Islamic stigmata
A baby in Dagestan is apparently running a sort of Koranic slide show on his skin. Ali Yakubov is said to have exhibited the word 'Allah' in Arabic on his chin at a few weeks of age, and subsequently entire Koranic verses have been appearing on various parts of his body, before fading and being replaced with new ones. Initially the parents did not talk about it, but then the phrase, "Show these signs to people" came into view, and now their household is being inundated with pilgrims from all over the region. Performances are twice weekly, on Mondays and Thursday nights...
Yet another giant snake
Workers at Fushun, Liaoning, China, allegedly found a 17 meter snake while working with a shovel car this past August 4, 2009. They noticed blood in the sand, apparently the shovel had hit the creature, which died shortly afterwards. Some accounts tell it weighed 300kg, others a measly 103 kg, which is probably closer to reality...
Police officer sees aliens at crop circle
A police officer contacted British UFO experts after seeing three aliens examining a freshly made crop circle near Avebury, Wiltshire. The sergeant, who has not been named, was off-duty when he saw the figures standing in a field near Silbury Hill, and stopped his car to investigate. However, as he approached the 'men' – all over 6ft tall with blond hair – he heard "the sound of static electricity" and the trio ran away ''faster than any man he had ever seen''...
"Haunted people" potentially explained: a mind-body basis for anomalous perceptions
People seeing ghosts? There may be a genuine mind-body foundation for such anomalous perceptions, according to two researchers, Michael Jawer and Marc Micozzi, MD, PhD. Their book, The Spiritual Anatomy of Emotion, suggests that sensing a presence, seeing an apparition, or feeling energy around a person or place may be related to the workings of the limbic system – the “emotional brain” – as well as a personality type that rapidly registers feelings...
A very early vision of the Virgin Mary
Visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary rank among the most interesting of Fortean phenomena. They are, to begin with, often very well evidenced; there are frequently multiple witnesses, and series of visions can run for days, weeks, months, or even years. Because of their theological implications, such experiences have also been the subject of intensive contemporary investigation, and though devout interrogators don't always ask the questions that we Forteans want answered, the fact is that we know vastly more about the background and early lives of percipients such as St Bernadette or Catherine Labouré than we do about most people who report strange things...
Spring-Heeled Jack, The Terror of Barnes Common
"Some of you with an interest in folklore and crypto-zoology might be aware of the Victorian bug-a-boo Spring-heeled Jack, a mysterious fleet-footed character who terrorised London in the 1830s and visited other towns and cities in the late 19th and early 20th century. Since the 1960s, when a writer in Flying Saucer Review claimed Jack was really an extraterrestrial, versions of the legend have turned up in the UFO/supernatural press. Next year sees the publication of a new book on the SHJ legend, edited by Mike Dash and containing contributions from yours truly [DC] (2 chapters) and other scholars of folklore and Victorian literature"...
Great White nearly bit in half by an even BIGGER monster: Swimmers stay out of the water after warning over giant 20ft shark
A 'monster' great white shark measuring up to 20 ft long is on the prowl off a popular Queensland beach, according to officials. Swimmers were warned to stay out of the water off Stradbroke Island after the shark mauled another smaller great white which had been hooked on a baited drum line. The 10-foot great white was almost bitten in half...
Britian's most haunted village 'cancels Halloween'
The Black Horse pub is said to be the haunt of a mischievous poltergeist Photo: Francesca Hoyles
Pluckley residents are fed up of being invaded by hundreds of ghost-hunting revellers, causing vandalism and traffic chaos. The village is said to have at least 12 spectres, including a highwayman, a phantom monk, the hanging body of a schoolmaster and a poltergeist in the local pub. In previous years residents of the sedate Kent hamlet have tried to turn the night of expected disturbance into family fun, set up by the parish council's own Halloween committee...
$1m reward offered in vampire case
A $1 MILLION reward has been posted for a man believed to have ordered the execution-style murder of self-proclaimed vampire Shane Chartres-Abbott. Chartres-Abbott, who worked as a male prostitute, was gunned down in broad daylight in Reservoir, in Melbourne's north, on June 4, 2003. One man assaulted his pregnant girlfriend and father while another shot dead Chartres-Abbott at the scene. One man is serving a life sentence in jail after pleading guilty to the murder in March 2008...
