Phantoms and Monsters

Is the Full Moon an Accessory to Crime and Craziness?
Video: Low Flying UFO - ECETI - Trout Lake, Washington
Fortean / Oddball News - 7/11/2010
On-Site Researcher: Mr.Mike 'was simply seeing things'

Is the Full Moon an Accessory to Crime and Craziness?

Posted: 11 Jul 2010 11:35 AM PDT

Lunar effect: The lunar effect is a pseudoscientific theory which overlaps into sociology, psychology and physiology suggesting that there is correlation between specific stages of the Earth's lunar cycle and deviant behavior in human beings. The claims of a correlation of lunar phases to human behavior do not hold up under scientific scrutiny. The theory is sometimes also referred to as the Transylvanian hypothesis or the Transylvanian effect in scholarly literature.

Lunacy: Across the centuries, many a person has uttered the phrase "There must be a full moon out there" in an attempt to explain weird happenings at night. Indeed, the Roman goddess of the moon bore a name that remains familiar to us today: Luna, prefix of the word "lunatic." Greek philosopher Aristotle and Roman historian Pliny the Elder suggested that the brain was the "moistest" organ in the body and thereby most susceptible to the pernicious influences of the moon, which triggers the tides. Belief in the "lunar lunacy effect," or "Transylvania effect," as it is sometimes called, persisted in Europe through the Middle Ages, when humans were widely reputed to transmogrify into werewolves or vampires during a full moon.
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usatoday - "Western lore has long suggested a relationship between the phases of the moon and various forms of aberrant, antisocial, deviant, and criminal human conduct," begins the Journal of Criminal Justice study led by criminologist Joseph Schafer of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. "Policing, crime, and criminal justice have not been immune from speculation concerning the lunar-crime relationship."

Cops frequently have complained about crime's rising during a full moon, the study authors note. So have scholars, such as in a 1972 American Journal of Psychiatry report that found murders peaked around Miami over a 15-year period during the full moon. The same report looked at 13 years of murders in an Ohio county, finding no lunar effect.

So it has gone for full moon malice, with a few studies finding a mixed effect on crimes. Overall in the last four decades, most found no lunar link to suicides and homicides, as well as "prison escapes," "hospital admissions for dog bite injuries," and "aggression among ice hockey players," according to the study.

Still, "research has shown that belief in lunar effects continued to be strong, including among police officers and tended to be associated with beliefs in other paranormal phenomena," write Schafer and colleagues. Many of the past studies finding weak or no effects suffered from defects ranging from limited data, weak statistics and even disagreement on lunar phases, raising the possibility the cops are just more observant than criminologists give them credit for. "Officers have the benefit of directly observing the aftermath of criminal incidents; their experiences may provide them with unique insights into lunar effects," says the study, "or police culture may simply perpetuate false beliefs about lunar effects."

So, to find out, the study team looked at San Antonio, Tex., from 2001 to 2005, a city of more than a million people for which exhaustive crime data is available. The team crunched nightly crime data, noting rain, daylight, indoor vs. outdoor locations and other environmental effects unaccounted for in past efforts. Murder happens too rarely in San Antonio to give a statistical signal, so the team looked at assaults, burglary, theft, drugs and vice crimes, traffic crimes, and "other disturbances," totaling about 130,000 incidents a year.

"It is the very error of the moon," wrote Shakespeare in Othello. "She comes more near the earth than she was wont, And makes men mad."

Maybe in Venice, but not in San Antonio, the study concludes. "Substantive lunar effects on crime were not found in the data analyzed here," say the report. "Although popular culture, folk lore, and even certain occupational lore suggested the 'freaks' come out during full moons, this phenomenon was not reflected in San Antonio police data as used here."

Instead, weekends and warm weather were linked to crime, as you might expect. Winter and rain decreased crimes, except in the city's Riverwalk entertainment district, home to bars, hotels, convention facilities, shops, and theaters, where the level of crime was the same regardless of conditions. The only slight effects of a full moon were a small increase in burglaries citywide, and a drop in vice arrests in the Riverwalk center, at the same time. Neither was statistically convincing.

But while the crime data don't show any lunar effects, that doesn't mean people aren't weirder during a full moon, the study authors acknowledge, something unlikely to come across in the dry language of a police report.

After all, the belief that the moon affects human behavior is "deeply entrenched in popular belief," write Robert Bartholomew and Hilary Evans in the "Lunar Influences" entry of Outbreak, the Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior. The Roman physician Galen, one of the "fathers of medicine," claimed that epileptic fits were triggered by the moon in the 2nd Century. Disturbed patients in London were flogged during the full moon in the 18th century to halt their expected violence.

"Whether or not the lunar effect has any biological basis, the belief in it may be associated with popular practices," concludes the encyclopedia. "The Moon's phases could thus be a contributing or enabling factor in extraordinary social behavior, whether directly, by affecting people en masse, or indirectly, by affecting especially susceptible individuals."
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Full Moon Madness - Old Farmer's Almanac: As the full moon shines bright over Earth tomorrow night, people on the planet may go a little crazy, or so some believe. Having long held mystery and intrigue, the full moon has been blamed for causing a sudden increase in crime, psychotic behaviors, and accidents. Nineteenth century lawyers in England would even argue their clients were "guilty by reason of the full moon" and should therefore not be held accountable for their "lunatic" actions.

Is there any truth to this lunar lunatic theory? If you ask a policemen or hospital worker, you will most likely get an answer in the affirmative followed by stories of crowded jails and busy emergency rooms on moonlit nights. One study conducted in Dade County, Florida, even seemed to support the plausibility of this legend, stating their research showed an increase in the murder rate during full moons. However, the study was later proven flawed, and when the data was reanalyzed, no conclusive evidence was found. And this seems to be the pattern for a number of other studies as well, none of which show any linkage between human behavior and the full moon.

So how you do explain this perpetual myth that so many swear by? Some say it could be simply due to the fact people are looking for a connection. When weird behavior occurs under a full moon, it's easy to blame it on the moon, whereas when odd things happen throughout the rest of the month, we don't really think about it.

While there seems to be little scientific evidence to support the full moon lunacy lore, there will always be those who will argue otherwise. You can decide for yourself as the next full moon rises!

Sources:
www.usatoday.com
www.scientificamerican.com
www.merriam-webster.com
en.wikipedia.org
www.farmersalmanac.com

Is the Full Moon an Accessory to Crime and Craziness?

Video: Low Flying UFO - ECETI - Trout Lake, Washington

Posted: 11 Jul 2010 10:41 AM PDT

Click for video

Here's some recent footage taken over ECETI (James Gilliland's ranch) near Trout Lake, Washington. As most of you know, this area has been a hotbed for UFO and other paranormal activity for many years. I checked with a friend who tracks satellites and he confirms that this is not the ISS. You can go to the ECETI website for more information. Below is a video from May 2010...the group is flashing lasers at the UFOs. BTW, the reactions by the participants is absolutely annoying...you may want to turn down the volume.

Click for video

Click for video

Fortean / Oddball News - 7/11/2010

Posted: 11 Jul 2010 09:46 AM PDT

Taliban Deploy Killer Monkeys Against U.S. Troops

peopledaily - Afghanistan's Taliban warlords have developed a bizarre way to deal with foreign forces: they have trained monkeys who love to eat bananas and peanuts to be killers.

Taliban forces have taught monkeys how to use the Kalashnikov, Bren light machine gun and trench mortars. They also teach them how to identify and attack soldiers wearing U.S. military uniforms.

Ironically, the idea of training monkeys to fight was first invented by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA in the Vietnam War initiated a program that used the peanuts and bananas as prizes to train some "monkey soldiers" to kill Vietnamese in the jungle, according to a report by British media on June 27, 2010.

It is reported that these monkey soldiers are mainly composed of macaques and baboons hunted at an early age in the jungle and sold to the Taliban. These monkey babies who lost their mothers are sent to a secret Taliban training base one-by-one to become killer monkeys. Taliban militants use a series of rewards and punishments to gradually teach them how to use the lethal weapons.

Recently, a British journalist went to Pakistan and Afghanistan border of Waziristan's tribal region where he witnessed a few of the monkey soldiers armed with an AK-47 rifle and Bren light machine gun. Taliban militants in the past have strictly kept the program secret.

However, Taliban leaders have recently taken the initiative show monkey soldiers to tourists of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area. Apparently, the Taliban look on monkeys as "propaganda tools."

"If a person who loves animals knows the monkeys may be injured in the war, they might pressure the government to force the withdrawal of western forces in Afghanistan," said one Taliban insider.

A senior U.S. military source confirmed the existence of the Taliban monkey soldiers, military experts call armed monkeys "monkey terrorists."

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When Tire Meets (and becomes part of) the Road

Dozens of vehicles stuck to a road in heatwave-hit China after the tarmac melted in the hot sun. The road, in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, had just been resurfaced the previous day, reports the Zhengzhou Evening Post. It melted in 40C temperatures which saw the street surface temperature reach as high as 70C. Vehicles including cars, buses, taxi cabs and ambulances began sticking to a 200m stretch of the road. Plastic sheeting had to be laid as a temporary surface to get the traffic moving again. Motorist Lao Yang said his car seemed to get heavier and heavier as he drove along the street. "After getting out of the car to check what the problem was, I found both front wheels were covered in melted tarmac,' he said."

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Amateur Treasure Hunter Unearths 52,000 Roman Coins Worth $1M

CNN - An amateur treasure hunter armed with a metal detector has found over 52,000 Roman coins worth $1 million buried in field, one of the largest ever such finds in the UK, said the British Museum.

Dave Crisp, a hospital chef, came across the buried treasure while searching for "metal objects" in a field near Frome, Somerset in southwestern England.

Initially, Crisp found 21 coins, but when he unearthed the pot, he knew he needed archaeological help to excavate them.

The hoard contains 766 coins bearing an image of the Roman general Marcus Aurelius Carausius, who ruled Britain independently from AD 286 to AD 293 and was the first Roman emperor to strike coins in Britain.

Somerset County Council archaeologists excavated the pot -- a type of container normally used for storing food -- it weighed 160kg (350 pounds) and contained 52,500 coins.

The hoard was transferred to the British Museum in London where the coins were cleaned and recorded.

The coins date from AD 253 to 293 and most of them are made of debased silver or bronze.

Roger Bland, Head of Portable Antiquities and Treasure at the British Museum, told CNN: "Dave [Crisp] did the right thing, he didn't try to dig it all out. This is the largest ever find in a single pot and the second largest ever [in the UK].

"We think that whoever buried it didn't intend to come back to recover it. We can only guess why people buried treasure, some buried savings, others because they feared an invasion, perhaps this was an offering to the Gods."

Bland said the coins were probably worth about $1 million.

Dave Crisp, from Devizes in Wiltshire, told CNN: "At the time when I actually found the pot I didn't know what size it was but when the archaeologists came and started to uncover it, I was gobsmacked, I thought 'hell, this is massive.'"

Crisp, who describes himself as a "metal detectorist," unearthed the pot in April, although the discovery was officially announced on Thursday. Crisp told CNN he would have to split the value of the find with the farmer who owns the field in which he discovered the treasure.

Somerset Coroner Tony Williams is scheduled to hold an inquest on July 22 to formally determine whether the find is subject to the Treasure Act 1996. This would help towards determining a value of the hoard should any individual or organization want to buy it.

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Idiot Eats a Ghost Chili

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NOTE: well, I guess he won't do that again. I have read where people have suffered heart attacks from eating a ghost chili...Lon

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American Alligator Snapping Turtle Caught by Shell-Shocked Angler in UK

Yahoo - Steve Bellion, 23, was angling for carp when he hooked the 57lb (25kg) reptile at Earlswood Reservoir, near Birmingham.

He eventually hauled the 2ft-long creature on to the bank, and it was identified as an 80-year-old alligator snapping turtle, normally found in the eastern corner of the US.

The catch has solved a long mystery in local fishing circles - tales had abounded for a decade of a giant creature biting through lines and savaging ducks.

The ancient female was transferred by British Waterways to West Midland Safari Park, where it is being kept in quarantine for 30 days and checked by vets.

The turtle - which has yet to be named by its new keepers and can live to 160-years-old - will be housed in a vivarium with a male companion.

Bob Lawrence, director of wildlife at the safari park, said: "It's looking fine, but so it should be having had half of Britain's fish stocks at its mercy.

"If it grew any larger it would have been a danger to shipping."

He said it highlights the danger of introducing alien species into Britain's waterways, in the same way that American signal crayfish have caused such depletion to fish stocks and the UK's native crayfish.

And he said the problem is only likely to get worse with global warming.

"Thankfully alligator snapping turtles are a rarity in British waters - they can create havoc for native species," he told Sky News Online.

"It was probably dumped by its owner after it grew too big or became a nuisance.

"They have been known to attack small domestic pets or children, but I don't think this one would have drifted too far from the water.

"Because it has no natural predators, it could have lived to a ripe old age and grown to up to 80kg. I just hope there was only one and it didn't have any offspring."

Fortean / Oddball News - 7/11/2010

On-Site Researcher: Mr.Mike 'was simply seeing things'

Posted: 11 Jul 2010 03:08 PM PDT

The following is from Impossible Visits: Bigfoot/Sasquatch Research with Live Daily Updates. I'm not positive as to the validity of the claims posted but it seems to be on the level. I am posting this at 11:25 am ET:

16 hours ago: Man with Sasquatch Behind his House: UPDATE.
A very capable researcher, whom I know well and can vouch for, will be at the property tonight, July 10, and for the next several nights, if he can confirm "Mike's" claims. He has thermal cameras, etc. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that he is able to document the...situation without disturbing the visitation, or "habituation," that
may be occurring.

4 hours ago: Man with Sasquatch Behind his House: UPDATE.
My colleague has been able to determine that "Mike" was simply seeing things. "Mike" himself came to realize this during the course of the night on-site, when the "creatures" did not materialize before the thermal cameras. His initial account was compelling, and persuasively articulated, so I think the responsible follow-up was performed. Yes, this outcome is disappointing, but let's look at it, also, as good news: It restores Sasquatch, for us, to its true nature, which is NOT to set up camp night after night in someone's backyard, allowing him to come near them. If this were their MO, the species would not have been able to survive alongside us for eons, at least not as an autonomous creature not dominated by Homo sapiens.

Now, this was received by me from Lan Lamphere's radio network:

On July 12, 2010, the complete story of our friend "Mr. Mike" will be revealed on Overnight AM. The team of researchers, "Hero's", that took on this case have made history. The Bigfoot Researchers world was turned on it's head, discredited, abused and shamed by those looking to profit from the popularity of Bigfoot's legend a little more than a year ago.

Bigfoot Researchers, world wide, have been redeemed publicly, and communally, as of today.

Tune in On Monday, July 12, 2010 to Overnight AM to get the complete, and full, story of "Mr Mike" and his reported encounter with a family of Sasquatch, and the investigators that broke the case wide open and restored all Bigfoot Researchers credibility.

NOTE: Was Lan Lamphere simply stringing this out in order to gain listeners? I'll update this as other information comes forth...Lon

UPDATE: 6:00 pm ET - Now, the following information has been posted: Impossible Visits: Bigfoot/Sasquatch Research with Live Daily Updates: I have been asked to withhold my update of the "Man with Sasquatch Behind his House" until after Monday night's broadcast of "Overnight AM." 9 PM CST/10 PM EST.

NOTE: This is in reference to Lan Lamphere's radio show on Monday night. I'll be interesting to hear what excuses or justifications come forth...Lon

On-Site Researcher: Mr.Mike 'was simply seeing things'

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