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10 Truly Unbelievable Claims Of UFO And Alien Encounters

2019-09-07T23:20:00.005+05:30

10 Truly Unbelievable Claims Of UFO And Alien Encounters

All claims of UFOs and alien encounters square measure, by their terrible nature, a touch eccentric and freaky. Some of them, however, is just a little too outrageous for even the most enthusiastic and dedicated UFO researcher to believe, at least not in their entirety. And while the following ten stories are most likely not genuine, there remains a tiny sliver of doubt; they might not be complete fabrications, either. So, with a large pinch of salt with further helpings, here are ten UFO and alien encounter claims that are just a little too unbelievable.

10George Adamski—An Authentic Initial Sighting That Descended Into Lies?

Photo credit: George Adamski

The first person on our list is also one of the most well-known. And at one point, George Adamski was very much considered the “real deal” in terms of contact with an extraterrestrial race. Even today, there is disagreement among UFO circles as to whether his initial purported encounters were actually genuine, though plenty of believers in those are still sure that Adamski went on to fabricate and outright manufacture more stories, whether for money, attention, or both.

True or not, beginning on November 1952, after several months of “channeled directions,” he would reportedly witness and capture a picture of a “flying saucer” (shown above) from his California home. By the time Adamski was making claims of trips to the Moon, Venus, and various other locations in outer space, even his most ardent supporters were beginning to distance themselves. If there was any truth in the initial claims of George Adamski, it is a real shame that what appears to be obvious fabrication and outright manufacturing of events will overshadow it.

9Elizabeth Klarer Conceives An Alien Child On Another Planet

At around the same time that Adamski was making his claims in the late 1950s, in South Africa, Elizabeth Klarer would state not only that she made contact with an alien life-form but that she had gone to his home world and conceived a child with him. In fact, many skeptics would point out how many details of her claims were almost identical to those of Adamski. According to Klarer, she successfully “called down” the alien she called “Akon,” who would arrive in his scout ship.

From there, they would transfer to the main mother ship and then travel to Meton, Akon’s home planet, which, according to Klarer, was in the Alpha Centauri system. However, the son they conceived would remain with Akon on Meton. As you might imagine, this did little for Klarer’s credibility. She would even so continue her story, despite the actual fact that she was virtually universally not believed.

8Ludwig Pallmann Develops Friendship With Race Of Aliens

In the mid-1960s, German businessman Ludwig Pallman would claim to have discovered an alien base in Brazil and, furthermore, to have established contact with its occupants.[3]He had first made contact with one of these mysterious visitors on a Bombay (now called Mumbai) train around 1964. He began speaking with him and noticed how strange his voice was and how perfectly white his hair glowed. He would meet the same figure again later, learning that his name was, according to Pallmann, Satu Ra.

When he was on business in South America several years later, he would meet up with the apparent alien being once more, as well as members of his family. Among the many claims made by Pallmann is that the alien visitors were running various programs and experiments with the “terrestrial fruit,” which they were hybridizing at their secret bases on the planet. Furthermore, he was given a crystal ring that would glow and heat up slightly when the aliens were nearby.

Perhaps one of the most outlandish of Pallman’s stories, if only because of its humanlike quality, is of hearing of a disaster that had befallen an alien ship on another planet. One of the aliens he had been introduced to previously (named Xiti) was apparently killed. Shortly after this event, coincidentally or not, came several sightings of a large silver disc where Pallmann claimed the aliens had their base. Needless to say, while many in the UFO community are aware of Pallman’s alleged encounter, most distance themselves from such claims.

7Walter Rizzi Develops extrasensory talents once likelihood Meeting With Aliens

Although the details of the encounter are not particularly outlandish, there is still a persistent feeling among many in UFO circles that a pinch of salt should perhaps be at the ready when it comes to the claims of Walter Rizzi from Bolzano, Italy, which he would make ten years after a supposed incident in 1978. After pulling his car to the side of the road near an underpass to get some sleep, Rizzi would awaken to see a disc-shaped craft hovering near his vehicle. Even more concerning was the humanoid entity making his way toward him.

The being would communicate with Rizzi using telepathy. It is perhaps interesting to note that, similar to Pallmann’s story, the alien Rizzi met described how they were looking for vegetation, fruit, and minerals that are rich on planet Earth and of great value to them. In a similar manner to many sightings of the time (although we should remember that Rizzi waited a decade before speaking of the encounter), the witness would state that he was warned of an impending disaster that would affect around 80 percent of the planet.

6Carroll Watts Learns That Aliens Are Watching Humans As They Near The Cosmos

Photo credit: Blue Blurry Lines

Perhaps, by comparison to several others on this list, the claims of Carroll Watts are relatively pedestrian. However, there are many who remain suspicious, with some noting Watts’s desire for financial return regarding the sightings, all of which took place over a period of six months during 1967 in Wellington, Texas. He would claim to first witness a cigar-shaped craft while driving between fields and buildings on the family farm. He approached the object, which hovered low to the ground, and was asked by a voice that was “neither masculine or feminine” if he was “willing to submit to a rigorous physical examination.” If he passed, he would be allowed to travel with the occupants into the area.

Although he would at first decline this invite, in resulting conferences, he in agreement and ultimately went into space with the aliens. According to the “conversation” that took place during this cosmic journey, he was informed that these alien visitors would regularly “come and go as they pleased” from the Earth. Perhaps more worryingly, he was informed that many alien races in space were concerned with humanity’s apparent impending arrival in the cosmos and of humans becoming a spacefaring race.

5Howard Menger Meets His Former Lover From A Past Life On Venus

Photo credit: Strange Attractor

According to alleged contactee Howard Menger, he was invited aboard a UFO in the summer of 1956. He not only was taken into outer space and to the Moon, but he claimed to have witnessed alien civilizations and huge structures on its surface. An already bizarre set of encounters would turn even weirder, though, when a strange woman would attend a lecture Menger was giving on the subject of contact with “space brothers and sisters.” The woman’s name was Connie Weber. It was Menger’s belief that he and Weber had once been a couple during a past life they had shared on Venus. Rather than leaving such a notion at that, Menger promptly divorced his wife and began a relationship with Weber. Perhaps even stranger was a television interview he would give in 1960, in which he stated that the entire story was false. However, rather than admit that he had simply made the account up for notoriety or even money, he stated that he was part of a top-secret military experiment to test public reaction to alien contact, a claim which, like his original one, would divide opinion.

4Luciano Galli Takes A Trip Into Space During His Lunch Hour

In July 1957, Italian businessman Luciano Galli was returning back to work in Rome following his lunch break when a black car suddenly pulled up alongside him. The window wound down, and a gentleman with “piercing black eyes” leaned out. He asked Galli if he remembered him. Galli was about to respond that he didn’t when a sudden wave of memories washed through his mind, making him realize that he did, indeed, remember the strange man. He had seen him previously on the streets of Rome. The man asked Galli if he would like to go with them, and he ultimately got into the back of the vehicle. They would drive to the outskirts of the city, where a “saucer-shaped UFO” was waiting for them. After they boarded it, the craft shot off into the sky. The spaceship would take them to a huge mother ship, which Galli was then given a tour of. He was ultimately returned to the spot from where he was taken. While many would struggle to believe his account (he would claim that he “didn’t care what people thought”), there were several similar reports around the world in 1957 that perhaps lend him a bit of credibility.

3Hubert Lewis Meets Aliens From Venus Living Among Us

According to newsagent Hubert Lewis, in 1957, he witnessed a disc-shaped object and its occupants while cycling through the town of Church Stretton in Shropshire in order to pick up newspapers. When a tall figure appeared in the road in front of him, Lewis demanded to know who this stranger was, almost without thinking. The occupant replied that the newsagent need not fear him. The two would speak for around half an hour, the metallic disc hovering in the background all the while. As their conversation progressed, the wind, which had previously been relatively brisk, seemed to drop (although, strangely, Lewis could still hear it). Following the meeting, Lewis claimed to have developed certain psychic abilities. Furthermore, he claimed to receive visits from “high-ranking police officers” who would advise him to “forget certain matters,” advice to which he initially agreed. However, several months later, he would encounter the alien beings and their craft again, this time in a field. He was informed, he would claim, that the aliens were from the planet Venus and were living in disguise among the population on Earth.

2Sir Peter Horsley Talks With An Alien In A London Sitting Room

Photo credit: Exo News

Sir Peter Horsley had a remarkable career in the Royal Air Force (RAF). Indeed, at his height, he was the deputy commander-in-chief of RAF Strike Command. However, in 1997, after he’d retired, he released the book Sounds From Another Room, in which he recounted speaking with an extraterrestrial being in a dark room in a London house. As a result, he was almost universally cut adrift by his military colleagues. Horsley stated how he was invited in 1954 to meet a “Mr. Janus,” World Health Organization would speak to the military personnel from a shadowy corner of the area.

Horsley wrote about how he had the distinct feeling that Janus was able to read his mind. Furthermore, he would keep firm control of the conversation at all times. The conversation revolved around Britain’s future nuclear capabilities, and Janus demonstrated an intricate knowledge of the British military as if to convince Horsley of his authenticity. It was following this meeting that Horsley began to rise rapidly up the ranks of the RAF. Whether that rise is connected to the meeting with Janus is open to debate. However, despite the bizarre nature of Horsley’s claims, it would be strange for such a decorated individual to choose to draw attention to himself for no good reason.

1Gosta Carlsson Develops Pharmaceutical Companies Following Meeting With Aliens

Photo credit: Jakez

Whatever the authenticity of the claims of Swedish ice hockey player Gosta Carlsson, a location in the town of Angelholm now boasts a concrete memorial to the affair.[Carlsson claimed that while he was walking in the country in May 1946, he witnessed a strange saucer-shaped craft landing in a nearby field. Furthermore, the occupants of the craft ventured outside and communicated with him, even passing on natural remedy recipes. So valuable was this meeting that Carlsson would go on to found two pharmaceutical companies. He was ultimately very successful and went on to become the owner of the first professional ice hockey team in Sweden. All of this success, according to Carlsson, was down to the chance meeting with extraterrestrials that afternoon in Angelholm. Needless to say, many people, even in the UFO community, struggle to believe his story, at least in full. Whether his account is true or not, the monument is one of only two pertaining to UFO incidents in all of Europe, the other one being in Poland to mark the Emilicin encounter.

10 Times Emojis Got People In Trouble

2019-09-06T21:00:00.000+05:30

10 Times Emojis Got People In Trouble

That cute emoji could get you in trouble. In the past few years, there has been an increase in emoji-related convictions. This happens because emojis can be used in place of real-life objects. For instance, sending a gun emoji to a person could be considered a death threat.

Others involved in noncriminal issues have received hefty fines or experienced avoidable inconveniences for using supposedly innocuous emojis to convey their emotions and reactions.

10An Israeli Couple Was Fined After They Unwittingly Sealed A Deal With Several Emojis

In 2017, an Israeli couple discovered that emojis are not playthings after they received a $2,200 fine for using these types of images during a deal. Trouble began for Rosen and Nir Haim Saharoff when they started negotiations with Yaniv Dahan over an apartment he had for rent.

Dahan and the couple exchanged several text messages about the apartment. The couple used several friendly emojis during the conversation, causing Dahan to think they were going to take the apartment. In fact, he deleted the online listing for the apartment.

However, the couple suddenly stopped replying to his messages. Dahan took them to court and successfully argued that the series of emojis the couple used during their conversations made him believe that they were interested in the property.

The couple used the emoji of a dancing lady, two people dancing, a chipmunk, a peace sign, a smiley face, and a champagne bottle. The Saharoffs claimed that they backed out of the deal because they did not like the apartment. That did not fly with the judge. He said that the use of emojis created “a great sense of optimism.” He ordered them to pay $2,200 to Dahan.

9Teen Arrested For Pointing A Gun Emoji At A Police Emoji

Photo credit: gothamist.com

In 2015, a teenager was arrested for pointing three guns at a police officer. Besides the obvious question of how the teen managed to aim three guns with only two hands, the arrest wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow if the guns and police officer had not been emojis.

The emoji was part of several pictures and captions that 17-year-old Osiris Aristy had posted on his Facebook wall. He wrote, “N—a run up on me, he gonna get blown down.” Then he added the emoji of a police officer and three guns. In another post, Aristy wrote, “Feel like catching a body right now.”

The teen added several other pictures where he posed with guns and drugs and made gang signs. The NYPD arrested him after they were tipped off about his threatening posts. Aristy was charged with illegal possession of weapons, drugs, and “making terrorist threats.”

Police said that this was not Aristy’s first run-in with the law. In fact, he had been arrested 12 times for alleged crimes such as illegal possession of a weapon and drugs as well as an assault. He often posted about owning a gun and was under surveillance at the time he made the emoji posts.

8Man Receives Jail Term For Sending Gun Emoji To Ex

Photo credit: The Telegraph

In 2016, 22-year-old Bilal Azougagh was sentenced to six months imprisonment for sending a gun emoji to his ex. The emoji was part of a series of distasteful messages he sent to the unnamed woman after they broke up.

The ex pressed charges after receiving the emoji, which she considered a death threat. Her counsel argued that the messages and emoji made her afraid and caused her nightmares. Azougagh’s counsel disagreed, saying the emoji had no serious undertone.

The court sided with the woman and determined that the emoji was a death threat. Azougagh received a six-month sentence and was ordered to pay €1,000 in damages. He was lucky, though. Under French laws, a death threat could lead to three years in prison and a €45,000 fine.

7Man Arrested For Sending X-Rated Emojis To Teen

Emojis sometimes have sexual undertones. This could quickly lead to problems when they are sent to minors. Ask the unidentified 53-year-old Australian man who was arrested for sending inappropriate emojis to a minor.

The unnamed man had earlier been arrested for trying to groom minors. He was released on bail. Weeks later, he returned to what he knew best and attempted to groom another 12-year-old via social media and text messaging. Instead of using regular words, he used emojis.

Police did not reveal the emojis used by the man. However, they said that he was charged with “sexual assault, indecent treatment of children under 16, and indecent treatment of children under 12.”

6Two Men Arrested For Sending Threatening Emoji To Another Man

Photo credit: digitaltrends.com

Threatening emojis do not always have to be about guns. Fist emojis can also be threatening.

In 2015, police in South Carolina arrested two 29-years-olds, David Fuentes and Matthew Cowan, for sending the emojis of a fist, a hand that looked like a gun, and a white ambulance to an unnamed man.

Interestingly, unlike the other emojis that got people into trouble, the men involved did not add any text to the messages. It was just emojis. Police said the images meant the duo intended to beat up the unnamed victim so badly that he would need to be transported to a hospital in an ambulance.

Previously, Fuentes and Cowan had gone to the unnamed man’s house where they attempted to beat him up. Although the police did not arrest them for the attempted assault, officers stepped in after the men sent the emojis. Fuentes and Cowan were charged with stalking.

5Australian Man In Trouble For Sending Gun Emoji To His Ex

Photo credit: illawarramercury.com.au

Thirty-nine-year-old Jayde Booth from Barrack Heights, New South Wales, Australia, was arrested for sending an emoji of a head and a gun to his ex. Booth remained in contact with the unnamed woman after their breakup and often sent her harassing messages.

The unnamed ex had a restraining order against Booth. However, he disobeyed the order and continued to harass her. He sent her a series of messages, including one that contained the emoji of a head with a gun pointed at it.

Booth also left trash in front of her home. The woman became so scared over the frequent harassment that she fled her home. The proverbial last straw came when Booth called her six times from a private number. She contacted police after she discovered Booth was the caller.

4Man Gets Jail Term For Sending Airplane Emoji To Ex

Even seemingly nonthreatening emojis—like that of an innocuous airplane—can get people in trouble. In 2017, 26-year-old Sloane Cruise Coake was arrested for sending the emoji of an airplane to his ex.

The couple had lived in Porirua, New Zealand before they broke up. The unnamed woman later left for Dunedin. Cooke remained in contact with her and often sent her harassing messages on social media. The ex got fed up and had a restraining order issued against Coake.

The undaunted Coake remained in contact with her anyway. He even booked a flight to Dunedin and sent her a message, “You’re going to f—ing gets it.” He ended the message with the emoji of an airplane.

Judge Kevin Phillips was not familiar with emojis. He even had to ask Coake’s counsel, Sarah Saunderson-Warner, what an emoji was. Saunderson-Warner replied, “It’s one of the little characters sent after a text.” He asked if she used them, and she said yes.

Then Phillips asked if the emoji in question had been “a smiling one.” Saunderson-Warner answered that it was an airplane. Phillips promptly concluded that Coake was planning to travel to meet his ex. The judge sentenced Coake to eight months in prison.

3Woman Unable To Use Bank App Because Of Emoji

This incident doesn’t involve an arrest. In 2016, Laurie Stark was unable to access the banking app on her phone because she had used an emoji as the nickname of her account.

Trouble began when Stark changed her nickname over fears that she could be hacked. Instead of using a name, she opted for the nail polish emoji. She did not realize what had happened until she attempted to deposit a check with her banking app.

After series of failed attempts, she contacted support. They told her to remove the emoji from her nickname and that it had even broken their system. Stark was finally able to use the app after changing her nickname to letters.

2Teen Arrested For Adding Gun, Bomb, And Knife Emoji To Instagram Post

Photo credit: teenvogue.com

In 2015, an unnamed female 12-year-old student at Sidney Lanier Middle School in Fairfax, Virginia, found herself in trouble after issuing threats against her school. The girl made the threats on Instagram using the account of another student. In one post, she wrote “Killing” and added a gun emoji. Another read “meet me in the library Tuesday.”

The most controversial message included the words, “Watch out, I’m coming.” It was followed by the emojis of a gun, knife, and bomb. The unnamed girl also uploaded a list of students whom she hated and threatened to attack the school on December 15.

The school resource officer traced the posts to the unnamed student, who was promptly arrested and charged with a felony. Her mother said that the girl never planned to attack anybody and was only fed up with being bullied in school. Police later released the girl after investigations revealed that she did not intend to execute the threat.

1Teacher Fired For Sending Eggplant Emoji To Student

Armando Alejo was a teacher in South Miami, Florida, until he was fired and banned from teaching for 10 years over a series of sexual messages he sent to a student. The messages included the emojis of a peach and an eggplant, which are used to represent the buttocks and penis.

The saga began when Alejo informed the unnamed 17-year-old student that he had barely passed his test with just under 54 percent. The student asked if there was any way that he could earn extra credit. Alejo started sending him inappropriate messages.

In one message, he wrote, “Convince me [winking emoji]. I’ll give you the B if you give me the D.” In another message, he told the student to “f—k that booty.” The student stopped replying and said he would just go with his average score.

10 Mysteries Surrounding Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’

2019-07-29T15:56:00.000+05:30

10 Mysteries Surrounding Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’

People often say, “A picture paints a thousand words.” While that holds true for most pictures, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa has for centuries continued to evade the understanding of art critics, historians, and the public.

On display in the Louvre, the tiny portrait is often touted as “the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world.” As such, a deeper investigation into the mysterious smiling woman on the canvas reveals much more than meets the eye.

10Who Is She?

Photo credit: theatlantic.com

The true identity of the portrait sitter remains a mysterious aspect. The majority of thinkers believe the woman to be 24-year-old Lisa Maria de Gherardini (aka Lisa del Giocondo), an Italian noblewoman born in Florence in 1479.

Her portrait was commissioned by her husband, Francesco di Bartolomeo di Zanobi del Giocondo. She lived a middle-class life with her husband working as a silk and cloth merchant. She conceived five children: Piero, Andrea, Camilla, Giocondo, and Marietta.

Other hypotheses suggest that the woman in the painting matches the face of Caterina Sforza, the countess of Forli, and a most formidable foe in military operations. Another theory proposes the young lady to be a mistress of Giuliano de’ Medici, the ruler of Florence, or Isabella d’Este, the marquise of Mantua. Others have thought the woman to be a portrait of da Vinci’s mother or da Vinci himself due to the similarity of facial structures.[1]

9The Mona Lisa Smile

Photo credit: jwkash.com

Mona Lisa’s enigmatic, intriguing, and profoundly perplexing smile is perhaps one of the most mysterious elements of da Vinci’s oil painting.

For five centuries, it has been argued whether she is smiling at all, whether she’s happy, or whether she’s sad. Professor Margaret Livingstone of Harvard University suggests that the “low spatial frequencies” at which the portrait is painted creates a striking smile when viewers look into her eyes.

With the development of “emotion recognition” computer programs in 2005 by Dutch researchers, the painting was revealed to be 83 percent happy, 9 percent disgusted, 6 percent fearful, 2 percent angry, less than 1 percent neutral, and 0 percent surprised.

However, many have said that her smile changes depending on where you look and at which angle and distance. In a close-up viewing, the fine detail gives the impression of a demure expression. But from far away, she appears to be smiling cheerfully.

8Secret Codes

Photo credit: The Telegraph

Through the microscope’s magnification of high-resolution images of the painting, Italy’s National Committee for Cultural Heritage has revealed the presence of a series of letters and numbers painted on numerous features of the canvas.

In Mona Lisa’s right eye, art historian Silvano Vinceti states that the letters “LV” appear, which is theorized to represent the artist’s own name, Leonardo da Vinci. In the left eye, the unclear outlines of the letters “CE” or possibly a “B” can be viewed. The bridge in the background features the number “72” or the letter “L” followed by a “2” painted onto its arch.

One may wonder what the artist intended when he mysteriously painted these letters and numbers in a form invisible to the naked eye.

7The Unknown Bridge

Photo credit: italymagazine.com

The dreamlike vista behind Mona Lisa’s head is often overshadowed by the allure of her face. But the three-arched bridge in the background begs the question about the exact location of the hazy, mysterious landscape.

Italian historian Carla Glori suggests that the bridge featured over the left shoulder of the woman is known as the Ponte Gobbo or Ponte Vecchio (“Old Bridge”). It is situated in Bobbio, a small village in a hilly country south of Piacenza in northern Italy.

Glori’s theory follows Vinceti’s finding of the number “72” secretly hidden in the stone bridge. She proposes that the number is a reference to the year 1472. In 1472, a disastrous flood occurred. The River Trebbia burst its banks and destroyed the bridge of Bobbio.

In her book The Leonardo Enigma, Glori theorizes that “Leonardo added in the number 72 beneath the bridge to record the devastating flood of the River Trebbia and to allow it to be identified.”

6An Unsettling Gaze

Photo credit: jwkash.com

How is it possible that her gaze seems to extend beyond the confines of the painting, but simultaneously, it is directly held at the viewer? No matter where you move, she continues to meet you eye to eye. In our three-dimensional world, shadows and light on surfaces should shift according to our vantage point. But this does not correlate to a two-dimensional surface.

This optical phenomenon can be explained by a scientific understanding described by the University of Ohio which shows that an image may appear exactly the same no matter the angle at which it is viewed. Unknown to Leonardo da Vinci, his masterful manipulation of chiaroscuro on the canvas creates an intensely realistic sense of depth in the interplay of shadow and light.

Indeed, this phenomenon creates perspective and gives the Mona Lisa her unsettling gaze.

5A Hidden Painting Behind The Portrait

Photo credit: The Guardian

Using infrared and laser imaging on the Mona Lisa in 2006, scientists in Canada revealed da Vinci’s rudimentary sketches, including a change of position in the index and middle fingers of the left hand. Through this, numerous discoveries emerged, such as the lace drawn on Mona Lisa’s dress and the blanket on her knees extending to cover her stomach.

In 2015, French engineer Pascal Cotte used similar techniques of projecting light beams at varying wavelengths onto the work and measuring the quantities of light reflected back. Curiously, his discovery presented a secret portrait behind the Mona Lisa we see today.

In what Cotte terms the “layer amplification method,” he states, “We can analyze exactly what happens inside the layers of the painting’s creation, and we can peel them like an onion.” Cotte found four images beneath the uppermost painted surface, including a painting of a younger woman with petite facial features and no smile.

Different theories have surfaced surrounding the real identity of the woman in the painting, but perhaps her true face will always remain a mystery.

4The Pregnant Mona Lisa

Photo credit: periodwardrobe.wordpress.com

The art historians who think that the woman is Lisa del Giocondo also believe that she was with child when da Vinci painted her. Her arms crossed over her rounded stomach as well as the historical evidence that suggests del Giocondo was pregnant for the second time when the painting was done perpetuate the idea that Mona Lisa was expecting.

Furthermore, the infrared scans indicate evidence of a Guarriello (“veil”) draped across her shoulders. A Guarriello is an overgarment made of linen and worn by a pregnant woman.

It has been speculated that this veil could simply be a scarf or piece of fabric hung over her shoulders. However, the Mona Lisa’s hands over her stomach, the historically accurate timing of her pregnancy with that of del Giocondo’s, and the similar use of a Guarriello on the pregnant Smeralda Brandini in Sandro Botticelli’s portrait suggest that Mona Lisa was mysteriously hiding a baby bump.

3Why We Find Her Beautiful

Throughout history, the portrait of Mona Lisa has been cited as an example of timeless beauty. It would be very limiting to suggest that the Mona Lisa’s beauty and intrigue are restricted only to her gaze and her smile as it seems to extend beyond these two features into a transcendental and ineffable beauty that is felt.

The golden ratio is derived from the length to width dimensional relationship of rectangles and is supposedly the most aesthetically pleasing proportion to the human eye. Present in natural structures such as the spiraled center of sunflowers and the man-made columns of the Parthenon, the golden ratio was termed the “divine proportion” by Leonardo da Vinci himself.

When a rectangle is formed around Mona Lisa’s face as per the ratio, her chin, the top of her head, and her nose are exactly aligned. The prevalence of this golden ratio in the artwork perhaps explains the mysterious intrigue felt by those who behold the portrait. Her proportions are deemed the most pleasing to the eye, producing a sense of natural balance and beauty.

Who knew that mathematics could explain this long-held sense of allure?

2Stolen Painting

Photo via Wikimedia

The Mona Lisa was stolen in 1911 by an Italian employee at the Louvre named Vincenzo Perugia. (Some spell his last name “Peruggia.”) He believed that the painting had been stolen from Florence by Napoleon Bonaparte and wished to see it returned to its “true home.”

For two years, the location of the painting remained a complete mystery as media coverage worldwide speculated on possible reasons for its absence and its location. Then, in 1913, Perugia came into contact with Italian art dealer Alfredo Geri. Perugia requested a monetary reimbursement from the Italian government in exchange for transporting the Mona Lisa back to Florence.

Upon the painting’s return, speculation continued. Perugia’s offer to return the painting to Italy had seen him request a rather modest amount of money. The public began questioning whether the incident of the stolen painting was all a ruse created to increase interest in the painting and the gallery.

When it was revealed that the thief behind the stolen painting—who had collaborated with Perugia—was none other than the well-known art forger Eduardo de Valfierno, people began theorizing that the Mona Lisa was stolen to make a copy of the painting and sell the forged copies to unaware art collectors for vast amounts of money.

1The Ill Mona Lisa

Photo credit: news.com.au

The mystery behind Mona Lisa’s lopsided smirk has perhaps finally been cracked by a Boston physician standing in line and waiting to view the tiny painting. Dr. Mandeep R. Mehra diagnosed Mona Lisa with a glandular condition as he noticed the odd details of her appearance—her sallow complexion, thinning hair, and misaligned smile.

Mehra works as the medical director of the Heart and Vascular Center at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He stated his difficulty of appreciating art in competition with his keen eye for clinical diagnoses.

Mehra observed the presence of a small, fleshy bump in the inner corner of her left eye, her thin and receding hairline, her lack of eyebrow hair, and a bulge next to her index finger. Coupled with her yellow skin and the bump on her neck as an indicator of an enlarged thyroid gland, he suggested that her odd smile may be caused by muscle weakness.

Thus, he came to the conclusion that Mona Lisa was suffering from a condition called hypothyroidism, in which her swollen hands, thin and lank hair, and a lump on her neck all feature prominently in da Vinci’s portrait.

Mehra furthered his investigation into the historical conditions surrounding the woman’s diet and discovered that iodine-deficient food was commonly eaten in the early 16th century. As iodine is an essential nutrient with the role of maintaining thyroid health, the mystery of Mona Lisa’s curious smile might finally be put to rest.

10 Abandoned Settlements Which Are Now Underwater

2019-07-28T13:07:00.000+05:30

10 Abandoned Settlements Which Are Now Underwater

Cities and towns are essential to our lives. As centers of trade, community, and art, they are the places where exciting things happen and progress is made. Whole civilizations have been driven by powerful cities like Rome, London, and Paris. But sometimes, cities fall afoul of Mother Nature.

Cities can survive most natural disasters, but being flooded under meters of water is usually a death sentence. On the other hand, being submerged can often protect their ruins for future generations better than the open air, resulting in some spectacularly preserved monuments like Shi Cheng in China, often called the “Atlantis of the East.”

Others fare less well. Their former residents watch as they are buried in sand or slowly reclaimed by the sea.

10Thonis-Heracleion

Photo credit: The Guardian

Thonis-Heracleion is hardly known at all today, but it was one of the most important cities in the ancient world. Featured in many ancient Greek stories, it was the place where Heracles first set foot in Africa.

It was also one of the most important cities in ancient Egypt before then, the center of international maritime trade, and the home of people of many different backgrounds and nationalities.

It was first settled over 4,000 years ago and served as Egypt’s trade capital for well over a millennium. It was a cultural mixing pot. Greek and Egyptian armor and weapons have been found together in the city’s sunken depths alongside statues which feature both Hellenic and Egyptian art styles.

It was also a center of religious amalgamation, a place where the new Greek Ptolemaic dynasty was already beginning to be worshiped and depicted in art as Egyptians.

In many ways, it was similar to modern-day Venice: The city was largely built on a series of small islands in a wet lowland area of the Egyptian coast. It was predominantly a maritime city, crisscrossed by waterways and canals and bustling with ships.

And much like Venice today, it was slowly sinking. Near the end of the second century BC, the ground finally gave way and a large portion of the city was either drowned by liquefaction or slipped into the sea. It continued as an insignificant village until the whole city was buried and forgotten around AD 800.

9Port Royal

Photo credit: BBC

When the English captured Jamaica from the Spanish, they purposely allowed it to fall into pirate hands. Surrounded by Spanish islands, any pirates who lived there would spend their time harassing Spanish ships rather than English ones, and the presence of armed men on the island at all times would stop the Spanish from conquering it. The city of Port Royal, the biggest settlement on the island, quickly became a pirate haven.

At its height, Port Royal was known as the wickedest city in the world. As a center of both trade and piracy, many who lived there grew extremely wealthy. This ill-gotten wealth attracted a bustling scene of drunkards, whores, and corrupt merchants who all contributed to the town’s reputation.

There was very little government control, so new residents built their homes on any spare patch of land they could find. There were almost no roads or stone buildings to speak of, so when an earthquake struck in 1692, the entire town was practically destroyed.

Today, it is little more than a fishing village, but dozens of the town’s old buildings can still be seen below the water. Locals dream of turning it into a world-class tourist center. But without government support, there’s little they can do.

8Lost Villages Of Ontario

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In the 1950s, the US and Canada started a joint project to connect the Great Lakes to the Atlantic, allowing ships to travel as far inland as Minnesota. This project, the Saint Lawrence Seaway, was started in 1954 and finished in 1959. It was a great success but with one caveat: It required the flooding of nine Canadian villages.

The communities of Aultsville, Maple Grove, Wales, Santa Cruz, Dickinson’s Landing, Farran’s Point, Moulinette, Mille Roches, and Sheek’s Island were all submerged along with a part of Canada’s Highway 2, which had to be rebuilt further upland. This part of Ontario was one of the oldest in Canada. Many of the villages were first built in the 1700s, and some were built on the sites of former Native American settlements.

Before the arrival of Europeans, much of the area was the territory of the Mohawks. In all, over 6,000 people and over 500 buildings were relocated to newly planned towns. Contrary to what they’d been promised, residents complained that their new homes were not the same value as the ones they’d been made to give up.

Today, the villages are all but inaccessible, submerged at the bottom of a busy shipping lane. They are occasionally visible beneath the water, however, especially when the water is low.

What’s particularly haunting about the lost villages is that it happened so recently. This means that there are many photos across the web of the time when these villages were still in use, featuring people going about their daily lives.

7Neapolis

Photo credit: The Independent

The city of Neapolis was one of the most prominent Roman cities in Tunisia when it was hit by a tsunami in July 365. The disaster, which also caused significant damage down the coast at the city of Alexandria, led to Neapolis’s destruction. The city was lost for 1,700 years. Fortunately, it was rediscovered in summer 2017 after seven years of research and hunting by archaeologists.

During its time, Neapolis sided with Carthage in the Punic Wars despite being a Roman town. This led to the Romans all but writing Neapolis out of their records. As archaeologists had long suspected, however, the city proved to be large and sophisticated.

The ruins of streets and monuments proved that Neapolis was fairly developed. The discovery of over 100 tanks used in the production of the fish-based sauce garum has revealed the town’s predominant industry. Garum was a Roman delicacy that was produced on an industrial scale across the Roman Empire, but archaeologists now think that Neapolis may have produced more of the stuff than anywhere else.

6Vilarinho Da Furna

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According to local tradition, Vilarinho da Furna was first settled in the first century by a Visigothic tribe. Even as late as the 1970s, this small village of a few hundred people was still using an ancient Visigothic democratic system. Each family in the town got a single vote. Together, they elected a leader, who served a six-month term, from among the town’s married men.

Planning to turn the lands around the village into a reservoir began as early as the 1950s. The government conducted tests and surveys before finally beginning the process in 1967.

The village’s people were warned in 1970. By 1971, they’d all evacuated but not before they’d built a whole new road so that they could get trucks down to the village to move their things. People even stripped the tiles off their roofs. By the time the last person left, most of the houses were simple shells.

What makes Vilarinho da Furna such an impressive site today is that the village emerges from the water during the summer when the water levels are lower. Tourists come to see the old town emerge from the reservoir and to visit the underwater museum, which was established following pressure from the Association of Former-Inhabitants of Vilarinho da Furna. It is now known around the world.

5Capel Celyn

In 1962, the final residents of Capel Celyn moved out. In 1965, the new reservoir of Llyn Celyn, which had drowned the village, was officially opened.

The opening ceremony was supposed to last 45 minutes. But just three minutes in, some local Welsh activists cut the microphone wires, charged down from a nearby hill, and drove the crowd of spectators away. It was the culmination of years of anger.

In the 1950s, Liverpool was one of England’s most unhealthy cities and it was in dire need of a new source of water. After some initial surveys, the valley surrounding Capel Celyn was identified as a good location for a new reservoir for the city.

Unfortunately, the valley lay in Wales and Liverpool was in England. At the bottom of the valley was the Welsh village with only 67 residents. So Liverpool City Council didn’t think there would be an issue and pressed ahead with the plan.

Controversially, they obtained permission for the plan by going through the Houses of Parliament rather than asking the local Welsh council for permission directly. Once the bill had passed Parliament, they issued a land purchase order and set about building the reservoir.

Many in Wales were riled up by the move, and the Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, saw a spike in membership. Protests were staged across Wales and even at times in the streets of Liverpool itself, where it was said that Welsh protesters spat at and abused locals.

Three young Welshmen planted a bomb which exploded on the construction site. The resulting court case was attended by many Welsh activists who supported their actions.

Despite the activists’ best efforts, the plan went ahead and the residents of Capel Celyn were moved to new properties. The flooding of the town led to a marked increase in Welsh nationalism, however, and the phrase “remember Tryweryn” is still used in Wales today.

In response, the government pushed forward with several initiatives in Wales including more funding for industrial jobs in Llanwern and the first Welsh Language Act.

4Graun

Photo credit: mentalfloss.com

In the early years of the first century, the Romans settled in a valley in the Alps. The small village came to be known as Graun. It thrived through the medieval period when a large church was built in the town. The church still stands today, 700 years later. Only now instead of being surrounded by townhouses, it is engulfed by water.

The church’s bell tower is all that marks what was once a village with nearly 200 homes. In 1939, the Italian Montecatini company drew up plans to build a hydroelectric dam. The region contained two smaller lakes. But they planned to flood the valley that lay between them, creating one large lake. It was hoped that this would produce enough power to support the region.

Local resistance had already forced the cancellation of a similar project in the Alps just years earlier, and locals were intent on doing it again. In the meantime, Italy was dragged into World War II. The project was put on ice. Once the war was over, however, they brought it back with more force and the plan passed: The village and its surroundings were submerged in 1950.

Due to the cold environs, the lake freezes over in winter, allowing tourists to cross the water and touch the old bell tower. Locals say that the bells can be heard ringing some nights, but the bells were removed in July 1950.

The lake itself is around 22 meters (72 ft) deep, making a diving trip to the old ruins feasible. Unfortunately, such an expedition is probably not legal.

3Potosi

Photo credit: The Independent

In 1985, the Venezuelan government also planned to flood an inhabited valley to build a hydroelectric dam. They did it with much less tact, though.

Then-president Carlos Andres Perez flew into the town by helicopter and told the residents that their land was going to be expropriated and they had to leave. The 1,200 residents scattered to live with family and friends across Venezuela, and much of the town was demolished.

For a long time, the only marker that remained of the town was the church’s steeple, which jutted out of the water and was used by local people as a high-water mark.

This was until 2010 when Venezuela was affected by a particularly severe El Nino effect. It triggered a drought that hit much of the country. The reservoir’s water levels dropped by 30 meters (98 ft), triggering energy rationing across Venezuela.

But it also meant that the whole church—including the graveyard—was once again on dry land along with a few old houses and the town square. Some of the old residents took the opportunity to visit their old home and pay their respects before it was submerged once again when the drought ended.

2Petersburg

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Lake Strom Thurmond (aka Clarks Hill Lake) is a popular destination for tourists and swimmers in Georgia today. What is less known, though, is that it conceals the once-thriving town of Petersburg beneath its choppy water.

Petersburg was settled in 1786 by Dionysius Oliver to take advantage of the burgeoning plantation economy of the Broad River Valley region. It quickly became a key outpost in the tobacco industry and one of the main places where shipments were inspected.

By 1801, it was the third-biggest town in Georgia. Visitors described it as a handsome town that was a center of trade and culture, which only did more to boost its popularity.

It was clearly a town of convenience, however, and its fate was tied up with that of the tobacco plantations. By 1810, the cotton industry was taking over and Petersburg fell into decline.

The town was practically deserted by the time it lost its post office in 1844. By 1952, when the US Army Corps of Engineers began filling the valley to create a lake, the town was abandoned and forgotten.

So naturally, the locals were surprised when a local drought caused the town to emerge from the lake in 2002. Old fences, bits of pottery, and the foundations of houses were all on view for days before the water returned to its original height.

The town has since emerged several times, all during periods of hot weather. Its spooky Victorian appearance made it a tourist trap.

1Shi Cheng

Photo credit: BBC

In the past, China has been criticized for moving vast numbers of people in the pursuit of public works projects. The creation of the Qiandao Lake required the relocation of over 300,000 people, some of whom had family who had lived in the region for generations.

One of the biggest tragedies of this operation, however, was the loss of the imperial city of Shi Cheng, an old Ming city with impressive monuments dating back to at least the 1500s and probably centuries before. A city has existed there since 208. The region was flooded in 1959, and now the city lies at the bottom of a 40-meter-deep (130 ft) lake.

The city was forgotten until 2001 when the Chinese government organized an expedition to survey the ruins and discover what was left. To their surprise, the flooding had preserved the old stone buildings extremely well.

Protected from the usual soil, wind, and rain erosion, the city now looks almost exactly as it did when it was flooded. Shi Cheng serves as one of the best-preserved collections of artifacts from the Imperial Period in all of China.

In 2011, a project to recreate what the city may have looked like in the past cultivated further public interest. Today, there are several schemes for experienced divers to go down with a group and see the “Atlantis of the East” in person.

These dives are still considered exploratory in fashion. Mapping of the lake’s floor continues, with divers having identified several more sites of historic interest.