That spot in Peru is pretty cool. I'm glad you posted it because I didn't even think of posting it myself. lol
Located in the arid Peruvian coastal plain, some 400 km south of Lima, the Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Pampas de Jumana are one of the most impressive-looking archaeological areas in the world and an extraordinary example of the traditional and millenary magical-religious world of the ancient Pre-Hispanic societies which flourished on the Peruvian south coast between the 8th century BC and the 8th century AD. They are located in the desert plains of the basin river of Rio Grande de Nasca, the archaeological site covers an area of approximately 75,358.47 Ha where for nearly 2,000 uninterrupted years, the region’s ancient inhabitants drew on the arid ground a great variety of thousands of large scale zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figures and lines or sweeps with outstanding geometric precision, transforming the vast land into a highly symbolic, ritual and social cultural landscape that remains until today. They represent a remarkable manifestation of a common religion and social homogeneity that lasted a considerable period of time.
Everything Mysterious Thread
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- De donde me da la gana.
Believe it or not, I've never been. It's always just there and I think someday. lol
In the far reaches of northwestern Connecticut, in the shadows of the mountains and lost in the pages of time, rests the remains of a small village called Dudleytown. The homes of this once thriving community are long gone, but the land where the town once stood is far from empty. Amidst the forest and rocks are tales of ghosts, demons, unexplained mysteries, curses and a rich history that dates back to the very beginnings of America.
Today, only the cellar holes and a few stone foundations remain. The roads that once traversed to this place are now little more than narrow trails where only a few adventurous hikers, and the occasional ghost hunter, dare to wander. Although it is forbidden, the most hardened curiosity-seekers still dare to venture down Dark Entry Road and into these shadowy woods at night.
Dudleytown, or at least the area where it was located, was first owned by a man named Thomas Griffis, one of the first to settle in this region, in the early 1740’s. There are no records to say that he ever lived where Dudleytown later stood but he did own half of the land in 1741. A few years later, with the arrival of Gideon Dudley in 1747, the village would be named. Gideon was followed to the region by two brothers and Dudley’s have become known over the years as the men who brought a curse to this small town – a curse that has allegedly plagued the region ever since.
According to what have turned out to be both recent and fanciful accounts, the "curse" had its beginnings in England in 1510. At that time, Edmund Dudley was beheaded for being involved in a plot to overthrow King Henry VIII. Supposedly, a curse was placed on the family at this time, which stated that all of the Dudley descendants would be surrounded by horror and death. Proponents of the curse claim that the Dudley’s then began to experience a rather disquieting run of bad luck.
Edmund’s son, John Dudley, also attempted to control the British throne by arranging for his son, Guilford, to marry Lady Jane Grey, next in line for the crown. After Edward VI died, Lady Jane became the queen for a short time before the plan failed, ending with the execution of Lady Jane and the two Dudley’s. To make matters worse, Guilford’s brother returned from France, and being a military officer, brought home a plague that he spread to his officers and troops. The sickness wiped out massive numbers of British soldiers and eventually spread throughout the country, killing thousands.
John Dudley’s third son, Robert, Earl of Leicester, a favorite of Elizabeth I, wisely decided to leave England and travel to the New World. It would be his somewhat luckier descendant, William, who would settle in Guilford, Connecticut. Three of William’s descendants, Abiel, Barzallai and Gideon, would later buy a plot of land in Cornwall township.
While there are undoubtedly some grim events that surrounded the Dudley family in England and France, questions have been raised as whether or not any "curse" really followed them to America. The question has been raised because in order for the curse to have been passed along to account for the haunting of Dudleytown, then William Dudley would have had to have been the son of Robert, Earl of Leicester – but he wasn’t. Robert Dudley had only two sons and one of them died while still a child. The other went to Italy and while he had children, all of them remained in that country. This means that there was no link between William, his sons who founded Dudleytown, and any so-called "curse".
But while we may have established the fact that Dudleytown was never "cursed", this does not mean that it was not "tainted" in some other way. There are many places across the country where odd things happen and where the land does not seem quite right. Records indicate that the land around Dudleytown was once Mohawk Indian tribal grounds but tell us little else before the coming of the first settlers. This region has gained a chilling reputation over the years. Could the weird stories and strange disappearances here be connected to the past in some way – or are they nothing more than just coincidence and imagination?
In the early 1740’s, the mentioned Thomas Griffis bought a parcel of land that would later be considered the first lot in Dudleytown. The land today looks much as it did when Griffis first came here. It is covered in thick forest and the ground is strewn with rocks. The nearby mountains also heavily shadow the area, so it receives little sunlight. The woods were later dubbed with the rather ominous name of "Dark Entry Forest".
In 1747, Gideon Dudley bought some land from Griffis to start a small farm. By 1753, Gideon's two brothers, Barzallai and Abiel Dudley, from Guilford, Connecticut, also purchased land nearby. A few years later, a Martin Dudley from Massachusetts also moved to the area but was from a different line of the family. He later married Gideon’s daughter.
One thing that should be mentioned was that Dudleytown was never an actual town. It was a more isolated part of Cornwall. The village rested in the middle of three large hills, which accounts for the recollections of it being nearly dark at noon time. The Cornwall township was never a good area for farming, as is apparent by the rocks that were used to build the foundations and stone walls that still stand today. In spite of this though, settlers began to trickle into the area. The Tanner family, the Jones’, the Patterson’s, the Dibble’s and the Porter’s all took up residence here. The community grew even larger after iron ore was discovered nearby and farming became a secondary concern. However, there were never any stores, shops , schools or churches in Dudleytown. Provisions had to be purchased in nearby towns and when one died, a trip to Cornwall was necessary because, in addition to there being no church in town, there was no cemetery either. The population of Dudleytown was never large and according to an 1854 map, the peak number of families who lived here only reached 26.
In spite of all of these things, the town did thrive for a time. Dudleytown was noted for its timber, which was burned and used to make wood coal for the nearby Litchfield County Iron Furnaces in Cornwall and other towns. The furnaces later moved closer to the railroads and the more industrial towns though and the lumber was no longer needed. Iron ore was used from the area for a time and there were three water-powered mills in Dudleytown as well. Most of the mills eventually closed because of the long trip down the mountain to deliver their goods.
Despite the outward signs of prosperity though, there were strange deaths and bizarre occurrences at Dudleytown from the start. Some historians have attempted to downplay the unusual events in recent years. They will debunk the legends of the town by first stating how few people there ever were who lived here and then will try and downplay the disappearances, cases of insanity and weird deaths, as if such things happen all of the time. And perhaps they do – but why so many unusual happenings in such an isolated area with so few people living in it? The number of deaths that have occurred here would not be such a high number in a larger town but in this small community, one can’t help but wonder what exactly was taking place. There are also, I believe, an inordinate number of people who went insane in this area, as well as people who simply vanished that are in addition to those who are documented here. It’s no wonder – bogus or not – that a story started about a Dudleytown "curse".
Three of the Dudley’s moved out of the region and lived long and full lives, dying of natural causes and forever diminishing any possibilities of a curse. Only Abiel Dudley remained in town and after a series of reverses, lost his entire fortune – and his mind. Abiel died in 1799 at the age of 90 and when he was no longer able to pay his debts, the town took his property, sold it and then made him a ward of the town. Toward the end, Abiel was senile and insane and would not be the last to suffer from this affliction.
In 1792, seven years before Abiel Dudley passed away, his good friend and neighbor, Gershon Hollister, was killed while building a barn at the home of William Tanner, Abiel’s closest neighbor. Tanner was also said to have gone insane, although likely from old age and senility rather than from supernatural influences. He lived to the age of 104 and according to records was "slightly demented" at the time of his death. There have been stories that have circulated claiming that Tanner told other villages of "strange creatures" that came out of the woods at night. If this is true, there is no way for us to know if these "creatures" were products of the unexplained or products of Tanner’s feeble mind.
The Nathaniel Carter family moved to Dudleytown in 1759 and lived in a house once owned by Abiel Dudley before he was made a ward of the town. A mysterious plague swept through Dudleytown and Cornwall and took the lives of the Adoniram Carter family, relatives of Nathaniel, and saddened by the loss, they moved to Binghampton, New York from Dudleytown in 1763. Those who believe in the "curse" say that the taint of Dudleytown followed after them but their tragic fate was actually far too common during the early days of the frontier. The Carter’s moved to the "Delaware wilderness", in the heart of Indian territory, and during an attack, Indians slaughtered Nathaniel, his wife and an infant child. The Carter’s other three children were abducted and taken to Canada, where two daughters were ransomed. The son, David Carter, remained with his captors, married an Indian girl and later returned to the United States for his education. He went on to edit a newspaper and became a justice on the Supreme Court.
Another bizarre tragedy affected one of the most famous residents of the region, General Herman Swift, who had served in the Revolutionary War under George Washington. In 1804, his wife, Sarah Faye, was struck by lightning while standing on the front porch of their home near Dudleytown. She was killed instantly. The General went insane and died soon after. Many have dismissed this incident as not being connected to the other unusual events, saying that Swift did not actually live in Dudleytown but on Bald Mountain Road (where his house remains today) and that he only went insane when he became old and senile. But in an area this sparsely populated, the records indicated three people to have gone insane in the space of less than a half century – could this be mere coincidence? And does a person being struck by lightning while standing on their front porch qualify as being "unusual"? I would say that it does and our story is not yet complete.
Another famous personage allegedly connected to Dudleytown was Horace Greeley, the editor and founder of the New York Tribune – or so the stories of the "curse" go. In this case, the story deserves to be debunked. Greeley married a young woman named Mary Young Cheney, who the stories of the "curse" say was born in Dudleytown. In truth, Mary was born and raised in nearby Litchfield and never lived in Dudleytown. She left the area as early as 1833 and went to live in a vegetarian boarding house that was owned by Dr. Graham (of "Graham Cracker" fame) and became involved in the popular "wellness" movement of the time. While there, she met and later married Horace Greeley. In 1872, Greeley ran for president against Ulysses S. Grant and lost the election. A short time before it, Mary suffered from an attack of "lung disease" and died. Her death occurred in New York City with her husband and two daughters, Ida and Gabrielle, in attendance. She was buried in Greenwood Cemetery. The legends claim that she committed suicide but this was not the case. Greeley himself died one month later and the electoral votes that he received in the election were distributed to minor candidates.
After the Civil War, Dudleytown began to die and many of the villagers simply packed up and moved away. The demise of the town itself is hardly surprising, whether you believe in the so-called "curse" or not. Its geographical location was foolhardy at best. Surrounded by hills and at elevations of more than 1500 feet, there was little chance that a good crop would ever grow and sustain life in the village. The winters were harsh here and even the hardy apple trees were stunted from months of cold. As mentioned already, the soil was rocky and the area was plagued by almost too much water. It pooled into tepid swamps and seeped into the earth, creating a damp morass.
But even if you overlook the idea of an actual "curse" and admit that the location of the town must have had a hand in its undoing, the sheer number of unusual deaths (leaving out that of Mary Greeley) and mental conditions in such an isolated area more than suggests that something out of the ordinary was occurring in the little town. And no matter how hard the debunkers try to disregard the next mysterious event to occur in Dudleytown, their efforts fall short.
This event occurred in 1901, at a time when the population of Dudleytown had dwindled away to almost nothing. One of the last residents of the town was a man named John Patrick Brophy. Tragedy visited swiftly and in several blows. First, his wife died of consumption, which was not uncommon in those days and there was nothing strange about her ailment, as she had been suffering from it for years. This did not lessen Brophy’s grief however, but he was soon further stricken when his two children vanished into the forest just a short time after the funeral. And while their disappearance could have been voluntary (they had been accused of stealing sleigh blankets, a minor offense), there is nothing to indicate that it was. They vanished and were never found. Shortly after, the Brophy’s house burned to the ground in an unexplained fire and not long after, Brophy himself vanished into the forest. He was never seen again.
By the early 1900’s, Dudleytown was completely deserted. The remaining homes began to fall into disrepair and ruin, and soon, the forest began to reclaim the village that had been carved out of it. But there was still one other death that proponents of the "curse" have connected to Dudleytown and while the curse may be unlikely, it does mark one additional case of insanity for an isolated region that was already riddled with them.
Around 1900, Dr. William Clarke came to Cornwall and fell in love with the forest and the quiet country life. Clarke had been born in 1877 and grew up on a farm in Tenafly, New Jersey. He later became a professor of surgery and taught at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, as well as earning a reputation as the leading cancer specialist in New York. He purchased 1,000 acres of land in the wilds of Connecticut, which included Dudleytown, and began construction of a summer and vacation home here. Over the next number of years, he and his wife, Harriet Bank Clarke, visited the house on weekends and during the summer until it was completed. After that, it became mostly a holiday house for short trips in the summer and for Thanksgiving. Together, they maintained an idyllic second life near Dudleytown until 1918.
One summer weekend, Dr. Clarke was called away to New York on an emergency. His wife stayed behind and according to the story, he returned 36 hours later to find that she had gone insane, just as a number of previous residents of the village had done. The story also claims that she told of strange creatures that came out of the forest and attacked her. She committed suicide soon after. But how much truth is there to this tale? Perhaps more than some would like you to believe. It has been recorded that for several years before her suicide, Mrs. Clarke suffered from a "chronic illness". There is nothing to indicate what this ailment might have been or whether it was a physical or mental one. I think that it is safe to say though that mentally stable individuals do not ordinarily take their own lives. As far as whether or not she saw "strange creatures in the woods" – well, we will never really know for sure but even if we disregard this, we still have one more suicide that occurred to a resident of the nearly nonexistent village of Dudleytown.
While undoubtedly shattered by his wife’s suicide, Dr. Clarke continued to maintain his house in Dudleytown and continued to visit. A number of years later, he remarried and returned to stay at his summer house until a larger home was completed nearby in 1930. In 1924, he and his wife, Carita, as well as other doctors, friends and interested landowners formed the "Dark Entry Forest Association". It was designed to act as forest preserve so that the land around Dudleytown would remain "forever wild". They held their first meeting in 1926 with 41 members. Dr. Clarke died in Cornwall Bridge in February 1943 and Carita passed away five years later. A number of their children and family members still reside in the area.
Today, Dudleytown is mostly deserted, except for the curiosity-seekers and tourists, who come looking for thrills. The Dark Forest Entry Association still owns most of the land the village once stood on. There are a group of homes on Bald Mountain Road that are very secluded from the main roads and they belong to the closest residents. These locals maintain that nothing supernatural takes place in this region and perhaps they are right. It seems unlikely that the "curse" on Dudleytown ever really existed but on the other hand, there is something strange about such a small area with so many disappearances, unusual deaths, suicides and cases of insanity. The stories of a "curse" had to have gotten started for some reason and perhaps this was why.
As far as we know, the ghostly tales began to surface in the 1940’s. It was at this time that visitors to the ruins of the village began to speak of strange incidents and wispy apparitions in the woods. Even today, those who have visited the place boast of paranormal photographs, overwhelming feelings of terror, mysterious lights, sights and sounds and even of being touched, pushed and scratched by unseen hands. Some researchers refer to the area as a "negative power spot", or a place where entities enter this world from the other side. They say this may explain the strange events in Dudleytown’s history, like the eerie reports, the strange creatures and perhaps even the outbreaks of insanity and madness. The place is often thought of as "tainted" in some way, as if the ground has somehow spoiled here, or perhaps was sour all along.
Some historians and debunkers dismiss such reports and theories and maintain that just because the so-called "Curse of Dudleytown" doesn’t exist, then nothing strange has ever occurred here either. However, an open-minded look at some of the things that have happened do seem to show this is a strange place and one that has been an enigma from the earliest days of its history. Whether or not there is any truth to the accounts of people who have come here since the days when the village was abandoned is up to the reader to decide.
I should warn you though that trying to visit Dudleytown today can be hazardous – and not because of ghosts. It should be noted that the planners for the Dark Forest Entry Association have forbidden trespassing on their property. In 1999, they announced that they would no longer allow hikers on the land. In spite of this, many still go – now daring not only the spirits, but the authorities as well. Unfortunately, the ruins of Dudleytown have been vandalized in recent years and the constant streams of trespassers have had a negative effect on the ecology of the area. Just as unfortunate is the fact that the forbidden quality of Dudleytown is what brings so many curiosity-seekers to the vicinity. However, this author advises readers to refrain from visiting this area until methods can be devised to better preserve the wilderness here and until this unsettled corner of New England has been opened to the public again.
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First of all, yes — Area 51 does exist. (The U.S. Government finally admitted it in 2013.) The remote area, which is part of an active military base, patrolled and guarded by some of the heaviest security on Earth or anywhere else, has a long history of reported UFO sightings – but is it true, you ask? Well, the short answer is no. What was reported were top secret-military aircraft that had never been seen before, so it is no surprise that people thought they were seeing alien spacecraft from another world.So, now that we know it exists let’s get down to the question: what is Area 51? Area 51 is a military installation and a highly classified remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base, was built in 1955 as part of the more substantial Nevada Test and Training Range complex, initially to serve as a testing site for the U-2 Spy Plane. Although it has never been declared a “top secret base,” the area is highly protected and is restricted to both land and air use. Other well-known aircraft tested at Area 51 include the Archangel-12, the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter, and even the SR-71 Blackbird (yep, the X-Men’s preferred mode of transportation is a real aircraft).
Area 51 gets its name from old maps of the Nevada Test Site that defined the allocation of land around Groom Lake as literally the 51st of the many areas that make up the military base. When Area 51 was first established, Lockheed—one of the U.S. Government’s major partners in top-secret aircraft and spy plane development—called the area Paradise Ranch in an attempt to attract workers to the project. Today, Area 51 and the Nevada Test and Training Range are part of what is known as the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS).Since the 1950s, when locals and visitors to this part of the Silver State have spotted top-secret aircraft, made of never-before-seen technology, flying at high speeds and performing uncommon aerial maneuvers, they were unsurprisingly mystified as to what they saw. Since these prototypes’ development was top secret, and sightings were rare, it is easy to understand how so many people must have thought the unusual aircraft must have been from another world. However, there have been no confirmed sightings of otherworldly flying saucers or aliens at Area 51 to this date.
To this day, Area 51, Nevada, remains a top-secret testing facility, and the government and United States Military don’t want you anywhere near it. Currently, the closest you can drive to Area 51 keeps you more than 15 rugged, carefully monitored, and lethally defended miles away. In fact, the restricted airspace above Area 51 actually forms a rectangle with an area of 575 square miles, so don’t expect to get a drone in the sky, either, at least without an immediate response from camo-clad dudes with guns aimed at your face.
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Just off the South-West coast of Australia, nestled on the banks of Middle island in the Recherche Archipelago, stands Lake Hillier - perhaps the world’s most striking lake. Notable for its vibrant bubble-gum pink color, this lake must be seen to be believed. Standing at around 600 meters in length and 250m in width, the lake is small enough to walk around - yet it is not the easiest to get to. Tourists can get a clear view of it from above via a flight tour or access it from the sea by boat if accompanied by an official guide.
The reason for the lakes pink color has never been definitively proven, but scientists believe it is likely to be the result of the presence of the organism Dunaliella salina. These red algae are unusually tolerant of very high salt concentrations, meaning they are able to exist and photosynthesize in conditions that other micro-organisms could not. During photosynthesis, they produce carotenoid pigment similar to those found in carrots, which produce a red dye. Other bacteria in the lake may also play a part and it is likely a consequence of various natural phenomena reacting together with the salt that ultimately gives rise to this wacky color. The color remains the same all year round but appears less vivid up close as it does by plane. Nevertheless, even when bottled and taken home, the water retains its distinct color.
The lake was first discovered on 15 January 1802 by Matthew Flinders, an explorer and cartographer. He took samples of the lake water and his first sighting is recorded in his journal, describing it as ‘a small lake of a rose color’. It was Flinders who named it Lake Hillier, after a fellow crew member William Hillier, who had died of dysentery. Nearly a hundred years later, the lake was mined for salt, but this industrial enterprise was cut short due to the salt’s toxicity
Despite the salt’s toxicity, the lake is technically safe to swim in, although a special license is required from the Western Australia Department of Environment Conservation. Few other animals could comfortably live in such conditions, so swimmers can safely swim without fear of encountering one of Australia’s many deadly creatures!
Surprisingly, this is not the only pink lake in the world. Lake Retba in Senegal is also a vibrant bubble-gum color and has been successfully harvested for salt by locals. Laguna Colorada in Bolivia has a stunning pink color, framed by the silhouette of the Andes Mountains in the distance. If that wasn’t enough pink, the lake is also a popular hangout spot for endangered James’ flamingos! There are even other pink lakes in Australia, such as Hutt Lagoon on the Coral Coast, Lake Eyre and Lake Bumbunga.
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The Chupacabra was a very recent addition to the Mysterious Monster Club, coming many decades after Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster made their debuts. But only a few years after the Chupacabra first appeared on the scene, the mystery was solved.
Bigfoot, the mysterious beast said to roam the North American wilderness, is named after what it leaves behind: big footprints. Bigfoot's Hispanic cousin, the Chupacabra, is also named for what it leaves behind: dead animals. Though goats are said to be its favorite prey (Chupacabra means "goat sucker" in Spanish), it has have also been blamed for attacks on cats, rabbits, dogs, chickens, and other animals.
There are no known photographs of the beast, or even credible footprints. Instead, the Chupacabra is known mostly through a few dozen eyewitness sightings and many dead animals. The Chupacabra is probably the world's best-known vampire after Dracula, and its victims are often claimed to have been found completely drained of blood. Descriptions of Chupacabra vary widely, but many accounts suggest that the creature stands about four to five feet tall. It has powerful legs that allow it to leap huge distances, long claws, terrifying, glowing red eyes, and distinctive spikes down its back. While some believe that Chupacabra sightings date back to the 1970s or earlier, the monster actually first appeared in 1995 in Puerto Rico; there are no records of any vampiric Chupacabra's before that time.
Theories about the Chupacabra's origin are as varied as the sightings themselves. The most popular explanation is that it is the product of top-secret U.S. government genetics experiments in the rainforest of Puerto Rico. Some suggest that it's an extraterrestrial being, brought to Earth on spaceships. Still others suggest that the mysterious creature is part of some sinister biological warfare program, or even the embodiment of God's wrath.
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Devils Tower National Monument, a unique and striking geologic wonder steeped in Native American legend, is a modern-day national park and climbers' challenge. Devils Tower sits across the state line in northeast Wyoming. The Tower is a solitary, stump-shaped granite formation that looms 1,267 feet above the tree-lined Belle Fourche River Valley, like a skyscraper in the country. Once hidden below the earth’s surface, erosion has stripped away the softer rock layers revealing the Tower.
The two-square-mile park surrounding the tower was proclaimed the nation’s first national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. The park is covered with pine forests, woodlands, and grasslands. While visiting the park you are bound to see deer, prairie dogs, and other wildlife. The mountain’s markings are the basis for Native American legend. One legend has it that a giant bear clawed the grooves into the mountainside while chasing several young Indian maidens. Known by several northern plains tribes as Bears Lodge, it is a sacred site of worship for many American Indians. Devils Tower is also remembered as the movie location for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
The stone pillar is about 1,000 feet in diameter at the bottom and 275 feet at the top and that makes it the premier rock climbing challenge in the Black Hills. Hikers enjoy the Monument’s trails. The 1.25-mile Tower Trail encircles the base. This self-guided hike offers close-up views of the forest and wildlife, not to mention spectacular views of the Tower itself. The Red Beds Trail covers a much wider three-mile loop around the tower.
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Okanagan Lake is located in British Columbia, Canada. Like Loch Ness, Okanagan is a vast and murky body of water—the biggest in the valley. At 5 km wide and up to 230 meters deep, this popular lake could be hiding just about anything. According to some, it’s home to an incredible creature known as the Ogopogo.
It’s been described in much the same way as the Loch Ness Monster: a huge, snake-like sea creature that occasionally appears above the waterline in a series of characteristic ‘humps.’ It makes for a sensational story and an excellent way to drive tourism in the region, but there could be more to it than that. Impossible as it may seem, some very plausible sightings have been made in recent years.
The fascination surrounding the Loch Ness Monster really took off in the 1930s, with the infamous Surgeon’s Photograph. Though this was ultimately discovered to be a hoax, Nessiemania set in and continues largely unabated to this day. Nevertheless, modern-day smartphones and other equipment bring us far higher quality images than ever before. Fuzzy, blurry images of the what-if certainly don’t cut it anymore, but sightings are still being reported. One chronicler of Nessie sightings has stated that he receives ten reports a year claiming to have seen the creature.
When a local Canadian tourist board offered a one million dollar reward for a proven sighting of the Ogopogo in the 1980s, they were clearly asking for trouble…and a heap of attention that endures to this day. Now, Ogopogo is a popular culture fixture in the area with sculptures, merchandise, and everything in-between, dedicated to its existence. It’s even the mascot of the region’s hockey team!
Both Loch Ness’s Nessie and Okanagan Lake’s Ogopogo are local fixtures—stars of countless movies, ill-fated ‘hunts,’ and more. But, what’s the truth of the stories? Can the encounters with these unlikely creatures be explained? Well, yes, they can. Over the decades, all manners of theories have sprung up, from simple sensationalism to perfectly rational possibilities such as giant eels being mistaken for something much more unlikely.
When a local Canadian tourist board offered a one million dollar reward for a proven sighting of the Ogopogo in the 1980s, they were clearly asking for trouble…and a heap of attention that endures to this day. Now, Ogopogo is a popular culture fixture in the area with sculptures, merchandise, and everything in-between, dedicated to its existence. It’s even the mascot of the region’s hockey team!
Both Loch Ness’s Nessie and Okanagan Lake’s Ogopogo are local fixtures—stars of countless movies, ill-fated ‘hunts,’ and more. But, what’s the truth of the stories? Can the encounters with these unlikely creatures be explained? Well, yes, they can. Over the decades, all manners of theories have sprung up, from simple sensationalism to perfectly rational possibilities such as giant eels being mistaken for something much more unlikely.
Could The Ogopogo Or Loch Ness Monster Exist?
In 2006, Neil Clark of Glasgow University suggested that swimming circus elephants could have been responsible for some Nessie sightings! This isn’t as absurd as it may sound, though, as circuses were commonplace in the area at the time that Nessie fever took off. The animals were known to cool themselves in the loch.
Meanwhile, in the Okanagan Lake, unusual waves have often been reported—waves that make patterns suggestive of a great, snake-like animal under the water. Interestingly, there are other explanations for ‘Ogopogo waves’ in calm weather. Differences between the density of the water and the surface of the lake can cause the surface to sink, which may make such characteristic wave patterns, while wind from several directions at once can cause the water to settle in odd ways—a common occurrence in the area around the W.R. Bennet Bridge.
With regards to the Ogopogo in particular, there’s one final curious factor to point out. While it may not be a physical animal, perhaps it was never meant as such. Pat Raphael, of the Westbank First Nation, describes the true roots of the creature as that of a spirit guide and valley protector. It was later settlers who took the concept of the n ̓x̌ax̌aitkʷ (the sacred spirit of the lake in the syilx language of nsyilxcən) and interpreted it as a legendary creature that physically lived in the lake.
From much less sensational aquatic life to misinterpretation, from hoaxes to unusual wave patterns, there are as many logical explanations for Ogopogo and Nessie sightings are there are sightings themselves. The many impracticalities of these being ancient creatures are clear to everyone. Nevertheless, sightings continue to persist. In June 2019, a local man captured footage of what he deemed irrefutable evidence of the Ogopogo, though it was poo-pooed by some as no more conclusive than the many that have gone before it.
Perhaps one day we’ll see true proof of these legendary animals in the flesh? It can’t quite be ruled out, which is exactly why their stories are still so fascinating.
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The infamous labor leader, and president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1958 to 1971, mysteriously vanished on July 30, 1975.
Because of the union’s close ties to organized crime, Hoffa had gained more power, but was also linked to some shady practices. Hoffa was sentenced to prison for thirteen years for jury tampering, mail fraud, and bribery, but was pardoned by President Richard Nixon in 1971 on the condition that he would not stay involved with union activities. Even so, by the time of his disappearance Hoffa had already begun trying to rebuild his Teamster support base in Detroit, angering those who had come to power in his absence.
Despite the hundreds of wild theories about what happened to Jimmy Hoffa, only a handful of details about his disappearance have actually been confirmed. On July 30, 1975, Hoffa left his home in his green Pontiac Grand Ville to meet two fellow mobsters, Anthony Giacalone and Anthony Provenzano, at the Machus Red Fox Restaurant at 2:00 p.m. Shortly after, Hoffa called his wife to say that they hadn’t shown up yet. When Hoffa did not return home, his wife reported him missing. His car was found at the restaurant with no sign of where Hoffa had gone.
The last person to see him alive was a truck driver, who reported seeing Hoffa riding with several other unidentified men in a Mercury Marquis that nearly collided with his truck as it left the Red Fox. The description of the vehicle perfectly matched one owned by Anthony Giacalone’s son that was being used by Hoffa’s friend Chuckie O’Brien at the time. Already suspicious of O’Brien due to recent tiffs with Hoffa, authorities seized the vehicle on August 21. Search dogs detected Hoffa’s scent inside but no other evidence was found. This is where the trail went cold. By 1982, the FBI declared Hoffa dead, still without any idea where his remains were located.
In 2001, a strand of hair found in O’Brien’s car was DNA tested and identified as Hoffa’s, finally confirming the original theory that he was at least in the vehicle. The investigation seemed to turn a new page in 2004, when fellow mobster Frank Sheeran released his biography and claimed he could prove he was the killer: O’Brien had driven them all to a house in Detroit, inside of which Sheeran shot Hoffa and blood evidence could still be found. Analysis proved that the blood found in the house was not Hoffa’s though, and police were back to square one.
A handful of other sites were searched in the following years, including a horse farm and under a former mobster’s garage, but turned up nothing. The FBI has said the most probable explanation is that the new Teamster leadership ordered a hit on Hoffa to prevent his return to power in union politics. It is extremely unlikely at this point that his body will ever be found.
The public continues to remain fascinated by the disappearance. The gritty allure of the mafia underworld and wild conspiracy theories have fueled references about Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance in pop culture to this day. In 2006, the FBI released the official comprehensive casefile from 1976 (known as the Hoffex Memo), stoking the world’s interest all over again. Leads continue to be presented and explored by the FBI, but they are still no closer to finding out what really happened to Hoffa on July 30.
In an interesting bookend, Hoffa’s son, James Hoffa, became president of the International Teamsters in 1998.
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What force twisted dozens of these pine trees into identical J-shapes? Aliens? Gravitation hijinks? Or something much, much simpler? Near the small town of Gryfino in West Pomerania, Poland sits a peculiar forest in which each tree is bent identically at its base. To this day, no one has satisfactorily explained why the Crooked Forest is just that.
Despite internet rumors of 400 trees, there are actually only 80 pines spread over two hectares, according to Gryfino Forest District managers. They were likely planted between 1930 and 1945. Each pine bends 90 degrees at its base, with the bend 10 to 50cm from the forest floor. The trees ranged from 7 to 10 years old when they were planted, and most of the bends point north. Many people are quite invested in discovering the forest’s origins and this has led to a flurry of wild theories and a sprinkling of false facts. Here’s what the internet commonly says about the Crooked Forest (Krzywy Las):
Sometime in the 1930s, pines of varying lengths were planted, then flattened by German tanks when they were young. The nearest city of Szczecin was under Nazi control at the time, so it is understandable that people would think this. But the curvature of the trunks is too smooth for such destruction, and the tanks would have destroyed the entire forest, not just this section of trees. Curious minds have postulated even stranger theories for the peculiar J-shape of this grove. These include heavy snowstorms, strong winds, gravitational pulls, genetic mutation, aliens, and more.
Heavy snow manipulating tree saplings is possible, but as with the Nazi tanks, that does not explain the straight pine trees nearby. There’s no evidence that gravity has an effect. How can a phenomenon such as this have no reasonable explanation? But what if the secret of these otherworldly trees follows the Occam’s Razor principle, that the simpler the explanation, the better? While a mundane explanation is disappointing, it is the most plausible at this time. World War II and the invasion of Poland did play a role, although tanks had nothing to do with it.
Tree shaping is a common agricultural practice in Europe, India, and America. Trees are bent in order to make furniture, instruments, carts for transport, boats, and more. Young trees are comparatively easy to manipulate and shape. It is highly possible that this breathtaking forest was a result of a simple business venture that was left unfinished because of war and invasion. The chaos and the great loss of life during World War II caused many stories to disappear forever, likely including the identity of the would-be entrepreneurs behind the Crooked Forest.
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We hear stories about monsters and devils that roam across the jungles and scare or abduct humans. Have you ever thought where have these stories come from? Is it a figment of one’s imagination or do monsters and devils exist? One such monster that is believed to have walked on this earth is the Yeti. Found in the mountains of Asia, Yeti is a monstrous, repulsive, bipedal snowman. A mysterious creature, claimed by some humans, to have been seen roaming around the mountains and create havoc. People believe that Yeti lives below the Himalayan Snowline and some claim to have seen huge footprints of Yeti on the snow. But the existence of Yeti is still not proven.
Yeti is usually seen in Tibet, as the people claim. The name ‘Yeti’ means a magical creature. It is a scary creature, a monster which is approximately 10 feet tall and walks on two legs, just like a human. It has the face of a gorilla. Its whole body is covered with fur, dark brown or dark grey in color, and it weighs around 200 kilograms. It is believed to be nocturnal in nature, meaning it roams during the night. It whistles and growls and tosses huge stones from one end to the other when searching for food. Another name for Yeti is ‘Big Foot’ or ‘Abominable Snowman’. It usually kills animals but is not harmful towards humans. Yeti was a creature who could run very fast, both on four feet as well as two.
Thousands of years ago there was a belief that monsters roam around the earth. Tibetans are said to have worshipped a Yeti-like monster for years. Yeti has also been written about in ancient Roman history as well as in Indian teachings.
It was a German Photographer in 1925 was the first to report on seeing a Yeti. Many people from Nepal also claim to have seen a Yeti. The first people to climb the Mt. Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, in 1953, also claim to have seen huge footprints on the snow. When they came back, especially in search of Yeti, they could not find anything; thus dismissing the Yeti sightings as only a legend. But most of the Yeti sightings have been in Tibet where Tibetans claim to have seen an Orangutan like creature walk the snowy mountains.
In 1938, Captain d’ Auvergue who was travelling the Himalayas claimed to have been trapped in the snow and snow blinded. He said that he was rescued by a Yeti, 9 foot tall, who nursed him back to health. One more sighting was that with a Sherpa girl who was tending to her Yaks. She claims that a Yeti had captured her and dragged her, but when she started screaming, it let her go and feasted on two of her yaks. When police came to that site, they found huge footprints on the snow.
The Yeti is also believed to have evolved from the ancient species of mankind. Some ancient species that did not evolve properly may have transformed into Yeti like creatures. Species believed to have been extinct but have been later rediscovered. Yeti could be one of them.
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The four horsemen may seem mysterious and terrifying, but that does not have to be the case. Why not? Because the Bible and the events of modern history help us to identify clearly what each horseman pictures. And although their ride has signaled calamity on earth, it can also mean good news for you and your family. How so? First, let us determine the identity of each horseman.
THE RIDER OF THE WHITE HORSE:
The vision begins this way: “I saw, and look! a white horse, and the one seated on it had a bow; and a crown was given him, and he went out conquering and to complete his conquest.”—Revelation 6:2.
Who is the rider of the white horse? The key to his identity is found in the same Bible book, Revelation, which later identifies this heavenly rider as “The Word of God.” (Revelation 19:11-13) That title, The Word, belongs to Jesus Christ, for he acts as God’s spokesman. (John 1:1, 14) In addition, he is called “King of kings and Lord of lords” and is described as “Faithful and True.” (Revelation 19:16) Clearly, he has authority to act as a warrior-king, and he does not wield his power in any corrupt or abusive way. Yet, some questions arise.
Who gives Jesus the authority to conquer? (Revelation 6:2) The prophet Daniel saw a vision in which the Messiah, likened to “a son of man,” was given “rulership, honor, and a kingdom” by none other than “the Ancient of Days,” Jehovah God. * (Daniel 7:13, 14) Thus, it is Almighty God who grants Jesus the power and right to rule and execute judgment. The white horse is an appropriate symbol for warfare justly carried out by God’s Son, for the Scriptures often use the color white to symbolize righteousness.—Revelation 3:4; 7:9, 13, 14.
When did the horsemen begin their ride? Note that the first rider, Jesus, begins his ride when he receives a crown. (Revelation 6:2) When was Jesus crowned as King in heaven? It was not when he returned to heaven after his death. The Bible shows that a period of waiting began back then. (Hebrews 10:12, 13) Jesus gave his followers a means of recognizing the end of that waiting period and the beginning of his reign in heaven. He said that at the beginning of his rule, world conditions would take a decisive turn for the worse. There would be warfare, food shortages, and pestilences. (Matthew 24:3, 7; Luke 21:10, 11) Soon after World War I broke out in 1914, it became apparent that mankind had entered that era, a troubled time on earth that the Bible calls “the last days.”—2 Timothy 3:1-5.
But why have we seen conditions that are worse, not better, since Jesus received his crown in 1914? Because at that time, Jesus began ruling in heaven, not on earth. War then broke out in heaven, and the newly installed King, Jesus, referred to as Michael, cast Satan and his demons to the earth. (Revelation 12:7-9, 12) Confined here, Satan has been full of rage ever since, knowing that his days are numbered. Indeed, it will not be long before God will carry out his will against Satan here on the earth. (Matthew 6:10) Now, let us see how the other three horsemen help to confirm that we are, in fact, living during the troubled “last days.” Unlike the first horseman, who clearly pictures a specific individual, the three that follow represent global conditions that have swept across human society.
THE RIDER OF THE RED HORSE:
“Another came out, a fiery-colored horse, and it was granted to the one seated on it to take peace away from the earth so that they should slaughter one another, and he was given a great sword.”—Revelation 6:4.
This rider represents warfare. Notice that he takes peace away from not just a few nations but the whole earth. In 1914, for the first time in history, a global war erupted. It was followed by a second world war, which was even more destructive. Some estimates place the total number of deaths due to wars and armed conflicts since 1914 at more than 100 million! In addition, vast numbers of other individuals suffered debilitating injuries.
To what extent does warfare characterize the present time? For the first time in history, mankind appears to have the ability to extinguish all human life. Even so-called peacekeeping organizations, such as the United Nations, have not been able to stop the rider of the red horse.
THE RIDER OF THE BLACK HORSE:
“I saw, and look! a black horse, and the one seated on it had a pair of scales in his hand. I heard what sounded like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say: ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the olive oil and the wine.’”—Revelation 6:5, 6.
This rider represents famine. We find here a picture of food rationing so severe that a quart (1.08 L) of wheat would cost one denarius, a whole day’s wage in the first century! (Matthew 20:2) The same coin could purchase three quarts (3.24 L) of barley, a grain viewed as inferior to wheat. How far would that go to feed a large family? People are then warned to be frugal even with daily foodstuffs, aptly pictured by such basic staples of that time and culture as olive oil and wine.
Since 1914, have we seen evidence that this rider of the black horse has been on the move? Yes! About 70 million people died in famines during the 20th century. One authority estimated that “805 million people—about one in nine of the world’s population—were chronically undernourished in 2012-14.” Another report states: “Hunger kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.” In spite of many earnest efforts to feed the hungry, the rider of the black horse continues to ride.
THE RIDER OF THE PALE HORSE:
“I saw, and look! a pale horse, and the one seated on it had the name Death. And the Grave was closely following him. And authority was given them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with a long sword and with food shortage and with deadly plague and by the wild beasts of the earth.”—Revelation 6:8.
The fourth rider represents death due to plague and other causes. Soon after 1914, the Spanish flu killed tens of millions. Possibly some 500 million people were infected, about 1 out of every 3 humans then alive!
But the Spanish flu was just the beginning. Experts estimate that hundreds of millions died of smallpox during the 20th century. To this day, the lives of millions are cut short by AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, despite intensive medical research.
The result is the same, death—whether due to war, famine, or plague. The Grave relentlessly gathers up the victims, offering no hope.
BETTER TIMES ARE AHEAD!
The present times of trouble will soon end. Remember this: Jesus “went out conquering” in 1914, confining Satan to the earth, but Jesus did not then complete his conquest. (Revelation 6:2; 12:9, 12) Soon, during Armageddon, Jesus will remove Satan’s influence and will destroy the Devil’s human supporters. (Revelation 20:1-3) Jesus will not only terminate the ride of the other three horsemen but even reverse the effects of their destructive ride. How so? Consider what the Bible promises.
Instead of war, peace will reign. Jehovah “is bringing an end to wars throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.” (Psalm 46:9) As for peace-loving people, “they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”—Psalm 37:11. Instead of famine, there will be plenty of food. “There will be an abundance of grain on the earth; on the top of the mountains it will overflow.”—Psalm 72:16.
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*What is the Mystery of the Hope Diamond?
The Hope Diamond is thought to be cursed as it was stolen from a Sita idol in India. The original thief was torn to pieces by dogs and everyone else who has been involved with the diamond met horrible deaths and bad luck.
The history of the stone which was eventually named the Hope Diamond began when the French merchant traveler, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, purchased a 112 3/16-carat diamond. This diamond, which was most likely from the Kollur mine in Golconda, India, was somewhat triangular in shape and crudely cut. Its color was described by Tavernier as a "beautiful violet."
Tavernier sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France in 1668 with 14 other large diamonds and several smaller ones. In 1673, the stone was recut by Sieur Pitau, the court jeweler, resulting in a 67 1/8-carat stone. In the royal inventories, its color was described as an intense steely-blue and the stone became known as the "Blue Diamond of the Crown," or the "French Blue." It was set in gold and suspended on a neck ribbon which the king wore on ceremonial occasions.
King Louis XV, in 1749, had the stone reset by court jeweler Andre Jacquemin, in a piece of ceremonial jewelry for the Order of the Golden Fleece (Toison D'Or). In 1791, after an attempt by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to flee France, the jewels of the French Royal Treasury were turned over to the government. During a week-long looting of the crown jewels in September of 1792, the French Blue diamond was stolen.
In 1812, a deep blue diamond described by John Francillion as weighing 177 grains (4 grains = 1 carat) was documented as being in the possession of London diamond merchant, Daniel Eliason. Strong evidence indicates that the stone was the recut French Blue and the same stone known today as the Hope Diamond. Several references suggest that it was acquired by King George IV of the United Kingdom. At his death, in 1830, the king's debts were so enormous that the blue diamond was likely sold through private channels.
The first reference to the diamond's next owner is found in the 1839 entry of the gem collection catalog of the well-known Henry Philip Hope, the man from whom the diamond takes its name. Unfortunately, the catalog does not reveal where or from whom Hope acquired the diamond or how much he paid for it.
Following the death of Henry Philip Hope in 1839, and after much litigation, the diamond passed to his nephew Henry Thomas Hope and ultimately to the nephew's grandson Lord Francis Hope. In 1901 Lord Francis Hope obtained permission from the Court of Chancery and his sisters to sell the stone to help pay off his debts. It was sold to a London dealer who quickly sold it to Joseph Frankels and Sons of New York City, who retained the stone in New York until they, in turn, needed cash. The diamond was next sold to Selim Habib who put it up for auction in Paris in 1909. It did not sell at the auction but was sold soon after to C.H. Rosenau and then resold to Pierre Cartier that same year.
In 1910 the Hope Diamond was shown to Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean, of Washington D.C., at Cartier's in Paris, but she did not like the setting. Cartier had the diamond reset and took it to the U.S. where he left it with Mrs. McLean for a weekend. This strategy was successful. The sale was made in 1911 with the diamond mounted as a headpiece on a three-tiered circlet of large white diamonds. Sometime later it became the pendant on a diamond necklace as we know it today. Mrs. McLean's flamboyant ownership of the stone lasted until her death in 1947.
Harry Winston Inc. of New York City purchased Mrs. McLean's entire jewelry collection, including the Hope Diamond, from her estate in 1949. This collection also included the 94.8-carat Star of the East diamond, the 15-carat Star of the South diamond, a 9-carat green diamond, and a 31-carat diamond which is now called the McLean diamond.
For the next 10 years the Hope Diamond was shown at many exhibits and charitable events world wide by Harry Winston Inc., including as the central attraction of their Court of Jewels exhibition. On November 10, 1958, they donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution, and almost immediately the great blue stone became its premier attraction.
The Hope Diamond has left the Smithsonian only four times since it was donated. In 1962, it was exhibited for a month at the Louvre in Paris, France, as part of an exhibit entitled Ten Centuries of French Jewelry. In 1965, the Hope Diamond traveled to South Africa where it was exhibited at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg. In 1984, the diamond was lent to Harry Winston Inc., in New York, as part of the firm's 50th anniversary celebration. In 1996, the Hope Diamond was again sent to Harry Winston Inc., in New York, this time for cleaning and some minor restoration work.
The weight of the Hope Diamond for many years was reported to be 44.5 carats. In 1974, it was removed from its setting and found actually to weigh 45.52 carats. It is classified as a type IIb diamond, which are semi conductive and usually phosphoresce. The Hope Diamond phosphoresces a strong red color, which will last for several seconds after exposure to short wave ultra-violet light. The diamond's blue coloration is attributed to trace amounts of boron in the stone.
In the pendant surrounding the Hope Diamond are 16 white diamonds, both pear-shapes and cushion cuts. A bail is soldered to the pendant where Mrs. McLean would often attach other diamonds including the McLean diamond and the Star of the East. The necklace chain contains 45 white diamonds.
In December of 1988, a team from the Gemological Institute of America visited the Smithsonian to grade the great blue stone using present day techniques. They observed that the gem shows evidence of wear, has a remarkably strong phosphorescence, and that its clarity is slightly affected by a whitish graining which is common to blue diamonds. They described the color as a fancy dark grayish-blue. An examination on the same day by another gemologist using a very sensitive colorimeter revealed that there is a very slight violet component to the deep blue color which is imperceptible to the naked eye. Still, one can only wonder that the original 112 3/16-carat stone bought by Tavernier was described as "un beau violet" (a beautiful violet).
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The Hope Diamond is thought to be cursed as it was stolen from a Sita idol in India. The original thief was torn to pieces by dogs and everyone else who has been involved with the diamond met horrible deaths and bad luck.
The history of the stone which was eventually named the Hope Diamond began when the French merchant traveler, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, purchased a 112 3/16-carat diamond. This diamond, which was most likely from the Kollur mine in Golconda, India, was somewhat triangular in shape and crudely cut. Its color was described by Tavernier as a "beautiful violet."
Tavernier sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France in 1668 with 14 other large diamonds and several smaller ones. In 1673, the stone was recut by Sieur Pitau, the court jeweler, resulting in a 67 1/8-carat stone. In the royal inventories, its color was described as an intense steely-blue and the stone became known as the "Blue Diamond of the Crown," or the "French Blue." It was set in gold and suspended on a neck ribbon which the king wore on ceremonial occasions.
King Louis XV, in 1749, had the stone reset by court jeweler Andre Jacquemin, in a piece of ceremonial jewelry for the Order of the Golden Fleece (Toison D'Or). In 1791, after an attempt by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to flee France, the jewels of the French Royal Treasury were turned over to the government. During a week-long looting of the crown jewels in September of 1792, the French Blue diamond was stolen.
In 1812, a deep blue diamond described by John Francillion as weighing 177 grains (4 grains = 1 carat) was documented as being in the possession of London diamond merchant, Daniel Eliason. Strong evidence indicates that the stone was the recut French Blue and the same stone known today as the Hope Diamond. Several references suggest that it was acquired by King George IV of the United Kingdom. At his death, in 1830, the king's debts were so enormous that the blue diamond was likely sold through private channels.
The first reference to the diamond's next owner is found in the 1839 entry of the gem collection catalog of the well-known Henry Philip Hope, the man from whom the diamond takes its name. Unfortunately, the catalog does not reveal where or from whom Hope acquired the diamond or how much he paid for it.
Following the death of Henry Philip Hope in 1839, and after much litigation, the diamond passed to his nephew Henry Thomas Hope and ultimately to the nephew's grandson Lord Francis Hope. In 1901 Lord Francis Hope obtained permission from the Court of Chancery and his sisters to sell the stone to help pay off his debts. It was sold to a London dealer who quickly sold it to Joseph Frankels and Sons of New York City, who retained the stone in New York until they, in turn, needed cash. The diamond was next sold to Selim Habib who put it up for auction in Paris in 1909. It did not sell at the auction but was sold soon after to C.H. Rosenau and then resold to Pierre Cartier that same year.
In 1910 the Hope Diamond was shown to Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean, of Washington D.C., at Cartier's in Paris, but she did not like the setting. Cartier had the diamond reset and took it to the U.S. where he left it with Mrs. McLean for a weekend. This strategy was successful. The sale was made in 1911 with the diamond mounted as a headpiece on a three-tiered circlet of large white diamonds. Sometime later it became the pendant on a diamond necklace as we know it today. Mrs. McLean's flamboyant ownership of the stone lasted until her death in 1947.
Harry Winston Inc. of New York City purchased Mrs. McLean's entire jewelry collection, including the Hope Diamond, from her estate in 1949. This collection also included the 94.8-carat Star of the East diamond, the 15-carat Star of the South diamond, a 9-carat green diamond, and a 31-carat diamond which is now called the McLean diamond.
For the next 10 years the Hope Diamond was shown at many exhibits and charitable events world wide by Harry Winston Inc., including as the central attraction of their Court of Jewels exhibition. On November 10, 1958, they donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution, and almost immediately the great blue stone became its premier attraction.
The Hope Diamond has left the Smithsonian only four times since it was donated. In 1962, it was exhibited for a month at the Louvre in Paris, France, as part of an exhibit entitled Ten Centuries of French Jewelry. In 1965, the Hope Diamond traveled to South Africa where it was exhibited at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg. In 1984, the diamond was lent to Harry Winston Inc., in New York, as part of the firm's 50th anniversary celebration. In 1996, the Hope Diamond was again sent to Harry Winston Inc., in New York, this time for cleaning and some minor restoration work.
The weight of the Hope Diamond for many years was reported to be 44.5 carats. In 1974, it was removed from its setting and found actually to weigh 45.52 carats. It is classified as a type IIb diamond, which are semi conductive and usually phosphoresce. The Hope Diamond phosphoresces a strong red color, which will last for several seconds after exposure to short wave ultra-violet light. The diamond's blue coloration is attributed to trace amounts of boron in the stone.
In the pendant surrounding the Hope Diamond are 16 white diamonds, both pear-shapes and cushion cuts. A bail is soldered to the pendant where Mrs. McLean would often attach other diamonds including the McLean diamond and the Star of the East. The necklace chain contains 45 white diamonds.
In December of 1988, a team from the Gemological Institute of America visited the Smithsonian to grade the great blue stone using present day techniques. They observed that the gem shows evidence of wear, has a remarkably strong phosphorescence, and that its clarity is slightly affected by a whitish graining which is common to blue diamonds. They described the color as a fancy dark grayish-blue. An examination on the same day by another gemologist using a very sensitive colorimeter revealed that there is a very slight violet component to the deep blue color which is imperceptible to the naked eye. Still, one can only wonder that the original 112 3/16-carat stone bought by Tavernier was described as "un beau violet" (a beautiful violet).
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The British brig Dei Gratia was about 400 miles east of the Azores on December 5, 1872, when crew members spotted a ship adrift in the choppy seas. Capt. David Morehouse was taken aback to discover that the unguided vessel was the Mary Celeste, which had left New York City eight days before him and should have already arrived in Genoa, Italy. He changed course to offer help.
Morehouse sent a boarding party to the ship. Below decks, the ship's charts had been tossed about, and the crewmen's belongings were still in their quarters. The ship's only lifeboat was missing, and one of its two pumps had been disassembled. Three and a half feet of water was sloshing in the ship's bottom, though the cargo of 1,701 barrels of industrial alcohol was largely intact. There was a six-month supply of food and water—but not a soul to consume it.
Thus was born one of the most durable mysteries in nautical history: What happened to the ten people who had sailed aboard the Mary Celeste? Through the decades, a lack of hard facts has only spurred speculation as to what might have taken place. Theories have ranged from mutiny to pirates to sea monsters to killer waterspouts. Arthur Conan Doyle's 1884 short story based on the case posited a capture by a vengeful ex-slave, a 1935 movie featured Bela Lugosi as a homicidal sailor. Now, a new investigation, drawing on modern maritime technology and newly discovered documents, has pieced together the most likely scenario.
"I love the idea of mysteries, but you should always revisit these things using knowledge that has since come to light," says Anne MacGregor, the documentarian who launched the investigation and wrote, directed and produced The True Story of the 'Mary Celeste,' partly with funding from Smithsonian Networks.
The ship began its fateful voyage on November 7, 1872, sailing with seven crewmen and Capt. Benjamin Spooner Briggs, his wife, Sarah, and the couple's 2-year-old daughter, Sophia. The 282-ton brigantine battled heavy weather for two weeks to reach the Azores, where the ship log's last entry was recorded at 5 a.m. on November 25.
After spotting the Mary Celeste ten days later, the Dei Gratia crewmen sailed the ship some 800 miles to Gibraltar, where a British vice admiralty court convened a salvage hearing, which was usually limited to determining whether the salvagers—in this case, the Dei Gratia crewmen—were entitled to payment from the ship's insurers. But the attorney general in charge of the inquiry, Frederick Solly-Flood, suspected mischief and investigated accordingly. After more than three months, the court found no evidence of foul play. Eventually, the salvagers received a payment, but only one-sixth of the $46,000 for which the ship and its cargo had been insured, suggesting that the authorities were not entirely convinced of the Dei Gratia crew's innocence.
The story of the Mary Celeste might have drifted into history if Conan Doyle hadn't published "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" in 1884; his sensationalistic account, printed in Cornhill Magazine, set off waves of theorizing about the ship's fate. Even Attorney General Solly-Flood revisited the case, writing summaries of his interviews and notes. But the mystery remained unsolved. MacGregor picked up the trail in 2002. "There's so much nonsense written about this legend," she said. "I felt compelled to find the truth."
MacGregor's four previous investigative documentaries, including The Hindenburg Disaster: Probable Cause (2001), applied modern forensic techniques to historical questions. "There are obvious limitations for historic cases," she says. "But using the latest technology, you can come to a different conclusion."
For her Mary Celeste film, MacGregor began by asking what didn't happen. Speculation concerning sea monsters was easy to dismiss. The ship's condition—intact and with full cargo—seemed to rule out pirates. One theory bandied about in the 19th century held that crew members drank the alcohol onboard and mutinied; after interviewing crewmen's descendants, MacGregor deemed that scenario unlikely. Another theory assumed that alcohol vapors expanded in the Azores heat and blew off the main hatch, prompting those aboard to fear an imminent explosion. But MacGregor notes that the boarding party found the main hatch secured and did not report smelling any fumes. True, she says, nine of the 1,701 barrels in the hold were empty, but the empty nine had been recorded as being made of red oak, not white oak like the others. Red oak is known to be a more porous wood and therefore more likely to leak.
As for that homicidal sailor played by Lugosi in The Mystery of the Mary Celeste, he may have been drawn from two German crewmen, brothers Volkert and Boye Lorenzen, who fell under suspicion because none of their personal possessions were found on the abandoned ship. But a Lorenzen descendant told MacGregor that the pair had lost their gear in a shipwreck earlier in 1872. "They had no motive," MacGregor says.
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In Exodus 25:10, Moses receives the command to build an ark of acacia wood. Within this ark were to be placed the tables of the law which God was about to give to Moses. Upon the top of the ark, probably not as a lid but above the lid, was a golden plate upon which two cherubim, with raised wings and facing each other, covered the ark. From the place between the two cherubim, God promises to speak to Moses, as often as He shall give him commands in reference to the Israelites.
The ark was designed to be a symbol of the presence of God in the midst of His people is the common teaching of the Old Testament. This place on the lid was also referred to as the “Mercy Seat”. Once a year a priest would enter the holy tent and sprinkle blood from a sacrificed animal to atone for the sins of Israel. This old covenant on the Day of Atonement is no longer needed as Jesus Christ became a new covenant in which His sacrifice on the cross was a complete atonement for sins.
According to the statements in the Priestly Code, the ark of the covenant was a chest made out of acacia wood, 2 1/2 cubits (about equal to 4 ft.) long, 1 1/2 cubits wide and 1 1/2 high. It was covered with gold within and without and was ornamented with a molding of gold running all around it. At its four feet, rings were added, through which the gold-covered carrying-staves were put.
Other contents to believed to have been in the ark of the covenant were: a pot of Manna from when Israel was in the wilderness to remind them of God’s love, provision and care; and the rod of Aaron to symbolize God’s given leadership and priesthood.
According to the tradition contained in the Pentateuch the sacred ark was built at Mount Sinai and was taken by the Israelites along with them to Canaan. When Israel had been conquered by the Philistines, the ark was taken from Shiloh in order that Yahweh should aid His people. When Philistines yet conquered and captured the ark, the many misfortunes that overtook them made them think that the possession of the ark was destructive to them and they sent it back. The ark then settled in a holy tent for priests until King Solomon placed the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies of this temple, where it was placed under the wings of two mighty cherubim images. The ark is believed to have been destroyed with the destruction of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar.
When the word ark is mentioned in correlation to the Bible, many picture Noah’s ark, the gigantic boat housing two of every animal before the big flood. The picture of the Ark of the Covenant can be less common in Christian culture. What was this ark and what was its significance? Let’s see what the Bible has to say about this important artifact in history.In Exodus 25:10, the Lord told Moses to instruct the Israelites to build an ark. The Message translation identifies this creation as a chest. The chest was to be made of acacia wood measuring “two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.” Today, a cubit is equal to about 18 inches. The Ark was highly adorned, gold plated in and out, with a golden band around the outside. It held four gold rings on the bottom, each with a gold-plated rod inside used to carry the Ark. It also had a golden lid with two wide-winged angels facing one another. The Lord said he would come to speak to the people between the placements of the two cherubim.
The Ark of the Covenant held three important items. The first contents were the tablets with the 10 Commandments the Lord gave to Moses. Secondly, the chest held a jar of manna as a sign of remembrance when the Lord provided bread in the wilderness after the Israelites escaped Egypt. Lastly, in Numbers 17, we find the miracle of Aaron’s budding rod, confirming his divine priesthood. His rod was placed in the front of the Ark. Matthew Henry states these three items were preserved “to show to after-ages how the ancient church was taught, and fed, and ruled.”
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One of the most awe-inspiring natural wonders in the world, the Giant’s Causeway is known around the world. Comprising of over 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, there are countless myths and legends surrounding the Causeway – but what is the real Giant’s Causeway story?
Here at the Giant’s Causeway Tour, we are ready to separate fact from fiction and help you learn more about the fascinating history that surrounds this striking landscape. So, read on to discover everything you never knew you wanted to know about the Giant’s Causeway! As legend has it, Northern Ireland was once home to a giant named Finn McCool (also called Fionn Mac Cumhaill). When another giant – Benandonner, across the Irish Sea in Scotland – threatened Ireland, Finn retaliated by tearing up great chunks of the Antrim coastline and hurling them into the sea. The newly-created path – the Giant’s Causeway – paved a route over the sea for Finn to reach Benandonner.
However, this turns out to be a bad idea as Benandonner is a massive giant, much bigger than Finn! In order to save himself, Finn retreats to Ireland and is disguised as a baby by his quick-thinking wife. When Benandonner arrives, he sees Finn disguised as a baby and realizes that if a mere baby is that big, the father must be far larger than Benandonner himself!
Following this realization, Benandonner rushes back to Scotland, tearing away as much of the Causeway as he can in his haste to put as much distance between Ireland and himself as possible. And thus, the myth of the Giant’s Causeway was born. Perhaps a less interesting explanation, the scientific approach dictates that the Giant’s Causeway was first formed over 60 million years ago. The science says that the Causeway was created following a period of volcanic activity, where the lava cooled and formed these incredible interlocking basalt columns. Each column is near-perfectly hexagonal in shape; a lasting reminder of the power of the world’s natural beauty.
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These mystical formations tell an exciting story. According to European folklore, it’s believed these circles were where fairies and supernatural beings like elves, witches, and more would dwell. The associated myth of these rings is that these magical creatures would dance and celebrate within the mushroom rings’ limits. If a human were ever to enter their Fairy Ring, the consequences could range from inconvenient to severe. One version of the story goes that humans who entered would be punished by being forced to dance to the point they collapses from exhaustion.
Fairy Rings, also known as Witches’ Rings in Germany, can vary in size. Their origin stories and meanings tend to change according to cultures, too. It’s believed they could be products of shooting stars, or lightning strikes, or witchcraft. In Australia, they thought they were formed by dragons who would project fire on the forest floor. In Welsh folklore, these circles are known for improving fertility.
Some cultures believe that fairy circles could be the portal to an alternate supernatural world. They also have been known to signify fairy villages, where they use the mushrooms as their dining table. Collectively, the myths conclude that you should not step into the circle. Although fairy ring mythology permeates many different cultures and time periods, there is a fairly simple scientific explanation for their existence. The science doesn’t have anything to say about what happens to humans who step inside them, or their connections to other, stranger worlds, but it can tell us how they form.
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Abraham Lake is a reservoir, or artificial lake, located in western Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Kootenay Plains area of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, on the North Saskatchewan River. The reservoir has a surface area of just under 54 square kilometers and a length of 32 kilometers. Despite being an artificial lake, Lake Abraham is a particularly beautiful body of water due to its bright blue color. This color comes from the presence of rock flour, which is common in glacial lakes and creates vibrant crystalline waters. The lake itself is surrounded by the Abraham Mountain and Elliot Peak on its western shore, Mount Michener to the East, and Mount Ernest Ross at its southern end. The lake was named after Silas Abraham, an inhabitant of the Saskatchewan River Valley in the nineteenth century.
Abraham Lake is known visually for the distinct frozen bubbles which can be seen trapped in the ice of the lake's surface. This bubbling occurs because dead plant life on the lake's bottom decomposes and lets out methane gas. This gas forms the bubbles, and they become trapped under the ice surface as the lake freezes over in the winter months. The bubbles are especially impressive as the lake has such a strong glacial lake blue color, so they stand out all the more. This visually stunning phenomenon has made Lake Abraham a popular destination for those seeking to witness this wintery sight. Everyone from outdoor enthusiasts to photographers frequent the area once the lake's surface freezes over, usually between late December and spring.
Though an artificial lake, several fish species do reside in the lake's waters. They include both rainbow trout, bull trout, lake trout, cutthroat trout, and lake whitefish and sunfish. A large variety of birds can be found in the lake region. Everything from sandpipers to mergansers, northern waterthrush, and loons can be found nesting on the lake. In the more wooded areas, barred owls and goshawks thrive. Aside from fish and birds, there are a number of mammals that reside in the area. Small mammals such as ground squirrels and hoary marmots are common, while the mountainous terrain sees bighorn sheep and mountain goats. Some of the larger predators that reside in the region include wolves, coyotes, foxes, cougars, grizzly bears, and black bears.
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No…there are a lot of fags in Canada. I blame the French Canucks for greying up the place just quietly. Oui oui oui…
The belief that demons exist and can possess people is of course the stuff of fiction and horror films — but it is also one of the most widely-held religious beliefs in the world. Most religions claim that humans can be possessed by demonic spirits (the Bible, for example, recounts six instances of Jesus casting out demons), and offer exorcisms to remedy this threat.
The idea that invading spirits are inherently evil is largely a Judeo-Christian concept; many religions and belief systems accept possession by both beneficent and malevolent entities for short periods of time as uncommon — and not especially alarming — aspects of spiritual life. Spiritualism, a religion that flourished across America in the 1800s and is still practiced in a few places today, teaches that death is an illusion and that spirits can possess humans. New Agers have also long embraced a form of possession called channeling, in which spirits of the dead are said to inhabit a medium's body and communicate through them. Hundreds of books, and even some symphonies, have been allegedly composed by spirits.
Hollywood, of course, has been eager to capitalize on the public's continued fascination with exorcism and demonic possession with films often dubbed "based on a true story." There are countless exorcism-inspired films, including "The Last Exorcism," "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," "The Devil Inside" and "The Rite" — wildly varying in quality, originality, and scariness. The greatest cultural influence, of course, came from the classic "The Exorcist." In the weeks after the film came out in 1974, a Boston Catholic center received daily requests for exorcisms. The script was written by William Peter Blatty, adapted from his best-selling 1971 novel of the same name. Blatty described the inspiration for the film as a Washington Post article he’d read in 1949 about a Maryland boy who had been exorcised. Blatty believed (or claimed to believe) it was an accurate account, though later research revealed the story had been sensationalized was far from credible.
Michael Cuneo, in his book "American Exorcism: Expelling Demons in the Land of Plenty," credits Blatty and "The Exorcist" with much of the modern-day interest in exorcism. As for historical accuracy, though, Cuneo characterizes Blatty's work as a massive structure of fantasy resting on a flimsy foundation of one priest's diary. There really was a boy who underwent an exorcism, but virtually all of the gory and sensational details appearing in the book and film were wildly exaggerated or completely made up.While many Americans think of real exorcisms as relics of the Dark Ages, exorcisms continue to be performed, often on people who are emotionally and mentally disturbed. Whether those undergoing the exorcism are truly possessed by spirits or demons is another matter entirely. Exorcisms are done on people of strong religious faith. To the extent that exorcisms "work," it is due to the power of suggestion and psychology: If you believe you're possessed (and that an exorcism will cure you), then it just might.
The word exorcism derives from the Greek word for oath, "exousia." As religious studies scholar James R. Lewis explains in his book "Satanism Today: An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore, and Popular Culture," "To exorcise thus means something along the lines of placing the possessing spirit under oath — invoking a higher authority to compel the spirit — rather than an actual 'casting out.'" This becomes clear when the demonic entity is commanded to leave the person, not by the authority of a priest but instead, for example, "in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
The Vatican first issued official guidelines on exorcism in 1614, and revised them in 1999. According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, signs of demonic possession include superhuman strength, aversion to holy water, and the ability to speak in unknown languages. Other potential signs of demonic possession include spitting, cursing, and "excessive masturbation."
Along with a handful of Vatican-sanctioned exorcists, there are hundreds of self-styled exorcists around the world. After attending 50 exorcisms during research for his book, Michael Cuneo states that he never saw anything supernatural or unexplainable: No levitation or spinning heads or demonic scratch marks suddenly appearing on anyone's faces, but many emotionally troubled people on both sides of the ritual.
While most people enjoy a scary movie, belief in the literal reality of demons and of the efficacy of exorcism can have deadly consequences. In 2003, an autistic 8-year-old boy in Milwaukee, Wis., was killed during an exorcism by church members who blamed an invading demon for his disability; in 2005 a young nun in Romania died at the hands of a priest during an exorcism after being bound to a cross, gagged, and left for days without food or water in an effort to expel demons. And on Christmas Day 2010 in London, England, a 14-year-old boy named Kristy Bamu was beaten and drowned to death by relatives trying to exorcise an evil spirit from the boy.
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Opened in 1839, Highgate Is one of London’s most infamous cemeteries, originally opened as one of the city’s “Magnificent Seven” park cemeteries. The initial design was carried by architect Stephen Geary.
Among the impressive Victorian and Egyptian influenced tombs are the gravestones of Karl Marx (recognizable by the glowering bearded bust); sci-fi author Douglas Adams; James Holman, a sightless 19th-century adventurer known as “the Blind Traveler” (a pioneer of “human echolocation,” he was able to sense his surroundings by the reverberations of a tapped cane or horse’s hoof-beats); and Adam Worth, a famous criminal and the possible inspiration for Sherlock Holmes’s nemesis, Professor Moriarty.
Comprised of Kensal Green, Highgate, West Norwood, Abney Park, Nunhead, Brompton and Tower Hamlets cemeteries, the Magnificent Seven were created in 1832 as part of an effort to move burials out of the City of London in response to the twin pressures of the health concerns about overcrowded churchyard cemeteries, and desires for build-able land in the rapidly expanding city.
The cemetery’s tombs and buildings are constructed in an imposing Victorian Gothic style and during the mid- to late 1800s it was a highly sought-after burial ground. However, by the end of WWII the cemetery was overgrown, unattended, and in serious disrepair, all of which added to its creepy feel. In the 1970s the infamous cemetery became the location for another English Gothic tradition, the horror films of movie studio Hammer. These films regenerated public interest in the cemetery, and stories of grave robbing, desecration, and vampires in Highgate began appearing in the news.
As described in the book Beyond the Grave, “Many claimed to see a particular creature hovering over the graves. Scores of ‘vampire hunters’ regularly converged on the graveyard in the dead of night. Tombs were broken open and bodies were mutilated with wooden stakes driven into their chests. These stolen corpses, turning up in strange places, continuously startled local residents. One horrified neighbor to the cemetery discovered a headless body propped behind the steering wheel of his car one morning!”
Known as the Highgate Vampire Sensation it culminated in 1970 with two magicians, Farrant and Manchester, claiming that each would be the first to find and kill the supposed vampire. Manchester announced an official vampire hunt, and on Friday the 13th, “a mob of ‘hunters’ from all over London swarmed over gates and walls into the locked cemetery, despite police efforts to control them.”
The two magicians were supposed to settle the debate with a “magicians’ duel” but it never happened. Farrant was arrested in the churchyard next to Highgate Cemetery with a crucifix and a wooden stake and in 1974 was jailed “for damaging memorials and interfering with dead remains in Highgate Cemetery.” Though neither magician found the supposed vampire, in the various “hunts” graves were ransacked and real corpses were indeed staked and beheaded.
The debate between Farrant and Manchester continues to this day, while the cemetery remains a popular location for occult, paranormal and vampiric enthusiasts.
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One of the strangest unexplained crime mysteries of all time – The Hinterkaifeck Mystery.
This is the shocking story of the murders of six people at the Hinterkaifeck farmstead.
Hinterkaifeck, a small farmstead situated between the Bavarian towns of Ingolstadt and Schrobenhausen (approximately 70 km north of Munich), was the scene of one of the most puzzling crimes in German history. On the evening of March 31, 1922, the six inhabitants of the farm were killed with a mattock. The murder is still unsolved.
The six victims were the farmer Andreas Gruber (63) and his wife Cäzilia (72); their widowed daughter Viktoria Gabriel (35) and her two children, Cäzilia (7) and Josef (2); and the maid Maria Baumgartner (44). The two-year-old Josef was rumored to be the son of Viktoria and her father Andreas, who had an incestuous relationship.
The Gruber family lived at Hinterkaifeck, which was situated next to a forest. Maria was new to the farm, having only just arrived oddly, that day, as a replacement for the previous maid that had left claiming that she thought the farm was haunted by a demon. A few days prior to the crime, farmer Andreas Gruber told neighbor's about discovering footprints in the snow leading from the edge of the forest to the farm, but none leading back.
He also spoke about hearing footsteps in the attic and finding an unfamiliar newspaper on the farm. Furthermore, the house keys went missing several days before the murders, but none of this was reported to the police. On the night of March 31st, 1922, someone managed to lure 4 of the family members into the barn, before murdered them all with an axe handle. The killer then went into the house where they killed two-year-old Josef, who was sleeping in his cot in his mother’s bedroom, as well as the new maid, Maria Baumgartner, in her bedchamber.
Horrifyingly, the autopsy showed that young Cäzilia had been alive for quite some time after being attacked, tearing her own hair out as she lay dying in the barn. The killer then went into the house and killed Josef and Maria in their beds.
The family was noticed as missing several days later when none of them had been seen for a few days, and young Cäzilia had not attended school. Neighbors went to check on them and discovered the bodies. After extensive police investigations, a viable suspect was not found. And, as if the situation wasn’t already horrible enough, it actually gets worse. A terrifying theory concerning the murders, is that someone may have sneaked into the house, lived undiscovered up in the attic for a few days, and then come out to murder the house’s occupants.
To further add to this theory, in the days that the bodies were certainly lying dead in the barn, neighbors reported that they had seen smoke rising from the chimneys. Also, someone had been feeding the farm’s cattle. So, if someone had done this, it also seemed as if they had stayed for several days after the murders to take care of the place.
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“The Voynich manuscript is a real medieval book, and has been carbon-dated to the early 1400s.” No modern hoax, this notoriously bizarre text has in fact “passed through the hands of many over the years,” including “scientists, emperors, and collectors.” Though “we still don’t know who actually wrote it, the illustrations hint at the book’s original purpose,” having “much in common with medieval herbals, astrology guides, and bathing manuals.” Hence the likelihood of the Voynich manuscript being “some sort of medical textbook, although a very strange one by any measure. Then there’s the writing.”
This summary of the known history and nature of the most mysterious manuscript in existence comes from the Youtube video above, “Secrets of the Voynich Manuscript.” Its channel Hochelaga has previously been featured here on Open Culture for episodes on medieval monsters, a guide to supernatural phenomena from renaissance Germany, Hokusai’s ghost art, and the Biblical apocalypse.
In short, the Voynich manuscript could hardly find a more accommodating wheelhouse. And as in Hochelaga’s other videos, the subject is approached not with total credulity, but rather a clear and straightforward discussion of why generation after generation of enthusiasts have kept trying to figure it out.
No aspect of the Voynich manuscript fascinates as much as its having been “written in a mystery language with a unique alphabet and grammatical rules.” It could be an existing language rendered in code; it could be one created entirely and only for this book. Though attempts are made with some frequency, “no one has been able to definitively solve the Voynich manuscript’s language.” It could, of course, be that “we’ve fallen for one big medieval prank,” but the video’s creator doesn’t buy that explanation. Even in its incomprehensibility, the text appears to possess great complexity. If it were to be decoded, “would the magic and mystery disappear? Or would we uncover a whole new set of questions and embark on another journey entirely?”
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On December 4, 1872, a ship now known as the Mary Celeste was found adrift in the choppy seas of the Atlantic. The ship was in full sail and in sound and seaworthy condition with ample provisions, but when it was boarded it was found to be completely empty – the crew had vanished without a trace. It is a mystery that has endured for more than 135 years.
In January 1885, a ship slammed into Rochelois Reef, and was wrecked off the island of Haiti. The captain, Gilman Parker, sold the salvage rights to the American consul for $500, and made an insurance claim for the alleged value of the ship’s cargo. This was the end of one of the most infamous ships to have sailed the seas, the Mary Celeste . However, it was the incident 13 years prior to Parker’s wrecking of the Mary Celeste that made it one of history’s most enduring mysteries .The Mary Celeste was a merchant brigantine that was launched under British registration in 1861 as Amazon. Seven years later, she was transferred to American ownership, and was re-christened as the Mary Celeste .
The ship continued to sail uneventfully until her 1872 voyage from New York to Genoa. The ship’s captain was Benjamin Briggs, a man said to be a staunch abstainer from alcohol and a devout Christian. Captain Briggs was also described as a brave officer who would not abandon his ship unless to save his life. The first mate, Albert Richardson, was also considered fit to command, and was hand-picked by Captain Briggs. Additionally, Captain Brigg’s wife, his infant daughter, and six other crew members were on board the Mary Celeste. Towards the end of October 1872, the loading of the ship’s cargo – 1701 barrels of poisonous denatured alcohol - began. On November 7, the Mary Celeste left New York Harbor, and sailed into the Atlantic. On December 4, the British brigantine Dei Gratia discovered the Mary Celeste sailing aimlessly between the Azores and Portugal. From these bits of evidence, a possible scenario may be pieced together about what may have happened to the Mary Celeste: Something occurred on the Mary Celeste that made the captain panic, and he ordered the crew to get into the lifeboat, and abandon the ship. The halyard was then used tied to the lifeboat, and the captain and his crew trailed behind the Mary Celeste to see what would happen to her.
The panic turned out to be a false alarm. But unfortunately for Captain Briggs, his family, and the crew, the halyard snapped during a raging storm , and they were unable to get themselves back to the Mary Celeste.
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In Fayette County, George and Jennie Sodder gathered for a Christmas Eve Celebration with 9 of their 10 children in 1945. But that holiday would end in heartache.
On that Christmas Eve, Maurice and four of his siblings, Martha, Louis, Jennie and Betty, asked to be allowed to stay up and play with their Christmas toys after the rest of the family went to bed. They promised they would do their chores before they went to sleep, so their parents agreed to let them stay up.
Shortly after midnight, the children's mother, Jenny Sodder, was awakened by the ringing phone. When she answered, the female caller on the other end asked to speak to someone Jenny did not know, then laughed and hung up. Jenny believed this was a prank call. Before she went back to sleep, she noticed that her home's lights were on, the shades were up and the doors were unlocked.
Jenny was woken up again that night by a noise on the roof. At 1:30 a.m., she realized the house was on fire. She called for her husband and children to get out. Two of the Sodders' sons and their daughter, who was carrying the baby, made it outside, but Jenny and her husband, George, realized Maurice, Martha, Louise, Jennie and Betty were missing. George tried to find a ladder which was kept near the house so he could climb up to the children's bedrooms, but the ladder had disappeared. It was later found down an embankment away from the house.
The Sodder house burned to the ground less than forty-five minutes after the fire started. The fire department initially blamed the blaze on faulty wiring. Some reports stated that officials could not find any trace of the missing children's remains in the ashes, but other reports maintain that some bone fragments and possible human organs were located. One was analyzed and turned out to be beef liver. A coroner's jury ruled that the missing Sodder children had died in the fire. Afterwards, and against the advice of the fire Marshall, George plowed over the remains of his home and planted flowers in memory of his lost children.
Within months of their children's presumed deaths, George and Jenny decided they had not been killed by the flames but had been kidnapped, and the fire deliberately set to cover the crime. The house's telephone line had been cut sometime before or after the fire. Witnesses reported sightings of the Sodder children in the area shortly after they supposedly died. The Sodders attempted to get the case reopened, but for many years the police refused to investigate because they believed no crime had been committed.
In 1949, George and some others excavated the site of his former home to search for the missing children's remains. Only four pieces of vertebrae and two small bones that were possibly from a child's hand were located. A pathologist who assisted with the search remarked that it was unusual that so little was found, as the fire was quick-burning and should not have so completely destroyed the children's remains. The pathologist believed the bones that were located were from a 14- to 15-year-old, which would match Maurice's age, but due to the location that the bones were found in the floor plan of the house, George did not believe they were from his son. Another analysis conducted years later determined that the bones were from a 16- to 22-year-old person. Curiously, the bones did not have any signs of fire damage. It was suggested that they were planted at the site from a nearby cemetery, but there is no evidence to support this theory.
In 1968, George and Jenny received a photograph in the mail of a young man in his mid-twenties. An image of the photograph is posted below this case summary. On the back of the photograph were these words: "Louis Sodder" "I love brother Frankie." "ilil Boys" "A90132" or possibly "A90135." The Sodders believed it was a photo of their son Louis as an adult. They were unable to verify their theory, however. The man in the photo remains unidentified and it is unclear who sent the picture to the Sodders and why.
Jenny and George searched for their children for the rest of their lives, posting a billboard advertising a reward for their safe return. George died in 1969 and Jenny in 1989. Many people theorize that the missing children were killed in the fire and their parents were simply unable to accept the loss, but others believe the children were indeed abducted and were possibly taken to Italy. The youngest Sodder child, who was an infant at the time of the fire, is still trying to determine what really happened to her brothers and sisters.
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