Strange Villages

Town full of twins could be a secret Nazi Experiment

Okay Ihave to get this out..

"Dwarf Village"

Hahahahahah! That i awesome! XD

reply to post by misscurious


Okinawa

of the Ryukyu Islands.

Longevity attributed to a incredibly healthy diet, accompanied by a very outdoor based lifestyle, agriculture etc.

Seafood, vegies and in some cases... a little wine, according to one of the towns oldest, do indeed see the average lifespan, to well over the 100's.

They have a particular type of vegetable which is said to be the secret to their longevity, Goya. I can attest that it tastes aweful. So it checks out I'm pretty good with vegies, no matter how much oyster sauce i put on it, or base to hide the bitterness, it's overpowering hahaha

en.wikipedia.org...

www.jacn.org...

And in each of these villages...... you'll find me

Interesting read
S+F

One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes about a man who stumbles upon a strange town in New Mexico.

maybe Cite, New Mexico, USA is one of the first extermination camps that they're testing

In regards to The Villages; saying they don't allow anyone under 19 sounds pretty extreme. While I lived nearby, I never had the experience of going to visit someone while a teenager; I do know there are no guards on SR441 or the surrounding streets

It is a retirement community, that was designed specifically as such. There is a golf cart bridge over SR441, there are golf cart paths leading around to the businesses; Wal-Mart even has specific golf cart parking on the side of the store. Those old fogies have a/c on their carts too!

I believe it was designed by someone who worked on Disney. There is no restrictions to shopping at any of the places there, and I'm sure the businesses would not like turning down the many customers that they service from the surrounding area and people traveling.

I also believe that The Villages has one of the highest rates of STDs in the nation. Think about that for a moment ... or maybe don't; mental images might leave scars! :p

I would visit their stores for a change of pace; it was close enough to where I lived and I liked taking drives :p Reminiscing makes me miss my home town; but I'd never miss the hot, humid summers. Sounds like a visit/vacation might be in order soon.

I think I could almost see myself living like that if I was well off enough at retirement age; only if it was somewhere cooler. Golf cart community ... sure as hell beats the price of a car, insurance, gas, etc. ... with age comes wisdom.


Interesting thread, I just thought I'd give some first hand experience with one of the places that were listed. Plan to check out a lot of the places; definitely some curiosities!

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
One of the weirdest villages I ever visited was Chamula in Mexico. They practice a combination of Mayan an catholism, that creates a very weird mix. People sacrifice chickens in the church while drinking soda,, from fanta to coca cola. I rember walking to the back where they had a monophonic version of jingle bells on repeat with flashing Christmas lights.

There are no pews in the church, and the floor area is completely covered in a carpet of green pine boughs and soda bottles (mostly Coca Cola). Curanderos (medicine men) diagnose medical, psychological or ‘evil-eye’ afflictions and prescribe remedies such as candles of specific colors and sizes, specific flower petals or feathers, or - in a dire situation - a live chicken. The specified remedies are brought to a healing ceremony. Chamula families kneel on the floor of the church with sacrificial items, stick candles to the floor with melted wax, drink ceremonial cups of Posh, artisanal sugar-cane-based liquor, Coca Cola or Pepsi, and chant prayers in an archaic dialect of Tzotzil.

en.wikipedia.org...

I was at that church and I can say with experience that being there it was an other worldly and very profound experience. Even my daughter, who was a teen at the time, felt it and witnessed the quiet sacrifice of the chickens often captive inside plastic bags as their necks are quietly broken by the petitioner. They apparently believe that evil spirits can be extracted when one drinks a Coke (not Pepsi, oddly. There are billboards around showing locals in their native costumes drinking a Coke), presumably when they burp. In a world where traveling often presents a replication more or less of Western society, Chumula definitely provides the itinerant traveler with a taste of something different. BTW, if you ever get down there again, there are even more remote villages in the interior that are equally as interesting.

I have heard, though, that the different clothes and colors worn by the various villagers is a holdover from the Spanish who thought to divide the natives by assigning them these different distinctions.

reply to post by gwynned

Other worldly is a good description. Something almost dreamlike with its bizarreness. We took a trip around some of the other surrounding villages, although I did feel a bit uncomfortable about peering into their lives. Certainly an experience ill never forget.

Originally posted by Bugeisha
.

They have a particular type of vegetable which is said to be the secret to their longevity, Goya. I can attest that it tastes aweful.

I disagree. I really like it and I eat it a few times a week. I give it to my cats, too.

Going back to the dwarf village, there's a place in Muskego WI called Hauncheyville said to be inhabited by short people guarded by an albino man...

haunchyville wiki

I can't find the original mainstream media (probably BBC) article from a couple weeks ago about a remarkable village in Nederland (Netherlands). The village is roughly just over 150 residents and the alheimer's/dementia patients live in an actual miniature city (village) instead of some depressing 'home' where people are locked away to die a slow and miserable death.

In Dutch - the village's main webpage - Hogewey Wseep

Yahoo and BBC andABC and Daily Mail

People's living areas are decorated with what they are accustomed to; so, a rich person has rich person furnishings and a carpenter might have carpenter furnishings. It helps them relate to their new home with what they accustomed to before they were 'put away'.

They have shopping and entertainment areas. They actually built them a REAL village!

There's no problem with dementia patients wandering away from the village and getting lost ... there's one gate in and out.

I think it's the most wonderful and most humane thing I have read about Nederland.

reply to post by Alekto


Any tips on how to prepare Goya?

Are you lightly grilling it?

No matter how many times i try, it's just packs that 'punch'.

I should have qualified, in my opinion, it tastes aweful haha.

reply to post by Skyfloating


Ahh The Villages. Yea it's a retirement community and it's not uncommon here in FL to have retirement communities that ban anyone under this age from living in them.

There are quite a few of them.

The Villages is actually quite nice and I don't blame them for not wanting kids there and I get it. They are all retired and most have money so they want quiet!!

Skyfloating
Town full of twins could be a secret Nazi Experiment

Wow. I remember reading about this a while ago. I wish I had a link to the site or if it was on here, not sure.

If I remember correctly the site I read said something about one of Hitlers people, Mengle, going to Brazil and continuing experiments. Whether it's true or not, no idea but it is VERY interesting that they have far more twins than anywhere in the world.


As a twin. I find it kind of creepy to have a town full of twins.

Here is one in FL that is suppose to have the most mediums, a spirit in every home and it sits on an energy vortex.

Cassadaga, FL. I have yet to visit this place but it's not too far from me and one day I will make it. I would love to get a reading!! Maybe when my husband comes home we can go this time. If we go I'll definitely post on it!

I have heard all kinds of stories about this place. There was a short video years ago on our local cable network that discussed the history and founding of this place. It also discussed how every place in Cassadaga has at least one spirit residing in the home. I also knew a girl years ago who use to go there for different pagan holidays. It apparently sits on an energy vortex which is another popular reason people go there and another reason they state why there are so many mediums and spirits.

I remember one person in the video said they had one spirit whose photo hung on the wall and if you didn't greet her when you came to visit she'd knock something over. It was apparently her home first and she died in it and obviously wasn't ready or willing to let the place go. So the new owners have embraced this spirit and make sure to ask her permission and greet her when they come in or when new guests arrive.


Here is a bit on the history. This basically sums up what the short documentary said years ago about the founding of Cassadaga.

The Cassadaga Spiritualist camp began when the Southern Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Meeting Association was founded by George P. Colby, from Pike, New York, a trance medium who traveled to many different states, giving readings and seances. He was well known, and in his travels, Colby was referred to as the "seer of spiritualism". Colby attended summer Spiritualist Camp meetings at Lily Dale, New York, the town adjacent to Cassadaga, New York.[2]
Colby worked with several spirit guides who would give him knowledge. One of his spirit guides was an Indian named Seneca, who had manifested to Colby during a seance in Lake Mills, Iowa. According to Colby, Seneca had instructed him to travel south to Florida, where he eventually arrived at a place called the Blue Springs Landing, near Orange City, Florida. According to Colby, the area that Seneca had led him to was the same area that Colby had seen during the seance in Iowa.
Colby had arrived in Florida in 1875, and on the 18th of December, 1894 the charter was granted to form The Southern Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Meeting Association. Later on January 3, 1895 Colby had signed a warranty deed to the Association for thirty-five acres.[2] The people who came to the Spiritualist Camp in the early days of its formation were affluent and well educated. The Cassadaga Spiritualist camp was named after the small Spiritualist Camp community found outside of Lily Dale, New York. The Spiritualist Camp Association later received additional acreage that expanded the camp to the current fifty-seven acres.

Cassadaga, Florida
More on Cassadaga, FL

Here is a hotel you can stay at and apparently it has one famous spirit residing there that people seem to still have interactions with. Hmmm guess I know where we will stay!
Cassadaga Hotel

Another Urban Legend from Cassadaga involves the "Devils Chair."

(the background music and some of the effects are just silly FYI)

I had a friend in about 2006 whose husband use to go sit in this chair. I never liked this person and called him satan for a reason. He creeped me out beyond belief and was void of any emotion. He had devil horns tattooed on his head and he had the blackest eyes I've every seen. So it doesn't surprise me The Devil's Chair was a place he enjoyed going....

Here is part of the urban legend for the Devil's Chair

According to the stories, if you sit in this big, brick chair at midnight, the Devil will communicate to you. The Prince of Darkness also enjoys a cold beer once in awhile, for I’m told that if you place an unopened can of beer on the chair it will be empty the next morning. He’s probably a pretty thirsty fellow after working in all that fire and brimstone.

Devils Chair


Yup I think this counts as a strange village

It's also very pretty there from what I've been told. It is probably 30mins from me, 40 at most.


Enjoy.

Antelope, Oregon
Between 1981 and 1985, this tiny town in Oregon was taken over by a weird cult that was looking to form a new community. They first took over the local government which was easy considering the cult members heavily outnumbered the locals. Then they attempted to gain power in the State Government. That's when things got hairy.
The cult dissolved in 1985 after the leadership was arrested on a number of charges including a bioterror attack in The Dalles, Oregon.
en.wikipedia.org...

Transinistra
This is a small micro-nation that is not officially recognized. It lies between Ukraine and Moldova and came into existence at the fall of the Soviet Union.
en.wikipedia.org...

Nördlingen, Germany
This is a very old town (roughly 1100 years old) with an odd circular shape. The reason for this shape is because the town was built in an ancient meteor crater. Stone that was cut from the crater and used to make many of the original town buildings contain tiny diamonds formed from the initial asteroid impact.
en.wikipedia.org...

Gibsonton, Florida
This is a very unusual place. The town of Gibsonton was formed in the 1940's as a safe haven and retirement village for circus sideshow performers. It became more famous in the 1990's when the "Lobster Boy" Grady Stiles was murdered there.
en.wikipedia.org...

Biosphere 2, Arizona
This famous flop of a research experiment now belongs to the University of Arizona but in 2007 the land around the facility was developed into a small residential area.
en.wikipedia.org...

Arcosanti, Arizona
This place is a hippy commune slash arcology experiment that has been slowly creeping along without much progress for the last 40 years.
en.wikipedia.org...

Quake Lake, Montana
This is a 6 mile long, 190-foot deep lake that was created in 1959 after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit Yellowstone National Park. The quake resulted in a massive 80-ton landslide that blocked the flow of the Madison River and formed the lake. It also killed 28 people.
en.wikipedia.org...

Emigrant, Montana
The valley surrounding Emigrant, Montana is full of underground bunkers. It started in the 1980's when a Christian doomsday cult moved into the area. They were followers of Elizabeth Clare Prophet, a religious sect part of the Church Universal Triumphant. This cult believed that the apocalypse would come in 1990 so they began building bunkers. The first was a $500,000 bunker that would house up to 90 people.
As membership in the cult peaked at 10,000 people and hundreds of these followers flocked to the valley, more bunkers were built. An estimated 30 known bunkers are known to exist. But there may be more.

Sable Island, Nova Scotia
This strange crescent shaped island is over 100 miles from shore in the Atlantic and is home to over 400 wild horses. The island is also famous for causing many shipwrecks over the last few centuries.

Boston, Ohio
This is a town that no longer exists and is often referred to as Hell Town. Over the years, many urban legends have sprung into existence about the place because it has an assortment of abandoned houses. Tales of serial killers, chemical spills, government coverups, all that.
But the true story is that in 1974 the Chuyahoga Valley National Park was created. The land was purchased by the Government and the residents were forced to move. So the houses just sat abandoned since.
www.atlasobscura.com...

Saint-Pierre, Martinique
This is an interesting town because it has been completely destroyed twice. Each time with only a few survivors.
The first time it was destroyed by the Great Hurricane of 1780 which left no survivors.
The second time it was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Pelee in 1902 which left only two survivors. One of whom only survived because he was thrown into a solitary confinement cell at the local jail.
en.wikipedia.org...

Shibam, Yemen
This is a sprawling desert town full of towering buildings that reach as high as 11 stories. The strange part is that all of these buildings are made of mud. And the city itself has existed here since the 3rd century.
en.wikipedia.org...

Budludzha, Bulgaria
This is the location of an enormous meeting place for the former Bulgarian communist regime. Today, it is an abandoned relic of the past which has fallen into disrepair and been heavily vandalized.
en.wikipedia.org...

Grand Canyon Caverns
This cave system is located next to Peach Springs, Arizona. I add it to this list because of the cavern history. In 1961, the cave system was to be used as a bomb shelter. In the present, 800 acres of the cavern are owned and operated by the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn. And they also rent out a motel room inside the cavern that is 220 feet underground.

www.gccaverns.com...

Runit Island
This is a part of the Enewetak Atoll of the Marshall Islands. Runit Island was once used for nuclear testing. In the 1970's, the US Government filled in a crater on the island with radioactive material from other testing sites and covered it with a giant concrete dome which is commonly referred to as the Cactus Dome.
en.wikipedia.org...

Kerguelen Islands
This is a strange and remote group of glacier covered islands near Antarctica that are solely inhabited by between 50 -100 French Scientists.
en.wikipedia.org...

I wouldn't mind living in Slab city or The Mesa, But I wonder if they get any form of internet there? That would be important to me. As I do a lot of stuff online. But ya I'd totally move there. Maybe check it out one day. I love the idea. And you'd probably meet some rather interesting people. Some might be a bit phychotic though which might be a drag.