Friday, July 19, 2013

Hidden Approaches - Space

Okay maybe I am really reaching here…maybe I am just thinking out loud but…I am starting to think about a pattern..or at least noticing maybe a pattern…or combination of events leading to some rather large conclusions on my part. But in engineering school they teach you a lot about the black box. You may not know what goes on inside the black box but you can know what the results are of things going into the black box and things coming out of the black box so you can draw a few conclusions that are really truly simply theories but they better help one understand what the black box does….or is.

For example, there was an explosion on Jupiter as picked up by amateur astronomers. Oh and for the record I am not sure how “amateur” they are given what they observed and knew enough about it to realize it was something to share. Tariq Malik at Space.com published an article in September of last year (2012). In it he published the following picture:

(This image should be tagged by anyone wanting to use it and linked back to Space.com and given credit to George Hall/George’s Astrophotography).

That photo was taken by Astronomer George Hall (way to go man!!) of Dallas, Texas (I loved Texas by the way!!). It is a picture from a video he was taking of Jupiter on 10 Sept 2012. What I find interesting is that another Astronomer from the UK (the country, they are not referencing one of my favorite colleges) J ,  Pete Lawrence produced the following graphic of Jupiter to show the area of the Jupiter impact from 12 Sept 12. But for some reason (I am sure Professional Astronomers all over the planet know why but not me) inverted the planet graphics. This is an interesting point that will be brought up later in my discussion here. Anyhow this picture is also from Space.com and credit goes to (Pete Lawrence/DigitalSky.org UK).

(Pete Lawrence/DigitalSky.org UK from Space.com)

They go on further in the article from Space.com that the fireball on Jupiter was so large and bright that amateur astronomers all over the planet (Earth not Jupiter - J ) spotted the flash. It seems Dan Peterson of Racine Wisc was the first to report it. This as reported by Spaceweather.com. They say that Peterson said the flash lasted about 1.5 to 2 seconds. When you think of flashes of light, explosions, etc, 2 seconds seems like a long time. I am not saying this to say I don’t believe the duration, as to simply make an observation that this seems like a long time and maybe something is going on with it. He goes on to say that his best guess is that it was simply an undetected comet….one that left an impact that large on a planet that size. But no one seen it…before now. He goes on to compare the impact with the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts which left marks in the Jovian clouds. However, this one didn’t appear to do so. At least from what I have read so far.

What is cool too in this whole story line is that George hall didn’t even realized he had recorded it until he read Peterson’s report. Imagine his surprise and delight when he saw what he had recorded! But back to the black box and how this is linked to that thought process. The article goes on to say that there three previous objects reported striking Jupiter since July 2009. The first one was reported only from the leftover, a bruise on the surface the size of the Pacific Ocean (that is HUGE!!). But no one saw it hit. The other two happened in 2010, the first of which was almost a year later after the one in 2009. It was reported in June 2010 (this comes up again later).
Take a close look at this video…

http://www.space.com/17535-latest-explosion-on-jupiter-captured-by-amateur-astronomer-video.html

Or…maybe it is a ship that went into Jupiter’s environment…and the video feed only caught the point of entry because of optics and video quality….or is it simply CGI?? We know that it wasn’t CGI based on the involvement of the person taking the video in their field. This is because to generate a CGI that couldn’t be confirmed by other sources could be devastating to someone of this character if someone found out or could prove it, so let‘s safely assume that it can not be CGI. So…can it be a space craft using Jupiter as some type of energy dampening in order to slow something down? With one being in 2010, and another in 2011, roughly a year later, could those have been test probes? Could the ones in 2010 been the first of probes and the ones in 2011 be the ships? I know, I am thinking, anyone reading this is thinking…QUACK!! But bear with me and let’s have some fun with this. J

Look at 2010 explosion on Jupiter…take a close look at the explosion in both videos when comparing the two…could this really be a copy paste CGI?? Or is the same object shapes hitting Jupiter causing very similar explosion patterns??

Photo from 2010 Video from
www.space.com



Photo from 2012 Video



And when we rotate the picture (as did the Astronomer from UK for some reason)…the explosion doesn’t match up…but notice..





The similarities…the spray may not show up in the other photos dues to optics…could the 2012 explosion be a second ship…or could this newer one be CGI using the 2010 video as a reference?? Again, I think we can safely remove the CGI aspect because of the previous argument against such. But could something striking Jupiter at different times and different objects produce such similar characteristics?

I believe both are amazing and it is even more amazing that someone did this with a telescope you can put in your own backyard. I love the kinds of telescopes they used. I remember one of our neighbors had one when I was very little. It look like it was 3 feet across. LOL But I never got the chance to look through it. So we have our own telescope now. Not as big at the one used here…I am going to have to look into getting a bigger one! lol.

But again back to the black box. What if something was using Jupiter like a ballistics’ jell type of deceleration, only they are using the atmosphere in slowing down a spacecraft? I was really hoping to run some numbers using some theories behind atmospheric entry dynamics but in seeing the asteroid comments at that time it made me realize that I really should post something up before the 15th of December when a very large near orbital passed by the earth, which I did at the time. So bare with me as I continue. I may add something later regarding theory behind planet braking. But for now I want to continue to a photo I saw.



Notice how this looks like a spaceship. Notice too the date, January 2010. It looks like something with a specific balanced shape passing through something at high speed. It almost looks as if it is drifting back…waiting for something.

Check out NASA’s video of the object:

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2010/34/video/c/

According to NASA there were no more images of the object…after May 2010.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2010/34/fastfacts/

An object is seen hitting Jupiter in June…2010.

Now fast forward all of this to December 2012 and asteroid 4179 Toutatis that was following us, figuratively along in space. According to Mike Wall’s article published 11 December 2012 on Space.com the asteroid is 3 miles wide and it “buzzed” the planet Earth over a period of a few days. It’s closest approach was Wednesday morning, 12-Dec-2012, strange numerical sequence too, coincidence? J It was within 5 million miles of the Earth at that time. According to Space.com Slooh Space Camera and Virtual Telescope Project was to be showing free video of it starting at 3 PM EST yesterday, but when I went to the link it crashed on me. And when I got to the Italian telescope it gave an error as well. Neither event great things to see when you are typing at midnight and developing a scary little black box about alien space craft when they are suppose to be approaching.

But back to the fun stuff. J And in case you don’t believe I actually got those errors…check out my screen shot…not photoshopped.



But again back to the black box before an alien taps on my window saying, “take me to your leader”. J And for the article check out:

Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/12/11/huge-asteroid-to-pass-earth-tonight/#ixzz2EmG2JXtH

But back again to the black box. Here is an interesting video provided by Space.com.

http://www.space.com/18828-3-mile-long-asteroid-to-fly-by-earth-see-the-orbit.html

Notice specific locations at certain dates:

06 DEC 12 Toutatis is coming closer:



(Credit goes to Space.com and from NASA.)

11 Dec 12 Toutatis is where we can see a little behind the asteroid along the path.



(Credit goes to Space.com and from NASA.)

12DEC12 Toutatis is coming toward us at the closest point..



(Credit goes to Space.com and from NASA.)

21 Dec 12 the day of significance in the Mayan Calendar…the Dooms day prediction day…We can see clearly now behind the asteroid along the path of the asteroid. Anything behind it will be in full view now.


(Credit goes to Space.com and from NASA.)

If something was riding behind to hide because they know we have the ability to observe space around us….this would be nearing the last window of opportunity to move toward Earth from the Asteroid’s “shadow”. A three mile wide asteroid could hide a lot of things behind it.

And some food for thought as the 21st of December 2012 approached, some interpreted the Mayan calendar events for that day as the end of the old and a beginning of the new. A date in which Earth will change and move into a new time, a new world. Maybe the Mayan’s predicted this all along….

Obviously nothing really came of this...that we know of (key mysterious science fiction music here).  :)  This was a fun little thought process experiment.  I am sure I should probably write a short story around it and I might just do that some day.  :)  There are lots of little objects that fly in similar paths toward and past the earth.  Any one of which could be that piggy back approach that is used to hide behind.  Maybe that is why we see so many rises in UFO sightings just after one of the larger ones comes close by.  Maybe too, like someone once said, when you have events in the sky like this, people tend to look up more.  Could they be looking for something and want so much to see it that they think they see something...or could it simply be more eyes are looking up and so we see more? :)

Just another note...I had published this posting under a different blog sometime back but have been slowly closing that site...it just didn't reach the need I intended.  Thanks to all my friends for reading my little blog.  :)  More to come....Oh and don't forget...20th of July...aniversary :)

As I have done with some of my other postings if you want to read more on the original article: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/09/12/explosion-on-jupiter-spotted-by-amateur-astronomers/#ixzz26GzsRQwy. Well, the original Fox News article.

And from what I gather He used this telescope according to the source:


http://www.opticsplanet.com/meade-lx200-gps-telescopes.html


http://www.bisque.com/help/theskyV6/Telescope/LX200_GPS.htm


http://www.opticsplanet.com/meade-12-lx200gps-telescopes.html

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Local Paranormal Investigator Jeff Yeckering Article

Here is another interesting article I stumbled across some time back. J This one was written by Laurel Wilson and was dated 17-October-2012. Some time before the other investigator that took the photo at Octagon Hall. (See my earlier posting about Octagon Hall).



Source (Photo by Alex Slitz)

The photo is of Jeff Yeckering a paranormal investigator by night and a law enforcement person during the day time. I wonder what type of law enforcement he does during the day time. His investigations would bring in a nice twist with his experience in law enforcement investigations of crime scenes and such, if that is his area of law enforcement especially. As I read the article I see where he is going to be featured on “My Ghost Story”. (http://www.biography.com/tv/my-ghost-story).  What is interesting is that from what I read in the article, it sounds like maybe the video interview by “My Ghost Story” was in June of 2012 and Jeff is waiting until after it is aired (I don’t see when that will be in the article. I may just try to look that up after this posting). J

The article does say that he owns the paranormal research organization called Open Doorz Paranormal Research. And no I don’t like the Z at the end of Door to make the Doors thing. Lol Having played World of Warcraft for many years and other gaming systems, you see that a lot.  I understand doing it if you really like the title or name, but..LOL..But I understand people have to be creative when making names for their businesses when someone else already has a name they wanted to use. J I like that he does public speaking. But I have not attended any of his public speakings. I like too that he speaks about the science behind the paranormal activity and investigation techniques. This part of the whole ghost hunting really intrigues me, oh and of course the whole thrill of actually looking for a ghost is of course too. J Makes me wonder about what it is that we don’t really understand about the whole paranormal world. But well, I could go into a whole discussion just on that and what I am wondering, but back to the article.

I can see his point in how wild movies can get with paranormal activities.  The moive Poltergiest, which I really liked back in the day, comes to mind. It kind of makes the mundane things seem not so real or exciting. I remember there was a scene in poltergeist where they are talking about, I think some minor investigation, where they filmed something moving over many hours. They were all excited about getting it on film. The lady of the house just smiled and well and walked to them to a bedroom behind a closed door, the rest is a part of film history. But really in the movie industry’s defense, how much of the general population would be willing to sit and watch something barely move or change or even subtle things that would make the hair stand up on the back of your neck if you were in the right location and at the right circumstances but not all that exciting if you are not there....like being all alone in the dark with one lone candle and the candle suddenly goes out on its own. J
I like what he says about recording devices. These wonderful little electronic gizmos that we carry around with us or have laying around in our cars or home have really made our lives different in so many ways. A great mind once said that the biggest change in modern times is the reverse function on videos. When you really think about it, it has some powerful meaning and resulted in big changes in our lives. We can now rewind to see if we really saw something flash across in front of us or that shadow move. Now too they are bringing in more and more devices to pick up paranormal activities. Yes, there is a part of me that wonders which of those devices is really picking up something else going on and which is a modern version of snake oils and how much of it is science that we just don’t understand yet. Too, they make me wonder what else we will develop over time to help people to look for the paranormal. So yes, I agree with him on the wonders of modern technology.

But I don’t agree with him on wanting to find out the circumstances of the spirits of a site he is investigating. I do understand what I think he is trying to do in not wanting to prejudge what he sees. I mean if someone tells you it was a woman that died here, they may not know it was actually a man and when you see something you may still be looking for a woman and discount what you saw, etc. But I think it would be important to the investigation to at least find out after the investigation was complete, or at least for the amount of time that one has to do an investigation. I think it would help with identifying or putting together the pieces of the puzzle after the fact. For example a dog barking in the background may not be a big thing, but if you later find out that the spirit had a dog that never left her side then you have a whole new possible picture of what you observed. It might just help link other parts of the investigation as well.

I do like what he said about “most of the time they just want you to know they are there”. That is an interesting statement.

Oh, and too later in the article I do see where the episode with him in it was to be broadcast on Biography Channel’s show “My Ghost Story Caught on Camera” and on November of 2012. I have to admit I have never watched the show or even knew it existed. But I may just tune in to see how it goes sometime.

Oh and I am linking Jeff's website here: www.opendoorzparanormalresearch.webs.com. I have not gone there yet myself, but I might just post up something when I do. 

Source of the article I read: http://www.bgdailynews.com/news/local/paranormal-investigator-offers-insight-into-work/article_b62d1942-1874-11e2-ad0a-0019bb2963f4.html

 

Monday, July 8, 2013

Octagon Hall

Was reading through newspaper articles last year and stumbled across this…



I was intrigued with the article headline of “Ghost hunter finds ‘holy grail’ image at Octagon Hall”. That has just ‘gotta’ get your attention if you are into ghosts and such things, which of course I am. J But my first impression of the photo makes me wonder about the ghost images. There appears to be a mysterious flash of light in the photo over what looks like a dresser. It is hard to tell what is on top of the dresser as well. Could these objects be hiding a projector that is projecting the image onto a flat plastic sheet that is between the camera and the projector? The red cast of the image would make this even more difficult to determine images. I am not saying that these people intentionally faked this photo, but saying it is a possibility.

Then too, there appears to be two people (hopefully not ghosts as well) sitting in the room. One in a wheel chair and the other it appears at a table of some sort. The one in the wheel chair appears to have some type of device with a light on the end of it. It appears to be pointing in the direction of the projector/brighter light source area. Could he be using a laser type device that is hitting a shiny surface and then reflecting back at the camera person?

Apparently about once per month they lead investigations into the Octagon Hall in Franklin, Kentucky.  I would like to go on one of those sometime.  :) The statement in the article seems to imply that those previous trips were fruitless. This would also be an indicator that there is some desire, after all that effort of monthly trips, to have some results. If they were pressured in some way from outside sources, this would make this push for results even more compelling. Also based on the article he does have experience in investigating ghosts given that he (Keith Fournier) has been doing it for 10 years (or more). He even has his own team called Night Stalkers Paranormal Research. I have to admit at this point that I do have an indirect tie to this group through a mutual friend that said I would find them and their website really interesting. They meant interesting in a way that I would have a lot in common with them on a love of these things. I also admit I have not gone to their website yet, but hope to do so soon. Especially after posting this. Lol Who knows, we might become great friends.

Anyhow, back to the article and the photo. I would love it if this was a real photo of a real ghost..er…ghosts. Another thing came to mind too with regard to the photo, and this one may be really reaching on my part, but given the quality of the image, could the image be a double take of the person in the wheel chair? I would want to overlay the ghost images with the person in the chair, and I think that would remove or give evidence to this possibility.

Yes, I am typed this as I read the article and came across the part where he talks about the basic technique of asking a ghost to turn on a flash light. (Which, by the way, I think is really cool. Just think of what would be required to make the flashlight come on for the ghost’s part as well as the mechanisms of the flashlight). But here is where he says the flashlight light was red in color…why? Is this to keep from messing up infrared or night vision? Or was it really just a red flashlight with normal color lens? Too, he talks about exposure, about long exposure in particular…was the camera mounted or handheld? If handheld, this really points back to the possibility of an exposure image set over the photo in a different place depending on light levels and exposure times and what surfaces had the most light, etc. Seems that Tim Broekema, associate professor of photojournalism at Western Kentucky University was talking about this, in this same article, as well as a possibility, and yes he is right about just simply Photoshop editing the image. Just because it CAN be done, doesn’t mean that is how it was done, which is a point that the professor and I appear to agree on.

Also in the article is an interesting twist to the events leading up to the photo. Barry Gaunt of Bowling Green, co-founder of The Anomalies Research Center, had been going with them on these trips but from the implication in the article was that he was not with them when this photo was taken.


I may have to do a little reading on Barry Gaunt and his group as well. Maybe he has a different take on such investigations or a different style of doing so. I guess what I am really tip-toeing around is that Barry Gaunt, a separate organization than the one who took the photo, was not present “by chance or by coincidence” on the night of the photo. I am not saying that Barry chose to not be there that night nor want to imply that if the photo turns out to be a hoax that he had anything to do with it. I might be leaning to the opposite direction in that he is completely oblivious to any such thing. His praise and comments sound more like someone who really is supportive of the group that did the photo. Maybe even wished he was there that night after 35 years of investigations. We really don’t know from article.

What is really cool about the location, which might help with the argument in favor of the photo being real, is the sheer number of ghost hunting teams (over 100) that have gone to the location, according to the Keith. (Another thing I will have to check into after this posting). He further adds that it has a long history of hauntings and is one of the top five most haunted locations in the country. He further adds that there is a lot of activity (paranormal kind) at this location from moving objects to sounds. I think I will look to see if the Ghost Hunters series TAP team has investigated the location (also after posting this). J Keith says that he believes the taller female is “Elizabeth Caldwell, wife of the original owner of Octagon Hall.” He adds that he believes the other woman might be the nanny, though he isn’t sure about it being the nanny. Honestly, this could be a family member that may have died there or near here or any number of people. Who is to say ghost can’t interact with each other? He said that she died in 1859 of an unknown illness. This of course opens up the possibility of a wrong doing, which according to some, can sometimes be the source of a haunting.

In all fairness I am also going to add the website tags for the two investigating groups:

Source: http://www.bgdailynews.com/news/local/ghost-hunter-finds-holy-grail-image-at-octagon-hall/article_f1c421ac-2441-11e2-a81a-001a4bcf887a.html

Keith’s group is at www.nightstalkersparanormal.com.

Barry’s group is at http://tarc.snappages.com/
And the Octagon Hall’s website is at
www.octagonhall.com.

 

 

 

 

Friday, July 5, 2013

Mysteries

One thing I want to talk about is those little mysteries out there around us or lurking out in space.  God knows we have that love of mysteries inside of us. That feeling that you get when you watch that science fiction movie and wonder what the alien will look like or when they will meet them. That same feeling you get when you walk near that graveyard and think you see something moving that doesn’t look like a person or does, but they seem out of place. That same feeling you get when someone tells you about something they saw or a picture and you wonder what it is.

I love the wonder of it all. To think that Loch Ness monster really might be in that big body of water. Or to walk through the forest alone and wonder if big foot is really there with me, maybe just out of sight. To walk outside at night when the power is off and wonder what else is walking around out there in the storm that may have knocked out the power. Yes, that happened to me when I was very young. I remember the power going out at our home.  Of course our only flashlight, for whatever reason, was out in the car and my mom wanted me, being the oldest child, to go get it while she kept the little ones calm. I took it head on and went straight out the door of our house. The car was only 60 feet or so from the house.  Always seemed so close in the daylight or with the front porch light on, but now it was dark..not just a little dark, but the kind of dark where you can't see your own hands or body for that matter.

I didn’t realize just how far 60 feet was when it is pitch black outside except for an occasional lightening flash. Fortunately, there wasn’t much rain and it really was just a sort of electrical storm with none of it really hitting the ground. Each flash of lightening I would orientate myself to where the car was and run for it. I made it to the car. Opened the door and the whole world lit up with the interior light. I jumped into the car, shutting the door. The car interior lights were still on so I pulled out the flash light. Turned it on, opened the door and shut it behind me as I made a made dash for the house. That whole time wondering if there was something in the dark watching me run for the house. Something that had seen the car door open from some distance and was now watching me dash for the house.

When I was safe inside I handed mom the flashlight..she was already lighting candles…but for me I loved the rush I got and spend many nights looking outside at night wondering what else could have been out there with me that night.

Brief about Transylvania Colony Blog :)

Okay., trying this again with a different title to the postings.  Lol  I was thinking, why not post up just things I see or think about in general and not lock it down to just one area.  So whether you agree with what I am posting or not, at least there will be more variety.  J
What I want to do is talk about the area generally around me.  Cool things going on here and sometimes maybe not so cool things.  LOL Too, I have a great deal of interest in certain areas, like movies, books, cryptozoology (not to be confused with crypto-linguist, which I was at one time), Space Exploration, science, local foods, travel, etc.  So if you like what you read here, maybe you will also like future posting as well.  Comments too are welcome and helpful hints as to other things out there going on wouldn’t hurt either.  Too besides the traffic meter it lets me know who all is reading it and what they are thinking.  J
So why tile the postings “Transylvania Colony”?  Well, I like the whole spooky thing behind Transylvania, the deep valleys where things could go on for centuries and no one would know about them. Spooky.. scary things…kind of like Appalachia area, only the mountains have eroded in time, but it still leaves hollows and such where no one but the people living there go…and maybe other things.   Speaking of Appalachia, I worked with people who lived in the area, and also worked in the area for many years.  Don’t believe the junk they put out about the area.  There are a lot of hard working people who live in beautiful homes nestled in the trees along the mountains in the area.  Too, many are a proud people who don’t really feel the need to bend a knee just because someone says they need to do so. 
But back to the reasons, part of it was that it could have been the 14th Colony.  That would have been really cool.  But it seems due to some misunderstandings about property rights and colonial territory it fell through.  This based on what I could figure out from my preliminary research.  I may delve into this more one day, but, anyhow; the colony would have stretched almost to Lexington and included a lot of Western Kentucky as well as a portion of Northern Tennessee.  So in looking at the map, it really covers the area I spend most of my time and will be mainly posting about, well, including Lexington area, just because I lived there for many years and love that City too.