Hy-Brasil, Binary, and a lot of rabid speculation on a 'snow day'

TOTALLY off the Wanderlust topic, but......

So I’m sitting here on a ‘snow day’ (took the day off work due to weather) and was watching History Channel.  After something interesting went off, a show came on that I was only half paying attention to as I was falling in and out of a nap.  But I was awake enough for one part to get the story of an American Sgt. Jim Penniston in 1980 stationed in England who was sent to ‘investigate’ some strange UFO that popped on radar.  He and 2 others went.  He touched said object (which was in fact unidentifiable and could fly… so I guess a ‘real’ UFO) and a series of binary numbers came to him.  Later, he states he wrote them down and has retained the six pages of binary for decades without having them analyzed.  Of course, leave it to H2’s Ancient Alien people to do that for him. So in 2010, Ancient Aliens had programmer Nick Ciske transcribe and decipher the binary which supposedly read: 

• “Exploration of Humanity [the coordinates] Continuous for planetary advance”.
• +52° 09’ 42.532” (N)
• -13° 13’ 12.69” (W)

Well.  I paused the television.  I nabbed a pen and paper and jotted down the coordinates.  I popped them in the computer and wah-lah: Coastal Ireland.  Granted, they did as well, but where’s the fun in just watching someone else put in the coordinates? 

So here is where the fun and rampantly vivid speculation come in.  The coordinates from the supposed message from the supposed binary recitation from the even more supposed UFO knowledge transfer is, as the show was kind enough to point out, near a mythical island off the coast of Ireland.  They don’t go into too much after this.  I mean, Hi-Brasil (that’s the mythical island) doesn’t really have the ‘almost supernatural humans’ appeal of Atlantis.  Oh, not to mention Hi-Brasil didn’t have some dramatic and apocalyptic end, just simply vanished.  More like Bermuda Triangle stuff, really.  Or maybe  global warming just raised sea level enough to cover it up?  (For the record, I don’t think global warming is a mythical tale, I’m just having fun with this.)

1632 Mercator map

Ok.  So here’s a map which is, granted, showing Hi-Brasil a little farther north than the supposed extra-terrestrial knowledge transfer location.   Well, the map is from 1632.  Earlier maps aren’t much better but they didn’t exactly have satellite mapping capability.  If aliens want to be helpful, the sure could have provided better maps for us to look back upon.  Anyhow, there is some credence to the location. 

But what’s with Hi-Brasil?  What’s with the people who supposedly lived there?  I mean, the message said something about exploration of humanity and planetary advance right?  Well, Hi-Brasil doesn’t have Atlantean intellect and technology stories pervading legend, now does it?  I mean, the best pop culture reference we have is from Tim Robbin’s Erik the Viking.  Well, some websites (I’ve skimmed many) say it was a home for Celtic gods.  Now, Ufologers (is that a REAL word?) think it was an outpost of sorts.

In reality, what do we have?  Well, more validity than Atlantis but completely lacking the luster. 

Hi-Brasil comes from Ui Breasail which translates to “descendants (clan) of Breasal”.  Which begs the question: what/where is Breasal?  Well, popular theory seems to suggest it refers to the landing party that discovered Brasil.  Others venture a guess that monks settled the island.  I did even see a reference that Brasil is also the Irish island of legend: St. Brendan’s Island. 

The last reported sighting of Hi-Brasil was by Arthur T.J. Westropp and companions in 1872.  Westropp had seen the island before but wanted to bring others to bear witness as well.  They saw the island… and then supposedly saw it disappear. 

Regardless, one almost finds Hi-Brasil more fun than Atlantis.  I mean, it’s on maps all the time and was seen as recently, in theory, as the late 1800’s. Atlantis?  I mean, wasn’t it Plato’s grandpa that passed the legend of Atlantis to him?  I can’t even remember (yes, I’ll look it up later). 

Maybe they are wrong… maybe it was actually an island full of druids with amazing powers who actually formed Stonehenge?!  Regardless, some say that Hi-Brasil and Atlantis are one in the same.  To these I say BAH!  Who wants ONE mysterious disappearing island of seeming superhumans when we can have two?! 

Regardless... me researching random craziness I see on TV is a sure sign that I need to get back into school pretty soon, eh?!