar system containing countless billions of cometary nuclei that were outcast from the primordial solar system billions of years ago.

We know that the planets have been hit by comets before (re: the massive Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 that crashed into Jupiter in 1994) and Mars, in particular, will have been hit by comets in the past. It’s believed Earth’s oceans were created, in part, by water delivered by comets — cometary impacts are an inevitable part of living in this cosmic ecosystem.

C/2013 A1 was discovered by ace comet-hunter Robert McNaught at the Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia, on Jan. 3. When the discovery was made, astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona looked back over their observations to find “prerecovery” images of the comet dating back to Dec. 8, 2012. These observations placed the orbital trajectory of comet C/2013 A1 through Mars orbit on Oct. 19, 2014.

Could the Red Planet be in for a potentially huge impact next year? Will Mars rovers Curiosity and Opportunity be in danger of becoming scrap metal?

It seems the likelihood of an awesome planetary impact is low — for now.

According to calculations by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), close approach data suggests the comet is most likely to make a close pass of 0.0007 AU (that’s approximately 63,000 miles from the Martian surface). However, there’s one huge caveat.

Due to uncertainties in the observations — the comet has only been observed for 74 days (so far), so it’s difficult for astronomers to forecast the comet’s precise location in 20 months time — comet C/2013 A1 may fly past at a very safe distance of 0.008 AU (650,000 miles). But to the other extreme, its orbital pass could put Mars directly in its path. At time of Mars close approach (or impact), the comet will be barreling along at a breakneck speed of 35 miles per second (126,000 miles per hour).

Also, we don’t yet know how big comet C/2013 A1 is, but comets typically aren’t small. If it did hit, the impact could be a huge, global event. But the comet’s likely location in 2014 is also highly uncertain, so this is by no means a “sure thing” for Mars impact (Curiosity, you can relax, for now).

One thing is looking likely, however. Mars could be in for its own “cometary spectacular.”

A flyby of that distance will mean that should C3/2013 A1 erupt with a tail and coma around its nucleus (as it becomes heated by solar radiation), our Mars rovers and orbiting armada of planetary observation satellites will have a very intimate view of this historic moment. It has the potential to be a more impressive sight than Comet ISON’s inner-solar system trek later this year. But understanding the nature of comets is hard to predict; we won’t know if the sun’s heating will be sufficient enough for the comet nucleus to erupt and start out-gassing for some time to come. - Discovery

The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must

Exploring Mars: Chronicles from a Decade of Discovery

Monday, February 25, 2013

Just the Facts?: Was the Chelyabinsk Meteor Real? -- Machiavelli Arrest Warrant Found -- Great Lakes Lights


Hi folks...after my early appearance on C2C (3-5am), I'm simply running on fumes today. So today's blog is going to be limited. Thanks again for your support. Lon

**********

Many Russians don't think Chelyabinsk meteor was actually a meteor

They say that Russia is the motherland of conspiracy theories, and public reaction to the sudden meteor strike a week ago that stunned people in the Ural mountains, and injured more than 1,200, seems to be proving that true.

A survey published today by the fairly staid Moscow daily Noviye Izvestia found that barely half its readers believe the official report that the blast was caused by a meteor.

According to the newspaper, the other half prefer to believe in an assortment of bizarre explanations, including that the blast was a secret US weapon test, an off-course ballistic missile, a message from God, a crashing alien spaceship, or even an extraterrestrial trojan horse carrying a deadly space virus to wipe out the Earth.

"Our people remember the Soviet past, when news of disasters was concealed or lied about," says Alexei Grazhdankin, deputy director of the Levada Center, an independent Moscow polling agency.

"We have no scientific polls on what people think about the Chelyabinsk event last week, but it's safe to assume the majority of Russians accept that it was a meteorite. However, our past surveys show that up to 25 percent of Russians do believe in UFOs. A lot of our people just prefer not to accept the safe explanations they were taught at school. Even when all necessary information is available, they don't want to believe it." - CS Monitor

**********

Over 60 students, two teachers faint in Pakistan

Lahore: Over 60 students and two teachers fainted in a school in Pakistan's Punjab province apparently after inhaling some hazardous fumes, officials said on Friday.

The incident occurred on Thursday in Rahim Yar Khan district, 400 kms from Lahore.

Officials of a state-run rescue service said that students started fainting shortly after classes began at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Kot Samaba.

The school's administration called the rescue service, whose personnel shifted over 60 students and two female teachers to Sheikh Zayed Medical College Hospital.

Doctors said they were out of danger.

"Owing to the timely response, lives of over three dozen schoolgirls and the teachers were saved," a rescue service spokesman said.

The school's administration believes the incident occurred due to a leak of gas from a pipeline adjacent to the building.

An official of the gas utility, however, said gas was not passing through pipelines that were recently installed near the school and that the incident may have occurred due to a gas leak in the school's science laboratory.

Punjab Governor Makhdoom Ahmed Maehmood directed the managing director of Sui Gas Company to take action against those responsible for the incident. - NDTV

**********


500-year-old arrest warrant for Machiavelli found

Prof Stephen Milner from Manchester University discovered the historic document by accident while researching town criers and the proclamations they read out in archives in Florence.

The 1513 proclamation, which called for the arrest of Machiavelli, eventually led to his downfall and death.

"When I saw it I knew exactly what it was and it was pretty exciting," said Prof Milner.

"When you realise this document marked the fall from grace of one the world's most influential political writers, it's quite a feeling.

"The Prince is a seminal work, with a lasting influence on political thought and culture. The term 'Machiavellian' and the naming of the Devil as 'Old Nick' all derive from this single work, but the circumstances of its composition have often been overlooked."

When the Medici family returned to power in Florence in 1512, Machiavelli was removed from his post in the city's chancery because of his association with the head of a rival faction.

His name was then linked with a conspiracy to overthrow the Medici. They issued the proclamation found by Prof Milner for his arrest.

"On the same day, he was imprisoned, tortured and later released and placed under house arrest outside the city," said the historian, an authority on Renaissance Italy.

Machiavelli, known as the Prince of Darkness, then wrote The Prince in the hope of regaining the approval of the Medicis.

"But there's no evidence to suggest they even read it," said Prof Milner, who is Visiting Professor at the Harvard Centre for Italian Renaissance Studies at Villa I Tatti in Florence.

Machiavelli's fortunes spiralled downwards and he died in abject poverty 14 years later.

The academic found the document while studying hundreds of town crier proclamations issued between 1470 and 1530.

He also found documents relating to the payment of four horsemen who scoured the streets of the Tuscan city for Machiavelli.

Florence is this year celebrating the 500th anniversary of Machiavelli's writing of The Prince, a political treatise which argues that the pursuit of power can justify the use of immoral means.

The celebrations include, on February 19, a reconstruction of the events surrounding his arrest and imprisonment. - Telegraph

The Prince

The Essential Writings of Machiavelli (Modern Library Classics)


**********



'Beyond The Edge Radio' podcast - February 24th

Podomatic podcast - Psychic/Medium Scotty Rorek

Stitcher Radio - Psychic/Medium Scotty Rorek

**********

Great Lakes Lights

The following is an unedited report recently forwarded to me:

On July 30, 2011 at around 11:30 pm I witnessed something extraordinary while camping on Lake Erie with my family at the Knight's Beach Resort in Haldimand, Ontario. Just above the trees which are about 30 feet high we observed 3 circular object that looked like fire balls. When I first caught a glimpse of them I panicked thinking that it was fire spreading from tree to tree but quickly realized that this was not fire at all. Instantly I knew that this was something very special. I had this overwhelming feeling of happiness because I always believed that there were extraterrestrials and other dimensions but never thought that in my lifetime I would experience anything that would indicate to me that in fact that was the case, until that very moment. That moment changed my life. I can tell you for certain that this was not anything "earthly". These spheres/orbs glided over our campground occasionally slowing down and pausing. We all felt like we were being watched. As they started to move away from the camp my brother in law and I ran after them in hope that we would see something more. We were both afraid but just could not resist the urge to find out more. We quickly lost sight of them as they started to disappear behind the trees and we decided to run down to the beech to see if we could get a better look. By the time we got there they were gone. However, there were at least a dozen of people at the beech who just witnessed the same thing. We were told by several witnesses that there was a very bright shooting star in the sky which stopped suddenly and after a few moments broke into 3 lights. The lights flickered in different colours as if they were signalling each other. They then flew towards the shore of Lake Erie and appeared orange and red in colour. As they glided over the campground they paused and flickered again before taking off at a very high speed.

What is even more interesting is that when we returned home, Burlington Ontario, we overheard conversations between the locals about these fireballs over Lake Ontario. Apperantly these things were seen all overt the place. While I was shopping at a local grocery store I overheard a conversation between two older woman talking about watching these fireballs from their building balconies on lakeshore diving into Lake Ontario. They also commented that the fire departments were flooded with calls about fire balls. I thought I was in a middle of some kind of a cheesy 80's TV movie. I mean how bizarre is this?! I myself have never seen them in Burlington but we did wonder why the fire trucks were constantly rushing through the city. It is not common to hear fire trucks very frequently in this city. Immediately I started googling about this and looking in the local papers for any stories and to my surprise found absolutely nothing. How can there be NOTHING?! I later found a submission in the Spectator by a man whose daughters witnessed these orbs but he was basically ridiculed. People commented that they were Chinese lanterns, but I can tell you I know what a Chinese lantern looks like because I have seen them before and this was definitely not even close. I decided to send an email to the journalist at the Hamilton Spectator asking him how as a journalist he had the right to blow this guy off without doing any investigative work but he blew me off and ridiculed me.

What is really upseting to me is that we did not get a chance to film what we saw. I have since found some videos on youtube of people in Burlington and all over the world observing these things, but I have yet to see one where they were as close to the ground as the ones we saw. I forgot to mention that they did not appear to be very large. My guess would be about 3 feet in diameter. Also, when i say that they are red and orange in colour, picture heating a metal object. It had a bright orange centre and red around it. they looked like they were super hot and did not make a sound.

I have now become completely obsessed with this and continue to search for information. From watching many shows such as ancient aliens, ufo files and many others since my experience I understand that ancient civilizations have recorded existence of these orbs.

That was a truly incredible experience for me.

Sanja

Aliens in America: A UFO Hunter's Guide to Extraterrestrial Hotpspots Across the U.S.

High Strangeness: Hyperdimensions & The Process Of Alien Abduction


Saturday, February 23, 2013

The Vancouver Island Photo: Best UFO Evidence To Date?


Ufologist James Fox recently announced a $100,000 reward for proof of an alien spacecraft. The following case is considered by many to be the best evidence of extraterrestrial craft...the Hannah McRoberts photograph. It'll be interesting to see what evidence is uncovered in the near future because of the reward offer:

On October 8, 1981 at about 11:00 A.M., Hannah McRoberts is with her husband and their daughter on a service area close to Kelsey Bay, on the East coast of the Vancouver Island. During their pause they notice a cloud which passes on the top of a mountainous peak and makes the impression of an erupting volcano in eruption spitting a huge vaporblast. They find the scene rather amusing and worth a picture.

Several days afterwards, when the photographs were developed, they noticed on one of the photographs a discoidal object in the sky. They were surprised as they do not remember noticing anything in the sky at the time when they shot the photograph.

They contacted David Dodge, director of the of Vancouver planetarium. He examined the picture and remains disturbed by this singular photograph. He contacts Ufologist, David Powell, who analyzes the pictures and cannot find any evidence of tampering.

Richard F. Haines, a retired NASA scientist who became a famous ufologist, gets interested in the Vancouver case. He carries out a thorough analysis of the negative and cannot discover any tampering either. His analysis is inserted in the scientific report of the Sturrock Panel. - Science et Vie #976, January 1999


-----

THE VANCOUVER ISLAND PHOTOGRAPH

Mrs. Hannah McRoberts (aged 25) of Campbell River, BC, was with her family at a rest-area some thirty miles to the north of Kelsey Bay on the east coast of Vancouver Island, from October 10 to 15, 1981. During this five-day period she says she took a number of pictures of her family and of the local scenery, using her 35 mm Mamiya camera with a 50-55 mm lens, 125 speed, and ASA 100 film. At one point during the holiday they observed that one of the mountain peaks was surmounted by a cloud somewhat suggestive, as they described it, of "a volcano issuing steam", so Mrs. McRoberts snapped that as well. None of the party noticed anything else in the air at the time, and the presence of the UFO was therefore only discovered by them when the prints and negatives came back to them after processing.

The resulting photograph shows an object to the right of and above the peak and the plume of cloud. This photo came to the attention of Mr. David A. C. Powell of Vancouver, who is on the staff of the McMilllan Planetarium in that city, who in turn contacted Bill Allan and provided him with an enlargement, and also got in contact the APRO of Tucson, Arizona, the respected American UFO investigation group who claim now to be the oldest in the world.

In the meantime, Mr. W. K. Allan was able to speak with Mrs. Hannah McRoberts and to interview her on CKOV Kelowna open line radio programme, in the course of which he formed the opinion that her story was entirely genuine and that what we have here is therefore a "legitimate classical type UFO photo."

(The place where Mrs. McRoberts says she took her photograph lies incidentally, some 450 kms or so to the north-west of Mount Rainier in the US State of Washington, where, as readers will recall, Kenneth Arnold claimed on June 24, 1947 to have seen his famous flight of nine saucers moving in formation at 1,200 mph and at an altitude of 10,000 ft over the Cascade Range.)

THE EXAMINATION OF THE PRINTS IN UK AND USA

Very wisely indeed, in view of past experience (what a story there is to be told, one day, about the interceptions of UFO photos and UFO reports from the public mails - and all over the world!) Mr. Allan had arranged that the negative of this photograph should remain very firmly in the hands of Mrs. McRoberts herself.

APRO had meanwhile passed their prints of the picture to one of their most eminent specialist consultants, Dr. James Harder, who is the Professor of Engineering in the University of California at Berkeley, and he and APRO agreed too that the negative should remain where it was.

Here in Britain we passed our copies of the prints to FSR's photographic consultant Mr. Percy Hennell, who is generally regarded as the leading expert in this country in all matters where colour photography is concerned.

THE VERDICT ON THE PRINTS

After careful scrutiny, Mr. Hennell informs us that he would naturally have preferred to have the actual negative in hand for, as he warns, all kinds of hoaxes are possible, and do occur. Nevertheless, he says that he finds nothing dubious or suspicious about the picture, though he does warn us that, if the picture is indeed genuine, then the disc must have been of enormous size - several hundreds of feet wide - to have shown up so large at such a distance! (There have indeed been frequent reports, over the years, of discs estimated to be of such sizes- indeed in some cases of discs believed to be as much as 1000 ft in diameter, as for example in the confidential report which APRO published a good many years ago, and which they had received direct from the pilot and co-pilot of an American troop-carrying plane which, while en route from Tokyo to South Vietnam with a party of American soldiers, encountered two enormous metallic discs that flew on a parallel course with them for half an hour.)

THE VERDICT OF DR. JAMES HARDER

We now see, from APRO Bulletin, Vol. 30, No. 12, that Dr. James Harder submitted his report on the photo on November 4, 1982, and they give their own conclusion, which is as follows:- "All this considered, the photo presented here appears to be an excellent and probably genuine photo of a classical disc photographed in daylight. Although unlikely, if further information and clarification is available, it will be presented in a future issue of the Bulletin."

In view of the obviously very great interest which this photo will evoke, I take the liberty of quoting in full Dr. Harder's opinion as given in APRO Bulletin Vol. 30, No. 12 -

"Generally I feel that the best test of authenticity is in the good reputation of the photographer, insofar as it is impossible to prove a negative - in this case that there is no possibility of a fraud. However, some of the indicators of an authentic photograph can help establish likelihood of an authentic photo. These are -

1. That the negative involved is one of a sequence of outdoor pictures and that the frame in question is not an isolated one. One way of producing a hoax is to re-photograph a positive print onto which has pasted an addition. To do a good job of hoaxing then one would have to re-photograph an entire roll of negative film.

2. That there are no inconsistencies in the lighting of the strange object and the rest of he scene. In the subject photo, I note that the shadows in the lower left of the scene indicate a Sun position nearly behind the camera. There is a reflection on the forward face of the UFO that is consistent with this Sun position. There also seems to be a bright spot under the UFO not connected with external lighting - maybe a light on the UFO.

3. With the right equipment, it is possible to make certain measurements of negative density of the UFO image and of other images of objects at estimated distances from the lens. Here the object is to show that the unknown is not nearby - and thus not a hubcap or other such object thrown into the air. The idea is to measure, from the image of the object at a known distance, the atmospheric 'extinction coefficient'. On a clear day, with a low value, contrasts between dark shadowed areas and brightly lit areas retain their distinction over greater distances. On hazy days, the light and dark areas blend towards a mid-range shade, giving the appearance that distant mountains have of being one shade of grey. Nearby shadows can show their true darkness, as opposed to the lighter shade of distant shadows. But in this picture there are no nearby shadows to serve as a standard, only shadows of trees in the lower left bottom.

It has been alleged that edges become fuzzy at greater distances and that this can help distinguish nearby objects from those far away. I know of no theoretical reason for this based on the optical properties of the atmosphere, but will ask Jim Lorenzen if we have a consultant who could be more sure of this. After all, we do take remarkably clear pictures from space with no trouble from edge-blurring of objects on the ground, and that is through 14.7 lbs per square inch of air in the path.

So proving authenticity is likely to be elusive, insofar as there is only the evidence of internal consistency to go on. I wish I could be more positive, but then there is so much evidence of other sorts for the reality of UFOs that we shouldn't have to add to it excepting for those who are beyond believing anyway."

POSTSCRIPT

In a further letter from Mr. W. K. Allan, he comments on Dr. Harder's reference to the fact that Mrs. McRoberts photo is one of a sequence of outdoor pictures, and says: "It is unfortunate that the importance of keeping the individual exposures on the roll unseparated was not fully realized, but when I saw the negative it was still unseparated from one of the family snaps."

With regard to the lady who took the photograph of this UFO, Mr. Allan goes on to say: "What is of great importance to me is the fact that Hannah McRoberts is the niece of one of Canada's leading nuclear engineers, a man in charge of a multi-billion dollar electrical generating complex, whom I have known continuously since his attendance in my class at Western Canada High School in Calgary, Alberta." - Gordon Creighton / Richard Haines

NOTE: you may want to read Richard Haines' paper on PDF - A Scientifically Based Analysis of an Alleged UFO Photograph...Lon


The UFO Magazine UFO Encyclopedia: The Most Compreshensive Single-Volume UFO Reference in Print

Photography Methods for the UFO Hunter: A "How-To" Book for the Discerning Reader who Wishes to Photograph UFOs

UFO Briefing Document: The Best Available Evidence