Awesome or Off-Putting is a weekly delve into cryptozoology, ufology, aliens, medical marvels, scientific wonders, secret societies, government conspiracies, cults, ghosts, EVPs, myths, ancient artifacts, religion, strange facts, odd sightings or just the plain unexplainable.

Its been a while since we last mentioned the Tunguska Blast – the 1908 mid-air explosion that happened over Russia and pretty much leveled every single tree that ever existed. Now a scientist has found something at the site – something he says proves that the blast occurred because benevolent aliens threw their spaceship in front of an enormous space-rock to save the earth from total destruction.

The Tunguska Blast happened in 1908 and leveled hundreds of square miles of trees. Some say it was caused by a mini black hole that briefly developed over a forest. Others say the massive devastation was caused by Nikola Tesla doing a practice run of his all-powerful death-ray.

It’s considered one of the great mysteries of the modern era because until now nobody has been 100% sure what happened.  Now somebody is sure though. They’re not necessarily right, mind you, but in their mind they’ve got all the confusion sorted out. He says it was a spaceship throwing itself in front of a meteor to spare human civilisation. His proof is quartz crystals he found at the site that have little etchings on them.

Fox News may clarify things for you:

“Dr. Yuri Labvin, president of the Tunguska Spatial Phenomenon Foundation, insists that an alien spacecraft sacrificed itself to prevent a gigantic meteor from slamming into the planet above Siberia on June 30, 1908. The result was was the Tunguska event, a massive blast estimated at 15 megatons that downed 80 million trees over nearly 100 square miles. Eyewitnesses reported a bright light and a huge shock wave, but the area was so sparsely populated no one was killed…Labvin thinks quartz slabs with strange markings found at the site are remnants of an alien control panel, which fell to the ground after the UFO slammed into the giant rock.”

And here’s what Labvin told Macedonia Online, – the news source that originally ran the story:

“Aliens downed Tunguska meteorite to protect our planet from devastation, stated Russian scientist Yuriy Lavbin about the 100 year old mystery surrounding the massive Siberian explosion. He showed 10 quartz crystals that he found at the place of the meteorite’s crash. Several of the crystals have holes in between, so they can be united in a chain. What could this chain serve for? Besides, some crystals have strange drawings on them. We don’t have any technologies that can print such kind of drawings on crystals. We also found ferrum silicate that can not be produced anywhere, except in space.”

Off the bat let us just say that the ‘ferrum silicate only found in space’ argument is weak. After all – we’re talking about a meteor here – and where do they come from? If you answered Thailand there you’re wrong. The presence of something like that would certainly not indicate a spaceship. Also – ‘Ferrum Silicate’ doesn’t seem to exist. Go ahead – Google it.

Next – the website that originally ran the story, although it’s clearly from Macedonia, is written in English, and is apparently on a strict budget that doesn’t include editors of any sort. It doesn’t seem to us that a low brow and largely unknown website without any kind of financial backing whatsoever would be the first place a scientist of one sort or the other would run with earth-shattering news.

Also – what’s the deal with all those control board crystals having holes drilled in them so they can be united in a chain? Are the aliens plummeting through interstellar space using a caveman calculator as their chief navigational tool? Really?

Lastly, does the great scientist Dr. Yuri Labvin exist anywhere outside of this story? Yeah – Google him too. We couldn’t find anything else. Granted we didn’t look farther than page two of the search results, but still.

Still – the thought of a bunch of aliens on a spaceship yelling something like ‘For the Queen!’ just before throwing themselves in front of sure-death is amusing.

We bet it probably happened. We honestly do.

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Awesome or Off-Putting is a weekly delve into cryptozoology, ufology, aliens, medical marvels, scientific wonders, secret societies, government conspiracies, cults, ghosts, EVPs, myths, ancient artifacts, religion, strange facts, odd sightings or just the plain unexplainable.

In July of 1952 Washington DC was changed from a town of confusing, argumentative and boring politics to one overrun with UFOs.  The sightings were real enough to scramble fighter jets, confuse radar operators – and perhaps most importantly – to be recorded on film.

Part of the strange episode is still floating around on YouTube – we have some of that footage for you here today.

The UFO concept is not a new one by any stretch of the imagination. Why, we’ve told you about the ‘classic’ alien contactees who claim to be receiving mental-inter stellar transmissions meant to bring peace for all of humanity. And more recently then that we told you about the Wow! signal – a radio transmission of some sort or other that definitely did not emanate from Earth.

One UFO-related case that has remained surprisingly unknown given its chosen location, has come to be known by several different names: The Washington Merry-Go-Round, The 1952 Washington D.C. UFO incident, the Washington flap or the Washington National Airport Sightings.

Whatever you want to call it – here is part of what happened, according to Unexplained-Mysteries.com:

“On 19th July,1952,several UFOs were plotted on multiple radar screens travelling over the White House airspace corridor. They were also witnessed by huge numbers of people and fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the objects but where ‘outran’ by the UFOs. Exactly seven days later on July 26th,the UFOs returned,were again captured on multiple radar, were again witnessed by huge numbers of people and were again able to outrun military fighter jets.”

The great concern at the time was that the cold war was raging – and it appeared that the Soviet Union had possibly developed flying technology that was so fast US fighters couldn’t catch them if they tried. The first time pilots launched they arrived to where the ships were supposed to be – and nothing was there. Almost exactly when the fighters returned to their air base, the ships popped back up on radar. The jets were launched again, this time making visual contact.

According to Wikipedia – here is some more of what happened during the July 19 & 20 sightings:

“At Andrews AFB, meanwhile, the control tower personnel were tracking on radar what some thought to be unknown objects, but others suspected, and in one instance were able to prove, were simply stars and meteors. However, Staff Sgt. Charles Davenport observed an orange-red light to the south; the light “would appear to stand still, then make an abrupt change in direction and altitude . . . this happened several times”. At one point both radar centers at National Airport and the radar at Andrews AFB were tracking an object hovering over a radio beacon.

“The object vanished in all three radar centers at the same time. At 3 a.m., shortly before two jet fighters from Newcastle AFB in Delaware arrived over Washington, all of the objects vanished from the radar at National Airport. However, when the jets ran low on fuel and left, the objects returned, which convinced Barnes that “the UFOs were monitoring radio traffic and behaving accordingly”. The objects were last detected by radar at 5:30 a.m. Around sunrise, E.W. Chambers, a civilian radio engineer in Washington’s suburbs, observed “five huge disks circling in a loose formation. They tilted upward and left on a steep ascent.”"

But these sightings lasted longer than just the July 19 & 20 dates – the ships came back on July 26 & 27. Wikipedia has more on this too:

“At 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, 1952, a pilot and stewardess on a National Airlines flight into Washington observed some strange objects above their plane. Within minutes, both radar centers at National Airport, and the radar at Andrews AFB, were tracking more unknown objects. The objects were traveling between 90 and 100 miles per hour. A master sergeant at Andrews visually observed the objects; he later said that “these lights did not have the characteristics of shooting stars. There was [sic] no trails . . . they traveled faster than any shooting star I have ever seen.”

“…By this time (9:30 p.m.) the radar center was picking up unknown objects in every sector. At times the objects traveled slowly; at other times they reversed direction and moved across the radarscope at speeds calculated at 7,000 mph. At 11:30 p.m., two jet fighters from Newcastle AFB in Delaware arrived over Washington. Capt. John McHugo, the flight leader, was vectored towards the radar pips but saw nothing, despite repeated attempts. However, his wingman, Lt. William Patterson, did see four white “glows” and chased them. Suddenly, the “glows” turned and surrounded his fighter. Patterson asked the control tower at National Airport what he should do; according to Chop, the tower’s answer was “stunned silence”. The four objects then sped away from Patterson’s jet and disappeared.”

Now that sounds eerily familiar. Luckily this outcome was a tad better.

All of that UFO-surrounding stuff sounds fantastic alright – and dare we say unbelievable. But its on video. We’ve posted two such videos below – the first one is just the sighting alone – a bunch of ships casually floating past the US Capital Building back when CGI’s greatest achievement was a wooden cowboy puppet attached to several strings.

The second video clip is a segment from a History Channel documentary that delves deeper into the sighting – even interviewing actual witnesses. It’s 10 minutes long – and a very worthwhile watch.

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Gloria Lee was a flight attendant turned alien contactee. In 1953 she began receiving mental transmissions from JW, an alien entity who lived on Jupiter. These transmissions, thought Lee, were for the good of humanity, and included things as strange as space station designs.

When the US government wouldn’t listen, though – she began to fast until it killed her.

Here is what Wikipedia has on Gloria Lee:

“Lee claimed to be in telepathic communication with an entity known as JW, who lived on the planet Jupiter, and began to assemble a book of his spiritual teachings as dictated to her. At his direction she founded the Cosmon Research Foundation for the purpose of publication and study of JW’s superhuman wisdom…Membership in Gloria Lee’s organization rose sharply after advertisements were regularly carried in Ray Palmer’s monthly occult magazine Fate. She also hit the contactee lecture circuit and attracted considerable public attention.”

The method in which she would receive her revelations was automatic writing. As far as specific messages the woman claimed to receive from her Jupiter-based master – we couldn’t find anything other than the hugely popular plea for world peace and plans for a space station (or a spaceship, depending on the source). The latter of those seems to have been less than specific blue prints, as we couldn’t find those either.

Granted we only did a quick Google search. We’re sure her two books Why We Are Here! & The Changing Conditions of Your World! are packed full of Jupitarian wisdom.

In 1962 Gloria Lee went to Washington in an attempt to get some government money to put towards her spaceship. Politicians were largely uninterested. To call attention to her ideas she began a fast in her hotel room. She told her followers she would eventually lapse into a coma-like state only to wake up supercharged and ready to roll. Washington was unaware of this. Her food-free protest lasted 66 days and then she died. She was 37.

To make matters even stranger Lee, who claimed telepathic communications in life, communicated to other would-be cult leaders in death. Allegedly. According to Answers.com:

“Immediately after her death, several contactees claimed to have talked to Gloria Lee in her new spiritual existence. Verity of the Heralds of the New Age (New Zealand) and Yolanda of Mark-Age both produced booklets of what they claimed were communications from Lee.”

Don’t feel bad for Lee. In her spiritual state she probably enjoys a nice country estate in the Jupiter country side. We’d take that over picketing DC any day.

Any time a new Bigfoot video rockets across the world’s desktops, it gets proven fake within a few days. Any time somebody claims conclusive ghost footage – we’re all generally left wondering if it’s just a rain smudge blurring the lens of an ATM security camera.

And UFO videos – well it used to be they all looked terrible and ridiculous. It’s usually a few seconds of something flying past the sky-pointed camera – and then nothing. Today’s video is nothing like that – one version of it goes on for 15 minutes and 54 seconds, and it is mind-blowingly astounding.

One thing we’ve always found interesting is how UFO pictures and reports have changed throughout the years to match whatever the decade’s particular view of the future was. You’ve got the original disc shape, the classic cigar, and most recently there’s been an abundance of lights flying in formation.

We’ve reported on these multiple times – and with video too. There was the sighting taped by a Mexican Airforce heat sensing camera, there was the time a whole bunch of pub people filmed lights in the sky on their cell phones over Shakespeare’s hometown, and there’s the case of Diana Blackburn & Jeannie Anderson.

Well we haven’t reported on that one yet – lucky for you we will today. This is almost 16 minutes of video shot by the two ladies as they drove down Highway 5 near Bakersfield, CA. Some of the video is Blackburn saying she can’t find it on camera, and some of it is her and her friend completely in shock as they film the thing, but we couldn’t really make out anything on screen.

But huge chunks of the footage, mind you, is of quickly flashing lights blinking around what appears to be a slowly flying triangle. It’s dark out, so without the flashing lights it’d be totally invisible, which seems pretty strange for anyone with advanced technology to over look. And the lights change shape too – as if the whole ship might be.

The video consists of footage from their car as they drive down the road. They audibly decide to stop the car on three occasions, if memory serves correct, to film the ship from outside their car. The result is crazy. It’s footage that makes you inch a little closer to the screen as your jaw drops a bit. It’s also footage that makes you stop wondering what it’d be like to see a UFO.

It’s also footage jam-packed with more F-bombs than you’ve probably heard all month. There have been online commentators we’ve seen who have suggested that the high repetition of the simply-formed girls’ sentences implies they are trying too hard to sell the thing. It sounds to us more like they are in complete shock.

There was an interview conducted with the two women. Off-hand we’re not sure who conducted it, but we believe it was a UFO investigator of sorts. You can see that right here.

Then there’s the debunkers – they’ve got a valid point. It seems Blackburn has a skydiving company. One theory is that all the lights are her friends falling in formation a few different times. Interesting.

Then something happens that picks you up, makes you happy again and fills you with a beaming smile that somehow manages to envelop your entire body, filling your whole physical presence with joy from head to toe.

Take, for example, when a UFO sighting was reported somewhere in Wales, and this police radio conversation was conducted:

Control: "Alpha Zulu 20, this object in the sky, did anyone have a look at it?"

Officer: "Yes, it's the Moon. Over."

hecklerspray loves you, Wales.

Original Story (BBC)

In 1947 many would tell you a UFO crashed in Roswell, New Mexico and ignited ET-mania across the globe. It was a major case in which hundreds of pieces of evidence – be they physical or otherwise – have been held up in an attempt to prove to the world that the crash really happened, and the government most definitely doesn't want you to know.

Well the United States isn't the only place where something like this happened. In Mexico, for instance, a civilian airplane is said to have collided with a UFO, sending both machines plummeting to the ground. A difference in this case though, is that according to a History Channel special on the event – all the Mexican military who were involved in retrieving and transporting the object died en-route.

Perhaps Wikipedia puts it best: 

"Coyame, Mexico is a small town not far from the US border. It's home to three thousand people and possibly the best-kept secret of all-time. In August of 1974, the USA military was tracking a mysterious object over Mexico; then suddenly it disappeared from radar near Coyame. At the same time a civilian plane headed in the opposite direction is reported missing. What follows next is the stuff Hollywood blockbusters are made of: a crash site, a spacecraft, dead bodies, a covert recovery mission, and a government cover-up."

The story goes that the US did see the UFO on radar, and they were monitoring Mexico's military transmissions to find out more. Once the ship was discovered by Mexico, radio silence was ordered and the US was left in the dark. America isn't fond of being kept out of the circle, so they sent in a handful of helicopters to get more information (and probably to steal what they could).

When the Americans got on the scene wearing their hazmat suits, they found all the Mexicans dead. The disc was choptered to the US, and the civilian plane, the Mexican military vehicles, and the bodies were all destroyed. No cause of death was determined.

From there the story dissolved into Mexican folklore. Nobody seriously investigated it until the nineties when there was an explosion of UFO sightings in the country – an explosion that continues to this day, if you recall.

Where the US allegedly took the saucer is unknown. What is known is that a lot of people claim to have evidence – even physical evidence – of the crash. So did it happen?

We have no idea. 

Read Watch More:

 [HST] UFO Files – Mexico's Roswell-2 – Youtube

We're not all like you – we don't all use Google Earth to try and find topless women sunbathing in their garden. Some people use it to find massive spooky weirdness in arctic wildernesses.

Watch this video – it's of something that's shown up in Greenland on Google Earth. Apparently there's a perfectly straight, brightly-glowing object that's 50 miles long slap-bang in the middle of Greenland. What could it be? A mysterious government-controlled alien laboratory? A crashed UFO? A trick of the light? That 50-mile glowing dildo that your mum lost the other week? We just don't know.

One thing's for sure, though – the people need to be told! Or the people need to be ignored because they'll probably forget all about by the time they go to bed. One way or the other.