Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 321
September 3, 2018
The Man Who Ate An Airplane Piece By Piece
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The world can unfair at times. We all have our talents, but some simply aren’t celebrated as much as they deserve to be. World-class actors, athletes, and writers are held up as heroes, but what about Michel Lotito? He ate a dang airplane!
Monsieur Mangetout’s Legend Begins
Before we get to the incredible feat itself, you probably need a little context right about now. So buckle up for the story of Lotito’s extraordinary life. He was born in Grenoble, France, in 1950. From the age of nine, he developed an unusual tolerance for—and fondness for—eating dangerous objects like glass and metal, which are generally indigestible.
According to legend, this first bout of unusual eating came about when a glass the young Lotito was drinking from shattered and he began chewing the fragments. Why this sort of thing was encouraged, nobody can really say, but the young man was soon examined and tested by doctors and gastroenterologists. His ability was unique, they determined, attributing it to a condition known as pica. This gave Michel a taste for unusual, non-nutritive items.
Lotito’s Impossible Biology
Fortunately for him, doctors soon determined that he had an incredibly resilient digestive system, with a super thick stomach lining and intestines. As a result, he could “safely” consume just about anything. And so an incredible career as Monsieur Mangetout (Mr. Eat-all) began.
The French entertainer may have been able to eat an impossible range of items, but he still had to take great care. His technique revolved around reducing metal objects into smaller pieces, making them easier for his body to handle by keeping his throat lubricated with mineral oil. In this way, he would regularly eat two pounds of metal every day!
Over the course of Monsieur Mangetout’s career, his diet included 18 bicycles, seven TV sets, two beds, 15 supermarket trolleys, a computer, a coffin (handles and all), a pair of skis and six chandeliers. That’s pretty dang impressive by anybody’s standards, but the pinnacle of his entertainment career was the time he ate a whole dang airplane.
That’s right. In 1978, he ate an entire Cessna 150 airplane. That is to say, he began eating it in 1978, because it was a laborious piece-by-piece process that took two years. Finally, in 1980, he emerged from the epic battle of man versus flying machine victorious.
A Most Unusual Legacy
So, there it is. Lotito passed away of natural causes in 2007, at the age of 57. He left behind an incredible legacy as a man with one of the most unusual diets ever recorded. Pica, of course, is classified as quite a dangerous condition, considering that some of the objects people with the condition consume may have toxic components (i.e. lead) or harm their insides. Lotito may have been effectively immune to this, but his curious biology brought up an unusual problem: He struggled to eat soft foods like bananas!
This was thought to be a side effect of his unusually potent stomach acids. Today, it’s difficult to give any definitive answers, but one thing’s for sure: the world will never, ever forget the man who ate an airplane.
By Chris Littlechild, contributor for Ripleys.com
September 2, 2018
September 1, 2018
August 31, 2018
Is The Lost City Of Atlantis Revealing Itself Off The Coast Of The Bahamas?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
For hundreds of years, the story of Atlantis has captured our attention. The famed lost city makes its first appearance in the works of Plato, as the defeated opposition to the Athenians. As the story goes, after losing a battle, the Atlanteans fell out of favor with the gods and sunk into the sea to be lost forever.
This is mythology, but is there any truth to this story? Could the answers lie in the waters of the Bahamas?
Bimini Road
One of the most compelling pieces of Atlantean archaeology is Bimini Road, an underwater rock formation located just off the coast of the Bahamian island of North Bimini. Resting on the ocean floor, just 18 feet below the surface, Bimini Road is thought to be the entrance to the sunken city.
Bimini Road runs straight for about half a mile before ending in a curve and is flanked by two smaller rock formations that appear similar in design. The rocks are limestone, precariously cut in rectangular shapes and huge—each rock on the main road is about 10 feet by 10 feet, all evenly lined up.
Believe it or not, when the road was first discovered in 1968, divers described it as pavement!
Mystic Mysteries
Besides its design, Bimini Road itself was mentioned specifically 30 years before it’s discovery. In 1938, American mystic Edgar Cayce predicted the discovery of a road that led to Atlantis.
“A portion of the temples may yet be discovered under the slime of ages and seawater near Bimini…Expect it in ‘68 or ’69.”-Cayce
Coincidence? Bimini Road was discovered in ’68! But, Bimini’s construction and Cayce’s crazy are not enough to determine the Road’s authenticity.
The Debate
Most archeologists point out that limestone occurs naturally and can crack into tile-like pieces. Debating that are those who found man made extracts in the beach rock and Dr. Greg Little’s research team who found an entire second layer of square-cut rocks with similar dimensions beneath the stones, not just seafloor like they would if it was natural.
Note: Little’s research was funded by Cayce, the mystic…
Radio carbon dating also comes into play. According to Plato, Atlantis should be around nine thousand years old. Bimini Road has been dated at around two thousand to four thousand years old—too young to be a part of Atlantis, but, again, the accuracy of dating is admittedly questionable.
Perhaps the only sound theory is that of Gavin Menzies, who proposed Bimini Road is a submerged emergency dry dock created by a Chinese Imperial fleet exploring the Caribbean in the 1400s. Since sea levels were about six feet lower six centuries ago, this dock could have been on the shore of Bimini.
Although we may feel one step closer to solving the mystery of Atlantis with the discovery of Bimini Road, we are just left with more questions.
What do you believe?
Source: Is The Lost City Of Atlantis Revealing Itself Off The Coast Of The Bahamas?
Ancient Hunger Stones Emerge As Ominous Drought Warning
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[August 26th-September 1st, 2018] Solving crimes on Reddit, meat vending machines, and dire warnings on ancient stones.
Midnight Meats
If you’ve ever woken up in the dead of night with an appetite for a late night snack of beef, pork, lamb, sausage and any other meat, you’re now in luck if you live in New York. The Applestone Meat Company has launched meat vending machines—open 24/7—across the state. Apparently, people are really keen on late night meat sweats because, according to the CEO, the machines have been selling 3,000 pounds of meat a week.
A post shared by The Applestone Meat Company (@applestonemeat) on Jul 27, 2018 at 2:23pm PDT
Redditor Helps Solve Crime
A fatal hit-and-run in Washington state has been solved thanks to the keen eye of a sleuthing Redditor. Bicyclist Susan Rainwater was killed on her bike, but police had little evidence to identify the driver. Finding a small piece of plastic near the crash, detectives turned to Reddit’s r/WhatIsThisThing for help. User u/JeffsNuts was able to identify the exact car model the small piece of plastic was from, and police found the culprit. Believe it or not, the Redditor didn’t even realize he had helped solve a fatal crime until friends of the family messaged him later.
The roadway is open SR7/320th. Troopers and detectives are still looking for a black vehicle believed to be involved in this mornings tragic bicyclist fatality. If you know anything regarding this collision, please call the Washing State Patrol. pic.twitter.com/pafJLeh54i
— Trooper Johnna Batiste (@wspd1pio) August 9, 2018
Baby Colonel
Instead of buying the naming rights to a sports stadium for a couple of years, KFC’s newest marketing stunt is to buy the naming rights of babies. They’ve launched a contest to give away $11,000 to the first baby born on September 9th. You don’t have to call your newborn Colonel, but instead must be named Harland, the first name of the founding Colonel Sanders.
Dumbo Sells For $483,000
Part of a large auction of Disneyland rides, a Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride car has sold for nearly half a million dollars. Richard Kraft had built up the collection remembering fond memories of the visiting the park with his brother, but was shocked that his assortment of Disney cars and trash cans would make him feel like he hit the lottery.
CC Loren Javier
Hunger Stones
As Europe enters the final stretch of summer, heat and drought have taken its toll. Now, an ominous set of stones warning of disaster. So-called “hunger stones” have begun appearing in German and Czech rivers, with warnings like “If you see me, weep.” These stones were placed as far back as the 12th century, and are inscribed with the years they appeared. Serving as markers of when rivers have gotten dangerously low, they’re permanent markers of drought.
CC Bernd Gross
Source: Ancient Hunger Stones Emerge As Ominous Drought Warning
August 30, 2018
Was Civil War Surgery Really Performed Without Anesthetic?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Or Not
In today’s world many misconceptions have been perpetuated—becoming modern day “facts”—when, in reality, myths and hearsay have taken over. Sorry to burst your bubble, but in this weekly column, Ripley’s puts those delusions to the test, turning your world upside down, because you can’t always…Believe It!
Today: Did Civil War doctors perform surgery without anesthetic?
Civil War Surgery
You’ve likely seen films where a Civil War soldier is being prepped for amputation and all he’s given to stave off the pain is some liquid courage and a bullet to bite into to silence his screams. While these men were tough as nails, they weren’t forced to stay awake and suffer while going under the knife. Both Union and Confederate field surgeons commonly used anesthesia to sedate their patients prior to amputation and other procedures.
War records show that doctors in the 1860s understand the importance of anesthesia during an operation and often relied on chloroform and ether to do the job. If neither substance was available, a surgery was put on hold.
American physician Crawford Williamson Long first used ether as an anesthetic in surgery in 1842. Nearly two decades later during the Civil War, 95 percent of operations involved the use of anesthesia. More than 80,000 operations occurred during the conflict, according to Union records. Of that number, just 254 were performed without an anesthetic.
Armies from both the north and the south manufactured chloroform and ether in their own medical laboratories. Chloroform was preferred because it required a smaller amount and was fast acting—it took effect in about nine minutes.
A doctor or assistant would put the chloroform on a piece of cloth shaped into a cone and place it over the patient’s nose and mouth, causing him to inhale the vapors. Surgeons used just enough anesthetic to prevent patients from feeling any pain, but it wasn’t uncommon for unconscious soldiers to groan or move around, requiring medical assistants to hold them down. Fortunately, these operations only lasted a few minutes.
Only rarely did a surgeon operate without using anesthetics. Some patients were so badly injured that they were already unconscious prior to surgery. Some doctors occasionally ran out of chloroform and ether due to military blockades. An even smaller percentage of old-school surgeons eschewed the modern practice of anesthesia.
Scholars estimate that during the three final years of the war, approximately 30,000 Union soldiers lost a limb, and 21,000 of them lived through the surgeries (which would have been excruciating without anesthesia). The Union Army did not keep records during the first year of the war, so the actual numbers are probably higher. It is unclear how many Confederate doctors performed similar surgeries because medical records were lost during a fire.
While this number of casualties may seem high, the ammunition at the time—large-caliber Minié ball bullets—had a propensity for shattering limbs into pieces. Doctors often elected to amputate rather than preserve an arm or a leg in order to avoid infections (antibiotics weren’t discovered for several more decades).
The majority of soldiers who underwent amputations survived. According to George Wunderlich, the executive director of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Maryland, soldiers with below-the-elbow and below-the-knee amputations had a 75-85% survival rate.
The use of ether and chloroform in surgery eventually dropped off due to the creation of safer and more effective drugs. During the 20th century, the use of chloroform as an anesthetic fell out of use, particularly after it was revealed to be carcinogenic when ingested by laboratory mice and rats. Today, anesthesia is much more advanced. Surgeons can elect to put a patient to sleep during a procedure or use anesthetics to numb just one part of the body while the patient stays awake.
By Noelle Talmon, contributor for Ripleys.com
Source: Was Civil War Surgery Really Performed Without Anesthetic?
Can Your Hair Play Guitar And Take Selfies? This Artist’s Sculpted Scalp Can!
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Laetitia Ky, a 21-year-old fashion designer from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Africa, took social media by storm after posting a photo series where she sculpts her hair into an array of fun shapes and gestures!
Wanting to use her hair as a form of self expression, Laetitia was inspired by the hairstyles women wore long ago in some African tribes. However, to create these looks, she needs much more than primitive tools! Beyond the bobby pins and hairspray, she can use thread, a needle, fabric, wire, wool, hair extensions—her tools of the trade are unique to each style.
Patience is also key. Some styles can take a quick 20 minutes, while other may take over two hours to sculpt!
Check out some of our favorite looks and an exclusive interview from Laetitia in this year’s annual, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! A Century of Strange!
QUIZ: Which A Century of Strange Personality Are You?
Are you a creative wild child like Laetitia? Find out which friendly (or freaky!) face from Ripley’s Believe It or Not! A Century of Strange you are! Take this quiz to find out!
Source: Can Your Hair Play Guitar And Take Selfies? This Artist’s Sculpted Scalp Can!
10 Questions With The Artist Claiming To Use Charles Manson’s Ashes
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Meet artist and tattooist Ryan Gillikin, a.k.a. Ryan Almighty.
The 48-year-old lives near Buffalo, New York, where he works as a tattooer and specializes in painting…with his own blood. But–Believe It or Not!—that isn’t what’s made him newsworthy.
Ryan has stirred up a huge canvas of controversy recently because he’s claiming to have gotten his hands on some of the cremains of legendary cult leader Charles Manson. He says he is using those cremains to make paintings of Manson, one of which has reportedly already been sold to Travel Channel host Zac Bagans.
So why is Ryan even interested in Manson? What leads him to paint with blood? And what does he say to his critics?
Ripley’s sat down for 10 questions with Ryan Almighty:
1. How did you happen to get some of Manson’s remains?
RYAN: I’m pretty close to the Manson inner circle as I corresponded with Charles in the late 90s, so when Manson passed I approached Jason Freeman (Manson’s grandson) with the idea to do a series of paintings using his blood and possibly Charlie’s ashes for a series of paintings. Jason declined, and I abandoned the idea. As luck would have it, a few weeks later I happened to be watching a Facebook Live feed by a fellow that calls himself “Stoner VanHouten” who is a superfan of Manson’s and gives tours of Spahn Ranch, where the Manson followers lived. I brought up the project that Freeman declined and Tony chimed in. Tony was Jason Freeman’s friend. He announced that he was at the funeral and obtained some of the ashes. We made our deal on Stoner’s live feed. I agreed to give Tony the first painting of the series and the rest is history.
2. How long have you been interested in Manson and what caused this interest?
RYAN: I’ve been interested in Manson for many, many years. The interest was sparked when I saw a documentary in the late 70s/early 80s. I’ve always been interested in the morbid and unusual.
3. Tell me about painting with human remains—how did you get interested in this and why the appeal? Is it always your own blood?
RYAN: When I started painting in human blood there were very few of us doing it. I had already used blood in performance art and as an artist. Eventually, the two collided. I use others’ blood sometimes, but prefer my own.
4. What’s the plan—as in, what are you working on with his remains?
RYAN: Well the first painting as agreed on, went directly to Tony (the cremains contributor). He’s already sold it to Zac Bagans to display in his Vegas Haunted Museum. My vision is to create a series of four paintings, all portraits of Charles, ranging from a young boy to old man utilizing my blood and his ash, with an engraving of A-T-W-A on the series, which was Manson’s environmental mantra meaning “Air, Trees, Water and Animals.” My vision is to create a future relic for generations to come to gaze upon and know that a piece of Manson is reflecting back. I want people who weren’t around for Manson and only have seen videos and heard storied/legends to experience seeing a small part of Manson’s remains and feel something good or bad, reflect and remember. For the record, money is not my motivation.
5. Are there other works you hope to produce with more of his remains?
RYAN: Yes, If there are more cremains after the series of four, I will do more paintings to share with collectors, fans and anyone fascinated.
6. Do you happen to do this with other famous remains?
RYAN: Of course, I am open to any opportunity to do this with any, unusual/interesting subject.
7. What does the future look like for you? Do you want to push the envelope even further?
RYAN: “Pushing the envelope” comes naturally to me. I’ve always done it and always will.
8. What do you say to those who don’t like the fact that you seem to be honoring someone who was a convicted killer?
RYAN: I would say, first off, Charlie never killed anyone. He was convicted because [Manson prosecutor and Helter Skelter author] Vincent Bugliosi created a boogie man to convict, and ultimately to sell books, and in doing so created an icon. There is a very fine line separating lawyers, cops and criminals. (NOTE: The Charles Manson biography online puts it like this: “Manson was convicted of first-degree murder for directing the deaths of the Tate/LaBianca victims. He was sentenced to death, but this was automatically commuted to life in prison after California’s Supreme Court invalidated all death sentences prior to 1972.”)
9. Further, there are some who seem to not believe your story. What is your response to them?
RYAN: There are always skeptics. I know certain Manson followers consider it real enough to make death threats. I know for a fact Tony was at the funeral and people saw him collect ashes, and I know that he gave me a portion with the agreement of receiving the first painting. Judging by the response and sheer anger and hatred aimed at him by Manson’s friends that attended the funeral, I have no doubts.
10. Lastly, do you hope to sell this piece when it’s finished? How long will it take and what will the price be?
RYAN: The first piece has been sold by the cremains contributor. The next four are being done as memorial/tribute pieces for my old friend Charlie. If there are more, it remains to be seen. I do know that Charlie loved to make a profit, and can’t help but think he would find all of this hilarious!
By Ryan Clark, contributor for Ripleys.com
Source: 10 Questions With The Artist Claiming To Use Charles Manson’s Ashes
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