Hubble’s Universe

Hitching a ride into orbit with the space shuttle Discovery in April 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has taken incredibly clear and detailed images for almost twenty years. After some initial forestalling of the launch and eventual problems with one its mirrors, the Telescope has proven to be an invaluable aid for astronomers and is scheduled to be replaced in 2013 by the brand spanking new James Webb Space Telescope - named after James E. Webb, the second administrator of NASA.

Here are a few of Hubble’s greatest moments.


“Cat’s Eye” Nebula – three thousand light-years from Earth and over half a light-year across.


The Orion Nebula – only 1,500 light-years from Earth in an area where stars are formed.


“The Sombrero Galaxy”, named for obvious reasons.


V838 Mon – this image is often referred to as “Starry Night”.


“Cone” Nebula, within a star-forming region.


The “Eskimo” Nebula – some say this resembles a person’s head inside the hood of a parka, but it looks more like an iris to me.


NGC 2818 – this is what a dying star looks like.


by Max Drake
(Freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)

(Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk)

What We Can’t See Can’t Hurt Us

In a recent interview with Good magazine online, noted futurist Ray Kurzweil spoke of nanotechnology and it’s wildest applications. He noted that virtual reality in the near future could be given a tremendous boost through the use of nanotechnology. Instead of utilising some kind of device (ie; a bulbous headset as seen in many Hollywood science-fiction films), “nanobots” could be directly injected into the brain, fooling the neurons into believing that the recipient was indeed travelling to some exotic locale, when in reality, their physical being was still in the comfort of their own home, slothing in their favourite armchair clutching a beer.

Whilst this all sounds like something lifted straight from the mind of Philip K. Dick, the rise of nanotechnology since the 1980s has been profound. It has scared many and, reluctant to applaud this seemingly wonderous scientific advancement, have been vocal critics of the lack of oversight and non-existant research into the potential hazards of the technology. For nanotech concerns the study of materials on such a mindbogglingly small scale (in comparison, on the nanoscale, one nanometre is one billionth of a metre – or the size of a marble to that of the Earth) that the established properties of said materials begin to get fuzzy. For example, at such a scale where gravity is no longer relevant and where molecules can be manipulated into self-assembly, it would seem obtuse to not give serious consideration to all possible risks. But instead, the pursuit of the control of matter on the atomic scale and creation of nano-machines has proceded unfettered, appearing to be lead by the ironic assertion that what we can’t see can’t hurt us.

It is believed that nanotech will one day render us all immortal, our bodies cursing with miniature robots repairing the inevitable decay of species. It has been reported (although, to this author’s knowledge, not substantiated) that certain corporations are already using nanobots, in particular, European food processors. Nanobots were reportedly added to processed foods, acting to preserve food in packaging for far longer periods than what is currently achievable. However, since the naked eye cannot see these nanobots, where do they go once the package of food is opened and consumed. Can they feasibly find new material in the garbage bin and begin to reassemble into a new machine with a new modus operandi? Considering the ramifications of interaction between nanomaterials and biomaterials are unknown, it seems pertinent to examine these issues before we are faced with strange biological, ecological and environmental dilemmas.


by Max Drake
(Freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)

Atlantis and the Giant Serpent

Two ridiculous stories appeared on the internet last week. The first involved supposed photographic evidence of a giant serpent making its way down a river in Borneo. For some time, locals in the region of the Baleh River had dispersed stories of a shape-shifting serpent existing beneath the surface of the water. Named ‘Nabau’, it was a terrifying snake one hundred feet long, bearing a dragon’s head with seven nostrils! The photograph, supposedly taken by a disaster team monitoring flood regions, caused much panic among the local villagers.

The photograph below appeared on the Mail Online website – special mention must be paid to the individual who thought it necessary to insert a large red circle around the creature in question. Thanks for that – I doubt myself and countless others would have been able to discern the serpent without it! The photograph is obviously a fake – even someone without a background in graphics could reach that conclusion.



The second story revolved around the supposed discovery of Atlantis buried under the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of northwest Africa. Keen observers on Google Earth reported the ‘amazing’ discovery of what seemed to be an ancient grid of a city – the location of which was identified by many excited amateur and professional archaeologists as one of the possible locations of Atlantis, citing descriptions from Greek philosopher Plato amongst others. But what they failed to address was Plato’s vivid description of the mythical city, described in writings as being circular and residing beyond the Pillars of Hercules (Straits of Gibraltar).

According to legend, Atlantis was a wonder of the ancient world, carved from the rock of the land in a formation of concentric circles. The size of the city was comparable to the scale of modern-day London. Access to the different levels of the city could only be achieved by traversing a waterway that spiralled inwards to the residences of the ruling elite. This prevented any successful invasion of the city as the circular formation and high walls leading up from the river surface provided an insurmountable defence. This description is a long way from the rectangular grid depicted in the Google Earth images.



In their book, When The Sky Fell: In Search of Atlantis, authors Rand and Rose Flem-Ath present a strong argument that Atlantis is in fact buried beneath the ice of Antarctica – the geographical features of lesser Antarctica being a possible match to the few descriptions of Atlantis in ancient writings. Needless to say, there was some disappointment expressed when Google Earth finally revealed that the supposed ‘grid’ of the ‘underwater city’ was merely an artefact of sonar imaging used to create the underwater maps.

by Max Drake
(Freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)

Selling Your Soul On The Internet

This is Natalie Dylan (a pseudonym). She is a 22 year-old college student who is auctioning her virginity online. That’s right folks – she is selling her hymen to the highest bidder. She sees this as a business opportunity – originally the idea was to pay for a masters degree in Women’s Affairs (yes, you heard right), but since the auction began in July last year, other doors have opened for this enterprising young whore (I mean, lady).

Ms Dylan first rose to infamy last September when she appeared on the misogynistic Howard Stern radio show in the US. So far, the auction has had over 10,000 responses, with bidding reaching US$3.8 million! An unidentified Australian businessman is the leading bidmeister. With that kind of money, who needs a college degree? With the offer to write a book and a possible movie deal in the works (please, nooooo!), Ms Dylan has not set an end date to her auction. Of course not – ya gotta milk it for all it’s worth.

Nat explained she is willing to undergo lie detector tests and gynaecological exams to prove that what she is selling is the real article. She says that she has been approached by all manner of weirdos and lonely guys – from men actually seeking a relationship (which is not on the table – it’s a strictly one-night affair) to others who are excessively graphic in their descriptions of what they would like to do to this young flower should they win the auction. Ms Dylan said the idea came to mind after her own sister paid for her degree by working for a time in a brothel.

Some might find this genius – but it sets a dangerous precedent. I mean, what is next on the horizon? Taboos are no longer taboo, sacred acts no longer sacred, and human dignity is being stripped to the bone without anyone even realising it. But, for fear it may leave me behind, I too am hopping on the ol’ gravy train. So you’ll excuse me while I go list my scrotum on Ebay.

by Max Drake
(Freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)

(Source: http://ninemsn.com.au)

GritFX have been featured on Elite Shirt Design

I'm pleased to share the news that GritFX have been featured on the Elite Shirt Design blog. The GritFX team were very entertained by the review, which includes the humorous use of "Aussie talk". We were also "stoked" about what the review contained - check it out, there are also some questions that Dave answered on behalf of the team.

Click to go to the review/interview.

What is Elite Shirt Design?
To quote the creator, Shawn (aka Fuzzy), "Elite Shirt Design is a community for Print on Demand (POD) Designers. A place for all POD types (Spreadshirt, Cafepress, Zazzle, RedBubble, etc.) guys and gals to get together and shoot the proverbial ka-ka."

If you are a POD designer, I suggest you take a look.

GritCOMP Now Open - Guess the Number of Jelly Beans in the Jar...

I'm pleased to post that the "Guess the Number of Jelly Beans in the Jar" GritFX Competition is now open for submissions.

All details on how to enter, along with 4 perspectives of the jelly bean jar, can be found on the GritFX Website.

At the beginning of each week, I will do a post on the GritBlog with all the Blog members who have submitted their guess, with a link to their particular blogs.

Please note: Our competitions are only open to our GritBLOG community members and GritFX Facebook Page Fans - so if you haven't joined, go do so now :)

Good Luck!

The Battle of Los Angeles

On the night of February 24th and 25th, 1942, several unidentified flying objects were spotted in the skies above southern California, prompting an artillery assault from the US armed forces. Many explanations were put forth regarding the event, both from civilians and the military, and the ‘Battle’ has gained much attention in the circles of Ufologists. For no object was hit by the barrage of artillery and many reported that objects simply disappeared after the event – clear indication to some that the objects seen on that night were nothing short of alien craft.

On the 24th, naval intelligence warned that an attack on US soil could be expected within hours. Around ten o’clock that night, the warning was lifted, but in the early hours of the 25th, radar picked up an unidentified ‘target’ approximately 120 miles west of Los Angeles. Anti-aircraft batteries were alerted and the unidentified craft was tracked to within a few miles of the coast where it subsequently vanished. Nearing 3am on February 25th, a coast artillery colonel spotted “about 25 planes at 12,000 feet” over Los Angeles. Four anti-aircraft batteries opened fire and the airspace above Los Angeles “erupted like a volcano”.

From here, reports of the incident vary widely. Great numbers of planes in the air were reportedly observed that night – anywhere from one to several hundred were seen, ranging in altitude and speed. The mysterious craft dropped no bombs and despite reports that four were shot down, no evidence of this was forthcoming. Hollywood residents perched themselves on rooftops and hills to watch the fiery parade of UFO’s and exploding shells. The only damage sustained to the city came from some shell fragments and car accidents, initiated by a military-enforced blackout. One citizen reportedly died of heart failure amidst the excitement – the first real taste of the drama of the Second World War for most Americans.

At a press conference on the 25th, Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox explained that the incident was a false alarm and there was no evidence supporting the presence of enemy planes. For it was not initially stated by anyone that the observed craft were alien in nature. The most common belief was that the craft were either commercial airlines or Japanese planes - the fact that no bombs were dropped signified a reconnaissance mission. The Army waited a day to issue any statements, interviewing witnesses to the event and eventually arriving at the aforementioned conclusions. After the war however, the Japanese insisted that no planes had been anywhere in the vicinity of Los Angeles on the night in question.

The actions of the military were put on trial in the media with reporters expressing concern at the lack of a satisfying response to the event. If no craft were actually present and it were a case of the jitters, the confidence in the actions of military personnel was extremely troubling. If the craft were indeed flying as low as 9,000 feet (as was reported by some), why were the aircraft batteries so ineffective? And moreover, why were no American planes sent to engage the objects even though they were put on alert? The question posed was what would the response have been if the incident were not a false alarm? Was this the kind of incompetence the public could expect?

These simple facts regarding the “Battle of Los Angeles” have been the source of much speculation from those researching the global UFO phenomenon. The vanishing objects, the lack of damage or downed craft and the supposed cover-up by the military have all lent credence in the eyes of the UFO community to the version of events relating to alien visitation. There is no denying that an event took place in the skies above Los Angeles in 1942, but its explanation could be as far from the aroused speculation as the distance covered by visiting alien life-forms.

by Max Drake
(Freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)

Project Censored

At the end of each year, the Project Censored website lists their selections for the years’ top 25 censored news stories. These stories received no mention in the mainstream media or were presented by the networks with limited and often misleading information. Details of these newsworthy items could be found on the internet, but in that way, not particularly accessible to the majority of the world’s population who receive their news from mainstream media outlets.

You can view the full list of censored stories at:
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/category/y-2009/

Below are three that I found most pertinent and alarming.

El Salvador’s Water Privatization and the Global War on Terror
In July 2007, community leaders and residents who were demonstrating the privatization of El Salvador’s water supply and distribution systems, were arrested by Salvadoran police and held in custody for almost a month. Fourteen people were charged as “terrorists” under El Salvador’s anti-terrorism laws, modelled on the USA Patriot Act. As Project Censored points out, criminalization of political expression and social protest presents a serious danger to the peace and human rights of Salvadorans that were secured after a twelve-year civil war.

Members of El Salvador’s water workers union (SETA) state that privatization of the country’s water would have the same devastating effect on the population as when the telecommunications and electricity sectors came under private ownership. Many workers were fired and forced to reapply for the same positions at lower pay and without benefits. But it seems that the ability to protest such actions of government will not be tolerated under US-backed Salvadoran authority. Salvadorans insist that fighting for water is a right, not a crime - but the quest for global domination by corporation is extending at a rapid rate that only spells doom for those caught in the middle.


Worldwide Slavery
Project Censored reports that twenty-seven million slaves exist in the world today – more than at any time in human history. Globalization, poverty and greed facilitate the growth of slavery and it is not simply confined to the Third World. According to the US Department of Justice, 17,500 new victims are trafficked across American borders every year, with about 800,000 trafficked across international borders. Slavery now rivals drug trafficking and illegal arms trading as the most lucrative criminal enterprise on the planet.

‘Bonded labor’ continues to be the most common form of this insidious racket. An individual can fall under the control of a wealthy person by simply accepting a loan. In impoverished circumstances, it is not that difficult to understand how easy this can happen. When the wealthy patron continues to increase interest and add inflated expenses to the original loan, an individual can remain servile their entire life – sometimes passing the debt onto family members. Despite the efforts of non-governmental abolitionists in liberating slaves, the mainstream media has tip-toed around this problem for some time, seemingly unable to accept that (yes, I’ll say it again) there are more slaves on the planet than at any time in human history.


Japan Questions 9/11 and the Global War on Terror
In the Japanese Parliament in January 2008, during a live television broadcast, Parliament member Yukihisa Fujita openly questioned the validity of the War on Terror and insisted that an investigation into the catalyst – 9/11 – be conducted by Japanese authorities. Even though twenty-four Japanese citizens were killed on 9/11, Fujita made the comment that no mandated criminal investigation had been carried out by the Japanese government.
The Parliament was meeting to debate Japan’s renewed ‘anti-terror laws’, which would result in a commitment of logistical support for coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Fujita felt it was timely and appropriate to discuss the ‘suspicious information’ being uncovered by independent journalists on the internet. Fujita presented slides to demonstrate these arguments and detailed such events of that infamous day including the lack of evidence of a plane crash at the Pentagon, the odd collapse of WTC7 and the preceding day’s insider trading – all details well known to “9/11 Truth” researchers. Incidentally, it was reported by Project Censored last year that the FBI had “no hard evidence linking Osama Bin Laden to 9/11”. This would be hard to accept for most Americans constantly fed statements by the mainstream media for the last seven years that told the contrary.

Author Ed Haas contacted the FBI to ask why Bin Laden’s connection to 9/11 was not mentioned in his profile on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List. Haas was promptly told that there was no evidence that could be presented to a grand jury that would convict Bin Laden of the crime! Haas posed the question as to the authenticity of the Bin Laden “confession tape”, released to the public on December 13th 2001. If the tape were authentic, it would provide enough evidence for a conviction. However, the FBI doesn’t seem to think that this is the case, throwing serious doubt on the tape itself, those who presented it as ‘evidence’ and the ethics of the seemingly corrupt mainstream media who continuously flogged the tape on air as proof and justification for the invasion of Afghanistan to “flush out Bin Laden”.

by Max Drake
(Freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)

Dropa – Fact or Fiction?

In 1937, a Chinese archaeologist named Chi Pu Tei discovered strange cave burial sites in the Baian-Kara-Ula mountain range, located in the borderland between China and Tibet. The skeletons found were roughly 4 feet tall, and displayed heads which were considerably larger than their slender frames. In each of the 716 graves, Chi Pu Tei found a stone disk approximately a foot in diameter and almost an inch thick. Chi Pu Tei published his findings stating that the burial sites were made by mountain gorillas and that the disks were placed there by later cultures. Chi Pu Tei was rightfully ridiculed by the Chinese archaeological community for this absurd claim.

The caves themselves had the appearance of being ‘carved’ from the mountain, according to Chi Pu Tei. The walls were squared and glazed and were more akin to an underground system of interlinking tunnels. The disks, upon closer inspection, were inscribed with a strange, unknown writing. In 1962, Chinese scientist Professor Tsum Um Nui managed to partially decode the inscriptions, telling a wild tale of an alien spacecraft that had crashed to Earth. Many of the occupants were hunted and killed by local tribes because of their strange appearance, and with no means to re-build their craft, were stranded on our planet. Indeed, an old Chinese legend describes a race of small, yellow-skinned humanoids, with large heads and slender, frail bodies. Their supposed descendants live in the area of the Baian-Kara-Ula and are of very small stature, encompassing none of the features associated with the Chinese, Mongols or Tibetans.

In 1947, Dr Karyl Robin-Evans travelled through Tibet bound for the “mysterious land of the Dropa”. He met with the Dalai Lama and eventually found the tribe, who were indeed small in stature and of strange appearance. He conversed with a language teacher of the Dropa who told him the same story of an alien race being stranded on Earth. Apparently they had been here roughly 12,000 years ago on an exploration mission, and that another craft had crashed here around 1014AD. Robin-Evans took a photograph of the supposed Dropa leaders (see below) but this seems to be the ONLY photo of this race of people in existence.



Russian scientist W. Saitsew published a paper in 1968 which raised the interest of extraterrestrial visitors in our past. Much of the information published was from the work done by Professor Tsum Um Nui, but included information of the make-up of the stone disks, which had large metallic traces such as cobalt. When the disks were placed on an oscillator, they produced a vibratory hum that suggested the flow of energy. The centre hole in the disks was cut with such precision that it defied explanation, considering the disks were aged at around 12,000 years.

In 1974, Austrian engineer Ernst Wegener was able to photograph two of the disks being displayed in the Banpo Museum in Xian. The museum curator could tell Wegener nothing of the disks, and when Hartwig Hausdorf visited the museum twenty years later, the disks had disappeared. Wegener’s photos are published all over the internet, but their quality is poor, having been taken with an old Polaroid camera. No inscriptions are visible, and while they are as they had been described in the past, the photos are hardly proof of anything.

For this is the problem with the story of the ‘Dropa Stones’ and the small skeletons supposedly found in the mountains of the Baian-Kara-Ula – the lack of proof. It is highly unlikely that Dr Karyl Robin-Evans trekked into Tibet and took only ONE photograph of this mysterious race of people supposedly descended from extra-terrestrials. There might be a logical reason for this, but it escapes this author. The other ‘facts’ of the case are suspect as well – for instance the reported transcription by Tsum Um Nui and the details regarding the properties of the disks. The complete lack of evidence to support a discovery of this magnitude lends credence to the idea that this is all an elaborate hoax. A number of photos have surfaced on the internet claiming to be the skeletal or mummified remains of the Dropa ‘aliens’, but most are proven fakes or from another location on the planet, passed off as ‘Dropa’. And where are the 716 stone disks supposedly discovered by Chi Pu Tei in 1937? Were subsequent expeditions undertaken to recover any disks or skeletal remains that were left behind? It’s a great story, but is it anything more than that…?

Of course, a discovery like this would invariably draw the attention of the world’s governments and it is quite possible that the entire discovery has been quashed. Perhaps the evidence is locked away deep underground in a top secret installation – deemed far too unsettling for the minds of the average person….

by Max Drake
(Freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)

A Convenient Truth

Former Presidential candidate Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in bringing to light the issue of ‘Global Warming’. Yet the hypocrisy of the award was not lost on some as Gore continued to travel to his speaking engagements in a private jet – a machine which, in one trip across the United States, burned more fuel than the average American family car would in an entire year.
Much criticism of the issue of ‘Global Warming’ has been expressed over the last few years since the release of Gore’s award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Many scientists in many fields have issued statements regarding the state of the planet, saying that any change in climate is due to naturally occurring phenomena and not from the actions of mankind. To suggest that man, in a relatively short time since the beginning of the industrial age, has screwed the planet to such an extent as to what is claimed by Gore and his supporters is sheer lunacy, some say. In the wide expanse of time since the planet was seemingly formed, man’s existence is the equivalent to a grain of sand on One Mile Beach. The planets’ climate shifts – it has always been so and there is nothing we can do about it.

Growing evidence seems to support the idea of naturally occurring climate change. Many of the graphs and illustrations used by Gore in An Inconvenient Truth were used in a way to support the thesis being presented. Yet alternate suggestions for these changes and even alternate data point towards the opposite. For example, the ‘frightening’ claim that the glaciers of the Himalayas – which provide one sixth of the water used by mankind – are vanishing and will have disappeared completely in 25 years seems entirely false. A British study, published by the American Meteorological Society in 2006, found that glaciers are only shrinking in the eastern Himalayas. West, in the Hindu Kush and the Karakoram, glaciers are “thickening and expanding”.

Many scientists argue that if temperatures are rising on one side of the planet, they are dropping on the other side. It is all relative. Botanist David Bellamy, writing in The Australian newspaper earlier this week, points out that 10,000 years ago Australia would have been under ice. Thank goodness for global warming, he says, or we all would not be here. Bellamy and others like him voicing dissent across the globe have been met with vicious hysteria. They are branded ‘paranoid conspiracy theorists’ even though their statements have nothing to do with ‘paranoia’ or ‘conspiracy’. These are learned people who should be heard, not censored for practicing free speech.

Lately, the term ‘Global Warming’ has been replaced by the term ‘Climate Change’. Is this a response to the growing evidence to support the fact that the idea of man-made ‘Global Warming’ is a bald-faced lie, perpetuated by a select group of people with a particular agenda? There is no denying that the planet is experiencing climate change, but given the knowledge that it is merely the earth doing its’ thing, why are governments across the world creating legislation (including taxation) to combat an issue which simply cannot be overcome? What is the proposed plan of action for a problem that doesn’t exist? Any move to reduce toxic emissions into the atmosphere is definitely a good thing, but not through the use of baseless fearmongering.

If the knowledge that climate change is not the cause of man, what is the possible agenda to ignore the evidence and create solutions for a non-existent problem? That is the question worth asking.

by Max Drake

(Sources: The Australian; The Telegraph (UK). Read the articles at:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0%2C25197%2C24700827-7583%2C00.html and
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/11/23/do2310b.xml )

Aurora, Texas (1897)

On April 17th, 1897, in the town of Aurora, Texas, a cigar-shaped craft was supposedly seen in the sky. Shortly thereafter, the object crashed to earth, destroying the windmill on the farm of the local judge. A small humanoid occupant was reportedly ejected, and was buried that same day in the town cemetery.

Newspaper reports at the time described the incident with candour and sincerity. One local newspaper made mention of the peculiar metal that the craft seemed to be constructed from as well as maps and writings found which were a strange type of hieroglyphic. Indeed, reports at the time from all over the country appeared in various publications all describing similar craft seen in the sky prior to and after the Aurora crash.

In the 1970’s, the mystery of the crash gained some recognition in certain circles. Many began to investigate the incident, including author Jim Marrs and aviation writer Bill Case, the latter having followed the incident for many years. But details of the crash and the truth of the matter remained elusive. Local townspeople that were interviewed, who had been alive at the time of the crash, were divided on whether the story was factual or an elaborate hoax. Others knew the story, and many had made judgements on its authenticity based on hearsay of family members.

Yet there were some aspects of the mystery that defied conventional reasoning. Brawley and Etta Oates bought the judges’ farm in 1945, and Etta confessed to the fact that nothing grew for years in the spot were the craft allegedly crashed. They also suffered cysts and goiters – the cause of which, they were told, was from drinking the radioactive water out of the well near where the craft had struck the earth.

The grave where the ‘alien’ was said to have been buried did in fact exist. The grave was smaller than a normal man, and bore a strange headstone. Inscribed on the stone was a “V” lying on it’s side with three circles etched inside it, like portholes. Case, Marrs and others moved to have the body exhumed, but were stopped by the local council. A few days later, the headstone was stolen. Case told Marrs that he had scanned the grave with a metal detector some time before the exhumation request. He found three positions within the grave that showed metal to be present. After the request and the subsequent headstone theft, the metal was gone and Case showed Marrs three small holes in the earth where the metal had obviously been extracted. When Marrs asked Case who he thought had taken the metal, Case replied “The government.”

By Max Drake

(Read: “Alien Agenda” by Jim Marrs; and visit http://www.abovetopsecret.com

The Nazca Lines

High on an arid plateau in Peru, some 300 figures and geometric shapes are etched into the sand. The Nazca desert, south of Lima, is home to one of the most enduring mysteries of South America. Commonly called the Nazca Lines, these impressive ancient artworks were first discovered when commercial airplanes began to fly over the region. They cover an area that stretches over 400 square miles and their creation has been the subject of many weird and wonderful theories.

Perhaps the most famous of the Nazca Lines is the so-called “Astronaut” (see below). First discovered in 1982, it has led to the notion that these designs were created by an extraterrestrial intelligence. Other figures include animals and birds, a weird figure with two hands (one with five fingers and the other with four), symbols, and various objects. The creations are attributed to the Nazca people who dwelt in the region some 2,000 years ago and mysteriously disappeared 500 years later. Yet it has been impossible to accurately estimate the actual age of the Lines.

For the Nazca desert retains conditions that have preserved the massive artworks over what could amount to many thousands of years. Annual rainfall is nominal, and the surface of the plateau is stony and flat – preventing disturbance to the Lines by wind. It is only now, after much exploration by modern man and the tourist attraction the region has become, are the Nazca Lines of Peru beginning to deteriorate.

by Max Drake
(Max is a freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)

For more on the Nazca Lines of Peru, visit: http://www.crystalinks.com/nazca406.html

The Morgellons Enigma

In 2002, Mary Leitao – a former electron microscopist and immunohistochemist – noticed sores on her two year-old son’s lip. The child complained of ‘bugs’, and when Leitao examined the sores she discovered small red, black, blue and white fibres. Leitao took her son to numerous doctors who could find no evidence of any disease or allergy. After consulting one pediatrician at Johns Hopkins, he recommended Leitao would benefit from psychiatric evaluation.

Indeed, this is the stance of nearly the entire medical community, who view the ‘disease’ mostly as a form of delusional parasitosis. Yet, sufferers of ‘Morgellons Disease’ (a name chosen by Leitao) tell a different story. In some cases the symptoms may in all likelihood be delusional on the part of the victim, or involving Munchausen’s by proxy in the case of adults with ‘afflicted’ children, but the majority of Morgellons patients are definitely not crazy.

Mary Leitao and her husband Edward were convinced that their son was suffering from “something unknown” and set up the Morgellons Research Foundation (MRF) in 2002. Morgellons symptoms include sensations of insects crawling beneath the skin, skin rashes and legions that do not heal, muscle and joint pain, cognitive disfunction and the aforementioned fibres that appear beneath the skin and can be extracted from the sores.
Forensic examination of the fibres found no match to any known fibre in the FBI’s database.

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) refused to acknowledge the existence of Morgellons as a new disease, the MRF began an online petition that was eventually sent to members of Congress. In 2006, the CDC created a task force to investigate the Morgellons enigma and in 2008, the CDC enlisted the US Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and the American Academy of Dermatology to assist with the investigation. This, of course, would leave sufferers and conspiracists with little or no confidence in the investigation finding a prompt and satisfactory resolution.

For there are many theories regarding Morgellons. Personnel at Tulsa Police Crime Lab who studied the fibres from a Morgellons patient, stated that the fibres were not manmade and did not come from a plant, adding it may be some byproduct of a biological organism. Others theorise regarding pollutants and pesticides, others regarding military bioweapons and still others on the subject of alien experimentation. Another theory gaining some credence is to do with nanotechnology. Whilst this relatively new technology is certainly incredible, its application in our society has gone forth with little or no study into its potential risks. Only one thing is certain – the symptoms of Morgellons are real and widespread across the United States, and to a lesser degree in Europe and even Australia. In addition to the sores and fibres, sufferers complain of difficulty walking and even a sagging mouth when speaking. It is by all accounts a living hell.

by Max Drake

(Max is a freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)