In the year 1559. In Marchia (within Wales) fell out a very strange thing, which many of great account and credit did affirm truly so to happen. In harvest time, on a sudden appeared some men in the fields, at first fifteen, at last twelve, all of an unwonted magnitude and an odious shape, both first and last were without heads. All these having siccles did on a cluster reap down the Oats, that the hone of the Iron was easily heard, yet all this while no Oats were cut. Immediately the report of this marvellous sight came to the Court, and many, both of the Courtiers and Citizens went forth, and were eyewitnesses of this miraculous Vision. Many also going nearer to them, aske of them who they were and what would they have? To which they made no reply, but fel stoutly to their work which had begun. Some also did dare to lay hands upon them, and to hold them, but they quickly escaped out of their hand. Whereupon it evidently appeared to all that there were then present, that they were Spirits. That Illustrious Prince of Marchia having convocated many of his most eminent Divines, desire to know of them what they though of this strange prodigy: Most of them were of opinion, that it was the omen of an ensuing Plague.
NOTE: These early 'close encounter' accounts are quite interesting...most were associated as a harbinger of bad times ahead. Lon
*Full source: An history of apparitions, oracles, prophecies, and predictions with dreams, visions, and revelations and the cunning delusions of the devil, to ... and the worshipping of saints departed (1658)
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NZ woman 'drove and texted while asleep'
New Zealand police are seeking an order to stop a woman from driving, amid concerns that she had driven hundreds of miles while asleep, even sending text messages along the way.
Friends of the woman alerted the police, saying that she has a highly unusual sleep disorder.
She was found slumped at the wheel at a house she once lived in, and told police she had no memory of her trip.
Police said most of the text messages she had sent were incoherent.
A sleep expert told the BBC that although her story stretched credulity to the limits, it was not impossible.
Dr Neil Stanley said that while there had been cases of "sleep driving", "sleep texting" is not so common.
"If she could drive while asleep then it's possible she could also send texts while asleep," he said.
"But if that really happened it would be an extreme case that would truly stretch the limits of what is considered to be possible."
Police said that they received an emergency call just after midnight on Wednesday from a friend of the woman who was worried that she had gone out in her car after taking sleeping medication.
They said that 10 months ago the woman had done the same thing.
Police say that patrol cars were ordered to keep a lookout for her silver hatchback and tracked her via her mobile phone.
They said that data revealed that she was sending texts as she drove from her Hamilton home to the beachside town of Mount Maunganui through Auckland in the North Island, a distance of almost 300km (190 miles).
"We have sought an urgent order forbidding her to drive and to seek medical advice on her suitability to remain holding her driver's licence," Senior Sergeant Dave Litton said.
"While her being found safe and well is a relief for everyone involved, the potential for tragedy was huge." - BBC
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Haunted School Update
A school in Swaziland is supposedly being attacked by ghosts – or maybe it's the ghosts who are being attacked.
Either way, police took a hands-off attitude, saying that it was a spiritual matter. So, officials closed the school while ghostbusting pastors came in to pray the potty phantom away.
From the Times of Swaziland:
The attacks, said to be affecting both pupils and teachers alike, resulted in the school being closed on Tuesday and a prayer, involving parents, teachers and pupils, was held on Thursday. Two pastors led the prayer...
During the prayer pupils related how they heard a strange voice in the latrines, which shouted at them for relieving themselves on him. Three girls aged 13, 14 and 16 related what they experienced while in the latrine. They had gone to answer to the call of nature together as they are close friends who were always together when at school. Two entered the latrine while the third remained by the door.
“While they were inside I heard a voice addressing them and it asked why they were relieving themselves on it. I asked who was in there with them as I didn’t see anyone enter. The shouting became louder and I decided to run away and went to report what had happened to my teacher but he didn’t believe me,” said Nono*.
Her friends Nobuhle* and Nokwazi said immediately they heard the voice they also took to their heels. However they never got to see where the voice was coming from as they were terrified. Nono said after a few minutes another group from junior classes reported to their teachers that other learners had a similar encounter while relieving themselves.
“When I got home I told my mother about it and she dismissed me saying I should stop making up stories. Last week Friday the situation worsened when a majority of young girls were verbally attacked by the strange voice.
“It was after that incident on Monday that the matter was reported to the Manzini Regional Education office. The head teacher said he went to Manzini and the REO said he should handle it with the support of parents because as a ministry they do not want to discuss such issues without an input from parents,” said Nono...
School Committee Chairperson Nomsa Dlamini said as parents they were concerned with the prevailing situation at the school.
“In our Tuesday meeting a request was made by some parents to whoever may have brought whatever this thing to the area to please take it back.
At the moment we are leaving everything to God because we do not have an answer to the problem,” said Nomsa...
Inspector Khulani Mamba, Police Deputy PRO said there was a case of that nature with the Bhunya police. He said police were called to monitor the situation at the school. Mamba said as police there was little they could do because the incident was more spiritual and they would leave everything to pastors to handle.
“We heard that whatever this thing is was also attacking teachers such that they have deserted staff houses. Since this is a spiritual thing there is very little we can do as police to help the teachers,” said Inspector Mamba.
* Not their real names
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Boy Encounters 'Hairy Man'
This happened when the witness was seven-years-old. He remembers everything vividly, even his age when he saw the Hairy Man.
When he was a young boy, “John” and his family were at fishcamp near Kwethluk. One fine day, John and his friends were out swimming and playing a game of “Not-it” when he ran around a corner of a beach and brush along the river. Suddenly, John stopped running when he saw a Hairy Man standing motionless less than 100 feet away looking at him.
The creature and John stared at each other for a long moment. Then John looked back behind him to see if his friends were there and seeing the creature too, but they weren’t there. When he turned around to look at the Hairy Man again, it was gone.
John then quit playing with his friends and went instead to his family’s camp where his mother met him. She asked why he seemed so anxious, and John told her he had just seen a “carayak,” not knowing how else to call the Hairy Man. (Carayak is the Yup’ik name for “beast,” often for the brown bear.)
John’s mother then told his father what happened. Then John and his dad left to inspect what he was talking about. All they saw were these strange tracks in the grass, which appeared to have been spun around at a point where the Hairy Man was standing and ran off. John’s father followed the tracks for a short way but didn’t see what made them.
To this day, John remembers the Hairy Man as a tall creature – about 8-9 feet high – and while standing its arms extended past its knees. It was hairy all over, the color being light brown. Its face looked like a cross between an ape and a man. Its eyes were small on a grey face, and its nose seemed flat. The creature’s chest, although hairy, showed a pinkish skin color beneath it.
John said he didn’t feel any fear at the moment when he saw the Hairy Man, which it was standing just in front of the trees when he saw it. But his mother later told John he appeared pale and perplexed when he came home after that moment of seeing the animal.
To this day John, now an adult, has never seen anything like it again. However, whenever he’s out alone in the wilderness and remembers his Hairy Man encounter, the hair on the back of his neck start to stick out a little. - Delta Discovery
Haunted Alaska: Ghost Stories from the Far North
On the Track of the Sasquatch Bigfoot
Sasquatch: searching for the answer
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