Bigfoot Labeled: A Depression-Era
Image from California Discovered
by Loren Coleman
"One measures a circle, beginning
anywhere, said Charles Fort. If so, then
perhaps we can learn more about
California's experience of Bigfoot
through lettuce. Lettuce? Yes, lettuce,
or rather a crate label for lettuce.
Actually, it's a fruit crate label. Let
me explain, backing up just a bit first.
. ."
Monsterous Sounds: A Field
Investigation of Texas Bigfoot
Vocalizations
by Chester Moore, Jr.
"The devil himself couldn't have
made more frightening, vile sounds. An
enraged cacophony of growls, yells, and
grunts broke the silence of the darkened
forest and stirred the very core of my
12-year-old soul. My father and I were
rabbit hunting near a creek bottom in
the deep pine forests of Newton County
in East Texas and happened upon some
thing that didn't appreciate our being
there. With each passing moment the
noisemaker seemed more agitated as it
increased the intensity of its
furious-sounding cries. . ."
Hoodwinks: A Look at Hooded Entities
by Michael D. Winkle
"One night in 1985 my younger brother
Mark drove down a dead-end road off 81st
Street and Riverside Drive in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, just to see where it went.
Back then the area was quiet and wooded;
later the road "punched through" to 91st
Street and became part of Riverside. My
brother rolled a few hundred yards until
he reached the end, a dirt turn-around
surrounded by trees; to his amazement,
several figures in black, monklike cowls
dashed out of the reach of his
headlights as if taken by surprise. . ."
Shapeshifting: My Experience and
Folklore
by Lisa Oakman
"Shapeshifting is the ability to change
form, physically or in the subtle body,
either one's own or another's. I have
not only watched beings shapeshift their
forms, but have also been shapeshifted
by beings. I found both experiences very
disconcerting. As a result, I have
always had a strong interest in
shapeshifting as described in religion,
mythology, and folklore; it made me feel
that the peculiarities I experienced
were documented somewhere. Shapeshifting
tells me that physical reality is not as
concrete as it appears. I had many
experiences, with many kinds of beings,
through my childhood and teens. . . "
Sky Visions, Ghost Riders, and
Phantom Armies
by T. Peter Park
"I have always loved the old cowboy song
'Ghost Riders in the Sky,' which I used
to hear on the radio frequently in the
1950s. The song always gave me a
numinous feeling of eerie, wholly-other
awe and mystery. 'Ghost Riders' is
sometimes dismissed as a
repent-or-be-damned fundamentalist
sermon because of the last two lines
quoted above. However, the song's
imagery evokes a 'mental region' weirder
and more eldritch than conservative
moralistic Protestant fundamentalism.
When I heard the song as a 13-year old
6th grader in the early 1950's, the
words 'Their brands were still on fire
and their hooves were made of
steel,/Their horns were black and shiny
and their hot breath he could feel,'
invariably made me think of Assyrian and
Babylonian winged bulls. They echoed an
early adolescent fascination with
ancient Mesopotamian culture. The song
suggested a Wild West vision of Assyrian
winged bulls in the sky!"
Southern Falls: Flesh and Stones
by D. Dwight Smith and Gary
Magiacopra
"We've heard of rains of fishes and
frogs
Of pitchforks, babies, cats, and dogs,
Of lizards and bats,
Of mice and rats
Of manna that fed the Jews,
And of warm blood over your shoes;
But the oddest yet
Was the shower of meat Last Friday
morning!"
Teleportations: A Review of the
Phenomenon in UFOlogy
by Alejandro Cesar Agostinelli &
Luis R. Gonzalez Manso
"The idea that things or people can
break space-time barriers or
thermodynamic laws moving
instantaneously for one point to another
is mentioned in old popular legends or
sacred histories. It is also a common
literary device in science fiction
narratives, considered by many as the
realm of human imagination. This
phenomenon received a boost after World
War II, when "teleportations" appeared
on the flying saucer scene, adding a new
dimension to the phenomenon. . ."
A Personal Account of a Stigmata
by Robert J. Durant
"As an airline pilot, I am required to
take a physical examination every six
months. This is a fairly simple test of
blood pressure, hearing, vision and that
sort of thing. The exam must be
administered by a physician certified by
the Federal Aviation Administration. FAA
medical examiners are not that common,
and those in my vicinity require an
appointment, usually a month or so in
advance. My flying schedule tends to be
erratic and unpredictable, making it
difficult for me to meet these
appointments. The following events
occurred in the summer of 1990. . ."
The Oera Linda Book
by John Mount
"At the risk of reigniting an old
controversy, I have before me a copy of
what could possibly be the oldest
collection of family manuscripts ever
found. Collectively known as the "The
Oera Linda Boek," this collection of
manuscripts is considered by some to be
the oldest book in the world--and by
others the biggest hoax in the world.
The story begins in the town of Den
Helder in Northern Holland in the year
1848. A young man by the name of
Cornelis Over de Linden, who had just
come of age, was given a bundle of
manuscripts containing a strange script
that no one could understand. The
manuscripts had been secretly passed
down through his family with strict
instructions that they be always handed
down from father to son, always to be
faithfully re-copied and guarded well. .
."
Alien Lit 101
by John Chambers
"It's a type of literature that's been
around since at least the end of the
eighteenth century and probably well
before. And although it is by now
represented by well over a thousand
volumes, not a single university course
has ever been taught on the subject. At
least, not on this planet. I'm talking
about Alien Literaturebooks ostensibly
channeled by mediums from
extraterrestrials residing on planets in
our Solar System and beyond. . ."
Fear and Loathing on the Trail of the
Chupacabras
by Jonathan Downes
"This is a personal account of our
expedition to Puerto Rico in search of
what I now believe to be one of the most
disturbing zooform phenomena to be
reported anywhere in the world at the
present time. Although they are often
reported as being "Mystery Beasts"
zooform phenomena, are not animals at
all, but are entities or apparitions
which adopt or seem to have animal or
part-animal form. Zooform phenomena
occupy the fortean end of the
zoological/cryptozoological spectrum. In
many ways, these elusive and contentious
entities have plagued the science of
cryptozoology since its inception--and
tend to be dismissed by mainstream
science as thoroughly unworthy of
consideration. Zooform phenomena seem to
be a mysterious blend of paranormal
manifestation, social or cultural icons,
and misunderstood or misinterpreted
inanimate objects. . ."
Little Green Men
by Martin Kottmeyer
"It is the cynic's synonym for
aliens. Journalists are quite fond of it
and seem to use it endlessly. It is too
cutesy, a gentle clue the user thinks
the ufo phenomenon verges on the campy.
Ufologists pretty much consider anyone
using it as obviously stupid. Those who
know anything at all about the ufo
phenomenon know that ufonauts are never
really green and never have been. Thus
we have here a puzzle. How did this
expression come to be a synonym for
aliens if there have never been any
little green men sightings?"
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