Friday, January 23, 2009

Mysterious Places In America And The Coral Castle

Over the last few years, interest in the paranormal, the mystical and miracle healings have increased tenfold. Television and media have jumped on this phenomeon with shows like Ghost Hunters, Scariest Places On Earth and even Ripley's Believe It Or Not. CableTV stations such as SciFi, A&E and the History Channel are focusing more and more on these "non-human" occurrences.
Humans as a whole are a curious bunch and always seeking answers to the unknown. And the media has jumped on the opportunity to increase ratings whether or not they are elaborate hoaxes, optical illusions or explainable events.
With that said, here are 4 very strange places in America that have paranormal, mystical and unexplained histories. Here are four supposedly mysterical places: the Coral Castle, Oregon Vortez, Skinwalker Ranch and Mel's Hole.

Coral Castle
Coral Castle is a stone structure created by the Latvian-American eccentric Edward Leedskalnin north of the city of Homestead, Florida in Miami-Dade County at the intersection of U.S. 1 (South Dixie Highway) and Southwest 157th Ave. The structure comprises numerous megalithic stones, each weighing several tons.
The Castle was built by Edward Leedskalnin after being jilted by his 16-year-old fiancée Agnes Scuffs in Latvia, just one day before the wedding. Leaving for America, he came down with allegedly terminal tuberculosis but spontaneously healed, stating that magnets had some effect on his disease.
Edward spent over 28 years building the Coral Castle, refusing to allow anyone to view him while he worked. A few teenagers, who claimed to have witnessed his work, reported that he had caused the blocks of coral to move like hydrogen balloons. The only tool that Leedskalnin spoke of using was a "perpetual motion holder."
What is most remarkable about the contents of the Coral Castle is the massive size of the stones used throughout the construction, all the more remarkable when one considers that a single man assembled the entire site using only primitive tools. With few exceptions, the objects are made from single pieces of stone. The stones on average weigh more than the stones found in the Pyramids of Egypt. The largest stone weighs 30 tons, which is over three times the size of the heaviest stone found in the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Oregon Vortex
The Oregon Vortex is a roadside attraction located in Gold Hill, Oregon, in the United States. It consists of a number of optical illusions which the attraction's proprietors claim are the result of paranormal properties of the area.
According to local legend, a gold assay office built in the area in 1890 slid from its foundation, coming to rest at an odd angle. Visitors to the structure subconsciously assume that its walls are vertical and its floor level, since those rules apply to every other building they have visited. This erroneous assumption provides the illusion of a localized gravity anomaly, as objects seem to roll uphill or balance at odd angles. The same phenomenon is demonstrated in Pennsylvania's Laurel Caverns and at Santa Cruz, California's Mystery Spot.
Many of the paranormal events based on visual information are well known optical illusions The most famous illusion involves two people changing in relative heights depending on where they stand. This effect may be due to a distorted background which results in a forced perspective, as with an Ames room.

Skinwalker Ranch
Skinwalker Ranch is a ranch reputedly located in the Uintah Basin of Utah; it is allegedly the site of a series of paranormal activities.
A precise site has never been publicly confirmed (it's supposed coordinates are at 40°15'31"N 109°53'16"W), but the ranch is supposed to cover 480 acres relatively near to the Utah cities of Roosevelt and Vernal. Its name comes from the "Skinwalker", a supernatural being in Ute folklore.
The paranormal activity at Skinwalker Ranch has been intermitten at best, but according to sources, the alleged activity encountered is unusual or unidentified aircraft, balls of light, poltergeist activity, cattle mutilation, and strange creatures. have been reported [1]. The book "Hunt for the Skinwalker" asserts that after numerous interviews with neighbors to the Gorman ranch, many spoke of unusual experiences to NIDS researchers (one, identified as "Mr. Gonsalez" alleged that he had unusual experiences with cattle disappearances). They also claim local Ute Indians have a history of encounters with unusual objects and creatures [7]. Since the real names of these people are not revealed, these claims cannot be independently verified.

Mel's Hole
Mel's Hole is the name given to an alleged geographic anomaly that a man named Mel Waters claimed to have discovered on his land near Ellensburg, Washington. This man claimed that he lived in or near Manastash Ridge, Washington, about nine miles due west of Ellensburg, though later investigation revealed that no such person is listed as a resident. According to him, the hole has paranormal properties, including an infinite depth and the ability to restore dead animals to life.
The first references to the hole were made in a series of interviews with Waters, made by Art Bell on the American radio show Coast to Coast AM. Waters initially appeared on Coast to Coast AM on February 21, 1997. He since appeared on February 24, 1997, April 2000 and January 29, 2002. His most recent appearance on the show was on December 20, 2002.
While speaking on Coast to Coast AM, Waters related several stories about the hole and its properties. Among these stories was the claim that he had discovered that it was in excess of 15 miles (24 kilometers) deep, a figure he is said to have reached after spooling out 18 reels of 20 lb test fishing line, tied end on end, into the hole. Waters claims that he attached a "triangular, one-pound, standard lead fishing weight" to the end of the fishing line. (Note, however, that the fishing weight plus the weight of 18 spools of 5000-foot monofilament fishing line might well exceed the tensile strength of the line.)
Waters also alluded to the hole as having a property to resurrect dead animals, this claim arising from a story about an acquaintance who said he threw his dead dog's body into the hole and re-encountered his dog, alive, hunting with someone else, some time later. He also speculated that the hole and its properties might be tied to certain cosmological events, including unspecified alignments of the moon.
Whether or not you are a believer you have to be curious about what is going on. Is the government behind any of these? No one knows.
source:wiki

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