UFO spotted over Glasgow shopping centre
STV - A UFO sighting over Glasgow's Parkhead Forge shopping centre in the east of the city is being claimed by a visitor to the STV News website.
In an email, Paul Brown said that he made the sighting on January 17 at around 8pm.
"It was heading east and at first I looked up and thought it was helicopter spotlight, it moved at similar speed as emergency helicopter would if low in sky but this was very high - as high as a jet."
He continued: "I watched for the lights of plane or helicopter but nothing. It continued to travel east shimmering like a star in winter sky, a tangerine kind of glow round shaped."
While the description appears to correspond to that of a Chinese sky lantern, the increasingly popular paper and bamboo objects that rise into the air when a small candle is lit inside them. There have been many reports of UFOs in recent years that can be attributed to them.
They are able to travel considerable distances and reach great heights, the candle producing hot air that is trapped in the paper, causing it to rise and be carried by the wind.
However, Mr Brown was quick to doubt this could explain the object.
He said: "I thought maybe a lantern, but it was way too fast and steady trajectory to be wind powered. There was no wind anyway and it wasn't rising, it was heading east at (an) exact height."
He added: "I've studied astronomy for many years and seen many things in the sky this was very new and I've not found a match."
**********
'Caveman' Suspected in Arson Fire
dailymail - The discovery of fire was a pivotal moment in the evolution of man - and one Neanderthal appears to still be entranced by the flames.
A man linked with a blaze looks as if he speaks only in grunts and hunts wild animals with a club.
Police have not called the man a suspect but have released this composite sketch image of a person of interest who bears a striking resemblance to Captain Caveman.
An estimated $135,000 of damage was caused by the fire at 421 Dodge St in Iowa City last Saturday and this man is wanted by police as a possible witness.
‘They know who they are and we need to talk to them as a witness, and hope they’ll come forward for themselves,’ said Sgt. Denise Brotherton of the Iowa City Police Department.
The witness is described as being between 5ft 10in and 6ft tall and was wearing a dark coloured coat and trousers.
He has a heavy beard and long hair and police believe he may be a transient man who is not from the Iowa City area.
Officers have refused to confirm whether they believe the man pictured started the Dodge St fire, with left a dozen people without a home.
Fire officials said the cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
Anyone with information about the identity of this person is asked to contact Investigator DJ Steva at 319-356-5284.
All calls are held in strict confidence and anonymity is guaranteed. Individuals providing information do not have to reveal their identity to collect a reward.
**********
How to convert witches to Catholicism
telegraph - Witches can and should be converted to Catholicism, according to a robust new booklet from the Catholic Truth Society that portrays spell-casting as spiritually empty, exhausting and immoral. Instead of “seeking to change God’s mind or violently alter his plans through circle-casting”, it says, Wiccans should be encouraged to surrender this often frightening burden and accept the love of Christ.
In other words, come to Mass, leaving your broomstick at the door.
Actually, I should make it clear that Wicca & Witchcraft: Understanding the dangers by Elizabeth Dodd doesn’t make any silly cracks about broomsticks. But I can’t resist. There’s no eco-bore like a Wiccan eco-bore. I’ve met a few and, believe me, you need to be under a spell to sit through a three-hour whinge about Mother Gaia from a practitioner of white magick. It makes one long for the days when witches restricted themselves to a quick cackle before riding off into the night. (Just kidding, witches and pagans! Seriously, last time I had a go at them they reported me to the Press Complaints Commission, which proved resistant to their magick.)
Ms Dodd is reasonably polite about Wicca/paganism, but she’s not buying any of its bullshit about being descended from prehistoric totemic and animist religion via the Pharaohs, Rosicrucians, Cunning Men, Illuminati etc. “Modern Wicca’s origins lie in Victorian occultism,” she says (also finding room to mention the movement’s early links with Aleister Crowley). “Wiccans are encouraged to develop their own pantheon of gods and goddesses with whom they are comfortable to work – a religious ‘dream team’ … There are no limits to the creativity Wiccans can employ when creating their religious pantheons: it would not be uncommon to come across a Wiccan who worshipped Odin, Poseidon and the Buddhist Bodhisattva Kawn-Yin simultaneously.” (And was willing to talk about it in detail, I’ll bet.)
As for the overlap between white and black magic, Dodd makes this point: “Whether or not a Wiccan can successfully communicate with the dead or summon a spirit, whether spellwork is effective or not, has no bearing on the psychological damage that can be done to a young person who is convinced that they have summoned the dead, or have performed a spell that has hurt or injured another. Wicca has no hierarchy or support structure in place for these vulnerable young people … The use of magic, the practice of witchcraft, offends God because it is rooted in our sinful and fallen nature. It attempts to usurp God.”
You wouldn’t read anything this feisty from the Bishops’ Conference, but that’s typical of CTS, which stopped watering down its Catholicism years ago and is thriving as a result. Whether Dodd’s tips for evangelising witches actually work I can’t say – you’re supposed to emphasise that Christianity frees us from the self-centredness of Wicca and to find common ground over ecology (though even here Dodd is combative, accusing Wiccans of worshipping creation itself).
One thing’s for sure: should a group of right-on Wiccans convert to Catholicism, they’d be welcomed a damn sight more warmly by certain south coast bishops than the members of the Ordinariate. There’s always room for female eco-fanatics in the episcopal bureaucracy. Especially if they’re already members of a magic circle.
NOTE: yep...this one is going to generate comments from my Wiccan readers...Lon
**********
North American Raccoon caught on camera in Hampshire
metroThe raccoon, nicknamed Rocky, has also rummaged through rubbish and swiped food from a bird table.
The creature is thought to be an escaped pet and has visited the garden in Ringwood four times.
‘It was a shock but I feel lucky to have seen it,’ said John Rothwell, who took the photographs of the mammal from his conservatory.
‘It was shortly after midnight when this animal just walked past.
‘I didn’t know what it was to begin with but I knew that it wasn’t a cat or fox or even a badger.
‘As soon as I saw it I knew what it was. It has such distinctive masks on its eyes like a bandit.
‘It came back for four nights in a row, eating peanuts that I’d left out for the hedgehogs.’
Raccoons are from North America and are nocturnal creatures, eating meats and plants.
The RSPCA said: ‘As they are not native, this is likely to be someone’s pet which has escaped.’
NOTE: to my British readers...please hope that this scavenger does not get a foothold in the UK. If you think the North American Gray Squirrel invasion is bad...these varmints are downright awful. Raccoons can open doors, pull out drawers, open fish traps, etc. Because of their nimble little hands, sheer determination, and natural curiosity when it comes to food, raccoons are notorious for making a mess as they search for something to eat. This species is considered a pest in the United States...especially here in Maryland. On a lighter note, roasted raccoon is very tasty...Lon
**********
UFO mystery over India - object witnesses by five pilots
deccanherald - A glowing round object making a speedy descent near the West Bengal-Bihar border early on January 26 left pilots of five aircraft baffled, triggering widespread speculation about unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
The first person to sight the object was a senior Air India pilot who was navigating the aircraft at a height of 34,000 ft during its flight from Kolkata to New Delhi.
“The plane was just entering the airspace of Gaya, close to Bengal-Bihar border, when I first noticed the glowing object, below the aircraft, hurtling down at a very high speed,” Captain Rishi was quoted as saying by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) Tower here at Dum Dum International Airport.
The Air India pilot initially didn’t pay much attention as it is customary for the pilots to notice several such things midair. But when the aircraft was close to Varanasi, the object was still brightly visible.
Without wasting time, he informed the Varanasi Air Traffic Control from where ATC, Kolkata, was alerted.
The officials at ATC pondered over whether pilots of other international flights that might have crossed the Kolkata-Bihar-Varanasi route, had also observed the glowing object reported by Capt Rishi.
Accordingly, the ATC, Kolkata, beamed asking signals for other international flights that flew the same airspace during the period concerned.
To their utter surprise, the air traffic control officials were told by as many as four foreign airlines flight pilots that they had seen the same object and all of them reiterated that it was falling down at a great speed!
FinAir of Finland and Novou Air of Sweden were flying from the West to East while a couple of flights of Cathay Pacific and Dynasty Airways of China were moving in the opposite direction at an altitude between 34,000 and 37,000 ft over the airspace supposed to be in the trajectory of the object.
Once the foreign airlines pilots radioed back the ATC tower here, confirming their sighting of the object, ATC engineers immediately got in touch with the Indian Air Force. However, the IAF engineers pointed out that their powerful radar had failed to track or notice any unusual object.
“It could be a shooting star or part of a meteor or a metal that had a sudden entry into the earth’s atmosphere as a result of which it turned into a burning object and appeared glowing from a distance,” explained Positional Astronomy Centre director Sanjib Sen.
“There is no denying the fact of its existence as so many pilots having seen it.”
But when everyone had seen it falling at a high speed, where and when the object had hit the earth? There is apparently no answer to this question so far.