Episode #34: The Boston Area Bicentennial Bombings & the 1976 Zodiac Back

7/17/2024: On today’s episode, we wrap up our Bicentennial year, as Valerie tells the story of the Boston Area Bicentennial Bombings - a tale about a team (or unit if you will) of ex-prisoners with an admirable cause and insanely ambitious, yet not at all well-thought-out plans, who terrorized the Boston area during the nights leading up to the city’s 1976 July 4th celebrations. Their escapades caused some serious damage, but resulted in a Dukes of Hazzard style ending when they ultimately couldn’t save themselves from themselves. Next, Amy Jo treats us to her 1976 Zodiac Back, where she tells the story of the Tehran UFO Incident (Rashomon style!), in which one version of the craft may or may not have been shooting the 1978 electronic game Simon at its targets. Then she shares some “hopeful” advice about UFOs observing humans on earth, she presents information about Mars conjunct Uranus and Algol-the Demon Star of Perseus, aka. the scariest star in the sky, touching on Algol’s place in astrology, and the amazing movie that was “Clash of the Titans”.

Cover Photo: Nashua Telegraph, July 3, 1976

1. Eastern Airlines plane, Logan Airport.

2. Superior Courthouse and Bartlett Mall, Newburyport, Massachusetts.

3. The bombing of the Seabrook Post Office was the lead story in the July 3, 1976, Portsmouth-Herald. Portsmouth Herald

4. Edward Patrick Guillon Jr.

5. Dukes of Hazzard still shot.

6. Map of Iran and surrounding countries, showing Tehran and Hamadan, where two F-4 jet interceptors were launched.

7. Electronic Simon game, circa 1978.

8. The variable "Demon Star" Algol is located in the Perseus constellation. (Image credit: SkySafari/Simulation Curriculum) .

9. Perseus and Medusa from Uranographia by Johannes Hevelius. Image via Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

10. Caravaggio - Medusa - Google Art Project.

Sources/Photo Sources

Intro Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_of_%2776_(sentiment)#:~:text=The%20Spirit%20of%20'76%20is,the%20U.S.%20Declaration%20of%20Independence.

https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/schoolhouse-rock#:~:text=As%20the%20Reagan%20administration%20deregulated,the%20series%20off%20the%20air.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5WWtT1nVc_fo4I-woxc4CvCEDvD4LItJ

The Boston Area Bicentennial Bombings Sources:

https://www.wickedlocal.com/picture-gallery/regional/massachusetts/2022/09/08/queen-elizabeth-boston-ma-1976-u-s-bicentennial-royal-tour/8021788001/

https://medium.com/binj-reports/bicentennialbombings-811afefaf70e

https://www.boston.com/news/history/2017/07/02/41-years-ago-4-bombings-swept-up-the-seacoast-from-boston-to-new-hampshire/

https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/03/archives/bombs-exploded-at-3-boston-sites-airliner-and-national-guard-trucks.html

https://www.newspapers.com/image/45856251/?match=1&terms=bomb

https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/hampton-union/2013/07/02/seabrook-resident-recalls-bicentennial-bombing/45093456007/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bulfinch

https://medium.com/@chebacco.parish/newburyport-independence-day-mainiacs-1ed18b4081e2

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fred-Hampton

https://www.nytimes.com/1977/02/04/archives/man-found-guilty-of-one-count-in-bicentennial-bombing-case.html

The Boston Area Bicentennial Bombings Photo Sources:

https://medium.com/binj-reports/bicentennialbombings-811afefaf70e

https://www.ebay.com/itm/115799787664

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superior_Courthouse_and_Bartlett_Mall#/media/File:Superior_Courthouse_and_Bartlett_Mall.JPG

https://www.facebook.com/DirtyOldBoston/photos/a.508917785802354/4513030352057724/?type=3&locale=sv_SE&paipv=0&eav=Afb9l_KJYw-SjcKrs1Z3lUHi3rfqzpKHRpJ3YMM8_mbJuxRnoqioRiGXhU4H609ZcXg&_rdr

https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/hampton-union/2013/07/02/seabrook-resident-recalls-bicentennial-bombing/45093456007/

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/entertainment/g6809/ten-things-you-did-not-know-about-the-dukes-of-hazzards-general-lee/

1976 Zodiac Back Sources:

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/algol

https://forum.cosmoquest.org/forum/the-proving-grounds/conspiracy-theories/102623-

https://www.ufosightingstoday.org/1976-tehran-ufo-incident-what-happened/

https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4315

1976 Zodiac Back Photo Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Tehran_UFO_incident#/media/File:Iran_CIA_map_1982.jpg

https://www.jason47.com/days/1998episodes.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_%28game%29#/media/File:Simon_Electronic_Game.jpg

https://www.space.com/demon-star-algol-winking-this-week

https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/algol-the-demon-star/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medusa_%28Caravaggio%29#/media/File:Caravaggio_-_Medusa_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg