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The Real X-Men
Posted on Monday, June 05, 2006 (CDT) by Thoth
 The movie version of X-Men was the hottest film in the theaters when it was released. Based on the enormously popular comic book, X-Men features a collection of human mutants - both good and evil - who were born with extraordinary and sometimes bizarre powers.
With such names as Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Magneto and Mystique, they bound around making blades spring from their knuckles, conjuring hurricanes from the sky or manipulating their environment through telekinesis. These characters, creations of legendary comic book author and illustrator Stan Lee, live only in the imagination, on paper and now on film.
Would you believe there are real X-Men? They may not be genetic mutants, in the strictest sense, and they may not be able to threaten or save the world with their strange and fantastic powers of the body and mind, but they are extraordinary... not at all like you and me. Here's our own gallery of real-life super-powered characters.
Lightning Man
When storm clouds gather,
courageous Lightning Man stands in defiance of nature to draw deadly
bolts of electricity from the heavens.
Roy Cleveland Sullivan was
a Forest Ranger in Virginia who had an incredible attraction to
lightning... or rather it had an attraction to him. Over his 36-year
career as a ranger, Sullivan was struck by lightning seven times - and
survived each jolt, but not unscathed. When struck for the first time
in 1942, he suffered the loss of a nail on his big toe. Twenty-seven
years passed before he was struck again, this time by a bolt that
singed his eyebrows off. The next year, in 1970, another strike burned
Sullivan's left shoulder. Now it looked as though lightning had it out
for poor Roy, and people were starting to call him The Human Lightning
Rod. He didn't disappoint them. Lightning zapped him again in 1972,
setting his hair on fire and convincing him to keep a container of
water in his car, just in case. The water came in handy in 1973 when,
seemly just to taunt Sullivan, a low-hanging cloud shot a bolt of
lightning at his head, blasting him out of his car, setting his hair on
fire and knocking off a shoe. The sixth strike in 1976 injured his
ankle, and the seventh strike in 1977, got him when he was fishing, and
put him in the hospital for treatment of chest and stomach burns.
Lightning may not have been able to kill Roy Sullivan, but perhaps the
threat of it did. He took his own life in 1983. Two of his
lightning-singed ranger hats are on display at Guinness World Exhibit
Halls.
BeastMaster
With just the power of his mind, he can command animals to do his bidding.
Vladimir Durov was no
ordinary animal trainer. As a veteran performer in a Russian circus, he
claimed to use a remarkable method for communicating with his canine
coworkers - through telepathy. Professor W. Bechterev, head of the
institute for the Investigation of the Brain in St. Petersburg, decided
to test Durov's claim. Bechterev created a list of tasks that he wanted
one of Durov's dogs to perform in a specific order, without any time
for training. After hearing or reading the list of tasks, Durov went to
his fox terrier, Pikki, took his head in his hands and stared straight
into the little dog's eyes - psychicly transferring his thoughts
directly into Pikki's brain. Durov released the dog and it immediately
went about performing the assigned tasks. Thinking that perhaps Durov
was giving the dog subtle clues with his eyes, the test was repeated
with a new set of tasks, but this time with Durov blindfolded. Pikki
still responded to his psychic commands.
The Electromagneto Team
Charged like
superconducting human batteries, they roam the countryside thrilling
all they meet with the electrifying power at their fingertips.
There have been several documented cases of people who apparently possess inexplicable electromagnetic properties:
- For just a 10-week period
in 1846, 14-year-old French girl Angelique Cottin's mere presence made
the needles of compasses spin wildly; objects as heavy as furniture
would slide away from her if she tried to touch them; objects near her
would vibrate unnaturally.
-
Jennie Morgan of Sedalia,
Missouri could emit highly-charged sparks from her fingertips that were
strong enough to knock people unconscious. Animals would shun her.
-
After an 18-month
undiagnosed illness, Canadian teenager Caroline Clare became so
magnetized that metal objects, like forks and knives, stuck to her
skin. The force was so powerful that another person was required to
pull them off.
-
Inga Gaiduchenko, a
14-year-old Soviet student was also highly magnetic. Before members of
the Moscow Technological Institute, she showed how spoons and pens
stuck to her hands. Even non-metallic objects such as china plates and
books were affected.
The Amazing Kinetitron
With her thoughts alone, a steely glance or a subtle gesture, she can move inanimate objects at will.
Nina Kulagina became one of
the most famous psychics in the Soviet Union in the 1960s because of
her amazing feats of telekinesis or psychokinesis. In films smuggled
out of the country, Kulagina was shown to be able to move small objects
placed before her on a table. Under close scientific observation,
Kulagina would hold her hands a few inches above the objects, and in a
few moments they would being to slide across the table top. Wooden
matches, small boxes, cigarettes and Plexiglas would all react to her
intense concentration. At times, objects would continue to move even
when she took her hands away. In the early 1970s, Kulagina was even
recruited by the Soviet government to see if she could somehow help a
sick Nikita Khrushchev.
Pyro-Elasto Man
Watch him stretch his body to incredible lengths and handle red-hot flaming embers in his bare hands.
Daniel Douglas Home was
either one of the most incredible psychic mediums of the mid-1800s or
one of the era's cleverest magicians. The feats this Scotsman performed
at close range astounded the elite and royalty of his day. In one
demonstration, he entered his usual trance state and announced he was
in touch with a guardian spirit that was "very tall and strong." While
being watched by two witnesses who flanked him, Home shot up an
additional six inches in height, and it could be clearly seen that his
slippered feet were planted flatly on the floor. Home could also hold
burning embers in his bare hands completely without harm, a feat he
performed on a number of occasions. Sir William Crookes of the British
Society for Psychical Research, once saw Home pick up a hot coal as big
as an orange and hold it nonchalantly in both hands. Home even blew on
the coal until it became white hot and flames flickered around his bare
fingers. Crookes then inspected Home's hands and affirmed that they did
not appear to be specially treated in any way - and showed absolutely
no sign of blistering, scarring or burning. Crookes remarked, in fact,
that Home's hands were as soft and delicate as "a woman's." In yet
another performance, Homes floated out of a second-story window,
paused, then floated back inside to the utter astonishment of three
witnesses on the ground.
The Incredible X-Ray
There's no hiding evil deeds from the Incredible X-Ray whose penetrating X-ray vision sees all.
Koda Box, a stage performer
who billed himself as "The Man with the X-Ray Eyes," astonished
audiences in the early 1900s. Box first allowed audience members to
completely blind him by putting coins over his eyes and fastening them
in place with adhesive tape. His entire head was then bandaged in
cloth, assuring everyone that he could see nothing. He then proceeded
to read messages that audience participants had written on paper. He
could also read books and accurately describe objects held up by
members of the audience. With is elaborate blindfold in place, Box once
even safely rode a bicycle through the busy traffic of New York's Times
Square.
Microscopo and Telescopique
Like super-powerd human
scientific instruments, these heroes use their fantastic vision to see
microscopic details or great distances.
Two gentlemen might share
the title of Microsopo, both having the ability to distinguish vinyl
phonograph records merely by looking at the grooves with their unaided
eyes! Alvah Mason first demonstrated this talent in the 1930s, and more
recently, Arthur Lintgen, a resident of Philadelphia proved to none
other than The Amazing Randi that he could do the same thing. Veronica
Seider, a German dentist, apparently had telescopic vision. In several
demonstrations she showed that she could identify people from more than
a mile distance. Seider also claimed that she could see the individual
red, green and blue dots that make up the picture on a color television
set.
Medictron, the Healer
With the unknown force emanating from his miraculous hands, Medictron has the power to heal all forms of injuries and maladies.
John D. Reese of
Youngstown, Ohio never studied medicine. In fact, it wasn't until he
was about 30 years old that Reese discovered his remarkable if latent
power to heal. One day in 1887, an acquaintance of Mr. Reese had fallen
from a ladder and seriously injured his spine - a "severe spinal
strain" his physician called it. Reese, for some reason, ran his
fingers up and down the man's back, immediately after which the man
announced that his pain had ceased entirely. He got up and went back to
work. Reese likewise healed Hans Wagner, a shortstop for the Pittsburgh
Pirates, who had been carried from the field with a back injury; he
also instantly cured a politician whose hand and wrist became useless
to him from so much handshaking. Doctors had told him he needed weeks
and weeks of rest. After his encounter with Reese, he has perfectly
fine.
How do we explain the
abilities of these astounding individuals? Are they conduits for some
unimaginable interdimensional power? Are they mere tricksters and
hoaxers? Or are they genetic mutants who, like the X-Men, might be
forerunners of the future of the human race?
Copyright: About.com
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