For approximately one minute a series of bright flashes were visible across the South West Florida communities of Cape Coral, Sanibel, and Ft Myers. Witnesses reported electrical anomalies in their homes and some were even unable to start their car. Following the event, 5,000 homes on Sanibel Island were without power. Currently there is no official explanation for the flashes, though some speculate that the lights may have been caused by failing substations. However this theory would not explain the inability to start cars or the strange sensations felt by witnesses. Watch the flashes for yourself and let me know what you think they are in the comments:

Mysterious lights in the sky over Southwest Cape 21st Nov 2009 [via IQXS]
Bright flashes of light in the sky

 


photo by jimg944

Whether or not you believe that the world will end on December 21st, 2012, it has been near impossible to escape the media blitz surrounding the theory that the pre-columbian Mayans predicted that the world would end in 2012. There is a major motion picture debuting today, numerous TV specials, and even a planned TV series all based on the supposed 2012 apocalypse. Even if you only have a passing interest in the 2012 phenomenon, you should take a look at the incredible chart that Information Is Beautiful has put together that debunks some of the key 2012 “evidence”. They start right at the core of the issue, tackling the mistaken belief that the Mayan calendar ends on December 21st, 2012. They clearly and concisely move through approximately 20 talking points that are favored by many 2012 believers and present clear evidence to dispute them. This is quite possibly the best “quick explanation” of the flaws with the 2012 theories that I have ever seen. It is definitely worth giving up a few minutes to scroll through.

2012: The End Of The Word? [via Boing Boing]

The Seattle Post-Intellengencer is reporting that the FBI has a new lead in the 37 year old D.B. Cooper hijacking case that raises more questions than it answers. A south west Washington resident’s children found a parachute while playing in a rural field he had recently plowed. The FBI believes the parachute is possibly of the same type used by a passenger identifying himself as Dan Cooper during the hijacking of a 727 in 1971. After receiving $200,000 in ransom money and releasing the jet’s passengers, Cooper instructed the pilot to take off, eventually jumping from the jet’s rear stairway mid-flight, ransom in hand. The recent parachute discovery is within the area where Cooper would have landed. If found to belong to Cooper, this new parachute raises some new issues that add to the theory that Cooper was not killed during his escape as the FBI claim. In 1980 a young boy on a picnic with his family found $5,880 of the ransom money along the Columbia River. Experts agree that because of the money’s shallow depth that it could not have been placed on the shores of the Columbia River any earlier than 1974, three years after the hijacking. The lack of a body at the parachute discovery site and its distance from the spot where the ransom money was discovered makes the possibility that Cooper survived the jump quite plausible if the parachute can be linked to the ones given to him in 1971. I personally think that Cooper made the jump, escaping with the ransom and the cache of money found on the banks of the Columbia was a back-up stash placed by Cooper if he felt he needed to run from where ever he settled. While we may never know what happened to D.B., please feel free to share your own theories in the comments.

Possible D.B. Cooper Chute Investigated [via Phantoms and Monsters]
More about D.B. Cooper @ Wikipedia