January 2009

The Bermuda Triangle vs. Lloyd's of London

As most people know, dozens of spectacular disappearances have occurred in the Triangle that is located off the southeast coast of the United States. The actual area of the triangle is controversial, but most authors agree that it includes at least the area between Miami, Bermuda, and San Juan. Not only the number of disappearances, but their mysterious natures have impressed paranormal buffs. Wikipedia has an interesting mini-catalogue of some of the most bizarre anecdotes: In 1881, the Ellen Austin came across an "abandoned" ship in the Triangle -- abandoned why? Because abducted by UFO? Because so terrified, the crew hurled themselves into the water? -- and put some of its own crew on board to sail it to New York.

The Piri Reis Map

The oldest known human civilization is by general consensus thought to be the Sumerians. It is roughly 4,000 BC and they have no cultural heritage to speak of. However, in high regard they hold an ancient race that some call the Nefilim. To the Sumerians, these beings were as Gods. Is it not possible, that there was once a time far beyond our reckoning in which civilizations were well beyond advanced? Many have attempted to present such a case to the scientific community at large and are, unsurprisingly, not taken too seriously. Regardless, when presenting such theories, one piece of evidence that tends to b e used is the Piri Reis Map, a map said to be produced in 1513 by famous Turkish Admiral and cartographer of whom the map is named after. It was discovered in 1929 when Topkopi Palace was being converted into a museum. It was printed on gazelle skin and had noted scribbled on it by Reis himself.

The Voynich Manuscript

The Voynich Manuscript is without a doubt the 'holy grail' of cryptographers and linguists around the globe. Produced likely in the late 15th century, it is an illustrated collection of approximately 246 pages written in some unknown language or script, the papers have become an enigmatic bane to those who call historical cryptography their discipline. Since its introduction into the mainstream of the scientific community roughly around 1915, attempts to translate the manuscript have proved fruitless. Priests, historians, linguists and even code breakers from World War II, all of whom were eventually defeated by the mysterious manuscript, have studied it vigilantly. But that is not to say that their have not been numerous theories and alleged 'solutions' to the document with the earliest modern of these dating back to 1919, with claims that it was actually the work of 13th century empiricist Roger Bacon, who was well versed in the fields of languages and astrology.