That One Time Napoleon Was Attacked By Rabbits
From Nation, For Nation - Pulse of the Nation
Real-Life Haunted Objects: Terrifying Tales Behind Cursed Artifacts
A Pilgrim UFO Sighting Came Long Before Roswell
Or Not
In today’s world many misconceptions have been perpetuated-becoming modern day “facts”-when, in reality, myths and hearsay have taken over. Sorry to burst your bubble, but in this weekly column, Ripley’s puts those delusions to the test, turning your world upside down, because you can’t always…Believe It!
Today: Did Roswell start America’s fascination with UFO’s?
America’s First UFO Sighting?
Many Americans believe the first UFO sightings occurred in 1947 at Mount Rainier in Washington and then Roswell, New Mexico. These reports of flying saucers caused a sensation in American newspapers and have led to decades of speculation. But were these really the first UFO sightings in North America? According to the Puritans, the answer’s a firm no.
Strange Happenings in New England
The first recorded UFO sighting occurred in 1639 near present-day Boston and was recorded that same year by John Winthrop, the governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. His journal entry dated March 1st gives a detailed account of the strange events that set New England abuzz.
Winthrop’s story stands apart from his other, more conventional entries wherein he recorded the real-life successes and challenges facing the Puritans. But on March 1st, his writing described bizarre, otherworldly happenings.
From inexplicable lights to missing hours of time, the X-Files has nothing on this 17th-century tale of unidentified flying objects and even possible alien abduction. But instead of FBI agents, the “Men in Black” in this story wore the costumes of God-fearing Pilgrims.
“As swift as an arrow…”
Winthrop relates that James Everell, “a sober, discreet man” was rowing in a boat with two other men in the Muddy River, which emptied through a swamp into a tidal basin of the Charles River. All of a sudden, a great light came into view. According to the men, the light both hovered and then flew at high speed back and forth between their vessel and the village of Charlestown two miles away.
As Winthrop describes it, “When it stood still, it flamed up, and was about three yards square: when it ran, it contracted into the figure of a swine: it ran as swift as an arrow towards Charlton [sic], and so up and down about two or three hours.” Captivated by the sight, Everell and his companions watched the speeding light for hours. Yet, the strangest part of the story still awaited them…
According to Winthrop’s account, as the men watched the light event, “they were come down in their lighter (boat) about a mile” pushed by the tide. Yet, when the light vanished, the men realized their boat had returned to its original location. They had no memory of rowing against the tide or dropping anchor. They speculated that the light somehow transported them back to where they started.
The three men in the boat weren’t the only witnesses to the bizarre UFO event. According to Winthrop, “Divers other credible persons saw the same light, after, about the same place.”
1639: America’s First UFO Sighting
Theories abound about what the Puritans actually observed that night in 1639. The most common theory hypothesizes that the pale light in the sky was an “ignis fatuus.” This phenomenon appears over marshland at nighttime, the result of the combustion of gas from decomposed organic matter. If Winthrop’s account is accurate, though, the light shot back and forth across the sky rather than rose from the marsh below.
We may never know what Everell and his boat companions saw that night. But one thing’s for sure: the 1639 incident marks the oldest recorded UFO sighting in North American history. Some researchers also describe it as the first UFO abduction narrative from the New World. →
From Globe, For Globe - Pulse of the Planet
P.T. Barnum challenged naturalists and reporters to prove whether it was real.
Famous sideshow impresario P.T. Barnum was the man most directly responsible for the birth, and rise to fame, of the legendary Fiji mermaid.
The hoax became reality when, in 1842, Barnum manipulated the New York Herald and two other newspapers to publish exclusive articles about these elusive mermaids. The rest, well, is history.
P.T. Barnum’s Hoax
Barnum was able to make his Fiji mermaid a hit, stumping naturalists and everyday gawkers alike. For decades, people believed the creepy fish-like creature was, in fact, real.
Soon after Barnum’s original display, sideshows all over the world started “finding” similar mermaids. Research has suggested that the original was made as early as 1822 by Japanese sailors. The initial, almost 200-year-old oddity was supposedly lost in a fire. But a few places still claim to have the original “true” mermaid.
Barnum was no stranger to forging exhibits for his American Museum, an early attraction that boasted oddities from around the world. The showman would go on to claim a slave he bought had been the nanny of George Washington and even had his own fake giant created.
Robert Ripley Sets the Record Straight
Nearly 100 years later, Robert Ripley displayed the mermaid as a debunked hoax in his New York City Odditorium. The brainchild of P.T. Barnum, the Fiji mermaid, was nothing more than the torso of a monkey sewn to the back half of a large fish.
Today, Fiji mermaids can be found in Ripley’s Odditoriums all over the world. While a few are original sideshow pieces from traveling shows, some are remade by modern artists.
The specimen shown here is a modern replica made by Juan Cabana of Tampa, Florida. Some of Cabana’s mermaids have chicken feet hands, while others have alligator feet hands. However, they all have an understructure of carved styrofoam, with real fish skin stretched over the frame before being dried and painted.
See These Mythical Creatures
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