paiseh ah....no scary pictures
to share....so my contributions to this forum will be documented
stories of the
unexplainable/supernatural/extra-terresterial
(type this out manually from a book)
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is not
known for superstition, so was not concerend about scheduling the
United States' third manned flight to the moon aboard Apollo 13.
But some family and friends of the astronauts were
triskaidekaphobic -- fearful of the number 13 -- and decided to
consult a psychic to see what the future held. The person they
turned to was Dame Sybil Leek, the world-famous astrologer who
lived in Melbourne Beach, Florida, 80 km south of the Kennedy Space
Center.
In her forecast for Apollo 13, Dame Sybil saw signs of grave danger
and possibly death for two of the three astronauts. Did this mean
that something would happen to the teo who would descend to the
moon in the lunar module, while the one who remained in the command
module would return safely? Dame Sybil thought not. Although
puzzled, she sent out several registered-mail copies of her
forecast, including one to Dr Rudy Wells, former US Air Force
flight surgeon in Cocoa Beach.
A few days before the scheduled lift-off, NASA announced that one
of the three astronauts was being withdrawn from the flight, as he
had been exposed to an illness that could put others at risk. A
standby would take his place. The astronaut not in danger, Dame
Sybil realised, was obviously the one who was being grounded.
Apollo 13 was launched on 11 April 1970. On the way to the moon an
oxygen tank exploded, causing serious damage to the service module.
All three astronauts, Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, were
almost stranded in space, but managed to use the lunar module as a
lifeboat for much of their long, white-knuckle journey back to
earth.
There is no statistical evidence that 13 is unluckier than any
other number -- and there is no rational explanation for the
astrological forecast of Dame Sybil Leek.
***end***
