EPIC PARA-BLOG

Almost as soon as it hit theaters Universal Picture’s “The Fourth Kind” met suspicious criticisms. Questions arose as to the legitimacy of the film’s “based on true events” claim. Since then new information seems to support the initial skepticism.

The movie revolves around “Dr. Emily Abagail Tyler” and her treatment of the people of Nome,Alaska. In studying the sleep disorders of her patients Dr.Tyler begins to identify recurring patterns (the night-time visits from an owl invoking the image of a gray alien in the minds eye) and comes to believe these encounters are actually screen memories of alien abductions. One interesting ”by-the-way” feature in the movie had the “abductors” as the Annunaki* who would naturally be interested in Nome because of it’s claim of having “the world’s biggest gold vein”.

Interest in the case prompted the search for the “real” Dr. Tyler which has so far yielded little results. Then in November 2009 Universal Pictures agreed to pay a 20,000 dollar settlement to the Alaska Press Club in regards to “complaints about fake news archives used to promote the movie”. Universal Pictures admitted to planting fake online news articles and obituaries to bolster it’s claim of “based on true events”.

Of course the media gleefully denounced the film as another “Blair Witch Project”. But in doing so they threw out the baby with the proverbial bath water, ignoring the history of the area. And that is a much more interesting story with several layers that we will now examine.

The FBI, Serial Killers and Little Green Men

Since 1960 at least 24 people (all natives) have disappeared in Nome, Alaska (pop. 3500) with 10 occurring since 1990. 17 men, 7 women with 9 bodies still unaccounted for. The remainder died under “suspicious circumstances”. This case has been ignored almost entirely by the media in the lower 48 until the release of “4K”.

Contrary to the “4K” claims the FBI have not visited Nome “over 2000″ times in fact the problem was the case was getting no attention. Their involvement was primarily in thanks to council member Delbert Pungowiyi of the Savoonga tribe (whose brother disappeared in Nome in 2004). Pungowiyi felt that “more than one person” was preying on the native folk in Nome. Pungowiyi stated “It should have been given attention years ago…The region is just overwhelmed with this. They’re tired of living with these big gaping holes and no closure.”

Local law enforcement is viewed with distrust to say the least. The Norton Sound Health Ward passed a resolution seeking a federal rights investigation due to “extraordinary high” numbers of missing and dead and “discriminatory harrasement and excessive force” by the Nome police. Trust was at an all time low after Nome Police Officer Matthew Owens was convicted of the murder of local resident Sonya Ivanof.  Finally the feds responded reviewing the 24 cases.

And while the feds did receive a little more cooperation from the understandably skeptical natives, they quickly ruled the disappearances to be related to “alcohol and exposure”. They concluded that a serial killer was not at work. The new Chief of Police in Nome, Craig Moates discounted the alien abduction scenario and in a telling statement declared “We’re trying to separate this urban legend from fact.” To me “urban legend” has the same connotations as “native superstitions” it’s just a little more PC sounding. This declaration ignores an interesting and possibly relevant history, but that too seems to be nothing new.

For 5 consecutive days in 1988 there were encounters with “little green men” witnessed by dozens of Nome residents. Researcher Mark Chovinsky related some of these encounters in a article for Fate magazine (January 1990).

Reporter Janet Ahmasuk of the “Nome Nugget” quipped “I have heard little green men stories as long as i have lived here. From reindeer herders, miners, highway camp workers, village folk, folks who just moved here”. In other words not only natives but people unaware of the native history which is replete with stories of the little green men.

Chorvinsky also cited a story told by Lois Foster whose family originates in the nearby village of Koyuk. For as long as she could remember Foster’s Great-Great- Grandmother told the family of the 3 little men who came to the village of Koyuk in a “silvery looking disc that sailed through the air”. Chorvinsky put this date between 1795 and 1805. Lois’s grandmother also talked about the 3 little men who she encountered when she was a little girl. They were old but still alive, this would have been around 1913.

According to the Great-Great-Grandmother the little men were extremely strong for their size able to carry large logs without assistance. They lived in the area and over the years learned the native tongue. They explained to the towns people that “some mechanism had broken down in their craft permanently disabling it.”

A Forgotten Link?

The biggest mystery of the North is probably the case of the “Disappearing Village at Lake Anjkuni”. It is either a hoax that has been reported as fact over the years or a genuinely fascinating case. Some of the criticisms seem valid and it has been “debunked” a couple of times over the years. The world famous Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Mounties) have labeled the case as, again an “Urban Legend”.  However given the treatment of the Native folk, from the forced relocation’s and discriminatory policies of the past to present day native disappearances and allegations of “police brutality” in Nome, and the systematic ignoring of “little green men” tales for over 200 years we should proceed with an open mind.

The story was originally reported by Emmett E. Keller whom the RCMP label, with some justice, as a “journalist of some repute”. The picture that was run with the story was a photo taken in 1905 not at the date of the story (however this is a fairly common news practice). It ran in the Toronto Daily Star on November 23, 1930 but was largely forgotten until it was included in “occult investigator” Frank Edward’s book “Stranger than Science” in 1959. And supporting the “UL” status the mounties claim, the tale has grown. The missing went from 30 to 1200 to 2000, how’s that for a bump. So we will use what we found in the older sources, tell the tale and try to keep the personal commentary to as minimum.

On a cold November night in 1930 a fur trapper named Armad Laurent was traveling with his two teenage sons. The trio witnessed a “huge light, for it seemed to be as big as a steamship, changed shape from moment to moment…..it was as round as a ball, now like an enormous bullet, now shaped like a star. The light changed course in the sky many times before streaking at a great speed, straight as an arrow, towards the north and out of our sight.”

A couple of days later a pair of mounties were said to stop at Laurent’s isolated home. As they partook of a generous standing offer of hot coffee, biscuits and homemade honey Laurent inquired what brought them out his way. They are rumored to have replied “Eskimos disappearing, stuff like that. Nothing important.” Now we include this hearsay  to show the PERCEPTION (if not the reality) of the the disregard towards Natives. Nothing important.

Laurent is said to have related his tale and inform the mounties that the “light seemed to be heading in the direction of the lake.” Laurent was never questioned further, a disappointing but understandable oversight.

Labelle found “pots of stewed caribou with a thick layer of ice…..children’s toys were scattered on the floor.” He found a seal-skin parka with two bone needles still in it. Labelle continued “The boats and the kayaks were tied at the shore. Even the harpoons were still on board, and the half stripped carcass of a walrus was just as the men left it.” Even the rifles were left behind. Some hanging over makeshift fireplaces others propped next to the caribou flap doors of empty homes.

Labelle informed the mounties (who acknowledge contact and claim they asked neighbors of Lake Village and decided it was false information) and as the “story” goes the mounties came out and investigated the village. They found the missing sled dogs tied to some trees under a snow drift (at this point the village men would be without their guns, sleds, kayaks and harpoons not one of these items would have been left behind in the village). The Native folk are nomadic but according to the tale the place seemed abandoned in the middle of a normal day. There were no signs of a struggle and no footprints that lead way from the scene. Supposedly the RCMP employed some of the best trackers in a “search” that spanned all of Canada and even ventured into the northwest United States to no avail. We have been contacted by an individual who claims to have a request from the Canadians in regards to this story but we have not received follow up information in 6 months, so if he reads this “holla” as the kids say.

The most disturbing claim in this case is the apparent exhumation of an Eskimo grave(s).  The rocks marking the grave were undisturbed but the grave had been dug up. If this is true it would be quite the feat. The land was in a state of permafrost, one account tells of an unnamed Mountie who said it would have required a jack-hammer and weeks of back breaking work to empty the grave. A FOIA request regarding this case has been filed with no reply back yet.

So what do we make of all of this? Is it all sensationalized stories with no basis in reality, churned out solely to enthrall readers? Is there a grain of truth and history behind this so called “Urban Legend/Native Superstition”? Was there a cover up and disinformation campaign, or even more likely just a dereliction of duty in dealing with Native matters like we see today in Nome? Whatever conclusion you come to ultimately only raises more questions. So maybe the one thing we can take away from ”The Fourth Kind” is that in the end it is up to each us to decide for ourselves. Nanu,Nanu.