Greetings, and welcome to The /x/ Files, the weekly news digest for 4chan's Paranormal board. Every Sunday, we take a quick snapshot of the mysterious world around us and bring it, in an easily readable magazine format, to the board. I am The Editor, the anonymous creator of this idea and collector of the news that will be following below. In the interests of legitimacy, I will be using a secure tripcode to post the thread; once the posts are completed, I will take the tripcode off and return to my anonymity.
A very Merry Festivus for all of my fellow /x/ heads! This week, we delve into real-world Ents, France making electricity from cheese (Of course), and how the Wooly Mammoth may be coming back a lot sooner than you think. As well as the weekly Coast to Coast roundup, and a whole heavenly host of paranormal podcasts. All this, and more, in Issue Six of The /x/ Files!
Table of Contents:
1: Paranormal News of the Week
2: Radio Show Roundup
3: Paranormal Podcasts
4: Editor's Note
Paranormal News of the Week
Ecuador's mysterious walking trees
It takes a whole day to travel from Ecuador’s capital, Quito, to the heart of the Unesco Sumaco Biosphere Reserve, some 100km to the southeast. But the effort is worth it, considering you wind up in the middle of a pristine forest that houses a rather unusual find: walking palm trees. Like the Ents from JRR Tolkien’s epic Lord of the Rings saga (only a bit slower), these trees actually move across the forest as the growth of new roots gradually relocates them, sometimes two or three centimetres per day. “As the soil erodes, the tree grows new, long roots that find new and more solid ground, sometimes up to 20m,” said Peter Vrsansky, a palaeobiologist from the Earth Science Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. “Then, slowly, as the roots settle in the new soil and the tree bends patiently toward the new roots, the old roots slowly lift into the air. The whole process for the tree to relocate to a new place with better sunlight and more solid ground can take a couple of years.”
Full Story: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20151207-ecuadors-mysterious-walking-trees
Full moon to occur on Christmas Day this year
Festive revelers will be treated to a full moon this Christmas for the first time in almost four decades - something that hasn't taken place on December 25th since 1977 and which won't happen again until 2034. There have in fact been only three Christmas full moons in the entire 20th century with the others being in 1901 and 1920. The last time it happened, in 1977, Star Wars had only just hit theaters a few months earlier - an interesting coincidence given Episode VII's release.
Full Story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/12/15/this-months-full-moon-falls-on-christmas-for-the-first-time-in-27-years/
Roman sword allegedly found off Oak Island
A team of expert researchers reckon they have unearthed astonishing evidence that Roman ships visited North America in antiquity - "During the first century or earlier," and long before Columbus landed in 1492. The discoveries could cast new light on the mystery of Oak Island which is currently the focus of a centuries-old treasure hunt centering on a 230ft deep booby-trapped shaft known as the "money pit."
Full Story: http://www.bostonstandard.co.uk/news/local/startling-new-report-on-oak-island-could-rewrite-history-of-the-americas-1-7118097
France uses cheese to generate electricity
Generating electricity from cheese could be the plot of a comic book, but that is exactly what is happening at a new power plant in the French Alps.
A by-product of Beaufort cheese, skimmed whey, is converted into biogas, a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide, at the plant in Albertville, in Savoie. Bacteria are added to the whey to produce the gas, which is then used to generate electricity. “Whey is our fuel,” said François Decker of Valbio, the company that designed and built the power station, which opened in October. “It’s quite simply the same as the ingredient in natural yoghurt.” The plant will produce about 2.8 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, enough electricity to supply a community of 1,500 people, Mr Decker told Le Parisien newspaper.
Full Story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/12060538/French-power-station-generates-electricity-from-cheese.html
We May Resurrect The Mammoth Sooner Than You Think
Of all the varied and incredible possibilities presented by the controversial new gene-editing technique known as CRISPR-Cas9, perhaps the most intriguing are efforts to bring animals back from extinction. Candidates for de-extinction, as the process is known, include species like the passenger pigeon (the last one died in captivity in 1914), the dodo (last seen in 1662) and the sea cow (1768, a mere 27 years after it had been discovered by Europeans.) Dr. George Church, a molecular biologist at Harvard University who is working on such projects, estimates that a variation of the first new woolly mammoth (which disappeared some 4,000 years ago) may be born as soon as seven years from now. Like other proponents of de-extinction, he hopes the animals will play a key role in slowing or reversing climate change.
Full Story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/woolly-mammoth-crispr-climate_567313f8e4b0648fe302a45e
Radio Show Roundup
Coast to Coast AM with George Noory
Monday: Astrology & 2016 Predictions/Genetic Modification
In the first half, professional astrologer Linda Schurman discussed how world events are tied in with astrological patterns, and shared her predictions about the economy, earth changes, and politics for 2016. In the latter half, bestselling author James Rollins talked about his research into DNA, and the latest in genetic modification of humans.
Tuesday: Runaway Inequality/Channeled Messages
In the first half, Les Leopold discussed how Wall Street's casino-like practices which caused the first meltdown are back. In the third hour, author, researcher and expert in Edgar Cayce Wynn Free, talked about voices from other dimensions, and channeled messages he receives from the Ra group.
Wednesday: Survival Preparedness/ET & Shamanic Contacts
In the first half, author Bobby Akart talked about threats to national and personal security that could come about if the U.S. was the victim of an array of disasters and attacks. In the second half, holistic practitioner, shamanic counselor and contactee Sandy Corcoran discussed her communications with ETs and Star Beings, as well as her work with indigenous and ancient wisdom traditions.
Thursday: Ceres, Global Warming, Prehistoric Patterns, & Praying Mantis
Earthfiles investigative reporter Linda Moulton Howe discussed updates about the dwarf planet Ceres and its anomalies; the Paris climate talks focusing on the significance of a 2-4 degree Celsius temperature rise by the end of this century; unexplained patterns that extend for kilometers-long in the Middle East; and a bizarre human-"praying mantis" ET encounter in Canada
Friday: Bigfoot, UFOs, and Mysterious Disappearances/Open Lines
Filling in for George, guest host Jimmy Church talked with Micah Hanks, who is representative of a younger generation of researchers with a broad view of the paranormal and its interconnectedness. Open lines followed.
Paranormal Podcasts
Paranormal Podcast: Cinema Symbolism
Was Back To The Future a retelling of Egyptian mythology? Our guest, Robert Sullivan IV, says that this classic movie and many others have hidden occult symbolism. Fascinating stuff! Take a listen!
Link: http://jimharold.com/cinema-symbolism-paranormal-podcast-411/
The Paracast: December 20th, 2015
Gene and Chris explore the possibility of talking to aliens, featuring Nancy du Tertre, author of “How to Talk to an Alien.” She is a former securities litigation attorney and “Skeptical Psychic,” and, in this book, she asks: “Do aliens exist? In 2013, one poll showed that nearly half of all Americans (48 percent) believe UFOs may be a sign of extraterrestrial visitation; another found that 10 percent of Americans claim to have actually witnessed an actual UFO; and yet another showed that 2.9 million Americans believe they had actually been abducted by aliens.” This discussion also focuses on claims of communication with aliens and other so-called “higher beings.”
Link: http://www.theparacast.com
Mysterious Universe: 14.25
For our final show of the year we answer your questions and calls while looking back on our favourite moments of 2015.
Link: http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/12/14-25-mu-podcast-2015-sign-off/
Expanded Perspectives:
On this episode of Expanded Perspectives the guys talk about how Art Bell is going to retire once again. Next, Kyle brings up an interesting UFO sighting in Longmont, Colorado, then Cam talks about a team of eight engineering students from the National University of Singapore have built a personal flying machine, dubbed “Snowstorm”. Then Cam introduces some very strange close encounters with extraterrestrials far different than our normal ideas of what an Alien should look like.
Link: http://www.expandedperspectives.com/close-encounters-of-the-unusual-kind/
Skeptoid Podcast: A Skeptical Look at the Rorschach Test
You've seen it in pop culture a thousand times: A psychologist holds up a card showing an inkblot, and a subject says what it looks like. From this, the famous Rorschach Test, it's said to be possible to make accurate psychological diagnoses, to uncover deep personality traits, and even to predict future behavior. But how much of this is Hollywood, how much is actual psychology, and is any of it unadulterated pseudoscience?
Link: https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4497
Astonishing Legends: The Knights of the Golden Circle, An American Conspiracy: Part 3
They had lawyers, guns and money, as well as cartographers and engineers, tradesmen, politicians and professionals of all station, all embedded in American society and the money in the earth itself. One day these would all be needed by the Knights of the Golden Circle and if the people, their skills and their ideals would not survive the generations then their amassed fortune would. And here is where one legend intersects with another: The Lost Dutchman Mine and the Knights of the Golden Circle. Was the Lost Mine a massive KGC treasure cache? It’s treasure may never be found, but those that have gone looking may have found its sentinels, and along with it, an often mysterious demise.
Link: http://www.astonishinglegends.com/portfolio/ep029-the-kgc-an-american-conspiracy-part-3/
And here we are once again at the end of another issue. It's been almost two months since I asked /x/ if I should make a weekly news magazine to add some good content back to the board, and it's been super fun thus far bringing this to you guys every week. I've got the process streamlined down to the point that I can knock it out in a couple hours, but I'm never going to be satisfied; I will always be asking for suggestions, constructive criticism, and even contributions from other members of the paranormal community. If you have a good article stewing in the back of your head, don't be shy: post it in this thread. I'm going to keep churning this out, week after week, unil we've brought this board back to the quality it used to have. We can do it, if we all pull together.
My buddy MothDan has an interesting exercise posted in a seperate thread, where you post spooky films/tv shows, and other anons rate and review them. You can find that thread here: >>17105262
I'm still waffling on what sort of archive I should set up for past issues. Should I go with a blog format, or something more refined? My HTML skills are super rusty, so it wouldn't be a standalone site. If you have any suggestions for what I should use, post them below. For now, Issue Five can be found here: http://archive.4plebs.org/x/thread/17079187
Until Next Time
Also, will you guys report Mr. AIDS up there? Fucking douchebag.
Bumping for the Editor
Godspeed, you magnificent bastard
Bamp! I like this
>>17108196
This is pretty cool, I don't normally come to /x/ and I find this 50x better than reading a thread about home some 14 hear one faggot thinks he's a witch and can cast spells
Quality thread
Props to OP, keep it up
Thanks OP can always rely on you
Wow! Thanks!
>>17108158
Took a few months break from /x/ because of all the bullshit. Glad to see that someone is doing something new and productive for once. Keep it up; save my favorite board.
only started browsing /x/ would come back for more like this
thanks op
>>17108191
dood make a monthly magazine and make some $$
ur doing really good work
