Prairie Specters

Ghosts And Gadgets : Communicating with the Spirits

2015-10-19T19:52:00.002-06:00

Toxic mold may cause sightings of ghosts

2015-04-07T18:27:00.001-06:00

Scientists believe that poor air quality may be a contributing factor in reports of the paranormal.

Tales of ghosts and spirits are perhaps the most enduring of all unexplained mysteries, having been a staple part of cultures all around the world for thousands of years.

Now however a new study by researchers at Clarkson University in New York may be able to shed some light on the phenomenon thanks to the discovery of a possible link between supernatural encounters and the toxic effects of some types of mold spores when they are inadvertently breathed in.

The team found that many paranormal experiences are very similar to the hallucinogenic effects of the spores which can cause significant mental or neurological symptoms.

"Hauntings are often reported in older-built structures that may also suffer poor air quality," said civil and environmental engineer Shane Rogers. "Similarly, some people have reported depression, anxiety and other effects from exposure to biological pollutants in indoor air."

While the discovery is unlikely to explain every ghost sighting and paranormal encounter it does offer an intriguing alternative explanation that could account for at least some of those cases.

www.unexplained-mysteries.com

Can you conjure up a ghost with your mind ?

2015-02-12T17:01:00.001-06:00

In the 1970s a group of researchers conducted a unique experiment to create their own paranormal entity.

Known as the 'Philip Experiment', the endeavor involved para-psychological researchers from the Toronto Society for Psychical Research and aimed to determine if it was possible to manifest an entity using nothing more than the power of the mind.

To do this, the group started out by creating a complete history for their entity, who they called Philip. Over the space of a year they talked about this fictional individual amongst themselves, focusing on what he would look like and willing him to appear to them.

Finally in 1973 during a seance, Philip actually started to communicate to the group by rapping on the table and causing the lights to dim. The results were so impressive that they attempted the same thing again in front of a video camera and audience, this time succeeding in having the table levitate in front of more than 50 people.

But what do these results mean ? Could the Philip Experiment indicate that with enough willpower it is possible to break through and connect with the other side or does it imply that paranormal experiences are in fact nothing more than a product of the human subconscious ?

The Sea Hag of Bell Island

2013-10-23T19:32:00.000-06:00

A supernatural Sea-Hag haunts a Bell Island's Dobbin's Gardens marsh.

Newfoundland's Bell Island is a place steeped in mysteries and legends. These are legends not merely passed down through the generations, but encountered first hand. They mainly revolve around Dobbin's Garden and the nearby marshes. They are stories of an Irish legend, the Banshee, a female spirit appointed to inform families of impending death. She comes in two forms: a beautiful woman in white, and a deformed old hag. Most encounters circle around the latter. Men have been known to walk through the small marshes, only to come out days later, not knowing where they are, or where they had been. They can only remember a putrid smell, and a grotesque old woman, in ragged clothes, crawling towards them from the bushes, forcing them to the ground with the smell of death.

A Brief History Of The Ouija Board

2013-10-12T16:28:00.001-06:00

As a method of supposed communication with the spirit world, the Ouija board has terrified countless slumber partying children and served as a plot vehicle in a number of Hollywood films. Here’s where it came from.

SPIRITUALISM AND PRE-OUIJA METHODS

Ouija boards have their roots in Spiritualism, which began in the United States in the late 1840s. (Claims that ancient Ouija boards existed are unfounded.) The new movement was led by mediums, who claimed to be intermediaries between the living and the dead.

There were a number of ways mediums made followers believe that they were communicating messages from those who had passed. One, table turning, involved the table moving or knocking on the floor in response to letters called out from the alphabet. Another method used planchettes, heart-shaped devices with two wheels at one end and a pencil at the point; users would place their fingers on the device, which would then be guided by spirits who would “write” messages.

Both methods were problematic. Table turning took too long, and planchette writing was hard to decipher. According to the Museum of Talking Boards, some mediums got rid of these methods altogether, preferring to channel while in a trance, while others built complicated tables, dials, and tables painted with letters that required people to use a planchette as a pointer. This method became the most popular—and paved the way for the Ouija board.

RISE OF THE TALKING BOARD

In 1886, the New York Daily Tribune reported on a new talking board being used in Ohio. It was 18 by 20 inches and featured the alphabet, numbers, and the words yes, no, good evening, and goodnight; the only other necessary object was a “little table three or four inches high … with four legs” that the spirits could use to identify letters. The brilliance of the board was that anyone could make it—the tools suggested in the article are “a jack-knife and a marking brush."

Operating the board was similarly easy:

You take the board in your lap, another person sitting down with you. You each grasp the little table with the thumb and forefinger at each corner next to you. Then the question is asked, ‘Are there any communications?’ Pretty soon you think the other person is pushing the table. He thinks you are doing the same. But the table moves around to ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Then you go on asking question and the answers are spelled out by the legs on the table resting on the letters one after the other.

(Of course, any messages generated probably weren't from spirits; instead, they were likely a result of the Ideomotor effect. This psychological phenomenon was first described in 1852 by William Benjamin Carpenter who, in a scientific paper analyzing how talking boards worked, theorized that muscular movement can be independent of conscious desires.)

OUIJA : THE GAME

These types of talking boards became very popular, and in 1890, Elijah Bond, Charles Kennard and William H.A. Maupin had the idea to turn the board into a toy. They filed the first patent for a game they called the Ouija board, which looked and operated much like the talking boards in Ohio; the patent was granted in 1891. The name, according to Kennard, came from using the board, and was an ancient Egyptian word meaning “good luck.” The Kennard Novelty Company manufactured the boards, which were made of five pieces of wood across the face braced by two vertical slats on the back; they retailed for $1.50.

Kennard left the company in 1891, and the Kennard Novelty Company became the Ouija Novelty Company.William Fuld, an employee there, eventually took over production of the boards; in 1901, he began making his own boards under the name Ouija, which Fuld said came from a combination of the French and German words for “yes”—the etymology that is accepted today.

Fuld would go on to design many different versions of the board (he holds more Ouija patents and copyrights than anyone else in history—a grand total of 21 registrations in three countries—including the design for the modern planchette). Because of the board’s huge success, a number of competitors to tried their hands at creating their own Ouija-like devices. Fuld sued many of those copycats, right up until his death in 1927.

In 1966, Fuld’s estate sold the family business—which included more than just Ouija boards—to Parker Brothers, which manufactured the modern boards as we know them today. In 1991, Parker Brothers was sold to Hasbro, which now holds all the Ouija rights and patents (and might even make a movie based on the game).

Haunted Objects - Robert the Doll

2013-08-28T11:58:00.002-06:00

Robert is a doll that was once owned by Key West painter and author Robert Eugene Otto. The doll is alleged to be possessed by evil spirits and has a terrifying reputation.

The doll, which is allegedly cursed, has become a fixture of ghost tours in the Key West area since it was inducted into the Fort East Martello Museum. Aesthetically, Robert resembles an early 20th-century American Naval officer. Contrary to popular belief, however, the doll's hair is not made of human hair, but rather, it consists of a synthetic material resembling wool yarn.

Eugene was given the doll in 1906 by a Bahamian servant who was skilled in black magic and voodoo and was displeased with the family. Soon afterward, it became clear that there was something eerie about the doll. Eugene's parents said they often heard him talking to the doll and that the doll appeared to be talking back. Although at first they assumed that Eugene was simply answering himself in a changed voice, they later believed that the doll was actually speaking.

Neighbors claimed to see the doll moving from window to window when the family was out. The Otto family swore that sometimes the doll would emit a terrifying giggle and that they caught glimpses of it running from room to room. In the night Eugene would scream, and when his parents ran to the room, they would find furniture knocked over and Eugene in bed, looking incredibly scared, telling them that "Robert did it!". In addition, guests swore that they saw Robert's expression change before their eyes.

When Eugene died in 1974, the doll was left in the attic until the house was bought again. The new family included a ten-year old girl, who became Robert's new owner. It was not long before the girl began screaming out in the night, claiming that Robert moved about the room and even attempted to attack her on multiple occasions. More than thirty years later, she still tells interviewers that the doll was alive and wanted to kill her.

For individuals who visit Robert in the Fort East Martello Museum and wish to take a picture of him, according to legend, the person must ask the doll politely. If he does not agree (by tipping his head to one side), and the individual takes a picture anyway, the doll will curse the person and their family.

Fear's Thunderous Boom

2013-08-12T18:32:00.001-06:00

A very interesting video. Easily a fake but interesting none the less. Reminds me of my younger days when we would " fool around " with Ouija boards.

Caution to headphone users.

The hazards of Ouija board use are plentiful and well documented. The negative vibrations resulting from opening a pathway to the spirit dimension can be unexpected and plentiful. Mary and her friends decided to do it anyway.
The group begins by asking the spirit if it is here with them, to which it responds yes. Further questioning reveals its name is Fear, and is neither human nor dead. Perplexed, the group of summoners asks what the spirit wants.

"Mary"

Out of nowhere, a loud unexplained boom shakes the entire house, causing the group to scatter desperately from their seats.
Was this the sound of the spirit crossing into the human dimension, or perhaps even the home itself? Whatever the case, this supernatural entity has made a bold statement to make its presence known. Mary and her friends may have opened themselves a can of worms.

Louisville and Nashville Railroad Train Tunnel at Tunnel Springs, Alabama

2013-07-23T14:57:00.001-06:00

Tunnel Springs, Alabama has an 840 foot abandoned rail tunnel. The masonry tunnel was completed in 1899 and abandoned in the 1990's. A spring that was hit when digging the tunnels exits at the northeastern end of the tunnel gives the community of Tunnel Springs its name. Its rumored that there were more then a few deaths during the construction.

This photo below was sent to us by Colin Sands who discovered it while editing pictures he had taken in an abandoned railway tunnel in Tunnel Springs, Alabama. A great capture of a strange light anomaly. Let us know what you think.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostonwhaler/8460061662/in/photostream

Location - Fort Qu’Appelle Sanatorium pt.II

2013-07-23T14:28:00.004-06:00

Our return trip to Fort San revealed the Sanatorium to be in a state of demolition. Not many of the original buildings were left standing by this time.

Here are some photos we took of what was left. During our exploration that day my wife heard what she says was a child crying but to me it sounded like something on the building moving in the wind. Later after reviewing out pictures I was able to capture one photo which appears to have a orb in the bottom area.

Its sad to see such a landmark, of Sunday drives around the lake and it's haunted past, fall to progress but we will always have it's stories to share.

What appears to be an orb in the bottom portion of the photo.

The Queen Mary at Long Beach, CA

2013-07-12T08:42:00.000-06:00

Great video of a photo capture on the Queen Mary.

MS Queen Mary is an ocean liner that sailed the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for Cunard Line (then Cunard White Star Line). Built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland, she was designed to be the first of Cunard's planned two-ship weekly express service from Southampton to Cherbourg to New York, in answer to the mainland European superliners of the late twenties and early thirties. Queen Mary and her slightly larger and younger running mate RMS Queen Elizabeth commenced this two-ship service after their release from World War II troop transport duties and continued it for two decades until Queen Mary's retirement in 1967.

The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is permanently berthed in Long Beach, California serving as a museum ship and hotel. The Queen Mary celebrated the 70th anniversary of her launch in both Clydebank with Clydebank Restoration Trust and in Long Beach during 2004, and the 70th anniversary of her maiden voyage in 2006.

Many areas are rumored to be haunted. Reports of hearing little children crying in the nursery room, actually used as the third class playroom, and a mysterious splash noise in the drained first class swimming pool are cited. In 1966, 18 year old fireman John Pedder was crushed by a watertight door in the engine room during a drill, and his ghost is said to haunt the ship.

Spirit video from Bradford PA

2013-07-03T12:45:00.002-06:00

Hey there everyone! Here is a YouTube video with an interesting partial manifestation of what appears to be a walking figure. It can be seen at 2:14 on the video. Have a look.

Why Ghost Hunters are Culturally Cool

2013-05-26T21:50:00.000-06:00

By Deonna Kelli Sayed

I'm a writer who became one, in part, because of a ghost hunting avocation. This hobby landed me a first book deal, some public speaking gigs, introduction to people on TV, and awesome friends. Plus, I'm no longer scared of life, in general. These are no small developments.

There is charm in hanging out at spooky places in the middle of the night experiencing wild and crazy things. Sometimes, we help homeowners feel better about their world. Of course, it makes us feel important to be part of the larger cultural pulse of something on TV.

Ghost hunting is a cool thing to do, and maybe for reasons you haven't considered. There is cultural importance of this ghost stuff regardless if you believe spirits actually exist.

History and Storytelling

Ghost hunters are historical preservationist and archivists.

How so? We storytellers, and the stories we preserve through paranormal investigation are from our local and regional communities. There are few hobbies that so intimately engage local history and take time to document how the living interacts with these stories. We help keep micro history (the untold stories) alive. Additionally, we reinterpret these tales to better understand who we are today.

Paranormal interest has renewed the spirit of living history. Many historic sites bank on being haunted. This isn't a bad thing. Having a ghost has helped many not-for-profit historic locations earn supplemental income as State, local, and grant funding dried up due to the economy. (Most historic locations don't operate on entrance fees alone.) Tourist traffic from paranormal interest allows some sites keep their existing funding. The coolest aspect is that visitors get a dose of local history, even if a haunted version, that they may have otherwise bypassed.

This idea is catching on. Shreveport, Louisiana is one of the first cities to put funding and sponsorship behind a downtown paranormal festival as a way to boost business and local history awareness, thus engaging paranormal tourism at a previously unprecedented level. This moves ghost hunting's cultural relevancy out of the paranormal community and into the larger society, and that is awesome.

Ghost Hunters are Multimedia Artists

Digital audio, camcorders, and cameras provide an interesting example regarding handheld technology's role in storytelling. Ghost hunters are some of the most proficient in this art form. We have hours of video and audio of our experiences, client interviews, and awesome footage of historical significant locations. The average person probably doesn't own this type of equipment despite its accessibility. If someone happens to have a camcorder, they aren't using it like we are: as documentarians.

Online clips of investigations, including satirical spoofs, have become a YouTube genre. This is a neat development because a segment of the arts community is really interested in multimedia aspects of community-based story telling. In some ways, our "client reveals" -- with the history, investigator personal experiences, and digital and audio evidence - is a form of media art.

We are multimedia storytellers.

Think about it - most people know nothing about audio or video editing. Many of us have a basic understanding of these things, and some of us develop transferable skills that steer us in unexpected directions. AdventureMyths started as paranormal investigators who created well-researched documentaries to hand back to the historic sites they investigated. Now, they are morphing into actual filmmakers.

I'm currently using my semi-professional digital audio devices (and my software editing skills) to produce a podcast series for a blog that has nothing to do with the paranormal. I developed a marketable skill set because of paranormal investigation.

Ghost Hunters Provide Spiritual Solace

Ghost hunters (the good ones) offer a new personal faith language and spiritual identity in the modern world. Our religious institutions, be it Muslim, Christian, etc., aren't always on the mark when it comes to our contemporary inner lives. Ghost hunting provides society a new way to understand large philosophical concepts like good versus evil, our place in the cosmos, and life after death.

Ethical investigators and moral psychics and Mediums can assure people they aren't crazy. Sometimes, we provide comfort during times of grieving and personal upheaval. Some investigators are explicitly faith based and offer a service to their communities that is missing from the pulpit. There is a need for "spiritual advisors" to address belief where mainstream religion leaves off.

The clip below is from the Windbridge Institute , an academic-based research organization focusing on Mediumship abilities. Their research is intriguing, solid, and provides insight on the importance of "paranormal" work to individual emotional well-being.

Some of Us Are Citizen Scientists

Paranormal investigators - the serious kind - are citizen scientists. Citizen science goes back to the early days when the average person was an inventor, a philosopher, and a scientist. In a way, paranormal investigation harkens a time when science wasn't determined by academic and research institutions. Some of us are collecting interesting data of anomalous events, and we are capable enough to document other environmental aspects, as well. If we do our research right, we can exchange ideas with citizen scientists in areas like geology, meteorology, and ecology (among others fields).

Now, here is a disclaimer: I am the first to say that most investigators aren't scientific at all. However, the goods ones, at bare minimum, ask important questions about anomalous events. A few are actual researchers, like the folks at the Rhine Research Center, where innovative research is underway on consciousness, bioenergy, other potentially related maters. The John Templeton Foundation recently offered grant funding for academic-based survival research along with the theological and social implications of these questions. This is a pretty big deal, by the way, because the biggest challenge to serious research is funding.

Back to Everday Gal: ghost hunters around the world are exploring equipment innovation. Granted, much of this stuff is useless. Yet, some equipment works off of intriguing hypotheses. While equipment may or may not prove ghosts, this cottage industry is innovation not found in many hobbies. This is grassroots funded research and design. Plus, there aren't many avenues in our society where the average person gets to be innovatively creative. Tweaking and creating ghost equipment brings the phrase "thinking outside of the box" to a completely new place, even if ne'er a ghost is caught.

Ghost Hunters Make Better Communities

Ghost hunters seem like a cliched bunch. Let's admit it -- many of us are. We take pictures of our camcorder/K-2/Mel Meters like we are tech-porn stars in black t-shirts. We speak in code that only other ghost hunters understand. We draw battle lines around TV shows, and some of us get all silly over the latest community drama.

Yet, we are kind of cool, right? We keep local history alive. We experience phenomenal stuff. The best among us help people in meaningful ways. But we also do something else -- we give back to our communities.

Most ghost hunting groups provide the first time members have engaged in volunteerism and civic-minded activities. Better organized groups hold educational events and sometimes raise awareness for historic locations and local charities. Many of us give back to the world while learning how to manage and operate new organizations. That is a useful management skill itself!

Ghost hunting makes one a better citizen.

So go out and hug a ghost hunter today. We make the world better, or at least, less haunted and more interesting.

Ghost Village

Is the ancient Ram Inn one of the most active buildings in the World?

2013-02-15T20:54:00.001-06:00

It is certainly arguable over which building in the U.K or indeed, the world is the most haunted.
There are many contenders, from small houses to country estates, the list is seemingly endless.

One that is claimed but certainly not proven. is the Ancient Ram Inn a former pub located in Wotton-under-Edge, a market town within the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England.

The building certainly has history and a well documented past, and dates back to around 1145 AD when on that date, builders engaged in the construction of the village church were lodged there.

The land the pub was built on is claimed to have been an ancient pagan burial ground, although I have seen little evidence of that, aside from the claims made by the current owner, John Humphries who purchased the building from it`s brewery owners in 1968 for £2,600.

Since then Mr Humphries has strived to restore the building by opening up the place to television companies and paranormal investigators.

It is claimed that in the 16th century a witch was burned at the stake there, and perhaps rather conveniently, the witch had previously taken lodgings at the inn. Today, there is a room called `The Witches Room`, where it is claimed she had lived.

According to Mr Humphries, he has also found evidence of black magic and ritual sacrifice too. He discovered the skeletal remains of children just under the staircase with broken daggers amongst their bones.

Until this day, he claims to be haunted and attacked by various entities in the house on a regular basis. There have been many sightings of previous owners of the inn seen residing and sitting together with the patron’s of today’s time.

The most claimed haunted room, is that named The Bishop`s Room`, and most people who attempt to sleep there have been forced to flee in the middle of the night. Allegedly, this room is haunted by a monk.

Other ghosts include that of a Roman Centurion on horse back who appeared before a plumber, and also that of a succubus, and lastly the site crosses two ley lines.

These entities and more have been regularly investigated by ghost hunters and paranormal investigators alike from both foreign and domestic groups. Yet in terms of hard evidence, the building does not fare much more differently than the majority of ancient and haunted homes.

I do not personally doubt that this ancient and beautiful inn is haunted, but with regular investigations and visits with large numbers of people, (and I say that with regard to more than 4 investigators being present) it is less likely that your time and investment in getting there would yield the results you are looking for.

The truth is that old houses like to be left alone. Constant investigation has a detrimental effect to being able to capture activity, And the less people there are, the better the results.

For sure the inn has yielded video of anomalous activity, and many photographic stills over the years, but never in any quantity that would justly award the building the honour of being one of the world`s most haunted locations.

The more remote and less human active the location, the better (generally) the results.

hauntedearthghostvideos

Story: Chris Halton

Bloody Mary

2012-10-31T21:10:00.000-06:00

A Tale of Bloody Mary, as requested by my daughter for Halloween.

Have a Happy Halloween from Prairie Specters!

She lived deep in the forest in a tiny cottage and sold herbal remedies for a living. Folks living in the town nearby called her Bloody Mary, and said she was a witch. None dared cross the old crone for fear that their cows would go dry, their food-stores rot away before winter, their children take sick of fever, or any number of terrible things that an angry witch could do to her neighbors.

Then the little girls in the village began to disappear, one by one. No one could find out where they had gone. Grief-stricken families searched the woods, the local buildings, and all the houses and barns, but there was no sign of the missing girls. A few brave souls even went to Bloody Mary's home in the woods to see if the witch had taken the girls, but she denied any knowledge of the disappearances. Still, it was noted that her haggard appearance had changed. She looked younger, more attractive. The neighbors were suspicious, but they could find no proof that the witch had taken their young ones.

Then came the night when the daughter of the miller rose from her bed and walked outside, following an enchanted sound no one else could hear. The miller's wife had a toothache and was sitting up in the kitchen treating the tooth with an herbal remedy when her daughter left the house. She screamed for her husband and followed the girl out of the door. The miller came running in his nightshirt. Together, they tried to restrain the girl, but she kept breaking away from them and heading out of town.

The desperate cries of the miller and his wife woke the neighbors. They came to assist the frantic couple. Suddenly, a sharp-eyed farmer gave a shout and pointed towards a strange light at the edge of the woods. A few townsmen followed him out into the field and saw Bloody Mary standing beside a large oak tree, holding a magic wand that was pointed towards the miller's house. She was glowing with an unearthly light as she set her evil spell upon the miller's daughter.

The townsmen grabbed their guns and their pitchforks and ran toward the witch. When she heard the commotion, Bloody Mary broke off her spell and fled back into the woods. The far-sighted farmer had loaded his gun with silver bullets in case the witch ever came after his daughter. Now he took aim and shot at her. The bullet hit Bloody Mary in the hip and she fell to the ground. The angry townsmen leapt upon her and carried her back into the field, where they built a huge bonfire and burned her at the stake.

As she burned, Bloody Mary screamed a curse at the villagers. If anyone mentioned her name aloud before a mirror, she would send her spirit to revenge herself upon them for her terrible death. When she was dead, the villagers went to the house in the wood and found the unmarked graves of the little girls the evil witch had murdered. She had used their blood to make her young again.

From that day to this, anyone foolish enough to chant Bloody Mary's name three times before a darkened mirror will summon the vengeful spirit of the witch. It is said that she will tear their bodies to pieces and rip their souls from their mutilated bodies. The souls of these unfortunate ones will burn in torment as Bloody Mary once was burned, and they will be trapped forever in the mirror.

Talking with your Child about Ghosts

2012-10-27T14:00:00.003-06:00

Talking with your Child about Ghosts: Do's and Don'ts

By: Dawn Colclasure (dawn@theshadowlands.net)

Parents everywhere often hear this from their children: “I saw a ghost.” For the parent unaware of exactly how to handle such a delicate situation, the following do’s and don’ts might come in handy.

DO ask the child to explain what he is seeing/hearing.

Getting the whole story will help you understand the situation better and how to approach it. Odds are your child is about to unravel a story or reveal an imaginary friend. Never try to pressure your child for details, however; he might clam up instead of telling you what he feels comfortable in sharing.

DO sit down and listen attentively.

Giving your child your complete attention says you think this is important and are willing to take the time to listen.

DO calm your child's fears and anxieties.

Chances are your child thinks all ghosts are "bad" or that he/she is afraid the ghost will hurt them. Before you can help your child out with this matter, it's important to spend a few minutes trying to calm him down. Offer him some water or sit in a favorite chair. Cuddle up, get comfortable and ask him if he feels okay talking about it.

DON'T tell the child ghosts are make-believe or that they don't exist.

This only tells the child he can't believe what he sees and will confuse him. It will also be confusing if he hears ghost stories or if he starts to witness strange things happening (voices in a closet, furniture moving, etc.)

DON'T get nervous, frustrated, upset or hysterical over your child's confiding in you.

Children are very sensitive to what their parents are feeling and can pick up on anxiety, fear and doubt. Try to remain calm and only listen to what your child has to say.

DON'T encourage improper activity like séances or Ouija board sessions.

These things can only make a situation worst and they foster improper habits. Some activities require an experienced host and your child may see these things as a "cure-all" to the situation then lose hope when they don't work.

DO tell the child that you will help him/her deal with the situation.

Parents are a child's first defense. Thank your child for sharing this with you and assure them that you will help them out. Let them know they aren't alone and that you will do what you can to make the problem go away.

DO ask the child how the situation makes them feel.

It's important to understand how the child feels about their new "friend." Even if a child is not afraid and feels even happy to have a "friend" to "play" with, keep a close eye on the situation and stay apprised on how your child feels about it. Talk to them the minute they start to feel stressed, anxious or afraid.

DON'T put down or discourage your child for telling you this.

Kids take a big leap of faith when it comes to confiding in their parents. Be sure to remain objective about the situation and never express doubt of your child's perceptions or tell them they have an overactive imagination. If they feel you don't believe them, they'll start to clam up and you could miss out on learning of something worse happening later on.

DON'T rely on everything people tell you about ghosts and hauntings or things you read on the Internet.

Family members suggesting you get rid of a TV in your child's room because ghosts are coming out of it or friends encouraging you to move away are only trying to help in whatever way they know how. Trust your instincts and do only what you feel comfortable with. An expert group or investigator can offer more experienced advice on what to do.

If you’re still not sure of how to handle this situation, contact a legitimate paranormal research organization or a local minister for advice.

World's Scariest Ghosts Caught on Tape

2012-10-26T18:25:00.001-06:00

Hey all, here is an oldie for you to enjoy this weekend. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Part Two

Part Three

Death and the Twentieth Century

2012-10-14T17:17:00.002-06:00

Death has become one of the great taboos of the twentieth century. At the most basic level, the level of sustenance, we do our best to hide from ourselves (and certainly from our children) the harsh facts about fried chicken, hamburgers, and bacon. A pet, too old and frail to live much longer, is "put to sleep." At the human level, we are even more isolated from the one final act that we must all experience. Few people die at home. Funeral "homes" turn the act of mourning a "departed" loved one into a sanitized reunion of family and friends. The deceased are not "dead," they have merely "passed on." Euphemisms proliferate.

It has not always been so. Our forebears, young and old alike, frequently witnessed the slaughter of animals (or their capture by predators), and they were not spared the reality of human death. They could not avoid this reality, but they could laugh at it.
Laughter is one of humankind's most basic defense mechanisms. Even in the face of death, we can show our resolve and demonstrate our last bastion of control by doing the unexpected: laughing. Gallows humor, in one form or another, permeates pre-industrial European folklore, even making its way into children's nursery tales and rhymes. Indeed, some critics have claimed that traditional nursery rhymes are preoccupied with death and violence and have hence urged that they be rewritten for a more humane and enlightened era. Consider the following catalog of horrors ostensibly found in traditional children's rhymes by Geoffrey Handley-Taylor, writing in 1952:

The average collection of 200 traditional nursery rhymes contains approximately 100 rhymes which personify all that is glorious and ideal for the child. Unfortunately, the remaining 100 rhymes harbor unsavory elements. The incidents listed below occur in the average collection and may be accepted as a reasonably conservative estimate based on a general survey of this type of literature.

8 allusions to murder (unclassified),
2 cases of choking to death,
1 case of cutting a human being in half,
1 case of decapitation,
1 case of death by squeezing,
1 case of death by shriveling,
1 case of death by starvation,
1 case of boiling to death,
1 case of death by hanging,
1 case of death by drowning,
4 cases of killing domestic animals,
1 case of body snatching,
21 cases of death (unclassified),
7 cases relating to the severing of limbs,
1 case of the desire to have a limb severed,
2 cases of self-inflicted injury,
4 cases relating to the breaking of limbs,
1 allusion to a bleeding heart,
1 case of devouring human flesh,
5 threats of death,
1 case of kidnapping,
12 cases of torment and cruelty to human beings and animals,
8 cases of whipping and lashing,
3 allusions to blood,
14 cases of stealing and general dishonesty,
15 allusions to maimed human beings and animals,
1 allusion to undertakers,
2 allusions to graves,
23 cases of physical violence (unclassified),
1 case of lunacy,
16 allusions to misery and sorrow,
1 case of drunkenness,
4 cases of cursing,
1 allusion to marriage as a form of death,
1 case of scorning the blind,
1 case of scorning prayer,
9 cases of children being lost or abandoned,
2 cases of house burning,
9 allusions to poverty and want,
5 allusions to quarreling,
2 cases of unlawful imprisonment,
2 cases of racial discrimination.
Expressions of fear, weeping, moans of anguish, biting, pain and evidence of supreme selfishness may be found in almost every other page.

Halloween Time is upon us again.

2012-10-14T16:54:00.004-06:00

Hello folks, sorry for the long delay in posting. Again I had problems with my login information for the Blogger site so that kept me from updating the site. I seemed to have fixed it ... so on with the posts!

Paranormal with Malcolm Robinson: Ghosts are not always what they seem

2012-06-11T19:37:00.001-06:00

Let’s look at some other explanations that may explain ‘some’ ghostly sightings.

HYPNAGOGIA AND SLEEP PARALYSIS

At the end of the day anyone who researches the subject of ghosts should not believe that all ghostly sightings and experiences can be put down to the paranormal, far from it, most can be easily explained away. One of the things that is a strong candidate to explain ‘some’ ghostly encounters is something called hypnagogia.

It’s a state between asleep and waking up from sleep. Scientific study of this subject more or less began in the 19th century. Basically during this type of sleep many people have experienced visions and hallucinations which they sometimes find hard to distinguish from reality! Having said that, the hypnagogia imagery is different from the dream state in so far as the imagery from hypnagogia is very bland and plain. However what is notably different is the auditory aspect of hypnagogia. Crashes, bangs, and rappings are features of this state as is the hearing of that person’s name being called (which is a common feature of the ghost experience).

Sleep paralysis is slightly different to hypnagogia in the sense that it’s slightly like tinnitus. The individual will hear buzzing roaring and hissing sounds, however other individuals may experience more traumatic effects like a feeling of being crushed, they’ll get electric tingles all over their body and feel that there is someone else within the room with them.

Feelings of floating and being out of one’s body can also be an effect of hypnagogia and to some degree sleep paralysis although with sleep paralysis one does not have control of one’s own body for a period of time. Perhaps in these states some people have been misled into thinking that they have witnessed a ghost when in point of fact it’s all been down to a medical condition.

THE STONE TAPE THEORY

I mentioned in my previous article about Stone Tape Ghosts. Basically what this means is that sometimes in some locations, ghosts are seen doing the same things time and time again, it’s as if they are on some kind of a video replay, a recording if you like.

Some researchers have felt that perhaps in some of those very old houses where a tragic or horrible death or murder has occurred, the scene of this tragedy is someone impregnated into the very fabric of the stones that make up the building, a fanciful theory for sure, but one which does perhaps have some substance, take for instance the Kenfig pub case.

Back in 1982, a pub in the small town of Kenfig Mid-Glamorgan (The Prince of Wales) started to have bouts of paranormal occurrences from the sound of an organ being played at night (no organ was in the pub) to sounds of merriment, the clinking of glasses and loud talking in an old Welsh dialect. Anyway, two people got to hear about this, John Marke an electrical engineer and Allan Jenkins an industrial chemist and what they decided to do was something which may well have never been tried before and that was to connect some electrodes into the stones of the pub after closing time one night.

These electrodes (which has been stated were around 20,000 volts) were fed into some audio tape recorders, the room was then re-locked and everyone went home. The following day upon playing play on their audio recorders, they were astonished to hear the sound of organ music, they heard a clock ticking (there was no clock in that room) but more amazingly they distinctly heard the sound of people speaking in an old Welsh dialect.

So what these researchers felt was happening, was that the very fabric of these old stones somehow had managed to store sounds like a magnetic video tape, of yesteryear and for some reason (unbeknown to us at present) somehow managed to impregnate themselves onto their audio tape. Now I have actually listened to this tape and heard these sounds myself and believe you me they are indeed astonishing (if we believe that this was indeed a ‘controlled experiment’) Now whilst the theory is fine in principle, it does beg the question how can the sounds be heard but the ghosts not seen!

It’s more the sounds that have been heard in this pub than actual ghosts themselves. Why on some occasions do we only see the ghost and NOT THEIR SURROUNDINGS?

Think about it. It’s like recording a programme on video tape from the television you’ll get everything, the people, the furniture and all the surroundings you don’t just get the person as you do in ghostly visions. So again we have a function of ghostly apparitions that seem to ask the question.
Dr Melvyn Willin who has a doctorate in Parapsychology and who himself has researcher ghostly tales said a few years ago that some technicians at the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop (which is no longer in use) stated that the sounds that were heard on the audio tape from the Prince of Wales pub were maybe caused by the presence nearby of a large transformer?

Then we have another theory which might explain ghosts and that is that perhaps due to the movements of the Earth’s Crust, bursts of electro-magnetic energy may at certain points on a fault line may affect ‘certain people’s perception’ In other words, could this form of electro magnetism affect our brain’s, make us see things that are not there?

The Stone Tape Theory is an interesting one that the very fabric that surrounds us may, in some instances, be replayed back to us like some massive video machine where we can see events and people from yester-year.

In a sense we can liken the ‘Stone Tape Theory’ to this. Have you ever walked into a room where only moments before a couple have been arguing? You might not know that they have been arguing but there is something in the room, an energy that you can almost feel and taste.

This is what’s known as Cumulative Energy. So if for instance you had walked into a room that had been the scene of intense tragedy maybe even murder, its like the very fabric of that room has ‘soaked up’ those horrible images and energies and, under certain conditions, or, to certain people, can replay those energies back to you.

Not all people of course can ‘sense this energy’ normally it goes unseen or un felt, but as I say under certain conditions and to certain people these energies unleash themselves and provide a rich tapestry of emotion, pain and visual stimuli which can in some cases prove very distressing.

Malcolm Robinson (c)

Gary Galka creates ghost hunting devices to speak to his dead daughter

2012-06-11T19:26:00.001-06:00

Hey everybody! Here is an article that you may find interesting. The video is also interesting.

Gary Galka's devices made for paranormal research

He records a "spirits voice" on TV show

Researcher thinks devices could be suspect

A FATHER has created a "ghost hunting" device to communicate with his dead daughter.

Gary Galka, from Connecticut in the US, appeared on the TV show Ghost Adventures to demonstrate how the device can record the voice of a spirit.

Mr Galka lost his daughter, Melissa, eight years ago in a car crash but said he constantly feels her presence, FoxNews.com reports.

He said it was this connection that made him design over 30 different products for paranormal research, and has named them after his daughter.

Mr Galka demonstrated one of his devices on the show by playing a recorded voice believed to be a spirit saying:

"Hi Daddy, I love you."
"No one was making products for these people," Mr Galka said.

His devices are sold through the Professional Measurement website and range from $79 to about $350.

The device used to capture the voice on Ghost Adventures is the Mel-8704-SB7-EMF meter, which is said to detect a range of electromagnetic and temperature changes. It also has an AM/FM scanner, includes glow-in-the-dark buttons, and includes an "exclusive P-SB7 Integrated Sprit Box".

However, paranormal researcher Joe Nickell at the Center for Inquiry said such electromagnetic frequency readings are suspect.

"They're surprised that they're getting results in an old house, when in fact there are all sorts of non-ghost sources such as faulty wiring, nearby microwave towers, sunspot activity and so on,” Mr Nickell told radio company NPR

He also said the electronic equipment being carried around by the TV crew has electromagnetic fields.

heraldsun.com

Demolition workers photograph ‘ghost of former guesthouse worker'

2012-02-07T16:30:00.002-06:00

Demolition workers were given a fright after photographing a ghostly figure peering through the window of a derelict Victorian guesthouse in Kendal, Cumbria.The image is said to bear an eerie resemblance of Frances Grimshaw, who worked at the guesthouse and stood for hours at the same window taking bookings.
David Grimshaw, a former resident at the property, said he was convinced the figure is the ghost of his mother, who died nearly a year ago aged 87.
He believes her spirit may have appeared to protest at the demolition of Meadowbank House, which she adored.
“That is my mother. I’m totally convinced – no one else looks like that. She had glasses and big earrings and she used to wear a dress with a bow at the front,” he said.
“She used to stand in that room for hours on the phone – it was the guesthouse reception and she took bookings from there.”

Mr Grimshaw, 59, a managing director, who now lives in Bedford, said: “She would have been horrified if she had known the house was being demolished because it was beautiful, so maybe that is why she’s turned up.”
Demolition supervisor Robert Johnson, 38, of Heysham, took the photograph of the house shortly before it was knocked down, earlier this week but it was only later that he noticed the ghostly figure.
“It wasn’t until I got home and showed my wife that we spotted the woman,” he said.
“You can see the jewellery on her and everything. I’ve always been a sceptic but I’ll have to believe in ghosts now.”
Colleague Stuart Shan, 34, from Blackburn, Lancashire, said: “The day before we took the photo we were stripping the building inside and I noticed the chandelier swinging on its own.
“We said at the time the place felt strange. My hairs were standing on end when I saw the photo. I believe it is a ghost.”
Dave Armstrong, of Kendal contractors Cox and Allen, said the five-gabled building, which was originally a dentist’s in the early 1900s, has been taken down to be replaced with a new commercial property.
He said he could not explain the image of the woman. “There was only a black wall behind the window, we had taken everything out – there were no visible features or anything with a skin colour.”

Source : Telegraph UK

Heayweights of the Paranormal - Alcatraz Island

2012-01-27T16:12:00.004-06:00

San Francisco has many a said haunted location from buildings to cemeteries and the most famous hot spot of mystery is Alcatraz Prison. The now closed prison the ghosts are not so quiet, sounds of ghostly footsteps and the real sounds of cell doors opening and closing also echo throughout the empty haunted corridors. Visitors, Tour guides, and paranormal investigators and workers have all reported feeling many localized "cold haunted ghost spots" in certain common areas, and the feeling that they are not alone.

The prison on Alcatraz Island, a lonely outcropping in the middle of San Francisco Bay, was opened in 1933 as a maximum-security facility for America's most dangerous criminals. Among its most celebrated internees were Chicago crime boss Al Capone and Robert "Birdman" Stroud. Life on Alcatraz was hard: Inmates were lucky to spend one hour a day outside their cells, and those so favored usually spent the time breaking rocks.

Violating prison rules could mean months of solitary confinement, sometimes in the Hole, a tiny cell with no light. The prison was shut down in 1963, and Alcatraz Island became a national park site. But the building still stands, and some of the poor souls that served time and died there seem to be locked forever behind its dank walls.

Several visitors have reported hearing moans, agonized cries and chains rattling in cell blocks A, B, and particularly C. A psychic who visited the site claimed to identify the unruly spirit of a man named Butcher inhabiting the place. Prison records confirm that Abie Maldowitz, a mob hit man nicknamed Butcher, was killed by a fellow inmate in the laundry area of cell block C. The D cell block is supposedly haunted as well, with visitors reporting cold spots and the sound of phantom banjo music coming from rooms that once housed Al Capone.

What is DOP (disappearing object phenomenon)?

2012-01-24T17:16:00.001-06:00

DOP - disappearing object phenomenon - is a relatively common phenomenon in which an object disappears from view and later inexplicably returns. For example, a person puts their car keys on a kitchen counter, where they are always kept. When the person goes to get them, they are gone. A thorough search turns up nothing. Later, the keys are found on the counter where they were originally put (or some other obvious place.

It's difficult to document a genuine DOP occurrence because people can be careless, simply misplace things or be forgetful. But there are many compelling stories from people who are certain they looked for the object in the place that it later appears. In some cases, people audibly call out for the object to be returned - and it is. In some rare cases, the missing object has actually been seen materializing out of thin air. It is also known as the "borrower" phenomenon. It may be related to poltergeist phenomena.

Unexplained Noises heard from the Sky!

2012-01-24T16:41:00.001-06:00

Weird. I wonder if it has something to do with the magnetic storm we are having today.

http://www.cjme.com/story/video-unexplained-noises-heard-sky-north-battleford/40843

Why are there so many ghost stories about a "woman in white"?

2011-10-20T21:58:00.001-06:00

By Esther Inglis-Arkell

Does your town have a Woman in White? Of course it does. There is no town that doesn't have a woman in a white dress who wafts around drafty halls of the local manor, or paces the widow's walk of the local hotel. Find out about the woman in white legend, some local examples, and share your own stories of ghostly women in white. I know you have them. Everyone does.

The I remember living in was mostly open land until the 1960s. It was built up in the few decades between then and the time I arrived. The only old structure in the entire town was a large Catholic school, and so that is where the Woman in White used to hang out. Some say the school building used to be a convent and the woman was a nun in love with a priest, some say it used to be the house of a robber baron and the woman was his unfortunate wife, some say it was always a school and she was a lovelorn teacher. It doesn't really matter. Just as long as a ghostly woman gliding over the grounds, the reason could be supplied later.

White Women or White Ladies, are an international phenomenon. In Holland and Germany, centuries ago, they are said to be healers and gentle spirits. German legend has them appearing at noon, blindingly beautiful in the light. Dutch legend has them haunting graveyards during the night, the spirits of healers passed from the earth. They are not necessarily ghosts. Often they're treated more as elves or earth spirits, though they began as humans. Up in Ireland, and more northern countries, wailing women in white are said to foretell death. Down south, in Mexico, the La Llorona legend has it that these women in white drowned their children, and lurk by water to drown more. Yūrei, in Japan, are vengeful spirits attached to certain objects or places, and attack the people who come into contact with them. But these are all old legends.

In modern woman in white stories, there is always a tragic love story. The woman in white is rarely someone's sister, daughter, or mother. Oh, she maybe be any or all of those things (It's a pretty safe bet that she's someone's daughter.), but those aren't the things that her legend is dealing with. One of the next major towns I lived in was on the coast. A restaurant that overlooked the ocean was built on a beach famous for being the landing ground for bootleggers bringing alcohol close to San Francisco by boat, and loading it on to trucks to make the journey into the city. This much is true. The idea that a woman in white walks the edge of the cliff (or what the less romantic among us would call the parking lot) is not as well established, but the legend continues. Supposedly she was the bootlegger's girlfriend, while having a less wealthy lover on the side. The bootlegger killed her. It's not clear whether she was killed at that drop off point or whether her body just washed up there, but the important points; love, sex, betrayal, murder, are there in most Woman in White Legends. She's someone's unhappy wife, or illicit lover, or suicidal betrothed, or some other sad tale of romantic woe.

San Francisco itself has a rather unusual ghost -an urban woman in white who walks outside. Most cities have figures that appear in the windows of great old houses, or flit through the walls or along the roofs of old hotels, but we have one that walks up and down California Street, a high-traffic road that crosses the entire city. Our outdoor woman in white is said to be Flora Sommerton. She was eighteen in 1876, a celebrated beauty, an heiress, and the toast of society. Her parents decided to cement her status by forcing her to marry a wealthy older man. Flora's legend is as confused about the details as any other. According to one version she fled down California on the day of her wedding, in her wedding dress. Another has her running out on everyone on the evening of her betrothal in a white ballgown. What's atypical about Flora is she shows up again - just not alive. Fifty years later, in Butte, Montana, a woman's body in the same white dress was found in a hotel room. The room was supposedly covered in clippings about the disappearance of Flora, but the body was never positively identified.

What also stands out about Flora is her age. All women in white seem to be young and pretty, but Flora is just a few years out of the stage when we would call her that other ubiquitous phantom, the Girl in White. Any places that don't have a Woman in White will tend to have a little girl in a white dress floating around a house, staring at people. While Women in White are generally glimpsed from afar and go away soon, little girl ghosts have more of a personality. Sometimes they're solemn and sad, staring at people from windows and doorways. Sometimes they're mischievous, can be heard laughing or running around, and will hide things in the house. Sometimes, they're downright Japanese-horror-movie malevolent. (It's not a coincidence that Linda Blair spent most of The Exorcist in a white night dress.) But they're always around.

Perhaps there's a reason for that. Perhaps young girl ghosts grow up into Woman in White ghosts, and then when they can't squeeze into the dress anymore they head over to Butte, Montana. Whatever the protocol, it's clear that the Woman in White shows up anywhere and everywhere, including your town, right now - possibly reading this over your shoulder. Go ahead and look. I'll wait.