Top Ten Vatican Conspiracy Theories
Was Pope John Paul I murdered in 1978? Does the Vatican have evidence that Jesus…
Top Ten Vatican Conspiracy Theories
Was Pope John Paul I murdered in 1978? Does the Vatican have evidence that Jesus was not the son of God? Is the Holy See monitoring the skies for extraterrestrials? With its secrecy and power, the Vatican has long attracted conspiracy theories. So, let’s have a look at the Top Ten Vatican Conspiracy Theories. Starting…
Trump administration releases new UFO files
On May 8 2026, the Trump administration released the first batch of formerly classified UFO/UAP files as part of a new transparency initiative called the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). Highlights of what was published: Here is an example of what has been released. President Trump directed federal agencies back in…
Kamikaze suicide missions explained
What led young men with their whole future ahead of them to board a plane and crash it into an enemy ship with total certainty of death? In the closing stages of the Second World War, Kamikaze pilots chose suicide in the service of the Japanese emperor. Let’s try to understand why this happened. By…
Shogun – the truth behind the fiction
Shogun has been a hugely popular streamed series on FX and Hulu telling the story of an English navigator stranded in early 17th century Japan – caught up in violent conflicts between rival warlords – but eventually finding a way to become part of that strange society. But is it truth or fiction when it…
Mystery of Japan’s Hidden Christians
It’s easy to imagine that Japan is home to just two religions: Buddhism and Shinto. But for 500 years, there has been a thriving Christian community although for centuries, it had to pray in secret, avoiding the gaze of the authorities. So-called “hidden Christians” worshipped Christ and the saints, blending Roman Catholicism with indigenous rituals….
Why was Frankenstein published anonymously?
Frankenstein is one of the greatest horror stories of all time. But the author of the original novel, Mary Shelley, published the book anonymously. Because in the early 19th century, the idea of a woman penning such a monstrous tome was unthinkable. Plus Mary already had reputational issues! In the review below of Frankenstein that…
Why do trees get vandalised so often?
What is it about trees that make them targets for attack? For many years, some of our fellow humans can’t see a tree without wanting to chop it down. In 2023, the iconic Sycamore Gap on Hadrian’s Wall in northern England was vandalised using a chainsaw. The two men involved in this mindless act were…
Skyscraper fires – the real Towering Infernos
I’m sitting here on a lazy afternoon re-watching the 1974 classic disaster movie The Towering Inferno for the umpteenth time. A star studded cast, including Faye Dunaway, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, and Fred Astaire, struggle to escape from the mother of all skyscraper fires. But how many towering infernos have there been in reality? As…
Titanic sinking – unusual facts about the 1912 disaster
On 15 April, 1912, the biggest ever ocean liner, the Titanic, set sail from Southampton, bound for New York with 2,240 passengers and crew. In the mid-Atlantic, it struck an iceberg and sank with the loss of 1,500 lives. This still ranks as one of the worst maritime tragedies in history. But let’s look at…
MPs vote for a British Republic in 1936
It’s the year 1936. A king who is about to be crowned abdicates. Officially it’s because he’s having a steamy affair with an American divorcee that scandalises the British establishment. Unofficially it’s widely known in elite circles that this American and the new king have Nazi sympathies. When he does relinquish the throne, British fascists…
