New Sighting: Flying Ray-Shaped Cryptid - Virginia (Not Specific)

This was posted on Friday 6/28 by someone in Virginia (no specific location):

I like to take my dog out on late night walks around 10 or 11, sometimes even later. It's nice for me because I love the night, and nice for my dog because it's not too hot for him. (He has thick black fur.)

We sometimes see creepy stuff at night, like road kill or strange animals, but usually the neighborhood is very peaceful. One night, however was a bit different. I was walking the dog up a hill and I notice that he'd perked up quite a bit, and was quietly woofing and panting in the direction of a house about 40 feet up the street. I looked up and saw this strange, large, hazy white thing rapidly circling around the house. It was white, and was flapping? I think, but not in a way that a bird would. The creepy thing about this is how hazy the memory has become, I know it wasn't a dream because I clearly remember the rest of the walk and coming back home very confused and scared.

Anyway, my dog is pulling me towards whatever it is, as it circles the house about 10 or 15 times and disappears behind the house, somehow I don't remember, I'm not sure. When I say this thing was big, I mean it. It was definitely about a meter tall vertically, and maybe less than a foot wide. It seemed to be flapping but with its "wing" facing the ground so it's on its side. It definitely wasn't a bag, because it repeatedly circled the house in these wide swoops. The best answer I can give is a disabled albino mega-bat that decided it would cruise around a random suburban house and then disappear.

What gets me is how hazy it looked, like it didn't have a definite form. (As if it was blurred at the edges.) An off, grainy white it was, swooping around and around in the dark.

What could it have been?

EDIT: I made a shitty animation, enjoy. It's not perfectly accurate, it was lever with the house as it circled around it. http://i.imgur.com/ITMCMBm.gif

EDIT 2: So it's looking like it might be a white ray (the sea dwelling kind) cryptid, which is really weird but it definitely fits the bill. Or a kite, like my brother kept repeating. Who knows, I'm going to walk the dog now so I'll be on the lookout. A bit more information, I'm in the general area where the cryptid has been sited. - reddit.com/r/Paranormal

NOTE: the witness noted one of my previous posts and, in particular, the image of the flying ray sketch - New 'Flying White Sting Ray' Sighting - Hebron, Kentucky - 1/25/2012. The most recent sightings reported to me were in Texas - Witness: Flying Ray-Shaped Cryptid - Atascocita, Texas and Witness: Flying Ray-Shaped Cryptid Sighted - Laredo, Texas. If you witness a similar anomaly, please contact me at lonstrickler@phantomsandmonsters.com. Lon

Phantoms & Monsters: Cryptid Encounters

Abominable Science!: Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids

Destination Truth: Memoirs of a Monster Hunter

Just the Facts?: Smoky Mountains Light Anomaly -- Hollis, NH Photo Update -- Severed Spinal Cords Regrown In Rats

Smoky Mountains light anomaly

While on a walk in the Smoky Mountains near Townsend, TN, I took this photograph, no editing has been done other than to compress it a bit for uploading. Subsequent photographs do not have this bright light source at the tree where it appeared. Opinions welcome. - reddit.com/r/Paranormal

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The Battle of Gettysburg 150th Anniversary

If I can make a suggestion for those who plan to visit Gettysburg in the next week or so and who want to experience paranormal anomalies...try to find (at night) someplace quiet very near the battlefield park and just take in the activity. Areas near Culp's Hill, the Lutheran Seminary and along Herr's Ridge Road (where the CSA encampments were) offer some of the best night investigations from my experience. The well-known spots are going to be inundated with paranormal groups...ex. Sachs Covered Bridge, touring locations in the town, etc. You are allowed on the battlefield until 10 PM...but the curfew is strictly enforced. So if you plan an 'all-nighter' I suggest using the previously mentioned areas. As always...be respectful. Don't be surprised if you run into a rebel soldier or two trying to make their way back to safety. Lon

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Update: What Is It? - Hollis, NH

Click image for larger version

UPDATE: The consensus is that it's a young black bear with a foreign object over it's head. Several people have mentioned that 'bear baiting' is common in this area (actually legal, with a permit, from my understanding...but not during this time of year). I contacted New Hampshire Fish & Game and forwarded the photo to them. They concur that it is a young bear with an object over it's head. They were going to dispatch someone to the area to investigate...hopefully find the bear to make sure it wasn't in distress. Lon

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I received the following email with the photo attached. I zoomed in and cleaned up some of the blurriness:

Hi-
I haven't found any ideas on what this animal is, so I'm still looking. Please email with your take on it.
Thanks! R.

This was in Hollis NH - at about 1pm -- (I was driving on my lunch hour). I was toying with the idea of going into this old, cool-looking graveyard but I thought maybe not - because I didn't want to chance picking up any 'attachments' :) So I turned down a dirt road near it instead -- I began to drive down the road to turn around - and the animal walked left to right across my path- I took the pics and then turned the car around to leave - it walked again left to right in front of my car - then it slipped behind some trees - there was a house off of the dirt road - I was thinking - Gee, I wonder if they know this kind of animal is hanging around during the day- :)

It was taken on a cell phone - It was the size of a large dog - ( I thought it might be a coyote hybrid) has that fox color - I thought if it had any 'weirdness' to it - it might be because I decided against going into that little old cemetery - (it looked totally physical). The face is totally white - no features == when I looked at it I got the butterflies because I couldn't see a face where one should be! :D And I sensed that it was looking at me - because it was turned my way waiting...You can see the white in the pic.

I had heard a description matching the animal on two different shows about Skinwalkers - eek... ;)

Weird New England: Your Travel Guide to New England's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets

Strange New Hampshire

The Wildlife of New England: A Viewer's Guide

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Oops.....

A woman from Dunedin, New Zealand, was tightlipped when she rang 111, after mistakenly gluing her lips together. The call, at about midnight on Thursday, sparked fears that the 64-year-old was being held captive.

"Ambulance received a call, but due to the muffled speech ... they were unsure whether it was a medical event or whether someone had been gagged,'' Senior Sergeant Steve Aitken said. ''Basically, she could only grunt.''

Ambulance staff called the police, who went to the woman's home and found that she had mistakenly applied super-glue to her lips instead of her normal medication. ''She got up in the middle of the night, in the dark, and grabbed what she thought was the tube of medication,'' Aitken said.

''It was an extremely frightening event for her because her breathing was impeded. I've heard of a few other things super-glued, but never lips. You wouldn't have wanted to have had a blocked nose.'' The woman was taken to hospital and has since been released.

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Scientists Regrow Severed Spinal Cords In Rats

Scientists have found a way to reconnect severed spinal cords in rats, allowing them to regain bladder control--a major accomplishment that could one day help humans with similar nervous system injuries recover lost abilities.

The spinal cord is the root of all bodily nerves, with an intimate, direct connection to the brain; together, they comprise the central nervous system. Severe injuries to the spinal cord are drastic and were long presumed to be irreparable. In many cases they result in a loss of bodily functions and permanent paralysis.

The intriguing thing is that the spinal cord actually attempts to repair itself. Yet due to several factors which are still not entirely understood, natural regeneration stops shortly after it begins. Over the last 30 years, scientists have worked to chemically encourage regrowth. Two chemicals, chondroitinase and FGF, show strong signs of doing exactly that--in rats, at least. Independently, over the past three decades, each chemical has shown some promise in restoring simple but crucial rat motor processes, like breathing, even with entirely severed spinal cords.

Two surgeons in the field figured that a combination of the chemicals might enhance the regrowth even more. The surgeons, from Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic, began by entirely severing the spinal cords of 15 rats to ensure no independent, natural regrowth. That shut off the rats' bladder control (a nervous system process that is especially important in rats, since they urinate often and to mark their territory). The researchers then injected the two growth-stimulating chemicals into both sides of the severance, and reinforced the gap in the cord with steel wiring and surgical thread.

After six months of growth, the rats demonstrated near-normal bladder control--it seems that the nerves had recuperated enough for brain-spinal cord-bladder communication to work once more. The rats did not regain the ability to walk, but that was not the experiment’s intention. “It's clear that some primitive functions may be able to come back. We've shown for the very first time that we can promote long-distance regeneration in the adult spinal cord, across a complete spinal cord lesion. It's a step in the right direction,” project director Jerry Silver explained.

The scientists intend to continue their research, next trying their method on older spinal cord injuries. After enough testing, they might be able to use the technique on humans. But, that is a long ways off, and the scientists seem humble enough to recognize that fact. - Popsci

Update: The Curious Case of Alfred Burtoo

I originally posted this narrative in June 2010...but, I have since gathered a few more interesting bits of information to add:

On August 12, 1983, 77-year-old Alfred Burtoo was enjoying some fishing in the Basingstoke Canal in Aldershot, Hampshire, United Kingdom. He was a keen and experienced fisherman, and since the weather report predicted a warm, fine night, he set off from his home in North Town, Aldershot, at 12:15 a.m., accompanied by his dog Tiny. On reaching Government Road he headed toward his fishing site, about 120 yards north of the Gasworks Bridge.

Because of its many military establishments Aldershot is known as "The Home of the British Army," and Alfred Burtoo himself had an Army background, having served in the Queen's Royal Regiment in 1924 and the Hampshire Regiment during World War II. Well known as a historian, he had in his time worked as a farmer and gardener, and while living in the Canadian outback hunted bear and fought wolves. Prior to his experience he had read no books or magazines on the subject of UFOs, which held no interest for him, yet much of what he claimed has been corroborated by other witnesses.

After getting comfortable, his concentration on the water was interrupted by a bright light descending from the sky. Whatever this was, it landed not too far away from Burtoo. There was a Mod base in the vicinity, and he thought maybe he had seen a helicopter land. Burtoo had just poured himself a cup of tea, when his dog Tiny became very nervous. Two beings suddenly appeared out of the darkness. "They were about four foot high, dressed in pale green coveralls from head to foot," Burtoo told reporters. "and they had helmets of the same color with a visor that was blacked out." The two beings beckoned for him to follow them. He obliged. Burtoo would later say that he was afraid of nothing, and regarding his encounter, which would have terrified most people, said: "What did I have to fear? I'm seventy-eight now and haven't got much to lose."

Burtoo followed the two strange beings until they arrived at a flying saucer that had set on the ground. He ascended the stairs leading up to the craft until he could go no further. The ceiling was too short and he had to bend over to continue. He was now inside of a black, metallic chamber. The room had a foul smell, like decaying meat.

"I did not see any signs of nuts or bolts, nor did I see any seams where the object had been put together," he recalled. "What did interest me most of all was a shaft that rose up from the floor to the ceiling. The shaft was about four feet in circumference, and on the right-hand side stood two forms similar to those that walked along the towpath with me."

The curious old fisherman was then instructed to stand underneath an orange light. This light seemed to scan his body for several minutes. "What is your age?" asked one of the beings, in a voice which sounded like "a mixture of Chinese and Russian". When he told them his age, he was told that he could go. He was told he was too old and sick for their purposes. Burtoo then walked out of the ship, down the stairs and back to this fishing spot.

"The first thing I did was to pick up my cold cup of tea and drink it," he recalled. "...then I heard this whining noise, just as if an electric generator was starting up, and this thing lifted up then took off at a very high speed. I got into what I had come out for...the fishing!" He would later tell newsmen that it was one of the greatest experiences of his life.





There was no physical evidence of the crafts landing, and no marks of any kind on Burtoo. He did experience some loss of appetite and weight loss as well as some difficulty sleeping, but that passed after a short time. Burtoo was the only witness, and we may have to take his word, as he was not given to making up stories, and had no reason to perpetuate a hoax. He gained nothing from his experience except being in the local papers. Despite Mr Burtoo having passed away on August 31st, 1986, with almost religious regularity the local news papers write an abbreviated story about Mr.Burtoo’s encounter each year to coincide with the anniversary of this now famous encounter, and always they trivialize the case, running him down and generally making this witness a laughing stock.

His wife, Majorie, was asked if he had every confessed to her that the encounter was a hoax. She vehemently denied that Burtoo lied..."what Alf told you was the absolute truth. My friend who was with me when Alf came home can verify what he said. He looked absolutely shaken and he told both of us about his experience that he had with the UFO...."

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Top UFO Expert Confirms Man’s Astounding Claim

A 77-year-old man says he was taken aboard a spacecraft by four-foot-tall aliens wearing green suits and helmets - and a top UFO expert who has lectured to British government leaders says his astounding story is true.

Recalling his terrifying abduction, Alfred Burtoo of Aldershot, England, revealed that the strange squat creatures examined him under an amber spotlight, then told him: "You can go. You are too old and infirm for our purposes."

Burtoo said the phenomenal encounter with otherworldly beings occurred early in the morning last August 12, as he was fishing in a canal.

"I spotted a light in the sky coming toward me," he recalled. "I thought: 'It can't be an airplane, because it's only 300 feet off the ground. I wonder if it's a helicopter?'

"It landed behind some bushes, which blocked my view. Then I saw two shapes emerge from the bushes.

"They were about four feet high and dressed from head to foot in pale green coveralls. They had helmets of the same color, with their visors blacked out. I stood frozen to the spot in terror.

“It must be a terrible dream, I told … (The rest of the text in this sentence and the next is not readable. JW)

Timothy Good, who has also lectured on UFOs before a top British government commission probing UFO reports, told THE ENQUIRER:

"I am convinced this man is telling the truth."

Good, who has also lectured on UFOs at universities throughout England, said he interviewed Burtoo more than 12 times over several months and subjected him to a battery of questions. Burtoo always told the same story, exact in every detail. Good also investigated Burtoo’s background.

“There is no doubt in my mind that he was taken aboard an alien craft," concluded Good, who’s also an author and consultant to the British Broadcasting Corp.

Omar Fowler, chairman of the Surrey Investigation Group on Aerial Phenomena, which includes pilots and scientists among its members, added: "This is really an exciting case. I believe it to be genuine." - The National Enquirer, July 17, 1983

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Man goes fishing – is caught by flying saucer

ANGLER ALFRED BURTOO has quite a different tale to tell after his fishing trip to a remote canal.

It was he who got caught - by little green men who took him aboard their flying saucer.

The astonishing incident occurred at Aldershot, England, where experts are convinced of the validity of his story. Comments Omar Fowler of the Surrey Investigation Group on Aerial Phenomena: "I've been investigating UFO sightings for 16 years, and this is the most sensational thing that's ever happened."

Burtoo, 77, accompanied by his dog. Tiny, was fishing in the canal when, he says, the flying saucer landed.

"I saw a bright light coming towards me and it hovered just over the railway line" he recalls.

"It then settled on the bank, I went to have a look, and two figures dressed in pale green suits came towards me.

"They were about four feet tall and had dark visors covering their faces.

"One of them beckoned me and I followed them to the steps.

"I wasn't afraid - I was more curious than anything."

Burtoo then describes going aboard the UFO.

"It was made of a kind of burnished aluminum, and I climbed some steps and went inside” he says.

"I walked across the room and one of the aliens spoke to me in a kind of sing­song voice, with an accent something between Russian and Chinese.

"He asked me to stand under the amber light. I couldn't see it at first, because there was a kind of black tube blocking my view.

"Then I saw it and went and did as I was told.

"After a few moments, they then asked me to turn around, which I did. They asked me how old I was, and I told them the truth.

"Then they said I could go because was I too old and infirm for their purpose."

Burtoo left the spaceship and was halfway along the towpath when it took off.

Burtoo says: "I didn't believe in flying saucers until this happened to me.”

Believed

Although Burton told his wife, son and a neighbor about his close encounter, he didn't report it officially because he didn't think he'd be believed.

There have been dozens of unexplained reports of unidentified flying objects in the area during the past 15 years.

Says, Fowler: "I was very skeptical about his story when I went to interview him.

"But he came out with things he couldn't possibly have known about unless he'd been studying UFOs for years.

"I'm convinced his story is absolutely true and this actually happened." - Examiner, Jan 24, 1984

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FISHERMAN HOOKED BY UFO

Over 500 Americans claim to have been abducted by strange beings piloting flying saucers. Their stories usually include a description of the interior of the vehicle. Often they are given a physical examination, and usually they carry psychological scars for several years. Similar incidents occur in other countries around the globe.

According to the ALDERSHOT NEWS, a small British newspaper, 77-year old Alfred Burtoo had a close encounter while fishing on August 12, 1983. Mr. Burtoo was alone except for his small dog. He was fishing in the Basingstoke Canal about 1:15 a. m. when he saw a light approaching in the sky. Quickly, the light grew in size and became a large saucer-shaped thing with a dome on top and a row of ports around the center.

The saucer landed nearby and two small humanoids dressed in pale green coveralls, with dark visor covering their faces, came out and beckoned Burtoo to come to them. As he followed them up some steps and through a doorway he noted that the object appeared to be made of burnished aluminum.

One of the critters told him to cross the room and stand under an amber light. He said it spoke in a sing-song voice with a strange accent. Next, he was told to turn around and finally was asked to state his age. When he said he would soon be 78 years old he was told he was too old and sickly to be of value.

He walked out of the saucer and down the steps. When he was only a short distance away the craft rose, flew over the military ceme­tery, and turned towards Tongham.

Mr. Burtoo told his family and neighbor about his experience, but made no official report until an American Air Force officer acknowledged a sighting in the same general area. Now that his experience is public knowledge maybe his fears will subside and he will be able to sleep again.

A British expert said: "I am convinced his story is absolutely true and this actually happened." If so who is next? - UFO’s Confidential, Jan, 1984, Vol 1 No.5

NOTE: I've always been a bit wary of this case, though, a few people I have talked to who were knowledgeable of this encounter find it significant that Burtoo had no prior interest in UFOs and technology. Still, this story does leave a lot of questions that will never be answered...Lon

Sources:
Walking Through Walls and Other Impossibilities: The Hybrid Agenda
ufoevidence.org
user.cs.tu-berlin.de
Ufos In Reality: Programmed Aerospace Monitors Of Our Species
beamsinvestigations.org.uk
forteantimes.com
nicap.com
Nightmare Alley: Fearsome Accounts of Alien Abduction: New Evidence You Could Become Their Next Victim!
ufos.about.com
graylien.110mb.com

Just the Facts?: Battle of Gettysburg Anniversary -- Taken by Small People -- Arthur C Clarke's DNA Going Into Deep Space

Gettysburg anniversary provides booming season for battlefield ghosts

Eric Wittnebel was more of a Scooby-Doo type when it came to ghosts.

The California native pointed the infrared thermometer into the darkness and watched the temperature surrounding the group of 10 slowly drop, admittedly a peculiar occurrence for such a warm June.

A tour with Gettysburg's After Dark Investigations led Wittnebel and his expedition to 'the Grove,' a small wood south of the Gettysburg square in search of the paranormal. With only so much ghost lore to go around, some tours have extended beyond usual haunts, to such locations as the Grove. Others stick to town and regale visitors with tales of strange phenomenon surrounding the Jenny Wade House or the Farnsworth Inn.

In a town where even the land beneath McDonald's is believed by more than one ghost tour guide to be tinged with spiritual energy, Gettysburg has managed to build a booming paranormal industry. Over the past few years, paranormal tours have become increasingly popular, with as many as 11 popping up recently.

Ashley Brennan, a tour guide for After Dark Investigations, said a person needs to see for themselves to truly believe.

"We didn't want to tell stories, we want people to get their own," Brennan said. "Once you have a paranormal experience, you don't forget it."

After Dark equips their investigators with ghost-hunting gadgets like electromagnetic field detectors - along with old-fashioned dowsing rods.

This year, for the first time, After Dark's bravest of visitors can even pay to spend the night in a 200-year-old church the guides insist is haunted. Still, each tour guide has a different philosophy for the best way to catch a glimpse of the supernatural near America's bloodiest battlefield.

Gettysburg Ghost Tours' guide Johlene "Spooky" Riley dons the garb of Civil War widow each night to give her tours an authentic edge.

Riley led her tour group to the creek behind Steinwehr Avenue the other night to show them the spot where the waterway once became clogged with the bodies of dead soldiers. Her black-gloved hand swung her silver candle lantern as she walked, exaggerating the shadows across her face.

Riley told the cluster of families on her tour she believed strongly in the dying art of storytelling, describing Gettysburg as the ghost mecca of the world.
Still, as the group huddled closer to her in the alley behind Steinwehr to make room for a passing rival ghost tour, Riley tipped her veiled bonnet to the passing Confederate soldier leading them.

"You might think that's a Confederate re-enactor, with no shoes, who's just hardcore," Riley said. "Chances are he's not hardcore - he's a ghost."
For the past decade, the number of tourists traversing Gettysburg's

Investigator Ashley Brennan with After Dark Investigations shines a flashlight on a set of dowsing rods being used by Tracey Wittnebel of California as the group attempts to contact spirits Wed., June 19, 2013 in the Grove. (THE EVENING SUN -- SHANE DUNLAP)
streets and alleys, ghost hunting equipment in hand and cameras at the ready, has steadily increased. So each must find something new to offer sightseers eager for a glimpse of Gettysburg's more-permanent residents - the ghosts.

Ghostly Images of Gettysburg promises their customers will see phantom historical figures - civilian Jenny Wade, killed by a stray sniper's bullet during the battle, for example - during theatrical performances in some of their haunted locations.

Alexis Gasparovich, of Ghostly Images, spends part of her time playing Jenny Wade's mother Mary and the other part as a tour guide.

She encouraged those on her Haunted Orphanage Tour on Baltimore Street to take photos inside the building, in hopes someone might capture a rogue orb or ethereal mist. The orphanage dining room was lined with portraits whose eyes light up on cue. Ersatz cobwebs and the occasional skull could be seen inside.

However, lest they forget it was once a place where orphans were chained to the walls by their guardian in the late 19th century, the group was taken to the deep part of the basement. Pieces of metal, remnants of the shackles, could still be seen embedded in the stone wall.

As the group of 15 filed down to the basement, eerie dolls, suspended from the ceiling by their necks, swayed gently. At first glance, Ghostly Images may seem lacking in realistic touches.

Still, the experience proved too much for one child, who asked to be excused before the lights were turned out. This year Gasparovich said her tours have been lucky with their cameras when the rooms go dark.

"We've been getting phenomenal images this year," Gasparovich said. "People have captured lots of full-blown, full-bodied apparitions."

Despite the variation between each organization's services, the question that all of the tour guides seem to be getting is whether or not there will be more ghostly activity this year because of the 150th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg.

For a spirit spending eternity in the town of Gettysburg, time might not mean a whole lot. Still, others argue this is a big year for sightings.

"There are more eyes and ears out there," Riley said. "So who's to say if it's going to actually be more active or if we're just looking closer." - YDR

Battle of Gettysburg 150th Anniversary - Calender of Events

NOTE: If I can make a suggestion for those who plan to visit Gettysburg in the next week or so and who want to experience paranormal anomalies...try to find (at night) someplace quiet very near the battlefield park and just take in the activity. Areas near Culp's Hill, the Lutheran Seminary and along Herr's Ridge Road (where the CSA encampments were) offer some of the best night investigations from my experience. The well-known spots are going to be inundated with paranormal groups...ex. Sachs Covered Bridge, touring locations in the town, etc. You are allowed on the battlefield until 10 PM...but the curfew is strictly enforced. So if you plan an 'all-nighter' I suggest using the previously mentioned areas. As always...be respectful. Don't be surprised if you run into a rebel soldier or two trying to make their way back to safety. Lon

Gettysburg Unearthed:: The Excavation Of A Haunted History

Gettysburg Heroes: Perfect Soldiers, Hallowed Ground

Haunted Gettysburg Campfire Ghost Stories

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Taken by Small People

Kanab, Utah - 6/1/2013 - unedited: I had awaken I thought there was something in the bedroom, but I said to myself that it was all right. I would take care of it later. and noticed the time was 3:05 am (a habit I have of noticing the time, so I can calculate how much time I have before I have to wake up).
I started to go back to sleep and then I said, wait a minute, what was in the room. And I lifted my head off my pillow and I thought I was dreaming. But I realized that I was not really awake and not really sleeping and I looked at the foot of my bed and noticed small people. Two or three at the base of the bed. One right next to me, just looking. They had control of my mind. I was not afraid, I felt like I had experienced this before. I at first wondered how they got into the house. And when I wondered that, They communicated telepathically that opening doors was nothing. And almost simultaniously I was elevated and going with them. I could not cry out and wondered why my wife was sleeping through all this. She is a light sleeper. Then it occurred to me that they were doing everything telepathically anyway and not making a sound. This is where my memory stops. I dont know if I physically went on a ship with them, or not. I do remember the wind in my face. And being put back into the bed. I looked at the clock and it was 4:22. Went to sleep. End of story. Not quiet. I felt like I had done this before, well several years ago, 1997. I drive truck and a manager of Kanab custom meats at the time. I was on my way back from a small town in southern Utah when I remember coming over a null in the road and there was a bright light. And no more recollection. But I got home an hour later than normal. And I wondered what the hell happened. I remember just glimpses, like being lifted up and such. And once again wind in my face. And also I have a red blemish on my right hand back side just below the knuckle. It has been there every since 1997. Its tender to touch.
Now I dont know if the two experiences are connected. But I feel like this has happened several times since 1997. - MUFON CMS

The Alien Abduction Files: The Most Startling Cases of Human Alien Contact Ever Reported

Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind

The Rise and Fall of the Nephilim: The Untold Story of Fallen Angels, Giants on the Earth, and Their Extraterrestrial Origins

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Arthur C Clarke's DNA to join mission into deep space

A "few strands" of the late Arthur C Clarke's hair are due to travel on Nasa's "first ever solar sail mission into deep space".

The craft will be named the Sunjammer, after the story written by Clarke in 1964 about a race in space using solar sails. "The enormous disc of sail strained at its rigging, already filled with the wind that blew between the worlds," wrote the novelist almost 50 years ago. "The immense sail was taut, its mirror surface sparkling and glittering gloriously in the Sun … Something so huge, yet so frail, was hard for the mind to grasp. And it was harder still to realise that this fragile mirror could tow him free of Earth merely by the power of the sunlight it would trap."

The voyage, scheduled to launch at the end of 2014, is being organised by Celestis, which runs "memorial spaceflights" offering families the chance to send cremated remains into space (joining Clarke on board the Sunjammer would cost upwards of £8,000). Development of the solar sail has been led by Nasa, along with aerospace companies including Celestis's parent company Space Services Holdings.

Charles Chafer, chief executive of Space Services Holdings, said he first met Clarke in 1982 at the UN conference in Vienna on outer space. "I was/am a lifelong fan and attribute much of my interest in space to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey," said Chafer. "In 2000, when we were first planning a solar sail mission to deep space we approached him about donating a hair sample containing his DNA for launch. A partner at the time journeyed to Sri Lanka to his home where he obtained the sample."

In a note accompanying the sample, said Chafer, Clarke wrote: "Here are a few strands, I would give you more but I don't have any to spare." The author died in 2008 at the age of 90, leaving behind more than 100 books ranging from 2001: A Space Odyssey to Rendezvous with Rama.

Clarke's deep space voyage next year follows the last journey of Hunter S Thompson, whose ashes were fired from a rocket across his Colorado farm. The late Iain Banks has also expressed a wish for some of his ashes to be fired from a rocket over the Forth. So Clarke is not the first author to go beyond the bounds of Earth – although, with the Sunjammer set to journey three million kilometres towards the sun, he is likely to travel the furthest. - Guardian

2001: A Space Odyssey

The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke

Rendezvous with Rama

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Surrounded by ley lines, alien abductions and UFO crackpots

My own community is a UFO hotspot. It’s all to do with ley lines, a nearby stone monument created by Druids, an ancient curse – and the fact that we have the most serious alcohol and crack cocaine problem, per capita, in the UK.

My Uncle Norman’s wife was abducted by an alien in the summer of 1993. It carried out ghastly experiments, had sex with her, then dumped the middle-aged woman on her driveway in the early hours.

“He left me with love bites and kept my knickers,” she told Take A Digestive And Dunk It magazine.

She drew a picture of said alien for the coffee table publication. It was green, had large, lozenge eyes and a pointed head.

It was grinning and clutching a pint.

Aunt Rita was, let’s say, visually challenging. Perhaps that explains paragraph 13 of her ‘exclusive’ story: “I asked their leader, Zoren, if he was going to probe me. ‘Not tonight,’ said the giant lizard, ‘I have a bit of a headache’.”

She later left Norman for the alien, who has now taken human form, is called Trevor and drives a milk float in Brighton.

I do not believe her preposterous story. Uncle Norman does.

“Somehow,” he said, “believing she left me for a infinitely more intelligent being from another cosmos is easier to take than believing she dumped me for a tattooed milkman from East Sussex.”

That is the tangled, unsavoury background that drew me to the final slew of extra-terrestrial reports, dating back to 2009 and made public for the first time last Friday.

After that, the Ministry of Defence’s dedicated UFO Desk disbanded, amid claims from strange coves wearing Bacofoil hats that the Whitehall department had tripped on something so terrifying that its research had to be continued many miles from the public eye, such as a hidden corner of the Nevada Desert.

The truth is less sexy. In half a century, the desk was no closer to proving life on other planets.

Frankly, civil servants were also fed up with receiving Freedom of Information requests from inner city fruitcakes demanding to know if the RAF had been scrambled following reports of an “arcing ball of flame across the night sky”.

For “arcing ball of flame” read “petrol bomb”.

The reports did make me ponder one thing, though. When we catch a fish and put it back, does it think it’s been abducted by aliens?

I’ll admit the rash of reports from America have a ring of truth. Even Martians have to stop off for a toilet break.

The only remarkable thing about the reports – their ‘D Notices’ now deleted– is the diplomatic courtesy from government bods swamped by a plethora of ludicrous demands. Not once did their thorough responses sink into sarcasm.

They may have sniggered when one Coventry housewife, confronted by dancing orbs in her garden, asked: “What do they want? Am I and my springer spaniel contaminated?”

The resisted the urge to reply: “Yes, you’re contaminated. PS: they want your dog.”

I felt for the Cardiff camper who endured a Close Encounter of the Third Kind. Martians ignored him, but took his car, tent and dog. Rejection like that is hard to get over.

Thumbing through the dossiers only underlined fundamental flaws in the long-running flying saucer saga.

If there are beings out there bestowed with the intelligence to breach seemingly insurmountable barriers of time, light and sound why do they avoid making contact with world leaders, preferring the company of peasant farmers, neurotic housewives and dreamy teenagers.

“I am a Throll from Planet Zarg and I come with a warning of the perils facing your planet.”

“Sorry, Sir, this is the drive-thru at McDonald’s, Erdington. Would you like to see the manager?”

Studying the blurred images, I was struck by a further truth: Aliens only visit people with naff camcorders and shaky hands.

I would like to congratulate one Black Country wind-up merchant who wrote to the MoD, claiming: “Last night I was abducted by beings from another planet. They made me blow my nose and eat all my greens.

“I think I was on the mothership.”

What would aliens make of us, I wonder?

“Earth beings follow many religions.

“Almost every home has a book dedicated to a man performing miracles to ensure good triumphs over evil.

“This man has many names. Some call him Jesus, some call him Buddha.

“But most call him...Harry Potter.” - Birmingham Mail


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Thanks for reading 'Phantoms and Monsters'
Paypal ID - lonstrickler@phantomsandmonsters.com

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Photo Submission: What Is It? - Hollis, NH

Click image for larger version

I received the following email with the photo attached. I zoomed in and cleaned up some of the blurriness:

Hi-
I haven't found any ideas on what this animal is, so I'm still looking. Please email with your take on it.
Thanks! R.

This was in Hollis NH - at about 1pm -- (I was driving on my lunch hour). I was toying with the idea of going into this old, cool-looking graveyard but I thought maybe not - because I didn't want to chance picking up any 'attachments' :) So I turned down a dirt road near it instead -- I began to drive down the road to turn around - and the animal walked left to right across my path- I took the pics and then turned the car around to leave - it walked again left to right in front of my car - then it slipped behind some trees - there was a house off of the dirt road - I was thinking - Gee, I wonder if they know this kind of animal is hanging around during the day- :)

It was taken on a cell phone - It was the size of a large dog - ( I thought it might be a coyote hybrid) has that fox color - I thought if it had any 'weirdness' to it - it might be because I decided against going into that little old cemetery - (it looked totally physical). The face is totally white - no features == when I looked at it I got the butterflies because I couldn't see a face where one should be! :D And I sensed that it was looking at me - because it was turned my way waiting...You can see the white in the pic.

I had heard a description matching the animal on two different shows about Skinwalkers - eek... ;)

NOTE: I told the witness that I thought it may be a black bear that had been overexposed (making it's color lighter with the white face). Doesn't seem to be canine IMO. What do you think? Lon

Weird New England: Your Travel Guide to New England's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets

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The Vanishing Airman

I received the following narrative a few days ago:

I was stationed at U-Tapao Air Base in Thailand in '69-'70. I was 19 years old at the time.

We lived in an open bay barracks about 150 feet long, 3 stories high, higher ranking NCO's lived on the first floor lesser ranks on the second and third - I was on the second floor. The bay was open but we used lockers and partitions about head-high for some privacy. We made cubicles 4 men per, we each had a locker, a bed, and a common desk, sometimes small shelves as well. There were rows of lights all along the ceiling so if someone turned on the lights it woke the whole floor up. If you stood a little tall you could see down the barracks.

The barracks was in an east-west line with double doors on each end and the latrines were on the west end. All floors were the same, my cubicle was on the westerly end.

With about 200-300 people in each barracks (and my squadron alone had three barracks, the officers had quarters elsewhere) coming and going at all times of the day and night. You can imagine the mayhem, noise and lack of privacy. Also we had "hootch" girls cleaning up and washing clothes, making beds, ironing uniforms, etc. all day in and around the barracks.

There was a man who lived in our barracks, an airman, who I had seen around at work and at the barracks - quiet, kind of strange, just a little off.

I had heard that this man, something was wrong and he was being flown back to the states, what the problem was nobody knew. Rumors suggested that there was a personality issue, maybe mental health, I don't know. I heard that he just didn't fit in somehow.

Here's the part that has spooked me for 44 years now.

One day I had a routine medical appointment. After I was done I went back to the barracks. I had a little break before the shuttle bus was coming by so I could get on to work. when I walked in the barracks I noticed that I was the only one in the barracks - no noise, no house girls, completely deserted and quiet. This was unusual, and very strange. I walked to my cubicle, opened my locker, got a paperback book and took a break, still not realizing the implications. Where was everyone? Usually there were guys going to work, getting off work, sleeping, hootch girls chattering away, guys drinking - but not now.

After a few minutes, I got up and walked to the east end of the barracks to go out to the bus stop. As I got close to the door, and on a cubicle to my right I noticed thia guy sitting in his cubicle dressed in his uniform (the khaki 1505's) a uniform not worn for the type of work we did. He had a full duffel next to him and was smoking a cigarette, I said "looks like your leaving" and he nodded "yeah", I said, "well good luck', "thanks " he replied.

I took about four steps, suddenly remembered that I had forgot my secure area badge. I turned around to go back to my cubicle to get my badge and as I passed the cubicle where the guy was sitting...HE WAS GONE, vanished, him and his bag. The only thing left was a cigarette still burning in the ashtray, I remember very distinctly the smoke curling up and the complete silence, and stillness.

There was no way he was in the hallway. If he would have been I would have seen him, and if he was going to the latrine he wouldn't have taken his duffel - they are awkward and hard to move around if they're full. He wasn't in any other cubicle because on my way back to the opposite end of the barracks, I would have seen him.

Nobody ever knew what happened - everyone assumed that he got on a plane as scheduled. But one thing I know for sure is that one minute he was sitting there and within 10 seconds he was gone. Just as soon as I turned my back he disappeared.

I can remember the incident vividly, I know it happened but I can't explain it. To this day, I'm stymied. TommyTwoTone - Utah

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Strange Figure Captured on Wildlife Camera

This image was posted at Strange Figure on Wildlife Camera:

Photo was taken on a wildlife / deer camera in N. Georgia. The camera was set up to attempt to catch trespassers on some property that the owners were observing a light in the woods off from their house at night. We (law enforcement officers) believed the light source were in fact coon hunters during the night (very common for the area). After a number of reports from the complainant and unable to locate any hunters in the area, the property owner put a wildlife cam up. The property owner checked the camera the next day and contacted us to take a look at the pictures. The property owner wouldn't tell me what he thought it was and I wouldn't express my opinion of what I thought it was, for fear that we didn't want the other to think each other was crazy. I have another photo collected from a DNR (Department of Natural Resources) Ranger about the same week on a different camera at a different location that is similar to this picture. As the Ranger said to me, he has never seen anything like it. I just thought this would be something to share with everyone.

--"Dingo"

NOTE: I'd like to dismiss this as either being doctored or simply an insect flying by...but there's something about it that raises my hackles. What do you think? Lon

The Book of Strange and Curious Legal Oddities: Pizza Police, Illicit Fishbowls, and Other Anomalies of the Law That Make Us All Unsuspecting Criminals

The Strange Case of William Mumler, Spirit Photographer (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage Books)

Life: Strange But True: 100 of the World's Weirdest Wonders (Plus: Famous Hoaxes Revealed) (Life (Life Books))

This Week On 'Beyond The Edge' Radio: 'Cryptid Roundtable'

Join Eric, Lon and Sean as we host a 'Cryptid Roundtable' w/ special guests on BTE Radio. We will be discussing anything & everything in the cryptid world...Bigfoot, Mothman, Thunderbirds, Dogman, Alien Cats, Werewolves, Underwater Creatures, Humanoids, etc. We are inviting crypto experts and enthusiasts to join us and call in. Have you experienced a cryptid encounter? Feel free to tell us about it. This promises to be a very informative & entertaining show!

This event is listed at 'Beyond The Edge Radio' Facebook Events and BTE Google+ Events - Click the links and let us know you'll be there!


Join Eric Altman, Lon Strickler and Sean Forker
each Sunday at 8 PM ET as we go
Beyond the Edge!
Call toll free 1-877-677-2858 during the live broadcast

Just the Facts?: Volkswagen-Sized Hornets Nest -- Accountant Practicing Qing Gong -- Searching for Bigfoot...Not Growing Pot!

Hornet's nest the size of a Volkswagen Beetle reported near Florida couple's home

A Florida couple says they have an unwelcome neighbor the size of a Volkswagen Beetle that just won't buzz off.

A giant hornet's nest approximately 20 feet in circumference is hanging from a tree just feet from their Greenville home.

According to KLTV, Norman Bush and his wife Pat are worried the nest could be a danger to the public if it is not taken care of.

"If somebody wants to come by and was to shoot it or something like that I'm sure that they'd swarm everywhere," Norman Bush told KLTV. "Imagine if a child or something was out in my yard and they all attack that child that would be bad news.”

The hornets, the largest of the wasp species, are not bothering anyone. However, the nest does create a potentially hazardous situation and the Bushes do not want to take any chances.

Hornets do not lose their stingers when they attack and commonly sting more than once.

Animal control officials are strategizing ways to remove the possibly record-breaking nest. New Zealand currently holds the Guinness World Record with a nest measuring 12 feet 2 inches long. - 10News

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Aussie accountant inspired to research telepathy

Accountant Beiyue Wang, 37, of Rockdale, says he has the telepathic ability to detect unhealthy organs in the body.

When he closes his eyes, he is able to visualise a person in shades of black, white and grey — the "black" being areas of concern.

Mr Wang inherited the ability from his father, 73, who lives in China and practises qing gong, the Chinese art of making the body extremely light in weight by altering the distribution and flow of chi, or "life-force energy".

Mr Wang did not believe in qing gong when he was growing up. The turnaround came last December when his father visited Australia to see his grandson, aged 16 months.

"My father came to look at the baby and said the baby could have this ability and if he can become a doctor it would be very good for him," Mr Wang said. "When the baby grows to be a teenager, my father will be 89 and he won't really be able to instruct the baby so he said he will make notes for me so that I can instruct the baby."

Mr Wang is now hoping to perfect his craft with the help of volunteers.

He is seeking people willing to have a "test" and those who believe they may have their telepathicabilities.

During a "test", Mr Wang and the subject both stand silently with eyes closed for about two minutes.

Mr Wang uses his "third eye" to scan the body, while occasionally he opens his eyes.

Mr Wang said it would take practice to perfect his ability to identify organs he saw as being "black", or unhealthy.

He said he did not recommend that anyone act on his findings until he was was more confident of his identification skills.

This writer took part in a "test" that revealed areas of black within the stomach area, trachea, spleen and/or breast.

In February, Britain's The Times reported that telepathic communication was close to becoming a reality after scientists stated they had created the first brain-to-brain interface.

It was understood that scientists had demonstrated it was possible to capture neuronal activity of rats with a chip implanted in the brain of one animal and to project the signals into the brain of a second animal, also implanted with a brain chip. - The Leader

Qigong Teachings of a Taoist Immortal: The Eight Essential Exercises of Master Li Ching-yun

Dream Telepathy: Experiments in Nocturnal Extrasensory Perception (Studies in Consciousness)

Mysteries of the Life Force: My Apprenticeship with a Chi Kung Master

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'Chupacabras' sighting in San Antonio city limits - (Blue Dog)

Margaux Huckabay said her brother spotted the legendary chupacabra on Bitters.

"At first he thought it was a coyote," said Huckabay. "It definitely looks weird."

Her brother quickly grabbed his phone and started recording the animal as it tried to scurry away it glanced back at the camera.

"It has a really long nose and a really long tail," Huckabay said.

She couldn't believe it and still wonders if it was really the goat blood sucker everyone talks about.

"I actually Google Imaged 'chupacabra' and it looks just like the other images. It's kinda freaky," she said.

After spotting it, the next night Huckabay and her brother drove back to the area but it was nowhere to be seen. They did, however, post it on Facebook and people are chiming in with their thoughts.

"People were saying its probably a coyote with mange but then someone wrote back that doesn't look like a coyote. It has a long tail," she said.

Either way, whatever it was, it may still be lurking around the city.

"It would be cool if we saw it again," she said. - KEN5

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I’m not growing pot, I’m searching for Bigfoot!

A Toronto man claims he was harassed for walking through thick brush in Durham region by a police officer who accused him of being a pot grower.

Tim Marczenko denies the claim, saying he wasn’t growing dope, he was investigating sightings of Bigfoot.

“He asked me, ‘What are you doing out here?’ I told him I was investigating a Bigfoot report and he said, ‘Wow, you’re a terrible liar,’ ” said Mr. Marczenko. ” ‘I know it sounds crazy but I’m not lying about it,’ I said. He kept telling me I was lying about the situation.”

The site was under police surveillance after nearby residents complained about groups of young men flocking to the forest armed with shovels in weeks past. Three men were later arrested after several marijuana plants were found deep in the woods. Their cover was to tell the locals they were searching for Bigfoot.

Last August, Mr. Marczenko said he was on assignment for the Ontario Wildlife Field Research investigation into numerous reports of Bigfoot-sized tracks in the Township of Brockton.

After spending more than two hours in the bush and no sign of the creature, Mr. Marczenko called it a day. He started to drive away from the site in his rental car but a police SUV emerged from the woods and blocked his exit. Mr. Marczenko alleges Const. Robert Aukema put him under arrest for possession of a controlled substance even though a search of his clothes, bags and car produced nothing.

“He was very aggressive, very rude. He didn’t listen to anything I said, everything was a non-answer and it went on like this,” he said.

An internal investigation by the Durham Regional Police Service found no wrong doing by Const. Aukema. A police spokesperson declined to comment as the matter is currently under review by the Independent Police Review Director.

Mr. Marczenko’s run-in with police hasn’t put him off his quest to find Bigfoot.

“I could see how some people find it hard to believe,” said Mr. Marczenko. “The reports are coming in every week… Someone has to go out and take it seriously.” -
National Post