Weird Magicians of Brooklyn

Posted by mike as Weird People

Brooklyn is alive with weird and wild people, places and stories. It’s also been home to some of the leading practitioners of the very unusual profession of magic. Contemporary magicians from Brooklyn include David Blaine and Ricky Jay. Mr. Blaine grew up in Kings County, New York before launching into an odd career that consists mainly of card tricks and public displays of endurance. He’s been frozen, buried, submerged and otherwise self-abused for the annoyment of millions. Mr. Jay who is recognized as the premier scholar on all things weird (author of “Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women”, “Cards as Weapons,” and “Jay’s Journal of Anomalies”) is also an accomplished oddball. He held the Guinness World Record for throwing a playing card 190 ft at 90 miles per hour.

But Blaine and Jay appear dull when compared to Brooklyn’s infamous magicians of the early 1900s. Sigmund Neuberger and William Ellsworth Robinson may be two of Brooklyn’s most unusual citizens. Neuberger, who emigrated from Munich as a young boy, was said to have taken his stage name, “The Great Lafayette,” from the Brooklyn avenue started his career in magic by imitating a famous Chinese magician, Ching Ling Foo.

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Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions

Posted by mike as UFO

A book by Budd Hopkins, Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions, details a UFO abduction encounter from November 30, 1989. I’m not sure if the Brooklyn Bridge counts as Brooklyn or not, and the witnessed abduction is actually in the lower east side, but I figured I would put it up anyway.

The case is unique for many reasons: several witnesses from vantage points on or near the Brooklyn Bridge saw the UFO and the abductee (Linda Cortile) floating 12 stories up in a blazing blue-white light; three of these witnesses (a highly placed United Nations diplomat and his security guards) later came to understand that they had been abducted at the same time. One of the security guards eventually realized that he had met Cortile years ago during a shared sequence of abductions in which each recalled the other as an “imaginary playmate.”

Haunted Bar In Williamsburg

Posted by mike as Haunted

According to a recent Gothamist article, Williamsburg’s Barcade bar is built on haunted burial ground. Barcade is a bar and arcade, featuring a number of classic arcade games, like the original Super Mario that I was convinced I could beat when I was there. I couldn’t.

Interestingly, Barcade runs on 100% wind power.

More interestingly, it’s haunted.

The cemetery was known as the Old Methodist Burying Ground which serviced the Attorney Street Methodist Church and the First Methodist Protestant Church of Williamsburg. When the church closed in 1856, the bodies were allegedly moved to Cyprus Hills Cemetery, but the Scout wonders if a few bodies may remain.

Recent UFO Siting in Brooklyn

Posted by mike as UFO

I was bored, decided to see if there are any UFO sightings in recent history from the Brooklyn area (besides the fake ones). Apparently there have been some, like this account from two witnesses on Nostrand Ave. during the first week of August. Apparently they saw a “large white ball of light with a flamed tail” in the sky around 10 P.M.

I wonder if any one else saw anything, or if there is a way to explain the sighting away?

Creepy Red Hook Building

Posted by mike as Weird Buildings

Every week we go grocery shopping at Fairway, and every week I see this weird little building opposite the Fairway. I don’t know if it has a name or what it is, but it freaks me out. All sorts of things adorn the walls on the front of the building, including a fish head and a model of the twin towers. Maybe it’s just somebodies house, I have no idea.

Is Green-Wood Cemetery Haunted?

Posted by mike as Haunted

I came across this article today, it’s a Q & A with Kate Davey who is “an expert on the tales and legends of New York’s paranormal history.” She talks in great detail about the Green-Wood cemetery.

The cemetery is the final resting place for some 600,000 people. Among them are some very important historical figures, such as Samuel F. B. Morse (inventor of the single-wire telegraph and co-developed Morse code) and Wizard of Oz actor Frank Morgan.

There are also some eerie stories associated with the cemetery. Take Mabel Douglass, for example. She was the first dean of the New Jersey College for Women. In 1933 she disappeared on Lake Placid. 30 years later her body was found at the bottom of the lake, petrified and supposedly perfectly intact. I’m still unclear if she supposedly haunts the graveyard, or if it’s just an interesting story.

Ghost tours are given yearly, and, although photography is not allowed, eerie images have appeared in photographs… I’m really upset I missed this. I would love to have taken a tour of the cemetery, there most be a ton of interesting history there.

Big Brother is Watching, Brooklyn

Posted by mike as Big Brother

I saw this article about a surveillance camera and it made me think “Is there a whole surveillance system setup around Brooklyn?” This particular camera can be found on Fulton Street, between the north end of Henry Street and the Brooklyn Bridge. They were alerted to it’s attention when the bulb on the top flashed to take a picture.

The post indicated that maybe it was part of a Brooklyn “Ring of Steel”, a system of cameras used to watch out for “terrorists activity.” Others think it’s just a red light camera. Who knows for sure. Just remember Brooklyn, Big Brother is watching you.

Mysterious Hum in Bay Ridge

Posted by mike as Unsolved Mystery

The Brooklyn Paper has reported about a strange humming in Bay Ridge near the Owls Head sewage treatment plant that is so loud it keeps residents awake at night. The humming has been blamed on many things, from passing trains to UFO’s. Initial, the most likely culprit was the Owl Head sewage treatment plant itself.
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The Yellow Submarine at Coney Island

Posted by mike as Bizzare Creations

The story of the old, rusting submarine near Coney Island is a long and interesting tale. It begins in 1951 with the Italian Line cruise ship Andrea Doria. The Andrea Doria weighed in at 29,100 tons and had a capacity of about 1,200 passengers and 500 crew. At the time it was considered to be one of the safest ships in the world. If I ever build a ship, I will never claim it to be the “safest ship” in the world, that’s just asking for it.
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Video: UFO Over Brooklyn (FAKE)

Posted by mike as UFO

I wonder why someone would take the time to make a fake UFO video. I mean, what are you going to get out of it, especially when it looks this bad.