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4/17/09  #517
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Are you tired of the same-old stories from your local newspaper or the generic "government approved" TV news? Are you sick of being constantly force-fed inane stories about the private lives of celebrities or what obscene amount of money a popular sports figure makes a month? Well if that's how you feel, then it's time to join thousands of others all over the world (and maybe "worlds") with the number one weekly e-mail newsletter of conspiracies, UFOs, the paranormal, and everything else weird, strange and frightening. YES THAT'S RIGHT! Conspiracy Journal is here once again to cure the sickness of ignorance, disinformation and government cover-ups. So sit back and relax because it's time for Conspiracy Journal!

This week, Conspiracy Journal takes a look at such clavicle crunching stories as:


- USAF Captain Claims "UFO Shut Down Nuclear Missiles" -
-
Air Force Roswell Study Contributor Admits "It Was ET!" -
- Cure For Honey Bee Colony Collapse? -
- Mexico: State of Chihuahua Terrorized by "Man-Bat" -
AND: Legend Holds You Don't Fiddle With Rattlers

All these exciting stories and MORE in this week's issue of
CONSPIRACY JOURNAL!

~ And Now, On With The Show! ~


THE DULCE WARS
Underground Alien Bases & The Battle For Planet Earth

This is NOT science fiction! This is a true-to-life "War of the Worlds" recently featured on UFO Hunters!

Is an alien "Fifth Column" already active on Earth preparing total conquest via implantations and mind control? In the corner of a small town in New Mexico, something very strange is going on! Did U.S. military forces perish recently in hand to hand combat with a group of hostile greys who subsequently seized control of one of our top-secret underground bases?

Controversial author and UFO researcher Branton pulls out all stops in this explosive book that reveals at last the soul-rending secret that the U.S. government has been keeping from the public for decades.  Much of this information was disclosed by one brave man who managed to escape from this hellish facility with top-secret information about genetic experiments using kidnaped people from every walk of life. Even more unbelievable, these experiments by the U.S. government are being conducted with the cooperation of alien races who control a large section of the Dulce underground base. What goes on in those sections is the stuff of nightmares!

Includes latest on animal mutilations, energy grids, secret societies, lost civilizations, abductions and missing time.

Conspiracy Journal cannot guarantee that these stories are true...YOU MUST DECIDE FOR YOURSELF!

If you order RIGHT NOW we will include a fantastic DVD featuring the late Phil Schneider who revealed his involvement in the Dulce facility and the hellish pact made by the extraterrestrial Grays with the U.S. government. Both The Dulce Wars and the Phil Schneider DVD are yours for only $32.00 + $5 s/h.

This incredible book and DVD is available now for just
$32.00 + $5.00 S/H


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HERE AT LAST...
MYSTERIES MAGAZINE  #22

In This Incredible Issue:

FEATURES:

America’s Oldest Mystery: Rhode island’s Newport Tower - Newport, RI, has long been famous as the summer playground for the fabulously wealthy. But nestled amongst the luxurious mansions and the private yachts is a mysterious stone tower whose history has baffled historians for centuries. It is believed to be the oldest stone structure in America, though no  one can say precisely when it was built.
 
Was there a Golden Age? Historical Proof for the Garden of Eden -
Almost all of the ancient cultures of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia have myths which speak of an earlier time when life was easier and humans lived in harmony with nature and each other.  Most historians believe that these myths are little more than fairy tales, perhaps the result of our need to idealize the past. However, there is now evidence that suggests that these myths may contain a kernel of historical truth, a kind of distant folk memory of an actual historical era.
 
The Higgs Boson and the Large Hadron Collider: Seeking the God Particle - Tucked away in a sleepy Swiss  village lies the Center for Nuclear Experimentation and Research, the site of the recently completed Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest particle collider and perhaps the most complex machine ever built. The principle goal of the LHC is to reveal the so-called god particle: the Higgs Boson, which is about 120 times more massive than a proton, and gives mass to all other particles as they emerge from the primordial quantum field.

The Parapsychology Revolution: An Interview with Dr. Robert Schoch -
A geologist and paleontologist by profession, Dr. Schoch has studied some of the greatest ancient monuments around the world including the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx,and the underwater structures near Yonaguni Island, Japan. He has also written several bestselling books, including his most recent, The Parapsychology Revolution.

Find it at your favorite bookstore or magazine stand.

www.mysteriesmagazine.com

- SENDING A MESSAGE DEPARTMENT -

USAF Captain Claims "UFO Shut Down Nuclear Missiles"

For decades a strict security oath kept captain Robert Salas of the USAF from reporting his experience of UFOs shutting down several nuclear missiles.  Salas was in charge during an alarming incident at the Malstrom Air Force Base early on the morning of March 24, 1967, when his missiles shut down after a UFO fired a pencil-thin red beam into the silos. Yet in 1995, he decided it was more important to break the secrecy than to honor his security oath.
 
After his initial revelation, Salas was encouraged that there were no negative repercussions, yet he was also in disbelief at the total lack of media interest in his riveting story. Still, the word spread among those with interest in UFO incidents. To date, at least 115 other ex-USAF witnesses have now come forward with their UFO stories, largely thanks to the courage of captain Salas.
 
In 2005, Salas took another giant step by co-authoring a book on the incident, Faded Giant: The 1967 UFO/Missile Incidents. Salas says this matter is too important for him to keep quiet. The media have been strangely silent about the stories of Salas and many other military officers who have come forward with testimony of direct involvement in UFO incidents. Yet the courageous captain received some consolation last week when the Herald Tribune of Sarasota, Florida featured him in an excellent article. In it, he describes how ABC initially showed interest in his story around the time his book was published. Here's a quote from that revealing article:

    “I had high hopes for the Peter Jennings [UFO] special,” says Salas in reference to the ultimately feckless ABC prime-time “investigation” in 2005. “They seemed really interested. They flew me out to Dallas and got two, three hours on videotape. But a week before the show, they called and said, ‘Sorry, we’ve got to cut you out.’ I don’t know if somebody got to them or what. My own speculation is that these objects were saying we shouldn’t be messing with nuclear weapons because we might destroy ourselves.” But maybe that’s not news.
 
Salas was one of the key witnesses in the revealing book Disclosure, compiled by former emergency room director Dr. Steven M. Greer of the Disclosure Project. This amazing book is a compilation of the testimony of over 60 respected government and military witnesses to eye-opening UFO incidents. Here's an excerpt from Salas' riveting story in the book.
 
    "My security guard says, 'Sir, there’s a glowing red object hovering right outside the front gate—I’m looking at it right now. I’ve got all the men out here with their weapons drawn.'…The nuclear-tipped warheads went into a 'no-go' condition, meaning they could not be launched. That morning we lost anywhere from between 16 to 18 ICBMs at the same time UFOs were in the area and were observed by airmen. Bob Kominski headed up the organization to look at all aspects of these shutdowns. He was told by his boss that the Air Force said, 'Stop the investigation. Do no more on this, and do not write a final report.' This is very unusual, especially in light of the fact that headquarters was stating that this was of extreme importance." (pp. 168-171.)
 
Salas is one of literally hundreds of former military and government witnesses who have come forward to share their direct experiences with major UFO incidents. Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man on the moon has also been outspoken of his knowledge of the UFO phenomenon. And just last week the Los Angeles Times reported on five witnesses who worked at the suspected center of many UFO controversies, Area 51, of which the government continues to deny the existence. These witnesses, one of whom acknowledges he was commander of the base in the 1960s, have come forward declaring not only the reality of Area 51, but of a major underground research complex and reverse engineered aircraft there.

On numerous occasions, UFOs have been reported over nuclear power plants as well as nuclear research facilities and nuclear weapons storage bunkers at military bases. A good percentage of these reports occurred at highly restricted government research and production facilities, such as Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Hanford AEC, and Savannah River AEC. Highly trained government scientists and military personnel, who had been granted top-secret military clearances, made many of these reports.

In a well-documented series of incidents in early November 1975, nocturnal lights and unidentified “mystery helicopters” visited a wide spectrum of American military bases and missile sites across the northern tier of this country. Between October 27 and November 10, reports of UFOs over nuclear weapons storage sites were repeatedly made at Loring AFB in northern Maine, Wurtsmith AFB in Michigan, Grand Forks and Minot Air Force Bases in North Dakota, and Malmstrom AFB in Montana. F-106 interceptors were scrambled out of Malmstrom AFB near Great Falls, Montana in response to multiple reports of UFO visits to nearby missile sites near Moore, Harlowton, Lewistown, and several missile sites around Malmstrom AFB.

A similar rash of incursions occurred in December 1948 (Los Alamos), December 1950 (Oak Ridge), July 1952 (Hanford AEC, Savannah River AEC, and Los Alamos), August 1965 (Warren AFB near Cheyenne, WY), March 1967 (Minot AFB, Malmstrom AFB, and Los Alamos), August 1968 (Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota), August 1980 (Warren AFB, Sandia Labs and Kirtland AFB, NM), December 1980 (Benwaters RAFB, Suffolk, England), and October 1991 (Chernobyl, Ukraine and Arkhangel’sk Missile Base, Russia).
 
Why is all of this not making media headlines? Why isn't the UFO issue being discussed widely in public forums and by our politicians? Are these military witness heroes or traitors for breaking their security oaths and talking about major UFO incidents?

Source: Examiner/Fred Burks
http://www.examiner.com/x-6495-National-Intelligence-Examiner~y2009m4d14-UFO-incident-
Shut-down-of-nuclear-missiles-by-UFO-witnessed-by-USAF-captain-garners-media-coverage

- ROSWELL: CASE STILL OPEN DEPARTMENT -

Air Force Roswell Study Contributor Admits "It Was ET!"


The Lt. Colonel who was a major contributor to the Air Force's official 1997 study that concluded that the Roswell ET crash of 1947 is a "myth"- now states that the Air Force's Roswell report is itself a lie. The Colonel goes further to state that what he really believes to be true is that aliens actually did crash to Earth decades ago! He adds that he was "used" and that the author of the Air Force report "was on a mission" with no interest in discovering what really happened at Roswell.

In the Air Force's publication Roswell Report: Case Closed (authored by Intelligence Officer Captain James McAndrew in 1997) the Roswell crash is debunked. The report serves as the US Air Force's official and "final word" on the matter. Captain McAndrew explains in the Air Force report that "crash test dummies" that dropped from airplanes were mistaken by witnesses for the rumored Roswell "aliens." McAndrew contends that local ranchers -when confronted with these humanoid figures laying on the desert floor-confused them in some way to be creatures from another world. An earlier Air Force Roswell report had concluded that the "craft" that was witnessed was actually a fallen top-secret "Mogul" spy balloon project.

Lt. Col. Raymond Madson, now 79, recently related to this author that he was the Project Officer that led the Air Force's "crash test dummy" program, known as "Project High Dive" from 1956-1960 at Holloman Air Force Base. He designed and managed tests that used anthropomorphic dummies in aerial "dummy drop" tests. These tests were part of an Air Force project to identify ways to safely parachute pilots from aircraft at very high altitudes. He tested and analyzed problems that pilots might encounter with the ejection mechanisms for bailing out of new generation aircraft.

Lt. Col. Madson is extensively quoted and referred to by Captain McAndrew throughout the Air Force's Roswell debunking report, issued in book form. His affidavit is found on page 180. Madson even provided many of the famous crash test dummy pictures used in the book. He says that he made it clear to McAndrew that although the "dummies could be mistaken for something they are not" - they could never be mistaken for small alien beings! Madson was visited by Captain McAndrew for in-person interviews over a period of two days. Madson told McAndrew that the dummies did not appear alien- and that anyone would know that these are "essentially large dolls." Madson also expressed to McAndrew that the period of time in which these dummy drop tests occurred could not possibly coincide with the time of the Roswell event- the events were too many years apart from one another. McAndrew listened -but did not comment- on Madson's opinion. Madson also said to McAndrew that "we were testing with these 6' dummies to try to protect grown men. The aliens reported at Roswell were said to be child-sized."

In fact, McAndrew's Roswell report did not include Madson's real opinion on the matter at all! It appears as though McAndrew wanted to get desired comments out of Madson to be later used to support the crash dummy program explanation for the alien bodies. McAndrew took Madson's words and placed them in the Air Force debunking report in such a way that it did not convey the truth about the way Madson actually felt about the nature of the Roswell event!

Madson says that the statement that he signed for McAndrew (which appears in the report) was accurate, but that -in the context of the overall Air Force report- it is misleading. Madson feels that he was "used for purposes" and that his intent was misrepresented- he did not "buy into" the idea of his "Air Force dummies as aliens." Madson adds that the dummies had tags on them with instructions for getting a $25 reward for their return. He says that this is another reason why the Air Force explanation makes no sense whatsoever. Clearly McAndrew wanted to get all of the historical details from Madson about the dummy drop program that he could (details that only Madson could offer) and then make all of this information seem to support the Air Force debunking efforts.

Madson got an "uneasy" feeling about the whole inquiry. He now wonders why the Air Force even felt compelled in the first place to come up with an explanation for "supposed bodies" resulting from a crash "that supposedly never happened." He adds, "The whole need to even do that is unusual, now that I look back on it."

We discussed that the Air Force had (in 1994) already issued a "final word" debunking report on Roswell, explaining that the crash resulted from a top-secret Mogul balloon project. Why then the need in 1997-three years later- to come up with yet another "final word" report detailing the explanation, this time for the bodies? If it was a balloon, then that should have been the end of the inquiry. Paraphrasing Shakespeare, "Methinks doth protest too much." McAndrew objected so much to the idea of the ET nature of the crash that he lost credibility and he has revealed a hidden motive.

Madson then becomes more emphatic: "I didn't trust McAndrew. In fact, I don't even like him. I don't like the way that he operates." Madson goes on to say that he even gave McAndrew some of the famous photos of the crash test dummies that are used throughout the Air Force debunking report. Madson states that McAndrew never returned any of the original materials that he had offered to McAndrew for reproduction. Madson said that after the Air Force's Roswell report was issued and he read it -alarmed- he called McAndrew repeatedly, but McAndrew never returned Madson's calls. So incensed was Madson that he debated whether to call McAndrew's Air Force superior.

Very tellingly Madson now says that, "McAndrew was sent on a mission." Today he had no doubt that McAndrew "was assigned to carry out a directive" that was intended to "produce a specific result." I asked him, "Was McAndrew on a mission to uncover the truth about Roswell?" Madson simply repeated, "No, he was on a mission." Asked if he felt that McAndrew himself believed his own report's conclusions, Madson paused and again intoned, "McAndrew was sent on a mission."

But Madson goes far beyond saying that the Air Force used his "crash dummy program" as a feeble explanation and "cover story" to debunk the stories of Roswell alien beings.

Amazingly, Madson believes that an extraterrestrial crash actually had happened - and that the bodies were stored for a period of time at Wright Patterson! He bases this on the fact that he himself had served at Wright Patterson in the early 1950's -before going to Holloman AFB to conduct the crash dummy tests. He personally had heard -just a few years after the Roswell event- directly from "others who would have been positioned to know" that there was a "very secure facility" at the base that served as the storage place for the alien bodies that were recovered from a crash sometime before he began employment at Wright. Although he was intrigued by what he had heard about all of this, he told me, "you just didn't ask a whole lot of questions like that in those days." Madson adds, "I believe that the talk was serious, but that the matter was kept highly secret at the time." Madson also feels that it is likely that there is a reverse-engineering program of the recovered technology in place that he says, "is only accessible by those with a Need to Know."

What makes this even more interesting is that Col. Madson met Mrs. Madson -his future wife- while employed at Wright in the early 1950's. Mrs. Madson was employed at the time as a secretary for Wright's base medical laboratory. Astonishingly, she had also been hearing the very same "scuttlebutt" as heard by her soon-to-be husband. She had been told by some of those that she had worked with about child-sized beings "from another world" who had crashed to Earth. Sometime prior to her employment they had been retrieved, brought back to the base and then studied secretly.

Madson says, "we both knew not to say anything much to each other about it at the time. But today, my wife can't stop thinking about it- and neither can I."

Source: The UFO Iconoclast
http://ufocon.blogspot.com/2009/04/af-roswell-study-contributor-admits-it.html

- THE LATEST BUZZ DEPARTMENT -

Cure For Honey Bee Colony Collapse?

For the first time, scientists have isolated the parasite Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia) from professional apiaries suffering from honey bee colony depopulation syndrome. They then went on to treat the infection with complete success.

In a study published in the new journal from the Society for Applied Microbiology: Environmental Microbiology Reports, scientists from Spain analysed two apiaries and found evidence of honey bee colony depopulation syndrome (also known as colony collapse disorder in the USA). They found no evidence of any other cause of the disease (such as the Varroa destructor, IAPV or pesticides), other than infection with Nosema ceranae. The researchers then treated the infected surviving under-populated colonies with the antibiotic drug, flumagillin and demonstrated complete recovery of all infected colonies.

The loss of honey bees could have an enormous horticultural and economic impact worldwide. Honeybees are important pollinators of crops, fruit and wild flowers and are indispensable for a sustainable and profitable agriculture as well as for the maintenance of the non-agricultural ecosystem. Honeybees are attacked by numerous pathogens including viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites.

For most of these diseases, the molecular pathogenesis is poorly understood, hampering the development of new ways to prevent and combat honeybee diseases. So, any progress made in identifying causes and subsequent treatments of honey bee colony collapse is invaluable. There have been other hypothesis for colony collapse in Europe and the USA, but never has this bug been identified as the primary cause in professional apiaries.

“Now that we know one strain of parasite that could be responsible, we can look for signs of infection and treat any infected colonies before the infection spreads” said Dr Higes, principle researcher.

This finding could help prevent the continual decline in honey bee population which has recently been seen in Europe and the USA.

Source: Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090414084627.htm

- IN SEARCH OF HISTORIC JESUS DEPARTMENT -

Scientist Admitted Before Death "Shroud of Turin Could be Real"

To believers it is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, miraculously marked with his image. But the Turin shroud was widely dismissed as a hoax in 1988 when scientific tests found it could not be more than 1,000 years old.

Now one of the scientists who first studied 12 foot-long sheet has spoken - from beyond the grave - of how he came to believe that it could be genuine.

A video made shortly before Raymond Rogers died in 2005 has been discovered, in which the U.S. chemist reveals his own tests show the relic to be much older - dating back to between 1,300 and 3,000 years ago.

Dr Rogers said: "I don't believe in miracles that defy the laws of nature. After the 1988 investigation I'd given up on the shroud.

"But now I am coming to the conclusion that it has a very good chance of being the piece of cloth that was used to bury the historic Jesus."

He was on the 1978 team that carried out the first in-depth scientific study of the shroud, which examined its underside for the first time in 400 years. After the 1988 carbon dating Dr Rogers was adamant that the robe was nothing more than a medieval hoax.

But speaking shortly before his death from cancer in 2005, Dr Rogers described how he compared the scrap tested in 1988 with other bits of the cloth.

He found the 1988 sample was a patch of material woven in to repair the shroud after it was damaged by fire. Chemical tests showed that the postage stamp-sized sample contained cotton and had been dyed to match the main shroud, which is made of linen.

The shroud has been damaged in several fires since it was first discovered in France in 1357 and it is thought to have been repaired by nuns.

Dr Rogers said: "The cotton fibres were fairly heavily coated with dye, suggesting they were changed to match the linen during a repair.

"I concluded that area of the shroud was manipulated by someone with great skill.

"It consisted of different materials than were used in the shroud itself, so the age we produced was inaccurate. We're darned sure that part of the cloth was not the original shroud of Turin cloth.

"The radiocarbon sample has completely different chemical properties from the main part of the shroud relic."

The 1988 study was coordinated by the British Museum and involved scientists from Oxford University, the U.S. and Switzerland.

The three institutions worked independently but each concluded the sheet dated to between 1260 and 1390. Even the then cardinal of Turin conceded the relic was a hoax, as did Dr Rogers.

On video he admitted it was "embarrassing" to have come to agree with those who had vigorously defended its authenticity.

Last week, evidence was published that the shroud had been secretly guarded by the Knights Templar following the sacking of Byzantium, now Istanbul, in 1204, until it resurfaced in Lirey, France, 150 years later.

The cloth is kept in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin and will be next publicly displayed in 2010.

Dr Rogers's video can be seen in the program "The Turin Shroud: New Evidence" now playing on the Discovery Channel.

Source: The Daily Mail (UK)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1168962/Is-Turin-Shroud-genuine-
From-grave-startling-new-claim.html

- HOLY CREATURES FROM HELL DEPARTMENT -

Mexico: State of Chihuahua Terrorized by "Man-Bat"

Creature has wings and its face is covered in fur.

According to information supplied by Ing. Francisco Prieto Torres, residents of La Junta, Guerrero (Chihuahua) have reported the appearance of a "Man-Bat."

The description is somewhat vague, a creature with red, bloodshot eyes, standing two meters tall. Two pairs of wings, one large, another small, which allowed it to achieve unimaginable speed; small kangaroo-like hands that it held loosely and without strength, which repeatedly struck the glass of the passenger side window. Its face was covered by some sort of fur, with a protruding dome-shaped forehead and red, bloodshot eyes.

The main witness is a young student at Universidad Regional del Norte, whose name is being kept confidential, and who claims that the strange humanoid chased him for 15 minutes on the evening of March 6, 2009.

The witness was driving a Liberty back to his home after his studies, when he saw a bulk on the roadway asphalt resembling a hunched-over man who seemed to be covered in a blanket. The figure suddenly stood up, taking two leaps forward and displaying a set of wings similar to those of a bat that probably covered the width of the lane.

The young man floored the accelerator in an attempt to flee and a desperate, fifteen minute chase ensued. The strange creature flew with great power, keeping abreast of the vehicle and looking in through the passenger window.

The fear became more intense, and the youngster only thought to call home via his cell phone. His mother answered the phone, and she asked why she could hear the noise of a vehicle trying to reach full speed.

His voice broken by tears, the witness tried to describe that a man, or perhaps a winged animal, was chasing him. His first notion was that it was an apparition, a shaped assumed by Death, and it prompted him to scream in despair: "I'm going to die! I'm going to die!"

He now says that it could have been a hallucination of sorts, but upon reflecting on the entity that chased him for over 15 minutes, he feels shivers again. And he says: "No, it was no illusion." This is the closest brush he has had with fear.

Francisco Prieto has already located the place where the young man's father works and he wishes to interview him himself. If this is achieved, he will be forwarding the materials to me to make the entire ordeal known. It should be added that the family is known for being respectable and are held in high esteem in the community. Local radio has reported that that a photo of the "Man-Bat" exists, although no further details have been provided.

Other Witnesses

Angela Mendez and Viviana Ledezma are two women who claim to have heard the humanoid squealing amid the screns of an apple grove near the Miñaca Cemetery.

The Authorities

A joint mission was undertaken by members of the Police and Civil Defense of the Municipality of Guerrero in the State of Chihuahua. Socorro Rodriguez Erives reported that after researching several locations it was not possible to find the whereabouts of this strange entity. According to initial reports, the flying entity had its lair in the caves of the mountainous area of the Miñaca region. Despite their best efforts, no trace of the creature was found. Many think that it was just a myth, while others associate it with "Mothman"

I will continue to report on this situation when word is received from Ing. Prieto Torres, who is looking into this Mexican case.

(Translation (c) 2009, Scott Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Ana Luisa Cid, Francisco Prieto Rivera and El Heraldo de Chihuahua)

Source: Inexplicata
http://inexplicata.blogspot.com/2009/04/mexico-state-of-chihuahua-terrorized-by.html

- MONSTERS OF THE DEEP DEPARTMENT -

Kusshi: The Mystery of Lake Kussharo


What is lurking in the waters of Japan’s Lake Kussharo?

An unknown creature, known affectionately as “Kusshi” in an attempt to emulate Loch Ness’ “Nessie,” has long been sighted in Lake Kussharo, in the nothern island of Hokkaido, Japan.

Lake Kussharo is located within Akan National Park in eastern Hokkaido and derives its name from the Ainu word “Kuccharo,” which means “The place where a lake becomes a river and the river flows out.”

It is a caldera lake, formed in the crater of a volcano long ago, and is notable for being the largest lake of this kind in Japan as well as the 6th largest lake in the country overall.

It also boasts the largest island in a freshwater lake in Japan, the islet Nakanoshima, which is in fact a composite volcano. Lake Kussharo is massive for a caldera lake, being approximately 57 km in circumference and reaching depths of 117.5 meters.

Kusshi is reported as being between 10 and 20 meters in length (30 to 60 ft), and the most commonly cited coloration is a dark brown. The neck is of a moderate length, and humps are sometimes mentioned. The head of the creature is said to look somewhat like that of a horse, only larger, with silver eyes, and is sometimes described as having two protrusions like giraffe horns on top. A few reports mention the creature making strange grunting or clicking noises. Interestingly, many witnesses report having felt distinctly uneasy, disturbed, or “icky,” upon seeing the creature.

One very interesting characteristic of Kusshi is the high speeds at which it reportedly can move. In 1974 footage was taken of a mysterious creature moving across the lake at breakneck speed. In Sept, 1974, a group of 15 witnesses reported being surprised by a large, somewhat triangular shaped animal with shiny skin like glistening scales, moving under the surface of the water with the speed of a motorboat. In 1988, a Mr. Takashi Murata was riding in a motorboat and reported being paced by a large animal at a distance of 15 meters away, which he described as having a dark back that looked like that of a dolphin. The animal followed him for a time, keeping up with the fast boat, before disappearing beneath the water.

Lake Kussharo’s alleged lake monster first came to widespread publicity during the 1970s due to a number of high profile sightings. In 1972, a man reported seeing an object that looked like a “boat turned upside down,” swimming quickly through the water. In August of 1973, a group of 40 middle school students on a field trip, as well as their teachers, spotted the creature not far from shore. In July, 1974, another famous case was reported by a Mr. Wada, a farmer who sighted a large, dark animal with several humps at intervals of 4 meters apart. The farmer watched the creature for some time before it submerged with a huge swell of water and a splash.

These sightings and many others like them brought attention to the lake, which culminated in an active search for the animal. For one month in Sept 1974, TV crews, boats equipped with fish finder sonar, and teams of divers explored the lake. These efforts produced some interesting results. Some of the sonar equipped boats reported finding large images at depths of 15 to 20 meters and a TV crew from the Hokkaido Broadcasting Company actually managed to catch footage of the alleged creature. Over the years, Kusshi has been photographed and filmed on several occasions, including as recently as 1990.

Kusshi continued to be sighted throughout the 70s and beyond, sometimes by large groups of people. In May, 1976, Kusshi was sighted by a group of 22 tour bus passengers and their driver. As recently as 1997, a group of firefighters spotted a strange animal swimming 100 meters offshore, which they estimated as being 20 meters long, with a dorsal fin and banded markings. Another sightings was made by tourists in 2002, and reports occasionally pop up to this day.

Although media attention made Kusshi famous in the 1970s, it would be a mistake to think that this was the first indication of something strange or unknown in the lake. The Ainu people who inhabit the area have long told of giant snakes that inhabit the lake. Pioneers coming to the area during the Meiji era also told of seeing these creatures, which were said to attack and eat deer whole. These stories have a long tradition among locals in the area. During the 40s and 50s, there were quite a few sightings of Kusshi as well, although these never did gain the attention that the 1970s sightings did.

So what could Kusshi be?

Lake Kussharo is itself not particularly a good habitat for aquatic life. The area is well known for its hot springs and volcanic activity, and volcanic gases bubbling up beneath the surface render the water of the lake highly acidic. In addition, a 1938 eruption in the area created a large amount of sulphur which found its way into the water. The conditions are not ideal for fish. Those that do thrive in the lake are species that are resistant to acidic water conditions, such as the introduced rainbow trout, and most fish in the lake congregate near inflowing streams which dilute the water. This limits the potential food supply and makes conditions difficult for a large animal.

One hypothesis is that swimming deer or other animals are behind the sightings. A swimming deer could perhaps fit in with some aspects of Kusshi reports, especially the general shape and presence of horns sometimes mentioned.

Another idea is that swimming horses could be the culprit. Kusshi’s head is often described as being horse like, and the creature has even been mistaken for a horse on at least one occasion. In July, 1975, a forestry worker saw what he at first thought was a horse swimming in the lake until he noticed that it was much larger than a horse as it came closer. The creature then dove below the surface not to be seen again. Could a horse or deer be behind these reports? It is an interesting idea, but the sizes reported for Kusshi are much larger than these animals and we are still faced with the reports that describe these creatures moving at high speeds.

Some point to the culprit as possibly being misidentified schools of fish such as rainbow trout, sockeye salmon, or Sakhalin taimen (Hutcho perryi), which is found in Hokkaido and is one of the oldest and largest species of salmon. It is something to consider, but would do nothing to explain the head and neck seen in many reports. Still another, more unconventional explanation, is that Kusshi could be some sort of giant slug. Kusshi has been attributed to misidentifications of motorboats as well.

There are those that have even used the surviving plesiosaur theory, and there is even a model of Kusshi found at the lake that most certainly resembles the mainstream “Nessie” image of one. However most reports do not really describe the animal in that way, and this speculation seems to be an attempt to liken Kusshi to the popular image of Nessie more than anything else. This sort of thing has led some people to make the accusation that the lake monster has been played up in order to promote tourism to the area.

Whatever it is, Kusshi’s identity remains an interesting mystery.

Source: Cryptomundo/Brent Swancer
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/kusshi/

- MIKE CONLEY'S TALES OF THE WEIRD DEPARTMENT - 

Legend Holds You Don't Fiddle With Rattlers

Johnson County, Tenn. sits in the far northeastern corner of the Volunteer State. It is located along the Tennessee-North Carolina state line, just north of Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties.

Johnson County has a strange local landmark called Fiddler's Rock. This stone outcropping is located over a ravine near the top of Stone Mountain between the county seat of Mountain City and the community of Laurel Bloomery.

But this landmark also goes by another name, the Screaming Rock. An old tale explains the reasons why the rock outcropping is called both of those names.

Folks in Johnson County say the rock is haunted by the ghost of an old fiddler who used to play there many years ago.

Martin Stone was well known in those parts for his talents as a fiddler player. Whenever someone held a dance or a party, they called on Martin to provide the music. The mountain folk of Johnson County said that he could make babies stop crying, tame wild animals and even make the sick well again through his fiddle playing, according to a Web site about the legend.

Some folks said he could also charm rattlesnakes.

On Sunday afternoons, Martin would often climb up onto the rock and start playing his fiddle. It is said that the rattlesnakes would come out from underneath the rocks and lay in the sun while he played. Then, when enough snakes had gathered, he would reach for his shotgun and kill as many of them as he could. He must have gotten some kind of amusement from doing that.

However one day, a neighbor found the fiddler's lifeless body on the rock that is now named after him. Apparently, he had not reached for his shotgun quick enough because his body was covered with snakebites.

To this day, people say the rock seems to give off a high-pitched screeching sound on cold winter days. They said it is ghostly fiddle of Martin Stone. Others report that it is the sound of him screaming as all those poisonous serpents bit him to death. Residents of Johnson County reportedly avoid the place, believing that it is haunted.

Source: The McDowell News
http://www2.mcdowellnews.com/content/2009/apr/15/mike-conleys-tales-weird
-legend-holds-you-dont-fid/

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