Floating Christmas Packages on the River

 

Paranormal investigator, reporter, and author John A. Keel once stopped at a health food store to pick up some items when an unknown caller told the store employee to page Keel. Perplexed, he took the phone from the store clerk and answered. On the other end of the line a voice told him to get bottled water there was going to be a power outage and he was going to need it. John was headed for New York City with no idea that one of the most infamous power outages ever was about to happen. One in which, UFO writer Donald Keyhoe, alleged that reports of flying saucers hovering along power lines had been spotted a short time before the inexplicable collapse of the northern US and Canada electrical grid occurred.

Foreboding legacy

This was one of many disturbing coincidences that marked the life and career of John A. Keel. And so it was with the Silver Bridge collapse at Point Pleasant, West Virginia just before Christmas in 1966. Keel had been drawn to the area due to a number of mysterious events that had people in the area nervous and confused. It all began with a number of “Mothman” sightings. A pilot flying his single engine plane over the Ohio River near town reported a strange winged entity flying below him. In another incident a woman gazing out her window one night said she saw the menacing entity standing in her yard next to a tree. She was caught in a mesmerizing stare unable to take her eyes off the strange form. Then it suddenly flew away. Keel and a local sheriff interviewed the resident who showed them how tall the entity was in comparison to the tree it stood next to. It was at least 8 feet tall.

Frightening encounters

A woman leaving her house and about to enter her car was so frightened by a tall, dark, winged figure suddenly standing up from behind a nearby parked car that she dropped her infant! A teenage couple making out in the backseat of their parent’s car were suddenly bathed in a fiery light and a mysterious being approached them from within the blinding veil of luminosity. When the incident was suddenly over the young man felt an irritation in his eyes. A visit to the doctor the next day due to the pain and swelling revealed he had a case of conjunctivitis. Usually associated with viewing a radioactive flash without protective goggles. An old World War II explosives depot was not far from the river in the nearby woods. There teenagers and kids hung out on Saturday Nights partying and exploring, that is until Mothman sightings occurred and a curious “Zone of Fear” emerged where people would go into hysterics if they crossed a certain invisible line in the area. Keel investigated this area with local witnesses.

More shocking incidents

In another incident some teenagers were out driving when they spotted a winged entity chasing their car! The driver pushed the accelerator pedal all the way to the floor trying to evade the mysterious creature that kept up with them at over 100 mph.! All inside the car went into hysterics unable to deal with what had happened. Finally, the enigmatic intruder flew off leaving them in shock. The incident was reported to the police as were many such encounters that left local residents stunned. Among one of the more bizarre aspects of the entire ordeal was the persistence by several of the townspeople reporting dreams of floating Christmas packages on the surface of the river!

Who were they?

In the morning prior to the massive failure of the Silver Bridge unknown intruders were seen climbing about the structure of the steel beams. It was assumed that they were state or government inspectors, but later reports revealed that the inspection had already been conducted some time before. When asked to describe the men who were there, witnesses described “Men in Black” appearances! That night in the midst of rush hour traffic as Christmas shoppers sat idling in the frigid temperatures of the winter night bumper to bumper the unthinkable happened!

Tragic fate

Tension cables began to screech and break. Steel girders started to twist giving off ominous sounds of metal failure! Those stuck in traffic on the bridge had no chance as the bridge swayed and plunged into the cold dark waters of the Ohio River below! At least 46 drivers drown while more cars and trucks sunk to the bottom of the river bed. It was the worst bridge tragedy in US history at that point due to the number of people caught in the collapse and unable to escape. John A. Keel’s worst fears were realized. All along he had been trying to determine what it all meant.

Summation

Haunted by the vision of Christmas packages floating on top of the darkened icy waters of the Ohio River had been a sinister warning from wherever the Mothman had come from. Was it the angel of death? Keel had studied in detail many paranormal, haunting manifestations, UFO sightings, and Forte phenomena and was convinced they all came from one source that originated from planet earth and have been with us (mankind) since the very beginning while trying to convince us otherwise. Was the Mothman a harbinger of disasters yet to come? John A. Keel wrote several books on related incidents all over the world along with his journeys to uncover the unknown. He lamented the loss of many he had met along the way warning the reader not to get involved with the phenomenon. There was only one problem. Apparently he was already too intertwined with it to follow his own advice!

To this day a museum and festival commemorate the tragedy while occasional sightings of the creature still persist. Authorities never determined the exact cause of the bridge collapse.

Christmas Miracles in War Time?

 

It would seem unusual if not contradictory for us to think that in times of war there would be any semblance of peace, humanity, or religious comfort on Christmas in the midst of conflict. Though many strange incidents have manifested themselves in the fog of battle one could probably deem little if anything that could demonstrate Christian acknowledgment of the birth of our savior in those troubled times, yet there are compelling instances of incomprehensible acts of peace during the horror of war attributable to our

beloved Christmas Day.

Overcoming war

The year is 1914 and World War I had broken out! Across a vast region known in France as “No Man’s Land” a horrible stalemate has occurred. The two opposing sides, the British, and French have dug a long line of trenches as have the Germans hundreds of yards apart. The land that separates the two factions is nothing but a deforested battleground of artillery craters, barbed wire, devastated grounds blasted by mortar shells and cannon, along with the dead who lie undiscovered. The stench of death is everywhere. Machine gun crews sit waiting for an offensive as battle weary soldiers crouch in trenches with water at ankle depth, rodent infestations, and the constant impending prospect of death hanging in the smoke-filled air.

A bizarre twist

On Christmas Eve something inexplicable happens! battle-hardened soldiers of both sides emerge from their trenches. They sing Christmas hymns and call out to their enemies on the other side of the battleground. They begin kicking around soccer balls, greeting their enemy with blessings, and eventually exchanging photos of their families with each other. As opposed to the orders of their superiors, the Germans, French, and English troops even offer simple Christmas gifts to one another. Despite the orders from their commanders who make their deadly plans in safe and hospitable quarters far from the battlefield, the horrors of war are temporarily abandoned by young men who instead choose to embrace all of mankind and celebrate Christmas. It is all but an outright miracle that first year of World War I. No order was given. No policy provided for such a show of humanity, yet this expression of brotherly love on the battlefield did indeed occur.

New realization

The year is 1944. Europe is in the grip of a desperate war of liberation by the Allied forces and the German Army who has just unleashed an unexpected offensive catching the American troops by surprise on the eve of Christmas. As weary American soldiers and their allies anticipate a war that is over by Christmas in Berlin, Hitler and his plans do not allow for such a scenario. Instead, a blitzkrieg is launched against a victor who has driven back the Germans since D-Day on June 6th. Now with Armored columns of Panzer and Tiger Tanks leading the way for thousands of German infantry following, all dreams of the end to hostilities by Christmas 1944 are shattered! The record snowfall has neutralized Allied air superiority so American and British attack aircraft are unable to operate under such cloudy conditions. Hitler’s minions now take full advantage! The front lines in the Ardennes forest are overwhelmed.

Unlikely confrontation

Yet, somehow God reaches through the carnage. An American patrol lost behind the rapidly changing enemy lines end up piercing through the darkness of the chilling night and happen upon the household of a French woman and her son. They politely ask for shelter from the cold and she is accommodating enough to allow them to enter, lay down their arms, and sit to a Christmas Eve meal. The exhausted and hungry American GI’s happily comply. However, not long after the Americans have arrived there is another knock on the women’s door. Now, a German formation of troops stands at her door asking for relief from the harsh winter cold. They too are hungry and tired. They too are Christians who are aware of Christmas eve.

No killing allowed!

Stunned as this brave women informs the German soldiers there are Americans here and there will be no violence on this sacred holy night. The German soldiers are willing to comply. They lay down their weapons, calmly greet the Americans seated at the woman’s table and she feeds them the best that she can. The Americans and Germans are civil toward each other obviously wishing the war to be over. Among the Germans is a corpsman who inspects the wounds of a suffering American soldier and treats him. Bandaging and applying a disinfectant to the American soldier’s injuries. That night after a peaceful and respectful Christmas Eve the soldiers depart with no ill will toward to one another and the confusing incident is bloodlessly resolved. Years later one of the American soldiers seeks to re-unite with the boy who lived with his mother and they joyfully meet again! The event is celebrated on the TV show “Unsolved Mysteries” hosted by actor and World War II veteran Robert Stack decades later! One must ask how this poor woman was able to accommodate two patrols of American and German troops at her dining table, but these are the miracles that sometimes grace us with their majesty on an occasion we know as Christmas.

Saving the Innocent

As American forces pushed for the liberation of island chains in the Pacific theater of World War II where bitter sea battles and beach landings had exacted terrible casualties, American servicemen reached out to natives on these islands indoctrinated by the Japanese to think they would be slaughtered by the invading American forces. Instead Americans offered them food, water, and peaceful surrender if they were Japanese troops. Some of the Japanese would surrender peacefully knowing American doctrine was more humane, but the more hardened captives would often have a grenade hidden on them and kill all those around them not only themselves-as many Americans as they could. Natives of Saipan and Okinawa had to be reassured by their American liberators that no harm would come to them but in some instances as American US Marines pleaded with local villagers they actually jumped off cliffs to their deaths having been propagandized by Japanese lies under their brutal occupation! Many an Asian child was restored from assured death by starvation to being fed and medically treated by American doctors and Corpsman after these bloody Pacific amphibious assaults! Soon the Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwan peoples would learn of the humanity of Christian faith especially on Christmas Day.

Under God rebuilding came

The grace of Christianity would not just extend in isolated incidents before the war had ended. In the aftermath of World War II in Europe millions of people starved and suffered homelessness as Joseph Stalin cut off Eastern Europe and proclaimed the evils of free enterprise while starving and restricting his very own people! During Christmas of the following year of 1946 thousands of airlifts were achieved using DC-3 Cargo planes to drop off basic food stuffs and other much needed supplies to those whose lives hung in the balance! The war of propaganda over Communism and free markets was waged as the US and its allies attempted to care for the starving and afflicted in the aftermath of the worst world conflict of all time! Christmas played a part in spreading the generosity of America to the masses of the afflicted in nations ravaged by the war. As Christmas unfolded over a war torn European continent. Care and goodwill were there. Had the scenario been different and Axis Forces had won history would have been quite tragically different. Little if any humanity would have been shown much less the celebration of Christmas.

 

The Game We Play on Planet Earth

The Game We Play on Planet Earth

Whenever I dip my mind into the past
I’m reminded that nothing in the present will ever last
Quickly I realize I was unfit for this role I was cast
Like swaying in the crow’s nest above the mast,

Few things seem to last like love
My wounded little Turtle Dove
The stuff dreams are made of,

You spend your time thinking happiness is a sin
And wondering why it seems you can never win
That’s the game you play on planet earth
Dominated by fatality, betrayal, and Mirth,

This is the game we play on planet Earth
Please dear elderly lady hang onto your purse
Think I’m in need of a beautiful nurse
Follow the heroes who all come home in a hearse,

Few things seem to last like love
My wounded little Turtle Dove
The stuff dreams are made of,

They say that we have only the illusion of land
That happened when God gave Satan command
The game we play on Earth in shifting sand
Please oh angel of mercy take my hand,

I try not to be too philosophical
Is the glass half empty or is it half full?
We are like rogue flying seagulls
Blown by the wind and living off handfuls,

The futility of human nature and still I try
Somehow this translated into my lover and I
There was no reason that we could not see eye to eye
The game we play on planet Earth we’re here to cry,

Few things seem to last like love
My wounded little Turtle Dove
The stuff dreams are made of,

You said that you cared but it wasn’t enough
Better to be alone than get your elbows scuffed
When things could be easy better to make it rough
Futility of human nature self destructive and tough,

Do you ever stop and think of what you could have had?
Probably not, because it might make you sad
Better to move forward and get ready for the next fad
Don’t look back it might drive you mad,

Few things seem to last like love
My wounded little Turtle Dove
The stuff dreams are made of.

A Hollywood Happy Ending

All I want for Christmas is a Hollywood happy ending
Instead all of these lonely nights I’ve been spending
Where wishes and reality just keep blending
Lord, I’ll be good and be sure to say my blessings,

How many of us wish we could turn back the clock
It’s no good we know but we refused to take stock
Now you just look into the mirror at the image you mock
No miracle at the door where opportunity knocks,

Still I keep wishing for a Hollywood happy ending
Where the heartache begins to start mending
Where my conscience never needs any defending
Lord this promise that I keep sending,

Oh, I’ll be a good boy I swear
No worse for all the wear
You might even say that I care
Even if I notice she has a nice pair,

I’m not asking for a rich bikini mistress with golden hair
Not asking for a pile of money that I won’t have to share
Not asking for fame and glory that’ll never be there
Just give me a Hollywood happy ending, is that fair?

Just get me out of this living nightmare
Need your super powers I can’t find anyone who cares
Just one loving woman that I can trust
It’s got to be real and not just lust,

Just one Hollywood happy ending
I know your ear drums I’ve been bending
I’ll say another prayer upon knees I’ll be bending
This request, oh Lord, I will be sending,

Oh, I’ll be a good boy I swear
No worse for all the wear
You might even say that I care
Even if I notice she has a nice pair,

No hot blondes in Corvettes-not a good bet
Not looking for a four legged furry pet
Don’t need a brand new silverware set
Just allow me to forget all those past regrets,

All I want for Christmas is a Hollywood happy ending
Instead all of these lonely nights I’ve been spending
Where wishes and reality just keep blending
Lord, I’ll be good and be sure to say my blessings.

My Life the Big Joke

My Life the Big Joke

Seeing clearly there’s no one near me
No I didn’t drive them away
Remember Baby I begged you to stay,

Taking a trip back in time
A bitter taste in my mouth like lime
That’s okay put your tarot cards away,

You never intended to stay
You’ve always existed as a runaway
Every man is another Karmic debt to pay,

This damn time machine
Never moves forward it seems
It seems to hover over broken dreams,

Well that’s okay put the gun away
That’s exactly how I lost my son one day
It seems the future is made of wet clay,

I’ll bet you’ve got quite a history
So many things unspoken in your revelry
That poker face will it be leather or lace,

Can’t predict if you’ll end up at my place
I’ll sit back and have some more wine
Much less risky and so divine,

It beats hearing you pine
For a past lover who had no spine
Just more Fool’s Gold in the mine,

My, how they whine how they whine!
I used to be such a funny bloke
Now I realize that my life’s been a joke,

Someday out at sea
They will properly bury me
And I won’t be a burden to anybody,

Seeing clearly there’s no one near me
No I didn’t drive them away
Remember Baby I begged you to stay.

The Casualty of the Imperfect Angel

Casualty of the Imperfect Angel

Sleepwalking through life day and night
All it took was the third betrayal and I lost sight
Of my purpose in life call it emotional fright
Now I’m the specter who won’t go to the light,

She was your lover she was your life long friend
And she abandoned you at the very end,

Vague impressions of the needless fight
When life becomes the endless night
A storm, now tie a key to the string on your kite
Take a journey that may not end right,

She was your partner until the bitter end
That all changed when pain and reality blend,

She was the blue sky in your mind
That rare hope you could never find
Sometimes living sometimes maligned
You didn’t get her drift it was too well refined,

Your eternal mate upon which you could depend
She understood the signal you would send,

You stumbled through life with your plans
Fate seemed to always be changing hands
Sometimes it seemed you were on foreign land
The duality of woman and man,

She was the sanctuary you needed to defend
Not just a casual friend now you’re near the end,

Life is short-lived joy and prolonged strife
Sometimes its like living on the edge of a knife
For some it’s a self made coffin they call life
So graceful you could not follow her stride,

So when was it up to her to decide?
Well my friend your imperfect angel lied.

That Good Old Mistletoe

I’m too far away from jingle bells
Used up all my coins on wishing wells
This time of year when the toys all sell
Feeling empty now or can you tell?

When lovers hold hands to keep warm
Sitting at the fireplace on a winter storm
The moonlight glistens on fallen snow
All the kids faces with that expectant glow,

It’s Christmas time oh don’t you know?
Where did everyone in my life go?
I thought we might get snow this year
Just when I thought you were sincere,

Let me get lost in a candle’s glow
I couldn’t find the good old Mistletoe
My heart seems caught in some ice flow
Memories haunt wherever you go,

St. Nicolas is off on a magic sleigh ride
Long ago before I lost my bride
There was something gone from deep inside
Lost every love even though I tried,

Angels sit on top of Christmas trees
The faithful fall on bended knee
Surely life will go on without me
Just as children will laugh so happily,

A woman’s heart is like the holidays
It swells with joy when I’m away
They were never really meant to stay
Love is a cheap commodity anyway,

Christmas now has just begun
I should be merry like everyone
Sadly that is except for some
The lonely man becomes numb,

But truly he is the thoughtless fool
Failing to remember that golden rule
What you receive is what you give
Time to make the choice to heal and live,

Christmas was fun because of those around
Just to share that special sound
No other time could that magic be found
Why can’t I pick myself up off the ground?

The Christmas Time Machine

The Christmas Time Machine

No memory I could recall innocent at last
Somehow I stumbled into the misty past
Like the wind on a ship’s frozen icy mast
Drawing me backward my expression aghast,

Dreaming of bright packages underneath a tree
Snowy white cartoon characters dancing for me
The spirit of Christmas so present so free
Decorating our fragrant evergreen as a family,

A poem by Charles Dickens that became surreal
The Night Before Christmas I could taste and feel
It wasn’t about the presents, the candy, or the meal
It was the fantasy of wonder and magic so real,

When the hearts of men soften for a short time
When people become enchanted over a holiday rhyme
When forgiveness and care happen at the drop of a dime
When families put aside differences and become sublime,

The little peasant girl walked down an icy street to dream
At the store window she stopped to stare with gleam
With only a box of matches to gaze through the glass
Her ragged clothing hardly enough while the wind harassed,

With each lighted match her dreams emerged briefly
Of warmth and family her pleasure surged so uniquely
Of love and joy she could finally feel completely
The last match glowed she put it back in the box so neatly,

The cold returned again she noted ever so meekly
Her joy subsided as she reflected on her future so bleakly,
Where was her guardian angel was she out to sea?
The little maiden shivered and began to falter so gently,

The snow drifted down in silence upon the cold street
A policemen on patrol found a bundle at his feet
He held the little girl’s body now white as a sheet
He prayed she was with our savior where she’d taken a seat,

Strangely, I awoke from my mesmerizing daze
My eyes clearing slowly from the chilling haze
If only I could have saved that little girl at that cold site
Only a miracle the messiah could perform on Christmas night.

Baby, Where Did Christmas Go?

Baby, Where Did Christmas Go?

It’s Christmas time so near
A time to love and forget the fear
A time to embrace the season’s cheer
But Baby you’re nowhere near,

It used to be such a happy time
When I was young and in my prime
Decorations shining brightly as a dime
Now I ask is this Christmas even mine?

Where are all the happy endings?
While no one feels like offending
Those cheerful cards I remember sending
It seems that sorrow and the holidays are blending,

For my little ones I wrapped those presents
Hopefully they’ll be joyful descendants
Who’ll pass along love that is heaven sent
Perhaps there will be sorrow they can prevent,

Where’s that kiss beneath the Mistletoe?
Where’s that child’s excited glow?
Where did all that magic ever go?
Only a white Christmas that never showed,

This not the time of year to be alone
If only miracles could be shown
Baby just your voice without a harsh tone
Overlooking the cold that cuts to the bone,

Oh Saint Nicholas I know you were real
Sadly, this is not the way I feel
Is it just that I’m not on an even keel?
Must be some joy somewhere I can steal,

Regardless it’s Christmas time for the pure of heart
Guess I’m not so very smart
Giving should be important from the very start
Yet, tell me who so many families are so far apart?

Strange Places on the Face of the Earth

 

It has been said that we know more about the surface of the moon than we know about the ocean floors. Although 70% of the earth is covered by water there are still many mysteries that elude modern science. For instance, just recently a giant sunken continent in the Indian Ocean has just been discovered. Could this be the true Atlantis?

Early deep sea tests

Since the 1930’s oceanographers had a particular tool for investigating the deep waters of the sea. It was known as the bathysphere. A globe shaped metallic submersible that was lowered into the ocean by cable and air breathing hose. This mode of exploration was limited and dangerous as the further down the bathysphere was lowered the greater the pressures, the less light, and the increased chances of the lifeline umbilical cable getting tangled or damaged thus suffocating the occupants of the vessel.

New requirements

At 1000 feet the pressure is so great that lead pipe will crush. For many areas of the ocean floor in the Atlantic and Pacific the average depth can be over 10 thousand feet or even more and this does not account for trenches where depths have been known to exceed 35,000 feet. It is here that a completely new design would have to be created in order to keep from imploding once submerged to such great depths.

Victims of the depths

One can remember the horrific losses of the USS Thresher and USS Scorpion, both advanced nuclear subs that set a new standard for capability, yet both met with tragedy. The USS Thresher imploded due to her ballast tanks failing to blow dooming the sub and its crew to sink below crush depth and become a watery grave. The USS Scorpion was, at first, thought to have suffered a similar fate, or perhaps from an unknown phenomenon known as deep water tidal waves generated by volcanic activity. Later, after thorough intelligence probes were launched it was determined that the Russian navy had set a trap for the USS Scorpion in the Mediterranean and an anti-submarine launched air to surface missile once the Scorpion had begun to rise above ocean level.

Covert attack

The Soviet KA-25 Kamov anti-submarine warfare helicopter is suspected as having sunk the SSN 589 Skipjack class Scorpion built in 1958 and sunk in 1968. The Russians planned this act of vengeance after one of their subs the Potemkin sank while trailing a NATO anti-sub warfare exercise. Actually sunk due to mechanical or systems failure, the Soviets blamed the American fleet for the tragedy.

Old technology

The bathysphere quickly reached its level limitation due to the inability to get much useful visual data at depth and also due to the limits of the cable delivered air, towing capacity, and communications with the surface ship. At the depths the bathysphere was able to achieve if a tiny pin hole leak were to occur it would tear the interior and anyone inside like machine gun bullets!

Daring attempt

In 1960, a monumental project was undertaken and the deepest known place in the ocean was chosen for the point of exploration. The Challenger Deep, part of the Marianas Trench in the Pacific Ocean was measured at more than 35,000 feet, more than 7 miles in depth. A deep sea craft was designed specifically for this project. Its inventor called it the “Bathyscaphe”. Shaped more like a conventional submarine and utilizing two inner hulls to allow for expansion and to offset the extreme pressures that would have crushed a normal sub, this dicey test of man against nature was commenced. Purchased by the US Navy from its Swiss builders, the “Trieste” was purpose built for a possibly deadly mission.

Unique Construction

The outer hull had a secondary inner compartment filled with gasoline, water, and iron shot to be used as ballast while under pressure was also able to withstand the forces of compressibility at such a great depth. Then there was the inner compartment where two men could operate instruments, steer the craft, and use a powerful beam of light to illuminate the incredible darkness that prevailed more than 7 miles below the ocean surface. Scientists thinking that life could not exist in such a hostile environment were astonished to photograph a snail fish sitting at the bottom of the rocky floor. The abundance of life throughout the harsh extremes of earth from bacteria at 30,000 feet depth in the earth’s crust, to Penguins that can live under the incredible cold of the Antarctic, to organisms that exist in the vacuum of space, the persistence of life never ceases to amaze.

Wrong conclusion

It was the Trieste II built in 1968 that would be submerged in close proximity to the wreck site of the SSN 589 in 1969 that would dive to the depths were the Scorpion was located to inspect the remains of the crushed hull. However, at the time the US Navy was thinking that the Scorpion had succumbed to an accident or unknown deep sea current of some kind. A conspiracy by the Russian navy had not yet been explored.