As I've said before, I'm a skeptical believer. Its not that I don't believe in the supernatural, especially in the existence of ghosts, but I am weary of other people's personal experiences. In fact, I'm even skeptical of my own. The most relevant examples of this skepticism is seeing shadows, smelling ghostly fragrances, the feeling of being touched, and hearing footsteps. Notice I am describing 4 of the 5 senses (ok, out of 6 if you consider psychic ability the 6th sense, sorry Chip!). In college, I took a course on cognitive psychology and loved it; in fact, I am considering retaking a similar class at the college I work for. It made a lot of sense (no pun intended! OK, maybe a little...) to me that we can easily be fooled by our sensory memory.
Have you ever heard your phone ringing and after it stopped, could hear it still ringing? Its a faint sound now but somehow still there. Or closed your eyes and could still see the shadow of something you were looking at? This is part of our short-term memory. The neurons in our brains are still firing even after we saw, smelled, touched, heard, or tasted something. It works the same for long-term memory, but not as frequently.
For example, has your mouth ever watered at just the thought of a certain sweet, sour, or salty food? Or smelled someone's perfume/cologne and instantly thought of a special person in your life? Our memory is awesome. We can remember precious memories through our senses, sometimes before we can even recall the memory of why we connect two things together.
Seeing shadows: I'm not talking about watching a clear shadow cross on the other side of the room. And the shadow figure I saw in the hallway of Fort Warren was definitely there. I'm talking about when people say that they saw a shadow out of the corner of their eye. They may have "seen" someone standing in the corner and when they turned to look, nothing was there. In these cases, I am convinced that our eyes play tricks on us and our memory tells us that what looked like a long shadow just had to be a person because that is most familiar. I think our eyes can see spots, especially in the corners of our eyes, which then look like shadows. I tried doing an internet search on this phenomenon but didn't turn out much other than serious eye conditions. I would love to conduct scientific experiments to study this (anyone want to fund a grant?) I just don't see the value in calling something paranormal when you don't see it for sure, only a glimpse for less than a second.
Smelling ghostly fragrances: I've seen this on shows like Ghost Hunters and have heard personal stories. But I think this phenomenon happens in one or both of two cases: sensory memory and/or power of suggestion. I've personally had this happen to me many times where I see something on TV, the computer, or a picture and can "almost smell" what I'm seeing. Think hard about popcorn...can you smell it? Perhaps you are investigating a supposed haunted location, your mind wonders, the surroundings remind you - for whatever reason - of your grandfather, who happened to smoke cigars. Suddenly you can smell cigars. You quickly get up to investigate where the smell is coming from and it disappears. Location --> Grandfather --> cigars --> smell --> reaction (focus on something else) --> no smell. Now add in: "I swore I could smell cigars!" --> recall of memory --> smell is in another location (where ever you moved). Now you think the smell is actually moving. Must be a ghost right? Can you see where I'm going with this?
Lets go back to the power of suggestion. You're on that same case and the client has told you that people have smelt cigar smoke there before. You're sitting, waiting for some communication and suddenly your memory flashes back to the story the client told you earlier and suddenly you can smell it. Or your partner tells you they can smell it and now you start to smell it too. Sensory memory.
Now, I'm not saying that it is always sensory memory. Maybe I'm wrong here and entities can actually leave a fragrance behind or that is their way of making communication. I'm just skeptical that every is experience is paranormal. And I think our minds and memory retrieval can work in the above situations without us even realizing it. I'm just saying we have to be careful and really consider other, more scientific, possibilities.
Feeling of being touched: When I visited the Stanley, I desperately wanted to experience the sensation of being touched by an unseen hand. This has to be a crazy experience! So forgive me for being skeptical if you have experienced this for yourself but I have a feeling that, again, some cases are not paranormal. And I'm not talking about people seeing depressions in their skin or having sudden cuts, scrapes, or reddened skin. I'm just providing a possible explanation for light brushes of "touch."
I often have muscle spasms and I can easily recognize these spasms because I am very aware of my body. These happen mostly on my legs, back, and arms and usually happens when I am tired or sore and usually when I am in a relaxed state. They are very subtle and happen quickly. I am also aware that it sometimes feels like someone just touched me and can easily see how someone might mistake these spasms for an experience. I'm not a ghost hunter (I've only been on one ghost hunt) but I imagine you can get very tired and in a relaxed state. Isn't it possible that these experiences are just muscle spasms?
Hearing footsteps: This phenomenon has frustrated me after watching shows like Ghost Hunters. (Sorry to pick on GH so much but I'm pretty sure it is, at least one of, the most popular ghost hunting shows out there and I really do love it!) There have been many examples of someone saying that they hear footsteps behind them and either stops at the same time they do or stops shortly after, as if they are being followed and mimicked. Sometimes its heard in another part of the room or above them. I have a few theories on this.
One theory is that softer surfaces (carpet and wood) can press down ever so slightly and "bounce" back up to create more than just a creaking sound but an actual footstep-like sound. When you are trying to be quiet and listen for any sounds, couldn't we just be hearing this? Another theory is that it is sound traveling - bouncing around - and we are hearing our own (or someone else's) footsteps after the initial sound has been created. Lastly, it goes back to sensory memory, this time our short-term memory. Sort of like the hearing of a phone after its stopped ringing (and softer than the original sound), we can still hear the sound of our own (or someone else's) footsteps just after we actually hear the sound.
The reason why this frustrates me is because it happens SO often. Almost every paranormal show I've ever watched. This has to be more explainable than a paranormal experience. What bugs me most is when that is the only personal or recorded experience that the team has had and they are ready to call it haunted.
Ok, I digress. Thank you for letting me rant a little. I have been wanting to share these thoughts countless times so thank you for taking the time to read. Hopefully some of you share these same view points or can see where I am coming from. I would love to hear your thoughts so please leave comments!
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side note...
here is a recent news cast from Hooper, CO in the San Luis Valley: http://www.9news.com/news/article/199678/188/Colo-town-famous-for-UFO-sightings
and from SLVUFO webpage:
http://www.slvufo.com/unexplained.html
as well as about the paranormal in the SLV:
http://www.slvufo.com/paranormal.html
Just found these interesting! Should have started my own research group when I lived there!
The Billy Meier Story: UFOs and the Prophecies from Outer Space
I saw this documentary posted from Reality Films (@RealityFilms on Twitter) and just had to see this for myself (thankfully my husband is just as curious as I am!). Here is the synopsis, taken from Reality Films:
In 1958, Billy Meier predicted the Iraq Wars, AIDS and global warming. Is it the biggest hoax or… the most important story in human history?
You’ll find the startling answer in this remarkable, true-life story about how a young Swiss boy’s meetings with extraterrestrials would eventually lead him later in life through dozens of countries, meeting many famous world leaders – including Saddam Hussein – in order to fulfill ancient prophecies.
This one-armed farmer from Switzerland has taken hundreds of the most startling photos in UFO History and has even filmed what he refers to as “Beam Ships” used by sentient beings that hail from a star system near the Pleiades. He has been able to produce photographs, film footage, sound recordings and even metal samples as evidence of his visitations.
You’ll be captivated by how in his twenties, “Billy” Eduard Albert Meier was transformed into “The Phantom” (a real life combination of Indiana Jones, Lawrence of Arabia and Han Solo) and by packing a .44 Magnum was able to apprehend serial killers and mass murderers. Meier’s life story is an enigmatic journey that ultimately culminates with him becoming the messenger for an advanced race of beings know as the Plejaran.
Their message is clear: earth is in trouble, the people have been asleep, and we must make drastic changes or there will be devastating consequences for all of mankind.
Is this story real or too incredible for us to grasp? You must decide for yourself, but if it’s a hoax, why has Meier been the target of 21 assassination attempts? Could it be that the message that humanity so desperately needs to hear is not welcome by many of our world leaders?
Special Features -The Skeptics view on the Meier Case, Billy Meier on the true nature of Evolution, the first inster stellar musical collaboration and much more.
First, I hope that you check out Reality Films site, they have some pretty interesting stuff! Also note that we were able to get this from Netflix!
Let me highlight some interesting parts of the film and include my thoughts:
1. He claims to have been visited by alien life, who have become his teachers.
Supposedly, Mr. Meier has been visited by aliens of the race "Plejaran." They have taught him, basically, the meaning of life and how our spiritual world actually exists. "They" claim to simply know how it all works including our spiritual being and what happens when we die. There is no higher God that is responsible for creation or that serves as our guide but we exist as vehicles to our spiritual bodies. We are supposed to seek guidance from within ourselves and gain control of our emotions, thoughts, and inner being. When we die, our spiritual self is transformed into another personality, another being.
As I've struggled with my own spiritual journey, I have to say that this really hits home. I've had a hard time grasping the idea of a God looking down and guiding me through life. Now, that is not to say that there is no guidance because I know for certain that something, or someone, has helped guide me and protect me. My personal belief is that I have guardians (angels for lack of a better word) who are loved ones who have passed and now serve to watch over me, particularly my grandmother. I've felt her presence many times and I don't have any other way to explain it other than I just know she is with me. According to these alien beings however, she and others who have died are now reincarnated into something or someone else. The guidance that I feel is simply my own. I really can't say that this is bogus because it can absolutely be true in my mind. I don't want to discount that this Plejaran race does not exist so therefore I don't want to write off this new idea. I also believe that we are not meant to really know the truth. Sure, "The Truth Is Out There," but what if we really knew? Could we handle it? And where would the mystery be? Whats the fun in that??
2. He has hundreds of photographs and videos of alien spacecraft (note that I don't use UFO since he claims they are identified as alien spacecraft).
A quick Google search will lead you to find many examples of his photographs. I have to admit, these photos look downright phony, straight from an old science fiction movie. But the documentary does make an interesting point: he took these photos and videos long before the use of CGI and special trickery. He is not a photography expert and does not exactly come across as someone who would take the time to create this kind of hoax.
It seems as though UFO sightings seem to occur in the same places around the world over and over again. UFO "hot spots" if you will. If he happened to be in the right place and the right time and was open to these encounters, why wouldn't they keep coming back to his area and allow him to photograph these crafts? There is even a part in the documentary which shows the crafts providing a demonstration of how the crafts work: by magnetic forces from the earth. We know that some areas of the world are more magnetic than others, maybe this area of Switzerland is one of those areas?
3. He claims to have prophesied major world events, including the Iraq Wars.
In addition to the spiritual teachings from the Plejaran race, they supposedly have helped Mr. Meier foresee future events. He has even had a dream where he was assassinated and wore a metal plate to protect himself, which saved his life from an attack. He has sent world leaders warnings about wars that have played out (most notably the Iraq Wars) and warns of a fore-coming third world war. He also documented scientific findings about Jupiter months before reported by NASA scientists. If he were only prophesying future events, I would say he has some ability to generalize future events, which end up becoming "true" but when you add in the element of potential alien visitations and assistance, this gets me excited. If other beings are traveling this far and making the effort to contact human beings, why couldn't they see things far before we are able to? Hey, in my book, any help we can get, the better. So to all you Plejaran beings out there: thank you. I just hope we can actually listen to this stuff and better ourselves and our planet before it all falls apart. Whether its a hoax or just some crazy guy, maybe we can learn something here!
---
I could really start a whole other blog just about "Billy" Meier (his real full name is Eduard Albert Meier). When we watched the documentary, we were wondering why we hadn't heard about this before but, like I said before, one quick Google search turns up all sorts of webpages about him. We just hadn't been exposed or had opened our eyes to this before. We plan to attend future conferences like the International UFO Congress and keep our minds open to the very-real possibility that we have been visited and they are making contact.
In 1958, Billy Meier predicted the Iraq Wars, AIDS and global warming. Is it the biggest hoax or… the most important story in human history?
You’ll find the startling answer in this remarkable, true-life story about how a young Swiss boy’s meetings with extraterrestrials would eventually lead him later in life through dozens of countries, meeting many famous world leaders – including Saddam Hussein – in order to fulfill ancient prophecies.
This one-armed farmer from Switzerland has taken hundreds of the most startling photos in UFO History and has even filmed what he refers to as “Beam Ships” used by sentient beings that hail from a star system near the Pleiades. He has been able to produce photographs, film footage, sound recordings and even metal samples as evidence of his visitations.
You’ll be captivated by how in his twenties, “Billy” Eduard Albert Meier was transformed into “The Phantom” (a real life combination of Indiana Jones, Lawrence of Arabia and Han Solo) and by packing a .44 Magnum was able to apprehend serial killers and mass murderers. Meier’s life story is an enigmatic journey that ultimately culminates with him becoming the messenger for an advanced race of beings know as the Plejaran.
Their message is clear: earth is in trouble, the people have been asleep, and we must make drastic changes or there will be devastating consequences for all of mankind.
Is this story real or too incredible for us to grasp? You must decide for yourself, but if it’s a hoax, why has Meier been the target of 21 assassination attempts? Could it be that the message that humanity so desperately needs to hear is not welcome by many of our world leaders?
Special Features -The Skeptics view on the Meier Case, Billy Meier on the true nature of Evolution, the first inster stellar musical collaboration and much more.
First, I hope that you check out Reality Films site, they have some pretty interesting stuff! Also note that we were able to get this from Netflix!
Let me highlight some interesting parts of the film and include my thoughts:
1. He claims to have been visited by alien life, who have become his teachers.
Supposedly, Mr. Meier has been visited by aliens of the race "Plejaran." They have taught him, basically, the meaning of life and how our spiritual world actually exists. "They" claim to simply know how it all works including our spiritual being and what happens when we die. There is no higher God that is responsible for creation or that serves as our guide but we exist as vehicles to our spiritual bodies. We are supposed to seek guidance from within ourselves and gain control of our emotions, thoughts, and inner being. When we die, our spiritual self is transformed into another personality, another being.
As I've struggled with my own spiritual journey, I have to say that this really hits home. I've had a hard time grasping the idea of a God looking down and guiding me through life. Now, that is not to say that there is no guidance because I know for certain that something, or someone, has helped guide me and protect me. My personal belief is that I have guardians (angels for lack of a better word) who are loved ones who have passed and now serve to watch over me, particularly my grandmother. I've felt her presence many times and I don't have any other way to explain it other than I just know she is with me. According to these alien beings however, she and others who have died are now reincarnated into something or someone else. The guidance that I feel is simply my own. I really can't say that this is bogus because it can absolutely be true in my mind. I don't want to discount that this Plejaran race does not exist so therefore I don't want to write off this new idea. I also believe that we are not meant to really know the truth. Sure, "The Truth Is Out There," but what if we really knew? Could we handle it? And where would the mystery be? Whats the fun in that??
2. He has hundreds of photographs and videos of alien spacecraft (note that I don't use UFO since he claims they are identified as alien spacecraft).
A quick Google search will lead you to find many examples of his photographs. I have to admit, these photos look downright phony, straight from an old science fiction movie. But the documentary does make an interesting point: he took these photos and videos long before the use of CGI and special trickery. He is not a photography expert and does not exactly come across as someone who would take the time to create this kind of hoax.
It seems as though UFO sightings seem to occur in the same places around the world over and over again. UFO "hot spots" if you will. If he happened to be in the right place and the right time and was open to these encounters, why wouldn't they keep coming back to his area and allow him to photograph these crafts? There is even a part in the documentary which shows the crafts providing a demonstration of how the crafts work: by magnetic forces from the earth. We know that some areas of the world are more magnetic than others, maybe this area of Switzerland is one of those areas?
3. He claims to have prophesied major world events, including the Iraq Wars.
In addition to the spiritual teachings from the Plejaran race, they supposedly have helped Mr. Meier foresee future events. He has even had a dream where he was assassinated and wore a metal plate to protect himself, which saved his life from an attack. He has sent world leaders warnings about wars that have played out (most notably the Iraq Wars) and warns of a fore-coming third world war. He also documented scientific findings about Jupiter months before reported by NASA scientists. If he were only prophesying future events, I would say he has some ability to generalize future events, which end up becoming "true" but when you add in the element of potential alien visitations and assistance, this gets me excited. If other beings are traveling this far and making the effort to contact human beings, why couldn't they see things far before we are able to? Hey, in my book, any help we can get, the better. So to all you Plejaran beings out there: thank you. I just hope we can actually listen to this stuff and better ourselves and our planet before it all falls apart. Whether its a hoax or just some crazy guy, maybe we can learn something here!
---
I could really start a whole other blog just about "Billy" Meier (his real full name is Eduard Albert Meier). When we watched the documentary, we were wondering why we hadn't heard about this before but, like I said before, one quick Google search turns up all sorts of webpages about him. We just hadn't been exposed or had opened our eyes to this before. We plan to attend future conferences like the International UFO Congress and keep our minds open to the very-real possibility that we have been visited and they are making contact.
My personal experiences
I will first describe my own personal paranormal experience from George's Island and a story from my friend I talked about in an earlier post. I will then describe an experience I had in the San Luis Valley (CO), a supposed UFO hot-spot (also well known for the mysterious cattle mutilations, featured on Fact or Faked). These are my most vivid memories within the paranormal, in addition to my previously-described ghost hunt at the Stanely Hotel.
In 1993 (I believe), we took a field trip through the Civil War Club to George's Island, which was used in the Civil War to house prisoners. During our tour of Fort Warren, we heard the story of the Lady in Black and were determined to see this for ourselves. A synopsis of the story is as follows:
The wife of a young prisoner attempted to rescue her newlywed husband from encampment and was captured and ordered to be hanged. In her rescue attempt, she had dressed in men's clothing in hopes of slipping under the radar. Her last request before execution was to be dressed in woman's clothing but the only garment the soldiers could find was a black robe used for theatrical performances, hence the "Lady in Black." It is said that the room in which she was hanged had been sealed off due to so much paranormal activity but the halls surrounding the room and the fort grounds were still haunted by this mysterious woman.
We were told that if you stood at one end of a particular hallway and patiently watch the room that was sealed off, the Lady in Black will reveal herself. We stood...and waited...and waited...until all of a sudden, both of us at the same time jumped from being startled and took off running outside. (side note: I now know that if you experience something like this, don't go running and screaming...investigate! Thank you, Brian Harnois for this important lesson. I was like 12 at the time so I'll cut myself some slack). When we got outside and caught our breath, we starting describing what we saw and our stories were the same: a sudden black shadow rushed towards us. The shape I could see was a long, flowing black mass in what looked like a gown of some sort (robe?) and the "head" was a faint ball of light.
This experience shook both of us to our core. If you know me well, you will easily discover that my memory is horrible; downright pathetic. But this event and all of its details are still well imprinted in my mind. It is as if it happened yesterday (well, in my case, earlier today LOL). You would think that it would have scared me off from the paranormal but it actually fueled the fire. I want to experience it again and I want to find out how to prove to others that it happened!
On to my friend's story. As I said in my first post, she believed that her house was haunted and she had many strange experiences to back up her reasoning. One particular story always comes to mind that I would like to share because I believe it to be truly unique. She tells the story as if it was a dream but she was not sure if she experienced it or if it was truly a dream (you'll understand what I mean at the conclusion). One night, she wakes up and decides to go to the kitchen for a glass of water, which is downstairs from her room. As she is walking downstairs she notices that her stairs are wooden, not carpeted as usual. She is extra tired and shakes this off as a delusional state of mind. She notices as she is getting her glass of water that the kitchen is basically as expected but just a bit off: the layout is slightly different, items are in the "wrong" place, even the dining table is not the same. She looks out the window overlooking her backyard and first notices that the large white fence is not there but then also sees an older woman picking flowers from a garden she doesn't have. At this point, she is a bit freaked out and is not sure what is going on. It is the middle of the night, why is a woman picking flowers in her backyard, from a garden that doesn't exist? She heads back up the stairs (now carpeted again), goes into her bathroom and pulls out a scrunchie (you know, those big cloth hair ties we used to wear for ponytails?) and puts it around her wrist. She figures that if she is dreaming, the scrunchie would not be there when she wakes up. She struggles to get back to sleep but eventually does and when she awakes the next morning, the scrunchie is there.
When I first heard her tell this story, I thought she had to be dreaming. She even slept-walked and pulled out the scrunchie while sleeping. Nevertheless, I thought it was a cool story and filed it away. I didn't think about it again until we had a sleepover one night with a small collection of friends and she told the story again. She told it with such passion and honest-to-goodness truth in her voice and eyes that I started to feel bad that I didn't believe her the first time and that no one else believed her either. For some reason, I didn't want to believe her! I guess I knew back then that it was a personal experience and without proof of the experience, no one knows for sure what happened except for her. The story is exactly that: a story. My George's Island experience did not happen until after that and after our friendship had started to fade; maybe I would have believed her more after that.
I will now switch topics to a strange personal story of which I do not know how to categorize, within the paranormal, other than UFO. During one summer, I was a coordinator for a "bridge" program for students transitioning between high school and the college I worked for. My colleague and I were driving 15-passenger vans filled with students up to the San Luis Valley Sand Dune National Park. He was driving the van behind me and I was keeping him in my sight so that we would stay together and arrive at the same time. At one point, on a long stretch of the highway, I suddenly noticed he was gone. I kept looking back trying to figure out if he had slowed down or had to stop or what was going on. I had a student calling his cell as well as students in the other van but cell phones are usually useless on this stretch out in the middle of nowhere of the mountain valley. I was close to a turn we needed to make so I made the turn and pulled over at a safe point in the road. When we still couldn't see the van and couldn't contact him, we decided to keep going and figure it out when we got to the park. We pulled into the parking lot and I couldn't believe what I saw: the other van. They had arrived and were already out and enjoying the day. How did he get to the park before me? There is one other way - that I know of - to get to the park from Alamosa but he was still behind me beyond that turn. To this day, I have no idea what the heck happened. Time warp? Abduction? Did he pass me and I somehow missed it? I tried to talk to him about it but we never came to a logical conclusion and being the laid-back guy he is, never blinked an eye. And the students were too excited about their adventure to the Dunes that I was left thinking about this by myself. And still thinking.
If you have any stories you would like to share, please add them to the comment section below! If you'd like me to post a story separately, I'm happy to do that as well!
Orbs
The topic of orbs is a hot button in the paranormal world. Many investigators - and novice thrill seekers - get excited when they see a ball of light showing up in a picture or video feed. Quite frankly, I'm a little torn on this subject. Britt Griffith will say with confidence, "That is NOT AN ORB!" And, in most cases, I think that is true. Dust and tiny bugs are everywhere and easily captured on film. You wouldn't necessarily know it was there until you snapped a picture, making it seem supernatural. But I've also seen pictures that were taken because someone felt a presence in the room and load and behold, there is an orb. Coincidence or proof of an entity?
For example, here is a photo from my last post, the picture I took during our investigation in the Stanley Hotel tunnels:
As we were supposedly communicating with "Bill," an orb is right there among the equipment. I'm not saying it can't be dust because obviously the tunnel has its fair share of it (notice the orb chaos in other pics in the tunnels) but it does seem strange to see a fairly large orb where it is. And that is the only one in the photo. If there was dust, wouldn't we be seeing more than just that one? Maybe..maybe not.
I've also seen pictures of orbs that were enlarged in order to see a "face" staring back at you. I'm pretty skeptical about this. I think we are easily fooled by shadows and easily convinced that whatever we think we see is what we are seeing. Have you ever looked an image, didn't see anything, someone says, "it looks like ____!" and suddenly that is all you can see? Optical illusions are a funny thing and I really think that these photos of faces in orbs are just illusions of which we are convinced. I've fallen victim myself. Um...Fact or Faked show? I think so! wink wink
Unfortunately, right now, there is no way to prove this orb theory either way. I would say you either believe they are proof of entities or not but then there is people like me. I'm a skeptical believer. This goes for most of my views in the paranormal. I think most of the time there is an explaination, discounting the proof of the supernatural. But there are some things you just can't explain or, as in my example above, there is a possibility that it could actually be supernatural. Its the possibility that keeps me excited, that keeps my interest, that keeps me writing.
I've also seen pictures of orbs that were enlarged in order to see a "face" staring back at you. I'm pretty skeptical about this. I think we are easily fooled by shadows and easily convinced that whatever we think we see is what we are seeing. Have you ever looked an image, didn't see anything, someone says, "it looks like ____!" and suddenly that is all you can see? Optical illusions are a funny thing and I really think that these photos of faces in orbs are just illusions of which we are convinced. I've fallen victim myself. Um...Fact or Faked show? I think so! wink wink
Unfortunately, right now, there is no way to prove this orb theory either way. I would say you either believe they are proof of entities or not but then there is people like me. I'm a skeptical believer. This goes for most of my views in the paranormal. I think most of the time there is an explaination, discounting the proof of the supernatural. But there are some things you just can't explain or, as in my example above, there is a possibility that it could actually be supernatural. Its the possibility that keeps me excited, that keeps my interest, that keeps me writing.
Trip to the Stanley Hotel
Since my trip to the Stanley Hotel, hosted by Beyond Reality Events, is what inspired me to start a blog, I thought I would start here with sharing some pictures and experiences.
Our room, I'll explain a potential experience in here at the end...
I can't help but show off my son...
the MacGregor Room where Friday night's Meet and Greet and Saturday's lectures took place.
View from the front porch
there She is...
the Stanley Steamer
some of the elk taking over a golf course, Stanley in the background
Bill and Ben from Fact or Faked
Amy and Adam from Ghost Hunters
Chip from Paranormal State and Physic Kids and Britt Griffith from Ghost Hunters/International
Amy and Adam again
piano that Mrs. Stanley supposedly plays (I never heard it)
Everyone at the Meet and Greet, a great experience!
Heeeeere's Jenni!
main staircase
me with Ben Hansen from Fact or Faked
me with Amy Bruni from Ghost Hunters
can't help but post another view, just so pretty!!
Britt's lecture
the Manor House
Ben, Christiane (@FactorFaked on Twitter), me, Bill, and Bill's wife, Anita
Bill and Ben at their Q & A session
Ok, now into the investigation...
our group's first stop: the administration building
The last time Amy investigated in this room, the table had lifted so we had hands on the table throughout the investigation. I personally did not feel the table move but others claimed to feel movement. Because I didn't experience it, I'm skeptical about what they were feeling. I did feel the pulse in my hand so I could understand if some felt that and mistook it for "movement." We also were trying to figure out why the tablecloth was moving. It looked as though air was blowing on it but we couldn't feel any air moving. I am not ready to say it was paranormal, because it really looked like an air current moving through the room, but definitely odd.
Next, we investigated room....
This room was in the Manor House.
We investigated this room with some members of a west coast group that Britt Griffith is a member of. One woman said she was touched on the leg...personal experience so hard to say it was an actual interaction. Twice I swear I saw an unusual ball of light in one specific corner of the room, which was reported by the group before us. However, I can't discount the fact that I was also watching the EMF detectors...the green light from the devices could have caused me to see a white light when I looked away. The woman next to me said she could see a shadow of someone sitting in the corner, looking out the window. I could see what she was talking about but, really folks, it was just the shadows from the curtains and window. When an EMF detector was brought to that corner there was no fluctuation, the investigator couldn't feel anything strange (cold spots, energy, etc), and when he went over to the area, the shadow didn't change...all of that tells me it was nothing. Overall, in my opinion, no experiences in that room.
Christiane really wants to sit in the table that lifted on Grant of Ghost Hunters!
What the fetch?!
Now, on to the tunnels! I was pretty excited for this!
Ok, this one I can't explain. When I took the picture above, I saw the flash go off. When I looked at the picture on the viewer, nothing. So I took it again and got the pic below. That has never happened before, never happened again.
Yes, I know, there are lots of "orbs." I'll talk about that in another blog.
For our investigation with Britt Griffith, we stood at one end of the tunnels and he placed EMF detectors, recording devices, and flashlights down the other end. Not a lot of action with those devices. We did try the controversial "Frank's Box" device and that was interesting. I can see why its controversial though. We supposedly contact an entity named Bill (he answered with Bill when we asked him his name). He also said it was the year 2014...hmmm? To me, at times, it sounded like we were hearing parts of a radio show. Since you use radio frequencies as white noise to pick up supposed voices from beyond, this is totally possible. It was hard for me to hear since I was in the back of the group, away from the device, so hard to make conclusions. The other interesting thing to point out is the "orb" you can see in this picture. Again, I'll talk about orbs in another post but, could this have been "Bill?" Discuss...
On to room 217 in the main hotel....
This room had been a suite, converted to a room, used by Molly Brown, John Philip Sousa, Theodore Roosevelt, The Emperor and Empress of Japan, Steven King, Jim Carrey (he packed up and left his first night and doesn't talk about what happened here), and more. It was the room of a terrible accident involving a chambermaid trying to light a gas lamp and ended up causing an explosion (she was hurt but not killed). A previous group had experienced the bed shaking without explanation
Ben and Christiane were reviewing the audio from this room and there may be some evidence, I will update the blog if anything comes from that!
First thing that came to mind when I saw this hallway was REDRUM...just me?
And now onto room...
This is the room that Jason Hawes slept in where the glass broke from the inside and the closet door closed by itself (that closet door is above). This room was occupied by Lord Dunraven, apparently not a pleasant man. Karl Pfeiffer was our lead investigator for this one and he said that Lord Dunraven often stroked women's hair and women said they were touched by someone in this room. The closet is also a supposed vortex. So what do I do? I sat on the bed, let my hair down, and announced that Lord Dunraven can stroke my hair...when nothing happened, I hopped in the closet (ok, so I needed Christiane to keep me company) and waited for an experience. Unfortunately, nothing. One woman said she felt like she was touched on the leg. No experiences for me.
Finally, room...
This last experience made for a late night...sorry again to make you worry Ray and Chad :-(
Chad is a friend of ours who stayed in our room. The next morning he asked if Jordan (our son) had a hard time breathing at some point in the night. He then said, "actually you all sounded like you were breathing pretty hard...in unison...it was weird. And then you all stopped, at the same time." I didn't say anything at the time because I didn't want to freak them out but my first thought was back to the experiences from the investigation the night before! Coincidence?
Because the last day of the conference was Mother's Day, I didn't attend the last sessions but spent the day with my family. If anyone from the conference has fun stories to share, please do!
Introduction to my Reality
I decided to start a blog about the paranormal because I've had a lot of theories and personal viewpoints swimming in my head and I needed an outlet to write them down. I know that my thoughts are not necessarily unique but, in my mind, they are still worth hearing to gain support and - hopefully - start some debate about the field. Like religion, I've put together my own ideas from various viewpoints of others to create my own set of beliefs regarding the spirit world (and how it is documented), UFO/alien life, and crypto-zoology. This blog will be my chance to catalog those ideas in my own unique way and, quite frankly, I'm really looking forward to it! I hope to gain some readers from various fields of expertise and fellow novice explorers and to start some quality conversation. I would love to do this in person in some coffee shop but reality is, the web is the way to go to really gain some insight from as many people as possible in a real-time setting.
I suppose before I start an actual blog, I should introduce myself and share a little about my history and why this is my area of interest. Probably the most interesting thing about me is that I have moved a LOT. I've lived in 9 states, 6 in the past 10 years. This includes where I was born (UT), my "hometown" (in NH), my undergraduate college (in RI), my graduate school (in IL), where my parents currently live (aka home between homes) (WI), and various moves with my husband for jobs (VA, CO, and MI). We also lived in CA for 5 years in between UT and NH. Needless to say, I've been around. I've lived on both coasts and a few states in between and I've also traveled a decent amount within the states and abroad. My unique lifestyle as helped form me into an educated and outgoing person. I've heard a lot of different views on many aspects of life and beyond. I've been rooted and un-rooted in various churches and belief systems and I am just now starting to create my own faith/belief system, which I'm actually quite proud of.
My history of the paranormal starts from a young age, although I couldn't tell you when or how it started. I traveled with my parents quite a bit and I was curious about the history of each place, particularly the ghost stories that surrounded each place. The tourist spots that stick out are Gettysburg and Williamsburg for obvious reasons. When we entered a gift shop, my parents went straight to the apparel section for their sweatshirt memento...I went straight to the book section for my research on local hauntings.
Growing up in NH, my neighbor and best friend had experienced quite a bit of paranormal activity in her house. At the time, I was curious but also very skeptical about her experiences. A large regret in my life is that I did not keep my friendship with her, because she was a great friend, and that I did not take her more seriously. I wish I had known more about scientific paranormal research at the time because I know we both would have been conducting investigations any chance we had. If the Syfy channel had been around back then, we would have glued ourselves to the shows available. We would have grown together by this common interest instead of growing apart by my petty insecurities as a teenager.
One reveal of my geekness as an adolescent: I was a member of the Civil War Club in junior high. One of the main reasons I joined this club and kept my membership (besides my fascination with that era and Abraham Lincoln's leadership) was the annual trip to Gettysburg. No end of paranormal activity here. We also visited George's Island, host to Fort Warren, a POW camp among the islands of Boston Harbor. Here lies the story of the "Lady in Black." A friend of mine in the club was also a "ghost enthusiast" and our first mission was to experience the phenomena...and we did. I will blog about this story later but my point is that this experience sealed my interest in the spirit world. I now had my "proof."
It is now later in life that I value the scientific research done by so many groups. I started watching a ghost-hunting show on the Travel Channel, which, in my opinion is just awful. But I then discovered Ghost Hunters on Syfy and was hooked! My first thought was, "Cool! A show about a group from Rhode Island!" but the more I watched, I realized that this was legit and I truly believed in what they were doing (and still do). I love that more and more shows are coming out about paranormal experiences including Destination Truth and Fact or Faked. I enjoy DT because of their international travels, their experiences in trying to figure out what is really happening, and the mix of various paranormal activity (crypto-zoology and the spiritual world mainly). Josh Gates has also inspired me to take some anthropology classes! But I have to say, my favorite is Fact or Faked. I love that they take real, and current, experiences and make it their own to try and figure out what’s going on and if its really happening. Their skepticism matches what I'm thinking and their application of real-life expertise astounds me: photography tricks, special effects, and thinking outside the box, as an example. They throw in so many different types of investigations that the possibilities seem endless. Because of FoF, I've also re-surfaced my curiosity about UFOs and alien visitations (thank you, Ben). Again, I will re-visit my thoughts on this in future posts.
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