Here’s a look at some of what’s happening across Western North Carolina this week:
• The Urban News reports that there’s a 6 p.m. meeting Monday, July 21, at the YMI Cultural Center to inform people about a proposal to redevelop Asheville’s historic center for black-owned businesses known as The Block. The Eagle Market Renaissance Development team will talk about the proposal and its impact on the South Pack Square area.
• The Weaverville Tribune‘s blog, Dropped from the Headlines, reports on an article in the July 2008 edition of The North Carolina Press Association magazine. That story states that federal law requires all reporters and photographers to wear bright safety vests when outside of their vehicles on federal-aid highways or their rights-of-way, or be subject to fines or arrest.
• The Oconoluftee Job Corps Center in Cherokee should be accepting applications for participants by the end of August, according to the Smoky Mountain Times. The center will train students ages 18 to 22, as it had for 35 consecutive years of operation until it was closed in March 2007 by the Job Corps’ national director, citing health and safety issues.
• Work continues on Transylvania County’s new public safety complex in Brevard. The facility includes a new jail, as well as space for the county’s emergency-management and communications office, as well as the sheriff and his staff.
• Here’s a real mountain mystery — D.C. Buchanan, a photographer for The Mountaineer newspaper, writes that he may have photographed a UFO during a recent photo shoot at Balsam Mountain Preserve. “What I found so interesting was that each time I tried to debunk what I was seeing, the tests prove, in fact, the objects are within the scene photographed. Aside from that, there is an obvious lighter topside and darker bottom which coincides with the position of the sun at the time the photos taken. The facts are there,” he writes. Look at his photos and decide for yourself.
• The Watauga Democrat has a long piece on the 50th anniversary of the Hilltop Drive-In and its famous Snackburger, a “whole beef patty smothered with chili and coleslaw, topped with tomato and served on a warm bun.” Once a notorious hang-out for drunks, the Boone business location morphed into a business friendly to families and hungry college kids.
• Some Polk County residents are upset at a proposed equestrian facility in the Green Creek community. At a recent hearing, the county’s zoning board heard from residents, according to The Tryon Daily Bulletin. “One of those who spoke was Roger Smith, who owns the approximately 100-acre property off Hwy. 9 and plans to donate it to the Tryon Riding and Hunt Club. The proposal includes barns for 500 horses, 10 riding rings (five for show and five warm-up rings), one steeplechase track, various riding trails and a 30-hookup recreational-vehicle park. Some of the concerns residents expressed at Monday’s hearing were related to lights and noise, increased traffic and the impact providing water to the facility will have on surrounding wells. Residents also said they thought the proposal may too large for the property.”
• A man was found guilty of first-degree murder on Monday in the 15-year-old homicide of Zilphia Louise Lowery in McDowell County.
• In a story about the county tax rate, the Clay County Progress reports some interesting property-tax rate statistics. “Among the seven counties in western North Carolina, Clay County’s property tax rate of .43 percent is fifth. The lowest tax rates are in Macon, Jackson, Swain and Cherokee counties. Only Haywood and Graham have higher rates than Clay County. … For the 2008-2009 fiscal year which began July 1, only 24 counties raised their tax rate. This is the smallest number of increases since 1998-1999. Six counties out of the 100 in the state reduced their tax rate, including Cherokee County, which dropped to .3850 percent after a property revaluation last year.”
• Cherokee County opened its new jail on July 9. The transfer of prisons was a historic moment, noted the Cherokee Scout, “as the county was operating the oldest and newest jails in the state at the same time. The old jail on Central Street was built in 1922.”
• At the Cherokee Indian reservation, there’s a proposal to sell alcohol in the tribe’s casino, reports the Smoky Mountain News. The Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise has asked the Tribal Council to consider holding a referendum. The law would only apply to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, which is currently undergoing a $650 million expansion, and not the rest of the reservation.
• “Doctors in Haywood County will soon be asked to weigh in on whether they think Haywood Regional Medical Center should merge or affiliate with another hospital,” according to the Smoky Mountain News. The hospital lost its Medicare certification in February, setting off a financial crisis, the paper reports.
• Finally, if you’re into shopping, then you might want to check out Gerber Village in south Asheville. Five Guys Burgers and Fries restaurant, the “boutique” wine shop WineStyle and Elite Athletics are all slated to open there in coming months, the Pisgah Mountain News reports. However, the second phase of the project — a dense development of condos — has been put on hold because of a down real-estate market, according to Gerber Village leasing agent John Spake.
— Jason Sandford, multimedia editor
The UFO photos are great. I’m wondering if, since they were all taken during the day at a golf course, if they were, you know, just golf balls. Either that, or there are some extremely fast, extremely small, extremely blurry alien golf enthusiasts out there.
Such photos (not appearing to the viewer but showing up on film and digital photos) are actually relatively common. One can do a search of UFO photos and find numerous other examples. Several years ago, I took a few pics of chemtrails with a digital camera, and when I pulled them up on the computer, there were two spherical, silver orbs clearly visible weaving through the trails, sun reflecting off their (apparent) metallic surface. They were posted on a website (tracers.8m).
It’s also interesting that for many months now, UFOs have been sighted by many people in Davidson County, NC. Those interested in NC sightings (and others) should check the database of http://www.nuforc.org (you can sort by state, date of sighting, etc.)
Dennis,
I’ve always suspected you had a lot of stock in ALCOA or were the top consumer of tin-foil.
[b]Dionysis:[/b] Perhaps you could be coerced into chiming in on our long-abandoned discussion of UFOs on the forums? Here’s the URL: http://www.mountainx.com/forums/viewthread/222/
“Dionysis: Perhaps you could be coerced into chiming in on our long-abandoned discussion of UFOs on the forums? Here’s the URL: http://www.mountainx.com/forums/viewthread/222/
Sure. In spite of the juvenile-level derision published here, the whole subject is (to me) a fascinating mystery, worthy of serious inquiry. I actually have quite a bit of ‘field experience’ working with the world’s largest civilian investigatory group (MUFON), which required demonstrating a significant body of knowledge about celestial phenomena, aircraft configurations, weather anomalies and the like.
As you may (or may not) know, the Tin Foil Club includes over a dozen astronauts, hundreds of pilots, numerous military intelligence, law enforcement personnel, scientists and other trained observers, to name but a few.
I’ll join in that forum when I have more free time (perhaps over the weekend).
Thanks for the invite!
who the hell is dennis?
It seems the poster figured out the the word ‘dionysis’ is not only one of the lesser gods of the Greek mythological pantheon (the god of wine and fertility), but also happens to be the Greek word for ‘Dennis’.
Dionysis the Menace? It almost has a ring to it.
“It seems the poster figured out the the word ‘dionysis’ is not only one of the lesser gods of the Greek mythological pantheon (the god of wine and fertility), but also happens to be the Greek word for ‘Dennis’”
It seems the Menace again assumes too much. One doesn’t have to “figure out” what one learned as a child decades ago.
As well, “tin-foil” may be worn upon the pate of anyone in any profession. It is relative to the person, not the profession, my god-like friend.
the Tin Foil Club includes over a dozen astronauts, hundreds of pilots, numerous military intelligence, law enforcement personnel, scientists and other trained observers, to name but a few.
Don’t forget two presidents….Jimmy Careter’s experience has been well publicized, but the one that might surprise people is Ronald Reagan. The first experience he had is only documented by people at a party that him & Nancy were late getting to because of their “experience”. The second one, however is a little better documented.
The second sighting occurred in 1974 while Reagan was still Governor. One week after the sighting, Reagan related the story to Norman C. Millar, then Washington Bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, later the editor of the Los Angeles Times. Reagan told Millar:
“I was in a plane last week when I looked out the window and saw this white light. It was zigzagging around. I went up to the pilot and said, ‘Have you seen anything like that before?’ He was shocked and said, ‘Nope.’ And I said to him: ‘Let’s follow it!’
We followed it for several minutes. It was a bright white light. We followed it to Bakersfield, and all of a sudden to our utter amazement it went straight up into the heavens. When we got off the plane, I told Nancy all about it.’
The pilot of Governor Reagan plane was Bill Paynter, and he backed up Reagan’s version of the incident with the UFO.
I was the pilot of the plane when we saw the UFO. Also, on board were Governor Reagan and a couple of his security people. We were flying a Cessna Citation. It was maybe nine or ten o’clock at night. We were near Bakersfield when Governor Reagan and the others called my attention to a big light flying a bit behind the plane.
It appeared to be several hundred yards away. It was a fairly steady light until it began to accelerate, then it appeared to elongate. The light took off. It went up at a 45-degree angle – at a high rate of speed. Everyone on the plane was surprised.
Governor Reagan expressed amazement. I told the others I didn’t know what it was. The UFO went from a normal cruise speed to a fantastic speed instantly. If you give an airplane power it will accelerate – but not like a hotrod, and that is what this was like.
We didn’t file a report on the object because for a long time they considered you a nut if you saw a UFO.”
And everyone thinks that the “Star Wars” missile defense program was instigated by the Soviets…..
“As well, “tin-foil” may be worn upon the pate of anyone in any profession. It is relative to the person, not the profession, my god-like friend.”
This is true, and over the years it has typically been applied to anyone who has even a passing interest in such arcane subjects, invariably used by those who have never delved into the subject seriously themselves.
UFOs are a real phenomenon. What they are is another question which, so far, is unknown. Theories range from the psychological (Carl Jung thought they were psychic projections called ‘archetypes’) to electromagnetically produced hallucinations (see Dr. Michael Persinger’s work), from space aliens to inter dimensional entities, from biological beings (see ‘Cosmic Pulse of Life’ by Trevor James Constable) to black ops programs using holographic imagery.
The late Werner Von Braun had this to say on his deathbed, in a conversation with long-time colleague Dr. Carol Rosen, former executive with Fairchild Industries:
“When I was a Corporate Manager of Fairchild Industries from 1974 through 1977, I met the late Dr Wernher Von Braun. We first met in early 1974. At that time, Von Braun was dying of cancer but he assured me that he would live a few more years to tell me about the game that was being played- that game being the effort to weaponize space, to control the Earth from space and space itself…
What was most interesting to me was a repetitive sentence that he said to me over and over again during the approximately four years that I had the opportunity to work with him. He said the strategy that was being used to educate the public and decision makers was to use scare tactics That was how we identify an enemy. The strategy that Wernher Von Braun taught me was that first the Russians are going to be considered to be the enemy…
Then terrorists would be identified…
Asteroids- against asteroids we are going to build space-based weapons.
And the funniest one of all was what he called aliens, extraterrestrials. That would be the final scare. And over and over and over during the four years that I knew him and was giving speeches for him, he would bring up that last card. “And remember Carol, the last card is the alien card. We are going to have to build space-based weapons against aliens and all of it is a lie…
What he told me was that there is an accelerated effort in place. He didn’t mention a timeline but he said that it was going to be speeding up faster than anybody could possibly imagine. That the effort to put weapons into space was not only based on a lie but would accelerate past the point of people even understanding it until it was already up there and too late…
He mentioned that extraterrestrials were going to be identified as the final enemy against whom we were going to build space-based weapons back in 1974.”
http://www.flashclub.ch/archives/000084.php
“Dr.” Carol Rosin is as mad as a hatter. She also received her “Dr.” title as an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Archbishop Soloman Gbadebo, Nigeria. Whatever that means.
Huge friend of the late Timothy Leary, too. A little acid appears to go a long way.
“Dr.” Carol Rosin is as mad as a hatter. She also received her “Dr.” title as an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Archbishop Soloman Gbadebo, Nigeria. Whatever that means.”
Her mental status is something I’m not qualified to assess. I guess you are. While it is correct her doctorate was honorary, (she has a B.S. from U.DE.) it is also true that she has held responsible positions in her career.
“Dr. Rosin has been a consultant to corporations and organizations, including TRW, Disney, GE, IBM and the National Space Institute on space and defense. She has testified before the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Senate, the President’s Commission on Space and has met with people in over 100 countries about the feasibility of banning space-based weapons.”
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Dr.-Carol-Rosin
“Huge friend of the late Timothy Leary, too. A little acid appears to go a long way.”
I can find no evidence of her acid use, but the ‘discredit by association’ is noted.
Nothing offered refutes either the purported comments by Von Braun, or the voluminous amount documentation that supports the reality of some kind of unknown phenomenon.
“Dr.” Carol Rosin is as mad as a hatter. She also received her “Dr.” title as an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Archbishop Soloman Gbadebo, Nigeria. Whatever that means.
Huge friend of the late Timothy Leary, too. A little acid appears to go a long way.
Not a whole lot to add to Dionysis’ response:
DonM, he refuted your flawed logic point for point…
From the AP:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2007-10-25-ghosts-poll_N.htm
34% of people who say they believe in ghosts, according to a pre-Halloween poll by The Associated Press and Ipsos. That’s the same proportion who believe in unidentified flying objects — exceeding the 19% who accept the existence of spells or witchcraft.
To put the roughly one-third who believe in ghosts and UFOs in perspective, it’s about the same as, in recent AP-Ipsos polls, the 36% who said they are baseball fans; the 37% who said the U.S. made the right decision to invade Iraq; and the 31% who approve of the job President Bush is doing.
Poll finds that 3 million Canadians have seen UFOs
A national survey by an independent research consortium has found that 9.6% of all Canadians believe they have seen UFOs. “This translates into nearly 3 million people who say they are UFO witenesses,” notes Chris Rutkowski, project coordinator. The survey was conducted by independent researchers in five Canadian cities in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec during August 1997.
It’s sad that so many people are made to feel ashamed of talking about what they’ve seen. It’s people like you, DonM, who are responsible for it. It’s fine to not believe yourself, but to belittle those that claim they have experienced something out of the ordinary is really pathetic and shows a lot of playground maturity on your part…it’s called transference(“Hey, look how fat that kid is”, so they won’t notice your lisp)…and as far as “acid” goes, a halucenigenic trip of self-discovery would probably do someone like yourself a whole lot of good. (actually, it probably would according to the study below)
From a recent study:(AP article linked to below)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,374264,00.html
Scientists reported Tuesday that when they surveyed volunteers 14 months after they took the drug(psilocybin, is found in so-called “magic mushrooms), most said they were still feeling and behaving better because of the experience.
Two-thirds of them also said the drug had produced one of the five most spiritually significant experiences they had ever had.
Happy soul-searching and self discovery….hope you have the courage to try…
tatuaje,
Hope you have a nice life. I do. You know nothing of me and my experiences. I found my center 35 years ago. And yes, I’m quite well acquainted with LSD, mescaline and ‘shrooms from my youthful days in college and a little later.
I’ve seen and been a part of things you’ve no idea of, both here in the good ‘ol USA and in SE Asia in various wats in the environs of Krung Thep.
I also know a bit about what many “UFO” sightings actually were. All explainable, all real and all classified. They were/are ours. No green men or egg-headed, almond-eyed little ones.
Get a grip and hold on to yourself before you fly away!
“I’m quite well acquainted with LSD, mescaline and ‘shrooms from my youthful days in college and a little later.”
Wouldn’t this mean, in accordance with your implication that Carol Rosin’s alleged (but unsubstantiated) ‘acid’ use rendering her comments suspect, that your own admitted use casts doubt on your sanity, and subsequent pronouncements?
“I also know a bit about what many “UFO” sightings actually were. All explainable, all real and all classified.”
There’s no reason to contest this claim, as most people who have actually studied the subject admit that a large percentage of UFOs (that is, the 5 to 10 percent of reported sightings that cannot be explained prosaically) are almost certainly advanced, classified military craft. However, even that concession doesn’t explain away all of the voluminous amount of reports, photos, videos, radar images and much more dating back to the earliest days of photography (indeed, even going back to cave paintings).
You know nothing of me and my experiences….I’ve seen and been a part of things you’ve no idea of
There’s this old phrase that comes to mind….let’s see, what was it….oh yeah, something about the pot calling the kettle black…
In Dionysis’ and my posts, we showed, with links and stats and, well, you know, logic, that your sweeping generalization of people who claim to have seen UFOs as some sort of tin-foil hat wearing club is not only mean-spirited but narrow minded as well..
I found my center 35 years ago. And yes, I’m quite well acquainted with LSD, mescaline and ‘shrooms from my youthful days in college and a little later.
Awesome….but from your attitude, maybe it’s time to get reacquainted with nature’s ego-strippers…35 years is a long time, after all…
I also know a bit about what many “UFO” sightings actually were. All explainable, all real and all classified. They were/are ours. No green men or egg-headed, almond-eyed little ones.
Who knew? The guy with all he answers, the man who has the inside scoop on every UFO reporting ever, is none other than DonM! Right here in our midst the whole time!
Let me guess, though, all this stuff you (claim) to know, we’ll just have to take your word on it, right? The general who told you those particular sightings in Mexico and the southwest US were really only the new XKL-256 would give your knuckles a good wrap if you gave up the goodies. I mean, he said you could claim knowledge of the secrets behind the sightings of UFOs, but no way would you ever be able to supply any actual evidence. And the triangle shaped ones seen over the eastern seaboard, well that’s obviously the new KFP-069, so classified that only a few of the most senior military officials, and DonM, even know of it’s existence.
Hahahahahaha….
You know nothing of me and my experiences. I found my center 35 years ago. Get a grip and hold on to yourself before you fly away!
You’re right, I don’t…I only know you from posts here on the MX threads…and from those posts you come across as a…well, know what? Not gonna fall into those flame wars that you (and others) seem to love so much. I like to post reasoned arguments. But if I had something I posted refuted point for point maybe I might revert to straight emotional arguments, as well. Don’t rightly know, it’s never happened…
And as far as getting a grip, claiming to “know a bit about what many UFO sightings actually were”, without any sort of evidence to back yourself up, puts you light-years past the tin-foil hat wearin’ club…that makes you paranoid with delusions of grandeur….
tatuaje,
Sweet! LMAO!
I also know a bit about what many “UFO” sightings actually were. All explainable, all real and all classified. They were/are ours. No green men or egg-headed, almond-eyed little ones.
Still not gonna back that one up, huh? Surprise, surprise, surprise…..
tatuaje,
Sweet! LMAO!
yep…that’s about the level of response I expected….
Now don’t go all crazy on me, tatuaje. I’ll give you two items–Aurora (not a BIG secret any longer) and pulsed power production (looks like donuts on a string, and, also not a big secret any longer). Plenty more. Believe it.
Now don’t go all crazy on me, tatuaje.
ummm, ok? you apparently don’t read many of MP Miller’s posts if I am somehow coming across as crazy…
I’ll give you two items–Aurora (not a BIG secret any longer) and pulsed power production (looks like donuts on a string, and, also not a big secret any longer).
There ya go DonM! Now we have what some civilized folk like to call a discussion.
And we now have confirmed that you, too, believe in UFOs. No one, on any post on this thread has put forth the belief that any, or all, UFO sightings are ETs. Contrary to what you may believe, most people who see UFOs don’t automatically assume they are alien.
But as Dionysis wrote above, by doing serious research and investigation, made difficult by people who want to label them as quacks and tin-foil hat wearers, some very intelligent, reasoned people can’t explain away every sighting as ‘military’…
And on that note, we can revisit your examples….
The Aurora was/is an aircraft designed for high altitude, extremely high speed reconnaissance…the estimated top speeds for this craft are 5-6 mach (the fastest known, publicly, is the x-15 at mach 6)…There have been radar reports of aircraft moving mach 10+…Although the Aurora is reportedly triangular in shape, it differs from the low-flying, silent vehicle many people report seeing….
pulsed power production
Now, this one has more of a possibility, if for no other reason than these types of engines can operate at much slower speeds. But, apparently they are even louder than normal jet engines and are/were designed for high altitude, long range work as well..
Have your 2 examples been responsible for some UFO sightings? Undoubtedly.
Are there other super secret aircraft out there we haven’t been told about? I’m 100% positive on that one.
Can we explain all of the sightings by presidents, military personal, scientists, your neighbors, by military craft? Doesn’t seem like it.
Should we ridicule those that tackle the problem reasonably and are willingly to admit they’ve seen something they can’t explain?
Hell no….
tatuaje,
I could go on and on about this but I do not wish to argue, IMO, the absurd. You aware of any empiricle evidence to support your suppositions? I’m pretty sure there is none. That should speak for itself.
People “see” what they will. The mind can throw some wicked curve balls at you that will make you flinch. Little mental “artifacts” much like computer glitches can seem as real as reality.
Truth is the mind meeting reality. Enjoy your journey. Don’t get confused with the scenery along the way. And, as always, remember that “Your mileage may vary.”
“I could go on and on about this but I do not wish to argue, IMO, the absurd.”
tatuaje can speak for himself (rather effectively too), but saying you could “go on and on,” when so far all that has been offered are broad-based put-downs (of me), followed by efforts at discrediting, then claims of knowing there are (terrestrial) UFOs, then diversion, then serving up a couple of well-known examples of terrestrial UFOs (ever hear of Project Silverbug?), all wrapped in mutually contradictory statements. Again, as posted earlier, you have not demonstrated one shred of actual knowledge about the subject. But still you ask others to “believe” you.
“You aware of any empiricle evidence to support your suppositions? I’m pretty sure there is none.”
There is more ’empirical evidence’ to support the reality of this unknown phenomenon (you’re the only one going on about space aliens, by the way) than is required to sentence a criminal to life in prison or death. If 10 reputable citizens claim to have witnessed a hit-and-run, that’s accepted right away. If the same ten people reported a UFO, according to you, they’re all whack jobs.
http://www.ufoevidence.org/
In the spirit of contructive dialogue, here’s a challenge: spend the next six months or so delving into the subject; try to go into to it without any preconceptions, just an open mind. I will even provide sources such as military and civilian pilot sightings, radar reports, photographic and video footage and lots, lots more. Come back after you’ve actually acquired a modicum of knowledge and try again. Until then, the only reasonable response to what you have offered is this:
Yawn.ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Dennis,
You’re free to believe and persue whatever you wish. Have fun. Eyewitnesses are notoriously controvertable as I think you know. The brain can play tricks on you. Little glitches that I’ve already explained can seem as real as reality.
As to constructive dialogue, you’ve always shown yourself to be open to any idea as long as it resonates with yours. Just an observation of your many previous posts here and on Topix.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…indeed
“Eyewitnesses are notoriously controvertable as I think you know. The brain can play tricks on you. Little glitches that I’ve already explained can seem as real as reality.”
Yes, a truth I learned about 25 years or more ago. Is this a revelation to you? And you haven’t ‘explained’ anything, just repeating yourself.
“As to constructive dialogue, you’ve always shown yourself to be open to any idea as long as it resonates with yours.”
That’s all you can muster? I repeat, you have not shown one iota of actual knowledge about the subject matter you deride. And, once again, you have offered nothing, not even an original ‘idea’, much less anything to back up your insults and smears. A smug delivery is insufficient. And that, amigo, engenders nothing so much as ‘yawn, zzzzzzzzzzz’.
You woke me up for that?
“As to constructive dialogue, you’ve always shown yourself to be open to any idea as long as it resonates with yours.” (My words)
Dennis, it’s the truth. It is what it is. You’ve been a notorious thread-killer on Topix because of it. Now, again…
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Those interested in UFO’s might also check:
http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/1483/
Just for those who are curious about the site “calvinallen” mentions, but are a little dubious of clicking into a Geocities site, it’s actually the:
“THE COSMIC RAY DEFLECTION SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA, INC.”
Remember: “The hat comes first.”
There must be a lot of UFOs in Haywood county because I get those same odd blurry spots often enough in pictures taken from the deck looking west toward Tennessee and Mount Sterling. I find them annoying in my photos.
I stumbled across one of my annoying UFO shots while doing a blog post and went ahead and put it at the end of the post.
http://outsideclyde.blogspot.com/2008/07/colorful-life.html
Have a look, see what you think. Is Haywood County a hotspot for UFOs?
“Have a look, see what you think. Is Haywood County a hotspot for UFOs?”
Not sure, but the photo is intriguing.