Green Children
There are two different yet similar reports of strange green-skinned children found abandoned near villages in Europe. The first account dates back to the 12th century near Suffolk, England.
Local farmers found a boy and a girl weeping in a field. They brought the children to the home of Sir Richard de Calne in the village of Woolpit.
The children spoke no English and refused to eat food. They both wore oddly-coloured clothing of unkown materials. Eventually they began to eat beans exclusivly after going without food for several days, but only after they were shown how to open the stalks.
Both children were soon baptised. The boy grew weak shortly after and eventually died. The girl survived, learned to speak English, and eat other food. Her skin turned to a normal colour.
When asked about her origins, the girl described a place with no sun where all the inhabitants were of green colour. She claimed that she and the boy were separated from their people as they wandered in a large cavern and, upon exiting, were "struck sensless by the excessive light of the sun and the unusual temperature of the air." A separate recorded account states that the girl said she came from a place called St. Martin's Land where the people were all Christian.
Despite the bizarre accounts of the children's origins, some suggest that the children were lost and had wandered from the nearby village of Fordham St. Martin. Malnourishment gave their skin a greenish colour.
The second account of green children comes from Banjos, Spain in August of 1887. A boy and a girl of greenish colour were found abandoned near a cave. They did not speak Spanish and wore unfamiliar clothing. Their eyes were described as Oriental in appearance.
As with the first account from England, both children refused to eat at first. The boy grew weak and died, but the girl survived, learned Spanish, and explained that she and her companion came from a sunless land. The account differes from the first as the girl was reported to have claimed they had been caught up in a whirlwind and found themselves in the cave. The girl died in 1892.
Neither of these reports describe any other strange activity in the area such as UFOs. The children's true origins were never discovered. While some suggest the green children were aliens from another world or dimension, the rational explanation would be that the children were lost and undernourished. In any case, these events still remain a mystery. What is odd is that both accounts, although happening hundreds of years appart, are strikingly similar. Perhaps they are a retelling of the same story.
Sources: "Unexplained!" by Jerome Clark
"Enigmas and Mysteries" by Colin Wilson
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Raining Fish & Frogs Back to TOP of page
As strange as it seems falls of organic matter from the sky have been reported many times over the years. On February 9th, 1859, numerous residents of Mountain Ash, Glamorganshire, Wales, reported a fall of small fish occurred on a spot 80 yards long by 12 yards wide. Sheds were covered by them and one man removed his hat to find the brim filled with the creatures, none more than five inches long. On September 23, 1973 thousands of toads fell on the town of Brignoles, France, during a freak storm. Lizards dropped from the sky onto the streets of Montreal, Canada in December of 1857. These are only a sampling of dozens of similar incidents. The explanations for most of these falls are unsatisfactory, but there is little doubt that sometimes they do occur. Most theories center around freak weather conditions, like a water spouts or whirlwinds that pick these creatures up, and drop thousands or even tens-of thousands of feet from were they started. Sometimes, though, these falls are recorded when no storm action is in the area at all. Also occasionally the creatures that fall live no where near place where they drop. A scientist witnessed the fall of fish on the Pacific island of Guam. The fish were of a species known to be found only in the fresh water streams of Europe. Finally in almost all cases the creatures are of the same species, size and age. How could a storm be so selective? The explanation of why it happened remains a mystery.
Also see Facts, which contains many other similar accounts.
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Lake Erie Monster? Back to TOP of page
By Graham Marsden
Shockwaves are vibrating through the town of Port Dover, Ontario, Canada, for people are being bitten by an unknown creature whilst paddling offshore of a beach near the Port Dover pump house, which lies about 1 kilometre from the town.
In the just 24 hours three people were attacked by the aquatic assailant. One of these was Port Dover resident Brenda McCormack, 47, who was bitten on the side of her right calf while paddling in the murky Lake Erie water near the beach in the early evening of July.
"I just felt a great big chomp," she said, and was left with three big puncture marks and a circle of abrasions that looked like the shape of a jaw.
Brenda was the creature's first victim. The next day, a man and then a child - who was treated and released from the emergency ward of the Norfolk General Hospital in Simcoe - were also attacked by the creature in the same area.
Speculation as to the creature's identity is rife through the town with some people thinking the creature could have been part of a group of piranhas released into the wild after they grew too big for their owner's aquariums.
Dr. Harold Hynscht, however, who treated the man who was attacked, has ruled out piranhas, lamprey eels, snapping turtles and walleye, goby and muskellunge fish. But commented that whatever it was, "it was a big honking fish."
Patricia Hall, the nurse who treated Brenda McCormack, said, "Oh yeah, it's the Lake Erie monster. That's what people are joking about."
Lake Erie boaters have told stories for years about sighting dark green or brown monsters some nine to 12 metres long that swim in a wavy motion.
The only plausible creature it can be, according to Dr Hynscht, is the bowfin, an aggressive fish that grows to be 45-60 centimetres long, and is often called a living fossil because it resembles fish that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. Bowfins, often called dogfish (even though bowfins are not sharks like ocean-dwelling dogfish), usually eat other fish, frogs, small rodents, turtles, leeches and crayfish.
"One of the consistent elements of the stories I've heard is that it happened so fast they hardly had time to react," Dr. Hynscht says.
"Whatever is doing this is doing so because of territory. It's not doing this because it's hungry."
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SPONTANEOUS HUMAN COMBUSTION Back to TOP of page
Best Information for this subject can be found here: ANOMALIES
Written by: Garth Haslam, an excellent review on all pertaining to Spontaneous Human Combustion.
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The Dropa Stones Back to TOP of page
It was the summer of 1938 in the high in the mountains of BayanKara-Ula, on the borders of China and Tibet, and a team of archaeologists were conducting a very detailed, but routine survey of a series of interlocking caves. Their interests had been excited, several years before, by the discovery of lines of neatly arranged graves which contained the skeletons of what must have been a race of human beings. But... these were not normal "human beings"... or at least not by accepted standards... They appeared to have spindly bodies and large overdeveloped heads. In the begining... at the onset of the dig... it had been thought that the caves had been the home of a hitherto unknown species of ape. But as the species seemed to bury its dead, and were apparently "tool users", the team eliminated a semian species as a possible alternative.
It was while studying the skeletons one of the members of the team stumbled on a large round stone disc half buried in the dust on the floor of the cave. The disc, made of a thin slab of stone, looked, more than anything else, like an Stone Age phonograph record. There was evem a hole in the center of and a fine spiral groove covering the surface of the disc. It was, in fact, a continuous spiralling line of closely written characters.
At the time, no one understood the meanings of the message. The disc was a currousity which was routinely labeled and filed away among other finds in the area. For over twenty years it remained an egnima... many experts in Peking tried to translate the mysterious disc, but none succeeded. That is, until Dr. Tsum Um Nui broke the code and started to decipher the "speaking grooves". His findings were astounding... revolutionary... and also, highly secret... so much so that the Peking academy of Pre-History forbade him to publish his findings. Then... in 1965, 716 more grooved stone discs were uncovered in the same caves, and the story of the "talking discs" came out...
They told the story of a "space probe" by the inhabitants of another planet who came to the Baya-Kara-Ula mountain range. They had crash landed. Their peaceful intentions had been misinterpreted. Many of them had been hunted down and killed by members of the Han tribe, who lived in the neighboring caves. They referred to themselves as the "Dropa". . They said they came "down from the clouds" in their space craft, to explore the eath and examine it's primitive inhabitants. For some reason... it is never made quite clear... their craft crash landed in the remote and inaccessible mountains or Northern China... . There was no way to build a new ship. On Earth, they would remain...
Legends common to the indiginous tribes of the area, including the surviving members of the Han, spoke of small gaunt yellow faced men who came from the clouds long ago. They supposedly had huge bulging heads and puny bodies, and were so ugly they were hunted down and killed. This description is amazingly similar to the bodies found in the caves. As noted, the cave area is still inhabited by two semi-troglodyte tribes known as the Hans and the Dropas. These tribes are odd looking in appearance... both are frail and stunted in growth averaging only about 5 feet in height. and neither tribe is typically Chinese nor Tibetan.
On the walls of the caves archaeolgists found crude pictures of the rising Sun, the Moon, unidentifiable stars and the earth all joined together by lines of pea-sized dots. The cave drawings have been successfully dated by the Carbon 14 process, at having been sone around 12,000 years ago. In Russia several of the rocks were subjected to a series of scientific tests to determine composition, age and the method used for the engraving of the ultra--five incriptions forming the engraving on their surface. In the course of these tests, the discs were found to contain large amounts of cobalt and other metallic substances. When placed on a special turnrable they vibrated or hummed in an unusual rhythm as thought an electric charge was passing through them. It is as if they formed some part of an electrical circuit.
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The Unicorn Back to TOP of page
The Unicorn was a mystical creature described in ancient Greek and Roman myths. They were placed among virgin saints and said to be an emblem of purity. Though it would fight savagely when cornered, it could be tamed by a virgin's touch. During the Middle Ages, and even later, the unicorn's horn (as it was alleged to be), because of its fabled purity, was a popular ingredient for medicines and for alchemical reactions. Potentates and pontiffs obtained reputed unicorn's horn because it was considered a strong protection against poison. The horn was also believed to ward off stomach trouble and epilepsy. The Unicorn is found throughout world legends.
Famous Unicorn Sightings
Since the birth of mankind, stories of unicorn sightings have travled the world, the earliest being by Adam in the Garden of Eden. Despite the widely held belief in its existence, it has not been seen in centuries ; and the popular Eastern image from Chinese folklore is very different from the familiar Western image of a white horse-like creature. For true believers, the fact that it no longer exists only adds to the mystique; placing it in the same realm as the dinosaurs, the mammoth, and possibly such unknown creatures as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Others believe the Unicorn still exists in remote regions and can be discovered only by those of exceptional virtue and honesty.
THE VERY FIRST UNICORNS
In Chinese mythology, the Unicorn was an animal of good omen that came to humans only on important missions. Its appearance was interpreted as a sign of good times, and the fact that it has not been seen in many centuries suggests that we are living in "bad" times. It will appear once again when the time is right and when goodness reigns. One of the first Unicorns is said to have appeared almost 5,000 years ago to give Emperor Fu Hsi the secrets of written language. Then, almost 4,700 years ago in 2697 B.C., another Unicorn made an appearance in the garden of the Yellow Emperor (Huang Di). This auspicious omen was seen by the emperor as a sign that his reign would be long and peaceful. Two Unicorns also lived during the reign of Emperor Yao, the fourth of the Five Emperors who shaped the world 4,000 years ago.
Birth and Death of Confucius Foretold by Unicorns
The Chinese also believed that the Unicorn could foretell the birth of great men like the philosopher Confucius. In 551 B.C., Confucius' pregnant mother met a Unicorn in the woods. It gave her a small piece of jade and placed its head in her lap. She realized the importance of the event and knew it was a good omen from the gods. An inscription on the piece of jade told of the great wisdom her son would possess; and, sure enough, Confucius became the most respected of all Chinese philosophers. Even today, 2,500 years later, his prophetic words are still honored and revered. In his old age, Confucius reportedly saw the Unicorn for himself and knew that it meant he would soon die.
Unicorn as a Constellation
The first mention of the constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn, was by Jakob Bartsch around 1624. The stars of the Unicorn were described in detail in the catalog of Hevelius in 1690. The Milky Way runs through the center of this constellation. There are 146 stars in Monoceros that are visible to the naked eye.
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UNICORNS IN THE BIBLE
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For Centuries, religious scholars who would deny the existence of the Unicorn pointed out that if the animal had actually lived, it would have been listed as one that boarded Noah's ark before the great Flood. Therefore, they concluded, because the Unicorn was not so named, there was obviously no such animal. But what about these refrences here?
"My horn shall be exalted like the horn of the Unicorn." - The Book of Psalms
"He hath as it were the strength of a unicorn." - The Book of Numbers
"Will the Unicorn be willing to serve thee?" - Job
According to the book of Genesis, God gave Adam the task of naming everything he saw. In some translations of the Bible, the Unicorn was the first animal named; thereby, elevating it above all other beasts in the universe. When Adam and Eve left paradise, the Unicorn went with them and came to represent purity and chastity. Thus, the Unicorn's purity in the Western legends stems from its Biblical beginnings.
The Bible also offers an explanation about why the Unicorn has not been seen for so long. During the flood that engulfed the world for 40 days and 40 nights, Noah took two of each animal to safety ; but Unicorns were not among them. A Jewish folk tale mentions they were originally on board but demanded so much space and attention that Noah banished them. They either drowned or managed to swim during the flood and still survive somewhere in the world or, as some believe, evolved into the narwhale.
In addition, there are seven clear references to the Unicorn in the Old Testament; although, there is now doubt about the original translations that may have erroneously named another animal as a Unicorn. The Jewish Talmud also makes many similar references to the Unicorn. In Jewish folklore it is the fiercest of all animals and is able to kill an elephant with a single thrust from its horn.
Throughout history, the church has interpreted the Unicom in a number of different ways. In medieval times, it became a symbol of Christ himself, and its horn was symbolic of the unity of Christ and God. Some medieval paintings show the Trinity with Christ represented by a Unicom. On the other hand, the Unicom also appears as a symbol of evil in the book of Isaiah. Overall, however, the Unicom has come to be regarded as a pure and virtuous animal. Regardless of the place of the Unicom in Biblical theory, it is evident that there was a strong belief in the animal's existence in Biblical times, as well as in the following centuries. After all, it appears so often in the Old Testament that it can hardly be overlooked in the Christian world. The fact that it appears in the Bible meant that no devout Christian could doubt its authenticity.
The Authorized Version has nine references to the animal, among them: "God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn." (Numbers 23: 22). Yet the biblical references appear to be due to a linguistic error made by Hebrew scholars in the 3rd century B.C. when they translated the Bible into Greek. As a result the Scriptures seemed to lend weight to the belief that the animal existed.
The unicorn is mentioned in many other bible references including the following: Job 39,10; Deut 33,17; Psal 22,21; Num23,22; job 39,9&10; psal 29,6; psal 92,10; psal 22,21; Isa 34,7. The accounts generally refer to a strong, untamable animal. In addition, there are seven clear references to the Unicorn in the Old Testament; although, there is now doubt about the original translations that may have erroneously named another animal as a Unicorn. From this comes the belief that the unicorn was a type of Ox that became extinct in the Holy Land or the rhinoceros that we know today.
Carbuncle
It has been rumored that a mystic ruby could be found at the base of a Unicorn's horn. This rare jewel was called a "carbuncle". It is believed that the jewel was a source of the horn's powers, but was not seen on all unicorns.
In the Middle Ages the carbuncle was believed to be the "King of Gems", being able to banish sadness, evil and dispel all poisons. It is possible that the ruby is some kind of distillation of the essence of the horn. Perhaps it may only occur in very old or wise unicorns and be caused by the crystallization of blood.
Medieval Times:
The Unicorn in Medieval Times
We already know that reports of unicorn sightings date back as far as the Fourth Century. But it's wasn't until Medieval times when that belief reached it's highest peak. Most often, unicorns represented purity, chastity, or innocence. This portrayal is reminiscent of the second panel in the famous "Unicorn Tapestries", produced around 1500 and now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Here the unicorns shown in a forest clearing where a fountain plays and spring flowers bloom, even though the rest of the world is clothed in autumn.
The scene also highlights another legend concerning the unicorn: that of his horn's magic powers. In the tapestry, various wild animals wait by a stream while the unicorn dips his horn into the water to purify it of poison. Because the horn was also thought to prevent plague, epilepsy and other diseases, powders said to be made of unicorn horn were in great demand. According to legend, the unicorn was a fearless animal, swift and strong. So great was his courage and daring that hunters could not capture him in the chase. Only a pure maiden had the power to ensnare a unicorn. Symbolic in the purity of himself, he was attracted by her innocence, and meekly came to kneel before her and place his head in her lap. Captured by such a ruse and killed by hunters, the purity of the unicorn triumphed, for the indestructible creature returned to life again, living contentedly in captivity."
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In The Blink of an Eye Back to TOP of page
Vanishing People
Is it possible a person can be here one minute and then totally disappear the next, never to be seen or heard from again? There are those who would say yes for they claim to be witnesses to just such a phenomenon. But where do these disappearing people GO? How is it they seem to defy the very laws of nature as we know them? Sometimes logic cannot explain away an event, and we like to label it a mystery. Perhaps one day we'll have answers, but for now we are only shrouded in questions.
On June 29, 1968, the Purdue Aviation Corporation charter flight was carrying 23 passengers from Kankakee, Illinois to a national Lion's Club convention in Dallas, Texas. It was a clear summer day without a cloud in the sky. Somewhere over Rolla, Missouri, Jerrold I. Potter excused himself to use the restroom and proceeded to make his way to the rear tail section of the plane. Mrs. Potter watched her husband walk down the aisle as he stopped to briefly chat with James Schaive, president of a Lion's Club in Ottawa, Illinios. She then turned to watch the beautiful scenery below. She never saw her husband again, dead OR alive. After a few minutes the plane seemed to shudder for only a few seconds and as it seemed to be only passing turbulence, no one paid it much attention. But when Mr. Potter hadn't returned after what had seemed an undue length of time Mrs. Potter grew concerned. She asked a stewardess to please check the lavatory for her husband. At about the same time, pilot Miguel Raul Cabeza noticed one of the "DOOR OPEN" warning lights was flashing. He asked the co-pilot Roy Bacus to investigate. Not wanting to cause concern among the passengers, Bacus calmly walked to the rear of the plane. On the way, the same stewardess Mrs. Potter had spoken with informed Mr. Bacus a passenger may be missing. The co-pilot surveyed the rear and found that indeed the exit door near the lavatory was slightly ajar, the same door the flashing warning light had indicated. Since the DC-3 wasn't pressurized, the cracked door hadn't caused any noticeable problems. Mr. Bacus found a chain used to keep the emergency door closed lying on the ground. He then reported his findings to the captain who speculated that when the plane was shaken, Mr. Potter had probably fallen against the door and when the safety chain broke, fallen out of the aircraft. But in a later report, it was noted that just because the chain had broken, the cumbersome emergency door handle still needed to be turned 180 degrees, and while this particular door handle was often a little harder to budge than the other hatchways, it would have been even harder to open in flight. No one had seen Mr. Potter fall, nor did they hear a scream or even any kind of commotion. One person said, "..it was as if he just vanished. One minute he was there, the next he was gone." Did Mr. Potter commit suicide then? Friends and family firmly rule that possibility out. He was, by all accounts, a happy person with a comfortable life and good friends. So what DID happen to Jerrold I. Potter? After making the discovery of the chain, the captain requsted permission to land, and did so in Springfield, Missouri. An intensely thorough search was made for Mr. Potter along the DC-3's flight path, but his body was never found, nor were any clues as to what might have happened.
*An episode of the X-Files where a man claiming to be a repeated UFO abductee is flying along in a jet when he is once again abducted. During the abduction, time is frozen and everyone on board would have forgotten the incident, but the U.S. government shoots down the UFO, who in turn loses control of the jet which then causes it to crash, killing over 200 people, including the abductee. It makes you wonder if this storyline was inspired by Jerrold I. Potter?
Next is an account of a man who disappeared in full view of 2 witnesses in 19th century England. It was September 3, 1873. A man named James Worson had accepted a challenge to race in record time from the town of Leamington to the town of Coventry, a 20-mile trek. He had been basting of his foot skills and then asked to prove them, so with sporting good spirits he set about to do just that. Two friends, Hammerson Burns and Barham Wise, followed behind in a horse-drawn gig. Burns brought along his camera. As the three traversed down the country road all were in high spirits. The day couldn't have been prettier. Worson was never out of their sight and would often turn around while running to exchange some friendly words with the two riders. Running in the middle of the road, Worson suddenly appeared to stumble and pitch forward, having time enough for only one short, piercing scream. Wise later said, "It was the most ghastly sound ether of us had ever heard." But as Worson pitched forward with that terrible cry, instead of falling to the ground as he appeared to about to have done, he completely and totally vanished in mid-fall before ever striking the ground. The road itself told the story and Wise took the pictures to prove it. There, in the soft dirt, were Worson's footprints. They led down the middle of the road, looked as if the runner stumbled, and there they disappeared. When the two men returned to Leamington with their incredible story, search parties were formed to scour the entire area from Leamington to Coventry, but not one shred of evidence was ever found of James Worson, nor would there ever be in the years to follow. The bloodhounds used in the search were strangely reluctant to approach the spot where Worson disappeared. He was never seen or heard from again. At least, not in his old earthly body, for if reports are to be believed, for many years after James Worson's tragic and unbelievable disappearance, a ghostly runner with an eerie green glow would be seen making the trek from Leamington to Coventry on black lonely nights on the empty road. What happened to James Worson remains a mystery to this day. What made him scream so terrbly, did he see something the others did not?
Incredible as that story may be, it is also not unique, though neither is it common. A very similar event occured in America about 7 years later. It was September 23, 1880. David Lang, a successful farmer, was walking across a field in front of his home in Gallin, Tennesse. His two children were out front playing in the yard, and his wife was also outside. She was approaching a horse-drawn buggy carrying Judge August Peck and his brother-in-law. David Lang smiled and waved to the visitors as he started walking towards them. But he never reached his destination. After taking several steps, in full view of 5 witnesses, he literally disappeared mid-stride. His wife let out a terrible scream and ran to where he had last been seen, shortly followed by the Judge and his brother-in-law. There was absolutely no trace of David Lang. He simply vanished, never to be seen again. Massive search parties were formed and lanterns could be seen swinging all through the night. The next morning, a county surveyor arrived and searched the area Lang had last been seen, hoping to find a cave or pothole he had slipped into. But no such thing was found, and he declared the land to be firmly supported by a thick strata of limestone. But the search continued for months. Mrs. Lang vehemently resisted any suggestion of a funeral or even a memorial service, she asked only that the townspeople continue to pray for her husbands return. On an April evening in 1881, the Langs daughter, Sarah, ran sobbing into the house saying there was a "ring" aroung the spot her father had disappeared. When Mrs. Lang went to investigate, Sarah said she could clearly hear her father begging for help in a tortured voice, but it soon faded away into silence. Mrs. Lang did not hear the voice, but she did find a perfect circle of dried grass some 20 feet in diameter at the same spot her husband had last been seen. This was enough for her, and packing up their belongings, Mrs. Lang and her 2 children moved away from the farmhouse for good. So what DID happen to David Lang? And to the people in the above stories as well. Why were their bodies never found, and just HOW DOES a person vanish into thin air?
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The Chupacabras: Back to TOP of page
The Chupacabra is a creature that is relieving farm animals of their blood. As of yet, the Chupacabra, which translates into "goat-sucker", has not attacked humans, although no one can say for certain that this will not happen in the future. The origin of its name comes from its earliest attacks, where goats were found with their blood drained and with two peculiar puncture marks on their necks. There have been reports alleging that particular organs were missing from some of the victim's bodies, without any visible way for those organs to have been removed.
The Chupacabra becomes a recurring legend
San Juan (Puerto Rico) Star
6 May 1996,
by Robert Friedman
WASHINGTON -- The goatsucker is on the go -- with new alleged victims reported in other Caribbean countries, Mexico, Central America and Dade County, Florida. Once strictly del pais, the chupacabras, as the supposed vampire-like killer of barnyard animals is known in Spanish, has recently been spotted in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Miami.
The monster -- reptilian body, oval head, bulging red eyes, fanged teeth and long, darting tongue -- has allegedly pulled off one of the more grisly animal slaughters of late: the one-night massacre of 69 goats, chickens, geese and ducks in the heavily Hispanic Sweetwater neighborhood of South Miami. Miami police and the local zoologist say that the killer was a large dog -- but Sweetwater residents insist that the deed was done by the blood-sucking beast first spotted in the central mountains of Puerto Rico [1994].
Whatever, the chupacabras phenomenon seems quick becoming part of Hispanic -- and possibly international -- bestial lore. The goatsucker already has been tagged the Bigfoot of the Caribbean by stateside journalists. The monster made its network TV debut last week via "Unsolved Mysteries." It was the talk of the popular Miami-based gabfest, "El Show de Cristina," which is transmitted throughout Latin America. That show featured Canovanas Mayor Jose "Chemo" Soto, known to townsfolk as "Chemo Jones" for his weekly chupacabra hunts through the surrounding hills, using a caged goat for bait. Soto offered this grim warning: "Whatever it is, it's highly intelligent. Today it is attacking animals, tomorrow it may be attacking people."
Tee shirt sales are said to be booming, a video game reportedly is in the works, songs are sung to Ol' Red Eyes over South Florida radio stations (such as "Chupacabra-fragalisticexpialidotious," as in the song of a similar name from "Mary Poppins.") The beast is on the Internet, courtesy of some Puerto Rican students at Princeton University, who give tongue-in-cheek updates daily on the goatsucker's doings.
So, what have we here? Among other things, a recurring legend, especially prevalent in Latin America, according to anthropologists, Hispanic historians, and others. "There are a certain number of these legends of bloodsucking animals in South and Latin America," said Richard Grinker, an anthropology professor at George Washington University. "They are usually analyzed as anti-capitalist, an unconscious means of rebellion by country people who believe that capitalism is sucking dry the earth and their entire being. Fellow anthropologist Paul Brodwin acknowledged that blood-sucking legends pre-date quasi-Marxist analyses, but said the legends often get reinterpreted "according to social circumstances."
Take, for instance, the legend of the Loup Garou, which Brodwin has studied in the Haitian countryside. This sometime human-sometime animal being is related to the French werewolf legend, said Brodwin. But with a difference. The Loup Garou sucks the blood of its human victims.[???] The Haitian legend has been analyzed as a "collective fantasy," said the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor, of an unconscious suspicion and fear the poorer-than-poor have of their neighbors.
Marvette Perez,curator of Hispanic history at the Smithsonian Institution's American History Museum, sees deja vu once more in the chupacabras tales. Perez, a native of Arecibo, recalled the similarities between the chupacabras and both the Moca vampire and the garadiablo of island lore. A couple of decade ago, the Moca monster was sucking blood of assorted animals around that small mountain town, while the garadiablo was a devilish looking creepy crawly from the lagoon seen in local swamplands. "This seems to be a very Caribbean phenomenon, especially of the Spanish- speaking islands," said Perez. "It's part of our folklore. It's inter- esting that the chupacabras has not been found on the English-speaking islands, but has migrated only in places where people speak Spanish.
Pedro Vidal, professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at American University, remembers hearing childhood tales in his native Venezuela of a beast sucking the blood not only of animals, but also of little children. Vidal, who has done research on vampires, noted that the hemispheric roots of such entities go way back, to the Mayans, who worshipped a "vampire figure deity long before the idea of Dracula."
Bram Stoker's novel of the blood-thirsty count became a big hit in Victorian England in an age of anxiety over a syphilis epidemic, said Vidal. Now, another sexually transmitted epidemic has unsettled the populace. Puerto Rico, he noted, is among the areas in the hemisphere hardest hit by AIDS. It is entirely possible, he said, that the commotion over the chupacabras could be linked to the AIDS fear.
Unbeknownst to many, there is a real live goatsucker in captivity in the Washington, D.C. zoo. In fact, ornithologists know all about goatsuckers -- which is the name given to a family of nocturnal birds. They are described as soft-feathered with long, pointed wings, short, weak legs and feet, a very small bill, but a wide, gaping mouth, and whose eyes reflect light at night. Some goatsuckers of note are night jars, whippoorwills and the Australian frog mouth, which is on display at the D.C. zoo. Could they be...? Most unlikely, said Bob Hoage of National Zoo. The winged Goatsuckers feed almost exclusively on insects, he noted.
The Goatsucker tag comes from the Latin word, Caprimulgus. The birds are often found in the Mediterranean in places where goats graze. In a strange twist, bird-watcher-columnist Don Wilson reports in the Orlando Sun Sentinel that "the harmless whippoorwill was once viewed as a sinister creature. Superstitious country folk once believed the birds sucked the milk from goats' udders, causing them to dry up."
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Powers
They exhibit intelligent behavior and posess some rudimentary skill of becoming undetectable. The structures in their back are some sort of wings that gives them the power of flight. These powers have presumably helped them to escape captivity and avoid instances of close contact with people.
Animal Habits
The Chupacabra is like a normal animal in the sense that it exhibits normal mating and group behavior. It's food source is the blood of animals. The Chupacabra does not drink the blood of humans, and is only limited to the blood of of animals so far. In some cases, the organs were completely removed from cows, goats, and chickens, believed through the animals eyes-as if 'sucked out,' or through same puncture wonds. The species dwells underneath the soil in cave-like structures whose origins and makeup are currently unknown or so believed, but not yet proven. They have been also seen hidden among trees and remote areas.
Origins
Apparently, the creature is believed to be either an offshoot or a "pet" of other intelligent beings that came to Earth a long time ago. These last few years have witnessed an explosion in the number Chupacabras, due to some unknown factor, and this is the reason why there have been so many attacks in recent months, as animals make up their only source of nourishment. The Chupacabra, as it is known now, was called 'El Vampiro de Moca' {in Puerto Rico}, some years ago. Some even speculate it being an older creature, hidden all this time, or an animal mutation of some sort and even government experiments gone 'wild.'
Appearance
-three to five feet tall
-dark gray facial skin
-coarse hair on the body, and several reports said it has a chameleon-like appearance, with the ability to change from purple to brown to yellow
-black eyes, or glowing orange or red eyes
-a wolf-like or canine nose
-sharp fangs
-short forearms with three-fingered claw-like "hands"
-a row of fins, spikes or quills running down the length of its back
-stands on two powerful-looking hind legs and clawed feet
-often hops on the ground, like a kangaroo, rather than walks (at least one witness claimed it could leap as far as 20 feet in one bound)
-some reported bat-like wings that enable the chupacabras to fly
-it makes a hissing noise that often makes witnesses nauseous
-High pictched cry when cornered or threatened
-breath smelling of decay and/or sulfer
The chupacabras phenomenon continues up to this day, with the most recent reports of attacks continuing to come out of Chile. In February, 2002, chupacabras - although not seen - was blamed for the deaths of several chickens that were mutilated and drained of blood.
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Ending note: Could the Chupacabras have any connection to the 'Jersy Devil' of Leeds Point, New Jersey, the 'Monkey Men' of India, and The 'Gargoyles and Griffin's' of Britian? All give similar descriptions as the Chupacabras, and it's eating habbits also.
There are many unanswered questions about all of these monsters, the primary one being: Are any of them real at all? Or are they the product of mass hysteria - myths fueled by panicked imagination? And if they are real, are they merely misidentified animals known to science?
If we are to take these eyewitness accounts at face value - or at least consider that they might be at least partially true - then we have a far more perplexing and unsettling mystery to solve. If the stories are to be believed, what are these creatures? Where do they come from and where to they live? The similarities raise the possibility that they might be the same or related creature. Their sporadic appearance, bizarre description, fierce attacks and elusive behavior have elicited many theories as to their origin, including genetic mutants, aliens, living dinosaurs, demons and interdimensional beings. Like so many things in the paranormal realm, about all we can do is speculate and wonder. What do you think?
Also see The Chupacabras Pages 1, 2, 3, 4
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Who was Edgar Cayce? Back to TOP of page
Considered by many to be the greatest psychic of the 20th Century, Edgar Cayce, who came to be known as the "Sleeping Prophet, was born on March 18, 1877, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and died on January 3, 1945 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. From 1901, when he was 24, until his death he gave over 14,000 'readings', many of which were transcribed by a stenographer and are available for research.
A "reading" was a discourse given by Mr. Cayce while he was lying down with his eyes closed and in an altered state of consciousness. Delivered in his own normal voice with only a few exceptions, the discourses he gave were recorded stenographically and later typed. They cover such a wide array of subject matter that they are indexed under more than 10,000 major subject headings, with more than 225,000 index cards.
Most of the readings were given for individuals and, therefore, deal with specific personal questions concerning various aspects of physical, mental, spiritual, vocational and interpersonal life. Some of these readings, however, were complete discourses on topics such as meditation, Bible interpretation, and world affairs. It was not necessary for the person obtaining the reading to be present: Mr. Cayce was able to describe individuals and diagnose their physical condition with surprising accuracy, even though they might have been hundreds of miles away. From these readings, thousands of people reported being helped, often in ways which transformed their lives. Studied as a whole, the readings provide specific procedures which many consider helpful in treating many illnesses. And now, decades after Mr. Cayce's death, his readings continue to inspire, educate and amaze those who research them.
For forty-three years of his adult life, Edgar Cayce demonstrated the uncanny ability to put himself into some kind of self-induced sleep state by lying down on a couch, closing his eyes, and folding his hands over his stomach. This state of relaxation and meditation enabled him to place his mind in contact with all time and space. From this state he could respond to questions as diverse as "What are the secrets of the universe?" to "How can I remove a wart?" His responses to these questions came to be called "readings" and contain insights so valuable that even to this day individuals have found practical help for everything from maintaining a well-balanced diet and improving human relationships to overcoming life-threatening illnesses and experiencing a closer walk with God.
Though Cayce died nearly half a century ago, the timeliness of the material in the readings is evidenced by approximately one dozen biographies and more than 300 titles that discuss various aspects of this man's life and work. These books contain a corpus of information so valuable that even Edgar Cayce himself might have hesitated to predict their impact on the latter part of the twentieth century. Sixty years ago who could have known that terms such as "meditation," "akashic records," "spiritual growth," "auras," "soul mates," and "holism" would become household words to hundreds of thousands? Further details about his life and work are explored in such classic works as:
There Is a River (1942) by Thomas Sugrue
The Sleeping Prophet (1967) by Jess Steam
Many Mansions (1950) by Gina Cenninara.
The majority of Edgar Cayce's reading deal with health maintenance and the treatment of illness. Even to this day individuals have found physical help from information given as long as 75 years ago! Yet, although best known for this material, the sleeping Cayce did not seem to be limited to concerns about the physical body. In fact, in their entirety the readings discuss an astonishing number of 10,000 different subjects. Even this vast array of subject matter, however, can be narrowed down into a much smaller range of topics. When compiled together, the majority contain and deal with the following five categories:
(1) Health-Related Information;
(2) Philosophy and Reincarnation;
(3) Dreams and Dream Interpretation;
(4) ESP and Psychic Phenomena: and
(5 )Spiritual Growth, Meditation, and Prayer.
Throughout his life, Edgar Cayce claimed no special abilities nor did he ever consider himself to be some kind of twentieth-century prophet . The readings never offered a set of beliefs that had to be embraced, but instead focused on the fact that each person should test in his or her own life the principles presented. Though Cayce himself was a Christian and read the Bible from cover to cover every year of his life, his work was one which stressed the importance of comparative study among belief systems all over the world. The underlying principle of the readings is the oneness of all life, tolerance for all people, and a compassion and understanding for every major religion in the world.
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Zombis and p-zombies: Back to TOP of page
Zombis are dead bodies with no souls, created by the black magic of voodoo sorcerers. Voodoo is a religion which originated in Haiti where West African slaves could not practice their religion openly and were forced to adopt in public the practices of the French Catholic settlers. Voodoo is still a popular religion in Haiti and in cities where Haitians have immigrated, such as New Orleans. Vodu is an African word meaning spirit or god. The black magic of voodoo sorcerers allegedly consists of various poisons which immobilize a person for days, as well as hallucinogens administered upon revival. The result is a brain damaged creature used by the sorcerers as slaves, viz., the zombis. The zombi is not to be confused with the zombi astral, whose soul (ti-bon-ange) is controlled by the sorcerer.
It is quite understandable that a religion practiced under slavery would emphasize evil spirits. It is a cruel irony that some in the religion would evolve to worship at evil's altar and engage in practices which not only enslave others but keep the community in line from fear of being turned into a zombi/slave.
Many people are skeptical of the existence of zombis, which is taken to mean they are skeptical that a dead person could be revived with or without retaining his or her "soul" or "self-consciousness" or "mind." Once you are dead, you are dead forever. For those who don't believe a person has a soul, death is not the separation of the body from the soul, but the end of life and consciousness. The voodoo zombi is not a dead person, but a living person who has been brain-damaged.
In 1985, Harvard University botanist Wade Davis traveled to Haiti in search of the poison powder called coupe poudre, allegedly used to cause the death-like trance state induced in the process of zombification. His sponsors believed that if such a drug existed it would have valuable pharmacological usage. He published the results of his findings in two books The Serpent and the Rainbow (1985), and Passage of Darkness: The Ethnobiology of the Haitian Zombie (1988). In essence, Davis claimed that yes, there are indeed "zombies," and that they are created, at least in part, by a poisonous powder. But, Davis maintains that the poison in and of itself is not enough to create a zombie, rather that "set and setting" must be taken into account. This is the distinction that defines the field of ethnobiology, the idea that physical, social and psychological settings inform biological interactions.
According to Davis, the active ingredient in coupe poudre is tetradotoxin, which is found in the liver and the ovaries of some species of Puffer Fish. Five hundred times more deadly than Cyanide, tetradotoxin is a potent ion channel blocker which while it can be fatal, in smaller (minuscule) doses leads to a near-death state wherein metabolic functions are so depressed that the poisoned person is thought to be dead. Tetrodotoxin "specifically and reversibly binds to a pocket on the outside of the sodium-ion channel in the peripheral nerves. This blocks the channel so that Na+ cannot enter, thus preventing the reversal of polarity that constitutes the action potential effectively shutting down the propagation of the nervous impulse". The horrifying upshot of all this is that total body paralysis is induced, although the brain and senses stay alert. This is not good news for the victim, who is thus mistaken for dead and buried, much to their horror.
In addition to tetradotoxin, several other types of poisons have reportedly been detected in coupe poudre. Datura metel and Datura stramonium, both known as "zombie cucumber," are two such species of plants, which are hallucinogenic and cause amnesia. Another species used in the powder is Mucuna pruriens, a plant with stinging hairs and one which contains "psychomimetic constituents and may have hallucinogenic activity. These poisons constitute the powder, which is surreptitiously administered to the skin of the intended victim. But, the horror does not end there. The effects of the coupe poudre wear off in about 10-12 hours. The victim is then disinterred and fed a paste made of atropine and scopolamine, dissociative hallucinogens that impact on the neurotransmitters and endorphins in the brain. Yet, the drugs and the trauma alone are not enough to create a zombie, according to Davis.
Those familiar with sushi know that the flesh of the Puffer Fish, known as Fugu, is considered a great delicacy in Japanese culture. The meat is very delicious, but difficult to prepare without contaminating it with the deadly tetradotoxin. Only highly trained chefs with special licenses are allowed to prepare the fish and even so several people die each year from eating improperly prepared Fugu. Very slight traces of TTX cause a slight tingling sensation in the tongue and lips and this, together with the thrill of danger, may contribute to the popularity of Fugu. In addition to Fugu-related deaths, there have also been reports of incidents of people being buried alive when they have gone into a "deep suspended coma" as a result of eating Fugu. However, there have been no accompanying reports of zombiism. Davis would contend that this is because the TTX, which is a psychoactive drug, one whose effect is related to specific personal experience, will have different effects depending on who one is and what one's socialization and expectations are. In the case of Haitians who have grown up with, if not direct personal knowledge of voodoo, the lore associated with it, they have been socialized to recognize both the possibility and the process, and are attuned to the appropriate effects of the drug, i.e. zombification. The zombie is so much an accepted part of Haitian culture, and indeed taken so seriously, that the Haitian Penal Code lists making someone into a zombie a form of murder.
Of course, Davis' is not the last word on the issue of the Haitian zombie. As recently as last year scientists were busily attempting to refute Davis' claims. The British journal The Lancet reported the findings of researchers Roland Littlewood, a British anthropologist and Dr. Chavannes Douyon of the Polyclinique in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, who concluded that many so-called zombies may in fact be individuals with psychiatric disorders and brain damage. While these researchers speculate on the causes of these disorders, positing epilepsy, oxygen starvation of the brain, and fetal alcohol syndrome; are their observations inconsistent with Davis' findings? It seems to be that both the effects of the drugs, as well as the trauma associated with zombification would result in the apparent catatonic schizophrenia that Littlewood and Douyon observed in their clinical studies.
A p-zombie is a human body without consciousness that would nevertheless behave like a human body with consciousness. Important metaphysical and ethical issues hinge on whether or not there can be p-zombies. For instance, can machines be conscious? If we create a machine that is indistinguishable from a human being, would our artificial creation be a "person" with all the rights and duties of natural persons? It is possible to conceive of a machine which "perceives" without being aware of perceiving. In fact, such machines already exist: motion detectors, touch screens, tape recorders, smoke alarms, certain robots. An android which could process visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory input but which would lack self-consciousness, i.e., would not be aware of perceiving anything, is conceivable. We can even conceive of such machines resembling humans in the flesh. How would we distinguish such automata from persons? The same way we do now: by the imperfect and fallible methods of conversation and observation. Self-consciousness or the lack of it would ultimately distinguish an automaton from a person. "Visual perception" by a motion detector is unlike visual perception by a person just because of the difference in awareness of perception, i.e., self-consciousness. A smoke detector might "smell" certain chemicals, but it does not process odors the way a person does.
Some information researched, some extracts from the former site MIB, (1996) and viewer submissions. Any credits/links needed please inform us here. Thank you!
