by Springwolf
The Ænigma Project is a discussion group focused on the realm of the supernatural, paranormal and mysterious events that sometimes take place in our lives. Through multiple view points and experiences, we seek to enlighten our listeners and elucidate that which has become hidden beneath the many layers of misunderstanding and fear. Join creator Paul Cagle with co-hosts Sushi and Springwolf for a weekly discussion, every Monday night at 9pm eastern on TenacityRadio.com.
This is not a transcript of the show; it's merely a supporting
article to share some of the information we may not have had
time to cover, and links that you might find interesting.
On Monday night July 02, 2012, Paul Cagle, Sushi and Springwolf
sat at their round table for The Ænigma Project and held
a discussion about:
Urban Legends
Did you hear about the group of scientists known as the “Second Coming Project” who are trying to clone Jesus from the DNA of holy relics? Or what about the ghosts of little children killed by on a train track haunt the area and push stalled cars off the tracks least the occupants experience their same fate. Legend says cars pushed by the ghost children have tiny hand prints on the back of the cars. Are they true? Or are they modern mythology?
What IS an Urban Legend?
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend,
is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or
may not be true or based in fact. Some liken urban legends to
modern mythology, moral tales told by clergy or parents to keep
people and kids in line. Others call them entertaining stories
that hearken back to the days before television and movies, when
oral stories were the source of amusement.
They have always been used as
vehicles for manipulation by corporate strategists, political
elections and town gossip. As one of our listeners stated, there's
a fine line between an urban legend and malicious gossip or attack.
And that's certainly true. These modern myths can educate, teach
moral code of conduct, entertain or harm society as a whole.
It all depends on the story, the intent and the attention to
detail. Often times, the intricate details make the difference
between help or harm.
With the advent of the internet, urban legends have found
a new avenue of expression to spread both their tales or their
manipulations. But what we find interesting is how easily some
of these stories can be told and spread before someone actually
does a little web searching to discover if they're true or not.
So why don't more people check out the tales they read before
they hit that share button? Well that's an easy one. It's in
our nature to be the first to tell a story no matter what it's
about. We want to be the first with the news. Even news outlets
care more about being the first to break a story than they are
about getting the story right.
Case in point. Last week the Supreme Court ruled on national
health care; is the federal mandate constitutional or not? The
court released its ruling in an opinion paper and the news media
began scanning for the headline. Before you know it, they were
reporting that the high Court struck down the mandate as an interference
in commerce. They couldn't wait to get the story out and most
outlets rushed to the cameras and started talking before they
finished reading the opinion. Sadly, they should have taken the
time to keep reading. They would have discovered the Court upheld
the mandate stating it falls within the authority of the Government
to assess a tax. Within 5 to 10 minutes, all the news organizations
who rushed with the headline "It's killed" quickly
rushed to change their news feed and crawls across the TV screen
to "It's Upheld".
Is it no wonder than that we as individual people often fall
into the same boat. It's so much easier to hit that Share button
and spread a false story than it is to take a little time and
search for the facts first. But why should we care if a story
is true or not? They're simply entertaining. Well the problem
is that often these stories can be used to skew perceptions of
a people, culture or place.
The Harm Behind Urban Legends
A story can subtly create a perception of a people without you even realize that it's being done. Two stories that we covered on the show come to mind that can be examples of this.
A story can subtly create a perception of a people without you even realize that it's being done. Two stories that we covered on the show come to mind that can be examples of this.
The first deals with religion:
A group of scientists known as the “Second Coming Project” are trying to clone Jesus from the DNA found in a holy relic. Their intention is to clone Jesus, utilizing techniques pioneered at the Roslin Institute in Scotland, by taking an in-corrupt cell from one of the many Holy Relics of Jesus' blood and body that are preserved in churches throughout the world, extracting its DNA, and inserting into an unfertilized human egg), through the now-proven biological process called nuclear transfer.
A group of scientists known as the “Second Coming Project” are trying to clone Jesus from the DNA found in a holy relic. Their intention is to clone Jesus, utilizing techniques pioneered at the Roslin Institute in Scotland, by taking an in-corrupt cell from one of the many Holy Relics of Jesus' blood and body that are preserved in churches throughout the world, extracting its DNA, and inserting into an unfertilized human egg), through the now-proven biological process called nuclear transfer.
Now the story itself is false. No archeological artifact has
ever been found that directly links, beyond a shadow of a doubt
to Jesus Christ. The only object that might come close is The
Shroud of Turin. The Catholic Church guards the shroud with the
utmost security and while it has allowed some scientific testing,
scientists have been limited by what they can do to prove it's
authenticity. Most researchers and scientists who have been on
these previous examinations have concluded the shroud is a forgery
and was created during the Renaissance. So the first task to
making the story of cloning true, is to have actual proven Jesus
DNA. And that simply doesn't exist.
But the very idea touched the souls of many people around
the world who honestly believe such attempts to bring back Jesus
for the rapture of mankind is a good idea. Is it? Really? Do
we want another "Heaven's Gate" tragedy on a larger
world wide scale to occur? I hope not. But the "True Believers"
believe their way is the only hope for the world.
 |
| Dubai Mall Hoax |
The Big Fish Tale:
The second story is much more benign but still sets up an underlying message of negative perception in the most subtle of ways. It begins with a picture. A picture is worth a thousand words is it not? It's proof, evidence, how can anyone dispute the story when it comes with photographic evidence?
The second story is much more benign but still sets up an underlying message of negative perception in the most subtle of ways. It begins with a picture. A picture is worth a thousand words is it not? It's proof, evidence, how can anyone dispute the story when it comes with photographic evidence?
The picture comes with the story about the collapse of a shark
tank at The Scientific Center in Dubai. Share this because it's
probably the only time in your life you will see something like
this.
Various alternative stories claim the same fate for the shark
tank, but place the location at the Scientific Center in Kuwait.
In 2010, a shark-filled aquarium at a large mall in Dubai
did crack, causing a precautionary evacuation of the building
and some leakage. However, the breach was quickly contained and
none of the aquarium's residents escaped to swim the mall and
none were harmed.
Now consider the chosen locations of the scam. Far enough
away in the middle east to be potentially hard to verify. But
the subtle message some have gleaned from this is the irresponsibility
of middle eastern countries more concerned with flash and opulence
than the care and security of aquatic life. Really? Ok, whatever.
There's no doubt that spreading rumors over certain commercial products can be harmful to both companies and consumers. Several years ago pet owners went through a big scare over tainted dog food. That story was true and many brands issued warnings and recalls because of tainted ingredients used in the making of their products. Last year another similar story started up concerning a particular brand of 'natural' dog food. This story turned out to be false, but the impact to the company wasn't fake. They suffered losses that forced the company to layoff workers and make harsh cutbacks hoping they could ride through the storm.
Politics has been another source of fake fodder and with the use of the internet and spam email it seems to have only gotten worse. Changing the spin on an opponents position isn't new.But how those sound bites are being spread and proliferated to the general public is. The constant barrage of false information has caused many new agencies to create their own series of "Keeping Them Honest" or Fact Checking. Many point to FactCheck.org and Politifact.com as two of the best sources. But even they have their detractors. They at least give the individual citizen a place to start and something to think about before they go to the polling booth.
Scams, spinning the news, or propagating the unbelievable aren't the only types of Urban Legends that get attention. Sometimes the ones we really like to hear about, are the ones that bring up a scare.
The Paranormal Legends
Some of the most entertaining urban myths revolve the paranormal. From ghosts and horror to the improbable and scientific; urban myths are spread far and wide. They begin in one area and within a few short months they are retold as happening some where else. Building the familiarity within the story helps to keep it going from person to person. Especially if the legend is intended to share a moral tale.
Some of the most entertaining urban myths revolve the paranormal. From ghosts and horror to the improbable and scientific; urban myths are spread far and wide. They begin in one area and within a few short months they are retold as happening some where else. Building the familiarity within the story helps to keep it going from person to person. Especially if the legend is intended to share a moral tale.
Take the young teenager who bet her friends that she could
spend the night in a local cemetery. This one has been altered
from time to time, denoting the name of a local cemetery to make
the tale more personal for those hearing it. The next morning
the girls friends find her dead, held in the arms of a stone
angel.
Now tales like this one may have gotten started by a local
graveyard caretaker to frighten teenagers away from his cemetery.
Holding respect for the dead is still a big deal today. But it
may have been more so back when the process of life and death
were still being discovered. And no, that tale is not true either.
Nor is the legend of the children killed on a railroad crossing
who spend eternity in ghostly form to push wayward stuck travelers
off the same tracks when they become stuck. Leaving little hand
prints in the dust of the car's trunk.
 |
| The Read House - Chattanooga Tennessee |
Are stories like this one common? Are there many places haunted
by distraught souls who were murdered or committed suicide? Do
a quick Google search for "Haunted Hotel Rooms"and
you'll find out that yes indeed it is a lot more common than
you might think. One interesting note about many of these stories
are the location of the haunted rooms are often on the top floor.
In centuries past, construction often limited commercial or residential
buildings to three floors. So a lot of stories happen in room
310, 311, 333 and so on. But as construction improved so did
the floors of old hotels.
Many people enjoy these ghost legends and seek to stay in
these rooms specifically for a fright of their life. From London
to Honolulu you can find a ghost story within a haunted hotel,
cottage or castle to peek your interest and scare up the goosebumps.
Checking The Tales
Whither it's an old Urban Legend shared as oral tradition of history or a modern scam designed to part you from the truth or your money, do us all a favor and check out the truth before you hit the share button. There are many websites that debunk the false rumors from those that have some measure of truth and fact. But there's nothing like a decent search to discover the real story to keep you from looking foolish.
Whither it's an old Urban Legend shared as oral tradition of history or a modern scam designed to part you from the truth or your money, do us all a favor and check out the truth before you hit the share button. There are many websites that debunk the false rumors from those that have some measure of truth and fact. But there's nothing like a decent search to discover the real story to keep you from looking foolish.
If someone tells you they heard in the news that scientists
have discovered the existence of 11 dimensions, it's easy enough
to search that term and focus on legitimate news articles or
scientific trade magazine to discover the real story. In this
case, this one is true. Sort of, because it's a theory about
space and time known as String Theory. Being a theory it hasn't
been scientifically proven. But it's a working theory that many
physicists believe explains our universe and the laws of physics.
The source of your research is just as important as the story
itself. A grocery store tabloid that reprints an Urban Legend
may not have the factual resources to back it up. Search for
a local newspaper where the story supposedly originated from.
If you can't find it, you have your first clue that the story
is an urban myth. But widen your search and look for any news
item about the story. If you can't find anything, it's likely
to be false.
You can also search on the variety of Urban Legend websites
that seek to debunk the scams and myths. Two popular sites that
do this are Snopes and The
AFU And Urban Legends Archive.
Enjoy your stories and entertain your friends, with a few
Urban Legends from your area. It's an interesting way to learn
about history, share moral codes of conduct or simply be the
center of entertainment!
- Sushi's Links - http://aenigmaproject.com/sushis-links
- Snopes Urban Legends - http://snopes.com
- The AFU And Urban Legends Archive - http://www.tafkac.org
- Urban Legends Online - http://urbanlegendsonline.com
- Fact Check.org - FactCheck.org
- Politifact.com - Politifact.com
- The Museum of Hoaxes - http://museumofhoaxes.com
© 2012 Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D. All Rights Reserved.
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