Retro Soviet Sci-Fi: Voyage To The Prehistoric Planet (1965)

Written By: Ken Hulsey

Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet may be the most interesting science fiction film produced in the 1960s’. Although the film in itself is very well done and features some excellent special effects shots, it’s the films origin and two different Americanized versions that may be of most interest to fans of this genre. You see the film was not an American product, but a film made in the former Soviet Union. Although scenes that starred Basil Rathbone and Faith Domergue filmed by Roger Corman were inserted into the film for American viewers the film is still basically “Planeta Bur” (Planet of Storms – 1962) in most respects. In this version almost all Soviet references were removed from both the film and its credits, although it was hard not to notice the Russian insignias on all the spacecraft. American International must have been very nervous about releasing a Soviet sci-fi film during the middle of the “Cold War.”



The weirdest version of the film was “Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women” which was directed by Peter Bogdanovich and featured pterosaur worshiping sirens that spend endless hours lounging around on the beach in see-through togas. Not even the casting of Mamie Van Doren as Moana the leader of this blonde coven of Venusians can save these poorly intercut scenes from dragging down what is essentially “Planeta Bur” with the Corman footage removed. It can only stand to reason that Bogdanovich just needed an excuse to film attractive women on a beach. It would seem unfathomable to believe that he thought this new footage could add anything to the original material. These new scenes only make a very good sci-fi film hard to follow and effectively ruin the films pacing. Trust me even good “eye-candy” couldn’t help this one from heading straight to B-movie hell.

But I have gotten off point.

On the other hand “Voyage to a Prehistoric Planet” is a surprisingly good sci-fi film. Even with the extra American footage added it still retains the maturity and charm of the original Russian production. The acting of Basil Rathbone and Faith Domergue is fairly “wooden” but those scenes are early in the film and are only used to establish an Americanized story line. In other words they are brief enough to be ignored. Also surprising are the quality of the films special effects. The miniature space ships and creative props are very convincing. In fact the movies human sized robot and hover-car really steal the show. It can only be fair to say that the effects are mostly on par with the quality of work seen on many American films from the same time period. Possibly better?

The story is very well thought out and well executed. A group of explores and scientists set out to land on Venus. A mysterious accident causes the two groups to land on two separate sides of the planet. While trying to link back up with each other they discover that Venus was once inhabited by a human-like race that destroyed itself in some form of nuclear holocaust. The planet has begun a new genesis that has reached a stage that resembles the prehistoric past of Earth complete with dinosaurs and lizard-men. All the while the adventurers are plagued by constant wails from the souls of the now extinct Venusians. Possibly trying to warn their human visitors not to follow down the same path of destruction they did. An anti-nuclear message in a Russian film in the middle of the “Cold War?” It would seem so. It would be interesting to note that fears of nuclear war were a reality on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Food for thought.

Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)
AKA: Planeta Bur (1962), Planet of the Storms (1962), Planet of Storms (1962), The Storm Planet (1962), Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968), Voyage to a Prehistoric Planet (1965)
American International

Directed By: Curtis Harrington and Pavel Klushantsev
Written By: Curtis Harrington
Executive Producer: Roger Corman

Cast:
Basil Rathbone as Prof. Hartman
Faith Domergue as Dr. Marsha Evans
Marc Shannon as Uncredited Cast
Christopher Brand as Uncredited Cast
John Bix as John the Robot
Lewis Keane as Uncredited Cast
Gennadi Vernov as Andre Ferneau
Georgi Zhzhyonov as Hans Walters
Yuri Sarantsev as Allen Sherman
Georgi Tejkh as Dr. Kern
Vladimir Yemelyanov as Cmdr. Brendan Lockhart

Runtime: 74 Minutes
Color: Color
Sound: Mono
Released: August 1, 1965 (USA)

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Star Wars The Last Jedi Targeted By Russian Trolls ... Clueless Much?

Wow you wanna talk about a ridiculous article. Check out this New York Post bit about how (allegedly) Russian trolls are responsible for the negative press surrounding "The Last Jedi" citing that they were attempting to "sow political discord" (?).

Talk about clueless. The Last Jedi is one of the worst movies of all time and I'm sure the negative backlash wasn't spawned by Russians trying to influence our political system.

They just won't let this crap go will they?

If you want a laugh read on:

From the New York Post

The “Last Jedi” was taken down by the ultimate Sith Lord — Darth Putin.

The 2017 installment of the “Star Wars” franchise was reputedly widely panned by fans online — but much of the criticism was actually coming from Russians trying to sow political discord, a new study has found.

“A number of these users appear to be Russian trolls,” researcher Morten Bay found.

Related: Star Wars Vader Down #1 Fried Pie Black & White Sketch Variant Cover January 2016 Marvel Comics Grade NM

Bay analyzed all the angry tweets sent to director Rian Johnson over seven months immediately following the film’s release.

The negative reaction was split into three groups: those with a political agenda, trolls and real fans.

“Overall, 50.9 percent of those tweeting negatively were likely politically motivated or not even human,” said Bay, a research fellow and Ph.D. candidate at USC.

Out of the 206 negative tweets, 33 were sent by trolls and/or “sockpuppets” — a fake identity used for deception — Bay found. Among the trolls, 16 accounts appeared to be Russian.

One of the accounts believed to belong to a Russian troll tweeted Johnson 13 times over three weeks that he had “ruined Star Wars.”

The purpose of the nefarious anti-Jedi plot appeared to be the same as it was during the 2016 US election: to further propagate “a narrative of widespread discord and dysfunction in American society,” Bay writes.

Bay was able to pinpoint the Russian bots by using other papers describing the patterns of Moscow’s social-media influence during the American presidential contest and the UK’s Brexit campaign.

In his paper, “Weaponizing the Haters: The Last Jedi and the strategic politicization of pop culture through social media manipulation,” Bay argues that the real response to the flick was actually much more positive.

“Organized attempts at politicizing the pop culture discourse on social media for strategic purposes are significant enough that users should be made aware of these measures, so they can act accordingly,” Bay warns.

The abstract of the paper was posted on ResearchGate Monday. It has yet to be published.

Since its release last December, the “Last Jedi” raked in $1.3 billion in worldwide box office take, becoming the second highest-grossing film in the franchise.

My friend, can your heart stand the shocking facts about bacteria from outer space?

It seems that Soviet scientists have had swabs full of alien goo for some time now. They just plum forgot about it.

Here is the story from our friends over at BGR News:

Science fiction has taught us to expect our first contact with alien life to be a momentous event, with radio signals from another civilization filling our airwaves and perhaps even the arrival of an alien spaceship or two. Reality is somewhat less exciting, and scientists have long expected our first discovery of extraterrestrial life to be on the microscopic scale. Now, the Russian space agency claims they may have stumbled upon just that, and it may have been hiding under our noses the entire time.

Russian cosmonauts have reportedly discovered tiny bacteria on a swab collected from outside the International Space Station, and they’re confident that the organisms didn’t originate on our planet. If the discovery can be confirmed, it would be the very first concrete evidence of extraterrestrial life. That’s a pretty big deal.

The swabs, which were collected years ago but seemingly overlooked, contained living bacteria which may have come from outer space. “Somehow these swabs reveal bacteria that were absent during the launch of the ISS module,” Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov explains. “That is, they have come from outer space and settled along the external surface. They are being studied so far and it seems that they pose no danger.”

Along with the purported alien bacteria, other bacteria thought to have originated on Earth was also found on the swabs. Surviving in the vacuum of space is no easy feat, and intense temperature fluctuations failed to kill the bacteria over the course of three years, which is mighty impressive. It’s unclear exactly how the researchers were able to differentiate between terrestrial bacteria and the alien bacteria that appeared within the same samples.

The bacteria was brought back to Earth on the swabs and is now being studied, though the Russian space agency says it shouldn’t be considered dangerous. The group apparently didn’t actually know the bacteria was present on the swab samples until it was returned to Earth for closer examination.

There will surely be plenty of scientific interest and certainly debate over where the bacteria originated, but if you’ve seen sci-fi movies you already know that the bacteria will become sentient and lead to the total destruction of the Earth within a few weeks anyway, so get your affairs in order.

I have to agree with the author here. In just about about every Sci-Fi film I've ever seen once this kinda stuff gets exposed to oxygen it comes to life and mutates into some sort of critter.

In the 1968 movie 'Green Slime' a group of astronauts stepped in some sort of bacteria while exploring an asteroid. They returned to their space station only to have the stuff mutate into a bunch of one-eyed things with tentacles that looked like dill pickles. You couldn't kill the things because they lived on energy and simply spawned new ones every time their blood (fluids?) was spilled from trying to shoot them.

I think that the exact same kind of scenario is likely to play out here.

My friends, can your hearts stand the shocking facts about one-eyed pickle monsters from outer space?

Dasvidaniya

Russia's First Superhero Movie... Now With Added Bear-Man!

Not all Guardians guard the galaxy, some are content to stay in Mother Russia and defend it from supernatural threats.

Russia's first superhero film, Guardians (aka Zaschitniki) is a lush, $20 million flick from Armenian director Sarik Andreasyan, that tells the story of four Soviet superheroes, created during the Cold War by a secret organization named Patriot.

The heroes' DNA was modified in order to grant them powers to protect the homeland from exotic roblems. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the quartet remained in hiding until they are called back into action by the return of "an evil from the past".

Guardians is due for release in Russia on February 23, 2017.

The superteam consists of: Arsus aka Wildman (Anton Pampushniy), a mighty shapeshifting werebear; speedster Khan (Sanzhar Madiev); Ler aka Landman (Sebastian Sisak Grigoryan), a hero with telekinetic power over rocks and earth; and Xenia aka Waterwoman (Alina Lanina), a fast and agile aquatic superhero who can survive in any environment without oxygen.

Stanislav Shirin plays the villainous August Kuratov whose "Modul-1" device allows him to control any technology. His masterplan is to build an army of clones with which to capture first Moscow, and then the world.

Kuratov

Arsus

Xenia

Khan

Ler

Yeti sighting in Siberia' claims Russian expert

A new image of a Yeti - or Bigfoot - lurking behind trees is the 'clearest evidence' so far of the creature's existence.

So claims leading Yeti proponent Igor Burtsev, Director of the International Centre of Hominology in Moscow. It comes as Dr Burtsev is fending off claims from a UK newspaper that samples of 'Yeti hair' which he provided have turned out under DNA analysis at Oxford University to be horse, racoon and American Black Bear.

While disputing the results of the test, he has released footage which he claims shows a fleeting two second glimpse of shadowy object moving behind snow-covered trees some 30km from the coal mining city Leninsk-Kuznetskiy in Kemerovo region.

'Three boys made a video of the Yeti', he said.

'They were in the area near the city of Leninsk-Kuznetskiy, some 30 km away. They were walking about and noticed a chain of huge tracks in the snow.

'They got very inquisitive about the tracks and followed the trail, filming them on the mobile phone camera.

'They walking for a bit and got closer to the bushes - where suddenly they saw a Yeti, some 50 metres away from them.

'It noticed them as well, sharply moved, bent down, then to the left, and ran left. The boys, scared, ran in the opposite direction.'

One - Yevgeny Anisimov, 11, who is filming the 'creature' - is heard shouting: 'I am the nearest, I'm going to be eaten.'

READ MORE

In Case You Missed It Russia Clobbered By Meteor .... Again

From Pravda

The Russian Academy of Sciences, which investigates the unexpected "meteor attack" in the Urals, has shared preliminary results with the general public.

"According to our estimates, the body was a few meters large, it weighed about ten tons, and its power was a few kilotons. The celestial body entered the atmosphere at the speed of 15-20 kilometers per second, collapsed at an altitude of 30-50 kilometers, and the movement of fragments at high speed caused powerful glow and a strong shock wave. The bulk of the material of the falling body evaporated, the remaining pieces slowed down and could fall to the ground as meteorites," ITAR-TASS quoted the press service of the RAS.

The flight of the meteorite in the sky over the Chelyabinsk region was accompanied with three explosions of varying power, the chairman of the regional branch of the Russian Geographical Society, Sergey Zakharov said. "From what I saw, the balls of fire were flying from the south-east to north-west. There were three explosions that were preceded with a bright flash of light, with a temperature of approximately 2,500 degrees Centigrade. The first explosion was the strongest," the scientist said.

According to most recent information from the Interior Ministry, as many as 1,200 people suffered from the meteor attack. The local authorities have evaluated the damage at one billion rubles.

A report from the Russian Geographical Society said it was a bolide explosion, rather than a meteor shower. "A bolide is a large celestial body, actually a large meteor, that exploded when entering the lower, denser layers of the atmosphere, and showered the ground with debris, - said Zakharov. - A meteor shower is practically safe - it is a flow of crushed rocks falling from space. Repeat: we had a fireball, or a bolide explosion."

"A Bright white flash of light was so intense that it fully illuminated the huge yard of the apartment building where I live, - the scientist shared his personal impressions. - Its brightness was increasing incrementally - the flash lasted for about five seconds in total. Everything was happening in absolute silence. The sound that is, the shock wave, came six minutes later. Immediately after the explosion dogs started whining, flocks of pigeons flew up into the sky, car alarms went on. Nobody could understand what had happened ....."

According to experts, the explosion occurred at the height of about 60-70 km. The estimated power of the blast is 1 - 10 kilotons. "But according to measurements from the other side of the city, the height could be 30 km. In this case, the power of the explosion was from 0.1 to 1 kiloton. The epicenter of the explosion was to the south of Chelyabinsk," said the scientist.

Meanwhile, Interior Ministry officials said that two fragments of the meteorite were found in the Chebarkul district of the Chelyabinsk region. Another one was found in Zlatoust.

Official representative of the Central Military District, Yaroslav Roshchupkin, said that the military had found the location of the meteorite fall. The diameter of the crater is six meters.

EMERCOM officials are careful in their comments about the recovered fragments of the space body. "The fragments range from 5 mm to 1 cm. We do not have any precise information yet," officials told Interfax.

The Russian president is concerned about the situation with the fall of the meteorite, ITAR-TASS said. He held a meeting with the head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, in which Minister Vladimir Puchkov requested Moscow specialists should be sent to the Chelyabinsk region.

The fall of the meteorite in the Chelyabinsk region affected, according to latest reports, up to 600 local residents. Dozens were hospitalized. "As many as 571 people have asked for help, 34 were hospitalized," officials said. Two victims remain in a serious condition. Meanwhile, according to the governor of the Chelyabinsk region, 725 people sought medical treatment, including 159 children.

Many people are still shocked about what happened. An employee of one of the branches of The Post of Russia was hospitalized with a heart attack. The blast frightened many children, who were at school at the time of the incident.



More than 100,000 square meters of windows have been smashed in the Chelyabinsk region as a result of the explosion. A total of almost 3,000 apartment buildings have been damaged. To repair the shattered windows, the local authorities want to resort to the help of a local glass factory. However, the number of workers at the plant is not enough to help people quickly, so the authorities seek the assistance of volunteers.

Windows were shatters in 34 medical institutions, 361 child care centers, schools and kindergartens.

As of 8:00 p.m. local time, February 16, the number of victims increased to 985 people. Forty-three people were hospitalized. Two remain in a critical condition. No casualties have been reported.

Which sounds a lot like ...

The Tunguska event was an enormously powerful explosion that occurred near (and later struck) the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, at about 7:14 a.m. KRAT (00:14 UT) on June 30 [O.S. June 17], 1908.The explosion, having the epicenter (60.886°N, 101.894°E), is believed to have been caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet fragment at an altitude of 5–10 kilometers (3–6 mi) above the Earth's surface. Different studies have yielded widely varying estimates of the object's size, on the order of 100 meters (330 ft), It is the largest impact event on or near Earth in recorded history. The number of scholarly publications on the problem of the Tunguska explosion since 1908 may be estimated at about 1,000 (mainly in Russian). Many scientists have participated in Tunguska studies, the best-known of them being Leonid Kulik, Yevgeny Krinov, Kirill Florensky, Nikolai Vladimirovich Vasiliev, and Wilhelm Fast.

At around 7:17 a.m. local time, Evenks natives and Russian settlers in the hills northwest of Lake Baikal observed a column of bluish light, nearly as bright as the Sun, moving across the sky. About 10 minutes later, there was a flash and a sound similar to artillery fire. Eyewitnesses closer to the explosion reported the sound source moving east to north. The sounds were accompanied by a shock wave that knocked people off their feet and broke windows hundreds of kilometers away. The majority of witnesses reported only the sounds and the tremors, not the sighting of the explosion. Eyewitness accounts differ as to the sequence of events and their overall duration.



The explosion registered on seismic stations across Eurasia. In some places the shock wave would have been equivalent to an earthquake of 5.0 on the Richter scale. It also produced fluctuations in atmospheric pressure strong enough to be detected in Great Britain. Over the next few days, night skies in Asia and Europe were aglow; it has been theorized that this was due to light passing through high-altitude ice particles formed at extremely low temperatures, a phenomenon that occurred again when the Space Shuttle re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. In the United States, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Mount Wilson Observatory observed a decrease in atmospheric transparency that lasted for several months, from suspended dust. - Wiki

It's An International Monster Movie Trailer Spectacular! SPORES / EL MONSTRO

Written By: Ken Hulsey

Sources: Avery Guerra / Robert Hood

Thanks to the advances of modern CGI effects film makers outside the United States have been able to unleash a wonderful plethora of imaginative movie monsters.

I have written alot about new monster movie projects from Asia where film makers have taken modern effects to new limits with numerous monster and sci fi films. In countries like Japan, Korea and even China traditional effects techniques have been blended to create some very good movies that in some cases rival the productions being churned out here in Hollywood.

Today I have two entries for you, one from Australia entitled "El Monstro Del Mar" where a bunch of Rockabilly chicks go on a murder spree and unwillingly unleash a monster, and yet another from Russia called "Spores" in which a meteor falls to Earth containing parasites that grow into nasty beasties with sharp pointy teeth ...... lots of em!

Now to the trailers and movie plots:

Three gorgeous but deadly hired killers, Beretta, Blondie and Snowball, hole up in a small beachside community to keep a low profile. But this town has a dark secret. The local old sea baron, Joseph, tries desperately to warn them to never go into the water. But these crazy vixens listen to no one, especially no crazy assed old fool. So the Kraken awakes! Now, along with Joseph and his beautiful grand daughter, Hannah, they must fight for their lives against this furious creature of the deep as the sea rises in a tidalwave of blood.

Starring film veteren, Norman Yemm and new comers, Nelli Scarlet, Kyrie Capri, Karli Madden and Kate Watts.

Also starring Scott Brennan (Comedy Inc, Skithouse), Steven Stagg (Flipside, Demonsamongus), Richard Wolstencroft (MUFF), Rusty Benson (Review with Myles Barlow) & David Gannon (Eraser Children).



A group of youthful friends go out of town on an outing and stumble upon an old Soviet factory. The factory has been long abandoned and is derelict. It interests them and they decide to explore and to document what they find. But their curiosity brings them face-to-face with unimaginable danger. It transpires that alien spores have come to Earth on a meteorite, and that these spores quickly multiply and take on a monstrous form once they touch the ground. Who among the group of threatened humans will fight? Who will survive? And what will the ultimate outcome of this terror be for the planet?

Weblinks - http://www.monstromovie.com/

http://www.orbitfilms.com/

The Crypto Reporter - Monster Sightings From Around The World (Issue #6)

ABC News On Fresno Bigfoot
Ghost Theory - Javier Ortega

Interesting report from ABC 30 Fresno on the multiple sightings of Bigfoot near the Fresno mountains of California. The reporter interviews some folks that have encountered the legendary creature near Fresno, as well as Dr. Jeff Meldrum and his progress on the investigation of Bigfoot. If you ever have driven through the Fresno mountains then you’d understand the sheer volume and density that the landscapes holds. The mountains and forest is completely surrounded by redwoods, bushes, caves, valleys and rivers…a beautiful place.

Source

The five strangest theories about Sasquatch
io9

There may not be actual giant bipedal humanoids wandering the wilderness, but that hasn't stopped Bigfoot fanatics from coming up with some seriously weird theories explaining all those footprints and blurry videos.

While Bigfoot seems like a North American phenomenon, there are tales of giant wildmen around the world, from the Tibetan Yeti to the Australian Yowie and Siberia's Chunchunya. Could these creatures really be endemic worldwide? Or is there some deep part of the human psyche that peers into the wilderness and sees not something alien, but rather a horrifying reflection of what we could have been (and might still be) without the thin veneer of "civilization" we've wrapped ourselves in?

Or maybe we're actually seeing invisible, telepathic, hypnotic otherdimensional aliens.

Here are the five weirdest theories of what's really going on when people report a Bigfoot sighting.

Theory One: Bigfoot represents a lost species of hominid.

On the surface, this theory doesn't seem that crazy. The deep forests and remote mountains of the world could hide a few evolutionary offshoots. It's a lot harder to hide a sustainable population, though. Within a single habitat, any population below about 500 would be considered severely endangered. While it is technically possible such populations of large primates could exist in several places throughout North America and have escaped detection (no confirmed carcasses, bones, scat, or abandoned nests), it is incredibly unlikely. And trying to explain away the scientific implausibility of this theory gives rise to the increasingly arcane theories that follow.

Theory Two: Bigfoot is a Native American nature spirit.

I know it's culturally insensitive to include this on a list of "bizarre" theories, but cloaking an idea in religion or tradition doesn't make it any less ridiculous. In an early issue of the Bigfoot newsletter The Track Record, Gayle Highpine surveyed the various attitudes of North American tribes toward Bigfoot. Lakota, Dakota and Ojibway consider him a spirit guide and harbinger who brings "signs or messages that there is a need to change, a need to cleanse." One Dakota tribe member told a local newspaper, "They exist in another dimension from us, but can appear in this dimension whenever they have a reason to."

Read More

Search for the north American ape
Humboldt Beacon

In August, the Humboldt Beacon carried the article, “Validating Bigfoot” which described the work of researchers connected with the Falcon Project who plan to carry out research in Humboldt County. This is the first in a 4-part series.


In 2007 there was an incident that took place in the scientific community that created interest of considerable proportion. Most people didn't really notice what had happened, but Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum had struck the anvil of science so hard that the shock waves of his published paper entitled “Evidence for the Existence of North American Apes” will continue to be felt for years to come.

Scattered across the United States at that time were a handful of men who would feel that shock wave, and eventually unite under the same purpose: to find out exactly what the creature is that is mentioned in Dr. Meldrum's paper, and to capture it on film.


What is a hominoid?

Hominoids are what have, up to now, been collectively labeled as Pre-Humans, (post- Miocene Apes). These are the tailless short armed apes that we've all seen in the fossil record, from the Australopithecines to the Genus Homo.

It simply means the family of apes (according to classification) that resemble humans in their ability to walk on two legs instead of four. Outside of that distinction, Hominoids seem to share most of the same characteristics in the family of Hominidea with other apes.

In modern times, when some of the first foot prints were discovered around logging sites, the term “Bigfoot” was given to the individuals responsible for the tracks, because they had very large feet.

Almost every Native American and First Nation Tribe has a name to describe these creatures. The most popular of these names is Sasquatch. For the purpose of eliminating the confusion of so many different names for this being, we will refer to them here as Hominoids.

When did hominoids live?

Read More

Grass Valley Man Announces National Bigfoot Hunt
CBS 13

A local man says he came face-to-face with Bigfoot. He said he's getting ready to spot the creature again using balloons.

A Grass Valley miner used to camp for up to five months every year -- just him and his tent, until one night he saw a creature so mysterious he doesn't rest so easy outdoors anymore.

"It just wandered left and right down the canyon here. Then it went 30 feet from car. It was close enough I could reach through the tent and touch it. My heart beating so hard I could hear it," said William Barnes.

William says he will never be the same after his encounter. This gold miner was camping near Greenhorn Creek in July 1997, when at 2 a.m., he came face to face with Bigfoot.

"It took me 4 years to mention it to the first person -- one of my best friends," said William.

Once William opened up about his heart-stopping sighting with the 500-pound mysterious ape, he found out he was not alone.

"About 80 percent don't report it because they get ridiculed," said William.

But William says 16 people in the area told him they've seen the same monstrous mystery.

If there are all these sightings, where are the footprints? William hasn't seen any in Nevada County. He just says look on the ground.

William will set out on a road less traveled, planning to spend a year and $200,000 hunting for the Sasquatch from the sky.

Read More

Search for Bigfoot Opens Soon
Russia-InfoCenter

Some journalists and scientists are intent to search for snowmen, which were reportedly seen in taiga of Mountain Shoria, Altai Republic.

Local hunters claimed they had seen tall creatures covered with hair, which looked like snowmen, in February 2009 and even took a picture of their footprint.

Various opinions exist – Russian anthropologists believe that possibility of yeti existence is extremely low, since their bodies have never been found and studied. However, some scientists (I wouldn’t dare to call these people “scientists”, actually) are sure that snowmen exist and, even more, that they have come to Earth from other planets.

The expedition, scheduled to start for the end of September, will hopefully shed light on these mystery.

Source

Does the Loch Ness Monster Have British Relatives?
AOL News

The hunt is on for a new lake monster -- not at Scotland's Loch Ness, home of the fabled "Nessie," but this time in nearby England.

Ever since 2006, when the first report emerged from England's biggest lake of a 20-foot-long creature in Lake Windermere, a new lake monster legend has gained strength on the sightings of something dubbed "Bow-Nessie."

Sky News reports that monster hunters are using sonar to try to find the elusive animal that reportedly lurks in the 220-foot-deep, 10-mile-long lake.

Lake Windermere, located in the northern part of England, is a popular holiday and summer home destination and is bordered by two towns, Ambleside and Bowness-on-Windermere -- hence the clever monster nickname, Bow-Nessie.

Read More

Couple hears an unusual scream while camping overnight on the Peace River

My husband and I have lived in Charlotte County FL our entire lives. We have camped with our families for over 40 years up the peace river (only accessable by boat) into Desoto county...After Hurrician Charley, We had gone early to set camp and meet friends. Later that evening, we heard an undescribable screem/yell/growl from somethin very big. Because of the number of alligators there, I at first thought an animal was getting bitten and dragged into the water as we heard water splashing and the yell continued and went from sounding hurt and suprised to angry and mad (I had heard for a long time that there was a big foot in that area, but have never heard, smelled, or seen anything...well into our 40's we never thought we would.) The yell lasted approx 5 seconds, going from something sounding like it was hurt fighting and then angry.

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Night fisherman has sighting at Clinton Lake boat docks

On my way home I called dad and told him what was going on. He told me back in the 70's, there was sightings of what the town called the Salt Creek monster. I'm no skeptic, but at the same time I haven't ever seen it.

After a while he tells me I should go back and check the place out a little more closely. I decided it was probably a good idea just for some peace of mind. I drive back out to the boat launch, and park in the parking lot. I have the truck lights on as well as my flashlight that I'm scanning the area with. After about 15 minutes I give up and go to leave.

As I'm turning around in the parking lot, the truck lights pick something up standing in the trees. I immediately stomp on the brakes. About 20 yards away I'm looking at something that's probably seven feet tall, not overly muscular but it was covered in black hair. It also had a big pair of yellow eyes. It had a deer in the head lights look about it and it tore off running through the trees along the lake. I had been in track in high school and this easily outpaced the fastest runners I'd ever seen. When it ran it didn't pump its arms. They just swayed a bit. Before I really understood what I was seeing it was gone. I drove my little truck as fast as it could go all the way home.

Read More

Late-night roadside sighting by a young man outside of Moultrie

About a year ago, I was coming home from taking my grandmother to work. We lived on a paved but heavily wooded road. There are numerous ponds and fields surrounding the area. As came across the final curve in the road, something caught my eye. Just on the inside of the ditch by the pond before my house stood a figure. At first glance I would have thought my eyes to be playing tricks. I slowed down and stopped fearing that I was going to hit a large animal. I seen this tall figure (roughly 6 feet to 7 feet in height)turn and stare at my headlights. It was Auburn-Brown and had very wirey hair. Its head was kinda of oblong like that of monkey. The face was flat other than the wierd looking nose (looked like a squished pig nose). Its eyes glowed red in the headlights. Once I stopped, it immediately turned and crouched into the ditch below. I was so scared of being attacked that I drove the half mile home, ran inside and told my parents all about it.

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Russian Lake Monster 'Nesski' Feasting On Fisherman

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Female First / Daily Mail

Russia's answer to the Loch Ness Monster, 'Nesski', seems to have one habit that it's Scottish cousin doesn't.

Eating fisherman.

Yes, the monster has now been blamed for 19 deaths in Chany lake over the past three years, a number, which, according to Russian experts, may actually be higher in their estimates.

Officially, each of these deaths has been listed on the books as a drowning, yet of all the people who have gone missing in or around Chany, only a few have ever been recovered, and those that have were reportedly half eaten. This, of course, has lead to speculation by the locals that Nesski has a hunger for human flesh.

The latest victim, a 59-year-0ld man who was pulled into the lake while fishing last week. According to the man's close friend, 60-year-old Vladimir Golishev, the unlucky angler hooked 'the big one' and it lead to his demise.

'I was with my friend... some 300 yards from the shore,' Golishev explained. ''He hooked something huge on his bait, and he stood up in the boat to reel it in.

'But it pulled with such force that he overturned the boat. I was in shock - I had never seen anything like it in my life.

'I pulled off my clothes and swam for the shore, not daring hope I would make it.'

Golishev did make it back to shore without incident, but his long-time vanished without a trace.

Such was the case when Vladimir and Nina Doronin lost their 32-year-old grandson three years ago. Mikhail, a Russian soldier, fell into the lake after something large capsized his boat in calm water.

'The lake was calm, but suddenly the boat was rocking, and it capsized,' recalled the elderly grandmother.

Though the couple, who have lived on the shores of Chany their entire lives, firmly believe that Nesski is real, and probably caused the death of their grandson, they admit that they have never seen the monster.

Nesski, like Nessie, is believed to be a plesiosaur, an aquatic dinosaur with a long neck, small head, large body, relatively short tail and flippers, that, according to science, went extinct, like most dinosaurs, at the end of the Cretaceous Period.

Reports of Nesski in Lake Chany have been around for decades, though finding such a monster wouldn't seem all that difficult. You see, the lake, though some 57 x 55 miles across, is only 23ft deep at it's deepest point and much shallower in most areas. A fact that should make the monster easy to spot, and also makes one wonder why so many people would disappear in a body of water so shallow?

Russia Is Planning To Build A Spaceship To Prevent Asteroid 'Apophis' From Hitting Earth

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Associated Press

I was fully prepared to sit down today and write one of my typical articles about monster movies and alternate cinema. That was until I opened up my Yahoo home page and read the headline "Russia may send spacecraft to knock away asteroid". It was at that point that my attention was diverted from my intended subject.

This one is just too good to pass up.

Anatoly Perminov, the head of the Russian space program, told reporters today that his agency is in the early stages of designing a spaceship to be used to alter the course of the 270-meter (885-foot) asteroid "Apophis" to prevent it from hitting the Earth in 2029.

Now, the scenario of an asteroid hitting the Earth has been used in several movies and TV shows over the past few decades including "Deep Impact", "Armageddon", "Meteor" (Okay that one is a bout a meteorite.....same difference), and even in an episode of "The Simpsons."

It seems that sci fi has become science fact.....well as far as the Russians are concerned anyway.

Back when "Apophis" was first discovered back in 2004, scientists had calculated that the chances of the big space rock hitting Earth was 1-in-37. That's a little too close for comfort.

However, those same scientists now believe that the odds of such an impact are now nil, though there are slight chances of a collision in future 'flybys' of "Apophis". Those being 1-in-250,000 in 2036 and 1-in-330,000 in 2068.

The Russians, however, didn't get the memo.

Perminov stated that he had heard from a scientist in Russia who believed that the asteroid was getting closer and would likely hit the Earth, "I don't remember exactly, but it seems to me it could hit the Earth by 2032."

Wait....I have to stop this here. Yes, you read that last part right. The head of the Russian Space Agency thinks that he remembers a scientist saying something about an asteroid hitting the Earth, so he going forward with a project that will likely cost billions to build a spacecraft to divert it.

Okay, as long as we are clear....let's continue.

"People's lives are at stake. We should pay several hundred million dollars and build a system that would allow us to prevent a collision, rather than sit and wait for it to happen and kill hundreds of thousands of people," Perminov added.

Don Yeomans, who heads NASA's Near-Earth Object Program believes that "Apophis" poses no threat to us Earthlings, but likes the Russians enthusiasm, "While Apophis is almost certainly not a problem, I am encouraged that the Russian science community is willing to study the various deflection options that would be available in the event of a future Earth threatening encounter by an asteroid."

Perminov also admitted that there wasn't a specific plan on how to divert an asteroid on the table or what kind of spacecraft would be used, "Calculations show that it's possible to create a special purpose spacecraft within the time we have, which would help avoid the collision, the threat of collision can be averted."

If you may remember, the Russians announced back in 2007 that were planning to build a base on the moon in 2027 and then were planning on a manned mission to Mars in 2035.

You have to really give them credit, there facts may be kinda mixed up, but at least they are trying.

I really haven't heard much from NASA lately.......I think that they are still around......it's hard to tell.....which is really a shame, because there are still some of us that believe that space exploration still has value.

And I don't mean just looking through telescopes and sending out probes.

Am I the only one who thinks that we should have already landed a man on Mars by now?

Of course, it all won't make a difference if we are clocked out by an asteroid in 2029.

See Also: 40 Years Since Apollo 8 / Does Mars Have Wood? / Nasa Photo Shows Human-like Figure On Mars

Soviet Scientists Still On The Trail Of Bigfoot

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Pravda

Okay.....I'm starting to become concerned that Monster Island News may be slowly turning into a "Bigfoot" website. It seems like everyday now, there is a story about a Bigfoot movie, or Bigfoot sighting, or something about beef jerky. Of course, I really have to blame myself for this. I am the one who finds these stories after all. I guess that I have just had Sasquatch on the brain lately?

Now that I have gotten that off my chest, we can get to the real story at hand here. It seams that the Russian scientific community is really going 'gung-ho' in their efforts to find the monster. Recent reports by hunters who claim to have seen the elusive creature in Siberia, plus the recent discovery of fossilized footprints in a cave near the area of the sightings, has lead to a serious interest in finally proving the monsters existence.

To date several expeditions have been launched into the remote area of Siberia in an effort to locate the hairy, upright walking, giant primate the locals call the Almasty (or Alma). Each expedition comes back with new and interesting evidence that the creature does indeed live in the area.

The latest expedition to visit the area, focused on the mysterious fossilized Alma footprint that was discovered in a very deep cave system. To the amazement of the team, a fresh print was discovered that matched the fossilized one almost exactly. The scientists estimate that the fossilized print is approximately 5,000 years old.

“They are absolutely identical. Five thousand years ago Yetis settled down in this cave and now their descendants are still living here. The conditions in the cave are suitable for Yeti. The cave defends them from rains, snow and wind. There is also a lake in the middle of the cave where yetis can find clean water,” say the scientists.

Yet another expedition is being planned. This time the scientists involved used Google maps to survey the area in an attempt to find suitable areas where the Almasty me be riding out the severe Russian winter. The group believes that they have located the ideal spot for finding the creatures. Unfortunately, the weather in the area is preventing the team from acting on their find.

If the evidence in hand is any indication of what is yet to be found, than these Russian scientists may be the first to discover a brand-new species of humanoid-like primate, one that has eluded scientists and monster hunters around the globe for over a hundred years.

See Also: James Baack Is Conjuring Up A Bloody Bigfoot Movie In 3D / New Photos From Shawn Hunt's Bigfoot Horror The Shrieking / The Legend Of Boggy Creek (1972) / Has A Good Bigfoot DNA Sample Finally Been Found? / A Team Lead By A Russian Priest Search For Bigfoot In Siberia / Allyson Mitchell Believes The True Symbol Of Female Brains And Sexuality Is.....Sasquatch? / Does The RCMP Have A Bigfoot On Ice? / Sci Fi Orders Another Season Of Destination Truth / If Your looking For Ghosts Go To The Aokigahara Forest In Japan / Cryptozoological Figure Set / Southeastern Ohio Society For Bigfoot Investigation Holds Meatings To Discuss Sightings / Are Russian Female Bigfoot Looking For Human Mates? / Bigfoot Stalking Mormons In Houston / Nasa Photo Shows Human-like Figure On Mars / Another Knucklehead Comes Forward To Claim That He Created Pattersons Bigfoot / Recent Reports Lead To The Possibility Of A Large Bigfoot Population Near Houston BC / Monster Quest Is In Colorado Searching For Bigfoot / The Sci Fi Channel Travels Into The Unknown With Unexplained With George Noory This Month / Recent Bigfoot Sightings In BC Suggest Bear-Like Migration / Bigfoot Prints Found In Siberia

A Team Lead By A Russian Priest Search For Bigfoot In Siberia

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Russian News and Information Agency

A rash of Bigfoot sightings in Siberia has lead to the formation of a team, lead by Orthodox Bishop of Kemerovo, to search the area for evidence of the elusive creature. The expedition is set to depart for Tashtagol area, where hunters have encountered the legendary monster and large humanoid tracks have been found in local caves. The area is reportedly very remote and the only way in or out is by snowmobile.

In the early part of this week the Kemerovo regional administration released a report filed by local hunters who had encountered several harry, upright walking, creatures near the Azass Cave on Mount Shoriya. When the group went inside the cave to look for the creatures they discovered several human-like footprints.

Besides monster hunting, the bishop will also perform some of his ordained duties, including the blessing of a local church.

The number of credible sightings, of what the locals call the "Almasty", has even caught the attention of the Russian scientific community.

The head of the department of anthropology at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology in Moscow, notes that Soviet anthropologists have never seen or studied the body of a bigfoot or yeti, although there are numerous reports of their sightings throughout the world.

Presently the finances are being put in place for a scientific team to search the Tashtagol area this summer. There are already many enthusiasts, businessmen and hunters who have come forward to volunteer for the expedition.

With the enthusiastic backing of the Russian scientific community, it may be possible that the mystery of upright walking primates in Siberia may be solved sometime this year.

If only American scientists would put forth as much effort in looking for Bigfoot in this country, then I am certain that the mysterious monster would already have been discovered.

See Also: Allyson Mitchell Believes The True Symbol Of Female Brains And Sexuality Is.....Sasquatch? / Does The RCMP Have A Bigfoot On Ice? / Sci Fi Orders Another Season Of Destination Truth / If Your looking For Ghosts Go To The Aokigahara Forest In Japan / Cryptozoological Figure Set / Southeastern Ohio Society For Bigfoot Investigation Holds Meatings To Discuss Sightings / Are Russian Female Bigfoot Looking For Human Mates? / Bigfoot Stalking Mormons In Houston / Nasa Photo Shows Human-like Figure On Mars / Another Knucklehead Comes Forward To Claim That He Created Pattersons Bigfoot / Recent Reports Lead To The Possibility Of A Large Bigfoot Population Near Houston BC / Monster Quest Is In Colorado Searching For Bigfoot / The Sci Fi Channel Travels Into The Unknown With Unexplained With George Noory This Month / Recent Bigfoot Sightings In BC Suggest Bear-Like Migration / Bigfoot Prints Found In Siberia / Russian Soldiers Discover A Harry Monster On The Beach

Are Russian Female Bigfoot Looking For Human Mates?

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Pravda

It seems that there is a shortage of male Bigfoot in Russia (Known to locals as the Almasty), and the females of the species have been looking for human companions. In the town of Elbrus, in Northern Caucasus, residents have reported an unusual number of sightings of the creature, most of them encounters with females, mostly by men, who have hinted at flirtation.

In the remote settlement it is a very common occurrence to see the large mythical creature in, and around, the town itself. It is reported that every resident has seen the legendary Almasty at least once in their lifetime.

“There are many deserted barns over there with boulders and woods around. They most often spot the Almasty there. They come to town from there,” local resident Adelgery Tilov said.

It is also common for the towns male population to get "friendly" with the female Almasty, something that the local women have come to accept.

“A yeti female looks like a gorilla, of course, but she can definitely temp a man,” one of the elders, Kazi Khajiyev said. “The Almasty can bewitch a man. They say that a man, whom a wild woman tries to seduce, sees not the hairy ape-like creature, but the woman that he wants to see. It is something like hypnosis,” the man said.

Despite the numerous encounters with the creatures, the local residents still harbor some fear of them, and generally try to avoid confrontations.

“A wild human being is a human being, that is why we try to get along with them. My grandfather used to tell me that the Almasty have always lived here. They increased their population after the Balkars deserted their villages. The Almasty took their homes, that’s why they let humans see them so often nowadays,” Adilgery Tilov said.

Adilgery also spoke about a recent encounter that he had that proves that even Almasty females are suckers for romance by the fire.

“I had to go to a neighboring village one summer day. I was supposed to stay there for a night so I accommodated myself in a deserted barn. I made a fire near the barn and fell asleep. I opened my eyes very early in the morning and saw someone sitting by the fire. A female yeti was giving me a very thoughtful look. She was not tall, a bit more than one meter in height. She was black and her fur was all messy . I was scared to death, and was lying there still, thinking what she was going to do next. She stayed there for about ten more minutes, got up and vanished in the woods,” the man said.

This, however, is not the first report of an Almasty-Human "relationship" to come out of the former Soviet Union:

A wildwoman named Zana is said to have lived in the isolated mountain village of T'khina fifty miles from Sukhumi in Abkhazia in the Caucasus; some have speculated she may have been an Almasty, but hard evidence is lacking.

Captured in the mountains in 1850, she was at first violent towards her captors but soon became domesticated and, indeed, was able to assist with simple household chores. Zana is said to have had sexual relations with a man of the village named Edgi Genaba, and gave birth to a number of children of apparently normal human appearance. Several of these children, however, died in infancy. Some commentators have attributed these early deaths to Zana's genetic incompatibility (as an Almas) with humans.

The father, meanwhile, gave away four of the surviving children to local families. The two boys, Dzhanda and Khwit Sabekia (born 1878 and 1884), and the two girls, Kodzhanar and Gamasa Sabekia (born 1880 and 1882), were assimilated into normal society, married, and had families of their own. Zana herself died in 1890. The skull of Khwit (also spelled Kvit) is still extant, and was examined by Dr. Grover Krantz in the early 1990s. He pronounced it to be entirely modern, with no Neanderthal features at all. Khwit's tooth was examined in 2008 as part of the Monster Quest tv show. Genetics tests were unable to definitely show Khwit's parentage, but tests will continue.

It is unknown if these legendary Almasty are "wild and primitive" humans or creatures more like the Bigfoot or the Yeti? Regardless, it seems that Russian men have had a fetish for them for centuries.

Russian women aren't that unattractive are they? Every one that I have seen looked pretty exotic.

I guess when you get a taste of the Neanderthal it never goes away?

See Also: Bigfoot Stalking Mormons In Houston / Nasa Photo Shows Human-like Figure On Mars / Another Knucklehead Comes Forward To Claim That He Created Pattersons Bigfoot / Recent Reports Lead To The Possibility Of A Large Bigfoot Population Near Houston BC / Monster Quest Is In Colorado Searching For Bigfoot / The Sci Fi Channel Travels Into The Unknown With Unexplained With George Noory This Month / Recent Bigfoot Sightings In BC Suggest Bear-Like Migration / Bigfoot Prints Found In Siberia / Russian Soldiers Discover A Harry Monster On The Beach

Bigfoot Prints Found In Siberia

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: KEYC.com

A Minnesota television station on Saturday night aired a report about a group of hunters in Siberia who stumbled upon a set of giant "humanoid" footprints. The report did not mention the length of at actual prints, but did mention a gigantic 2 meter stride between the prints. The hunters believe the tracks were left by the legendary Alma, which is a species very much like the North American "Bigfoot" or "Sasquatch."

It is interesting to note that the female anchor who presented the footage during the newscast got a real chuckle out of the story. She can be heard laughing directly after she finishes the story. Once again I am sad to report that the media, along with the scientific community, still refuse to take reports of upright walking primates seriously.

With the newscast here: Siberian Hunters Claim To Have Found Bigfoot Prints

Of course, that bogus report of a "Bigfoot" body a month or so ago didn't help the situation much, I'm afraid.

I do want to point out, that I did indeed predict that there would be some sort of Alma business coming out of Russia last week after a "hairy" sea monster was discovered on a beach by soldiers. It looks like the great "Monster Race" is on. American scientists better get their butts in gear or we will fall way behind the Ruskies!

See Also: Russian Soldiers Discover A Harry Monster On The Beach

Russian Soldiers Discover A Harry Monster On The Beach

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: The National Post (Canada)

A few days ago I reported on a mysterious carcass that had washed up on the beach in Connecticut that was discovered by a family on a casual stroll. Today I have a tale of yet another mysterious rotting corpse on a beach, this time however the story comes from the Soviet Union.......oh, sorry, Russia.

It seems that some Russian soldiers discovered the body of a mysterious harry creature while on patrol along the Sakhalin shoreline, which is located in the most eastern part of Russia, some 5,000 miles away from Moscow and very near Japan. The mysterious creature, which has earned the name, "The Moscow Monster", most closely resembles a crocodile, with a long tail, but instead of scales the animal is covered in skin and hair.

So far the monster has baffled Russian scientists. According to reports experts have determined that the creature is not a fish, due to its skeletal structure and teeth. Also according to reports the Russians have not been able to either identify the anomaly or place it within the known order of anything at all.

Throughout history hundreds of mysterious corpses have washed up on shorelines around the world, most of which have never been identified by science. This just goes to prove that there are still several species in the oceans yet to be discovered.

I do, however, find it interesting that soon after we discover a mysterious sea creature on our shores, the Russians discover one on theirs. Are we about to enter into some kind "Monster Race" with our old adversaries. I think that we need to get in gear and discover Bigfoot before the Russians discover an Alma. Hey, we can't let them get one over on us!