One of the most extraordinary mystery beasts of the world is the Minhocão. Relatively unknown to the rest of the world, the Minhocão has been reported from the forests of South America since the 19th century. The Minhocão is commonly described as a giant worm-like animal up to 75 feet long, with black scaly skin and two tentacle-like structures protruding from its head. Known best as being a burrowing animal, the Minhocão is commonly blamed for houses and roads collapsing into the earth. It is also said to frequently visit the local lakes and rivers of the areas in which it's reported.
The first published reference to the Minhocão appeared in the American Journal of Science in an article written by Auguste de Saint-Hilaire. In the article Saint-Hilaire stated several instances where a Minhocão was seen near fords of rivers. Some of these reports had a Minhocão snatching livestock and dragging them underwater! All of instances he reported took place in the Brazilian province of Goyaz. Saint-Hilaire also stated his belief that the name Minhocão is derived from the Portuguese word meaning earthworm, minhoca.
Publications regarding the Minhocão ceased until 1877, when zoologist Fritz Müller wrote an article on the beast for a German publication Zoologische Garten. Müller's article included new information on the Minhocão, including reports of huge mysterious trenches that were so big they'd divert rivers and destroy orchards. Unlike Saint-Hilaire's article, Müller's included actual sightings of the Minhocão. The following is of one of these sightings, which took place in the Paranà State in the 1840s:
A black woman going to draw water from a pool near a house one morning ... saw a short distance off an animal which she described as being as large as a house moving off along the ground. ... In the same district a young man saw a huge pine suddenly overturned ... he found the surrounding earth in movement, and an enormous worm-like black animal in the middle of it, about twenty-five meters long, and with two horns on its head.
Müller also mentioned a story told by Lebino José dos Santos who had heard tales of a dead Minhocão being found near Arapehy, Uruguay. According to the tale the creature was found lodged between two rocks, the reputed skin was said to be "as thick as the bark of a pine-tree" and armored with "scales like those of an armadillo". A sighting of a live Minhocão near Lages, Brazil in 1870 by Francisco de Amaral Varella, he said he:
... saw lying on the bank of the Rio das Caveiras a strange animal of gigantic size, nearly one meter in thickness, not very long, and with a snout like a pig, but whether it had legs or not he could not tell. ... whilst calling his neighbors to his assistance, it vanished, not without leaving palpable marks behind it in the shape of a trench ...
With the end of the 19th century also came the end of Minhocão sightings. There are still large mysterious trenches from time to time, but no actual sightings. Some researchers believe that the Minhocão, sadly, went extinct, while others think it is more likely that Minhocãos are still seen, but are thought to be giant anacondas and end up being reported as giant anacondas. There is still the question of what the Minhocãos could possibly be. Some researchers take into account that it is said to be a giant earthworm. There are giant earthworms, but these species don't grow over 12 feet and are only native to Australia. Also despite their large sizes, these giant earthworms are only about an inch thick. Another fact that may debunk the giant earthworm theory is that earthworms are not predators like some reports state the Minhocão may be.
Some researchers say that the Minhocão are surviving glyptodont, a large armadillo-like animal believed to have gone extinct in the Pleistocene. Researchers say that the glyptodont would be capable of digging the mysterious trenches and burrowing underground, it also had and armored shell over it's back. What is normally not mentioned about the glyptodont is that it was not a borrowing animal and it was probably not capable of doing so. There is also the fact that they do not fit any descriptions of the Minhocão.
Yet another theory goes on to say that the Minhocão is a lepidosiren (serpentine South American lungfish). If a lepidosiren were to grow to a large enough size it could explain the sightings of Minhocão near waterways. The large trenches could also be caused by a lepidosiren when it unburrows itself from the ground and returns to the rivers. One of the most likely theories of the Minhocão's identity was proposed by cryptozoologist Karl Shuker. He believes that the Minhocão may be a form of caecilian, a worm-like burrowing amphibian. Caecilians are native to South America and some fit the description and lifestyle of Minhocão perfectly, only in a smaller form. The largest of the caecilians only gets up to 5 feet. If one species does grow to enormous lengths then the Minhocão mystery would be solved.
The true identity of the Minhocão will remain hidden until one can be caught or good footage of it can be obtained. However it seems unlike that we will ever know the truth. Without a sighting of an actual animal in over a 130 years it may be extinct by now. Hopefully this is not the case and some day soon a living Minhocão will be discovered in the rainforests of South America.
P/S:i think i watched the movie about this creature before..
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
The Moca vampire
Coinciding with the overwhelming number of cattle mutilations occurring in the United States and in the rest of the world at that time, Puerto Ricans discovered that their livestock was being slain by a mysterious, unseen assailant. They would have been even more distressed to learn that the same situation would replay itself twenty years later, courtesy of the ubiquitous Chupacabras.
In February 1975, a Puerto Rican newspaper ran one of the very first headlines concerning the wave of mysterious animal deaths to occur in the vicinity of the small town of Moca, on the island’s western side.
The entity, dubbed “The Moca Vampire” by the press, kicked off its killing spree in Barrio Rocha, a sector of the town of Moca, where it took the lives of a number of animals in a grisly manner never seen before. Fifteen cows, three goats, two geese and a pig were found dead with bizarre perforations on their hides, suggesting that a sharp instrument had been inserted into the hapless bovines. Autopsies showed that the animals had been thoroughly relieved of blood, as if consumed by some predator.
On March 7, 1975, a cow belonging to Rey Jiménez was found dead in Moca’s Barrio Cruz, presenting deep, piercing wounds on its skull and a number of scratches around the wounds on its body. Jiménez’s cow was added to the growing list of victims, which now totaled well over thirty.
As the number of victims grew, the Moca Vampire acquired an identity of its own, much in the same way that the Chupacabras would twenty years later. Speculation as to its nature was rife: many believed it was a supernatural “bird”, like the one seen by María Acevedo, a Moca resident who noticed that a strange animal had landed on her home’s zinc rooftop in the middle of the night. According to Acevedo’s testimony, the bird pecked at the rusty rooftop and at the windows before taking flight, issuing a terrifying scream. Others more readily accepted any suggestion that it was a space alien, an occupant of the UFOs reported on an almost daily basis over Puerto Rico at the time. Some clung to the belief that a gigantic vampire bat had somehow made it from the mainland to the Caribbean, slaking its thirst on the local cattle. Only days later, farmer Cecilio Hernández notified authorities that the elusive Moca Vampire had slain thirty-four chickens on his property at some point during the night. The supernatural entity was by now responsible for ninety animal deaths in a two week period.
A faint ray of hope—soon to be dissipated by harsh reality—appeared during this critical moment in the crisis: another farmer, Luis Torres, became the man of the hour after slaying two enormous snakes (Puerto Rican boas) measuring an unheard-of length of six feet. Torres had captured the snakes as they stood ready to attack a 600-pound heifer. The media hailed this act of heroism as the “solution to the mutilation riddle”; citizens could finally issue a collective sigh of relief.
However, the Moca Vampire had its own agenda. On March 18, 1975, two goats belonging to Hector Vega, a resident of Moca’s Barrio Pueblo, were found drained of blood. Puncture marks on the goats’ necks were the unmistakable sign that the strange entity causing the deaths was still at large and hungrier than ever: it returned to Vega’s farm the following night to finish off ten more goats and wound another seven. The horrified farmer also discovered that ten additional goats had gone missing.
P/S:sounds creepy..dont u think so?
In February 1975, a Puerto Rican newspaper ran one of the very first headlines concerning the wave of mysterious animal deaths to occur in the vicinity of the small town of Moca, on the island’s western side.
The entity, dubbed “The Moca Vampire” by the press, kicked off its killing spree in Barrio Rocha, a sector of the town of Moca, where it took the lives of a number of animals in a grisly manner never seen before. Fifteen cows, three goats, two geese and a pig were found dead with bizarre perforations on their hides, suggesting that a sharp instrument had been inserted into the hapless bovines. Autopsies showed that the animals had been thoroughly relieved of blood, as if consumed by some predator.
On March 7, 1975, a cow belonging to Rey Jiménez was found dead in Moca’s Barrio Cruz, presenting deep, piercing wounds on its skull and a number of scratches around the wounds on its body. Jiménez’s cow was added to the growing list of victims, which now totaled well over thirty.
As the number of victims grew, the Moca Vampire acquired an identity of its own, much in the same way that the Chupacabras would twenty years later. Speculation as to its nature was rife: many believed it was a supernatural “bird”, like the one seen by María Acevedo, a Moca resident who noticed that a strange animal had landed on her home’s zinc rooftop in the middle of the night. According to Acevedo’s testimony, the bird pecked at the rusty rooftop and at the windows before taking flight, issuing a terrifying scream. Others more readily accepted any suggestion that it was a space alien, an occupant of the UFOs reported on an almost daily basis over Puerto Rico at the time. Some clung to the belief that a gigantic vampire bat had somehow made it from the mainland to the Caribbean, slaking its thirst on the local cattle. Only days later, farmer Cecilio Hernández notified authorities that the elusive Moca Vampire had slain thirty-four chickens on his property at some point during the night. The supernatural entity was by now responsible for ninety animal deaths in a two week period.
A faint ray of hope—soon to be dissipated by harsh reality—appeared during this critical moment in the crisis: another farmer, Luis Torres, became the man of the hour after slaying two enormous snakes (Puerto Rican boas) measuring an unheard-of length of six feet. Torres had captured the snakes as they stood ready to attack a 600-pound heifer. The media hailed this act of heroism as the “solution to the mutilation riddle”; citizens could finally issue a collective sigh of relief.
However, the Moca Vampire had its own agenda. On March 18, 1975, two goats belonging to Hector Vega, a resident of Moca’s Barrio Pueblo, were found drained of blood. Puncture marks on the goats’ necks were the unmistakable sign that the strange entity causing the deaths was still at large and hungrier than ever: it returned to Vega’s farm the following night to finish off ten more goats and wound another seven. The horrified farmer also discovered that ten additional goats had gone missing.
P/S:sounds creepy..dont u think so?
Lusca
The lusca is a name given to a sea monster reported from the Carribean. It has been suggested by cryptozoologists, that the lusca is a hypothesised giant octopus of immense size (Octopus giganteus). Many reports of the creature are from the blue holes, off Andros, one of the Bahamas. They are not to be confused with the known giant octopus, which is a member of the scientifically defined genus, Enteroctopus, and grow to about thirty feet in size.
The Lusca said to grow over 75 feet long, or even 200 feet long, although many skeptics dispute these claims as there are no proven cases of other species growing to half these lengths. Also to attack properly on the surface, the octopus would have to have one tentacle on the sea floor to balance itself, this would mean that such accounts, if real, would have to take place in relatively shallow water.
Other descriptions also mention that it can change colour, a characteristic it has in common with smaller octopuses. The supposed habitat is rugged underwater terrain, large undersea caves, the edge of the continental shelf etc, where large crustaceans can be found, which it is supposed they feed on.
P/S:i think Lusca is the same with the one appeared in the Pirates Of The Carribean 2..
The Lusca said to grow over 75 feet long, or even 200 feet long, although many skeptics dispute these claims as there are no proven cases of other species growing to half these lengths. Also to attack properly on the surface, the octopus would have to have one tentacle on the sea floor to balance itself, this would mean that such accounts, if real, would have to take place in relatively shallow water.
Other descriptions also mention that it can change colour, a characteristic it has in common with smaller octopuses. The supposed habitat is rugged underwater terrain, large undersea caves, the edge of the continental shelf etc, where large crustaceans can be found, which it is supposed they feed on.
P/S:i think Lusca is the same with the one appeared in the Pirates Of The Carribean 2..
The Champ
Reports of the Lake Champlain monster named Champ date back over a hundred years. The creature, which is said to resemble a plesiosaur, has been compared to the Loch Ness Monster in its appearance. Through the years, though, the description of Champ has changed drastically- from a gigantic snake-like creature to the now common plesiosaur body structure.
The first report of Champ stems from a New York Times article from July 9, 1873. The story outlines an encounter several railroad workers had with the creature as they laid track around the lake. The crew claimed to see the head of an enormous serpent, which was rapidly approaching their location. The creature then turned away and allowed the men a better view. The body "seemed to be covered with bright silver-like scales" and water would occasionally flow out of the creature's nostrils, like a fountain, up to twenty feet into the air. The head was snake like, with "small and piercing" eyes and a mouth with "two rows of teeth." The creature's tail resembled that of a fish.
The characteristics reported by the workers do not match up with modern day sightings or evidence. Missing are the now the commonly reported flippers and thick body. Soon after the initial sighting by the railroad crew, farmers began to report missing livestock. Upon investigation, tracks had been found which suggested the cattle had been dragged into the lake. Locals claimed to see "bright and hideous looking eyes" in caves around the lake. Hunting parties were created to help locate and kill the creature but after searching the shoreline and local farms, they came up fruitless.
In August 1880, a small steamship named the W.B. Eddy struck a creature and nearly capsized. The head and neck of the beast surfaced about one hundred feet away, giving passengers quite a fright. On August 9 of the same year, the crew of the Molyneaux thought they had captured the creature in a clump of weeds. Although hidden below the water and out of sight, the crew fired upon the area to kill the animal. After a strange howl, the creature escaped only to be chased down and shot repeatedly. The crew claims the creature sank into the blood red water and "would never to rise more by its own exertions." The body could not be recovered- even after P.T. Barnum placed a $50,000 bounty on the carcass.
On July 31, 1883, Clinton County Sheriff Nathan Mooney reported a snake, or other water creature, which was about twenty-five to thirty feet long. Sightings continued almost daily for several weeks.
Champ took on a new form in the 1970s- the creature began to resemble the Loch Ness monster. The frequency of reports has died down considerably and each report seems to include a different creature.
The biggest breakthrough in the Champ investigation came from Anthony and Sandra Mansi as they were driving past Saint Alban's Bay in early 1977. They decided to stop and let their children play in the water as the couple relaxed on the beach. The Mansi's parked their car and walked about one hundred feet across a field before descending a six-foot bank. The children began to play in the water as Anthony rushed back to their car to retrieve a pair of sunglasses and a camera. As Sandra watched the water, she noticed turbulence about one hundred fifty feet into the lake. Moments later, a gigantic creature rose from the abyss and slowly swam forward. The creature had a small head, long neck and a humped back. The couple ushered their children from the water as Sandra quickly took one photograph before the beast could slide beneath the waves.
Fear of public reticule led the couple to remain secretive of the sighting as Sandra placed the photo in a family album. The negative was soon lost as the family forgot of the encounter. Years later, Sandra showed the picture to several friends and coworkers.
Eventually a Wilton, New York social studies teacher learned of the picture and sighting and started to investigate. The teacher, known as Zarzynski, studied the photo and determined it had not been doctored. A Vertebrate Zoologist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History concluded the creature did not resemble any known animals of the area. Since the photograph included no reference points, Paul LeBlond had to create an equation based on the waves and wind of the lake. LeBlond found the creature was between twenty-four and seventy eight feet in length. Another analysis of the waves determined the creature came up from beneath the water and had not been dragged to the location.
Due to the amazing clarity of the photograph and such a close and vivid encounter, it seems strange Sandra did not come forward sooner. It seems even stranger, though, that she only took one photograph. In the 1970s, Zarynski formed the Lake Champlain Phenomena Investigation but there studies have to yet to determine anything conclusive.
P/S:i believed that if the Champ is real..it will also hoping for a peace life..without human's disturbance..
The first report of Champ stems from a New York Times article from July 9, 1873. The story outlines an encounter several railroad workers had with the creature as they laid track around the lake. The crew claimed to see the head of an enormous serpent, which was rapidly approaching their location. The creature then turned away and allowed the men a better view. The body "seemed to be covered with bright silver-like scales" and water would occasionally flow out of the creature's nostrils, like a fountain, up to twenty feet into the air. The head was snake like, with "small and piercing" eyes and a mouth with "two rows of teeth." The creature's tail resembled that of a fish.
The characteristics reported by the workers do not match up with modern day sightings or evidence. Missing are the now the commonly reported flippers and thick body. Soon after the initial sighting by the railroad crew, farmers began to report missing livestock. Upon investigation, tracks had been found which suggested the cattle had been dragged into the lake. Locals claimed to see "bright and hideous looking eyes" in caves around the lake. Hunting parties were created to help locate and kill the creature but after searching the shoreline and local farms, they came up fruitless.
In August 1880, a small steamship named the W.B. Eddy struck a creature and nearly capsized. The head and neck of the beast surfaced about one hundred feet away, giving passengers quite a fright. On August 9 of the same year, the crew of the Molyneaux thought they had captured the creature in a clump of weeds. Although hidden below the water and out of sight, the crew fired upon the area to kill the animal. After a strange howl, the creature escaped only to be chased down and shot repeatedly. The crew claims the creature sank into the blood red water and "would never to rise more by its own exertions." The body could not be recovered- even after P.T. Barnum placed a $50,000 bounty on the carcass.
On July 31, 1883, Clinton County Sheriff Nathan Mooney reported a snake, or other water creature, which was about twenty-five to thirty feet long. Sightings continued almost daily for several weeks.
Champ took on a new form in the 1970s- the creature began to resemble the Loch Ness monster. The frequency of reports has died down considerably and each report seems to include a different creature.
The biggest breakthrough in the Champ investigation came from Anthony and Sandra Mansi as they were driving past Saint Alban's Bay in early 1977. They decided to stop and let their children play in the water as the couple relaxed on the beach. The Mansi's parked their car and walked about one hundred feet across a field before descending a six-foot bank. The children began to play in the water as Anthony rushed back to their car to retrieve a pair of sunglasses and a camera. As Sandra watched the water, she noticed turbulence about one hundred fifty feet into the lake. Moments later, a gigantic creature rose from the abyss and slowly swam forward. The creature had a small head, long neck and a humped back. The couple ushered their children from the water as Sandra quickly took one photograph before the beast could slide beneath the waves.
Fear of public reticule led the couple to remain secretive of the sighting as Sandra placed the photo in a family album. The negative was soon lost as the family forgot of the encounter. Years later, Sandra showed the picture to several friends and coworkers.
Eventually a Wilton, New York social studies teacher learned of the picture and sighting and started to investigate. The teacher, known as Zarzynski, studied the photo and determined it had not been doctored. A Vertebrate Zoologist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History concluded the creature did not resemble any known animals of the area. Since the photograph included no reference points, Paul LeBlond had to create an equation based on the waves and wind of the lake. LeBlond found the creature was between twenty-four and seventy eight feet in length. Another analysis of the waves determined the creature came up from beneath the water and had not been dragged to the location.
Due to the amazing clarity of the photograph and such a close and vivid encounter, it seems strange Sandra did not come forward sooner. It seems even stranger, though, that she only took one photograph. In the 1970s, Zarynski formed the Lake Champlain Phenomena Investigation but there studies have to yet to determine anything conclusive.
P/S:i believed that if the Champ is real..it will also hoping for a peace life..without human's disturbance..
A Brief History of the Devil's Triangle (Bermuda triangle)
Limbo of the Lost. The Twilight Zone. Hoodoo Sea. The Devil's Triangle. The vast three-sided segment of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by Bermuda, Puerto Rico and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, did not receive its most famous nickname until 1964, but reports of bizarre happenings there, or nearby, have been recorded for centuries. In fact, many claim that Christopher Columbus bore witness to the Bermuda Triangle's weirdness.
As the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria sailed through the area in 1492, it is reported that Columbus's compass went haywire and that he and his crew saw weird lights in the sky, but these events have mundane explanations. From the account in Columbus's journal, it is thought that his compass's slight inaccuracy stemmed from nothing more than the discrepancy between true north and magnetic north. As for the lights, Columbus wrote of seeing "a great flame of fire" that crashed into the ocean -- probably a meteor. He saw lights in the sky again on October 11, which, of course, was the day before his famous landing. The lights, brief flashes near the horizon, were spotted in the area where dry land turned out to be.
Another historical event retroactively attributed to the Bermuda Triangle is the discovery of the Mary Celeste. The vessel was found abandoned on the high seas in 1892, about 400 miles off its intended course from New York to Genoa. There was no sign of its crew of ten or what had happened to them. Since the lifeboat was also missing, it is quite possible that they abandoned the Mary Celeste during a storm that they wrongly guessed the ship could not weather. But what makes it even harder to call this a Bermuda Triangle mystery is that it the ship was nowhere near the Triangle -- it was found off the coast of Portugal.
The Bermuda Triangle legend really began in earnest on December 5, 1945, with the famed disappearance of Flight 19. Five Navy Avenger bombers mysteriously vanished while on a routine training mission, as did a rescue plane sent to search for them -- six aircraft and 27 men, gone without a trace. Or so the story goes.
When all the facts are laid out, the tale of Flight 19 becomes far less puzzling. All of the crewmen of the five Avengers were inexperienced trainees, with the exception of their patrol leader, Lt. Charles Taylor. Taylor was perhaps not at the height of his abilities that day, as some reports indicate that he had a hangover and failed in his attempts to pass off this flight duty to someone else.
With the four rookie pilots entirely dependent on his guidance, Taylor found that his compass malfunctioned soon into the flight. Taylor chose to continue the run on dead reckoning, navigating by sighting landmarks below. Being familiar with the islands of the Florida Keys where he lived, Taylor had reason to feel confident in flying by sight. But visibility became poor due to a brewing storm, and he quickly became disoriented.
Flight 19 was still in radio contact with the Fort Lauderdale air base, although the weather and a bad receiver in one of the Avengers made communication very spotty. They may have been guided safely home if Taylor had switched to an emergency frequency with less radio traffic, but he refused for fear they would be unable to reestablish contact under these conditions.
Taylor ended up thinking they were over the Gulf of Mexico, and ordered the patrol east in search of land. But in reality, they had been heading up the Atlantic coastline, and Taylor was mistakenly leading his hapless trainees much further out to sea. Radio recordings indicate that some of them suggested to Taylor that Florida was actually to the west.
A search party was dispatched, which included the Martin Mariner that many claim disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle along with Flight 19. While it is true that it never returned, the Mariner did not vanish; it blew up 23 seconds after takeoff, in an explosion that was witnessed by several at the base. This was unfortunately not an uncommon occurrence, because Mariners were known for their faulty gas tanks.
No known wreckage from Flight 19 has ever been recovered. One reasonable explanation is that Taylor led the planes so far into the Atlantic that they were past the continental shelf. There the ocean abruptly drops from a few hundred feet deep to several thousand feet deep. Planes and ships that sink to such depths are seldom seen again. The deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean, the 30,100-foot-deep Puerto Rico Trench, lies within the Bermuda Triangle.
Combining the circumstances of the failing compass, the difficulty of radio transmissions, and the absence of wreckage, tales of mysterious intervention befalling Flight 19 began to take form. Theories involving strange magnetic fields, time warps, Atlantis, and alien abduction began to appear. Even an official Navy report intimated that the Avengers had disappeared "as if they had flown to Mars."
About 200 prior and subsequent incidents have been attributed to the inherent strangeness of the area, which was forever christened the Bermuda Triangle by writer V. Gaddis in a 1964 issue of Argosy, a fiction magazine. Public interest in the "phenomenon" was whipped into a frenzy by Charles Berlitz's 1974 bestseller The Bermuda Triangle, a sensationalized and thoroughly inaccurate account that shunned the facts in favor of mysterious excitement.
There are two major obstacles to taking the Bermuda Triangle legend seriously. The first is that most of the associated mishaps can be explained by rational means. The second is that most of the associated mishaps did not occur within the Bermuda Triangle. If you plot all of the alleged instances of the area's malevolent influence on a map, you find that only a handful have actually happened within the Triangle's borders. Sea disasters as distant as Portugal, Ireland and the Pacific and Indian Oceans have been blamed on the Bermuda Triangle. We might then just as well rename it as "The Worldwide Curse of All Seas." Some have turned this fact on its head by proposing this as evidence that the Devil's Triangle is expanding in scope.
P/S:Others may respond that it is evidence that accidents will happen,no matter where exactly on the land, on the sea or in the air they take place.
As the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria sailed through the area in 1492, it is reported that Columbus's compass went haywire and that he and his crew saw weird lights in the sky, but these events have mundane explanations. From the account in Columbus's journal, it is thought that his compass's slight inaccuracy stemmed from nothing more than the discrepancy between true north and magnetic north. As for the lights, Columbus wrote of seeing "a great flame of fire" that crashed into the ocean -- probably a meteor. He saw lights in the sky again on October 11, which, of course, was the day before his famous landing. The lights, brief flashes near the horizon, were spotted in the area where dry land turned out to be.
Another historical event retroactively attributed to the Bermuda Triangle is the discovery of the Mary Celeste. The vessel was found abandoned on the high seas in 1892, about 400 miles off its intended course from New York to Genoa. There was no sign of its crew of ten or what had happened to them. Since the lifeboat was also missing, it is quite possible that they abandoned the Mary Celeste during a storm that they wrongly guessed the ship could not weather. But what makes it even harder to call this a Bermuda Triangle mystery is that it the ship was nowhere near the Triangle -- it was found off the coast of Portugal.
The Bermuda Triangle legend really began in earnest on December 5, 1945, with the famed disappearance of Flight 19. Five Navy Avenger bombers mysteriously vanished while on a routine training mission, as did a rescue plane sent to search for them -- six aircraft and 27 men, gone without a trace. Or so the story goes.
When all the facts are laid out, the tale of Flight 19 becomes far less puzzling. All of the crewmen of the five Avengers were inexperienced trainees, with the exception of their patrol leader, Lt. Charles Taylor. Taylor was perhaps not at the height of his abilities that day, as some reports indicate that he had a hangover and failed in his attempts to pass off this flight duty to someone else.
With the four rookie pilots entirely dependent on his guidance, Taylor found that his compass malfunctioned soon into the flight. Taylor chose to continue the run on dead reckoning, navigating by sighting landmarks below. Being familiar with the islands of the Florida Keys where he lived, Taylor had reason to feel confident in flying by sight. But visibility became poor due to a brewing storm, and he quickly became disoriented.
Flight 19 was still in radio contact with the Fort Lauderdale air base, although the weather and a bad receiver in one of the Avengers made communication very spotty. They may have been guided safely home if Taylor had switched to an emergency frequency with less radio traffic, but he refused for fear they would be unable to reestablish contact under these conditions.
Taylor ended up thinking they were over the Gulf of Mexico, and ordered the patrol east in search of land. But in reality, they had been heading up the Atlantic coastline, and Taylor was mistakenly leading his hapless trainees much further out to sea. Radio recordings indicate that some of them suggested to Taylor that Florida was actually to the west.
A search party was dispatched, which included the Martin Mariner that many claim disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle along with Flight 19. While it is true that it never returned, the Mariner did not vanish; it blew up 23 seconds after takeoff, in an explosion that was witnessed by several at the base. This was unfortunately not an uncommon occurrence, because Mariners were known for their faulty gas tanks.
No known wreckage from Flight 19 has ever been recovered. One reasonable explanation is that Taylor led the planes so far into the Atlantic that they were past the continental shelf. There the ocean abruptly drops from a few hundred feet deep to several thousand feet deep. Planes and ships that sink to such depths are seldom seen again. The deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean, the 30,100-foot-deep Puerto Rico Trench, lies within the Bermuda Triangle.
Combining the circumstances of the failing compass, the difficulty of radio transmissions, and the absence of wreckage, tales of mysterious intervention befalling Flight 19 began to take form. Theories involving strange magnetic fields, time warps, Atlantis, and alien abduction began to appear. Even an official Navy report intimated that the Avengers had disappeared "as if they had flown to Mars."
About 200 prior and subsequent incidents have been attributed to the inherent strangeness of the area, which was forever christened the Bermuda Triangle by writer V. Gaddis in a 1964 issue of Argosy, a fiction magazine. Public interest in the "phenomenon" was whipped into a frenzy by Charles Berlitz's 1974 bestseller The Bermuda Triangle, a sensationalized and thoroughly inaccurate account that shunned the facts in favor of mysterious excitement.
There are two major obstacles to taking the Bermuda Triangle legend seriously. The first is that most of the associated mishaps can be explained by rational means. The second is that most of the associated mishaps did not occur within the Bermuda Triangle. If you plot all of the alleged instances of the area's malevolent influence on a map, you find that only a handful have actually happened within the Triangle's borders. Sea disasters as distant as Portugal, Ireland and the Pacific and Indian Oceans have been blamed on the Bermuda Triangle. We might then just as well rename it as "The Worldwide Curse of All Seas." Some have turned this fact on its head by proposing this as evidence that the Devil's Triangle is expanding in scope.
P/S:Others may respond that it is evidence that accidents will happen,no matter where exactly on the land, on the sea or in the air they take place.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Indonesia mysterious stone carvings
A remote rainforest in Sulawesi, Indonesia is now at the centre of a study into hundreds of mysterious stone carvings that only a few foreigners in the world have seen.
No one knows who built them or why, but the "megaliths" are believed to be built anywhere from 500 to 2,000 years ago.
There are over 400 pieces scattered around the rainforest.
Till now, nobody has been able to find the tools that carved them, or any clues to who could have built them.
These carvings include birds that laugh like humans and primates three inches high, but the most mind-boggling of them all are the statues that locals say were once humans.
Local legends tell of criminals long ago turned to stone but beyond that, little is known about the megaliths of Central Sulawesi.
"As part of the punishment after he was accused of rape, he was attacked and was cut on his shoulder, and that's what this scar is, which we presume is really just a crack in the rock," said Edward Pollard of The Nature Conservancy, referring to the Tokala'ea megalith.
Park officials are trying to protect them as the national park faces the threat of an encroaching population.
And that remains the biggest mystery yet, as experts cannot relate them to anything else in the world.
While locals say some of the megaliths were coffins for nobles or cisterns for water, there is no evidence to prove either.
So anyone's guess could be the answer to the riddle of Indonesia's ancient statues.
P/S:From: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southeastasia/view/53684/1/.html
No one knows who built them or why, but the "megaliths" are believed to be built anywhere from 500 to 2,000 years ago.
There are over 400 pieces scattered around the rainforest.
Till now, nobody has been able to find the tools that carved them, or any clues to who could have built them.
These carvings include birds that laugh like humans and primates three inches high, but the most mind-boggling of them all are the statues that locals say were once humans.
Local legends tell of criminals long ago turned to stone but beyond that, little is known about the megaliths of Central Sulawesi.
"As part of the punishment after he was accused of rape, he was attacked and was cut on his shoulder, and that's what this scar is, which we presume is really just a crack in the rock," said Edward Pollard of The Nature Conservancy, referring to the Tokala'ea megalith.
Park officials are trying to protect them as the national park faces the threat of an encroaching population.
And that remains the biggest mystery yet, as experts cannot relate them to anything else in the world.
While locals say some of the megaliths were coffins for nobles or cisterns for water, there is no evidence to prove either.
So anyone's guess could be the answer to the riddle of Indonesia's ancient statues.
P/S:From: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southeastasia/view/53684/1/.html
Reptile Men
Reports of Reptile Men are few and far between but the stories that do surface are truly strange. Although most people know of these creatures only by movies such as "The Creature from the Black Lagoon," the truth about these strange bipeds may be stranger then any movie magic.
On August 21, 1955 Darwin Johnson was swimming in the Ohio River when she felt a clawed hand grab her knee from the murky depths and pull her under. Darwin struggled to get free from the unseen attacker only to be pulled under again. After throwing herself upward Darwin was able to grab a friend's inner tube and get to safety. A green stain marked her leg with several clawed gashes.
Several sightings took place around the Miami River near Loveland, Ohio in 1955. On May 25 a driver was returning home at about 3:30 AM when he saw a trio of reptile-like bipeds. The man later claimed the creatures had lopsided chests, wide and lipless frog-like mouths and wrinkles instead of hair. One of the creatures held a spark-generating bar. The driver claimed to have watched the creatures for about three minutes before leaving to inform the local police. Police Chief John Fritz investigated the area but could find nothing.
Seventeen years later on March 3, 1972 at 1:00 AM, two different Loveland police officers claimed to have come in contact with a four-foot tall frog faced creature that had leathery skin. The duo saw the biped jump a guardrail and splash into the Little Miami River. About two weeks later one of the police officers caught sight of the creature and fired at it only to miss. Local farmers claimed to see the creature for some time.
Few other reports have surfaced with as much detail as the Ohio reports. Although limited these claims are just as amazing as the similar reports of hairy bipeds.
P/S:my god..seem like reptile men suppose is a mutant?
On August 21, 1955 Darwin Johnson was swimming in the Ohio River when she felt a clawed hand grab her knee from the murky depths and pull her under. Darwin struggled to get free from the unseen attacker only to be pulled under again. After throwing herself upward Darwin was able to grab a friend's inner tube and get to safety. A green stain marked her leg with several clawed gashes.
Several sightings took place around the Miami River near Loveland, Ohio in 1955. On May 25 a driver was returning home at about 3:30 AM when he saw a trio of reptile-like bipeds. The man later claimed the creatures had lopsided chests, wide and lipless frog-like mouths and wrinkles instead of hair. One of the creatures held a spark-generating bar. The driver claimed to have watched the creatures for about three minutes before leaving to inform the local police. Police Chief John Fritz investigated the area but could find nothing.
Seventeen years later on March 3, 1972 at 1:00 AM, two different Loveland police officers claimed to have come in contact with a four-foot tall frog faced creature that had leathery skin. The duo saw the biped jump a guardrail and splash into the Little Miami River. About two weeks later one of the police officers caught sight of the creature and fired at it only to miss. Local farmers claimed to see the creature for some time.
Few other reports have surfaced with as much detail as the Ohio reports. Although limited these claims are just as amazing as the similar reports of hairy bipeds.
P/S:my god..seem like reptile men suppose is a mutant?
Roswell Rods
Here is a bizarre new life form for cryptozoologists and skeptics to fight about - Rods! What are rods you ask? Rods are thin, unidentified organic life forms that fly (or ride air currents) in the sky. They range from 4 inches to over 100 feet long, some having short appendages. They fly rapidly and are almost impossible to see with the untrained eye. There are three distinct types of rods: centipede rods, white rods, and spears. They have been reported throughout the United States, Canada, and worldwide, and are visible in all seasons. They appear to be living, breathing organisms playing among the clouds.
Sightings of "rod-like" creatures in the sky date back to early history. Large, flying serpentine creatures were reported in China in 747 AD, in Europe during the late middle ages, and in the United States in 1894. However, these "rods" do not resemble serpentine creatures; instead, they look like string or rope floating in the sky.
At the Rods Web Site (www.roswellrods.com), one can view numerous photographs of alleged rods. Most pictures show what appears to be hairs on the camera lens, or possibly even string, twigs, yarn, and straw which had been caught up in air currents, and mistaken for rods. The web site provides a detailed instruction manual on how to best photograph rods. The clearest photos come from a cave in Mexico. Stills from the video show a small, bright white "line" which appears to be flying, using its appendages like fins to propel themselves in the air (much the same way a ray would do in water).
So, perhaps rods are insects, lens flares, birds, or reflections from the ground. Depending on the distance that "long" birds such as the heron or stork is from the camera, it could be misidentified as a rod. Also, a swarm of insects forming a line could be mistaken for a rod, as hundreds of insect bodies appear to be a single solid object. And yet another possibility is that unphotographed rods are visual hallucinations, or eye "floaters."
The web site shows many other "rod" photographs, one of which was taken by a Mrs. Linda Hewett over Canada in 1972. The picture shows a long, shadowy streak in the orange sky that was not noticed until the photo was developed. It looks more like something on the lens, or a shadow on a cloud, than a so-called rod.
Nevertheless, many people have claimed to have seen and photographed rods. Those who are convinced of their existence, make desperate claims that the skeptics will have "no other option but to agree that Rods are something unknown and...join us (the believers) in the investigation". They claim to have "solid evidence" to prove the existence of rods, however, the evidence is fuzzy, inconclusive photographs. What is needed is an actual body of a rod to be captured.
P/S:I am not necessarily dismissing the idea that rods are a strange new life form, but I feel we need more conclusive evidence before jumping to the conclusion that they are indeed real.
Sightings of "rod-like" creatures in the sky date back to early history. Large, flying serpentine creatures were reported in China in 747 AD, in Europe during the late middle ages, and in the United States in 1894. However, these "rods" do not resemble serpentine creatures; instead, they look like string or rope floating in the sky.
At the Rods Web Site (www.roswellrods.com), one can view numerous photographs of alleged rods. Most pictures show what appears to be hairs on the camera lens, or possibly even string, twigs, yarn, and straw which had been caught up in air currents, and mistaken for rods. The web site provides a detailed instruction manual on how to best photograph rods. The clearest photos come from a cave in Mexico. Stills from the video show a small, bright white "line" which appears to be flying, using its appendages like fins to propel themselves in the air (much the same way a ray would do in water).
So, perhaps rods are insects, lens flares, birds, or reflections from the ground. Depending on the distance that "long" birds such as the heron or stork is from the camera, it could be misidentified as a rod. Also, a swarm of insects forming a line could be mistaken for a rod, as hundreds of insect bodies appear to be a single solid object. And yet another possibility is that unphotographed rods are visual hallucinations, or eye "floaters."
The web site shows many other "rod" photographs, one of which was taken by a Mrs. Linda Hewett over Canada in 1972. The picture shows a long, shadowy streak in the orange sky that was not noticed until the photo was developed. It looks more like something on the lens, or a shadow on a cloud, than a so-called rod.
Nevertheless, many people have claimed to have seen and photographed rods. Those who are convinced of their existence, make desperate claims that the skeptics will have "no other option but to agree that Rods are something unknown and...join us (the believers) in the investigation". They claim to have "solid evidence" to prove the existence of rods, however, the evidence is fuzzy, inconclusive photographs. What is needed is an actual body of a rod to be captured.
P/S:I am not necessarily dismissing the idea that rods are a strange new life form, but I feel we need more conclusive evidence before jumping to the conclusion that they are indeed real.
Alien Felines: Eastern Panther
The "alien feline" mystery is a worldwide phenomena. Although the big cats are not as supernatural as the chupacabra, or as widely celebrated as bigfoot, the existence of such animals is as thoroughly debated. The eastern panther is one such cat that is officially listed as an extinct animal since the mid-late 1800s. However, this "ghost cat" is still reported through much of eastern Canada and the New England States in America.
Also known as the mountain lion, cougar, Klandagi, and catamount, the eastern panther generates dozens of sightings a year throughout its northeastern US range; and according to a December 5th National Post article, up to 40 sightings a year are recorded by the wildlife branch of the New Brunswick (Canada) government.
The animal is commonly described as a large predatory cat with a muscular body weighing about 100 pounds. It is about 4-7 feet long and is tawny coloured. Another species (or colour variation) is the all-black panther which has been reported in the state of Vermont several times.
In his book "Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls, and Unsolved Mysteries", Joseph Citro describes an encounter with a black panther by Marian Harpan Peduzzi in 1946. Peduzzi was walking on a dirt road in Berlin, Vermont, heading home for dinner at around 4 pm. She noticed what she thought was a black labrador, but when she studied it further, she realized it was a large cat...just 100-150 meters away. She quickly reached a friend's house. Her friend confirmed the sighting of the mysterious cat. After watching the panther for a few minutes, it got up and ran in the direction of the house, coming within 10 meters of the startled pair before changing directions and disappearing into the woods. The two women described the cat as being 4 feet long with a long tail and glossy black fur.
Evidence for the eastern panther is quite limited. Despite the large number of hunters that annually scour the woods, not one of these cats has been captured or shot. Not one cat has been hit by a car on any of the thousands of miles of highways all over the northeastern US and Canada. There are no live specimens, no plaster casts of tracks, no clear photographs. The only piece of tangible "evidence" is some grainy, black-and-white video footage taken by Roger Noble (Canada) in 1990.
Several theories attempt to explain the feline enigma. Some say the cats are transplanted western cougars or illegally purchased black panthers, which either escaped, or were released when their owners discovered they make poor pets. Nevertheless, the number of annual sightings suggests a larger population of cats than science is willing to support.
P/S:SOURCE: The National Post (Canada)
"Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls, And Unsolved Mysteries" by Joseph Citro
"The Eastern Panther" by Gerry Parker
Also known as the mountain lion, cougar, Klandagi, and catamount, the eastern panther generates dozens of sightings a year throughout its northeastern US range; and according to a December 5th National Post article, up to 40 sightings a year are recorded by the wildlife branch of the New Brunswick (Canada) government.
The animal is commonly described as a large predatory cat with a muscular body weighing about 100 pounds. It is about 4-7 feet long and is tawny coloured. Another species (or colour variation) is the all-black panther which has been reported in the state of Vermont several times.
In his book "Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls, and Unsolved Mysteries", Joseph Citro describes an encounter with a black panther by Marian Harpan Peduzzi in 1946. Peduzzi was walking on a dirt road in Berlin, Vermont, heading home for dinner at around 4 pm. She noticed what she thought was a black labrador, but when she studied it further, she realized it was a large cat...just 100-150 meters away. She quickly reached a friend's house. Her friend confirmed the sighting of the mysterious cat. After watching the panther for a few minutes, it got up and ran in the direction of the house, coming within 10 meters of the startled pair before changing directions and disappearing into the woods. The two women described the cat as being 4 feet long with a long tail and glossy black fur.
Evidence for the eastern panther is quite limited. Despite the large number of hunters that annually scour the woods, not one of these cats has been captured or shot. Not one cat has been hit by a car on any of the thousands of miles of highways all over the northeastern US and Canada. There are no live specimens, no plaster casts of tracks, no clear photographs. The only piece of tangible "evidence" is some grainy, black-and-white video footage taken by Roger Noble (Canada) in 1990.
Several theories attempt to explain the feline enigma. Some say the cats are transplanted western cougars or illegally purchased black panthers, which either escaped, or were released when their owners discovered they make poor pets. Nevertheless, the number of annual sightings suggests a larger population of cats than science is willing to support.
P/S:SOURCE: The National Post (Canada)
"Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls, And Unsolved Mysteries" by Joseph Citro
"The Eastern Panther" by Gerry Parker
Trapping Selma
American researcher Cliff Crook is in "friendly pursuit" of Bigfoot. Canadian researcher John Kirk is, as he put it during my interview with him in 1998, "searching for Ogopogo purely for the pleasure we derive from looking for it". Myself I´m trying to prove Selma, the Seljord Serpent and into the third year, I´m willing to try the rather controversial method of trapping the creature.
Call me gullible or whatever you like, but I sincerely believe that Selma and her relatives are down there. I have seen her performing on the surface. I have seen outlines of her on an echosounder and a side scan sonar. I have heard her on our recently introduced hydrophones. And some 500 witnesses to date are backing me and have told GUST what they have seen of her, too.
However, Selma, like other monsters around the world, is uncooperative when someone wants to prove them real, and I´m sure there are a number of perfectly normal reasons for this, the most likely one being a lack of adequate resources and professional personnel to handle the often very specialized equipment needed. We´re building up such a qualified team right now, and it´s becoming more operational for every new expedition.
Pictures, video, or film footage are good and not as easy to fake as some sceptics are telling us, but science requires a specimen alive or dead, and nothing less. With a captured animal, probing scientists can get tissue, blood and DNA samples, can examine them thoroughly, and catalogue them in the appropriate genus.
GUST2000 will use the COMET to try to capture a specimen of the Seljord Serpent. COMET is an abbreviation for Co-Operative Monster Eel Trap. This name is used to get us around the fact that these animals are protected and illegal to catch, or so the Norwegian authorities claim. In reality, no animal unproved by science can be protected; but we don´t want to lose the support we have in Norway, both from the public and the authorities.
Besides, a number of reliable witnesses have told us they have seen what they interpreted as "monster eels", both on the surface and under it. Either they are right and the Seljord Serpent is a strange eel species unknown to science; or there is a much stranger creature in the lake that, at some stage during its metamorphosis, changes from an eel-looking creature into a more established cryptid, i.e. a Nessie, Ogopogo or Storsie-type of creature, thicker in the middle, with a long neck and a small or large head, etc.
COMET is professionally made by InnFisk AS at Hornnes outside Kristiansand on the coast of southern Norway. It´s six metres long, 5 meters (15 feet) in circumference, and has a conelike opening where we expect a catch to enter, attracted by the live fish that are seemingly awaiting it further inside the trap. But a possible serpent will never reach these fish since they are in a section by themselves; and when it tries to find its way out again, it won’t.
Stein Uhleberg of InnFisk AS explained to us that common fish are unable to avoid getting trapped in a fishing-net, but eels are too smart for that and require an eel-buck. What we need to trap Selma is, of course, anyone's guess; but you´ve got to start somewhere, and Stein Uhleberg thinks that COMET is a good beginning
The idea to use a trap originally came from limnologist Dr. Atle Hindar at The Norwegian Institute for Water Research. At my interview in 1999 for our CD-ROM, "The Search for Selma", Dr. Hindar told me that this was what he would do if he were to prove a serpent in Lake Seljordsvatnet, adding they had used fish traps to catch known species that they wanted to examine further for one reason or the other.
COMET is meant to capture a baby serpent between 1-5 meters (3-15 feet) long. Two molecular biologists at a Norwegian university are standing by to take DNA and other samples. After that the creature will be released again into the lake. If this happens at GUST2000, we can promise that we have the connections to let the entire world know within 24 hours. Hold your breath!
P/S:Jan Sundberg is the President and founder of GUST (Global Underwater Search Team) and has been searching for the serpent in Lake Seljordsvatnet, Norway, since 1977, and will continue to do so in August 2000 with the sea serpent trap.
Call me gullible or whatever you like, but I sincerely believe that Selma and her relatives are down there. I have seen her performing on the surface. I have seen outlines of her on an echosounder and a side scan sonar. I have heard her on our recently introduced hydrophones. And some 500 witnesses to date are backing me and have told GUST what they have seen of her, too.
However, Selma, like other monsters around the world, is uncooperative when someone wants to prove them real, and I´m sure there are a number of perfectly normal reasons for this, the most likely one being a lack of adequate resources and professional personnel to handle the often very specialized equipment needed. We´re building up such a qualified team right now, and it´s becoming more operational for every new expedition.
Pictures, video, or film footage are good and not as easy to fake as some sceptics are telling us, but science requires a specimen alive or dead, and nothing less. With a captured animal, probing scientists can get tissue, blood and DNA samples, can examine them thoroughly, and catalogue them in the appropriate genus.
GUST2000 will use the COMET to try to capture a specimen of the Seljord Serpent. COMET is an abbreviation for Co-Operative Monster Eel Trap. This name is used to get us around the fact that these animals are protected and illegal to catch, or so the Norwegian authorities claim. In reality, no animal unproved by science can be protected; but we don´t want to lose the support we have in Norway, both from the public and the authorities.
Besides, a number of reliable witnesses have told us they have seen what they interpreted as "monster eels", both on the surface and under it. Either they are right and the Seljord Serpent is a strange eel species unknown to science; or there is a much stranger creature in the lake that, at some stage during its metamorphosis, changes from an eel-looking creature into a more established cryptid, i.e. a Nessie, Ogopogo or Storsie-type of creature, thicker in the middle, with a long neck and a small or large head, etc.
COMET is professionally made by InnFisk AS at Hornnes outside Kristiansand on the coast of southern Norway. It´s six metres long, 5 meters (15 feet) in circumference, and has a conelike opening where we expect a catch to enter, attracted by the live fish that are seemingly awaiting it further inside the trap. But a possible serpent will never reach these fish since they are in a section by themselves; and when it tries to find its way out again, it won’t.
Stein Uhleberg of InnFisk AS explained to us that common fish are unable to avoid getting trapped in a fishing-net, but eels are too smart for that and require an eel-buck. What we need to trap Selma is, of course, anyone's guess; but you´ve got to start somewhere, and Stein Uhleberg thinks that COMET is a good beginning
The idea to use a trap originally came from limnologist Dr. Atle Hindar at The Norwegian Institute for Water Research. At my interview in 1999 for our CD-ROM, "The Search for Selma", Dr. Hindar told me that this was what he would do if he were to prove a serpent in Lake Seljordsvatnet, adding they had used fish traps to catch known species that they wanted to examine further for one reason or the other.
COMET is meant to capture a baby serpent between 1-5 meters (3-15 feet) long. Two molecular biologists at a Norwegian university are standing by to take DNA and other samples. After that the creature will be released again into the lake. If this happens at GUST2000, we can promise that we have the connections to let the entire world know within 24 hours. Hold your breath!
P/S:Jan Sundberg is the President and founder of GUST (Global Underwater Search Team) and has been searching for the serpent in Lake Seljordsvatnet, Norway, since 1977, and will continue to do so in August 2000 with the sea serpent trap.
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