The publisher of this site, Andrew Mayne, once told me his take on the early films of action director John Woo. Sure, the fighting is insane and the plot is pretty hard nosed but since the film is subtitled, how does any English speaker know if the acting is any good?

Which is exactly how I feel about this Bigfoot video from the Ukraine. It’s almost note perfect as a horror film, which the heavy breathing and the fog drenched forrest. In fact, if this were shot in Gary, Indiana and not amongst the foothills of Eastern Europe the way we’d call shenanigans is the unnatural tone and content of the man behind the camera’s speech.

Since the speaker in this video is not conversing the King English (or if he is, he’s having a stroke) our natural BS detecter is blurred.

Is there anyone who can decipher what the man is saying? Does anyone buy this?

[Phantoms & Monsters]

As the family enjoyed their time in the outdoors, a 200-pound spotted eagle ray suddenly leapt out of the water and into the boat, landing right on top of Jenny.  The animal was so large and heavy, her family couldn’t get it off of her.

Luckily, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission boat was nearby and heard the family’s screaming and came to the rescue.  Miraculously, neither Jenny or the ray seemed worse for wear after the four-minute encounter.

We mentioned Benjamin Radford’s new book Tracking The Chupacabra both on the blog and in our YouTube series but now the man has put his money where his mouth is.

To briefly recap: Radford makes two major claims via his book research. First, the modern Chupacabra legend was born in 1995. Chiefly, the name Chupacabra and the description of it as a vampiric, reptilian creature. Second, it was likely inspired by 1995 action/thriller Species.

Although his second point might forever be up for debate, the first can be disproved pretty concretely if someone found the right evidence. So that’s why Radford has put up $250 of his own cash (plus a signed copy of the would-be invalidated book) if anyone can find him a published account of a creature named Chupacabra that bares a similar description from before 1990.

We aren’t quite sure he’s choosing 1990 as the line in the sand and not 1995. But, them’s the rules.

To the library!

[Cryptomundo]

[Tracking The Chupacabra on Amazon]

A pilot got a very good glimpse at what are some are calling a UFO over Norway. What is known is that the airborne item flew at about 8,000 feet and caused delays at the Oslo International Airport last Thursday.

Here is the pilot’s description:

Suddenly, Captain Johan Kylborn discovered something unexpected in the air. “I am sure that it was some kind of aircraft. It had a clear wing profile, and was probably a glider, it may have been a hang glider or a microlight, but it’s hard to tell,” said the Captain.

According to UFO Casebook, a hang gliding expert was among those delayed. He claims it could not have been any kind of glider at that height. Air traffic control logs also have no record of any gliders or weather balloons in the area.

It’s rare you see a UFO description include the physical structure of the aircraft at close range. Normally, lights or movement are the key characteristics. As is currently the case in Colorado.

[UFO Casebook]

Although this is barely within our news coverage area, we thought bringing you footage of this amazing machete slingshot/rifle hybrid would prove that this beautiful dream is indeed science fact.

Favorite moments in video:

• The sound of an oncoming car while our host is explaining his contraption. If you’re just randomly driving down the road and see this giant bald dude wielding such an insane weapon, what is your first thought? I’m glad I updated my will? What is Uncle Fester doing with a knife gun? I always knew this is how I would go?

• The startling accuracy of the weapon. Granted, we don’t know how many takes this took to edit down to the handful of successful attempts but still…

• He’s shooting a box for a home treadmill. A nation of overweight YouTubers express a tsunami of catharsis.

• He follows up a video of the most badass DIY weapon in a decade with a video spotlighting two tiny hand slingshots. As the old adage on genre writing goes, your monster movie is over when the gigantic bald dude stops firing machetes into a treadmill box with pants peeing velocity.

Only two elements that could have made it better:

• Slow motion

• Death metal

[BoingBoing]

Andrew is very excited that his first science fiction book The Grendel’s Shadow is released. Brian favorably compares the human race to ants and wonders aloud if we will survive an unknowable cosmic disaster. After having his curiosity piqued by an email from a French listener, Andrew explains what life will be like in a post-Singularity economy where no one wants for anything. Justin calls one of his favorite authors “full of butts” during a conversation about overpopulation.

BONUS: Listen to the end of the podcast for an audio presentation of the prologue and first chapter from Andrew’s new ebook The Grendel’s Shadow. Then buy it for only .99 at Amazon.com by clicking the image below!

Try out the brand new PODCASTR player, featuring wireless syncing between desktop browsers and iOS devices, by clicking on the image:

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[Cryptomundo]

A cobra has escaped from its enclosure and is on the loose at the Bronx Zoo.  Everything is FINE, just stay away from the Reptile House.

“While the roughly 20-inch-long Egyptian cobra – a highly venomous species of snake – has been unaccounted for since Friday afternoon, zoo officials say they’re confident it hasn’t gone far and isn’t in a public area. Its enclosure was in an isolation area not open to visitors.”

[Aol News]

According to a new documentary airing in Europe, the God of all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity and Islam… had a wife.

And her name Asherah.

And she has largely been scrubbed out of the Bible.

And she is probably pissed.

“You might know him as Yahweh, Allah or God. But on this fact, Jews, Muslims and Christians, the people of the great Abrahamic religions, are agreed: There is only one of Him,” writes Stavrakopoulou in a statement released to the British media. “He is a solitary figure, a single, universal creator, not one God among many … or so we like to believe.”

“After years of research specializing in the history and religion of Israel, however, I have come to a colorful and what could seem, to some, uncomfortable conclusion that God had a wife,” she added.

Stavrakopoulou bases her theory on ancient texts, amulets and figurines unearthed primarily in the ancient Canaanite coastal city called Ugarit, now modern-day Syria. All of these artifacts reveal that Asherah was a powerful fertility goddess.

The Asherah theory has been around since 1967 but the recent work of Exeter’s Francesca Stavrakopoulou is most credible evidence found to substantiate the claim.

[Discovery]

As many of you may remember, last year J. Craig Venter and his team created the first synthetic life form by replacing the genetic code of the bacterium Mycoplasma capricolum with DNA that they created themselves. In order to create and identify thier own DNA, they composed it from two quotes. One quote was from Richard Feynman (and was actually misquoted), and the second quote was from James Joyce’s A Potrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Not long after this announcement Venter received a cease and desist letter from the Joyce estate claiming violation of fair use. So now there is a situation where life was created using information that falls under copyright and is faced with a cease and desist letter. Does this mean that the life must be destroyed? The bacterium has already reproduced and is a viable life form.

“Which brings to mind the question…are we now nearing a point where copyright law can result in the retraction of a life form?”

It will be interesting to see where this case ends up.

[Forbes via Tor]

[The Occultist]

Although slowly killing the trees, the phenomenon is seemingly helping the local population. People in Sindh have reported fewer mosquitos than they would have expected given the amount of stagnant water in the area. It is thought the mosquitoes are getting caught in the spiders’ webs, reducing their numbers and the associated risk of malaria.

[NewScientist]

As reported on UFO Casebook, a Louisiana star gazer looking to get some shots of the recent Supermoon might have snapped a pic or two of an unsuspecting space craft not used to being visible in regular moonlight.

The object apparently held perfectly still while the entirety of the photographers family took turns locating it with the camera.

[UFO Casebook]

Ever wondered if there was a degree ever more impractical than your double major of philosophy and sociology? We encourage you to submit your application to Kemerovo State University where you can become culturally enriched and educated at their recently announced Yeti Institute.

The facility comes after a recent run of Abominable Snowman sightings in the Siberian mountains. It will be headed up by Igor Burtsev who believes the current creatures being spotted are surviving Neanderthals.

He explains:

‘We spoke to local residents’, said Dr Igor Burtsev, who conducted an expedition last summer and will head the new institute at Kemerovo State University. ‘They told us Yetis were stealing their animals.’

The academic claims around 30 Yetis live in a remote region of Mount Shoria in in southern Siberia.

He strongly denies accusations that the ’sightings’ are a bizarre ruse to attract tourists to the far-flung region.

Reports say the two-legged creatures are heavy-set, more around 7ft tall and resemble bears.

‘Their bodies were covered in red and black fur, and they could climb trees,’ said one account.

We immediately have two questions. Is there anything more awesome than this? Will they accept transfer credits from community college?

[Daily Mail via Cryptomundo]