Is This the Oldest Known UFO Photo?
If you look closely at this old stereoscopic image, you can see a dark, cigar-shaped object that seems to be flying in the clouds over Mount Washington.
Wherever the image might have been over the years, it showed up on eBay one day in 2002. It was bought for $385, and soon after cropped to show a close-up of the cigar-shaped object and touted as "the oldest known UFO photo." The owner, Samuel M. Sherman, said the photo would be submitted to scientists for detailed analysis, and the results made available to the public.
The photo hit the Internet like lightning, crackling from one UFO site to the next. Ryan Mullahy, a UFO writer, researcher and founder of the website NH UFO Research, saw it but wasn't convinced: "As fascinated as I was by the photo, I didn't think it was a UFO." Mullahy set out to determine whether it was.
He says he does "real, classic research" on UFO reports to establish their authenticity so people can take the incidents seriously: "I don't have a bias to prove a case true or not. I simply seek out information and put out what I find."
When he started his research on the "oldest known UFO photo," the only image available was a heavily cropped, low-resolution version on the Internet.
After six years of off-and-on digging, he found an important clue: a 2003 Weirs Times newspaper article unearthed by Kathy Brisendine, another UFO researcher. The article identified the photographers of the stereoscopic image as Amos Clough and Howard Kimball. The image had been taken in the winter of 1870-71 during a meteorological expedition, which he would learn later included a study of frost architecture.
Mullahy googled the expedition and discovered that the New York Public Library had a copy of the original high-resolution, uncropped photo (see above) in its digital library, along with a number of photos from the same set. After examining them closely, he decided his initial reaction was right: "The object in the photo is not in the cloud, but on the surface of the mountain itself. In the original photo, there is a clear distinction between the surface of the mountain and the sky above the mountain range. The brown object is lying on, or suspended in, the snow on the mountaintop." He says it could be a wooden ruler used to measure the snow or to show scale, but definitely is not a UFO.
"I don't claim to have cracked the case myself," Mullahy says. "Others found little pieces of the puzzle too." But, because he takes his UFOs seriously, "I'm happy to get rid of a case that clearly was not credible so we can provide a clear picture of what the actual history is." - NH Magazine
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Costa Concordia Ghost
The doomed Costa Concordia, once a luxurious cruise-ship, sank after hitting rocks at the beginning of 2012, which tragically left 32 people dead.
The ship, which was double the size of the Titanic, was hauled up from its watery grave yesterday, reports News.com.au, and for the first time, the world saw the true extent of the damage.
But it wasn't the damage that the world was looking at yesterday, after a News.com.au reader spotted something eerie lurking in the background of one of the photos posted to the website yesterday.
The original photo also shows a single light that had managed to stay on, and an armchair that looks pretty much undamaged, which is pretty creepy.
The Concordia’s Italian captain is being tried in Tuscany for manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning ship before all were evacuated.
You be the judge - do you think this is a ghost!? - KIIS1065
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David Letterman Believes in Spirits?
David Letterman has been on the air for decades, but it seems like even as his days on a nightly talk show are coming to an end, there are still things to learn about him. For instance, did you know he believes in spirits?
During a discussion with Emma Stone, who plays a spiritualist in Woody Allen's latest film, "Magic In the Moonlight," Letterman revealed that he believes a woman who was once a friend of the show before she died still contacts him from time to time.
"It's very subtle, but the corridor of interest is so narrow that it could only be her," Letterman told Stone, without revealing the identity of who he was talking about.
"She doesn't say anything to me," Letterman elaborated. "Things come to my head."
Earlier in the discussion, Stone had discussed how she believed her dead grandfather was responsible for sending her quarters, without revealing the connection between her grandfather and quarters. But when it came to Letterman's own metaphysical experiences, Stone seemed to struggle to grasp what Letterman was saying.
"If you go much farther in this, unless you're full-blown nuts, it will become a mockery," Letterman said.
"I'm full-blown nuts, Dave," Stone responded.
Letterman also explained to Stone that a light in the Ed Sullivan Theatre popped, which his crew took as a sign that Letterman's unnamed friend was making her presence known.
Who knew the late-night host had supernatural sympathies? - LA Times
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Villagers call for demolition of cursed home after five deaths
Locals in the village of Lixnaw, County Kerry, are seeking the demolition of a cottage they believe to be cursed. At least five tragic deaths are associated with the property, including the violent murder of a woman in 2013.
Lixnaw’s parish priest said locals believe there is a “máchail” (defect or harm) or “mí-ádh” (bad luck) associated with the council-owned cottage on the edge of Ballynageragh bog. The local’s fears were brought to light at the first meeting of the Listowel Electoral Area meeting.
Five of the cottage’s residents have been the victims of tragic, accidental or violent deaths. Just last year, on November 27, Susan Dunne (62) was murdered in the house. Her autistic son, Patrick (20) is to stand trial for her murder, at the Central Criminal Court, on April 13.
Locals also say a man who lived in the cottage was stabbed in Wales, another resident died in a road accident, and in the past 20 years there have been three tragic deaths at the cottage, involving different families.
Sinn Fein Councillor Robert Beasley told the Irish Examiner that no one will ever live there again and said locals are concerned that the council will try to house another family in the house.
The council has confirmed that they are considering demolishing the cottage, however the recently deceased Dunne’s personal effects remain in the house. They are liaising with her family and have yet to make a decision about a refurbishment or demolition. - Irish Central
Thanks to Janet for forwarding
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