Detailed Triangle UFO description

Report:
Three of us were returning from a high school football game in a SUV traveling north on 17th street on the east side of Bend, Oregon. It was 10 pm when we noticed lights to the north, off in the distance, perhaps several miles away. It was a clear night and no moon light. 

As we discussed the incident later, all of us at first just assumed it was an aircraft at first. However the object then went from what seemed like a stationary point several miles off and at a high rate of speed, perhaps 1500 mph, as though it was shot from a gun, it came directly towards us and stopped a short ways off, maybe 1000 feet away. It stopped instantly; there did not appear to be any acceleration or deceleration -it just went full speed and stopped on a dime. 

Then the object in a similar manner shot off in easterly direction and stopped again then it came back again and hovered perhaps 500 feet away and not more than 500 in elevation. Then the object moved very slowly getting closer to us. We could see very clearly the object was triangular in shape perhaps the same mass as a medium sized motor home, not really very large. Underneath the object were perhaps 15 symmetrically placed bright white lights that formed the shape of a triangle with lights inside the triangular shape as well. I would estimate the diameter of the lights at 5" and they were definitely round in shape, the bottom side protruded down sort of like spot light in shape. All the lights were on and extremely bright, not flashing or pulsing or fading. 

The object was approximately 1/3 longer than the width of what appeared to be the rear of the object. On the sides were red lights that appeared to at times be on wings or perhaps the upper sides of the craft. One of the witnesses with me said he saw blue lights, which I did not see. When the craft was slowly hovering a short distance away it seemed that part of the craft, the part illuminated with the red lights, rotated or shifted some how in a very bizarre manner, as though they meshed, passed through each other and traded sides on the craft which gave the impression it was flip flopping around, although the triangular shaped lights on the bottom remained constant and did not change or fluctuate in their positions. 

These events all unfolded in about 90 seconds, then again the craft shot off, like shot from a gun. It went from a hovering position to full speed instantaneously which was at a very high rate of speed in a westerly direct and in just an instant out of sight. All of these maneuvers did not generate any noise, the craft was absolutely quiet and did not stir up any dust on the ground. We did not see it again, it was gone. 

All of us were shocked and nervously laughed about what we just seen. Not one of had ever seen anything like it before. We started to try to explain what we saw. We eliminated helicopters because it would have been noisy and would stirred up a bunch of dust. A helicopter could never perform those types of maneuvers, we eliminated airplanes for similar reasons. The only conclusion we could draw was that the object was a UFO. 

Perhaps this was a once in a life time event for the three of us, but we all agree, we hope to see it again. It was very interesting and fascinating. In retrospect not one of us was fearful or frightened, only curious. I spent a good portion of the next evening looking into the night sky hoping to see it again. We all agreed we would never look up to the night sky in the same way after seeing our first UFO.

View the entire Report here.

Weird Pic O' the day!

Take a seat.

On Mars.

Ahem.

Existence under a microscope @ INTANGIBLE MATERIALITY

In the last post through the library of language as a time binding agency of thought as processed through cultural and individuated memory, I came to the nexus of perceptual camouflage as a defense mechanism of a non human. Missing time equates to missing memory, and missing memory is also perhaps present in the images superimposed on observers as the imprint of intentionally absurd, false realities.We normally assume that these perceptual anomalies are aggressive, whereas I am equally convinced they are defensive. It is difficult for us to envision a reversed series of causation in regard to cultural contamination, which they may seek, or as another possibility,direct perceptual interaction may be a toxin, or it is simply a matter of incompatibility between two systemic states of sentience. What we normally project is aggression, what we normally assume is intentional perceptional disassociation as an act of tactical invasion. What if we are wrong? What if the shoe of nature lies affixed to the other foot and we are such sentient anomalies that direct contact, not by cognitive choice but by our respective sentience is so oppositional that one must avoid the other by a screen, or a screen or camouflage is created when the admixture jells as one misconceives the other? When looking at the biochemical aspect of abductees and the chemical simulations that our minds produce from photon irradiation, I looked at how would be victims of reciprocal feeding processes can produce defensive foul smells, biological feints, paralyzing agents as in the cetacean species, misconception by appearance, etc. What is striking in this is how much all of this is taken in our case, simply at face value. This is what we saw therefore this is what it appeared to be and leave out the most critical factoring, that is why a sleight of hand is necessary? These are tactical in nature quite literally, and yet no real thought has been given to this. Even at the human cellular level with toxins, and antibodies and so forth, a sort of cross mimicry occurs as a balancing of the environment to the living system as a somatic contingency.

David Icke @ BOA

The Binnall of America season finale was no small bow. It was more of a massive supernova. With David Icke and Reptilians. Check it out!

BoA:Audio closes the book on Season V with one of the most requested and anticipated interviews in the history of our program as we proudly welcome a bonafide global esoteric superstar: the incomparable David Icke. Taped weeks before he embarked on a 10 city, 8 country world tour, David Icke joins us for a two hour conversation covering his infamous 'Reptilian' theory as well as the furor that continues to surround it. We'll delve into his latest work, which sees the master conspiracist allege that the Illuminati agenda is on the verge of crumbling and that the moon is an artificial satellite. We'll also talk about his notorious Wogan interview from 1991 which saw Icke become a household name in the UK, much to his chagrin, and find out how that changed him personally and professionally. Icke will also reflect on his return to Wogan in 2006 and his infamous 'turquoise period.' We'll learn what he thinks of contemporary UFO reports, the stagnation of the 911 Truth Movement, and, getting seriously deep, the very nature of God. Plus, of course, tons and tons more.

Vatican believes Aliens can be converted

You don't have to be a human to believe in Jesus Christ. At least, not according to Vatican Astronomer, Guy Consolmagno. Consolmagno told The Guardian, "Any entity – no matter how many tentacles it has – has a soul." And it is the soul and free will that makes an Extraterrestrial a creation of God. Right?


Soooo...if Extraterrestrials show up, pretend to be god, manipulate most of us into worshipping them, thereby allowing them to creep in when we are most vulnerable and destroying our planet...does that mean they are doing God's work?


Exactly!


You can read the rest of the Guardians article here.

Battle Of Los Angeles (1942)

Was there more than one UFO in the sky the night of the infamous
BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES?

Time Walker (1982)

The first time I saw this movie, I was probably 9-10 years old. It had a strong impression
on me. Since then I have searched off and on for a copy. The movie is hard to find in any medium which makes me wonder, why?

I know there could be Hollywood distribution politics to explain this, but given the fact that so many people already believe extraterrestrials had a hand in pre-history, it just makes me wonder if this is a scenario our gov't could have encountered.

Imagine an EBE stranded on earth and mummified while in some sort of suspended sleep or what have you. Fast forward to an age where humankinds technology is capable of allowing such a being to regain consciousness and return home.

Yeah, it's far fetched. Yeah, it's absurdly Hollywood. But still, stranger things have happened. Just because you can't read it in the morning paper, that doesn't mean it isn't news.

If anyone can supply me with a copy of this film, I would appreciate it.

Time of the Trolls

Jon Downes is keeping track of the recent upsurge in Troll sightings.

*Click the title of this post to read more.

Batteries Not Included

A Missouri couple reports being awakened by a bright flash of light in their bedroom at 12:30 a.m. on September 3, 2010, and discovering a "small, disc-like" object hovering in the room, according to testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

The object was described as being 12 inches in diameter, gray metallic in color, with a dome on top and windows around the dome.

The husband first saw the object "move about the room from corner to corner, flashing the strobe-like light (he believes it is a camera of some sort), then it hoovered over his bed." He then woke up his wife, who also saw the object.

The small craft also had small beings inside.

When there is nothing to say, say anything

Photo courtesy of SidneyRigdon.com

I'm not new to the paranormal. I've been trying to find answers since I was six. For some reason people expect you to come out of the womb with a Ph.D. and a piece of an Extraterrestrial craft tucked into your umbilical cord.

When you open your mouth to speak, it damn well better be good. If you have something to say, whether in writing or on a stage behind a podium (in front of a screen with flashy graphics), it better sound plausible, smart and most of all commercial.

If you should happen to be so lucky, you get a book deal. Maybe a few. That's not to say everyone with a book deal is a snake oil salesman, but c'mon, we aren't all selling truth here. I'm not saying we're lying either, but we rely on the human ability to REMEMBER things as they were and that is some pretty shady stuff to adhere to. Scientists will tell you that what we remember isn't always what WAS/IS, so even if we aren't doing it on purpose, by default, we are selling bullshit.

Bunk. Crap. Hearsay. Speculation.

But some people sell it better than others.

I could write an ENTIRE book on every experience I have had in my life, from the haunted house I grew up in, to the things under my bed, to the Werewolf/Beastman I encountered some years ago. But just because I can close my eyes and see those things as I 'remember' them, does that mean they were real? Does it make me a liar to tell you they happened with as much conviction as I can muster?

No.

But if I tell it to you so that you are intrigued enough to want to KNOW more, than that surely makes me far better off than the boring dude on my right who can drone on for hours about UFO crashes in deserts.

Truth is, when UFOLOGY is dry and there's nothing to report, perhaps it's best to just keep talking. Because when we say nothing, there's essentially a huge sign on our foreheads and it reads, "Nothing to see here folks. Move along." And then people stop giving a shit.

Whereas, when the kooks come out the wood work and say anything just to get a rise out of the media, all eyes are on us. Good attention. Bad attention. Seriously, can we afford to be picky? Because in the end, when the bullshitters are done talking and all the smoke has cleared, the audience that is left is gonna want to know more, and guess what? If they dare to stick around long enough; digging through the pile that is our line of work, then that my dears, is when they come across the true gems. The good shit. The truth. The things worth saying.

We just have to figure out a way to get them to stop watching 'Jersey Shore' for two seconds.

Martians see it every morning and now you can too!

The best Mars map ever made is now available online for planetary scientists and armchair astronauts alike.  And citizen scientists are invited to help make it even better.

Websites developed recently at Arizona State University's Mars Space Flight Facility, in collaboration with NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Microsoft, make it easy for anyone to trek the craters, volcanoes, and dusty plains of Earth's small red neighbor world.

"We've assembled the best global map of Mars to date," says Philip Christensen, Regents' Professor of geological sciences in the School of Earth and Space Exploration, part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. "And we made it available via the Internet so everyone can help make it better."

THEMIS 100 METER GLOBAL DAYTIME MOSAIC.

Anybody got an old Speak N' Spell I can cannabalize???

So SETI is going about it the wrong way. Naw really? What this article narrows down to is the idea that signals from Advanced, Intelligent ET's would be short and sweet, like text messages (only without all the misspellings). Because they're trying to to keep the costs of their GREAT, VAST, INCREDIBLY GOD-LIKE technological advances at an all time low. They're saving all that money for FUEL!

The Benfords suggest a continuous signal blared at thousands of stars would simply cost too much energy. They say aliens might use short bursts say, anywhere from a second to an hour long and point these signals in narrow beams at one star and then another in a cycle involving up to thousands of stars that repeats over days or years.

For civilizations that constantly watch the skies, the bursts would convey enough data to be recognized as undeniably artificial. As observant civilizations concentrated on this simple beacon, other beacons could broadcast more complex data at lower power (assuming the aliens were still pursuing a frugal strategy).

If I don't expose the 'stupid' then who will? Oh right...the smarter people.

An AWESOME old MAP of the MOON

Flickr.

Gravity doesn't ex---wait... What?

According to Erik Verlinde (String Theorist and Professor of Physics @ The University of Amsterdam *cough*), gravity is an illusion. You can read his paper on the subject here. What I think he is saying is that Gravity as we know it just isn't, well, Gravity. And the ideas we have about it are hindering our progress as far as understanding the way the Universe works goes.

He's not smoking anything. I don't think. He's just saying it like it is and of course the media is blowing it out of proportion. He didn't say the Earth was flat people. All he said was the reason you are rooted to the surface of the Planet needs to be re-defined and refined in order for further and future endeavors to be made.

We must make strides my fellow humans (and Robots, Aliens, Dolphins and Unicorns). It all starts with revolutionary thought. Read what the man actually has to say. Word for word.

Is it true?

The Rumor 

It reached my ear, from two different, possibly independent sources, that an experiment at the Tevatron is about to release some evidence of a light Higgs boson signal. Some say a three-sigma effect, others do not make explicit claims but talk of a unexpected result. That the result comes from the Tevatron is for sure, since the LHC experiments do not have nearly enough data yet to search for that elusive particle, and other particle physics experiments in the world have not nearly enough energy to produce it. However, I am unable to understand whether the rumor comes from CDF or from D0. 

Lest you jump at conclusions too early, I need to explain something more: despite being a CDF author, I unfortunately do not follow actively the works of the Higgs Discovery Working Group within CDF, so a Higgs excess in CDF data could well have escaped me. In principle, if I now took on digging hard enough in the internal pages of the CDF experiment I might be able to find out if this signal is coming from there, and maybe learn more about it. But there are at least a dozen analyses to dig into! Too much work - while wild speculation is more fun! 

read more here.

Chupa or really ugly dog?

Syfy's attempt to delve into the mystery of Area 51 made of FAIL

Maybe I'm just disenchanted altogether. I can accept that. But what I can't accept is the fact that I watched "Inside Secret Government Warehouses: Shocking Revelations" on Syfy, and was anything but shocked. Annoyed maybe. Perplexed. Not shocked.

And why would I be? I've heard and seen all this shit before. Maybe it shocked a few arm chair newbies who up until tonight thought 'Wright-Patterson' was a Rock band. And I will say that the effort to get more from the Government (as far as answers go) was kind of noble, but still. Same. Recycled. Garbage.

No offense to Lester Holt and the Researchers who stepped in to get some answers, but c'mon...they tried this like 15 years ago and some years later, they still got nowhere. I do applaud the effort. I do applaud the interest. But for the life of me I seriously don't get it.

Area 51 is like a bad itch that won't stop irritating me. It's the gangrene cousin of Roswell. The things that seem to always captivate you but for all the wrong reasons. The secrets that are meant to be secrets. The Pandora's box of our lifetime. At the end of the say I just want to turn off the tv and ask, "Who gives a shit?"

But that sad thing is I do give a shit. I just don't have the power to do anything about it.
If there was one intriguing aspect that kind of compelled me to pull the chair a little closer to the tv, it was the 'Mandible of Unknown Origin'.

The lower jaw cast taken of an unknown creature (one that even an expert couldn't identify)---after death. The story of the Dentist who made the cast. The fact that it was in a vault, waiting for someone to ask, " Hey, you got an alien mandible in here?"

Like I said, intriguing.

Then there's the Vatican and its 'special-not-so-super-secret-library'. I am not going to lie...someday I want to walk in there, smell all those old parchments and sit down as a scholar run my hands over half of those priceless bound mysteries. But still... Dan Brown is a bad influence. He writes about a Vatican Library and all'a'sudden it's the stuff of legend like the imaginary Pentagon Warehouse from Indiana Jones.

I must say Hollywood kind of fucks everything up. It sets the bar too high for mysteries that really aren't that mysterious. Independence Day did Area 51 in. For good. Now we will always think there are spaceships from some Galactic empire being R&D'd down there.

"You let us fuck around on your planet and we'll let you take apart our really old and useless shuttles that even the Queen of the Universe wouldn't be caught dead driving. Sure..."

Yeah. I'm bitter.

Blame Syfy.

Sucker Free Summer In Danger of Sucking

No seriously though. According to WFAA (Dallas/Fort Worth), El Chupacabra is rampaging Texan Cattle, dressed like a Chihuahua. A hairless Chihu---

Okay, ya know, I can't even get serious about this. It has nothing to do with Farmers who are losing livestock or the mythical Chupa itself. It has everything to do with the fact that damnit, not one good picture...not one video. Not one honest-to-true corpse. Just...annoying shit like this: "I saw a Chupacabra and it ate my dog."

I refuse to take this shit serious anymore.

The Nine

Philip Coppens dives, headfirst into the 2012 phenomena and with surprising results. I've been equally disturbed and intrigued by the "9". The idea that Nine Demi-gods have been visiting Earth for ages and leaving chaos, mayhem and destruction in their wake.

You can read Coppens assessment here.

The question nevertheless remains as to who these Nine Gods truly are. Indeed, “Nine Gods” are not just an ingredient of the Mayan culture. There were also Nine Gods in the ancient Egyptian religion, as well as many others (e.g. India). To the Egyptians, they were also known as the Nine Principles and they were directly linked with their Creator Deity, Atum. 
Control over these Nine Principles was deemed to be instrumental in the successful rule of a Pharaoh: proper control over them meant that balance – linked with the deity Ma’at – was maintained and all was well with Egypt, the world and the universe. We can therefore see that The Nine in an Egyptian or Mayan setting, were closely related; in both instances, they determined the ruling of an era, whereby their consultation was of extreme importance to the success of the nation.

Finally...my REAL parents are coming to get me!

A mystery object 500 light years away, in the Constellation of Scorpius (incidentally a topic of discussion last night at my Bat Mitzvah), shouldn't exist. But it does. And why? Oh yeah...because Science can't dictate what SHOULD and SHOULDN't exist.

Did these people not learn anything from Einstein?

Here's an excerpt:

"There is no theory for how a true planet can form at 300 AU (astronomical units, with one unit equal to 93 million miles, the mean distance between Earth and the sun). It's not really a lack of imagination. It's a lack of physics," California Institute of Technology astronomer John Johnson told Discovery News.

Current theories, observations and computer models show that planets form from a disk of gas and dust that circles young stars. Less material is available as the distance to the parent star grows.

"You actually have to have material out there to have the planet forming," Johnson said.

Another option is that the object, designated as 1RXS J160929.1-210524 b and located about 500 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius, is a new type of failed star — something akin to a brown dwarf, though about half the size — which formed along with the primary star about 5 million years ago.

But scientists similarly are at a loss to explain how such a relatively small object could have survived the stellar birthing process.

"The models show it's difficult to successfully produce a low-mass object next to a much more massive object," said University of Montreal astronomer David Lafreniere, who lead a team that photographed the object in 2008, the first time a planet beyond the solar system was directly imaged.

There is more at DISCOVER NEWS.

I said it before and I'll say it again... if I was gonna scope out the universe, I wouldn't do it in a fancy-schmancy spaceship that attracts attention. I'd do it in a vehicle that resembles something ordinary in space, like a planet, asteroid or comet.

Things that make ya go...'What the frak, yo!?'...

Ball Lightning: All in your head (Like Bad Porn)...

Ever seen 'ball' lightning?

Ever wonder if it was just your electromagnetic superpowers interfering with the Maestro's Universal Master Plan? Basically you're hallucinating. And get this...the same cause for 'hallucinatory ball lightning' is going to be the next (but not new), explanation for why we see UFO's.

Science. Gotta love it. Especially when it's used to propagate an agenda.

Alien Mom or just the norm...

Granted, there are a lot of weird looking people in the world. I know some of them personally. But do I think they're aliens? No. Unless they are. Which I wouldn't
know. Of course.

Anyhow, the above picture is 'supposed' to support the theory of Hybridization
or the interspecies mingling/interbreeding between EBE's and Humans. I'm not
so sure how this is possible if they aren't anything like us genetically. So, for
arguments sake, if they can breed with us, then we have to be related. Which
all goes back to my belief that they are us.

So, in essence. She's not an alien at all. She's just ... a weird looking human. Or,
if you're from that region of the world...she's very normal looking(?)...

...and, I need a coffee.

Curiouser and curiouser...

The picture above depicts what is considered by some to be an Ancient Astronaut. There's a few of them standing there, actually. Up until last night, I always perceived the squiggly lines on either side of the first figure to be representations of serpents. But now I am almost positively certain they are representations of either a force field or some kind of energy being expelled from the beings body.

The ANGELS of the Bible were described as glowing, or emanating a sort of energy that was later depicted in the guise of HALO's. I wonder if this isn't the same kind of energy. Anyhow, I came to this conclusion early this morning, after a dream in which I was approached by beings in armor of some type. They were emitting a shimmery, almost mirage-like energy from their bodies.

Maybe next time I won't eat so late at night. Maybe...

Stupid rocks

No offense to the MARS enthusiasts. You know the kinds---they have entire websites dedicated to MARTIAN ANOMALIES---who can see something in every picture. Chances are I've been to your site and I've seen the pictures, over and over. Not only because the Martian surface is beautiful and awe-inspiring.

I visit and I stay and I stare until I go blind, because I'm trying to see the shit that isn't there. The things you say are there that no other person can see. The wishful-thinking-rock-that-looks-like-something-but-isn't.

There's the 'supposed' Robot in the Victoria Crater. There are the 'beings' that have been airbrushed out of the Rover images, so all you see are rocks and smudges and...rocks. In fact, all I see are rocks!

Do the rocks shape-shift? Is Mars home of the shape-shifting monster rocks? Is that any stranger than most of the other things people claim to see on the Martian surface? And don't get me wrong, because I am not knocking you. Maybe you do see something? My eyes---your eyes---are different.

Maybe that little alien in the top hat, driving a BMW is there and I am just not gifted enough to see him/her/it. But then again, maybe you're just looking too hard. Maybe your seeing things that aren't there at all.

The worst part is, this isn't helping to elevate research into Mars and the anomalies I am certain exist there. It just makes Martian enthusiasts look crazy. Crazy isn't bad, really it isn't. But crazy and Mars in one sentence... it's just ammo for those who don't believe in anything at all.

So next time, hold back until you're certain. Most of the time, no matter how anthropomorphic they may be, they're just ROCKS.

Jeff Ritzmann and Jeremy Vaeni @ BOA

It's 2 hours and 28 minutes of pure insanity, as Jeff and Jeremy talk to Tim about saying 'farewell' to the "classic' Paratopia. Out with the old and in with the new, as the latest incarnation of Paratopia takes off.

Jeff and Jer talk about their beginnings and the conception of Paratopia; delving into some of the classic episodes of the program. Special topics in Ufology are discussed, as well as the Paratopia Ghost Hunting Trip and their adventures in X-Conference Land.

It's a few hours that will leave you wanting more. Thank goodness the boys show no sign of going completely off the grid.

Jason Offutt @ BOA

ournalist and paranormal investigator Jason Offutt returns to the program for a discussion on his latest book, What Lurks Beyond: The Paranormal in Your Backyard, which profiles an amazing array of esoteric events and tales that can be found within a 100 mile radius of his home in Missouri. Among the topics discussed are haunted locations like college campuses and the 'Axe Murder House,' 'Mad Man' Markham and his alleged time machine, the Black Eyed Kids phenomenon, Window Zones, ghost hunting, Ouija Boards, a psychic dog, Jason's Paranormal Journalism course, as well as an update on his research into Shadow People.

It's a perfect episode for Summer time camping trips as Jason Offutt shares some terrifying tales tailor made listening around the campfire.

Monsters...Monsters and Monsters. Oh my!

It's no industry secret that decades of movie magic have initiated us all into the realms of the Paranormal. Some have speculated the popularity and rise in UFO sightings began with Hollywood. Whatever may or may not be the truth, the fact of the matter is MONSTER movies have inspired generations to believe in Monsters.

Hollywood Monsters range from viruses that mutate and turn humans into flesh-eating zombies, to Giant creature of unknown Origin who rise from the ocean to destroy Manhattan. What we know today about Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves and Aliens comes from Hollywood.

Hollywood has taken old tales from the old world and spun them into Blockbuster gold, and at the same time, successfully conditioned generations to look under the bed and in the closet. Just think about it...if you had a fear of the dark, was it because something actually happened to you in the dark, or was it more likely a movie you saw as a kid that stayed in your head, festering until it became a belief of its own?

Chances are many of our phobias came from nights spent watching Dario Argento's DEMONS, or George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Our monsters, the ones we spend time checking corners for were not invented in Hollywood, but they sure were adopted, refurbished and sent back out onto the road on shiny new tires...thanks to Hollywood.

My Grandmother comes from the old country. The monsters she talks about were very real back in her day. They were there before Hollywood. They were there back when stories were spoken word. Oral traditions. They lived in caves. They took over human bodies. They consumed flesh. They transformed in the darkness. They shunned the light of day. They flew in the air, close to the moon. You name the cliche, the old monsters from back before celluloid did those things.

In fact, the original, old school monsters of yore were far superior and scarier than the sexy Vampires and Werewolves and Witches we've come to know. They were scarier because they were the 'unknowables'. They were the hidden things that people of that time speculated about. Caught glimpses of. Heard stories about. But never saw.

It's no different with the majority of us. Yes, some people have their experiences to back up their phobias, but most of us have never seen a real Vampire. Never been chased by a Werewolf. Never had to outrun a shambling Zombie, and yet, deep down we believe.

We still come home from work, just as the sun is going down, to check the closets and under the beds. We still sleep with some of the lights on. We still have weapons sequestered in certain places in close proximity to where we spend a majority of our time. Some of us are far more afraid of the things we can't prove exist than we are the real threats...the human beings who can actually harm us.

But one thing I have learned is: Never Say Never. If we can think it, dream it, imagine it, ponder it or express it... then who's to say it isn't real? Monsters. They lurk in hidden corners of our minds, day and night, and for some unfortunate souls they are a truth some of us are lucky to never come face to face with.

Monsters, whether they be conjured in a studio or on a dark night in the woods, by dark souls looking to do evil deeds. Monsters exist. If you believe.

The Ufology Hate Meme

Recently, David Biedny referred to the Paranormal as no different than, "...any other form of Entertainment." I was already accepting the idea that many people were and still are turning their collective backs on the Paranormal until the comment, "Ufologists eat their own," (not verbatim) was directed at Paul Kimball. That comment coupled with Biedny's thoughts ---all too readily solidifying the contempt for the field---makes me feel like it's time I put my two cents in.

All of a sudden, it has become popular to denigrate the field. Now everyone from every corner of the field is turning their back and turning up their nose. When did this start exactly? Who was the first person to knock down a domino? And why is it that the Ghost Hunting Field isn't following suit?

In fact, even the Cryptozoologists are separating themselves from the negativity, which has me considering a new field in which to focus my time and energy. But everytime I entertain the thought of leaving Ufology, I think about all the other people walking away and I start to see Ufology as this once full house that is now almost empty and on the verge of collapse.

The researchers who were the foundation aren't doing their job. The researchers who furnished this great house of Ufology have left dust in their place. You would think younger researchers would rally together and proclaim this a small blemish on the field that can be easily fixed. But no, instead half of them are growing weary with the backstabbing, the lack of viable information and worse, the fallen (once) heroes of the field.

It is now acceptable for Ufologists/Paranormal researchers and investigators to talk shit about the field with no consequence. And why should there be? It's not a 'real' field of study. It's just a hobby for rejects. It's one of those fields you 'fall' into when you're a kid, dabbling with the occult and getting your ass kicked in the school yard for being a little too smart.

It's the red-headed stepchild of Science. The Paranormal is where all the freaks go when they want to feel special. I get it now. It's reject central. So if you make it out of freakdom---if you write a book, or two---if you start a successful blog---if you get a TV Show/Radio Show---you become too cool to be in the Paranormal field. You just have to get out and spread your wings.

Right?

I so totally get it now!

The problem is, I don't think many of you should be allowed to walk away so easily. In fact, I think some of you should be held accountable for what you have done. This is the Paranormal Fields version of Arthur Andersen. There is plenty of fraud in the field, committed by the people who 'supposedly' helped to build it in the passed few decades.

Some cases that were absolute bunk were given too much attention. Other cases weren't explored enough. Some researchers backed fraudulent claims and hoaxers and even created hoaxes. I am not going to waste time naming names, because frankly, right now I just don't give a shit. But I am trying to make a point, and the point is the people who started this shit need to clean it up.

It has become acceptable to just walk away from the field and turn a blind eye at what previous generations have done to a field that could have gained more respect, if not for certain people's inclination to share the spotlight and make shit up as they went along. Ufology/The Paranormal could have been something more. And it's not like I didn't see it gaining ground.

Heck, the Vatican said, 'Yes, there might be ALiens!' And then their are various projects enacted for Disclosure, like the Freedom of Information Act. And no, we didn't exactly figure out what happened at Roswell, but everyone and their mother has heard about it. Alien Invasion films are usually blockbusters. Little kids follow the adventures of Invader Zim and every other animated Alien.

And why? Because Ufology/The Paranormal broke ground somehow. The field slowly but surely seeped into the Global subconscious so that many more people believe in other life in the Universe. More people report UFO sightings. More people talk about their Haunted houses. More people want to know about Life after death, and that curiosity is why shows like 'Medium' and 'The Ghost Whisperer' have ratings.

The fact that some researchers have been on Larry King and that NOVA and the History Channel cover UFOLOGY (no matter how biased, warped or critical it may all be) is enough to confirm we have come a long way baby and we are making great strides. But somehow, somewhere, people started getting weary and greedy and dispassionate. Fine. I am not saying no one has the 'right' to walk away.

That was never point to begin with. My point is, clean up your shit on the way out. And once you are gone, stop talking about it. We don't need your bad vibes, and we certainly don't need any more ill repute because the only thing you can find to talk about is how much Ufology/The Paranormal sucks. Because it doesn't. It is just another outlet for solving the mysteries of this world we live in. Until someone can definitively give us all the answers, I suggest we stop acting like one method or one particular field is more important and respectable than the other.

Because at the end of the day, whether you leave UFOLOGY/The Paranormal behind or not, it's still a part of your legacy. The shit storm you left behind will haunt you.

*Disclaimer: This is not a personal attack on Biedny or Kimball. I just wanted to cite how the two of you got the ball rolling on my decision to write this. Thanks.

MAN.BEAR.PIG.(NOT).

Loren Coleman was on the case. No, it was not a baby Sasquatch. Nor was
it a member of the Hilton Family.

It was, in fact...ba-dum-bump...a mink. Anyone wanna coat?

Search Amazon.com for Cryptozoology

The (NO) God Delusion

I should be in bed. In fact, I am in so much pain it's all I can think about. Bed. But if I go to bed without getting any of this out, It'll all fade into the world where dreams and reality collide. Trust me it happens. All too often.

You see, a few days ago I had surgery. I seem to be Fates 'soon-to-meet-the-maker' list. I have a problem that just won't go away and yeah, it angers me. When I was a kid I imagined I'd live to be a hundred and ten. But I watched my grandfather die all too young, when he should still be here, and so I don't put much faith into fate. I didn't put much faith into anything I couldn't see, touch, taste or smell. 

But you gotta grow up sooner or later.

It's one thing to walk through life never having had that brush with your own mortality. To wake up and go to bed every day knowing that everything's eventual. To never have to look the end in the face over and over. Nope. Some of you are just too damn lucky. And that's your problem. Because you started getting a little too proud. Too ahead of yourselves.

I'm not saying there aren't people who haven't looked death in the face and decided once and for all there is NOTHING to look forward to beyond this, but notice, those people are the ones with the NEGATIVE experiences. They see all they've put into the universe, coming back at them and they realized it's not good. They expected someone/something to step up and put in a good word for them. Well, apparently that ain't how it works. So some get bitter. Some go atheist.

And then some become like me.

The first time I had surgery was pretty much the same as the surgery I had the other day. Pink Tunnels. Yes, I saw pink, spiraling tunnels, warping passed me, faster than the speed of light. I was traveling to where, I still don't know. And to tell you the truth, most of the trip is a blur and completely lost to me. Maybe for ever. But what I do remember is knowing that someone was looking out for me. Traveling alongside me and making sure I made it to the end of the trip. It was an entity that was neither male nor female, but could have been a mix of both. It never left me even as I traveled so fast I thought we would part.

As my unseen/unknown companion traveled with me, I became aware of others in the tunnel. It was a bright pink tunnel with no trace of darkness or evil or fear. It was like being in a spaceship, traveling through a nebula. The voices in the tunnel told me I would be okay and the entity beside me revealed itself as the 'thing' I thought was God. But it did not brag or impress its greatness on me. Instead it stayed with me, asked me if I was okay and while we traveled together through this tunnel, I remember asking, over and over for Superpowers. Yes, even in a tunnel in between life and death, I still wanted to be a superhero.

I'm not sure what answer I got, but I made it out of the tunnel. The entity/God told me I was done and that I could open my eyes now. I did. When I looked up I saw the doctors in the corner conferring with one another. None of them notices I was awake. But I was happy to be there.

A lot of smart men have been telling us for a long time there is no god. God is a delusion. Yet they can't seem to explain why we are biologically programmed to believe in a delusion. What good has it done us? I say, what if we are not 'programmed' to believe in a god, but instead, what if we were given a special 'way' of communicating with a god? What if that's what separates us from the rest? The fact that we have the ability to see the man/woman who wasn't there?

(to be continued...)

Rest in Peace: Frank Frazetta

Not many people know that I am an artist. I grew up creating my own cartoons and comic books. I emulated a lot of artists in my life. I remember tracing George Perez, da Vinci, Kirby, Michael Turner and Jim Lee's work. I poured over hours and hours of Alex Ross. But what got me started on the path to wanting to create epic Graphic Novels was the work of Frank Frazetta. I spent many long nights staring at the mans work and wondering how he could come up with such images without looking at a photograph for reference. That's when I embarked on a long journey to drawing from my head and not my eyes. The man inspired me to draw what I wanted and NOT what I thought other people wanted to see. He was brilliant and epic and inspiring and he was one of my heroes. He will be missed.

For those of you who are all about the Esoteric and don't care for commercial art. You oughta know your ideas of the Mothman and many other crypids came from the mind of Frazetta.

Maria Pena's thoughts on Scientists with Twitter Ego's

(excerpted)

Some scientists think they are promoting "critical-thinking" and, therefore, everything out of their belief system bubble is highly criticized by them in a very rude way. The people I've seen following this practice some are sort of famous and have their own TV show, which makes it (in my opinion) even worse.

Out of the blue, these so-called "critical thinkers" start criticizing, in a very rude manner, to other people that believe in anything they don't believe in like God, or start making fun of people who claim to have had a UFO sighting.

They are so sure that God does not exist ... wow! Hey, I am not a religious person and, personally, YES, I believe in the existence of God and creator. But here is the thing; if you claim that God does not exist, for me that sound like you have answers to all the mysteries in the world.

American Ironicle

So there's this article over at American Chronicle and it's about ALIENS. Creepy, scary aliens that may or may not resemble 'V's. According to this same article, an extraterrestrial entity abducted an 'Earth' Woman and showed her stuff. He didn't harm her in any way. He just showed her stuff.

He lived in Maryland, even though he was said to have come from Delta Pavonis (his homeworld being the 4th rock from the sun). And to make things even dumber, he was called a Septeloid. Sept means seven, and I honestly don't want to know what he had seven of.

Yeah, I know. It sounds like I'm being all skeptical about this tale. This yarn. This story of one lone STARMAN, coming to earth to abduct a woman, so he can show her stuff. Gosh. C'mon people. Do I really have to point out the obvious? Not saying that it didn't happen. Just sayin' that right now there's a remake of 'V' and Stephen Hawking is telling people Aliens are bad, and NASA holds a conference to smooth out their whole 'Aliens-don't-exist-but-they're-cool-to-talk-about-if-you-have-a-phd-and-look-like-you-never-get-laid' ideology.

So Jimmy Carter knew about a dude from 20-light years away who came here to show some 23-year old Government worker stuff. And they let him go. They let him leave. Hell, he could come back with a freakin' cavalry! Oh, wait... I'm starting to sound like Stephen Hawking.

Paratopia ep# 65: Jeff, Paranormal Science and Unicorns

While Paratopia moves into its next phase in podcast evolution, Jeff Ritzman signs off and somewhere in Madagascar a Unicorn dies.

First, special guests Dr. Stephen Rorke & David Rountree grace us with their first interview together ever to explain the tools and the science of the paranormal trade. We will learn about the physics behind hauntings, explore some of the fascinating experiences of David Rountree, hear a cautionary tale regarding EVP fraud, and more. There’s a lot of great information and demonic spookiness in this one!

Then, sadly, we send off Jeff Ritzmann who is sailing for clearer waters. This is Jeff’s very last episode as weekly co-host of Paratopia. His, too, is a cautionary tale for all of ufology.

Linda Godfrey @ BOA

Very, very interesting interview. Especially since I now think Werewolves exist.

Acclaimed cryptozoologist Linda Godfrey joins us for a discussion about the phenomenon of Bipedal Canine Cryptids (aka "Dogman"). We'll cover the recent "Gable Film" hoax which was revealed on a recent edition of MonsterQuest and Linda will detail the entire Gable saga as it unfolded. We'll then cover the "Dogman" enigma from a variety of angles, including how Linda first began investigating the phenomenon, the response of the cryptozoology community to her research, the typical descriptions of the Bipedal Canine Cryptids and how they differ from bears as well as "classic" werewolf descriptions, the connections between the Dogman and water as well as Native American burial mounds, problems with proving the BCC's existence, and tons more material related to the mysterious Bipedal Canine Cryptids.

It's a revealing look at a truly unique cryptid with the researcher who helped to put it on the map: Linda Godfrey

Causality

The older I get, the more I start to feel the Universe spitting at me. For instance, every night on my way home I pass by my grandmothers house. It is a huge house, and most of my immediate family calls it home. Every night, as I walk by on my way to my apartment, I find the gate open. Open gates are a bad thing. My grandfather, when he was alive, made sure the gate was shut at all times. It's not about not letting stray dogs in, etc. It's about keeping the good in and the bad out. Maybe it makes sense only to me and my superstitious clan, but it works. So, every night, I close the gate.

I close it and then I head on home.

But tonight, as I was approaching the last step up to the gate, I fell. I fell hard. Even as I am typing this my knee is throbbing. This is karma. This is what I get for giving attitude to people for that past few days because of my own disdain over what has become my life. Just like the other day when I helped a woman find her credit card and she likened me to an angel. I pretended not to acknowledge the compliment. And then 20 minutes later, as I was at the Harvard Square station, waiting for the train, I spotted a girl with cute pink sandals.

I told her they were nice. She ignored me. Karma.

Maybe I'm just becoming one of those disenchanted people who see everything as a slight against their existence, but honestly, I've always seen people get what they give. I gave out negative energy, and in return I am at home nursing a bum knee.

Causality.

Maybe next time I'll wear knee guards.

One for the books?

We've all heard the old 'UFO abducts COW' story. We've seen photoshopped pictures of a poor, unassuming cow dangling precariously in the air, under the invisible field of a flying saucer. But a car? A UFO just picking up a random car and dropping it as if to say, " Hey, Cleeclix, I think we have the wrong vehicle. The Earth-made gps is off..." And then dropping it like a hotcake.

Two New Hampshire teens claim a UFO lifted their car and then dropped them about 180 feet away. I have no idea why a UFO would behave in such a manner, so I am not going to dismiss this story based on what I DON'T KNOW. You can read the entire report here.

Steve Firmani, the New England State Director for MUFON is on the case so there could be something here
after all.

The Perfect Addition to an important Argument

Deirdre, over at The Interstellar Housewife besides being incredibly awesome, has some valid points to make regarding the argument of the week...

Which you can catch up on here and here.

Visitors Welcome!

I've been watching NASA (UFO) footage most of the morning, and I've come to
three conclusions...

1) There are various different kinds of craft and they all seem to be 'aware' of each other.
This, in my opinion, means that every other (possible) species in the universe knows of each
others existence. We are the only ones in the dark.

2) These are, for the most part, some very large craft. Very large as in, travelling longer distances
with more people on board. Which leads me to conclusion number 3...

3) They appear to hover near Earth and the moon. They seem entirely interested in our planet and
our species. Why are they there, and what do they want? Considering the size of their crafts, I'd
say they have NO home to go to, and that perhaps there aren't any more planets as habitable and
life sustaining as earth.

It's very possible that something happened that destroyed more than a few homeworlds, but somehow
earth was spared. Maybe these beings stick around for the water and the fresh air. They leave
their crafts occasionally, but in the end, they are refugees/moochers and they are following some
code that prevents them from just coming down and taking over.

Maybe whoever owns this planet is still around and carries a big stick.

...curiouser and curiouser....

Bill and Nancy Birnes @ BOA

Wrapping up our big return, BoA:Audio unleashes a 2nd episode this week which centers purely on the esoteric. First, we'll have a special dual-guest conversation with Bill and Nancy Birnes, of UFO Hunters & UFO Magazine. Envisioned as a fly-on-the-wall look at the UFO power couple, dubbed "Dinner with the Birnes," we find out about the demise of UFO Hunters, the pair's entrance into Ufology with The Day After Roswell, their perspective on today's world of UFO studies, and a whole bunch more as we travel down a number of sideroads that include Jamie Shandera, TWA Flight 800, strange Ufological "sources," the Birnes family's remarkable history in the entertainment world, and the duo's cameo in the recent Dwayne Johnson film Race to Witch Mountain. It's both a carefree and fascinating glimpse behind the curtain with two of Ufology's biggest players.

Pic of the day!

Over at Mysterious Universe, Micah Hanks related a story regarding a conversation he had with
one of my all-time favorite people, Brad Steiger. The topic: Giants. Anyone who's visited my blog at least once
before knows about my fascination with Giants...

The picture above is of a Mother and Child found in the Yosemite Valley in the 1800's. The woman was about
seven feet tall, and holding an infant in her arms. The way in which they were buried shows that someone took
the time and the care to make sure the dead were respected. This was surely a tribe of intelligent and incredibly
tall people. What happened to them, only time and really careful research will tell, for as Steiger relayed to
hanks, when you delve into this kind of mystery, it only leads to trouble.

Straight to the point...

Bruce Duensing has my brain in a tizzy. In a good way. You can read his entire post " Does Ufology Have A Future When It's Non-Existent?" at INTANGIBLE MATERIALITY.


So much is wrong with Ufology right now. In fact so much was wrong at the dawning of Ufology.
When I was a kid, I wanted to discover other civilizations, in the farther reaches of space. To
do that I knew I needed to devote my entire life to such a pursuit. I knew the chances of me ever
leaving Earth were slim-to-none. I knew that in all likely hood, I wouldn't succeed.

But I didn't care.

I didn't want to be famous. I didn't want anyone erecting any statues of me in a spacesuit, shaking
hands with some extraterrestrial. I just wanted to look into the void, see the things I could only
speculate about, and then move on.

That's the mentality of people who really want to find the truth. You work to support your 'hobby'...
your side passion. You know it's not a legit career. And why not? Because the world isn't like an
Indiana Jones movie. You can't go making your way through lost cities, tempting the unknown forces
of the Universe and expecting to be rewarded for it.

Because the world we live in just isn't that cool. There are no prehistoric monsters in the skies and
there are no Super Villains skulking in doorways, waiting for the opportunity
to take over the world. We have confused reality with imagination. Fact with fiction.

This is why Ufology fails. Because we let the fantastical, ridiculous things creep in and slowly mix
and congeal with the possible. The fact that people are seeing the same things they've been seeing
for thousands of years means nothing to mainstream science if the only people speaking out are
the clinically insane.

In essence, the world doesn't care about the Hybrids tapping your phone if a) The Hybrids don't
look like the 'Observers' from Fringe, b) Some 'famous' Ufologist isn't involved in your experience
in some way, and c) You aren't getting any special information about the Universe, Weapons of Mass
Destruction, or why Justin Bieber sounds like a girl. If it isn't 'Hollywood', no one's interested.

And at worst, if it isn't 'Scientifically' possible, then it's bunk. Even though Science is the business
of the Impossible. But who's keeping score?

If you want to find proof that UFO's/Extraterrestrials/Ghosts/Bigfoot/Mermaids/Nessie/Zombie Elvis
exist, don't go looking for the answers thinking you're going to headline a TV show on SYFY, a book deal
and be the major guest speaker at all the KOOK-Conventions. That's not the reality of the Quest for the Truth.

If you want to find proof because you believe that life is not just about waking up and going to work, worrying
about bills, watching countries blow each other up, people kill each other and children starve...if you believe
looking into the void gives you a purpose and some meaning...then by all means, do your thing. Just don't
go expecting any fame and fortune along the way.

And as for those who came before, who are still eking an existence out of this 'pursuit' of the truth we all hold so near and dear...keep on keeping on...but if you destroy what's left of Ufology with greed, ignorance and ego, try not to fuck it up for the rest of us.

I still wonder about this one...

!BLOOP!

Moon bases for alternate races

I found this piece at io9. The 60's was the era of space based thinking. Many of the illustrations accompanying the article were made in 1969 for the SCIENCE JOURNAL. The depictions made sense at the time. Because if you think about it, even though an artist can have some vague (yet imaginative), realization of something, when it comes to the actual finished product, the imagination rarely if ever compares.

But that is the beauty of concept art.

But therein lies the problem. For example: My generation was hoping for flying cars. We read about them. We saw movies depicting a society that relied on them. We saw them in cartoons and we dreamed about our very own vehicles on the wind. And now, we are all grown up and what do we have to compare our imaginations to? Nothing. Concept cars. Electric cars. Hybrids. No flying machines that would make the Jetsons look prophetic. So, seeing these artistic interpretations of Moonbases that even today, don't exist is humbling in a way. Because it says that even if we can't make it so when we want, we will eventually, so long as we keep dreaming it up.


I still want my flying car.

50-mile wide corridor of carnage...

That outta be a movie title, 'Corridor of Carnage'. Hungry aliens come to earth to feed. No, but seriously,
this is very intriguing. UFO hunters (probably the only hunters in the world who never bring any bacon
home, but I digress), have figured out that the reddish lights, dissecting sheep in the U.K., are moving
along an exact pattern.

Go here for more.

The Large Hadron Collider (for individuals who have no clue what Particle Physics has to do with American Idol and other American pasttimes...)

By DENNIS OVERBYE
Published: April 2, 2010
(Via the New York Times)

For those whose physics knowledge was a bit rusty, the news about the Large Hadron Collider, the world's biggest physics machine, might have been puzzling.
Related

European Collider Begins Its Subatomic Exploration (March 31, 2010)
Yes, the collider finally crashed subatomic particles into one another last week, but why, exactly, is that important? Here is a primer on the collider - with just enough information, hopefully, to impress guests at your next cocktail party.


Let’s be basic. What does a particle physicist do?

Particle physicists have one trick that they do over and over again, which is to smash things together and watch what comes tumbling out.



What does it mean to say that the collider will allow physicists to go back to the Big Bang? Is the collider a time machine?


Physicists suspect that the laws of physics evolved as the universe cooled from billions or trillions of degrees in the first moments of the Big Bang to superfrigid temperatures today (3 degrees Kelvin) — the way water changes from steam to liquid to ice as temperatures decline. As the universe cooled, physicists suspect, everything became more complicated. Particles and forces once indistinguishable developed their own identities, the way Spanish, French and Italian diverged from the original Latin.

By crashing together subatomic particles — protons — physicists create little fireballs that revisit the conditions of these earlier times and see what might have gone on back then, sort of like the scientists in Jurassic Park reincarnating dinosaurs.

The collider, which is outside Geneva, is 17 miles around. Why is it so big?

Einstein taught us that energy and mass are equivalent. So, the more energy packed into a fireball, the more massive it becomes. The collider has to be big and powerful enough to pack tremendous amounts of energy into a proton.

Moreover, the faster the particles travel, the harder it is to bend their paths in a circle, so that they come back around and bang into each other. The collider is designed so that protons travel down the centers of powerful electromagnets that are the size of redwood trunks, which bend the particles’ paths into circles, creating a collision. Although the electromagnets are among the strongest ever built, they still can’t achieve a turning radius for the protons of less than 2.7 miles.

All in all, the bigger the accelerator, the bigger the crash, and the better chance of seeing what is on nature’s menu.


What are physicists hoping to see?



According to some theories, a whole list of items that haven’t been seen yet — with names like gluinos, photinos, squarks and winos — because we haven’t had enough energy to create a big enough collision.

Any one of these particles, if they exist, could constitute the clouds of dark matter, which, astronomers tell us, produce the gravity that holds galaxies and other cosmic structures together.

Another missing link of physics is a particle known as the Higgs boson, after Peter Higgs of the University of Edinburgh, which imbues other particles with mass by creating a cosmic molasses that sticks to them and bulks them up as they travel along, not unlike the way an entourage forms around a rock star when they walk into a club.


Have scientists ever seen dark matter?

It’s invisible, but astronomers have deduced from their measurements of galactic motions that the visible elements of the cosmos, like galaxies, are embedded in huge clouds of it.


Will physicists see these gluinos, photinos, squarks and winos?



There is no guarantee that any will be discovered, which is what makes science fun, as well as nerve-racking.


So how much energy do you need to create these fireballs?

At the Large Hadron Collider, that energy is now 3.5 trillion electron volts per proton — about as much energy as a flea requires to do a pushup. That may not sound like much, but for a tiny proton, it is a lot of energy. It is the equivalent of a 200-pound man bulking up by 700,000 pounds.


What’s an electron volt?

An electron volt is the amount of energy an electron would gain passing from the negative to the positive side of a one-volt battery. It is the basic unit of energy and of mass preferred by physicists.



When protons collide, is there a big bang?

There is no sound. It’s not like a bomb exploding.

In previous trials, there was an actual explosion.

All that current is dangerous. During the testing of the collider in September 2008, the electrical connection between a pair of the giant magnets vaporized. There are thousands of such connections in the collider, many of which are now believed to be defective. As a result the collider can only run at half-power for the next two years.


Could the collider make a black hole and destroy the Earth?

The collider is not going to do anything that high-energy cosmic rays have not done repeatedly on Earth and elsewhere in the universe. There is no evidence that such collisions have created black holes or that, if they have, the black holes have caused any damage. According to even the most speculative string theory variations on black holes, the Large Hadron Collider is not strong enough to produce a black hole.

Too bad, because many physicists would dearly like to see one.

An earlier version of this article misstated that the Earth began to cool in the aftermath of the Big Bang.

***A version of this article appeared in print on April 4

Loren Coleman, Nick Redfern and Giants

I can't help it. I have a fascination with giants. So these two books are going to sit side by side
on my bookshelf...if I ever put them down ;)

True Giants: Myth, Legend, Folklore and Fact (By Loren Coleman and Mark A. Hall)

The American Goliah (Edited by Tim Beckley, with contributions from Nick Redfern)

Strange pic of the day!

Cape Verde, MARS...

Is it just me, or is something serpentine (with eyes), staring out at the Rover?