I had an interesting conversation at work today with one of the vendors (and regular reader of the Realm) I see weekly about a UFO he witnessed on what he thinks was Monday (9-14-09) night in southeast Portland, Oregon.
He says around 9 PM that night he and multiple other eyewitnesses saw three (maybe more, didn't quite get all the details perfect since I was working) orange orbs heading west in the sky. One the orbs apparently turned white and zipped back towards the east, and then two helicopters (military?) appeared that seemed to be chasing after the two that were headed west.
After or during the helicopters someone directed his attention back to the east where the other orb that had turned white had gone. There he saw what he described as three white lights that looked as if they were a constellation, but they were moving slowly. Then the suddenly the lights zipped off at high speed in multiple directions if I remember what he told me correctly.
When the sighting was over he checked with a radio station to see if anyone had called in about it, but no one had. The next day he said he heard on the radio a report about weather balloons (we've all heard that excuse before) being over the city the night before, which totally does not fit with what he said he and others witnessed that night.
Now since I got home today I've been searching for (on MUFON, local news, etc...) UFO events in Oregon and Washington to see if I can find any other reports of these same incident or further sightings of these craft in and around the estimated date. From my knowledge, there are multiple eyewitnesses and it happened in Portland which is the most populated city in Oregon. If anyone who reads this has further information on this incident or similar ones on or around Monday (9-14-09) in Oregon or Washington, please leave a comment or e-mail me at phoenixorb83@gmail.com. I would to get more information on this incident.
Finally, before I go I do want to say I've known the person who told me about this for a year or more now and know that he would be pulling my leg. Also I will post details on my search results either tonight or tomorrow and perhaps be able to find more information this sighting.
One last thing, here is a similar incident reported to MUFON from Portland: Solid white light followed by jet that occurred on the 15th.
Perhaps it is the same incident, just with one person having a date mixup? Or perhaps they came back that next evening?
Quick update 9-17-09 8:33pm: There seems to be a lot of UFO activity in both Oregon and Washington seeming to start in July. I'm going to get a list of sightings by date going and see what I can come up with.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Gilgamesh Flood Story Part 2: Similarities
There are many obvious similarities between the flood story in the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the story of Noah's flood. This of course brings up the question of whether one was inspired by the other, particularly the story of Noah being inspired by Gilgamesh, which is the older flood account.
So to start, let's look at some of the similarities:
1. God (Genesis) and the Anunnaki (Gilgamesh and related stories, i.e: Atra-hasis) decide man must be wiped out by a flood.
2. An individual (Noah and Utnapishtim) deemed worthy to live by God or one of the Anunnaki is given warning of the eminent deluge and ordered to build a boat to save their family and chosen animals.
3. Both Noah and Utnapishtim send out birds to see if the flooding is going away.
4. Each makes sacrifices to God or gods once settled on dry land.
Those are just the most similar connections, however here is a link that gives a bit more in depth similarity studies side by side.
As I said earlier, the question is, was one inspired by the other, and if so what does that mean. Clearly there are many who take the Bible literally and feel that the story of Gilgamesh just lends more truth to the story of Noah's Flood. And while it does indeed do that, it is really a double edged sword. The fact that the Gilgamesh account was recorded before the book of Genesis was written tends to lead many to the assumption that perhaps the story of Noah was inspired by that of Utnapishtim. Unfortunately there is no proof either way, excepting a small bit of evidence that might prove the existence of a couple kings mentioned in the Gilgamesh epic which wouldn't do much to support the Noah believers.
Also if Noah's story was inspired by the tale of Utnapishtim in Gilgamesh, who is to say that perhaps that story wasn't inspired by an earlier tale as well? Most of our knowledge of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia is fragmented at best and much more is probably waiting to be found there. Who knows what the future holds.
Sources and further reading:
The flood story from the epic
Gilgamesh Flood Myth - Wikipedia
Is the Biblical Account of the Flood Modified from the Epic of Gilgamesh?
So to start, let's look at some of the similarities:
1. God (Genesis) and the Anunnaki (Gilgamesh and related stories, i.e: Atra-hasis) decide man must be wiped out by a flood.
2. An individual (Noah and Utnapishtim) deemed worthy to live by God or one of the Anunnaki is given warning of the eminent deluge and ordered to build a boat to save their family and chosen animals.
3. Both Noah and Utnapishtim send out birds to see if the flooding is going away.
4. Each makes sacrifices to God or gods once settled on dry land.
Those are just the most similar connections, however here is a link that gives a bit more in depth similarity studies side by side.
As I said earlier, the question is, was one inspired by the other, and if so what does that mean. Clearly there are many who take the Bible literally and feel that the story of Gilgamesh just lends more truth to the story of Noah's Flood. And while it does indeed do that, it is really a double edged sword. The fact that the Gilgamesh account was recorded before the book of Genesis was written tends to lead many to the assumption that perhaps the story of Noah was inspired by that of Utnapishtim. Unfortunately there is no proof either way, excepting a small bit of evidence that might prove the existence of a couple kings mentioned in the Gilgamesh epic which wouldn't do much to support the Noah believers.
Also if Noah's story was inspired by the tale of Utnapishtim in Gilgamesh, who is to say that perhaps that story wasn't inspired by an earlier tale as well? Most of our knowledge of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia is fragmented at best and much more is probably waiting to be found there. Who knows what the future holds.
Sources and further reading:
The flood story from the epic
Gilgamesh Flood Myth - Wikipedia
Is the Biblical Account of the Flood Modified from the Epic of Gilgamesh?
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Was there a giant cephalopod in Devil's Lake?
I've always wondered why Devil's Lake in Lincoln City, Oregon was called Devil's Lake and now thanks to the book Spooky Oregon by Se Schlosser I now know. It would seem that in the lake there may have been, at least according to Native American legend, a tentacled monstrosity. To verify this legend, I did a search and sure enough it's a real one, and seems to share similarities with tale about a Devil's Lake in Wisconsin.
The short story as for as the Oregon one goes is that the Siletz Indian tribe centuries ago used to really like of the area of Devil's Lake. Then one night when a group of warriors was dispatched across the lake, massive tentacles burst forth from the waters destroying the canoes. The warriors where then flung around, beaten against the water and debris, and died from drowning or injury. From then on the lake was called Devil's Lake.
The lake itself was formed around 14,000 BC, but remains connected to the ocean via a 120ft river. At it's deepest goes down about 22ft. The lake's salinity I'd assume is freshwater since it has fresh water fish living there. However given that there is such a short river (shortest in the world apparently) connecting the ocean to the lake, I'm not sure. Perhaps it's somewhere between fresh and brackish...who knows. Anyways cephalopods (squids, octopi, and nautiluses) are not supposed to be able to survive in freshwater (excepting a species of squid that is able to survive in brackish water) and yet those are the only things with tentacles that I think would match the description of the offending monster. Reports have circulated around the world however of chance encounters with cephalopods that appear to be living in freshwater, some apparently have even attacked people.
Assuming that by some chance the legend indeed tells of an encounter with some unidentified cephalopod what type could it be? I think the giant and colossal squids are dead in the water in this case (no pun intended) due to the lake's depth being to shallow for creatures of their size. Perhaps it was some other semi-largish squid, yet I don't feel a squid could attack the way the one in the story given their body shape in general. That leaves us with the octopus (because nautiluses are totally out of the question since they don't get really large at all) which I think could attack in such a manner much easier then a squid.
Now the Giant Pacific Octopus is the largest known octopus and actually lives here in the Pacific Northwest. It can survive in a variety of depths, but does not the reach a size in which it can trash canoes, excepting of course it wound up in one. So maybe it was an unknown octopus of large size capable of surviving in semi-fresh water despite the fact cephalopods generally can't. Or perhaps the more likely scenario is that it was an fluke accident that the octopus grew to such large size to begin with, with conditions in Devil's Lake being just right for it to thrive in spite of what we know about cephalopods. Either way, it's all fun conjecture until all this talk about tentacled beasties gets someone eaten by a Cthulhu spawn.
Modified from a picture originally taken by someone from NOAA.
Sources and Further Reading:
History & Legend
Welcome to Lincoln City, Oregon
Also be sure to check the links throughout the post, especially the book I mention in the beginning!
The short story as for as the Oregon one goes is that the Siletz Indian tribe centuries ago used to really like of the area of Devil's Lake. Then one night when a group of warriors was dispatched across the lake, massive tentacles burst forth from the waters destroying the canoes. The warriors where then flung around, beaten against the water and debris, and died from drowning or injury. From then on the lake was called Devil's Lake.
The lake itself was formed around 14,000 BC, but remains connected to the ocean via a 120ft river. At it's deepest goes down about 22ft. The lake's salinity I'd assume is freshwater since it has fresh water fish living there. However given that there is such a short river (shortest in the world apparently) connecting the ocean to the lake, I'm not sure. Perhaps it's somewhere between fresh and brackish...who knows. Anyways cephalopods (squids, octopi, and nautiluses) are not supposed to be able to survive in freshwater (excepting a species of squid that is able to survive in brackish water) and yet those are the only things with tentacles that I think would match the description of the offending monster. Reports have circulated around the world however of chance encounters with cephalopods that appear to be living in freshwater, some apparently have even attacked people.
Assuming that by some chance the legend indeed tells of an encounter with some unidentified cephalopod what type could it be? I think the giant and colossal squids are dead in the water in this case (no pun intended) due to the lake's depth being to shallow for creatures of their size. Perhaps it was some other semi-largish squid, yet I don't feel a squid could attack the way the one in the story given their body shape in general. That leaves us with the octopus (because nautiluses are totally out of the question since they don't get really large at all) which I think could attack in such a manner much easier then a squid.
Now the Giant Pacific Octopus is the largest known octopus and actually lives here in the Pacific Northwest. It can survive in a variety of depths, but does not the reach a size in which it can trash canoes, excepting of course it wound up in one. So maybe it was an unknown octopus of large size capable of surviving in semi-fresh water despite the fact cephalopods generally can't. Or perhaps the more likely scenario is that it was an fluke accident that the octopus grew to such large size to begin with, with conditions in Devil's Lake being just right for it to thrive in spite of what we know about cephalopods. Either way, it's all fun conjecture until all this talk about tentacled beasties gets someone eaten by a Cthulhu spawn.
Modified from a picture originally taken by someone from NOAA.
Sources and Further Reading:
History & Legend
Welcome to Lincoln City, Oregon
Also be sure to check the links throughout the post, especially the book I mention in the beginning!
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