Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 207
April 17, 2020
Toilet Paper Cake Saves Bakery
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
This Week
[April 12-18th, 2020] Toilet paper cake, pizza groundhogs, phonebooth pantries, and the rest of the week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Just Roll With It
While many small businesses may have a hard time keeping their doors open at this time, this Finland bakery seems to have found the key to success by creating and selling cake that looks exactly like toilet paper! This unique dessert is comprised of oat batter, passion fruit mousse and covered with white fondant. Obviously, we all need one right now.
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A post shared by Rönttösrouva (@ronttosrouva) on Mar 18, 2020 at 6:31am PDT
Get A Pizza This…
It seems like we aren’t the only ones utilizing the take-out or delivery option from our favorite pizzeria during this stay-at-home order. This groundhog made himself at home in a Pennsylvania woman’s backyard and went to town with a slice of Philly’s finest. And while two dogs watched jealously through the glass door, we will admit it made us a bit envious as well.
Double Take!
This Wisconsin family farm did a total double-take when their new baby goat popped out with two heads! Born on April 5, Janus the double-faced baby goat is the newest member of the Neuske Farms LLC family. Diprosopus, a very rare condition that causes an animal to have a second face, isn’t something we see every day. Needless to say, we’ll be watching Janus videos until further notice!
Phone Booth Pantries
In Perthshire, Scotland, folks are helping out the community by turning their old red phone boxes into a “village larder.” Able visitors and passers-by are encouraged to leave donated nonperishables in the booth for anyone who may be needing them.
Beautiful.
Corona kindness
April 16, 2020
Did Sputnik Really Catch America Off-Guard?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
On October 4, 1957, the so-called “Space Race” began with the Soviet launch of the first human-made satellite, Sputnik. The satellite weighed approximately 180 pounds and was little more than the size of a basketball. Yet, it orbited the Earth every 98 minutes, ominously flying across America seven times per day. To say it was a rude awakening to the public was an understatement.
Sputnik made many wonder how close the Soviets might be to long-range missile technology. The kind capable of targeting the US. Still more people wanted to know how long it would take to catch up with this technology. They also questioned how this massive development could unfold without America’s knowledge.
But were the White House, Pentagon, and CIA really caught unaware by Sputnik as the popular narrative claims? Recently released CIA documents paint a different picture. Keep reading to find out more about what these top-secret documents reveal.
The Height of the Cold War
1957 represented the height of the Cold War. Feelings of paranoia and panic ran high. The realization that the USSR possessed satellite technology that traveled 18,000 miles per hour 500 miles above the surface of the Earth felt like a living nightmare.
The horrors of World War II remained a recent memory, just 12 years past. And with Soviet testing of the first atomic bomb in 1949, America appeared to be on the brink of an even deadlier war with its former ally.
For several years, President Dwight D. Eisenhower had worried about Moscow’s long-range missile capabilities. Yet, contrary to popular belief, Sputnik’s launch didn’t catch him or the upper echelons of American government off-guard.
1955: The Urgent Need for a Satellite
In January 1955, Allen Dulles, Director of the CIA, addressed a letter to the defense secretary in which he discussed the need for American scientists to launch a satellite. He feared a public relations catastrophe if the Soviets managed to beat the US.
Dulles wrote, “There is little doubt but what the nation that first successfully launches the earth satellite, and thereby introduces the age of space travel, will gain incalculable international prestige and recognition… Our scientific community, as well as the nation, would gain invaluable respect and confidence should our country be the first to launch the satellite.”
In response, Eisenhower announced America’s satellite program in 1955. Yet, behind closed doors, intelligence officials feared that going into space first would tip the Kremlin off to the nation’s advanced military rocket technology. Government officials found themselves between a rock and a hard spot.
The CIA’s Warnings About Sputnik
Documents declassified by the CIA show that senior military officials and the White House not only knew about the Soviet’s satellite program but understood that Sputnik could be launched into space as early as 1957.
Before the launch, the CIA issued two National Intelligence Estimates that outlined potential timelines for a Soviet-launched satellite. By December 1955, one official predicted that the Soviets would launch in 1958. Just six months before the launch, in March 1957, another intelligence official estimated that the Kremlin was capable of orbiting a satellite before the close of the year.
The Nation Responds
No one could know how real Dulles and the CIA’s concerns were until that fateful day in October. As Dulles predicted, Sputnik was a PR nightmare that caused nationwide hysteria. The public reasoned, as Eisenhower may have privately, that if the Soviets could fly a satellite over US skies, then their nuclear missiles probably weren’t far behind.
Dulles with U.S. President Eisenhower in 1956
Nonetheless, Eisenhower played his cards close to his chest. He declared, “So far as the satellite itself is concerned, that does not raise my apprehensions—not one iota.”
When the first American attempt to launch a satellite failed, it further stoked anxiety. To avoid drawing attention to their military-grade rockets, American scientists had relied on non-military Vanguard ones, with underwhelming results.
A Lesson Learned
By 1958, Eisenhower created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as well as the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). While NASA would launch America into the Space Race, the ARPA would ensure that no more technological surprises came out of Moscow. Congress also passed the National Defense Education Act. Its goal? To overhaul public school science curricula.
Clearly, Moscow had the upper hand when it came to the use of science for propaganda purposes in 1957. But this lesson would not go unheeded by the United States. Just a little over a decade later, on July 20, 1969, Commander Neil Armstrong became the first American and man on the moon.
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com
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April 15, 2020
10 Questions For The Man Who Lives In A Plane
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
EDITORS NOTE: This article serves as an interview Q&A between Ripley’s contributor and Notcast host, Ryan Clark, and the man who lives in a plane, Bruce Campbell. From vampires in New Orleans to Skunk Apes in South Florida, Ryan has seen it all on his many Notcast adventures.
It has everything he needs.
Sleeping area. Living quarters. A primitive shower. And, according to him, it’s constructed much better—and will exist a lot longer—than the average American home.
So, he lives in an airplane. In the middle of the forest. In Oregon.
Since 1999, Bruce Campbell (yes, that’s his real name) has lived in a plane that he purchased for $100,000. However, it did take another $100,000 to haul it into the woods, and another $15,000 to refurbish.
We caught up with him for a recent chat where we talked about everything from philosophy to economics. So, here are 10 questions with Bruce Campbell—the man who lives in a plane.
Photo by Samuel Koesling of SekdaPhotography.com || Courtesy of AirplaneHome.com, republished with permission
Ripley’s: Can you just kind of introduce yourself for us real quick, and just give us your age and where you live and all that good stuff?
Campbell: OK. I’m Bruce Campbell. I’m 70 years old and I live in Hillsboro, Oregon, which is outside of Portland, Oregon.
Ripley’s: You know you’re not the only famous Bruce Campbell in Oregon, right? The host of our Ripley’s Believe it or Not! television show is Hollywood’s Bruce Campbell, from movies like Evil Dead.
Campbell: (laughs). Yes, I know. I’ve gotten quite a few calls and letters and have to tell people I’m not that Bruce Campbell. They seem disappointed.
Ripley’s: So I assume, like myself, you are an airplane enthusiast.
Campbell: My parents were Air Force officers and I was born shortly after the war, and I always lived near bases during my youth. So I always saw the jets practicing overhead, and I became a pilot. Although, I wasn’t a jet pilot, an Air Force pilot, or a commercial pilot—just a private pilot. And I’m an engineer. So the jetliner home concept evolved from the nature of my life rather naturally. And it’s not so much that I was a fan of aircraft as that they’re simply part of my life.
Courtesy of AirplaneHome.com, republished with permission.
Ripley’s: Did you move around a lot? Or did you settle in the Oregon area? How did that become part of the mix?
Campbell: Well, being an Air Force brat, like any military brat, we were base-to-base-to-base as officers were trained on different equipment and had different reasons to stay sharp. After World War II, and the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the time was tense. So officers were trained. So it was common. And then, after college, I moved to Oregon and stayed in Oregon for quite a long time.
Ripley’s: How did you come up with the idea of living the way you do—in a plane?
Campbell: Well, I didn’t want to marry, I didn’t want to have children, and I didn’t want a mortgage. I wanted to move my stuff so that I could travel the world. So I did purchase property because it was cheap, and I knew I could pay for it. I became a more seasoned engineer by that time, and I kept asking myself, ‘What’s the best material and fabrication technology that my money can buy?’ And there’s simply no performance comparison between the ordinary home and a jetliner. There it is. It really is true. You know, they make fabulous homes.
Ripley’s: So, what kind of airplane are you in right now?
Campbell: Right now it’s a Boeing 727-200. This plane was the last flight taken by Aristotle Onassis. Jacqueline Onassis’ keester was in one of my seat cushions. She and Ted Kennedy escorted Aristotle Onassis back home for his burial in this plane.
Ripley’s: And do you have, say, a living room, dining room, kitchen? How does that work?
Campbell: Well, I’m still single, no kids, and I like it that way. But I do have a lot of flexibility here in Oregon. Basically, it’s an open cabin structure with most of my living arrangements in the aft section of the craft. There’s a lot of restoration work to do. It’ll basically last longer than I will. For me, it’s a lifelong endeavor.
Courtesy of AirplaneHome.com, republished with permission.
Ripley’s: I was wondering, how much did you spend on the refurbishing of the bird?
Campbell: Perhaps about $10,000 or $15,000 thus far.
Ripley’s: OK. Really, just two other things. One, there seems to be this movement now where people are going to micro homes, or living in their cars and just driving around the world and this kind of alternative kind of living. You seem to have been leading that charge, maybe unknowingly.
Campbell: Yes, unintentionally. It was never my vision, but I respect those who are tiny home residents or tiny home explorers. And I certainly understand the rationale—remaining free so that you’re not chained to a mortgage and so you have more than limited options in life. It makes a great deal of sense. Our lives are short and it’s important to remain flexible. At least it seems that way to me. My philosophy is don’t get trapped. If you become trapped with obligations that you cannot escape, then your options in life are very limited. So it’s best, in my personal opinion, to avoid becoming trapped.
Ripley’s: And then lastly, did you ever foresee the media frenzy that has surrounded you after you decided to do this?
Campbell: Yeah. It was so entirely unexpected. But it’s been a good thing. My life has been substantially enriched by the combination of media and guests. I’ve learned a great deal from both. Now, I’ve gained exposure locally, which I would not have gained otherwise. It has enriched my life greatly.
By Ryan Clark, contributor for Ripleys.com and host of Ripley’s Believe It or Notcast
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April 14, 2020
The Larger Than Life Park Of Past Presidents
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Just outside Williamsburg, Virginia, rest forty-three nearly 20-foot-tall concrete busts of former American presidents.
To put it in perspective, each one is about the same height as an adult giraffe. Or, about half the height of a Brachiosaurus. Or, equivalent to the length of a great white shark.
CC Mobilus In Mobili via Flickr
The hardened creations were crafted in 2004 by artist David Adickes, for a well-intended park that just wasn’t sustainable, long-term. “The park was a grand idea,” explains The Presidential Experience website. But, that initial park plan “was dated and could not survive in its former location,” the site shares.
“It needed to be seen by tourists, but tucked away in the woods the park was invisible… ironic, considering the size and glory of these busts.”
Enter Howard Hankins.
Howard took it upon himself to plan for the transportation of the sizable monuments when the land beneath them came up for sale. And, with a team of assistants, mechanical excavators, and flatbed trucks, he did just that—surprisingly, in just a handful of days.
CC Mobilus In Mobili via Flickr
Now, they reside on his private farm in Croaker, Virginia.
“I did not want to see these statues lost so I decided that I would move them to my farm several miles away,” Hankins said. It details the interstate journey of each presidential bust, which was a feat in itself.
Aspiring engineers, take note: the crafty solution they landed on was to crack slight cavities into the statue tops, lifting them with heavy machinery (presumably with heavy-duty hooks) and carefully depositing them onto flatbeds to make the journey.
And make the journey they did. Now, they await that eventual second chance to be part of a public attraction.
CC Mobilus In Mobili via Flickr
Planning to visit before that happens? Someday soon they’ll be ready for the public to admire again, but not quite yet: The Presidential Experience website cautions that onsite visits are currently off-limits, and points out that “liability and trespassing issues have become extensive.”
By Bill Furbee, contributor for Ripleys.com
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Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!
Inside The World Of Doomsday Preppers – Ripley’s Notcast Ep. 37
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Imagine a world where in one second everything changes. The lights go out. Your electronics shut down. And everything with a computer is rendered useless. Will you be ready? Will you know how to survive?
This week on the Notcast, we look into the world of doomsday preppers, imagining how life would change for many of us without modern conveniences. We also speak to Jason Charles, a prepper who has been preparing for almost every disaster imaginable.
For more weird news and strange stories, visit our homepage, and be sure to rate and share this episode of the Notcast!
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON!
Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!
Source: Inside The World Of Doomsday Preppers – Ripley’s Notcast Ep. 37
April 13, 2020
Salamanders Can Regrow Limbs. Why Can’t We?
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When a lizard loses its tail, the tail grows back. Salamanders are even more impressive, being able to grow back entire lost limbs. So why can’t humans do the same?
One of the villains in Spider-Man has wondered the same thing. Dr. Curtis Connors wanted to regrow his own missing arm, so he studied reptile DNA and experimented on himself. As he had hoped, his body used the lizard DNA to grow his arm back. Incidentally, this experiment also turned him into a green, scaly monster, which was generally considered a negative result.
As we know, Dr. Connors, AKA “The Lizard,” is fictional. But it leads us to wonder, could real scientists use the secrets of reptiles and amphibians to help humans grow back our missing body parts?
Humans do have some talent for regeneration; we can heal broken bones and cut skin. Salamanders, like the axolotl, however, are much more impressive in that they can grow back amputated limbs with the bones and muscles formed as good as new.
Scientists haven’t pinpointed the exact method of how reptiles and amphibians regenerate bones, in the hopes of transferring this practice to human limbs, but they’re learning. For example, in 2014, scientists at Arizona State University published research describing the “genetic recipe” that lizards use to regrow their tails. 302 out of 326 of those genes corresponded to mammalian genes. Lizards are more closely related to humans than salamanders and thus have more similar genes.
There have been several other clues as to how salamanders grow back their amputated body parts. For instance, we know that immune cells, called macrophages, prevent scar tissue from forming. Without macrophages, axolotls will scar over sites of amputated limbs instead of regenerating them. Another gene, Lin28a, is active in younger animals and becomes inactive in adulthood. When this gene was stimulated in older mammals, they were better at healing the ends of their toes and ears.
As it is now, we are far from creating treatments to help humans grow back our own limbs. We are a little closer to understanding how people heal, though, and this research could potentially be used to help people heal damaged tissue like cartilage and muscles.
Unfortunately, scientists are just beginning to understand how reptiles, amphibians, and starfish do it. No lizard monsters for us.
By Kristin Hugo, contributor for Ripleys.com
Kristin Hugo is a science journalist with writing in National Geographic, Newsweek, and PBS Newshour. She’s especially experienced in covering animals, bones, and anything weird or gross. When not writing, Kristin is spray painting and cleaning bones in her New York City yard. Find her on Twitter at @KristinHugo , Tumblr at @StrangeBiology , and Instagram at @thestrangebiology .
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON!
Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!
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