The Agents of F.L.A.S.K.

[Tiki Tom]

Monster of the week.
Any readers from Chicago out there?
I ask because for several years —and as recently as Dec 2022— Chicago has been the scene of Mothman sightings.
Although most famously associated with Point Pleasant, West Virginia, Mothman has also been seen elsewhere. Chicago has been enduring a long outbreak of off-and-on sightings, 2011 through the present. Why would this famous man/bat/bird creature be hanging around a big city? As urban legends go, it’s a peculiar one.
I’d love to hear more about this one.

https://q985online.com/mothman-sighting-illinois-airport/

https://www.npr.org/local/309/2019/10/28/773566283/the-case-of-the-chicago-mothman

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Tik, Never been Chicago. Ever never heard of Mothman. Spiderman, Superman, the Man, yes indeed these three.
And Batman. Makes four for four.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Monster of the week.
Any readers from Chicago out there?
I ask because for several years —and as recently as Dec 2022— Chicago has been the scene of Mothman sightings.
Although most famously associated with Point Pleasant, West Virginia, Mothman has also been seen elsewhere. Chicago has been enduring a long outbreak of off-and-on sightings, 2011 through the present. Why would this famous man/bat/bird creature be hanging around a big city? As urban legends go, it’s a peculiar one.
I’d love to hear more about this one.

https://q985online.com/mothman-sighting-illinois-airport/

https://www.npr.org/local/309/2019/10/28/773566283/the-case-of-the-chicago-mothman

Illinois is home to 15-20 species of birds of prey. Several river systems in the state have always produced reports by witnesses of giant condor-like birds & birds like the mythical thunderbird.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-mythic-child-stealing-thunderbirds-of-illinois

https://www.wcia.com/community/repo...s-that-the-huge-bird-picked-up-a-small-child/

 

[Tiki Tom]

Illinois is home to 15-20 species of birds of prey. Several river systems in the state have always produced reports by witnesses of giant condor-like birds & birds like the mythical thunderbird.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-mythic-child-stealing-thunderbirds-of-illinois

https://www.wcia.com/community/repo...s-that-the-huge-bird-picked-up-a-small-child/

That article from Atlas Obscura is worth the read. Thanks! I’ve always been interested in the occasional sightings of thunderbirds, pterodactyls, and winged creatures (including mothman) that we sometimes read about in the press. Although some sightings stretch believability, others seem to come from sane and sober citizens. But the obvious question always comes up. Why haven’t zoologists, park rangers, cops, or scientists ever come up with solid tangible evidence? Then another way of looking at these phenomena came up. In his book “Where Bigfoot Walks”, Robert Michael Pyle quotes Native American leaders who say these creatures “may inhabit the real world of Indians (and) this may not be relevant to the question of whether they inhabit the real world of western science… Chief Lelooska spoke of things you could only see when watching ‘with Indian eyes’.” This comes dangerously close to blurring the physical and spiritual worlds.

Wait. People who literally see things that others cannot see? It turns out that such things do happen…

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140905-the-women-with-super-human-vision

Admittedly seeing monsters takes it to a whole different level. But, with strange sightings pouring in, is it not something worth consideration and study? In another thread it’s discussed how Dr Nolan of Stanford has studied the brains of pilots who have seen UFOs and found their brains to be physically different/altered. (His work was part of a gov study. I concede that I have mixed feelings about Dr Nolan and his pronouncements.)

https://nypost.com/2021/12/12/the-brains-of-people-who-say-theyve-had-a-ufo-encounter/

Anyway, there’s the thesis!

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

That article from Atlas Obscura is worth the read. Thanks! I’ve always been interested in the occasional sightings of thunderbirds, pterodactyls, and winged creatures (including mothman) that we sometimes read about in the press. Although some sightings stretch believability, others seem to come from sane and sober citizens. But the obvious question always comes up. Why haven’t zoologists, park rangers, cops, or scientists ever come up with solid tangible evidence? Then another way of looking at these phenomena came up. In his book “Where Bigfoot Walks”, Robert Michael Pyle quotes Native American leaders who say these creatures “may inhabit the real world of Indians (and) this may not be relevant to the question of whether they inhabit the real world of western science… Chief Lelooska spoke of things you could only see when watching ‘with Indian eyes’.” This comes dangerously close to blurring the physical and spiritual worlds.

Wait. People who literally see things that others cannot see? It turns out that such things do happen…

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140905-the-women-with-super-human-vision

Admittedly seeing monsters takes it to a whole different level. But, with strange sightings pouring in, is it not something worth consideration and study? In another thread it’s discussed how Dr Nolan of Stanford has studied the brains of pilots who have seen UFOs and found their brains to be physically different/altered. (His work was part of a gov study. I concede that I have mixed feelings about Dr Nolan and his pronouncements.)

https://nypost.com/2021/12/12/the-brains-of-people-who-say-theyve-had-a-ufo-encounter/

Anyway, there’s the thesis!

Over here we call these Tories and Labour and how they cackle hens and roosters in the Commons.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

That article from Atlas Obscura is worth the read. Thanks! I’ve always been interested in the occasional sightings of thunderbirds, pterodactyls, and winged creatures (including mothman) that we sometimes read about in the press. Although some sightings stretch believability, others seem to come from sane and sober citizens. But the obvious question always comes up. Why haven’t zoologists, park rangers, cops, or scientists ever come up with solid tangible evidence?

The old question of where are the carcass’. We know bears exist but their carcass’ are rarely found in the wild. Pictographs & petroglyphs made by ancient people are apparently not enough to convince us that such creatures once existed. Fossil records of most any animal are overall pretty scarce. Gigantopithecus has been documented based on a single partial jaw bone.

If thunderbirds, pterodactyls, & giant winged creatures do exist today they most likely live along remote river systems & in canyon lands where they can take advantage of wind currents aloft, & they are most likely seasonally migratory. North & South. Could there be small clusters of such animals today to sustain a breeding population over time, & if so is that population growing in modern times?

In his book “Where Bigfoot Walks”, Robert Michael Pyle quotes Native American leaders who say these creatures “may inhabit the real world of Indians (and) this may not be relevant to the question of whether they inhabit the real world of western science… Chief Lelooska spoke of things you could only see when watching ‘with Indian eyes’.” This comes dangerously close to blurring the physical and spiritual worlds.

Seems to me it’s the string theory of parallel universes, thin veils, etc, as to why these things are rarely seen.

 

[Tiki Tom]

How do you react to stories that certain places are under a curse laid down by indigenous peoples?
Case in point: The curse of Tenaya Canyon. It is well enough documented that Chief Tenaya cursed the settlers who were driving his people from their home and killing off his tribe in great numbers. Now this Canyon is known as “the Bermuda Triangle of Yosemite” owing to the unusual number of deaths and accidents that occur there.

https://www.sfgate.com/california-p...nyon-in-yosemites-cursed-history-18121807.php

yes, sure. Modern, well educated, sophisticated me says: “Well, whadya expect? It is extremely rugged country. Of course it’s dangerous for those who are unprepared. Nothing mysterious about it at all.”

And yet… I’d be lying if I denied that a part of me gets goosebumps from these historic accounts. For my own part, here in Hawai’i, I confess that I’m inclined to tiptoe around ancient Hawaiian graves and Heiaus, lest I stir up the Amakua that are said to watch over such places.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Another unidentified sea creature sighting.
This time the video is very clear. The footage was taken from a bridge between coastal islands. So far no one has been able to definitively identify it. Best guess… some new type of fairly large, free swimming nudibranch. Sea slug? Not native to the area. Large squid? Hmmm.

https://www.wcnc.com/article/life/a...lina/275-f5b45f74-2520-4831-bfb4-d9495879f0e4

 

[Zombie_61]

Another unidentified sea creature sighting.
This time the video is very clear. The footage was taken from a bridge between coastal islands. So far no one has been able to definitively identify it. Best guess… some new type of fairly large, free swimming nudibranch. Sea slug? Not native to the area. Large squid? Hmmm.

https://www.wcnc.com/article/life/a...lina/275-f5b45f74-2520-4831-bfb4-d9495879f0e4

I'd guess "Sea Hare" before "Sea Slug", but I'm not an Ichthyologist.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

I'd guess "Sea Hare" before "Sea Slug", but I'm not an Ichthyologist.

I saw a youtuber about a huge catfish these guys hooked in a Carolina creek. Amazing.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Another unidentified sea creature sighting.
This time the video is very clear. The footage was taken from a bridge between coastal islands. So far no one has been able to definitively identify it. Best guess… some new type of fairly large, free swimming nudibranch. Sea slug? Not native to the area. Large squid? Hmmm.

https://www.wcnc.com/article/life/a...lina/275-f5b45f74-2520-4831-bfb4-d9495879f0e4

Reminds me of the “flying rods” that have been photographed with high speed cameras as featured on MonsterQuest.

 

[Tiki Tom]

I have never heard of flying rods before!
Do you have a favorite link that gives an overview?

 

[Hurricane Jack]

I have never heard of flying rods before!
Do you have a favorite link that gives an overview?

Not that I have ever saved. The rods seem to appear where they can quickly move up & down in an air column of cool & warmer air. They can be photographed using high speed ISO, whether film or digital cameras. The first to photograph them were when cave jumpers noticed the rods appearing in their pics. The rods were moving up & down in the cooler column of air coming up & out of the cave. The History Channel did a program where they tested & proved the rods flight was possible by the ripple wing effect in a wind tunnel.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Credible Nessie sighting?
of course you could say that this photo shows nothing but the shadow of a cloud on the water. But, then again, the shadow seems to be kicking up a wave. Additionally, the guy who took the picture is named and seems credible enough; he’s a tourist from France, not a social media monster hunter. The witness says the thing was beneath the surface and was not a cloud shadow (and wouldn’t there be other cloud shadows to be seen?)
On the other hand, how could there possibly be a large creature living undetected in Loch Ness? Let alone a breeding population of them. Although it’s intriguing, I cannot believe until much better evidence —ahem— surfaces.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/ne...ark-shape-making-waves/ar-AA1cDYTK?li=BBnbklE

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Loch Ness hasn't a monster. A rural legend.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Is the universe a giant thinking neural network?
This thread has certainly entertained whackier ideas.
I, for one, wouldn’t rush to dismiss the idea out of hand…

https://bigthink.com/hard-science/the-universe-may-be-a-giant-neural-network-heres-why/

 

[Tiki Tom]

Monster of the week!
As if there aren’t enough weird things going on out there.
This one is from Brazil. How would you explain it? What’s your theory?

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Monster of the week!
As if there aren’t enough weird things going on out there.
This one is from Brazil. How would you explain it? What’s your theory?

Projection or hologram. Why else would it be out in open ground & not move?

 

[Tiki Tom]

Now for something TRULY bizarre.
Musk and Zuckerberg challenge each other to a cage fight.
Is this fake news? (Apparently not.)
Has civilization degraded to the point where we are back to Roman Style colosseum entertainment?
Place your bets.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65981876

Not to be a soil sport, but I would be surprised if this ever happens.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Musk is disappointing. Z always.