Police bizarre legal battle to keep Jack the Ripper files secret so Victorian sources keep their 'confidentiality'
The Met Police is fighting a legal battle to keep files detailing the investigation into the notorious Jack the Ripper case secret - to maintain confidentiality for Victorian 'supergrasses'.
The documents are said to include four new suspects for the serial killings which terrorised Whitechapel in 1888 and have become one of the world's most infamous unsolved cases.
The historic ledgers have 36,000 entries detailing police interaction with informants between 1888 to 1912.
However, Scotland Yard reportedly believes disclosing the names could hinder recruiting and gathering information from modern informants, affecting terrorism investigations - and even lead to the Victorians' relatives being attacked.
Author and former police officer, Trevor Marriott, has tried for three years to see uncensored versions of the documents.
He has previously applied under the Freedom of Information Act and, when that was refused, he appealed to the Information Commissioner, which also rejected his attempt.
He has now appealed to the Information Tribunal, which is expected to release its decision later this year.
Mr Marriott, who has written two previous books on the case, told the Sunday Mirror: 'These files should be made public at once. They are some of the most interesting records on the case I've come across.
'Some of the informants died more than 100 years ago, so to censor the documents is absurd.'
He told the Sunday Telegraph he thought it could be the 'very last chance' to solve the case, as the files contained at least four new suspects and other evidence.
The three day hearing - part of a legal battle which has so far cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds - was last week told by a detective inspector, known as D, that disclosing the files could deter informants from helping the police.
Speaking from behind a screen, the Sunday Telegraph reported that the officer - who works in intelligence gathering - said: 'Confidence in the system is maintaining their safety, regardless of age.'
The newspaper also said that Det Supt Julian McKinney said that any release would make officers less able to prevent terrorist attacks and organised crime: 'Regardless of the time, regardless of whether they are dead, they should never be disclosed.
'They come to us only when they have the confidence in our system that their identity will not be disclosed.'
Although there were 11 murders in total, the killings of prostitutes Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly are considered to be the five key cases as they all occurred in the same small London area of Whitechapel.
All of their throats were cut and several of their internal organs were removed including the uterus and heart.
The Met Police's four suspects for the killings include Aaron Kosminski, Montague John Druitt, Michael Ostrog and Dr Francis J.Tumblety.
The pseudonym Jack the Ripper came from a letter posted to a London news agency at the time of the murders, supposedly from the killer himself but it was later dismissed as a hoax. dailymail
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Man stranded for more than two months chronicles days leading up to death
The body of a man found by forest service workers Thursday on a back road near Marion Forks is that of 68-yea-old Jerry William McDonald, the Linn County Sheriff's Office announced Friday.
An autopsy showed that McDonald's death was consistent with starvation and/or hypothermia.
McDonald was identified using fingerprints.
"It appears he was camping there to start with," said Sheriff Tim Mueller. McDonald was in a sleeping bag in the bed of a pickup. He had apparently become stuck in the snow in February on Forest Service Road 517, about three miles from Highway 22 and about four miles from Marion Forks.
McDonald scribbled short entries on a homemade calendar, noting the weather and the number of days he'd been there. He appears to have arrived on Feb. 7, and notes getting snowed in on Feb. 14.
He also wrote reminders to himself, such as "motor vehicle registration expires" on April 12 and "can camp at Powers for 20 d." on April 18.
The road out would have been impassable in snowy conditions, the sheriff said, and there was no sign McDonald tried to walk out.
His 1997 GMC pickup with canopy was driveable in Thursday's spring conditions, Mueller said. It had about a quarter of a tank of gas and tire chains on all four tires.
McDonald had apparently tried to create traction under the pickup with rocks. He also had a jack and apparently tried to use it.
The vehicle was registered to an address in Unity. Detectives said McDonald was transient.
According to the sheriff, he was prepared for the conditions. He was dressed appropriately and had extra fuel for the pickup. There was evidence he had built a small fire and was collecting water in buckets.
However, there was no food, GPS, cell phone or compass recovered at the scene.
More than $5,000 in cash was found in the pickup.
An entry on McDonald's calendar for March 2 reads "Trapped, snowed in on 14th."
He may have run out of food on March 16, where it reads "No Fo1" and is labeled day 38. The next day says "No Fo2," followed by "No F3" the day after that.
The last entry is on April 15. He wrote "rain" and labeled it 68.
Detectives say McDonald was estranged from his family. He has a son living in West Linn. The son told detectives he hadn't talked to his father in 30 years.
Nobody had reported him missing.
Foul play is not suspected. - gazettetimes
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Argentina: "Synchronized UFOs" Over The Samborombón River
An amateur fisherman witnessed the maneuvers of three unidentified objects over the banks of the Samborombón River near the town of Ferrari, Buenos Aires. Researchers consider this event important due to the synchronization of the UFOs movements, which according to the protagonist of the extraordinary adventure, even acted as if aware of his lonely presence in the darkness of the early morning hours. The episode, investigated by the Fundación Argentina de Ovnilogia (FAO) took place on April 3, 2010 when Sergio Asselborn, a veterinarian from the city of Quilmes, was engaged in one of his hobbies – fishing – in a spot chosen for many years: the Samborombón River, at a spot located over an iron bridge some 30 km from National Highway 2. It was a two o’clock in the morning when Asselborn, as the veterinarian told FAO researchers, underwent a life-changing experience: a buzzing sound similar to that of a beehive prompted him to look up, causing him to see something he had never seen in many years of fishing trips to the site. A plate-shaped UFO was in the sky, surrounded by small orange and red lights that outlined its contour. If something drew the witness’s attention, it was that the object was coming toward him, stopping in a series of repetitive movements that lasted approximately half an hour. Continue reading at Inexplicata
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Argentina: UFOs over Santiago – Surprising Close Encounter Narratives
Questions about the existence of beings from other planets, periodically visiting our world, are nothing new. Since antiquity, philosophers and researchers were already associating the great monuments of mankind, such as the Pyramids of Cheops and the Inca structures, with activity involving aliens and unidentified flying objects (UFOs)
In Santiago del Estero, few were willing to take this theory seriously – the one that states that galactic beings and strange craft visit certain parts of the Earth to “feed on cosmic energy”, as they consider that most sightings are “incorrect perceptions” by people and that aircraft or other natural phenomena are involved. For this reason, such stories almost generate disbelief – or scorn – on the part of those hearing them. Continue reading at Inexplicata
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Crop circle in Sumatera Barat in Indonesia on May 13, 2011
Click for video....BTW, I think the flying device used to film the crop circle crash landed.
