Moderators Astro Hollywood Posted August 31, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted August 31, 2013 (edited) Not to keep waffling on at great length, but Richie's stuff about the ocean made me think of one of my favourite mysteries; one of those ones that was all the rage for a brief period, and then you never really heard of it again -- Water Wheels.  Fort's Book of the Damned had a stack of reports about these, pre-dating UFOs by a full century, they are what they sound like -- huge wheels (or wheel-shaped objects), either solid, or made out of coloured light, rising out of the water to scare the fuck out of sailors, or silently gliding beneath the surface.  Here's a letter to Knowledge Magazine from 1883:  "SEEING so many meteorological phenomena in your excellent paper, Knowledge, I am tempted to ask for an explanation of the following, which I saw when on board the British India Company's steamer Patna while on a voyage up the Persian Gulf. In May, 1880, on a dark night, about 11:30 p. m., there suddenly appeared on each side of the ship an enormous luminous wheel whirling round, the spokes of which seemed to brush the ship along. The spokes would be 200 or 300 yards long, and resembled the birch rods of the dames' schools. Each wheel contained about sixteen spokes and, although the wheels must have been some 500 or 600 yards in diameter, the spokes could be distinctly seen all the way round. The phosphorescent gleam seemed to glide along flat on the surface of the sea, no light being visible in the air above the water. The appearance of the spokes could be almost exactly represented by standing in a boat and flashing a bull's-eye lantern horizontally along the surface of the water, round and round. I may mention that the phenomenon was also seen by Captain Avern, commander of the Patna, and Mr. Manning, third officer  Here's a report from 1907:  "...shafts which seemed to move round a center -- like the spokes of a wheel -- and appeared to be about 300 yards long." The phenomenon lasted about half an hour, during which time the ship had travelled six of seven miles. It stopped suddenly."  And 1910:  That, when Capt. Breyer, of the Dutch steamer Valentijn, was in the South China Sea, midnight, Aug. 12, 1910, he saw a rotation in flashes. "It looked like a horizontal wheel, turning rapidly." This time it is said that the appearance was above water. "The phenomenon was observed by the captain, the first and second mates, and the first engineer, and upon all of them it made a somewhat uncomfortable impression."  There's tons of those from that period, with one even being blamed for shattering the masts of a passing ship amid a strong sulfurous odour. There were a handful of reports in the 20th century, but Water Wheels, or whatever people thought they were seeing, seem to have vanished. Edited August 31, 2013 by Astro Hollywood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Up Chuck Posted September 1, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted September 1, 2013 I have nothing of value to contribute here, but I just wanna say this stuff is all great fun to read about. I wasn't into anything like this before this thread but the enthusiasm here has really hooked me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members CoreyVandal Posted September 1, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted September 1, 2013 The Water Wheels stuff sounds fascinating, mostly because it bares many of the hallmarks of an undiscovered natural phenomenon rather than a supernatural one, making it instantly more conceivable. It reminds me a lot of St. Elmo's Fire and the Naga Fireballs. It's pretty easy to imagine the atmospheric conditions for them to be so rare the chances of a scientist being able to confirm them become almost zero, unless they just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Also, when you think about how exact the conditions need to be for certain natural phenomena to occur it seems completely possible that global warming could render certain natural processes next to impossible today, which could account for the lack of recent reports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted September 1, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted September 1, 2013 The 'water wheels' phenomenon, much like the 'milky seas' one, is a real thing, attributed to bioluminescent plankton-type organisms in the waters being moved by electromagnetic energy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Up Chuck Posted September 1, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted September 1, 2013 So the electromagnetic energy moved them into a huge wheel formation, or something that looked like one? That's, like, the coolest scientific debunking ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members quote the raven Posted September 2, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted September 2, 2013 Finding bigfoot is back! Â I love the contrast between the hosts, 3 out of the 4 explain everything as a bigfoot and the last one debunks all of it. The did catch some weird howls but thats about it. Â By all accounts these animals are 8 feet tall and over 400lbs. I fail to see how they have not seen,killed, or run over one yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Not to keep waffling on at great length, Â Please do, it's what this thread if for, and it's all fascinating! What's the pterosaur thing? Â The water wheel sounds a bit like what Thor Heyderhal reported during the voyage of the Kon Tiki - huge bioluminescent creatures way down in the deep. Â Mind you, he spend most of the voyage drinking salt water, so he was off his head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Freebird Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Funny that just as the conversation in here has turned to the likes of the big cat sightings, a story like this would come out of Northern Ireland. Â I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Freebird Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 Some of you will already be familiar with this, most probably. But for those that aren't, I think it's pretty interesting. Basically, during a run of the mill broadcast of the news in 1977, the audio signal was hijacked by a voice, claiming to be that of some sort of alien, warning the earth to disarm its weapons and live together in peace. The signal intrusion lasted several minutes, and I don't think they ever caught the perpetrators. Â "Vrillion of The Ashtar Galactic Command Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WWFChilli Posted September 9, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted September 9, 2013 Some of you will already be familiar with this, most probably. But for those that aren't, I think it's pretty interesting. Basically, during a run of the mill broadcast of the news in 1977, the audio signal was hijacked by a voice, claiming to be that of some sort of alien, warning the earth to disarm its weapons and live together in peace. The signal intrusion lasted several minutes, and I don't think they ever caught the perpetrators. "Vrillion of The Ashtar Galactic Command Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted September 9, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted September 9, 2013 thanks for posting those, i love shit like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Freebird Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 (edited) I've read a few bits and pieces about that signal intrusion incident and seen the footage a few times, but hadn't seen those clips of the news reports before. I remember reading something about it where the transcript of exactly what was said by the Max Headroom character was picked apart and analyzed. Apparently, there were a few hints and cryptic clues in there that seemed to be aimed at the higher ups in the TV stations that were attacked, which maybe hinted that the perpetrators could have been disgruntled former employees. Still, amazing that they were never found and punished for a stunt of such bare faced cheek. Â I'm surprised no one has claimed responsibility for it with this amount of time having lapsed since it took place actually. Even by fakers craving the notoriety. You'd think they would have liked their motives more clearly understood too, unless they really did just do it for a laugh... Â Â Edit - Here's another pretty cool amateur video covering both the Vrillon and Edited September 9, 2013 by Richie Freebird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro_y Disco Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 What's this all about then? Â Uri Gellar claims a mischievous ghost put a 'mysterious' post box on his local bridge... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Up Chuck Posted September 10, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted September 10, 2013 Uri Geller taking any opportunity to scream for attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ShortOrderCook Posted September 10, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted September 10, 2013 Wasn't sure if this quite qualified or was interesting enough for this thread, but I personally think it seems pretty extraordinary and incredibly fascinating and absolutely beautiful and considering it apparently inhabits a whole load of new plants and species such as 'Flying Foxes' maybe it does. And the idea of undiscovered areas of the world fascinates me, as does undiscovered/new species which has been a popular discussion in here recently.   Worlds largest cave, discovered four years ago, over 5.5 miles long, could fit a 40 foot skyscraper within its walls and has a river and a jungle held within and soon you'll be able to visit it, provided you're prepared and willing to drop 80 metres on bungee rope to get in.  Son Doong in Vietnam      Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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