Holy Lance

Jesus' side is pierced with a spear, Fra Angelico (c. 1440), Dominican monastery of San Marco, Florence.

The Holy Lance (also known as the Spear of Destiny, Holy Spear, Lance of Longinus, Spear of Longinus or Spear of Christ) is the name given to the lance that pierced Jesus' side as he hung on the cross in John's account of the Crucifixion.

Bigfoot

Frame 352 from the Patterson-Gimlin film, alleged by Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin to show a bigfoot, and by some others to show a man in an ape suit.^[1]

Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid that purportedly inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid. The term "sasquatch" is an anglicized derivative of the Halkomelem word sásq’ets.^[2][3]

Scientists discount the existence of bigfoot and consider it to be a combination of folklore, misidentification, and hoax,^[4] rather than a living animal, in part because of the large numbers thought necessary to maintain a breeding population.^[5][6] A few scientists, such as Jane Goodall^[7] and Jeffrey Meldrum, have expressed interest and belief in the creature, with Meldrum expressing the opinion that evidence collected of alleged Bigfoot encounters warrants further evaluation and testing.^[8] Bigfoot remains one of the more famous examples of a cryptid within cryptozoology, and an enduring legend.

Description

Bigfoot is described in reports as a large hairy ape-like creature, in a range of 6–10 feet (2–3 m) tall, weighing in excess of 500 pounds (230 kg), and covered in dark brown or dark reddish hair.^[5][9] Alleged witnesses have described large eyes, a pronounced brow ridge, and a large, low-set forehead; the top of the head has been described as rounded and crested, similar to the sagittal crest of the male gorilla. Bigfoot is commonly reported to have a strong, unpleasant smell by those who claim to have encountered it.^[10] The enormous footprints for which it is named have been as large as 24 inches (60 cm) long and 8 inches (20 cm) wide.^[9] While most casts have five toes — like all known apes — some casts of alleged bigfoot tracks have had numbers ranging from two to six.^[11] Some have also contained claw marks, making it likely that a portion came from known animals such as bears, which have five toes and claws.^[12][13] Some proponents have also claimed that bigfoot is omnivorous and mainly nocturnal.^[14]

History

Before 1958

Wildmen stories are found among the indigenous population of the Pacific Northwest. The legends existed prior to a single name for the creature.^[15] They differed in their details both regionally and between families in the same community. Similar stories of wildmen are found on every continent except Antarctica.^[15] Ecologist Robert Michael Pyle argues that most cultures have human-like giants in their folk history: "We have this need for some larger-than-life creature."^[16]

Members of the Lummi tell tales about Ts'emekwes, the local version of bigfoot. The stories are similar to each other in terms of the general descriptions of Ts'emekwes, but details about the creature's diet and activities differed between the stories of different families.^[17]

Some regional versions contained more nefarious creatures. The stiyaha or kwi-kwiyai were a nocturnal race that children were told not to say the names of lest the monsters hear and come to carry off a person—sometimes to be killed.^[18] In 1847, Paul Kane reported stories by the native people about skoocooms: a race of cannibalistic wild men living on the peak of Mount St. Helens.^[12] The skoocooms appear to have been regarded as supernatural, rather than natural.^[12]

Less menacing versions such as the one recorded by Reverend Elkanah Walker exist. In 1840, Walker, a Protestant missionary, recorded stories of giants among the Native Americans living in Spokane, Washington. The Indians claimed that these giants lived on and around the peaks of nearby mountains and stole salmon from the fishermen's nets.^[19]

The local legends were combined together by J. W. Burns in a series of Canadian newspaper articles in the 1920s. Each language had its own name for the local version.^[20] Many names meant something along the lines of "wild man" or "hairy man" although other names described common actions it was said to perform (e.g. eating clams).^[21] Burns coined the term Sasquatch, which is from the Halkomelem sásq’ets (IPA: [ˈsæsqʼəts]),^[2] and used it in his articles to describe a hypothetical single type of creature reflected in these various stories.^[12][21][22] Burns's articles popularized both the legend and its new name, making it well known in western Canada before it gained popularity in the United States.^[23]

Frontiersman Daniel Boone reported having shot and killed "a ten-foot, hairy giant he called a Yahoo." Folktale scholar Hugh H. Trotti has argued that Boone’s account may

The 10 most amazing unexplained artifacts

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Every once in a while archaeologists (and sometimes regular Joes) make some remarkable discoveries. Stunned, they are often unable to explain what it is they’ve found, how it came into existence, or ascertain its value. This is a comprehensive list of such artifacts; artifacts that many believe should have never existed given the discerned age/period of their creation.

 

The London hammer – a tool older than history

In June 1936 (or 1934 according to some accounts), Max Hahn and his wife Emma were on a walk when they noticed a rock with wood protruding from its core. They decided to take the oddity home and later cracked it open with a hammer and a chisel. Ironically, what they found within seemed to be an archaic hammer of sorts. A team of archaeologists checked it, and as it turns out, the rock encasing the hammer was dated back more than 400 million year; the hammer itself turned out to be more than 500 million years old. Additionally, a section of the handle has begun the transformation to coal. Creationists, of course, were all over this. The hammer’s head, made of more than 96% iron, is far more pure than anything nature could have achieved without an assist from modern technology.

 

 

Wood turning to coal

Pictures from here, copyright David Lines

 

 

The Antikythera mechanism – a Greek ancient computer

 

The Antikythera mechanism has been labeled the first known mechanical computer. Found in a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, it was designed to calculate astronomical positions.

 

  Consisting of a box with  dials on the outside and a very complex assembly of gear wheels mounted within, it’s about as complex as an 18th century top-notch clock. The level of sophistication utilized by the device has forced scientists to accept that their perceptions of ancient Greek engineering may be faulty. Nothing similar to this exists or is mentioned in any known writings from the period of its creation. Based on the knowledge we do have, this mechanism shouldn’t even exist. According to Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University, who led the team studying the mechanism:

“This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed just makes your jaw drop. Whoever has done this has done it extremely carefully.” He added: “…in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa.”

The Dropa Stones