Blogpost 8: Ho-Ho-Ho! Santa Claus is just a foax!

     Christmas. It is the most awaited holiday for everyone mostly, children. And we all know that Christmas is not complete without a bearded man with a big tummy wearing red fluffy clothes carrying gifts for everyone. The "Ho-Ho-Ho!" sound he makes enlightens our spirit and it makes us excited until the day comes.

     But did anyone ever wondered where did that fat guy came from? Is he really fat? is he really bearded? Is he really wearing red? And how did a massive-inch belly fitted into a narrow chimney? How can he ride a sleigh? How can he make those reindeer fly? Or even worst, Is Santa Claus real?

     Just to ruin your childhood, I want to share a certain article entitled "How did Santa Claus get started? From St. Nicholas to Kris Kringle of today" by Howard Koplowitz of ibtimes.com wherein he said the origin of the fat guy we are fond of. According to him, the origin of Santa Claus came from a monk named St. Nicholas who lived on 280 A.D at the country now known as Turkey. St. Nicholas was known for being generous tied up with the story of Santa Claus. There was a poor man who had three daughters. He was so poor, he did not have enough money for a dowry, so his daughters couldn't get married.One night, Nicholas secretly dropped a bag of gold down the chimney and into the house The bag fell into a stocking that had been hung by the fire to dry! This was repeated later with the second daughter. Finally, determined to discover the person who had given him the money, the father secretly hid by the fire every evening until he caught Nicholas dropping in a bag of gold. Nicholas begged the man to not tell anyone what he had done, because he did not want to bring attention to himself. But soon the news got out and when anyone received a secret gift, it was thought that maybe it was from Nicholas. St. Nicholas eventually became known “as the protector of children and sailors,” with his feast day being celebrated on Dec. 6, the anniversary of his death. And as time goes by, during the 18th century, the legend of St. Nicholas was brought to America by the Dutch and he became known as "Sinter Klaas". The author also added, "Roughly 100 years later is when Santa Claus started to resemble the Kris Kringle of popular culture, when giving gifts to children around Christmastime started becoming mainstream."

     So, did I just ruined your childhood belief? Ever since, I have noticed that the story of Santa Claus giving gifts during Christmas and being generous to others is quite plagiarized. The story is so cliche during old times and the reason why some people said that they saw Santa Claus is because people dress-up as him.

    Of course, kids will take this hard to believe. It is so bad for them to take that something they believe is not actually real.

     A certain article entitled, "Pupils' Christmas ruined by vicar's Santa Claus origins story" by Steven Morris of theguardian.com wherein he reported that a vicar named Tatto-Brown caused a uproar on a primary school when he told them the origin of Santa Claus. He said that the children cried and their Christmas got ruined when he told them that Santa Claus was never real. Some parents even protested to let their kids out of the school because they might also tell the kids that Jesus' story is also not real. Later on,Tatton telephoned the school when he realized what he did and apologized to the parents and the kids. the The author also said that, "The school has accepted his apology. Tatton-Brown was getting on with his preparations for Christmas on Thursday and referring inquiries to the diocese of Bristol."

      See how influential Santa Claus can be? You can make a whole primary school go crazy by telling them that the man who gives gifts during Christmas is nothing but a imitation of a legend. But for me, it is better to tell them the truth than giving them false hopes.

     You might ask why I put Santa as one of the enigmas I am curious about. Well, because in the end, he might be real. He is real but he he doesn't exactly look like what we have imagined. He might've been one of the impossible and he can also be real.

Blogpost 7: Release the Kraken!

     Even on the ancient times, mysterious creatures lingered on Earth already. Due to massive amount of Oxygen and lesser amount of other gases, life on Earth was far more gigantic than what we see now. One of the gargantuan creatures that still remains in our sociological belief is the ever famous Kraken.

     A lot of movies featured the Kraken as something who causes destruction and chaos to the ancient life. This somehow fired the hope inside us to believe that earlier some time, these colossal creatures ruled the seas.But, what exactly is the reason why people are so drowned to this ancient sea creature? 

     I read a certain article entitled "Release the Kraken! 2,000 of tales (and a smattering of truth) " by Nate Anderson of arstechnica.com that explained the reason why Krakens are so influential even around our time. The author said that one thing that famed the creature is literature. a writer named Pliny the Elder wrote a story about the creature but those kinds of tales were not that popular until the Scandinavians turned the creature into something more terrifying. They are even included on monster books published around the world even though they existed a long time ago only. But as time goes by, these stories that entertained and made people believe about the Kraken soon vanished and people started questioning whether it is real or not. Anderson also said that, "Almost imperceptibly, however, the new scientific thinking was having an effect on kraken legends; even the authors of fantastic adventure stories soon raised questions about just how credible such accounts were."

      In every mystery, one of the major reasons why it became so famous is because of litearry works. A lot of people tend to believe that something impossible to be alive can somehow be living during the ancient times just because of words and the tale of the Kraken is not an exception. 

      But despite the questions arising, a lot of people still believes that Krakens onced existed beneath the oceans. The myth  that fed people regarding impossible creatures thirst our hunger. But that didn't satisfy them, As a result, a lot of scientist and paleontologist, dedicated their lives finding evidences and fossils of the Kraken.

     On a certain article I read entitled, "Kraken Rises: New Fossil Evidence revives sea monster debate" by Stephanie Pappas of livescience.com that reported new fossil evidences for Kraken were found by a paleontologist named Mark McMenamin who presented his finding on the 30th day of October 2013. McMenamin said that it was pure luck to find the evidences of the monster. But despite this, the issue regarding Kraken existence never gained widespread acceptance. Some said that the fossils found by McMenamin might've been caused by natural occurrences but he explained that the shape of the bones is such that there is virtually zero probability that currents could have nudged them into that arrangement. The author said commented, "A perfectly reasonable, pedestrian, coherant story emerges that doesn't require wholesale invention of what is unknown or unprecendented"

    

     Some say that believing in Kraken is not necessary because even if it is real, we would never see them again due to the fact that it lived during the ancient times but McMenamin never stopped on searching for the answer. It is hard for someone to give proof to something extinct because the only thing we can present are fracture of bones which is believed to be easily manipulated by someone determined.

     Even with these evidences presented by someone who dedicates his life just to prove that Kraken exist, it will still remain as one of the mysteries of the ancient and modern dogma. Just like any other other cases, unless there is no solid evidence presented, the existence will still be debated.
 

Blogpost 6: Do you want to build an abonimable snowman?

     One of the major effects of popular unexplained enigmas was movies. A lot of mysterious events have been converted to cinematic sequences that entertains and educates people. But as I go through movies that were risen to fame, one mysterious specie has never been a protagonist. It is the Big foot or also known as Sasquatch and Abonimable Snowman.

    

What interests me about them is that they look like ancient humans who are believed to be our ancestors. So if someone proved that Sasquatches are real, that can lead to the gap that was called "The missing Link". They are believed to be inhabiting on forests around the Pacific Northwest of North America. And until now, they are said to be lingering around the place.

     Unlike others, Big foot (for singular or plural form) are not that famous. On a certain article I read entitled "Big foot: Man-monster or myth" by Benjamin Radford of livescience.com said that only 16 percent of Americans said that Bigfoot absolutely or probably exist, with 44 percent responding probably not and about 40 percent saying that they absolutely do not exist. (In contrast, over twice as many people believe in ghosts or astrology.) He said that what makes it weak is due to the evidences presented by believers which is Eye witness. Eye witness is unfortunately the weakest evidence there will be due to its unreliable sources which is the mind. The other type of evidence presented are photos which can also easily manipulated if we want to. He also said that a lot of evidences presented were fakes or hoaxes made by man for either fun or fame. He stated in his article, "The lack of good evidence hasn't dampened the enthusiasm of Bigfoot buffs; they have all they need in sighting reports, fuzzy photos, inconclusive hair samples, and footprints to keep the search going. Until better evidence comes along, old evidence will be rehashed and re-examined­ — and unless Bigfoot is proven to be alive, the search will continue."

     We all know that if you believe in something, you will do anything just to prove that it is real and this might what be pro-sasquatches are doing. There is a great possibility that this monster is created by man's hallucinations and pleasures for a mysterious realm they are dreaming of.

     But that never stopped the believers. Some scientist made researches regarding the Big-foots' existence but until now, nothing has been accepted by the society.

     I read a certain article entitled, "'Big foot is part human', DNA study claims" by Benjamin Radford of livescience.com wherein he said that a woman named Melba S. Ketchum allegendly suggests that cryptids had sexual encounters with modern humans that resulted to a hairy-like creature or the Big foot but her study was never accepted because she never presented an evidence. Ketchum also said that big foot should be claimed by the US government as an indigenous people and immediately protect their human and Constitutional rights against those who would see in their physical and cultural differences a 'license' to hunt, trap, or kill them.The author also said that Ketchum is not the only one doing researches about Sasquatch DNA's. Earlier this year, researchers from Oxford University and the Lausanne Museum of Zoology announced they were collecting samples of alleged Big foot and Yeti hair or genetic identification. As opinios, Radford also stated that, "How did the team definitively determine that the samples were from a Bigfoot? Did they take a blood or saliva sample from a living big foot If so, how did they get that close, and why didn't they simply capture it or photograph it? If the samples were found in the wild, how do they know it wasn't left by another animal — or possibly even a hunter, hiker or camper who left human genetic material?"

    

If this studies were real, how come they never presented a solid evidence for it? We may say that their hypothesis makes sense but without further evidences presented, these creatures will still reamin as hoaxes.

     In the end, even though Big foot (or Sasquatch) are the closest mysterious creatures to us, they still remain on the enigma line. Until there is evidence presented without any flaw, Sasquatches will fall unexplained and the search will go on.

Blogpost 5: Life beyond Earth

     Admit it, we all have that part inside us wherein we believe in something impossible. Even though we know that something cannot happen, we still bury hopes inside us. One thing that remains alive in our society is the belief in aliens.

     Now, why are we so interested in them? Is it the fact that we are curious whether there are other lifeforms beyond Earth? But wouldn't that make us scared? Or is it the fact that we are curious whether what we believe is real or bogus?

   "Life Beyond Earth" by Joel Achenbach of nationalgeographic.com wherein he said that there is no scientific so tantalizing than aliens that interest humans so much. Extraterrestrial beings are the so called "gap" between knowledge and the nature known to us. He also said that a lot of astronomical missions have been sailed around the planets and all through out our galaxy just to find some evidences whether what we believe in is true. He stated in his article, "All the estimates are highly speculative. The fact is that there is no conclusive evidence of any life beyond Earth. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, as various pundits have wisely noted. But still we don't have any solid knowledge about a single alien microbe, a solitary spore, much less the hubcap from a passing alien starship."
  I read a certain article entitled

      Until there's no one providing an evidence that life on other planets is impossible, we know that we will still believe in their existence. Not just because there's no evidence of life means there is no life at all. these fantasies that were buried in our minds will still linger among us.

     One thing that makes us believe in aliens are the so called "Unidentified Flying Object" or the UFO. The small things we see around the sky fires a spark inside us that life outside Earth is possible. But what if this flying object were nothing but faux?

     But that doesn't end there. There are some reports around the world regarding alien abductions. A typical alien abduction goes like this: the extraterrestrials kidnap a human for a long time, dissect and study them for a long time then they will return the human on Earth without any memory to prevent leakage about their lineage. The question is, are these events accurate? or even worst, Are alien abductions real?

     The first ever reported alien abduction was on 1957 by a guy named Antonio Villas Boas. On a"Antonio Villas Boas" by alienhubber of alienhubber.hubpages.com explained that this first ever incident was so famous during that time because unlike any abduction, Antonio clearly stated what happened during his abduction. The author also wrote what Antonio narrated  on the report. Antonio was said to be abducted by three (3) unidentified species and was taken to an egg-like spaceship and he was later on poisoned by radiation to prevent him from fighting back. He also said that what makes the abduction believable are the evidences presented by the victim. But as a contrary to that, the author said an opinion stated, "As you can see certain parts of this story don't add up. I think it is all possible that Boas fabricated or possibly hallucinated parts of the story. After all, he was exposed to nearly lethal levels of radiation, is it possible that they could have costed hallucinations?"

    

Is this case real? What if Antonio Villas Boas' case was nothing but a hoax created by him for popularity? What if Boas is suffering from mental disease and caused him hallucination? Personally, I don't believe in it due to the fact that if he was abducted, it wouldn't be clear to him on what really happened? Even though he made series of events believable, that doesn't mean that it was real. In fact, the report happened on late 1950's. That's the peak of extraterrestrial madness and that might've been helped him from making his story famous to others.

     But in the end, whether all of us give opinions regarding this matter, aliens, extraterrestrials or whatever they were called, will still be a big mystery for us. Until no one gives us a solid evidence whether life beyond Earth is real, debated regarding unusual life forms will still go on.

Blogpost 4: Slendy Slender Man

     Imagine yourself walking on a forest with just a flashlight. You are hoping to see something amazing, something that will interest you. But then, you see a man standing. Just standing there. When you try tried to walk closer to him, you noticed that he has no face features at all. He only have a pale white skin. No eyes, nose or mouth. What will you do? If I were you, I will run.

    Ever heard of "Slender Man"? Slender Man was created when a forum called "Something Awful" decided to do a contest with the theme of "Create Paranormal Things" and apparently, Slender Man won. He was created by a man named Victor Surge on June 10 , 2009. He also explained that the entity was suppose to stalk children. Surprisingly, the entity became famous because of its mysterious appearance.

     He became viral on the internet world when a game was released wherein you need to step out of the woods and gather 8 pages. But, beware, a man with no face wearing a suit is going to hunt you while on your way. Personally, I became addicted to this game.

     As the game goes viral, netizens begun to ask whether Slender Man is real or not. Conspiracies boomed the internet. Some pictures went out wherein they said that they captured the real Slender Man. Some even said that they were like a few inches away from him. But the question is, how did he become famous despite the fact that he is only made up a ceratin person in our generation?

    I read a certain article that was entitled "Slender Man: the first urban legend (investigating the origins of the internet's creepiest meme)" by an Zing Tsjeng of dazeddigital.com wherein he explained that one of the greatest factor why Slendy is famous is because the present generation allowed us to participate in creating the myth unlike the old times wherein you only have the chance to tell it to everyone by talking or chatting. He even said that the BBC stated that Slender Man is the "First great myth of the web". Because of how influential netizens are, the myth of Slender Man became viral. He even said, "And that’s exactly what happened: it accelerated. SomethingAwful fans loved Slender Man (“this is going to give me nightmares” one user proclaimed). They created more Slender Man photoshops, writing accounts of their own “personal encounters” with Slender Man, and even penning fake news stories describing Slender Man appearances."


     Just imagine how this man-made entity became viral because of the internet. In fact, a lot of people admitted that they are more scared than Slender Man compared to other entities who has more gruesome face than him. Why is that so?

    I read a certain article that answered my question on how Slender Man became successful on scaring people. The article was entitled "The Slender Man Myth" by Alastair Stephens of alastairstephens.com wherein he said how Slendy found his way to the peak of fame. He cited different influential youtube channels who dedicated some videos for Slender Man that somehow helped to the progress of making him well-known. There are also some stories created by the famous creepy stories website, creepypasta.com. He stated in his blog that Slendy, somehow, looks like other entities that boomed in our society which somehow affected our minds on thinking that he is so creepy. He even said that, " There are two reasons, I believe, that the Slender Man has been so successful: the first is his evocation of a particular kind of horror iconography, similar to the Gentlemen from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the Silence from Doctor Who, the Observers from Fringe, Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Lovecraft’s Nightgaunts and vampires. The facelessness of the Slender Man — a later addition to the myth, replacing the idea that the Slender Man could change his appearance — is also a common image, referencing even the Noppera-bō of Japanese myth. There are overtones of Munsch’s The Scream in the elongated limbs and smooth, bald head; in action, many of the referenced creatures share the same penchant for tilting their heads slowly, oftentimes as a precursor to some terrible occurrence."

    So it is possible that the mythos of Slender Man became successful is because people see him as something they used to be scared of. He is more or so, a combination of all the creepy creatures you have seen when you were a kid. You tend to be influenced by the way you see things before and how you see things now.

     In the end, people tends to be afraid to something they never saw and something a lot of people are afraid of. The society around you influences your mind to be afraid of something that doesn't actually exist. Slender Man was a man made entity made to creep the hell out of. He is not real but he remains as scary as other because of the mystery lingering on his story. That is the reason behind the fame of the "Internet's first greatest myth "

     
     



     

Blogpost 3: Bermuda Triangle's answers to series of unfortunate disappearances

     Have you ever been so interested in finding the answers to the mysteries of the world? When I was young, (until know) I was very obsessed with this idea. On the peak of my research regarding the unsolved mysteries of the world, I came to know the "Bermuda Triangle"

    Bermuda Triangle (also known as Devil's Triangle) is an undefined region located along Florida , Puerto Rico and Bermuda. Numerous cases of mysterious disappearances have been recorded during the late 1950's to 1960's. It is said to be lingered by unknown life forms trying to get some humans to be examined. Also, it is believed that the place is a portal to another dimension.

    People became obsess with this mystery because even the rescuers sent to recover the debris and evidences of the said disappearances returned empty-handed. The Bermuda triangle's fame boomed during the expedition of Christopher Columbus. On October 8,1492, he wrote in his log that weird readings were shown by his compass while sailing at the ocean. He didn't told his crew about it but an uncertain compass not knowing where to pint north is certainly an alert that must be said. Three (3) days later, Columbus saw a strange flash of light from the sky and decided to return with his crew to Spain. 

    I read a certain article entitled "The truth about Bermuda Triangle" by Emily Upton of gizmodo.com wherein she said certain explanations about the reason behind the sudden disappearances on the Triangle. She gave different sources of books regarding her explanation. She explained that the unstable magnetic property of the place makes the compass point to the true north and makes the compass dance. Normally it points on the magnetic north. The difference between the two is called the Magnetic Variation. She even stated that, "it turns out magnetic variation is something ship captains (and other explorers) have known about and had to deal with pretty much as long as there have been ships and compasses. Dealing with magnetic declination is really just "Navigation by Compass" 101 and nothing to be concerned about, nor anything that would seriously throw off any experienced navigator." 


    But, would these explanations make people believe that the Bermuda Triangle is not hunted by different lifeforms? The magnetic property of the places on Earth are said to be different from each other and scientist said that Bermuda triangle is one of the two most unstable places in the planet. 

    I read a certain article that strongly supported the logical explanation regarding the Triangle. An article entitled "Bermuda Triangle mystery finally solved?" by Ivan Sanderson of "thecontroversialfiles.net" added that Natural gas is the culprit behind the disapperances of ships and planes within the place. The evidence was laid out by a research paper published in the American Journal of Physics. He said that professor Joseph Monaghan and an honor student named David May hypothesized that a large methane of bubble may be the reason why the expeditions in Bermuda disappears out of nowhere. He even stated that, "Monaghan and May also discovered some surprising properties of Methane bubble when it interacts with a ship. The two has assumed that when a bubble broke into the surface it would burst, creating a depression. They envisioned a ship falling into a depression, riding through it and coming through basically unscathed. the test revealed something entirely different,"


     Basically, one of the world's most unexplained mystery is nothing but a work of science. The gossips regarding the unknown life form lingering there and portals leading to other dimension is nothing but a myth. Bermuda Triangle is just like any other places with strange magnetic property causing unfortunate events to happen. Who knows, maybe someday, someone can make a ship that can alter the magnetic variation of the place and become passable. 

Blogpost 2: Alexandria's Genesis

     Admit it, all of us have somehow dream to be unique. When I was a kid, I wished to have powers, porcelain skin, red hair and most of all, I want to have different eye color. So I decided to study about how to alter a certain part of our body and I stumbled upon what people call the "Alexandria's Genesis".

     The rare genetic mutation known as "Alexandria's Genesis" is a gene variation that causes a person to have purple eyes, shimmering white skin that resists tanning or burning,  no body hair, slowing down or even stopping of aging process, well-developed body, incredible immune system, perfect vision, no gaining of weight and even longer life span of up to 170 years. Also, in most cases, girls that have this mutation would never have to experience menstruation but they are fertile.


     Sounds impossible right? This genetic mutation is actually the best mutation known to mankind but just like how it sounds great, no one ever proved that this disease actually exist.

     I've read a certain article entitled "Alexandria's genesis - a beautiful anomaly or a fallacy that just went viral!" by Aliza Hassan of "wittysparks.com" that tells that us as much as what people say about the disorder, it only appears to be an urban legend. But the very first case of the mutation was on London on a woman named Alexandria Augustine born on 1329. Her parents thought that her purple eyes were cause by possession so they sent her to a priest. Luckily, the priest told them that Alexandria was fine but she has a genetic mutation. The author also said that the reason why the mutation went viral is because of certain Daria fan-fiction website that made up the story of the Alexandria's genesis. She even said that, "The real reason for this astonishingly desirable disorder to go viral was a Daria fan-fiction website. Cameron Miquelon claimed to be the original author of the fictional disorder in 1998 and conveyed her frustration on the huge percentage of people believing the disorder actually exists in a blog post in 2011."

      As I read this, I am actually questioning myself whether this mutation is real or not. When the author mentioned about the Daria fan-fiction, I questioned my belief regarding this disease. Everyone knows how powerful literature is. Anyone can influence others through words and I think that this is the reason behind the mutation's fame.

     Speaking of fame, everybody knows the popular violet-eyed beauty Elizabeth Taylor who died at the age of 79 due to congestive heart disease. She is famed for her astonishing violet eyes and beyond mankind beauty. Believing that she has the mutation, the question is, why did she died at the age of 79? If having the mutation can lower aging process, why did she die young? Also, if having the Alexandria's Genesis can fight any human disease, why did she die of heart failure?

     I read an article entitled "Did Elizabeth Taylor really have the violet eyes?" by Remy Melina of "livescience.com" where in the author explained the reason behind the actress' unusual eye color. She said that there are various shades of blues and grays, with many in-between. Violet may have been Taylor's typical pigmentation. She also made it concrete by stating "Makeup can also "bring out" certain colors in the eyes. Taylor was often photographed wearing blue or purple eye shadow to compliment her eyes' naturally violet hue, or dark brown eye shadow and black eyeliner to contrast against and play up their unique color."

     In the end, the appearance of Elizabeth Taylor actually depends on her make up and how her make-up artists work on her. She might have a different eye color which other emphasizes for the purpose of fame.
  

     So basically, the case of Alexandria Augustine and Elizabeth Taylor are not that believable. They made it up to make people believe the impossible. Having this mutation is a critical condition because it is impossible for people to never secrete waste because the waste will all pile up in their digestive system and that may kill them. Also, the white skin which can never burn is impossible due to the melanin content of our skin. As of now, Alexandria's Genesis remains an urban legend leaving people obsess with the impossible.