Mystery over aircraft seen plunging into the sea off Scotland
An appeal has been launched to get to the bottom of a "mystery" aircraft seen plunging into the sea off Angus.
Police enquiries so far have been "ultimately fruitless" since the alarm was raised on Tuesday afternoon.
Eyewitnesses who contacted the coastguard at around 4pm remain convinced that a microlight or small aircraft plummeted into waters off the Usan area of Montrose.
Mystery over aircraft seen plunging into the sea
So far no trace of any aircraft has been found and now microlight flyers have been reported missing.
On Thursday, Tayside Police renewed their appeal after an extensive search by coastguard, the RNLI and a helicopter from RAF Kinloss found nothing.
Inspector Mark McInally said: "As it stands just now, the incident is something of a mystery. Eye witnesses are absolutely convinced by what they have seen and yet we have no reports of any missing people or aircraft that would corroborate those reports.
"Clearly, we remain concerned and are determined to establish exactly what may have happened. Anyone who knows someone whose interest or hobby involves flying should check their whereabouts.
"Could it be the case that this was someone who had journeyed to the area alone on a short break or holiday to enjoy this type of pursuit and loved ones remain unaware that they are missing? We’re making every effort to get to the bottom of it.
"The Usan area is popular with walkers and we would appeal to anyone who was in the area on Tuesday, whether at 4pm, or earlier in the day and who saw anyone else in the area."
Tayside Police has checked with police forces across the UK, airports and flying clubs since the sightings of the aircraft earlier this week.
Officers are keen to speak to any local eye witnesses who haven’t already spoken with them to come forward, while they also want to hear from anyone who might know people who own a microlight. - STV - w/ video
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Jack the Ripper: Is this six-inch knife used by Victorian serial killer?
It was found among possessions belonging to Welsh surgeon Sir John Williams, a chief suspect in the Victorian murders.
Sir John, known to his family at the time of the killings as "Uncle Jack" was the surgeon to Queen Victoria who lived in London at the time of the slayings.
He fled the capital after the murders and later founded the National Library for Wales in Aberystwyth.
One of his distant relatives has now unearthed the old black-handled surgeon's knife, which he used for operations, and believes it could be the murder weapon.
Tony Williams, 49, Sir John's great-great-great-great nephew, has now published a book, which features the startling image of the knife, to expose his relative's guilt.
He found the blade among a stash of possessions left by the Welshman, including three glass slides which contains smears of a uterus.
Mr Williams said: ''Why would he leave this behind? I am convinced that this is the knife used by Sir John Williams to murder those women.
''It is widely know that the person who carried out the killings would have had significant medical knowledge.
''Sir John Williams was an accomplished surgeon and routinely performed abortions on women. He held surgeries all over London at the time of the murders."
He added: ''Dr Thomas Bond, a pathologist who examined the body of Mary Kelly, said the ripper had used the same six inch knife in all the murders.
''He said it would have been at least six inches long, very sharp, pointed at the top and about an inch in width - a surgeon's knife.
''This is the knife that fits the description that I've held in my hand back in the National Library of Wales.''
Sir John Williams, born November 1840, was a Welsh surgeon and physician who attended to Queen Victoria.
He was raised to the baronetcy by her for his work in 1894.
The medic had a surgery in London's Harley Street the time of the murders - which saw five prostitutes butchered in the streets of Whitechapel in the city's East End.
Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly were killed by the ripper between August and November 1888.
They had been expertly sliced open and some had been disembowelled. Two had their uterus's missing.
Many suspects have been put forward for the gruesome killings - but it wasn't until this century that Sir John Williams was named.
Tony Williams began researching his relative a decade ago - stumbling across an archive of his old possessions in the National Library of Wales.
The surgeon helped found the institution when he moved from London to Wales after the killings.
He become its first president back in 1907, before he died in October 1926 - leaving a sum of money, books and a number possessions to the library.
Mr Williams claims the possessions - including his old diary, the knife and some glass slides - proves his ''Uncle Jack'' had the medical expertise and motive for the murders.
He said: ''I looked through the possessions that he left and found the knife along with three glass slides.
''The smears on the glass slides have been tested and are confirmed as being matter from the uterus.
''I know Sir John was obsessed by the fact that his wife, Mary Hughes, could not have children. I think that was his motive."
He added: ''I think he was a Jekyll and Hyde-type character who may have been driven to commit murder because his wife could not have children. He was also known to be working on a cure for his wife's problem.''
A number of other key pieces of evidence also point towards ''Uncle Jack'', including testimony from a witness who saw a victim on the night she died.
George Hutchinson observed Mary Kelly with a man matching the description of Sir John Williams - wearing a long dark coat with a red stone.
The surgeon's colleague Herbert Spencer wrote about the doctor and the way he used to dress - claiming he always wore a dark silk tie held by a pin set with a red stone.
In 1885, three years before the murders, Sir John Williams also claimed he performed an abortion on Mary Ann Nicholls in the infirmary of the Whitechapel workhouse.
The details were unearthed by Tony Williams in his medical notebook. He also found that many pages of Sir John's diary in 1888 were missing.
He said: ''There is compelling evidence in my view that Sir John Williams was Jack the Ripper. When I began to look into this I found a terrible truth - that I was related to this serial killer.
''The knife, his possessions and all the evidence points to it. A lot of members of our family don't really speak about it - I think they are a bit upset.
''But in my mind the case has been solved - it was Sir John Williams.''
Father-of-three Tony Williams, an author who lives in Swansea with wife Catherine, 49, has now released book, "Uncle Jack - A Victorian Mystery".
The publication includes the picture of the knife and the details of his relative's guilt. - telegraph
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'Pulsating light' illuminated rural area three times
(unedited): I was driving on a local road here near Middle Smithfield, PA saturday October 29 around 7pm with my father. We saw a pale pink pulsating light that appeared in front of my truck and illuminated everything including the ground. The light seemed to lasted like 2 seconds then everything went dark again. About 5 seconds later the same light came again and lasted another 2 seconds. Then for the third time after 5 seconds it happened again. We didnt stop the truck but it was very weird what we experienced. I take that road many times during night time and never seen anything like this before. The light illuminated everything from trees, road, houses, etc. and I was doing 35 mile per hour. - MUFON CMS
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Mystery Animals of the British Isles: London, has just been published
From Nick Redfern:
PRESS RELEASE
Roll up, roll up! For the monster mystery tour, step right this way. Read all about, read all about it, panic on the streets of London!
For many centuries the streets, sewer systems, skies, waters, and darkest corners of the capital have been inhabited by strange creatures. Some folklore, some fact.
MYSTERY ANIMALS OF…LONDON, a new, richly illustrated, fully indexed 385 page volume written by full-time monster hunter Neil Arnold, published by CFZ Press, is a unique surreal safari through the concrete jungle of London, which explores a menagerie of the strange, creatures cast from the Ark, half-hinted and yet persistent in their presence.
Recoil in horror at tales concerning elusive ‘big cats’ on the prowl through London’s leafy suburbs, with yarns pertaining to the ‘beast of Sydenham’, the lioness of Winchmore Hill, the Edgware tiger, and the classic Surrey puma - a long-lasting mystery which Neil proves may well have its origins centuries previous to the 1960s flap which made national headlines.
And then there are the abominable animals said to lurk in the depths of the River Thames and other London rivers, ponds and lakes, from tales of alligators, crocodiles, piranha, snapping turtles and even sharks, to grim legends of monster rats, slithering snakes and serpents.
And don’t forget the aerial oddities, with weird tales of giant birds in the skies over London – eagles, parakeets and monstrous griffins and dragons.
MYSTERY ANIMALS OF…LONDON looks at creaky old tales of animals escaping from private menageries, zoo parks and circuses. And then there are the monsters of the mind, for instance, the case of Hampstead’s phantom ape, the spectral bears of Chelsea, frothing hellhounds at Newgate, a ghostly chicken…yes, you read it correct!
And who could forget the ripping yarns pertaining to mermaids, Spring-Heeled Jack, glowing lions, flying jellyfish, birds of death, the London Underground man-beast, the Stratford Goatman, fairies, hellish horses and the case of the Highgate ‘vampire’.
An essential read on a foggy night for any monster-hunter, historian, paranormal enthusiast or general fan of the macabre and the mysterious.
