Zone of Silence

In 1970, a U.S. Athena missile was fired from a location in Utah, scheduled to land in the White Sands Missile Base in New Mexico. However, it went about 900 miles off course, without apparent explanation, and crashed in the Sonora Desert in Mexico, over a hundred miles south of the Big Bend area in Texas. A few years later, a Saturn booster rocket used in the Apollo program broke up over the same area. The U.S. military sent a team of engineers to investigate the area, which starts some 25 miles north of the tiny community of Ceballos, Durango. One of the first things the engineers discovered was that it was impossible to transmit radio waves in the impacted area -- walkie-talkies and portable radios would not work, television signals could not be received in the scattered neighboring ranches, microwave or satellite signals failed to penetrate. Even airplanes flying over the region experienced instrument malfunctions. Apparently, some sort of magnetic anomaly stifles radio waves in the region. Thus, it became known as the Zone of Silence -- about 1,500 square miles of uninhabited flat terrain, loaded with thorny desert plants, infested with poisonous snakes and containing bizarre animal mutants. For example, insects and tortoises are known to grow to three times normal size. Centipedes are a foot long with purple heads. The tortoises have no tail. And it is the only region where cactus grows in specific shades of purple and red. In the 1800s, scattered farmers attempted to eke out an existence in this region whereupon they became aware of the "hot" stones that fell nightly from the sky. Apparently, the Zone of Silence is like a bizarre magnet for meteorites. Within the Zone, there's a stunning "field of meteorites" area containing millions of meteorites scattered everywhere. In the 1950s, a scientifically significant meteorite crashed in the vicinity. According to researchers, it contained material as old as the universe. On February 8, 1969, the largest meteorite ever found on Earth (the size of a Buick) crashed into the Zone of Silence. It's known as the Allende Meteorite. The 1970 U.S. military team of engineers discovered the area to be a hot bed for meteorites. The soil contains significant magnetic ore, possibly due to eons of meteorite bombardment from above. Plus, the mountains that surround the Zone of Silence also have various uranium deposits. The Zone of Silence lies south of the 30th parallel, just north of the Tropic of Cancer -- the same latitude as the Bermuda Triangle and other bizarre planetary anomalies. Ancient ruins have been located in the Zone of Silence but archeologists have been unable to determine the age and exact purpose of these structures, which were possibly utilized as an astronomical observatory. Furthermore, there have been discoveries of six-mile long man-made platforms, a man-made hill in the shape of a pyramid, and carved stone statues of animals. Not surprisingly, the Zone of Silence is also a Mecca for UFO activity. In 1976, a huge rectangular UFO passed over the town of Ceballos, witnessed by virtually everyone in town. The same year, a photograph was taken (by a tourist) of a UFO that had landed on a hill within the Zone of Silence. Travelers through the Zone of Silence have reported seeing strange lights maneuvering at night, floating motionless, changing colors, then taking off at great speed. Other witnesses who have spotted these mysterious lights at night have discovered vegetation the next day that appeared to have been burned by fire. Encounters of mysterious beings have also been reported within the Zone of Silence. The most typical encounter has been with Nordic types -- a common UFO entity that is around 7 feet tall, with long blond hair and blue eyes. In UFO terminology, they are often referred to as Pleiadians. Reportedly, two months before the U.S. Athena missile crashed into the Sonora Desert, Wernher von Braun (premier U.S. rocket scientist) made a visit to the Zone of Silence, creating speculation that the missile may have been purposely fired into the Zone of Silence to give U.S. personnel an excuse to enter the Zone for some undisclosed purposes (such as exploration or experimentation). The U.S. military even built a special railroad spur into the Zone to haul away the remains of the rocket, tons of magnetic dirt and perhaps other items. Life is a mystery. You can accept it as is, leading to the bliss of ignorance -- or you can explore it, leading to the next mystery. "Hello darkness my old friend... I've come to talk with you again... Because a vision softly creeping... Left its seeds while I was sleeping... And the vision that was planted in my brain... Still remains... Within the sound of silence." (lyrics by Simon & Garfunkel) If you want to explore a true mystery, spend your next vacation in the Zone of Silence. Leave your cell phone at home, keep an eye out for snakes and be very polite to seven-foot blond Nordics. ___________ Quote for the Day – "Silence is a source of great strength." Lao Tzu ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and where silence is nourishment for the soul. ___________ - -

Origin of the Species

Ocean voyages tended to be melancholy undertakings in ancient times. In 1830, the captain of a British naval survey ship, the HMS Beagle, put a bullet in his head during a period of intense gloom. The following year, Robert FitzRoy, a 23-year-old gentleman of nobility, was given command of the vessel and assigned the formal task of charting coastal waters. FitzRoy, engaged to be married at the time, was a blue-blooded snob who detested conversing with the crew so he invited a friend to accompany him on the voyage in order to have someone of his own background with whom to socialize. When the friend backed out, FitzRoy soon persuaded another educated young man, age 22, to take his place, chosen primarily because of the shape of his nose which FitzRoy thought gave him character. FitzRoy's new dinner companion was named Charles Darwin. From 1831 to 1836, the HMS Beagle sailed the coastal waters of South America. FitzRoy and Darwin shared a tiny cabin and soon began to bicker. FitzRoy's passion was to find evidence for a literal, biblical interpretation of creation. Darwin, who had trained for the ministry, slowly evolved into taking a more open-minded view. Contrary to popular belief, Darwin was perplexed about evolution. He was fascinated by nature and highly reverent of animals. During the voyage, Darwin accumulated a vast amount of specimens and fossils. He studied the structure of coral reefs and developed a much-acclaimed theory about their formation. He also discovered a new species of dolphins which he named "Delphinus Fitzroyi" to honor the captain of the ship. Six years after the voyage, in 1842, Darwin began to put his theory about the survival of the fittest, although he never used that term, in writing. In fact, Darwin believed it wasn't the fittest nor smartest that survived, but rather the ones most adaptable to change. Two years later, he had completed a 230 page sketch of his ideas. Then he put his notes aside and for the next 15 years busied himself with other matters, including fathering 10 children. In the autumn of 1859, having renewed interest in his theories, Darwin sent a copy of his manuscript, titled ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES BY MEANS OF NATURAL SELECTION, to the editor of the respected British journal Quarterly Review who rejected the material and advised Darwin to write a book about pigeons instead. Darwin's manuscript was published later that year under the title ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES. It was an instant success, selling all 1,250 copies of the first edition on the first day. It has never been out of print. Darwin was tormented by his work, aware of the controversy it would cause, and referred to himself as "the Devil's Chaplain." His book instantly became a major topic of discussion among intellectuals. The thrust of Darwin's theory, commonly referred to as evolution, was that human beings may have evolved from primates without the assistance of a divine creator. Needless to say, this viewpoint was hotly contested by the clergy. In 1860, a meeting was held at the Oxford Zoological Museum to debate Darwin's theories. Over a thousand people were in attendance and hundreds were turned away at the door. During the presentation, Robert FitzRoy, former captain of the HMS Beagle, stormed into the room, waving a Bible and shouting, "The Book, The Book." Recently named head of the Meteorological Department at Oxford, FitzRoy had been at the conference to present a paper on storms. Five years later, Fitzroy committed suicide in the same manner his uncle had committed suicide decades earlier, by slitting his own throat. Apparently, he was not very adaptable to change -- Natural Selection once again working in mysterious ways. However, Natural Selection fails to explain the creation of inorganic matter. So perhaps the answer remains blowing in the wind. Darwin's legacy is still with us. Even today, mankind continues to debate the origin of the species. Some believe in a magical creation orchestrated by a divine presence, some believe we evolved from microbes and apes, and some believe we were delivered by a stork. There is even an outlandish theory that the human race was created eons ago by the genetic alteration of early humanoids (Homo erectus) by extraterrestrial entities (that descended from the heavens, also called Elohim – reptilian serpents or giants) who mingled with the Daughters of Man (earthlings) to create the Nephilim (ET/human hybrids), whereupon the resulting ET/human hybrids (in human form) then became the rulers of the world (royalty) by promoting those of their hybrid bloodline into positions of power through secret societies (Illuminati). Personally, I believe I'm the center of the universe and everything else is simply a figment of my mind. Considering the state of the world these days, I obviously have a very morbid imagination. But it really doesn't matter how we got here -- we're here and that's that. The prime objective is to figure out how we're going to survive another day and where we're going when our existence in this dimension has expired. The origin of the species is a mystery -- if you solve the mystery, it's wise to keep it to yourself. Life is simple -- keep your nose to the wind and go with the flow. ___________ Quote for the Day – "My Theory of Evolution is that Darwin was adopted." Stephen Wright ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and an array of nature's critters frolicking nearby. ___________ - -