I recognize that those who question the government’s official contentions regarding the assassination of John F. Kennedy are labeled by many in the mainstream media as “nuts,” “kooks,” and worse. Yet the events of November 22, 1963, have haunted and interested me since the time—as an eleven-year-old boy—I saw the indelible image of John-John saluting his father’s flag-draped coffin and wept. My family is Catholic and, although I’m sure my Republican parents voted for Richard Nixon in 1960, they were still proud of our first Roman Catholic president.
I realize that delving into the world of assassination research and a belief in a conspiracy will lead some to brand me as an extremist or a nut, but the facts I have uncovered are so compelling that I must make the case that Lyndon Baines Johnson had John Fitzgerald Kennedy murdered in Dallas to become president himself and to avert the precipitous political and legal fall that was about to beset him. Continue reading at disinfo
The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ
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Hundreds Flock to Thompson Park Vortex Sign Dedication
Hundreds of individuals fascinated with the paranormal, and skeptics alike, flocked to a moonlit Thompson Park Friday evening as city officials paid homage to a local urban legend that has lingered for decades.
Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham and members of the Watertown (NY) City Council joined former Mayor T. Urling Walker near the Rotary Club’s fitness trail to unveil a sign that marks the site of an alleged vortex in which people are rumored to disappear for minutes at a time.
The sign, which reads “Watertown’s Area 51: Thompson Park Vortex,” was uncovered by Mr. Graham, Mr. Walker, Councilman Jeffrey M. Smith and Councilwoman Roxanne M. Burns, following a visit from an alien portrayed by Councilwoman Teresa R. Macaluso.
“We’ve got a rich historical connection here and that’s what brings us to this occasion to tonight,” said Mr. Graham to a crowd of over 200. “This past year there has been a lot of interest in the paranormal in Watertown.”
The reference to Area 51, the unofficial name for Nevada’s Air Force Test and Training Range rumored to house aliens, was also referred to as “Watertown Strip” by former Central Intelligence Agency Director Allen W. Dulles.
Mr. Dulles, a native of Watertown, became the CIA director in 1953 and served until he was fired under President Kennedy’s administration following the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961.
Gael J. Steel, a local witch queen who goes by the name “DEA,” told the crowd of her experience with the vortex including a 20-minute disappearance of an acquaintance at a time she said the alleged entity was located on the greens at the neighboring Watertown Golf Club.
“He came back in 20 minutes and it wasn’t an easy thing for us to deal with because when somebody disappears like that, you wonder who’s going to be to blame,” she said.
DEA said she moved the vortex to its current location between two trees near where the sign was erected after the particular part of the greens started to get “torn up” by maintenance crews.
While some even came to the park dressed in Halloween costumes to celebrate the event, others were skeptical of the vortex legend.
Frank K. Tubolino, Sackets Harbor, said his wife, a science-fiction fan and a believer in extraterrestrial life, encouraged him to come to the ceremony despite his doubts in the supernatural.
“It is family oriented for sure and something to get out of the house to do and get together with your family,” he said. “I’m not really a believer myself, but I guess you’ve got to keep your mind open to all of that stuff.”
Parks and Recreation Superintendent Erin E. Gardner said city staff had organized the family event for weeks.
“There was just a team of about three or four people that pulled together and everybody had different tasks to make this all happen,” she said. “It’s something different that we’re offering and it’s no cost, so it brings people out.”
Glenn T. Curry, a local radio personality at WATN 104.1, moderated the event and handed out free t-shirts reading the sign’s words to a handful of children who enjoyed free candy and alien cupcakes.
Despite the large crowd gathered at the site of the alleged vortex Friday evening, no one is believed to have disappeared. - NewzJunky
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Flesh-eating platypus once terrorized Australia
Boffins have found evidence that a giant, sharp-toothed, flesh-eating platypus once roamed the waterways of Australia.
The regular modern platypus is already a pretty strange beast, with a duck's bill, otter's fur and beaver's webbed feet. It lays eggs rather than giving birth to live young, its bill is covered in electroreceptors that sense its prey underwater and the male of the species has a venomous spur on its hind foot.
This strange mixture of features and the fossil record up till now has led scientists to believe that the platypus lineage is unique, with only one type of the species living on Earth at any one time. Now, however, paleoboffins have found a single tooth that indicates an entirely new branch of the platypus family tree.
"Monotremes (platypuses and echidnas) are the last remnant of an ancient radiation of mammals unique to the southern continents. A new platypus species, even one that is highly incomplete, is a very important aid in developing understanding about these fascinating mammals," said PhD candidate Rebecca Pian, lead author of the study.
The new species, named Obdurodon tharalkooschild*, would have been over three feet long, twice the size of the modern platypus, and had the necessary sharp teeth to eat not just crayfish and other small crustaceans, but frogs and small turtles as well.
"Discovery of this new species was a shock to us because prior to this, the fossil record suggested that the evolutionary tree of platypuses was relatively linear one," said Dr. Michael Archer of the University of New South Wales, a co-author of the study. "Now we realise that there were unanticipated side branches on this tree, some of which became gigantic."
The oldest platypus fossils found so far come from 61 million years ago and later fossils have shown the platypus losing its teeth over time before the modern beast, which has horny pads in its mouth instead of teeth as an adult. This fossil is likely to be between 15 and 5 million years old and had well-developed teeth. - TheRegister
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Mystery Light of Center Road
A reader forwarded the following information:
Hello Lon, reading about the lights in Montana got me thinking about the mystery light of Center Road. I grew up in North Port Fl in Sarasota County which I know you know about and have had some strange things happened to me but one of the coolest was the mystery light on Center Road between North Port and Venice. Back in 1970 to 72 I was in high school and for fun some friends and I used to go out on the weekends and would sit parked on center or river road and sometimes a white or red light would appear in front of us and like a lot of mystery light stories we would take off after it and never catch it. Well one night 2 friends and I was doing some rabbit hunting on Center Road with all of us sitting in the front seat of my buddies Rambler we seen something in the middle of the road and my buddy grabbed a 22 pistol and started leaning out the window when all of a sudden when this something turned bright red like a spot light and rose right in front of us with Mike the driver yelling KENNY and then red sparks started to come off it like fireflies and it rose about 15 feet and just disappeared. Well Mike floored it as fast as that old Rambler would go’’which wasn’t real fast lol’’ and we drove into Venice. The mystery light has been seen by a lot of people before and after that and I never got any answers about what it was but I’ve always been into the paranormal and that area has seen it share of skunk apes, black panthers which I’ve seen one and never even thought of it as a crypto because they were pretty common back then and a lot of UFOS. Thank You for your time.
Weird Florida: Your Travel Guide to Florida's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets
Florida Authentica: Your field guide to the unique, eccentric, and natural marvels of the real Sunshine State
Oddball Florida: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places (Oddball series)
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