Friday, August 31, 2007

Large 'Serpent' Filmed in Turkish Waters


This video was released within the last 12 hours. Supposed to be a large serpent in Turkish (location given was Van, Turkey) waters though no word if this is the coastline or a lake. Doubtful this was on any news report regardless of the logo posted with the video. If any information is gathered about this video, we will post here.


Disclosure: Astronaut's Alien Encounter

by Clark C. McClelland, former ScO, Space Shuttle Fleet, Kennedy Space Center, Florida (1958-1992)
Artist credit of eyewitness account: R. Schmidt

Prior to the fateful launch of the space shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986, I had the honour and pleasure of sharing conversations with several members of that crew.

During one of many pre-mission preps for the Challenger mission, I came upon Lt. Col. Ellison Onizuka in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at launch complex 39. I had an assignment to assess some problems at the Launch Control Center (LCC) and needed to access the main drawing files. A file operator was there and I went to her for assistance. Ellison walked in on our conversation and we exchanged greetings. Jokingly, I asked him if he had important business with her, and he said "yes, Clark" with a big smile. I told her to help Lt. Colonel Ellison first, and I would wait. She opened a plastic bag that had a packet of goodies for this very important customer. Ellison "loved" those chocolate-peanut butter brownies that she baked for him when he was at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on training assignments.

Many astronauts at the KSC knew of my interest in the study of possible Extraterrestrial (ET) intelligence, and my association with Major Donald Keyhoe, Dick Hall and the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP since 1958), and the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), at Cape Canaveral and KSC.

Another evening while off-site, I once again accidentally came upon Ellison. He asked if I could give him an opinion regarding a topic that was sparking his curiosity. Ellison had a great interest in ET life and asked me my belief concerning aliens, and if I believed they have been here on earth? His question caught me by surprise.

As we walked slowly towards our destinations, I briefly explained what I had learned since 1947, the initial year I entered my UFO research. I briefly related what I knew regarding the Roswell case and that I had become more aware of it many years later at the Cape through several discussions with ABMA (Army Ballistic Missile Agency) personnel who were at White Sands Proving Grounds near Roswell, New Mexico in July, 1947. These men had worked directly with Dr. Wernher von Braun and his team of German Scientists who were at that base at that time. Onizuka said he was aware of that case.

I then told him my belief that life does exist among the stars and that it has visited earth throughout human history. He smiled in agreement. I thought to myself, what else does he know? Soon it became very clear.

Onizuka asked me if my surname had any connection with McClellan Air Force Base in California? I said not as far as I was aware. I asked him why? Ellison said he had a surprising experience along with other USAF aerospace flight engineers and pilots while on military training duty at McClellan AFB, about eight or nine years prior to his astronaut training.

He and this group were at this base for specialized training when they were directed to report to a viewing room. As they were seated, the room darkened and a movie began without the usual official introduction by a USAF officer.

They were all startled when a view of a facility similar to a medical examination room appeared on the screen and small bodies were observed lying on slabs. He heard several excited comments by the other officers seated near him. The small, strange looking creatures were humanoid in shape, and appeared similar to those described by alleged witnesses at the well-known Roswell site in the Southwest USA in 1947. They all had large heads, large eyes, slight torsos, arms, and legs. They did not appear to be of earthly origin.

Ellison then said, " Clark, my God, these highly trained officers and I were shocked by what we saw. We were not made privy to what we would see until it happened. We were all caught off guard. Perhaps it was a test of our psyche to determine our overall reaction. Well, we were all caught by surprise ".

Needless to say, I was also caught off guard hearing this revelation from a highly intelligent USAF officer and NASA astronaut. One who flew his initial space mission 51-C in the space shuttle Discovery a highly classified U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) mission under top secret conditions. It made me wonder what else Ellison knew, or perhaps had seen, during his first shuttle mission and USAF career?

I said "that’s amazing, Ellison! Were all of you given any opportunity to question what you saw?" He said, "No! We were then asked to exit the room and continued our scheduled technical activities as if nothing special had occurred. In my opinion, I have considered the possibility that the group was evaluated for individual reactions to what they saw. Perhaps it was a planned USAF psychological test for military reasons. Who knows, NASA may have evaluated it in my selection as an astronaut in 1978. You know, what would my reaction be if I actually saw an alien being"?

We arrived at our separate building destinations and briefly discussed his approaching second space mission in Challenger 51-L. He said he was anticipating a successful flight with Judy Resnik, Christa McAuliffe, and crew. I asked if we could discuss this topic again; and he agreed.

Unknown to us both, this would be the last time we would speak. He, Judy, Christa and the other crew members would be making their final mission on January 28, 1986. I was at the Kennedy Space Center and watched in disbelief as they and space shuttle Challenger fell into the Atlantic Ocean.

Upon leaving KSC for the night after being on duty for about 15 hours, I was driving home to my Port St. John Apartment when the disaster finally caught up with my emotions. I pulled to the side of the main NASA causeway crossing the Indian River and sobbed my eyes out for about ten minutes. God, how horrible it was, and still is to this day, in my memory.

God bless you Judy Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Gregory Jarvis and Ronald McNair. Thank you God for the honour of knowing all of them. And, please, if you would - - - make sure Ellison gets those chocolate-peanut butter brownies up there in heaven.


UFO Mystery Over Gorleston

It's the sort of sight you would expect to see in an episode of Doctor Who - a strange black object with a light coming from it floating silently in the twilight sky.

But this is exactly what council worker Stewart Davis witnessed while on his rounds closing parks and cemeteries on Friday night.

The father-of-two was driving along Brasenose Avenue in Gorleston at about 8.15pm after locking the Magdalen Way car park when he glanced skywards and noticed something unusual.

Stopping his car at the roadside, the GYB Services worker stood on the pavement and couldn't believe his eyes.

“I thought it was a helicopter at first,” said Mr Davies, “but it was quite low and it didn't make any noise, so it couldn't have been.”

The strange black object shaped like a telephone box caught the attention of another driver who stopped and watched it drifting slowly in the air.

Mr Davies said: “The man asked me 'What the hell is that?' but neither of us could work out what it was.

“It looked like a wheelie bin or telephone box with fire coming out of the bottom. It was just floating sideways and didn't make any noise. It was the strangest thing.”

Mr Davis, of Robin Avenue, Bradwell, took pictures of the object on his mobile phone.

“The other chap who was standing with me had a camera and got some pictures.

“It was slowly moving over the rooftops of houses and we thought it was going to crash into a house. By this time several other people walking by had stopped to take a look, but no one could work out what it was.”

The object disappeared out of view behind the James Paget University Hospital.

“I drove about for a little while but I could see anything,” said Mr Davis.

Becoming something of an X-Files' Mulder, Mr Davis has been showing the pictures to his work colleagues.

“I wanted to see if anyone could tell me what it was, but no one has any reasonable explanation for it.”

Mr Davis admitted that while most of his colleagues were interested in the picture, some had found the lighter side of the story.

“Some people have said it must have been a rocket in a wheelie bin, but I definitely saw fire coming from the bottom.

“I'm curious to find out what it was and whether anyone else saw it,” added Mr Davis.

The Mercury contacted police this week who confirmed they'd received no reports of UFOs in the Gorleston area on Friday night.


Thursday, August 30, 2007

Be Warned! The Lofts Hotel is Haunted


COLUMBUS, OH - Kathryn Burton does not want to believe in ghosts. But in the four years Burton has been the general manager of The Lofts in Columbus, six times she's glimpsed a ghostly white lady in Victorian dress on the first and second floors of the hotel.

A group of corporate lawyers have had their annual meeting at another hotel ever since the time two members lay awake one night at The Lofts listening to the sounds of wallpaper being scraped off a wall, accompanied by screams.

There hasn't been a scrap of wallpaper in the Lofts - once a wallpaper supply house - for decades, Burton said.

Watch the video and tell us what you think.


Paranormal Investigators Convene at Haunted Inn

VENTURA, Calif. — Paranormal investigator Heather Woodward sat in one of the rooms at Santa Paula’s Glen Tavern Inn, her eyes closed, her pen moving across a sheet of paper.

Her sister Sarah Woodward sat next to her asking questions as Heather’s pen looped and scratched.

“Who is this? Can you give me your name?” Sarah asked.

The pen in Heather’s hand moved, but there were no legible words.

“Are you the lady in white?” Sarah tried again.

“Yes,” Heather’s pen wrote.

“Are you French?” Sarah continued.

“Yes.”

“Pretty?”

“Yes.”

The pen kept moving.

“Sex,” it wrote. “Mistress. Lover. Tall, dark, handsome. Mustache.”

There was more.

“Killed. Miscarriage. Bled to death.”

The session was an example of automatic writing, in which the spirit of a dead person allegedly communicates through a living person, or medium. In this case, Heather believed she was channeling a French perfume saleswoman who supposedly died during the 1930s in the Glen Tavern Inn. Before the session, Heather had explained that she goes into a trance while the spirit uses her hand to write.

Automatic writing is just one of dozens of paranormal practices that were discussed and explored during the 2007 South Coast Paranormal Convention in July at the historic inn.

Other workshops included discussions on paranormal sound phenomena, enhancing psychic abilities, the use of technology to document the paranormal, two seances and an all-night investigation into the spirits who may have never checked out of the Arts and Crafts-style inn.

The convention was sponsored by a Southern California group of paranormal investigators who call themselves The Real Deal. Heather, the founder and lead organizer of the event, said the location choice is no accident. Those who believe in all things otherworldly say the inn is exceptionally haunted.

“It’s like spook central,” said Ventura County historian and ghost hunter Richard Senate, who spoke at the convention.

Senate said that “any older hotel worth its salt is haunted” because of the number of human beings who pass through, but, according to believers, the Glen Tavern has some supernatural geography that makes it the perfect storm of opportunity for paranormal activity.

Glen Tavern night innkeeper Susan Gallagher is among those who say the ghostly happenings are all too real, although she stressed that the occurrences are not frightening — just intriguing.

“It’s not a scary place,” Gallagher said, leaning against one of the overstuffed couches in the tavern’s carpeted lobby. “It’s very warm and inviting.”

According to Heather, who led a recent visitor through the inn, the third floor was a hotbed of gambling, prostitution and bootleg liquor.

“Here’s the mother lode of all rooms: 307,” said Heather, pausing outside a room at the end of the third-floor hallway.

Heather, who has written a book called “The Ghosts of Glen Tavern Inn,” said she believes much of the gambling took place in the notorious Room 307, along with a lot of other human drama.

The paranormal convention included two seances in different rooms at the inn, said Heather, who added that she and the eight-member Real Deal team have been researching the inn by going through and picking up impressions, testing those impressions with electromagnetic-field detectors and other devices, and looking up history.

One of the seance rooms, on the first floor, was supposedly occupied by a madam Heather calls “Pearl.”

“We don’t know her real name,” Heather said. “She was of French descent. She wanted to be a star. She really liked her money and liked to count her money. She has a very hearty laugh.”

The perfume saleswoman that Heather believes she channeled through her automatic-writing session has been detected through smell, according to another member of The Real Deal, Chad Saunders. Saunders said the overwhelming smell of perfume will sometimes permeate a hallway in the hotel.

“I want to say violets. It’s very floral,” Saunders said.

Convention guests, who numbered about 100, toured the rooms thought to be the most haunted during an all-night paranormal investigation.

“We’re going to do a full-on investigation,” Heather said. “We’ve rented out all the haunted rooms.”

Although a 2005 Gallup poll found three out of four Americans believe in some type of paranormal phenomenon, skeptics like Robert Carroll scoff at all of it.

Carroll, who holds a doctorate in philosophy and taught critical thinking at Sacramento City College from 1977 to 2007, runs a Web site called skepdic.com, which categorically addresses every paranormal phenomenon from A to Z.

A selection on ghosts, for example, suggests there is a naturalistic explanation for all ghostly activity, but often the details needed to explain it are not available.

“We must rely on anecdotal evidence, which is always incomplete and selective,” Carroll wrote, “and which is often passed on by interested, inexperienced, superstitious parties who are ignorant of basic physical laws.”


The Olde Knox Mansion - Paranormal Investigation May 27, 2007 - Johnstown, New York


May 27, 2007, Johnstown, New York ~ The ISIS team investigated The Olde Knox Mansion in Johnstown, a bed and breakfast, after receiving permission from the mansion’s current owner, Marty Quinn. Our team was interested in looking into the reports that the mansion was haunted and Mr. Quinn was gracious enough to allow our team to investigate. A team of seven investigators attended the investigation and was joined by the New Gravity Media film crew, filming for 14 Degrees: A Paranormal Documentary. The documentary is scheduled for release on October 17, 2007 and the ISIS team’s investigation will be presented, along with investigations and interviews conducted with the Long Island Society for Paranormal Research, The Spirit Encounter Research Team, New England Anomalies Research, Berkshire Paranormal, Boston Paranormal Investigators, South Jersey Ghost Research, John Zaffis, Steve Gonslaves, Keith Johnson, and Para Science.

Marty Quinn has lived at the Knox Mansion for 14 years and both Mr. Quinn, some of his family members, and guests that have stayed at the Mansion have reported strange activity. The mansion was built by the Knox family, later sold to the Larrabee Family in the 1950s, and, after the death of John Larrabee in 1981; the home was later sold to Mr. Quinn who converted the historic site into a bed and breakfast/museum. Reports of activity include lights going on and off without explanation, fragile items being inexplicably broken, hearing unexplained footsteps, and one guest reported being upstairs and seeing a gentleman with a doctor’s bag when no one was present. Mr. Quinn’s daughter Sara has reported having experiences in the house; as well as her then boyfriend, nicknamed Booner. While upstairs at the location during one instance, both Booner and Mr. Quinn felt as if a presence “walked right through them.” Further, Mr. Quinn’s second daughter Amy has heard voices, and has had the feeling of being watched.

Mr. Quinn reports having blankets pulled off of the bed, and he has heard the back door of the home open and close without explanation. Guests at the mansion have reported seeing a man nearby the stairs in the cellar of the home that is believed to be the former gardener for the Knox’s. Mr. Quinn has also made other reports regarding the unexplained activity in the mansion. On one occasion, while in the Master Suite with his girlfriend, the lights came on without explanation. On several occasions, Mr. Quinn has seen the television turn on and off by itself. Overnight guests at the mansion have felt as if they were touched by an unseen presence and Mr. Quinn asserts “non-believers in the supernatural or in ghosts leave the mansion as believers.”

The Knox Mansion has been described by David Pitkin in New York State Ghosts. Pitkin’s relates that Charles Knox preferred to be called Charley and that he died at the age of 53 in Canada. Pitkin also tells how Rose and Charley Knox would travel and bet horse races together. Pitkin had also interviewed Mr. Quinn, noting the number 13 as being considerably lucky for the Knox’s: and it is further asserted that the home is designed with the number thirteen in mind. There are thirteen tiles in the fireplace, and thirteen steps on the main staircase. Pitkin also reveals in his book the prior owner, Doctor John Larrabee, was a man suffering from cancer that later reportedly shot himself. Also, Pitkin reports that the sounds of children having been heard in the mansion on occasion when no children are present. The ISIS team has found no concrete evidence at this time supporting a suicide at the location (that is not to say that it didn’t happen, but that we have no other information on the subject at this time).

Mr. Quinn has no mental health issues, and takes no medications for any health condition. He also does not partake of illicit drugs. Raised as a Roman Catholic, after his marriage Mr. Quinn began going to the Dutch Reform Church. To his knowledge, the home has never been previously blessed and no clergy have been involved with the case. Mr. Quinn had interests in the paranormal and the occult before he moved into the location. He has used Tarot Cards, conducts palm readings and people have attested to his accuracy for conducting such readings. All of the investigators noted during the investigation the Ouija board and Norse Tarot deck at the property. The Ouija board according to Mr. Quinn has been used by guests, but he also reports that he has never had any results with the board. During the investigation, various “props” were noted: in the secret room located off of the attic there was a fake skull and candles within the room, and in the basement was an old square wooden table with several knives, bowls, candles and miscellaneous items.

Lynn Lasher has previously visited the home, and a séance consisting of 13 people was once held in the basement of the location. Activity reported included a hammock, within the basement) swinging by itself, an emf detector pick up considerable disturbances, and a temperature reading of 13 degrees was pick up in the same location. Also, Russ Roberts has reported seeing a ghost in the window of the location.

History of the Mansion

The Olde Knox Mansion is a forty-two room Victorian Neoclassic mansion situated in Johnstown, New York with several enormous pillars that sustain the large tiled roof; it was the former home of the Knox family: a prominent family of Johnstown and the makers of Knox Gelatin. The house was at one time called “Rose Hill,” aptly named after the lady of the home. The Knox family moved to Johnstown in 1876. Charles Knox produced the worlds first pre-granulated gelatin in the late 1800s and managed to market the product nationwide. Charles Knox passed away in 1908, and his wife Rose took over the business and the home, originally built in 1898. The mansion was built at a cost of 1.2 million dollars in 1898, an extravagant fee during that time period, and it is currently a bed and breakfast/museum run by Marty Quinn. Rose Knox managed the family business with great success: Knox gelatin is still a product that is still sold and used today.

Rose Knox was born in Mansfield, Ohio on November 18, 1857, and her parents were David and Amanda Markward. The Markward family was upper middle class. According to an 1870 Census, Rose’s father David was reported as having owned an apothecary. Rose was one of three girls. The Markward family moved to Gloversville in the 1870s and Rose later became a glove maker after the move. Rose met Charles at a local barn dance in 1881 and the couple was considerably poor when they married in February of 1883 – Charles had eleven dollars available to him at the time. The couple managed to later rake together a sum of 5000 dollars to start up the Knox Gelatin Company. The company was first established in a wooden factory consisting of four floors, situated near Montgomery Street and the F.J. & G Co. Railroad Tracks.

It wasn’t long before Knox Gelatin was a national product and part of the company’s success belonged to the innovative marketing campaigns used by the Knox’s. The family used a blimp to advertise their Gelatin products and “Lucky 13” promotions, as well as advertising on the side of horse carriages. Mrs. Knox wrote a book called Dainty Desserts for Dainty People, as a way to share special gelatin recipes, a book that has found its way into millions of homes. What’s particularly interesting about the fact that Rose took over the Gelatin business after the death of her husband is the fact that women were not often part of the working world during her time. In fact, after the passing of her husband, Rose sent special announcements to her husband’s clients and customers that her husband had died and that her son Charles would be taking over the business. In truth, Charles was still in school at the time and it was Rose that headed up the company. Always wearing a hat in the office or at home, Rose believed that ladies in business should act like ladies and that all ladies wore hats.

Charles Knox, known as Charley, understood the meaning of hard work. Charles Briggs Knox, the son of Charles M. Knox and Mary E (Briggs) Knox, was one of several children and received his education at the Kelsey’s Boys Academy at Clinton, New York. Knox was at one time, a clerk in a grocery store in Canajoharie. The family then moved to St. Johnstown. When the Knox family moved to St. Johnsville, Charles B. Knox worked with his father, making fifth wheels for carriages. Later, Knox would travel to Texas and was a sheep herder for a short while until someone destroyed his sheep and left him without a way to make an income, Knox served as Texas Ranger and was stationed in the south-western part of the state, in the Rio Grand District. Knox stayed in Texas until 1880 when he returned to Johnstown, New York to assist his father with a flour and feed business. He later became interested in the glove making industry and was hired by James Talcot as a travelling salesman. He was later to become known as an incredible salesman, one of the elite “Big Four” known for their ability to sell knit goods in the United States. After establishing a glue factory in Johnstown, he became interested in the production of gelatin.

Knox was also the Vice-President and Director of the Glen Telephone Company, Director of the People’s Bank, Director of the Farmer’ & Merchants’ Bank of Fort Plain, New York. Knox also owned The Morning Herald of Johnstown and Gloversville and believed that the paper should only publish credible news:

“God grant that this structure may be the ever-enduring home of a newspaper eternally dissatisfied with the mere print of the news, a paper that panders to the prejudice of no clique nor class, a paper whose sole attributes shall ever be truth, courage and independence, and which may ever be a public educator and a tribune of the people."

Charles Knox was quite charitable; in the early 1900s he bought an old Livingston Mansion and gave it to the “Willing Helper” so that it could be utilized as a home for aging women. He donated funds to the public library of Johnstown, and was a trustee of the same, and donated funds to the Young Men’s Christian Association. Knox was also a member of the Colonial Club of Johnstown, the Aldine Club, the Antlers of Amsterdam, the Laurentian of Canada, the Manufacturers’ Association of New York City, and the New York Athletic Club. Knox was a member of the Masons and he belonged to the St. Patrick’s Lodge, No. 4, Free and Accepted Masons, Johnstown Chapter No. 78. Royal Arch Masons, Johnstown council No. 72, R and S. M.; Holy Cross Commandery No. 51, K.T.; of Golversville; and of Cyrus Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., of Albany. In the Scottish rite, he reached the thirty-second degree. Knox was also admitted into the Sons of the American Revolution.

Charles Knox died on June 17, 1908, in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal Canada. He was on his way back from a fishing trip. He was ill for three-year period, and his health finally failed him. Knox is buried in the family mausoleum in Johnstown Cemetery.

The Knox’s had three children, a daughter named Helene, a son Charles M. Knox, and another son James, E. Knox. Helene having passed away in infancy and Charles having died in his adulthood. Our research revealed that Helene Knox is buried in Johnstown Cemetery, in section K, lot 668, outside of the family vault that is located in the same cemetery and in the same section. Helene lived and died in 1895 and little else is known about the child. James continued his education and upon completion, worked for the Knox Company starting in the early 1900s. Although there has been rumors about a fourth, unknown child of the Knox’s, there exists no evidence at this time to confirm such a rumor.

Rose was well known for her belief in a unified family, and a unified working environment. She was also well known for her love of orchids and some have called Rose, “The First Lady of Johnstown.” Rose Knox gave a lot of funds to different organizations in Johnstown. In the early 1900s she gave 3,000 dollars to the YMCA for the swimming pool. Rose also provided donations for the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s Sunday School Room and in 1914 Rose Knox donated the church bells that are now in Saint Anthony’s Church in Johnstown. Rose later donated money for the establishment of the Knox Athletic Field: she gave 200,000 dollars to build and equip a field, stadium and clubhouse. After 1934, every student that graduated from the Knox school was given a Rose from Mrs. Knox when they received their diploma – the tradition continues in the Knox school today. Rose would also provide any brides that she was acquainted with an orchid bouquet for their wedding.

By the late 1940’s, Rose suffered from arthritis, particularly in the leg area. The arthritis became too much to contend with and Rose passed the company onto her son James so that she could remain at home and still serve as Company Chairman. She died September 28, 1950; she was 93 years old.

The first floor of the mansion consists of nine rooms: a foyer, The Gold Room, The Dining Room, The Kitchen, The Billiard Room, The Greenhouse Conservatory, The Library, The Music Room/Parlor and the Foyer. When the Quinn family first purchased the house, it was completely empty and it has been refurnished with a variety of beautiful antiques purchased from various auctions. The Gold Room has 18K gold scrollwork on the ceiling, a donation from a kind gentleman willing enough to volunteer his time to conduct the work. The dining room has a fireplace with intricate carvings representing the symbol of fertility. Within the billiard room there is a small secret panel among the bookshelves and it appears to be an area where special valuables may have been hidden.

A symbol appears throughout the house, a symbol representing the unity of the Knox Family. The second floor holds a master bedroom, a sunroom off of the master bedroom, the Lilac bedroom, and the Rose Bedrooms, as well as several bathrooms, walk in closets, a gown closet, and storage areas. An elevator from the dining room can be taken directly into the master bedroom and a dumb waiter is located in the sunroom and goes directly into an area just off the kitchen.

The third floor of the mansion is a large attic space: one area is used for storage of Halloween props and other items. Another area is an extra bedroom. Within the extra bedroom there is a three foot high doorway, one that is quite small, that opens up into another large room area: Mr. Quinn refers to the area as a “secret room.”

Unexplained Occurrences Noted by Investigators

Issues with Equipment

At 1:20 pm, the digital camera stopped working and shut off by itself while photographing the Gold Room of the location. Shortly after 4:50 pm, Sathish reported having difficulty with a different camera in the third bedroom, on the second floor of the location.

Difficulty Breathing

Also, several investigators noted “difficulty breathing” at different points of the investigation. Interesting to note is the fact that our investigators were all in teams of two and not allowed to speak of individual experiences until after the completion of the investigation. All experiences were written down for later examination and notes were not shared. At 1:32 pm, after entering the dining room, Patricia reported difficulty breathing. At 4:14 pm, on the second floor of the location, Justyn reports that “breathing is becoming difficult:” several minutes later the dowsing rods cross nearby the bed in the same room. Robin Evans reported “difficulty breathing near the elevator in the dining room at 2:05 pm.

Vertigo:

Several investigators also experienced vertigo when entering certain areas of the home. At 2:10 pm, Patricia entered the Billiard room and became momentarily dizzy and lightheaded. This same feeling was reported in the nearby conservatory at 2:20 pm. At the same time, Dayna, while entering the conservatory felt a momentary loss of balance. Justyn experienced vertigo at 1:08 pm, briefly upon entering the dining room.

Around 5:00 pm Justyn sensed an individual in the upstairs of the location that “used to help ease the pain from a disease”. This is congruent with the idea that a doctor once lived at the location.

Psychic Sketches:

Psychic Sketch Artist, Angela Kaufman, while in the dining room of the location, sketched an image of a horse drawn carriage. The image is strikingly similar to a photograph of a horse and carriage used by the Knox family to advertise Knox Gelatin. Also, Charles Knox, at one time, use to manufacture carriage wheels with his father.

Angela sketched a man (a quick sketch) that looks much like the founder of Johnstown. (This sketch was drawn while on the second floor of the location.)

Angela drew a picture of a man with a cap that looks like man in a picture of the group that originally worked to build the Knox Mansion. (Drawn while in the Billiard Room).

Also while in the Billiard Room, Angela made a note that she sensed the area to be some kind of "meeting place" and even went as far as to note that she believed it had to do with the Freemasons. Our research has revealed that Charles B. Knox was a Freemason who had made it to the 32nd degree in the Scottish Rite. Angela sensed and sketched children, a young boy and older girl, while in the parlor of the location. This corresponds with previous reports of the spirits of children being present in the house.

Other Psychic Experiences

Sathish, one of our investigators felt the presence of an older woman and of children while in the Gold room of the location. Later, Sathish complained of feeling pressure in the back of his head in the billiard room, as did Angela in her later notes.

Sathish reported feeling something unseen grab at his leg while in the Billiard Room. Meanwhile, while on the third floor of the location, Patricia reported a similar feeling, that something unseen had touched her. At 5:20pm Robin Evans, while in the attic, noted that “the door [to] the large attic room was pushed into [my] back – no one [was] behind me and a plug simultaneously fell off the table. According to Robin, the event stopped almost as quickly as it started. Michael Baker, one of the New Gravity Media producers, confirmed this occurrence, telling our team that as he turned the camera toward our investigator, the door stopped moving.

Justyn Staley sensed a death “by heart attack,” which is congruent with the contentions set forth by Mr. David Pitkin in coverage on the Knox mansion history: he argued that Knox died from a heart attack at the age of 53.

Conclusions: Inconclusive

While many of our investigators had experiences at the location and psychic impressions were accurate -- proving congruent with accounts reported by other visitors to the mansion and with the current owner’s contentions, and there were notable emf and temperature readings, there was no photographic evidence or video evidence to present in this case. We have therefore deemed the case inconclusive. This is not to say that the location is not haunted, but it is to say that we don’t have enough scientific evidence to conclude whether or not the location is haunted.

www.14degreesmovie.com


Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Office Space For Sale...Includes Ghost


Croydon, South London, UK - A haunted office space in a 19th century Gothic chapel overlooking Wandsworth Common is on the market for £1.75million.

The chapel, at the Royal Victoria Patriotic Building, boasts nearly 6,000sq ft of prime commercial space and forms part of a grade II listed, residential, commercial and community complex.

In the 19th century, the site was home to orphans, and legend has it the building is still roamed by one girl who died there. It was reportedly later used to interrogate foreign spies during World War II.

The chapel itself was built in 1858 in a romantic French Gothic style and converted by architects who kept many authentic features including the pointed arch doorway, the buff stone and brickwork and the exposed wooden beams in the ceiling.

Its Rose window is the architectural highlight of the building and overlooks the common.

Richard Cleminson, commercial director of Kinleigh Folkard and Hayward, which is overseeing the sale, said: "The chapel, a truly inspirational building, would have a positive impact on employees' well-being and motivation. It provides an architecturally unique environment."


Paranormal Investigation In Manitou Springs

Manitou Springs, Colorado - Aug. 27 2007 - Paranormal investigators are looking into reports of strange activity in several Manitou Springs businesses. Mike Olson is a local Private Investigator turned Ghost Hunter. He says, "What I say to the skeptics is definitely give us a call and come out with us and I will make a believer out of you!" He uses the latest video and audio recording equipment to try to collect scientific evidence to prove paranormal activity. They have not yet found any evidence from their weekend search, but Olson says they are still investigating.

Some workers at "Mushroom Monday" in Manitou Springs say they have all the proof they need. Jay Carson is a long time employee, who says customers report seeing the figure of a man appear out of nowhere several times over the past 16 years. They describe the figure they call "Charlie", as a scruffy bearded man dressed in period clothes from the 1800's. Carson says, "There was a little girl at the end of the counter talking and giggling. Her mother asked her what she was doing, and she said talking to that man. Of course no one was there." Carson recalls another incident, "I was outside watering the flowers out front and some lady went in and came back out and I asked her if she needed some help and she said, no I just left the mail with the man inside. I knew there wasn't anyone in the store, it wasn't even open yet."


UFO Over Tasman Sea Baffles Experts

A mysterious object seen in skies over the Tasman Sea near Kaitaia is baffling UFO experts.

Last month, The Northern News reported that UFO Focus New Zealand (UFOCUS NZ) and world UFO expert Dr Bruce Maccabee were studying a series of unusual photographs taken at Ahipara on April 28.

The digital photos, taken of the sky and sea at 5.42pm, showed a bright object which did not look like a cloud and had the appearance of a craft.

The story attracted intense interest and remained one of the most viewed stories on the Northland page of the Stuff news website three weeks after publication.

Last week, UFOCUS released its report on the sighting and we can now bring you photos.

The report says the photographer watched the object for nearly five minutes while it moved silently across the sky in a northerly direction reducing in size and disappearing.

Dr Maccabee, an optical physicist in the United States Navy, says in the report that the object does not display flight characteristics that distinguish it as a 'craft' of unknown origin.

However, its shape suggests a circular 'something' with a dome-like top.

The object could also be a jet aircraft's vapour trail viewed end on, he says.

Air Traffic Control says there were no scheduled flights in the area at the time.

It would expect to see consistency of shape from both trails and a 'flow-off' similar to a cirrus cloud blown by winds if the object was a jet contrail.

Instead, the shapes in the photos are compact.

UFOCUS has consulted the Carter Observatory and ruled out the object being space junk or a meteorite, says the group?s coordinator Suzy Hansen.

"Neither space junk nor a meteorite would present the images we have. They would be a ball of fire burning up rather than a bright object."

Dr Maccabee has not commented on whether the photographer may have manipulated the eight photos, says Ms Hansen.

While the UFO group cannot rule out the possibility of manipulation, she thinks it is unlikely the photos are a hoax.

"I have directly asked the witness if he hoaxed the photos, and he was most adamant that he had not.

"When you see the full series, you will see that it would take hours and hours to hoax such a thing."

UFOCUS and Dr Maccabee have agreed that no firm conclusion can be drawn about what the object is, says Ms Hansen.

They are classifying it as an unusual aerial phenomenon - UAP - but are keen to know what the public thinks it may be.


Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Wernher von Braun at Roswell During UFO Crash

by Clark C. McClelland - Former ScO, Space Shuttle Fleet, Kennedy Space Center, FL 1958-1992

In 1947, a controversial event took place in New Mexico near the town of Roswell. The "Roswell Incident," as it has come to be known, remains the paramount case in UFO crash/retrieval history. In addition to the claims of a downed alien ship, alien bodies were said to have been recovered from the debris.

The United States Air Force (USAF) and U.S. Federal Government have kept a steadfast opinion that the object in question was a high altitude balloon project, code named: Mogul. The project was designed to detect nuclear blasts in the USSR. The bodies that were recovered, according to the USAF, were parachute test dummies that had been released high above the desert, and had eventually drifted into the "balloon" crash area. The USAF finally settled on this fabricated version of events and passed it off to the American public as truth.

During my long years of service in our national space program, I was very fortunate to come to know and exchange some very exciting data with former German scientists, who had been brought to the USA under Operation Paper Clip following Word War II. These men were the elite of the German rocket programs controlled by Adolph Hitler. On many occasions I had the distinct privilege of speaking with Dr. Wernher von Braun, the leader of the elite group, and several other scientists who were assigned to the ABMA (Army Ballistics Missile Agency) launch crews at the Cape Canaveral launch sites. Eventually, these same men were incorporated into the new National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) organization. During the periodic MFA (Manned Flight Awareness) meetings that were held at Cocoa Beach, I was able to talk freely and briefly with such scientists, particularly Dr. von Braun.

On one such occasion, he and I had taken a break and stepped out of the Cocoa Beach Ramada Inn into the back patio. I admitted that I was aware that he and his German Scientific team were located not too far from the crash site at that time. They were launching captured V-2 rockets from the White Sands Testing Range. On this night, I asked him a question concerning the Roswell Incident that caused his eyebrows to raise.

Did the Roswell Incident in fact happen, was an alien craft recovered along with alien bodies? Did you have a chance to go to the crash site?"

Dr von Braun was a cigarette smoker and he lit one up. He thought for a second, then proceeded to talk freely about his inspection of the crashed craft.

He trusted me to hear such astonishing events because I vowed to not report it to newspapers, magazines, television, etc. I never broke that vow. Since he is deceased, and the incident happened over fifty years ago, I am now disclosing what I heard. I have a right to speak about anything - even things that, according to certain agencies, "do not exist."

Dr. von Braun explained how he and his (unnamed, for now) associates had been taken to the crash site after most of the military were pulled back. They did a quick analysis of what they found. He told me the craft did not appear to be made of metal as we know metal on earth. He said it seemed to be created from something biological, like skin. I was lost as to what he indicated, other than thinking perhaps the craft was "alive."

The recovered bodies were temporarily being kept in a nearby medical tent. They were small, very frail and had large heads. Their eyes were large. Their skin was greyish and reptilian in texture. Dr. von Braun said it looked similar to the skin texture of rattle snakes he'd seen several times at White Sands. His inspection of the debris had even him puzzled: very thin, aluminium coloured, like silvery chewing gum wrappers. Very light and extremely strong. The interior of the craft was nearly bare of equipment, as if the creatures and craft were part of a single unit.

That's when I became lost in the moment. We returned to the awards ceremony, in which he participated, later bidding farewell. I went home with my head spinning from all I had heard. Keeping this quiet for many years was very difficult, especially with the temptations of having many friends and associates who believe in UFOs, ETs, etc. I never released this amazing data to Major Keyhoe and NICAP, or the public, until now. I considered my honor sacred when a vow was made.

Article author's note: This amazing interview with Dr. von Braun is only one of many events that I personally experienced as a space flight pioneer at Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, from 1958 to 1992.


Girl's Ghastly Death Leads to Haunting Legend


Prosperous times in Niagara County came in the first half of the 1800s and brought many beautiful homes and mansions, some rumored to be haunted.

A mansion on a hill in Lockport's Lowertown briefly claimed a reputation as haunted due to the tragic fire death of a young girl. Mrs. Albert Gagliardi lived in the house as a youngster in the early 1900s and wrote a 500-word essay about it.

Edward Bissel built the Gagliardi house in 1829, according to late County Historian Clarence O. Lewis. A flourmill owner, Bissel decided to build his house high on a hill opposite the Lake Avenue Bridge over the Erie Canal.

The next year, Dr. Jonah Skinner, the first Lowertown doctor, built his house next door. Later that year, Judge Nathan Dayton built his elegant home on the same hill.

Bissel sold his house to Albany Land Company Agent Lot Clark, who in September of 1835 put it on the market with this ad in the Niagara Courier: "Valuable property for sale. The house and lot formerly occupied by Edward Bissel with adjoining lands are offered at a bargain. The house is one of the best built and best furnished in the western part of this state. It is pleasantly situated near other fine dwellings and good society. The out buildings consist of a barn, stables and carriage house. A garden and an orchard of choice fruit adjoins the house; also 40 acres of land. Apply to Lot Clark."

Rev. Piedmont, Mrs. Gagliardi's father, bought the house in 1917. She wrote, "Way up on a hill in the center of an acre of land stood a huge stone house with four Roman pillars holding up the front veranda."

This was her first impression of their new home. The second came moments later when, on their way up the hill to the house, they saw a sign tacked to a tree with huge black letters proclaiming "Haunted House."

Some time before the turn of the century, the rumor went, a young couple with two children, a 9-year-old girl and a baby, occupied the house. One night, the young girl was left alone to watch the baby while the mother ran an errand. Somehow a kerosene lamp overturned, starting a fire in the baby's crib. The girl ran over and beat out the flames around the baby, but her clothing caught fire. She dashed toward the front door but collapsed in the hall there and died.

This tragedy caused the mother to have a breakdown, and she was admitted to a mental institution. The fire burned the wainscoting in the front hall, and the charred boards were replaced but were not an exact match, so it was obvious where the fire had occurred.

Mrs. Gagliardi said the side door consisted of a huge window that went to the floor: "One had to reach down, grasp a handle and pull the window up, step inside and pull the window down."

Beautiful marble fireplaces graced all 17 rooms on the two floors, including the large kitchen. The ceilings were 14 feet high.

"Now the stairs were what really fascinated us. They were winding stairs starting from the first floor and winding their way to the second floor and then to the attic. If one stood at the bottom one could see the attic door.

"The whole stairway and banister and rail were made of the finest black walnut. At the rear of the second story were the servants quarters consisting of a kitchen and four bedrooms."

Many beautiful homes were built in the Lockport area due to prosperity brought by the opening of the Erie Canal. Likewise, commerce brought prosperity to Lewiston, accounting for many fine homes built there.

A Lewiston resident, Mrs. Lucy W. Hawes, wrote a glowing description of the fine Lewiston homes in 1887. She wrote, "Lewiston had advantages denied to other Western New York communities. Her main or Center Street was the great overland route across the continent.

"Great lines of stages loaded with travelers headed for Niagara Falls. Lewiston was the custom port and the distributing post office. Sometimes 30 ox teams conveyed merchandise up the Portage Road to Niagara Falls and Buffalo." About the homes, she wrote, "Nearly every house had its hand carved walnut stair rail, high ceilings, floor length windows, candelabra, pianos, marble fireplaces in every room and other evidence of the prevailing prosperity of that early period."

Bob Kostoff has been reporting on the Niagara Frontier for four decades. He is a recognized authority on local history and is the author of several books.


Monday, August 27, 2007

Hunting Astrals In Alabama


Ghosts and spirits aren't everybody's fancy, but a group of paranormal experts kept an open mind while visiting the historic Shorter Mansion in Eufaula.

The mansion is long-believed to be the site of paranormal activity. A few News Three staffers agreed to go along for the hunt.

News Three arrived at the shorter mansion during a thunderstorm. The weather couldn't have been more ideal for a ghost hunt.

Soon after we arrived, we joined members of Southern Paranormal Researchers, a volunteer group devoted to connecting with spirits.

Caretaker Glenn Kasper ... That's Kasper with a "K" ... Has been watching over the historic house for three years.

“I don't believe in ghosts, I don't disbelieve in ghosts, but there are many things that are unexplained. I have never seen the ghost but I have heard it,” Kasper said.

Much to Kasper's surprise, it didn't take five minutes before we got ... something.

Investigators said a pendulum helps communicate with spirits. Right to left meant "yes" and back to front meant "no". They also used this electromagnetic field detector. Investigators said the higher the number, the stronger the presence of a spirit.

“Tonight's been a pretty decent investigation so far. We've made contact with a couple of entities who seem to have connections to this house, it's been a little more active than we hoped or expected,” said Chris Perry with southern paranormal investigators.

One of those so-called entities was Fannie Shorter Upshaw, a direct descendent of original house owner, Eli Shorter.


Welsh UFO Hunters Seek Clues to Explosion


It was way back in 1974 that shimmering lights of what is perceived to be a UFO were seen crashing into the Berwyn Mountain range near Bala.

Now Margaret Fry, the secretary of the Wales Fellowship of Independent Ufologists, is on the hunt for people who witnessed the ensuing explosion- and experienced the earthquake that coincided with the incident.

On the evening of January 23, 1974 there was an earthquake measuring 3.8 on the Richer Scale, the core being at Bala and which was felt in the Berwyn Mountains area, after which there was a loud explosion.

According to Margaret: "People at Llandrillo village jammed the phones at Colwyn Bay police headquarters reporting strange lights on the Bronwen mountain range, which is a backdrop to the village set in a valley, immediately following the earthquake.

"The district nurse ... also phoned in and then with her two daughters went up on to the lonely B4391 which runs at the top of the mountains, fearing there had been a plane crash; planes had crashed in these mountains before.

"On arriving at a certain point the three saw an egg-shaped orange object sitting on a ridge of a mountain."

Margaret said she was told from 1979 until 1995, by numerous witnesses, that they had also seen the same thing: a large egg-shaped orange object sitting on a Berwyn mountain side.

Since 1995 Margaret has carried out annual investigations on the subject, visiting the area firstly with researcher Mathew Williams, then Alan Hilton.

Theories abound about other possible explanations for what happened, including a meteor shower and a stray missile, but Margaret says that diligent research has shown that "a UFO did descend slowly down on to a mountain ridge slope of the Berwyn range".

"By interviewing local farming community individuals at their remote homesteads and farms, we have been able to establish the exact locality," she added. "This UFO stayed on the mountains some one to one-and-a-half hours (and was) seen by various witnesses from different positions.

"As to whether a second UFO crashed into the Cader Berwyn mountain side we have yet to establish and are continuously researching to this day."


Sunday, August 26, 2007

Mountain Lion Report in Northeast Pennsylvania


Wayne County's own Loch Ness Monster has been sighted again, this time on lonely Trotter's Mountain near Sherman. And, paralleling Nessie's unique and warm relationship with her Scottish Highland neighbors, northeastern PA's oft-sighted, never-confirmed mountain lion family is fast becoming a popular visitor in our neck of the woods.

"I thought they were pretty cute," enthuses Bethann Holbert, Susquehanna, describing her recent close encounter with the creatures. "I kind of wished they'd have stayed around longer, but they just scooted across the road and into the trees."

As a few other residents have reported, the mysterious animal wasn't alone. Two pale, small cubs followed their mother's silent shadow.

"They looked kind of like big giant housecats. Not fat, just solid and big. They had light golden yellowish fur and really long tails."

The mother, Mrs. Holbert reported, appeared to be 80-90 pounds, or about the size of a large dog.

She also speaks with great authority on the physical characteristics of similar animals.

"I thought, the only other thing this could be was a bobcat. But bobcats have the short tails, and they're a grayish color."

This precise description is rooted in Mrs. Holbert's deep, personal familiarity with the wildlife around her mountain home.

"Right outside our back door is a few thousand acres of Pennsylvania state gameland. We've got bears, deer, skunks, porcupine, all kinds of animals running around. On our front porch is a big picture window, and we've seen bears through it. Once a bear on our front porch sat down with his feet on the door."

Prosaic descriptions of natural encounters that would have most people running for the nearest Starbucks are just another part of the Holbert's natural lifestyle. Mrs. Holbert, along with her husband Lothar, and their three children, Julius, 9, Joseph, 7, and Hannah, 5, know well how to treat their furry, toothy neighbors, and rarely feel fear of them.

"If I'm nervous, I'll make my husband take out the garbage. The kids play outside all the time, they know to stay away from an animal that is acting wrong - a nocturnal animal out in the day, something like that.

"My husband is especially into conservation, and he's teaching the children."

The entire Holbert family is clearly passionate about animals - when Mrs. Holbert met the mountain lions, she was on her way home to feed her fish. As soon as her surreal sighting was over, she was right on the phone to her children, who were staying with their grandmother at the time.

"I said to them, 'the mountain lions are coming your way!' But they never saw them. It took me fourteen years to see one."

Unconfirmed sightings of large animals are a common phenomenon, with certain animals - such as Nessie or her equally famous Badlands counterpart, Bigfoot - being sighted multiple times in a certain area. These creatures are called cryptids, after the branch of study, cryptozoology, concerned with them.

Northeastern Pennsylvania's cryptid lion story, however, parallels most closely that of a famously elusive big cat from the wilds of England, called the Beast of Bodmin Moor. While British scientists assert that there are no large feral cats in England, sightings there persist. The Pennsylvania Game Commission also continually reassures the public that no mountain lions remain in the wild, but such dry facts have rarely interfered with the creation of a legend - or the telling and retelling of a good story.

Only time will tell if conclusive proof of the "Beasts of NEPA" will be found. But for now, Mrs. Holbert is convinced, and her encounter has left her moved, if a bit frustrated. For Mrs. Holbert's story ends on the same note of disappointment shared by so many after their encounters with the weirder side of nature:

"I only wish I'd gotten a good photo. I had the camera with me and everything...they just disappeared too fast."


Smith-Appleby House "Is Indeed Haunted"


Hearing noises in your attic after midnight? Seen a spirit or two wander your halls? Who are you going to call?

The Historical Society of Smithfield recently called the Pawtucket Paranormal Society to investigate unknown happenings at its headquarters, the historic Smith-Appleby House, 220 Stillwater Road.

The paranormal investigators embarked on a ghost hunt on Aug. 11 at the historic home, which is furnished with antiques and collectibles from previous centuries. Elisha Smith, grandson of one of Rhode Island's first settlers and Roger William's original party that fled Massachusetts, built the Smith-Appleby House around 1696, according to the historical society's Web site.

Dianne O'Connor of North Smithfield, case manager for the Pawtucket society, proposed the house as a possible investigation site after meeting with a historical society member who was looking for paranormal investigators. "By luck of the draw, we got in," said Pawtucket Paranormal Society founder Dawn Torres of Pawtucket. "We feel very honored to be here."

Torres founded the Pawtucket society after meeting co-founder, Chris Andrews of Cranston, online at www.Iamhaunted.com, a paranormal discussion Web site.

"Anything's possible," said Andrews when asked what he expects to find. "We hope to find orbs, mist or even an apparition." The society said the "hot zones" of paranormal activity occur in the second floor loom room and at a first floor fireplace.

"Another house was added in the 1700s and then another house was brought in from Johnston and added in the 1800s," Andrews said. "So, this is actually three houses in one put together."

"We're going to measure EVPs or Electronic Voice Phenomenon, which are unexplained voices on a tape," Andrews said. "When you go into a room and you ask questions, sometimes you receive answers to those questions and other times you receive random things that pop out that are not our voices. We measure them through wave patterns. Usually they are just whispers, so you really have to listen closely to them."

"We then measure the EVPs against our own voices, which are already recorded," Torres said.

The investigation is a long process, according to the society. Members need to listen repeatedly to the recordings for hours, comparing sounds with their own voice recordings. The members separate the sounds and their voices to reveal the unknown.

The society found evidence of ghostly activity at the historic house before the Aug. 11 investigation.

"We got six or seven EVPs or Electronic Voice Phenomenon on the first run through," Torres said. "One EVP had an exasperated sigh, like I don't like what you're doing. On one EVP, it sounded like a dog barking."

The society also discovered that a young girl between ages 10 to 12 said, "excuse me," according to the society. The group said they also recorded a voice, which complained, "They charge. I can't believe it."

"I believe there is residual and intelligent haunting going on," Torres said. "Residual haunting is like a tape recorder, which will keep playing itself over and over."

"It's like a moment stuck in time, where an intelligent haunting includes direct interaction with the living," Andrews interjected.

Other equipment used by the ghost hunters to scientifically document phenomena includes digital thermometers, digital and analog recorders, digital cameras and electro-magnetic field (EMF) readers.

Husband and wife team of paranormal investigators, Greg and Tracie Best, from the Oracle Paranormal Research Society in Danielson, Conn., joined the Pawtucket society to add their expertise.

"You need to be trained to investigate the paranormal," said Greg Best, who has researched the paranormal with his
wife for more than 10 years.

Best used a special recorder in the loom room in order to pick up sounds from throughout the whole house. "Digital recordings are not susceptible to broadcast," Best said. "There is no chance of contamination from radio broadcast with digital."

Margo Lopes of Warwick, who says she is slightly skeptical, volunteered to sit in the house's basement alone in the dark with only a voice recorder until midnight.

Lopes said she would like to see an apparition, but it takes a lot of energy. "I have a positive perspective of death and spirits, which aids in the investigation," Lopes said. "It's important to treat the spirits with respect and sensitivity."

The basement's dirt floor was used in past centuries to bury bodies in the winter since the grounds were frozen, according to Pawtucket society members. The bodies were excavated in the spring and reburied in the cemetery not far from the main house, according to the Pawtucket society.

"Some of these slates are not even legible," Lopes said as she walked throughout the graveyard, announcing her presence and asking for the spirits to respond.

"My name is Margo Lopes and I'm here with the Pawtucket Paranormal Society," Lopes said. "We mean you no harm. We come in respect. If you would like to notify us of your presence or tell us anything, we will be at the main house."

Elisha Smith died in 1766 and was the first individual buried in the cemetery, according to the historical society's Web site. The cemetery is also home to the graves of many locally famous family names, including Ballou, Harris and Brown.

The last residents of the property's current seven acres included the late Abbie Sargent, a lifetime friend of the late Maria Appleby, according to the historical society's Web site. Maria, which is pronounced "Myra," Appleby built and operated Smithfield's only golf course in the 1920s on what is now Interstate 295, according to the historical society's Web site. Appleby died in 1959, a few years before her friend Sargent's death in 1963.

Ernest Rehill was also one the last residents, living as a groundskeeper and handyman in the cottage behind the main house, according to the historical society's Web site.

Historical society members moved a dollhouse to the caretaker's house after furniture moved unexplainably in whatever room the dollhouse was placed, said the Pawtucket ghost hunters. Since its move to the caretaker's cottage, furniture has not moved, according to the Pawtucket society.

During the investigation on Aug. 11, Torres felt she was being watched in one of the sitting rooms. "I entered the room to find that it was unusually cold," said Torres.
The society said they took one picture that shows an orb near Torres when the temperature changed.

The investigation also included evidence of a girl spirit named "Abbie or Abby," according to the Pawtucket ghost hunters. The investigators heard the girl after sitting in a circle around a recorder and camera. After investigators played with a doll on the bed, the meters flashed indicating activity, according to Torres.

The spirit asked for the group's new member, Ian Massey of Pawtucket. Massey questioned the spirit, who later revealed it was not a little girl but a male who refused to give a name but answered "no" to whether he belonged to the house, according to the society.

"This night proved to be a hot bed of activity," Torres said. "I never thought I would encounter such a high level of phenomena there. Personally, I would never stay there, but I would love to return and further investigate."

"Being in the house for that short time proved to be both well worth it and productive. There is indeed a haunting going on."

Torres said the evidence showed not a "typical haunting." "The spirits that still linger there are not malicious or evil," Torres said. "They are there because they were more than likely extremely happy there and just refuse to leave that happy setting."

Torres said her experiences make her a stronger person and
gives her hope.

"Experiencing paranormal activities lets you know that there is life beyond death," Torres said. "You know that these people are coming back to visit what could be the happiest days of their lives. If I come back after death, I want to come back to the happy moments of my life."

"This case is a big one for us, but we have a good team here and we work very well together." Andrews said. Society members also include Allan Kallman of Canton, Mass., the group's chief information officer, and Carol Byron of Pawtucket, who joined the group after witnessing paranormal activity.

The Pawtucket Paranormal Society is a non-profit group dedicated to verifying or debunking paranormal activity. The group uses scientific methods and equipment, as well as includes members with personal experience in the paranormal.

The society does not charge for any investigation, but does ask for compensation if the group needs to travel more than 75 miles to a potential haunting. According to the society's Web site, "no case is too big or small" for the local spirit hunters.

For more information about the Pawtucket Paranormal Society or to hire these local ghost investigators for a sighting, visit www.pawtucketparanormalsociety.org.

The Smith-Appleby House is open for tours by appointment and during special events, according to the society's Web site. For more information about the house or historical society, visit www.smithapplebyhouse.org/.


Saturday, August 25, 2007

Is Aviation Museum Haunted?


Sam Tyree and his team from Great Plains Paranormal Investigations recently spent a night at the museum to look into some unusual incidents.

Sam Tyree had heard the stories.

Maybe you have, too.

Doors slam where there are no doors at the Kansas Aviation Museum.

Music from the '40s plays somewhere.

Crowds can be heard in the distance, moving, like they are walking to a waiting airplane.

A mysterious man in a fedora appears and disappears.

Tyree, the lead investigator with Great Plains Paranormal Investigations, was intrigued by the stories -- and by a photo he took there once. It shows a tiny, wispy orb that could be lint on a camera lens or... something else.

So he asked to spend the night at the museum.

Teresa Day, director of the museum, said she sees the paranormal investigation as a fun endeavor.

"From my perspective, we are doing this out of curiosity," Day said. "It could bring attention to this old building and make it more interesting. At the same time, I don't want people thinking we are off track from our mission."

Tyree says he is not a ghost hunter. He says he uses scientific methods and equipment to rule out what can be explained and document what can't. The things that can't be explained are "preternatural."

"People talk about the supernatural," he said. "The supernatural only refers to God. Preternatural is everything else."

Last Saturday, he showed up at 6 p.m. with his team. He brought audio and video equipment and an electromagnetic field indicator.

They stayed until 4 a.m.

So what happened that night?

They heard things -- residual public announcements from another time period, Tyree says. "Stone buildings can sometimes get events recorded and under the right conditions will replay themselves," he said.

And there's more.

"We did have an exceptional experience," Tyree said.

He reports that the meter of the electromagnetic field indicator -- which shows energy fields -- jumped when it was taken near the skeleton of a 1931 Stearman plane. The plane had crashed in Alaska years ago.

"We asked emotionally charged questions and it responded to our questions for 10 minutes," Tyree said. "We need to go back in and double-check but we believe it's the pilot who died in the plane. He was a crop duster and did not want the plane scrapped. He wants it restored to flying condition."

Tyree said the pilot was telling the paranormal team that the crash wasn't his fault, that a defective engine was the cause.

"It's definitely unusual," Tyree said. "You normally don't get that level of interaction."

Tyree's group is based in Wichita. It looked unsuccessfully for a ghost named Julie at the Eaton Place at Douglas and Emporia. It also investigated the Maple Grove Cemetery, but did not discover anything out of the ordinary.

The aviation museum's investigation is unusual because it was rich with experiences, Tyree said.

During its heyday, the Wichita Municipal Airport was a major mid-continent stopover for airlines.

In the 1940s, it was one of the busiest airports in the nation, with a take-off or landing occurring every 90 seconds. Aviation legends such as Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh have paced its terrazzo floors.

Eventually the airport was closed and converted to an aviation museum.

Longtime volunteer Cyndi Rhodes wasn't surprised at Tyree's experience.

During the early 1990s, she was working in the museum's gift shop on a day when the museum had few visitors.

"It was quiet that day yet I could hear voices in the next room," Rhodes said. "It was a babble of voices. They were happy."

One night when she had to go back into the museum, she heard the slamming of a door "like somebody was really irritated, but there wasn't anybody there," Rhodes said. "I decided we must have disturbed the ghost for whatever was planned that evening."

The paranormal group took several thousand photographs and recorded 10 hours of tape and video.

They hope to return to do more research.


UFO Spotted Over the New Forest, Hampshire

This mysterious object was seen circling above trees in the New Forest in broad daylight on Sunday morning.

The photo was taken by an astonished onlooker, who has asked not to be named for fear of being ridiculed, who was with his family in Ipley at the time.

He told the Daily Echo how he snapped the picture moments before the strange contraption vanished into thin air.

He said: "It was spinning slowly and moving in a straight line. It was not travelling fast at all.

advertisement"The whole thing cannot have lasted more than about 20 seconds. I got a quick photo with my digital camera but by the time I had rushed to a clearing for a better look, it had gone.

"If it was a spaceship, then we wondered whether the flash had gone off on the camera and they had seen it."

The UFO, he said, was about 25ft to 30ft across with a dull grey or silver body and "shiny pieces" attached to the underside.

He added: "I really have no idea what it could have been. We got a good look at it through the trees, but it all happened so quickly.

"There may well be a logical explanation for this, but I don't know what it is."

A police spokesman said there had been no reported sightings in the area on Sunday and said beat officers had not noticed anything unusual while on patrol.

She said: "We have checked through the system and there are no suspicious incidents of a UFO nature logged on the system."

The sighting is the latest in a string of aerial oddities reported in the region this year.

In June, mysterious orange lights were seen moving slowly across the Thornhill estate - but they later turned out to be lanterns.

And in April a pilot flying from Southampton Inter-national Airport attracted worldwide attention when he spotted a UFO from his window.

His sighting of two cigar-shaped objects, each up to a mile wide, in the sky near Guernsey, was backed up by passengers and another plane.

Green light They were described as being very sharp, thin yellow objects with a green light hovering at about 2,000ft.

Earlier this summer, top secret records detailing a decade of UFO sightings in Hampshire were made public for the first time by the Ministry of Defence.

The X-Files, published in response to a Freedom of Information request, showed how the MoD logged 27 reports of unidentified flying objects in the county between 1998 and 2006.

The biggest year for sightings was 1998, when ten separate reports were reported.

Last year, however, just two sightings were logged.

At the time, an Air Staff spokesman from the MoD said: "To date the MOD knows of no evidence which substantiates the existence of these alleged phenomena.

"We believe that rational explanations, such as aircraft lights or natural phenomena, could be found for them if resources were diverted for this purpose, but it is not the function of the MoD to provide this kind of aerial identification service.

"It would be an inappropriate use of defence resources if we were to do so."


Friday, August 24, 2007

Rare Black Bobcat Captured In Florida


For years there have been stories of Black Florida Panthers prowling in our wilderness, but there's never been any official record they exist.

Now that mystery may be over.

A cat has been captured and researchers at the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary say they now know what people were referring to when they said they saw the panther.

We're all familiar with the Florida Panther, golden in color and about 130 pounds.

You may have also heard of a "Black Panther," which has been like our local Loch Ness Monster; people have said they've seen it, but it's never been caught.

One woman recently called the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary because she said she had one right in her back yard.

"She said she had this gigantic Black Panther in her back yard and that it had killed a pet turkey that she'd had. She was hysterical," says David Hitzig with the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary.

"She describes to me this big black cat the size of a Labrador dog," says Deron Hartman, also with the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary.

Hartman responded to the woman's call for help and the turkey snatcher turned out to be no Black Panther instead, a Black Bobcat.

"It's a very unique animal. It's very rare. It's definitely the highlight of my trapping," says Hartman.

It weighs only about 20 pounds and it's color is black from head to tail with one white spot on the belly.

Hartman says less than a dozen have been recorded. Most of them in South Florida near the Loxahatchee River and St. Lucie Canal. The first was discovered about 70 years ago.

But it's more than just a rare find, it can also help bring answers to an old Florida tale.

"For years, people here in Florida have talked about Black Florida Panthers. First of all, Florida Panthers are basically a Cougar. There has never ever been a Black Cougar or a Florida Panther ever found. No record of them, no pictures, no hides, no skins, nothing. but still we hear these stories of black cats that lurk in the wilds of Florida," says Hitzig. "Maybe we have kind of found that missing piece of the puzzle and we now know what everybody's been talking about when they say, 'I saw a Black Panther in the wild.' But really they saw a Black Bobcat."

The sanctuary says they'll be working with the state to run DNA and blood tests. They want to make sure there's official documentation that the Black Bobcat exists... even if the Black Panther does not. The sanctuary plans to return the Black Bobcat to the wild.


Duathlon Organizers Insure Against Loch Ness Monster Attack

Organisers of a duathlon in Scotland have taken out a one million pound (nearly $AU2.5 million) insurance policy against attack by or sighting of the fabled Loch Ness monster.

First Monster Duathlon race director Malcolm Sutherland said they were planning for all eventualities.

Transport operator FirstGroup said in a statement its policy with insurers Royal and Sun Alliance would pay out should "Nessie" emerge from the murky depths of the vast watercourse and/or attack one of the competitors.

"This is one of our more unusual requests but it certainly gave our team something to get their teeth into," Royal and Sun Alliance trading director Jon Woodman said.

Any "proven sighting" has to be independently verified, subject to policy terms and conditions, the insurer said.

The September 2 event requires individuals in each team of four to complete two legs of the eight-legged event around the shores of Loch Ness, in northern Scotland -- one 10-kilometre run and one 20-kilometre cycle.


Thursday, August 23, 2007

Mexico: Alleged UFOs Crash in San Luis Potosi


According to a news item published on August 21 2007 by the El Mañana de Valles newspaper, two unidentified flying objects allegedly fell in Valles and Xilitla (San Luis Potosi).

The first of them was reported on the evening of Sunday, August 19 and the second during early morning hours of Monday the 20th.

Reporters Antonio Martínez and Maribor Villalobos state that the initial report was received by Jose Angel Avalos, an officer on duty at the Centro de Control y Comando (C4) through the 066 call line. This report was from Rubén Velázquez, who stated that a silver object measuring 20 cm long had fallen from the sky in a plot of land of the San Miguel collective farm.

Another witness, high school student Oscar Gonzalez Mar, a resident of the El Sidral collective farm, told the "El Mañana" newsromm that he had seen a shining object streaming across the skies toward the Gulf of Mexico between 8 and 9 p.m. on August 19 before he lost it from sight, not knowing whether the object crashed or not.

Nearly two and a half hours after the San Miguel incident, Mrs. Saturnina Castillo reported from Xilitla that an object resembling a fireball had impacted a tree in a property located near the "Montoya" metal shop, owned by her husband Juan Montoya, adding that the tree had caught fire.

Joaquín Hernández was a direct witness to the sighting. He and his family prepare zacahuil and live next to where the object hit the ground. In fact, Hernández was preparing the zacahuil batter and he saw the "fireball" as it came down over the tree. Afraid that no one would believe him, he screamed for Juan Montoya and his wife to witness the tree bough catching fire.

He added that it was a highly unusual thing to see, as there was no thunder or storm activity that could lead anyone to think it had been a stroke of lightning.

The incident was reported to the Municipal Civil Protection unit, but no investigation was conducted.


Wednesday, August 22, 2007

A Minnesota Mystery: The Kensington Runestone

It's one of Minnesota's greatest mysteries. It's something that puts settlers in America well before Columbus. A Minnesota geologist thinks the controversial Kensington Runestone is the real thing and there is evidence that he says backs up the theory.

The Kensington Runestone is a rock found near Alexandria a century ago. It's inscription speaking of Norwegians here in 1362. It begs the question. Were Vikings exploring our land more than 100 years before Columbus? Or is it just an elaborate hoax?

New research shows that the stone is genuine and there's hidden code that may prove it. It contains carved words that have haunted these hills and the Ohman family for more than 100 years, yet their faith has never wavered.

"I just never had any doubt. I mean I was very emphatic about it. Absolutely it's real. There's no doubt," said Darwin Ohman. His grandfather found the Runestone.

Darwin's grandfather Olof Ohman has been considered the author of Minnesota's most famous fraud, the Runestone. He says he found it buried under a tree in 1898. Critics say the language on the stone is too modern to be from 1362, that some of the runes are made up. They say this simple farmer carved it himself to fool the learned.

"You're calling him a liar. If this is a hoax he lied to his two sons, he lied to his family, lied to his neighbors and friends and lied to the world," said Scott Wolter a geologist and researcher of the Runestone.

Wolter and Texas engineer Dick Nielsen are sharing for the first time new evidence about the hidden secrets they say are carved in this stone.

"It changes history in a big way," Wolter said

In 2000 he performed one of the very few geological studies on the stone. He says the breakdown of minerals in the inscription shows the carving is at least 200 years old, older than Olof Ohman. Those findings support the first geological study in 1910 that also found the stone to be genuine.

"In my mind the geology settled it once and for all," he said.

Linguistic experts are not convinced. They say runes like those on the stone are made up. But Nielsen has now found the same one here in an old Swedish rune document dating back to the 1300's.

"It makes me ask the question if they were wrong about that what else were they wrong about?" Wolter said.

For the first time Wolter has documented every individual rune on the stone with a microscope. He started finding things that he didn't expect. He was the first to discover dots inside four R shaped runes on the stone. He said they are intentional and they mean something. So Wolter and Nielsen scoured rune catalogs.

"We found the dotted R's. It's an extremely rare rune that only appeared during medieval times. This absolutely fingerprints it to the 14th century. This is linguistic proof. This is medieval, period," Wolter said.

They traced the dotted 'R' to rune covered graves inside ancient churches on the island of Gotland off the coast of Sweden. What they found on the grave slabs were very interesting crosses. They were Templar crosses, the symbol of a religious order of knights formed during the crusades and persecuted by the Catholic Church in the 1300's.

"This was the genesis of their secret societies, secret codes, secret symbols, secret signs all this stuff. If they carved the rune stone why did they come here and why did they carve this thing?" Wolter asked.

He has uncovered new evidence that has taken his research in a very different direction. Wolter now believes that the words on the stone may not be the record of the death of 10 men but instead, a secret code concealing the true purpose of the rune stone.

Two runes in the form of an L and a U are two more reasons why linguists say Olof Ohman carved the stone. They are crossed and linguists say they should not be.

A third rune has a punch at the end of one line. Each rune on the stone has a numerical value. Wolter and Nielsen took the three marked runes and plotted them on a medieval dating system called the Easter Table.

"When we plotted these three things we got a year, 1362. It was like 'oh my god is this an accident? Is this a coincidence?' I don't think so," Wolter said.

They wondered why Templars would come to North America, carve the stone and code the date.

"If it's the Templars that were under religious persecution at the time, that would be a pretty good reason to come over here," Wolter figured.

"I'm sure a lot of people are going to roll their eyes and say oh it's the Davinci Code and if they do they do. This is the evidence. This is who was there. This is what the grave slabs tell us. It is what it is," he said.

Wolter and Nielsen's authored the book "The Kensington Runestone: Compelling New Evidence." Wolter is currently writing another book on the Runestone.