MARCH 2008
INITIAL SIGNS CAN LEAD GHOST HUNTERS ON THE RIGHT TRACK
(31 MAR 08)
Some of the most common signs of possible paranormal presence that people report to ghost hunters Ellen "Sprout" Dvorak and Scott Walker, of the Peace River Ghost Tracker in Port Charlotte Florida USA, are unexplainable voices, shadows, doors opening, smells, feelings of being watched, objects out of place and electronics turning on and off at will.
SPORTING FANS FOR LIFE AND THE AFTERLIFE
(31 MAR 08)
Universities across America are building columbariums where alumni can have their ashes stored after they pass away. At the O’Connell Center at the University of Florida, Natalie Gonzalez, who works in the stadium as the assistant coordinator of operations, says that once in a while she gets a phone call that's fit for a funeral director.
UFO SPOTTING IN WESTERN COLORADO CAN BE A REGULAR OCCURRENCE
(31 MAR 08)
Somewhere in the skies above Western Colorado, Robert White, a Kansas man who was passing through the Grand Valley in 1985, was driving west on Interstate 70 out of Grand Junction when he spotted lights hovering in the darkness. “I saw a huge ball of light and the thing took off straight in the air,” said White, who then ran to a nearby hillside trying to see more.
POLTERGEISTS HAUNTING ITALIAN FAMILY
(30 MAR 08)
An Italian man and his family are preparing to sue the previous owners of their house, because the seller did not tell him it had poltergeists. Gaetano Bastianelli, 57, bought the house in Spoleto, central Italy, in 2005 but soon began to see "strange goings on".
GHOST HUNTERS AND PSYCHICS DESCEND ON VOLCANO
(30 MAR 08)
Dozens of paranormal enthusiasts, ghost-hunters, psychics and an ethereal fog descended upon the St. George Hotel in the tiny gold rush town of Volcano, California, on Saturday for Ghost Rush 2008, the inaugural American Paranormal Investigations conference dedicated to all things otherworldly.
US CEMETERY HOSTS SPIRITS ALIVE EVENT
(30 MAR 08)
The Oakwood Cemetery in Tyler, Texas (USA), recently held an open invitation for hundreds of visitors to meander amongst the burial plots. The once a year event, which is now in its fourth year, is a chance for locals to hear from dead spirits (actors) who stand by various graves to tell their life stories.
ISRAELIS HOLD STRONG BELIEFS IN GHOSTS AND ANGELS
(29 MAR 08)
A poll conducted in Israel by the Bertelsmann Foundation in Germany has revealed that 16% of the population asserted a belief in ghosts and spirits and 45% of people were found to believe in angels.
RUSSIAN CULT MEMBERS AWAITING END OF THE WORLD COME OUT OF HIDING
(29 MAR 08)
Seven members of a Russian cult, the True Russian Orthodox Church, who have been holed up in a cave in the Penza region, southeast of Moscow, awaiting the end of the world, have finally emerged. The group's leader, a self-declared prophet named Pyotr Kuznetsov, had reportedly told followers that, in the afterlife, they would be judging whether others deserved heaven or hell.
PARANORMAL TEAM TO INVESTIGATE FORMER ASYLUM
(29 MAR 08)
At the old poor farm and asylum near Iowa, USA, local county officials have given their informal OK for a paranormal investigative team to make sure no spirits are lurking about.
CANADIAN PASTOR JAILED FOR THREATENING USE OF EVIL SPIRITS
(28 MAR 08)
A Toronto pastor has been sent to prison for four years, for threatening one of his parishoners with evil spirits. The Rev. Frank Seeko Lawrence, had been forcing his attentions on the victim, demanding that she bear him a child.
LUCY LUI'S AFTERLIFE WISH
(28 MAR 08)
Hollywood actress Lucy Lui has revealed what she wants done with her body once she dies. The Charlie’s Angels star wants to be cryogenically frozen when she passes away, and hopes to defrost herself in the closet of legendary U.S. socialite Nan Kempner.
MALAYSIAN SONGWRITER RELEASES ALBUM BASED ON DEATH
(28 MAR 08)
Malay singer-songwriter Meor has released his latest album, titled 'Sakrat'. Short for Sakratul Maut, or the moment of death in Islam, it is a state whereby the dying person realises what is in store for him or her in the afterlife. “This album is about death and spirituality, which is why I have the tali gantung (hangman’s noose) as the album’s cover art,” said Meor.
DEAD WIFE APPROVES HUSBAND'S NEW RELATIONSHIP
(27 MAR 08)
Forty-five year-old British mum of one, Janet Botsford, says that she had to get approval from her new partner's dead wife. Botsford who met her new partner, David Duckering, on the internet, says "a few months into the relationship, I started to notice strange things happening." "I would be sitting at the computer when a pen would suddenly start rolling across the desk without any reason."
OUIJA BOARD BRINGS GHOSTS TO ROCK GROUP'S STUDIO
(27 MAR 08)
Six-string slinger and otherworldly composer for the rock group, The Mars Volta, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, recently stumbled upon a Ouija board whilst rummaging around a junk shop in Jerusalem. Once back home, Rodriguez-Lopez and members of the band began playing with the Ouija board when strange things began happening. Tracks would inexplicably erase, an engineer would repeatedly throw fits, and all kinds of ghosts moved in to every one of their machines.
FIRST LADY CAUSES AMERICAN SCHOOL TEACHER'S OBE
(27 MAR 08)
Glenda Aguilar, a fourth grade teacher at the Rolling Ridge Elementary in Kansas, said that she had what "was like an out-of-body experience,” whilst recently being visited at school by the First Lady Laura Bush. “I knew what was going on, but I didn’t know what was coming out of my mouth,” said Aguilar.
SPIRITS OF THE PHILIPPINES FOREST ASK FOR HUMAN SOULS
(26 MAR 08)
The Kawasan falls in Badian town, Cebu, in the Philippines, is one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations. It is here that ghosts and mystical stories abound. Local worker Oliver Harapat says there is a story that the spirits of the forest, locally known as “engkanto”, asks for 60 human souls in exchange for disturbing their once peaceful place, which is now congested with cottages put up by several resorts in the three-tier falls.
BESTSELLING AUTHOR TO OFFER FREE PARANORMAL INVESTIGATION OF YOUR HOME
(26 MAR 08)
As a celebration of the publication of 'THE DEATH DEALER', in March 2008, bestselling author Heather Graham is offering one of her readers the chance to discover whether or not his or her home is haunted. Read on to find out more.
AMERICA’S BELIEF IN THE AFTERLIFE IS STRONG
(25 MAR 08)
Eighty-two per cent (82.5%) of Americans believe in some kind of afterlife, according to recent polls. Furthermore, in another survey carried out by the Pew Forum, on Religion and Public Life, showed that about 16 percent of American adults have no particular religious belief, including about 4 percent who identify themselves as atheists or agnostics.
SOME EXORCISMS GIVE THE CHURCH A BAD NAME
(25 MAR 08)
One of the most bizarre and shocking examples of religious extremism in the city of London in Ontario, Canada, was an attempted exorcism that killed 19-year-old Walter Zepeda in January 2002. Zepeda died in his family's south London apartment, where he had been tied up for a week. During which time many members of the Missionary Church of Christ came and went to help his parents pray for the return of his soul.
GLASGOW NAMED 'UFO CAPITAL OF SCOTLAND'
(25 MAR 08)
For decades the Scottish city of Bonnybridge had been abuzz with reported sightings of alien spacecraft. That was until the city of Glasgow toppled Bonnybridge from their perch, to be named the ‘UFO Capital of Scotland.’
ARCHBISHOP TELLS PARISHIONERS TO PREPARE FOR THE AFTERLIFE
(24 MAR 08)
The archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has used his Easter sermon to warn against greed for oil, power, and territory, and instead for people to prepare for the afterlife. "Individuals live in anxious and acquisitive ways, seizing what they can to provide a security that is bound to dissolve, because they are going to die," the archbishop said.
HAUNTED HOUSE NOT TYPICAL FOR THE AREA
(24 MAR 08)
Lisa Hockenberry's home in Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania, is not your typical American suburban home. Over the years, there have been reports of of dark silhouettes, knocking noises, unexplained security system alarm calls, cold spots and a whispering voice.
UK GHOST HUNTERS TO HOLD VIGIL FOR 'GHOST CHICKEN'
(24 MAR 08)
Members of the Falkirk-based Ghost Seekers UK will be checking into The Schooner, a haunted north Northumberland hotel, on April 4th, where they will hold an all night vigil. Over the years there have been sightings of glowing orbs, a man in uniform and even a ghost chicken.
PREPARING FOR THE AFTERLIFE IN ANCIENT EGYPT
(23 MAR 08)
At the Museum of Idaho, USA, there is presently an exhibition show-casing some of the oldest artifacts from Ancient Egypt, especially those of the Pharaohs. It has often been said that the Pharaohs spent much of their lives preparing for their deaths and the afterlife they believed would follow. They were buried with necessities, such as food and clothing, as well as luxuries indicating their status.
SCHOLARS SAY RESURRECTION SOMETIMES MISUNDERSTOOD
(23 MAR 08)
The belief that God will raise all the dead at the end of time is said to be deeply misunderstood. According to three scholars, from various faiths, who have been trying to clear up the confusion in recent books. They have also been challenging the idea that the resurrection, for Jews and the followers of Jesus, is simply the survival of an individual's soul in the hereafter.
MINISTER'S 'NINETY MINUTES IN HEAVEN'
(23 MAR 08)
Don Piper, a minister from Texas, USA, says he has been to 'Heaven'. Nineteen years ago Piper was on his way home from a church conference when his small car hit a big-rig on a Texas highway. He was pronounced dead at the scene. He claims to have found himself instantly found himself in Heaven, greeted by friends and relatives who had died. He said he felt more loved than ever before.
NEW BOOK CHALLENGES MEANING OF RESURRECTION
(22 MAR 08)
Kevin Madigan and Jon Levenson are the authors of an upcoming book titled, Resurrection, The Power of God for Christians and Jews. The book traces the overlooked Jewish roots of the Christian belief in resurrection, and builds on that history to challenge the idea that resurrection simply means life after death.
BRITISH BELIEFS IN JESUS' RESURRECTION IS MORE THAN FIFTY PERCENT
(22 MAR 08)
A survey carred out by the theology think tank, Theos, suggests that more than half of Britons (57%) believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
SYDNEY ARCHBISHOP WARNS OF OCCULT
(22 MAR 08)
The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, has used his Easter message to warn people about using the supernatural to contact deceased loved ones.
GHOSTS IN CONNECTICUT'S DEEP RIVER LIBRARY
(21 MAR 08)
Investigators from the Paranormal Research Society and Connecticut Ghost Hunters of Shoreline Towns, recently spent some time in the Deep River Public Library in Connecticut to see what spirits were lurking in the halls of the library.
GHOSTLY SPIRITS SERVED NIGHTLY AT UK PUB
(21 MAR 08)
Originally a mortuary, the Abbey Inn, in Newlay, near Bramley in the UK, is said to be one of the most haunted pubs in Leeds. At least four ghosts are reputed to frequent the Abbey, including a grey lady, a man with a Guy Fawkes-style hat and a mysterious cloaked figure.
REFLECTION ON THE AFTERLIFE
(21 MAR 08)
Regardless of religion, the vision of a perfect state of being, or an idyllic afterlife, is something that almost everyone desires, especially at this time of year when many refelct of the death and then rising of Jesus Christ.
GHOST HUNTERS SEARCH AMERICAN ASYLUM FOR SPOOKY GOINGS ON
(20 MAR 08)
The Atlantic Paranormal Society researchers, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, along with their crew, will try to debunk reports of unusual activity at a pre-Civil War hospital in Weston, USA. Once known as 'The Lunatic Asylum West of the Alleghenies', many people say that they've heard heard gurneys moving down hallways and screams from inside the former shock therapy room.
IS CHRISTIANITY THE ONLY RELIGION WHERE IT'S FOUNDER RISES FROM THE DEAD?
(20 MAR 08)
Almost every religion believes in some sort of an afterlife. According to those of the Christian faith, only their founder, Jesus Christ, actually died, was buried and then rose again.
YOUTH KILLS UNCLE TO GAIN SUPERNATURAL POWERS
(20 MAR 08)
Occult practitioners in the East Indian village of Jharkhand, allegedly suggested to a local boy that he kill his uncle and then eat his flesh in order to gain supernatural powers.
LOCALS JOIN GHOST HUNTERS ON PARANOMAL STAKEOUT
(19 MAR 08)
More than 20 fellow ghost-hunters recently joined the Hartlepool, UK-based paranormal group, Old Haunts, at the town's Borough Hall, to see if they could catch a glimpse of any ghouls that have been reported there over the years.
LOCALS JOIN GHOST HUNTERS ON PARANOMAL STAKEOUT
(19 MAR 08)
The Clapp Memorial Library, in Belchertown, Massachusetts (USA), was the focus last November, of a ghost hunting investigation by members of the Sci-Fi Channel's Ghost Hunters team. What the team found will be revealed on the Ghost Hunters season opening show, tomorrow night on the Sci-Fi channel.
HOW DID MUHAMMAD CONVINCE THE ARABS THAT THERE WAS AN AFTERLLFE?
(18 MAR 08)
One of the biggest challenges that the Prophet Muhammad encountered during his ministry was trying to convince his fellow Arabs that there is life after death. The Arabs initially found this very difficult to believe and ridiculed the idea of an afterlife.
HOME OF THE LEGENDARY HAGAR 18
(18 MAR 08)
According to official statements and press reports from that time, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, USA, is one of the places where material from the infamous 1947 Roswell UFO Crash was brought. It’s also the home of the legendary Hagar 18, where UFOs and Aliens may have been kept and studied at one time.
LOS ANGELES’ HAUNTED ISLAND
(18 MAR 08)
An hour's ferry ride from Long Beach, California, lies Santa Catalina Island, a Mediterranean-style retreat that provides a welcome escape from the madness of Tinseltown. Yet to many of the locals, this island is an epicentre of paranormal activity and crawling with phantoms.
SENDING YOUR BELOVED PET OF INTO THE AFTERLIFE
(17 MAR 08)
Saying goodbye to a deceased pet is never easy, especially in Britain where there is an estimated 30 million people owning domestic animals. Now, Scotland's first pet funeral service is aiming to help grieving pet owners come to terms with the loss of their trusted companions as they bid them farewell and onto the afterlife.
BRITISH SURVEY SHOWS STRONG BELIEF IN LIFE AFTER DEATH
(17 MAR 08)
According to new research published by Theos, the public theology think tank, more than half of Britain believes Jesus rose from the dead. Half of those surveyed also believe in some kind of existence after death, with 44% believing that 'your spirit lives on after death'.
UFO CONFERENCE HEADING TO AMERICAS TOP HOTSPOT
(17 MAR 08)
When it comes to UFO hotspots in America, Wisconsin ranks second to New Mexico in the number of UFO sightings. Later this month, from March 28 to March 30, a conference on the topic of UFOs is to be held in Aztec, New Mexico, in which experts from around the world will be discussing their theories on all things UFO.
SLEEP PARALYSIS CAN BE TERRIFYING BUT BENEFICIAL IN THIS INSTANCE
(16 MAR 08)
Two years ago in the middle of the night, Adam Gray saw a figure in a white shroud at the foot of his bed. The figure raised a hand, and Gray said he felt as though his soul was being pulled out of his body. "I was quite terrified and I was trying to scream or move," said Gray. "I was completely paralyzed, except for my eyes."
ENGLAND’S TOP GHOSTLY HOTSPOTS REVEALED
(16 MAR 08)
Leicestershire in England, has official been named as one of the country's top twilight zones. A new booklet called Enter if You Dare, by David Sutton, editor of the Fortean Times magazine, listed Leicester as 4th among the 13 hotspots nationally.
CANADA’S YOUNGEST GHOST HUNTER
(16 MAR 08)
At just thirteen years of age, Cassandra Simmons tracks ghosts in some of the scariest places in Ontario, Canada. Currently appearing on YTV's Ghost Trackers, the reality-based show has young actors entering haunted premises across Ontario with state-of-the-art equipment to see if they can find any evidence of the supernatural.
WEST YORKSHIRE IS A GREAT PLACE TO VIEW UFO’S
(15 MAR 08)
New statistics of unexplained phenomena in the air over Britain have been revealed by the former head of the Government's UFO project. Nick Pope, who worked for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) investigating UFOs, has said that West Yorkshire is top for sightings with 34 in the last 40 years.
EDINBURGH’S FAMOUS STAGE GHOST
(15 MAR 08)
Over the past 50 years, the Greenside Place theatre in Edinburgh has played host to a resident ghost by the name of Albert. Now, the stage is set to try to bring ‘Albert’ from out of the shadows. Experts from Ghost Finders Scotland will be using equipment to try to record ghostly whispers emitted by the spirit, who is believed to have died while working at the theatre.
CANADA’S FRIENDLY MUSEUM GHOST
(15 MAR 08)
Staff at Welland Historical Museum in Ontario, Canada, are convinced that there is a friendly spirit lurking around the halls at night. "I don't know who he is, but he likes to move things around," Penny Morningstar, the museum's assistant curator.
ROBBIE WILLIAMS INVESTS IN ALIEN OBSERVATORY
(14 MAR 08)
Robbie Williams is planning to splash out £2.5 million on an alien observatory. The 34-year-old pop singer has been spending all his free time visiting Arizona's National Optical Astronomy Observatory, in Tucson, and he now plans to build his own viewing station so he can monitor the skies for UFOs whenever he wants.
SOME GHOSTS DON’T REALISE THEY’RE DEAD
(14 MAR 08)
Betty Comerford is a member of the paranormal group, Spirit Light Network. According to Comerford, “Some people don’t even know they are dead.” One night, during one of their investigations around Westford, in Massachusetts USA, the small group of investigators came across the ghost of a WWI soldier who didn’t know he was dead because of the suddenness and trauma of his death having being killed by an explosion in the war.
THE AFTERLIFE IS A SPIRITUAL ASSESSMENT
(14 MAR 08)
Wiccan beliefs and practices have grown to include new traditions and sects, and are based on the teachings of Gerald Gardner in the 1940s. Most Wiccans and or Witches, believe in reincarnation, and many believe that the afterlife, known as ‘Summerland’, is a time of spiritual assessment.
GHOSTS SPOOK HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL STAR
(13 MAR 08)
High School Musical star Zac Efron is convinced that he saw a ghost while playing a scene in London’s Gaiety Theatre. The theater is said to be one of the most haunted in the country.
GHOST HUNTERS TO INVESTIGATE EL DELRADO THEATRE
(13 MAR 08)
Built in 1929, the Rialto Theater is one of the last movie palace style theaters in Arkansas. Over the years, employees and maintenance workers have often reported strange experiences in the building, including unexplained shadows, whispering voices and the fleeting scent of a woman’s perfume.
GHOSTLY FACE CAPTURED ON FILM AT OLD AMERICAN COUNTY JAIL
(13 MAR 08)
Local history buff James A. Boone, has captured of film what many believe to be the face of ghost, in Springfield Massachusetts. Whilst recently taking photos at the old Hampden County Jail and House of Correction, Boone noticed on his electronic viewfinder that the image was foggy, so he immediately took a new one of the same scene, and this time, the picture was clear.
EXORCIST WANT’S TO CLEANSE AMY WINEHOUSE
(12 MAR 08)
The world's foremost exorcist, Rev Bob Larson, believes that he could save troubled soul singer Amy Winehouse from the devil, as well as from her own self-destruction. "Amy Winehouse is in my opinion possessed," said Larson, who has conducted more than 10,000 exorcisms over 30 years.
IS CASPER THE GHOST HIDING OUT IN JASPER, CANADA?
(12 MAR 08)
In the town of Jasper, Canada, locals believe that many of the buildings and public places are haunted by ghosts. Kat, the founder of the newly formed Jasper Paranormal Research Society, says that she and her team hope to be able to explore and investigate the town's historical and haunted hotels.
SPIRIT VOICES CAPTURED ON TAPE IN AMERICAN TOWN HALL
(12 MAR 08)
Ed Beaulieu of the Paranormal Institute of New England, says that he has recorded what he believes to be spirit voices on tape whilst recently investigating the strange goings on at the Middleboro Town Hall in Massacchutues, USA.
VATICAN LISTS “NEW SINS”
(11 MAR 08)
A Vatican official has listed drugs, pollution, and genetic manipulations as well as social and economic injustices as new areas of sinful behavior. Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, told the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, that bioethics were an important area of danger for the 'modern soul,' and that that Dolly the sheep's creators are due for a shock in the afterlife.
EGYPTIAN KING TOOK HIS WILD ASS INTO THE AFTERLIFE
(11 MAR 08)
At a burial complex of one of the first pharaohs, located at Abydos, Egypt, about 300 miles south of Cairo, paleoscientists discovered in 2003 the skeletal remains of 10 donkeys nestled in three mud graves dating back 5,000 years ago.
REVEREND TACKLES GHOSTS WITH PRAYERS
(11 MAR 08)
Reverend Marilyn O'Sullivan, of the Redlands Christian Spiritual Centre, in Brisbane Australia, says that she is regularly called upon to help people cleanse their houses of evil spirits. Claiming to have a 100 per cent success rate, O’Sullivan says that she is armed only with a prayer of protection and her appealing to the spirits for help.
ROBBIE SAYS GHOSTS ARE “FROM ANOTHER WORLD”
(10 MAR 08)
Robbie Williams has revealed that he wants to study extraterrestrial life once he quits the music business. The 34-year-old has also revealed, during a television interview, that he believes in ghosts which he said are "from another world".
WALKING HAUNTED LONDON
(10 MAR 08)
Aimed at the most intrepid London visitors and residents, author Richard Jones’ latest book, Walking Haunted London, is a walking guide that weaves its way through eerie and, in many cases, long-forgotten parts of England's capital city, such as that of the various crime scenes of England’s famous Jack the Ripper.
ARTWORK COULD BE A KILLER’S SALE
(10 MAR 08)
Canadian cult killer, Roch Theriault, who believes he is a reincarnation of Moses, is selling his artwork on an American website that promotes criminals as celebrities. MurderAuction.com, which specializes in so-called 'murderabilia', is offering more than half a dozen items produced by Theriault at the Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick.
ROBBIE WILLIAMS CLAIMS HE HAS SEEN UFOs THREE TIMES
(9 MAR 08)
British pop star Robbie Williams has claimed that he has seen Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) three times. Williams “swears” he saw the UFOs. The first when he was a kid in Britain. His second sighting was above a hotel in Beverly Hills.
ARIZONA HOTEL’S RESERVATIONS OF A GHOSTLY KIND
(9 MAR 08)
According to Debe Branning, author of the book "Sleeping with Ghosts! A Ghost Hunter's Guide to Arizona's Haunted Hotels and Inns," the Lee Hotel, in downtown Yuma, Arizona, has been an attraction for people making reservations for the purpose of trying to catch glimpses of ghostly manifestations.
NEW BOOK MAY OPEN GATEWAY TO OTHERWORLD’S
(9 MAR 08)
Author Philip Gardner unravels the mystery of the Great Pyramid at Giza, and many other ancient monuments, in his new book, DVD and audio book Gateway to the Otherworld. It is claimed to be the Holy Grail of the paranormal phenomena world those interested in ancient and sacred sites as well as life-after-death investigators, ghost hunters and religious historians.
BRITISH WOMAN CLAIMS HELP FROM ALIENS FOR SOME OF HER LIFE’S MANY PROBLEMS
(8 MAR 08)
Dianne Sudron, a resident of Hartlepool, a North Sea port in the North East of England, believes that aliens really do exist. Her friendship with extra-terrestrials began when she was just thirteen. In the more than thirty years since that first meeting Diane says she’s been helped many times with many different things, including illnesses.
EXORCISM ROW STILL LINGERS IN ROMANIA
(8 MAR 08)
A botched exorcism in a Romanian convent has spurred a heated debate about the church's role in contemporary society. Irina Cornici, was a young nun, who died during an exorcism ritual that was carried out by Father Daniel Corogeanu, in the summer of 2005.
CANADA’S PSYCHIC EXPO
(8 MAR 08)
This weekend, the 29th annual ESP Psychic Expo is being held at the International Centre in Malton, a small suburb in the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Demonstrations and lectures on psychic powers, ESP, astrology, palmistry and auras, are all part of this year’s festival.
SWAYZE TO CALL ON ‘ANCIENT SPIRITS’ TO BATTLE CANCER
(7 MAR 08)
Hollywood actor Patrick Swayze, has admitted he is suffering from pancreatic cancer. But he told fans yesterday: “Don’t write me off yet.” Swayze who boasts of having Apache ancestors, says that part of his recovery plan will be to “disappear” into the hills on his New Mexico ranch aboard one of his Arab stallions, to call on the help of these spirits. He hopes to “feel the ancient spirits” there and harness the healing powers of nature.
MORE THAN JUST SPIRITS AT LOCAL BRITISH PUB
(7 MAR 08)
Every Monday at the Londesborough Hotel, paranormal investigator Paul Buckley and psychic medium Steve Kneeshaw will show customers how to channel spirits. "It's a unique, amazing and serious night out with a spooky difference,” said Kneeshaw.
FIGHTING OVER DECEASED BRINGS HONOR IN MAORI CULTURE
(7 MAR 08)
Jason King, a Maori Studies professor at the Auckland University of Technology, in New Zealand, says that in the Maori culture, haggling over a corpse and where it should be buried bestows honor on the dead. “The more fighting over the deceased the more `mana,' or honor, the deceased has,” says King.
PATRICK SWAYZE’S BELIEF IN THE AFTERLIFE
(6 MAR 08)
Hollywood star Patrick Swayze, who has recently been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, says that he believes in the afterlife. “I have a great deal of faith in faith; if you believe something strongly enough, it becomes true for you. I would like to believe that that there’s life after death - because if there isn’t, why are we here?”
MARRIED COUPLE OF SEVENTY YEARS DIE DAYS APART
(6 MAR 08)
Marcello and Elizabeth Giachino, who had been married for almost seventy years, have died within days of each other. Meeting as teenagers at her Sweet 16 birthday party, Marcello and Elizabeth remained true to each other. "They were always together," said Thomas Giachino, 61, the couple's youngest son. "It's definitely a marriage in heaven," said Ellanora, Thomas Giachino's wife. "I don't think he would have been satisfied in heaven without her."
HUMANS TO MAKE CONTACT WITH ALIENS WITHIN TWO DECADES
(6 MAR 08)
Mankind will make contact with intelligent alien life within two decades, leading astronomers claim. "We really believe that in the next 20 years or so, we are going to learn a great deal more about life beyond Earth and very likely we will have detected that life and perhaps even intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy," said Dr. Frank Drake, the 76-year-old who founded the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence project (SETI) in 1961.
ISRAELI RESEARCHER SUGGESTS MOSES & HIS FOLLOWERS WERE HIGH ON DRUGS
(5 MAR 08)
An Israeli researcher suggests the biblical Israelites who followed Moses may have been inspired by substances closer to earth. Benny Shanon, a psychology professor at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, writes that the ancient Jews may have been high on a hallucinogenic plant when the prophet delivered the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai.
NEW YORK CITY GHOST INVESTIGATORS JUST A CALL AWAY
(5 MAR 08)
Something strange going on in your neighborhood? You may want to give Brooklyn Ghost Investigations a call. For US$20 an hour, the group of self-proclaimed paranormal investigators offers to come to your house to help chase away the ghosts in your house.
SPIELBERG TO LAUNCH UFO AND PARANORMAL SOCIAL NETWORK
(5 MAR 08)
Hollywood mega-director Steven Spielberg is reportedly setting up a social network for people interested in paranormal and extra-terrestrial activity, inspired by his own personal experiences with the unknown.
THE FEAR OF DEATH
(4 MAR 08)
Socrates once said that a fear of death was irrational, mostly because of its inevitability. Most people who think about death see it as something to be feared, despite a popular connotation that post-death is almost always a good thing. Yet those who have had a near-death experience say that they have experienced a heaven, a hell, or even seen a god.
PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIC ‘RAPED BY GHOSTS’
(4 MAR 08)
A 40 year-old paranoid schizophrenic who believed he was being raped by ghosts, has been sent to a psychiatric hospital indefinitely, for setting fire to his sheltered housing complex in Dallington, UK, in July, 2007.
AL CAPONE’S HAUNTED ‘HIDEOUT’ HOUSE
(4 MAR 08)
In May 2000 Jim and Jean Garland bought a stately home overlooking Three Mile Lake in Paw Paw, Michigan, USA. Years later, neighbors started telling them stories about how the house was a getaway and hideout for the notorious Chicago mob boss Al Capone, who died in 1947. The Garlands believe that they have encountered Capone’s ghostly presence. A television in their main living room turns on suddenly, and a rocking chair in the carriage house rocks by itself.
NOTHING TO BE FRIGHTENED OF
(3 MAR 08)
'I don't believe in God, but I miss Him'. Julian Barnes' new book, Nothing To Be Frightened Of, is, among many things, a family memoir, an exchange with his philosopher brother, a meditation on mortality and the fear of death, a celebration of art, an argument with and about God, and an homage to the French author Jules Renard.
LOCAL GHOST HUNTERS TO INVESTIGATE GHOST STORIES
(3 MAR 08)
Founders of the Elkton, Virginia, USA Valley Paranormal Investigators, Sara Liskey and John Frye, are inviting residents to submit ghost stories for the town’s 100th anniversary celebration, which they will professionally investigate.
GHOST HUNTING SCHOOL IS IN
(3 MAR 08)
Ghost hunter, president and founder of the Lexington Kentucky-based Ghost Chasers International, Patti Starr, regularly conducts introductory classes for aspiring ghost hunters on the first Saturday of every month at the Porter Drive warehouse. The course is for those who wish to take the first step towards becoming a Ghost Chasers International-approved ghost hunter.
CHARLES DARWIN’S WIFE FEARED FOR HIS SOUL
(2 MAR 08)
Chris Darling, a senior curator of natural history at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum, believes that British naturalist, Charles Darwin, delayed publishing his theory of evolution by almost 20 years to avoid upsetting his devoutly Christian wife. Emma Darwin, who was deeply religious, knew that Darwin didn't like to talk too much about religion. Thus she figured he was going to go to hell, according to Mr. Darling.
WHAT HAPPEN’S WHEN WE DIE?
(2 MAR 08)
The question that becomes very real for people when they have lost a loved one, is what happens when we leave our physical form. People who have actually have no empirical evidence of what transpires after we leave our physical form, yet people who have had near-death experiences have reported various events. Things such as seeing the room and themselves from an out-of-body perspective, seeing a bright light and or a tunnel, to even seeing relatives who have already passed on.
PARANORMAL INVESTIGATORS TO SEEK OUT GHOSTS OF MASSACHUSETTS TOWN HALL
(2 MAR 08)
Originally built in 1871, the long-standing rumors that the Middleboro Town Hall in Massachusetts USA is haunted may soon be laid to rest. Ed Beaulieu, a senior investigator with Paranormal Investigators of New England, has been given permission to test whether the old Town Hall is just settling on its foundation, or whether it’s actually the site of paranormal activity.
PARNORMAL GROUP SEARCH CALIFORNIAN CASTLE FOR GHOSTLY ACTIVITY
(1 MAR 08)
Gloria Young is the founder of the San Jose based paranormal organization, The Ghost Trackers Paranormal Research Group. Young is no stranger to haunted places. When she was growing up, she and her friends would often play in cemeteries. Recently, the team from The Ghost Trackers organization investigated Preston Castle in Ione, California, in Amador County, for signs of paranormal activity.
TEXAN RECALLS ALIEN ABDUCTION
(1 MAR 08)
Something happened to Charles Hickson late one night in October 1973. A resident of Stephenville, Texas, Hickson had an experience that would change his life forever. He and a friend, Calvin Parker, had decided to go fishing, when all of a sudden a piercing sound made them stop, as they spotted a large object hovering behind them.
ENGLAND’S FAMOUS LIGHT DEPOT IS HAUNTED
(1 MAR 08)
In the seaside town of Blackpool, in Lancashire, England, lays the depot where Blackpool's famous illuminations are stored. Over the years, strange goings-on have often been reported and even Derek Acorah, the popular TV spirit medium said he too has experienced some paranormal activity when he visited the Rigby Road site for his series Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns, back in 2005.
Quote of the Day
Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.
Ernest Hemingway
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