Phantoms and Monsters

A Few Recent Fortean / Oddball Accounts
Cattle Mutilation Reported in Colonia Belgrano, Argentina
Ghost Rumors Investigated at Historic New Zealand Venue
Hunting, Eating Tarantulas Latest Craze in Cambodia
Remains Confirmed as Those of Saxon Princess Eadgyth

Posted: 21 Jun 2010 02:49 PM PDT

BISCARDI CREW LEAVES NORTH CAROLINA

wsoctv - A group of researchers affiliated with legendary Big Foot Hunter Tom Biscardi left North Carolina Sunday after spending Saturday night camped out in the woods near Highway 18, south of Morganton, to investigate a recent footprint sighting.

The researchers set up cameras but said they didn't find anything. They told Eyewitness News that they will evaluate what they do have and determine if they will return to look again.

Group members said they believe the footprint, which was discovered by a farmer, is real because it shows dermal ridges like a hand print and a mid tarsal break, which is evidence of a foot that bends in the middle, unlike that of a human.

Robert Price was in Hickory with two other Alabama researchers to compare a track found recently in Burke County to one found in Texas.

"The possibility is definitely there," he said. "It's not to be overlooked."

NOTE: Big surprise here (rolling eyes). No Bigfoot body in the freezer means the hunt is over? "legendary Big Foot Hunter Tom Biscardi"...that statement gave me a chuckle. Lon

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BODY FOUND IN SEVERELY DAMAGED CAR

cnews - A body has been found in a severely damaged car in a wooded area north of Quebec City.

The vehicle was found cut in half with a body inside by an ATV rider Saturday afternoon, said Surete du Quebec spokesman Richard Gagne.

The motorist is believed to have been dead for about four days, Gagne said.

"The accident would have happened a few days ago," Gagne said. "We have a witness who said he heard a noise in the night between Wednesday and Thursday."

An area resident heard what's being described as a large "boom" but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary when they checked outside, officials said.

The driver has not yet been identified.

It is not clear why the driver was on the dirt road that leads to an uninhabited cottage near Stoneham, Gagne said. It is also not clear how the car became so severely damaged, he said.

There are no signs of breaking on the dirt road or indications of a collision on nearby Highway 175, he said.

NOTE: I was told by a reader in Quebec that the car was cut into halves....strange indeed. Lon

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Click for video - Thanks to Goran Kosijer

STATUE OF CHRIST OOZING BLOOD

Thousands of worshipers have flocked to a small church in Argentina after word got out that a statue of Jesus was crying tears of blood.

Two men were inside the Sacred Heart of Jesus church in Yerba Buena, Argentina on Friday when they noticed a red substance running down the face of Jesus in a depiction of the Last Supper. The men quickly reported what they had seen to the local priest Father Jorge Gandu and a photograph of the 'blood' soaked statue was taken.

Father Jorge explained that the statue appears to be bleeding as if from one of the wounds Jesus received from the crown of thorns he was forced to wear as he was crucified by the Romans. A sample of the substance has been sent off for scientific analysis to determine whether it is actually blood, or just jam or something.

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THE MOLE MAN DIES

hackneygazette - The eccentric known as The Mole Man, who spent 40 years digging a 60-foot network of tunnels beneath his £1 million Hackney house, has died without repaying the £350,000 of taxpayers' money he owes the council for saving it from collapse.

And town hall chiefs, who re-housed William Lyttle in a top-floor flat,

have been landed with an even costlier repair bill after it was discovered the oddball pensioner had carried out some of his unorthodox "home improvements" there, too.

The 79-year-old had knocked a huge, tunnel-shaped hole in the dividing wall of the living room and kitchen of the flat in St Lawrence Court on the De Beauvoir estate.

He'd been moved to it in 2009 following his eviction in 2006 on safety grounds from his ramshackle, detached, four-storey, 20-room Victorian property in De Beauvoir on the corner of Stamford Road and Mortimer Road, De Beauvoir.

Before he was re-housed the council had put him up in a hotel at a cost of £45,000.

The body of the former electrical engineer, who gained worldwide fame and notoriety for his tunnelling exploits, is believed to have lain undiscovered at his flat for several weeks.

He is thought to have died from natural causes. A post mortem concluded there were no suspicious circumstances.

His dilapidated former home is still surrounded by scaffolding and corrugated sheeting costing the council £70,000 alone.

The structurally unsafe building had been on the brink of collapse and there were fears the road outside, which he had burrowed beneath, could cave in.

Before the operation to salvage it by pouring concrete into the tunnels, workmen had to remove skiploads of accumulated junk, including the rusty wrecks of four Renault Four cars, a boat, scrap metal, old baths, disused fridge freezers and old TV sets.

Contractors also had to take away 20 metric tons of spoil he had excavated.

The council had already been involved in a lengthy court battle with Mr Lyttle to recoup the cost of repairs as well as £10,000 legal costs.

His death could potentially further delay recovery of the money because the council will have to await the process of probate and whether My Lyttle has any heirs or other claims on his estate.

Police have been unable to trace his next of kin and have appealed to anyone who has information about his relatives to contact them.

"Like a lot of elderly people, they lose touch with their family," said Sgt Taff Williams, from Stoke Newington police station.

"We know Mr Lyttle hailed from Ireland and we are making inquiries there. We know he had a daughter, but haven't been able to track her down."

Sgt Williams indicated that Mr Lyttle had been a wealthy man and more than capable of paying what was owed by him to the council.

"From documents and bank statements I've seen, let's just say his finances were a lot better than most people's," he added.

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DOLPHIN-HUMAN HYBRIDS

Click for video

projectcamelot - As promised, here is Aaron's personal story. As Aaron is on a journey of self-discovery, there are still areas of his life tha he does not recall or understand. At the time of this interview, however, it is beginning to come to light that he himself may be, a dolphin/human hybrid.

In a stunning revelation, he describes his role in military abductions, working alongside nonhuman entities (greys) taking targets, (male and female) from their homes late at night to underground bases for experimentation and programming. He talks about the retrieval of renegade agents, where the programming had malfunctioned... Flying in a TR-3B -- the target was picked up, reprogrammed and replaced back in their homes without the neighbors or other occupants of the home being aware.

During those early years his cover was acting as a fully functioning member of the U.S. Coast Guard. Simultaneously, he was a covert agent, leaving his company at night or on weekends to handle operations that involved MILABS (military abductions) as well as taking part in what he called "terminations" where the individual was terminated rather than reprogrammed.

At a certain point, he was based in the area around the Caribbean where he found himself involved in a top secret project called Project Seagate at an undersea base. There, his experiences become even more bizarre involving experimentation with dolphins, time travel through portals and telepathic communication.

Forthright and unflinching, Aaron is determined to know and understand his past in ways many would hesitate to pursue. His courage when faced with the mind boggling nature of what really happened to him is an inspiration. Owning that past and taking charge of his life is his daily passion. I applaud his firm commitment to find out the truth and to reveal it regardless of the light in which it puts him. Aaron has gone from half-believing himself to be mad to uncovering secrets that few would even dare to contemplate. Coming from a place within of strength and only just beginning to tap into the real truth that goes to the root of the purpose behind his incarnation here on this planet, at this time, he stands as a beacon for all those who hide in the shadows of self-doubt and denial.

Kerry Lynn Cassidy
Project Camelot

June 2010

NOTE: I'm not sure how to respond to this one...definitely worth the time to watch. Lon

A Few Recent Fortean / Oddball Accounts

Cattle Mutilation Reported in Colonia Belgrano, Argentina

Posted: 21 Jun 2010 11:00 AM PDT

Source: Fenómenos Misteriosos and www.tacualchajari.com.ar
Date: June 1, 2010

If it's summer here, and it's winter there, you can be sure that the cattle mutilation season is about to kick off in Argentina. Contributing Editor Guillermo Gimenez brings us the following account - Scott Corrales - Inexplicata

What seemed a matter exclusive to other locations is now occurring in our area. A resident of Colonia Belgrano, near Chajarí, came across something strange in his field. "Chito" Sirtori is the owner of a property located in a rural area of the Department of Federación, where two cows were found with clear signs of mutilation: one on May 11 and another last Monday. Faced with this evidence, he summoned veterinarian Dr. Patricio Norman, hoping the expert's verdict could offer an explanation.

The rural region of Colonia Belgrano and its vicinity have been convulsed by a strange situation that became known only hours ago. The well-known cattleman from the aforementioned Colonia is "Chito" Sirtori and is more than surprised at the situation involving two of his animals.

Dr. Patricio Norman provided us the photograph published here aside from some details on the striking discovery: "What we've seen is striking, at the very least. One shouldn't rush to make conjectures but evidently, there are elements here that call for deeper investigation. What is surprising is the manner in which the animal's tongue was removed. There is a sort of incision, and I don't know if it's an incision made with a very sharp object or something else."

Bear in mind that on 11 May of this years, another dead cow was found 50 meters away from this one. The area is open and is a stubble field in a watermelon plantation. "Regarding the foregoing, it is surprising that the carcass vanished within 20 days, leaving bare bones and a large number of dead worms in the area, something that does not normally occur," says Patricio Norman.

As for last Monday's animal, four days would have gone by from its death: "Several hypotheses could be woven about the animals' death. It could be anthrax or another pathology. But what's striking is the way that its tongue was extirpated, including breaking the bones of the root, which isn't a simple thing to do," notes the astonished veterinarian.

The Brigada de Abigeato (cattle rustling police) of Entre Rios participated in this operation and information was sent to the authorities having jurisdiction in the matter.

NOTE: as Scott stated, it's that time of the year for cattle mutes in Argentina. Thanks again to Scott Corrales - Inexplicata for his updates of this phenomena...Lon

Cattle Mutilation Reported in Colonia Belgrano, Argentina

Ghost Rumors Investigated at Historic New Zealand Venue

Posted: 21 Jun 2010 10:42 AM PDT

3news.co.nz - The Wellington Town Hall has often been the subject of speculation when it comes to haunting and the paranormal.

It's old, creaky and roomy, with a rich history dating back more than 100 years.

"I'm not prepared to step out and say there are ghosts, I just think that I've experienced things," says paranormal investigator James Gilberd.

"I think the rest of the people in the group have as well. We still don't know what those things are yet, and would very much like to find out."

The group, known as Strange Occurrences, spent a night with unfettered access at the Wellington Town Hall trying to get to the bottom of the ghost stories that surround it.

"Strange things go on in there in the dead of night," says city councillor John Morrison.

"Probably old councillors and forgotten mayors. There was a rumour going around that a ghost was going to stand for mayor this year."

During their stint in the hall, Mr Gilberd says the group heard footsteps.

"Like hard shoes on a hard floor, like hard heels on a hard floor. But when you look outside the theatre, it's carpeted and the doors are pretty near sound proof."

"We had a number of events that could be construed as paranormal, however the evidence we were gathering would suggest that there are natural reasons for those events."

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THE WELLINGTON TOWN HALL

This is Wellington's second town hall. The first, designed by Thomas Turnbull in 1875, was never completed and only one wing of the building, in Brandon Street, was ever built.

By the 1890s the city was growing quickly and the lack of a town hall, where a council administration and a venue for major public events could be combined in one place, was becoming a significant issue. The council set aside some land adjoining what became Jervois Quay, on a reclamation undertaken by Wellington City Corporation between 1886 and 1890. In 1900 the decision was made to build a town hall on this land, at an estimated cost of £50,000. A design competition was held and the winner was Joshua Charlesworth, a well known local architect and something of a specialist in grand Classical structures.

The foundation stone was laid by the Duke of York (later King George V) on 18 June 1901. Tenders were not called immediately and it was not until the following year that successful contractors - Paterson, Martin and Hunter - were selected. Work began in May 1902 and the building was completed in November 1904. The final cost exceeded £68,000. The purchase and installation of a pipe organ was let as a separate contract. This went to Norman and Beard of London at a price of £7,000 and the organ was installed in 1906.

When completed, the building included a clock tower over the main entrance, but there was no clock. John Blundell, proprietor of the Evening Post, donated one in 1922. Unfortunately, just 12 years later, the tower was taken down as a precaution after the 1931 Napier earthquake. The clock was eventually installed in the Central Fire Station (1939) and it remains there.

In 1918 the Wellington Town Hall was used as an emergency hospital facility for victims of the Influenza epidemic.

As part of the work undertaken in 1934, some of the building's other ornate exterior decoration was removed, including the balustraded parapet, pediments and grand entrance portico; the latter being replaced by a much smaller, squat structure, which was itself later removed. Then, in 1943-44, following the 1942 earthquake, the building was strengthened and the Corinthian capitals on the exterior removed and replaced with Tuscan detailing.

By the 1970s the building was facing demolition. The new Michael Fowler Centre was built extremely close to the main entrance of the older building, in clear anticipation of its removal. However, the Wellington Regional Committee of the NZHPT argued for the building's retention on historic and practical grounds. The WCC was persuaded to retain the building in 1983.

In 1989 a plan was unveiled to incorporate the Town Hall into a scheme to create a civic centre in the former Mercer Street and construct new council buildings, including a new library, to enclose the space. The Town Hall was refurbished and strengthened and new reception rooms built within the space occupied by the very fine Concert Chamber, which was demolished. The ornate ground floor toilets were also demolished, and the building's base on the north, or Civic Centre, side of the building was covered over. The work was designed by Works Consultancy. The building was reopened in 1992.

Over its life the building has been used for literally thousands of events. The main auditorium (and the concert chamber, until its demolition) has been used for a remarkably diverse range of activities, including boxing matches, fashion shows, debutante balls, rock concerts (including, most famously, The Beatles), orchestral performances and recitals, lectures, political rallies, protest meetings, flower shows, polling station, university degree conferrals etc. It continues to be in very regular use to this day.

Source: www.historic.org.nz

Ghost Rumors Investigated at Historic New Zealand Venue

Hunting, Eating Tarantulas Latest Craze in Cambodia

Posted: 21 Jun 2010 12:16 PM PDT

news.com.au - Hunting tarantulas and then eating them has become the latest extreme tourist experience in Cambodia.

Considered a local delicacy, holidaymakers are joining locals to hunt spider holes and then devouring the creatures doused in soy sauce, deep fried in salt and garlic, or mixed into rice wine and jack fruit cocktails.

Locals head to the forests or cashew nut plantations on the outskirts of Sukon and poke sticks down the hundreds of spider holes, capturing them as they rush out of the earth.

Tours are not advertised but visitors are being offered the experience by locals in Kampong Cham Town and Sukon, where tarantulas are more commonly eaten.

Tarantulas are also bred in fields in these areas, and because they are nocturnal the hunting is done during the day time to maximise capture.

The spider trade is thought to have been in operation since the 1970s, when people forced into the jungle during the Khmer Rough's regime survived by eating spiders and other bugs.

Locals found the tarantulas tasty and began to experiment with flavours and dishes.

Not just for eating, many Cambodians believe in the tarantula's medicinal purposes. They are thought to assist with anything from back aches to breathing problems in children, and are particularly effective when served with rice wine.

Tarantulas in Sukon are sold for around 10 cents each, with tarantula wine sold for as much as $2.50.

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YUM!

The situation: After you have emboldened yourself with dinners of stir-fried morning glories, amok fish and banana flower salads across Cambodia, you wish to roam off the menu and try the street treat that your Khmer friends keep wistfully mentioning: a-ping, or fried tarantula. But how?

The basics: The fried tarantula is to Cambodians what a Devil Dog is to Americans—a sweet snack that kids beg their parents for. But while the Devil Dog is pumped full of high-fructose corn syrup and preservatives, the tarantula is a free-range burst of protein, clearly the responsible parent's choice.

Tarantulas first started meeting with woks in large numbers during the tragically widespread food shortages of the brutal 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime. After the Khmer Rouge were ousted, Cambodians realized that their crafty survival skills had rewarded them with a tasty new chapter of gastronomy.

In addition to appreciating spiders for their nutrition, many Khmer women believe that eating a-ping makes one beautiful. The omnipresence of hair and beauty salons in the country, even in the smallest hamlets, demonstrates the Khmer's interest in looking good, and many Khmer teens even forgo helmets while riding motorbikes to avoid the inevitable helmet hair. While scissors and gels remain popular with the well-coiffed, what better way to further cultivate one's locks than to scarf down one of the hairiest creatures you can find?

Where to go: While you can find a vendor or two hawking trays of a-ping in Kampong Thom and Phnom Penh alike, the town of Skuon—75 kilometers north of Phnom Penh—is the epicenter of a-ping cuisine, and close to the spiders' underground burrows where they are harvested. If you are driving or taking a taxi, head to the town's roundabout and roll down your window—a half-dozen vendors in Gilligan hats will rush their trays heaped with fried tarantulas to your door. What service! The buses that run between Kampong Thom and Phnom Penh make a regular stop in Skuon, at a restaurant about a half-kilometer from the roundabout, and you'll likely find an a-ping vendor or two waiting right there .

The discriminating buyer: Go for the crispiest critters, because the longer frying time reduces the squishiness of their abdomens. Spiders with a thick, sticky coating of frying oil and caramelized sugar will render their hairs almost undetectable to your palate. Bring small money with you, because at 500 riels (12 cents) per spider, you'll have a hard time finding change for a big bill. Don't dawdle: There are probably cars behind you filled with snack-attacked Cambodians waiting for their turn.

How to eat: You can eat them whole. But to start, pull off and eat the legs two or three at a time. Do this for a few reasons: The first is that you'll notice the legs' curious resemblance to the legs of its fellow arthropod, the soft-shell crab. With each crunch, you'll also be able to better appreciate the flavor of the spider-monger's perfected recipe: salt, sugar, oil, and garlic. And the most important reason for eating the legs first? Putting too much of the palm-sized creature into your mouth at the same time results in too many sharp, stiff legs jabbing at your gums from various directions; the spider seems alive—probably not the sensation you were looking for.

The crab comparison ends at the abdomen, where a mouthful of gooey nuttiness—followed by a musty, somewhat rude finish—awaits the snacker. It's not quite an acquired taste; either you like it, or you will forever avoid it.

Whether you're a leg muncher or a body chewer, you can rest assured that by enjoying a-ping, you not only give a nod to Cambodian craftiness, but you also support the livelihood of local vendors and spider catchers in a country where the average daily wage is under $2. And you just might get lots of compliments on your thick, healthy hair.

Hunting, Eating Tarantulas Latest Craze in Cambodia

Remains Confirmed as Those of Saxon Princess Eadgyth

Posted: 21 Jun 2010 09:48 AM PDT

bristol.ac.uk - Bones excavated in Magdeburg Cathedral in 2008 are those of Saxon Princess Eadgyth who died in AD 946, experts at the University of Bristol confirmed today. The crucial scientific evidence came from the teeth preserved in the upper jaw. The bones are the oldest surviving remains of an English royal burial.

Eadgyth was the granddaughter of Alfred the Great and the half sister of Athelstan, the first acknowledged King of England. She was sent to marry Otto, the king of Saxony in AD 929, and bore him at least two children, before her death at around the age of 36.

She lived most of her married life at Magdeburg and was buried in the monastery of St Maurice. Her bones were moved on at least three occasions, before being interred in an elaborated tomb in Magdeburg Cathedral in 1510.

It was this tomb that was opened by German archaeologists in 2008, a tomb long expected to be empty. Instead they found it contained a lead box, with the inscription "EDIT REGINE CINERES HIC SARCOPHAGVS HABET..." (The remains of Queen Eadgyth are in this sarcophagus...).

When the box was opened, partial skeletal remains were found, along with textile material and organic residues. The challenge facing the archaeologists was to show that the remains, which had been moved so often, and could easily have been substituted by others, were indeed those of Queen Eadgyth.

Director of the project, Professor Harald Meller of the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology, Saxony-Anhalt, commented: "Medieval bones were moved frequently, and often mixed up, so it required some exceptional science to prove that they are indeed those of Eadgyth. It is incredible that we have been able to do this using the most recent analytical techniques."

Anthropological study of the bones, undertaken at the University of Mainz by Professor Kurt Alt, confirmed that the remains belonged to a single female individual, who died between 30 and 40 years of age. One of the femur heads showed evidence that the individual was a frequent horse rider, thus hinting at her nobility.

Unfortunately vital parts were missing, including hands and feet, and much of the skull, of which only the upper jaw survived. These losses are probably due to their collection as medieval relics. Isotope analysis of the bones suggested that she enjoyed a high protein diet, including a large quantity of fish. All these results suggest a high status aristocratic lady.

It was hoped that radiocarbon dating would help in the identification of the bones, but the results proved to be some 200 years too early. This presented a real problem, as dating of the associated textiles in the lead box produced the correct range of dates for Eadgyth. It was also hoped that DNA might be extracted from the remains but this proved impossible, most likely due to the box's bad state of preservation because the burial was in a tomb.

The crucial scientific evidence came from the study of the teeth preserved in the upper jaw. This used a technique that measures the strontium and oxygen isotopes that are mineralised in the teeth as they are formed. The value of these isotopes depends on the local environment and its underlying geology that is then locked into the teeth. Samples of the teeth were studied at the University of Bristol's Department of Archaeology and the Institute of Anthropology at the University of Mainz.

Dr Alistair Pike, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at Bristol University, explained: "Strontium isotopes on tiny samples of tooth enamel have been measured. By micro sampling, using a laser, we can reconstruct the sequence of a person's whereabouts, month by month up to the age of 14."

By combining oxygen and strontium results, it was possible to 'triangulate' the location of the first 14 years of this individual's life. The results unambiguously pinpointed the chalk regions of southern Britain. The findings were compared to isotope values measured in teeth from other burials from Magdeburg by Corina Knipper at the University of Mainz.

Ms Knipper, a researcher in Professor Alt's team, said: "The isotopes in the teeth supposed to be Eadgyth's are completely different from those in the people local to Magdeburg. This individual cannot have spent her childhood in Magdeburg."

The remarkable discovery was, however, that these isotope results matched exactly the historical records of Eadgyth's childhood and adolescence in Wessex.

Mark Horton, Professor in Archaeology at Bristol University, added: "Eadgyth seems to have spent the first eight years of her life in southern England, but changed her domicile frequently, matching quite variable strontium ratios in her teeth. Only from the age of nine do the isotope values remain constant.

"Eadgyth must have moved around the kingdom following her father, King Edward the Elder during his reign. When her mother was divorced in 919 – Eadgyth was between nine and ten at that point – both were banished to a monastery, maybe Winchester or Wilton in Salisbury."

Trauma was also indicated in her skeleton around this same age, suggesting a dramatic change in her circumstances. Her monastic life, and a diet of fish also explain the problematic radiocarbon dates, which tend to appear older with heavily fish-based diets.

Grave goods, as was common for Christian burials, did not accompany Eadgyth's bones. However, they were wrapped in extremely expensive and rare silks using the most expensive colorants of the time.

The bones will be reburied in Magdeburg Cathedral later in the year, exactly 500 after their last interment in 1510.

NOTE: Here is the discovery report - Saxon queen discovered in Germany...Lon

Remains Confirmed as Those of Saxon Princess Eadgyth

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