Japanese Air Force Encounters With UFOs: New Book Written By Retired Lieutenant GeneralMr. Mamoru Sato (born in 1939), a retired Lieutenant General of the Air Self-Defense Force (air force), has done an epoch-making work: his new book introduces UFO sightings of his colleagues and subordinates. The hardcover book, Jitsuroku: Jieitai Pairotto-tati ga Sekkin-Sogu shita UFO (A True Record: UFOs the Self-Defense Force Pilots Encountered Closely), published by Kodan-sha, the biggest publisher in Japan, appeared July (\1700 + tax; 294 pages).
According to his blog, Mr. Sato wrote this book at the publisher’s request. He asked 37 persons (page 120), and, contrary to his expectation (page 40), he got many UFO stories (#1). The witnesses are not against the duty of confidentiality, because any UFO does not exist for our Ministry of Defense. “The subject of UFO is virtually taboo in the Self-Defense Force,” says Mr. Sato at Preface of this book. But it does not mean “cover up.” “There is no such deep meaning.” It means no more than that the high officials of Japanese air force look down on the UFO problem. Thus almost all of these stories were hidden not only from the nation but also from Ministry of Defense! (#2)
Though this book has nine chapters, clear UFO stories of the Self-Defense Force members are described only in the first three chapters, that is, Introductory Chapter: The High Frequency of Close-Encounters with UFOs / Chapter 1: A Major who was Loved by UFOs / Chapter 2: UFOs Aim at Bases in the Tohoku Region [a part of northern Japan]. Read more at UFO Digest
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New Theory May Explain Moses' Parting of the Red Sea Phenomena
discovery - To drive away the waters and part the Red Sea, Moses needed a different location than previously thought, according to a new study on the miraculous biblical event.
Previous studies of wind, waves and bathymetry have called on hurricane strength winds blowing from the northwest to push away the water. This exposed a long reef which allowed Moses and the Israelites to escape the advancing cavalry of Pharaoh.
The problem is: It would be nearly impossible for Israelites to stand in such a wind, much less walk to safety.
What's more, the Book of Exodus includes some nice meteorological details: "(T)he Lord drove the sea away all night with a strong east wind and turned the sea-bed into dry land."
"If you are going to match the biblical account, you need the wind from the east," said researcher Carl Drews of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Drews has been studying the Red Sea story for years as a student and now has published a paper on the matter, which was his master's thesis, in the journal PloS One.
Drews took that east wind and tried to perform a computer simulation of the event in a couple of different places.
He found that a steady 63-mile-per-hour (100-kilometer-per-hour) wind over a digitally reconstructed east-west running lake at the Mediterranean end of the Nile, near today's Port Said, would push the water west to the far end of the lake, as well as south, up the river.
The model showed that this would expose wide mud flats where the river entered the lake and leave a land bridge high and dry for four hours.
The hardest part of the study, said Drews, was reconstructing the geography of the area. He chose the area known today as Lake Manzala because it seems to fit with the Exodus story. It is oriented so that an east wind can actually blow across it lengthwise and push water to one side -- something that is not the case for the north-south running Red Sea.
Drews used research done by others regarding the past geography of that area, which was once known as Lake of Tanis, along with the earliest maps he could find to try to recreate what the site looked like in 1250 B.C. The exact date is, however, not crucial, he said.
Of course, this location raises another problem: The Nile Delta is not the Red Sea -- or is it?
"There is some controversy over the body of water they crossed," said Drews. "The Exodus text says in Hebrew 'yam suf,' (which) literally means 'Sea of Reeds.'"
That description fits the area he studied: a broad lake filled with papyrus reeds stretching to the horizon.
"Many Bible translations render 'yam suf' as 'Red Sea,'" Drews told Discovery News. "Red Sea" has become the common terminology.
However, biblical scholars Kenneth Kitchen and James Hoffmeier have explored the issue at length and have concluded that the marshy area along the Suez Canal is also an acceptable location for "yam suf."
Hoffmeier, for his part, is cautious and not sure the location fits.
"Attempts to understand biblical events in the light of geographical and climatological considerations are welcomed," said Hoffmeier, of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School at Trinity International University. "But the investigator must also incorporate a careful and contextual reading of the biblical text."
"The value of studying the event described in the Old Testament certainly lends support to the thesis that physics is a natural phenomenon, a normal part of our universe," said Stephen Baig, a researcher who has studied storm surges for the National Hurricane Center. "If there is a miracle, it is that we are able to describe such events with numbers."
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Student Athlete Dies Tangled In Exercise Machine
cbs13 - Students at Bear River High School were stunned after learning one of their star players died early Monday morning.
Justin Butler, 16, was found by his parents in his home Sunday night after somehow becoming entangled in a Bowflex exercise machine. They called 911 and began performing CPR, and emergency crews rushed him by helicopter to a hospital.
Butler died Monday morning.
The death of the Bear River student athlete sent shock waves through the school. Friends described Butler as an avid football player who loved stepping on the field and making big plays, and filled his Facebook page with messages of love and grief.
"We definitely suffered a great loss here, both as a school and as a community," said school athletic director Duwaine Ganskie. "When you saw him come off the field after scoring that touchdown last week, you just see the joy in his face."
School administrators say they will have grief counselors on campus Tuesday to speak with staff and students.
Investigators do not believe the exercise equipment was responsible for the teen's death.
Few details are available, but the Nevada County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that "there is no information or evidence to suggest in any way the victim was trying to purposefully hurt himself or end his own life."
Investigators concluded the death was "a very tragic accident."
NOTE: someone near me actually broke several vertebrae on one of these machines awhile back. They apparently got a pull rope that jerked from the weight and wrapped around their neck...Lon
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Grandmother Exorcises the 'Sexual Demon' (Warning!)
abclocal - Prosecutors have asked a Durham judge to delay the trial of a former teacher's assistant who's accused of having sex with her grandson. They said they're having problems locating witnesses and the alleged victim.
Toni Stowers-Moore, 53, is charged with statutory rape/sex offense in which the defendant is six years older than the victim, incest with a child, and sexual battery. Detectives said the boy was 15 when it happened.
Prosecutors say they have phone recordings between Stowers-Moore and her relatives that captured her confession. She allegedly claimed sex with the teen was the only way to remove a sexual demon from him - and to protect others he might try to hurt.
But now, her story has changed.
"Now she says it was rape. But prior to this point, it has been a consensual sexual act that she did as some kind of religious sacrifice to save her other innocent people," explained Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline.
Cline said prior to her arrest, Stowers-Moore was employed as a teacher's assistant with Durham Public Schools.
"It's bigger than just this child. This is a lady that works in the school system as a teacher," said Cline.
Stowers-Moore rejected a plea deal requiring her to register as a sex offender. Tuesday, she came to court hoping for a jury trial.
But prosecutors say several key witnesses are missing - including Stowers-Moore's daughter, son, and the alleged victim.
"The grandson has a warrant out for his arrest. They currently don't know where the child is because they've been looking for him for quite some time. So, how long exactly will this case be held over?" asked defense attorney Robert Harris.
"There's a realization from the defendant and the defendant's family [that] this incest has been going on before with this same victim in this same family," Cline offered.
The judge issued an order to arrest at least one missing witness. Cline said she hoped for a trial by the end of the week.
If convicted, Stowers-Moore faces a sentence of up to 12 years in jail.
Click for video
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The Asian Wildman
Reports of the Almas are concentrated in an area extending from Mongolia in the north, south through the Pamirs, and then westward into the Caucasus region. Similar reports come from Siberia and the far north-east parts of the Russian republic. The Almas or Wildman type in general seems to be of a more nearly human size and with more human-like features than the Sasquatch or the even more ape-like Yetis, Sisimites and Mapinguaris.
Early in the fifteenth century, Hans Schiltenberger was captured by the Turks and sent to the court of Tamerlane, who placed him in the retinue of a Mongol prince named Egidi. After returning to Europe in 1427, Schiltenberger wrote about his experiences. In his book he described some mountains, apparently the Tien Shan range in Mongolia: "The inhabitants say that beyond the mountains is the beginning of a wasteland which lies at the edge of the earth. No one can survive there because the desert is populated by so many snakes and tigers. In the mountains themselves live wild people, who have nothing in common with other human beings. A pelt covers the entire body of these creatures. Only the hands and face are free of hair. They run around in the hills like animals and eat foliage and grass and whatever else they can find. The lord of the territory made Egidi a present of a couple of forest people, a man and a woman. They had been caught in the wilderness, together with three untamed horses the size of asses and all sorts of other animals which are not found in German lands and which I cannot therefore put a name to" (Shackley 1983, p. 93). Continue reading this fascinating article at Cryptozoology Online
Fortean / Oddball News - 9/22/2010
