April 27

Phantom Submarines

On this date in 1983 divers in Husnes Fjord spotted what they believed to be the conning tower of a submarine. It was reported, and since most nations are just a tad touchy about their territorial waters, a search team from the Norwegian military arrived shortly thereafter. Aside from a corvette and two submarines, it included an Orion aircraft equipped with anti-submarine weapons, with three  frigates joining the next day. From then until May 1 the military received reports of numerous civilian sightings of the mystery sub, generally from the same areas where the navy made sonar contact.

KNM Oslo obtained a sonar target near Leirvik (on Stord Island) at 4:55 pm. A rocket thrown depth charge (Terne) was fired at 5:21 as a warning to the intruder that they had been sighted and were being tracked. The next night a probable sonar contact was made, but with no weapons fired.

Up to April 29 two more contacts had been made at different locations, but then, on April 30 sufficient sonar contacts were made for Oslo to fire five Ternes, as well as dropping a mine, before contact was lost. Around 4:00 pm that day five more Ternes were fired at a different location, with one more, near Leirvik again, at midnight. At 4:20 pm the next day six more were fired, and a mine dropped from the Orion.

The last sonar contact, by the Orion, was made at 8:30 pm, then the mystery sub vanished. Six mines and 24 of the rocket propelled depth charges netted absolutely nothing.

No other country admitted to having a sub prowling various fjords, and it certainly wasn't one of Norway's own. Could the sonar contacts have been a whale, or some other large sea creature? Unlikely. Experienced sonar technicians can usually tell the difference in echoes produced by a sub or a whale.

These phantom subs have been seen in almost every country that has a coast. The thing that seems especially odd is that there are observations dating as far back as the mid 1800s.

April 26

All Over the Board

Exploding Toads

Today marks the ninth anniversary of the great exploding toad mystery. Health officials in Hamburg Germany were perplexed and in a bit of a panic after about one thousand toads each showered an area of around a square yard with toad innards. The mess was, as you can imagine, terrible, a potential health hazard and a rather unique mystery.

It was finally figured out that crows were to blame. The local birds had developed an insatiable hankering for toad's livers, which they were able to pluck out before the toad realized it was being attacked. As soon as it did, it puffed up as a natural defense, but since it doesn't have a diaphragm or ribs to hold everything else in, the toad popped like a balloon stuck with a pin.

Ptombstone Pterodactyls?

On the 26th of April, 1890, the Tombstone Epitaph ran this headline: Found on the Desert. Strange Winged Monster Discovered and Killed on the Huachuca Desert. 

The article told the story of two ranchers who ran across what, from the description, could only be described as a pterodactyl. Of course once they were over their amazement, their first thought was to kill it. Having accomplished their goal with a few well aimed shots, they measured it as about ninety-two feet long and, wing tip to wing tip, about 160 feet across. The article ends with pieces being sent to undisclosed experts back east. 

This was the only account to see print. Without meaning to brand the story a hoax, I nevertheless wish to point out that newspapers of the time would often make up incredible stories anytime circulation flagged.

The Ball in the Mall

On this date in 1991, security cameras filmed a glowing white orb the size of a tennis ball as it toured Birchwood Shopping Centre in England. After climbing walls and circling waste bins, it disappeared over a tree.

And that's about it for April 26.

April 24

The Socorro Incident

Zamora showing the site to two Air Force Investigators
via Alien Casebook 

April 24, 1964, 5:45 pm. Police Sergeant Lonnie Zamora is in pursuit of a speeder south of Socorro, New Mexico, when suddenly the placid sky to the southwest is disturbed by a roar and a pillar of flame. Zamora relinquishes the chase to investigate, suspecting a local dynamite shack may have exploded.

As the roar and flame diminished and disappeared, and Zamora neared the site, he spotted a shiny object 200 yards to the south, which he initially thought to be a white car, overturned in an accident. He headed his patrol car toward it, thinking to help.

He briefly saw two individuals in white coveralls next to the "car" one of whom seemed startled at Zamora's sudden arrival. Sergeant Zamora radioed his dispatcher that he would be out of his car checking a possible accident, pulled up, got out, and headed toward the object.

As he approached it he no longer saw the people in white coveralls, but heard "about two or three loud thumps, like someone…shutting a door or doors hard". At that point the loud roar and flame returned, though this time he was close enough to see that the flame issued from underneath the object. The roar was not like that of a jet engine, but started out low frequency, then increased in both pitch and volume. The flame was funnel shaped,  light blue with no smoke, but orangish at the bottom.  At this point the object began to slowly rise straight up.

The symbol on the object
via Ufology Society International

Zamora ran behind his car, none-the-less keeping his eyes on the object. He described it as oval in shape, smooth, with no windows or visible doors, and aluminum-white in color. There was a strange symbol, in red, on the thing, which he reproduced later. It rose to a height of 10 to 15 feet, moving rapidly away from him. It's speed increased and it diminished in the distance, now without the noise or flame.

Afterward, when other officers arrived, they inspected the site with Zamora, who they found in a state of near shock. They found the brush burning and four strange indentations in the soil like the marks of legs or supports where the thing had been sitting.

A number of witnesses  reported an egg shaped craft or a bluish column of flame at the same time in the same area, some within minutes of Zamora's experience, before any account of it became public knowledge. One witness reported not only the landing of the object, which he thought was a plane in trouble, but also saw Zamora's patrol car going up the hill toward it.

Some researchers have labeled the incident a hoax, which seems unlikely given the number and variety of witnesses, the (admittedly sparse) physical evidence, and the effect the close encounter had upon Zamora, who eventually left the police and took a job managing a gas station. In a report to the CIA, the program director of Project Bluebook stated that there was no doubt Zamora saw an object that had a profound effect on him. He also said of Zamora that there was no question of his reliability. "He is a serious police officer, a pillar of his church and a man well versed in recognizing airborne vehicles in his area."

Another theory held that it was a college prank by students who were hassled by Zamora. However, no one, even at this late date, has ever come forward with direct testimony. It always involves someone they knew, whose name they can't reveal, and who they didn't actually see doing anything. Nor do they know how their nameless acquaintances pulled it off.

There are, of course, always those who think of extraterrestrials, but there are also those who think it was some sort of experimental aircraft from one of the many government facilities or military bases in the area. Socorro is, after all, only some 700 miles from Area 51, and less than 200 from Roswell.

April 23

Breakfast Interrupted by… What?

Tim Dinsdale via Loch Ness Investigation

Imagine having a peaceful breakfast next to a serene lake. Now imagine your breakfast interrupted by a large creature disturbing the serenity by rolling and diving in the lake. That's what happened to Tim Dinsdale at Loch Ness on this date in 1960. As most of us would, he quickly forgot his food, grabbed his camera and took off for the shore.

By the time he got there, though, Nessie had lit out across the loch and all he could capture on film was one hump leaving a wake behind as it diminished in the distance. Dinsdale was sufficiently amazed by the encounter and what he felt was the proof on his film, that he spent the rest of his life, off and on, pursuing the critter.

Of course, we can all guess what happened next. Cue the controversy. Many agreed with Dinsdale that the film definitively showed something strange was living in the loch. Others were just as convinced that what he committed to film was simply a distant boat (even though it didn't leave a similar wake, didn't maneuver like one, and eventually dove beneath the surface). 

Dinsdale stopped filming before running out of film, in order to change locations, hoping to catch a closer shot of the creature when it resurfaced. Unfortunately, it didn't reappear that day. He decided to use the small amount of film left to show some points of reference, in order to gauge the size of the thing, it's speed in the water, etc. To this end he arranged for someone to take a boat along the path the animal took, in order to show the contrast between it and the creature. 

Below I have appended two videos. The first consists of the 40 seconds of Tim's 1960 film that shows the hump traveling across the loch. The second is an interesting short account of Tim Dinsdale and his film.

April 22

The Man Who Taught J. B. Rhine

Walter Franklin Pierce
via Songs of Patience Worth

Today is the birthdate, in 1863, of Walter Franklin Prince, the only American, other than William James to be elected president of the Society for Psychical Research in London. He was also a PhD (Yale), Episcopal minister and founder of the Boston Society for Psychical Research. 

Prince started out as a minister, but through church social work was led to study abnormal psychology, eventually becoming director of psychotherapeutics at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in New York. At this point fate stepped in, in the form of James H. Hyslop, who recruited Prince to fill the post of research officer of the American Society for Psychical Research. It was in that capacity he became friends with noted investigator Hereward Carrington, and eventually, Harry Houdini. He was with ASPR for eighteen years, until the society was taken over by spiritualist supporters of the medium Mina Crandon, who, Prince was convinced, was a fake. At that point he resigned and formed the Boston Society for Psychical Research.

While Houdini, Carrington and Prince were all relentless in exposing fraudulent mediums, unlike Houdini, Carrington and Prince were convinced that some psychic phenomena were real. One case where Prince wasn't really sure either way became his best known investigation.

Pearl Curran in 1919
via St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Beginning in 1912, a young housewife named Pearl Curran received a series of messages through the Ouija board from someone named Patience Worth. By 1919 the board became superfluous, Pearl receiving pictorial visions directly, accompanied by Patience Worth's voice. Although Pearl had an indifferent education and read little, she and Patience authored several books and much poetry, considered classics of her day. Prince wrote a thorough account of his investigation of this phenomenon in 1927. 

He also investigated one of the first recognized cases of multiple personality and contributed much to the establishment of parapsychological research as a scientific endeavor. Most importantly, he advocated using laboratory work, with controls, to garner results that could be interpreted statistically. J. B. Rhine referred to Prince as "my principal teacher in psychical research." Indeed, Rhine's initial interest in parapsychology had grown from his investigations of mediumship with Prince at Harvard in 1926.

Prince was the author of The Psychic in the House (1926), The Case of Patience Worth (1927, his best known work), Noted Witnesses for Psychic Occurrences (1928) and Enchanted Boundary (1930).

April 21

The Dover Demon

Bartlett's drawing via The Iron Skeptic

There were three teenagers on this date in 1977 that I have either admiration or sympathy for. If admiration, it's because they pulled off a clever and harmless hoax that still endures almost 40 years later. But if they really saw what they claimed they did, few would have believed them, especially since, as teenagers, their stories would automatically have drawn suspicion. In that case, they have my sympathy.

It began when 17 year old William Bartlett down Farm Street in Dover, Massachusetts, at 10:30 pm. He saw some movement along the top of a broken stone wall, but it wasn't until the headlights fully revealed the creature that he realized it was something he had never seen before. "It scared me to death," he was reported saying. "I couldn't go back and see it." It was the first glimpse of what would come to be known as the Dover Demon.

Later that same evening 15 year old John Baxter reported seeing the same or similar creature in the woods off Miller Hill Road. At first he thought it might have been a child, but when he obtained a closer look he fled the woods in a panic.

John Baxter with his drawing

The third sighting wasn't until the following even when Abby Brabham, also 15, saw the thing sitting upright on Springdale Avenue. When plotted on a map the sightings formed a line two miles long.

The police interviewed all three teenagers, who described the thing, as well as producing drawings. They described something three and a half feet tall with an egg-shaped head with no ears, about the same size and shape as it's body, long thin limbs with tendril like fingers, and glowing (or reflective) orange eyes. The accounts given by all three jibed, with the exception that Brabham stated the eyes were green.

Police searched the area, but found nothing, claiming initially that the whole thing was "probably nothing more than a school vacation hoax." Police chief Carl Sheridan wasn't so sure, however. 

"The only thing that worries me is the story of Bill Bartlett," he said, calling the teenager "an outstanding artist and a reliable witness."

Some people thought the kids might have seen and misidentified a newborn moose, and if you compare the pictures of a moose calf with the creature drawings, it becomes apparent that the general body shape is not too far off. But a moose wouldn't have long tendril like fingers, and moose have prominent ears.

Whatever the thing was, it was never seen again after that night. 

April 20

Mary Celeste Redux?

Kaz II via CanadianContent

On 20 April, 2007, Australian authorities boarded a 9.8 meter catamaran off the northern coast. The boat, soon to be dubbed "the ghost yacht" by the press, had been spotted drifting with no sign of the crew on April 18 by a helicopter whose pilot reported it. Those who boarded the catamaran found everything normal and in order, just with no sign of the crew or what may have happened to them.

The yacht was named Kaz II, and not unlike the Mary Celeste, created a sensational mystery. It's condition when found was like a snapshot of daily life aboard. Food was set out on the table. A laptop was open and turned on. Although there were large tears in the sail, the engine was on and running. All the boat's systems, radio, GPS, etc. were fully functional. There just wasn't a crew.

Authorities quickly discovered the Kaz II had been crewed by her owner Derek Batten and his neighbors, brothers James and Peter Tunstead. Batten was a sailor with long experience and very safety minded, as were the Tunstead brothers. Forensic investigators found no signs of foul play. So what could have happened?

The Kaz II had left port early on April 15. Late that afternoon the yacht's GPS system showed her to be adrift. A video tape of footage taken by the crew and found on board had a date/time stamp for 10:00 am on the 15th, so it's fairly obvious the three men disappeared on their first day out.

The crew of the Kaz II via brisbanetimes

The coroner in charge of the inquest proposes a series of accidents based on conditions as seen on the tape. The seas were choppy and none of the men were wearing a life vest. Tunstead is seen fishing from the stern. Since a fishing line was found tangled in the propeller, the coroner proposed that one of the crew went overboard while trying to free it. Another, trying to help, either purposely or accidentally went overboard after the first man. Batten, who, on the tape, was at the helm, started the engine to come about and pick the others up, but then realized he would first have to drop the sail. When trying to do this the boom shifted, knocking him overboard, and the three were unable to catch and reboard the catamaran, which drifted away. While this is entirely possible and even plausible, it does seem to rely on a string of coincidences that are not entirely likely.

Other explanations include the yacht being stuck on a sandbar and the three being lost while trying to free it. Or a freak wave taking one of the crew and the others being lost while trying to rescue him. Or the possibility of the crew being taken off by another vessel. But to what purpose? And why not take the boat as well? Police ruled out a staged disappearance.

What happened is unlikely ever to be known. But at some point some critical happenstance struck the Kaz II, and her crew, unfortunately have joined the ranks of those who vanished at sea.

April 19

UFO Near the ISS, April 19, 2013

Today just these two videos, without comment.

April 18

An Aviator Vanishes

Damer Leslie Allen via Wikipedia

In 1912 aviation was still in it's infancy, and a risky proposition. That didn't stop most aviators, though. The Wrights first flew in 1903, a short hop of only 120 feet, and a mere six years later aircraft had developed sufficiently that the first air race was staged, in 1909. That same year Louis Bleriot became the first to fly the English Channel, in his Bleriot XI monoplane. Records were being broken almost on a daily basis. Newspapers offered cash prizes for the first pilot to accomplish this, that or the other aerial feat.

One thing that hadn't yet been done was to fly across the Irish sea. Robert Lorraine made the attempt in 1910, but crashed into the sea due to engine trouble. He had come so close, he was able to swim to shore afterward. Now, in April 1912, three young pilots- Denys Corbett Wilson, Damer Leslie Allen, and Vivian Hewitt- were vying to be the first.

Each wanted to have the best chance to succeed, so each chose the aircraft best suited for the crossing, and each chose the same aircraft. The planes selected were three identical Bleriot XIs, the plane it's creator had successfully flown across the Channel.

Wilson and Allen took off from Hendon early on the morning of April 17, (Hewitt's attempt began on the 26th) despite very strong winds. Allen reached Chester, but Corbett Wilson had lost his compass and had to land at Hereford. Allen, meanwhile had continued on to Holyhead, while Wilson was stuck at Colva with engine trouble.

The next day, April 18, 1912, Allen took off from Holyhead to make the crossing to Ireland. He and his plane were never seen again. It was assumed he crashed into the Irish Sea and died of drowning or exposure, but no body was ever found. He could have had engine problems, but the plane was performing perfectly up to his last takeoff. It is true that the weather was deteriorating, but it caused Corbett Wilson no problem, once his engine was set to rights.

Bleriot XI via Wikipedia

Could it have been an inherent problem with the Bleriot XI? In 1910 a series of accidents with Bleriot XIs occurred due to wing failure. Bleriot promptly solved the problem by strengthening the wing spars and the upper bracing wires. By 1912 all Bleriot XIs should have had this modification, but did they? Was Allen's plane an earlier model? If it was, could the heavy winds have overstressed the wings? The other two aircraft made the crossing quite well.

Oddly, Allen, at the time of his death, was being sued for the recovery of a Gainsborough painting which he had sold at Christie's for close to nine thousand pounds. At the time of his death his entire estate was worth only seven thousand. Could this have had anything to do with his disappearance? The court eventually found against him. Suspecting that outcome, might he have decided to go out a hero?

 

Vivian Hewitt, who successfully made the crossing the following week, gave his opinion that Allen simply didn't have enough experience to handle such a difficult flight. Yet Allen and Corbett Wilson had obtained their aviator's certificates at about the same time.

Damer Leslie Allen did not make the first heavier-than-air crossing of the Irish Sea. To the best of my knowledge, though, he was the first aviator to disappear under mysterious circumstances.

April 17

The Owlman

Mawnan Church via Wikipedia

June Melling's drawing
via Phantoms & Monsters

On April 17, 1976 the Melling family from Lancaster, England were in Cornwall on vacation. Vicky, 9 and her sister June, who was 12 at the time were walking in the woods near Mawnan church when they became frightened by a large winged creature hovering above the church tower. They ran to tell their father Don Melling, who decided to cut their vacation short, since the girls were so unsettled by the incident. Twelve year old June did a drawing of the creature.

Ten weeks later, on July 3, Sally Chapman, 14 and Barbara Perry were camping in those self-same woods near the church, when Sally, standing outside her tent, heard a strange hissing sound. When she turned to see what was making the noise she saw what looked like an owl as big as a man with pointed ears, red eyes and black talons. As both girls anxiously watched the thing leaped up and flew away. Other sightings the next day tallied with the girls' description, but added that the creature was silvery gray in color.

The beast was seen twice again in June and August of 1978, each time in close proximity to the church.

Researcher Jonathan Downes interviewed a young man to whom he gave the pseudonym Gavin, who saw the Owlman in 1989. Gavin and his girlfriend described the creature as gray and brown, about five feet tall and with glowing eyes.

Another sighting of the Owlman was by a woman tourist from Chicago in 1995. She described a man-bird with glowing eyes, pointed ears and a ghastly face with a wide mouth. She also mentioned the taloned wings.

British paranormal researchers Janet and Colin Bord suggest in their Modern Mysteries of the World that the sightings were of an escaped aviary bird. Some researchers suspect the eagle owl, which can grow over two feet long and have a wingspan close to six feet. Unfortunately the eagle owl doesn't tally very well with the descriptions and drawings given by the witnesses.

The last known sighting (of which I'm aware) was by a young woman in 2009.

April 16

An Actor's Ghost on an Army Post

Joint Base Lewis-McChord is an amalgamation of McChord Air Force Base and the Army's Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, Washington. But back in 1927, it was just Fort Lewis. In fact, it hadn't even been that for long, since originally it was designated Camp Lewis.

The Red Shield Inn as it appeared in 1919
via HistoryLink

In 1918 construction started on the Red Shield Inn close on to Camp Lewis. It was run by the Salvation Army as an accommodation for the families and friends of the thousands of soldier staging through the camp in WWI. The 150 room inn was completed in August, 1918, three months before the war ended. The traffic through the post had fallen off by 1921, however, and the Salvation Army no longer had reason to maintain the inn. It was transferred to the Army Quartermaster Corps for the fee of one dollar. It continued to be run by the army up through 1972, when it's use as transient quarters ceased, due to fire and safety concerns.

In order to save the historically significant building from demolition, arrangements were made to turn it into Fort Lewis Military Museum, which it officially became in 1973. But all wasn't entirely well. In fact, if the stories are true, the Major-General commanding the post was led to call for an exorcism!

The story came out in April 16, 1987 edition of the Fort Lewis Ranger (at that time, the Fort's official paper). Something odd was going on in the museum. There were cold spots, unexplained sounds and alarms that would go off for no reason. Ever since the late 1920's people claimed seeing the sad (some said angry) ghost of a cowboy roaming the hallways. Things came to a head when guards reported seeing the ghost leave the building through a closed and locked door.

The ghost was said to be that of a silent movie actor who had been murdered  in his room at the Red Shield Inn in 1927, while The Patent Leather Kid was being filmed on the base.

Barbara Bower, the museum director at that time, told the Fort Lewis Ranger, "Things weren't getting done. Everybody was talking about the ghost. Something had to be done."

At some time between 1977 and 1980, Major-General Richard E. Cavazos supposedly authorized an exorcism. According to the legend, three Catholic priests performed the ceremony, and the ghost wasn't seen again. 

The problem is that the museum's current director can find no record of an exorcism ever being done, according to the Northwest Guardian, the post's current official paper.

Could there even have been a murder? After diligent research I could find no mention of one. I did find something odd, though. All the actor's in the film had filmographies going past 1927, save one.

Could this be John Kolb? via Tacoma Public Library

There is no record of actor John Kolb beyond 1927. Indeed, he only appeared in one film after The Patent Leather Kid, and that was a minor uncredited part in Three's A Crowd. The two movies were released days apart, so his minor bit in Three's A Crowd could have been filmed prior to his work at Fort Lewis. Unfortunately I have been unable to find out when and where and how he died. All records of him seem to vanish after 1927. Could Kolb have been the ghost?

I have seen The Patent Leather Kid, but have been hard pressed to find any stills from it. There are a few in the excellent image archives of the Tacoma Public Library. One particularly caught my eye. It is an unidentified actor leaning on part of the set. He strikes me as similar in appearance to Kolb, but the definition is just too poor to say one way or the other. And there the matter rests, with more questions than answers.

April 15

The Ghost in the Cellphone

Enlarged portion of Davis Photo via Houston Chronicle

At four in the afternoon of April 15, 2013, Marcella Davis was trying to get a shot of her nephew at Cleveland High School. He turned away when she tried to get the shot and she didn't take any others.

Ms. Davis wasn't familiar with the smartphone she used to take the picture, so her daughter was showing her how you could zoom in and out. That's when they noticed they had captured more than they thought.

In the background, behind the chain link fence, is the transparent figure of a man in 70's style clothing. Behind him, but less clear, is a figure of what appears to be a woman.

There are apps such as Ghost Cam designed to alter cellphone photos, but Ms. Davis claims to have no knowledge of how to use them. 

"I can promise you I did not make that picture up", she was quoted as saying.

Also on this date:

In 1987 respected economist Federico Caffee leaves his home at via Cadlolo 42, Montemario, in Rome early in the morning and vanishes. He is declared dead October 30, 1998, but no clue to what happened is ever found.

April 14

The Lady and the Loch

Mrs. Aldie Mackay via BBC News

It was a beautiful day, April 14, 1933. The afternoon was clear, cool and calm along the newly constructed A82 motorway near Abriachan. John and Aldie Mackay were on the road from Inverness heading toward their home in Drumnadrochit, where they ran the hotel. It was a very scenic route, since the road followed the rustic shore of Loch Ness. 

At 3:00 o'clock John was driving and Aldie was gazing out over the waters of the Loch. She soon noticed something big rolling and plunging in the water, and yelled for her husband to stop the car, which he did, but not soon enough to see anything but ripples.

As the couple watched, however, a large wake began to cross the Loch toward the Aldourie Pier on the opposite shore. They soon spotted two humps of something Mrs. Mackay described as "having a body like a whale…black, wet, with the water rolling off  it." It appeared to be about 12 to 15 feet in size. After observing the two humps moving along in an undulating manner for about a minute, it abruptly turned left until it had described a half-circle, and, with considerable churning of the water, sank from sight. The Mackays waited a half-hour in hopes of seeing the thing again, but the Loch remained calm, nothing disturbing the surface.

The Hugh Gray photo via Loch Ness Monster

Upon returning home they told their story to Alex Campbell, who was the water bailiff for the Loch Ness Fisheries Board and a part-time reporter. Since he had also seen the thing and the Mackay sighting details supported his own observations, he passed the story on to the Inverness Courier in May. It was the first well publicized sighting of the Loch Ness Monster in modern times, but certainly not the last.

As it turned out, 1933 was a banner year for Nessie since, just seven months later, the first photo appeared. It was taken by Mr. Hugh Gray, who was taking his usual walk after church when he spotted something rising out of the water. It only appeared for a few moments, then sank out of sight.

April 13

The Hailstorm That Changed History

Edward III, with the storm in background
via College of St. George

In April 1360 everything seemed to be going King Edward's way. Edward III of England was trying hard to conquer France. He claimed the throne of France, and to enforce that claim he crossed the channel in October 1359 with a large army. The French, for their part, refused battle, preferring to shelter behind their fortifications, leaving Edward to ransack the countryside.

Edward proceded to do just that, advancing on Paris and burning the suburbs. The skirmishes in the suburbs proved inconclusive, however, and attrition from French raids and disease was high. Edward decided to retreat to Chartres. Laying siege to the city, his troops camped outside the town, and on April 13 it happened. 'It' was a sudden and severe hailstorm accompanied by lightning.

There was little shelter anywhere close. The temperature fell dramatically and lightning strikes killed several people. Huge hailstones along with freezing rain pelted the troops, the hailstones killing an estimated 1,000 soldiers, as well as nearly 6,000 horses. Panic set in amongst the English, especially after two of their leaders were killed. The freak storm was taken as a sign from God against Edward's endeavor. Monday, April 13, 1360 was ever after known as "Black Monday".

Shortly thereafter the Abbot of Cluny arrived with peace proposals. Edward III gave up his claim to the French throne and, in return, was given appreciable chunks of territory.

 

April 12

Fiery UFOs Filmed in France 

This is a video of UFOs over France on April 12, 2012. The few details of the story are under the video. I offer this with no comment.

April 11

Anna Monaro, the Glowing Woman

Anna Monaro via Kurioso

On this day in 1934, Dr. Giocondo Protti kept vigil, along with a team of four other medical specialists, at the bedside of a very sick woman. The patient was Anna Monaro, 42, who had fasted for lent and weakened her system sufficiently that her asthma had flared up in a very severe attack. But the doctors weren't attending because of that. They were there to witness, analyze and explain the bright blue glow that emanated from her breasts as she slept. It appeared for several seconds at a time, usually when she was sleeping most deeply. This had begun at the same time as her illness and now happened several times each night over a period of several weeks.

During and after each incident Anna's breathing and heart rate would double for a short time. She would groan and sweat heavily after the glow left her. According to some sources the glow was caught on film, though I cannot find any reference to the film's current whereabouts. Among the many witnesses to testify to the reality of this phenomenon was Guglielmo Marconi.

A contemporary account via Kurioso

A similar case of luminescence was mentioned issuing from a woman with breast cancer in Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Gould and Pyle. In that case the glow issued from the sore and was bright enough to read the face of a watch several feet away. In Anna's case, however, the glow appeared to emanate from beneath the unbroken skin, and was strong enough to light the entire room.

Curiously, Japanese scientists were able to photograph a faint natural bioluminescence in the human body, caused by energy released as light through changes in energy metabolism. The 2009 study discovered that the light varied according to the time of day, and did not correspond to the brightest areas on thermal images of the body. Ultra-sensitive cameras were used because the light emitted was a thousand times weaker than the human eye can perceive. Was Anna's glow simply an extreme intensification of the same processes?

A number of theories were put forward, none of them completely fitting the facts of the case. After she had fully recovered from her hospitalization the glow left her and, as far as I can determine, never troubled her again.

April 10

Mount Tambora and the Year Without a Summer

Mount Tambora as it appears today via Volcano Weather

Today marks the anniversary of of the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora on Sumbawa Island in Indonesia. It was one of the most powerful in recorded history, classified a a VEI-7 event, with four times the energy of the Krakatoa explosion. A moderate eruption had occurred on April 5, but intensified at around 7pm on the tenth turning the entire mountain into liquid fire. Sometime that evening the pyroclastic flow wiped out the village of Tambora. Eleven to twelve thousand were killed directly by the explosion, with another seventy to ninety thousand dying from the destruction of agriculture in the area by the fallout of volcanic ash. The eruption continued until July 15.

There were a number of odd effects. Prolonged and brilliantly colored sunsets were observed in England. In the eastern U. S. a frequent and long lasting fog that would not disperse with wind or rain was experienced. Hungary experienced brown snow, Italy red. But the strangest effect of the eruption was the Year Without a Summer, as 1816 became known.

Frosts occurred every month throughout the year. It snowed in June. Lake and river ice persisted as far south as Pennsylvania through July and August. Temperatures in the northeast fluctuated from normal (90s in the summer) to freezing within hours. Because of the weather's effect on crops, severe food shortages were common. Grain prices increased seven-fold.

The volcanic winter's effects were widespread in Europe, causing the worst famine of the 19th century there. The famine in Ireland precipitated a major typhus epidemic. In China the eruption disrupted the monsoon season, causing disastrous floods. In India the delayed summer rains aggravated the spread of cholera, which reached epidemic proportions as far afield as Moscow.

April 9

German de Argumosa and the Belmez Faces

German de Argumosa, via La Exuberancia de Hades

On this date in 1974 German de Argumosa, Spanish Carlist and parapsychologist watched as a face materialized on the hearth of a kitchen fireplace before his astonished gaze. The fireplace was in the home of the  Pereira family in Belmez, Spain. This had been going on since August of 1971, with faces spontaneously appearing on the concrete kitchen floor. 

The first face that appeared was destroyed and fresh concrete put down, but another appeared shortly after. This time the mayor of Belmez didn't allow the face's destruction, having the concrete removed for study instead. The faces continued to appear in the concrete for the next thirty years; the house at Calle Real 5, Belmez de la Moraleda eventually being advertised to the tourist trade as the House of the Faces.

One of the Belmez faces, via Wikipedia

The faces themselves were both male and female and of differing sizes and expressions. Their appearance was not very lifelike but similar to a drawing or painting of a face. Researchers have claimed it to be a most astonishing case of paranormal phenomena, or an outright hoax, depending on their individual preferences.

Argumosa collaborated with parapsychologist Hans Bender throughout the seventies studying the faces, though curiously neither man ever issued an official report on them. Bender did make passing reference to them in various lectures, primarily concerning the use of plastic sheets to seal areas of the floor where faces were developing. No mention was made, that I can find, referring to any 24 hour safeguards against tampering with the plastic sheeting.

The Institute of Ceramics and Glass analyzed samples taken from two of the faces with the following result: sample one consisted of .96% zinc, .02% barium, .01% copper, .09% phosphorus, and .21% lead. Sample two presented at .40% zinc, .15% barium, .16% copper, .02% copper, .30% phosphorus, and .06% lead. All of which is interesting enough, but doesn't prove much, especially since no information was given concerning how the samples were taken or of which faces, or what tests, exactly, were done. It is interesting to note that that zinc, lead and chromium are common elements in paint.

Maria Gomez Camara, via The Horror Tree

Proponents of the hoax theory note that there are several ways the faces could have been faked. There could have been various acids used. Since all cements are of an alkaline nature, acid could provide various changes in the chemical structure of the cement. Also, there are agents such as silver nitrate that darken when exposed to sunlight. And then, of course, there are various paints, enamels or stains that could have been used to create the faces.

But then what are we to make of Argumosa's claim that he watched as a face developed on the kitchen hearth? Supporting the believer's side are the parapsychologists like Argumosa, who was unlikely to have lied (or been fooled), as well as the controls (plastic sheeting) that were in place. But were they tamper-proof controls? There was a motive in the village economy, which was certainly helped a great deal by the faces of Belmez.

Maria Gomez died in February 2004, age 85. After her death popular psychic Pedro Amoros looked for, and found, a new wave of 'Belmez faces'. However, in November of that year the newspaper El Mundo published an article claiming that the municipal government was in league with the new crop of parapsychologists in faking the faces, trying to restore the village's profitable attraction.

In May, 2007, Javier Cavanilles and Francico Manez published a book titled The Faces of Belmez in which they give their theory of the scam, and point to Maria's son Diego Pereira as the perpetrator. And there the matter rests.

Were the original faces a hoax, as the second crop surely were? Or a legitimate phenomena? Nobody knows for certain.

April 8

April 8

Aleister Crowley begins work on Liber Al Vel Legis

Aleister Crowley, via DeathandTaxes

or as it's otherwise known The Book of the Law, in 1904. Crowley was a ritual magician, occultist, novelist, and founder of the religion Thelema, but, no matter what you've been told, was not a Satanist. Though raised by ultra-conservative Exclusive Brethren parents, he rejected his faith in it's entirety, and therefore did not believe in Satan. He was also a poet, libertine, mountaineer and, most likely, a government spy. When he joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn some claim it was to keep tabs on the Order's Carlist founder, S. L. MacGregor Mathers.

He was a prolific writer on a wide variety of subjects, but The Book of the Law was his magnum opus, the holy book of his religion and philosophy of Thelema, which is sometimes summarized as "do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law. Love is the law, love under will."

The Stele of Revealing via Wikipedia

The account Crowley gives details how his wife Rose, who had no prior interest in or knowledge of occultism, began channeling the god Horus. As part of a test of his wife, he took her to the Bulaq Museum and asked her to point out any representation of the god. She bypassed several common images of Horus but correctly identified the god on the stele of Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu, held at that time as inventory item number 666! This stele became known to adherents of Thelema as the Stele of Revealing.

Rose passed on Horus' instructions for her husband to enter the temple they had created in a room of their apartment and write down everything he heard between noon and one, for three days beginning April 8. When he finished he had the central philosophy for Thelema.

A BBC poll listed Aleister Crowley as the 73rd greatest Briton of all time. Even today his influence on popular culture is evident. On the tv series Supernatural, the king of hell is named Crowley, and shares a number of traits of the original.