On Friday, October 21, 1966, a mountain of coal waste, perched above the Welsh mining village of Aberfan, broke loose and came flowing down uncontrollably.

Destabilised by recent rains, a river of black coal sludge, water and boulders bore down on Aberfan. It steamrollered over a tiny cottage halfway down the slope, thundered through Pantglas Junior School, obliterated a further 20 houses - then finally came to rest.

A total of 144 people, including many children, were crushed or suffocated to death in one of Britain's most horrific peacetime tragedies.

Every life lost was precious. But the death of 116 innocent children, killed in the school, tore at the very heart of the nation. In a cruel irony, the youngsters had been making their way back to their classrooms after singing All Things Bright And Beautiful at morning assembly when the disaster struck.

No one in the close-knit community was unaffected by the tragedy and the bereaved parents would never recover from their loss.

But for one family, the overriding grief was even more acute. For one of those killed  -  ten-year-old Eryl Mai Jones  -  had not only predicted the catastrophe, but had warned her mother of it, too.

In the days leading up to the atrocity, Eryl had told her mother she was 'not afraid to die'. 'I shall be with Peter and June,' she added.

Eryl's busy mother offered her imaginative daughter a lollipop and thought no more about it. Then, on October 20, the day before the disaster, Eryl said to her mother: 'Let me tell you about my dream last night. I dreamt I went to school and there was no school there. Something black had come down all over it!'

The next day, Eryl's horrific premonition came to pass and she was killed alongside schoolfriends Peter and June. They were buried side-by-side in a mass grave, just as the youngster had predicted.

You can only guess at the torment Eryl's mother must have suffered - perhaps berating herself for not keeping her child off school or warning everyone in the village.

Tales like this, of horrific events 'seen' in dreams, litter history. And now a comprehensive new book by medical doctor Larry Dossey - who has himself experienced premonitory dreams  -  collates some of the most extraordinary examples.

SEPTEMBER 11TH

The terrorist atrocities of September 11, 2001 were preceded by a slew of premonitions. A week before the attack, one North Carolina mother dreamt about spinning into blackness and heard a man's voice repeating '2,830, 2,830' and a name she couldn't make out.

'It sounded like Rooks or Horooks,' she said. Disturbed by the dream, the woman cancelled tickets the family had to fly to Disneyland on September 11, despite protestations from her husband that she was over-reacting.

When news emerged on September 11 of the planes flying into New York's Twin Towers - with another hitting the Pentagon and a fourth crashing into a field in Pennsylvania - the woman's caution was vindicated.

Most bizarrely, 2,830 - the number repeated over and over in her dream  -  was the confirmed tally of deaths at that time. And the name - 'Rooks or Horooks?' - was that of Michael Horrocks, first officer of United Airlines flight 175, which crashed into the South Tower.

Of course, her vision was not specific enough for her to have done anything to avert the tragedy, but it was nonetheless disturbing - as was the experience of another woman holidaying in Washington DC two weeks before the atrocity.

She was dozing in a car as her husband drove. But when she opened her eyes, she had a vision of the Pentagon with huge billows of thick black smoke pouring from it.

She screamed, slammed her hands on the dashboard and became so hysterical that she hyperventilated.

The woman had had visions all her life, but was traumatised by this one. Two weeks later, American Airlines flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon, killing 184 people, and causing clouds of thick black smoke, exactly as she had dreamt it.

In an even more chilling example, World Trade Centre employee Lawrence Boisseau had a dream in September that the towers were crashing down around him. A few days later, his wife dreamt the streets of Manhattan were littered with debris.

The images were not specific enough to prevent Boisseau from going to work on September 11 - and he perished there. But not before helping to rescue several children stuck in a care centre on the ground floor.

Sometimes, premonitions allow the person to pinpoint a specific time and place, leaving the dreamer enough time to alter the course of the disaster.

In one such instance, Dossey recounts the tale of a mother living in Washington State who awoke at 2.30am from a nightmare. She had dreamt that a large chandelier that hung above her baby's crib had fallen and crushed him.

In the dream, a violent storm was raging and the time on the clock read 4.35am. Alarmed, the woman woke up, went into the next room and took the baby back to her bed.

Two hours later, the couple were woken by a loud crash. They dashed into their child's room to find the crib demolished by the chandelier, which had fallen directly onto it.

In a further twist, a storm was raging - and the time on the clock read 4.35am.

Not all of those who dream of future events manage to interpret them correctly. Indeed, one of the common features of premonitions is that they are often fragmentary and vague.

But Dossey believes we all have the ability to predict the future and points to studies by Dean Radin, a Californian researcher. Radin sat subjects in front of a blank computer screen and told them an image would appear in five seconds.

Remarkably, before the image appeared, the subjects would become more agitated if the image was of something grisly or upsetting than if it was of something pleasant. It seems the subjects could sense what they were about to be confronted with.

This is supported by data from train and plane accidents. One famous study from the Fifties found that trains involved in accidents often had fewer passengers than the same service the week before.

The theory is that commuters have some sense of an approaching accident and alter their travel plans.

THE TITANIC

When the Titanic made her first - and last  -  voyage in 1912, many passengers had a sense of foreboding. J. P. Morgan, one of the richest men in the world, cancelled his passage at the last minute because of a hunch.

Interestingly, the vacancy rate on all four flights that crashed on September 11, 2001, was high. On the Boeing 757 that crashed into the Pentagon, only 64 of 289 seats were taken.

Meanwhile, the planes that crashed into the World Trade Centre's North and South Towers were 74 and 81 per cent empty.

Indeed, the occupancy rate of all four doomed planes that day was a mere 21 per cent  - despite being commuter services.

Dossey's explanation for humans' ability to predict the future is rooted in evolution. He says it makes sense that we would develop our ability to see impending dangers and take appropriate measures.

'From the standpoint of evolutionary biology, the ability to bypass the physical senses is the sort of ability that an intelligent, survival-oriented organism might sooner or later develop.'

Furthermore, he believes we are more likely to have premonitions about those to whom we are emotionally attached.

Through history, neurologists have proved a telepathic connection between some particularly close individuals, such as twins. One of the most common forms of premonition is forewarning of illness in a loved one.

In November 2007, the 12-day-old twins of Hollywood actor Dennis Quaid and his wife Kimberly were admitted to hospital in LA with suspected bacterial infections, for which routine antibiotics were administered.

On the second day of the twins' hospitalisation, the exhausted Quaids returned home for a few hours' rest. But at 9pm Kimberly awoke with a sense that something was terribly wrong.

'I just had this horrible feeling come over me, and I felt like the babies were passing. I just had this feeling of dread,' she said.

So disturbed was she that she jotted down the time: 'Nine pm. Something happened to babies.' Yet when Quaid phoned the hospital he was told they were fine.

In fact, they were not. The babies had been given a massive overdose of an anti-clotting drug, which resulted in them spending 11 days in intensive care before finally recovering.

But this sixth sense is not confined to humans. There are countless examples of apparent premonitions among animals.

Just before the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, flamingoes on India's southern coast fled, monkeys at Sri Lanka's Yala National Park stopped accepting bananas from tourists and a elephants began to trumpet.

In one tale recounted by Dossey, a woman was driving her car with her cat on the back seat. The cat became increasingly agitated, before jumping into the front and biting the woman, forcing her to stop.

At just that moment, a large tree crashed onto the road, just a few yards ahead of the woman. If she had continued driving, she would have been killed.

Coincidence? Or proof of something more mysterious at work? Dossey, and others like him, believe it is the latter.

What's more, he thinks our only hope of utilising the power of prediction effectively is to act immediately and not let embarrassment get in the way.

He cautions: 'If premonitions are to aid survival, we cannot afford the luxury of thinking about them.'

Source: The Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1218401/Yes-sixth-sense-
The-depth-study-intriguing-dreams-convinced-doctor.html

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They are known as Radionics, Ocilloclasts, Hieronymus machines, or more simply, black boxes. They allegedly use ancient techniques wrapped with the trappings of electricity and machinery of the modern era. This highly controversial field claims to detect and modulate life force using electronics, and numerous devices using these principals have been built and operated over the years.

Black boxes using radionics can be traced back to the early 20th century, but the technique call radiesthesia quite possibly has roots as far back as ancient Egypt. Radiesthesia is a branch of the ancient method of finding water called dowsing (water-witching) through hand-held devices such as a forked stick, L-rods and pendulums.

The oldest known document about dowsing is a Chinese engraving from the year 147 BC. The engraving shows the Emperor Yu (Hia dynasty, 2200 BC) holding in his hand an instrument shaped like a tuning fork. An inscription on the engraving states: "Yu, of the Hia dynasty, was famous for his knowledge of the presence of mineral deposits and sources; he could find concealed objects; he was able by his expertise to adapt the operation of the field according to the different seasons." 

One of the first medical dowsers was L'Abbe Alexis Bouly, a Catholic priest who lived at the turn of the 20th century in a little French seaside village on the English Channel. For years Bouly successfully dowsed for water and assisted in finding wells for French manufacturers. News of his success spread across the continent and he was contracted to find water for large factories in Belgium, Poland and Romania.

Bouly eventually founded the Society of Friends of Radiesthesie, a euphemism for "dowsing" using amalgam of a Latin root for 'radiation' and a Greek root for 'perception.'  It literally means "perception of radiation." Seeking to find new uses for radiesthesia, Bouly began to study the world of microbial vibrations.

"I was bold enough to tackle it," he once wrote, "but to start with I had to learn about microbes, to study their nature and their influence on the human body."

In the hospitals of Boulogne-Sur-Mer, Berck-Plage, Lille, and in the Belgium City of Liege, Bouly carried out experiments to see if he could detect and identify microbes by using a pendulum. In repeated tests, Bouly was able to correctly identify different cultures of microbes in test tubes.
In 1950, in recognition of his accomplishments, at the age of 85, Bouly was made a Chevalier de La Legion d'Honneur, the highest decoration his nation could bestow on him.

Radionics

It is only natural that practitioners of radiesthesia would look to science and technology to try and improve their methods.  Since the 19th century mechanical devices using electricity had been built in an attempt to diagnosis and cure various illnesses. Even the great inventor Nikola Tesla had developed a line of medical devices using infra-red and electromagnetic frequencies that were widely used by doctors and hospitals.

Even though there were probably other machines built and used fitting the now accepted description of a black box, the first historically acknowledged black box was developed by Dr. Albert Abrams, an American neurologist from San Francisco.  Dr. Abrams was a highly educated man with impeccable academic credentials from the University of Heidelberg where he garnered top honors and even a gold medal. In 1916 Abrams published New Concepts in Diagnosis and Treatment, and came up with the term radio therapy.

According to Dr. Abrams, all diseases have their own "vibratory rate" that can be measured and treated. Diseased body tissue affects the nervous            system and produces 'dull emanations.' Dr. Abrams thought that an electrical phenomenon was involved and he invented a variable resistance instrument to measure the ohm resistance of different diseases on an electronic circuit.

With radio therapy it's thought that every person's energy patterns or rhythms are as unique to them as their fingerprints, and that every part of their body, down to the cell level, reflects these vibrations. When illness, injury, infection, stress, pollution, malnutrition, or poor hygiene cause these patterns to become imbalanced or interrupted the energy is altered. This altered energy pattern can be read from any part of the body and treated by sending messages, with an instrument, to the body in order that the body may heal itself through the restored flow of energy.

Abrams' diagnostic equipment consisted primarily of a variety of simple resistance boxes, often called Reflexophones, wired in series. A typical setup included the "dynamizer," which was a sample holder with 3 electrodes. The patient's blood sample on paper was placed on two electrodes to ground and the third electrode was connected to the "rheostatic dynamizer." This, in turn, was connected to the "vibratory rate rheostat," which was connected to the "measuring rheostat." The final connection was to an electrode on the forehead of a healthy third party. The healthy individual (called a reagent) would "react" biologically through the central nervous system to the diseased vibrations.

For example, Dr. Abrams found that cancer produced a 50 ohm resistance, while syphilis had a 55 ohm resistance. Abrams later modified his technique so he could take readings from a drop of blood.

Dr. Abrams had another device called an oscilloclast which he used to cure patients. This machine supposedly transmitted back at the diseased tissue the same electronic vibrations it was emitting until the patient was "clear" of the electronic reactions in the reagent.

The term "Radionics" was invented by students of Abrams by combining the two words "radiation" and "electronics." This implies that in radionics it is possible to measure a fine "radiation" with "electronic instruments" designed specifically for the purpose.

In 1924, the year of Abrams' death a committee of the Royal Society of Medicine under the Chairmanship of Sir Thomas (later Lord) Horder investigated his claims. To the astonishment of medicine and science, the committee, after exhaustive tests, had to admit that Abrams' devices did operate as claimed.

Black boxes have continued to develop beyond the devices used only for medical diagnosis and treatment. Instruments for use in agriculture, mining, photography, and even more esoteric uses such as time travel, are being successfully used on a world-wide basis.

On September 27th, 1949 a U.S. patent was granted to Dr. Thomas Galen Hieronymous of Advanced Sciences Research and Development at Lakemont, Georgia.  Dr. Hieronymus has the unique distinction of having the only U.S. patent of a psychically operating machine. 

What Dr. Hieronymus invented was a machine to detect the type and quantity of any material under scrutiny by analyzing the radiation that emanates from all material; a radiation that he termed as "Eloptic" radiation. The word is taken from the first two letters of electricity and the word optic, because the energy has some, but not all, of the characteristics of both those forms of energy.  His main idea was that the experimenter became a part of his own machine, bridging the physical and quantum worlds.

Patent number 2,482,773 was awarded after three years of careful study by the United States Patent Office.  There are strict guidelines that must be observed before a patent is awarded.  A "utility patent" for a machine must be something new, unusual, and unobvious.  As well, the invention had to be useful for at least one authentic thing that could not be done before.  Dr. Hieronymus did not need to explain how it worked, only to prove that it worked sufficiently enough to have undeniable merit. 

The Hieronymous machine used a rubbing plate so that when it was tuned to resonance with the object being analyzed and when the circuitry sensed a "signal," the smooth connection between the operator's fingers and a touch pad became tacky or suddenly developed a sticky feel. Until this point the standard instrument indicator mechanism had been an audible sound or a visual indicator such as a needle deflection (as in a multimeter) or a flashing light.

According to Dr. Hieronymous, Eloptic energy has desirable applications in the fields of: (1) Laboratory chemical analysis, (2) Mining, (3) Prospecting, (4) Medicine, (5) Nutrition, (6) Animal husbandry, (7) Horticulture, (8) Military intelligence, (9) Criminology, and (10) General betterment of humanity.

The former editor of Analog Magazine, John Campbell, once built a Hieronymus device and successfully tested it. Campbell recognized that modern physics couldn't explain how the device was able to operate. In an exchange with Arthur Young, Young suggested to Campbell that it was the mind of the operator that made the device function, and that it was the symbolic form of the device that dynamically functioned to make it work. This appeared particularly significant to Campbell since he had discovered he could make the device work even though disconnected from its power supply.

Campbell decided to test this thesis and he carefully drew on paper in a schematic diagram of the amplifier, removed the actual amplifier hardware, and substituted the schematic drawing. To his amazement, the device worked just as it had done before the amplifier was removed.

Unfortunately, these are the type of results that have earned Black Boxes the wraith of government agencies such as the FDA who have branded them all as fake and incapable of working as claimed.  However, those who work with the devices present some compelling evidence to the otherwise.

In the Cumberland Valley, a scientist from the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau put a photo of an insect infested field into a Black Box; along with it they put a tiny amount of insecticide. Forty-eight hours later, the insects in the infected field, many miles away, were all dead.  Because of this, the Farm Bureau wanted exclusive use of the device in Pennsylvania.

The Monterey County Farm Bureau said that they had been using radionic control on cotton...and found no occasion to use insecticide On untreated fields, however, their cost for insecticide was in excess of $26 an acre. John Campbell wrote in Analog that: "This machine is almost pure magic! In the old real sense it cast spells, imposes death magic and can be used for life magic! The machine works beautifully."

For anyone interested in working with a Black Box a positive attitude is all that is necessary for positive results. As well, a Black Box provides a reliable scientific control, with a high probability of success, from which to begin training in mental visualization.  Whether the machine works on its own, or if it works because one believes it works, is not known. 

One engineer reported that a physics instructor from a local university bought in a Black Box and demonstrated how it worked.  After a successful demonstration the instructor removed the back of the machine and showed that the circuitry had been removed and in its place was a circuit diagram drawn on a piece of white card. The wires from the input coil were attached to the edge of this card to coincide with the circuit diagram input and likewise with the output connection. The diagram included the standard symbol for a battery.  Strangely, when the schematic battery symbol was erased, the machine would not work. When the symbol was put back in, it operated as before.

Black Boxes have been used by various people to detect the type and quantity of unknown materials.  It has been used for detecting and diagnosing energy flaws in animals and plants, measuring vital signs of remote individuals, perform dowsing, chakra location and healing.   Who knows what new purposes may be discovered by individuals with open minds.  Communication with other states of reality, finding lost objects or even people, communication or travel through time? 

The future prospects for radionics, psionics and Black Boxes are hindered only by a lack of imagination from individuals who fail to look beyond the current "comfort zone" of scientific understanding. Only by daring to dream can we hope to find a new and better understanding of our world, our universe and the amazing scientific principles that are yet to be discovered.

Source: Conspiracy Journal
www.conspircyjournal.com

---

An Italian scientist says he has reproduced the Shroud of Turin, a feat that he says proves definitively that the linen some Christians revere as Jesus Christ's burial cloth is a medieval fake.

The shroud, measuring 14 feet, 4 inches by 3 feet, 7 inches bears the image, eerily reversed like a photographic negative, of a crucified man some believers say is Christ.

"We have shown that is possible to reproduce something which has the same characteristics as the Shroud," Luigi Garlaschelli, who is due to illustrate the results at a conference on the para-normal this weekend in northern Italy, said on Monday.

A professor of organic chemistry at the University of Pavia, Garlaschelli made available to Reuters the paper he will deliver and the accompanying comparative photographs.

The Shroud of Turin shows the back and front of a bearded man with long hair, his arms crossed on his chest, while the entire cloth is marked by what appears to be rivulets of blood from wounds in the wrists, feet and side.

Carbon dating tests by laboratories in Oxford, Zurich and Tucson, Arizona in 1988 caused a sensation by dating it from between 1260 and 1390. Sceptics said it was a hoax, possibly made to attract the profitable medieval pilgrimage business.

But scientists have thus far been at a loss to explain how the image was left on the cloth.

Garlaschelli reproduced the full-sized shroud using materials and techniques that were available in the middle ages.

They placed a linen sheet flat over a volunteer and then rubbed it with a pigment containing traces of acid. A mask was used for the face.

The pigment was then artificially aged by heating the cloth in an oven and washing it, a process which removed it from the surface but left a fuzzy, half-tone image similar to that on the Shroud. He believes the pigment on the original Shroud faded naturally over the centuries.

They then added blood stains, burn holes, scorches and water stains to achieve the final effect.

The Catholic Church does not claim the Shroud is authentic nor that it is a matter of faith, but says it should be a powerful reminder of Christ's passion.

One of Christianity's most disputed relics, it is locked away at Turin Cathedral in Italy and rarely exhibited. It was last on display in 2000 and is due to be shown again next year.

Garlaschelli expects people to contest his findings.

"If they don't want to believe carbon dating done by some of the world's best laboratories they certainly won't believe me," he said.

The accuracy of the 1988 tests was challenged by some hard-core believers who said restorations of the Shroud in past centuries had contaminated the results.

The history of the Shroud is long and controversial.

After surfacing in the Middle East and France, it was brought by Italy's former royal family, the Savoys, to their seat in Turin in 1578. In 1983 ex-King Umberto II bequeathed it to the late Pope John Paul.

The Shroud narrowly escaped destruction in 1997 when a fire ravaged the Guarini Chapel of the Turin cathedral where it is held. The cloth was saved by a fireman who risked his life.

Garlaschelli received funding for his work by an Italian association of atheists and agnostics but said it had no effect on his results.

"Money has no odor," he said. "This was done scientifically. If the Church wants to fund me in the future, here I am."

Source: Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE5943HL20091005

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Yes, having investigated sightings of big-cats, werewolves, Bigfoot-type beasts, over-sized snakes, wallabies, wild boar, and much more in the woods of the area, I know that the Cannock Chase is spooky!

But, this time, it's not me making the statement. Rather, the local press are highlighting the fact.

Just a few days ago, I was contacted by Annette Belcher, one of the writers at the local Stafford Post newspaper, who asked for a comment-or-two from me about this latest development; and which, of course, I was pleased to provide.

Here's an extract from Annette's article, so you'll have a full understanding of what this new story is all about:

"It’s official - the Chase has been hailed one of the spookiest places in the country. The beauty spot, which stretches through Stafford, is renowned for its werewolf sightings, according to a latest paranormal study. It is all revealed in the work of paranormal researcher Lionel Fanthorpe, 74, from Cardiff. The study looks into paranormal events in the UK during the past 25 years. The study provides a breakdown of Britain’s spookiest places and focuses upon unexplained incidents reported to the police and leading paranormal organisations since the 1980s. There have been 21 reported cases of werewolf sightings, with the Cannock Chase werewolf being the most renowned."

But, hang on, I haven't quite finished yet...!

Over the last decade or so, intriguing reports have surfaced - from the many and varied little pools and ponds that can be found in, around, and on the outskirts of, the Cannock Chase - of sightings of exotic fish, crocodilians and much more of a distinctly out-of-place, aquatic nature. Without doubt, the most famous example of such activity occurred a number of years back at a small and semi-secluded body of water known as the Roman View Pond - that exists on the fringes of Cannock.

It was from there, in the hot summer of 2003, that hysterical rumors wildly spread around the town of Cannock to the effect that a giant, marauding crocodile was on the loose. Local police, representatives of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), and the nation’s media all quickly descended upon the scene, as they valiantly and collectively sought to ascertain the truth about what, at a local level, fast (and inevitably!) became known to one and all as the "Cannock Nessie."

Of course, the facts were somewhat more sober and down to earth. As my good friends Jonathan Downes and Richard Freeman of the Center for Fortean Zoology demonstrated to practically everyone’s satisfaction when they visited the area at the height of the sightings, the "beast" was likely nothing stranger than a three-foot-long Spectacled Caiman – a crocodilian reptile found throughout much of Central and South America.

It was the conclusion of Jon and Richard that the unfortunate creature had probably been housed locally by an unknown exotic-pet-keeper – that is, until it grew to a point where it became completely unmanageable, and was then unceremoniously dumped in the pool late one night and under the protective cover and camouflage of overwhelming darkness.

Almost certainly, Jon believed, the creature would not survive the harsh autumn and winter months that were destined to follow. And, sure enough, as the English weather changed for the worse, sightings of the mysterious beast came to an abrupt end.

Nevertheless, whenever I am back in the area, I always stop off at the pool and cast a careful eye firmly in its dark direction – just in case something monstrous and unholy decides to once again surface from the depths and put in a brief appearance.

So, why - you may well ask - am I bringing this up now?

Simple: there has been a new development of a very similar nature at yet another body of water in the area: a small, 3-meter-deep pool that is hidden in a corner of the Brickworks Nature Reserve at Wimblebury - which is only a stone's throw from the heart of the Cannock Chase.

As the Chase Post newspaper notes, up until recently "...the only things lurking in the murky waters were six bicycles, a shopping trolley and scaffolding poles."

But all that recently changed, as the Post also notes in a brand new story.

Cannock Chase Council officials, concerned about vegetation dying, have made a startling discovery, says the Post.

The Post explains that amongst the usual debris and rubbish, "...there were fish in the water, lots of fish - 20,000, to be precise. Even more baffling, there were not just native species: as well as roach and perch, ornamental varieties such as brown goldfish and koi carp were found."

The Post expands further: "Ray Smythe, clerk at Heath Hayes and Wimblebury Parish Council, said: 'No one knows how on earth they got there. We can only think someone released them, but I’d be surprised if anyone knew the pool was there.'

"Members of Stoke-on-Trent Angling Society have been drafted in to net the mystery fish - and move them to nearby Milking Brook. A spokesman for the club confirmed the operation had been a success. He said: 'We estimated that around 20,000 fish were transferred to Milking Brook. This needed three journeys, which, in each case, involved three tanks full of fish. I can confirm very few fatalities occurred during the operation.'"

There's little doubt - as Jon and Richard's fine detective work demonstrated a few years ago - that someone was even then releasing exotic creatures into the pools of the Cannock Chase. Whether or not this latest development is directly linked to the earlier activity - or if it's an example of someone else adding to the ever-growing body of out-of-place animals that inhabit the Cannock Chase - is something that remains to be seen.

But, this new story only reinforces what I said at the beginning of this blog-post: Cannock Chase is spooky! And long may it remain so!

Source: Monster USA
http://monsterusa.blogspot.com/2009/10/cannock-chase-is-spooky.html

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I've noted before (in earlier issues of the North American BioFortean Review) sightings of large bipedal reptiles (some "dinosaur"-like, some not) from various parts of North America. The most interesting reports have come from the Pagosa Springs, Colorado, area, neatly summarized by Nick Sucik in a chapter in Cryptozoology and the Investigation of Lesser-Known Mystery Animals. More recently, I had opportunity to gather details on another sighting, from Wyoming, which puts me in mind of those Pagosa Springs reports.

The witness, Anita R., contacted me for help in soliciting information about a strange animal she and her mother had seen while driving on Route 80, west of Rawlins, Wyoming (the largest town in that area). As there are several likely hoaxes of this kind (again, see Nick's review), the first thing I did was determine that, in fact, the witness was who she said she was. With that determined, (and full contact information on file) I could start piecing together her story and get the pertinent details. What follows is the initial description in her own words (with minimal editing), followed by clarifications based on my questions.

1. "[Near] the end of April, 2003, while traveling in Wyoming, my mother and I had quite an experience. A creature of some sort, which looked prehistoric, came down in front of our car. It kept its head in the shadows but it was shaped like a head of a kangaroo. It had big feet and small, short arms. Its tail was like that of an alligator and the top of his tail was as wide as my car. [ed.: refers to length of tail.] There is no explanation why we didn't hit it. We swerved, slammed on brakes, but no matter what we did it stayed about two inches away from my car. After sloshing it's tail back and forth one time, in a single leap it was gone and out of sight. This happened on I-80 about 40 miles west of Sinclair, Wyoming. ... I did find a woman truck driver who had seen it and said it was a common sighting there, and people called it the big green dinosaur, even though it was more grayish in color.

"Thank you for any information. My mother and I have been trying to find out what this is for 5 years now."

2. "Chad, I am no artist and I have no way to scan a picture, but I will try to describe what we saw as best as I can. At first it was in the median and we were in the far right hand lane. It was dark, but we saw the shadow of its head, shaped like the head of a kangaroo. Within two seconds it was landing in front of the car. We did not see it jump and it was just coming down in front of the carr. It never touched the ground that we saw, it was rather chaotic! First we saw its feet. They were like huge crocodile or alligator feet. Then we saw his lower body and all of its tail. The tail was scaly, ... about five feet long, best guess. ... When it was landing, it came down sideways. Its body was shaped like the pictures you see of dinosaurs. It was huge to us, but not like in movies where they are as tall as buildings. We estimate it was about 7 feet tall. Its head stayed well above the top of our car and judging by as much of it that was inches from us we guess it at 7 feet tall. ...

"Thank you for listening to our story. People don't believe us and it gets frustrating trying to learn what it is. Also, I would like to know how it survives, as it was totally barren land for miles and miles."

3. "It was about 10:30 pm. I was driving a 1995 Chevy Lumina 4-door sedan with my headlights on. There was a semi the equivalent of two blocks ahead of us. I was heading east on I-80 and was approximately 40 miles west of Sinclair, Wyoming. When first noticing it at all, it was crouched down in the median and we had a perfect view of the outline of its head. The closest we can compare the shape of its head to is like a kangaroo. We were driving 80-85 mph. Upon seeing it in the median, I hit my brakes rather hard because I did not want to hit it if it jumped. As I was braking, it had apparently jumped. We didn't see it jump, we only saw it coming down in front of the car. At this point I was probably at 25-30 mph and still slowing. The only distance between it and us was the front end of the car, as it was right up against it. I veered left then right, but it stayed directly in front of us anyway. We could have counted what we call scales had we have had more time, as it was in plain sight. We did see its entire body up close with the exception of its head. The tail came straight off the body, and was covered with rough scales over the entire tail and had the points of scales coming off the edges. The scales were almost inverted triangular-shaped, not quite diamond-shaped. The legs were not scaly, they were 'rough' skin, like elephants have. I don't know another way to describe it. The feet were long, wide, and flat, also rough in appearance. It had toes, though there was not enough time to count them. I would guess from the short amount of time we had to see it all, that it was either four or five toes. On the toes were wide nails, but they weren't very long.

"The width of the top of the tail was wider than its upper body. The underside of its body did not have scales. His stomach area was rough, leathery skin, but smoother than it's legs. Its back was not covered with scales like the tail, but there were points sticking up on its back, which was also leathery.

"Its forelimbs were short and narrow, not like the legs which were thick and heavy. The forelimbs hung down at the 'elbow' joint. After it 'swiped' its tail back and forth one time, it ascended until it was out of sight. The feet never touched the ground.  We estimate it to be around 7 feet tall. It does not have a long neck.

"Apparently this was all watched by the truck driver in front of us, as they almost jack-knifed while this was going on. We attempted to catch up with the driver to confer with them about what we saw, but even at high speeds, he couldn't be caught.

"While we were terrified, afraid of hitting it, we were so amazed we noticed every detail. It is gray in color, the scales being 2 shades of gray. That's the best way I know how to describe what we saw. Again I want to mention that a female truck driver online that travels that area frequently, when I asked her if she'd seen anything weird there, her comment was, 'You mean the big green dinosaur?... You should try stopping with a fully loaded trailer'... but, it isn't green. It is gray. At least what we saw and when we saw it, it was gray."

4. "I know the lady truck driver I spoke to online said she had to stop for it before with a fully loaded semi. She also stated that every time an alternative route was available, she took it because everyone knew how that would jump in front of your vehicle. ????? She's the only person I've ever talked with that had seen it or heard about it. Keep in mind, I didn't tell her what we saw, I only asked if she had ever been on that stretch of I-80 and had she ever seen anything strange. Her reply was, 'you mean the big green dinosaur?' It's not green though. It is gray. So that was confirmation and corroboration."

5. "The nails didn't extend out like long claws. We saw its right foot up close and personal. The closest in that movie [ed.: Jurassic Park] to compare it to is something they called raptors, but the feet were different. In the movie, their toes were more separated, spread apart, than what we saw. I am sure there is a logical explanation, but I don't know the first thing about 'dinosaurs.' We had only seen them in commercials or on billboards out west. Being from the south, it was new to us. Out west here, it is a tourist attraction. We didn't have any prior exposure to dinosaur phenomena or publicity. It did not look like an iguana or crocodile or anything familiar. It looks like what you see on the billboards here for the exhibits."

As it currently stands, the incident joins a number of others that seem to suggest the presence of a large bipedal reptile in certain western states. It doesn't immediately suggest a viable conventional explanation, though of course, any skeptic could toss it aside as a loose kangaroo, monitor lizard, or the like. Obviously, all caveats about witnesses and brief anomalous sightings apply. At this point, I don't see any reason to force a specific explanation on it, without a great deal more investigation taking place.

Anita and her mother have no idea what it was they saw, but are very curious about it. They have looked at a number of reptile and dinosaur images to see if anything looks similar, but with no exact matches. They do think the general body structure (particularly the feet) matches a reconstruction of Parasaurolophus on the UK NHM site, but that the head was more elongated, similar to a reconstructed image of Nanotyrannus. At this point, I prefer not to force morphological specifics in absence of a physical specimen, and suggest the following steps need to be taken.

First, with regard to what may be local folklore of this animal, if one female trucker in the region is familiar with it, there should be other stories. My initial attempts to solicit information from that area have been unsuccessful, primarily because I'm working from the other side of the country. An on-site regional ethnozoological investigation is necessary to determine to what extent these stories are being spread (from both a geographic and phenological perspective). With more data, assuming that there is a discernible recent pattern in sightings, it should then be possible to set up a project specifically to obtain a specimen or other physical confirmation. (What we don't need are projects set up to acquire circumstantial and non-confirmative evidence.) Admittedly, this means consistent long-term field research in an out-of-the-way spot, on a mystery animal that has very little history in cryptozoological investigations. It might be better to start off seeking further local sighting accounts, then offering a full report to regional media services in hopes that local residents will keep an eye out for the animal and perhaps aid in acquiring a specimen.

I will note one geographic 'coincidence' with this sighting. If you look up Rawlins, Montana, on Google maps, you'll find that it is almost directly north of (with most of a state between) Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Without visiting these two areas, I can't immediately correlate habitat or other ecological factors, but that may be worth further investigation.

In any case, further sightings of this type would be of great interest to the author, and will be passed along to these witnesses, as they are eager to find a solution to this mystery.

References: Arment, Chad (editor). 2006. Cryptozoology and the Investigation of Lesser-Known Mystery Animals. Landisville, PA: Coachwhip Publications.

Source: Strange Ark
http://www.strangeark.com/bfr/articles/wyoming-bipedal-lizard.html

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Councillor has an out-of-this-world experience with a ‘ballerina-like alien.’

Winchester councillor Adrian Hicks is on the search for an alien dressed like a ballerina that he spotted five years ago.

Visible only to the chosen few, the pretty blonde female UFO interloper is said to shuffle along the pavement in a penguin-like walk, wearing only a white ballet outfit and broad smile.

No one else apparently bats an eyelid.

Is it here, in this quiet Hampshire backwater, that 'the invasion' has started? Yes, according to Councillor Hicks.

He says he saw the ballerina-like alien under the city's Guildhall clock five years ago but has only now come clean about his strange encounter.

'It was staggering – I am not usually lost for words but I was that day,' he said.

'She was a humanoid walking with a penguin-like gait.

'She had very large oval eyes and was twirling her hands in a circular motion. She was laughing and seemed to be enjoying herself. She was human enough to get away with it,' he added.

And the intrigue doesn't end there. Mr Hicks, who has spent £400 perfecting an artist's impression of the alien, believes she is linked to covert US and British military operations at a nearby base.

'UFOs are flying in and out of the military base – Winchester is the UFO capital of Europe,' he added.

Mr Hicks, a Lib Dem councillor for the city, claims he saw the alien in January or February 2004.

He said other shoppers also saw her but no one had admitted it. The hospital technician also regrets not plucking up the courage to speak to her.

He has not spoken about the day for fear he would jeopardise his chances of winning a council seat, he added.

His colleagues, he says, are 'in denial' about the existence of aliens in Winchester. We have to admit, we're not convinced either, Mr Hicks.

Source: Metro (UK)
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Tutu-wearing_alien_spotted_in_
Winchester&in_article_id=747688&in_page_id=2