History's Mysteries

[nacho]

A possible RC script...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38719231/ns/business-huguette_clark_mystery/

Huguette Clark was already a mystery. Now there are new glimpses into the life of the reclusive heiress.

The daughter of a disgraced former U.S. senator, Huguette inherited millions from the Montana copper mines, and has lived a solitary life while her three fabulous homes sit empty: a $100 million estate on the Pacific Coast in Santa Barbara, a $24 million country house in Connecticut and a $100 million co-op, the largest apartment on Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park — all immaculately kept but unoccupied for decades.

As Huguette has just marked her 104th birthday in an ordinary hospital room in New York, there are unanswered questions as well:

Who protects an old lady who secluded herself from the world, limiting her life to a single room, playing dress-up with her dolls and watching cartoons? Who protects an old lady whose Stradivarius violin, the famous one called "The Virgin," which her mother gave her as a 50th birthday present, has been sold secretly for $6 million? Who protects an old lady whose dearest friend, a social secretary to whom Huguette supposedly gave $10 million, now has Alzheimer's and is unable to visit anymore? Who protects an old lady who has no children, and whose distant relatives have been prevented from visiting her? Who protects an old lady whose accountant fell behind on his own federal income taxes and is a convicted felon and a registered sex offender?

Interest in Huguette Clark was sparked in February by msnbc.com's photo narrative, "The Clarks: An American story of wealth, scandal and mystery." (on this page) The story was one of the most popular ever on msnbc.com. Yahoo! Buzz named Huguette Clark a hot topic of Web searches. “The TODAY Show” followed up with a report and newly discovered photos of Huguette. The New York Daily News breathlessly declared, based on the Today report, "Reclusive 104-year-old heiress Huguette Clark enters hospital," which is true enough, though that event happened at least two decades ago. The tabloid also compared her to Paris Hilton, which will be an apt comparison if Miss Hilton doesn't have her photograph taken in the next 80 years.

Much much more at the link... A fascinating story.

[Cassander]

So...where are all the Fu-Go?  Not really a mystery, but this seemed like the appropriate thread.

A fire balloon, balloon bomb (Japanese: 風船爆弾 fūsen bakudan, literally "balloon bomb"), or Fu-Go was an experimental weapon launched by Japan during World War II. A hydrogen balloon with a load varying from a 12-kilogram (26 lb) incendiary to one 15 kg (33 lb) antipersonnel bomb and four 5 kg (11 lb) incendiary devices attached, they were designed as a cheap weapon intended to make use of the jet stream over the Pacific Ocean and wreak havoc on Canadian and American cities, forests, and farmland.
The balloons were relatively ineffective as weapons but were used in one of the few attacks on North America during World War II.
Between November 1944 and April 1945, Japan launched over 9,300 fire balloons. About 300 balloon bombs were found or observed in North America, killing six people and causing a small amount of damage.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugo

[nacho]

I got caught up in the history of frozen mammoths... There were so many of them in Siberia that the Russians would pack fewer food supplies for their sled dogs in the 1700's.

These mammoths in Siberia were flash frozen so quickly -- and we're talking herds -- that the food in their stomachs was undigested. And, catch this:

In 1797 the body of a mammoth, with flesh skin, and hair was found in northeastern Siberia, and since then bodies of other mammoths have been unearthed from the frozen ground throughout that region. The flesh had the appearance of freshly frozen beef; it was edible, and wolves and sledge dogs fed on it without harm. [D.F.Hertz in B Digby: The Mammoth (1926), p.9.]

Holy. Fuck.

[Reginald McGraw]

I would love to try mammoth meat.

[monkey!]

I bet it would taste like elephant.

[Reginald McGraw]

I would love to taste elephant meat too!

[nacho]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_pass_accident

The mysterious circumstances of the hikers' deaths have inspired much speculation. Investigations of the deaths suggest that the hikers tore open their tent from within, departing barefoot in heavy snow; while the corpses show no signs of struggle, one victim had a fractured skull, two had broken ribs, and one was missing her tongue.[1] The victims' clothing contained high levels of radiation.[1] Soviet investigators determined only that "a compelling unknown force" had caused the deaths, barring entry to the area for years thereafter.[1] The causes of the accident remain unclear.[2][3]

Movie time!

http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2011/04/dyatlov-pass-incident-film-production.html

That's my paranormal paranoia go-to site, but they usually do a good job with stuff like this. In between the OMG it's Alien Bigfoot Vampires!! you end up with a very exhaustive history -- and usually some multimedia -- of their topic of the day. This one has some great stuff on the Dyatlov Pass mystery.

[Cassander]

And the first external link is to skeptoid with a plausible "they tried to escape an avalanche" explanation. 

[nacho]

And the first external link is to skeptoid with a plausible "they tried to escape an avalanche" explanation. 

Boring! I think it was soldiers from Atlantis. I mean, obviously. Right?

[RottingCorpse]

You're sure that site isn't some kind fo guerrilla marketing for 'The Thing' prequel?

[nacho]

The site is much easier to approach if you put it in Google Reader, which strips out everything but the story.

[RottingCorpse]

I've procrastinated writing all day by reading about the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. Bruno Hauptmann was executed for it, but it's unlikely he acted alone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindbergh_kidnapping

[nacho]

Oh-ho! The Lindbergh case. A NM script if ever I saw one.

[RottingCorpse]

My script would be called "Cemetery John."

[RottingCorpse]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_pass_accident

The mysterious circumstances of the hikers' deaths have inspired much speculation. Investigations of the deaths suggest that the hikers tore open their tent from within, departing barefoot in heavy snow; while the corpses show no signs of struggle, one victim had a fractured skull, two had broken ribs, and one was missing her tongue.[1] The victims' clothing contained high levels of radiation.[1] Soviet investigators determined only that "a compelling unknown force" had caused the deaths, barring entry to the area for years thereafter.[1] The causes of the accident remain unclear.[2][3]

Movie time!

http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2011/04/dyatlov-pass-incident-film-production.html

That's my paranormal paranoia go-to site, but they usually do a good job with stuff like this. In between the OMG it's Alien Bigfoot Vampires!! you end up with a very exhaustive history -- and usually some multimedia -- of their topic of the day. This one has some great stuff on the Dyatlov Pass mystery.

I've been obsessed with this story all week.