Strange Encounters

Did a Minnesota hunter’s trail cam capture bigfoot? Doubt it. The figure in this photo looks so much like a man in a costume that we really shouldn’t waste time drawing any other conclusions or speculating.

That’s what is called using “Occam’s razor,” which states, “entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity,” or, the simplest explanation is often the most accurate, so we need not offer explanations that require additional assumption.

Whether the hunter is part of the hoax, or is the victim of a hoax, is unclear. But what is abundantly clear is that it is either a hoax, or a coincidence.

What coincidence? A guy walking by the camera in his snow suit or something. As for a hoax, there are many things one could wear to perpetrate such a hoax. A ghillie suit, which hunters use as camouflage, could be used to make a bigfoot hoax, but often they aren’t quite this dark. And if this is a ghillie suit, it’s a cheap one.

I would lean toward a snow suit coincidence, or a gorilla suit. And here’s a gorilla suit that would work perfectly in the trail camera photo.

A post over at Cryptomundo.com seems to support the idea of a hoax.

If we want to know for sure that Bigfoot is real, and find evidence to support that claim, we need to be able to weed out the crap. This is crap.

Blood Sucking Freaks has just been added to the Review Vault here at Strange Encounters. Check it out. If you’re into classic, horror/exploitation, gore and comedy it’s right up your alley. Worth the view for a good laugh, and cringe, if you haven’t seen it.

The lore of the Loch Ness Monster has intrigued and entertained since the early 1930s, when a husband and wife allegedly watched a large, long-necked creature lumber across the road in front of their car, headed toward the deep dark waters of the loch it called home.

Surgeon's Photo of Hoaxed Loch Ness Monster

The following year a surgeon brought forth a photograph he had taken of the alleged creature, which has become one of the most iconic images attached to the legend. That photo has been subsequently proven a hoax — nothing more than a sculpted neck and head attached to a small toy submarine, being towed, or tugged along the surface of the loch.

Anecdotal evidence, and interesting photographic evidence has piled up since then, but many are proven hoaxes, and others are not substantial enough to be considered difinitive proof of the existence of a mysterious loch-dwelling monster fondly referred to as Nessie.

Enhanced 'Fin' photo taken during Rines' Loch Ness Expedition.

One image does stand out as at least more perplexing than others before, and it has become another of the most famous photos associated with the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster. It was captured during an investigation of the loch by Robert Rines.

A true renaissance man, Rines was founder of the Academy of Applied Science, and held a Bachelor in Sciences from M.I.T., as well as a Ph.D. He helped devlop the Microwave Early Warning System during his service in World War II, as a U.S. Army Signal Corps officer.

Rines was also an accomplished musician and composer, creating music for Broadway and off-Broadway plays. He held over 800 patents, and his inventions are at work behind technologies like high-resolution image-scanning radar and ultrasound scanning, the ladder of which has been used for both underwater searches for the wrecks of the Titanic and the Bismarck, even the Loch Ness Monster, as well as ultrasound imaging of the internal human body.

Rines passed away on November 1, 2009, at the age of 87.

The original version of Rines’ photo does not truly reveal much more than bubbles and underwater turbulence. Subsequent enhancements of this photo have produced an image that bears an incredible resemblance to a diamond shaped flipper. But it seems that these enhancements were made to bring out what people wanted to see.

Rines’ contributions to science, education, and his other areas of endeavor somewhat overshadow his investigative acheivements at Loch Ness, but he was part of the hunt as it were. And is heralded by many as someone who has brought great proof to light in support of the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. But when his findings are looked at for what they are, we see that he actually may have done more in proving there is really nothing there.

Click Here for more information on Robert Rine.

Probably not, but of course that can’t be confirmed until she is found alive or (I hope not) dead

There is a story of a Russian girl, Lisa Hlupinoy, who has gone missing after venturing into the woods near her home with some male friends. Apparently all efforts to find her have been exhausted and authorities have given up. Strangely, there is no mention of her on any missing person database, and no original news story about her dissappearance can be found on the web.

All I can find are very few articles churning out the same nonsense about abduction by a UFO, a theory proposed by UFOlogists. Experts of course. It’s also mentioned that police turned to a psychic for help in the investigation.

If the story is for real, and it is confirmed that the boys had nothing to do with her dissappearance, then it is likely she was abducted, but most likely by some sicko right here on earth, in an automobile, not a UFO.

Let’s hope, that if it is for real, the girl is found safe.

All News Web – Did a UFO abduct 11 year old Lisa?.

There are real, live spooky things… like this new discovery, perfect for Halloween! Scientists have discovered the largest orb weaving spider!

It’s a good thing I won’t find them lurking around my house! I mean, spiders are cool, I’ll catch one every so often and stick it in a jar just to study it for awhile, but if I EVER saw a spider with a 4-5 legspan I wouldn’t go looking for a jar, I’d go looking for the door!

Scientists Discover Largest Orb-weaving Spider.

Felony charges are pending for the parents of “balloon-boy” as he has come to be known in media headlines. Charges will include contributing to the delinquency of a minor, attempting to influence a public official and providing false information to authorities. Now Richard Heene and his wife are avoiding media attention. Gee, they got all the attention they wanted, and now that they might get in trouble for perpetrating a hoax which resulted in police involvement, they’d like to be left alone.

The world watched as a homemade helium balloon, resembling a silvery, saucer shaped UFO, soared at altitudes reaching an estimated 7,500 feet. We were transfixed, all believing that a little boy was trapped on that balloon, accidentally launched while his parents were not present. As the story unfolded we learned that the balloon had been recovered and the boy was not aboard. We thought the worst: the boy had fallen out of the balloon and was probably dead.

People reported seeing something fall from the balloon, and authorities searched the ground along the flightpath of the balloon. They found nothing.

The next day we learned that the boy had been hiding above the garage, apparently after being scolded by his dad for playing around the balloon. He was hiding alright, but we found later that it was because he needed to be out of sight while the hoax was perpetrated. Someone who had gone into the home commented that in order to get into the attic the boy would have needed quite a boost.

Heene and his wife met in acting school and had appeared on the Reality TV show Wife Swap. As the story of the balloon boy hoax unwinds, we learn more about the egotistical, desperate Richard Heene, who wanted to gain publicity in order to launch his own reality TV show.

Take one look at the antics of Richard Heene and you see an idiot caught up in his own ego, trying to become famous. Watch the home video released of the accidental balloon launch, and you’ll notice two things: the kid wasn’t on the balloon in the first place (Heene knew it), and Heene also exhibits his lack of self control, throwing a tantrum and kicking at the launching deck, after realizing his wife forgot to hold on to a tether to prevent the balloon’s launch.

Former business associate to Heene and a fellow science enthusiast, Robert Thomas, has come forward with info about Heene and his scheme. According to Thomas, Heene wanted to get his TV career started with an alien hoax that would be “Bigger than Roswell.”

Like Heene’s story, but on a grander scale, the Roswell “incident” was a complete fabrication. The story was inadvertently created by UFO proponents and “investigators” after the fact, which actually involved a downed high altitude balloon used in the top secret Project Mogul defense system employed by the US Military.

Heene’s story comes nowhere near Roswell lore. What Heene has done is effectively make himself, and his family, a mockery in his attempt to gain fame. He’s a loon, and — I was just about to say I’m amazed, but I’m really not — that mass media would spend so much energy on a story like this. They’re giving the guy what he wants.

Heene was looking for the limelight, but he’s made a fool out of himself trying to get there.

Will conspiracy nuts latch onto this? Hype spreads rampant in the media about how “Hilter may have escaped Berlin!”

Yes, it’s true, a DNA test done on a bone fragment from the skull alleged to be that of Adolph Hitler, which was found by Soviet military personel outside Hitler’s bunker, has been confirmed to be that of a female, and not Hitler’s noggin after all.

What does this mean? Is Hitler alive? Did he manage to escape? Is there some massive conspiracy among world powers to keep the “truth” of Hitler’s vanishing act a secret from the rest of us?

No.

Basically it means that the skull found outside of Hitler’s bunker was that of a woman, and someone made an assumption which is now known to be incorrect.

When I first read this headline I decided to browse the web to see if I could find some details. I recommend a quick read of the subject at www.physorg.com.

What is it about campfires, the dark, surrounding woods, tales of the unexplained, of ghosts and monsters, that stirs our imaginations and entertains us so?

When you think about it, darkness is a key element in most situations that bring us a chill or a fright. When is the best time to drive down that creepy road, stroll past the cemetary, consult a Ouji Board, or tell spooky tales? After dark, of course.

Light illuminates our surroundings, and when light is on we have no need to suspect that anything is lurking nearby. We can clearly see it is not. But switch off that light and darkness closes in.

We humans are fairly rational creatures most of the time, and even in the dark we are pretty certain that nothing is lurking “out there” to get us. But there is a part of our brains that doesn’t sleep easy, and it’s linked to our very distant ancestors, who existed millions of years ago. Their survival, and ultimately our existence, relied on such autonomous workings of the brain.

The thrill and excitement we feel is a direct result of an adrenaline rush prompted by the fight or flight response. It is a sort of alert mechanism that operates without any direct thought. This response, which originates in a part of the brain called the amygdala, would have prompted our ancestors to run from potential danger, or prepare to face an attacker, even if nothing were there. Better safe than sorry.

The amygdala is like an early warning system, and it ensures that no time is wasted in thinking about what to do. Before we know what is happening, our autonomic nervous system — which controls many involuntary functions such as heart rate, breathing, and pupil dilation — is ramped up and the adrenal glands are prompted to get busy with their adrenaline production.

In rapid succession we may get goose bumps, a tingle up the spine, and then our blood pressure will rise, and our breathing will increase, causing us to become more alert. Heightened senses allow us to keenly monitor our surroundings, and we may tense up, preparing to run or stand and fight once our internal alarm is satisfied that something really may be there to harm us. It just takes one more bump, crack or rattle from the darkness beyond, to set us off.

This process can be fully appreciated if you happen to visit a haunted house attraction this Halloween. Pay attention to your involuntary reaction as you walk slowly down that darkened corridor, anticipating the shock and fright that’s waiting around the corner. You can try to control yourself, but that ancient part of your brain doesn’t really care what you think. It is interested in just one thing: your survival. Fear, real, or imagined, has turned it on. Better safe than sorry.

We feel a great sense of relief, and that rush of adrenaline, accompanied with an increase of blood and oxygen to the brain, gives us a sort of “high,” which makes it fun to get scared. Round that corner may lie danger, and you will be prepared to kick, punch, and scream, or quickly turn and run. You’re amygdala will see to that.