Scott Corrales of the Hispanic Institute of UFOlogy translates another tale of high strangeness from South America in this examination of a watery phenomenon by Luis Burgos of Fundacion Argentina de Ovnilogia. Burgos, well known to the Argentine UFOlogy community, presents a follow-up to a recent report of a strange photograph snapped at Laguna de Monte in "The Lagoon Creature: A Unique Argentinean Photo?" The reason Burgos asks if the photo is unique to Argentina can be found in the numerous instances of sightings in Argentina that stretch back to 1950, reporting humanoid creature encounters around bodies of water. Now a photo from March 14, 2010, depicting an unusual figure standing in or "on" the waters of Laguna de Monte in Almirante Brown district southwest of the city of Buenos Aires has come to light and has been examined closely by Burgos' expert photoanalysis team. Is this photo a hoax, or is it a rare example of an entity captured by the camera? With photos. And Burgos has begun a new investigation, too, beginning with another photograph from La Plata, included in the post Argentina: A Possible UFO Landing?

A recent post by Joseph Capp at YouTube, featuring Travis Walton's address at the International UFO Congress, sparked a response from a gentleman claiming to be the nephew of Sank Flake, county sheriff for the area around Snowflake, AZ, at the time Walton claims he was abducted by alien beings in a UFO. In turn, the alleged nephew's remarks bring Capp to issue a stinging rebuke of the nephew and anyone else who would question the veracity of Travis Walton. Capp includes the 6-part video of the Travis Walton address. Who's right in this dustup, and who should undergo a cooling off period before responding: the nephew or Joseph Capp? Meanwhile, the criticism of Walton hasn't diminished his speaking engagements, judging by the report Alien Abductee Travis Walton to Speak at Midwest UFO Conference. And there's a news overview of last weekend's MUFON get-together in Video: Mutual UFO Network Denver Symposium Round-up.

Tim Binnall welcomes a man whose extensive travels in the study of magico-religious cultures have taken him throughout the United States and Africa. That man is Tony Kail whose knowledge of these alternative cultures is often invaluable to first responders on the scene where magico-religious events have demonstrated a need for their services as well as a need for them to have a working knowledge of the cultures they deal with. Kail talks extensively about the growth of the Santa Muerte culture in Mexico and the United States, its embrace by Mexican drug users, cartels and the downtrodden. Kail also reveals how the government of Mexico has destroyed Santa Muerte churches and the Catholic Church has spoken out against Santa Muerte. Other subjects include Africa's "war on witchcraft", voodoo, Santeria, South American "hoo doo", cattle mutilations and much more. Downloadable podcast or listen online. Elsewhere, one of the many centers of magico-religious rites in the United States is Old New Orleans, and no one knows the subject better than Alyne Pustanio who writes here of The Bead Lady. Do you really know who threw you those beads at Mardi Gras in New Orleans when you were there? Elsewhere, a recent investigation by Shannon McCabe, Paul Dale Roberts and the Haunted and Paranormal International crew leads to a video interview of a young man who has encounters with ghosts, as seen at Video: Autism - Third Eye to the Paranormal? - The Experiences of Ryan.

Australia's Northern Territory has been the scene of many big cat sightings through the years, despite the fact the continent has no native big cats. In this respect, the Northern Territory hasn't been unique, though, as big cats have been reported in other Australian states as well. Now a still from a 1990s video has been brought forth by Australian co-authors Rebecca Lang and Mike Williams who spent five years collecting photos and videos of large cats "that resemble leopards and pumas" for their new book Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers. With photo and sometimes snarky comments. Do you think the photo looks like a house cat? There's more on the photograph of the "Territory Tiger" in CFZ Australia Writes.... Meanwhile, an archived newspaper clipping from July 17, 1934, retrieved by Richard Muirhead, tells the tale of Another Giant Testudine.

As a reader named Lance says about this post from Paul Kimball: "The age we live in conspires against the idea of UFO's. It betrays it." Kimball makes the point following the unauthorized and unlawful release of thousands of pages of Afghan War secrets that the imminent disclosure of UFO information socked away in the secret vaults of the world's governments is sure to be WikiLeaked soon. Right? Apparently Kimball doesn't put much credence in the existence of secret government UFO/alien files, despite the hue and cry from the "disclosure" coterie. One of the paramount things driving the disclosure movement is the number of sightings of anomalous aerial phenomenon year after year. And there may be a very good explanation for many of those sightings in a report that backs up much of what Mark Pilkington has to say in his new book Mirage Men, as detailed with photo and links at Pilkington's blog in UAVs: The (Formerly) Secret History. While Paul Kimball was posing his question about disclosure and Mark Pilkington was revealing secret aerial vehicles, anomalous aerial objects were continuing to disclose themselves, as seen in the Mutual UFO Network reports Arizona Firefighters Report 'Round Green Light' Moving at High Speed; Triangle UFO Crossed Indiana Sky in '15 to 20 Seconds'; and Airline Passenger Reports Silver Sphere-shaped UFO 1,000 Feet Under Jet.

During the recently concluded Tour de France bicycle race many contestants sported bracelets made by a company known as Power Balance. The bracelets, as well as pendants made by the company, according to Power Balance statements, are "designed to resonate with and respond to the natural energy field of the body". The bracelets and pendants supposedly increase an athlete's balance, endurance, presence and charisma, giving an overall enhancement of performance. Okay, so we just threw in the charisma and presence augmentations, but as soon as the company realizes those qualities and the ability to make men cringe before the steely glitter in your eyes are available, they're sure to be added to the bracelets - or just to the company's sales literature.

A recent report from Chris Holly about the possibility UFOs may be living organisms could become more relevant after this report of a sighting that was made by a church group camping at a Utah park on June 27, 1981. The group watched a flying light for 90 minutes as it swooped around the walls of Cow Canyon in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. When the object came within 30 feet of the group, a member shined a spotlight on it, reporting it looked like a creature, not a metallic UFO. The spotlight holder says the "creature" was "winged and larger than a bat." The full Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) report is taken from a National Park Service report of the incident. In other MUFON reports surfacing today, a June 10, 2010, comment by a five-year-old to his mother has led her to speculate the child has had a harrowing experience, as detailed in Kentucky Mother Suspects Son May Have Been Abducted, and a July 16, 2010, incident has a couple spotting a UFO performing a tricky maneuver, as noted in Falling Object Over Ohio Splits into Pieces and Moves in Formation. Elsewhere, check out the July 23, 2010, footage of the Impressive Daytime 'V' Orb UFO in California.

What in the world could leave a husband and wife trying to account for five hours of missing time after visiting one of the out-of-the-way attractions of Jolly Olde England? In this post John Carlson reveals a correspondence with a lady who had read and commented on a missing time post, taken from his own his experiences, that he posted some time ago. The lady's name is Linda Smith, and she relates the missing time experience she and her husband underwent in the presence of the Bronze Age stone circle at Stanton Moor in Derbyshire, England. The event took place in the mid-1990s at the stone circle known as the Nine Ladies. Did Linda Smith and her husband actually lose the five hours daydreaming in the beautiful setting, or did something much more bizarre occur? And what part did the gold-rimmed lens with the green triangle in its middle that Linda's husband found at the site play in this episode of high strangeness? Adding to the mystery of the area of the Smiths' experience, noted cryptid pursuer Adam Davies, author of Extreme Expeditions: Travel Adventures Stalking the World's Mystery Animals, comments on Linda Smith's story with an experience of his own, not at all related to cryptozoology. Davies knows the area around Stanton Moor quite well and uses the area to train for his excursions into some dangerous corners of the world in search of unexplained creatures. So, what happened to Davies and his friend Anthony near the Nine Ladies on Stanton Moor? Carlson has promised another revelation from Linda Smith, even more bizarre than this account, in an upcoming blog post. What will we find out happened to Linda Smith in Scotland?

Javier Ortega cuts through the jumbled phraseology of a Google translation to paraphrase a story from Ecuador that tells of a powerful unknown predator preying on cattle of the local farmers. Speculation ranges from an escaped cougar to el chupacabras. With photos and the ragged Google translation. What do you think is savagely devouring cattle in La Cuadra? Elsewhere, Loren Coleman posts a revisitation of some speculation from 2008 about the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film that includes references to "Hypertrichosis", also known as werewolf syndrome, and the reasons for the reposting can be found In Marlowe Missive on Massacre Revisited.

From the maverick science corner of the news: Mel Acheson explains how consensus astronomer see only massive stars when they observe those pinpoints of light in the night sky while Electric Universe observers look at the same pinpoints of light and notice a complementary complex of filaments characteristic of electric currents in space. Also, Stephen Smith points to mentions of "magnetic field", "magnetic loops", and "magnetic features" in a recent National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) press release noting a coronal discharge loop has been observed in the Perseus constellation, the first such observation other than the same such phenomena observed around our "parent star", the Sun. What has Smith writing about the observation is that, despite the magnetic references mentioned, no mention is made of the role electricity plays in the event, as noted in The Gorgon's Head. Elsewhere, the origin of the pouched mammals that dominate Australia is being rethought after DNA research shows Marsupials Not From Down Under After All. Meanwhile, recent reports that Taliban forces in the battle for Afghanistan are training monkeys to shoot American soldiers leads to a slide show presentation of the Top 10 Animal Recruits in War. Bats, bees, sea lions, camels, pigeons, dolphins, mules, elephants, dogs and horses all make the grade in this presentation.

The witness in this Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) database release videoed a strange light formation on the night of May 30, 2007, and a short portioned of that video was previously given to MUFON. Now the witness has provided all of the video footage, and there's a link to view the new complete version. Also released today from the MUFON database, a July 8, 2010, sighting of a triangular anomaly has been reported in Triangle UFO 20 Feet Above Tree Line Over Ann Arbor, Michigan. Meanwhile, another MUFON report comes from a witness who appears to be somewhat fed up with the UFO activity around his home in the Show Me State, as detailed in Missouri Witness Wants UFOs to Stop Flying Over Home 'Without Cause'. There are more witness reports of anomalous aerial phenomena in the MUFON UFO Traffic Report: July 27, 2010.

Brent Raynes talks with the man who epitomizes Bigfoot research for the state of Ohio. Don Keating is the director of Eastern Ohio Bigfoot Investigation Center and authored the book The History of Bigfoot at Salt Fork State Park. Keating describes how he became interested in Bigfoot in 1984 and details why he thinks investigators are dealing with an actual flesh and blood creature, not something interdimensional. He also appeals to all the Bigfoot research organizations to come together to compare research and try to get to the bottom of the mystery. Elsewhere, Neil Arnold notes that some of the monsters said to inhabit the world are more likely to "be found in the minds" of those who have a dread of them, exacerbated by "the pages of the local newspaper", than in the jungles and forests where one would trust they'd be sporting about, as he explains in The Terror of Tondo. Meanwhile, Dr Karl Shuker writes of a land where many of the organisms are of an appearance that would ordinarily cry "Cryptid!" - but they're not, as he notes, with photo, in Coast of Skeletons, Desert of Dreams. There's an update for an event less than three weeks away that will be held in a village with the catchy name of Woolfardisworthy. That event would be, of course, the Weird Weekend. That's where you'll find the latest update. And Nick Redfern, author of Monsters of Texas, provides expert guidance to a local newsperson about the legendary "Goatsucker" in Welcome Mat: Why We Need the Chupacabra.

The efforts of Manbo Sallie Ann Glassman to protect New Orleans from hurricane forces is described here by Alyne Pustanio with lots of photographs and a video. Some credit Manbo Sallie Ann's efforts to call up the spirit through traditional vodou ritual with diminishing recent Tropical Storm Bonnie and deflecting Hurricane Katrina away from a direct hit on New Orleans in 2005. Meanwhile, Skylaire Alfvegren recounts a frightening event that occurred many years ago as she and a companion were driving to her first International UFO Congress. It seems that something - or someone - was awaiting their approach to the Nevada town where the event would take place, as she reports In Laughlin Pumpkin Head Man Terrorizes Teen - Me!

Bruce Duensing continues his personal quest for the nature of the paranormal, wondering if it's "also a quest for the nature of onself". Duensing admits, "In the end it's not surprising there are more questions than answers." Is that the destiny of all research into the nature of the paranormal? Elsewhere, Michael Prescott is also seeking answers, looking for the subtle substance that made mediums and physicists about a century ago refer to a Universe-permeating substance that none could readily see, as detailed in Ether or...

Mark Pilkington's new book, Mirage Men, is making waves and garnering a following for its approach to the UFO question. Harry Ritchie reviews Pilkington's book that contends the power behind the UFO scenario isn't aliens - it's the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), pulling strings on a disinformation program. Pilkington's premise is that the CIA uses the UFO phenomenon to mask clandestine programs of high technology. Ritchie admits Pilkington's claims make sense when backed up by Pilkington's research, giving examples of campaigns mounted by the CIA that supposedly buttress the argument. While the CIA first mounted the disinformation campaign at the start of the Cold War, according to Pilkington, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations is now at the helm in the ongoing campaign. There's another review of Pilkington's book by John Rimmer with even more depth of commentary that you'll find in Mirages and Mirrors. Also being reviewed today, Christopher O'Brien's book on the things that seem to keep paranormal research skewed, in Stalking the Tricksters, and Mark Collins Jenkins new book, Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring Legend, in Vampires.

With the warning that their broadcasts are always Rated R for language - and especially for this show - Jeffery Pritchett and Guy Weddle welcome the host of the UFO Undercover radio show, Joe Montaldo, to talk of many subjects, including the Robert Bigelow and Mutual UFO Network collaboration, claims of a reptilian race in the UFO conundrum, psychological impacts of human/alien contact, global warming, the New World Order, and much more. You can download the broadcast or listen online.

From the maverick science news: Magnesium carbonate provides the evidence, but the puzzle of Robbert van den Broeke and the Holland crop circles continues. Results of analysis of a white powder that has appeared in crop circles associated with visions claimed by Robbert and in the home where he lives with his parents have shown the material is Magnesium carbonate of an exceedingly high purity, so pure, in fact, that it would only be used for chemical experimentation and would cost $717 for 100 grams. The amount recovered in repeated incidents associated with Robbert van den Broeke would total over $7000. With multiple photos and analysis reports. Meanwhile, there's a slide show of a Crop Circle Seen Near Woolaston in Gloucestershire. Elsewhere, Rick Phillips rebuffs the announcement of a possible way the Grandfather Paradox of time travel could be circumvented as he tells Why Murdered Grandfather 'Time Paradox' Being Solved - Doesn't Matter, and Bruce Duensing chimes in to the time travel debate, responding to Phillips' previous comments on the subject, with The Fifth Dimension of Spiral Jokes and Linearity.

In an article that could be included among UFO reports or cryptid reports, Chris Holly speculates about whether alien civilizations are advanced enough to create craft that are part organic, sort of living creatures able to penetrate the atmosphere of worlds not the aliens' own, scouting out the landscape and, perhaps, performing abductions. But the item she includes from a West Virginia source seems to describe something of a cryptid nature, perhaps even a legendary Thunderbird of Native American lore. Either way, what was seen along an Ohio highway in 2004 appears to have been a living creature. With excellent illustrations drawn by the witness. Elsewhere, Lon Strickler offers a collection of sightings from the Lonestar State that seem to show a pattern of activity for the large, hairy hominid known as Bigfoot. A recent email Strickler received that reported a sighting from 10 years ago near Rose City, TX, prompted him to collect other sightings from the vicinity that are now in the Bigfoot archives, as shown in Cryptid Sightings: Jefferson/Orange Counties - Texas Gulf Coast. Is this part of Texas a favorite haunt of Bigfoot? Elsewhere, Dale Drinnon has collected many illustrations and articles in one report that follows up recent press releases from China about the finding of as-of-yet unidentified hair and a footprint that are believed by villagers to be from a "Yeren" as you'll see in Bears, Bearmen and Bearmonkeys. Meanwhile, there are reports of strange beasts and new beasts from research notes included in Top 10 New Species of 2009 Named and Discovered: The Biggest Rat That Ever Lived.

Some residents from the township of Booyens in Praetoria, South Africa, observed a strange trio of lights last Wednesday and Thursday nights, reporting the incidents both lasted for over two hours. So far, no photos or videos of the incidents have surfaced, leading to some scathing comments to the news item. Local police, the Johannesberg Planetarium and the South African Air Force all reported no knowledge of the incident. Elsewhere, reports originating in February of 2008 alleging a UFO briefing had taken place at the United Nations building in New York were followed by reports showing some dishonesty by the whistleblowers who leaked the information about the meeting. Does dishonesty by a couple of whistleblowers mean the meeting and subsequent effort to acclimate humanity never took place? Kevin Smith takes a closer look at the claim and the question in Sifting Through the Story.

Jime talks with the author of Parapsychology and The Skeptics and Science and the Near Death Experience. Chris Carter has much to say about what he considers the "out-moded worldview" of most philosophers, who base their vision on "classical physics" that Carter says "has been known to be fundamentally incorrect for almost a century." Carter makes most of his penetrating comments in discussing the view of "parapsychology and the afterlife", describing how psychologists and philosophers have closed their minds to any possibilities presented by parapsychological studies. Elsewhere, a free copy of a new publication in the parasciences realm is available for download at the link included in the overview presented in Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal (Issue 1). While a new publication makes its debut, a publication that's been around for some time is offering its final edition, as Roy Stemman reports in Psychic News: The Last Issue.

The 41st International UFO Symposium drew to a close on Sunday, and Andrea Lopez reports on the event where thousands attended to hear experts attempt to explain the unexplainable. With news video. Meanwhile, after weeks examining the evidence, Chinese experts are saying the UFO Seen in Xiaoshan Airport is Aircraft. Elsewhere, a reported UFO sighting prompted a Mexican woman to be prepared with her video camera the next night. But what she saw when the next evening rolled around wasn't what she expected, as explained in text and video at Spanish-speaking Television Broadcasts Alien Sighting. The story from Mexico fits in nicely with the latest article by Milton Brener, perhaps, as seen in The Little Man Who Wasn't There.

Regan Lee presents some photos of a stairway taken just a few days ago in what she refers to as a haunted house. It wasn't Lee's first visit to the home, as she states in this description of the strangeness that not only permeates the house but seems to carry over to the entire road on which the home is located. What makes this location such a hotbed for the paranormal? There's more ghostly photographic evidence in an image from a cell phone included in Is This the Ghost of a Romanian Woman Tortured to Death by Communists? Elsewhere, Alyne Pustanio offers a gory overview of Zombie Babies: Dark Denizens from the Shadowy Cradle of New Orleans Folklore. With original artwork, photo and video.

Pat Regan dredges up a historical account of something strange that occurred in England at about the time of the coronation of King William in 1066. The account is from Geoffrey Gaimar's Lestoire des Englis and speaks of a flame in the sky that touched down, setting some "woods and plains" on fire before ascending and plunging into the sea. Was it Halley's Comet? Was it a meteorite? Or was it an alien-piloted UFO? Meanwhile, Colin Bennett has a much more recent series of reports in mind, those dealing with the "drones" and the "Caret Program", as outlined in Meme Wars: We Have an Agenda - A Fortean Essay in Story Technology. Elsewhere, there's uptodate UFO reportage from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness database, including Four Sphere-shaped UFOs Move Over Baltimore Toward Atlantic Ocean that took place July 25, 2010; a July 24, 2010, incident in which one Witness Says Flat-bottom UFO Near Somerville, NJ, 'Rather Bizarre'; another July 25, 2010, incident explained in Illinois Couple Wants Explanation on Six 'Sphere-like' Objects Over Northlake; and six other sightings included in UFO Traffic Report: July 26, 2010.

In a downloadable podcast, David Eckhart, who claims a history of alien abductions stretching back over ten years, returns to talk to Ben and Aaron about some new details of his encounters, including "stunning scenes of invasive, physical surgery" and other accounts of a shocking nature. And the Eckhart interviews figure prominently in Lon Strickler's latest commentary in which he reveals how his views of the "aliens" Eckhart mentions has changed since his first contact with Eckhart, all of which Strickler explains in Our Future May Be Now.

Jason Offutt's latest book of high strangeness may be entitled What Lurks Beyond: The Paranormal in Your Backyard, but his latest story from the files of real life accounts submitted by his readers shows your backyard isn't the only place you're liable to run into the unexplained. In the first part of a two-part account, Offutt begins the tale of a retail clothing store in a Southern California mall where Susan Smith took over the assistant manager's position in 2005. After a quiet first six months at the store, a new manager and new employees were brought into the store. That's when Smith began to notice little peculiarities - the sound of running feet, the rustling of empty clothes hangers, etc. - that she didn't mention to coworkers. But the strange occurrences began to escalate, and the incidents were mentioned by other employees during an employees meeting. Then banks of lighting began to burn out for no apparent reason, a voice could be heard making short comments when no one was there, a corner became permeated by a feeling of sadness, another spot was cold...and it didn't end there. Next week, the strangeness becomes physical when Offutt continues Susan Smith's tale of the haunted shopping mall. Elsewhere, Louis Proud, author of the acclaimed book Dark Intrusions: An Investigation of the Paranormal Nature of Sleep Paralysis Experiences, responds to a skeptic's question of whether anyone other than a Sleep Paralysis (SP) experiencer had ever spotted the entity or entities seen by the SP experiencer. Proud responds that he knows of only one such case and relates it in "Dark Figure" Visitation: Beware of Open Windows!

In the latest releases from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database, there's this July 24, 2010, account of strange lights in the sky witnessed by campers in a California park. The report contains photos and video. There's also the MUFON report from July 18, 2010, occurring on the East Coast of the United States, in which several bright lights were spotted in the early morning hours, with "secondary lights circling around them", as noted in Four Lights Move Across Virginia Sky and Emit Search Beam. And there's the report of a June event that struck a Sunshine State observer as odd for the lack of noise, as explained in Florida Witness Reports 'Mysterious Helicopters' Leave Without Trace of Sound.

Dale Drinnon sort of dismantles a family tree for Abominable Snowmen provided by Ivan Sanderson in his 1961 book Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life, noting that Sanderson did not have the advantage of DNA research when formulating his evolutionary tree of life for huge, hairy hominids. Drinnon provides charts to show the evolutionary paths and branches he believes lead to today's sightings of the large, hairy bipeds that some think lurk on every continent. Meanwhile, another large cryptid occupies the commentary of Mike Hallowell as he supplies some interesting instances of mankind's interactions with Giant Eels. And there's celebrating at the Centre for Fortean Zoology following news vindicating their claims that the rarest of United Kingdom animals still exists in Northumberland, as reported in Manchester Martens.

Among the odd reports of the day: A clipping from a 1905 Los Angeles, CA, newspaper tells the tale of an African-American gentleman who went to extremes to take a job with a traveling carnival, having a silver plate inserted under his scalp to which horns could be screwed on and gold screw caps placed on two front teeth for screwing on tusks. In 1905, this stood out, although he might pass as an insurance salesman in some locales today. The article tells how the man went to a doctor to have the silver plate removed due to slippage. Elsewhere, Star Trek may have been the inspiration for some MIT graduate students who have conceptualized a device to add to your kitchen: Introducing Cornucopia, the Food Printer. With images.

Incidents that became part of the international firestorm in which many people were disgraced and incarcerated for acts that apparently never took place are reported here by Mike Dash. In particular, Dash looks at a case from Wales in which a small township saw claims of satanic rituals leveled against many residents, although everyone knew the events could not have taken place without the entire village knowing about it. According to commentary presented by Dash, a combination of over-zealous prosecutors, incompetent investigators, social workers who seemed blind to their own machinations, and children goaded into testimonies that bore no resemblance to the truth saddled the West Wales town of Pembroke with the stigma of "Satanic Ritual Abuse" that still lingers thirty years after convictions were handed down in the affair. Did Satanic Ritual Abuse take place around the world three decades ago? Or was injustice visited on numerous people by incompetent legalists and a sensationalist press?

Micah Hanks, author of Magic, Mysticism and the Molecule, takes the reader back into the pre-1947 history of the UFO phenomenon to uncover the "spiritual" side of UFO/alien reports that were more prevalent in those days. Pointing out the preponderance of spiritualist activity back then, with mediums and seers becoming well-known celebrities, Hanks uses two cases from his book to show how the phenomenon had a history akin to today's New Age mysticism. Elsewhere, Billy Cox admires the cheekiness of a British newsman, with video, in Get Bradby to Cover the White House, and the latest composite of UFO eyewitness accounts submitted to the Mutual UFO Network reporting center are available in UFO Traffic Report: July 23, 2010. There's also a call for help on the UFO front in the search for anyone who has information about an image produced by a hiker in Help Identify UFO Image in California Photo.

From Darklore Volume 2, Mike Jay discourses on an 18th century member of the scientific establishment in England, John Robison, and the man's contribution to the continuing saga of the Illuminati. Robison was the author of the bestselling book Proof of a Conspiracy Against All the Religions and Governments of Europe which called out some elements of the Masons as being behind a far-reaching effort to undermine the cornerstones of European culture. Did Robison forcefully remove an evil cat from the bag, or did he create an illusion of an evil cat in the first place? Elsewhere, Philip Coppens looks into the continuing legend that a key figure from the New Testament of the Holy Bible came to Europe: In the Footsteps of the Marys in France. With images.

On two separate occasions group photos of tour members snapped during guided tours of Edinburgh, Scotland's Mary King's Close have shown a ghostly image of a blonde-haired woman that is not one of the tour members. The staff have extended tour hours to take advantage of more tour time after darkness falls trying to get to the bottom of the mysterious images. They believe that having people in the Close for more hours after dark may bring the apparition out into the open. With photos. Meanwhile, Shannon McCabe and Paul Dale Roberts investigated the case of a 13-year-old autistic California boy who is believed to be able to communicate with ghosts, as explained in Autism - Third Eye to the Paranormal? McCabe and Roberts are from Haunted and Paranormal Investigations International, and Roberts presents one of the group's newest investigators in Interview with Carmela Roman, HPI Investigator. With photos. Elsewhere, a cell phone photo takes a slap from Ghost Theory writer Javier Ortega in 'Mother-in-Law Ghost' Photograph Debunked.

British journalist Ben Judah goes in search of the mythical wild man - or "clever monkey" - of the Asian mountains, finding a fair number of citizens willing to swear on the Koran that they have seen the Yeti or evidence of its existence. As Judah puts it, "(I)n Romit, I touched a living myth." Judah compares the beliefs of the impoverished Tajiks in the legend of the Yeti to the beliefs of the European peasants prior to the French Revolution. With images. Elsewhere, Jon Downes comments on a YouTube video that appears to show you can fool some of the people all of the time, especially when it comes to such things as the Return of the Jenny Haniver. With video. Downes also has commentary today about an item from a 1947 edition of a newspaper published in China that appears to attest to an impossibly long-lived tortoise, as seen, with relevant questions, in Canton's 1000 Year Old Testudine. Meanwhile, the latest information about one of the year's most highly anticipated Fortean events is available in New at the Weird Weekend.

Franklin R. Ruehl has the story of a respected university professor who makes the extraordinary claim that a missing time event that took place March 20, 1988, saw him and his son taken aboard an alien craft. The professor says he was given an implant in his right nostril and injections "at the thyroid area" of his neck and the central part of his chest "near the thymus gland." Dr. John Salter and his son John, 3rd, recognized their encounter when flashbacks to the event began occurring months afterward. Dr. Salter is the chairman of American Indian studies at the University of North Dakota and tells of some of the "improvements" he has undergone from the actions taken by his abductors. Elsewhere, there's online audio from Nick Redfern and Raven Meindel for their first two programs featuring Brad Steiger and Timothy Green Beckley at Exploring All Realms. Steiger was the debut guest of the duo last week, and Beckley's visit took place Thursday night, July 22. The program can be heard each Thursday night at 9 online.

With all the wide open spaces around the United States, would the government want to use a popular area near one of the country's largest cities to conduct clandestine UFO work? Watch this video and decide: Is there anything to this report, or is this just someone having fun with his/her camcorder? There are some more "conventional" UFO reports from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) database today, including Photo: Boomerang-shaped UFO Over Michigan Appears During Bad Storm, Black Triangle UFO Crosses Michigan Skies, Football-field-long UFO Reported Hovering Over Indiana, Red Orbs Rise from Wooded Area in Stahlstown, PA and Round, Metallic Object Follows US Airways Jet Across Arizona Skies.

From the maverick science news: An investigation of "closed timelike curves" has led to a paper proposing a quantum mechanics method for time travel that would, in theory, prevent the possibility of someone going back in time to kill ancestors and prevent their own birth. But Rick Phillips, in two articles, refutes the entire time travel proposition with Time Travel is Impossible and questions where "now" would be when time is combined with motion in Be Here Now(ish). Also, the science behind contact with any alien civilizations may have to take a backseat to the accountants, as explained in Stingy Aliens May Call Us on Cheap Rates Only.

Recent reports of tiger sightings in Dallas, TX, have led Loren Coleman to post a long list of similar sightings from his famous book Mysterious America. Meanwhile, there's a report of a supposed large feline that may actually be a canine as seen in New Ohio Mystery Cat, and there's a programming note, with photos, in Wife Swap's Bigfoot Family: July 30th. Elsewhere, Dr. Beachcombing has photos of Stela B from the Mayan ruins at Copan that lead to a question of out-of-place animals, as seen in Elephants in Eight-century Honduras?

In the early evening of Tuesday, July 20, 2010, numerous witnesses in the Venezuelan capital observed a luminous object above the city. According to this report, translated from Ovnivenezuela by Scott Corrales of the Institute of Hispanic UFOlogy, the object was observed from several different parts of the city. A check with personnel on duty at the Maiqueta Airport revealed radar had not detected the object. Elsewhere, video footage shows some lights in the sky over Saltney, Flintshire, England, that have a property owner wondering was a UFO Captured on Security Camera?

From the just plain odd reports of the day: A 29-year-old Saudi man has spent the last six years chained in a basement apartment because his family believes he's possessed by an evil female presence and has attempted to have the presence exorcised only to be advised to chain him up by clerics who were frightened by the evil spirit's presence. With photo. Elsewhere, some hapless driver has probably already run into one, which would negate the effort put forth in India where Pyramid Power Is Being Used to Stop Road Accidents.

Gary S. Bekkum is back with more behind the scenes information that appears to slightly lift the lid covering the deepest secrets of America's Intelligence Community (I.C.). As many readers have gleaned from Bekkum's past accounts of government activity in the UFO arena and the use of psychic spies, Bekkum seems to have some contacts within the I.C. who have indicated to him that there's more to the knowledge of the UFO phenomenon within the CIA and other government intelligence agencies than we ordinarily suspect. For instance, was there an unexplained radioactive intrusion to the secret confines of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory? Has a secret program conducted by American intelligence been manipulating the minds of the public? Did the US Air Force have contact with extraterrestrials? The following excerpt from an upcoming book has some possible bearing on Bekkum's reports, as you'll see when reading Anthony Sanchez's The Dulce Interview: Retired USAF Colonel Confirms Secret Military Installation at Dulce. Elsewhere, Milton Brener, like most everyone who sincerely follows the UFO phenomenon, takes exception to the mainstream media reaction to UFO reports with Our Modern Court Jesters.

Thirty residents of Ogden and Huntsville, two Utah cities, will gather on Monday for an event billed as Dave's Bigfoot Show. The purpose of the gathering: these residents will relate their encounters with the legendary hairy hominid believed to stalk the forests of North America. The thirty will be interviewed on stage about their experiences, most of which took place in northern Utah. Is this number - thirty - representative of the number of Bigfoot experiencers for a set population of North Americans? Does it seem possible so many people from a relatively small area could have all encountered one of the most elusive of all cryptids? Meanwhile, other Bigfoot fans are gathering today in Michigan, as reported in Do You Believe in Bigfoot? Festival Organizers Do. Elsewhere, there's more to report on Bigfoot and associated hairy man-beasts in Michael Newton: Patty Whacked, Part 1: Burbank Bigfoot and Dale Drinnon: Yetis By Altitude.

The ancient circle of stones in England apparently once had a sister formation about a half of a mile away. Archaeologists beginning a three-year project made the discovery on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire just two weeks after the project began. The second henge is not visible above ground, but was detected by use of ground-penetrating radar which indicated a circular ditch with 22 holes that had once been filled with wooden posts. There's more on the discovery in Sister Monument to Stonehenge May Have Been Found. Meanwhile, the findings of ancient remains in the South Caucasus continues to provoke new and wonderful claims from researchers, many of those claims to be found in Dmanisi - Home of the First Europeans.

Recent UFO sightings around Florida's Isles of Capri neighborhood near Marco Island led to a townhall meeting conducted by Florida Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) state section director Morgan Beall. Beall has now returned to the area, as promised, having produced an instructional DVD for residents to help them in reporting future sightings. Meanwhile, MUFON's 41st Annual International UFO Symposium is underway in Denver, CO, with a news video and text offering background on the event at UFO Sightings Explored Through Science. Meanwhile, another gathering discussing high strangeness got underway this morning, as reported in UFOs & Earth Mysteries? Glastonbury Symposium is Back. While these meetings are underway, sightings continue to be reported from the United Kingdom, Encounters of the Second Kind; the People's Republic of China, 8 UFO Sightings Occur in China with(in) a Month; Malaysia, Reader Submissions: Blog Post and Photos; and Ohio, Pulsating Triangle UFO with Green Lights Spotted at 200 Feet Near Clinton Field.