I'm taking y'all back to the rocking era of para research in the 50s, 60s, 70s, with vintage articles you never saw from major magazines, films, documentaries and notorious headline cases from the baby boomer's generation, covering Bigfoot, Yeti, ghosts, poltergeists, zombies, UFOs, and you name it!
When you get up above the earth, you look down and begin to see shapes. Many are made naturally and others are ancient sites, usually circular. The ones in South Africa (below) were dated around 300,000 years!
South Africa
Pisco Valley, Peru
Circlestone, Superstition Mountains, AZ
Stonehenge, UK
Jordan
Wales
Suffolk, UK
Denmark
Utah
Russia
France
Scotland
Ohio
Ireland
India
New Mexico
What did this shape mean to the ancients? It is repeated in clusters like grapes, with a lines bisecting it, in consecutive circle within circle and spiral forms.
In 1928, a man named Atlas Almon Mathis was a miner working in Oklahoma looking for coal. Here's his story of his find - “In the year 1928, I, Atlas Almon Mathis, was working in coal mine No. 5., located two miles north of Heavener, Oklahoma. This was a shaft mine, and they told us it was two miles deep. The mine was so deep that they let us down into it on an elevator. . . . They pumped air down to us, it was so deep…
“…the next morning there were several concrete blocks laying in the room. These blocks were 12-inch cubes and were so smooth and polished on the outside that all six sides could serve as mirrors. Yet they were full of gravel, because I chipped one of them open with my pick, and it was plain concrete inside. As I started to timber the room up, it caved in; and I barely escaped. When I came back after the cave-in, a solid wall of these polished blocks was left exposed. About 100 to 150 yards farther down our air core, another miner struck this same wall, or one very similar.
“The coal in the mine was probably Carboniferous, which would mean the wall was at least 286 million years old.” According to Mathis, the mining company officers immediately pulled the men out of the mine and forbade them to speak about what they had seen. Mathis said the Wilburton miners also told of finding “a solid block of silver in the shape of a barrel… with the prints of the staves on it,” in an area of coal dating between 280 and 320 million years ago. What advance civilization built this wall?… Why was the truth, as is so many of these cases protected and hidden?… What is the real truth about time travelers, modern humans, and modern technology in our past?” Are there any other cases of ancient finds in Oklahoma to support this supposed find? Source:Iron Cup from Oklahoma Coal Mine, 312 million years old. On November 27, 1948 the following statement was made by Frank J. Kenwood in Sulphur Springs, Arkansas. "While I was working in the Municipal Electric Plant in Thomas, Oklahoma in 1912, I came upon a solid chunk of coal which was too large to use. I broke it with a sledge hammer. This iron pot fell from the center leaving the impression mould of the pot in the piece of coal. Jim Stall (an employee of the company) witnessed the breaking of the coal, and saw the pot fall out. I traced the source of the coal, and found that it came from the Wilburton, Oklahoma, Mines. According to Robert O. Fay of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, the Wilburton mine coal is about 312 million years old.
A "200,000 year old tile floor" had been found in Oklahoma in 1969, but had never been excavated, supposedly.
Source:"On June 27, 1969, workmen leveling a rock shelf at 122nd Street on the Broadway Extension between Edmond (population 68,315) and Oklahoma City uncovered a rock formation that caused a great deal of controversy among investigating authorities."
"To the layman, the site looked like an inlaid mosaic floor. It apparently looked very much like someone's floor to some of the experts, as well."
"'I am sure this was man-made because the stones are placed in perfect sets of parallel lines which intersect to form a diamond shape, all pointing to the east,' said Durwood Pate, an Oklahoma City geologist who studied the site. 'We found post holes which measure a perfect two rods from the other two. The top of the stone is very smooth, and if you lift one of them, you will find it is very jagged, which indicates wear on the surface. Everything is too well-placed to be a natural formation.'"
"Dr. Robert Bell, an archaeologist from the University of Oklahoma, expressed his opinion that the find was a natural formation. Dr. Bell said that he could see no evidence of any mortaring substance. But Pate, on the other hand, was able to distinguish some kind of mud between each stone."
"Delbert Smith, a geologist, president of the Oklahoma Seismograph Company, said the formation, which was discovered about three feet (0.9 meters) beneath the surface, appeared to cover several thousand square feet."
"The Tulsa World quoted Smith as saying: 'There is no question about it. It has been laid there, but I have no idea by whom.'"
A mosaic floor covering "several thousand square feet." Obviously, it was the remains of some prehistoric palace. Did an ancient city once stand on the site of what is now Edmond, Okla.? And who could have built it? Travelers from prehistoric Lemuria? Settlers from the lost continent of Atlantis? Or maybe a wandering tribe from the weird Lamanite civilization mentioned in The Book of Mormon.
Thirty-six years after its discovery, there are still no definite answers about the "mosaic floor" found in Edmond, Okla.
Conclusion
It seems that Oklahoma has some stories of exceedingly ancient man-made structures, but it also is not very forthcoming with actual proof, only anecdotal stories and a photo from a newspaper article. Without any real observation of the actual structures and items, we can't come to any conclusions. What we do know is that Oklahoma has an extraordinary geology which also means that man has spent a lot of time digging in mines and drilling for oil in this region and it goes kind of like this: Before man did recreational swimming, there were almost zero shark attacks, but once man started jumping in the water and swimming in droves, he became a target. When man realized that Oklahoma had extraordinary resources, he tapped it and the more he dug up the land and into the hills, he was bound to make ancient discoveries. I suspect in coming decades, as we continue to tap resources, we will find more and hopefully this time it will be handled properly to learn its true archaeological or geological worth.
More info: Here Another similar ancient find Books:Forbidden Archaeology, The Hidden History of the Human Race by Michael A. Cremo and Richard L. Thompson Worlds Before Our Own by Brad Steiger
Many hundreds of people have died trying to find the fabled Lost City of Z in the Amazon Region. When Spanish Conquistadors first came to the Amazon, they came back from deep jungle investigations bearing amazing stories of unknown Indians and huge gold treasures. Many went in, hoping to find the city of gold. Scientists scoffed that a sophisticated society couldn't live in such an isolated region. It did not, however, discourage even more people from losing their lives trying to find it.
Percy Fawcett was a mapmaker and explorer who decided he wanted to make a go of searching. In 1925, Percy took his son and his best friend and they entered the jungle; never to be seen again. They left behind lots of legends about them finding the city and never returning. Since that time, many others have tried to find this legendary city. This search goes on today and, in fact, an archaeologist, Michael Heckenberger, believes he found the lost city in a region called Kuhikugu. He found clusters of settlements that housed up to 5000 people. As well, it showed an amazing technology of architecture and even roadways laid out and more. This would support a supposed city producing gold. In 2016, a movie is to be released based on this called "The Lost City of Z."
In the movie "The Matrix," the popular SciFi movie asked the question; what if what we thought was reality was orchestrated so we didn't realize what the real-reality was? This concept is moving from science fiction to science with lots of new theories about the nature of our universe. The Simulation Hypothesis is a long-held philosophical concept that reality is an illusion.
Source: The 'cosmic ray test' was developed by Silas Beane, a nuclear physicist at the University of Washington and involves scientists building up a simulation of space using a lattice or grid...Cosmic rays are the fastest particles that exist and originate in far-flung galaxies. They always arrive at Earth with a specific maximum energy of 1020 electron volts. If there is a specific maximum energy for particles then this gives rise to the idea that energy levels are defined, specific and constrained by an outside force...Thus, according to the research, if the energy levels of particles could be simulated, so too could the rest of the universe. There are HUGE implications to religions and to people in general if they were to realize we are in a matrix, a simulation of sorts, but this is kind of along the lines of how I see the process of this world and the next one we enter as we physically pass on. There is a newer deeper reality when we are afforded another dimensional perspective. This is akin to a photograph spending a day as the person it represents - what a difference having all the senses and space and depth and physicality! So, imagine the next process! This is what near-death experiencers liken to "that was the REAL world and this one is not." What about the phenomena of ghosts, especially residual ones; moments in the past replayed? Could that be a glitch in the matrix? What about when you see an image for a split second and it's gone, you smell something that shouldn't be there? Have a sense of Deja vu? Are those glitches? And, if you want to delve into serious mind fuck territory, what about cryptids? Is there a passage from one reality to another that makes them capable of retreating? Having higher knowledge by way of knowing the other realm? Imagine it like this - I am a person in my home, doing my daily activities, and take a break for a while to "escape" by painting a 2-dimensional painting or creating a movie on my computer. I am playing in the 2-dimensional realm for my leisure and then go back to my regular existence. Can this be what cryptids are doing? Escaping for a bit of nostalgia, to play in the 3D physicality for a time and then go back to the greater reality? Did they swallow the red pill and have knowledge of this other realm that lords it over ours? And, further, did other beings millions of years ago learn how to cross over behind the matrix and come and go at will, showing themselves as UFOs and greys, shadow people and black-eyed children? Well, this is another explanation that might make the "metaphysical" qualities of the cryptids make sense. Is there a matrix? I tend to think so in terms of a greatly orchestrated universe and some inconsistencies that defy the science we believe is ruling the universe. Perhaps evolution was not a smooth process, but a revision upon occasion (a kind of app update). If we apply the matrix hypothesis, the universe's weirdness suddenly makes sense and its "creation" appearance has logic, as well as its discrepancies being part of the process.
There are so many horror movies in the genre and so many decades they span, but every now and then one emerges that forever changes a genre and starts copycats and similar themes. Here are some of my favs that influenced the genre-
"Halloween"
Budget is not everything
A good soundtrack and suspense and you can film anywhere for any cost, even trying to pass off LA as Illinois in autumn with a few dead leaves and a high power fan. Other movies have worked with these elements to try and perfect the cheaply made eerie feel, but it was a mixture of timing and talent that made John Carpenter the king of this particular advancement in the horror industry. Since that time, movies like "The Blair Witch Project" and "Paranormal Activity" are examples of the low-budget movie, but their success wasn't from a bunch of eager teens wanting to go see horror movies in the late 70s audience that Carpenter attracted. Instead, they used the internet to hype up their films beforehand only for people to go in and feel ripped off. They just didn't deliver. Strangely, "Halloween" did not hype itself up and yet the teens found it and wanted to see it. In fact, they liked it so much that to this day, I still watch it every October at least a few times and sometimes I sneak it in during the year too when I'm in the mood. Nobody did it better, but hopefuls still keep trying. It also brilliantly displayed the new cult of horror film themes - "good girls survive."
"Psycho"
The killer could be an innocent-looking neighbor
It was psychological and it was disturbing. Movies like "Silence of the Lambs" have done a fine job of taking this kind of "twisted mind inside" theme and made it into some quality movies. The killer next door scenario is a good one, just look at "Scream." We really never know what's going on inside of someone--the inner battle, the demons they must fight or give in to. These movies took "Psycho" and ran with it.
"Night of the Living Dead"
Cannibalism--the last truly horrifying prospect
This movie changed everything from what we consider the enemy (our own dead selves) to making zombie movies an enormous industry. There have been some outstanding zombie movies since, but no one quite captured the innocent world turned black and white/right and wrong/alive and dead in quite the same way. Others have taken the theme and gone to extremes like "Zombieland" and "Fido," and a few have just amped up the gore and effects like "Dawn of the Dead" remake, but they can't quite shock us like that movie made in the 60s.
"The Exorcist"
Demons, religion and possession--an inherent human fear
Is there anything more terrifying than the possibility you will not go to heaven? That something darker and more powerful than goodness could take over your body and make you do things you don't want to? This movie was innovative and risky but it paid off. The truth is, religious upbringings and belief systems are deeply seated and disrupting them is one of the most frightening things for those with strong faith. Other movies came along that enjoyed that theme too like "The Omen" and "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," but for sheer freak-us-out factor, nothing like "The Exorcist" had come before, so it was a game-changer.
"Last House on the Left"
People can be pure evil
This 1972 horror movie seriously unsettled people in a world in which there were cult killers and serial killers popping up in our culture big time. It showed what innocent girls might face in a world that had drug-dealing soulless killers. Along with "I Spit On Your Grave," It also had a taste of revenge that moviegoers needed to counter the awful killing spree. In fact, this very revenge theme kept us going to other movies like "The Hills Have Eyes" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" in hopes that, even against heartless killers, a person could exact revenge.
"The Blair Witch Project"
Reality fell and the Internet - urban legends are born
This movie's release in 1999 heralded a new path to popularity - "reality" and online hype. It began with word being spread about these supposed tapes from a team doing a documentary on a witch from the woods of Maryland. The team supposedly went missing, but their tapes were found and they tell a story of the Blair Witch and the dangers of those woods. With hand-held style and reality feel, this movie had so much hype and urban legends that the tapes were real, that the opening day, I barely got a seat in the theater. Some folks got motion sickness, others were horrified, but everyone left the theater thinking, "we haven't seen this before." For a low-budget movie, it profited big time on simply having a new method of filming and a new way to promote on the Internet.
Can you think of any other horror movies that changed the genre?
Between Bermuda Triangle, horrifying deep sea creatures, cryptid monsters, mermaids, haunted lighthouses, shipwrecks, ghost ships and more - the sea is the location of a great deal of horror!
I think the sea is the most amazing mystery. We float atop of it, but beneath is a world of mystery and death.
Flying Dutchman
This legend involves a ghost that sank 1641 off the Cape of Good Hope. The captain cursed the ship as it was sinking that he would continue to sail it to doomsday. The legend became a ship forced to sail the seas for an eternity. The movie "Pirates of the Caribbean" portrayed this concept quite nicely. Many areas of the ocean and even the Great Lakes have tales of the Flying Dutchmen.
Japanese Ghost Ship
This ghost ship was found adrift a year after the Japanese earthquake. Gives one chills to imagine ships with no one sailing them.
Amelia Earhart
This 1930s female pilot in a male-dominated field, wanted to push her records at flight again and again. In 1937, she decided she wanted to try to fly around the world. What happened next has remained a great aviation mystery even 80 plus years later. Over the Pacific, she went into radio silence and was never heard or seen from again. There were a lot of theories that the Japanese shot her down and took her as a prisoner of war, that she landed on an island and lived there until finally passing, or that she simply ran out of gas. One thing we learn as we study these sea-related creepy things, the water hides its victims and at sea there are no witnesses.
Shipwrecks
The largest loss of life in a single ship disaster in the US was considered the wreck of the SS Eastland on the Chicago River in Illinois in 1915. When all was said and done, 844 passengers lost their lives on what was going to be a festive occasion. The precariously built ship had a narrow hull and when loaded with over 2500 passengers and new post-Titanic regulation for lifeboats which were mounted high, it pitched one way and another with the weight of the passengers shifting on the deck. It finally listed onto its side and the effects were tragic.
Philadelphia Experiment
I
Here’s the concept for the Philadelphia Experiment:
The legend revolves around a supposed 1943 experiment led by the Navy at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on a ship called the USS Eldridge. According to the tale, this was an attempt at trying out the unified field theory laid out by Albert Einstein. The idea was to find a way to bend light around an object so it becomes invisible, thus making an ideal warship in dealing with the enemy during WWII. The ship was reported to be rigged with four immense generators along with Tesla coils, electron tubes and many miles of inch-thick cable running throughout the ship’s cables.
The ship took off from Philly to Norfolk, turning on this equipment, whereupon it was shrouded in a green fog and then disappeared. This resulted in an accidental teleportation back to Philly from Norfolk. When the ship arrived, accounts say that the men were in agony, sick, mentally crippled, and many were dead, some even fused to the hull of the ship!
Although it made for a fantastic movie (a must see), the Philadelphia Experiment is regarded by the military as a bunch of hooey. There’s still conspiracy folks who hang onto it and, why not? After all, aren’t we the folks who sent chimps into space? Had our own astronauts burn on a launch pad? Tested nuclear weapons with visitors gazing upon the glory on the New Mexico sands? Dropped bombs on Japan that caused huge devastation? Built a secret base in Nevada? It doesn’t seem our government/military has a lot of boundaries when it comes to our individual welfare, only our welfare as a conglomerate(save our country), screw the individuals (people are expendable, countries are not). So, there is that excuse for people to hang onto the notion of such an horrendous experiment.
Bermuda Triangle
This region in the Atlantic has supposedly claimed the lives of thousands of people over the centuries, and yet according to statistics, it is not even one of the top 10 most dangerous areas in the seas around the world. Yet, the mystique of it has been built up over the decades of people reporting strange fogs, instruments that won't work, even an entire squadron of planes going missing during military exercises. Explanations have ranged from a portal to another dimension, electromagnetic earth issues, alien intervention, time travel, and more. The actual source of all these missing and wrecked ships and planes hasn't been identified absolutely, but on any given part of the ocean, we are likely to find a great pile of similar missing vessels.
Sea Monsters
Mermaids, dinosaur-like creatures, giant octopus; all reported throughout time including the ancient tales of sirens luring sailors onto the rocks. With all the unknown beneath them, bad weather, lack of supplies, fear of getting lost, there were lots of reasons for sailors to develop tales over the centuries to explain misfortune. Some of the tales are quite romantic, like the half female/half fish mermaid, and some are more terrifying, like giant octopus taking down a ship. Today, we still find odd things upon the beach and have to wonder....
Haunted Lighthouses
Why are lighthouses reportedly so haunted? Is it the isolation? The shipwrecks? The fog? Is it the cylindrical shape combined with pounding water on the rocks and a huge amount of power to produce the light creating a nature-made battery? Whatever the explanation, some lighthouses get a real reputation and perhaps one that had their reputation jump overnight for being featured on a very chilling episode of "Ghost Hunters" was St. Augustine Lighthouse in Florida that saw a few deaths and had a lot of reported phenomena. While there, the team captured a shadow figure that seemed to move many floors at once and a woman screaming for help, as well as whispered conversations.
Deep Sea Creatures
The sea comes up with some weird creatures, but the deeper you go, the weirder they get -
Carroll A. Deering
The Carroll A. Deering was a 5-masted ship that in 1921 came aground in Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, with all the crew missing. It was one of the greatest sea mysteries. There are many theories from piracy to Bermuda Triangle and everything in between. The log and navigation equipment, life rafts and personal belongings were all gone from the ship. Yet, the galley showed foods in various states of meal preparation. It still remains a sea mystery whispered about in wonder and fear.
Mary Celeste
In 1872, the merchant ship, “Mary Celeste” sailed left in November from New York to Genoa. On December 5th, halfway between the Azores and Portugal, the captain of the ship “Dei Gratia” sighted the Mary Celeste ship that he recognized. The only problem was it was riding out of control which was not at all something the ship’s pious and stern captain, Benjamin Spooner Briggs, would have ever allowed. The captain hailed the other ship, but for hours he got no response. He then set off on a small boat with some men to board her. The men found the ship to be seaworthy and having the appearance of being left in a rush. The investigating captain’s impression by the possessions left behind is that the crew left in a rush for fear the ship was sinking. The ship had contained 7 crewmen, the captain, the captain’s wife, and his small child. Over the years, this story has become filled with tales of steaming cups of coffee and food on the stove and such being found. This was not the actual case. Here is what the captain of the “Dei Gratia” found: One pump out of order Two hatches off and a fair amount of water between the decks The clock and compass were destroyed No alcohol was found on board The chronometer and sextant were not found on board The ship’s register and captain’s log were both gone The stove was off kilter and dishes strewn and lots of water in the galley There were no boats on board We’re left with many theories from a small explosion caused by munitions onboard to a rogue wave, and the fact that there had been strong storms for days that may have overwhelmed the ship’s capabilities. With the crew and captain and his family exiting on the small boats, they would have become victims of the rough sea. Many legends have continued about the ship being a victim of some supernatural occurrence of the Bermuda Triangle variety. Even though these were dismissed, the fact remains; for a time the Mary Celeste was a ghost ship in the true sense, wandering the sea without a crew. But why?
Flying Dutchman Ship
The Flying Dutchman ship has been spotted many times in the last two centuries, with the late King George V of England writing a detailed account of his own sighting in 1880 off the coast of Australia: "At 4 a.m. the Flying Dutchman crossed our bows. A strange red light as of a phantom ship all aglow, in the midst of which light the masts, spars, and sails of a brig 200 yards distant stood out in strong relief as she came up on the port bow, where also the officer of the watch from the bridge clearly saw her, as did the quarterdeck midshipman, who was sent forward at once to the forecastle; but on arriving there was no vestige nor any sign whatever of any material ship was to be seen either near or right away to the horizon, the night being clear and the sea calm. Thirteen persons altogether saw her...At 10.45 a.m. the ordinary seaman who had this morning reported the Flying Dutchman fell from the foretopmast crosstrees on to the topgallant forecastle and was smashed to atoms."
Abandoned Islands
Hashima Island in Japan was once a thriving mining island and then the residents were moved out in 1974 when the coal facility closed down. It's sat as an intact abandoned island for decades. Recently, a decision was made to allow curious tours of the place.
Real Life Castaway
Found on the Pacific Ocean, this man is (deliriously) happy to be home! This man from El Salvador said he caught fish, drank bird's blood and was adrift for 13 months! His ship was covered in algae when they found him and had been retreating under a plastic container to avoid the sunlight.
Surviving a Tsunami
This father and son on a boating trip rode a wave that, well, was like something out of a cartoon. And, they survived!
Want more??? An abandoned ship on the Ohio River - this might haunt you!
Perhaps the sea has more frights than the land ever had!
Ghost Ships
Why do ghost ships seem like such romantic images? Perhaps because if the crew is not aboard, it is still sailing with no one to handle it. Where is the crew? Davy Jones' locker, huh? You can take a person out of a car, but the car will crash. A ship, could float months, even years, without facing doom and sinking or even being found. It's a vast ocean out there!
I'd suggest you watch "The Fog" (original) if you're in the mood for a ghost ship now.
You might be in the mood for this song about a sea tragedy -
RECOMMENDED MOVIES
The Devil's Triangle (1974): Documentary about the Bermuda Triangle.
Satan's Triangle: (1975): The female survivor of a shipwreck and two Coast Guard helicopter pilots sent to rescue her find themselves trapped in a mysterious part of the ocean known as Satan's Triangle.
Jaws: A tourist island on Fourth of July is terrorized by a monster great white shark. Castaway: Following a plane wreck, a man is left alone for years on an island and then finds his way home only to find he wasn't who he was when he went missing.
Titanic: Fictionalized movie based on the events that occurred when the Titanic sank.
Dead Calm: A couple grieves the loss of a child and so goes on a quiet sea trip only to rescue a lone survivor in a life raft who puts them through hell.
The Fog: A town has to come to grips with their dark past and the ship of ghosts who want to roll in with the fog and take their lives one by one.
The Haunted Sea: A crew finds an abandoned ship at sea and an Aztec cursed treasure on board. The Creature From the Black Lagoon: A team goes to the Amazon to check out a potential relic monster only to find out it's still alive.
Lost Voyage: Twenty five years ago, the SS Corona Queen disappeared in the region known as, "The Bermuda Triangle". Now, it has returned. Seven people go on board to learn the truth behind her disappearance but the ship did not return alone..
Pirates of the Caribbean: Based on the Disney ride, this sea tale is a rich and beautiful one, lighthearted, and romantic.
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir:
Halflight: A woman grieving for her dead child rents a cabin on the shore in Scotland only to find a man living alone in the lighthouse on an island off shore, a man that might be a ghost.
The Triangle: (2001) A group of friend send up in the Triangle.
Cruise Into Terror: (1978)A pleasure cruise is carrying an Egyptian sarcophagus with the son of Satan inside.
Shock Waves: (1977) Visitors to a remote island find Nazi's breeding zombie soldiers.
Death Ship: A team of salvage workers find a ship dead in the water and look it over for some goods only to find that it's occupied - by ghosts.
The Philadelphia Experiment: Did the military create a time rift to WWII era? Leviathan: Deep sea underwater miners might have run into ET. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: A ship encounters a strange underwater submersible that shouldn't exist in their time period. Sea Beast: A crew on a ship has to deal with a weird monster in the water.
