Aurora Effect Again

At 2:23 p.m., February 15, 2019, City of Aurora officials confirmed an active shooter and Aurora police were on the scene at 641 Archer Road, an industrial area approximately 40 miles from Chicago, Illinois. Officials would later confirm the incident happened at Henry Pratt Co., a manufacturing firm.

Five plus the shooter are dead. The gunman was 45-year-old Gary Martin. Martin’s sister said he had been laid off from his job two weeks ago and was battling with deep depression. The meeting he was attending on Friday, February 15th, was being held to terminate him.

The victims were identified as Trevor Wehner, 21, of DeKalb; Vicente Juarez, 54, of Oswego; Clayton Parks, 32, of Elgin; Josh Pinkard, 37 of Oswego; and Russell Beyer, 47, of Yorkville. All five were employed by Henry Pratt Co.

Aurora police Chief Kristen Ziman (Ziman from Siman from "heard" or "as heard by God") said the officers wounded while responding to the scene of the shooting were recovering and another victim was being treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. Ziman's new conference appearances have been much different than the usual law enforcement briefing because she has been expressive and appreciative about the good energy being sent the way of the injured officers.

The new governor of Illinois J. B. Pritzker said of the Aurora, Illinois shooting: "There are no words for the kind of evil that robs our neighbors of their hopes, their dreams and their futures."

After the Aurora, Colorado shooting in 2012, Colorado's Governor John Hickenlooper called it an "act of evil."

Lucifer ("light-bringer") was a Latin name for the planet Venus as the morning star in the ancient Roman era, and is often used for mythological and religious figures associated with the planet....Interpretations of a similar term in the Hebrew Bible, translated in the King James Version as "Lucifer," led to a Christian tradition of applying the name Lucifer and its associated stories of a fall from heaven to Satan.
...
As a name for the morning star, "Lucifer" is a proper name and is capitalized in English. In Greco-Roman civilization the morning star was often personified and considered a god and in some versions considered a son of Aurora (the Dawn). Source.

The Aurora shooting occurred at 641 Archer Avenue. 

The former site of the Argonne National Laboratory and its predecessor, the University of Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory in the forest preserve near Red Gate Woods, can be entered from an access road on Archer Avenue. The Argonne National Lab is one of the inspirations for the science fiction program Stranger Things.

The site is also close to a Lincoln park. Another power name.

At 3:02 p.m., officials confirmed the shooter had been apprehended. Law enforcement sources at 3:45 p.m. confirmed the shooter was dead.

Five officers had been shot during the active shooter incident. Several plant workers were injured.

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The syncs in the shooting keep piling up.

Gary Martin

“Quiet. Keeps to himself,” said Jennifer White, who lived nearby, of the gunman. “He kept to himself. Normal guy. He was pretty nice. It was a surprise.” She said he lived alone and was “always by himself…which is kinda weird.” The shooter lived at Acorn Woods Condominiums in Aurora. She told CBS Chicago that he had drones and “would wave at us or stare at us. Kinda creepy.”

His neighbors connected the dots. Jennifer White said she realized what was going on with Martin when she saw investigators surrounding his car. But she said she didn't notice any red flags.
"He seemed perfectly fine," White said. "I've seen him out there ... with his drones."
People who spoke to CBS Chicago described Martin as a loner.
"He always kept to himself," she said. Source. 

"When I saw the cops around here I knew it had to be him because he is a weird freaking guy," neighbor Jennifer White said. Source.

Okay, I read this and thought, oh my, the usual "he's nice" but "he's creepy."

The typical "nice guy" next door neighbor comment.

I was stopped short when I noticed one detail: "Jennifer White" is the maiden name of my wife.

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Henry Pratt Company, located in Aurora, Illinois, is one of North America’s largest manufacturers of valves for the potable water, wastewater, power generation and industrial markets. The Henry Pratt Company is a subsidiary of Mueller Water Products, Inc., a NYSE publicly traded company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The Mueller Company traces the history of its business units, subsidiaries and brands back as far as 1857, when the forerunner to Mueller Co. was founded by Hieronymus Mueller in Decatur, Illinois. (Decatur is also a power name.)

Henry Pratt Company was founded in 1901 as a metal fabricating shop, and it designed and developed the first rubber-seated butterfly valve in 1926. The company is headquartered in Aurora, Illinois, with manufacturing facilities in Aurora, Illinois, and Hammond, Indiana.

Aurora Name Game

If it seems like there are a number of mass shootings and other forms of violence at Aurora (means "dawn") sites, there are. The name comes forth in weird contexts. For example, on The X-Files, Dana Scully's father was played by Don Sinclair Davis, who was born 8-4-1942 in Aurora, Missouri.

Colorado's Aurora (therefore "Red Dawn") shooting, during The Dark Knight Rises screening, on July 20, 2012, kicked off this cycle. See my examinations of this thread at: "Aurora: Synchromystic Wonderland" and "Red Dawn Again" in July 2012.

A variety of connections are to be noted.

On March 25, 2017, Aurora Genai Sheffel was crushed by a log.

On March 5, 2017, Aurora Buol-Smith was stabbed by her son, who said he was a werewolf, and said he had to kill her because she was a vampire.

On November 2, 2016, on Aurora Avenue, Urbandale, Iowa, two police officers were gunned down.

On March 31, 2016, a man opened fire almost immediately after Virginia State Trooper Chad P. Dermyer approached him at Richmond's Greyhound bus station. The officer died that night at the hospital. The shooter was identified as 34-year-old James Brown III of Aurora, Illinois, who has a long police record. According to his Illinois relatives, he wanted to go out in a firefight with police. There appears to be no explanation for why Brown was in Richmond, Virginia, from his home in Aurora, Illinois.

On September 24, 2015, five people were killed, eight were critically injured, and eight were seriously injured after a Ride the Ducks vehicle veered out of its lane on the narrow Aurora Bridge and struck a bus carrying international college students on a tour of Seattle, Washington state.

On February 14, 2015, there were shootings at a Waffle House in Aurora, Colorado.

On December 2, 2015, the San Bernardino mass shooting occurred. The youngest victim of the massacre was Aurora Godoy, 26, San Jacinto, California. Aurora Godoy = dawn of the gods = Morgengrauen der Götter or Morgendämmerung der Götter.

On September 26, 2014, all Chicago air traffic was stopped early after a deliberately set 6:00 am fire at a Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control facility in the Chicago suburb of Aurora, Illinois. Paramedics from the Aurora Fire Department, responding to a 911 call at 5:42 a.m. by an individual at the facility, entered the basement and followed a trail of blood that ultimately led to an individual later identified as Brian Harris, who attempted a self-immolation combined with an attempted suicide with a knife.

On April 13, 2014, the gunman who fired in the Overland Park Jewish Community Center and at the retirement community of Village Shalom killed three people between the two locations. The gunman was identified as 73-year-old Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. of Aurora, Missouri.

There are many such examples.

How far back are such links?

On July 18, 1984, the San Ysidro McDonald's massacre was a mass shooting that occurred in and around a McDonald's restaurant in the San Diego neighborhood of San Ysidro . The perpetrator, 41-year-old James Huberty, shot and killed 21 people and injured 19 others before being fatally shot by a SWAT team sniper. One of the fatalities had the first name Aurora.

On April 28, 1949 – The Hukbalahap are accused of assassinating former First Lady of the Philippines Aurora Quezon, while she is en route to dedicate a hospital in memory of her late husband; her daughter and ten others are also killed.

(Additional notes from TP, SL, and JL. Thank you.)

Killer Clowns: 2017 Half Year Report

A frequently heard question, after last year's massive number of sightings and reports of Phantom Clowns and other forms of creepy clowns, is: What happened to all the Clown encounters?

As I noted late in 2016, after Donald Trump's election shortly after Halloween, the media's attention shifted to Trump and that melodrama. That sucked the life out of the clown stories that had evolved from Phantoms, to Stalkers, to Killers. 

The year of 2016 ended with the Creepy Clown jumping the Atlantic Ocean, and being reported, in a more violent mode, as Killer Clowns in the U.K.

During the first half of 2017, the few and far between clown stories are again these more violent type, the actual, real Killer Clowns.

Specific authentic "Killer Clown" news came via three incidents in the USA, all clustering in May 2017.

(1) May 17, 2017 - Glendale, Arizona - Clown With Ax

A group of children walking home from school in Arizona were terrified when they were chased by a miscreant wielding an ax and clad in a creepy clown mask.
The bizarre incident occurred earlier this week in the city of Glendale when the group of youngsters were walking back to their neighborhood.Suddenly, the boys spotted a menacing individual wearing a clown mask and holding an ax coming towards them. According to one of the kids, the ne'er-do-well yelled at them, "you better run because we are coming after you." The frightened boys heeded the clown's advice and ran away from the scene until they got home. "I thought I was going to die today," one traumatized youngster told TV station ABC 15 in Arizona. Although the boys' tale may sound like something they could have conjured up on the way home in a fit of boredom, an investigation by authorities suggests that the encounter was all too real. Cops say that they found both the clown mask and the ax seemingly left behind by the person who harassed the children. With no suspects at this time, police hope that photos of the recovered items from the crime scene may catch someone's attention and lead to a break in the case.Much like warm weather seems to usher in crop circle season every year, one wonders if the same can be said of creepy clowns. Source.

 (2) May 23, 2017 - Denver, Colorado - Killer Clown Kills With Blades

A Killer Clown at Torchy's?

Man in clown makeup with bladed gloves accused of killing man near Torchy’s Tacos.
Suspect tells cops dead man may have fallen on one of the spiked bracelets he was wearing.
Man in clown makeup with bladed gloves accused of killing man near Torchy’s Tacos.
Denver police have arrested a man who was wearing clown makeup when he allegedly stabbed and slashed a 29-year-old man to death with a glove that had blades attached to the end of each finger.
Christian Lee Gulzow, 36, allegedly attacked the victim at 12:49 a.m. Tuesday following an argument near Torchy’s Tacos at West 11th Avenue and Broadway, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
The Denver coroner’s office identified the victim as Brian Lucero, 29. The cause of death was a stab wound, according to a coroner’s office news release.
Witnesses told police that the suspect, wearing white clown makeup accented with black streaks on the face, suddenly began threatening the victim with a glove with blades that were 2- to 3-inches long. They were near the Corner Store at West 10th Avenue and Broadway.
Gulzow began pummeling the victim, who tried to dodge the blows, the police report says. The victim eventually punched the suspect, who then yelled at the victim and followed him to Torchy’s. The two were the only ones in the restaurant parking lot.
“The victim collapsed in the north east parking lot of the Torchy’s business,” the report says.
Gulzow allegedly fled on a scooter, the police report says.
Police spotted a man on a Denver Public School’s HALO camera riding a scooter matching the suspect’s appearance in the 900 block of Galapago Street.
They saw the man throw an object in the bushes. Police went to the building and found a knife in the bushes, the police report says.
Police found the man at West Alameda Avenue and Lipan Street. His clothes were covered in blood, the report says.
When interviewed at police headquarters Gulzow said a man threatened him and yelled at him “to get out of my alley.” He claimed the victim attacked him and stole his scooter, the court records say.
Gulzow said he may have hurt the victim when he tackled the victim while he was riding away on Gulzow’s scooter. The victim may have fallen on one of Gulzow’s spiked wrist bracelets, Gulzow told police. The suspect also acknowledged that he may have cut the victim while he jabbed him with his “clawed glove.”
Gulzow’s account was different from those offered by witnesses, the report says.
Gulzow’s jail nickname is Diablo. He has an extensive criminal history with multiple domestic violence, assault and weapons convictions. In 2012, he was convicted of felony menacing with a deadly weapon, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records. Source.

(3) May 23, 2017 - Miami, Florida - Clown With A Gun

A man with green hair and “Joker” tattoos on his face was arrested for pointing a loaded gun at drivers in the Miami area.
Miami-Dade police arrested 29-year-old Lawrence Sullivan on Tuesday, WSVN reported.
Sullivan has “Joker” written across half his forehead and “F*** Batman” on the other half.
According to the Miami Herald, Sullivan had a loaded Smith & Wesson handgun with six live rounds in his pocket when officers confronted him.
Sullivan lives with his mother and listed his occupation as “tattoo model,” the paper reported.
Sullivan was charged with carrying a concealed firearm. On Wednesday, his bond was set at $5,000. Source.

Part two of the year may have ripples from IT the movie being released into theaters on September 8, 2017.

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As a footnote for 2017, if should be mentioned that political clown, Trump advisor Robert J. Stone Jr., attempted to resurrect his career as The Joker in June.

42: The 402's Colorado Tragedy

402 = 42

In Japanese culture, the number 42 is considered unlucky because the numerals when pronounced separately—shi ni (four two)—sound like the word "death".

There are 42 questions asked of persons making their journey through Death. Ma'at, a female personification, considered to be both maternal and a delivering force, is an Ancient Egyptian personification of physical and moral law, order, and truth. In the judgment scene described in the Egyptian and the Book of Pass [the Book of the Dead (which evolved from the Coffin Texts and the Pyramid Texts)], there are 42 questions personifying the analysis of Ma'at. If the departed reasonably can give answers to the 42 questions, they have the potential to either be reincarnate, or if completely successful, reach the ultimate goal of becoming a Star, whereon, they can continue to give Light, and fuel Universal growth.

The number 42 is, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, " Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything," calculated by an enormous supercomputer named Deep Thought over a period of 7.5 million years. Unfortunately, no one knows what the question is. Thus, to calculate the Ultimate Question, a special computer the size of a small planet was built from organic components and named "Earth." The Ultimate Question "What do you get when you multiply six by nine?" was found by Arthur Dent in the second book of the series, "The restaurant at the end of the Universe." This appeared first in the radio play and later in the novelization of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The fact that Adams named the episodes of the radio play "fits," the same archaic title for a chapter or section used by Lewis Carroll in "The Hunting of the Snark," suggests that Adams was influenced by Carroll's fascination with and frequent use of the number [42]. The fourth book in the series, the novel So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, contains 42 chapters. According to the novel Mostly Harmless, 42 is the street address of Stavromula Beta. In 1994 Adams created the 42 Puzzle, a game based on the number 42.

The 2011 book 42: Douglas Adams' Amazingly Accurate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything examines Adams' choice of the number 42 and also contains a compendium of some instances of the number in science, popular culture, and humor.

42 Minutes (podcast): Douglas Bolles and William Morgan host a lively weekly conversation in which they naturally discuss "the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything" with the interesting authors, thinkers, syncers and philosophers of our day. The show has its genesis in a series of discussions regarding The Sync Book, of which, both hosts are authors.

42 rears its ugly side:

"In keeping with your motif of Colorado and the Trinidad train-car accident, I notice that you did not post about this death last May 28 in Colorado, which occurred on the Royal Gorge Scenic Railroad about 100 miles NNW of Trinidad, Colorado," notes Tom Mellet.

"Train conductor's death devastating: 'Our hearts are broken'" CNN, May 29, 2016.

"Leslie Cacy, 28, fell off the back of the Royal Gorge Railroad train at around 5.30pm on Saturday [May 28, 2016] - just minutes before the end of her shift - and died instantly when she was run over," reports the Daily Mail.

Locomotive #402 becomes 42, as numerologists drop the zeroes in their analyses.

Passenger Cynthia Brier told of seeing the train's engineer in a state of shock shortly after tragedy struck. The train's number was 402.
See also, KKTV's report.

See Trinidad 33. Especially read the long comments sent in by the readers.

For other Trinidad, Colorado accidents, see here.

The history of the Royal Gorge route, which was revived in 1998, can be found here.

Trinidad 33

The Holy Trinity jumps to our consciousness from the Red (the meaning of Colorado).

An Amtrak train crashed in to a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country in Colorado on Sunday, June 26, 2016.

This tragedy must be pondered, as it occurred three miles from Trinidad, Colorado.  (Anyone know the name of the peak in the background here? Fishers Peak, answer my correspondents,)

3 + Trinity = 33

The van's right side was hit after it failed to yield the right of way to the train, Colorado State Patrol said in a news release.

The driver and four passengers were killed. One occupant was airlifted to Denver Hospital with injuries police described as serious. Six people. 

Investigators say the crash happened on Las Animas County Road 32, around three miles north of Trinidad. 9NEWS sister station KOAA-TV reports the parents who died were Christina and Steve Miller.  (Christina links to the "Christ" undercurrent here, of course.) Las Animas Road further plays into the religious theme: Las Animas means "the souls" or "the spirits," often referring to the dead in Purgatory.

Their children, Abigail, Kathryn and Ellianna also passed away. Four-year-old Heidi Miller was the only survivor. 

No train passengers or crew members were hurt.

Authorities said the van was not stopped on the railroad tracks.

The crash happened about three miles north of Trinidad, Colorado.

The town of Trinidad has had an underlying history linked to baseball and other sports.

Trinidad was first explored by Spanish and Mexican traders, who liked its proximity to the Santa Fe Trail. It was founded in 1862 soon after coal was discovered in the region. This led to an influx of immigrants, eager to capitalize on this important natural resource. By the late 1860s, the town had about 1,200 residents. Trinidad was officially incorporated in 1876, just a few months before Colorado became a state.  An important milestone for the town occurred in 1878, when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway reached Trinidad, making it easier for goods to be shipped from distant locations. In the 1880s, Trinidad became home to a number of well-known people, including Bat Masterson, who briefly served as the town's marshal in 1882. By 1900, the population of Trinidad had grown to 7,500. It was now home to two English-language newspapers, and one that was published in Spanish.

In the early 1900s, Trinidad became nationally known for having the first woman sports editor of a newspaper, Ina Eloise Young. Her expertise was in baseball, and in 1908, she was the only woman sportswriter to cover the World Series. During the same period of time, Trinidad was also home to a popular semi-pro baseball team, which was briefly coached by Damon Runyon. Source.

The Legends of the West...The Wild West's Trinity, all with ties to Trinidad, Colorado, however brief.

The infamous Ludlow Massacre is also associated with Trinidad, Colorado. Many people died in the "massacre."

Trinidad is a Spanish name directly related to the "Holy Trinity." 

Trinidad is the larger and more populated of the two major islands that make up the island nation of "The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago." Trinidad is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just 11 km (6.8 mi) off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. The original name for the island in the native Arawak language is "Iëre," believed to mean "Land of the Hummingbird." Christopher Columbus renamed it "La Isla de la Trinidad" ("The Island of the Trinity"), fulfilling a vow he had made before setting out on his third voyage of exploration. Trinidad and Tobago is known for its Carnival and is considered to be the birthplace of the steelpan (steel drum) musical instrument, limbo dancing, and the musical styles of calypso, soca, and chutney. Source.

Just in...

Italian actor, filmmaker Bud Spencer died at 86, on Monday, June 27, 2016. Often cast as a cowboy or policeman, one of Spencer's biggest successes included They Call Me Trinity, a parody of Spaghetti Western movies. 

For more on Tridents, see Symposium on Tridents, here. 

Thunderbirds & Blue Angels Crash Separately; Ft. Hood Soldiers Die

On June 2, 2016, fighter jets from the Air Force Thunderbirds and the Navy Blue Angels  crashed in separate incidents.

The Thunderbirds F-16 crashed south of Colorado Springs, Colorado, after a U.S. Air Force Academy commencement ceremony attended by President Barack Obama. Spokesman for the academy said the plane went down far from the ceremony and the pilot safely ejected. Obama later met with the pilot.

Hours later, a U.S. Navy Blue Angels F/A-18 crashed in Smyrna, Tennessee, during practice for an upcoming air show, Navy spokeswoman Cmdr. Jeanette Groeneveld said.
Groeneveld said the military doesn't have any immediate reports of injuries but is still waiting on news about the fate of the pilot. But Rutherford County Emergency Management Director Tharrel Kast told CNN one person died as a result of a plane crash.

Smyrna, Tennessee, was named after the ancient city of Smyrna, Turkey. Several explanations have been offered for Smyrna's name. A Greek myth derived the name from an eponymous Amazon named "Σμύρνα" (Smyrna), which was also the name of a quarter of Ephesus. This is the basis of Myrina, a city of Aeolis.

In inscriptions and coins, the name often was written as "Ζμύρνα" (Zmyrna), "Ζμυρναῖος" (Zmyrneos), "of Smyrna".

The name Smyrna may also have been taken from the ancient Greek word for myrrh, "smyrna," which was the chief export of the city in ancient times.

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Meanwhile, also on Thursday, June 2, 2016, word out of Texas is that several Army personnel have died in a flood-related accident.

At least three soldiers were killed Thursday at Foot Hood in Texas when their truck overturned in a creek, according to the Army.

Rescue crews remained on the scene late Thursday afternoon. Six soldiers remained unaccounted for. Three other soldiers were rescued and taken to a local hospital where they were reported in stable condition.


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Blue Angels Accidents and Deaths:
During its history, 26 Blue Angels pilots have been killed in air show or training accidents. Through the 2006 season there have been 262 pilots in the squadron's history, giving the job a 10% fatality rate.
29 September 1946 – Lt. Ross "Robby" Robinson was killed during a performance when a wingtip broke off his Bearcat, sending him into an unrecoverable spin.
1952 – Two Panthers collided during a demonstration in Corpus Christi, Texas and one pilot was killed. The team resumed performances two weeks later.
2 August 1958 - Lt. John R. Dewenter landed, wheels up at Buffalo Niagara International Airport after experiencing engine troubles during a show in Clarence, NY. The Grumman F-11 Tiger landed on Runway 23 but exited airport property coming to rest in the intersection of Genesee Street and Dick Road, nearly hitting a gas station. Lt. Dewenter was uninjured, but the plane was a total loss.
14 October 1958 – Cmdr. Robert Nicholls Glasgow died during an orientation flight just days after reporting for duty as the new Blue Angels leader.
15 March 1964 – Lt. George L. Neale, 29, was killed during an attempted emergency landing at Apalach Airport near Apalachicola, Florida. Lt. Neale's F-11A Tiger had experienced mechanical difficulties during a flight from West Palm Beach, Florida to NAS Pensacola, causing him to attempt the emergency landing. Failing to reach the airport, he ejected from the aircraft on final approach, but his parachute did not have sufficient time to fully deploy.
2 September 1966 – Lt. Cmdr. Dick Oliver crashed his Tiger and was killed at the Canadian International Air Show in Toronto.
1 February 1967 – Lt Frank Gallagher was killed when his Tiger stalled during a practice Half Cuban 8 maneuver and spun into the ground.
18 February 1967 – Capt. Ronald Thompson was killed when his Tiger struck the ground during a practice formation loop.
14 January 1968 – Opposing solo Lt. Bill Worley was killed when his Tiger crashed during a practice double immelman.
30 August 1970 – Lt. Ernie Christensen belly-landed his F-4J Phantom at the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids with one engine stuck in afterburner. He ejected safely, while the aircraft ran off the runway.
4 June 1971 – CDR Harley Hall safely ejected after his Phantom caught fire and crashed during practice over Narragansett Bay near the ex-NAS Quonset Point in Rhode Island.
14 February 1972 – Lt. Larry Watters was killed when his F-4J Phantom II struck the ground, upright, while practicing inverted flight, during winter training at NAF El Centro.
8 March 1973 – Capt. John Fogg, Lt. Marlin Wiita and LCDR Don Bentley survived a multi-aircraft mid-air collision during practice over the Superstition Mountains in California.
26 July 1973 – 2 pilots and a crew chief were killed in a mid-air collision between 2 Phantoms over Lakehurst, NJ during an arrival practice. Team Leader LCDR Skip Umstead, Capt. Mike Murphy and ADJ1 Ron Thomas perished. The rest of the season was cancelled after this incident.
22 February 1977 – Opposing solo Lt. Nile Kraft was killed when his Skyhawk struck the ground during practice.
8 November 1978 – One of the solo Skyhawks struck the ground after low roll during arrival maneuvers at NAS Miramar. Navy Lieutenant Michael Curtin was killed.
April 1980 – Lead Solo Lt. Jim Ross was unhurt when his Skyhawk suffered a fuel line fire during a show at NS Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. LT Ross stayed with and landed the plane which left the end of the runway and taxied into the woods after a total hydraulic failure upon landing.
22 February 1982 – Lt. Cmdr Stu Powrie, Lead Solo was killed when his Skyhawk struck the ground during winter training at Naval Air Facility El Centro, California just after a dirty loop.
13 July 1985 – Lead and Opposing Solo Skyhawks collided during a show at Niagara Falls, killing opposing solo Lt. Cmdr. Mike Gershon. Lt. Andy Caputi ejected and parachuted to safety.
12 February 1987 – Lead solo Lt. Dave Anderson ejected from his Hornet after a dual engine flameout during practice near El Centro, CA.
23 January 1990 – Two Blue Angel Hornets suffered a mid-air collision during a practice at El Centro. Marine Corps Maj. Charles Moseley ejected safely. Cmdr. Pat Moneymaker was able to land his airplane, which then required a complete right wing replacement.
28 October 1999 – Lt. Cmdr. Kieron O'Connor, flying in the front seat of a two-seat Hornet, and recently selected demonstration pilot Lt. Kevin Colling (in the back seat) struck the ground during circle and arrival maneuvers in Valdosta, Georgia. Neither pilot survived.
1 December 2004 – Lt. Ted Steelman ejected from his F/A-18 approximately one mile off Perdido Key after his aircraft struck the water, suffering catastrophic engine and structural damage. He suffered minor injuries.
21 April 2007 – Lt. Cmdr. Kevin J. Davis crashed his Hornet near the end of the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort airshow in Beaufort, South Carolina, and was killed.
2 June 2016 – A Blue Angel F/A-18 crashed in Smyrna, TN.
Other incidents involving former Blue Angels
8 March 1951 – LCDR Johnny Magda, while flying in Korea, was the first former Blue Angel killed in combat.
27 January 1973 – CDR Haley Hall (1970 team leader) was shot down flying an F-4J over Vietnam, and was officially listed as missing in action.

Thunderbird Accidents

The Thunderbirds have performed at over 4,000 airshows worldwide, accumulating millions of miles in hundreds of different airframes over the course of their more than fifty-four years of service. Flying high-performance fighter jets is inherently dangerous; when flying in extremely close formation, the danger is compounded. The team has suffered three fatal crashes during air shows, two of them in jets:

The first was the death of Major Joe Howard, flying Thunderbird No. 3 (F-4E s/n 66-0321) on 4 June 1972 at Dulles Airport, during Transpo 72. His Phantom experienced a structural failure of the horizontal stabilizer, and Major Howard ejected as the aircraft fell back to earth tail first from about 1,500 feet and descended under a good canopy, but he landed in the aircraft fireball and did not survive.

The second death occurred 9 May 1981 at Hill AFB, Utah, when Captain David "Nick" Hauck flying Thunderbird No. 6 (T-38A) crashed while performing the hi-lo Maneuver. Capt Hauck crashed while attempting to land his ailing T-38 after an engine malfunctioned and caught fire. With black smoke billowing from the exhaust and the aircraft losing altitude in a high nose-up attitude, the safety officer on the ground radioed Capt Hauck: "You’re on fire, punch out!" To that, he responded: “Hang on... we have a bunch of people down there.” The aircraft continued to fight to stay airborne for about half a mile before hitting a large oak tree and a barn, then sliding across a field and flipping as it traversed an irrigation canal—ultimately erupting into a fireball just a few hundred feet from the runway's end. No one on the ground was injured, even though the accident occurred adjacent to a roadway packed with onlookers.

Air shows

Captain Chris Stricklin ejects from his F-16 at the Mountain Home AFB airshow on 14 September 2003.
24 September 1961: TSgt John Lesso of the Thunderbirds C-123 crew was killed when an Air Force C-123 carrying the Army Golden Knights, on which he was flight engineer, crashed during take-off at an airshow in Wilmington, North Carolina.
4 June 1972: Major Joe Howard, flying Thunderbird No. 3 (F-4 s/n 66-0321), was killed during the Transpo '72 airshow at Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia.
9 May 1981: Capt Nick Hauck was killed in the crash of Thunderbird No. 6 (Northrop T-38) during a low approach during an air show at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
14 September 2003: Captain Chris Stricklin, flying Thunderbird No. 6 (F-16), crashed during an airshow at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. Immediately after takeoff, Stricklin attempted a "Split S" maneuver (which he had successfully performed over 200 times) based on an incorrect mean-sea-level elevation of the airfield, 1100 feet (335 m) higher than the home base at Nellis. Climbing to only 1670 feet (509 m) above ground level instead of 2500 feet (762 m), Stricklin had insufficient altitude to complete the maneuver, but guided the F-16C aircraft down the runway away from the spectators and ejected less than one second before impact. He survived with only minor injuries and no one on the ground was injured, but the $20 million aircraft was completely destroyed. Official procedure for demonstration "split S" maneuvers was changed, and the USAF now requires Thunderbird pilots and airshow ground controllers to both work in above-MSL(mean-sea-level) altitudes, as opposed to ground control working in AGL (above-ground-level) and pilots in MSL, which led to two sets of numbers that had to be reconciled by the pilot. Thunderbird pilots now also climb an extra 1000 feet (305 m) before performing the Split S maneuver.
20 August 2005: The Thunderbirds temporarily grounded themselves pending an investigation into a minor mid-air incident during the Chicago Air & Water Show. During the diamond pass in review, the tip of the missile rail on the right wing of the slot (#4) aircraft contacted the left stabilator of the right (#3) aircraft. A four-foot section of the missile rail snapped off, while the No. 3 aircraft sustained damage described by one of the Thunderbirds pilots as a "medium deep scratch" to the red paint of the stabilator. This is why the USAF Thunderbirds have taken extra precaution when flying their diamond, changing from about one and a half feet wingtip to canopy separation to around three feet. Still very close while going 450+ mph. They now fly as close as 18-inch Fuselage to Canopy separation during the arrowhead loop and roll. Amateur video showed the missile rail falling into the "safety box" on Lake Michigan away from boaters. While there were no injuries and the aircraft remained flight worthy, the demonstration was immediately terminated, all aircraft returned to Gary International Airport, and the Thunderbirds did not perform on the second day of the Chicago show. The right wing pilot (#3) was Major D. Chris Callahan, and the slot position (#4) was flown by Major Steve Horton.
2 June 2016: Colorado Springs, CO.
Other fatalities
11 December 1954: Capt George Kevil was killed during solo training at Luke in an F-84G.
26 September 1957: 1st Lt Bob Rutte was killed in solo training at Nellis.
9 October 1958: 19 men aboard the Thunderbirds' support C-123 were killed in a crash about 50 miles northwest of Boise, Idaho, while en route to McChord AFB, reportedly when the transport struck a flock of geese.
12 March 1959: Capt C. D. "Fish" Salmon was killed in solo training at Nellis.
27 July 1960: Capt J.R. Crane, advance pilot and narrator for the team, was killed during a solo proficiency flight at Nellis.
6 April 1961: Maj Robert S. Fitzgerald, Commander of the team, and Capt George Nial, advance pilot and narrator, were killed during a training flight at Nellis.
9 May 1964: Capt Eugene J. "Gene" Devlin was killed when his Republic F-105B broke apart as it pitched up for landing from a three-plane formation pass over Hamilton Air Force Base, California.
12 October 1966: Maj Frank Liethen and Capt Robert Morgan were killed in a collision of two F-100s during opposing Cuban Eights, their F-100F crashing, at Indian Springs Auxiliary Field in Nevada. The F-100D managed to land at Nellis AFB, despite wing damage.
9 January 1969: Capt Jack Thurman was killed in solo training at Nellis.
21 December 1972: Capt Jerry Bolt and TSgt Charles Lynn were killed during a flight test at Nellis.
25 July 1977: Capt Charlie Carter, Thunderbird pilot and narrator, was fatally injured during maneuvers at F. E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.
8 September 1981: Lt Col David L. Smith, commander of the Thunderbirds, was killed when his aircraft ingested seagulls while taking off from Cleveland, Ohio. Lt Col Smith's T-38 crashed into Lake Erie, and although Lt Col Smith ejected from the a/c, his ejection seat malfunctioned and did not deploy his parachute (his crew chief successfully ejected from the rear cockpit).
18 January 1982: The "Diamond Crash", the worst training crash in Thunderbird history, occurred when Maj Norman L. Lowry, Capt Willie Mays, Capt Joseph N. Peterson, and Capt Mark Melancon were killed while practicing a diamond loop during training at Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field in T-38s.

Fayette Factor Tweets

Here are some more "Fayette Factor" items shared visually through their tweets, on the 10th anniversary of Twitter.


W. Fayette St., Baltimore, Maryland - 3.15.16

LaFayette, Colorado - 3.21.16

Correspondent New Day passes along today's news, on March 21, 2016, that "Fairy Fey is at it again."

Here's a link to Lafayette, Colorado's story of a chlorine leak at a pool where 22 people became ill. Or was it "mass hysteria," as the media often notes?

Fayette County, Georgia - 3.12.16

Fayette County, Georgia - 3.17.16

Fayette County, Kentucky -  3.12.16

Fayette County, Pennsylvania - 3.20.16

The incident happened around 2:10 a.m. Sunday, March 20, 2016, at the Legion in the village of Trotter in Dunbar Township, Fayette County.

Will ISIS Attempt A Red Dawn?

Will December 18, 2015 be a new Colorado Aurora (which translates, literally, into Red Dawn‬), when Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens? 

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We have been down this road before. 

For more on the overlap between ISIS/ISIL and Star Wars, and this prediction, please read more here.

Black Friday's Colorado Springs Incident: Three Dead

The Prediction

The breaking news today, happening in Colorado Springs, was predicted. I forecast this on Wednesday, noting this was possible on Black Friday.

On Wednesday, November 24, 2015, in "Predicting Terror: Thanksgiving & Black Friday,” I wrote:

I think the "copycat" calendar cannot be ignored. The Paris Terror Attacks occurred on Friday the 13th, exactly two weeks ago from Black Friday, November 27th. The copycat effect has an internal clock that often works on two week, one month, and one year anniversary cycles. Therefore, while organized terrorists might not do anything on this coming Friday, it actually is the lone player, triggered or inspired by the Paris events, who would.

The Incident

On November 27, 2015 - this year's Black Friday - at 11:38 a.m. (Mountain Time; 1:38 pm Eastern), the first “shots fired” call came in to the police of Colorado Spring, Colorado. An active shooter was reported at the Planned Parenthood building, 3480 Centennial Boulevard. Colorado Springs police, El Paso County Sheriff's Office and Colorado State Patrol officers responded to the scene.

At 2:17 p.m., Colorado Springs police tweeted that "officers are encountering gunfire" and the scene is still an active shooting.

The gunman engaged with police officers, exchanging gunfire, injuring five law enforcement personnel. Nine individuals have been taken to local hospitals; six to Penrose and three to Memorial. A dispatcher said one patient was wounded at Elite Vision, located an adjacent building at 3470 Centennial Blvd.

The area is near a shooting center, a bank, a grocery store, and other businesses. Colorado Springs Police report that Centennial Boulevard is closed in both directions between Garden of the Gods Road and Fillmore Street. Police closed Centennial Boulevard in both directions and customers were locked down at a King Soopers grocery store and several nearby shops at Fillmore Street and Centennial Boulevard.

The city, in the central part of the Colorado, has more than 400,000 residents.

"Colorado Springs is situated near the base of one of the most famous American mountains, Pikes Peak.” ~ Wikipedia.

Readers of this blog already know that Pikes Peak is very special. See here, from 2011.

At 4:00 pm Mountain, police reported the shooter was still active, and that all roads around the scene continue to be closed. One report said the suspect had a “high-powered rifle.” Police said the suspect may have also brought "devices," including propane tanks, to the clinic.

The Victims

One victim has been identified. His name is Garrett Swasey, 44, a member of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Police Department, Colorado, for six years. He is married to Rachel, and the father of two small children. Swasey was killed when he responded to help other officers under fire.

Swasey was a junior national couples ice dancing champion in 1992.

Swasey won the junior national championship in Orlando, Florida., in 1992, with partner Christine Fowler of Baltimore. Fowler and Swasey, in third after the compulsory phase of the competition, took the title by winning the original and free dance programs, according to a Baltimore Sun article.

Three years later, Swasey and ice dancing partner Hillary Tompkins competed in the 1995 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Providence, Rhode Island. The Denver-based ice dancing couple placed 13th at the championships and later performed on Musical on Ice shows at the Forum in Presque Isle, Maine, according to the Denver Post.

Swasey was also a volunteer in his community, the co-pastor at Hope Chapel in Colorado Springs for seven years.

Two others, civilians, were confronted and killed, one apparently at the entrance to the Planned Parenthood building. They have not been identified yet.

The Suspect

In initial reports, the suspect was described as a white man in his 40s wearing a long coat and a hunting hat.

The suspect surrendered to police at about 5:00 pm, Mountain Time.

Overnight, the gunman was identified as Robert Lewis Dear. He is shown above, a bearded Caucasian male, being taken into custody on November 27, 2015, outside the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Reportedly, Dear lives in is from Hartsel, Colorado. Hartsel is officially seven miles east of South Park. South Park (1997 - Present) is an American adult animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network, situated in and around the same named Colorado town. The real South Park existed before the television series.

Dear’s age has been reported to as both 57 and 59, but public records indicate that he is 57. His family is from South Carolina.

According to court records, Dear has an arrest record in both North and South Carolina. He has been convicted of several traffic offenses, but has been arrested several times on more serious charges.
His convictions include seat belt violations, driver’s license violations, operating a vehicle in an unsafe mechanical condition and driving a non-registered vehicle.
Dear was charged in Colleton, South Carolina, with two counts of cruelty to animals in 2002, but was found not guilty in a bench trial.
He was also charged in 2002 in Colleton with charges of “peeping Tom” and eavesdropping. Those charges were dismissed. Source.

The name Robert is a Germanic given name, from Old High German Hrodebert "bright with glory" (a compound of hruod "fame, glory" and berht "bright").

The name Lewis imports meaning in Freemasonry to designate the son of a Mason. Within Freemasonry, Lewis is a significant name. The Normans brought the name to England, where it was usually spelled Lewis, though the spelling is sometimes Louis in America.

Lewis is routinely said to mean "renowned warrior." In Freemasonry, the origins developed from the use of the "lewis," a device to lift stones to their required height and set them in place precisely. Source.

Dear is an early English surname. It has two possible origins. The first is from the pre-7th Century word deora, meaning beloved and used as a byname, whilst the second is from the word deor, used to describe a wild, swift animal, specifically a deer. In that case the name may have been a nickname for a fast runner, one who had some of the characteristics of a deer. The modern surname can be found as Dear, Deare, Deares, Deer, Deere and Deerr, with diminutives Dearan, Dearing, Deering, Doring, and others. Source.

The Sacrifice of the Lamb and the 5s?

Colorado, California, Fives, the lamb...

Nick Ut of the AP took a photograph (below) that circled the globe. It was of a man on a highway sign.

The body of Richard Pananian, 20, thrown from his car during an accident on the 5 Freeway on Friday, October 30, 2015, ended up on the sign. Authorities say Pananian may have been driving recklessly on the 5 when his car collided with another vehicle. His car flipped several times, and he was ejected from the vehicle. He was said to have usually worn a 5-point seat harness. Authorities said he was not wearing a safety beat.

The latest shocker with this story is that 5 days previous to his accident, a lamb had been sacrificed on his behalf in a Armenian ritual.

Pananian's cousin wrote that the family performed a "matag," or a lamb sacrifice, on October 25, 2015.

He wrote that in Armenian culture, sacrifices are done when someone escapes death. Pananian's life "was once spared," he wrote.

"I find it ironic that 5 days after this offering to God, not only did God choose to take this young man's life, but decided to make such a spectacle out of it," Kardashian wrote. "If God works in mysterious ways his way remains a mystery to me and has crushed this family as a whole."

Read more, here.

h/t to SMiles