A Strange Tale of Two Popes

Okay, here’‘s a story that’s just plain - well, weird. Once upon a time there were two popes, one dead and one alive. The live pope hated the dead one so much that he had the dead one dug upand put on trial. For the rest of the story -

Here’s a Site for Fans of the Weird

I was trolling through Google for new research sites a few minutes ago when I found this blog. It’s got a lot of fascinating little tidbits about such things as 13,000-year-old pottery from Japan, 20,000-year-old oil lamps and other fascinating artifacts. This blog is a potential gold mine for collectors of information about enigmatic places and ancient artifacts. Visit this site. You’ll be glad you did.

Have You Ever Had a Fleeting Thought?

Have you ever had one of those weird little fleeting thoughts? You know the type. "Wow, it would be great to do that!" Or, "Wouldn’t be nice if ...." But in a minute or two, you realize that whatever idea crept into your head, it was unlikely, or even impossible, that it might actually happen.
I had such an idea a very long time ago. It was so impossible that I seldom even thought about it, except to laugh about my "pipe dream." But then one day, the telephone rang. This story isn’t quite unbelievable, but it was memorable, to say the least. Coincidences happen after all. If you’d like to find out what can happen to a fleeting thought, read the story here

The Loch Ness Monster - Again

There are hundreds of places around the world where sea monsters resembling pleisiosaurs and other dimosaurs are routinely reported. But according to science, the dinosaurs all died out millions of years ago.

But there's an argument to be made for their continued existence. Dozens of species of plants, insects, crocodilians, and sea creatures have survived one or more of the major extinction events throughout the last 450 million years. If that's the case, then the possibility does exist that some of the dinosaurs may have survived in one place or another.

If you'd like to know more, click here

What’s so Mysterious About the Phaistos Disc?

The Phaistos Disc is a real head-scratcher. In fact, at somewhere around 3700 years of age, this mysterious little clay tablet is, as of now, the oldest printed document in the world. Its 45 separate symbols were created by pressing stamps into the wet clay.

Would anyone have gone to the trouble of creating 45 stamps just to imprint one small clay document? Logically, the answer has to be no. It is likely, then, that at least several, and perhaps many of these documents were produced. But only one has turned up so far. Where are the others?

If you would like more information about this odd little artifact, which is currently in the Iraklion Archaeological Museum, click here

A Great Site About Lake Monsters

While working on an article about the Loch Ness Monster, I came across this web site. It's a massive encyclopedia detailing lake monsters around the world, including many you may not have heard of before. If you're interested in finding out more about these critters, just click here

Some Other Thoughts About Chief Joseph’s Tablet

There may be something more to be gained by analyzing Chief Joseph’s story about how his family came by the tablet. Joseph’s story of how his ancestors came by the tablet echoes the legends told in both North and South America about white culture-bringers. If in fact Joseph’s ancestors got the cuneiform tablet from the white visitors, it might be possible that the tablet provides a clue about where, and even when, the white visitors came from originally.

Cuneiform was the form of writing that was used in the Mesopotamian region from about 3,000 B.C. to roughly the beginning of the Common Era. Perhaps the tablet’s general age could be determined, which might in turn help to pinpoint the time of the visitor’s arrival among the ancestors of the Nez Perce chief. It might be worth a try . . .