Grigori Efimovich Rasputin
His name was Grigori Efimovich Rasputin and he is one of the most enigmatic men in modern history. Was he a misunderstood holy man with strange powers to heal - or was he a scheming sinner who manipulated the suffering of others?
Rasputin was born in the Tyumen district of Siberia, far away from the glittering salons in the Imperial Capital of St. Petersburg. Even today he is a shadowy and mysterious character; a person of contradictory personality traits. While he was alive, witnesses, including doctors and skeptics, concluded he possessed some inexplicable power over the Tsarevich and his deadly episodes of bleeding. This mysterious ability to heal her son was enough to convince Alexandra that Rasputin, whatever people said of him, must have been sent by God. In her mind he was he the answer to her fervent prayers for God to save her son. It was impossible for her to believe that he could have been a wolf in sheep’s clothing. His influence over politics has been greatly exaggerated. Rasputin was a convenient scapegoat for those who wanted to attack the Tsar’s appointments and decisions, but who wouldn’t confront Nicholas directly.
Rasputin was close to the Tsaritsa’s closest friend, Anya Vyrubova. Her devotion to him was absolute, which was reinforced after a terrible derailment of the train from Tsarskoe Selo to Petersburg in which Anna was almost killed. Although she survived the accident Anna’s condition was so bad her doctors despaired of saving her life; her body was crushed and mangled. Rasputin came to her bedside, stood over Anna as she lay near death. He reached out and held her hand. Dripping with sweat, intensely focused, Rasputin repeated the words, “Annushka, Annushka, rise!”. The drama of the moment was incredible. Anna suddenly awoke from her coma, opened her eyes and tried to rise from her bed. It was a miracle. As Rasputin staggered into the next room, he spoke, prophetically saying that although she would live, for the rest of her life Anna would be a cripple. So it came to be.
Rasputin tried to ingratiate himself with other members of the Romanov family, but most of them would have nothing to do with him. Olga, Nicholas sister, resented Rasputin’s prying into her private life and rebuffed his offers of spiritual help in her marital problems.
A number of influential churchmen fell for Rasputin early in his ‘career’ as a holy man. Later, these supporters in the church hierarchy turned on him and attempted to send him away from St. Peterburg. Rasputin cunningly knew how to undermine his enemies in the church and soon had them exiled or in disgrace. A bishop or monk who opposed him might find themself suddenly sent to a remote monastery or far-away episcopal see. In government affairs Rasputin’s power was an illusion, although the Petersburg press crowed about his influence over important government appointments. Gossip claimed he had seduced the Empress, her daughters, and Anna Vyrubova as well. These rumors, which reached the highest circles of society where they were deliciously repeated by Alexandra’s foes, drove Nicholas to distraction. The remoteness and isolation of the Imperial Family made it possible for the general public to believe these crazy stories, but the aristocracy knew they were groundless. Still they derived pleasure from seeing Alexandra’s named dragged through the mud. Rasputin made the talk worse by flaunting the Imperial families gifts, letters and the telephone calls he received from Alexandra asking for his prayers. People believed he had an uncanny control over the Tsar and his wife. Rasputin enjoyed the celebrity status this reputation gave him.
The story of Rasputin’s demise is well known. One night in December 1916, Rasputin was invited by Prince Felix Felixovich Yussupov to visit his palace on the Moika Canal. The pretext was the opportunity for Rasputin to meet Felix’s wife, Irina, who was a great beauty and niece of the Tsar. Rasputin wanted to meet Irina and was flattered by Felix’s attention. Felix claims he had been nurturing a relationship with Rasputin for a number of years before the invitation, although this relationship has never been fully explained. Felix always portrayed his murder of Rasputin as a political act to save Russia.
Certainly, Felix had never shown any patriotic leanings before, so his murder of Rasputin is hard to explain from a political standpoint. It may have been there was some other, more personal, reason for Felix’s desire to get rid of him. Besides Felix, who was the mastermind of the plot, the Tsar’s first cousin and ward Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich Romanov, and a member of the Imperial Duma, Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich, were also involved in Rasputin’s killing.
The Starchild Skull
Purportedly a 900-year-old human-like bone skull with distinctly non-human characteristics. It was unearthed in a mine tunnel near Mexico’s Copper Canyon around 1930. The Starchild Project is an informal research group that has coordinated numerous scientific investigations since its founding in February of 1999.
Early in 2011, a geneticist attempting to recover Starchild Skull DNA identified four fragments that matched with human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Comparing those fragments with matching fragments from human mtDNA produced an astonishing result. In every comparison, the Starchild presented many more nucleotide differences than are normally found among humans. In one comparison detailed in this report, the compared segments of human mtDNA came from one of its most highly conserved regions. Across 167 nucleotides in this segment, only 1 single variation is found among the 33 human haplogroups. In contrast, the same length of Starchild mtDNA has 17 differences! Of those 17, a significant number should be confirmed by multiple repetitions of the test. If several are confirmed (which is highly likely), it will be enough evidence to establish a new earthly species. [In 2010 just such a new prehuman species, Denisova, was confirmed by having a significant number of differences in its mtDNA.
The results uncovered by the research team and presented the scientific community with a genetic and physical profile never before seen on Earth.
Now new DNA findings indicate that the Starchild Skull may well be “alien”! Now all that remains is to determine whether alien means “foreign to normal human genetics within the framework of that subject as it is currently understood,” or “definitely not from planet Earth”…. or something in between.
Yara-ma-yha-who
The Yara-ma-yha-who is a creature from Australian Aboriginal Folklore. This creature resembles a little red man with a very big head and large mouth with no teeth. On the ends of its hands and feet are suckers. It lives in fig trees and does not hunt for food, but waits until an unsuspecting traveler rests under the tree, then catches the victim and drains their blood using the suckers on its hands and feet, making them weak. It later comes back and consumes the person, drinks some water, and then takes a nap. When the Yara-ma-yha-who awakens, it regurgitates the victim, leaving it “shorter” than before. The victim’s skin also turns slightly more “red” than before.
The Demonic Possession of Anneliese Michel
From her birth on the 21st of September, 1952, Anneliese Michel enjoyed the life of a normal, religiously nurtured young girl. Without warning, her life changed on a day in 1968 when she began shaking and found she was unable to control her body. She could not call out for her parents, Josef and Anna, or any of her 3 sisters. A neurologist at the Psychiatric Clinic Wurzburg diagnosed her with “Grand Mal” epilepsy. Because of the strength of the epileptic fits, and the severity of the depression that followed, Anneliese was admitted for treatment at the hospital.
Soon after the attacks began, Anneliese started seeing devilish grimaces during her daily praying. It was the fall of 1970, and while the young people of the world were enjoying the liberal freedoms of the time, Anneliese was battling with the belief that she was possessed. It seemed there was no other explanation for the appearance of devilish visions during her prayers. Voices also began following her, saying Anneliese will “stew in hell”. She mentioned the “demons” to the doctors only once, explaining that they have started to give her orders. The doctors seem unable to help, and Anneliese lost hope that medicine was going to be able to cure her.
In the summer of 1973, her parents visited different pastors to request an exorcism. Their requests were rejected and they were given recommendations that the now 20 year old Anneliese should continue with medication and treatment. It was explained that the process by which the Church proves a possession (Infestatio) is strictly defined, and until all the criteria are met, a Bishop cannot approve an exorcism. The requirements, to name a few, include an aversion to religious objects, speaking in a language the person has never learned, and supernatural powers.
In 1974, after supervising Anneliese for some time, Pastor Ernst Alt requested a permit to perform the exorcism from the Bishop of Wurzburg. The request was rejected, and a recommendation soon followed saying that Anneliese should live even more of a religious lifestyle in order to find peace. The attacks did not diminish, and her behaviour become more erratic. At her parents’ house in Klingenberg, she insulted, beat, and began biting the other members of her family. She refused to eat because the demons would not allow it. Anneliese slept on the stone floor, ate spiders, flies, and coal, and even began drinking her own urine. She could be heard screaming throughout the house for hours while breaking crucifixes, destroying paintings of Jesus, and pulling apart rosaries. Anneliese began committing acts of self-mutilation at this time, and the act of tearing off her clothes and urinating on the floor became commonplace.
After making an exact verification of the possession in September 1975, the Bishop of Wurzburg, Josef Stangl, assigned Father Arnold Renz and Pastor Ernst Alt with the order to perform “The Great Exorcism” on Anneliese Michel. The basis for this ritual was the “Rituale Romanum”, which was still, at the time, a valid Cannon Law from the 17th century. It was determined that Anneliese must be saved from the possession by several demons, including Lucifer, Judas Iscariot, Nero, Cain, Hitler, and Fleischmann, a disgraced Frankish Priest from the 16th century, and some other damned souls which had manifested through her. From September ‘75 until July ‘76, one or two exorcism sessions were held each week. Anneliese’s attacks were sometimes so strong that she would have to be held down by 3 men, or even chained up. During this time, Anneliese found her life somewhat return to normal as she could again go to school, take final examinations at the Pedagogic Academy in Wurzburg, and go to church.
The attacks, however, did not stop. In fact, she would more often find herself paralyzed and falling unconscious than before. The exorcism continued over many months, always with the same prayers and incantations. Sometimes family members and visitors, like one married couple that claims to have “discovered” Anneliese, would be present during the rituals. For several weeks, Anneliese denied all food. Her knees ruptured due to the 600 genuflections she performed obsessively during the daily exorcism. Over 40 audio tapes record the process, in order to preserve the details.
The last day of the Exorcism Rite was on June 30th, 1976, and Anneliese was suffering at this point from Pneumonia. She was also totally emaciated, and running a high fever. Exhausted and unable to physically perform the genuflections herself, her parents stood in and helped carry her through the motions. “Beg for Absolution” is the last statement Anneliese made to the exorcists. To her mother, she said, “Mother, I’m afraid.” Anna Michel recorded the death of her daughter on the following day, July 1st, 1976, and at noon, Pastor Ernst Alt informed the authorities in Aschaffenburg.
The senior prosecutor began investigating immediately.
Ahool
The ahool is a legendary giant bat, or by other accounts, a pterosaur or flying primate. Named for its distinctive call “A-hool”, it is said to live in the deepest rainforests of Java. It is described as having a monkey/ape-like head with large dark eyes, large claws on its forearms approximately the size of an infant, and a body covered in gray fur. Possibly the most intriguing and astounding feature is that it is said to have a wingspan of 3 m 10 ft. This is almost twice as long as the largest known bat in the world, the common flying fox.
The Winchester Mystery House
The Winchester Mansion is located in San Jose California. Tours are given
on a daily basis, and on Halloween and every Friday the 13th there are
flashlight tours. The Mansion has a very interesting history.
Sarah Winchester was once a prominent member of the Boston elite society.
After the deaths of her only child, a girl, and Sarah’s husband who was the
son and heir of the man who produced the Winchester repeating rifles, Sarah
thought the reason her child and husband had died was because the spirits of
everyone killed by the Winchester rifle had taken them and placed a curse on
the Winchesters. The only way to appease the spirits was to build a mansion
and keep building it forever. Thus began a 38 year quest by Sarah Winchester
to not only appease the spirits but confuse them as well so they couldn’t
find her.
The wealthy Mrs. Winchester at the age of 44 travelled alone to San Jose
California to build a mansion and kept the construction for the next 38 years
until her death. The house at one time rose 7 stories and contained a maze
of rooms, hallways, staircases and doors. She named her mystery house Llanda
Villa. It was a 160 room mansion although Sarah closed off the front 30
rooms . She boarded them up after an earthquake in 1906. She took the
earthquake as a sign that the spirits were unhappy with the way the
construction was going. However estimates point to over 600 rooms built and
demolished over a 38 year time frame.
One feature of the Mansion was a bell tower, where the bell was rung
every night at about midnight to summon the spirits. Sarah would then ask
the good spirits how they wanted the mansion constructed. The bell would
again ring out at 2 am. to signal the spirits that it was time to leave.
Sarah would emerge from the seance room with new plans for the construction
workers. She claimed the good spirits gave her the plans to help her confuse
the bad spirits so they couldn’t get to her.
Many psychics have spent the night at the Winchester Mansion hoping to
contact the spirits that reside there. They were not disapointed.
Experiences include organ music being heard in the Blue Room where Sarah
died. In Sarah’s bedroom cold spots are felt and red balls of light are seen
that seem to explode and fade. Apparitions of a couple lingering in the
corner of the bedroom clothed in servants garb dating to the early 20th
century. The sense of being watched is also felt in many parts of the house.
During one seance a psychic appeared to age dramatically and take on the
physical appearence of Sarah. Although most people who have felt Sarah have
said she is a kind and gentle spirit.
A caretaker who worked at the house for several years said he heard
breathing in one room, and once had followed the sound of footsteps to the
doorway of Sarahs bedroom. Both instances he was alone. Another worker in
the house claimed to have heard his name whispered. While still others have
sensed being watched, hearing footsteps, and perhapes the strangest of all,
the smell of chicken soup coming from the front kitchen that had not been in
use for several years.
Apparitions of Sarh have been seen and photographed as well as a man in
overalls. Many episodes of lights turning off and on by themselves when the
house is empty and locked up for the night. Also a room in the house was
flooded, every item in the room was soaked. Upon further inspection of the
room the floor, the ceiling and the walls were completely dry.
Although Sarah Winchester lived her life in solitude and reclusive for
the last 38 years of her life, it would seem she enjoys putting on a show for
the workers and tour groups who visit her unique home now.
Greys
A grey is an intelligent alien generally believed to be from the Zeta Reticuli star system. They are described as small, thin humanoids with hairless grey skin, disproportionately large heads and enormous black eyes which may actually be some sort of synthetic covering that protects the creatures real eyes.
The mouth is small, thin lipped or lipless, and toothless. The nose is either very small or non-existent except for nostrils. The ears are nothing more than an opening or slight indentation (no ear flap). External genitalia is non-existent as are facial expressions, and visible emotions of any kind.
The greys may be an ancient race that evolved on another planet from a dolphin-like or lizard-like ancestor or they may be humans from a very distant future. In any case it is believed that they have evolved over millions of years into a sexless race that can only reproduce by cloning. Some or all of them may be partly or wholly mechanical.
They may have telepathic abilities or some other ability that allows their communications to go undetected by humans. They may be working closely with one or more of Earth’s governments, and they are believed to be the aliens responsible for most unexplained cattle mutilations and the vast majority of human abductions. Humans are abducted and used in DNA and reproductive experiments and other medical studies including the creation of alien/human hybrids.
The Hollow Earth Theory
People often ask “Why must the Earth be hollow and why must there be a hole at each pole?” This is a fair question, one which we can answer easily enough using science. To begin, let’s ask ourselves — “What do we observe with most spinning systems in nature … hurricanes, tornadoes, whirlpools or water vortices, etc.?” Well, one common feature they all share is that they are have an inner empty space near the centre of rotation.
Why is this? Why doesn’t matter want to stick near the centre of the axis of rotation? Have you ever sat in the middle of a merry-go-round and tried to stay in the centre while someone spins it faster and faster? It’s next to impossible to stay near the centre. The same holds true for a spinning system of matter which is coalescing to form a new planet — the matter at the centre will fly out outward due to centrifugal acceleration.
But that’s not the only force acting upon the spinning system — gravity is also acting to pull the matter back together. Let’s use another example. What happens when you hold a weight on a string and spin your body around? The weight will fly out a certain distance until it reaches a point of equilibrium where gravity and the centrifugal force counteract and balance each other until the net force is zero. Now spin faster. The weight will fly out even further until it stops at a new equilibrium point. This is perfectly illustrated by the planets Jupiter and Saturn. How many hours does it take Jupiter and Saturn each to complete one rotational period? If your answer was more than 24 hours, you’d be wrong — Saturn has a day of 10.5 hours and Jupiter’s day is even shorter at 9.8 hours. Most people assume that Jupiter and Saturn are bigger because they are more massive. I posit that they are bigger because the matter that coalesced to form them had a faster rate of rotation and so their radius was necessarily greater than their slower spinning counterparts — just like the spinning weight on the string example.
Now we’ve shown, using simple physics and logic, that spinning systems are hollow and the radius of planets are determined by their rate of rotation during formation so that the centrifugal acceleration and gravitational attraction balance out. At this point of equilibrium the heaviest elements coalesce and the lighter elements (such as atmosphere and water) form on either side of this centre point, creating an atmosphere and oceans on the inner and outer surfaces of the planet. As you near the poles, the crust thins until eventually you have an opening or a hole at both northern and southern extremities. The resulting configuration is a hollow planet with a shell or crust that can sustain life on the inner and outer surfaces.
The White Lady
A White Lady is a type of female ghost purported to appear in many rural areas, usually having died or suffered trauma in life. These legends are found around the world, with common themes involving the loss of or betrayal by a husband or fiancé. They are often associated with an individual family line, signifying a harbinger of death. When a lady in white is seen it indicates that someone in the family is going to die, similar to the appearance of a banshee.
Generally the ghost is female, dressed in late era Victorian garb, is often seen driving along a rural road, and/or associated with some local legend or tragedy. Most reports referring to white ladies have similar attributes. These ghosts possess clouded, white eyes and not-so-long white hair. Their skin is like milk, and indistinguishable from their clothes, save for the outlined details of their hair, nose, eyes, eyebrows and lips. Her face is often sad, not scary in the slightest.
White ladies are said to look directly into one’s eyes, with many reporting that they felt she wanted to tell them something. Also, these ghosts seem to only appear to specific people, and usually only once, the disappearing the moment someone else is called to observe.
Pontianak
From Indonesian mythology, the Pontianak are the spirits of ladies who died during child-birth, and became undead. Pontianak are said to scare people (mostly men), and then rip out their internal organs for feeding with their claws. In the case of men that the Pontianak knew when they were alive (who abused, or otherwise betrayed them), they are said to remove the man’s genitalia with their bare hands (Ouch!!). They are much like vampires; however, they do what they do more out of vengeance, rather than necessity or sustenance. It’s also hard to judge just how far away from you they are; usually, a loud cry means the Pontianak is far away, whereas a soft cry signifies that the Pontianak is nearby. It is also said that a faint floral fragrance is detected upon first seeing it, however, the fragrance changes to something rotten after a short period of time. Pontianak are believed to live in banana trees, a possible phallic-/fertility-reference.
