The Book of THoTH Newsletter Issue 159
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ReverendChaos
Sep 16, 2009, 5:01:14 AM9/16/09
to The Book Of THoTH
Newsletter for the week of September 7th to September 13th
Hello to everyone! To all of our new subscribers out there, welcome
to the book of THoTH Newsletter and to our Book of THoTH Google
group. Thanks for taking the time to subscribe and thanks for joining
our group. We're glad that you've joined our mailing list and hope
that you enjoy what we have to offer in its pages.
As of this newsletter, we've have had 19 new members to join us at BoT
since last week. To those who've joined, we say thanks for taking the
time to be a part of the greatest paranormal site on the web! Due to
this new addition of members, we now stand at 8,263 members strong. A
huge thanks to each and everyone of you for helping to make this site
what it has become! We couldn't do it without you.
This Week at BoT:
As mentioned in last week's newsletter, we have the famous BoT Quizz
coming up. It will be in one of BoT's chatrooms and will take place
on September the 19th at 11:00 pm BST (British Summertime) which is
11:00 pm + 1 hour.
Points will be accumulated with other future quizzes in October,
November, and December. These will go toward a grand prize, runners
up prizes, and even a booby prize for the person who comes in last.
For any questions, and to keep updated on which chat room it will be
in, please keep an eye on THoTH's thread in the Announcements &
Stickies subforum of the Main News section.
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/ftopict-21568.html
We hope to see you there!
Once again, the GoldStar has been passed along. Last week's winner,
Silversurfer, has handed the most prestigious award to our newest
moderator, Crux. Crux has earned the GoldStar for being the "best
Welcomer we've had in a long time" and for his humorous contributions
to the Fun Stuff section. Congratulations and way to go, Crux! It's
well deserved for the smiles and good nature you bring, so wear it
well.
In BoT LabCoaT news, Juno54's question is still standing and the coat
could still be up for grabs. We've had a very close answer, but
nothing definite yet.
Juno54's question is:
"Explain why some people's hair turns green-ish in the summer (other
than using hair products that make it so)".
If you know the answer and want a shot at wearing the stylish BoT
LabCoat, then be sure to check out the "BoT LabCoat Quiz Part IX"
thread in the Science section of our forums.
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/ftopic-21115-90.html
This Week in the Forums:
Newbs has an Argentinian sighting to share in the UFO Sightings
subform. With this particular sighting, both UFOlogists and
cryptozoologists are taking notice. Is it a spaceship from another
planet, or an unknown animal or extinct species of dinosaur? To see
read more and to lend your views, see "Dinosaur or UFO?".
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/ftopict-21631.html
"UFO Heads Up... China development" is a thread by Phoenix that tells
us of a 500 mile wide object filmed for 40 minutes during the recent
solar eclipse. What is it exactly? To read more and to join in on
the topic, be sure to see Phoenix's thread in the UFO section.
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/ftopict-21594.html
What moved the coffins around in a West Indies cemetery vault? That's
the subject of member unexplained's thread in the Phenomena section.
His post give a brief history of the family's vault and asks what
caused it. To find out more about this strange string of incidents
and to join in with your thoughts and theories, see "Moving Coffins of
Barbados".
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/ftopict-21642.html
"A Different Bigfoot Story" is a thread posted by WhiteTiger that
gives the account of a man who claims that he and some friends
encountered and shot Bigfoot on a trip to deliberately seek the
creature out. Is the story true, or a fantastical work of fiction?
To read the story and decide for yourself, don't miss WhiteTiger's
thread in the Animal Kingdom & Cryptozoology section.
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/ftopict-21579.html
The Philosophy section has been bustling since it's addition. In it,
you'll find such topics as "The Mind and the Brain", "Does Humour
Belong in Philosophy", "What is Reality?", and more. To give them a
read and to contribute your thoughts and philosophy, be sure to take a
look in the new Philosophy section.
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/forum-64.html
Random Site Feature of the Week:
The BookCases are currently two pages of 3D book cases, with each
clickable book leading to an offsite resource. There's an abundance
of topics included in the BookCases and they will lead you to
everything from scholarly research papers to computer tech sites.
If you don't currently, you'll need to have Java enabled on your
browser to access it. But once you do, you'll have an abundance of
research material at your disposal.
You can visit the Bookcases at either of the following pages:
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/thoth-bookcase1.html
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/thoth-bookcase2.html
Strange Fact of the Week:
A new theory in the UFO community says that the first "tangible
evidence" of alien space travel will come from the garbage that the
aliens discard. Just like ocean vessels and passenger planes expel
their refuse, the theory says that aliens perhaps do the same. It's
believed by some that it's possible for some of this garbage to make
it's way to earth, if it's large enough to resist entirely burning up
in the atmosphere.
Trivia Question of the Week:
What is telempathy?
Answer to Last Weeks Trivia Question:
Who coined the term Sasquatch, and when?
J.W. Burns coined the term in the 1920s after researching the creature
and the various Canadian indigenous legends concerning it. Each
legend and language had it's own name and description for the
creature, so Burns coined the single term Sasquatch to describe a
hypothetical single type of creature that was reflected in these
stories. The name comes from the Halkomelem word "sasq'ets".
This Week in History:
September 13, 1971: The four-day revolt at the maximum security
prison in Attica, New York, ended when state police and National
Guardsmen stormed the facility. Forty-two people died.
September 13, 1993: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO
Chairman Yasir Arafat shook hands after signing an historic peace
agreement.
September 14, 1940: Congress passed the Selective Service Act,
providing for the first peacetime draft in U.S. history.
September 14, 1959: The Soviet space probe Luna 2 became the first
man-made object to reach the Moon when it crashed onto the lunar
surface.
September 15, 1821: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and
El Salvador gained independence.
September 15, 1835: Charles Darwin and the HMS Beagle reached the
Galapagos Islands.
September 16, 1810: Mexico began its revolt against Spanish rule.
September 16, 1975: Papua New Guinea became independent.
September 17, 1862: The bloodiest day in U.S. military history
occurred at the Battle of Antietam when more than 23,000 were killed
or wounded.
September 17, 1908: Lt. Thomas Selfridge, a passenger in a plane
piloted by Orville Wright, became the first airplane fatality when the
craft crashed.
September 18, 1759: French Quebec surrendered to the British after
the Sept. 13 battle on the Plains of Abraham, the last battle of the
French and Indian Wars. French general Montcalm and British general
Wolfe died in the fray.
September 18, 1810: Chile declared its independence from Spain.
September 19, 1955: President Juan Peron of Argentina was deposed and
exiled after a military coup.
September 19, 1985: The Mexico City area was struck by the first of
two devastating earthquakes that claimed thousands of lives. The
second earthquake hit 36 hours later.
This Week's Birthdays:
Milton Hershey (September 13, 1857) - Milton Hershey was a
confectioner, and philanthropist. Using proceeds from his caramel
factory in Lancaster Pennsylvania, Hershey acquired 40,000 acres of
land near his birthplace of Denny Church in which he founded the town
of Hershey.
Alexander von Humboldt (September 14, 1769) - Humbolt was a German
naturalist and explorer. His quantitative work on botanical geography
was foundational to the field of biogeography. He traveled
extensively in Latin America, exploring and describing it for the
first time in a manner considered to be a modern scientific point of
view. He was also one of the first to propose that the lands
bordering the Atlantic Ocean were once joined. A number of species
are named after him, including the Humbolt squid, the Amazon River
Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis humboldtiana) and several species of
plants.
Oliver Stone (September 15, 1946) - Born William Oliver Stone, he is
an American film director and screenwriter who came to prominence as a
director with a series of flims about the Vietnam War, in which he had
participated as an infantry soldier. He's won three Academy Awards,
the first for Best Adapted Screenplay for "Midnight Express". The
other two were for directing "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of
July".
Albrecht Kossel (September 16, 1853) - Kossel was a German
physiologist who specialized in the physiological chemistry of the
cell and it's nucleus and of proteins. He also discovered the purine
adenine and the pyrimidine thymine. It was for this work that he
received the 1910 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Christian Louis Lange (September 17, 1869) - Lange was a Norwegian
historian, teacher, and political scientist. he was one of the
world's foremost exponents of the theory and practice of
internationalism. As a noted pacifist, Lange shared the Nobel Peace
Prize with Hjalmar Branting in 1921.
Leon Foucault (September 18, 1819) - Foucault was a French physicist
who was best known for the invention of the Foucault pendulum, a
device demonstrating the effect of the earth's rotation. He also made
an early measurement of the speed of light, discovered eddy currents,
and is credited with naming the gyroscope (although he didn't invent
it). The Foucault crater on the Moon is named after him.
Sir William Golding (September 19, 1911) - Sir William Golding was a
British novelist, poet, and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate. He
is best known for his novel "Lord of the Flies". He was also awarded
the Booker Prize for literature in 1980, for his novel "Rites of
Passage", the first book of the trilogy "To the Ends of the Earth".
There's only one member of BoT with a birthday this week. That member
is Xine whose birthday is on September 18. Happy Birthday, Xine! We
hope you have a great day of excitement and a wonderful year to come!
Tech Tip of the Week:
A very quick and simple tip this week involves speeding your computer
up by doing a cold reboot.
On occasion, you may have have noticed that a program/programs that
you have running seems to be slowing your computer down. This is
especially so when you have several programs running at once or a
single "resource heavy" program. This happens to us all. To mend
this, you naturally close the program, but sometimes the problem still
persists after doing so. You then decide to reboot (restart), but
after doing so you find that even that didn't help. What is required
then, is to completely shut down your computer and leave it off for no
less than 30 seconds. This is called a "cold reboot".
The reason why closing the program or rebooting doesn't help is
because some programs don't release memory properly when they close.
This is referred to as a "memory leak" and happens when some of the
drivers and core programs in the memory are not being released. The
Windows operating systems are designed to hold on to those programs
for a period of time, even after shutting down or rebooting. However,
if you completely shut down your computer for at least 30 seconds,
this will cause the chips to "forget" the settings. They'll then
start anew when the system is turned back on.
Unsolved Question of the Week:
Official reports of it first surfaced in the U.S. states of
Pennsylvania and Kansas in the early 1960s. By the mid 70s, it was
reported in 15 other states. By 1975 the FBI and ATF was called in to
investigate it due to public concern. By 1979 there had been an
estimated 8,000 cases of it, causing $1,000,000 in losses. In 2002, it
had apparently spread to Argentina. In case you haven't figured it out
yet, we're talking about cattle mutilations.
Cattle mutilation is the killing and mutilation of cattle under
unusual or anomalous circumstances. Cattle aren't the only animals
affected either, as sheep and horses have occasionally been mutilated
under similar circumstances, as have the rare human. Since the first
reports of it rolled in, causes have been attributed to everything
from natural decomposition to predators, pranks, cults, and even
extraterrestrials and government agencies. These mutilations have been
the subject of two federal investigations and has been called "one of
the greatest outrages in the history of western cattle industry" by
Colorado Governor Richard Lamm.
What exactly is cattle mutilation? Even though the precise nature of
it varies from case to case, a typical mutilation can involve various
combinations of, or all of the following: Precise incisions that
appear to have been made by either a surgical instrument or laser,
lack of blood either in the animal or in the area surrounding the
animal, the removal of soft organs from the lower body such as sex
organs and gastrointestinal organs, missing tongues, missing eyes and
udders, the removal of the anus, the removal of one ear, missing hide
and flesh from the lower jaw, no signs of predation (the lack of
teethmarks, torn flesh, or animal footprints around the carcass), and
the lack of scavengers (including even flies and other insects).
Other unusual aspects of these mutilations that have been noted by
ranchers include strange restlessness of the surviving animals,
unusual odors that are described as being medicinal or surgical in
nature, and strange marks or "post holes" on the ground around the
mutilated animal. Another odd characteristic has been the relatively
short period of time that the mutilation takes place. A 2002 National
Institute for Discovery Science report documented a case in Utah where
two ranchers tagged a specific calf. After tagging this calf, they
continued tagging others in the same pasture. The ranchers were never
over 300 yards from the first calf, yet less than an hour later it was
discovered completely eviscerated. Most of it's muscle and all of it's
internal organs were missing. There was no blood, no entrails, and no
noticeable disturbance at the scene. Independent investigators
uncovered marks on the animal's body that were consistent with a large
machete-type blade and small, delicate scissors.
Have laboratory tests been performed on these animals as part of
investigations? Of course. These reports have shown unusually high or
low levels of various vitamins and minerals in tissue samples. They
have also shown the presence of chemicals that are not normally found
in animals. Not all of the mutilated animals display these levels of
chemicals or vitamins/minerals though, and the ones that do often have
different anomalies from one another. Due to the lack of time between
death and necropsy, and the lack of history or veterinary records for
some of these animals, investigators have many times found it
impossible to make any connections between the presence of such
anomalies and the animals' death.
Aside from unusual chemical levels, other abnormalities have been
recorded as well. In a 1978 mutilation case in Dulce, New Mexico that
was documented by both New Mexico police and the FBI, "both the liver
and the heart were white and mushy. Both organs had the texture and
consistency of peanut butter". The animal's heart, along with bone and
muscle samples, were sent to the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for
study. Samples of the liver were sent to two separate private
laboratories. Los Alamos found the presence of naturally occurring
clostridium bacteria in the heart, but could not reach any conclusions
due to the possibility that the bacteria was the result of postmortem
contamination. Strangely enough, they did not investigate the heart's
unusual color or texture. The liver samples however were found to be
completely devoid of copper and contained four times the normal level
of zinc, phosphorus, and potassium. An explanation for these high
levels could not be found. When blood samples taken at the scene were
tested, they were "light pink in color" and "did not clot after
several days". For a while, it was suggested that a burst of radiation
had been used to kill the cow, blowing apart it's red blood cells
while doing so. This was later discarded after reports from Los Alamos
confirmed the presence of anti-coagulants in samples taken from other
mutilated cows in the area.
Now that we know roughly what is being done and what is in and/or
missing from these animals, we have to wonder what is doing this.
According to a 297 page report which cost approximately $45,000 and
headed by FBI agent Kenneth Rommel in 1979, natural predation was the
predominant cause. Within the same report however, it was stated that
some of the anomalies could not be accounted for by conventional
means. Although an alleged cause was established, the FBI was unable
to identify any individuals that could have been responsible for the
mutilations.
These federal investigations were both preceded and followed by state
level investigations that were conducted by officials in New Mexico.
These investigations reported that some animals had been tranquilized
and treated with an anti-coagulant prior to their mutilation. It also
stated that "surgical" techniques performed during the mutilations had
become "more professional" over time.
Some scientists, veterinarians, and ranchers have attributed these
mutilations to natural causes. The cause of death range from natural
deaths and lightning strikes to carnivorous predators. The strange
mutilated bodies and missing organs are attributed to small scavengers
and burrowing parasites. The contraction of tissue by dehydration is
said to give the appearance of missing lips. The missing eyes and
other soft organs are attributed to carrion feeding animals such as
vultures who enter body openings to retrieve eyes and other soft
organs. As for the absence of blood, that is explained either by it
pooling in the lowest part of the body or insects feeding off of any
that has drained out on the ground. What about the surgical incisions?
These are explained by tears in the skin caused by bloating. But not
all believe this. Many ranchers have disputed the natural causes on
the grounds that these mutilated animals fall well outside of the
normal categories of death and natural predation. One has to ask
though, if this is the result of natural death and predation, how are
cases like the the one in Utah explained? How does a calf die, bloat,
and get eaten by carrion feeders within an hour's time? More
importantly, how are the high mineral levels, the medicinal smells,
and the anti-coagulants explained?
Some think they have the explanation for cases that are hard to
explain by natural death and predation, and this explanation is
deviant activity. Deviant behavior and attacks on animals is a
recognized problem in some places. We hear about horrible cases of
this on the news all too often involving pets and other animals. But
like with the flaws in the predation theories, what deviant carries
anti-coagulants with them? The same can be said for the excuse of
cults, which was attributed to some mutilation cases in the mid 70s
during a rise in the concern of cult issues. This theory was brought
to light due to some mutilations occurring during certain moon phases,
the missing blood, and missing unborn cattle from their mutilated
mothers. All of these are possible actions that could be due to cult
rituals. However, after the ATF was called in 1975, they were unable
to find sufficient evidence of cult involvement.
Aside from conventional explanations, there are also many
unconventional ones. One of these theories involves government and/or
military experimentation and is rationalized by the reported
mutilations that occurred within close proximity to former U.S.
nuclear test sites. This theory is based on a number of witness
accounts that reported military type helicopters before the mutilation
was discovered. In addition to these sightings, there were also
reportedly a number of helicopter type marks left in the soil. An FAA
investigator in Alabama even witnessed an unmarked helicopter during
an investigation concerning cattle mutilations where witnesses claimed
to have seen helicopters. This particular helicopter was traced to the
Maxwell Air Force Base in Southern Alabama. Why would the government
mutilate cattle? To test them of course. It's theorized that they are
tested to determine the level of radioactive material that had
accumulated in their soft tissue. Then what about the cattle that are
mutilated outside of the suspected contaminated areas? They are said
to be either control subjects, subjects used to draw attention away
from the ones in contaminated areas, or once again, the result of
natural death/predation or the afore mentioned criminal activity.
Other government related theories involve the possibility that the
cattle are used as guinea-pigs during the development of various
energy and biological weapons, laser surgical techniques, and other
advanced technologies. In his article "Dead Cows I've Known",
mutilation researcher Charles T. Oliphant suspects that the
mutilations are the result of 'black op' research into emerging cattle
diseases. Part of his hypothesis comes from the fact that human
pharmaceuticals have been found in mutilated cattle. He also points to
a case where plain clothes military officers entered a research
facility in Virginia in unmarked vehicles to secretly retrieve and
destroy animals that were contaminated with some type of highly
infectious disease. There's also the 1976 case of two Utah police
officers who claimed to have encountered men in an unmarked Army
helicopter at a small community airport in Cache County. Various
witnesses said that after this encounter, mutilations in the region
ceased for about five years. The sighting by the two police officers
came after local ranchers organized armed patrols to watch out for
unmarked aircraft that many believed were associated with the cattle
deaths. One has to wonder though, with the technology and
transportation available to them, wouldn't it be easier and more
convenient for any government or military establishment to sedate and
take a cow back to the lab rather than perform a complicated
dissection out in the field?
One last hypothesis involves the possibility of extraterrestrials
gathering material for purposes unknown. These theories are based on
the belief that such clean dissections in such a short span of time
without being seen or leaving evidence could not be performed by any
earthly being. According to the FBI's investigation, UFOs or some type
of unusual aircraft were frequently seen before or after the discovery
of mutilated cattle. Could these be alien craft? Or could it be some
form of unknown military craft? Reason for aliens dissecting cattle
range from them using the cattle for experiments to determine if
extraterrestrials can adapt to Earth's environment, to using the
cattle to develop food based biological weapons against the people of
Earth.
Whatever the reason and cause for cattle mutilations, the fact remains
that it's a very real phenomena. Though exactly who or what is doing
it, and why, still remains a mystery. Until one of these mutilations
is actually witnessed while in progress, or until someone confesses to
such, these cases of strange and disturbing animal deaths will
continue to be placed in that file marked "unsolved".
Quote of the Week:
"Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is
serious."
- Brendan Gill
That concludes this week's edition of the BoT newsletter. We hope
that you've enjoyed it, found it a nice change in your inbox, and are
looking forward to receiving the next one. As always, we should have
lots more waiting in store for you.
Until next time, keep your eyes to the skies and the door to your mind
unlocked. You never know who might drop by for a visit.
Hello to everyone! To all of our new subscribers out there, welcome
to the book of THoTH Newsletter and to our Book of THoTH Google
group. Thanks for taking the time to subscribe and thanks for joining
our group. We're glad that you've joined our mailing list and hope
that you enjoy what we have to offer in its pages.
As of this newsletter, we've have had 19 new members to join us at BoT
since last week. To those who've joined, we say thanks for taking the
time to be a part of the greatest paranormal site on the web! Due to
this new addition of members, we now stand at 8,263 members strong. A
huge thanks to each and everyone of you for helping to make this site
what it has become! We couldn't do it without you.
This Week at BoT:
As mentioned in last week's newsletter, we have the famous BoT Quizz
coming up. It will be in one of BoT's chatrooms and will take place
on September the 19th at 11:00 pm BST (British Summertime) which is
11:00 pm + 1 hour.
Points will be accumulated with other future quizzes in October,
November, and December. These will go toward a grand prize, runners
up prizes, and even a booby prize for the person who comes in last.
For any questions, and to keep updated on which chat room it will be
in, please keep an eye on THoTH's thread in the Announcements &
Stickies subforum of the Main News section.
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/ftopict-21568.html
We hope to see you there!
Once again, the GoldStar has been passed along. Last week's winner,
Silversurfer, has handed the most prestigious award to our newest
moderator, Crux. Crux has earned the GoldStar for being the "best
Welcomer we've had in a long time" and for his humorous contributions
to the Fun Stuff section. Congratulations and way to go, Crux! It's
well deserved for the smiles and good nature you bring, so wear it
well.
In BoT LabCoaT news, Juno54's question is still standing and the coat
could still be up for grabs. We've had a very close answer, but
nothing definite yet.
Juno54's question is:
"Explain why some people's hair turns green-ish in the summer (other
than using hair products that make it so)".
If you know the answer and want a shot at wearing the stylish BoT
LabCoat, then be sure to check out the "BoT LabCoat Quiz Part IX"
thread in the Science section of our forums.
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/ftopic-21115-90.html
This Week in the Forums:
Newbs has an Argentinian sighting to share in the UFO Sightings
subform. With this particular sighting, both UFOlogists and
cryptozoologists are taking notice. Is it a spaceship from another
planet, or an unknown animal or extinct species of dinosaur? To see
read more and to lend your views, see "Dinosaur or UFO?".
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/ftopict-21631.html
"UFO Heads Up... China development" is a thread by Phoenix that tells
us of a 500 mile wide object filmed for 40 minutes during the recent
solar eclipse. What is it exactly? To read more and to join in on
the topic, be sure to see Phoenix's thread in the UFO section.
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/ftopict-21594.html
What moved the coffins around in a West Indies cemetery vault? That's
the subject of member unexplained's thread in the Phenomena section.
His post give a brief history of the family's vault and asks what
caused it. To find out more about this strange string of incidents
and to join in with your thoughts and theories, see "Moving Coffins of
Barbados".
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/ftopict-21642.html
"A Different Bigfoot Story" is a thread posted by WhiteTiger that
gives the account of a man who claims that he and some friends
encountered and shot Bigfoot on a trip to deliberately seek the
creature out. Is the story true, or a fantastical work of fiction?
To read the story and decide for yourself, don't miss WhiteTiger's
thread in the Animal Kingdom & Cryptozoology section.
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/ftopict-21579.html
The Philosophy section has been bustling since it's addition. In it,
you'll find such topics as "The Mind and the Brain", "Does Humour
Belong in Philosophy", "What is Reality?", and more. To give them a
read and to contribute your thoughts and philosophy, be sure to take a
look in the new Philosophy section.
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/forum-64.html
Random Site Feature of the Week:
The BookCases are currently two pages of 3D book cases, with each
clickable book leading to an offsite resource. There's an abundance
of topics included in the BookCases and they will lead you to
everything from scholarly research papers to computer tech sites.
If you don't currently, you'll need to have Java enabled on your
browser to access it. But once you do, you'll have an abundance of
research material at your disposal.
You can visit the Bookcases at either of the following pages:
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/thoth-bookcase1.html
http://www.book-of-thoth.com/thoth-bookcase2.html
Strange Fact of the Week:
A new theory in the UFO community says that the first "tangible
evidence" of alien space travel will come from the garbage that the
aliens discard. Just like ocean vessels and passenger planes expel
their refuse, the theory says that aliens perhaps do the same. It's
believed by some that it's possible for some of this garbage to make
it's way to earth, if it's large enough to resist entirely burning up
in the atmosphere.
Trivia Question of the Week:
What is telempathy?
Answer to Last Weeks Trivia Question:
Who coined the term Sasquatch, and when?
J.W. Burns coined the term in the 1920s after researching the creature
and the various Canadian indigenous legends concerning it. Each
legend and language had it's own name and description for the
creature, so Burns coined the single term Sasquatch to describe a
hypothetical single type of creature that was reflected in these
stories. The name comes from the Halkomelem word "sasq'ets".
This Week in History:
September 13, 1971: The four-day revolt at the maximum security
prison in Attica, New York, ended when state police and National
Guardsmen stormed the facility. Forty-two people died.
September 13, 1993: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO
Chairman Yasir Arafat shook hands after signing an historic peace
agreement.
September 14, 1940: Congress passed the Selective Service Act,
providing for the first peacetime draft in U.S. history.
September 14, 1959: The Soviet space probe Luna 2 became the first
man-made object to reach the Moon when it crashed onto the lunar
surface.
September 15, 1821: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and
El Salvador gained independence.
September 15, 1835: Charles Darwin and the HMS Beagle reached the
Galapagos Islands.
September 16, 1810: Mexico began its revolt against Spanish rule.
September 16, 1975: Papua New Guinea became independent.
September 17, 1862: The bloodiest day in U.S. military history
occurred at the Battle of Antietam when more than 23,000 were killed
or wounded.
September 17, 1908: Lt. Thomas Selfridge, a passenger in a plane
piloted by Orville Wright, became the first airplane fatality when the
craft crashed.
September 18, 1759: French Quebec surrendered to the British after
the Sept. 13 battle on the Plains of Abraham, the last battle of the
French and Indian Wars. French general Montcalm and British general
Wolfe died in the fray.
September 18, 1810: Chile declared its independence from Spain.
September 19, 1955: President Juan Peron of Argentina was deposed and
exiled after a military coup.
September 19, 1985: The Mexico City area was struck by the first of
two devastating earthquakes that claimed thousands of lives. The
second earthquake hit 36 hours later.
This Week's Birthdays:
Milton Hershey (September 13, 1857) - Milton Hershey was a
confectioner, and philanthropist. Using proceeds from his caramel
factory in Lancaster Pennsylvania, Hershey acquired 40,000 acres of
land near his birthplace of Denny Church in which he founded the town
of Hershey.
Alexander von Humboldt (September 14, 1769) - Humbolt was a German
naturalist and explorer. His quantitative work on botanical geography
was foundational to the field of biogeography. He traveled
extensively in Latin America, exploring and describing it for the
first time in a manner considered to be a modern scientific point of
view. He was also one of the first to propose that the lands
bordering the Atlantic Ocean were once joined. A number of species
are named after him, including the Humbolt squid, the Amazon River
Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis humboldtiana) and several species of
plants.
Oliver Stone (September 15, 1946) - Born William Oliver Stone, he is
an American film director and screenwriter who came to prominence as a
director with a series of flims about the Vietnam War, in which he had
participated as an infantry soldier. He's won three Academy Awards,
the first for Best Adapted Screenplay for "Midnight Express". The
other two were for directing "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of
July".
Albrecht Kossel (September 16, 1853) - Kossel was a German
physiologist who specialized in the physiological chemistry of the
cell and it's nucleus and of proteins. He also discovered the purine
adenine and the pyrimidine thymine. It was for this work that he
received the 1910 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Christian Louis Lange (September 17, 1869) - Lange was a Norwegian
historian, teacher, and political scientist. he was one of the
world's foremost exponents of the theory and practice of
internationalism. As a noted pacifist, Lange shared the Nobel Peace
Prize with Hjalmar Branting in 1921.
Leon Foucault (September 18, 1819) - Foucault was a French physicist
who was best known for the invention of the Foucault pendulum, a
device demonstrating the effect of the earth's rotation. He also made
an early measurement of the speed of light, discovered eddy currents,
and is credited with naming the gyroscope (although he didn't invent
it). The Foucault crater on the Moon is named after him.
Sir William Golding (September 19, 1911) - Sir William Golding was a
British novelist, poet, and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate. He
is best known for his novel "Lord of the Flies". He was also awarded
the Booker Prize for literature in 1980, for his novel "Rites of
Passage", the first book of the trilogy "To the Ends of the Earth".
There's only one member of BoT with a birthday this week. That member
is Xine whose birthday is on September 18. Happy Birthday, Xine! We
hope you have a great day of excitement and a wonderful year to come!
Tech Tip of the Week:
A very quick and simple tip this week involves speeding your computer
up by doing a cold reboot.
On occasion, you may have have noticed that a program/programs that
you have running seems to be slowing your computer down. This is
especially so when you have several programs running at once or a
single "resource heavy" program. This happens to us all. To mend
this, you naturally close the program, but sometimes the problem still
persists after doing so. You then decide to reboot (restart), but
after doing so you find that even that didn't help. What is required
then, is to completely shut down your computer and leave it off for no
less than 30 seconds. This is called a "cold reboot".
The reason why closing the program or rebooting doesn't help is
because some programs don't release memory properly when they close.
This is referred to as a "memory leak" and happens when some of the
drivers and core programs in the memory are not being released. The
Windows operating systems are designed to hold on to those programs
for a period of time, even after shutting down or rebooting. However,
if you completely shut down your computer for at least 30 seconds,
this will cause the chips to "forget" the settings. They'll then
start anew when the system is turned back on.
Unsolved Question of the Week:
Official reports of it first surfaced in the U.S. states of
Pennsylvania and Kansas in the early 1960s. By the mid 70s, it was
reported in 15 other states. By 1975 the FBI and ATF was called in to
investigate it due to public concern. By 1979 there had been an
estimated 8,000 cases of it, causing $1,000,000 in losses. In 2002, it
had apparently spread to Argentina. In case you haven't figured it out
yet, we're talking about cattle mutilations.
Cattle mutilation is the killing and mutilation of cattle under
unusual or anomalous circumstances. Cattle aren't the only animals
affected either, as sheep and horses have occasionally been mutilated
under similar circumstances, as have the rare human. Since the first
reports of it rolled in, causes have been attributed to everything
from natural decomposition to predators, pranks, cults, and even
extraterrestrials and government agencies. These mutilations have been
the subject of two federal investigations and has been called "one of
the greatest outrages in the history of western cattle industry" by
Colorado Governor Richard Lamm.
What exactly is cattle mutilation? Even though the precise nature of
it varies from case to case, a typical mutilation can involve various
combinations of, or all of the following: Precise incisions that
appear to have been made by either a surgical instrument or laser,
lack of blood either in the animal or in the area surrounding the
animal, the removal of soft organs from the lower body such as sex
organs and gastrointestinal organs, missing tongues, missing eyes and
udders, the removal of the anus, the removal of one ear, missing hide
and flesh from the lower jaw, no signs of predation (the lack of
teethmarks, torn flesh, or animal footprints around the carcass), and
the lack of scavengers (including even flies and other insects).
Other unusual aspects of these mutilations that have been noted by
ranchers include strange restlessness of the surviving animals,
unusual odors that are described as being medicinal or surgical in
nature, and strange marks or "post holes" on the ground around the
mutilated animal. Another odd characteristic has been the relatively
short period of time that the mutilation takes place. A 2002 National
Institute for Discovery Science report documented a case in Utah where
two ranchers tagged a specific calf. After tagging this calf, they
continued tagging others in the same pasture. The ranchers were never
over 300 yards from the first calf, yet less than an hour later it was
discovered completely eviscerated. Most of it's muscle and all of it's
internal organs were missing. There was no blood, no entrails, and no
noticeable disturbance at the scene. Independent investigators
uncovered marks on the animal's body that were consistent with a large
machete-type blade and small, delicate scissors.
Have laboratory tests been performed on these animals as part of
investigations? Of course. These reports have shown unusually high or
low levels of various vitamins and minerals in tissue samples. They
have also shown the presence of chemicals that are not normally found
in animals. Not all of the mutilated animals display these levels of
chemicals or vitamins/minerals though, and the ones that do often have
different anomalies from one another. Due to the lack of time between
death and necropsy, and the lack of history or veterinary records for
some of these animals, investigators have many times found it
impossible to make any connections between the presence of such
anomalies and the animals' death.
Aside from unusual chemical levels, other abnormalities have been
recorded as well. In a 1978 mutilation case in Dulce, New Mexico that
was documented by both New Mexico police and the FBI, "both the liver
and the heart were white and mushy. Both organs had the texture and
consistency of peanut butter". The animal's heart, along with bone and
muscle samples, were sent to the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for
study. Samples of the liver were sent to two separate private
laboratories. Los Alamos found the presence of naturally occurring
clostridium bacteria in the heart, but could not reach any conclusions
due to the possibility that the bacteria was the result of postmortem
contamination. Strangely enough, they did not investigate the heart's
unusual color or texture. The liver samples however were found to be
completely devoid of copper and contained four times the normal level
of zinc, phosphorus, and potassium. An explanation for these high
levels could not be found. When blood samples taken at the scene were
tested, they were "light pink in color" and "did not clot after
several days". For a while, it was suggested that a burst of radiation
had been used to kill the cow, blowing apart it's red blood cells
while doing so. This was later discarded after reports from Los Alamos
confirmed the presence of anti-coagulants in samples taken from other
mutilated cows in the area.
Now that we know roughly what is being done and what is in and/or
missing from these animals, we have to wonder what is doing this.
According to a 297 page report which cost approximately $45,000 and
headed by FBI agent Kenneth Rommel in 1979, natural predation was the
predominant cause. Within the same report however, it was stated that
some of the anomalies could not be accounted for by conventional
means. Although an alleged cause was established, the FBI was unable
to identify any individuals that could have been responsible for the
mutilations.
These federal investigations were both preceded and followed by state
level investigations that were conducted by officials in New Mexico.
These investigations reported that some animals had been tranquilized
and treated with an anti-coagulant prior to their mutilation. It also
stated that "surgical" techniques performed during the mutilations had
become "more professional" over time.
Some scientists, veterinarians, and ranchers have attributed these
mutilations to natural causes. The cause of death range from natural
deaths and lightning strikes to carnivorous predators. The strange
mutilated bodies and missing organs are attributed to small scavengers
and burrowing parasites. The contraction of tissue by dehydration is
said to give the appearance of missing lips. The missing eyes and
other soft organs are attributed to carrion feeding animals such as
vultures who enter body openings to retrieve eyes and other soft
organs. As for the absence of blood, that is explained either by it
pooling in the lowest part of the body or insects feeding off of any
that has drained out on the ground. What about the surgical incisions?
These are explained by tears in the skin caused by bloating. But not
all believe this. Many ranchers have disputed the natural causes on
the grounds that these mutilated animals fall well outside of the
normal categories of death and natural predation. One has to ask
though, if this is the result of natural death and predation, how are
cases like the the one in Utah explained? How does a calf die, bloat,
and get eaten by carrion feeders within an hour's time? More
importantly, how are the high mineral levels, the medicinal smells,
and the anti-coagulants explained?
Some think they have the explanation for cases that are hard to
explain by natural death and predation, and this explanation is
deviant activity. Deviant behavior and attacks on animals is a
recognized problem in some places. We hear about horrible cases of
this on the news all too often involving pets and other animals. But
like with the flaws in the predation theories, what deviant carries
anti-coagulants with them? The same can be said for the excuse of
cults, which was attributed to some mutilation cases in the mid 70s
during a rise in the concern of cult issues. This theory was brought
to light due to some mutilations occurring during certain moon phases,
the missing blood, and missing unborn cattle from their mutilated
mothers. All of these are possible actions that could be due to cult
rituals. However, after the ATF was called in 1975, they were unable
to find sufficient evidence of cult involvement.
Aside from conventional explanations, there are also many
unconventional ones. One of these theories involves government and/or
military experimentation and is rationalized by the reported
mutilations that occurred within close proximity to former U.S.
nuclear test sites. This theory is based on a number of witness
accounts that reported military type helicopters before the mutilation
was discovered. In addition to these sightings, there were also
reportedly a number of helicopter type marks left in the soil. An FAA
investigator in Alabama even witnessed an unmarked helicopter during
an investigation concerning cattle mutilations where witnesses claimed
to have seen helicopters. This particular helicopter was traced to the
Maxwell Air Force Base in Southern Alabama. Why would the government
mutilate cattle? To test them of course. It's theorized that they are
tested to determine the level of radioactive material that had
accumulated in their soft tissue. Then what about the cattle that are
mutilated outside of the suspected contaminated areas? They are said
to be either control subjects, subjects used to draw attention away
from the ones in contaminated areas, or once again, the result of
natural death/predation or the afore mentioned criminal activity.
Other government related theories involve the possibility that the
cattle are used as guinea-pigs during the development of various
energy and biological weapons, laser surgical techniques, and other
advanced technologies. In his article "Dead Cows I've Known",
mutilation researcher Charles T. Oliphant suspects that the
mutilations are the result of 'black op' research into emerging cattle
diseases. Part of his hypothesis comes from the fact that human
pharmaceuticals have been found in mutilated cattle. He also points to
a case where plain clothes military officers entered a research
facility in Virginia in unmarked vehicles to secretly retrieve and
destroy animals that were contaminated with some type of highly
infectious disease. There's also the 1976 case of two Utah police
officers who claimed to have encountered men in an unmarked Army
helicopter at a small community airport in Cache County. Various
witnesses said that after this encounter, mutilations in the region
ceased for about five years. The sighting by the two police officers
came after local ranchers organized armed patrols to watch out for
unmarked aircraft that many believed were associated with the cattle
deaths. One has to wonder though, with the technology and
transportation available to them, wouldn't it be easier and more
convenient for any government or military establishment to sedate and
take a cow back to the lab rather than perform a complicated
dissection out in the field?
One last hypothesis involves the possibility of extraterrestrials
gathering material for purposes unknown. These theories are based on
the belief that such clean dissections in such a short span of time
without being seen or leaving evidence could not be performed by any
earthly being. According to the FBI's investigation, UFOs or some type
of unusual aircraft were frequently seen before or after the discovery
of mutilated cattle. Could these be alien craft? Or could it be some
form of unknown military craft? Reason for aliens dissecting cattle
range from them using the cattle for experiments to determine if
extraterrestrials can adapt to Earth's environment, to using the
cattle to develop food based biological weapons against the people of
Earth.
Whatever the reason and cause for cattle mutilations, the fact remains
that it's a very real phenomena. Though exactly who or what is doing
it, and why, still remains a mystery. Until one of these mutilations
is actually witnessed while in progress, or until someone confesses to
such, these cases of strange and disturbing animal deaths will
continue to be placed in that file marked "unsolved".
Quote of the Week:
"Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is
serious."
- Brendan Gill
That concludes this week's edition of the BoT newsletter. We hope
that you've enjoyed it, found it a nice change in your inbox, and are
looking forward to receiving the next one. As always, we should have
lots more waiting in store for you.
Until next time, keep your eyes to the skies and the door to your mind
unlocked. You never know who might drop by for a visit.
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