Rockape Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Burglar, lookout, all the same. Still far fetched. Ok, I have another theory. It was a giant ape who runs around suburban USA, twisting branches. Better? I don't believe that either but still find it more plausible than someone on lookout for a fellow burglar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmaker Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I'm not on board with the tree limb twisting burglar either, but if I had to place it somewhere on the plausibility scale, it would rank well above bigfoot. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I was using the the term criminal masterminds sarcastically. Criminals aren't the brightest bunch, they think they are but, no. I totally think it was a few meth head wannabe cat burglars who over planned their "heist". But I guess that's just me. Bring on the serious suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ChasingRabbits Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 (edited) Pistola, when you saw the break, did it look fresh or was the wood somewhat dry? Also, how close was it to the trunk? (sorry if this has been asked) And the diameter of the branch is 1-1/2 to 2 inches, right? Anyhow, here's a link about the strength and mechanical properties of sassafras wood. http://tinytimbers.com/specie_sassafras.htm Edited November 9, 2015 by ChasingRabbits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 Probably not a whole lot more you can say about this event, just in my opinion. It seems like a non-event on one level, but not so much when compared with the multitude of similar documented occurrences and lots of other observations over time and geography. For Pistola, it certainly was an extraordinary event in the context of his life. Any event can have a plausible explanation in a vacuum. We are all very skilled at dreaming up events that help us fit a particular unknown circumstance into a known one. The acknowledgment that we might need to step back and examine the larger context is my only point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockape Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Agreed WSA. I don't find tree structures and things such as this compelling because most can easily be explained by natural causes. Interesting to see but of not much value, in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 Agreed WSA. I don't find tree structures and things such as this compelling because most can easily be explained by natural causes. Interesting to see but of not much value, in my opinion. You may have missed my point...not too compelling in an "only an isolated incident" sense of looking at it only. From the perspective of a collective body of evidence? Oh yeah, at least to me. And the recognition of the significance to Pistola needs to be acknowledged too. This man kept this piece of wood for years, and went out of his way to complicate his life by telling the story to us and others. It pays to wonder why he would do that. Lasting knowledge and insight only comes from connecting lots of dots. One dot can't be connected. I'm looking for other dots here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockape Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 <You may have missed my point> Not really, I just agreed with your opinion on this one then added my opinion on the overall subject. Didn't mean to imply you thought the same. Sorry I didn't make that clearer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 Roger that Rockape. Of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DWA Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Agreed WSA. I don't find tree structures and things such as this compelling because most can easily be explained by natural causes. Interesting to see but of not much value, in my opinion. You may have missed my point...not too compelling in an "only an isolated incident" sense of looking at it only. From the perspective of a collective body of evidence? Oh yeah, at least to me. And the recognition of the significance to Pistola needs to be acknowledged too. This man kept this piece of wood for years, and went out of his way to complicate his life by telling the story to us and others. It pays to wonder why he would do that. I'm still not getting the approach that doesn't integrate this with a *truly large* body of related evidence. This *cannot* be "easily explained - as the others cannot - by any other "natural cause" than the one postulated here, obvious reason being: none of them have been. Lasting knowledge and insight only comes from connecting lots of dots. One dot can't be connected. I'm looking for other dots here. Which is what scientists do. And are very badly *not* doing here, with a very few exceptions, about which one would think a truly curious and thoughtful mind would be thinking: I wonder why they think that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Thank y'all for taking the time and asking questions and I know that there is no clear answer, and really would not be without seeing it happen. Unfortunately, that is how it goes with anything strange that happens. But just to answer ChasingRabbits' question, when I first found that it happened, it was fresh, not dry. and the photo below shows how close to the trunk the limb was. Pistola, when you saw the break, did it look fresh or was the wood somewhat dry? Also, how close was it to the trunk? (sorry if this has been asked) And the diameter of the branch is 1-1/2 to 2 inches, right? Anyhow, here's a link about the strength and mechanical properties of sassafras wood. http://tinytimbers.com/specie_sassafras.htm And that is about all I have on this for now. I sure wish weird things that happen were not camera shy Ha Ha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockape Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 <Unfortunately, that is how it goes with anything strange that happens> Agreed Pistola. I was hunting once and thought something was throwing rocks at me, small pebbles actually. That was close to 40 years ago but I still remember it because it was so odd. I chalked it up to birds dropping them from the trees above me. So while I'm a skeptic on BF that's probably why I don't write it off as "can't possibly exist". Like a lot of others here, we're just looking for explanations to strange things we've witnessed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowBorn Posted November 10, 2015 Moderator Share Posted November 10, 2015 Thank y'all for taking the time and asking questions and I know that there is no clear answer, and really would not be without seeing it happen. Unfortunately, that is how it goes with anything strange that happens. But just to answer ChasingRabbits' question, when I first found that it happened, it was fresh, not dry. and the photo below shows how close to the trunk the limb was. Pistola, when you saw the break, did it look fresh or was the wood somewhat dry? Also, how close was it to the trunk? (sorry if this has been asked) And the diameter of the branch is 1-1/2 to 2 inches, right? Anyhow, here's a link about the strength and mechanical properties of sassafras wood. http://tinytimbers.com/specie_sassafras.htm And that is about all I have on this for now. I sure wish weird things that happen were not camera shy Ha Ha. Pistola82 I am sorry but I am going to have to go with my instinct on this and that is ? I have seen this type of cut before as well as the twist in the limb. I can see a cut line right in the middle of that limb and it stops right before the twist. I have done a few of them my self when placing tree stands. If I get out this weekend I will create one and photo it to show how it was done. Now I am not saying that you did this but maybe it was done while it being pruned. This just occurred and like I have said I have seen this type of fracture while hanging tree stands. That is a 2" diameter limb that it was done on ? In my opinion there is just to much open field for there to be a creature there. They are not going to chance some thing like this with out there being some heavy woods near by, like right next to them. Why would they show their force before you even know it may be them. You would have to have seen them before they would do some thing like this, since this is more of sign of force. Usually a warning to leave them alone and not bother them. This is after you have had some contact with them when you find sign like this. You have either done them wrong in some way and need to correct what you did wrong. It is about respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Thank y'all for taking the time and asking questions and I know that there is no clear answer, and really would not be without seeing it happen. Unfortunately, that is how it goes with anything strange that happens. But just to answer ChasingRabbits' question, when I first found that it happened, it was fresh, not dry. and the photo below shows how close to the trunk the limb was. Pistola, when you saw the break, did it look fresh or was the wood somewhat dry? Also, how close was it to the trunk? (sorry if this has been asked) And the diameter of the branch is 1-1/2 to 2 inches, right? Anyhow, here's a link about the strength and mechanical properties of sassafras wood. http://tinytimbers.com/specie_sassafras.htm And that is about all I have on this for now. I sure wish weird things that happen were not camera shy Ha Ha. Pistola82 I am sorry but I am going to have to go with my instinct on this and that is ? I have seen this type of cut before as well as the twist in the limb. I can see a cut line right in the middle of that limb and it stops right before the twist. I have done a few of them my self when placing tree stands. If I get out this weekend I will create one and photo it to show how it was done. Now I am not saying that you did this but maybe it was done while it being pruned. This just occurred and like I have said I have seen this type of fracture while hanging tree stands. That is a 2" diameter limb that it was done on ? In my opinion there is just to much open field for there to be a creature there. They are not going to chance some thing like this with out there being some heavy woods near by, like right next to them. Why would they show their force before you even know it may be them. You would have to have seen them before they would do some thing like this, since this is more of sign of force. Usually a warning to leave them alone and not bother them. This is after you have had some contact with them when you find sign like this. You have either done them wrong in some way and need to correct what you did wrong. It is about respect. The cut in the middle was done by me, without realizing what I was doing. If you read my very first post, it explains what I did and wished I hadn't. So, that is all on me and yes, I did it with a big set of pruning shears, right in the middle of the twist. Just a little back story on that, when I first saw the limb, I thought it was strange, but I went out and cut it, not thinking much about it, but a couple days later I went out to the brush pile and pulled it back out and cut the two pieces out. This was my biggest mistake and I kick myself in the butt for doing it. With that said, the only cuts that were made, were made by me. And I don't know what did it, I was just showing folks, because I thought it was strange, if I had seen what did it, now that would have been a different story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted November 10, 2015 Author Share Posted November 10, 2015 (edited) [Deleted] Edited November 10, 2015 by WSA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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