Hull House closes doors after more than 120 years

"CHICAGO (AP) — Hull House, the Chicago social services organization founded more than 120 years ago by the Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams, closed Friday after running out of money.

The agency said the poor economy resulted in more demand for its services but also made it harder to raise money to cover its costs. Hull House has been providing child care, job training, housing assistance and other services for 60,000 people a year in the Chicago area.

The agency had announced plans to close in the spring, but Friday's shutdown was unexpected, striking some 300 employees with a devastating and unexpected blow. They received layoff notices and final paychecks and then spent the day packing their belongings and saying tearful good-byes. Many said they were startled to learn their insurance ended almost two weeks ago.

"It's been my life," said Dianne Turner, who spent 25 years teaching families in Chicago housing projects how to break the cycle of poverty. "It wasn't about the pay. It was about seeing a family go from feeling hopeless to being hopeful and feeling like they can do things."

Turner said she knows what it's like to live in the projects and dream of something better. She got her first job as a teenager through Hull House and said the organization helped teach her the value of education, how to save money and how to be a leader.

Founded in 1889, Hull House was the best known of the 400 settlement houses in the United States in the early 1900s. The settlements were designed to provide services to immigrants and the poor while uplifting them through culture, education and recreation. At its peak, Hull House served more than 9,000 people a week, offering medical help, an art gallery, citizenship classes, a gardening club and a gym with sports programs.

Victoria Brown, a history professor at Grinnell College and author of "The Education of Jane Addams," said the closure was "an absolute puzzle" and wondered why officials had not publicized the financial problems earlier in an effort to save the agency.

"I wish we would have known. Why weren't they screaming this from the rooftops?" said Brown. Addams "was known as gentle, not confrontational, but one of her favorite words was 'stupid.' She would say, 'This is just stupid. How could this have happened?'"
Hull House Association board Chairman Stephen Saunders did not immediately return phone calls for comment on Friday.

Agency officials have said it is millions of dollars in debt and the decision to close came after managers and trustees worked for two years to reduce operating costs and improve services.

Other service agencies have been stepping in to help provide services to Hull House clients.

Lizzie Harrington, 32, received help from Hull House when she was a teenager in foster care and wanted to live independently. She went on to become a project director for a Hull House program that helps low-income people find jobs. The closure, she said, has employees devastated and angry.

"It's unfortunate, and it's been emotional," Harrington said. "I have a special connection to this place. This was part of my childhood."

The Hull House agency isn't affiliated with the University of Illinois at Chicago's Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, which will remain open. But museum officials were at the social service agency Friday, carting away boxes of files they said would be archived and preserved at the museum. The Hull House site on Chicago's 

West Side is a National Historic Landmark.

Regina Boyd, who has been a housing case manager at Hull House since 2003, said the closure was bittersweet.

"I believe when one door closes another one opens," she said. "But I love the legacy of Jane Addams, and I'm hoping that someone or something comes along," to continue that legacy.

"I feel her spirit. Her legacy is not over in my heart and spirit. It's not."

___

Online:

Jane Addams Hull House Association: http://www.hullhouse.org

Sources: Yahoo News and The AP: http://news.yahoo.com/hull-house-closes-doors-more-120-years-183258990.html

Note: Sad day in Chicago that Hull House is closing it's doors. Hull House has a rich history

to it and is said to be haunted as well. The place hs many legends and myths as well as urban legends

about it as well. -Rob

Divers find large, unexplained (and mysterious) object at bottom of Baltic Sea

Video: Divers find large, unexplained object at bottom of Baltic Sea - yahoo news

"A team of salvage divers has discovered an unexplained object resting at the bottom of the Baltic Sea near Sweden.

"This thing turned up. My first reaction was to tell the guys that we have a UFO here on the bottom," said Peter Lindberg, the leader of the amateur treasure hunters.

Sonar readings show that the mysterious object is about 60 meters across, or, about the size of a jumbo jet. And it's not alone. Nearby on the sea floor is another, smaller object with a similar shape. Even more fascinating, both objects have "drag marks" behind them on the sea floor, stretching back more than 400 feet.

"Could this be the Star Wars Millenium Falcon, a plug to an inner world or a marine version of Stonehenge?" asks CNN's Brooke Bowman:

Well, it could just be another shipwreck. Or, mud.

But Lindberg says the ship theory doesn't really hold up because of the unusually large size of the objects. "Of course it would be something from another ship but it's quite big," he told CNN. Lindberg notes that some observers have speculated that the objects may be Russian warships built around the end of the 1800's. However, Lindberg points out that not only were those ships much smaller, they were not patrolling the Baltic during that era.

The Baltic Sea is a literal treasure trove for salvage teams and a "shipwreck laboratory" for researchers. The sea's low salinity levels help preserve objects that sink to the bottom. "Right now, we know about 20,000 objects, mostly shipwrecks, in the Baltic Sea. But I think there may be more than 100,000," said sonar expert Ardreas Olsson, "I'm not sure what you will see when you go down. But I'm excited. It's going to be interesting to see what it is."

The Ocean Explorer team first made their find back in August and had no plans to return to the scene. For now, Lindberg is waiting for calmer waters in the Baltic, possibly in May, before taking his salvage team to the bottom for a closer look at the mysterious objects. They originally had no plans to return to the spot, but the spike in interest from the public has led them to begin planning a return trip." -yahoo news

For the video that goes along with this story click on this link:

divers-large-unexplained-object-bottom-baltic-sea 

This looks like an interesting find, whatever it is. The comments
on the yahoo article are abuzz with speculation. -Rob

Monkey long believed extinct found in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — "Scientists working in the dense jungles of Indonesia have "rediscovered" a large, gray monkey so rare it was believed by many to be extinct.

They were all the more baffled to find the Miller's Grizzled Langur — its black face framed by a fluffy, Dracula-esque white collar — in an area well outside its previously recorded home range.

The team set up camera traps in the Wehea Forest on the eastern tip of Borneo island in June, hoping to captures images of clouded leopards, orangutans and other wildlife known to congregate at several mineral salt licks.

The pictures that came back caught them all by surprise: groups of monkeys none had ever seen.

With virtually no photographs of the grizzled langurs in existence, it at first was a challenge to confirm their suspicions, said Brent Loken, a Ph.D. student at Simon Fraser University in Canada, and one of the lead researchers.

The only images out there were museum sketches.

"We were all pretty ecstatic, the fact that, wow, this monkey still lives, and also that it's in Wehea," said Loken.

The monkey, which has hooded eyes and a pinkish nose and lips, once roamed the northeastern part of Borneo, as well as the islands of Sumatra and Java and the Thai-Malay peninsula. But concerns were voiced several years ago that they may be extinct.

Forests where the monkeys once lived had been destroyed by fires, human encroachment and conversion of land for agriculture and mining and an extensive field survey in 2005 turned up empty.

"For me the discovery of this monkey is representative of so many species in Indonesia," Loken told The Associated Press by telephone.

"There are so many animals we know so little about and their home ranges are disappearing so quickly," he said. "It feels like a lot of these animals are going to quickly enter extinction."

The next step will be returning to the 90,000 acre (38,000 hectare) forest to try to find out how many grizzly langurs there are, according to the team of local and international scientists, who published their findings in the American Journal of Primatology on Friday.

They appear in more than 4,000 images captured over a two-month period, said Loken, but it's possible one or two families kept returning.

"We are trying to find out all we can," he said. "But it really feels like a race against time."
Experts not involved in the study were hugely encouraged.

"It's indeed a highly enigmatic species," said Erik Meijaard, a conservation scientist who spent more than eight years doing field research in the area.

In the past they were hunted to near extinction for their meat and bezoar "stones," he said, which can, on occasion, be found in their guts.

Bezoars, as Harry Potter fans know from lectures given by Prof. Snape to first year students, are believed by some to neutralize poison.

Meijaard said the animal has long been considered a subspecies of the Hose's Leaf Monkey, which also occurs on the Malaysian side of Borneo, but it now looks like that may not be the case.

"We think it might actually be a distinct species," he said, "which would make the Wehea discovery even more important."

From: http://news.yahoo.com/monkey-long-believed-extinct-found-indonesia-052957776.html

Awesome find! This is good news for Zoologists and Cryptozoologists everywhere. -Rob

TOP 100 NES games in 10 minutes

BFRO Report #30051

Here is a very interesting report from the BFRO on multiple Bigfoot encounters
over the course of 20 years from a couple. Of course every time the husband
goes away the wife sees the creature. They are smart. -Rob

BFRO Report #30051

Report # 30051  (Class A)
Submitted by witness on Tuesday, July 19, 2011.

---

Vocalizations and tense sighting reported by couple hiking and camping near Trout Lake

---

YEAR: 2004

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Klickitat County

LOCATION DETAILS: Deleted by investigator at witnesses request

NEAREST TOWN: Trout Lake, WA

NEAREST ROAD: The main forest road that goes out of town to the west of TL- can't remember route #- Peterson Prairie Campground is on it

OBSERVED: This is a compilation of experiences over a period of years in the same area (1988- 2009) - feeling of being watched, wildlife silenced, tree breaks, strong smell once, numerous late night vocalizations, rock knocking, things being thrown near our tent and an actual daytime sighting. Some of the things I mention here I didn't know were typical when I was experiencing them, but now do, since I've read other sightings on BFRO's and other sites.

My husband and I have been camping and caving in the Trout Lake, WA area for about 20 years and are both very experienced in the outdoors, particularly in the Northwest. We've gone primarily to this area for caving for many years.

The first encounter with something unusual was in 1988-89 on a caving trip in this area as we penetrated the forest, heading toward Mt. Adams through some old clearcut to visit a familiar cave. Birdsong of various types is always present, but as we made our way toward the tree line, the birdsong and even insect noise seemed to cease. I looked up, no indication of foul weather or damp wind, indicating rain. Our group ( I think 7 or 8 of us) was familiar with the deep woods and a couple people noted that this was strange. For some reason, we all stopped in our tracks, even though no one had heard anything; everyone was looking around at each other and listening. Something seemed wrong. Then, I had a very strong sense of being watched from further in, not too far away, but did not tell anyone else. I have a feeling the others sensed this as well, and we all pushed quickly on to get to the cave, sticking close to one another. This happened on several caving trips over the years, but not in the same location; the proxmity, however, was fairly close- all within about a 5 mile radius.

Another time, around 2002, my partner and I were dispersed camping alone, right next to a very seldom-used forest road in the same area, east of the main forest road. We got out of our vehicle to begin setting up camp as we had done several other times in this area and noticed an almost vomit-inducing stench. It was not the smell of something dead, it was like a combination of sun-baked garbage and feces. We decided that perhaps some local had driven back here and dumped their garbage, but then about 5 minutes later, the smell just went away?? I had no idea about the smells encountered by others at this time, so I blew it off. We walked, sniffing around the area a little and there was nothing, so we decided to camp there anyway, thinking that something must've just been carried on the wind, but it was still strange as to how strong it was.

We've also heard some late night sounds when camped at Peterson Prairie many times. Some dismissed them as coyotes. These sounds were like whoops, with several animals at once. I remember silently filing through the animal sounds that I'd heard in the wild: (elk, coyote, deer, cougar, wolf, owls, marmots, bear, human) in my mind and came up blank. Nothing matched. Still we tried to dismiss them as coyotes and went to bed. But it was like something was making the initial sound and the coyotes were answering.

But then later in 2003, another type of sound in this area made my blood turn to ice water. It was August, about 11:30 at night at Peterson, as we wanted the "luxury" of camping at a site, instead of dispersed, where there was running water and outhouses. We were dousing the fire and about to head into the tent when from the north, about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile, it seemed, there began a howl. Not a wolf or coyote howl, but it almost reminded me of those emergency sirens you hear in rural towns. The pitch was quite low and then it raised to a higher tone and was held there for about 6-10 seconds, but was still low in tone. I thought about Pavarotti and some very skilled baritones that I'd heard in concert. I came to a sickeningly horrifying conclusion that in all the years of voice I'd studied and heard, not one human had ever uttered something at this tone, nor could they do it at this volume. The lungs of whatever was doing this had to be absolutely huge, and as in the forest, it echoed a lot, but it was *not* echoes that made it sound strange.

I looked at my husband, who was also startled and looking at me, and then we looked at some of the other campers across the scrub from us. They had stood up and were motionless, looking back at us, then looking in the direction it was coming from. I asked, "What IS that?" to my husband, who said he didn't know. We remained standing and it continued for about 2 minutes, then ceased. In all the years we have camped and caved in that area, (or anywhere, for that matter) we had never heard anything like that. No human lungs were capable of that power.

I have pretty much always been a die-hard tenter/backpacker, but that night I couldn't sleep in the tent. I was too frightened with the realization that what I had just heard was impossible- impossible! No creature existed that could make that sound-- unless-- no way-- NO WAY! Then I remembered that this area had quite a few sightings of Bigfoot over the years. I just could not accept it, but I also could not sleep in the tent, so we got our bags and pads and slept in our truck that night. I barely slept, and was very glad to be leaving in the morning! I was shaken for quite a while. We went to the Mt. Adams ranger station in town that morning on the way out and asked if there were any reports of "unusual animal activity" the night before. The ranger looked at me like I was under the influence. I never said the words, but I knew she was thinking it. She said she had not heard of any, and by the way, just what was it that I thought I heard? I never answered.

Well, terror and curiosity sometimes go hand in hand-- we decided to go back to the area in 2004. We camped at Peterson, as there was no freaking way I was going to camp dispersed, just the two of us, in that area now. So we're there, visiting our favorite caves in the area and early the last afternoon, my husband and I decide to go cave hunting. (What was I thinking? But it was broad daylight, so...) We trekked down a side forest road that was so overgrown with vine maple and had large tree fall at the beginning so that you couldn't drive it anymore. We bush-whacked through the grown-up vine maple in the remnants of a clearcut and split up and had planned on coming around to meet each other, as we knew this particular forest road curved around a bit.

I'd had enough bush-whacking after a while and decided to just meander down the forest road on some more even terrain. So I headed toward the mountain on this road with my husband off in the deep bush to my left. I noticed how warm it was and it was quite still- it was an uncomfortably hot day. Nothing but the sound of my boots crunching on the packed gravel. Then I heard the gravel move behind me, probably about 20 yards. I took my time turning around, thinking that it was a probably a cow, because this was an open range area, and as weird as it seems seeing cows in the forest and clearcut, this was not uncommon at all. It had sounded heavy.

Then I felt faint, like I was going blind & seeing colors and shot up with some halucinogen all at once- I watched as a HUGE, hair-covered, dark cinnamon-colored human-like thing cleared the ditch in one stride, glided into the tree line in one more lightning step and then stood absolutely still.

There I was, by myself, in the middle of this isolated forest road with a hairy (it seemed almost like semi-glossy fur?) cinnamon-colored shoulder and arm unhidden by the tree it was behind. The shoulder was absolutely massive, as was the arm, which was so long, it was almost as tall as I am. If I look, for example, at the door jamb in my office here, I'd put the shoulder's height at just under the bottom of the jamb. I could see the contour of muscles under the hair/fur. It was obviously very strong. The hair/fur appeared to be about 2-3 inches long. I couldn't see the full hand as it was blocked by some undergrowth. And there it was, standing stock still, watching me- did it think it was fully hidden?

I've heard about people being paralyzed with fear and could never imagine that, but that's exactly what was going on. I thought I was going to die very soon. I just really had no idea what was going to happen. I was completely defenseless. I wanted to move, but couldn't, I was frozen. I thought it might chase me if I ran. I could not turn my back on it. Survival mode must've kicked in somehow, because I remembered my training about bears. I began to back away very slowly and spoke very quietly and was even tempted to leave my pack for it. It still didn't move, and just stayed there, still as stone. I must've backed down that gravel about 100 yards and since there was no movement still, I decided to risk it and yell for my partner- there was no other way out of there.

I yelled for help at the top of my lungs and he answered, "Where are you??!!" I somewhat meekly called, "Here..", afraid then that my additional shouting might have the opposite effect of what I wanted and agitate the creature. A few minutes later my husband came crashing through the underbrush, a look of panic on his face. He asked what was wrong and I told him a bear- he looked disgusted and was angry. He asked where and I pointed and it was gone. He asked if it had exhibited agressive behavior. I said no, but he looked worried and started to look around and we headed away from the area. We cut through the vine maple in the opposite direction of my encounter and hightailed it back to the car. As I thought about it afterward, I noted that there was no smell during this encounter to warn me, but there was also no wind that afternoon and it was very warm.

It took me 4 years to even tell my husband what I saw. Fortunately, he's a pretty reasonable person and believes (with astonishment) what I've told him. Recently we've listened to recordings on the web of what people think are Bigfoot, and some of them sound just like what we've both heard in the area. The combination of smells, feelings & those sounds never fully registered as being connected until we found some Bigfoot sites on the web. We realized that we've experienced alot of different things in the area that were likely a Sasquatch nearby over the years.

In 2009, we camped in Peterson Prairie again, in August. I had alot of reservations about camping in a tent there due to my previous encounter in the area, but I thought with all the other campers around (6-7 sites occupied), (and right next to the obnoxious camp host RV) there wouldn't be a chance. It was raining, which was unusual for that time of year. We pulled into the campground in the evening and set up the tent in the site just north of the camp hosts. We made dinner and called it a night, with it still raining.

Something woke me at about 2:30am. It was what sounded like two rocks being knocked together, south of us, down the mostly dry creekbed. I was listening for sounds of clothing, car or camper doors, or soft voices, thinking someone was up really late. After listening intently for about 5 minutes through the sounds of light rain on the tent walls, there were no sounds of "human" movement nearby.

Then the rock knocking again. Just a couple times. I wanted to wake my husband to have him hear, but the sleeping bags make so much noise and I couldn't be sure he'd be silent when waking, (I also didn't want to risk becoming an item of interest to the rock knocker.) I was then shocked and terririfed by what I heard next. Something "whooshed" nearby and then I heard a thud on the ground. I was astonished. What can possibly be moving so fast through the air that it would make a loud whooshing sound? I listened for any sound of leaf noise in case a tree limb had fallen, but no undergrowth impact noise nor leaf noise, as I've heard before, when a limb falls.

What could possibly be whooshing so strongly through the air that I hear it and then I hear an impact nearby? Something was being thrown or beaten on the ground. Based on our experience in the area, I was pretty sure it was rocks or pieces of wood. But how freaking big (and close) did it have to be so I could hear the "whoosh"? That was terrifying. I was literally afraid for our lives, if one of whatever it was hit the tent. I listened for footfalls or scrub noise to see if I could tell if something was coming closer. No foot falls, but another whoosh/thud. I was out of my mind with fear, thinking we'd be hurt or killed by an impact through the tent. How is it that I didn't hear something close by, either breathing or moving? It must have been from quite a distance.

I didn't sleep the entire night. My husband woke up around dawn and I was still wide-eyed in my bag. He asked me how long I'd been awake and I told him the entire night. I then told him what I'd heard and he'd wished I'd woken him up, as he believes me about my encounter and actually wants to see/hear one. I told him that I didn't want to risk becoming even more of a target by making noise during the night, so I remained still.

We now have a micro camper that we're going to start using to camp/boondock with, as we're both getting older, so a trip down to Skamania/Klickitat County is soon on the books. I'll feel a little safer in it, but you never know how interesting it might look to a night time visitor- I hope not too much so. A parabolic mike and some night vision binoculars might come with us, too. Fear and curiosity-yikes.
ALSO NOTICED: I was just astonished that it was so quick and quiet for being huge! I never would have known it was behind me unless the rock had moved on the road. Turns my blood to ice water, just thinking about it.
OTHER WITNESSES: My husband was many yards away to the west, in the vine maple.
OTHER STORIES: Well, yes. I read about other cavers who also camped at Peterson Prairie and heard some sounds. We had also talked with other cavers from Grottoes in Portland who over the years had also heard howls at night in this area.
TIME AND CONDITIONS: Actual sighting was at midday. Sun was directly overhead, it was hot and no wind.
ENVIRONMENT: The sighting was on an abandoned forest road in the middle of the day. Not sure how much the trees have grown up, as the area to the left of the road was clearcut some years ago, but you used to be able to see Mt. Adam once you came out of the old growth on the road, slightly to the left.

---

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Scott Taylor:
I interviewed this witness and her husband both over the phone, and then in person. She explained all the things that have happened to them over the years that they did not realize were probably sasquatch related. Her report speaks for itself, and there is not really too much more to add except for a more detailed description of the sasquatch that she observed.

The sasquatch was very tall, 8 feet or more. It was skinny-gangly for its height. The color was cinnamon. The hair was 2-3 inches long and shiny. She could observe the muscle definition in the arms. The head was conical shaped and sloped down to the shoulders and there was no neck. The shoulders were huge. It was obviously male. She saw it in profile, so was not able to describe its face.

This area begs to be explored more when the weather improves in the spring. Right now at the time of this publication, it is being covered in snow. There are many other reports from the area: Report #25194, Report #24654, Report #26572, Report #26693.

From: http://www.bfro.net

Bigfoot, Thunderbirds, and Time Travelers? Oh My!

These following stories are from Lon's excellent Paranormal and Cryptozoology
website and blog Phantoms and Monsters at http://www.naturalplane.blogspot.com:

From: Jefferson Parish Bigfoot Loves That

 Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Jefferson Parish Bigfoot "Loves That Chicken From Popeye's"

I received this interesting anecdote a few days ago. I don't doubt the witness' account...but the situation is somewhat whimsical:

Hey - I wanted to tell you a story that happened to me this pass week. I walk my dog everyday on a nature trail. I'm located south of New Orleans. I'd like to be anonymous but here goes.

I was walking her a few nights ago probably around 7 at night and when we made the turn she started growling which for my dog is unusual. So I turned on my flash light and there digging in a trash can was this big dark brown colored thing. Now these trash cans are hooked above ground - about 4 and a half feet above ground - and they are wide enough that I can fit my whole body in. I'm 6'1" 260 pounds and this thing was about my height maybe slightly taller but was wide. His head and part of his shoulder was in but what freaked me out came next when my dog barked he looked at us and it had the face of what I can say was gorilla like. His eye shine was red in my mag lite and the smell was like a stinkbug and rotten eggs. He was probably no less than 20 - 30 feet from me and when he ran off his speed was incredible. No way anyone in a suit playing games can move like this. It was like once he wanted to leave he was gone, I mean I cant even try to estimate his speed even if I wanted. I had my pistol and I fired 2 rounds into the ground just to make noise because I was freaked at this point.

I have never heard of anyone claiming to see something like this before. I'm from a small town so I guess if they did they probably wont say anything so not to be made fun of or labeled as crazy. The next day I went back and seen the trash bag messed up and seen they had Popeye's biscuits and some other fast food in the can so I am going to go get some more fast food put it in the garbage cans and stake out with a bud of mine and see if I can get any evidence. I gotta see this again. It was life changing for me. I can't get the face and broadness of the shoulders of this thing out of my head since it happened but I have to say I seen a Bigfoot. But on TV I seen people say these things are 8 to 9 feet tall but the one I seen was probably and a half tops but wide broad line backer like.

If you ever heard of anyone from southern Louisiana report anything like this please write me back. I heard stories of the Honey Island Swamp Monster but that is in the Slidell area. Thanks.

The Legend Of The Honey Island Swamp Monster

Tale Of The Honey Island Swamp Monster

"Southern Fried Bigfoot"

Labels: bigfoot, cryptozoology, hominid, Honey Island Swamp Monster. Louisiana

 From: Confirmed JC Johnsons New Mexico

Monday, January 16, 2012

Confirmed: JC Johnson's New Mexico Bigfoot Sample Part of Ketchum DNA Study

PLEASE NOTE: this information has been known by me for over a year but since it was recently leaked as 'purported' I decided to confirm it. This is the original collection of the evidence post from 8/31/2010...Lon:

Click for video

J.C. Johnson of Crypto Four Corners posts: "A look into the attack on an animal, where mostly the "Skunk Sack" and organs were removed."

The investigation took place in Fruitland, New Mexico area...probably in or very near the Navajo Reservation. This area is very active with a hominid species that appears to be thriving. Please watch the entire video and listen to JC's theory as to why the 'Furry One' killed the skunk. Fascinating video. Here is a link to the previous post - New Mexico 'Furry Ones', 'Skin-Walkers' and 'Shadow Man'...Lon

Labels: bigfoot, DNA, Dr. Melba Ketchum, JC Johnson, sasquatch

 Reader Submission Bigfoot Burial Ritual

Monday, January 16, 2012

Reader Submission: Bigfoot Burial Ritual?

I want to thank the readers and those who stumbled upon 'Phantoms and Monsters' for your emails and inquiries. I received a lot of responses to anecdotes that have been recently published...but the following email was quite strange and needs further investigation.

The email was written as a draft including an outline that was added with other notations. It was an odd format...but the information was verified. I was asked by the submitter (DD) to write the commentary since they felt that they were not able to compose a story that would be understood by the readers.

I forwarded a copy of my final composition to DD which was approved. I inquired about the witness' (the cousin) willingness to be interviewed but that notation was rebuffed since the information sent to me was done so without the knowledge of the witness. All specific personal and location disclosure was agreed to be kept in confidence. Here is the transcript:

During the recent holidays I was able to talk to a cousin who lives in the Pharaoh Lake area in New York. He is a conservationist and an advocate for nature. He recently made a discovery that is fascinating but pains him since the information would most likely lead to Bigfoot hunters decimating wildlife and pristine forests.

While hiking and camping in a fairly remote forest in Essex County, NY (the most specific location he will give) he came across what he describes as a "Bigfoot ritual burial".

One evening while he was making his way back to camp he heard "muffled grunting" coming from his right. His attention was directed toward a thick stand of sugar maple trees. He crouched down behind a large fallen tree and witnessed 3 large hairy bipedal figures...Bigfoot standing around a large tree stump. It looked like a large female who towered above her companions. He estimated that she was 8 foot+ and that the others were about 5-6 feet tall. Each one of the figures was "swaying' and "grunting". This activity continued for almost 10 minutes when they suddenly stopped and started to run in the opposite direction. He was fearful that they had noticed his presence somehow. Since it was now getting dark he decided to continue to his camp and return the next day.

The next morning he anxiously made his way back to the site where he had seen the Bigfoot. When he reached the site he noticed a 4 foot high hollow sugar maple stump with 4 gray squirrel tails attached to the top edge and suspended outside the stump. It looked like a "sort of decoration". He also noticed a terrible stench that reminded him of very strong fox urine. He looked into the stump - it was empty, but there was some dark fur, a few blood stains and a large piece of old deer hide.

He surmises that the Bigfoot "buried" a small child or infant in the stump and that they either came back to move it after noticing him or that a scavenger took it during night.

Do you or others believe that this could have been a Bigfoot 'funeral' or ritual burial? DD

NOTE: the cousin supposedly has a great deal of biological experience according to DD and is currently looking for other 'burial' spots in the area. I'd really like the reader's thoughts on this. I plan to forward this to several researchers for their opinions...Lon

Bigfoot Observer's Field Manual: A practical and easy-to-follow step-by-step guide to your very own face-to-face encounter with a legend





From Reader Submission Thunderbird

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Reader Submission: Thunderbird Encounters - Illinois / Wisconsin

I recently received the following email that references 2 separate flying cryptid encounters in two different locations, within a two month period this past Summer and by the same witness! Has anyone else seen something similar recently?

This summer (June 19, 2011) I had two encounters with giant black birds; when I say giant I mean I saw (at two separate times) birds that were all black in color with wing spans as big as a small plane 14 feet or bigger.

My first encounter was early one summer morning when I was returning from the Quad Cities. I was traveling on my motorcycle on Route 30 just past I-88 when I noticed a big black object in the distance sitting in the middle of the road. I slowed my motorcycle down as I got closer to the object. At first I thought it was a black bear sitting in the road but as I drove closer to the object I soon learned it wasn’t a bear at all. The black object was a giant BLACK BIRD which stood at least 4 to 5 feet tall. I was in awe and a little bit scared at the sight of the GIANT BIRD. I stopped my motorcycle immediately hoping that the beast would not attack me. I then looked behind me in hopes of seeing anyone else who might be witnessing this amazing sight, but of course just like in the movies there was no one else on the road. Realizing it was just me and the GIANT BIRD, my heart began to race with thoughts of being attacked; I slowly pulled in the clutch and put the motorcycle in gear just in case I had to make a quick getaway. The GIANT BIRD heard the noise of the gear shifting. It then looked directly at me for a brief moment, swung open its massive wings (which were at least 14 feet long), stood up right, then leaped off the ground and took off in flight. The bird looked like a small black plane and when it flew by the trees the branches were swaying back and forth. I sat on my motorcycle watching the bird fly out of sight.

I still do not know what kind of creature it was that I encountered. I have been looking on line at several different kind of birds but have yet to find the bird that I saw. The only bird that comes even close to what I saw was a condor but the bird I saw did not have a head like a condor nor did it look like that of a turkey buzzard or vulture plus this creature was much larger than a condor. I almost wonder if this was just a freak of nature; or possibly a prehistoric bird. Could it be possible that there are still some type of prehistoric birds still in existence? Trust me I am not crazy. I have recently seen pictures of the legendary Thunder Birds and that is exactly what this bird looked like.

My second encounter with a giant black bird was in August of 2011. My friends and I were traveling on our motorcycles near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin on some back road when all of a sudden a giant black bird appeared out of nowhere. The bird was obliviously mad at the noise of all of our motorcycles or something because it took a dive at the couple who were traveling in front of my wife and I. The giant bird actually dove at them causing them to swerve on their motorcycle. The bird then circled around them and tried to poop on them; yes I said poop on them! I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Luckily the poop missed them. I am not exaggerating when I say the stuff that came out of the creature was much larger than that of a humans. It was disgusting! On a positive note there was ten of us who witnessed this giant bird. Once again none of us knew exactly what kind of bird it was that we encountered. Just like I had described before the giant bird was all black with a massive wing span and its head was not like that of a condor.

I couldn’t believe that I was so fortunate to witness this massive bird again and I was so happy that my friends were with me to see it as well. I had told my friends about the bird that I had seen in June but I don’t think that any of them really believed me. Now they know that I am not crazy and are obviously convinced that the Giant Black Bird does exist.

What is really kind of scary is that I do not believe that I saw the same bird twice; I truly believe that I saw two different birds that are of the same species. How I came to this conclusion is simple the first bird was bigger than the second bird.

I only hope that anyone who reads this takes this as a real encounter and just not as another fish story. I have ten witnesses to confirm one of my sightings. I only wish I had a picture too but obviously I can’t take pictures while I am driving a motorcycle.

Oh well, believe it or not that is my story and I am sticking to it.

Please let me know if anyone else has encountered one of these Giant Black Birds.

Thank you, LF

NOTE: any information that can be offered would be appreciated...Lon

Time Traveler? and Paranormal Database:

Time traveller, who came back after 74 years, died at the age of 31 years old

Translated: Did a space-time vortex snatch a man from the 1800s and plop him down in the middle of traffic on a busy New York City street? Many witnesses—including the New York Police Department—say YES…

Time travel stories have emerged over the centuries . One of the best time travel stories convinced many people—including some of the NYPD—that time travel’s not a theory, but real.

The Spanish website sinmisterios.com recounts the tale of the best documented occurrence of time travel in recorded history. The incident is allegedly corroborated by witnesses 74 years apart.

All details are said to be documented by official law enforcement records.

time traveller rudolf henz 150x150 Time traveller, who came back after 74 years, died at the age of 31 years oldPhoto claimed to be Rudolf Fenz, Senior.

Rudolf Fenz, Senior disappeared in 1876. Despite an intense search by police, Fenz was never found. Yet his family always held out hope that the kindly immigrant from Europe would return. They waited years, eventually dying one-by-one still with the hope that their beloved Rudolf might come back.

The return of Rudolf Fenz

Long after all his living relatives had died, Rudolf Fenz returned. And he returned in the most incredible fashion possible. For Rudolf Fenz suddenly materialized on June 1950 in the middle of a busy Fifth Avenue in downtown Manhattan—74 years after vanishing without a trace.

Seconds after appearing in the midst of heavy traffic he was struck down and killed by a car.

Time had played a cruel trick on Fenz, it propelled him three-quarters of a century into the future only to toss him in front of a speeding automobile.

New York’s Finest get involved

From the beginning of their investigation into the odd death of a strangely attired man, the New York police knew the case was anything but typical.

The motorist who struck and killed the odd pedestrian testified the man seemed bewildered and confused…in a daze. The driver swore the man literally appeared with no warning right in front of him.

The corpse itself was an enigma.

Although the deceased dressed immaculately and his clothes looked new, the police investigation confirmed the mystery man laying dead on the street wore clothing almost a century out of date.

According to police records—written by the investigating officers at the scene of the accident—the dead man wore a black coat, a wide-brimmed hat, trousers and odd shoes that fastened with archaic, 19th Century style oversized buckles. He appeared to be in his early thirties.

Police found coins long out of general circulation—some still retaining mint luster—in the man’s pockets. In his leather billfold were U.S. banknotes with dates preceding the 1870s and crisp calling cards engraved with the name “Rudolf Fenz, Senior.”

The officers also discovered a receipt for the boarding of horses and storage of a carriage among the man’s effects.

Amazing facts uncovered

Unable to determine where Rudolf Fenz, Senior lived—or locate any next of kin—the police handed the case over to one of their crack missing person’s investigators, Hubert Rihn. With the resources of the Missing Persons Bureau of the State of New York, Rihn contacted his counterparts in European countries, including Austria and Germany, in an attempt to find any existing relatives of the victim.

Allegedly, Rihn’s investigation ran into blind alleys.

Finally, almost in an act of desperation, Rihn requisitioned a copy of an old New York City telephone directory from 1939. There, the dogged investigator found an important clue: the directory listed a man named Rudolf Fenz, Junior.

That discovery, followed by a lot of painstaking police work, led Rihn to an elderly woman, the widow of Rudolf Fenz, Junior.

Here the case takes its most unusual and bizarre turn. The facts that emerged left the officers of the NY police force stunned.

During a lengthy interview with Mrs. Rudolf Fenz, Jr., she told investigators that her father-in-law, Rudolf Fenz, Senior, disappeared during his daily walk. At the time, his son—later her husband—was only four years old. Reports were made by the family and an investigation was undertaken by authorities, but no trace of her missing father-in-law ever surfaced.

The year was 1876. Rudolf Fenz, Senior was then 31 years old.

So Rihn dug into the 19th Century archives of unsolved missing persons cases recorded by the Missing Persons Bureau of the State of New York. There, to his astonishment, was the record of one Rudolf Fenz, Senior, reported by his family as missing. The record stated he’d never returned from his daily walk.

An old photograph of Rudolf Fenz, Senior accompanied the missing person report. The photo was the exact likeness of the man killed on the busy New York street.

Could the hapless Fenz, out for his daily walk, have been swept
up by a time vortex and thrust into the alien world of the future there only to meet a swift and merciless death?

If so, then Rudolf Fenz, Senior, who lived only 31 years, died 105 years after his birth. - disclose.tv

Meet The Man(n) Behind The Paranormal Database

There are certain websites you find yourself stumbling across again and again, and for me one of these is the Paranormal Database.

By James Clark - If I’m due to take a trip somewhere, and think I might have time to visit a supposedly haunted site while I’m there, I’ll have a quick search online for local ghost stories and before long I find myself in the Paranormal Database. Likewise, if I’m looking for information about a ghost story I want to research, this is often one of the first sites I come across. Given the size of the database, this is hardly surprising.

The Paranormal Database currently contains over 10,000 entries summarising paranormal and cryptozoological reports from around the UK and Ireland. And the site is continually being updated.

Its creator, and the author of a recent book of paranormal tales from Cork in Ireland, is Darren Mann.

Read the interview at Meet The Man(n) Behind The Paranormal Database

Haunted Cork



Thanks goes to Lon's site Phantoms and Monsters for these excellent stories! -Rob

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