Phantoms and Monsters

New Zealand Reader Chronicles Close Encounter
UFO Landing Mystery - Barstow, CA - 12/12/09
Ritual Infant Trampling Reported In Indian Village
Where the Jackalope Roam...

New Zealand Reader Chronicles Close Encounter

Posted: 15 Dec 2009 05:37 PM PST

"Sir, I have read many of your reader's experiences. Because of your presentation, I have decided to come forward with a personal event that happened to me in 1987 while living in New Zealand. You have my permission to post this for your readers."

"One January morning, I set off on what should have been no more than a 3 hour drive to Auckland, NZ. I arrived at my destination feeling extremely tired and confused. When I went to the hotel front desk to check in, I was told that I had no room reservation. Then, after the desk clerk checked the records, I was stunned to learn that I had lost 5 days and had no idea where I had been."

"Luckily, there was a vacancy, so I checked in and went right to the room. After a quick shower and a bite to eat, I decided to grab a nap. I laid there wondering what had happened to me and that I may as well drive back home because I missed all of the appointments I had scheduled."

"Eventually, I drifted off to sleep but would wake up every hour or so feeling nervous and helpless. The next day, I drove back home. After a few days, though, I continued to experience extreme anxiety. I called my GP and was able to see him the next day. I didn't tell the doctor about my experience but did explain my nervousness and lack of sleep. Sensing this was more than a physical ailment, he suggested I see a anxiety therapist. After several sessions with the therapist, who I confided in about the lost time, I was recommended to a psychologist who had dealt with this phenomena before."

"A week later, I went to see the psychologist. As soon as I saw him, I had an instinctive feeling this was going to be an unusual session. He was fairly young with short blonde hair. His mannerisms were unlike those of any person I have ever met though, I just couldn't put a finger on why I felt this way. I sat down in a large leather chair directly facing the doctor. He stared at me for almost a minute, then smiled and asked me to tell him what I remembered. All of a sudden, a large flash seemed to hit me in the face and I was able to remember being escorted on board a huge craft by a tall and thin female dressed in a dark gray leotard. Her body features were human-like, similar figure with hips and breasts but a slightly larger head. Her nose, mouth, ears and hair looked human-like but her eyes were large and round with onyx black pupils. I suppose she could be termed as a 'humanoid'. She directed me to a room where I was told (in English) to wait."

"Soon, I was approached by three other humanoids, one tall, looking like the previous female humanoid, the second a bit shorter and was male. The third was a very short and stout male and walked ahead of the other two. All three had similar facial features except the short, stout humanoid had a small mouth and nose. I was struck with an almost overpowering feeling of his presence as if he possessed an energy that was being projected then reabsorbed by his body. The short humanoid said, "welcome" and told me that he was the designated "guardian" of this section. The humanoids seemed to communicate to each other by using telepathy and various hand motions."

"I was shown another "world" and arrived at a huge metropolis, which was very neat and orderly. I noticed when the craft landed that the city lacked any tall buildings and most of the buildings were pyramid shaped dwellings and made of what appeared to be a transparent but tinted material. I was taken to a residential area with children who were playing just like human children. The buildings here where cylinder shaped and opaque. The color inside the buildings was mostly a bright white with a touch of silver, gray and red inside. A soft light seemed to radiate from everything and all the residents seemed so peaceful."

"After what seemed like a few minutes, I remember sitting in my car parked in front of the hotel in Auckland. Then I hear the words "is that everything?". I opened my eyes and looked directly at the doctor, but this time he had transformed into the small, stout humanoid wearing a business suit. He simply said "hello...did you enjoy your journey" and I attempted to reply but could not speak. Then he told me to wait here and walked through a side door in the office."

"Several minutes later, the secretary walked in, shocked when she saw me and inquired to who I was and why I was in the doctor's office. I told her that the doctor had just left. She gave me the oddest look, then told me the doctor was out all day on an emergency. She then asked if I would care to reschedule an appointment. Still taken aback, I replied that I would call back later."

"I never have figured out how I got in the psychologist's office and why the small, stout humanoid confronted me there. Since that time, I have never had another experience."

"I wonder if others have had a similar encounter?"

Sincerely..."D"

NOTE: I received this email today. "D" would like to hear from other people who have had a similar experience. I can forward the inquiries to him or you can post your comments. BTW, the image was provided by "D". He states this is the best representation of the female humanoid he has been able to find...Lon

UFO Landing Mystery - Barstow, CA - 12/12/09

Posted: 15 Dec 2009 05:18 PM PST

NOTE: A reader, Mike, forwarded this to me today:

A relative of a witness reported on an internet forum about the sighting Saturday at 1:20 pm EST: "My sister just received a call from her stepson from Barstow who attested that a UFO landed on one of the major highways there (presumeably [sic] Interstate 40 or 15). The UFO was surrounded by a team of black cars. Witnesses are questioning whether this is a Government UFO or the 'real thing.' My sister is waiting for a return call from her stepson. I'll give more details as they arrive."

Today the same person, maya2012, wrote back to the forum after hearing more information from the sister: "Her nephew called today. Apparently, the UFO landed (or crashed) off off the road early in the morning when it was still dark outside. The police and black cars arranged themselves so that their headlights were faceing [sic] outward, making it difficult for people to see what was happening. My nephew's coworker took two pictures but they came out somewhat blurry. He stated that you could partially see the UFO in one picture. My nephew doesn't have the pictures, his coworker does. We're still trying to get them. A large military transport was brought in to take the UFO back to the nearby military base."

Whether the UFO was an alien spacecraft or a military plane is unknown.

If the UFO claims are true, there will probably be other Barstow residents reporting the sighting soon since it was on a highway.

NOTE: I decided to do some checking around...the following statements were taken off various forums...Lon

*Me & the wifey had a weird experience driving down the 5 on the Oysterhead run. We were getting buzzed by a plane(?) flying over the freeway, except it was like 3am and pitch black darkness. It was flying like a crop duster but kept passing over (buzzing) us on the freeway to the other side and back. Over & over until, just about every car on the freeway finally noticed and slowed down to a crawl...then it flew away

*My nephew's boss was traveling on the highway when he was passed by a number of police cars and black government cars. They blocked off the road and it's believed that they took the UFO to the local military base. I'm still waiting for the photo for confirmation.

*My sister's nephew called today. Apparently, the UFO landed (or crashed) off off the road early in the morning when it was still dark outside. The police and black cars arranged themselves so that their headlights were facing outward, making it difficult for people to see what was happening. My nephew's coworker took two pictures but they came out somewhat blurry. He stated that you could partially see the UFO in one picture. My nephew doesn't have the pictures, his coworker does. We're still trying to get them. A large military transport was brought in to take the UFO back to the nearby military base.

NOTE: these videos were taken over Tracy, CA and Ridgecrest, CA on the night before or the night after the supposed landing. If I come up with any other information, I'll update here...Lon

Click for video

Click for video

Update: this was posted this evening - *Here's the latest: I spoke directly with my nephew. His coworker, who took the picture, stated the UFO was already on the military transport when he passed them on the highway. He only sees his coworker every other weekend, but mentioned that he'll see him this weekend. I told him about this thread and the one on my forum, as well as how it's gone viral on the internet. He said we should have the picture(s), hopefully by Saturday evening.

I also told him about the cable TV investigation show. It'd probably be better if the person who took the picture was represented on this show instead of me.

Once again, I apologize for the dely on obtaining the picture, but as mentioned, I will post it ASAP.

Update: I've been following this story all day. I contacted several area media sources and the local police in and around Barstow, CA....there are NO reports of a UFO landing in the vicinity on 12/12/09 or any other day for that matter. Until I see some evidence, I'm going to consider this a hoax...Lon

Ritual Infant Trampling Reported In Indian Village

Posted: 15 Dec 2009 07:29 AM PST

indiatoday - A village godman in Bihar's Katihar region has been performing a bizarre ritual of trampling upon infants to 'cure' them of illnesses.

The godman makes infants lie on the ground and literally stands on them with his bare feet. He keeps one foot on the child's thighs and with the other presses hard on the neck, risking the infant's death from suffocation.

The barbarism is being passed off as a blessing and villagers too are queuing up with their children for the ritual.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has ordered an inquiry after Headlines Today aired the story. NCPCR member Sandhya Bajaj described the incident as cruel and shocking. She said a complete inquiry would be conducted.

Social activist Nafisa Ali termed the practice as barbaric. "This is most unreal and unacceptable. This ritual should be immediately stopped and the godman should be arrested," said Ali.

Bihar Health Minister Nand Kishore Yadav said the administration would look into the matter. "The health department can act if someone is selling fake medicines, but there is no provision for ritualistic healings. But the administration will look into it," he said.

Where the Jackalope Roam...

Posted: 15 Dec 2009 06:35 AM PST

sfgate - by John Flinn - Three things Buddha taught us: 1. Nothing is permanent. 2. Suffering is caused by attachment to worldly pleasures. 3. There is no such thing as a jackalope.

Twelve hundred years before the invention of the postcard or the roadside souvenir stand, Buddha is quoted in the Shurangama Sutra as telling a follower that "horns on a rabbit" simply do not exist.

So don't blame me for ruining one of the most cherished legends of the American West. Blame the Enlightened One.

Or, better yet, don't. I'm happy to report that Buddha was wrong. The jackalope actually walks - or hops - among us, and we can thank it for a recent major advance in human medicine.

If you spend much time roaming around the Rocky Mountains states - the part of America I've come to think of as Jackalopistan - you've probably developed a weird fondness and obsession, as I have, for this rare and secretive cross between a jackrabbit and an antelope. Like the yeti and sexy teenage vampires, we root for them to exist; the world would be duller without them.

John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, is the first American to claim a jackalope sighting. His announcement drew mostly bemused shrugs. Compared with his tall tales of spouting geysers and bubbling mud pots along the Yellowstone River, a horned rabbit wasn't exactly front-page news.

The creature probably would have bunny-hopped off into the mists of mythology had it not been for Douglas Herrick, a young rancher in Douglas, Wyo., with a mail-order taxidermy degree. According to his obituary in the New York Times, the big moment came in 1932 (or 1934, or 1939, or 1940 - the stories vary), after Herrick and his brother Ralph had returned from a hunting trip.

"We just throwed the dead jack rabbit in the shop when we come in, and it slid on the floor right up against a pair of deer horns we had in there," Ralph Herrick told the newspaper. "It looked like that rabbit had horns on it."

According to the story, his brother's eyes grew wide with inspiration.

"Let's mount that thing!" he said.

Someone proposed calling it a "deerbunny," and if that name had stuck we probably wouldn't be talking about it today. Fortunately it was vetoed in favor of the more marketable "jackalope." (Somewhere along the line it also acquired a Latin name, Lepus-temperamentalus.)

The Herrick family began mass-producing them - by one estimate Ralph's son Jim ships 1,200 a year to Wall Drug alone - and a tourism icon was born. Seeing a rare opportunity, Douglas, a pretty little town along the North Platte River, proclaimed itself the world's jackalope capital and installed an 8-foot-tall statue in the town square. Before the big coal and uranium boom in the 1970s, the town largely supported itself selling jackalope souvenirs to tourists. (One of them, a mounted trophy head, ended up on the wall of Ronald Reagan's Western White House.) Even today, the Chamber of Commerce will sell you a jackalope hunting license - you must prove you have an IQ below 72, and the hunting season is brief: between midnight and 2 a.m. on June 31.

But is the jackalope really a creature of mythology? Surprisingly, wildlife biologists say no.

Sightings of a jackalope-like creature have been reported in Europe for centuries. In Bavaria it was known as a wolpertinger; in Austria they called it a raurackl; in Switzerland it was a dillsapp.

A woodcut picture of a hare with horns appeared as far back as 1575 in a zoology treatise titled "Animalia Qvadrvpedia et Reptilia (Terra)." Another showed up in the Encyclopedie Methodique, a popular, 206-volume French encyclopedia published between 1782 and 1832.

On a hunting trip in the 1930s in the western United States, Dr. Richard Shope of Rockefeller University heard a friend talk of seeing rabbits sporting horns. He asked his friend to send him some of these horns, which under the microscope turned out to be warts that formed horn-like protrusions on the hare's head.

Shope and other scientists eventually tracked the cause to a virus called papillomavirus, which in humans causes cervical cancer. This set researchers down the long path that in 2006 led to the cervical cancer vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

So the jackalope really does exist, and human life is the better for it - in many ways. Just don't tell any Buddhists.

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