Monday, October 31, 2011

Moon Rock Granny Gets Busted


Hard to believe sad,absurd,but funny also!
"NASA launches sting operation to retrieve tiny moon fragment from 73-year-old grandmother

But at the end of the sting operation, agents were left holding a speck of lunar dust smaller than a grain of rice and a 73-year-old suspect who was terrified by armed officials.

Five months after NASA investigators and local agents swooped into the restaurant and hailed their operation as a cautionary tale for anyone trying to sell national treasure, no charges have been filed, NASA isn't talking and the case appears stalled.

The target, Joann Davis, a grandmother who says she was trying to raise money for her sick son, asserts the lunar material was rightfully hers, having been given to her space-engineer husband by Neil Armstrong in the 1970s.

"It's a very upsetting thing," Davis, now 74, said. "It's very detrimental, very humiliating, all of it a lie."

The strange case centers on a speck of authenticated moon rock encased in an acrylic-looking dome that appears to be a paperweight. For years, NASA has gone after anyone selling lunar material gathered on the Apollo missions because it is considered government property, so cannot be sold for profit.

Still, NASA has given hundreds of lunar samples to nations, states and high-profile individuals but only on the understanding they remain government property. NASA's inspector general works to arrest anyone trying to sell them.

The case was triggered by Davis herself, according to a search warrant affidavit written by Norman Conley, an agent for the inspector general.

She emailed a NASA contractor May 10 trying to find a buyer for the rock, as well as a nickel-sized piece of the heat shield that protected the Apollo 11 space capsule as it returned to earth from the first successful manned mission to the moon in 1969.

"I've been searching the internet for months attempting to find a buyer," Davis wrote. "If you have any thoughts as to how I can proceed with the sale of these two items, please call."

Davis said the items were among many of the space-related heirlooms her husband left her when he died in 1986. She said she had worked as a lexicographer and he had worked as an engineer for North American Rockwell, which contracted for NASA during the Apollo era.

Davis claims Armstrong gave the items to her husband, though the affidavit says the first man on the moon has previously told investigators he never gave or sold lunar material to anyone.

In follow-up phone conversations with a NASA agent, Davis acknowledged the rock was not sellable on the open market and fretted about an agent knocking on her door and taking the material, which she was willing to sell for "big money underground."

"She must know that this is a questionable transaction because she used the term 'black market,'" Agent Conley states in the search warrant.

Curiously, though, Davis agreed to sell the sample to NASA for a stellar $1.7 million. She said she wanted to leave her three children an inheritance and take care of her sick son.

NASA investigators then arranged the sting, where Conley met with Davis and her current husband at the Denny's restaurant at Lake Elsinore in Riverside County.

Soon after settling into a booth, Davis said, she pulled out the moon sample and about half a dozen sheriff's deputies and NASA investigators rushed into the eatery.

When officers in flak vests took a hold of her, the 4-foot-11 woman said she was so scared she lost control of her bladder and was taken outside to a parking lot, where she was questioned and detained for about two hours.

"They grabbed me and pulled me out of the booth," Davis claimed. "I had very, very deep bruises on my left side."

Conley declined to comment and NASA Office of the Inspector General spokeswoman Renee Juhans said she could not talk about an ongoing investigation.

Davis was eventually allowed home, without the moon rock, and was never booked into a police station or charged.

The affidavit states authorities believed Davis was in possession of stolen government property but so far they have not publicly revealed any proof.

"This (is) abhorrent behavior by the federal government to steal something from a retiree that was given to her," said Davis's attorney, Peter Schlueter, who is planning legal action.

Joseph Gutheinz, a University of Phoenix instructor and former NASA investigator who has spent years tracking down missing moon rocks, said prosecuting Davis

could prove tricky.

Gutheinz said he recently learned that NASA did not always take good care of lunar materials. In some instances, space suits were simply hosed off and any moon dust on them lost forever.

While bigger rocks such as those given to various countries and museums were carefully inventoried and tracked, it now appears there are unknown numbers of much smaller pieces circulating in the public. Some of these may have been turned into paperweights and informally given away by NASA engineers.

"I have a real moral problem with what's happened here in California," Gutheinz said. "I've always taken the position that no one should own an Apollo-era moon rock. They belong to the people. But if we did such a poor job of safeguarding (lunar samples,) I cannot fault that person."
About 2,200 samples of lunar rocks, core samples, pebbles, sand and dust - weighing about 840 pounds (380 kilograms) - were brought to Earth by NASA's Apollo lunar landing missions from 1969 to 1972. A recent count showed 10 states and more than 90 countries could not account for their shares of the gray rocks - "
From Phantoms And Monsters Mewsletter

Saturday, October 29, 2011

THE WOUNDED DOG


"Zona Rosa, Mexico City, Mexico - 1993 - midnight

Rafael Perrin was hosting a party one night in his apartment. Around midnight he stepped out onto his sidewalk when he noticed a wounded dog lying on the sidewalk, twisting, and howling. He went to assist the suffering animal, but was prevented from touching the dog by a "young fellow dressed in rags," who in spite of his reduced circumstances did not act like a beggar.

The youth told Perrin that a band of aliens roaming the streets of Mexico City had inflected harm upon the canine with a small beam-emitting device they carried on them. Perris was further astonished when the young beggar went into a lengthy discussion of the beam weapon's origin, the nature of the predatory aliens and the damage attributed to "unknown parties" that was common in the area. The youth was about to heal the suffering dog using a similar device which "reversed the effect" of the harmful beam.

Rather than staying to witness the cure, Perrin ran back up to his apartment to fetch his camcorder, hoping to capture on film the curing of an injured animal by means of nonhuman technology. But when he returned to the scene, the young beggar was nowhere in sight. Perrin saw only the no-longer wounded dog walking away down the sidewalk."

Source: Scott Corrales, quoting Luis Ramirez Reyes
Phantoms and Monsters
Picture paranormalpresents.etsy.com

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Shadow Scare


"Cherokee County, North Carolina -- late night

The witness was sleeping on the couch at his girlfriend's house. The room was pitch black when he saw a dark figure in the hallway that seemed to materialize. The figure was human-shaped and blacker then the darkness in the hall. The head of the figure reached the ceiling and slightly bent forward as if the ceiling were too low for the figure to stand erect. He lay on the couch not comprehending what his eyes were seeing. He tried to speak but no words would come out of his mouth. He tried to yell but only a whisper would come out. The room seemed to get colder as the figure moved slowly forward in a gliding motion. He tried to move but his body refused to obey. The only movement he managed to make was an involuntary tremble.

As the silhouette moved into the living room, it moved around the walls with it's head turned toward the witness. Something made him turn his head and watch the giant dark figure gliding around the room. It moved behind the stove and through the stovepipe as if nothing were there. He watched as the dark figure moved closer and closer to the couch where he lay. The black silhouette was now next to the couch. As the witness lay there looking at the dark figure, a feeling of pure evil
came over him. His mind went numb, and tears began forming in his eyes. Then as if miles away, he heard laughter. Evil laughter, laughter not of this world. As the laughter grew closer, it begin to sound as if many people were gathered in a room engaged in some sort of party, with many conversations going on at the same time. He then heard the laughter again and a high-pitched woman's voice say, "We scared him to death."

In his mind, the witness began to pray. He managed to yell out, "God help me!" With that said the dark apparition began to fade until it completely disappeared from his sight. The coldness in the room was replaced with the heat radiating from the stove."
Love the NC Tales..Picture is "Ghouls Night Out" from Paranormal Presents at Etsy/

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Ancient ET Visitations:




Recently on Coast To Coast AM
"One of the main figures responsible for popularizing the ancient astronaut hypothesis, Erich von Däniken, discussed his theories, and his latest work, which posits that the Greek "gods" were ET beings who arrived here many thousands of years ago. People think of the Greek myths as like science-fiction of the past, with mixed beings like centaurs, fantastic creatures such as dragons, and tales of powerful weapons and ships. Rather than myth, he's concluded that these accounts reflect what might have actually gone on in the deep past.

The god/ET Poseidon mated with an Earth woman, and so to protect his new family, he created Atlantis, von Däniken explained. Plato spoke about Atlantis and a great war that had taken place 9,000 years earlier (11,500 years from our time). The ETs that visited Greece were present in Egypt earlier, von Däniken continued. He also spoke about his research in the Andes, where he investigated a prehistoric city, Puma Punku, that has artifacts of great precision that could not have been made by stone age people. The pre-Incan god Viracocha was another visiting extraterrestrial, he suggested".
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Picture from his site
Bracelet from The Ancient Alien Theory Series from Paranormal presents at Etsy.com

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Links John Edwards.Gloria Vanderbilt Anderson Cooper and Marilyn


I love this story.Never knew that Anderson Cooper was Gloria Vanderbilt.s son!

"Gloria Vanderbilt reveals she was 'contacted by Marilyn Monroe' via medium

Gloria Vanderbilt has spooked her son and even a professional psychic by being 'contacted by Marilyn Monroe' - and has revealed that she believes she is psychic herself.

The actress, socialite, artist and mother of TV presenter Anderson Cooper, met with psychic John Edward who revealed that Monroe had something to tell the veteran star.

On the host's daily talk show, Anderson, Mr Cooper spoke about his and his mother's unnerving experiences of visiting the medium.

'Was the experience different than you thought it would be?' Mr Cooper asked his 87-year-old mother.

'Well, for example, that Marilyn came up was fascinating to me' the oft-troubled heiress replied.

A clearly bemused Mr Cooper then said: 'I didn't know you guys were - I didn't know you knew Marilyn Monroe.'

'Yes, I did. So she kind of came suddenly into this amazing conversation,' Ms Vanderbilt replied.

But it is medium Mr Edward's response that tellingly highlights how unusual a message from the late pop icon is. 'For me, I get some pop cultural references,' he said.

'So I was doing a reading for somebody who's not a known figure and I'm seeing Marilyn Monroe. So I would say who's Marilyn? They would say, that's my aunt. That's my grandmother. Not Marilyn Monroe. So it's kind of a little bit -- it's freaky for -- it's freaky...'

'I was a friend of hers,' explains New York local Ms Vanderbilt. 'I've always felt the whole world identifies in some way with her, which is why she's such an incredible - I mean, she's with us today, and we all have things in us that we identify with her and relate to her. And I felt very close to her for many reasons.'

Mr Cooper, for his part, sees the irony in the strange revelation. 'I find it interesting that you freaked out John Edward.'

The psychic also appeared to contact Mr Cooper's father who had a 200-acre farm in Mississippi.

Mr Cooper said that the conversation - and Mr Edward's correct knowledge of his past - 'really caught me by surprise... I don't think I ever told anybody that anywhere.'

Ms Vanderbilt, who said she is 'somewhat psychic,' is clearly at odds with her son's opinions on the subject.

The sceptical show host admitted that 'I'm still not sure I'm a believer,' although Ms Vanderbilt has a fan in the medium.

'I think we all have the [psychic] ability,' Mr Edward told the intrigued mother and doubtful son. - dailymail
Picture is Gloria Vanderbilt

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Big Foot Loves Blueberry Bagels?


Interesting thought from Fox News(.Picture from Paranormal Presents at Etsy)
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/10/14/michigan-woman-claims-to-have-fed-bigfoot-blueberry-bagels/#ixzz1aul9zsDn


"...a woman in Newaygo County, Mich., told Discovery News that she has been interacting with and actually feeding a large family of close to 10 Bigfoot-like creatures who live in the woods near her home for the past two years.

"They get fish every day, a bucket of fruit, a bucket of dry dog food," said Robin Lynn Pfeifer, a 47-year-old resident of Newaygo County, north of Grand Rapids. "Their favorite thing is blueberry bagels. If I'm not baking them, I go to different stores to buy them."

"I tell them they are feeding the wildlife," Pfeifer said.

She said she has collected casts of many large footprints, but says the creatures are too shy and too clever for her to get a photograph. She describes the Bigfoots as ranging from six to nine feet tall and looking like humans, except for hairy coats and broad noses.

"The biggest one I've sat and looked at for 15 minutes was nine and a half feet tall," Pfeifer told Discovery News. "The large male is all black. Others are beige and white. The biggest footprint is 18 and a half inches long."

Skeptics say that big claims need big proof, and so far that hasn't happened when it comes to Bigfoot. Natural history and evolutionary scientists also ask how these creatures could have survived for so long without being detected, and where the evidence is of their body or bones or DNA.

Loren Coleman directs the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine and has been studying and writing about strange sightings of creatures for several decades. He says he's skeptical of anyone who comes forward with tales of lengthy Bigfoot encounters without providing serious evidence.

"All the Bigfoot contactees -- for some reason they never take photographs," Coleman said. "There's a lot of interest in finding these things, but we have to look of the credibility of the people feeding us the stories. I'm always careful of two kinds of people, the debunkers who have no interest and true believers who will not bring any critical thinking."..."





By the way,the museum is expanding.If you happen by,look for some of our soaps and jewelry there!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Demon Dog of Valle Crucis.


Being a NC Resident.I love to hear the stories of the area.Here is one from Lon:

"A few of my relatives were raised in the North Carolina mountains. There were a lot of stories that came out of the region but the one tale that each one knew the best was that of the demon dog of Valle Crucis. The community of Valle Crucis, which is Latin for "Vale of the Cross" and refers to the valley where three streams come together to form a shape similar to a cross, is rustic and a favorite destination for tourists. But don't let the quaint scenery hide the truth...there is a dark side to Valle Crucis.

There's an old stone church (St. John's Episcopal), located along Highway 194 just on the edge of town, where in the churchyard cemetery the supernatural moves among the venerable graves. St. John's was built in the 1860's and the legends of the hellhound and other strange beings have been told for several generations.(pictured)

The traditional story starts on clear moonlit Autumn night. Two young men, who were students at a local college, were driving through the Valle Crucis area when they received the shock of their lives.
They were driving along Highway 195 that leads through Valle Crucis at around midnight. As their car passed the old church, the young men saw a large shadow leap out from behind one of the tombstones in the church graveyard. The shadow leaped into the road in front of them. The driver swerved his car to avoid the shape that suddenly landed in his path. He slammed his foot on the brake and pulled his car over to the shoulder of the road, according to the witnesses' accounts.
Both he and his friend were startled to see that it was a massive dog. It was as tall and big as a fully grown man. The fearsome canine was covered with bristling black fur and had large yellow teeth. And most unusual of all, the dog's eyes were glowing. They were not reflecting back the light like a dog's or cat's eyes will sometimes do. Instead, these eyes were really glowing with a weird red light.

One of the young men turned to the other and asked "Do you see that?" His friend said "No and neither do you."

As the unearthly growling beast walked toward their car, the driver took his foot off the brake and hit the gas. The car roared down the winding mountain road and barely made it along the sharp curves. The driver did his best to control the car as the speedometer reached 60 and then 70 miles an hour.

The driver looked in his rear view mirror and his face turned white from what he saw. The ghostly dog was keeping up with his speeding car. It was even gaining on them.Determined to get away from the nightmarish canine, the driver pushed his accelerator even harder. His car leaped over a bridge just below where the streams meet to form a cross. At that point, the dog stopped following them and vanished from sight.

The two frightened young men drove into Boone and stopped at the local diner, because it was the only place open at that hour. They knew they would not get any sleep that night. They also knew they would never forget the demon dog of Valle Crucis.

Traditionally the tales from this area center around a supernatural canine but there have been other odd sightings including the apparition of a woman near the very same cemetery. There have also been sounds of gunshots and of a female crying. No one has attributed these sounds to any known event but its just another unexplained occurrence typically encountered at the location."
Thank you for the story and picture.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Halloween is on the way


It's becoming the most famous, and controversial lawn mower in North Carolina. A homeowner, just wanting to pull a little Halloween prank, created a scene that prompted at least one call to 911 and thousands of hits on web sites across the world.

The Halloween decor at a home along Organ Church Road in eastern Rowan County scared a driver so much that he called 911, nearly prompting a full emergency response.

The call came into the county's 911 Communication Center Monday morning after the caller stated that he saw what appeared to be a man trapped under a riding lawn mower.

Luckily, someone else quickly let the 911 folks know it was a decoration, just in time to stop what would have been an emergency response.

As seen in the pictures taken Monday by WBTV, the scene does appear realistic. The blood covered arms and legs stick out from beneath a blood spattered lawn mower on a large patch of grass.

Chris Deaton's Halloween display has been getting another response around town, and it's been a big one...

"It's something to talk about around town," said Wendy Bethea, the clerk on duty at Cheesman's Store. "I've had a couple customers talking about it, being out there."

And online, the story has hit CNN, the Daily Mail in the UK, and it's gotten lots of comments on wbtv.com, most questioning whether the macabre decoration goes too far.

"I think it's harmless, I think it's fun, Halloween," Bethea added.

That's what most seem to say, others think a Happy Halloween sign would have made it better...or maybe just some more calm and sedate, like the gruesome scenes on Faith Road.

Chris Deaton wasn't available today. His mother told WBTV that he had the same decoration up close to the house last year, but decided to move it to the road this year.

He has been amused at all the attention it has gotten.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Yeti Affects Economy!


we are not alone with economic problems.A recent from Phantoms and Monsters..(Love that newsletter.)

"Siberian Locals Complain Yeti Eats Too Much

The local Shor people in Kemerovo Region, Siberia, are reporting that something is snatching up the wild leek crop that is a staple of their diet, Itar-Tass Siberia reports. The onion-lovers leave behind abundant large footprints with clearly defined toes, similar to the prints found in the area earlier this year, the news service continues.

Bigfoot sightings are common in this remote section of the taiga and they have received attention worldwide. An expedition headed by director of the International Center for Hominology Igor Burtsev visited the area at the end of March to study footprints found in Azasskaya Cave, but the effort resulted in little
new information.

Now local Tashtagol District administrator Vladimir Makuta notes that he has received 14 new written reports of yeti sightings near the cave and the nearby Mrassu River. The witnesses say the creature – thought by some to be a relict hominoid – is 1.5-2 meters (5-6.5 feet) tall and covered in reddish black fur."

Picture also from the newsletter.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

First Irish case' of death by spontaneous combustion


Recent article

"Michael Faherty, 76, died at his home in Galway on 22 December 2010.

Deaths attributed by some to "spontaneous combustion" occur when a living human body is burned without an apparent external source of ignition.

Typically police or fire investigators find burned corpses but no burned furniture.

An inquest in Galway on Thursday heard how investigators had been baffled as to the cause of Mr Faherty's death at his home at Clareview Park, Ballybane.

Forensic experts found that a fire in the fireplace of the sitting room where the badly burnt body was found, had not been the cause of the blaze that killed Mr Faherty.

The court was told that no trace of an accelerant had been found and there had been nothing to suggest foul play.

The court heard Mr Faherty had been found lying on his back with his head closest to an open fireplace.

The fire had been confined to the sitting room. The only damage was to the body, which was totally burnt, the ceiling above him and the floor underneath him.

Dr McLoughlin said he had consulted medical textbooks and carried out other research in an attempt to find an explanation.

He said Professor Bernard Knight, in his book on forensic pathology, had written about spontaneous combustion and noted that such reported cases were almost always near an open fireplace or chimney.

"This fire was thoroughly investigated and I'm left with the conclusion that this fits into the category of spontaneous human combustion, for which there is no adequate explanation," he said.
'Sharp intake of breath'

Retired professor of pathology Mike Green said he had examined one suspected case in his career.

He said he would not use the term spontaneous combustion, as there had to be some source of ignition, possibly a lit match or cigarette.

"There is a source of ignition somewhere, but because the body is so badly destroyed the source can't be found," he said.

He said the circumstances in the Galway case were very similar to other possible cases.
"This is the picture which is described time and time again," he said.

"Even the most experienced rescue worker or forensic scientist takes a sharp intake of breath (when they come across the scene)."

Mr Green said he doubted explanations centred on divine intervention.

"I think if the heavens were striking in cases of spontaneous combustion then there would be a lot more cases. I go for the practical, the mundane explanation," he said."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-1503261

Picture from the article of the flustered coroner.