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The Kinross UFO / F-89 Disappearance Incident
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The Kinross UFO / F-89 Disappearance Incident

Posted: 22 Mar 2011 03:55 PM PDT

Preamble: On the evening of November 23, 1953, an Air Force radar controller was alerted to an "unidentified target" over Lake Superior, and an F-89C Scorpion jet was scrambled from Kinross AFB. Radar controllers watched as the F-89 closed in on the UFO, and then sat stunned in amazement as the two blips merged on the screen, and the UFO left. The F-89 and it's two man crew, pilot Felix Moncla and radar operator Robert Wilson, were never found, even after a thorough search of the area.

Incident: The channel that connects Lake Superior with the other Great Lakes flows through the Soo Locks near Saulte Ste. Marie, Michigan. On one side of the channel is the U.S., and on the other side is Canada. The fact that this area is on a U.S. national border makes it a restricted airspace. As such, it was monitored by the Air Defense Command in 1953.

On the evening of 23 November 1953, an Air Defense Command Ground Intercept radar controller at Truax AFB became alerted to an "unidentified target" over Soo Locks. He sounded the alert, and an F-89C Scorpion jet was scrambled from nearby Kinross Field. The jet was piloted by 1st Lieutenant Felix Moncla, Jr., with 2nd Lieutenant Robert Wilson in the rear seat as radar operator.

Ground Control vectored the jet toward the target, noting that the target changed course as the F-89 approached it at over 500 mph. Lt. Wilson had problems tracking the target on his onboard radar, so ground control continued to direct the jet to the target. For thirty minutes, the jet pursued the radar blip and began to close the gap as the UFO accelerated out over Lake Superior.

As Ground Control watched, the gap between the two blips on the radar screen grew smaller and smaller until the two blips became one blip. Ground Control thought that Moncla had flown over the target and that the two blips would separate again as he moved past it.

That didn't happen. Suddenly, the single blip flashed off the screen and the radar screen was clear of any return at all.

Frantically, Ground Control tried to contact the F-89 by radio. There was no response. Marking the last radar position, Ground Control dispatched an emergency message to Search and Rescue. That last sighting was about seventy miles off Keweenaw Point in upper Michigan, at an altitude of 8,000 feet, approximately 160 miles northwest of Soo Locks.

After an all night air/sea rescue search, not a trace of the plane or the men was ever found. No debris, no oil slick, nothing was ever found.

Officials at Norton Air Force Base Flying Safety Division issued a statement that "the pilot probably suffered from vertigo and crashed into the lake." However, this was merely speculation and was based on hearsay reports that Moncla was prone to vertigo.

The Air Force explained the unknown radar target at first as a Canadian DC-3, then later as a RCAF jet. Canadian officials responded that there were no Canadian aircraft in the airspace over the lake at any time during the chase. The Air Force finally stated that the F-89 had exploded at high altitude, ignoring the fact that this would have left a lot of debris on the lake surface.

NICAP investigators found that mentions of Moncla's mission - chasing an unidentified target - had been obliterated from official records. Project Bluebook files simply listed the case as an "accident."

Off the record, those that were present in the Ground Control radar room that day have expressed other opinions. They think that whatever the F-89 was chasing directly caused the disappearance of the jet. - Loy Lawhon, About.com

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Kinross AFB/F-89 Disappearance
November 23, 1953

On the night of November 23, 1953, an Air Defense Command radar detected an unidentified "target" over Lake Superior. Kinross Air Force Base, closest to the scene, alerted the 433rd Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Truax Field, Madison, Wisconsin, and an F-89C all-weather interceptor was scrambled. Radar operators watched the "blips" of the UFO and the F-89 merge on their scopes, in an apparent collision, and disappear. No trace of the plane was ever found.

U S Air Force accident-report records indicate that the F-89 was vectored west northwest, then west, climbing to 30,000 feet. At the controls were First Lieutenant Felix E. Moncla, Jr.; his radar observer was Second Lieutenant Robert L. Wilson. While on a westerly course, they were cleared to descend to 7,000 feet, turning east-northeast and coming steeply down on the known target from above. The last radar contact placed the interceptor at 8,000 feet, 70 miles off Keeweenaw Point, and about 150 miles northwest of Kinross AFB (now Kincheloe AFB).

The incident is not even labeled as a "UFO" case in Air Force records; instead, it was investigated by air-safety experts. There were several layers of scattered clouds (one with bottoms at 5,000 to 8,000 feet) and some snow flurries in the general area. Official records state, however, that the air was stable and there was little or no turbulence.

The Air Force later stated that the "UFO" turned out to be a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) C-47 "On a night flight from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Sudbury, Ontario Canada." The F-89 apparently had crashed for unknown reasons after breaking off the intercept. In answer to queries from the NATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS COMMITTEE ON AERIAL PHENOMENA (NICAP) in 1961 and again in 1963, RCAF spokesmen denied that one of their planes was involved. Squadron Leader W. B. Totman, noting that the C-47 was said to be on a flight plan over Canadian territory, said "... this alone would seem to make such an intercept unlikely."

The Air Force suggested that "... the pilot probably suffered from vertigo and crashed into the take." Harvard University astronomer and UFO debunker Dr. Donald H. MENZEL accepted this explanation, adding that the radar operators probably saw a "phantom echo" of the F-89, produced by atmospheric conditions, that merged with the radar return from the jet and vanished with it when the plane struck the water.

Exactly what happened that night remains unclear, as the Air Force acknowledges, and serious unanswered questions remain. How likely is it that a pilot could suffer from vertigo when flying on instruments, as official records indicate was the case? If the F-89 did intercept an RCAF C-47, why did the "blip" of the C47 also disappear off the radar scope? Or, if Menzel's explanation is accepted and there was no actual intercept, why did the Air Force invoke a Canadian C-47, which RCAF spokesmen later stated was not there? No intelligence document has yet surfaced that reports the radio communications between the pilot and radar controllers, and what each was seeing. Without this information, it is impossible to evaluate the "true UFO" versus the false radar returns and accidental crash explanations. - Richard Hall, NICAP

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The Kinross Incident

Did a UFO abduct an Air Force jet interceptor and its crew in 1953?

Donald Keyhoe - UFO researcher, ex-Marine and director of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) - an early advocate of the concept that UFOs were extraterrestrial spacecraft visiting Earth on reconnaissance and sampling missons, was particularly intrigued with cases where aircraft interacted with the objects. He was especially fascinated with one 1953 case, describing it in several articles and books. Here is one of the most detailed versions:

One of the strangest cases on record occurred in 1953. Though it has received considerable publicity, some of the follow-up developments are not generally known. On the night of November 23, 1953, an F-89 all-weather interceptor was scrambled at Kinross AFB, to check on a UFO flying over the Soo Locks. The jet had a crew of two – Lt. Felix Moncla, the pilot, and Lt. R. R. Wilson, the radar observer. Guided by an AF GCI (Ground Control Intercept) radar station, Moncla followed the unknown machine out over Lake Superior, flying at 500 miles an hour. Minutes later, a GCI controller was startled to see the blips of the jet and the UFO suddenly merge on the radar-scope. Whatever had happened, one thing was certain: The F-89 and the UFO were locked together. As the combined blip went off the scope the controller hurriedly radioed Search and Rescue. Moncla and Wilson might have bailed out before the collision. Both had life jackets and self-inflating life rafts – even in the cold water they could survive for a while. All night, U.S. and Canadian search planes with flares circled low over the area. At daylight, a score of boats joined the hunt, as the pilots crisscrossed the lake for a hundred miles. But no trace was found of the airmen, the jet or the UFO. The search was still on when Truax AFB gave the Associated Press this official release: "The plane was followed by radar until it merged with an object 70 miles off Keweenaw Point in upper Michigan." In view of AF secrecy this was a surprising admission. The statement appeared in an early edition of the Chicago Tribune, headed JET, TWO ABOARD, VANISHES OVER LAKE SUPERIOR. (Photocopy in author's possession.) Then AF Headquarters killed the story. Denying the jet had merged with anything, the AF said that radar operators had misread the scope. The reported UFO, it stated, had been an offcourse Canadian airliner which the F-89 had intercepted and identified. After this, the AF speculated, the pilot evidently had been stricken with vertigo and the jet had crashed in the lake. The Canadian airlines quickly denied any flights in the area. Expert pilots also hit at the AF explanation…. As customary, the AF sent two officers to the families of the lost airmen to give them official messages of sympathy. According to letters which a relative of Moncla sent me, here is what followed. Explaining the accident, the AF representative told Moncla's widow that the pilot had flown too low while identifying the supposed Canadian airliner and had crashed in the lake. By some headquarters mixup, a second AF officer was sent to offer condolences to the Moncla family. When Moncla's widow asked if her husband's body might be recovered the officer said there was no chance – the jet had exploded at a high altitude, destroying the plane and its occupants. - Donald Keyhoe - "Aliens From Space" (1973)

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Official Account - Obtained FOIA

The following official accounts of the Kinross loss were obtained by Robert Todd under the Freedom of Information Act. Note that, surprisingly enough, there were two F-89s lost by the 433d Fighter Interceptor Squadron on November 23, 1953 - the first while returning from a short engine test flight near the 433d's home base at Truax AFB, Madison, Wisconsin, and the second on an operational intercept mission over Lake Superior, originating from Kinross AFB, Michigan, a satellite base of Truax. All four crewmen were either killed outright or declared missing and listed as dead.

A crucial point is that the first entry clearly implies that the unidentified radar target that Moncla was pursuing when his fighter disappeared was in radio contact with ground controllers at some point, and therefore was not a UFO: "the bogey was not aware of any aircraft in the area."

CHAPTER III OPERATIONS AND TRAINING

On 23 November a F-89 assigned to the 433d took off on a routine operational flight to check the afterburners on the new J-35-A-47 engines. After climbing to 40,000 feet and broadcasting performance data to the ground recording unit, air-to-ground transmission was discontinued. Approximately twelve minutes after the last transmission was received the ship crashed and disintegrated upon impact, killing both crew members. Prior to the crash, the aircraft was observed to pull out of a steep dive and eject the canopy. Cause was undetermined. Still again in November, an F-89 of Detachment #1, Kinross AFB, Michigan, took off on an active Air Defense mission and disappeared. GCI had control of the fighter and was directing it from 25,000 feet down to 7,000 feet. The fighter and bogey blips merged on the GCI radar scope and there was no further transmission from the fighter. The bogey was not aware of any aircraft in the area, and GCI saw no blips break off from the target. Both pilot and observer are missing and officially listed as dead.

HISTORICAL DATA FOR THE 433d FIGHTER INTERCEPTOR SQUADRON 1 July 1953-31 December 1953

D. Accidents On 23 November 1953, an F-89C assigned to this organization took off from Truax Field on a routine operational check of the afterburners on the J-35-A-47 engines. The pilot climbed to 40,000 feet and at the same time broadcast performance data to a ground recording unit. After reaching 40,000 feet, air to ground transmission was discontinued as all data had been received. Approximately twelve minutes after the last transmission the aircraft crashed seven miles south of the field with injuries fatal to both crew members. The aircraft was observed to have pulled out of a steep dive at 500 feet, and the canopy was ejected just prior to impact. On 23 November 1953, an F-89C of Detachment #1, 433d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, Kinross Air Force Base, Michigan, took off on an active air defense mission. GCI had control of the fighter and was directing it from 25,000 feet down to 7,000 feet. The fighter and the bogey blips merged on the GCI radar scope. There was no further transmission from the fighter, the bogey was not aware of any aircraft in the area, and GCI saw no blips break off from the target. Both pilot and radar observer are missing and are now officially listed as dead.

OPERATIONS

In November this unit had a jet fighter, an F-89C type aircraft disappear over Lake Superior while on an active air defense mission under this unit's control. The Controller (4) [2nd Lt. Douglas A. Stuart] on duty had positioned the fighter for the final phase of the intercept and the blips merged on the scope. Radar and radio [contact] was lost with the F-89 at this time and the aircraft was never sighted again. The search for the missing aircraft was under the direction of the Canadian Air Force; and the United States Coast Guard, Air Force, and Canadian Air Force participated in the search. No trace was found of the plane and crew of two.

NOTE: Here is a link to a report referencing known trouble with the F-89

NOTE: The following is a newspaper article from 7/20/2003 - Two Air Force Pilots Vanish Chasing UFO 50 Years Ago

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Missing F-89 Found?

Update: November 1, 2006

A number of individuals have been trying to corroborate information supplied by Adam Jimenez, who is the contact for Great Lakes Dive Company (if such a group actually exists). Most of the investigators believe that the information which has surfaced in these investigations suggests that this find is possibly or probably a hoax. Adam Jimenez is currently unavailable for comment or to answer questions. He is the only person known who can substantiate his claims.

Original Information Follows

A group of Michigan based divers and engineers, the Great Lakes Dive Company, has announced that they have found the wreck of an F-89 on the bottom of Lake Superior.

Using advanced side scan sonar equipment, they surveyed an area around the location where the F-89 was last observed on radar, back on the night it disappeared, Nov. 23, 1953.

Expecting to find perhaps the engines and a few scraps of metal debris, they were quite stunned when the first low resolution scans of the discovery showed an almost complete F-89, resting upright on the lakebed with the nose and one wingtip buried in the sediment. The upswept tail of the F-89 and a wing pod fuel tank were clearly visible. The port side wing is completely gone and looks like a straight-edged cut where it would join the fuselage. The starboard horizontal stabilizer on the tail is also mysteriously missing.

Despite an extended search of the nearby area, no evidence of the missing wing or tail part was found. Instead, another mysterious object was found which the divers believed to be the object with which the F-89 collided.

The object is reportedly metallic and contains a hole which they believe was caused by a collision of the missing port wing of the F-89.

GLDC states they believe the canopy and cockpit are in place also, which may imply the crew did not escape and their remains may be in the cockpit.

GLDC had intended to go back to the wreck this year to perform ROV scans of the craft, however they say they were contacted by the Canadian government who asked them to provide the GPS coordinates of the site before they would allow them to finish their site surveys. They also requested that a coast guard vessel or Canadian government official accompany GLDC on any further surveys of the site.

GLDC has stated they want to do a full length documentary of their search and discovery although their plans may now be on hold as they state they have abandoned efforts to do more surveys on the wreck discovery.

Implications of Discovery

It is far from clear what this reported discovery implies about the fate of the missing F-89. The reported find of another mysterious object may provide a clue.

Until more information becomes available, all we have is a few images which a reported to be images from their side scan sonar. Although the Great Lakes Dive Co. have so far been providing useful information, there will be lingering doubts on the veracity of this find until it can be further substantiated.

GLDC believes this discovery may imply the F-89 was brought down by a collision with some sort of unknown craft which may be the mysterious object on the lakebed. However they are unable to reconcile this theory with good structural condition of the F-89.

I believe the discovery might imply something quite different. It may be possible that the craft was placed on the lakebed by the crew of the craft which perhaps abducted the craft and crew.

I think this remains a possibility due to the following:

F-89 Not Tracked Below 7000 Feet

The F-89 disappeared from radar at an altitude of 7000 feet. If it collided with a craft at this altitude then the F-89 should still have reflected radar signals as it fell to the lakebed.

If it collided with the object at a lower altitude, we still need to explain why the altitude of the unknown and F-89 was not tracked below 7000 feet.

Missing Wing and Tail

The port wing and starboard tail horizontal stabilizer are missing from the plane and despite many scans, no evidence of them has so far emerged. All parts of the aircraft should have settled into the same general vicinity of the lakebed - although it is possible that the search has not been thorough enough or the radius of the search area still needs to be increased.

Is it possible that the missing tail piece was part of the parts found in 1968? We may never be able to find out as the identification of the parts were apparently withheld from the public and the Canadian and US governments claim they have no records of the find.

Lt. Moncla Heard on Radio

The pilot of the first F-89 into the air in search of the missing F-89, Lt. Mingenbach, took off from Kinross AFB just a few minutes after the F-89 went missing from radar. About 40 minutes after the F-89 disappeared from radar, Lt. Mingenbach believes he heard a radio transmission from the pilot of the missing plane, Lt. Moncla. While it is possible that this was something else, it certainly is doubtful that Lt. Moncla would be transmitting from the bottom of the lake, 40 minutes after his plane collided with an unknown object.

Where To Now?

The family of the missing USAF crew clearly have a right to know whether the discovered wreck contains the remains of the crew.

As someone who has investigated this mystery for over five years, I believe the Canadian and US public has the right to know what can be discovered from this find. This means that a detailed video scan should be made of the wreck as soon as can be arranged. The evidence which is obtained should be made available to interested members of the general public.

The US government has had a particularly poor record in dealing with this incident in an honest manner. The Canadian government also has some explaining to do with respect to its handling of the discovery of military jet aircraft parts in October, 1968 in the bush near the shore of Alona Bay (north of Sault Ste. Marie).

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F-89 Discovery a Possible Hoax

Since this story first appeared, various people have been trying to corroborate information supplied by Adam Jimenez concerning the alleged discovery of a missing F-89 on the bottom of Lake Superior.

Update Dec. 18, 2006 - See summary of MUFON's investigation into Great Lakes Dive Company and their claims of discovery of the missing F-89.

While it may be too early to reach any definitive conclusions, there certainly seems to be many more questions than answers concerning Great Lakes Dive Company and the alleged F-89 discovery.

About the middle of October, the Great Lakes Dive Company website suddenly went blank. It was at this time that Adam Jimenez stopped returning phone calls and emails.

Without communication from Adam Jimenez, it is impossible to know exactly why the website was blanked out and why Adam has chosen to stop answering questions.

It is possible that he simply decided he wanted to keep a lower profile and was tired of the publicity.

It is also possible that he was avoiding the exposure of those who were asking questions of the authenticity of his claims.

Some see the disappearance of the website as evidence of a dark conspiracy of government to hide the truth that was daring to be revealed. This seems like one of the lesser possibilities based on all the questions surrounding the claims.

Who is Great Lakes Dive Company?

According to Adam, Great Lakes Dive Company first discovered the F-89 in the summer of 2005. They sat on the discovery for almost a year before revealing it to anyone. To do this search, they need some very expensive equipment, and a fairly large boat. Adam indicated that GLDC was involved in the search of other missing shipwrecks, however, it seems that no one in the Great Lakes shipwreck searching community has ever heard of Adam Jimenez or his project.

Their name appears in no other web related citations concerning shipwrecks, side scan sonar or Great Lakes diving.

The Great Lakes Dive Company website was brought online about the time that Adam announced the alleged F-89 find. During the whole time it was online, it never once provided a list detailing the members or owners of the alleged "Great Lakes Dive Company". Investigators who have tried to track down any registration or license for the company have found nothing.

Does the company consist of any other person besides Adam Jimenez? It is difficult to tell because no one appears to have had any contact with anyone else but Adam and there were never any photographs of anyone from GLDC posted to their website.

Does the company have any assets such as a boat or side scan sonar equipment? This is also difficult to tell as GLDC never posted any pictures of the boat and the side scan sonar equipment.

Was the company ever on Lake Superior? You would think that anyone who was engaged in such a search would bring a camera and record the search and discoveries. Note that Adam claimed that GLDC had actually performed ROV surveys of the F-89 and "mystery object" and had taken photos of video of the F-89 and mystery object. But not a single photograph from the vessel was ever posted to the site. This certainly seems very puzzling.

Where Did the Story Originate?

My first knowledge of the alleged discovery came by word of mouth from someone who had read about the discovery on the website list "UFO Updates" which is hosted by Errol Bruce-Knapp of Toronto, Ontario. The original August 22nd, 2006 post was sent to UFO Updates from Francis Ridge who is a researcher, writer and investigator with NICAP. Francis received email from Preston Miller which consisted of copied text which was presented as an AP (Associated Press) news story from Port Huron, Michigan.

Beyond this, no one has been able to find the original story or any trace of the AP story. It now seems likely that the story was a fake. It is unclear who this Preston Miller is and whether they were the actual source for the story.

Are the Sonar Images Real?

There seems to be conflicting opinions on whether the images of the F-89 and the mystery object are real side scan sonar images. Brendon Baillod of Great Lakes Shipwreck Research uses side scan sonar to search for shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. He believes the images are real side scan sonar images although he does think that "his (Adam Jimenez's) claims are based on an elaborate hoax".

I am not an authority on side scan sonar imaging, but I thought it might be possible for someone to create these images using image processing software on a computer. The original image might be a real model or a computer generated model. The photographs don't have much detail so I thought it would be quite possible for someone to fake these images.

From the beginning, I worried that the whole find might be a hoax, but I did not want to sound too skeptical because I wanted to ensure that if it was a real find, that I would do my best to assist the investigation. In my view, if the claim turned out to be a hoax, this would be just another in a rather tedious and boring history. If it were real, then this possibly would lead to the solution to the mystery surrounding a fifty year old missing aircraft and crew - a mystery which resonates deeply within me.

I am very curious about the real truth behind the claims. Perhaps this whole thing is some persons idea of a joke. If so, they would have to know that they would eventually have to face up to the hoax. The only logical sounding theory I have heard put forward is that someone wanted to fool the UFO community into swallowing the notion that a flying saucer had been found on the bottom of Lake Superior. Then the idea would be just to make the whole UFO community look gullible. If this is the case, we would expect Adam to emerge trumpeting his success in making some people look foolish.

I was never really much impressed with the image of the "mystery object" or with Adam's account of how they used a fish finder to get the image after they noticed a distortion in the image from their regular sidescan sonar equipment. As Brendon states, it is really quite hard to imagine how they would connect up this fish finder and get it down several hundred feet on the towfish and then collect the returned signal from the fish finder and patch it back as a feed into the sonar signal processing software.

Where To From Here?

With what is known now, we still don't know the following:

Are the sonar images real sonar images?

If the images are real, are the images of an real F-89?

If the images are of a real F-89, is it an F-89 on the bottom of Lake Superior?

It is possible that Adam Jimenez could do us all a favor by explaining all that he knows about the find. He did state that he has photographs or video images of the F-89 showing it is the missing F-89 from Kinross.

If he doesn't come forward to validate his claim or explain the purpose of the possible hoax, then we can still solve the key remaining question.

Is the missing F-89 lying on the bottom of Lake Superior? All that is needed is some people with a good boat, some expensive side scan sonar equipment, and a camera equipped ROV and we're off to the races.

NOTE: Here's the link to the USAF Accident Report Documents

Sources:
www.ufoevidence.org
ufos.about.com
NICAP
CUFON
web.archive.org
Donald Keyhoe - "Aliens From Space" - 1973
The Town Talk - Alexandria-Pineville, LA
www.ufobc.ca
"Aircraft Parts Found in 1968". Sault Daily Star - 2008-06-07

Fortean / Alternative News: Videos - Florida Bigfoot and Strange Noise Phenomenon

Posted: 22 Mar 2011 01:06 PM PDT

"Three Clips of Sasquatch" Myakka City Florida, Palmetto Grove

Click for video

Information from the source: ""Three clips of Sasquatch" Myakka City Florida, Palmetto Grove on 05/02/08 Demonstrates, Slow walk with palms held backward, 60% arms, stealth walk with toes pointed down ward, white palms, finger function, cupped hands, hair ridge down back, Hair goes from Black to brown in sun, BF rises w/o arms as Albert Ostman described."

NOTE: It's a very interesting video though there is a lot of conjecture from the narrator. Lon

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Book Traces Chupacabras Myth To One Woman

According to Discovery News, the legend of the chupacabra -- literally "goat sucker" in Spanish -- can be traced back to one woman's viewing of the 1995 science-fiction film, "Species."

Discovery News attributes this finding to a scientific paranormal investigator, Benjamin Radford, whose book, "Tracking the Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction and Folklore" (University of New Mexico Press), traces the myth of the supposedly vicious beast to moviegoer Madelyne Tolentino, of Canovanas, Puerto Rico.

Radford said Tolentino's description of the beast was shared on "The Cristina Show" -- which Radford describes as the "the Spanish language version of Oprah" -- in March 1996. He said the story then spread up through Central America, into Mexico and Texas and beyond.

Radford said Tolentino described the beast as being 4- to 5-feet-tall, with alien-like eyes, long claws and spikes down its back.

"She gave an incredibly detailed description that included everything from the monster's number of fingers to its genitalia," he told Discovery News. "A sketch based on this went on the Internet, where the story went viral."

According to Discovery News, Radford spend years investigating the chupacabra myth, traveling to Puerto Rico and the jungles of Nicaragua. Discovery News says Radford, who has a degree in psychology, doesn't believe Tolentino made up the story, but instead unconsciously incorporated elements of the "Species" monster.

In 2009, Blanco taxidermist Jerry Ayer states on of his former students found a dead animal in Rosenberg, Texas, located about 40 miles southwest of Houston. Ayer froze the carcass -- described then as gray with leathery skin and "unlike anything that is native to Texas" -- and said he had never seen anything like it, describing unusual features that are commonly associated with the mythical beast, including elongated, irregular front legs.

Critics said the creature that Ayer had was actually a breed of dog called the xoloitzcuintle, also known as a xolo.

"It's been around for about 3,000 years in Mexico," Rhett Rushing, a folklorist at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio, stated in 2009.

Rushing said the xolo is a type of dog native to Mexico and Central America, and was considered a sacred dog in the Aztec culture. He said it bears similar resemblance to the gray, hairless animals that have been reported in South Texas and Mexico.

Others in the San Antonio area have also reported sightings of the chupacabra over the years, including two DeWitt County sheriff's deputies in 2008. A rancher in 2007 found a dead animal that was also thought to be a chupacabra. - ksat.com

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Whole lotta shakin' goin' on in Florida

Investigators are trying to solve a bizarre mystery in Flagler County. A wave of people called 911 around 9:30am Friday to report the ground shaking in Flagler County. The calls all came from the Hammock area of Palm Coast.

However, people in the north Daytona area, as well as in Deltona and as far north as St. Augustine, said they felt it as well. Many people were worried that the shaking was an earthquake.

The Emergency Management Office was on the phone all day trying to figure out the cause of the shaking. Residents said that buildings were shaking, and even a dispatcher in the county felt it happen.

The 911 call was one of about a dozen calls that poured into Flagler County. An unexplained phenomenon, described as everything from a low rumble to a window shaking movement, rattled residents from St. Augustine to the Volusia County.

"The ground rumbled and the building rumbled. Definitely abnormal for here," a resident said.

"It definitely felt like an earthquake," one resident said. "Enough to make you look to the ocean and say, 'OK, what's next, tsunami?' Because you're going, 'Is it an earthquake or not?'"

The U.S. Geological Survey told Flagler County that sensors in Georgia and Orlando picked up no movement. The National Weather Service reported nothing odd, and the Navy and Coast Guard stated they had no information regarding on or offshore bombing exercises.

"We are checking with all the agencies that monitor those kinds of things and hopefully we'll come up with an answer, but right now, we're kind of perplexed," an official stated.

Everything, from a meteor burning up to a moon phase that allows ocean waves to hit hard enough to vibrate the shoreline, is being considered as a cause. - wftv.com

Click for video

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Top Paranormal and Metaphysical Celebrities to Gather in Atlanta

PRLog (Press Release) – Mar 21, 2011 – ATLANTA, GA - Following two very successful annual events, Through The Veil; A Paranormal and Metaphysical Gathering is preparing its return for June 10th-12th, 2011.

500 paranormal and metaphysical enthusiasts will gather for a unique three-day conference at the Hilton in downtown Atlanta to participate in the 3rd Annual Through the Veil Conference.

Our speakers include renowned psychics and paranormal investigators as seen on A&E, The Travel Channel and TruTV as well as prominent metaphysical educators and practitioners. There will also be 45+ Vendors exhibiting over the weekend representing popular businesses and individuals in the paranormal and metaphysical fields. This is the only event of its kind in the world, and it is attracting a great amount of attention both nationally and internationally.

"The interest in both the paranormal and metaphysical arenas has become so profound! Couple that with the amazing increase in people seeking deep spiritual answers and the idea for this event was formed. Our intent is to provide an affordable experience that allows attendees the opportunity for education, enlightenment and empowerment," says Michelle Griffin, Director of Through The Veil Productions LLC.

Speakers include James Redfield, author of the Celestine Prophecy series, Chip Coffey of A&E's Paranormal State and Psychic Kids; Children of the Paranormal, Panache Desai, Contemporary Spiritual Master and Visionary, Mary Occhino of SyFy's Mary Knows, TruTv's John J Oliver, Chris Fleming from A&E's Psychic Kids and Biography Channel's Dead Famous and so many more. Through The Veil will also hold an auction with 100% of the proceeds benefiting the ASPCA.

Friday nights live entertainment features Departure: A Journey Tribute Band and, Saturday night includes a Past Life Costume Party; Come as You Were and karaoke!

Tickets are on sale now at www.throughtheveil.org and are only $125.00 for the 3-day event. Opportunities are also available to attend a Gallery Reading's and investigations with our speakers!

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Did NASA Pick Up Distress Signal From Doomed Planet?

ufobriefcase - Recently the UK Ministry of Defence released to the National Archives the 7th batch of UFO Files.

Interestingly, One of those files features an article Published in the Weekly World News, (September 15, 1998 Vol 19 No. 51) with story about how NASA detected and decoded a mathematics based distress Signal from a doomed Planet outside our own Galaxy.

The signal was detected in January of 1998 however took many months to decode the message.

For your convenience the article has been transcribed:

NASA experts claim to have intercepted an intergalactic distress call from an alien civilization that had already peaked and was actually dying when saber-tooth tigers still roamed the earth!

The 80,000-year-old SOS was received and tape recorded in late January (1998).

But only in recent weeks have radio astronomers and lanuage experts found the key to the complex mathematics-based language that enabled them to translate the frantic plea for help.

The world press has been suspiciously silent about the startling message, though lengthy scientific reports are scheduled for publication in two professional journals, Radio Astronomy and Universe.

According to a highly placed NASA source in houston, noted Russian space scientist Victor Yulakow is leading a United Nations research team from a state-operated observatory 50 miles northwest of Moscow.

Dr. Kulakov told Universe that the signal emanated from a point beyond the galaxy nearest to our own – Andromeda – and was sent by beings that had apparently achieved a civilization no more advanced than our own here on Earth.

"The simple fact that we received and decoded the message proves beyond any doubt that their knowledge and technology were, at the very best, within our reach." Dr Kulakov explained.

"And while there are years of study ahead of us, I can say with certainty that the death of their civilization was not the result of some cosmic catastrophe. It was the result of the civilization turning on itself, possibly with devastating nuclear weaponry."

Dr Kulakov flatly refused to provide either of the magazines with a transcript of the message, but he did say it began with the plea, "Help us," and went on to give data pinpointing the exact position of the doomed planet.

There was a quite lucid account of apocalyptic devastation, hellish explosions, widespread death and terminal illnesses," he said.

"A Shower of meteors? Perhaps. But what stikes me, and this is just a feeling, is an underlying acceptance of guilt. It's as if the senders of the message are acknowledging blame for what happened."

Whatever it was, they apparently had no means to evacuate the remaining population. Interplanetary space travel was available to them, but only on a very limited level. The message makes it very clear that they were trapped on their world," said Dr. Kulakov.

Inexplicata: UFOs / Mutilations in Mexico and Haunted Deserts

Posted: 22 Mar 2011 11:52 AM PDT

Scott Corrales at Inexplicata - The Journal of Hispanic Ufology has been busy the past few day2 with two very interesting reports from Mexico as well as an excellent article on strangeness in deserts:

Enigmas in Empty Places: Haunted Deserts
By Scott Corrales

One does not immediately associate the concept of deserts with Brazil - our mental images of the South American giant immediately take us to the jungle greenery of the Amazon or to the bright pleasures of Rio de Janeiro. However, the South American superpower extensive coastal deserts—complete with sand dunes—in the northern region of Maranhao, once known to be the wealthiest part of this Portuguese possession (so wealthy, in fact, that a Portuguese monarch was willing to abdicate his crown as long he was able to keep control over Maranhao). Located between the Mangueira and Parnaíba deserts, the vast sand dunes are contained within the Lencois Maranhenses National Park and aerial photography shows the sand encroaching on the surrounding vegetation, like a stain of white ink on a green tablecloth. This is not surprising, as the Maranhao dunes stand a staggering thirty meters talls and are a source of humidity that attracts all manner of wildlife to it.

The sand dunes of Maranhao are also the home of highly unusual paranormal phenomena. In 1997, researchers Pablo Villarubia and Carlos Alberto Martins crossed the desert to visit remote communities and interview locals about their brushes with the unknown. The people who somehow wrest a living out of this harsh land speak freely of a recurrent luminous phenomenon known as the caburé or even more picturesquely as "the phantom Jeep". Unlike tales involving phantom cars like the terrifying Haitian zobop, the ghost Jeep of the Maranhao dunes is seen where no vehicles usually drive; some claim having been blinded by the intense blueness of its headlights, which can illuminate the surroundings like daylight. One man interviewed by Villarubia and Martins was out deer-hunting when the ethereal vehicle made a beeline toward him, scaring him out of his wits and making him beleive that he was about to be run over in the wilderness. Unable to move, he saw the phantom Jeep vanish into thin air before it struck him. The "phantom Jeep" may also have a Mexican cousin: the carro de Banda reported in Durango's Zone of Silence since the 1920s.

However, the caburé isn't the only light in the Maranhao. Carlos Araújo, born and raised in the area, told researchers that he was hunting deer among the scrub when he came across a cigar-shaped light suspended in the air, looking like "the burning tip of a cigarette" and less than a hundred meters from where he stood in the darnkess. Calling out to the object, thinking it might belong to a fellow hunter, the cigar shaped light did something completely unexpected: it changed shape, elongating up, down and sideways into the shape of a cross. Believing that it was a sign of God, Araújo dropped to his knees in fervent prayer as the cross turned to the same blue color associated with the phantom Jeep's headlights.

Yet these experiences are hardly new. As far back as the 1930's, ethnographers were collecting stories in the area about strange goings-on that were quickly filed under "folklore". Author José Carvalho reported that fishermen along the Mangueiras River were used to seeing objects best described as brightly lit phantom boats that caused riverboat captains to panic and veer off course before a collision could occur.

But lights aside, the area contains even more compelling mysteries, such as the abandoned city of Tutóia, believed by 19th century archeologist Ludwig Schwennhagen to be a Phoenician fortified trading post in the manner of similar trading posts found along the Red Sea during the Hellenistic Age. It was believed that further proof of the Phoenician presence in northwestern Brazil could perhaps be found not in this desert-girt city but in the swamps and bogs along the shores of the Pinaré River.

Salt Deserts of the South

In February 2001, residents of the northern Chilean town of Calama—located in the vicinity of the country's northern salt deserts—claimed having seen a "caravan of UFOs" in the Salar de Atacama, one of the driest spots on Earth. A strange silvery sphere had been causing a great deal of consternation among locals, but it wasn't until February 24 at 8:30 pm that Adolfo Trigo, a young resident of the outlying village of San Rafael, claimed having seen a UFO taking off from one of the village's quarters. The object, he would later tell the Diario de Calama newspaper, was a "fish-tailed cylinder with a phosphorescent green front, an electric blue middle and a violet-hued tail."

Trigo was spellbound as the multicolored object made a full turn in the air before rising into the night sky at full speed. But what makes Trigo's account unique is that he did not see the object lose itself among the stars, as is often described in UFO sightings, but rather "disappear into a doorway in the sky."

Others would become witnesses to this latest desert mystery. Weeks later, Gustavo Glade would become a witness to UFO while traveling by truck along Cuesta El Diablo on the southernmost reaches of the Atacama Desert. The driver, accompanied by five other passengers, was able to see a sequence of bright rectangular lights that appeared to be flying in tandem. It looked, in his own words, "like seeing a train riding through space", a description corroborated by the others aboard his vehicle. However, the same peculiarity as in the Trigo sighting was noticed: the heavenly convoy did not fly away or shoot up into space—it seemed to enter into a cloud or "dimensional doorway" through which it vanished completely. Glade's sighting lasted a total of eighteen to twenty seconds and the objects involved were no mroe than a dozen, flying in an upward direction, which discarded the suggested possibility that the driver and his passengers had seen a meteor.

The UFO phenomenon's interest in Chile is mirrored by the U.S. military's interest in both the country and the phenomenon. According to journalist Cristián Riffo (www.ovnivision.cl), a Col. Hubert Brandon prepared a dossier on the anomalous activity in this country in 1965. This Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) dossier documents UFO sightings and encounters reported by trained professionals, including the Septemebr 1965 encounter between a LAN Chile airliner piloted by Marcelo Cisternas over the city of Arica, in which a zig-zagging object buzzed the aircraft for a number of minutes.

Months before the Trigo and Glade sightings, researcher Jaime Ferrer of the Calama UFO Center managed to collect a compelling account from the desert community of Chiu-Chiu which took place in October 2000. A man named Gonzalo, owner of a hard candy factory in the area and who distributed his product personally to the local towns, told Ferrer the following story: he had been driving some forty kilometers along the road when he saw a bright light the size of the full moon which appeared to be coming in for a landing. However, the bright object was actually suspended in mid-air. Gonzalo pulled his delivery van over , turned off the headlights and lowered the driver side window for a better look. To his astonishment, the object "exploded" and vanished, scattering three lights—red, yellow and blue-- in separate directions. What truly astonished him, he told Ferrer, was that no sooner had the lights scattered, he could hear a helicopter taking off in the darkness, although he couldn't see it. The helo kicked up a dust storm and Gonzalo noticed " a powerful ultraviolet light" aimed at the ground. Three wheeled vehicles, which he took to be Jeeps or 4x4s followed the helicopter's beam and lost themselves in the desert – proof that the Chilean military is as interested in UFOs as it ever was, despite strenuous protestations that it keeps no files on the phenomenon?

Why Chile? Why the Atacama Desert with its thousand year-old mummies and vestiges of the earliest civilizations in South America? Archaeologist Juan Schobinger has written in his Prehistory in the Americas (NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2000) that Chile faces one of the richest seas in the world and is backed by one of its most forbidding deserts. The dryness of the salt desert, where rainfall is measured in inches per century, made it ideal for preserving cultural artifacts such as baskets, textiles and even food.

It also preserved something darker—the rituals of forgotten shamans who would bury sacrifices deep in the desert for the "gods" to feast upon. The sacrifices would be held at night and the victim, usually a llama or a dog, left out. At daybreak, the ancient medicine men would return to the site to insure that the gods—the meandering lights of the desert—had accepted the offering. The carcass would be utterly exsanguinated and a puncture mark could usually be found somewhere on the body, which was then transported back to the primitve settlement to be consumed by the community. Subsequently, evidence of this communion between man and his deities was buried under a cairn known as an apachetca, a tangible link of the trade betwen ancient man and supernatural forces. It is easy to dismiss this as the savagery of ancient man until we remember that the books of the Pentateuch mentioned that the blood of the sacrifice belonged to the godhead. Contemporary thinkers of the paranormal like Salvador Freixedo have written at length about this curious aspect of the human worship (Defendámonos de los dioses, Spain: Quintá, 1985).

Death Lurks in the Sand

Spanish author Miguel Seguí, writing in Año Cero magazine, mentions a conversation a conversation he held with Tunisian camel driver Mohamed Charaa regarding the perils of the northern reaches of the Sahara desert. In the vicinity of the town of Gafsa, said Charaa, the truly unlucky ran the risk of coming across monstrously large snakes known as taguerga which measure up to 4 meters in length and whose poison is lethal. In the late 1950s, desert nomads spoke of giant snakes that devoured their goats and and sheep; when one specimen decided to help itself to a young camel at a desert campsite, the nomads decided that no matter how much they loathed the idea of doing so, it was necessary to appeal to the colonial authorities for help.

It was thus, according to Seguí, that a French army detachment was sent to investigate from the vicinty of Beni Ounif. It wasn't long before these romanticized desert warriors came across the largest snake they had ever seen—so large that their Enfield rifles were unable to fell it. The soldiers had to resort to a heavy machine gun to slay the beast, which measured a nightmarish 20 meters long—very nearly 90 feet.

Although the serpent's skin was preserved for a while, the political turmoil of the times and the withdrawal of French forces from the area caused all traces of the spectacular find to be lost.

Seguí was able to determine, however, that a year earlier, a native auxiliary had been attacked by a giant snake measuring anywhere between fourteen and fifteen feet. The skin of this desert beast had indeed been preserved and seen by many, but was ultimately sold for forty-five thousand Francs to a private collector. The notable characteristic of this monster snake is that it appears to be able to "jump up" to bite a human or camel in the head, and has a singular characteristic: what appears to be a crest of long hairs on its head, which also have horns.

Years would go by before another case was reported. It wasn't until 1967, during the construction of a massive dam in southern Morocco, that bulldozer operator Hamza Rahmani saw a seven long serpent engaging in a singular activity—eating its way through the construction site's entire supply of engine grease. Using his bulldozer's blade, Rahmani was able to kill the creature, which measured a little over nine meters long and had a "mane' of hair running along its head. According to Seguí, the construction project was bedeviled by the creatures, with a ten meter long one—complete with twisted horns—being seen the following year and twelve to fifteen meter one reported two years later. While even the most open-minded may scoff at these measurments and call them overblown, the author reminds us that eighteen-meter long snakes were common during the Pleistocene in South America.

But stranger things than giant snakes can be found in the world's deserts. Ing. Marco Reynoso of Mexico's defunct Fundación Cosmos A.C. describes a case involving a group of teenagers during the months of December '89/January '90 as they traveled to visit a series of caves located in Cerro Pajarito, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua on the road leading to the Paquimé archaeological site. According to Alvaro Villareal, one of the witnesses, they found two dead, 3-point deer and one doe on their path. The animal's carcasses were not rigid and the eyes had been eaten by ants. Three perforations, spaced at 3 cm., were on their necks forming a triangle. Footprints similar to those of a puma were seeing in the area.

When the group entered into one of the caves, they heard squealing sounds and smelled an odor of burned wood; standing on an outcropping 15 meters away was an entity resembling the one described as the "Chupacabras", which advanced toward them. Seized by panic, one of the would-be speleologists drew his pistol and fired an entire clip at the creature, which was impervious to the hail of bullets. The group ran out of the cave, uncertain if the creature was dead or not. They also claim having encountered a thin, metallic green entity standing some 80 cm., which they took to be an "extraterrestrial". Drawings were subsequently made of both creatures. It is worth noting that the deserts of Northern Mexico have also been the locale for many encounters and sighings of winged creatures best described as "gargoyles" or even "Birdmen" (see "Return of the Birdmen" by Scott Corrales, FATE October 1998).

Conclusion

The desert is a place of great beauty, but also of danger. It is the place where animals and insects inimical to human life dwell and also the place seekers go to find hidden wisdom and revelations. Traditionally the "deserted places" were shunned by the ancients, who believed that the gods of the ruined cities in the desert reverted into angry demons, having no one to worship them. Tanith Lee, one of Great Britain finest authors of sword and sorcery, writes a compelling account of a band of desert travelers who entertain a stranger by their campfire—who should it turn out to be but the demon king, come to the surface to listen to the chorused voices of his "children", the desert predators. H.P. Lovecraft, whose visions disturb our sleep to this very day, had the "Mad Arab" Abd Alhazred title the fearsome Necronomicon "Al Azif" – supposedly the sound made by nocturnal desert insects who are in fact, evil spirits.

But so much for the worlds created by our gifted fantasists. What wonders—and horrors—do the world's deserts hold for us?

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Mexico: Exanguinated Sheep in Veracruz

Source: NOTIVER
Date: 18 March 2011

Mexico: Exsanguinated Sheep in Veracruz
By Ana Luisa Cid

The NOTIVER newspaper reported on the incidents that took place at a ranch in the community of Las Compras, two kilometers distant from the municipal seat, according to Oscar Leonel Rojas, first police commissioner:

The sheep were kept in a pen within the ranch owned by Justino Andrés Bretón, and died when blood was sucked out of their bodies.

Bretón reported that he made the discovery on Tuesday morning. He found the seventeen lifeless sheep scattered throughout the ranch as he was about to feed them.

"We heard nothing in the early morning hours. There was no noise or anything like it. The animals presented bite marks in various parts of their bodies, mainly the neck. Some of them had tears in their skin," he explained. His neighbors say its the Chupacabras, because the attack on the sheep shares the same characteristics that were in evidence during the animal slayings years ago throughout the municipality and the region.

Alarmed by the bizarre occurrence, local residents declared themselves in a state of alert, as they did not know the type of animal or beast that they are dealing with, and have therefore organized themselves into brigades to look after their animals. "What is odd is that there are no traces suggesting that the animal went as far as where the sheep were kept. Residents have made their fear of the alleged Chupacabras's presence well known and have taken measures to prevent further attacks," he remarked.

For the moment, the first commander stated that monitoring operations had been stepped up in the region to find the animal that killed seventeen sheep in an unusual manner in a single morning."

This is the third report concerning mysterious deaths in Mexico in 2011. The first was in Chiapas and the second in Chihuahua.

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Mexico: More "UFOs" Seen Over León

Source: Periódico A.M.
http://www.am.com.mx/Nota.aspx?ID=464649
Date: 20 March 2011

Mexico: More "UFOs" Seen over León
By Jose Luis Ramirez
Photo credit: Fernándo Fernández

Some people in Parque Metropolitano saw lights in the sky that they ascribed to UFOs.

Residents of the city of Leon claimed seeing such objects in the Downtown area; even one person managed to record the alleged sighting.

Juan Antonio Lopez professed himself as completely skeptical, but changed his opinion on Friday when he saw around 50 luminous objects in the sky moving in an orderly fashion toward the Parque Metropolitano before vanishing from slight.

"In fact, many of us even referred to these lights as brujas (witches) in the sky, but after what I've seen, now I believe in them (UFOs)."

María Sandoval says that she also saw the lights in the sky last Friday night. "I was able to see them in the vicinity of El Rosario. They're neither balloons nor airplanes, because they move in formation, and a balloon wouldn't fly so high or move [in such a way]."

A resident of Gran Jardín says that around 0200 yesterday she saw five lights flying in formation at high speed. She made it clear that these could not be airplanes due to their high rate of speed. Another resident of León said that three red spheres forming a triangle have been visible since January from the parking lot at Plaza Galerías.

Videos have been uploaded to the Internet. For over a month, sightings of alleged unidentified flying objects over León have been posted to YouTube. The videos have over a thousand hits and according to the description offered, were seen over Ibarrilla and the El Coecillo district.

Images show some lights that remain static before moving swiftly, and later disapperaing. Others show circles of light in the sky before nightfall. A three-part video was taken in mid-February, looking toward Cerro Gordo, and according to the person who took it, a "UFO Flotilla" is in evidence.

Another video is dated 15 February and was taken around 0750 hours near Ley de Torres Landa. "We thought it was a balloon, but when it got closer we saw its shape," says the author of the video posted to the website.

Photo caption: With his cellphone, Fernando Fernández captured the lights that startled people strolling through the Zona Peatonal at 2200 hours.

Thanks again to Scott!

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