Phantoms and Monsters |  |
- The Tully 'Saucer Nest' Investigation
- Fortean / Alternative News: New 'Devil Worm', Kidney Sold For iPad2 and Brain's Friend Limit
- Stalking Altie: More On Altamaha-ha, Georgia's Loch Ness Monster
| The Tully 'Saucer Nest' Investigation Posted: 02 Jun 2011 11:28 AM PDT
At about 9.00am on the clear sunny morning of Wednesday January 19 1966, George Pedly, a banana farmer at Euramo, near Tully (north Queensland), Australia was driving a tractor with conventional electrical ignition, across the property of a neighbouring cane farmer. The farm track along which he drove wound its way towards and thence alongside what is locally known as Horseshoe Lagoon. This contained an area of water about 6 feet deep and one hundred feet across at its widest point, a total area of a little more than an acre. The greater part of the water was covered with a thick growth of water reeds, the stems of these about half an inch in thickness that protruded above the water to an average height of two feet. As George approached the lagoon, he thought he detected an occasional misfire in the tractor motor. He leaned forward in his seat to listen, and almost immediately heard a distinct hissing noise which he thought momentarily was a tyre leaking air. Then, to his astonishment, a large saucer shaped object rose from the lagoon, ascended slowly to the level of the tree tops, tilted a little to one side, and then, in a fantastic burst of speed vanished in a south-westerly direction. Mr Pedley thought the object was about 25 feet in diameter, about 9 foot thick at the centre, silver-grey in colour and made no sound apart from the original hissing noise. The total duration of the sighting was about 4 seconds. Mr Pedley jumped from the tractor and ran across to the lagoon. As he pushed his way through the 6 or 7 foot tall sword grass along the waters edge, he immediately saw a large circular area of slowly rotating water that was completely devoid of reeds. He further saw near the edge of the still slowly swirling water a patch of giant water couch grass, about a square yard of which had been clipped short, and the clippings removed. After a few minutes he returned to his tractor, started the motor, and went on his way. When questioned later, Mr Pedley was certain about restarting the motor, but could not remember whether he switched it off, it stalled or simply cut out when he left it, both of which were considered highly unlikely. Later that morning he came back past the lagoon and on further inspection saw for the first time the floating mass of reeds that had obviously come to the surface since his absence. The reeds were radially distributed in a noticably anticlockwise manner, and he was emphatic that at that time the reeds in the nest, as it came to be called, were quite green, as were all the other reeds in the lagoon. At about mid-afternoon, he returned to the lagoon with Mr Albert Pennisi, the owner of the lagoon and surrounding property. Mr Pennisi waded out to the floating mass of reeds, and found that it was possible to swim beneath the mass, the water being quite clear and free from obstruction. But its most incredible feature, and one easily seen in photographs taken during the next 48 hours, was the amazingly clear impression of the UFO left on the surface of the nest. The outer perimeter was sharply down-thrusting, as if by a huge inverted saucer, with a perfectly circular central protruberance about 6 or 8 feet in diameter and possibly 18 inches deep. An inspection of the surrounding area disclosed in the loose ploughed surface of an adjoining field some rather strange imprints. They led from the direction of the nest and extended a short distance into the ploughed field. They were described as being shaped like a tear drop, about 3 or 4 inches long and about 2 inches across at the widest point. They were spaced at 12 inch intervals in a direct line, one immediately behind the other. No plaster casts were taken, and no claim was made that these prints were somehow associated with the nest. Mr Pennisi made it quite clear that the prints were obliterated a few days later by the scores of people who tramped across the area on their way to view the nest. Mr Pennisi and his family were ridiculed however, due to what had happened on his farm. He was adamant that if such a thing ever happened again on his property, no-one would ever hear about it. This is the reason why the media were never informed of subsequent happenings. On Saturday February 8, 1969, at 5.30am, a UFO monitoring device in the Pennisi home was triggered. The youngest son turned the instrument off, and then forgot about the incident. His father had left the house in the early hours of the morning, and upon returning noticed that the detector was off. When he was told why, he immediately drove to the lagoon and found, about 20 feet from the bank on the southern end, a new nest. This one measured 29 feet 6 inches and was perfectly circular.. The reeds had been extracted complete with roots from the floor of the lagoon, and they were floating in a very noticable clockwise distribution. Another nest was found at the extreme northern end of the lagoon, closer to the bank and much smaller but with all the characteristics of the larger one. Inspection of the area directly below the nests revealed it to be absolutely free of rubble or reed roots, almost as if it had been vacuumed. There were no signs of insect or algae life, and the water was remarkably clear and clean, with no particles in suspension. The floor of the lagoon was not muddy but appeared to be composed of a thick compressed mat of vegetation that was quite firm, if a little spongy, to walk on. About 25 feet away from the smaller nest was the protruding branch of a tree, which had an area of leaves about 6 feet long by 2 feet deep that were scorched or showed signs of browning. Other leaves on the same branch were quite green and healthy. The area below the leaves was thick with green healthy weeds and grass. In conclusion, and in the estimation of a botanist, there seems little likelihood of there being a natural/botanical explanation for the development of the nests in the Tully swamp. - UFO Research Queensland - B. Denton / C.A. Phillips ----- Summary: The classic UFO landing at Horseshoe Lagoon near Tully, far north Queensland, and witnessed by farmer George Pedley, entered the term UFO "nest" into popular UFO parlance. 1966 was again a major year for UFO activity in Australia. The classic UFO landing at Horseshoe Lagoon near Tully, far north Queensland, and witnessed by farmer George Pedley, entered the term UFO "nest" into popular UFO parlance. The locality was the centre of an extended UFO milieu that continued for many years, particularly in 1969, 1972 and 1975. The area was also the site of controversial and fascinating experiments in UFO detection through remote sensing and filming. Farmer, George Pedley's sighting at Horseshoe Lagoon and the physical evidence found there caused a media sensation. The Tully "UFO nest" affair of 1966 is one of the best known accounts of an apparent UFO landing report. It has been mentioned extensively in the UFO literature over the years,and yet surprisingly many inaccuracies and misconceptions have developed. These problems became more critical when the famous Tully incident of January 19, 1966, once again became the focus of attention, this time due to the English "crop circle" controversy. The prominent schools of thought on the crop circle formations adopted the 1966 Tully incident as a classic example of their percieved explanations for the circle complexes. Their claims about the relevance of the Tully incident as an example of the currently perceived crop circle phenomenon were flawed and generally unfounded. My research of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) files uncovered the original police report on the incident. As these are the earliest documented sources they will be quoted in detail: At about 9.00 a.m. on 19th January, 1966, Mr. G.A. Pedley, a banana grower of Tully, Qld, observed a light grey non reflecting dull object, reported to be about 25 feet long and 8 feet deep, rise vertically then climb on an angle of 450 from a height of about 30 feet above marshland which was situated about 25 yards away from his position. There was an associated hissing noise which descreased as the 'object' rose. The apparent shape was described as 'two saucers, face to face', but no structural detail was observed. The duration of the observation was approximately 15 seconds and it disappeared in mid-air whilst receding into the distance (not assessed). A clearly defined near circular depression remained in evidence in swamp grass at the point from which the object was seen rising, and measured about 32 feet long by 25 feet wide. The grass was flattened in clockwise curves to water level within the circle and the reeds had been uprooted from the mud. There was no scorching of grass or surrounding trees and the observer stated that there was no smell of combustion..." My research of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) files uncovered the original police report on the incident. As these are the earliest documented sources extracts of it are included here of details not included in the above statement made in 1973 in response to an enquiry from the "Australian" newspaper. George Pedley reported his experience to Tully Police at 7.30 pm, on January 19th. At 7 am, January 20th George Pedley and Sgt. A.V. Moylan went to the site of the incident. Sgt. Moylan, then contacted Townsville RAAF Base by telephone, on the morning of January 20th. Flt. Lt. Wallace advised Sgt. Moylan that he would forward a proforma questionaire for completion by George Pedley. On Friday, January 21st, Flt. Lt. Wallace confirmed despatch of two copies of the sighting proforma by mail that same day and also requested Sgt. Moylan obtain "a sample of the grass from the scorched area." At 3.30 pm, on the same day, Moylan returned to the site and took a sample "of the grass from the depression in the swamp grass at the site. The proforma was filled out by Moylan based on his interviews with George Pedley and was dated 26/1/66. Sgt. Moylan despatched the report and the sample on 26/1/66. The following details are extracted from the RAAF "REPORT ON AERIAL OBJECT OBSERVED: Name of Observer: George Alfred PEDLEY aged 28 years. Occupation of Observer: Banana grower Date and Time of Observation: 19/1/66 at about 0900 hours Period of Observation: About 15 seconds Manner of Observation: Travelling on a tractor about 1/2 mile from farm house of Albert PENNISI, Rockingham Road, Euramo. Attention attracted by hissing noise, clearly heard over noise of tractor-similar to air escaping from tyre; checked tyres and was looking about for source of noise when he saw object about 25 yards ahead. No optical instruments used in sighting. Where was object first observed: Object about 25 yards ahead at height of about 30 feet rising vertically. What first attracted observer's attention: Loud hissing noise. Did object appear as a light or a definite object: Definite object, no light visible. One object (only seen) What was the colour of the object: Light grey; dull-non-reflecting. What was its apparent shape: Two saucers -- face to face. Was any detail of the structure observable: Object about 25 feet long and 8' to (9') deep. No structural detail observed. Was any method of propulsion obvious: No. Was there any sound: Loud hissing noise which seemed to diminish as object rose. Height or angle of elevation: First seen at treetop height 30'. Rose vertically to about twice that height, then departed, climbing at about 45 degrees. Speed, or angular velocity: Extremely fast; No estimate of speed, but much faster than an aeroplane. It was near treetops and these gave observer a good basis for estimating height. Direction of flight with reference to landmarks or points of the compass:Rose vertically to about 60 feet and departed south west climbing at about 45 degrees; appeared to be rotating for full time observed. (object appeared to remain on) straight climbing path. Was any trail of exhaust, vapour or light seen: No Where did object disappear: Mid air; receded into distance. Existence of any physical evidence: Clearly defined near circular depression in swamp grass at point from which object seen rising, about 32' long and 25' wide. Grass flattened to surface of 4' of water lying in xxxx-clockwise curves. [Sgt. Moylan, in his report, had typed in anti-clockwise initially and then corrected it to clockwise, by overtyping 'anti' with 'xxxx'. The direction of the swirl at the site of the 19 January 1966 incident was to become a matter of ongoing confusion. The correct direction was clockwise - B.C.] Weather conditions experienced at time of observation: Clear sky; Hot sunshine. Location of any air traffic in the vicinity at the time of sighting: Unknown but checked by RAAF Garbut. [Flt. Lt. Wallace of Townsville RAAF base in a covering minute paper confirmed that "there were no service or Civil aircraft operating in the area... at the time of the sighting..." - B.C.] Observer reported this matter to Tully Police at 7.30pm on 19/1/66 and at 7am, 20/1/66 went with me to the site of the depression in the swamp. His version then included the information that the object rose vertically, appeared to dip slightly and then went off in straight climbing path. He then said...further that there was no smell of combustion and no scorching of grass or trees visible; that the the flattened grass or rushes was quite green when he first saw the depression; on his return that afternoon the grass had turned brown. Sgt. Moylan further added: In this matter I formed the opinion that the depressed area in the swamp grass had been caused by a small helicopter and that the observer, in the early morning bright sunlight shining on the rotor may have mistaken the shape. His description of the takeofflent some strength to my opinion. However there was cleared land to the east for about 200 yards where such an aircraft could have more safely landed instead of the position indicated by the observer, close to trees. Later I was informed by Wallace Evans of ...Tully, an electrician that he has seen similar markings in a swamp at Kurrumine Beach and is quite certain that it was caused by a whirlwind, sucking up water into a waterspout, uprooting the grass and laying it out in a similar pattern. At 3.30pm, 21/1/66 I took a sample of the grass at the site and have forwarded it under seperate cover on even date. Flt. Lt. T.D. Wright, for Air Officer Commanding, Headquarters Operational Command, RAAF, Penrith, New South Wales (NSW), on-forwarded police Sgt. Moylan's report on George Pedley's UFO sighting and Flt. Lt. Wallace's covering minute paper, to the Department of Air, Russell Offices, Canberra. His communication classified RESTRICTED, which was channelled to the Directorate of Air Force Intelligence (DAFI), also indicated, "This headquarters believes that the depressions of the swamp grass were caused by small isolated waterspouts." In response to an enquiry, dated 2nd February, 1966, from the Commonwealth Aerial Phenomena Investigation Organisation (CAPIO), the Secretary, Department of Air, Mr. A.B. McFarlane, wrote on 11th February, 1966: "Investigations of the area surrounding the reported "Nests", testing of samples taken from around them and interrogation of persons involved in the report failed to reveal anything of significance. "However, during enquiries a number of local residents stated that the reported "nests" are fairly common during the onset of the "wet". Furthermore, the University of Queensland stated that there was nothing unnatural in the samples submitted and assessed that the "nests" could have been the result of severe turbulance, which normally accompany line squalls and thunderstorms prevalent in NORTH QUEENSLAND at the time of the year. "There is no explanation for the visible phenomena reported but it could have been associated with or the result of "down draughts", "willy willies" or "water spouts" that are known to occur in the area. ".. for information ....in January of this year from an airfield in the tropics (a number of photographs taken give) a fine example of the type and growth of a cloud formation occuring with a severe "down draught" This whirling mass of tropical air associated with thunderstorm activity, on reaching the earth's surface may dissipate and subside or persist giving rise to dust eddies, water spouts, etc, and leaving a telltale circular pattern on the ground. Should it occur over a swampy reed bed the effect would be to flatten the reeds with a circular pattern. resultant photographs and investigations of the "nests" seem to fit in with this theory and is accepted as a possible cause of the phenomena." It is fascinating to note how Secretary McFarlane's cursory explanatory exposition, no doubt inspired by "the tornado-like metereological phenomena" infested skies over Willow Grove, Victoria and Vaucluse Beach, NSW, anticipated by almost 2 decades Dr. Terence Meaden's early theoretical attempts to explain the English "crop circles" of the 1980s. Dr. Meaden would mistakingly assume that George Pedley saw his "vortex" at 9 pm, not 9 am, which is a fatal flaw in the mechanism he put forth to explain the report. The only other significant official statement on the Tully sighting I found in the RAAF files was included in a letter by Mr. G.J. Odgers, Director of Public Relations, Department of Defence (Air Office), dated 17th December, 1973, directed to Charles Wright, a journalist working on a article for the national newspaper, The Australian. George Odgers' Air Office public relations department had clearly gleaned from the 1966 DAFI files details of an explanation of what George Pedley seen that the original RAAF officers and Department officers back in 1966 had not determined: "Although a conclusive determination could not be made, the most probable explanation was that the sighting was of a 'willy willy' or circular wind phenomenon which flattened the reeds and sucked up debris to a height of about 30 feet, thus forming what appeared to be a 'flying saucer', before moving off and dissipating. Hissing noises are known to be associated with 'willy willies' and the theory is also substantiated by the clockwise configuration of the depression. Mr. Odgers further added, more generally, "All to often unusual occurrences are reported in sensational terms with little or no attempt made at rational assessment. The general subject is 'newsworthy' and lends itself to sensationalism and guesswork, but in most cases logical explanations follow from careful investigation. You will appreciate that there is nothing to be gained from reopening old cases." - Bill Chalker - "A Catalogue of Australian Physical Trace Cases" NOTE: Here is another very informative link for this case - Tully "UFO nest" affair of 1966 as well as a site that focuses on Australian Crop Circles and the light anomalies associated with this phenomena. Could there be a connection with the radar anomalies over Australia from March 2010 as referenced in UFOs, Radar Crop Circles, Aerial Anomalies or Computer Hack?...Lon       | ||||
| Fortean / Alternative News: New 'Devil Worm', Kidney Sold For iPad2 and Brain's Friend Limit Posted: 02 Jun 2011 09:50 AM PDT  New "Devil Worm" Is Deepest-Living AnimalA "devil worm" has been discovered miles under the Earth—the deepest-living animal ever found, a new study says.The new nematode species—called Halicephalobus mephisto partly for Mephistopheles, the demon of Faustian legend—suggests there's a rich new biosphere beneath our feet. Before the discovery of the signs of the newfound worm at depths of 2.2. miles (3.6 kilometers), nematodes were not known to live beyond dozens of feet (tens of meters) deep. Only microbes were known to occupy those depths—organisms that, it turns out, are the food of the 0.5-millimeter-long worm. "That sounds small, but to me it's like finding a whale in Lake Ontario. These creatures are millions of times bigger than the bacteria they feed on," said study co-author Tullis Onstott, a geomicrobiologist at Princeton University in New Jersey. "Shocking" Worm Evolved For Harsh Depths Onstott and nematologist Gaetan Borgonie of Belgium's University of Ghent first discovered H. mephisto in the depths of a South African gold mine. But the team wasn't sure if the worms had been tracked in by miners or had come out of the rock. To find out, Borgonie spent a year boring deep into mines for veins of water, retrieving samples and filtering them for water-dwelling nematodes. He scoured a total of 8,343 gallons (31,582 liters) until he finally found the worm in several deep-rock samples. What's more, the team found evidence the worms have been there for thousands of years. Isotope dating of the water housing the worm placed it to between 3,000 and 12,000 years ago—indicating the animals had evolved to survive the crushing pressure and high heat of the depths. "This discovery may not surprise passionate nematologists like Gaetan, but it's certainly shocking to me," Onstott said. "The boundary of multicellular life has been extended significantly into our planet." Worm Inspires Search for Extreme Life Onstott hopes the new devil worm will inspire others to search for complex life in the most extreme places—both on Earth and elsewhere. "People usually think only bacteria could exist below the surface of a planet like Mars. This discovery says, Hold up there!" Onstott said. "We can't negate the thought of looking for little green worms as opposed to little green microbes." - NatGeo ********** Chinese teen sells his kidney for an iPad 2 The 17-year-old boy, identified only by his surname, "Zheng", confessed to his mother that he had sold the kidney after spotting an online advertisement offering cash to anyone prepared to become an organ donor. "I wanted to buy an iPad 2, but I didn't have the money," the boy told Shenzhen TV in the southern province of Guangdong, "When I surfed the internet I found an advert posted online by agent saying they were able to pay RMB20,000 to buy a kidney." After negotiations, the boy travelled north to the city of Chenzhou in Hunan Province where the kidney was removed at a local hospital which discharged him after three days, paying a total of RMB22,000 for the organ. Trading organs online is a common practice in China, despite repeated attempts by China's government to stamp out the practice. Last year Japanese television reported that a group of "transplant tourists" had paid £50,000 to receive new kidneys in China. According to official statistics more than a million people in China need a transplant every year, but less than 10,000 receive organs, driving an almost unstoppable black-market organ trade that enriches brokers, doctors and corrupt government officials. The boy, who has suffered complications following the surgery, returned home but was unable to keep what he had done from his mother. "When he came back, he had a laptop and a new Apple handset," his mother, identified as Miss Liu, told the station, showing off the livid red scar where her son's kidney was removed, "I wanted to know how he had got so much money and he finally confessed that he had sold one of his kidneys." The mother took the son back to Chenzhou to report the crime to the police, however, the mobiles of the three agents that Zheng had contacted were all switched off. The hospital, which admitted contracting out its urology department to a private businessman, denied any knowledge of the surgery. The case, which caused an online furore, was cited by some as an extreme example of the rampant materialism of modern China. Thousands of comments were posted on internet discussion groups, with many lamenting the lack of rule of law in China and the "immorality" of the new, 'capitalist' China. "This is a failure of education, the first purpose of which is to 'propagate morality'," said one comment on Hong Kong's Phoenix TV website, "This teenager's stupid behaviour is a manifestation of his radically materialistic values." "To sell a kidney in order to buy consumer goods? What vanity!" added another, "It is undeniable that modern Chinese teenagers' morality is declining. This is something we must all think about." Apple products like the iPhone and the iPad are in huge demand in China, and are seen as a badge of wealth and sophistication by young consumers. Last month scuffles broke out among desperate shoppers outside several Beijing Apple Stores as they queued to buy the newly launched iPad2 and white iPhone4. - telegraph ********** Russian who buried himself alive dies by mistake A Russian man has died after persuading a friend to bury him alive for a night, hoping it would bring him "good luck". The victim dug a hole in a garden in the eastern city of Blagoveshchensk and climbed into an improvised coffin, with holes for air pipes, taking a mobile phone and a bottle of water with him. His friend covered the coffin with earth and then left, after the buried man phoned to say he was fine. The next morning, he returned to find his friend dead, investigators said. The 35-year-old victim had believed that burying himself alive for a night would bring him luck the rest of his life. "According to his friend, the man wanted to test his endurance and insistently asked his friend to help him spend the night buried," said Alexei Lubinsky, a senior aide to the region's chief investigator. "We know that the victim was a computer programmer and that he has a small child." Internet craze The coffin was covered with soil to a depth of about 20cm (eight inches), Mr Lubinsky said. He speculated that heavy rainfall overnight could have blocked the air supply to the man trapped inside. The superstitious victim was probably influenced by reading stories about self-burial on the internet, investigators said. In a bizarre trend, numerous Russian bloggers write of undergoing supervised self-burial. State newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta has even run a feature on the practice. The BBC's Steve Rosenberg, in Moscow, says it is not the first time this has happened in Russia. Last summer a man in the north-western Vologda region persuaded his friend to bury him in the ground - to help him overcome his fear of death. He was found dead an hour and a half later, crushed by the weight of the earth. - BBC ********** Human Brain Limits Twitter Friends to 150 Back in early 90s, the British anthropologist Robin Dunbar began studying the social groups of various kinds of primates. Before long, he noticed something odd. Primates tend to maintain social contact with a limited number of individuals within their group. But here's the thing: primates with bigger brains tended to have a bigger circle of friends. Dunbar reasoned that this was because the number of individuals a primate could track was limited by brain volume. Then he did something interesting. He plotted brain size against number of contacts and extrapolated to see how many friends a human ought to be able to handle. The number turned out to be about 150. Since then, various studies have actually measured the number of people an individual can maintain regular contact with. These all show that Dunbar was just about spot on (although there is a fair spread in the results). What's more, this number appears to have been constant throughout human history--from the size of neolithic villages to military units to 20th century contact books. But in the last decade or so, social networking technology has had a profound influence on the way people connect. Twitter, for example, vastly increases the ease with which we can communicate with and follow others. It's not uncommon for tweeters to follow and be followed by thousands of others. So it's easy to imagine that social networking technology finally allows humans to surpass the Dunbar number. Not so say Bruno Goncalves and buddies at Indiana University. They studied the network of links created by 3 million Twitter users over 4 years. These tweeters sent each a whopping 380 million tweets. But how to define friendship on Twitter. Goncalves and co say it's not enough simply to follow or be followed by somebody for there to be a strong link. Instead, there has to be a conversation, an exchange of tweets. And these conversation have to be regular to be a sign of a significant social bond, so occasional contacts don't count. Goncalves and pals used these rules to reconstruct the social network of all 3 million tweeters and studied how these networks evolve. It turns out that when people start tweeting, their number of friends increases until they become overwhelmed. Beyond that saturation point, the conversations with less important contacts start to become less frequent and the tweeters begin to concentrate on the people they have the strongest links with. So what is the saturation point? Or, in other words, how many people can tweeters maintain contact with before they get overwhelmed? The answer is between 100 and 200, just as Dunbar predicts. "This finding suggests that even though modern social networks help us to log all the people with whom we meet and interact, they are unable to overcome the biological and physical constraints that limit stable social relations," say Goncalves and co. The bottom line is this: social networking allows us to vastly increase the number of individual we can connect with. But it does nothing to change our capability to socialise. However hard we try, we cannot maintain close links with more than about 150 buddies. And if Dunbar is correct, that's the way it'll stay until somebody finds a way to increase human brain size. - technologyreview     | ||||
| Stalking Altie: More On Altamaha-ha, Georgia's Loch Ness Monster Posted: 02 Jun 2011 09:08 AM PDT  Curt Holman of Creative Loafing Atlanta has posted an entertaining article referencing Altamaha-ha and other cryptids...though, mostly tongue-in-cheek: An alligator spies on my family as we stand on a midden heap on a muddy bank of the South Altamaha River. Our flip-flops crunch on the jagged oyster shells and pottery shards cast off by Native Americans a couple of centuries ago. Our guide points out their importance to the history of coastal Georgia, but I can't pay proper attention. I've brought my family to Darien in search of a monster. Squinting in the midday sun, I can see the alligator's eyes and snout protruding from the water about 50 yards away. Our guide, Danny Grissette, says it's 8 to 9 feet long, making it no match for my potential prey, an aquatic beast alleged to be at least 20 feet in length. Wait, could that be the creature's famed ridged hump? No, it's just a stump sticking out of the brown river water. What about that mysterious turbulence about 25 yards away? It could be the wake of an unseen ship or a school of fish. But can we prove that it's not the tell-tale sign of the legendary entity known as the Altamaha-ha? The Altamaha-ha, known more casually as "Altie," defies scientific explanation. Even before European settlement, the Tama tribes people told stories of a giant, snake-like river animal that hissed and bellowed. Over the past century, fishermen, lumberjacks and boy scouts have reported sightings of a creature in the tributaries and marshes of the Altamaha River, which feeds one of the largest river basins on the Atlantic Coast. The eyewitness consensus holds that the Altamaha-ha has a dark, smooth hide, apart from the tire-tread-like ridges on its back, as well as a narrow neck, prominent snout and flat, porpoise-like tail. Could it be a sturgeon on steroids? A throwback to marine reptiles like the toothy plesiosaur? Maybe the Loch Ness Monster's cousin from across the pond? I'm skeptical about cryptids, the kind of famous beings like Bigfoot unrecognized by the scientific establishment, but the Altamaha-ha called me with a siren song, despite the likelihood of a search turning into a snipe hunt. But even if the Altamaha-ha isn't real, it could still have significance. I grew up in Georgia and totally dug on Leonard Nimoy's "In Search of...," The Legend of Boggy Creek, and Sasquatch's guest appearances on "The Six Million Dollar Man." Somehow, I missed the Weekly World News story from 1981, "Monster Serpent Lurks in Murky American River." I never dreamed that a monster reportedly lived in our backyard — or at least a five-hour drive from our backyard. I first heard of the Altamaha-ha earlier this year, when my daughter checked out the library book Tales of the Cryptids: Mysterious Creatures That May or May Not Exist. There, alongside the likes of Bigfoot, Mothman and the Chupacabra, was Altamaha-ha. The "Reality Index" declares the native creature as "Leaning Toward Real," as opposed to being real, like the rediscovered prehistoric fish the coelacanth, or a hoax, like P.T. Barnum's Fiji Mermaid, which turned out to be a monkey's torso attached to a fish carcass. Founded in 1736, Darien, population 1,719, turns out to be a nexus of Altamaha-ha hot spots. The relaxed little town, 30 miles north of Brunswick on the South Georgia coast, boasts considerable history as the state's second-oldest planned city and the location of Fort King George. During a visit in early May, I also found Altie's flippered likeness all over it. A dinosaur-like creature paddles gracefully across a billboard that reads, "Welcome to Darien & McIntosh County: A Certified Work Ready Community." In the business district, several large murals feature the familiar twisty sea monster unobtrusively among historical tableau and images of local flora and fauna. Most prominently, the Darien welcome center boasts a model of the "life-sized" creature, alongside a sign that reads, "Photo opportunity. No rides." The 20-foot-long statue sports a Mona Lisa smile and friendly demeanor, possibly because a local leviathan with kraken-like hostility would be bad for tourism. "Altie" loses a little of its mystique when you learn that a market research company contributed to its recent presence. Wally Orrel, president of the Darien Chamber of Commerce, says, "About two-and-a-half years ago, we moved the welcome center to the outlet mall and picked up some extra space. We hired a marketing company to research McIntosh County. I'd never heard of the Altamaha-ha, but they discovered sightings going back 250 years — and some of those people had not been drinking!" Two years ago, the Darien Chamber hired Rick Spears, illustrator of Tales of the Cryptids, to build the life-size Altie model. Spears, an exhibit designer at the Fernbank Science Center, built a smaller, "immature" Altamaha-ha for the Eagle Rock 4-H Center in 2001, using eyewitness accounts as his source material. Spears says he had to extrapolate the creature's appearance based on limited descriptions. "You don't have any hard evidence like fossils, which can indicate the placement of muscles. They say it undulates up and down, but fish and reptiles move from side to side, so it's mammalian," he says. "And some people say it breathes steam or warm air, which suggests that it has lungs. Things like that have a basis in reality." One of Spears' primary resources was author Ann R. Davis, who wrote a short book called The Legend of the Altamaha "Monster" and playfully suggested that the creature literally followed 18th century settlers from a Scottish Loch. Davis also compiled a website of Altie sightings from 1969 to 2002. I visited some of those places, like the Butler Island Bridge, where a terrified motorist saw a creature wallowing in the mud in 1988, or Two-Way Fish Camp, a busy dock that's received mysterious sub-aquatic visits over the years. Many proved to be within the same 10-mile radius, so it was unnervingly easy to envision an animal roaming around the same territory. Darien natives treat Altie like the town's unofficial mascot, comparable to leprechauns on St. Patrick's Day. "He lays low, but he's beloved," says Kathleen Russell, the feisty, silver-haired editor of the Darien News, who maintains a thick folder of Altie sightings, letters and other news accounts. "I've seen him a couple of times. Once, a couple of years ago, in Doboy Sound, I saw a wake coming up the river, and there's nothing that could make a wake like that." Hale, laid-back Danny Grissette of Altamaha Coastal Tours says, "I see it at least once a year. We hear it a lot, too. It seems to know where your back is — you can hear it splash behind you, never in front of you." You get the impression he's joshing around about that, because he also claims to be a skeptic. "If you go looking for monsters, eventually you're going to see one." The power of suggestion proved to be a heady brew. When my family put our kayaks in the water near the Champney Bridge, it was easy to imagine a creature cruising just below the surface, or that every bump under our hull hinted that a creature out of time was about to capsize us for kicks. But maybe we don't need to worry about a behemoth from the briny deep. Kennesaw-based cryptozoological researcher Blake Smith points out the challenges for creatures like Altie or the Loch Ness Monster to exist undetected. "It isn't explicitly impossible for Altie to be a surviving relic of the Mesozoic, but it would have to be part of a large population," says Smith. "There would likely be many more sightings since such creatures had to surface for air. And despite the many classic descriptions of lake monsters with swan-like or serpent-like necks, actual plesiosaurs didn't have that kind of neck flexibility." Since 2009, Smith has co-hosted the podcast "Monster Talk," which considers cryptid lore and so-called evidence through a skeptical lens. He suggests that the natural world holds far more likely explanations. "The common river otter sometimes exhibits a following behavior, where several of the animals will swim in a line surfacing and dipping, creating a very compelling illusion of a single undulating creature," says Smith. "Dolphins and, presumably, manatees or dugongs could also exhibit the same kind of behavior." Altie could still be real, even if it's not confined to Southeast Georgia. Similar serpentine beasts have been spotted in the Carolinas and North Florida, including a rash of sea monster sightings in Florida's St. Johns River in the 1970s and amateur video of an Altie-like beast near Jacksonville, investigated by the "MonsterQuest" TV show in 2009. Dallas Tanner, Greenville, S.C.-based author of the novel Wake of the Lake Monster, researched the legends and believes they could all be the same creature, possibly some kind of large, migratory seal ancestor that follows its food supply of fish. "It's been sighted often as many times as people have seen real seals in the same waters," Tanner says. He asserts that cryptids have some basis in reality. "Myths and legends are what history and science become when they're ignored," he says. "Megafauna are those huge mammals that evolved huge-sized to survive the last ice age, and I don't think they all died off. We've only discovered 10 percent of earth's animals live on 10 percent of earth." On the river, I kept my eyes peeled for the beast while we floated our kayaks calmly with the current and, later, paddled strenuously against the tide. We saw an eagle's nest in the trees and could hear a wild pig snuffling in the brush, but the highways and heavily trafficked fishing channels were just around the corner. The chance that a monstrous marine animal existed in such a heavily populated area seems ridiculously improbable — but not straight-up impossible. The closer I came to places where Altie was allegedly seen, the more ambivalent I felt about finding it. Sure, it would be interesting for marine biologists to finally identify some kind of presumed-extinct seal-giraffe. Altie could become the celebrity host of that exhibit Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns and Mermaids still running at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. But the gargantuan, possibly man-eating sea serpent of my imagination seemed immeasurably more awesome. If caught, the real Altamaha-ha could never live up to our collective idea of it. I kept scanning the rise and fall of the green-brown waters, barely giving the passing herons a glance, hoping I'd spot the Altamaha-ha — and sort of hoping that I wouldn't. I want to believe. - by Curt Holman - clatl ----- 11/15/2010 Altamaha-ha: An American River Monster  According to legend, in the waters of the Altamaha, near the city of Darien, there is a strange creature. It appears ever so often and sightings of this creature go back to the times before whites settled the area. The Tama Indians from that area first told tales of a huge water serpent that hissed and bellowed. In the 1920s, timbermen who rode the river reported sighting something that fits the description of 'Altamaha-ha', also known as 'Altie'. Other sightings include a Boy Scout troop from the 1940s and two officials from the Reidsville State Prison from the 1950s.
Cryptofiction novelist Dallas Tanner wrote the following narrative: For the last forty years…the Altamaha-ha has been sighted basking itself on the shore, trolling casually along the river in plain sight of eyewitnesses, and even reacted defensively to the presence of boaters. Perhaps I should begin with a brief description of the river itself. The second largest river basin in the United States, second only to the Mississippi, it extends some 137 miles before joining up with its three major tributaries. These include the confluence of the Ocmulgee and Oconee rivers near Lumberton City, and joined further downriver by the Ohoopee. Where it empties out into Altamaha Sound above Brunswick, it is joined by the Darien, Butler and Champney rivers. All of these tributaries and secondary rivers have reported sightings of the creature also known as the Alty. The Altamaha is home to over 50,000 species of migratory and non-migratory birds, as well as manatees, sturgeon and alligators. In fact, it is known as 'The Little Amazon,' due to the plethora of wildlife and the diversity of its ecology and topography.
Recently, in 2002, a man who was pulling a boat up the river near Brunswick reported seeing something over twenty feet in length and six feet wide break the water. The man reported that the animal seemed to emerge from the water to get air and then submerge again beneath the depths. Others who have seen the animal say that it has dull gray skin and looks to be spotted in some places. On a night in July, Donny Manning and his brother embarked on his boat on the Altamaha River at Clark's Bluff. The lights on the house boat allowed them to see for some distance. Fishing for catfish, Donny decided to use an old trick he had learned as a kid which was oatmeal and soda mixed on a three pronged hook. They were fishing in a little depression outside the rough water when something took the hook. It did not act like a regular catfish after a catch. Most catfish would take the hook, run and stop, and turn; instead it ran with the hook. Every once in a while it would come out of the water where they could see it. They say it measured about ten to twelve feet long and at first they thought it resembled a sturgeon, but after a few more jumps, they could tell it wasn't. Donny claims it had a snout almost like an alligator, or, he thought, of a duck-billed platypus. He says it had a horizontal tail, instead of a fish like vertical one, and it also had a spiny kind of bony triangular ridge along the top of its body. The dorsal fin that was down, but he could see it on the back. The teeth were shining in the light were sharp pointed. The Creature was gun-metal gray on the top and oyster white-yellow on the bottom. It didn't move along side to side like a snake either, but it moved up and down like a dolphin." Mr. Manning says he has lived on the water all his life and has seen all kinds of creatures, but this was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. He also claims he was using a salt water rig with a 40 lb. test line and the creature snapped it like it was nothing. Mr. Manning estimates from the way it felt on the line and the way that it snapped it that it was at least 75 lbs. During the summer of 1980, Andy Greene and Barry Prescott reportedly saw Altamaha-ha stranded on a mud bank near Cathead Creek. The creature lay halfway in the water, thrashing and trying to free itself from the bank. They described it as a dark coloured, with a rough skin and that it moved like nothing they had ever seen before. The creature was very large, three to four feet thick (1 meter) and twenty feet long( 6/7 meters). They observed the creature for ten minutes, before it freed itself, submerged, and disappeared. In December of 1980, Larry Gwin spotted what he thought was Altamaha-ha in Smith Lake, located up the Altamaha River, while eel fishing. He described the creature has a fifteen to twenty foot long and snake-like, with two brown humps that protruded from the water. It disappeared and did not resurface. The creature was spotted several more times in the early 1980s, particularly near Two-Way Fish camp. One eyewitness, Ralph Dewitt, a crab fisherman of fourteen years, described Altamaha-ha as "the world's biggest eel". The Altamaha River is also known for very large catfish as described here. As well, there are other creatures that have made their way into the river including alligator gars and manatees. Perhaps this is just an urban legend, but the Altamaha-ha has been a mysterious creature along the Altamaha River for many years. Sources: www.altamahariverkeeper.org paranormal.about.com www.glynn.k12.ga.us www.gon.com www.mendhak.com Tanner, Dallas - 'Wake Of The Lake Monster' www.unexplained-mysteries.com  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. Please check out their excellent and diverse catalog  The 'C' Influence Actualizing Esoteric Discussion   "The latest news from beyond the mainstream" Join Ben & Aaron for their weekly podcast! Check out Mysterious Universe Plus+ all access format!  Astral Perceptions - Discussing ultraterrestrial and multidimensional phenomena and the proficiency of remote viewing   Join Eric Altman, Lon Strickler and the crew LIVE each Sunday at 10 PM ET as we go Beyond the Edge!  Click here to check out Stan's most recent book!  Click here to check out John Ventre's most recent book! The Social - Paranormal Network  A NETWORK OF INVESTIGATORS, ENTHUSIASTS AND THOSE SEEKING THE TRUTH THROUGH PARANORMAL EDUCATION AND DISCUSSION  (410) 241-5974  Phantoms and Monsters Now Available on Kindle      |
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