Science Special News

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Mystery colonial village thought cursed

In the far upper corner of northwestern Connecticut, not far from the historic town of Cornwall in the shadow of three mountains, lies a place where only the bravest of hearts tread.Once a colonial village called Dudleytown, it is said to be the site of mysterious deaths of residents in the 1700s and 1800s, unexplained madness in the 20th century and tales of strange noises and wraiths in the past 50 years. Through word of mouth and the reach of the Internet, Dudleytown has become something akin to Connecticut's "Blair Witch" forest."The story has all the makings of a really great horror story: historical figures, mysterious happenings, ghosts, a curse," wrote author Gary P. Dudley in his 2001 book "The Legend of Dudleytown."Still, these days, about the only thing any supernatural investigator or curious teenager will encounter is a burly state trooper and road barriers, meant to prevent people from entering the private property.

The residents of the Dark Entry Forest - near the Dudleytown site - are tired of paranormal investigators, writers, hikers and people interested in the supernatural trespassing on their property.

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Secrets in the stone

On the south wall of Rosslyn Chapel, alongside the entrance historically used by women, is a very curious carving. It shows a blindfolded figure, kneeling between two pillars and holding a Bible, with a noose lying loosely around his neck. To anyone familiar with the rites of Freemasonry, this carving bears a remarkable similarity to a Masonic initiation ceremony. But if Alan Butler and John Ritchie, the authors of Rosslyn Revealed, are correct, the resemblance is anything but coincidental. Rosslyn has long been associated with Freemasonry, a worldwide secret society thought to have originated among the guilds of medieval craftsmen. But Butler and Ritchie believe the connection between Rosslyn and Freemasonry is more dramatic than anyone previously suspected - arguing that the beliefs of Freemasonry were first formulated by the stonemasons who built Rosslyn. They believe the chapel was not simply a reflection of the philosophy of Freemasonry, but its original inspiration. In Rosslyn Revealed, they claim the beliefs of Freemasonry are rooted in the Ebionite philosophy of Sir William Sinclair and Gilbert Haye, creators of Rosslyn Chapel.

Ebionites denied the divinity of Jesus Christ and exalted John the Baptist. Ritchie says: "Ebionites did not believe in a hierarchical church. They believed every individual was unique and had their own relationship with God. They believed in the betterment of mankind and in man the artist. Freemasons also believe in the betterment of mankind, in education and the individual - we believe Rosslyn was the origin of that philosophy."

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Dogfight with a UFO

Sam Willey: On the night of October 1st 1948 Lieutenant George F. Gorman of North Dakota Air National Guard had just been on a cross-country flight with his squadron. Upon his return to Hector airport in Fargo he thought he would log some night flying time so he remained up in the air as the other airplanes landed. He circled his F-51 over the lighted football stadium and then around the city, he was then preparing to land at around 9pm that night and he was cleared to do so by the control tower. He was told about another aircraft in the area (Piper Cub) which was the only other plane, he could see the light aircraft below about 500 feet below his location. Then what appeared to be a tail light of a plane passed him on the right but the tower told him they knew of no other plane in the area.Gorman told the tower he was going to check out and investigate what he thought to be another aircraft and pulled his F-51 up and out toward the moving light. He closed in within about 1,000 yards and took a good look at the flying object. Gorman later stated - "It was about six to eight inches in diameter, clear white, and completely round without fuzz at the edges [i.e., sharp and clear]. It was blinking on and off. As I approached, however, the light suddenly became steady and pulled into a sharp left bank.

I thought it was making a pass at the tower. I dived after it and brought my manifold pressure up to sixty inches but I couldn't catch up with the thing. It started gaining altitude and again made a left bank, I put my F-51 into a sharp turn and tried to cut the light off in its turn. By then we were at about 7,000 feet. Suddenly it made a sharp right turn and we headed straight at each other. Just when we were about to collide, I guess I got scared. I went into a dive and the light passed over my canopy at about 500 feet. Then, it made a left circle about 1,000 feet above, and I gave chase again."Gorman then cut sharply toward the light which was once again coming at him when collision again seemed imminent the object shot straight upwards and into the air in a steep climb, which then disappeared overhead. Gorman again attempted to peruse it but his plane went into a power stall at about 14,000 feet and the object was not seen again. The time was now 9:27pm. Gorman was shaken by the encounter and had a hard time handling the plane Gorman was a veteran pilot and flying instructor during World War II and he had noticed no sound, Odor or exhaust trail from the strange object during the dogfight and no deviation on his instruments. At some times during the fight he had pushed the F-51 to full power sometimes even reaching 400 mph. Gorman would later describe the object as round and flattened.

Air traffic controllers Lloyd D. Jensen and H E. Johnson also saw the strange light near the airfield and they stated the following - "After passing to the east of the airport it seemed to take a northwest heading, The object seemed to be at about 2,000 feet and appeared to be traveling at quite an excessive speed compared to a Piper Cub that was east of the field at the time. No definite outline could be identified. Both objects [the UFO and the Piper Cub] were sighted at the same time." Jensen said that through binoculars he sighted, "an object or a light traveling at a high rate of speed, apparently on a southwest heading. The F-51 [Gorman's plane] was some distance behind and the object was traveling fast enough to increase the spacing between itself and the fighter. The object appeared to be only a round light, perfectly formed, with no fuzzy edges or rays leaving its body. The edges were clear cut. No other shape was observed. The main identifying characteristic was the high rate of speed at which it was apparently traveling." The pilot of the Piper Cub, Dr. A. E. Cannon, and his passenger, Einar Nielson, also witnessed the swiftly moving light while in radio communication with the tower: "While circling the football field at NDAC at 1,600 feet, Fargo tower advised us that there was an F-51 in the air and a few moments later asked us who the third plane might be," Cannon said, "We had noticed the 51 and when we were over the north side of Hector field going west, a light, seemingly on a plane, passed above and to the north, moving very swiftly toward the west.

At first we thought it was the 51, but we then saw the light of the 51 higher and move over the field. We landed on Runway 3, taxied to the administration building, and went up to the tower and listened to the calls from the 51, which seemed to be trying to overtake the plane or lighted object, which then went southwest and over the city. The object was moving very swiftly, much faster than the 51. We tried to get a better view with a pair of binoculars, but couldn't follow it well enough."Gorman stated that he was certain the object was under the control of something intelligent he also stated - "I am also convinced that the object was governed by the laws of inertia because its acceleration was rapid but not immediate, and although it was able to turn fairly tight at considerable speed, it still followed a natural curve." He stated that the light was able to attain a much steeper climb than his F-51 and also outturn and out speed his F-51 also.

And that is a strange 1948 account a strange object of possible Extra Terrestrial Origin.

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Did the Dinosaurs survive meteor impact ?

Dinosaurs were killed off by a meteor that hit the Earth 300,000 years after the one blamed for their extinction, a scientist has claimed. Dr Gerta Keller, from Princeton University, New Jersey, insists the Chicxulub impact off the coast of Mexico 65 million years ago could not on its own have wiped out the dinosaurs. Evidence of the crater left by the giant asteroid or comet has been found under the sea off the coast of Yucatan. But according to Dr Keller, Chicxulub was only the warm-up for a much larger impact more than a quarter of a million years later. It was this meteor which left a tell-tale layer of extraterrestrial iridium in rocks around the Earth, not the earlier one, she says. However, no-one has yet found the crater from the "final straw" impact which ended the age of reptiles in one of the largest ever mass extinctions. "There is some evidence that it may have hit in India," said Dr Keller. The crater, named Shiva by one expert, is estimated to measure 310 miles in diameter. However, there is little proof of its existence. Dr Keller said marine microfossils in sediments drilled from the ocean floor showed that Chicxulub hit Earth 300,000 years before the mass extinction it was supposed to have caused.

The small marine animals that produced the microfossils escaped virtually unscathed. The Chicxulub impact combined with the Deccan-flood basalt eruptions in India - a long period of intense volcanic activity - to nudge species towards the brink, said Dr Keller. Vast amounts of greenhouse gas were pumped into the atmosphere by the Deccan volcanism over a period of more than a million years. By the time Chicxulub struck, land temperatures were 7-8C warmer than they had been 20,000 earlier. Weakened by these events, species were finally killed off by the second impact.

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"God Delusion" tops book sale charts

In the wake of one religious sensation, The Da Vinci Code, publishers are scoring a second success with sceptics. Secularism is suddenly hip, at least in the publishing world. A glut of popular science books making a trenchant case against religion have soared up the bestseller lists both here and in America. The phenomenon represents a backlash against a perceived rise in religious fundamentalism and recent crazes for 'spirituality' by way of books such as The Da Vinci Code. Secularists are now eager to show that the empiricism of science can debunk the claims of believers.The God Delusion, the latest attack on religion by the celebrated atheist and high priest of popular science writing Richard Dawkins, an Oxford biologist, is leading the sceptical vanguard. Now at number five on America's Amazon.com bestseller list, Dawkins's book is also selling rapidly in the UK. 'In terms of sales it's vying with Jamie Oliver,' said Alister Babb, popular science buyer with Waterstone's. 'The God Delusion is selling four times as many as the next bestselling science book. I'm struggling to think of a comparison. I think you would probably have to go back to Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian [published in 1957] for a similar sort of bestseller.'

The reference to Russell's polemic against Christianity is now a common refrain in the book world, with publishers eager to replicate the charismatic philosopher's appeal. Atlantic Books claims God Is Not Great: The Case Against Religion by Christopher Hitchens, which will be published next spring, is 'in the tradition of Why I Am Not a Christian'. Atlantic's publicity machine promises that Hitchens's book will be an 'acute reading of the world's major religious texts' and adds that it 'documents the ways in which religion is man-made, a cause of dangerous sexual repression and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos'.

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Professor debunks paranormal evidence

Is the world partially populated by wispy, dead folks who like to terrify living people by flinging open doors or caressing sleeping faces? Are there disembodied souls out there prone to torment, entertain or protect real folks? One ghost debunker says science just doesn't support it. "A century and a half of research into the paranormal has not provided substantive evidence of the claims," said Dr. Bryan Farha, behavioral studies professor and scientific and technical consultant for the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, the largest critical thinking organization in the world dedicated to extraordinary claims. "What ghost investigators use for evidence is scientifically weak," Farha said. "For instance, the use of equipment with meters and gauges is an effort to make an investigation appear technical and scientific." The equipment is not faulty, he said. It measures what it intends to measure, but the equipment is not designed to measure the presence of a ghost. "There has never been a single confirmed case of a ghost," Farha said.

"One reason is that, because, sometimes, hauntings are based on feelings or impressions. Feelings and impressions are not scientific evidence. "Have fun on Halloween, but view ghosts and haunted houses with a critical thinking mind," Farha said. "I don't want to take the fun out of Halloween, but realize that all of the conjecture about the paranormal is unsubstantiated."

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Elephants recognise own reflection

New experiments have revealed that elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror, an important indicator of self-recognition that places them in an elite group that includes humans, dolphins and great apes. Mirror self-recognition is thought to relate to empathetic tendencies and the ability to distinguish oneself from others, a characteristic that evolved independently in several branches of animals. In the study, researchers from Emory University and the Wildlife Conservation Society exposed three female elephants housed at the Bronx Zoo, New York to a, er, jumbo-sized mirror measuring eight feet square inside the elephants' enclosure. The elephants quickly began testing their mirrored images by making repetitive body movements and using the mirror to inspect themselves, such as the insides of their mouths, a part of the body they usually can't see. Tellingly, the animals did not react socially to their images, as many other animals do, and did not seem to mistake their reflection for that of another elephant. Mirror self-recognition has long been suspected in elephants because of the creature's well-known social complexity but past experiments were inconclusive.

"Elephants have been tested in front of mirrors before, but previous studies used relatively small mirrors kept out of the elephants' reach," said researcher Joshua Plotnik. "This study is the first to test the animals in front of a huge mirror they could touch, rub against and try to look behind."

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UFO author to speak at church

Much of what is now called UFOlogy is a modern-day substitute for religion, says Australian author Gary Bates, writer of the best-seller Alien Intrusion: UFOs and the Evolution Connection. Mr Bates, who will speak at a public meeting in Palmerston North on Thursday, is on a national tour that began in Auckland on October 26 and ends 14 stops later in Christchurch on November 7. He claims that more sightings of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) are occurring than ever before, but are attracting less attention because, in part, of a greater acceptance that extraterrestrial life exists and might have influenced developments on Earth. In the first chapter of Alien Intrusion he said, ". . . we now live in an age where, more than ever before, UFO/Extraterrestrial beliefs are no longer the speciality of science-fiction writers. They have become mainstream." Mr Bates, who examines the UFO phenomenon from a Christian standpoint, will speak at the Central Baptist Church, 190 Church Street, at 7.30pm.

A self-confessed science- fiction fan, he nonetheless quotes Ronald Story, editor of The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters, who said, ". . . science fiction has become our myth and science has become our religion." "Due mainly to media influences and a hideously complicated world, most people are finding it increasingly difficult to distinguish fantasy from reality." After Mr Bates appeared on a three-hour Coast-to-Coast radio show in the United States, his book shot into the top 100 on Amazon.com and within 24 hours brought another dozen requests for media interviews. He has since been on speaking tours in the US, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

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Soul Journey: From Lincoln to Lindbergh

Unexplained Mysteries: The new book by Richard Salva, "Soul Journey: From Lincoln to Lindbergh" is based on a quote by Himalayan Yogi Paramhansa Yogananda, which states that aviator Charles Lindbergh was the reincarnation of US president Abraham Lincoln. The book explores in detail the concepts of reincarnation and karma, and delves in to the lives of both men in order to demonstrate the similarities between them. Many important events are covered here, including the American Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation of Lincoln's era, to Lindbergh's historic flight across the Atlantic. At all times, the similarities between the two men are explored.The main theme of the book is the concept of past lives, and the evidence which points to Lincoln and Lindbergh as a prime example of reincarnation of the soul. In exploring this, the author not only provides a compelling case for reincarnation, but also provides a fascinating look through the lives of the two men, taking you on both a journey through the soul and through history, and covering their participation in some of America's most significant events.

Even if you aren't convinced about reincarnation, the book still provides a fantastic history lesson, and will undoubtedly teach you a lot about Lincoln and Lindbergh that you didn't know already. The book consists of pairs of stories, each covering one of the two men and then followed by a comparable story about the other. This layout makes the book very approachable, and I found myself picking it up when I had a spare moment to read another couple of stories."Soul Journey: From Lincoln to Lindergh" is recommended reading to anyone who has an interest in reincarnation of the soul, but anyone who isn't convinced by this aspect will still find the book a fascinating look into the lives of the two men. Well worth a look.

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FBI Busts Credit Card Cybergang

An alleged credit card thief, who has been identified as using the online handle "John Dillinger," has emerged as a suspect in an aggressive FBI law enforcement action to be announced Friday. The action, dubbed Operation Cardkeeper, has resulted in 17 arrests of hackers and carders this week in the United States and Poland.

The investigation is also focusing on three suspects in Romania who were questioned this week by Romanian authorities, as well as U.S. suspects in seven states. Authorities say more arrests are likely.

A law enforcement source told Wired News that Dillinger and other Americans indicted in the case received stolen credit card numbers from Romanian phishers and others, then used the numbers to purchase items they later resold.

According to an indictment unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Virginia, the person identified as using the Dillinger nickname was seized in San Diego in June on unrelated charges before being transferred to Virginia where he faces at least five counts of identity theft and access device fraud for using stolen credit card numbers belonging to Capital One bank customers.

Wired News interviewed a carder using that nick earlier this year, who spoke on condition of anonymity. In the interview, the carder said that three Romanian phishers contacted him in 2004 looking for partners to cash out U.S. Bank accounts, using account and PINs they obtained through phishing.

The indictment doesn't mention U.S. Bank or other activities that Dillinger discussed with Wired News. Authorities say the indictment does not reflect everything that went into the charges against him.

Dillinger likely faces two to five years in prison if convicted. He has a Nov. 13 hearing scheduled in Richmond, Virginia.

In addition to Dillinger, three other Americans and 13 Poles were arrested. The Americans are Dana Carlotta Warren, 29, of Atlanta, and Zanadu Lyons, 24, and Frederick Hale, 27, both of Columbus, Ohio. The suspects were caught with cards and MSR-206 machines used to encode data onto blank credit cards.

"Zanadu (Lyons) was attempting to flush counterfeit credit cards down the toilet when authorities were attempting to execute the search warrant," the law enforcement source said.

According to the source, the Richmond FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office launched Cardkeeper around August 2004 after seeing a lot of theft involving Richmond-area banks. They were surprised at what they found once they started tracing the source of the stolen card numbers.

"Just in Virginia we identified tens of thousands of compromised credit card numbers, maybe over 100,000," he said. "I don't know that anyone has ever tallied that up. There were also several thousand compromised identities (that we were seeing) trafficking over the internet."

The thieves obtained credit and debit card numbers through phishing scams and by hacking into databases, then distributed the numbers to accomplices through CcpowerForums, Darkmarket and other carding sites devoted to international cybercrime.

Among the Polish suspects arrested are Mateusz Rymski, aka "Blindroot," who the FBI identifies as a leader of the ring. The source said Rymski hacked into third-party web servers and then rented their illicit access to other criminals to host their phishing pages or use as a proxy to hide their trails.

"He was selling root access to multiple Romanians who were engaged in phishing and credit card fraud," said the source. "And the Romanians were distributing compromised credit card numbers on the order of the thousands, if not higher than that."

The Romanians are also suspected of writing keystroke-logging software to collect card numbers and other data from infected computers.