Monday, 11 June 2012
Chupacabra Adventures
By Nick Redfern
As someone who is an author, I am often asked to write reviews of other people’s books. The vast majority of all the books I review are focused upon the adventures and exploits of other people. Island of Paradise by Jonathan Downes, however, is very different, in the sense that it’s a book in which I play a central role. Nevertheless, I hope this has not influenced my opinion of the book! It’s a highly entertaining, warts and all study of what occurs during the course of an expedition of the Chupacabra kind…
It was in the summer of 2004 that Jon and I headed off to the rain-forests of Puerto Rico, courtesy of the SyFy Channel, who wanted to film us chasing the Chupacabra and UFOs for its now-defunct show Proof Positive – which was a pretty well executed combination of The X-Files meets CSI, albeit in a non-fiction format. For seven days we rampaged and roamed around the island in search of the vampire-like beast, and heard tale after tale of crashed UFOs, dead aliens, bizarre conspiracies linking the Chupacabra with extra-terrestrial experimentation, secret military operations, black Flying Triangles, and much more.
The best way I can describe Island of Paradise is as a Fortean version of Hunter S. Thompson’s fabulous The Rum Diary that told of the master’s own journalistic adventures on Puerto Rico back in the 1950s. Jon skilfully captures the essence of what makes Puerto Rico so magical, in terms of its history, its culture, its people – and its overwhelming weirdness, too. Truly, as Jon demonstrates, Puerto Rico is a locale that attracts the adventurer and the thrill-seeker like no other.
And given that it was a veritable hot-bed of activity of the ufological, vampiric and downright uncanny kind, what else could I, or indeed we, do but welcome the aforementioned weirdness with wide-open arms. If Jon and I were going to spend a week hunting vampires and/or aliens courtesy of the SyFy Channel, then, as he reveals, there was no better place to do it than deep within the heart of the island of paradise, and while regularly fuelled by the finest of local cuisine and a plentiful supply of ever-present chilled margaritas and imported beer. Onward!
I was pleased to see that Jon included in the pages of his book a description of our time spent at our base of operations: the Wind Chimes hotel in downtown San Juan. For those who weren’t there, it might seem superfluous; but for Jon and me it was a time to rekindle a friendship that had been separated by the Atlantic for a couple of years; and it was a time to make new friendships with the SyFy Channel’s Proof Positive crew.
There is something unique about the camaraderie that comes with hanging out alongside fellow thrill-seekers and adventurers – all from different corners of the globe, most not even knowing each other, yet all thrust into a strange and surreal quest to seek out the truth about a diabolical beast said to roam a real-life paradise. But, Jon demonstrates, it was without doubt the day we go our hands on a shining, silver jeep that things really took off…
Driving around in an open-top jeep in a place like Puerto Rico with one of your best friends, with the wind in your hair (for those who don’t shave it off every morning…), and in hot pursuit of the unknown, while ear-splitting punk rock reverberates out of the CD player is all good fun. But, barely one hour into our expedition, as Jon records, everything got a bit surreal.
No expedition of this type would be complete without an excursion into the darkened depths of a shadowy old cave. That a bat decided to piss on my head while we were in there only made things more memorable.
With much humor, Jon records how I decided not to bother with rabies injections of a type that Ozzy Osbourne was forced to undergo after his own legendary encounter with a bat; and instead I hoped that the little pisser wasn’t rabid, and that I wouldn’t wake up the next day like one of the frenzied souls from 28 Days Later or the spectacular 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. Needless to say, I didn’t.
Of course, I knew that all of this would serve as good fodder for Jon’s planned book on our trip around the island, and so I merely wiped my head with my bandana, swore at the offending beast and his or her brethren and continued roaming and filming. And a crew of a dozen, led by the good Mr. Downes himself, laughed heartily!
Of particular interest is what Jon has to say about an alleged UFO crash deep in the El Yunque rain-forest of Puerto Rico back in 1957. Jon tells the reader of our fascinating encounter with a woman named Norka who was able to fill in some of the gaps suggesting that at least something had genuinely crashed on Puerto Rico back in the 1950s, and who was also a veritable fountain of knowledge on all-things monstrous too.
As long as I live, I will never forget that moment when Norka told us of her own personal encounter with the Chupacabra late one night in 1975, and Jon and I turned to each other and realised that the beast Norka had seen was practically identical to the notorious Owlman of England – a creature that Jon had hunted, and been haunted by, for years. It was truly a pivotal moment in that memorable week.
As we sat on the balcony of Norka’s beautiful home high in the hills of El Yunque, sipping cold drinks, listening to her stories, and with the sun bathing down on us, I knew that we were experiencing something very special, and that beneath its beautiful exterior, something – or some things – dark, ominous, dangerous and bizarre dwelled on the island. And Jon’s chapter on this particular encounter most certainly does not disappoint.
One of the things that stood out for me upon reading Island of Paradise was how the initial quest quickly became something very different – and particularly so when new, and unforeseen, factors came into play. We had flown to Puerto Rico with the intention of trying to determine, for the benefit of the SyFy Channel, if we could find, examine and identify any evidence for the existence of the Chupacabra – such as undeniable DNA. Yet, by the end of the week we were deeply immersed in stories of crashed UFOs, genetic mutation, bizarre changes in the island’s ecology and much more.
I will never forget that week in the summer of 2004 when Jon and I roamed Puerto Rico’s rain-forest, its lowlands and its little villages in search of monsters, UFOs and aliens. It was an experience that will stay with me for all my life, and one that (as the book records) was as much about friendship, adventures and good times as it was about hunting for the Chupacara and for the remains of wrecked alien spacecraft. And at the end of the day, that was good enough for me. As for Jon: well, Island of Paradise tells it all, just as it was – the good, the bad and the plain strange.
If you’re looking for an excellent study of the Chupacabra phenomenon, its potential links with the UFO controversy in general (and crashed UFOs in particular), and what goes on behind the scenes of an on-site, week-long investigation in an exotic and mysterious world, then Island of Paradise is most definitely the one for you.
Friday, 8 June 2012
Ufo News Links For Friday 8th June 2012
Brazil: The Man Who Woke Up on a Rock – A Thousand Feet in the Air
Is Bigfoot Possibly an Alien Entity? – Huffington Post
UFOs, et al: BREAKTHROUGH AT SKINWALKER RANCH?
‘Prometheus’ brings aliens closer to home – U-T San Diego
Unknown Flying Object Caught on Photo from Turkey
The truth is out there – Coastal Times
A Different Perspective: The 2012 Roswell Festival - Galaxy Fest
Sci-Fi Novel Year Zero Uses Playlists to Crank Up Characters – Wired
The Haunted Skies Project: Daily Telegraph 23.6.67
Steven Spielberg: ‘Ray Bradbury was my muse’ – Hollywood.com
Dr. Franklin Ruehl, Ph.D.: Is Bigfoot Possibly an Alien Entity?
What To Know About The Alien Universe Before Seeing Prometheus – Cinema Blend
Forteania: Demonic UFOs
Freeman talks aliens, Batman – StarPhoenix
The Big Study: CUFOS-Michigan: Where all "Things" are Welcome.
Crop circle discovered in Roswell – KOB
Norio Hayakawa's thoughts: The ultimate Area 51 Conspiracy, is it still relevant today?
UFO pictured over forest – NBC San Diego
UFO spotted over Witheridge – This is The West Country
NASA scientists may have discovered life on Titan
NASA scientists may have discovered life on Saturn’s moon Titan.
Researchers used data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft to study the chemically complex surface of Titan. Based on their research, scientists say it is possible that a “primitive, exotic form of life or precursor to life” may exist on Titan. This research is outlined in two separate papers; one in the journal Icarus, and one in the Journal of Geophysical Research.
Saturn's moon Titan, as seen from the Cassini spacecraft. (Credit: NASA/Cassini Imaging Team)
The research published in Icarus concluded that hydrogen gas found in Titan’s atmosphere disappeared at the moon’s surface. And as the Telegraph explains, this suggests that alien forms could be breathing on Titan. Similarly, the paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research notes a lack of the chemical compound acetylene at Titan’s surface. Chris McKay, an astrobiologist at NASA Ames Research Center, explains that “this lack of acetylene is important because that chemical would likely be the best energy source for a methane-based life on Titan.” Scientists believe that life on Titan would consume hydrogen as life on Earth consumes oxygen.
Cassini also detected the presence of something appearing to be an organic compound on Titan’s surface that scientists have been unable to identify.
McKay explains the significance of these studies, stating, “If these signs do turn out to be a sign of life, it would be doubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from water-based life on Earth.”
Although this new information suggests the existence of extraterrestrial life on Titan, Darrell Strobel, a Cassini interdisciplinary scientist at Johns Hopkins University who authored the paper with the hydrogen study, explains, “The new hydrogen findings are consistent with conditions that could produce an exotic, methane-based life form, but do not definitively prove its existence.”
Cassini will fly by Titan many more times, and will hopefully be able to provide additional information.
Spacing Out! Ep. 6 - Marc D'Antonio talks about UFO photo/video analysis and exoplanets
Published on 8 Jun 2012 by openmindstv
Keep an eye on the skies for saucers during the Olympics Games, warns former MoD UFO expert
By Eddie Wrenn
UFO expert Nick Pope says massive summer
events like the Olympics would be a prime time for an alien encounter
Ministry of Defence 'has planned for the
worst outcomes - attack and invasion'
'We should be prepared for even the most
seemingly unfathomable'
One of the UK's top UFO experts has given his views on the likelihood of aliens suddenly appearing in our skies - and how the international community would respond.
Nick Pope, who has more than two decades under his belt at the Ministry of Defence, said mass summer events - like the Olympic Games in London - would be a prime time for crafts from otherworlds to present themselves to mankind.
He warned: 'With the summer of mass events we are all on high alert for terrorism. But we must also cast our eyes further afield and be prepared for even the most seemingly unfathomable.''
Pope's duties at the MoD included investigating reports of UFOs between 1991 and 1994, and says he began his research as a sceptic, before becoming convinced that the sightings raised important defence for national security and air safety issues.
Eyes to the skies: Nick Pope in front of the Jodrell Bank
Observatory - home for several years to Britain's part of the SETI Project -
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
He was particularly interested in cases where the witnesses were pilots, or where UFOs were tracked on radar, and said there were other believers among his former colleagues.
He said: 'It has been a widely held belief in Ministry of Defence circles that "aliens" have been able to detect us for decades via TV and radio broadcasts.
'What once seemed like science fiction is steadily being realised by central governing bodies as distinctly real.
'If aliens have studied our psychology, they may choose to appear in our skies on a significant date – the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games is one date being widely circulated by conspiracy groups.
'The atomic bombs detonated in the 1940s, and the rocket technology since developed would unquestionably have alerted nearby alien civilisations to our existence.
'On their arrival it is difficult to say what they would do: explore, help or destroy. Our resources make us quite a special threat.'
A Tornado F3 flies past a Rapier missile set-up: These
kind of defences could be used against an extra-terrestrial threat - although
sure the Others would have better technology than us
A Eurofighter Typhoon F2 takes off at the Farnborough
Airshow - another potential fighter in the war for intergalactic
survival
Hopefully, if aliens do come and introduce themselves to us, they come in a spirit of warmth, friendship and shared learning - but Pope said the government was also prepared for the worst scenarios.
He said: 'The government must - and has planned - for the worst-case scenario: alien attack and alien invasion.
'Space shuttles, lasers and directed-energy weapons are all committed via the Alien Invasion War Plan to defence against any alien ships in orbit.
'If UFOs came into our atmosphere, RAF jets such as the Eurofighter Typhoons, and missiles such as the Rapiers guarding the Olympic Games would be well equipped to enter the fray.
'And if the aliens landed, in an unprecedented move, I am in doubt that the entire Army would be join the fight.
'The TA and the Reserves would be called out and conscription potentially introduced. '
Hopefully we may never have to report on anything like
this... A UFO takes on Los Angeles in this mock-up
Speaking about the cultural impact of aliens since the first widely-reported cases in the 1940s, he said: 'It is interesting to note that we are all in some ways equipped to deal with alien invasion - games such as Resistance: Burning Skies on PlayStation Vita help acclimatise people to the reality of extraterrestrial life - and in particular that they might be hostile.
'It is a widely held belief that classified information about weapons and tactics useful in combatting alien occupation are embedded into such gameplay.
'The primary flaw is our lack of knowledge - we are limited in the extent of what we know about the alien species.'
Pope's role in the government was once described as 'working on the the X-Files of the UK', and he has since published Sunday Times top ten non-fiction bestsellers, such as Open Skies, Closed Minds.
His final role at the MoD, held until 2006, was Directorate of Defence Security, and since leaving he has given lectures and TV interviews about his views on the existence of UFOs.
Resistance: Burning Skies is an example of an alien
invasion - with the invaders taking on New York in this scene
He added: 'Aliens may possess weapons or advanced technology we’ve no idea of. Aliens may have invisibility, a death ray, teleportation, force fields and other things we can't even guess at.
'Beyond this, unity is key, but as history dictates, this is not so easy.
'The logical course is to unite the world against the alien threat, combining our military strength and fighting under the United Nations. But some countries might not fight.
'We saw this type of treachery and cowardice in the Second World War. Though some brave people joined the Resistance, much of France accepted Nazi occupation.
'The final and perhaps biggest flaw is preparation. With the summer of mass events we are all on high alert for terrorism. But we must also cast our eyes further afield and be prepared for even the most seemingly unfathomable.'
Thursday, 7 June 2012
UFO's In Skies Close To NORAD Cheyenne Mountain (Video)
Bizarre, Trapezoidal UFO Snapped Near Brooklyn Moon (Photo)
By Tom Rose
A bizarre UFO
photo was snapped, seemingly unaware, by a photographer in Brooklyn who may not
have noticed the strangely shaped thing until looking at the picture later.
The
unidentified flying object is trapezoidal and seems to have two glowing lights
at its center. What is it?
The photo,
added here and posted by YouTuber jemayliproducyion, was made into an enhanced video
steadily enlarging the image until the full parameters of the strange object are
revealed.
What at first
looks like a tiny lens flare off to the side of a hauntingly beautiful snapshot
of the moon over Brooklyn, emerging from a spooky cloud, is revealed to be what
seems to be a kite shape with some kind of headlights emerging from its
center.
The UFO, as labeled by the photographer, seems to be shrouded
in the edges of cloud, as if it's trying to cloak itself with wispy vapor. Or,
it could be the reflection off a street light or passing aircraft.
Either way,
it's one of the most beautiful and memorable accidental sightings ever posted to
YouTube. Here's the
video:
Human settlements on Mars in 2023 (Video)
The successful completion of the recent SpaceX mission to the International Space Station signifies the beginning of a new era of space exploration by private companies. Exploration missions, asteroid mining, tourist space flights, and even hotels in space are projects well underway by various private space companies. But one company is aiming to establish the first human settlement on Mars.
Artist's rendition of human settlements on Mars. (Credit: Mars One)
Mars One’s goal is to establish a human colony on Mars by April 2023. The plan calls for four astronauts to be sent on a one-way trip to Mars, with new teams of four astronauts arriving every two years following that. The aggressive timeline established by the company details plans to land a supply ship on Mars in October 2016. A robotic rover will land in 2018 with the goal of exploring the planet for the best location to establish the first colony. Living units, life support units, and storage units will be sent to the planet in 2021, where rovers will move everything into place, and prepare the colony for the astronauts’ arrival in 2023.
Where Mars One will find people willing to sign up for a one-way ticket to Mars in unknown, but according to the company’s website, they have already received “many emails” from people wanting to sign up. The company claims this mission to Mars will be the “biggest media event in history.” And it appears the company plans to rely heavily on the media, almost to the point of making the mission into a reality TV show. Mars One explains that, because these astronauts will be Earth’s representatives on Mars, “it is so crucial to have them chosen by the population of the world.” In true reality TV fashion, humans will be able to vote for his or her favorite contestant. During astronaut training, the company claims that “all broadcast footage will be live, so that everyone can watch their favorite candidate and all participants are portrayed equally and objectively.”
Nobel Prize winner Prof. dr. ’t Hooft is an ambassador for Mars One, and he thinks the company’s mission is “an extraordinarily daring initiative by people with vision and imagination.” He also thinks that this mission is “the only way to fulfill dreams of mankind’s expansion into space.”
Mars One is not accepting astronaut candidates just yet. But when they are ready (they are shooting for 2013), an announcement will be made on their website.
UFOs Over Blue Springs MO Continue, One Resident Admits To Being Scared (Video)
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