In 1587 a small company made up of 90 men, 17 women and 9 children colonized the island of Roanoke just off the coast of North Carolina. John White, the governor of the second colony, went back to England to gather more supplies. He intended to return to Roanoke Island right away, but war between England and Spain delayed him. Three years later when returning with supplies the colony was gone. The only clue the word “Croatan” was carved on a tree.

On November 5, 1872 the Mary Celeste set sail from New York for Italy. A month later on December 5th it was discovered as a derelict. The ship was in perfect order with no sign of trouble and still carried ample supplies. The captain, his family and its 14-member crew have never been found.

In 1913 author Ambrose Bierce joined the army of Pancho Villa as an observer of the Mexican Revolution. It is known that he accompanied Villa’s army as far as Chihuahua since a letter to a close friend was sent from there on December 26, 1913. Afterward he vanished and investigations into the disappearance provided no answers.

On August 6, 1930 New York Supreme Court associate justice Joseph F. Crater was seen walking out of a New York restaurant. He entered a taxi after waving goodbye to some friends and was never seen again. In October, a grand jury began looking into the case and ended up calling 95 witnesses and amassing 975 pages of testimony. Some of the evidence uncovered was that a safe-deposit box had been emptied and two briefcases missing. The conclusion was: “The evidence is insufficient to warrant any expression of opinion as to whether Crater is alive or dead, or as to whether he has absented himself voluntarily, or is the sufferer from disease in the nature of amnesia, or is the victim of crime.”

On March 4, 1983 13-year-old Shannon Lee Potter of Parkville, Maryland climbed out of her bedroom window to attend a party.Five days later Potter’s mother received a letter from her that had been postmarked from Orlando, Florida. Telephone records shows that she had made calls to Florida, Colorado and Mississippi, where her fathered lived. Were these calls related to her disappearance, no one knows. She has not been seen since.

While not a disappearance, the Legend of the Lost Dutchman’s mine in the Superstition Mountain of Arizona has caused a few disappearances with people lost trying to discover its location. In the 1870′s Jacob Waltz is said to have located a mine that he worked with his partner Jacob Weiser. Waltz was German, mistaken for Dutch, and he is the Dutchman where the name originated. Most stories place the mine in the vicinity of Weaver’s Needle, a well-known landmark in the mountains.

The Hobbit, a children’s fantasy novel, was first published on September 21, 1937. It was so popular that a sequel was required. That sequel, much different and more adult, was the Lord of the Rings and set in Middle-Earth, Tolkien’s mythological world.

Ever since the final minutes of the final movie of the trilogy in 2003, Lord of the Rings:The Return of the King, there has been clambering for The Hobbit to be made as a movie by Peter Jackson, the director of The Lord of the Rings. And finally in December of 2012 The Hobbit will hit the screen.

I was first introduced to the Hobbit and Tolkien’s world in summer of 1977. I don’t really remember why, but I picked up a 4 book package set that included The Hobbit and the three volume Lord of the Rings. I was introduced to Hobbits like all by reading the words, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

Those that read The Hobbit after the Lord of the Rings, may be disappointed since the tone of the telling of the story is much different.

From now until December 14th, the scheduled date for the release of the first of the two Hobbit movies, much will be written and discussed. About the books, the author, and how the movie will presented. And to me, a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s world and stories, this is a very good thing. I am looking forward to the Year of the Hobbit.

Wicca is a practice of witchcraft, but not all witches are Wiccans or even pagan.

There are 8 holidays during the Wiccan, and generally Pagan, year. Those are Samhain (All Hallow’s Eve), Yule (December 25), Imbolc (February 2), Ostara (Spring), Beltane (May Day), Midsummer, Lugnasadl (August 1), and Mabon (Fall).

Pagans and Wiccans do not believe in Satan or the devil. Satan is part of the One Deity faith while Pagan beliefs relate to many Gods.

Wicca is a modern religion having been introduced by Gerald Gardner in 1954 in a published work on witchcraft.

Many of the Christmas Traditions originate through Pagan beliefs and ceremonies that were transformed and/or adopted by Christians.

Jimmy Carter in October 1969, seven years before he was elected President of the United States reported an UFO sightings.

There is a story that on August 6, 1974 at Wickers Field, the home of The Key West Conchs, a Class A Cubs affiliate, a fly ball hit by Joe Wallis, the Key West right fielder, is heading toward the glove of the Cardinal right fielder, John Crider when the ball disappears. No one knows whether or not the ball landed, the batter was credited with a Home Run.

Many Astronauts have reported spotting unidentified “bogies” during their flights. Among them are John Glenn, Gordon Cooper, the crew of Apollo 16 and possibly Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong was followed to the moon by a UFO.

UFO’s have been reported throughout the World. In the Unites States it appears that UFO sightings are concentrated in the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, the three coastal western states and Nevada.

On the night before Christopher Columbus’s exploration sighted land on October 12, 1492, Columbus along with Pedro Gutierrez reported seeing a light glimmering in the distance from the desk of their ship Santa Mairia. The light vanished and reappeared a few times.

There has been a number of comments on the post, a few by people who were directly impacted by the accident including family and friends of some of those who died on that terrible night.

Original article at: http://6thingstoconsider.com/2008/12/08/pan-am-flight-214/

Please consider returning to this article to view the comments. A few may send shivers down your spine.

Also a Cecil County volunteer at the Cecil County Historical Society wrote an article on the crash. It can be viewed at: http://cecilcounty.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/pan-american-airways-crash-worst-disaster-in-cecil-county-history/

Thanks
Steve Atkinson

Seven times in 19 years there are 13 full moons in the calendar year and with 13 full moons at least one month in that year will have two full moons.

Surprising there are times when two months, January and March, will have two full moons in a year. Of course when this happens there is not a full moon in February. The cycle of the moon is 29.5 days. This last happened in 1999 and the next time will be 2018 and only happens once every 19 years.

In old Farmer’s Almanacs the term Blue Moon referred to the third moon when four full moons occur during a season. The first full moon is called the Early (season) Moon, the 2nd the Mid (season) Moon and the last, the Late (season) Moon. This leaves the a lone seasonal moon with no name or Blue Moon.

In fact using this definition it is possible not only for the Blue Moon not to be the second moon of the month (it rarely would be), but also be in a calendar year that only has 12 full moons.

Being that now there are many more people who now consider a Blue Moon as the second full moon of the month, it is an easier to understand happenstance, it’ll be nearly impossible to not accept that a Blue Moon can be either of these. The full moon of November 21, 2010 was the third full moon in a seasonal cycle.