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The
Unexplained of the Ozarks
By Ed Crabtree
The folklore and legends of the Ozarks are full of stories of
strange and unusual phenomena that
continue to defy rational scientific
explanation.
Some of the older folk tales were born out of superstition as
a means to explain with the knowledge that
existed in those days of natural
phenomena, for example, sink holes, caves
and losing streams being named after the
Devil as our forefathers thought these
were entrances to the underworld. Today we know that
these are natural geological occurrences
and are brought about by the interaction
of surface water and the Karst geology
prominent throughout the Ozarks, and have
no mystical connections.
Other legends aren’t explained quite so easy, at least
not with the level of scientific knowledge
at our current disposal. Ghost stories, spook
lights, crop circles, livestock
mutilations, and other unusual phenomena,
cannot always be wrote off as hoaxes,
urban legend, or the product of over
active imaginations.
Statistics show that when polled, that a slight majority of
Americans have some degree of belief in
the various paranormal phenomena.
This nearly even split in society on this subject might be
compared to our politics in that as a
society we are somewhat polarized on this
subject. On the one hand we have
skeptics that dismiss all unexplained
phenomena, and we have staunch believers
that accept everything as
“gospel”.
The tragic part is that while the skeptics would have us
believe that as some cases can be
explained, they imply that all cases can
therefore be wrote off, but this logic is
sometimes flawed, with some cases that are
beyond known science, leaving the most
objective observers scratching their
heads.
This popular culture has led to participants on both sides of
the question, writing books, giving
lectures, and producing documentaries,
that cater to the desire for the
sensational that believers and skeptics
alike crave.
Again on the far right we have skeptics that debunk all claims
and sightings and on the far left we have
those that when proven wrong still cling
to their claims.
But caught in the middle are the serious researchers, which
spend countless hours and even years
looking for the truth.
These men and women have a thankless job as they are unjustly
maligned by both sides of the question.
The true believers attack them when these researchers find a
logical scientific explanation to a
particular case and the skeptics are in
some cases so self-righteous that when
evidence proves that a case is truly
unexplainable they attack the messenger.
One would think that centers for serious research might be
located near locations that the popular
culture has immortalized in print and
film, such as Roswell New Mexico, the
scene of the alleged crash of an
extra-terrestrial vehicle in the late
forties, however we have such a center
right here in the Ozarks, in Reeds Spring
Missouri, The Museum Of The
Unexplained. Not just because
Missouri ranks number three in the number
of sightings across the nation, behind the
New York/New jersey region and the state
of Ohio but because the principals of the
museum are all area residents.
The director of the museum Dr. Robert Gibbons, is a physicist,
historian, former Nasa Scientist, and
former Nuclear Medical Science Officer in
the US Army.
Dr Gibbons has worked for the Atomic Energy Commission, Hughes
Aircraft Company, Lear-Siegler, Inc., and
Northrop-Grumman Co. His research into the
Joplin Spooklight phenomena has lead to
lectures and guest appearances around the
country for the past forty years.
His exclusive motion picture footage of the Spooklight has
been featured on television shows and his
still photographs of the elusive lights
have been published in many publications
around the world.
The President of the museum, Bob White, is the only known
person to have had an encounter with an
UFO, retrieved hard physical evidence,
make a sworn statement, and pass a
rigorous polygraph test. The recovered object,
which is a principal exhibit at the
museum, has been objectively analyzed by
several credible agencies such as the Los
Alamos National Labs, and New Mexico Tech. And reports list the
object and its peculiar properties as
unknown.
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Dr.
Robert Gibbons holding the
"Object" that has gained
international attention in the
media and as yet is classified as
of "unknown"
alloys.
Above
Photo by Message Tree Staff
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The staff of The Message Tree was not only
delighted to finally view this unknown
object in person, that has been the
subject of many locally and nationally
televised news reports and documentaries
but was intrigued with the many displays
of newspaper accounts and research papers
on Unidentified Flying Objects and other
unusual and unexplained phenomena from
across the Ozarks and around the world.
Documents have recently surfaced, that after close analysis
appear to have been prepared in 1941 for
the alleged top secret government agency,
Majestic 12, which supposedly was formed
for the gathering of evidence of contact
with extraterrestrial beings and the
subsequent “cover up and
denial” of such contact.
These same documents make references to what has previously
been held as local urban legend of a crash
of a UFO and the recovering of remains of
extraterrestrial biological entities or
bodies of aliens.
What is amazing is that this incident occurred right here in
Missouri, near Cape Girardeau, and
predates the notorious Roswell New Mexico
incident by 6 years.
Of course the Joplin Spooklights for years have attracted
visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of the
phenomena and remember that the Clear
Water Lake area in the ‘70s were a
hotbed of paranormal activity, even most
recently the numerous cattle mutilations
near North View drew the curious.
So one can’t help but wonder if the Ozarks and the
“Cape” will become the next
popular destination for the multitudes of
tourists that flock to such areas of
unexplained activity?
The museum also has exhibits of other non UFO related
phenomena, one is a photograph of a fire,
taken at Nixa, and the photographer
captured the flames at just the right
millisecond in time when the flames has
taken on an extremely detailed shape of
what appears to be a Native American
mounted on a horse.
It takes very little imagination to pick out the shape and
details of the “Nixa Fire
Indian” in this remarkable picture.
Is this an example of a rare coincidence or paranormal
influence?
Go to the Museum, view the exhibit and decide for yourself.
Of course there are exhibits that one would expect to find
housed in such a museum, but we found it
educational and enlightening, but most of
all, we found Dr. Gibbons and the staff to
be people that are very serious in their
work and are striving to remain objective
and credible on this subject.
They presented the material in such a way as allow the visitor
to leave the museum armed with the
information necessary to make his or her
own decisions as to the credibility of
such reports of unexplained phenomena. The knowledge that Dr.
Gibbons has of local history is simply
amazing.
We were astonished to learn of the existence of the remains of
the impact of a meteor in the Ozarks, the
diameter of the crater rivaling that of
the Great Meteorite in Arizona.
Just another tidbit of local natural history that had escaped
the staff of The Message Tree,
and one that you should be sure to
ask about when you visit the museum.
So take time to follow the road less traveled, and visit The
Museum of the Unexplained and other
attractions in Historic Reeds Spring, on
your next visit to the central Ozarks, you
won’t be disappointed.
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Editors
Note;
The
folks at The Museum of The
Unexplained, are sponsoring a
Conference in November at the
Kimberling Inn Resort and
convention center
(Nov. 13-16,
2003)
This
will be a wonderful opportunity
to see in person the
internationally known authorities
on the subject of research into
the phenomena of Unidentified
Flying Objects
many of which you have watched on
the various television specials
on the subject.
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Speakers
Include:
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- Stanton
Friedman (Roswell,
Majestic
12),
- John
Greenewald (The Black
Vault),
- Peter
Davenport (Director
of
NUFORC),
- Franklin
Carter (President of
LUFOR),
- Derrel
Sims (Alien
Implants),
- Heather
Ahrens (Alien
Abductions),
- Dr.
Robert Golka (Tesla
Expenments),
- Dr.
Gilbert Jordan
(Government
Cover-ups),
- Dr.
Robert Gibbons
(Joplin
Spooklights),
- Ted
Phillips (Trace
Evidence),
- Bob
White (UFO Encounter
&
“Object”),
- Bruce
Widaman
(MUFON)
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