It’s been ages since my last post, many apologies folks, things have been busy, I’ve been out of the country and life did that thing where time flies by at a rate of knots! So I thought I would do another ‘World of Weird Round-up’ marking some historical events as is my wont occasionally!
The 3rd of October marked the 10 year anniversary of the UFO sighting at Breckenridge, Colorado. Multiple witnesses reported seeing three shiny objects floating in the sky on Friday morning, and that they moved in unusual ways from being in a straight line to forming a triangle, they also sat motionless for periods of time - up to 15 minutes before a flash of light occured and they shot off across the mountains. A television station in Utah also reported similar sightings over Salt Lake City. NORAD said they were not tracking anything in the area but were investigating, no explanation was ever established.
In 1988, 11 year old Annette Sagers disappeared without a trace from a bus stop at the family plantation in Mount Holly, South Carolina. She was last seen on 4th October at the bus stop with her dog on her way to school, when the bus arrived 20 minutes later she was gone and authorities were alerted by her step-father when she failed to return home at the end of the school day. The weird thing about this case is that Annette’s mother, Kory Sagers Malinoski also vanished just under a year earlier from the same location on 21st November 1987 after a fight with her husband (and Annette’s step-father) Steve Malinoski. Annette left a note saying that her mother had come back and she had to go with her, it was confirmed that it was Annette’s handwriting, but whether she wrote it under duress is unclear. Kory’s family were adamant that she would not return for her daughter but not her two sons, or that she would come back and not tell them. Authorities believe that both Annette and her mother met with foul play and never left the area although this has not been proven, Steve Malinoski has maintained his innocence in both cases which remain unsolved.
Master of mystery and the macabre, Edgar Allen Poe died on October 7th 1849. Lovers of dark prose, gripping stores and gothic fiction will know his works, especially in recent times as his tales have been converted into incredibly popular TV shows such as ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’. Poe’s death is no less a dark mystery, he was found semi-conscious on October 3rd in Baltimore by Joseph W. Walker who stated he was in great distress, he was taken to Washington Medical College where he died less than a week later. The clothes he was found in were apparently not his own, and he reportedly kept shouting the name ‘Reynolds’ on the night before he died. The doctor caring for Poe said his last words were ‘Lord help my poor soul’ - all of Poe’s medical records and his death certificate have been lost.
In October 1996, 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester - the house of horrors where Fred and Rosemary West murdered and disposed of at least 12 victims, was demolished. Every piece of debris was destroyed to stop souvenir hunters ever getting a piece of the terrible place where so much depravity occured out of respect for the victims and their families.
One of the first alien abduction stories to gain wide attention happened on 15th / 16th October 1957, the case on Antonio Vilas-Boas in Brazil. There are many finer details online, but briefly, Antonio was a 23 year old farmer at the time, working out in the fields at night to avoid the hot temperatures of the day, he reported seeing a red star in the sky which moved toward him growing bigger until he could see it was an egg-shaped craft with a red light on the front. It landed on three legs and he tried to flee, initially on his tractor, but when it’s engine died he ran on foot. He said he was seized by a small humanoid dressed in a helmet and grey overalls with small, blue eyes before three others joined the first and he was dragged into the craft. Once inside he was stripped and covered in a gel-like substance, taken to a large room with red symbols (which he apparently memorized and reproduced). He was experimented on, had blood samples taken and was made to have intercourse with a ‘female’ being who indicated he had impregnated her. He was given back his clothes, taken on a tour of the craft and then put back into the field where he was taken where he watched the craft take off and leave. Four hours had passed and following his encounter Antonio suffered from many ailments including headaches, nausea and lesions later likened to radiation sickness by investigators and doctors. Antonio Vilas-Boas later became a lawyer, got married and had four children, he stuck wholeheartedly to his abduction story for the rest of his life until he died on 17th January 1991 aged 56.
Take care all!