Scotland's Nostradamus and the Queen of the Fairies
So begins the ballad of the quaint 13th-century figure known as Scotland's Nostradamus and his enchantment by the Queen of the Fairies. Thomas of Ercildoune - more commonly known as Thomas the Rhymer - was a soothsayer of such repute that for a time his fame rivalled that of the Arthurian magician Merlin…
In search of African dragons
Jon Downes has announced that his Center for Fortean Zoology will attempt to track down recent accounts of “dragons” or monitor lizards in West Africa. In early July 2006, a six-person team from the North Devon-based UK group is travelling to Gambia to investigate these folktales. They may find the trail a little cold…
Object in sky nets 100 calls
The Manitoba Museum has been flooded with phone calls from people who spotted a strange object in the sky. Resident astronomer Scott Young said the museum has received at least 100 calls about an eerie green light that appeared in the sky on Friday night. Young believes the object was either a small asteroid or a chunk of comet that shattered into several pieces after burning up in the Earth's atmosphere. "The receptionist is doing nothing but answering calls and taking numbers right now and I think I'm up to 180 e-mails," he said. "Lots of people saw it." Eyewitnesses from Dryden to Brandon and as far south as Duluth, Minn., have reported seeing the object…
“UFO car” beams into spotlight
Late one August night, almost 30 years ago, a mysterious flash of light bore down on a Marshall County deputy as he was patrolling the western edge of the county. The light lasted only a few minutes, before Sheriff Deputy Val Johnson, who was driving along Minnesota Highway 220, lost consciousness of time. A few minutes grew into half an hour - 40 minutes, before Johnson became aware of the night again, and when that happened, damage had been done to his eyes and his squad car…
A sixth sense for a wired world
What if, seconds before your laptop began stalling, you could feel the hard drive spin up under the load? Or you could tell if an electrical cord was live before you touched it? For the few people who have rare earth magnets implanted in their fingers, these are among the reported effects -- a finger that feels electromagnetic fields along with the normal sense of touch…
Brother of Omen actor in 666 jinx
The Omen star Pete Postlethwaite has revealed his brother died after drawing three sixes in a card game - while he was filming the remake of the 70s chiller. Postlethwaite, who plays Father Brennan, told how his 62-year-old brother Mike's pals even joked about him dying after he drew the Devil's hand in a game of poker. Pete said: "It's a very personal thing but it's true nonetheless. Mike's death was completely out of the blue…
New big bird sightings
How often are large unknown birds seen and quickly explained away? Quite frequently, if a quick survey of newspapers are any indication this week. In Gary Bogue’s June 9, 2006, column on animals in the Contra Costa Times of the East Bay area near San Francisco, California, he publishes an item on a new big bird sighting. I corresponded with Bogue over 30 years ago, as I mention in Mysterious America, regarding the melanistic felid (Black Panther) accounts coming his way. It is obvious Bogue has become and been serving as the local man-to-go-to with any reports of strange animals…
“Mind over matter” no longer science fiction
Sitting stone still under a skull cap fitted with a couple dozen electrodes, American scientist Peter Brunner stares at a laptop computer. Without so much as moving a nostril hair, he suddenly begins to compose a message -- letter by letter -- on a giant screen overhead. "B-O-N-J-O-U-R" he writes with the power of his mind, much to the amazement of the largely French audience of scientists and curious onlookers gathered at the four-day European Research and Innovation Exhibition in Paris, which opened Thursday. Brunner and two colleagues from the state-financed Wadsworth Center in Albany, New York were demonstrating a "brain computer interface (BCI)," an astounding technology which digitalizes brain signals emitted as electrical impulses -- picked up by the electrodes -- to convey intent…
The strange experience of Julio Oscar
Julio Oscar, 48, married, a resident of the province of Buenos Aires (Argentina), moved to La Pampa in the month of July 2005 to be reunited with his sister Rosa after a separation of over 20 years. In his relative's house one day, watching the TV by himself in the dining room, a sudden blackout occurred followed by the sudden appearance of a sphere of light measuring some 10 cm in diameter on the wall beside the television set (which was mounted to the wall). …
| 