National Paranormal Association

Dybbuk Box for sale on Ebay from the Ebay buyer

2013-06-10T17:59:00.000-04:00

I like to check out ebay and see what people are selling, the interesting ones are the items that are haunted. It seems that people used the word "haunted" very loosely and will throw the word on anything they can to make a sale. And unfortunately there's a sucker born every minute.

But this one actually has a good background story and pictures. So maybe it really is a "Dybbuk Box", or the seller went out of his way to tell a story. Either way it's selling.

Here is the description and story regarding this item, and pictures added below.

This is a Dybbuk Box. I purchased it about five months ago from someone off eBay who claimed the box was "pure evil". I had no intention of opening the box, but much to my horror, the lock busted open in shipping. Seeing that the box was already open, I figured I might as well see what the contents are; There was a lot of old Jewelry with the initials R.H.C. (the original owner figured out the name of the dybbuk through his research, and I will reveal the name to the winner), very old pictures of different places, little jewelry pins, and a few pocket knifes. The interior of the box is very interesting as well, it has two hidden drawers, and upon further inspection of the box I realized it used to be a music box! I believe the previous owner had such a negative experience with the box because he admitted to breaking the box open and damaging parts of it. When I received the box, I did some EVP recordings that had little success, however, I found when you touch the box and interact with it, things begin to happen. As I was in the process of restoring the box, I was bending over my work bench, and I received a swift, painful KICK IN MY BACK!!! I nearly fell over. I was not very happy about this and four days later I decided to seal the box with wax, which is the traditional method of sealing a dybbuk. After I had sealed the box I felt a strange euphoria, and I gave the box a happy pat and left the room. Upon returning to the room, it smelled completely of Jasmine, and I have nothing in my room that would generate that scent. Most recently, my room had been STRUCK BY LIGHTNING (seen in the pictures) right where I had placed the dybbuk box!!! Everything in my room was cast aside and knocked over, except for my three reptile cages, as if the events were controlled and happening around them. After this event, I moved the box to the garage. A few days later, I took pictures of the box in my garage and left very quickly and immediately got into my car to run some errands. However, it took ten minutes to start the car and I have never had problems with it before. This morning I went out to my car and found that all the windows were rolled down and my wallet was in a different place in my house. I don't necessarily believe this box is "evil" because I have done a fair amount of reading on Dybbuks, and found that they have their OWN AGENDAS, and they create these events to let their keepers know that their agenda is taking them elsewhere now. For obvious reasons, no returns whatsoever. Only ships within USA

Source: Ebay

The Dyatlov Pass Incident Movie Trailer (video)

2013-06-05T19:03:00.002-04:00

Last year I posted a great article, on this blog, about the mysterious Dyatlov Pass Incident (LINK).

To this day there is still no explanation to why nine experienced cross-country skiers hurriedly left their tent on a Urals slope in the middle of the night, casting aside skis, food and their warm coats.

Baffled investigators said the group died as a result of “a compelling unknown force” — and then abruptly closed the case and filed it as top secret.

Here is a trailer for "The Dyatlov Pass Incident" by director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger)

The Dyatlov Pass follows a group of American students on a trek to investigate the true life mystery of nine Russian skiers who befell unexplained deaths while skiing in the Russian mountains in 1959. To this day, their deaths have been one of the most bizarre unsolved mysteries of the 20th century.

Alien-like entity cures Child's cancer (video)

2013-06-03T23:53:00.002-04:00

An angel or alien appeared next to a cancer child and the child was cured of the disease soon, in Kirkland Ohio,in May 2013, as reported by UFO Sightings Daily. The report was posted on May 24, 2013. The website, UFO Sightings Daily, is coordinated by Scott C. Waring. He had been affiliated with the United States Air Force at SAC base (USAF flight line). He currently owns an ESL School in Taiwan.

In this report, Scott Waring has published a photograph of the incident, along with a YouTube video. He has also included a new report of the incident.

The news report describes the location of the incident and tells us how the family members located the alien in photographs.

“A family from Kirkland, Ohio got a supernatural shock over the weekend when they were looking over photos of their young daughter and noticed a familiar figure hovering near her.”

The father of the cured child believed that the ghost was Virgin Mary.

“My reaction immediately, it's Mary, they hear us, she's there. I didn't necessarily see it as a sign that Erin is fine and is going to walk out of this, but it's a sign that we're watching over her."

The report describes how the child was diagnosed with cancer.

“Erin was diagnosed with leukemia in February 2007 and since gone through numerous bone marrow transplants. When the miraculous photo was taken, she was about to undergo her second transplant.”

When asked to provide his opinion about those who were skeptical of the incident, Erin’s father provided a different opinion and remained firm on his belief.

“I know she's not alone, I know we are not alone and people who don't want to believe it, that's OK. Whatever happened, you know something powerful and special was there with us I definitely have my moments when I'm falling apart and I'm terrified and I literally grab my phone and I stare at that picture."

Source: Agora Cosmopolitan

10 Paranormal Movies "loosely" Based on True Events (video)

2013-06-03T14:01:00.002-04:00

Movies based around the paranormal have become increasingly popular over the past few years. Thanks to Paranormal Activity, the paranormal genre was once again kick started in Hollywood, and on our televisions. We’ve got to see some creepy movies like, Insidious, The Possession and Sinister; or Shows like A Haunting, My Ghost Story, and countless others.

If you love everything paranormal, and watch the countless televisions series based on ‘real events’, you more than likely have heard their names come up on several occasions. You can check out the trailer below; but first, we are counting down the top 10 paranormal movies based on true events – enjoy!

#10 The Mothman Prophecies

Hey, we called this list the top 10 paranormal movies based on true stories…we didn’t say all the movies would be awesome. Unfortunately, the film starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney, didn’t do the ‘real’ story any justice. If you want strange facts, and hair raising goose bumps, first ditch the DVD, then order the book of the same name, written by John A. Keel.

Angels, giant hybrid mutant moths or Aliens? It is something nightmares and science fiction is made of; however the truth is, the real story is a lot creepier than what was depicted in the film. The Mothman first entered imaginations back in 1966; and there were in fact several eye witnesses…almost 200 to be exact! Some witnesses, including a reporter claimed to have actually met a ‘Mothman’ in person. The mysteries surrounding this incident still live in infamy, especially in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Check out the video below for a bit about the real story, including eyewitness interviews.

#9 When the Lights Went Out

If you are one of our readers from the UK, this particular hair rising ghost story might seem very familiar. A very dangerous and often times mischievous poltergeist, referred to as The Black Monk of Pontefract, began terrorizing the Pritchard family in the late 1960’s and early 70’s. This event, as noted by ghost researchers, was regarded as the most violent poltergeist haunting in Europe.

The Black Monk apparently did some rather disturbing things, including dragging the Pritchard’s daughter up the stairs by her neck. The Monk also would sometimes eat sandwiches, left unattended, and on occasion smear jam over door knobs. Regardless of what you might believe, the true story is terrifying, and the movie only released last year looks intense as well. Check out the trailer below.

#8 The Entity

Okay, for many this movie was absolutely terrifying beyond belief. Not for special effects mind you, but pure psychological terror. For the 70’s, the movie was very scary, but what added that extra ‘poop in your pants’ scare, was knowing it was based on real events.

In the movie, the main character is Carla, in real life her name is Doris Bither, and her story is still regarded as one of the most disturbing paranormal events in known history. Besides the usual bumps in the night, Doris also suffered through repeated spectral rapes, by an unseen entity or entities. This movie is worth watching if you haven’t seen it, and as usual, reading up on the true story is also worth it.

#7 The Amityville Horror

An elaborate hoax to make money, or a giant demonic pig named Jody terrorizing a family? No one really knows. There are those who flat out believe that it’s a lie, and many who strongly believe there was in fact a demon present at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville. The original 1979 film was creepy for the time; the remake however, left much to be desired. Besides Ryan Reynolds ripping body, the movie lacked many core parts the original touched on.

Whether you believe what happened or not, one new documentary literally just released (and releasing this month in select theaters) will indeed open up some old wounds. It also puts George Lutz in the center of the occult. ‘My Amityville Horror’, is told by Daniel Lutz, who was ten years old at the time, when his family was brutally terrorized by an evil presence. He has never spoken before about the events or told his side. This new documentary details the events through his eyes, and his claims about his step-father will no doubt stir-up a bit of controversy.

#6 Audrey Rose

The movie Audrey Rose was more of a dramatic representation of the possibility of reincarnation. Although it didn’t have many of the horror or ghost elements most paranormal enthusiast love; the movie did have elements that really made you think.

There are many myths surrounding the movie Audrey Rose starring Anthony Hopkins. The movie itself wasn’t actually based on a true story, however the book by the same name written by Frank De Felitta, was based on the author’s own experiences with his son. De Felitta’s son began playing Ragtime music on the piano; an instrument he had never learned to use.

#5 The Exorcism of Emily Rose

This movie seemed to depict more of a battle between science versus religion; a battle that played out in a courtroom throughout most of the movie. However, the movie was based on the true events surrounding a young girl from Germany named, Anneliese Michel.

To be perfectly honest, the case of Anneliese Michel is a sad one. First diagnosed with grand mal epilepsy, Anneliese began experiencing devilish hallucinations and hearing voices that told her she was damned. Her parents eventually gave up on psychiatric care and chose to rely on an exorcism for healing. The entire story has been collected into a book titled ‘The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel’; it includes pictures of the actual exorcism, and gives you insight into the scientific aspect as well as the religious. However, considering it’s the 21st century and we know more about mental illness; it is relatively clear that this poor girl suffered not only from a rare form of epilepsy, but also a disturbed form of schizophrenia.

#4 An American Haunting

The truth behind this film is far scarier than the movie made it out to be. Although the movie was well written and well played out, the real story is based on another unusual case. Unusual and very disturbing is probably a better way to describe it. Ghost researchers described this event as one of the first reported “ghost murders” in known history.
You will not find a shortage of American ghost stories, but by far the story of the Bell Witch is one of the most famous and terrifying. The original story varies each time it’s told but some basic facts still hold strong. The story goes that the Bell witch is actually the ghost of Kate Batts; a very angry neighbor of John Bell, and his family. The Bell Witch, terrorized John’s daughter Betsy, by usually beating the crap out of her in front of many witnesses. John Bell would later die under very mysterious circumstances, leaving many to believe the Bell Witch herself murdered him. The Bell Farm is now an historical site, and so is a cave on the land which still apparently is haunted by the Bell Witch until this very day.

#3 The Haunting in Connecticut

This movie was a big disappointment. Considering the special that aired on the Discovery Channel’s acclaimed series ‘A Haunting’ was much scarier, and more fact based. In my personal opinion the movie ruined the original story to its core.
The true story features Ed and Lorraine Warren once again. Back in 1986 the Snedeker family rented a new home in Southington, Connecticut, to be closer to a specialist for their son (at least that much was true in the film). They soon discovered that the home had once been a funeral parlor, but didn’t let it bother them too much. That is until their son started having horrifying visions and seeing ghosts. According to the Snedeker family, the evil eventually spread to the entire family. With the parents even claiming to have been raped repeatedly by demons…very disturbing indeed.

#2 The Haunted

This movie is not as well-known as the others and more than likely many of you have not heard of it. The Haunted was a made for TV movie released in 1991. The show really doesn’t do the story justice, mainly because it was on TV. But, the book titled The Haunted: One Family’s Nightmare, will scare the pants off of you. I still light a candle at night in hopes that a remake will be made soon based on the Smurl family.

This story to like so many above has interesting elements that make it terrifying. It also was visited by the Warrens (they’ve been everywhere!). One event in particular was witnessed by the entire neighborhood. The smurl family went through absolute hell, almost literally. One night, looking for any sort of escape from the demons or demon that haunted them, they decided to leave their house. Upon doing so, it in effect angered whatever was dwelling in their home. Regardless to say and I don’t want to give away too much (because I’ve included the full movie below) their neighbors got one hell of a light show and screamfest. I do heartily recommend you read the book instead, at least until a remake is made.

#1 The Exorcist

We can’t leave you without our number one choice, and what kind of list would this be without The Exorcist? William Peter Blatty wrote the book in 1971, and based it on an actual exorcism that took place in the Washington D.C. area in 1949. Instead of the daughter of a famous movie star, the exorcism was actually performed on a young boy. Just like depicted in the film, the young boy dabbled in the occult by playing with a Quija board – something introduced to him by his aunt.

Needless to say, strange things began to occur after the aunt died. Assuming it was in fact the aunt, the family of the young boy tried to make contact, but that seemed to make things much worse.

Scratching and knocking could be heard throughout the entire house, and on one night the mother was horrified to discover her son’s bed shaking violently. This was followed by other furniture beginning to move on its own. Several neighbors also witnessed disturbing things taking place in the house, and the young boy’s behavior began to change dramatically.

Check out: The Exorcist: True Story of a Possessed Boy – The video below is part 1 of a mini documentary about the real events.

Source: Geek Insider

Ghost investigators try to help Oregon family

2013-05-29T18:16:00.003-04:00

By Sam Wheeler

TALENT — With electromagnetic field readers blinking and infrared cameras surveilling every upstairs room, there was only one thing left to do — kill the lights and call the spirits.

Members of the ghost-hunting Oregon Paranormal Society of Medford came out in full force Thursday night to investigate why the 120-year-old home of Talent founder Aaron P. Talent is haunting its current occupants.

The family, who does not want to be identified, says it has tried driving off the shadowy souls lingering in their rooms by burning sage and having a local reverend bless the house with holy water, but nothing has helped.

"When my 5-year-old daughter woke up and saw the little girl sitting next to her bed twirling her hair, I said, 'Enough is enough,'" says the mother, who has been renting the home in the 100 block of South Front Street since February.

The mother of two says she hasn't personally encountered the spirits, but strange occurrences — most recently, their pet snake disappearing from its locked cage in an upstairs room — and her children's sightings have her convinced that the home is haunted.

"I can deal with it, but if they don't leave my children alone we will move," says the mom. "It's a beautiful home and you'd love to live here if you didn't have to be tortured by these spirits every day."

The woman says she's had similar sensations at some of her past residences, but nothing close to this.

"I'm scared," says her 10-year-old son. "I like seeing this stuff in the movies, but not here."

At least three spirits reside in the house, the mother believes: an older man, a young girl and at least one other child. After months of her smoke alarm mysteriously going off at the same time every morning, her caged birds wildly chirping during the middle of the night for no reason and the family cat hypnotically staring into the same corner, she decided to call the Oregon Paranormal Society team.

Scott Triem, 42, of Medford founded OPS in 2009, and the group has gone on to investigate dozens of sites

around Southern Oregon, he says.

Triem's team didn't have a significant personal encounter with any spirits at the Talent home that night, but hours of audio and video recordings still have to be reviewed before the investigation is complete.

Voices and objects that humans can't detect naturally often are realized while reviewing video and audio recordings from investigations, he says.

OPS member Pam Lindgren, 49, referred to as a "sensitive" by her colleagues for her ability to detect the presence of spirits without the help of recording equipment, says the house is haunted without a doubt.

"I definitely feel a presence ... you're being watched," Lindgren told the family Thursday. "I don't feel maliciousness, but I wouldn't sleep in this room."

Even if the night's footage and audio recordings don't reveal a glimpse of any spirits, the team agrees that the house is haunted.

"It's heavy in there," Triem says.

Tina Sanchez, 41, of Medford, the team's research leader, says a young girl decades ago drowned in Wagner Creek near the home. It could be her spirit lurking in the rooms, but it's hard to tell, she says.

According to historical records, Aaron P. Talent built the home in 1886, about 10 years after settling in Southern Oregon. Originally a carpenter, Talent had opened a successful grocery store between Ashland and Phoenix in 1881. Two years later he established a post office inside the store, which made possible the incorporation of Talent in 1910.

Talent and his wife, Martha, raised nine children in the Front Street home, records show. Six of those children made the trip from Tennessee to the Rogue Valley with their parents, and three were born here.

It's possible, OPS team members say, that any of the Talent family or subsequent occupants could be haunting the place.

Talent sold the home to Mary Packard sometime before 1896, the year she sold the property to George A. Briner, records show. By 1902, Talent and his wife had moved to Medford and the Front Street home had been sold again, this time to Van A. Dunlap, who went on to become the city of Talent's first mayor.

Dunlap's daughter Bertha, following the death of her parents, sold the home in 1922 to Susan and Thomas Clayton, who owned it until 1945. Ownership was then transferred to F.O. Clayton, records show.

Reviewing all of the recordings from the investigation could take weeks, says Sanchez. She expects OPS will conduct a follow-up investigation once the review is complete.

Sanchez says she doesn't know whether any of the former owners died in the home, but she assumes someone has.

However, "we're not qualified to rid a home (of a ghost) ... our only intention is to investigate and find out if our clients' home is haunted ... and hopefully find out why they (spirits) are using the home," Sanchez says.

"It's possible to make peace with them."

As for the family, the mother says, "we'll just have to wait and see what happens, but we can't do this very much longer."

Source: Oregon Mail Tribune

Student science experiment finds plants won't grow near Wi-Fi router

2013-05-29T12:31:00.001-04:00

Ninth-graders design science experiment to test the effect of cellphone radiation on plants. The results may surprise you.

Five ninth-grade young women from Denmark recently created a science experiment that is causing a stir in the scientific community.

It started with an observation and a question. The girls noticed that if they slept with their mobile phones near their heads at night, they often had difficulty concentrating at school the next day. They wanted to test the effect of a cellphone's radiation on humans, but their school, Hjallerup School in Denmark, did not have the equipment to handle such an experiment. So the girls designed an experiment that would test the effect of cellphone radiation on a plant instead.

The students placed six trays filled with Lepidium sativum, a type of garden cress into a room without radiation, and six trays of the seeds into another room next to two routers that according to the girls calculations, emitted about the same type of radiation as an ordinary cellphone.

Over the next 12 days, the girls observed, measured, weighed and photographed their results. Although by the end of the experiment the results were blatantly obvious — the cress seeds placed near the router had not grown. Many of them were completely dead. While the cress seeds planted in the other room, away from the routers, thrived.

The experiment earned the girls (pictured right) top honors in a regional science competition and the interest of scientists around the world.

According to Kim Horsevad, a teacher at Hjallerup Skole in Denmark were the cress experiment took place, a neuroscience professor at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, is interested in repeating the experiment in controlled professional scientific environments.

Source: MNN.com

Haunted House does not sell in Florida even with written testimony (documents))

2013-05-28T18:14:00.001-04:00

Here is a haunted house in Port Richey, Florida that did not sell on Ebay, no bidders. The residents say that the ghost is friendly and the wrote a 13 pages testimony (below) of their experiences.

At least they were honest.

(from Ebay)

“The ghost in this haunted home is a friendly male with a great sense of humor. Current renters have submitted a hand written document detailing their dealings with this funny ghost. I have included it in the auction.”

This home is presently rented, but after 1-1/2 years of renting the home, they are moving soon to a larger home.

There is evidence of a very friendly male ghost who appears to have quite a sense of humor. The present renters have presented a 13 page document, at the request of the owner, detailing their actual encounters with this wonderful ghost. I have scanned all pages and would be happy to send it to you at your request.

Would you buy a home where a murder took place ??

2013-05-28T17:26:00.000-04:00

(DETROIT FREE PRESS) -- Kayla Bentley was thrilled to move into her in-laws' house as a 19-year-old newlywed back in 2010.

That is until she found out that the unassuming house on a quiet street in Allen Park was where Justin Olszowy, a mentally unstable 26-year-old man, fatally shot his parents two years earlier.

"We were kind of upset about it," she recalled. "It freaks me out, especially because in this situation, he's not dead. If he was released or escaped, this is where he'd come."

But her in-laws, retirees Paula and Jerry Bentley, had fallen in love with the house - three bedrooms, full-size kitchen, nice living room, privacy fencing, a garage, a corner lot.

Location, location, location may be the adage, but what happens when that location is the site of a violent death?

Properties that were the sites of homicides or suicides have an interesting stain that remains long after crime-scene investigators leave. For some potential buyers, owning a home with notoriety gives them, well, notoriety. Others are freaked out by it.

RELATED STORY: HOW TO FIND OUT IF A HOME HAS A BLOODY PAST

In short: I see dead people - and lovely crown moldings.

"One group says, 'I don't want to have anything to do it.' Another group says, 'I'll get the carpets cleaned. How much can I buy it for?' " explained Jason Abrams, owner of the Abrams Team based out of Keller Williams in West Bloomfield and star of HGTV's "Scoring the Deal."

Under Michigan law, real estate agents aren't obligated to disclose whether the property was or was suspected to have been the site of a homicide, suicide or illegal activity "which had no material effect on the condition of the real property or improvements located on the real property."

Although sellers don't have to fill you in on any ghoulish details, they do have to confess to a leaky basement or roof or whether the insulation is made from toxic materials, such as formaldehyde.

However, elsewhere in the country, some states, such as California, require would-be buyers to be told. (In the Golden State, that's spawned a micro-industry of home cleansers who remove spirits from homes.)

"On the seller's disclosure form, there's nothing that says, 'Has there been a murder? Has there been a ghost?,' " said Michelle R. E. Donovan, a Bloomfield Hills real-estate attorney. "You don't want to fail to disclose something that would influence the buyer's decision to not purchase the property."

Donovan, whose former home in Clinton Township was down the street from where a man fatally stabbed his wife, said someone who buys a so-called stigmatized property might try to sue under misrepresentation or fraud.

For higher-profile killings - like Jane Bashara's, reportedly in the Grosse Pointe Park home she shared with her husband, Bob, now charged with killing her - buyers know what they're getting into, but that doesn't mean it's very easy for the Realtor selling it.

"Obviously it's not like any other house, when you have a distressed property, said Janis Chiapparo of II Elite Real Estate in Roseville, the real estate agent who sold the Bashara house. "The house was innocent ... Grosse Pointe is full of homes people have died in. Maybe not in that manner."

Chiapparo wouldn't say how much it sold for, only that it was less than the listing price of $415,000.
"Buyers obviously are going to want a steal. They think they're going to get the price cheaper or they stay away from it," she said.

That's what happened with the Bentleys. Kayla said the family believes in ghosts, but the issue was more about the cash than Casper. They got it for less than $70,000.

"They talked the people down, because it had been empty for two years. Obviously, no one wanted to buy it," said Kayla Bentley, who admitted that her husband, Joshua, slept with a baseball bat at his bedside for part of the two years they lived with his parents.

Disclosure posed a dilemma for Mario Como, the broker-owner of St. Clair Shores-based Realty Executives Select, a few years ago when showing a house in that community that he suspected someone had committed suicide in.

"I knew that would only cause the client emotional conflict. On one hand, they were excited about the property and on the other hand, it was giving them an opportunity to pass on the property," he said. "I was definitely torn. I have certain duties as an agent of client or buyer, but ultimately, one of my duties is to help them reach their goals. In this case, the goal was very clear: a home they were very, very enthusiastic about."
Abrams said he thinks sharing a house's violent past is the way to go. He never has sold a home in Michigan that was the site of a homicide or suicide, but he has elsewhere in the U.S.

"The more information a buyer can have, the better off a buyer is. If you're going to be a state that's really serious about consumer protection, the idea should be always disclose," he said. Death "weeds people out. Death is that topic that universally makes people squeamish and it ends up being a focal point, no matter how beautiful the home is."

Source: WUSA 9

Terrifying tales of real life EXORCIST

2013-05-28T12:52:00.001-04:00

The Exorcist: Rev Tom Willis

In a lifetime dealing with the supernatural, he says he has seen things that cannot be explained, including ornaments flying through walls and bodiless voices calling to him from beyond the grave

It has been dismissed by sceptics who believe it is the stuff of Hollywood horror movies rather than real life.

But when Pope Francis stopped to lay hands on a disabled boy last week some believe he shone a new light on the mysterious world of exorcism.

And while many people believe it has no place in modern society, there are still ministers across Britain who insist that they are casting out evil spirits.

Reverend Tom Willis is the UK’s leading exorcist – a man who has been called in to tackle poltergeists and the possessed for the past 50 years.

In a lifetime dealing with the supernatural, he says he has seen things that cannot be explained, including ornaments flying through walls and bodiless voices calling to him from beyond the grave.

And at the age of 82, the Church of England minister is still in demand around the world from people who want his help to destroy what they believe are evil spirits.

His expertise is so valued in Britain that even the police call on him.

Rev Willis says: “The people who come to me are really frightened. I’ve even had atheists tell me, ‘I don’t believe in ghosts but I can’t explain what is happening’.”
He adds: “I always say, ‘you don’t get possessed just walking to the supermarket’. You have to look for a reason why it should have happened. Often, people have dabbled quite strongly in evil.”

Rev Willis found his spooky vocation while working as a minister in York.

When a parishioner asked for help dealing with her haunted house – something Rev Willis says is more common than people think – he discovered he had a gift for restoring peace.

Since then he’s found himself in some strange and scary situations – including the time he helped rid a medium of a powerful evil spirit.

Rev Willis says the man approached him after giving a speech about the supernatural.

The stranger kept tapping his shoulder and talking to an invisible companion. Rev Willis was unsure if the medium was pretending... until the conversation took an unexpected turn.

The reverend says: “When I mentioned the blood of Christ, his voice changed. He said, ‘don’t talk about that’ and started shaking and rubbing himself. At that point I thought ‘you really have got something evil in you’.”

Rev Willis is part of the international exorcist community and has heard some startling stories on his travels. Like the time one of his colleagues was asked to perform an exorcism in India on a girl who couldn’t speak.

“The colleague told me that when he blessed her she began to shake,” he explains. “He asked the girl what her name was and although she didn’t usually talk, a weird voice said, ‘I am stubbornness’.

“He commanded the evil to depart and she fell back. He went on down the line, blessing people. Then when he looked back she had started singing hymns in her normal language.”

Rev Willis is often called on to rid a haunted house of ghosts.

He had a particularly chilling experience when he went to the home of a policeman who feared that his home had become possessed.

As Rev Willis sat with the officer and his family, ornaments suddenly started to move.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” he says.

“After 10 minutes the father said, ‘the dog ornament has gone again’. I looked at the mantelpiece and it had.
Then I heard a thump in the kitchen and said ‘nobody move’. I went to take a look and the ornament was there on the kitchen floor. It had gone right through a brick wall.”

Speaking about the continuing demand for his services – including from the authorities – he says: “I still get a couple of calls a week. The police say ‘we think this one is more your field of expertise’.”

Rev Willis has encountered his fair share of sceptics over the decades but he says that he is convinced by what he has witnessed.

He adds that one in 10 people will claim to see a ghost during their lifetime.

Now one of his four daughters is documenting his spooky experiences for a book which will feature the strangest cases he has dealt with.

And while he’s happy to talk about some of the frightening episodes, he is keen to point out that not every claim is genuine.

He says some of the reports of hauntings and possessions are made by attention seekers as well as people with mental health problems.

Rev Willis knows that some people dismiss every claim about evil spirits but he says what the Pope did in the Vatican eight days ago has sparked a much-needed debate about the subject.

The Pontiff touched the head of a boy who then convulsed and slumped in his wheelchair.

Some say it was an exorcism, though the Vatican has denied it.

Even so, Rev Willis says: “This Pope and the last have encouraged the ministry of exorcism and set up conferences and colleges because it is a problem that is brought to them.”

This means exorcists like Rev Willis will continue to be called into action, tending to the spiritual needs of their flocks and the wider population.

It isn’t always an easy task but the minister says the strength of his faith continues to guide him.

It can be uncomfortable if I lay my hands on someone for healing and they growl at me in a weird voice,” he explains. “And I might bring another couple of priests in to help me.

“In the end, I know evil exists but it is afraid of good. I need to be wary of it but I should not be afraid. That is what my work is all about.”

Source: The Mirror UK

Did the Pope perform an exorcism on television ? (video)

2013-05-27T22:02:00.000-04:00

The Catholic Church is tying itself in knots over whether Pope Francis last Sunday performed the public exorcism of a disabled man from Mexico. The footage of the Argentinian pontiff, pausing after Pentecost mass in Saint Peter’s Square to place both hands on the head of a 43-year-old wheelchair user, known only as Antonio, has become the subject of a dispute that lays bare the deeply ambiguous attitude of the modern Catholic Church — and indeed of other mainstream religions — to the gospel staple of exorcising the Devil from the bodies of those considered possessed.

When it was first broadcast on the church-run TV2000 channel, a panel of Catholic theologians in the studio stated with absolute certainty that it was an exorcism. The sight of Antonio convulsed in his chair, making guttural sounds, and then slumping down once the Pope removed his hands was evidence enough for them.
Meanwhile the visible change in the Pope’s demeanour, once the priest who was accompanying Antonio, Father Juan Rivas, leaned in and whispered into the papal ear, has been taken as suggesting that Pope Francis was acceding to his request to perform more than a simple blessing — in other words, he was willing, at the drop of a hat, to perform an ad hoc exorcism. That word in the ear was, arguably, the most curious gesture of the whole pored-over episode, for one of the stock images used by Catholicism in the Counter-Reformation was of Martin Luther with the Devil pouring verbal poison into his ear.

The symbolism may even have been intentional, since Father Rivas (a member of the deeply conservative Legionaries of Christ) is evidently well up on the history of demonic possession. He has stated his own belief that Antonio is inhabited by devils, a diagnosis of disability that will have most people throwing up their hands in horror. Surely the Catholic Church has got beyond conflating illness with possession, as when the medieval Inquisition would target epileptics as bearing the mark of Satan.

So, was the good-natured Pope Francis who, we have already learned, is always keen to make himself accessible to those most needy in his flock, simply the victim of a headline-grabbing stunt by an out-of-touch traditionalist priest? The Legionaries of Christ, it should be remembered, are facing an uncertain future after their founder, Father Marcial Maciel, who died in 2008, was revealed as a serial sexual abuser of youngsters, including two of the children he fathered.

For the many Catholics who have greeted the new Pope as the reformer that their Church needs, this is perhaps the most comfortable explanation. And the Vatican has encouraged such an approach by issuing a statement which makes plain that Pope Francis “didn’t intend to perform any exorcism, but as he often does for the sick or suffering, he simply intended to pray for someone who was suffering who was presented to him”. And TV2000 has now also issued an apology for misleading viewers.

But it is not as open and shut as that. First, Father Rivas is far from alone in his belief in real, tangible demonic possession. Every single Catholic diocese around the globe has an official exorcist whose task it is to fight the Devil. In Rome, until recently, the role fell to the redoubtable octogenarian Father Gabriele Amorth, who claimed, when I met him, to have carried out 50,000 exorcisms in the name of the Church. As well as taking Antonio to meet the pontiff, Father Rivas also introduced him to Father Amorth (who is among those siren voices claiming that Pope Francis’s actions in Saint Peter’s Square were consistent with an exorcism).

And this isn’t just a case of a few mavericks. Exorcism is a practice that goes right to the very top. Pope John Paul II — who during his 27-year pontificate produced encyclicals, letters and homilies on almost every subject, but always studiously avoided the topic of the Devil — carried out at least one exorcism: on March 27, 1982 according to the published memoir of Cardinal Jacques Martin, former head of the papal household. And Pope Benedict — though there is no evidence of similar behaviour — did once try to place the blame for the pedophile priest scandal in Catholicism on the intervention of the Devil.

That, of course, gets to the heart of the Devil’s enduring appeal for believers. Rather than taking responsibility for things that go wrong, they can blame it on the Devil as an external force. So, when I once attended a prayer meeting at Holy Trinity, Brompton, west London, alma mater of the Archbishop of Canterbury, one of the young participants shared with the group that she had had a terrible week because “the Devil made me spend all my money”.

As this shows, talk of the Devil is not limited to Catholicism. One reason the Vatican worked so hard to picture Luther with the Devil was because the Protestant reformer was an avid believer in Satan, to the point of being convinced that his tortured bowels were possessed. The Church of England also maintains a network of diocesan exorcists — though it prefers to label its ministry to those suffering from “demonic interference” as deliverance. And on the more Evangelical and Pentecostal fringes of Christianity (and the fact that the Pope’s alleged exorcism took place on Pentecost Sunday is another of the curious aspects of this saga), a literal belief in Satan is the norm.

Which, in one sense, is hardly surprising since the New Testament is full of the Devil. Trying to define as merely symbolic his role in tempting Jesus during his 40 days and nights in the wilderness cuts to the core of the Christian message. “The denial of the existence of the Devil implies the non-existence of angels,” the late Alice Thomas Ellis, novelist and traditionalist Catholic, once noted, “and, if you go far enough, of God himself.”

In mainstream Islam, by contrast, the problem is the other way round. The Qur’an makes only passing references to two Devil-like figures — Iblis and Shaytan — but both are no more than a minor irritant. And yet the practice of exorcising jinni — or evil daemons — is practised by some Muslims. Perhaps only Judaism has exorcised itself completely of the tendency to give Yahweh an evil rival. Its emphasis is not on a personification of evil — which lies outside — but rather on the yester hara-kiri, the evil inclination within each and every one.

The idea, then, that the Devil can now safely be dismissed as a relic of a medieval past is only half of the story.

When Pope Francis was welcomed by liberal Catholics as a new broom set to put a fresh emphasis to the witness of their Church, I doubt many had in mind that he would reopen the awkward question of the Devil. But even if the official denial about what happened on Sunday is accepted, the new pontiff has form.

In his very first homily as Pope on March 14, he warned the assembled cardinals that “he who doesn’t pray to the Lord prays to the Devil”. Since when he has made repeated references to Old Nick, most recently in a May 4 homily, in his morning Mass in the chapel of the hostel where he lives in the Vatican, when he spoke of the need for dialogue — except with Satan. “With the prince of this world you can’t have dialogue: Let this be clear!”

Mere symbolism and churchy language? Perhaps, but it is equally possible that the Devil is about to emerge from the shadows thanks to a Pope whose Latin American background maybe inclines him to speak more directly of such matters than his European predecessors.

One of the problems with being precise about what happened on Sunday in Saint Peter’s Square is that it is so hard to pin down precisely what an exorcism is. There is, of course, an ancient and elaborate ritual — last given a major overhaul by Catholicism in 1614 and still referred to in numerous ghoulish Hollywood films — which sets out the prayers that a priest must say when exorcising an individual.

But the basic gesture of rejecting the Devil — the point of exorcism — is there in an array of everyday practices common to many branches of Christianity, from the words used in baptism (“do you renounce Satan and all his ways and all his empty promises?”), through to the simplest gesture of making the sign of the cross, traditionally the best protection against the Devil. Remove them all and there wouldn’t be much left.

Source: The Province.com

Is Andy Kaufman alive and well in Albuquerque ? (video)

2013-05-24T02:14:00.003-04:00

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - It's an urban legend that's been around for decades: Actor and comedian Andy Kaufman didn't actually die, he faked his death as the ultimate prank.

Now that urban legend has resurfaced, with a small group of fans believing he's alive and living in Albuquerque.

Kaufman was considered by some as less of a comedian and more of a performance artist who wanted to make the audience question reality.

Some say, if anyone could pull off faking his own cancer death 29 years ago it would be Andy Kaufman.
“I do find it fascinating and I think there's a very strong possibility that this could be for real,” said Edgewood-based writer Jack Bristow.

Bristow is part of a group of fans recently interviewed by the Huffington Post who explain in detail why some believe Kaufman has created a whole different life in the Land of Enchantment.

“He told people he was going to fake his death before it happened, years before,” Bristow said.

As the story goes, fans say Kaufman has a biological son, known as Stephen Maddox , who spent years trying to track down his father. Maddox dedicated a website to it and eventually tracked him down in Albuquerque two years ago.

“He was having surgery, supposedly, and he finally guilted him into seeing him once - that's how the story goes,” he said.

They say he created this cryptic video and posted it online after Kaufman apparently didn't want anything to do with him.

It shows a man walking through a parking lot full of cars with New Mexico license plates and walking by an Albuquerque-looking apartment complex.

But it's one particular clip that causes the most speculation, fans say Maddox says it show Kaufman at work in Albuquerque 2011.

“I don't know if it's him or not. But that one black and white one where it shows his face, it looks like it could possibly be him,” Bristow said.

It's not the first time the New Mexico theory has come up.

A few years ago, he was rumored to be living in Taos .

In 2005, someone claimed to have see Andy Kaufman panhandling near an Albuquerque Walmart, something Kaufman was known to do in his act.

Fans also say if there is someone living in Albuquerque who was formerly known as Andy Kaufman, there's no evidence he wants to be revealed.

If he were alive today, he’d be 64 years old.

For Kaufman believers, the legends and the questions continue.

Andy Kaufman believers say he's alive in ABQ

Source: KRQE New Mexico

Truther Alex Jones pushes tornado theory "There’s weather weapon stuff going on" (audio)

2013-05-22T23:59:00.000-04:00

Conspiracy talk show host Alex Jones, increasingly a favorite of conservative media for his extremely vocal support of gun rights, outed himself Tuesday as a tornado truther by telling a caller on his show, “Of course there’s weather weapons stuff going on.”

Jones, a longtime proponent of the idea that the U.S. government can manipulate and even produce weather systems like tornadoes and hurricanes, went on to say that if people saw helicopters or small aircraft in the area, then “you better bet your bottom dollar they did this.”

“But, who knows if they did?” he asked. “You know, that’s the thing. We don’t know.”

That almost seems like a first for the conspiracy radio host, who has in recent weeks been endlessly promoting theories about how he’s certain the Boston Marathon bombing was a “false flag” event set up by the Obama administration. Jones also claims intimate knowledge of the government’s alleged plot to blow up the Oklahoma City federal building and carry out the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

He’s also a proponent of the “Manchurian candidate” scenario for the mass shootings in Aurora, Colorado and Newtown, Connecticut, but virtually all of his “evidence” in these matters is dubious at best and fabricated or misrepresented at worst.

Jones is also credited for pushing a bizarre and thoroughly debunked theory that President Barack Obama trying to buy up all the bullets in the country, both to enforce gun control and to prepare for the murder hundreds of thousands of American citizens amid what he believes is a planned period of civil unrest.

Republicans in the House actually held a hearing about this matter, much to the disappointment of their
Democratic counterparts. Of course, for years Jones has been telling his listeners that the government, particularly the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has Nazi-style death camps set up all around the country, although no evidence of this has ever surfaced.

Jones is being increasingly treated as a serious voice within the Republican Party, and lawmakers in statehouses across the country and in Congress are beginning to parrot his views, however bizarre they might sound. Even Fox News hosts and Republican freshman Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has appeared on the Alex Jones Show, much like his father, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), continues to do.

This audio is from “The Alex Jones Show” on Tuesday, May 21, 2013, as snipped by Media Matters.

Source: Raw Story

Paranormal presence haunts home of Iowa baseball players

2013-05-22T01:45:00.003-04:00

Every night when he got ready to go to bed, Hawkeye baseball player Trevor Kenyon usually left his TV on the Big Ten Network. One night, he decided to fall asleep to FX.

When he returned to his room after brushing his teeth, he discovered his TV had been changed to BTN. Kenyon turned the TV off and put the remote on the floor next to his bed. When he rolled over, he discovered the remote next to him on the pillow. After that, Kenyon turned the TV back on to BTN and let “Tim” watch sports as he fell asleep.

Kenyon, along with five other members of the Iowa baseball team and one club hockey player, recently learned they might not be the only ones living in their house on North Dubuque Street. A local paranormal-investigating task force claims to have confirmed the residents have two spirits in their house. One, an older, grandfatherly figure — whom the guys have named “Tim” — roams the halls and rooms of the three-story house. Another, a younger girl, stays put in one particular room of the house.

“We’ve lived here over the past two years,” junior pitcher Aaron Smit said. “But over the past few months, we noticed things getting a little bit weird. We had a kid in here who thought he saw a ghost — a shadow in a form of a human.”

That experience made Smit, and the rest of his roommates, think about some other not-so-normal things that have happened in their residence before.

“We thought about how [baseball player Taylor Zeutenhorst] said he saw a little girl in his bedroom,” Smit said. “There was a time in the morning where someone was slamming the door, and we heard sprinting up the stairs. Everyone assumed it was me, but I told them I was in bed.”

Members of the house began noticing chairs being moved around in the kitchen late at night. And on two separate occasions, girlfriends of players have had underwear removed from them while sleeping, even though they were wearing pants. Each time, the undergarments were discovered in another place. Smit said the list “sort of goes on.”

One of the more peculiar stories comes from a room in the attic of the house. Kenyon, a junior catcher who has lived in the furnished attic all year, said that for whatever reason, there were times he couldn’t find the energy to leave his bed or his room.

“I never wanted to leave the room. I had no motivation,” he said. “I usually have high energy. I would get depressed — be in there moping around, wondering, ‘What the hell am I doing?’ ”

Other teammates who have lived in Kenyon’s room in the past have told him they experienced similar things and feelings of exhaustion while in the room.

The baseball players said they were puzzled by all the strange happenings, and it wasn’t until they had an unexpected visitor to their house that they thought of the possibility of a ghost.

They said one day, a man around 50 years old showed up at the house, saying he was a former tenant there who wished to walk around. As the guys were showing the man the house, he said it had been a funeral home in the 1920s.

“Things had been happening for a while, so after that, we decided to call someone,” Kenyon said.

The Davenport native scoured the Internet for someone who might be able to confirm or deny the presence of a ghost or otherworldly spirits in their home. He came across the Facebook page of Paranormal Activity Support Team. The group of four women, three with jobs working in labs in the area and one a business owner, investigate paranormal happenings for free in Iowa as a hobby.

“We did an interview first,” group member Lacy Benter said. “We thought, ‘Is this for real? They might be yanking our chain.’ It was a group of college guys, after all. But we went there, and they were all excited about it; they were pumped. Everyone had a story.”

All four members of the paranormal group entered the house with their equipment to see if they could confirm or deny the presence of a spirit, or spirits, in the house. The tools they brought included thermometers, infrared cameras, voice recorders, dowsing rods, and equipment to detect electromagnetic fields.

They said that the temperature drops dramatically in a room if a paranormal spirit is around — the reason for the thermometers. The recorder is for catching sounds they may not have heard while conducting an investigation, but for this case, group member Sandy Marler said, the dowsing rods were the tools the members used most.

She said they had some of the members of the house hold a rod in each hand and ask a supposed spirit a question. If the rods crossed, that meant a spirit answered the question with “Yes,” and if the rods moved apart or outward, that meant “No.”

“We did find there are two spirits staying there,” Marler said. “We got information that there was an older, grandfather-like gentlemen and a little girl around the age of 10, but they were not related.”

Kenyon told them about the problems he was having in his room, and they had a simple solution: Ask the spirit to stop stealing his energy.

“I don’t think he was trying to take his energy to be mean,” Benter said. “Sometimes, to get attention, they take energy. It can be harmful to people; they can get ill or be overcome with severe depression. I don’t think this one meant it to be harmful, but some do.”

Dowsing rods in hand, Kenyon asked the spirit Tim if he would stop draining him of his energy. The rods crossed “Yes,” and Kenyon said he hasn’t had a problem with a lack of energy since.

“Before, if I didn’t set an alarm, I wouldn’t get out of bed until 2 p.m.,” he said. “Now, I don’t need to set an alarm. I can get up at 8 a.m. naturally.”

The paranormal group members determined that the spirits are not out to harm any members of the house. The baseball players decided that they have had enough of the paranormal, though, and decided not to renew their lease for next year. A new group of young men will be tasked with sharing the house with two apparent non-rent-paying entities for at least the next academic year.

The players could take measures to rid their house of the spirits, but because no harm has been done, they have decided to let their guests be.

“I’m on Tim’s good side,” first baseman Brian Niedbalski said. “I want to leave it that way.”

Source: The Daily Iowan

Meteoroid strikes the moon (video)

2013-05-19T20:41:00.002-04:00

A meteoroid struck the surface of the moon recently, causing an explosion that was visible on Earth without the aid of a telescope, NASA reported Friday. But don't be alarmed if you didn't see it; it only lasted about a second.

"It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we've ever seen before," said Bill Cooke, of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office.

NASA astronomers have been monitoring the moon for the past eight years, looking for explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the lunar surface. It's part of a program to find new fields of space debris that could hit Earth. NASA says it sees hundreds of detectable lunar meteoroid impacts a year.

None however can match the size of the explosion they say they saw March 17. NASA says the meteoroid was about 40 kilograms and less than a meter wide, and it hit the moon's surface at 56,000 mph. It glowed like a 4th magnitude star, NASA says, thanks to an explosion equivalent to 5 tons of TNT.

"It jumped right out at me, it was so bright," said Ron Suggs of the Marshall Space Flight Center.

Cooke says Earth was pelted by meteoroids at about the same time, but they hit the moon because it has no atmosphere to protect it.

"We'll be keeping an eye out for signs of a repeat performance next year when the Earth-moon system passes through the same region of space," Cooke said.

If you're wondering how there can be an explosion on the moon, without oxygen, NASA has the answer for you. It says the flash of light comes not from any type of combustion -- as we typically think of explosions -- but rather by the glowing molten rock at the impact site.

Source: CNN

Group pays $ 1,000 to 'human bait' to try to capture monster

2013-05-19T19:13:00.001-04:00

The Acam (Association of Hunters Haunt Mariana), located 112 km from Belo Horizonte, offered £ 1,000 for those who were willing to serve as bait in a cage in an attempt to capture the creature called "Caboclo D'Água "which, according to the association, has been conducting attacks in the region for years.

It is attributed to the haunting, described as a mixture of chicken, lizard and monkey, the death of at least four people in the neighborhood, and several attacks on farm animals and sites.

The last human death from which the animal was the author, which occurred two years ago, victimized a boy whose testicles were pulled by a toothed beast while the victim was swimming in a river in the region, according to a survey of the association. There are reports, however, of a death caused by him in 1970 in the locality.

According Leandro Henrique dos Santos, general secretary of the association and responsible for the newspaper "The Spit", three candidates presented themselves for the service, but only one was chosen because it presented the best "fitness" to tackle the task.

He reported that the candidate named Daniel Pinto, 37, signed a commitment by exempting the association, if you suffer injuries or be killed by the creature. Also according to reports of Santos, the cage has been placed at a point Carmo River in Mariana.

The exact location was not disclosed, nor the date on which the "human bait" should spend 24 hours in it. Care is to preserve the stalk of onlookers, who could scare the "Caboclo of Water."

Santos blurted out, however, that the experiment should be done this weekend. Regardless of whether or not capture the beast, Pinto will receive the award stand being up 24 hours inside the cage.

The structure left inside the bed of the river, but near the edge, so as to keep only the lower part of the submerged cage, which is open. Pinto will company a goat inside the cage, as the creature also has a predilection for the species, as well as calves and chickens.

Escape

Daniel Pinto (center) and monster cage

The aim of the masterminds of the attempted capture is that the haunting is drawn after sniffing a substance-based bovine blood-specially developed by a professor at the Federal University of Ouro Preto (Ufop) and member of the association. The product will be launched in the water around the cage.

The expectation is that the Caboclo D'Água in the enclosure between the bottom of the cage. At that moment, the brave volunteer Daniel Pinto should climb the structure and out through an opening made in the top of it, closing the door and capturing thus the terrible creature.

A pool team, strategically hidden near the cage, try to make pictures of supernatural being, while a nurse will be ready if Pinto suffers a malfunction in an attempt to leave the room.

"He did a resistance test on the spot and was approved. Tested the candidate for two hours and evaluate their attempt to leave the cage. He did very well and was the fastest ', reported the Secretary-General.

Association

Founded in 2008, the Association of Hunters Haunts Mariana (Acam) attempts to demonstrate the existence of entities that "infest" Mariana and region, as the Bride of Furquim the Lambizome Bigfoot, the Knight of Lent, besides the "Caboclo D ' Water. "

In 2011, members inaugurated the headquarters of the association, located in the district of Pass Mariana. There, about 42 members meet in secret sessions, to establish guidelines for the hunted supernatural beings.

Haunted Mavis Manor in West Virginia (video)

2013-05-19T18:50:00.000-04:00

In it's prime, Mavis Manor, built in the 1890's housed traveling sick patients treated by a Dr. Lilly and his wife

Now, it serves as a beautiful bed and breakfast but even with complete vacancy, could this picturesque property have some guests wandering the hundred year old hallways?

The current innkeeper Justin Marchese says guest have reported hearing their name whispered and footsteps down the halls.

Appalachee Paranormal Investigative Team based out of Raleigh County is no stranger to Mavis Manor.

They've searched for spirits at the home before and I decided to try and have my brush with the other side.

See all the spooky things we encountered.

Beckley, Bluefield

Source: WVNS TV

Reservations : Mavis Manor

Haunted House up for sale

2013-05-19T18:38:00.002-04:00

A Khmer dwelling on prime downtown riverside land has come back on the market, despite its widespread reputation as a haunted house.

The wooden house, surrounded by banana trees and garden, sits alongside the Siem Reap River near a pagoda in Beoung Dounpa village, Slorkram commune. The house was built in 2003 in traditional Khmer style by a Cambodian family.

But the family only enjoyed pleasant living in the house for the first month – after that male members of the family residing in the house began dying. A year after moving in, the family vacated the house and it has remained empty since 2004.

Hooch, a young boy, said he often heard strange sounds coming from within the allegedly haunted house.

“It’s freaking scary for me to hear such things in the middle of the night,” Hooch said, staring at the house.

“I remember one night when my dad had just come back from a wedding party, about midnight. I heard a lot of people talking to each other and laughing so loudly in the house. I think there were also a lot children running around in the house, but when I looked through the window, there was nothing there.”

He added, “It was not only me who heard them talking. My family heard it also. And they [the spirits] sometimes do housework like humans, they clean their house and they communicate to their family members as we do.”

He said that during Buddhist ceremonies such as Khmer New Year and Pchum Ben, he heard the sound of Khmer cakes being made and the sound of shuffling feet.

“It scares me almost to death,” Hooch said. “The sounds are so horrible and at night the dogs whimper a lot. I dare not sleep alone.”

Most people in the village firmly believe the house is haunted, but people are wary about poking around and asking too many questions.

Hooch’s mother stared fixedly when asked about the house and advised that sometimes staying in our own worlds without crossing to other worlds is the best thing to do.

Speaking anonymously, she said, “If we don’t bother them, they will never disturb us if we live in our world and they live in theirs.”

Seven years ago, in 2003, when the family moved into the house, the men began dying. First the father died. Then a son-in-law, then an uncle, and then a son also died.

“The spirit takes only males,” Hooch’s mum explained. “All male members in this family died one by one. I think it‘s a woman ghost, but I’ve never seen a ghost at the house. I have only heard horrible sounds such as a woman singing for her baby, and it really freaks me out.”

After the deaths, the family moved to another house and sold the haunted house to a rich woman in Phnom Penh.

Hooch’s mother said, “The new owner rarely comes to see this wooden house. I don’t know why, but she seems intent on keeping the house as original. She didn’t change or rebuild anything. Last year, a group of monks went to the house and prayed for spirits to be reborn. After the praying, the sound of a woman singing for her baby vanished.”

Cambodian people have a strong belief in ghosts and spirits. They believe that ghosts reside in empty houses and pagodas or near bridges.

Hooch’s mother said that almost all households have a "spirit house" that looks like a tiny temple mounted on pillars.

“When people move into a new home they also build a spirit house to look over them in their living and keep mischief and danger away,” she said. “This is a place for the spirits to dwell. No one wants them to become angry as they might come into the real house and start causing mischief, bad luck or bad health.”

According to Hooch’s mother, the Phnom Penh owner decided to sell the house because she has no time to come to Siem Reap to look after the building.

The house sits on a 20m x 150m block of land, totaling 3,000 square meters. The land is going for $450 per square meter, or $1, 350,000 all up..

Source: Phnom Penh Post

Mysterious vortex reported to city council in UK

2013-05-18T15:13:00.001-04:00

Council bosses have been left mystified after reports that a portal to another dimension has opened in a residential street in Brighton.

A member of the public reported to Brighton and Hove City Council that the “wormhole or vortex” had opened up in Montreal Road, Hanover, on May 2.

They made the report via the website Fix My Street which is more typically used to report potholes, dumped rubbish and broken lampposts.

The anonymous poster said: “I was recently walking my affenpinscher (a toy breed of dog) around the Hanover area of Brighton when I noticed that a wormhole or vortex has opened up on Montreal Road.

“On closer inspection it seems to be some kind of portal to other times, places and dimensions.

“I would have investigated further but I was concerned my little dog would be sucked into it.

“Is this meant to be there? At first I believed it might be part of the Brighton Festival but I believe it could be a hazard to the general public. I look forward to your response.”

They followed this up with a report on Thursday, explaining: “The other day I reported the presence of some kind of wormhole or vortex on Montreal Road.

“I went past the other day and it seems to have got worse – it is now emitting an unsettling yellow light and a large snake appears to be emerging from the wall.

“I am concerned this is a passage to another time or dimension, and if this snake is anything to go by, I'm worried what else may emerge from the wormhole. Can anyone suggest a course of action to take?”

Brighton and Hove City Council told The Argus they will not be investigating the report.

Commenting on Fix My Street previously, the council said: “We welcome reports through any means residents choose and as a council provide many ways through which residents can raise issues directly ranging from post, online or by telephone.”

Source: The Argus UK

CCTV footage: Angry ghost pushes over stack of boxes (video)

2013-05-18T11:52:00.002-04:00

This is the spooky moment CCTV footage captures what appears to be a ghost pushing over a stack of boxes in an indoor market.

Traders were shocked to find the boxes strewn over the floor when they arrived for work at Wellington Indoor Market in Telford, Shrops.

But their shock turned to terror when they played back the CCTV footage - and caught the apparent culprit.

The video shows what appears to be a shadowy figure climbing the stairs of the market before pushing over the boxes.

Market manager Kay Boakye said: "We came into the market in the morning and the boxes were all over the place, on the floor and over the stairs.

"We thought there had been an intruder so we obviously went straight to the CCTV.

"We couldn’t believe what we saw. All the hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

"There was nobody there when the boxes fell off. We watched it again and we could see the shadow walking up the stairs then chucking the boxes over."

The market, which dates back to 1244, is held inside a Victorian building - and is no stranger to spooky goings on.

Kay added: "Sometimes there are strange things that go on when people are alone, some people say they have seen a shadow go past them.

"Once there were two people alone in the market, they were talking when they heard coughing coming from the other side of the building.

"They thought there must be someone else there but when they looked around it was totally empty.
"We also have times where the hand-dryer starts on its own or doors slam."

PJ Godsell, from investigators Mercia Paranormal, said: “The video is quite interesting.
"We don’t often see a lot of CCTV footage as it’s often not regularly checked which means that we can miss out on a lot of evidence.

"My initial reactions from watching the video is that this is probably explainable, but we would never say 100 per cent that it is not paranormal."

Source: Mirror UK

CCTV footage, Is there a ghost at Exmouth Rugby Club? (video)

2013-05-15T23:37:00.000-04:00

Spooked pub staff believe their bar is haunted by the ghost of a former drinker who recently died - after its bell appeared to signal last orders by itself.Bar workers believe the spirit of Nigel Harris, 64, is ringing time from beyond the grave at Exmouth Rugby Club in Devon.

They say the last order bell has been sounding unmanned and believe Mr Harris, a popular customer of 30 years who recently passed away, is haunting them.

One incident was captured on the clubhouse CCTV camera but when bosses rewound the tape they couldn't see any evidence of a prank.

Barmaid Tasmyn Burns, 19, was serving pints when the bell rang out on a Sunday afternoon.

She said: 'It made us all jump because it was ringing so loud. It was really being yanked with some force.

'I thought someone may have been playing a joke or something so I was shocked when I saw no one else was there.

'I don't normally believe in ghosts but it's quite hard not to after what happened. I have heard a few whispers of peoples saying it could be the spirit of Nigel.

'He was always in the bar and he did everything with the club, his picture is even hanging up in the lounge'.

Mr Harris, the club's former secretary, died from a heart attack in 2010 after being involved with the rugby team for three decades.

Bosses had planned to bestow an honorary lifetime membership on him but he died before they could do it.

Manager Frank Bright said: 'A few people have mentioned Nigel's name. He was great man, an all-round good guy - and certainly no threat to anyone.'

'The bell ringing on its own is pretty odd, I'll give you that,' he said. 'And one of the girls was quite freaked out.

'But I'm a bit more level-headed and I'm sure there's some way to explain it; I just can't put my finger on it at the moment.

'There was one time I was here on my own and I heard a whistle. I turned round and shouted "hello, hello" but there was no-one here.

'You hear voices every now and then but it could just be someone outside. The walls are made of wood but pretty thin.

'Maybe we could use it to our benefit - £25 a night to stay in the haunted bar, how does that sound?'

The rugby club's events manager Sue Stone added: 'I've seen the video and it looks pretty genuine but I'm no expert on these things.

'I know the bar staff have said they've heard things in the past and it's certainly strange.'

Source: Daily Mail UK

Catalogue of historic pubs includes a weeping ghost

2013-05-15T23:21:00.000-04:00

AN Oxford pub housing a collection of 5,000 ties and an inn with a weeping ghost are featured in a new handbook on the nation’s most historic watering holes.

Ye Olde Good Inn Guide, published by The History Press, includes The Bear Inn, Oxford, which claims to be one of the oldest public houses in England, dating back to 1242.

The Bear’s circa-17th century incarnation stands in Alfred Street, and generations of residents and tourists have sacrificed their neck-wear for a drink.

John Chipperfield, who compiles the Oxford Mail’s Memory Lane feature, said: “The practice of taking ties began in 1954 by the then landlord (and former Oxford Mail cartoonist) Alan Course.

“Anyone who came in with a tie had it cut halfway down (the owner kept the bit round the neck and Alan swiped the bit at the bottom for his collection). The donor then got a free pint for his trouble.”

Another pub featured in the book is The George Hotel in High Street, Wallingford, previously the George & Dragon.

Judy Dewey, curator of Wallingford Museum, said: “On March 3, 1626, a man called John Hobson was stabbed to death during a fight at a pub, probably the George & Dragon.

“Hobson’s fiancée was so distraught that she locked herself in an upstairs room and painted markings on the walls with her tears mixed with soot from the fire.

“She died of grief, but the room became known as the Teardrop Room, as the marks are still visible, and her ghost has also been seen.”
Local stories also say the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin stayed at the George & Dragon, but Mrs Dewey said they are likely just legend.

She said: “The George has a very interesting history and hopefully its place in this book will encourage more people to come to Wallingford and visit the museum, where a lot more fascinating information on the town can be found.”

Also featured in the book, by authors James Moore and Paul Nero, are Ye Olde Reindeer Inn in Banbury and The George in Dorchester-on-Thames, which dates from 1495.

Source: Oxford Mail

Sold Ebay painting was returned due to haunting.

2013-05-14T17:08:00.001-04:00

This is another item that was sold on Ebay, but this time it was return because it might actually be haunted.

This is from the seller:

Her name is Addie and she belonged to an older woman and was said the they had a long time relationship,and were always talking to each other.She called her,"her Sweet Addie."

When the daughter blew into town about twice a year.She would spend several nights with her mother but insisted that she would cover Addie up because she gave her the creeps and would STARE at her wherever she was in the room.

The people that got a hold of her was at a estate auction that the daughter held after her mother had pasted.

Told the people that the painting was talking to her and just wanted it gone,sold!

They kept her and saw smoke coming from her and orbs flying around and had checked her out to be 100% haunted!

When I opened the box she came in there were two huge thunder claps, the day was clear and not a cloud in the sky! It was the type that you hear in a haunting.

People out there that have been in or worked with the haunted understand.

I have her on a wall facing me and those eyes are always there,staring.The painting seems to be 1960's to 1970 circa.The head and shoulders are the very size of a woman is a gold framed mirror.

What I have seen her do is to morph her face into some really super strange faces.

This painting was sold by my ex-wife when it was listed on Ebay.The buyer asked to return the painting due to her scaring the buyers wife.I could never put my finger on what the haunting was really about.As the saying goes......There is no room for two women under the same roof! She even screws with me when my girlfriend will not go home.The girlfriend HATES her and swears she is trying to drive her out of the house.So if any of you guys out there want a divorce, she'll leave them running,really.As soon as she was returned my daughter started having night terrors again.This is not a thing to fool with unless you know or collect haunted items.It can be very disturbing at times, even to me and I grew up around hauntings.The painting is 24" x 17".

Source: Ebay

Haunted Antique Dibbuk Box up for auction on Ebay

2013-05-14T16:21:00.000-04:00

Well there's a Dibbuk Box up for auction on Ebay, so far the bidding is up to $202.50 with 6 bids. I wonder if all the hype regarding the paranormal, make people sell things for quick cash. I wonder if this is real or just a hoax.

Either way I'm not going to by it, and I wonder if we'll ever hear from the person that does.

The Folklore:

The dybbuk box, or dibbuk box (Hebrew: קופסאת דיבוק, Kufsat Dibbuk), is a wine cabinet which is said to be haunted by a dybbuk. In Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is a restless, usually malicious, spirit believed to be able to haunt and even possess the living.

This is a quote from the seller:

Well i got this box from a storage auction last year and it is so haunted , My house was already haunted but this thing is crazy.

The original owners of the unit where Jewish, and very religious!

The first night i brought it home the dogs would not stop barking and freaking out, i didn't get any sleep , they could tell...

The next day i had to replace 6 light bulbs, and the direct TV went out!sometimes at night i can here a girls voice in the distance saying faintly Help Me , Help Me.

There is something clunking around in there, and some smaller things rattling around.

This thing has got to go, maybe someone else has a use for it ??

Bid at your own risk, No Returns, Free Shipping! Thanks....

Source: Ebay

One night stay in haunted hotel room up for bid (video)

2013-05-13T14:53:00.000-04:00

WINDBER, Pa. — "Just about everybody has a story that comes here ... Hearing footsteps in the hall ... A lot of people mention being touched ... I've seen a chair shift out in front of me and then move to the right."

The former Grand Midway Hotel in Windber has been called one of the most haunted places in western Pennsylvania, with one room in particular that creeps out all of its guests.

The building is now a private home. It's reserved only for friends and family, but 6 News reporter Maria Miller got an exclusive tour of the building on Friday and found out you can, too, if the price is right.

Blair Murphy is an independent filmmaker from Los Angeles. He randomly bought the property with some friends about 10 years ago and quickly turned it into an unusual home.

"There's 32 rooms and each room has a theme. It's a big canvas basically," said Murphy. "I'm an artist and a lot of my friends are artists, so we're cultivating this building into a real landmark. We're trying to, anyway."

But the fixtures and art are not the only things that may look creepy. Murphy said he noticed unusual things happening as soon as he moved in.

"It was creepy and I didn't know why. I was raised in a funeral home. That stuff doesn't bother me," said Murphy. "But for six weeks I didn't understand footsteps I was hearing, TVs were turning on. I mean, I wouldn't believe these stories if I heard them myself, but I went through that and it was very weird."

"(There are) constantly stories about being touched," said Murphy. "I feel like hands touching me. It's very common here."

But there's one room in particular Murphy said outdoes the rest.

"This is it, Room Number 3. They always tell me they have creepy dreams in there," said Murphy. "There's a couple statues in there and there's this nun statue and it turns up in people's dreams and talks to them."

But the building is his home. Since he bought it, the building has never been opened to the public until now.

"I said as a joke we should put this on eBay," said Murphy.

So he did, and within one night, Murphy said it got more than 11,000 hits. The bidding for a one-night stay already passed $250 and will end on Sunday.

"I don't care about the money. It's not about making money," said Murphy. "It was more of just like something fun to let the public in. We'll see where it goes. I don't know. If it works, maybe I'll do it once a month or something."

Murphy said he can't promise the winning bidder a paranormal experience, but he can guarantee a memorable visit.

Click link below for video:

One night stay in haunted hotel room up for bid

Tree Hugging Now Scientifically Validated (video)

2013-05-13T14:33:00.000-04:00

Die hard conservatives love to disparage liberals as tree huggers, but it has been recently scientifically validated that hugging trees is actually good for you. Research has shown that you don't even have to touch a tree to get better, you just need to be within its vicinity has a beneficial effect.

In a recently published book, Blinded by Science, the author Matthew Silverstone, proves scientifically that trees do in fact improve many health issues such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), concentration levels, reaction times, depression and other forms of mental illness. He even points to research indicating a tree's ability to alleviate headaches in humans seeking relief by communing with trees.

The author points to a number of studies that have shown that children show significant psychological and physiological improvement in terms of their health and well being when they interact with plants and trees. Specifically, the research indicates that children function better cognitively and emotionally in green environments and have more creative play in green areas. Also, he quotes a major public health report that investigated the association between green spaces and mental health concluded that "access to nature can significantly contribute to our mental capital and wellbeing".

So what is it about nature that can have these significant effects? Up until now it has been thought to be the open green spaces that cause this effect. However, Matthew Silverstone, shows that it is nothing to do with this by proving scientifically that it is the vibrational properties of trees and plants that give us the health benefits and not the open green spaces.

The answer to how plants and trees affect us physiologically turns out to be very simple. It is all to do with the fact that everything vibrates in a subtle manner, and different vibrations affect biological behaviors. One research experiment showed that if you drink a glass of water that has been treated with a "10Hz vibration" your blood coagulation rates will change immediately on ingesting the treated water. It is the same with trees, when touching a tree its different vibrational pattern will affect various biological behaviors within your body.

This vibrational idea is backed up throughout the book by a number of scientific studies to provide convincing proof that tree hugging after all is not such a crazy idea. One report even concluded the following: "safe, green spaces may be as effective as prescription drugs in treating some forms of mental illnesses".

There is one other school of thought are in alignment with this remarkable theory: Taoism. For example, the Taoist master Mantak Chia teaches students to meditate with trees, as a way of release "negative energies." In his Cosmic Tree Healing Qigong method, Master Chia teaches how to align one's body with the "aura" (or energetic field) of a tree. He explains that trees are natural processors that can help you transform your body's sick or negative energy into positive, vital life force energy. As you connect your energy with the tree you facilitate your own physical and emotional healing. The Taoist theory is that because trees stand very still, they are better at absorbing the Earth's Energy and the Universal Force from the Heavens. Trees and all plants have the ability to absorb the light frequencies and transform them into physical food; and they do the same with energetic food. The Taoist view of trees is to see them constantly in meditation, with subtle energy as their natural language.

One other fascinating laboratory that studies plant vibrational energies is Damanhur, an intentional community in Italy. In this peaceful and spiritual ecovillage there is a laboratory in the woods that offers a beautiful choir of singing trees. Yeah, you read that right... singing trees. Since 1976, researchers at Damanhur have invented and developed equipment that can capture electromagnetic changes on the surface of leaves and roots, transforming them into actual sounds. The best part is, these trees seem to control their electrical responses via a feedback mechanism, and demonstrate a kind of awareness and preference for types of music. The singing plants and trees of Damanhur have sparked off such a worldwide fascination that the people began organizing “Plant Concerts”, where musicians perform to the music created by the trees.

Watch this 15-minute video of a beautiful demonstration singing plants while one of Damanhur’s researchers explain the phenomenon.

Source: Uplift Me