Phantoms and Monsters

Just the Facts? Monster Crocodile, Barstow UFO Photo and Another Driverless Vehicle

Posted: 06 Sep 2011 10:03 AM PDT

NOTE: There hasn't been much going on in the paranormal / cryptid world the past few days but there are a few odds and ends I can cover in this one expanded post...Lon

Now that's a croc!

Villagers and veteran hunters have captured a one-ton saltwater crocodile which they plan to make the star of a planned ecotourism park in a southern Philippine town, an official said Monday.

Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde said dozens of villagers and experts ensnared the 21-foot (6.4-meter) male crocodile along a creek in Bunawan township in Agusan del Sur province after a three-week hunt. It could be one of the largest crocodiles to be captured alive in recent years, he said, quoting local crocodile experts.

Elorde said the crocodile killed a water buffalo in an attack witnessed by villagers last month and was also suspected of having attacked a fisherman who went missing in July.

He said he sought the help of experts at a crocodile farm in western Palawan province.

"We were nervous but it's our duty to deal with a threat to the villagers," Elorde told The Associated Press by telephone. "When I finally stood before it, I couldn't believe my eyes."

After initial sightings at a creek, the hunters set four traps, which the crocodile destroyed. They then used sturdier traps using steel cables, one of which finally caught the enormous reptile late Saturday, he said.

About 100 people had to pull the crocodile, which weighs about 2,370 pounds (1,075 kilograms), from the creek to a clearing where a crane lifted it into a truck, he said.

The crocodile was placed in a fenced cage in an area where the town plans to build an ecotourism park for species found in a vast marshland in Agusan, an impoverished region about 515 miles (830 kilometers) southeast of Manila, Elorde said.

"It will be the biggest star of the park," Elorde said, adding that villagers were happy that they would be able to turn the dangerous crocodile "from a threat into an asset."

Despite the catch, villagers remain wary because several crocodiles still roam the outskirts of the farming town of about 37,000 people.

They have been told to avoid venturing into marshy areas alone at night, Elorde said. - Yahoo

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...and another driverless car

Hi Lon

I was kind of surprised when I saw your driverless car story. My ex-brother-in-law told me he saw one on I-75 in the Sarasota area years ago. This would have to have been in the 80s since that stretch of road was built around then and he told me around 1990. Charlie said he was in his truck, there was a red car next to him, he glanced over and NO DRIVER! Being in a truck he could see the entire cabin pretty much. The car came up to an exit and turned off. He was both amazed and shaken at the incident. Charlie is part Cherokee and he told me of several weird encounters he had in his life including a possible abduction. He isn't one to kid, he has sort of a stoic personality and when I first met him thought he was a little scary. As I got to know him, I found out that he was a nice guy and never knew him to lie or kid. Anyway, his possible abduction, or at least alien/entity sighting, occurred at City Island Park in Sarasota in the middle of the night. We were watching the movie Communion, which he had never seen before, and when the scene came on with the short blue aliens he said he had seen those before. He told me that he hanging at the woods by the beach at the park, in the middle of the night, and several of these beings appeared around him and then disappeared. We didn't go into missing time or anything, but I wondered about that. Charlie also said he had a sighting of a UFO, said it looked like it was draining energy off the power lines. A dark object hovering that he passed on the way home, which would not be far from where he saw the driverless car. If I remember correctly, my then wife, his sister, was with him during this sighting. Years later, my aunt and uncle told me they saw an object doing the same thing to power lines on a bridge while coming home from going out to dinner in Punta Gorda, south of Sarasota. I am not saying these are connected, the UFO/beings and driverless cars, but its something to perhaps consider. It reminds me of the "high strangeness" described in John Keel's 'Mothman Prophecies.'

Bill in GA

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UFO Over Barstow, CA

My girlfriend and I were staying in a Hotel in Barstow overnight as we made our way along Route 66 to Needles. We were in the back of the parking lot of the hotel watching the sunset and talking when I noticed this dark cigar shaped object sitting motionless in the sky. Fortunately I had a camera with me and the lens was a 70-200 mm zoom that allowed me to look at the object closer . I also shot a few frames of the object. At first the object was pretty large but seemed to be slowing getting smaller. I did shoot 3 frames of the object over a 1-2 min period and you can see the object has changed shape in a short length of time. Additionally I noticed that there seemed to be many small objects directly above the large object. These smaller objects seemed to be moving in a excited state like boiling water. They are very faint and are very close to the primary object. You can just make them out in the enlarged sections I have pasted on the main photo. Very interesting to watch them. I just wish I had shot more photos. My girlfriend and I did observe the object slowly dissipate to nothing but it did keep the general shape of a cigar to the end. Later I got to thinking about the object and the proximity of the object to Edwards AFB in California. Needless to say this observation contributed greatly to our the adventure of traveling in the desert on Rt 66. NOTE: The above photos are the real thing. - MUFON CMS - Ken Pfeifer - World UFO Photos

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Man-eating pigs causing havoc in Ghana

Residents of Birem in the Kwaman Traditional Area of the Ashanti region were stunned last Saturday morning when they woke up to the news of the invasion of their cemetery by human-eating pigs. The pigs are not letting the dead in Birem and surrounding farming communities rest in peace, as they exhume their graves and eat the carcasses. The sad development has placed a financial burden on residents in the area as they are compelled to bury their dead relations all over again. The man-eating pigs, from the cemetery, then dash straight into a stream that provides drinking water for residents in the area, and pollute the water.

The Biremhene, Nana Baffuor Agyekum, has consequently appealled to the government to come to their aid and stop the marauding pigs from causing more havoc. 'I am, on behalf of my people, passionately appealing to the government to come to our aid by instructing the pig owners to provide shelter for the pigs to stop them from entering the cemetery,' he said. The distraught traditional leader noted that the pigs belonged to some 'Frafra' settlers in the community. He said four months ago, the pigs entered the cemetery, exhumed human dead bodies and ate them, causing serious environmental problems for the community.

Nana Agyekum said the committee members of the hitherto peaceful area then stormed the cemetery and managed to kill two of the man-eating animals which were brought to him at his palace. For the sake of peace, he said, he invited the owners of the pigs to his palace and released the two dead animals to them, warning them to provide shelter for the animals to prevent them from entering the cemetery in future. He said he then stormed the cemetery with his elders to pour libations to pacify the spirits of the dead and the gods, after which the family members of the dead buried them again. The Birem Chief said he then informed the police, the DCE of the area and the Environmental Protection Agency to get involved to ensure that the pig owners would not let their animals loose again.

Exactly four months after the first case, he said, the community woke up last Saturday morning to realize with horror that the man-eating animals had entered the cemetery once again to eat dead human bodies. Nana Agyekum said the owners of the pigs wanted to create trouble in the community, thereby flouting his orders by letting loose their animals to eat dead human bodies. To avert any trouble or bloodshed, the Birem chief implored the government and the appropriate authorities to intervene immediately since the man-eating animals were gradually getting out of hand. - modernghana

NOTE: Honestly...a swine, for the most part, will eat almost anything. My uncle raised pigs and had a slaughterhouse...the only thing that his pigs would not eat were certain vegetables, particularly cucumbers. But if anything else (alive or dead) got in the pen, the dinner bell was ringing...Lon

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The underground rivers of the Maya

Xcaret is a Maya civilization archaeological site located on the Caribbean coastline of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the modern-day state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. The site was occupied by the pre-Columbian Maya and functioned as a port for navigation and an important Maya trading center. Some of the site's original structures are contained within a modern-day tourism development, the privately owned Xcaret Eco Park.

The underground rivers that run through this amazing theme park in Mexico are breathtaking natural wonders where you can swim and snorkel in Xcaret during your Riviera Maya vacation. Normally you need to be an expert diver to undergo these cave challenges, although at Xcaret ecological park you only need a life vest to experience this mysterious underwater world.

Xcaret's underground rivers are part of a large cave system that forms deep under the surface of the Yucatan peninsula. Snorkel in caves and swim along unique rock formations and marine fossils at Xcaret Park Mexico. The underground rivers at Xcaret are 5 feet deep and they feature exits where you can stop and relax with the warm sun rays. This is one of the top things to do in Cancun during your family vacation in Riviera Maya.

Xcaret means "small inlet" in Mayan. Its name comes from its situation next to a small inlet that in the past served as a strategic location for navigation and commerce for the Maya. The original name of the site was p'ole', from the root p'ol that means "merchandise" or "deal of merchants", which gives an idea of the economical relevance of the site.

The underground rivers that run through this amazing theme park in Mexico are breathtaking natural wonders where you can swim and snorkel in Xcaret during your Riviera Maya vacation. Normally you need to be an expert diver to undergo these cave challenges, although at Xcaret ecological park you only need a life vest to experience this mysterious underwater world.

According to the research by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) the first buildings of the site are from the years 200 to 600 A.D., but the majority of them are from the period from 1200 to 1550 A.D. The constructions of the Late Post-Classical period are situated along the coast; some of them in strategic positions for its surveillance. The site had a wall, but unlike the one in Tulum that was open towards the ocean, the wall at Xcaret defended the site from assaults coming from the sea. Xcaret was inhabited at the time of the first stage of the Spanish incursion of Alonso Dávila and Francisco de Montejo into the eastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula (1527 to 1529). Xcaret has many reserves located near the resorts, open to the public. - blurppy

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Ancient humans interbred with closely related species

A new analysis has suggested that human ancestors interbred with other species in the Homo genus and that almost 2 percent of the genomes of certain modern African populations are from closely related species.

The research has been published in the recent edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists long have wondered about the evolutionary history of modern human beings. While some believed that humans evolved from a single genetically isolated population, other paleontologists thought that everyone living today has a mixed bag of genes.

The Press Association reported through DNA studies that human ancestors interbred with related species, Neanderthals in Europe and an Asian variety called the Denisovans.

To find answers to long-unexplained evolutionary speculations and queries, biologist Michael Hammer at the University of Arizona in Tucson and his colleagues studied DNA from two African hunter-gatherer groups, the Biaka Pygmies and the San (Bushmen), as well as from a West African agricultural population, the Mandenka.

According to the journal Nature, each of these groups is "descended from populations that are thought to have remained in Africa, meaning they would have avoided the genetic bottleneck effect that usually occurs with migration. This means the groups show particularly high genetic diversity, which makes their genomes more likely to have retained evidence of ancient genetic mixing."

Hammer and his team believe that around 2 percent of the genetic material found in these modern African populations was inserted into the human genome some 35,000 years ago. - ibtimes

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Divers make a killing fishing out bodies

The influx of tourism in Ramanagar — with its many rivers and lakes — has come with associated dangers. At least 70 to 80 people drown in the waters of the Mekedaatu, Sangama, Bommasandra and Chunchi Falls, the Nelligudda tank and Thippagondanahalli reservoir every year, pushing up the demand for expert swimmers from the villages nearby, who, it is alleged, charge up to Rs 25,000 to fish out a body.

The expert swimmers are called in when the police and firemen feel they can do no more to find the bodies and take advantage of the situation, say locals. "They come in teams of eight or 10 and demand Rs 25,000 for each body fished out as it is often involves dangerous work. Families of the victims have no choice but to pay up," they say. The police, who sometimes pay the swimmers to help them search for the bodies, however, maintain they don't overcharge as alleged. Sathanur police sub-inspector Naveen claims the swimmers ask for a reasonable fee considering the risk they take. "No one wants to put their lives in danger, but the swimmers do when searching for the bodies. They come in only when asked to and are paid by senior officers like myself. We recently gave them Rs 3000 to search for a body and no more," he says. Sathanur police deals with accidents in Mekedaatu, Sangama, Bommasandra and Chunci Falls which report around 25 cases of drowning every year. Already nearly 12 people have drowned in their waters so far this year.

Mr Naveen is worried that the swimmers may refuse to come to the help of families and the police because of the "unfounded" allegations made against them. "It will be very difficult to carry on without their help. They can always find work in the many fishing camps in the district," he says. - deccachronicle

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