By Tim Binnall
The mysteries of the Sphinx, women of the underworld, and Native American accounts of 'Sky People' were among the fascinating topics explored this past week on Coast to Coast AM. And, here at the C2C website, we told you about a jaw-dropping environmental protest at Stonehenge, a mysterious monolith that appeared near Las Vegas, and a strange scandal involving a Vermont politician busted secretly pouring water into her colleague's bag. Check out our round-up of highlights from the past week ... In Coast You Missed It.
Female crime bosses took center stage on Sunday night's program as journalist Lissa Townsend Rodgers talked about the often-overlooked women of the underworld. Rather than being a mere sidekick, she credited Bonnie Parker, of the notorious duo Bonnie and Clyde, with being particularly adept at managing how the pair were portrayed by the media. Townsend Rodgers also shared the story of Stephanie St. Clair, who oversaw a sizeable lottery-based criminal enterprise in Harlem. When mobster Dutch Schultz attempted to take over her terrain, she responded by smashing his storefront windows to tell him that she would not tolerate a turf war.
The mysterious monolith craze of late 2020 saw something of a revival this past week when one of the puzzling pillars was discovered near Las Vegas. Standing nearly six-and-a-half feet tall, the curious object was found by members of the Las Vegas Metro Search and Rescue Team on a hiking trail on the outskirts of the city. Much like many of the mysterious monoliths that popped up around the globe a few years ago, who made the odd pillar and how they placed it in the desert is unknown. After news of the object's discovery sparked headlines, police promptly removed the piece out of concern for public safety.
Could Egypt's iconic Sphinx actually be thousands of years older than the history books claim? On Thursday night's program, Dr. Robert M. Schoch made the case for this tantalizing scenario, noting that the weathering on the monument suggests that it existed before the desert conditions that arose in the region around 5,000 years ago. Positing that the Sphinx could be 12,000 years old, he theorized that the civilization that created it could have been decimated by a solar event and pointed to ancient Egyptian records that recall the monument being blasted by some kind of powerful force. During his appearance, Schoch also talked about mainstream Egyptology's resistance to his research as well as the possibility of a Hall of Records being hidden beneath the monument's paw.
Ahead of its annual Summer Solstice celebration, Stonehenge unwittingly found itself in the spotlight this past week when a pair of environmental activists sprayed the iconic monument with orange powder paint as part of a protest against oil consumption. The unfortunate act of vandalism was thankfully short-lived as tourists watching the wild scene unfold quickly took down the two troublemakers who were subsequently arrested. Widely condemned by both British officials and the public, the incident seemingly left Stonehenge no worse for wear as caretakers were able to quickly remove the cornstarch-based paint ahead of Friday morning's festivities.
Native American accounts of 'Sky People' were explored on Wednesday night's program as pendulum dowser Dan Baldwin and ufologist George Sewell discussed their research into these mysterious otherworldly beings. The pair observed that there appear to be similarities in stories of visitations by these otherworldly entities across various mound-builder cultures throughout the United States. Baldwin and Sewell recounted how, in these ancient accounts, Native American chiefs or shamans would meet with the Star People when they arrived at various villages and that the beings were often described in a manner that resembled the ET race known as Nordics in contemporary UFO culture.
Easily the weirdest story of the week came by way of Vermont, where a hidden camera at the state's House of Representatives captured a lawmaker secretly pouring water into her rival's bag as part of a months-long campaign of harassment. The bizarre scandal came to light after state rep Jim Carroll noticed that his belongings were consistently and inexplicably being soaked. Setting up a spy camera to get to the bottom of the moist mystery, he was stunned to discover that his colleague, Mary Morrissey, was behind the proverbial water torture. Caught wet-handed, she eventually issued a public apology for her actions, though offered no reason for why she had targeted Carroll since the start of the year.
Coast Insiders can check out all this week's shows as well as the last seven years of C2C programs in our enormous archive. Not a Coast Insider yet? Sign up today.