Bush hid the facts is a common name for a bug present in the function
IsTextUnicode of the Microsoft Windows operating system.  Microsoft
introduced the Unicode support function after the Windows 98 operating
system.  In the development of Unicode, an unknown computer programmer
entered a hidden easter egg into notepad.  Notepad is the Microsoft
Windows text editing program that allows you to adjust source code and
create web pages.  The unusual programming string made it so that if you
enter the phrase “Bush hid the facts” into a notepad document, save the
document, close it, and then reopen it, the words "畢桳栠摩琠敨映捡獴"
appear instead. 

This bug could not have been accidentally created and the intentions of
Microsoft are still unknown.  It could be an attempt to prevent people from
using the phrase on their websites or it could also be an attempt to draw
attention to the sentence “Bush hid the facts.”  Computer programmers are
generally intelligent individuals and it would have been obvious to Microsoft
creators that people would learn about the bug and think it was strange.  The
bug occurs when the “Bush hid the facts” string is passed to the Win32
charset detection function IsTextUnicode with no other characters.  Many
text editors and tools exhibit this behavior because they use IsTextUnicode
as well.

9. Larry Walters

The Man Who Took Flight in a Lawn Chair.

Larry Walters or Lawn chair Larry was an American truck driver who took
flight on July 2, 1982 in a homemade aircraft.  Larry Walters always dreamed
of being an aviation pilot, but was born with poor eyesight.  From a young
age, he planned on creating a flying machine using weather balloons.  As a
child, his plan was to attach a few helium-filled weather balloons to his lawn
chair, cut the anchor, and then float above his backyard at a height of about
30 feet (9.1 m) for several hours.  He intended on bringing a pellet gun that
he would use to burst balloons and gradually float to the ground.  In 1982,
Walters and his girlfriend, Carol Van Deusen, purchased 45 eight-foot
weather balloons and obtained helium tanks.

Larry then attached all 45 of the balloons to his chair, filled them with helium,
put on a parachute, and strapped himself into the chair.  He took his pellet
gun, a CB radio, sandwiches, cold beer, and a camera.  Walters tied the
contraption to his jeep and ordered his friends to cut the line.  The chair
rapidly rose to a height of about 15,000 feet (4,600 m).  At first, Larry did
not dare shoot any balloons, fearing that he might unbalance the load and
cause himself to fall.  Larry slowly drifted over Long Beach, California and
crossed the approach corridor of the Long Beach Airport.  During the
voyage, Walters was in contact with a CB monitoring organization and when
they asked him what his plan was he replied:

“Ah, the difficulty is, ah, this was an unauthorized balloon launch, and, uh, I
know I'm in a federal airspace, and, uh, I'm sure my ground crew has alerted
the proper authority. But, uh, just call them and tell them I'm okay.” 

After 45 minutes in the sky, he shot several balloons, and then accidentally
dropped his pellet gun overboard.  Larry descended slowly, until the
balloons' got caught in a power line, causing a blackout in a Long Beach
neighborhood. However, Walters was able to safely reach the ground, where
he was immediately arrested by waiting members of the Long Beach Police
Department.  The story was widely reported in national newspapers and
when Larry was asked by a reporter why he had done it, Walters replied, "A
man can't just sit around."

Larry Walters became a national celebrity and did not receive any jail time for
his adventure, but was fined a couple thousand dollars.  The lawn chair used
in the flight was given to an admiring boy named Jerry, although Walters
later regretted doing so, since the Smithsonian Institution had asked him to
donate it.  After his flight, Larry was in brief demand as a motivational
speaker and quit his job as a truck driver.  Sadly, Larry Walters committed
suicide in 1993 at the age of 44 by shooting himself in the heart in Angeles
National Forest.

8. Jose Vigoa

The Man Who Terrorized Las Vegas.

After immigrating to the United States, Jose Vigoa traveled to Las Vegas.
Las Vegas is one of the fastest growing areas of the U.S.  A quote taken
from Jose Vigoa should give you an idea of what kind of life he lived in Las
Vegas.  “In my world, you are either the hunter or the prey, and I am the
hunter.  Vegas was my prey.”  Jose Vigoa was a dangerous man.  At age
13, he was taken from his home in Cuba and sent to the Soviet Union where
he joined the elite Spetsnaz force.  At the time, the Soviet Union was
fighting in Angola and Afghanistan.  As an elite member of the Soviet army,
Vigoa received extensive training in surveillance, weapons, and warfare.

Upon arriving in Las Vegas, Vigoa could not support his family and turned to
drug trafficking.  He was arrested and given a 19 year prison sentence and
was released in the late 1990s.  After being released from jail, Vigoa began
conducting surveillance on Brink’s security armed trucks.  He organized a
criminal posse and went on vicious crime spree in Las Vegas.  The gang
performed numerous armed robberies, using automatic weapons, and
wheeling body armor.  This included attacks on five separate major casinos
on the Las Vegas strip. 

The criminal spree took place between 1999 and 2000, during this time Las
Vegas was attempting to change its image into a family friendly vacation
spot.  Vigoa was terrorizing the streets and the police could do little about it.
He successfully stole millions of dollars from densely populated locations.
Jose Vigoa had a happy trigger figure and would routinely fire shots.  In a
botched heist in Henderson, Nevada, Vigoa shot and killed two guards at a
local mall.

Jose Vigoa made his biggest mistake when he robbed the famous Las
Vegas hotel Bellagio.  During the heist, he was disguised with sunglasses
and a baseball cap.  The Bellagio is one of the nicest hotels in all of Vegas
and they have an extremely high-tech security system, which managed to get
detailed shots of Vigoa.  His image was broadcast for four days on Vegas
TV and finally resulted in a 100 mph car chase through the city and his
arrest.  After a plea bargain, Vigoa was given a sentence of 500 years
behind bars.  The U.S. mainstream media kept a tight seal on the Vigoa
story, as Las Vegas is one of the most popular attractions in all of America
and stories of an armed vigilante are not good for tourism.

7. The Oregon Vortex

A Place Where Gravity Has a Mind of Its Own.

The Oregon Vortex is the name given to a naturally occurring physical
phenomenon that can be witnessed in Gold Hill, Oregon, and it surrounding
areas.  For anyone unfamiliar, Oregon is a U.S. state located in the north-
west corner of the country.  The area has a long and storied history in the
Native American culture and was often viewed as cursed land.  The Oregon
Vortex has been described as a spherical field of force that causes objects
to defy the laws of gravity.  It covers a large area and every person standing
on the grounds appears to be leaning in one direction.  It feels as if you are
standing straight up, but your body is inclined towards the magnetic north or
south.  This creates an optical illusion that drastically changing a person’s
height.  Someone can walk across the grounds and it looks like they are
shrinking or growing. 

At the Oregon vortex, objects appear to roll up hills and can balance on their
sides.  Many people claim that the site is paranormal in nature and sits at the
intersection of ley lines, at the boundary of geomagnetic fields, and is an
actual gravitational anomaly.  The strange effects are most strong during a
full moon and many people get ill and dizzy when visiting the vortex.  Others
feel that the area is simply full of optical illusions and one large gravity hill.

A gravity hill is a place where the layout of the surrounding land produces an
optical illusion that makes it seem like a very slight downhill slope is an uphill
slope.  This does not explain the height illusion, but people claim that the
changes in height are due to the theory of forced perspective, which
involves a distorted background causing an optical illusion.  However, this
theory has been disproved, as the height effect can be viewed from every
angle in the area with many different background settings. 

6. Le Rêve

Steve Wynn Did What to the Picasso Painting.

Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter and sculptor.  He is best known for his
wide variety of artistic styles and is one of the most successful painters of
the 20th century.  In 1932, Pablo Picasso created the masterpiece Le Rêve
(The Dream in French).  Le Rêve is an oil painting (130 × 97 cm) that
portrays Picasso’s 24-year-old mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter.  The
painting belongs to Picasso's period of distorted depictions, with
oversimplified outlines and contrasting colors.  The painting is noted for its
erotic content, with a clear penis located on the top of the model’s upturned
face.

Le Rêve was originally purchased for $7,000 in 1941 by Victor and Sally
Ganz of New York City.  The purchase began the couple’s 50-year collection
of works by just five artists: Picasso, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg,
Frank Stella, and Eva Hesse.  After the Ganzes died, their collection,
including Le Rêve, was sold at Christie's auction house. Le Rêve sold for an
unexpectedly high $48.4 million, at the time the sixth most expensive painting
ever sold.  The couple’s entire collection sold for $206.5 million, which is
amazing considering they only spent around $2 million on art. 

Le Rêve was purchased by the Austrian-born investment fund manager
Wolfgang Flöttl.  In 2001, under severe financial pressure, Flöttl sold Le
Rêve to casino magnate Steve Wynn for an undisclosed sum, estimated to
be about $60 million.  The painting was the centerpiece of Wynn’s collection.
Nevertheless, in October 2006, Wynn told a group of reporters that he had
agreed to sell Le Rêve for $139 million to Steven A. Cohen.  At the time,
this price would have made Le Rêve the most expensive piece of art ever
sold.

Before selling the art, Wynn was showing the painting to his friends when he
apparently smashed his elbow through the canvas, puncturing it, and creating
a six-inch tear in Le Rêve.  Steve Wynn told reporters that he took the event
as a sign to not sell the painting.  Le Rêve underwent a $90,000 repair and
today the painting is estimated to be worth $85 million.  That would make
Steve Wynn’s incident a $54 million dollar accident.  As you would expect,
Wynn proceeded to claim the $54 million difference with his London insurers,
who initially balked, so Wynn sued them and the case was eventually settled
out of court in March 2007.

5. The Conqueror

The Most Deadly Movie Set in History.

4. Marysburgh Vortex

A Strange Place Over Part of Lake Ontario.

Most people are probably familiar with the Bermuda Triangle, but a similar
place on Earth is the Marysburgh Vortex.  The Marysburgh Vortex is an area
of eastern Lake Ontario.  Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of
North America.  It is located near Ontario, Canada and the U.S. state of
New York.  According to shipping and insurance records, during the early
days of steamboat travel, more than two thirds of the shipwrecks in Lake
Ontario occurred in the area encompassed by the Vortex.  The exact
location of the Marysburgh Vortex is east of Point Petre in the southern
portion of Prince Edward County.  It extends in an easterly direction towards
the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, and north in the direction of Kingston,
Ontario.

Similar to the Bermuda Triangle, the Marysburgh Vortex and Lake Ontario
contain several magnetic and electric anomalies.  One example is an
anomaly between Kingston and Garden Island which disrupts magnetic
compasses.  It is risky for residents of the island to cross the lake when
visibility is poor.  Many historical shipwrecks and disappearances have
taken place in the vortex.  Similar to stories surrounding the Bermuda
Triangle, a strange fog is often involved with the disappearances.  Some
good examples of shipwrecks are the 1883 Quinlanwith, 1889 Bavaria, 1917
George A. Marsh, and the 1964 Star of Suez. 

Some of these accidents include the sudden disappearance of ships and
crew.  The Marysburgh vortex has a startling record of accidents, which has
fueled theories of paranormal activity.  Adding fuel to the fire is the large
amount of UFO sightings in the area.  This includes many reports of
unidentified submerged objects, which have the tendency to explode from
the lake.  Small aircrafts have gone missing and the scientific community
has done very little to solve the mysteries of the vortex.  The exact cause of
the bizarre events surrounding the Marysburgh Vortex remains a complete
mystery.

This article will be discussing the life and death of Barry Jennings.  It is not
intended to offend or take a stance on any 9/11 conspiracy theories, only
give the facts.  Barry Jennings is a man that worked as a New York City
housing authority official.  On September 11, 2001, Barry was near the
World Trade Center’s when they were attacked.  He immediately reported to
the city’s command center, which is located on the 23rd floor of 7 World
Trade Center.  7 World Trade Center is a building that experienced a
complete collapse during the attacks.  In an interview taken with Barry
Jennings he describes the events that followed.

When Barry and Michael Hess, the city's corporation counsel, reached the
command center on the 23rd floor of 7WTC the room was completely
empty.  Barry comments on the steaming coffee and sandwiches on the
tables and how it seems that the room has been recently vacated.  He then
contacted numerous individuals on the telephone in hopes of getting an
explanation and got the response to leave and leave right away.  The two
men reached the stairwell and started to descend, however, when the pair
got to the 6th floor they were rocked by a huge explosion.  The entire landing
gave way and Barry was left hanging.  He had to climb up rubble in order to
reach the 8th floor.  Barry then broke out a window and looked down to see
buses and cars on fire. 

“On September 11, 2001, 7 WTC was damaged by debris when the nearby
North Tower of the WTC collapsed.  The debris also ignited fires, which
continued to burn throughout the afternoon on lower floors of the building.
The building's internal fire suppression system lacked water pressure to
fight the fires, and the building collapsed completely at 5:21:10 p.m.  The
collapse began when a critical column on the 13th floor buckled and
triggered structural failure throughout.”

The explanation doesn’t describe any of the explosions heard by Barry
Jennings, especially the ones heard before the North Tower collapsed and
hit parts of 7 WTC.  It doesn’t explain the complete destruction of the lobby.
The buildings that collapsed on September 11, 2001, were the first steal
structures to experience a complete failure due to fire.  Articles written by
mainstream journalists have suggested that the absolute free-fall (it fell in 8
seconds) that 7 WTC experienced is strange.  Especially since the building
was not even hit by a plane. 

For this reason, many people found the testimony of Barry Jennings
contradictory to the official story of what happened on 9/11.  On August 19,
2008 Barry Jennings died.  At this time in history, conspiracy theories
surrounding September 11, 2001 were heating up and even making
headlines in major news outlets around the world.  The cause of Barry’s
death has never been released.  Barry Jennings died only days before the
release of NIST’s report on 7WTC. 

2. Shakespeare Authorship Question

Was William Shakespeare Only a Pen Name?

The Shakespeare authorship question is the controversy about whether the
works traditionally attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon
(which is a town in south Warwickshire, England) were actually written by
another writer or group of writers.  This public debate and conspiracy theory
dates back to the mid-19th century.  It has attracted public attention and a
large following all over the world.  Some prominent public figures have
declared that they believe the theory that "William Shakespeare" was a pen
name used by the true author (or authors) to keep the writer's identity
secret.  However, this theory is dismissed by the majority of academic
Shakespeare scholars.

Many candidates have been mentioned over the centuries, including Edward
de Vere, who is the 17th Earl of Oxford.  Statesman Francis Bacon,
dramatist Christopher Marlowe, and William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby.
Authorship doubters believe that mainstream Shakespeare biographers
routinely violate methods and criteria used in writing a true biography.
People assert that the actor and businessman baptized as "Shakspere" of
Stratford did not have the background necessary to create the body of work
attributed to him. 

People have questioned how a commoner from a small 16th-century country
town, with no recorded education or personal library, could become an
expert in foreign languages, knowledge of courtly pastimes and politics,
Greek and Latin mythology, law, and the latest discoveries in science,
medicine and astronomy of the time.  Support for William Shakespeare as
author rests on two main pillars of evidence, testimony by his fellow actors,
and by his fellow playwright Ben Jonson in the First Folio, plus the inscription
on Shakespeare's grave monument in Stratford. 

1. Philadelphia Experiment

Is it possible to teleport objects?

One of the most infamous disappearances surrounding the Bermuda
Triangle is Flight 19.  Flight 19 was an organized team of five U.S. Avenger
torpedo bombers that disappeared in December of 1945, four months after
the official end of World War II.  All 14 airmen were lost and never heard
from again.  The official story is that the planes pilots became disoriented
and lost at sea.  However, many strange events were recorded, including
bizarre mechanical and navigational failures.  Over the years, the Bermuda
Triangle has become famous for these types of strange reports.  A mass
search effort was carried out in hopes of finding the Flight 19 crew, but sadly
tragedy struck once again when a PBM Mariner flying boat was also lost.  All
13 crew members aboard the PBM Mariner were never found.

Over the years, hundreds of strange reports have surfaced from pilots
traveling through the Bermuda Triangle.  People have reported experiencing
strange electrical phenomenon, bizarre fog, tunnel vision, and even
teleportation.  In regards to teleportation, it has been said that people
encounter a strange fog.  The fog surrounds the plane and the pilot feels as
if they are traveling in a dark electrical tunnel.  The pilots who have reported
entering this tunnel say that when they emerge from the other end, they have
traveled hundreds of miles in literally minutes. 

Do these stories represent the ramblings of a confused airman or is the
phenomenon of teleportation feasible?  People who have studied
teleportation look at the unified field theory, which is a term that was coined
by Albert Einstein.  Like everything Einstein, the specifics of the theory are
confusing, but basically it aims to describe mathematically and physically the
interrelated nature of the forces that comprise electromagnetic radiation and
gravity.

It is believed by some that the Unified Field Theory could enable large
electrical generators to bend light around an object, making it invisible.  This
brings up the reported 1943 U.S. Philadelphia Experiment.  The Philadelphia
Experiment is a conspiracy theory surrounding a naval military experiment at
the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.  The experiment has never been fully
confirmed and many feel that the story is an elaborate hoax. 

The Philadelphia Experiment is an alleged attempt by the U.S. government to
test the unified field theory.  Most accounts of the experiment involve the
U.S. destroyer USS Eldridge.  The destroyer was fitted with the required
electrical equipment and the testing began in the summer of 1943.  One test,
on July 22, 1943, resulted in the Eldridge being rendered almost completely
invisible, with some witnesses reporting a "greenish fog" appearing in its
place.

However, after the test crew members began to complain of severe nausea.
It is also said that when the ship reappeared, some sailors were embedded
in the metal structures of the ship.  The story then alleges that the equipment
was not properly calibrated, so another test was run on October 28, 1943.
This time, the Eldridge not only became invisible, but physically vanished
from the area in a flash of blue light.  The destroyed teleported to Norfolk,
Virginia, over 200 miles away.  It is claimed that the ship then reappeared in
Philadelphia at the site it had originally occupied. 

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Anonymous - June 5, 2010

For a thorough, fact-based debunking of The Bermuda Triangle, read The Bermuda
Triangle Mystery: Solved.  And the Shakespeare authorship "controversy" is just
Bigfoot, UFOs, and the Loch Ness Monster for intellectuals.