Monuments Commemorating Fortean Phenomena & Incidents

[Tribble]

TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g297904-d554394-Reviews-UFO_Monument-Chiayi.html

... presents a photo of a 'UFO Monument' in Chiayi, Taiwan.

I'm unable to locate any info on this display, so I'm not sure what - if any - Fortean event(s) it may commemorate.

Chiayi's Tropic of Cancer (UFO Monument)
Between Chiayi and points south, you'll likely have noticed the Tropic of Cancer located in Chiayi city. It looks somewhat like a water tower, but with windows. Some people think it resembles a flying saucer on legs; others describe it as “a giant concrete mushroom" or most likely a "UFO". In fact, it's the Solar Exploration Center. The tropic of cancer is cutting across 16 countries of the world and Taiwan is one of them which also the largest island located on it.

http://www.maxtourdrivers.net/chiayi-2202520041.html

Official website for the Center :

http://sec235.cyc.edu.tw/

 

[AlchoPwn]

Here's a sort of 'meta-Fortean' or 'second-order Fortean' monument - a hoaxed memorial to a NY giant octopus attack that never really happened. It is separately discussed in this FTMB thread: http://forum.forteantimes.com/index...-to-400-killed-in-giant-octopus-attack.61746/

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Well done finding this one EnolaGaia, I laughed a lot at the chutzpah of it.

 

[EnolaGaia]

There's supposedly a plaque placed at the scene of the 1979 Bob Taylor / Dechmont Woods / Livingston UFO incident. ...

The local council has gone further in officially recognizing the event and creating a 'UFO trail' at the site.

West Lothian Council create ‘UFO trail’ at site of famous close encounter
The scene of a close encounter with a UFO is set to attract visitors from across the world after being officially recognised by a council.

West Lothian Council has created a “UFO trail” in woods where a forestry worker claimed he was attacked by a craft from outer space almost 40 years ago. ...

West Lothian Council has now placed marker posts and a display board in the woods to point the way to the scene of the baffling incident. It is the only officially recognised UFO site in Scotland.

Tom Conn, executive councillor for the environment, said: “The Dechmont Woods encounter is Scotland’s most famous alleged UFO incident, and has featured in a number of books and TV programmes. The information board will help visitors to Dechmont Law find the exact location of the encounter, as well as give details of Mr Taylor’s report of the incident. ...

SOURCE: https://www.scotsman.com/news/odd/w...l-at-site-of-famous-close-encounter-1-4807498

 

[Tribble]

Here's a sort of 'meta-Fortean' or 'second-order Fortean' monument - a hoaxed memorial to a NY giant octopus attack that never really happened. It is separately discussed in this FTMB thread:

http://forum.forteantimes.com/index...-to-400-killed-in-giant-octopus-attack.61746/

Joe Reginella's made another memorial!

It's a story every native New Yorker knows well: on the night of July 13th, 1977—the same night of the infamous 1977 Blackout—the tugboat "Maria 120" was patrolling Upper New York Bay between Battery Park and Liberty Island when an unidentified aircraft fell from the sky into the water. When two Coast Guard boats arrived to help with the recovery, they discovered that there was no trace of the aircraft—and the entire six-person crew of "Maria 120" had vanished. To this day, no one knows exactly what happened to them, though most historians agree it was an honest-to-goodness alien abduction.

Of course, none of that is true—it's the work of artist Joe Reginella, who has made a hobby of producing elaborate hoaxes like this to have fun with tourists and naive NYers. His latest creation, a memorial to the "NYC UFO Tugboat Abduction," can be spotted on certain days in Battery Park: a bronze statute of a man looking toward the sky with an alien at his feet.

http://gothamist.com/2018/11/26/ufo_abduction_statue_nyc.php

 

[Lord Lucan]

The Frederick Valentich memorial plaque in honour of the young pilot who vanished off Cape Otway, Victoria, Australia in 1978. He radioed in to say a mysterious craft, not a plane was hovering over him before he vanished. No trace of his aircraft was ever found. Many claim he was a victim of a true alien abduction. It is a particularly odd story.

 

[Lord Lucan]

We also have the Harolt Holt memorial at Portsea, Victoria, Australia. Harold Holt was our Prime Minister from 1966 until his presumed death from drowning in the sea in 1967. His body was never found. One persistent rumour was that he was a spy for the Chinese and swam out to an awaiting submarine and whisked off, never to be seen again. Logic dictates that he simply drowned or possibly the victim of a shark attack (he was swimming in poor weather), but who knows? See below for the memorial at the beach where he was last seen and below that, ironically, the Harold Holt memorial swimming centre (that's Australian humour for you).

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

The local council has gone further in officially recognizing the event and creating a 'UFO trail' at the site.



SOURCE: https://www.scotsman.com/news/odd/w...l-at-site-of-famous-close-encounter-1-4807498

Ooh that would be good to visit sometime...

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Dechmont+Law/@55.91065,-3.54851,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipO1muV3EHsZfqTkTPsEYNNs0EdA1L-atGOarVyg!2e10!3e12!6shttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipO1muV3EHsZfqTkTPsEYNNs0EdA1L-atGOarVyg=w203-h114-k-no!7i5184!8i2920!4m5!3m4!1s0x4887d96ba7f0d5e9:0xb14eaaa33e2f792d!8m2!3d55.91065!4d-3.54851
Sorry about the long link...

... I've read about it before but never knew exactly where it was so thanks for your map link


Reminds me of the Rendlesham Forest UFO trail, which is well worth a walk around. Lovely place.

http://www.postcardfromsuffolk.com/rendlesham-forest-ufo-trail/

The Frederick Valentich memorial plaque in honour of the young pilot who vanished off Cape Otway, Victoria, Australia in 1978. He radioed in to say a mysterious craft, not a plane was hovering over him before he vanished. No trace of his aircraft was ever found. Many claim he was a victim of a true alien abduction. It is a particularly odd story.

And I'd also like to visit this... it is a fascinating and very odd story, as you say.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Grace Sherwood - aka 'The Witch of Pungo' - was convicted of witchcraft in the Virginia colony on the basis of ducking in water.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Sherwood

We have a thread on her and her story:

https://forums.forteana.org/index.p...to-clear-witch-of-pungo-grace-sherwood.27044/

Here are photos of the historical marker and commemorative statue in the Virginia Beach area.

Edit: Originally attached images went MIA. New ones attached and embedded.

 

[EnolaGaia]

There's a statue of Ogopogo at Okanagan Lake - on the lake bottom ...

Do you know about the Ogopogo statue at the bottom of Okanagan Lake?
An eight-foot tall, 14-foot long sea monster resides at the bottom of Okanagan lake.

It’s a life-size homage to the legendary N’ha-a-itk, better known to many as Ogopogo. ...

Doug Lundgren, office manager at Diving Dynamics, helped install the statue in the early 1990s with a team and the artist, who he says lived in the Pandosy neighbourhood.

“The statue is fantastic, we take scuba divers down there and the visibility is about 10 or 12 feet, they are looking down and all the sudden they see this green shadow and their eyes just become dinner plates,” said Lundgren.

“We got together a team of divers, towed it across the lake and slowly sank it and then anchored it to the bottom of the lake. One of our biggest concerns was boats putting anchors down and catching him, but that hasn’t happened yet.” ...

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SOURCE: https://www.saobserver.net/news/do-you-know-about-the-ogopogo-statue-at-the-bottom-of-okanagan-lake/

 

[gordonrutter]

Ooh that would be good to visit sometime...
.

This was referring to Dechmont Woods. Edinburgh Fortean Society thought the same so we went. Worth the visit and easy to get to by public transport and plenty of pubs around for drink and food afterwards

 

[Tribble]

This should maybe go in "Out of place Crocodilians" :

Anthropomorphic sewer alligators in New York!

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1100019730096754688

 

[EnolaGaia]

The Pascagoula UFO / abduction incident has now been commemorated with a historical marker.

Historical marker commemorates reported alien abduction

A historical marker has been placed near the river where two men in southern Mississippi said they were abducted by aliens in 1973.

News outlets report the city of Pascagoula dedicated the marker Saturday at Lighthouse Park.

Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker said they were on the shores of the Pascagoula River when what appeared to be aliens pulled them onboard a UFO, examined them for about 30 minutes and then returned them to Earth.

Both reported the event to the sheriff’s department and were checked out at a hospital after it happened Oct. 11, 1973. The story has become known worldwide. ...

SOURCE: https://www.apnews.com/a63cf0d131184c24bd9da6ad1fcf23dc

 

[Lord Lucan]

Legendary Lake Champlain Monster Gets Historical Marker

And about time too!

A legendary 'monster' said to lurk in the waters of Lake Champlain has been recognized with a historical marker. The alleged denizen of the deep, known as 'Champ' or 'Champy,' is believed by many to reside in the lake which acts as a border between New York and Vermont. In the latter state, the creature has inspired all manner of tributes, including serving as the namesake for a minor league baseball team and even a proposal for a commemorative license plate.

https://www.coasttocoastam.com/article/video-legendary-lake-champlain-monster-gets-historical-marker

 

[Xanatic*]

Last week I visited the UFO memorial in Ängelholm, Sweden. A man built it to commemorate his third degree encounter.
The monument is your classic saucer shape, with an antenna on top. The sighting was in 1946 though, a year before Kenneth Arnold's sighting.
I don't know wether there are any written sources from that time about his encounter, the monument itself was built 30 years later.

 

[escargot]

This is the Murder Stone of Cadoxton, near Neath in South Wales.
It commemorates the unsolved murder of a young pregnant woman who was found strangled in marshland outside the village. I first came across the story in a book about ghosts.

While it is interesting in itself, there's also a a slight Fortean aspect. Apparently there used to be sightings nearby of the ghost of the victim and perhaps also the murderer.



Here's a Wales Online article about it, which sadly doesn't mention ghosts;

The mysterious 'murder stone'

Among the graves around St Catwg's Church near Neath is one known to anyone who grew up in the village simply as, "the murder stone".
The stone, plain but imposing, does not just mark a grave - it expresses the outrage of a community, and was designed to prick the conscience of a killer.

Murder Stones were erected in various British locations to remind locals about particularly brutal or unsolved murders, or to warn passers-by of the dangers of travelling alone.

One day I'll organise a cycling tour of them!

 

[mikfez]

The Wold Newton (East Yorkshire) meteorite which spawned the Philip Jose Farmer Wold Newton Family

Wikipedia Page

 

[Ringo]

Last week I visited the UFO memorial in Ängelholm, Sweden. A man built it to commemorate his third degree encounter.
The monument is your classic saucer shape, with an antenna on top. The sighting was in 1946 though, a year before Kenneth Arnold's sighting.
I don't know wether there are any written sources from that time about his encounter, the monument itself was built 30 years later.

I tried to visit it last year when I happened to be in Ängelholm but the weather kept me firmly in the car and as time was short, I had to give it a miss.

 

[Tribble]

Back in 1981, then-Mayor Ed Koch proposed the release of of wild wolves into train yards to prevent graffiti artists from tagging New York City subway cars. Koch was convinced that it was a safe plan, reiterating even after pushback that “it is true that no wolf in the wild has attacked a human being in North America.” Only domesticated wolves, you see, were a danger. A little known fact about this policy: Over the past two decades the wolf packs “have survived, even thrived, in New York’s labyrinth of tunnels to emerge in local parks only on occasion to hunt in the moonlight for live prey,” according to a new monument dedicated to the tourists who have gone missing that appeared in Battery Park this weekend. Allegedly, the NYPD chalks up a certain number of missing persons to the wolves each year.

https://untappedcities.com/2019/10/...appears-in-battery-park/#.XaUjniRmrEU.twitter

(Another of Joe Reginella's spoof sculptures)

 

[EnolaGaia]

This statue in Churubusco, Indiana, commemorates the 1948 / 1949 sightings of Oscar the giant snapping turtle (aka the "Beast of Busco").

For more about the Beast of Busco see:

Oscar The Giant Snapping Turtle ("Beast Of Busco")
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/oscar-the-giant-snapping-turtle-beast-of-busco.68505/

 

[Coastaljames]

the Mothman statue in Point Pleasant

Not wanting to insult the creator but, for me, this staute is really, really awful. Least of all it doesn't reflect any of what was actually seen whatsoever!


Rendlesham has a cheeky litle UFO in there -

 

[Bigphoot2]

There's a mural in Socorro New Mexico commemorating Lonnie Zamora's encounter.

https://goo.gl/maps/G48Hn4TkSjGTkXZW8