weird news – Page 15 – Museum of the Weird

Posted on August 8, 2012 by MOTW Admin

BRITISH EXPLORER SET TO FIND PIRATES LOST GOLD ON ‘TREASURE ISLAND’

An archaeological expedition is heading to Cocos Island in search of the “Treasure of Lima”, a true life “treasure island” if there ever was one.

The Telegraph writes:

It eluded Franklin Roosevelt, Sir Malcolm Campbell and Errol Flynn, but now an explorer from Melton Mowbray could be on the trail of a multi-million-pound hoard of gold, silver and jewellery stolen by pirates and buried on a treasure island.

Shaun Whitehead is leading an archaeological expedition to Cocos Island, the supposed hiding place of the “Treasure of Lima” – one of the world’s most fabled missing treasures.

The haul – said to be worth £160 million – was stolen by a British trader, Captain William Thompson, in 1820 after he was entrusted to transport it from Peru to Mexico.

He is said to have been stashed his plunder on the Pacific island, from where it has never been recovered.

An original inventory showed 113 gold religious statues, one a life-size Virgin Mary, 200 chests of jewels, 273 swords with jewelled hilts, 1,000 diamonds, solid gold crowns, 150 chalices and hundreds of gold and silver bars.

The site, credited by some as the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, is uninhabited and around 350 miles off the coast of Costa Rica, of which it is a part.

It has also been designated a Unesco World Heritage Site for its unspoilt environment and variety of wildlife and it has taken around 18 months of negotiations with the authorities to secure permission to go there on an exploratory mission.

Although there have been no official expeditions to the island for more than a quarter of a century, Mr Whitehead will join an impressive a line of notable adventurers and explorers who been attracted by the lure of the “Lima loot”.

They include Roosevelt, the American president from 1933 to 1945, who travelled there with friends in 1910, Campbell, the racing driver, who went there in the 1920s, and Flynn in the 1940s.

Another explorer, August Gissler, a German, spent 19 years living on the island hunting the treasure but returned with just six gold coins.

However, Mr Whitehead’s team is equipped with technology that has never before been used on the island. He has also established the most likely spots around the island on which to focus his efforts.

AUSTRALIAN X-FILES RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC

Australia has released documents 30 years that describe many encounters with UFOs.

Here comes some interesting info out of the land down-under!

By law in Australia, any government documents 30 years old must be released to the public and there are a few folks scouring those documents for anything interesting, and boy have they found something good!

The Age over in Australia writes:

It is probably the closest Australia has come to scrambling fighter jets to intercept a UFO.

Documents that have just become available under the 30-year rule at the National Archives of Australia reveal how two RAAF Mirage jets were placed on the second highest level of alert to determine the cause of unidentified radar contacts seen on screens at Mascot.

The ”X Files” viewed in Canberra also give details of other unexplained sightings, some of which are supported by witness statements to police.

In the Sydney alert, the papers stamped ”restricted” tell how operation ”Close Encounter” was launched by No.3 Control and Reporting Unit at RAAF Base Williamtown near Newcastle on June 30, 1983, after the phenomenon was first noticed earlier in the month.

Senior air controllers at Mascot said the contacts were mostly located between 70 and 150 nautical miles north of Sydney at ”alleged speeds of 1100-6500 km/h that suggested high altitude”.

The papers state that no scramble was to occur in the round-the-clock operation unless confirmation of any reported tracks was made on the radar screens at RAAF Williamtown or any radar other than Sydney.

At the same time, three senior air defence controllers were dispatched to Sydney to investigate and plot every contact and ”control interceptors against these contacts if a reasonable chance of interception presented itself”. But then one of the defence controllers, a squadron leader, asked whether a comparison had been made of the contacts on the screens of Mascot’s Area Approach Radar Centre and those in a ”workshop across the corridor”. Soon after, tests showed that the ”unidentified objects reported by Sydney were generated entirely by radar interference known colloquially as ‘running rabbits’ ”.

Squadron leader K. Keenan, in his six-page report, said operation Close Encounter cost 66½ days of overtime, 1000 kilometres was travelled by a staff car and a C130 Hercules transport aircraft ”may have been diverted to Sydney airport” to deliver one of the defence controllers.

He wrote: ”The lines of communication, extending as they did across the width of an entire corridor, seem to have been insufficient for the purpose.”

He added rather dryly: ”Fortunately there was no temptation to launch aircraft and add to the fuel bill occasioned by use of the RAAF Datsun.” A cautiously worded statement was released as a result ”in a manner that would not embarrass departmental personnel” which blamed ”random atmospheric conditions”. Other reports in the X Files give details of an ”unidentified physical feature” of circles on Milo Station at Adavale, Queensland, in 1982. The file refers to photographs that apparently were taken, but they were not among the papers.

Constable Geoffrey Russell, from the local police station, visited the site and wrote a report for RAAF Base Amberley near Ipswich. The officer saw depressions in the ground and thought they were caused by a motorcyclist doing donuts but then dismissed the idea.

He wrote: ”I strongly feel this [is] no hoax even though I do not know the cause of this ‘feature’.”

MAN LANDS CURIOSITY ROVER ON MARS

The Curiosty Rover has transmitted its' first images of itself on the Mars surface. A place truly alien.

Science and world history was made today when the ‘Curiosity” rover built by NASA finally landed on the rocky red surface of Mars. The scientists and helmsman of the rover went through, what they call ‘7 minutes of Hell’ while it was out of communication during its’ actual descent and landing procedure.

NASA writes:

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s most advanced Mars rover Curiosity has landed on the Red Planet. The one-ton rover, hanging by ropes from a rocket backpack, touched down onto Mars Sunday to end a 36-week flight and begin a two-year investigation.

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft that carried Curiosity succeeded in every step of the most complex landing ever attempted on Mars, including the final severing of the bridle cords and flyaway maneuver of the rocket backpack.

“Today, the wheels of Curiosity have begun to blaze the trail for human footprints on Mars. Curiosity, the most sophisticated rover ever built, is now on the surface of the Red Planet, where it will seek to answer age-old questions about whether life ever existed on Mars — or if the planet can sustain life in the future,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “This is an amazing achievement, made possible by a team of scientists and engineers from around the world and led by the extraordinary men and women of NASA and our Jet Propulsion Laboratory. President Obama has laid out a bold vision for sending humans to Mars in the mid-2030’s, and today’s landing marks a significant step toward achieving this goal.”

Curiosity landed at 10:32 p.m. Aug. 5, PDT, (1:32 a.m. EDT Aug. 6) near the foot of a mountain three miles tall and 96 miles in diameter inside Gale Crater. During a nearly two-year prime mission, the rover will investigate whether the region ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life.

“The Seven Minutes of Terror has turned into the Seven Minutes of Triumph,” said NASA Associate Administrator for Science John Grunsfeld. “My immense joy in the success of this mission is matched only by overwhelming pride I feel for the women and men of the mission’s team.”

Curiosity returned its first view of Mars, a wide-angle scene of rocky ground near the front of the rover. More images are anticipated in the next several days as the mission blends observations of the landing site with activities to configure the rover for work and check the performance of its instruments and mechanisms.

“Our Curiosity is talking to us from the surface of Mars,” said MSL Project Manager Peter Theisinger of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “The landing takes us past the most hazardous moments for this project, and begins a new and exciting mission to pursue its scientific objectives.”

MEET THE ‘ROYAL FAMILY OF STRANGE PEOPLE’

Gary Stretch has the world's stretchiest skin and holds 11 Guinness World Records.

Everyone, including myself, calls their family ‘weird’. Well, this odd family may have you rethink just how weird yours really is!

The Huffinton Post writes:

Swallowing swords, stretching their skins until you’re forced to turn away, this is the world’s most stupendous collection of human oddities.

This eclectic sideshow cabaret, hailed ‘the Coney Island Freak Show for the 21st century’, has been specially commissioned for Priceless London Wonderground and pushes the boundaries of what the human body can achieve.

Marvel at Gary Stretch – owner of the world’s stretchiest skin (above), or wince at the Space Cowboy, the holder of 11 Guinness World Records, the most recent of which saw him swallow 18 swords in one go.

This smorgasbord of strange is on display at the Southbank Centre until September.

NEW PHOTO OF THE LOCH NESS MONSTER SURFACES

Some say this is one of the best photos of the Loch Ness monster ever.

Has Skipper George Edwards finally captured the fabled Nessie on film after 21 years of searching?

The Huffington Post writes:

A sailor who has spent 26 years searching for the Loch Ness Monster has what he believes is the best ever picture taken of the elusive beast.

George Edwards spends around 60 hours a week patrolling the famous loch, taking tourists out on his boat Nessie Hunter IV, and has led numerous hunts for the fabled created over the years.

But this image is the one that’s convinced him that there really is a monster or evenmonsters – out there.

It shows a mysterious dark hump moving in the water towards Urquhart Castle.

“I was just about to return to Temple Pier (in Drumnadrochit) and I went to the back of the boat which was facing the pier and that’s when I saw it,” said Edwards.

The 60-year-old added: “It was slowly moving up the loch towards Urquhart Castle and it was a dark grey colour. It was quite a fair way from the boat, probably about half a mile away but it’s difficult to tell in water.”

After watching the object for five to ten minutes, Edwards said it slowly sank below the surface and never resurfaced.

“I’m convinced I was seeing Nessie as I believe in these creatures. Far too many people have being seeing them for far too long,” he said.

ANCIENT RAINFOREST DISCOVERED IN ANARCTICA

About 52 million years ago there wasn't any ice on Antarctica, for the temperatures were about 68 degrees Farenhiet

An ancient rain forest has been discovered under the very thick ice of Anartctica.

While drilling to gather core samples of the ice, researchers and scientist found a large section of pollen that indicates a once large and vast tropical-style rain forest that once covered the entire continent and, if things keep going the way of global-warming, it might just happen again… soon!

Discovery News writes:

Drilling of the seabed off Antarctica has revealed that rainforest grew on the frozen continent 52 million years ago, scientists said Thursday, warning it could be ice-free again within decades.

The study of sediment cores drilled from the ocean floor off Antarctica’s east coast revealed fossil pollens that had come from a “near-tropical” forest covering the continent in the Eocene period, 34-56 million years ago.

Kevin Welsh, an Australian scientist who traveled on the 2010 expedition, said analysis of temperature-sensitive molecules in the cores had showed it was “very warm” 52 million years ago, measuring about 20 degrees Celsius (68 F).

“There were forests existing on the land, there wouldn’t have been any ice, it would have been very warm,” Welsh told AFP of the study, published in the journal Nature.

“It’s quite surprising, because obviously our image of Antarctica is that it’s very cold and full of ice.”

Welsh said higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were thought to be the major driver of the heat and ice-free conditions on Antarctica, with CO2 estimates of anywhere between 990 to “a couple of thousand” parts per million.

CO2 is presently estimated at about 395ppm, and Welsh said the most extreme predictions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) would see ice again receding on Antarctica “by the end of the century”.

“It’s difficult to say, because that’s really controlled by people’s and governments’ actions,” said Welsh, a paleoclimatologist from the University of Queensland. “It really depends on how emissions go in the future.”

Welsh described the findings as “very significant” in understanding future climate change, particularly given how important Antarctica and the “very large” volume of water stored on its surface would be for the entire planet.

“It shows that if we go through periods of higher CO2 in the atmosphere it’s very likely that there will be dramatic changes on these very important areas of the globe where ice currently exists,” he said.

“If we were to lose a lot of ice from Antarctica then we’re going to see a dramatic change in sea level all around the planet.”

Even a few meters of sea level rise would inundate “large portions of the habitable land around coasts of many major countries and low-lying regions”, he added.

The ice on east Antarctica is 3-4 kilometers (1.9-25 miles) thick, and is thought to have formed about 34 million years ago.

Posted on July 31, 2012 by MOTW Admin

WHO’S UP TO VISIT “THE DOOR TO HELL”?

'The Door to Hell' has been burning for over 40 years!

When I think of taking a vacation, I think of beautiful sandy beaches and crystal clear waters in a country far, far away. There’s one place that’s just a little hotter than your usual vacation spot and there’s a bit less water too!

Daily Mail writes:

At first glance, it could be a dramatic scene from a science-fiction movie.

But this giant hole of fire in the heart of the Karakum Desert is not the aftermath of an attack on Earth, launched from outer space.

It is a crater made by geologists more than 40 years ago, and the flames within have been burning ever since.

Welcome to Derweze in Turkmenistan – or, as the locals have called it, ‘The Door to Hell’.

Soviet geologists were drilling at the site in 1971 and tapped into a cavern filled with natural gas.

But the ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a hole with a diameter of 70 metres.

Fearing that the hole would lead to the release of poisonous gases, the team decided to burn it off.

It was hoped that the fire would use all the fuel within days, but the gas is still burning today.

The flames generate a golden glow which can be seen for miles around Derweze, a village with a population of about 350.

The site is about 260 kilometres north of Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.

In April 2010 the country’s president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, visited the site and ordered that the hole should be closed but this is yet to happen.

CHICKEN NUGGETS COST AUSTRALIAN MAN $15,000

One man lost $15,000 when his wife wanted to make some chicken nuggets in the oven.

Here’s some rather unfortunate news coming out of Sydney, Australia that gives new meaning to the phrase “burning through your money”.

Yahoo News writes:

One man probably has learned a costly lesson about where he hides his cash.

The unidentified father from Sydney, Australia, sold his car last weekend. The $15,000 (approximately $15,652 in U.S. dollars) in proceeds was earmarked for his mortgage payment and other bills, according to Australian media. Opting not to squirrel away the loot in a mattress or bury it in his backyard, he decided to hide it his oven, which rarely gets used.

Bad move: Turns out, his wife decided to use the oven that day, preheating it for chicken nuggets for their two children and, yes, cooked the cash.

“It was everything I had,” he told the news station. “I’ve got nothing to my name. That money was supposed to go towards my mortgage.”

His wife was equally distraught and, reportedly, could not stop crying when telling her husband after she discovered what happened: The cash was baked into a colorful burnt mess.

The man reached out to his lender and the Reserve Bank of Australia for help.

The Reserve Bank advises people to take damaged currency to a bank. According to the Reserve Bank policy, “if several pieces of the same banknote are presented, the Reserve Bank’s policy is for each piece to be worth a share of the value in proportion to its size… The combined value paid should be the face value of the original banknote.”

MEET AFFETO, THE WORLD’S CREEPIEST ROBO-BABY

This little robotic infant will be used to study how human cognitive functions develop.

Great strides are being made in the scientific world of robotics everyday but, you could say the researchers at the Osaka University in Japan are making baby-steps.

Meet “Affeto”, arguably the world’s creepiest baby robot and despite being so “young”, this little guy is quite advanced for his age.

Watch the creepy little guy in action here:

And here:

Future of tech on NBCNews.com writes:

A robot baby being built as part of a neuroscience research program in Japan has just gotten a torso, including arms that flop around like an infant’s sans swaddle.

Affeto, the robo-baby, is creepy in its realism, which is what the team from Osaka University aims to accomplish as they use robotics to study “how humans’ higher cognitive functions develop,” according to a project description.

Ultimately, the robot will be used in behavioral experiments. For now, the researchers are trying to “build a realistic child robot with a muscle-skeletal system.”

The torso’s flexibility comes from 22 pneumatic actuators in its body.

In the video below you can see that Affeto’s torso is approaching the realistic stage.The robot’s face has the thousand-mile stare of a well satiated or exhausted infant, but that may be because the team has yet to pair the torso with the robotic head, which was demonstrated in Feb. 2011.

WHAT WASHED UP UNDERNEATH THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE?

This scary looking guy was found washed ashore underneath the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. *Photo credit to Denise Ginley

Well, if New York wasn’t a scary enough place as it is, with having to worry about giant rats, gators in the sewers, the teenage mutant ninja turtles and not to mention the creepy “Montauk Monster“, now we have this thing, whatever it may be, to worry about as well. Awesome.

Here are some images captured the day it washed ashore:

Now, that's a face only a mother could love. *Photo credit to Denise Ginley

Some cried pig, until they say its claws. *Photo credit to Denise Ginley

9 News writes:

Photos of a bloated, hairless animal washed up on by a New York river have sparked debate over what the creature could be and whether it is related to the “Montauk Monster”.

The creature was spotted under the Brooklyn Bridge by Denise Ginley, who sent photos of it to New York-based news website Gothamist on July 22.

Ms Ginley said the animal was about 60cm long from head to tail and asked: “Is this another incarnation of the Montauk Monster, or just the biggest rat in the city?”

Photos of the carcass, which Ms Ginley dubbed the “East River Monster”, quickly spread throughout US media, with people suggesting it was a washed up rat until the New York City Parks Department claimed it was a pig.

But this was quickly disputed, with people pointing out the photos showed the creature had claws and not trotters like a pig.

Ms Ginley told ninemsn she was walking to a farmers’ market with her boyfriend when she first spotted the carcass and she returned later that day with her camera to photograph it.

“Several other people were looking and taking photos, and everyone had a different opinion about what it was (suggestions included giant rat, dog, pig, monster, and seal),” Ms Ginley said.

“Obviously I thought it was gross, but it was just so strange looking I wanted to get closer … strangely enough, it did not smell, maybe because it had been in the water so long.”

The carcass has still not been identified, and Gawker jokingly reported that the New York City Parks Department was “still being cagey” about the animal.

Another unidentifiable animal, the Montauk Monster made headlines in July 2008 when it washed up on a beach in Montauk, northeast of New York.

At the time people suggested the creature was a raccoon, a small dog, a rat and even a bloated turtle without its shell.