I've been interested in the unexplained since the age of about 5, when my Dad read me a story of spontaneous human combustion (he must have misplaced The aventures of Noddy that night). And, of course, being of impressionable mind I spent the next three weeks checking my skin for signs of heat.
Whenever I talk to someone about the unexplained they immeadiately think of extra-terrestrials or ghosts. However, there are many events that are unexplained, not all as exciting as aliens, but never-the-less just as fascinating.
As the name suggests, the unexplained is simply a list of strange events that have no rational explanation
like Man United winning the cup
or the Spice Girls having five UK number one hits.
The list is endless.
Spontaneous human combustion (as I've mentioned before) has always interested me. I think for no better reason that it scares me to death to think that anyone can burst into flames at any time. It all sounds a bit on the extreme, but it has been proved to work, or sort of. According to one scientist, a dip in a persons metabolism, under the correct temperature and light, the skin will ignite, burning like a candle, using the fat under the skin as wax.
You may remember the video shown on the news, just a year-or-two ago, of a big cat in Devon. This was rumoured to be an escaped animal from a zoo, but in some cases no missing reports could explain large cats, and in some cases the animal in concern was more alarming than a large feline. There have been reports of large dogs (werewolf-like creatures) and even dwarfs.
Entombments are another unexplained phenomenon. Upon demolishing road bridges there have been more then 3 reports of frogs found incarcerated in concrete. Not amazing? Considering the structures were errected up to 60 years previous, it what was amazing was the frogs were alive and well. The frogs found must have relapsed into a state of hibernation, for so long that their eyes,nostruls,rectum and mouth had all sealed up. A strong decline in metabolism meant that the frogs survived their imprisonment of some 60 years or more, to live (allbeit for a short time) after their release.
Other subjects, like blue-ice, ball lightning and hautings can all be put in the unexplained category and I hope to display a list of good books I've read below, soon.
