Phantoms and Monsters |  |
- The Horror of Sawney Bean
- Museum Investigation Produces Curious Evidence
- Fortean / Oddball News - 9/20/2010
- Falling Body Mystery Continues in Egg Harbor Township, NJ
| Posted: 20 Sep 2010 01:22 PM PDT  The tale of Sawney Bean is one of the most gruesome Scottish legends and evidence suggests the story dates to the early 18th century. Alexander Sawney Bean was the head of an incestuous member cannibalistic family, who administered a 25-year reign of murder and robbery from a hidden sea cave on the Ayrshire/Galloway coast in the 15th century. The cave associated with Sawney and his nefarious clan is close to Ballantrae on Bennane head in Ayrshire, although other sea caves along the Ayrshire and Galloway coast have also been associated with the story. There are numerous written accounts that detail Sawney and his family, and it has been suggested that the legend has its roots in real events. The tale appears in full and lurid specifics in the succinctly titled Historical and Traditional Tales Connected with the South of Scotland by John Nicholson in 1843: "Sawney Bean was born in the late 14th century, in a small East Lothian village not ten miles from Edinburgh. He began life as a hedger and ditcher, but, being prone to idleness and inclined towards dishonesty he ran away from home with a woman who was as viciously inclined as himself. Having no means to make a living they set up home in a sea cave in Galloway supporting themselves by robbing and murdering travellers and locals, and surviving on their victim's pickled and salted flesh. In time their family grew to an incestuous gang of 46 sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters. Their reign of terror did not go unnoticed: for one hundreds of people went missing over the years, and the Beans became so successful in their butchery that they cast unwanted limbs into the sea. These were washed up on distant and local beaches, much to the horror of the coastal communities. In time the areas reputation reached the ears of the authorities and, in these suspicious times, many innocent people were executed for Sawney's crimes. The hardest hit were innkeepers as, more often than not, the missing person was last seen in an inn or lodgings: suspicion naturally falling on those who had seen them last. This happened on so many occasions that numerous innkeepers fled to take up other less risky occupations, and the area became a shunned and depopulated place."  "Sawney's family had by now grown very large and started to attack larger groups, although never more than they thought they could overwhelm. They were confident they would not be discovered: the cave that they had chosen had kept them well hidden from prying eyes. The tide passed right into the mouth of the cave, which went almost a mile into the cliffs. It was estimated that in their 25-year reign of terror they had killed more than a thousand men women and children. They were finally discovered by fortunate chance: A man and his wife were returning from a local fayre on horseback - the man in front with his wife behind - when they were ambushed by the Bean family. The husband put a furious struggle with his sword and pistol and managed to plough through the villainous host. Unfortunately his wife lost her balance and fell from the horse, to be instantly butchered by the female cannibals, who ripped out her entrails and started to feast on her blood. Her horrified husband fought back even harder and was lucky that 30 or so other revellers from the fayre came along the path. The Bean family made a hasty retreat back to their hideout, as the man explained to the crowd what had happened. The husband went along with the group to Glasgow, magistrates were informed, who in turn told the King, James IV, who was so enthralled with the case that he took personal charge. Equipped with bloodhounds the King and a posse of 400 men made their way to the scene of the slaughter and the hunt began.""The bloodhounds get all the credit for the capture of Sawney Bean: the King's men did not notice the well-hidden cave but the dogs could not ignore the strong smell of flesh that surrounded it. The men entered the cave and found a horrible scene: dried parts of human bodies were hanging all from the roof, pickled limbs lay in barrels, and all around piles of money and trinkets from the pockets of the dead lay in piles. The Beans made no attempt to escape all were caught alive and brought to Edinburgh in chains, where they were incarcerated in the Tollbooth, and the next day taken to Leith." "The people were horrified when they heard about the crimes of Sawney Bean and his family and decided to give them a punishment even more barbaric. The execution was a slow one: the men bled to death after their hands and legs were cut off, and the women were burned alive after they were forced to watch the execution of the men. John Nicholson tells us about the execution as follows "...they all died without the least sign of repentance, but continued cursing and vending the most dreadful imprecations to the very last gasp of life."  Several locals, in particular psychic detective, Tom Robinson, are convinced of the truth to the tale after witnesses described ghosts in the cave of Sawney Bean. Mr Robinson believes that instead of being executed in Edinburgh, the Sawney family were cornered and sealed alive in their cave to die a slow, agonising death. The ghosts aren't those of Sawney and his family though, but their victims who were cursed before they were killed and eaten by the cannibalistic clan. Inside a cave, which he considered to be the Sawney home, Tom recounts how he heard a woman's scream and saw a female form dragged into the back of the cave by 12 white lights, while a male form lay immobile on the cave floor. The images faded into the cave wall. Mr Robinson supposedly returned to the site in 1991 and performed an exorcism. Another similar Scottish tale is that of Andrew Christie, who was a butcher, by trade, in Perth. During a great famine in the mid-1400′s Christie joined a group of scavengers in the Grampian mountains. When one of the party died of starvation, Christie put his butcher skills to work on the corpse and fed himself and the group. They now began to ambush travellers as food. Christie used a hook on a pole to haul his victims from their horse, this device was a 'cleke', a hook or crook, hence his nickname, Cleek. Eventually an armed force from Perth defeated the group but not before Christie fled. He was never heard from again. The name Christie Cleek was used in a bogeyman-like fashion to silence even the most unruly of kids. No one really knows whether Sawney Bean, or Christie Cleek are fact or fiction, but they've given rise to some well known stories such as Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes, which has a family of cannibals in a more modern setting. There are some stories that Tobe Hopper based his Texas Chainsaw Murder film on the Sawney Bean legend as well as the real life sadistic murderer Ed Gein. A new documentary broadcast on Radio Scotland in 2007 concluded that the Sawney Bean myth was an English invention designed to denigrate the Scots at the time of the Jacobite rebellions. Fiona Black, a graduate of Glasgow University, told Radio Scotland's Case Re-Opened that the word "Sawney", which is short for Alexander, first appears in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1704 as a derogatory term for a Scotsman. "The monstrous figure of Sawney was probably an English invention." noted Black. Click for video Sources: Nicholson, John. - Historical and Traditional Tales Connected with the South of Scotland www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk www.forteantimes.com www.wardsbookofdays.com Mackay, John. - Cannibal Family of Sawney Bean and Stories of South-West Scotland www.historic-uk.com news.scotsman.com The Horror of Sawney Bean  |
| Museum Investigation Produces Curious Evidence Posted: 20 Sep 2010 12:14 PM PDT  BBC - A group of investigators from Weymouth have released the findings of their investigation into paranormal activity in Dorset County Museum in Dorchester.They have photos which they believe to be of "hanging" Judge Jeffreys and local fossil collector Mary Anning in the museum's main hall. Judge George Jeffreys died in 1689 and Mary Anning in 1847. The team used infra red cameras, barrier alarms and EMF meters during their investigation. EMF meters measure electromagnetic fields. They are scientific instruments that are often also used by people with an interest in the paranormal. "What we've found now is amazing - we're really chuffed," said case manager Trudy Jordan of the PIT (Paranormal Investigation Team) group. "It wasn't until we looked at the footage afterwards that you could actually make out the figure of a man.... You can make your own mind up but it's so detailed," she said. "We also have a photo of a woman with a cape going round her shoulders, and no head."  Judge George JeffreysBoth Judge Jeffreys and Mary Anning have links with the museum - it is home of the chair from which he sentenced many convicts to death, and Mary Anning was the establishment's first honorary member. Ms Jordan also said that the barrier alarms they set up in the Victorian Hall part of the museum went off repeatedly. They are sensors which detect physical movement.  Is this image the ghostly figure of Judge Jeffreys? "We've used them now since 2003 and never known anything affect them to make them go off unless someone actually goes through them."Meanwhile upstairs in another part of the museum known as the writers gallery, Beryl Smith said she experienced strange swings in measurements from her EMF meter. "I thought it was fascinating because somebody had come to me to want to talk through the meter," she said. She believes she was communicating with a male spirit, but admits that she does not have any proof. "I asked one of my colleagues to come and stand next to me to verify what the meter was doing and it started fading." Fundraising officer Nel Duke has worked at Dorset County Museum for over a year and says she is "unconvinced". "I haven't had any paranormal experiences here," she said. "I don't know to be honest, I can see an argument on either side, there is some compelling evidence but I'll stay open minded to all the different explanations - I'm unconvinced but could go either way." ********** George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem - 'The Hanging Judge'  George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem, PC (15 May 1645 – 18 April 1689), also known as "The Hanging Judge", became notable during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord ChancellorJames II appointed Judge Jeffreys to try the rebels, and he was so brutal that he became known as the hanging judge. The trials were held at several places but the main centre was Taunton where the rebel army had assembled. Jeffreys sentenced 200 to hanging and another 800 to transportation to the West Indies. Monmouth himself was beheaded on Tower Hill in London on 15 July. The sound of running feet and horses' hooves is regularly heard at Westzoyland. Supposedly, a farm lad with a reputation as a runner was made to race a horse for his life from a standing start. The boy is said to have won the race over a short distance but was hanged anyway. This sounds rather mythical and might be a much older story modernized at the time. A Celtic goddess is supposed to have raced a horse and won. At Moyles Court at Ellingham in Hampshire, a 70 year old dowager was accused of hiding two fugitives from Sedgemoor, and Jeffreys condemned her despite her age. Her sentence was to be burned to death, suggesting that Jeffreys took her to be a witch. In fact, the sentence was commuted to beheading and she is now one of the many headless ghosts of Britain. Frome was associated with the Orange Rebellion because the Duke of Monmouth is said to have stayed at a house in Cork Street now called Monmouth House. And locals found guilty by Jeffreys passing through Frome for his "bloody assizes" were supposed to have been hung, drawn and quartered at Gore Hedge, just past the top of what is now Bath Street, but then was Rook Lane. There might be some doubt about this name, however, since a "gore" is an ancient name for a triangular field. Judge Jeffreys attended many of the hangings in person, and his ghost is said to haunt several west country locations as well as his own home at Walton on Thames. He used to dine and drink at the Prospect of Whitby public house at Wapping in London. This old pub famously has staging over the river and is still a pleasant place to sit in summer, but Jeffreys liked to watch the executions of criminals across the river at "Execution Dock." Condemned pirates were hung over the river at low tide, and were not cut down until they had been washed by three tides. This is reminiscent of the ancient fertility ritual of the Jack in the Green, who was paraded in a decorated basket before being lowered into a river or lake on May Day. Several towns had gallows trees for the victims including Croscombe in Devon. Twelve People were hung at Lyme Regis where Jeffreys dined in the Great House in Broad Street, a spot still troubled by his ghost even though the original house is long gone. He is said also to haunt a house in Lydford in Devon and a house in the centre of Dorchester. It is said that the sound of choking men rather than the ghost of the Judge is heard in some places. People have reported the sound of horrific gasping on quiet nights in Bath Street and the approaches to Gore Hedge in Frome. James carried on with his plans to turn Britain back to Catholicism, but the rich Whigs still had William of Orange waiting in Holland. With much more money and provisions, William succeeded where Monmouth had earlier failed, landing on 5 November 1688 AD at Torbay. John Churchill, the future Duke of Marlborough and ancestor of Winston, deserted to the rebels and this time it was James who fled. William and Mary were made rulers in February 1689, but the Whigs made sure that Parliament, not the king had control of the army and the judges, and that the king had no right to suspend or dispense with Parliament's laws. Furthermore, Parliament controlled the exchequer. The Whigs became monarchists when the monarch had to be a Whig. At the Revolution in 1688, he was nearly lynched by a London mob and took refuge in the Tower, where he died of kidney disease. - minehead-online Mary Anning, Finder of Fossils  Mary Anning lived through a life of privation and hardship to become what one source called "the greatest fossilist the world ever knew."* Anning is credited with finding the first specimen of Ichthyosaurus acknowledged by the Geological Society in London. She also discovered the first nearly complete example of the Plesiosaurus; the first British Pterodactylus macronyx, a fossil flying reptile; the Squaloraja fossil fish, a transitional link between sharks and rays; and finally the Plesiosaurus macrocephalus.Her history is incomplete and contradictory. Some accounts of her life have been fictionalized, and her childhood discoveries have been mythologized. She was a curiosity in her own time, bringing tourism to her home town of Lyme Regis. Only her personal qualities and her long experience brought her any recognition at all, since she was a woman, of a lower social class, and from a provincial area at a time when upper-class London men, gentlemanly scholars, received the bulk of the credit for geological discoveries. Anning learned to collect fossils from her father, Richard, a cabinet maker by trade and a fossil collector by avocation. But he died at 44 in 1810, leaving his family destitute. They relied on charity to survive. Fossil collecting was a dangerous business in the seaside town. Anning walked and waded under unstable cliffs at low tide, looking for specimens dislodged from the rocks. During her teenage years, the family built both a reputation and a business as fossil hunters. In 1817 they met Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Birch, a well-to-do fossil collector who became a supporter of the family. He attributed major discoveries in the area to them, and he arranged to sell his personal collection of fossils for the family's benefit. Most of Anning's fossils were sold to institutions and private collectors, but museums tended to credit only people who donated the fossils to the institution. Therefore, it has been difficult for historians to trace many fossils that Mary Anning located; the best known are a small Ichthyosaurus discovered in 1821 and the first Plesiosaurus, unearthed in 1823. Mary had some recognition for her intellectual mastery of the anatomy of her subjects, from Lady Harriet Silvester, who visited Anning in 1824 and recorded in her diary: ...the extraordinary thing in this young woman is that she had made herself so thoroughly acquainted with the science that the moment she finds any bones she knows to what tribe they belong....by reading and application she has arrived to that greater degree of knowledge as to be in the habit of writing and talking with professors and other clever men on the subject, and they all acknowledge that she understands more of the science than anyone else in this kingdom. Visitors to Lyme increased as Anning won the respect of contemporary scientists. In the last decade of her life she received an annuity from the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1838). The Geological Society of London collected a stipend for her and she was named the first Honorary Member of the new Dorset County Museum, one year before her death from breast cancer. Her obituary was published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society--an organization that would not admit women until 1904. - sdsc.edu Museum Investigation Produces Curious Evidence  |
| Fortean / Oddball News - 9/20/2010 Posted: 20 Sep 2010 11:03 AM PDT  Opossums Run Rampant in Brooklyn! nypost - In a bizarre attempt to outwit Mother Nature, city officials introduced beady-eyed opossums in Brooklyn years ago to scarf down rats running amok in the borough, according to local officials. Surprise: Operation opossum didn't work. Not only do wily rats continue to thrive, but the opossums have become their own epidemic, with bands of the conniving creatures sauntering through yards, plundering garbage cans and noshing on fruit trees. They've even taken up golf, with two sightings of the whiskered marsupials at the Dyker Heights municipal course in the past week, local officials said. "They are everywhere," said Theresa Scavo, chairwoman for Community Board 15, which represents Sheepshead Bay and surrounding south Brooklyn neighborhoods. "Didn't any of those brain surgeons realize that the opossums were going to multiply?" A city Sanitation spokeswoman said they were not involved with the Brooklyn opossum drop, and the Health Department didn't have any record of it. But Scavo and two city councilmen said city officials spoke about the effort at a 2007 Brooklyn forum. "City brought possums in to take care of rats," read Community Board 15 notes from the meeting. The opossums were set free in local parks and underneath the Coney Island boardwalk, with the theory being they would die off once the rats were gobbled up, said Councilman Domenic Recchia (D-Brooklyn). Instead, the critters have been populating, spreading to Park Slope and Manhattan. "The population has boomed in recent years," said Josephine Beckmann, district manager for Community Board 10, which represents Bay Ridge. "They climb up in the tree and have a good meal." The critters have a mouth full of 50 sharp teeth, tend to exude a foul odor, and can occasionally contract rabies, said Stuart Mitchell, an entomologist. They are nocturnal, and some Brooklynites have become terrified to go into their yards at night. NOTE: Wow...NYC definitely has a problem. From personal experience, opossums are really hard to get rid of unless you're willing to use shotguns. BTW, opossum are very tasty when cooked properly...though, a bit greasy. Lon **********  ....get the Corned Beef and Potatoes Jimmy Hill planted his heirloom cabbage seeds in May and watched in disbelief as one of the mammoth vegetables – dubbed The Hulk – grew to span an incredible 5ft in width. Grandfather-of-six Jimmy, 53, today revealed he would feed the cabbages, which need to be hacked out the ground with a hacksaw, to neighbours. Jimmy, of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, said: "I reckon that by the time they split and are ready for cutting out they should be around 80lb. "They're a good talking point and neighbours often ask to come round and have a look. From leaf to leaf they must measure at least 5ft across and are still growing." Jimmy also grows giant onions, carrots and cucumbers in the modest rear garden of his home which he shares with wife Jackie, 51. But he admitted he is at a loss as to how to cultivate and cook his giant crop without becoming sick of cabbages. Mechanic Jimmy added: "I like cabbages and my wife is a wonderful cook but I have to admit there are only so many ways you can cook them so I reckon we'll give them away to neighbours. "We had cabbage soup with a previous crop. Let's just say it is an acquired taste. "People say I should enter shows and grow them professionally but for me it is just a hobby to pas the time. "I love spending tie int he garden and am pleased to be able to share them with neighbours." ********** Stargazers' Delight space.com - Stargazers can get a great look at Jupiter on any clear night for the rest of September. The giant planet, always bright, will be especially hard to miss as it approaches closer to Earth than it will at any time until 2022. In North America this month, Jupiter will be low in the east shortly after twilight, moving higher up toward the southeast as the evening grows late, according to NASA and Sky and Telescope magazine. Jupiter will be nearest to Earth on the night of Monday, Sept. 20, when it passes 368 million miles (594 million km) away. For comparison, the sun is about 93 million miles (150 million km) from us. But viewers shouldn't despair if they miss the show on the 20th: Jupiter will be nearly as close and bright all month. Earth orbits the sun in about 365 days. But Jupiter, farther out there, takes 4,332 Earth-days to make the same trip. Therefore, Earth laps Jupiter periodically, on the inside track. As that pass occurs, the two worlds come much closer than when they are on opposite sides of the sun. Because the planets' orbits are not perfect circles, some passes are tighter than others. This Jupiter sky map shows where to look to see the bright planet on the night of Sept. 20. This year's close pass should beat out other years to give a spectacular show, with Jupiter coming nearer to Earth than at any time between 1963 and 2022, according to a Sky & Telescope announcement. At the closest point of its previous swing-by in August 2009, for example, Jupiter was more than 7 million miles (11.3 million km) farther away. That translated into the planet appearing 8 percent dimmer, all things considered. Jupiter is also an extra 4 percent brighter than usual because one of its brown cloud belts has gone missing. For nearly a year, the giant planet's South Equatorial Belt, usually easy to see in a small telescope, has been hidden under a layer of bright white ammonia clouds. This lets more sunlight reflect off the planet, giving it an overall brightness boost. Uranus makes an appearance There's more to see in the heavens right now than just Jupiter. The giant planet is lined up almost perfectly with Uranus at the moment. Uranus is five times farther away and almost 3,000 times dimmer than Jupiter, so it's invisible to the unaided eye. But binoculars or a telescope — as well as access to a detailed chart — will show Uranus less than 1 degree from Jupiter now through Sept. 24, Sky and Telescope said. (A fist held at arm's length covers about 10 degrees of the sky.) On the other end of the brightness scale, the full moon joins this celestial scene around the same time, shining above Jupiter on the evening of Sept. 22 and to the left of it on Sept. 23. Special view of Mercury Also, this week is one of the few occasions when stargazers will be able to get a good look at Mercury. Though Mercury is very bright, its orbit's extreme closeness to the sun dictates that the sun's glare usually overpowers the small, rocky planet. But twice each year, once in the evening and once in the morning, Mercury stands highest in the sky, giving skywatchers the best opportunity to spot it. This week offers its best morning appearance of the year. To see Mercury, skywatchers should go out any morning this week about 30 minutes before sunrise. A low, cloudless sky and an unobstructed view of the eastern horizon are necessary. Mercury should be visible just above where the sun will rise, about 10 degrees above the horizon. Stargazers may need binoculars or a small telescope to see Mercury at first, but once spotted it should be visible to the unaided eye. ********** Man Claims Caffeine Insanity in Wife's Death yahoo - A Kentucky man accused of strangling his wife is poised to claim excessive caffeine from sodas, energy drinks and diet pills left him so mentally unstable he couldn't have knowingly killed her, his lawyer has notified a court. Woody Will Smith, 33, is scheduled for trial starting Monday on a murder charge in the May 2009 death of Amanda Hornsby-Smith, 28. Defense attorney Shannon Sexton filed notice with the Newport court of plans to argue his client ingested so much caffeine in the days leading up to the killing that it rendered him temporarily insane — unable even to form the intent of committing a crime. Sexton declined requests for comment on the defense strategy he indicated he would pursue in filings before the court. Jury selection was scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. EDT Monday. Opening statements were expected to begin around 1:30 p.m. EDT. A legal strategy invoking caffeine intoxication is unusual but has succeeded at least once before, in a case involving a man cleared in 2009 of charges of running down and injuring two people with a car in Washington state. Dr. Roland Griffiths, a professor of behavioral biology at Johns Hopkins University has noted in an unrelated study that there is a diagnosis for "caffeine intoxication," which includes nervousness, excitement, insomnia and possibly rambling speech. Prosecutors, meanwhile, said their own expert may testify there was no evidence Smith had consumed diet pills or energy drinks as he claimed before his wife died. Prosecutor Michelle Snodgrass said Smith tested negative for amphetamine-type substances shortly after the killing. Police say Smith used an extension cord to strangle his wife on May 4, 2009, then used the same cord to bind her feet together. Smith then used another cord to tie his wife's hands. If convicted of murder, Smith could be sentenced to life in prison. Smith told Dr. Robert Noelker, a psychologist from Williamstown hired by the defendant, he remembers taking his children to school that morning. But Smith remembers little else about the ensuing hours. In the weeks preceding May 4, 2009, Woody Smith told Noelker, he hadn't been sleeping, in part out of fear his wife would take their two children and leave him. "The next several hours of Mr. Smith's life, were described to me as if he were in a daze," Noelker wrote in a report. After sleeping intermittently, Smith had nap with one child he picked up from school at midday at a school near their home in Dayton, Ky., across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. After picking up the second child later that day, Smith said he went to his mother and stepfather's house. He described feeling "out of control," weeping to the point of being unable to communicate. Smith eventually confided in his stepfather, Noelker wrote, "I think my wife is dead." Reports and case records say during that time, he was drinking five or six soft drinks and energy drinks a day, along with taking diet pills; it all added up to more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders — published by the American Psychiatric Association showing standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders — defines overdose as more than 300 mg. That's about three cups of coffee. Noelker said he determined Smith was open to "brief psychosis" brought on by sleep deprivation, which was caused by the heavy ingestion of diet pills and caffeine in the weeks leading up to his wife's death. "It is my opinion that this disorder was the direct result of psychosis due to severe insomnia," Noelker wrote in a report filed in Smith's case. Noelker is expected to be called as a defense witness. The defense strategy recalls the case of Daniel Noble, a budget analyst at the University of Idaho Foundation who awoke Dec. 7, 2009, after a restless night and multiple weeks of working long hours on the foundation's budget. Attorney Mark Moorer of Moscow, Idaho, won a dismissal of charges against the 31-year-old analyst, who had been accused by authorities of running down and injuring two pedestrians with a car in Pullman, Wash. Each man survived with a broken leg. Moorer said Noble awoke in pajamas and slippers in near-freezing weather, went to a Starbucks and downed two large coffees before driving eight miles to Pullman where the pedestrians were hit. Medical tests in the Noble case resulted in a diagnosis of a rare form of bipolar disorder — triggered by heavy consumption of caffeine, Moorer said. That evidence went before a judge, who dismissed the charges after concluding Noble was unable to form the mental intent to commit a crime. "We referred to it as a temporary insanity defense," Moorer said. "If you sat down and talked with him now, you'd think he's as normal as you and I." ********** U.S. Tourists Caught With Human Skulls aolnews - Greek police have charged two American tourists with desecrating the dead after they were caught at the Athens airport with six human skulls in their hand luggage. "The skulls were found in a scanner check during a stop-over in Athens on their way back to the United States," a police official told Reuters. "The coroner confirmed they were human skulls." The tourists told police they'd bought the skulls at a souvenir shop on the Greek island of Mykonos and thought they were fakes. They were charged Thursday and then released pending a trial. The tourists were identified as young men but were not named. Their arrests were reported by several news outlets. "They bought them ahead of Halloween to decorate their homes. Both tourists were then released and took a flight back to the U.S.," another policeman told CNN. It's unclear where the skulls came from. Fortean / Oddball News - 9/20/2010  |
| Falling Body Mystery Continues in Egg Harbor Township, NJ Posted: 20 Sep 2010 09:48 AM PDT  Over a week ago, I posted an article in the Fortean / Oddball News section in reference to a mystery person who was supposedly seen free-falling from the sky above Egg Harbor Township, NJ. near the Black Horse Pike, northwest of Atlantic City, NJ. Since then, the national media has grabbed hold of the story and posted it. It's a strange case that isn't going away...especially if a body or debris is never found. Below is the updated account: msnbc - Several people in New Jersey claimed they saw a person falling from the sky with no parachute, but an extensive police search has turned up no evidence, NBC Philadelphia reported. Witness Kelly Hale and two of her co-workers at Shore Veterinarians in Egg Harbor Township said they watched from their office windows as a human fell head-first from the sky on Tuesday. But there were no reports of missing skydivers. "I [saw] the guy falling, at an angle, like this," Hale told NBC Philadelphia while gesturing. "Straight down. No parachute. No paraglider." Authorities were still investigating the incident, Egg Harbor police told msnbc.com on Thursday. "We're not actively out there searching, but we're waiting for more information," said police Sgt. Robert Gray. He could not comment on the ongoing investigation. Several people contacted Egg Harbor Township Police at about 3:20 p.m. Tuesday, saying that they watched a person free-falling from the sky. The witnesses described the person as falling head first, at a slight angle, toward the ground, police said. "You could see the arms and legs flailing and his clothes were blue, a dark blue like a navy, black and gray," Hale said. "There's no doubt that it was a person. We're 100 percent sure." The witnesses also told NBC Philadelphia they saw a small plane flying nearby right after they saw the person plunging to the ground. Egg Harbor Township police and aviation units of the Coast Guard and New Jersey State Police extensively searched the heavily wooded area until about 11 a.m. Wednesday. The search will remain suspended until further information becomes available, police said. "We didn't see any signs of debris, we didn't see any broken branches of something like, falling through the tree-line," Coast Guard Lt. Commander Paul Whitmore said. "We didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but that's not to say it didn't happen." Hale, for one, is convinced of what she saw. "They need to find him," she said. "I mean, there's somebody lying back there." Click for video Falling Body Mystery Continues in Egg Harbor Township, NJ Send us an email   New Items - Strickler's Celebrity Autographs Works on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries. Please check out their excellent and diverse catalog  The 'C' Influence Actualizing Esoteric Discussion   "The latest news from beyond the mainstream" Join Ben & Aaron for their weekly podcast! Check out Mysterious Universe Plus+ all access format!  Spirit Rescue International Providing no cost professional spiritual help, personal support and guidance Take the first step towards genuine peace of mind SPIRIT RESCUE INTERNATIONAL - HAUNTED HELP Spiritual, paranormal and supernatural guidance and support using remote viewing and other complementary therapies - all are welcome Phantoms & Monsters Wiki A NETWORK OF INVESTIGATORS, ENTHUSIASTS AND THOSE SEEKING THE TRUTH THROUGH PARANORMAL EDUCATION AND DISCUSSION   |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Phantoms and Monsters To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment