American Vampire Tales

The Story of Mercy Brown

When mentioning vampires, people in New England like to tell the story of Mercy Brown. In Exeter, Rhode Island residents speculated that after Mercy Browns' death she had in fact become a vampire, that she was rising from the grave and feeding on her sick brother. She had followed her mother and sister to the grave and the people of the area were in a panic. As a result, on a cold March afternoon, Mercy's father and some of his neighbors dug up her grave to see if she had indeed changed into a vampire.

It was found that she had shifted in her coffin and her mouth and heart were full of fresh blood. The heart was cut from her chest and burned on a large rock to stop Mary from venturing from the grave. Some of the ashes were even fed to her brother as a cure but he still died two months later. After he passed, the body was staked through the chest and tied in the coffin so he didn't turn into a vampire like Mercy.

-----

The New Orleans Vampire Murders

In 1984 nine people were found dead in various sections of the French Quarter of New Orleans. They all had been murdered by having their throats torn out. The paramedics responding to the scenes were struck by the fact that there was no blood at the scenes...something or someone had simply sucked all the blood directly from the victims. Police to this day do not have a suspect in this case....the murder spree ended as quickly as it had began. Rumors suggested that it was the work of a rogue vampire that was destroyed by the elder vampire sect of New Orleans because of pressure placed by authorities on the known vampire community in city.

In 1933, on two different nights, police were called to Royal Street where on each night young prostitutes were found laying in a alley with their throats torn out. Both women had been dead only a few minutes when they were found but no blood was found at the scenes. A local resident who lived above one of the murder scenes claimed a dark figure was observed leaning over one of the victims and people began to scream for police. The witness said the dark figure had climbed over a 12 foot wall at the end of the alley with little effort. It appeared to the witness that the dark figure was a man dressed in a black cape and hat. Police searched but found nothing. Both murders have yet to be solved.

-----

The Vampires of Dillsboro, North Carolina

In the spring of 1788 a family setup housekeeping in the small mountain community of Dillsboro N.C. The family name was Alfort and there were rumors that they had descended from royalty. They bought land by the river and built what was then a very nice large southern colonial home. Dr. Alfort opened up an office and pharmacy in a few rooms in the front of the house. The local people were at first really happy that a new doctor had arrived in their community...but very quickly this attitude was about to change.

Two men both who had gone to the new doctor to be treated for gout suddenly died. Both men had been well liked members of the community and the circumstances angered many of the residents. However in a short time the local minister had brokered peace in the community and everything seemed to be fine. However this calm was short lived.

That Fall the young daughter of the minister was found dead in her bed with puncture marks to her throat. The minister's wife swore she had seen a dark form hovering over her daughter and she screamed but it was too late and the child quickly succumb to the attack.

The incident caused a huge outcry in the town and the people of the area started to claim a vampire or a group of vampires was in their midst. For many nights groups of men ventured out and searched but found nothing. However some men claimed to have seen a large black bat-like creature fly over them. A few nights after the sighting a young boy ran down the hill to his grandfather's house and proclaimed that something was up the hill in his house attacking his parents. The grandfather summoned other men and they ran to the house but only found the parents and their two young daughters, who were dead with puncture wounds to their necks. The area was immediately alerted...soldiers were called in and searched the area. By February of 1789 the community had quieted down.

Then one evening screams were heard and when men arrived they witnessed a black form of a human run from the house, run down the hill and into the Alfort house. When the village men went into the house where the screams had come from they found the bodies of a young couple with vicious bite marks to their throats. Almost at once more men came and they were told that the murderer had ran down the hill and into the Alfort house. When the search party got to the Alfort house Dr. Alfort refused to let them in. However as soon as the sheriff arrived they dragged Dr. Alfort outside and tied him to a tree. When the men entered the house they were surprised at what they found. The upstairs bedrooms each had beds but it was clear that no one had slept in them. When the sheriff and search party went downstairs they found three caskets and Mrs. Alfort, who was dressed in black, lying in one of the caskets and very much alive. She hissed and cursed at them as she was pulled from the casket.

Later that night the sheriff and the village minister announced to the crowd assembled outside the Alfort house that the Alforts and their son were vampires. The Alforts were summarily hanged and then placed back inside the house. The house was set on fire and burned to the ground. However the couple's 15 year old son was not found and never seen in the area again. There were no further unusual murders in the area.

-----

The St. Augustine Stalker

In 1933 intense terror shrouded over St. Augustine, Florida. On the morning of October 5th a man visiting his brother discovered the bodies of his brother, his wife and their three children. All of the dead had open wounds in their throats where something had fed and sucked the blood from the victims. The Turner family all appeared have been dead for two to three days at the time they were discovered. Every mirror in the house had been broken and several crosses and other religious artifacts the family owned had been thrown out of a back window into the yard. The family cat had been savagely killed and it's headless body was tossed on the hall floor. The head was never found. Blood was smeared on walls throughout the house...it was clear that someone had taken a lot of time in doing so.

Neighbors said that they heard nothing but another man a few doors down said that he saw a very dark man dressed all in black leave the house just before daylight a day or two before. He said the man walked past him and he clearly heard the man make a hissing sound at him as he walked by.

Police at the time conducted extensive searches...bloodhounds were even brought in but no trace of whoever or whatever committed the horrible crime was ever found. The local newspapers both placed the same headline across the front "Vampire Stalks St. Augustine." In time, the murders faded from memory...it's still part of public record though the case remains unsolved.

Spiritual / Paranormal Activity News: Satanism, Personal Experiences and New SRI Cases

The Green Man

I grew up in suburbia in the north of England outside the old mill city of Bradford. Mum, Dad, my brother and I lived in a house that had only been built 30 years previous...built on old farm land. My brother and I both had our own rooms and we both had our own paranormal experiences.

Most people can not remember their experiences as a baby...this is normal, however I remember being scared of a green man standing in the corner of the room who had red eyes and horns. It scared me so much...it terrified me as a baby and young toddler. Mum never believed me or my brother, who told us of a dark shadow towering over his bed as well as a boy trying to play with him.

When I was at school, I would have been maybe 6, a friend took me around the back of the school where we were not supposed to be. He said to me "look...can you see that?" It was a green man in the distance digging with a pick axe. This happened twice.

Around the same time my brother and I were at our Grandma's and I thought I heard her in the kitchen making breakfast it was the middle of the night. I went down stairs and saw a tall dark shadow in the lounge I ran back upstairs to bed.

One night when I was about 8 years old I went downstairs to get a drink. I saw a dark figure in the kitchen...it came close to the stairs and looked at me, then walked through a wall which led outside. It never walked through a wall previously so I had an idea it was gone. I screamed "Mum" but there was no sound. I ran back upstairs and went straight to sleep or passed out.

I knew what I had seen was bad but at 8 I was uninformed about the existence of ghosts and evil spirits. We were not very religious however, Mum did work for the Church of England and my brother and I had been baptized. I'm scared of a return. Help me understand what I saw...it still frightens me. My boyfriend works nights sometimes and I sleep downstairs. This probably makes no difference to evil...if it's coming, its coming. I hope writing this has not fed the nasty creep. This is the first time I have written the story and it has been very cathartic more so than telling it to friends. - Anonymous

**********

Another paranormal experience at Gettysburg

Recently we spent the weekend in Gettysburg. This time we spent more time on being “tourists” but still managed to hit some of our favorite spots. Little Round Top and Devils Den at 6am Saturday morning for example. No one, or shall I say very few people tend to venture out that early so makes for some very quiet sessions other than mother nature.

This article is about a couple personal experiences there that I have shared with Angie and others in our group who dared brave the early mornings and late nights in Gettysburg National Battlefield Park. There isn’t any “proof” I can roll out from audio, video or pictures about our experiences there but it is these experiences that are the backbone of why we go back year after year.

Our first personal experience there has happened several times over the years. Every time for us has been during those early morning excursions where we have been on Little Round Top overlooking Devils Den. This time, there was about 6 or so of us spread out across the top, Angie and I were finishing up an EVP session well off to the left away from everyone and as we started back we heard a boom.

Not an earth rattling sound but it did have a concussion to it, more like a “boom-boom” sound. It was the unmistaken sound of a cannon. We didn’t think much of it being the many reenactments that go on there daily. We met with the others and found out that everyone heard the cannon and some on the other side of us heard “cracking” sounds like a rifle firing.

Intrigued now we set out to find a park ranger and happen upon one towards one of the entrances. When we asked about possible reenactment firing cannons we were told no one can fire in the park before 10am. He asked us why and we told him where we were, he just smiled and walked away.

In our most recent visit in May we again had a personal experience at another spot we like to go to. It was around 10pm and we were at Sachs Bridge. We were walking up and down the bridge, no one on the bridge except Angie, Jeremy and I. We stopped to do an EVP session about halfway across. Angie asked whose shadow was that behind Jeremy when it just disappeared. There were 6 of us there total and everyone else was accounted for standing at the start of the bridge.

As we started to finish our way across the bridge, I saw a shadow of a person that seemed to lean against the end of the bridge and when I started to slowly walk towards it and tell everyone to look, it too disappeared. We did get hits on the Mel Meter intermittently throughout the time we were there as well.

Could I ever “prove” these experiences to anyone, no but I will not forget them. Between the Mel going off (audio as of this writing still has to be listened too) and both of us seeing shadows in the opposite direction from where we knew people were standing, it was an amazing experience. - ghosteyes.com

**********

Researcher: 'Satanism isn’t for devil worshippers'

What is the driving force behind Satanism?

“Could it be Satan?” Saturday Night Live’s Church Lady character, played by Dana Carvey, may once have suggested.

Turns out, true Satanism — originating from things such as the Church of Satan and the Satanic Bible, both creations of the late Anton Szandor LaVey — has little to do with Satan or the devil beyond the imagery, according to research from a graduate student in the department of religion at Montreal’s Concordia University.

In fact, rather than worshipping the spiritual entity cast by some religions as God’s arch-enemy, Satanists don’t believe in any spiritual reality or life after death, says Cimminnee Holt, who began looking into the subject as an undergrad five years ago.

“I didn’t expect them to be an atheistic-based religion,” says Holt. “They self-identify as religious and atheistic.”

Asked how this is possible, Holt says: “For Satanists, they would explain it as, ‘Well, we have a ritual component. We have a dogmatic component, and we do understand that this is an important part of our lives. We just simply reject the spiritual aspect of it.’”

She adds: “They see the architect of Satan as a metaphor, as a symbol for how they see themselves, but they reject any notion of any kind of spiritual entity — God or devil.”

Holt recently had a research paper called Death and Dying in the Satanic Worldview published in the Journal of Religion and Culture. In it, she outlines how the religion does not focus on possibilities such as heaven or hell as incentives for how to live one’s Earth-based life. Rather, because they believe there is nothing else beyond, Satanists say one’s current life should be what matters.

“If you know that there is no afterlife and you only have one life, you should be actively engaged in creating the life that you want, that serves you best and your family best,” Holt says.

Rev. Bruce Gregersen, general council officer of mission and ministry for the United Church of Canada, says it’s difficult to comment on such a “secretive” religion as Satanism.

But he does say: “We do not support, in any way, taking lightly the nature of evil or, therefore, of Satan.”

One Canadian Satanist who’s been in the news recently is Scott Robb, who unsuccessfully ran for a seat on Edmonton’s city council last October. He was a member of the Church of Satan before starting his own church, the Darkside Collective, about 10 years ago.

Asked what being a Satanist is all about, Robb says in a email: “The simplest answer is that we stand for living life to the fullest and bettering ourselves through enlightenment without creating self-guilt by begging a ‘god’ to do for us (what) we really should be doing for ourselves.”

He says being described as atheistic is a “crude way of describing us. ‘Atheist’ implies one does not believe in a deity. Satanists are more accurately described as ‘antitheists’ because we generally believe that believing in a deity is detrimental to living a truly fulfilling life; you can’t live life to the fullest if you’re begging a god to control your life.”

As for why this religion adopts as its symbol an entity seen by many as the source of all evil, Holt says choosing such window dressing acts as both a “filter and magnet” for potential followers.

“They have often said that if the imagery doesn’t appeal to you, than Satanism isn’t for you,” she says.

Robb says: “Anyone offended by our imagery is not enlightened enough to reach the higher level of human evolution.”

Characteristics of Satan that appeal to followers of the church, Holt says, include the idea that he is an adversary to other religions. As well, she adds that Satanists see merit in so-called sins such a greed and lust.

“Greed allows you to be successful in life,” she says. “If you want nice things, you have to work for them and you have to get money. If you’re a lustful person, and it’s one of the joys of life, then — with consent, certainly always with consent — if you desire, you should be pursuing.”

So, if Satanists don’t actually believe in Satan, what do they believe in? Well, for one, they believe in the empowerment and responsibility of people as individuals, Holt says.

“That means that you are the prime person responsible for actions in your life. You can’t blame the universe, God or devil for things that happen to you.”

Despite there being no fear of damnation in the afterlife, the Church of Satan requires its members to adhere strictly to the laws of the land they live in, Holt says. That means no human sacrifices or ritualistic abuse, as some have accused Satanists of being involved in.

“They completely reject the idea of animal or human sacrifice, and they also are very firm about adhering to the law,” Holt says.

Devil worshippers or not, the Church of Satan presents itself as something less than warm and fuzzy on its website. Among the Nine Satanic Statements listed there is: “Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek.”

As well, it urges “kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates.”

“Satanists do have compassion, but do not automatically extend compassion to all of humanity,” says Holt. “Their stance is to be courteous, polite and professional, but true compassion is reserved for those that the individual Satanist sees fit — family, friends.”

Robb says: “We definitely support charities and show great compassion; we are simply more picky about them.”

He says causes that protect children and animals, as well as those that advance medical research, are among the favourites of his religion.

“Most medical-related charities are supported by Satanists as it is a science that will help our species survive,” he says.

Despite valuing revenge, Holt says Satanists do not condone action that goes as far as breaking the law.

“Revenge is not vigilantism,” Holt says. “For example, if someone is trying to sabotage your career, your best revenge is to perform better than them, and get ahead by being a true professional. . . . Revenge can also be as simple as ignoring someone who is trying to create unnecessary drama.”

Holt says it’s unclear whether membership in the Church of Satan, or other satanic organizations, is growing, as such groups tend not to disclose their membership numbers. However, she says it’s likely that the advent of the Internet has made it easier for people to connect to the religion. - canada.com

**********

New Cases - Spirit Rescue International

Diabolical Inhabitant - Flushing, New York
A family living in a NYC apartment are coexisting with a malevolent occupant that has been a destabilizing force for several years. But lately, the circumstances have evolved into desperation and terror.

Tormenting Entity - Leeds, West Yorkshire
The client has experienced unexplainable discomfort, maladies and constant mood swings over the past 7 years...to the point where they are positive that a negative energy is responsible.

**********

THIS WEEK'S SPIRITUAL / PARANORMAL ACTIVITY LINKS

Mexico's 'Holy Death' cult growing

"Investigating real claims of hearing voices, strange sights and supposed paranormal activity" and taking it seriously!

'Haunted Collector' Raises 11 Questions About Haunted Objects

Lost Earthquake Ghost?

The House of Many Spirits

Raising Children in a Post-Singularity World

Songs composed by John Lennon’s ‘ghost’ sent to Yoko Ono

Suspected sorcerer beaten to death in Pursat province

Web-based reality series about Salem witches set to begin filming in August

Queens voodoo mom Marie Lauradin sentenced to 17 years in prison for setting daughter on fire

Mysterious fire woman pays debt of gratitude to spiritualist

“Psychic” Creates Media Stir with False Report

A Tragic Wedding – a Prophecy of Doom

Haunted house that spooked TV's Anne Diamond

Death is not the end, says psychic detective

Paranormal is the new Normal

Brain Structure Changes After Meditation

Top Research Psychiatrist Promotes Meditation for Healing and Transformation

My broken leg healed in half the time… all because I meditated

House torments child with whispers of violence

Spooky experiences reported at Galion's Brownella Cottage

Scariest Places In The Philippines

How To Deal With The Side Effects Of Psychic Energy

Story of the Gay Ghost

**********

JOIN SPIRIT RESCUE INTERNATIONAL

Spirit Rescue International invites you to apply for voluntary positions within our organization.
Are you interested in the paranormal, have an open mind with a willingness to help others? Openings are available in client support, case research and administrative duties. Internet and medical knowledge a plus.
Forward a brief bio and contact information to:
Apply at Spirit Rescue International

Spirit Rescue International™
Providing no-cost professional spiritual help, personal support and guidance
Take the first step towards genuine peace of mind

The Spirit Rescue International™ Haunted Help Forum
*Join Our Group On Facebook*

Join Eric Altman, Lon Strickler and Sean Forker LIVE each Sunday at 10 PM ET as we go
Beyond the Edge!

ANOMALIST BOOKS
Works on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries. Please check out their excellent and diverse catalog

The 'C' Influence
Actualizing Esoteric Discussion

Become a fan of 'Phantoms and Monsters' at Facebook



"The latest news from beyond the mainstream"
Join Ben & Aaron for their weekly podcast!
Check out Mysterious Universe Plus+ all access format!

Astral Perceptions - Discussing ultraterrestrial and multidimensional phenomena and the proficiency of remote viewing

Click here to check out Stan's most recent book!

Click here to check out John Ventre's most recent book!

Join the
The Social - Paranormal Network

A NETWORK OF INVESTIGATORS, ENTHUSIASTS AND THOSE SEEKING THE TRUTH
THROUGH PARANORMAL EDUCATION AND DISCUSSION

(410) 241-5974

Phantoms and Monsters
Now Available on Kindle

Update: Alien Being Video - Dole, Franche Comté, France

A friend tells me that they had a 'very disturbing feeling' when looking at the video and the original screen captures

Is it possible that this an actual alien being? Several readers have expressed that the video looks authentic to them

NOTE: I have received an overwhelming email response to this video. For some unknown reason, many readers have expressed an ethereal connection to it. Do the enhanced screen captures lend any credence that this may be an actual alien being? Lon

-----

The following video was taken on 9/1/2008 in Dole, Franche Comté, France by campers who originally thought that a cat or other animal was hiding behind the pole. The last half of the video is mostly a hodge-podge of ET/UFO images.


Click for video

So...what do you think? Thanks to Kurt for forwarding the video.

What is it?

Could this be the hand of the unknown being?

Spirit Rescue International™
Providing no-cost professional spiritual help, personal support and guidance
Take the first step towards genuine peace of mind

The Spirit Rescue International™ Haunted Help Forum
*Join Our Group On Facebook*

Join Eric Altman, Lon Strickler and Sean Forker LIVE each Sunday at 10 PM ET as we go
Beyond the Edge!

ANOMALIST BOOKS
Works on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries. Please check out their excellent and diverse catalog

The 'C' Influence
Actualizing Esoteric Discussion

Become a fan of 'Phantoms and Monsters' at Facebook



"The latest news from beyond the mainstream"
Join Ben & Aaron for their weekly podcast!
Check out Mysterious Universe Plus+ all access format!

Astral Perceptions - Discussing ultraterrestrial and multidimensional phenomena and the proficiency of remote viewing

Click here to check out Stan's most recent book!

Click here to check out John Ventre's most recent book!

Join the
The Social - Paranormal Network

A NETWORK OF INVESTIGATORS, ENTHUSIASTS AND THOSE SEEKING THE TRUTH
THROUGH PARANORMAL EDUCATION AND DISCUSSION

(410) 241-5974

Phantoms and Monsters
Now Available on Kindle

Fortean / Alternative News: Jesus' First Portrait, 169 Executed Witches Pardoned and Human Curry

Is this the first ever portrait of Jesus?

The image is eerily familiar: a bearded young man with flowing curly hair. After lying for nearly 2,000 years hidden in a cave in the Holy Land, the fine detail is difficult to determine. But in a certain light it is not difficult to interpret the marks around the figure’s brow as a crown of thorns.

The extraordinary picture of one of the recently discovered hoard of up to 70 lead codices – booklets – found in a cave in the hills overlooking the Sea of Galilee is one reason Bible historians are clamouring to get their hands on the ancient artefacts.

If genuine, this could be the first-ever portrait of Jesus Christ, possibly even created in the lifetime of those who knew him. Continue reading at Is this the first ever portrait of Jesus? The incredible story of 70 ancient books hidden in a cave for nearly 2,000 years

**********

German state issues posthumous pardons for 169 executed 'witches'

mirror - Scores of people executed for witchcraft have been given a posthumous pardon – thanks to lobbying by schoolchildren.

The victims – 169 men, women and ­children – were boiled and burned alive, hacked to death, hanged and stabbed in a religious frenzy lasting from 1573 to 1660.

The move by the local justice authority in the North Rhine-Westphalia state in Germany came after demands from pupils of Friedrich-Spee-School in the town of Ruethen.

They submitted a petition saying that if the accused were cleared, they would “regain their human dignity”. The pupils said when someone was accused of being a witch, they had “virtually no chance of surviving”.

**********

Pissing off the Taliban...All-female team launches historic mission over Afghanistan

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- A team of female Airmen made history here March 30 when the F-15E Strike Eagles of "Dudette 07" blazed down the runway to provide close air support for coalition and Afghan ground forces.

The two-ship formation consisted of all females, two pilots and two weapons system officers, but more importantly, it marked the first combat mission flown from Bagram to be planned, maintained and flown entirely by females.

This mission represents the first combat sortie on record to involve only female Airmen from the pilots and weapons officers to the mission planners and maintainers, said Lt. Col. Kenneth Tilley, the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing historian.

Although the call sign for the mission may have been lighthearted, the sortie was all business calling for the pilots to travel to the Kunar Valley just west of the Pakistan border in support of a large Army operation that was underway.

"I have flown with female pilots before, but this was the first time I have flown in an all female flight," said Maj. Christine Mau, a 455th AEW executive officer. "This wasn't a possibility when I started flying 11-years ago."

While planning of the mission required support from women at all levels such as Capt. Kristen Wehle, the F-15 liaison officer at the combined air operations center, those involved evoked memories of legendary Women's Army Corps pilots and others for inspiration.

"Women's history means a celebration of the equality we have today in the military," said Capt. Jennifer Morton, a 389th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron weapons officer. "It makes me think back and find inspiration from heroes like Col. Jeannie Flynn."

In 1993, then 2nd Lt. Jeannie Flynn became the first female F-15E pilot. Although the Air Force permitted female pilots to enter pilot training in 1976, Lieutenant Flynn went on to become the first female fighter pilot to graduate from the U.S. Air Force Weapons School.

"Since 1993 we have had Air Force female pilots in combat positions, and because of that today I feel as a woman I can have whatever job I want," Morton said.

While Dudette 07 was set up to as an all female mission in honor of Women's History Month, Major Mau said inspiration for today's Airmen aspiring to great heights can come from many different places.

"I think I get a great deal of inspiration from my grandmother (who was a mother seven kids), but many of my role models today are males," she said.

In addition, the pilots never forget the contributions of the maintainers on the ground, maintainers like Airmen 1st Class Casiana Curry, who enlisted Sept. 11, 2009, and enables the continued support of the warfighters on the ground.

"The four women officers represents only a portion of the women who supported this mission making it the first all female from tasking to completion combat sortie to date," said Capt. Leigh Larkin, 389th EFS weapons systems officer.

"I thought it was kind of cool and something that I have never seen before," said Staff Sgt. Tamara Rhone, a 455th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief. "The women throughout time have paved the way for us today and they made it possible for us to be equal as well as respected as individuals. Females are a rare breed on the flight line. It is my hope that more females step up and join the maintenance career field."

**********

China's National Radio-Astronomy Observatory Announces Monitoring of 'Dark' Satellite in Orbit Around Saturn -"Transmitting the Universal Genetic Code"

China's Xinhua News Agency, the official press agency of the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) announced Thursday that the National Radio Astronomy Observatory has been monitoring signals from a previously unknown "dark" satellite in orbit around Saturn for the past 90 days. According to government officials, the signals appear to be the first verified transmission from an alien civilization.

China's leading astrobiologist, Dr. Xi Chang, a graduate of MIT, told Xinhua that "the sigal repeats itself continuosly in 2 minute long sequences and appears to be the four bases of the genetic code A,G, U and C that ribosomes must convert mRNA sequences into proteins and the twenty different amino acids that proteins are comprised of."

Dr. Rosie Redfield, the newly appointed director of the Astrobiology Program at NASA Headquarters, Washington, confirmed China's dicovery this morning. In a press release Redfield said that "China's discovery has monumental consequences, and has been shared with the world's premier sciemtific instituions for vetting and peer review. If confirmed this will be the first proof of extraterrestrial life in the universe and confirmation that our DNA basis for life may be universal throughout the known universe."

Mary+Voytek+_SXv1RXz-87m "The genetic code," Redfield (left), explained, "allows an organism to translate the genetic information found in its chromosomes into usable proteins . Stretches of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are built from four different nucleotide bases, while proteins are made from twenty unique subunits called amino acids . This numerical disparity presents an interesting problem: How does the cell translate the genetic information in the four-letter alphabet of DNA into the twenty-letter alphabet of protein? The conversion code is called the genetic code.

"The information transfer from DNA to protein, called gene expression , occurs in two steps. In the first step, called transcription , a DNA sequence is copied to make a template for protein synthesis called messenger ribonucleic acid -messenger RNA, or mRNA. During protein synthesis, ribosomes and transfer RNA (tRNA) use the genetic code to convert genetic information contained in mRNA into functional protein. Formally speaking, the genetic code refers to the RNA-amino acid conversion code and not to DNA, though usage has expanded to refer more broadly to DNA.

Biol_02_img0198 "Mathematics reveals the minimum requirements for a genetic code. The ribosome must convert mRNA sequences that are written in four bases—A, G, U, and C—into proteins, which are made up of twenty different amino acids. A one base to one amino acid correspondence would code for only four amino acids (4 1 ). Similarly, all combinations of a two-base code -for example, AA, AU, AG, AC, etc.- will provide for only sixteen amino acids (4 2 ). However, blocks of three RNA bases allow sixty-four (4 3 ) combinations of the four nucleotides, which is more than enough combinations to correspond to the twenty distinct amino acids. So, the genetic code must use blocks of at least three RNA bases to specify each amino acid. This reasoning assumes that each amino acid is encoded by the same size block of RNA."

Redfield added that NASA expects a more detailed press conference to be held at the White House later today or tomorrow, pending announcement from the Obama administration.

Dr. Dimitri Kardashev of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics told The Daily Galaxy that "This discovery comes as no surprise to me. It was always just a matter of time. The Earth is only some four billion years old. Our universe is some 14 billion years old. There may be millions of advanced technological civilizations that are billions of years older than ours. Keep in my that the radio was only invented 120 years ago. Quantum computers and singularity are at most two or three gereration distant. The technologies of ET civilizations a million years old and older are beyond our comprehension."

Sir Martin Rees, a leading Cambridge University cosmologist and astrophysicist who is the president of Britain’s Royal Society and astronomer to the Queen of England, said: “I suspect there could be life and intelligence out there in forms we can’t conceive. Just as a chimpanzee can’t understand quantum theory, it could be there are aspects of reality that are beyond the capacity of our brains.”

If verified, China's startling annoucement means you don't need a miracle to arrive at the chemical cocktail for early life, just a decently large asteroid with the right components. That's all. The entire universe could be stuffed with life, from the earliest prebiotic protein-a-likes to fully DNAed descendants. The path from one to the other is long, but we've had thirteen and a half billion years so far and it's happened at least once.

The other ten amino acids aren't as easy to form, but they'll still turn up - and the process of "stepwise evolution" means that once the simpler systems work, they can grab the rarer "epic drops" of more sophisticated chemicals as they occur - kind of a World of Lifecraft except you literally get a life when you play. And once even the most sophisticated structure is part of a replicating organism, there's plenty to go round.

It's no accident that we see stars in the sky, says famed Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins: they are a vital part of any universe capable of generating us. But, as Dawkins emphasizes, that does not mean that stars exists in order to make us."It is just that without stars there would be no atoms heavier than lithium in the periodic table," Dawkins writes in The Ancestors Tale -A Pilgramage to the Dawn of Evolution, "and a chemistry of only three elements is too impoverished to support life. Seeing is the kind of activity that can go on only in the kind of universe where what you see is stars."

China's discovery puts an end to the questions of whether DNA is inevitable as the foundation for the coding of life, or has life started with DNA in only one place in the solar system and then spread among the livable habitats through panspermia. Microbial life can land on and seed another planet, thereby not requiring that you have to create life from scratch multiple times and in multiple places.

It is the relentless shifting and mutating of DNA, says Dennis Overbye of The New York Times, that generates the raw material for evolution to act on and ensures the success of life on Earth and beyond. Dr.Paul Davies co-director of the Arizona State University Cosmology Initiative "that some sections of junk DNA seem to be markedly resistant to change, and have remained identical in humans, rats, mice, chickens and dogs for at least 300 million years."

China's epic announcement may shows that DNA the cosmic code for life in the universe, or is it possible that there's are alien, unknown foundations? At the Galaxy, we place our chips on DNA.

Case6 The Daily Galaxy staff assumes that China is using supercomputers similar to those at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) in the USA where Sukanya Chakrabarti has developed a mathematical method uncover “dark” satellites. When she applied this method on a more vast scale to our Milky Way galaxy, Chakrabarti discovered a faint satellite might be lurking on the opposite side of the galaxy from Earth, approximately 300,000 light-years from the galactic center.

The technique involves an analysis of the cold atomic hydrogen gas that comprise the outskirts of a large spiral galaxy’s disk. This cold gas is gravitationally confined to the galactic disk and extends much further out than the visible stars—sometimes up to five times the diameter of the visible spiral. This gas can be mapped by radio telescopes.

With the help of NERSC systems, she successfully validated her method by analyzing the radio observations of the Whirlpool Galaxy, which has a visible satellite one-third of its size, and NGC 1512, which has a satellite one-hundredth its size. Her calculations correctly predicted the mass and location of both of the known satellite galaxies.

The headquarters of China's NAOC are situated in the northern suburbs of Beijing on the site of the former Beijing Astronomical Observatory.

The National Astronomy Observatory of China (NAOC, the acronym was officially claimed as standing for National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences) was founded on April 25, 2001 through the merging of four CAS observatories, three CAS observing stations and one CAS research centre.

NOTE: Apparently, a remnant from April Fools Day...Lon

**********

Pakistani brothers 'dug up corpse and made it into curry'

guardian - Police in Pakistan have arrested two men for allegedly digging up a newly buried corpse and eating its flesh in a curry. The two brothers are said to have cut the legs from the body of a 24-year-old woman and cooked the flesh in a steel pot. Some of the gruesome dish had already been eaten when police raided the brothers' home in a remote part of Punjab province.

A senior police officer, Malik Abdul Rehman, said the brothers had been eating corpses for at least a year, but some local media reports alleged that they had been human flesh eaters for a decade. Rehman said that the brothers, Muhammad Arif, 40, and Farman Ali, 37, seemed to have taken up cannibalism as an act of "revenge" after their mother died and their wives left them. "It became an addiction for them," Rehman claimed. "They boiled the flesh first, then cooked it in a curry", he said.

The investigation that led to their arrest was launched after the family of a 24-year-old cancer victim, Saira Parveen, visited her tomb on Sunday, a day after her funeral, to find the grave dug up and her body missing. A police probe led to the brothers' house, where they found the remains of Parveen's body in one room, along with shovels, knives and other equipment, and the macabre meal. Previous victims include the body of a four-year-old girl, also taken from a local graveyard, the investigation found.

One problem for police and prosecutors is that cannibalism is so unusual that there is no specific punishment under Pakistani law. The brothers will be charged with digging up and desecrating a grave, which carries a punishment of only six months. Local TV footage showed the men being led away by police and the remains of the body, wrapped in a shroud, carried off on a bed to be re-buried. The men's sister was also initially arrested but she is not thought to be involved.