Filed under: Oddities, Science, Strange Stories | Tagged: advertisement, babies, branding, Funny, inventions, retro, vintage, weird | Leave a comment »
The World Of Garbage Pail Kids Revisited
Filed under: Art, Funny, Oddities | Tagged: 80's, arts, cards, collectibles, disgusting, Funny, Garbage Pail Kids, gross, hillarious, icky, kids, retro, satire, stickers, trading cards, vintage | 2 Comments »
If Pacman Were Real…..
Filed under: Funny, Interesting Webfinds, Oddities, Photography | Tagged: carving, console, fruit, gaming, Ms. Pacman, Pacman, sculpture, video game, wild | Leave a comment »
The Madison Boulder
One of the largest glacial erratics in the world resides in the quiet mountain town of Madison, New Hampshire
Filed under: Historical New England, Nature Photography, New Hampshire, Oddities | Tagged: boulder, glacial erratic, granite, history, Ice Age, Madison Boulder, National Natural Landmark, new hampshire, White Mountains | Leave a comment »
The Enigma Of Bancroft Tower
In the middle of Worcester, Massachusetts lies a remarkable oddity. A “lite” castle or tower as it is refered to sits in the middle of a park. The only way to describe the structure is that you imagine a castle and then imagine it 2d. It has very little depth and mimics a Hollywood prop castle. The unique history with which is attached to it is really quite interesting as well.
The tower was built in 1900 to honor George Bancroft (1800-1891), he was Secretary of the Navy,Founder of the U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Minister to Great Britain and Germany. Quite an accomplished man. This was to be his legacy. A tower that when the true “tower” was open afforded a 360 deg. view of Worcester. This memorial was built by his friend and admirer Stephen Salisbury III. Thanks to the City Of Worcester Parks And Public Works Website they offer a quite inclusive history.
“The Bancroft Tower was built by public benefactor Stephen Salisbury III, who bequeathed it to the Worcester Art Museum, which deeded it to the Parks Department in 1912. Salisbury intended the feudal-like castle to be a recreational oasis. Its spiral staircases, fireplace chambers, stone benches, and parapets were frequently the scene of picnics and social outings. The summit has a 360-degree view of the city, greatly enhanced by a climb to the lookout tower. A locator map in the stone walkway helps to identify the distant hills. George Bancroft was a politician, statesman, and writer. His list of achievements is exceedingly long, ranging from cultivator of the American Beauty Rose and eulogist at Abraham Lincoln’s funeral, to Secretary of the Navy (founder of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis) and author of a scholarly ten-volume history of America. But, Stephen Salisbury III built the memorial to Bancroft because Bancroft and Salisbury’s father had been childhood friends. A plaque marks Bancroft’s birthplace just below the park on Salisbury Street.
Honorable Stephen Salisbury III became a member of the Parks Commission in 1887. Mr. Salisbury owned a great deal of land in the northern part of the city and was always eager to improve that section. He was involved in the donation and development of a plot of land on the south side of Salisbury pond soon to be named Institute Park. Initially Stephen Salisbury set aside 20 acres of land along Massachusetts Avenue which included Bancroft Hill.
In 1900, he erected a tower on the summit of this hill to honor George Bancroft, the famous historian whose birthplace was just below on Salisbury Street. The tower is 56 feet high and is constructed of boulders, cobblestones, and is trimmed with a rock-faced granite. It looks like a miniature feudal castle. The construction cost was about $15,000. Stephen Salisbury opened it to the public during this time. Some of the finest views in the City could be seen from this tower. It is named on the National Register of Historic Places. When Mr. Salisbury died, this property was bequeathed to the Worcester Art Museum who in turn presented it to the City in 1912.”
The true enigma may be actually the stories of hauntings and the marks carved in stone placed in the ground the “supposedly” pointing to the seven hills of Worcester. The lines actually dont point to the hills and are quite confusing. Many believe they are actually ley lines across the earth that intersect at the point of the tower. One can only believe that if someone took the time to carve them in stones they must represent something. But what?
Filed under: Historical New England, Massachusetts, Oddities, Urban Exploring | Tagged: Annapolis, architecture, Bancroft Tower, Bancroft's Folly, bizzare, castle, George Bancroft, ghost, haunted, haunting, historic, Massachusetts, mysterious, mystery, odd, oddity, Paranormal, park, poltergeist, Salisbury Park, Secretary of the Navy, supernatural, tower, U.S. Naval Academy, unexplained, Urban Exploring, weird, worcester, Worcester Art Museum | 5 Comments »
Maine Mutant Continues To Baffle Years After
TURNER, Maine —Residents are wondering if an animal found dead over the weekend may be the mysterious creature that has mauled dogs, frightened residents and been the subject of local legend for half a generation.
The animal was found near power lines along Route 4 on Saturday, apparently struck by a car while chasing a cat. The carcass was photographed and inspected by several people who live in the area, but nobody is sure exactly what it is.
Michelle O’Donnell of Turner spotted the animal near her yard about a week before it was killed. She called it a “hybrid mutant of something.”
“It was evil, evil looking. And it had a horrible stench I will never forget,” she told the Sun Journal of Lewiston. “We locked eyes for a few seconds and then it took off. I’ve lived in Maine my whole life and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
For the past 15 years, residents across Androscoggin County have reported seeing and hearing a mysterious animal with chilling monstrous cries and eyes that glow in the night. The animal has been blamed for attacking and killing a Doberman pinscher and a Rottweiler the past couple of years.
People from Litchfield, Sabattus, Greene, Turner, Lewiston and Auburn have come forward to speak of a mystery monster that roams the woods. Nobody knows for sure what it is, and theories have ranged from a hyena or dingo to a fisher or coydog, an offspring of a coyote and a wild dog.
Now, people are asking if the mystery beast and the animal killed over the weekend are one and the same.
Wildlife officials and animal control officers declined to go to Turner to examine the remains. By Tuesday, the carcass had been picked clean by vultures and there was not much left of the dead animal.
Loren Coleman, a Portland author and cryptozoologist, said it’s unlikely that the animal was anybody’s pet.
After reviewing photos of the carcass, Coleman said he was bothered by the animal’s ears and snout. It reminded him of a case years ago in northern Maine in which an animal shot by a hunter could not be identified. In the end, wildlife officials got a DNA analysis that showed the animal was a rare wolf-dog hybrid, he said.
Mike O’Donnell, who is married to Michelle O’Donnell, said the animal looked “half-rodent, half-dog” to him.
It was charcoal gray, weighed between 40 and 50 pounds and had a bushy tail, a short snout, short ears and curled fangs hanging over its lips, he said. It looked like “something out of a Stephen King story.”
“This is something I’ve never seen before. It’s an evil-looking thing,” he said.
On another website run by Cryptomundo these comments offered perspective of the media frenzy associated with the discovery. –
It is intriguing to see what kind of media frenzy is occurring because of this story. For the record, here’s some headlines that were used on the 16th and 17th of August, 2006:
CBS4Boston, Boston: “Mystery Beast Discovered In Maine.”
Associated Press, Drudge Report, Conservative Voice (NC), CBS-News, newspapers nationwide: “‘Hybrid Mutant’ Found Dead in Maine.”
ABC-TV affiliates nationwide, Boston Globe: “Residents wonder if dead animal is legendary mystery beast.”
WMTW, Portland, Maine: “Is Dead Animal Legendary ‘Mystery Beast?’”
In Madagascar, the media decided to go with the headline: “Killer ‘Hybrid Mutant’ Creature Found Dead in Maine.”
Mike Lemos of Ventura, California, a graphic designer and artist came up with the famous picture which circulates the internet currently.
Within months a website sprang up to meet the demand of “Maine Mutant” merchandise, http://45742.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/
Sadly the animal was not studied by any authorities in Maine (strange). A DNA study would probably have allowed us to see the true identity of this “monster”. It probably is as well. Maine is a state whose forests can easily hide a “monster” for many years, in fact most of the state is woods. Maybe another lurks in the woods of Maine only to resurface in our near future.
Filed under: Cryptozoology, Ghost Towns, Historical New England, Interesting Webfinds, Maine, Oddities, Paranormal | Tagged: Androscoggin, animals, attacks, bizarre, coyote, creature, cryptozology, dog, monster, mutant, mysterious, mystery, New England, Oddities, Turner, unknown, unsolved, wolf | 2 Comments »