176 results found.
... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 67: Jan-Feb 1990 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Australasian tektites coughed up by a moon of jupiter?The Australasian tektites are glassy blobs found on or near the surface of the ground from the Philippines, through southeast Asia, all the way to Tasmania. Similar but much smaller "microtektites" appear in deapsea de posits in the adjacent oceans. Radiometric and fission-track dating indicate that the tektites solidified about 700,000 years ago. Yet, their geological age, as measured by the age of the terrestrial sediments in which they are found, is only a few thousand years. This great disparity in age engendered a confrontation between geologists and geophysicists. The latter insisted on their 700,000-year figure; the former said "maybe so" but the tektites are still found only in very young, superficial sediments. The point here is that time-of-solidification may not be the same as time-of-fall. At stake is the prevailing theory, now dogmatically proclaimed, that tektites are created when a large asteroid impacts the earth, ejecting molten droplets of rock which shower back to earth as solidified tektites. No one has ever found a suitably large crater ( 200 miles in diameter) assignable to the Australasian tektite strewn field. Nevertheless, the impact model prevails; and the young geological age of the tektites is dismissed as erroneous. A Soviet scientist, E.P . Izokh, has recently proposed a radically different scenario that would produce both ...
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... , continue to amaze us. Almost totally forgotten, however, are the equally impressive "garden beds" of southern Michigan. Happily, the INFO Journal has just reprinted B. Hubbard's 1878 paper describing these works that stretched for miles along the Grand and St. Joseph Rivers. Of course, modern activities have obliterated them completely; and even in Hubbard's day they were mostly gone. First, Hubbard's general description of the "garden beds": "The so-called 'Garden Beds' were found in the valleys of the St. Joseph and Grand Rivers, where they occupied the most fertile of the prairie land and burr-oak plains, principally in the counties of St. Joseph, Cass and Kalamazoo. "They consisted of raised patches of ground, separated by sunken paths, and were generally arranged in plats or blocks of parallel beds. These varied in dimensions, being from five to sixteen feet in width, in length from twelve to more than one hundred feet, and in height from six to eighteen inches. "The tough sod of the prairie had preserved very sharply all the outlines. According to universal testimony, these beds were laid out and fashioned with skill, order and symetry which distinguished them from the ordinary operations of agriculture, and were combined with some peculiar features that belong to no recognized system of horticultural art." Type 8. Wheel-shaped plats. Width of beds, 6-20 feet; paths, 1 foot; length, 14-20 feet. Hubbard recognized eight types of beds. ...
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... Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Natural gas explosion?February 28, 1990. Nowata, Oklahoma. On this date, residents of the Nowata area heard and felt an explosion. Its source was unknown until W. Mitchell checked to find out why Double Creek had backed up. He found a scene of curious devastation, which was then linked to the earlier explosion. "The explosion blasted up large shale rocks, some estimated to weigh more than a ton, and filled about 150 feet of creekbed with shattered stone. Trees were blown down and the creek was partly blocked. "The water level upstream from the site is 3 to 4 feet higher than below, although water is flowing under the rocks. .. .. . "' It looks like a giant mole went all under the ground,' Mitchell said, .. .' There is no telling how big a hole is under there. You can hear water falling. Gas was bubbling up all along the bank. In one place the water was shooting up a couple of feet yesterday, like a fountain, but it has gone down now.' "Large pieces of shale landed 20 to 30 feet from the creek bank, mud was blown outward from the explosion and pieces of shale as large as a big tennis shoe were found as much as 200 feet from the creek." (Smith, Charlotte Anne; "Nowata Creek Blocked after Apparent Explosion," Tulsa World , March 4, 1990. Cr. P.A . Roales.) Comment. A similar, though more violent, natural ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Baby Oil Geologists maintain that most of the oil they pump out of the ground was formed tens and hundreds of millions of years ago from biological debris. But in the Guaymas Basin, in the Gulf of California, the oil seeping out of the sediments is only 4240 years old! Actually, it could be even 500-3000 years younger than that for two reasons: (1 ) The organic debris that was C-14-dated may have taken many years to become incorporated in the sediments; and (2 ) The dating may be skewed by older material in the sediments. By subtraction, the oil might be as young as 1240 years! The picture geologists draw of the Guaymas Basin is that of a spreading center covered by perhaps a half kilometer of sediments. Spewing up from the spreading center is hot water at 300-350 C, which "cracks" the organic material in the sediments, converting it into petroleum only 10-30 meters below the sea floor. (Hecht, Jeff; "Youngest Oil Deposit Found below Gulf of California," New Scientist, p. 19, April 6, 1991.) Comment. Since spreading centers are really cracks in the earth's crust, it is possible that some of the feed materials for this modern "petroleum factory" in the Guaymas Basin could consist of abiogenic, primordial methane and other organics seeping up from deep within the earth. Reference ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 76: Jul-Aug 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Subterranean "circles"As if we didn't have enough problems with crop circles on the earth's surface, it now seems that whatever agency (or "entity") that is responsible for them also plies its craft underground! "Sets of concentric rings, similar to those found last summer in British wheat fields, have been discovered in a Japanese subway tunnel. .. .. . "Many sets of concentric rings were found drawn in dust that accumulated on the ground and walls inside the tube. The metro versions of the mystery circles are much smaller -- up to 8 centimeters in diameter -- than the British ones, the largest of which measures scores of meters." Y. Otsuki, a professor of physics at Waseda University, discovered the rings and believes that plasma generated in the air creates them. Subway tunnels, he says, create conditions similar to those in the plasma generators he uses in his fireball research. A photo of the rings accompanying the article shows six neatly-formed, concentric rings around a central crude circle. (Anonymous; "' Mystery Circle' Found in Tunnel," Asahi Evening News (Tokyo), April 5, 1991. Cr. Y. Matsumura via L. Farish) Speculations. Apparently, plasmoids can be of any size: crop circles may be 100 feet in diameter of just a foot or two, and now we may have centimeter ...
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... bacteria, it appears, have tampered with the K-T (Cretaceous-Tertiary) boundary of some 65 million years ago. A key marker of this boundary is a thin "spike" of iridium that is found worldwide, and which was supposedly deposited by the asteroid impact that helped finish off the dinosaurs. For many scientists, the asteroid-impact scenario has become a "non-negotiable" brick in the Temple of Science. The problem they have faced is that the iridium layer is variable in thickness and concentration from site to site. Sometimes iridium can be detected well above and below the K-T boundary. This variability has tended to undermine the asteroid-impact theory. Recent experiments at Wheaton College by B.D . Dyer et al have demonstrated that bacteria in ground water can both concentrate and disperse iridium deposits. In other words, bacteria could smear out an iridium spike, perhaps partially erase it, or even move it to a deeper or shallower layer of sediment. (Monastersky, R.; "Microbes Complicate the K-T Mystery," Science News, 136: 341, 1989.) Comment. An obvious question now is how bacteria might have affected other chemicals, such as oxygen and carbon isotopes, widely used in stratigraphy. From Science Frontiers #67, JAN-FEB 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... discovery of a small, stone-covered cist in eastern Washington County, Maine. This cist contained several stone artifacts bearing remarkable symbols, writing, and portrayals of a man and a slain animal. Naturally, mainstream archeologists look askance when amateur archeologists come across such anomalous materials. Happily in this instance, a professional archeologist, J.B . Petersen, Director of the University of Maine's Archaeological Laboratory, took an interest in the site near Grand Lake Stream. After careful study of the site and its artifacts, he has prepared a preliminary report. Petersen's report is accompanied by many photos and sketches made during his excavations. On p. 000 we reproduce a photo of the amulet with its strange epigraphy. Now, we add a sketch of the "elongated hafted ground biface, with human figure." Over 13 inches long, this artifact depicts a trousered, bearded man of European countenance, who is missing one arm and a foot. Petersen asserts that the artifacts have no affinities with American Indian artifacts: rather they have a European flavor. What can one make out of all this? Petersen is only able to state: "Although the site is undoubtedly human-made, its function, antiquity and cultural attribution cannot be precisely specified on the basis of the unique characteristics of both the artifacts and the cist. Tentative interpretations allow suggestion that it is attributable to some portion of the historical period, a European cultural tradition, and probably is contemporaneous with or postdates local stone working at the site." In other words, we could have anything ...
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... dog displayed anxiety, and the lookout felt barely perceptible vibrations under her feet when standing on a concrete slab. The lookout said she had heard the same sound during the summer of 1978, but always during the daylight." Colorado. Testimony of T. Adams: "Camping on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristos, northwest of Mount Blanca and south of the Sand Dunes, we heard the sounds in 1970. Two or three nights in succession, it 'cranked up' after midnight and subsided shortly before dawn. It wasn't really loud enough to hear over conversation - but definitely sounded like a motor of some sort, with a suggestion of a dynamo-type whine to it. And others had said that it sometimes seems even louder with an ear to the ground. One could easily imagine (Adam's emphasis) the sound was coming from beneath the surface, but whether it did or not remains purely speculative." The report referenced below contains similar observations from Texas, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, California, Puerto Rico, England, and Ita ly. Unusual luminous phenomena have also been noted in the areas where the underground sounds have been heard, which explains why these phenomena were reported in a UFO publication. Some UFO investigators suspect that both the sounds and luminous phenomena are due to low-level seismic activity. (Long, Greg; "Machinelike Underground Sounds and UFO Phenomena," International UFO Reporter, p. 17, November/ December 1989.) From Science Frontiers #69, MAY-JUN 1990 . ...
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... satellite circles that sometimes array themselves around the main circles may be connected by a narrow ring, thus: Even more curious, a short radial spur extends outward from some circles, so that from the air the circle resembles a fat tadpole. In his book, G.T . Meaden, the Editor of the Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., presents his theory of how the circles are incised in field crops: "He describes the clues that have enabled him to point to the circles being formed by the impact of a body of fast-spinning air that has been partially ionized. He explains how a columnar atmospheric vortex, with a vertical or inclined axis, provides the channel for the formation of a plasma (ionized gas) vortex and for its conduction towards the ground. The ionisation of the air ought to be sufficient to make the vortex luminous at night and the fast spin may make the vortex appear ball-shaped. Such a description suggests that Meaden may well have explained some sightings previously reported as UFOs in areas where circles have been found." (Elsom, Derek; "A Crop of Circles," New Scientist, p. 58, July 29, 1989.) The books are: Circular Evidence , Pat Delgado and Colin Andrews, Bloomsbury, 14.95 pounds; and The Circles Effect and Its Mysteries , G. Terence Meaden, Artetech, 11.95 pounds. Comment. Why are the crop circles so common in England (160 so far this summer alone) so rare elsewhere? Could the luminous phenomenon predicted by ...
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... , the Belgian police force has kept a constant watch, helped by more than 1,000 concerned civilians. Along the border with Germany, 20 lookout posts have been set up. Their target: an Unidentified Flying Object. "Since December, there have been 800 reported sightings, and even though some resemble a lamp-post more closely than a UFO, many of the others are being earnestly examined by SOBEPS, the Belgian Society for Studying Special Phenomena. "More surprising is how seriously the army is taking the whole thing. For the time being it says it is viewing the matter as a 'technical curiosity' as the intruder has shown no aggressive signs. Should it turn nasty, it will be a different matter altogether. .. .. . "Scientists on the ground appear in the past few days to have produced a clear image of the object, which is said to correspond to the reports of eyewitnesses. It is a triangle 30m-50m in diameter, with red, green and white lights at the corners, 10 times brighter than any star. It has a convex underbelly and makes a sharp whistling noise." (Anonymous; "Flying Triangle Has Belgians Going around in Circles," London Financial Times , April 18, 1990. Cr. T. Good via L. Farish) Comment. This is a strange place to find an even stranger report. Could there be a hoax here? Perhaps some of our readers in Europe will enlighten us. From Science Frontiers #70, JUL-AUG 1990 . 1990-2000 William R ...
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... the many fascinating descriptions. Giant ball lightning. "The following display of ball lightning was observed by an officer at the coastguard station at Fishguard, Dyfed, West Wales, on 8 June 1977. The occurrence was at 0227 GMT, grid reference SM(12)895389. "The ball lightning phenomenon was very large and estimated to be about the size of a bus. It was described as a brilliant, yellow green, transparent ball with a fuzzy outline which descended from the base of a towering cumulus over Garn Fawr Mountains and appeared to 'float' down the hillside. Intense light was emitted for about three seconds before flickering out. Severe static was heard on the radio. The object slowly rotated around a horizontal axis, and seemed to 'bounce' off projections on the ground. It was noticed that cattle and seabirds in the immediate vicinity became disturbed." (Jones, Ian; "Giant Ball Lightning or Plasma Vortex," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 15:178, 1990.) Reference. Eighteen varieties of ball lightning are cataloged in section GLB in Lightning, Auroras. For more infor mation on this book, visit: here . From Science Frontiers #71, SEP-OCT 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... . Recently, G. Egely of the Central Institute of Physics, in Budapest, investigated a case where both phenomena may have been involved. G.T . Meaden, editor of the Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., summarized Egely's report as follows: "The date was 25 May 1989, and the place a field by the roadside near Kerecsend, a village 109 kilometers from Budapest. The victim was a 27year old engineer within whose body, it is conjectured, ball lightning formed. The man had stopped his car and walked to the edge of a field about ten metres distant to urinate. Suddenly his wife who had remained behind in the car saw that the young man was surrounded by a blue light. He opened his arms wide and fell to the ground. His wife ran to him noticing that one of his tennis shoes had been torn off. Although it looked hopeless she tried to help him, but soon after she was able to stop a passing bus. Amazingly, the bus was filled with medical doctors returning from a meeting; unhappily they immediately pronounced that the man was dead. "At the autopsy a hole was found in the man's heel where the shoe had been. The lungs were torn and damaged, and the stomach and belly were carbonized! This is indicative of internal combustion, just as the blue light is proof of atmospheric electricity, while the damaged heel and shoe are indicative of electrical earthing." (Anonymous; "Spontaneous Combustion," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 15: ...
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... few days had been unusually stormy here in Ankara, and on the 14th the second thunderstorm of the day was in progress with curtains of rain and flickers of lightning, a few kilometres away to the north-west. The storm was moving towards us and the squally wind had already begun. I was again watching the weather from my office, which is on the fifth floor, when I was suddenly distracted by the appearance of a very bright, circular flash of blue-purple light (perhaps one metre or less in diameter), which persisted for about two seconds and then silently 'popped out,' leaving behind a puff of smoke, which then drifted away. The flash of circu lar light occurred about 500 m away from me: it was about 30 m above the ground, close to, and partly behind, a tall factory chimney. There was definitely no cloud-to-earth lightning over that area at that time, but the edge of the cumulonimbus cloud, giving the storm a few kilometres away, was directly overhead." (Kirvar, Erol; "Thunderstorm and Possible Ball Lightning in Ankara, June 1988," Weather, 44:136, 1989.) Reference. The various forms of ball lightning are cataloged in chapter GLB in our catalog: Lightning, Auroras. For more information on this book, go to: here . From Science Frontiers #67, JAN-FEB 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Upwardly directed lightning from cloud tops "An image of an unusual luminous electrical discharge over a thunderstorm 250 kilometers from the observing site has been obtained with a low-light-level television camera. The discharge began at the cloud tops at 14 kilometers and extended into the clear air 20 kilometers higher. The image, which had a duration of less than 30 milliseconds, resembled two jets or fountains and was probably caused by two localized electric charge concentrations at the cloud tops." (Franz, R.C ., et al; "Television Image of a Large Upward Electrical Discharge above a Thunderstorm System," Science, 249:48, 1990.) Comment. Note that the above discharges were diffuse and quite unlike most cloud-to-ground lightning discharges. They were, in fact, much like the mountain-top glows seen along the Andes. Also, one should ask where those "localized electric charge concen trations" came from and why they did not disperse. Reference, Upwardly directed "rocket lightning" is cataloged in GLL1 in our catalog: Lightning, Auroras. Fuller description here . From Science Frontiers #72, NOV-DEC 1990 . 1990-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... up through the sediments convert buried organic matter into oil very rapidly. (Monastersky, R.; "The Quick Recipe for a Soup of Black Gold," Science News, 136:295, 1989.) Comment. Not mentioned in this article is T. Gold's theory that oil is actually derived from primordial carbon deep in the crust. Gassy water. Some water wells in Texas also produce much methane. This methane is apparently not related to any oil or gas wells in the region. Rather, surmise has it that bacteria deep in the crust are converting buried organic material into methane and other chemical products. But geologists are confounded by the fact that some water wells are rich in methane while others nearby are devoid of the gas. (Anonymous; "Methane and Ground Water," Geotimes , 34:19, April 1989.) Comment. As to be expected the possibility of abiogenic methane is ignored. A really-deep ocean. No, this is not in Tarzan's Pellucidar, but rather an incredible mass of water stored hundreds of kilometers deep in the earth's mantle. Several times the earth's visible surface water may be locked up in water-bearing minerals! Brucite [Mg(OH),2 ], for example, is 30.86% water. Perhaps such water was released long ago by changes in temperature and pressure to form the present oceans. (Ahrens, Thomas J.; "Water Storage in the Mantle," Nature, 342:122, 1989.) Reference. Anomalies surrounding ...
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... . "Soon after midnight the occupier of the roadside cottage by the path which leads to West Kennett Long Barrow noticed a large ball of light 400 metres distant in a wheatfield to the west. At the time of the observation he was walking from house to garage, and had a clear view to the illuminated part of the field through a gap in a hedge which borders his garden. He described the ball as orange in colour, adding that it was brighter around the periphery, and he guessed the diameter as 30-40 feet (say, 10-13 metres). When first seen, the ball was already low over the field and still descending. The witness watched the base of the ball 'go flat' as it made contact with the crop and/or the ground. The ball then gave 'a little bounce' and after a further 'seven or eight seconds' disappeared in. "Next morning on leaving the house the witness could see via the gap in the hedge a large circle at the place which corresponded to the position of the light source the previous night, and some smaller circles were evident as well." A flyover the same day revealed a big circle with a ring around it plus smaller circles. G.T . Meaden (the writer) arrived at the site on the morning of the 30th to find that a half dozen additional circles had joined the earlier ones. Five of these formed a quintuplet - a large central circle with four small evenly spaced outriders. (Meaden, G.T .; "Nocturnal Eye ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 74: Mar-Apr 1991 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects 50-POUND 'ICE BOMB' FALLS IN WEST VIRGINIA June 26, 1990. Jerry's Run, West Virginia. "Heisel and Alice Amos, and their grandson, Aaron Hupp, had just turned on a movie on television when the house was jarred with what Mrs. Amos thought was an explosion. "Looking out the front door, they saw their son, Donald, 43, looking in the direction of their television satellite dish some 30 yards away where something had hit the ground with a terrific impact. "Inspecting that area, they found a hole some 24 inches long and 18 inches wide, and about four to six inches deep filled with large chunks of broken ice. Amos said pieces of baseball- and marble-size ice were scattered in a 30-foot radius around the hole." Further facts from this newspaper account: Several other chunks of ice were found in an area about 1 mile long. Some chunks made whistling sounds as they fell. The larger chunks were completely transparent except for a yellowishbrown streak. Many of the chunks had sand in them. Some contained holes. The weather was clear. The Federal Aviation Administration stated that if the ice originated in aircraft toilets it would have been blue from the chemicals used. (Hawk, Harold; "50-Pound 'Ice Bomb' Falls near Jerry's Run," Parkersburg News, June 27, 1990. Cr ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 60: Nov-Dec 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Spiral-circle ground patterns in field crops G.T . Meaden has recently summarized his research into those marvelously sharp and complex designs cut into English field crops by atmospheric vortices. (Why other countries are not similarly affected is unknown.) The simple circles range from 3 to 30 meters in diameter. The central, flattened vegetation is crushed clockwise about half the time, counterclockwise in the other cases. On two known occasions, the flattening process has actually been observed. The invisible atmospheric vor tex does its work in 30 seconds or less and generates a high-pitched humming sound. The complex nature of these vortices is attested to by the rare ringed circles and multiple patterns. Both single- and double-ringed circles are known. The wind direction always alternates from central circle to first ring to second ring. The most common multiple patterns consist of large central circles flanked by two or four, smaller satellite circles, all nicely spaced. In the quintuplets, all five circles are usually flattened clockwise, but one case has presented theorists with four counterclockwise circles accompanied by a single improbable clockwise circle! (Meaden, G.T .; "The Mystery of Spiral-Circle Ground Patterns in Crops Made by a Natural Atmospheric-Vortex Phenomenon," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 13:203, 1988.) Quintuplet pattern in barley crop, west Wiltshire, 1987 From Science Frontiers #60, ...
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... famous Nazca lines in Peru. It is not as well known that many other "geoglyphs" are to be found elsewhere in South America. Plan view of some Santa Valley geoglyphs from Peru. The scale at the lower left represents 10 meters. The vertical double line is not a geoglyph but rather the azimuth heading 280-degrees. It is hard to imagine how such underground drawings could be used for rituals. "For example, several areas that contain crosscrossing lines and figures similar to those of Nazca have recently been studied on the central coast [of Peru] between the FortalezaPativilca and Rimac valleys. Additional lines have been reported for Viru Valley, on the north coast, and for the Zana Valley, over 1,000 km to the north of Nazca. Interestingly, most coastal ground drawings that can be dated tentatively, either by associated ceramic remains and sites or by their similarity to diagnostic pottery motifs, fall in the earlier part of the Early Intermediate period (ca. 350 B.C . to A.D . 650) - i.e ., to a time following the establishment of irrigation agriculture as the primary subsistence focus, but prior to the rise of state societies. .. .. . "As is well known, several studies have been conducted that involved mapping and computer analysis of the Nazca lines to examine the hypothesis that they were related to astronomical phenomena. This theory is now discounted, at least as it applies to the great majority of the lines which do not appear to have been oriented toward the sky. More recent studies ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 53: Sep-Oct 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Lenses In Antiquity The ancient Greeks seem to have thought of just about everything. True, they didn't conceive of silicon chips or H-bombs, but they did know rudimentary optics. Excavations down the years have yielded hundreds of lenses ground from quartz crystals. (Later, the Romans used glass.) Many of these early lenses were articles of high craftsmanship, being accurately spherical and wellpolished. Lathes were evidently available for grinding the rock crystal into appropriate shapes. Some ancient lenses had holes drilled through them, possibly so that they could be carried around the neck on cords. These seem to have been used for kindling fires. Most lenses, though, were probably magnifiers for authenticating seals and for carving gems. (Sines, George, and Sakellarakis, Yannis A.; "Lenses in Antiquity," American Journal of Archaeology, 91:191, 1987.) Comment. We wonder if any ancient Greeks ever put two of these lenses together to make a telescope. Such a tan dem arrangement of lenses seems such a natural experiment; i.e ., if one is good, two will be better! The ancients probably ground lenses with the aid of bow-driven spindles. From Science Frontiers #53, SEP-OCT 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 60: Nov-Dec 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Another "cookie cutter" hole Back in 1984, the American press had fun with the "cookie cutter" hole found in Washington state. A good-sized chunk of earth or "divot" had been neatly excised intact from the ground and deposited some 73 feet away. (see drawing.) One would think that nature would play only one such bizarre prank, but a remarkably similar occurrence also took place in 1887. A third example of this most curious phenomenon has been resurrected from one of the Middle Ages chronicles: "822 A.D .: 'In the land of the Thuringians, near a river, a block of earth 50 ft. long, 14 ft. wide, and 1 ft. thick, was cut out, mysteriously lifted, and shifted 25 ft. from its original location.' Royal Frankish Annals." (Carolingian Chronicles. W. Scholz, translator, Ann Arbor, 1972. Cr. E. Murphy) Reference. Descriptions of several other "cookie-cutter" holes can be found at ETB7 in our catalog: Carolina Bays, Mima Mounds, which is described here . Plan view of the much-ballyhooed "Cookie-cutter" hole phenomenon in Washington state, 1984. (From: Carolina Bays, etc). From Science Frontiers #60, NOV-DEC 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 52: Jul-Aug 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Inside A Texas Tornado May 3, 1943. McKinney, Texas. People rarely get the chance to look up into the funnel of a tornado and live to tell about it. R.S . Hall did; and what he saw is very strange. "The bottom of the rim was about 20 feet off the ground, and had doubtless a few moments before destroyed our house as it passed. The interior of the funnel was hollow; the rim itself appearing to be not over 10 feet in thickness and, owing possibly to the light within the funnel, appeared perfectly opaque. Its inside was so slick and even that it resembled the interior of a glazed standpipe. The rim had another motion which I was, for a moment, too dazzled to grasp. Presently I did. The whole thing was rotating, shooting past from right to left with incredible velocity. "I lay back on my left elbow, to afford the baby better protection, and looked up. It is possible that in that upward glance my stricken eyes beheld something few have ever seen before and lived to tell about it. I was looking far up the interior of a great tornado funnel! It extended upward for over a thousand feet, and was swaying gently, and bending slowly toward the southeast. Down at the bottom, judging from the circle in front of me, the funnel was about 150 yards across. Higher up it ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 62: Mar-Apr 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects More challenges to newton's law of gravitation Two experiments reported at the 1988 meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco can be added to the others that question Newton's venerable Law of Gravitation. The abstracts of these papers are short and to-the-point, so we quote them: "We have performed an experimental test of Newton's inverse-square law of gravitation. The test compared accurately measured gravity values along the 600 m WTVD tower near Raleigh, North Carolina, with upward, continued gravity estimates calculated from ground measurements. We found a significant departure from the inverse-square law, asymptotically approaching -547 36 microGal at the top of the tower. If this departure is derived from a scalar Yukawa potential, the coupling parameter is alpha = 0.023, the range is lambda = 280 m, and the Newtonian Gravitational Constant is G = (6 .52 0.01) x 1011 m3 kg-1 s-2 . We do not yet have adequate resolution to discriminate this scalar model from a scalarvector model." (Eckhardt, D.H ., et al; "Experimental Evidence for a Violation of Newton's Inverse-Square Law of Gravitation," Eos, 69:1046, 1988.) "In the late summer of 1987, an ex periment was performed to determine the value of the Newtonian gravitational constant, G, by measuring the ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 62: Mar-Apr 1989 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The cookie cutter strikes again -- four times - in norway The divot from an And va moor Yes, the cookie-cutter phenomenon has left its mark again: more mysterious divots and holes in the ground. T. Jo nassen has sent us a study of the phenomenon published in Ottar , a publication of the Tromse Museum, in Norway. Even better, he has provided a translation, from which we quote a few paragraphs: "About 1 km SE of Skogvollvatnet (a lake), at Skogvollmyra (a moor), a slab of turf 5.2 m long and 1.8 m wide, has, in an apparently inexplicable manner, torn itself loose from its 'mother turf' and placed itself 4-5 m away. The slab of turf is completely undamaged and is placed with the right side up. The piece of turf has rotated 20-30 degrees compared to the original hole. The hole in the moor is absolutely even at the bottom, and the angle between the bottom and its walls is 90 degrees. The hole is 30-35 cm deep, and its edges are nicely cut. "From the hole there is a crack running westwards for about 6 m. Close to the hole this crack is somewhat widened, and one side of the crack twists itself 25-30 cm above the other. This twisting decreases as one gets further from the hole. The ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 60: Nov-Dec 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Airborne Observations Of The Marfa Lights The Marfa lights are elusive, and most people lucky enough to see them observe them from the ground. Neverthe-less, a few pilots and aircraft passengers have encountered them. In February 1988, R. Weidig was flying at about 8000 feet, some 20 miles from Alpine, Texas, when he noticed white lights in motion around the Alamito Tower's red beacon light. "We noticed white lights coming up... I don't know how high, but it seemed like several hundred feet. Then the lights would just dissipate .. . They moved around that tower for some reason. They'd get on the right hand side of it, the left hand side of it, and go just straight up." In June 1988, a stranger case was reported by E. Halsell, who was a passenger on a plane flying toward the Chianti Mountains. "' Suddenly a bright light came toward them rapidly, seemingly from a great distance. "It came straight at us til it got to the hood of the plane....It was engulfing us, larger than the plane.' It seemed as though they were inside the light. 'We couldn't see to fly. It scared us.' According to Halsell, as they tried to turn away from it, it moved in front of them. 'Always it moved ...
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... -200 annular piles of sandstone rocks. All lie on the western slope of Polish Mountain. No one seems to have a good explanation of their origin. Archeological digs have not unearthed any human artifacts. From a photograph of one ring, we estimate an outer diameter of 15 feet, and an inner hole 5 feet in diameter. The height of the rock ring is perhaps 2 feet. The sandstone rocks are generally slab-like. A popular theory states that the rocks were piled up to protect apple trees. (Anonymous; "Rings of Stone Pose Mystery in Md.," Washington Post, June 26, 1988. Cr. J. Judge.) Comment. We have classified this item under GEOLOGY because these rings could be periglacial phenomena; that is akin to patterned ground. Periglacial structures are occasionally found in the Appalachians. From Science Frontiers #60, NOV-DEC 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... flakes more than 5 centimeters (2 inches) in diameter have been observed. Of these, we have already cataloged six in GWP2, in Tornados, Dark Days, Anomalous Precipita tion, including the prize of the lot: the 15-inch snowflakes that parachuted down on Fort Keough, Montana, on January 28, 1887. Five of Pike's cases that we did not catalog have diameters of "only" 5 or 6 centimeters. The sixth uncataloged observation would certainly have been worth including if we had known about it: March 24, 1888. Shirenewton, England. "Snowstorm with extraordinary flakes, some were 3 3/4 in. in diameter, yet only in. thick, falling like plates. The storm lasted only 2 minutes but in this short period the ground was covered 2 in. deep." The quotation is from British Rainfall, 1988, as requoted by Pike. In all cases, huge snowflakes are really aggregations of many thousands of individual flakes. Observers have thought that the big flakes attract individual flakes. (Pike, W.S .; "Unusually-Large Snowflakes," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 13:3 , 1988.) Comment. Could electrostatic forces be involved? Reference. The catalog Tornados, Dark Days, mentioned above, is described here . Snowflakes 38cm in diameter fall in Montana. (From Tornados, Dark Days, etc). From Science Frontiers #57, MAY-JUN 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... continuously bombarded by all manner of electrical and electromagnetic signals, noise, and transients. A particularly annoying source of unwanted signals impinging upon European radios is the Soviet Woodpecker over-the-horizon radar. In some bands, radio hams are blasted off the air when the Woodpecker is aimed at them. So much for electromagnetic problems. In the audio range of the sound spectrum, Fox brings up the topic of those still unidentified hums that afflict a small group of people, who are now known as "hummers." Fox himself turns out to be a hummer. "By coincidence, I happen to be blessed, or cursed, with good low-frequency hearing. For several years now, I have intermittently heard a curious low-frequency sound coming from a deep below the high ground around my home in Hampstead Heath in London. Most of the time it is swamped by other noises, because human hearing adjusts sensitivity to compensate for background noise. The noise is an intermittent rumble, like a very distant generator, or the compressor for a pneumatic drill, coming on and off load. Most people cannot hear it at all. I usually hear it only in the still of night." Fox applied considerable effort in trying to find the source of the sound to no avail. The hum has been recorded and analyzed. It peaks at about 48 Hertz, and thus seems unrelated to the British 50-Hertz power mains. (Fox, Barry; "Things That Go Buzz in the Night," New Scientist, p. 72, October 8, 1987 ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 57: May-Jun 1988 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects The large-scale structure of electrical storms Ground-based observers see only a few of the anvil-shaped clouds comprising a big electrical storm. The entire storm may stretch for hundreds of kilometers -- and it is not a simple structure. The latest surprise is that all large electrical storms are bipolar; that is, the rare positive lightning strokes are concentrated at the northeast end of the storm complex, while the negative strokes are everywhere else along a northeast-southwest line. This bipolar structure persists for several hours, and it has been found in all North American storms analyzed so far. This insight into the structure of large electrical storms was provided by magnetic lightning detectors that have now been installed over nearly 75% of the United States. The positive lightning strokes are of longer duration and more liable to start fires than the common negative strokes. But why are they concentrated at one end of the storm complex? R. Orville ventures that in a big mesoscale electrical storm, the prevailing winds blow the positively charged upper portions of the clouds to the northeast, thus establishing bipolarity. (Orville, Richard E., et al; "Bipole Patterns Revealed by Lightning Locations in Mesoscale Storm Systems," Geophysical Research Letters, 15:129, 1988. Also: Anonymous; "New Lightning Theory Strikes," Eos, 69:57, 1988.) Reference. Large thunderstorm complexes are cataloged in GWH3 in ...
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... will change the dinosaur stereotype even more. The Gobi dinosaur-bone sites are incredibly rich -- comparable with those in Alberta. What is most impressive, however, is the environment the Gobi dinosaurs lived in. "The dinosaurs of China and Mongolia did not live in the same type of lush, well-watered environment that existed in North America during the Mesozoic era, when dinosaurs dominated the globe. The dinosaurs of Alberta flourished on a great swampy coastal plain on the edge of a vast inland sea. In ancient China, conditions were much harsher. A modern-day equivalent would be the Great Salt Lake Basin of Utah. Water did exist in vast shallow lakes, but it was often alkaline and high in soda. The vegetation was scrubland with coniferous forests on the higher ground." (Anderson, Ian; "Chinese Unearth a Dinosaurs' Graveyard," New Scientist, p. 26, November 12, 1987.) Comment. To these Gobi observations should be added those above from northern Alaska, all of 70 north latitude, which suggest that dinosaurs also survived in a land where darkness reigned almost six months of the year. It seems that these great beasts could live almost anywhere. Why, then, do most scientists maintain that climatic changes wiped them out? From Science Frontiers #55, JAN-FEB 1988 . 1988-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... phosphorescence bridges the shoulder-high grass. The fluorescent band composed of these tiny organisms lights up and goes out with a precision that is perfectly synchronized, and one is left wondering what means of communication they possess which enables them to coordinate their shining as though controlled by a mechanical device.' A generation later, a flurry of full- dress bioluminescence expeditions had obtained photometric, cinematographic and electrophysiological measurements from congregational displays in Thailand, New Britain, New Guinea and Malaysia, confirming the reality of mass synchrony and uncovering a variety of types. Contemporaneously, Otto and Smiley photographed group wave synchrony of flying fireflies in central Texas, Ohba recorded two frequencies of synchrony in a Japanese species and Cicero described spectacular and enigmatic bouts of chain-flashing, tightening into synchronized strings, by fireflies on the ground in, of all places, the Arizona desert. Thus, work of the past 20 years has shown that 'synchrony' is a complex of behaviors." (Buck, John; "Synchronous Rhythmic Flashing of Fireflies. II," Quarterly Review of Biology, 63:265, 1988.) Comment. Most theorists take the simplistic view that firefly displays are connected with mating and reproduction. Perhaps related are the complex, geometrical, luminous displays seen at sea, and attributed to bioluminescent organisms in the water. See GLW in the Catalog, Lightning, Auroras, Nocturnal Lights. This book is described here . From Science Frontiers #61, JAN-FEB 1989 . 1989-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 49: Jan-Feb 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Grounded Bats Nicheless New Zealand boasts two bat species (Mystacina) which can fly but really prefer to clamber around on the ground hunting for insects, pollen, and fruit. So far, these bats have defied classification. They are distinctly different from their flying cousins in the area. Blood protein analysis links them to tropical bats in South America. No oth-er bats from New Zealand and Australia show such a relationship. Although these two oddball species may have flown in from South America some 80 million years ago, when the land masses were thought to be much closer, one then has to explain how these tropical bats survived the Ice Ages that afflicted New Zealand. (Anonymous; "Grounded Bats," New Scientist, p. 25, October 2, 1986.) From Science Frontiers #49, JAN-FEB 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... pairs; a big one followed by a modest little chap following behind by 100-150 yards. The devils ranged from just a foot or so in diameter to 500 yards and more. The giants were majestic masses of swirling sand that moved along at leisurely paces. These appeared harmless enough, but stepping through the outer wall into the vortex sucked the air out of the lungs. "Outside our hangar there is a large stretch of wind-sheltered concrete which becomes intensely hot. In this area, close to the foot of the hangar, one can start up one's own little devils on occasions by a quick sweep of a signalling bat (which is shaped like a large ping-pong bat) from shoulder level in circular and downwards direction to a point almost touching the ground; one must step rapidly back or the vortex that is set up is spoilt. Such a miniature thermal starts about a foot in diameter and quickly assumes a conical shape about two feet high, moving along the ground at a walking pace. Its rotation increases very rapidly, until one has the impression of a whirling snake in front of one. As it reaches the edge of the concrete a little sand is thrown up and the thermal dies away." (Swinn, R.H ., "On Flying Gliders into Wind Devils," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 10:17, 1985.) From Science Frontiers #39, MAY-JUN 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 43: Jan-Feb 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Underground Weather Most residents of central Oregon can tell you tales about winds blowing out of the ground, about roaring and whistling sounds emanating from their wells, and of mysterious holes in the winter snow on Mount Bachelor. Central Oregon is geologically young and plastered with lava flows and cinder cones. It is like a sponge, with many cubic miles of holes, air channels, and open fissures. The air in this rocky sponge is usually on the move in response to changes in atmospheric pressure. The earth absorbs air during barometric highs and expels it during lows. In some spots the expelled air is captured to cool homes during the summer. In the High Cascades, though, the underground winds pose hazards to skiers by creating blowholes in the snow. These blowholes are actually mildly anomalous because they blow out a gentle 40 F breeze regardless of the barometric pressure. Some of Oregon's blowing caves also "breath" without re gard to barometric pressure. Also, the water wells north of Fort Rock Basin often blow for days during periods of high barometric pressure -- times when they should be taking air in. (Chitwood, Larry; "Central Oregon's Underground World Filled with Wind That Roars, Whistles," The Oregonian, Octo ber 3l, 1985. Cr. R. Byrd) Comment. See category GHG2, in Earthquakes, Tides, Unidentified Sounds, for material on blowing wells, etc. ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 39: May-Jun 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Falls Of All Sorts Of Things About May 16, 1983. Chippenham, Wilt shire, England. A group of students at Chippenham Technical College reported that a lot of tadpoles had fallen during a thunderstorm. The River Avon is nearby; and a waterspout or small tornado was suspected. (Meaden G.T .; "Shower of Tadpoles...," Journal of Meteorology, U.K .; 9:337, 1984.) May 26 or 27, 1984. East London. Flounders found on the ground, smelt on the roof. June 19, 1984. Thirsk, North Yorkshire. After a heavy thunderstorm, a small area was covered with winkles (shellfish), some still alive, and starfish. (Rickard, R.J .M .; "A Remarkable Fall of Fish in East London 26 or 27 May 1984," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 9:290, 1984.) July 24, 1984. "I was in my car waiting at traffic lights in Winton, Bournemouth, when a sheet of off-white or dove-grey liquid fell from the blue sky on to the roof, windscreen and bonnet of my car. A yellow bus next to me and the road around were also affected." No aircraft could be seen. (Hodge, E.J .; "Fall of a Mysterious Liquid from the Sky," ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 49: Jan-Feb 1987 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Monarch Migration An Illusion "The epic autumn migration of the eastern monarch butterfly to wintering grounds in Mexico, where millions cluster on trees in semi-dormancy to await spring, has become known as one of the standard 'wonders of nature' in the decade since the Mexican winter clusters were found." There are, however, some flies in this ointment: Monarchs tagged in the north have never been found in the Mexican clusters. Fall-fattened monarchs can store only enough energy for a flight of about 200 miles -- far too short, unless they refuel along the way (no one knows if they do or not); and The monarchs seen in Mexico are almost always in pristine condition and show no wing wear or tattering. A.M . Wenner, University of California at Santa Barbara, thinks that the "appearance" of mass migration reported frequently from many locales may just be due to a curious fall habit of the monarchs. It seems that widely scattered individuals begin to fly into the wind, and the wind concentrates and channels them to local roosts where they spend the winter. In other words, there is no long distance migration at all. (Rensberger, Boyce; Washington Post, September 15, 1986. Cr. J. Judge) From Science Frontiers #49, JAN-FEB 1987 . 1987-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... their conclusions about cosmic life have not been accepted by the scientific community. Stimulating this article was a statement by J. Maddox, Editor of Nature, to the effect that the labors of Hoyle and Wickramasinghe were not convincing very many scientists because they ". .. had become caught up in the eccentric doctrine of panspermiology, a doctrine for which there was said to be little or no evidence." Hoyle and Wickramasinghe deny their eccentricity and affirm that their ideas have been acquired through observation and the generally accepted methods of deductive science. Basically, Hoyle and Wickramasinghe maintain that evidence supports the concept of life originating, evolving, and being transported from place to place in outer space. We have published many of their results in past issues of SF and see no need to cover the same ground again. Rather, we wish to dwell on the scientific reception of their work. We do this with two quotations from their Nature article. These quotations are embedded in their review of the infrared evidence for biological material in outer space: "Still persuing the infrared problem, we eventually found that among organic materials polysaccharides gave the best correspondence to the astronomical data, and it was exactly at this point in our work that we began to experience hostility from the referees of journals and from the assessors of grant applications at what was then the Science Research Council. We realize now that because polysaccharides on the Earth are a biological product we had unwittingly made a contact that is deeply forbidden in our scientific culture, a contact between biology and astronomy." And now the second quote: " ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 47: Sep-Oct 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Booming Dunes "On two occasions it happened on a still night, suddenly -- a vibrant booming so loud I had to shout to be heard by my companion. Soon other sources, set going by the disturbance, joined their music to the first, with so close a note that a slow beat was clearly recognized. This weird chorus went on for more than five minutes continuously before silence returned and the ground ceased to tremble." P.K . Haff opens his review of booming sands with the above quote from R.A . Bagnold. One would think that since booming sand is not uncommon and scientists can pick it up and take it back to their laboratories, we know all about why it booms so unexpectedly when set in motion down a dune face. Haff relates his own experiments and ties them into the rather large body of previous work on the subject. The factors of dampness, grain size, cleanliness, grain shape and smoothness, etc., have all been examined. But Haff concludes: "In spite of these experiments and the work of other researchers, it is still not known how booming dunes work." (Haff, P.K .; "Booming Dunes," American Scientist, 74:376, 1986.) Reference. Booming dunes are cataloged along with "muscial sands" in ESP14 in the catalog volume: Anomalies in Geology. For ordering information, visit: ...
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... the origin of tektites by meteoric impact on the earth cannot be reconciled with physical principles and is to be abandoned. The only viable alternative is origin by lunar volcanism, which implies the following: continuance of (rare) explosive lunar volcanism to the present time; existence of silicic lunar volcanism and of small patches of silicic rock at the lunar surface; a body of rock in the lunar interior, probably at great depth, which is closely similar to the earth's mantle and which contains billions of tons of volatiles, probably including hydrogen; and the origin of the moon from the earth after the formation of the earth's core." " Editor's Note . This article by John O'Keefe puts forth a viewpoint with which most planetologists disagree strongly. On the ground that a fresh airing of the long-standing discussion on lunar volcanism is appropriate, Eos offers this article, untouched by editors or referees, and awaits reply by readers." O'Keefe's article reviews considerable evidence supporting his two points: for Point One; crater dimensions and frequencies, craters with dark floors, lunar soil constituents; and, for Point Two; tektite analysis. He also remarks that the ages of the terrestrial tektite fields correlate with biological extinctions. This can be explained in terms of lunar volcanism as follows: lunar volcanos expel material violently, some of which escapes the moon's gravitational field and is drawn toward earth. Some falls as tektites; the rest forms a temporary ring around the earth. The ring shadows parts of the earth, causing ...
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... . 38: Mar-Apr 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects GREEN CLOUD WITH LIGHT RAYS "An account of a mysterious 'green cloud' sending out powerful shafts of light and flying in tandem with an airliner appeared in a Soviet newspaper today. The strange cloud was seen over Byelorussia by passengers and crew of a flight from Georgia to Tallinn, and by the crew of an airliner from Leningrad, passing 10 miles away according to Trud. Nikolai Zheltukhin, a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences, said the object was certainly very big. He rejected the idea that the green cloud was an image caused by far-off atmospheric changes because the airman had fixed its location from the shafts of light it sent to the ground." (Anonymous; "Mysterious 'Green Cloud' Appears near Airliner," Baltimore Sun, January 31, 1985, p. 4A.) From Science Frontiers #38, MAR-APR 1985 . 1985-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 47: Sep-Oct 1986 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Explaining The Nazca Lines The Nazca lines of Peru have been one of archeology's more enduring anomalies. Books have been written about them; theories abound; what more can be said? Evidently there is more. A.F . Aveni's recent article in Archaeology sets the Nazca lines in perspective and adds some new observations. First, Aveni deflates their mystery a bit. You do not have to be in an airplane to appreciate the lines; most can be viewed from ground level, even better from nearby foothills. Although there are some 1,300 kilometers of lines and about 300 geometric figures, their construction did not really involve much labor or special engineering skills. Even so, the Nazca lines are remarkable, and we really do not know for certain why they were etched on the Peruvian pampa. In his early research on the Nazca lines, Aveni noted their strong similarity to the ceque system of 41 imaginary lines radiating outwards from the Inca's Temple of the Sun, at Cuzco -- the "navel" of the Inca universe. ". .. the ceque system was a highly ordered hierarchical cosmographical map, a mnemonic scheme that incorporated virtually all important matters connected with the Inca world view." Could the Nazca lines have been a forerunner of the ceque system? Aveni also noticed that the Nazca lines and geometrical figures were closely related to watercourses. Also, many of the lines definitely ...
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... their eggs. Some birds do indeed incubate their eggs in mounds today; and some 5,000 years ago New Caledonia did boast a giant bird (Sylviornia neocale doniae), which was 5-6 feet tall. The authors of the present paper feel that the giant bird hypothesis is just as reasonable as the theory that these mounds were built by ancient humans who knew how to make cement. (Mourer-Chauvire, Cecile, and Poplin, Francois; "Le Mystere des Tumulus de Nouvelle-Caledonie," La Recherche, 16: 76, September 1985. Cr. C. Mauge.) Comment. We find in our Handbook Ancient Man an article by A. Rothovius entitled: "The Mysterious Cement Cylinders of New Caledonia." The 1967 article covers much the same ground as that in La Recherche, but sans the giant bird theory. Rothovius states that the cylinders inside the tumuli: ". .. are of a very hard, homogeneous lime-mortar, containing bits of shells which yield radiocarbon dates between 5,120 and 10,950 B.C . -- even the lowest date being some 3,000 years earlier than man is believed to have reached the southwest Pacific from the area of Indonesia." The book Ancient Man is described here . The first three lines of the Los Lunas inscription, showing the Old Hebrew letters. Adapted from Fell's article cited above. From Science Frontiers #43, JAN-FEB 1986 . 1986-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 38: Mar-Apr 1985 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ball Lightning And Blue Flashes May 31, 1982. Wakefield, England. Kitchen: Blue flashes from a white cellar "We live to the south of Wakefield on the ground floor of a large Victorian house with high ceilings, attics and cellars. Our kitchen and living room face roughly S.S .W . In the late afternoon, a very heavy thunderstorm erupted with torrential rain, and thunderclaps and forked lightning occurring not quite, but almost, simultaneously. Towards the end of the storm, about 5.30 P.M ., I was in the kitchen and my mother in the living room, both facing the windows. There was a very loud peal of thunder and a loud crack, rather like the little explosion of a Christmas cracker greatly magnified. I was at the sink, close to the window, on the ledge of which stands an electric Corvette water heater, plugged in but not switched on. Beside me, about four feet from the ground and two feet to the left of me, at the moment of the crack, there appeared for a second or so, electric blue flashes, six to eighteen inches in length coming from a white centre. I felt nothing, but was startled. There was no damage to the water heater or anything else. Just as I exclaimed at the blue flashes, I heard my mother cry out and ran to her in the living room. She ...
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... Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 31: Jan-Feb 1984 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Are nocturnal lights earthquake lights?" Nocturnal lights reported from 1972 to 1977 by fire lookouts on the Yakima Indian Reservation, Washington, correlate with earthquake origin time, distance, magnitude, and depth within a 200 km radius of the observations. Photographs and eyewitness accounts show that the luminous phenomena (LP) near ground level appear to be spherical, are colored white to orange, and show little or no internal detail. Locations of the observations preclude explaining them as terrestrial vehicles or other human activity." This abstract continues and notes that some of the luminous displays seem to be enhanced by geomagnetic activity. (Persinger, M.A ., and Derr, J.S .; "Relations among Nocturnal Lights, Geomagnetic Activity and Earthquakes in Southern Washington," Eos, 64:762, 1983.) From Science Frontiers #31, JAN-FEB 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... was heard several hundred yards away. "It wasn't long till we heard a hissing noise and, looking up to the western sky, saw an object about 12 inches in diameter slowly moving through the air down toward us -- about 12 feet away. It was travelling eastward and came down over Mrs. Harris's wooden fence landing on the cement porch floor about 3 feet behind us. It gracefully bounced along the cement floor in a straight path covering the 30 foot length of the verandah at a walking pace. It bounced three or four times rising to a height of 18 inches on each occasion. Each time the spherical ball touched the cement it was flattened at the point of contact, and deformed, but it quickly resumed its globular shape when it left the ground. It was not transparent but, rather, like a ball of smoke with glowing 'comma-shaped' electrical 'worms' wriggling about -- sizzling, hissing and flickering. It flattened by 1/4 into the egg shape on each bounce. On reaching the far western end of our verandah it accelerated rapidly and rose at a steep angle of about 45 degrees clearing the apricot tree, wires, and the house next door. At this stage my mother rushed in the back door of the house where we huddled for about 30 seconds before hearing a resounding crash some 250 yards away off to the east. It had hit Green's house at the far eastern end of Campbell Road. It apparently then bounced all the way to the Salvation Army home and demolished the ...
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... Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Ball Lightning With Bizarre Structure An older case of ball lightning with special features has just surfaced. "It happened in the afternoon in 1924. There came a large ball of fire -- or so it looked -- but the thing was that it had chains all the way round. It lasted about five minutes, then all the chains clashed together with a terrific bang; then we had a terrible thunderstorm which lasted quite a long time.' In a second let ter Mrs. Revell drew the ball lightning as a red globe with 16 rays, composed of links like a chain, issuing from it; the rays were rather longer than the diameter of the ball. She said, 'You asked the size. From the ground it looked about four to five yards across, which would be larger than that in the sky. The chains opened from the top to the bottom with a terrific bang." (Rowe, Michael W.; "Unusual Ball Lightning," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 8:125, 1983.) Reference. Additional examples of ball lightning with internal structure are available in our Catalog: Lightning, Auroras. This volume is described here . From Science Frontiers #28, JUL-AUG 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Aside from the expected remains of a severe wind storm -- uprooted trees, snapped telephone poles, roof damage and banged-up boats docked lakeside -- the area had the ironic appearance of having been stung by a June freeze. Tree leaves, shrubs, hanging plants and crops were curled and wilted, as if frost-bitten. Uncut Johnson grass was dried and ready to bale, although the hay normally required two or three days of drying time after being cut. Perhaps the most startling remains of the storm was in what had been the cotton patch at Pete and Inez Burns' farm. The cotton was about knee high and a 'lucious crop' the day before, according to the couple. The next morning all that was left were carbonized stalks peeping out of the ground. The corn fared little better." (Glaze, Dean; "Kopperl's Close Encounter with Satan's Storm," Meridian (TX) Tribune, May 12, 1983, p.1 . Article appeared originally in the Dallas Times-Herald Westward Magazine. Cr. J. Mohn) Comment. The consequences of this storm closely resemble the burning and drying effects of some tornados. See GWT in our Catalog: Tornados, Dark Days. Ordering information here . From Science Frontiers #29, SEP-OCT 1983 . 1983-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... in California sea lions was 'indistinguishable' from one that ravaged pigs nationwide in 1952. New varieties of the culprit -- called a calicivirus -- have since turned up in diverse hosts: whales, cats, snakes and even primates. To reach such a variety of hosts, they either jump from organism to organism, Smith proposes, or they escape from bubbles popping on the ocean surface, waft ashore and enter a food chain. If he is right, the seas may be a bottomless reservoir for viruses -- and our attempts to combat diseases on land may be nullified by legions of new strains waiting to come ashore. In fact, some flu viruses are said to be spread by wild ducks." (Anonymous; "Are the World's Oceans a Viral Breeding Ground," Science Digest, 92:20, February 1984.) Comment. We leave it to the reader to fit this piece of the jigsaw to the preceding and following pieces. From Science Frontiers #32, MAR-APR 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... Frontiers ONLINE No. 24: Nov-Dec 1982 Issue Contents Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects Seismic Ghost Slithers Under California From 1973 into 1978, instruments monitoring the San Andreas Fault told geophysicists that north-south distances between observing stations along the fault line were contracting. The Pacific Coast was moving north while the rest of North America was heading south! Then, in 1978, the strain eased in the far south of California only to reassert itself in a few weeks. This strange relaxation of strain seemed to propagate slowly across southern California, as seen by other instruments farther north. As the wave of relaxation moved ponderously along, like a slow flexure of the earth's strata, microearthquakes almost disappeared while the flow of radon from the ground increased, as one might expect. When the strain reappeared, radon flow diminished and a rash of microearthquakes were detected. It took about a year for the strain wave, called a "seismic ghost" by the geophysicists, to flow north from the Imperial Valley into the Los Angeles area. (Alexander, George; "Quakewatch," Science 82, 3:38, September 1982.) Comment. Something had to cause this curious disturbance; and where is it located now? From Science Frontiers #24, NOV-DEC 1982 . 1982-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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... known to it alone, kept diving into the bags, evoking desperate, heart-rendering (sic) howls from the victims. This indescribable horror repeated itself several times. When I came back to my senses for the fifth or sixth time, the ball was gone. I could not move my arms or legs and my body was burning as if it had turned into a ball of fire itself. In the hospital, where we were flown by helicopter, seven wounds were discovered on my body. They were worse than burns. Pieces of muscle were found to be torn out to the bone. The same happened to Shigin, Kaprov and Bashkirov. Oleg Korovin had been killed by the ball -- possibly because his bag had been on a rubber mattress, insulating it from the ground. The ball lightning did not touch a single metal object, injuring only people." (Anonymous; "The Puzzle of Ball Lightning," Journal of Meteorology, U.K ., 9:112, 1984. Original source: Soviet Weekly, February 11, 1984.) Comment. Ball lightning has often been called inquisitive, but this is one of the few reports where it deliberately (? ) seemed to attack people. Some Russian English-language publications verge on the sensational, and one must always have some salt on hand. From Science Frontiers #34, JUL-AUG 1984 . 1984-2000 William R. Corliss ...
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