Top 10 People Shrouded in Controversy

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Share by Bryan Johnson

Pejoratives are words or phrases that bring out contempt or distaste in the human

psyche. The words elicit a specific emotional reaction in people. Some good

examples include the words liberal, punk, hacker, fascist, extremist and conspiracy

theorist. In the 20th century, the phrase conspiracy theory began to be used for any

accusation that is fully unsupported by conclusive evidence and scientific fact. This

includes any suggestion that does not follow the commonly accepted beliefs of

society. In modern times, the world is full of people who have published books, and

dedicated their life to the study of conspiracy. These individuals provide some

interesting and bizarre claims. This article will examine ten conspiracy theories and

the people who made them popular.

10

Phil Schneider

Conspiracy Theory: The alien agenda.

Phil Schneider stands out in the world of alien conspiracy. In 1995, Schneider began

to give public conferences describing the history of human and alien interaction on

the planet Earth. Many of his speeches given during 1995 can be viewed on YouTube.

Phil claims that he was an ex-government structural engineer, who was put in charge

of developing secret underground bases around the United States. He says that the

United States has been aware of extraterrestrial life on Earth since the early 20th

century, but has kept the evidence secret. In 1979, Schneider was involved with an

underground project in New Mexico. He was the lead engineer in creating a large

American base.

During the construction, the group of builders stumbled upon a large nest of huge

Grey aliens. The workers became curious after their drill bit was being sabotaged.

Phil Schneider describes a situation in which he traveled underground in a powered

basket in order to check out the bizarre occurrence. Upon reaching the area, he was

accosted by a huge Grey alien. Phil immediately pulled out his gun and shot the alien

dead. In response, one of the creatures rubbed its stomach and emitted a deadly

beam that completely removed three of Phil’s fingers, and his toe nails were blown

off. Schneider’s life was saved by a military friend, who repelled the basket back to

the surface of Earth. During the incident, Phil Schneider claims that 66 men died in

an underground battle with the aliens.

He then continues to discuss the alien agenda. Schneider says that, in 1954, the U.S.

government entered into a pact with three alien species. Since that time, the aliens

have deceived high government officials and infiltrated the human population.

Schneider claims that the New World Order is the same thing as the alien agenda,

with the ultimate goal of world dominance. The alien agenda is the complete

decimation of the human population and takeover of the planet by 2029. Phil says

that there are nine alien species living underground and that they are hostile. The

aliens see the human population as a bag of food. However, the creatures don’t eat

the flesh of humans, but instead use our glandular secretions as a drug to get high.

Schneider says that several world governments are aware of the alien threat, and

that they are actively fighting the creatures. He talks in length about a material called

Corbamite, which Schneider says is element 140 on the periodic table. He claims the

material is impregnable and that the technology was given to humans by a collection

of friendly aliens, who are helping humanity fight. Phil has estimated that 28% of the

United States budget is being spent on the creation of underground bases. He

continues to mention a number of conspiracy theories, including the suggestion that

the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York was produced by a nuclear

explosion. On January 17, 1996, Phil Schneider was found dead in his apartment.

9

George Bush (biblical scholar)

Conspiracy Theory: The implementation of Christian Zionism.

This entry is not about the former United States Presidents, but rather a different

George Bush, who lived from 1796 to 1859. He is the great-grand uncle of George H.

W. Bush. In the 19th century, George Bush was a prominent American biblical

scholar, pastor, abolitionist and Christian Restorationist. Christian Restorationism is

a movement with the goal of returning the Jewish population to the Holy Land. It

was a popular theme in the 19th century. The idea includes a set of political and

religious motivations for the habitation of Jews in the area around Israel. In the

context, it is suggested that Jews shall achieve national independence in the Land of

Israel, and return to Judea, as prophesied in the Bible. The book continues to discuss

the Second Coming of Christ, which is an attitude known as Christian Zionism.

In 1844, George Bush, who was a professor of Hebrew at New York University,

published a book titled The Dry Bones of Israel Revived. In the text he denounced

“the thralldom and oppression which has so long ground them (the Jews) to the

dust,” and called for the elevation of the Jews to a rank of honorable repute among

the nations of Earth. The majority of controversy surrounding George Bush has

come as the result of his first book, titled The Life of Mohammed: Founder of the

Religion of Islam, and of the Empire of the Saracens. The book was the first

American biography written on Muhammad. In the text, George Bush refers to

Muhammad as “a remarkable man” and “irresistibly attractive.” However, for the

most part, he questions everything about Muhammad’s life and the history of Islam.

The book takes a dim view of the state of Christianity during Muhammad’s age. The

Life of Mohammed by George Bush has been out of print for a long time. In 2004,

clerics at Egypt’s Al Azhar University obtained a copy of the book. They were

appalled by the text. Riots began in Egypt, and the state department was forced to

put out a notice indicating that the book had not been written by the then current

U.S. President Bush, and “has nothing to do with the attitudes of President Bush,

who is respectful of Islam as one of the world’s great religions.” Towards the end of

his life, the 19th century George Bush became a strong advocate for The New Church

(or Swedenborgianism), which is based on the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, and is

connected to freemasonry.

8

Andrew Basiago

Conspiracy Theory: Teleportation and the existence of life on Mars.

Andrew Basiago is a conspiracy theorist. He is the inspiration behind a large number

of bizarre accusations and claims regarding teleportation and the existence of life on

Mars. Basiago has stated that, in the late 1960s, he participated in a secret United

States program that examined the concept of time travel using a machine that was

developed by the Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla. Basiago has claimed that he was

chosen and trained to become one of America’s first time travelers. He has suggested

that the United States government has achieved quantum access to past and future

events. According to Andrew, he was sent back in time to watch the Gettysburg

Address, and his presence was captured in a photograph.

In his most controversial suggestion, Basiago claims that, in 1971, he was sent to the

year 2013 in order to view the U.S. Supreme Court building. He describes it as being

totally underwater and covered with algae due to the events of 2012. He then talks in

length about the Denver International Airport conspiracy theory. Basiago is probably

most well known for his 2008 paper, The Discovery of Life on Mars, in which he

attempts to prove that Mars in an inhabited planet. After publishing the paper,

Basiago founded the Mars Anomaly Research Society (MARS). The possibility of life

on Mars remains an open question in the scientific world. Evidence has been

discovered that water could exist on Mars. In 2003, it was revealed that Mars has

methane in its atmosphere. Methane is an unstable gas, so its presence indicates an

active source.

In February 2005, it was announced that the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS)

on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express Orbiter, detected traces of

formaldehyde in the atmosphere of Mars. It has been speculated that the

formaldehyde could be the byproduct of the oxidation of methane and could provide

evidence that Mars is either extremely geologically active or harboring colonies of

microbial life. These facts are interesting. However, Andrew Basiago has suggested a

government cover-up in order to hide evidence that Mars is inhabited by a wide

variety of humanoid and alien creatures. Basiago has claimed that NASA photograph

PIA10214 shows evidence of life on Mars. For this reason, the image has become

highly controversial.

PIA10214 was taken in November of 2007, by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit.

The picture shows a westward view of the West Valley of the Columbia Basin in the

Gusev Crater of Mars. The image captured a large portion of the Martian landscape

in panorama view. After examination of the photograph, Basiago has claimed that a

large collection of bizarre organisms are visible. The most famous is a humanoid

looking creature that has since become known as the Martian Bigfoot. Baslago

claims that the picture shows evidence of humanoid beings, animal species, carved

statues, built structures and dead bodies. He has suggested a large number of

strange findings in the picture, including a collection of people in blue jumpsuits,

huge ground worms and human-like insects.

7

Frank J. Tipler

Conspiracy Theory: The resurrection of the dead.

Why People Believe Weird Things is a book that was written by Michael Shermer

and published in 1997. In the text, Shermer explores the psychology of scholars who

have given up their careers in order to pursue paranormal beliefs. Shermer suggests

that smart people can be more susceptible to believing in weird things. In part 5 of

the book, he discusses Voltaire’s character Pangloss, and relates his personality to a

man named Frank J. Tipler, who is a mathematical physicist. Shermer does this in

order to show how intelligent people can deceive themselves. Frank J. Tipler is a

physicist and cosmologist employed in the Department of Mathematics and Physics

at Tulane University.

He has authored books and papers on a hypothesis called the Omega Point, which he

claims is a mechanism for the resurrection of the dead. Frank Tipler is also an

advocate for intelligent design, which is a concept that “certain features of the

universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an

undirected process such as natural selection.” The Omega Point is a term used to

describe a cosmological state in the distant proper time future of the universe. Tipler

has suggested that a future society will be able to resurrect the dead by perfectly

emulating the entire multiverse sequence from the Big Bang.

He identifies the Omega Point singularity as God, citing the views and characteristics

attributed to God by most all of the traditional religions. Critics of the Omega Point

say its arguments violate the Copernican principle. Many feel the hypothesis doesn’t

apply to the laws of probability. As you would expect, the idea of resurrection has

been labeled pseudoscience. In the magazine Nature, George Ellis described Tipler’s

book on the Omega Point as “a masterpiece of pseudoscience … the product of a

fertile and creative imagination.” In his later publications, Frank J. Tipler has put

forth a theory of everything using the Omega Point and a Standard Model of

subatomic particles. He remains a controversial figure in the world of science.

6

Alexander Litvinenko

Conspiracy Theory: The 1999 Russian bombings.

Alexander Litvinenko was an officer who served in the Soviet KGB. After the

dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the internal security agency of Russia

became known as the Federal Security Service (FSB). In November of 1998,

Alexander Litvinenko and several other FSB officers publicly accused their superiors

of ordering the assassination of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky. The following

year, Litvinenko was arrested on charges of exceeding his authority at work. He was

acquitted, but eventually forced to flee Russia. Alexander became part of a group of

exiles known as the London Circle, including Akhmed Zakayev, Alex Goldfarb and

Boris Berezovsky. Alexander Litvinenko settled in London and, in 2002, published a

book titled Blowing up Russia: Terror from Within.

The text alleges that the Russian apartment bombings and other September 1999

terrorist acts were committed by the Federal Security Service. It accuses the Russian

government of creating a false flag operation intended to justify the Second Chechen

War and in order to bring Vladimir Putin to power. After a Russian investigation

into the 1999 terrorist activity, it was determined that the attacks were ordered by

Muslim terrorists Ibn Al-Khattab and Abu Omar al-Saif. A Russian man named

Achemez Gochiyayev was implicated in organizing the terrorist activity. Gochiyayev

claimed that he was framed by an FSB officer, who asked him to rent the basements

at four separate locations where the bombs were later detonated. Achemez

Gochiyayev remains a wanted fugitive.

After the release of Litvinenko’s book, the Russian Interior Ministry seized many

copies of the text. In response to this action, the authors granted the right to

distribute the book in Russia to “anybody who wishes”, free of charge. In 2006,

Alexander Litvinenko published another book titled Lubyanka Criminal Group. In

the book, it is claimed that Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and other FSB officers

have been involved in organized crime, including several political murders and drug

trafficking from Afghanistan. Upon release, the text was withdrawn from sales in

Russia by request from the FSB. The International Foundation for Civil Liberties

responded with the quote, “By banning this book for the first time since the Soviet

times, FSB threw down a challenge to the society.”

In Lubyanka Criminal Group, Alexander Litvinenko writes about ordered

assassinations and criminal activity on part of the FSB. On November 1, 2006, while

living in London, Litvinenko fell ill and was hospitalized in what was diagnosed as a

case of poisoning by radioactive polonium-210. He died on November 23. The

British investigation into his death has suggested that a Russian man named Andrey

Lugovoy is responsible. Lugovoy remains at large. The Russian government has

denied all accusations in the books of Alexander Litvinenko and accused him of

creating a conspiracy against Vladimir Putin. The same has been said for the follow

up text written by Alexander Goldfarb titled Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of

Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB.

5

Bob Lazar and John Lear

Conspiracy Theory: The existence of aliens and unexplained flying objects.

Bob Lazar is a man who claims he once was a physicist at S-4 (Sector Four), located

near Groom Lake, Nevada, next to Area 51. According to Lazar, S-4 serves as a

hidden military base for the study of aliens and the reverse engineering of

extraterrestrial flying saucers. In November of 1989, Bob Lazar gave an interview to

an investigative journalist named George Knapp. In the footage Bob discusses Sector

Four. He mentions unexplained aircraft and their method for propulsion. Lazar

claims that the atomic Element 115 can serve as a nuclear fuel. Element 115

(nicknamed Ununpentium) reportedly provides an energy source that will produce

anti-gravity effects under proton bombardment, along with antimatter for energy

production.

These claims are actually the most interesting aspect of Bob Lazar’s interview,

because Element 115, Ununpentium, wasn’t discovered until 2003, which is fourteen

years after Lazar mentioned it. Bob Lazar claimed that if you amplify the nucleus of

Element 115, the resulting large-scale gravitational effect can distort the space-time

continuum and shorten the distance traveled. Bob claims that he was given an

introductory briefing describing the history of extraterrestrial beings on Earth for

the past 100,000 years. The beings originate from the Zeta Reticuli 1 and 2 star

systems, and are therefore referred to as Zeta Reticulians, popularly called Greys.

Bob Lazar has stated that he has college degrees from the California Institute of

Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1990, he pled guilty to

felony pandering charges and declared bankruptcy.

In 1993, the Los Angeles Times conducted research into Bob Lazar’s background and

found that there was no evidence to support his claims of schooling. In the year

2000, Lazar started United Nuclear, an amateur scientific supply company operated

in Laingsburg, MI.

John Lear is a conspiracy theorist. Lear is a skilled and experienced American pilot

who has operated over 160 different types of aircraft. His father is Bill Lear, who was

the founder of the Lear Jet Corporation, a manufacturer of business jets. John Lear

has many theories, but we will examine only a few. He believes that the U.S.

government is hiding the existence of numerous alien species. Lear claims that the

creatures are living underground on Earth in secret bases. He continues to suggest

that there are over 150,000 of these aliens under New York alone.

John Lear says that the aliens regularly hunt, abduct and eat thousands of humans

every year, with the majority being children. He introduces a stance on the statistics

of child abduction in the United States, which is actually quite shocking.

Approximately 850,000 people are reported missing in the U.S. every year. This is

one individual every 40 seconds. A huge percentage of these reports are missing

children. Some of John Lear’s most talked about conspiracy theories are related to

September 11, 2001. He has suggested that it would be impossible for the most

skilled pilot to crash a Boeing 767 directly into the World Trade Center. His ideas

have been highly contended and John Lear’s Wikipedia page has been removed

because of his views.

4

William Campbell Douglas

Conspiracy Theory: AIDS is a man-made biological weapon.

Dr. William Campbell Douglas II is a man who publishes a newsletter titled Daily

Dose. The ideas presented in his writing are extremely controversial. William

Douglas refers to himself as “the conscience of modern medicine.” Let’s examine

some of his most famous suggestions. William Douglas has written that the modern

day cancer treatments are harmful. He says that the drugs used in chemotherapy are

“ineffective” and “unacceptably toxic.” Douglas claims that mammograms are not

good. He has suggested that they are causing the mass disfigurement of American

woman, while not reducing the spread of breast cancer.

William Douglas has written that the current test for prostate cancer is practically

worthless, and can lead to impotence, loss of urinary control and surgical

complications. He is against biopsies for cancer detection and says the government is

hiding a non-invasive screening method. Douglas challenges the mainstream belief

that skin cancer is caused by sun exposure. He doesn’t like Brita water filters and has

some harsh words for vegetarians. William Douglas has said that fiber in your diet is

useless and that coffee is a natural miracle. He has frequently discussed the healthy

aspects of cigarettes, and suggested that the world population is experiencing an

unexplained outbreak of lung cancer in non-smokers.

William Douglas has written about the chemical compound Dimethyl sulfoxide,

claiming the substance has painkiller properties that are being suppressed from

release. He has attacked the drug Gardasil. Gardasil is a vaccine that was approved

by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 8, 2006, for use in the

prevention of certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV). The drug has been

riddled with complaints and been connected with a series of unexplained deaths. As

of February 2009, 40 million doses of Gardasil have been distributed worldwide. In

2007, medical groups, politicians and parents began to complain after the drug’s

manufacturer began a campaign to get state legislatures to require 11 and 12-year-old

girls to get a three-dose vaccine of Gardasil as a requirement for school attendance.

The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, issued an executive order mandating the use of

Gardasil in children, which was later overturned by the Texas legislature. In 2003,

William Campbell Douglas published a book titled AIDS and Biological Warfare. In

the text he claims that AIDS is a man-made biological weapon. He has suggested

that following the expansion of the virus, a smoke screen of misinformation was

developed in order to cloud the issue. William Douglas is a controversial character

and his ideas are not supported by medicine or science. Many feel he is taking

advantage of people with cancer and looking to profit on absurd claims.

3

John Coleman

Conspiracy Theory: The New World Order.

John Coleman is an author and analyst of world affairs. He claims to have been a

British Intelligence Officer for MI6. Coleman has published a large collection of

books that examine controversial topics. He argues that a small collection of people,

whom he calls The Committee of 300, constitute the world’s ruling elite. Coleman

has suggested that the group is attempting to form one-world government, or a New

World Order. In the text, The Committee of 300 (The Olympians) is a group founded

by the British aristocracy, in 1727. The goal of the organization is to influence

politics, commerce, banking, media and the military, for centralized global purposes.

Coleman has suggested the group is possibly headed by the Rothschild family of

international financiers and a collection of Royal Families.

John Coleman argues that the Muslim Brotherhood is a secret Masonic order

created with support from T. E. Lawrence, Bertrand Russell and St. John Philby, to

“keep the Middle East backward so its natural resource, oil, could continue to be

looted.” The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the largest political opposition

organization in many Arab states. At various times in history, the group has used

violence and been banned in Egypt for attempting to overthrow Cairo’s secular

government. Since the 1970s, the Egyptian Brotherhood has disavowed violence and

sought to participate in Egyptian politics. In 2011, the Brotherhood took an active

part in the Egyptian Revolution. Afterwards, the Muslim Brotherhood announced it

would set up the Freedom and Justice Party to contest post-revolutionary

parliamentary elections.

John Coleman has criticized a large collection of private organizations, including the

Club of Rome, the Giorgio Cini Foundation, the Interreligious Peace Colloquium and

the Tavistock Institute. The Club of Rome is “a group of world citizens, sharing a

common concern for the future of humanity.” The organization consists of current

and former Heads of State, UN bureaucrats, high-level politicians and government

officials, diplomats, scientists, economists and business leaders from around the

globe. In 1972, the Club of Rome raised considerable public attention with a report

titled The Limits to Growth. In the paper, five variables are examined to predict

exponential growth. It concludes that humanity will experience an economic and

social collapse in the 21st century. Upon the papers release, a large collection of

economists, scientists and political figures labeled the text rhetoric, with insufficient

evidence.

2

Gary McKinnon

Conspiracy Theory: The existence of aliens and free energy suppression.

Gary McKinnon is a Scottish systems administrator and hacker, who has been

accused of what the United States claims is the “biggest military computer hack of all

time.” McKinnon has been accused of hacking into 97 United States military and

NASA computers over a 13-month period between February 2001 and March 2002,

using the name Solo. The compromised networks are owned and operated by NASA,

the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force. Gary

McKinnon has been accused of deleting critical files from the operating systems,

which subsequently shut down the U.S. Army’s Military District network of 2,000

computers for 24 hours. He has also been accused of deleting U.S. Navy Weapons

logs.

Gary McKinnon has denied the charges, arguing that he was only searching for

evidence of free energy suppression and a cover-up of UFO activity. Gary claims that

he found evidence indicating that the U.S. government has been hiding information

regarding extraterrestrial life and free energy. He has indicated in many interviews

that it was easy for him break into the U.S. governments highly secure networks. He

accomplished this by writing a Perl script that tied together people’s programs and

searched for blank passwords. This enabled him to scan 65,000 machines in just

over eight minutes. He looked for computers with a high ranking status and if the

system didn’t have a password, McKinnon was able to hack the default and gain

access.

Gary claims that during his time in the network, he identified multiple IP addresses

that were hacking into the U.S. system. He discovered a group called the Disclosure

Project, which he suggests is a collection of 400 expert witnesses that have identified

UFO activity. McKinnon says that he read documents indicating that there is alien

technology and that it has allowed scientist to create anti-gravity devices and free

energy. He claims that the U.S. government has captured a spacecraft and reverse-

engineered it. McKinnon said he discovered that NASA regularly airbrushes

unexplained aircraft out of high resolution satellite imagery.

Gary found evidence of a file named “Non-terrestrial officers” and described off-

world cargo operations in space. Since 2002, Gary McKinnon has been banned from

using a computer with access to the Internet. In late 2005, the United States began

an extradition process against McKinnon. On July 20, 2010, President Barack

Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron said that they have discussed the Gary

McKinnon issue and are working to find an appropriate solution. If he is extradited

to the United States and charged, Gary could face up to 70 years in prison. Many

people feel that Gary McKinnon discovered a large collection of secrets that he has

not announced to the press.

1

Anatoliy Golitsyn and James Angleton

Conspiracy Theory: The Soviet Union and the CIA.

Anatoliy Golitsyn is a Soviet KGB defector and author of two books about the long-

term deception strategy of the KGB leadership. During his time in the Soviet Union,

Golitsyn worked in the strategic planning department of the KGB with the rank of

Major. On December 15, 1961, under the name Ivan Klimov, Golitsyn defected with

his wife and daughter to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) via Helsinki, Finland.

Upon arrival he was interviewed by CIA counter-intelligence director James Jesus

Angleton. Golitsyn provided information on many famous Soviet double agents

including Kim Philby, Donald Duart Maclean, Guy Burgess and John Vassall. He

claimed that Harold Wilson (then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) was a

KGB informer and agent of influence.

Golitsyn accused the KGB of killing British politician Hugh Gaitskell, so Harold

Wilson could take over the Labour Party. Anatoliy Golitsyn successfully convinced

CIA director James Angleton that the CIA had been infiltrated by numerous KGB

agents. Golitsyn claimed that the KGB was using a campaign to learn how the CIA

analyzed information, which was then used to manipulate America into helping the

Soviet Union in its objectives. In response to this, James Angleton suspended the

careers of multiple CIA officers who were under suspicion. Under most

circumstances, the FBI and CIA did not support James Angleton or Anatoliy

Galitsyn. In a notable account, Anatoliy Golitsyn suggested that the Sino-Soviet split

was a deception plan to push America into the Vietnam War.

James Angleton went so far as to speculate that U.S. Secretary of State Henry

Kissinger might be under KGB influence. In response to Angleton’s actions, a man

named William Colby was put in charge of reorganizing the CIA. He officially

relinquished the influence of Angleton and Galitsyn. James Angleton accused

numerous foreign leaders of being Soviet spies. This includes Canadian Prime

Ministers Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme,

West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson and

members of the United States Congress. James Angleton’s resignation was

announced on Christmas Eve of 1975.

In 1984, Anatoliy Golitsyn published a book titled New Lies for Old. The text

describes a series of predictions about the future of world governments. In the text,

Golitsyn predicts the collapse of the communist bloc. He warns about a long-term

deception strategy designed to lull the West into a false sense of security, with the

result being an economic crippling and diplomatic isolation of the United States. The

book claims that “as early as 1959, the KGB was working up a plot to manipulate

foreign public opinion on a global scale.” In an interesting twist, a large collection of

the predictions made in Anatoliy Golitsyn’s book have become historically accurate.

+

Coast to Coast AM Caller

Art Bell is an American broadcaster. He is known primarily as one of the founders

and the original host of the paranormal-themed radio program Coast to Coast AM.

On September 11, 1997, Art Bell received a call from a frantic person during an Area

51 themed program. The caller gives a disturbing message before the show is cut off

the air due to “satellite failure.” “I am a former employee of Area 51 that was let go

on medical discharge a week ago. I have been running across the country and I don’t

know where to start. They’re going to triangulate on this position really soon.” Art

jumps in, “so you can’t spend a lot of time on the phone, give us something quick.”

“Ok, what we are thinking of as aliens Art, they’re extra-dimensional beings that an

earlier precursor of the space program made contact with.

They are not what they claim to be. They have infiltrated a lot of aspects of the

military establishment, particularly the Area 51. The disasters that are coming, the

military, I am sorry, the government knows about them. There are a lot of safe areas

in this world and we could start moving the population, but they are not. They want

the major population centers wiped out, so that the few that are left will be easier to

control.” The call is lost after this statement. The audio recording is chilling. The

man’s voice is clearly distraught and he sobs during the conversation. He is a great

actor and this is an incredible hoax.

Top 10 Scariest Filipino Monsters

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Share by gabi319

I mentioned in a comment in 15 Bogeymen from Around the World that a list could

easily be made of just Filipino monsters and mythological creatures. Time to put my

money where my mouth is (or rather put my fingers where my keyboard is) and

submit this list! Here are, ten of the most scary and unusual monsters in Filipino

mythology.

10

Aswang

The aswang is probably the most common of Filipino monsters since there are so

many different kinds. In general, they are shape shifters who are human by day and

then at night turn into a dog, a pig, a bat, cat, snake… the type of animal depends on

the regional lore. They break into funeral homes and steal recent corpses. They are

also known to enter homes to drink human blood and can turn people into aswang

by tricking the human to bite them in return. The aswang are especially hungry for

human fetus so some of the more superstitious stories include neighborhoods

patrols set up in front of the home of a pregnant woman to protect her from

wandering stray animals in case they are the aswang in disguise.

9

Matruculan

The Matruculan is one of many Filipino creatures who attack pregnant women. This

particular creature first impregnates a virgin before coming back later to kill the

woman and eat the fetus (although some stories say that both mom and baby are

eaten). Some stories claim that the woman is not a virgin but rather married and

already pregnant. To protect the mother and child, the husband must swing a

balisong (pictured above), or butterfly knife, above the woman’s belly while she is in

labor. This leads one to wonder: which is scarier, an invisible mythological creature,

or the father of your unborn child brandishing a knife above your abdomen?

8

Kapre

These are hairy giants with glowing eyes and a cigar that never burns out. They can

usually be found sitting atop of trees waiting for nightfall to scare naughty children

who are outside of their homes late at night. The Kapre is a unique Filipino monster

because he doesn’t steal fetuses, eat people or cut them up. The Kapre simply enjoys

scaring children… and I suppose laughing at them for being scared. Some stories

claim they are actually very friendly beings who can grant wishes if you find their

magical white stone. One can assume a Kapre is nearby when trees sway while there

is no breeze or you see faint smoke from high above, probably from the Kapre‘s

cigar..

7

Duwende

These are tiny human-like creatures that live underground. There are two main types

of Duwende: the duwende puti who are supposedly kind creatures who bring about

good luck, or the duwende itim who are mean folk that like to play pranks on

humans. They generally keep to themselves and only interact with humans when

their homes are disturbed. For example, a kindly farmer who takes care of his plot

may be rewarded by the duwende puti with a greater abundance of crops than usual.

However, someone who kicks an anthill on or near the home of a duwendi itim will

be punished with a myriad of ailments from twisted mouth to swollen testicles. The

best way to avoid Duwende of any kind is to say “Tabi-tabi po” aloud before entering

what might be their space.

6

Tiyanak

The tiyanak is similar to the Greek mythological siren in that it lures its prey with its

voice. A person hears a baby cry from deep in the woods and then follows the sound

to rescue the baby. Some stories say the person wanders aimlessly in search for the

baby and becomes hopelessly lost. Other stories claim that the person eventually

finds a baby in the middle of the woods. When it is picked up, the baby then shape-

shifts into a monster with large, sharp teeth. It then eats the person and transforms

back to a baby to await its next victim. With either version, the story ends with “…

and he was never found again.”

5

Sigbin

Depending on region and storyteller, the sigbin resembles either a hornless goat, a

reptilian crow, or something vaguely along the lines of the Chupacabra. What is most

common with all accounts is that its head hangs between its forelegs which are much

shorter than its hindlegs. Whether because of physiology or because it makes the

sigbin seem scarier, it is also known to crabwalk backwards. The sigbin also has a

long whip-like tail that emit’s a foul stench and two grasshopper-like legs on its neck

that enable it to jump far distances. They wander around at night in search of

children to devour but they keep the hearts to make amulets. Most stories and

sightings originate from the Cebu region. However, although it is some distance

away, in 2005 scientists in Borneo discovered a “cat-fox-like carnivore” with hind

legs longer than forelegs giving it an awkward gait and physical appearance that

somewhat fits many of the descriptions of the sigbin (e.g. long tail, short forearms,

can jump far distances, carnivorous). No conclusive evidence has been found yet to

link the two together. [Image Source]

4

Tikbalang

The tikbalang is described as having the head of a horse, the body of a man and the

hooves of a horse where human feet would be. In northern regions, the tikbalang is

considered a nuisance but generally harmless. They enjoy disorienting weary

travelers and making them imagine things that don’t exist. Travelers can easily stop

the pranks by turning their own shirt inside out and asking the tikbalang to stop

bothering them. The stories of tikbalang from southern regions paint the creature as

a much more sinister monster. He has glowing red eyes, a large cigar and smells of

the stench of burning hair. When angered (and he angers easily), the tikbalang will

stamp you to death. To tame the beast, the person must pluck the one of three

unusually long hairs found in its mane. After that, the tikbalang is your slave.

Folklore states that when the sun shines through the clouds while it is raining, a pair

of Tikbalang are getting married.

3

Kumakatok

In the middle of the night, a knock will sound at the door and outside are three

hooded figures, one a pretty, young woman and two elderly men. There are no

stories of how the group was formed or where they originated but tales about them

have popped up all over the Philippines and with more frequency around the time of

outbreaks. Legend has it that a visit from them is an omen that someone in the

family will soon die. There are no paintings or hangings that can keep them at bay.

Leaving the door unanswered does not help either. They simply knock and leave and

then someone would still die shortly thereafter.

2

The White Lady / Kaperosa

The White Lady is a specific kind of Multo, or ghost. Most multo tend to be family

members who come back to certain relatives to take care of unfinished business but

the White Lady is unique in that she doesn’t appear to only her relatives or even to

specific people she knew when alive. Many sightings have reported her in empty

buildings, near forests and on cliffs. However, she is most commonly reported seen

along Balete Drive in Quezon City. She was a young lady who was raped and killed by

two Japanese soldiers during WWII. While there haven’t been stories of the White

Lady being a purposefully malicious being, she has been the reported as the cause of

more than a few car accidents by drivers who look in their rearview mirror and see a

young lady in the backseat wearing a white dress. Sure, some strange, unknown lady

sitting in your backseat is bad enough but the White Lady is also said to have no face

or a face covered in blood.

1

Manananggal

The Manananggal is sometimes considered to be a special breed of the aswangs.

They are sometimes referred to as “Tik-tik” because of the sound it makes while in

flight. To confuse its victims, the tik-tik sound becomes fainter as she nears. These

creatures generally take on the form of a beautiful woman with large, leathery bat

wings. The lower half of her body takes root to the ground while the upper part

detaches as she flies in search of food. The manananggal has a taste for human blood

and a particular craving for the hearts of human fetuses which it retrieves with its

long, proboscis-like tongue. Like the Western culture’s vampire, the manananggals

hate garlic and salt so hanging garlic or placing a bowl of salt near the window is the

best way to keep them away. To kill a manananggal, one must find the lower body

and spread salt or ashes on the open wound. That prevents the two halves from

joining and transforming back to human form when daylight breaks

10 Long Awaited Conspiracy Theories

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Share by Lee Bradbury

This is our third place winner in the Listverse launch competition. This list looks at

10 more conspiracy theories that may, or may not, link to various theories Listverse

has already covered. By popular demand, here are 10 awesome examples of

governmental cover-ups, global cataclysms on the verge of occurrence, and

supernatural shenanigans that defy explanation. Read, if you dare, but keep an eye

over your shoulder: Someone may be watching…

10

Amelia Earhart

Everyone knows about Earhart’s ill-fated voyage around the world. She intended to

be the first person to circumnavigate the globe at the equator, which would be the

longest such trip (about 29,000 miles). After a failed first attempt, she departed

with one of her best friends, Fred Noonan, from California to Miami. After leaving

Miami, Earhart’s last stop before the Pacific was at Lae, New Guinea, on June, 29,

1937. She and Noonan departed from there on July 2, making for Howland Island,

2,556 miles away, a tiny island in the middle of nowhere. However, they never

arrived at Howland. All that is known is from Earhart’s radio transmissions,

attempting to find Howland. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter, Itasca, picked up her

voice and attempted to reply to her, but never got through. The Itasca records them

as having made it to the immediate vicinity of the island around 7:58 a.m., on July 3:

“We must be on you, but cannot see you — but gas is running low. Have been unable

to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet.” The fact that the Itasca could not

get through to her makes no sense.

No one ever saw her or Noonan again. The various theories as to what happened to

them have run from the most plausible “pilot error and exhaustion of fuel, landing in

the sea,” to “crash-landing on another island controlled by the hostile Japanese, who

killed both, or forced Earhart to become the Tokyo Rose, the friendly American

demoralizer of WWII,” to the most extreme, “Earhart flew through a temporal rift.”

That’s a rip in the fabric of space-time, and mathematics now states that such

“wormholes” are possible, although mathematics cannot yet answer whether or not

they exist in Earth’s atmosphere. The Bermuda Triangle is the most infamous area

where conspiracy theorists say these wormholes are.

9

Project Phoenix

Project Phoenix is an independently-funded foundation, intent on the search for

extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Many separate organizations, foundations and

even individual people, are involved in finding out if we are not alone in the

universe. Phoenix, so the theory states, is secretly in charge of all the major

organizations searching for alien signals. They are based out of Mountain View, CA,

and went online in 1995. They use the largest telescope in the Southern Hemisphere,

the Parkes radio scope in New South Wales, Australia. They do not scan the whole

sky, but only those systems within 200 light-years of ours, totaling about 800

stars. So far, there have been no signals, or so we’ve been told.

In fact, the Project is a cover for a secret communications link between Earth and

some alien intelligence out there. Now that the aliens know where we are, they are

on their way, and they may not come in peace. Project Phoenix has no intention of

telling anyone, of course, and has brokered a deal for the survival of its members

(who usually include all the most powerful people in the world) by giving away the

weaknesses of our military organizations. No announcement will be made to the

public until the alien arrival is complete, in order to avoid a panic for as long as

possible. This point ties in with #3.

8

The Death of Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart may have been the most naturally gifted genius, in any

field of human activity, that the world has ever seen, or shall see. His memory was

like a tape recorder. He wrote down Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere from memory, after

only one hearing, at the age of 14, when on a visit to Rome. He went, later that day,

to the second performance and made a few minor corrections. His music is as

perfectly fresh, light and brilliant to listen to today as it was in his lifetime.

But every genius has his competitors. The film Amadeus follows the theory that

Antonio Salieri poisoned him because he could not stand being second best (even

though he was far below second place) to “a boastful, lustful, smutty, infantile

boy.” All that is known of Mozart’s death comes from correspondence that has

survived to be scrutinized by modern doctors. He fell suddenly ill, while conducting

the premiere of La clemenza di Tito, in Prague on September 6, 1791. He died on

December 5th aged 35, and in the prime of his life.

This has given rise to the theory that he was poisoned, and Salieri, who made no

secret of his disdain for Mozart’s character, seems a plausible scapegoat. However,

Salieri also made no secret of his love for Mozart’s music, and it seems unlikely that

he would have ended such genius. Mozart had, however, other enemies. There are

about 120 different diagnoses floating around concerning his death, from poisoning

to overwork, cirrhosis or alcohol poisoning. Even trichinosis (which is usually

acquired from consuming undercooked pork) has been suggested. The most

common theory is rheumatic fever. The official cause was recorded as “severe

miliary fever,” which could be anything.

7

Apricot Pits Cure Cancer

Apricot pits, like many fruit seeds, contain cyanogenic glycosides, which are similar

enough to cyanide to kill you, if you eat a large quantity of them. These glycosides

also have a chemical in them called laetrile (LAY-uh-trill), which the presented

theory states can not only prevent cancer, but can actively seek it out in the body and

destroy it with extreme prejudice. The American Cancer Association currently has

no such drug in its arsenal: chemo-therapy and radiation therapy are, supposedly,

the best we can do at present, and they are woefully inefficient, often poisoning the

patient to death.

The theory states that laetrile is the cure the whole world has been looking for,

throughout the 20th Century, but the ACA and the American Medical Association

refuse to let this knowledge out, because once the cure is available, the cancer

industry will go out of business. There is factual documentation that apricot pits

were used in the 1950s in Europe, to reduce the size of tumors, and the

documentation states that it worked. But, rather than cure people, as per the

Hippocratic Oath, the doctors involved in this cover-up choose to treat people

indefinitely, prolonging life for a few years, while the bills, and their paychecks, rack

up astronomically. To this end, the AMA and ACA have issued public service

announcements defaming apricot pits as an extremely dangerous food to ingest: you

have to crush the pit just right to extract the laetrile with only a minute quantity of

cyanide, so you do not poison yourself. This is true, but the two organizations

maintain that it impossible to do this and that laetrile does nothing for cancer, even

though both statements are verifiably false.

6

The Man in the Iron Mask

A lot of time has passed since Louis XIV was the King of France. So, here are the

facts concerning a prisoner arrested in 1669, during his reign. His name is given as

Eustache Dauger, and he was transferred from prison to prison, all over France, for

the next 34 years. It appears as though the authorities didn’t know what to do with

him. He was held in the Fortress of Pignerol, then in the Bastille, and for a time, he

was fitted with a padlocked steel mask over his entire head, with slots for his eyes,

nose and mouth. For most of his incarceration, he was masked with black

velvet. Correspondence from the Marquis de Louvois, one of the king’s secretaries, to

the warden of Pingerol, indicated that the prisoner was to be housed in a special cell

with multiple iron doors, so that no one outside could hear him. The prisoner was to

be instructed that if he ever said anything other than “food” or “water” he was to be

killed on the spot.

It seems strange that such pains should be taken to ensure a prisoner’s silence and

solitude for 34 years. He mercifully died on 19 November, 1703, in the Bastille, and

was buried the next day, under the name “Marchioly.” Theories abound as to his

identity. The fact that he was not simply killed implies that he was of the royal

lineage, and Louis XIV had to honor the law that no person of royal blood be

murdered. However, if he was happy to put this man in prison for 34 years, he

obviously had no problem circumventing the law in the first place. Dauger may have

been a twin brother of the king, and thus a challenge to his throne, in which case

Louis could not bring himself to have his own brother killed. Voltaire believed that

he was the king’s illegitimate half-brother. Alexander Dumas Sr. used this theory in

his famous book, on which most of the films have been based. He may also have

been a general named Vivien du Bulonde, who acted in a cowardly manner at the

siege of Cuneo, and infuriated the king. But then, why the mask? France had many

generals. There are many other candidates, including the son of Charles II of

England. Who was that masked man? Pictured above is the view from the real cell of

the Man in the Iron Mask. [Image source]

5

Barcodes

One of the more chilling moments of Saint John the Divine’s Revelation from God, at

the end of the Bible is Apocalypse. 13:16-18, which says “And he shall make all, both

little and great, rich and poor, freemen and bondmen, to have a character in their

right hand, or on their foreheads. And that no man might buy or sell, but he that

hath the character, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is

wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast. For it is

the number of a man: and the number of him is six hundred sixty-six.”

This was written at a time before global communication was feasible, but now, at a

time when it has been worked out to an exact science, Christian fundamentalists and

Apocalypse enthusiasts are more scared than ever. They fear anyone attempting to

“communize” the world with commercial implants: barcodes in the forehead or

hand, designed to facilitate buying and selling. Such implants have not yet appeared,

but the theory states that the moment is close at hand, when all the UPC codes that

are printed on packages will be removed and one UPC per person will be used,

scanned directly from that person’s body, and that we will not have a choice about

using them.

To this end, the theory goes on to say that the barcodes on packages, credit cards,

debit cards and even personal checks are secretly hiding a 666 somewhere on them.

The theory is only corroborated, however implausibly, by the fact that barcodes did

not come about until 1948, the same year that the Jews finally got a home to call

their own. According to the theory, Bernard Silver, who invented barcodes that year

after overhearing the president of a local food chain asking for a system to read

product information, via machine, in a grocery store, was deceived by supernatural

forces into inventing them: the president of the food chain was actually Satan.

4

The NSA

The national Security Agency does exist. Their headquarters are located in Fort

Meade, Maryland, fifteen miles southwest of Baltimore. The parking lot has 18,000

spaces, most of which are filled during the day, and Interstate-295 South has an exit

solely for those employees, with a road sign that reads, “NSA Employees Only.” The

NSA works in tandem with the CIA and FBI, but its activities are so top-secret that

no one in the entire planet, except for a handful of high-ranking NSA supervisors,

knows what they are doing. They are officially “responsible for the collection and

analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, which involves

cryptanalysis.”

Whenever you see the word “crypt” in a conspiracy theory, some wonderful fun is

going to come about. What no one realises, not even the President, is that the NSA

knows the truth behind every single conspiracy theory ever put forth. This is because

they have the entire world’s information at their fingertips, and control the Internet

more diabolically than Stalin controlled the Soviet Union. The conspiracy theories

about the NSA either blame it for, or accuse it of withholding information

concerning: the 9/11 terrorist attacks; the alien landings at Roswell, NM, and

Rendlesham, UK; all UFO sightings; the location of the Ark of the Covenant; the

identity of the antichrist, who is alive and well; the Kennedy assassinations (both of

them); the protection of high-ranking Nazis after the war, including Hitler; the

Philadelphia Experiment and the Montauk Project; the date for the end of the world,

according to the Mayan long count calendar; the location of the asteroid that will hit

us; and just about anything else you could dream up.

That’s how this theory works: once you set it up with an all-powerful, secret

government organization, it can effectively link to any other conspiracy theory.

What’s most mysterious about it is that Harry Truman founded the NSA, in 1952, 5

years after the founding of the CIA, which was also courtesy of Truman, who was a

33rd degree Master Freemason. The NSA have a special handshake, the very same

one the Freemasons use, or so the theory states. The CIA is on the books as having

“no police or law enforcement functions, either at home or abroad,” including

“sabotage, anti-sabotage, demolition and evacuation measures…subversion [and]

assistance to underground resistance movements, guerrillas and refugee liberation

movements, and support of indigenous anti-communist elements in threatened

countries of the free world.” The NSA has no such requirements on its books. No one

can control them because no one knows what they’re up to. They are not even

thought to go by the name “NSA,” but instead by “National Security Council,” which

is actually a White House cover to make it appear that the President is in control of

them. Conspiracy theorists lovingly refer to them as “No Such Agency.”

3

Star Wars

No, not the film, but the Strategic Defense Initiative. The brainchild of the late, great

Ronald Reagan, who insisted on staying one step ahead of the Soviets, was going to

be comprised of particle beam weapons (á la Tesla’s Death Ray), electromagnetic

railguns (á la the Schwarzenegger film Eraser) and X-Ray lasers that would shoot

down nuclear ICBMs. America was skeptical, in case you don’t remember, and the

whole project was eventually scrapped, because of the impossibility of maintaining

such a wide array of satellite orbits, communications, computers and so on. Even

after American scientists told Reagan it was impossible, he refused to give up on his

dream. Once his presidency (or reign of terror, as some might say) was over, the SDI

faded into obscurity. But why, in the world, was he so obsessed with it? Anyone else

would have given up along with the scientists. Especially considering that the SDI’s

main task was to deal with a Soviet nuclear bombardment. And yet Gorbachev

offered, in 1986, to eliminate all nuclear weapons in the world within 15 years, which

would have been the crowning achievement of Reagan’s career. But he said no.

The theory states that Reagan knew of an impending extraterrestrial attack on Earth,

just like H. G. Wells depicted. Only Reagan and a very select few knew of it, and did

not want to terrify the world’s population. So, he tried to cover it up, while preparing

for it in true Reagan style: don’t beg for mercy–fight back. The most convincing

evidence that aliens are on the move right now, and perhaps not far away, comes in

two parts: firstly that George W. Bush tried his best to reinitiate the SDI, and it was

dubbed “Son of Star Wars” and “The Empire Strikes Back.” Dubya refused to listen

to the protests of anyone, even the UK, which was where he intended to build part of

the SDI system. The second part is a remark Reagan made to Steven Spielberg at the

1982 White House screening of “E. T.: the Extraterrestrial.” He leaned over to

Spielberg and said: “You have no idea how damned close to reality this is.”

2

Earth Is Hollow

This is one of the lister’s personal favorites. For centuries, people believed that the

earth is hollow in the center, that it is not a superheated mantle spinning around a

solid iron core, but is in fact a hollow sphere of crust, like a gumball. How thin this

crust measures is up for grabs, but the theory centers on what might be residing

down there. Edmond Halley, the namesake of Halley’s Comet, theorized, in 1692,

that the Earth is a shell, 500 miles thick, with concentric rings inside. Inside there

would be a solid core, and between the rings there would be various atmospheres of

fluorescent gases. When these gases escape at the poles, they create the aurora

borealis and australis.

By the 20th Century, it had reached the mainstream, been argued against by

scientists and caught the attention of Adolf Hitler, who sent a mission to the South

Pole to find the entrance he was sure was there. It would lead to the underground,

where Hitler believed a subterranean race of 12-foot-tall, super intelligent

humanoids lived. He intended to convince them to come up to the surface and fight

for Nazi Germany, or at least give the Nazis some futuristic firepower. Whether

Hitler sent this mission or not is part of the theory, but if he did, it never came back.

This was due to either having been killed by the subterranean race, or Antarctica.

He was a madman when it came to occult theories like this, sending missions to

Tibet to find Shambhala, and yes, he actually attempted to find the Ark of the

Covenant. Admiral Karl Donitz is on record as stating that the Fuhrer could be

protected by the Kriegsmarine with “an invisible fortification anywhere in the

world.” He also stated at the Nuremberg Trials that this invisible fortification was

“in the midst of eternal ice.” Once Nazi occultism got into the mix, this theory really

took off. It became a worldwide governmental cover-up, the true source of all the

UFOs ever witnessed and photographed, and the secret hideout of many high-

ranking Nazis after the war, including Hitler, Himmler (the corpse was a double),

Josef Mengele for a time, and many others. It is said that the subterranean race has

the power to keep people alive forever, which means Hitler is still doing fine and may

be on his way back to the surface someday.

1

Tom Ogle

You have probably never heard of him. Tom Ogle invented a vapor-fuel intake

system, in 1977, for all automobiles. His system could be affixed to any existing car

engine, and would enable the car to travel 100 miles on one gallon of gas. He

claimed that the emissions were clean enough that you could dry your hair with the

exhaust. He astounded the auto industry with his invention, and was, in fact,

approached in 1978 by a representative of Shell Oil, who offered him $20 million, on

the spot, for the patent and plans to his invention. He refused, stating flatly that

Shell would simply shelve the idea and it would never see the light of day.

Tom Ogle was found dead from an apparent overdose of Darvon and alcohol

poisoning on 19, August, 1981. He had been known to drink, but never so heavily

that he had to go to the hospital. The Darvon is the weakest link to the report that

his death was an accidental suicide: Darvon is an opioid painkiller. It does nothing

else, and Ogle had no history of using it. He also had no immediate history of pain

requiring an opioid analgesic. The theory states that he was murdered by a Shell-

hired assassin, who made it look like a suicide. He actually got his fuel system

patented, on 11 December, 1979, with patent number 4,177,179. He was shot and

wounded outside an El Paso, TX, bar earlier in the summer of 1981. He claimed that

people were after him for his patent. Three months after his death, his original

schematics and blueprints went missing from the Patent Office in Washington, DC.

Some of his schematics have turned up on the Internet, but not enough have

surfaced to actually build his device