Mothman Theories Explored On Science Channel's 'Unexplained Files'
For nearly 50 years, residents of Point Pleasant, W. Va., have claimed they've been haunted by a huge bird-like creature called the "Mothman."
According to people who've seen the strange creature, it stands about 6 feet, 10 inches tall, has glowing red eyes and a 15-foot wingspan, according to the Science Channel's "The Unexplained Files," which delves into "the world's most profound and disturbing mysteries."
In the Sept. 18 episode of the show, witnesses share their Mothman sighting stories.
"This thing jumped right on the hood of the car and it just looked at my brother," Fay DeWitt, who said she saw the Mothman in 1966, told the program. "[We] were wondering what it was going to do next. I was just petrified for a few minutes... Then it just got up on top of this 5-story building and just went off the top of it."
In December, 1967, nearly a year after DeWitt's encounter, the Silver Bridge collapsed in Point Pleasant, W. Va., killing 46 people. That event started a local legend that the Mothman only appears before major tragedies. Other places supposedly visited by the Mothman include Russia, where witnesses reported seeing it before the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, according to the program.
Although the Mothman is often associated with tragedy, Point Pleasant is also hoping to associate it with tourism. The town's 12th annual Mothman Festival takes place this coming weekend, according to the Point Pleasant Herald-Dispatch.
Skeptics dismiss the Mothman as a hoax or an example of mass illusion.
Researcher Joe Nickell noted in his 2004 book, The Mystery Chronicles: More Real-Life X-Files
that after the first sightings, a group of construction workers were revealed to have tied red flashlights to helium balloons.He also attributed other Mothman reports to pranks, misidentified planes, and suggested that the Mothman's "glowing eyes" were actually red-eye effect caused from the reflection of light from flashlights or other bright light sources. - THP
Encounters with Flying Humanoids: Mothman, Manbirds, Gargoyles & Other Winged Beasts
Phantoms & Monsters: Cryptid Encounters
Monsters of West Virginia: Mysterious Creatures in the Mountain State
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Chinese Hospital Asks for the Blood of 100 Virgins
The Peking University Cancer Hospital says it needs the blood of 100 female virgins to study the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), an affliction usually contracted through sexual activity.
The hospital asks that the women be aged 18-24, since their blood is "less likely to be infected with HPV."
Chinese social media erupted over claims of such a study being demeaning to women and "promoting virginity worship."
"It's in line with international practice to collect female virgins' blood samples, which serve as negative control substances in HPV research" says hospital spokeswoman Guan Jiuping, "given that the risk of contracting HPV is low among women who have never had sex."
Possibly the strangest aspect of this request is that the hospital is using the honor system and won't be conducting tests to see if volunteers are being truthful about their virginity. - BubbleWS
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Will Humans Always Eat Humans?
A Massachusetts man will be sentenced to at least 18 years in prison for planning to kidnap and eat children and other crimes. A lawyer for Geoffrey Portway, a 40-year-old computer operator, acknowledged that his client had a fascination with cannibalism and eating human flesh — specifically that of children — and had discussed in online chats abducting and eating a child.
While there is no evidence that Portway actually ate, abducted or assaulted anyone, he took his fantasy a step further, creating a dungeon of horrors in his basement, including a soundproofed room, a child-sized cage and bondage equipment.
Portway is not alone. Earlier this year a New York police officer, Gilberto Valle, was convicted in a similar case. Like Portway, Valle had discussed disturbing sexual fantasies involving abducting, raping, torturing and eating people — in his case, women. Though neither Portway nor Valle acted upon his cannibalistic fantasies, others have, including serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
Historical Cannibalism
The idea that consuming another’s flesh — or taking another person’s body parts — gives the cannibal or killer some special power or ability is ancient. Carole Travis-Henikoff, in her book “Dinner With a Cannibal: The Complete History of Mankind’s Oldest Taboo,” notes that worldwide “archaeological evidence of cannibalism and brutality dates back hundreds of thousands of years,” including in America, where it wasn’t “uncommon for a Native American who killed an enemy in dangerous territory to eat his enemy’s heart on the spot or take some part of the body back as proof of the kill.”
Then there are stories of starvation-created cannibalism, such as the case of a Uruguayan rugby team whose airplane crashed in the frigid Andes mountains in 1972. Starving survivors of the crash were forced to eat the bodies of the dead before being rescued months later.
Jamestown Colonists Resorted To Cannibalism
Many believe that the Donner pioneer group, which became trapped by a snowstorm during the winter of 1846 in Nevada, resorted to cannibalism, though
recent research suggests that this may be a myth.
Interest in modern cannibalism surged in the wake of zombie-themed movies, TV shows and books over the past few years, in some cases adding a flesh-eating spin on news stories. For example, in May of last year a Florida man, Rudy Eugene, was accused of attacking a homeless man and biting his victim’s face and ripping his flesh until police shot him. Rumors spread that Eugene was high at the time on a new narcotic called “bath salts,” though later tests revealed that
the only drug in his system at the time was marijuana.
Since Eugene was killed on the spot there’s no way to determine his motive. It’s possible that the attack was a genuine effort to eat his victim’s flesh. But the naked, unarmed man used his teeth as a weapon, not a tool for consumption. Without some documented history of interest in eating human flesh — as, for example, we clearly have with Portway — it seems more likely that it was not really a case of cannibalism after all.
However later that same month there was a genuine cannibalism incident: Alexander Kinyua, a student at Maryland’s Morgan State University, confessed to killing his roommate, then dismembering and eating the heart and brain. His motive was said to be related to belief in magic. Kinyua is from East Africa, where there is strong belief that eating body parts of others can bestow magical powers and abilities.
So, will humans always eat other humans? Sadly — and unnervingly — the answer is almost certainly yes. Motives for cannibalism vary greatly depending on the individual and situation, and include psychopathology, sexual fantasy, hunger and magical beliefs. Whenever a group of humans are faced with death by starvation, some of their companions will inevitably become food. And, of course, there will always be disturbed individuals like Jeffrey Dahmer and Geoffrey Portway who will fantasize about, and sometimes enact, the idea of eating others. The fact that these incidents are incredibly rare does not make them any less horrific. - Discovery
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Could large footprint be from a northern Ohio Sasquatch?
It measures 7 inches wide from toe to toe. And its bigger than a normal man's foot. What's more: this footprint was left behind by someone, or something, right here in northern Ohio.
Wendy was doing yard work in her Ashtabula County backyard on Aug. 11 when she noticed the very large footprint.
"It was in a low spot in our backyard. The ground was wet," she said. She called her husband over and then ran for a tape measure and cell phone camera. The footprint, complete with five recognizable toes, is a full 7 1/2 inches wide. "Its much larger than anything me or my husband has ever seen."
The footprint tapers back several inches before disappearing onto firmer ground. "It's hard to tell how long it is. Wendy added, "But, it's not a footprint anyone around here recognizes."
Indeed, Wendy has shown the print to several local hunters. The location of the find is right off State Route 167 in Jefferson, right near Mill Creek. There is abundant wildlife around.
"We have deer and turkey here all the time. Even a rare black bear sighting," she said. "The hunters agree, it's not a bear. These are definitely toes. They are not claws."
So, is this the footprint of a Sasquatch, otherwise know as Bigfoot? For Wendy, this is not her first encounter with strange happenings in her neighborhood.
"It started about five years ago." she remembered. "My husband took the dog outside during the night. That's when he heard it."
He described the sound as a loud, booming growl "like no other animal you've ever heard."
"It made his skin crawl." said Wendy. "Whatever it was, it was large."
About three years ago, Wendy had the same experience. She was walking her dog out in the backyard watching the stars. It was pitch black. "All of the sudden my dog stopped. That's when I heard what sounded like a truck shifting gears driving on the next street. It was a loud growl, not from the street over. It was coming right from the back of my house just a few feet away! It was nothing like you've ever heard before!"
Then, last year, Wendy saw something strange. "Just down the road, at dusk, we were driving across the railroad tracks. I caught a quick glimpse of a large dark figure. It appeared to be dressed in all black running across the tracks. I thought to my self, why would a hunter be dressed in all black at sunset?"
She describes what she saw as an extremely large figure, dark in color, which moved quickly into the woods.
Wendy says these strange happenings, which include loud late-night knocking from the woods nearby, always occur in late summer and fall. "Whatever it is," she said, "seems like its just passing through each year."
The latest unexplained event happened just a few weeks ago, over Labor Day weekend, 2013.
"My husband was in the bedroom at the back of the house." recalled Wendy. "I was in the kitchen. It was about 9:30 at night. Something pounded on the outside wall of the house. We both heard it and came running. Since it was dark we couldn't see anything outside."
Wendy said she often leaves scraps of food outside off the patio for the animals to munch on. "Maybe whatever it was was letting us know he was hungry."
Experiences like these are not uncommon in Ohio. According to the group Bigfoot Field Research Organization, Ohio has logged more than 200 sightings since the 1970s.
Many call it the "Ohio Grassman."
The latest, aside from Wendy, occurred on the Ashtabula/Lake County line on March 14, 2013. Here's what that witness describes:
"I was simply driving east on Route 90, I had just passed the Lake County/Ashtabula County border and I was looking around as I usually do and I look over at this woodline hoping to see some deer or turkey and to my surprise there was what looked to be a Bigfoot walking through the woods about 100 yards from the roadway. At first I thought I was imagining things but other drivers slowed to look as well. It was about 3:10 p.m. and the weather was partly cloudy, the temp was about 33 degrees and there was a dusting of snow on the ground. The Bigfoot was tall about 9-11 feet if I had to guess and it had broad shoulders and it was brownish grey in color. It was walking east then turned south toward the Grand River. I told others about this and some think I'm crazy and others believe me. I do hope to see it again, I was amazed yet unsettled at the same time."
The Bigfoot Research group has logged many incidents from northern Ohio:
Ohio sightings by county:
Ashtabula 7
Geauga 8
Cuyahoga 0
Summit 9
Portage 20
Stark 10
Lake 1
Lorain 4
Medina 6
Richland 4
Medina 6
Ashland 4
Columbiana 10
Carroll 3
Tuscarawas 6
Erie 2
Huron 1
Mahoning 6
Wayne 0
(sightings since 1960)
According to the research group, Portage County is the Ohio hotbed for Sasquatch sightings, having logged 20 since 1962. One farmer near Ravenna claims a family of Bigfoot live somewhere on his vast property. Here's his description from a sighting in 2003:
"I myself have had many different occasions with the creature I have dubbed "Fang." I have come to understand through self experiences that there is more than one creature in our area. I go hiking quite often in the same area and know exactly where they usually are, as they tend to follow me most of the times I am there. I fear people coming to our area and trying to find Fang and his clan. I feel somewhat of an understanding and a protective closeness, and I feel they should be left alone. Anyone who has had the wonderful experience of seeing one with their own eyes knows the truth. The world would only want to capture and destroy them if given the chance I fear. I would be willing to talk to someone about my experiences, but I do not really want to tell everyone, due to my beliefs. My children have heard their cries out in the woods, and we have gotten rather close enough for their smell many times. Just last week my younger son and I found footprints in the woods by a thicket too dense for us to walk into." - NewsNet5
Traces of the Grassman: The Search for the Ohio Bigfoot
Bigfoot Encounters in Ohio : Quest for the Grassman
It Came from Ohio: True Tales of the Weird, Wild, and Unexplained
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Man turns green after eating too many snails
A man was rushed to a hospital after he turned green because he ate too many snails, according to hospital officials in China.
The man, 24, was hospitalized in Guizhou Province, China, after eating too many river snails too often and turned green as a result.
He turned green due to a parasitic infection in the liver, hospital officials said.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control confirmed that he was infected by parasitic worms that live in the liver of animals.
The parasite apparently entered his body as he was eating snails from the river on a daily basis.
"Usually I like to eat fried river snails, especially in recent months, I've been eating a bowl every night," he said.
He began to complain of severe abdominal pain about two months ago, but did not seek medical attention until his body started to show some very strange symptoms.
His skin and the whites of his eyes began to turn green.
Concerned, he visited several hospitals in the province of Zhejiang, but he was not be properly diagnosed until he admitted himself into the Guizhou Aerospace Hospital in Guizhou.
"I was afraid of my own reflection, I looked like The Incredible Hulk," the young man said. - Your Jewish News
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