WEIRD, WEIRD WORLD

"RAT WORM" CAUGHT ON TAPE
A strange piece of footage circulating online shows a nightmarish mystery creature that resembles some kind of horrifying cross between a rat and worm. The jaw-dropping video was taken by a British woman named Bex Deen who was aghast when she noticed the oddity seemingly slithering around on her backyard porch. She subsequently posted the footage online in the hopes that someone could identify the weird creature.

For those who may be understandably afraid to watch the unsettling video, the footage shows a strange creature that appears to be about five inches long and sports a tail which is nearly the same length. As Deen looks on in horror, wondering what the monstrous thing may be, the little beast proceeds to slither along the sideboards of her porch in an undulating fashion that is both riveting and repulsive at the same time. Remarkably, rather than whack the creature with a rolled up newspaper, she reportedly decided to let it live, saying "I let him slither off to join his alien friends wherever they may be."

As to what the weird creature may have been, the consensus online seems to be that it is an uncharacteristically-large rat-tailed maggot which, since Deen opted not to kill it, will likely transform into a drone fly at some point in the not-too-distant future. The puzzling appendage is, in fact, not a tail, but a breathing tube which the bug uses in the event that it winds up underwater.

[SOURCE: Coast to Coast AM.]




ANOTHER CLAIM THAT THE SHROUD OF TURIN IS A FAKE

The authenticity of the Shroud of Turin is being called into question once again via a forensic study that suggests that the image contained on the cloth is a fabrication. The controversial piece of linen, which some believe to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, has been the subject of a seemingly unending debate that stretches back centuries. The latest twist in the Turin saga comes courtesy of a newly-published paper detailing a rather ingenious technique used to 'test' the image on the Shroud.

In the study, researchers attempted to see if the blood flow from wounds thought to be afflicting the person on the Shroud would actually match the depiction seen on the cloth. To pull off this feat, they enlisted a human volunteer who was outfitted with a small tube that dripped human blood from where the crucifixion nail would have been. Additionally, since the story of Jesus states that he was also suffering from a stab wound in his abdomen, researchers incorporated this injury into the study using a somewhat similar method involving a mannequin.

Despite positioning their test subjects in a number of different ways, the scientists behind the study found that the largely natural bloodstain patterns could not account for the legendary Shroud image. Although they matched in some instances, those respective overlaps left other parts of the picture incomplete. By looking at the whole depiction found on the cloth and comparing it to what was produced by the study, one of the researchers told the website LiveScience, "you realize these cannot be real bloodstains from a person who was crucified and then put into a grave, but actually handmade by the artist that created the shroud."

Although the new study is quite intriguing, longtime students of the Shroud mystery can be forgiven for being wary about the news as it is merely the latest in a long line of much-heralded research projects promising to have settled the case once and for all. In the last year alone, there were claims that the faint impression of coins found on the eyes of the Shroud image proved it was the burial cloth of Jesus as well as a study of the 'nanoparticles' found on the cloth which indicated that they came from "tortured blood." As such, it's a safe bet that, at some point in the not-too-distant future, we'll be hearing about yet another set of researchers who have come up with their own way of looking at the Shroud and produced some fantastic findings as well.

[SOURCE: Coast to Coast AM.}


HUMANOID CREATURE WASHES UP ON CHINESE BEACH
Beachgoers in China were left baffled by the discovery of a bizarre creature boasting an almost humanoid appearance. One report claims that onlookers were aghast by the strange find and refused to get too close to the oddity, likely because it resembled a dismembered person. Fortunately, one brave individual stepped forward to engage the creature and, as luck would have it, the impromptu encounter was caught on film.

In the footage, a man sporting a smile suggesting amusement can be seen holding the creature up for the camera. The showcase allows viewers to see that the monstrous find looks to possess limbs akin to a person and, using a fair amount of imagination, even a face. As if its human-like shape is not chilling enough, the 'foot' of the creature actually moves as if it is still alive! And, adding one last layer of strangeness to the proceedings, the sea debris seems to have been flattened on one side.

As is often the case with weird things which wash ashore, observers have offered a number of possible suggestions for what the creature may have been. Theories have ranged from the prosaic, like a mutated sea sponge, to the fantastic, such as a mangled mannequin. It would seem that the latter idea may be most likely as, according to the YouTube channel which posted the footage, acclaimed cryptozoologist and former C2C guest Karl Shuker examined the video and posited that the creature was likely a mass of sponge.

[SOURCE: Coast 2 Coast AM.]




PHOTO TAKEN OF BIGFOOT?

The Dulce Underground Base Conference on June 23-24 featured local and national researchers who examined the evidence for the mysterious and famed facility, as well as examining the impact of unexplained animal mutilations, which have been plaguing the area and the Jicarilla Apache tribe since the 1970s. The event also allowed local residents and others from the region to weigh in with their own experiences and in once case, an alleged photo of a Bigfoot.

A man from Pagosa Spings, Colorado (who has chosen to remain anonymous) shared an image he says he captured some thirteen years ago when he was on a pack horse camping trip near Square Top Mountain in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests west of Denver, Colorado.

The night before the photo was taken, the witness recalled hearing strange noises during a violent lighting storm, which he recalled sounding like “loud snoring,” which he believed was coming from the other person in his tent. He "sat up and realized it wasn't him" and that the sounds were coming from outside, where he could see a large shadow moving about whenever lightning lit up the area.

The witness said that the photo was taken the next morning as he was trying to get an image of one of the pack guides, and he did not recall seeing anything unusual. When the film was developed, there appeared to be figure standing in the far background, which resembles what most of us commonly think of as a classic “bigfoot” creature. "You could see the daylight between its legs" he said, which was estimated to be some 50 yards from the camera.


STONEHENGE HAS BEEN VANDALIZED FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS

A picnic party at Stonehenge, including Queen Victoria's son Prince Leopold (reclining, looking towards camera), c. 1877

In 1860, a concerned tourist wrote to the London Times decrying the “foolish, vulgar and ruthless practice of the majority of visitors” to Stonehenge “of breaking off portions of it as keepsakes.” Today, taking a hammer and chisel to a Neolithic monument seems like obvious vandalism, but during the Victorian era, such behavior was not only common but expected.

English antiquarian tourists, who were mostly upper class, had developed the habit of taking makeshift relics from the historical sites they visited during the 18th century. By 1830, the practice was so widespread that the English painter Benjamin Robert Haydon dubbed it “the English disease,” writing, “On every English chimney piece, you will see a bit of the real Pyramids, a bit of Stonehenge! […] You can’t admit the English into your gardens but they will strip your trees, cut their names on your statues, eat your fruit, & stuff their pockets with bits for their musaeums.”

For centuries, both locals and visitors had taken pieces of Stonehenge for use in folk remedies. As early as the 12th century, rumors of the stones’ healing properties appear in the writing of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and in 1707, Reverend James Brome wrote that their scrapings were still thought to “heal any green Wound, or old Sore.” In the 1660s, the English antiquarian John Aubrey reported a local superstition that “pieces or powder of these stones, putt into their wells, doe drive away the Toades.”

Eventually, tourists were not just taking from Stonehenge, but also leaving their mark, too. By the middle of the 17th century, tourist graffiti was appearing on the stones. The name of Johannes Ludovicus de Ferre—abbreviated “IOH : LVD : DEFERRE”—is etched, and so is the engraving “I WREN,” which may refer to Christopher Wren, the famed architect who designed St. Paul’s Cathedral.

As early as 1740, the archaeologist William Stukeley was decrying “the unaccountable folly of mankind in breaking pieces off [the stones] with great hammers,” and by the end of the 19th century, according an 1886 commenter, “Almost every day takes some fragment from the ruins, or adds something to the network of scrawling with which the surface of the stone is defaced.”

[SOURCE: ATLAS OBSCURA.]


ARTIST ILLUSTRATES WORLD'S MYTHICAL CREATURES

A Kotobuki, a creature consisting of all 12 signs in the Zodiac, from Japanese mythology. 

Every culture has its own distinctive mythological beasts. In Brazil, there’s the Headless Mule, a cursed creature whose decapitated head hovers above a fire-spewing neck as it gallops across the country. From Japan, the Kotobuki is a Zodiac Frankenstein’s monster: it consists of all 12 signs, from the nose of the rat to the tail of the snake. Peru has the Huayramama, which looks like a vast snake plus the billowing hair and face of an old woman.

With such rich and broad source material to draw from, the artist Iman Joy El Shami-Mader has lately been pursuing one very particular goal: she wants to illustrate as many mythical beasts as she can find. Since October 2017, El Shami-Mader has been illustrating one such creature a day, which she then features on her Instagram account. To keep up a steady supply of beasts to draw, El Shami-Mader initially worked from books. “It all started with the book Phantasmagoria—which is great—but there are many creatures that are only mentioned in passing or without any description at all,” she says. So she ordered more books, researched online, and tried her local library. “I’m from a tiny town in the Alps, so other than local creatures, there was little to be found.”

Lately she’s decided to try to crowdsource ideas to keep her project going. Through Instagram, she’s asked her followers to send stories and descriptions of mythical beasts she’s still missing. Her illustrated bestiary now spans mythologies from around the world and across a variety of time periods, and even includes the odd fictional character (she has a porg from Star Wars: The Last Jedi and an Owlbear from Dungeons & Dragons).

Where did the idea for this project come from?
It actually started as a stress-relief strategy and ‘self-challenge’ last fall. I was working five jobs and felt extremely drained and worn-out all the time. I really needed something to balance out the lack of creative expression I was feeling and to get my mind off things, at least for an hour a day.

A few years back I did a series of fairytale illustrations and came across many amazing creatures, like the Bøyg in Per Gynt. Since I always wanted to deepen my knowledge about these creatures, I ordered the book Phantasmagoria by Terry Beverton and it arrived on my doorstep on September 30, just in time for me to begin a daily monster-drawing challenge I’d set myself for the month of October. I started to use my lunch breaks to have a quick snack and do a drawing of a creature each day. I was fairly sure I would give up after a week, but it really helped with the stress; for an hour or two each day, all that was on my mind was bringing a creature to paper, nothing else. It was also great to learn about a new monster each day, so when October was over, I didn’t really want to stop.

Why mythical creatures?
I am generally a history buff and I love fairytales, sagas, myths and legends. In this already pretty epic realm, these beasts feel even more magical. I find them extremely interesting for so many reasons. They can give you an incredible insight to different cultures—what people were afraid of, and what simply was inexplicable at the time and needed to be put into a physical form. I feel like they also show humanity’s need to have a reason for both good and bad things happening. Sometimes they are a ray of hope, the only thing able to cure an incurable illness; other times they bring plagues and death. They are wise helpful spirits, and they are malicious tricksters. It can also be really funny—you can tell that some only exist because of the bad descriptions the scholars wrote down.
Tell us a little bit about how you research and plan how these illustrations will look.

When someone tells me about a new beast, I still try to do as much research as possible and find the best description available, either on the internet or by asking more people from that region about their version of it. Sometimes the descriptions are very detailed, which makes it easy to come up with a general idea of how proportions and form should be; other times it just says “aquatic creature” or that it has “serpentine appearance,” which makes it harder on one hand, because you cannot depict them “accurately” (as far as drawing a mythical creature can be, anyway), but on the other hand really lets your imagination run wild. I usually have an image in my head of how I’d like it to look. I start by slowly sketching out the first lines in pencil, then elaborate them a bit, and when I’m happy enough with the results I start tracing my pencil drawing with ink pens.

What’s the goal of this project?
Well, I’ve ‘tasted blood’ now, and am on a mission: I would love to create a complete illustrated bestiary. There are many great books on creatures out there, but so far I haven’t found a complete one. I know this is a Sisyphean task, but I’m motivated. I’d love to turn my findings into a book, or—even better—a series of books that can be continually expanded. For now there is only an idea, but a friend of mine is a composer and we were thinking of collaborating on a trilingual ‘monsters set to music’ book. My current priority, however, is finding as many mythical creatures as possible.

Tell us about your favorite mythical creatures in this project.
That is really hard to answer—they are all so unique. I love the Dijiang, because I feel it’s my spirit animal (living in a perpetual state of confusion, but fond of singing and dancing). I love the idea of a Valravne eating a king’s heart and thus gaining human knowledge and becoming evil (eating another human’s flesh was really thought to give you his strength at some point in history!). I think it’s amazing that the Chouyu falls asleep when it sees people, and that the Ovinnik holds a grudge against barns, but is appeased by pancakes.

But if I had to choose a favorite one, it would have to be the Squonk, a creature from the forests of Pennsylvania, who was always sad over its hideous appearance. All the love for the Squonk!

[SOURCE: Atlas Obscura.]