Disclaimer:

~The views and opinions expressed here are of the blog author and not necessarily of CCAPSG as a whole~

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Paranormal In The News - Paranormal Activity At Brunswick Railroad Museum

WUSA9.com


BRUNSWICK, Md. (WUSA) -- Paranormal investigators reveal audio recordings of ghosts recorded at the Brunswick Railroad Museum.
Daryll Keller with the Mason Dixon Paranormal Society, says there are 14 unexplained EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomenon).
"It sounds like it says have a nice day," he said about one of the recordings.
He investigated the museum after people reported hearing voices, footsteps, and seeing a ghost in a white dress.
Keller says most of the voices came from the second floor, where historic items are on display.
"There's one thing called object attachment. Where a spirit can attach itself to an object," Keller said.
To read more click here 

Paranormal In The News - Viewer submits video of strange sky phenomenon

STV

An STV viewer has submitted a piece of video that he says could show a UFO in the skies above Scotland.
Robbie Davidson, a student from Kirkcaldy, had been filming a strange cloud that appeared to have a rainbow in it, and says that what could be a disc-spaped object became visible ahead of the cloud.
He was travelling in van near North Berwick earlier this month when he made the sighting.
He told STV news: "I didn't notice it until I started filming, and you can see the saucer shape when you pause it and look closely.
"I've shown it to a few people who have dismissed it, but others say that they have seen similar things that evening in that area, like weird lights in the sky."

To read more click here
To see the video click here

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Paranormal In The News - Ghost-hunter who groomed boy, 13, on internet is jailed for three-and-a-half years

I am posting this as a reminder to always be careful who you are in contact with...
The president of Hull Paranormal Ghost Society has been jailed for having sex with a teenage boy he groomed over the internet.
Robert Taylor, 26, of Acton Close, east Hull, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years at Hull Crown Court after pleading guilty to eight counts of having sex with a child and two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
Taylor contacted the 13-year-old through internet chat rooms and later through MSN Messenger.
He groomed the boy for about a month, before they met and had sex on a number of occasions.
To read more click here

Paranormal In The News - Yvette Fielding quits ghost hunting show Most Haunted

The Sun


The ex-Blue Peter host hopes to have more luck spotting spooks with other channels.
She said she was leaving to "move paranormal activites to the next level".
Yvette also claimed she got buckets of fan mail asking her to to "go further and move forward".
In a letter to fans of the Living show she announced she would now be ghost-hunting for other channels including ITV2's Ghosthunting.
Yvette, 41, joked: "That's not so much goodbye as see you on the other side!"
She made the statement on the website for the show's maker Antix Productions, which she set up with her husband Karl Beattie.
It has not been decided whether Most Haunted will continue without her.


Read more: here

Paranormal In The News - Father Paul's obitury

Telegraph "Father Paul, otherwise known as Lieutenant-Commander the Reverend Paul Inglesby, who has died aged 94, held unconventional views on the origin of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and once tried to stop the Queen watching Steven Spielberg's alien film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, claiming it was a satanic plot to seize control of her mind.
From boyhood Inglesby was fascinated by reports of flying saucers and, assuming they were piloted craft from other worlds, subscribed to Flying Saucer Review. But this assumption in no way interfered with his growing religious faith.
In fact, as he described in his bookUFOs and the Christian (1978), Inglesby came to believe that, far from being piloted by aliens, UFOs were of satanic origin."

To read more click here 

Monday, June 28, 2010

Interview with Barry Fitzgerald

Barry is a well known/high profile paranormal investigator. We've seen him on television with Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International and he is also an accomplished author.  We wanted to get to know a bit more about Barry and we thank him for taking the time out to answer some questions.  To read more about Barry please visit his website at: www.barryfitzgeraldonline.com.


In GH you come across as quite a spiritual person. Would you mind sharing your beliefs with us?


Life is running at an ever increasing rate, no longer can we hear or see the true world around us, its beauty and of course on some occasions its horror. We don't even walk to the stores anymore and we are becoming quicker and quicker, we have somehow become detached from the very eco system the supports our lives. For instance many forests around the world have wind that blows through the trees, you will hear and see many different animals leading each country to have a different voice almost. It is this voice that we don't even recognize now.. By giving the individual back that forgotten talent then you can begin to notice other things which up to that point we simply tuned out as we got dragged into a rat race which feeds a beast that we have become slaves too.
I'm not a religious person, I'm a spiritual person which is very different. I have a relationship with that higher authority that works very well for me  but has taken years to find. I have a deep caring for all things living, except wasps. I have nothing but contempt for those :) But I'm working on it.

What do you think intelligent hauntings are? Are they human? Why haven't they "crossed over"?


Now here is a difficult question. Some intelligences I feel are simply lost and have not crossed over, human in other words. But then there is another type and only the trained eye can catch these. These types have to be second guessed and can run havoc if not detected soon into the investigation. That's why its important to second guess the results and examine everything. Of course we are left wondering what they are, but we do know what they are capable of. My next publication due out in November 'The Influence' deals with this very question and looks at how these others can effect the human host and make subtle changes resulting in catastrophic outcomes. 

What are your views on other forms of hauntings?


There of course are earth spirit involvement in a property which can be troublesome, attachments to antiques, attachments to individuals, maybe when a visitor comes to your home or something we picked up when we where out shopping. There can be many reasons why one would attach itself. Of course then there are manifestations of the mind, in Tibetan lore they would be known as Tulpa and can be a very hard thing to deal with once it breaks free from the person that made it, for a lot of the time it can be made by a person with an imbalance in the mind but with a strong emotional drive, usually stimulated by a deep routed animalistic sexual drive. The night attacks can sometimes be confused with this type of attack but they are pretty unique on there own accord and need no invitation but they can be beaten also. The term ghost fractures under the microscope into many different areas, but each can be fixed, its knowing who to turn to and Dustin Pari and I are releasing a new book out in the Fall of 2011 'So My Home Is Haunted....Now What?' It looks at the different types of haunting around the world and who would be called to fix it. We have seen a lot of research teams out there that of course maybe able to document the case but that's as far as it goes. There is no solution, now there will be in 2011.
How important a role does your faith play in your investigation style?


Respect and understanding the possible type of entity you are dealing with plays a huge role. Of course even though on some occasions the entity may have a negative side to it, its ability to manipulate its signature and disguise itself as something else has to be acknowledged before you deal with it. It really is a magical world full of mystery. For a long time I thought it has gone, but really in the great EMF scale we only see a hairs breath of the scale that surrounds us on a daily basis. A scale which can stretch 93 million miles. So all we see, really is nothing. There is so much more out there that we could not even imagine and only now are we starting to see into the cracks of the veil that is making us re-evaluate our understanding of this phenomenon.  Thinking outside the box is a necessity and understanding the nature of the spirit it key to this so to try and capture any evidence outside of the norm. 

What experience set you on the course of paranormal investigation?


Growing up in a haunted house I saw my first full bodied apparition on Christmas eve. 

Growing up in Ireland, how did that effect your beliefs in the paranormal?


Island life isolates people more so from the normal landmass and I can see this effect on other cultures and acceptance of the paranormal. Though in Ireland it was seen as a taboo as such, especially in a land ruled by the hand of Rome. But that is changing very fast. In rural setting the nature spirits are still talked about and in some parts even acknowledged and for good reason.
Do you do anything before an investigation to prepare yourself?


I would advise people do this, however in my experience in order for me to get a true understanding of the paranormal I had to leave myself open and experience what others were. This allowed me to build an understanding of the phenomenon and of course come up with a solution. If I asked for protection then I was robbing myself from part of the phenomenon and therefore could not offer a good solution.

What, if anything scares you?


Manikins, spiders and heights. 

Would you encourage people to get into ghost hunting, or do you think its a "special calling"?


I do think its calling and many people will phase into it and then leave soon after. Teams appear and disappear all the time but I have been here for 19 years researching and many more to come. It truly is a calling.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Paranormal In The News - Paranormal group prays for Christ's support in investigations

Mansfield News Journal
MANSFIELD -- If Christian methods are not used to chase away demons, members of Shield Investigations believe the fix is only temporary.
Founder and investigator Mark Robey, 27, said the goal of the Mansfield-based paranormal group is to rid areas of demonic presence. But their methods may not be traditional.
"There are a lot of groups who don't mess with demonic things in the home because of the repercussions," Robey said. "We're all Christians and the Bible says we have authority over demons. We use our authority in Jesus' name."
Robey said there are different explanations as to why a home or area may become demonically possessed, including generational curses, misuse of a Ouija board and Satanic worship.
"The ghost side of it, that's still up in the air," he said. "There could have been a tragic death causing a spirit to stick around. Either way, we go in and try to figure out what's in the building. We want to know if what's in there is demonic or angelic."
The next step is a lot of communication with the home or building owner.
"We have constant phone calls with the client," Robey said. "We're counseling and ministering to them any way we can -- before, after and during the time we're there."
The rest is mostly dealt with through prayer and fasting.
Robey said the company's 12 investigators come from all over Ohio. He said they will travel just about anywhere and charge nothing for their services.
"There is no real qualifications to do what we do," he said. "It just takes anyone with an interest who is willing to learn. As long as they have integrity and they're a Christian, that's about all it takes. Demons will go after the weakest link, so a strong faith is so important."
"We feel like a lot of people are afraid to share what's going on in their homes," Robey said. "What we're doing is a ministry and we want people to know that we're here to help."
For details about the group, visit www.shieldinvestigations.com.


To visit Mansfield News Journal please click link above...

Paranormal In The News - Westall 1966: A suburban UFO mystery

Phantoms and Monsters

Herald Sun   Flying saucers, crop circles, missing film, disappearing files, denials, military cover-ups,threats and shadowy Men in Black.


It couldn't happen here?


Most people would say it couldn't happen anywhere!


But more than 100 witnesses to one of the world's biggest UFO mysteries are adamant that it did, in broad daylight in Clayton South on April 6, 1966.


And 44 years after the event, many are still fuming that the military they say were swarming around the scene for days have offically denied the incident and no record appears to exist.
To read more click the links above... 

The reality of Angels - a month of real life stories

We have been discussing angels now for weeks. And a few weeks ago, Bryony put out a post asking 'Has anyone had any encounters with Angels".

I have to fess up, I had stories but did not want to share them.

Too personal. Too intangible. Too controversial.

Because when I first discussed the incidents, it's all people wanted to talk about for months at Church. I was invited to share on it at other Churches. But to be honest, it became something I would rather not discuss. Because for a six month period in 1995, our whole family had encounters which started at a revival meeting in a Basketball Court at Penrith. The things I saw that day and the healings that occurred I have never witnessed since. And it started something that kept occurring in terms of encounters for many months.

It's still hard to talk about, because I felt it did not make people glorify God, but rather want to see angels. Also some people think you should be in a straightjacket in a padded cell. And I can understand that from skeptics.
At the time you have to pinch yourself and ask "Is this really happening"? But when your kids come in from the backyard with a story about a heavenly messenger, you have to start taking notice.

And then, after six months of intense activity, it stopped - nothing now for five years, which I am thankful for. Not because it wasn't amazing, but because it became too intense and I think God knew that.
It came at a time in my life where I had to make a decision about leaving a high paying job to go into ministry. If they had a mission, it was simply to reveal the activity that God calls them to in the lives of humans.
I saw them at work amongst us, and incredibly at play.

I saw them transform from wearing armour to robes in a millisecond.
I saw them standing in the midst of bushfires and dragging demons out of Churches.
I heard them speak and spoke back to them.

And let me make this clear, I may be involved in paranormal ministry but I'm not obsessed by it or writing stories for the sake of it. I'm far more interested in sport than being a paranormal researcher. I'll go to a footy game or play sport or spearfish or surf anyday rather than go on an investigation - ask the team how frustrating my priorities are for them :). That's why we have Bryony and Shannon on team to head up investigations, run webpages, do the research and do reports. They have some very unique giftings in those area's.
But ever since I was a kid, I have had supernatural experiences and now I feel I need to share the rest of them in this area to give God the glory He deserves on this subject matter.

So remember, if you invite me to a graveyard tour I'll get excited, but not quite as much as if we get great seats at State of Origin Rugby League or an ASP world surfing tour event.

But over the next month, I'm going to open my diary and report on these encounters as I recorded them at the time. It's tough for me to be that personal, but in my prayer time this morning, I feel it is now the time to share the stories.

God bless you - Pastor Baz.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Paranormal In The News - St Bart's is heaven for spectres and spirits

Rouse Hill Times 
HAZEL Magann has spent 35 years researching family history.
Discovering her husband’s heritage at St Bartholomew’s Church and Prospect Cemetery unravelled a world of ghosts.
The Lethbridge Park woman is now the go-to person for ghostly experiences. ``There have been a lot of sightings,’’ she said.
``There is a man who prefers the foyer of the church, he has attempted to communicate with a number of people.’’ John Ponds is one name that rolled off Mrs Magann’s lips as we chatted more about the towering character. ``Many children see him and always say he is a kind man, despite his size,’’ she said.  ``He contacted me and asked I reach one of his relatives. I contacted her and he had already spoken to her.’’
To read more click here
For info on the tour click here

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Our show on Live Paranormal -



We are privileged to have been asked to do a bi-weekly show on liveparanormal.com.  We're planning on doing a variety of topics from all things Aussie and Paranromal to Cryptozoology as well as interviewing other Australian paranormal teams.
This week we have CCAPSG member Shannon talking about being a Psychic and a Christian. Please join us!
To listen please sign up for an account on www.liveparanormal.com - You can find me on there under the user name CCAPSG_brypie.
See you there!

Paranormal In The News 24/06/10 - Horror on home turf

The age

Impish Aboriginal prank or beastly reality? Mel Campbell probes the enduring mystery of the bunyip.
THE mythological creatures that fill today's horror literature and movies hail from faraway lands. Zombie tales originated in the Caribbean, while European folk tales gave us vampires and werewolves. But a vastly more terrifying creature lurks much closer to home: one that has haunted the dreams of Australian children and the imaginations of adults: the bunyip.
Bunyips are not at all funny, although recent children's books, plays and TV have made them seem that way. Rather, the bunyip is a fascinating emblem of cross-cultural contact in colonial Australia: an indigenous bogeyman that came to terrify European settlers.
The bunyip is that breath of cold air on the back of your neck in a closed room. It's that person staring at you in a crowded party, whose face you can't place. It's an anxious mystery that makes us doubt ourselves . . . which is why Australians have tried to laugh it off.
To read more click here

Monday, June 21, 2010

Paranormal in the news 22/06/2010 - Ghost sets off alarm, caught on video


paranormal.about.com 
A surveillance camera may have captured the moving image of a ghost, seen in this video. The motion-sensing alarms were triggered at the Habitat for Humanity store in Franklin, North Carolina. The police responded but could find nothing amiss. When store employees checked the surveillance video footage, however, a mysterious figure can be seen moving across the warehouse.
To read more click here
To see the video click here 

Paranormal In The News - 22/06/10 - Mystery of the pregnant pope

Not really paranormal but a strange story none the less:

dailymail For centuries, the Roman Catholic Church has tried to bury her story. But of all the legends suppressed by the Vatican over the years, this is one that refuses to go away. Now, a new film has brought to life the story of the only female pope - and it is being shown this week in cinemas cheek by jowl with the Vatican. And there are plans to bring it to Britain.
For a Church that still treats women as second-class citizens, it is a source of considerable embarrassment and will once again raise the question of whether Pope Joan, as she is called in medieval chronicles, really did exist.
The Vatican claims that she was a mythical figure used by early Protestants to discredit and embarrass Rome.

But the film - which stars John Goodman from Roseanne, David Wenham, last seen with Nicole Kidman in Australia, West End regular Iain Glen and, in the title role, German actress Johanna Wokalek - is billed as 'a true story'.
And it is a pretty extraordinary story: a woman of devout faith disguises herself as a man to become a priest and is then elected pope.
Only when she gives birth in the street while in a procession in full papal regalia is her true identity revealed - after which, inevitably, she meets a grisly end. What is more, the legend has it that she was English.

Read more here

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Paranormal In The News 21/6/10 - On The Hunt For The Big Cat That Refuses To Die


Exotic feline or enduring phantom? Something big, something strange has been stalking the Blue Mountains for decades and it's back in the spotlight, Eamonn Duff reports.

PAUL CAUCHI and his girlfriend Naomi were in a celebratory mood.
The couple had just signed the paperwork for their new home near Mudgee but that's not why they will remember May 28, 2010.
''We were driving through Yarrawonga and Naomi saw it first,'' explained Mr Cauchi.
'''Look,' she said, 'Can you see that? … It's … it's a panther!'
''And the moment I saw it, I swore out loud in disbelief - because that's exactly what it was.''
The couple had ''a perfect seven- or eight-second view'' of the creature standing in front of them, outside a goat farm.
''I'd heard the stories but never believed a word of it,'' said Mr Cauchi. ''I've seen how big feral bush cats grow, but this was no feral cat. There is no mistaking, this was a panther. Now I'm thinking, how has this remained in doubt for so long?''
To read more click here

Paranormal In The News 21/06/10 - Phantom or Phenomenon

smh BLUE MOUNTAINS residents have long been accused of seeing things but they can draw some comfort in knowing they are not alone.
A search online reveals ''alien big cats'', as they are known in cryptozoology circles, have been reported running wild everywhere from Britain to Denmark, Finland to Luxembourg and Hawaii to New Zealand.
Photographs of phantom felines are usually grainy and scientists largely scoff, citing the lack of furry evidence and the improbability of there being enough large cats for them to keep breeding.
Pumas have been spotted roaming the Grampians in Victoria for years.
American servicemen are blamed for releasing cougars into the bush after bringing them to Australia as mascots during World War II.
A Deakin University study found that a big-cat population in the area was ''beyond reasonable doubt'' but sceptics maintain they are just feral moggies turned monstrous. In New Zealand, panther sightings have been on the increase since the late 1990s around Canterbury, near Ashburton, and in the nearby foothills of the Southern Alps.
To read more click here

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Real Life Story: Mysterious helper - angel or human?

Last week I discussed a story that shared with me by a Muslim friend, about phantom defenders of a Southern Lebanese village. Then we grabbed some information off Wikipedia in relation to the famous "Angels of Mons" event in WW1 which was basically outed as a hoax but has captivated the millions of people who have read the story over the years.
This week, the story  - as per usual -  came unexpectedly and whilst not looking for one.
I was sitting on the stage at Church when one of our senior Pastors came and sat next to me. I was sharing with him some of the stories I had discussed with 'M' my Muslim friend. I said to Leon "In Islam, you are not allowed to turn your back on a poor person or ignore their need, because in the Shiite tradition it could be the Messiah in disguise and you will be judged for it - I never knew that".  (I had read the story of the 'sheep and the goats from Matthew to him to show that Jesus said a similar thing about meeting peoples needs).
"You never know when you are entertaining angels" Leon replied.
"Yep...that's what is says (referring to the bible)" I replied, allowing my attention to drift to the the stage set up, as I was playing bass in the band in around five minutes.
"Well let me tell you a story that one of my best friends experienced" Leon brought me back into the zone.
"(Name witheld) who is a very strong man of faith and his family were on a 4WD holiday around Australia. They knew they would hit the Northern Territory (famed location from 'Crocodile Dundee') at the beginning of the wet season (a time of torrential rain and flooding) but he was a pretty good driver. They had this huge caravan on the back, mate you should have seen it, it was awesome and they had been planning the trip for years".
"They got to a river crossing where the road was underwater for about 30 metres and they were travelling in a convoy a number of friends without caravans had already driven through. They realised it was pretty deep, but they had to go across to join the others. With their friends looking on they attempted to cross the river. They got stuck, the car got stopped and the water pressure on the caravan threatened to sweep them downstream. The water was up to their bonnet and it didnt look good".
"Suddenly a man with no shirt on, in shorts tapped on the window and said 'Let me give you a hand'. They accelerated, spun wildly and then the man single handedly pushed them along and up out of the water - a task impossible for any human. They zoomed up to the flat area above the river and jumped out to thank their new friend".
"But he was no-where to be seen".
"They ran over to where their friends were parked and said 'who was that man that helped us'"?
"Which man"? was the unanimous answer "You guys were stuck and then you just started moving, there was no-one helping you".
______________________________________________________________________
Bryony has put together some great information in our archive from the Bible on Angels, which will help you understand how God uses angels to interact with humans. If you missed it, go back a couple of weeks and have a look. It will give you a healthy understanding of what the roles of angels are and is a good antidote to a lot of the fluffy new age shop style misinformation on what angels are.
God bless you, have a great week - Pastor Baz.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Cleveland County man reports encounter with bigfoot

Charlotte Observer
He was 10 feet tall, with a long beard and yellowish-blond hair, Tim Peeler says.

And in the early-morning hours of June 5, Peeler told authorities, the creature – a Cleveland County version of Bigfoot – wandered onto Peeler’s property in the rural northwest part of the county.

The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office has filed the case as a “suspicious person report” but says it is keeping an open mind.

Peeler lives on Vanada Drive, northwest of the town of Casar. There is little or no civilization between his property and South Mountain State Park, one of North Carolina’s least-developed recreational sites. He told deputies he heard screeching and grunting sounds, came outside his cabin, and saw the creature near his mountain home. Peeler told authorities he thought the creature might be menacing his dogs.

“I rough-talked him and said, ‘You get away from here,’ ” he told NewsChannel 36, the Observer’s news partner.

Peeler, who said the creature had six fingers on each hand, told WCNC the Bigfoot left his property but came back a short time later.

“And I said, ‘Get! Get!’ And he went back down the path again,” Peeler told the TV station.
Read more: here

Monday, June 14, 2010

Paranormal In The News: The Paranormal Pastor: The Seers

The Paranormal Pastor


This past spring I lectured at a paranormal conference and met a few friends. During a break between speakers we wandered to various tables to meet, greet and buy. After having a book autographed by Stan Gordon, I turned to find my friend Cindy Willoughby the case manager for The Greater Pittsburgh Paranormal Society.

As I scanned the crown, I noticed a family wandering through the chairs in my direction. I felt something was wrong, something out of place as they wandered my way. You could say my spiritual spidey-senses were tingling as the mother, father and young daughter approached. This was not the first time such a feeling came over me, although rare I have experienced this heightened spiritual sense many times. My attention focused on the young girl, it seemed she was enveloped by something. It was if behind the middle aged mother and father there was a large hulkish creature of darkness that was walking in sync with the disheveled homely teen girl. 

And then the sense was gone. And I was a bit unnerved.

I then saw Cindy at the other end of the hall and went over to her. I pointed out the family to her and asked her if she felt anything unusual about them. Cindy is a sensitive. She has the gift of second sight, as some would say. She can perceive the unseen and understand the heart of a person without them saying a word. Some call her clairvoyant because she can seemingly read people’s minds. Others call her a medium because she can see spirits. Cindy believes she has been gifted by God to help others. When she looked at the family she told me she she felt an oppressive spirit over the girl. She then turned to me and said, “She’s being abused.” That was the exact feeling I had as I saw the hulking specter attached to her. A confirmation, but sadly in a situation like this the only thing you can do to help is pray. They are after all anonymous strangers who you pass by the way, and even though you can spiritually discern a problem or issue-most of the time the only practical option you can have is prayer.

To read more please click here

Paranormal In The News 15/6/10 - Calif. officials tackle firehouse 'ghost' problem

Firerescue1
BANGOR, Calif. — Firefighters are a pragmatic group who learn to assess a situation objectively and make reasoned decisions based on training and judgment.
So discussions of the supernatural aren't usually part of their working world, except at Butte County Fire Station 55 in Bangor.
Sitting on the northern edge of what was a Gold Rush boomtown, the Bangor Fire Station is an aged, decrepit combination of structures that over the years have been remodeled into a single facility.
In the past, the county had to dispatch exterminators to the station to attack a rat population, but it wasn't rats that became a brief topic of conversation at a recent Butte County Board of Supervisors meeting.
The Bangor station is No. 1 on the county's priority list for capital improvements. At the meeting, the supervisors were asked to approve $1.6 million to tear down and replace the station.
That's when Chico Supervisor Jane Dolan commented that the old station has floors that sag and other structural problems. She said the condition of the building and the passing wind were behind the tales of the ghost of Station 55.
Chico Supervisor Maureen Kirk laughingly asked Rich Hall, county director of general services, if he could arrange an "exorcism" at the station.
"That is not included in the proposal," responded Hall with a smile.
In a later telephone interview, Hall explained, "It seems that the firemen up at the Bangor station have the idea that the residence that they are in now is occupied by the ghost.
"It was mentioned to me in a rather jovial way after some of the people came back from a meeting with the fire department about what we were going to do up there."


To read more of the story click here 

Paranormal In The News 15/06/10 -Australian 'angel' saves lives at suicide spot

Not really paranormal but a nice story anyway...

nzherald and phantoms and monsters

"SYDNEY - In those bleak moments when the lost souls stood atop the cliff, wondering whether to jump, the sound of the wind and the waves was broken by a soft voice. "Why don't you come and have a cup of tea?" the stranger would ask. And when they turned to him, his smile was often their salvation.
For almost 50 years, Don Ritchie has lived across the street from Australia's most notorious suicide spot, a rocky cliff at the entrance to Sydney Harbour called The Gap. And in that time, the man widely regarded as a guardian angel has shepherded countless people away from the edge.
What some consider grim, Ritchie considers a gift. How wonderful, the former life insurance salesman says, to save so many. How wonderful to sell them life.
"You can't just sit there and watch them," says Ritchie, now 84, perched on his beloved green leather chair, from which he keeps a watchful eye on the cliff outside. "You gotta try and save them. It's pretty simple."
Since the 1800s, Australians have flocked to The Gap to end their lives, with little more than a 3-foot (1 metre) fence separating them from the edge."


To read more click here

Real Life Story: Muslim's dream of Jesus and the Phantom Prophet Soldiers of the Second Intifada

I love meeting people from different cultures and religious backgrounds.
It's great to actually sit and listen to people's stories without trying to override them with your own opinions or beliefs.
But at times we hear stories that may not correlate with our own religious dogma, or perhaps the propaganda of our own faith system. These stories force us to realise that God meets people where they are at.
Take my new friend who we will call M.
M is a Lebanese Muslim. His life has not been easy and his body bears the scars of bullet holes and knife wounds. He has grown up with violence that most of us will never experience. But M has a heart of gold and loves all people regardless of race or religion. He is not a deeply religious man, but we have coffee every week and the subject of religion comes up often - as do real life supernatural events.
It was over our last couple of meetings that he told me many Muslims, including himself, have dreams about Jesus Christ. When we think of Islam, we often think of their Prophet Mohammed, but do not realise that Jesus is considered to them a great prophet and the end of times judge of all people..


I was startled that M had dreams that Jesus walked across water to him, and thanked him for helping people in the community. The same week I heard that story, my friend Mark who was in the article I wrote on premonitions (See story on Do premonitions save lives: Spearfishing champion and Great White Shark in our blog) gave me a dvd which is full of testimonies of Muslims who are having similar dreams of Jesus revealing himself to them in many ways, including announcing to them that He is the son of God and saviour. These two events lined up in a way that more than coincidental as only a week earlier, a Maronite Lebanese Christian told me about the same dvd Mark gave me, explaining he would love to give me a copy but there were none available and it could not be purchased online. Mark was unaware of that conversation when he delivered me that exact DVD hours after I had spoken to M.
And this next part of the story is where you have to start to shift your paradigms, especially if you are one of many Christians who believe that God cares more about Christians and Jews than other people, a thinking that is dangerously prevalent today. M began to share with me something very unexpected.
'In the second Intifada in 2005, many people do not know that covert Israeli forces moved into parts of lower Lebanon, and there was terror among many townships. Much of this never makes it into world news. But they were driven out of one town by men on horseback with swords and did not return'.
I was listening but did not pick up the context. 'Did the men of that town have no access to weapons like rifles'?
"No" M said, 'the Israeli bullets went through the men on horseback. They were Prophets from the past, who were assigned by God to protect the people. The bullets passed through them. They were seen by whole villages and the Israeli army could not defeat them and when they realised they were not fighting flesh and blood they retreated in terror'.
So I researched the story to see if it was an urban myth, and also did a comparison to the WW1 story "The Angels of Mons' in which it was reported an angelic army drove the German army away. The story of the Angels of Mons is reputed to be a hoax (see the excerpt from Wikipedia below).
Here's what I found re the Lebanon story. 
Zip. Nothing to affirm or deny it. Perhaps it is because the stories are in blogs in Arabic using religious or cultural terminology that I am unaware of. Perhaps because it is a small group of people who are aware of the tale. Perhaps because it is a legend, a type of mythology to bolster hopes that God cares enough about the Lebanese people that He would provide supernatural protection for them, as He did for the forefathers of the Israeli's when they were known simply as the Hebrew descendants of the twelve tribes of Jacob, who had just escaped from Pharoahs Egyptian empire. Perhaps, because God cares about the poor, the refugree's, the powerless, the orphan, the widow, the oppressed regardless of what their religious bent is.
So if you are a better investigator than me and you probably are, see what you can find on this subject and let us know the result.
In the meantime, in a little village in the Southern Lebanon, they are sharing stories about dreams of Jesus and the sword wielding prophets who saved them from further bloodshed in the ongoing battle between Israel and it's neighbours.
I'll leave you on this note - God cares about the little guy, regardless of race, colour or religion -  have a look at how many times justice is mentioned in the Bible - Pastor Baz.




Re: The Angels of Mons. (Taken directly from wikipedia)
The Angels of Mons is a popular legend about a group of angels who supposedly protected members of the British army in the Battle of Mons at the outset ofWorld War I. The story is fictitious, developed through a combination of a patriotic short story by Arthur Machenrumoursmass hysteria and urban legend, claimed visions [citation needed] after the battle and also possibly deliberately seeded propaganda.

 History

On 22-23 August 1914, the first major engagement of the British Expeditionary Force in the First World War occurred at the Battle of Mons. Advancing Germanforces were thrown back by heavily outnumbered British troops, who also suffering casualties and being outflanked were forced into rapid retreat the next day. The retreat and the battle were rapidly perceived by the British public as being a key moment in the war. Despite the censorship going on in Britain at the time, this battle was the first indication the British public had that defeating Germany would not be as easy as some had thought. Considering the numbers of German forces that were involved in the battle, the British ability to hold them off for as long as they did seemed remarkable and recruitment to the army shot up in the weeks that followed.

 Arthur Machen and "The Bowmen"

On 29 September 1914, Welsh author Arthur Machen published a short story entitled “The Bowmen” in the London newspaper The Evening News, inspired by accounts that he had read of the fighting at Mons and an idea he had had soon after the battle.
Machen, who had already written a number of factual articles on the conflict for the paper, set his story at the time of the retreat from the Battle of Mons in August 1914. The story described phantom bowmen from the Battle of Agincourt summoned by a soldier calling on Saint George, destroying a German host.[1]Machen's story was not however labelled as fiction and the same edition of the Evening News ran a story by a different author under the heading "Our Short Story." Additionally, Machen's story was written from a first hand perspective and was a kind of false document, a technique Machen knew well. The unintended result was that Machen had a number of requests to provide evidence for his sources for the story soon after its publication, from readers who thought it was true, to which he responded that it was completely imaginary, as he had no desire to create a hoax.
A month or two afterwards, Machen received requests from the editors of parish magazines to reprint the story, which were granted. A priest, the editor of one of these magazines, subsequently wrote to Machen asking if he would allow the story to be reprinted in pamphlet form, and would he write a short preface giving authorities for the story. Machen replied that they were welcome to reprint but he could not give any authorities for the story since he had none. The priest replied that Machen must be mistaken, that the "facts" of the story must be true, and that Machen had just elaborated on a true account. As Machen later said:
It seemed that my light fiction had been accepted by the congregation of this particular church as the solidest of facts; and it was then that it began to dawn on me that if I had failed in the art of letters, I had succeeded, unwittingly, in the art of deceit. This happened, I should think, some time in April, and the snowball of rumour that was then set rolling has been rolling ever since, growing bigger and bigger, till it is now swollen to a monstrous size.
—Arthur Machen, Preface to The Bowmen[1]
Around that time variants of the story began to appear, told as authentic histories, including a variant which told how dead German soldiers had been found on the battlefield with arrow wounds.
In "The Bowmen" Machen's soldier saw "a long line of shapes, with a shining about them." A Mr. A.P. Sinnett, writing in the Occult Review stated that "those who could see said they saw 'a row of shining beings' between the two armies." This led Machen to suggest that the bowmen of his story had become the Angels of Mons.[1]

The Angels

On 24 April 1915, an account was published in the British Spiritualist magazine telling of visions of a supernatural force that miraculously intervened to help the British at the decisive moment of the battle.[2] This rapidly resulted in a flurry of similar accounts and the spread of wild rumours. Descriptions of this force varied from it being medieval longbow men alongside Saint George, to a strange luminous cloud, though eventually the most popular version came to beangelic warriors. Similar tales of such battlefield visions occurred in medieval and ancient warfare. Atrocity reports like the Rape of Belgium and that of the Crucified Soldier paved the way for a belief that God would intervene directly against such an evil enemy. However there are strong similarities between many of these accounts of visions and Machen's story published six months earlier.
In May 1915, a full blown controversy was erupting, with the angels being used of proof of the action of divine providence on the side of the Allies in sermonsacross Britain, and then spreading into newspaper reports published widely across the world. Machen, bemused by all this, attempted to end the rumours by republishing the story in August in book form, with a long preface stating the rumours were false and originated in his story. It became a bestseller, and resulted in a vast series of other publications claiming to provide evidence of the Angels' existence.[1] Machen tried to set the record straight, but any attempt to lessen the impact of such an inspiring story was seen as bordering on treason by some. These new publications included popular songs and artists' renderings of the angels. There were more reports of angels and apparitions from the front including Joan of Arc.
Kevin McClure's study describes two types of stories circulating, some more clearly based on Machen, others with different details.[3] In a time of intense media interest all these reports allegedly confirming sightings of supernatural activity were second-hand and some of them were hoaxes created by soldiers who were not even at Mons. A careful investigation by the Society for Psychical Research in 1915 said of the firsthand testimony, “we have received none at all, and of testimony at second-hand we have none that would justify us in assuming the occurrence of any supernormal phenomenon.” The SPR went on to say the stories relating to battlefield “visions” which circulated during the spring and summer of 1915, “prove on investigation to be founded on mere rumour, and cannot be traced to any authoritative source.”[2] Given that the Society for Psychical Research believed in the existence of supernatural forces, the conclusions of this report are highly significant.
The sudden spread of the rumours in the spring of 1915 six months after the events and Machen's story was published is also puzzling. The stories published then often attribute their sources to anonymous British officers. The latest and most detailed examination of the Mons story by David Clarke suggests these men may have been part of a covert attempt by military intelligence to spread morale-boosting propaganda and disinformation. As it was a time of allied problems with the Lusitania sinking, Zeppelin attacks and failure to achieve a breakthrough on the Western Front the timing would make military sense. Some of the stories conveniently claimed that sources could not be revealed for security reasons.[4]
The only real evidence of visions from actual named serving soldiers provided during the debate stated that they saw visions of phantom cavalrymen, not angels or bowmen, and this occurred during the retreat rather than at the Battle itself. Furthermore these visions did not intervene to attack or deter German forces, a crucial element in Machen's story and in the later tales of Angels. Since during the retreat many troops were exhausted and had not slept properly for days such visions may have been hallucinations.[2]
According to the conclusion of the most detailed study of the event it seems then that Machen's story provided the genesis for the vast majority of tales of Angels at the time. The stories of angels themselves certainly boosted morale on the home front as popular enthusiasm was dying down in 1915 and demonstrate the importance of religion in wartime.[4] They also serve as testimony to the rapid spread of rumour and myth during wartime via the media and bear comparison to the modern craze for UFO sightings. Machen's role, though not deliberate, can be compared to Orson Welles' part in the The War of the Worlds radio hoax.

Post War developments

After the war the story continued to be frequently repeated but no evidence to support the claim that the Angels existed was ever given by those who were there. The best evidence provided was in Brigadier-General John Charteris' memoirs At G.H.Q., published in 1931, which said the story of the Angels of Mons was a popular rumour amongst the troops in September 1914, this was the earliest any account said the rumour was in circulation. However it appears from examination of his original letters he wrote those entries after the war and falsified the dates.[5] Given his association with pieces of allied propaganda like the story of the “German Corpse-Rendering Works” (Kadaververwertungsanstalt) this might indicate Charteris had been behind an attempt to use the Angels for propaganda purposes.
Machen was associated with the story for the rest of his life and grew sick of the connection, as he regarded “The Bowmen” as a poor piece of work. He made little money from the story then or later.[citation needed]
The sudden revival of interest in appearances of angels from the 1980s onwards, especially in the United States, not only amongst Christians, but those interested in the New Age, has caused uncritical accounts of the story of the angels who saved the British army to be regularly published in books and magazines. Similarly, the story is also often used by sceptics as a good example of how believers in the supernatural can become convinced of fantastic things by slender evidence.[6] References to the story can be found in World War One set novels and films like FairyTale: A True StoryThe Friends of Arthur Machenfrequently publish articles on developments in the case.

The William Doidge Hoax

In 2001, an article in The Sunday Times claimed that a diary, film and photographic evidence proving the existence of the Angels of Mons from a WWI soldier named William Doidge had been found. The article discussed a long involved story in which Doidge was involved with an American GI and an angel seen years later in Woodchester Mansion. It was claimed Marlon Brando and Tony Kaye were going to spend £350,000 to buy the evidence to make a film. Other papers like Variety and the Los Angeles Times and television programmes soon followed up the story and a website connected to the mystery became very popular. The footage was supposedly found in a trunk in an antique shop by Danny Sullivan in Monmouth, close to Machen's birthplace of Caerleon. In 2002 in a BBC Radio documentary The Making of an Urban Myth Sullivan admitted the story was a complete hoax to drum up interest in Woodchester Mansion; the footage and soldier never existed.[7]