Kraken – the giant squid

Kraken ( kra’ ken, IPA: /ˈkrɑːkɛn/) are legendary sea monsters of gargantuan size, said to have dwelt off the coasts of Norway and Iceland. The sheer size and fearsome appearance attributed to the beasts have made them common ocean-dwelling monsters in various fictional works (see Kraken in popular culture). The legend may actually have originated from sightings of real giant squid that are estimated to grow to 13 metres (46 feet) in length, including the tentacles. These creatures normally live at great depths, but have been sighted at the surface and reportedly have “attacked” small ships.

Kraken is the definite article form of krake, a Scandinavian word designating an unhealthy animal, or something twisted.[1] In modern German, Krake (plural and declined singular: Kraken) means octopus, but can also refer to the legendary Kraken (Terrell, 1999).

Although the name kraken never appears in the Norse sagas, there are similar sea monsters, the hafgufa and lyngbakr, both described in Örvar-Odds saga and the Norwegian text from c. 1250, Konungs skuggsjá.[2] Carolus Linnaeus included kraken as cephalopods with the scientific name Microcosmus in the first edition of his Systema Naturae (1735), a taxonomic classification of living organisms, but excluded the animal in later editions. Kraken were also extensively described by Erik Pontoppidan, bishop of Bergen, in his “Natural History of Norway” (Copenhagen, 1752–3).

Early accounts, including Pontoppidan’s, describe the kraken as an animal “the size of a floating island” whose real danger for sailors was not the creature itself, but the whirlpool it created after quickly descending back into the ocean. However, Pontoppidan also described the destructive potential of the giant beast: “It is said that if it grabbed the largest warship, it could manage to pull it down to the bottom of the ocean” (Sjögren, 1980). Kraken were always distinct from sea serpents, also common in Scandinavian lore (Jörmungandr for instance). A representative early description is given by the Swede Jacob Wallenberg in his book Min son på galejan (“My son on the galley”) from 1781:

… Kraken, also called the Crab-fish, which [according to the pilots of Norway] is not that huge, for heads and tails counted, he is no larger than our Öland is wide [i.e. less than 16 km] … He stays at the sea floor, constantly surrounded by innumerable small fishes, who serve as his food and are fed by him in return: for his meal, if I remember correctly what E. Pontoppidan writes, lasts no longer than three months, and another three are then needed to digest it. His excrements nurture in the following an army of lesser fish, and for this reason, fishermen plumb after his resting place … Gradually, Kraken ascends to the surface, and when he is at ten to twelve fathoms, the boats had better move out of his vicinity, as he will shortly thereafter burst up, like a floating island, spurting water from his dreadful nostrils and making ring waves around him, which can reach many miles. Could one doubt that this is the Leviathan of Job?

According to Pontoppidan, Norwegian fishermen often took the risk of trying to fish over kraken, since the catch was so good. If a fisherman had an unusually good catch, they used to say to each other, “You must have fished on Kraken.” Pontoppidan also claimed that the monster was sometimes mistaken for an island, and that some maps that included islands that were only sometimes visible were actually indicating kraken. Pontoppidan also proposed that a young specimen of the monster once died and was washed ashore at Alstahaug (Bengt Sjögren, 1980).

Since the late 18th century, kraken have been depicted in a number of ways, primarily as large octopus-like creatures, and it has often been alleged that Pontoppidan’s kraken might have been based on sailors’ observations of the giant squid. In the earliest descriptions, however, the creatures were more crab- like than octopus-like, and generally possessed traits that are associated with large whales rather than with giant squid. Some traits of kraken resemble undersea volcanic activity occurring in the Iceland region, including bubbles of water; sudden, dangerous currents; and appearance of new islets.

In 1802, the French malacologist Pierre Dénys de Montfort recognized the existence of two kinds of giant octopus in Histoire Naturelle Générale et Particulière des Mollusques, an encyclopedic description of mollusks. Montfort claimed that the first type, the kraken octopus, had been described by Norwegian sailors and American whalers, as well as ancient writers such as Pliny the Elder. The much larger second type, the colossal octopus (depicted in the above image), was reported to have attacked a sailing vessel from Saint-Malo, off the coast of Angola.

Montfort later dared more sensational claims. He proposed that ten British warships that had mysteriously disappeared one night in 1782 must have been attacked and sunk by giant octopuses. Unfortunately for Montfort, the British knew what had happened to the ships, resulting in a disgraceful revelation for Montfort. Pierre Dénys de Montfort’s career never recovered and he died starving and poor in Paris around 1820 (Sjögren, 1980). In defence of Pierre Dénys de Montfort, it should be noted that many of his sources for the “kraken octopus” probably described the very real giant squid, proven to exist in 1857.

In 1830, possibly aware of Pierre Dénys de Montfort’s work, Alfred Tennyson published his popular poem “The Kraken” (essentially an irregular sonnet), which disseminated Kraken in English forever fixed with its superfluous the. The poem in its last three lines, also bears similarities to the legend of Leviathan, a sea monster, who shall rise to the surface at the end of days.

Tennyson’s description apparently influenced Jules Verne’s imagined lair of the famous giant squid in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea from 1870. Verne also makes numerous references to Kraken, and Bishop Pontoppidan in the novel.

Later developments of the Kraken image may be traced at Kraken in popular culture.

From ancient times, sailors have reported seeing a huge sea monster with many tentacles, called the kraken. Sailors knew about the octupus and squid, real ocean animals that had tentacles. However, the kraken was considered to be a different species because it was much, much bigger. Sometimes it was thought to be a giant octopus, sometimes it was thought to be a giant squid. Much of the time, it was simply a big sea monster called the kraken.

During the early part of the scientific era, the kraken was considered just as likely to exist as sea serpents. In other words, it was laughed at. Serious scientists steered clear of the kraken question, refusing to study it even when presented with beached kraken carcasses. Then there came a time when everything changed. Several kraken carcasses were beached within a short time of each other, and there was such an uproar that the reluctant scientists were forced to pay attention.

The kraken was declared a real species. It was named the giant squid. The giant squid remains one of the most elusive large animals in the world. For many years, scientists tried to observe the giant squid in its habitat, but failed. Many people claimed to have seen giant squids, but they were mostly fishermen and sailors, the same people who are not believed when they report sea serpents. Every live sighting was unconfirmed and in each case the witness was not a scientist. Scientists spent millions of dollars on expeditions, but could not obtain video footage of a live squid. Everything that was known about giant squids was based on dead bodies. All expeditions into deep water in search of the natural habitat of giant squids had proved fruitless. The giant squid still had much in common with mythical creatures and true cryptids, even though the scientific community no longer had any doubt that giant squids exist.

In September of 2004, that finally changed. Japanese scientists attracted a giant squid with a baited line, and automatic cameras took more than 500 photographs of the giant squid before it ripped itself free, leaving an 18-foot length of tentacle still attached to the bait.

There is still doubt about just how big giant squids get. Both eyewitness sightings and sucker scars on sperm whales seem to indicate that there are squids much bigger than any dead body we currently have. Most scientists refuse to believe that squids that huge could exist. Is there more than one species of giant squid out there, with one of them being really, really huge? Are the giant squids that have been netted near the surface or that have washed up on beaches the smaller ones?

Skepticism towards the idea of truly huge squids has weakened recently. Now, scientists think that the Antarctic species of squid called Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni actually grows much bigger than the giant squid. They don’t have proof of this yet, as the only complete specimens of Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni have been juveniles, but the size of these babies suggests that really big adults are out there. In recognition of this, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni has recently been given the common name of “colossal squid.”

Ogopogo – the other lake monster

There are a number of similarities between Lake Okanagan in British Columbia and Scotland’s Loch Ness. They are both long and narrow and lie at about the same latitude. And they are each famous for their resident monsters.

The best-known Canadian lake Monster, Ogopogo, actually made its media debut long before the Loch Ness Monster. In 1926, seven years before Nessie’s came to the public’s attention, Roy W. Brown, editor of the Vancouver Sun, wrote, ” Too many reputable people have seen [the monster] to ignore the seriousness of actual facts.” While there are serious questions about whether there are non-retroactive Nessie sightings before 1930, but there are archival records of Ogopogo’s existence going back to 1872 and sightings have been reported regularly up to the present.

The creature is most often described as being one to two feet in diameter with a length of 15 to 20 feet. The head has been described variously as being horse or goat-like. One oft-mentioned characteristic of the monster is its resemblance to a log.

Cryptozoologist Roy P. Mackal believes that there is a “small population of aquatic fish-eating animals residing in Lake Okanagan.” Mackal initially assumed that the type of animal in Lake Okanagan was the same creature that he believed is in Loch Ness, but after a careful examination of the available data, he determined that the creature must be a form of primitive whale, Basilosaurus cetoides. “The general appearance of Basilosaurus tallies almost exactly with the loglike descriptions of the [Ogopogos]. Mackal spells out a detailed case for Ogopogo being a primitive whale in his book Searching for Hidden Animals.

Monster Island

There are good size Indian reserves in the Okanagan Valley. The Indians believe that small, barren Rattlesnake Island is the home of the Okanagan Lake Monster. Indians called the Okanagan Lake Monster N’ha-a-tik, and there are pictographs that some feel depict the monster near the headwaters of Powers Creek. Other native references to the Okanagan Lake Monster include the Chinook wicked one and “great-beast-on-the-lake.” In addition to the Salish N’ha-a-tik (or Na-ha-ha-itk), snake-in-the-lake was sometimes used.

The early inhabitants of the area saw the monster as a malevolent entity. Indians claimed that Monster Island’s rocky beaches were sometimes covered with the parts of animals that they had attacked and ravaged. When crossing the lake during bad weather, the Indians always carried a small animal that they would toss overboard in the middle of the lake to appease the monster, according to material in the files of the Kelowna Archives.

Primrose Upton, in The History of Okanagan Mission, noted that no Indians would fish near Squally Point. When Europeans settled in the area, they too feared the aquatic monster and supposedly continued the custom of offering an animal to appease Ogopogo. According to Ogopogo expert Arlene Gaal, armed settlers patrolled the shoreline in case of attack by the monster.

In 1914 a group of Nicola Valley and Westbank Indians discovered the decomposing body of an unidentified creature across from Rattlesnake Island. Five-six feet long and estimated to weigh 400 pounds, it was blue-grey. It had a tail and flippers, and an amateur naturalist in the area felt that it was a manatee. No one knew how such a creature could have gotten into the lake, and Lake monster expert Peter Costello has hypothesized that the carcass was “actually an Ogopogo, as the details of this mammal with flippers and a broad tail and dark color are all that we would expect. But the carcass was mangled so much that the long neck was already gone.”

Ogopogo footprints have also been found. Some have been irregularly shaped, others cup-like, some were like dinosaur tracks with three toes, and still others had a pad foot and eight toes! As Dr. Mackal has written, “The trouble with footprints is that anyone can fake them easily. Further, to assume that they were made by Naitaka is pure conjecture and supposition–certainly possible but without even a circumstantial link” to the few cases of Ogopogo land sightings that have been reported.

Music for a Monster

The name Ogopogo might suggest to some that it is an Indian word, but all evidence points to a modern origin. According to Mary Moon, author of Ogopogo: the Okanagan Mystery (1977), in 1924 a local named Bill Brimblecomb sang a song parodying a popular British music-hall tune at a Rotary Club luncheon in Vernon, a city in the northern Okanagan Valley. H.F. Beattie adapted the lyrics, which included the following:

I’m looking for the Ogopogo,
His mother was a mutton,
His father was a whale.
I’m going to put a little bit of salt on his tail.

Robert Columbo, in his book Mysterious Canada, notes that the Pogo Stick was a popular craze since its introduction in 1921 and this may have contributed to the name.

According to Arlene Gaal, author of Ogopogo: The True Story of the Okanagan Lake Million Dollar Monster, a Vancouver Province reporter named Ronald Kenvyn later parodied a popular British ditty and composed a song that included the following stanza:

His mother was an earwig;
His father was a whale;
A little bit of head And hardly any tail-
And Ogopogo was his name.

Thanks to these songs, the name Ogopogo stuck and the Indian name has been forgotten by all but monster buffs.

A History of Strong Sightings

While Ogopogo has never attained the fame of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, the creature of lake Okanagan has regularly caused quite a stir in the international press. Monster hunters from all over the world have been drawn to the area for research purposes, and many of the sightings have been as strong or stronger than those at Loch Ness. Multiple witness sightings of Ogopogo, so rare with many other controversial phenomena, have occurred on many occasions.

On September 16, 1926, Ogopogo was watched by some 30 cars of people along an Okanagan Mission beach. Not many monsters have been seen at one time by so many people. The Ogopogo sightings of 1925/26 deserve some in-depth study.

Consider the appearance of Ogopogo on July 2, 1947, when a number of boaters saw the monster simultaneously. One of the witnesses, a Mr. Kray, described the animal as having “a long sinuous body, 30 feet in length, consisting of about five undulations, apparently separated from each other by about a two-foot space, in which that part of the undulations would have been underwater…There appeared to be a forked tail, of which only one-half came above the water. From time to time the whole thing submerged and came up again.”

On July 17, 1959, Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Miller and Mr. and Mrs. Pat Marten saw a tremendous creature with a snake-like head and a blunt nose swimming some 250 feet behind their motor boat on British Columbia’s Okanagan Lake. The group watched the unknown animal for over three minutes, after which it submerged.

Recent Interest

More recently, in the summer of 1989, hunting guide Ernie Giroux and his wife were standing on the banks of Okanagan Lake when a bizarre animal emerged from the otherwise placid waters. “It was about 15 feet long and swam real gracefully and fast,” Giroux told the press. The Girouxs claim to have see an animal with a round head “like a football;” at one point several feet of the creature’s neck and body came up out of the water. The Girouxs saw the monster at the same spot where, in July 1989, British Columbian car salesman Ken Chaplin took a video of a what he described as a snake-like creature about 15 feet long and dark green in color. This columnist has viewed the Chaplin video and feels that it was probably a beaver.

“I’ve seen a lot of animals swimming in the wild and what we saw that night was definitely not a beaver,” Ernie Giroux states emphatically.

Giroux is in good company. There have over 200 sightings by credible people including a priest, a sea captain, a surgeon, police officers, and so forth. The fact that the percipients are generally people of good repute is often mentioned in reports of sightings. Photos of Ogopogo are numerous and include the 1964 Parmenter photo; the 1976 Fletcher photo; the 1978, 1979 and 1981 Gaal photos, the 1981 Wachlin photo, the 1984 Svensson photograph.

There have now been half a dozen films and videos taken of an animate object in Lake Okanagan, but none of them are conclusive.

What would solve the Ogopogo enigma? Only the discovery of an actual beast or the carcass of one would admit these creatures into mainstream science. If Ogopogo exists, it is clearly an elusive creature. Ogopogo hunters have failed to come up with that piece of unimpeachable evidence that will prove to the world that the aquatic monster exists. Until that evidence is found, Canada’s premiere lake monster will remain a classic mystery.

Nessie – the Loch Ness mystery

Since the Loch Ness monster story has been around for more than 1500 years, if there is a monster it is not likely that it is the same monster seen by St. Columba. Or, are we to believe that not only is Nessie very big, she is very old as well, a veritable Methuselah among beasts? In short, there must be more than one monster. I’ll leave it to the zoologists to calculate how many monsters are necessary to maintain the species over the years. One report I read claimed that a minimum population of ten creatures would be needed to sustain the population. The same report claims that Loch Ness is incapable of sustaining a predator weighing more than about 300 kg (about 660 pounds) [The Naturalist, winter 1993/94, reported in The Daily Telegraph]. Adrian Shine once said the monster could be a Baltic sturgeon, a primitive fish with a snout and spines (actually ridges of horn-like skin) which can grow up to nine feet long and weigh in at around 450 pounds (actually they can grow much longer and weigh much more than 450 lbs.). This may sound like just another fish story to some, but there is scientific evidence that Nessie is, at best, a big fish in a big lake, or a big wake in a big lake. Shine, who has been studying the Loch Ness story for some twenty-five years, now thinks that what people see when they think they see the “monster” is actually an underwater wave. A similar view has been presented by Luigi Piccardi, an Italian geologist “who is convinced that seismic rumblings far below the famous Scottish lake cause the roiling waves, deep groans and explosive blasts that have for centuries led people to believe that a giant beast lurks below the loch’s murky surface (“Mystery unlocked? A scientist says he’s solved a monster controversy — the ‘beast’ in Loch Ness is merely an illusion created by earthquakes,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 27, 2001 by Chuck Squatriglia).”

The Naturalist reported on extensive studies of the lake’s ecology that indicate that the lake is capable of supporting no more than 30 metric tons of fish. (The food chain of the lake is driven by bacteria, which break down vegetation, rather than algae like most lakes.) Estimating that a group of predators would weigh no more than 10 percent of the total weight of the fish available for them to consume, researchers arrived at the 300-kg (660-lb.) statistic. It strikes me as extremely odd that with all the sophisticated technology, the submarines, and the thousands of voyeurs that after all these years we still don’t have a single specimen. We don’t have a carcass; we don’t even have a bone to examine. With at least ten of these huge monsters swimming around in the lake at any given time, you’d think that there would be at least one unambiguous sighting by now. You would think so, that is, unless you want to keep the hoax/myth/legend alive. I can’t deny that there are good economic reasons for keeping the Loch Ness monster myth alive. It’s good for tourism. And there are all those “scientific” investigations to be paid for with government funds and private donations: full employment for cryptozoologists. Then, of course, there is all that film sold to photographers in search of The Big One. But tourism grew out of the myth, not the other way around. This story would be told with or without multi-media centers and gift shops full of Nessie mementos.

Besides the photo which Mr. Boyd and others have exposed as a fake, there are many other photos of Nessie to consider. Not all photos of Nessie are fakes. Some are genuine photos of the lake. These photos are always very gray and grainy, taken of murky waters with lots of shadows and outlines. There is no question that in some of these there does appear to be a form which could be taken for a sea serpent. The form could also be taken for a log, a shadow on a wave, a wave itself, driftwood, or flotsam. Anyone who has traveled around Loch Ness will not be disappointed in the variety of forms which one will see when looking out upon the waters. The lake is very long, and on the day I was there it was very turbulent, even though the day was a rather pleasant one as far as Scottish summer days go. Obviously, since I was there for only one day, I had not come to Loch Ness to do any serious research into the monster. I’ll confess that I didn’t even bother to stop in Drumnadrochit to take in the Loch Ness Monster Exhibit, which, according to Fodor’s guide book to Scotland, “presents the facts and the fakes.”

I was on vacation, traveling with my wife, daughter, future son-in-law, and a dear friend. We headed down the B862, which affords intermittent views of the lake from the east side. It was a pleasant drive among moors and conifer spikes, but nothing spectacular in a land of glorious spectacles. The drive northward on the west bank along the A82 takes you right along the lake in many places and past the famous Urquhart castle, a “favorite monster-watching spot” (Fodor’s).

Urquhart is on the tourist bus trail and gets more than its share of visitors. I had wanted to stop there and take advantage of its excellent location for monster watching but I couldn’t get into the parking lot. I drove north past the castle, looking for a place to turn around, and after many miles finally found one. I drove south, past the castle again, as the parking lot guard waved me on by the castle: the lot was still full. I drove for miles looking for a place to turn around again, finally found one, and made a third pass with the same result. Was it a sign from Nessie? We had to do most of our viewing of Loch Ness from the road. While we didn’t see any monsters that day, I still have a vivid memory of one of Scotland’s longest (24 miles) and deepest lakes (750, 800, or 900 ft. in places, depending on which source you pick). I have no doubt that anyone who stared across those murky, wavy, shadowy waters would see many things that could be Nessie. I don’t doubt that many, if not most, of the thousands of witnesses who testify to having seen Nessie are honest, decent folk who have interpreted their perceptions according to their wishes. They have come to the lakeside and they have been blessed with a visitation! They are truly special and their lives are now marked forever as unique. Best of all: they have a story to tell for the rest of their lives. In many ways they are like the young lady who declared that the highlight of her life was when she saw music icon Michael Jackson being whisked through a department store: “it was like seeing a UFO,” she declared! I’ll bet she’ll be telling the story of her Michael Jackson sighting for years to come. Who knows to what epic proportions the young lady’s tale might grow? Perhaps it will grow as big as Loch Ness itself, like the legend of Nessie.

Eyewitness

The Loch Ness Monster, like Bigfoot and alien abduction, is now considered a myth unworthy of scientific investigation. But before that myth was debunked, MIT’s Harold “Doc” Edgerton, SM ’27, ScD ’31, gamely joined the Nessie quest. In the last two decades of his life, the Institute Professor found time to lend his legendary expertise in strobe photography and sonar to the search for the creature said to lurk in the Scottish loch.

It started in 1972 with a telegram from Edgerton’s friend Robert Rines ’42, the president of the Academy of Applied Science in Boston. Rines had gone to Scotland in search of Nessie and was staying at the ­Drumnadrochit Hotel, whose slogan was “Where the monster plays in the bay, so they say.” Rines thought he had a chance of docu­menting the monster using sonar and underwater photography. “Hitting pay dirt on fixed mode sonar and light attracting near underwater cameras,” he telegraphed Edgerton. “Can you possibly pass through Drumnadrochit enroute to Greece to help?”

Edgerton initially declined, but that summer, Rines took an intriguing set of photographs at Loch Ness. Enhanced by computer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California to emphasize edges and contrast, the photographs seemed to show the flipper of a large aquatic animal.

This 1975 Loch Ness photograph by Charles W. Wyckoff ’41 was enhanced by computer at the Jet Propulsion Lab to better define object outlines.

Photo credit: JPL-enhanced photo courtesy of Robert Rines ’42

Within two years, Edgerton signed on to help develop and provide equipment that could aid the search for creatures hidden in the depths of Loch Ness’s murky, ­yellow-brown waters. “How could anyone … not rise to the technical problems that are before the researcher in this field?” ­Edgerton wrote Rines. “I personally am tremendously interested in the apparent attraction of the animals in the Loch by our cameras and lights.”

With Edgerton’s equipment, Rines took additional, tantalizing pictures that led to a moment in the limelight and articles in Technology Review and National Geographic. But follow-up trips in the late 1970s failed to confirm the monster’s existence.

Undaunted, Edgerton tinkered with his equipment to improve its performance in the low-visibility conditions of the loch. With Ian Morrison, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, he investigated a World War II Wellington bomber found during the Nessie search, and he pushed Morrison to publish articles on the loch’s history.

By the mid-1980s, the ­intellectual tide was turning against the Nessie quest. Discover and the Skeptical Inquirer published scathing critiques of the flipper photographs and accompanying sonar data. Before long, the Loch Ness Monster became the academic equivalent of box office poison. Morrison had trouble publishing legitimate historical research on stone circles found at the bottom of the loch, and he wrote to Edgerton of a postgraduate doing geological work in the area: “Since the candidate wishes to retain academic respectability there is of course not the slightest mention of strange beasties.”

In that letter, Morrison revealed his true feelings about the monster. “You may recall that whilst I will admit to getting a crick in my neck while diving (through a gut-level compulsion to keep checking that nothing was indeed sneaking up behind me, through those gloomy doom-laden depths …), the cerebral scientist in me protests that it is very difficult to see how you could get a big beast into the Loch.”

Edgerton treated Rines’s Loch Ness obsession with gentle open-mindedness. Rines was still planning trips to search for the monster even after a high-profile 1987 investigation showed that some of his most exciting images were probably pictures of a strangely shaped log. Making no mention of that, Edgerton wrote to him that fall to ask why no results had been published from Rines’s last trip and sent sketches of a new “streak camera” for detecting moving objects. Kindness to a friend and the chance to conquer equipment challenges held more value to him than the chance of finding a monster.

“Many factors point to no ‘Nessie,'” Edgerton wrote Morrison in 1986. “Regardless, there is no harm in looking, especially with sonar since there may be things to discover.”

Mongolian Death Worm

The Mongolian Death Worm, known to Mongolia’s nomadic tribesmen as the allghoi khorkhoi (sometimes given as allerghoi horhai or olgoj chorchoj) or ‘intestine worm’ for its resemblance to a sort of living cow’s intestine. It is said to be red in colour, and is sometimes described as having darker spots or blotches, and sometimes said to bear spiked projections at both ends. They are said to be thick bodied and between 2 and 5 feet long.

The Mongolian Death Worm is said to inhabit the Southern Gobi Desert in Mongolia. The first reference in English to this remarkable beast appears in Professor Roy Chapman Andrews’ 1926 book On the Trail of Ancient Man, although the American palæontologist (apparently the inspiration for the Indiana Jones character) was not entirely convinced by the tales of the monster he heard at a gathering of Mongolian officials: “None of those present ever had seen the creature, but they all firmly believed in its existence and described it minutely.”

Czech Explorer Ivan Mackerle:
“Sausage-like worm over half a metre (20 inches) long, and thick as a man’s arm, resembling the intestine of cattle. Its tail is short, as [if] it were cut off, but not tapered. It is difficult to tell its head from its tail because it has no visible eyes, nostrils or mouth. Its colour is dark red, like blood or salami… It moves in odd ways – either it rolls around or squirms sideways, sweeping its way about. It lives in desolate sand dunes and in the hot valleys of the Gobi desert with saxaul plants underground. It is possible to see it only during the hottest months of the year, June and July; later it burrows into the sand and sleeps. It gets out on the ground mainly after the rain, when the ground is wet. It is dangerous, because it can kill people and animals instantly at a range of several metres.”

The creature is reported to be able to spray an acid like substance that causes death instantly. It is also claimed that this creature has the ability to kill from a distance with some sort of super charged electrical charge. Numerous Mongolians have reported seeing this creature including a Mongolian Premier. The creature is reported to hibernate during most of the year except for June and July when it becomes active.

It is believed that touching any part of the worm will bring instant death, and its venom supposedly corrodes metal. Local folklore also tells of a predilection for the color yellow and local parasitic plants such as the Goyo. It is also believed that the worm likes to get out on the ground generally after the rain, when the ground is still wet.

Could it be a kind of land electric eel?

Electric Eels are long worm like creatures and it is known to science that electric eels can generate electric disharges powerful enough to disable or kill prey.

Electric eels are not true eels, they are only eel-like in shape. Despite its name it is not an eel at all but rather a knifefish.

They tend to live on muddy bottoms in calm water and are obligate air-breathers; rising to the surface every 10 minutes or so, the animal will gulp air before returning to the bottom. Nearly 80% of the oxygen used by the fish is taken in this way. This indicates that it is a more likely candidate for having a variation that lives on land. However an environment like the Gobi Desert would seem particularily harsh for such a creature. However remember the local belief that “the worm likes to get out on the ground generally after the rain, when the ground is still wet”.

Electrophorus electricus is famous for its ability to produce strong electrical currents, reaching 500-650 volts. This strong discharge is used to stun or kill prey. This electrical discharge is also used to ward off potential predators.

Up to 6,000 electroplates are arranged like a dry cell in the eel’s body. Its internal organs are all in a small area behind the head, with 7/8 of the eel being tail. The electrical shocks come from muscles mainly in the tail portion of the electric eel’s body. The body of an electric eel is similar to a battery. The tail end of the eel has a positive charge and the head region is negatively charged. When the eel touches its tail and head to other animals it sends electric shocks through their bodies. When the eel is at rest, there is no generation of electrical impulses.

Although all living creatures generate bio-electricity all known creatures that produce electricity useful for navigation, communication and for attack/defence are water dwelling creatures.

No known electric eels can emit poison.

Could it be a Spitting Snake?

Maybe the creature is a kind of spitting cobra.

Spitting cobras are extremely accurate at distances over 10 feet. When the cobra wants to “Spit” or “Spray” its venom at a threat, it “Hoods Up”, aims its open mouth as specialized muscles contract the Venom Gland, forcing the Cobra’s Venom out through it’s fangs. The Cobra is well equipped to spray its painful venom directly into the eyes of potential trampling animals from a safe distance.

Snakes are wormlike shaped just like the reported “Mongolian Death Worm”. Some spitting cobras are reddish in color-similar to reports about the Mongolian Death Worm.

Perhaps the stories about the electricity charges were made up or mistakes caused by the surprise of seeing the creature.

A Guardian ThoughtForm?

Could the Mongolian Death Worm be the result of a powerful thoughtform magickally created to protect secrets of a lost ancient civilization which once existed in the Gobi Desert? There could be as yet undiscovered, burial grounds, caves tunnels, magikal items, lost treasure, ancient scrolls and advanced technology which is being protected under the inhospitable sand and rocks of the Gobi Desert.

The Gobi Desert

Phonetically, the word Gobi means “very large and dry” in theMongolian language. It occupies an arc of land 1,300,000 square km in area, making it one of the largest deserts in the world. Contrary to images often associated with a desert, much of the Gobi is not sandy but is covered with bare rock. Theosophy Dictionary on Gobi Desert, Shamo Desert:
“Gobi or Shamo Desert A wild, arid region of mountains and sandy plains which was once fertile land and in part the site of a former inland sea or lake on which was the “Sacred Island” where the “Sons of Will and Yoga,” the elect of the third root-race, took refuge when the daityas prevailed over the devas and humanity became black with sin. It has been called by the Chinese the Sea of Knowledge, and tradition says that the descendants of the holy refugees still inhabit an oasis “in the dreadful wildernesses of the great Desert of Gobi , now the fabled Sambhala” (SD 2:220). This region was transformed into a sea for the last time ten or twelve thousand years ago; a local cataclysm drained off the waters southward and westward, leaving the present conditions. It is also said that the events connected with the drying up of the Gobi region are associated with allegories of wars between the good and evil forces and the “systematic persecution of the Prophets of the Right Path by those of the Left” which led the world into materialistic forms of thought.”

El Chupacabra

The chupacabra is one of those cryptids that proves very frustrating to investigators. One of the biggest frustrations hinges on the creature’s appearance. There are only a few features that stay relatively consistent from one sighting to the next; everything else seems to vary enormously. These relatively constant features include large eyes that are usually red or orange and about the same size and shape as an egg, a mouth full of big fangs, sharp claws on the hands and feet, a bunch of spikes or spike-like fins running in a row down the spine, a bipedal stance, three-toed hind feet that might also be webbed, and a hind portion shaped like a kangaroo with oversized legs for jumping. The top portion of the body looks stunted and scrawny in comparison with its massive hindquarters.

The variable features include what kind of skin the chupacabra has. It may be hairy all over, hairy on some parts, or hairless. When it lacks hair on one or more parts, the hairless skin may be scaled like a fish or reptile, it may be smooth and resemble a frog’s skin, or it may be bumpy like a toad. Some witnesses report that the chupacabra has chameleon-like abilities or a power resembling shapeshifting that only affects its skin. These witnesses report seeing the chupacabra change the color and texture of its skin dramatically, even turning its body hair green to blend in with foliage. The chupacabra may also have feathers on one or more parts of its body, especially red feathers. It sometimes has wings. Even when the chupacabra cannot fly, it can often jump so high that it is almost as good as flying. Reports of it jumping over buildings are not uncommon.

The other main frustration centers on the sheer number of creatures that have been given the label of “chupacabra.” The chupacabra sightings that came from Puerto Rico in approximately the years 1995-1999 fueled a worldwide interest that caused reports of “chupacabras” to flow in from every location imaginable. Some of these non-Puerto-Rican creatures resembled anomalous kangaroos, others resembled hairy humanoids of various sorts, including winged apes, and a few did sound like the original Puerto Rican chupacabras.

El Chupacabra

Name: El Chupacabra

Nickname: Chupa

Alias: El Vampiro de Moca

Closest “known” relative: Jersey Devil

Height: 4.5 to 5.5 feet

Weight: unknown

Eyes: very large, often red

Build: quasi-simian-kangaroo-reptile

Likes: goats, chickens, cows, horses, dogs, cats, ducks, travel

Dislikes: bright, shining lights

Favorite hangouts: Guanica, Puerto Rico; Canovanas, Puerto Rico; Klamath Falls, Oregon; Miami, Florida; Calama, Chile; Juarez, Mexico; Sonora, Mexico

The chupacabra’s behavior also provokes much frustration among cryptozoologists. Its name means “goatsucker” and that it what it allegedly did: it attacked livestock and sucked their blood like a vampire. This habit caused chupacabra reports to get mixed up with another mysterious phenomena that is generally called cattle mutilation, but that can refer to the unexplained violent deaths of any livestock or pets. Cattle mutilation has a bad name because it has been linked to so many weird crackpot theories, it is thought of as successfully debunked by about half of all people who take other weird phenomena seriously, and it has accumulated a great deal of bad evidence among which any good evidence can easily be lost. Many so-called cattle mutilation deaths have been shown to be due to rather mundane causes such as diseases, and cattle mutilation reports have often caused massive hysterias during which many ordinary deaths were wrongly ascribed to this cause. You can see why cryptozoologists find it a headache to have the chupacabras held responsible for all sorts of goat and chicken deaths that may or may not be related to the real chupacabras, if such exist.

A further headache is the chupacabra fad itself, which obscures any important evidence and sensationalizes this cryptid so much that serious investigators become afraid to have their name associated with it. The chupacabra is often held up as a prime example of a fad monster with no historical precedent. People like to say that it popped suddenly into existence in 1995 and died out a few years later. In reality, researchers have found that the sightings, though less numerous, occurred as early as 1974, and that the Taino Indians had folklore about a similar being, the maboya.

As to what sort of animal the chupacabra might be, the question is hard to answer because this cryptid is so weird. Many investigators simply ignore chupacabaras. Some researchers have said it is a really unusual variety of mermaid, some compare it to a gargoyle and others declare that it is an animal from some other planet that escaped from an alien spaceship. In support of this last idea, the chupacabra’s head is often compared to the alien “grays” from modern sightings, with the exception of its big fangs, red eyes and non-gray skin color, of course.

The chupacabra is a very popular monster, but it has not caught on in the realm of fiction. There are only a few chupacabra novels, mostly aimed at children. There are three chupacabra movies, all of them big flops. The titles of these films are Chupacabra Terror (which was originally named Chupacabras: Dark Seas), Bloodthirst: Legend of the Chupacabras and Legend of the Chupacabra.

Megalodon – The biggest Shark ever lived

Megalodon

A sharp, coppery emptiness rumbled deep within the creature’s gut. Two full moons had come and gone since it had last fed, and its need was now overriding. Desperate. Before it, an invisible cone of fear swept the warm, shallow sea clean of life. Shoals of hake and tilefish panicked at its coming, scattering like handfuls of flung metallic spears. At a length of 50 feet (15 metres) and a mass of over 52 tons (47 tonnes), it would take more than a mere morsel to satisfy the megalodon. The enormous shark needed food – big food. A marlin circled lazily to the Megalodon’s left, its barred ultramarine flanks glittering in the flickering shafts of late afternoon sunlight. Capable of mind-stuttering bursts of speed, it was too hard to catch for the shark to bother with. But still Megalodon’s hunger burned. Skulking silently along the bottom, the megalodon caught a glimpse of a whale rising gently to the surface to ventilate its lungs. It was a cetothere, slow-moving and about 30 feet (10 metres) long: perfect. But the whale would only be vulnerable for a few moments, as it recovered from its most recent dive. As the whale drew in fresh air to replenish its spent supply, megalodon continued its stalk. Closer . . . closer . . . NOW!! The shark pumped its tail powerfully from side-to-side, accelerating rapidly to close the distance between it and the fuel its cells so urgently needed. The Megalodon’s jaws gaped wide, revealing triangular, serrated teeth the size of a man’s hand. Oxygen-bearing water pounded through its gills exhilaratingly. The Megalodon’s upper jaw, slung loosely under its skull like that of other sharks, protruded forward and down: reaching, straining in anticipation of sweet, warm flesh . . .

Megalodon is by far the most celebrated and contentious of extinct sharks. Best known for its spectacular fossil teeth, broadly triangular and up to 7 inches (18 centimetres) long, Megalodon is the stuff of which legends are made. Virtually everyone who has ever gazed upon even a moderate-sized megalodon tooth has found it impossible to resist imagining what the rest of the fish might have looked like. And paleontologists have found it difficult to resist constructing theories about how this enormous shark may be related to the modern Great White.

The fossil teeth of megalodon are very similar in over-all form to those of the living White Shark. Many people – professional paleontologists and amateur fossil collectors alike – have long assumed this similarity indicates a close evolutionary relationship between these two species. But the teeth of Megalodon show some notable differences from those of the White Shark: they are much thicker, resembling a broad ‘D’ in cross-section; the serrations are much smaller and more regular; and there is a dark, chevron-shaped region, called a “bourlette“, between the rough root and the smooth blade (such a bourlette does not occur in the teeth of Carcharodon carcharias). Paleontologist Michael D. Gottfried and his co-workers have argued that these differences (with the exception of the bourlette) become less pronounced when Megalodon teeth are compared with the very largest white shark teeth. Gottfried suggests that by extrapolating tooth changes known to occur in the modern white shark, very megalodon-like teeth would result. Critics remain unconvinced.

Eyewitness Accounts

-In the year 1918 I recorded the sensation that had been caused among the “outside” crayfish men at Port Stephens, when, for several days, they refused to go to sea to their regular fishing grounds in the vicinity of Broughton Island. The men had been at work on the fishing grounds—which lie in deep water—when an immense shark of almost unbelievable proportions put in an appearance, lifting pot after pot containing many crayfishes, and taking, as the men said, “pots, mooring lines and all”. These crayfish pots, it should be mentioned, were about 3 feet 6 inches [1.06 m] in diameter and frequently contained from two to three dozen good-sized crayfish each weighing several pounds. The men were all unanimous that this shark was something the like of which they had never dreamed of. In company with the local Fisheries Inspector I questioned many of the men very closely and they all agreed as to the gigantic stature of the beast. But the lengths they gave were, on the whole, absurd. I mention them, however, as a indication of the state of mind which this unusual giant had thrown them into. And bear in mind that these were men who were used to the sea and all sorts of weather, and all sorts of sharks as well. One of the crew said the shark was “three hundred feet [90 m] long at least”! Others said it was as long as the wharf on which we stood—about 115 feet [35 m]! They affirmed that the water “boiled” over a large space when the fish swam past. They were all familiar with whales, which they had often seen passing at sea, but this was a vast shark. They had seen its terrible head which was “at least as long as the roof on the wharf shed at Nelson’s Bay.” Impossible, of course! But these were prosaic and rather stolid men, not given to ‘fish stories’ nor even to talking about their catches. Further, they knew that the person they were talking to (myself) had heard all the fish stories years before! One of the things that impressed me was that they all agreed as to the ghostly whitish color of the vast fish. The local Fisheries Inspector of the time, Mr Paton, agreed with me that it must have been something really gigantic to put these experienced men into such a state of fear and panic.

–Second sighting took place in 1933, again off the coast of Rangiroa. Aboard the S.S. Manganui, Grey and his son Loren were returning to San Francisco after a fishing trip to Tahiti. One evening at about 5:00 p.m., Loren was at the rail when he saw a small flock of spiralling sea gulls and, near by, an area of yellow water :

At first I thought it was a whale, but when the great brown tail rose in the ship’s wake as the fish moved ponderously away from the liner, I knew immediately that it was a monstrous shark. The huge round head appeared to be at least 10 to 12 feet across if not more … It was my belief that this huge, yellowish, barnacled creature must have been at least 40 or 50 feet long. He was not a whale shark: the whale shark has a distinctive white purplish green appearance with large brown spots and much narrower head. So what was he—perhaps a true prehistoric monster of the deep?

What we had seen was something [that] no ichthyologist had ever dreamed existed. The largest known specimen of this type of shark, generally known as a sand shark or black-tipped shark, had hardly been known to exceed a length of about 15 feet.

Despite Loren Grey’s assertions that what he saw was not a whale shark (mirroring his father’s reaction to his own sighting), it is most likely that that is exactly what is was. Grey’s description of a whale shark is completely erroneous: whale sharks are a dark grey, greenish grey or reddish colour above, with many white or yellowish spots and transverse stripes, and are yellowish or white on the underside (Castro 1983). As mentioned previously, they also have a very wide, squarish, yet slightly rounded head. All of these traits fit well with Grey’s description.

-Last eyewitness accounts interpreted as being of C. megalodon are put forward by Cartmell (1978). His first piece of evidence is sonar trackings by “one of the new breed of underwater exploratory vehicles” of an unidentifiable object about 100 ft (30 m) long that was travelling faster than any submarine. The absurdity of this account—which supposedly serves as evidence for C. megalodon survival—will not be commented upon. Cartmell also mentions another eyewitness account of a giant shark:

In the 1960’s along the outer edge of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, an 85 foot [26 m] ship experienced engine trouble which forced it to weigh anchor for repairs. Although the men subsequently refused to openly report what they had seen for fear of public ridicule, the captain and his crew later told friends of sighting an immense shark as it moved slowly past their ship. Whitish in color, they were awed by its size. It was as long if not longer than their boat! Experienced men of the sea, they too were certain the creature was not a whale.

Cartmell provides no references for his claims, so without verifiable sources, the above stories (the latter of which drips with tabloid style and reads much like a rewritten account of the 1918 giant shark) are useless as evidence.

How to hunting down the Northern Lights…

The beautiful blaze of the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, is caused when material thrown off the surface of the sun collides with the atmosphere of the Earth. Thus, by following events on the sun and the velocities of the gaseous matter being thrown off its surface, we can predict the appearance of the Northern Lights with a fair degree of accuracy — certainly enough to meet the needs of the average observer of the night sky. These predictions and observations are collectively referred to in the style of weather forecasting as ‘space weather’.

The aurorae appear over the Earth’s polar regions in what are known as the auroral ovals; in the northern hemisphere the auroral oval bulges that much further to the south, the stronger the solar wind is at any given moment. The oval normally extends over northern Finland and Scandinavia, the whole of Canada and the northern USA, Alaska and Siberia. In the event of a solar storm, it may reach as far south as the skies over central Europe. Because the oval does not extend symmetrically around the Earth’s rotational axis, each degree of the Earth’s longitude rotates deeper into the oval once every 24 hours; in the case of Finland this rotation means the best time for viewing the Northern Lights is around 10.30 in the evening (Standard Time). On the other hand, it is always worth bearing in mind that a solar storm can appear at any time of the day or night, and hunters of spectacular shows would therefore be well advised to concentrate on following the various types of forecasts and predictions which are published on the Internet.

A natural place to begin scanning for predictions of the Northern Lights is the website Today’s Space Weather, which provides an estimate in easily understood layman’s language of the situation over the next three days. Another site, SpaceWeather.com, which is aimed specifically at the general public and provides an excellent commentary on near space phenomena, includes precise details of predicted sightings of the Northern Lights. Real-time information on disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field, which are caused specifically by the aurora, is provided by the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory Magnetogram. If the curves depicting the disturbances exhibit a sudden fluctuation of 1000nT (a smaller fluctuation will often be enough), the Northern Lights will probably be visible at that moment as far south as southern Finland. The best and most reliable prediction of all, however, is turning out to be the latest activity index prediction derived from the measurements taken by the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite used in sensing the solar wind between the sun and the Earth. Its prediction Latest output (1 day) shows the predicted auroral situation 35-70 minutes ahead on a scale of 1-9. Experience has taught that an activity index value of 5 will often already mean a handsome display of the Northern Lights in southern Finland.

Despite the abundance of helpful predictions, it’s worth remembering that they may not always turn out to be correct, or that it may be daylight in Finland at just the moment the Northern Lights are illuminating the sky. Note too that the predictions nearly always use UT, or Universal Time, from which you can calculate Finnish Winter Time by adding on two hours, and Finnish Summer Time by adding on three. And if you can’t be bothered following the Internet, you can always time your evening walk for between ten o’clock and midnight, and set out for a spot where you can get a good view of the northern sky. The sun is currently going through an extremely active phase, which means frequent occurrences of the Northern Lights; it may therefore be that one evening nature will provide an unforgettable extravaganza of colour, which will by comparison reduce all the shopping centre laser shows in the world to the level of a pocket torch!

The Mystical Aurora Borealis

My earliest recollection of the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, is from a song of the 1950s called “the Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen”, which I always took to be a reference not to Scottish traffic arrangements but to the celestial phenomenon of bands, curtains or streamers of coloured light that appear in the sky predominantly in the Arctic and Antarctic regions of the earth. In the Antarctic, the lights are called the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights. They are visible, though less frequently, also outside those zones. I do not know how often the Northern Lights appear in northern Scotland but in the far north of this country, in Finnish Lapland, the number of auroral displays can be as high as 200 a year. In southern Finland the number is usually fewer than 20.

Folklore abounds with explanations of the origins of the spellbinding celestial lights. In Finnish they are called “revontulet”, which means “fox fires” a name derived from an ancient fable of the arctic fox starting fires fire or spraying up snow with its brush-like tail. No matter that in English “foxfire” is a luminescent glow emitted by certain types of fungi growing on rotten wood. The true story is that the sun is the father of the auroras.

The sun gives off high-energy charged particles (also called ions) that travel out into space at speeds of 300 to 1200 kilometres per second. A cloud of such particles is called a plasma. The stream of plasma coming from the sun is known as the solar wind. As the solar wind interacts with the edge of the earth’s magnetic field, some of the particles are trapped by it and they follow the lines of magnetic force down into the ionosphere, the section of the earth’s atmosphere that extends from about 60 to 600 kilometres above the earth’s surface. When the particles collide with the gases in the ionosphere they start to glow, producing the spectacle that we know as the auroras, northern and southern. The array of colours consists of red, green, blue and violet.

The Northern Lights are constantly in motion because of the changing interaction between the solar wind and the earth’s magnetic field. The solar wind commonly generates up to 1000,000 megawatts of electricity in an auroral display and this can cause interference with power lines, radio and television broadcasts and satellite communications. By studying the auroras, scientists can learn more about the solar wind, how it affects the earth’s atmosphere and how the energy of the auroras might be exploited for useful purposes.

An important centre for this type of geophysical study is located in Sodankylä, a small community in the heart of Finnish Lapland, at latitude 67.4 degrees north. It is an excellent location for probing the secrets of the earth’s geomagnetic field. It was here that the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters established a geophysical observatory in 1913. Today, the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (SGO) is run by the University of Oulu. In addition to research the observatory performs routine geophysical measurements at its different stations. They produce ionospheric, geomagnetic and auroral data as well as seismic, cosmic ray data from Finland.

The observatory and its associated research units nearby form a scientific community devoted to work that has global significance. There are high hopes that the brainwork of the scientists will also have beneficial effects on the local economy in this part of Lapland. The idea is that the findings of scientific research can be used to attract high-tech firms to the area, generating jobs and stimulating commercial activity. Already tourists can visit the privately operated “revontulikota”, an auroral observatory and planetarium built in the shape of the traditional Lapp dwelling that is known as a “kota”.

The Mystery of Crystal Skulls

Introduction

Skulls are humanity’s foremost symbol of death, and a powerful icon in the visual vocabularies of cultures all over the globe. Thirteen crystal skulls of apparently ancient origin have been found in parts of Mexico, Central America and South America, comprising one of the most fascinating subjects of 20th Century archaeology.

These skulls, found near the ancient ruins of Mayan and Aztec civilizations (with some evidence linking the skulls with past civilization in Peru) are a mystery as profound as the Pyramids of Egypt, the Nazca Lines of Peru, or Stonehenge. Some of the skulls are believed to be between 5,000 and 36,000 years old.

Many indigenous people speak of their remarkable magical and healing properties, but nobody really knows where they came from or what they were used for.
Were they left behind after the destruction of a previous world, such as Atlantis? Are they simply ingenious modern fakes or can they really enable us to see deeply into the past and predict the future?

Much research is currently being done on the skulls. However, their origin is still a baffling mystery. They seem to defy logic. Everything that is known about lapidary work indicates that the skulls should have been shattered fractured, or fallen apart when carved.

Famous Crystal Skulls

This report examines the known history of crystal skulls, various viewpoints on where they might have came from, and the secrets they may reveal.

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The Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull

The most widely celebrated and mysterious crystal skull is the Mitchell-Hedges Skull, for at least two good reasons. First, it is very similar in form to an actual human skull, even featuring a fitted removable jawbone. Most known crystal skulls are of a more stylized structure, often with unrealistic features and teeth that are simply etched onto a single skull piece.
Second, it is impossible to say how the Mitchell-Hedges skull was constructed. From a technical standpoint, it appears to be an impossible object which today’s most talented sculptors and engineers would be unable to duplicate.

Mayan Crystal Skull and the Amethyst Skull

Further examples of primitively sculpted skulls are a couple called the Mayan Crystal Skull and the Amethyst Skull. They were discovered in the early 1900s in Guatemala and Mexico, respectively, and were brought to the U.S. by a Mayan priest. The Amethyst Skull is made of purple quartz and the Mayan skull is clear, but the two are otherwise very alike. Like the Mitchell-Hedges skull, both of them were studied at Hewlett-Packard, and they too were found to be inexplicably cut against the axis of the crystal.

Texas Crystal Skull (Max)

A skull known as “Max,” or the Texas Crystal Skull, is a single-piece, clear skull weighing 18 pounds. It reportedly originated in Guatemala, then passed from a Tibetan spiritualist to JoAnn Parks of Houston, Texas. The Parks family allows visitors to observe Max and they display the skull at various exhibitions across the U.S.

ET Skull

“ET” is a smoky quartz skull found in the early 20th Century in Central America. It was given its nickname because its pointed cranium and exaggerated overbite make it look like the skull of an alien being. ET is part of the private collection of Joke Van Dietan, who tours with her skulls to share the healing powers she believes they possess.

Rose Quartz Crystal Skull

The only known crystal skull that comes close to resembling the Mitchell-Hedges skull is one called the Rose Quartz Crystal Skull, which was reported near the border of Honduras and Guatemala. It is not clear in color and is slightly larger than the Mitchell-Hedges, but boasts a comparable level of craftsmanship, including a removable mandible.

Origin Theories: Celestial Gifts or Skullduggery?

Regardless of any unearthly properties the crystal skulls may or may not possess, the question remains: where did they come from? There are countless hypotheses that they are the legacy of some higher intelligence. Many believe they were created by extraterrestrials or beings in Atlantis or Lemuria. One elaborate theory maintains that the skulls were left behind by a sophisticated Inner Earth society which lives at the hollow center of our planet, and there are thirteen “master skulls” which contain the history of these people.

The most obvious answer to the mystery is that native artisans in Latin America or elsewhere crafted the skulls themselves. The Mayans are most often associated with them, although some doubt that they could have made the skulls, and not simply because of the technical conundrum the job poses. One theory holds the Aztecs as a more likely candidate to have created them. Skull imagery figures prominently in Aztec art and religious symbols, and not in that of the Mayans. The Aztecs were also more highly skilled in sculpting with crystal. It could be that the skulls found in Mayan ruins are actually displaced Aztec relics… or, as some suspect, this incongruity may indicate that some accounts of the skulls’ origins are phony.

Many skeptics feel that the crystal skulls are probably of a much more recent vintage than their accompanying stories suggest. This, they believe, is the best way to explain their existence, since no one could have created them without technologies available only within the past century. Since carbon-dating only works on organic substances, it is impossible to determine just how old a crystal skull is. But one recent study found reasonable signs of some skulls’ relative youth.

A May broadcast of the BBC documentary series “Everyman” reported on studies of a number of crystal skulls and other artifacts of supposedly ancient origin conducted at the British Museum. Using electron microscopes, the researchers found that two of the skulls possessed straight, perfectly-spaced surface markings, indicating the use of a modern polishing wheel. Genuine ancient objects would show haphazard tiny scratches from the hand-polishing process. The report speculated that these skulls were actually made in Germany within the past 150 years.

Even the regal Mitchell-Hedges skull is not without scandalous accusations of fraud. Some believe that F.A. Mitchell-Hedges had the piece commissioned by a sculptor, and planted it in the Lubaantun ruins for his daughter to find as a spectacular birthday present.

The validity of this charge is uncertain, but even if the Mitchell-Hedges skull is of modern origin, its structure is no less extraordinary. In all likelihood, every crystal skull in the world was fashioned by plain old human beings of some sort, and regardless of whether the work was carried out five years ago or five hundred years ago, we still don’t have any idea how they did it.

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The Crystal Skull Enigma

In the realm of ancient artifacts there are few antiquities that are as thought provoking as the carved quartz crystal skulls. Very little is known about these ancient wonders of the world, largely due to the fact that so few of them exist which are accessible to the researcher. In the last few years, interest has risen intensely in these works of antiquity. For many years, when the subject of the crystal skulls was discussed, few people were aware of the fact that the Mitchell- Hedges skull was not the only crystal skull known to man. It may have been the most perfectly carved, even viewed by more people throughout the world than any other skull, but, certainly not the only skull. In fact, there are many skulls in various locations around the world which range in size from a few pounds, or softball sized, to over forty pounds.

Only a few crystal skulls have been expertly authenticated as ancient. Many have been carved within the last five years. Presently, the accepted authentication by which a carved skull can be termed ancient is through a complicated process of casting a mold of the skull and placing it under an electron microscope to examine the minute markings left by the carver. These markings are the clues by which the age of the carving is determined. The telltale pattern of the marking will verify what method was used to carve and polish the skull; thereby, the antiquity expert is able to confirm the age based on methods used on other known works which range from the ancient to the very contemporary. By comparing these various methods with those of the crystal skull, a time-line is developed which will place the skull along that line.

The widely known Mitchell-Hedges skull, located in Canada, one of the most beautiful skulls I have had the pleasure of seeing, is now shrouded in controversy. It is presently suggested that the skull is not ancient, but a work of more recent times, perhaps orchestrated by F.A. Mitchell-Hedges, himself, to promote interest and financing for his adventures. Coined The Skull of Doom’, by some associates of the adventurer, actually a misnomer for a term used in the 1930s, The Skull of Dunn. Dunn was an associate of F.A., on the expedition to Luubantun, in 1927, which is when young Anna Mitchell-Hedges, then age 17, reports she found the skull in the ruins of a temple.

The Museum of Man, in London, contains a crystal skull which is called the Aztec Skull. It is no longer on display in that museum. Museum personnel as well as visitors claim the skull moves on its own within the glass case in which it is enclosed. It was acquired by the museum at the turn of the century from an antiquity dealer in New York.

The Paris museum of Man also contains a crystal skull called The Aztec Skull, which is no longer on display. Both the Paris Skull, and the British Skull are much smaller than the Mitchell-Hedges skull, and not nearly as perfectly carved or as clear.

In more recent times, several quartz crystal skulls have appeared. Some are suggested ancient by their owners. Extensive examinations of these skulls have, however, determined many are not ancient at all. It is not certain as to the origin of these imposters. In the early 1980s, a human-sized quartz crystal skull surfaced in Texas. It was in the possession of Norbu Chen, a Tibetan healer. The skull was given to Carl and Jo Ann Parks to satisfy a debt. The skull was placed in a cosmetic case and stored on the floor of a closet in their Houston home for several years. It was while Jo Ann Parks was watching television that she realized that her skull may be an important artifact.

The program was about the Mitchell-Hedges skull, and F.R. Nick Nocerino, a world-renowned expert in crystal skull research, was a guest on the show. After viewing the program, Jo Ann, contacted Nocerino, upon which he traveled to Houston from his home near San Francisco to examine the skull. He determined that the skull was authentic and that it was ancient. He had indeed been aware of the existence of the skull, but had not been able to determine its location. Soon after Nocerino’s visit, Jo Ann, after several discussions with the rock, as she fondly referred to it, was told its name was Max.

Also in the mid 80s, Joke van Dieten Maasland, who presently resides in Miami Beach, Florida, acquired a smokey quartz crystal skull from a dealer in Los Angeles. It was reported that this skull had been in the possession of a family in Guatemala, whose parents found the skull in1906, while excavating a Mayan Temple. Joke credits the skull, which she calls E.T., as instrumental in a personal healing of a brain tumor. She shares the story in her book, Messengers of Ancient Wisdom.

In early 1990, a skull weighing more than 40 pounds, which was carved from rock quartz crystal but hollowed out, was donated to the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington. There was little or no documentation as to its authenticity. Since there was no documentable evidence of the age or origin of the skull, the curator determined not to place the skull in the museum for viewing until its authenticity was established.

During a lecture tour in Mexico many years ago, Nocerino was invited to a location in Guerro Provence, to assist in locating the buried ruins of an ancient city. It was during this visit that Nocerino provided the information as to the location of what he thought was an ancient temple. (Due to the current political situation in Mexico, the safety of those currently involved with this excavation would be compromised should I reveal the exact location of the excavation, or the name of the city.) Excavation of that location later revealed several carved crystal artifacts. Among these artifacts were two crystal skulls, one of which is currently owned by Nocerino, which is 13 pounds 3 ounces and is carved of clear quartz crystal. Nocerino calls the skull Sha-Na-Ra, in memory of a Shaman Healer he once knew. The second is currently owned by DaEl Walker, a well- known crystal researcher and author of several crystal healing books. It is smaller than Sha-Na-Ra, about 9 pounds, also quartz crystal. DaEl calls it The Rainbow Skull, due to the rainbow of colors that dance through the skull when in the natural light.

There were many other artifacts found at this location. Several small carved crystal skulls, half skulls which were hollow and a very rare and powerful item we call The Jaguar Man. It is five inches high, two inches in diameter and is carved of quartz crystal. It depicts the head of a Jaguar, with the head of a man in its mouth. The facial features of the man do not appear Mayan. This piece is currently owned by me, and is being exposed to extensive research. Excavation continues in this area and additional finds are expected.

The Pelton Foundation of Applied Paranormal Research, The Institute of Psychic and Hypnotic sciences and The Society of Crystal Skulls, International, launched a research project and video documentary which included the Rainbow, Sha-Na-Ra, E.T., Jesuit, Max, and the Agate Chip skulls. Members of the various organizations who were expert in the field of psychometry, scrying and gazing were brought in to work with the skulls in an attempt to learn more about the skulls using these methods. It would be the first time in recorded history that more than two authentic carved quartz crystal skulls would be together in one room at the same time.

Our project included X-rays, to determine if any were broken or had been more than one piece and glued together, laser light penetration, and startling close-up video of the skulls. The results of phase one of the project can be viewed in our production Skull Trek: The journey of the Crystal Skulls. This production also includes information and photographs of 16 additional crystal skulls, such as the Mitchell-Hedges, Paris, British, Marin, San Jose and Amethyst skulls to mention just a few. Portions of the scrying sessions are also provided.

Psychometry and scrying provided glimpses of the past and wonderful scenarios of ancient ceremonies. A connection with the fabled Atlantis was also brought out during one of the sessions. What were these magnificent objects used for? Who carved them? Is it possible that contemporary society can make use of their wisdom for physical and mental healing? Further research may provide the answers. Perhaps it will provide only more questions!

During my personal research with the skulls, I stumbled upon a phenomenon that I am continuing to pursue. While working with the skulls, performing scrying, I was using various colors and sounds. I placed the skull on a small light box and alternated several colors over the light source opening. After recording my sessions over a period of several weeks, I began a review of the results. I was shocked to learn that when I used a certain color over the light source it seemed to activate a time period. Researching my results further, I determined that each time I used the same color blue, for example, that I would revert to the same time frame. I could almost pick up where I left off at the end of the previous session that I used the particular color. The energy that these skulls produce is staggering. Are they indeed holding the knowledge of mankind? Were they left by an extraterrestrial intelligence? The ages of some of these skulls are estimated to be 100,000 years old. Without ancient documentation, psychometry may be the only tool that can be utilized to obtain the information. Our research continues daily.

In April of 1996, The BBC, in association with the British Museum and Everyman Productions, of London, performed tests on several crystal skulls to determine the age of the caning through electron microscope. Nick Nocerino was invited to bring Sha-Na-Ra. Carl and Jo Ann Parks were invited to bring Max. The British museum offered their Aztec skull and the Smithsonian Institution was invited to bring their 40-pound skull. Also included was a skull from Guatemala, an ancient gold and silver plated reliquary cross which rested in a carved crystal skull and a small skull. Anna Mitchell-Hedges was also invited. However, she declined.

A documentary was produced of the tests by the BBC. The results were shocking to the museum staff. It was determined that the British skull and the Smithsonian skull were not ancient, but in fact carved using very contemporary methods from the 1800s. Sha-Na-Ra and Max were also examined. While the officials of the museum would not publicly comment as to the results, it was confidentially revealed, by the antiquity expert brought to the museum by its officials, that the method used to carve Max and Sha-Na-Ra, was used more than 5000 years ago! The skull in the British museum was a fake. The Smithsonian skull was a fake. The Mitchell-Hedges skull? Well, we wonder why Anna declined. Her only comment was that it had been tested enough in the past. The BBC aired their documentary in July, 1996 and will be aired by U.S. television, however, no date has yet been set. In a letter to me from Everyman Productions, in London, it was reported by the BBC that they had never aired a program in this series with a larger audience.
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The documentary produced as a result of the research project is titled Skull Trek: The Journey of the Crystal Skulls, and can be purchased from Pelton Publications as advertised in this issue of Atlantis Rising. Additional information about the crystal skulls can be obtained by writing F.R. Nick Nocerino, P. O. Box 302, Pinole, CA. 94564, Pelton Publications P. O. Box 377, Pinole, CA. 94564 or you can contact Carl and Jo Ann Parks, directly in Houston, Texas. Jo Ann travels extensively with Max. Her appearance schedule may be obtained from her or Pelton Publications. Joke van Dieten may be contacted directly in Miami Beach, Florida. She also is now traveling with E.T., Sha-Na-Ra, The Rainbow Skull and The Jaguar Man are not available for viewing, however, additional information regarding these artifacts can be obtained by contacting Mr. Nocerino or myself at Pelton Publications.

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Letters from our Visitors

I’m listening to the interview on George Noory’s “Coast To Coast AM” radio talk show, and the topic is Max. It jarred my memory a bit. I believe I briefly met and experienced Max during a Phoenix workshop about 10 years ago in a bookstore, after formerly experiencing the Mitchell-Hedges skull. Interesting, I must say.

The emotional responses of observers are because of the purifying/rebalancing energies of the skulls. The soul responds. It would be frightening to someone who lives from fear, but exhilirating to someone who is more open to life. There is the subconscious recognition of the connection with Spirit, and only one’s interpretation of his personal experience needs to be feared.

I’ve heard some statements made during the program that perhaps could be amended to be more accurate. I’m no expert, other than working with Arkansas quartz crystals extensively since the mid-1980s. They taught me what I know about them. I first set them out on the dining table before me night after night and used a pendulum tool to study their “energy flows.” Then I was led to put them in patterns to create environmental treatments for varied needs. Crystals do not originate and generate energy, not a one. Rather they act like radio transceivers to “breathe in” crystals at one point (sometimes at one end, sometimes at a spot inbetween) and spiral the energies like double helixes throughout, then “exhale” it at the other end, or elsewhere. I had to get acquainted with each crystal individually this way to map its energy flow. They are as individualistic as humans, but there are patterns that they fall within. For that reason, I have my collection of crystals separated into groups, depending upon their beneficial uses. I think of them with the same appreciation as a magnifying glass that collects sunlight rays and focuses them together for a seemingly stronger, more focused concentration that appears to do miracles.

Imperfections of quartz are not to be overlooked or downplayed. Those are key spots of energy accumulation/release. I would not expect or want to use a perfect, clear quartz tool. It’s the occlusions and “flaws” that give them their specific uniquenesses of application possibilities.

The comment was given on the program: “Max has expanded. He has enhanced my life.” That sums it all up perfectly.

No doubt Max hated hibernating in the box so long. Light rays are the lifeblood of quartz. They thrive in the light, just like flowers and we do. Isolation and darkness make them withdraw and go inert.

Anyway, since discovering their properties as tools, not as mystic gods with minds of their own, but as extensions of my own consciousness, I had to learn to control my emotions before handling them so that I didn’t keep blowing out light bulbs, etc. They exemplify that adage about giving out 10 times what is received. Their use to purify any form of water is a fascinating attribute of quartz. I use them now in place of bandaids and ice bags when I stub toes and sprain ankles, etc. I put them into patterns, according to the need, and they seem to draw out the excessive energy buildup of tissue damage repair going on within 20 minutes and all is well from there on as if nothing ever happened.

The Mitchell Hedges skull experience was indescribable, even in a public setting. When I had a minute to sit at the card table with Max, the lighting and room conditions seemed out of accord and I experienced no affinity with him. But I have channeled through Spirit to ask about crystal skulls. This is what I was led to believe:

“The skull is a duplication, not a model. It was made by humanoids who were not of this earth. They would be termed Pleiadeans to your knowledge. They extended within another parallel galaxy to your Milky Way as an invisible counterpart of your sixth dimensional existence, like a sister galaxy.

“The skull was actually brought to earth realm fully created. It was teleported along with visitors who came to teach earth mortals about their Pleiadean heritage and purpose for being here, also how the transposition came about. These themselves were experimental tools developed for mortal use. They used the skull for teaching mortals about themselves and their spirit-living-in-earth existence. The skull was displayed for use in expanding mortal awareness of physical life in order to regain understanding of relationship with light-and-sound life forces inherent within the realm. This is the foundation of what you now identify as ‘priesthoods.’ Thus, the skull was not a religious object of worship, for no such worship existed. Rather, it was a teaching device left with mortals to apply similarly in order to teach future generations and perpetuate satisfactory supra-conscious evolvement.

“There were other such quartz crystal skulls besides this one [the Mitchell Hedges skull] used for various purposes of teaching throughout South America at key areas of cultures. They were brought to key points of location among mankind for use by the Pleiadean visitors to benefit them. These skulls were connectors interlinking the sites, like fingers of one hand. Each functioned individually as well as collectively.

“The skull becomes a tool into your soul’s awareness that houses all knowledge of experience. All that is discovered through them becomes applicable to mortal capability that has become forgotten temporarily while in mortal capability that has become forgotten while in the mortal living state. Freedom is possible to be gained, depending upon the state of fears entertained by false beliefs of the person. In truth, there is nothing to be feared by the user. Thus, he must purify himself of his illusionary beliefs in order to gain the benefit. It is a tool for reawakening and reteaching oneself. Limitations of time and space become transcended as he opens awareness to greater realms and the totality of Life permeating his mortal home. … Mankind must learn how to listen within his own innate sensing channels and to trust himself in that. It is like a helpmate for more direct communication within oneself in totality beyond his mortal identity.

“This is the gist of the crystal skull of quartz. Do not make it become idolized or venerated more than it is designed to be. Do not become enamored with scientific provings and testings of phenomena nor construction. It cannot be explained with the proof that is sought. Science can only test its physical effects of its properties, but what is to be gained by that? Then it becomes a curiosity item.”

All I know from my experience is that these are like transportation tools that need the human driver to direct their course of application. They are like orchids in a floral garden that need caretakers so that do not fall into disarray or get lost again. Like everything in Nature, they are like gifts for use to enhance life. Everything I learned about the properties of quartz crystals is likewise applicable to myself. And I believe that is the key to discovering how to attain and retain harmony in a chaotic world.

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The Mysterious Crystal Skulls

The purpose of this article is to provide a short concise description about the crystal skulls, one of the greatest mysteries in our world.
An Australian magazine originally had requested an article from me and I had to write in but a few days. So it was not an easy task by any means as the study about the crystal skulls is very involved and complex (to a degree). But, being an Aries born individual, I definitely accepted this challenge and I think the end results weren’t bad. So, now is our time to share this information with you!

Who am I?

My name is Joshua Shapiro (American born in Chicago) and in April of 1983,
I was minding my own business when I walked into a metaphysical bookstore in San Jose, California and saw a picture of an almost human-sized Amethyst Crystal Skull. What was amazing is that when I gazed at this picture, I felt a strong and powerful vibration throughout my entire body and heard in my head the words, “What is this (the skull) doing out now?” Within an hour, while I was still in the same bookstore speaking to the owner, a powerful earthquake hit a city in California not far from us and the table with the pictures of this crystal skull was shaking as well. With an inner and outer confirmation, my journey with the crystal skulls had begun. Now almost 20 years later, having given over 200 presentations in the U.S., Canada, South America, Australia and all over Europe (10 different countries), boy do I have some important things to tell you about the crystal skulls!!

Next Question you may ask, “What is a Crystal Skull?”

Well as the name does imply, we are speaking about skull shaped objects made from various types of quartz crystals (clear, amethyst, smoky, rose, etc …).

“OLD” – a crystal skull that was fashioned from over 100 years ago to about 1000 years ago. Most of these types of skulls have been discovered within or near ancient ruins in Mexico or Central America and many of them are guarded by descendants of various indigenous people throughout the world. Usually with the “Old” crystal skulls we can have find some type of tool mark left by the carver, as is the case with the “New” crystal skulls.

“ANCIENT” — a crystal skull that was created from 1500-2000 years ago to whenever (they could be hundreds of thousands of years old). There are a few crystal skulls that exist today which are considered “ANCIENT” crystal skulls.

However, there is absolutely no known technique we have that can date when a quartz crystal was fashioned. In general if we don’t find any tool marks this infers the skull was either done by hand or using some advance technology we don’t know about (Lasers [of which primitive tribes did not have], Thought Projection into the Ethers, a Gift from the Gods [ETs], made by an advance culture that existed on the earth long ago [Atlantis, Lemuria] or they may have come from some advance civilizations that live in the Inner Earth [the Hollow Earth theory,
a whole new article by itself].

It is my personal belief that the true understanding of the ancient crystal skulls can be found within various traditions of the indigenous cultures that exist in our world. In particular, there is a definite connection with the crystal skulls with the Mayans and the Aztecs, and there is even information coming from various Native American sources that they know about the skulls as well. In most cases, the crystal skulls are linked to sacred world prophecies held by these people.
Also if such cultures have their own crystal skulls (which seems very likely) they are protecting and guard these skulls in secret as they consider these artifacts very sacred and take the responsibility to hold them very seriously. To determine what type of crystal skull one might have, either we can go by the Legends of the Indigenous People who have them, or by working with trained sensitives who can psychically link into the energy and history of the skull.

History of the Crystal Skulls

The public first became aware of the crystal skulls during the later part of the 19th century. At this time, many museums of the world became interested in displaying antiquities from past civilizations (Egypt, Greece, Mesoamerica, etc …).
Thus, in the 1878, in the Musèe de l’homme (Museum of Man in Paris — for our French readers) and in 1898, in the Museum of Man of London (for our British readers), each had a clear quartz skull on display (both came out during the 1860’s during the French occupation of Mexico, purportedly found or acquired by Soldiers of Fortune, linked to Mayan sites in this country).
However, in the research conducted for our new book, “Journeys of a Crystal Skull Explorer” (to be released as an e-book and published book this year) there were a number of other old and ancient crystal skulls that were uncovered in various ways during this same century which eventually found their way (after passing through the hands of various people) to specific individuals who are publicly known today!

Again in the early part of the 20th century, usually connected with ancient Mesoamerican ruins or areas, more crystal skulls were uncovered:

• “The Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull”: named after famed explorer and adventurer, F. A. Mitchell-Hedges, discovered in Lubaantum, an ancient Mayan city in Belize in 1924, human size, clear quartz, removable jaw, an almost exact duplicate of our own modern skull, now in the hands of Anna Mitchell-Hedges in Canada;
• “ET”: discovered by a Mayan family near Guatemala while digging on their property in 1906; purchased by Joke Van Dieten in 1991 through a crystal store near Los Angeles, is the only human size ancient crystal skull made from smoky quartz which has a resemblance to an “ET” shape, this skull now travels the world and was shown at a major exhibition of Mysterious Objects in Vienna in 2001;
• “Max”: 18 lb (9 kilo) clear quartz crystal skull purportedly discovered in a Mayan tomb in Guatemala between 1924-1926. The skull was gifted by a Mayan Shaman to a Tibet trained lama in 1970, used in a healing center in Houston, Texas and then upon the lama’s death, was given to Carl and JoAnn Parks, who tour with this crystal skull with many people in the U.S. primarily. The name comes from a telepathic communication between the skull and Mrs. Parks, where the skull informs this is the name.
• “Ami”, the Amethyst Crystal Skull:
  Its history is unsure, purportedly it was part of a collection of crystal skulls held by the Mexican President Diaz from 1876-1910, but also we have reports the skull was discovered in the Oaxaca area (Mexico) and was hand down generation to generation through an order of Mayan Priests. Now it resides in San Jose, California with a group of businessmen who are offering this skull for sale.There are of course many other crystal skulls which are believed to be “ANCIENT” or very old, but this group of four is a good representation.

So, why are the Crystal Skulls so Important?

It would take a good book (like the one we are doing) to be able to answer this question, so I will just give a few ideas or thoughts for the readers:

• “The ancient Crystal Skulls are the computers of the ancients, they contain important information that help humanity to pass through it current series of challenges to take us into a Golden Age.”
• “They were a powerful tool for healing [Body Mind Spirit] by ancient civilizations such as the Mayans or the Atlanteans”
• “Today, we have witnessed so many people’s lives profoundly affected when they have had an opportunity to be in the presence of an ‘ANCIENT’ crystal skull (healing of all types of illness, expansion of ones spiritual awareness, bringing to a head emotional or mental blocks, being a catalyst for a positive change in a person’s life and the list goes on) or even now, this phenomena is beginning to happen around the ‘NEW’ crystal skulls.”

Has Any Research Been Done to Understand the Skulls?

Yes indeed, there has been some interesting conducted by the Crystal Skull Society International in California, headed by crystal skull expert, F. R. “Nick” Nocerino for almost 60 years. Additionally, in 2001, a group of us formed the World Mystery Research Center (based in the U.S. and Holland) where we began to focus on two aspect related to the crystal skulls:

Final Comments from the Writer

I believe the crystal skulls are one of the most important ancient artifacts that have surfaced into the public’s attention which exist today. I believe the crystal skulls hold key information that will to bring to our world a time of perfect peace and harmony by the year 2013 (or in the ‘Year Zero’, December 21st, 2012 as stated by the Mayans). This special date is so significant that my new wife Desy and I married on December 21st, of last year, in the presence of our own crystal skulls and images of several ancient crystal skulls, 10 years before.

Regardless of the sources from which these skulls originated from (other worlds brought here by the ETs, Atlantis, Lemuria, the Inner Earth, etc …) they are now helping many people to awaken to their true potential and to see that we are all members of the same spiritual family who must unite together and work in a cooperative manner to create a world of peace and harmony for ourselves and the generations to come. The Crystal Skulls are a sign from the Universe and unseen spiritual helpers; that this time of Peace that has been prophesized is now here and at hand, if we each could but do what only makes our hearts sing.

Thank you for reading and listening. Hopefully in the near future, Desy and I will be able to personally meet with you to share the energies of the crystal skulls as we continue our personal journey and odyssey all over the world, guided by the presence linked to these special crystalline friends.

Castlerigg Stone Circle,Cumbria

Castlerigg Stone Circle is one of the finest in Cumbria, it is spectacularly situated within a panorama of rugged hills of ever changing character, depending on the mercurial Lakeland weather.

The circle consists of 38 stones of variable sizes and shapes; they are all un-hewn boulders, some standing over 5 feet in height, although some have fallen in the 5000 years since their erection. It has been estimated there were originally around 41 stones, so Castlerigg is relatively well preserved when compared with other circles in the British Isles. The stone circle has been tenuously dated at 3200BC, although there is always a buffer zone of a couple of hundred years when trying to date stone circles without accompanying archaeology. Castlerigg does not conform to a true circle, the Northeast face is flattened, perhaps due to some little understood aspect of megalithic surveying. Just inside the eastern end of the circle is a group of 10 stones forming a rectangular enclosure known as a cove, the purpose of which is unknown.

Excavations in the cove in 1882 provided very little in the way of archaeological finds, although quantities of charcoal were discovered. A wide space to the Northern end of the circle, framed by two large stones may have served as an entrance to the site. There is also an outlying stone to the Southwest of the circle, the function of which can now be only guessed at.

There have been few excavations on the site, although a stone axe head was found in 1875, and the cove was excavated as mentioned earlier in 1882.

On a more mysterious level the circle has been the focus of one well-recorded sighting of strange light phenomena. In 1919 a man called T. Singleton and his friend watched as white light-balls moved slowly over the stones. Strange lights seem to be a recurring theme at ancient sites throughout the world, they may have been one of the reasons ancient man built monuments at specific sites. There has been a lot of speculation as to their nature; it is most probable they are part of some natural phenomena related to fault lines.

It has been noted that many of the stones of Castlerigg seem to reflect features in the surrounding hills, as though the landscape site is an interplay between the sacred space and the landscape beyond. Although open to criticism, it seems as though there are many features at Castlerigg that still have to be examined in the context of how ancient man would have experienced the site.