Can I Be a Cryptozoologist?

Can I Be a Cryptozoologist? Well here is some excellent advice from professor and author
Loren Coleman on this subject people often ask him:

"There are several ways you can prepare to be a scientist with a cryptozoological interest. (Actually being a “cryptozoologist” is so rare as to be almost as infrequent as seeing a Yeti. There are no jobs, per se, in cryptozoology, really, other than writing and blogging. Only a handful of people in the world actually are free-standing cryptozoologists.) In high school, any of the following will assist with having a vocation related to or specifically one that enhances your interests in cryptozoology: biology, human anatomy, zoology, anthropology, psychology (for interviewing), criminal investigations, and so forth. You also need to be a good communicator, so take writing or English classes where papers are written. Then you can build on those courses and grades to assist you to get into college.

Before college, the best way to follow a passion, for example, in the Loch Ness Monster is to study hard, and stay on track to get into a college by taking high school classes on environmental studies, biology, or aquatic studies (if offered). In high school, if you want to learn more about Bigfoot, take courses in biology, zoology, anthropology, and psychology. You have to creatively link your favorite cryptid with the related areas of study, because, frankly, no one has courses on the Death Worm of Mongolia or Mothman or Thylacines in high school."

For more of Loren's advice please go to this link here at Cryptomundo: Can I Be a Cryptozoologist?

Well said Loren and thanks for the advice! -Rob

Scientists reconstruct 'tall, elegant' New Zealand penguin

 Scientists have reconstructed a 'tall and elegant' race of penguins which inhabited New Zealand 25 million years ago, and stood over a metre tall.

With a long beak and an elongate trunk, researchers say it had a body shape different to any other known penguin.

"Kairuku was an elegant bird by penguin standards, with a slender body and long flippers, but short, thick legs and feet," said Dr Dan Ksepka, a scientist from North Carolina State University. At the time Kairuku lived, most of New Zealand was underwater, leaving isolated, rocky land masses that kept the penguins safe from potential predators and provided them with a plentiful food supply.

The penguin was dubbed Kairuku, a Maori word which Ksepka says loosely translates to "diver who returns with food". "If we had done a reconstruction by extrapolating from the length of its flippers, it would have stood over 6 feet tall (1.8 metres). "A standing Kairuku penguin would have reached about 4 feet 2 inches (1.25 metres), more than a foot taller than an Emperor Penguin."

The penguin is now being formally entered into the scientific catalogue, with the research appearing in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Chris Gaskin, from the Geology Museum, University of Otago, has drawn a recreation of two of the animals, coming ashore beside a stranded Waipatia dolphin.

"Artist Chris Gaskin created a meticulous reconstruction of the new species that really drives these features home. You can practically feel the wind whipping sand and ocean spray into the air as the two penguins come ashore," said Ksepka in a blog posting.
 
'A history of producing exceptional fossils'

Ksepka said New Zealand has a history of producing exceptional fossils that give important insights into the history of penguins and other marine creatures. A highly complete skeleton of the Kairuku was discovered in 1977 by Dr Ewan Fordyce, a paleontologist from the University of Otago. Other fossilised skeletons have also been discovered.

In 2009 and 2011 Ksepka and another American scientist, Dr Paul Brinkman, travelled to the University of Otago to aid in the reconstruction of the giant penguin fossil, working with Fordyce and former Otago students Dr Tatsuro Ando and Dr Craig Jones. Kairuku was one of at least five different species of penguin that lived in New Zealand during the same period.

Ksepka hopes that the reconstruction of Kairuku will give other paleontologists more information about some the other fossils found in that area as well as add to the knowledge about giant penguin species.
"This species gives us a more complete picture of these giant penguins generally, and may help us to determine how great their range was during the Oligocene period," he said. - TVNZ

Note: I wonder what other giant birds exist besides these? Plenty I would say
throughtout history even now (just google Thunderbirds which I will cover on my
blog here sometime. -Rob 

Did Bigfoot Really Exist? How Gigantopithecus Became Extinct

Did Bigfoot Really Exist? How Gigantopithecus Became Extinct

A reconstruction of Gigantopithecus. Image courtesy of Flickr user Sam_Wise

Bigfoot. Sasquatch. Yeti. The Abominable Snowman. Whatever you want to call it, such a giant, mythical ape is not real—at least, not anymore. But more than a million years ago, an ape as big as a polar bear lived in South Asia, until going extinct 300,000 years ago.

Scientists first learned of Gigantopithecus in 1935, when Ralph von Koenigswald, a German paleoanthropologist, walked into a pharmacy in Hong Kong and found an unusually large primate molar for sale. Since then, researchers have collected hundreds of Gigantopithecus teeth and several jaws in China, Vietnam and India. Based on these fossils, it appears Gigantopithecus was closely related to modern orangutans and Sivapithecus, an ape that lived in Asia about 12 to 8 million years ago. With only dentition to go on, it’s hard to piece together what this animal was like. But based on comparisons with gorillas and other modern apes, researchers estimate Gigantopithecus stood more than 10 feet tall and weighed 1,200 pounds (at most, gorillas only weigh 400 pounds). Given their size, they probably lived on the ground, walking on their fists like modern orangutans.

Fortunately, fossil teeth do have a lot to say about an animal’s diet. And the teeth of Gigantopithecus also provide clues to why the ape disappeared.

The features of the dentition—large, flat molars, thick dental enamel, a deep, massive jaw—indicate Gigantopithecus probably ate tough, fibrous plants (similar to Paranthropus). More evidence came in 1990, when Russell Ciochon, a biological anthropologist at the University of Iowa, and colleagues (PDF) placed samples of the ape’s teeth under a scanning electron microscope to look for opal phytoliths, microscopic silica structures that form in plant cells. Based on the types of phyoliths the researchers found stuck to the teeth, they concluded Gigantopithecus had a mixed diet of fruits and seeds from the fig family Moraceae and some kind of grasses, probably bamboo. The combination of tough and sugary foods helps explain why so many of the giant ape’s teeth were riddled with cavities. And numerous pits on Gigantopithecus‘s teeth—a sign of incomplete dental development caused by malnuntrition or food shortages—corroborate the bamboo diet. Ciochon’s team noted bamboo species today periodically experience mass die-offs, which affect the health of pandas. The same thing could have happened to Gigantopithecus.

A Gigantopithecus jaw. Image courtesy of Wikicommons

Further evidence of Gigantopithecus‘ food preferences and habitat was published last November. Zhao LingXia of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues analyzed carbon isotopes in a sample of Gigantopithecus teeth. Plants have different forms of carbon based on their type of photosynthesis; this carbon footprint is then recorded in the teeth of animals that eat plants. The team determined  

Gigantopithecus—and the animals living alongside it, such as deer, horses and bears—ate only C3 plants, evidence the ape lived in a forested environment. This work also supports the proposed bamboo diet, as bamboo is a C3 plant.

So what happened to this Pleistocene Yeti? Zhang’s team suggested the rise of the Tibetan plateau 1.6 million to 800,000 years ago altered the climate of South Asia, ushering in a colder, drier period when forests shrank. Other factors could have exacerbated this crisis. Gigantopithecus‘s neighbor, Homo erectus, may have over-hunted and/or outcompeted their larger ape cousin. And at least one dental study indicates Gigantopithecus developed and matured very slowly—a sign they probably had low reproductive rates, which can elevate a species’ risk of going extinct.

Some Bigfoot hunters say Gigantopithecus is alive and well, hiding out in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Other Sasquatch enthusiasts, however, point out this is unlikely, as Bigfoot is reported to be a swift, agile, upright walker—not a lumbering, 1,200-pound quadruped.

Note: Great articles by The Smithsonian and Dr. John A. Bindernagal (see previous post on my blog here)
on Hominid/Bigfoot/Sasquatch Research.

Sasquatches in Our Woods

From The Texas Bigfoot Research Organization:

Sasquatches in Our Woods

By John A. Bindernagel

Cockamamie myth? Pie-eyed bear sightings? Not so, says this B.C. wildlife biologist — these creatures of folklore really exist.
“I have seen an animal that defies conventional description.”

So began a letter to me from a resident of British Columbia’s West Kootenay region, describing what he saw on his rural acreage one morning in September 1998. He agreed to provide details if I would assure him complete confidentiality.

---

Initially, he thought it was his neighbour walking among the shrubs, but says he soon realized the animal was not human. As he caught increasingly good views, he mentally discarded bears, then cougar, as possible explanations.

“One minute this creature was able to squat and be no more than three of four feet in height. The next, it seemed to be able to draw itself up to six feet, or perhaps more in length.” Three others appeared, and one of the smaller ones climbed into the branches of a tree. “It was then that I first had the thought that I was looking at monkeys … The profile was like that of an orangutan. It seemed to have hair not fur.
 
“The one that… had first drawn my attention drew up behind slightly denser bush and walked off on its hind legs … This really floored me … The movement seemed so naturally bipedal.”
After about 35 minutes, all but one of the animals had disappeared into the forest. “It seemed that this would be the last chance to determine … whether I had really been watching bears, I was not disappointed. It, too, finally rose up. I was extremely struck with its barrel chest and seemingly long, skinny legs and arms. This, though, was only relative to its large chest and upper body. It walked off! Maybe two or three strides and it was gone."

“It most definitely walked erect with shoulders sloped forward. The gait was not like gorillas that I have seen either in the zoos or on TV. Nor was it that peculiar walk of the orangutan. This was a full easy stride."

“I suppose for me, I must accept that I probably saw sasquatches that day. I keep waiting for a news report that tells me that a private zoo has lost some apes or something similar.”

National political columnist Allan Fotheringham once characterized B.C. as the land of “Social Credit and the sasquatch.” B.C. journalist Stephen Franklin called the sasquatch, “the godsend of newspaper cartoonists in the silly season when politicians are on vacation.” The creature is, as Canadian folklorist Carole Carpenter once said, part of B.C.’s “cultural identity.” Long before our time, the Kwakwaka’wakw people depicted Tsonoqua, “Wild Woman of the Woods,” on West Coast totem poles and masks as a giantess with pursed lips, along with her male counterpart, Bukwuss. The words “sasquatch” itself comes from the Coast Salish term Sasqits, or “hairy man.”

It is my conviction that the sasquatch, or bigfoot, is real, and that its very existence has generated the myths, aboriginal legends, newspaper reports — and yes, the jokes and hoaxes. As a wildlife biologist, I have examined the issues for more than 25 years, and not only do I believe the sasquatch is a real animal but one about which we know a great deal. We have samples of its tracks and scat, and reports of its “eye-watering” odour. We know details of its physical appearance, its diet. and its behaviour in feeding, nesting, and defending its territory.
There have been more than 200 reported sasquatch sightings in B.C. alone. Eyewitnesses are remarkably consistent in their basic description of the animal encountered or observed, reporting a large, upright, human-shaped animal standing or walking on its hind legs. The shoulders are prominent, like those of a human, but the neck is short and thick. The animal is covered with hair, usually dark in colour. The arms are proportionately longer than those of a human. Witnesses are often impressed by the animal’s huge size.
 
In some cases more detail has been observed: a barrel chest (“its chest was as deep as it was wide”), a flat, broad nose (“like a gorilla”), an area of bare skin on the face around the eyes, and the apparent absence of ears, which, if present, were hidden by long hair. Some witnesses say they saw breasts on what appeared to be adult females.

Despite the compelling consistency of eyewitness reports, most wildlife biologists do not recognize the sasquatch as a valid wildlife species in B.C. or elsewhere. Skeptics remain the majority, and their arguments merit examination. How, they say, could such a large animal exist here without being seen more often? Why do we have no good photographs of a living sasquatch, no bones or teeth of a dead one? How is it no sasquatch has ever been roadkill, or fallen into the sights of a backwoods hunter?

The media’s treatment of sasquatch reports may provide part of the answer. A sasquatch sighting, when reported, normally takes the form of a light-hearted news item, often recounted with a knowing grin and the suggestion that the eyewitness was on the way home from a pub. While a healthy skepticism regarding the existence of an ape-like animal in B.C. is justified, such cynicism and ridicule tend to inhibit other witnesses, such as the West Kootenay man, from coming forward publicly.

John Green of Harrison Hot Springs published The Sasquatch File in 1973, summarizing 110 reported sightings in B.C. He concluded then that animals answering the description of sasquatch are seen far more often than we realize. To date, Green has collected almost 350 B.C. sightings of sasquatches or their tracks — but witnesses remain as reluctant, as fearful of ridicule, as they were 27 years ago.

Nevertheless, those who have seen a sasquatch — especially those employed in outdoor occupations who are familiar with bears — know when they have seen an unusual animal and wish to report it. Balanced media treatment of sasquatch evidence inevitably results in an outpouring of fresh reports.

As for the absence of sasquatch remains — bones, teeth, hair, a body — this is understandable in the case of an uncommon or rare mammal. Wildlife biologists and archaeologists recognize how quickly animal remains are scattered, eaten, and broken down in nature, especially in our acidic B.C. soils. The possibility remains that well-preserved sasquatch bones may yet be found in a limestone cave or similar site.
 
That sasquatches have escaped roadkill may attest simply to their intelligence in avoiding moving automobiles, and their preference for backwoods habitat. None have been shot, though a few hunters have had opportunity. While hunting deer in the Okanagan Valley north of Vernon on September 11, 1994, Randy Rudnyk says he watched a sasquatch in his rifle scope for almost 15 minutes — never thinking of killing it, though he was close enough to move the crosshairs from eye to eye. In October 1955, William Roe says he levelled a gun at a female sasquatch on B.C.’s Mica Mountain. “If I shot it, I would possibly have a specimen of great interest to scientists the world over,” said Roe. “I lowered the rifle. Although I had called the creature ‘it,’ I felt now that it was a human being and I knew I would never forgive myself if I killed it.”

While we have no body of a sasquatch, we are not without physical evidence of it’s existence. Scat has occasionally been reported where sasquatches have been sighted. William Roe backtracked the female sasquatch he observed on Mica Mountain and dissected several scats, finding only vegetable matter. John Christman of Bremerton, Washington, found a deposit on the Olympic Peninsula “the diameter of a pop can and enough to fill a large bucket.” Unfortunately, it may be that sasquatch scat is not sufficiently different from that of large bears to provide definitive evidence. But then there are the footprints.

Sasquatch tracks are characterized by their elongated human-like shape, the absence of claw marks, and the occurrence of “hind” feet only. Bear tracks, by comparison, show claw marks, the pointed heel of the bear’s hind foot, and the presence of alternating forefoot and hind foot impressions. Compared to human footprints, sasquatch tracks differ mainly in size: those recorded vary from seven to 22 inches (17 to 56 centimetres), with an average in John Green’s records of 16 inches (40 centimetres). Physical anthropologist Dr. Grover Krantz, author of Big Footprints: a Scientific Inquiry into the Reality of Sasquatch (1992), states that sasquatch footprints are normally one-third wider than human footprints of the same length.
Most mammals are nocturnal or crepuscular (active mainly at night, or at dawn and dusk), and so are observed infrequently. Wildlife biologists routinely accept mammal tracks as evidence than an elusive species is present, without need of a sighting. This is common practice for bears, wolves, and caribou — yet most scientists will not accord the sasquatch the same benefit of the doubt.

Nevertheless, laypersons have observed sasquatches engaged in feeding and nesting as other animals do. In some cases the creatures have left physical evidence of their activities. In spring 1997, bear hunter Mike MacDonald observed a sasquatch eating willow buds and young leaves in the Fraser Canyon. To reach buds above its head, it stood upright and pulled the branch tips down to its mouth with one extended arm and hand. In October 1967, in a remote part of Oregon’s Cascade Range, Glen Thomas observed a male sasquatch dig a pit, from which it obtained and ate ground squirrels. Edwin James, along with a group of friends and family members, surprised a sasquatch digging for clams on Gilford Island in the 1950s. A friend of Audrey Wilson of Alert Bay was driving south with her husband near Sayward, Vancouver Island, when she saw a sasquatch dragging a deer up a mountainside beside the highway. Ten minutes later she asked her husband, “Did you see that?” His answer: “Yes. Did you?”

Prospectors, hunters, and biologists from the B.C. coast and Interior have reported sasquatch nests, which differ from bear beds and dens in having a woven rim and sometimes a roof. Dr. Fred Bunnell, a University of British Columbia wildlife biologist described a “sasquatch bower” he discovered with unusual bent and broken branches overarching a nest against a rock face. “No bear makes a day bed like that,” Bunnell concluded.
 
Most biologists assume that eyewitnesses reporting sasquatches are misidentifying upright bears, since a bear on its hind legs is the closest acceptable approximation. Others argue that claimants were duped by tricksters wearing fur suits. Unfortunately, witnesses have had little with which to compare their own observations. The sasquatch is notably absent from our field guides, the authoritative reference books on which we depend to identify the animals of our natural world.

In my recent book, North America’s Great Ape: the Sasquatch, I have included field guide-style illustrations that compare the squarish, human-like shoulders of the sasquatch with the tapered shoulders of the bear. In profile, the sasquatch’s flat face contrasts with a bear’s prominent snout. As well, the distinctive sasquatch gait — a graceful, ground-eating stride with arms swinging — is very unlike the bear’s briefly maintained upright shuffle on its short hind legs. The fluid sasquatch gait also differs significantly from the stiff-legged human gait. The West Kootenay eyewitness quoted above recalled seeing the animals “moving in the trees in a way no human could have imitated without a lot of noise and superb acrobatic training. They would … move rapidly from one place to another with a gracefulness and ease.”

I have studied evidence of the sasquatch since I first found tracks on Vancouver Island in 1988, and my research suggests the sasquatch is, in fact, a great ape. Dr. Krantz proposed that the sasquatch may be the descendant of Gigantopithecus, a giant fossil ape of Asia — or, more likely in his view, actually may be Gigantopithecus, “still with us.” Unlike the great apes of Africa and Asia, however, the sasquatch has a more human-like stride and foot shape.
Occasionally, sasquatches in remote areas have revealed themselves, and their ape-likeness, in their attempt to repel humans. While most sightings involve a sasquatch walking or running away, or watching curiously from a distance, there have been reports of apparent intimidation. While walking up a beach in B.C.’s remote Deserters Group of islands in the early 1990s, some clam diggers sped an animal with an “ape face” watching them from behind a large stump. It then began to throw rocks and driftwood. “A large rock just missed my head!” recalls Samson Cecil, adding that his group then set a possible world speed record for dragging a skiff down a beach into the water.

Campers on beaches and riverbanks have been threatened by the sound of a large animal running back and forth just inside the adjacent forest, vocalizing, breaking large branches, and making a great deal of noise without showing itself fully. When this happened to Mary Strussi and her friend on Vancouver Island’s Cruickshank River in the summer of 1992, they abandoned their tent for the security of their truck. Some years earlier, two men in a truck camper on the west side of Harrison Lake noticed an ape-like face in their window, and immediately afterwards felt their vehicle being shaken “as if that thing wanted to turn us over.”

In general, the sasquatch seems quite benign, with little or no interest in harming people. Its uncommon intimidation displays — breaking branches, running back and forth, throwing stones — are remarkably similar to those of chimpanzees. The result is to drive intruders from the animal’s range, away from its young or a rich food source, without actual physical interaction.
 
Another interesting parallel to the ape world is the reported persistence of sasquatch odour, described by observers as a “strong stench of rotten eggs” or “rotten meat.” The smell “makes you gag or want to vomit,” said Jo Jo Christianson, a crew member on the seiner Skidegate who caught wind of two shoreside sasquatches near Alert Bay in September 1994. The overpowering odour is likely of glandular origin, as with mountain gorillas, which, according to noted researcher Dian Fossey, emit “a gagging fear odour” when threatened.

My interest in the sasquatch often raises eyebrows, but I am not alone in my convictions. I have been encouraged in my research by professional colleagues in the international wildlife research community — researchers not subject to our local and regional conditioning. Jane Goodall, widely known for her pioneering field studies of chimpanzees in Tanzania, admits to a long-time interest in ”’wild men,’ the yeti, bigfoot, and the sasquatch.” She called my book “exciting” and acknowledged my efforts to “carefully describe the behavioural characteristics that have been recorded for the sasquatch.” Dr. Vernon Reynolds, an Oxford University primatologist and author of The Apes, was impressed with “the many points of similarity between sasquatch anatomy and behaviour and that of the great apes.” Biologist Dr. George Schaller, author of Year of the Gorilla, thought I showed “a lot of insight” and made “sensible deductions” in developing my hypothesis that the sasquatch could be North America’s great ape.

I am now convinced that sasquatches are seen far more often than we know. Indeed, some of my professional colleagues in the provincial Wildlife Branch have admitted to being less than diligent in filing sasquatch reports. Yet some witnesses continue to come forward — challenging our collective skepticism, braving public ridicule. As recently as September 1999, a Vancouver youth said he observed a sasquatch near Bradley Lagoon on the B.C. coast.
I fully expect that wildlife biologists will recognize the sasquatch as a species in the not-too-distant future, and subsequent researchers will find B.C.’s shellfish-rich West Coast to be one of its prime habitats. But until other North American biologists are willing to look beyond their own continent for possible explanations — and until we finally have irrefutable evidence that sasquatch exists — doubt will continue to linger, and witness will remain reluctant to speak out.

As the West Kootenay eyewitness mused at the end of his letter: “I think if anybody asks me I might deny the whole thing and cover it up by saying I saw bears and it was a joke.”

John A. Bindernagel Ph.D., is a registered professional biologist in B.C. with more than 30 years of field expertise. He is the author of North America’s Great Ape: the Sasquatch (Courtenay: Beachcomber Books, 1998, Box 3286, Courtenay, B.C.), a field guide to the anatomy, ecology, food habits, and behaviour of the sasquatch.

From: Beautiful British Columbia Magazine, Summer 2000.

Rare whale caught on film for first time

Australian researchers Thursday revealed they had filmed a pod of extremely rare Shepherd's beaked whales for the first time ever.

The Australian Antarctic Division team was tracking blue whales off the coast of Victoria state last month when they spotted the reclusive mammals, which are so rarely seen that no population estimates of the species exist.

Voyage leader Michael Double said the black and cream-coloured mammals with prominent dolphin-like beaks had been spotted in the wild only a handful of times through history.

According to the Australian environment department, there have only been two previous confirmed sightings -- a lone individual in New Zealand and a group of three in Western Australia

They have never been filmed live before.

"These animals are practically entirely known from stranded dead whales, and there haven't been many of them," Double told AFP, calling the footage "unique".

"They are an offshore animal, occupying deep water, and when they surface it is only for a very short period of time."

Double said what was remarkable about the sighting was that the whale was previously thought to be a solitary creature, yet was in a pod of 10 to 12.

"To find them in a pod is very exciting and will change the guide books. Our two whale experts will now carefully study the footage to work out the whale sizes and so on and prepare a scientific paper."

The Shepherd's beaked whale, also known as the Tasman beaked whale, was discovered in 1937 but little is known about them. -yahoo news

Man Survives Being Trapped in Car for Months; Ancient Flowers Discovered and Lincoln and JFK Coincidinces

From Lon's site Phantoms and Monsters at:

http://naturalplane.blogspot.com

Swedish man survives for months in snowed-in car

A Swedish man was dug out alive after being snowed in to his car on a forest track for two months with no food, police and local media reported on Saturday.

The 45-year-old from southern Sweden was found on Friday, emaciated and too weak to utter more than a few words.

He was found not far from the city of Umea in the north of Sweden by snowmobilers who thought they had come across a car wreck until they dug their way to a window and saw movement inside.

The man, who was laying in the back seat in a sleeping bag, said he had been in the car since December 19.

"Just incredible that he's alive considering that he had no food, but also since it's been really cold for some time after Christmas," a rescue team member told regional daily Vasterbottens-Kuriren, which broke the news.

Ebbe Nyberg, duty officer at the Umea police, said police saw no reason to doubt that the man had been stuck in the car for a very long time.

"We would not make something like this up. The rescue services were on site too and saw the same as us," he told Vasterbottens-Kuriren.

Umea University Hospital, where the man is recovering after being rescued by police and a rescue team, said in a statement he was doing well considering the circumstances.

Doctors at the hospital said humans would normally be able to survive for about four weeks without food. Besides eating snow, the man probably survived by going into a dormant-like state, physician Stefan Branth told Vasterbottens-Kuriren.

"A bit like a bear that hibernates. Humans can do that," he said. "He probably had a body temperature of around 31 degrees (Celsius) which the body adjusted to. Due to the low temperature, not much energy was used up."

Why the man ended up under the snow in the forest remains unknown, police said. - yahoo

**********

Russian scientist revive plants from 30K year old frozen tissue

A team of Russian biophysicists has successfully grown ancient plants from tissue material that stayed frozen in the Siberian region for about 30,000 years.

This is the oldest plant material to have been brought to life so far.

The team from the Institute of Cell Biophysics, led by David Gilichinsky, studied squirrel hibernation burrows in the banks of the Kolyma river and found the remains of the Silene stenophylla family that remained almost intact over millennia.

According to a report published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists extracted the so-called "placental tissue" from immature seeds and put it in a special nutrient solution, which imitated a growing plant.

After a while, the tissue in petri dishes germinated into mature seeds, which have been planted in soil and grew into fully-blossoming plants.

The scientists found only subtle differences in the shape of petals and the sex of flowers between the "resurrected" plants and the modern-day Silene stenophylla, which still grows in the Siberian tundra.

The research team suggested that tissue cells were a perfect material for their experiments because they contain high amounts of sugar, which helped the plants to survive in a hibernated state for so long.

The success of the scientists may open a door to a whole new area of experiments in reviving extinct plants buried under layers of soil, especially in the Arctic zone, for thousands of years. - phenomenica

**********

Commonalities

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.
Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
Both wives lost a son while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.
Both were shot behind the head.

Here is an interesting one…
Lincoln’s secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy’s secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners.

Both successors were named Johnson.
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.
Both names are made of fifteen letters.

Mr. Booth shot Lincoln in a Theatre called “Ford”.
Lee Harvey Oswald, shot Kennedy in a car called “Ford” Lincoln.

Booth ran from a theater and was caught in a warehouse.
Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.

Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.

And last but not least,
A month before Lincoln was shot he was in Monroe, Maryland.
A month before Kennedy was shot he was with Marilyn Monroe.

Labels: alternative news, bizarre, breaking news, fortean, oddball, UFO

snopes.com: Presidents Day

snopes.com: Presidents Day

Mountain man scares owners of remote Utah cabins - yahoo news

Mountain man scares owners of remote Utah cabins

By BRIAN SKOLOFF and PAUL FOY | Associated Press – 16 hrs ago

• 
  Click photo to view more images. (AP/Iron County Sheriff)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — He's eluded authorities for more than five years, a mountain man who roams the wilderness of southern Utah, breaking into remote cabins in winter, living in luxury off hot food, alcohol and coffee before stealing provisions and vanishing into the woods.

Investigators have clawed for clues, scouring cabins for fingerprints that match no one and chasing reports of brief encounters only to come up short, always a step behind the mysterious recluse.

They've found abandoned camps, dozens of guns, high-end outdoor gear stolen from the homes and trash strewn around the forest floor.

But the man authorities say is armed and dangerous and responsible for more than two dozen burglaries has continued to outrun the law across a swath of mountains not far from Zion National Park. He's roamed across 1,000 square miles of rugged wilderness where snow can pile 10 feet deep in winter.

And while there have been no violent confrontations, detectives say he's a time bomb. Lately he has been leaving the cabins in disarray and riddled with bullets after defacing religious icons, and a recent note left behind in one cabin warned, "Get off my mountain."

"You wouldn't want to come across that guy," said Iron County Det. Jody Edwards, who has been working the case since 2007.

Theories about his identity have ranged from two separate men on the FBI's Most Wanted List — one sought for the 2004 killing of an armored-truck guard in Phoenix, another for killing his wife and two children in Arizona. Some have also speculated the man may be a castaway from the nearby compounds of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the polygamous sect run by jailed leader Warren Jeffs.

The FBI recently discounted the theory that the man was the fugitive sought in the armored-truck guard killing after authorities got the first pictures of him from a motion-triggered surveillance camera outside a cabin. The photos showing a sandy-haired man in camouflage on snowshoes, a rifle slung over his shoulder, were taken sometime in December.

"We believe that is not Jason Derek Brown," FBI special agent Manuel Johnson told The Associated Press.

Edwards wasn't so quick to rule out the possibility, given the close resemblance to the 42-year-old Brown, who was raised Mormon and is a highly educated, well-traveled avid outdoorsman.

Johnson said the FBI has considered the possibility that the cabin burglar may be Robert William Fisher, described as a survivalist, hunter and angler who authorities say killed his family then blew up their house in Scottsdale, Ariz., in 2001. However, at 50 years old, Johnson is doubtful it's the man in the surveillance photos, who appears much younger.

So while detectives believe they are getting close, buoyed by the recent photos, the shadowy survivalist remains an enigma. No missing person report appears to fit, and fingerprints lifted from cabins have yielded no match.

Meanwhile, cabin owners are growing more frightened by the day and are left wondering who might be sleeping in their beds this winter.

"He's scaring the daylights out of cabin owners. Now everyone's packing guns," said Jud Hendrickson, a 62-year-old mortgage advisor from nearby St. George who keeps a trailer in the area.

In November 2010, Bruce Stucki, another cabin owner, said a burglar broke into his cabin through a narrow window, pried open a gun case with a crowbar and laid out the weapons but took none. At a nearby cabin, the man reportedly took only the grips from gun handles.

"He could stand in the trees and pop you off and no one would know who killed you," Stucki said.
Some cabins he has left tidy and clean, while others he has practically destroyed, even defecating in one in a pan on the floor.

"He should know he's being followed, but I don't think this guy is normal in any way," said Stucki, who, like many cabin owners, has a lot of his own theories.

"He's anti-religious, waiting for the mothership to come in," Stucki speculated.

Investigators say they have found several of the man's unattended summer camps, what they initially thought were left behind by "doomsday" believers preparing for some sort of apocalypse because of the remote locations and supplies like weapons, radios, batteries, dehydrated food and camping gear.

Edwards said two camps found a few years ago were stocked with 19 guns. One of the camps also had a copy of Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild," a book about a young man who died after wandering into the 

 Alaskan wilderness to live alone off the land.

The cabin burglar has managed to avoid being seen all but twice over the years, each time retreating into the forest. In recent weeks, it took detectives an entire day to reach a remote cabin after getting a report that lights had been seen on inside overnight. It turned out they were solar-powered lights on the porch, and the cabin was empty — another dead-end.

The coffee and alcohol the survivalist favors plays into some cabin owners' assessment that he could be a castaway from the nearby twin towns of Hildale or Colorado City on the Utah-Arizona border. The so-called lost boys are said to be regularly booted from the polygamous sect there by elders looking to increase their marriage opportunities with young women.

Unlike members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which discourages consumption of alcohol and coffee, many of the Mormon fundamentalists imbibe.

Detectives aren't sharing their latest assessments but "we've got a lot of leads" from the surveillance photos, Edwards said. "I would say we're very close to making a positive ID on him. We just got to catch this guy."

To cabin owners in southern Utah, he remains a spooky and menacing figure.

"We feel like we're being subject to terrorism by this guy," Hendrickson said. "My wife says flat-out she's not going back to our trailer until they catch him."

Note: Hope they catch this creep! Scary indeed.

BFRO Report # 30442 (Class B)

From BFRO Report 30442

Report # 30442  (Class B)

Submitted by witness on Saturday, August 20, 2011.

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Family has recurring encounters at home near Forsyth

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YEAR: 2011

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 11

STATE: Missouri

COUNTY: Taney County

NEAREST TOWN: Forsyth

NEAREST ROAD: hwy H & hwy 160

OBSERVED: My husband and I were woke around 12:30 am with some strange sounds coning through the baby moniter. The bed room the kids are in is right next to ours but we didnt hear anything from our room, it was only through the moniter that the sounds could be heard, at first. There was a squeaking that sounded like someone was messing with the window in the kids room. My husband went to the other room to turn the outside lights on, we have lights on every side of the house(installed after an attempted brake in) while I stayed in the kids room to see if I could see what was making the noise. I was standing beside the window peaking through the edge of the blinds when the lights came on. There was another noise, something hitting/ bumping the side of the house, the same side of the window I was standing on. Then there was a big shadow moving away from the house twoard the woods. The woods are only about 10 feet from that side of the house and this shadow moved very fast.

My husband returned and he looked out the window, saw nothing. We waited looking out the window for several minuets but were able to see nothing. My husband left to turn the lights out, when he returned we stayed in the kids room for a few more minuets then as we were getting ready to go back to bed we heard a very loud "whoop whoop" then again "whoop whoop" I said its an owl, even thouth I'd never heard an owl sound like that before my husband, who is former militatry and has been in combat, said if it was an owl then it had to be at least 8ft tall, then he told me he didn't know what it was but it there was no way it was an owl.
ALSO NOTICED: In July of 2010, our dog went missing for two days, this was very odd as our dog was fixed and never roamed, he always stayed home. Well on the 2ed afternoon I heard him yelping in the woods behind the house. So I went looking for my kids dog. I found him layed up in the bed of the spring unable to walk. He was trying to drag himself home using his front legs. Getting him home and then to the vet, we had to put him down. The dog was said to have had been beaten, the vet said his back was broken, both back legs were broken. The vet said the trama was equal to that as getting hit by a car. Yet, there are no roads or trails in the vally where the dog was found.

OTHER WITNESSES: Just my husband and myself, we were wakened in the middle of the night

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 12:30am to 1:00am
it was very dark, overcast but not raining.

ENVIRONMENT: We are setting on a 10 acre wooded lot, the area between the house and the road is cleared, the rest is thick overgrown woods.

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Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator G.E. Stade:

I interviewed the Witness and her husband. Both impressed me as credible. The following information can be added to her report:

- During the summer of 2010 the Witness’ three year old son was playing in his bedroom. It was dark outside and the lights were on in the house. Her son “freaked out” screaming and crying, insisting that the blinds be drawn closed on every window. It was soon after that incident that the family dog was severely beaten and had to be put down. Both her sons still insist on keeping all window blinds drawn, especially at night.

- The Witness has a baby monitor in her sons’ bedroom to monitor them. The baby monitor is very sensitive to the proximity of people and tends to produce screeching sounds when anyone walks near it. She had the monitor hanging from a curtain rod in the boys’ bedroom so that it wouldn’t produce the screeching feedback type noises. On the night of the incident the baby monitor awakened the Witness and her husband by making its notorious screeching noises typically associated with the presence of a human body. That concerned the Witness and she became very vigilant to all sounds produced by the monitor. The Witness then heard squeaking noises through the monitor. The Witness described the sound as similar to when a person slides their face against a glass window. After hearing the noise three or four times the Witness and her husband realized that someone was outside the window in their children’s bedroom and responded.

- The Witness was in her children’s bedroom when her husband turned on the outside lights. She immediately heard a loud “thump” on the outside wall of the house by her children’s bedroom and observed the shadow of something large and tall running away from the house toward the nearby woods.

- The Witness and her husband have heard trees being snapped while outside at night. Upon investigation they found a 4 to 6 inch diameter healthy tree freshly snapped over at approximately 5 feet from the ground.

- On September 3, 2011, at dusk the Witness observed a bigfoot watching her as she smoked a cigarette on her porch. The Witness commented, “I was skeptical till now. Now I know! It was no deer.” The Witness initially felt like she was being watched and consequently focused her attention in the direction from which she felt observed. She saw a dark human form that would step out from behind a large tree into a slight clearing then slowly retreat back behind the tree. BFRO Investigator Ron Boles and I visited the Witness at her home and recreated the incident. The bigfoot’s location was identified to be within the mentioned clearing in dense woods approximately 90 feet downhill from the Witness' location at the time of the sighting. The bigfoot’s height was determined to be approximately 8.0 feet. The creature’s location proved to be the only line of sight from which to observe the Witness that evening from approximately 70 feet deep within very dense woods (the porch was another 20 feet from the wood line). The location was also immediately adjacent to a large diameter hardwood tree behind which the creature periodically retreated for cover. On the night of our investigation and in the general area of the Witness' house, Ron and I were successful in soliciting wood knocks in response to our mimicries of bigfoot vocalizations and our own wood knocking.

- On November 15, 2011, the Witness informed me that something large and very tall was heard attempting to manipulate a large heavy doghouse located on the Witness’ deck. The Witness was not utilizing the doghouse for a dog, but as a shelter for feeding her cats. Whatever had attempted to manipulate the doghouse did so from the ground, reaching over the deck railing which is 6 feet above the ground. The visitor possessed enough strength to move the heavy homemade doghouse and loudly impact the main house. No claw marks were found on the doghouse.

- Though this report involves visual observations of a probable bigfoot, it has been designated a Class B due to the diminished lighting during such observations.

- At the time of her report submission, the Witness wasn't aware of other bigfoot sightings in her area. However, BFRO Report #22600 occurred only a few hundred yards east of the Witness’ location and remains a location of continuing bigfoot activity. Report #22600 There is also a rich history of bigfoot activity in the area north of this report which is predominantly National Forest.

- This report location borders thousands of acres of National Forest to the north which is an ideal habitat for a large omnivore. This fact is bore out by the region's significance as having the highest density of black bear populations in Missouri. The nearby Swan Creek Watershed is one of many water systems running through this area that offers not only pristine water but abundant aquatic organisms as a food source. Deer and their sign are plentiful. There are deer trails running through this Witness' property including where she observed the bigfoot.

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About BFRO Investigator G.E. Stade:

An experienced outdoorsman and naturalist. Mr. Stade attended the following BFRO Expeditions: 2008 & 2009 OK; 2008, 2009 & 2010 MO.

Note: Interesting report. -Rob

Sightings: Monsters

Roswell UFO claims and Glenn Dennis

From Lon's site Phantoms and Monsters:

The Roswell Undertaker

The Roswell Incident kick-started more than a half century of conspiracy theories surrounding unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Something did crash at Roswell, New Mexico, sometime before July 7, 1947 and, at first, the US authorities stated explicitly that this was a flying saucer or disk as shown by the splash story on that day’s Roswell Daily Record. Numerous witnesses reported seeing metallic debris scattered over a wide area and at least one reported seeing a blazing craft crossing the sky shortly before it crashed. In recent years, witnesses have added significant new details, including claims of a large military operation dedicated to recovering alien craft and aliens themselves, at as many as 11 crash sites, and alleged witness intimidation. In 1989, former mortician Glenn Dennis claimed that he was involved in alien autopsies which were carried out at the Roswell air force base.

The conspiracy theory has been fanned by the US military repeatedly changing its story. Within hours of the army telling reporters that it had recovered a crashed saucer, senior officers insisted that the only thing that had fallen from the sky had been a weather balloon. A report by the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force released in 1995, concluded that the reported recovered material in 1947 was likely debris from a secret government program called Project Mogul, which involved high altitude balloons meant to detect sound waves generated by Soviet atom bomb tests and ballistic missiles.

A second report, released in 1997, concluded that reports of alien bodies were likely a combination of innocently transformed memories of military accidents involving injured or killed personnel, and the recovery of anthropomorphic dummies in military programs like Project High Dive conducted in the 1950s.

Since the late 1990s the debate about Roswell has polarized with several former pro-UFO researchers concluding that the craft was, indeed, part of a US military project and that it was, most likely, some sort of weather balloon. But further evidence has emerged, notably a signed affidavit by Walter Haut, the Roswell Army Air Field public affairs officer who had drafted the initial press release on July 8, 1947. Haut says in the affidavit, signed in 2002, that he saw alien corpses and a craft and that he had been involved in a military cover up. Haut died in 2005.

For years embalmer Glenn Dennis has told an intriguing Roswell crash tale. If true, it leaves no doubt that what fell to Earth in July of 1947 in New Mexico sands was from another world. However Glenn's story has been disputed by researchers as having serious difficulties. Today, some have all but dismissed his purported involvement in the crash events.

But new interviews and information show that the undertaker's amazing story may well have basis in fact. And a fresh look may have uncovered the possible identity of the "missing nurse" at the Roswell base who decades ago revealed to Glenn the alien reality of the crash.

GLENN'S STORY

Glenn Dennis could only happen in a place like New Mexico. His top shirt button always clasped, he often wore a bolero. His frame was lanky but always upright- standing at least two feet taller than desert brush. A marvel of shortened hyperbole, tongue-in-cheek cusses and flirtations - this is how family remembers Glenn.

In July of 1947, he was an energetic young man busily employed as a Mortuary Assistant for the Ballard Funeral Home in Roswell, NM. Ballard's had a long-standing contract with the Roswell military base to provide ambulance and mortuary services….

Dennis signed an affidavit two decades ago that outlined some very unusual events that he had experienced that Summer of 1947. He maintained that he had received a strange call while at Ballard's from an officer at the Roswell base a short time after the Roswell crash. The officer was inquiring about the availability of hermetically-sealed baby caskets. Glenn was also questioned about body preservation methods. Dennis replied that he could provide the caskets- and that the best way to preserve the corpses would be to have them frozen. The officer also wanted to know about tissue and blood changes that might occur if bodies were out in the open, exposed to the elements. Curious about the odd call, Dennis asked the officer if something had happened at the base. He was told that the information was simply for "future reference."

Soon after, Dennis was summoned to the base to pick up an injured airman. He says that on his return, he viewed what appeared to be some very strange debris from some sort of wreckage. He saw the debris in the backs of base vehicles as he slowly and deliberately passed through a ramp exit. One of the debris pieces was "canoe shaped" and about three feet long. It appeared to have odd colored hues like burnt steel, but it was not steel. It had inscribed on it 3"-4" high "hieroglyphics" that ran in a pattern along the contour of the wreckage piece.

Glenn was spotted observing the material by an officer, who then stopped Glenn and loudly rebuked him. He demanded to know of Glenn who he was, why he was there and what else he may have seen. He told Dennis to say nothing of what he may have witnessed. Glenn told the officer to "Go to Hell." He was a civilian who would not be talked to in that manner. The officer then threatened "Don't kid yourself, they'll be picking your bones out of the sand!"

Glenn explains that Roswell's Sheriff George Wilcox made a visit to Glenn's father's house a couple of days later. Wilcox (a friend of Glenn's father) warned the elder Dennis to let Glenn know that he had better keep quiet about anything he may have known or seen at the base that day.

GLENN'S CONTROVERSY

The part of Glenn's story that is the most controversial-

Dennis states that while Sheriff Wilcox was at his father's, Glenn was actually returning to the base to see a nurse friend. He wanted to know if she had heard anything about all of this. They discussed what she knew over Cokes at a base dining area.

She told Glenn that she had earlier witnessed a horrific site. A doctor had pulled her into a room for assistance where there she had viewed three strange "foreign bodies'" that were being examined. She nauseated from the wretching stench. She described to Glenn a classic alien humanoid form, which she had drawn on a napkin for Glenn.

The creature had an enlarged head, slit-like mouth with vestigial nose and ears, unusual eyes and enlongated arms. Hysterical in the re-telling, the nurse then admonished Dennis to leave the base immediately. That is the last Dennis ever saw of her.

In the 1990s holes began to emerge in Glenn's story. Glenn had given researchers the name of the Roswell base nurse as "Naomi Self" - which later proved to be a phony name. He also told conflicting stories about what had become of the nurse. He said that she had died in a plane crash, that she went to England and even that she joined a convent. There are other problems with Glenn's story. He mentioned a doctor who he said was involved, but who was later proven could not have been. It is rumored that Glenn may have asked for compensation for later interviews. And Glenn helped to establish the Roswell UFO museum, which became a source of (modest) personal income for a brief period of time.

SUPPORT FOR GLENN

Despite all of this, there are several reasons why Glenn's tale should not be dismissed-

1) Supporting Glenns' story is the fact that he never sought to tell it. He was found. Researcher Stan Friedman first interviewed Glenn on August 5, 1989. Friedman found Glenn because Friedman had reasoned that the Roswell undertaker may have heard something about the incident. Only later did Dennis become public on the matter.

2) The former Chief of Police for Roswell, L. M. Hall, signed an affidavit in which he recalls that -just a few days after the July 1947 crash- Dennis had recounted to him the odd call from the base about the availability of child caskets.

3) A Roswell base medical technician in 1947, David Wagnon, signed an affidavit that he remembers the nurse as described by Dennis

4) Glenn's grandson, Kelly Abbott, states on a family history website that Glenn told his Roswell story to his close family in the 1980s. This was after the first Roswell book was published in 1980, but before "all of the books and movies" had come out in the 1990s about the incident. He says "Papa told the story with the sense that it was about time someone knew what happened. This is before he had spoken publicly."

5) Glenn's high school classmate was Rogene Cordes. I recently found and contacted Rogene. She is the widow of an Air Force General and believes Glenn implicitly. She was also a neighbor of Roswell Sheriff George Wilcox. Mrs. Cordes says that she knows that Glenn is telling the truth. She is cautious in relating her knowledge, but she indicates that there are things about Glenn's story that she knows happened at the time, including the involvement of Sheriff Wilcox and the call to Glenn about ice for bodies. Rogene mentions that she could not find any ice or dry ice anywhere that crash weekend. Not at Clardy's dairy nor at the train depot, which stored and sold dry ice. Glenn had told the base officer that the best way to preserve corpses was to freeze them. The military had found their ice.

6) A Roswell Army Air Field serviceman in 1947, Sgt. Milton Sprouse (who spent ten years in the military) remembers distinctly Glenn speaking of the event decades ago. Sprouse says that a few years after the crash he had seen Glenn at a mutual friend's funeral. Glenn brought up in conversation the base's strange call inquiring about the child caskets.

7) Glenn's close friend was Mollie Abramitis. Mollie recently related to me an extraordinary story. She was visiting New Mexico from her home in California in April of 1989. Glenn was managing the Wortley Hotel at the time. Glenn invited her and others for dinner. He then told a small group of close friends gathered at the hotel's dining room that he had an important story to tell them. It had been troubling him for a very long time. He felt compelled and ready to share it with them. He said that he was worried that the story had "gotten out" and he was concerned about approaches for interviews about the subject. He told Mollie and the others assembled at the Wortley the precise ET story that he told publicly much later. Mollie said that Glenn appeared genuinely concerned, even frightened. An ex-police officer at the table beseeched Glenn that he must speak out publicly and tell all that he knows, that it would be the best form of "personal protection." Glenn rarely drank. But this time, Mollie says, after he had told his astonishing story, Glenn partook of some liquid courage.

8) Glenn's fraternal twin Bob Dennis (now deceased) was alway reluctant to discuss his brother's story. John Price was Bob Dennis' close friend. Bob explained to John that he was overseas in the military when the Roswell crash had happened. But his father told him about it when he returned from the service. Bob said that his father was very good friends with Sheriff Wilcox. He said that Wilcox and his Deputy (Tommy Thompson) did in fact come to the house and warned their father to make sure that Glenn says nothing of the event. It is likely that Glenn's father was told much more about the crash event by his Sheriff friend. This is because Bob Dennis said that his father made him promise to never reveal any details about the event. Bob kept that promise to his death, always saying the it was Glenn's story to tell.

9) The 1947 Roswell Fire Chief's son was identified and contacted by me recently. Rue was living in the Roswell area at the time of the crash and knew Dennis, as did his father. He stated sparingly, and not wishing to elaborate, that "everything that Glenn says happened."

GLENN'S MISSING NURSE - FOUND?

Glenn's "nurse friend" has never been conclusively identified. Glenn did not provide researchers with her real name, if she existed. But then again...she just may have. Reexamination of old documents -and the confessions of a Roswell family- reveal that there are two very likely candidates:

Eileen (Adeline) Fanton was a 1st Lieutenant that was very briefly attached to the Roswell Army Airfield Station Hospital as a General Nurse- from December 26, 1946 until September 4, 1947:

· According to military records Lt. Eileen Fanton (single) was 5'l" and 100 pounds, with dark hair and eyes and of Italian descent. Dennis described the nurse that he had known as "small like Audrey Hepburn, with short black hair, dark eyes and olive skin."

· Fanton was a graduate of a Catholic academy and Catholic nursing school. Glenn said that his nurse was "raised as a strict Catholic."

· Fanton is confirmed to have later served a tour duty in England. Dennis had mentioned England as (one of) the places he thought that the nurse may have relocated.

· Fanton was educated by nuns. Dennis has offered an alternate story that he had heard that the nurse had later become a nun. Fanton left the Roswell base weeks after her meeting with Glenn. She was admitted to a hospital for a reputed "D&C" abortion procedure. She retired from military service in 1955 and was never located to be questioned. She is believed deceased.

Ms. Miriam Bush:

In July of 1947 Miriam Bush was a single 27 year old woman who (according to records and family) was employed by the Roswell base. Though not a "nurse"- she was a medical secretary in base hospital services.

· Like the "nurse" that Glenn described, Miriam was smallish and attractive, with black, short-cut hair and dark eyes.

· Glenn had offered the faked name of "Naomi Self" as the identity of his missing nurse. "Miriam" may well be an anagram of sorts for "Naomi." Both "Miriam" and "Naomi" have the same length of letters, as do the last names "Bush" and "Self."

· Amazingly (according to her brother George, her sister Jean and her sister-in-law Patricia) Miriam would arrive at her parents home one day after work in the Summer of 1947. She was tearful and in shock. She had described to her family a horrible event that had occured earlier that day. She was pulled into a base hospital room by a doctor who wanted her to be aware of something. She sickened as her eyes cast upon "little bodies" on gurneys in the middle of the room. These bodies were childlike but they were not children. They were strange- with massive heads and eyes that were not at all right. She told her family that she begged God to let her forget the sight.

· Traumatized, Miriam would flee New Mexico shortly thereafter and go to California where she remained for years without communicating with those back home. Alcoholic, Miriam would commit suicide at very end of 1989. 1989 is the very year that Glenn "went public" with his Roswell story.

GLENN'S TRUTH

Glenn has mixed misdirection with truth. He used storytelling devices to hide or obfuscate identities. His concern for protecting privacy was in conflict with his desire to get out the story. He saw others making money on the story and -ever the businessman- thought he'd profit some as well. He may have injected some imagination into history to awaken interest. Perhaps he did it to supplement a story where the real facts could not be obtained.

It could even be that Glenn was himself not the "involved" one, but was covering for another. Or it may be that his father had confided to Glenn the story that he had learned from friend Sheriff George Wilcox. It must also be remembered that flirtatious Glenn was a newlywed with an expectant and homebound wife at the time of the Roswell crash. His "relationship" with the nurse may have been more than casual- another possible reason for his evasiveness.

Whatever the case, there can be no doubt that there is a true -but hidden- "core story" somewhere to be found within Glenn's fascinating tale.

Perhaps Kelly Abbott, Glenn's grandson, sums the Roswell undertaker's tale best: "While it's true that his heart may have always been in the right place, his brain often got him in trouble. To many who've lived their lives and will die in Roswell, Glenn was their undertaker. Trust in him is a given. To those of us who know him better, the truth of the matter is far more complicated."

Roswell base hospital

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AFFIDAVIT OF GLENN DENNIS

(1) My name is Glenn Dennis

(2) My address is: XXXXXXXXXX

(3) I am ( ) employed as: __________________________________ ( ) retired,

(4) In July 1947, I was a mortician, working for the Ballard Funeral Home in Roswell, which had a contract to provide mortuary services for the Roswell Army Air Field. One afternoon, around 1:15 or 1:30, I received a call from the base mortuary officer who asked what was the smallest size hermetically sealed casket that we had in stock. He said, "We need to know this in case something comes up in the future." He asked how long it would take to get one, and I assured him I could get one for him the following day. He said he would call back if they needed one.

(5) About 45 minutes to an hour later, he called back and asked me to describe the preparation for bodies that had been lying out on the desert for a period of time. Before I could answer, he said he specifically wanted to know what effect the preparation procedures would have on the body's chemical compounds, blood and tissues. I explained that our chemicals were mainly strong solutions of formaldehyde and water, and that the procedure would probably alter the body's chemical composition. I offered to come out to the base to assist with any problem he might have, but he reiterated that the information was for future use. I suggested that if he had such a situation that I would try to freeze the body in dry ice for storage and transportation.

(6) Approximately a hour or an hour and 15 minutes later, I got a call to transport a serviceman who had a laceration on his head and perhaps a fractured nose. I gave him first aid and drove him out to the base. I got there around 5:00 PM.

(7) Although I was a civilian, I usually had free access on the base because they knew me. I drove the ambulance around to the back of the base infirmary and parked it next to another ambulance. The door was open and inside I saw some wreckage. There were several pieces which looked like the bottom of a canoe, about three feet in length. It resembled stainless steel with a purple hue, as if it had been exposed to high temperature. There was some strange-looking writing on the material resembling Egyptian hieroglyphics. Also there were two MPs present.

(8) I checked the airman in and went to the staff lounge to have a Coke. I intended to look for a nurse, a 2nd Lieutenant, who had been commissioned about three months earlier right out of college. She was 23 years of age at the time (I was 22). I saw her coming out of one of the examining rooms with a cloth over her mouth. She said, "My gosh, get out of here or you're going to be in a lot of trouble." She went into another door where a Captain stood. He asked me who I was and what I was doing here. I told him, and he instructed me to stay there. I said, "It looks like you've got a crash; would you like me to get ready?" He told me to stay right there. Then two MPs came up and began to escort me out of the infirmary. They said they had orders to follow me out to the funeral home.

(9) We got about 10 or 15 feet when I heard a voice say, "We're not through with that SOB. Bring him back." There was another Captain, a redhead with the meanest-looking eyes I had ever seen, who said, "You did not see anything, there was no crash here, and if you say anything you could get into a lot of trouble." I said, "Hey look mister, I'm a civilian and you can't do a damn thing to me." He said, "Yes we can; somebody will be picking your bones out of the sand." There was a black Sergeant with a pad in his hand who said, "He would make good dog food for our dogs." The Captain said, "Get the SOB out." The MPs followed me back to the funeral home.

(10) The next day, I tried to call the nurse to see what was going on. About 11:00 AM, she called the funeral home and said, "I need to talk to you." We agreed to meet at the officers club. She was very upset. She said, "Before I talk to you, you have to give me a sacred oath that you will never mention my name, because I could get into a lot of trouble." I agreed.

(11) She said she had gone to get supplies in a room where two doctors were performing a preliminary autopsy. The doctors said they needed her to take notes during the procedure. She said she had never smelled anything so horrible in her life, and the sight was the most gruesome she had ever seen. She said, "This was something no one has ever seen." As she spoke, I was concerned that she might go into shock.

(12) She drew me a diagram of the bodies, including an arm with a hand that had only four fingers; the doctors noted that on the end of the fingers were little pads resembling suction cups. She said the head was disproportionately large for the body; the eyes were deeply set; the skulls were flexible; the nose was concave with only two orifices; the mouth was a fine slit, and the doctors said there was heavy cartilage instead of teeth. The ears were only small orifices with flaps. They had no hair, and the skin was black--perhaps due to exposure in the sun. She gave me the drawings.

(13) There were three bodies; two were very mangled and dismembered, as if destroyed by predators; one was fairly intact. They were three-and-a-half to four feet tall. She told me the doctors said: "This isn't anything we've ever see before; there's nothing in the medical textbooks like this." She said she and the doctors became ill. They had to turn off the air conditioning and were afraid the smell would go through the hospital. They had to move the operation to an airplane hangar.

(14) I drove her back to the officers' barracks. The next day I called the hospital to see how she was, and they said she wasn't available. I tried to get her for several days, and finally got one of the nurses who said the Lieutenant had been transferred out with some other personnel. About 10 days to two weeks later, I got a letter from her with an APO number. She indicated we could discuss the incident by letter in the future. I wrote back to her and about two weeks later the letter came back marked "Return to Sender--DECEASED." Later, one of the nurses at the base said the rumor was that she and five other nurses had been on a training mission and had been killed in a plane crash.

(15) Sheriff George Wilcox and my father were very close friends. The Sheriff went to my folks' house the morning after the events at the base and said to my father, "I don't know what kind of trouble Glenn's in, but you tell your son that he doesn't know anything and hasn't seen anything at the base." He added, "They want you and your wife's name, and they want your and your children's addresses." My father immediately drove to the funeral home and asked me what kind of trouble I was in. He related the conversation with Sheriff Wilcox, and so I told him about the events of the previous day. He is the only person to whom I have told this story until recently.

(16) I had filed away the sketches the nurse gave me that day. Recently, at the request of a researcher, I tried to locate my personal files at the funeral home, but they had all been destroyed.

(17) I have not been paid or given anything of value to make this statement, which is the truth to the best of my recollection.

Signed: Glenn Dennis
Date: 8-7-91

Signature witnessed by:
Walter G. Haut

Roswell : Inconvenient Facts and the Will to Believe

Witness to Roswell: Unmasking the Government's Biggest Cover-up (Revised and Expanded Edition)

The Roswell Legacy: The Untold Story of the First Military Officer at the 1947 Crash Site

Note: Excellent work Lon!

'Woolly Mammoth' spotted in Siberia?

Woolly Mammoth, Bear or Hoax?

From Cryptomundo:

Mammoth Madness? New Developments

Posted on February 9th by Loren Coleman:

The so-called “Woolly Mammoth” footage has created a great deal of interest, comments and reactions on Cryptomundo, Facebook, and across the Internet.

(See the video on the Cryptomundo link above btw)

Generally, three theories have issued forth as to the origins of the video: (1) it is of a cryptid, a possible surviving Woolly Mammoth, (2) it is of a brown bear with a salmon in its mouth, and/or (3) it is a generated hoax or fake.

The enhancing of some frames of the footage have given firmer foundation to the “bear” hypothesis. See the following screen captures, as posted in The Daily Mail, shared by cryptocajun:




But is it more than just a bear? Is it a bear that has been used in a created hoax?


A new development has occurred due to some background checks on the alleged individual who is credited as the source of the video published in The Sun: Michael Cohen.

According to past detective work done by Lee Speigel at Huffington Post, any material evidence produced by Michael Cohen is suspect.

As Speigel related in his 2011 investigative piece on Cohen (see here), last October, the discussion was of a video supposedly showing an “extraterrestrial…seen in a Brazilian rainforest [that] arches its back conveniently right in front of a group of children being filmed.”

Speigel wrote: “Well, we’ve seen stranger things, but this is just the latest in a series of videos all coincidentally presented on the Internet by Mike Cohen of All News Web, which bills itself as ‘the world’s only inter-galactic daily news service.’”

Only trouble is, the ET in the jungle apparently was just an object placed in that surrounding. As to the flying cube/pyramid UFO that Cohen also presented in the past, well, that turned out to look to be computer-generated, much too clear compared to the rest of the video.

What was the avenue by which Cohen got these to the general public? The publication was The Sun, exactly the same one used for the “Woolly Mammoth” video.

Hoax? Fake? Spot on, it seems that this is certainly a Mammoth one, at that.

+++

Breaking Update :
Since we posted the above, Lee Speigel has published the following, “Woolly Mammoth Video From Siberia Faces Credibility Issues.”

Note: Looks like either a  Woolly Mammoth or bear with a fish in it's mouth to me. -Rob