by Cary McNeal
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854
FACT : Pine Bush, New York is known as the UFO capital of the East Coast, as many residents believe that extraterrestrials have been frequenting their town for the last decade. A support group was founded there in 1993 for locals who believe they’ve had encounters with these aliens. ”Hi, my name’s Leo and I’m an alien shagger.” (Group): “Hi, Leo.”
Chris Gethard, Mark Moran, and Mark Sceurman, Weird New York: Your Travel Guide to New York’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets (Sterling Publishing Company, 2005).
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855
FACT : Ten percent of Americans claim they have seen a ghost. They probably just saw one of the Olsen twins or Joan Rivers.
John E. Mack and others, Unusual Personal Experiences: An Analysis of the Data from Three National Surveys Conducted by the Roper Organization (Bigelow Holding Corp., 1992).
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856
FACT : Guests at the Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana should be prepared to see ghosts, a piano that plays itself, an oil portrait that becomes animated, and other unexplained phenomena. The bed and breakfast is among America’s most haunted houses. By its own PR staff, in a thinly veiled attempt to drum up business.
Joe Nickell, Adventures in Paranormal Investigation (University Press of Kentucky, 2007), 2.
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857
FACT : The Tower of London is said to be full of ghosts, including that of the Countess of Salisbury, who, according to legend, was hacked to death by her pursuing executioner as she tried to escape.
Some claim that spirits reenact the grisly 16th century event on Tower Green. If any place in the world has ghosts, the Tower of London is it.
Lionel Fanthorpe and Patricia Fanthorpe, The World’s Most Mysterious Castles (Dundurn Press Ltd., 2005), 184.
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858
FACT : Some residents of Taos, New Mexico report hearing a constant, low-frequency hum in the desert air. Some believe the Taos Hum is caused by unusual acoustics; others suspect a secret, sinister purpose. The exact source of the hum is undetermined. People who hear the hum are called Taos Hummers, which is also the name of a local gentlemen’s club.
“Top Ten Unexplained Phenomena,” LiveScience, www.livescience.com.
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859
FACT : On February ii, 1859, thousands of small fish rained over the village of Mountain Ash in South Wales, one of several recorded instances of live fish falling from the sky. Live until they hit the ground, that is.
John Michell, Bob Rickard, and Robert J. M. Rickard, Unexplained Phenomena: A Rough Guide Special (Rough Guides, 2000), 18.
Susan Cosier, “It’s Raining Fish,” ScienceLine, September 17, 2006, www.scienceline.org.
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860
FACT : In January 1877, thousands of dark brown snakes inexplicably covered Memphis, Tennessee for several days after a violent storm. Their origin was never determined. I’m guessing their origin was all the outhouses that got turned over in the storm.
John Michell, Bob Rickard, and Robert J. M. Rickard, Unexplained Phenomena: A Rough Guide Special (Rough Guides, 2000), 37.
John Clark, Unnatural Phenomena: A Guide to the Bizarre Wonders of North America (ABC-CLIO, 2005).
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861
FACT : In 1891, a British sailor aboard the whaling ship The Star of the East disappeared while trying to kill a great sperm whale. After the whale was caught and its stomach cut open, the ship’s crew found the missing sailor curled up inside but still alive. He was rocking back and forth, whimpering, and sucking his thumb.
Stephen Wagner, “Seven of the Weirdest Human Enigmas,” About.com, www.paranormal.about.com.
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862
FACT : Poltergeist events usually originate with a prepubescent “focal person.” Even ghosts know not to tangle with a girl going through puberty.
James Houran and Rense Lange, Hauntings and Poltergeists: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (McFarland, 2001), 65.
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863
FACT : In 1962, a poltergeist harassed an Indianapolis grandmother, mother, and daughter by making noises, hurling objects, and biting them. The initial string of incidents stopped after two weeks, but the poltergeist would return several times over the following months. Poltergeists are German, so they’re very stubborn and not easily deterred.
James Houran and Rense Lange, Hauntings and Poltergeists: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (McFarland, 2001), 65.
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864
FACT : From 1920 to 1950, the Glastenbury Mountains area of Vermont saw several disappearances, including a college student who vanished while walking in the woods, a man who disappeared from a bus, and a child who went missing from his family’s farm. The region has since become known as “The Bennington Triangle.” Bus Guy probably died in the bathroom and is still there. No one would notice the smell.
Joseph A. Citro, Weird New England: Your Travel Guide to New England’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets (Sterling Publishing Company, 2005), 75.
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865
FACT : In 1913, satirist Ambrose Bierce disappeared in Mexico after traveling there to witness Pancho Villa’s revolution. Scholars believe that the seventy-one-year-old man was killed in the siege of Ojinaga, while others speculate that Bierce’s final letters were a ruse and that he never actually went to Mexico, but instead committed suicide. Maybe he went for a walk in the Glastenbury Mountains in Vermont.
Joe Nickell, Unsolved History: Investigating Mysteries of the Past (University Press of Kentucky, 2005).
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866
FACT : During her 1937 attempt to fly around the world, pioneering female pilot Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean. Military ships scoured a wide area for any sign of Earhart, her co-pilot, or the plane, but none was ever found. Did she fly over Vermont?
“Top Ten Famous Disappearances,” Time.com, www.time.com.
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867
FACT : On June ii, 1962, inmates Frank Morris and Clarence and John Anglin escaped from Alcatraz prison during the night. Despite one of the largest manhunts since the Lindbergh kidnapping, the trio were never found. Oh, they were found. By sharks.
After they drowned.
“Top Ten Famous Disappearances,” Time.com, www.time.com.
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868
FACT : After James Dean was killed in a 1955 car accident, remnant parts of his Porsche Spyder were said to be cursed. Subsequent owners of those parts allegedly suffered numerous injuries and at least one was killed. Following a 1960 exhibition in Miami, the wreckage of the cursed car disappeared while en route to Los Angeles. Did the route go through Vermont, by any chance?
Tom Ogden, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Ghosts and Hauntings (Alpha Books, 1999), 251.
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869
FACT : George Herbert, one of the men who found the tomb of King Tutankhamen in 1922, died from tuberculosis and blood poisoning shortly after, and Cairo is said to have experienced a city-wide power outage at the time of Herbert’s death. Both events are blamed on the “Curse of the Pharoah.” According to legend, the curse stems from the fact that Tut was buried in his jammies, something the ancient king would not have wanted public.
S. T. Joshi, Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007).
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870
FACT : Since the 1991 discovery of the Ice Man, several people connected to the research of the 5,000-year-old specimen have met their death, giving him his own version of “The Curse of Tutankhamen.” Similarly, the discovery of Vanilla Ice in the early 1990s has led to the deaths of several hundred people, all by their own hand.
Brian Haughton, Hidden History: Lost Civilizations, Secret Knowledge, and Ancient Mysteries (Career Press, 2007).
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871
FACT : The Roman Catholic Church still believes in diabolical possession, and has at least ten official exorcists in America today. Oh come on, the Catholic Church would never believe anything so crazy.
Robert Todd Carroll, The Skeptic’s Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions (John Wiley & Sons, 2003).
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872
FACT : A San Francisco woman was pummeled to death in 1995 by Pentecostal ministers who believed she was possessed by demons. She wasn’t possessed, just Episcopalian.
Robert Todd Carroll, The Skeptic’s Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions (John Wiley & Sons, 2003).
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873
FACT : In the fall of 1888, serial killer Jack the Ripper terrorized women in the slums of London, disemboweling and decapitating victims, most of whom were prostitutes. The murderer, thought to be a doctor because of his surgical precision, was never identified. Or he might’ve been a Pentecostal minister.
Colin Wilson and Damon Wilson, The Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved (Carroll & Graf, 2000).
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874
FACT : A creature called Spring-Heeled Jack terrorized London residents in the nineteenth century. The orange-eyed beast scratched victims mercilessly about the face and body, then leapt away with inhuman ability. London police put Scooby-Doo and the gang on the case. They exposed the “monster” as a local prospector trying to scare away residents. And he would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for those meddling kids.
Matt Lake and Mark Moran, Weird England: Your Travel Guide to England’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets (Sterling Publishing Company, 2007), 59.
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875
FACT : From 1935 to 1938, a serial killer dubbed the Mad Butcher terrorized Cleveland residents with a series of murders. Several victims died by decapitation, one body was left in pieces on the shore of Lake Erie, and the rest were dismembered. The killer was never identified. The only thing terrorizing Cleveland today— besides being Cleveland—is its NFL team, the Browns, who are left in pieces on the shore of Lake Erie every time they play at home.
Colin Wilson and Damon Wilson, The Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved (Carroll &Graf, 2000).
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876
FACT : The legendary Jersey Devil, said to stalk the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, possesses a snakelike body, the head of a horse, bat-like wings, pig feet, and a forked tail. The creature has been blamed for hundreds of deaths and mutilations of children and animals since the mid-1700s. You’d have to be the devil to want to hang out in New Jersey that long.
Beth Scott and Michael Norman, Haunted America (Macmillan, 2007), 176.
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877
FACT : In 1924, a group of miners in Washington’s Mount Saint Helens range were reportedly attacked by eight-foot tall “Bigfoot” humanoids, who pounded on the doors, walls, and roof of their cabin from dusk until dawn. Or maybe they were just attacked by a bad batch of moonshine.
Colin Wilson and Damon Wilson, The Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved (Carroll &Graf, 2000).
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878
FACT : The Moehau, New Zealand’s version of Bigfoot, is said to stab victims with a long, bony finger. At least they hope that’s a finger.
Jonathan Maberry and David F. Kramer, The Cryptopedia: A Dictionary of the Weird, Strange & Downright Bizarre (Kensington Publishing, 2007), 30.
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879
FACT : In 1996, rural villagers in Puerto Rico reported a rash of strange deaths among goats, whose bodies were found completely drained of blood, with puncture wounds on their necks. Locals blamed the Chupacabra, or “goat sucker,” for the still unexplained incidents. Such fanciful attributions are typical among the uneducated. More astute observers recognized these events for what they were: the work of vampires.
Robert Todd Carroll, The Skeptic’s Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions (John Wiley & Sons, 2003), 76.
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880
FACT : Zambia is home to Pterodactyl-like flying monsters called kongamato, which are said to have bat-like wings with four- to seven-foot spans and a long, tapered jaw filled with sharp teeth. Zambian villagers believe that to look upon the kongamato is death. Others know a hang-glider when they see it and are not afraid.
David Hatcher Childress, Lost Cities & Ancient Mysteries of Africa & Arabia (Adventures Unlimited Press, 1989).
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881
FACT : South Americans are terrorized by minhocão, a giant worm said to be seventy feet long with armor-plated skin, a pig-like snout, and two tentacles on its head. Spotted in Uruguay and southern Brazil, the minhocão lives underground but occasionally surfaces, and many blame it for collapsed bridges, tunnels, and roadways. Others know a train when they see it and are not afraid.
Jonathan Maberry and David F. Kramer, The Cryptopedia: A Dictionary of the Weird, Strange & Downright Bizarre (Kensington Publishing, 2007), 30.
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882
FACT : In 1856, a pterodactyl was discovered in France by workers blasting rocks to build a railway. The beast used its ten-foot wingspan to stagger out into the sunlight before it let out a hoarse cry and died.
Naturalists identified the creature and the rock strata as being millions of years old. The hoarse cry was pterodactyl for, “Christ, not France.”
David Hatcher Childress, Lost Cities & Ancient Mysteries of Africa & Arabia (Adventures Unlimited Press, 1989).
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883
FACT : Crystal skulls found in Mexico have long fascinated archaeologists. One specimen, sold at Sotheby’s in London in 1943, is known as the “Skull of Doom” and is said to have mystical powers, emit blue lights from its eyes, and crash computer hard drives. Sounds more like the Skull Of Windows Vista.
Jane MacLaren Walsh, “Legend of the Crystal Skulls,” Archaeology, May/June 2008, www.archaeology.org.
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884
FACT : In 1938, an archeological expedition in China discovered hundreds of stone disks in caves in the Baian-Kara-Ula mountains, each measuring nine inches in diameter and etched with miniscule hieroglyphics that tell a story of aircrafts from distant worlds crashing in the mountains. The disks are believed to be thousands of years old. And a possible indication of when man discovered opium.
Stephen Wagner, “The Dropa Stones,” About.com, www.paranormal.about.com.
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885
FACT : Scientists are unable to explain a number of fossils that have been found, including one of a human handprint in limestone and a human finger found in the Arctic in Canada, both estimated to be 100–110 million years old. I’m unable to explain the number of fossils driving cars around my neighborhood; I thought being able to see over the steering wheel—or at all—was required for a driver’s license.
Stephen Wagner, “Impossible Fossils,” About.com, www.paranormal.about.com.
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886
FACT : The Bermuda Triangle and the Oregon Vortex are believed by some to be connected to “magnetic vortexes,” in which the walls between known and unknown dimensions are so thin people can pass through them and seemingly disappear. Some people believe in the Tooth Fairy, too.
Nicholas R. Nelson, Paradox: A Round Trip Through the Bermuda Triangle (New Horizon, 1980).
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887
FACT : Some experts theorize that time travel may be possible by passing through black holes. Of course they do. No one will volunteer to go through a black hole and disprove them.