J’ba Fofi

It is hard to imagine a creature more universally despised or feared than the spider. No matter what corner of the globe we inhabit, humans, myself included, have a unique vulnerability to the alien form and sinister nature of arachnids. The mere idea of being ensnared in one of their webs can send shivers down many a spine. We should count ourselves fortunate then, that the vast majority of spiders today are unobtrusive, tiny creatures. Even the largest known spider, the giant huntsman, which has a leg span of up to a foot, is too small to view a human as prey.

But could there be a spider that does?

Deep in the mysterious, unexplored jungles of Central Africa, so the story goes, the native peoples live in fear of a monstrous eight-legged beast whom they call the “J’ba Fofi”. These gargantuan spiders are said to resemble tarantulas, but are five or more feet across. They dwell deep in the jungle, spinning elaborate webs on the forest floor and pouncing after unfortunate prey, including humans, who may stumble into them.

Sightings of the J’ba Fofi are relatively few, as the areas which it supposedly inhabits lie far from the prying eyes of modern civilization. However, several have been catalogued by one William Gibbons (more on him later).

• In 1938, Englishman Reginald Lloyd and his daughter Marguerite were traveling through the Congo when a spider with an estimated leg span of five feet crossed the road in front of them. Lloyd grabbed for his camera but, as is so often the case in these tales, the creature had disappeared into the forest before he could take a picture.
• In the 1890s, a missionary named Arthur Simes was traversing the jungle with two porters, who stumbled into a massive web. Within seconds, two enormous spiders jumped on the men and bit them several times before Simes was able to drive them off with his pistol.

These are perhaps the most notable and widely repeated sightings, although several others appear in various sources.

These stories are the only “real” evidence of J’ba Fofi. There are no supposed photos taken of it, and no true expeditions have been launched to attempt to find it. So what do we make of this evidence? Well, for starters, the main source of these two stories is a man named William Gibbons. Gibbons made a small name for himself in the cryptozoology community by investigating the Mokele-Mbembe, a supposed living dinosaur which is also said to lurk in the depths of the Congo. The problem, however, is that Gibbons is an employee of the Institute for Creation Research, a self-declared “academic institution” dedicated to perpetuating the long-discredited belief of young earth creationism. Thus, not only does Gibbons have, to say the least, a very questionable scientific background, he would seem to have a vested interest in proving that supposedly ancient creatures such as dinosaurs and giant spiders are still alive and well today, as it fits into the young earth narrative.

So, if the evidence is scarce and what evidence there is does not meet any true scientific standard, is there any reason to give credence to the story of J’ba Fofi?

Many arachnophobes may breath a sigh of relief when I say that the answer is no. The reason is a biological one. Spiders, as a whole, are ancient life forms which evolved during the Triassic Period, approximately 200 million years ago. Back then, the Earth’s atmosphere was nearly ten percent more rich in oxygen than it is today. This rich environment allowed arachnids and insects to grow to monstrous sizes. Many types of spider, including the tarantula family (of which the J’ba Fofi is apparently one), feature a set of book lungs, layers of extremely thin “leaves” which allow for the passage of oxygen. These were able to support larger creatures in the Triassic air, but cannot do so in today’s comparatively oxygen-depleted atmosphere. However, even during this optimal stage, no spiders are known to have exceeded the size of the giant huntsman spider, which is less than a fifth the size of the supposed J’ba Fofi.

So does this titanic tarantula exist? I would say that the answer is almost certainly no. Although many may counter that the jungles of the Congo are vast and unexplored, the biological knowledge of spiders and how they work does not support the possibility that such a creature exists. Perhaps one day one will come lumbering out of the jungle and be caught on film, but until then, I believe that we can all safely say that there is no such thing.

50 Berkeley Square

Return with me down to 19th century London- a world of gas lamps, cobblestone streets and horse drawn carriages. If you happen to pass through Mayfair though, mind your step. Some say a certain townhouse echoes at night with the sounds of screams, and even a body being dragged down the stairs…

This is the story of 50 Berkeley Square, which some claim is the most haunted house in all of London. But what, if anything, is really contained within its elegant walls? A horror beyond all imagination, or a horror very much created by the human imagination?

Above: The notorious manse as it appears today.

The townhouse at 50 Berkeley Square was originally constructed in the late 1700s. For a time, it was the residence of British Prime Minister George Canning. Some claim it to be the oldest unaltered building in London.

Nobody seems to know for certain when the house first acquired a reputation for being haunted. Nonetheless, at least as early as the 1860s, a group of paranormal enthusiasts known as the Spiritualist Society attempted to investigate with no success. This inspired group member and poet Frederick Doveton to write in poem of the “mysteries of 50 Berkeley Square”. Londoners began to talk of lights seen in the windows at night, heavy footsteps and screams echoing from the eerie house. George Canning himself reported hearing strange noises whilst living there. However, where the legend truly began to grow was on a cold night in the 1870s. So the story goes, a group of young aristocrats stayed a night in the house. One of the group, identified by some sources as “20 year old dandy and notorious rake Sir Robert Warboys”, fortified no doubt by drink, declared that he would have none of the ghost stories, and agreed to a challenge to sleep in the upstairs bedroom, long said to be the most haunted room in the house. He agreed with his friends to take a pistol with him, and to ring the servant bell if he was in any danger. The night passed uneventfully. Then, all of a sudden, the servant bell began to ring with an amazing ferocity. Alarmed, the young aristocrats’ friends ran to the rescue. However, when they burst into the room, all that was there was the corpse of their companion, eyes bulging in fear, smoking pistol still clutched in one hand.

The other famous legend of the house takes place at an uncertain date. Some sources claim the 1880s, others as late as the 1940s. Regardless of the setting, it concerns two young sailors, identified as some as “Edward Blunden and Robert Martin”, who were on shore leave. Looking for a place to stay, they happened across the vacant house at 50 Berkeley Square. Settling down for the night, the two young men were just about to fall asleep when they heard a noise in the stairwell. The door slowly creaked open and out came…something. Some sources claim that it was simply a vast, formless darkness. Others claim that it was a multi-tentacled creature. Petrified, one sailor managed to muster his courage and escape down the stairs. Returning with a police officer, they discovered the corpse of the other sailor, having apparently jumped out of the fourth-story window to escape the hideous thing. Some have claimed that this creature which accosted the sailors was not a ghost at all, but a mutant octopus which had oozed up out of the London sewers.

Since those days, 50 Berkeley Square has apparently settled down. For nearly 70 years, it served as the headquarters of the Maggs Brothers antiquarian book selling firm, who did not, to my knowledge, report any Lovecraftian abominations lurking in their back room.

So what, if anything, did happen in Berkeley Square? Let’s begin with the two most famous legends. In my research, I have found no evidence of the existence of the supposed ill-fated lothario “Sir Robert Warboys”. One would think a young aristocrat such as him dying in such a bizarre way would at least warrant a newspaper article of the investigation, but there is nothing to be found. The legend of the sailors is even more vague. I could find no service records of “Edward Blunden and Robert Martin”, and the vast variation in the setting of this story does not lend it much credence.

However, it is certainly well documented that the house has had a reputation for hauntings for almost two centuries. The explanation for this may be more tragic than paranormal. After the residence of George Canning, the house was leased to a certain “Mr. Myers”, who was rarely seen or heard from. In her autobiography, London socialite Lady Dorothy Nevill stated that Mr. Myers was a relative of hers with severe mental illness. He rarely went out during the day, and took to wandering his house at night with a candle. Londoners, seeing this light in an otherwise apparently abandoned house, could be forgiven for leaping to a paranormal explanation.

An alternate theory comes from famed British ghost hunter Harry Price. In the 1940s, Price claimed to have uncovered evidence that the house had been being used as a hideout by a gang of counterfeiters, who had concocted the tale and used some primitive “special effects” to dissuade the curious from discovering their illicit activities.

Both of these explanation do indeed sound plausible, and it is entirely possible that both are true. After the unfortunate Mr. Myers passed away, a gang of criminals could have certainly capitalized on the house’s haunted reputation. Regardless of how the house originally became to be known as haunted, it is very clear to me that the two most famous legends associated with it are complete fabrications. I do not believe that the home is haunted, or that the sewers of London house some monstrous mutated cephalopod, as heresay of these events from over a century ago would not hold up in court, to say the least. Nonetheless, they do certainly make a terrific story, and will likely ensure that the legend of 50 Berkeley Square will remain in the public consciousness for the considerable future.

The MV Joyita

Today, we turn to the high seas for one of the most confounding mysteries of the ocean. In 1955, the merchant vessel Joyita disappeared with 25 people on board. It was later found drifting on the open ocean, abandoned, and listing heavily to the side. None of the passengers or crew were ever seen or heard from again. What really happened? Over 60 years later, no one is quite sure. Nonetheless, let’s dive in.

Above: The ill-fated vessel when it was discovered.

The Joyita was a 60-foot wooden ship originally built as a luxury yacht. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was purchased by the United States Navy, and it patrolled the Hawaiian Islands for several years. in 1952, it was sold to Dr. Katherine Loumala, who in turn chartered it to her friend, Captain Thomas “Dusty” Miller, who lived in Samoa, to use as a fishing and passenger vessel.

On October 3, 1955, the Joyita left Apia Harbor in Samoa and set out for the Tokelau Islands. The trip was expected to take approximately two days. The ship carried sixteen crew and nine passengers, who included a doctor, a government official, and two children. On October 6, the port noted that the ship was overdue. A search and rescue mission was launched, although it was hampered by the fact that no distress signal had been received. It wasn’t until five weeks later, on November 10, that another ship finally found the Joyita. She was drifting more than 600 miles off course. Authorities began to investigate the ship, and this is where the mystery begins.

The condition of the ship was as follows:

• The ship was listing heavily to one side, and her hold was very flooded. However, her hull was lined with cork and the ship was extremely buoyant. Barnacles were growing below the waterline, indicating that it had been listing for quite a while.
• Part of the superstructure was smashed, and several windows in the wheelhouse were broken.
• The ship’s dinghy and three life boats were missing.
• The starboard engine was covered by mattresses and had been partially disassembled.
• The radio was tuned to the international distress frequency. However, faulty wiring was found to have limited its range to approximately two miles.
• All of the electric clocks had stopped at 10:25 pm. In addition, the lights were switched on, indicating that the event had occurred at night.
• The doctor’s bag was found on deck; inside were four blood-stained bandages.
• The ship’s navigational equipment, as well as Captain Miller’s firearms, were missing.
• Four tons of cargo were missing from the hold.

These conditions present a bizarre scenario to say the least. It’s clear that the passengers and crew felt the need to abandon the ship. However, despite the list, the Joyita was entirely seaworthy and had plenty of fuel left. Captain Miller was an experienced seaman who had spent many hours aboard the Joyita, he would have certainly been aware that the ship was not in imminent danger of sinking. It certainly seems very bizarre that the Captain would abandon the virtually unsinkable vessel to take his chances on the open ocean in four small boats. At the inquiry convened in the aftermath, the committee stated that the disappearence of the passengers and crew was “inexplicable on the evidence submitted at the inquiry”. The smashed bridge, stopped clocks, and used medical equipment seem to indicate that something more violent than the flooding had occurred- but what?

 

Over the years, there have been numerous theories as to what actually happened to the Joyita. The main confusion is why the crew and passengers abandoned the nigh-unsinkable ship for the open ocean. One theory, which seems very plausible to me, holds that Captain Miller was injured somehow. This explains the bloody bandages found in the doctor’s bag. Without his guidance, the remainder of the crew and passengers panicked at the flooding, and fled the ship when they should have stayed. The damage to the bridge could be explained by a large wave. If the captain had been manning the wheel when the wave hit, he could have been struck by debris or simply injured by the force of the water, knocking him unconscious. A wave would also have damaged the ship’s electrical system, explaining the stopped clocks throughout the ship. Since the ship’s radio was damaged, nobody would have received any transmissions about a storm or a rogue wave. However, this theory does not explain the four tons of cargo missing from the hold.

Perhaps the most thorough investigation into the fate of the Joyita was performed by travel writer Robin Maugham. After investigating for nearly a decade, he proposed that Captain Miller, desperate to settle various debts, pushed the ship forward through increasingly rough weather, even though one engine was already broken. The broken engine would explain the covering of mattress, which were likely intended to prevent a fire or short circuiting. The crew began to mutiny and Miller was seriously injured or killed in the struggle. The first mate, now in command, ordered an evacuation as the ship was laboring in heavy seas. However, this also does not explain the missing cargo, and it also seems unlikely that the first mate would abandon the ship instead of waiting out the storm.

So what really did happen aboard the Joyita in 1955? Theories range from the rational ones detailed above, to the supernatural, including sea monster attacks or portals to another dimension. The short answer is that nobody knows for sure. With everyone who was present at the time certainly dead, we will likely never have a definitive answer. In my research, I have come to believe that the mutiny explanation is the most likely. Perhaps both the captain and the first mate were incapacitated in the struggle, leaving the panicked passengers without an experienced seaman who knew of the ships’ stability. During the five weeks that the ship drifted unmanned, pillaging could account for the missing cargo.

The Joyita is a great mystery because it has no definitive answer. The various bizarre clues aboard the vessel have fired many an imagination, although it is likely that a mundane, although still tragic, occurrence explains the fate of the unfortunate crew and passengers of the Joyita. 

Skin-walkers

The mythology of the indigenous peoples of North America is truly fascinating, filled with deities and creatures beyond count. Out of all these characters, few are more feared than the Skin-walker.

Above: A Navajo man dressed as a Skin-walker, circa 1860. 

The Navajo people of the Southwestern United States have long told stories of the “yee naaldlooshi“, which translates to “he who goes on all fours”. This figure is also commonly referred to as a Skin-walker. In Navajo lore, a skin-walker is an evil sorcerer who possesses the ability to change shape into an animal at will. Skin-walkers are typically portrayed as taking the form of a coyote, owl, fox, wolf, or crow. However, they may transform into any animal they choose. To achieve this ability, one had to kill a close family member in cold blood. When in the form of an animal, the skin-walker was said to appear strange, often bloody, with human-like or red eyes and an odd, shambling gait.

To Navajos, even in the modern day, the skin-walker is far more than just a campfire story. Many refuse to talk about them with non-tribal members. As a result, the legend is relatively obscure. Nonetheless, the internet offers a few individuals who are willing to share their supposed encounters with these evil beings.

Redditor u/Punch_Drunk_AA shares the following tale:

“My family owns a farm in the heart of a Indian reservation. One winter I was home for Christmas taking care of the farm while my parents were away Christmas shopping. As I was home by myself, way late in the night and I hear all our cows freaking out. I knew it had to be the wild dogs that are rampant in the area. So I throw on some boots, grab a shotgun, load it up, and head out to the field. This was a perfect scenario for a horror movie, it was cloudy but there was full moon, and it was breaking through the clouds just right to light up all the snow. I ran out into the middle of the field, and just in time I see two dogs, they were standing up facing each other and fighting. I think “perfect two for one.” So I pump a shell into the chamber of Mr. 12 gauge and then it happened. The two dogs heard the rack, they both stopped, looked over at me, and ran away, ON THEIR BACK LEGS. Immediately I froze, and every ghost story about Skinwalkers and all the other Native legends I grew up with flew through my mind. Keep in mind I am a white guy, and up until then, these were all just boogie man stories the Native kids like to tell to scare us. That night, they became real to me.”

Fellow Redditor u/jyrrope had this story:

“Not me but my uncle. He is Mexican/Native American. This happened in the Mojave Desert in southern California. He was driving around with his girlfriend late at night and they saw something that looked like a huge black dog on the side of the road. He slowed down and the dog began crossing the road. Instead of walking like a normal dog would, this thing moved like a toy rocking horse. He said it stopped in the middle of the road and stared right at them and it’s eyes had a red glow. My uncle is the most badass person I know and it scared the crap out of him.”

These encapsulate the typical story of an encounter with a skin-walker. Typically in the middle of the night, in a desert or similarly isolated setting, the witness will see a large animal, typically a dog, wolf, or coyote, which will then run away on its hind legs, or simply stare with frightening red eyes. Something is described as being “off” or “evil” about these creatures. Occasionally an inhuman scream is heard echoing in the distance, or the ominous beating of a drum.

As frightening as these stories are, it is always a good idea to take internet tales with several dozen grains of salt. Indeed, the ones I decided to share here were comparatively realistic. Others featured skin-walkers keeping pace with speeding cars and morphing before the witnesses’ eyes. I don’t mean to diminish anyone’s personal experience, but stories that sound as though they’ve come out of a horror movie usually set off my bullshit alarm.

Even if the stories are not exaggerated, I feel as though there is a simple, rational explanation; misidentification. Take Punch_Drunk_AA’s story above. He claims that he was investigating frightened cows in the middle of the night, under a full moon. This is a scenario that would cause anyone to jump to the idea that an evil witch is after them, rather than something disappointingly mundane. As for what he saw, I believe that he witnessed two black bears. Black bears are about the size of very large dogs, especially juveniles, and have been known to both fight and walk on their hind legs, which would be a very strange sight indeed, as shown below.

As for the second story, I feel as though the explanation is a dog with a severe case of mange. Mange is a disease that is caused by parasitic mites infesting the fur of mammals. It can cause gait abnormalities as well as severe deformities. A wild dog with an untreated case of mange is quite a disturbing sight:

Animals with mange would explain many of the elements of the traditional Navajo legends, including the odd gait, bloody skin, and deformed appearance. Mange also effects the animals which figure prominently in skin-walker tales, including bears, wolves, coyotes, and dogs.

So, if these sighting can be explained by mundane misidentification and disease, why do the Navajo people have such a fear of these beings? I have no doubt that the fear of skin-walkers is very real. However, we must remember that for centuries, witches were viewed in Europe as a legitimate hazard. When one is raised in a culture that has told stories of these creatures for hundreds, if not thousands of years, the power of suggestion grows very strong, even if no one in living memory has seen something that can only be explained by dark magic.

To sum up, in my opinion, the legend of the skin-walker is a wonderfully spooky myth, but in my research I have found no evidence that it is anything other than fanciful stories, cultural influence, misidentification, and some very unfortunate animals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dulce Base

Ever since that fateful New Mexico night in 1947, the restricted facility known as Area 51 has captured the American public’s imagination and fueled countless conspiracy theories about what alien technologies may be lurking inside. However, there is a legend of another, far more sinister military instillation underneath the Archuleta Mesa in New Mexico. Supposedly, it is a place of unchecked science, cruel experimentation on innocents, and collaboration between the U.S. government, grey aliens, and “reptilians” from inside the earth itself. This is what is known as the Dulce Base.

“Credible” information about the Dulce Base is very hard to find. Almost all of it comes from a mysterious figure named Thomas Edwin Castillo (also spelled “Castello”), who claims to have worked as a security officer at the facility. Several websites which look like they were created circa 1997 contain a lengthy Q & A with him, in which he describes daily life at the base.  In his account, Castillo makes some truly remarkable claims. He states that he worked alongside grey aliens and a race of reptilians, including a cranky reptoid leader named “Khaarshfashst”. However, the juicy part of his tale begins when he discusses the floor known as “Nightmare Hall”. Castillo claims that he was told that those imprisoned on this level were “hopelessly insane”. However, he soon realized that they were simply innocent civilians who had been kidnapped for genetic experimentation. Castillo also claimed that many alien craft were stored there, and that it was connected via an underground shuttle system to Los Alamos National Laboratory. Most of these accounts conclude that Castillo was prepared to release dozens of photographs and documents proving the sinister goings-on at Dulce, however he was either found dead, or as one account rather hilariously concludes, was forced to flee and become a mercenary in the Central American jungle. What a shame that this conclusive evidence has never come to light.

While most websites only provide this written account, several provide some images, which were “smuggled out of the base”, and which purport to be of the underground shuttle system to Los Alamos.

The only problem with this “evidence” is that a simple reverse Google Image search reveals that the photos are actually of stations in the Stockholm Metro Subway, which boasts a number of architecturally interesting stations.

As for Thomas Castillo himself, no pictures of him have been provided, there is no record of that name in any census records, and to me, there is little convincing evidence that he ever existed at all.

Debunking the myth of something like Dulce Base presents a unique challenge, in that the lack of evidence itself plays right into the narrative. There is no legitimate evidence because it’s all been removed, and all the witnesses have been killed. Nevertheless, I maintain my position that if the U.S. government isn’t competent enough to keep the identity of its CIA agents secret, it is not capable, of keeping a facility like Dulce secret. Few people who aren’t already primed to believe in things like grey and reptilians will find the stories about Dulce convincing. The spy-movie narrative about “Thomas Castillo”‘s life, complete with its’ incongruous footnote about fleeing to an existence as a hired gun in the jungle, rings completely untrue to me. Frankly, if the government really is desperate to keep the base a secret, why are there so many websites freely sharing the story? Shouldn’t all of the admins have been “silenced” and their sites taken offline? In the end, I cannot prove that the Dulce Base does not exist, but nothing I have found in my research has done anything to convince me that the story is, at best, the ramblings of a diseased mind or, more likely, a fanciful story designed to gain attention from the gullible.

 

Welcome to The Reluctant Skeptic

Hello, and welcome.

My name is Ben McKone, and this site is a result of my life long fascination with all things paranormal, inexplicable, and bizarre. As the title of this site suggests, I am a reluctant skeptic. I maintain an open mind about paranormal issues, but I have yet to see anything that has convinced me of their existence. This site will serve as a place for the open-minded exploration of these phenomena. It will be updated every Thursday, with my explorations of various paranormal and altogether bizarre topics. Ultimately, this is a place to gain shared knowledge in the exploration of our fascinating, bizarre, and wonderful world.

I hope you will join me on this adventure.

Ben