What Is Killing Amphibians Around the World?

“The amphibians are like canaries in a coal mine and they are in trouble first. …The fact of the matter is: we have only one coal mine for planet earth. The coal mine is in trouble right now. And the amphibians are telling us ­ it’s a warning!”

– Andrew Blaustein, Ph.D., Oregon State University Zoologist

Left: Chytrid fungus infection shows in the pink underbelly of green tree frog. Right: Great barred frog has a severe Chytrid fungus infection that is causing its skin to peel off.  Images by Australia National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Left: Chytrid fungus infection shows in the pink underbelly of green tree frog. Right: Great barred frog has a severe Chytrid fungus infection that is causing its skin to peel off. Images by Australia National Parks and Wildlife Service.



August 26, 2005    Corvallis, Oregon – What is killing amphibians around the world? The die-off in many species began in the 1980s and has not stopped. There have been waves of extensive amphibian die-offs in Australia, Central and South America and spreading into North America. Zoologists and other scientists have been forced to look urgently for the cause. One of the culprits is a fungus called Chytrid (KIT-trid) which attacks amphibians in such a way that they can’t eat. Its formal name is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, which was first discovered on dead and dying frogs in Queensland, Australia in 1993. Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) reports, “This is the first time a chytrid fungus has been found to parasitize vertebrates.”Click for report.

Dust Devils and “Lemon Rinds” on Mars

Above: Several dust devils caught by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, on July 13, 2005, during its exploration of the Gusev Crater. Below: Mars map, yellow arrow points in far right at the Ma'Adim Vallis dry river channel that empties into the Gusev Crater nera the Elysium Planitia region at the Martian equator. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell.
Above: Several dust devils caught by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, on July 13, 2005, during its exploration of the Gusev Crater. Below: Mars map, yellow arrow points in far right at the Ma'Adim Vallis dry river channel that empties into the Gusev Crater nera the Elysium Planitia region at the Martian equator. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell.


August 24, 2005  Pasadena, California - For twenty months now, the robotic explorer, Spirit, has been exploring the Gusev Crater on Mars, while its twin rover, Opportunity, has been exploring the Meridiana Planum. The two sites are 6,600 miles from each other in the equatorial region.

 

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More Half Cat Reports: San Jose and Seattle

Cat cut in half discovered in front yard of south San Jose, California, home, on August 16, 2005, about 4:00 PM. Photograph © 2005 by Thomas G. Holford.
Cat cut in half discovered in front yard of south San Jose, California, home, on August 16, 2005, about 4:00 PM. Photograph © 2005 by Thomas G. Holford.

August 22, 2005  San Jose, California - On August 16, 2005, I received the following email from Thomas G. Holford, a San Jose, California resident:

"Linda:

Today, August 16, 2005, about 4:00 PM, I was walking in a residential
neighborhood in south San Jose, California, when I noticed the remains of an
orange cat, in two pieces, on the front lawn of a home.

I was on my way to a business meeting, but stopped long enough to snap some pictures. Attached are digital photos of the scene.

On my way to the meeting, I stopped at an animal clinic and reported the incident to the staff, and they indicated that they would call animal
control. Ten minutes later, I phoned the clinic and suggested that they
might call the police and have the police secure the area. The clinic
reported that they had called animal control, and that animal control was on their way to the site.

In my quick observation of the carcass, I did not observe any blood, which suggested that the carcass may have been dropped there after the cat had been killed. Also, the fur of the cat seems to have been rather mussed up and "ungroomed".

This incident is particularly significant since San Jose had been the
location of cat mutilations several years back. [ See 100399 Earthfiles. ]

As a probably unrelated, but possibly bizarre sidelight to this incident,
the house on whose front yard the cat carcass was found was the site of a suicide several years ago. One might speculate that cultists of some sort were somehow linking the cat death to a known "death house." But this may be giving cultists to much credit for record keeping and planning.

Regards,

Tom Holford
San Jose, CA

 

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Part 5: The UFO Crash/Retrieval Syndrome: Status Report II – New Sources, New Data

"The grounded UFO, said AK, which had impacted into the soil and stood at a tilt, was approximately 35 to 48 feet in diameter and 12 to 18 feet in height. It was perfectly round, shaped like a hamburger bun. In the middle, or at the equator of its smooth aluminum-like surface, was a black band made up of squares, each jutting out about 10 inches."

- Source: U. S. Army Guard, Ft. Riley, Kansas

Return to Previous Part 4

To be more computer-friendly, the reprint has been divided into parts. Here begins Part 5 of Status Report II, written in January 1980. The series of status reports, I through VII, were written by Leonard H. Stringfield from 1978 to 1994. Previous Status Report III begins at Earthfiles. Leonard Stringfield died on December 18, 1994. For all the previous status reports, see Earthfiles Archives.


Leonard H. Stringfield:

"CASE A-8:

Alleged retrievals of crashed or disabled strange craft, whether Earth-made as secret duplications of alien craft, or as alien craft per se, are a part of this paper for review. I have received numerous reports of what appeared to be demobilized strange craft witnessed on the ground, but at the head of the list is the controversial saucer-shaped craft that allegedly landed at the Army base in Ft. Riley, Kansas, on December 10, 1964. 

 

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Strange Aerial Lights, Military Knowledge and Hooded “Insects”

Red X marks the general location of Wycliffe Well, Northern Territory, Australia.
Red X marks the general location of Wycliffe Well, Northern Territory, Australia.
Alice Springs is the nearest town to the American National Security Agency (NSA) facility at the center of Australia which listens to and satellite-observes the Earth. Northward 387 kilometers (240 miles) is Wauchope. A bit south of Wauchope is Wycliffe Wells, so small that it's not printed on most maps, but is famous for unidentified aerial sightings.
Alice Springs is the nearest town to the American National Security Agency (NSA) facility at the center of Australia which listens to and satellite-observes the Earth. Northward 387 kilometers (240 miles) is Wauchope. A bit south of Wauchope is Wycliffe Wells, so small that it's not printed on most maps, but is famous for unidentified aerial sightings.

August 19, 2005  Wycliffe Well, Northern Territory, Australia - The beginning of August, a group of aboriginals living in the community of Ali Curung at the center of Australia, reported seeing a "huge orange ball" that hovered in the air for at least 20 minutes before jet fighters showed up and chased the unidentified object away.

 

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Unusual Summer Swarm of Arkansas Copperheads

Adult male, juvenile male and juvenile female copperheads began swarming in Yellville, Arkansas, yard by mid-July 2005, three months earlier than normal move to dens for winter hibernation.
Adult male, juvenile male and juvenile female copperheads began swarming in Yellville, Arkansas, yard by mid-July 2005, three months earlier than normal move to dens for winter hibernation.
Arkansas copperhead moving toward cedar tree in Chuck Miller's Yellville, Arkansas, back yard. Photograph © 2005 by Stan Trauth, Ph.D.
Arkansas copperhead moving toward cedar tree in Chuck Miller’s Yellville, Arkansas, back yard. Photograph © 2005 by Stan Trauth, Ph.D.

August 18, 2005  Yellville, Marion County, Arkansas – In mid-July, zoologist Prof. Stan Trauth in the Biological Sciences Department at Arkansas State University received a phone call from the Arkansas state herpetologist, Kelly Irwin. There was a swarm of at least sixty copperheads in the back yard of Yellville, Arkansas, resident, Chuck Miller. After five years of living on his forested ridge property, Mr. Miller knew it was too early and he’d never seen so many snakes together before. Copperheads don’t usually move into groups, or “aggregates,” until late September to October for hibernation.Click for report.

Part 4: The UFO Crash/Retrieval Syndrome: Status Report II – New Sources, New Data

"(Autopsied alien's) skin ... beige, tan, brown, or tannish or pinkish gray and one said it looked almost 'bluish gray' under deep freeze lights. In two instances, the bodies were charred to a dark brown. The texture is described as scaly or reptilian, and as stretchable, elastic or mobile over smooth muscle or skeletal tissue. No striated muscle."

- Source: Medical doctors descriptions after autopsies

Return to previous Part 3

To be more computer-friendly, the reprint has been divided into parts. Here begins Part 4 of Status Report II, written in January 1980. The series of status reports, I through VII, were written by Leonard H. Stringfield from 1978 to 1994. Previous Status Report III begins at Earthfiles. Leonard Stringfield died on December 18, 1994. For all the previous status reports, see Earthfiles Archives.


Leonard H. Stringfield:

"CASE A-7

This entry concerns the medical phase of my inquiry into the study of the alien occupants allegedly recovered from crashes of their vehicles. My first meeting with a prime medical contact came in June 1978, while working on my first status report (reprinted in upcoming Earthfiles) for release in Dayton, Ohio. It was arranged by a veteran researcher of long acquaintance who was aware of my quest for UFO crash/retrieval information. He also knew that I had acquired certain basic pathological information from other sources. Over our dinner, information from the doctor, who served on the staff of a major hospital, came slowly and cautiously. He made references to a colleague who performed an autopsy on an alien body in the early 1950s, but in the main, not much new data were revealed beyond general exterior anatomy. Significant, however, was that certain characteristics, some ambiguously described by other sources, were surprisingly corroborated. Of course, I asked many questions. Most were unanswered. Later that evening, I met my informant's charming wife and we all agreed that our subject was not only bizarre, but almost too incredible for the general public's acceptance. Departing, the doctor was agreeable to further meetings. 

 

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Mystery of Bloodless, Decapitated Kangaroos in Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne is the capital of Victoria state in southeastern tip of Australia with a population of 3.5 million people.
Melbourne is the capital of Victoria state in southeastern tip of Australia with a population of 3.5 million people.
Australian kangaroo mother and baby © by George Harrison.
Australian kangaroo mother and baby © by George Harrison.

August 13, 2005  Melbourne, Australia – Unusual, bloodless mutilations of animals is a worldwide phenomenon. The types of animals range from cows and horses to smaller domestic animals such as pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits and even wild animals such as deer and elk. Then there are the terrible cases of pet dogs and cats being found cut in half or beheaded or paws cut off and skinned ­ all without blood or signs of struggle at the scene where found. Recently half cats by the dozens have been reported again in the Seattle, Washington, region and Dallas, Texas. I’ve reported on Dreamland about the Seattle situation which authorities there dismissed as coyote kills.Click for report.

Deep Impact Spectra: Carbonate, PAHs and Some Amino Precursors in Comet Tempel I

Left: NASA illustration of Deep Impact's impactor just before hitting Comet Tempel I on July 4, 2005. Right: Actual cratered surface of Comet Tempel I ninety seconds before the impactor smashed into the fluffy ice at 23,000 mph. Photograph courtesy NASA.
Above: NASA illustration of Deep Impact's impactor just before hitting Comet Tempel I on July 4, 2005. Below: Actual cratered surface of Comet Tempel I ninety seconds before the impactor smashed into the fluffy ice at 23,000 mph. Photograph courtesy NASA.

Moment of impact on potato-shaped Comet Tempel I at 10:52 p.m. PDT, July 3, 2005 / 1:52 a.m. EDT, July 4, 2005. Image by NASA, ESA, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab.
Moment of impact on potato-shaped Comet Tempel I at 10:52 p.m. PDT, July 3, 2005 / 1:52 a.m. EDT, July 4, 2005. Image by NASA, ESA, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab.

August 12, 2005  College Park, Maryland - This week geologists, chemists, physicists and planetary scientists from around the world gathered at the 9th International Asteroids, Comets and Meteors Conference in Brazil. One of the presentations was by Carey Michael Lisse, Ph.D., Prof. of Physics at the University of Maryland, and member of the Deep Impact Science Team. Dr. Lisse is Principal Investigator of Deep Impact spectral results from the Chandra X-Ray and Spitzer telescopes.

 

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Part 4: Cows Used As Reptilian Food — Two Men See Mutilated Cow in Light Beam

"There was a logo on the craft's wall that had a grouping of stars that stayed in the right upper and lower corner and there were like six or seven stars. It was also six or seven stars on their insignia on their clothes, which was the flying serpent."

- "Howard," Summer 1995, Orlando, Florida


 Return to Part 1

August 11, 2005 Orlando, Florida -

[ Editor's Note: Since the beginning of the human abduction syndrome investigations in the 1960s, there have often been descriptions of sexual activity forced on humans by the abductors as an egg or sperm collecting procedure. Others who have interacted with the "standing up reptiles" say the sexual activities of those creatures are for self-gratification, as Howard describes in Parts 3 and 4.]

Part 4 - Interview with "Howard," Computer Network Administrator, Orlando, Florida: "IT SOUNDED LIKE YOU WERE TRYING TO TURN AROUND TO CONFRONT THE SOLDIER LIZARD AND THERE WAS A LOT OF PHYSICAL STRESS. WAS THE LIZARD INSIDE OF YOU THAT WHOLE PERIOD OF TIME WHEN YOU KEPT TURNING AROUND?

 

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