Saturday, June 28, 2008

OK Ghost Glowed Ruby Red

Read more at Mystorical

Head Injury Releases Psychic Potential, Ghosts Seen

In 1991, Walt Bauer, a Philadelphia man, fell headfirst into heavy machinery, knocking free his hardhat and leaving him with a concussion. Since that time, Bauer claims to be able to see ghosts.

His earliest experience came when the ghost of a young man spoke to him moments prior to an episode of "Unsolved Mysteries". The ghost, whom he could not see, told Bauer that in 1987 he and his girlfriend had been murdered while camping near Seattle. Their story, the ghost said, would be told during this episode of the program. Bauer was astonished to see the story unfold just as the spirit said it did.

Was he going crazy? Had he become psychic? Bauer was frightened and confused. And what purpose did the spectral visitation of a Seattle spirit have in telling a Philadelphia man about the forthcoming broadcast?

A few nights later, Bauer witnessed an amorphous shadow standing near a friend of his wife. The vaguely human-shaped presence gave Bauer the impression that this was somehow the woman's grandfather. He then approached the woman, describing to her how she had nearly died only days before when she nearly pulled in front of a truck running a red-light. Somehow, however, she couldn't release the break to pull forward. If it hadn't gotten stuck, she might have died.
The woman was shocked. She and her husband had told no one of the near miss.

Bauer told her that her grandfather's spirit was watching over her. It was he who prevented the brake from releasing.

Everyone was flabbergasted that this blue-collar Joe was now the medium through which the spirit world could communicate.

Bauer continued to have more spectral visions, seeing spirits of the dead en masse even. He spoke to many. They would give him messages to pass on to those still living. He even saw more famous ghosts such as Civil War general and former President, Ulysses S. Grant while touring a historic location.

While he routinely saw apparitions and heard ghostly voices, they have tapered off since his accident in 1991. This begs the question, was his sudden psychic ability brought on by trauma received in his fall? This would explain its sudden appearance after his accident as well as its gradual lessening as time passes.

Would this mean we all might possess latent psychic faculties that need only be triggered? If so, I'll keep my hardhat on for the time being.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Let's Talk, Bigfoot

You can catch me on-air July 9, 2007 (10 pm EDT) on the Let's Talk Bigfoot show. I am not yet certain what the thrust of the interview will be, but I'd bet we will discuss Bigfoot. As I get more information, I will pass it on. Otherwise, tune in and enjoy.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Norman Girl And Others Haunted By Gifts

Following on the heels of "Paranormal State", A&E's latest venture into the increasingly competitive field of paranormal reality TV, "Psychic Kids: Paranormal Children", leaves one uneasy and occasionally looking for the number to Social Services. The show, which follows (although directs might be a better verb) various children reputed to possess psychic abilities, has begun airing only recently and already it has raised a few eyebrows.

In a recent episode, twelve year-old Jillian from Norman, OK believes she sees ghosts. She says these spirits ask her to relay messages to the living. Jillian's mother, Tamara, does not quite know what to make of all this. She struggles with fears of mental illness as equally as the fear that Jillian may just be telling the truth.

Tamara was frightened to learn that Jillian saw a woman once in her bedroom whom she described as having wings. The entity spoke to the young girl, saying she was her aunt. As far as Jillian knew, her mother did not have a sister, but when she asked about this, her mother nervously revealed that she once had a twin who had died long before Jillian was born.

Jillian also regularly sees and communicates with "Jacob," a boy who keeps her up at night because he wants to play. Unfortunately, Jillian also witnesses a more frightening apparition named "Emily". She says that this spirit once showed her a tombstone with "Jillian" written upon it.

This burgeoning world of paranormal and psychic experiences, which Tamara cannot even begin to understand, has created a rift in their family. As a result, Jillian and Tamara fight more and more these days. But is it really the psychic chasm separating them or simply those all-too-familiar growing pains of adolescence?
The program also looks at eleven year-old Ahli and eight year-old Faith, both girls claiming psychic abilities as well. Ahli believes she can perceive and read the auras of others and that this allows her to divine such occluded information as emotional states and physical well being.

Faith, on the other hand, believes that she can communicate with spirits, most notably "Freddie Stuart." This young boy spirit, who died in 1886, visits her frequently and has become something of a compatriot to this frustrated and misunderstood child. Freddie, unfortunately, comes with his angry mother as well.

Under the auspice of psychic patron, Chip Coffey, the girls are brought together to share their experiences at an as-yet undisclosed location. Jillian's dreams the night before the rendezvous produce an a priori sketch of her destination, which shows a rather old-fashioned two-story wooden structure with a covered porch. To everyone's surprise, when the destination is finally revealed, we see an old inn that looks much like a spaghetti western general store. It is a dead match for the sketch Jillian drew the day before.

While the mothers consort and comfort, dealing with warring emotions, the girls move like marionettes to Coffey's instructions. We see in candid conversations that what the girls fear more than spirits is the disbelief they so often receive, and worse, their perceived insanity.

With leading questions, Coffey urges them to probe with their gifted little minds the dark recesses of the building around them. As if being commanded to "produce" the girls seem to shuffle uncomfortably, save for Faith. She almost instantly senses the presence of a woman to whom she cannot put a name immediately. However, Svengali pushes on undaunted, challenging her for a name. When she somewhat hesitantly replies, he asks her rather patronizingly if she is using her imagination or her psychic ability. Rebuked, Faith quickly shifts gears. She claims the woman is Catharine, Freddie's mother and an entity she fears greatly.

Ah ha! Now we have the ratings clincher! Or so Coffey must think as he asks the young girl if Catharine has followed her. Faith replies fearfully that she has indeed come along. If this was in any way a test, I fail to see its purpose beyond the torment of three young girls.

Later, Coffee produces documentation proving Faith's story. An old County census records a Freddie Stuart being born less than an hour from her home and dying young in 1886. His mother was named Catharine. For a moment we see the elation and vindication on the faces of Faith and her mother. Sadly, it was not to last.

That night, a sleepless Faith has a breakdown, refusing to stay any longer and deal with any and all entities present in the old inn. Coffey races to the rescue (of the ratings) with what we hope will be comforting words. Instead, he slams her with this gem: ""Can I tell you the truth? You're haunted."

After traumatizing the young girl and letting it simmer over night, the team reassembles the next day to discuss dealing with these visitors. The girls get few words of comfort from the show's resident psychologist, Dr. Lisa Miller, who manages all of 17 1/2 seconds per episode. This might have to do with Coffey being ready for his closeup, Mr. DeMille, or it may have more to do with the fact that she is willing to ask harder questions. Early on in this episode, she posited that Faith's spirit might actually be an imaginary playmate so common among young children.

In fact, despite having a clinical psychologist aboard, we learn very little about the home lives of the afflicted families. However, all seemed to be single moms raising just one female child. But we don't learn what their interests are? Had they been interested in the paranormal or occult prior to the discovery of their child's "gift"? How has their family situation affected these children psychologically? Could they be manifesting certain behaviors as a way to garner the attention of their mothers? In two of the children's cases, each befriends a boy spirit while a matriachal entity harrasses them. Could this speak more to the homelife of the living than to family dynamics from beyond the grave? With the noticeable lack of fathers involved in these happenings it begs the question as to whom exactly the boy ghosts represent.

One of the few moments where the team even bothers to set up a test for the girls comes solely for Ahli whose ability to read auras is analyzed. The girl and psychic researcher Tiffany Johnson both draw the aura of their selected subject (a producer named David) with various colored pencils without corroboration. When they finish, they at last compare the results. Each drew the same color pattern, which to Ahli seemed to indicate elation. Come to find out, David was indeed joyous from hearing the news that his pet had come through surgery alive and well. However, I have to wonder if Ahli did not actually pick up on subtle cues in body language, vocal inflections, etc.. in determining any sense of happiness from David. As well, there seems to be a select range of pre-determined aura colors, each with their own "meaning" and well known in the annals of aura lore.

Ultimately, I am left dissatisfied and somewhat concerned by this episode, and by extension, the entire series. It reminds me of a paranormal version of Bravo's "Showbiz Moms and Dads", replete with dubious parents (we never once hear about any having their child psychologically evaluated) and a pushy, somewhat effete coach in the guise of Chip Coffey.

Do I doubt that any or all of these children have psychic abilities? No. I think evidence such as the precognitive drawing and the Faith's uncanny knowledge of a boy who died over a hundred years ago are compelling and demand further examination. However, I do not think A&E's crack team is up to the challenge and I certainly don't think pushing these girls out into the limelight is anyway to help them work through whatever it is with which they may be dealing.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Summer Events Entertainment?

If your organization has a paranormal conference slated this summer (or even later, in the fall), consider adding a storyteller to the usual mix of speakers, authors, and gadgeteers. Or perhaps you work with a local library in search of programs this summer. Storytellers have a wonderful way of bringing both fact and fantasy alive like no one else.

For a local storyteller specializing in spooky tales for all ages, check out this link. Marilyn A. Hudson, The Ghost Teller, has been a member of Territory Tellers, an Oklahoma-based storytelling troupe for a number of years. She has spoken across the country and as far away as London. With tales ranging from the macabre to the humorous, The Ghost Teller has something for everyone and all ages.
(Yes, this post wins the award for most shameless plug but, seriously, check the site out.)

Monday, June 16, 2008

Hoax Photos Fall Short Of Win

Some time back, I submitted two "paranormal" photos to about.com's 2008 Photo Hoax Contest. Although I didn't win (grrr...), they did include my images in their gallery. Below, you will find links to their respective pages.


When the Ghost from Ipanema Goes Walking...

In 1953, an "ancient" coffin was unearthed near Riva del Garda, Brazil that contained a headless skeleton. No one knew who the remains belonged to but the word "ancient" implicitly denotes something as old as early Europeans but, perhaps, much older.

The disarticulated remains were wired together and displayed in the main hall of that city's museum. However, when the superintendent opened the museum the next day, he discovered the casket lid open and artifacts from many nearby exhibits had been scattered. When questioned, the guard on duty that night claimed he had heard nothing and that all locks had been secured.

In fact, that same day all the locks were replaced, but the mysterious goings-on continued to transpire. The local police were baffled, offering no explanations to the frightened denizens of Riva del Garda. Eventually, the nocturnal disruptions ceased. Perhaps the ghost of whomever once belonged to those bones had settled in to eternal slumber once more.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

EVP: The Gift That Keeps On Giving



ROSWELL UFO FESTIVAL 2008

If you are planning to attend this year's Roswell UFO Festival (or even if you just wish you could), be sure to check out this great selection of merchandise to help celebrate in style. All high-quality items are available through http://www.cafepress.com/ , the number one online source for customized t-shirts, totes, mugs, and more...

Ghost Draws Over 1,000

In the Autumn of 1943, residents at one Sterling, IL home began witnessing an apparition - or parts of it. It seems this ghost, which was also heard stomping about the home, only appeared as a hazy torso or, occasionally, a pair of nebulous arms.

No one knew who or what the entity was. Some theorized that spiritualists, in their quest to call any and all from other realms, probably failed to notice one left behind. Like a kid whose parents have forgotten him in the store after it closes, this spirit was now stuck in the home.

Others had more banal explanations. A few neighbors wagered the spook was little more than the glow cast from a nearby street light. Of course, the footsteps were still left unexplained.

Word soon spread throughout town. By November, the phenomenon garnered so much attention that on one Friday night, over one thousand people crammed themselves inside the house to catch a glimpse. Cora Radcliffe, who saw the phantom the night before, returned for an encore with her rifle in hand. She said she tried to touch the apparition but it vanished. Perhaps she meant to fare better with her gun.

Faced with such warm welcomes, the spirit understandably refused to show that night. But many had seen it already and that was enough to earn the mystery a place in local legend.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Face to Face

A laughable supposition, but what if the famed "Face on Mars," found at Cydonia, had a twin on Earth - in Oklahoma? Check it out here: FACE

Foresight and Illusion: An Explanation?

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Can this explain, in some cases, the brief appearance of spectral entities?

Sunday, June 1, 2008

PROOF OF ALIENS WON'T BE SHOWN TONIGHT SO THAT WE MAY BRING YOU...

Out of Denver comes the strange, seemingly attention-grabbing antics of Jeff Peckman and Stan Romanek who claim possession of proof that aliens are among us - we just can't see it yet. In the meantime, Peckman is working hard to petition an ammendment to the state constitution that would establish a sort of Bureau of Extraterrestrial Affairs.

This story begins five years ago, in July 2003, when Stan Romanek shot video of what he claims are aliens peering in through the window of his home in Nebraska. At the urging of others he decides to video tape them. However, what happens between then and now remains questionable and apparently absurd enough that Larry King himself didn't bother to push for answers.

It seems that Romanek showed the video to an unnamed group of "scientists" who have quite nearly commanded that he not show the evidence to the public prior to the release of their findings. However, the video had been shown to the Rocky Mountain News and a few other select journalists (King is not among them) with the sole proviso that they could not photograph or videotape the "proof". On Larry King Live, Romanek and Peckman intimate that the video is wrapped up in top secret agenda by the government. Unfortunately without evidence presented, we are left only with the stuttering digital movements of "reenacted" aliens displayed as filler on King's show. Something tells me these will be far better than the real thing, should it ever come to light.