GIANT ROCK EXPERIENCE

GIANT ROCK-MOJAVE DESERT EXPERIENCE-1992

Posted by Phoenix
(From "I was abducted" forum)

Hello, I have just found this board and am "glad" that so many have had the same experiences I have had. I don't feel so weird/alone. I have been involved with "meetings" with the aliens since I can remember...My first memory is from about 4-5 years old.. the meetings have come in waves ever since... is that common with any of you? Sometimes it goes away for a long time and then starts up again..It always seems to happen in cycles for me. Sometimes it has been terrifying, other times I have fought back, other times have been "educational"/classroom-like, and others have just been rides in ships, "talks" with them (telepathic/mind images/feelings-their lips do not move you know, at least for me!) sometimes I have been shown and allowed to "fly-think" the ship I am in. Sound nuts?? All I can say is I remember these things as real memories and it felt real.

One of the times I went with "them" I was with a spiritual group in California near Joshua Tree near an area called Giant Rock in 1992. I was sleeping with everyone on top of a large hill made of milky quartz, (people drive their 4 wheelers over it now) and I had a "dream" where I was told to wake up and get the car keys from my friend Tammy and go sleep in the car. I then woke up and Tammy was sitting up in her sleeping bag with her backpack in her lap..I asked her what she was doing and she literally said to me "They told me to give you the car keys and to tell you they are going to take you tonight." She then jingled the keys and put them in my hand. Talk about weird!

I walked down the hill and towards the car...footsteps (not mine) were following me on my right side about 6 yards away in the boulders..it was dark so I could not see anyone...I truly was the only other person awake at that time (other than my friend)..I got to the car and remember LOCKING THE DOORS because I was kinda scared...I was laying in the back seat when I heard the footsteps all around my car..at the time I thought that it sounded like little kids, the steps sounded "light" like someone small would make.

I heard a "voice" in my head say that it was going to begin and my feet started to "buzz" the Buzz traveled up to my calves and I freaked and told them to stop, that I did not want to go...it stopped and a couple minutes later my feet started buzzing again..the buzz got to my knees before I freaked again and said "Stop!" It stopped again and receded down to my feet again and ebbed away...the third (and final) time it got to my waist before I got scared again...imagine this buzz feeling physical and electrical all at the same time, inside you and around you. It did not hurt at all. I said stop again and this time the "voice/feeling" said that it was not possible at this time to stop and that it was going to have to happen. The buzz kept going up from my waist and when it reached my neck I "blacked out".

The next thing I can remember was being aware of being in a ship with walls that could be opaqued and made transparent with just a thought. An Aryan sorta Jesus looking person was with me the whole time I was in the ship (the parts I remember anyway) There were some smaller looking "people" in chairs facing a bank of softly lighted instrument panels, they never looked at me the whole time. I can also remember having philosophical type discussions with the Jesus guy about Earth and what was coming...he let me fly the ship for a few minutes and I can remember what the Planet Earth looks like from space..soooooo amazing, like a HUGE jewel. Anyway, the next memory or rather reality is I was awake in the back seat of my car and ALL THE DOORS WERE UNLOCKED AND WIDE OPEN! Everyone was still up on the hill asleep! I can remember telling my friend Tammy about all this that morning (later on) and telling her that I believed she did not go back asleep that night-I remember seeing her in a separate "view-screen" on the wall of the ship, and she sat up all night waiting to see something, anything, in the sky.

I can remember this clear as day and it really happened to me at Giant rock. This is just one of many and sometimes wonderful moments with "them". Other times are more horrific and troubling to my psyche...I am at least glad to have something of a balance, although I am generally afraid of the greys. I still wonder why this has always been a part of the fabric of my life...and hope it will be explained to me some day in a way I can understand that won't hurt my mind, ya know what I mean?

Well, that's the first time I have told so many people this story of mine at one time...most people think it sounds cool but I can FEEL their minds don't hear it as real, therefore they do not really believe it happened to me...that's too bad cause I am 110% knowing it did! So long till next time...thanks for any comments on the cycles thing..anyone else a "lifer?" Peace, Phoenix

From "Alien Abductions"
________

I have had the same feeling of the buzzing, starting in my feet and working its way up my back to the top of my head. I was laying on my right side in bed. It did not paralyze me though. Then all of a sudden it was gone. I have always wondered what it was. Maybe now I know! - P. Urial

THIS IS UNDER THE CATEGORY OF UNEXPLAINED

Filling in for George Noory on Coast to Coast am, George Knapp welcomed Humboldt County Undersheriff Curtiss Kull for an update on the mysterious disappearances of several people in Northern Nevada. They were joined by Jim Carnes, whose father, Patrick F. Carnes, is one of those missing. Jim said his dad had been looking at retirement facilities in Toledo, Ohio, since several members of his family also reside in that area, but he ultimately decided to return home to Reno. Patrick left Toledo on Tuesday, April 12, with his companion dog Lucky, and several days later had still not made it back, Jim explained.

On the morning of Thursday, April 14, a part-time dispatcher on the way to her other job noticed an abandoned car in the sagebrush just off Interstate 80, Kull added. Deputies called to the scene soon discovered the vehicle belonged to Patrick Carnes. An extensive ground and air search for the missing man was conducted, but no trace of Patrick or his dog was found, Kull continued. The car itself had the appearance of having been dumped, he noted. Both men said they began to suspect foul play was involved in Patrick's disappearance, and that this might not be an isolated case.

According to Kull, two other cases share some eerie similarities. In 2008, 57-year-old Grant Moedl was driving to Boise, Idaho, in the same kind of car as Patrick's (Subaru station wagon) and vanished without a trace. Moedl and his vehicle have never been located, Kull said. On Valentine's Day of 2006, a woman in her early sixties, Judith Casida, left her home in Reno due to marriage difficulties, and to this day has not been seen again. In a curious coincidence, Casida's white Mazda pick-up truck was found abandoned at the same off-ramp as Patrick's car, Kull revealed.

Perhaps the most baffling aspect of Patrick's case is that investigators know exactly where he was the night before his car was discovered. On Wednesday, April 13, at around 9:00 pm, Patrick was stopped by a police officer for a traffic violation, Kull disclosed. On an audio recording from that stop, Patrick can be heard informing the officer that he is following what Kull believes is a semi-truck driver to Elko, Nevada. Jim suggested that his father, who once drove trucks for a living, may have befriended a trucker during his journey. Kull theorized that at some point somebody working in tandem with a serial killing trucker may have convinced Patrick to rest in the cab while they drove his car, eventually dumping it on the side of the freeway where it was found.

Callers phoned in to offer their own theories on the Patrick F. Carnes case, with many truckers and former truckers calling in to help identify the semi-truck from the police dash cam footage.

Last night Ed Dames, the remote viewer was brought onto the program. He had remote viewed where Pat’s location could be. He said he was dumped 23 miles south of Elko or Winnemuca, can’t remember which. He was dead. Only time will tell if he was correct.
______________

I DON’T KNOW IF THIS MEANS ANYTHING BUT IT IS A POSSIBILITY

In 2009 my friend Christine and myself were driving from Cortez, CO to Portland, Oregon by way of the salt flats in Utah to Winnemuca and then to Elko, NV where we stayed all night. The next day we headed north to go up to Oregon. In northwest Nevada just before the Oregon border we saw an old blue faded car stopped right on the road. It had a confederate flag on a pole on the back waving in the breeze. The car had no license plates which we noticed right away.

We passed around him, there was one man in the car. At the top of the rise of the little hill was a sharp turn to the right and the steepest highway downward I have ever seen. This hill is known locally as “Suicide Hill”. The speed limit is 25 miles per hour to go down it.

All of a sudden that old blue car passed us going at least 50 - 60 miles and hour. We were still at the top starting down and we saw that car already at the bottom. He was really flying (along with his faded confederate flag!) Christine and I had the worst feeling about that car.

After going down the hill and onto the flat there were two little ponds/lakes on each side of the road. There was a little red car parked on the right side of the road. No other cars, plenty of room to park. What did that old blue car do? It parked right up to their bumper which was very strange. He got out of the car and walked across the highway towards where the young couple were looking at the pond. I felt if it had been a single person at the pond who knows what would have happened, luckily it was a couple. I am glad that there were two of us. Who knows what would have happened if there was only me!

We kept going and before long here he came again, speeding past us. We came to a little town and we saw him turn off to the left and that was the end of seeing him. I have never had such an evil feeling about anything ever as that car and person.

Now I am wondering if that person could have anything to do with the missing persons. It is only a thought and probably means nothing but you never know.

Aileen

THE MASTER OF THE KEY BY WHITLEY STRIEBER

Letter to Whitley Strieber about “The Master of the Key”
By Nellvergne Zajac

In response to your appearance on Coast to Coast am, Sunday, June 19, I thought and wondered just who you had contact with recently, about whom you talked.

In the story of “Contact from Planet Koldas,” published by Wendelle Stevens in the 80’s,I believe it must be the same man you met and who told you so much.

Stevens was very active at publishing some astounding stories of contacts people were having all over the world. This story unfolded in South Africa, when a young man of 18 or so went to work in a non-descript radio repair shop. There he met an admitted ET, who was average in looks, height, and for two years told him a fabulous story.

In the book was enclosed a paper record which could be played on an old fashioned record player and the speaker was an elder man from that Planet, who advised Earth people of coming events and told of Koldas lives. He was later to die at a very old age and set adrift in the Universe! They, as a planet belong to the Confederation of 12 Planets and have had war with some of the other ETs we have experienced, on Earth!

The Koldas people sent down “missionaries” to various countries to meet and tell their Earth contacts of coming events and about their planet and lives. One such man actually married a woman from Australia and on their uniforms there is a Star of David monogram!

Personally, I have heard a story of such a contact, similar to yours, in the 70’s and then later I met a senior woman who joined our group, who had an extraordinary contact in Toronto in the early 60’s and then in Vancouver, B.C. where she was given unusual metal plates with undecipherable pictographs. She still is living and sometimes receives some secret messages, as she is a psychic as well.

I was a long time member of a major group here in Washington State, organized by Aileen Garoutté and we met for many years. She had many other groups under her wing in other states and we out here, in Seattle met the others at various conferences, etc. Some of us have attended the major conference in Nevada, which is held at a casino around Las Vegas each year. Now unfortunately, she moved to Colorado and the rest of us are too old to keep the group in Seattle going. She would receive books from Wendelle Stevens to sell to us and most of us have extensive libraries.

I could go on and on but your story sounded so like the Koldas people I had to tell you about them. The books are out of print now but as I said, there are some around. Thanks again for your brave stance so that the rest of us can continue to pursue these associations and not be hassled by government spooks!

Nell Zajac
zajac_n@comast.net

OUR SPACESHIP EARTH - OUR HOME

Oceans in distress foreshadow mass extinction
by Marlowe Hood

PARIS (AFP) – Pollution and global warming are pushing the world's oceans to the brink of a mass extinction of marine life unseen for tens of millions of years, a consortium of scientists warned Monday.

Dying coral reefs, biodiversity ravaged by invasive species, expanding open-water "dead zones," toxic algae blooms, the massive depletion of big fish stocks -- all are accelerating, they said in a report compiled during an April meeting in Oxford of 27 of the world's top ocean experts.

Sponsored by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), the review of recent science found that ocean health has declined further and faster than dire forecasts only a few years ago.
These symptoms, moreover, could be the harbinger of wider disruptions in the interlocking web of biological and chemical interactions that scientists now call the Earth system.

All five mass extinctions of life on the planet, reaching back more than 500 million years, were preceded by many of the same conditions now afflicted the ocean environment, they said.

"The results are shocking," said Alex Rogers, an Oxford professor who heads IPSO and co-authored the report. "We are looking at consequences for humankind that will impact in our lifetime."

Three main drivers are sickening the global marine environment, and all are a direct consequence of humans activity: global warming, acidification and a dwindling level oxygen, a condition known as hypoxia.

Up to now, these and other impacts have been studied mainly in isolation. Only recently have scientists began to understand how these forces interact.

"We have underestimated the overall risks, and that the whole of marine degradation is greater than the sum of its parts," Rogers said. "That degradation is now happening at a faster rate than predicted."
Indeed, the pace of change is tracking or has surpassed the worst-case scenarios laid out by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its landmark 2007 report, according to the new assessment.

The chain reaction leading to increased acidification of the oceans begins with a massive influx of carbon into Earth's climate system.
Oceans act as a massive sponge, soaking up more than a quarter of the CO2 humans pump into the atmosphere.

But when the sponge becomes too saturated, it can disrupt the delicately balanced ecosystems on which marine life -- and ultimately all life on Earth -- depends.

"The rate at which carbon is being absorbed is already far greater now than during the last globally significant extinction of marine species 55 million years ago," when some 50 percent of deep-sea life was wiped out, the report said.

That event, called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM, may be an ancient dress rehearsal for future climate change that could be even more abrupt and more damaging, some scientists fear.
Pollution has also taken a heavy toll, rendering the oceans less resilient to climate change.

Runoff from nitrogen-rich fertiliser, killer microbes, and hormone-disrupting chemicals, for example, have all contributed to the mass die-off of corals, crucial not just for marine ecosystems but a lifeline for hundreds of millions of people too.

The harvesting up to 90 percent of some species of big fish and sharks, meanwhile, has hugely disrupted food chains throughout the ocean, leading to explosive and imbalanced growth of algae, jellyfish and other "opportunistic" flora and fauna.

"We now face losing marine species and entire marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs, within a single generation," said Daniel Laffoley, head of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) World Commission on Protected Areas, and co-author of the report.
"And we are also probably the last generation that has enough time to deal with the problems," he told AFP by phone.
________
From Yahoo News.

SCARBOROUGH, ONTARIO, CANADA

Scarborough, Ontario -- Paul writes, "When I was eight years old on a mid afternoon on a Sunday in August 1967, I witnessed my first daylight UFO sighting, as pointed out by my neighbor.

I witnessed an actual silver pear shape craft up close in August 1977. Through the years I witnessed several craft sightings include witnesses. One spectacular sighting I alone observed was in late August 1995, where over 80-100 lights appeared and disappeared in a bell shape form over Georgian Bay.

After experiencing my ninth sighting at camp about 2:30 AM, on August 3rd 2002, a crop circle formation was found in Howick, Quebec and reported by the Toronto Star Newspaper. I found myself questioning; what the heck is going on around here and why was I witnessing all these UFOs so I contacted a local investigator. He helped me reveal childhood nightmares? I clearly remember being carried out in a cradle position along our bedroom hall by two tall non human beings. I could see thin long legs moving in a robotic motion. I felt very strange and could hear my parents snoring in their room as I passed my parents bedroom. I then looked into the face of a very hideous white grayish insect like creature what was carrying me.

I was looking at this large headed creature with wrap around piercing black eyes similar to a praying mantis species. The huge eyes gave me a stunning stare with a message, "How dare you look at me? I was very frightened and could only move my eyes and could not scream as these two beings were quite tall and walked together side by side.

I now find myself in a corner-less room with no lights and no furniture. The room seems to be like a murky light tone mushroom color. There was a group of about six smaller different creatures in a circle that resembled a white snowman. They were tossing me around to each other like a ball. While one was holding me, I noticed the large cranial head moving from side to side like an insect as checking me out from head to toe. I was deeply frightened in this dream. The group appeared to have some type of humor amongst them. I was like a ball in a game.

Furthering these nightmares, I remember being in a dark place without light. Then with my eyes open in this deep darkness, I could see this small spherical bright white light. It moved side to side like a pendulum then moved in closer to me getting bigger. It surrounded me with a crushing sensation to the chest. I woke up in my bed screaming for my parents that early morning. I was sweating and had a high temperature. My parents came into my room and my Father said,'should we take him to the hospital ? My Mother said, "He just has a bad fever. I'll take him to our bed and get a cold cloth to cool him down. I was terribly shaken from that dream.

Victor believes I was abducted as a child, so I decided to research UFO's and alien abduction reports worldwide. I could not get enough information and conducted an obsessive research during 2002 to 2003.

The town of Oshawa, Ontario had a series of many power outages from January to April 2003. Adding that in 2003, I had witnessed about 16 UFO daylight sightings and pointed them out to many other witnesses. After witnessing a close encounter of a flying snake like creature at camp on August 7th 2003, it became clear that this is utterly paranormal.

I decided to research my possible abductions and I got a hit from an article dated August 21, 1965, claiming UFOs were seen over Scarborough for several weeks. I was deeply shocked to learn my childhood nightmares; were not nightmares. This is obviously connected to why I've been witnessing these UFO's and associated paranormal in my life.

The answer I found was very over whelming to my psyche and I have the feeling I had been watched my entire life. Following day on August 14, 2003. There was a massive power outage along the eastern seaboard at 4:11 PM Eastern. Now I was in a deeper bewilderment. The last time this massive outage happened was 1965 "November 9th.
Another coincidence happening in observation of the year of the August 21, 1965 article found? I was at a point in my life that I had discovered something further. The connection to having many UFO sightings and encounters was now opening up to discovery. I realize that something has been revealing itself more and more to me.

Honestly, I do feel alone with this one. The idea of seeing a UFO has less ridicule today but alien abduction is another reality. Species unknown to us are interacting with us. In conclusion, I do believe there are further signs of contact happening. I feel this information should be exposed to help others cope in similar situations. We are NOT alone.
__________
From Filer’s Files

ABOUT CULTURAL GODS OR HEROES

FROM OUR FRIENDS IN JAPAN

Our life is on the earth. Man made the rule that wisdom and people to live in long years lived safely. The history goes back, and we search for an old story. There is a story of the ancestor of having learned farming and the culture from an excellent pioneer there. We have called the "Excellent pioneer" "God of the rule" and "Hero of the culture". If "Culture" is not an invention of the human race but given wisdom from the contact.We should dedicate thanks to "Human race's teacher".

The companion and I traveled around Hokkaido on June 24, 2010. Our destination is called HAIOPIRA. It was known there as saucer park HAIOPIRA 40 years ago. However, the park has gone to ruin by long years. Ainu person's sacred ground HAIOPIRA is prohibited ground with the history.

During the earliest period of Ainu history, the Ainu saga says, OKIKURUMI-K
AMUI, the cultural god, lived in HAIOPIRA on the River Saru and was loved and respected as a human-like god. Leading his life in the same way as the people around him he ruled and civilized Ainu people. He not only instructed them in food, clothing and shelter, but also made sacrifice for their safety.

Later he abandoned the people in depravity and was gone to the neighboring country. He traveled in the air by a flying vehicle "SHINTA", and his house emitted "double or triple brightness".

Thunderbird story

An unexpected disaster came to the tribe of the Quileute.
Abnormal weather killed fish and plant. So people starved to death. The chief called all his people together and said, " Let's say an earnest prayer to Him in the heaven." Soon after they began to pray, a huge thunderbird, with lightning and rumbling, flew down from the sky carrying a live whale to the people.....:thus tells the old Indian legend on their Thunderbird.

Viracocha story

Viracocha myth tells that people were enlightened by Kon-Ticci Viracocha, a white-skinned creator of culture, in a white robe with a cane in his hand. Amazed to see his excellent ability to change the field into a hill or to make water spring up from among rocks, people called him the Creator, Father of the sun. They were given by Him moral laws and admonished against doing harm to others.


Quetzalcoatl story

Aztec historians never forgot about Quetzalcoatl, who gave them moral laws as well as learning. Wise and merciful, he gave corn and other food to men and animals and advised them to offer to gods not sacrifices but fruit, bread and flowers.

Nurundere story

The Narrinyeri call the Supreme Being by two names, Nurundere and Martummere. He is said to have made all things on the earth, and to have given to men the weapons of war and hunting. Nurundere instituted all the rights and ceremonies which are practised by the Aborigines whether connected with life or death. On enquiring why they adhere to any custom the reply is, because Nurundere commanded it.

Osiris story

Osiris, reigning as a king on earth, reclaimed the Egyptians from savagery, gave them laws, and taught them worship. He introduced the cultivation of grains. Eager to communicate his discoveries to all mankind he traveled over the world, diffusing the blessings of civilization and agriculture wherever he went.

Foreigner group story

There is a legend in Luzon in the Philippines. British W.J.Perry is writing in “The Children of the Sun.” Their cultures were up to the results of a mysterious foreigner group according to the legend of the race of Bontoc, Igorot, and Ifugao. This foreigner group has descended from the heaven. And, the knowledge such as the production of the usage of the megalith and the metal, farming, and irrigations was initiated into the aborigine.


Gratitude for skypeople-Okikurumi, from ground people.

Three people (Kiyoshi Amamiya, Toshio Kamata, and Harumi Kamata) visited HAIOPIRA on June 24, 2010. We put up the name, the photograph of UFOlogist of 16 countries in the world, and the national flag. These people are friend of Kiyoshi Amamiya. We stood with brothers in the world in front of the teacher from space. We are sung for OKIKURUMI-KAMUI in the poetry of Ainu. Sky is fine and the sunray wrapped us.

_____________

A different perspective from friends across the sea.

An interesting book titled “The 5,000 Year Old Spacesuit” outlines how the Japanese people began. An alien named Jimmy Tennu brought them here. The “Dogus” that were found in Japan depict the space suit. They are small figures made of some material that has existed all this time. They have hoses, zippers, eye shades, etc. and are typical of an astronaut’s suit. Of course the hoses, etc. are just depicted, not in actuality! The book also tells about a reservation in northern Japan where a white race of people live. It is a mystery where those people came from. - P. Urial

MY FIRST POST ON MARCH 10, 2005

MY FIRST ARTICLE ON THE FIRST BLOG I CREATED ON "UFO EXPERIENCES" BLOG
MARCH 10, 2005

Predictions

I have been keeping track of predictions from various sources. Just yesterday I was reading in the Nexus magazine some of the Plejarans predictions given to Billy Meier. They were written up by Michael Horn and taken from the book "And yet they fly" about Billy's contact. What concerned me and fitted so closely with today's state of the world was this, but there are others that apply also:

Horrifying weapons and a possible world war.

Due to the fault of scientists, enormous power will be seized by the power-hungry and their military, their warriors and terrorists, and power will be seized as well through laser weapons of many types, but also via atomic, chemical and biological weapons. Also concerning genetic technology, enormous misuse will occur because this will be unrestrainedly exploited for the purposes of war, not lastly due to the cloning of human beings for warring purposes as this was practiced in ancient times with the descendants of Henoch in the regions of Sirius.

However, this will not be all of the horrors; as besides the genetic technology and the chemical weapons, far worse and more dangerous and more deadly weapons of mass destruction will be produced and will be used. The irresponsible politicians will unscrupulously exercise their power, assisted by scientists and obedient military forces serving them, who together hold a deadly sceptre and will create clone-like beings which will be bred in a total lack of conscience and will be scientifically manipulated to become killer machines. Division by division and devoid of any feelings, they will destroy, murder and annihilate everything.

The US will set out against the Eastern countries ahead of all other financial states and simultaneously she will have to defend herself against the Eastern intruders. In all, America will play the most decisive role, when in the guise to strive for peace and to fight against terrorism she invades many countries of the Earth, bombs and destroys everything and brings thousandfold deaths to the populations. The military politics of the USA will likewise know no limits, as neither will their economic and other political institutions which will be focused on building and operating a world police force, as it is the case already for a long time. But that will not be enough, and in the guise of a so-called peaceful globalization, American politics will aspire to gain absolute control of the world concerning supremacy in economy.

(Presented by Quetzal, 215th Contact, Feb. 28, 1987)
I have read about the robotic soldiers the U.S. is developing right now, and there has been talk about cloning human and robotic beings to fight wars. Hopefully that will never be attempted.

Russia is developing a huge nuclear missile that can detect missiles aimed at it and avoid them. Nothing can stop it. Of course, we know what the U.S. has been doing so that fits right in.

OTSUCHI, JAPAN

A fire that engulfed most of Otsuchi, Japan, burned the bottoms of trees around the Ko-tsuchi temple but didn’t reach these stone tablets or the main wooden shrine.

Magic’ temple soothes Japan’s tsunami survivors

By Christopher Johnson - Special to The Washington Times
Wednesday, June 8, 2011

OTSUCHI, Japan | On a misty Sunday morning, a cloud of fog seems to hover like a halo over the temple.

For many locals who come to worship here, the temple seems to have magical powers. The March 11 tsunami rushed up a slope to the steps of the temple grounds and then turned back, dragging thousands of people and buildings with it back into the ocean.

After that, an inferno of exploding fuel from canisters, cars and gasoline stations engulfed most of the town, where local officials said they can confirm the whereabouts of only about 6,400 of the town's 15,000 residents.

Though flames leapt up the mountainside and scorched the trunks of trees encircling the temple grounds, the fire stopped before reaching the main wooden shrine — which has been periodically rebuilt, according to Shinto custom, for more than 1,000 years.

"No firemen came here to put out the flames. God was protecting the temple," said Takaaki Goto, 74, a city councilor and former geography teacher who survived the tsunami that killed the mayor and 31 other town officials.

"I've heard people say that Japan is a country without God. But if you look around, you can see that God protected many things."

The tsunami and fire gutted his new home across the street, but his most treasured possession — a small shrine containing the ashes and scrolls of his ancestors, who have been living in Otsuchi since the 17th century — survived.

Like Mr. Goto, many who lost their material possessions are turning to spirituality to comfort them in hard times.

On the other side of Otsuchi, the tsunami blew apart a 35-foot-high wall and obliterated the port, fish processing factories and hundreds of homes in the Ando district. The ocean, attacking in a series of three waves, grew to 50 feet in height, chasing about 130 people up a staircase to the hilltop Inari shrine.

One of the most important buildings in Otsuchi, the shrine complex holds festival gear, including lanterns, masks and the area's "mikoshi," a heavy gilded spirit house that residents carry on their shoulders as they chant and parade through town every autumn. The complex is built around giant trees that people have been preserving for centuries.

The tsunami crashed against a concrete wall fortifying the hillside and mangled a guardrail and fence as it climbed the stairwell. Somehow, it stopped at the foot of a passageway lined with traditional lanterns. The ancient trees and shrines, though less than a mile from the ocean, survived intact, seemingly untouched by perhaps the strongest earthquake and tsunami in Japan's long history.

"I saw everything," said Toku Juoudate, 74, whose family has been looking after the shrine for 23 generations.

"The tsunami pushed the boats along with it, and the boats tore the roofing off houses. The tsunami swept people away who were standing on rooftops. My son yelled for everybody to come up higher, and we all survived because God protected the temple and turned back the tsunami," she said.

In a region prone to earthquakes and tsunamis, wise elders have constructed and preserved Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples and Christian churches on slopes and hilltops, which have stayed above the reach of tsunamis in 1896, 1933, 1960 and on March 11 this year.

Among the few intact buildings, they have become havens for evacuees who lost their homes and other worldly possessions. Mrs. Juoudate said 70 of the people who fled to her temple are still sleeping on the tatami mats of a ceremonial meeting hall.
"People are tired and cranky, and they are losing patience and sometimes arguing, because it is crowded and noisy at night with coughing and snoring. But this is a temple, so people are trying to stay peaceful," she said.

Not every temple, however, has been so lucky. The tsunami swamped the Koganji temple at sea level at the foot of a mountain in the central business area of town. A demolished car lies in the gutted ruins of the temple's main hall, where flowers and Buddha statues preside over a wasteland of devastation.

Locals say the temple's keepers did not always follow strict religious codes. Many evacuees died in the temple instead of running up a hillside path through the cemetery behind it.

Tomoko Nakamura, 32, said her parents and grandmother fled from their home across the street to take shelter in the temple. She has not seen them since and continues to search for their bodies, although she knows that they probably were swept out to sea.

Staying at a shelter on higher ground a few miles from the sea, she goes back to the site of her home almost every day. Nothing remains except a traditional "Kura" storehouse made of stone, dating back to before Japan's modernization in the 19th century.

Though the waves toppled tombstones, she believes her ancestors are resting peacefully in a large grave site of a cemetery, dating back more than 300 years, next to the Koganji temple.

Like many Japanese, she worships her ancestors, especially during the Bon festival in August, when ancestors come home to visit the living. She said Otsuchi always will be her home, even if she and her new husband end up moving elsewhere for work.

In a rainstorm just hours before the fall of darkness in a town without electricity, she stood in the space that used to be her family room, waiting for her parents and grandmother to return to hold her and speak to her.

"I am not scared of coming here," she said, the lone soul in the charred ruins of the town. "My ancestors are all here to protect me."

TOM DAWSON'S ABDUCTION

Tom Dawson at the spot where he was paralyzed by a UFO and subjected to a medical inspection by alien beings. (Courtesy of the Camilla Enterprise)

Tom Dawson made his living selling cars in Florida, then retired to the peaceful community of Pelham. He was 63 years old on August 6, 1977, living in a mobile home park on Vada Road with his wife and daughter. He arose early that Saturday morning, then took his girl to visit Linda Kolbie, who owned a house adjacent to the mobile homes. Dawson was a frequent visitor to the Kolbie home, where he enjoyed playing with their infant son.

After chatting with Linda for a few minutes, Dawson decided to walk to a nearby pond and see if conditions looked right for fishing. He set out accompanied by his two dogs, walking through a pasture occupied by 50 cows to approach the fishing hole, located in a grove of trees.

It was a beautiful day, the countryside quiet as Dawson neared the water. When he was 100 feet from the water, a circular space ship instantly appeared and hovered four feet above the ground in front of him. It was 40 to 50 feet in diameter and 12 to 14 feet high. A protrusion like a cabin was on top of the craft, which seemed to be colored shades of several different hues.

Dawson was frozen in place-he could not move a muscle. The cattle in his field of vision were also frozen, as were his dogs-one had a leg suspended in the air, stilled as it took a step.

A hatch opened on the ship and a figure emerged that Dawson dubbed the "leader." He seemed hesitant to disembark and his first step was tentative, but then he motioned four more aliens to join him. At the same moment, two "sentries" appeared on top of the craft.

Of the five humanoids that approached Dawson, three were men and two were women. All were beautiful and shapely, their skin a bloodless, powder-puff white. Their ears were sharp their small noses upturned. They had no neck-their heads sat directly on their shoulders. Their heads were hairless, as were the rest of their bodies. Dawson knew because a male and a female alien were naked.

The other three wore identical clothing, beautiful and with a texture and color that defied description. Their shoes, of the same material, ended in sharp, one inch high turned up toes.

After hesitantly approaching Dawson, the aliens preceded to conduct a medical examination. A device similar to a skullcap was placed on his head. It was connected by cords to a hula hoop sized ring which contained an extensive series of dials. During the electronic survey, the creatures stepped up to Dawson and dropped his pants, apparently to check his sex.

At this point Tom Dawson was transported to Oz. From the interior of the ship a human voice announced: "I am Jimmy Hoffa. I am Jimmy Hoffa. I am Jimmy Hoffa and I'm in this ship. I am..." and the voice was abruptly silenced and not heard again.
Hoffa was a notorious labor leader who had disappeared several years earlier and never reappeared.

As each alien completed their part of the exam, they reentered the ship. The last two removed the headset from Dawson, then conferred. They had appeared to communicate during the medical tests, emitting a shrill, high pitched sound that struck Dawson as gibberish. One of the females kept repeating a word that sounded to Dawson like "Jupiter."

Dawson thought the creatures were debating whether they should take him with them. They declined to kidnap Dawson and the leader "waved" goodbye by crossing his open palm across his chest, then they boarded the ship. Within seconds the ship quickly rose to 75 feet and vanished soundlessly.

Man and animals were instantly released from the force that had immobilized them. Dawson hastily secured his clothing and ran to the Kolbie house, where Linda was working in the yard about 9:15 a.m.

"He was in bad shape," Linda told a reporter. "He couldn't talk at all. I looked up to see him waving his arms and struggling for breath."

She sat Dawson down and fetched a cool rag to help calm him. The man was "wheezing and rocking, wild-eyed," she said.

Linda attempted to learn what had happened, but all Dawson could choke out was "space ship." Fearing for his life, Kolbie called an ambulance, which rushed him to the hospital.

Dawson recovered, but the experience had him shaken for days. Despite experiencing the disbelief of others, he stuck to his story, saying: "I don't care what they say. This is the truth...I'm not crazy. I wasn't drinking. I've never had a mental condition.

"The whole time it happened, my mind was alert. I knew what was happening...I do know what I've seen. I do know what happened."

Several months later I traveled to Pelham and spent a Saturday with Dawson, interviewing him, the neighbors, and the paramedics (the doctor told me to leave him the hell alone). Everybody accepted Dawson's story, and none thought a person could fake that degree of distress. This remains Georgia's most bizarre story, and I know something happened to Dawson-I'm just not certain what. - 'Weird Georgia' - Jim Miles - 2006

Thanks to Lon Strickler at Phantoms and Monsters blog

THE HEALING AND THE STRANGER

THE HEALING AND THE STRANGER

My wife Elaine and I married young. I was just 18 and she 19. Those first few years were tumultuous, as we meshed into the comforts of each other and the relationship grew into a marriage. After being married for 15 years, we had reached that point of nonchalance, or maybe it was that point of growing in different directions, and caring more for oneself than the pair. Elaine turned to another and fell in love. It's funny how that will awake you to reality, one that turns your world upside down. However, I learned from my mistakes, and prayed to God that I be given another chance. Let's just say that God did answer those prayers, and we started new. It wasn't easy, but it became a good marriage again. Now, I am not a religious zealot, but I do believe in the Great Architect of the Universe and have had too many prayers answered not to have faith. With this said, I am going to jump ahead to the story I meant to tell.

It started with a trip to the beauty shop where Elaine had been going to Tina for eight years. Tina noticed a patch of skin, where there should be hair, on the back of Elaine's neck. When she came home, she asked me to look at it. It was the size of a quarter and innocent enough - just a small patch of smooth skin. We decided to make an appointment with our doctor just the same, because it was a little inflamed. We thought nothing much more of it. A biopsy was taken and we were told to come back in a week for the results. A week later, the doctor took another biopsy, claiming the first one was too small and the results were inconclusive. So another week passed, and this time the doctor's office called and suggested we both be present to discuss the results. We went together, hand in hand, to the office to hear words that anyone fears. Cancer was diagnosed, and he was passing us on to a specialist. The form of cancer she was diagnosed with was Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma.

We went home with shock waves pounding our souls. I went on a hunt to find out all I could about this form of cancer. I spent hours searching the Internet for information, and what I found wasn't too promising. It is a rare incurable cancer, and treatments proved to be ineffective at best. I shared the troubling news with Elaine, and all the visions of the worst cascaded over us. We went to the specialist, and it turned out he was the only one in the area who worked with this particular disease. He explained the details, reviewed the biopsies, consulted a partner and took another biopsy, and so the trips to Spokane began weekly. We spent that time numb, shell shocked, with the rug of life being pulled out from under our feet. Elaine turned to me, I held her, and all I could do was turn to God and pray, for it was out of my power to do anything else. So pray I did, constantly, asking for help, asking for a blessing, and we continued to go to the doctor.

More biopsies were taken, weeks turned to months... until one night, in our kitchen, I felt the need to lay my hands on the spot on Elaine's neck that was affected as I prayed. My hands felt the power as it coursed up my arms and filled my body with indescribable electricity. I knew something had happened, and I had to rely on my faith that it was what I had prayed for. The next week another biopsy was taken, and another week of waiting. Now, I need to share with you that I was riding my bike to work daily. I was on the road at 5 a.m. to get to work by 6:30. The roads were always vacant, and it was a pleasant way to stay in shape. On this morning's ride, I had more than enough to shout about. You see, the last biopsy came back clean - no trace of cancer, and I knew that my prayers had been answered. Needless to say, the joy was being shouted from the soul as I road that morning.

I was peddling along on this desolate road, lost in my own thoughts when I heard a "hello." That "hello" almost gave me a heart attack. I mean, I was alone on a bike, riding on a deserted highway. I turned my head to see a stranger riding next to me. There is no way for me to describe exactly what made him seem different; it was everything and nothing. He wore a helmet on top of a stocking cap, sweat pants, and had a short gray beard, and was riding a Huffy. I ride a hand-built custom bike, and I usually look down my nose at a Huffy, but at this moment all I could think of was that God would ride a Huffy, because he wouldn't care about Prestige or anything else. It didn't matter what he rode at all. Strange thought to have at that moment, but it was there. He passed me, and for a while I was behind him. I thought his riding was effortless. He seemed to be peddling much easier than I, but there he was ahead of me. We started to climb a hill, with him in my lead, when the thought that I was not following God filled my mind, and I swear I saw a golden cross of flames on his windbreaker. As we climbed, I slowly caught up to him, closer and closer, until at the apex of the hill we were side by side. Now, if you knew my route, you would know I turn off on the dirt road there and cut off traversing a dangerous bridge before winding up on the highway and the best part of my commute. I was going to say, "It's time for me to take a different path," to him, even though we had only shared that first "hello," when I knew that wasn't the right thing to say. Instead, I just said. "See ya," and made my turn, leaving him to go on down the road.

As I traveled down the dirt, I was singing at the top of my lungs. There was no one to hear me, and think me the fool, my heart was overjoyed and over full, and singing was the only way to release it. (Not that anyone would find my singing pleasant to hear). I made my turns and rode my cutoff until I exited back to the road and started the last mile to the final turn to the office. I was riding along, lost again in the moments and thoughts, when I heard, "You beat me." The stranger on the Huffy was back along side me. It was then I decided to introduce myself and we exchanged names. His was Michael, and he told me he rode this ride every day. I kept it to myself that I had lived and rode this ride for a number of years, and I had never seen him. I just let it go with a smile, and told him it was my pleasure to meet him. Then it was time to turn off to the office parking lot and let him continue on his journey. I have never seen him again, but on investigating the name Michael, I did discover he is God's messenger, his Archangel, and to this day, I know who I rode with and how blessed I am.

Bill M.