Tuesday 27 September 2011

Ghost caught on tape during radiation leak testing in old Japan WWII tunnels

An incredible ghost apparition was caught on tape during a visit to old WWII tunnels in the mountains of Japan. The camera started to go crazy and was malfunctioning at the lower level of the tunnels. Strange EVP's ( Electronic voice phenomenon ) were caught on tape during the filiming. If you listen very closely, you can hear a voice saying "closer" , a couple of times during the video. These tunnels are not open to the public . This week a small group of engineers were sent into these old WWII tunnels to test radiation levels. The tunnels are several miles away from the leaking reactors. The deepest part of the tunnel is approx 1500 ft into the ground and can be reached via several steps and wooden slides leading to the bottom. These tunnels were used for mining purposes before Japan used them for WWII purposes. Radiation levels in the tunnels were detected in very small amounts, not harmful to humans, but high enough to arouse spirits of soldiers from a distant past.

Monday 26 September 2011

Doppelgängers – Fact or Fiction


Doppelgänger as a term refers to “double walker” which means a shadow of oneself that accompanies every person. As traditional lore point out, these doppelgängers are usually visible to the person himself and occasionally it may be visible to friends and family resulting in being present at two locations and causing confusion.

Although it may seem impossible for a person to be present in two places, yet the concept and theory of doppelgangers seem to betray this. There have been many instances in the history that claim to have sighted doppelgängers. Some of these have been of apparitions of one’s own self while others claim to have seen the similar person at two different locations. From what ever claims that have been reported, it seems that the doppelgänger is just like the real person and can interact in the similar fashion just as the real person.

There have been instances of doppelgängers been reported. Here is an account of the few famous ones:

Emilie Sagee: perhaps the most intriguing of the cases of doppelgangers has been that of Emilie Sagee. She was a teacher in a girl’s school in Latvia. Several instances of her double appearing in full view of the students had been reported. The doppelganger sometimes copied her movements, other times it appeared in two different locations. When two of the students tried to touch one of the phantoms, they faced some resistance and then the figure vanished. Emilie herself never witnessed her shadow but she felt tired and drained on those instances when others claimed to have seen her doppelganger.
The French short story writer and novelist, Guy de Maupassant also claimed to have seen his doppelganger and been haunted by it.
The 16th century English poet John Donne was visited by the doppelgängers of his wife.
Queen Elizabeth I of England had apparently seen her doppelgängers on the bed. This sighting shocked her to such an extent that she died shortly.
Percy Bysshe Shelley was visited by his doppelganger who pointed towards the Mediterranean Sea and shortly Shelly drowned in the Mediterranean Sea due to a sailing accident.


Sunday 25 September 2011

Sleep Paralysis

Regardless of whether one accepts the medical explanation, or the paranormal theory for this surprisingly common condition, there is no escaping the fact that it is a terrifying experience for the sufferer.
Sleep paralysis is closely related to the natural paralysis occurring in the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) state of sleep. The victim is fully conscious and alert, yet the body remains paralysed. In this state, the brain is capable of manifesting intensely vivid hallucinations, which the body cannot react to. The understandable reaction to this scenario is fear and panic. To the sufferer, the experience is terrifyingly real. All the natural senses of the individual remain fully functioning, i.e. smell, taste, touch, hearing, and sight are all present and only add to the horror.
During REM sleep the body’s metabolism is slowed down, the heart rate is lowered, as too is blood pressure and respiratory rate. Along with this comes muscle paralysis; all these adaptations are a safety mechanism to prevent injury during the dreaming state. Without this natural defence, the individual could thrash out with limbs and enact their dreams.
With a reduced heart beat and respiratory rate the victim will experience the feeling of pressure on the chest wall and a difficulty in breathing. In this natural state of fear and panic, the victim may well interpret this sensation as some kind of weight on his/her chest.
Some victims of this horrifying condition are able to convince themselves that the experience was no more than a dream – a nightmare at worst. Others remain convinced they have been attacked by a supernatural entity. The latter are adamant their assailant is an external reality and not a product of their subconscious. However, sleep specialists and psychologists dismiss this by explaining that thoughts, images, and sensations released from an individual’s subconscious are all ultimately alien to the individual. This area is a vast storeroom for random psychological phenomena, which the conscious brain either cannot, or will not analyse and accept as reality. Hence, the victim concludes that all the hallucinatory elements of a sleep paralysis attack are received from an external source.
Throughout the world and the passing of time, the above physiological aspects of sleep paralysis have been and remain the same, regardless of the victim’s race, religion, or culture. It is the almost countless interpretations of these symptoms, which make sleep paralysis one of, if not the most common and feared paranormal phenomena.
It is beyond the scope and capability of this article and its author to cover all the physiological and psychological aspects of sleep paralysis. Therefore, I have elected to turn my attention to offering the reader a brief overview of the many variations and interpretations of the occult aspects of this fascinating and terrifying phenomenon.
THE DARKER SIDE OF THE NIGHT
Frank De Felitta’s novel, ‘The Entity’ which was later made into a very successful horror movie was in fact based on the alleged true story of Carlotta Moran, a young Californian woman. Her terrifying ordeal from the 1970s is supported by psychiatric reports and physical evidence in the form of bruises to her body. Some researchers claim that Carlotta was attacked by a non-physical male entity known as an Incubus, (female counterpart, Succubus).
There are several excellent books and papers available on sleep paralysis. ‘Creatures from Inner Space’ (Stan Gooch) and ‘The Flying Cow’ (Guy Lyon Playfair), and ‘The Terror that comes in the Night’ (David J. Hufford) are just three examples.
SLEEP PARALYSIS IN FOLKLORE:
The following list is a brief summary of various perceptions of sleep paralysis in some cultures throughout the world:
African culture describes sleep paralysis as ‘The Witch Riding Your Back’.
Cabbodian, Laitian, and Thai culture believe sleep paralysis to be ‘Pee Umm’ and Khmout Sukkhot’. These describe dreams of ghostly figures holding down their victims, or merely being nearby. Both terms should not be confused with ‘Pee Khao’ and ‘Khamout Jool’ which refers to a ghost possession.
Hmong culture refers to sleep paralysis as ‘Dab Tsog’ or ‘Crushing demon’ In this instance the victim claims to see small child-sized entities sitting on their chests.
Many Americam Hmong, (mainly male) have died in their sleep, prompting the Centres for Disease Control to adopt the term, ‘Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome’, or (SUNDS).
Viatnamese culture refer to sleep paralysis as ‘Ma De’, meaning (held down by a ghost or, ‘Bong De’, (held down by a shadow’.
Chinese culture believes it to be, ‘Pinyin; gui y ashen’ or ‘Pinyin gui ya chan’. Translated: ‘Ghost pressing on bed’.
Japanese culture, as ‘Kanashibari’, meaning (bound or fastened in metal).
Hungarian culture folklore refers to sleep paralysis as ‘Lidercnymias’. (Lideric pressing). Here the term can relate to a number of supernatural entities like ‘Lideric’ (Wraith). ‘Boszorkany’ (Witch). ‘Tunder’ (Fairy) or ‘Ordogszereto’ (Demon Lover). The word ‘Boszorkany’ stems from the Turkish root ‘Bas’ meaning (to press).
Icelandic culture refers to sleep paralysis as having a ‘Mara’ (Devil that sits on one’s chest at night).
Malta culture attributes sleep paralysis to an attack by the ‘Haddiela’ who is the wife of ‘Hares’. To help prevent such an attack Maltese people believe to rid themselves of Haddeila, they must place a piece of silverware or a knife under the pillow just before sleep.
Kurdish culture believes it to be ‘Mattaka’. Kurdish people believe the form of a  ghost or evil spirit visits them in the night and suffocates them if they have done something bad.
New Guinea culture, as ‘Suk Ninmyo’. Here the origin is from sacred trees that use human essence to sustain their lives. These trees feed on human essence during the night so as not to disturb the human’s daily life.
Turkish culture, as ‘Karabasan’, (The dark presser/assailer).
Mexican culture refer to sleep paralysis as ‘Se me Subio el Mureto’ (The dead person got on me).
Southern American culture refers to the phenomenon as a ‘hag’ and it is believed to be a sign of an approaching tragedy or accident.
Southwest Nigeria culture describes sleep paralysis as ‘Ogun Oru’ (Nocturnal Warfare).
Pakistani culture refers to the phenomenon as encounters with evil jinns and demons. They believe the experience to be the result of enemies performing black magic.
Korean culture, as ‘Ga-ui-nool-lim’ menaing (pressed by a nightmare).
Tamail and Sri Lankan cultures refer to sleep paralysis as ‘Amuku Be’ or Amuku Pei’ meaning (the ghost that forces one down).
Malay culture, as ‘Kena Tindih’ meaning (being pressed).
Newfoundland culture refers to the phenomenon as the ‘Old Hag’. It is believed that the Hag can be summoned to attack a third-party, like a curse. Daviv J. Hufford stated in his 1982 book, ‘The Terror That Comes in the Night’ that believers call up the Hag by reciting the Lords Prayer backwards.
Because of the complexity and the profound effect this phenomenon can have on many people’s lives I intend to return to this topic in future articles when information from reliable sources becomes available.

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Premonitions

Premonition is a type of prophecy consisting of an impressionable warning of a future event. The phenomenon is characterized by such sensations as anxiety, uneasiness, a vague feeling of disquiet suggesting impending disaster to actual visual or auditory hallucinations. Premonition is sometimes referred to as a "gut-level" feeling. The sensation tends to occur prior to disasters, accidents, deaths and other traumatic and emotionally charged events.
The sensation of premonition may be considered precognition at times because there is no clear-cut line between them. However, generally premonitions are sense-oriented, dominated by a syndrome of physical uneasiness, depression, or distress that is without discernible source or reason. It is an unexplainable feeling that "something is going to happen." Precognition, on the other hand, is more precise, involving visions or dream of the event that is to occur in the future.
For some investigators premonitions can include actions of patients and individuals in magnetic and mediumistic trances who prophesy that their malady or some terrible event, to them, will occur within a certain period of time, and may subconsciously wish to fulfill that prophecy. It might be question whether the similar phenomena might occur in a veridical dream or hallucination. This is theorized on the conclusion that a post-hypnotic person generally weaves his action into the surrounding circumstances, even though the very moment of its performance may have been fixed months before. Therefore this raises the possibilities that fulfillment of dreams and hallucinations might be suggested through telepathic communication to a person from another agent, which may not be far-fetched or impossible.
Another consideration is coincidence. The dream or hallucination of an event could possible coincide with the incident. Also, it is possible that impressions, whether they remain vague forebodings or are embedded in dreams, must at times be subconscious inferences drawn from an actual, if obscured, perception of existing facts. Such premonitions are by no means to be disregarded. However, frequently premonitions, no matter how impressive, prove to be absolutely groundless, where a ghostly visitant issues the warning.
In 1948, the prominent Soviet psychic Wolf Messing traveled to Ashkhabad to give some demonstrations of his abilities. Prior to his performances as he walked the streets of that city he was seized with a terrible dread and an intense desire to leave as soon as possible. He canceled his performances, the only time he did so in his life, and left. Three days later a massive earthquake leveled Ashkhabad, killing 50,000 people. Messing's premonition saved his life; however, he had no specific forewarning of the earthquake.
On October 21, 1966, twenty-eight adults and 116 children were killed when a landslide of coal waste tumbled down a mountain in Aberfan, Wales, and buried a school. According to three surveys taken afterwards up to two weeks before the disaster about two hundred people experienced both premonitions and precognitions. The premonitions included depression, a feeling that "something bad" was going to happen (some people accurately pinpointed the day), sensations of choking and gasping for breath, uneasiness, and impressions of coal dust, billowing black clouds, and children running and screaming.
Premonitions occurring in a waking state are more predominant that those that occur in dreams because in the latter they are frequently disguised as symbols, and tend to go unnoticed. However, when theses symbols frequently reappear in dreams, the individual may learn to recognize distinguishing symbols or emotional tones.
Premonitions can give early intuitive warnings that occur frequently but are too subtle to register on the conscious mind. Some of these intuitive warnings apparently register on the subconscious and cause the person to unknowingly alter his plans, which some evidence indicates. In the 1960 W. F. Cox examined passenger loads on trains involved in accidents between 1950 and 1955. By comparing the number of passenger on the train the day of the accident to the number of passenger on the same train for the preceding seven days, the preceding fourteenth day, and the twenty-eighth day, he found that on some accident days, but not all, there was a dramatic decrease in passengers. One example was the Chicago & East Illinois Georgian, it just had nine passengers on the accident day of June 15, 1952; whereas five days before it carried a more typical sixty-two passengers. Cox concluded that many of those intending to travel the disaster-bound trains had unconsciously altered their plans or missed the trains by being late.
A the similar or same factor may relate to doomed ships. The Titanic carried only fifty-eight percent of its passenger load on its disastrous maiden voyage when colliding with an iceberg in April 1912. A group of twenty-two stokers were late and the captain declared the ship would sail without them, a fact which may have saved their lives. The psychiatrist Ian Stevenson recorder more than nineteen incidents of premonitions and precognitions concerning the Titanic in England, America, Canada, and Brazil, which occurred within the two weeks prior to the ship's sailing date of April 10. Some cancelled their reservations after dreaming of the ship's doom; others said it was bad luck to sail on the ship's maiden voyage. Some of the survivors said they had felt uneasy but sailed anyway; the later is questionable because some sensation might have been prompted by after the fact thought.
Following the Aberfan disaster, a British Premonition Bureau was established in January 1967 to collect and screen early warnings in an effort to prevent disasters. A year later the Central Premonition Bureau was established in New York for the same purpose. Both bureaus did not progress too far because of low budgets, poor public relations, and much inaccurate information.
The functioning of premonitions is not exactly known, that is, why some people possess them while others do not. One theory is that some people are more open or prone to psychic suggestion. A cause for the diminishing of this psychic ability in people is that a larger portion of the population has become less intuitive. With the advancement of the scientific age people have began to rely less on their sensations; it is just in recent years that science is investigating the importance of human intuition and sensation.

Friday 9 September 2011

Is this a Demon?

In this footage, a man and his friend videotape a trip into the forest at night. First they come across a dark liquid seeping into the ground, but that was nothing compared to what they came across next. Why does this demon live far out in the forest, isolating itself from our society?

Thursday 8 September 2011

The Myth of the Titanic Mummy

Among the stories surrounding the sinking of the luxury liner Titanic in 1912 was a tale about an unlucky mummy whose curse was as responsible for that accident as that floating island of ice the tore open the ship's hull. Though the story had been around for years, it spread rapidly in the wake of the popularity of the film Titanic. The tale goes something like this:
In the late 1890's a rich, young Englishman visiting the archaeological digs near Luxor purchased the coffin and mummy of The Princess of Amen-Ra. He arranged for it to be shipped back to his home, but was not there to receive it. He disappeared, never to be found. One of his companions on the trip later died, another lost an arm in an accident and a third lost his fortune in a bank failure.
The coffin reached England and was purchased by a businessman. Three members of the businessman's household were injured in an auto accident and his house caught on fire. Convinced that the mummy was unlucky, the man donated it to the British Museum.
The staff at the museum reported hearing loud banging and crying noises coming from the coffin at night. Things were thrown around the exhibit room without explanation. Finally a watchman died. Then a photographer took a photo of the coffin. When he developed it, the image that appeared was so horrifying that the photographer killed himself.
The museum wanted to get rid of the unlucky mummy, but with it's reputation they could not even give it away. Finally, an American archaeologist, who didn't believe in the stories, purchased the mummy and coffin and had it sent back to the states on board the Titanic. The rest was, well, history...
Other version of this story has the archaeologist bribing the Titanic crew to have the mummy put into a life boat and later it winds up in New York City. The mummy is sold and shipped again and involved in one or two more shipwrecks before winding up on the bottom of the sea.
Is this a true story? Or just a weird tale?
Shipping records show no mummy was on board the Titanic (this may be why some versions of the tale say that the archaeologist smuggled it aboard). In no account by any Titanic survivor do they mention sharing a lifeboat with a mummy (which wouldn't have been easy to forget). Nor did any rescuer report taking a mummy on board.
The tale probably has its origins with two Englishmen named Douglas Murray and T.W. Stead. Murray and Stead claimed that an acquaintance of theirs bought a mummy in Egypt and had it placed in a drawing room in his home. The next morning every breakable item in the room had been smashed. The next night the mummy was left in another room with the same results..
The pair also visited the British Museum and saw the coffin lid of Priestess Amun (there wasn't ever a mummy, only the lid). They decided that the face depicted on it was a tormented horror. Combining the two stories, that of the breakable items and the scary lid, the two sold the tale to the newspapers. The tale later grew to include the Titanic.
The Titanic portion of the story may have been inspired by the loss of the Menkaure sarcophagus in 1838. The sarcophagus, which was being shipped from Egypt to England, was considered to be one of the finest examples of art from the Old Kingdom period. It went to the bottom of the sea when the ship carrying it, The Beatrice, sunk in deep water somewhere near Cartagena.
The truth is that the Priestess Amun coffin lid (British Museum item No. 22542) is still sitting quietly in the British Museum's second Egyptian room, where it can be seen today.

Sunday 4 September 2011

Bridges? Path to the Afterlife?

Frequently supernatural phenomena occur in certain locations.  These locations include houses where tragic deaths have been reported, factories that have exploded or burnt with employees trapped inside, lonely stretches of roads where individuals have been hit or their cars have
crashed and bridges to name only a few.  Bridges have become infamous for being haunted probably because they provide isolated locations and structures in which tragedies occur.  There are beliefs bridges have become haunted because they cover running water which acts as a magnet for supernatural occurrences.

All around the world there are bridges noted for their haunting.  Sachs Bridge, Gettysburg, PA is where 50,000 men died July 1863 during the Civil War.  Benton Jones in 1883 built the Roseman covered bridge in Iowa where two sheriff's posses trapped a county jail escapee in 1892.  The escapee uttered a wild cry, leapt straight up and disappeared.  It was agreed that the man had to have been innocent.  Nectar Bridge in Alabama is the 7th longest bridge in the world before it caught fire and burned.  However, it was reported that the a mail carrier that died within it's walls haunted
the bridge until it was destroyed. In Alabama there are thirteen ghostly bridges that have been placed back to back over small creeks and lakes in which weird things have happened.

In Indiana and Ohio, there are dozens of bridges that are reportedly haunted.  The number of construction workers falling into the wet concrete forming the abutment is amazing.  The expense of removing the poor luckless employee doomed him to remain buried within the structure thus
creating another reason for the haunting.  One such bridge is called White Lick Creek Bridge in Indiana.  An employee named Dad Jones, 6'5" known for his strength was always given the most dangerous jobs.  One day, waiting for the concrete to fill the abutment the platform Jones was
standing on fell.  He sank into the wet concrete.  Although the men wanted to save him, they were told the expense would be too great and he would be dead by the time they reached
him.  So, Dad Jones remains entombed in the bridge and is seen walking when the full moon is out.

Then there are incidents in which babies have been thrown free of the bridge because of car wrecks or conditions in which the mother lost her child over the side only to return to seek her child after death. These are bridges referred to as "cry-baby" bridges. One "cry-baby" bridge can be found in
Dublin, Indiana.  Dublin is a small town off US 40.  { NOTE: The road leading to the bridge is no longer there and the path is on private property.  The owner, fearing for the safety of visitors refuses to allow access to the bridge.}  It is reported that a woman driving into town during a horrendous rain storm, skidded across the bridge and lost control slamming into the railings.  As a result throwing
her infant from the seat of the car, through the window and into the creek below.  The baby was swept away and never found.

Each state and country has at least one haunted bridge.  Some like Indiana have dozens.  Whether they are urban legends or truths, one has to wonder why is there such a connection between bridges and the afterlife?

Is it because of the tragedies that have occurred or is there more to it?   Bridges serve as connections and paths in which to travel.  In folklore and mythology bridges are often associated with heavenly paths in which the dead travel the bridge to reach the afterlife.  These paths are
frequently referred to as "bridges of souls."   Myth and folklore are referring specifically to rainbows and the Milk Way but is it possible that those who died on these bridges are still searching for their path to the afterlife?