Friday, December 14, 2018

The Darker Side of the Season

Christmas time 1980 saw a lot of UFO activity and unexplained lights reported in and around the Rendlesham Forest of Suffolk, England. Much of it centered on a RAF airbase being used by American Forces. This famous incident has become known as Britain's Roswell. More.

Right before Christmas 1998, in Del Norte County, CA, a father and his son were driving westbound Lake Earl Drive toward the intersection of Highway 101, just south of Smith River. A fresh blanket of snow covered a clear-cut swath of forest of an adjacent mountain slope. From the passenger seat, his son noticed a large biped covered in reddish-brown fur and standing approximately 7-8 feet tall. It was walking down the denuded slope, leaving tracks in the snow as it went. The creature was visible for about 400 yards as it traversed the clear-cut section of slope before disappearing in the dense forest of the other side. The pair noticed that several other cars had pulled off on the side of the road to watch the spectacle as well.

On Christmas Day in 1929, Charlie Lawson of Stokes County, NC, inexplicably shot his wife and 6 of his 7 children prior to turning the weapon on himself in the woods nearby. The final shot alerted those within earshot and police were summoned. Each of the Lawsons was found with their arms crossed and a rock under their head. The only Lawson to survive was the oldest boy, 16 year old Arthur, who had been out running errands. Theories abound as to why he would have done this. Some place blame on a head injury Charlie had suffered some months before, but a post-mortem examination ruled that out as a likely answer. Others suspected it wasn't a murder/suicide, but rather a mob hit. They believed Charlie had witnessed something he shouldn't have and he and his family paid with their lives. Still others point to an incestuous relationship between Charlie and his daughter Marie, which might have led to a pregnancy. As the situation grew out of hand, Charlie was forced to quiet all those in the know permanently. And, of course, some say the Devil made him do it. It is said that Charlie and his family still haunt the area where the farm once stood.



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