A retired school teacher and amateur photographer in Wiltshire, England has photographed what he believes to be a “silver orb” tracking one of the Royal Air Force’s Hercules military aircraft as it came in for a landing. The incident was captured by Westbury resident John Powell, 56, at approximately 3:45 pm on July 22 as he was tending to his garden at his home, not far from the RAF Lyneham military base where the plane landed.
“I don’t believe in things from outer space but that thing was definitely tracking the plane,” shares Powell.
“My neighbour was in the garden at the time and I wanted to shout to them, but I didn’t want to say ‘there’s a flying saucer in the sky’ so I didn’t say anything in the end.” Source: The Telegraph, Photo: swns.comAttachments area
Today marks the departure of a new expedition in search of the fabled Mongolian death worm, a creature believed to be so deadly that anyone who comes into contact with the creature doesn’t live to tell about it. Two researchers from New Zealand, journalist David Farrier and cameraman Christie Douglas, embark today on a two-week-long journey into the Gobi Desert on a quest to prove the reality of a creature which many doubt even exists. After all, the descriptions of these worms and the harm they are rumored to be capable of tends to defy any logical explanation: seven-foot long burrowing monsters, blood red in color, with the ability to leap out of the sand and kill an unsuspecting passerby in the blink of an eye. It is said to kill by spitting concentrated acid from its mouth and shooting lighting from its rectum (kind of like the time I ate several habanero chili peppers and chased them with a few shots of tequila). Joining the duo on their expedition will be some local Mongolian assistance: a cook, a translator, and a guide. Farrier and Douglas will be filming the hunt for a planned documentary they’re producing about the elusive creature. Farrier, the leader of the team, is unfazed by skeptics who dismiss the beast as nothing but pure mythology, or the fact that four previous expeditions for the worm came up empty handed, the last two being in 2003 and 2005. The difference between those failed attempts and this one? Explosives. That’s right, the team plans to rouse the subterranean creatures to the surface by using explosives, since the organisms are said to be attracted to vibrations in the ground (why is this sounding more and more like the plot to the next “Tremors” movie?). Farrier believes he has between a 5% and 15% chance of actually finding the death worm. “They are high for a ridiculous creature like the death worm,” he points out when asked about the odds, “but the area I am going to is a very specific place in the southern Gobi where all the sightings have been.” “I have no intention of grabbing it, capturing it, stuffing it, or anything like that. I just want to prove its existence and if I can get it on film, that’s all I need to do.” Famous last words.
Vermont man has been arrested and charged with felony removal of human remains after he allegedly dug up the grave site of his own father and took home the remains… apparently because he missed his dear old dad. Vershire native Dominik A. Bailey Jr., 43, was taken into custody Saturday after a tip from the man’s own mother, and wife of the deceased, alerted the Thetford police. According to Bailey’s mother, she suspected her son had gone and dug up her late husband’s grave, and told police she was going to the cemetery to find out. Sure enough, when she got there all she found was a hole in the ground and the tombstone removed. Apparently Bailey had confided in an aunt that he had plans to remove his father’s remains for months, but she never thought he would actually go through with it. On Friday, she received a strange message on her answering machine saying Bailey was “going to get his father” and they “didn’t need to leave flowers there anymore.” Later that day, the man called her again and told her “he’s here with me now.” When police searched the disturbed man’s home, he was not there but they did find the father’s cremated remains and headstone in the living room. Bailey was later picked up in Thetford and taken into custody, where he is being held on charges of felony removal of human remains. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 15 years behind bars and can be fined up to $10,000.
Possibly the greatest mystery of the 20th Century may ultimately be solved… through the use of advanced DNA analysis. Amelia Earhart, the greatest pioneer in female aviation, vanished in 1937 over the Pacific Ocean in the midst of a much publicized round-the-world journey. For decades there had been much speculation surrounding her disappearance and possible whereabouts, but to no avail. Now, new archaeological evidence discovered by The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), my finally bring the long-puzzling case to a close. Video.
The Museum of the Weird is expanding, both the brick-and-mortar location and our new online presence. That being said, we have a couple of announcements, of which you can read the full details below:
We are offering a paid position in our physical store (which today marks our four year anniversary, by the way!).
Also, museumoftheweird.com is seeking story submissions from writers, as well as artists to provide illustrations (note, until the website becomes semi-profitable, submissions would be for exposure only, and is non-paid).
******************************************************************* WANTED: ASSISTANT MANAGER If you live in the Austin, Texas area and would like a job that’s somewhat out of the ordinary (but pretty cool), then this might be the place for you. The Museum of the Weird and it’s gift shop, Lucky Lizard Curios & Gifts, is looking for a full-time assistant manager. Experience in retail and/or sales is mandatory. Job responsibilities include overseeing and delegating tasks to other employees, as well as basic day-to-day operation of the store and museum, including checking out customers, restocking inventory, and keeping the place clean. Benefits kick in after you’ve been with us for a year, and include Health (PPO), Dental, Prescription, and 401K. Base pay starts at $12/hr but is commensurate with experience. Please send a resume and cover letter to: steve@museumoftheweird.com Again, if this sounds like something you’d be interested in, we look forward to hearing from you! ******************************************************************* WANTED: WRITERS AND ARTISTS Since our newly revamped website museumoftheweird.com became a daily news site for weird and unusual stories, I’ve been overwhelmed with trying to write all the stories for the “Weekly Weird News” column, as well as continuing to run the business end of things both online and in the store. To help ease some of that burden on my shoulders, we are now accepting submissions from aspiring artists and writers who would like to contribute to the site. Whether you consider yourself a professional or not, if you think you’ve got what it takes to tell a great story in words or pictures, we’d love to see what you’ve got! Here are some examples of what we’d be looking for:
Current events – While we are primarily interested in short news bytes running 5 or 6 paragraphs long, we would also be interested in publishing some multi-part investigative journalism pieces (if you read our recent week long investigation into the Gable Film, this is a good example of what I mean).
Historical research – Interested in investigating that UFO crash in Aurora, Texas in 1897? Or maybe covering the history of voodoo in New Orleans? How about relating the legends of werewolves and vampires in European culture? Here’s your opportunity to share your research with an eager audience.
Plug your product – Wrote a book about your expedition in search of the Yeti? Tell us about it! Just finished your Nessie documentary and need a place to tell the public about it? Write about it here! Sponsoring a ghost hunt? Let us know! You get the picture. And it beats advertising, because it won’t cost you a dime! Just make sure you provide it to us in a finished article, and we’ll post it.
Personal experiences – preferably ones that can be verified with documented evidence (eg: Bigfoot encounters, alien abductions, sightings of cryptids, personal ghost stories, etc.). This is your chance to tell your story to the world! (however, we will do our best to verify any and all claims you make… we’re not looking for fictional stories, if you know what I mean.)
Original artwork – whether your forte is photography, painting, pen-and-ink, or digital multimedia, museumoftheweird.com is interested in the rights to publish your original artwork to go along with current or future stories. You will get to keep your copyright and get 100% credit for the artwork, as well as a link to your website if you have one. Illustrations we would need: Bigfoot and other cryptids, ghosts and haunted houses, aliens and UFOs, myths and legends… the possibilities are endless.
Keep in mind just because you submit something does not guarantee it will be posted. If we decide to pass on your story or artwork, you will not be contacted, so please don’t email us back with questions or asking if we liked it (sorry, but I’m already strapped for time as it is, that’s why we’re accepting submissions). However, if we do like what we see, we will most definitely get in touch with you, so please leave up-to-date contact information. Also if we do decide to accept your work for publication, please realize it is still subject to editing for grammar, style or content. If you are alright with all that, then please send a sample of your original piece, be it a story or illustration, to: steve@museumoftheweird.com. Good luck, I look forward to seeing what you’ve got!
Hundreds of applicants lined up in Wookey Hole, England to get a chance to apply for the role of the Wookey Hole Cave Witch. The position pays £50,000 (about $82,000 in American dollars), not bad for a cackling old hag. According to legend, in the Dark Ages the Wookey Hole Caves were home to a witch who was blamed for pestilence and disease plaguing the surrounding countryside. Finally an abbot sprayed her with holy water, causing the witch to turn to a stone pillar which, if you ask the locals, can still be seen in the caves to this day. Today the caves have become a tourist attraction run by Wookey Hole, Ltd., the entertainment company that put out the casting call. In the end the job went to Ms. Carla Calamity, a Somerset estate agent, and a rather attractive woman for a witch I might add. Of course, she may have just put a spell on me…
If you didn’t just catch the latest MonsterQuest, you missed a good one. Surprisingly, they just concluded they had the remains of an unknown creature that defied scientific identification, including DNA analysis. Above is a photo of the creature (supposedly when it was alive), which could fit in the palm of your hand. While alive, it was apparently very aggressive toward its captors. My initial reaction was it was a small skinned monkey, which was also the first reaction by the researchers; however they ruled that out since the scientists determined the creature did in fact have a thin layer of flesh. So the question remains: what exactly was it???
Around 10:00 pm Monday night, a mysterious UFO crashed into the Ottawa River, seen by dozens of eyewitnesses in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa, Ontario as well as Gatineau, Quebec. Witnesses described a streak of light, followed by a “thunderous boom” as the object hit the water. While some have suggested it may be a meteorite, at least one website reports, “the object had lights on it and appeared to change course several times, like a small plane struggling to stay airborne, before it hit the water.” While there were no reports of missing aircraft, local authorities took the matter seriously enough to coordinate a full on search of the waters, attended to by police, firefighters, and EMS workers. There was even a helicopter on scene conducting an aerial search. On Tuesday morning the search continued, when at approximately 1:30 pm there was a sonar hit of a large object over nine meters down. The search was called off when they realized the unknown object was too far out of reach of their underwater camera. According to Ottawa police Constable Alain Boucher, “The size and the shape doesn’t lead us to believe it’s any piece of an airplane or fuselage or anything like that… It could be a rock, it could be a bunch of logs stuck together, it’s hard to say.” This breaking news follows hot on the heels of a report last week that the Russian Navy has recently declassified Soviet-era records pertaining to USOs, or “Unidentified Submerged Objects.” “Fifty percent of UFO encounters are connected with oceans. Fifteen more – with lakes,” says Vladimir Azhazha, a renowned Russian UFO investigator and former navy officer. “So UFOs tend to stick to the water.” We will keep you posted on any new developments on this breaking story from Canada. Sources: The Inquisitr, The Welland Tribune, CNews, Russia Today
now the name of my “Weekly Weird News” blog is an homage to the late, great tabloid “Weekly World News,” but this story sounds like something ripped straight from their headlines… only the source of this one is none other than the esteemed BBC. A Saudi Arabian family in the city of Medina has filed suit in a local court against a “genie” that they claim has been harassing them. The accusations against the genie range from threatening the family and throwing rocks to stealing their cell phones. They even reported disembodied voices telling them to “get out of the house.” The genie’s shenanigans ultimately forced the family to move out of their home of 15 years. A local court is investigating the claims. My question is this: if it’s a genie, can’t they just wish him away? All joking aside, while it may seem comical at first, in all seriousness there does appear to be a correlation between this family’s experience and that of what we in western society would call “poltergeist” activity. Any thoughts?
For the past week, I’ve been reporting on a mysterious piece of film footage that has been sparking a lot of controversy since it’s initial discovery five years ago, and even more so now due to a new “sequel” that came to light recently. That film is known simply as “The Gable Film.” I suggest you start from the beginning here and get caught up before reading this post. Throughout this past week, I have discussed the Gable Films in depth, analyzing the film footage scene-by-scene and sometimes frame-by-frame. There were times when, as soon as I was convinced it was a hoax, I would suddenly see something I hadn’t noticed before, and it would make me wonder. Then there were times when, as soon as I’m convinced that it might actually be authentic footage, something else would come to light that would make me cast doubt on the whole thing. In the end, I’m as perplexed by the whole thing as I was in the beginning. If viewed from beginning to end, everything seems like it really could be authentic vintage footage of an unidentified animal attack, and if you include the second film, the gruesome aftermath documented by the police. But there’s something that’s been bugging me all along, something that just didn’t feel right from the beginning. The “fatal flaw”, if you will, of this film, and that is…
There’s just something about them teeth.
The teeth I’m referring to are the ones that mysteriously come out of nowhere in the original Gable Film right before it comes to it’s jolting end, at exactly 3 minutes and 23 seconds. That’s right, notice I said “come out of nowhere,” not “come into frame.” That’s because if you notice, there is no transition blur one would expect if they were to suddenly come into frame. It just jumps from an image of the forest to an extreme close up of the teeth (in relatively good focus, I might add). Here are the two sequential frames side by side.
There’s just something about them teeth.
The teeth I’m referring to are the ones that mysteriously come out of nowhere in the original Gable Film right before it comes to it’s jolting end, at exactly 3 minutes and 23 seconds. That’s right, notice I said “come out of nowhere,” not “come into frame.” That’s because if you notice, there is no transition blur one would expect if they were to suddenly come into frame. It just jumps from an image of the forest to an extreme close up of the teeth (in relatively good focus, I might add). Here are the two sequential frames side by side.
If you heard my interview with Chris Walden on last week’s “Shadow Hour” radio program, you’ll remember that I had doubts about those few frames of footage. And if you read Steve Cook’s rebuttal, you’ll know that he is insistent that he did not add those frames, that they were indeed on the original film when he received it. Then if that’s the case, is it possible they were edited on the original 8mm film? Of course. There’s a couple of ways this could have been done. In the olden days when I was a kid, I used to go around making stop-motion animation movies using the same type of film camera as used on these films, only mine was a Super-8. One time I had a fake rubber hand that I wanted to make crawl around on the ground. The title of my film, of course, was “The Crawling Hand!” Positioning the hand on the ground and my Super-8 camera mounted on a tripod, I would press the trigger on the camera’s pistol grip, a frame or two would roll through the camera, and I’d release the trigger. Then I’d go move the hand a little, bending the fingers, and press the trigger again. I would continue this process over and over until the hand had moved quite a distance from where it started. When I got the developed film back a week or two later and played it through my projector, Voilà! I had magically made the hand “crawl” across the ground! This was known as stop-motion animation using “in-camera” editing. So yes, it is possible to shoot off just a few frames of film using the same technique as I describe. This could have been done using in-camera editing, where right after filming the beast running at him, the cameraman could have released the trigger, gone to another location hours, days, or even weeks later, found a dog or other animal, and filmed a single second of close-up on the teeth, released the trigger, then later go back to the location (or any other field for that matter), and filmed as the camera drops to the ground.
Another way to edit on film would be a splice. That’s where you take two pieces of developed film and splice them together. One piece of film is cut at a certain point in between frames where you want that shot to end, and basically “taped” with a special type of splicing tape to another piece of film where you want a different shot to begin. It’s how movies have been edited since the beginning of motion pictures, before the advent of the digital age (nowadays we use computer programs like Final Cut Pro or Avid). So if the Gable Film were spliced, Steve Cook, having the original film in his possession, would certainly know about it if he were to look at the actual film itself at the exact frames in question. That is, UNLESS the film he received was a copy or film transfer from the original, meaning the spliced film had a copy made of it onto another piece of 8mm film. If that were the case, no splice would be visible. I’m sure given the amount of investigation Mr. Cook put into the Gable Film, he would have surely mentioned something as obvious as a film splice, especially at such a questionable portion of the footage. Now another thing that always bothered me about the teeth were those weird lines on the sides of the mouth. Were they whiskers? Hair? Now it seems we may have an answer.
A new YouTube video by user “borough110” came to light recently which may put to rest the entire authenticity of both Gable Films (because if the first one’s a fake, then surely the second one would be as well). Originally pointed out by “amb3rfaith” (her screen name), her discovery of this video analysis of those few frames may prove to be the smoking gun. I won’t try to elaborate, I think this clip says it all.
So after discussing the ways the teeth could have been inserted into the film, and after viewing this video about the possible explanation of the “lines” around the mouth, does this definitively prove the Gable Film to be a hoax? Well, maybe… and maybe not. You see, we still don’t know what that creature really is. Is it a dog? A bear? An ape, as some have suggested? Or is it a true cryptid? Sometimes, when people find evidence of something authentically unexplainable, they do something stupid. For reasons known only to themselves, sometimes they will embellish it. They will add something that they feel completes the picture. Or enhances it. Or adds to the mystery. Whatever the reason, once they do this, they unwittingly compromise the integrity of their entire evidence and their testimony. It’s happened numerous times in the past with Bigfoot witnesses. Ivan Marx and Ray Wallace are good examples of people who may have had a legitimate encounter that was later tarnished by proof that some of their evidence may have been hoaxed.
In fact, I’m in possession of a recent Bigfoot video that might be authentic, but I have my reservations about it simply because the guy who shot it admitted to me he ADDED A SCENE BEFORE THE ENCOUNTER FOR “DRAMATIC EFFECT.” Why did he do that???? I mean, the guy just destroyed any integrity or credibility of the film BY EMBELLISHING IT!!! The man originally was trying to get money for the video by selling it on eBay back in 2007 (you can read about it on this archival post on cryptomundo.com). But when the winning bidder did not come through with the $2616.00 cash, he just gave up on trying to profit from it. I contacted him after the auction and said I would be seriously interested in seeing his footage, but I would not pay anything for it. So he agreed to send me a copy, in exchange I promised Paul (his name) that I would not share it with anyone or upload it to the internet since he entrusted me with it. I was dismayed and extremely disappointed when I saw he added a whole scene right before the supposedly real footage, I guess to add substance. In my opinion, nobody would take it seriously now, it’s ruined. Maybe, if Paul agrees to it, one day I’ll post his footage here. But I digress.
My point is, everything else in the footage of both films feels real to me, with the exception of the “teeth,” which I feel, just as I did from the beginning, were added for effect. Perhaps not by Steve Cook, but maybe by the person who gave the film to him. Or maybe by the person who held the supposed estate sale where the film was found in a box. Or maybe by Aaron Gable himself. Who knows.
IN CONCLUSION People love a good mystery. And for you, our faithful reader, I don’t want to spoil whatever YOU believe by giving you my unimportant opinion as fact. It’s just my opinion, and everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. So here, my friends, I leave any conclusions to be drawn about the authenticity of those mysterious few minutes of film up to you. Let the Gable Film be whatever you believe it to be. As for me, the truth behind the Gable Film may forever remain a mystery. And you know, I think I’m alright with that.
August 8th, 2009 UPDATE! Authorities Investigating!CLICK HERE!