Phantoms and Monsters

Deputy Terminated for Contradicting Horse Mutilation Official Findings
Fortean / Alternative News: Rendlesham UFO Papers Missing, MoD Hoaxed and Lost Mayan Gold
Eastern Puma Declared Extinct....But

Deputy Terminated for Contradicting Horse Mutilation Official Findings

Posted: 03 Mar 2011 11:59 AM PST

EPSO photo: Former El Paso County Reserve Deputy Sheriff, Chuck Zukowski

tucsoncitizen - A UFO investigator in Colorado has been terminated from his volunteer deputy post following a horse mutilation investigation.

Back in November 2010, Fox31 News in Denver posted an article about a strange horse mutilation incident at the Schneider family ranch in El Paso County, Colorado. The family found two of their horses dead and badly mutilated on their ranch last August. After the discovery, the family filed a report with the El Paso County Sheriff's Department and called in paranormal investigator, Chuck Zukowski, to search for answers.

The horses were discovered with their throats slit and chests cut open. The genitals, tongues, and eyes of the horses were removed. The family stated that there were no footprints around the horses and no blood evident. Since El Chupacabra, humans, predators and satanic cults would leave footprints, Zukowski blamed UFOs, according to the report by Fox31 news.

Zukowski's findings, as reported by bloggers and the media, were contradictory to the official findings of the El Paso County Sheriff's Department, for whom Zukowski served in a volunteer capacity for for 8 years.

Following the posting of the original post in the Tucson Citizen in November, Zukowski blamed 'bad journalism' on the parts of Fox31 and the Tucson Citizen for misrepresenting his statements. He stated that the family and area ranchers believed that the horse mutilations were alien or military-related, but that his written findings always conclude as "unknown death". Zukowksi referred to his publicly posted investigation findings for clarification, which were considered prior to the November posting. However, the statements attributed to Zukowski, as reported by Fox31, were included in the Tucson Citizen post, clearly attributing Zukiowski's statements to the interview with Fox31.

The official findings from the El Paso County Sheriff's Department pointed to predators as causing the demise of the horses. Zukowski's publicly available online report and statements made to the news media, does not come to the identical conclusion, which contributed to his termination

Zukowski's termination letter from the department states among other things:

"The termination is a result of you conducting paranormal and unidentified flying object investigations into animal mutilations, and then publicly contradicting and being critical of official Sheriff's Office investigations in a public forum. Although you have claimed not to have represented yourself as a Sheriff's Office Reserve Deputy, the media reports allude to you as "volunteer El Paso County Sheriff's Department deputy." This adversarial position, without having full knowledge of the information gathered by detectives, is unacceptable."

Zukowski told NewsFirst5.com in an interview: "I know in the letter it says that I contradicted their statement, but I didn't contradict them per se. Where I mentioned El Paso County Sheriff's Department was wrong, I've never, ever done that."

A fresh piece of information included in the Tucson Citizen's post from November, was the fact that Zukowski served as a volunteer deputy for the El Paso County Sheriff's Department. This information was publicly available in his bio page, on his UFO investigation website, to outline his relevant experience. Although the information is now updated to read: "a former Reserve Deputy Sheriff with El Paso County Sheriff's Department, Colorado".

Ten days after the post on the Tucson Citizen, an article posted at the website thehorse.com, also identified Zukowski as a reserve deputy for the department. Zukowski told News5 that he never represented himself to the author as a reserve deputy.

Whether the information of Zukowski's volunteer post with the department was found on the Tucson Citizen or Zukowski's public website, was not stated in thehorse.com article.

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Chuck Zukowski's response:

ufonut - Throughout the course of the television show, The X-Files, agent Fox Mulder was continually threatened with dismissal from the FBI due to his passionate and serious pursuit of supernatural phenomena, paranormal events and government conspiracy. This pop-culture series made clear that our government and law enforcement agencies around the country are not open, philosophically or intellectually, to take seriously the field of paranormal investigation.

One thing I pride myself in, is being honest about my investigations. Now I want to be honest about an event which developed not only from one of my investigations, but circumstances which arise due to media attention I get.

The following blog is about what happens when a person (me) challenges authority and now deals with the outcome. (I deal with the outcome by telling you.) At no time do I mean any disrespect to the fine men and women who work for the El Paso County Sheriff's Department, I'm simply stating the circumstances which involved me and now letting the readers (you) decide if I made the right decision.

Chuck Zukowski

On February 9th 2011, two deputies from the El Paso County Sheriff's department stopped by my home and relieved me of my badge, gun and ID. Most people visiting my website had no idea I was a Reserve (volunteer) deputy, since I've never blogged about it. My Reserve title was posted on my bio because I was proud of it.

The following are two segments from the termination letter handed to me.

First segment:

"The termination is a result of you conducting paranormal and unidentified flying object investigations into animal mutilations, and then publicly contradicting and being critical of official Sheriff's Office investigations in a public forum. Although you have claimed not to have represented yourself as a Sheriff's Office Reserve Deputy, the media reports allude to you as "volunteer El Paso County Sheriff's Department deputy." This adversarial position, without having full knowledge of the information gathered by detectives, is unacceptable."

The previous segment is referring to the August 2010 Rush Colorado Horse mutilation. The "publicly contradicting and being critical of official sheriff's Office investigations in a public forum" started with an interview I did with Heidi Hemmat – KDVR Fox News Denver.

The statement "Although you have claimed not to have represented yourself as a Sheriff's Office Reserve Deputy, the media reports allude to you as "volunteer El Paso County Sheriff's Department deputy". This is referring to news media who have picked up any stories I'm in, and then researched me.

The statement," Although you have claimed not to have represented yourself as a Sheriff's Office Reserve Deputy" is because in the eight years with the department. I've never conducted an investigation while representing the department.

Also in the segment with Fox News I said, "Local law enforcement, they're really not trained to look at something like this." And this is true! I've learned some deputies have taken a one week course on investigating animal deaths, but this doesn't give them the experience needed to decide if it's of a paranormal nature.

Generally when detectives are called to a potential mutilation site, they're training involves looking for evidence which could tie it to possible human intervention which caused the death of the animal. This could make it a criminal case in which they would need to pursue the incident further. If lack of human intervention evidence is seen, (ie. footprints, tire prints, animal drag markings) then law enforcement representatives will assume a natural cause of death may have occurred. Without previous study in animal mutilation phenomenons, law enforcement representatives can make the wrong assessments determining the death of the animal. Lacerations in uncommon areas, circular incisions, missing tongues, lack of an abundance of blood, and strange animal behavior of the surviving ranch animals, are the clues ranchers see which points to a kill which they're not familiar with. This may be difficult for law enforcement representatives to understand if never fully understanding the mutilation phenomenon.

So what type of experience does a UFO/Paranormal investigator have?

My experience includes years of research, interviews, conferences, networking with other animal mutilation experts, and my own investigations. I'm also in direct communication with representatives from Colorado State University's veterinary lab on every case relaying information to them. The majority of my investigative techniques searching for clues of an animal's death are also learned by talking to the ranchers themselves. They know the predators which frequent their property, they're familiar with natural deaths which take down their animals, and they can spot the signs when pointed to something very unfamiliar to them. In 2009 the five ranchers for whom I investigated their mutilated animals had over 300 years of combined ranching experience between them! Manual Sanchez who lost four calves within a month's time is a "third" generation cattle rancher! If he says he doesn't know what killed his animals, you can pretty well bet, I'll listen to him.

Simple communication between law enforcement agencies and animal mutilation investigators could increase the odds needed to find the answers both parties are looking for. Unless law enforcement agencies step up their investigative techniques by increasing the possibilities the animal deaths could be of an unknown nature, they'll never be able to solve these particular cases. Also, the more law enforcement agencies disregard an experienced cattle/horse rancher's opinion, the more often a loss of respect will exist between the ranchers and the agency. This is a direction I see time and time again. If the ranchers were comfortable with the investigating law enforcement's assessment of the animal's death, then there would be no need for them to involve the press and call investigators like me.

Second segment:

"Furthermore, when spoken to by Reserve Sergeant (name on file), it was suggested you refrain from conducting paranormal and unidentified flying objects investigations, which could be viewed as a conflict of interest if being investigated by the Sheriff's Office. You clearly indicated this was not acceptable and you would not recuse yourself from such investigations."

Of course I can't agree to this. The department could use any type of UFO/Paranormal sighting including animal mutilations which were reported via 911, as being investigated by the department. I would have to refrain from investigating every occurrence in 2200 square miles of El Paso County which 911 was utilized. This would also exclude working with MUFON as one of their STAR investigators, or OpenMinds, or UFO Matrix, or or or…. Get the drift?

Now some questions to ponder:

Is having a volunteer deputy sheriff running UFO/Paranormal investigations on his personal time considered an eye sore to the Sheriff's department? So much so, that they want him out of their department?

Or, should they utilize his personal skills in the paranormal field?

How about just generally asking:

Should law enforcement personnel acting out of uniform in a non official position be restricted from contradicting statements released by their departments?

Imagine what would happen if our own congressional men and women were terminated for publicly disagreeing with the president who is within their own political party? Could this be a violation of the First Amendment? Freedom of Speech?

Law Enforcement agencies along with some high courts generally make it tougher for police officers who cry 1stAmendment, as a relevant argument. Most cases I've read side with the department not the police officer when the statements made by the officer are offensive to the department. This protects the integrity of their department.

So is disagreeing with the Sheriff's department's assumptions on a horse mutilation considered so detrimental to the department's integrity, that it constitutes a dismissal?

Now in my defense:

When I was confronted by the sergeant about this incident, I asked to talk with my commander to explain my position. I also requested to give a lecture on animal mutilations to the deputies who investigate animal deaths so we could compare notes. This would have also given me the opportunity to find out if I was stepping over an invisible boundary.

A meeting was never granted, my sergeant never had updates when I confronted him, and I never received the opportunity to defend myself. Well so much for the First Amendment and the 14th Amendment as well (Denial of Rights to Represent Yourself Properly).

After receiving the termination letter, I emailed the Sheriff's office in my defense. As of the writing of this blog, I have not received a response from them.

I've worked as a volunteer with EPSO for over eight years along side some of the best deputies in the state of Colorado. On duty I would have laid my life on the line for them, and they would have done the same for me. I've never had any type of conflicts with the deputies I've worked with, and they've never had any negative comments about me. (As far as I know.)

Now back to animal mutilations. There have been law enforcement agencies who have investigated cattle mutilations in the past and who have stepped up to the challenge. The following are just to name a few.

April 7th, 1993 the Fyffe Police Department, Fyffe, Alabama released a press conference about 30 animals which had been discovered dead in pastures with various internal and external organs missing.

March 28th, 1997, the State of Florida formed a task force to investigate mysterious wounds found on cattle in Brevard, Seminole, Lake and St. Lucie counties.

August 11th, 2001, Police in Montana investigating cattle mutilations were so frustrated with their lack of progress, that they asked the National Institute for Discovery Science, a Nevada research institute dedicated to the study of anomalies, for help. (Great Falls Tribune article)

So there are law enforcement agencies which are quite concerned about mutilation cases. Remember, since the media release of Snippy (Lady) the horse's mutilation near Alamosa Colorado in 1967, there have not been anyone caught, tried and convicted of any mutilation crime. And just for the record, the Rush horse mutilation wounds were very similar to the 1967 case. Of course law enforcement wouldn't have known that unless they studied previous mutilation cases.

So what do you think, did I make the right decision?

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The following are full posts on reference to these mutilation incidents:

Colorado Horse Mutilations Raise Questions and Disagreements - 11/9/2010

tucsoncitizen - The Schneider family in El Paso County, Colorado found two of their horses dead and badly mutilated on their ranch. After the discovery, the family filed a report with the El Paso County Sheriff's department and called in a paranormal investigator to search for answers.

The horses were discovered with their throats slit and chests cut open. The genitals, tongues, and eyes of the horses were removed. The family stated that there were no footprints around the horses and no blood evident. Since El Chupacabra, humans, predators and satanic cults would leave footprints, the paranormal investigator on the case blamed UFOs, according to a report by Fox31 news in Denver.

News reports make no mention of how long the horses were missing prior to the discovery of the carcasses.

The paranormal investigator on the case, Chuck Zukowski, examined the horses and determined that UFOs were to blame. With 8 animal mutilations in Colorado.this year, Zukowski said that the evidence points to the horses being mutilated in a manner that would support his assertion.

The El Paso County Sheriff's department doesn't agree with the conclusion of Zukowski's investigation.

Although they did not examine the horses closely, since the animals were "badly decomposed", they say that the state of the horses were consistent with a predator attack.

Zukowski and the Schneiders state that they know what predator attacks look like and choose to believe that this was an alien-related mutilation. The family is fearful that it could happen again.

According to Zukowski's website UFONut, he has 30 years of experience in the paranormal and specializes in "a diverse area including UFOlogy, Roswell, alien abductions, cattle mutilations, UFO investigations and ghost hunting", Zukowski is also "a Sworn Deputy Sheriff for Colorado's El Paso County Sheriff's Reserve Unit".

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Click for video

kwgn - A Colorado family is searching for answers after finding their horses carved up and left to die.

"I just started to cry," Glenda Schneider told FOX31 News.

Schneider discovered two of her horses had been mutilated, with their throats slit and their chests cut open. Their genitals, tongues and eyes had been removed.

Yet, there was no blood, no footprints, and no witnesses to the crime.

"You wonder what happened," Schneider said. "What took place? What did it?"

The Schneider's filed a report with the El Paso County Sheriff's Department and they contacted paranormal investigator Chuck Zukowski.

Zukowski examined the horses and determined the horses died from unknown causes, and said there was plenty of evidence indicating the animals were mutilated.

"The straight cuts, the open rib cage, the flesh taken off. Those are red flags," Zukowski said. He believes UFO's could be to blame.

The Schneider's are not alone. Paranormal investigators say there have been 8 animal mutilation cases in Colorado in just the past year.

Hundreds of animal mutilation cases across the country have been documented since 1967.

But the El Paso County Sheriff's Department disagrees with Zukowski's assertion.

They believe the horses were killed by predators, though they admit investigators weren't able to examine the horses as closely as they would like to because the animals were so badly decomposed.

Still, the Schneider's insist they know what predator attacks look like, and what happened to their horses is anything but.

They fear whatever killed their horses could come back, and it has shattered the peace on their quiet ranch.

NOTE: Bottom line - the El Paso County Sheriff's Office is attempting to cover up the truth or to cover their collective asses...Lon

Fortean / Alternative News: Rendlesham UFO Papers Missing, MoD Hoaxed and Lost Mayan Gold

Posted: 03 Mar 2011 06:54 PM PST

UFO files reveal 'Rendlesham incident' papers missing

BBC - Intelligence papers on a reported UFO sighting known as the "Rendlesham incident" have gone missing, files from the National Archives reveal.

The missing files relate to a report of mysterious lights from US servicemen at RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk in 1980.

The disappearance came to light with the release of 8,000 previously classified documents on UFOs.

Officials found a "huge" gap where defence intelligence files relating to the case should be, the papers show.

Russian rocket

The documents are the latest MoD files on UFOs released into the National Archives which will be free to access on its website for a month.

Among the documents is testimony from an airline pilot and his son who say they spent five minutes watching an object made up of three circles fly past their garden in Hellingly, East Sussex.

The pilot reported it to Air Traffic Control in West Drayton, and an official labelled his sighting as one by "a credible witness".

But another defence official later wrote a memo saying the report "contains nothing of air defence significance".

More attention is given to the crew of an RAF Tornado who encountered an object the size of a C130 Hercules transport aircraft while flying over the North Sea in 1990.

The pilot describes flying at Mach 0.8 but being overtaken by an aircraft the like of which he had never seen before.

He talks about lights and even "an engine area" but the files also show how a possible explanation emerges - a Russian rocket booster was re-entering the earth's atmosphere on that same night.

Another file released reveals six small "flying saucers" were found by members of the public in locations across southern England in 1967. Four police forces and the army were mobilised before it emerged the incident was a rag-day hoax by engineering students from Farnborough Technical College.

There is also a report from a London man who believed he may have been abducted by aliens.

Minister's request

The files reveal that key documentation relating to the Rendlesham Forest incident has disappeared.

Some UFO researchers believe the episode, which happened over two nights in 1980 is a classic example of a "close encounter".

Crop circles provoked this sketch by a member of the public The incident took place near the fence of RAF Woodbridge - at that time being used by the US Air Force. A group of servicemen reported seeing strange lights in the trees near the base and after investigating found marks on the ground and damage to vegetation.

The files reveal the MoD received a request for its own records of the incident in 2000, but when officials looked they discovered a "huge" gap where defence intelligence files relating to it should be.

The hunt generated a series of notes, with one official speculating that the files could have been taken home by someone and another remarking that "it could be interpreted to mean that a deliberate attempt had been made to eradicate the records covering this incident".

However, among intelligence papers released in 2009, it was revealed that former Admiral of the Fleet Lord Hill-Norton wrote to the defence secretary about the incident in 1985, speculating that an unauthorised aircraft may have entered and left UK airspace at the time.

But it is not the only gap in the official record. In 2002 the MoD received a request for information from Lord Hill-Norton. He wanted to know about reports of a UFO sighting made by HMS Manchester while on exercise in the 1990s.

It emerged in the file that HMS Manchester's log for one of the periods was lost overboard after "a gust of wind" and the vessel's captain cannot remember anything unusual taking place.

Natural explanations

This latest tranche of documents covers not just people who contacted the Ministry of Defence after seeing lights or objects, but also sheds some light on official thinking about this aspect of the paranormal.

Concern about UFOs and what they might be went up to senior level and lasted several years.

Officials were dismayed when in 1977 the then Prime Minister of Grenada Sir Eric Gairy wanted to call for the United Nations to set up a unit to investigate the phenomenon.

Sketches of UFOs are among the files released by the National Archives The files show how Britain was concerned the idea would drag the UN into disrepute. The premier was persuaded to withdraw his proposal but went on to call for 1978 to be designated "the year of the UFO". He was deposed in a coup the following year.

UFOs have only ever received one debate in Parliament. It came in the House of Lords in 1979, at the height of the "winter of discontent", and the files show how officials laboured to prepare a government position on the topic.

At the end of the discussion the government spokesman Lord Stabolgi summed up what remains the official position now.

"There is nothing to convince Her Majesty's government that there has ever been a single visit by an alien spacecraft. As for telling the public the truth about UFOs, the truth is simple.

"There really are many strange phenomena in the sky, and these are invariably reported by rational people. But there is a wide range of natural explanations to account for such phenomena."

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Alien invasion hoax fooled MoD, archive papers reveal

guardian - A "war of the worlds" rag week hoax by aircraft engineering apprentices was treated as a real alien invasion of Britain – for a few hours at least, according to newly released Ministry of Defence files.

The army's southern command, four police forces, bomb disposal units, RAF helicopters and the MoD's intelligence branch were all mobilised in the early hours of Monday 4 September 1967 to meet the threat.

They went into action after the police and RAF were flooded with calls from the public reporting the discovery of six small "flying saucers" in locations in a perfect line across southern England from Sheppey to the Bristol Channel.

It was not until a Scotland Yard bomb disposal squad with orders to check one of the objects with portable X-ray equipment arrived at Bromley police station, south London, that the hoax was uncovered – the Ever Ready batteries were a bit of a giveaway.

Another of the "saucers" was sent to be examined by Home Office scientists at Aldermaston and a third was inspected by the chief designer of the guided weapons division of the British Aircraft Corporation. One saucer which was found at Chippenham, Wiltshire, was blown up in a controlled explosion.

The Whitehall papers released at the National Archives show that within Whitehall the "1967 flying saucer hoax" was regarded at the MoD as an "obviously very successful practical joke".

Perhaps under the influence of Pink Floyd's first seminal space rock album, the Piper at the Gates of Dawn, released just a few weeks before, a group of apprentices and students from the Royal Aircraft Establishment and the nearby Farnborough technical college put together the flying saucers as a rag week hoax.

The papers reveal that a Westland whirlwind helicopter was despatched from RAF Manston to investigate the alien craft that had "landed" in Sheppey.

They also show that 20 years after the incident senior MoD officials thought of gagging a retired RAF group captain who had been the intelligence officer dealing with UFO sightings as part of his MoD duties at the time. He had gone down to Bromley police station as the department's investigating officer.

The retired group captain, whose name had been redacted from the files, described the hoax as "extremely clever". When he approached the MoD in 1997 for clearance to talk about the event they considered gagging him but decided it would leave them looking a laughing stock if they did: "If we cannot trust mature retired ex-Defence Intelligence Secretariat officers, we are in a bad way," advised one senior defence chief.

The latest batch of released UFO files also show that in the late 1970s the potential threat of alien abduction and attacks by extraterrestrials became a serious issue of debate for the UN and the CIA.

A proposal from Sir Eric Gairy, then president of Grenada, that the UN set up an agency to monitor UFO activity and conduct a full-scale investigation became a matter of delicate international diplomatic manoeuvring that included the British Foreign Office.

Gairy had been influenced by the views of a former astronaut and the Grenadians distributed free tickets for the recently released film Close Encounters of the Third Kind to press their campaign.

Britain was resolutely opposed but the files show that at least one senior diplomat was relaxed about the idea: "It must also be said, in fairness, that the Grenadian proposal is no more ridiculous than many other proposals before the UN. Indeed, President Carter has in the past reportedly taken a personal interest in UFOs," said one Foreign Office man warning against taking too open a stand against the Grenadians.

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Stillborn Baby Brought Back to Life After 25 Minutes

dailymail - The warmth of her mother's first embrace lasted only a few seconds for Ella Claxton.

When midwives realised the newborn was close to death, it was decided that only a dramatic reduction in temperature could save her.

A faint heartbeat was detected after doctors fought to revive her for 25 minutes, but there were fears that the baby's brain had been starved of oxygen for too long.

Doctors employed a new technique which induces a state of hypothermia and, crucially, reduces the risk of brain damage.

Thanks to that treatment, today at nine months old, Ella is happy, healthy and enjoying as many of her mummy's cuddles as she likes.

The drama began moments after Rachel Claxton, 32, and her partner Jason Anderson, 33, marvelled at the arrival of their new daughter.

But despite a seemingly uncomplicated birth, Rachel's placenta had ruptured during the labour, restricting the baby's oxygen and blood supply. 'I'd held her for no more than two seconds when the midwife told Jason to pull the emergency cord,' Miss Claxton said.

'All of a sudden there were doctors everywhere.

'The midwife was crying, Jason was crying and no one could tell me what was going on.

'I begged them to tell me what was happening, but I already knew she was dead because it had been so long and I still hadn't heard her cry. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, I heard someone say: "She's with us". I couldn't believe it.'

Three hours later, the couple went to see Ella in intensive care where they were given more devastating news.

It was thought the little girl had suffered hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy – brain damage caused by lack of oxygen and lack of blood supply.

'The doctors told us to prepare for the worst and that they didn't think she would make it through the night.

'They said that even if she did survive, she would have serious brain damage and might not be able to walk or talk. But we didn't care as long as our baby was alive. That was all that mattered to us.'

It was decided to take Ella 30 miles from Peterborough District Hospital to Addenbrooke's Hospital, in Cambridge, where a new freezing treatment was used to reduce the damage to her brain.

A cooling blanket took her core temperature down from around 37c to 33.5c, reducing the swelling around her brain.

After 72 hours, Ella's temperature was slowly raised by half a degree at a time until it was back to normal.

Then at 11 days old, she was finally allowed to go home with her parents.

Since then, she has progressed well. She still needs some physiotherapy, but scans have shown no brain abnormalities.

Miss Claxton, who is campaigning to have the treatment more widely available, said: 'In the hospital, I couldn't wait to hold her for the first time and give her a warming hug. We still can't be sure of the future or what problems she might face, but so far she's gone from strength to strength.

'She's our little miracle and every day she gives us new hope.'

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Cracked Mayan Code May Pave Way to Lost Gold

foxnews - Led by Joachim Rittsteig, an expert in Mayan writing, a group of scientists and journalists left Germany Tuesday, on a mission to Guatemala in search of a lost Maya treasure allegedly submerged under Lake Izabal.

According to the German newspaper Bild, which sponsored the expedition, the expedition includes two reporters from the publication, a photographer, a television camera, and a professional diver who will submerge into Lake Izabal in an attempt to find eight tons of gold said to have been lost there.

The expedition is led by Joachim Rittsteig, an expert in Mayan writing, who claims to have cracked the famous Dresden Codex and discovered specific information in one of its chapters that leads to a treasure in Lake Izabal.

"The Dresden Codex leads to a giant treasure of eight tons of pure gold," said Rittsteig, who has spent more than 40 years studying the document, to Bild.

A professor emeritus at Dresden University and author of various publications about the Maya culture, Rittsteig stressed that "page 52 talks about the Maya capital of Atlan, which was ruined by an earthquake on October 30th in the year 666 BC. In this city, they kept 2,156 gold tablets on which the Maya recorded their laws."

The treasure sank, along with the city, into the waters of Lake Izabal, located in eastern Guatemala. But the German academic claims to have found the remains thanks to radar images taken in the area.

Rittsteig calculates that "just the gold in the tablets is estimated to be currently worth up to 211 million euros (290 million dollars)."

The Dresden Codex, drafted in the year 1250 AD by Mayan priests, is one of the four major documents that remain from that culture. It has been housed by the Saxon State Library in East Germany for the last 272 years.

The code was discovered in 1739 in the possession of a wealthy man in Vienna, though no one knows how he got a hold of it. He then donated it to the Dresden Library, where it is kept under bullet-proof glass in a room with other treasured documents.

Joachim Rittsteig has dedicated most of his entire life to decoding the codex, which is composed of 74 pages, 3.56 meters long with 74 distinct hieroglyphics.

The Dresden Codex contains much of what is known of Mayan Culture, including their understanding of astrology, medicine and even the end of the world. In the last chapter, the codex describes the coming apocalypse, which it says will take place on December 12th, 2012.

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BTE Radio Welcomes the Rev. Tim Shaw

Join us live Sunday night 10:00 pm ET as we welcome our good friend...the and only Reverend Tim Shaw to the program.

Reverend Tim Shaw has had a life long interest in the investigation of occult and esoteric subjects. The religion of Modern Spiritualism was introduced into his family in the 1880's and thus he comes from a long line of psychics and mediums. Tim is also an Ordained Spiritualist Minister, Certified Medium, Reiki Healer – achieving the Master/Teacher level, trained Spiritualist Healer, Dowser, and Metaphysical Instructor.

As well as following a traditionalist approach to paranormal research he also embraces new scientific techniques and methodologies used by the modern "para" investigator. Reverend Shaw is currently researching and working with "Real Time Spirit Communication" (RTSC) and "Instrumental Transcommunication" (ITC) devices such as the modified "K-2 Meter", the "Joe's Box" and the "Radio Shack Hack Box".

To his credit he has published many articles, most recently in the nationally circulated "Haunted Times" Magazine and has co – authored the book "Haunted Rochester" that is published by History Press. Rev. Tim's next book is tentatively entitled "Haunted Buffalo, the Nickel City and Surrounding Area" and will be published by Schiffer Books in 2010.

Reverend Tim can be heard each Monday at 9PM (EST) on the Internet Radio Show the "Black Cat Lounge" on the Para-X Radio Network which is "powered" by CBS Radio. (WWW.Para-X.Com) This show embraces a multitude of topics which are of interest to the local and national paranormal and metaphysical communities. Past episodes can be downloaded from www.BlackCatPodcast.Com. He is also the co-host of a "call in" Radio Show "The Psychics Next Door" heard Wednesdays at 7PM on the Para-X Radio Network. When not investigating, teaching, lecturing, writing, or enjoying classes he lives with his wife Nancy and black Labrador Ebony in Western New York. Check out his website http://www.BlackCatLounge.Ning.com

Join Eric Altman, Lon Strickler and the crew LIVE each Sunday at 10 PM ET as we go
Beyond the Edge!

Eastern Puma Declared Extinct....But

Posted: 03 Mar 2011 12:31 PM PST

rawstory - The US Fish and Wildlife Service declared the eastern cougar officially extinct Wednesday, even though the big cat is believe to have first disappeared in the 1930s.

The eastern cougar is often called the "ghost cat" because it has been so rarely glimpsed in northeastern states in recent decades. It was first placed on the endangered species list in 1973.

"The US Fish and Wildlife Service conducted a formal review of the available information and... concludes the eastern cougar is extinct and recommends the subspecies be removed from the endangered species list," a statement said.

"Only western cougars still live in large enough numbers to maintain breeding populations, and they live on wild lands in the western United States and Canada."

The US agency asked for input about the eastern cougar, and determined from the 573 responses it received that any sightings in the area were actually of other types of cougars.

Of the 21 states in the historical range of the cats, "no states expressed a belief in the existence of an eastern cougar population," it said.

The service's lead scientist for the eastern cougar, Mark McCollough, said the animal has likely been extinct since the 1930s.

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bangordailynews - Sorry, cougar believers. The "ghost cat" of the eastern woods is no more.

Or at least that's the official word from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has determined after a three-year study that the species of cougar that once prowled from Michigan to Maine to South Carolina is extinct.

As a result, the agency plans to move forward with plans to remove the eastern cougar from the federal endangered species list, officials announced Wednesday.

That conclusion is unlikely to convince the hundreds — perhaps thousands — of Americans who believe they have spotted one of the elusive "big cats" crossing a road, stalking prey in a field or even sunning itself in a backyard in the eastern United States. Maine wildlife officials receive dozens of reports every year.

But after reviewing more than 570 comments from the public on possible sightings, federal biologists determined that any cougars spotted north of Florida were likely captive cats that were released or escaped, western cats migrating eastward or — in most cases — were not mountain lions at all.

"We recognize that many people have seen cougars in the wild within the historical range of the eastern cougar," Martin Miller, the service's northeast region chief on endangered species, said in a statement on Wednesday. "However, we believe those cougars are not the eastern cougar subspecies. We found no information to support the existence of the eastern cougar."

Also known as pumas, panthers or catamounts, cougars are the most widely distributed land mammal in the world besides humans. Adult cats typically range from 75 to 150 pounds — much larger than Maine's other wildcats, the bobcat or Canada lynx — and are distinguishable by their tawny color and long, thick tail.

The eastern subspecies was once abundant but was driven to extinction by humans in much of its former range by the late-1800s or early-1900s. The last confirmed eastern mountain lion was killed by a trapper in Somerset County, Maine, in 1938.

The cat was added to the federal endangered species list in 1973, based on beliefs that small populations of the lions may survive in the southern Smoky Mountains. But despite frequent sightings and a small number of documented cougars — including at least two in Maine — biologists say wild breeding populations of mountain lions have not been found since.

Mark McCollough, a USFWS biologist in the agency's Old Town office who led the review, said it is not a pleasant experience for biologists to acknowledge that eastern cougars are likely extinct. And as someone who investigates cougar sightings in Maine along with the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, McCollough said he understands the intense interest in the species.

But McCollough stressed that the review's extinction finding does not mean that the Fish and Wildlife Service denies that cougars turn up from time to time. They do, he said, and the department fully acknowledges that fact. The agency simply doesn't believe they are wild, eastern cougars, he said.

"Indeed, cougars do show up and one could be coming to Maine tomorrow," said McCollough, who is the author of the 107-page report. "But I believe it would probably be an escaped pet."

Maine wildlife officials still receive scores of reports from areas all over the state. But without a carcass, live animal or other concrete evidence, biologists say there is no scientific proof that a wild population of cougars exists anywhere in the state.

McCollough's report contains a listing of more than 100 published records of eastern cougars in Canada and the U.S. going back to 1900. In addition to the cat killed in 1938, there are two more recent cases in Maine in which biologists found evidence to support the eyewitness report.

The first, in 1995, took place in Cape Elizabeth. Hair samples collected from the site identified the cat as a cougar. The second, well-documented case happened in 2000 when an experienced outdoorsman who was scouting out possible hunting spots watched for several minutes as a female with a kitten in tow walked near railroad tracks in Monmouth. Biologists determined the tracks came from a mountain lion.

The USFWS will now begin the formal process of removing the eastern cougar from the endangered species list, which will involve gathering public comment.

While delisting the cougar will eliminate federal protections for the cat, it does not force states to remove their own legal protections for mountain lions, McCollough said. DIF&W representatives could not be reached for comment Wednesday on the federal decision. It would still remain illegal to hunt or trap a cougar in Maine because there is no open season for the species.

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nytimes - Seven decades after the last reported sighting of the eastern cougar, the federal Fish and Wildlife Service declared it extinct Wednesday and recommended that it be removed from the nation's endangered species list.

There's one wrinkle, though: it may not be extinct, exactly.

Scientists are moving toward the conclusion that the eastern cougar was erroneously classified as a separate subspecies in the first place. As a result of a genetic study conducted in 2000, most biologists now believe there is no real difference between the western and eastern branches of the cougar family.

Either way, the "eastern" cougar as such is no longer with us. Any recent sightings in the cougar's historic range, which stretched from eastern Ontario and Michigan eastward to Maine and southward to Georgia, Tennessee and Missouri, were actually sightings of its relatives, the Fish and Wildlife Service said.

"It's extinct," said Mark McCollough, a wildlife biologist with the agency's offices in Maine, referring to the official determination by his agency.

"But it's not?" he was asked.

"But it's not," he confirmed. "It may well return to part of its range."

Cougar populations from the West are following the eastward migration of the coyote, Dr. McCollough said, and some have settled in the Dakotas. At least one breeding pair is now in Nebraska, he added.

The reclusive cougars — also called pumas, catamounts, mountain lions and, perhaps most fittingly, "ghost cats" — came under siege in the eastern United States starting in the 1700s, when they were hunted by European settlers. States put bounties on the cats with the goal of protecting livestock, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

"There was a general attitude back in the late 1700s and early 1800s that any predator was a bad predator and some were created worse than others and cougars were among the worst," Dr. McCollough said.

The last confirmed eastern cougar was trapped in the late 1930s, the agency said.

Martin Miller, the chief of the endangered species division in the service's Northeastern office, said that many sightings had been reported since then, but that virtually all of those cats were determined either to be from the West or to be South American pumas that were bought as pets and then released. The eastern cougar was listed as an endangered species in 1973.

Mr. Miller said in an interview that no regulations or restrictions were ever imposed in an effort to help the eastern cougar recover, although a recovery plan drafted in 1982 "held out hope, expressed the possibility that a population still existed in remote areas."

Also as a result of genetic research, Dr. McCollough said, the Florida panther, which is under protection under the Endangered Species Act, might eventually be reclassified as a distinct segment of the larger cougar family.

A handful of other species on the endangered species list are presumed to be extinct and may eventually be recommended for delisting, including the Bachman's warbler and the little Mariana fruit bat, the agency says.

A 2008 report to Congress by the Fish and Wildlife Service said that of more than 1,200 species protected under the Endangered Species Act, 19 were presumed extinct.

NOTE: well, I don't exactly understand the reason for this but I presume it's to clear the actual Eastern Puma strain (which, I assume is extinct) off the endangered species list in order to expand the known range of the Western Puma. I receive sighting reports weekly from various locations in the eastern US...there really is something out there. Lon

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