U948

Vol 7 #1, Issue #23
Spring, 2009
$6.95 US/CAN
Exploring Mysteries from Modern Times to Yesteryear.
An Interview with
PARANORMAL STATES
RYAN BUELL
Bible Code Revealed
2012 Prophesy
and the Number 11
Nessie: Hoax or Horror?
...and much more!
END TIMES
OR A NEW
BEGINNING?
2012
PRESORT STANDARD
US POSTAGE PAID
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BOLINGBROOK, IL
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I S S U E #23
S P R I N G , 2009
PUBLISHER, EDITOR, ART DIRECTOR

Kim Guarnaccia: editor@mysteriesmagazine.com
A S S O C I AT E P U B L I S H E R
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A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R
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ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
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f
COLUMNISTS
Kenaz Filan
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Michael W. Michelsen, Jr.
Andrew Hind and Maria da Silva
l
F E AT U R E W R I T E R S
Michael Newton
Joan S. Voss
Frank Joseph
Mary Franz
j
REVIEWERS
Jaye Beldo
Sean Casteel
g
PROOFREADERS
Alma Dizon
Jocelyn Comendul
Published and printed in the United States of America. Mysteries Magazine, Volume 7 #1, Issue
#23 is a publication of Phantom Press Publications, ISSN #1537-2928, and published four times
a year in the U.S. and Canada. Copyright 2009 Phantom Press Publications, PO Box 490, Walpole,
NH 03608 USA. All rights reserved. No work may be copied or reproduced without the express permission of the editor. Correspondence should be addressed to: Kim Guarnaccia, Editor, Mysteries
Magazine, PO Box 490, Walpole, NH 03608 USA, email: editor@mysteriesmagazine.com, web:
www.MysteriesMagazine.com or call (603) 352-1645.
M YSTERIES M AGAZINE ,
ISSUE
#23
WWW.M YSTERIES M AGAZINE . COM
Contributors
Joan Voss is a freelance writer who reports
frequently on artists, theater personalities, and
celebrities. She is the recipient of the prestigious Ella T. Grasso Literary Award and
has been recognized for her non-fiction work
by Writers Digest Magazine. She frequently
contributes to a number of literary publications throughout the United States, and currently resides in Libertyville, IL.
Michael Newton Michael Newton has

published 213 books since 1977, with 18
scheduled for release by various publishers
through early 2011. His Encyclopedia of
Cryptozoology was named as one of 12 Outstanding Reference Books in 2006. Newton lives in Indiana with his wife, and has
another visit to Loch Ness scheduled for
2010.
Mary Franz lives near Boston, MA, where she enjoys reading and writing about all things arcane. Her work has also appeared in Renaissance
and Wild West magazine.
Caveat: The opinions of the contributors to Mysteries Magazine are not necessarily those of the editors of Mysteries Magazine. However, Mysteries Magazine welcomes helpful criticism or comments on any of the articles
contained herein. Please note that we reserve the right to edit all submissions.
We also may occasionally use photos and illustrations that have been placed in the public domain. As it is
not always possible to identify the copyright holder, if you claim credit for something we have published, please
let us know, so that we can acknowledge you in the following issue.
ISSUE
#23
We Want Your
Spooky Photos!
Have you captured on film a UFO,
ghost, light orb, or any other event
that defies easy explanation?
If so, we want to publish it! Just mail us the photo, slide, or
negative with a brief explanation as to where and when it
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(or if already a subscriber, a FREE 1-year renewal).
Mysteries Magazine
PO Box 490 Walpole, NH 03608 USA www.MysteriesMagazine.com
(Note: All submitted photos become the property of Mysteries Magazine and will not be returned.)
Take a Spiritual Journey

In The Spirit Garden, author David Baker
carries readers through his unusual life of
psychic experiences and his failure to
understand them. Faced with an amazing
world of auras, ghosts, angels, and spirits,
Baker is unable to ignore a fear that there
is something severely wrong with him.
About to give up, a spiritual vision saves
his life and forces him in a new direction.
Inspired by spirit and held together by
faith, Baker slowly begins to take his life
back in this touching and inspiring story.
Available at your local bookstore,
on www.amazon.com, or at
www.DavidBakerSpiritMedium.com
6
ISSUE
#23
Mysteries
Issue #23
May-July, 2009
Feature Articles
42 D ECODING
THE
B IBLE
By Joan S. Voss
Whether resting on an altar, courtroom podium, or bedroom nightstand, the Holy Bible
commands respect. Although the longest debate about its teachings concerns evolution
versus creationism, todays controversy is not generating sermons or atheists arguments
inasmuch as challenging a standard belief system. The Good Book is getting a closer
look from people who are learning that past tragedies, such as 9/11 and the future
Apocalypse, may actually be encrypted in this 3,200-year-old text.
50 S UNSPOTS
IN THE
AND THE
N UMBER 11
2012 P ROPHESY
By Frank Joseph
Our times are bracketed by two specific datesSeptember 11, 2001 and December 21,
2012the greatest single act of terrorism on the continental United States and the end
of the Mayan calendar. If, as some observers suspect, something more than a coincidental
relationship exists between these two events, its explanation must lie beyond the
powers of ordinary human reason and in the world of numbers.
55 T H E M AYAN C ALENDAR :
A NCIENT P ROPHESIES
FOR A
N E W W ORLD
By Mary Franz
On December 21, 2012, the world as we know it will cease to exist. This prediction,
made thousands of years ago by Mayan shamans, has raised many questions: What
does the ancient prophecy mean? Will a cataclysmic event destroy the planet and how
and why did the Mayans choose the winter solstice in a year so far into the future?
Scholars claim the answers to all these questions are found in the Mayan calendar.
61 T H E L OCH N E S S M ONSTER :
H OAX
OR
H ORROR ?
By Michael Newton
Whichever estimate of sightings we accept, be it 600,

3,000, or 10,000, there is no shortage of anecdotal
evidence that a strange creature inhabits Loch Ness.
I would like to step outside the conditioning maze

and see what makes it tick. I wonder what I would
find. Perhaps a superhuman monstrosity, the very
contemplation of which would makea man insane?
Perhaps a solemn gathering of wise men? Or the
maddening simplicity of unattended clockwork?
Jacques Vallee, The Invisible College
Columns
LETTERS
TO THE
EDITOR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
N O T E W O R T H Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
U R B A N L E G E N D S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Food for Thought: Rumors that are Hard to Swallow
STRANGE CUSTOMS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Michigan Man Utilizes Ancient Construction Techniques
PSYCHIC SCIENCE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Tachyon Particles and Psychic Phenomena
TREASURES
OF THE
DEEP
H A U N T E D H E R I TA G E
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Ontarios Thornton Village Inn: The Lady of the Stairs
A R C A N E C U L T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
The Japanese Jesus of Shingo
FROM
THE
S K I E S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
UFOs: Encounters and Spirituality
I N T E R V I E W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Paranormal States Ryan Buell: A Ghosthunter on the Rise
C R Y P T O C O R R A L . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
B O O K R E V I E W S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
MUSIC REVIEWS
IN
THE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
T H E AT E R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
T H E C L A S S I F I L E S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
A GLIMPSE
8
INTO THE
U N K N O W N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
ISSUE
#23
IRAQ WAR
CASUALTY TOTALS
W
Learn How to Cope,
Evolve, and Expand in
our Changing Universe!
AS
OF
APRIL 25, 2009
e at Mysteries Magazine are dismayed that the U.S. government is no longer releasing casualty totals from the Iraq war, and that the mainstream media is not
properly covering these totals either. So to rectify this oversight, we have decided to provide these totals to you on an ongoing basis until the war officially ends.
U.S. MILITARY & COALITION

Deaths
Wounded
4,600
46,100
(approximate #)
Clarisse Conner
Clairvoyant Intuitive and
Coast-to-Coast Radio Psychic
IRAQI
Police/Military
Reported Civilian Deaths
9,010
99,000
(approximate #)
For a reading, call (530) 877-3446

www.PsychicClarisseConner.com
cconnerseesu@aol.com
By appointment only.
Total # of Deaths/Casualties
158,710
For more info, visit www.iraqbodycount.org and www.icasualties.org

9
Letters to the Editor

started fighting among themselves. It appears the Americans lost and Byrd fled.
JACK GRIMES
EMAIL
Naturally Enhanced
Consciousness Preferred
Hello Kim,
want to comment on Jaye Beldos
commentary on hallucinogens in
issue #20. While it cant be denied
that mind-altering substances can alter
perceptions and open us to worlds that
are closed to us much of the time, they
also create wear and tear on the body and
potentially damage the social personality
as well as lessen the abilityalready attenuated in people brought up in our
cultureto notice more subtle shifts in
consciousness that can occur naturally.
Not only can alternative consciousness
be accessed by traditional and more gentle methods like fasting, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, pain, fear, and
meditation, but many people experience
those shifts, especially in childhood,
spontaneously while alone in a natural
setting.
It has even been suggested that the
landscape itself, under the right circumstances, can act as an entheogen. Perhaps
these spontaneous experiences were the
origin of the vision quest tradition.
My point is that in overloading our
bodies, brains, and hearts with harsh but
thrilling drug experiences, we obscure
our natural facility for noticing subtle
shifts that, if followed, might lead the individual to a condition of command that
would allow deeper and more controllable exploration of alternative consciousness. It was not without reason
that Carlos Castanedas Don Juan mentioned sobriety as one of the requisites of
a man of knowledge and one of several
qualities required in order to penetrate
the other side.
I
Admiral Byrd
Dero Part of Byrds Op Highjump

Dear Kim:
n the From The Skies column of
issue #22, you featured a piece on
Admiral Byrd and Operation Highjump. Your information, while basically
correct, omits the fact that this story may
also be linked to The Palmer/Shaver
Mystery.
Sometime after Hitler was appointed
Chancellor, the German government
learned of a cavern-dwelling race of geniuses known as the Dero. According to
Ray Palmer and Richard Shaver, these
horribly deformed mutants living underground possessed advanced scientific
knowledge and fantastic machines that
survived the sinking of Atlantis.
As the story progresses we learn that
the real reason the Nazis were going to
Antarctica was to either settle their elite
intoor steal technology froman abandoned Dero underground complex.
So the U.S. may have sent Byrd on a
covert mission to make a deal with the
Germans, or to steal the technology off of
them that they had stolen from the Dero
several years prior. But something went
wrong and the Americans and Germans
10
NANCY WISSER
EMAIL
My Brush with the Paranormal

Dear Kim,
was 22 years old when my husband
and I were traveling all the states in
the U.S. I was getting weary of being
on the road so we decided to buy our first
home in Michigan while my husband continued to put on the miles.
I was not afraid to be alone. I knew all
houses make their little noises, and the
sounds I could hear, quite frankly, I
brushed off. But one morning around 9
a.m., I poured myself a cup of coffee and
went to my desk to pay bills. My coffee
cup disappeared and I later found it in the
kitchen. I took it back to my desk again
but while turning my head, it vanished
again! Now this time I was paying closer
attention as I retrieved it from the kitchen
once more. After about four times of this,
I got a little spooked.
Then one day, as I headed into the
kitchen, I could feel every single hair on
my body standing up as though I had
static cling. As I looked up, there in the
kitchen was a white cloud floating in the
center of the floor! Then the neighbors
cat gave out a shriek and dove into my
kitchen window, and it cracked. The blob
vanished.
Finally one evening, I ran myself a bath.
As I was shaving my legs, I cut myself,
and the bath turned red with blood. I got
out immediately and grabbed a towel for
my cut. It bled very hard and long and a
bath towel couldnt seem to stop it. While
this was taking place, upstairs it sounded
as though people were running and jumping wildly! I quickly got dressed and got
up enough courage to go upstairs to check
out the noises. The upstairs was all one
big room, like a loft. As I went up the
steps, it felt like a cold winter wind blowing right through me. I reached the top of
the stairs, looking every which way, but
there was nobody there.
I took a deep breath, and said out loud,
Alright! I know youre here, but I bought
ISSUE
#23
Letters to the Editor

this house. It is mine! What do you
want?
Curtains were blowing even though the
windows were shut. Little winds blew
around me as though there were people
running circles around me, and the noise
was intense. I began to cry and said aloud
again, I paid for this house! If you want
to stay here, then fine. Just be quiet!
Within a second, everything stilled. I
felt at ease. I went back downstairs, trying to be strong, and got ready for bed.
Over the next few days, there was a lot
of movement in the house, but it was not
the horrifying way it had been that night.

I started getting comfortable again in my
house. It didnt bother me that there was
a presence in the house.
Then one day as I sat talking with my
mother on the phone, I went to the
kitchen and the cupboard doors swung
wide open and dishes began flying out!
One glass bowl hovered in the air for
what seemed like minutes, then flew
across the room and smashed into the
wall on the other side. I left the house
without even shutting the doors.
When morning came, I went back to
Are Stonehenge and

Newport Tower Connected?
my house to find all the doors had been

locked. I unlocked the doors, went in and
screamed at the top of my lungs. Alright!
You won! I'm leaving! But Im not gonna
spend the nights on the streets, and Im
taking my things!
I screamed at them again, Ill be gone
in just a few days! Until then, LEAVE
ME ALONE! Everything was silent. It
remained this way for several more days
as I planned my get-away.
I got myself a U-haul and struggled
through two days of packing. Come dark
I had everything loaded and was I ever
beat! I took one last shower, got a blanket, and nestled myself onto the floor for
the night.
Everything seemed so much at peace.
As I lay there trying to get some sleep for
my drive to Pennsylvania, someone
touched me. It was a soft gentle touch
that gave me a warm feeling all over. I sat
up, and saw another white mist above
me. It was very calming, then I watched it
vanish. After what seemed like hours, I
fell asleep. I would wake up every half
hour or so, and feel this touch. It was as
though someone was stroking my hair,
then my arm, then my face, as though
they were telling me they were sorry, and
everything was going to be alright.
When morning came I put the last of
my things in the truck and got into the
drivers side. It felt as though someone
were standing by the door touching me. I
drove away.
Ill never forget that experience for as
long as live. I always think of it and wonder were the ghosts looking out for me
or did they want to keep everyone out? Ill
never know.
MICHELLE BUSH
VENUS, PA
s I was reading issue #22, I noticed a resemblance between Stonehenge in England and the early image of RIs Newport Tower. Could it be that Stonehenge once
had a second story, and was originally a larger version of the Newport Tower, possibly used as a place of refuge during ancient times, in cases of battles or massive floods?
JANE STARR
MAIL
12
Email your editorial comments, stories, and

critiques to editor@MysteriesMagazine.com,
or write to: Kim Guarnaccia, Editor, Mysteries Magazine, PO Box 490, Walpole, NH
03608 USA. We reserve the right to edit any
letter published.
ISSUE
#23
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Noteworthy
he Pope is declaring a holy war

against people who falsely claim
that the Virgin Mary is appearing to
them in an attempt to put a stop to an explosion of fake heavenly apparitions.
Benedict XVI plans to publish criteria to
help them distinguish between true and
false claims of visions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, messages, stigmata (the appearances of the five wounds of Christ) and
weeping or bleeding statues. In some cases
exorcists will be used to determine if a
credible apparition is divine origin or demonic. The guidelines will be published by
the Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The Pope is said to be concerned by the
explosion in the number of pseudo-mystics
who, claiming a direct line to God, set
themselves against the bishops, and lure

the Catholic faithful into cults. The handbook comes six years after the Pope first
said that the boom in such phenomena
posed a risk to the unity of the Church.
The first step will be to impose silence
on the alleged visionaries. If they refuse to
obey, this will be taken as a sign that their
claims are false. Next, the local bishop will
set up a commission of psychiatrists, psychologists, theologians, and priests who
will investigate the claims. The third step
will be to investigate the persons level of
education and to determine if they have
had access to material that could be used
to falsely support their claims.
If the visionary is considered credible
they will ultimately be questioned by one
or more demonologists and exorcists to ex-
clude the possibility that Satan is hiding behind the apparitions.

In 2003, a Vatican yearbook revealed
that between 1905 and 1995 there were
295 reported apparitions, only 11 of which
were recognized as genuine. It said that in
many cases, signs from heaven were exposed as human trickery.
Among those considered to have experienced genuine private revelations are
Saint Faustina Kowalska, the first saint of
the third millennium who was said to have
been visited by apparitions of Jesus in the
1930s. The visions of the Virgin Mary by
three children at Fatima, Portugal, between
1915 and 1917, have also been affirmed.
TIM SWARTZ
SOURCE: THE DAILY MAIL (UK)
Pope Declares War Against

False Virgin Mary Sightings
14
ISSUE
#23
Getting Your Manuscript

Published Will Never Be Easier.
You Write it, I Perfect it.
im Guarnaccia is now pleased to offer her ed-
iting experience to both experienced and

novice writers. Editor and publisher of Mysteries Magazineand editor and art director
of Renaissance Magazine for the past 12 yearsKim

can edit your manuscript for both grammar and
clarity of message so that you can more easily get
an article accepted by a prestigious magazine or

your book accepted by an established literary agent
or publisher. And if you plan to self-publish your
work, Kim can also professionally design your
book for you.
Although she can edit any type of manuscript,
Kim specializes in:
New Age/Spiritual Topics
Paranormal Topics
History
Both Nonfiction and Fiction
Call Kim at (603) 352-1645 or

email kim@mysteriesmagazine.com
for pricing and further information.
15
Noteworthy
Russia Licenses Faith Healers

M
ikhail Fadkin, a 63-year-old healer
from Moscow, claims he can cure pancreatitis, bronchitis, digestive problems, even infertility, by using his hands to
manipulate a persons bio-energy field. Even
though science does not recognize faith healing, the Russian government is now requiring
those such as Fadkin to obtain a license for
faith healing.
For the past two years, the Federal Health
Service has been issuing licenses to practitioners of what it calls traditional medicine,
meaning anything from the use of herbal treatments to the manipulation of auras. Fadkin
charges patients 3,500 rubles ($218) per session, and thanks to his license, he says busi-
ness is very good.

So far, 130 healers, including Fadkin, have
passed the services voluntary testing program,
which the government says can determine
whether someone has the inherent ability to
heal. The program is limited to Moscow, but a
Russian lawmaker is now pushing to extend it
nationwide. The program includes a background check, a scan of electrical activity in the
brain, and a committee review of the results.
The agency charges applicants 10,000 rubles
($622) for the tests.
Andrei Karpeev, director of the Federal Scientific Clinical Center for Traditional Methods
of Diagnostics and Healing, the organization
that administers the tests, insists that folk
medicine, including psychic healing, is backed

by scientific studies. While he acknowledges
some of the criteria for determining who has
healing powers are subjective, he claims that
the tests are able to wean out charlatans.
Russia is among a small number of nations
where traditional healers are licensed at any
level. In Indonesia, where mysticism is deeply
rooted in traditional culture, local governments
certify those claiming to use magical charms or
psychic powers for healing. And in India, a
country with ancient folk medicine traditions,
the government licenses healers who use yoga
and homeopathy.
TIM SWARTZ
SOURCE: SKY NEWS (AUSTRALIA)
Vampire Discovered in Mass Grave
skeleton exhumed from a grave in

Venice may show the fear that the
undead could return to prey upon
the living.
Matteo Borrini of the University of Florence in Italy recently found the skeleton
of a woman with a brick in her mouth
while excavating mass graves of victims of
the Venetian plague of 1576, on Lazzaretto Nuovo Island.
At the time the woman died, many people believed that the plague was spread by
vampires. However, unlike modern conceptions of vampires, it was thought that
after dying, rather than drinking blood, the
vampires spread disease by chewing on
their shrouds. Borrini says that grave-diggers put bricks in the mouths of suspected
vampires to stop them from doing this.
The belief in vampires probably arose because blood is sometimes expelled from
the mouths of the dead, causing the
shroud to sink inwards and tear.
Further archaeological evidence of vampire hysteria was found in 2006 near the
castle of 18th-century Bohemian Princess
16
Eleonore von Schwarzenberg. The

Princess reportedly had a penchant for the
occult and she died in 1741 of a mysterious illness that was thought at the time to
be caused by vampires
Additionally, excavations near the
Princess castle, located in what is now
the Czech Republic,
uncovered three bodies buried in the style
of Magia Posthuma a
ritual to prevent the
undead from rising.
One skeletons head
rests between his
legs, stones weigh
down his limbs, and a
rosary binds his
hands. Another has a
wooden stake protruding from his
chest. Historians suggest that these skeletons were the result
of a vampire hysteria that swept through

the region after von Schwarzenbergs
strange illness and death.
TIM SWARTZ
SOURCE: NEW SCIENTIST
ISSUE
#23
A Toast to Your Psychic Health
with Host Jaye Beldo. staff writer for Mysteries Magazine

For the blogospheric best in conspiracy,
psychic podcasts, holistic health,
whacky music and videos,
Point your surfboards to:
www.LavaCocktail.com
17
Noteworthy
NASA MUM ABOUT

LIFE ON MARS
C
handra Wickramasinghe, Professor of applied

mathematics and astronomy at the University
of Cardiff in Wales, says that the discovery of
liquid water on Mars, earlier discoveries of organic
substances in a meteorite that came from Mars, and
methane detected in the Martian atmosphere, all
point to the existence of life on the Red Planet. But
NASA refuses to announce it for political reasons.
Wickramasinghe said the delay in announcing life
on Mars has little to do with science and more to do
with political and sociological considerations. If life
were already detected on Mars, then there would be
no reason to spend additional money to continue
the search. As well, there is interest in attempting to
bring back to Earth samples of Martian soil, even
though some scientific circles do not want this to
happen, as they fear that Martian microbes could
present a biohazard to life on Earth.
TIM SWARTZ
SOURCE: NDTV (INDIA)
Elven Sex Wonderful, Author Says
ccording to Icelandic author Hallgerdur Hallgrimsdottir, elves

may be hard to find but they can be coaxed into making
an appearance for a little bit of elfish hanky-panky.
Icelandic elves are limber, light, and strong, she says, which
makes them excellent sexual partners. Although Hallgrimsdottir
does not think they possess supernatural powers, she says that having sex with one is magical. And unlike human sex, elf sex is the
safest sex on Earth, for they do not carry sexually transmitted
diseases and cannot get human women pregnant unless
mutually agreed upon. All elves are bisexual, but no elf
will force themselves on a human, she says.
For those who wish to try for themselves an elfish encounter, be warnedelves are shy so Hallgrimsdottir recommends searching for them in secluded places. She also
says that elves are excited about electrical devices and are
prone to steal them, so leave your camera at home.
2,700Year-Old
Marijuana
Stash Found
he discovery of almost two pounds of

green plant material in a 2,700-yearold grave in the Gobi Desert has just
been identified as the world's oldest marijuana stash. The size of seeds mixed in with
the leaves, along with their color and other
characteristics, indicate that the marijuana
came from a cultivated strain, proving that
it was harvested.
Researchers believe the individual interred with the marijuana was a shaman
from the Gushi people, who spoke Tocharian, an extinct language that was similar to
Celtic. Tests also prove that the marijuana
possessed potent psychoactive properties,
casting doubt on the theory that the ancients only grew the plant for hemp with
which to make clothing or rope.
Although other cultures in the area used
hemp to make various goods as early as
7,000 years ago, additional tomb findings
indicate that the Gushi fabricated their
clothing from wool and made their rope out
of reed fibers.
The ancient marijuana stash is now
housed at the Turpan Museum in China.
MICHAEL LOHR
SOURCE: BBC/JOURNAL OF
EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
TIM SWARTZ
SOURCE: THE REYKJAVK GRAPEVINE
18
ISSUE
#23
Noteworthy
In Passing
D
r. Frank E. Stranges, a
leading authority on UFOs
and space phenomena
and best known for his alleged
contact with a man from Venus,
died on November 17, 2008 at
his home in Chatsworth, CA.
Dr. Stranges held degrees in
Theology, Psychology and Criminology. In his book Stranger
From the Pentagon, Stranges related his 1959 meeting with the
Venusian Valient Thor who, at the
time, was a secret guest of the
U.S. government. Dr. Stranges
claimed that throughout the
years he continued to meet with
Valient Thor to discuss the spiritual and religious matters that
were troubling the people of
Earth.
Dr. Stranges was also the
Founder and President of the National Investigations Committee
on UFOs (NICUFO). In addition, he
was President of International
Evangelical Crusades (a worldwide Christ i a n
Denomination), the International
Theological
Seminary of
California,
and was an
Assistant
Deputy Director of the California
State Marshal's Association and
a member of the American Federation of Police.
orrest J Ackerman, who influenced a generation of

young horror movie fans
with Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine and spent a lifetime amassing what has been
called the world's largest personal collection of science fic-
tion and fantasy memorabilia,

died on December 4, 2008. He
was 92.
Ackerman traced the birth of
his love of the weird to 1926,
when he read his first scientifiction tale in
an
early
issue
of
Amazing
Stories. For
many fans,
Forry
is
revered for
Famous
Monsters magazine, which was
first published in 1958. Ackerman was also known for his collection of over 300,000
science-fiction, horror, and fantasy artifacts.
Ackerman wrote more than
2,000 articles and short stories
and edited or co-edited numerous books, including A Book of
Weird Tales and 365 Science Fiction Short Stories. Over the years,
he made numerous cameo appearances in films, including
Dracula Vs. Frankenstein, The
Queen of Blood, and The Howling.
ajel Barrett Roddenberry, widow of Star Trek

creator Gene Roddenberry, passed away December
18, 2008 in her home in Bel-Air,
CA. She was 76.
Billed through much of her acting career as Majel Barrett, Roddenberry came to California in
the 1950s
and found
roles
in
s h o w s
such as Bonanza, The
Untouchables, The
Lucy Show, and Leave it to

Beaver. Barrett was probably
best known for her role as Dr.
McCoy's assistant, Nurse Chapel,
on the original 1966-69 Trek series. She also supplied the voice
of the USS Enterprise's computer,
a service she continued to provide through the franchise's various offshoots, including J.J.
Abrams' upcoming Star Trek
movie. She was also executive
producer of Earth: Final Conflict
(in which she also played the
character Dr. Julianne Belman),
and Andromeda.
On January 26, 2009, Celestis
Inc., a company that specializes
in memorial spaceflights, announced that the cremated remains of Gene Roddenberry and
Majel Barrett Roddenberry would
be placed in a rocket-launched
spacecraft that would forever
carry the remains deep into outer
space.
laiborne Pell, a six-term

Rhode Island Democrat
who rose to be chairman
of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, died Jan. 1, 2009 at
his Newport,
RI,
home. He
was 90.
Senator
Pell was
known for
his interest
in
extrasensory
perception and other mysteries
of the human mind. At the time of
his retirement in 1995, Time
magazine dubbed him Senator
Oddball, rehashing a 1987 incident when, fearing an extrasensory perception gap with the
Soviets, he invited Uri Geller to
Washington to demonstrate his

skills.
amed
UFO
contactee
Howard Menger died at his
home in Vero Beach, FL on
February 25, 2009. He was 87.
Menger was a sign painter in
New Jersey when in 1956 he appeared on the Long John Nebel
radio show
and talked
about his
years
of
contacts
with alien
beings that
he called
the space
b ro t h e r s .
Menger also revealed that he
had taken numerous photographs of the saucer-shaped
ships and their occupants.
On August 4, 1956, Menger
said he was invited on board one
of the flying saucers and he was
taken to other planets where he
saw alien civilizations and
strange structures on the Moon.
Investigators visited the Menger
home and interviewed witnesses
who claimed that they had also
seen strange lights in the sky and
mysterious glowing figures in the
nearby woods.
Menger wrote of his experiences with the Venusian space
brothers in his 1959 book From
Outer Space To You, but reportedly recanted his story in 1960
saying that he had been involved
in an Army test to gauge public
reaction to possible alien contact. After this, he retired from
the public eye and worked on
free energy devices that would
allow mankind to build their own
flying saucers.
TIM SWARTZ
19
crypto corral
Officials Quash Vampire Rumors
ynne Mooney Teta, the headmaster

of the prestigious Boston Latin
school in Boston, MA. recently sent
a notice to faculty, students, and parents saying that rumors involving vampires had begun spreading through the
building, causing disruption and anxiety
for a number of students. So Teta asked
everyone's help in calming the school
community down, saying to not sensationalize or discuss the rumors.
A law enforcement official said a
group of girls at the school had been
bullying a student who dressed in the
style known as Goth. The official said

the girls began spreading a rumor that
the student was a would-be vampire.
After Boston police went to the school
for an unrelated matter, students began
speculating that the so-called vampire
was being arrested.
Teen interest in vampires has surged
recently with the release of Twilight, the
first movie from a popular Stephenie
Meyer book series.
TIM SWARTZ
SOURCE: THE BOSTON GLOBE
Google Earth Leads to Buried Treasure
sing Google Earth, Los Angelesbased musician Nathan Smith

thinks he has found a lost treasure
ship that sank somewhere north of Corpus
Christi during a hurricane in 1822. But the
owners of the land will not let him dig unless a court rules that the creek is indeed
"navigable waters," in which case the federal government decides.
Smith, who says that he was inspired by
the National Treasure movies, has taken his

case to Houstons federal courthouse.
There, he testified that he has title to a
shipwreck he says is buried under muck
near the Mission River.
In 1822, a gold-laden Spanish barkentine ship (a three-masted sailing vessel)
got lost up a creek near Refugio during a
hurricane. Half of the sailors died during
the storm and the other half died at the
hands of a local cannibal tribe. Inspired by

the tale, Smith used Google Earth to
check out the Refugio area and discovered
what he considers to be the outline of a
vessel near the creek where it was alleged
to have run aground. Adding to Smiths
convictions is the fact the waterway is
named Barkentine Creek.
Smith estimates the treasure to be
worth $3 billion and is ready to hire people to unearth the ship. But he can only
dig if the judge finds that the site is in
navigable waters. Otherwise, anything
underneath it belongs to the Sorenson
family, who owns the land. If the ship is
in navigable waters, the first person to
find abandoned booty can ask the federal
courts and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for permission to retrieve it. But
if it is part of the Sorenson land, only the
heirs to the estate get to dig or allow others to do so.
Ron Walker, the lawyer representing
the estate, says that the Sorenson family
does not believe there is a ship on their
property and notes that even the folklore
about the wreck places it more than 20
miles away.
TIM SWARTZ
SOURCE: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
20
ISSUE
#23
The Best
Paranormal
Talk Radio
on the Web
Sunday, 9:30 p.m. EST
and Thursday, 10 p.m. EST
Hosted by EPIC co-founder
Jeremiah Greer, who has
over 12 years experience
in paranormal research
and investigations.
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IN THE DARK
www.ShadowsintheDarkRadio.com
www.blogtalkradio.com/shadowsinthedark
Noteworthy
UK Church Reveals Equinox Event

ter and summer when the cattle are returned to the marshes.
The rood was removed in accordance
with Henry VIIIs wishes in the 16th century, and even after it was remade in
1870, there was only a period of five years
before the window was covered by a large
painting, again hiding the churchs secret.
In 1979, when a fire at the church destroyed the entire nave roof, the painting
was removed, exposing the small window.
TIM SWARTZ
SOURCE: EDP24 (UK)
da Vinci
Drawings
Discovered
ach spring equinox, for just four

minutes, a beam of sunlight filters through a small window at
the 12th-century Barsham Church in
Suffolk, England, and bathes a sculpture
of Christ on the cross in a golden light.
It is a phenomenon that was only recently rediscovered. Although the Rev.
John Buchanan discovered how the light
illuminated the cross in the early 1990s,
he only recently made sense of it after
recording how the light hit over a number of years. To actually see it was a
22
matter of luck, said Buchanan, as the

day must be cloud-free, which is apparently why it has taken so long to discover
the phenomenon.
There is nothing in the record books
about the phenomenon, although
Buchanan believes that the window and
statue were positioned by design because
the window is conspicuously off-center.
Buchanan wonders whether a cunning
priest was trying to do a bit of magic.
However, he adds that it also could have
been used to mark the time between win-
famous painting by 16th-century

artist Leonardo da Vinci was discovered to have three previously unknown sketches on its backa horse
head, part of a skull, and
baby Jesus with a lamb. A
curator at the Louvre in
Paris spotted the
sketches on the back
of The Virgin and
Child with Saint
Anne when it was
taken down in September, 2008, for
restoration.
A spokeswoman for
the Louvre said that the
discovery was mysterious,
since the drawings appear to have
gone unnoticed for 500 years. They were
not meant to be kept, said Bruno Mottin,
of the Louvres art laboratory. They had
been largely wiped out, which explains why
no one had spotted them until now.
TIM SWARTZ
SOURCE: BBC
ISSUE
#23
Noteworthy
Artificial Life Could be

Created in Five Years
n what could be one of the greatest

scientific breakthroughs of all time,
laboratories across the world are closing in on a second genesis.
David Deamer, a biochemist from the
University of California at Santa Cruz,
said although building a new lifeform
from scratch is a daunting task, he is confident it can happen in five to ten years.
The technique is basically a reverse of the
Human Genome Project, which translated the bodys genetic code into its four
building blocks, called nucleotides. The

biologists goal is to arrange those letters
to create a synthetic, made-to-order living
system that could produce everything
from new drugs to biofuels and greenhouse gas absorbers. However, opponents of the controversial research claim
the technology could run amok and lead
to machines becoming almost human.
Scientists say that concerns about lab
created monsters is overblown, as any initial organisms would be primitive and
need large-scale life support in the lab in

order to survive.
The most recent breakthrough was reviewed at a synthetic biology conference
in Hong Kong by geneticists Professor
George Church and Dr. Michael Jewett of
Harvard Medical School. The pair reported that they had synthetically created
part of a cell, called a ribosome. This is
one of artificial lifes biggest problems as
the ribosome is a cells protein-making
machine, which consists of 57 proteins
and chemicals that all need to come together in exactly the right way. The goal
of creating a living cell from non-living
chemicals is now a definite target with
clear roadmaps leading to it.
TIM SWARTZ
SOURCE: THE TELEGRAPH (UK)
Photo of
Mysterious
Figure Wins
Competition
A
n eerie picture of a figure in period costume at the window of a Scottish castle recently won a competition to
find the worlds most convincing ghostly image. The picture, taken in May of 2008, appears to show a figure wearing a ruff, looking through a barred window at Scotlands
Tantallon Castle. No mannequins are used at the castle, and
there are no costumed guides. Three photographic experts
have confirmed that the photograph was not manipulated.
Christopher Aitchison, the tourist who took the photograph said: I was not aware of anyone being present in my
picture, only noticing the anomaly when I got home.
Tantallon Castle, a ruined fortress dating back to the
14th century, stands on a remote rocky headland near
North Berwick on the East coast of Scotland. It was badly
damaged in an attack by Oliver Cromwells forces in 1651.
TIM SWARTZ
SOURCE: BBC
23
Urban Legends
FOOD
FOR
THOUGHT
Rumors that are Hard to Swallow

Because they service such a
vital and intimate function as
eating, restaurants collect
urban legends the way a
tabletop collects dust.
24
by Charles Rammelkamp
ost restaurant urban legends
focus on contamination and are
steeped in a sense of caution and
hygiene but occasionally, fear of foreigners
or distrust of the assembly-line nature of
fast-food chains also give rise to warnings,
rumors, and wild stories. Other myths involve bizarre claims and practices, such as
the common story that health departments
occasionally find the remains of cats, dogs,
and rats in the garbage at various Chinese
restaurants, suggesting that these animals
are used in Chinese food.
Another myth based on racial and ethnic fears involves a restaurant chain in the
South called Churchs Chicken. Said to be
owned by the Ku Klux Klan,
in the 1950s and 60s,
Churchs was rumored
to have tainted
its
chicken
recipe
with
chemicals that
caused African
Americans to be
sterilized. What
these chemical additives wereand why
only black people were affectedwas never explained. The rumors were
completely untrue, but Churchs suffered damage to its image by this rumor
and the chain was eventually taken over by
Popeyes in 1989.
Another popular dining myth is that
drunken teenage hamburger-makers commonly urinate on the food. For instance, in
2001, a legend about Outback Steakhouse
was passed around the internet, in which a
customer gets sick after a meal at the steakhouse. After his stomach is pumped at a
hospital emergency room, an analysis of the
meal purportedly revealed the presence of

human urine. Moreover, the victim,
according to the
account, must
now be examined
for disease every
f e w
months
for years to come. DNA
tests on the urine are performed to determine the identity of the perpetrator but this urban
legend is completely false.
Another urban legend was born when
the Ottawa Citizen in 1994 reported that
regional health inspectors were examining
the after-dinner mints in a variety of restaurants on concerns that traces of urine and
fecal coliform bacteria had been found in
the candy trays by the cash registers, tainted
by bathroom-users who did not wash their
hands. Whether this story is true has not
yet been determined.
Another urban legend that has passed
around the internet for the past ten years is
that fast food restaurants and school cafeterias commonly use Grade D meat in
their meals, meat that includes the groundup skin, testicles, and penises of cattle and
pigs. But this rumor is false; there is no
such thing as Grade D meat.
Another urban legend involving fast
food restaurants since 2004 is that HIVpositive blood has been slipped into
ketchup dispensers. Of course, this is a
bogus story based on the fear of AIDS and
possibly a reflection on the usual clientele
of fast-food chains. But the Center for Disease Control says that except under laboratory conditions, HIV is unable to
ISSUE
#23
Urban Legends
As the dominant fast food

chain in the world, McDonalds
has attracted the lions share
of myths. One legend that
began in 1977 to discredit the
company was that the founder
Ray Kroc (shown above) was
a member of the Church of
Satan (not true). Other bogus
stories claim Mickey Ds
makes its burgers out of
worms, spider eggs, horsemeat, or sawdust.
reproduce outside its host. Therefore, if HIV-tainted blood were to

be mixed into a ketchup dispenser,
the virus would not survive.
Food to Induce Labor
more lighthearted urban legend involves restaurants that
develop a reputation for inducing labor in pregnant women
who are beyond their delivery date.
This myth comes from the belief
that certain kinds of food, such as
spicy foods, pineapple, eggplant,

cumin tea, and parmesan cheese,
help speed babies into the world.
Thus, various restaurants over the
years have become the place to dine
if you want to have your baby. For
instance in 1992, a gourmet pizza
restaurant in Los Angeles called Caioti was hit with the rumor that their
romaine and watercress salad would
help induce labor. The restaurant
owner was initially delighted with
the publicity but soon, his business
suffered with regard to the singles
and unmarried couples trade. Caioti
has made the most of it, though,
even promoting the salad on their
web site with testimonials (Next
day had major contractions from
one centimeter at 2 p.m. to 5 centimeters at 10 p.m.. Doctors told
me I would not have the baby that
weekend. Had baby at 11:22 a.m.
Doctors are still puzzled by it!) and
boasts, A great salad dressing, dipping sauce or marinade with a fun
history made famous by all of our
loyal customers and expectant
mothers.
In 2002, McKinnons, a Creole
restaurant in Buckhead, GA, marketed its crab and shrimp dish in
cream sauce with eggplant pure to
its overly pregnant customers. Word
got out and when pregnant women
started flocking there, the restaurant
started to present gift certificates to
any woman past her due date who
did not deliver within two days of
eating the dish!
Thus, it is not a stretch to say that
restaurants give birth to a wide variety of compelling urban legends.
Of course, it is no wonder that
something as basic as the food we
eat should be the source of wild rumors and anxious speculation. But
some stories are simply harder to
swallow than others. z
25
strange customs
Michigan Man Utilizes

Ancient Construction Techniques
Wallington uses no ropes,
wheels, or power equipmnt,
only wood and a few small
stones, to move enormous
blocks of cement.
26
by Michael W. Michelsen, Jr.

ally Wallington is a retired construction worker in Flint, MI.
You would think that now that
he is retired, Wallington would want to
take things a little easier, but when he is
not moving objects in the fields behind his
home, he can be found pouring concrete
into forms to create heavy blocks. Not only
that, but on any given day, reporters, photographers, and even television crews have
traveled from around the world to watch
him work. Why? Because Wallington can
move and lift 22,000-pound concrete
blocks all by himself.
His unusual hobby started a number of
years ago while at a job site, when he was
faced with having to move several 1,200-
ISSUE
#23
With a
Little Help
From
Physics
nother of Wallingtons secrets is in

the weight of the object to be
moved. According to the laws of
physics, mass (in this case the concrete
blocks) resists movement, and once in
movement, mass resists change. Further,
once the object is close to balance on a
single point, the object can be moved
and becomes stable. This results in an
object actually becoming easier to move
as the weight of the object increases.
strange customs
not have had heavy equipment, but
they werent stupid either.
To prove his point, Wallington is
building a replica of Stonehenge in the
field behind his home. Using simple
tools that he designed himself, he moves
and lifts concrete blocks into Stonehenge-type arches. If he wants to move a
block, all he does is make a pivot point
from a small stone to move it into position. If he wants to create an upright, he
moves a long block with its end next to
a hole. Using a lever, he lifts the opposite
feet in one hour. He uses no ropes,

wheels, rollers, hoists, or power equipment, only wooden sticks and a few small
stones used as fulcrums.
Wallington estimates that he could use
his techniques to build a replica of the
Great Pyramid of Giza in 25-years, with a
crew of 750 men working a 40-hour
week. And contrary to many scientists
beliefs, Wallington says that the design of
the pyramid is functional in its own construction, making an external ramp unnecessary.
end until it slides into the hole. When

the lifted end is high enough, Wallington wets the bottom end of the block
with water until the ground is soft, allowing the block to slide into the hole.
The crossbeam is lifted into place by
beginning with a stone fulcrum in the
center of the crosspiece. Then the crosspiece is rocked back and forth like a giant
teeter-totter, each time adding a timber
into the space created as the block is
shifted.
Using this technique, Wallington can
move a 2,400-lb block 300 feet in one
hour and can move a 10,000-lb block 70
Not one to sit still during his retirement, Wallington is now on to bigger and
better moving tasks. His current project
involves moving a 20,500-lb concrete
block using various wooden tools and
counterweights.
The Greek mathematician Archimedes
once said, Give me a lever long enough
and a place on which to rest it, and I will
move the world. Wallington says, Give
something two points to rest on, and I
can also move the world. z
Wally Wallington can be seen moving all
sorts of concrete blocks at www.theforgottentechnology.com
MICHAEL W. MICHELSEN, JR.
pound concrete blocks from an existing

floor. Heavy equipment that could have
done the job could not reach the blocks,
so he started to think about how to use
simple tools to move it. Thats when it
came to me that all I had to do was use
some small stones as pivots, and I could
turn that block any way I wanted, he
explained. And if I wanted to move that
block somewhere else, all I had to do
was to put a second small stone underneath it, and I could move it all overall
by myself.
Whenever Wallington hears debates
about how primitive people could have
created structures such as Stonehenge,
the Egyptian Pyramids, or the head statues of Easter Island, he scoffs. After all,
he believes he has answers to the questions that many scientists and archaeologists attribute to LGMsthe so-called
Little Green Men phenomenon. As he
explains,
It never ceases to amaze me how when
well-educated people try to explain how
the pyramids or Stonehenge were built,
but they cant come up with answers,
[so they say] they must have had help
from little green men in spaceships.
Thats ridiculous. These [cultures]
might have been primitive and might
27
Psychic Science
Tachyon Particles and

Psychic Phenomena
Tachyons from the future
might interact with the
human brain to provide
information on events
yet to come.
28
by Ethan Merriman
n the field of quantum mechanics,
there are particles that are predicted
by various experiments with other
particles. Known as tachyons, these particles are massless and travel faster than
light speedin effect, traveling backwards
through time
At first, it seems that such a particle violates Einsteins law of speed relative to
observer, which suggests that immediately following the Big Bang, nothing
moving slower than the speed of light
could accelerate up to or past light speed.
However, particles that got a boost from
the bang itself may have built up enough
speed before this limit was set, so that they
now always travel faster than the speed of

light. This also means they cannot be
slowed down; to do so has the same effect
as trying to make a regular particle reach
light speed, which is that it would take all
the energy in the universe to do so.
In fact, these particles would be traveling so fast that they are essentially traveling backwards in time. But if they
originated from the big bang, they would
have to age, just like everything else in the
universe. However, since they do not, this
suggests that they have their own starting place or perhaps originated at some
point in the distant future, maybe at a
point in time where everything else comes
to an end, like a reverse big bang.
For the same reason one cannot travel
through time to before the big bang, we
are not able to pass by a future time when
tachyons are created. (If this were possible,
we would be in a time where some fundamental particles did not exist, thus violating the conservation of energy law. Hence,
the universe would explode, implode, rip
apart, or never form.)
So it is believed that tachyons from the
future might interact with the neurotransmitters in the human brain, and that some
as yet unknown brain function can decipher them and use them, almost like a
computer reads coded information, to provide information about the future. True
psychics pick up this information consciously, it is believed, which explains how
they can predict future events with some
level of certainty.
This may also explain why much psychic
phenomena is precise, and never really
deals with probabilities. For even in the im-
ISSUE
#23
Psychic Science
mediate future, an event can have a million ways of turning out, so it would be
nearly impossible to pick out even two of
the ways in which any given situation will
actually end up, unless there was information from that future event that traveled back in time and was picked up by
our brains; those with more perceptive
brains are psychics.
A newly discovered phenomena called
quantum teleportation describes how individual particlesand theoretically,
even some particle systems like atoms
can be transported by replication. All
that is needed is information such as
spin, charge, placement, and velocity,
which is then employed on another particle and the original is destroyed (or
changed).
Although this information is available
with our current technology, to determine the placement of a particle, a powerful electron microscope must bounce
electrons off of the particle. But these
electrons are imparting force on the particle as they bounce off, changing its velocity/direction. Thus, we cannot ever
really know the true position of any
given particle. But what if the brain does
not need these obtrusive rays to read certain particles? Simple photons travel at
the speed of light and never age so, to
themselves, they are everywhere at the
same time!
There is no distance between objects
because distance is a measurement of
time/space. If tachyons are similar, then
they need not carry any information with
them, because they are there AND here
simultaneously. Like a time phone, instead of traveling the distance to communicate, they just call up from where
they are!
The Physiology of Psychics
sychic phenomenon also might be
explained by simple physical
processes. The physiology of the
brain is such that when you want to move

a muscle, your brain instantly sends the
correct electrical signals through the
synapses to perform the movement.
There are not as many pathways as there
are possible movements of the body,
meaning that multiple signals are sometimes sent through one path. Why, then,
if you want to move a finger, does your
brain not misinterpret that command and
move a toe instead?
Maybe similar to the way in which a
transistor works (automatically deducing
control between two nodes by analyzing
the information in a third, without ever
needing to measure anything directly),
the brain can take the small (maybe individually useless) info-particles, and make
sense of them.
Some scientists believe that there are
more than the four perceivable dimensions (three space plus one time). The
Many Worlds Theory describes how the
smallest constituents of our universe slip
through the curled-up dimensions that are
located at every point in so-called empty
space, which is actually a sea of subatomic fluctuations. Again, it may be possible to change the patterns of gravitons,
or other sub-dimensional particles, to
convey messages through these portals to
other universes.
Perhaps, as claimed by some clairvoyants/mediums, there is a death plane that
can be communicated with via these dimensions. However, any information
small enough to pass through this area
is subject to the Heisenberg Uncertainty
principle (the principle states that, with
current technology that uses waves and
particles to obtain information such as
placement and velocity/direction, the
more precisely you know one, the less
precisely you can know the other. This
is due to the waves impact on the particle, changing one or more parameters),
thus preventing it from being detected
by machines.
Psionics: A Hyperdimensional Afterlife

yperdimensions are counter-intuitive because they are unseen.
Imagine a two-dimensional
being (a flat drawing on a piece of paper).
Then imagine a sphere passing through
his field of vision. He is not going to see
a sphere, since it is sticking out in three
dimensions; he will instead see a crosssection of the sphere, a circle. It will start
as a small point, grow into a large circle
(as the middle diameter of the sphere
passes through the plane) then get
smaller, and finally disappear. He will
think that, out of nowhere, a circle came
into being, grew, then shrunk, and finally
disappeared. However, the sphere never
disappeared in our dimension.
In this way, a four dimensional being,
or even information, can appear in our
world from seemingly nowhere, then vanish. The most plausible way this information can transverse into our world is
through these curled up dimensions
(which, to a four-dimensional being, may
not appear curled up).
Maybe the afterlife is actually hyperdimensional, providing information from
seemingly nowhere. If the dead can
communicate from where they are, for instance, this could reveal important clues
on how to access these dimensionsor
what type of particle can carry information acrossas well as provide information on the future.
There is still a lot of work in this field
(known as psionics) to be done and it
may take quite a while to be proven, as
many of its principles are controversial.
For instance, if particles can tell us about
the future, will we be able to change that
future? And if we cannot, does that mean
that all our choices have already been
made? These are questions that have led
to schisms over the centuries. After all,
the notion that the rest of our lives are
already otherss pasts can be most unsettling. z
29
treasures of the deep

Elizabethan Warship Excavated
arine archaeologists working off
the northern coast of the Channel Island of Alderney are excavating a shipwreck that is the worlds only
extant Elizabethan warship and only the
second substantial Tudor warship ever
found (the first was Henry VIIIs flagship,
the Mary Rose).
The wreck was dated after divers found
Elizabethan cannon and two lead-pan
weights stamped with the crowned monogram of Elizabeth I and the Guildhall dagger, which became the symbol of the city of
London after the defeat of the Spanish armada in 1588. A letter found in Britains
National Archives suggests that the ship
sank in 1592, after being sent by Lord
Burghley, Elizabeths chief minister, to
carry munitions and dispatches to English
forces stationed in Brittany, in an attempt
to prevent a second invasion by Spain.

Although only about five percent of the
wreck site has been fully explored, divers
have already recovered more than 1,500 artifacts, including the ships rudder, ropes,
pottery, a pulley
block, a pair of medical forceps, numerous drug jars, an

intact navigational
calendar, and a deadeye (a small wooden
disc
with
holes
through it, used to
guide and control
rigging). Military artifacts recovered include a large number
of arquebuses (muskets), powder flasks,
swords, rapiers, several types of armor breastplates and helmets, fire-pots (ceramic hand-grenades
designed to break on contact and spray
flaming tar over enemy ships), six cannon,
and cannon balls.
DNA Identifies Contents of Amphorae
or the first time ever, researchers
have recovered DNA from inside
amphorae found with an ancient
shipwreck, making it possible to determine
the contents of the ceramic containers. The
jars were recovered from the wreck of a
cargo ship that sank around 350 B.C. The
2,350-year-old wreck is thought to be the
oldest, largest, and best-preserved wreck
from that period ever found in the area.
Amphorae were the cargo containers of
the ancient Mediterranean world. About
500 amphorae were found on the seabed
at the wreck site, with at least that number
thought to be buried beneath the sand.
The recovered amphorae are of a style distinct to the Greek island of Chios, in the
Aegean Sea, which was well-known as one
of the ancient worlds major suppliers of
high-quality red wine.
Although the recovered amphorae appeared empty, scientists were able to obtain DNA sequences from samples
scraped from inside the terra cotta containers and to determine that short fragments of DNA from one were from
pistachio nuts and from a mastic (a shrub
Prehistoric Dugout Canoe Found
well-preserved prehistoric dugout canoe has been discovered by fishermen trailing nets
along the bottom of the Black Sea, some 15 miles off the coast of Bulgaria. The ancient
boat is 8.5 feet long and 27.5 inches wide, and is probably made of oak.
Experts say that dissolved hydrogen sulfide present below a certain depth in the Black Sea
helps preserve organic materials, and that the oxygen-depleted deep waters helped protect the
remains from marine life and other deterioration that normally affect wooden vessels.
30
ISSUE
#23
treasures of the deep

cultivated on Chios). Mastic resins were
used to coat the insides of containers
that carried wine, as a preservative and
flavoring, so it is likely that the amphora
contained wine.
DNA obtained from another amphora
showed that it had contained olive oil and
oregano. The scientists say that oregano
may have been added to olive oil as a preservative.
The researchers were somewhat surprised at the discovery that not all of the
amphorae contained wine. They say that
the islands agricultural exports may have
been more diverse than was thought.
18th-Century British Warship
Found in Lake Ontario
sing side-scanning sonar and an
unmanned submersible, shipwreck hunters have located the
wreck of the HMS Ontario, a 22-gun
British warship that sank off the southern
shore of Lake Ontario during the Revolutionary War.
The 80-foot brig-sloop, which was the
biggest British ship on the Great Lakes
at the time, sank during a sudden gale in
1780, somewhere between the mouth of
the Niagara River and Rochester, NY.
All of the 130 people aboard were lost,
including 15 crewmen, a garrison of 60
British soldiers, the commander of Fort
Niagara and his wife, three other
women, five children, four Indians, a
civilian merchant, and 30 American war

prisoners.
The British conducted a search after the
ship disappeared, but tried to keep the
sinking secret from American forces because of the impact of its loss on British
defenses. Hatchway gratings, the binnacle, compasses, blankets, and several hats
drifted ashore the next day and the ships
sails were found adrift in the lake a few
days later. Six
bodies from the
HMS Ontario
were
found
near Wilson,
NY, in 1781,
but otherwise
no trace of the
ship has been
found for more
than two centuries.
The wreck is
completely intactthere are even two windows that
are not broken. It sits in mud at a 45-degree angle, with two masts extending
more than 70 feet above the lake bottom
in a part of the lake that is about 500 feet
deep and has been amazingly well-preserved by the dark, cold, deep waters (at
that depth, there is no light or oxygen to
cause decomposition and little marine life
to feed on the wood).
The wreck was first identified by several unusual features, including two
crows nests on each mast, a decoratively
carved scroll bow stem, and a quarter
gallery (a kind of balcony with windows)
on either side of the stern. Two cannons,
two anchors, and the ships bell have also
been found.
The wreck is the oldest shipwreck and
the only fully intact British warship ever
found in the Great Lakes. Its finders say
that they regard it as a war grave and have
no plans to raise it or remove any of its
artifacts. z
Diver Finds
Ancient Talisman
lifeguard snorkeling off the Mediterranean coast of southern Israel has

discovered an ancient talisman
against evil: a 2,500-year-old white marble
disc that was attached to a ship to protect
it from the evil eye and from envy. The relic,
which dates to the fourth or fifth century
B.C., was discovered off Palmahim Beach,
near the Yavneh-Yam antiquities site,
where an anchorage was in continuous use from at least the
late Bronze Age until
the Middle Ages.
The disc is flat
on one side, convex on the other,
and measures
eight inches in diameter. Its center is
perforated and there
are faint traces of two circles that were painted around
the center. Experts know from historic
sources and depictions on ancient coins
and pottery that superstitious sailors commonly attached such discs to the bows of
ships to represent the pupil of an eye,
which was meant to look ahead and warn
of danger and to protect the ship from evil.
Only three such discs, known in Greek as
ophthalmoi, have ever been found in the
world. Two were recovered from the wrecks
of fifth-century B.C. warships off the western coast of Turkey and the other was
found off the coast of Israel. Similar devices are still prevalent on boats in modern
Greece, Portugal, Malta, and in the Far
East.
JUDITH KANE
JUDITH KANE
31
haunted heritage
Ontarios Thornton Village Inn
The Lady of the Stairs

The Village Inn is the ideal
setting for a romantic dinner,
but many diners have found
their meals intruded upon
by a spectral third party.
32
By Andrew Hind and Maria da Silva

long the main street of Thornton,
Ontario, Canada, a nostalgic Victorian building stands out among
the historic community. Originally a 19thcentury stagecoach hotel, over the years,
the building has housed a variety of businesses and today it is a fine dining restaurant called the Village Inn. Since then,
many people have left the Inn refreshed
after a good nights sleep or pleasantly full
from a delicious meal. But one tormented
soul simply cannot leave, a woman known
as the Lady of the Stairs.
The story originates sometime in the
1880s, when the Queens Hotel (as the
Village Inn was then known) was still a
place of respite for travelers along Ontarios
roadways. The building was host to many
travelers during those years, including a
young couple.
One night, the woman and her husband

began to quarrel and the fight soon turned
violent. Suddenly, the woman pushed her
husband aside and fled from the guest
room. Without looking back, she made her
way to the staircase, where her foot caught
in her long gown and she fell, tumbling
head-over-heel down the staircase. By the
time she had come to rest at the bottom,
she was dead.
Today, the Lady of the Stairs haunts the
second floor of the restaurant and can be
seen standing atop the staircase, walking
along the second-floor mezzanine, and
looking mournfully down upon the village
below from the second-floor balcony. She
is said to appear most often on the anniversary of her death, sometime in August.
Restaurant manager Dennis Naraj has
also witnessed several unexplainable events
during his time at the Village Inn. In 2000,
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haunted heritage
shortly before the
restaurants
4:30
p.m.
opening
time, he was alone
with the cook when
they heard footsteps
walking across the
floor above them.
Afraid that someone
was prowling around
the second floor,
they
immediately
took to the staircase
to confront the intruder. But a careful
search of the building revealed that
they were alone. At
other times, lights
have turned on and off by themselves
and various antiques used to decorate the
charming restaurant have been found
moved.
Then there was a lull in ghostly activity
at the Inn until journalist Sharon Bamford
began investigating the story for the Barrie Advance in 2005. Right after Sharon
came by to research her story, a keg
of beer froze solid in the fridge, which
simply shouldnt happen, recounts Naraj.
It then happened a second time just a
few days after. It was like her asking questions had disturbed the ghost.
Romance Interrupted
he Village Inn is the ideal setting
for a romantic dinner; the food is
delicious, the hospitality gracious,
and the building both intimate and rich
in atmosphere. At least two couples dining on the mezzanine, however, have
found their candle-lit dinners intruded
upon by a spectral third-party.
The first incident occurred 13 years
ago, at a time when part of the second
floor was blocked off by a door. Beyond
were the hotels former guest rooms, then
being occupied as a private residence.
Andree Naud, an interior decorator
and her companion Tim, dined on the
mezzanine at a
table against the
door leading to
the apartment.
It was, in all respects, a perfect
evening, except
for the strange
lady who kept
peering at them
from through
the doors glass.
I saw this
sickly woman
staring at me
through
the
sheer curtain. I
couldnt define
a face, but she
looked ill, remembers Andree. This
woman kept staring at me and I thought
to myself, thats pretty rude, so I stared
right back. Then she disappeared.
She then complained to the waitress,
and then watched as the color drained
from her face, as there were no other
women staff members on duty that night,
nor was there a woman residing in the living quarters. In fact, there had been no
one in the apartment for over a week.
Then in 2005, during a terrible downpour, another couple parked their car behind the restaurant. As they approached
the front entrance, Teri looked up and
saw a woman standing on the balcony,
wearing only a thin dress. For a brief second their eyes met and Teri felt an oppressive chill; the woman looked so sad,
so tragic.
All throughout dinner Teri struggled
to enjoy herself but nothing her husband
could say would lift the darkness that enveloped her, nor could she shake the cold
that clung to her. Finally, she excused herself and headed to the bathroom. As she
began descending the stairs, Teri was sure
someone was following her. But when she
spun around, no one was there.
A few moments later at the bathroom
sink Teri heard high-heeled footsteps ap-
proaching her from behind. She looked,

but was alone. Still, the footsteps continued to approach her. Her mouth opened
in a silent cry, but she could barely
breathe. Ive never been so terrified in
my life, remembers Teri.
The footsteps then stopped directly before her and she closed her eyes. Suddenly, a bar of soap slid into the sink. The
sound of the soap rattling around the
drain broke Teri from her daze and she
fled from the bathroom.
She does not believe the ghost means
any harm, but she does question why it
remains tied to the building.
Ghosts: Fact or Fantasy?
he story of a Lady of the Stairs is
a sad one to be sure, but is there
any basis to it? Muril Cunningham grew up in Thornton in the 1940s
and today is updating the Tweedsmuir
History, a scrapbook of local events and
lore. Although she is familiar with the
ghost stories, during her lifetime, no
woman has ever lost her life in the Village
Inn, nor are there any references to any
such tragedy in the Tweedsmuir History.
So if a woman did indeed plummet to her
death at the Inn, it occurred prior to the
20th century.
But local journalist Sharon Bamford
believes there is a kernel of truth behind
the story. The lack of exaggeration with
each successive telling adds authenticity.
So, too, does the testimony of a pair of
psychics who recently visited the restaurant and, independent of one another,
both channeled a ghostly woman whose
experiences mirror those of the Lady of
the Stairs.
Until such time as the ghosts full story
can be brought to light, the forlorn Lady
of the Stairs may remain trapped within
the quaint confines of the restaurant, an
unwilling, non-paying patron. z
For more info, visit www.thevillageinn.ca,

email contact@thevillageinn.ca, or call 705458-9565.
33
Arcane Cults
The Japanese Jesus of Shingo

W
Some Japanese citizens
assert that Jesus remains
and his descendants
can be found in the small
village of Shing, Japan.
Jesus grave, Shingo, Japan
34
by Kenaz Filan
e have all heard about the meteoric rise, death, and subsequent
resurrection of Jesus, but what
happened afterward? Some claim he ascended to heaven; others assert that he survived the crucifixion and retired to southern
France with Mary Magdalene. And the residents of Shingo in northern Japan believe
that Christs remainsand his descendantscan be found in their village.
A visitor to Shingo will quickly note a
plethora of crosses decorating the remote
rural town, accompanied with the Japanese
phrase Kirisuto no sato (hometown of
Christ). If they are willing to travel beyond the farmhouses and rice paddies and
hike up a steep mountain path, they will
find two large wooden crosses. The first,
according to local legend, marks the burial
place of Jesus. The second marks the place
where Jesus buried a lock of his mothers
hair and the ears of his brother Isukiri.
According to the local legend, Jesus first
came to Japan when he was 21. Upon his

arrival, he went to a Shinto shrine called
Kosokotai and studied under Takeogokoro,
a wise priest who taught him politics, literature, religion, and martial arts. After five
years of intensive study, Takeogoroko gave
his pupil an ancient katana (sword) and
sent him off to see the emperor. Impressed
by this wise foreigner, the emperor declared
him King of the Jews and gave him a robe
bearing the sacred 16-petaled chrysanthemum of Japan as a symbol of his kingship.
Returning home, he applied the knowledge he had gained to heal the sick and perform miracles. But alas, this led to conflict
with the authorities: neither the Roman
government nor the Jewish priesthood
wanted competition from this Japantrained upstart. Finally, in a case of mistaken identity, his brother Isukiri was
arrested and crucified.
Shaken by this turn of events, Jesus decided to return to Japan. Fleeing the
Roman authorities, he made his way
through modern day Turkey, Iran, and
Siberia before arriving at the northernmost
tip of Japan. Upon landing, he decided to
stay there rather than travelling on to the
more populous areas. Since Christ already
spoke Japanese, he had little trouble gaining the trust of the local farmers. And because he spent much of his time healing the
sick and feeding the poor, their trust soon
became love. They came to know Jesus as
Herai Taro Ten Ku, meaning the Hebrew
longnosed Goblin, a reference to his Semitic features.
Settling in to his new home, Ten Ku
married a local woman of good family,
Miyuko. Together they raised three daughters, until Jesus died at the ripe old age of
106. In time, the village came to be known
as Herai, and the Sawaguchi clan recognized as descendents of Herai Taro Ten Ku.
But while the Merovingians claimed that
ISSUE
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Arcane Cults
their divine lineage gave them a divine

right to the French throne, the
Sawaguchis farmed the rice paddies and
garlic fields alongside their neighbors.
The Birth of a Legend
oday, over 30,000 tourists make
their way each year to Herai (now
named Shingo). Each June, a
Kuristo Matsuri (Christ Festival) combines Shinto and Christian prayers with
colorful costumes, audio-visual effects,
and lively entertainment. The Kirisuto no
Sato Denshokan (Village of Christ Legend
Museum) points out that one Sagawuchi
was not looking like a Japanese. His eyes
were blue like those of a foreigner. It also
shows the Sawaguchi family crest, which
features a stylized Star of David.
Skeptics note that much of this legend
began in 1935, when Kiyomaro Takeuchi
discovered scrolls which had been written
by an 88-year-old Jesus. Written in archaic
Japanese, they discussed his career, his
various trips to Japan, and his last will and
testament. It also contained a prophecy:
1,935 years after the writing of the will,
said the prophesy, all the people on earth
will come together and the man who will
lead them will be Japanese. And if that is
not miraculous enough, consider that
Japanese was not a written language until
the fifth century, nearly 400 years after
Ten Kus death!
It would be easy enough to dismiss this
all as clumsy wartime propaganda but a
number of odd folk customs predate
Takeuchis scroll. The etymology of

Shingos original name Herai is unknown.
Mothers in the region have drawn charcoal crosses on their babies foreheads for
centuries. And the tomb that is presently
attributed to Jesus and his brother has
been venerated for generations. While
these may not prove that Jesus lived and
died in northern Japan, they hearken to a
time when Christians first encountered the
Land of the Rising Sun.
For Catholic missionaries did indeed
come to Japan some four centuries before
the discovery of the scrolls. So it is quite
plausible that their short time in Japan
was enough to sow the seeds for a Japanese legend of Christ.
Hidden Christians
n August 15, 1549, St. Francis
Xavier arrived in Japan with five
other missionaries. By 1597,
there were 300,000 Japanese Christians.
But as this foreign religion grew in popularity, many Japanese grew increasingly
hostile to its followers. In 1614, Shogun
Ieyasu Tokugawa decreed that Catholicism be abolished. By 1640, Japanese
policy stated,
While the sun warms the earth let no
Christian be so bold as to enter into
Japan... whosoever will disobey this prohibition will pay for it with his head.
These rules were enforced with savage
brutality. Christians were crucified, submerged in boiling water, burned alive
over slow fires, and hung upside down
in pits of excrement. Those foreigners

who could not escape were murdered.
Not until 1859 were missionaries once
again allowed into Japan, and even then,
only to minister to foreigners. But then
in 1865, French missionaries encountered 15 Japanese Christians, and discovered that some 50,000 Japanese had
continued to practice Christianity in secret, despite centuries of persecution and
isolation.
Many of these hidden Christians had
made their way to northern Japan. The
rugged mountains and arduous winters
offered them shelter from the worst persecution. Could it be that a foreign priest,
fleeing the shoguns mandates and unable
to find passage back home, made his way
here to Shingo?
Among refugee Christians, this priest
certainly would have been seen as a personage of some importance. And after
his demise they would have honored
him, a veneration that would continue
even as their religion grew indistinguishable from surrounding Shinto and
Buddhist practices. (The French missionaries quickly learned that the Kakure
Kirishitan (hidden Christians) believed
the Virgin Mary was a princess from the
Philippines and that Holy Sacrament
was one of Christs tutors.)
While the man beneath Shingos
wooden cross may not be Jesus, he could
well be a foreign Christian. Fleeing nationalistic tyranny, he may have found
sanctuary in this inaccessible village, only
to become a symbol of Japanese superiority and later, a tourist attraction. Yet
while scholars speculate about the Jesus
of Shingo, it is unlikely that concrete evidence will be forthcoming. In accordance
with Shinto traditions forbidding desecration of gravesites, the Japanese government has so far denied requests to
examine the grave of Jesus, or the resident
buried therein. So for now, it looks like
Shingo will just remain an intriguing
modern-day Christian mystery. z
35
From the Skies
UFOs: Encounters and Spirituality

by Tim Swartz
FOs confound us with a number of different mysteries. First
is the mystery of seemingly
solid objects that fly around our skies
with impunity. Next, there are the UFO
occupants that seem to come in as many
shapes and sizes as the vehicles they al-
legedly pilot. And last are the strange

after-effects that are visited upon those
who encounter these unusual beings and
crafts, such as increased intelligence and
broadened psychic abilities. In fact, the
reactions that some people have after a
UFO encounter indicate a connection
between the eyewitness and the phe-
TIM SWARTZ
Do various alien species

plan to help humanity
through difficult times
by awakening our hidden
psychic abilities?
36
ISSUE
#23
From the Skies

nomena that may go beyond the physical
and into the realm of the spirit.
For instance, take the story of Gail
Mangas of Toledo, OH. She was a divorced mother of two children and a
waitress, with little time to do anything
except care for her familythat is, until
she had a rendezvous with the unknown.
One night in 1999, as she drove home
from work, Gail noticed a strange light in
the sky that seemed to be following her
car. The light was reddish in color and
about the size of a half-dollar held at
arms length.
When she was about a mile from her
home, along a deserted stretch of road,
the light suddenly positioned itself directly in front of the car. I was absolutely
terrified, she remembered. The object
blocked the road so I had to stop or risk
running into it. Its light was so bright
that I had to shield my eyes with my
hand.
Before Gail had a chance to react, the
light disappeared. Shaken, she drove the
rest of the way home without further incident. She might have forgotten all
about her unusual experience if it was not
for what occurred to her afterwards.
I became interested in science and
math read everything I could get my
hands on. This was so unlike me; I had
barely graduated from high school and
now I was reading books that were written for scientists. And the really weird
thing was that I understood them.
Gail also noticed that along with her
increased intelligence she had also developed the power to heal and to tell what
others were thinking. It was as if the
UFO awakened some part of me that
had laid dormant all of my life, she explained. Gail also said that she has the
feeling that some other intelligence was
guiding her to develop both mentally
and spiritually.
She now feels that she has some mission to fulfill in the future. I dont know
what my mission will be, I only know
that I am not the only one to be contacted

this way. There are thousands, maybe millions of others on this planet who are
being prepared for something truly great
in the future.
Altered by the Unknown
ail Mangas experience is not
unique. Throughout history,
there have been others who have
touched the unknown and returned
changed. For instance, truck driver Don
Ferguson, while out fishing near his
home in rural Illinois one warm afternoon in 1989, was suddenly engulfed by
a bright light that caused him to drop to
his knees in shock. He later told investigators that the light was coming from a
large, egg-shaped object that was floating
over some nearby trees.
Ferguson said that as the light kept him
paralyzed, he began to see a slide show in
his head. But the images went by so
quickly he could not remember exactly
what he was seeing. After the light departed, Ferguson could move again and
he quickly gathered up his fishing gear
and went home. For several days he wandered around his house in a daze. Despite
her questions, he would not tell his concerned wife what had happened, mainly
because he was unable to grasp the reality
of his experience.
After a few days he realized that the
UFO had left him a message from God.
God, through the UFOs, is telling us
that there is hope. Ferguson said. With
peace and love we can become just like
our brothers from space. It is as simple as
that.
The case of physicist Dr. Jack Sarfatti
has many similarities to the above stories,
except that Sarfattis experience was conducted entirely over the telephone.
In 1952 when Sarfatti was 12 years
old, he received a strange phone call. The
voice on the other end claimed to be a
conscious computer onboard a spacecraft.
The weird, mechanical-sounding voice
said that Sarfatti was among 400 chosen

for a special project but that he must
make the choice for himself.
Sarfatti agreed to participate and
awaited further contact, but nothing happened. Disappointed, the boy thought it
had all been some sort of elaborate prank.
Sarfattis memory fades at this point, but
according to Sarfattis mother, there were
more phone calls over a three-week period, each leaving him dazed. Finally she
had enough and intercepted one of the
calls, telling the voices to leave her boy
alone.
The phone calls stopped after that, but
possibly they had accomplished their mission as Sarfatti became one of the countrys leading theoretical physicists, writing
the groundbreaking book Space-Time and
Beyond with fellow physicist Fred Alan
Wolf.
Paraphysical Control
stronomer Jacques Valle writes
that the UFO phenomenons purpose is not contact but control,
and is both physical and psychic (or paraphysical) in nature. It manipulates
space and time in ways our scientific concepts are inadequate to describe.
Valle proposes that there is a spiritual
control system for human consciousness
and that paranormal phenomena such as
UFOs are one of its manifestations. The
bottom line for humanity, Vallee says, is
the social impact of the UFO experience.
It is changing our cultures in the direction of a new image of man through subtle psychological conditioning.
Perhaps somewhere there is an intelligence that can see our potential as an enlightened species and has made it their
mission to see us through these difficult
times by awakening our hidden, spiritual
capabilities. We may have an important
role to play on the universal stage and
maybe UFOs are here to show us what
our part is and how to fulfill it. z
37
Interview
PA R A N O R M A L S TAT E S R YA N B U E L L
A Ghosthunter on the Rise
yan Buell made a

name for himself
when he founded the
Penn State Paranormal Research

Society, now known as the Paranormal Research Society (PRS),
by Michael Lohr
What inspired you come to
become a ghost hunter?
actually began investigating the supernatural when I was 16, through
my high school newspaper. I remember going online and finding out
that there were people known as ghost
hunters and paranormal investigators. It

was a whole new world that opened up
for me. So I researched and studied a lot
of the classic books on the paranormal,
as well as what other online researchers
were posting. It was exciting and motivating to know that there were other
people who shared my same desire to investigate the unexplained.
as a college student at Pennsylvania State University. His

research quickly led to A&E
Channels hit television show
Paranormal State.
38
ISSUE
#23
Interview
When did you first become

interested in demonology?
had a passive interest in demonology
and study it because I have to, but I
do not enjoy it. Recently, Lorraine
Warren let me study from the files of her
late husband and legendary demonologist
Ed Warren, and I am learning a lot from
his 50+ years of research on the topic.
Are ghosts lost souls who will not

go toward the light or is there some
other mechanism at work?
believe that, since they were once
human beings, they still possess
human qualities. I believe some of us
may die and go into denial about it because of our fears, holding ourselves back
because we never came to peace about
certain things before we passed on.
What is the methodology for ghost

hunting or does each circumstance
warrant a different approach?
here is no protocol that works for
every case. PRS currently has a
200+ page manual, and we are
constantly adding new bylaws and research directives as we learn and interact
with new cases. There can be a general
overview, though, and thats to do an objective investigation while considering the
spiritual.
What is the most intriguing
electronic voice phenomenon (EVP)
that you ever recorded?
entered an attic once, where I was
told by a psychic that a spirit was hiding. At the time I thought it was preposterous to think that a spirit would
hide. So I entered the attic while using
an audio recorder. When I played it back,
the moment I enter the attic, I heard a
voice shriek, GO AWAY! That convinced me.
How did your television deal with A&E

come about for Paranormal State?
e received a lot of offers to do
a show, and for a while we said
no as the Hollywood approach
to paranormal investigation was discouraging. But sometime in 2005, Emmy-
nominated producer Betsy Schechter contacted us and spent many nights just talking about PRS cases and the
supernatural. Were now good friends and
have a successful docu-show!
Where do you plan to visit next?
ed love to investigate haunted
hot spots, but after the show
aired, we received over 10,000
requests for investigations. There are a lot
of people who need help and so we plan
to concentrate on them. I am also working on a film project and have a book
coming out that will be a unique companion to the show and for people who
have had paranormal experiences or want
to learn about the paranormal. It wont
have a coffee-table feel. I want it to have
substance and worth. z
To learn more about Ryan and his show,

visit
www.aetv.com/paranormal-state/,
ryansblog.pennstateprs.com,
or
www.pennstateprs.com
39
crypto corral
Whats New?
he second half of 2008 revealed a
dazzling array of new species, large
and small. Among them, are:
The worlds first known vegetarian spi-
A species of Pacific iguana, discovered in

the central region of Fiji. Scientists believe that Pacific iguanas reached Fiji by
rafting some 5,000 miles eastward
from the New World, around 13 million years ago.
Seven new species of glassfrogs in the
wilds of Ecuador.
Thirteen previously unknown fish
species, filmed during production of a
BBC documentary in Micronesia.
A new giant clam found in the Red Sea.
Fossil evidence suggests that it once ac-
der, christened Bagheera kiplingi after

the panther in Rudyard Kiplings classic Jungle Book. The arachnid makes its
home on acacia trees in Mexico and
Costa Rica, dining on leaf sprouts and
dodging swarms of vicious ants.
A new species of threadsnake, named
Leptotyphlops carlae. The reptile is whisper-thin (about the same diameter as a
spaghetti noodle), dines on grubs or insects, and can comfortably coil to sleep
atop a U.S. 25-cent piece. Although
newly discovered, it is already endangered by human destruction of its habitat.
The Western Hemispheres smallest
counted for 80 percent of the Red Seas
giant clams, reduced in modern times to
less than one percent.
Crypto CSI
ugust of 2008 brought DNA
recognition of two new dolphin
species. Researcher Manuel RuizGarcia performed genetic tests on 40 river
dolphins from Bolivia and 56 from Colombia. The result was identification of a hitherto unknown species, Inia boliviensis, more
commonly called the Bolivian river dolphin. The same month the World Wildlife
Fund performed similar tests on dolphins
caught off the coast of Broome, Western
Australia. While final results are still pending, the researchers believe they have identified a new subspecies of the snubfin
dolphin.
Meanwhile, at New York Citys Sackler
Institute for Comparative Genomics at the
American Museum of Natural History, genetic tests performed on dwarf crocodiles
split the recognized genus (Osteolaemus)
into three distinct and separate species. The
new crocs now include Osteolaemus osborni
from the Congo Basin, O. tetraspis from
Central Africas Ogoou Basin, and a stillunnamed species from West Africa.
Other scientists at Oxford University are
focusing their microscopes on a strand of
supposed yeti hair, collected by BBC reporter Alastair Lawson in the northeastern
Indian state of Meghalaya. Lawson and his
team were pursuing rumors of recent yeti
sightings when a local villager gave him the
hairs. But DNA testing proved that the
yeti hairs came from a goat known as the
Himalayan goral.
cies is the
he latest resurrected spe
r the size of a
Sumatran muntjac, a dee
14 and last
large dog, discovered in 19
1930. Members of
seen alive in the wild in
rescued the muntFlora & Fauna International
in 2002, and while
jac from a hunters snare
r before releasing
they photographed the dee
species until Ocit, they did not recognize its
tober of 2008.
T
known bat, as yet unnamed, discovered
in Central America. The little night
flierthree grams, maximum weight
avoided human notice until 2008, despite the fact that its range encompasses
the nations of Mexico, Guatemala,
Nicaragua, and Panama.
40
MICHAEL NEWTON
ISSUE
#23
crypto corral
Prowling Panthers
s previously noted in this column,
the term black panther has no
scientific meaning. The cats so described are usually melanistic leopards or
jaguars. Confusion, of course, never
stopped panthers from showing their
whiskered faces in venues where they do
not belong. Examples include:
Grovetown, GA, where a local resident
met a large black cat on September 30.,
2008. Police who responded to the
womans call searched the woods but
went home empty-handed.
Newfoundland, Canada, where multiple witnesses saw a large black cat
prowling the Springdale neighborhood
in early November, 2008.
Northern California, where cats appeared twice to Michaela Graham at
Richmond Points Miller-Knox Park,
GIANT SPIDER KILLS

DOG IN ILLINOIS
ree Akins, a resident of Granite City, IL, blamed a giant

spider for killing her dog in August 2008. Local veterinarians felt that the dogs death and the spiders appearance in Ms. Akinss garage were
coincidental, but photos she snapped of the
eight-legged intruder allowed experts at
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to
identify it as a Brazilian wandering spider.
Chris Theodorakis, assistant professor
with the universitys Department of Biological Sciences and Environmental Sciences
program, told the Granite City Press-Record,
Its either a pet that got away, or one that
hitched a ride on a shipment of goods or produce, possibly from South America.
MICHAEL NEWTON
peared to 10 witnesses as a black cat

roughly four feet long and weighing
140 pounds. Its mutilated victims included chickens and at least one sheep,
leaving residents of suburban Rio
Piedras fearful for the safety of their
children. Thus far, the elusive predator
has dodged hunters, mechanical traps,
and motion-sensitive cameras.
Hail to the Lion King
anthers are not the only alien big
cats that appear in places where
they do not belong. Between July
and September 2008, eyewitnesses reported personal encounters with an
African lion in Colorado, Baja California,
and Northern Ireland.
The global lion flap began in Colorados El Paso County, where multiple
witnesses reported to the local sheriff seeing a large, unfamiliar beast. The notion
of a canine prowler failed, however, with
the discovery of paw prints measuring six
inches wide. Michael Seraphin with the
Colorado Division of Wildlife, told Denver TV station KMGH that the tracks he
examined confirm the animal is an
African lion and not a mountain lion.
That verdict, coupled with eyewitness
reports of a cat sporting a red mane and
a big tail, sent police racing a nearby
sanctuary for exotic wildlife on a quest for
frightening Berkeley resident Larz

Sherer in East Bay and spooking John
Balawejder at Point Reyes. East Bay
Regional Park District biologist Steve
Bobzian remains skeptical, blaming the
reports on exaggerated sightings of
black house cats or bobcats.
San Juan, Puerto Rico, where slinking
shadows and slaughtered livestock revived stories of el chupacabra (the
goatsucker) in mid-December. Unlike
Puerto Ricos most famous cryptid,
however, the latest night-prowler apWWW.M YSTERIES M AGAZINE . COM
feline fugitives. It
was all in vain, though, since none of the
preserves cats were AWOL. An eighthour hunt produced nothing but El Paso
Countys lion got the message, vanishing
as mysteriously as it had first appeared.
Late August brought fresh sightings
from Belfast, Northern Ireland, where a
lion was seen roaming around Cavehill
Park. The reports did not sound fancifulthe park lies a short stroll away from
the Belfast Zoo, after alland police
turned out in force, beating the bushes
while a helicopter circled overhead.
On September 1 police called off their
search, telling journalists that the animal
on the loose turned out to be a big dog,
not a big cat. For all the confidence of
that report, however, authorities were
publicly debating the possibility of a new
lion hunt.
Meanwhile, on September 4, lion
sightings emerged from Tijuana, where
witnesses claimed encounters with a large
exotic cat near La Presa Dam. Marco Antonio Campoy, chief of Baja Californias
natural resources department, told the
San Diego Union-Tribune, Were trying
to determine if its a lion or if its a native
species such as a puma. Were still on the
lookout, but we think by now it's out in
the hills somewhere.
MICHAEL NEWTON
41
Decoding
the Bible
42
ISSUE
#23
hether resting on an altar, courtroom podium,

or bedroom nightstand, the Holy Bible commands respect. Christians profess it contains the
mind of God and the way of salvation, and that a sinners
doom awaits its lawbreakers. Although the longest debate
about its teachings concerns evolution versus creationism,
todays controversy is not generating sermons or atheists arguments inasmuch as challenging a standard belief system.
The Good Book is getting a closer look from people who are
learning that past tragedies, such as 9/11 and the future Apocalypse, may actually be encrypted in this 3,200-year-old text.
by Joan S. Voss
43
According to the Bibles plain text, Moses

went to the top of Mount Sinai in 1,200 BC
and saw the God of Israel, and there was
under his feet a kind of paved work of Sapphire stone. Legend has it that upon this
sapphire stone God wrote the original
words of the Bible without any word breaks.
From then on, Hebrew scribes kept the
Torah as an unbroken string of characters,
for it was their opinion that the letters were
symbols that would reveal a greater truth. In
training, a strict warning was passed down
to them: Should you perchance omit or
add one single letter from the Torah, you
would thereby destroy all the universe.
The Christian New Testament points to
such precision at Matthew 5:18, wherein
Jesus said:
I tell you the truth, until Heaven and
Earth disappear, not the smallest letter, nor
the least stroke of a pen, will by any means
disappear from the [Torah] until everything is accomplished.
Passages such as this beg interpretation.
Jesus obviously knew something that no one
else did, and this motivated curious revolutionaries to explore the unthinkable: hidden
codes secreted in the Bibles verses.
LEFT: Michael Bar Weissmandl, a Slovakian

rabbi, is heralded as the pioneer of Equidistant Letter Sequence (ELS) because he noticed that if he skipped 50 letters, then
another 50, and another 50, the word Torah
was spelled out at the beginning of the
Books of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy.
BELOW: Dr. Eliyahu Rips, a renowned

mathematician, presented compelling evidence that the Bible was written by an intelligence far beyond the abilities of mankind.
The Search for Codes

unting for hidden messages began
as early as the 12th century, when
rabbinical scholars wrote about
unearthing secret messages in the Torah.
Their writings would later inspire Sir Isaac
Newton, who spent many years searching
for codes and clearly believed the prophecies
of Daniel and John would not be understood until the end of history.
Shortly before his death in 1727, Newton
wrote:
[The Bible] is a cryptogram set by the
Almighty a riddle of the Godhead of
past and future events divinely fore-ordained. This prophecy is called the Revelation, with respect to the Scripture of
Truth, which Daniel was commanded to
shut up and seal, till the time of the end.
Then during World War II, Michael Bar
Weissmandl, a Slovakian rabbi, studied the
Hebrew scribes ancient writings before
Nazis sent him and his family to an
Auschwitz death camp in 1944. He alone
managed to escape, taking two copies of
the Torah and 13th-century works refer-
44
ISSUE
#23
encing the codes. Eventually, he continued

his research in America but the devastating
grief he felt for his family led to his early
death in 1957.
Weissmandl is now heralded as the pioneer of Equidistant Letter Sequence (ELS)
because he noticed that if he skipped 50 letters, then another 50, and another 50, the
word Torah was spelled out at the beginning of the Book of Genesis. The same skip
sequence again spelled out Torah in the
Books of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Yet as profound as this finding was,
such insight would not allow for his decoding the Bibles 304,805 characters. For the
code had a time lock and its key was the invention of the modern-day computer.
Code Breakthrough
r. Eliyahu Rips, a renowned mathematician specializing in group theory, was not thinking about the
Apocalypse when he was working on a
brainteaser in the late 1980s. Rips first heard
about ELS from a rabbi in Jerusalem, then
proceeded to find the only copy of the Hebrew Old Testament at the National Library
of Israel. He began writing a program that
searched strands of letters using Weissmandls method and discovered that by skipping any equal number of letters using a
system of adding every fifth, tenth, or 50 letter, germane words were formed.
Rips then presented compelling evidence
that the Bible was written by an intelligence
far beyond the abilities of mankind. But others argued that ELS could be nothing more
than random criss-crossing, a foolish fad
that could be used with any book. Yet in experiment after experiment, the crossword
patterns were found only in the Bible, not
in any of the ten million computerized test
cases. While it is true that ELS can be applied to any text to spell out words, it is the
number of significant words clustered in just
the right places that makes the Bible code so
extraordinary.
American scientific peer groups reviewed
Rips phenomenon for four years before
the information was printed in the prominent Statistical Science Journal in 1994. The
theory, which they called theomatics, perplexed them. While they could not fault
Rips evidence, they could not believe it.
Rips had found the names of 32 sages who
lived and died long after biblical times, encoded with their dates of birth and death.
The odds of this happening were reportedly one in ten million.
Meanwhile, Harold Gans, a senior codebreaker at a top secret National Security
Agency in Washington, D.C., heard about
the Bible Code and decided it was the product of Rips fertile imagination. He even
wrote a program to prove the doctor wrong.
But after 440 hours, Gans wound up replicating Rips work. In disbelief, he looked for
the names of the cities where the 32 sages
had lived and died. And when he found
them he, too, was flabbergasted.
Now that theomatics has been proven
mathematically, it would seem that the theory would make front-page headlines. Yet
many people still refuse to accept it or fear
the ridicule of their family, friends, or coworkers by publically supporting the theory.
How can a book be written to include precise details of future events? Ironically,
though no one can answer this question,
few can deny the truths of the past.
Gulf War and Rabins Death
n 1992, Michael Drosnin, then a reporter for the Washington Post, was in Israel meeting with the Chief of Israeli
Intelligence about the future of warfare.
Upon leaving, an officer told Drosnin about
Dr. Eliyahu Rips, who had learned the exact
date that the Gulf War would begin from a
code buried in the Bible. Drosnin considered the notion farfetched but out of curiosity paid him a visit.
Drosnin soon met Dr. Rips. Though
Drosnin expected the doctor would show
him the Bible to illustrate the Gulf War
code, Rips instead went to his computer.
Hebrew letters were highlighted in five different colors, crossword-style. He then gave
Drosnin a printout wherein Hussein,
Scuds, and Russian missile were
arranged together in Genesis. The full code
sequence stated Hussein pick a day. Rips
further referenced Genesis Chapter 14, finding the Hebrew calendar equivalent of January 18, 1991 within the story of
Abrahams wars. Incredibly, this was the
date Iraq launched the first missile against
Israel. Rips told him he had uncovered the
code three weeks before the war began.
But the sign that would make a lasting
impression on Drosnin was about Israeli

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. In 1994,
Rips saw Rabins name cross with the words
assassin that will assassinate, Tel Aviv,
and the date of late September, 1995. A
troubled Drosnin forewarned Rabin in a letter of his findings, indicating: This should
not be ignored, because the assassinations of
Anwar Sadat and both John and Robert
Kennedy are also encoded in the Bible.
Drosnins efforts to save Rabin failed
when, in November of 1995, Rabin died
In 1994, Rips found Israeli Prime Minister

Yitzhak Rabins name crossed with the words
assassin that will assassinate and the date
of 1995. He was indeed assassinated in 1995.
from an assassins gunshot wound to his

back.
As if the murder of Yitzhak Rabin was not
disturbing enough, The End was observed four times in the Bibles original five
books. Drosnin noticed that the only place
where End of Days was seen, Arafat also
appeared, along with E. Barak.
When Drosnin informed Rips, it was his
opinion that Arafats involvement had ominous overtones. Therefore, when it was announced in 2000 that Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasir
Arafat would meet with President Clinton
45
for peace talks at Camp David, Drosnin sent

Clinton a letter that warned:
The stakes are even higher than you may
imagine. The alternative is starkly stated
in the Bible codethe real Armageddon,
a nuclear world war starting in the Middle East.
Clinton never responded to the letter and
the Camp David talks failed. Ariel Sharon,
who opposed the peace plan, became the
new Prime Minister of Israel and George W.
Bush was elected President, all foreseen in a
code giving names of those involved, crossing the phrase End of Days. Rips calculated the odds of such a complex matrix
appearing at a million to one.
Predicting 9/11 and the End Times
ith Rips guidance, Drosnin realized that the Bible code predicted
everything from World War II to
Watergate, from the Holocaust to Hiroshima, from the moon landing to one of
the largest cataclysms in American history:
the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Interestingly, the notorious mystic Nostradamus intimated that an attack on New
York could happen centuries ago. He wrote:
The world garden near the new city in the
road of the hollow mountains will be seized
and plunged in the tank.
Some interpreters have guessed that the
expression hollow mountains was Nostradamus best description for skyscrapers, a
type of building that clearly did not exist
during his lifetime. Although critics are justified in exposing his followers for failing to
predict 9/11, they cannot fault Drosnin for
trying. For on September 10, 2001, Drosnin phoned the White House to verify that
President George W. Bush received the letter
he had sent him more than a month earlier
warning that the United States might face
World War III during his term. He was told
that Chief of Staff Andrew Card and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
had received it.
The next day, he awoke in his Manhattan
apartment to the sound of a massive boom
and watched in horror as an airplane crashed
into the second of the World Trade Centers
Twin Towers.
Additionally, Dr. Rips found Osama bin
Ladens name with a guilty verdict in Genesis, as well as the phrases: the sin, the crime
46
of bin Laden and the city and the tower.

The word Pentagon was also crossed by
damaged and emergency, followed by
Arabia, alluding to the attack on the Pentagon by Saudi Arabian terrorists.
Likewise, the year 2010 has horrendous
implications, as the date is combined with
the words comet, days of horror, darkness, and gloom. Eerily, the word
crater crosses India twice, suggesting a
meteor impact from space in 2010. Also in
2010, the word Etna appears four times
throughout Exodus and Deuteronomy.
Mt. Etna, situated along the coast of
Sicily, is one of the worlds most active volcanoes, with a long record of eruptions. But
it is not the only volcano to be watched. The
word Yellowstone, which is also found in
the sequence, is intermingled with the
words choking, toxicosis, dust, ash,
darkness, and dimming.
Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming is
the site of what scientists call a super-volcano, which sleeps under a large part of the
national park area and it is long overdue to
erupt. If there is an eruption, millions of
people would die and the U.S. economy
would come to a halt. It is predicted that
ISSUE
#23
According to the Bible Code, the supervolcano at Yellowstone National Park

in Wyoming may erupt in 2010. If there
is an eruption, the ash cloud would
be so huge it would be visible from
space. Millions of people would die
most within the surrounding 100
milesand others would die from
inhalation of ash. The ash cloud would
drop average temperatures up to 15
degrees within three months so little to
no food could be grown for quite some
time, causing worldwide famine.
47
BIBLE CODE PREDICTIONS
2009
FOR
ignificant new codes have recently been found by Exodus 2006 (www.exodus2006.com),
including a disturbing line regarding President Barack Obama which reads: From the
back, B. Obama was killed; you committed a crime.
This sequence was discovered in an even spread throughout a large
section of the Hebrew Old Testament, and the odds of finding this
were a shocking 875,616,773,762,370 to 1. There is no date
found so far, but webmaster Andy McCraken believes in its
likelihood, since a code like this is beyond chance.
Other sequences seem to compound the dread that is
defining our current financial crisis. To wit, McCrackens
software found these cautionary words encoded in the
Bible: We will be depressed; in 2009 in the peak and The
plan is an injustice against them.
The rumors of wars that Jesus mentioned in the New Testament underscore another unsettling warning found within the
Bible: Worldwide famineSign in 2009Iranian cloud and A
great famine; shelter yourselves my people.
While people tend to
think of famine only occurring in third-world
countries, there are already signs of a mechanism that will spread food shortages. For
instance, economists link the credit crisis to
the current difficultly in shipping bulk cargoes. In western countries, farming is cash
intensive, and income is usually highest at
the end of the year. As a result, many farmers rely on short-term loans to keep things
running normally during the remainder of
the year. Farmers and other businesspeople
are now complaining that loans are becoming harder to get. This lack of credit could
force various utilities, and other businesses,
to shut down. Those companies that provide
the internet structure will be particularly vulnerable, since many are largely financed
with borrowed money using optimistic income forecasting.
JOAN VOSS
grocery stores would empty out, airlines,

trains, buses, and roads would stop and
within three months, the entire world
would be covered by clouds.
The year 2012 also appears in Deuteronomy with the word comet, it will be
crumbled, I will tear it to pieces, and
Earth annihilated. This could well turn
out to represent a mass extinction event.
The Earth has already been hit many times
48
by cosmic debris, and the dinosaurs may

have become extinct due to a devastating asteroid impact. Yet unlike the 1998 film Deep
Impact, in which survivors roam Earth afterward, a large comet hit would cause our
planet to turn dark and cold for several years
before becoming unusually hot.
Any asteroid falling from the sky would
have a tremendous amount of energy. Here
is a typical example. In 2028, the asteroid
1997XF11 will come extremely close to

earth. If it hit our planet, it would strike the
planets surface at about 30,000 mph. An
asteroid that big traveling at that speed has
the energy roughly equal to a one million
megaton bomb and many scientists believe
it would wipe out most life on earth.
End Times Paranoia
ould the Bible code really be false
prophecy? Perhaps it is best to examine what Jesus said regarding the
end times and untruths. Upon leaving the
temple He told his disciples: I tell you the
truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.
When asked when this incident would
transpire, Jesus answered:
Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of
wars. See that ye be not troubled for all
these things must come to pass, but the
end is not yet. For nation shall rise
against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom, and there shall be famines,
pestilences, and earthquakes. All these
are the beginning of sorrows and
many false prophets shall rise, and shall
deceive many.9
Although over 2,000 years have passed
since these poignant words were spoken,
they still carry a distinct chill. One cannot
help but recall that the earth has an expiration date. Still, it is comforting to think that
End Times paranoia may merely be a
byproduct of millennium fever.
Even if Eli Rips is wrong about a secret
language concealed in the Bibles gauzy
pages, it is difficult to disagree with his
logic when he says: It is not a prediction
but a warning of what can happen, according to what we do.
While we may never be fully convinced
that another side to the Bible exists, its
haunting truths continue to make the Bible
Code the greatest story ever told. z
Israeli code-search software is available online, giving users the ability to search for codes
throughout the Torah. Bible Codes 2000 also
contains a Hebrew font, a dictionary, name
databases, and creates matrices. The CD costs
about $50 and can be ordered at
www.bibleshop.com/biblecodes-2000.html
ISSUE
#23
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SUNSPOTS &
THE NUMBER 11
in the
2012
Prophesy
50
ISSUE
#23
Our times are bracketed

by two specific dates
September 11, 2001 and
December 21, 2012
the greatest single act
of terrorism on the
continental United
States and the end of
the Maya calendar. If, as
some observers suspect,
something more than a
coincidental relationship
exists between these
two events, its explanation must lie beyond
the powers of ordinary
human reason and in
the world of numbers.
by Frank Joseph
51
The relationship between human destiny

and numbers was recognized when the
sixth century BC. Greek philosopher
Pythagoras observed that, all is number.
This dictum means that all existing things
can be ultimately reduced to numerical relationships. He regarded numbers as the expression of those relationships and the
universal spiritual force connecting every
one of them in a network of energy laid
over the breadth of creation.
In the Epinomis, Plato expanded upon the
Pythagorean concept of numbers as keys to
the interconnectedness of all things:
all geometric constructions, all systems
of numbers, all duly constituted melodic
progressions, AND the ordered scheme of
all celestial revolutions disclose themselves through the revelation of a single
bond of natural interconnection.
The sacred character of numerical synchronicity was also recognized by ancient
Egyptian sages who regarded the universe
as a composite whole, in which every part
is related to every other. To them, this universal entity represented a cosmic consciousness that expressed its will in a
hierarchy of levels. What humans perceived
as matter was the materialization of that
will, just as our mind was the awareness at
a higher, and therefore invisible level. The
Pythagoreans sought to unlock the mysteries of cosmic consciousness through their
study of numerical interrelationships, because they believed that numbers were the
expression of function.
But they believed that only traumatic,
universally recognized events of numerical
significance were potent enough to compel
an awareness of the relationship between
destiny and numbers. The most recent example was the destruction of New Yorks
Trade Center in 2001. It took place on the
11th day of the ninth month or, as is commonly expressed 9/11, the same digits used
as a general emergency telephone number.
Whether or not the attackers deliberately
chose these numbers is unimportant; no
one escaped the parallel between the date
of the event, its disastrous character, and
the emergency number.
Additionally, the numeral 1 features
prominently in the Twin Towers disaster.
For example, 9/11 = 9 + 1 + 1 = 11. September 11th is the 254th day of the year: 2
52
+ 5 + 4 = 11. After September 11, 111

days were left to the end of the year.
The Twin Towers, standing side by side,
resembled the number 11. The combined
windows in the Twin Towers number
21,800, or 2+1+8=11. The first jetliner
to collide with them was Flight 11. On
board Flight 11 were 92 passengers: 9 + 2
= 11. The other suicide aircraft, Flight 77,
carried 65 passengers: 6 + 5 = 11.
When President Bush visited the ruins of
the World Trade Center, he was photographed beside a fireman wearing a helmet emblazoned with the number, 164:
1+6+4=11.Moreover, at 1:11 on the
morning of September 11, 2001, Geminorum-13, one of 48 stars in the constellation
of Gemini, appeared inside the crescent

moon. Gemini signifies the twins while the
crescent moon is the emblem of Islam. And
Mohammeds birthday is celebrated on the
11th day of the ninth month.
Thirty years before the suicide attacks
on the towers, numerologist Maria Valla
wrote that persons associated with the
number 11 can destroy anything that it
touches, including self. You will conquer
others, but in so doing, destroy yourself.
Among folk traditions around the world,
the number 11 is traditionally associated
with political instability and violence, lack
of self-restraint, destructive transition,
danger, and revolution.
These traits are generated by the removal
11
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of the number 1 from the cosmic order, as

personified in the number 12 (the 12 houses
of the zodiac, Christs 12 apostles, the 12
hours of the day, the 12 months of the year,
the human bodys 12 pairs of ribs and thoracic vertebrae), and the imbalance created
when 1 is added to the patriarchal number
10, which signifies political power or civilization (i.e., Platos ten kings of Atlantis; the
ten patriarchs of the Hindu god Manu; the
original ten patriarchs in the biblical Genesis; the Babylonians 10 world rulers before
the Flood, etc.).
In the Pythagorean system, 11 signified
chaos because it was a cardinal number separating humanity or civilizationassociated
with 10from the cosmic order embodied
in the number 12.
The Sunspot Cycle
he troubling nature of 11 was introduced in the west after the Greek geometrician Pythagoras studied the
mystical significance of numbers at the ancient Egyptian mystery school of Heliopolis,
meaning City of the Sun. Could the early
astronomers there have known about the
suns 11-year sunspot cycle, the basis for the
number 11s association with chaos?
Sunspots are cooler regions on the surface of the sun, which seriously disrupt
electronic communications and interfere
with normal human thought processes.
They discharge abnormally large concentrations of electronically charged particles.
These photons interface with radio, telephone and television transmitters and receivers, as well as the neural network of our
brains, overloading artificial and organic
systems with power surges beyond their
design limits.
During the early 14th century, the inexplicable disappearance of sunspots was coincidental withand, according to
climatologists, somehow responsible fora
relatively brief, worldwide drought referred
to as the Little Ice Age. Scientists also suspect that the 11-year sunspot cycle was
linked to the advance and retreat of glaciation over the last half-million years.
Our sun also changes its magnetic polarity every 11 years, interfacing with Earths
own magnetic field to cause worldwide
breakdowns in all forms of electronic communication. But disruption is not confined
to radio and television. From the mid-20th

century on, parapsychologists have traced a
correlation between the solar flips and upsurges of emotional disturbances in human
behavior.
For instance, a study published in the December, 1979 issue of Psychology Today (Lunatics or Solaics? by Erica Vidnjevitch, vol.
7, number 4) reported that residents of
U.S. day care centers, nursing homes, and
psychiatric wards all experienced abnormally high frequency of anxiety attacks and
erratic behavior during the apogee of the
suns 11-year polar reversal.
Researchers also speculate that the bioelectric field of many creatures is directly influenced by the suns 11-year cycle. If so,
modern science and ancient mysticism
begin to complement each otherand applies no less wellto the close of the Mayan
calendar on December 21, 2012.
Catastrophic Upheavals
he starting date of the Mayan calendar is remarkable because August 12,
3113 BC coincides with the sudden
emergence of high cultures not only in the
Valley of Mexico but also in the Nile Valley,
the Indus Valley, and the Fertile Crescent.
According to Mayan astronomer-priests,
the calendar began with the arrival of their
ancestors on Yucatan shores as survivors
from the Hun yecil (the Drowning of the
Trees), a worldwide deluge that overwhelmed a global civilization. The late
fourth millennium BC was also a period of
catastrophic upheavals around the northern
hemisphere, brought about by the close
passage of the comet Encke.
Computer simulations show that the
ecliptic of our sun will intersect with the
galactic ecliptic on the morning of December 21, 2012. The sun at that moment will
be one degree above the horizon at the
equator (73 degrees west).
The sun moves into the ecliptic crosshairs
only once every 26,000 years. Astronomers
refer to this moment as the precession of the
Great Year of the Equinox. But this grand
precession is meaningless because observations extending out into space beyond
18,000 light years disintegrate. With this in
mind, 2012s winter solstice sunrise takes
place only once in the whole history of the
universe! More amazing still, modern re-
searchers did not even discover the whereabouts of the galactic center until 1963. So
how could the ancient Maya have known of
our galaxys exact location? And why did
they choose this cosmically unique event as
the date to end their calendar?
The number 11 may provide an answer.
The Mayan calendar terminates precisely on
the morning of 2012s winter solstice at
11:11 U.T.C. (Coordinated Universal
Time). Millennia before the Christmas holiday which usurped it, the winter solstice
was mankinds greatest festival, the annual
conquest of darkness, the original New
Years Day. Thus, it may signify the close of
our chaotic, dark times with the onset of
human enlightenment.
The Maya were more explicit, however,
if not entirely clear in explaining the termination of their calendar. It had begun with
one catastrophethe Hun yecil, their version of the Great Floodand would close
with another they said would be known as
The Rebellion of the Earth. Sixteenthcentury Spanish friars assumed that their
Indian parishioners meant a particularly destructive earthquake of some kind had been
prophesized. But a Rebellion of the Earth
may actually imply a more ominous ecological disaster.
For instance, in both the magnitude and
speed of deterioration, climate change continues to take natural scientists by surprise.
Dr. George McKendry, director of the Massachusetts Institute for Earth Studies, stated
in 2002 that just ten years remained for the
implementation of major, international improvements to head off an irrevocable alteration in the life-support systems of our
planet. If decisive, preventative measures
were not in place after that period, he
stated, not even the most radical solutions
would be able to deter exponentially developing global instability. Increasing frequency and destructiveness of superstorms
(particularly hurricanes and tornados)together with unusually dry conditions for
major outbreaks of brush and forest fires
would more and more typify our world in
the 21st century.
Whether or not Dr. McKendry was aware
that his deadline corresponded with the end
of the Mayan calendar, it is a dire prognostication underscored by the reappearance of
the number 11 in our uncertain times. z
53
54
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The Mayan O
Calendar
Ancient Prophecies
for a New World
by Mary Franz
n December 21,
2012, the world as we
know it will cease to
exist. This prediction, made
thousands of years ago by
Mayan shamans, has raised
many questions: What does
the ancient prophecy mean?
Will a cataclysmic event
destroy the planet and how
and why did the Mayans
choose the winter solstice in
a year so far into the future?
Scholars claim the answers to
all these questions are found
in the Mayan calendar.
55
The height of Mayan civilization existed

in what is now Central America and southern Mexico, from about 250 to 900 AD.
Throughout their history, the Maya mastered numerous pursuits, including architecture, agriculture, spoken and written
language, art, mathematics, and astronomy.
Like modern civilizations, the Maya believed that time is linear and that events
could be described as occurring in the past,
present, or future. But in contrast to our
contemporary perception, the Maya also believed that time is cyclical and that recurring
cycles had mystical meaning.
The Maya were also knowledgeable about
the movement of the sun, moon, planets,
and stars, which they used to track time and
mark important events, in much the same
way that we do today. However, their interest in astronomy was not simply pragmatic;
they believed that what transpired in the
heavens was related to mans fate and the
evolution of consciousness. Thus, their calendar was not only a means to follow time
but also a manifestation of their belief system and orientation to the world.
Uses of the Mayan Calendars
he Tzolkin, or count of days,
was the calendar that the Maya
used to mark religious rituals and
community celebrations, to foretell future
events, and to practice healing and divination. It consisted of 20 day names and 13
day numbers (Trecena). Each of the 20 day
names was symbolic of an animal (alligator,
owl, jaguar, eagle, serpent, rabbit, deer,
monkey, dog); an element (earth, wind,
water, fire, rain, light, obsidian); or some
other sacred facet of Mayan culture (seed,
grass, night, death).
Each of the 13 numbers of the Trecena
was ruled by a god or goddess, who was believed to confer special powers to the day.
The product of the 20 day names and 13
numbers yielded a cycle of 260 days, each
with its own unique energies and influences.
The numbers 20 and 13 were quite significant in Mayan culture. Unlike our decimal system, which is built on the number
ten, the Maya used the number 20 as a
base. The number 13 represented heaven
or the Upperworld, where the gods existed. The number 260 is also roughly
equal to the number of days in a human
56
Astrological Alignments
ere the Maya aware of celestial alignments? Massive stone stelae discovered near the
ancient city of Izapa in coastal Guatemala bear detailed iconography of the astronomical alignment for the end of the Long Count. In addition, many of Izapas stelae and related monuments (some 250 altars, thrones, and pillars) were constructed to face the December
solstice horizon. The Izapa ruins suggest that the Maya were not only knowledgeable about the
planetary configurations for the winter solstice of 2012 but also keenly attuned to their significance.
The Mayan prediction of a winter solstice many years into the future illustrates their proficiency
as skywatchers, a stunning achievement for a people without telescopes, compasses, or computers. Indeed, modern researchers have found that the Maya were able to calculate solar and
lunar eclipses and revolutions of Venus to an error of one day in 6,000 years, suggesting that they
also knew about precession, planetary cycles, and solar activity.
MARY FRANZ
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pregnancy, suggesting that Mayan midwives may have utilized the 260-day calendar to forecast births.
Mayan priests known as the Ah Kin
(day-keepers) consulted the Tzolkin
with queries related to personal, family, and
community matters. The priests were
vested with the power to predict the temperaments of newborn infants (conferred
by the deities governing their birth days),
and to advise on ones life path and destiny.
A second Mayan calendar was known as
the Haab, which was made up of 18 20day months (uinal), followed by a period
of five nameless days known as the Wayeb.
The purpose of the 365-day Haab cycle
was to track the seasons and weather patterns, in order to identify the best planting times.
The five days of the Wayeb were seen as
a time of rest and retreat for the gods, when
the boundaries between the mortal world
and the underworld were broken. The
Wayeb was considered to be a dangerous
period, during which rituals were performed to summon the gods return.
The movement of a Tzolkin and a Haab
through one full cycle required 52 solar
years, known as the Calendar Round. The
completion of one of these cycles was
marked by the lighting of fires, to honor
the beginning of a new era.
The Long Count
he third calendar created by the
Maya was known as the Long
Count, and was used to record long
passages of time. The Long Count was
based on a sequence of chronological measures: a single day (kin), 360 days (tun), 20
years (katun), and lastly, 144,000 days, or
394 solar years (baktun). In the Mayan
world, 13 baktun marked the completion
of the Long Count.
For centuries, researchers labored to determine when the Long Count began. In
1729, a rare Mayan manuscript was discovered in Dresden, Germany. The document,
an apparent forgotten gift to a former German official, was secured by the director of
the Royal Library, who began efforts to
preserve it. Crafted from tree bark and brilliantly painted in delicate script, the mysterious 74-page manuscript was a fortuitous
find, as much of Mayan art and culture had
been destroyed by Spanish explorers during the early 1500s. Over the next century,
researchers unsuccessfully scrutinized the
text, unable to identify its source or meaning. Finally, in 1880 a German scholar
named Ernst Frstemann deciphered the
document, which then became known as
the Dresden Codex.
Frstemanns work with the Codex provided the first published scientific treatise
about the structure and meaning of the
Mayan calendar system, and revealed that
the Maya measured time from a mysterious
event they called the Birth of Venus, alluding to the transformation of a comet
known as Quetzal-cohuatl into the planet
Venus, following a collision with the sun.
After Frstemanns translation of the
Dresden Codex, curiosity about how the
mythical Birth of Venus might relate to the
dates in the Julian and Gregorian calendars
surged. In 1937, anthropologist J. Eric
Thompson developed a system of mathematical constants known as the GMT
(Goodman Martinez Thompson) correlation, from which he was able to calculate
the date of the beginning of the Long
CountAugust 11, 3114 BCand the
end of the Long CountDecember 21,
2012.
According to the Maya, the earth is now
experiencing the fifth sun age. Its conclusion on December 21, 2012, will mark the
completion of 13 baktun, and the termination of the period of time the Maya
called the Great Cycle. But as with many
mysteries, one question remained: what
led the Maya to believe that a day thousands of years in the future held such
power and significance?
Mayan Mythology and Religion
he Maya believed that the cosmos
consisted of the underworld, the
earth, and the sky, and that a massive, canopied tree bound the three planes
together. They believed that there were
nine levels of the underworldwidely represented by pyramids constructed of nine
storiesand 13 levels of the heavens, each
ruled by a god or goddess.
The Maya held the sky sacred and studied
it incessantly. They believed that all celestial
activity was controlled by gods who were
owed homage in the form of human sacri-
fice or self-mutilation. Failure to appease

them, they believed, would result in upheaval in the universe. The Mayans were
particularly interested in the planet Venus;
they charted its movement with great accuracy and planned military campaigns to coincide with key alignments of Venus with
the sun and moon. They also had deep affection for the Milky Way, which they believed was the birthplace of all life and was
a mystical road linking the underworld and
heavens.
Zenial Passages, which refer to the biannual movements of the sun across the
Mayan latitudes, were also considered sacred, and was venerated in the form of a
deity called the Diving God, perhaps in reference to the setting sun. In addition, planetary alignments observed at the
completion of the 20-year katun cycles
were particularly important. During these
times, new kings were chosen, wars were
fought, and captives were taken and sacrificed to the gods.
The notion of sun ages (cycles of creation, destruction, and rebirth of the earth
occurring over thousands of years) was also
an integral part of the Long Count. They
believed that four sun ages had occurred
before them, each marked by destruction
of the world, followed by a new cycle of
creation, and evolution in mans physical
and spiritual natures. And they believed
that December 21, 2012, marked just such
an event.
Doomsday or Birth of a New Era?
hy did the Maya choose December 21, 2012 as the ending
date for the Long Count, and
what exactly will happen on that day?
Scholars have puzzled over these mysteries
for decades.
Many researchers believe that the completion of the Long Count relates to some
celestial phenomenon which held significance for the Mayan people. Astronomical
charting of the night sky for the winter solstice of 2012 has revealed that on December 21, the center of the Milky Way (known
as the Galactic Equator) and the path of the
sun of (known as the ecliptic) will converge
in the heavens. During this time, the sun
will be positioned directly at the heart of the
galaxy. The point where the sun and Milky
57
58
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Way will meet is known as the dark rift, a

mass of dense dust clouds, visible on clear
summer nights. The positioning of the sun
in this manner will cause the Milky Way to
appear to sit on the earth, as it touches
every point on the horizon.
The intersection of the solar path with
the Milky Way is called the Galactic Alignment, and is caused by precession, or the
slow wobbling of the earth on its axis. Precession results in the subtle shift of the
equinoxes and solstices, one degree every
75 years. Galactic alignment is a rare occurrence, happening once every 26,000
years, and has been tied to increased solar
flare activity, disruption of electromagnetic
and gravitational fields, and disturbances in
weather patterns and tidal movement.
The astrological chart for the 2012 winter solstice also displays some intriguing
features. The chart is dominated by a configuration known as a yod, or Finger of
God (so-called because it resembles a
hand pointing a finger), made up of 150
alignments between Jupiter and Pluto, and
Pluto and Saturn, and a 180 aspect between Jupiter and Mercury/Venus. The
qualities attributed to the planets composing the yod configuration (Jupiter, expansion; Pluto death and regeneration, Saturn,
earthly struggle and learning) suggest a period of profound and perhaps painful transformation.
Theories on End Times
s the world moves closer to December 21, 2012, speculation
mounts about what will transpire
on that day. Theories range from a natural
disaster causing destruction of the earth to
a spiritual rebirth that will turn humanity
from materialism and toward a spiritual
reawakening.
Writer Lawrence E. Joseph has little
doubt that the ancient Mayan prophecy
presages the occurrence of a cataclysmic
event on December 21, 2012. In his book
Apocalypse 2012, A Scientific Investigation
into Civilizations End, Joseph notes that
influences such as overpopulation and
global warming are likely to trigger any
number of catastrophic natural disasters, including volcanic eruptions, earthquakes,
and tsunamis, which will radically alter climates, destroy crops, and decimate many
John Major Jenkins finds mystical significance in the anticipated cosmic events of
2012. Far from seeing the end of the Long
Count as a call for apocalypse, Jenkins envisions a new era for the world, one marked by
deep spirituality.
species of plants and animals. According to

Joseph, the ultimate result will be the annihilation of much of the worlds population.
Other doomsday theories focus on the
disruptive effect of solar storms on the
earths magnetic field. Sunspots can reverse
the earths magnetic field, and on very rare
occasions cause a pole shift, or flip of the
North and South Poles. A global pole shift
could force the earth to rotate in the opposite direction, causing earthquakes,
tsunamis, and devastating storms.
The next sunspot cycle, which will occur
in 2012, has also been targeted as a catalyst for disaster. Maurice Cotterell, a British
engineer and mathematician, believes that
solar flares affect many life processes, including fertility, fetal development, and
predisposition to mental illness. Early in his
studies, Cotterell discovered a solar cycle of
1,366,040 days that bore striking similarity
to the Mayan super number or
1366,560 days, from the Dresden Codex.
He theorized that the Mayans vast understanding of the sun included knowledge of
sunspot cycles, and that intensifying
sunspot activity in late 2012 will trigger a
pole shift.
But not all predictions for the comple-
Carl Johan Calleman is a former cancer researcher who views the Mayan calendar as a
guide through to a spiritual reawakening. According to Calleman, we have now entered
the eighth level of consciousness, marked by
a growing spirituality and a rejection of materialism. This period will lead to the ninth and
final level, the embracing of universal consciousness that will coincide with the end of
the Long Count.
tion of the Long Count end with global

destruction. Mayan scholars such as John
Major Jenkins and Carl Johan Calleman
view the Mayan calendar as a powerful map
that tracks the growth of human consciousness, and they believe that December
21, 2012 will mark mans movement toward enlightenment.
Of course, no one can predict with certainty what events will transpire during the
winter solstice of 2012. And probably few
of us can imagine the apocryphal events
that could potentially transform our world.
Nonetheless, the stirring and mysterious
words of Don Alejandro Oxlaj, the Grand
Elder of the Maya and keeper of the teachings and prophecies of the Mayan people,
offer a vision of what might lie ahead, as
well as a call to action, when he stated:
We see a dark shadow approaching, a
shadow that will cause a lot of harm. It
is the great contamination. The Maya
National Council of Elders of
Guatemala asks all nations of the
world to put a stop to the contamination; and to the big and small enterprises, to find alternatives. z
59
The Loch
A Nessie sculpture
displayed at the Loch
Ness Exhibition Centre.
60
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#23
Ness Monster
Hoax or Horror?
S
t. Columba logged the first historical

Nessie encounter in 565 AD, when he allegedly invoked Gods name to save a
swimmer in the River Ness from an approaching, beast. Sightings of unknown creatures swimming in Loch Ness and prowling on its shores
persisted from the 1520s through the 1920s.
Then Nessie reports went global in 1933, with
the construction of a lakeside highway that permitted better views of Loch Ness from the western shore. Whichever estimate of sightings we
accept, be it 600 (Ulrich Magin, 1986), 3,000
(David James, 1981), or 10,000 (Roy Mackal,
1976), there is no shortage of anecdotal evidence
that a strange creature inhabits Loch Ness.
by Michael Newton
61
Between 1933 and 2007, Nessie has allegedly been captured in 70 photos, 31
films, and four videotapes. Four other witnesses claimed seeing Nessie via live webcams between 1999 and 2002. Some photos
have been dismissed as portraying waves,
birds, or floating logs while others are obvious hoaxes.
But the most famous Nessie photo of all
time is the so-called surgeons photograph. For six decades, Nessie believers
hailed this photographsnapped by Dr.
Robert Wilson in the presence of a friend in
1934as the best evidence of a long-necked
cryptid living in Loch Ness. Skeptics dismissed it as a picture of a swimming bird or
diving otter, but no one questioned that its
subject was a living animal until 1994, when
authors Alastair Boyd and David Martin
exposed the photo as a hoax.
Their claim hinged on the alleged
deathbed confession of Christian Spurling,
stepson of 1930s Nessie footprint hoaxer
Marmaduke Wetherell. According to Spurling, he had used plastic wood to build a
model dinosaur, mounted his model on a
clockwork submarine, then helped
Wetherell and others photograph the object in a small Loch Ness inlet. The motive
for the hoax remains obscure, since none of
those allegedly involved made a dime from
the prank, and all but Spurling took the secret to their graves.
Lazy reporters worldwide trumpeted the
story as a bombshell revelation, disproving
Nessies existence. Yet some basic homework might have saved them from embarrassment. Today we know that there was no
deathbed confession. Spurling spun his tale
in 1991 and died a full two years later. Since
Boyd and Martin withheld his claim until he
was dead, he could not be cross-examined.
Additionally, plastic wood did not exist in
1934, when Spurling claimed he used it to
construct his model Nessie.
Not only that, but a rarely published uncropped version of the surgeons photo
(below) clearly shows that it was not focused upon a bay or inlet,
but depicts an object in the
middle of the loch. Finally, a
second photo of the creature
(right), snapped by Wilson
on the same day in 1934,
shows the beast submerging, with its head

held at a different angle to the neck (impossible in Spurlings scenario). In short, the
hoax claim was a fraud, though today
most journalists still tout it as fact.
Fakes at the Lake
eal hoaxes, of course, have been
tried at Loch Ness, but none deceived serious researchers. Wetherell
set the standard for crude fakery in 1933,
using an ashtray made from a hippopotamus
foot to plant Nessie tracks at the loch. Exposure of the fraud 12 days later tarnished
Wetherells reputation and forced him to resign in disgrace from the Royal Geographical Society.
Years later, Lachlan Stuart produced the
first proven hoax photo of Nessie in 1951,
using three bales of hay covered with black
plastic tarps to produce a humped back on
BELOW: The best-known surgeons photo of Nessie, from

April of 1934.
RIGHT: The second 1934 photo,
ignored in Christian Spurlings
deathbed confession, which
disproves his claim.
62
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#23
Nessie: The Usual Suspects

IF NESSIE
Relict plesiosaurs. Critics note that Loch

Ness is only 10,000 years old, carved out by
glaciers in the last Ice Age, long after dinosaurs vanished from Earth. Furthermore,
its cold depths should prove inhospitable to
reptiles. Believers reply that little is known
about prehistoric marine reptiles aside from
the size and shape of their fossilized bones.
Some speculate that warm-blooded
dinosaurs still exist, offering hope that
cold seas may not have spelled certain
death for some ancient species.
AND HER OFFSPRING
E X I S T, W H AT A R E T H E Y ?
THE
A R R AY O F C A N D I D AT E S P R O P O S E D
I S STAG G E R I N G .
SUSPECTS
INCLUDE:
Gigantic eels. Two large conger eels were found dead at

Loch Ness in 2001, but since
they normally inhabit salt
water, most experts believe
they were planted by hoaxers.
Paranormal Nessie,
a creature that is
deposited by UFOs,
conjured by magic,
or travels
between
unknown
dimensions.
Tullimonstrum,
which resembles
classic Nessie, except that it never
grew beyond six
inches in length
and apparently
died out 300 million years ago.
Circus
elephants,
released to
swim in Loch
Ness by persons unknown,
seen paddling
with their
trunks raised
above the
surface.
Giant salmon, allegedly bred in

Loch Ness years ago as part
of a failed experiment in
caviar production, now
perhaps extinct.
63
the surface of the lake. In the 1970s, hoaxer

Frank Searle created a series of dramatic
Nessie photos by cutting and pasting postcard dinosaurs onto snapshots of Loch
Ness. In 1977, Anthony Doc Shiels allegedly used magic to conjure Nessie, then
snapped a color photo of an apparent dinosaurs neck protruding from the loch.
That photos extreme clarity, and the total
absence of ripples around the rising monster, prompted critics to dub it the Loch
Ness Muppet.
Physical remains of Nessie have also been
hoaxed. Fossilized plesiosaur vertebrae,
found at the loch by Gerald McSorley in
2003, proved genuine enough, but testing
revealed that the fossils had been lifted from
a saltwater environment and placed at Loch
Ness by persons unknown. Two years later
in 2005, a pair of American students visiting Loch Ness found a dead deer on shore,
with a large tooth protruding from its
body. They photographed the tooth, then
showed it to a game warden who allegedly
seized it. Their photos suggest that the object was, in fact, a small deers antler.
Legend Meets Science
hotos and eyewitness reports are not
the only source of evidence for unknown creatures inhabiting Loch
Ness between 1954 and 2001. Various
sonar devices also scored at least 53 separate
hits on large moving objects in the loch.
One incident, revealing two unidentified
targets, coincided with the famous flipper
photo taken at Loch Ness on August 8,
1972. Operation Deepscan, carried out in
1987 with 24 boats, scored three more hits
on some unidentified animate object(s). Six
years later in 1993, Nicholas Witchells
Project Urquhart team recorded sonar hits
on two large, submerged targets that were
definitely not shoals of fish.
Producers of the PBS Nova television
program planned to debunk Nessie in
1997, but two large sonar contacts in the
loch convinced them of the creatures existence. In 2001, sonar prints taken aboard
the cruise boat M.V. Nessie Hunter revealed
a serpentine form with two prominent dorsal humps.
Nessie does not only appear on sonar
screens, however; she also makes noise. The
first underwater recording of unidentified
64
Nessie Caught on Film
Some of the best-known and most controversial photos and films of the Loch Ness
Monster include:
1933: Nessies first photo, snapped by Hugh Gray at Foyers, apparently revealing a
large creature swimming in the water.
1938: G.E. Taylors color movie footage of Nessie, again filmed near Foyers. Experts
disagree as to whether it portrays a live animal or a dead horse floating on the surface.
1960: Tim Dinsdales classic film, analyzed by Royal Air Force photosurveillance experts, depicts an animate object 12 to 16 feet long.
1972: Underwater footage reveals a triangular flipper passing the cameras lens.
1975: Underwater photos by Dr. Robert Rines reveal a long-necked animal and a
close-up view of its head. The latter photo has been challenged as depicting a submerged tree stump, which was found and hauled ashore in 1987. The former photo
remains unexplained.
MICHAEL NEWTON
sounds occurred in 1995. Five years later,

sonic surveys of the loch, conducted by
Swedens Global Underwater Search Team
(GUST), produced tapes of pig-like grunting noises whose frequency (747 to 751
hz) matched sounds produced by elephant
seals, killer whales, and walruses.
Conversely, in 2003, BBC producers announced that the negative result of their
own sonar tests and satellite navigation surveys proves that Nessie does not exist.
Jan-Ove Sundberg, founder of GUST,
swiftly disputed that claim, citing interviews
with experts at Kongsberg Simrad, the company that provided the BBCs gear, saying
that Simrad equipment cannot penetrate
below 325 feet and thus would not enable
BBCs hunters to scan the whole loch.
Dead and Gone?
hatever Nessie is, or was, one
veteran researcher fears that the
creatures are now extinct. In
February 2008, after 37 years of diligent research, Dr. Robert Rines told Londons
Daily Record that he was abandoning the
quest. Unfortunately, he declared, Im
running out of age.
Rines started tracking Nessie in 1971,
after he saw a 25-foot-long hump with the
texture of elephant skin gliding along the
lochs surface. In 1972 and 1975, members
of his Academy of Applied Science pro-
duced the best-known underwater photographs of a presumed Loch Ness cryptid

(or tree trunks, in the skeptics view), and in
2001 he filmed an apparent large animals
carcass lying on the bottom of the loch,
near the mouth of Urquhart Bay, at a depth
of 333 feet. That discovery excited producers of the CBS news program 60 Minutes,
who dispatched a film crew to Loch Ness,
but the submerged object had vanished in
the meantime.
Four years later, in 2005, underwater robots directed by Rines collected flesh-like
material from the bed of Loch Ness. Newspapers announced that samples had been
sent off for DNA testing to unnamed labs
in Scotland and the United States, but no
results were ever published.
Rines began suggesting that Nessies
possible extinction in 2001 was due to climatic changes. But suspicion that the creatures might be dead and gone did not
cause him to quit the search. Even the formal announcement of his retirement in
2008 did not mark the end for Rines, who
told the Daily Record that he still wants
to check almost 100 contacts on the floor
of the loch, believing one may be the monsters remains.
The riddle of the loch endures and is emphatically unsolved, despite the best efforts
of scientists and mercenary skeptics, journalists, magicians, and hoaxers alike. z
ISSUE
#23
Exhibits,
Tours, &
Hotels
rumnadrochit, at the head of Urquhart Bay,

presently hosts two competing Nessie exhibitions. The Loch Ness Monster Visitor Centre offers a film of eyewitness accounts and photo
displays of other cryptids from the world at large for
3.50 per visitor. Next door, enthusiasts can
book a monster-spotting cruise to Urquhart Castle and back for 10.
Within 100 yards of the original Nessie museum stands the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre,
a larger and more sophisticated display that
charges 5.95 per visitor. Established and
scripted by researcher-in-residence Adrian
Shine, the exhibition presents a skeptical view
of Nessie, in which every photograph is
hoaxed and every sighting is explained away
as a result of error or delusion. The narrators
conclusion that there is a real mystery at
Loch Ness rings hollow after 30 minutes of
steadfast dismissal (including blithe acceptance of the Spurling hoax) and dedicated
Nessie believers may emerge from the tour
with a sense that they have been taken for
a ride.
Speaking of rides, there is no shortage of
cruise lines available for would-be monster spotters at Loch Ness. The
Nessie Hunter sails from Drumnadrochit while Shines group competes
with tours aboard the Deepscan, both at 10 per
head. The Jacobite Line offers boat and bus tours departing from Inverness, with prices ranging from 10
to 32. Cruise Loch Ness provides hourly tours aboard
the Royal Scot, sailing from Ft. Augustus, at 9.50 per
adult. All of the boats include sonar equipment, with
crew members equipped to entertain and educate.
For the more adventurous, seats are available aboard
the Swatch Loch Ness Submarine, descending several
times per day from the Clansman Marina, six miles south
of Inverness. The sub plummets to depths of some 400
feet, and while its operation is to observe aquatic life
forms, sample sediment, and judge the impact of events
ranging from long-term industrial pollution to the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown, tourists are permitted to
accompany the crew with advance reservations.
While countless hotels dot the Scottish Highlands, the
Inchnacardoch Lodge, near Fort Augustus, provides the
perfect base of operations for day trips into the countryside, with top-notch hospitality and first-rate meals. For further details, visit www.inchnacardoch.com.
65
Book Reviews
Mysterious Monuments:
The Monster of Florence
Encyclopedia of Secret Illuminati Designs, Masonic Architecture, and Occult Places
BY DOUGLAS PRESTON,
WITH MARIO SPEZI
BY TEXE MARRS
$25.99, GRAND CENTRAL., 2008
ISBN: 978-930004-46-7
$34.95, RIVERCREST PUBLISHING, 2008
f you are intrigued by the legendary secret world of the Illuminati, the Masons, or the
occult in general, Mysterious Monuments is for you. A monument in
itself, this almost-a-coffee-tablebook is 592 pages of research, revealing
photographs,
and
documentary evidence that
demonstrate a dedication to subject matter rarely encountered in
todays publishing lists. Marrs
writing style is vivid and startling,
and the simple magnitude of his
research is overwhelming, particularly to the uninitiated.
From relics of ancient Egypt,
Rome, and Greece to modern-day
memorial obelisks and
public buildings, Marrs
builds his case for our
doomed future. This former Air Force officer
and university professor
deconstructs
everything from the Rockefeller mansion in New
York State to the Mexican pyramids of the
Toltec, from Disneys
Sorcerers Apprentice cartoon to Westminster Abbey, finding signs to which
most of us are oblivious. His message is anything but reassuring.
As he queries rhetorically in his introductionthere is an arcane
group of global conspirators
whose monumental works of architecture are intended to advance a terrible, dark and
mysterious ancient religion.
Mysterious Monuments is a fascinating compilation of theories
about the worlds symbolic edifices, both ancient and modern.
ELLEN MCDANIEL-WEISSLER
66
ISBN: 978-0-446-58119-6
etween 1968 and 1985, a

serial killer known as Il
Mostro (the Monster)
claimed 16 lives in the foothills
around Florence, Italy. The slayer-if, indeed, it was a single predator--struck at couples dallying in
lovers lanes outside the city,
killing all with the same .22-caliber pistol, then inflicting gruesome mutilations on the female
victims. Multiple trials, including
several convictions, have failed to
resolve the disturbing case. Today,
residents of Florence stand bitterly divided on the case, uncertain if Il Mostro has been caged,
or if the crimes were actually committed by several Monsters, perhaps members of an aristocratic
devil-worship cult.
Best-selling
writer Douglas
Preston fulfilled
an adolescent
dream by moving
his family to Florence in 2000.
He soon met journalist Mario Spezi,
the local Monster
expert and author
of two books on the
case. Together, they
began an investigation of the murders which eventually transformed Prestons dream of rustic
domesticity into a nightmare of litigation and false allegations. Before the dust settled, Spezi
himself was accused of being Il
Mostro while Florentine authorities named Preston as an accessory after the fact and ordered
him out of the country.
The case began simply enough,
with the murder of a promiscuous
wife and her latest lover, shot
while the womans young son
Bonk
BY MARY ROACH
ISBN: 978-0393064643
$24.95, W.W. NORTON, 2008
science writer with a sense of

humor, Mary Roach writes about
oddball topics and her new book
is no different, as it examines the methods and experiments of sex researchers, the physical aspects of
sexual sensations, and the measures being taken by medical professionals to ensure its restoration and/or enhancement.
Roach uses the 1950s Kinsey and 60s Masters and Johnson
studies as the essential touchstones in her research, but her examination goes well beyond these seminal studies, including making a
trip to Denmark to observe the artificial insemination of pigs; witnessing urological surgery on a dysfunctional penis in Taiwan; and
touring a sex toy factory in California. Roach even talks her husband
into having sex in an MRI tube in the name of research! In addition
to her own hands on investigations, she surveys marriage manuals
and medical texts from the ancient Greeks forward.
Roach devotes three chapters into the measures taken to address
male impotence. She describes in detail how an erection occurs before turning her attention to stimulating the female of the species.
Just as medical science has devoted billions of dollars to Erectile
Dysfunction, so research continues in the field of female orgasmic
disorder.
On top of the intrinsic fascination of her subject, Roachs breezy,
logical style makes Bonk a fascinating and enjoyable read.
CHARLES RAMMELKAMP
looked on. The boy gave conflicting accounts of the shooting, and
although prosecutors convicted
the dead womans husband, they
never found the murder weapon.
The case resurfaced in 1974, in
the first of seven new double-slayings, wherein young women were
clearly the primary targets. The
killer flubbed only once, shooting
two gay tourists in
1983, but police explained the lapse by
noting that one of
the men had long
hair and resembled
a girl from a distance.
The investigation
of Il Mostros crimes
has been bizarre, by
any standard. First
came exposure of the Indiani (Indians), a subculture of voyeurs

who spend their evenings spying
on young lovers in the foothills
around Florence. From there, it
spun off to pursue tight-lipped
Sardinian clansmen, assorted
perverts, and wealthy members of
an alleged Satanic cult.
At last count, four defendants
had been convicted of
the slayings in Florence, though one
Pietro Paccianiwon
reversal of his verdict
on appeal, in 1996.
Jurors acquitted two
other suspects, in
1988 and 2008.
Prosecutor Michele
Giuttari was acquitted
of falsifying evidence
ISSUE
#23
Book Reviews
in the case, but stands convicted
of perjury in an unrelated trial. At
this writing, he also faces charges
(with colleague Giuliano Mignini)
of abusing his powers in office.
For the straight word on an unsettling case that is still officially
unsolved, the Preston-Spezi study
is unbeatable. Highly recommended for mystery lovers and
true-crime fans alike.
MICHAEL NEWTON
Admiral Byrds Secret

Journey Beyond the Poles
BY TIM R. SWARTZ
ISBN: 0-938294-98-9
GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS, 2007
hat lies deep beneath

our feet has captured
the imagination of many
throughout the ages, as expressed in Chinese, Egyptian, and
Eskimo myths, which suggests
that the world we live in is but the
mere surface of a much richer
realm. Such enticing prospects
certainly captured the imagina-
tion of Admiral Byrd, who bravely

set forth on a perilous polar mission to find the portals into what
is now known as the Hollow Earth.
In Admiral Byrd's Secret Journey, we are offered not only crackpot theories but substantial,
convincing and, at times, unsettling evidence that our earth may
indeed be hollow. Delving into
such wondrous realms as Shamabala and Agartha requires an experienced guide, one able to keep
a healthy distance from his/her
subject matter and provide alternative viewpoints. Conspiracy
writer and associate publisher of
Mysteries magazine Tim Swartz
sufficiently qualifies, as evidenced
by the well-balanced information
he provides throughout.
Swartz includes a revealing interview with Dr. Brooks Agnew,
who planned an expedition to the
North Pole to take place in 2009
in hopes of discovering a portal
leading to the hollow earth realm.
When asked how the openings
into the inner earth

manage to remain
hidden after all
these
centuries,
Agnew informs us
soberly about the
Data Denial Act of
2006, which prevents the release of
photographs above
60 degrees
latitude, a kind of censoring which causes
one to wonder what our governments are trying to hide from us.
Agnew then provides compelling
evidence, such as that the northern and southern lights are not
all created by solar winds, suggesting the intriguing possibility
of them originating from within
the hollow earth.
Swartz then goes on to suggest
that the hollow earth even may
exist in an alternate dimension,
demonstrating a receptivity to
multidimensional phenomena. Offering a descriptive cumulus of
Web of Conspiracy:
A Guide to Conspiracy Theory Sites on the Internet
BY JAMES F. BRODERICK AND DARREN W. MILLER
ISBN: 978-0-910965-81-1
$19.95, INFORMATION TODAY, 2008
n this day of self-publishing, where anyone can publish an opinion and

make it sound like fact, navigating the world of the conspiracy theory
can be a confusing business. Enter Web of Conspiracy, which purports
to take readers by the handtechnologically speakingthrough the pitfalls of online research into some of the worlds most talked-about conspiracy theories.
Authors Broderick and Miller write with erudition and style, but also
accessibly and with a touch of whimsy. To their credit, it is often difficult to tell
whether they lean toward any given conspiracy claim, and their objectivity allows them to present web
sites on both sides of the question with balance. (The lone exception is the chapter on the Trilateral Commission, where there is an inescapable flavor of amused skepticism throughout the text.)
Each chapter, whether it addresses web sites that cover Roswell, 9/11, the Hindenburg crash, or more
than a dozen other topics, begins with a summary of the event and a rundown of some of the more popular conspiracy theories. Then the authors specify certain web sites for further study.
The glaring spelling errors throughout the book (fermenting instead of fomenting, undue for undo,
and happens instead of happened, to name only a few) are distracting. But this point aside, Web of Conspiracy is an excellent read; a clear and comprehensive guidebook for conspiracy theorists.
channeled information in the books

latter
chapters,
readers are finally
presented with the
possibility of realms
which continue to
defy inquiry.
Admiral Byrds
Secret Journey Beyond the Poles will
both enchant and
inform the curious
about the hollow earth phenomena.
JAYE BELDO
Hidden Headlines
of New York
ISBN: 978-0-9762099-9-7
Hidden Headlines
of Texas
ISBN: 978-0-9762099-8-0
Hidden Headlines
of Wisconsin
ISBN: 978-0-9762099-6-6
EDITED BY CHAD LEWIS
$14.95, UNEXPL. RESEARCH, 2008
had Arment recently delved

into old North American
files to develop Historical
Bigfoot. Similarly, researcher
Jerome Clark collected Fortean
events from every state in the classic Unnatural Phenomena. Now
Chad Lewis has begun the Hidden
Headlines series, presenting a review of curiosities from New York,
Texas, and Wisconsin.
Each volume scans its states
newspaper archives from 1860 to
1910, and each includes the
same eight chapters: bizarre
deaths, ghosts, medical anomalies, mysterious creatures, oddities, peculiar people, psychic
phenomena, and UFOs. As suggested by the chapter titles, each
volume covers a wide range of
events and items, some of which
are merely curious while others
qualify as inexplicable.
All three volumes include an
index of towns, with relevant stories for each. The books are also
67
Book Reviews
profusely illustrated with old
photographs and drawings,
some even more mysterious
than the subject matter.
(Why, for instance, is a photo
of Butch Cassidys Wild
West train-robbing gang included in the chapter on
Wisconsins psychic phenomena? And why is the
story of a New York woman
who fears mirrors illustrated
with a woodcut illustration
of constables guarding a
jail?)
Mysteries abound in
these volumes, and while
some may have been unintentional, they should still
provide hours of fascination for readers with a
taste for the peculiar, the
nasty, or the downright insane.
MICHAEL NEWTON
The Yowie: In Search

of Australias Bigfoot
sightings, and catalog reports of

Yowie
vocalizations.
The authors leave
no stone unturned
in their survey of explanations for the
Yowie riddle, finally
lumping the various
proposed solutions
into four broad categories. Advocates of
the
firstmyths,
hoaxes, and delusionspresume that
Yowies never existed.
Others believe that
Yowies may be creatures known to science. A third group
suggests that Yowies
once existed but are
now extinct. Finally,
some regard Yowies as
paranormal entities,
akin to poltergeists or big-eyed visitors from outer space.
Whatever
ones
opinion, readers with
any interest in cryptozoology will treasure
this entertaining and
enlightening book.
MICHAEL NEWTON
The United Symbolism of America:

Deciphering Hidden Meanings
in America's Most Familiar Art,
Architecture, and Logos
BY ROBERT HIERONIMUS
AND LAURA CORTNER
ISBN: 978-1601630018
$17.99, CAREER PRESS, 2008
he United Symbolism of
America is an engaging
book that identifies a crisis
in the symbols of our country. Beginning with an explanation of the
importance of symbols, their ability to unite people and provide a
sense of mission and identity, the
authors then warn readers that
the reputations of our symbols
have been tarnished.

(For instance, the
CBS eye logo is considered by many to
be the eye of the
devil.) The authors
then analyze the
symbolic meaning
of the American
flag, the Statue of
Liberty, the Liberty Bell, and the
monuments on the mall in Washington, D.C., as well as discuss
their historical background and
artistic influences. Additionally, Hieronimus discribes what he calls
the Fundamentalist-Conspiratorialist interpretation of American
symbols, which identifies them as
the Satan-driven creation of
Freemasons.
Ultimately, the reader will have
to decide whether the disregard
our symbols may have fallen into
represents a true crisis; does it
matter that the flag is associated
more with politicians than hope itself? But along the way, there is a
BY TONY HEALY AND PAUL CROPPER

ISBN: 1-933665-16-5
$19.95, ANOMALIST BOOKS, 2008
hirteen years after publishing their ground-breaking

volume on unknown creatures Down Under (Out of the
Shadows, 1994), Australias leading cryptozoologists have returned
with a definitive study of Yowies,
their island nations version of
Bigfoot. And what a book it is! Its
lavishly illustrated text includes
75 photographs, 39 line drawings,
and 11 maps. Appendices include
a timeline of 282 Yowie sightings
recorded between 1789 and
2006, with a list of 25 places
bearing Yowie-related names.
But Healy and Cropper move
beyond a mere reporters role to
examine evidence of Yowies in the
wild and speculate on explanations for Australias longest-running mystery. They examine
eyewitness descriptions and footprints, analyze times of peak
68
The Cosmic War

Interplanetary Warfare, Modern Physics and Ancient Texts
BY JOSEPH P. FARRELL
ISBN: 978-1-931882-75-0
$18.95, ADVENTURES UNLD., 2007
n The Cosmic War, Joseph P. Farrell develops the hypothesis that a cosmic war
took place over three million years ago, resulting in the development of the
solar system. Farrell, who has written prolifically about interplanetary warfare
and catastrophic destruction on a galactic scale (The Giza Death Star trilogy),
cites ancient Sumerian and Indian texts as well as modern physics, to support
his claim.
The first part of the book examines the exploding planet theory proposed by
NASA scientist Van Flandern to explain the asteroid belt near Jupiter. The discussion of the Greek
god Zeus and the Babylonian god Ninurta (both of whom were linked with thunderbolts as a means of destruction) are especially imaginative and thought-provoking. Then citing Sumerian and Egyptian myth and
Native American artifacts, Farrell draws connections between various myths to establish the likelihood that
some cataclysmic event took place during ancient times (the flood, for example). Finally, Farrell presents a
contemporaneous view of our solar system.
On the whole, The Cosmic War demonstrates Farrells familiarity with ancient myth but he fails to present a compelling argument for a celestial showdown between prehistorical interplanetary civilizations. While
research is impressive, Farrells conclusions are farfetched. Moreover, Farrell does not help his case with
his blurry, indistinct photographs; nor does his bizarre misnaming of contemporary political figures bolster
his credibility.
CHARLES RAMMELKAMP
ISSUE
#23
Book Reviews
lot of interesting information in this tome. (For instance, do you know why
seven rays emanate from
the Statue of Libertys
crown, or why the sixpointed stars on the original American flag were
changed to five? (The
seven rays represent the
seven seas, and the five-pointed
star, which is now found in the
flags of at least 35 countries, was
first used in the U.S. flag as a mystical symbol of absolute universal
synthesis.)
CHARLES RAMMELKAMP
Master of the Mysteries:

The Life of Manly Palmer Hall
BY LOUIS SAHAGAN
daunting realm
of
writing
screenplays and
the making of
one of them into
the 1938 movie
When You Were
Born,
starring
Mae Wong. One
gets the impression that Hall was trying to plant
seeds of wisdom in celluloid soil,
seeds that, once sprouted, were
sadly pruned away by producers
bent on bottom-line profit.
Anyone who wants to gain a
better understanding of the spiritual marketplace which gave birth
to the New Age movement and its
seedy underbelly would do well to
read Master of the Mysteries.
ISBN: 978-1-934170-02-1
JAYE BELDO
$19.95, PROCESS MEDIA, 2008
hile boomtown Hollywood in the early 20th

century is mostly known
for its flamboyant movie stars, cavalier politicians, and cosmopolitan
pioneers, not much is known
about the metaphysical undercurrents that influenced its direction.
But in Master of the Mysteries,
readers are offered rare insights
into the world of Manly P. Hall and
the Hollywood celebrites with
whom he associated.
Upon a surface inspection, it
would be easy to write Hall off as
yet another spiritual charlatan.
However, in Master of the Mysteries, we see Hall in a fairer light.
Hall obviously had some kind of
merit born of his extensive scholarship, delving into such arcane
realms found in Hermeticism,
Egyptian religion, the Kabbalah, astrology, Yoga, and
Buddhism. Yet in the competitive spiritual marketplace of
his day, he had to offer up a
carefully crafted persona
that conveyed an aura of
mystery and intrigue.
Even more intriguing is
Halls venture into the
In the Wake of
Bernard Heuvelmans
BY MICHAEL A. WOODLEY
ISBN: 978-1-905723-20-1
$22, CFZ PRESS, 2008
onstantine
Samuel
Rafinesque-Schmaltz proposed the first system for
classifying large unknown seadwellers in 1819, succeeded by
Cornelius A.J.A. Oudemans in
1892 and the epic work of Dr.
Bernard Heuvelmans in 1968.
The latter work, In the Wake of the
Sea Serpents, inspired the title of
Michael Woodleys new work and
drove him to attempt the Herculean task of sorting out seamonster classifications published
over the last 184 years.
In the Wake begins with an
overview of sea-serpent classifications
proposed
by
RafinesqueSchmaltz (four
species), Oudemans, Heuvelmans
(ten
species),
and
modern cryptozoologists
Loren
Coleman and Patrick Huyghe. An

examination of comparative
methodologies completes the introduction. Subsequent chapters
present a detailed examination of
sea-serpents as proposed by Dr.
Heuvelmans in 1968.
Each chapter includes a selection of sightings, together with a
rigorous analysis of published theories suggesting various identities
for each, comparison with known
species, commentary on theories
of sea-serpent evolution, and

causes of possible extinction. No
index is included, but the detailed
table of contents remedies that
omission in fine style.
Woodleys work is lavishly illustrated with 62 black-and-white
photos, drawings, charts, and
graphs. As with its other publications in the field of cryptozoology,
CFZ Press had produced another
estimable volume.
MICHAEL NEWTON
The Uninvited:
The True Story of the Union Screaming House
BY STEVEN LACHANCE WITH LAURA LONG-HELBIG
ISBN: 78-0-7387-1357-1
$16.95, LLEWELLYN PUBL,, 2008
hose who claim to have experienced

paranormal horrors can either dramatize
the events or set the story down in
straightforward, clinical language. In The Uninvited, Steven LaChance opts for the latter
method and the resulting no-nonsense narrative
of horrific occurrences is twice as resonant as any
hyperbolic rendering could be.
When LaChances wife inexplicably left him and
their three children in 1995, he moved his family
into an old house in Union, MO. What followed was
a nightmare of paranormal abuse. Between the benign manifestations of lights turning on, strange noises, and putrid odors, the family was also subjected to physical attacks, electrical shocks, and
threatening presences.
LaChance immediately removed his family to a safer haven and
then found himself being drawn back into the ongoing nightmare by
concern for the helpless family who moved in next. Such a brutal scenario of violent attacks, possession, ghostly rape, and attempted
murder and suicide followed, so much so that it is stunning that any
of the principals survived. The narrative ends with the salvation of
the second family and the insinuated subjection of a third.
But throughout the book one wonders why these people did not
vacate the house? The brief explanation offered by LaChance is that
they could not afford to, but LaChances urgent desire to help the
family should have led him to offer them temporary quarters in his
new home until some other alternative could be identified.
Regardless of this caveat, the book rivets the reader to the page.
We are left hanging, however, with LaChances knowledge that a third
family is about to undergo what he has already suffered.
One may sit up until midnight unable to put the book down but one
cannot escape the inevitable question: why has not something been
done to end this paranormal nightmare?
69
Book Reviews
Zombies: A Field Guide
to the Walking Dead
BY BOB CURRAN
ISBN: 1601630220
$14.99, NEW PAGE BOOKS, 2008
r. Bob Curran has long

been known for his titles on
British myths and vampires, and he has previously
touched upon the subject of the
undead, but this is his first work to
explore the phenomena from a literary and
sociological angle. It
would be hard to give a
complete picture of the
history of the undead
without this approach,
and Currans academic
side allows the reader to
be firmly placed with both
feet on the ground while understanding there might be
something truthful behind
the folklore.
Zombies tells the history of this
supernatural being, from ancient
Egypt to modern times, all the
while offering the reader a chance
to admit that the stories might be
nothing more than the remains of
oral history. Zombies are a crucial
element to some cultures, and the
collected accounts say something

about the societies that create
them. In uncovering some of
these old myths, Curran builds a
platform to discuss the issues of
those cultures. This, at times, is
redundant, but the stories themselves keep the reader invested.
One of the more historically relevant chapters of the book recounts the people who made their
living in the early days
of European medicine by stealing bodies. From hopeful
young doctors to
kings of the lower
classes,
these
corpse hunters
looked to advance our understanding of
the
human
body
and
line their own pockets by
digging up the dead. Curran lifts
some of the darker characters in
history to the level of twisted
Robin Hoods, and the comparison
is both eerie and brilliant. The
same hand skillfully tells the tales
of the half-dead, or criminals who
were unsuccessfully executed and
lived to tell the tale.
Zombies: A Field Guide to

the Walking Dead is proof
that there is still room in the
paranormal field for books
that look at the old mysteries, as well as acts as a reference book for those who
have a general interest in
the unexplained. If zombies do, in fact, say something about who we are,
perhaps the fact they
continue to escape a
clear
classification
points to just how mysterious this
group of beings are.
STAFF REVIEWER
The UFO Phenomenon:

Fact, Fantasy and
Disinformation
BY JOHN MICHAEL GREER
ISBN: 978-0-7387-1319-9
$16.95, LLEWELLYN, 2009
he first one hundred pages

of John Michael Greers The
UFO Phenomenon is a fairly
straightforward history of the subject, beginning in ancient times,
when the notion of life on other
worlds entered the marketplace of
ideas in conflict with the better
known earth-centered philosophies, and continuing up to the
Music for Vagabonds: The Tuxedomoon Chronicles

BY ISABELLE CORBISIER
ISBN: 978-1-906496-08-1
$39, OPENMUTE, 2008
taking a claim in foggy netherworld fringes, the band Tuxedomoon was a substantial element in the 1960s San Francisco scene that gave birth to a bewildering variety of performance artists, poets, and musicians. As an example
of their patented outlandishness, Tuxedomoon composed a disturbing tune about
weather modification on their album Half Mute which contained the uplifting lyrics:
Theyre seeding the clouds today, watch, nothings going to go your way.
In light of such an inherent lack of commercial potential, Tuxedomoon would have
fallen into the inevitable side street of obscurity if it were not for the prodigious efforts of Belgian author Isabelle Corbisier. Music for Vagabonds: The Tuxedomoon Chronicles serves as an auditory travelogue
through the bands pleasantly bizarre landscape.
Corbisiers book could have used a bit of editing, as some of the sentences are hard to follow. Even so,
it is a literary brew still worth delving into, particularly for those who may have all but forgotten one of the
most astonishing times in the world of art rock.
JAYE BELDO
70
present.
But from
there Greer
veers off in
another direction entirely as he
argues that
both
extremes in the
battle
for
truth
are
guilty of serious errors in
judgment and reasoning. In other
words, believers in the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis are just as
wrong as the debunkers who contend that all UFO sightings are either hoaxes or misperceptions of
natural phenomena.
For Greer, the UFO phenomenon is, in part, just a modern extension of mankinds long history
of witnessing and confronting apparitions, and is now dressed up
in high-tech terms befitting our
age. He also believes that the
present-day UFO community will
begin to fade away to just a few
diehard believers, similar to what
happened to the Spiritualist movement in the early years of the last
century. Meanwhile, the belief
that UFOs are spacecraft from
somewhere else owed most of its
power to inspire the credulous to
the decades worth of similar stories popularized in the science fiction pulp press in the years
leading up to Kenneth Arnolds
1947 UFO experience, and even
now it remains intertwined with
pop culture portrayals of aliens.
Not exactly a pep talk for the
besieged UFO community today,
The UFO Phenomenon is still
worth a look, if only for the scholarly elegance of Greers writing
style and occasional flashes of
humor, as well as for the skill he
demonstrates in building his arguments for various alternative
explanations.
--SEAN CASTEEL
ISSUE
#23
Music Reviews
Medafocus Vol. 1
UP THE HEELS MUSIC
ASCAP (2007)
CD #: 59700 33107
U
Yol Bolsin
SEVARA NAZARKHAN
REAL WORLD/VIRGIN
nlike fellow Uzbek musical

talents Yulduz Usmanova
and Mokhira Asadova, Sevara Nazarkhan has stayed within
her roots and tapped an ancient
vein of sound that seldom graces
us in this day and age.
Recorded in Tashkent, Uzbekistans capital, Yol Bolsin is an
eclectic, sincere set of Uzbek folk
melodies and Sufi songs. At times
ancient and spiritual, at other
times folksy and comfortable, Yol
Bolsin is a stark and compelling
contrast to 99% of all popular
music being made today.
This album is certainly not a
Buddha Bar wannabe, nor does it
have any relation to the monotonous rhythms of any of the typical
Asian Underground records that
have been released in recent
years.
On this album, Nazarkhan is accompanied by several talented
musicians of note, including the
legendary Sufi multi-instrumentalist Toir Kuziyev, who plays both
the doutar lute and the tambour,
while giving free rein to
Nazarkhans otherworldly voice.
The music of Yol Bolsin, with its
hypnotic serpentine pulsation and
Old World instrumentation, is like
an open window into Bukhara and
Samarkand, those long lost mystical places along the Silk Road
that beckoned travelers to come
and warm themselves by the fire.
sing a mixture of tonal vibrations carefully choreographed to soothe the

senses and promote a sense of
well-being, MEDAFOCUS is the
first in a series of CDs designed to
help anyone use meditation techniques effectively without extensive training or practice. Designed
by Dr. Sharr Chardas, this relaxing
CD is perfect for the novice or
those curious about the benefits
of meditation but do not have the
time or inclination to pursue a
more extensive study.
A brief introductory segment
sets the scene for the CD with
gentle guitar accompaniment and
the soothing voice of Dr. Chardas,
who explains how the MEDAFOCUS method works. The medita-
tive section features soft, vaguely

ambient nature sounds, roughly
linked to the activity being described (e.g. breezy sounds of
wind as one is directed to focus
on ones breathing.) Underlying it
all is a rhythmic set of taps or

beats that serve to calm the
senses and direct the mind to
focus on the guided imagery. Easy
breathing and relaxation exercises help to focus ones attention

on fundamental characteristics
and the essence of one's wellbeing.
The low, resonant timbre of
Chardas'
voice
is
uniquely suited for this
type of guided meditation. Easy to listen to, he
blends perfectly into the
rest of the CD as he naturally draws attention to
one's relaxed state without excessive flourish.
Relatively short, this
is a meditation exercise
that almost anyone can
do in the comfort of
home or office without
fancy equipment or a lot
of practice. Simple, minimalist, and surprisingly effective,
Medafocus is a great relaxation
alternative for the rest of us.
RICHARD MACKENZIE
Shivaboom
ECCODEK
WHITE SWAN RECORDS (2008)
CD # 17147 00852
efying expectation, Eccodek's fantastic grasp

of the soul of music graces this potent blend of
groove and tradition.
Behind the Mask starts things off with rumbling
rhythms and vocals that rock things right, and things
just better from there. Juxtaposing different sonic textures, each track is a musical treasure laden with its
own facets and little surprises. While much of the CD
has an Indian flair, other tracks are overlaid with a variety of international influences. Red, white, and Mali
and Empty pockets feature the unique vocal stylings indigenous to the African nation while Forever Unanswered regales us with a kora melody.
Reggae and Mediterranean music find their place here as well, in the strains of Black beauty (Eccodek
remix) and When the bird calls. The haunting female vocals of Silent Song, with its tabla and stringed
accompaniment, are dreamlike and eerie, with a slightly mournful air reflected in its languorous tempo.
The deep bass, grooves, and electronic effects that augment each track are subtle embellishments that
enhance the already superb performances.
Simply amazing, the CD radiates unabashed joy and all the rich cultural beauty of the far corners of the
world. If I had to pick just one compilation that expresses everything I enjoy about world music in a modern context, this would be it.
RICHARD MACKENZIE
MICHAEL LOHR
71
In the Theater
investigations with a sense that
these strange goings-on may not
be so far-fetched after all.
RICHARD MACKENZIE
Twilight (2008)
R
Paranormal State
Season One Box Set (2007)
he popular A&E series
makes its way to DVD in this
thrilling box set, capturing all
the best moments from its first
season. A great way to jump into
the adventures of the Paranormal
Research Society at Penn State
Universityor a convenient way for
long-term fans to collect all their
favorite episodesthis package
includes 3 DVDs and extras in a
slim-pack box that will fit neatly
into any video collection.
Chronicling the exploits of one
of the university's more unusual
student clubs, Paranormal State
follows club founder Ryan Buell
and members as they investigate
reports of ghosts, spirits, and
other phenomena. Using both
high-tech and traditional methods
of investigation, they attempt either to confirm or debunk the reported activity, and occasionally
try to solve other supernatural
mysteries that draw their interest.
Attempting to use a more scientific basis for their studies,
Paranormal State is gratifyingly far
from the Blair Witch Project-like
stylings of some other TV psychics
and researchers, with all their
posturing and POV flights of visual
fancy. Featuring real, everyday
people attempting to come to
grips with apparently supernatural phenomena, the show provides a unique glimpse into these
72
iding atop the wave of supernatural romances that

has swept through bookstores in the past several years,
Stephenie Meyer's ongoing saga,
beginning with Twilight, has enthralled audiences across the
globe. My own experience, however, was far from thrilling, and I
barely finished the first book. Despite this, I was still willing to keep
an open mind, and was pleasantly
surprised by the film.
A bit like Underworld meets The
O.C., the teen angst that characterized the books is toned down
enough in the film to be tolerable.
When Bella (Kristin Stewart)
moves from the artificiality and
endless cliques of her Phoenix, AZ
high school to a new life with her
father in a remote Washington
town, she is not quite sure what to
expect. What she does not expect,
though, is to meet people like the
towns most unique residents, the

compelling Cullen family. If their
attractiveness and charm were
not enough to set them apart,
their nocturnal hunting trips
and preternatural strength
should be a tip-off that this is no
normal family. They are vampires,
of course, and when Bella befriends and then falls for family
scion Edward (Robert Pattinson),
it is only a matter of time before
their romance runs afoul of both
the human and vampiric communities alike; will their love be
enough to save them both?
Sparkle is a word that, under
normal circumstances, should be
associated with a little girl's
sticker book, not the sanguinary
undead. The word, however, has
become a catchphrase for Edward
and the unearthly atmosphere
that seems to surround Meyer's
vampires. There are some differences between her creations and
the standard cinematic bloodsucker, though, and her subtle little twists do add some interest to
the proceedings. Thankfully, the
angst level is kept fairly low and
the action level fairly high

throughout the film. The acting is
not outstanding, but it is bearable, while brooding cinematography recreates the wilds of the
Pacific Northwest.
While far from perfect, the film
is a reasonable introduction to
Meyer's vampiric saga, and a decent way for vampire fans in general to spend a couple of hours.
RICHARD MACKENZIE
Religulous (2008)
BO comedian Bill Maher,

the son of a Jewish mother
and a Catholic father,
takes a skeptical view of the
claims of religion in his amusing
documentary Religulous. The
movie opens and closes on
Maher standing amidst the rocks
at Megiddo, Israel, the spot
where Christians believe that Armageddon will be waged and the
world will end. With such an end
already envisioned, Maher sees
humanity rather diligently going
about fulfilling it. The rest of the
movie is an often side-splitting
look at the inconsistencies and
ISSUE
#23
In the Theater
impossible-to-prove claims of religions as Maher travels around

the world to examine religion and
its followers, taking in the Al-Aqsa
Mosque, the Via Dolorosa, the
Qumran Caves, Stonehenge,
Habibi Ana, the Vatican, the Holy
Land Experience Park in Florida,
the U.S. Capitol, and the Mormon
Tabernacle.
Beginning at a truckers church
in Raleigh, NC, Maher questions
the people engaged in prayer
about their beliefs. Sometimes he
is met with hostility when he is
critical of religions effects and
the childish-sounding promises it
makes. Maher offers a crash
course in biblical history, and
tackles televangelists, the antigay
evangelical movement and the erroneous notion that our founding
fathers intended ours to be a
Christian nation. Everywhere he
goes, Maher asks a few simple
questions: What do you believe,
why, and how can you possibly...?
Fully agnostic, Maher is incredulous at the responses he receives,
but he is ever warm, gentle and
engaging, even as he asks his
questions about the the final battle between intelligence and stupidity that will decide the future of
humanity. Hilarious film clips are
spliced in to underscore Mahers
satirical points.
Never mean, Maher promotes
doubt rather than disdain, even in
one laugh out loud sequence in
which he impersonates a Scientologist at the Speakers Corner in
Londons Hyde Park, making Scientologys claims seem ludicrous
and bizarre. But he is no less savage when it comes to Mormonism, Christianity, Judaism,
and Islam.
A few of the sequences seem
unnecessary, as when he interviews a man in Amsterdam whose
religion revolves around marijuana, or Jorge Luis de Jess Miranda in Orlando, a man who
claims to be Jesus. He also takes
easy potshots at people such as
Ted Haggard, Jim Bakker, Jerry
Falwell, and Pentacostals.
In the end of the film, back in
Megiddo, after delighting (or offending) us with his wit and sarcasm, Maher turns serious,
asking with evident concern if the

future of the world should really
be entrusted to the many varieties
of believers. Religulous raises interesting questions about faith
but in the end it will only convince
the doubters but hey, the
doubters need somebody to
speak up for them too, and Bill
Maher does a splendid job of it.
CHARLES RAMMELKAMP
The Wildman of
Kentucky (2008)
f the many mysteries that

our world holds, the persistent stories of strange
and unknown animals are
among the most fascinating. Of
those, there are none more compelling than creatures with a
vaguely human form. Reality Entertainment here investigates a
lesser-known variant of these
tales in The Wildman of Kentucky.
Recounting a variety of sightings and encounters with a large,
hairy, primate-like creature seen
throughout rural Kentucky and
concentrated around an area
known as Panther Rock, the film

features the efforts of a team of
cryptozoologists sent to investigate the phenomena. Beginning
with a history of Bigfoot as told
through lore across the globe,
the filmmakers point out the remarkable consistency in reports
over thousands of years, and
over thousands of miles as well.
Fossilized remains of a creature
consistent with many of these descriptions have been discovered
in the past, and the implication
seems to be that these sightings
are likely to represent surviving
vestiges of an ancient human ancestor.
While documented sightings
have been reported in Kentucky
since the late 19th century, reports seem to pick up in the
1960s and 70s when larger
groups begin to report extended
sightings and frightening encounters with the creature. The team
picks up their own investigation
with a collection of sightings near
Panther Rock, featuring a mysterious cave where the creature is
said to reside.
Most re-enactments are done
via fairly primitive computer
graphics work, and the jerky, point
of view footage is often re-used,
sometimes frustrating the viewer
who would hope for a more realistic visual atmosphere and less of
an MTV-style production. The
music, performed by Reality's stable of artists (including Freakhouse), provides an edgy feel that
generally suits the atmosphere of
the film. While it is not everyone's
cup of tea, the contemporary style
of the documentary is a refreshing change from the staid, talking-head style of many other
paranormal films.
An interesting look at a lesserknown Bigfoot yarn, The Wildman
of Kentucky is a distinctively different take on the cryptozoological classic.
RICHARD MACKENZIE
73
The ClassiFiles
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The ClassiFiles
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75
A Glimpse into the Unknown
Flying Creature
Photographed
in Argentina
A
rgentinas Center for

Studies UFO (CEUFO) received an email from
photographer Fabin Romano
who claimed to have captured
a strange being on his digital
camera at the Macachn airport.
76
CEUFO submitted the image

to various centers around the
globe for examination. Curator
for the Provincial Museum Gustavo Siegentale said that the
image was very strange and
that this could be an unknown
species.
The image was also submitted to the Special Criminal Division of police of La Pampa. The
division, using hi-tech equipment, said that in the photograph one can see eye sockets,
a beak, and is about 80 cm tall.
The CEUFO said that this was
not the only reported sighting of

the creature. There have been
other situations where people
have seen strange creatures in
or around the airport. Further
investigations are pending.
TIM SWARTZ
SOURCE: CENTER FOR UFO STUDIES
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#23
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Vol 7 #1, Issue #23

Exploring Mysteries from Modern Times to Yesteryear.

PUBLISHER, EDITOR, ART DIRECTOR

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Michael Newton Michael Newton has

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Take a Spiritual Journey

Whichever estimate of sightings we accept, be it 600,

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I would like to step outside the conditioning maze

Michigan Man Utilizes Ancient Construction Techniques

Tachyon Particles and Psychic Phenomena

Ontarios Thornton Village Inn: The Lady of the Stairs

UFOs: Encounters and Spirituality

APRIL 25, 2009

U.S. MILITARY & COALITION

For a reading, call (530) 877-3446

For more info, visit www.iraqbodycount.org and www.icasualties.org

Letters to the Editor

Dero Part of Byrds Op Highjump

My Brush with the Paranormal

Letters to the Editor

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Are Stonehenge and

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he Pope is declaring a holy war

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Pope Declares War Against

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Call Kim at (603) 352-1645 or

Russia Licenses Faith Healers

ness is very good.

medicine, including psychic healing, is backed

Vampire Discovered in Mass Grave

skeleton exhumed from a grave in

Eleonore von Schwarzenberg. The

of a vampire hysteria that swept through

A Toast to Your Psychic Health

with Host Jaye Beldo. staff writer for Mysteries Magazine

NASA MUM ABOUT

handra Wickramasinghe, Professor of applied

Elven Sex Wonderful, Author Says

ccording to Icelandic author Hallgerdur Hallgrimsdottir, elves

he discovery of almost two pounds of

orrest J Ackerman, who influenced a generation of

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tion and fantasy memorabilia,

ajel Barrett Roddenberry, widow of Star Trek