Mystery medallion on unidentified man found executed near Elsa

EDINBURG — Investigators hope a medallion on the bullet-riddled body of a man found executed Wednesday morning will help reveal his identity.

A passing truck driver discovered the unidentified body along Mile 19 North Road, just west of Mile 4 Road near Elsa, shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday.

More than 20 bullets penetrated the man’s back and head, Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said. Investigators believe he was not slain where his body was found.

"Most of the projectiles, if not all of them, are going to be inside his body," the sheriff said. "It’s an obvious execution because of the way he was shot."

Investigators describe the victim as a Hispanic man who was in his mid-30s, stood about 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs about 210 pounds and was wearing a medallion around his neck. He was wearing blue-jean shorts and a green sleeveless shirt, as well as an elastic band on his left elbow.

Treviño said investigators have little information about the medallion, a representation of Eliphas Levi’s Tetragrammaton pentagram, an occult symbol of the human being. Levi was a 19th-century French occultist and magician.

No identification was found on the man and he had no tattoos or scars, the sheriff said. Investigators found no matches after checking local, state and federal fingerprint databases.

The apparent execution is the 16th homicide Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies have investigated by this year. Local law enforcement agencies in Hidalgo County have now investigated at least 27 new homicides so far in 2009.

Rhode Island woman catches 'Ghost' behind child in cell phone image

Lite Rock 105 in Rhode Island has made public a very creepy picture of what appears to be the ghost of an older woman behind a little child of one of the employees. Details on the website explain that,the photo was taken by a babysitter, a teenager named Kasey,was babysitting her niece, Penny (age 22 months), last week and snapped several pictures of the little girl with her phone cam. A couple days later, Kasey was going through the images and noticed there was someone behind her niece in one of the photos. More on this from Reporter John Guice from ABC6:

Email loved ones From Your Grave

This service allows personal notes written prior to their death to be sent to loved ones in the future. Important documents such as wills and insurance details can also be accessed through the service.

Organizers insist The Last Messages Club is in no way ghoulish but eases the stress and trauma associated with the death of a loved one.

A member can write up to 100 emails that can be released once they die at times of their choosing, such as when a relative or loved one marries or has a child. The Last Messages Club works by giving each member a secure and private vault.

They are then able to create messages to be sent specifically to their chosen recipient.

These messages can range from a final love letter, guidance for someone left behind, a list of instructions, details on life insurance and other financial information. Photos, videos and documents can also be attached.

Friday afternoon meditation aid music: GREG DAVIS

Download: “Hall Of Pure Bliss” — Greg Davis

Excerpt from “Hall of Pure Bliss,” the second of the two lengthy pieces that comprise Greg Davis’s new album, Mutually Arising, just out on Kranky. Use as often as needed—it is impossible to overdose.

Album purchase info: http://kranky.net/

The restless dead of the War of 1812

It was the winter of 1813, after a brilliant naval victory in September that secured the strategic waters of Lake Erie for the American forces, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry weathered out the harsh winter at Presque Isle’s Little Bay.

But fate would turn the safe harbor of Little Bay into what we would know today as Misery Bay.

Small Pox had begun to spread onboard Commodore Perry’s Flagship, the Niagara. But being quarantined in the bottom of ship’s hold did little to stem the tide of the disease and the plague was quickly spreading ship wide. When those of his crew were struck down with the disease, Perry ordered that their bodies be buried at sea in the lagoons of the pond near the bay. Now, as the plague’s ferocious force began to unleash itself upon all the crew Perry made a radical decision to bury all those infected with disease at the bottom of the adjacent pond. There was little hope for them; Perry did what he had to do in a remote region of the then wilderness with little help coming for a long time. He buried the dying who yet had the breath of life into the little pond; tying stones around their bodies he surrendered them beneath the waves before death had the chance to naturally take their lives.

Perception - The reality beyond matter

Vampires and Zombies: No mere pop culture trend

Vampires and zombies, both of which became a popular phenomenon in Victorian Britain, are all the rage. Temple English Professor Peter Logan believes this is no mere pop culture trend, but rather a reflection of the strong parallels between that period in Britain and our own here in the U.S.

Victorian Britain was the first industrialized society and the dominant world super power of the nineteenth century. At the height of the Victorian period, one quarter of the world’s population were British subjects.

Temple English professor says vampires popularity lives as long as they do -- forever.

“It was the beginning of the world as we know it today, and it was beset with some of the same problems associated with being a world power that we are currently facing,” Logan said.

But, while vampires were popular during the nineteenth century — just as we see today in the hit HBO series True Blood and the Twilight series of books and movies — the phenomenon didn’t start with Dracula.

The title character in Varney the Vampire (1847) was an aristocrat who walked around in daylight, but he needed the moonlight to survive, said Logan.

“The classic scene during this time is of a weakened vampire soaking up the moonlight and being revivified,” he said.

Appearing at the end of the nineteenth century, Bram Stoker’s Dracula reflects a changed social environment in which the British Empire was at its height and conflicts with the colonies in Africa and Asia were a major concern.

“For these changed times, Count Dracula is still an aristocrat, but he is also an outsider from the fringe of Europe, and he brings his mysterious ways to London, the heart of England and the center of the empire,” said Logan.

Transparent Aluminium Created

Oxford scientists have created a transparent form of aluminium by bombarding the metal with the world’s most powerful soft X-ray laser. 'Transparent aluminium' previously only existed in science fiction, featuring in the movie Star Trek IV, but the real material is an exotic new state of matter with implications for planetary science and nuclear fusion.

''What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before,’ said Professor Justin Wark of Oxford University’s Department of Physics, one of the authors of the paper. ‘Transparent aluminium is just the start. The physical properties of the matter we are creating are relevant to the conditions inside large planets, and we also hope that by studying it we can gain a greater understanding of what is going on during the creation of 'miniature stars' created by high-power laser implosions, which may one day allow the power of nuclear fusion to be harnessed here on Earth.’

A report of the research, 'Turning solid aluminium transparent by intense soft X-ray photoionization', is published in Nature Physics. The research was carried out by an international team led by Oxford University scientists Professor Justin Wark, Dr Bob Nagler, Dr Gianluca Gregori, William Murphy, Sam Vinko and Thomas Whitcher.

Music Break: Monster Magnet- Space lord

Monster Magnet- Space lord from feralf ++ on Vimeo.

Upcoming Movies: Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes Trailer from nicolascue on Vimeo.

The trailer for Guy Ritchie's two-fisted sleuth adventurer - Detective Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.) and his stalwart partner Watson (Jude Law) engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.

The Navajo Witch Purge of 1878

The words "Navajo Witch Purge" might at first call to mind the similar phrase "Salem Witch Hunt" and all the lurid imagery that goes with it. A bit of investigating, however, produces a cultural and historical picture of the Navajo and their tradition of witchcraft profoundly different from anything ever imagined by those early New England Puritans. As the Salem Witch trials in seventeenth-century Massachusetts may have evolved as a societal response to the religious thinking of the day, so the Navajo Witch Purge of 1878 evolved as a cultural response to the effects of colonialism on the Navajo way of life. Witchcraft was always an accepted, if not widely acknowledged, part of Navajo culture, and the killing of "witches" was historically as much accepted among the Navajo as among the Europeans. The events of 1878 were a culmination of situation and circumstance that created the seemingly sensational out of what had been the cultural norm.

That witchcraft had been a traditional part of Navajo society is thoroughly documented in noted anthropologist Clyde Kluckhohn's monograph, Navajo Witchcraft. While Kluckhohn's work may seem somewhat dated to us—the book appeared in 1944—his information is, in this instance, more than forty-five years closer to direct sources than anything that might be gathered today. He discusses at length the four basic forms of NBehind the trading postavajo witchcraft, "Witchery, Sorcery, Wizardry, and Frenzy Witchcraft" (22), and the purposes each served in Navajo society. Of the four, it was sorcery and wizardry that were most apparent during the events of the 1878 purge. Sorcery was the burying of victims' articles and excretions, and wizardry the injection of foreign things into the victim (cf. Blue, Trader, Chapter 4).

Occult Practice in England

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Skinwalkers

The belief in Skinwalkers is shared by many Native American tribes, but this article will focus on Navajo Skinwalkers since they are the best documented. Still, not much information is known about the group. Most Navajos fear talking about Skinwalkers lest they become a target of the group.

Skinwalkers are a type of Navajo witch, and not of the good kind. They do not wear funny hats, use large cauldrons, or chant in Latin. Reportedly the initiation rites into the group involve the inductee murdering a close family member, oftentimes a sibling. Most activities by the group are performed under the cover of darkness and the Skinwalkers wear disguises. The disguise usually is an animal skin, which allow the wearer to transform into that animal. Many reports describe Skinwalkers as looking like deformed animals. These disguises combined with the fact the group members try to lead normal lives in the daytime makes detection of a Skinwalker next to impossible.
The Skinwalkers are a secret society known to be embedded in the Navajo tribe. Unlike some secret societies, their aim is not to traffic illegal substances or arms for profit. Their motivations seem to revolve around power and control over the tribe.

AMORC Unmasked Reveals Mind Control Techniques and Secret Doctrines of Home Religious Study Cult

How AMORC Creates Hypnotic Platform for Hallucination and Self-Deception

NEW YORK, July 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Pierre S. Freeman, a determined expatriate and whistleblower of the Ancient and Mystic Order of Rosae Crucis, or AMORC, reveals his firsthand knowledge of the disturbing mind control protocol of the so-called Rosicrucian Order in a new book titled AMORC Unmasked. For the first time, Freeman unfolds the incredible details and methodology of the step-by-step hypnotic program of the secret order known for its flamboyant mystical recruiting style and its colorful, Egyptian-styled headquarters in San Jose, California.

"Although I covered many details in my first book, The Prisoner of San Jose, basically a memoir about my entrapment, I now have sought to reveal a great deal more of the intimate details of AMORC's methodology of mind control and how its enslavement progresses from mild hypnotic induction to more serious forms of post-hypnotic suggestions, combined with a protocol for training members to excel in creating positive hallucinations as suggested by a progressive set of exercises," says Freeman.

Trio held for India 'sacrifice

Police in India's Uttar Pradesh state have arrested three people in connection with the death of a girl they say was killed as "a sacrifice".

Police say there could be an occult dimension to the murders.

According to police, the girl was abducted from her house in Lakhimpur Khiri district on Monday and killed.

District police chief Piyush Mordia said the accused trio would be detained under the stringent National Security Act for suspected murder.

The girl's mother reported the disappearance to Bhira police station on Tuesday. Her daughter's body was found after a search.

Police say they believe the death is connected to an occult practitioner who promised he could cure ailments by sacrificing a child "to please supernatural powers".

The BBC's Ram Dutt Tripathi in the state capital, Lucknow, says Lakhimpur is seen as a backward area where literacy rates are low.

High blood pleasure

Vampires, zombies, the occult: Why such a sanguinary sell? When life is in tumult, pop-cult goes undead.

Pop culture is dripping, dripping, with the occult.

The book and movie of Twilight have become instant megahits, HBO's True Blood is one of the biggest shows on premium cable, and the novels of Charlaine Harris and Stephenie Meyer are haunting the bestseller lists.

Werewolves, then zombies, then vampires take turns as movie monster of the month. Left4Dead, a zombie-hunting video game, has sold more than 2.5 million units since it appeared last fall.

The supernatural is everywhere, and a wildly popular genre has been loosed from the vault: the supernatural or paranormal romance.

Alan Watts Podcast

I listen to podcasts every day. Here are four I've recently subscribed that I really like: Alan Watts podcast.

I enjoy the late Alan Watts' playful descriptions of eastern religions, which were utterly incomprehensible to me until I began reading his books. "Alan Watts is one of the most widely read philosophers of the 20th century. In addition to his 28 books, Alan Watts delivered hundreds of public lectures and seminars the recordings of which have been preserved in the archives of the Electronic University, a non-profit organization dedicated to higher education. For the past two years Alan's eldest son, Mark Watts has reviewed and cataloged these talks to prepare them for public broadcast.

"

H. R. Geigers's Occult Experience

Occult Experience by HR. Giger.

Airport chapels adapt to accommodate more religions

ATLANTA — Ordained a United Methodist minister, the Rev. Chester Cook has now become a jack of all faiths.
On a recent day, Cook welcomed a Christian-oriented Army chaplain, a Muslim family and a Buddhist ticket agent to his interfaith chapel at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport — a snapshot of the grab bag of faithful who make a stop in the chapel.
Across the country, chapels designed to offer passengers refuge and reflection in bustling airports are making changes: Removing denomination-specific decor, adding special accommodations and hosting services geared to accommodate an increasingly diverse group of travelers flying with faith.

Spiritual Toxic Waste

Although it’s rare, there are some people who operate without any conscious form of spirituality. This usually dulls their life and they seem to inhabit a world without much meaning. For those of us with a spiritual element, this would be a living hell. Fortunately, most people do have a spiritual side to them.

That’s not to say they necessarily are religious. Being spiritual means the person has some concept about how the universe works and how they relate to it. It doesn’t have to contain any Maker or be complicated, it only needs to be a model that works for the person and provides some kind of relationship between that person and the way they perceive world around them. Almost by definition, this must include a certain mystical part because there will always be the unknown factor in everybody’s universe.

Having spirituality is an important part of anyone’s mental and emotional health but having one doesn’t guarantee that health. There are some forms of spirituality that are toxic to a person as well as causing a great deal of pain and trouble for everyone around them.

Witchcraft Job Draws 3,000 Applicants

An eerie human shaped figure in the rock scares nervous visitors to the Wookey Hole Caves in Somerset. According to the local legend she was a witch turned to stone by a Glastonbury monk. Today she has some flesh and blood competition. Film goers will remember the chilling underground scenes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, some of which were filmed at Wookey Hole. But it is not Harry Potter who has returned to haunt the caves, but a former estate agent from Shepton Mallet.

The Occult_Experience

This film interviews many Occultists from various traditions including the founders of the Temple of Set Michael Aquino and Lillith Aquino. It also includes clips from Anton Lavey's Satanis as well and shows H.R. Giger's art

Anton LaVey's Black House now condos

For decades, the Victorian seen in the far left photo was a San Francisco landmark known as the Black House. It was home to Church of Satan founder Dr. Anton LaVey from 1967 until his death in 1997. After falling into disrepair, the Black House was sadly demolished in 2001. The current owners of the property built three cheesy condominiums in its place that are just now up for sale. My friend Greg Long snapped this photo of the new development last weekend. I hope that a rich Satanist buys the condos and paints them black as a memorial. Here's what the Church of Satan said about the Black House in 1998 during their efforts to save the place:

Originally built in the 1880's, it survived the devastating 1906 fire and earthquake. It's been a speakeasy, a "spook parlour" and, when Dr. LaVey bought it in 1956, it was owned by one of Mammie Pleasant's girls, one of the most notorious madams in San Francisco. Dr. LaVey made it world-famous when he performed history's first Satanic wedding and baptism here; his 500-pound lion, Togare, was raised here. Dr. LaVey was forced to sell the house several years ago because of a relentless civil suit. That fight almost killed him, but this house meant a great deal to him. He said it was part of his own personality - that its roots went all the way to Hell.

Link to the 1998 letter from Church of Satan, Link to a 1998 San Francisco Chronicle article on the house

Music Break: Vodoo

Godsmack-Vodoo from feralf ++ on Vimeo.

'Dinner platter' size UFO hovers 4 feet off ground in Fairbury, Nebraska

A couple in Fairbury, Nebraska, witnessed "a self illuminating light about the size of a dinner platter hovering motionless about 4 feet off the ground of the city street outside their apartment building" on July 23, 2009, according to testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) database.

Don and Yvonne Aken watched a silent and pulsating object in the street from a window in their apartment - approximately 30 to 40 feet from the object.

Don Aken had gotten out of bed at 2:30 a.m. to use the bathroom, and as he left the bathroom, "he noticed a light shining through the window curtain. He woke up his wife, who also watched the object through the window.

Read More

Creativity: muses, faeries, and geniues, oh my!

Elizabeth Gilbert, American Artist, gives a great talk about creativity at TED. She talks about anguished artists getting creativity from external sources; artists performing personal magic; and invokes a who batch of things such as transcendence, faeries, muses, and geniuses.

Humans and Hobbits existed together

They were just one metre tall with very long arms, no chins, wrist bones like gorillas and extremely long feet.

In 2003, archaeologists excavating in a cave on the Indonesian island of Flores made a discovery that forced scientists to completely rethink conventional theories of human evolution.

They reported the discovery of a new species of human, one that lived as recently as 12,000 years ago, at the same time as modern humans.

Read More

Photo of a Strange Orb in Adelaide, South Australia

Phantoms and Monsters has a great set of pictures of this strange orb. Will o' wips, ball of lighting, ghost light, or maybe a camera glitch? You be the judge.

'UFO' photographed 'tracking' RAF Hercules

John Powell, 56, claims an unusual silver orb was following the military craft as it came in to land at the base.

The retired school teacher was gardening at his home in nearby Westbury when he noticed the sun glinting off the circular surface.

"I don't believe in things from outer space but that thing was definitely tracking the plane," he said.

Read More

Where yoga and indie rock meet

The Wanderlust Festival is a new kind of festival bringing together the world's top yoga teachers and the best performers in rock and roll, all in a setting of breathtaking natural beauty. Music. Yoga. Nature.

Unfortunately it ended a week ago. Maybe next year?

Chinese Factory Workers Fall Ill: Is It Pollution or "Hysteria"?

Treehugger.com reports on a pollution sickness hysteria that has struck Chinese factory workers. Could dancing plagues be next?

In a story nearly worthy of the Onion, officials in China have sought to reassure 1,200 factory workers in the city of Jilin that their symptoms of nausea, numbness, dizziness, convulsions, breathing difficulties, vomiting and temporary paralysis were not the result of chemical poisoning from a nearby factory, but rather of "hysteria."

After a chemical plant began production in the spring, workers from a nearby yarn factory began piling up in the city's hospital beds. The factory happens to produce aniline, a highly toxic chemical used in the manufacture of polyurethane, rubber, herbicides and dyes.

The Amazing Unseen Hitler Films

It seems that Hitler's legacy will never die, even when his waxy visage is decapitated. Jason Torchinsky of BoingBoing.net reports on watching the unseen films of Hitler.

The films started our innocently enough: vacation films from a well-to-do Chapel Hill family, at the beach, some interesting aerial shots of Chapel Hill, lots of people in fussy clothes and hats looking at the camera and waving. Some were even color, which was a bit surprising.

The next reels got more interesting. The family apparently took a trip to Europe in the early '30s. Shots of snowy alps, quaint chalets, ski lifts, and then, rows of Nazi flags. Handheld camera shots walking down a street, until a brown-shirted Nazi covers the camera lens with his hand. Cut to a Nazi rally, with the camera in the crowd, as the cinematographer raises their hand, along with everyone else in the massive arena, in a Nazi salute. Pan to the stage, small from the distance and central, as a small, familiar figure walks up to the podium, the part of his hair the hypotenuse of his facial triangle, a square cursor of a mustache under his nose, as he then starts to harangue the cheering crowd, silently.

Harry Potter's Emma Watson to Launch Sustainable Clothing Line

As a follow up to Emma Watson being related to 'a real-life witch', it seems that she is starting up a clothing line of her own.

Then there's the actress's own admission that sustainable fashion is lacking a certain, well, magic. “I’m really interested in fair-trade fashion and organic cotton, but it’s hard because, to be honest, the stuff’s kind of ugly or really plain”, she told British Elle in June.

Strange New Air Force Facility Energizes Ionosphere, Fans Conspiracy Flames

Wired.com has a great article about the US goverment's HAARP project (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program), which gives the ability to communicate to submerged submarines.

That last app caught the military's attention. Communicating with subs thousands of miles away, under thousands of feet of ocean, requires ultralow frequencies, and that requires whomping-big antennas. To do it, the Navy had built an array in the upper Midwest that transmits its signal through bedrock, but its construction required razing 84 miles' worth of hundred-foot-wide path through wilderness, including a national forest. It drove local environmentalists crazy. But who would protest an ephemeral antenna in the sky?
...
Yet Haarp's future is unclear. Defense budgets are shrinking, and the facility costs $10 million a year to operate. Haarp's patron at Darpa, Tony Tether, has left his job. The project's godfather, Ted Stevens, was defeated in the 2008 Senate election by the mayor of Anchorage: Mark Begich, Nick's little brother. "I'll have his ear," Nick promises.
....
So the radio scientists may have to look for funding again, which probably means a whole new set of rationales. You can imagine how the conspiracy crowd will react. And the scientists, in their eagerness, can end up feeding the paranoia. Papadopoulos, for example, says he wants to do another round of subterranean surveillance experiments. "Personally, I believe it can reach 1,000 kilometers. It can't reach Iran, if that's your question," he laughs. "But if I put Haarp on a ship, or on an oil platform, who knows?" Not that he has concrete plans for such tests in Alaska, let alone in the Persian Gulf—though he does mention a facility in Puerto Rico as a possibility.

Documentary on the Church of Satan from 1970

Gareth Branwyn conjured up this fun 1970 documentary on the Church of Satan and its founder Anton Szandor LaVey. According to many friends of mine who knew LaVey, the "black pope" was, er, wicked smart, insightful, witty, and had the charisma of a great showman. Which of course he was. He also played a mean organ. I wish I'd met him! Satanis: The Devil's Mass

Music Break: Personal Jesus

Marilyn Manson - Personal Jesus from Jojji .... on Vimeo.

Nick Pope Describes UFO Propulsion System as "... Number One Priority"

At the beginning of June, famed UFO researcher Nick Pope did an interview on Fox News. As usual, his information was very intriguing, and of great interest to all of us who seek the truth about the UFO mystery.Check out the full session at UFO Guide's Interview with Nick Pope.

During Mr. Pope's interview with Fox News, he alluded to a photograph (s) that "... had British officials worried." The photographs were allegedly taken near Pitlochry, Scotland, in August, 1990, and show a diamond-shaped UFO which hovered for around ten minutes before zooming up and away.

Scary music is spookier with eyes shut

Singers and guitar heroes alike have always employed what you might call the Celine Dion effect – closing your eyes to heighten the emotional impact of music.

Now, neuroscientists have discovered that a brain centre involved in sensing emotion and fear called the amygdala kicks into action when volunteers listen to scary music with eyes closed.

Spooky sounds

To uncover any neural basis for this effect, Hendler's team scanned the brains of 15 volunteers while they listened to film scores – "kind of Hitchcock-like movies," she says – and less emotive keyboard tunes with their eyes open or shut.

Hear a scary clip here and a neutral one here.

Sure enough, volunteers rated the eerie-sounding music – laced with staccato strings, ominous trombones, and weird effects – as more emotional than the "elevator music"-like keyboard tunes.

Under the gaze of a functional-MRI scanner, horror film scores elicited significantly more amygdala activity in the brains of volunteers who kept their eyes shut, compared to when they kept eyes open. Participants' brains responded no differently to the neutral music whether their eyes were closed or open.

World Science Festival and Bobby McFerrin

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.

Fairies

Most Haunted Live Pendle Hill (Part 7 of Night One)

Tips on Ghost Photography

Tips on Ghost Photography:

• Take photos in no light or low light, using a flash
• Be careful of reflective surfaces, such as windows, mirrors, puddles of water, automobiles,
• Take photos with people in them, ghosts like to hang out near the living.
• Take photos behind you, ghosts like to follow the living.
• Talk to ghosts as you investigate, treat them as if they are with you. Quite possibly they are.
• Concentrate on areas that elicit an emotion from you, such as sadness, anger, fear or even joy. Ghosts can effect our emotions.
• No smoking during an investigation. The smoke looks like ecto in photos. One person smoking during an investigation will cause the legitimacy of all results to be questioned. Be respectful of your time and money as well as that of your fellow investigators.
• Do not consume alcohol during an investigation. Not only can it make you careless and more prone to accident, but it also makes you an unreliable witness to whatever phenomena you may encounter.

The Blue Ghost Tunnel

The Blue Ghost Tunnel is located near Gate 12 of General Motors along Glendale Road, St Catharines/Merritton/Thorold, Ontario beside the 4th Welland Canal. It is also known as Merritton Tunnel, or The Grand Trunk Railway. This tunnel is said to be haunted by the ghosts of a train wreck that happened back in the early 1900s. I also think it's haunted by the 663 plus graves buried under and beside the Pondage area, Old Pump House nearby. Over 123 plus freak accidents occcured during the building of the 4th Welland Canal. Many men were either drowned or crushed. When the Lock 6 disaster happened in August of 1928, many workers claimed it was cursed by ghosts there.Read More

Motorist Has Near Collision With Bigfoot In Pennsylvania

Paranormal News has reported a Bigfoot sighting in Pennsylvania:

A report of a possible Bigfoot encounter in Pennsylvania was received by the Sasquatch Watch of Virginia and was then referred to Eric Altman, the Director of the (PBS) Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society to investigate. The incident occurred on July 10, 2009, outside of Uniontown, in Fayette County.

Archbishop Cautions Texting, Email Could Lead to Suicide

LONDON (Reuters) - The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales is concerned that excessive use of emails and mobile phone text messaging is creating shallow friendships and undermining community life, according to an interview published on Sunday.

Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, also said that popular social networking sites led young people to form "transient relationships" which put them at risk of suicide when they collapsed.

"Friendship is not a commodity, friendship is something that is hard work and enduring when it's right," he told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

"I think there's a worry that an excessive use, or an almost exclusive use of text and emails means that as a society we're losing some of the ability to build interpersonal communication that's necessary for living together and building a community."

The Archbishop, 63, said too much use of electronic information was "dehumanizing," leading to a loss in social skills and the ability to read a person's mood through their body language.

Furthermore social networking sites encouraged children to place an excessive importance on the number of friends they had instead of the quality of their relationships, he said.

"Among young people often a key factor in their committing suicide is the trauma of transient relationships. They throw themselves into a friendship or network of friendships, then it collapses and they're desolate," Nichols said.

[Reuters]

The UFO guy

WGN Reporter Juan Carlos was out to get some sound (reaction) on a recent alleged UFO siting at Chicago's O'Hare airport. What he got was a minute and a half of TV gold. This guy had some very interesting thigs to say about UFOs, including the graves in Arizona, and how to pronounce extraterrestrial.

Emma Watson 'related to real-life witch'

Harry Potter star Emma Watson is related to a real-life witch, according to People.

The actress, who plays schoolgirl witch Hermione Granger in the franchise, can reportedly trace her roots back to a 16th century woman who was convicted of witchcraft.

"It's not every day we're able to trace the branches of a family tree back to 16th century witch trials," said genealogist Anastasia Tyler from Ancestry.com.

"Combine that with a celebrity connection to Emma Watson and the fact that she plays a witch in Harry Potter - You couldn't script it any better."

Watson's relative was alleged to be Essex-born Joan Playle, an unmarried woman who was excommunicated from the Church of England in 1592.

The research also found that Watson's co-star Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) was descended from bakers, grocers and plumbers, while Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) is related to a gunsmith.

Watson's latest movie Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince was released earlier this month.

'Debunkers' and 'True Believers' discourage serious paranormal research

Have you ever noticed that when it comes to a reported haunting, a UFO sighting, or a cryptid sighting ( for example, Bigfoot, the Michigan Dogman, Ogo Pogo), most people tend to quickly separate into the opposing camps of Debunkers or True Believers?

In fact, reports of paranormal evens are frequently framed in terms of opposing belief systems, as in, "I believe in UFOs," or "I don't believe in UFOs."

Everybody has their beliefs, and healthy skepticism is definitely called for when it comes to extraordinary claims. Yet the tendency to reduce all paranormal claims and sightings to an instant yes/no answer before any serious investigation is conducted, is a major roadblock to understanding what is actually going on. It can even discourage or prevent good research from ever taking place.

Read More

LINCOLN’S GHOSTS: Paranormal investigators seek out spooks at cinema

MASSILLON, OH — The next time you take in a show at the Lions Lincoln Theatre and observe empty seats, you might want to take a closer look. There just might be someone or something filling them.

Recently, Paranormal Debunking and Investigating LLC – a group of paranormal investigators that prides themselves on debunking the things that go bump in the night – investigated the historic downtown theater.
PDI founder Jim O’Brien said the group approached Lincoln officials about spending a night in the moviehouse after doing extensive research on the building which dates back to 1915.

O’Brien said the theater has a rich history, including a 1921 robbery and the possible death of a construction worker during the building phase. Besides housing the silver screen, it has also been home to doctor’s offices and a speciality clothing store.

Lynda Blankenship, a Lincoln Theatre volunteer, said to her knowledge there have been no real reports of spirits in the theater. But, after spending a night with the PDI crew, Blankenship is a little spooked herself.

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Skinwalker Activity: Black Mesa, New Mexico

Via Flickr:

Black Mesa....near the San Ildefonso Pueblo just north of Santa Fe..the Pueblo was closed today so had to skip it...photography is forbidden on the pueblo without a permit..so I will return another day....snuck this as I was returning past the pueblo on the way home...hope the Gods forgive me...but the light was sooo nice.

More on the Mongolian Death Worm

3 News New Zealand reports:

Two New Zealanders will leave for Mongolia's Gobi Desert next week on an ambitious expedition to find the fabled acid-spitting and lightning-throwing Mongolian death worm.

The worm has never been documented but some Mongolians are convinced it exists. They call it Allghoi Khorkhoi, or "intestine worm" because it resembles a cow's intestine and is about 1.5m long.

They say it jumps out of the sand and kills people by spitting concentrated acid or shooting lightning from its rectum over long distances.

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Map Mongolia also on the Death Worm:

The first time you hear about the Mongolian Death Worm you assume it has to be a joke; it sounds too much like the monster from a B-movie or an especially dire comic book to be true. A five-foot (1.5m) long worm dwelling in the vast and inhospitable expanses of the Gobi Desert, the creature is known to Mongolia’s nomadic tribesmen as the allghoi khorkhoi (sometimes given as allerghoi horhai or olgoj chorchoj) or ‘intestine worm’ for its resemblance to a sort of living cow’s intestine. Apparently red in colour, sometimes described as having darker spots or blotches, and sometimes said to bear spiked projections at both ends, the khorkhoi is reputedly just as dangerous as its alarming appearance would suggest, squirting a lethal corrosive venom at its prey and capable of killing by discharging a deadly electric shock, even at a distance of some feet.

How do I get rid of a demon?

About.com Paranormal Phenomena, is asked:

Question: How do I get rid of a demon?

I am dealing with a demon and it has been controlling my life and will not go away. It wants to be in a "real" relationship with me. I have prayed to God to remove this entity, but this deemed useless. Though I am in a healing process, I am unsure if it would ever leave me. (The psychic said he will ask the Creator for help in order that he take the demon to the Source). I have tried to ask the psychic about the free will of the demons on this Earth, the possession of unaware humans by demons, etc., but he would not tell me much. I was hoping you would tell me if you know based on your paranormal research. - A Fan

Answer: Fan, my views on demons, demonology and exorcisms are not popular, even in the paranormal community, but I feel I must continue to speak out on the subject.

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Weird Science: Girl Sees Fine With Half a Brain

A 10-year-old girl from Germany has had quite a normal life despite the fact that she was born with only half her brain. Even more surprising, she has almost perfect vision in one of her eyes.

Now, scientists have figured out why. The girl's brain rewired itself — likely in the womb — so that it's able to process information from both the right and left fields of vision even though she is missing the right brain hemisphere, which failed to develop while she was in the womb.

The child's case is the only one of its kind known in the world, researchers said.

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Do Shamans Have More Sex?

Wouldn't it be great to be back in hunter-gatherer days? Back before the human spiritual quest had been corrupted by the "relentless onslaught of Western scientific materialism" and "dogmatic male- dominated religion"? Back when there were shamans—spiritual leaders—who could plug us into "the realm of the magical," show us "the reality behind apparent reality," and thus lead us to understand "how the universe really works"?

The quotes come from Leo Rutherford, a leading advocate of neo-shamanism, which is a subset of neo-paganism, which is a subset of New Age spirituality. But the basic idea—that there was a golden age of spiritual purity which we fallen moderns need to recover—goes beyond New Age circles. You see traces of it even in such serious scholars as Karen Armstrong, who wrote in A History of God that early Abrahamic religion had created a gulf "between humanity and the divine, rupturing the holistic vision of paganism."

As the author of the just-published book The Evolution of God, about the history of religion, I'm primed to do some debunking. But before I start, I want to stress two points: 1) I think it's great for people to find spiritual peace and sound moral orientation wherever they can, including neo-paganism; 2) I don't doubt that back before Western monotheism took shape there were earnest seekers of a "holistic vision" who selflessly sought to share that vision.

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Famous LIFE Photographers' Roswell Crash Revelation

Famed Life magazine photographer Allan Grant may have provided to us his greatest "picture" just before he died. The cameraman's portrait of the Roswell crash in 1947 illustrates that the event that summer was of urgent importance to the military. It also shows that the skyfallen object was in fact of a genuine "unknown."

With his passing last year, Allan Grant has been rightly elevated to legendary status in the world of journalistic photography. For decades Mr. Grant was a permanent member of the prestigious Life photographic staff. He captured on film some of the most recognizable images in history. Grant's legacy includes such memorable work as the first-ever public picture of Lee Harvey Oswald's wife Marina (taken after Lee's capture) to the haunting, last-ever picture of Marilyn Monroe. His work's "movie still" clarity, his many Life cover shots and his photographic studies were a gift left to all of us.

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Solar Eclipse Myths and Superstitions

From Ghost Stories Blog:

Today’s solar eclipse has many afraid of what it may bring. Will an evil force attack the world? Will a birth on this day cause defects for the infant? Will food become contaminated? We now have science to ease our fears…at least for those who choose to believe in it. Science or no science, people from all over the world still give power to the superstitions passed from one generation to another from so long ago. What did those before us believe solar eclipses were or how they effected their world?

The Chinese have ancient eclipse records dating over 4,000 years old. They believed dragons devoured the sun. Ancient Chinese astronomers recorded solar eclipses in chronicles and on “oracle” bones made from animal bones and tortoise shells. These bones were most likely used divination but the records were incomplete and the dating of the bone was unreliable.

A tradition in ancient China was to bang drums and pots to make loud noise to frighten the dragon away. The Incas also tried to frighten these monsters away by immersing themselves in water. Some countries still practice these traditions today.

In the Odyssey, Homer states that, “the Sun vanished out of heaven and an evil gloom covered all things about the hour of the midday meal.” Ancient Egyptians believed the Sun God Atum the eclipsed Sun passing the second contact of a total eclipse. Ra/Re is the eclipse at second contact appearing as the Diamond Effect. The Great Sphinx was considered “Lord of Sun Eclipses”. Hathor was the goddess of Sun Eclipses. The shadow bands was the God Aten of the Amarna Revolution.

Solar eclipses represent letting go of the old and embracing the new.

Modern Grave Robbing: Chicago Cemetery stripped for profit

Chicaago Sun-Times -- At one time, Burr Oak Cemetery was the only place black Chicagoans were sure they could bury their dead.

But on Wednesday, the historic African-American cemetery became the site of a horror story.

As many as 100 human bodies — someone’s grandfather, grandmother, father, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew cousin or friend — were removed from their graves and the plots resold.

The manager of Burr Oak Cemetery and three gravediggers were charged this morning, accused of scheming to dig up gravesites and resell them.

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Photographs of Orbs: Are they proof or just dust?

SeattleGhost.com talks about ghost photography, specifically of orbs.

By some, orbs in photographs are thought to be spirits or ghosts caught on camera. Is this actual phenomena, or simply dust or particles captured on film? Dust can appear on cameras, the light from the flash is captured in the dust particle and it appears in the photograph as an orb. Dust, especially in an old building or abandoned location, is most likely to be present and can show up in photographs. For those who believe that orbs signify a paranormal occurrence the following is described; The orb has a nucleus and ridges, a glowing edge, and an almost solid quality about it.
What is interesting for us, as ghost tour guides, is when multiple cameras get the same orbs in the same location. Also, there are places we have taken people to where photos taken on different days, in different weather, and day or night, show the exact same orb in the same location. (If you take a picture on the tour and want to send it to us, that would be fantastic: marketghosttour@gmail.com) That makes us really wonder about whether orbs are actual phenomena.

Wikipedia offers an article about orbs. This is the quote about paranormal activity. "In addition to optical effects, orbs have also been considered in some circumstances to represent various kinds of paranormal phenomena such as light beings, aliens, extraterrestrial spacecraft, ghosts, or some type of elemental being. While there are scientific explanations for the appearance or orbs in some photographs, existing scientific theories fail to explain all such appearances. An example is the consistent appearance or orbs and other moving light phenomena in photographs at certain locations such as the ECETI ranch in southern Washington state near Mt. Adams. Orbs consistently appear in large quantities in photographs here regardless of the type of camera used, regardless of the time of day or weather conditions. The preponderance of orbs at such locations exceed current scientific explanations and remain unexplained phenomena."
I found a website that de-bunks orbs and I like the straight forward writing on it: www.prairieghosts.com
I also found a website that explains orbs as energy or spirit guides: www.paranormal.lovetoknow.com

Ancient Aliens: Aliens are Nothing New

Double Eagle Restaurant Old Mesilla, NM

The 150 year-old building that houses the Double Eagle Restaurant has an illustrious history. It was where the treaty that ended the Mexican-American war in 1848 was signed, where Billy the Kid was incarcerated, and where the lovers Armando and Inez lived, died, and haunt to this day.

The legend says that the wealthy Maes or Maese family came to Mesilla during the Mexican-American War from Santa Fe. The Senora, Carlota, of the household had great plans for the family. Easily the richest family in the area, she wanted to use her eldest son, Armando, as a pawn to increase the family’s name, wealth and connections. She had already promised his hand to an aristocratic family in Mexico City. Armando, however, did not have the same lust for power as his mother. In fact, he was the type who let his heart lead him, and it did, straight into the servant Inez’s arms. It is written that Inez was a beautiful girl, with long dark hair that reached to her waist. They tried to keep their love a secret, but were not very good at hiding it. Soon, the servants were aware of the budding romance. Knowing the Senora’s lofty plans for her son and feeling no real love for her snobbish attitude, they worked at keeping it a secret. As the story of the lovers leaked out into the town, the other inhabitants of Mesilla also worked at protecting the young lovers and keeping the tryst from the Senora’s eyes.

Birdcage Theatre Tombstone, Arizona from Ghost Adventures

The Birdcage Theatre in Tombstone, Arizona. The guys from Ghost Adventures locked themselves in overnight. This is one portion of the show that aired

La Llarona

The most famous legend of the Southwest is that of La Llorona, which appears to be dominantly of southern New Mexico origin.Encounter with La Llorona A Socorro man and wife remember the summer of 1948 very well. It was July and the weather had become extremely hot. To escape the heat, they decided to camp a few days under the shade of the bosque along the Rio Grande with their neighbors. Two families, consisting of four adults and four children, camped along the river in a thick stand of cottonwood trees near Luis Lopez.On the first day, they fished, swam the river and played a variety of games.

By sundown, they had a large campfire burning and cooked hot dogs and a couple of catfish. It was a fun time for all. Later in the evening, the four children disappeared into the darkness of the bosque playing hide and seek amid the trees — with a stern warning from the parents to not go near the river.As the adults sat around the campfire, they suddenly noticed it was deathly quiet. The giggles and screams of their playful children went silent.

The Lodge at Cloudcroft and the story of Rebecca

This is a story about Rebecca the friendly ghost that haunts the Lodge at Cloudcroft, NM. The story is from Lost Destinations.

REBECCA OF THE CLOUDCROFT LODGE:
She wanders around the elegant old Lodge nightly, her flaming-red curls tumbling over piercing sky-blue eyes as she glides soundlessly through the hallways and staircases. The thing is, she's dead. Yes, the beautiful young woman that roams these halls is thought to be the flirtatious spirit of "Rebecca"... a chambermaid who reputedly disappeared from the premises sometime in the 1920's/30's. They claim her restless wraith has made her presence known here ever since...

The Lodge was originally constructed in the rustic mountain community of Cloudcroft, New Mexico in 1899, by the Alamagordo & Sacramento Mountain Railway. It was owned and operated by the railroad and intended to be a resort for workers who were the by-product of the railway's search for timber. It was immediately successful- it's breathtaking location in the lushly wooded Sacramento Mountains offered a welcome cool retreat to literally thousands of heat-punished Texans (New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Arizona were not yet states at this time). An article published in the Albuquerque Journal-Democrat near the completion of the Lodge in 1899 stated, "This beautiful building will be known as Cloudcroft Lodge and it's interior will be furnished with a lavish hand, yet in keeping with the character of the place. Fireplaces, with wide, hungry mouths, will sparkle, crackle and dart forth welcome tongues of flame to hundreds of merry guests, who will find new pleasure in life during the long, sultry summer." In 1908 the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad System- the Lodge's new owner- advertised that the hotel, restaurant, dancing pavilion, tennis court, golf links, bowling alley, billiard parlor, burro trips and children's playground were accessible for "weekend rates of $3.00 round trip," and that Lodge rates were "$12.50 and up" per week. On June 13th 1909, a raging fire blazed through the Lodge, utterly destroying it. By 1911, the Lodge was completely rebuilt and reopened on it's current site, and it's appearance has remained virtually the same since then- a historic, timeless gem suspended in time. Over the long, distinguished history of the Lodge, it has played host to numerous famous folk- including Pancho Villa, Gilbert Roland, Judy Garland and Clark Gable (in fact the last two carved their names into the wall of the Lodge's Tower, where they can still be seen to this day). But by far the most infamous guest of all at the Lodge is the specter of Rebecca.

Ghost Hunters living up to the spirit of pop-culture's best

About halfway through a rerun last week of the SCI FI Channel’s “Ghost Hunters," paranormal investigator Grant Wilson began the oft-repeated sentence, “E.V.P. stands for electronic voice phenomenon …”

As Wilson read off the definition on camera, myself and a few friends watching the show from my living room finished the line with him, following the cadence and rhythm as closely as we might if a red ball had been bouncing across words on the screen.

That’s when it struck me that I was witnessing something pretty rare, like the pink albino dolphin or a coherent Britney Spears. Wilson and partner Jason Hawes - along with their team, The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) featuring Kris Williams, Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango - have become more than just stars on a popular show that draws about 2.8 million viewers a week. It doesn’t matter if you believe in ghosts or not because the stars of the four-year-old are pop-culture prodigies.

Since the 2004 premiere, “Ghost Hunters” has re-invented the reality-TV genre by focusing on a topic outside of most of our realities. It’s not about contests on an island, weird foods, big families, small families, lousy roomies, bachelor’s harems and hot tubs, racing, singing, dancing, or working for, and being eliminated by, a perpetually angry boss. But it is about a group of friends that started a hobby with the intent to help people as well as get answers about the afterlife.

Disney allows 4 lucky guests a chance to sleep at the Haunted Mansion

ANAHEIM -- Four brave souls are doing what no man has done before: spend the night at Disneyland's "Haunted Mansion."

Disney is allowing the guests to "sleep" inside the "Haunted Mansion" for the first time in the park's 40 year history. But, it's unclear if any "sleeping" will actually be done inside the chamber that has no windows and no doors.

It's all part of a contest put on by classic rock radio station KLOS 95.5 and also marks the 40th anniversary of the spooky ride at the "Happiest Place on Earth."

Beds will be set up in an elevator at the entrance of the ride, according to KLOS officials That's the chamber that visitors first enter in the attraction. The room stretches as guests descend to the bottom where they walk to the "doom" buggies. The narrator announces: "This chamber has no windows, and no doors --which offers you this chilling challenge: to find a way out!"

When Yoga Masters Go Bad

Mysterious UFO Crashes Into the Ottawa River Monday Night

Dozens of residents of Canada’s capital city, Ottawa Ontario and nearby Gatineau, Que., witnessed an object streak across the night sky at about 10pm local time Monday night and crash into the Ottawa River with a “thunderous boom.”

The object had lights on it and appeared to change course several times, like a small plane struggling to stay airborn, before it hit the water.

It was such a sight that emergency rescue and search crews in the area sprung into action and began searching the area using sophisticated sonars and underwater cameras to try and figure out what the object was. Even helicopters from the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) in nearby Trenton took part. On Tuesday at 1:30pm, they discovered an object about 9 meters (30 feet) below the surface, but because of currents and nearby rapids, sending divers down would be extremely dangerous since they would be instantly swept away by the currents.

The mystery? Authorities and residents have no idea what this object laying at the bottom of the river is. There are no planes missing from the area, no other aircraft like helicopters, etc. are missing. There is no derbis, no oil slick and even space agencies that were contacted said nothing disappeared from orbit.

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Famous Finnis 'Ghost' Tree felled, Villagers Fear Malevolent Spirit Released

FINNIS'S famous haunted tree has finally been felled and the whereabouts of the evil spirit it was claimed it imprisoned is now unknown.

Villagers, generations of whom are said to have stood watch over the tree and its captive spirit, were shocked to find the lightning-blasted sycamore shell had gone, victim of another, recent, storm.

It was almost a year ago to the day, on July 22 last year, that The Leader published the ghostly tale of the tree and the malicious spirit said to be literally bottled up within it.

The local legend has such power that one relative newcomer, set to move away from the area in coming weeks, said she was glad to be leaving now that the tree had been lost.

Read More [via Phantoms & Monsters]

Ghost Tours in Seattle

There are three ghost tours in Seattle. Market Ghost Tours started over 20 years ago on Halloween night, it is now offered every weekend of the year. Seattle is not unique in its many stories of ghosts, every city shares stories. Seattle is unique however in that it went through major urban renewal for 30 years after the Great fire in 1889. Some believe that it is the movement of earth, structures and graves that create Seattle’s many stories.

Mercedes Yeager has been a tour guide in Seattle for over ten years. The Market Ghost Tours were started by her father (the Mayor of Pike Place Market) and Sheila Lyon (Market Magic Shop). Since the age of 7, her family has worked in the Market. She has researched each ghost story, relying heavily on Municipal Archives, photographs and newspaper accounts of past events.

Along with Mercedes, there are several tour guides who each offer a unique way of looking at the Market. The tour is not scripted and each guide lends their own insights independently to the events described in the Market. A ghost hunter, a medium, two lawyers, an actress, and two ministers - all are tour guides with the ghost tour. So we can tell you ghost stories, perform a marriage and draw up a contract. It makes for a very interesting evening, whomever you end up with.

Our tour guides are standing at the Gum Wall for every tour, whether or not we have reservations, so if you walk up you will find us there. (Please arrive 10 minutes early).

Each ghost tour company in Seattle offers very different tours, so if you are ghost tour fan, you can take all three. Michele and I learned, while traveling in the South this March, that Seattle actually has far less ghost tour companies than other cities. Savannah blew our minds with how many tours offer ghost stories - and we went on as many as possible. We went on tours in Savannah, St Augustine and New Orleans - all high on the list of haunted places in the US. Yes, we learned a lot, especially how to run a great tour company.

Expect us, every tour, at the Gum Wall.

Six arrested at old NJ hospital while ghost hunting

CEDAR GROVE -- A mother and her teenage son were among six people arrested early today "hunting for ghosts" amid the abandoned cluster of century-old brick wards at the former Essex County Hospital Center, officials said."There are no ghosts, goblins or boogie men at the old hospital complex," Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said after his officers and Cedar Grove police made the arrests.

Old Essex County Hospital Center in Cedar Grove is being demolished as part of the County Executive's initiative to redevelop the former hospital complex property into a 90-acre park.

The patrols came upon two empty vehicles parked on Upland Way on the sprawling campus, whose brick structures are being demolished to make way for a 90-acre passive park.

As they combed the dark grounds shortly after 1 a.m., they spotted a trespasser, dressed entirely in black, running through the adjacent woods, officials said. In minutes, four men and two women -- all from Hudson County -- were arrested.

The six said they were ghost-hunting, officials said.

"That's what they told the officers," Fontoura said. "People find weird ways to get kicks. ... I hope people will come to their senses. The only thing you're going to find is a uniformed cop, and that's not a ghost."

The suspects were identified as David Cerezo, 39, of Weehawken; Jose Marti, 25, of Union City; Michael Lyngholm, 18; Antoniett Degirolamo, 39, her son, Brian Degirolamo, 18; and his friend, Gina Ambrosio, 18, all of Secaucus, officials said.

They were charged with defiant trespass, criminal trespass and obstruction of the administration of law and issued summons to appear in municipal court in Cedar Grove.

The arrests are the latest in a string of trespassing cases on the grounds of the former psychiatric hospital.

Earlier this month, five people from Paterson were arrested on the campus. In May, three Perth Amboy teenagers were charged in connection with a break-in that led to a quickly extinguished fire there.

Today, Armando said trespassers, who will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, can get injured in the darkened buildings and even fall through a floor.

"They're placing themselves in danger," he said.

In early 2007, Essex County moved the last of the patients out of the sprawling, 16-building complex in Cedar Grove to a new $83 million hospital less than a mile away.

The locale had been the scene of episodes of "The Sopranos" and, shortly after the closing, the filming of the movie "Choke," a tale of a con artist son who supports his hospitalized mother by going to restaurants and pretending to choke on the food, getting sympathetic patrons who "save" him to send him money.

Many of the curious are confusing the hospital's old administration and ward buildings with the sanitarium popularized in Weird New Jersey, officials said. That imposing building, demolished years ago, was further up the hill in Caldwell.

New Jersey Real-Time News

Zombie Attack at Hierakonpolis

Archaeology.org has a great tongue-in-cheek article about an archaeological discovery of ancient zombie attacks in Egypt. A great read:

Hierakonpolis is a site famous for its many "firsts," so many, in fact, it is not easy to keep track of them all. So we are grateful(?) to Max Brooks for bringing to our attention that the site can also claim the title to the earliest recorded zombie attack in history. In his magisterial tome, The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), he informs us that in 1892, a British dig at Hierakonpolis unearthed a nondescript tomb containing a partially decomposed body, whose brain had been infected with the virus (Solanum) that turns people into zombies. In addition, thousands of scratch marks adorned every surface of the tomb, as if the corpse had tried to claw its way out! [Editor's note: click here for an interview with Max Brooks and a timeline of archaeologically documented zombie outbreaks.]

With the records available to us (Mr. Brooks obviously has access to others), the British dig can be identified as that conducted by Mssr. Somers Clarke and J.J. Tylor, during which they cleared the decorated tombs of Ny-ankh-pepy (Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom) and Horemkhawef (Second Intermediate Period) on Old Kingdom hill. The notes of Tylor are lost to us, but Clarke's are preserved in the Griffith Institute, Oxford. Unusually cryptic in his discussion, he makes no mention of such a momentous discovery. Thus we can only infer that the tomb in question is one of those in the adjoining courtyard, and just a short distance from the underground chamber we examined in 2006 (see Hierakonpolis 2006: Adventures Underground). The tomb in question may indeed be the one we use a cozy and sheltered spot to take our lunch while working on the Fort, as its plastered, but unpainted walls are indeed covered with innumerable scratch marks that defy photography. If is the case, we might quibble--purely for the sake of scientific accuracy--that the 3000 B.C. date ascribed for the attack should be revised downward to the Old Kingdom, but its premier historical position remains unaffected. [Editor's note: this proposed re-dating, if accepted, necessitates a revision of Brooks's zombie-attack timeline.]

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