Phantoms and Monsters |  |
- The 1964 Barnesville, Minnesota UFO Landing
- Fortean / Alternative News: Rapture Zealot Suffers Stroke, Close Encounters and New Rotorua UFO
- 'Finding Bigfoot': Muddy Footprints and Candy Bars
| The 1964 Barnesville, Minnesota UFO Landing Posted: 13 Jun 2011 02:46 PM PDT  Early on the morning of May 5, 1964, farmer Alfred Ernst, of Barnesville, Minnesota, drove his truck up to his grain drill. He got out and began loading the drill for the continued wheat seeding of his land, which had begun the day before. He stopped for a moment and surveyed the flat prairie that was his farm, about six miles east of Comstock. Then, at 8 a.m., he saw a UFO on the ground. "It was a glowing oval object approximately 1,500 feet away," the former Barnesville Mayor told Norman Mess, NICAP Minnesota Subcommittee member. "It appeared to be about three to four feet long and almost as wide." The witness, in a later telephone conversation with Dr. James E. McDonald, said the object was "like the tub of a washing machine, round-bottomed." There was a bright glow to it and it was "hard to look at." Ernst saw the object as it was taking off. It rose quickly and disappeared into the clouds in five seconds. The witness said he felt "rather uncomfortable" when the UFO disappeared. The farmer then drove to the farm of his brother, Leo A. Ernst, and the two men returned to the landing site. There they discovered a crater-like depression about three feet in diameter. At the center of this depression was a hole about three or four inches in diameter. Four other holes approximately one and one-half inches in diameter and two feet apart formed a square around the central hole. The depressed area was unusually dry. Around the rim of the depression a white substance, later analyzed as alkaline, was found. Ernst said the black soil in that area did not contain alkaline. WDAY-TV, of Fargo, North Dakota, took an unusual interest in the report and sent a man to investigate and obtain photographs of the area. The results of this investigation were made public on Dewey Berquist's weather program. "The holes are exactly the type I've seen many times and I'm sure they were caused by lightning," Berquist wrote NICAP. "I believe Mr. Ernst saw an uncommon phenomena called 'ball' or 'globe' lightning."  Bull Lightning Theory Disputed The witness himself does not agree. Nor does Dr. McDonald. "While I was quizzing [Ernst] about the state of the weather," Dr. McDonald said in a report to NICAP, "he made reference to the ball lightning explanation and said that was quite unreasonable. He pointed out that he and his father and grandfather had farmed in that area (his grandfather homesteaded there) and nobody in the area had ever seen any fireball or ball lightning or anything like that before... . Having heard directly from Ernst his description of the very precise pattern of the holes, which obviously impressed him greatly, and adding that to his description of the weather, I would say that any type of ball lightning hypothesis will not fit the report. I would say that this is a fairly strong case." The Arizona atmospheric physicist said thunderstorm activity is needed to produce ball lightning, but "there is no mention of any thunderstorm occurring at the time, nor does any of the material indicate lightning activity." "The descriptions of the geometric pattern of holes in the blown-out area are quite atypical of ball lightning.. . .," Dr. McDonald continued. "Ernst mentioned that it was hard to look at the object due to its luminosity. I have never heard of ball lightning so luminous that it would be hard to look at at a distance of a quarter of a mile. . . . "It is true that lightning sometimes makes a hole or tear in the ground and it is also true that when it hits sand it vitrefies the sand, but I would not be satisfied with Berquist's easy explanation of the holes on such a basis, in view of the reported geometric pattern... . "Ball lightning fairly frequently ends by exploding (occasionally with damaging force, usually just with a loud noise). One might hypothesize that the hole which Ernst reported was due to explosive termination of a lightning ball; however, then one would be left high and dry with respect to accounting for the ascent of the luminous mass. If, alternatively, one argued that the hole was made by an ordinary cloud-to-ground stroke which then generated a lightning ball, it would be unreasonable to think that Ernst could have failed to hear a very loud crash of thunder. No mention of any such thunder is made." - NICAP - 'Strange Effects from UFOs' - Donald Keyhoe and Gordon Lore  |
| Fortean / Alternative News: Rapture Zealot Suffers Stroke, Close Encounters and New Rotorua UFO Posted: 13 Jun 2011 10:34 AM PDT  Harold Camping, the Doomsday radio preacher who sparked international media attention by predicting the end of the world last month, has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke at his Alameda home Thursday night. The 89-year-old radio evangelist and president of the Oakland nonprofit Family Radio was taken by ambulance from his house Thursday night, a neighbor said, but his well-known, gravelly voice that led many believers to donate millions of dollars to his cause may never be the same. "He had a stroke, it was on his right side," said the neighbor, who declined to give her name but said she and her husband helped and comforted Camping's wife, Shirley, as the drama unfolded Thursday night. Her husband spoke again with Shirley Camping on Friday. "His speech appears to be a little bit slurred but otherwise he's OK," the neighbor said. "(Shirley) said he was doing good "... and the only thing that's affected is his speech." There was no answer at the door of the Camping home Saturday afternoon and all of the curtains and blinds were drawn. A GMC pickup with a Family Radio bumper sticker and a white Buick sat in the driveway. Charles Menut -- the regional manager for Family Stations Inc., Family Radio's parent company, and the station manager and chief engineer for an affiliated station in West Orange, N.J. -- posted a Yahoo group message early Saturday morning reporting Camping's stroke to Family Radio supporters. "Please just pray for him and do not try to contact anyone at his home or Family Radio," Menut wrote. "He and Shirley have enough family members to handle the situation. I'm sure we'll be able to publicly update everyone on Monday." Menut could not be reached at his home or office Saturday. "We will be praying for Mr. Camping and his family," one supporter wrote in reply to Menut's posting. "The Lord has been so merciful to allow Mr. Camping to faithfully teach the scriptures for over 52 years. I'm sure Mr. Camping is thinking right now that he wants God to receive all the glory the for the ministry of Family Radio." Camping gained notoriety in recent months as the calendar closed in on May 21, the Saturday on which the Doomsday prophet said Judgment Day would occur and true believers would be taken to heaven. That attempted prophecy gained the world's attention primarily because Camping wanted it that way. Family Radio, an empire of more than 70 radio stations that was estimated to be worth $72 million in 2009, spent more than $100 million over the past seven years publicizing the Rapture. Billboards guaranteeing the end of the world were present throughout the world and some followers drove RVs all over the United States to alert people. But Camping was mocked nationally by talk-show hosts and the subject of protests, both by believers and nonbelievers alike. Some Christians called Camping a false prophet, and the American Atheists paid $27,000 for five weeks of billboard space in San Francisco, denouncing the Rapture, along with hosting a party that May 21 weekend. Camping said he took his wife to a hotel during the weekend of the predicted Rapture and that the phone in his Alameda home rang constantly and strangers knocked on his door. It was, he said, "a very difficult time for me." When the world did not end, Camping told reporters that the world would instead end Oct. 21 and argued that despite no physical evidence to the contrary, his point of view was correct. - insidebayarea ********** Close Encounters MUFON CMS - 10/1994: In the mid-1970's I was riding my mother-in-law's bike and a very large disc shaped, silvery space ship hovered over me...I started riding around noonish and suddenly 5 or so hours just vanished. It was getting dark..but I hadn't gone anywhere! But my sighting report is not so much about seeing this UFO...it is about my many encounters with extraterrestrial beings, mostly in my home. All together, there have been 9 encounters..the one that stands out in my mind the most: My daughter and I were coming home from a long day of work and school. She went directly to take her shower to get to bed quickly...I gathered up her things and walking from the kitchen to the living room...suddenly three beings..not human..appeared before me. I was stunned to say the least. They were each different in size and shape, but all had medium grey coloured skin, longish arms, fewer fingers than humans, a large head and prominent eyes..very big eyes with a seemingly second eye. The first one to the left was larger than the others...he looked directly at me as I was only a foot or so from him I could see him well. The one standing next to him was a bit smaller and the third was smaller yet, standing in the doorway of the bedroom. The larger one said telepathically to me: "We're sorry you saw us; we're leaving now"...The whole room became bathed in a glow of sparkley substance...they literally went up through the ceiling and disappeared. All the time they were with me I sensed they were benevolent...almost kind. It was an amazing experience I could never, ever forget. I told my daughter immediately as she wrapped her towel around her...I was concerned that she was OK...did they see her too? I wondered. We stayed up a long while, hugging and wondering who they were....The next morning as we were in the kitchen, she asked me "What are those red dots on your arm, Mama?" I looked and saw them in a circle. I then checked to see if she had them and she did. I realized they had come to see her too! I have told a few select people..friends..family..but not many. It was a lot to "wrap one's brain around". Since that night (and prior to that encounter) both my daughter and I have had further encounters with them. I am glad to report they never caused us any physical pain and every time seemed to express a concern for our well-being. I am more curious now than afraid. ********** Credit card thieves go grave robbing Making the news this week, a woman who stole credit cards from a terminally ill patient, and another who ripped off her dead parents. In previous weeks, stories about credit card crimes in the media have involved petty criminals stealing credit cards from churchgoers and teachers. Apparently, some thieves decided they needed to up the sleaze ante. The first story is particularly sad. Dora T. Chatmon, 24, was providing in-home care for a terminally-ill woman in Lewiston, N.Y. She and her boyfriend, Leonard James, 19, used the woman's credit cards to make $13,000 in purchases between September 20 and October 12 last year. How low can you get? Chatmon and James each blamed the other, which somehow makes me think they won't be staying together as a couple, but the judge felt that they both deserved some jail time. They each received four months of weekends in jail, five years' probation and will each have to pay back $6,450. In the case of the woman who ripped off her dead parents, perhaps that is a little more forgivable, since they obviously weren't going to be using the credit cards any longer. Still, a crime is a crime, and this is a pretty serious one. Julie H. Frias, a 52-year-old in Edmond, Okla., spent more than $53,000 on her deceased parents' credit cards. She and her husband, Domingo, traveled to Europe, Mexico, Texas and Nevada. They even purchased season tickets from Oklahoma State University, which makes me think any OSU fan reading this now is likely thinking, "OK, she can't be all bad…" But of all the stories out there, the most ambitious and audacious is Jannie Lee's story. Boy, if she only used her time and energy for good. Lee, a 28-year-old who apparently lives in the Tacoma, Wash., area, somehow got her hands on a commercial banking account number and came up with an ingenious, if highly illegal, scheme to make money. Her group of scammers allegedly contacted up to 1,800 people with credit card debt and offered to settle their debt if they paid Lee half of what they owed on their card. They would provide their credit card account information, and Lee would pay off the rest of the debt using the ill-gotten commercial banking account. For example, let's say I owe $1,000 on my credit card and I fall for Lee's scam. I would give Lee $500 in cash, and then she would pay off my $1,000 credit card debt with the illicit commercial banking account number. I'm happy because I paid my debt off with half the amount of money, and Lee is very pleased because she has just collected $500. Lee's scammers allegedly got away with using the bogus corporate account to pay off credit cards and utility bills for two years before the account owner finally caught on. Lee is in jail right now and will likely stay there for awhile, unless anyone wants to pay off her $500,000 bail. - cardratings **********  More UFO activity over Rotorua, NZ Claimed sightings of a UFO over Rotorua have been posted on video-sharing website YouTube. Someone who goes by the username Horsefarmer1000 posted the video on the popular website on June 5 and in the information attached claims the footage was taken about 9.30pm on June 2. Rotorua Astronomical Society vice-president Brian Hurren says the video - which is about 90 seconds long - may be anything from an out-of-focus star to an unusual plasma ball. On the website the man said he saw a strange light above his farm and drove towards it to get a better look. "[I] drove up the farm in a truck and seen a large object bigger then my truck hovering 20 meters off the ground at 2000 feet away," he wrote. [It] was just like a big ball of energy pulsing colours of yellow, pinky, purple." He said as the object moved it changed shape - when it moved up it went flat and when it went down it would be more rounded. The man told The Daily Post yesterday he was unavailable to comment because he was too busy. Mr Hurren described the video as "interesting". He said he wasn't sure what the object was. "It just looked like an out-of-focus star," he said, adding it could also have been a plasma ball - a ball of gas - but they were rarely seen in New Zealand skies. Mr Hurren said he would need more information about the object to be able to decide what it was. People often assumed unfamiliar objects were UFOs. "There is usually a reasonable explanation for everything," he said. The sighting comes two months after Rotorua's Craig Baird saw what he thought could have been a UFO over Waikite Valley. Mr Baird took photos of the unidentified flying object on March 31. He said whatever it was seemed to take off from somewhere around the Waikite ranges or further away, between 6.30am and 6.45am. Mr Baird said the "thing" seemed to stop and hover for about two minutes when it reached the clouds. - nzherald Click for video ********** Geauga County, Ohio man shares story of UFO sighting A man who believes he saw a UFO in Geauga County shared his amazing story Thursday night. "There's this disc above the lake," longtime resident Glenn Frohring said. "It just hovered there and all of a sudden it was like it was on a giant rubber band and went woof just like that." Frohring said he believes the disc he saw that day in 1954 was a UFO. And there were other sightings during that same decade. One man reported seeing a UFO leave a crop circle at Patti Clemson's grandparents' farm in Montville Township. "I just remember them saying it was a UFO and this man saw it and went home to get someone and came back and it was gone," Clemson recalled. She was seven years old at the time. The subject of UFO sightings resurfaced with the planned opening of Observatory Park, which will offer a unique look into outer space. The facility is about a mile from the farm Patti Clemson's grandparents once owned. "I'm sure it happened," she said of the mysterious crop circles. Frohring has a theory about why there were so many UFO sightings in the 1950s. He believes it had something to do with the setting off of atom bombs. And why were the sightings in Geauga County and not Cleveland? "It's rural," Frohring said. "People are outside." - newsnet5  |
| 'Finding Bigfoot': Muddy Footprints and Candy Bars Posted: 13 Jun 2011 08:25 AM PDT    "From deep inside the North Carolina Uhwarrie National Forest comes one of the most convincing pieces of Bigfoot footage from the past 40 years. The team of BFRO investigators use decades worth of experiences to determine if this footage is the real deal." Well, that's how the episode Finding Bigfoot: "Caught on Tape" was promoted by Animal Planet. The following is a local article about the muddy footprints...followed by links of previous posts and comments, including the thermal video/images and using candy bars as Bigfoot bait. ----- At first, Bernadette and Leonard Braley didn't pay much attention to the spots of mud on the road about 50 feet from their home on Quartz Court in Gibsonville last October. But then the Braleys began looking at the mud more closely and thought they looked a lot like footprints. Leonard grabbed the measuring tape and Bernadette a camera. They took photos of what they thought were 16-inch muddy footprints and then forgot about them for a few months. This past January, Bernadette began thinking about the photos again while she was going through shows on her digital video recorder. One was news footage of man who encountered Bigfoot trying to attack his dog. It got Bernadette thinking. She did a quick Internet search and found Bigfoot Lunch Club, a group that follows Bigfoot sightings, and there is one in North Carolina. Bernadette emailed her muddy footprint photos to the club. In February, the Braleys were invited to Troy to talk with a group from the Animal Planet television network that was doing some filming for a six-part series called "Finding Bigfoot" that started airing this month. The Braleys will be featured in an hour-long "Finding Bigfoot" episode about Sasquatch sightings in North Carolina. It airs at 10 p.m. Sunday on Animal Planet, which can be found at Channel 63 on Time-Warner Cable in Alamance County. "When Animal Planet got there, they went crazy when they saw the pictures," Bernadette Braley said. "They wanted to come to our house and do filming for their series." A four-person team from the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization — BFRO — as well as a producer, cameraman and several others spent a day with the Braleys in March, asking questions, filming and trying to recreate the footprints. "Their first question was do you live near power lines," Bernadette Braley said. Power lines run on the opposite side of their house. The second question was about the deer population. The Braleys' property backs up to woods and there are a lot of deer. At the time the footprints were found, there was a lot of new construction going on in the cul-de-sac and plenty of mud in the area. "They have concluded that Bigfoot sightings are around power lines because they like to run along the power lines and also deer. They like to eat deer or run with deer," Bernadette Braley said. The footprints were about 12 feet apart. "They did some tests," she said. "They put mud on the bottom of their shoes. They had a fellow running in the area. He jumped." The test subject was 6 feet tall and he left footprints that were about 6 feet apart. "They estimated it was probably a lot taller and a lot heavier and running on the ball of its foot," Bernadette Braley said. The four-person team of researchers includes Bobo, a commercial fisherman, Cliff, a professional educator, Matt, the president of BFRO and Ranae, a skeptical scientist. They all have varying experiences with Bigfoot and different beliefs about the existence of the creature, according to an Animal Planet release. "What binds them together, however, is their longing to understand the creature, passion for proving its existence and willingness to stop at nothing to finally track down Bigfoot," the release states. The Braleys enjoyed the experience with the Animal Planet group. Bernadette made the whole crowd chili. The researchers left behind a motion-sensitive night-vision camera that they set up in the woods. The Braleys have a lot of photos of deer and rabbits and leaves falling, but they still haven't captured Bigfoot on film. Leonard Braley was always a believer that Sasquatch existed. Bernadette said she was always skeptical. After doing a lot of Internet research, talking to people and interacting with the folks from Animal Planet, she's starting to be a believer herself. "I'm leaning in the direction that there's got to be a Bigfoot out there," she said. "There is just too many sightings for it to be people's imagination or hoaxes." The Braleys haven't actually seen Bigfoot and never reported anything to authorities last year. Bernadette suspects that whatever made the muddy footprints is long gone, but she holds out hope. "I, personally, would like to see it," she said. "I would love to actually take a picture of it." - thetimesnews NOTE: here is a link to the original articles and information - The Uwharrie Bigfoot Rundown. You may want to read some of the comments about this 'Finding Bigfoot' episode at Cryptomundo.com - What Do You Think Of Finding Bigfoot: "Caught on Tape". Anyway, if you watched the episode, tell me what you thought of it...Lon  Spirit Rescue International™ Providing no-cost professional spiritual help, personal support and guidance Take the first step towards genuine peace of mind  The Spirit Rescue International™ Haunted Help Forum *Join Our Group On Facebook*  Join Eric Altman, Lon Strickler and Sean Forker LIVE each Sunday at 10 PM ET as we go Beyond the Edge!  ANOMALIST BOOKS Works on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries. 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