Phantoms and Monsters |  |
- Was It The Ozark Howler?
- Fortean / Alternative News: Tasmania UFO Mystery, 'Majority Report' Reality and Saint's Head Sold
- Strange Crop Formations Big News in Russia
| Posted: 30 May 2011 02:13 PM PDT  Lon - I don't have any idea what I witnessed Saturday evening (5/28) but it was the most frightening experience of my life. My wife and I were camping at an RV park near Jasper, Arkansas and planned to be there for several days. We arrived early Saturday and got situated soon after. My wife wanted to look around the area since she had never been in the Ozarks. I was born and raised in the mountains and was familiar with the terrain and wildlife. After we tinkered around the campsite we decided to take a short hike through a nearby valley. There were a few caves and caverns along the way but nothing where I would have guessed any large predator would be living. After walking for an hour we started to head back towards the RV park. Not long after we started walking back down the trail something caught my eye on the right in a sassafras thicket. My wife sensed it as well and stopped to look in the same direction. I could see this dark four-legged creature moving back and forth slowly through the brush. We immediately started to walk at a fast pace back towards the park. This creature was moving along as well, keeping it's distance, but tracking us. This continued for what seemed like 10 minutes until we reached the clearing. We got back to the campsite very shaken and nervous. All my years growing up in these mountains and I had never seen anything comparable to it. From what I could gather it was very large, almost the size of a black bear but moved close to the ground like a cat. It was also very dark in color. We didn't say anything to others camping nearby. The rest of the evening was very quiet and peaceful until around 2:15 am, we heard what sounded like a high pitched howl coming from a distance. It was loud enough to wake both of us and I noticed several campers were looking outside, milling around and talking as well. Someone said it was just a coyote - but that was not a coyote or anything else I had ever heard before. The next morning we woke around 9 am. When I stepped out of the RV a woman walked up to me and asked if I had heard the howling. I said that I did and had no idea what it was. The woman, who was camping nearby, said that she believed it to be the 'Ozark Howler' and that there had been a few sightings recently. I knew the stories about the 'Ozark Howler' but never believed any of it. Well, my wife wanted to leave ASAP. Now I'm not sure what to think. We came home today and I looked up the 'Ozark Howler'. There isn't much to go on. I read your blog and thought you may want to get the word out. Is it possible this creature may live? NOTE: the witness wants to remain anonymous. Information on this cryptid is scant...as well, the history is vague. There are a few anecdotal accounts but nothing to really 'hang your hat on'. I have posted some descriptions and known information below. Follow up from the readers would be appreciated...Lon
-----  There have been a few interesting, though vague accounts of the Ozark Howler over the years. Many cryptozoologists claim the tales to be a hoax that was given renewed life through the internet and a supposed research group that has since faded away. Nonetheless, the following is an interesting account from an individual who claims to have hunted the Ozark Howler: Frank Wall says he is an experienced hunter of stag and fowl, certified hunting guide for waterfowl with 25 years field hunting experience from the time he was "yay high"! Missouri native, born and bred. EDUCATION I first got interested in the Ozark Howler from listening to the guys my dad went together to process his deer with. They'd always tell stories, a lot from people they knew and a couple incidents of their own! Well, I've been a full grown huntsman for a good number of years now, and I've set my sights on this most elusive of quarries: the black cat of the Ozarks! I've learned quite a bit of what I know about Ozark Howler from Lisa Leigh, local journalist who's taken a professional interest in the development of the Ozark Howler story. You can read a good number of her articles in local papers, and she's been successful even in getting coverage of some Ozark Howler sightings on local TV news! If you want a true authority on the Ozark Howler, talk to Lisa. I decided I wanted to understand the Ozark Howler from another perspective: that of the hunter. Hunters are some of the best biologists there are, we know our quarry, it's habits and where it lives. There's some sort of academic debate about what the Ozark Howler is and what it isn't. Well, all I know is that it exists. There are just to many people who have seen the thing to ignore it any more and say that it isn't an "important question". Folks I know mostly agree that it's a pretty big cat, much bigger than the bobcat or lynx that professors who haven't even seen the thing say it probably is, explaining away the important differences, like the long, stocky body, the dark thick fur, the consistent reddish cast to the eyes, and the appearance of both horn-like and beard like appendages on the head. It's easily close to three feet tall at the shoulder, and I'd like to know what bobcat gets to be that size! I'm a hunter, so don't try to kid me! THE OZARK HOWLER The problem with trying to find out more about the Ozark Howler is that, like most cats, it's nocturnal. That means that it mostly moves around at night, and I can tell you from experience tracking cats that if it don't want to be found during the day, it won't be. I have a friend who kind of takes up a hobby of nature photography, and she tells me that there's just not much chance of ever getting up close to a wild predator during the daytime, at least close enough to get a detailed sort of description. The upshot is that most sightings of the Ozark Howler have taken place at night. See, it gets confusing because almost everyone insists that the Ozark Howler has black fur. Now, it could be dark brown or even very dark red, but you just can't tell that in the dark or even dusk-like conditions. THE QUESTION People who spend their time researching animals like the Ozark howler are finally admitting that it almost certainly exists, but then they say that it's not as important as the beast of Bodwin Moor, which is clear complete across the Atlantic. Can someone explain this to me? Why hasn't good research on the Ozark Howler caught up with all of the sightings? - Frank Wall - ozarkhowler.20m.com        | ||
| Fortean / Alternative News: Tasmania UFO Mystery, 'Majority Report' Reality and Saint's Head Sold Posted: 30 May 2011 11:42 AM PDT  Tasmania UFO sighting remains a mystery A Tasmanian man has described as "spooky" an unexplained flashing object he saw in the night sky above Launceston last week. The lights flashed white and green for several minutes before turning out in the sky high above the tree line, he told the Launceston Examiner. Brendon Hill first saw the flashing lights above Mayfield on Thursday night from his backyard balcony at Riverside. He then witnessed the same lights on Saturday night. "On Thursday I dragged my three mates outside to show them and they were bewildered - none of them could describe what they saw or could come up with an explanation of what it was," Mr Hill said. Mr Hill looked at the site of the flashing lights through his binoculars the next day and said he could not see anything that would generate the same pulsing light. "There are no buildings or towers in that area that could generate that much light - it was very strange how I couldn't see anything during the day," he said. On Saturday about 9pm Mr Hill saw the flashing lights again and this time caught them on his video camera. "It made my hair stand up on my neck," he said. "It seems so unhuman, it doesn't resemble anything I have seen before and after seeing it with my own eyes it feels very spooky." A Bureau of Meteorology Launceston spokesman said no sightings of Mr Hill's description were reported to the office. However, there were reports of the Aurora Australis - or southern lights - which sends bright green and red lights flashing across the sky . "The Aurora is more of a swirling, wave-like look across the whole sky: it does not sounds like his description," the spokesman said. Launceston Air Traffic Control also did not have any reportings of the lights. The Australian Defence Department was unable to comment. Mr Hill said he had no reason to believe it was anything man-made. "I don't mind if it turns out to be something really boring because it would put my mind at ease," he said. "It's annoying not knowing what it was. My mind keeps ticking over trying to figure out what it could be." - smh Click for video ********** Terrorist 'pre-crime' detector field tested in United States Planning a sojourn in the northeastern United States? You could soon be taking part in a novel security programme that can supposedly 'sense' whether you are planning to commit a crime. Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST), a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) programme designed to spot people who are intending to commit a terrorist act, has in the past few months completed its first round of field tests at an undisclosed location in the northeast, Nature has learned. Like a lie detector, FAST measures a variety of physiological indicators, ranging from heart rate to the steadiness of a person's gaze, to judge a subject's state of mind. But there are major differences from the polygraph. FAST relies on non-contact sensors, so it can measure indicators as someone walks through a corridor at an airport, and it does not depend on active questioning of the subject. The tactic has drawn comparisons with the science-fiction concept of 'pre-crime', popularized by the film Minority Report, in which security services can detect someone's intention to commit a crime. Unlike the system in the film, FAST does not rely on a trio of human mutants who can see the future. But the programme has attracted copious criticism from researchers who question the science behind it. So far, FAST has only been tested in the lab, so successful field tests could lend some much-needed data to support the technology. "It is encouraging to see an effort to develop a real empirical base for new technologies before any policy commitments are made," says Tom Ormerod, a psychologist in the Investigative Expertise Unit at Lancaster University, UK. Such testing, he adds, could lay the groundwork for a more rigorous randomized, controlled, double-blind study. According to a privacy-impact statement previously released by the DHS, tests of FAST involve instructing some people passing through the system to carry out a "disruptive act". Ormerod questions whether such role-playing is representative of real terrorists, and also worries that both passengers and screeners will react differently when they know they're being tested. "Fill the place with machines that go ping, and both screeners and passengers start doing things differently." In lab tests, the DHS has claimed accuracy rates of around 70%, but it remains unclear whether the system will perform better or worse in field trials. "The results are still being analysed, so we cannot yet comment on performance," says John Verrico, a spokesman for the DHS. "Since this is an ongoing scientific study, tests will continue throughout coming months." Some scientists question whether there really are unique signatures for 'malintent' — the agency's term for the intention to cause harm — that can be differentiated from the normal anxieties of travel. "Even having an iris scan or fingerprint read at immigration is enough to raise the heart rate of most legitimate travellers," says Ormerod. Steven Aftergood, a senior research analyst at the Federation of American Scientists, a think-tank based in Washington DC that promotes the use of science in policy-making, is pessimistic about the FAST tests. He thinks that they will produce a large proportion of false positives, frequently tagging innocent people as potential terrorists and making the system unworkable in a busy airport. "I believe that the premise of this approach — that there is an identifiable physiological signature uniquely associated with malicious intent — is mistaken. To my knowledge, it has not been demonstrated," he says. "Without it, the whole thing seems like a charade." As for where precisely FAST is being tested, that for now remains a closely guarded secret. The DHS says that although the first round was completed at the end of March, more testing is in the works, and the agency is concerned that letting people know where the tests are taking place could affect the outcome. "I can tell you that it is not an airport, but it is a large venue that is a suitable substitute for an operational setting," says Verrico - nature ********** Skull found in back yard of Brooklyn house While most were pottering around in the garden, enjoying the sunshine this weekend, one police officer was guarding a three-foot mound of earth. Earlier on Saturday, workmen, digging in a backyard in Brooklyn, New York, had unearthed part of a skull, pieces of vertebrae and a few teeth. Current owner of the 19th-century, three-story brownstone, Sean Green, didn't seem too disturbed by the grisly find however. 'Growing up in New York, not much surprises me,' he told the New York Times. 'Of course, there's a skull in my backyard.' Just who the remains belong to or how old they might be is today still a mystery. But by Saturday evening anthropologists from the medical examiner's office were at the scene examining the area. Floodlights were assembled so they could continue into the night. The house, which sold for $950,000 in 2004, on Greenpoint's Kent Street, was built in 1856. A physician, Moses H Seley, lived there from 1905 when he arrived in the city from Russia, until his death in 1967, aged 89, according to his New York Times obituary. Dr Seley practiced out of the home. There are other houses from the same period on the street and a church dating back to 1853. Mr Green's neighbors didn't appear too worried by the find either. 'Everybody will be talking about this for the next three years,' Chris Mottalini, a 32-year-old photographer, told the Times. 'It makes sense that there would be a body or two buried in these backyards," he said. "It doesn't mean there was foul play.' Another June Sung, 29, who is planning to get married in her back garden later this year told the paper: 'I hope we don't find anything in our backyard. 'That would derail the wedding plans.' - dailymail ********** Saint's head sells for 3500 Euros Visitors queue for the auction in Co Meath at which St Vitalis's head was sold for €3,500. Ciara Wilkinson THE reputed head of 14th-Century Italian saint St Vitalis of Assisi is on its way to the US after being sold for €3,500 at auction. It was purchased by an unnamed phone bidder in Los Angeles during the sale in Duleek, Co Meath, yesterday. St Vitalis was a Benedictine hermit and, following his death in 1370, he became known as the patron saint of those suffering from genital disease. According to legend, the monk was a promiscuous youth -- but then repented. In a bid to atone for his sins, he went on many pilgrimages to shrines and other holy places in Italy and Europe, before spending the rest of his life in poverty near Assisi. The skull of the saint, enshrined in an antique glass case, had been in the keeping of a Co Louth family for many years. It was included in an antique auction at Annesbrook House in Duleek by Oldcastle auctioneer Brendan Matthews. Bidding for the skull opened at €2,000 and rose in €100 stages, before being sold in less than a minute for €3,500 to an unnamed phone buyer. The sale had generated widespread international interest, according to Mr Matthews. "We received phone calls from all over the world about this -- from all sorts of crackpots and oddballs. We received about 100 different bids in advance," he said. - independent ********** Monkey 'witch'? "In an incident described as 'barbaric' by the Community-led Animal Welfare (Claw), residents chanted 'kill that witch!'," The Star newspaper reported on Monday. It reported that the monkey wandered into the settlement last week Monday, May 23, and was pelted with stones, shot at by police, and then burnt to death. The monkey fled the mob and temporarily found shelter in a tree, but was pulled out, put in a bucket and doused in petrol. "Someone struck a match. (The monkey) got out of the bucket and dropped down dead. They continued throwing stones at it," Kagiso resident, Tebogo Moswetsi was reported as saying. Moswetsi was woken up by friends on Monday morning and told about the monkey. They said it was going around Kagiso "talking to people". He said he joined in the case as he was curious. He was the resident that climbed the tree and brought the monkey down. "I feel guilty, I shouldn't have taken it down from that tree. I dropped it down after someone poured petrol on it. I had no choice," Moswetsi said. Claw manager, Cora Bailey, arrived at the scene and said she was devastated. "I felt devastated. You could barely tell it had been a living creature. There were very small children who looked very confused and frightened." Bailey explained animals fell victim to superstition, especially because they did not understand that such animals wander into townships because their natural habitat was destroyed or it was separated from its troop. "It was a quest to find a family," she said. Johannes Bapela, also a Kagiso resident, called Bailey after calls to police failed to deliver results, he told The Star. "They beat it up, then set it alight. I couldn't sleep that night because it was too traumatic," he said. He called the claims of witchcraft "totally baseless" and added it was more mob mentality than anything else. Warrant Officer Solomon Sibiya could not confirm that police shot at the animal, the newspaper reported. "I enquired, but I don't think it's something that was reported," Sibiya was quoted as saying. - timeslive     | ||
| Strange Crop Formations Big News in Russia Posted: 30 May 2011 10:22 AM PDT   Crop circles recently appeared in a wheat field near the village of Znamensky outside of Krasnodar, Russia. These circles have captured the imaginations of motorists, bedazzled by visions of a spacefaring race that has zero respect for a staple crop. The following descriptions are from translated text and a very broken: According to a special correspondent Olga NTC Music in this figure by even the most inveterate skeptics doubt is that this man could do. Spikes are not broken, and neatly stacked flat waves, and in different directions, and in the middle of the figures by small islands. Spikes like a dense carpet hung over the land. Even if we try to put them both manually, it will not work. Yes and how many need to paint the whole field. Typically, the drawings in the field in the form of clear geometric shapes.  ----- Today, 24 May, under the Krasnodar along highway M-4 "Don" have unusual "drawings". As reported by "The Living Kuban" eyewitnesses, a few kilometers from the village of the Sign on a large area of winter crops were formed then the circles, or other shapes. In the field has accumulated a lot of wishing to see the manifestation of the unknown phenomena. Since the "pictures" of great size with places to make out their exact shape is impossible. They say attempts to photograph the community from the roof bolshegruzov not convey the scale of the figures. There are different versions about what when on the field in a strange way lay cereals: some say that this night, others have reported that after lunch today. As reported in "Live Kuban, in June 2010, an unusual crop circles found in Belorechensk district and village Novokubansk Leninsky district. Last specialists ufologists admitted forgery. In June 2009, in the fields Dinskoy district found 12 laps with a diameter of up to 24 meters. ----- Under the Krasnodar on the field have appeared strange figures. Today, 24 May, under the Krasnodar along the M4 highway Don have unusual "drawings". As reported by the "Live Kuban" a few kilometers from the village of the Sign on a large area of winter crops were formed then the circles, or other shapes. "Tonight, when I was driving on the highway from the airport towards Rostov, I managed to capture something unusual, because of what route to avoid the leg, people rushed out of their cars, climbed into the grass and let's go there in perplexity." - wrote in his blog on "Living the Kuban" blogger Olesya Eremin "Some unusual patterns formed on a huge sown field. Grass height not less than a meter in some areas was pinned to the ground. Luckily, I managed to climb on a fire-cock, which was used by journalists to capture these patterns. From a height of 26 m, a then patterns, drawings or symbols I have not seen, but the scale of all this is really cool! "- adds Olesya. -----  About that Krasnodar Territory was chosen by the aliens, do not know, probably just lazy. The last five years in June on fields Novokubansk area or somewhere near there strange circles. The icons are drawn so neatly, to spike spikelets that ufologists have no doubt - it's Affairs hands (or claws?) Foreign civilizations. That's why people are surprised proznav that on Tuesday in the village of Znamenskoye that near Krasnodar, a new mysterious character. First, it is not the season - summer is not too late, and secondly, the place is not that. Is this the creation of new humanoid or old, has been in the region, decided to simply change the place of deployment? However, the country in the Kuban region must be the wind to selectively crush in the clear small areas. Against this version, especially rebellion that places in the center of the figure remained ridge rovnenkie oases spikelets. Discussed, and another version - agricultural machinery during the night were some work. It is not clear, why in the gloom kick in the tractor and destroyed crops. Most, of course, inclined to the fact that the field nashkodili some hooligans. - But little trampled plots are separated by intact segments of green wheat in meters high! Even a child without a trace does not sneak - once a path is - argued passionately advocates of visitors from outer space. - As well - we argued - in the past year, our newspaper's own reporters was put spikes in some circles with boards and ropes. Turned out perfectly aligned, and in between - neprimyatye stems. None ufologist not undermine!. - Aliens or not, but still funny - fended happy boys and girls, taking pictures with an icon, and rolling around on the field hoping to get a unique ability. However, no one with certainty can not say: whether it'll have some fun green men mistook card and accidentally landed in the wrong place, or journalists, like us, decided to experiment, or simply people wanted the audience to have fun. Well, let's wait for the visit of specialists on humanoids. They certainly do not today, then tomorrow there will be in our region. Click for video NOTE: I'm wondering if this is the result of paranormal/alien activity or that someone had a large party the night before. Your thoughts welcomed...Lon  Spirit Rescue International™ Providing no-cost professional spiritual help, personal support and guidance Take the first step towards genuine peace of mind  The Spirit Rescue International™ Haunted Help Forum *Join Our Group On Facebook*  ANOMALIST BOOKS Works on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries. 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