UFO ROUNDUP Volume 7 Number 42
Volume 7
Number 42
October 15, 2002
Editor: Joseph Trainor
E-mail: Masinaigan@aol.com
CHUPACABRA STRIKES AGAIN IN PUERTO RICO
"Only two weeks after being blamed for the deaths of several domestic animals in Ponce, P.R., the enigmatic Chupacabra reappeared, this time in the Caguitas Centro section of Aguas Buenas."
"'When I got home, I looked at the cage and didn't see the rabbits. I went downstairs quickly and saw the scene. I had a nervous attack and had to take some pills,' said Amarillis Flores, who returned home yesterday morning (Sunday, October 6, 2002) after having spent the weekend at her daughter's house."
"Amarillis, who was in charge of the residence, was alarmed when she saw that her grandchildren's pets--two white rabbits, a black duck, a rooster and a hen--lay motionless at the bottom of their cages, located at the rear of the backyard."
"Neighbor Salvador Rosario said that on Sunday night (October 6, 2002) he noted that the dogs were very restless, but dismissed the possibility that the canines could have been the cause of the animal deaths, as the cage would require a strength greater than a dog's to tear through the (wire) screen."
"'Two dogs have been missing since Saturday (October 5, 2002)--a dachsund named Oreja and a poodle named Negri,' added Rosario, a retired schoolteacher."
"The (crime) scene was macabre: a duck, still agonizing, displays two holes on its back, through which its blood was apparently extracted. The equidistant holes could also be seen on the rooster's back and that of the hen. The rabbit's front paws had been severed; two geese and another duck escaped the carnage."
"'They couldn't have been dogs, because they would have dragged the animals away. It was a two-legged Chupacabra,' said Sra. Flores, meaning that it was either the mythical creature that no one has been able to identify, or it was a human being."
"Inside the cage, where the smell of decomposition prevailed, there was no trace of blood, and its gate had not been forced. The wire fencing had been pierced or ripped by something with considerable strength, according to the affected parties."
"When interviewed by Primera Hora, veterinarian and zoologist Pedro Nunez noted that the incident ascribed to the Chupacabra--a character believed by many to have wings, flies swiftly and has nocturnal habits--could be the work of stray dogs, apes or exotic animals not native to Puerto Rico. The specialist in exotic wildlife noted that during the drought season, some types of rats and mice tend to suck the blood of others to survive." (See the Puerto Rican newspaper Primera Hora for October 7, 2002, "Another mysterious attack: Chupacabra returns." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Luiseppi Quinones para eso articulo de diario.)
(Editor's Comment: It may be true, Dr. Nunez, that some rodents drink blood as a last extremity during a drought. But I don't know of any species of Rodentia strong enough to rip apart a steel wire-mesh cage.)
STRANGE BOOM HEARD IN LITTLE FALLS, NEW YORK
On Wednesday, October 2, 2002, just after 11 a.m., C.R.N., who lives in a rural area a few miles south of Little Falls, N.Y. (population 5,188), "went outdoors to see if there was something flying over. I've never heard anything like it. It was almost like a 'boom' but long and deep and very, very loud."
"My mother lives less than a mile from me and was frantically trying to reach me as she was quite frightened by it," she added, "We live in a rural area, and most others are gone at this time of day, so I haven't been able to find anyone else in the area who heard it. It was so loud, though, that it should have been heard for many miles around and received some sort of attention in the local media or something."
"The (farm) animals were frantic. Dogs growling with hair raised. Geese going nuts. But you could still 'feel' it in the air for moments afterward."
"I was expecting to find perhaps an earthquake report for the area at the very least. But so far I'm totally in the dark as to what it was."
Little Falls is on Interstate Highway I-90 in upstate New York, approximately 69 miles (110 kilometers) west of Albany, the state capital. (Email Form Report)
(Editor's Note: Little Falls is four miles (6 kilometers) west of Dolgeville, N.Y., formerly known as Brockett's Bridge, which may have been the site of a Roswell-type UFO incident in July 1864. For more on the strange case of Lt. Gary Spencer, see UFO Roundup, volume 4, number 33, "1864: Roswell in upstate New York?" page 8; UFO Roundup, volume 4, number 34, "1997: Cheap Detective," page 8.)
CALIFORNIA WOMAN CATCHES A UFO ON VIDEOTAPE
On Saturday, September 14, 2002, around 7 p.m., P.K. and her two children spotted a UFO outside their home in San Gabriel, California (population 39,804).
"Now I must say that I never believed in UFOs...not really," P.K. wrote, "Like a lot of people, since I myself hadn't seen one with my own eyes, then it was obvious that those who have probably missed their medications."
"On September 14, I was in my front room on my computer when my daughter came rushing into the room. She said, 'Mom, come quick! There is a plane about to crash.'"
"I ran into her room and looked out her bedroom window, which gave a very clear view of the beautiful night sky. There, in front of us, were two balls of light. One of them just stayed in one place, while the other was descending in a slanted slope downward. Then it suddenly popped up back in line with the other one."
"When I saw this, I yelled, 'Camcorder! Get the camcorder!'"
"My 8-year-old didn't know where it was, so I had to stop watching the show and go find it. By the time I came back to the window, the light had disappeared. I was furious! I couldn't possibly deny what I was seeing. I had to get it on tape to prove what me and my two kids saw."
Playing a hunch, P.K. decided to stake out the bedroom, camcorder in hand, the very next night. Her hunch proved to be accurate.
On Sunday, September 15, 2002, she added, "I was ready. I wanted proof to show people because pictures are good but moving pictures are better."
Just after 7 p.m., "I looked to my right out the (bedroom) window" and "I saw a white ball of light slowly moving up, straight up in the sky. It was a crystal-clear sky with just this ball and nothing else. At first I wasn't going to film it, but I just went on and filmed it anyway."
"Then the most amazing thing happened. As I was filming this thing in the clear sky, it came to a slight stop and just...very slowly disappeared."
"I got a very good clear shot of this. I want someone who knows about UFOs to look at it, but I have my family on the tape, too, and don't want to send it somewhere where I will never see it again."
San Gabriel is just west of Rosemead Boulevard, midway between Pasadena and East Los Angeles. (Email Form Report)
Elsewhere in California, eyewitness D.K. spotted a high-flying UFO over Walnut Creek (population 64, 296) on Sunday, October 6, 2002, at about 3:30 p.m.
"It was a clear afternoon," D.K. reported, "We saw what appeared to be a star nearly overhead and in a slightly easterly direction. Four witnesses watched the object for approximately 20 minutes. Two of the witnesses saw the object leave its position and turn westerly. It was stationary until that sudden and rapid movement to the west. Then it disappeared within two to three seconds, all from an altitude of well over 50,000 feet (15,000 meters), possibly 100,000 feet (30,000 meters). The object returned to its original position two to three minutes later. It stayed in position for approximately 20 minutes until again moving, this time to the south, and not returning."
D.K. described the UFO as "a bright white star, its shape changing to an upright cylinder and then to a horizontal triangular shape, as seen through binoculars. Its estimated speed was 2,000 miles per hour (3,200 kilometers per hour)."
Walnut Creek, Cal. is on Highway 160 approximately 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Sacramento, the state capital. (Email Form Report)
(Editor's Comment: I wonder if paranormal researcher Bufo Calvin is aware of the UFOs' presence in his hometown?)
ORANGE UFOs SIGHTED IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL
"During the last two weeks, ten people have seen three UFOs with the same characteristics" over and around the city of Florianopolis (population 380,000), the capital of Brazil's southern state of Santa Catarina, and its sister city across the strait, Sao Jose.
"The UFOs are orange. They are enveloped in an aura of yellowish light. They were challenged by (Brazilian) ufologists on the ground, who were using flashlights (torches in UK--J.T.) and lanterns. Each time they were signalled, the UFOs retreated in the direction (east) of the beach and then out into the skies over the South Atlantic."
"Two of the three UFOs spotted were witnessed by former (Brazilian) military personnel."
"We would like to know if others in the UFO community here in Brazil or overseas have seen orange lights similar to those we have seen here."
Florianopolis is located on a small island just offshore from the Brazilian mainland about 560 kilometers (350 miles) south of Rio de Janeiro. (Muito obrigado a Rafael Vidal Eleuterio e Ufologia Brasileira por eso caso.)
(Editor's Note: Once again, the UFOs are visiting an ancient site. Approximately 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Florianopolis is Praia do Santinho. In the jungle-covered hills overlooking the beach are mysterious petroglyphs. Some occultists believe that these petroglyphs are left over from the lost continent of Atlantis.)
WOMAN SAYS A UFO CRASHED IN NORTHERN ARGENTINA
"With a laconic 'We found nothing,' the police investigators sent out to look into the curious claim of a resident of Susques," in Argentina's northern Jujuy province, "appears to have ended."
"The woman claimed having seen a shiny object fall from the sky and produce small tremors and a loud report (explosive sound--J.T.)."
"Now, faced with new claims from settlements far removed from Susques, a new group of police investigators has been commissioned."
"Following a new hypothesis, they are tracing a triangle between Susques, San Juan de Quillaques and El Toro--the area in which they will search for the mysterious object which upset this quiet community." (See the Argentinian newspaper Jujuy Aldia for October 9, 2002, "Report from police commissioners investigating the collision of an object in Susques." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales y Gloria Coluchi para eso articulo de diario.)
OFFICE WORKERS SPOOKED BY UFO IN ADELAIDE, S.A.
Monday, September 30, 2002, was a typical workday in Australia. Male witness A.A. was on the third floor of an office building in downtown Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. He reported, "Looking north through our third-floor, wall-to-wall window, I saw, for a moment, a round object outside the window. It was out of view as soon as it got above my floor's window."
"I was talking to a co-worker and looking over his head when I spotted it. But by the time I got to say, 'Hey! Did you see that!?' my colleague turned round after it shot through...and missed the whole thing."
"The UFO appeared grey/white, large and round in shape. It crossed the field of view through the 2-meter (6 feet, 6 inches) high window in less than a second. Rose up from below the field of view and shot straight up past the field of view, which was obstructed by the ceiling and the next floor above."
"It (the UFO) seemed to be about 50 to 100 meters (150 to 300 feet) away from the building, the size of it relatively was larger than that of a basketball (held) at arm's length." The witness believed the UFO "to be 10 to 40 meters (33 to 132 feet) in diameter."
"Coincidentally (or not--A.A.), two days later, we had the U.S. ambassador and some V.I.P.s turn up to hold a private conference in our building. I didn't know of this extra event till after it had passed. I just find these two things in the same week (to be) exceptional events." (Email Form Report)
(Editor's Note: From the reports UFO Roundup has received, Adelaide is rapidly overtaking Melbourne as southern Australia's Number One UFO hotspot.)
FAMILY SPIES A UFO IN ST. ALBANS, HERTS., UK
On Thursday, October 3, 2002, at 5:55 p.m., Lawrence D. and his two children were strolling through a public park in the southeastern section of St. Albans, Hertfordshire, UK when they saw something unusual in the sky.
"My two children and I witnessed the object from a local park, walking back from taking the dog for a walk. I noticed an object in the sky at low level coming from the northeast, thinking nothing of this to start with as we have so many flight paths from Luton Airport and Stanstead Airport. I thought it was an aircraft or specifically a microlight (hang glider in the USA--J.T.) as we have many in the area."
Lawrence described the UFO as "egg-shaped, at an estimated 2,000 feet (600 meters) in altitude."
"But, to my amazement," he added, "the object did not climb like a plane or helicopter. The angle of attack was too great. It moved up and across the sky with flowing movements, then changed course towards the south, coming towards London. Then, what struck me as very odd, the object stopped motionless, but the colour of it changed from white to yellow."
"By this time, I had pointed out the object to my children (ages 7 and 12 years--L.D.). They were also intrigued. The object then moved off, up and to the southeast towards a grey cloud which was very dark. I could see the object quite clear against it. I could see some motion, too, but, in the blink of an eye, it vanished."
"We waited for it to come through the cloud, as the sky was a bright blue evening (sky) except for a few dark clouds, but nothing appeared. We must have witnessed the event for 15 to 20 minutes." (Email Form Report)
MYSTERIOUS LIGHT FLASHES SEEN IN MIDWAY, ARKANSAS
On Thursday, October 3, 2002, Ed Kanyon spotted mysterious light flashes near his home in Midway, Arkansas, located in Baxter County, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Little Rock, the state capital.
Ed reported, "I was walking past one of the windows on the north side of our dwelling. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a light flash like that of a strobe. The back door was about 3 feet (0.9 meters) from me, and I quickly moved to and out the door. Standing on the back step, I saw a second flash of light through the leaves of the trees. It seemed to be level, but I believe it was about 30 degrees upward (from the horizon--J.T.). As I stood on the top step, the third flash occurred, but this one was red."
"It was a moonless night, and the flashes were bright enough so that any developing night vision I might have had was obliterated."
"The reason I am submitting this is that from the time I got out of the house and saw the second light flash through the leaves of the trees...there was no sound."
"I spent 23 years in the U.S. Navy and retired as an Aviation Machinist Mate, Chief Petty Officer. Upon retirement from the Navy, I became an FAA-Certified Airframe and Powerplant Maintenance Technician, with experience in light aircraft," including Stearman and Grumman cropdusters.
"If it was a turbine-powered aircraft, unless very small, then there should have been the sound of thrust reversal, and the same with a turboprop leading with severe (propeller) blade angle. But there was nothing."
"If the aircraft was reciprocating-engine-powered, as it passed through my line of sight, I should have heard the sound of an engine at low power. There was nothing." (Email Form Report)
EXECUTED PRISONER SAID SHE'D RETURN AS A UFO CREW MEMBER
"Aileen Wuornos, a hitchhiking prostitute who killed six men along Florida's highways more than a decade ago, was executed by (lethal) injection Wednesday," October 9, 2002, "after dropping her appeals and firing her lawyers."
"Wuornos, 46, became the 10th woman executed in the United States since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976."
"In Wuornos's final statement, she referred to Jesus and a blockbuster movie: 'I'd just like to say I'm sailing with the Rock (Jesus Christ--J.T.) and I'll be back like (the movie) Independence Day with Jesus, June 6, like the movie, big mother ship and all. I'll be back.'"
(Editor's Comment: Sounds as if Ms. Wuornos got into the so-called "Redemption" theology while at the Raiford state prison in Starke, Florida. For more on this belief, see the note at the end of this article.)
"The execution had been delayed while experts evaluated her mental health. (Florida) Governor Jeb Bush (brother of USA president George W. Bush--J.T.) lifted his stay (of execution) last week after three psychiatrists said Wuornos was competent to choose execution."
"Wuornos shot to death at least six middle-aged men along Florida highways in 1989 and 1990. Her story has been portrayed in two movies, three books and an opera. She initially said the killings were in self-defense after she was assaulted by customers who beat her up. But she later said that the self-defense claim was a lie, and that she intended to rob and kill the men."
"At a hearing in July (2002), Wuornos told a judge that she was 'sick of hearing this 'she's crazy' stuff. I'm competent, sane and I'm telling the truth. She also told the (Florida) Supreme Court she would kill again."
Aileen Wuornos "spent Tuesday night (October 8, 2002) visiting with a childhood friend, Dawn Botkins, who said Wuornos was in a good mood, laughing a lot and never crying." (See USA Today for October 10, 2002, "Fla. killer becomes the 10th woman executed since '76," page 5A.)
(Editor's Note: Neo-Nazis, Black Sun enthusiasts and a handful of esoteric types believe that Hitler's Germany made contact sixty years ago with an alien civilization on a planet orbiting the star Aldebaran, 68 light-years from Earth. In a last-ditch effort to stave off defeat, the Nazis launched a crude spaceship, the Vril-Odin, which traveled to Aldebaran, seeking military assistance against the Allies. The ship supposedly arrived in 1967, and now an Aldebarani space armada, consisting of "280 battle cruisers of various classes" and carriers "ranging from 1.5 to 6 kilometers (0.9 to 3.6 miles) in length and capable of carrying between 4 and 810 flying saucers apiece," is said to be on its way to Earth. The armada is expected to arrive "in a few years or so." Alleged to be returning to Earth with the alien armada are such luminaries as Jesus Christ, Adolf Hitler, David Koresh (birth name: Vernon L. Howell--J.T.) and Elvis Presley. The interstellar war is supposed to commence with the obliteration of Tel Aviv. Among believers, this conquest of Earth by the Aldebarani is known as "The Redemption." See the book UFOs: Unbekannt Flugobjekt? Letzte Geheimwaffe des Dritten Reichs by Willibald Mattern, Samisdat Press, Toronto, 1974, pages 50, 51, and 82 through 88.)
WAILING WALL HAS ANOTHER ENIGMATIC WATER FLOW
Another mysterious trickle of water, known in Forteana as a flow, began last week at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.
The new damp spot was examined by engineers on Wednesday, October 9, 2002, who warned that "the bulge in the wall" caused by the mysterious water flow "could lead to collapse" of the millenia-old structure.
On Saturday, June 29, 2002, just after sunrise, water first began seeping from the southern Wailing Wall at a point four meters (13 feet) above the ground. The wall is revered by Jews as the last remnant of the Second Temple, which was built by King Herod in the First Century B.C. and later destroyed by the Roman general Titus in 70 A.D.
The new "damp spot" is on the western Wall several meters to the right of the spot where Hasidic Jews worship daily.
A prophecy in the Talmud reportedly states, "When you see water coming through the stone, know that such is a sign that the coming of the Messiah is nigh."
Similar mysterious surges of water have been documented at sites associated with apparitions of the Virgin Mary (birth name: Miriam bat-Joachim--J.T.) such as Cova da Iria, near Fatima, Portugal and the Grotte de Massabielle near Lourdes, France. A similar flow also occurs at the tomb of St. Jean Vianney, also known as le Cure d'Ars, which, like Lourdes, is in the Pyrenees.
Israeli authorities attributed the June flow to a broken water pipe on the Temple Mount. But this has not stopped hundreds of Jews from flocking to the Wall to witness the phenomenon. The new flow has drawn even more visitors, both Jews and Arabs alike. (See the Israeli newspaper Ha'aratz for October 10, 2002. Many thanks to Rick Wiles and Ayesha al-Khatabi for this report.)
CORONER SAYS TODD SEES DEATH WAS "ACCIDENTAL"
Police Chief Gary Steffen of Point Township "announced last week that Todd Sees," 39, of Northampton, Pennsylvania (population 9,405) "who was found dead August 6, 2002 near his home after a two-day manhunt, died from a cocaine overdose."
"'The immediate cause of death has been determined to be cocaine toxicity. The manner of death is listed as accidental,'" a spokesman for the county coroner's office said.
"Toxicology analysis was done by Northumberland County Coroner James Kelley. These tests were requested after the autopsy back in August failed to determine Todd Sees's cause of death."
Sees went missing on Sunday, August 4, 2002, after leaving his home at the foot of Montour Ridge. His all-terrain vehicle was later found abandoned near the top of the ridge. Following an intensive search of the mountain, Sees's body was recovered from a brushy area near a pond close to his home.
When Sees left home early that morning, he was fully clothed, wearing pants, boots, socks, a camouflage vest and hat. When his emaciated body was found two days later, he was wearing only underwear. Only one of his boots was later recovered by search parties. The rest of his clothing remains missing.
"Unanswered questions remain," ufologist Linda Moulton Howe was quoted as saying, "Why would a healthy outdoorsman and husband, and father of two sons, go on a Sunday morning hunting trip on August 4 (2002) and ingest enough cocaine to kill himself?"
"Further, what is behind the 'eyewitness reports' about four witnesses" at a dairy farm "seeing a silver disk over Montour Ridge and seeing a man 'drawn up into it?'"
(See Filer's Files #41 for October 9, 2002. Many thanks to George A. Filer of MUFON for letting UFO Roundup quote from his newsletter.)
From the UFO Files...
1905: STRANGE CRUISE OF THE KALI YUGA
The USA's five Great Lakes are famous for their ghost ships. Many are the vessels which have "sailed away" and vanished, never to be seen again.
Among the most famous "Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes" are the Chicora, Bannockburn, Alpena, Marquette & Bessemer No. 2, Cerisoles, Inkerman, Rouse Simmons, C.F. Curtis, Annie M. Peterson, Ira H. Owen, Benjamin Noble, Seldon E. Marvin, Clifton, Cornell, Milwaukee, D.M. Clemson, Adella Shores, Anna C. Minch, William B. Davock and, of course, the oddly-named Kali Yuga.
The story begins in St. Clair, Michigan in the spring of 1889, as shipbuilders put the finishing touches on a brand-new wooden "oreboat" 270 feet (81 meters) long and 40 feet (12 meters) wide. Only three years earlier, the Merritt brothers had opened up the Mesabi "Iron Range" in northern Minnesota. Tons of high-grade iron ore were coming out of the mines and heading for the ports of Lake Superior. Ships were needed to ferry the ore to the steel mills in Buffalo, N.Y. and Cleveland, Ohio.
The hull was quickly sold to the Cleveland Cliffs fleet. Her new owners cast about for a suitable name. But nobody could think of one.
Then a member of the company's Board of Directors read an article about India in the Detroit Free Press. The article made mention of the Kali Yuga, a Hindi phrase which the newspaper translated as "the Age of Iron."
The Board thought this would be a fine name for an oreboat. So a champagne bottle was swung, and the newly-christened Kali Yuga slid down the ramp into Lake St. Clair for her shakedown cruise.
Trouble was, the ship's American owners misunderstood the meaning of the phrase Kali Yuga. They thought it referred to the Iron Range boom in the USA's Upper Midwest. In actuality, the phrase Kali Yuga refers to the last epoch in the Hindu cycle of world-ages.
In the Vishnu Purana, time is divided into four distinct world-ages. First comes the Satya Yuga or Golden Age, lasting the longest. Then the world enters the Treta Yuga, a less civilized and harmonious period, which is followed by the Dvapara Yuga, an age in which humankind has grown more violent and decadent still. Right before oblivion comes the fourth age, the Kali Yuga, which lasts for 400,000 years.
A better translation of the phrase Kali Yuga would be "the Age of Chaos."
The oreboat soon lived up to her name. Although no sailor ever died an accidental death aboard the Kali Yuga, the vessel experienced some weird paranormal phenomena.
While downbound on Lake Huron in August 1897, the Kali Yuga encountered an impenetrable fog. Crewmen taking a break on the Texas deck were startled by a sudden sound--the barking of a large and very angy dog. The barking and snarling, followed by a bone-chilling howl, sounded as if they were coming from the fog a short distance, no more than 100 feet (30 meters) away.
But the Kali Yuga was in mid-lake at the time, at a point about 15 miles (25 kilometers) northeast of Presque Isle, Michigan.
In June 1899, crewman Bob Sandover had a most unnerving experience in a night fog on Lake Superior. While working alone on deck, Bob saw what he thought was a "double" of the Kali Yuga on the placid lake only 33 feet (10 meters) away. Through the roiling mists, the "other" deck looked identical to his, and his doppelganger mimicked his every motion.
Gripping the rail, Bob shouted, "Who are you? What are you doing out there?"
The doppelganger stood erect slowly and faced him. Bob gasped. The "other" sailor was his identical double in every detail of facial feature and dress. The only difference was the double's eyes, which radiated an aura of menace.
By way of reply, the double squatted down and appeared to be writing something. Then he lifted a square piece of cardboard with a hastily-scrawled message on it: Get off that ship!
The double's lips curved in a sinister smile. And then he and his Kali Yuga shimmered and vanished.
When the ship docked at Detroit, Bob Sandover promptly quit and found a berth on another Great Lakes steamer. Never again did he set foot on the Kali Yuga.
And there was another curious fact about the Kali Yuga. She could never keep to a schedule. Season after season, she invariably showed up late at her destination. Her owners appointed one captain after another, but the Kali Yuga never quite shed her reputation for a tardy arrival.
In 1900, Captain Fred L. Tonkin of Painesville, Ohio took the helm for the summer. This time, "the Kali Yuga was long overdue" but "she showed up all right. She had been caught in a gale o' wind and had lost her rudder."
And then came 1905, an ominous year in Great Lakes history, highlighted by "a gale of November" that sank dozens of ships and provided Duluth with her all-time most famous shipwreck, the Mataafa. So many ships went down in that gale that the final fate of the Kali Yuga has been virtually forgotten.
On October 19, 1905, the Kali Yuga pulled up to the iron ore docks in Marquette, Michigan, on Lake Superior's south shore. Once again, Fred Tonkin was her skipper, and her chief engineer was Charles A. Sharpe of Cleveland. There were 16 men aboard and one woman, the cook.
"The weather had been bad that fall. Lots of the older schooners and steam barges were wrecked that season...Nobody worried much, however, as she (the Kali Yuga) was one of the strongest and best wooden steamers on the lakes, and well-kept, too."
Early the next morning, October 20, 1905, the Kali Yuga weighed anchor and steamed away from the ore dock. As she sailed past Marquette's distinctive red brick lighthouse, Sharpe came to the pilothouse and pointed out an unusual sight to Captain Tonkin.
There, on the stony beach, stood a dozen Anishinabe men and women, all dressed as if for powwow in bead-worked black velveteen clothes and ceremonial headdresses. They all looked pretty grim as "the medicine chief (today we say spiritual advisor--J.T.) carried the eagle staff and chanted."
"Who are those Indians?" he asked.
Captain Tonkin, who had often sailed the upper lakes, answered, "Chippewas. Here to see us off, I gather."
(Editor's Comment: My guess is, the Anishinabe spiritual advisor had a vision of what was to come, and they went down to the shore to invoke "the One Above's" blessing on the doomed ship.)
There was a stiff wind, and the seas were high on Lake Superior. But the Kali Yuga reached Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan safely and passed through the Soo canal and entered Lake Huron.
"The skipper of the Frontenac told later of seeing her about four that afternoon some seven miles (11 kilometers) off Presque Isle Light in Lake Huron," not far from the scene of the "barking dog" incident. "The master of the L.C. Waldo also reported seeing her about dark (6:45 p.m.--J.T.) between Middle Island and Thunder Bay Island." A gale was blowing, "and it kicked up a terrific big sea."
Because of her reputation for tardiness, "no one was unduly alarmed when she didn't show up exactly on schedule...They figgered that maybe she put in for shelter somewhere along the east or north shores of Lake Huron."
"Her sister ships of the Cliffs fleet searched hard for her. Her owners sent out tugs after the wind let up to scour the lake for signs of her, but no good. They all came back with nothin' to say. No wreckage, no nothin'."
The Kali Yuga "was lost on Lake Huron in 1905 and never a trace of her was found...She didn't ever show up, and nobody ever knew where she went down, nor why." (See the books Memories of the Lakes by David Thomas Bowen, Freshwater Press, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, 1969, pages 245 to 247 and Haunted Lakes by Frederick Stonehouse, Lake Superior Port Cities, Inc., Duluth, Minn., 1997, pages 127, 148 and 149.)
Well, that's it for this week. Join us next time for more UFO, Fortean and paranormal news, brought to you by "the paper that goes home--UFO Roundup." See you in seven days.
UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 2002 by Masinaigan Productions, all rights reserved. Readers may post news items from UFO Roundup on their websites or in news groups provided that they credit the newsletter and its editor by name and list the date of issue in which the item first appeared.
