Phantoms and Monsters

Flying Discs / Saucer-Shaped UFO Sightings Continue Over Colombia
Fortean / Alternative News: Alien Life Impossible, Astrology Declared 'Rubbish' and Bible-Chewing Devil Dog
Recent Bigfoot News / Claims - Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia

Flying Discs / Saucer-Shaped UFO Sightings Continue Over Colombia

Posted: 26 Jan 2011 10:52 AM PST

colombiareports - The highest volcano in Colombia has been the scene of numerous UFO sightings in recent weeks, which according to some is due to extraterrestrials monitoring seismic activity in an effort to save the human race.

Locals in the border region between the two departments of Huila and Cauca, where the Volcan Nevado del Huila is situated, believe the UFOs to belong to extraterrestrial beings, and have documented sightings with pictures and video, reported Diario del Huila Tuesday.

These claims were backed by local UFO expert Ricardo Ayerbe, who told the newspaper that he has witnessed an increase in unidentified flying objects over the last decade.

Ayerbe explained that he is currently investigating the phenomenon and believes that alien beings have an interest in the geological area, which is at present at Level 3 risk level, meaning that there are changes in volcanic activity.

The activity of a number of volcanoes in the central Andes has not only caused alarm, but also provides a possible explanation for the UFO sightings, according to Ayerbe.

"Quite possibly these sightings are related to these geological events that have occurred in recent months. At the moment there have been sightings in areas of geological risk, because it seems they have an interesting in observing the risks that humanity is taking, surely with the purpose of intervening to try to save the race from these risks," he explained, apparently with a straight face.

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Source: Diario del Huila - Colombia
http://www.diariodelhuila.com/noticia/10197
Date: 01.25.11

Inexplicata

Colombia: UFOs Seen near Nevado del Huila Volcano

Unidentified Flying Objects have apparently been seen near the Nevado del Huila volcano, in the municipalities bordering the Cauca and Opita territory.

This information was made known by residents of the region, who are in possession of photographs and videos of what could be the presence of extraterrestrial civilizations.

The strange images or sightings, as they are called, recorded in recent weeks from the end of 2010 to the present, are apparently not the first, according to Ricardo Ayerbe, a "Huilense" expert in the subject, who says these episodes have repeated for more than a decade.

"Sightings of the unidentified flying objects known as UFOs (sic) have been recorded for some years now, and there are photographs that clearly show objects plowing the skies, particularly near the Nevado del Huila, and some municipalities bordering the Huila and Cauca, such as Belalcazar, Sebastián de Belalcazar and other communities," said Ayerbe, a researcher of the phenomenon. He explained that while the events are under investigation, he believes that the alleged alien beings have some kind of interest in the geological area, which is currently at a Yellow Alert 3 level, and the volcanic activity is trending toward reduction.

The state of alarm in the area, which began last year, is due to the reactivation of some volcanoes in the central Cordillera, such as Nevado del Huila, according to followers of the UFO subject." It is very likely that these sightings are related to these geological events over the past months. At this time there have been sightings in high-risk areas, because they apparently have an interest in monitoring these hazards facing humanity, surely with the aim of intervening and saving the species from certain danger," Ayerbe noted.

The alleged Unidentified Flying Objects seen by residents of the Huila and Cauca border region have special characteristics in their movement, such as high speeds, making no noise whatsoever, and making themselves visible and invisible at will.

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Photos: Saucer Shaped UFO - Colombia - 12/25/09

MUFON witness report (rough translation): Colombia (undisclosed location) - 12/25/09 - After taking two photos, without tripod, of a dusk, when reviewing them in the PC south wind a sparkle with oval form that apparently corresponds to an object with displacement. In the first location and position it is different from the second taking. The coincidence but impressive this in the apparent oval form of clouds to the bottom of the dusk, like simulating a great ship, that went what it took to want to me to photograph that figure. After reviewing in the PC it surprised the light that appears to me in the two takings, furthermore in different positions. The difference between both photographs is of 35 seconds.

I was in my residence sharing with the family. When I observed that light in the photos, I shared with the family, that accepted that sparkle apparently is a flying object. Immediately I wanted to report on the subject and I acceded to the internet, looking for where to post this event. The object has an oval form, which I did not observe it at first. Nótice that the location of the object is different between a photo and the other. I believe that I have been lucky with this event.

NOTE: this sighting seems familiar to an earlier report in Colombia posted below:

Publimetro.cl & Planeta UFO
Date: 12.19.09

Colombia: College Photographer Captures Phantom UFO

The presence of "phantom" or "invisible" UFOs in digital photographs (and some analog ones, too) is a persistent and annoying situation. And a polarizing one, too. Many either embrace these objects as proof of the otherworldly or reject them outright as proof of the photographer's ineptitude. But Guillermo Gimenez of Planeta UFO has kindly sent us an article from the Chilean on-line newspaper Publimetro.cl that suggests that even college campuses are being plagued by the pesky "invisibles".

Juan Gabriel Sutachán, a graphics designer with Colombia's prestigious Universidad de los Andes, more specifically its School of Sciences, was taking photos of the campus for a college fair and at no time saw the strange object, which subsequently appears flying over the School of Economics building of this academic institutuion.

"What I find truly curious is that I wasn't aware of the object while taking the photos. In fact, none of us present at the time ever noticed it, despite the fact that it was a particularly sunny and clear day. It was only when we downloaded the images to the computer that we noticed it," says Sutachán.

The "phantom UFO" depicted in this latest case shows a saucer-shaped form that emits a whitish-pink wake. The sequence of images was presented to Prof. Carlos Hernández of the Physics Department "As a rule, we physicists are very skeptical when dealing with such subjects, as we consider that there is always a logical and scientifically provable reason to explain any phenomenon. However, despite the fact that the image recorded its very curious, we will have to engage in a more thorough analysis before being able to say what it is."

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Video: UFO / OVNI Itagui, Colombia

Click for video

The footage was obtained in Itaguí, Colombia in August 2007. An employee was recording the progress of the construction of a shopping venue when he witnessed the anomaly.

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Video: Aliens / OVNI Land on Bogota, Colombia Building

Strange compilation of UFO / OVNI news video clips from Colombia. Seems to suggest that extraterrestrials were seen on the roof of a Bogota, Colombia building. - April 2008

NOTE: these flying discs have been reported regularly over Latin American but sightings have been frequently reported over locations in Colombia as well as several South and Central American volcanoes. Scott Corrales at Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology keeps abreast of the activity on his blog...Lon

Fortean / Alternative News: Alien Life Impossible, Astrology Declared 'Rubbish' and Bible-Chewing Devil Dog

Posted: 26 Jan 2011 10:06 AM PST

Alien life deemed impossible by astrophysicist

telegraph - Howard Smith, a senior astrophysicist at Harvard, made the claim that we are alone in the universe after an analysis of the 500 planets discovered so far showed all were hostile to life.

Dr Smith said the extreme conditions found so far on planets discovered outside out Solar System are likely to be the norm, and that the hospitable conditions on Earth could be unique.

"We have found that most other planets and solar systems are wildly different from our own. They are very hostile to life as we know it," he said.

He pointed to stars such as HD10180, which sparked great excitement when it was found to be orbited by a planet of similar size and appearance to Earth.

But the similarities turned out to be superficial. The planet lies less than two million miles from its sun, meaning it is roasting hot, stripped of its atmosphere and blasted by radiation.

Many of the other planets have highly elliptical orbits which cause huge variations in temperature which prevent water remaining liquid, thus making it impossible for life to develop.

A separate team of scientists recently declared the chance of aliens existing on a newly discovered Earth-like planet "100 per cent".

Professor Steven Vogt , of the Carnegie institution in Washington, said he had "no doubt" extraterrestrial life would be found on a small, rocky planet found orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581 last September.

Such hopes are likely to be raised further in the coming weeks, when Nasa's Kepler satalite is expected to confirm the existence of hundreds of new planets.

But Dr Smith dismissed the claims, insisting that other extrasolar planets differ starkly from our own and that even if they did support life, it would be impossible for humans to make contact.

"Extrasolar systems are far more diverse than we expected, and that means very few are likely to support life.

"Any hope of contact has to be limited to a relatively tiny bubble of space around the Earth, stretching perhaps 1,250 light years out from our planet, where aliens might be able to pick up our signals or send us their own.

But communicating would still take decades or centuries.

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37-year-old Maine hypnotist convicted for using craft to keep a 14-year-old girl quiet about their sexual relationship

wmtw - A jury on Tuesday afternoon convicted a 37-year-old hypnotist accused of using his craft to keep a 14-year-old girl quiet about a sexual relationship they were having.

Jurors found Aaron Patton guilty on all counts including four charges of gross sexual assault.

The attorney for Patton argued that the girl was 16 when the two had a consensual sexual relationship. In Maine the age of consent for sexual activity is 16.

Patton began treating the girl, now 17, with hypnotism when she was 8 years old to break her of a nail-biting habit.

The girl testified Monday that when she was 14 they began having sex and afterward Patton would hypnotize her to keep quiet about their encounters.

The Sun Journal of Lewiston said the girl testified she was in love with Patton and kept it secret for two years.

Patton is being held on $5,000 cash bail at the Androscoggin County Jail.

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BBC show declares astrology 'rubbish'

guardian - Professor Brian Cox and Dara O'Briain have unleashed the wrath of Britain's astrologers with their comments about the ancient art on BBC2's "Stargazing Live" show, with the result that the Astrological Association of Great Britain have started a petition they plan to send to the BBC.

The section of the program that caused the fuss has been described in truly harrowing terms by 'respected astrologer' Angela Cornish, in an e-mail that was published by the SkyScript blog:

"If you didn't happen to see it, there were two presenters, Professor Brian Cox and Dara O'Briain. All was going well until they got to a part where they had models of the planets in our solar system on a table and Dara was explaining that all of the planets orbit at different speeds and distances away from the Sun. He said only the earth orbits the Sun in 365 days and returns to its own place, showing that horoscopes are nonsense. He then went on to add "Let's get this straight once and for all, Astrology is rubbish" The other presenter, Brian Cox, then agreed and said "in the interests of balance on the BBC, yes astrology is nonsense."

Shocking stuff, I think you'll agree.

This is not the first time that Brian Cox has waded into the astrology controversy that has raged in science for literally almost none of the last couple of centuries. The hackles of Britain's astrologers were raised last year, when Cox took a moment during his Wonders of the Solar System series to explain to the public that "astrology is a load of rubbish," a statement which pretty much echoes the scientific consensus on the matter, which says that, "astrology is a load of rubbish." It's a position that was first reached by Islamic scholars at least 650 years ago, and has been studiously ignored by such great minds as Jonathan Cainer ever since.

Since then, TV's most clean-shaven male Professor has become a bit of a lightning rod for astrologically-guided criticism, and the Astrological Association of Great Britain's new petition names him personally:

The Association will be requesting that the BBC make a public apology and a statement that they do not support the personal views of Professor Brian Cox or Dara O'Briains on the subject of astrology. We also request that the BBC will commit to making a fair and balanced representation of astrology when aired in the future.

On the second sentence at least I think we can all agree. I'd love to see the BBC give a fair and balanced representation of astrology. In fact sod it, let's extend that to all newspapers as well.

Such a representation would depict astrology as a pseudoscience with no real basis in evidence that was already being ridiculed in the Dark Ages, and note that after thousands of years astrologers still can't produce statistically meaningful results.

It would observe that any apparent successes of astrology probably owe more to the use of cold-reading techniques, convenient vagueness, and the exploitation of psychological quirks like confirmation bias or the Forer effect, and express amazement at the continued ability of the astrological industry to lift hundreds of millions of euros, pounds and dollars out of the pockets of customers each year.

Finally, it would make the point that intellectually-speaking, the pursuit of meaningful predictions in astrology isn't so much flogging a dead horse as punching a piece of rock and wondering why it won't say anything. Fair and balanced reporting is not the best thing to ask for when your views have about as much credibility as Andy Coulson's future in journalism.

Anyway, the Association's statement goes on to say (with my bolding) that:

"Communications the Association have received show that dissatisfaction is growing with Professor Brian Cox's support for Dara O'Briain's denigration of astrology in his Stargazing Live BBC2 television programme on 3rd January 2011 (see the portion commencing 17'30" and 19'45" into the programme). His justification was fragmentary astronomy and empty of logic. Yet he allowed the total condemnation of astrology. This is particularly disappointing, because for the previous nine months the Association had explained carefully to the BBC the reasons why Professor Cox's understanding of astrology was unreliable; following his gratuitous and unsubstantiated dismissal of it in Wonders of the Solar System (BBC2 28th March 2010 episode). "

Let's just leave aside the sheer burning irony of astrologers talking about "fragmentary astronomy and empty logic," because that's too easy. I do have to feel a bit sorry for whichever poor sod at the BBC has had to spend the last 9 months being educated at the hands of the AAGB's crack team of letter-writers. That said, I would dearly love to know what sort of evidence they presented.

I very much doubt the BBC are going to listen to this petition, but just in case, I say we start our own little petition here - if you agree with Brian Cox and Dara O'Briain (and let's face it, reality) that "astrology is a load of rubbish", feel free to leave a comment below supporting the BBC's stance. If I get more than a few, I'll put them in a letter and pass it on to the Beeb myself.

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Woman hanged nephew's 'devil dog' from tree before burning it after it chewed her Bible

dailymail - A US woman has been charged with animal cruelty after allegedly hanging her nephew's pit bull from a tree with an electrical cord and burning its body after it chewed on her Bible. Animal control officers said that 65-year-old Miriam Smith told them she killed a female dog named Diamond because it was a 'devil dog' and she worried it could harm neighbourhood children.

Smith's nephew left the one-year-old animal at the home he shared with his aunt during the recent winter weather while he went away. When he returned, he could find no trace of the dog and assumed she had broken the chain where she was usually tied at the front porch of the house.

An environmental enforcement officer came across the dog's body under a mound of dried grass, stinking of kerosene. The dog had an orange extension cord wrapped tightly around its neck and its body was partially burned.

Authorities said bail was not immediately set for Smith, who remains jailed in Spartanburg County, South Carolina after her weekend arrest. Smith is charged with ill treatment of animals in general, torture, according to an arrest warrant. She faces 180 days to five years in prison if convicted.

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Mom horrified baby listed for sale in online classified

cbc - A young Sydney, Nova Scotia, mother is horrified her seven-month-old son was listed for sale in an online classified advertisement.

"I just felt disgusted that somebody would actually do that," Shannon MacLean told CBC News on Tuesday. "It's kind of sick, when you think about it."

MacLean found out about the ad on Kijiji when Cape Breton regional police visited her Friday night. Police hope to find out who put up the Kijiji ad.

They received a call just after 10 p.m. local time Friday from someone who had seen a For Sale ad for a two-month-old on Inglis Street in Sydney.

Police went to the address listed in the ad and met the parents, checking on the baby at the same time, said Desiree Vassallo, a spokeswoman for the police service. Police are satisfied the parents did not know anything about the ad and were shaken by the incident.

The ad posted the family's home address, MacLean said, and she is afraid it has endangered her son, Jayden.

"I'm very angry about that," MacLean said. "We could have had pedophiles or people come to our house looking for my son. It's pretty serious."

Vassallo said police believe the ad was a hoax.

"Obviously it was a concerning issue to us and so we did follow up on it to make sure that there wasn't anything of concern happening there," Vassallo told CBC News.

"We were able to confirm that at this point, it does, unfortunately, seem like a hoax or a joke."

The ad has since been taken down. Vassallo thinks any danger to the child was short-lived.

"Thanks to the concerned citizen alerting us to the ad, he contacted us as soon as he saw it pop up, so we were able to follow up on this quite shortly after it was posted," she said.

"So, thankfully, we were able to eliminate what we feel was a risk."

It may have just been a bad joke but police are taking it very seriously, Vassalo said. They are trying to track down the internet provider address from which the ad was sent.

"We have a member here who specializes in the internet," Vassallo said. " We are drawing on their skills help us to track down an IP address."

MacLean hopes the person who put up the ad is found and is made to realize how it endangered her son.

"Don't put fake ads on Kijiji because it's pretty serious and pretty disgusting that someone would go that low to do that and it's pretty immature," she said.

Recent Bigfoot News / Claims - Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia

Posted: 26 Jan 2011 04:15 PM PST

"On December 28th, I was hiking with two friends in the Cheaha Wilderness in Alabama and came upon this footprint in the snow. We were all skeptical of what it might be, but kept following tracks down the trail. We didn't know what to think. This isn't an area associated with Bigfoot and you really don't find many people trying to fake them around here. The heel looked a little small to me to be an actual Bigfoot, so we were perplexed." - Cryptozoology Online

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The following videos were made in the yard of a birdwatcher in Kentucky:

Click for video - 1

"Video footage of Bigfoot Foot prints in my yard .This video was uploaded from an Android phone."

Click for video - 2

"On Christmas eve I found foot print in the snow and am sure they are from Bigfoot tonight I put a security camera out and if you watch closely in full screen he walks from left to right behind the big oak tree an you can see him stay tuned for what may be one of the most exciting discoveries yet."

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Bigfoot 'sighting' lures TV network

thedahloneganugget - Although it's not writ in stone, Animal Planet is making plans to visit Lumpkin and Union counties (Georgia). They are stalking the legend of Bigfoot.

The Discovery Channel, which produces Animal Planet, called local resident Mary Scott, requesting an interview with her. Scott, as well as a Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office deputy with whom she was riding during a Citizens Law Enforcement Academy ride-along, reportedly saw a Bigfoot about a year-and-a-half ago and captured it on the dashboard cam.

Scott said they were out in the Frogtown area when the sighting occurred.

"We were going about 55 mph on a curvy road. It was really late-after midnight, I think. We hadn't passed any other cars, and this thing came out of nowhere," Scott says. "The officer hit the brakes and we both jumped out. We looked on both sides of the road but didn't see anything, and we looked at each other kind-of like, 'You saw that, didn't you? I saw that.'"

Realizing the event had been recorded by the patrol car's dash cam, Scott and the officer returned to the Sheriff's Office where they viewed the happening on a larger screen.

"We were both just shocked," Scott says. "It was really tall, and it really looked like the pictures you've seen of Bigfoot."

The film found it's way onto the Internet, and that's how the Discovery Channel tracked Scott down, she says.

"I told them it all happened in seconds. It just came and went," she says.

The TV representative told Scott they are planning to visit the area in February and plan to camp out in the area where she and the deputy made the sighting.

They may change their minds, however, when they learn that Sheriff Stacy Jarrard claims to have proven the sighting to be a hoax. Jarrard said he went out the next day to question homeowners in the area. At the first house he stopped at, he says, there were two young men, students at North Georgia College & State University, who were "acting really nervous. You could see their hearts were beating really fast," he says.

The two did not admit to the prank right away, but later in the week they copped to one of them donning a gorilla suit and running across the road in front of vehicles on the night in question. Jarrard says he even has a photograph of the two boys with the gorilla suit.

If Animal Planet does decide to not to visit Lumpkin, they will probably still most likely visit the North Georgia area.

"They sent us a letter requesting to film at Track Rock in Union County," said John Campbell with the National Forest Ranger Station in Blairesville. "The area is an archeological site, and is purported to have the footprint on Bigfoot."

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