Tourist Captures Spooky Image on Camera
oxfordmail - Heretic bishops have been burned at the stake and soldiers shot down during the English Civil War so it’s not surprising Oxford is regarded as one of the most haunted cities in England.
But this spooky spectre took one tourist by surprise when it appeared in her photograph.
The grainy grey image appears to show a woman in historical dress walking along New College Lane in Oxford.
Sue Tomlinson, 50, was visiting the city with her sister-in-law Tina Bennett, 52, from Shropshire earlier this month.
They decided to brave Bill Spectre’s Ghost Tour to discover more about the city’s past and the lamppost caught Mrs Tomlinson’s eye.
She said: “I thought it looked so beautiful glowing with All Soul’s College in the background I had to take a photo.
“When I first saw it I thought it looked strange and wanted to get home and put it on the computer so I could see it bigger.
“I don’t know if it’s someone walking past – I didn’t notice because I was concentrating on taking the photo – or if it’s something wrong with my camera, but all my other pictures are fine.
“I don’t believe in ghosts – if someone else had taken the photo I would say someone had fixed it.
“It looks like someone carrying a bag or a basket and wearing a dress from olden times.”
Bill ‘Spectre’ Ritchie said: “I can guarantee I had nothing to do with this photo, she sent it to me out of the blue in an email.
“Interestingly, it was on that same lane, New College Lane, that a couple of years ago a Russian girl sent a similar slightly blurry photo.
“An Australian woman who claimed to be sensitive to the spirit world was on the ghost trail not long ago, and claimed that New College Lane was the most haunted place she had ever been.
“Another local woman said that at 2am last Christmas morning, she was walking along Holywell Street, which runs parallel to New College Lane, when she heard the sound of horses hooves echoing along the silent streets of New College Lane.
“You can imagine her reaction when I told her the lane was indeed haunted by the ghosts of Royalist Cavalrymen who would assemble there before battle.”
Oxford's top five haunted spots are said to be:
* The headless spectre of John Crocker haunts the site of his tomb in the chapel at Exeter College. The Elizabethan scholar appears in a yellow jacket, gown and breeches.
* In 1645, Archbishop Laud was beheaded for his belief in the church against Parliament and was buried beneath the altar in the chapel of St John’s College. The ghost has apparently been seen bowling its head towards the feet of anyone unlucky enough to meet it.
* Magdalen College was founded in 1458 by Bishop Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester. The original site included the13th century St John’s Hospital whose buildings extended east as far as the river. Isis magazine reported on June 5, 1968, that very Sunday morning, a student who was walking across the college lawn saw with astonishment a black-clad figure moving from the cloisters towards him, without a head. He said that the figure glided rather than walked in complete silence.
* The landlord of The Priory in Grenoble Road has had his fair share of encounters and believes the building, which began life as a dormitory for Benedictine nuns is haunted by their spirits. He has heard the sound of children running up and down his landing and often hears a woman in high heels walking past the pub in the middle of the night.
* Empress Matilda allegedly haunts the stairs of Oxford Castle in her white gown. She began living at the castle in 1141 but it was besieged by her cousin King Stephen and she was forced to flee in the night, in white to disguise herself against the snow.
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Firefighters Watch as Home Burns to the Ground
wpsdlocal6 - Imagine your home catches fire but the local fire department won't respond, then watches it burn. That's exactly what happened to a local family tonight.
A local neighborhood is furious after firefighters watched as an Obion County, Tennessee, home burned to the ground.
The homeowner, Gene Cranick, said he offered to pay whatever it would take for firefighters to put out the flames, but was told it was too late. They wouldn't do anything to stop his house from burning.
Each year, Obion County residents must pay $75 if they want fire protection from the city of South Fulton. But the Cranicks did not pay.
The mayor said if homeowners don't pay, they're out of luck.
This fire went on for hours because garden hoses just wouldn't put it out. It wasn't until that fire spread to a neighbor's property, that anyone would respond.
Turns out, the neighbor had paid the fee.
"I thought they'd come out and put it out, even if you hadn't paid your $75, but I was wrong," said Gene Cranick.
Because of that, not much is left of Cranick's house.
They called 911 several times, and initially the South Fulton Fire Department would not come.
The Cranicks told 9-1-1 they would pay firefighters, whatever the cost, to stop the fire before it spread to their house.
"When I called I told them that. My grandson had already called there and he thought that when I got here I could get something done, I couldn't," Paulette Cranick.
It was only when a neighbor's field caught fire, a neighbor who had paid the county fire service fee, that the department responded. Gene Cranick asked the fire chief to make an exception and save his home, the chief wouldn't.
We asked him why.
He wouldn't talk to us and called police to have us escorted off the property. Police never came but firefighters quickly left the scene. Meanwhile, the Cranick home continued to burn.
We asked the mayor of South Fulton if the chief could have made an exception.
"Anybody that's not in the city of South Fulton, it's a service we offer, either they accept it or they don't," Mayor David Crocker said.
Friends and neighbors said it's a cruel and dangerous city policy but the Cranicks don't blame the firefighters themselves. They blame the people in charge.
"They're doing their job," Paulette Cranick said of the firefighters. "They're doing what they are told to do. It's not their fault."
To give you an idea of just how intense the feelings got in this situation, soon after the fire department returned to the station, the Obion County Sheriff's Department said someone went there and assaulted one of the firefighters.
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2010 Pittsburgh PA MUFON UFO Conference
The Pennsylvania chapter of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) will hold their 2010 Pittsburgh UFO Conference on October 16, 2010, at the Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood, PA from 10 am-6 pm. The theme of this years conference is “Kecksburg Then and Now,” commemorating the 45th anniversary of this famous local UFO incident.
Join us at the conference to learn the history and latest updates concerning the Kecksburg UFO crash/recovery event. Speakers will also discuss other UFO information including topics such as the recent wave of area UFO sightings, crop circles and 2010 predictions. This event features nationally known speakers, displays on UFOs and Bigfoot, vendors, and book signings by various authors.
Speakers scheduled to attend include:
*Stan Gordon, Primary UFO Investigator of the Kecksburg incident will present a synopsis of his findings on the 45 year old case. He is the author of “Really Mysterious Pennsylvania,” and the soon to be released “Silent Invasion: The Pennsylvania UFO-Bigfoot Casebook.”
*Leslie Kean, Investigative Journalist and Author of the new bestseller, “UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go On the Record.” Kean will discuss her investigations and landmark 2007 settlement in federal court concerning the Kecksburg incident.
*Richard Dolan, UFO Researcher and Author. Dolan has published two excellent books on UFO history. In 2009, he published “UFOs & The National Security, subtitled, The Cover-Up Exposed, 1973-1991” Dolan has also appeared on a number of television documentary programs.
*Karyn Dolan: Internet Radio Host of “Through the Keyhole,” will speak about UFO mysteries.
*Jen Stein: will discuss the crop circle mystery.
*Chet Sapalio: will speak about the Roswell UFO incident.
*Peter Robbins: A well known UFO Investigator, presents “An Illustrated History of UFO Literature.”
*John Ventre: PA State Director of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and Author of the book, “2012 Prophecy” discusses his book and findings concerning the 2012 controversy.
For advance orders and more conference details go to John Ventre’s website at www.Johnventre.com or www.mufonpa.com. Admission is $20.00.
John Ventre can be reached at 724-836-1266 or at jventre1@comcast.net
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Pink Diamond to Sell for £24m
telegraph - The enormous 24.78 carat gem is cut into a rectangular shape with rounded corners, and mounted on a ring in between two clear stones.
The gem, classified by the Gemological Institute of America as "fancy intense pink" has been assessed as type IIa – meaning it is in the top two per cent of the world's diamonds.
It was sold by celebrity jeweller Harry Winston some 60 years ago and has been in a private collection ever since.
It is now on show in Hong Kong and will tour the world before being sold by Sotheby's auction house in Geneva.
It is estimated to fetch between £17 million and £24 million – almost one million pounds per carat.
The current world record for the most expensive diamond sold at auction per carat is the Star of Josephine, a blue diamond weighing 7.03 carats which sold in May 2009 at Sotheby's for six million pounds – £850,000 per carat.
David Bennett, of Sotheby's, said: "During my 35-year career I have had the opportunity to examine many magnificent and rare gemstones.
"But, put simply, this stone is one of the most desirable diamonds I have ever seen.
"What makes it so immensely rare is the combination of its exceptional colour and purity with the classic emerald-cut – a style of cutting normally associated with white diamonds and one that is so highly sought-after when found in rare colours such as pink and blue.
"The stone's character is further enhanced by the gently rounded corners which impart a unique softness and charm to this truly outstanding gemstone."
The coloured diamonds are described by experts as the most sought-after jewels around the world, with blues, pinks and greens proving most popular.
Once sold, the stone is expected to rocket into the list of the top ten most expensive diamonds in the world.
This list ranges from the Allnatt Diamond at number ten, worth a comparatively paltry £1.9 million, to the priceless Koh-I-Noor, one of the British crown jewels.
The famous Hope Diamond is currently classed at number four in the list, with a £220 million price tag,
Fellow pink diamond, the Steinmetz Pink, is currently at number six, valued at £16 million.
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GPS Directs Driver to Death in Spain's Largest Reservoir
guardian - It is perhaps the secret fear of all users of GPS systems: what if the device gets it wrong and leads you into danger?
The Spanish Red Cross said today this was exactly what happened to a 37-year-old man who died on Saturday night after driving his car into a reservoir near the western town of Capilla.
"It seems the GPS system pointed them on to an old road that ends in the reservoir, and that in the dark they were unable to brake in time, with the car taking just a couple of minutes to sink," the Red Cross said in a statement.
The victim and a single passenger were driving home towards the southern city of Seville after working at a street fair when the Peugeot 306 ploughed straight into the waters of La Serena reservoir.
Although both men managed to get out of the car, only one made it to the shore. Red Cross divers found the body of the unnamed driver at the bottom of the reservoir on Sunday morning.
The passenger was treated for bruising and light injuries.
Pictures of the scene show the old road running on a slight downhill slope straight into the reservoir, which is the biggest in the country.
There was no explanation of why the GPS still showed the road as usable. La Serena reservoir, which stores water from the Zújar river, was built in 1989.
NOTE: Michael Scott?
