Thursday, November 8, 2007

Mystery Mutilation Of Pony Investigated

(from The Star Tribune) - A palomino pony found dead and mutilated outside its owners' Todd County home wasn't killed in a hunting accident, according to a veterinarian who exhumed the animal Wednesday afternoon.

"It clearly wasn't a hunting accident," said Dr. Charles Moberg. "There was no evidence of trauma caused by a bullet."

On Tuesday, Todd County Sheriff's investigators had called the death a shooting accident, speculating that cuts on the pony's face were the result of the hunter trying to recover his bullet and avoid prosecution.

By Wednesday evening, however, investigators were back at square one.

"We eliminated the obvious first and now we can go on from here," said Todd County Chief Deputy Bryan Tebben.

Eleven-year-old Katie Symalla found her animal, Savannah, dead on the family's Long Prairie property on Saturday, the opening day of the firearms deer-hunting season.

The pony was the same color as a deer and the family's property is near state hunting land, said Tebben. A hunting mishap seemed to be the most likely explanation.

But the family doubted Savannah had been shot by hunters and arranged for Moberg to examine the animal with representatives of the Sheriff's Office present.

It appears someone used a sharp instrument to remove all the soft tissue on the left side of the head, including the lip, nostril and ear flap, Moberg said. There also was very little blood in the pony.

"Right now I'm left with more questions than answers," Moberg said. "I don't want to throw out conjecture but I can say that it was a heinous act ... and cruel. Hopefully the horse didn't suffer."

Investigators also will contact other agencies to determine if there have been similar cases.

"We don't know what to think," Tebben said. "There's no explanation as to what happened. ... I was hoping for a logical explanation.


St. Louis County Has It's Share Of Haunted Locations

<--B. Donovan's, most recently know as Big Chief Dakota, in Wildwood, is rumored to be haunted

(from The Chesterfield Journal) - Steven Smith, owner of B. Donovan's, 17352 Manchester Road in Wildwood, said the restaurant had been part of the Big Chief Dakota, which was a hotel and restaurant along with 62 cabins."It opened in 1929 and included running water and heated rooms," he said.

The location was along Route 66. Smith said he has heard a number of stories about the property.

"One is that there is a female Indian ghost that walks along the back of the property," he said. "The other is supposedly when they tore down a cabin, a body was found in the wall."

Smith said strange incidents happen in the restaurant.

In spring, he and three employees were sitting in the restaurant after closing time and heard a woman's voice, he said.

"There was no woman in the restaurant at the time, and we searched for her -- but she was not found," Smith said.

He said footsteps sometimes are heard when no one is seen on the stairs.

"There are also a lot of noises in the attic," Smith said.

The thing that seems to bother him the most are weird holes that appear in the ceiling of the attic. He said he keeps sealing them, and "when I return in the morning, a new hole appears," he said.

"It is an old building; who knows what it is?" he said. "At least it seems like a friendly ghost, since nothing bad happens."

Like at B. Donovan's, an Indian woman is said to also haunt the hillside at the main entrance to Creve Coeur Park in Maryland Heights.

Legend has it an Indian princess fell in love with a warrior who never returned from a hunting trip. Brokenhearted, the princess went to the top of the cliff near the park entrance and jumped into the water below. Creve Coeur is French for "broken heart."

Paul Thompson, a former city employee now writing a book about Maryland Heights history, said he's found several versions of how the park got its name, including a cholera epidemic someone described as making her "broken hearted" and a military leader named Creve Coeur.

Though Thompson has found several written accounts about the Indian princess, he said the legend is almost certainly a myth with maybe a small element of truth. He believes the story continues to endure because of the dripping springs running down the hill, which are said to be the princess's tears.

Many park visitors also claim to hear wailing or crying coming from the hillside at night.

Downtown Kirkwood also is home to possible spirits moving among the living.

Richard Ryan, manager of Massa's Restaurant, 131 W. Argonne Drive, said the restaurant is a former location of the Bopp Chapel funeral home, which started there in 1915 and relocated in 1961 to 10610 Manchester Road.

Ryan said he has experienced strange occurrences in the basement. He is one of the few people who enter the basement, because "no one else wants to go down there," he said.

One time when he was in the basement, a door slammed for no reason, he said, adding that the basement is sealed from any breezes.

"Also, there was a Christmas tree in the basement and branches were moving on their own, like someone was touching it," he said.

Ryan said he spent a night at the restaurant while it was being restored, and he heard all kinds of noises.

Webster Groves is another city where spooky incidents have occurred.

Wayne Crull is chief executive officer of Edgewood Children's Center, 330 N. Gore Ave., near Rock Hill. Crull said there have been stories that the Rock House, in which his office is located, is haunted.

He said the Rock House, which now houses administrative offices, was constructed in 1850.

"There was a fire around 1900, and the building was gutted and the only parts that were left were the beams that make up the main floor and stonework," he said.

Crull said it is believed a child perished in the fire. Employees have claimed they have seen the ghost of a little girl, he said.

"She seems friendly," Crull said, adding that the staff named her "Rachel."

According to the school's Web site, an Edgewood employee was working late in the Rock House a few years ago. The employee was standing in the first-floor central corridor and heard footsteps coming from the other end.

The "footsteps" passed him and continued to the opposite end of the corridor and were heard to climb a staircase that does not exist anymore.

Crull said he has not seen the ghost.

"A number of years ago, before I started, an exorcism was conducted and no one has seen the ghost since then," Crull said.


Pick Your Favorite Alien Conspiracy Theory









Roswell Debris Analyzed



An analysis of alleged debris from the Roswell spacecraft that crash landed in 1947.


Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Missouri Investigator Receives Recognition For Waverly Hills Ghost Photo


A member of Missouri Paranormal Research, Tom Halstead is one of a growing number of people in the area interested in making contact with the spirit world and documenting what they find. Halstead's interest in the paranormal stems from experiences in his family's house in the 3500 block of Westridge Lane in St. Ann. He glimpsed what he said was an apparition while doing a repair project at the house.

"It looked like a corpse," he said.

A short while later, while Halstead was outside, a stranger stopped by the house. He said he lived in the house in the 1950s. Halstead asked if he knew if anyone had died in the house. The man suddenly became less talkative, Halstead said, and quickly excused himself.

"He said he had to go somewhere and got in his car and left," Halstead said.

He never learned if anyone had died in the house or why he seemed to be the only family member to have seen the ghost.

The paranormal activity in the home has decreased during the years, Halstead said.

Oujia boards and seances - long held to be methods for contacting those on the other side - have been replaced by researchers using high-tech audio equipment, digital cameras and electronic devices that measure sudden fluctuations in ambient temperature.

But it was on black-and-white film that Halstead captured an image last year of what appears to be a young woman entering a hallway from a room in the long-abandoned Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Ky.

Halstead was part of a team of investigators who spent a night in the former tuberculosis hospital that operated during the so-called "white plague" TB outbreak during the early 1900s. Considered one of the most haunted locations in the world, the hospital reportedly was the site of more than 63,000 deaths.

Halstead was on the fourth floor of the hospital about 6 a.m. when he said a presence was felt.

"We felt something was definitely there," he said.

Halstead picked up his camera, started panning around the area and began snapping shots.

"I don't remember seeing that woman there," he said. "It wasn't until I developed it later that I realized I caught something."

She appeared to be a young woman, perhaps not more than 17 or 18, with long, black hair and wearing what appears to be a nightgown.

That photo, taken in September 2006, won Halstead the "Best Ghost Evidence" award at the First Paranormal Awards Ceremony in July, part of the Ghost World Conference in Gettysburg, Penn.

Greg Myers of Arnold, director of Missouri Paranormal Research, said Halstead and others involved in these organizations - there are many such groups across the country - are serious investigators.

"A lot of people want to go out for the thrill-seeking aspect," he said. "Most of our people, we've been in paranormal situations. We're not out looking for that thrill. We're out to help people."

Myers said paranormal research is gaining wider legitimacy among the general public, even if it's still viewed with skepticism by other professional researchers.

"In the scientific community, we're still considered a para-science," he said. "The normal person is becoming more believing. Four or five out of 10 believe in the paranormal. That keeps going up every year."

However, according to Myers, there remains a corps of nonbelievers bent on discrediting the researchers and questioning their findings. They are called "trolls."

Halstead knows firsthand about the trolls, one of whom lives in the St. Louis area, he said, adding, "I know who it is, but I won't say."

Halstead said he has been a target since he took the picture at the old TB hospital, getting as many as five e-mails in one day from someone questioning the validity of his photo.

"It's been a year, and they continue to harass," he said.

The skepticism of some doesn't dampen Halstead's enthusiasm for research, nor does it discourage people who think they might be dealing with spirits and want to know for sure.

"We get contacted a lot," he said. "We've got investigations that are booked right now."

NOTE: "Ghost Hunters" (TAPS) conducted a live broadcast paranormal investigation from Waverly Hills Sanatorium on November 1st. The results of the investigation are to be revealed November 7th.


Crocodile Hunter's Death Premonition: 'He Had This Strange Feeling'

It’s been over a year since Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was tragically killed by the barb of a stingray.

Steve’s wife, Terri Irwin, is pressing on in Steve’s memory, sharing poignant moments from his life in the Animal Planet special, “In Steve’s Footsteps,” airing this Sunday.

She also shared them with Access Hollywood, including sad details about how Steve knew his life would end at a young age.

“He had this strange feeling, especially after losing his mother in a car accident. He said ‘I just have a feeling it’s going to be something like that, something sudden.’

“It was bizarre,” she continued. “He wasn’t sad, or awful about it. He took it on that ‘Come on, come on, come on! We’ve got to get this done. I don’t know how long I’m going to be here. Let’s make it happen!’” ....Continue reading at Crocodile Hunter's Death Premonition


UFO Sighted Over Canadian Northwest Territories

An unidentified flying object was seen hovering over Deline the morning of Nov. 2.

Simon Neyelle was on his way home at 5 a.m. when he first saw a bright light hovering near a ridge just outside of the community.

"It was just sitting there, it didn't move," said Neyelle. He observed the object hovering over the ridge for an hour, and called other people in the community to see the object.

Martina Taniton and Dave Taniton also saw the object and Dave took nearly an hour of footage. Martina described the object as a triangle shape with a big light in the middle of it that looked like a bright star. The object was close to the Taniton's residence, and Martina said it was slowly moving backwards.

Pheobe Esau also saw the object and her husband took a short video. Esau said she could see some sort of laser coming out of the bottom of the object going into a lake below.

The Taniton video was later shown at the Ehtseo Ayha school. The school's principal Reed Smith, who saw the video briefly, said it was a grainy image of a large glowing object hovering in the sky.

Greg Wasserman, who works as an observer communicator and normally maintains radio contact with incoming aircraft, said he didn't get any radio communication. He noted, however, that not all aircraft always radio in when they are flying over.

He said he briefly saw the bright light at around 8 a.m. when he went outside for a weather observation, and assumed it was an aircraft.

"Usually when you see a bright light, it's a plane flying by."

Kevin Hyllestad with Sahtu Helicopters, and Jodie Bohlken from Canadian Helicopters, the two companies who fly helicopters for the region, both said they had no aircraft flying close to Deline that morning.

North-Wright Airways Ltd. would not confirm if they had any aircraft around Deline at that time.

Ron Singer, a communications advisor with Nav Canada said they didn't received any reports of UFO's in the area at that time. The agency has no staff presence in the area, and Singer said that since UFO's usually don't have transponders they don't pick them up on radar.

"There's no way of confirming if something was in that airspace," said Singer.


Maryland Teen Hired Hitman To Cap Mom Who Took His Playstation Away

A 16-year-old is going on trial in the U.S. after his mother caught him hiring a hitman to kill her.

Cory Ryder was arrested after a sting operation in June this year after a woman he trusted - the mother of one of his friends - took him to a hotel room to meet someone he believed was a hitman, but who was in reality an undercover policeman.

The teen, like other teens, had rowed with his parents over Playstation and TV, and had been grounded.

His mother, Shannan Troiano, 35, recalled the night of the sting at an earlier hearing.

Waiting at home to hear the results on June 2, she told her husband Joey that Cory would never go through with it and frantically tidied the house. When the police called later to say her son was in custody and would be charged with attempted murder, she burst into tears, according to the Washington Post.

Mrs Troiano explained how her emotions were torn between being an agonised mother and an attempted murder victim.

"I miss him being at home," she said, "and I miss us joking around and kidding around. And then in the very same breath – I don't know what this kid will do, because it's not my son. That can't be my little boy sitting there."

Police say that Cory offered the undercover officer his stepfather's new pickup truck as payment for killing his parents. "Two bullets is all it takes," he is alleged to have said.

His mother, a financial manager at Patuxent River naval station, and stepfather, a computer specialist, had lived an ordinary life with Cory and his two stepsisters. Mrs Troiano had left his father when Cory was little more than a year old but, by the time she remarried, her son's behaviour was getting steadily worse.

He walked out of lessons at Spring Ridge Middle School in Lexington Park, smashed a fire extinguisher case and then broke into the county fairgrounds, where he vandalised property. A judge sentenced him to supervised probation and his parents attended no less than 36 meetings with the authorities about him.

But Cory dropped out of school and then, after stealing $45 (£22) from his sister's piggy bank, had a fight with his mother, which led to him being kicked out of home. He has since told officials that he was upset about being thrown out of the house and that he felt pressured to talk to the man in the hotel.

Cory insists that he never intended to have his parents killed and that he wanted to call the police that night in the hotel room. A judge has ruled that he should be tried in the juvenile system, which means that he cannot be held beyond his 21st birthday.

He has written to his mother, saying: "You know I love you with all my heart mom!"

But his attempt at reconciliation is not swaying his mother, who fears he is being manipulative.

She wanted him tried in an adult court where he would have faced a much longer sentence.

"He needs to understand what he did was wrong," she told the court in September. "I'm scared to death that if this kid is serious, and they put him in a three-month programme, they're going to release him to the street."


Michigan Couple Escapes Injury From Falling Cow

A Michigan couple is lucky to be alive after their minivan was hit by a falling cow on Sunday.

According to a report in the Wenatchee World newspaper, Charles Everson, Jr. and his wife Linda were driving on Highway 150 about one mile east of Manson in Chelan County when a cow fell about 200 feet off a cliff and landed on the hood of their minivan.

"It was 'bam'- you just saw something come down and hit the hood," Everson told the newspaper from a hotel room in Manson.

Everson, 49, and his wife were visiting the area from Westland, Michigan, near Detroit, and were headed back to their hotel after attending a church service.

The newspaper cites Everson saying he didn't see the animal until it hit and didn't realize what happened until after the impact.

"I'm like, 'I don't believe this, I don't believe this, I don't believe this,'" Everson told the newspaper.

"It's funny because it was such a close call," Arnold Baker, Chelan County Fire District 5 Chief told the World. "Inches different and the couple in this car would have been killed."

The Eversons were examined at Lake Chelan Community Hospital and released. The cow was euthanized at the scene.

Rena Albertson, the owner of the cow, said the animal was named Michelle and the family had raised her from a calf.

"She was a long way from home, lost and scared," said Rena Albertson. "She was at a breeding facility since August and had broken away from their control about three weeks ago."

Anderson said after weeks of attempting to contain Michelle, the breeder was right behind her on a four-wheeled ATV, but an hour later she was dead.

"She is very missed and I have yet to figure out how to tell our children what happened to her," said Albertson.



Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Sasquatch Skeptics Are "Cop Outs" And Afraid The Mystery Will End

Just when you thought life couldn’t possibly get any more exciting, Bigfoot pops his beautiful face - OK fine, it was his back, but whatever - out of the forest. Reports out of Pennsylvania have Bigfoot enthusiasts jumping out of their socks.

As the story goes, Rick Jacobs went hunting in the Allegheny National Forest, hoping to photograph deer with an automatic camera he had tied to a tree. Instead, he was shocked to discover he had taken a photo of what could be described as Sasquatch, or Bigfoot. After contacting the Bigfoot Research Organization - like this wouldn’t exist - the man found support for his theory that Bigfoot actually exists. Paul Majeta, of the Bigfoot group, was confidant in what Jacobs’ photos yielded. “It appears to be a primate-like animal. In my opinion, it appears to be a juvenile Sasquatch,” he said.

If you haven’t seen the picture, there’s not much to it. Basically, all you can make out is a blurry looking shot of a black, furry creature, which appears to be bending over provocatively. One could argue it’s attempting to do yoga. That argument wouldn’t settle well with Bigfoot enthusiasts, however, who are jumping at the opportunity to label this photograph the real deal. Skeptics, meanwhile, say the photo is merely a bear suffering from a serious case of mange.

But to me, that just screams, “Cop out.” First of all, lets look at who these skeptics are: biologists. These are the same people who try to tell me that the earth is round, and that we all evolved from a big explosion. Right. While biologists should be the ones leading the search for Bigfoot, instead they’re scaring him away, keeping him pent up in the depths of the forestry, sad, lonely and beleaguered.

Now tell me this. When was the last time a biologist looked past books, pie charts and DNA samples? If biologists would take off their safety goggles and open up their eyes to the real world, they would see the idea of Bigfoot isn’t that far fetched. They would also realize that when former Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter claimed to have seen UFOs, they weren’t just senile old men.

I’m not one to say aliens are visiting this earth on a constant basis and giant, bear-like creatures are roaming our forests, but I see no reason why unidentified aircraft couldn’t occasionally penetrate our skies or a funky animal couldn’t occasionally visit our national parks. Laugh at me all you will, but whoever said humans know what the hell is going on in this world anyway? Evolution makes perfect sense to me, and so does the Pythagorean theorem. I also believe that anyone in Kansas who tries to teach “intelligent design” deserves to be lambasted. Yet, none of this explains why six billion people are occupying a planet that is powered by a gigantic star. In my mind, that makes just as much sense as a UFO. You could argue Bigfoot is a big stretch, because if he did exist, he would be documented by now. But who would do the documenting? Answer: scientists. So, really, it’s all one big circle. And I don’t like circles. They don’t get you anywhere.

Bigfoot has become a part of pop culture. He’s shown his face in movies, commercials, you name it. As for me, I write about pop culture. Therefore, by the transitive property, I am Bigfoot. No wait, that can’t be right.

Whatever the case, I know this to be true: Bigfoot might have been photographed in Pennsylvania, and people are brushing it off as a bad case of mange? If you’re going to be a skeptic, you could at least come up with a better excuse than a skin infestation. For those of you who think this is all a big joke, you can take your ignorance and go home. I, on the other hand, will go watch “Harry and the Hendersons” and believe.

NOTE: It has been a joy to read the Bigfoot boards and witness the 'experts' stumble over each other making pseudo scientific comparisons to black bears with mange. These skeptics, for the most part, have once again proven that they are wannabees hoping the mystery of Bigfoot will never end.


More South London UFO Sightings

<-- Image of UFOs in South London earlier this year

Sutton's experts on the unexplained, the Ashfield Paranormal Investigation Team (TAPIT), are looking into reports of strange objects in the night sky on Saturday.

Members of the team say calls have been flooding in from locals claiming to have seen a number of large orange balls in the air.

Says Lee Roberts, team leader for TAPIT: "We have had three reports from people at a restaurant in South Normanton describing the object as like a flame going across the sky which was not a plane or a firework."

One resident of Sherwood Street in Kirkby, who asked not to be named, told Chad she and her husband had seen a total of six of the objects in the sky.

She said: "They were definitely not fireworks or a plane or a helicopter. They were just silent and moved too fast. One of them was just hovering in the sky and then it shot off and five or six seconds later was a tiny dot.

"We were thinking we were going potty. But then we went to our local club the next day and someone else said they had seen them."

Now the paranormal investigators are making enquiries in a bid to discover the truth behind the sightings.

Added Lee: "We are doing investigations with East Midlands Airport and local air bases to see if there is anything they know of which could explain the sightings and what we can rule out."


Connecticut Investigator Has Historical Roots With The Paranormal


Christine Kaczynski comes from a long line of exorcists.

"It's something that some people were born to do. Not everyone can do it," Kaczynski said. "It's a war between minds and spirits."

Despite a family exorcism lineage that she traces back to her grandparents in Greece, Kaczynski prefers to focus her energies on house calls to investigate the paranormal. Kaczynski says she's been at it for 35 years, communicating, she contends, with spirits that don't want to be exposed, and freeing souls.

And, to an extent, the work stays in the family. Kaczynski says her daughter is "a sensitive," someone who those who embrace the paranormal believe has the ability to communicate with, and feel, spirits. Her husband often accompanies her on investigations. Her son prefers to be a skeptic. Kaczynski keeps her family away from the worst cases. Take the East Haddam house she worked in a few years back. Like most of her cases -- she's done hundreds, and she does not charge a fee -- she was called based on word of mouth. She approached this case, like all cases, with a high-degree of skepticism. (She requires prospective clients to see a mental health professional before she takes a case.)

Not knowing the case would be among her most difficult. Kaczynski said she and another exorcist were in the home overnight, struggling to cast out an evil spirit. The two finished by about 5 a.m., after a long night of equipment malfunctioning and doors mysteriously opening. She said both of them became very sick afterward. She'll never return to that area again.

"When you cast it out, you don't destroy it. It's just waiting again for everything to come together, for all the elements to be correct, to possess someone again," said Kaczynski, of East Haven. "I don't want my family close to anything that evil."

Kaczynski, who runs an engineering company with her husband, encourages skeptics and paranormal veterans alike to join Connecticut Paranormal Research and Investigations, a group she founded and leads. She runs the organization through Meetup.com, a social-networking site, and there she posts times and meeting dates.

The organization's East Haven office has photographs of shadow people and other phenomena, books about ghosts and a Ouija board. A door with the words "CT PRI Evidence Review Room" houses files, photos and video clips from various projects.

Kaczynski offers lectures in the office -- where the presence of spirits has been felt before -- and answers questions about the paranormal. The presentation, "Journey Into the Paranormal," includes a slide show. It has a series of photos from an investigation at the Carousel Gardens restaurant in Seymour and a private case in which Kaczynski speaks with a demon possessing a woman's body.

Most recently, the group asked to visit the Bank Street Coffee House in New Milford. Lauren Street, an employee of the eatery who lives next door, said she sensed something was amiss since her first day on the job in September.

"A couple of days ago, our baker went downstairs to grab something, and she turned around, and there was a little girl sitting on a chair. Then she disappeared," Street said. Her boyfriend Kenny Ramey believes that was the same little girl he once saw watching Street sleep, a girl who died in a fire that consumed the downtown area in 1902.

As Kaczynski does before any attempt to speak with the dead, she asked everyone in the basement storeroom to recite the "Our Father" prayer -- to help, she says, keep the negative energy at bay -- before reaching out to the Bank Street ghost.

Ten members of the investigations team checked the coffeehouse thoroughly, opening doors that had been nailed shut and walking up staircases that had been walled off. Kaczynski sensed the energy in the coffeehouse, feeling a strong "female energy" full of anxiety and tension.

In the end, the group sensed several different spirits that have roamed downtown New Milford since the 1902 fire. The owner of the coffeehouse invited the group back in late November.

Only a few people on the investigations team are "sensitives." Most are curious believers.

Francis . of Manchester joined the group out of curiosity. He said he has been with the group on about 20 investigations and exorcisms.

"You can believe in this stuff," Cook said. "Instead of believing, I wanted to see it myself."

And he has, thanks in part to Kaczynski's level-headedness.

"Christine ... has the ability to make you feel comfortable in a not-so-normal situation," Cook said.

To each investigation, the group takes electromagnetic field detectors, voice recorders and several digital cameras to measure and capture abnormalities caused by what they contend are ghosts, rather than dust, lighting or weather.

"You've got a lot of groups who like to grasp at straws. I don't like to do that," Kaczynski said. "I like things that are more concrete. If I'm going to attach my name to it, it's got to be good."


West Chester University Has It's Share Of Hauntings

Like many schools, West Chester University has its own ghost stories and legends about parts of campus that are haunted.

These stories have been passed down from class to class, although the story may be altered and the legends continue. Some of the buildings include Hollinger Field House, Ramsey Hall, Francis Harvey Green Library and Philips Hall.

In the early 1920s, a student, Drutz, hung himself in the fourth floor stairwell in the Hollinger Field House. He did it the weekend of homecoming. Rumor has it that Drutz comes back each homecoming weekend to haunt the gym.

Dorothy Ramsey was an English Professor years ago. Ramsey Hall was named after her. The hall has a plaque dedicated to her that states the wrong date of her death. The plaque claims she died on April 31, 1974, a day that does not exist. She haunts the dorm because the date has not yet been corrected.

Rumor has it that Dorothy died in Ramsey. Some say that she committed suicide there. The sixth floor is supposed to be the most haunted floor as it is said that is where her life was taken.

It is not just the old buildings that are haunted. The Francis Harvey Green Library is believed to be haunted as well. Supposedly, the top floor is haunted. The story behind this is unknown. Be aware the next time checking a book out or using the resources.

Philips Hall is believed to be haunted by ghosts that want to perform on the stage. Outside the building, the archways on either side of the building are known for people whispering in the arches. Two people can whisper to each other by standing on the same entrance to the archway, but one on either side of the same arch. Try it one day, it really works.

According to a source, other hauntings in the town of West Chester involve people seeing ghosts and unexplainable events.

The Ground Round restaurant is haunted by a girl that choked to death inside of it. Now there are reports of objects being moved and the lights going on and off mysteriously.

The Chester County museum was built on and near a graveyard, as well as on the site of an old Underground Railroad station. Visitors of the museum claim to have seen ghosts there. It is thought that the ghosts are the victims murdered in the Underground Railroad.

These are some of the legends that have occurred throughout West Chester as a campus and a town. There may be even more stories and more to each of the stories to be told.

There are many ghosts that are believed to be haunting the campus of West Chester, from students, to professors, to the rest of the dead who come back for a purpose.

There are different versions to the stories and some are still a mystery. Some people would love to see a ghost, and for others simply hearing stories is scary enough.


Officials: Aliens Responsible For Fires In Sicily

It's official, says a leaked government report. A bunch of unexplained fires three years ago in the northern Sicily town of Canneto di Caronia were caused by aliens.

A $2 million investigation involving experts--including a NASA scientist--has been looking into the incidents. At the time, household objects across the village were bursting into flames, including a pile of wedding presents, furniture and appliances.

If you travel to Canneto di Caronia today, you probably won't see any more exploding chairs, but who knows when the aliens the government says are responsible will return. For the record, Sicily's civil protection boss said they don't suspect little green men, as such; just "unnatural forces" with a whole lot of energy. Sounds like aliens to us.


Strange Corpse Discovered In New Jersey Attic

Just in time for Halloween, we present to you The Thing That Came from the Attic. The unholy demon creature was pulled out of the Crowleytown Schoolhouse in Mullica Township by Doug Laubert, who hasn't the slightest idea of what it is.

"The general consensus is that maybe it's a deformed flying squirrel," Laubert said of the freakish mummy-thing. "Maybe it's a salamander - but it has hair! Maybe it's a chipmunk - but it has a fish tail! When I first saw it, I thought it was a mudskipper - but it has teeth!"

All he knows is that mysterious crypto-creature was found in an area where no one has set foot for at least 30 years. He had punched a hole in a panel to run some TV cable through it, and there it was in all of its glory.

He and his family have thought up some names for the ungodly fish-being, among them "The Spawn of the Jersey Devil" and his nephew's suggestion, "Herman the Vermin."

Press nature columnist Kevin Post chimed in that "Herman" could be a dried up mudpuppy, until he saw the hair and teeth. Other suggestions thrown around included some kind of bat, a rodent, or the Fiji Mermaid.

Whatever it is, Laubert - who, incidentally, is on the ballot next week for a spot as a Mullica committeeman - plans to preserve the tiny gremlin-corpse forever. It will take its place of honor in his collection, he said, next to a dead cat with a glass eye named "Sammy."

So if you see something like this in your own home, whether it's slowly crawling along your floor or simply creeping unseen into your bed in the middle of the night, just try not to look directly into its eyes.


Monday, November 5, 2007

Demon Makes Appearance At Reception

A Colorado man reports he was able to kick his drug habit after a photograph of him at a relative's anniversary celebration showed – literally – a demon on his shoulder.

Joe Martinez told Fox 31 News in Denver (video) that drugs were killing his soul.

But he's now on the road to recovery because of the photograph.

"I look at it and I carry it wherever I go," he told the television station.

The photo showed a typically smiling couple at a anniversary reception. What it also shows is what Martinez's wife, Patty, describes as "Satan."

"Right away I really thought, I said, 'You're really walking with Satan'," she said.

The photo was taken at a family anniversary celebration several years ago. It was in an album until just months ago, but Martinez says he won't be without it now because of the reminder it provides.

"There's good and evil in life. The good on the right hand side of me, and the evil on the left side of me," Martinez told the station.

The photograph, on close examination, appears to include the image of a dog peering over Martinez's shoulder.

Brian Bonner of the Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society said most such cases are explained relatively simply. But for this one, he said, there's not enough evidence to support a conclusion.

A photographic expert, John Davenport of Roach Photo, told the station the picture did not have evidence of tampering.

"It doesn't look like it was double-printed or spliced in," he said. "The grain is uniform."

Martinez admits having battled drugs.

"I always prayed to the Lord and told him, 'I can't do it alone,'" he said to the station.

He and his wife credit the appearance of the image in the photo for his recovery from addiction.

"There's not another high left in me," Martinez said.


Paranormal Investigation Of Virginia Mansion

Ghost hunters converged onto the Major Grahams Mansion in Wythe county searching for spirit activity.

The historical property located in Grahams Forge has many folklore stories that make it a prime spot for possible paranormal activity.

Recently the Virginia Paranormal Society (formerly known as the New River Paranormal Group) contacted Mary Lin Brewer about investigating any activity in the mansion. The GrahamFest director did her research on the group and then welcomed them to a visit after the music festival. On Oct. 13 the VPS had its initial investigation and picked up a child’s voice on an audio recorder – what is known in the researcher circles as an EVP (electronic voice phenomena). The local group also recorded a man’s voice inside the music room saying, “I don’t play that tune.”

Brewer is gathering Major Graham Mansion history through local historians.

The first parts of what make up the mansion started in the 1830s when Squire David Graham inherited the property. The property stayed in the family until the 1930s, after which it went through a few different owners until J.C. Weaver bought the farmland and historical home in 1990. He still owns the property and this past summer hosted an inaugural music festival there.

According to Brewer, one of the more well known legends is that the frame section of the mansion was built around a log cabin owned by John Baker ii 1785. The story has it that Baker and two of his slaves were making moonshine. Baker told the slaves that he would give them their freedom upon his death. The slaves hastened Baker’s death, disposing of his body in the mash. During that time this area was part of Montgomery County and there are indeed records of the slaves being arrested, tried and hanged.

A local neighbor told Brewer how his grandfather had pointed out the hickory tree where the slaves were said to have been hanged.

A tour guide for the GrahamFest, who is also a clairvoyant, had strong feelings of a frightened young female child while she was giving tours. She spoke of how this girl held onto her skirt the entire time she was in the house. The mansion has been vacant since the 1980s.


Sunday, November 4, 2007

Large Cat Sighted On Outer Cape Cod

Here on the outskirts of the territory of the legendary Pamet Puma, local residents may fail to be impressed by reports of strange large cats prowling about. But the sudden appearance of a mountain lion in the back yard surprised the pants off a renter on Hamblin Farm Road.

It happened about two months ago. According to Wellfleet Animal Control Officer Lorial Russell, the man was on the back porch talking on his cell phone when the wild cat came by.

“At the same time he noticed it, it noticed him,” Russell said. The beast sprinted off into the salt marsh behind the house, but not before the man was able to capture an image of it on the camera built into his phone.

Unfortunately, the photo did not come out very well, showing only “a beige stripe.” Russell looked for pawprints, but there was so much leaf litter on the ground that it was difficult to find them, she said.

Still, there appears to be no doubt in her mind that it was, indeed, a mountain lion. “He described it to a tee,” she said. Plus, she pointed out, this is not the first time she has dealt with large cat sightings. In recent years she’s responded to reports of giant cats lounging on tree limbs and, in one case, a lion-like animal skulking off Lieutenant Island Road.

Mountain lion is a synonym for puma, cougar and panther — a fierce feline that lives in the forests of North America and can be up to six feet long, not including the two-foot-long tail. Russell was skeptical, however, about the Hamblin Farm Road cat being related to the actual Pamet Puma — the creature that has reportedly stalked the Pamet Valley in years past. While this animal was tawny, she said, the puma was supposedly black.


Map of UFO Sightings Hotspots


Click map for larger image


J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies from Chicago published this map of UFO sightings in the US. It indicates the number of UFO reports per 100.000 people by county in the continental US. Some observations:

• There is a marked difference in levels of UFO visitation between the eastern and western halves of the continental US. Apparently, extraterrestrials like it out west.
• Marked exceptions to this rule is a hotspot in northern Minnesota, several others spread out mainly in Missouri and Illinois and a small area in the Florida panhandle.
• Aliens like the west, but generally don’t care for Dixie: the south is remarkably UFO-free.
• Preferred landing spots of UFOs are concentrated in the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, the three coastal states and Nevada – with a spike around, of course, Area 51.


Video: Sasquatch Attacks 'History Channel' Crew


Video account of the 'History Channel' MonsterQuest crew’s encounter with a rock-throwing Sasquatch in Snelgrove, Ontario.


Was Vietnamese Boy Infected With Alien Parasites?

The boy, who was admitted to the Central Children’s Hospital about ten days ago for coughing up blood, is in recovery, the doctors said.

The 2.3 centimeter long parasite, which had two barbs at its tail and suckers at its head, had sucked blood out of a mucous membrane in the child’s bronchial tube, they said, adding they did not know how the parasites were able to attack the bronchial tube.

Scientists from the Hanoi Medical University and National Institute of Science said they had not been able to identify the parasites yet.

The doctors from the Central Children’s Hospital found and removed the first parasite on Oct. 25. Two days later, however, the boy coughed up blood again.

The doctors then found another parasite similar to the first which was lodged more deeply in his bronchial tube. They were only able to remove half of the second parasite.

NOTE: There have been several reports of UFOs in and around Hanoi and further north towards the Chinese border within the past few months. As well, people in at least 2 villages west of Hanoi have described UFOs crashing. The Vietnamese government has denied any such events. An incident from Hanoi is captured on video below:




Saturday, November 3, 2007

Investigators Unable To Explain Activity In North Carolina Library

More often than not, investigators with the Haunted North Carolina team can explain away reports of the suspected paranormal with scientific reasons for the strange sights and sounds.

On occasion, they can't.

That was the case after visiting the Webb Memorial Library and Civic Center in Morehead City, where an image recorded during their latest investigation caught their attention and generated the type of excitement that motivates them.

"I've had experiences where I've seen stuff, where I've seen shadows, seen images ... but there's no proof," said Waverly Hawthorne, an investigator with the Haunted North Carolina team for seven years. "Here's something to go with the story."

Members of Haunted North Carolina were invited to conduct an investigation at the Webb library as part of the weekend's Crystal Coast Book Festival.

As a scientifically based paranormal research and investigative team, the group goes into investigations armed with equipment ranging from electromagnetic field detectors and digital and audio equipment to capture sounds and images.

With baseline recordings taken to establish what is normal for a building, the investigators then watch for variances that they work to explain.

They were gathered in one room when static appeared on a monitor displaying images from a camera mounted at the south end of the library's first floor hallway.

In comparing pictures from the camera, there is at least one of the shots they can't explain. For a moment, they say, something blocked the source of the light.

Yet, the building was locked down, all investigators were in the same room at the time, the equipment was running properly, the overhead chandelier never went out and they could not re-create any other situation that could cause it.

"The lights never went out, the halo from the light is still there but all of a sudden the light source was not there," Hawthorne said.

Noel McCreath called the image an unusual find and the most significant one she has seen in her five years with Haunted North Carolina.

But as they presented their findings Saturday afternoon at the close of the book festival, McCreath said it's not their job to force their opinions on the public.

"Take it for what it is, but we can't tell you exactly what it is," she told the group that gathered at the train depot to hear the results.

Scientific evidence is what Haunted North Carolina is after as it investigates possible hauntings and related phenomena.

McCreath said that by ruling out what is normal or what can be explained, they can look at the paranormal.

Lead investigator Jim Hall, who has been involved in paranormal research for more than 20 years, said strong electromagnetic fields, for instance, can affect the brain, resulting in people's seeing, hearing and smelling things that can be interpreted as the paranormal.

While he says most of their investigations reveal the normal rather than paranormal, there are times when experiences can't be explained.

Webb library general manager Sandy Bell has seen a few things at the library for which she has no explanation - from books that have fallen from their shelves for no reason to a glass-covered plaque that fell off the wall and landed unbroken at least 4 feet from where it was hanging.

And once, a globe on an overhead light broke and the light bulb had remained in the fixture. But staff members returned the next morning to fix the globe and found the light bulb sitting on the floor standing straight up on its end.

Through the years there have been reports of images of fishermen walking through as if on their way to the waterfront.

Bell said she has always "felt" a warm and receptive energy when walking into the library and said that the Haunted North Carolina visit may have confirmed some of the strange things that have happened.

She was impressed by the scientific approach and said she is open to the idea that "there are things out there that we just don't know."

Whether or not they left believers in the paranormal, there was an excitement over the unexpected findings of the investigation.

"I'm still a skeptic, but I can't help thinking that this is very exciting," said Crystal Coast Book Festival Chairman Connie Asero.


Is It A Unicorn?


The Last Unicorn - Das Letzte Einhorn?
The film, almost a minute long, captures what appears to be a creature many have only read about and seen in books and television. A mythical creature, whose stories have been handed down through time, creating legends and portrayed in drawings from times long ago. The video begins with a shot of the beautiful and isolated Swiss Val Cama and the valley's lake floor. After roughly thirty seconds in, we get a sudden attempt and shaking of the camera while Joern tries to focus in on a patch of forest clearing.


It's a white animal, possibly a horse, a cow maybe, or maybe even a mule. However, is it what we're lead to believe? The shot is too short and and we literally only get a few shots at focusing our eyes on the animal, as it then disappears into the trees. Einhorn, they call it.


Friday, November 2, 2007

Illinois Police Station Has A Paranormal History

When police Officer Ken Hoffman was told during his job interview that unexplained things had happened in the Bull Valley police station, he said he laughed out loud. But it took only a couple of weeks on the job before Hoffman experienced what would be a series of strange events in the Stickney House, he said.

The house at 1904 Cherry Valley Road in Bull Valley, which is home to the village police department, clerk, and Village Board meetings, is known for its rounded corners – designed for easier communication with the dead – and association with strange occurrences.

Hoffman said he did not believe in ghosts, but he admitted to experiencing five events in the house in the past two years that he could not explain.

The first happened while he and a police sergeant were talking with Clerk Phyllis Keinz in the clerk’s office. All of a sudden, a drawer on a desk next to where Keinz was sitting began to open slowly. Then, another drawer opened, and the desk began to tip over, Hoffman said.

Hoffman’s first reaction was to find a logical explanation, he said.

“I was thinking, ‘Why is the drawer opening by itself?’ I’m not sure if it was off-kilter or if the floor was not level,” he said.

But strange things kept happening. Just this month, Hoffman and Police Chief Norbert Sauers both saw a woman dressed in white walk past a front window while they were chatting in the chief’s office. When they went outside to see who she was and why she was outside, she had disappeared, Hoffman said.

“I still don’t believe [in ghosts],” he said. “I think there are things that occur that we can’t explain. There probably is a logical explanation. But given the history of the house, it’s kind of cool to be a part of it.”

George Stickney built the two-story yellow brick house between 1849 and 1865 and became one of the first settlers in Nunda Township, according to a history of the house prepared for the village in 1991.

The Stickney family practiced a religion called spiritualism, which held the belief that spirits hid in corners. In order to better communicate with the dead, the Stickneys had the outer walls of the house built with rounded corners.

The house was deeded to the village of Bull Valley as part of an annexation agreement in 1985 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, Sauers said.

“What’s unique is that when you drive down the road toward [the Stickney House], you can still visualize a different time period, and we don’t have enough of those [buildings] around anymore,” said Nancy Fike, director of the McHenry County Historical Society.

But to maintain the old house and eventually restore it to its original condition will take a lot more money than is currently available, Sauers said.

The Stickney House Foundation was established in 1991 to collect donations to restore the house so that eventually it can become a museum, said Sauers, who also is the president of the foundation.

Tax money is not used for restoration so that donors can give to the foundation and get a tax deduction, Sauers said.

The foundation has about $61,000 from fundraising events and donations but needs about $50,000 more just to restore the front entrance and balconies, Sauers said.

“There isn’t a house like this in a five-state area, and I think it’s very imperative that we try to keep this house from falling into disrepair and losing its historical value and also the folklore and the legends of this house,” Sauers said.

“This is part of McHenry County from its beginning.”

Sauers said he had not seen a ghost in the house, but he believed that the house had a special energy.

He has heard footsteps and pounding in the walls, seen lights turn on and off, and had more than one of his officers quit after experiencing strange things in the house, he said.

Visitors come to the Stickney House around Halloween every year, hoping to take a look inside and, if they’re lucky, spot a ghost, Sauers said.

Fike said she hoped that someday the visitors would come year-round.

“Maybe sometime when there’s enough money, we won’t just get calls at Halloween time,” Fike said. “It’s a beautiful building, and it deserves preservation.”


West Virginia Officials Attempt To Capture Image Of African Lion

Using a video camera and raw chicken, state officials hope to learn whether the king of the jungle is prowling the woods of West Virginia.

Bow hunter Jim Shortridge believes he saw a full-grown, male African lion weighing between 250 and 300 pounds at the foot of Cold Knob Mountain earlier this month. The state Division of Natural Resources confirmed that at least one other person has reported seeing the lion.

Using a camera normally employed to catch people dumping trash illegally, the state Department of Environmental Protection has joined with Greenbrier County Animal Control Officer Robert McClung and exotic animal expert Jim Forga to see if they can substantiate the sightings.

Twenty pounds of raw chicken left on the site last week were devoured, but McClung said that doesn't prove the lion's existence.

"Anything could have eaten that," he said.

If officials do spot the lion on videotape, they may set a bear trap for the animal. If caught, it would be turned over to Forga, who runs Tiger Mountain Refuge in Rainelle, a shelter for exotic animals.


Thursday, November 1, 2007

Seems Those 'Snake Oil' Salesmen Were On To Something

Throughout the 19th century salesmen traveled the U.S. peddling solutions to all medical ills. As depicted in numerous Westerns and in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, the "doctor" was aided by a shill in the crowd who would, at the appropriate moment, call out that this medicament, ointment or tincture had solved his woes. Once the unsuspecting public had purchased the con artists' wares, both would quickly depart before the townspeople discovered the worthlessness of the claims.

One of the most common cure-alls was snake oil, and its less than sterling efficacy soon lent its name as a generic to all such fraudulent hoaxes. The epithet endures: A quick search for "snake oil" on the Internet reveals that it still refers almost exclusively to something worthless and fake. But some of those original itinerant salesmen may have peddled actual Chinese snake oil, and those who did may not have been fraudulent after all.

For centuries snake oil has been a folk remedy in Chinese medicine, used primarily to treat joint pain such as arthritis and bursitis. Its introduction to the U.S. most likely occurred with the arrival of Chinese laborers who came to build the Transcontinental Railroad in the mid 1800s. They may have offered snake oil to fellow workers as relief for suffering long days of physical toil.

Richard Kunin, a California psychiatrist with a background in neurophysiology research, became intrigued with the idea of snake oil in the 1980s. He had been following early research on the importance of omega-3 fatty acids for health and it dawned on him that the much maligned snake oil might be a particularly rich source. Omega-3's proliferate in cold-blooded creatures that live primarily in cooler environments because the fats don't harden in chilly water like omega-6 fatty acids do (hence, the high level of omega-3's in cold-water fish such as salmon). "Snakes and fish share one thing, they're both cold-blooded animals," Kunin says.

Kunin visited San Francisco's Chinatown to buy such snake oil and analyze it. He also acquired two live rattlesnakes and extracted their fat sacks. According to his 1989 analysis published in the Western Journal of Medicine, Chinese water-snake oil contains 20 percent eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), one of the two types of omega-3 fatty acids most readily used by our bodies. In comparison, the rattlesnakes had only 8.5 percent EPA. And salmon, one of the most popular food sources of omega-3's, contains a maximum of 18 percent EPA, lower than that of snake oil.

Research since the 1980s has demonstrated the necessity—and efficacy—of omega-3 fatty acids. These acids not only reduce inflammation, such as arthritis pain, but also improve cognitive function and reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and even depression. "Because of their chemical structure, omega-3's behave very differently in cell membranes than any other fat," says Susan Allport, author of The Queen of Fats: Why Omega-3s Were Removed from the Western Diet and What We Can Do To Replace Them. "They're much more dynamic, they move around much more, so they allow a lot to happen in the cell membranes. And that's where enzymes do their work. So these fats allow enzymes to work."

Recently in Japan, a group of scientists at the Japanese National Food Research Institute led by Nobuya Shirai turned their attention to snake oil as well. In 2002, in Fisheries Science, they evaluated the composition of oil from the Erabu sea snake—the source of snake oil in traditional Chinese medicine. They analyzed such snakes caught in both the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea and determined that the amount of beneficial omega-3s in sea snakes does not vary depending on their capture location.

In a series of later papers, the most recent published in the Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism in July 2007, Shirai and his team evaluated the effects of Erabu sea-snake oil on a number of outcomes in mice, including maze-learning ability and swimming endurance. In both cases, snake oil significantly improved the ability of the mice in comparison with those fed lard.

Despite Shirai and Kunin's analyses, snake oil retains its fraudulent feel in the U.S., perhaps because the Japanese research is not widely known and we were only beginning to understand the need for omega-3's when Kunin published his analysis. "That study came out at the time that we were beginning to appreciate that we did indeed require omega-3's," Allport says. "The first medical reason people were looking at omega-3's was for arthritis…. [But] all of our cells in our bodies have a certain amount of omega-3's in them. Now we concentrate [research] on the brain and the heart because those are organs that have a higher concentration. But all our cells need these fats in them."

Of course, most 19th-century snake oil salesmen did not, in fact, sell this particular product. Even those hucksters who did sell actual snake oil would likely have sold the rattlesnake variety, nearly useless for any ache-relieving medicinal purpose. But the original Chinese purveyors of snake oil offered something that probably did exactly what they claimed it would do: help fellow workers relieve the pain of their labors.


CIA Documents Reveal Alien Invasion Always Considered Major Threat

A raft of newly unclassified CIA documents reveal that the remote possibility of alien invasion elicited greater fear than a Soviet nuclear attack.

More interesting still, the CIA documents show that despite decades of repeated public denials, behind the scenes there raged a series of inter-agency feuds which implicated the highest levels of the US government.

The subject of UFOs and dabbling in psychological warfare techniques not only focused the attention of the US elite levels for 50 years but some of the greatest scientific and military minds of the era were involved in the effort.

A Herald investigation, to be published on Saturday, shows that throughout the 1950s, CIA files clearly document an explosion of activity by US intelligence and military bodies concerned with studying every possible implication for the US, and Western democracies, of UFOs.

The phenomenon, so adored by the cinematic world - from mind control and space travel to extra-terrestrial life - was reflected in the CIA's fixations. Indeed, while highly educated CIA employees experimented by giving each other surprise LSD trips in 1953, there were others, in other parts of the agency, dealing with a huge flood of UFO reports.

Significantly, however, after a burst of intense scrutiny in the early '50s, the available documents effectively go cold. Why?

The quintessential Kafkaesque explanation provided is that few files were kept because these would only confirm that the CIA was investigating UFOs. But the wildly eclectic UFO files in fact cover everything from ``flying saucers over Belgian Congo uranium mines'' to Nazi ``flying saucers''.

When The New York Times reported in 1979 that the CIA had investigated UFOs,the news report is said to have so upset the then-CIA director Stansfield Turner that he reportedly asked his staff: ``Are we in UFOs?''

The answer then was yes - since the late 1940s apparently. But exactly how, what, when, why and who remained layered in mystery, leaving infinite grist for the conspiracy mill.


49 Ft. Python, World's Largest Snake, On Display

Indonesian villagers claim to have captured a python that is almost 49 feet long and weighs nearly 990 pounds, a local official said.

If confirmed, it would be the largest snake ever kept in captivity.

Hundreds of people have flocked to see the snake at a primitive zoo in Curugsewu village on the country’s main island of Java.

Local government official Rachmat said the reticulated python measured 48 feet 8 inches and weighed in at 983 pounds.

The Guinness Book of World Records lists the longest ever captured snake to be 32 feet. The heaviest — a Burmese Python kept in Gurnee, Ill. — weighs 402 pounds, the book said on its Web site.

The Indonesian newspaper Republika said the snake, which was caught last year but only recently put on public display, eats three or four dogs a month.

Reticulated pythons are the world’s longest snakes. They are capable of eating animals as large as sheep, and have been known to attack and consume humans.

The species is native to the swamps and jungles of Southeast Asia.


Over-Acting Paranormalist Outed By Criss Angel On Live TV


Criss Angel is proud to be an illusionist: he doesn't pretend that he's doing magic tricks, and he's not a believer in the paranormal. He loves a good illusion, but it's his intention on "Phenomenon" to call out anyone who claims their work is being done through supernatural means.

That person arrived on the show in the form of Michael Callahan, who uses automatic writing to divine secrets like "what's in this box?" Uri Geller of course loves the act, and Criss Angel thinks it's absurd. He pulls out an envelope and asks Callahan what's in it, offering him a million dollars if he can guess it. Obviously, they can't. Callahan and Angel nearly come to blows.

This video ends with some criticism of Criss Angel, calling him a hypocrite for having a "supernatural" show but refusing to believe anyone else's paranormal displays. That's kind of silly, because like I said earlier, Angel makes it pretty clear that his performances have perfectly normal explanations. The best part, in my opinion, is seeing the paranormalist get humiliated.

Note: Though I truly believe in the paranormal, I can respect Criss Angel's opinion. When charlatans used dramatics and foolishness to make themselves seem to connect with the supernatural world, then they need to be outed and ridiculed.


Fallen Soldiers Still Haunt Culloden Battlefield


Scottish Paranormal investigators, the country's own take on the Ghostbusters, say they have unearthed unexplained phenomena at the site where staff say visitors have reported hearing battle cries and marching, some 261 years after the bloody battle where Govenment forces defeated Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite army.

And now the team, whose poltergeist probes are in greater demand at Hallowe'en, is already planning follow-up visits to the scene of the bloody battle because "spirits are not performing seals" and they want to build up more evidence of any ghostly goings-on.

It would lend weight to the numbers of people, both local and visitors, who have told of strange noises or apparitions at creepy Culloden moor.

Culloden Battlefield visitor centre manager Deirdre Smyth said residents have reported seeing a large ghostly bird that apparently inhabits the area and was first sighted on the eve of the battle on April 15, 1746, by Lord George Murray who was the Jacobite commander. Described as a huge black bird, it is called the Great Scree of Culloden Moor and legend has it that anyone who sees the Great Scree will have bad luck.

Deirdre told the Highland News: "We have had stories of people seeing or hearing strange things. Whether they really have or not I don't know, but it is a very atmospheric place, especially when it's misty.

"Local people have also reported seeing a giant bird rising from the field – it's called the Great Scree of Culloden. Others have also said that when they were kids they wouldn't walk in the field at night."

Scottish Paranormal, which carries out its ghoul hunting on a voluntary basis, recently descended on Culloden to see if the ground of the final clash between the Jacobites and the Hanoverians in the 1745 Jacobite rising, left a supernatural presence in their wake.

Although it was just a preliminary visit, the team was satisfied that there was enough unexplained activity to warrant further investigations after the New Year.

Andrea Byrne, Scottish Paranormal's administration and PR manager, told the Highland News: "All of us are Scottish and we have a passion about being Scottish and have an interest in its history.

"So as well as monitoring private houses and other places such as Mary King's Close in Edinburgh, we like to carry out projects at historical sites, and that's why we went to Culloden.

"The majority of hauntings are classed as what's called residual energy. This is where a traumatic experience or battle happened in a particular area and that trauma or that experience is embedded on that area and like a record, it repeats itself again and again.

"In Culloden, there was a seriously traumatic event which saw a lot of deaths.

"While there, we spoke to the staff and they told us that sometimes visitors had heard the battle cries and the marching of the soldiers. It is as if the march and the battle is getting played over and over again. This happens more towards the anniversary of the battle which lends credence to it being residual energy."

The team, the majority of whom are based in Fife, measured activity at Culloden with a selection of monitoring equipment. This included digital voice recorders that look for any audible phenomena such as white noise or electronic voice phenomena; temperature data loggers looking for any unusual fluctuations in temperature; temperature probes to locate and confirm cold spots; electro-magentic field detectors used due to the belief that paranormal entities emit an electromagnetic field; and digital camcorders to record any incidents.

Temperatures jumped over soldier graves

During the investigation, the team noticed signs they normally connect with a paranormal activity Andrea Byrne said: "One of the anomalies we found was the temperature and humidity. When we were walking along the main path to locations, we were getting a regular temperature, and the humidity was staying the same. But the moment we got to where the English or Scottish soldiers were buried the temperature changed dramatically, and was not consistent with the weather. It was fluctuating up and down.

"We could not come up with a logical explanation for a change in the temperature. So there could have possibly been paranormal reason behind it."

She went on to add they used dowsing rods to see if there were any "energy lines", also known as ley lines, which are of interest to paranormal investigators.

One was found to exist at a 56-degree angle at the Well of the Dead, which Andrea described as "extremely interesting" because if the line is drawn on a map and extended in a line at 56 degrees, it would meet the Cumberland's Stone 1.5 miles away. This stone was from where the Duke of Cumberland, nicknamed the Butcher of Culloden, commanded the battle.

However, Andrea said that the dowsing rods may have moved at this location because there may be water underneath the well.

The group then went on to nearby Clava Cairns to carry out more investigations, but they did not find much there of an untoward nature. They had also not heard any paranormal stories relating to the location.

The investigation team, which has recently added Elgin woman Rachel Atkinson to its fold, is now due to return to Culloden Battlefield in the New Year.

She added: "We find a single visit to a location does not build up enough evidence to say there is paranormal activity going on or not. Spirits are not performing seals, they don't just appear when you want them to or when you happen to be there. We have go back to locations to build up the evidence."

As well as checking out historic sites, the investigators who include a medium and describe themselves as being "highly skilled" in the field, are called in to probe private homes whose residents believe are haunted.

And when they can't find a logical explanation for the ghoulish activity, they set out to prove it is the supernatural making things go bump in the night. They have even discovered a poltergeist or two in their time.

Andrea explained: "In general, we carry out these investigations because we have got a belief in life after death and in proving that or otherwise.

"Because we have got knowledge in the field, we go out to private houses and help the public to understand what's going on. We always look for the logical explanation first, and if we can't find one then we look for proof of anything paranormal."

She claims they recently stumbled upon a poltergeist in a private house in Craigmillar, Edinburgh.

"The majority of poltergeists we find are in private houses", she explained. So far, we have not carried out any investigations in private houses in the North. However, we hope that will change as we now have a new investigator based outside Elgin and she is contacting housing associations and other organisations in the area to let them know we are here if people are experiencing anything unusual in their homes."