Meets The Weird » Paranormal

Does Superman Actor’s Ghost Haunt Former House?

John D — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:01:01 +0000

While many have donned the tights since, for anyone who watched TV in the 1950′s, there is only one Superman, George Reeves. Never as squeaky clean as the Man of Steel, Reeves violent death on June 16, 1959 at the age of 45 left a continuing controversy. Ultimately ruled a suicide by the LAPD, several individuals over they years have claimed Reeves was murdered on the orders a former lover, yet no definitive evidence has ever been presented to support the theory. Regardless of how Mr. Reeves ultimately left this plane, it would seem that he is not quite ready to give up his Benedict Canyon home. Since the late 60′s there have been reports of ghostly happening at the residence. Multiple witnesses have reported hearing noises from the bedroom where Reeves died. When they go upstairs to investigate, the room was often found re-arranged. In one instance, renters reported that they heard noises coming from upstairs during a dinner party. When they went to investigate, Reeves’ former room was torn apart as if someone was looking for something. After cleaning up the room, the group returned downstairs to find their drinks had been moved from the coffee table to the kitchen. Other reports of paranormal activity at the home range from the smell of gunpowder filling the room to appearances by Reeves’ apparition in full Superman regalia.

Superman Haunts

New Super Photoshop Will Haunt Paranormal Researchers and Ufologists

John D — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:26:53 +0000

It is no secret that Photoshop can be a giant pain for researchers investigating in UFOs, the paranormal or other Fortean interests. In the hands of a skilled user, there is no limit to what can be done to a photograph. Want a ghostly apparition to spook up a boring shot? No problem. Need some “evidence” to put the finishing touches on a UFO hoax? Sure, it will only take a minute. Fortunately, most “shopped” photos are obvious fakes, clear indications of their creator’s lack of skill. That’s a good thing too, a truly gifted Photoshop artist can create images that require advanced forensic analysis to reveal as hoaxes. Thanks to a group of students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, that is all about to change.

The UIUC students have created a technology that allows anyone, regardless of skill, to insert objects into a photograph with stunning results. The inserted objects can even be easily animated, flawlessly interacting with their surroundings. The software that these student’s have developed is mind-blowing. Just take a look at their demonstration video.

The very first scene seems to foreshadow the quality of hoaxes that paranormal researchers will face once this technology comes to market. It is already difficult to identify good evidence, especially online. Once the general public is able create fake photos and videos of this quality, it will become near impossible to even begin judging any evidence without a full forensic analysis. As the line between what is real and fake blurs Fortean researchers will have to become even more and more suspicious of every shred of evidence they examine.

New software allows you to insert realistic interactive objects into existing photographs

Does this CCTV footage show a young girl’s ghost?

John D — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:21:16 +0000

Here is an interesting video that is making the rounds today. It is supposedly from a mobile phone shop in Leeds, Yorkshire in the UK. In the video we see what appears to be the apparition of a girl cross a doorway in the upper right portion of the screen. The poster claims that after researching the shop he found that it was built on the site of the “Yorkshire Orphan Asylum”. A quick Google search for that name doesn’t turn up anything other than stories about this clip. In addition to this inconsistency, we have a strange anomaly in the time code on the footage. The CCTV system seems to be taking 1 frame every 2 seconds, starting at 01:46:58. The next step is 01:47:00 but then it jumps to 01:47:01 then proceeds in 2 second increments until the end of the clip. To me this jump seems to indicate the footage has been tampered with, either with someone inserting the time code into the footage to make it appear more authentic (but messing up the intervals) or someone editing 1 frame/sec or faster footage to have it appear more “ghostly” or to remove telltale clues. Additionally we have quite a bit of lead-up footage, but only a single frame after the “spirit” leaves the view. Why not show more? This makes me wonder what the poster doesn’t want us to see. Presented with what we have here, I am inclined to say, for now, that this is a hoax unless more evidence is presented to prove otherwise. What do you think? Hoax? Ghost? Let me know in the comments.

Video: Ghost Caught On CCTV?

Is This A Child’s Ghost Caught On Camera?

John D — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:16:20 +0000

There is not much information about this video other than the person who took it claims that he half jokingly thought his house was haunted and on a whim decided to set out his camera. This 16 second clip is the result. At approximately 8 seconds into the clip you can just barely make out something crossing the hallway that the uploader claims is the ghost of a little girl.

Another Youtube user and UFO Evolution forum member, mercuryrapids, took the video and enhanced it slightly. In this version of the clip you can better make out the figure moving across the hallway.

What ever is in the clip looks like a child in a dress or nightgown and from what I can tell it appears to be walking. In my mind this leaves only one question, is this a ghost crossing the hallway or something more corporeal? Watch both clips and let me know what you think in the comments.

Real Ghost of Little Girl on Camera!!!
Video of Ghostly Child?
[via UFO Evolution]

Incredible CCTV Footage Of A UFO – Inside A Store!

John D — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:23:18 +0000

A CCTV system at a grocery store in Mexico captured this incredible footage (which begins at 53 seconds into the news clip below) of a small object flying rapidly around their storeroom. What exactly we are seeing here is anybodies guess. Unless this is a very skillful digital hoax, it would seem that the object is physically in the room from the way it seems to cast light on the bottles stored in the middle of the floor as it flies nearby and because of the lens flare it causes as it gets close to the camera. That being said, there is still no way to know if we are seeing some sort of remote control vehicle equipped with ultra bright LEDs that are blowing out any details that might lend a clue to the object’s origin. Did this CCTV system capture a mini-UFO or some sort of apparition or are we just looking at an elaborate hoax? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Strange ufo light caught on video store cctv mexico [via UFO-Blogger]

Build Your Own EMF Meter

John D — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:35:50 +0000

Able to detect the potential presence of spirits, EMF meters have become one of the most basic parts of any paranormal investigators tool kit. While you can purchase a detector for less than $50, intrepid DIYers can open up a world of infinite possibility by building their own EMF meter using the open source Arduino hardware platform.

This design by Make Magazine’s Collin Cunningham uses a LED bar graph to display the meter’s reading, but as with all Arduino based projects, there are endless possibilities for modifications. This project replaces the LED bar with a LCD readout. Other possibilities include combining the EMF meter with a camera trigger to create a camera trap or you could build in an audio recorder that starts recording when a spike is detected creating an automated EVP setup. The only limit is your imagination.

Making the Arduino EMF detector @ Make: Online

Did Sir Arthur Conan Doyle use this ouiji board?

John D — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:25:27 +0000

Recent renovations at the 77 year old Edinburgh College of Parapsychology have unearthed a treasure trove of paranormal paraphernalia and documentation. Among the items found was a “dungeon tube” (a device said to relieve pain through the use of music), several recordings of medium sessions, and a Victorian era ouija board that potentially was used by Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. While the board’s exact age has yet to be determined, the fact that its wheels are made of bone and not of wood or plastic lends credence to the board’s Victorian heritage. Unfortunately, there is no direct evidence linking the Sir Conan Doyle (who’s own interest in spiritualism began in 1906 after a series of deaths in his family) to the ouija board and it is unlikely any will be discovered. Prior to the college’s founding in 1932 (two years after Sir Conan Doyle’s death) spiritualists in Edinburgh often practiced in secret for fear of persecution.

Even without a link to the famous author, the board is still an amazing find. Manufactured in Manchester and labeled as a “Telepathic Spirit Communicator”, the board is quite possibly one of the earliest example of such a device used by early spiritualists in attempts to communicate with the departed.

Victorian ouija board discovered in Parapsychology college clearout
Victorian ouija board found in college’s secret passageway [via Phantoms & Monsters]

Looking for ghosts? Then this might be the book for you

John D — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:46 +0000

If you’re the type of person who likes to seek out ghosts, then the Encyclopedia of Haunted Places may just be the book for you. Compiled by respected paranormal investigator Jeff Belanger the Encyclopedia of Haunted places includes not only background information on the various locations and first hand accounts from paranormal investigators, but also contact information for the sites for those that dare to take the next step and experience the phenomena first hand.

Currently rated 4.5 stars on Amazon, Mr. Belanger’s book has been very well received by the customers that have reviewed it. Additionally, the time I spent “flipping” though it’s pages using Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature has garnered the the Encyclopedia of Haunted Places a top spot on my wishlist.

Encyclopedia of Haunted Places [via Uncrate]

Out of sight: Seeing “Invisible” People

John D — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:30:22 +0000

Have you ever seen someone that no one else with you saw? Did you ever interact with them? In this account by Jannice Fadely, that is exactly what happened to her and her mother over 30 years ago. While browsing an occult book store in San Francisco that they frequented, they ran across an elderly employee who was very knowledgeable in matters of the occult. They spoke with this gentleman for over two hours while other patrons browsed the store. The store’s owner even brushed by the man as she walked to the register to ring up the purchase. At the end of the conversation the helpful employee even rang up some purchases for the pair. Excited to have found such a wealth of information, they returned to the store the next day, they could not find their new friend. When they asked the owner when he would be working next, she replied that there was never an old man working at the store. Why did no one else in the store see the old man? Why did no one notice the mother and daughter speaking with him?

Ms. Fadely believes that the reality that we see is not complete, and that some things (like this mysterious old man) are cloaked from the public at large. While I am not sure about her claims that 90% of reality is hidden from us (as in invisible – not just people trying to hide the truth), I would not be surprised if somewhere in the untapped potential of the human mind is the ability to make ones self appear invisible to others ala “The Shadow”.

I personally have seen (but not interacted with) people that others have not. Once when I was a child, I was in the house playing while my parents were in the front of the house finishing up the day’s yard work. Through the front windows, I saw a man walk across the yard and vanish as my view of him was blocked by the 3 foot section of wall that separates the two windows. When I went to the window to see who it was, he was nowhere to be seen. The only people I could see were my parents. When I asked my parents who was in the front yard, they said that there was never anyone there. The man I saw, was dressed in contemporary clothing and as far as I know no one had died in our neighborhood for quite some time, so I don’t think what I saw was a ghost. Did the person I see bleed through from another reality or did he not initially notice me, “clouding my mind” only after I caught a glimpse of him? Unfortunately, we will never know. I never saw the mysterious man from my front yard again.

Have you ever seen someone that “wasn’t there”? If you have, feel free to share with us in the comments. I would love to hear about your own experiences.

The Old Man Who Was Not There [via Paranormal News]

Credible Person + Incredible Event = Completely Unreliable Nut-Job Witness

John D — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 20:58:42 +0000

photo by dev nullOr Why I Never Told What I Saw

The problem with being a credible witness to unexplained phenomena is that the is simple act of seeing something outside of the scope of normal human experience seems to instantly negate any credibility you may have with the public at large. In a way, it’s easy to understand why the public is so skeptical of reports of the extraordinary. The Internet has allowed con-men into our living rooms, the mainstream media’s constant quest for ratings had led to more and more sensationalism where their used to evenhanded, responsible reporting, and there are no shortage of obvious paranormal hoaxes that face the public every day. It is no wonder that when an otherwise upstanding individual reports seeing ghosts, a UFO, Bigfoot or an other paranormal phenomena they are almost instantly classified as being “nut-jobs” or worse liars. The public has been conditioned into thinking that nearly everything they hear is at best only a partial truth.

Because of this many credible sightings that have the potential to further paranormal research go unreported. Really, you can’t blame someone for not wanting to experience the public ridicule and potential loss of personal and professional credibility that can accompany speaking publicly about a paranormal experience. I personally know at least two educated, respected individuals that have been witness to the unexplained and have never told anyone but maybe one or two trusted confidants of their experience out of a fear (and a well founded one at that) of being ostracized. People that if they were witness to a crime, would have their testimony held up as the shining truth. If they were to publicly report what they witnessed would be raked over the coals of public opinion and stripped of any credibility without even a thought being given to whether or not they are telling the truth. In the past, I have even thought twice about sharing my own experiences with people because of what I thought they would think of me.

In the end, it is a self perpetuating cycle. The public ridicules credible witnesses without giving their testimony even a passing review and people who would be a protecter’s dream witness avoid reporting sightings. Because of the lack of credible sightings the public perception that anyone who does report an unexplained sighting is either mentally unstable or a liar. Unfortunately, I don’t think that the situation will change until there is an event that is undeniably real and is witnessed by the public at large (like an “Independence Day”-esque mass UFO sighting or someone bringing a Bigfoot to the Smithsonian for analysis).

Cryptid Witnesses’ Catch 22 @ Cryptomundo.com