Long time ago, people found out a way to mess with the mind of other people. As time passed they perfected it. So , what do you see in pictures below? :D
Is Your Sight Alright
on Thursday, October 20, 2011Women in ancient Rome were not allowed any direct role in politics. Nevertheless, women often took on powerful roles behind the scenes, whether in the realm of their own family, or in the elite world of government. Here’s a list of some of the most influential and memorable ancient Roman women.Aurelia Cotta
Aurelia Cotta, who lived from 120 to 54 BC, was the mother of Julius Caesar. Her husband died young, and before that, was away most of the time, so she was the one in charge of raising Caesar along with his two sisters (both named Julia – one the future grandmother of Augustus). She and her family lived in the Subura, a working class district in Rome, which was unusual for a highborn patrician family. She also raised Caesar’s daughter Julia after his wife Cornelia Cinna died. Aurelia was considered intelligent and independent. When Caesar was nearly executed at age 18 by the dictator Sulla, for refusing to divorce Cornelia Cinna, it was Aurelia who intervened. She headed a petition to Sulla that succeeded in saving her son’s life.Lucilla
Lucilla was born around 150 AD, to the emperor Marcus Aurelius. She married her father’s co-ruler Lucius Verus at about age 14. After Lucius Verus died, Lucilla remarried, and traveled with her second husband and Marcus Aurelius during his Danube military campaign. It was during this time that Marcus Aurelius died, and Commodus became emperor. Commodus’ actions while emperor became increasingly disturbing, and an assassination plot was hatched by Lucilla, her nephew, her daughter, and two cousins. Lucilla planned to take over as empress afterwards, but the scheme failed. As her nephew attempted to stab Commodus, he shouted, “Here is the dagger the senate sends you!” This was ample warning to Commodus’ guards. The male members of the plot were immediately put to death, while Lucilla, her daughter, and cousin were banished to Capri. However, Commodus had them executed also a year later, in 182 AD. A character based on Lucilla appears in the movie Gladiator.Cornelia Africana
Cornelia Africana was the daughter of Scipio Africanus, famous for his victory against Hannibal in the Second Punic War. She died at age 90 in 100 BC, and was remembered by the Romans as an exemplar of virtue. Out of the 12 children she had, only Sempronia, Tiberius Gracchus, and Gaius Gracchus survived. When her husband died, she did not remarry, and took over the education of her children. When Tiberius and Gaius became involved in controversy because of their populist political reforms, they never lost the support of their mother. Eventually, she lost both her sons when they were killed on different occasions at the hands of the conservative senate. When Cornelia herself died, a statue was dedicated to her. Over time, Cornelia became an increasingly idealized figure, with emphasis switching from her own education and rhetorical skills to her image as the perfect Roman mother.Hortensia
Hortensia was an orator who made her biggest impact with a speech she gave before the Second Triumvirate (Mark Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus) in 42 BC. At this time, the Second Triumvirate was at war with Brutus and Cassius, among others of Caesar’s assassins. They killed the rich and confiscated their property to raise money, but still did not have sufficient revenue. To this end, they decided to impose a tax on almost 1500 wealthy Roman women. Not having any say in politics themselves, the women were furious at being taxed for a war they had nothing to do with. The women arrived at the forum with Hortensia as a representative to make a speech to the triumvirs. Here’s a quote from her speech:“You have already deprived us of our fathers, our sons, our husbands, and our brothers, whom you accused of having wronged you; if you take away our property also, you reduce us to a condition unbecoming our birth, our manners, our sex. Why should we pay taxes when we have no part in the honors, the commands, the state-craft, for which you contend against each other with such harmful results? ‘Because this is a time of war,’ do you say? When have there not been wars, and when have taxes ever been imposed on women, who are exempted by their sex among all mankind?”Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus, were not pleased by this display, but were unable to get Hortensia to leave the rostra. Eventually, they agreed to tax only 400 women and to borrow the rest from men.Livilla
Livilla was born in 13 BC, and was the sister of the emperor Claudius. Just as Claudius was constantly derided by his mother, his sister was also extremely contemptuous of him. Livilla expected to one day become empress after she married Augustus’ grandson Gaius, but Gaius was killed. Livilla’s fame comes mainly from her affair with Sejanus, and attempt with him to take power. Sejanus was the praetorian prefect of the emperor Tiberius. When Tiberius abandoned Rome for his infamous island adventures at Capri, Sejanus began gaining more and more power, eliminating his opponents. Livilla was at this time married to Tiberius’ son Drusus. When he died, no one suspected anything, but it was later discovered that Livilla and Sejanus had poisoned him. The two planned to marry, but Livilla’s mother wrote to Tiberius that they were attempting to overthrow him. Sejanus was sentenced to death, and he along with his children and followers were murdered. As for Livilla, Dio says that Tiberius left her fate up to her mother Antonia the Younger, who chose to lock her daughter in a room until she starved to death. A “condemnation of memory” was voted for Livilla, so today it is difficult to identify possible portraits of her.Helena
Helena was born around 250 AD. It is thought that she first lived in Drepanum, later called Helenopolis. Saint Ambrose said she was stabularia, which can mean either innkeeper or stable maid. It is possible that she met the future emperor Constantius while he was fighting a campaign in Asia Minor. The story goes that when Constantius saw that they were wearing the same bracelet, he decided it was a sign they should marry. Some sources refer to Helena as the emperor’s concubine, while others say they were officially married. In any case, Constantius eventually left Helena for a woman of higher birth. Helena’s son by Constantius was Constantine, who would become the first Christian emperor. Helena found what was believed to be the True Cross and other relics while in Jerusalem. She was famous for her kindness, and is considered today to be a saint.Servilia Caepionis
The half sister of Cato the Younger, the mistress of Caesar, the mother in law of Cassius, and the mother of Brutus, Servilia was influential through her connections to many famous Romans. Her parents died when she was young, and she and her siblings were brought up by their uncle Livius Drusus. Unfortunately, he was assassinated for trying to gain citizenship for Italian allies. Servilia’s first husband – Brutus’ father – was killed by Pompey the Great. She eventually began an affair with Julius Caesar, and rumors circulated saying that her daughter Junia Tertia was actually Caesar’s. Cicero also made a remark about how Servilia was letting Caesar sleep with Junia Tertia (obviously, or should I say, hopefully, these pieces of gossip were not both true). It is also believed that Caesar’s daughter Julia was originally betrothed to Brutus (there is a bit of confusion here, since Brutus’ name temporarily changed when he was adopted by Servilia’s brother).One amusing event involving Servilia and Caesar occurred when Caesar was handed a letter written by her during the debates over the Catiline conspiracy. Cato said that Caesar was receiving correspondences from the conspirators, and ordered that the letter be read out loud. Much to Cato’s embarrassment, it turned out to be a love letter by his own sister. Servilia’s relationship with Caesar in turn affected Caesar’s relationship with Brutus. For example, when Caesar was fighting Pompey in the Battle of Pharsalus, he ordered that Brutus, who was on Pompey’s side, not be harmed in any way. When Brutus and Cassius were plotting Caesar’s assassination, they met at Servilia’s house. It is unknown whether or not she knew about their plans. Servilia died of natural causes in 42 BC.Porcia Catonis
Porcia lived from around 70 to 42 BC. Porcia was the daughter of Cato the Younger, but is most famous as the wife to Marcus Junius Brutus. Porcia was considered to be both kind and brave, and was a lover of philosophy. Her first marriage was to Bibulus, an ally of Cato. Quintus Hortenius requested that Bibulus let him have Porcia for his wife, but he would not let her be taken from him. Hortensius then made the unusual request that he allow Porcia just live with him until she produced a son. Cato divorced his wife Marcia and let Hortensius marry her instead, which was a strange solution since Cato by all accounts loved his wife. When Hortensius died, Marcia moved back in with Cato. Bibulus died after Pompey was defeated by Caesar, and Cato committed suicide by stabbing himself and pulling out his intestines when his friends tried to revive him. Left without a husband or a father, and still very young, it was around this time that Porcia married her cousin Brutus. This was not well-received by many (especially his mother Servilia who hated Cato) because Brutus divorced his wife without giving any reason in order to marry Porcia.Only Cato’s supporters, such as Cicero, approved of the marriage. Porcia was very devoted to Brutus, and one of the only women, if not the only woman, to be involved in the conspiracy against Caesar. Plutarch writes that Porcia stabbed herself in the leg to show Brutus that she could be trusted with any of his secrets, even under torture. When the assassins had to flee Rome, Porcia stayed behind. Brutus said of her: “Though the natural weakness of her body hinders her from doing what only the strength of men can perform, she has a mind as valiant and as active for the good of her country as the best of us.” The circumstances of Porcia’s death are uncertain. One of the most common accounts is that she committed suicide after hearing of Brutus’s death, either by swallowing hot coals or burning charcoal in a room without ventilation.
7. Octavia the Younger
Octavia lived from 69 to 11 BC, and was the older sister of Octavian (later known as Augustus). Although Julius Caesar was her great uncle, she married one of his opponents, Marcellus, who she had 3 children with. After Marcellus died, she married Mark Antony. This was to help secure the alliance between Antony and Octavian who were, to say the least, not always on great terms with each other. However, Antony left Octavia for Queen Cleopatra, who he had an affair with in the past, and already had twins with. Octavia remained loyal to Antony, and she became a sort of negotiator between Antony and Octavian.After Antony had received the money and troops he needed from Octavia to fight a campaign in the east, he divorced her. This was one of the many actions of Antony that Octavian used to paint him and Cleopatra in as bad a light as possible. Octavia never remarried, and after Antony’s suicide, she took in his 4 children by Fulvia and Cleopatra, and cared for them along with her other children. When her son Marcellus died, she remained in mourning until death. Octavia was highly respected by her brother, and was a role model for many Roman women.Valeria Messalina
Messalina was born around 20 AD. She was a cousin of Nero and Caligula, and became empress when she married Claudius. Along with Augustus’ daughter Julia (who he had banished for sleeping with so many different men), Messalina is probably one of the most notoriously promiscuous women of Rome. In 37 AD, Messalina married Claudius, who was at least 30 years older than her. At this time Caligula was still emperor. Claudius doted on Messalina, and after he became emperor, Messalina used his affection for her to get whatever she wanted. Since Claudius was old, she realized how precarious her position was, and was ruthless to that extent. She ordered that Claudius exile or execute anyone who displeased her or who she felt threatened by.Unfortunately, this was a good number of people. For all his good qualities as emperor, Claudius became known for being easily manipulated by his wife. The account of Messalina competing with a prostitute to see who could have sex with the most people in one night was first recorded by Pliny the Elder. Pliny says that, with 25 partners, Messalina won. Messalina’s most famous affair is the one she had with the senator Gaius Silius. She told Silius to divorce his wife, which he did. Silius and Messalina planned to kill Claudius, and make Silius emperor. While still married to Claudius, Messalina married Silius. Of course, this was all discovered, and Claudius had the two put to death.Julia Domna
Julia Domna lived from 170 to 217 AD. She was the wife of the emperor Septimius Severus, and the mother of the emperors Caracalla and Geta. Born in Syria, her father was the high priest of the temple of Elagabal. Julia and Severus had a happy relationship, and she would often advise him politically. She traveled with him during his military campaigns, which was unusual for a woman. Many Romans felt she wielded an inappropriate amount of power over the empire whenever her husband was gone on a campaign. She often faced accusations of adultery or treason, but none of these were ever proven. After Severus died, Julia tried to help Geta and Caracalla rule successfully as co-emperors. Caracalla eventually had his brother killed. After that, things became a bit more strained between Caracalla and his mother, but she still traveled with him during his campaigns.When Caracalla was assassinated, Julia committed suicide. Julia’s sister, Julia Maesa, was also an influential woman, and helped engineer the plot to overthrow Macrinus so that her grandson Elagabalus could become emperor. When Elagabalus turned out to be a complete and utter failure of an emperor, she began promoting her other grandson Alexander Severus. After Elagabalus was murdered along with his mother, Alexander became emperor. Julia Mamaea, another relation of Julia Domna’s, came to exercise power. Her son Alexander was barely 14, and she essentially had control over running the empire, until she was killed along with Alexander during a mutiny.Agrippina the Elder
Agrippina the Elder lived from 14 BC to 33 AD. She was the granddaughter of Augustus, daughter of Augustus’s right hand man Agrippa, and the wife of the beloved general Germanicus. After Agrippa died, Agrippina’s mother married Tiberius. This was an unhappy marriage, as Tiberius had been forced to divorce Vipsania, who he was deeply in love with. Agrippina never saw her mother again after she was exiled for adultery. Germanicus and Agrippina had six children who lived to be adults, including Nero (not the emperor), Drusus, Gaius (later known as Caligula), Drusilla, Livilla, and Agrippina the Younger. Agrippina went with Germanicus on his campaigns, along with their children. They would dress their toddler in a little army outfit, and this is how Gaius got the nickname Caligula, which means Little Boots.After Tiberius became emperor, he became jealous of Germanicus’ popularity, who was preferred by many for the position. It was believed by many that it was on Tiberius’ orders that Germanicus was poisoned in Antioch. Agrippina believed her husband had certainly been murdered, but the truth was never found out. She made her dislike of Tiberius clear, and accused him of trying to poison her as he did her husband. Tiberius didn’t trust her either, and had her elder sons Nero and Drusus arrested and then left to starve to death. Tiberius then banished Agrippina on false charges. Exiled to the same island her mother once had been, Agrippina was treated violently, and lost an eye while being flogged. Like her sons, Agrippina eventually died of starvation. As a side note to Agrippina’s tragic story, her youngest son Caligula was not only spared by Tiberius, but brought to live with him on Capri. I imagine that it would be slightly uncomfortable living with the man responsible for the deaths of nearly everyone in your family.Agrippina the Younger
Agrippina the Younger, daughter of Agrippina the Elder, lived from 15 to 59 AD. Around age 13, she married Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. Ahenobarbus had a reputation for dishonesty, violence, and traffic violations (he once ran over a child in the street). Agrippina and Ahenobarbus had a son named Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who would later be called Nero and eventually become emperor. When Caligula became emperor he gave Agrippina, along with her sisters Drusilla and Livilla, many privileges and honors. When Caligula’s favorite sister Drusilla (who he often treated more like a wife) died, he was devastated, and also became colder to Agrippina and Livilla. The sisters became involved in a plot to assassinate Caligula, but it was discovered, and they were exiled. When Claudius was made emperor, he brought his nieces Agrippina and Livilla back from exile. After Claudius’ wife Messalina was killed, the freedman Pallas advised him to marry Agrippina. Agrippina and Pallas were having an affair, and he wanted to see his mistress gain power.Other advisers presented different options to him, but Pallas argued that marrying Agrippina would help connect the Julian and Claudian sides of the family. Claudius decided to marry Agrippina, which was controversial in Rome, where it was not considered acceptable for a man to marry his niece. Just as Messalina had done, Agrippina worked to eliminate anyone who threatened her or Nero’s position. Even though Claudius had a biological son, Agrippina convinced Claudius to adopt Nero and make him his heir. Claudius seemed to begin favoring his own son Britannicus again, and this is the most likely motivation for Agrippina poisoning Claudius. After Claudius was dead, Nero became emperor, and Agrippina began exercising power through her son. Just as Agrippina was accused of incest with Caligula, she was also accused of using sex as a means of controlling Nero. Nero eventually began to resent his mother for the control she had over him. After many failed elaborate attempts on Agrippina’s life, Nero eventually resorted to the tried and true method of stabbing. When the assassins came to kill Agrippina, she told them to stab her in her womb.Fulvia
Fulvia was one of the most politically involved women of the Roman Republic. She lived from 83 to 40 BC, and was the great granddaughter of Cornelia Africana. Fulvia’s first husband was Publius Clodius, who is probably best known for sneaking into the Bona Dea festival dressed as a woman in order to meet up with Julius Caesar’s wife. Clodius was a populist politician, and Fulvia was with him constantly. After Clodius was killed by his political opponent Milo, Fulvia dragged his body through Rome and incited a riot among Clodius’ followers. Fulvia gave a testimony during the trial of Milo, who was condemned to exile. When Clodius died, the power he had over many gangs in Rome transferred to her. Fulvia’s second marriage was to another popular politician, Scribonius Curio. Curio was also killed, while fighting for Caesar. Fulvia’s final marriage was to Mark Antony, who was also a good friend of Curio. In one of Cicero’s Philippic speeches, he goes on for some time about the nature of Curio and Antony’s relationship – whether completely true or not, it makes for entertaining reading. Cicero also derided the relationship between Fulvia and Antony, saying that he only married her because he needed her money. Fulvia defended Antony after Cicero’s many speeches against him, and helped her husband to gain power through the gangs of Clodius she still controlled.After Caesar died and Antony joined the Second Triumirate, Fulvia was involved in the proscriptions. After Antony had Cicero murdered, Dio describes Fulvia stabbing his tongue with one of her hairpins. When Antony and Octavian went to fight Brutus and Cassius, Fulvia was essentially left in charge of Rome. Octavian, who had married and divorced one of Fulvia’s daughters, believed Fulvia was gaining too much power, and becoming too ambitious. Along with Antony’s brother Lucius, Fulvia raised legions to fight Octavian. Around this time Octavian wrote an epigram about Fulvia: “Because Antony fucks Glaphyra, Fulvia is determined to punish me by making me fuck her in turn. I fuck Fuliva? What if Manius [freedman of Fulvia] begged me to sodomize him, would I do it? I think not, if I were in my right mind. ‘Either fuck me or let us fight,’ says she. Ah, but my cock is dearer to me than life itself. Let the trumpets sound.” Eventually Lucius surrendered to Octavian, and Fulvia escaped to Greece. When Antony met her there, he was outraged that she had incited a war against Octavian without his permission. Soon after this, Fulvia died of unknown causes.Livia Drusilla
Livia Drusilla, the first empress of Rome, lived from 58 BC to 29 AD. Livia was first married to Tiberius Claudius Nero, who she had her son Tiberius by. When Livia met Octavian, he fell in love with her, even though she was married and pregnant with Drusus, her second son. Octavian was also married at the time, to Scribonia. On the same day that Scribonia gave birth to Octavian’s daughter Julia, he divorced her, and then forced Tiberius Claudius Nero to divorce Livia. Awkwardly enough, Tiberius Claudius was the one to give away his ex-wife in Livia and Octavian’s wedding ceremony. Livia and Octavian (Augustus) would be married for over 50 years. Despite the fact that they both had children from previous marriages, they never were able to have children. During Augustus’ long reign as emperor, Livia was a constant adviser. Since Augustus had no sons of his own, Livia began promoting her own sons as heirs, and it was around this time that rumors began spreading about Livia’s habit of killing anyone who got in the way their accession, including Augustus’ nephew Marcellus and his grandsons. It was even said that she poisoned Augustus with figs, to prevent him from changing his heir from her son Tiberius to someone else.The image of Livia as essentially a power mad serial killer was possibly common at the time because of the Roman idea of the evil step-mother figure. In modern times, people still often picture Livia in this way, such as in I, Claudius. In reality, despite her ambitions for Tiberius and the odd coincidental deaths of Augustus’ heirs, there’s no proof to support the murders. Perhaps there’s something morbidly appealing in the idea that Augustus – the man who not only survived illness after illness, civil war after civil war, but lived to reform the Roman Republic and rule over it for roughly half a century – ended up getting killed by some figs from his beloved wife. Augustus left Livia a third of his property, and also adopted her. In the biography of Augustus by Anthony Everitt, he writes that there is not a definite reason as to why Augustus adopted his wife. He suggests that it was an acknowledgement of all the work Livia did for him and counseling she gave him. Tiberius, who did not have any desire to be emperor in the first place, did not appreciate Livia’s political advice, and began to find his mother overbearing. When Livia died, he did not return to Rome from Capri, but sent Caligula to deliver her eulogy. There were many honors granted to Livia after her death, but Tiberius had them all vetoed.
STRANGE UFO ENCOUNTERS
on Tuesday, October 18, 2011The topic of UFOs is one on which everyone has an opinion. From the strong believer to the condescending skeptic, everyone has deep rooted beliefs regarding the subject. Some believe UFOs are travelers from other planets or dimensions. Others believe them to be experimental military aircraft. I have picked stories from different countries and eras to show that people have been reporting the same characteristics and attributes in UFOs and Extra Terrestrials for decades upon decades, and very often these stories were reported long before the seed of UFO awareness was planted in the mind of the public, through TV, film and literature.I, personally, believe that, in the future, the existence of intelligent Extra Terrestrial life in the universe will be seen to be self evident, and people will look back and laugh at the ignorance of the past, much in the same way we do today when we remember people used to think the earth was flat, or that it didn’t orbit the Sun. Slowly but surely scientists are beginning to agree that it is mathematically impossible for intelligent life not to exist with our planet in the endless expanse of the universe, and the trillions of planets it contains. We truly live in exciting times, as day by day, more and more is discovered about the Cosmos to show this to be empirically true. I’ll leave you with the words of the pioneer of America’s Apollo Space program, the great Wernher Von Braun. “You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.”The Bowling Green Apparition
During the night of the 12th of February, 2010, lifelong paranormal skeptic Roy Shaw was walking his dog in Devon, England. Wandering through the quiet streets of his neighborhood, he began to approach his local Lawn Bowling club, when he was startled by an odd object hovering high up in the sky. Hazy and distant at first, it began to descend slowly and move nearer in his direction. Circular in shape, it suspended itself above the bowling club and Shaw entered the grounds to get a better look at the object. He watched in amazement as it zigzagged around, before landing on the far side of the green.He was astounded to make out a 100ft long space craft, with blue and red lights streaming along it’s underside. At this point a 4ft high white apparition exited from the ship and floated towards him across the lawn. ‘It was about 4ft high and seemed to be translucent and moved very slowly towards us. I was transfixed because it made a droning noise, which sounded like “my, my” repeated over and over’ he later told newspapers. His dog, Sydney – an animal he stated is normally very placid – began growling and bearing its teeth at the spirit. At this point, Mr Shaw ran for his life, with such haste he twisted his ankle in the process. Another dog walker in the area claims to have seen the ship dart off into the sky at a 45 degree angle. Funnily enough, Mr Shaw still claims to be a paranormal skeptic, even after this bizarre encounter. Above is a sketch of the UFO he saw.UFO with an Accent
A woman telephoned RAF Wattisham, in Suffolk, England, on November 21st, 1989, in a distressed manner to report an encounter she had the night before with a strange man in her area. At around 10.30pm, the woman was walking her dog near a sports field when she was approached by a man with a ‘Scandinavian type accent’ dressed in light brown overalls that resembled a flying suit. A recently released report from the National Archives about the case reads. “He asked her if she was aware of stories about large circular flattened areas appearing in fields of wheat, and then went on to explain that he was from another planet similar to Earth, and that the circles had been caused by others like him who had traveled to Earth.” The man went on that they’re visits were friendly but was ordered not to make contact in case they were seen as a threat. He said he disobeyed his orders as he felt it was important for contact between our people and his to occur.They talked for 10 minutes until he suddenly ran back in the direction he came. The woman, realizing the gravity of her situation and the strangeness of what had just occurred, ran home in a panic stricken state. Whilst doing so, she heard a thunderous buzzing noise, growing in haste and volume behind her. She turned to see a large spherical object, glowing a brilliant orange and white, rise from the trees and eventually disappear up into the atmosphere. The MOD notes attached to the file described the case as ‘one of our more unusual UFO reports.’ The operator who took the woman’s call described it as ‘a genuine call’.The Wyoming case
In 1974, Carl Higdon was hunting in Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming. Taking aim and firing at an Elk something strange happened; his bullet seemed to move in slow motion. As he went to retrieve the bullet a sudden strange feeling came over him. Turning around, he saw a humanoid over six feet tall which he described as having a black jumpsuit, a wide belt decorated with a six-pointed star and emblem of yellow. It had straight hair standing out from his head, no eyebrows, bow-legs and long arms ending with rod-like appendages instead of hands. The being asked him if he was hungry and gave him four pills, telling him if he ate one he wouldn’t be hungry for 4 days. The humanoid then pointed to him, and in an instant he found himself encased in a transparent device and wearing a helmet.Two more humanoids appeared, carrying the 5 elk Higdon had previously hunted; which were now stiff and in an unnaturally frozen state. He was told he was going to their home planet, some 163,000 light-years away, and subsequently arrived there in a flash. On the planet he said there were many buildings that resembled the Seattle Space needle, and the planet’s sun was of an intense heat. His next memory was of being back in Medicine Bow Park, with 2 and a half hours having elapsed. He staggered in a deranged state unable to find his truck, eventually finding it 3 miles away. He radioed the Sheriff, who found him at midnight exhausted and frantic, shouting ‘They took my elk’. After being taken to the local hospital and examined, they found all his vitamin levels were miraculously high, and tuberculosis marks he had on his lungs had vanished. Higdons wife and 2 other people in the area saw green and red lights in the sky on the night of his abduction.The Western France Case
George Gatay was a well respected local man in the town of Nouatre, in western France. A veteran of WW2, he fought with the French Resistance in Luxembourg against the Nazi’s. On the 30th of September, 1954, he was in charge of an 8 man crew working on a construction site. Whilst working he felt a ‘peculiar drowsiness ‘come over him. He felt compelled to walk, although he did not know where or why, as if some unknown force was guiding him. When he stopped he was in sight of an unknown being some 30ft away on a hill. He described it as having an opaque glass helmet, grey coveralls and short boots. He also noticed a rod like weapon in its hand and a square shaped electronic device on its chest. The creature stood in front of a dome shaped object which hovered 3ft above the ground. The craft also had a cupola shape on top, with blade like devices protruding from its highest point. In total awe of what he was looking at, Gattay stood in a paralyzed silence.As he gazed in amazement, something even stranger happened. He stated ‘Suddenly, the strange man vanished, and I couldn’t explain how he did it, since he did not disappear from my field of vision by walking away, but vanished like an image one erases. Then I heard a strong whistling sound which drowned the noise of our excavators. Soon the object rose by successive jerks, in a vertical direction, and then it too was erased in a sort of blue haze, as if by a miracle.’ Gattay then ran back to the site to report what he saw, and noted that at his first attempt to do so he was overcome with an unshakable feeling of stillness. After greeting his workers with a panicky ‘Have you seen something!?’ Two of his workers concurred with his account, claiming to have seen a flying saucer and ‘a man dressed like a diver in front of it.’ His seven co workers complained of feeling inexplicably drowsy during the event, and George Gattay himself suffered headaches, loss of appetite and insomnia for the full following week.The Winchester Woman
In a Top 10 list of strange UFO stories, this one really is strange. The local Councillor for Winchester in Hampshire, Mr Adrian Hicks was in the town centre on a busy Saturday afternoon during the early months of 2004. After having lunch in his local bar and purchasing a few books from a book store, he noticed something odd about a woman walking through the rural town’s main street. Her clothes were somewhat unusual, and everything about her didn’t add up. The way she moved and her general demeanor gave off a strange impression which singled her out from the crowd. He followed her with his eyes for a few moments and came to the incredible realization that he wasn’t looking at a human at all – but an extra terrestrial. ‘It was staggering; I am not usually lost for words but was that day. ‘ He watched her for around 9 minutes, walking ahead of her twice and noticed a tutu like piece of clothing around her waist and a thick head of bright blonde hair. ‘She was a humanoid walking with a penguin like gait. She had very large oval eyes and was twirling her hands in a circular motion. She seemed friendly and totally at ease with us.She wasn’t scared; she was smiling, and seemed to be enjoying herself among us.’ Hicks was startled when she stopped 7 ft away from him when he uttered ‘What the fuck is that?’ under his breath. ‘She walked very slowly up the High Street. I remember she was very interested in the clock over Lloyds Bank. She was taking it all in’. He has stated that several people noticed her without paying any extra attention and spotted some people taking pictures of her, though no pictures have ever surfaced. Hicks believes that the encounter is to do with a much larger Alien presence in Winchester, due to the secret US and British operations in a nearby base. An orthopedic technician with over 35 years experience, Hicks kept his encounter secret for 5 years in order to secure his place in local government, revealing his story only after securing election as a Liberal Democrat Councillor. He spent £400 of his own money for an artist to perfect her image, which can be seen above. He now lobbies for the government to come clean about its dealings with UFO’S.The Silbury Hill Case
During July 2009, an off duty police Sergeant was driving along the A4 motorway during the early hours of the morning. At around 5.a.m, whilst passing Silbury hill, an area long renowned for its druid precedent, UFO sightings and mystical attributes, he noticed 3 exceptionally tall men standing in a field examining a recently made crop circle. He noticed they had shining blonde hair and were dressed in white coveralls with their hoods down, which reminded him of forensic detectives. Intrigued by such a bizarre spectacle, the sergeant parked his car and approached the men. From a distance of 400 yards he shouted at them, but his attempts fell on deaf ears and he was ignored. Upon entering the field, however, the 3 men became aware of his presence and simultaneously turned toward him before making off at a miraculous speed heading southward away from the hill. He followed them for a few seconds, but realized he was no match for their pace and watched in awe as they strode off in superhuman strides. After glancing away for a second, the sergeant looked back in the men’s direction to see they had completely vanished.“They ran faster than any man I have ever seen. I’m no slouch but they were moving so fast. I looked away for a second and when I looked back they were gone” he told Andrew Russell, the UFO investigator he has chosen to communicate through in favor of remaining anonymous. Walking back to his car, he felt something akin to a static electricity echoing throughout the field. The crops began to ripple and sway in time with a crackle that was pulsing all around him, and he developed a massive headache. “I then got scared. The noise was still around but I got an uneasy feeling and headed for the car. For the rest of the day I had a pounding headache I couldn’t shift.” He contacted his colleagues at Wiltshire Police and they released this statement. “The police officer was apparently off duty when this happened so we have no comment to make because it is a personal not a police matter.” On the night following the sighting, residents of the area reported seeing an unmarked Helicopter hovering for 3 hours over the field were the encounter took place, a sequence that has followed UFO and crop circle reports in the area with increasing frequency. The sergeant continues to remain anonymous.The Zimbabwe Encounter
On the 14th of September, 1985, there had been reports of UFO’s in the skies over Zimbabwe. Two days later at the private Ariel Elementary in Ruwa, 20km from the capital, Harare, 62 school children between the ages of 5 and 12 spotted a glowing ball in the sky during the schools morning break. They watched as it hovered around, appearing and disappearing for a short while before it gradually descended to the ground and landed 100ft away from the school in a bushy area off limits to the children. A ‘small man’, standing around 3ft tall with long black hair, large eyes and a slim neck exited the craft and began to walk towards the children. The schools teachers and staff were indoors attending a meeting at this point, which left the children unsupervised. As he moved in their direction he suddenly disappeared in mid step, reappearing on top of the craft, where he silently stared at the children for a few moments, before re-entering the ship and soaring off at an incredible speed. Many pupils were terrified due to African folklore stories which talk of demons and vampires that kidnap children and devour them. The only adult present in the playground was a parent running a tuck shop near the school entrance, who the children descended upon in stampede like fashion to relate their extraordinary tale.The schools headmaster, Colin Mackie, contacted the now late Cynthia Hind, who in her time was Africa’s foremost UFO investigator. She interviewed the pupils and asked them to recreate drawings of what they saw. Around 35 sketches and drawings were produced, which were all strikingly similar in their depiction of the ‘man’ and his ship. Upon interviewing the children, Hind became convinced of the stories authenticity. One child told her “I swear by every hair on my head and the whole Bible that I am telling the truth.” The consensus was reached among the parents, school staff and Hind that the pupils were in fact telling the truth; as such a lie would be far too complex for children of a young age to conceive and uphold. On a more bizarre note, the older children told Hind they thought they were being communicated to by the ‘man’ and his stare, which warned them that the planet’s natural beauty and resources were being ravaged and polluted beyond repair. “Those thoughts came from the man, the man’s eyes” a shaken 12 year old told Hind. A drawing one of the pupils produced can be seen above.The Livingston case
On the 5th of November, 1979, Robert Taylor, a forester employed by the Livingston Development Corporation, left his house at 10.30am to check on some saplings he had planted at Dechmont Law, a secluded ,forested hill just off the M8 motorway. Accompanied by his dog, he parked his pickup truck at the beginning of a forest trail and preceded the rest of the way on foot. Turning a corner and coming onto a forest clearing, Taylor was greeted by an unbelievable spectacle. Suspended in mid air was a silent and motionless spherical object, which he recalled measuring around 20ft across by 12ft high. Made of a material he likened to black sand paper, a row of small circular windows ran around the centre of the object. A ring also protruded along the same course, sitting just below the portholes. Parts of the object were transparent and seemed to morph, which gave Taylor the impression the object was trying to make itself invisible, or had the capability to do so. As he went to walk toward the object, two smaller spheres covered in metal rods (which reminded him of old navy mines) ejected from the primary object and began to roll towards him. Attaching themselves to each of his trouser legs, they emitted an acrid, stifling smell which made him gag for air and lose consciousness.He awoke to find himself face down in the grass, with the UFO long gone and his dog running around barking wildly. Attempting to summon the dog he realized he had lost his voice, and, trying to rise to his feet, he came to the horrible realization he couldn’t stand or walk either. Crawling and staggering back in the direction of his truck, he regained the functions in his legs and voice, but accidentally ditched his truck in wet mud after trying to drive in such a dazed and shaken state. He stumbled and lurched home, and upon arrival his wife thought he had been assaulted as he stood swaying in their doorway: his face grazed, his trousers badly torn and his clothes caked in mud. She called the police and an investigation revealed some interesting facts. The section of land in which he encountered the UFO was covered in peculiar indentations, none of which matched any forestry equipment or vehicles that were being used on the Law. The tears on his trousers were forensically examined and were discovered to have been pierced by an unknown implement, with the nature of the tears determining that whatever tore his trousers had attempted to lift him in an upwards direction. Taylor never gained financially or in any other form through telling his story, which never changed from when it first came to light in the 70′s up until his death at 89, in 2007.The Livingstone case remains unsolved to this day, and is the only UFO case in the UK which has resulted in a criminal investigation. Above is an artist’s impression of what Taylor encountered.Marconi Systems
Marconi Systems was a defense and aeronautics engineering firm, contracted by the British government to design and manufacture visionary, top of the line weapons systems and military craft. Now extinct due to its merger with British Aerospace and eventual acquisition by BAE Systems, the firm was never far from controversy and back handed scandal. During the 1980′s, reports of an unusual amount of ‘suicides’ among Marconi’s employees who worked on top secret projects gathered widespread media attention in the UK. Twenty Five engineering experts, scientists and digital communication specialists succumbed to ‘suicide’ and ‘accidents’ over a 6 year period, between 1982 and 1988. A large majority died just before their contracts with Marconi were up ,or when they were on the verge of transferring to another defense systems company. Among those the public were supposed to believe committed suicide were; Shani Warren, a 26 year old personal assistant in a biochemical subdivision of Marconi, who was found at the bottom of a lake with her legs bound, her mouth gagged, a noose around her neck and her hands tied behind her back; Richard Pugh a 37 year old digital communications expert, who was found with his feet tied, a plastic bag over his head and a rope coiled round his neck and body four times; Alistair Beckham, a 55 year old software engineer who supposedly committed suicide by going into his garden shed , connecting his body up to a series of live electrical wires and frying himself to death, and Vimal Dajhibai; a 24 year old software engineer who was in his last week of work for Marconi. His death was ruled a suicide by jumping off a suspension bridge in Bristol. Friends said he spoke of his happiness at securing a new job and saw no reason for him to end his life. The coroner ruled a needle sized puncture wound found on his buttock was caused by his fall.Many researchers uncovered whispers that the deaths were related to revolutionary infrared radar technology being developed by the company, and the Stars Wars defense initiative, which Marconi played a significant part in, due to America’s literal colonization of British defense innovations, a situation that continues to this day. Looking at these deaths it’s clear that security was something that Marconi took very seriously, and that they were willing to go to unthinkable measures to keep its capabilities and inventions top secret. An important and strategic Marconi complex was situated in the small English town of Frimley, complete with a testing zone, a manufacturing plant and company headquarters. Given what we already know about them, if an intruder were to penetrate deep within the premises, it would rank at the top of the site security alert scale, and that’s exactly what happened in 1976, although this was no ordinary intruder. A security guard doing his patrol at night was passing through the bases’ Old House, a structure that housed the company director’s office and a treasure trove of top secret information on Britain’s Radioactive, Nuclear, Infrared, Sonar, Ballistic and Aviation capabilities.While walking down one of these corridors, he noticed a blue light emitting from underneath one of the doors. The guard was aroused and drew his gun, as nothing but classified files in locked Cabinets was meant to be on the other side, and the only person who was authorized to be in the building was him. He burst into the room, and was met with a horrifying and epochal sight. In the corner, perched over an open filing cabinet, rifling through mountains of Top Secret documents, was none other than an Extra Terrestrial. Described as being humanoid, and wearing some form of headlight which emitted the blue glow, it quickly turned toward the guard and erased itself in a blue haze right before his eyes and disappeared. Shrieking in terror, the guard ran out of the building to a security outpost, where he informed his colleagues of his encounter and the Complex went into lock down. The following morning the guard was taken away by 2 military psychiatrists, never to be seen by anyone on the site again.The Varginha Case
In recent years, the Varginha case has garnered just as much attention and controversy among hardcore UFO enthusiasts as Roswell has among the general public. Many attempts have been made to thoroughly investigate the case and make conclusive findings. The 2002 book ‘UFOS over Brazil’ by American UFO expert Dr Roger Leir, is the closest so far, and his interviews with military officials, hospital surgeons and a wide array of civilian witnesses will form the basis of this account. The NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) tracked an uncorrelated, unidentified object soaring above the western hemisphere on the 13th of January, 1996. It entered Brazilian airspace and the CINDACTA (acronym translates as the ‘Integrated Air Traffic Control and Air Defense Centre’) were contacted, who in turn alerted the Brazilian Army command at Tres Coracoes, giving the instruction that all wings of the Brazilian military were to be put on high alert.Rumors of mass UFO sightings began sweeping throughout southern Brazil in the days that followed, and events made a significant development on the 20th of January, when witnesses in a rural town in the state of Minais Gerais reported seeing a ‘Submarine shaped craft’ cruising 20ft above the ground, which appeared to be damaged or malfunctioning. Moving at a rickety, slow pace and emitting some form of smoke, it was heading in the direction of Varginha. At daybreak on the 21st, strange creatures were seen wandering around the town in an incapacitated and horribly confused state. Villagers erupted into frenzy and notified the police and fire brigade, telling them the town had been overrun by monsters from Indigenous folk tales and even the Devil himself. The army was quickly contacted and according to several witnesses 2 of the creatures were captured without resistance, with one being subsequently shot dead and the other being transferred to the Hospital Humanitas to receive treatment for the injuries it sustained during the crash. The Orthopedic Surgeon Leir interviewed said he was instructed by armed officers to begin a surgical scrub and prepare to perform a fracture reduction on plainly ‘a leg’. Leir interviewed the other surgeons and assistants that attended the surgery, who all stated the operating theatre was sealed except for one entrance which was manned by armed officers, who were unaware of what was in the theatre. The flow of military officials and hospital personnel into the room was strictly monitored, with only a small essential team of staff being allowed inside. Corrective surgery was performed on a fracture of the femur of its upper thigh, with members of the Brazilian Army S-2 military intelligence division being present at the surgery.The bipedal creature was described as being around 5ft, with massive red eyes, a thin neck and dark brown skin which looked wet but was dry to the touch. It also had 3 bony protuberances on 3 sections across its head, and from its anatomy alone its sex was indeterminable. All attempts made to communicate verbally with the creature were of no consequence and it’s wound healed completely within 24 hours. After surgery the surgeon turned to see the aliens eyes fixated upon him. He then began to feel ‘hammer- like blows’ to his head and chunks of information began to pound and cram his mind, which he described as being like ‘Thoughtgrams’. The surgeon has never revealed the full extent of what the Alien told him, but among other things it told him that it’s race felt sorry for humans, because we are largely detached from our spiritual selves and are unaware of the amazing things we can accomplish, that it’s race already have. It was then taken out of the room by the officers, along with all X-rays, documents and test results that pertained to it. The surgeon complained of headaches for the 2 weeks following the event and was reduced to a quivering wreck when telling this aspect of the story to Leir. Two days later, several witnesses saw US military cargo planes at Sao Paolo Airport, which were presumed to be collecting the crashed craft and its occupants.The story was picked up in its most basic form by The Wall Street Journal, who ran it on their front page as a story as centrally dealing with a downed unknown object in Brazil. While some people will perceive the story as baseless and futile nonsense, there is much evidence on the contrary. Ubirajara Rodriguez, an attorney and Varginha UFO case expert obtained a copy of the death certificate of a Corporal Marco Cherez, an officer who died three weeks after he supposedly touched the creature with his bare hands. His death certificate states the cause of death as being from a ‘Toxic substance’ and an ‘Ebola Type Disease’ although the full report of his autopsy has never been revealed. In the weeks that followed the event, a surprise visit was paid to Brazil by Warren Christopher and Daniel S.Goldin who were, at the time, the US Secretary of State and Director of NASA, respectively. Leir was shown several authenticated documents concerning agreements between Brazil and America which allow ‘any material coming from space that is found in Brazil to be turned over to the government of the United States.’ To top it off there are literally hundreds of Witnesses across Varginha, from all walks of life. Police officers, school teachers, peasant farmers and government employees: they are all united under the belief that extra terrestrials crash landed in their city at the turn of 1996, and they all witnessed it with their own eyes. But if you think the case is strange, you should take a look at the explanation Major Eduardo Calza gives as the cause of all this UFO hysteria surrounding Varginha. ‘It was an expectant Dwarf couple and a mentally handicapped dwarf’ he told investigative journalist Bruce Burgess during an interview for his documentary ‘The Brazilian Roswell’. What do you believe?
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