03.22.06

Welcome back to another week's installment of The K-Files. Prepare to enter the dangerous world of internet-based paranormal recapping.

This week, the Top Story covers a close-to-home Bigfoot sighting. Next, I present to you some theories regarding the growing 2012 hysteria. Finally, I've got an article showing a possible link between global warming and the mysterious Tunguska Event.

:: Top Story ::

Too close for comfort. Sasquatch Video YouTube.com - Submitted by Richardsade, March 20, 2006. Information regarding the footage. I was on highway 169 in Ely, Northern Minnesota. The date was January 26th, 2006. The time that it happened was around 4:30 a.m. As I was driving down the road I heard screams comming from the woods. It can be compared to an owl type hooting/cry. This caused me to slow down & to see what it was. I was driving about 5 miles an hour or less when in front of my headlights walked this creature which was on 2 legs. When it moved across my headlights it was limping and also walked in a gyrating type manner. I've voiced my opinion on Bigfoot for a while now. Despite being a bit discouraged due to the lack of credible sightings as of late, I continue to hold out hope that one of my most cherished paranormal topics will once and for all be proven genuine. I hope that someone, somewhere, will finally get some piece of evidence that will show to the world, without a shadow of a doubt, that this beast does indeed exist. The important thing to get out of that last sentence is the "someone, somewhere" part. It's all well and good when people spot Bigfoot out east or way up in Canada, but when sightings hit close to home--well, let's just say you wont find me hiking through any dark woods. In the above video, submitted to the website youtube.com by the user 'richardsade', a large, bipedal entity can be seen walking around in some foliage. Being a Minnesota native, this relatively close sighting from Ely has brought cryptozoology to my backyard. A buddy of mine will be attending a college in Ely sometime next year. I don't know about him, but I feel a genuine crypto-opportunity here. Perhaps I will send a video camera with him for off-campus Bigfoot hunts. Personally, though, I'd feel a bit uneasy living amidst Bigfoot-inhabited woods. Not that I'm some kind of coward, or anything...but waking up during the night to the howls of a giant man-ape is not my idea of a good time. The video is not great, and is rather short, but check it out--it's certainly something strange to ogle over.

:: 2012 ::

Professor challenges Mayan calendar opinion News-Journalonline - By MARK HARPER The end of the world will come on Dec. 21, 2012. Or not. While some New Age authors and teachers are touting that date as an apocalypse, a Stetson University professor is challenging the reasoning behind it. Sitler, an associate professor of Spanish language and literature, has been studying and teaching Mayan culture since arriving at Stetson in 1994. He contends the Mayan calendar has long been the subject of "gross misinterpretation" on several hundred Web sites and in a continuous stream of books. Ah the Mayan calendar. I wonder if its ancient architects had any idea about the hysteria it would eventually create? I haven't really made up my mind as to what exactly will occur in December of 2012--the end date of the Mayan calendar--but I'm certain we have another Y2k on our hands. Thankfully, so far, most of the 2012 talk has been localized to more secluded paranormal and internet forums. However, as the time nears, I can almost guarantee this will be all the rage on afternoon talk shows, History Channel specials, and more than a few magazine articles. I shudder thinking of the inevitable hype. For those who don't believe that the Mayans somehow knew when the world would end, Professor Sitler at Stetson University is your man. His comment about the "gross misinterpretation" of the calendar rings true with me. Granted I haven't done nearly as much research as I could on the subject, but I would assume that more than a few of the prognosticating sites devoted to the 2012 debate are using sensationalism to sell books and t-shirts. For now, I think the most important thing to do it stock up and get ready for the end of day-time television as we know it. In less than 6 years, we will see the end of "Who's my baby's daddy?" in exchange for 2012 survival tips.