While former Russian president Vladimir Putin was publicly flirting with a return to power, he finally gave his opinion on a far more important matter, the ongoing presence of Yetis and Wood Goblins in the remote areas of his expansive home country.

We’ve previously covered this fascinating battle in depth on the site and on the podcast.

Outdoor Life writer Gayne C. Young published a lengthy written interview with Putin about hunting, fishing and camping in the great outdoors of Russia. However, the question and answer we most cared about did not make the final cut. Specifically, it was “Are there Yetis or Russian ‘wood goblins’ in the taiga?”

Here is the answer, as published in a French Magazine:

Putin responded to the question with this answer: “Everything is possible. I recommend you come and look. Will not guarantee success, but the search itself will surely bring satisfaction. ”

[Outdoor Life via Cryptomundo]

The rapscallions who make up the band of mischief makers known as Anonymous had a new target this weekend, UFO believers. Unfortunately for them, the more cyber-savvy of the sky watchers were ready for the hoax.

“A triangle of about 8 yellow lights in the sky” is the key phrase Anonymous told those who wanted to participate to use on various UFO report blogs and forums yesterday. Their hope was to spark an international panic that hundreds, if not thousands, of alien ships of a similar design are moving into position around the globe.

But if various UFO forum threads are any indication, the hoax got little to no traction. A Google news alert for the key phrase only brings up one blog post discussing the plan before it went into motion.

[Ghost Theory]

A hulking figure in the woods lunches toward you and your hunting party. In the woods, instinct and a steady hand are your only weapons and this is no different. In the split second before you pull the trigger, time slows down. You wonder if you’ll regret this, what this creature is and why he became so enraged.

Time’s up. Trigger pulled. The hairy creature slumps to the ground, drawing last breath in the form of desperate, sputtering heaves.

You just killed Bigfoot. The good news is, you aren’t alone. According to a compilation of press reports by RobertLindsay.com beginning in 1829 at least 36 people have reportedly shot and killed Sasquatch. The bigger question is what people do with the body?

Some folks buried the noble creature. Some stuffed the corpse so it could be secretly displayed to the upper crust at a member’s only country club. Some turned over the remains to shadowy government officials.

Great research.

[RobertLindsay.com via Cryptomundo]

They call them hot Jupiters. A series of gas giant planets in far off solar systems that appear to circle their star in two very peculiar ways. First, it swings perilously close. Second, a quarter of them seemingly do it backwards compared to the normal orbit behavior.

But how the so called “flipped hot Jupiters” come to be is fascinating. In essence they begin like our own Jupiter, as a gas giant further out in the solar system. At some point, they come in contact with a larger planet whose orbit is so similar it eventually begins to “interact tidally”:

This tidal squeezing is like friction, dissipating energy and causing the planet’s orbit to shrink.

Sometimes, while this process is happening, the orientation of planet’s orbit can be shifted so it’s not in the same plane as the other planets. Occasionally, the orbit can be changed so much it completely flips around.

“We saw this for the first time because we did the calculation much more carefully than people had ever done before,” Rasio said. “The basic physics is just Newtonian mechanics. All of that comes out naturally of simply calculating these very tiny gradual changes that build on.”

Emosewa.

[Space]

Residents of Binh Dong Commune of Binh Son District in Quang Ngai, Vietnam have been overrun. Strange, gigantic footprints in the snow. An otherworldly howl piercing the still of night.

The beast, whatever it is, left a grisly calling card for one dog owner.

However, no one has seen the strange creature that could have caused such large footprints measuring almost 12-15cm. Over 20 dogs have also been killed in the area and now around 280 households of the commune are living in panic.

Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, a 70-year-old woman was the first to find her dead pet dog on the night of May 7. She said that her dog was found without its head and some body organs.

Meanwhile, a few villages over, a pack of wild dog-like animals are taking their liberties with a local neighborhood. Biting anyone who attempts to interrupt their meals of chickens, pigs, goats or horses.

Here is how they are described:

…in the border districts of Si Ma Cai and Muong Khuong in the northwestern province of Lao Cai, people have repeatedly seen strange species of dog like animals.

The strange creatures have bitten about 15 people in Ban Me, Thao Chu Phin, Quang Than San and Si Ma Cai communes in the two districts.

According to local residents, the strange doglike creatures have slender, long bodies, slanting red eyes and their fur coat is marked with white spots, black and white spots or yellow stripes.

What is happening to Vietnam? Did someone open a hellmouth?

[VietnamNet]

Seriously. The whole album. Boom box. Center court at the most famous arena in the world. Sasquatch.

[YouTube]

Recently declassified documents have stirred up one of my absolute favorite conspiracy crossbreeds: JFK was killed as part of a UFO coverup.

More specifically, a new book claims to have found actual paper trail on communication Kennedy had with the USSR about UFO sightings.

“One of his concerns was that a lot of these UFOs were being seen over the Soviet Union and he was very concerned that the Soviets might misinterpret these UFOs as U.S. aggression, believing that it was some of our technology,” Lester told AOL News.

“I think this is one of the reasons why he wanted to get his hands on this information and get it away from the jurisdiction of NASA so he could say to the Soviets, ‘Look, that’s not us, we’re not doing it, we’re not being provocative. In fact, just to show you that it’s not us, what do you think about us working together on the exploration of space?'” Lester added.

Of course many sightings of UFOs on American soil have been widely rumored to be low-flying Soviet air craft. Assuming the same might be true in reverse, was ol’ JFK trying to throw an alien smokescreen in the eyes of our Cold War nemesis?

[AOL News]

Wim Hof is called the Iceman.

He runs up mountains like Kilimanjaro in only shorts, he sits in buckets of ice for record amounts of time and is genuinely a worldwide, five-star badass. Now, you might be able to add scientific proof that our brains have staggering control over our immune system as part of his resume.

According to Science Daily, initial test trials have shown that Hof’s body indeed suppressed natural immune system response by 50% when injected with endotoxin. Hof applied a meditation ritual during the experiment. The injection normally triggers flu-like symptoms.

Yet not so in Hof, who says the secret to his chilly feats of endurance is being able to turn his own thermostat up by using his brain. Scientists caution not to get too excited yet, we still need to see larger trails. And we need more endotoxin.

[Science Daily]

Post-Katrina, there is only one gang that rules the once-flooded streets of this suffering city. You can hear their affiliation calls bounce off the battered houses through all hours of the night:

Cluck. Cluck.

Chickens rule this town! Feral ones that don’t scare from humans no more. So far they haven’t become violent. So far.

[NOLA]

Make no mistake: this is an intricate, delicate work of art no matter if it’s a commercial or not. A Japanese telco built a massive wooden gravity marimba operated by a single ball through a gorgeous woodland area.

The moral of the story? The woods are so boring you get ideas like this. Thanks to @Sandtiger on Twitter.

[YouTube]

It is very likely a combination of pre-2012 posturing by the White House and a fiscal hardline amongst the Republican party could cause our United States government to shut down this weekend. This is disappointing and annoying.

The silver lining? Conspiracy theorists can start spinning into overdrive. Break out the tin foil hats, check on your emergency seed garden and text your militia buddys. Here is a smattering of our favorites:

• China has ordered the shut down. They will use their opportunity to call in the debt we owe them and invade US soil [GodLikeProductions]

• Shut down means that non-essential entities like the EPA would cease opporation. That would mean radiation monitoring from Japan would be affected giving the Government leeway to fudge results [ConspiracyCom]

• Shutdown will only be avoided with assistance from Obama-friendly alien P’lod [Weekly World News]