Archive for the ‘unexplained’ category

The Abominable Snowman on MonsterQuest!

October 26, 2009

Abominable– – MonsterQuest finally came up with their long-awaited episode on the Yeti on October 25th after previous ho-hum episodes on wild dogs and rats.- – Here at last is a cryptid worthy of consideration!  The Abominable Snowman differs from his North American Bigfoot cousin in being more aggressive and carnivorous; he’s nocturnal, and goes after both people and their livestock in the Himalayas.- – You gotta give the big guy credit for that!

Examined were hair and footprint evidence as well as images from cameras.  The most recent footprint from 2008 was actually regarded to be a hoofprint, kind of a drag-impression in the snow distorted by multiple freeze and thaw cycles.  Fifty-year old hair samples supposedly from the skullcap of a Yeti were also analyzed, and found to be from a deer-like creature.  Picture images from cameras set up at different locations were of the usual birds with perhaps an antlered beast or two thrown in.  Lastly, eyewitness accounts of the Yeti were chalked off as being misidentified bears!

There were some interesting sidebars; apparently, the Nazis had sent teams out in pursuit of the Yeti, and locals led the Nazis to a supposed lair where they shot…a bear! I also loved a scene where an investigative team came upon a slaughtered and partly-eaten goat, perhaps consumed by the Yeti; the lead investigator indulged himself in the treat, which had been lying out for five or six days, and found it to be like jerky…”rather tasty, actually,” he proclaimed.–Anyone else up for five-day old goat, partly eaten by who knows what?–Didn’t think so…

It’s well been pointed out that even known identified species are hard to track over wild terrain, so I’m really not surprised by the lack of Yeti evidence. –And why do we call him Abominable, together with “terrifying” and “ferocious?” – – Doesn’t the Yeti just need a good spin doctor?–Why not as in the Tundra cartoon, come up with an Amiable Snowman?

Sal’awa on “Destination Truth”

October 1, 2009

salawa– – Destination Truth in a recent new episode featured Chernobyl but had a secondary story on about the Sal’awa, described by highly emotional eyewitnesses as a canine monster about the size of a dog but with hind legs that are somewhat longer than the front legs, a large muzzle that resembles that of a hyena, and imposing sharp teeth.

Reports of the Sal’awa first appeared in Cairo, Egypt in the 1960’s and 1970’s, with a resurgence of sightings then beginning in 1996.  In 2008 in Aswan, the creature supposedly attacked a 3-year-old baby girl and a 57-year-old man, who died after reaching the hospital.

The Destination Truth team interviewed a number of eyewitnesses, including a mother who claimed the creature would have killed her child had she not beaten it off.  The investigators also tracked an unknown creature through a sugar cane field, complete with bouncing camera images and spooky green- or yellow-tinged lighting, popular since The Blair Witch Project. While some impressive growls were recorded, and a footprint was seen and copied  that was later identified as canine, the only image recorded was that of…an Egyptian fox!–Yuppers, my kind is everywhere!

While even the Destination Truth people downplayed the likelihood of a Sal’awa existing, the Egyptian people who have reported it may have been responding to a large feral dog or a hybrid of some kind…

“MysteryQuest’s” Bermuda Triangle

September 25, 2009

Bermuda Triangle– – The History Channel has mounted a triple threat, featuring episodes of MonsterQuest, Nostradamus Effect, and MysteryQuest run back-to-back.  The Bermuda Triangle offering on MysteryQuest was a first run episode, examining the legendary disappearances of boats, planes, and personnel in the 500,000 square mile area that extends between Miami, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda.

Now a number of things have been blamed for the disappearances, including (of course) UFO’s/USO’s, rogue waves in the case of boats, and perhaps most intriguingly, “electronic fog” attaching itself to planes.  Electronic fog is supposedly created when solar energy combines with thunderstorm activity; the fog generated is said to travel with the aircraft as it moves, effectively blinding it and making it difficult to fly out of the disturbance.

The case of Bruce Gernon was examined, a survivor of a Bermuda Triangle encounter on December 4th, 1970 when he felt that a cut developed in the fabric of time, causing him to time travel…

–Hitler’s Escape?

September 19, 2009

Cat Hitler– -Did Adolf Hitler escape the closing grip of Allied troops on Berlin during the final days of Nazi Germany in World War II, and somehow get spirited to Argentina or elsewhere?–Yes he did, ultimately to be reincarnated as a cat…

Seriously, though, the opening episode of MysteryQuest considered the question of whether Hitler had indeed escaped his bunker, with a body double in some accounts having been used in the dictator’s supposed suicide.  The Soviets did retain some fragmentary and minimal remains said to be those of Hitler, including a bloody couch and a skull fragment complete with a bullet hole.  MysteryQuest was permitted a very brief examination of the remains, bringing back photos and even small samples.  Some interesting conclusions were reached…

…photos and examination suggested that the sutures joining the skull plates were relatively open, as would be characteristic of a younger person in the age range of 20 to 40 years, rather than a man of Hitler’s age.  Furthermore, the bone itself was not as thick or robust as is usually seen in males, and is more characteristic of a female! DNA was successfully extracted from the samples, and was conclusively found to be female as well.

While these findings do not prove that Hitler escaped his bunker, they do suggest that the remains housed by the Soviets could not be those of Hitler…Do I think that Hitler escaped Berlin and survived?–Not bloody well likely…but for a really cool story about Hitler cloning, check out The Boys from Brazil, novel by Ira Levin or movie featuring Gregory Peck…

“MysteryQuest” on the History Channel

September 16, 2009

Atlantis— Alright, it won’t be MonsterQuest, but the new MysteryQuest may appeal to some of the same audience.  MysteryQuest is a new series that promises to dispatch teams of experts throughout the world to try to solve some of mankind’s strangest and most persistent mysteries.  Following the MonsterQuest formula, a science team will then conduct a forensic exam of the evidence gathered by the investigative teams using the latest technology.- -Sound a little familiar?

Promised are episodes on the Bermuda Triangle (…always a favorite!), the Zodiac serial killer, and Atlantis.  Kicking the series off is an installment on Hitler (- -alive and well and living in Argentina?).   Watch for it Wednesday nights on the History Channel.- – And yes, Foxsylvania may comment; we love drek like this!

I’m  hoping for an episode on the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch! (It’s a Monty Python thing, BTW…)

Monster Freshwater Fish!

September 11, 2009

catfish

— “Just when you thought that it was safe to swim in freshwater lakes and rivers..”

So warns another MonsterQuest episode, but I, for one, do not live in fear of monster catfish…they just don’t have, for me, the shock and awe factor.  It’s not that really big catfish don’t exist…a nine-footer was found, for example, in the Mekong Delta.  Catfish which can supposedly swallow small children whole are also said to exist in the Amazon River, where natives claim to routinely catch 50 pound catfish, with others said to be much bigger, say to around 600 pounds…that ought to feed a lot of people at Cracker Barrel or other places where catfish are served!

The episode also introduced us to “fish noodlers,” who catch catfish with their bare hands; you grab ’em by the lower lip, and it’s said to be like grabbing a wet noodle!  Remind me never to apply for such work…

Other big fish exist, like pikes, one of which is thought to have attacked a man in a lake in Minnesota.  Lake trout continue to grow throughout their life , and one of these was thought to have been as large as a 14-foot boat in a 1987 Arctic circle encounter.    Then there are alligator gar, which can weigh in at over 350 pounds.  An early 1900’s story exists of one of these slaying an alligator, and a 7-1/2 foot specimen was caught in 1910,

While no monster freshwater fish were caught by MonsterQuest on video, they are thought to be out there, but hard to find…haven’t we heard that somewhere before?

Cougars in Seattle!

September 5, 2009

mercury cougar— No, not the Mercury Cougar…we’re talkin’ cougars as in mountain lions, pumas, panthers, and catamounts.  The big cats more commonly attack pets and livestock than people, but a 5-year-old boy was mauled in the Northeast corner of Washington state last Wednesday, and in the past year other attacks have been reported in a few Western states, including Washington and Wyoming. In June of 2008, a cougar killed a 55-year-old man in New Mexico.

Associated Press reports that Seattle’s largest park, Discovery Park, is currently off limits as state wildlife agents try to trap a cougar in or near Discovery Park.  The last time that a cougar was seen in Discovery Park was 1981.  It was dubbed “D.B. Cougar” after the elusive hijacker, D.B. Cooper!

This past Friday morning, a man in that area said that he saw a cougar (no, not the Mercury!) in his driveway as he went to pick up his newspaper. So we’ve got foxes in Detroit, leopards in upstate New York, and cougars in Seattle…It’s a start, right?cougar

Chupacabra Redux!

September 3, 2009

Chupacabra Redux — What’s black, wrinkly, Texan, and bald all over?–Chupacabra, according to some!  A Texas taxidermist near Rosenberg has had the creature in his possession for a couple of months, finding it dead in a barn and keeping it in a freezer until last weekend (remind me not to eat there)!  The creature was likely poisoned by bait placed in the barn to catch an unidentified animal.

Found near Blanco, Texas, the creature weighs about 35 pounds, and has somewhat long fangs, like those of a coyote.  The legs like the teeth are abnormally long.  The face is fox- or coyote-like, and the emaciated body is likely that of a young adult coyote or dog with severe mange, making it hairless.  The face is judged too long and pointy to be a dog, although some dogs are fox-like in their appearance.  Most likely, it’s a freak of nature (like some of my best friends).

Plans are to preserve the animal and then donate it to a local museum, “so it can be enjoyed by others.”–What could be more appropriate?!


Tigers in the Suburbs?

August 20, 2009

panther— By most accounts, the big cat population in upstate New York was eliminated by the early 20th century; how then to explain a series of eyewitness reports of seeing them there, in particular large black cats?  The mountain lion is believed to be the only large cat to exist freely in the U.S.–Are people seeing an escaped exotic pet?

It’s MonsterQuest to the rescue, setting up thermal-sensing cameras and sending out decoy calls to lure the elusive cats!  As usual, deer, raccoon, squirrels, and even lynx were detected by the cameras.  The cameras revealed food sources sufficient to support a large cat.  More intriguingly, claw marks were found on a tree, and tracks were found that match those of the leopard…

…additionally, more lions and tigers are believed to be in private ownership than exist in zoos!  The first leopard arrived in the United States in 1768, with the first tigers brought in in 1806.  Sadly, there is little or no regulation by most states on the private ownership of exotic animals.  An animal who is fun when adopted as a cub grows up to be a predator, and “there is no such thing as a tame wild animal.”

MonsterQuest additionally performed a DNA analysis of 30 captive tigers, finding that over half showed moderate to severe inbreeding; this leads to increased genetic abnormalities which in turn can cause behavioral abnormalities, including increased aggression.  Such aggression can lead to cases like that cited by MonsterQuest of a couple hiking that were attacked and mauled by a large cat in January of 2007.

The conclusion of the MonsterQuest team was that big cats are out there in the eastern United States, but are not easily found…and as the poet once wrote, “If called by a panther,/don’t answer!”


Killer Chimps in America!

August 13, 2009

killer chimp— Killer Chimps in America was a recent MonsterQuest episode that did not pertain to Mojo Jojo, simian nemesis of (-ugh!) The Powerpuff  Girls. Rather, it concerned the possibility of wild chimpanzees loose in the swamps of Florida and possibly in California.   It was not the best MonsterQuest episode, dragging at times and appearing pieced together…but it was not the worst episode, either.

The intrepid MonsterQuest team searched for chimps in the Green Swamp in central Florida, a mere 40 miles away from Orlando, where great merchandising beasts are loose.  The team used camera traps including thermal units as well as gyroplane aircraft, one of which I must add to my Xmas list!  Anyhow, the camera traps detected bobcats, whitetail deer, wild turkey, owl, boar, and even a red wolf but (–surprise!)  no chimpanzees.

Now immature chimps have long been paraded on TV as cute and lovable creatures who can be dressed in clothes and otherwise embarrassed by training them to perform human-like behaviors.  The problem is that sexual maturity causes chimps to become stronger and more aggressive.  This is why the late Michael Jackson sent Bubbles the Chimp to a Florida simian sanctuary after palling around with him in the 1980’s.  As the Travis the Chimp mauling demonstrated so horrendously in recent months, a chimp possesses several times human strength, and can readily take a person apart with nothing other than their hands and teeth.   In the Travis attack, the lady targeted lost her nose, eyes, lips, and hands.  MonsterQuest profiled another man who together with his wife suffered a chimp attack, and his injuries were also horrendous.  Primates often target the face, by the way…and while chimps in nature often build up to a frenzied stage before an actual attack, domestically-raised chimps can attack instantaneously without telegraphing behaviorally their intentions.

…Now roadside carnivals and zoos in the 1920’s through 1940’s often exhibited chimps in Florida, with P.T. Barnum himself exhibiting chimps there as early as 1896.  Sadly, such road shows had been known to simply set the chimps free after they were done exhibiting them.  This would lend some credibility to the assertion that wild chimp populations were out there.  A cartographic comparison by MonsterQuest of the Green Swamp with Mali, Africa revealed that the areas had minimal differences despite variances in vegetation and elevation.

Despite many eyewitness sightings, physical proof of a wild chimp population in Florida remains elusive, however, and resources are not judged sufficient to maintain such a population.  It is also deemed unlikely that an escaped chimp could survive undetected in Central Florida; he would inevitably gravitate to Disney World, and probably attempt to butt in line at the attractions.

An underlying issue presented in the episode was that 13 states don’t regulate ownership of exotic animals that would include chimpanzees, and chimps are near the top of the list of animals that make bad pets for home ownership…