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Post by paulette on Dec 25, 2011 14:21:59 GMT -6
Reminds me of your dream Lorelei. Reminds me of a fragment of a Dylan song (sung in my mind by Joan Baez)
Farewell Angelina the bells of the crowd Have been stolen by bandits that swallowed their song... (probably something else here)
Just a table sitting empy by the edge of the sea But farewell Angelina The sky is on fire And I must leave...
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Post by Morgan Sierra on Feb 6, 2012 13:53:47 GMT -6
On the Edge of Area 51Area 51 has long been a mythical place in UFO circles. Rumor has it that alien spacecraft are being reverse engineered in Super secret underground bunkers connected by a spiderweb of hidden tunnels that spread out beneath the desert floor. Others say that actual extraterrestrial beings are being held in secret locations within the Top Secret facility while efforts are being made to communicate with them. Whether these rumors are true remains to be seen but regardless, the myth seems to have attained legendary status. If Roswell is the UFO community's Mecca than Area 51 is Heaven...or Hell, depending on how you look at it. Many intrepid UFO hunters have tried to penetrate the veil of secrecy that surrounds the base...and many have been arrested and fined for doing so. The fine can be anywhere from $600 to $1000 dollars for the first offense, and much higher for those who didn't learn their lesson the first time. That still doesn't stop people from trying though. The lure is just too irresistible. I have already written about the recent trip I took to Nevada and my journey down the Extraterrestrial Highway that culminated with a visit to the Little A' le inn...the local watering hole and alien-themed souvenir shop that sits on the outskirts of the Nevada Test range. This is usually the starting point for those attempting to make the journey to Area 51. People come from all over the world to do so. Having heard all of the tall-tales about the infamous base, and traveling almost 2000 miles to get there, I was definitely primed for an adventure. The fact that I had a brief encounter with a shady man in black while at the A' le Inn only added fuel to the fire. I was definitely going, one way or another. Believe it or not, despite the government's official denial that the base even exists, there are several methods one can use to get to it. The first is to drive aimlessly up and down the many dirt roads that criss-cross the desert until you accidentally wander across the boundary...or run out of gas, neither of which would be a good thing to do. Both the desert and the government can be unforgiving. The second way is to hire somebody to take you there. There is actually a tourist guide service that operates out of Las Vegas and specializes in trips to the front gate of Area 51. The group is called Adventure Photo Tours and they can pick you up at the airport and drive you out to the middle of hell on Earth in air-conditioned comfort. In addition to the base, their tours can also include a visit to see the fleet of unmarked airliners that fly workers to and from the base, some Native American petroglyphs that supposedly resemble aliens, and a visit to the black mailbox and lunch at the Little A' le Inn. It's not a bad way to see the sights if you don't want to go it alone. The third way to find the base is with a map. I managed to procure mine from the bartender at the Little A' le Inn. (They sell them there for 33 cents. ) In addition to giving detailed driving instructions to the front and rear gates, the map also shows the location of some of the other interesting sites in the area, like the "black" mailbox, Mailbox Road, and Groom Lake Road. Armed with this fiendish little device I hopped in my pickup and headed for Dreamland. As I bumped and skidded down the dusty dirt roads I couldn't help but wonder what was in store for me. I had seen pictures of the base boundary before, (and even some of the base itself ) so I pretty much knew what I was going to see, but actually being there in person is a whole different story. There is an aura of mystery that permeates the desert out there...a feeling that's very hard to explain. It's a sense of dread that echos off the mountains and flows down the dry ravines, sending cold shivers racing down your spine. It's a feeling of being watched...like somebody doesn't want you to be there. Every time I went around a curve I half expected a herd of MiBs to come stampeding out from behind the hills and drag me into some deep, dark, dungeon filled with little gray slanted-eyed cellmates. Definitely not a pleasant thought. As I rounded the last curve before the base boundary my feelings of being watched were justified. Perched up on top of a hill overlooking the entrance was a white four-wheel drive pickup with two sinister looking guards in it. These are the infamous MiBs, or"cammo-dudes" as some people call them because they always wear camouflage clothing. They are members of a private security firm contracted by the military to keep curious onlookers out and the base's secrets in. They reportedly take their job very seriously. I was mildly surprised to see the Adventure Photo Tours people were there as well. Their big SUV was parked off to the side of the road just before the entrance marker. Two sun-shade wearing tour guides were setting up a camera with the biggest lens I had ever seen and pointing it in the direction of the Cammo-dudes. They could have counted the whiskers on an aliens face from a mile out with that camera. I was impressed. I was also impressed with the lone tourist the tour guides were showing the sights to...a beautiful blond with big...uhh...eyes and an intoxicating smile. It was little wonder that two guides came along on the excursion with their single client. I had half a mind to sign up for a tour right there on the spot, even though I was already at the destination. The other half of my brain told me that Area 51 was nearby and waited to be explored. When the buxom beauty finally wandered over a hill to get a closer look at something or another I finally tore my eyes away from her and started reading the signs around me. "Warning" they said. "Photography of this area is prohibited." That's nice, I thought, as I started snapping pictures. Most people aren't aware that it is actually legal to approach and photograph the boundary, you just can't go across. The boundary is clearly marked with signs and orange stakes stuck in the ground at regular intervals. There are no chain-link fences, minefields or concrete walls to keep trespassers out, but one false step will bring the wrath of the cammo-dudes rushing down upon you. They even have miniature cameras and infra-red beams disguised as rocks and hidden in the cactuses just in case anybody tries to sneak across. Attempting to trespass into the interior would not be a good idea. As I continued taking photos I kept a close eye on the white pickup sitting up on the hill. I wondered if the guards were watching me or the beautiful blond? There was no way to tell through the truck's tinted windows. In an attempt to find out I started to creep closer to one of the boundary markers...closer and closer I went. When I was only a few inches away from it I could dimly feel the cammo-dudes giving me the evil eye and then, with a mischievous grin on my face, I reached out and touched the marker. I know it was a silly thing to do and is probably something a thousand other people have done...but I couldn't help it. I guess the rebellious part of me just isn't going to rest until I get thrown in the slammer. I seriously doubt there was any possibility the guards would have come charging down from their lofty perch just because I touched a sign, but I was still a little bit giddy when I did it...especially since I made sure my foot was across the boundary line at the time. I can now triumphantly claim that I have set foot on Area 51. ;D Other than that there is not much to see out there. The base is completely surrounded by hills and the outer boundary is a long ways away from the inner perimeter where the action actually takes place. Anything secret would be carefully stored underground or out of sight and away from prying eyes. There used to be a couple of vantage points on nearby mountains where people could legally go and set up telescopes to observe some of the activity at the base, but thanks to the government's infamous land grabs in the 80s and 90s that is no longer possible. Both of the viewing areas at Bald mountain and Freedom Ridge are now off limits. Whatever mysteries lie within Area 51 are going to have to remain mysteries for now. I don't see any way that anybody could get closer to the base than I did, at least not without getting arrested. The place may as well be an impenetrable fortress surrounded by miles and miles of cactuses, cameras, rattlesnakes and MiBs. Even the photos that I took are not much different than the ones I had already seen posted on the internet. I'm still glad that I made the journey though. Being there gives you a feeling that you just can't get from looking at photographs. It allows a person to appreciate the isolation and sense of security that surrounds the base. Whatever the government has hidden there is definitely something they do not want people to see. Whether it involves aliens, UFOs or something more earthly in origin, the Top Secret experiments they are conducting there will have to remain a secret...at least for now.
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Post by Morgan Sierra on Feb 6, 2012 13:55:31 GMT -6
That last post is the same one I just made in the Other UFO topics section but without the photos. I don't put the photos on my blog. If people want to see them they have to come to the forum to check them out.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2012 15:56:20 GMT -6
Thank you for sharing your trip Sky. When I was training and showing horses some of my clients lived in Pahrump which is just a stones toss from the base, and the husband of one of my clients was one of the 'camo' dudes..long since retired I am sure. It's kind of funny because as we relate tales of threatening dudes chasing down investigators, they tell stories of having to put up with pain in the a$$ sight seers bent on gate crashing. I suppose it's just a matter of what side of the fence you're on Their job description is to keep people away..ours is to get IN.
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Post by skywalker on Feb 6, 2012 22:23:51 GMT -6
I wanna be on the other side of the fence!
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Post by casper on Mar 11, 2012 17:44:16 GMT -6
Skywalker, If you ever go over there you will get arrested for sure. they are just looking for an opportunity to throw you in the slammer.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2012 17:15:50 GMT -6
I'll send him a cupcake with a file in it ;D
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Post by casper on Mar 12, 2012 18:53:29 GMT -6
I'll send him some donuts. While the cops are fighting over them he can make his getaway.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2012 21:23:29 GMT -6
I'll send him some donuts. While the cops are fighting over them he can make his getaway. ;D
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Post by paulette on Mar 12, 2012 22:53:21 GMT -6
I wonder what would happen if someone took an ultralight aircraft up right at the boundary - one could then see into the base. Would they flame it down? Maybe a drone would be better.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2012 1:10:30 GMT -6
Well I think I wouldn't want to cruise by in a hot air balloon ;D
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Post by Morgan Sierra on Mar 14, 2012 21:52:11 GMT -6
I wonder what would happen if someone took an ultralight aircraft up right at the boundary - one could then see into the base. Would they flame it down? Maybe a drone would be better. I believe that somebody did that about 10 years ago. They managed to get some pretty decent photos. The guy who took them lives in the area and is always camping out just outside the perimeter trying to figure out ways to get some good pictures. He said that he is always being buzzed by helicopters.
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Post by Morgan Sierra on Mar 14, 2012 21:54:32 GMT -6
The Crash on Mount Charleston
A little over a decade ago I decided to take a short vacation to Nevada and California. My goal was to do a little bit of mountain climbing, starting with an easy hike up Mount Charleston, which is an 11,918 foot peak just west of Las Vegas. It did not exactly turn out to be what you would call an exemplary climbing expedition. Being fairly inexperienced as a climber I was still learning the ropes, so to speak, and I was prone to making novice mistakes...one of which I discovered when I got off the plane in Vegas the morning of what was supposed to be my first climb and discovered that I had left all of my hiking equipment in my car, which was very inconveniently parked at the airport back in Texas. Not good.
After driving my rental car all over creation searching for a store that sold hiking equipment I managed to procure a new pair of boots, a small backpack, some water bottles and a few other odds and ends that I figured might come in handy on my climb. I didn't want to spend too much money since I already had all of the same stuff at home and climbing equipment is not cheap. The boots alone cost me over $200.00. That was close to the total amount of money I was planning on spending on the entire trip. Once again, not good.
After a short drive through the desert and a winding road up to the mountains I finally reached the trailhead at about 1:00 in the afternoon--a little late to begin a hike but since I was in halfway decent shape and the hike to the summit and back was only supposed to take about eight hours I figured I could make it back before sundown. Once again I was wrong.
I had barely gotten to the 11,000 foot mark when I noticed the sun was sinking towards the horizon. I continued pressing on but was starting to get a chill from the rapidly dropping temperatures. It had been a balmy 85 degrees at the trailhead down below but up above the treeline it was closer to 40. Because it had been so nice when I started out I was only wearing shorts and a T-shirt and they were soaked with sweat from the hot temperatures. I had already gone through the two liters of water that I had packed as well.
I was determined to keep going but was soon stopped dead in my tracks by a hurricane force wind that was blasting up over the ridge leading to the summit. All of a sudden I was freezing cold and in danger of getting hypothermia. With the summit in site and only about 20 minutes away I hated to turn around but going forward could have put me in a very dangerous situation. Common sense told me to turn around but my stubborn pride refused to allow me to surrender. I decided to get out of the wind and consider the options.
I traversed over to the other side of the ridge away from the wind and was suddenly surprised to find myself standing in a pile of junk. There were bits and pieces of twisted metal, wires, cables and all sorts of aluminum and steel debris scattered all over the area. A quick examination told me that the metallic mess had once been an airplane...but what the heck was it doing way up there on the mountain?
Naturally curious I started poking around the debris field trying to determine what type of plane it was and what had caused it to crash. It was only when I noticed that the sky was turning to twilight and the sun was going down that I finally dragged myself away from the wreckage. With no chance of making the summit in the gathering darkness and freezing temperatures I finally headed down the mountain and stumbled into the parking lot at the bottom several hours later in total pitch blackness. It had not occurred to me that I might ought to buy a flashlight to replace the one sitting in the car back in Texas. Another boneheaded mistake.
Mount Charleston is one of the few mountains out of the many I have climbed that I was not able to make the summit on the first attempt. It was kind of annoying to me because it is such an easy mountain to climb. The rest of the mountains I failed on were easy ones too. I guess you could chalk my failures up to bad luck and inexperience...or stupidity...whichever seems more fitting. Either way I was determined to someday go back and climb that mountain again...and get to the bottom of that mysterious crashed airplane...
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November 17, 1955
A Lockheed C-54 sits on the tarmac at the airport in Burbank, California, it's four engines rumbling steadily in the early morning dawn. It's wingtips and tail were painted red, and on the tail fin were stenciled the numbers 9068. Other than that there was nothing remarkable to set the plane apart from the rest of the aircraft lined up on the runway.
Waiting on board was the Pilot, Lieutenant George Pappas, his co-pilot, paul Winham, and twelve passengers. There was supposed to be thirteen but one of them was late. It looked like he was going to be a no-show. After waiting as long as he thought he could the pilot finally gave the order to close the door then taxied down the runway and zoomed into the skies to the northeast. It's destination...a mysterious place called "Watertown."
The plane was a good one, one of a line of old warhorses the Air Force had dubbed "Skymasters" because of their reliable service during the war. Each of its four engines put out over 1200 horsepower apiece, more than enough to handle just about any task that could have been asked of it. It had always done its job well.
As the plane headed out of town it stayed low, zig-zagging in between the small mountains before leveling off over the flat California desert. It maintained an altitude of only about 10,000 feet...much lower than any normal commercial aircraft would have traveled. As it sped along in the general direction of Las Vegas a strong tail wind help quicken its pace. It was a bright sunny day, with little hint of the danger that lurked just to the west of them.
Shortly after crossing the California/Nevada state line the plane suddenly cut all radio communications and altered its course, heading north into the barren Nevada desert. These were highly unusual maneuvers for a passenger plane, but this was not just any ordinary flight. It's crew was actually a group of engineers and CIA agents heading for a secret base out in the middle of nowhere at a place called Groom Lake. It later would come to be known by another infamous name--Area 51.
The base was originally created as a secret site to test and develop the ultra Top Secret U2 spy plane. Flight 9068 was one of the daily flights that covertly shuttled passengers and equipment in and out of the base. The need for secrecy dictated the false flight plan and radio silence, so the plane could not be tracked to its secret destination by spying eyes. Unfortunately, on this day the extra security precautions would prove to be a fatal mistake.
Little did the pilot or crew know that a huge storm was lurking just ahead of them. As they sailed silently along they soon found themselves blasted by hurricane force winds and pelted with snow and hail. The snow quickly covered the landscape with a blanket of white reducing visibility to almost zero. The howling wind pushed the plane off course to the east and with no ground support to guide them they quickly found themselves dodging the peaks of the Spring Mountain range. They were flying where they weren't supposed to be.
Realizing the danger they were in the pilot broke radio silence and made several frantic calls for help, but nobody answered. Since they had been deliberately flying low to avoid radar none of the surrounding towers had any idea where the plane was, or where it was going. As far as they knew it wasn't even supposed to exist.
As the pilot barreled along through white-out conditions he could only guess at where he was and what was around him. It was extremely dangerous flying conditions and he knew that he was in trouble. Perhaps he finally realized that he had been blown of course and needed to head to the west to get out of the mountains, or maybe he just decided to turn around and head back to California. Whatever he was thinking will never be known because, unfortunately, his last correction put him on a direct collision course with the tallest mountain the entire area--Mount Charleston.
As the mountain suddenly came screaming towards them the pilot pulled back hard on the wheel and jammed the throttle wide-open hoping to gain enough altitude to make it over the peak. The wind came howling in the opposite direction seemingly determined to keep them from succeeding. With gut-wrenching horror they must have finally realized that they weren't going to make it.
One of the propellers dug into the ground then ripped the wing off causing the plane to plow hard into the ridge. The cockpit disintegrated and the rest of the fuselage broke in half and exploded into a huge ball of flames. All fourteen men on board were killed instantly. It was a huge tragedy.
In the days and weeks that followed the military and a civilian rescue team launched a heroic attempt to recover of the bodies of the dead men. Having succeeded the government then tried to sweep the entire thing under the rug and pretend that it never happened. The need for secrecy to protect the U2 project meant that nobody could know about what really happened, where the mysterious plane was heading or why. The families of the dead were only told that the men had died in a crash. Many of them never found out how or why.
A military recovery team combed the area to recover any classified materials that may have survived the crash, then a demolition team was brought in to dynamite what was left of the wreckage and blow it to smithereens. Some of the engines were salvaged to be used for parts on other aircraft. The rest was left to lie there and rot...or be carried away by souvenir hunters. Whatever remained is still scattered over the mountainside today.
In 1998 the government finally decided to declassify the U2 project, and that meant declassifying the plane crash as well. A man by the name of Steve Ririe found out about the crash and created a group called The Silent Heroes of the Cold War which is dedicated to preserving the history of what really happened up there on the mountain. He researched the history of the crash and contacted as many of the family members of the victims as he could find and told them the truth about how and why there relatives really died.
They published a book, written by Kyril Plaskon, called Silent Heroes of the Cold War:Declassified. In it is the complete story of the plane crash as well as short biographies on each of the people who died, as well as the one lone survivor who missed his flight. Ririe and the rest of the members of his group are now attempting to raise funds to build a permanent monument up on the mountain...something that will tell the story of what happened on that fateful day so long ago
*********************************************
This past August, 2011, I once again found myself standing at the base of Mount Charleston. Having learned much in the past decade, both about climbing as well as how to travel without losing luggage, I was ready to tackle the mountain once again.
I carried with me a backpack filled with food, water, flashlights, batteries and enough clothes to overheat an Eskimo. I also had my camera, as well as knowledge about the wreckage that was lying up there close to the summit. I planned to take plenty of pictures.
Since I was actually in better than average physical condition this time due to the marathon training I had been doing I managed to reach the crash site early in the afternoon. Not wanting to miss the summit again, and dreading that another freezing cold wind might blow in, I continued on up to the top, took a few celebratory photos, then headed back down to see some history.
The wreckage was still there, just like I remembered it from before. The mountain is now listed as a National Historical Site so taking souvenirs is strictly prohibited, although that probably doesn't stop some people from doing it. At least it seemed like most of the stuff was still recognizable.
I dug through the pile of debris looking for bits and pieces to photograph and found quite a few interesting things. Most of the metal appears to be aluminum, with a few small titanium pieces mixed in. There was also some steel and iron which surprisingly showed very little rust considering how long it has been exposed to the elements. some of it still looked new. I also noticed that some of the aluminum pieces were partially melted, either from the fire that occurred during the crash or from the demolition that followed.
I can not even begin to describe how eerie it felt to hold a piece of melted metal in my hands knowing that once upon a time it was part of an aircraft flying through the air at close to 300 miles per hour, before plowing into the mountain...and knowing that men died there because of what happened. The fact that it was a clandestine flight to the most infamous military base in the country only made it even more intriguing.
What really took me by surprise is how close they were to making it over the ridge. If the plane had been just ten feet higher, or twenty feet further to the left, they would have made it safely over the mountain and onwards to their secret destination. Ten feet might not seem like much, but to those fourteen men who perished there back in 1955 it made all the difference in the world. It meant the difference between life and death...the difference between making history or becoming a part of it.
As for the fourteen men who died up there, their bodies may be long gone, but they will always be a part of that mountain. The sacrifice they made should never be forgotten...or swept under the rug. They are the silent heroes of the cold war. Even if the official monument never gets built, they will always have one...scattered in the bits and pieces of aluminum and steel that remain up on top of Mount Charleston.
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Post by Morgan Sierra on Mar 14, 2012 21:55:55 GMT -6
That last post is the same one I made in the Air and Space section but without the photos. (the photos are pretty cool)
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Post by LindseySkywatcher on Mar 31, 2012 9:28:57 GMT -6
I decided to log in this morning and browse around the forum...I didn't get much farther than here. Sooo much info to take in about MUFON alone. Sometimes you just know when you're being led in a certain direction. When our encounters began in 2004, I not only reported them to UFO Wisconsin, but also MUFON. I didn't get the desired results. MUFON was more interested in making me an investigater than investigating our documented eye-witnessed sightings!! That in part made me decide to get the word out about these strange lights by writing and publishing my book. Although we are living on a very tight budget, and because I was a first-time author, it was going to cost thousands to get this book published, I decided to go through with it and borrow the money for the pubishing.That too, is why my book was short and to the point....the bigger the book....the bigger the cost for pubishing. I didn't need MUFON then....and I don't need them now. My book is published, our story is out....let the chips fall where they may!! Best~Betty, author of The Mysterious Lindsey Lights
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Post by skywalker on Mar 31, 2012 9:46:14 GMT -6
MUFON has disappointed a lot of people...in a lot of different ways. Luckily, we don't need MUFON to figure out what's going on. We can do just as good a job by ourselves just by paying attention to what we see and experience and sharing the info with each other. At least then we don't have to worry about whether somebody is hiding the info or not telling the truth about the results of the investigation. (BTW Betty, Skywalker is also Morgan Sierra. This is my disguise. )
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2012 9:54:34 GMT -6
Thank You for joining us LindseySkywatcher I try not to talk about Mufon too much (hereafter referred to as "muffin" ;D) as my disappointment is great and not improving. With all the responses given to their "weird behavior", I would think they would either be improving or nearly dead by now. I feel bad that you started browsing here on TEOR, and muffin became a distraction. It was an honest statement though that needs to be heard. IMO, it is quite possible that muffin in itself is now just that; a distraction. (not that TEOR posting about muffin is). There is a lot here on TEOR beyond that. I met a lot of these nice people at muffin, and when I found this site, I spent time here and there browsing before I ever joined up . For one thing, It did take time to adjust after my mild experience with muffin. I hope you come back by, and thank you for getting your story out. ! Sincerely, jcurio
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Post by plutronus on Apr 1, 2012 8:04:24 GMT -6
The Crash on Mount Charleston
A little over a decade ago I decided to take a short vacation to Nevada and California. My goal was to do a little bit of mountain climbing, starting with an easy hike up Mount Charleston...one of which I discovered when I got off the plane in Vegas the morning of what was supposed to be my first climb and discovered that I had left all of my hiking equipment in my car, which was very inconveniently parked at the airport back in Texas. Not good. . << deletia >> . Either way I was determined to someday go back and climb that mountain again...and get to the bottom of that mysterious crashed airplane...
*******************************************
November 17, 1955
A Lockheed C-54 sits on the tarmac at the airport in Burbank, California, it's four engines rumbling steadily in the early morning dawn. . << deletia >> . .....mountain...something that will tell the story of what happened on that fateful day so long ago
+++
This past August, 2011, I once again found myself standing at the base of Mount Charleston. Having learned much in the past decade, both about climbing as well as how to travel without losing luggage, I was ready to tackle the mountain once again.. . << deletia >> . As for the fourteen men who died up there, their bodies may be long gone, but they will always be a part of that mountain. Hi Morgan Sierra, Nice writing. plutronus[/size][/color]
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2012 9:18:15 GMT -6
Lindsey, thank you for sharing your story with us here. I look forward to your contributions to our discussions here.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2012 19:55:46 GMT -6
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Post by skywalker on Apr 6, 2012 22:01:07 GMT -6
Hi Morgan Sierra, Nice writing. plutronus[/size][/color] [/quote] Thanks, Plutronus. I wish I had more time to write. I have a lot of ideas for articles I would like to do, I just don't have much time to do it.
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Post by Morgan Sierra on Sept 4, 2012 21:49:47 GMT -6
I can't believe I haven't written anything on my blog since April. I must really be slacking. Either that or I have been really busy. Either way it still deserves a few of these... I am working on a couple of interesting articles to put here in the next couple of weeks. Until then I will post this little thing that I just kind of threw together just for the heck of it. Once again... *********************** 2112This is the full first half of the 2112 album by Rush. It was definitely a different type of album when it was first released way back in the 1970s. The first half told a story and the second side of the album was just regular songs. I don't really like any of the songs but the 2112 story is interesting to me for several reasons. *************************** ( The Overture):When you listen to the very first opening part it is just music made with a keyboard or synthesizer. (I'm sure Lorelei would know what the heck it is really called ) What is interesting to me about it is that the higher pitched sounds are almost identical to the sound I heard when I got zapped by that beam of light way back in 1988. This is the closest sound I have ever found to what I heard way back then. (The 2112 story): The story that the song tells takes place on a future Earth...hundreds of years after humans set off on a space voyage to explore the stars. The people left behind on Earth ended up forming basically what became a communist society where everybody was given everything the needed by the government which had total control over everything. People were happy and content...or at least they thought they were. One young man was exploring a cave outside the city when he discovered an antique device that the ancient people called a guitar. He started strumming the strings and found out that he could make music...not the type of music that was tightly controlled and fed to the citizens every day by the all-powerful priests, but music that was creative and unique and that was only limited by a person's imagination. Creativity was something that was totally foreign to their strict centrally planned and controlled society. It was totally unimaginable and exciting. It felt very liberating to be able to make music instead of just listen to it. Thinking that he had made a remarkable discovery that would revolutionize their lifestyle he rushed off to tell the priests the great news...but instead was met with scorn and derision by the ones in power who sought only to maintain their power. The priests were not about to allow people to start thinking for themselves. In a fit of rage they took the guitar and smashed it to pieces. The man was so distraught by what he had seen that he wandered home miserable and depressed. Having had a taste of freedom he could not bear to go back to the way things were. He finally fell asleep and dreamed a wonderful dream about the ancient people who left the planet because of their thirst for knowledge and freedom and who someday would return to liberate the people who had been overcome by repression and censorship. It was a wonderful dream...but alas, it was just a dream. Upon waking and finding out that he would forever be stuck in a world of despair he decided he could not go on and he committed suicide. ****************************** The anti-communist (or anti-establishment) message in the song is obvious, and not surprising given the fact that it was written during the height of the cold war and in the 70s when fighting the "establishment" was a common practice. (now you know part of why I'm such a rebel ) It seems to be very prophetic though since society seems to keep marching blindly and tirelessly in the direction of complete government domination of society. I'm sure many political leaders already think that they are in total control. In fact, some are almost identical to the priests, crushing any thought of independent thinking or free will as quickly as it arises. I'm not meaning to make this a political sermon though. The thing that really gets me thinking is the thought that an ancient civilization might have wandered off into space leaving a group of people behind on the planet. If something like that really had happened would those left behind remember the ones who left? Or would they gradually forget all about it, even going so far as to lose the technology that made space flight possible? I look back at some of the ancient civilizations that used to exist on this planet and I see countless examples of technology that was developed and lost, only to be rediscovered and lost again at a later date. We seem to go through periods of "dark ages" where knowledge just seems to disappear for some reason. Possibly for political reasons, or possibly a host of others. I wonder if someday the skies will fill up with space craft piloted by an elder race who has returned to liberate us from our own oppression and igannance. It would be a wonderful dream...if only it would come true.
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Post by paulette on Sept 5, 2012 10:26:26 GMT -6
The opening sounds were weirdly familiar to me too.
I never listened to Rush before and had no idea that they did an album that included a one-song side. The suppressed and not-smart to get away enough shall inherit the earth? Can't handle listening to the whole thing those. Those vocals hurt my back teeth...
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Post by skywalker on Sept 5, 2012 19:48:00 GMT -6
He does sing pretty high...or is it screaming rather than singing? That noise at the beginning is exactly like what I heard when I got zapped. It was a very high-pitched whining sound like that. It sounded mechanical to me so I am assuming it was the sound of a ufo hovering outside my window. The beam of light was coming through my window from a source that was up in the air outside...another reason to think it was a ufo. There is no way to know if the sound was from the craft's power source that was keeping it flying or from whatever machine it was that was making the light. I've heard a lot of people say that UFOs they saw were silent as they were flying so maybe it was the light source that I heard.
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Post by paulette on Sept 5, 2012 22:50:11 GMT -6
I've read accounts where people are in a drive in and get out and look up because of the humming overhead. Which turns out to be a hovering UFO.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2012 6:20:57 GMT -6
Those keyboard voices sound really weird to me- they've always bothered me to be honest...
I wish I knew which keyboard voice you were talking about... at first I hear two different "voices"... make that three (a bass)... then a siren type voice... then a sweeper voice with the pulsing bass and the pulsing siren at the same time...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2012 6:21:42 GMT -6
They are very repetitive and mechanical sounding...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2012 13:51:23 GMT -6
Sounds identical to several of my binaural meditation pieces. Only they are designed on two tracks one for left ear one for right and meet up somewhere in the brain. I always feel so much clear headed after I meditate with one
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2012 16:46:10 GMT -6
Gotta love Stereo. You can have multiple instruments in stereo... you just select which instruments (or the percentage of the volume of the instruments) go into which speaker... usually when I record a song the bass will be leaning more towards the left. That's kind of the rule of thumb with modern music- treble(higher notes/vocals) is to the right and bass is to the left... ~shrug~
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Post by skywalker on Sept 6, 2012 22:20:00 GMT -6
Those keyboard voices sound really weird to me- they've always bothered me to be honest... I wish I knew which keyboard voice you were talking about... at first I hear two different "voices"... make that three (a bass)... then a siren type voice... then a sweeper voice with the pulsing bass and the pulsing siren at the same time... I guess I don't speak keyboard very well because I have no idea what any of that stuff is. What's a sweeper voice? The sound I heard was a high-pitched constant metallic whining noise. I'm not able to listen to any videos right now because I'm on a crappy internet connection but next time I'm able to listen to the song I will try to get the exact time that the sound I heard is playing so you have a better idea what I'm talking about.
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