Thursday, September 6, 2007

1st Yeti Footprint Photos to be Sold

The first photographic evidence that the yeti, or abominable snowman, might be more than a flight of Himalayan fancy has surfaced in public and is to be offered at auction later this month.

Four photographs of large paw prints in the snow beneath Mount Everest are to be sold at Christie's in London on September 26.

The images were taken by the legendary British mountaineer Eric Shipton on a reconaissance trip to Everest in 1951, in preparation for the first successful ascent of the 29,028 ft peak two years later.

Tom Bourdillon, who was also in the reconaissance party, later gave Shipton's black and white prints, which measure 6ins by 4ins, to a friend, Michael Davies.

Mr Davies' descendants are now selling the historic souvenirs, which are expected to fetch £2,500.

The first European claim of a sighting of a large bear-like beast in the Himalayas was made in 1925, but there was no photographic back-up until Shipton's pictures.

On the back of one of his images, Bourdillon wrote to Davies about the team's sighting of the prints.

He said: "We came across them on a high path on the Nepal-Tibet watershed during the 1951 Everest expedition.

"They seem to have come over a secondary path at about 19,500ft down to 19,000ft where we first saw them and then went on down the glazier.

"We followed them for the better part of a mile. What it is I don’t know, but I am quite clear that it is no animal known to live in the Himalaya and that it is big."

Edmund Hillary, who first climbed the mountain with Tenzing Norgay, later said in a book that a member of his successful party had found a tuft of long black hairs on a rock. The hairs were said to look like bristles.

Publication of Shipton's pictures prompted several expeditions to search for the yeti but they all proved to be inconclusive.

The photographs are included in a two-day Christie's sale devoted to exploration and travel.

Other star items include the first aerial photographs of the summit of Everest taken by Colonel Stewart Blacker in 1933 (estimate £6000) and a poignant souvenir of Captain Robert Scott's ill-fated race to the South Pole in 1912, the white canvas cover of Captain Lawrence Oates’s sleeping bag.

It was retrieved from Antarctica by a search party after Oates left Scott and the rest of the doomed team, leaving his tent in a blizzard with the now-famous last words: "I am just going outside and may be some time."

The cover is expected to fetch £40,000.


Mysterious Sightings in New Zealand Skies


A man who photographed a mysterious object over the Tasman Sea near Kaitaia in April wasn't alone in seeing something strange in the sky.

Ninety Mile Beach Surfcasting Club members Ann Hallett and her brother Mike Scott were driving to a club function at Ahipara on April 28 when they noticed a 'mirror bright' light in the sky.

"We were coming into Wainui Junction and there it was in the centre of the windscreen," says Ann of the oval-shaped object they first saw at about 5.40pm.

"I said to my brother, what the hell is that?"

They told other club members about the object when they arrived at the function.

The half a dozen people who saw it said it was just the evening star.

Ann and Mike estimate they watched the object head towards the western horizon for 5-6 minutes before it disappeared.

The Sunday of the following week, Ann and Mike were fishing off Ninety Mile Beach, north of Ahipara, when they saw and photographed a bright smoke trail in the sky at about 5.15pm.

"At first, we thought it was a cloud, but it was moving," says Mike of the object which appeared as the sun was setting.

They did not think the object could be the contrail of a plane because they had never seen one heading in that direction, at that time of day, in the years they had been fishing at the beach.

"Whatever it was, I've never seen anything like it," says Ann.

Two other people have contacted The Northern News to report similar sightings around April 28.

An Opononi couple saw a bright, vertical line above the western horizon one evening as the sun was setting.

An Ahipara man saw a bright object with a tail, which shortened in length as it got closer to the horizon, on at least two nights.

The man, who watched the object through a telescope for about 10 minutes, says he hasn't seen similar objects in the sky since.

UFO Focus New Zealand member and air traffic controller at Hamilton Airport, Graeme Opie, has studied Ms Hallett's photos and concluded the object is likely to be the contrail of an aircraft.

UFOCUS coordinator Suzy Hansen is not commenting on whether the object photographed on April 28 is more likely to be a contrail, given the later sighting of a contrail in the same area at the same time of evening.

The two sightings are separate events, she says appealing to others who saw the bright light in April to contact the group with information.

United States UFO specialist Dr Bruce Maccabee has told the group the object photographed in April could be a contrail viewed end on.

Photos of the object on the UFOCUS website show two vapour trail-like objects which change shape and converge during the three minutes the photos were taken.


Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Triangle Shaped UFO Over Belgium


Triangle shaped UFO filmed over Belgium - August 24th, 2007


Do The Pendle Witches Haunt Cross Gaits Inn?

A pub landlord has launched an investigation to find out whether his new inn is haunted.

Local legends say the Cross Gaits Inn, Blacko was used to imprison some of the famous Pendle witches and that the ghost of a woman with a dog has been seen sitting by the fire.

Andrew Duxbury, 36, took the reins of the Beverley Road pub in June and said he has been told by different regulars that some of the witches had been held in the pub's cellar.

The witches were hanged after being suspected of murdering 17 people in and around the Forest of Pendle.

Mr Duxbury closed the pub on Monday for a refurbishment and he has used this as a chance to investigate the pub.

He was hoping to find a trapdoor down to the cellar when the carpets were lifted, but there was no access to any rooms below ground. It appears the cellars may have been filled in with concrete.

But Mr Duxbury is undeterred and is continuing to scour the pub and history books to learn about its ghostly past.

He said: "A few of the locals have told me that there was some kind of holding cell for witches in the pub's cellars.

"They say witches used to be held there before transported to Lancaster Castle.

"I don't know if any of the Pendle witches were held down there.

"The locals tell me there were shackles and chains down there.

"I am disappointed we can't go into the cellar. It appears to have been filled with concrete."

He added: "I wanted to refurbish the pub because it was dated.

"And I thought it was a good opportunity to see what was down there."

He said the thought of ghosts did not scare him.

Mr Duxbury said: "I have been told there is the ghost of a woman with a dog who sits by the fire.

"I haven't seen her yet, but during winter time when the fire is on, it is said to be cold where she sits.

"I'll have to wait and see."


British MoD Official Recalls UFO Sighting

A top UK government official admitted the existence of UFOs in a secret document about a dramatic sighting.

The Ministry of Defence boss made the astonishing claim after dozens of eyewitnesses reported a "hovering" flying saucer in the skies in Shropshire.

His confidential report features in a new book by Timothy Good, who is regarded as a world expert on alien phenomena.

Good's book, Need To Know, features previously secret government papers about UFO sightings which have taken place around the world.

A whole section is devoted to a mystery craft which "shot beams of light" near RAF Shawbury, Shropshire, in the early hours of March 31, 1993. It had earlier been spotted in the skies above Devon, Cornwall and South Wales.

Up to 70 credible eyewitnesses later came forward to report the sighting, including some military personnel and police officers.

The newly obtained document shows that a Head of Secretariat for the Ministry of Defence wrote to the Assistant Chief of Air Staff following the chilling encounter on the night and was convinced it was a genuine UFO.

The release of the book comes as the MoD prepares to publish other UFO reports dating back to 1967.

The documents to be released also include witness accounts from civilian pilots and military personnel.


Bigfoot Video - Sooke, British Columbia


Video posted on YouTube. States video was shot during winter 2006 near Sooke, British Columbia, Canada.


Tuesday, September 4, 2007

"Giant Ferris Wheel in the Sky!"

Sept. 3, 2007 - Surbiton residents were baffled to see mysterious lights in the sky last night.

At least a dozen people have reported seeing about 12 lights in the shape of a ferris wheel adorn the sky last night.

No definite explanation has yet been given of the extradordinary light formation, leaving the star gazers scratching their heads as to what could have caused it.

What follows is an eyewitness account:

I am near Penzance, Cornwall, U. K. I took this with my Panasonic lumix dmc-fz50 non slr type camera, enhanced it as best I could, I got the original, be good to have it analyzed? It looks red in the original, but I saw, with my naked eye, red, white, blue, yellow, orange and green.
There has been a lot of unusual helicopter activity... although Culdrose is nearby, (largest helicopter base in Europe), they were circling the area a lot. (maybe they lost their lanterns and were searching for them.

As well as tether type sightings, which I photographed, we have witnessed orange (probes) lights, they were in the local paper ,they used the lanterns excuse. Also smaller craft with red and blue lights that moved like the one by the space station in the June 19 Shuttle undock footage.

Penzance, Cornwall, U.K.

Other eyewitness acounts:

I did e mail my comments Sunday morning (2nd) but think i did it wrong (still a novice on the computer). Friday night about 10.00p.m. I was in the garden, we have a road alongside our garden with a terrace of cottages across this road (west) to one side and open skies across gardens the other (east). I noticed a bright light high in the sky appear over the cottages and thinking it was a plane stood and watched, noticing others following close behind realised they were too close for planes and there was no noise - yet I frequently watch planes and even when they are in the distance they can be heard. These lights began appearing over the rooves of the cottages quite close behind each other but spread across the sky and quite high up and went high across our house. I realised my husband would think I was balmy if I were to tell him so ran indoors where he was sound asleep on the sofa, I shook him and got him outside and we both watched in the garden as the lights still appeared from the west over the cottages towards the east and disappearing into the clouds in the far distance. This went on for at least 5 minutes in all and I would think about 50 to 60 lights and two of them seemed to 'play' with each other - darting across and overtaking. It was quite spooky being silent and so many of them. My husband, who would have thought I was crackers had he not seen them, was as mystified as myself.

I would like to think there was an explanation for this and would feel happier if there were. I did phone Epsom Police about 11.15 (after watching the London news) to see if any other reports had been received and initially I think they thought I had come out the pub! but after a serious conversation they logged my details. My husband also said that on Saturday a few phone calls were made to Radio Jackie from people who had also witnessed this happening. Any answers. Laysers have been suggested, but surely these would not have drifted into the clouds until the last one disappeared but would have suddenly 'gone out'. If you have any answers please let us know.

Linda Hope, West Ewell


I saw the same thing!! i am still freaked out to be honest, and also excited to see that i was not seeing things. i was in the garden at my mums in epsom at 10pm and saw what looked like 3 planes in formation, i called my mum out to see and all of a sudden another two in perfect line came out of nowhere. We thought it could be micro lites or something but at 10pm?? we stood and watched and in total saw approx 20 lights come over. all seemed to be in some sort of formation with each other. yet as quickly as they seemed to appear from no where they dissapeared again in to nothing this was 10.05. Please can some one say if they have an idea what these were as i so far can not find a reasonable explanation and am really intrigued.

Lisa, Epsom


My son called me to tell me there were some strange lights in the sky. This was around 10pm on Friday, August 31st. I looked out of the window and saw what looked like a formation of orange aeroplanes in the sky going past my window. I looked to my right where they were originating from and they seemed to be coming up from the ground one after another like bubbles being blown. They were coming from a fair distance away and they "flew" across the sky over Stoneleigh/Ewell and we watched each one reach a spot in the sky and then disappear. They just faded into the sky. We realised that they were too close together to be aeroplanes and at first I thought they may have been the army or police. They all followed the same path and appeared as orange lights and crosses that pulsated. It was quite scary as it was an unusual sight to see. I didn't count how many there were and they definitely were not air balloons which would have drifted in different directions. They didn't seem to make any noise as helicopters do when flying past. I wondered if someone had set these lights off in memory of Princess Diana being her 10th anniversary. But my son and I can't explain these lights as they don't seem to be physical and were just lights. It's frustrating not knowing what they were and not anyone coming forward to say if they had anything to do with them.

Susan Stroud-Bury, Stoneleigh, Surrey


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