Haunted History of Halloween

The first great balloon hoax

Guardian.co.uk-- The Heene family aren't the first to come up with a balloon-based con: Edgar Allan Poe did it in 1844, writes Aida Edemariam

Quite why the Heene family of Colorado thought pretending to lose their son in the basket of an airborne helium balloon was a good idea is unclear. But as they contemplate possible criminal records for conspiracy and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, they can at least take comfort in the fact that they have distinguished company when it comes to balloon hoaxes.

On 13 April 1844, the New York Sun published a breathless account of a great step for mankind: "The air, as well as the earth and the ocean, has been subdued by science, and will become a common and convenient highway for mankind . . . The Atlantic has been actually crossed in a balloon . . . and in the inconceivably brief period of 75 hours from shore to shore!"

In a precursor of the reality shows to which the Heenes apparently aspired, the Sun ran excerpts from the faked diary of the Victoria's navigators, which ended just after their "sighting" off the coast of South Carolina. (In reality, the Atlantic would not be crossed by a balloon until 75 years later, when the rather less romantically named British dirigible R-34 landed in New York City after an 108-hour flight.)

‘Coast to Coast’ transforms into ‘Ghost to Ghost’

Coast to Coast AM-- Once a year on Halloween Coast to Coast AM transforms into Ghost to Ghost AM and invites callers to share their personal ghost stories.

Coast to Coast AM airs on more than 500 stations in the U.S., as well as Canada, Mexico and Guam, and is heard by nearly three million weekly listeners. Broadcasting live Monday thru Sunday from 1 – 5 a.m. ET, it is the most listened to overnight radio program in North America.

George Noory, host of the nationally syndicated program, Coast to Coast AM, says if he weren’t a national radio talk show host he’d be in politics. Heard by millions of listeners, Coast To Coast AM airs on approximately 525 stations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Guam.

While hosting The Nighthawk, a wildly successful, late-night program on KTRS in St. Louis, Noory was recruited by Premiere Radio Networks to guest host on Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell. He became the permanent host of the phenomenally successful over-night program on January 1, 2003, following Bell’s retirement. Since then, Noory’s audience has continued to grow.

UFO Clip Many clear sightings from a space shuttle

Treasure hunters seek Lake Superior's 'Holy Grail'

TheStar.com-- Ninety years after their disappearance in a Lake Superior blizzard, shipwreck hunters are trying to find two French warships that vanished without a trace, taking two Canadian Great Lakes captains and 78 French sailors with them.

The wrecks of the Inkerman and Cerisoles, newly built at the Canada Car foundry in what was then called Fort William, Ont., caused the greatest single loss of life in a marine accident on Lake Superior.

No one knows what happened to the 50-metre ships and their crews after they left Thunder Bay in late November 1918.

Legendary shipwreck hunter Tom Farnquist has taken up the challenge of finding the two minesweepers, the last warships to be lost on the Great Lakes. He wants to answer one of the great mysteries of the Great Lakes: how could two warships built for the Atlantic Ocean simply disappear?

Albinos butchered for 'magic potions' in Tanzania

BBC News-- One year ago, Mariam Staford Bandaba, an albino woman living in Tanzania, was viciously attacked by a machete-wielding gang who tried to kill her and sell her remains for witchcraft.

She escaped with her life, but only just.

The attackers chopped off one of her hands - the other had to be amputated in hospital, where she spent weeks recovering from her horrific injuries.

Traumatised, Ms Staford Bandaba then took the brave step of identifying her attackers.

She was taken to a safe-house where she lived under government protection.

But the government recently decided she could no longer live there, leaving the 28-year-old fearing for her safety.