Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Will the real Moses please stand up? 

Was Moses actually an Egyptian priest who led a revolt against his country?

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:56 AM

Did Grace Kelly have links with a secret cult? 

The Order of the Solar Temple achieved worldwide notoriety in 1994 when 69 members in Europe and north America died in what appeared to be a planned series of mass suicides and murders.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:41 AM

A Chinese chupacabra? 

It's a hairless...something.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:11 AM

Mystery Monkey's snarky fan page a hit on Facebook 

As of Monday, the page had more than 58,000 fans.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:40 AM

Scientists reverse Alzheimer's-like memory loss in fruit flies 

By blocking the cellular signaling activity of a protein, a team of neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has prevented memory loss in fruit flies caused by brain plaques similar to those thought to cause Alzheimer's disease in humans.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:01 AM

Dog found on yacht but no sign of lost South African solo sailor 

Janse van Rensburg disappeared during what should have been a straightforward three-day voyage from the Bay of Plenty off New Zealand North Island.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:42 AM

Secrets of the Psycho shower 

A Dallas-born stripper who worked in Las Vegas, Renfro was one of the first Playboy Bunnies. Apart from Psycho, she only appeared in one other film, Francis Ford Coppola's 1962 soft-porn comedy-western Tonight for Sure. Then she disappeared, forgotten – until a news report in 2001 said a 34-year-old handyman had been sentenced for raping and strangling her, a crime that had occurred in 1988 but had gone unsolved for over a decade.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:42 AM

Monday, March 29, 2010

Lord Byron described as free love worshipper and 'monster' by ex-lover in newly-discovered memoir 

Claire Clairmont's memoir was discovered by Cambridge graduate Dr Daisy Hay as she researched her first book in New York Public Library.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:24 PM

The Golden Age of Sea Serpents 

The 19th century was the golden age for sea serpents. Many of the most vivid and credible reports of “sea monsters” come from 19th-century sailors – sometimes in such detail, with such eloquence, with such verisimilitude, that only the most cyn­ical sceptic can dismiss them as the products of overactive imaginations or hoaxes.

See also:
Production company searching for Raystown lake monster

Sea Monsters in San Gabriel!

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:12 PM

MonsterQuest: ‘Gable Film’ Mystery Solved 

MonsterQuest’s final episode was a continuation into the “American Werewolf” mystery. Focusing greatly on the infamous “Gable film” that we have extensively covered here on GhostTheory. So let’s get crackin’ and discuss the show and its findings.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:06 PM

Archaeologists find door to the afterlife 

Archaeologists have unearthed a 3,500-year-old door to the afterlife from the tomb of a high-ranking Egyptian official near Karnak temple in Luxor.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:35 PM

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Did Dahmer Have One More Victim? 

Did Jeffrey Dahmer kill Adam Walsh?

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:50 PM

Phantom of the Alley 

With spooky pic.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:19 AM

Saturday, March 27, 2010

1969 Radio Shack Catalog 

Remember when Radio Shack actually carried cool stuff?

More here. Via this thread at Fark.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:15 AM

Friday, March 26, 2010

The strange mystery of the ship and the cursing stone 

The six survivors of the sinking of the HMS Wasp at Tory Island in 1884 were given a rousing welcome when they got to Derry afterwards. Was the shipwreck the result of a catalogue of errors - or were dark otherworldly forces called up by the islanders?

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:37 PM

World War II Plane Found Near Oregon Coast 

Loggers came across the wreckage of a Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, but it's not clear how it got there.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:50 PM

British aerospace enthusiast takes NASA-style photographs using a helium balloon and a pocket camera 

The unearthly beauty of this image taken high above the planet would make Nasa proud.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:35 PM

Chinese mummies bring surprises to surface 

An exhibit in Santa Ana displays 4,000-year-old mummies with European ancestry, found in the arid lands north of Tibet.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:21 PM

Clay County, KY Election Officials Found Guilty of Election Fraud, Vote Buying 

Each face up to 20 years in broad conspiracy that included manipulation of electronic voting machines...

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:57 PM

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

DNA from bone shows new human forerunner, and raises array of questions 

A team of European researchers has identified a new lineage of proto-human that left Africa about a million years ago, traveling as far as Siberia and then dying out -- a discovery that raises new questions about early human history.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:14 PM

Woman May Have Killed Man In Wiccan Ceremony 

A woman who claims she was going to perform a Wiccan celebration of spring is accused of using a ritualistic dagger to kill a man she invited to the ceremony.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:04 PM

Art of the Steal: On the Trail of World’s Most Ingenious Thief 

The plane slowed and leveled out about a mile aboveground. Up ahead, the Viennese castle glowed like a fairy tale palace. When the pilot gave the thumbs-up, Gerald Blanchard looked down, checked his parachute straps, and jumped into the darkness. He plummeted for a second, then pulled his cord, slowing to a nice descent toward the tiled roof. It was early June 1998, and the evening wind was warm. If it kept cooperating, Blanchard would touch down directly above the room that held the Koechert Diamond Pearl. He steered his parachute toward his target.

Thanks, Rich!

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:40 PM

THE HAIRLESS BLUE HORSE OF SOUTH AFRICA 

Long before the hairless blue dogs of Texas were even a twinkle in the eyes of their controversial canine progenitors, another equally strange creature of unfurry skin and cyanescent hue had briefly gained headlines of its own.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:40 PM

Cryptids: The Elusive Bigfoot 

Why is it so hard to find Bigfoot? We could say, “Because there's no such thing as Bigfoot!” and call it a day but that's not fair to Bigfoot.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:11 PM

James Shelby Downard's Carnival of Conspiracy 

While Downard's original work was a tour-de-force of conspiratorial thinking, Carnivals is a different animal all together, a collection of nonsense and absurdity that even the most open minded conspiracy theorist will have a hard time digesting.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:02 PM

Walnuts could prevent prostate cancer, research finds 

Experiments showed that eating a diet rich in walnuts reduced the size and growth rate of prostate cancer in mice.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:18 AM

Cold Fusion — Will It Save The World Or Be Forgotten? 

Since cold fusion's troubled birth, it has been relegated to the fringes of science and the stuff of fiction. But this week, several chemists present evidence that cold fusion may be about to come online.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:17 AM

Finding Science in Acupuncture 

High-Tech Tools Show How Acupuncture Works in Treating Arthritis, Back Pain, Other Ills.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:14 AM

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

KU researcher investigates mysterious stone spheres in Costa Rica 

The ancient stone spheres of Costa Rica were made world-famous by the opening sequence of “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” when a mockup of one of the mysterious relics nearly crushed Indiana Jones.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:46 PM

Dinosaur Buried Alive By Collapsing Sand Dune 

Joe Pachak was hiking in the Comb Ridge area near Bluff, Utah, when he spotted the bony fossil protruding from the multicolored cliffs of the Navajo Sandstone.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:29 PM

Monday, March 22, 2010

Waiting for the end of the world: Georgia's 30-year stone mystery 

The nearly 20-foot high series of granite slabs known as the Georgia Guidestones are inscribed with a series of admonitions for a future "Age of Reason."

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:14 PM

Monkey Watch: More sightings in St. Petersburg 

The elusive monkey has been spotted again!

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:12 PM

Inventors Design Less-Lethal ‘Taser Me Elmo’ Rifle 

Lund Technologies dreams up prototypes for just about everything, from hydrogen-powered toy rockets and light-up footballs to the top-selling Honey My Baby Pony and T.M.X. Tickle Me Elmo dolls. But with a little financing from the Pentagon, the company has also devised a new type of less-lethal rifle.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:01 PM

UAlbany scientists help solve garlic riddle 

What happens to garlic at the precise moment you cut it? The seemingly simple question has challenged food scientists and chemists for more than 50 years.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:59 PM

Sunday, March 21, 2010

A New Rosslyn? 

Those seeking a Templar-Mason connection should give up on Rosslyn Chapel and look instead to Kilwinning Abbey.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:24 AM

Colin Brazier asks: 'Did the Iraq war give me cancer?' 

Recently, I had cause to think back to that day in the desert after a consultant at Salisbury District Hospital diagnosed a small, pea-sized lump under the skin near the hairline on the right side of my forehead as cancer.

The consultant didn’t use the dreaded C-word, of course, or call it a tumour.

That came later. She identified it as a ‘lesion’ and remarked that it was in an unusual place, and may well have been the result of exposure to radiation.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:44 AM

In Thailand, A Little Black Magic Is Politics as Usual 

The images were shocking - and strange. On Tuesday, thousands of Thai protesters splattered buckets of their own blood outside the Prime Minister's office in Bangkok as a Brahmin priest in flowing white robes lit incense, chanted spells and cast a curse upon the government.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:05 AM

Saturday, March 20, 2010

DNA experts reveal China's ancient open door to West 

For four millennia their secrets lay hidden beneath the desert sands, the final resting place of a mysterious civilisation. And since their discovery in 1934, the Tarim mummies in China have perplexed historians and archaeologists.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:59 PM

Revisiting The Great Nicola 

He performed all over the world from America to India and Asia. He acquired an elephant from a maharajah, broke out of prison and ultimately lost all of his equipment. His astonishing life begins and ends in Monmouth.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:57 PM

Hollywood's sweetheart: Olivia de Havilland 

Olivia de Havilland, a star of Hollywood's golden age, lives in Paris in a tall townhouse near the Bois de Boulogne.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:53 PM

DARPA's Smart Blimp: Mysterious, Hovering Future of Battlefield Surveillance 

In the future DARPA's ISIS blimp may be hovering above the horizon near to conflict zones, feeding real time radar data to troops and smart weapons from on high. True to its name, it's also a little more magical than the Goodyear blimp as it's almost totally automated.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:47 PM

Murder case of cheating wife and missing mattress grips France 

Former students recall that Jacques Viguier, a brilliant law professor, liked to engage them in a debate about whether the perfect murder existed. That was before the academic, a fan of Alfred Hitchcock films, was accused of killing his wife.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:31 PM

Forgotten authors No.50: John Dickson Carr 

Pennsylvania-born John Dickson Carr (1906-1977) hit on the ultimate mystery, the murder that takes place in a hermetically sealed room, and wrote variations that increased in ornate complexity, with cliffhanger chapter ends and solutions that still have readers slapping their foreheads.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:18 PM

Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare? by James Shapiro 

It's a tale of snobbery and ignorance, of unhistorical assumptions, of myths about the writing life sometimes fuelled by bestselling authors who ought to know better. The trail is strewn, Shapiro says, with "fabricated documents, embellished lives, concealed identity, calls for trial, pseudonymous authorship, contested evidence, bald-faced deception, and a failure to grasp what could not be imagined".

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:32 AM

Thursday, March 18, 2010

'Goatman' of Prince George's to be shown at film festival 

Move over Bigfoot, Loch Ness monster, creature from the Black Lagoon and other similarly scary Hollywood monsters. Prince George's County's urban legend of the Goatman is finally starting to earn some big-screen attention.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:11 PM

Magick Man | Kenneth Anger 

in the 63 years since he found recognition among Jean Cocteau’s set for his homoerotic-cum-occultist art-film classic, ”Fireworks,” he has produced a body of moving-image work that has gained a (literal) cult following, become a leading expert on the occult and the work of Aleister Crowley, declared himself a Magus, churned out two volumes of his proto-gossip-rag tomes "Hollywood Babylon" and, lately, taken on a string of ritualistic musical performances with his collaborator-slash-manager, Brian Butler. Kenneth Anger, in short, is a man with a supernatural mind.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:10 PM

10 Uncanniest Irish Mythological Creatures 

From the familiar and beloved (aye: the leprechaun) to the somewhat stranger, but still rewarding (the headless, horse-mounted dullahan; the fir bolg, or bear people), you’ll find a very bestiary here. Craic!

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:42 AM

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Cerne Abbas Giant: Preserving an icon 

The Cerne Abbas Giant is a 60 metre (180 feet) chalk figure brandishing a club, but his exact origins remain a mystery.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:21 PM

Skull of Illinois Woman Murdered in 1948 Center of Mystery 

Investigators and forensic anthropologists were baffled to find the skull of the buried corpse and one of the vertebrae were not actually those of Reed. The rest of the body was DNA-certified to be the slain teenager's.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:50 PM

A 160-Year-Old Photographic Mystery 

In 1851, Levi Hill claimed he invented color photography. Was he a genius or a fraud?

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:38 PM

Where Have All The Werewolves Gone? 

Did the arrival of Darwin's theory of evolution put paid to a widespread belief in half-human creatures?

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:22 AM

Canadian finds long-lost moon rover in new NASA images 

The tracks were clearly visible on the moon's surface, leading lunar sleuth Phil Stooke straight to the long-lost Russian rover — and effectively solving a 37-year old mystery over the craft's location.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:06 AM

Possible Last Episode For MonsterQuest 

I’ve been reading on various sources that the show might not be renewed for season 5. Although I’m generally saddened by this, I am not surprised.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:04 AM

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Shrimp Dinner Found Beneath Antarctic Ice 

A shrimp-like creature and a jellyfish have been discovered below a massive Antarctic ice sheet.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:07 AM

After 13 years, police still hunting for the East Coast Rapist 

The man studies women carefully. He watches them leave for work and walk home from the mall, and he notices whether they lock their windows and doors. He knows when they are most vulnerable and when they are home alone with their children. He stalks them in neighborhoods he knows well.

Then he rapes them and vanishes.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:04 AM

Monday, March 15, 2010

Shakespeare's 'lost' play is published... or is it just a Double Falsehood? 

Tangled relationships, women disguised as men, intrigue laced with tragedy and comedy - some might say it has all the hallmarks of Shakespeare.

But for the best part of 280 years The Double Falsehood, or the Distressed Lovers, has been dismissed as a falsehood in more than just title.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:55 PM

Digger’s Gallipolli Bible finds its way home 

A bible lost by a brave young Digger almost a century ago on the World War 1 battlefield has found its way home to the soldier’s Seven Hills family.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:26 PM

Crop circles: shamen says they are 4,000 years old 

“These circles were an amazing sight to see,” says Zulu holy man Credo Mutwa. “The gods never cut the stalks of the corn or millet when they formed these depressions. It appeared as though a great circular disc-shaped force had descended on the field.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:57 AM

Heidi Montag hires psychic manager, fires Spencer Pratt 

Media "personality" and plastic surgery enthusiast Heidi Montag has reportedly dumped her manager, husband Spencer Pratt, and hired psychic Aiden Chase to manage her career in both the physical and, we assume, the astral plane.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:14 AM

25 Nostalgic Photos Comparing Past to the Present 

Really cool and a little bit sad.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:04 AM

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Who really wrote Shakespeare? 

Surely not that 'upstart crow' from Stratford? As James Shapiro's new book rehearses the loony arguments about our greatest playwright, we ask some of today's finest Shakespearean actors and directors their thoughts on the authorship question.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:56 PM

The Mysterious Phenomenon of Shadow People 

Each and every week there seems to be more and more stories and reports involving these mysterious beings, and they certainly have become a hot topic and a subject of growing interest of research by investigators.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:47 PM

Recalling a Legless Daredevil 

As a boy, Charles Zibelman had fallen beneath a streetcar in Chicago, losing both legs below the hip. Zimmy later taught himself to golf and to drive a car with special mechanisms, but his claim to fame came as a marathon swimmer.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:29 PM

Mysterious Millionairess 

When a Connecticut mansion located near journalist Bill Dedman went on the market, it was simple curiosity that made him inquire how much it was selling for and who owned it.

The name of 103-year-old Huguette Clark didn’t ring a bell.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:25 PM

History, progress clash at mysterious Alabama mound 

Overlooking the Interstate and an outdoor shopping mall here stands a sad little hill, bald but for four bare trees and a scattering of stones.

That the stones are there is beyond argument. But everything else about them — whether somebody put them there, how long they have been there and what should be done with them — became a matter of fierce debate last summer and has continued to yield surprising twists into recent weeks.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:20 PM

Who steals art? 

Twenty years after the Gardner heist, detective Charles Hill says art thieves aren’t so clever.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:56 PM

Saturday, March 13, 2010

The Mysterious Death of Bush's Cyber-Guru 

Shortly before six o’clock on the evening of December 19, 2008, a man standing outside his home in Lake Township, Ohio heard the whine of an engine in the sky above him.

Moments later two red lights broke through the low clouds, heading almost directly toward the ground. It was a light aircraft, and for a second, as it descended below the tree line, the man thought it would climb back up. Instead, there was a terrible thud, and the sky turned orange.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:07 PM

Friday, March 12, 2010

French bread spiked with LSD in CIA experiment 

A 50-year mystery over the 'cursed bread' of Pont-Saint-Esprit, which left residents suffering hallucinations, has been solved after a writer discovered the US had spiked the bread with LSD as part of an experiment.

Via Fark.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:30 PM

Thrillarena! 

My name is Sam. I ride a 1931 101 Indian Scout motocycle on the side of a 90 degrees (straight up & down) wooden barrel board wall. It is the sport of motor drome riding, more commonly known as the “Thrillarena” or “Wall of Death”.

Cool! Great pics. Check it out!

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:09 PM

Why and how did Native Americans build mounds? 

When English and Scottish settlers first arrived in what was to become the United States, they encountered literally thousands of abandoned earthen and shell mounds that seemed not to be associated with occupied Indian villages.

Via Maajak World.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:54 AM

What Makes For A Good Paranormal Book? 

Ghost Theory's Javier Ortega wants to know.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:43 AM

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Teddy Roosevelt – Monster Hunter? 

The year is 1918 and some thing is stalking the woods around Knoxville, Tennessee.

This is why he carried a big stick. My latest post at the Examiner.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:59 PM

Could Pyramids have the answer to the mysterious Llani hum? 

Alex Putney, researcher and author of www.humanresonance.org, claims to have gathered scientific and mathematical evidence linking the humming experienced by Peter Danks with the Great Pyramids of Giza, which sit over 2,000 miles away.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:28 PM

Decoding An Ancient Computer: New Astonishing Truths 

The mysterious mechanism was discovered in 1900 in the wreck of a Roman vessel off the Greek island of Antikythera.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:19 PM

Amanda Knox Update: Rudy Guede Denies Clearing Amanda Knox of Murder, Claims He's Innocent 

In a letter obtained by 48 Hours/Mystery, Rudy Guede denies reports that he cleared Amanda Knox of murder in conversations with a fellow inmate.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:08 PM

Potential heirs' DNA tested in Caravaggio death hunt 

Six possible descendants of Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, have been DNA-tested in the hopes they can help unveil the mystery surrounding the painter's death.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:06 PM

Researchers back cancer-fighting properties of papaya 

Researchers said Tuesday that papaya leaf extract and its tea have dramatic cancer-fighting properties against a broad range of tumors, backing a belief held in a number of folk traditions.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:02 PM

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Mystery of 75 starlings falling from the sky 

The deaths of 75 starlings which appeared to fall from the sky and crash land on to a driveway in Somerset has mystified the RSPCA animal charity.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:20 PM

Next on CSI: Renaissance, Who Killed Caravaggio? 

In 1610, the Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio perished in a Mediterranean port town. His body was never found, and the cause of his death has been debated ever since.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:01 PM

Explorer's suicide remains a mystery 

One hundred years ago tomorrow, Antarctic explorer Bertram Armytage dressed himself in his dinner suit, donned his polar medals, and shot himself through the head with a Colt pistol in a room of the exclusive Melbourne Club.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:00 PM

Robin Hood and the Templars of Doom 

The forgotten history of England's most famous outlaw.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:36 PM

The worship of Santa Muerte 

Over the last decade, one saint in Mexico has attracted 2 million followers: Saint Death. Known as Santa or Santisima Muerte, this figure has become an issue for the government and Catholic Church of Mexico.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:05 AM

Satan worshipers possible suspects in Simon slaying 

The last hours of Kimberly Simon’s life in 1985 were likely spent with a group of young men who worshiped the devil, tortured cats, used hallucinogenic drugs and sexually abused women, according to investigators who have been probing her homicide for the past 16 months.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:02 AM

1934 not a good year for gangsters 

The year 1934 was not a good one for gangsters who had been terrorizing the country -- particularly the banks.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:49 AM

DNA of extinct birds extracted from ancient eggshell 

Researchers have found that eggshells of extinct bird species are a rich source of preserved DNA.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:49 AM

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Kangaroos in Japan mystify residents 

Residents of the Mayama mountain district of Japan are reporting sightings of kangaroo-like animals.

My latest at The Examiner.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:53 PM

Lair of the Beasts: Alligators on the Rampage 

Alligators in Texas? Nick Redfern has the skinny.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:36 PM

Filmmakers set out to solve 124-year-old murder mystery 

Christopher Rott and Steve Steinhauser were just biding time in a bookstore when they came upon a passage that may lead to solving one of Monmouth County’s oldest murder mysteries.

Murder, mobs, and a ghost.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:17 PM

Author to discuss mysterious fire that destroyed Chinese village in Pacific Grove 

The boulders around the Hopkins Marine Station campus on the Pacific Grove shoreline still bear scorch marks from the May 16, 1906, fire that destroyed a Chinese fishing village that had been established there for more than 50 years.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:13 PM

Monday, March 08, 2010

Newfoundland fishermen snag sea monster in nets 

The depths of the Atlantic Ocean are filled with all kinds of strange critters and creatures - maybe some we've never seen or heard of before.

Maybe John Marsh has discovered one of them.

With illustration.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:54 PM

The Museum of the American Gangster Opens With a Bang in Old Speakeasy 

The Museum of the American Gangster, which opened its Prohibition-era doors for previews yesterday in lower Manhattan, features a bevy of era-appropriate artifacts.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:09 PM

Prehistoric Vero Beach carving may be Americas' oldest artwork - so what's its price? 

For nearly three years, an artifact that might be the oldest piece of artwork in the Americas lay under the sink of an amateur fossil collector's mobile home.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:06 PM

'Mystical' stone puts plumber on new path 

A Polish plumber has become a faith healer after finding a 'mystical' stone while digging up drains under his house.

Via Odd Universe.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:03 PM

Rare phenomenon: Once every 3000 years this flower appears! 

According to Buddhist scripture the "Udumbara" flower blossoms every 3000 years before the coming of the next Buddha.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:07 PM

The Beast of White Lake Ontario and the Burlington Name Game 

In the summer of 1907, residents of White Lake village in Ontario, Canada, reported seeing a strange “beast” on the main road south of town.

My latest post at The Examiner.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:27 AM

Straight From the Horse's Mane 

Horses across the country have been found with plaits in their manes. Everyone from horse thieves to Pagan witches has been blamed, but might the real culprits be familiar figures from fairy lore?

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:15 AM

Explorer finds evidence of early waterway from Atlantic to Pacific 

An explorer claims to have found evidence of another, more ancient, water route between the oceans — one that existed hundreds of years before the Panama Canal was conceived.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:31 AM

Sunday, March 07, 2010

Defectors Say Church of Scientology Hides Abuse - NYTimes.com 

I am shocked! Shocked I tell you!

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:39 AM

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Sudan's land of 'black pharaohs' a trove for archaeologists 

There is not a tourist in sight as the sun sets over sand-swept pyramids at Meroe, but archaeologists say the Nubian Desert of northern Sudan holds mysteries to rival ancient Egypt.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:56 PM

Window cleaner killed himself with giant souvenir pencil, inquest hears 

A window cleaner died after stabbing himself in the groin repeatedly with a jumbo souvenir pencil, an inquest heard.

Ouch.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:39 PM

Mystery Man Blamed in Amanda Knox Case 

Surprise testimony emerged in Italy Friday indicating that American student Amanda Knox, who was recently convicted of murder in Perugia, Italy, was not present at the scene of the crime when her roommate, British student Meredith Kercher, was killed.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:16 PM

Art Heist Still a Mystery 20 Years Later 

It is the greatest art heist mystery of our time. Twenty years ago this month, a pair of thieves pilfered paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer and other artists from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, a take possibly worth $500 million.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:16 PM

Can cult group mind control techniques reverse your aging process? 

It was an experiment that didn’t set out to demonstrate how mind control techniques used by cult groups can work effectively in practice.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:26 AM

Friday, March 05, 2010

African origin of Roman York's rich lady with the ivory bangle 

One of the richest inhabitants of fourth century Roman York, buried in a stone sarcophagus with luxury imports including jewellery made of elephant ivory, a mirror and a blue glass perfume jar, was a woman of black African ancestry, a re-examination of her skeleton has shown.

Thanks Joe!

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:48 PM

Steampunk: 20 Core Titles 

Here are ten classic steampunk works and ten more recent titles for a well-rounded collection.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:04 PM

No longer spooked by ghostly goings-on 

Despite the decline in religion, it seems that more and more of us do. In fact, it’s maybe because of the decline in religion that belief in the paranormal is now the new normal.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:32 PM

Declassified: secret London haunts of the real-life spooks 

To most people, they are just anonymous flats, houses and buildings scattered around London.

But for those fascinated with the secret world of spies and the work of the intelligence services, they are places of mystery and intrigue.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:50 AM

Hanks to Take On JFK Murder Mystery 

“We’re going to do the American public a service,” Hanks says. “A lot of conspiracy types are going to be upset. If we do it right, it’ll be perhaps one of the most controversial things that has ever been on TV.”

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:49 AM

For sale, two captured ghosts, trapped in bottles of holy water that made them sleepy 

A New Zealand woman has solved the mystery of what gift to get for the person who has everything.

But she's raised a whole lot of other questions in the process.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:47 AM

Anton Lavey and the Church of Satan 

Anton Lavey, real name Howard Stanton Levey is credited as being the founder of the Church of Satan and writing the Satanic Bible. Have you ever heard of the Church of Satan? Behold. We are not talking about Satan as you know him here. It’s different. Read on!

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:42 AM

Thursday, March 04, 2010

'Templar crucifixion nail' a fantasy, says Madeiran archaeologist 

Archaeologist Élvio Sousa of the Center for the Study of Modern and Contemporary Archeology (CEAM) on the Portuguese island of Madeira has released a statement calling the alleged discovery there of three Templar skeletons and a 'crucifixion nail' dating from the Roman era "a fantasy." CEAM conducted archaeological work on the site from 2004 to 2006.

A follow-up to yesterday's post:

'Templar crucifixion nail' found in imaginary country - but is it a hoax?

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:26 AM

DNA clues hunted in ’90 art theft 

On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the theft of masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the FBI is resubmitting evidence taken from the crime scene for DNA analysis in hope of gaining a long-sought break in the case.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:29 AM

Jon Venables is no longer the guilty boy who killed James Bulger 

Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, both then 10 years old, abducted a little boy, James Bulger, from a shopping mall when his mother's attention was diverted, then took him by the hand on a long walk which ended some two hours later on waste land by a railway track.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:28 AM

Chupacabra legend lives on with new sighting 

The 'Dry Gulch Chupacabra' shows up in Oklahoma. Verdict: Mangy raccoon. With video.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:23 AM

Byzantine Ghost Towns of Syria 

Eerie ruins, including the church built around the pillar of a strange saint, the greatest celebrity of the fifth century.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:01 AM

Tuft of Napoleon's hair found in Sydney vault 

The clippings were found during a clean out of the 130-year-old building, which now houses the City of Sydney council chamber and administrative officers.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:58 AM

Solved after 50 years, the mysterious disappearance of Alfred the stuffed gorilla 

Alfred the Ape's disappearance from a glass case in Bristol Museum sparked a major police investigation in 1956.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:57 AM

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Hundreds of fish fall out of the sky over remote Australian town of Lajamanu 

Residents of a small outback Australian town have been left speechless after fish began falling from the sky.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:42 PM

Researchers Rediscover the Structure of Water 

A team of researchers at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource has found the molecular structure of water to be more complex than recently thought, suggesting that molecular models that went out of fashion decades ago may be in fact more accurate than recent ones.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:31 PM

Maajak World 

I added Maajak World to the links.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:02 PM

Curse of the Hexham Heads 

It was 1972, and at the Robson family home in Hexham, only ten minutes walk away from where the legendary Wolf of Allendale had roamed the woods, the two young Robson brothers dug up two small, carved stone heads whilst they were tending the garden. Several nights after the discovery of the stone heads, neighbour Ellen Dodd and her daughter were sitting up late one evening when both of them witnessed a “half-man, half beast” entering the bedroom.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:50 AM

Roopkund - The Mysterious Skeleton Lake 

Roopkund is better off known as “The skeleton lake” due to the presence of an enormous grave that holds about 300 to 600 skeletons. This discovery has revolutionized the world of ancient history ever since 1942, when a park ranger came across this mass deposition of bones.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:45 AM

An Amazing Puzzle: The Enigma of Mazes and Labyrinths 

With lovely photos. Via Neatorama.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:45 AM

'Templar crucifixion nail' found in imaginary country - but is it a hoax? 

My latest at the Examiner. I found out some strange things about the supposed island where the nail was found. For one thing, it's not an island. It's also not a real country. And yet it may have Templar connections.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:45 AM

Monday, March 01, 2010

In Celebration of Sword Swallowing: Open Wide! 

If you're one of those people who think sword-swallowing is some sleight-of-hand trick, it's time to take a big gulp.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:59 PM

Human remains found on 18th century Royal Navy wreck 

Human remains have been found in the deep sea wreck of one of the mightiest and most advanced fighting ships to have served in the Royal Navy.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:07 PM

Mysterious Boom Heard around Central Virginia 

Skyquake in Virginia? With video.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:17 AM

Walrus tusk turns up in Orono 

Walruses in Maine? Yup.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:50 AM

Our unwavering faith in the Turin Shroud 

For centuries, experts have argued over the authenticity of the Turin Shroud, revered by many Catholics as the burial sheet in which Jesus was wrapped after his crucifixion.

But now, for the first time in a decade, they will be able to see it with their own eyes when it goes on public display this spring.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:48 AM

Agatha Christie delivers another mystery beyond the grave 

A seemingly innocuous trunk bought for £100 appears to have produced some of Christie's family jewels worth thousands of pounds, including her mother's engagement ring.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:41 AM

Can you help Salisbury Cathedral identify 15th century gothic text? 

Gothic text recently discovered behind the Henry Hyde Monument on Salisbury Cathedral’s south aisle wall, now thought to date from the 15th century, has some lines of text that experts have been unable to identify. The Cathedral is appealing for people to help solve the mystery.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:40 AM

Appeal for cash to save Dickens' Swiss chalet 

One of the most important connections Medway has with author Charles Dickens is in danger of falling down, unless £100,000 is raised quickly.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:36 AM

Historicist: Gone but Not Forgotten 

For several generations, until at least the 1960s, a running joke for Torontonians was that the foundation excavations for each new building might finally uncover the long-lost remains of Ambrose J. Small. A millionaire who made his fortune in the theatre business based out of the Grand Opera House on Adelaide Street, Small's baffling disappearance in late 1919 became one of the country's most legendary unsolved mysteries.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:31 AM