Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 196
June 25, 2020
Mysteries of “The Eye”: Could Argentina’s Unusual Island Have Occurred Naturally?
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An “unnaturally” round island in the Argentine countryside has the internet abuzz about paranormal activity. Known as El Ojo or “The Eye,” it sits at the coordinates 34°15’07.8’S, 58°49’47.4″W and has been visible for nearly two decades. Theories abound about how the geometrically-perfect, floating island came into being. They run the gamut from UFO activity to a revelation of God’s presence on Earth.
To get to the bottom of the phenomenon through scientific exploration, a group known as El Ojo Project has conducted limited expeditions to the area. Keep reading to find out more about their mission to uncover the truth.
Mysteries of “The Eye”
“The Eye” sits in the middle of a swampy marsh in the Parana Delta of northeastern Argentina. According to scientists, it has existed since 2003. Almost geometrically perfect, it appears to float on its axis, surrounded by a tiny channel of clear and cold water. Such water proves unusual for the area. Unlike the contrasting swampy marshes, the bottom of “The Eye” also appears very hard.
At 387 feet (118 meters) in diameter, scientists have also observed the island leans on various parts of the outer circle’s wall throughout its rotational cycle. They’ve noted how firm the terrain of the island feels. Because of its strange symmetry and physical features, many observers have questioned its origins. After all, how could such a precise-looking formation be natural? Some have even suggested extraterrestrial manipulation of the landscape to camouflage a UFO base.
Perhaps Google Earth images best capture the stunning nature of this mysterious formation and its weird swirling movement. A handful of YouTube videos, like that posted by Timothy Whitehead, clearly show the island’s gentle spinning over time.
Getting to the Bottom of the Mystery
In 2016, a team of researchers and filmmakers came together for a Kickstarter campaign. Launched by Ricardo Petroni, a hydraulic and civil engineer from New York, he teamed up with film director and producer, Sergio Neuspillerm. Their goal? To get to the bottom of the processes, natural or otherwise, that have shaped the island. To date, they’ve reached $9,698 of their $50,000 goal. Kickstarter declared the campaign unsuccessful on October 10, 2016.
The group hoped to use crowdfunding to finance extensive scientific and paranormal research, including a scuba expedition, drone data collection, and sampling of local plants, soil, and other objects. They also envisioned augmenting their team with biologists, geologists, and ufologists. Unfortunately, gaining more answers about “The Eye” appears to be on hold for the moment.
A More Down-to-Earth Explanation for “The Eye”
Petroni, Neuspillerm, and their team aren’t the only ones “floating” theories about “The Eye,” though. Daniel Roy Finkley offers more down-to-earth observations of the phenomenon on sites like Paranormal News. He has noted “The Eye’s” similarity to dozens of other formations found near the coast of Argentina. There’s even a YouTube video that delves more deeply into these comparison sites.
Interesting linkages with other natural phenomena also exist. For example, the Westbrook Ice Disk observed floating and rotating in the Presumpscot River in Maine during the winter of 2019 has an eerie resemblance to “The Eye.” According to Bangor Daily News, such ice disks prove common when the right atmospheric conditions occur.
What makes ice disks such as the one in Westbrook so perfectly round? Rotational shear. In other words, when a water current flows to one side of the ice rotating it in a circular formation, the ice chunk in the middle gets repeatedly eroded and polished around the edges. In the process, it forms a highly symmetrical circle.
Ice Disks and “The Eye”
Applying the ice disk theory to “The Eye” means that a reasonably slow-moving water current flows beneath one side of the floating island, naturally twisting it in one direction. (Could this explain the clear, cold water, too?) The island’s rotational action, in turn, has led to erosion of the edges of the island in a circular manner. In the process, the motion has also carved out a circular hole.
Floating islands with plants are quite rare. Like ice disks, could the right set of conditions bring them to life? Only time and more research will tell. As for whether or not “The Eye” is extraterrestrial, paranormal, or the result of a “perfect storm” of natural causes, our money’s on the ice disk concept. After all, Westbrook and the Parana Delta have yet to be overrun by little green guys in space suits.
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com
Source: Mysteries of “The Eye”: Could Argentina’s Unusual Island Have Occurred Naturally?
CARTOON 06-25-2020
June 24, 2020
The Ghost Ship Of Northern Kentucky
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
EDITORS NOTE: This article is a point-of-view story written by Ripley’s contributor and Believe It or Notcast host, Ryan Clark. From vampires in New Orleans to Skunk Apes in South Florida, Ryan has seen it all on his many Notcast adventures.
PETERSBURG, Ky. — No one would believe this story if it weren’t true.
But it is.
It’s completely true that a 175-foot, former New York cruise ship—one that served in two world wars and once doubled as a floating laboratory for Thomas Edison, as well as a set piece for a Madonna music video—is moored in a tiny tributary just off of the Ohio River, nearly camouflaged by the woods and mud of a small Kentucky town.
It’s the Ghost Ship of northern Kentucky. And it’s all true. Promise.
Petersburg, Kentucky, is a small community of about 700 people, located 25 miles downriver from Cincinnati, Ohio. Around these parts, you hear stories of the boat. It’s the kind of place kids go out to find, and if they do, they may try to board (though it’s illegal to do so) or they may just heave a rock into the water or take a selfie. Others have brought cans of spray paint and left a mark, but I wouldn’t say that’s a good idea, either.
See, the Ghost Ship sits on private property, and it’s a good hike to find, away from any sort of paved road, stuck in what looks to be the kind of green-brown murky waters that contain all bits of infestation and nastiness.
But it’s here. And it’s been here since 1988, where it’s stayed, rotting, an ill-fitting end to a glamorous life.
The Toast of the Coast
The luxury New York steam yacht was christened the Celt in 1902.
According to The Sachem Project website, a place on the Internet devoted to the story of the Ghost Ship, businessman John Rogers Maxwell owned the vessel, which was known as “the toast of the whole New York coastline for nearly a decade.”
The Celt was sold to another owner and renamed the Sachem, but when the U.S. joined World War I, the ship was commandeered by the Navy, and then re-named the USS Sachem SP 192. One of her tasks was to serve as a floating laboratory for Thomas Edison, who was asked to help create various things to support the war effort. The website notes he created upwards of 50 inventions during the time.
After the war, the Sachem was sold, then used as a party fishing boat until World War II, when she was commandeered again and renamed the USS Phenakite. The Phenakite patrolled the water of the Florida Keys until she was decommissioned and sold in 1946 to Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises of New York.
She was called the Circle Line Sightseer and was used in this role until 1971.
William Bailey, a 71-year-old New York resident, is a former deckhand-turned-assistant engineer who spent three summers on the ship when it was the Circle Line Sightseer, and he says he has nothing but fond memories of the time.
“It was a very well-built ship, although she had quite a bit of repair work done on her—she was 67 years old when I first came aboard,” he says. “I was 18 at the time, and we all knew the history of the ship. It had been in World War II and Thomas Edison had worked on her. After my three summers I went on to become chief engineer on my boat, but I really liked the Sightseer.”
The Ghost Ship
By the 1980s the ship was essentially left for dead in the New York harbor. But it still became a bit of a celebrity when it was featured in the opening scenes of Madonna’s music video of the song, “Papa Don’t Preach.”
Then, in 1985, Cincinnati boat enthusiast Robert “Butch” Miller purchased it, renamed it the Sachem again, and two years later sailed the boat from New York, through the Erie Canal, through the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi River to the Ohio, where he then turned north and made his way home to Kentucky. It took him a very Biblical 40 days, (and presumably, 40 nights) to make the 2,600-mile trip.
After trying to restore the Sachem, Miller did not have the finances needed to complete the job. He died in 2016, according to the website, and the ship was passed down to Miller’s son.
But it continues to sit here in Petersburg, becoming a part of the folklore of the area. After being renamed at least six previous times, the Sachem is now simply known as The Ghost Ship, even though there is nothing especially ghostly about it.
Those who live around the area know of it, though some have never seen it. Most know nothing of its history, war service, or celebrity status.
In 2015, historians and those who sailed or worked on the ship teamed up to create The Sachem Project website to help preserve its memory and accomplishments. They hoped they could possibly renovate it and create a kind-of floating museum. Alas, these goals haven’t been reached yet.
“It does make me sad,” William Bailey said. “It makes an impression on you when you know her history and what she did. I’d like to come down there sometime and see her if I can. I really liked that boat.”
By Ryan Clark, contributor for Ripleys.com and host of Ripley’s Believe It or Notcast
CARTOON 06-24-2020
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June 21, 2020
CARTOON 06-21-2020
June 20, 2020
CARTOON 06-20-2020
June 19, 2020
The Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin
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Displaying the flayed skin of defeated enemies dates back to ancient times. For the Assyrians who inhabited Mesopotamia around 2500 BC, it proved a common fate for dissidents and defeated enemies.
In the New World, the Aztecs of the 15th century AD practiced highly ritualized skinning ceremonies reserved for prisoners of war. Believed to appease the god Xipe Totec, priests would treat the POWs’ removed dermis with yellow dye and wear it for special occasions.
While you may have heard about some of these grisly tidbits in a history class or documentary, you’re likely less familiar with the more recent history of binding books with human skin. Yet, it’s just as grisly in a “civilized” sort of way. Here’s what we know about the macabre practice.
Monstrous Book Binding
In 1869, an impoverished woman in her late 20s died in Ward 27 of the Philadelphia Almshouse and Hospital (a.k.a. “Old Blockley”), the result of tuberculosis and trichinosis. She weighed just 60 pounds, and her name was Mary Lynch. John Stockton Hough, the physician who carried out her autopsy, devised a grotesque way for Lynch to prove “useful” in death.
Removing a section of skin from Lynch’s thigh, he tanned it in the hospital’s basement using a bedpan filled with human urine. (Because of its high pH, urine proves ideal for tanning and softening skins.) He later used the resultant “leather” to bind three anatomical texts on human reproduction. Today, the books remain housed at the Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, a strange homage to this young woman’s premature demise.
Mental Patients and Rare Books
The medical books, once owned by Hough, are not an anomaly, however. Other books with human dermis for binding have also turned up over the years. At Harvard University, researchers recently confirmed that a book in their collection, Des Destinées de l’Âme (Destinies of the Soul) by Arsène Houssaye, is another example of anthropodermic bibliopegy. (That’s the scientific term for books bound in human leather.)
What do we know about the history of the book? Houssaye gave a copy to his friend, Dr. Ludovic Bouland, who handled the grisly and bizarre binding process. Bouland confirmed as much with a handwritten note describing his binding choice:
This book is bound in human skin parchment on which no ornament has been stamped to preserve its elegance. By looking carefully you easily distinguish the pores of the skin. A book about the human soul deserved to have a human covering: I had kept this piece of human skin taken from the back of a woman. It is interesting to see the different aspects that change this skin according to the method of preparation to which it is subjected. Compare for example with the small volume I have in my library, Sever. Pinaeus de Virginitatis notis which is also bound in human skin but tanned with sumac.
Bouland used the hide of an unclaimed female mental patient who died of a stroke. But unfortunate patients weren’t the only individuals to be immortalized in this horrific way. There are also a handful of cases of criminals whose corpses lent material for books. Many of these books showcase the date of the criminal’s execution stamped on their covers.
Books Crafted from the Corpses of Criminals
The Bristol Record Office made such a book from the skin of the first man hanged at Bristol Gaol. The book’s embossed dark brown leather came from 18-year-old John Horwood, executed for murdering Eliza Balsum. Within the book are details from the crime, which took place in 1821.
According to the official account, Horwood became increasingly infatuated with Balsum before her death, even threatening to kill her on one occasion. One day, while she went to fetch water, Horwood bludgeoned her with a large stone. She later succumbed to her injuries. He was put on trial and summarily executed for the offense. A surgeon named Richard Smith dissected his corpse at a public lecture at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. Like Hough, Smith decided to keep a hunk of flesh for book crafting purposes. Another gruesome artifact was born.
He had the book embossed with a skull and crossbones image and the phrase, “Cutis Vera Johannis Horwood” in gilt letters. The words translate, “The Actual Skin of John Horwood.” Today, the artifact remains one of the most popular attractions at Bristol’s M Shed Museum.
Skin Deep: Identifying Anthropodermic Bibliopegy
At this point, you may be wondering how scientists verify that these purported human skin books are indeed real. A medical librarian at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Megan Rosenbloom, is working with a team of researchers to answer this question.
Challenges have arisen in the attempt to establish the authenticity of these tomes. For example, the tanning process corrupts the DNA of the bindings, rendering genetic testing impossible. Some individuals have attempted to differentiate human from animal hide through identification of the pores in the leather. But this proves very subjective. Until recently, the best evidence in existence for these books being anthropodermic came through rumors and pencil-written notes inside some volumes.
But Rosenbloom’s team, which includes Richard Hark, a chemistry professor at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and Daniel Kirby, a private conservation scientist, has pioneered a new process. Hark and Kirby are also both members of the Anthropodermic Book Project.
They rely on peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) to determine whether the books in question are authentic or not. The testing proves authoritative, inexpensive, and only requires a minute amount of the book’s binding. Since 2014, the Mutter Museum has tested more than 30 books in its collection. Sixteen have proven to be the real deal.
A Long Tradition of Anthropodermic Bibliopegy
Examples of anthropodermic bibliopegy date back to 13th-century Europe. However, the practice didn’t start trending until the late 16th and early 17th centuries. By the 19th century, some doctors bound books on human anatomy with these skins. They considered it a “fitting gesture.”
Researchers, like Hark, argue that the books were a way to honor individuals who may not have survived but still contributed to medicine. He likens it to the practice of keeping an urn of ashes or a lock of hair.
Others, like Beth Lander, who oversees the Mutter Museum’s human skin books, see more sinister motivations. She believes that many doctors employed at almshouses looked on their patients with a certain measure of contempt. She notes, “There was the perception that if they could not serve society adequately in their lives, they could then be of service in their deaths.”
Of course, some local governments also commissioned these books as the ultimate exercise of punishment for criminal acts. No matter the purpose, the vast majority were crafted by doctors with ready access to corpses for dissection. As Rosenbloom and her team continue their research, they will undoubtedly uncover more of these dreadful artifacts.
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com
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Source: The Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin
The Legacy Of An Exploding Whale Carcass Blubbers On
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
This Week
[June 15-June 21, 2020] Summer reading takes flight, the exploding whale memorial, brews by airboat, and the rest of the week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Summer Reading Takes Flight
This summer, students from Montgomery County Public Schools in southwestern Virginia don’t have to go very far to get their reading materials. Also located in Christiansburg, Virginia, Google’s drone delivery division, Wing, is saving everyone’s summer reading list! Wing launched its services last October and is now a personal book delivery system for Montgomery County students. Upon reaching the home, the Wing device hovers about 23 feet in the air and lowers the package down on a cable, safely placing the books on the reader’s front doorstep. According to the Washington Post, about 600 students live in neighborhoods eligible for Wing’s flying library book delivery service.
$150,000? Just Do It.
In the early 1970s, Nike co-founder and legendary University of Oregon track coach, Bill Bowerman, created a custom pair of running shoes for one of the university’s track stars. John Mays was the lucky recipient of those hand-stitched waffle spikes and, to this day, was the only owner of the pair. These shoes mark the first and only pair hand-crafted by Bill Bowerman ever to appear at auction. The set is expected to sell for up to $150,000, just one month after a pair of autographed, game-worn Nike Air Jordan 1s from Michael Jordan’s rookie season was sold for a record-breaking $560,000. “We felt the only appropriate way to follow up a sale of that magnitude was to offer something special that spoke to the history and legacy of Nike,” said Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s director of e-commerce development.
We’re pleased to present the first shoes handmade by Nike co-founder, Bill Bowerman, to appear at auction. One of only a handful of pairs known to exist, these shoes are now open for bidding through 26 June:https://t.co/7Is5qTveOY pic.twitter.com/fDAVDYXLY0
— Sotheby’s (@Sothebys) June 17, 2020
Having A Blast in Oregon’s “Exploding Whale Memorial Park”
In November of 1970, a sperm whale washed up on the beach near Florence, Oregon. As one might imagine, the decaying carcass of an 8-ton sea creature posed a serious health hazard to beachgoers. As the whale was too big to drag away or bury, local officials decided to get rid of the corpse by stuffing it with dynamite and blowing up the body. The rationale was that blasting the whale into manageable, bite-sized chunks would allow for scavenging birds and crabs to have a bit of lunch, according to the Oregon Historical Society (OHS). Today, 50 years later, the city planned to announce the park’s new name, decided by a “Name the Park” survey, run by the City of Florence. Most of the names on the list spoke to the site’s natural beauty, but “Exploding Whale Memorial Park” won with a whopping 439 votes of the 856 submitted.
It’s a
Short’s Brewing Co., a beer company located in Northern Michigan, took their services and products from the land to the water this week. The brewery enlisted the help of a local seaplane to make six waterfront property deliveries of their signature crates to families in the Antrim County area. Joe Short, owner and founder of Short’s Brewing Co., was accompanied by a local seaplane driver, Steve Smith, to deliver brews and smiles to the lucky few who ordered these limited services online. “This is a highlight of our summer, absolutely,” delivery recipient Kathy Bryant said. “To see a seaplane come in right to your front step and deliver beer and hop off. I mean this was just phenomenal.”
Walking With Crocs
It has recently been discovered that over 120 million years ago, a different version of crocodiles quite literally walked the earth. There’s evidence that the 10-foot-long beast walked on its two hind legs like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. After analyzing dozens of its up to 120 million-year-old footprints, including one with skin impressions, researchers are discovering that some of the crocodiles of the Cretaceous period were, in fact, bipedal.
Source: The Legacy Of An Exploding Whale Carcass Blubbers On
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