Friday, 21 August 2015
Thursday, 20 August 2015
ALIENS
Life can be found in almost every nook and cranny of our planet Earth. Leaping, swimming, flying, sprinting, slithering, crawling or rooted firmly in place, organisms appear, die, and are replaced by new generations and new species.
Whether a similar bounty of life exists elsewhere in the universe is one of the oldest and most tantalizing questions of science. Considering the wide breadth of the universe and the countless stars it contains, the odds would seem in favor of the answer being "yes."
"We are here, made of stardust. Therefore, it is at least possible that there are others," said Jill Tarter, director of the Center for SETI Research in California.
Hardy critters
But today's scientists hope to get beyond mere statistics to find something more substantial, and more edifying. Perhaps more than at any other time in history, scientists are optimistic that extraterrestrial life does exist, and that a firm confirmation can be had.
Their hope is buoyed by recent discoveries of worlds beyond our solar system and new revelations recently learned about the hardiness of life here on our own planet.
"As we learn more about the diversity of life, particularly microbial life, we expand our definition of what life is and how life can exist in some very hostile (to humans) environments," said biologist Diana Northup of the University of New Mexico.
Scientists have discovered microbes that are resilient to levels of heat, cold, salt, acidity, and radiation that would kill humans. Some of these so-called "extremophiles" have been found thriving in complete darkness, in parched deserts and even miles below ground.
All of this is good news for astrobiologists who dream of finding life beyond Earth's confines, as many of the extreme environments on our planet are thought to be the norm for other worlds. Earth's deserts, for example, have analogues on dry, dusty Mars. Saturn's moon Titan is a world of meandering rivers and lakes, and beneath the icy crust of another Saturn moon, Enceladus, might lie environments resembling the frigid ocean depths of Earth.
Brave new worlds
Astrobiologists are also heartened by the recent explosion of new planets discovered outside our solar system. Since 1995, when astronomers spotted the first planet in orbit around another normal star, the number of extrasolar planets, or "exoplanets," has swelled to over 200. Scientists now know of more than 20 times more planets outside our solar system than in it.
The majority of exoplanets discovered so far are bloated, fast-spinning gas giants, known as "hot Jupiters," that orbit extremely close to their stars and are thus probably unsuitable for life.
But some exoplanets are wondrously Earth-like. Scientists recently spotted one world only 20.5 light-years away that lies within the habitable zone of its star—the region around a star where liquid water, and thus life, might exist. (It was later discovered the planet might be too hot for life, but another potentially habitable world in the same system was quickly found to take its place.)
With the ongoing refinement of current planet-finding techniques and the launch of new satellites, scientists expect not only to find a truly Earth-like world, but to also be able to probe it for life's spectral fingerprints carried by a planet's reflected light.
"Depending on what level of seeking and finding we are prepared to do, we could make discoveries in the next two decades that entirely change the way we understand the universe and life," said Margaret Turnbull, an astrobiologist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.
SETI
Of course, there is always the chance that extraterrestrial life will find us first. Perhaps not in the form of a visiting UFO, but a radio transmission from an advanced alien civilization is still considered within the realm of possibility.
"Mankind has achieved scientific-technological civilization only in the last 200 years or so, out of about 4.5 billion years of life on Earth," said Frank Wilczek, a Nobel-Prize winning physicist at MIT. "So it seems we ought to expect there to be many scientific-technological civilizations that have had many millions, or even billions, of years to develop."
But even the discovery of one single-celled microbe on a distant world would be enough—enough to finally answer that age old question of "Are we alone in the universe?" and enough to change how humanity views itself.
"The discovery of life forms inhabiting the unexplored extremities of our own planet, and eventually, the discovery of life on other planets, will bring into greater awareness the magnificence of a living universe," Turnball told LiveScience, "and, hopefully, a better understanding of ourselves."
Saturday, 8 August 2015
The Mystery of Gobekli Tepe
Situated at the northwest edge of Mesopotamia in Southeastern Turkey, Gobekli Tepe is a tell; that is, an ancient manmade hill built from the accumulated layers of millennia of building atop the ruins of those who came before. At the lowest level, its most significant construction dates back to 10,000-11,000 BC, a period that predates the introduction of writing, metal tools and the wheel in the region by 6,000 years.
Armed with only the simplest technology, the ancient builders used stone tools to chip enormous blocks of limestone into pillars, each weighing between 11 and 22 tons. Then hundreds of people would work together to move the pillars anywhere from 100-500 meters to the complex.
At the site, the large stones were arranged in circular rings of approximately eight upright pillars, each. Every pillar is comprised of two stones that form a T shape. Typically, six pillars, connected with low walls, are set around the circumference, and two taller pillars are situated in the center. The tallest pillars reach16 feet in height, and the largest rings are 65 feet in diameter. To date, nearly 200 pillars have been found at the dig.
Across the world and across time, man has enjoyed building large monuments. To give you an idea of just how old Gobekli Tepe is, consider the following timeline:
1644 AD – Construction on the Great Wall of China ended with a total length in excess of 20,000 km.
1400-1600 AD – The moai on Easter Island were erected.
1372 AD – The Leaning Tower, in Pisa, Italy, was completed after 200 years of construction.
1113-1150 AD – The Khmer of Southeast Asia built the enormous temple to Vishnu, Angkor Vat.
200 AD – The Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico was completed.
220 BC – Construction on the Great Wall of China began.
432 BC – The “apotheosis of ancient Greek architecture,” the Parthenon, was completed.
3000-1500 BC – About 5,000 years ago, a group of crazy Neolithic Britons hauled enormous four-ton stones over 140 miles to erect Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain.
2550-2580 BC – Pharaoh Khufu’s tomb, the Great Pyramid of Giza, was completed. It remained the tallest manmade construction until 1311 when the Lincoln Cathedral in England was completed.
4500-2000 BC – Pre-Celts cut and placed over 3,000 stones in Carnac, France.
9130-8800 BC – The first 20 round structures at Gobekli Tepe were built.
gobekli tepe alien evidence
Gobekli Tepe, which is actually a complex comprised of many temples, may have been the first temple in the world made by man. Evidence found at the site shows that it was used for religious purposes. Most of the pillars located there are T-based, up to 6 meters high, and have different kind of animals (bulls, snakes, foxes, cranes, lions, etc) carved into them.
The most astonishing thing is that some pillars weigh between 40-60 tons, causing speculation as to how it was possible for prehistoric men to have built such a monument when basic tools had not yet been invented. According to archaeology, people of that era were considered to be unsophisticated hunters.
The importance of Gobekli Tepe lies in the fact that the people who lived there were much more advanced than previously imagined. Proponents of Ancient Astronaut Theory maintain that beings from another planet could have aided mankind in these ancient times and enabled them to create impressive structures not just in Turkey, but in many countries throughout the world. “Gobekli Tepe changes everything,” says Stanford University’s Ian Hodder.
Furthermore, many have proposed that Gobekli Tepe can even be a temple inside the Biblical Eden of Genesis. Is it possible that what we know about the ‘uncivilized and primitive’ prehistoric men is not at all true? Is it possible that advanced civilizations existed before 6000 BCE and their tracks are simply lost in time? Or is it possible that extra-terrestrials interfered and helped men to build monuments throughout the history of humanity? The questions are certainly compelling.
Man was supposed to have been a primitive hunter-gatherer at the time of the sites’ construction. Gobekli Tepe’s presence currently predates what science has taught would be essential in building something on the scale such as those structures. For instance, the site appears before the agreed upon dates for the inventions of art and engravings; it even predates man working with metals and pottery but features evidence of all of these.
So who is responsible for the construction of this compelling megalithic site?
Science is having a hard enough time with the dating of Gobekli Tepe. According to scientific methodology a true culture should not have existed that far back in time. Trying to identify who should be credited with the site is no easy task.
But while science stands confounded by this discovery, ancient alien theorists have no problem stepping in and delivering who they believe built the site. For them it is so obvious. Aliens, or extraterrestrials, are responsible for the construction of Gobekli Tepe.
As more and more evidence is uncovered from the site some of it compels archaeologists to think Gobekli Tepe had been purposefully buried – to hide something, but what and why?
Friday, 7 August 2015
TOP SECRET --- AREA-51
Area 51, Roswell incident and UFO conspiracy theories
Area 51 has long been the subject of UFO conspiracy theories probably because the facility is used for classified aircraft research. Conspiracy theorists have alleged that the facility is being used by the US government for storage and reverse engineering study of crashed alien spacecraft, specifically the alleged Roswell “flying disc.” UFO theorists also allege that alien occupants of the alleged spacecrafts, both living and dead, are also being held at the facility.
Other theorists say joint projects with extraterrestrials, R&D in new energy and weapons systems, weather control technology, time travel, teleportation technology and research activities related to an alleged world government organization called “Majestic 12 organization,” are being conducted at Area 51.
There are also claims that the base has a transcontinental underground railroad system, and a disappearing airstrip (the “Cheshire Airstrip”) based on some form of alien technology.
Claims by alleged former employees at Area 51, include a story by a 71-year-old mechanical engineer who featured in a 1996 documentary Dreamland by Bruce Burgess, and claimed that he worked on a “flying disc simulator” based on a crashed ET craft. Such claims have fueled stories that Area 51 is being used as storage site for the Roswell UFO and ET beings.Probably the most controversial testimony in the Roswell UFO incident came from Lt. Walter Haut.
Story of 1st Lt. Walter Haut
1st Lt. Walter Haut (June 2, 1922?December 15,2005) was the public information officer (PIO) at the 509th Bomb Group based in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. He was the official who, on July 8, 1947, drafted the press release on the order of Colonel William Blanchard that announced the USAF had recovered a crashed “flying disc” from a nearby ranch.
After the press release generated international media attention, the authorities retracted the claim, saying that only a weather balloon had been recovered.
In December 2002, Haut signed a sealed affidavit in which he gave details about a government cover-up in the Roswell UFO incident. Earlier in 2000, he had given an interview in which he claimed he saw an alien craft and an alien body in a Roswell Army Field base hangar and that he was present at a meeting where senior officials discussed what to say to the public. Haut claimed that Brigadier General Roger M. Ramey of the Eight Army Air Force in Forth Worth, Texas was present at the meeting. It was Ramey who later released the retraction that the “flying disc” was really a “misidentified weather balloon.”
The interview and the affidavit were not released until after Haut died in in 2005. The full text of the affidavit was published in June 2007 in a book titled “Witness to Roswell: Unmasking the 60 Year Cover-up.” The book claimed that Haut had sworn to his superior, Colonel Blanchard, not to reveal the facts of what happened at Roswell. According to book, Haut’s promise to Blanchard explains why he said in earlier interviews that he did not know anything about the incident and that he had only prepared and released the first statement on the order of his superiors.
In the new affidavit, Haut claimed that after he put out the press release about a “flying disc,” he was taken to a base hangar where he saw an egg shaped craft about 15 feet long and several ET bodies with large heads about four feet tall. Haute said he was convinced that the bodies were ET.
Haut also claimed that there were two major crash sites and that the bodies were found on a site unknown to the public. Haut claimed he attended a meeting where senior officials discussed and decided what the public was to be told
After the press release generated international media attention, the authorities retracted the claim, saying that only a weather balloon had been recovered.
In December 2002, Haut signed a sealed affidavit in which he gave details about a government cover-up in the Roswell UFO incident. Earlier in 2000, he had given an interview in which he claimed he saw an alien craft and an alien body in a Roswell Army Field base hangar and that he was present at a meeting where senior officials discussed what to say to the public. Haut claimed that Brigadier General Roger M. Ramey of the Eight Army Air Force in Forth Worth, Texas was present at the meeting. It was Ramey who later released the retraction that the “flying disc” was really a “misidentified weather balloon.”
In the new affidavit, Haut claimed that after he put out the press release about a “flying disc,” he was taken to a base hangar where he saw an egg shaped craft about 15 feet long and several ET bodies with large heads about four feet tall. Haute said he was convinced that the bodies were ET.
Haut also claimed that there were two major crash sites and that the bodies were found on a site unknown to the public. Haut claimed he attended a meeting where senior officials discussed and decided what the public was to be told
Thursday, 6 August 2015
The Mysteries of the Chinese Terracotta Warrior
In 1974 the most important archaeological discovery in the world took place when more than 8000 life-size clay warriors were uncovered in Xi’an, China. The clay army lies in the greatest mausoleum in the world, and archaeologists assert that it was meant to protect Emperor Qin Shi Huang in his journey after death. Each soldier was created with unique characteristics and was placed according to rank. Horses, weapons and other objects were also discovered.
Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty. He became King at the age of 12 and lived in the 2nd century BCE. According to historical records, he had an army of one million professional soldiers built, and was the one who initiated construction of the Great Wall of China.
Huang’s Mausoleum was a copy of his kingdom—which according to the records took 37 years and more than 720,000 people to construct—so that he could maintain his empire after death. The outer wall is about 2km x 1km and the Necropolis consists of buildings, cemeteries and stables, and there are four different pits in which the 8,000 warriors stand in rows.
The tomb of the King has been located and is likened to an underground palace though it is yet to be excavated. According to historian Siam Qian, the tomb hides great treasures such as vessels, precious stones and treasures. Characteristically, Qian mentions:
"Since antiquity, no one has ever been buried in such a luxurious manner as Emperor Qin Shihuang."
The Emperor made sure that his tomb would be booby-trapped so that robbers wouldn’t be able to access it. It is mentioned that he used poisonous arrows that are automatically triggered, mercury, and other traps that could bring death upon any intruder. The secrets of the tomb are not known since most of the people that worked at building the Emperor’s tomb were killed; however, probes that have been sent into the tomb have verified an unusually high concentration of mercury exists, possibly supporting Qian’s theory.
Recently, The University of Xi’an Jiaotong discovered that the tombs of the Han dynasty are embedded with astronomical information. Specifically, the murals on the upper part symbolize the sun, moon and the stars, while the lower part represents mountains and rivers.
Now let’s connect Chinese mythology to the story of the Emperor. A Chinese dragon was said to consist of nine different parts, all resembling different animals: the head of a camel, the scales of a fish, the horns of a deer, the eyes of a rabbit, the ears of a bull, the neck of a snake, the belly of a clam, the paws of a tiger, and the claws of an eagle. According to this mythology, dragons were divine monsters, both wise and strong, that were involved in the creation of the world. Dragons were not considered to be evil creatures—this is something that was introduced later on by Christianity’s attempt to twist opposing myths and legends. In fact, the Chinese claim that dragons were present with humans in the beginning, helping humans evolve. They were respected and considered to be good fortune, and were advisors of the kings because of their great wisdom. They had the ability to change shape, size, and become invisible among many other abilities, like controlling the rain, the weather, and many other external aspects of their everyday life.
It is said that the first mythological emperor (Fu Xi) of China had a dragon tail, and his successor is said to have been fathered by a dragon. If we compare these stories to that of other myths around the world, we will see the similarities with the first emperors, who were related to the ‘gods’ and ‘creators’ of humanity, the only difference being that the gods in Chinese mythology who gave the kings authority are depicted as dragons. Since the emperors of China were related to these gods, is it possible for the Emperor Qin Shi Huang to also be?
There are still many relics to be found since most of the area is still unexplored, and archaeologists believe what has been found comprises only a tiny fraction of what is there. Unfortunately, excavations of the tomb have currently been stalled by the Chinese government.
THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA
The Giza Pyramids, built to endure an eternity, have done just that. The monumental tombs are relics of Egypt's Old Kingdom era and were constructed some 4,500 years ago.
Egypt's pharaohs expected to become gods in the afterlife. To prepare for the next world they erected temples to the gods and massive pyramid tombs for themselves—filled with all the things each ruler would need to guide and sustain himself in the next world.
Pharaoh Khufu began the first Giza pyramid project, circa 2550 B.C. His Great Pyramid is the largest in Giza and towers some 481 feet (147 meters) above the plateau. Its estimated 2.3 million stone blocks each weigh an average of 2.5 to 15 tons.
Khufu's son, Pharaoh Khafre, built the second pyramid at Giza, circa 2520 B.C. His necropolis also included the Sphinx, a mysterious limestone monument with the body of a lion and a pharaoh's head. The Sphinx may stand sentinel for the pharaoh's entire tomb complex.
The third of the Giza Pyramids is considerably smaller than the first two. Built by Pharaoh Menkaure circa 2490 B.C., it featured a much more complex mortuary temple.
Each massive pyramid is but one part of a larger complex, including a palace, temples, solar boat pits, and other features.
Building Boom
The ancient engineering feats at Giza were so impressive that even today scientists can't be sure how the pyramids were built. Yet they have learned much about the people who built them and the political power necessary to make it happen.
The builders were skilled, well-fed Egyptian workers who lived in a nearby temporary city. Archaeological digs on the fascinating site have revealed a highly organized community, rich with resources, that must have been backed by strong central authority.
It's likely that communities across Egypt contributed workers, as well as food and other essentials, for what became in some ways a national project to display the wealth and control of the ancient pharaohs.
Such revelations have led Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities and a National Geographic explorer-in-residence, to note that in one sense it was the Pyramids that built Egypt—rather than the other way around.
Preserving the Past
If the Pyramids helped to build ancient Egypt, they also preserved it. Giza allows us to explore a long-vanished world.
"Many people think of the site as just a cemetery in the modern sense, but it's a lot more than that," says Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Tufts University Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian. "In these decorated tombs you have wonderful scenes of every aspect of life in ancient Egypt—so it's not just about how Egyptians died but how they lived."
Tomb art includes depictions of ancient farmers working their fields and tending livestock, fishing and fowling, carpentry, costumes, religious rituals, and burial practices.
Inscriptions and texts also allow research into Egyptian grammar and language. "Almost any subject you want to study about Pharaonic civilization is available on the tomb walls at Giza," Der Manuelian says.
To help make these precious resources accessible to all, Der Manuelian heads the Giza Archives Project, an enormous collection of Giza photographs, plans, drawings, manuscripts, object records, and expedition diaries that enables virtual visits to the plateau.
Older records preserve paintings or inscriptions that have since faded away, capture artifacts that have been lost or destroyed, and unlock tombs not accessible to the public.
Armed with the output of the longest-running excavations ever at Giza, the Harvard-Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Expedition (1902-47), Der Manuelian hopes to add international content and grow the archive into the world's central online repository for Giza-related material.
But he stresses that nothing could ever replicate, or replace, the experience of a personal visit to Giza.
And people the world over seem to agree. Each year they flock to see the last wonder of the ancient world and infuse the modern Egyptian economy with billions of dollars—continuing another ancient Giza tradition as one of the world's most popular tourist destinations.
Wednesday, 5 August 2015
mermaid the body found
Once upon a time, there lived a little mermaid in an underwater kingdom. She ventured to surface, longing to communicate with people on land…
This is a fairytale told and retold to children everywhere; it’s a beloved story about a legendary creature that’s described in the mythologies of nearly every human culture in history. People across all continents who’ve had no communications with other societies have described the same half-man, half-fish anomaly – they’ve spoken about the same mythic animal.
What if there’s a kernel of truth that lives beneath the legend of the mythic mermaid? Now, in Mermaids: the Body Found, premiering Sunday, May 27, from 9-11 PM ET/PT, Animal Planet brings viewers into the world where the legend is real. The film blends real-life events and phenomena with the story of two scientists who testify they found the remains of a never-before-identified sea creature. Spectacular CGI animates a world where mermaids really do swim below the water’s surface, cooperatively hunt with dolphins and may continue to survive in an intricate society where they stay hidden in fear of their Earth-bound relatives.
As the crescendo to Monster Week, a weeklong network programming stunt airing from May 21 to May 28,Mermaids: The Body Found is a story about evolutionary possibility grounded in a radical scientific theory – the Aquatic Ape Theory, which claims that humans had an aquatic stage in our evolutionary past. While coastal flooding millions of years ago turned some of our ancestors inland, is it possible that one group of our ancestors didn’t retreat from water but rather went in deeper? Could they have ventured farther into sea out of necessity and to find food? The Aquatic Ape Theory makes it possible to believe that while we evolved into terrestrial humans, our aquatic relatives turned into something strangely similar to the fabled mermaid. As evidence that humans once evolved into aquatic creatures, the Aquatic Ape Theory cites some of the striking differences between man and other primates and the many features we share with marine mammals, including the following:
Webbing between fingers (other primates don’t have this)
Subcutaneous fat (insulating from cold water)
Control over breath (humans can hold breath up to 20 minutes, longer than any other terrestrial animal)
Loss of body hair (hair creates drag in water)
Instinctive ability to swim (human babies are able to do this)
A highly developed brain, which depends on nutrients provided by seafood
Mermaids: The Body Found makes a strong case for the existence of the mermaid, a creature with a surprisingly human evolutionary history, whose ancestral branch splits off from a shared human root. The film is science fiction, using science as a springboard into imagination and centering the story on the following real-world events:
In the early 1990s, the US Navy began a series of covert sonar tests, which were linked to mass die-offs of whales, which washed up on beaches throughout the world. For years, the Navy denied they were responsible for these beachings.
In 1997, scientists at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recorded a mysterious sound (called “The Bloop”) in the deep Pacific, which was thought to be organic in nature. It has never been identified.
These are facts.
Mermaids: The Body Found is a story that imagines how these real-world phenomena may be related. In this story, startling amateur video and photographic evidence, as well as additional audio recordings, suggests whales weren’t the only creatures affected by the Navy’s sonar. The film follows the two scientists who tracked the whale beachings for years and delivers first-hand, on-camera accounts of what they claim to have discovered in the aftermath of one particular beaching. Their story is nothing less than fantastical: they claim to have found the remains of a mermaid.
With compiled amateur footage, including photos and video shot by deep-sea fishermen that never have been shown in the US, as well as cinema-quality CGI, Mermaids: The Body Found argues how a mythical creature – one of humankind’s most enduring legends – may be real. It depicts how mermaids may have evolved from the early human family tree and persisted into the present day.
Mermaids: The Body Found is so compelling with evidence and so credible, audiences can see it a second time when it repeats Monday, May 28, from 7-9 PM ET/PT as Monster Week comes to a close.
Mermaids: The Body Found is produced for Animal Planet by Darlow Smithson. Tom Brisley is executive producer for Darlow Smithson. For Animal Planet, Charlie Foley is executive producer, creator and writer. For Animal Planet, Vaibhav Bhatt is co-writer and supervising producer, and Jamie Dugger is producer. Steve Gomez, of Bandito Films, is director of animation
Tuesday, 4 August 2015
Monday, 3 August 2015
JACK THE RIPPER
Jack the Ripper, undoubtedly the most famous serial killer in the world, spread terror throughout London in the last years of the 19th century.
Since then his crimes have been pored over by untold numbers of experts - yet nobody has ever convincingly unmasked this notorious figure.
Instead conspiracy theories, myths and fantastical speculation have concealed the chilling facts of the case.
So did 'Jack the Ripper' really exist? Or is he a media invention?
Most experts agree that one man was behind at least four killings. Others think there were possibly eight.
A Metropolitan Police investigation collected eleven separate murders between 3 April 1888 and 13 February 1891 under the title of the "Whitechapel murders".
The first recognised 'Ripper' killing took place in the early hours of Friday, August 31, 1888.
Mary Ann Nichols (left), known as Polly, was probably in her early 40s when she met the Ripper while soliciting in Buck's Row (now Durward Street) in Whitechapel.
Her body was first discovered by a delivery driver at around 3.45am in the entrance to a stableyard. Her throat had been cut twice, severing the blood vessels on both side of the neck.
She also had a deep jagged wound across the left side of the stomach and three or four similar cuts on the right side.
Eight days later a second prostitute, Annie Chapman (right), 47, was discovered in the back yard of 29 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields, at around 6am.
Again her throat had been severed twice with a sharp knife, so deeply it had cut into the spine.
The killer had also slashed open the abdomen, cut away the intestines and placed them on the victim's shoulder. Her uterus had been removed along with part of the bladder.
Such was the surgical skill used that the doctor who performed the postmortem believed it would have taken at least 15 minutes and an in-depth knowledge of anatomy.
On September 27 the Central News agency received a letter signed 'Jack the Ripper'. It is now thought to have been written by a journalist desperate for a story.
The note began 'Dear Boss, I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track.'
It added: 'I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal.... The next job I do I shall clip the ladys ears off and send to the police officers just for jolly wouldn't you.'
Three days later on the Sunday morning two prostitutes were murdered within the space of 45 minutes, although there is some doubt as to whether they were the work of one man.
Elizabeth Stride, a 45 year-old woman of Swedish origin, was killed in Dutfield's Yard of Berner Street (now Henriques Street). Her throat had been cut once from the left although there was no other mutilation.
One witness, known as Israel Schwartz, claimed to have seen one man throw the victim down on the street while another watched, lighting his pipe. Mr Schwartz walked off after being spotted by the second man.
Louis Diemschutz, jewel salesman, discovered the body when he drove his cart into the yard at around 1am, possibly interrupting the Ripper before he could finish.
Over in Mitre Square in the City of London, the body of 46 year-old Catherine Eddowes was found by a policeman in Mitre Square.
Her throat had been cut, her abdomen slashed open and her intestines placed over the right shoulder. Her left kidney and most of the uterus had been removed.
In contrast to other victims, her face was also mutilated: there were cuts through both eyelids, the bridge of the nose, tip of the nose, upper lip, and both cheeks.
Part of her bloodspattered apron was found in nearby Goulston Street, Whitechapel, below graffiti on the wall reading: 'The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing.'
The next day a postcard was sent to the Central News agency referring to a 'double event.'
More disturbingly about two weeks later a parcel containing half a human kidney preserved in wine was sent to George Lusk, the head of a vigilance committee in Whitechapel.
A note (pictured right), which claimed the organ had been taken from Catherine Eddowes, began: 'From hell...
'I send you half the Kidne I took from one woman and prasarved it for you tother piece I fried and ate it was very nise....'
It was signed 'Catch me when you can.'
Finally on Friday, November 9, Mary Jane Kelly, an Irish-born 25 year-old prostitute, was murdered in her room at 13 Miller's Court, Dorset Street, Spitalfields.
She was last seen at around 2am with a man described as of Jewish appearance, with a large dark cloak, felt hat, white collar and black tie, light boots and a gold seal hanging from his waistcoat.
Her body was discovered when the rent collector arrived at 10.45am and looked through the window.
This time the killer had enough time to not only cut her throat but completely disembowel her, cut off the breasts and mutilate the face beyond recognition.
The uterus, kidneys and one breast were found under her head and the other breast by her right foot. The liver had been placed between her feet, the intestines on her right side and her spleen on her left. Flaps of skin taken from her stomach and thigh were placed on the bedside table. Her eyebrows, nose, cheeks and ears had been partly cut off.
Her heart had been removed and taken away from the scene.
All five murders were carried out at night and each one increased in violence except that of Stride.
Although there were four other 'Whitechapel murders' they bear no real similarity to the Ripper crimes. It is believed the killer suddenly stopped, either having died, emigrated or been incarcerated.
While several suspects have been suggested, including even Prince Albert and the painter Walter Sickert, neither the original police investigation nor later research has unearthed a convincing candidate.
Despite, or possibly because of, the failure to catch the culprit, the killings created an international media sensation in the cheap newspapers of the day.
Even now, after over a century, he remains one of the most notorious figures in history.
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