Giant leech with big teeth found in the Amazon

Tyrannobdella rex, which means tyrant leech king, is less than two inches long and lives in the remote parts of the Upper Amazon.

It has 8 large teeth lining a single jaw and was discovered three years ago in Perú when a 44.5mm leech was plucked from the nose of a girl who had recently been bathing in a river.

Although there are 600 to 700 species of described leeches, it is thought that there could be as many as 10,000 species throughout the world in marine, terrestrial and fresh water environments.

This species is most closely related to Pintobdella chiapasensis, a leech from Chiapas in Mexico that is typically hosted by tapir but also infests cows.

It is from the leech family Praobdellidae, found in Mexico, Africa, and the Middle East, all of which share this feeding behavior and which can pose a risk to human health in certain parts of the world.

Mark Siddall, curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History, said: "The earliest species in this family of these leeches no-doubt shared an environment with dinosaurs about 200 million years ago when some ancestor of our T. rex may have been up that other T. rex's nose."

Original story can be found here.

UFO picks up car and drops it 180 feet away

Two New Hampshire teenagers sitting in a parked car were approached by a black-colored UFO in Laconia on March 20, 2010, lifted into the air and then dropped back onto pavement 180 feet away, according to testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) database.

MUFON New England State Director Steve Firmani confirmed his investigation of the case today by telephone and said witness interviews had been completed.

The 18-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy both offer testimony about their encounter.

The two used the girl's mother's car and went to a Laconia destination that has not been released.

"We were just sitting there and I looked up at the moon," the female witness stated. "I saw this weird black-shaped object. And then, I said to my boyfriend, 'What was that?'”

Both accounts describe the same events. They saw an object coming toward them from the sky and began to panic. When they attempted to drive away, the car they were operating was lifted up off the ground. Both describe an odd smell during the incident.

When the car hit the pavement 180 feet away, the windshield cracked and the air bags deployed.


Firmani said there was no damage to the body of the car, but that there was about $5,000 damage to the underside of the car.

The male witness descibed the UFO.

"I don’t know how to explain this but it turns into a ball when it wants to slow down and move around quickly and when it wants to go fast, straight, it turns into a flat plate with maze box-shaped lined lights. These were on all the time."

He describes attempting to drive away.

"The front end got picked up and the car could not move. We steered left and right but the car just kept on going up into the air."

When the car hit the ground, they drove quickly away to the girl's home where her mother called the police.

Firmani said there were three-inch divets in the curbing at the impact point where the car hit the ground. He said further study would be made to the under carriage body parts, which MUFON has retained from the body shop.

Link to the original story and MUFON report can be found here.

Is Hanford's Calvary Cemetery haunted?

The entrance to Hanford's Calvary Cemetery

There have been stories for years claiming that the Calvary Cemetery in Hanford, CA is haunted. No one really knows when or where these stories originated. Rumor has it that the cemetery is open late every Friday and tourists come to see the mausoleum as this seems to be the center of any paranormal activity.

People have spoken of sensing some strange type of entities in the mausoleum when they first enter, almost as if someone or something is watching them. Others have claimed to hear voices when they are in the mausoleum, though they cannot discern whose voices they are or what they are saying.

The mausoleum where most of the activity occurs

There have also been sightings since the 1960's of a woman dressed in a white dress circling the mausoleum late at night. No one knows who she is, if she is interned in the mausoleum or she wanders the grounds for some other reason.

Whatever is going on here, it must be something for the stories to have lasted for so many years.

Best places to spot UFOs

It was just another winter night in Stephenville, Texas, when Steve Allen, a 30-year aviation veteran, saw something that defied all logic—an eerily silent, mile-wide craft ringed in lights that would “rearrange themselves” racing across the sky at what he estimated to be 3,000 miles per hour.

“I don’t know if it was a biblical experience or somebody from a different universe, but it was definitely not from around these parts,” Allen told a reporter from the Empire-Tribune after the sighting on Jan. 8, 2008. Similar reports poured in from across Erath County.

The Stephenville Lights incident wasn’t a onetime event—another mass sighting followed in October 2008, and individual reports from the area still trickle in. This corner of Texas along with the eastern Nevada desert are fast emerging as the U.S.’s newest UFO “hot spots”—places with the best odds of a spotting. Similarly active places exist around the globe, with some even attracting a new kind of tourist.

These days, it seems people can’t get enough of the UFO phenomena. Television shows such as the History Channel’s UFO Hunters and alternative radio programs like Coast to Coast AM—where an estimated three million listeners tune in each night to hear from hardworking UFO investigators, among other thought-provoking interviewees—are more popular than ever.

Sightings, too, are on the rise, according to MUFON, or the Mutual UFO Network, which has more than 3,000 members in 25 countries and 750 trained field investigators worldwide. The 41-year-old organization is one of the go-to places to report a sighting; it receives some 400 a month in the U.S. alone.

“Of course, 80 percent of these sightings can be explained. But 20 percent are truly unidentified objects, and those are the ones that will make your hair curl,” says MUFON’s international director, Clifford Clift.

Believing the time is right, even the famed SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute is conducting its first-ever public conference this year devoted to the age-old question: are we alone? SETIcon, slated for Aug. 13–15, in Santa Clara, Calif., will also unveil the institute’s newest scientific advances in its ongoing search for intelligent life from other planets.

“Using radio telescopes, we hope to trip across a planet with inhabitants clever enough to build radio transmitters,” says senior SETI astronomer Seth Shostak. “If we do so, then the proof won’t be limited to fuzzy photos, secret government documents, or personal anecdotes. It will be up in the sky—where anyone can check it out.”

But what if you can’t wait for SETI’s antenna array to detect a signal from another planet and want to seek out your own proof? We’ve identified active places across the globe where UFOs like to show themselves.

Mexico , for example, has been a near-constant sky-watch since the solar eclipse of 1991, when a UFO was captured on video among the cloud shadows. Since then, whole fleets—literally hundreds of unexplained lights—have appeared over the world’s largest city. Or take Warminster, England, near Stonehenge, where for the past 50 years nighttime overhead visitations and mysterious booming noises have been considered ho-hum normal.

And with earthling tourists on the verge of travel into the Milky Way, thanks to Sir Richard Branson’s soon-to-be-introduced Virgin Galactic vehicle, perhaps UFO hunters will soon be able to explore the ultimate hot spot of all—space.

Original article can be found here.

Massive fireball reported across Midwestern sky

Authorities in several Midwestern states were flooded Wednesday night with reports of a gigantic fireball lighting up the sky, the National Weather Service said.

The fireball was visible for about 15 minutes beginning about 10 p.m., said the National Weather Service in Sullivan, Wisconsin, just west of Milwaukee.

"The fireball was seen over the northern sky, moving from west to east," said the NWS in the Quad Cities area, which includes parts of Iowa and Illinois.

"Well before it reached the horizon, it broke up into smaller pieces and was lost from sight," the service said. "Several reports of a prolonged sonic boom were received from areas north of Highway 20, along with shaking of homes, trees and various other objects including wind chimes," it said.

It said the fireball was seen across parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. CNN affiliate WISN-TV said that people in Ohio also saw it.

Video from WISN showed a massive ball of light exploding across the sky. The Doppler Radar from the Quad Cities weather service appeared to capture a portion of the smoke trail from the fireball at just after 10 p.m., the NWS said. It appears as a thin line extending across portions of Grant and Iowa Counties in Wisconsin.

There has been no official determination as to what caused the fireball, the NWS in Sullivan said.

However, it said there is a meteor shower called Gamma Virginids that occurs from April 4 to April 21, with peak activity expected on Wednesday and Thursday.

"A large meteorite could have caused the brilliant fireball that has been reported," the National Weather Service said.

The NWS in Quad Cities said that it was unknown if any part of a meteorite hit the ground.

According to NASA, a meteor appears when a meteoroid -- a particle, chunk of metal or stony matter -- enters the Earth's atmosphere from outer space.

"Air friction heats the meteoroid so that it glows and creates a shining trail of gases and melted meteoroid particles," it said. "People sometimes call the brightest meteors fireballs."

Original story can be found here. And thanks to Brodiemash at the for Dumbdrum pointing this out to me.

Who or what are the shadow people?

Shadow people are paranormal shadow-like creatures that people usually see in their peripheral vision. Reports suggest that they do not appear to reflect light and that their appearance is essentially a silhouette in black.

They usually have no discernible features beyond the general outline of their form. However, shadow people have been reported to have shifted into a more human form and in these instances it is said that sometimes features such as glowing eyes and sometimes mouths or nostrils are discernible.

Reports of shadow people, sometimes called shadow folk, shadow men, or shadow beings, have many similarities with ghost sightings, so many similarities that many paranormal experts consider ghost and shadow people one and the same.

However, other experts disagree and claim that shadow people are a separate phenomenon from ghosts for a variety of reasons.

First, they claim that the movement of shadow people is said to be quick and jerky, sometimes with stops, starts, and changes of direction, not at all like the smooth floating motion often associated with ghost sighting. This is apparently the primary reason they are usually seen out of the corner of the eye.

Second, some people report being able to discern that the shadow people are wearing a fedora style hat like a 1930’s-era gangster or a cloak.

Third, shadow people usually appear quite solid, unlike the ephemeral appearance of ghosts.

Fourth, there are very few reports of positive interactions with shadow people.

Unlike the friendly ghost sightings that are fairly common, encounters with shadow folk are almost always frightening or shocking. In fact, even the experts that view shadow men as a subset of ghosts, usually concede that shadow men are a malignant beings.

The supporters of shadow people as a separate and unique phenomenon offer all sorts of speculation about the nature of shadow people using ideas from religion, parapsychology, metaphysics, and the occult.

One of the many ideas is that shadow people represent a Thought-form, ghost or demon that was created by extraordinary pain, suffering, and trauma in a dying persons life. Others suggest that shadow folk have been purposefully summoned from another realm through black magic or other occult practices.

The fact that they do not seem to reflect light has led some to theorize that they are from an alternate universe with different laws of physics or perhaps they are caught in a trap between two physical universes. David Icke has proposed that shadow people are related to Grey aliens, or to the Reptilian humanoids.

The theories about the nature of shadow people are almost endless, but they are certainly quarry that should only be sought out by experienced, well equipped ghost hunting teams – never by solo hunters.

Original article can be found here.

Haunted whorehouse in Wyoming

Is Lusk home to one of the longest running whorehouses in Wyoming? Some say yes, some also say that its haunted.

Mary Ada Fisher followed the gold boom west from Ohio, and found herself in the town of Lusk the year was 1919. Mary changed her name to Dell Burke, set up a tent, and started taking customers. Soon she had enough money to rent a house and bring in a few girls; it seemed Dell was on her way to bigger things. It was only a year later she bought a large house, painted it yellow and took in even more girls.

Dell entertained most of the town's prominent citizens, her house offered the best steaks in Wyoming, danced to a live orchestra, played billiards and card games, and drank the finest booze around. It was not until in 1978 that the last paying customer visited the Yellow Hotel. Dell fell on the sidewalk in front of her house a year later and broke her hip. She spent the next few years in a hospital care center until she finally passed away in 1980.

The Yellow Hotel now sits vacant, a little run down the bright yellow paint fading in the hot Wyoming sun. Visitors to the house claim feeling a bit strange and overwhelmed while in the building. Some have even reported the smell of perfume floating through rooms seemingly following you around the house. Outside the house residents claim to have seen lights and hear music coming from the house long after Dells death.

My question is this. How come Fresno doesn't have a haunted whorehouse? I don't investigate anymore, but this might change my mind.

Original story can be found here.

Mangy "monster" sightings on the rise

A curious animal recently caught by hunters in the Sichuan province of China is being touted by some as a Yeti, the Oriental version of Bigfoot. The mysterious hairless animal was initially described by eyewitnesses as having features resembling a bear or kangaroo.

The finding is part of a growing number of mysterious mangy creature reports in recent years. And it could get worse.

The supposed Yeti is being shipped to Beijing for DNA testing, but a photograph of the animal clearly shows a small creature with four legs and a tail.

Loren Coleman, author of several books on Bigfoot, believes the animal is likely a civet, a cat-like creature native to the area. Whatever it is, it's not a bear, nor a kangaroo, nor a dragon, and certainly not a Yeti.

Wimpy Yeti?

In artist depictions and in the public’s mind, beasts such as the Yeti and Bigfoot are usually huge, powerful animals — not the scared, sickly, pathetic little "mystery creatures" that are found. Almost all mammals have hair, so when a hairless mammal is seen, it arouses mystery, curiosity, and of course wild speculation. Yet among biologists and zoologists, this is a non-mystery.

What the civet and other animals have in common is a bad case of mange. Mange is a parasitic skin infection caused by mites. Sarcoptic mange, a highly contagious form of the disease, can cause hair loss as well as skin welts and crusting. Because people usually see animals with their full coat of fur, animals with mange can be very difficult to identify.

In North America there has been a dramatic increase in the number of "mysterious" hairless animals found both alive and dead over the past five years. The "Montauk Monster" was a hairless raccoon, though most were initially identified as chupacabra, the Latin American vampiric beast. Various chupacabras found in Texas were identified through DNA analysis as belonging to the Canidae family — dogs and coyotes.

And now this Yeti. What's going on?

Global warming to blame?

If reports of strange animals with mange seem to be more common over the past few years, there's a good ecological reason: global warming.

LiveScience spoke to Mike Bowdenchuck, state director for Texas Wildlife Services, who explained why mysterious, hairless animals are more common in Texas and the southwest than other areas:

"Down here, animals don't die of mange, because the temperatures are warm enough," Bowdenchuck said. Rather, the animals live with mange.

"Mange is very common in colder areas, in fact wolves are getting it in Montana right now, and in North Dakota foxes get it," he said, noting a big difference: "Up there it's fatal, so you never see animals with the severe cases that we see in the southern climates, because they don't live long enough for the mites to get that bad to cause the hair to fall off. They die of hypothermia first."

Animals that have lost their fur are more vulnerable to the cold, so in warmer climates they live longer (and be more likely to be seen). Thus one might conclude that sightings of hairless animals will become more common as the climate warms. The extended forecast calls for more non-Bigfoot, non-Yeti, and non-chupacabra mangy monster sightings.

Original story can be found here.