Forteana

> The Pentagon's latest report on UFOs has revealed hundreds of new reports of unidentified and unexplained aerial phenomena but no indications suggesting an extraterrestrial origin. > >The review includes hundreds of cases of misidentified balloons, birds and satellites as well as some that defy easy explanation, such as a near-miss between a commercial airliner and a mysterious object off the coast of New York. > >While it isn't likely to settle any debates over the existence of alien life, the report reflects heightened public interest in the topic and the government's efforts to provide some answers. Its publication comes a day after House lawmakers called for greater government transparency during a hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs — the government's term for UFOs. > >Federal efforts to study and identify UAPs have focused on potential threats to national security or air safety and not their science fiction aspects. Officials at the Pentagon office created in 2022 to track UAPs, known as the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, have said there's no indication any of the cases they looked into have unearthly origins

> A woman accused of being a vampire has been brought ‘back from the dead’. > >Using DNA, 3D printing and modelling clay, a team of scientists has reconstructed Zosia’s 400-year-old face, revealing the human story buried by supernatural beliefs. > >Buried with a padlock on her foot and an iron sickle across her neck, “Zosia” was never supposed to be able to come back. > > Entombed in an unmarked cemetery in Pien, northern Poland, the young woman was one of dozens feared by her neighbours to have been a “vampire”. > >“It’s really ironic, in a way,” said Swedish archaeologist Oscar Nilsson. “These people burying her, they did everything they could in order to prevent her from coming back from the dead... we have done everything we can in order to bring her back to life.” > > ... > > Aged 18-20 when she died, analysis of Zosia’s skull suggests she suffered from a health condition which would have caused fainting and severe headaches, as well as possible mental health issues, Nilsson said. > >The sickle, the padlock and certain types of wood found at the grave site were all believed at the time to hold magical properties protecting against vampires, according to the Nicolaus Copernicus team. > >Zosia’s was Grave No. 75 at the unmarked cemetery in Pien, outside the northern city of Bydgoszcz. Among the other bodies found at the site was a “vampire” child, buried face down and similarly padlocked at the foot.

> A father was astounded to catch a glimpse of what he describes as a substantial 1.5m "lynx or jaguar" while on the school run with his daughter in Orpington. Leandro Santos, 37, was accompanying his seven year old near some woodland on Tuesday October 15, when an unusual yowling sound and the agitated behaviour of birds caught his attention. > > The finance manager from Swanley claimed he saw the large, spotted feline lurking in the trees close to the school. After swiftly ensuring his daughter reached school safely, he returned to observe the imposing creature for about five minutes around 8.45am, noting its predatory movements among the birds. > >Leandro shared his astonishment and apprehension, remarking: "I was so surprised. It was beautiful but also very scary." He went into further detail, describing its size and appearance: "It was massive - I'd say 80 centimetres off the ground. It was yellowish with black spots." > >Drawing from his background, the Brazilian expat said: "I'm originally from Brazil and if I saw this there I'd say it was a jaguar. At one point it looked directly at me - that was very frightening," as reported by Kent Live. Expanding upon his encounter, he mentioned: "It was trying to get into a birds nest but they were flying at it to keep it off. Some other birds joined in and I thought it would be safest to leave," reports The Mirror.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19815449

> > President Javier Milei’s drastic austerity measures aimed at improving Argentina’s flailing economy have shown better results in recent months. > > > >The libertarian president’s ambition to eliminate bureaucracy and red tape have become one of the main focuses of his cabinet, including cutting public works budgets, and slashing education spending. > > > > ... > > > > After passing a major reform package, the Ley Bases (Bases Law) in July, Sturzenegger is now preparing another project, called Ley Hojarasca (Fallen Leaves Law). The project, presented to Congress on October 10, aims to void legislation created by previous governments that no longer serve a purpose, or were replaced by other laws. > > > >One peculiar law at risk of the chopping block is an Argentine tradition that allows the president to become the godparent of the seventh consecutive son or daughter of Argentine couples, in order to prevent them from becoming werewolves. > > > >Indeed, Law 20.843 was passed in 1974 during the presidency of María Estela Martínez de Perón, but the tradition is actually over a century old. > > > > The law allows a couple with seven sons or seven daughters to request that the president become the godfather/godmother to the seventh same-gender sibling. According to the law, the president then can send a representative to the child’s baptism, usually with a commemorative gold medal, and concede a scholarship towards his or her education, a token fee ranging from $150 to $300 dollars a year. > > > >Where does this tradition come from? “The myth arrived in Argentina through Brazil, with the Portuguese werewolf or lobis-homen, which later evolved into the lobizón. Thus, most cases of alleged werewolves are reported in northeastern Argentina,” historian and journalist Alejandro Galliano explained to Argentina Reports. > > > >The myth, which has deep roots in Argentina’s countryside, is that the seventh son becomes a werewolf during nights when a full moon takes place. > > > >The idea to make the president the godfather of a family’s seventh son was introduced by German immigrants from the Volga region, who came to Argentina in the early 19th century and established rural communities in the northeastern Mesopotamia region, comprised of the provinces Misiones, Entre Ríos, and Corrientes. > > > >“The tradition comes from Catherine the Great,” added Galliano, referring to the Russian leader of the 18th century who believed in becoming the godmother to the seventh son to prevent him from becoming a werewolf. “Both traditions ended up mixing here.” > > > >The first case occurred in October 1907 in Coronel Pringles, a city in the south of the Buenos Aires province. Russian farmer Enrique Brest and his wife, Apolonia Holmann, requested then President José Figueroa Alcorta to become godfather to their seventh son. The president agreed and birthed a tradition that lasted for over a century and became a law in 1974, when benefit was extended to include daughters. That year, the scholarship was established to finance the child’s education. > > > >“It was a way to compensate for the discrimination reportedly suffered by the seventh sibling, because of the legend of the lobizón,” commented Galliano. > > > >More than 12,000 children are estimated to have become godsons or goddaughters to an Argentine president in the past 117 years. Former President Alberto Fernández, who left office in 2023, became a godfather to 66 children, while his predecessor, Mauricio Macri, godfathered 159. Before them, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, a strong Peronist, granted the benefit to 1,152 children during her term. > > > > ... > > > > Noah Portillo, born September 10 in Río Gallegos, could become the first seventh son recognized by the current president. > > > >However, his fate as a future werewolf may be at stake if Sturzenegger’s bill is passed. “It is a medieval figure that has no place in a modern democracy,” argued the minister in an X post, upon announcing the Fallen Leaves Bill. > > > >Indeed, Galliano explained, the tradition is no longer followed in Russia, where it originated, nor in any other country.

>... very credible sources have reported seeing UFOs — unidentified flying objects. Now they’re called Unexplained Aerial Phenomena, or UAP. But whatever you call them, the U.S. government has lately begun taking these mystery objects seriously. Very seriously. And it’s recruited a lot of scientists to investigate what’s behind them (albeit quietly).

>We still don’t know what the pilots and others have seen. But here’s what’s motivated the new and growing scientific interest in them...

> A brand new case for Halloween. Helen, her husband and baby son move into a 200 year-old house in the Lake District. At first all is fine, but one October morning they open their front door to find a pile of small stones on their doorstep. > >The odd incident sets into motion a series of terrifying events that lasts for the next 18 years…

That's part 1 and part 2 is also available:

> For the last of our chilling Halloween episodes, we return to Meadow Cottage for the gripping second half of this brand new investigation into a terrifying haunting in the Lake District that spanned two decades. > >As Helen’s young son Jake grows up, events take an even more sinister turn. What is going on in that house?

Every country has its ghost stories, its mythical monsters and its ghoulish urban legends. But the United Kingdom – the home of the Gothic novel and the birthplace of paranormal investigation – may stake a claim to being the most haunted country on Earth.

With one of the world's highest concentrations of castles and no shortage of centuries-old pubs and coaching inns, there are plenty of reputedly haunted places to enjoy a drink or a meal, or even lay your head for the night – if you're feeling brave.

In addition, the country's relatively small size means it's possible to combine several of these places into one ghost-heavy itinerary. Here's where travellers with a penchant for the paranormal should head to get spooked this Halloween...

• Skirrid Inn, Abergavenny, Wales
• Chillingham Castle, Northumberland
• Whitby, North Yorkshire
• Ancient Ram Inn, Gloucestershire
• Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

> A special Halloween episode full of new cases to investigate. Danny is joined by Evelyn Hollow and guest expert, celebrated writer and comedian Stewart Lee, a lover of ghost stories and weird folklore. Can they explain these strange real-life stories of the paranormal?

>It’s witching hour deep in the Nevada desert. The time of night when ghosts and demons are most likely to appear. I’m standing with a torch in an eerie, dark bedroom of the self-proclaimed “most haunted motel in America” to try and glimpse the paranormal in action.

>“Can you feel that cold air?” says Christopher Alefeld, my ghost hunting guide for the night. “You can feel it in some of the rooms, it just feels different. More tense”.

>Our ghost-detecting equipment (an “EMF Meter”) bleeps and lights up with activity, indicating it has picked up on changes in a nearby electromagnetic field. It feels like I’m a member of the Ghostbusters when I’m told a sudden unexplained spike in the EMF reading is considered evidence of the paranormal.

>But here at the Clown Motel it’s a regular occurrence. They even have a disclaimer on their site about the potential risks involved with a supernatural encounter. And, yes, you heard correctly – because your run-of-the-mill regular haunted motel just ain’t scary enough, this is a clown-themed haunted motel...

>A mysterious radio station that has broadcasted a monotone buzzing sound and the occasional odd voice for decades has left scientists baffled.

>The shortwave radio station, found on frequency 4625 kHz, has been running for at least 50 years. It has been appropriately nicknamed 'The Buzzer'.

>But rumors as to its origins continue to swirl online today.

>One alarming theory is that the sound is a signal which, if ceases, indicates a nuclear attack is imminent. Others say the buzzing sound is a foreign government's attempts to communicate with visiting alien species.

>However, the most common theory among experts is that the radio waves come out of Russia, which may be reserving the frequency for an impending emergency...

>... The belief in ghosts is a funny thing. Despite there being no evidence to support their existence, ghosts have haunted humanity wherever they have settled across the planet. Every age and every culture has its own type of ghost and ghost stories, each shaped by its own peculiar context. And despite the rise of scientific thinking in the 20th and 21st centuries, the belief in unquiet spirits is still very much alive...

>Since the shocking revelation about the US Government's UFO research programme in 2017, the topic of extraterrestrial visitors has gradually shifted from conspiracy theories to mainstream discussion.

>In recent times, military experts have sworn before the US Congress that the Pentagon ran a "multi-decade" programme which collected and attempted to reverse-engineer crashed alien crafts.

>However, the official government "disclosure" of contact with aliens, whether through interstellar craft landings or the recently reported "non-human technological signature" allegedly detected by an Australian radio telescope, seems as distant as ever.

>Nick Pope, who was once in charge of analysing UFO reports for the Ministry of Defence, shared his unsettling theory about why that might be with Simon Holland in a leaked email...

> Activist Leo Igwe is at the forefront of efforts to help people accused of witchcraft in Nigeria, as it can destroy their lives - and even lead to them being lynched. > >“I could no longer take it. You know, just staying around and seeing people being killed randomly,” Dr Igwe tells the BBC. > >After completing his doctorate in religious studies in 2017 he was restless. He had written extensively about witchcraft and was frustrated that academia did not allow him to challenge the practice head on. > > ... > > So Dr Igwe set up Advocacy For Alleged Witches, an organisation focussed on “using compassion, reason, and science to save lives of those affected by superstition”. > >Dr Igwe’s prevention work also extends to Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe and beyond. > >One of the people the organisation has helped in Nigeria is 33-year-old Jude. In August, it intervened when he was accused and beaten in Benue State. > >Jude, a glazier, who also works part-time in a bank, says he was on his way to work one morning, when he met a boy carrying two heavy jars of water which prompted him to comment on the boy’s physical agility. > >The boy did not take the comments kindly, but he went on his way. > >Later, Jude was followed by a mob of about 15 people throwing stones at him. Among them was the boy he had greeted earlier. > >“Young men started fighting me as well, trying to set me ablaze,” Jude says. > >He was accused of causing the disappearance of the boy’s penis through witchcraft, an accusation that shocked him and is untrue. > >Claims of manhood disappearances are not uncommon in some parts of West Africa. > >It is a claim that has been linked to Koro syndrome, a mental illness otherwise known as missing or genital retraction hysteria. > >It is a psychiatric disorder characterised by an intense and irrational fear of the genital organs going missing or retracting into the body of the victim.

>Most people imagine philosophers as rational thinkers who spend their time developing abstract logical theories and strongly reject superstitious beliefs. But several 20th-century philosophers actively investigated spooky topics such as clairvoyance, telepathy – even ghosts.

>Many of these philosophers, including Henri Bergson and William James, were interested in what was called “psychical research”. This was the academic study of paranormal phenomena including telepathy, telekinesis and other-worldly spirits.

>These thinkers attended seances and were attempting to develop theories about ghosts, life after death and the powers exhibited by mediums in trances. My recent archival research has been looking at how these topics shaped 20th-century philosophy...

>Halloween’s roots lie in the ancient festival Samhain. Celebrated on the evening of 31 October and into 1 November, Celts believed this was when the boundary between the living and the dead was at its thinnest. They would make offerings to their gods around a bonfire, and dress in costumes to confuse the malevolent spirits that might wander the earth.

>It’s no surprise, therefore, that today we gather in the darkened evenings of autumn to share a ghost story or two – a tradition that has lasted centuries.

>From medieval hauntings to Victorian messages from the dead, explore ten ghost stories from history…

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/20962941

> Paranormal researcher Brian J. Cano has been investigating ghosts for 22 years now, visiting locations all across the globe. > > Brian started out as a skeptic but now he says he’s a skeptical believer, which means he thinks there’s something out there but is skeptical on how it’s reported. Saying not everything that happens during the night is paranormal activity. > > One of those stories talks about Brian’s demonic experience with the circle of fire at the Grand Midway Hotel. Brian says, “When I say off the chart, I mean literally you go down the list: Chris was getting touched, I was hearing things audibly, Lisa Ann was communing directly with spirits… it was the most poignant encounter I ever had.”

>The childhood home of the late Queen Mother, Glamis Castle, has been declared one of the most haunted places to visit in the UK this Halloween.

>Located in Angus, Scotland, Glamis Castle has royal connections that go back over a thousand years, and grisly spot where Malcolm II of Scotland was murdered in 1034.

>Even before the castle was built, there were warnings that the land was cursed, and its original location was changed from a nearby hill after workers claimed to hear a voice say: “Build not on this enchanted spot, where man hath neither part nor lot, but build down in yonder bog, where it will neither shake nor shog!”

>Ghosts claimed to haunt the walls of Glamis Castle include the Tongueless Woman – a maid said to have been murdered after discovering a secret of the Earl. She is rumoured to appear with blood spilling from her mouth...

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18915016

> > In 1964, two young academics clambered into a red Mini and, armed with a mountain of printed slips, set out to conduct what would become the definitive survey of English folklore and traditions for the next 60 years. > > > >John Widdowson and Paul Smith went to town centres, ­community halls, Women’s Institute meetings. They handed the simple forms out to anyone who visited Sheffield University, where they were based. And they wanted to know the answer to one simple question: what do you know to be true? > > > > Now held in the university’s archives, the thousands of replies make for illuminating reading, creating a patchwork of observances, superstitions and local legends, passed down through families and communities. > > > >“Don’t bring hawthorn blossom into the house. It’s bad luck,” wrote David Smith of London, who had learned this from his mother, Molly, then living in Scarborough. > > > >The story related by Florence Swaby of Hertfordshire was perhaps a little more dramatic: “Just outside the village, part of the road is called the white highway, and at that point there are two large open fields and the devil haunts there. This is the story handed down from my great grandmother and really happened …” > > > > Exactly six decades on, the Survey of Language and Folklore is finally being updated, with a more scientific method than two men in a Mini handing out questionnaires almost at random. The Centre for Contemporary Legend, based at Sheffield Hallam University, is to conduct the National Folklore Survey, financed with £271,000 of government money from the UK Research and Innovation body. > > > >The project will be led by David Clarke along with Diane Rodgers, also of Sheffield Hallam, and Ceri Houlbrook and Owen Davies who founded the MA Folklore Studies course at Hertfordshire University. It will be conducted by Ipsos-UK, ­polling almost 3,000 people in the first phase to create a clearer picture of what folklore means today. > > > >The new survey aims to address “the lack of robust research evidence into the cultural value of folklore in post-Brexit, post-pandemic, multicultural England. It aims to create new data to answer two research questions: ‘How have folkloric beliefs and practices shaped England’s social, cultural and spiritual identity?’ and ‘To what extent are ideas of nationalism and colonial attitudes informed by contemporary notions of English folklore?’” > > > > ... > > > > “You might think that in an increasingly technological world we have no place for folklore, but it seems to be the opposite. Technology and mobile phones create a kind of disenchantment in people’s lives, and I think they’ve started to realise that. The revival of interest in folklore is a wonderful thing, and long may it continue.”

>Have you ever heard of the Hexham Heads or Wolf of Allendale?

>Now that Halloween is approaching you might want to clue yourself up because, well there's no easy way of saying this, a werewolf may be out there.

>On 10 December 1904, we, the Hexham Courant, published a story with the title "Wolf at Large in Allendale".

>The wolf committed a "great slaughter of sheep" on the moors above Hexham in the winter of 1904 and was believed to be an escapee from the private zoo of Captain Bain in County Durham.

>A hunt quickly ensued among petrified locals thinking the wolf may move on from sheep and start attacking children.

>After many weeks the drama soon came to a grisly end when the wolf was cut in twain by a Midland Railway express near Cumwhinton station on the Settle-Carlisle railway.

>Too badly mutilated to be preserved, the wolf was beheaded and sent to the Midland Railway's headquarters at Derby.

>For a week, the head of the Allendale wolf was displayed in the window of a taxidermist's shop in Derby before being mounted outside the Midland Railway's boardroom.

>In 1936, the head was still there, but it has now vanished, and subsequent searches for it have been unsuccessful.

>Now let's fast forward to the 1970s, when things start to get even creepier...

> In October 1964, a young man was driving to a dance in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, when his radio began to pick up a strange frequency. At first he thought it was just tuning in to a local channel, but then voices came through discussing some kind of nuclear war – and issuing bomb reports. > >Recalling the incident decades later, the driver described the simultaneous appearance of a star overhead followed by the sudden realisation that he could see through the floor of his car. > >‘I hadn’t done any dope, I wasn’t doing any beer,’ he adds so casually that you feel inclined to believe him. And yet his body felt like jelly. The episode only lasted what seemed like five or ten minutes, but on arriving at the dance, the man realised that the half-hour journey had actually taken nearly two hours. He never found a logical explanation for what had happened. > > Between 1980 and 1992, a Cornell graduate from Ohio named John P. Timmerman travelled across America with a recorder and case of cassette tapes. Diversifying from his day job as the owner of an air-conditioning business, he spent his weekends conducting interviews in shopping malls as a volunteer for the Center for UFO Studies. In each mall he visited, he asked shoppers whether they had ever experienced anything inexplicable. The jellified driver was just one of nearly 1,200 people he spoke to across the course of his peculiar career. > >We Are Not Alone, which airs on BBC Radio 4 this Sunday evening, replays a selection of these interviews in one continuous stream. There is no introduction – and no explanation – and the only interruptions during the programme are the clicks of a tape ending, the ‘this is side two, cassette one’, type markers made by Timmerman himself and, in the final three minutes, some appreciative reflections from Timmerman’s son. I became quickly hooked. > >What struck me, in particular, was how many of the close encounters described took place when people were travelling. Aliens, it would seem, are fascinated by human transport. One woman spoke of a saucer-like object with multi-coloured lights zooming towards her car and disappearing only when another car came into sight. A man with 40 years’ experience in the aviation industry assessed that the sophisticated flying object he saw had no jet engine and was manifestly ‘not from this Earth’. > >Many reports released in recent years offer more comprehensive descriptions of sightings than those gathered by Timmerman. But the raw beauty of some of the latter nevertheless astounds. > >The captain of a commercial jet summoned the most striking image of the glow he observed while flying north of the Grand Canyon. It was ‘something like the light of the Aurora Borealis’, he recalled, ‘only it was encompassing most of the western sky’. Within it appeared a sphere ‘about the size of a moon when it comes over the horizon’. The moon itself was half-full and directly overhead. > >On his journey, Timmerman inevitably encountered some cranks. Top marks go to the woman who informed him that UFOs live inside mountains and only come out at night. ‘How did you know this?’ Timmerman asked her. ‘A lady told me on the bus,’ she replied. > >But for the most part, the people recorded were characterised by their wonder and yearning for something beyond what the eye usually sees. The fascination you hear in their voices is as captivating as the stories themselves. The programme will leave you gazing skywards.

You can listen on Radio 4.

>We live in times where Mark Robinson and the Nude Africa porn forums are threatening to become one of the most consequential stories in American history, so you’ll excuse me if I roll my eyes at the folks who believe our reality is not absurd enough to accommodate the potential notion of visitors from another realm. If you want to know why I feel this way, I wrote 6,500 words across two articles explaining why both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and I think there’s something to UFOs (Here is part 1 and part 2).

>UFOs are news worth covering simply because so many credible government actors have lent their own credibility to it, and if a fraction of any of this is true, it is world-changing. If it’s all a lie, then why this lie was perpetrated on the entire globe is a question that demands an answer. There’s no route out of this mess that isn’t newsworthy and worth exploring, and there is enough physical evidence of unexplained things in the sky at this point that dismissing it all as mankind’s overactive imagination requires a bigger conspiracy theory than the legend that Lockheed Martin is housing UFOs.

>Last summer’s UFO hearing starred David Grusch telling explosive tales of UFO crash retrievals, and while most were quick to dismiss this as the rantings of a lunatic or a huckster, I refuse to go that far. I, like most others, am unqualified to assess Grusch’s credibility and lack the appropriate security clearances. All I can say is that he is not a James Clapper-type who is at the top of an agency and can just lie to Congress all willy nilly and go to fancy D.C. cocktail parties like nothing happened. Grusch is blowing the whistle from the great middle of the Defense Department organizational chart, where the rules still do theoretically apply to normal people.

>I don’t know if David Grusch’s testimony was true (The Intelligence Community Inspector General found his complaint “credible and urgent” in July 2022, which should be noted is not an assessment of whether it is true), but I do know that if he did lie, he is in extremely deep shit because he accused some immensely powerful entities of some very serious crimes under oath. That guillotine hovering over his neck is convincing enough to me to at least hear him and any others out who are willing to put themselves on the line to take a leap of faith in our democratic institutions. You can listen to people tell their stories with an open mind without having to make an instantaneous judgement about their veracity, and if they are lying, time will bear that out. If someone wants to go in front of Congress and tell us something they think is important, we owe it to them to listen...

>An aristocrat 'fainted' after being visited by the ghost of his dead mother, according to an unearthed 239-year-old manuscript.

>The ‘haunting’, which was said to have taken place in a stately home in 1785, has been discovered by auctioneers going through an old box of legal deeds and papers. The official papers described how aristocrat Francis Eld was visited by the spirit of his dead mother Catherine around the time she died - unbeknownst to him - 150 miles away.

>The manuscript told how Mr Eld was in his infant daughter’s bedroom in the early hours of March 29, 1785, when the apparition appeared. He experienced a “puff of air” across his face and saw “a sort of cloud or vapour”, which took on the appearance and voice of his mother.

>The ghost said: “My child, be not grieved, I am dead, but happy.” The spooky visitation is said to have taken place at Seighford Hall, near Stafford, Staffordshire.

>Jim Spencer, Director at Rare Book Auctions, in Lichfield, came across the papers while carrying out a valuation.

>He said: “It was quite eerie discovering these papers during the run-up to Halloween. I found it in a box full of old indentures relating to the Whitby family of Shugborough and Haywood.

>“It’s the sort of thing I see all the time but the word 'visitation' just caught my eye. As soon as I realised they were talking about a ghost, I genuinely couldn't read quickly enough, my eyes were racing ahead of my brain”...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/20893597

> With its gray, scaley skin, protruding dorsal spines, menacing fangs and proclivity for small livestock, the mythical chupacabra has stoked both curiosity and fear across portions of the Americas for decades. > > If you consider the most common descriptions of the chupacabra, from its physical appearance to its behavior, you're likely dealing with a coyote that is in the late stages of mange. > > Mange is a debilitating disease that can infect a wide range of fur-bearing mammals,depending on the animal's ability to overcome the symptoms of mange, the condition can become chronic, leading to behavioral changes and even death. > > On canids, the last place they lose fur is right between the shoulder blades in an area that we call the ruff, this fits descriptions of chupacabras having spikes or a ridge along their backs. > > The vampire-like punctures often reported on victims of the chupacabra also correspond with the coyote's standard predation method of strangulation through multiple bites to their prey's neck. > > Reports of chupacabras fully draining an animal of blood may also be explained by how rapidly blood will settle and coagulate within the dead animal, making it appear as though it has been drained.

>The US government is keeping tabs on any and all claims of UFO sightings as part of an ‘above top-secret’ programme, a whistleblower has alleged.

>‘Immaculate Constellation’ is an alleged database of high-quality photographs, videos, firsthand accounts and electronic sensor evidence of UFOs.

>Officials use the off-the-books programme to ‘detect’ and ‘quarantine’ UFO materials without congressional knowledge or oversight, according to a leaked report shared with the Substack newsletter Public.

>American military and intelligence officials have a ‘high level of confidence in the accuracy and integrity of the data gathered’, which includes mentions of not only UFOs but ‘Alien Reproduction Vehicles’, or reverse-engineered crafts.

>If confirmed, the very existence of ‘Immaculate Constellation’ would be a ‘game-changing development’, the UK’s top UFO expert told Metro...

>We don’t want to put you off taking the Tube, but according to legend London’s historic network and its stations are home to a whole variety of ghosts.

>Among them is the mysterious ‘Girl on the Train’, as she’s now known.

>Several people, both underground employees and passengers, have reported seeing her on Bakerloo Line trains at Elephant and Castle.

>The young woman boards the train, walks through the carriages, then disappears without a trace, they say.

>Unexplained foot steps, possibly running, plus rapping noises have also been heard at the station while it’s been closed.

>The BBC has previously shared one employee’s account of seeing the apparition...

>'Big cats' were spotted near a farm but the animals ran off before the witness could take a photo to prove once and for all the legends of 'leopards on the loose'. > > The latest sightings both took place on Saturday night many miles apart at Woodmancote, near Defford, and at Eastham between Great Witley and Tenbury Wells. > >The sighting at Eastham was so sudden and surprising, the driver said it caused him to swerve the car slightly in shock. > > ... > > A witness said: "I saw two big cats in Woodmancote near Defford crossing the road last night opposite Copeland Court Farm. > >"They were definitely big type cats. I stopped my van but they ran off into fields before I could get photos. I probably couldn't have got a decent shot because it was dark. > > ... > > "I'd say they was about the size of a big dog." > >Meanwhile, a further sighting has been described in Eastham which is out towards Tenbury Wells, also on Saturday night, at 7.48pm. > >Writing on the Evesham and Villages Big Cat Group, the witness said: "A large black cat was spotted by myself entering a field in Eastham (WR15) on Saturday night. I saw the rear end of an animal approximately 18 to 24 inches tall. It was way too big to be a domesticated cat and it wasn't a dog or any other normally seen animal. The animal caused me to swerve slightly when I saw it due to its size." > > ... > > The shocking sightings of large leopard-like cats have been reported as recently as this year in Harvington, near Evesham and others date back 20 years. > >Possible sightings have now been noted in Harvington (this year), Gorse Hill and Elbury Mount Local Nature Reserve, Aldington (between Offenham and Badsey), near Kidderminster, near The Walshes in Stourport, Upton Snodsbury, Powick, Madresfield, the Lenchford Inn at Shrawley, Bewdley, Bentley (near Bromsgrove) and Stoke Prior. > >Many of these encounters are in Worcestershire's wildest tracts of country. However, not all are in remote areas with one dog walker describing how she fled a Worcester nature reserve with her two powerful dogs, one of which was bred to fight wolves.

>The people of Newfoundland post all kinds of photos online of the captivating things they find washed up along the island’s 17,000 kilometres of coastline. Most of the time it’s run-of-the-mill flotsam from the Atlantic. Random boat parts. A giant fish head. Sea glass. Lots of sea glass.

>Then the white blobs showed up – a mystery that has been baffling government scientists for weeks.

>Philip Grace was the first to post a photograph of the lumpy gelatinous goop (sorry, Gwyneth) scattered over the pebbly beach in Ship Harbour, a community in southern Newfoundland.

>“Anyone know what these blobs are?” he wrote on the Facebook page Beachcombers of Newfoundland and Labrador last month. “They are like touton dough and all over the beach.” (Toutons are fried biscuits, a traditional Newfoundland breakfast food.)

>Soon, others chimed in. They’d seen them too: on Shoal Cove Beach, Barasway Beach, Gooseberry Cove Beach, Southern Harbour, Arnold’s Cove – mostly up and down the eastern shore of Placentia Bay.

>The white globs floated in from the sea covered in seaweed, sand and pebbles. They were strangely combustible, with a pocked slimy surface and firm spongy flesh. Flies were indifferent. The gobs ranged in size from toonies to dinner plates. And amateur hypotheses ran the gamut, from the pithy to the improbable with some suggesting that they were cheese, alien poo or whale boogers...

> Nearly two-thirds of American homeowners believe that their house is haunted, according to a new survey. > > The survey by Angi, a service to help people find home service providers, found that 60% of homeowners believe that they may be living with ghosts. > >Of the 1,000 homeowners surveyed, more than 65% claimed to have experienced unexplainable occurrences in their homes. About 31% reported hearing unexplained sounds in the walls, 30% reported creaking floorboards and 24% reported hearing unexplained footsteps. > > About 13% of respondents reported seeing or hearing the toilet flush on its own. However, Angi did note that there is a phenomenon called "ghost flushing" where toilets will flush on their own due to a leak somewhere in the home's toilet system. > >Almost 20% of homeowners surveyed said they were scared of one or more parts of their home, such as their basement or attic. Nearly 60% said they would not like to be left alone at home. > > However, 58% of respondents said they would consider living in a haunted house if it meant saving money.

>A British academic believes he has stumbled on the most world-changing piece of news in recorded history.

>Professor Simon Holland, who has produced documentaries for NASA-funded projects including a project pinpointing Earth-threatening asteroids, says that two rival groups of astronomers are in a race to publish the first confirmed evidence of an extraterrestrial civilisation.

>He told The Mirror: “We have found a non-human extraterrestrial intelligence in our galaxy, and people don't know about it.” Simon explains that he has been given information by a contact within Mark Zuckerbeg's Breakthrough Listen, a privately-funded initiative aimed at finding evidence of civilisations beyond Earth.

>And the news may come within the next month to coincide with the US election, he believes. He claims that astronomers within the Oxford-based project have identified clear evidence of transmissions from another world...

>Recently, independent journalist and author Michael Shellenberger published an article on his subscription news site, Public, alleging that a new, unnamed government whistleblower had come forward.

>The whistleblower asserts that a highly classified program exists dedicated to unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), including the potential recovery and reverse-engineering of UAP technologies.

>This isn’t the first time a former or current government official has made similar claims.

>In 2023, The Debrief was the first media outlet to report that David Grusch, a former Air Force officer and intelligence specialist with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), had filed an official complaint with the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) alleging a DoD cover-up of UAP information and the recovery of alien technologies.

>According to Grusch, the U.S. government has recovered several vehicles “of exotic origin—attributed to non-human intelligence, whether extraterrestrial or otherwise unknown—based on their unique vehicle morphologies, material science analyses, and distinctive atomic arrangements and radiological signatures.”

>Grusch later reiterated these claims under oath in testimony before the Congressional Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs.

>However, in Shellenberger’s recent article, the purported whistleblower went a step further, revealing the name of a highly secretive Pentagon “Unacknowledged Special Access Program” (USAP) codenamed “IMMACULATE CONSTELLATION.” Reportedly, this program involves investigating, recovering, and attempting reverse engineering of alien technologies.

>While interesting, in the grand scheme of things, this new whistleblower’s claims leave us in a familiar situation—a fascinating story that is nearly impossible to verify. However, this doesn’t mean the underlying theme of these whistleblower claims isn’t worth exploring.

>A recent revelation by a Pentagon whistleblower has disclosed the existence of a highly classified government program called “Immaculate Constellation.”

>Reported by journalist Michael Shellenberger on his Substack newsletter ‘Public,’ this secret Unacknowledged Special Access Program (USAP) allegedly deals with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), formerly referred to as UFOs, and has operated for decades without Congressional oversight, raising concerns about government transparency.

>According to the whistleblower, elements within the military and intelligence community (IC) have withheld information about UAPs, violating constitutional obligations. Shellenberger notes, “There is a growing body of evidence that the government is not being transparent about what it knows about UAPs.”

>The whistleblower’s report outlines seven categories of evidence, detailing various UAP sightings captured by U.S. military sensors and personnel. It claims that “the verifiable chain of custody for UAP IMINT [Imagery Intelligence] collected by U.S. military assets ensures a high level of confidence in the accuracy and integrity of the data gathered.”

>The report also mentions “alien reproduction vehicles” (ARVs) being secured within this program. The whistleblower further warned that publishing the name “Immaculate Constellation” could lead to government surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)...

>(ANALYSIS) Earlier this year, “God Versus Aliens” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. The documentary, directed by award-winning filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee, shines a light on the Vatican's secretive investigations into UFOs. It suggests, in no uncertain terms, that the Vatican has been quietly exploring extraterrestrial phenomena for years. Lee, to his credit, raises some fascinating questions about how the church views the unknown.

>The documentary argues that recent Vatican guidelines on apparitions, which have stirred much debate, may signal a deeper understanding of UFOs. According to Lee, these guidelines imply that the Church isn't merely considering UFOs as physical objects from another world, but also entertaining the possibility that they could involve paranormal or supernatural elements.

>This idea isn’t as outrageous as it might seem. The Vatican has a history of grappling with cosmic questions. For centuries, the church has been involved in discussions about the nature of the universe and our place within it...

> This map shows the high volume of big cat sightings across Worcestershire for the first time and suggests the powerful predators may be nearer than you think. > > The scientific case for 'panthers' on the prowl in Worcestershire continues to gather momentum as DNA evidence confirms big cats, specifically leopards, are on the loose in Britain. > >Strands of hair belonging to a leopard species Panthera Pardus have already been found on a barbed wire fence at a farm in neighbouring Gloucestershire following an attack on a sheep in 2022. > > Meanwhile, more genetic traces of the muscular predators have been found in Cumbria, confirmed in tests by a university professor. > > The shocking sightings of large leopard-like cats have been reported as recently as this year in Harvington, near Evesham and others date back 20 years. > >Many of these encounters are in Worcestershire's wildest tracts of country. However, not all are in remote areas with one dog walker describing how she fled a Worcester nature reserve with her two powerful dogs, one of which was bred to fight wolves. > > Data on the sightings is sourced from the Evesham and Villages Big Cat Group and the information has been used to compile this interactive map.

> "We were on a camping holiday in Coleford for a week in August last year. It is the perfect location to watch deer and see the wild boar and the humbugs. One of the days we were there, we had been out for a good couple of hours and had seen deer and the wild boar and little humbugs, and it got to about 9pm and we decided to head back to the camp site. > > "We were driving passed the fenced area by the recycling centre in Coleford and we seen a lynx jump into the road. In one bound it jumped across the road. > > "There is no question about it, the animal was clearly a lynx. You could tell by the tufts on its ears, the green eye shine and it was dark tan and tall as a Labrador. > >"The definition of the muscles on the animal as well. It had muscular legs and had no problem leaping eight or ten feet across the road. > >"It was a lynx, you could see plain as day." > > Gareth understand people may be sceptical about seeing big cats in the British countryside. However he says it is not the first time he has seen a lynx while out exploring the countryside. > >He said: "In 1996 I was on my way, with my wife, to see friends in Colchester and seen a puma on a road near Colchester Zoo. I think the big cats which are living in the British countryside hear the big cats which are n the zoo and are attracted to the sounds and the noises of the other big cats. > >"Another time when I was working as a delivery driver, and I was taking groceries to a house in the middle of nowhere and I seen a puma in the middle of a field. There are more big cats living in the wild in the countryside in England than people realise. > >"I am not too sure about leopards or jaguars being out there, however there are plenty of lynx and it is very interesting in how they came to be there. If you're someone who disbelieves big cats are out there, it is unfortunate, however one day you may be able to see one for yourself." > > ... > > "To top up the population of feral lynx in the UK, some 'Black Ops' release programmes have taken place which have been carried out by private re-wilding enthusiasts.

Previously:

• 'Wolf' seen in Forest of Dean chasing herd of deer into bracken
• Big cat spotted running into field of sheep who just don't care - Lynx sighting on Dartmoor

> Now conspiracy theories are the mainstream’s forte, there’s only one way a magazine on the paranormal can go: rational > > I picked up the October issue of the Fortean Times the other day. For half a century, the magazine has been the go-to place for reports of the wildest conspiracy theories, of UFO sightings and poltergeists and frogs falling from the sky. Created by Bob Rickard, a British disciple of Charles Fort, the American investigator of the paranormal, the magazine has always been perfectly pitched somewhere between The X-Files and a parish council newsletter. I enjoyed a subscription for a while, but haven’t read the magazine for a few years. > >Returning to it is a curious experience. In the intervening time, the “rational” news world has invaded traditional Fortean territory. Far from being a niche interest, unhinged conspiracy has become something like the political mainstream. Alongside “I was a teenage alien”, the October magazine contains a report into the theories circulating around the two failed assassination attempts against Donald Trump. It is – notably – about as circumspect as any New York Times editorial, warning against the infectious beliefs of the “lone nut fraternity”. Even the far-fetched, it seems, has gone way too far.

>Call the Midwife is known for its honest portrayal of the struggles of childbirth in the 1950s.

>The BBC sitcom follows the lives of the midwives and nuns at Nonnatus House in London’s East End which is based on the book written by Heidi Thomas.

>The beloved show has drummed up a loyal fanbase over its 12-year reign, which is set to return for series 14 next year.

>But what fans may be surprised to know is that many of the cast and crew believe the famous house to be “haunted” in real-life...

>A house once called Britain’s most haunted is up for sale just four years after going off the market.

>Once the site of a medieval prison for witches, former owner Vanessa Mitchell claimed she was physically attacked by spirits, plagued by ghostly figures, pushed over while pregnant and witnessed mysterious blood splatters appearing.

>Now the house is on the market for £250,000. Known as ‘The Cage’, a plaque on the side of the house states that local witch Ursula Kemp was housed there before her execution in 1582...

>An upcoming documentary is set to shed light on the mysterious tale of a Manhattan housewife and mom-of-two who claimed she was abducted by a UFO in the late 80s.

>The docuseries, titled The Manhattan Alien Abduction, tells the story of Linda Napolitano, who is convinced she was abducted from her bedroom in New York on November 30, 1989.

>The series attempts to uncover the true story behind the UFO communities biggest mysteries - with Napolitano, who used the pseudonym Linda Cortile initially - directly involved with the documentary's creation.

>The trailer, which was recently released online, contains interviews with Napolitano recalling what happened on the night that she said changed her life, as well as archival footage from the years following the alleged extra-terrestrial experience...

>The late Queen dispatched her chief scientific advisor in the dead of night to investigate the latest crop circle formation, claims a new documentary.

>Her Majesty is said to have sent a scientist to find out more about a new crop circle, widely said to be linked to UFOs, according to a new Prime Video film.

>The King of UFOs, by UFO expert Mark Christopher Lee claims senior royals, including Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip and King Charles are passionately interested in the phenomenon.

>And Lee recounts how, in the late 1980s, crop circle researcher Colin Andrews was with a Japanese film crew in Wiltshire when he got word that the Queen was interested in what was happening.

>Just a couple of hours later Andrews saw a Rolls Royce turn up. Lee said Andrews half expected her Majesty to get out of the car, only to find out it was actually her chief scientific advisor...

> Online searches for big cats in Wales have surged following an increase in alleged sightings. > >Research by AussieBoots has revealed that Cardiff and Wrexham saw a 100% increase in searches for ‘Big Cats UK’ from 2021 to 2023 – with Swansea seeing a 50% rise. > >It comes after multiple big cat sightings have been reported in the press across the country in recent months and years. > >The term ‘big cat’ is usually used to describe large wild felines such as tigers, lions, panthers, jaguars, leopards, cheetahs and cougars. > >Big cats such as pumas are solitary and their hunting range is dozens of miles. > >When big cats were banned as pets in the 1970s, it was legal to release them into the countryside to avoid expensive rehoming costs. > >Experts believe that owners from across the UK travelled to Wales to release their cats in to the remote environment. > > ... > > A BBC study collated more than 100 big cat sightings in 18 months across north and mid Wales. > >Another study recorded 123 Welsh sightings over two years with frequent reports of big cats in Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy and Gwynedd. > > ... > > Wales overall has seen a 50% increase in internet searches for big cats whilst Northern Ireland was the country that saw the highest rise in searches (133%). > >Scotland came second (127%), and England came third (84%). > >The UK saw an 84% increase overall. > >Pete Bryden from AussieBoots said: “The increase in big cat sightings across the UK has certainly captured the public’s imagination. > >“It’s fascinating to see how interest has grown, particularly in Wales where searches have surged. > >“Whether these sightings are fact or folklore, it’s clear that the British countryside still holds plenty of mysteries for us to discover.”