Of late, I have been fascinated by mysteries I consider to be either unsolved or the accepted answer is incomplete; so, I have taken to reading. My list of interests are my own, not the most popular although there is crossover. I live by Occam’s Razor and apply it to these type of things as well. There isn’t much I have found that’s not better understood by using this principle.
So here is my list, and it is living since I am still exploring. Also, I am not satisfied with some conclusions I have found so it will evolve.
BIGFOOT
Some may laugh but it is a big industry, and a longtime fascination of mine. Is Bigfoot real? I don’t know but I am satisfied that the Patterson-Gimlin film is fake. That doesn’t mean Bigfoot is, but I find only slight evidence to be really interesting.
For a very poorly written but well supported explanation of how the film was faked, read ‘The Making of Bigfoot-The inside Story’ by Greg Long. It takes effort to wade through the crap writing( and I mean some of the worst writing I have seen in print) but it is not only well researched, but likely will remain as the most since most of the people directly involved are gone now; many dying while the book was being written. Luckily Mr. Long was able to interview them, to varying degrees of competency, before they passed. I warn you, he leaves many pertinent questions in the interviews unasked.
The idea that many cultures have long myths about similar creatures is interesting and a few other videos I have seen are at least interesting. There are near constant rumors about unidentified hair follicles or scat, but those stories come out every couple years and then disappear due to either refusal to be tested or tested and found to be known species. There are numerous shows on cable about hunting Bigfoot, but you can see them for what they are in minutes. Most are ridiculously moronic. I respect Les Stroud and his Survivorman but he jumped the shark when he went in search of Bigfoot. Some video is a little compelling but the close ups are so perfectly groomed, they are VERY well done masks. Other than a plethora of footprint casts there is no real evidence. Facts say this is purely a myth. My heart cannot let it go. I want it to be true but I require some serious proof. None has ever been known to be found, ever.
Verdict: No evidence of Bigfoot.
KENNEDY ASSASSINATION
This is the most mainstream of my mysteries I have explored. I have never felt, even as a teen, that the explanation was complete. I danced with the grassy knoll theory but it didn’t fit and was a waste of time. This will always be covered in mystery, deception, false rumor and blind alleys. Eventually history will settle on one version of the story and it will solidify. Guaranteed, not to be the truth. What is the truth? No one knows but there are some things I feel are true
Could shots have been taken from the depository? Yes, and I believe there were. Could Oswald have taken shots? Yes, and I believe he did. He had worked in the depository, so what are the odds that he is so well connected to it and found hiding out soon after, that he is not somehow connected? Was he the killer? I feel that is impossible to fully answer. Best answer, he was one of them.
I do feel he fired the gun. I also feel there is more to the story. The autopsy of JFK was a mess. The bullet that was offered for the multiple hits on Kennedy and Connolly is a plant, in FAR too good a condition to have been that bullet. There are plenty of critics of the single bullet theory but they usually don’t use actual facts to critique it. They mock the explanation with the term ‘magic’ bullet. The magic bullet doesn’t even need to be, since the two of them were not lined up as described and commonly accepted. The magic bullet theory only muddies the waters of an already murky murder. This was one of the travesties of American investigative history. There is only three conclusions that fit the evidence. Either this is one of the most incompetent investigations by police, FBI and Secret Service in history and they were all bumbling idiots, or there is more to the story. Or option three, both.
My conclusion based on the evidence that hangs together easily, there was more than 3 shots, more than one shooter and a cover up. That is all easily supported without magic. Evidence supports that the head shot was not the same as the others. The neck shot would likely have been fatal so it is not wrong to call Oswald the killer and move on. The autopsy noted a back shot that is not explained or mentioned elsewhere. The evidence of the different bullet is partially lost when JFK’s brain was checked out of the national archive by RFK, then lost. Oops. In his defense I’m sure that we have all lost our brother’s brains when we have checked them out of the National Archive, after being evidence in the biggest murder in US History.
Is there anything about those sentences that is not creepy and twisted?
The idea you can check out a brain, is pretty sad. The idea that RFK ‘lost’ it is absurd. Imagine the discussion, “Sir, where is your brother’s brain you checked out, it is overdue.” “Well, ya know, I had it in the fridge, but we had company so I moved it then cleaned the house and I just cannot put my finger in it right now! I seem to have misplaced my brother’s brain.”
Point being, there is a lot of BS here, yet a man was murdered in public; a President was assassinated and yet almost nothing can be proven, and didn’t have to be …
The theory I subscribe to is outlined in the book, ‘Mortal Error’ by Bonar Menninger. He lays it out very well and the argument is compelling. It’s also a pretty simple explanation.
The theory states that although Oswald was responsible for three of the shots, the head shot was the result of an accidental discharge by the Secret Service in the following Cadillac. So what we get is a true killer and a cover-up. Does it meet Occam’s Razor? Yes, because it requires no wild explanations and magic.
Verdict: Settled. Oswald and an accident by the Secret Service.
DAN (DB) COOPER
I love this one. I have no clue. I am reading on it, but making no ground. I read ‘Finding DB Cooper’ by Martin Andrade. Not a bad reference for further research but he makes no case for who did it. He supports the idea that someone else’s anonymous source who claims he was Cooper, is the one. Yet neither the person who he talked to originally, or Martin names him. Useless. I could say the same about my grandfather. There is equal proof for about 100,000,000 other people. Don’t buy the book.
My theory is that Cooper died in the jump or the landing, hung up in a tree well above the ground. The money never showed up other than a few bundles in a sandbar. If he survived, the money would have been spent, I suppose unless he made it out but he lost the money in the jump. It didn’t come out for two years that the FBI had a log of every serial number so the money would have gotten into circulation. So either he died in the jump or the money was lost in the jump.
In my theory, somewhere out there in the Northwest (pardon the pun, he Highjacked a Northwest Airlines Flight) there is a skeleton on the floor of the forest, in, near or below a jump harness or two. The money bag may or may not be near, depending on if it blew off in the jump, which it likely did.
For a pretty accurate accounting of the events of the high jacking, read Skyjack by Geoffery Gray. He chases many leads much like the TV series regrading Oak Island, and went predictably and likely deliberately nowhere. He offers nothing to help and honestly it was very hard to follow. I have no idea how it got such good reviews. He does provide a good ‘sources’ section at the back.
I have read no more books that add substantively to this search. All books on DB Cooper seem to regurgitate the same information, offering no insight at all. This is truly a black hole investigation until someone stumbles onto a skeleton or briefcase.
I may adjust my theory but for anyone to make me believe he survived the jump, then they have to explain how the money never showed up, anywhere … in circulation. The treasury records every serial number as a bill is retired. The sandbar bills are the only public appearance so someone will have to explain to me why go through all the hijacking and not spend the money.
Verdict: Culprit unknown, unlikely to resolve.
ZODIAC
This is one of the more interesting unsolved crimes. The compelling part for those that understand serial killers is that he followed none of the rules. He changed his method, his weapons, his victims. Those rules BTW have since been superseded partially because of Zodiac. He communicated with the police and press, and used complex ciphers; some still not solved. I, like many, have looked at this and wondered and theorized.
The Zodiac movie does a decent job of presenting the case but the book it’s based on is far batter, as usual. The FBI and SFPD interviewed many suspects (1,000s), landing mostly on Arthur Leigh Allen. They cleared Allen with DNA but the partial DNA they used was from an envelope that they cannot confirm the Zodiac left. Allen is dead now.
I have read ‘The Most Dangerous Animal’ by Gary Stewart. The book is … poorly written but VERY compelling. Read the last section of the three then go back and read the first two. Also, buy it used. HOWEVER, after a significant mulling and twisting in my head, I think he is right. If he is, what an odd tale of coincidence but none of that coincidence is needed to make the case, only where the path goes.
IF Stewart is right, it’s an odd tale, even more so than what is well known. But nothing about serial killers is normal. There isn’t a lot of evidence to work from but the ciphers, possible DNA and a maybe finger print to offer a base to work from. He uses two of those and offers the third.
Like I said, the book is not that well written and is poorly arranged so start from the third section ‘The Truth Deciphered’. However, the evidence presented is almost impossible to deny. I think he proved his case, completely. What is left is why the FBI and SFPD won’t even take the information and investigate it.
Verdict: Solved. Earl Van Best Junior is Zodiac.
THE RAMSEY MURDER
Ok, first of all, this is a creepy case. Nothing about the murder is but the fascination this nation and our culture has with blonde women (girls) and how we sexualize their terror is disturbing. I hate that aspect of this country and our (slight vomit in my mouth) press. Our press is as obsessed if not more so than the offenders.
‘The Cases that Haunt Us’ by John Douglas does a good job of breaking down the case. He names no names and makes sure he does not off-handedly accuse anyone, since so many of the suspects are still alive but he does eliminate people the press has blamed every time and anniversary comes around. My take on it from several readings over a couple decades is that the Ramsey family had friends that had a developmentally delayed child, early 20s but mentally/emotionally about 12ish. I feel this young man is the one to consider.
The case is a mess. It is impossible to prosecute and was rendered so in the first couple hours. It was a clusterfuck of miss management, nepotism and unprofessional practices. There is no way to know and even though there is DNA to compare to, there is no way to compel collections since the case is in the toilet.
There is NO evidence that any family member did it. For me, the case is closed but it will be one of those talked about as unsolved as long as it is remembered.
Verdict: Will never see a court room and likely never be solved unless the DNA matches an Ancestory.com entry. (yes thats legal)
WATERGATE
I am going to jump right to it, The Nixon Administration did it completely and deliberately and even if Nixon did not know of the act at Watergate ahead of time, which I doubt he did, he covered it up from VERY early on. Reading on this shows there is SO MUCH MORE than the public knows or wants to know maybe. It isn’t that it is hidden, although a huge amount was, it is that once Nixon resigned the public largely moved on, and so did the investigation. A lot of information is out there, but most of the public isn’t interested in reading about one of the largest Presidential cover-ups in history.
Reading “All the President’s Men” has shown definitively, most of those in the senior staff of the Nixon administration were disgusting people serving themselves or Nixon, not the nation or The Constitution. This used to stand alone in history, but it no longer does, allowing us even more insight to this deplorable era of politics (surpassed recently). Federal crimes were committed. Election tampering was committed. Money laundering, bribery, intimidation, illegal and even not illegal but HIGHLY unethical surveillance was done. Destruction of evidence occurred. Conspiracy to defraud the government, an election, and the US Constitution all occurred and was rationalized and then covered up.
Nixon was guilty as sin and in the middle of it all. That comes from his own words on the recordings, especially that of June 23rd. Nixon went into a cycle of sleeping, depression and rage bouncing between blaming everyone from the liberals to those on the east coast, to Ivy League grads to Jews. He was incredibly prejudice as numerous tapes and personal testimony shows. This would not matter if not for the fact that he was president and used his hatred to justify his felonious actions and election tampering.
When the tapes are listened to, and the real transcripts are read, it is obvious that Nixon was aware of the big picture but likely not the details. He did not seem shocked or confused by Watergate. He did seem concerned, and his first reaction was how much it would cost to bribe the conspirators to stay silent, most have to some degree. Nixon’s last days, as chronicled in a book by the same name, shows his declining mental state and deepening depression. He was also telling lies in almost every direction, depending on what the issue was at the time.
He was a man full of hatred and bigotry. Some of the bigotry I can connect to the times he came to adulthood in but there is no excuse for not maturing and moving on. Some of his bigotry was just plane who he was. He was guilty. Then Ford, who had never been elected by the people to hold the office of President or Vice President, pardoned him. In a starker illustration, the only election Ford ever took part in, he was elected by less than 1% of the population.
If you feel I am wrong or giving the man the stiff end of a steel toed boot, then you need to read All the President’s Men (not just watch the movie) and The Final Days. They show it all, in detail, and woven together so tightly, no excuse can weasel out. I will also say this. That time, era, series of events was a rare time in my life when Congress and the Senate did what was right and party lines were not the rule of the land. That part was refreshing. But how sad is that the refreshing thing I got from that era is that we could all come together to conclude that pissing on the Constitution was not acceptable. Oh how sweet those bygone days of Watergate were …
PENTAGON PAPERS
I can tell you this, there is plenty of blame to go around and it is not one one side of the aisle. There is disgusting policy, ignorant agendas and cold war era arrogance demonstrated in all parties involved. This war was COMPLETELY avoidable and there is no excuse. I am still reading.
MK ULTRA
This was a real project that ran sideways in disgusting ways. It was covered up but like often happens, it squeezed out because there were too many people involved and too many records. The government, I assume the CIA, destroyed much of the records but not all so we’ll never know the full extent. It also took place in dozens of institutions and universes in several countries so there is little supervision and a lot of unethical application.
It simply goes like this. The government heard that Russia was trying to develop mind control and brainwashing. As always, the US Government assumed that if they put money and time into it there must be some truth to it. So we did as well. They paid professors and scientists all over the continent and England to use drugs to try and make minds more susceptible to direction, not just suggestion. The Manchurian Candidate is a movie based on this idea. There are others.
Dozens to hundreds of college age men and women willfully agreed to be a guinea pig but they were lied to about what they would be used for or experience. Acid, PCP, Ketamine and other drugs were used to try to make people highly suggestible. The idea what not to get someone stoned to see what they could be talked into, the 60s showed us that. It was the idea of programing a person to do something later, when ‘triggered’. To do something they would never otherwise do. Then if all went perfectly, they wont recall anything. The perfect patsy.
They were not successful. I know we could say ‘who knows’ but I am very confident in this. The results were in fact largely a free high for the subjects but then subjected to … who knows. Its classified. What we do know is that it fucked some people up. One you have heard of.
Ted Kazinski, The Unibomber, was a product of MK Ultra. This doesn’t mean MK Ultra caused him to become a bomber but the connection is undeniable. Other men and women were also damaged by the rogue psychiatric/scientific applications. Another example of our government being disgusting. The full impact will never be known.
ALCATRAZ
I feel this one is solved. Although we have no idea what happened to Frank Morris, it seems that the Anglin brothers made it out and to Brazil. Although the FBI and US Marshals at the time of this writing have not closed the case, they have seen the evidence and find it compelling.
A lack of evidence of their death over the decades is not proof of that outcome. All previous escape attempts either led to death or quick capture so it is reasonable for law enforcement to see a similar outcome, lacking any other evidence. But there were too many loose ends for me when I read about the escape long before the evidence that the brother’s Anglin surfaced, so to speak.
As for Frank Morris, I believe his daughter was the original pick up person for the trio, (was supposed to be 4 of them) and she took her father to Canada after dropping the Anglins off somewhere. Maybe he is still alive so he’s silent, but who knows. The borders were much more porous then, and more so now than people want to admit. I like this escape so I am emotionally a fan, but I also buy the US Marshals and FBI that they see it likely the trip to Brazil took place.
Conspiracy Theories: The quick and dirty
DIA – No, Go there and look for yourself it is almost all lies, the rest are interpretations. Except the murals, those are deplorable.
911 – Steel can collapse at much lower than melting temp, easily proven. It was the planes, not a controlled demo. Building 7, look at all the photos, not just the side of least damage and read the reports of the day. I know people who were at the Pentagon.
Bermuda Triangle, whatever triangle anywhere, no. Myth and easily seen by looking at stats.
Jade Helm 15 – Stop listening to Chuck Norris. he has become a moron in his elder years.
Roswell – Project Mogul.
Most UFOs – Experiential planes being tested, and mostly nothing at all mysterious.
Area 51 – Its existence has never been a secret. We have very secure test facilities all over the nation. The F117 was developed there in an era when people were reporting diamond shaped UFOs. Not hard to connect. Also, see Roswell and its explanation.
Lock Ness – A prank.
Death of former Princess Diana – an odd accident, largely caused by alcohol and the press.
MYSTERIES THAT WILL PROBABLY NEVER BE SOLVED OR ARE JUST AS THEY APPEAR
JACK THE RIPPER
In reality the identity of Jack the Ripper is a reporter at a London paper who wrote the letter with that nickname. The reporter wrote the letter to bolster paper sales after the murders slowed. However, The White Chapel Murderer, we will likely never know. Technology evolves and we can go back and do things we could not before but as far as I know we have no DNA or finger print evidence on the murderer so our evolution of technology wont help us on this.
We can surmise and many have, and a few suspects seem to frequent the lists of likely candidates. But narrowing that list or even knowing the murderer is on it won’t likely ever occur. The reason is simple. The evidence is known and limited, and it has been run over many times. Short of a found journal containing a confession, the case is over.
I’d bet it is someone with strong emotional connection to the last victim, Marie Jeanette Kelly, since there was so much overkill. There was strong emotion in killing her. The others, like many serial killers, were practice and emotional warm-up. He might have felt pressure and as if he was running out of time before being caught so he did the deed. We’ll never know.
AMELIA EARHART
We won’t find her and Fred Noonan. Unless we stumble upon or technology permits us to comb the bottom of the ocean in detail, we simply won’t find where their plane went into the water after running out of gas. There is no mystery, other than where the water landing took place. The relentless march of technology means we likely will be able to map the sea bottom but by the time we can, the remnants of the plane may be unrecognizable, or at least unverifiable.
This outcome is obvious even if people will still stir the pot to make money, but Occam is obvious here.
MALAYSIAN AIR 340
I do feel we know the answer to what happened, a fire in the cockpit or related electrical. The FAA has a simple and wonderful system for figuring such things out, (remember Occam’s razor) asking many pilots who fly or have flown similar planes. Overwhelmingly when they were given the series of events, the overwhelming response was a fire in the cockpit or related electronics that eventually rendered the flight crew and likely passengers, unconscious or dead. Think Payne Stewart.
As for where the plane is, see above about Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan. Same criteria.
We may find this one someday only because when the technology to map the ocean floor easily arrives, the plane is big enough it may be found and this is not an oft overflown area. Someday it will be found, but never verify what happened.
MARTIN LUTHER KING Jr
Fortunately, or otherwise, I don’t see much mystery here. James Earl Ray I feel was the shooter and although the FBI was illegally bugging and surveilling Mr. King, I suspect Mr. Ray was just a disgusting bigot with a gun. As long as we don’t forget and keep learning from Dr. King, his legacy will live long past Mr. whoever is forgotten. Even if his cause and motivation is not dead.
Happened as reported
ROBERT KENNEDY
This one is hard for me. Was Sirhan Sirhan there and involved? Yes. Did he act alone? Yes I believe so. Was he a product of brain washing or MK Ultra? The Manchurian Candidate is fiction and brain programing is a myth. MK Ultra is not. Was he a member that took part in MK Ultra, we’ll likely never know but even if he was, although it could have fractured his psyche, that doesn’t mean it caused him to kill RFK. He uses a connection to MK Ultra as an excuse for a crime he was convicted of.
There is more that occurred than the report claims so I know there is more to the story, much like his brother’s assassination. But because of his brother’s assassination, I don’t want to assume he is also the product of a real event that was reworded. I simply don’t think we will ever know although I will be reading on it.
Son of Sam.
I feel that David Berkowitz was not the lone killer but since he confessed, the police stopped looking. I won’t entertain or name the hairbrained cult theories that have had so much coverage, but it does seem clear to me that Berkowitz could not have been the lone shooter. This will likely never be resolved unless either Berkowitz offers more information than his neighbor’s dog led him to kill (an excuse he made up to avoid the death penalty by appearing crazy) or someone else comes forward either in person or documentation with compelling confessions.
There are real mysteries in the world but we put a lot of energy into these. That’s fine because not everyone can help solve the Big Bang or how to neural map the brain, but lets apply some simple logic to our reasoning. Read and enjoy but employ that brain you were given and entertain that something is not as it is being sold.
I love a good mystery but prefer the real ones over the fiction, other than Dick Francis, I have read all of his. Real life demands you to weigh through the BS and counter claims, especially lacking of evidence. “If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell”.
Have on you want me to look into? Leave it in the comments. Leave enough information I can research it.
5280nup 