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Yes, that Voorhees.

Wikimedia CommonsWreckage from Iran Air Flight 655.On July 3, 1988, Iran Air Flight 655 took off from Bandar Abbas Airport en route for Dubai. It should have been a short, uneventful flight. But seven minutes into its journey, a United States Navy warship opened fire on the plane knocking it out of the sky and killing all 290 people onboard. Though the U.S. military called the incident a tragic and regrettable accident, the downing of Iran Air Flight 655 triggered an international firestorm. Iran sued the United States in the International Court of Justice in 1989, and the U.S. ultimately agreed to pay a huge settlement to the victims families.But in the years that followed, the memory of the doomed Iran Air Flight 655, and its 290 victims, remained a painful one in Iran.The United States And The Iran-Iraq WarThe shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655 took place at the tail-end of the Iran-Iraq War, which had begun eight years earlier in 1980. During the war, the United States quietly supported the Iraqis with money, intelligence, and equipment. And by the summer of 1988, the U.S. Navy had also begun to play a more active role in the Persian Gulf, protecting merchant ships. Tensions in the region were high. The year before, in May 1987, an Iraqi jet had mistaken the frigate USS Stark as an Iranian vessel and opened fire, killing 37 crewmen. Roughly a year later, in April 1988, the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts was severely damaged after striking in Iranian mine. This led the U.S. to launch a retaliatory mission known as Operation Praying Mantis, which attacked several Iranian naval targets and sank an Iranian ship. And on the morning of July 3, 1988, USS Vincennes, captained by William C. Rogers III, was engaged in multiple skirmishes in the region. Public DomainThe USS Vincennes, armed with a guided missile system, deployed to the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War. According to reporting from The New York Times in 1988, USS Vincennes was patrolling the Strait of Hormuz when it engaged with a number of Iranian gunboats. In the middle of this firefight, Iran Air Flight 655, with 290 people onboard, prepared to take off from Bandar Abbas Airport.The Downing Of Iran Air Flight 655At 10:17 a.m., Iran Air Flight 655 took off 30 minutes behind schedule. It was headed for Dubai, a short flight which should have taken just 28 minutes. According to the Washington Post in 1988, many Iranians flew to Dubai on the weekends to buy luxury goods like electronics and jewelry, and the flight had a number of families onboard, including 65 children. Reiner Geerdts/Wikimedia CommonsIran Air Flight 655 was an Airbus A300, seen here in 1987.As a subsequent U.S. Navy investigation confirmed, Iran Air Flight 655 had correctly identified itself as a civilian aircraft on air traffic control frequencies, and it was flying along a commercial air corridor .But when the plane appeared on the USS Vincennes radar, its crew immediately suspected that it was hostile. After all, the U.S. Navy ship was currently engaged in a gun battle, the plane had taken off from Bandar Abbas (which was used by military and civilian aircrafts), and radio warnings to the airplane had gone unanswered. That said, the crew of Iran Air Flight 655 may not have received the warnings, as it was likely not monitoring the right channel. And even if the crew did see them, they might have not realized that the ship was communicating with them and not another plane.Indeed, officers on the Vincennes worried that the aircraft was actually an Iranian F-14 fighter jet. With just minutes to make a decision, and with no response from the plane, Rogers gave the order to fire. The warship then fired two surface-to-air missiles, which struck the commercial aircraft. Iran Air Flight 655 broke apart, and plummeted into the water below. How The U.S. And Iran Responded To The TragedyAfter the downing down of Iran Air Flight 655, American military leaders defended Rogers decision to shoot down the commercial airliner. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral William J. Crowe Jr., stated at a press conference that the Vincennes had acted to protect itself, remarking that the commanding officer had a very heavy obligation to protect his ship, his people and that If a country is going to wage combat operations in a certain areas and then send a commercial airliner into the area during that, of course its an accident waiting to happen.Josn Oscar Sosa / Department of Defense/Department of DefenseChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral William Crowe and Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci addressing the downing of Iran Air Flight 655.Meanwhile, President Ronald Reagan called the downing of the aircraft a terrible human tragedy, in a statement, but reiterated that the USS Vincennes had been firing to protect itself against possible attack.Ultimately, the Department of Defense concluded that The USS Vincennes did not purposely shoot down an Iranian commercial airliner, declaring that Rogers reasonably believed the plane was hostile and a threat to his ship.The report also declared that Iran must share the responsibility for the tragedy by hazarding one of their civilian aircrafts by allowing it to fly a relatively low altitude air route in close proximity to hostilitiesWikimedia CommonsWreckage from Iran Air Flight 655.But Iran saw things completely differently: the USS Vincennes had entered Iranian territorial waters, fired on Iranian ships, and then shot down a commercial airliner carrying 290 civilians, most of whom were Iranian. Many Iranians did not believe that a U.S. warship, equipped with the latest technology, could mistake a commercial airline for an F-14 fighter jet.Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati claimed that the downing of the plane was a capital crime committed by U.S. troops. He added: The United States is responsible for the consequences of its barbaric massacre of innocent passengers.The Aftermath Of The Downing Of Iran Air Flight 655Public DomainIran issued a stamp to commemorate the disastrous attack. Though at first the downing of Iran Air Flight 655 seemed like it could intensify and widen the Iran-Iraq War, it ultimately helped bring the conflict to a close. The United Nations declared that the war needed to end before more lives were lost and Iran, fearing that the United States might officially join the war on the side of Iraq, soon agreed to a ceasefire.But Iran continued to seek justice for the victims of the doomed aircraft. In May 1989, it sued the United States in the International Court of Justice. In 1996, the U.S. agreed to a settlement of $61.8 million to the victims families (more than $100 million today) though the Americans did not admit liability. The downing of civilian Iran Air Flight 655 on 3 July was a tragic and regrettable accident, declared the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in an investigative report in August 1988. [A]s is so often the case in a combat environment, there were a number of contributing factors.That said, the downing of Iran Air Flight 655 has remained an open wound in Iran. When President Donald Trump threatened to target 52 sites in Iran in 2020, for each of the Americans taken hostage in Iran in 1979, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani tweeted in response: Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290. #IR655.The tragedy of Iran Air Flight 655 deepened the rift between the US and Iran. Next, check out photos from the Iranian Revolution, and then look at images of the 1990 Persian Gulf War. The post Iran Air Flight 655, The Civilian Plane Shot Down By An American Warship In 1988 appeared first on All That's Interesting.

As the tale goes, the Wendigo was once a lost hunter. During a brutally cold winter, this mans intense hunger drove him to cannibalism. After feasting on another humans flesh, he transformed into a crazed man-beast, roaming the forest in search of more people to eat.The story of the Wendigo (sometimes spelled windigo or windago) comes from Algonquian Native American folklore, and the exact details vary depending on who you ask. Some people who have claimed to encounter the beast say its a relative of Bigfoot. But other reports compare the Wendigo to a werewolf instead.An illustration of the Wendigo, perhaps the most fearsome creature in Native American lore.Since the Wendigo is said to be a cold-weather creature, most sightings have been reported in Canada as well as northern parts of the United States like Minnesota. At the turn of the 20th century, the Algonquian tribes blamed many unsolved disappearances of people on Wendigo attacks.From centuries-old tales to modern-day accounts, the Wendigo remains one of the most terrifying beasts in the history of folklore.What Is A Wendigo? The Fearsome Nature Of This Mythic BeastInkswell/DeviantArtA fearsome mythological creature of Native American and First Nations legend, the Wendigo is said to have an insatiable appetite for human flesh.For being an insatiable predator, the Wendigo is definitely not the largest or most muscular beast out there. Though he is said to be almost 15 feet tall, his body is often described as emaciated.Perhaps this can be attributed to the notion that he is never satisfied with his cannibalistic urges. Obsessed with hunting for new victims, he is forever hungry until hes eating another person.FlickrAn oil painting of the Wendigo.According to Legends of the Nahanni Valley, a Native author and ethnographer named Basil H. Johnston once described the Wendigo in his masterwork The Manitous as such:The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tightly over its bones. With its bones pushing out over its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into the sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody Unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, the Wendigo gave off a strange and eerie odor of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption.According to ethnohistorian Nathan Carlson, its also been said that the Wendigo has large, sharp claws and massive eyes like an owl. However, some other people simply describe the Wendigo as a skeleton-like figure with ash-toned skin.But no matter which version sounds the most plausible, this is obviously not a cryptid youd want to run into and surely ranks among the most terrifying of all Native American monsters.Scary Stories About The Flesh-Eating Monster Of Algonquian LoreFlickrAn animatronic depiction of a Wendigo in a cage on display in Wendigo Woods in Busch Gardens Williamsburg.Different versions of the Wendigo legend say different things about his speed and agility. Some claim he is unusually fast and can endure walking for long periods of time, even in harsh winter conditions. Others say he walks in a more haggard manner, as if he is falling apart. But speed wouldnt be a necessary skill for a monster of this nature.Unlike other terrifying carnivores, the Wendigo doesnt rely on pursuing his prey in order to capture and eat it. Rather, one of his creepiest traits is his ability to mimic human voices. He uses this skill to lure people in and draw them away from civilization. Once theyre isolated in the desolate depths of the wilderness, he attacks them and then feasts on them.The Algonquian people say that during the turn of the 20th century, a large number of their people went missing. The tribes attributed many of the mysterious disappearances to the Wendigo, thus calling him the spirit of lonely places.Another rough translation of Wendigo is the evil spirit that devours mankind. This translation is related to yet another version of the Wendigo that has the power to curse humans by possessing them.Library of CongressOne of the tribes that originated the Wendigo folklore, the Chippewa lived in whats now the Upper Midwest of the United States as well as southeastern Canada.Once he has infiltrated their minds, he can turn them into Wendigos as well, instilling upon them a similar lust for human flesh.One of the most infamous cases is the story of Swift Runner, a Native American man who murdered and ate his whole family during the winter of 1879. According to Animal Planet, Swift Runner claimed to be possessed by a windigo spirit at the time of the murders. Still, he was hanged for his crime.Frighteningly enough, there were quite a few other stories about these spirits supposedly possessing people in communities stretching from northern Quebec to the Rockies. Many of these reports were shockingly similar to the Swift Runner case.The Deeper Meaning Behind The WendigoWikimedia CommonsA Wendigo Manitou carving on Mount Trudee in Silver Bay, Minnesota. Photo taken circa 2014.Whether you believe the Wendigo lurks in the woods at night or not, this is not just another boogeyman story, a mythological creature meant to scare people for no reason. It also has historical significance for many Indigenous communities.The legend of the Wendigo has long been associated with real-life problems like insatiable greed, selfishness, and violence. Its also linked to the many cultural taboos against these negative actions and behaviors.Basically, the word Wendigo can also function as a symbol for gluttony and the image of excess. As Basil Johnston has written, the idea of turning Wendigo is a very real possibility when the word refers to self-destruction, rather than literally becoming a monster in the forest.Wikimedia CommonsA group of Cree, one of the Indigenous groups that told tales of the Wendigo, in Montana, circa 1893.According to the book Rewriting Apocalypse in Canadian Fiction, Wendigo stories were once viewed as an illustration of the violent and primitive nature of the very people telling those stories.But ironically enough, these stories might actually represent the Indigenous peoples response to the horrific violence unleashed on them by non-Native people. In fact, many anthropologists believe that the concept of a Wendigo only developed after the Native people had contact with the Europeans.Rewriting Apocalypse adds that some modern-day confusion about the Wendigo may have to do with certain terms getting lost in translation: One well-known mistake was traced to the compiler of a dictionary, who entered the information regarding the word Wendigo and substituted the word ghoul for the appropriate word fool because he thought the Native people meant ghoul.'Library of CongressA Cree man performing a moose call. The Cree were one of the tribes that originated the Wendigo mythology and the moose is one of the animal forms sometimes said to be taken by the Wendigo.But what about those scary Wendigo stories that supposedly affected real people? Some anthropologists also argue that Wendigo stories especially those involving Wendigo accusations are linked to stress within the Native American communities. The local tension leading up to such accusations may even be comparable to the fear that preceded the Salem witch trials.However, in the case of the Native American communities, most of the stress was due to a dwindling amount of resources, not to mention the extermination of food in the area. Under those circumstances, who could blame them for having a fear of starvation?Just about the only thing scarier might be what one would do if the starvation became too much to handle.Is There A Real Wendigo Still Out There Today?Wikimedia CommonsLake Windigo, in the Chippewa National Forest in Minnesota.The vast majority of supposed Wendigo sightings happened between the 1800s and 1920s. Few reports of the creature have surfaced since then.But every so often, an alleged sighting emerges. Most recently in 2019, mysterious howls in the Canadian wilderness led some to question whether they were caused by the infamous man-beast.One hiker who was present said, Ive heard many different animals in the wild but nothing like this.Much like other legendary beasts, especially the Skinwalker, the Wendigo remains a fixture in pop culture in modern times. The creature has been referenced and sometimes even depicted in a variety of hit television shows, including Supernatural, Grimm, and Charmed.MrSkull05/DeviantArtThe Native American legend of the Wendigo tells of a man who turned to cannibalism to survive and became a monster in the process.Interestingly enough, there are even a couple of lakes today named after the beast, including a Lake Windigo in Minnesota and a Windigo Lake in Wisconsin.But those who believe in the physical Wendigo think he might still be out there in the woods. And underneath that terrifying, flesh-eating demon, there might still be a human man who was once just a hungry hunter.After learning about the legend of the Wendigo, you can check out these 17 real-life monsters. Then you can read about the scariest Native American ghost stories.The post What Is The Wendigo? Meet The Cannibalistic Cryptid Of Your Nightmares appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Sonys first generation of consoles wasnt known as the PS1 back in the day. It was just simply called the Sony PlayStation, because back then we didnt know that wed have several iterations and upgrades beyond that. While it wasnt the first console to use CDs instead of cartridges, in my mind, its responsible for popularizing them as the new standard.

Seasonal events have since become a fixture in Phasmophobia's annual cycle of updates, and while the team at Kinetic Games continues to work towards a full 1.0 launch of the game, they're helping to keep ghost hunters busy with these limited-time event challenges. These challenges provide unique objectives for you to complete on different existing maps to earn themed customization rewards.

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