Cowboys and Aliens?

If you haven't had a chance to see the new movie Cowboys and Aliens yet it is an intriguing excursion into the idea of aliens coming to the 19th century Old West of America. The concept of course makes you begin to wonder, "Were there alien sightings then?"According to Unexplained Mysteries and MSNBC the answer is yes.

"About 6 o'clock this morning the early risers of Aurora (Texas) were astonished at the sudden appearance of the airship which has been sailing throughout the country. It was traveling due north and sailed over the public square and when it reached the northern part of town it collided with the tower of Judge Proctor's windmill and went to pieces with a terrific explosion, scattering debris over several acres of ground." Dallas Morning News on April 19, 1897

More via Unexplained Mysteries: Were there UFO Sightings in the Old West?

Dr. Barry Taff

Are you familiar with the parapsychologist Dr. Barry Taff? If you're reading a website called The Arcane Hour then you probably should be -- so we'll help you out a little here. Yes, he actually has his doctorate in parapsychology. When he was at UCLA he investigated the case that was eventually retold in the movie The Entity (a great and very creepy movie if you haven't seen it). We're also suspicious, even though we can't find anything to prove it, that Dan Aykroyd based quite a bit of the serious parts of the Ghost Busters characters on Taff.


So what has Dr. Barry Taff been up to lately? It looks like he's (sort of) set up a website at barrytaff.net. There isn't much there yet but it does point us to the book that he's released this year: Aliens Above, Ghosts Below.

Dr. Taff is also involved in the American Institute of Parapsychology, which was founded in 1992 as the Center for Paranormal Studies. He is listed as a director and faculty member.

If you have any links for Dr. Taff or his works, feel free to share them with us in the comments.

Google Highlights "Unexplained Phenomenon"

If you've been to Google today you might have noticed that the logo includes a little UFO with abduction light turned on. Instead of going to an explanation of the doodle, clicking on the graphic leads you to a search of "unexplained phenomenon." Telegraph UK reports.