(Part 2) Best products from r/UnresolvedMysteries

If you haven't noticed from my Casey series and other posts, I really like court cases and have more of a defense bent to me. I get really into cases where I believe there was a wrongful conviction or wrongful accusation so that's where most of the books I like fall. I really like Alan Dershowitz. He's a defense attorney and a famous public speaker. When he writes a book, he does the audible recording for it, so I always make sure to get the audible version. My favorite was Reasonable Doubts about the OJ Simpson case. Dershowitz played a minor role in the criminal trial as he was the attorney hired as OJ's appellate advisor in case of conviction, but the way he explained the evidence, I can see why they acquitted. I also really liked Fundamental Cases. Like I said, he's a defense attorney, so there's an issue with bias there, but he's a great speaker and it was really interesting listening to his explanation of these famous court cases.

If you're studying the OJ case, OJ is innocent and I can prove it provides some decent fodder for discussion, but is horribly written.

I also enjoyed:

It's Not About the Truth: The Untold Story of the Duke Lacrosse Case and the Lives It Shattered (Okay, not so much unsolved, but it was pretty controversial)

A beautiful child about Sharon Marshall (semi-solved case, but there are still a lot of mysteries)

I've read a number of books about the Casey Anthony case and I can't say there are any that cover the case in a completely unbiased manner. Baez's Presumed Guilty is the best written of the bunch (I actually really enjoyed it), but there are a number of facts he fudges to support his argument. Ashton's book Imperfect Justice is an interesting read from the perspective that he's off in lala land. He has no clue why they lost the trial and it's obvious from his writing. I wish Linda Drane Burdick would write a book. If you're studying that case, those two are interesting to read in tandem to get a feel for it.

Renner's book--I like the guy and enjoy his blog, but I went into it hoping there would be more about Maura. I felt like he knows more about Maura than what he said in the book and was hoping for a more thorough discussion. I realize he wrote it more as a memoir so maybe that's part of my disappointment. I was hoping it would be a different book than it was.

As previously mentioned, The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser is a 'classic' in terms of art crime books. I would certainly recommend it,
along with The Art of Forgery by Noah Charney! Very, very informative, focuses on a lot of different cases. It's published by Phaidon, which can be a bit pricy, but I'd recommend checking out their website if your sibling is into art/history. They're notoriously good quality, and I'm sure you can find some of their stuff for cheaper on Amazon!

On a sidenote, I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art Forger by Ken Perenyi is also a good read. It's the autobiography of an art forger who was active largely in the 60's-70's. It's moreso a memoir than anything else, but there's still some good chunks of information in it, and he does discussing running into trouble with the FBI. Personally, I really enjoyed it.

Some more suggestions: Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures by Robert K. Wittman (haven't read it, but it gets good reviews on Amazon), The Art of the Con: The Most Notorious Fakes, Frauds, and Forgeries in the Art World by Anthony M. Moore (very basic, contains mostly well-known mysteries, but still good), Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art by Laney Salisbury, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith (fiction, nonetheless a good read, focused on art forgery), The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (won the pulitzer prize for fiction a couple years back, one of my favorite books).

Hope this helps! I'll add more if I think of any! :)

I started out, with my grandmother's influence, falling in love with A Little Princess and The Secret Garden when I was but a wee Meglet, then moved onto the neo-Gothic Victoria Holt novels that my mom had read as a teen, then I went into a flurry of 19th century literature, from Jane Austen through Mrs. Gaskell (I absolutely LOVE "the Cranford novellas" to Henry James and on into the 20th century. Cold Comfort Farm is an odd but charming comedy with a take-charge lead character in young Flora Poste, and it has an ever-so subtle sci-fi undertone, in throewaway references to commercial jet travel and such years before it happened.

You'd get a kick out of the very funny Texts From Jane Eyre, and other conversations with your favorite literary characters (so many Jane Eyre references in these titles!) for some clever sendups of famous characters and authors, from Medusa to Thoreau to Scarlett O'Hara.

And of course, Madwoman in the Attic was a fascinating study of feminist literature in the 19th Century. It introduced me to the charming Lolly Willowes, among other enchanting works.

If I can figure out if Kindle still allows lending, I'll lend any of those you want!

Any recommendations for me? 🤓

Yup! "Praise Bob!" as the members of the Subgenius say. I used to know the guys who started the group, including the owner/operator "Ivan Stang." They were from Dallas and Houston and were very clever, friendly people. The Houston Pacifica radio station had a late night d.j. (known as "Reverend Huey") and his radio shows from the 1980s featured a lot of Subgenius programming that he and his friends created -- lots of "found" audio, sound collages, and religious "rants," very much like audio clip art.

The Church of the Subgenius was originally started as a joke (think performance art done by happy pranksters) and began amassing members though appearances at SF conventions and public events like art shows and concerts. Later on, more and more material was created by newer members, a couple of which were underground cartoonists.

You can buy a book of some of the best of the Subgenius flyers and "propaganda" on Amazon: "The Book of the SubGenius: The Sacred Teachings of J.R. 'Bob' Dobbs." If the Mayday stuff interests you, you would probabaly enjoy this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Book-SubGenius-Sacred-Teachings-Dobbs/dp/0671638106

Click on "Look Inside this Book" to see a lot of great examples of the Subgenius material. You can see the similarities to the Mayday stuff. Mayday could even be a couple of old Subgenius members.

I am sorry to hear this. :(

I was a pretty intolerable person to be around after my abuse and rape. I was extremely defiant and contrary, I had a lot of unresolved rage issues. It would often take a long time for me to reach a point of breaking but when I did finally lose patience I would just RAGE. I had so much anger.

You may want to look at ketamine therapy, it’s being used as a treatment for depression, PTSD, and bipolar disorder. I was able to reframe things in my mind to be able to forgive myself for what happened, because a lot of my rage was directed externally but even more than that was internalized and developed malignantly until I was either put into psychiatric hold or I entered psych hold myself for my own safety. Being able to forgive myself released so much anger and hatred, I felt like a load was just lifted off of me. It was incredibly freeing. There are studies being down for ketamine therapy all over the US and there is a searchable database for clinical trials on the NIMH website, you might be able to get her into one. I have seen some miraculous results from people crippled by addiction too.

Another thing that helped me was EMDR therapy. It’s a very specific method that helps to process past trauma, I feel like more than anything the EMDR saved me. Just Google the phrase “EMDR therapy saved me” and you will have access to a hundred op-adds and essays about how beneficial a therapy this can be. It absolutely taught me how to process things better. Here is one such essay.

I also do a lot of mindfulness exercises. It helps if I can have something that can calm me down or make it through an acute episode. There’s an app called Headspace and it offers some free basic guided mindfulness exercises but you can also pay a monthly fee and then there are mindfulness lessons on all kinds of things. Depression, sleep, anxiety, anger, etc. it’s worth the $7 a month for me because I use it almost every other day. There is even a kids section and they have things to help them calm down and guide them into sleep. It’s basically mindfulness narration. I do the stuff with my kiddo. Especially calm down stuff because he’s 6 and I think the mindful approach to frustrating/upsetting experiences is really key aspect of emotional intelligence and I want to get him into it young so he has healthy coping skills as an adult. I bought these awesome headphones/eye mask combo that mute exterior sound so if I need to immediately decompress or manage an acute episode or just sleep I can put these bad boys on and relax very quickly with some Headspace-y goodness.

Anyway, those three things have helped me find my voice and free myself from an internalized self induced prison that I had developed as a result of trauma and a complete lack of healthy coping skills. I’m not going to lie and say everything is perfect now but things are so much better than they were. I had a lot of unhealthy, codependent, and abusive relationships (friends and significant others) until I started dealing with my shit. Now I can look at a previous me and see how much I’ve improved, how much I’ve grown and changed from where I was at.

I hope you and your partner can move past things. I hope she can forgive herself and learn to heal. I hope you can heal together and go on to be happy. I wish you well. <3

The idea that the Tunguska event was caused by a meteor was popular even in the time it occurred, which caused Leonid Kulik to lead an expedition to the incident's epicenter. However, the expedition found no meteorite remains in the area, and were unable to find even a crater at the supposed point of impact. This was not because the epicenter was somehow lost, as pictures from the expedition make clear. Trees were knocked down in an incredibly huge circle around the epicenter, but the ground at apparent point of impact appeared undisturbed.

My own hypothesis for the Tunguska event is that it was caused not by an impact with a meteor, but with a comet. A meteor is a solid body, and a meteor large enough to cause the energy released in the Tunguska event should have been able to reach the surface of the planet and leave a sizable crater behind. A comet, however, is not nearly as solid as a meteor, and far more likely to release its energy in an airburst shortly after entering our atmosphere.

My favorite speculative hypothesis for the Tunguska event is known as the Jackson-Ryan hypothesis, which postulates that the incident was caused by an impact with a microscopic black hole. I was introduced to the hypothesis in a novel, Singularity by Bill DeSmedt, which I whole-heartedly recommend to anyone who enjoys a great Michael Crichton-style thriller. The author has even released the audiobook version of the novel for free!

I copy and pasted most of this from my old notes, so don't think I'm crazy and wrote nearly 9,000 words just for you! But browse these and you'll have a fairly comprehensive idea about the impact of Nuclear testing in the continental US. I tried to find mostly websites and movies, but there are three books at the end if you're into that sort of thing. This is about 1/4 of the source material I had readily available, so if anything specifically interests you let me know and I can give a few more leads probably or answer any questions!

General history

Fifty Years From Trinity by the Seattle Times Company. This website provides the full text of the 1995 article “Fifty Years From Trinity,” by Bill Dietrich, and interactive presentations of information about atomic bombs. Focuses on the Trinity test site, the Nevada test site, and the plutonium production complex at Hanford Washington. Also has interactive learning tools for teachers and students, including a quiz, supplementary articles and documents.


Movies

The Atomic Café (vimeo link to movie) directed by Rafferty, Kevin / Loader, Jayne / Rafferty, Pierce - This creatively edited film depicts American uncertainty, fear, ignorance, and paranoia in the early Cold War, using the very propaganda that instilled these traits into the American consciousness. It is a montage of U.S. government archival footage and newsreel footage from the forties and fifties. It begins with Col. Paul Tibbets narrating his mission that dropped the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, spliced with the footage of the explosion and ensuing human effects. Tibbets describes being demonized for his role, and states that America is suffering an atomic guilt complex. The clips include footage of U.S. Army training. One shows an officer telling soldiers that radiation is nothing to worry about, and then records the men racing into a still smoldering atomic test area. Other footage reflects the suburban paranoia—families gather in bomb shelters believing themselves safe, while children outside practice “Duck and Cover”. A memorable clip shows an American officer explaining to natives of Bikini Atoll that they must be evacuated for the good of mankind.

Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie directed by Kuran, Peter - This documentary film depicts the history of the development of nuclear weapons both within and outside of the United States from 1945 to 1963. It contains incredible atomic bomb footage from declassified materials that were painstakingly restored by the film’s production team, an effort which won an Oscar award for Peter Kuran. The film conveys the extent of nuclear testing that took place during that era, and includes footage of tests on the ground, underwater, suspended from balloons, and in the upper atmosphere. The footage is both visually stunning and unsettling. The film also features an interview with Edward Teller who is widely acknowledged as the “father of the hydrogen bomb.” I'm pretty sure it used to be on Netflix.

Dark Circle directed by Beaver, Chris / Irving, Judy / Landy, Ruth - This award-winning film focuses on the victims of nuclear weapons production, testing, and use. It features the stories of workers at the Rocky Flats, Colorado production facility; residents near the facility; United States servicemen participating in nuclear tests; survivors of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki; and activitists who opposed the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California. Originally produced in 1982, the film was revised in 1991. It stresses the long term human impact of nuclear weapons.

Websites

http://www.atomictestingmuseum.org/ The National Atomic Testing Museum, Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation. The site features a virtual tour of the museum through photos and video clips. I've been to the actual museum and would definitely recommend it if you're ever in Las Vegas!

http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/ State of Nevada: Agency for Nuclear Projects - This is the official website of the Nuclear Waste Project Office of the State of Nevada’s Agency for Nuclear Projects. The website includes links to hundreds of government and other documents, including news clippings, many in PDF format.

http://www.atomicarchive.com/index.shtml Atomic Archive by AJ Software and Multimedia - This website is a comprehensive resource for information on nuclear weapons.The almanac contains information on nuclear facilities, forces, and test sites. The media gallery has photographs, videos, animations, and maps. The store offers items related to nuclear issues such as DVDs, books, and magazines for purchase or subscription. News links and a This Month in Atomic History section are featured on the home page.

http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/ “Radiation Protection” United States Environmental Protection Agency - This is the Radiation Protection section of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States website, which informs citizens of the harmful effects of radiation to people and to the environment and details ways to avoid exposure to radiation.


Fallout/Downwind Books

Justice Downwind: America's Atomic Testing Program in the 1950s book by Ball, Howard (less than $10 on Amazon and definitely worth it) - This book was among the first scholarly studies to examine the ways “downwinders” in Utah were affected by fallout from atmospheric atomic tests in Nevada in the 1950s and their early efforts to gain radiation exposure compensation from the U. S. government. Introductory chapters summarize the development of the atomic bomb and the creation of the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the agency that created and operated the Nevada Test Site. Subsequent chapters describe the downwinder communities in southern Utah, their reactions to the above-ground atomic tests, and the health consequences that began to gain national attention in the late 1970s. The author presents medical research on cancer, especially leukemia, in the test site region, and explores legal action by the downwinders, especially Allen v. United States, to win compensatory damages from the federal government. The author’s study period ends in the mid-1980s, well before the U. S. Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to provide money payments to people who suffered cancers linked to the atmospheric tests in Nevada.


Atomic Soldiers: American Victims of Nuclear Experiments book by Howard L Rosenberg. This book describes how the United States military used its own personnel to test the psychological impact of atomic blasts. It also examines the effects of nuclear testing on people who lived close to the Nevada Test Site. In particular, the author, a journalist, uses the story of Russell Jack Dann as an example of what he indicates thousands of United States servicemen endured. He follows the story from the time Dann was recruited to be present at a nuclear blast through his testimony to Congress in 1978 about his experiences. The author sets the context for Dann’s story with background information about the decisions being made at the highest levels of government. The author relies on declassified Pentagon reports and extensive interviews with survivors for his source material, giving the book great authenticity. The majority of the content reflects personal experiences, not scientific information, for which other references should be consulted. (Used on Amazon for <$10.)


The U.S. Atlas of Nuclear Fallout: 1951-1962 Volume I. Total Fallout by Miller, Richard L. This book is a comprehensive study of nuclear fallout in the United States based on published U.S. government documents released in the late 1990s. The fallout from every above-ground test conducted in Nevada is examined in detail, with illustrative maps. The book shows the 80 counties with the highest fallout from each individual test and the fallout for every county in the continental U.S. for each test series. The author also examines the concentrations of different types of radionuclide fallout across the U.S. The book concludes with statistical analyses of the relationships of nuclear fallout, including specific radionuclides, and cancers in the population. Strong relationships were found between fallout distribution and a variety of cancers, particularly female colon cancers and lymphosarcomas. These data were used in research such as the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) study of thyroid cancer. The book is supported by hundreds of pages of maps and tables. This is the abridged general reader edition... look for it at a University library near you, it's way too pricey to own but is a great resource if you're curious about the geographical spread of the fallout.

Edit: clarifying- I wrote all these summaries, they are not just copied and pasted from someone else ;)

There are actually multiple fascinating disappearances in the Great Smoky Mountains. Some that are very similar to the Thelma Melton case (people who went missing almost literally in front of other people and have never been found/have never produced ANY evidence). I have a couple of great books on them. I’ll post them in a bit.

Edit:

Unsolved Disappearances in the Great Smoky Mountains https://www.amazon.com/dp/1880308134/ref=cm_sw_r_oth_api_tcNbAb8FSRCWB

Lost!: A Ranger's Journal of Search and Rescue https://www.amazon.com/dp/0964173417/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_1eNbAb2RD655T

Some of the cases in the two books are duplicates. The ranger’s book is an interesting point of view.

The two others who went missing during the day, very near many people with no clues are: Trenny Lynn Gibson and Dennis Lloyd Martin.

There are also several people who went missing because of questionable choices they made while in the wilderness. Some were found alive. Some were not so fortunate.

I chose to select and read these books while camping IN the great Smoky Mountains and kind of scared the crap out of myself.

I've been enjoying your contributions to this sub as a long time lurker but your news made me finally create an account so I could congratulate you - so, congrats and well done! Also, for the peoples in mainland Europe, the book can be bought in EUR right here

Fellow UK-er here, it is available on our Amazon here

edit - worked out how to add links properly - btw the book is only £2.83, amazing work u/Hysterymystery!!

I was just coming here to post this. I read that book while staying at a cabin in the Smokies, years ago. Very creepy! Here is an Amazon link. https://www.amazon.com/Unsolved-Disappearances-Great-Smoky-Mountains/dp/1880308134

I highly suggest you read this book, it changed my mind about everything. We were very mislead by what the media was reporting vs what was actually said/presented at trial.

https://www.amazon.com/Everything-didnt-about-Casey-Anthony-ebook/dp/B079WKF7J8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535916087&sr=1-1&keywords=SK+Patton

This is the book that covers the case.Suzanne's story

She's got a book too!

https://www.amazon.com/Everything-didnt-about-Casey-Anthony-ebook/dp/B079WKF7J8

Did you read this post and the rest of the series? (She wrote a book, too) There's even more evidence pointing towards the pool which would mean the "foolproof suffocation" was to kill herself.