The return of 'Spring Heeled Jack?'
A taxi ride home on Valentine's night turned into a nightmare when a family were confronted by a terrifying apparition that looked and moved like the legendary Spring Heeled Jack.
Scott Martin and his family were travelling home by taxi from Stoneleigh on Tuesday, February 14, at about 10.30pm when they saw a mysterious ‘dark figure with no features’ dart across the road in front of them before leaping 15ft over a roadside bank as they approached Nescot College on the Ewell bypass.
Spooked by their seemingly supernatural experience the couple’s four-year-old son, Sonny, was too scared to sleep on his own that night, while the petrified taxi driver admitted he didn’t want to drive back alone.
Mr Martin, 40, the manager of a building company who lives in Blue Cedars in Banstead, said: "We were driving down the Ewell bypass and saw a man on the other side of the road. We didn't pay much attention until he started crossing over to our side of the road, the next thing he jumped over the centre fencing in the road and ran across our two lanes. On the side of our road is a bank easily 15ft in height and this figure crossed our road, climbed this bank and was gone from sight all in about two seconds. All four of us were baffled and voiced our sighting straight away with the same detail. A dark figure with no real features, but fast in movement with an ease of hurdling obstacles I've never seen. My last image was of him going through the bushes at the top of the bank. I'm not usually one to be freaked by these sightings but the cab driver was petrified. He didn't want to drive back alone. I am honestly baffled by this sighting and we are intrigued by it because it was so real but so strange."
His wife Sacha, 37, who is an accountant added: "It was more that someone was trying to cross the road of a dual carriageway that was weird. My little boy was really freaked out."
The family has since likened the figure to the legendary Spring Heeled Jack - a mysterious dark figure reported to be responsible for a string of attacks in the 1800s and known for his ability to leap great heights first sighted in Wandsworth in 1837.
Mary Stevens was walking home along Lavender Hill when a tall figure leapt out grabbing her and firmly kissing her before releasing her with a loud laugh, leaping high into the air and disappearing.
Sightings continued across Victorian London, others describing Jack’s red flaming eyes and claws, so much so that in 1938 the Lord Mayor of London declared him a public nuisance leading one vigilante group to attempt to capture him, albeit unsuccessfully.
However there had been no reported sightings in Epsom and Ewell, the last sighting recorded in Birmingham in 1986.
Mr Martin added: "It was something we all saw and it wasn’t imagination. I’m quite a sensible man but I have never seen anything move that quickly across the road and not been startled by the fact that we were driving toward him. It's the first time we have ever seen anything like this. If it was a burglar it is the fastest I had ever seen anyone run. That's the only other explanation. But it was just too quick."
Both Surrey Police and Nescot College confirmed they had received no reports of unusual incidents or sightings in the area that night.
Have you had a similar experience? - yourlocalguardian
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Don't mess with 'Rocky'
It wouldn't be a good idea to get into an arm wrestling match with Rocky, the largest recorded lobster ever caught in Maine. So watch out if you're planning on doing any swimming in New England this year.
A shrimp trawler caught Rocky, who measures 40 inches and weighs in at 27 pounds off the coast of Cushing, Maine and donated him to Maine State Aquarium in West Boothbay. Maine fisherman aren't allowed to keep lobsters that are more than five inches from eye stalk to tail, and Rocky was returned to the chilly bosom of the Atlantic on Thursday.
Even though, according to Elaine Jones, education director for the state's Department of Marine Resources, Rocky could break a person's arm, he's a shrimp compared to the Guinness Record-holder for largest lobster ever caught. That would be the monster caught off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1977. That sucker weighed a whopping 44 pounds and was probably the subject of big fish stories for decades afterward. - io9
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Strange lights / UFOs observed on UK-Cyprus flight
1. We where on a flight from the UK to the Island of Cyprus. The event happened more then half way through the flight and we took pictures and videos.
2. I was filming the view from the plane when i heard people talk about the object behind me.
3. I had no idea what it could have been when i first saw it.
4. The object flew fast next to the plane then slowed its speed to match the plane. two beams emerged from the object that seemed to be scanning the plane (evident in picture) Then the object suddenly changed direction in very fast speed.
5. When I first saw the object i was scared as i didn't know what it was. the whole plane apx 100 people saw the objects and started to panic. the captain then asked everyone to fasten their seat belts and not to panic.
6. we lost sight of the object when it flew away in a speed much faster then our plane.
There are more pictures and a short video I just didnt get a chance to load them to the PC - MUFON CMS
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The Strange Sea – A Few of Our Favorite Ghost Ships
In 1880, the future King George V of England and his brother Prince Albert Victor (incidently a suspect in the Jack the Ripper case) saw a ghost ship while serving in the Royal Navy aboard HMS Bacchante. It appeared around 4 AM off the coast of Australia, glowing with red light with all sails set. The Princes, along with eleven others, momentarily saw the ship off their port bow at a distance of about 200 yards before it vanished as quickly as it appeared. The next day, the seaman who first sighted it fell to his death in an accident. King George V is the most noteworthy person out of hundreds said to have seen the Flying Dutchman.
The story behind the Flying Dutchman is unfortunately convoluted and colored by the exaggeration of centuries of sailors. The earliest written accounts describe a ship lost with all hands off the Cape of Good Hope. Another story describes a Captain Fokke, who made a deal with the devil to increase the speed of his ship. Then there’s the famous Captain van der Decken, who pushed his ship too hard, cursing at the wind to change direction, promising to push his ship forward until judgement day. It is unknown if all of these accounts describe the same ship, or different ghost ships, but the sightings are always said to herald disaster.
The convoluted story of the Flying Dutchman is just one of many stories about ghost ships. Off the coast of England, near a treacherous area called the Goodwin Sands, a ship wrecked in 1748 appears once every fifty years. Coming from the fog, the ship, called the Lady Luvibund, will appear with full sails set until ultimately making a suicidal turn toward toward land. The story goes that the first mate of the ship, a man named Rivers, snapped during the Captain’s wedding party, killed the helmsman and turned the ship toward land where it was smashed with all hands lost. It was seen in 1798, when it almost ran down another ship, the sounds of the party below decks could still be heard. It was seen again in 1848 when it was mistaken for a ship in distress, and again in 1898. Sadly, the ship has not been seen in recent times.
Another story involves the vessel Palatine, that appears off the coast of New England as a burning ship with a screaming lady standing on the deck. There are several versions of the story, most involving an unrescued crazy woman accidently left on board when the ship was burned. One version states that people on shore had loured the ship into the rocks with lanterns, where they robbed and murdered the crew and passengers before setting the ship alight to cover the evidence, leaving the raving woman onboard to burn.
The Caleuche is a ghost ship sighted off the coast of Chile, and has an even more wildly varying set of attributes than theFlying Dutchman. Some state that the ship is helpful, appearing to ships in distress. Another legend tells of its crew, who drowned when the ship sank, still trying to provide for their families from the grave. Yet another tale weaves a picture of a ship full of shapeshifting ghosts who can appear as men, or fish, or birds. And finally, another states that anyone who unwittingly harms the ship will sail for eternity as a slave working in the galley.
Some ghost ships aren’t ghosts at all. They are abandoned vessels that ply the waters without a crew, sometimes for decades. The Baychimo was a cargo steamer that became trapped in the arctic pack ice in 1931 carrying a load of furs. The crew was forced to abandon the ship, but it broke free several days later and the crew returned, only to get it stuck again in the ice. Left with a skeleton crew that took shelter on land until the ship could melt free, they awoke one morning to see that the ship was gone. Assuming that it had sunk, the crew prepared to go home until the ship was sighted adrift in open water some miles away. They retrieved the valuable cargo and assumed the Baychimo was too damaged to save. Apparently it wasn’t, since the ship would be sighted floating around the area for the next 38 years. The last sighting was in 1969, but some speculate that the ship may be locked in the ice again, waiting to break free and be seen again.
The oddest story of a ship without a crew, at least a live one, is the tale of the Ourang Medan. A very difficult to substantiate account, if true it could overtake all other cases as the strangest story to have come from the seas. In 1948, distress calls were recieved by several ships identified as coming from the Ourang Medan, a Dutch freighter. The transmissions told of most of the crew being dead, then a series of garbled messages, followed simply by the words “I die”. The ship was located drifting off the coast of Indonesia, and a boarding party found the crew laying on the deck facing the sky with horrified looks frozen on their faces, some with their arms in a position of pointing at some unknown horror. Even the ship’s dog was seen to be bearing its teeth in death, as if ready to attack. Shortly after, the ship caught fire, the boarding party escaped and the vessel exploded and sank.
The sea is full of mystery, so the next time you opt for a vacation cruise, if you’re lucky – or unlucky as the case may be – you might just see a ghost ship.
Forwarded by and reprinted with permission from Paranormala
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SHOCK! 10 years after burial, body remains fresh
Ten years after Imam Sheez Adeyemi died and buried beside his mosque in Shogunle, Lagos, his body was exhumed recently revealing another miracle of life after death. The sand and stones were lifted from the grave, the planks which were used as cover were all rotten.
The white cloth used in wrapping the body remained even whiter, and the dangling body was brought out intact as though it had just been buried. There was no slightest trace of an unpleasant smell let alone any decay of his body.
It was a surprise to many of them who were present at the scene, yet, a miracle to others. In a jiffy, the news permeated every nook and crany of the area and poeple trooped to the venue to see for themselves how a body buried ten years after was still fresh.
Son of the deceased, Imam Abubakar Sheez Adeyemi who had buried him ten years ago and led the team that carried out the exhumation while speaking with Saturday Vanguard noted that the body did not only decompose but was fresh as if he had just died; the way it was on July 23, 2003.
He said he opened the white cloth which showed no stain and gave the corpes a kiss on the head. After a couple of hours contending with the mamoth crowd that sought to witness it, the body of Imam Sheez Adeyemi was placed on a mat and taken to another site for burial.
Why the body was exhumed
Imam Abubakr Sheez Adeyemi explained that the present owners of the land had put it up for sale and demolision occured which affected the mosque where he was buried, mainly as a result of its proximity to the Agege Motor Express way.
He said: “In the early 60s, the former Baale built the mosque, being the owner of the land. Adeyemi Alhaji Momoh Wosho, Late Ibikunle, and Kadiri, Mustapha Akanni families had close relationship with my family. My late father, Sheikh Muhammad Sheez Adeyemi became the Imam of the msque.
Long after, he requested to be buried there after he died. The request was granted by the then owners of the land. He died on July 23, 2003, and he was buried there.”
He continued: “Sometimes last year, we heard that the present owners of the house behind the mosque which are the grand children of the former Baale, had put it up for sale and that the mosque would be demolished because of the closeness to the road, (Agege Motor Road).
The name of the mosque was Sharafudeen, and it was pulled down recently. So, our family now decided that we had to exhume the body of the late Imam and rebury in my site at Ayobo, Lagos.”
“We went there that early morning after we had secured a police report for the exhumation. Our intention was to gather whatever we could gather to Ayobo for re-burial. But to our outmost surprise, we met the body intact. The white cloth with which he was wrapped ten years ago was clean; we only removed the sand on it leaving no stain.
We used to hear such thing, and I have also read it, but I have just seen it real now. I have also read as proven by some scientists that if a particular soil has some specified chemical components, there is the likelihood that the body will not decompose.
But we are surprised that the wooden plank used as cover had all decay. I was the one who supervised the the process when the body was commited to the grave in July 2003, ten years ago. So, on November 23, 2010, his body remained as it was when he died.
Again, the perfume we sprayed on him was still smelling and the white cloth with which we wrapped the body was as clean as it was ten years ago.”
“What I noticed was that when we started digging, the soil was dry and before we got to the depth of the grave where he laid, the soil became moisturised. It was so soft that, you will think they had poured water therein. It was the white cloth we saw first, then I ordered that they should use their hands since they were wearing hand gloves.
Behold! we carried the body out intact. We were speechless but we glorified Allah; we took the body to my site at Ayobo, offered prayers for him and re-buried the body.
His life
Baba was known for his devotion to Allah. He committed himself to fasting, night prayers, and recitation of the Qur’an. For over thirty years before his death, which I know, he did nothing other than fasting and prayers. Throughout the year, we discovered that he did not fast for about 90 days.
Sometimes, we quarreled with him on the prolong fasting because of his age, he needed to eat as an when due, but he would not listen. What we noticed in him was that if we force him to abandone fasting, he would be sick, but he was always happy and healthy when he fasted. Most often, he ate vegetables and fruits and little of other foods.
I think God is reminding us that it is good to do good and carry out our duties to Him; and for those who can shun worldly things, the reward is bountious. Baba was not after material things, he did not build any house, he did not have a car, and he was not rich; but he dedicated his life to God and was nice to people. Truly, if one worships God in truth and do good to people, if such person dies, he will not rotten.
I joined in carrying the body, says Awolowo Olatunde Bodunrin
When I heard the body was going to be exhumed, I told the son that it was going to bring out the name of the family. But I didnt know how. That day, I returned from work early in the morning after a night duty, I decided to go through the back and I saw them digging the grave.
So, I decided to wait. By the time they dug deep, we saw the white cloth, and behold!, the body was brought out, we were all looking at ourselves, speechless. Then, I reminded the son what I had told him about the exhumation that it will bring out the family’s name.
I am a christian and this is what is called sainthood in christianity. It is happening all over the world to people who actually did what God wants. To those people, termites, insects have no power over their bodies when they die. In fact, I had to join them in carrying the body. I carried the head, holding the head to the back and the body was dangling as if he had just died. The crowd was wholesome.
Ganiyu Ibikunle, Shogunle resident
He was known throughout this Shogunle, he gave what he had to any one who needed it. When he was alive, he was a source of inspiration to so many young people for doing what is good. When he died ten years ago, the youths and some people in the neighbourhood came together and organised a a 7-day lecture in his honour, because we knew he was a man of God.
So, for me, I was not surprised. But, it is a wake-up call for all adherents of the religion. No matter what people say, just do what is right. It also show that there are other things after death.
Alhaja Qamuriat Bello Owosho
When he came to Lagos, he worked in the aviation sector and retired gloriously. He was a maison. He was known for good deeds, although he was not rich, but he impacted on people’s lives so much that we can not mention.
But those who benefitted from his good works know. There was nothing he had he could not give away. He died ten years ago and we buried him at the mosque based on his wish. When I heard the news that his body remains intact, I was full of praises, I immediately went there to see for myself.
By the time I got there, I saw a mammoth crowd. People began to extol his virtues and the street boys immediately coined a cliche from the incidence. ‘Sherere o’ Do good. It is now a norm in the area where young boys will say it to one and other. - vanguardngr
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UPDATE: Ricky D and the 'Gonna Catch Me A Bigfoot' Team
Ricky D is upset. 'Team Tazer Bigfoot' has declared themselves the 'Best Bigfoot Trackers in the World'. In fact, the guy at 'Team Tazer Bigfoot' refers to Ricky D as 'Freezer Boy.' But Ricky D later laments that "he has allowed the Bigfoot community to get him upset". Regardless, he and the 'Gonna Catch Me A Bigfoot' team have been in the media worldwide...."people know my face!"
Ricky D has returned to his secret lair somewhere in Arkansas awaiting the signal to start his next trek into the unknown. Meanwhile, Ricky D tries to keep a smile on his face and the dream of a dead Bigfoot in his heart...
