Oh My God particle
An ultra high energy cosmic ray - named by a teenaged girl (probably).
Centaurus A - a likely culprit
The Oh-My-God particle was an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray (most likely a proton) detected on the evening of 15 October 1991 over Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. Its observation was a shock to astrophysicists, who estimated its energy to be approximately 3×1020 eV (3×108 TeV, about 20 million times more energetic than the highest energy measured in radiation emitted by an extragalactic object); in other words, a subatomic particle with kinetic energy equal to that of 50 Joule, or a 5-ounce (142 g) baseball traveling at about 100 kilometers per hour (60 mph). [...read more]
With thanks to Jon Martin for the suggestion.
Elmer McCurdy
A mummified Wild West bandit, identified after being discovered by the crew of the Six Million Dollar Man? I'll take that, thank you.
Looks like a bad lot
Elmer McCurdy (January, 1880 in Washington, Maine – October 7, 1911) was an Oklahoma outlaw whose mummified body was discovered in The Pike amusement zone in Long Beach, California in December 1976. [...read more]
Thanks to Brittany Nguyen, whose surname and the pronunciation thereof will feature in a future Yattix.com article.
Isdal Woman
An unsolved Norwegian murder - if only there was a humourless detective in an unpleasant jumper who could help...
Shame, it looks so nice there
The Isdal woman (Norwegian: Isdalskvinnen) is the subject of an unsolved case involving an unidentified woman found dead at Isdalen Valley in Bergen, Norway on 29 November 1970. Considered one of Norway's most profound mysteries, the case has been the subject of intense speculation over the years regarding the identity of the victim, the events leading up to her death and the cause of death. Public interest in the case remains significant.
The woman was found in a part of Isdalen popularly known as "Death Valley", which lies in the direction towards Mount Ulriken. Next to the scene police found a burned-out passport. The autopsy showed that the woman had suffered blunt force trauma to the neck and had taken several sleeping pills before she died. The official police report concluded suicide, but this conclusion is highly controversial.
Man in the Iron Mask
A classic story, that was actually true. And we still don't know who the man in the iron mask actually was...
All we know is - he was in Slipknot
The Man in the Iron Mask (French: L'Homme au Masque de Fer) is a name given to a prisoner arrested as Eustache Dauger in 1669 or 1670, and held in a number of jails, including the Bastille and the Fortress of Pignerol (today Pinerolo). He was held in the custody of the same jailer, Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars, for a period of 34 years. He died on 19 November 1703 under the name of Marchioly, during the reign of Louis XIV of France (1643–1715). The possible identity of this man has been thoroughly discussed and has been the subject of many books, because no one ever saw his face, which was hidden by a mask of black velvet cloth. [...read more]
Niger uranium forgeries
Forged documents that were used as the basis for a war? Surely not...
The Niger uranium forgeries are forged documents initially revealed by SISMI (Italian military intelligence). These documents seem to depict an attempt made by Saddam Hussein in Iraq to purchase yellowcake uranium powder from Niger during the Iraq disarmament crisis.
On the basis of these documents and other indicators, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom asserted that Iraq violated United Nations Iraq sanctions by attempting to procure nuclear material for the purpose of creating weapons of mass destruction. [...read more]
Captain Charles Johnson
Everything you think you know about pirates was probably written by a fictional pirate. Get your head around that.
Why are pirates pirates? They just ARRRRRR
Captain Charles Johnson is the British author of the 1724 book A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates, whose identity remains a mystery. No record of a captain by this name exists. Some scholars have suggested that "Charles Johnson" was actually Daniel Defoe writing under a pen name, but this is disputed. His work was influential in shaping popular conceptions of pirates, and is the prime source for the biographies of many well known pirates. [...read more]
Integratron
An acoustically perfect structure, built to rejuvenate human cells. Excellent location. First to see will buy.
May also be a transformer
The Integratron is a device constructed on the instruction of George Van Tassel for scientific research on rejuvenation, anti-gravity and time travel. It is a tholos constructed out of wood, fiberglass, various non ferromagnetic metals, glass and concrete . He built the structure in Landers, California (near Joshua Tree) as a "rejuvenation machine" supposedly following instructions provided by visitors from the planet Venus. The structure was financed predominantly by donations, including funds fromHoward Hughes. [...read more]
With thanks to Jon Martin for the suggestion.
Ekranoplan
An Ekranoplan is a type of aeroplane that never quite takes off. Extremely cool. Watch!
A ground effect vehicle (GEV) is one that attains level flight near the surface of the Earth, making use of the aerodynamic interaction between the wings and the surface known as ground effect. Most known are the Soviet ekranoplanes, but names like wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) vehicle, flarecraft, sea skimmer, SkimMachine, or wing-in-surface-effect ship (WISE) occur. In recent years a large number of different GEV types have been developed for both civilian and military use. However, these craft are yet to be put in general use. [...read more]
Dorabella Cipher
No, not a character from a Harry Potter book - an encrypted note from Elgar that was never decoded.
LEMME HOLLA AT YA GURL
The Dorabella Cipher is an enciphered letter written by Edward Elgar to Miss Dora Penny, which was accompanied by another dated July 14, 1897. Penny never deciphered it and its meaning remains unknown.
The cipher, consisting of 87 characters spread over 3 lines, appears to be made up from 24 symbols, each symbol consisting of 1, 2, or 3 approximate semicircles oriented in one of 8 directions (the orientation of several characters is ambiguous). A small dot appears after the fifth character on the third line. [...read more]
Perseus (spy)
Spies are cool. Mystery spies? Even cooler.
Not an actual photograph
Perseus was the codename of a possible Soviet spy alleged to have breached U.S. national security at Los Alamos during the Manhattan project. This name is also given to a spy at White Sands Missile Range, located further south near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Evidence for his or her existence is based on a few references in KGB archives opened (and later closed) to researchers in the early 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union. There are also a few references to Perseus in the VENONA decrypts as PERS. The identity of this person, or even whether or not they actually existed, is unknown, and many of the facts in the matter are questionable. [...read more]
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