Blair Witch 3 on the way?

The Blair Witch Project - 10th Anniversary Reunion Q&A
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In 1999, The Blair Witch Project set box offices alight, becoming one of the most profitable movies in cinema history.

Costing less than $100,000 (£60,000) to make and presented in documentary style, the low-budget horror flick went on to make $250m worldwide, thanks to an early online viral marketing campaign and good old-fashioned word-of-mouth.

Ten years on, the film - which recounts the disappearance of three young film-makers setting out to investigate a local witch legend in rural Maryland - still has the power to shock.

"We had this very basic and very primal foundation, which was fear of the woods, I mean, who isn't afraid of the woods at night?," says Eduardo Sanchez who, along with Daniel Myrick, wrote and directed Blair Witch.

He continues: "To me, the woods at night is a place where humans maybe used to feel at home there, but I think that now we fear them.

"It transmits not just culturally, but to people of all ages."

[Read More via DreadCentral.com]

Professor working on practical cloaking device

'Invisibility' two years away from University of St Andrews on Vimeo.

(PhysOrg.com) -- A physicist at the University of St Andrews hopes to make major advances in the 'tantalising' field of invisibility in the next two years. Professor Ulf Leonhardt, who cites the Invisible Woman and Harry Potter as sources of inspiration, is working on a blueprint for a practical cloaking device that could even protect coastlines from water waves.

Thanks to funding from the Royal Society's Theo Murphy Blue Skies award, Professor Leonhardt will be able to pursue full time for the next two years 'turning science fiction into a reality'.

The researcher, who describes his invisibility work as 'geometry, light and a wee bit of magic', is inspired by optical illusions, Arabia and the imagination of his children.

He said, "The idea of invisibility has fascinated people for millennia, inspiring many myths, novels and films. In 2006, I began my involvement in turning invisibility from fiction into science, and, over the next two years, I plan to develop ideas that may turn invisibility from frontier science into applicable technology."

"Technology is the modern form of magic; imagine your ancestor being transported into the future - they never thought it possible that people could fly or talk to others in different parts of the world. Fantastical, magical things are possible in principle; the question is whether you can turn them into practice, and that depends largely on ideas, which are even more essential than the development of new materials."

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Dark energy may not actually exist

Dark energy - the mysterious substance thought to make up three-quarters of the universe - may not actually exist, claims new research.

The concept of dark energy was created by cosmologists to fit Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity into reality after modern space telescopes discovered that the Universe was not behaving as it should.

According to Einstein's work, the speed at which the Universe is expanding following the Big Bang should be slower than it actually is and this unexplained anomaly threatened to turn the whole theory upside down. In order to reconcile this problem the concept of dark energy was invented.

But now Blake Temple and Joel Smoller, mathematicians at the University of California and the University of Michigan, believe they have come up with a whole new set of calculations that allow for all the sums to add up without the need for this controversial substance.

The research could change the way astronomers view the composition of our Universe.

The Standard Model of Cosmology, which describes the evolution of the Universe, begins with the Big Bang. Astronomers have recently observed that the galaxies are accelerating as they move away from each other, and cosmologists have sought to explain this unexpected acceleration by introducing the concept of dark energy, which permeates space, propels matter, and accounts for nearly 75 percent of the mass-energy in our Universe.

The new research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, is likely to be equally controversial as the work it purports to challenge especially as it relies on our galaxy being at the centre of the Universe - a concept that has been generally disregarded in modern science.

Dr Malcom Fairbairn, particle cosmologist at King's College London, said: "Ever since the concept of dark energy was first mentioned people have been trying to explain it or explain it away. It is a mystery and an inconvenience.

"This is one attempt at it. Whether it is right only time will tell."

[Telegraph.co.uk]

Book Review: Ghosts on the Rails

Ghost trains. Phantom travellers. Poltergeists and demons. Perhaps humans haven’t been the only ones riding the rails way down the line.

Nova Scotia author Jay Underwood tries to unravel the truth behind such spooky sightings in Ghost Tracks: Surprising Stories of the Supernatural on Rails.

The Elmsdale writer delves into a range of spectral stories — everything from a grey lady haunting Inverness County tracks to dreams of a white horse becoming a harbinger of death on the Merigomish line.

Along the way, he offers earthly explanations for the lore’s possibly supernatural origins.

But Underwood, 51, is certainly open to the latter, having once seen what he believes was a ghost.

It happened when he was about 14, living with his family at a Royal Air Force base in Abingdon, England.

"My bed looked out through the bedroom door and down the hallway toward my sister’s room," he recalls. "I woke up late one night and saw a little girl standing in the hallway and I thought, well, it’s my sister Sara because she sleep-walked, so I got up and I went to put her back to bed, put my arms around her and they went right through.

"So I locked myself in the lavatory and spent the rest of the night there. . . . Afterwards I thought that probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do because a ghost could probably walk through a locked door anyway. But anyway, that was the sum total of it. It seemed quite real at the time."

[Read More via Phantoms & Monsters]

New Orleans voodoo queen Marie Laveau earns respect

August is a mixed blessing for a New Orleans visitor.

On one hand, hotel rates are cheap and you can get into some of the city’s greatest restaurants, like the superb Irene’s on St. Philip Street, with no reservation and no waiting in line.

On the other is the weather. For someone not accustomed to the South’s tropics, the blanketing heat and humidity can be devastating. Even for longtime residents, August is a month to get out of south Louisiana.

Sometimes it was easy to imagine that we were in a Central American rainforest. Skies that were hot, open and blue in the early morning soon became smeared with dismal, low-hanging clouds. Usually by noon, it was pouring. The rain would linger like a bad hangover, sputtering into the evening.

From the fourth-floor balcony of our room on Toulouse Street, I watched one of the late-morning showers, fascinated by the image of the rain falling in one direction as steam rose in the other.

The rain had abated when we stood in front of voodoo queen Marie Laveau’s tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, but the sky was a threatening slate-gray, the color of some of the markers in the city’s oldest burying ground.

Early on, Orleanians learned to build tombs above ground, our guide was telling us. The practice was dictated by high-water tables and frequent storms, which tended to wash coffins out of the gumbo mud.

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Ghost story: The Columbian House

Built in 1828, John Pray constructed a house to serve as a trading post, tavern and hostel located in Waterville, OH. It became the centerpiece of the village. The place where locals and travelers alike escaped from the harsh Summers and Winters. Constructed from black walnut beams, it quickly transformed in to a third-story structure containing a prison cell (for transit prisoners), a dressmaker's shop and doctor. Like many historic buildings, this one switched hands many times over the years, becoming a restaurant between 1943 and 1993.

Despite its grandeur, many townsfolk lobbied for its destruction, believing evil lurked within. It was this evil that lured the house's most famous guest, Henry Ford in 1927, to host his Halloween party there. Legends ooze out of its ever orifice. One tale describes a sheepherder who in the 1840s checked in to the Columbian House for the night and vanished. It wasn't until 30 years later the truth was revealed. On his deathbed, a farmer confessed to kidnapping and murdering the sheepherder. He relayed the location of the remains, solving the mystery. Some think this death began the house's long relationship with ghostly inhabitants.

Another story tells of a young woman in the 1880s who devised a plan to murder her cruel stepfather. She grabbed a pair of sewing shears, held them above her head and stabbed the one she believed to be her stepfather. Unfortunately, her stepbrother was the one who died from her rage. Her stepfather drug her into a room nearby, locking her inside. She remained there imprisoned for a period of time. Some think she still remains there seeking justice that's rightful hers.

Other stories talk of a drunk who was locked in the jailroom to sober up. He pounded on the door on a nightly basis seeking medical assistance until one day he was found dead in that locked room. Today, the door refuses to stay closed and if it does, sounds of banging can be heard. An attendee of an event held in the ballroom was murdered and left on a third-floor closet. It's reported you can hear music, clinking glasses and conversation in that ballroom. A young girl dubbed "Jenny" by the restaurant staff was believed to have died during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic. She's often seen waling in the bar room and playing pranks on employees.

I believe the Columbian House has since closed waiting for someone new to rescue it from destruction. Until then, you can enjoy a 1/12-inch miniature built by Clayton "Bud" and Jean Ziegler and is displayed at the Hancock Historical Museum. The model is fully detailed down to dentures on a nightstand, a mouse in a trap and cobwebs in some of the rooms.

[Ghost Stories]

Channel Nine Australia attempted to 'hypnotise viewers'

The communications watchdog has found Channel Nine breached the TV Code of Practice in a stunt that aimed to hypnotise viewers.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has found that the segment broadcast on the program, A Current Affair, in September last year was designed to induce a hypnotic state in viewers.

During the segment, entitled Think Slim, references were made by the program's host, the reporter and a hypnotherapist to the fact that the story would feature a demonstration of a hypnotic process designed to help with weight loss.

The segment culminated with a brief hypnotherapy session that lasted for about one minute.

The Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice (2004) states that a licensee may not broadcast a program designed to induce a hypnotic state in viewers.

The watchdog also found that Channel Nine breached the code by failing to provide a substantive written response to someone who complained about the segment.

[ABC News Austrailia]

"Paranormal Activity" this generation's "Exorcist'?

A small but growing buzz about what is said to be the next great horror film has been floating around hard-core horror fan sites on the Internet. Due to an overwhelmingly terrified audience that was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at this brand new horror film at festivals across the US, news has spread that “Paranormal Activity” will be this generation’s “Exorcist”.

Dreamworks quickly picked up first time director Oren Peli’s film Paranormal Activity in 2007 for distribution on DVD. Dreamworks also acquired the remake rights to the film with plans to re-shoot the movie and deliver it to a theater near you.

The film is a paranormal suspense horror shot to look like real footage. This is not quite like your “Blair Witch Project” with three kids running around with supposed real documentary footage, this is more like something you would see on Youtube, or on one of those paranormal TV shows like “Ghost Adventures”.

The film has only two stars that are documenting their haunted house through the use of surveillance cameras in hopes of catching something on tape. Now I should mention that also unlike the “Blair Witch Project” this film has not been marketed to make people believe that the film is real (at least not yet). But just remember that you heard it here first, “this is not real ghost footage”.

Originally released at the Screamfest Film Festival on October 14, 2007, with a second showing at Slamdance Film Festival on January 18, 2008. In November of 2008 Variety reported that Paramount would distribute the film in 2009 but now it is looking more and more like a 2010 release as the year draws to an end. In a strange twist Japan's Presidio Corp. won a bidding war for the film and the rights to make Japanese laguage sequels.

All of these changes have left fans a little confused, and very anxious for word on the final release date so much so that they have even started a petition for the film to be released. Hopefully the film will live up to the hype and give fans what they've waited years for, a real scary movie.

[Examiner.com]

UFO disclosure: America starts the process

The Sacramento UFO Examiner as well as many others have reported on the fact that UFO and ET disclosure is not only your business but is imperative to have the truth disclosed. It is your business and National security have nothing to do with it. Enough is enough. Lets get on with it.

Beneath the fabric of American society a secret exists, a very big secret.

Only a relative few are aware of this secret. This secret has the power to change the face of human civilization forever and therefore great steps are taken to keep as few people from knowing about it. However the keepers of this information realize that they can’t keep its details hidden from the public forever.
I have been investigating this topic for many years now and have utilized what I believe totally novel methods for getting to the bottom of this. I don’t profess to know the whole story by any means but I think I have gained some understanding of the basics. Here they are:

• Earth lies within the territory and sphere of influence of an alien civilization which is based in Andromeda Galaxy.
• These aliens enter earth’s atmosphere from time to time and have done so, on occasion, for thousands of years.
• Our civilization has been subtly influenced by these roughly humanoid beings and we are probably some form of offshoot of them. They have influenced our moral values through religion and helped our forefathers embark on the road to technological society.
• There are other civilizations and planets containing life in the Milky Way as well.
• The aliens are referred to as ‘Axthadans’.

Many ask the question: Why is this information so secret?

The answer is obvious. Human beings and in particular Western Europeans are used to being the masters of their domain. The news that we are a small, rather insignificant group located within the realms of another much more advanced civilization will be ego-crushing for humanity as whole and particularly devastating for the Western Nations.

[Read More]