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Friday, July 30, 2010

Tarantulas on the lose in the United Kingdom


Tarantulas, like this one, may be on the lose by the
thousands in the UK.

There's concern in the United Kingdom that a large group of tarantulas may be on the lose in England after two Chilean Rose tarantulas were found in the Greater Manchester area.

The rare tarantulas are a popular breed among collecters and some fear that more may be out there. The first one was found by a woman in her garden and then almost a month later the second one was found when it was trapped underneath a plant pot.

The arachnids are said to be aggressive and are capable of blinding people by spitting hairs into their eyes. It's not likely that they will survive into the winter, given that the spiders come from a different climate, but authorities have issued an alert for people to be on the look out just in case.

As for me, I'm not afraid of spiders, but I blame the movie Arachniphobia for putting a bit of fear of them into me. And not that I was planning on going to the UK any time soon, but the idea of spiders running rampant throughout the countryside that can blind you by spitting hairs into your eyes makes me want to stay in good ol Fresno.

Full source:
Telegraph
By Andrew Hough

Thursday, July 29, 2010

UFO reported near Lemoore Naval Air Station

On August 8, 2009 a witness reported seeing several strange lights in the sky near Lemoore NAS as they were driving north towards Fresno County. They saw the lights from a distance and described them as if they were dancing or moving in a circular motion. It appeared as if there were two lights per craft, though the witness states that they were unable to make out the craft itself.

The witness continued to watch the craft perform it's strange manuevers. Now here's where it gets interesting (because seeing strange lights dancing in the sky isn't weird enough) and I'm not adding anything that wasn't already stated in the MUFON report. The witness stated that they felt the UFO's were extraterresterial in orgin and they were waiting for them and wanted to put on a show. The witness opened their passenger side window and waved at the craft. They then stated the lead craft then turned on another light and trained it directly on them. After doing that the two craft appeared to join together and left the area.

What the report does not say, and I'm curious about, is if there was any missing time. Basically missing time is what happens when sometimes a UFO interacts with the witness and even though it feels like a minute has passed by, they look at a clock and it's an hour or more. What makes me question if this happened or not is the incident with the light. There have been numereous UFO reports of someone seeing a UFO and a bright light shines down on them. The witness then loses conscienceness and then awakes perceiving only a few minutes have passed when in fact an hour or more has. This is the typical abduction scenario right here.

This is all speculation on my part really. As for the lights the witness saw, who can say really. Given the fact that it was near Lemoore NAS one has to question if it was some sort of military exercise and nothing out of the ordinary? Perhaps the lights were nothing more than helicopters. This could possibly explain the somewhat erratic pattern that the lights were moving in. And the light shining down on the witness's car could have been nothing more than a searchlight from the helicopter (though why a helicopter would shine it's light onto someone is another question). Whatever the case may be, the witness believes they saw something weird that night.


MUFON report: two craft...with lights on each end....i did not see any craft only lights..


while driving north on hwy 41 in Kings county north, close to Fresno county line and about 10 miles south of Lemore NAS... I saw light as i was driving north in my car and those lights looked from a distance to be dancing and moving in a circular fashion... flying vertically and 'dancing' with each other in a circular fashion...lights i saw were two of them on each ufo and the color was there...one on each side for each ufo.... they would dance around in vertical fashion and move herky jerky in a circular flight path....
not a smooth flight path but quick movements and vertical to horizontal etc and back and forth...etc. awesome....
In conclusion, i feel that the ET ufo were waiting for me and put on a show for me at the time..I opened the window on the passenger side and waved to the lead craft. As soon as i waved to the lead craft the lead craft turned on another lite in the center of the craft and it was a large circular white light, pointed directly at me. I smiled and greeted the craft with my meditation. The two craft then left the area. They seemed to join together and flew off north or up toward the NAS. They became one light and flew away.
the whole experience lasted about two minutes...


Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Is the Hanford Civic Auditorium haunted?


The Hanford Civic Auditorium at night.


If you happen to visit the small town of Hanford, located in Kings County, is located in Courthouse Square near the Bastille. And like the Bastille, there are stories that the auditorium is haunted.

In 1924 the city of Hanford built the auditorium for cultural and political uses as well as hosting community activites. It seems that over the years several of it's visitors have decided to stay for one reason or another. When you first enter the Civic Auditorium it is said that you can sometimes feel a very cold breeze passing by, even though the windows are closed. Also in the mens restroom, there has been reports of hearing men discussing legal topics even though there is no one else in the area. Occasionally a man dressed in an old style suit from the 1940's can be seen in the area, but always disappears without a trace.

The auditorium itself has several ghosts. Several spirits have been seen on the upper balcony appearing to be watching an invisible show. Also a man with dark brown hair and eyes and wearing a black suit with a white shirt has been seen applauding. As soon as he is done he instantly vanishes.

There is no reason given to why these ghosts haunt the auditorium, but one can speculate they are what's called a residual haunting. What a residual haunting is that someone or something makes such an impression on a certail location that it is theorized that they leave an imprint. The event replays itself over and over again like a movie and any spirit that is seen is oblivious to the living. The ghosts in the auditorium applauding even there isn't a performance going on seem to fit this criteria. As do the voices in the mens restroom. Both are instances of something repeating itself.

Though it is entirely possible that these are actual ghosts haunting the Civic Auditorium. Perhaps the spirits seen in the auditorium enjoyed it so much in life that they have returned there in death. Though without a proper investigation it's hard to theorize what is actually going on. But one thing is for certain, the Hanford Civic Auditorium is definitely haunted by something.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Chupacabra seen in Oklahoma?


A group of teenagers in Tecumseh, OK say they spotted the mythical Chupacbra behind the local high school. They described it as having long back legs and it's front legs were smaller and looked similar to a kangaroo's. The creature was also hairless and had a long tail. The group was able to snap a photo of the creature with a cellphone camera. Unfortunately the picture was a bit blurry and it's hard to make out any details.

The news story goes on to mention some of the other recent sightings and how that the likely explantion for those was some sort of animal with mange and that is this the case here. Still, this is the first sighting that I have heard of in Oklahoma.

The teens stated they have seen the creature several more times and their goal is to now capture it.

Friday, July 23, 2010

SyFy channel show airs strange video shot in Fresno

A few months ago I was contacted by a production company working on a new show for the SyFy Network. They were working on a show that investigated strange videos and they had come across the post I had done about the strange creatures that someone in Fresno had captured on CCTV. They had wanted my opinion on the video and talked for a good twenty minutes to the producer of the show.

Fast forward to last night and the episode aired. The show is called "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files" and is the second episode of the show and is entitled 'Unwanted Vistors/ Strange Sightings. Now I won't go into much detail as to what they showed, but some of it was interesting. Especially the part in the woods. I have no idea where they filmed this part at or what it has to do with the original video that was shown though I imagine it was added in there for dramatic purposes. Still I've sent an e-mail to the producers and hopefully they will tell me as I'd like to investigate for myself.

For those who missed the episode last night, they have the it up on their website. Unfortunately there isn't a way to embed the video, but if you click here you can go to their site and watch the episode in full.

Personally I'm happy with the show. It's nice to see Fresno mentioned in a context that doesn't have us (mis)labeled as the drunkest city or something else of that nature. Thanks to the Beehive for pointing this out yesterday that the show was going to air.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Bigfoot reported seen in eastern Tulare County


A view of Kings Canyon National Park, near where the creatures
were reportedly seen.


In the summer of 2007, a lone hicker was backpacking up the Pacific Crest Trail which lies about 70 miles east of Visalia in Tulare County in the Kings Canyon National Park. At around 2:00 pm that day the witness describes seeing two large upright figures in the distance covered with dark fur. At a distance of about 200 yards he observed the creatures at the edge of a deep canyon for around 10 minutes. The hiker then decided to make a coyote call to see what the creatures reactions would be. Needless to say it spooked the creatures and they left the area in a few seconds.

The witness further stated that he did have a camera on him, but he was so caught up in the moment that he forgot he had one on him. But given the distance he was from the creatures, the pictures would have not had that much detail to them. The witness decided to go back to the same location the following year (2008) to see if he could see the creatures again and this time photograph them. Unfortunately he didn't see anything, but did find some month old scat that he assumed was from a Bigfoot (why he thinks this is never stated in the report) and he claimed it contained hair from small mammals and some finely chewed vegetation, including some type of red berries.


As I had posted many months ago, this is another sighting seen in the area during the summer. A colleguae of mine theorizes that the Bigfoot are migrating through the area during the summer months and that's why most of the sightings occur then. One day we plan on making a trip up to where the sightings have occured, but with money being as tight as it is right now that may be a while. Hopefully an organization like the Bigfoot Researchers Originization can take a look into this and discover what's going on.

The link to the original report can be found here.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Ghost of little boy haunts Sanger residence


Is one of these houses on Acacia Drive in Sanger haunted by the
ghost of a little boy killed years ago?


In the small town of Sanger, located in Fresno County, there is a legend of a small boy's ghost that has been around for several decades. The stories goes that sometime in the mid 1900's, a young orphan boy was caught trying to steal a freshly baked pie that was cooling on a window sill of a local farmer's house. When the boy ran off with the pie, the farmer chased after him. The boy was finally caught on what is now Acacia Drive and was shot and killed while begging for his life.

Over the years people have reported seeing a young boy in one of the residences on Acacia Drive (for privacy I'm not going to reveal the address) begging for his life. Food missing from the refrigator have also been reported. Apparently this story is rather common in Sanger. A very good friend of mine used to work for the Sanger police department and was telling me a few of the local ghost stories (one he told me scared the hell out of me, but I'll save that for another day). He starts to tell me about the ghost of a little boy who keeps stealing food from these people's refrigator of someone that he knows. I ask him if the house is on Acacia Drive and he looks at me suprised and says yes. I told him about the story that's been around for years and was suprised that there may be a kernel of truth to it.

I asked my friend if it would be possible to meet with the people who live at the house to see what is going on. Unfortunately I never did get the chance to go there as he switched jobs soon after. But I still think about the ghost of that poor little boy still stealing food all these years later, and apparently he has never learned his lesson.








Monday, July 19, 2010

Madera man sees cigar shaped UFO on Fourth of July weekend

A Madera County man witnessed two strange craft flying over the Sierra Nevadas over the Fourth of July weekend. While laying in the back of his truck with his young son, they saw two bright silver cigar shaped craft with what appeared to be an orange or brown colored band around the middle. He estimates them to be about a quarter of a mile away and were only visible for a minute or so before leaving rather quickly, headed in a southern direction.

I wonder if this has to do anything with the other UFO sightings that happened over that same weekend? It's hard to tell if this was a daylight sighting or not, but given the fact that the witness describes it as silver in color and no mention of any lights leads me to believe it was a daylight sighting which in turn means that this was no errant firework shot into the sky as some others might be.

It has me wondering what the hell exactly went on that weekend and why such a rash of sightings? The Central Valley normally isn't a hot spot for UFO activity, but that weekend people saw some strange things in the skies.


MUFON report: Shimmering silver cigar shape with orange/brown band in the middle.

While lying in a pickup bed with my two year old son we both witnessed two u.f.o.s. They were above the mountain in front of my house about 1/4 mile away. The two objects hovered for at least a minute next to each other then they flew off to the right/south extremely fast leaving the skyline in a second or less.

My two year old son and I both witnessed the objects are were both very excited to have seen them. We have only told my parents who were also present but were inside the pickup truck and did not see the objects.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI to set up exorcism squads



According to Father Gabriele Amorth, the chief exorcist for the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI wants to set up exorcism "squads" to deal with what he is calling the rampant growth of Satanism. The decision was made due to the rising concerns among Church officials over growing interest in Satanism and the occult.

According to Father Amorth each bishop will be provided with a group of priests who are experts in performing exorcisms and more will be trained as needed.

This has me wondering if a group will be sent to the Diocese of Fresno to assist Bishop Steinbock in any reported exorcists? Not that any information would be released to the public as this information is kept confidential. Given the fact that Fresno is considered the Bible Belt of California, I wonder if there will be a rash of reported possessions? You know us Catholics, we find anything bad to be evil and possessed.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

More Chupacabra sightings in Texas

It seems once again that Texas is the hot spot for supposed Chupacabra sightings.

An animal control office in Hood County, Texas shot and killed a creature that was hairless and didn't look like anything he had ever seen before. But that wasn't the only creature that was seen. Another creature with similiar characteristics was spotted and killed several miles away.

The animal control officer was quick not to say whether he killed the legendary goat sucker or not. The animal was sent away for DNA tests (most likely at tax payers expense) before he makes a decesion. He did say he knew whatever it was it wasn't normal. Another officer stated that it was nothing like she had ever seen before.



To me that the creature shown in the video is either a coyote or dog suffering from mange, which would explain the lack of hair. As for the emanicapted look, that can be explained by both the mange and the fact the creature was problably starving (which would explain why one was in the barn, most likely it was searching for food).

I found it a bit humorous that the reporter was looking for a "pack of Chupacabras" at the end of the video and the rancher said if he was a Chupacabra, that a certain clump of trees is where he would live. Part of me was hoping something would have jumped out when he investigated the clump of trees, but alas nothing happaned. Hopefully when the DNA tests comeback showing that this was nothing more than an animal with mange people will realize that these aren't Chupacabras. But that has happened before and nothing has changed. Meanwhile the real Chupacabra is in Puerto Rico laughing at all the imposters in Texas and the rest of the Southwest.

Thanks to Brodiemash over at the DumbDrum for sending me the video.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Drunk Australian bitten trying to riding crocodile

Crocodile Dundee this guy was not.

In Australia a drunken man broke into a zoo after being kicked out of a pub (how drunk do you have to be in Australia to get kicked out of a pub?), climbed into a crocodile enclosure and tried to ride a 16 foot long saltwater crodile named "Fatso". Surprisingly enough Fatso didn't take to kind to this latched onto the man's leg and tore out several chunks of flesh.

Saltwater crocodiles are known for not letting go once they bite, but authorites say due to the cooler weather Fatso was a bit slower (being a reptile and cold blooded) and let the man go. Somehow in his drunken and now injured stupor he was able to climb back over the fence and headed back to the pub. He was then taken the hospital where surgery was done to repair the wounds he recieved from Fatso.

One has to wonder how many cans of Foster the man had before he decided to ride Fatso.

Full source: BBC News


A drunk man who climbed into a crocodile enclosure in Australia and attempted to ride a 5m (16ft) long crocodile has survived his encounter.

The crocodile, called Fatso, bit the 36-year-old man's leg, tearing chunks of flesh from him as he straddled the reptile.

He received surgery to serious wounds to his leg and is recovering in hospital, police say.

He had been chucked out of a pub in the town of Broome for being too drunk.

The man, Michael Newman, climbed over a fence and tried to sit on the 800kg (1,800lb) saltwater crocodile.

"Fatso has taken offence to this and has spun around and bit this man on the right leg," Sgt Roger Haynes of Broome police told journalists.

"The crocodile has let him go and he's been able to scale the fence again and leave the wildlife park."


Malcolm Douglas, the park's owner, said that the crocodile was capable of crushing a man to death with a single bite.

"The man who climbed the fence was fortunate because Fatso was a bit more sluggish than normal, due to the cooler nights we have been experiencing in Broome," said Mr Douglas.

"If it had been warmer and Fatso was more alert, we would have been dealing with a fatality."

"No person in their right mind would try to sit on a 5m crocodile, Saltwater crocodiles, once they get hold of you, are not renowned for letting you go."

The man staggered back to the pub bleeding heavily.

Pub manager Mark Phillips said staff told him that the man reappeared at about 11pm with bits of bark hanging off him and flesh gouged out of his limbs.

"They said he had chunks out of his legs and things like that," Mr Phillips told The West Australian news website.

An average of two people are killed each year in Australia by aggressive saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to 7m (23 ft) long and weigh more than a tonne.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Architect sees ghost and is now a believer

I love stories like this. A professional who has no belief in the paranormal has an encounter with a ghost and suddenly his view on things change. Apparently the architect that is working on the remodel of a thetear in Bristol, England has seen the original manager, Sarah Macready, who had worked there over two hundrend years ago and has haunted the place ever since her death.

The encounter was during lunch and he saw a woman with black hair wearing a white dress as he climbed the back stairs. As soon as he said something she disappeared. The architect, Andrzej Blonski, had never believed in ghosts before this experience, but does now. He also believes that the she is pleased with the work since she smiled at him when he first saw her.

But this isn't the only occurnece that happened to Blonski. He's also caught a whiff of a woman's perfume that smelled like lavender. Others have smelt this and some of those who have seen Macready associate the scent with her.

Macready isn't the only spirit who haunts the theater. There is also the ghost of a boy who died in the paint shop in an accident in the 1950's and an 18th Century actress, Sarah Siddons, has also been seen in the theater.

Full source: BBC Bristol
By Robin Markwell

The ghost of Sarah Macready appeared to Andrzej Blonski as he climbed the back stairs at lunchtime.

He says she was wearing a long, white crinoline dress, had black hair and a pretty face. When he tried to speak to her she vanished.

Mr Blonski told the BBC that he has never believed in ghosts and - prior to their meeting - was not aware of her legacy at the Bristol Old Vic.
"The thing that really got me was that she smiled - she was a friend and then she vanished," he said.

"But then I was really very, very happy - at the moment I'm quite emotional about it because I think that if there is a ghost, it's someone who cares about this building."

The architect believes that her smile is a sign that she approves of the current redevelopment work taking place in the theatre.

Andrzej Blonski says he has sensed ghostly presences on the stairs before, and caught a whiff of lavender perfume.
This distinctive scent has also accompanied some of her previous appearances since her death.

A security guard in the 1980s smelled lavender in the air while on patrol along the passageways below the auditorium. The Alsatian dog by his side froze and started barking.

The guard also says he heard a woman's voice tell him to "get out" and he felt her breath on his face.

Andrew Stocker, who gives tours of the Bristol Old Vic, said Sarah Macready's hard work was part of the key to the theatre's early success.

"She was an actress originally - she had an affair with William Charles Macready. He married her and he basically gave her the keys to the theatre and she worked here for over 10 years.

"She was a lady that ran this building seven days a week and she was an incredible lady."

The project manager from the team redesigning the Bristol Old Vic had a more shocking experience. Mr Blonski says that he was physically pushed. He ran away and now will not use the "haunted" staircase.

Sarah Macready is not the only spirit said to haunt this old playhouse. The ghost of a boy who died in an accident in the paint shop in the 1950s has been spotted as well as the 18th Century West End actress Sarah Siddons.

Mr Blonski says he feels the building is alive with its past: "It's got a very strong spirit - the spirit of the people who have passed through it and I connect to that. Somehow this place has got to me."


Friday, July 9, 2010

More info on the Fourth of July weekend Clovis UFO

As I had reported yesterday, KMPH Fox 26 had reported that several strange lights were seen over the Fourth of July weekend. One of the main points of the story, and what started the call ins to KMPH was a sighting in Clovis. I was able to find the original MUFON report and apparently the event occured on July 2, 2010 (reported on July 3, 2010) and whatever happened, it terrified the witnesses.

The event started when one of the witnesses daughters came back into their house screaming a plane was going to hit the house and they should run to safety. Her father ran out of the house to see what was going on. He too started yelling that something was going to hit them and they should run.

The witness who made the report ran out of the house with her son. She goes on to state they never saw or heard anything but were so focused on escaping. The husband told them to stop behind some trees as he was afraid the object was about to hit the house. When nothing happened he told them to keep running as he headed back towards the house. He came back in his truck and said the object had just vanished.

According to both the father and daughter, who were the ones to actually see the object, it had two bright lights on it and made no sound whatsoever and they described it's movement as teetering back and forth a bit, but the lights were always horizontal to each other. The husband was also able to make out the silhouette of the object and describes it as as large as their back pasture.

I can't say what these people saw without talking to them myself. I know the skeptics out there want to just say it's a low flying plane, but I'm giving this family the benefit of the doubt. They live in a rural area of Clovis and I imagine they are familiar with aircraft on final approach to the Fresno airport. I don't know what they saw, but whatever it wa, it was real and scared the hell out of them.

MUFON Report: 2 bright lights huge object no sound thought we were going to die.


Im not sure how long it lasted because we thought we were going to die but you will understand in this description. It felts like minutes but I know it was seconds because we really thought we were going to die! Here is the story:

I am reporting this in sadness because of this event my dog died! My daughter went to get the dogs from outside to bring them in (she's 15) and she ran screaming "get out a plane is going to hit us" "run" and she was hysterical. Me my husband and my son and I went running downstairs and my husband went to the backdoor (running) to investigate because my daughter is very meek and quiet and never screams. The next thing I know my husband is yelling "run" "its gonna hit us" and he started praying to God that we lived and if not take us to Heaven and let it be quick.

We ran straight out the door as fast as our legs would go. Myself and my son never heard or saw anything we were just running for dear life. My husband told us to stop behind the trees because he thought at any moment it would hit and we wouldnt get much father ( didnt atually even think we would make it out the front door) and we live in the country so its all mostly open space in front of us. When nothing happened after a few seconds he told us to keep running as I horrifyingly saw him turn back toward the house.

We kept going hurrying down the road and as we went we were trying to call our dogs that had escaped with us. My husband returned in his truck to state the object simply was gone/vanished he had no idea where it went but it never hit our house or flew over us and not a single sound was heard. So we continued the search for our dogs however one was struck by a car and killed.

Later when I spoke with my husband and daughter I was informed it had 2 bright lights and was up in the sky they could see the back neighbors house below it and it made no sound and teetered a little back and forth but the lights were always horizontal to eachother. This object made no sound what so ever and my husband said he saw the silhouette and it was as big as our back pasture across and very dark.

I am very saddened but wanted to report this because weird things have occurred before here that we never mentioned to people. Like for one instance our laser pointer lights (we would play with our dogs with) when we would point them in the field they would disappear at some points but would be seen all the way to the orchards at other points and we always laughed that it was like something invisible was sucking up the light at that spot. Im now truely scared and wanted this reported in the case something happens to us.

Now it is time for me to grieve. I am afraid to sleep. I truly believe it must have landed in our pasture but everything appears normal. Something very wrong happened here tonight...please help!! Has anyone else ever experienced this?

Thursday, July 8, 2010

KMPH 26 reports UFOs seen in Fresno over the Fourth of July weekend



Apparently over the Fourth of July weekend strange lights were seen in the skies and according to witnesses they weren't fireworks. One family in Clovis reported seeing a cigar shaped craft flying over their house. Another was able to videotape something strange in the sky that, according to them, didn't look like any normal type of aircraft.

To be honest I don't know what to make of this story. The fact that these sightings occurred over the Fourth of July weekend has me wondering if some reports were mistaken for some illegal fireworks (which there were plenty of) that were shot into the sky? Now I'm not trying to discredit anyone outright, just trying to look at the overall picture.

As the news said, they received several reports of strange lights or objects in the sky. I didn't hear anything through my usual channels, but that doesn't mean that there weren't reports filed. I'm curious as to what others have seen and if they collaborate with what the person in Clovis saw?

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Iran bans the mullet


For his sake, I hope this gentleman never plans a trip to Iran.

Iran has been known for doing some pretty bad things lately (and I use the term bad lightly). From the recent presidential elections and ensuing riots, the whole nuclear energy fiasco, and the complete bullshit about the Holocaust never actually occuring, Iran has done some pretty bad stuff. After I read this story I almost changed my mind. Then I realized it's Iran.

Apparently they are banning several hairstyles and one of those is the ever popular mullet. Now normally I'm for freedom of expression (Which really isn't a right, read the First Amendment people. Speech, religion, and assembly.), but the fact that they are banning the mullet is probably the best thing that country has done in a long, long while (actually given their human rights violations probably the only thing). Maybe others will take note and follow the example that Iran had started. Imagine if Chowchilla banned the mullet? The amount of haircuts that needed to be done could jump start their economy.

The only downside to the mullet being banned in the area is one less reason to go to the Fair. I guess we'd have to be content to just eating anything that was 2000 calories and deep fried.

Full source: guardian.co.uk
Phil Daoust, reporter

Imagine a country where a man with a ponytail could have it cut off by the cops, as could one with a mullet, or one whose hair was slathered in gel, fancifully spiked, or simply too long. Repeat offenders would face stiff fines, while their barber-accomplices would have their shops closed.

It may sound like paradise, especially if your own crazy-haired days are behind you. It's actually the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose cultural ministry has just unveiled (although that's perhaps not the most appropriate word in this context) a list of approved hairstyles in an attempt to free the country of "decadent" western cuts.

Jaleh Khodayar, who's in charge of the government- backed Modesty and Veil Festival, explains that the styles "are inspired by Iranians' complexion, culture and religion, and Islamic law".

It's not all good news for fans of the short back and sides, however: 1980s-style floppy fringes are acceptable, as are quiffs. And, worryingly, there seems to be a lamentable softening of Iran's hard line on goatees.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Former police officer watches as alien children vanish

Anyone who knows me that I only fear two things when it comes to the paranormal. Being abducted by a UFO and ghostly children, or just creepy children in particular. So when I read this story and saw that both of my fears had been combined into some good ol' fashion nightmare fuel I knew I had to share.

An ex-police officer, giving his name as Nick R, stated that while he was driving home one night after work he saw an orange oval light in the sky that he knew could not be the moon. He parked his car at his flat, went inside and then came out about 10 minutes later for a smoke.

As he was smoking he looked out onto the fields that were on the back side of where his flat was at. There, in the darkness, he saw what he thought were children "messing about". As he was watching the "children" the orange globe appeared in the sky and the the children disappeared.

Nick R then reflects that perhaps those were not children that he had seen, but in fact alien beings and they somehow returned to the craft.

Now I don't smoke. But if I saw what this guy did I would start smoking the entire pack to calm my nerves down. Then I would have ran back inside and found the nearest bottle of bourbon. Yeah I'm a wuss, I know.


Full source: Herald 24 UK
Paul Christian, Reporter


A FORMER police officer saw a UFO, and what he thought were children that “disappeared all of a sudden”, while driving from Hertford to Puckeridge.

The sighting was in July last year, but has only emerged within the last few days on a UFO-watcher’s website.

In his tantalising account the ex-cop, who identified himself only as Nick R, wrote: “I saw whilst driving along the A10 going home one evening after work north a light which was not the moon, orange and oval in shape. I drove into my parking space in Puckeridge and went into my flat. Faffed about for about 10 minutes then went outside for a cigarette.

“I saw something which I have never told anyone about. My flat was in Cambridge Court in Puckeridge backed on to fields. I saw in the twilight what I thought were kids messing about. No, as the light faded around 21.30 the orange globe appeared in the sky. I was at this time watching something on TV, then went outside for a fag again.”

Chillingly he raised the prospect of seeing alien beings that he initially thought were “children”, in the field – a so-called ‘close encounter of the third kind’.

He added: “I know that area is a flight path from Stansted, but that was strange.

“The children disappeared all of a sudden. I lived there for one-and-a-half years, and never experienced anything like that.”

In reply to the post another site user wrote: Intrigued by your report, am interested in sightings on either 25/26th of July in this area seems to be a pattern.”

He suggested Nick R report his sighting on another site dedicated to serving and retired police officers’ sightings of UFO-related phenomena.


Friday, July 2, 2010

It's a UFO! Oh wait, it's a satellite. Nevermind.

Late last night I was helping my grandfather irrigate our 40 acres of vineyards. As we were driving along I was staring up at the sky as it was a moonless night (around 11:15 pm) and the stars were out in multitudes. As I was looking to the west I saw what I thought were two stars rather close together that looked out of place when one star started to move and increase in luminiousity only to fade out after a few seconds. I assumed it was a satellite, but wasn't quite sure.

A bit curious as to what I actually saw I jumped on the internet and looked up satellite sightings and came across what are called Iridium Flares. There is a group of satellites in orbit called the Iridium Satelite Constelation. They are a group of communication satellites that provides both voice and data coverage for satellite phones. Each satellite has three large antenna about the size of a door and are highly polished. Occasionaly one of the antenna reflects sunlight back down to the Earth and that is what causes the flare.

After a bit more research I found a website called Heavens Above and they offer information on how to track objects in the night sky, from planets and comets to satellites. After entering my location I was able to determine that I indeed did see an Iridium satellite. The actual time was 23:11:15 on July 1. Here is the link to the actual infomormation, though I don't know how long it will be available.

So this had me thinking. How many people have seen these and thought and possibly reported these as a UFO. Hell even I wasn't familiar with an Iridium Flare. If I hadn't assumed it was a satellite I would most likely have reported it to the Nation UFO Reporting Center. I decided to search YouTube in hopes of someone had filmed one, given the fact that they are easily predictable. I got lucky and found a video showing something similiar to what I saw.



I am definitely convinced now that what I saw was not a UFO, but just the reflection of sunlight off a satellite's antenna. I checked the Heavens Above website and there is supposed to be another sighting tonight (July 2) at 23:05:19, this time to the east (here's the link for more info). I'm going to try to get some video of it if I can. But it shouldn't be that hard for anyone to see it as long as there isn't much light pollution around you.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Are cemeteries haunted?

Ask any new ghost hunting group where the best place to look for ghosts is and most likely the answer will be a cemetery. Why is that? I've asked this question over the years and the response I have usually received was that there were dead people there and that should mean there are ghosts there as well. But there isn't any fact behind this, it's just an assumption.

Cemeteries, like this one on Belmont, are thought to be haunted
even when there is no history of activity. (photo by Michael Banti)

It's assumed that since people are buried in cemeteries, that the spirits are still there and therefore can haunt the cemetery. Most hauntings occur where someone has either died or had some sort of personal connection to the place or perhaps a person there. Cemeteries usually don't have this (there are exceptions as I will explain later). Paranormal groups will wander the cemetery late at night (hopefully with permission) armed with the usual equipment (cameras, voice recorders, etc) and hope they get a photo or an EVP when there was never any evidence that the cemetery had any activity to begin with.

Now I'm not saying that I wasn't guilty of this as well. When I first started investigating in the summer of 2000, one of the first places my group investigated a cemetery. We figured there had to be ghosts there since it was a cemetery. We wandered around for a few hours, taking pictures. Of course all we got were dust orbs, but as I had mentioned in a previous post we didn't know any better. So since we saw "orbs" we felt we were right into assuming the cemetery was haunted. One has to wonder if this could be one of the causes of the assumption that cemeteries are haunted? That someone took photos (for whatever reason) and a dust orb showed up and they assumed it was a ghost. They then tell all their friends they captured a picture of a ghost at said cemetery and then it spreads from there.

There are some cemeteries that are actually haunted, but they have one or two specific ghosts to them. There is a small cemetery outside the town of Paso Robles called Adeliade Cemetery and the story goes that a woman named Charlotte lost her two young children to a dyptheria epidemic in the late 1800's. Distraut over her children's death, she commited suicide. The story continues that every Friday night between the hours of midnight Charlotte would appear and leave flowers on her children's graves. I had the chance to invesigate this cemetery a few years ago and it still remains one of the strangest expierences I've ever had. Unfortunately it's not the norm regarding cemeteries.

The purpose of this article isn't to discourage people from investigating cemeteries, just make sure they have had some sort of activity in the past and that it's from a reputable witness. Don't go into one assuming since people are buried there that there are ghosts there. If I was a ghost, I wouldn't want to stick around where my body was at. I'd rather be at some place interesting. In closing just make sure there's actually something there before you go. And please get permission from whomever owns the property. Even though it is a public place, it does have operating hours and you will be charged with trepassing if you go after closing and without permission. Don't ruin it for everyone else just because you were looking for a thrill.