Anti UFO Debunking

You do not have to be an avid believer in UFOs to know of Stanford Friedman.He is often on the History Channel and other documentaries on the subject.Hr is long associated with the field having worked with with some of the earliest and most influential ufologists such as J. Allen Hynek and James E. McDonald.He is a frequent speaker at international events.

In a speech in Denver recently, at MUFON's 40th Annual International UFO Symposium. His topic at the conference is the 'Pseudoscience of Anti-Ufology.' There are a number of people who masquerade as scientific investigators of the UFO phenomenon, he said, but these debunkers don't actually investigate, nor are they scientific. He detailed the "four basic rules of debunkers:
* What the public doesn't know, I'm not going to tell.
* Don't bother me with the facts, my mind is made up.
* If you can't attack the data, attack the people, it's easier.
*
Do your research by proclamation-- investigation is too much trouble, and nobody will notice the difference anyway.


Pictured is Shelly's UFO in a glass tile pendant"UFOlogy" from the paranormal line of handmade jewelry at
http://nursesnaturally.etsy.com

Grandmother Bites Alien

No it is not an article in National Inquirer or other tabloid press.

It comes from Raleigh NC.Directly from the living room of the grandmother in question.A long time believer, she had never actually seen an Alien or UFO.However in a search for pictures to use for a jewelry project right on Etsy was an acknowledged expert baker Lori at
http://lorisplace.etsy.com.From this shop were some unusually decorated Cookie Favors of Aliens and Spaceship.

When asked to use the picture Lori agreed and so it was. Later,the tile was used on a custom bracelet.When shown the picture and offered a tile,Lori sent a sample of the Aliens and Spaceships .Thus the Grandmother happily bit into and rapidly consumed an adorable and tasty Alien."It felt a bit Canabillistic."she said "and they were almost too cute to eat,but I enjoyed each bite."

So it was the Grandmother bit an Alien and was glad she had.

The picture is of the items consumed.Bet you would love them too.

ALIEN - UFO - Spaceship - DECORATED COOKIE FAVORS - 1 Dozen
lorisplace
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_list_1&listing_id=27876462&ga_search_query=Aliens&ga_search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_6697671

Vintage Quacks And Cures

Those of you interested in health and medicine will probably find this slide show from London's Wellcome Library interesting.
"In the audio slideshow Quacks and Cures, vintage images from London's Wellcome Library are shown, which depict strange remedies and products that were sold to the public for their medical ailments."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8129447.stm

A Really Spooky Story Of Lady Howard

From a listing on About Paranormal this was #4 of the top ten favorite ghost stories but the spookiest to me....

4. Lady Howard

"This famous phantasm has been spotted in Devonshire, England for years. Traveling in a phantom coach made from the human bones of her four late husbands, Lady Howard journeys to Oakhampton Castle with a skeleton dog to pick one blade of grass each night.

Legend holds that she must do this until every blade of grass is picked, that is, until the end of time. Guess that’s what you get for murdering all four of your husbands."
http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/atplay/package.jsp?name=atplay/pm/realghosts4

Ouija Board Warned Of Death

I am not a believer as many of you know in the use of the ouija board.It is not a "game." However these people may not agree.

http://from-the-shadows.blogspot.com/2009/07/warning-fro.html True tales of the Paranormal by Jason Offutt

A young man and his girlfriend had been playing around several weeks with a ouija board.They had contacted a spirit who gave him some information about himself.They had agreed not to use it alone but the girlfriend did.She became quite upset on night telling her boyfriend when he came home that the spirit waned that his car would break down on a certain day and he would be killed because the jack he borrowed would not hold the car.

As it turned out the car did break down at the specified time.He indeed borrowed a jack from his brother in law.Remembering the warning.he waited two days and the two fixed the car without incident....He has never touched a ouija board since although he and the girlfriend credit the spirit for saving his life...

The picture is not of my ouija board earrings which was considered..but one of my favorites called "Seance" from the photos at Global Paranormal Network..

Award Winning Crop Circles

The small town of Wilbur which is so small there are no traffic lights has claim to a large number of visitors because of numerous crop circles appearing in the area.Most recenyly at the Haden farm

A Chamber of Commerce Award in Wilbur Oklahoma reads"

"Thanks to the Aliens who made Wilbur their Vacation Destination!" award of appreciation.

"Wilbur, a no-stoplight wheat town (population 960) 65 miles west of Spokane, is on the way to becoming the Northwest's hub for the extraterrestrial-obsessed. For the second time in three years, crop circles have mysteriously appeared in wheat fields, generating curiosity, jokes and coffee-shop debates of the "Big Question."

The most recent appeared in late July on a remote hillside of the Haden family wheat farm just south of Wilbur. Five rings of declining size, plus one circle, were crushed into ripe wheat. "This is the one where they put the spaceship landing pad down," said Keith Haden, pointing to the circle, and struggling to keep a straight face.

His friendly skepticism is the prevailing local mood. Depending on your belief in the supernatural, crop circles are either a mysterious sign of extraterrestrial contact or a clever hoax that has risen in popularity since the mid-1970s. Southern England has been ground zero, but at least three formations have been reported in Eastern Washington farmland since 1993.

Before Haden's formation, the most recent and celebrated was an elaborate set of nine circles found in June 2007, amid 120 acres of green wheat northwest of Wilbur. That sighting was widely reported, and the Llewellyn farm was soon inundated with out-of-state tourists in saris and tinfoil-covered helmets, scientific researchers from the University of Washington and — in at least one case — a group of naked dancers. Billy Burger, a local institution, put an Alien Burger and Invasion Fries on the menu.

"I thought the less you said, the more it would go away," said Jim Llewellyn, owner of the farm. "But the next thing, there were planes flying overhead and people all over the place. It spread like wildfire."...



Craig Haden, owner of the land where the most recent crop circle was found, hoped to avoid such a scene. After seeing the circles while inspecting his land on a motorcycle, he told his son, Braidy. They found no sign of tracks through the ripe wheat or footprints between the rows.

"It makes you think," said Braidy Haden, a 23-year-old wearing striped overalls and sporting a soul patch...."

Full article:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009651729_cropcircle13m.html

Swine Flu Shot Safety?

This was a recent publication in England which is rather frightening...
"Prevention: Is the swine flu jab safe?

A warning that the new swine flu jab is linked to a deadly nerve disease has been sent by the Government to senior neurologists in a confidential letter.

The letter from the Health Protection Agency, the official body that oversees public health, has been leaked to The Mail on Sunday,
Leaked letter reveals concern of neurologists over 25 deaths in America

By Jo Macfarlane

It tells the neurologists that they must be alert for an increase in a brain disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which could be triggered by the vaccine.

GBS attacks the lining of the nerves, causing paralysis and inability to breathe, and can be fatal.

The letter, sent to about 600 neurologists on July 29, is the first sign that there is concern at the highest levels that the vaccine itself could cause serious complications.

It refers to the use of a similar swine flu vaccine in the United States in 1976 when:

* More people died from the vaccination than from swine flu.
* 500 cases of GBS were detected.
* The vaccine may have increased the risk of contracting GBS by eight times.
* The vaccine was withdrawn after just ten weeks when the link with GBS became clear.
* The US Government was forced to pay out millions of dollars to those affected.

Concerns have already been raised that the new vaccine has not been sufficiently tested and that the effects, especially on children, are unknown.
..."
Article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1206807/Swine-flu-jab-link-killer-nerve-disease-Leaked-letter-reveals-concern-neurologists-25-deaths-America.html


The illustration is from the massive immunization program in 1976 that was shut down.

Stalking Irish Madness

In my work life I had a special interest in Schizophrenia.Often my coworkers would call me to the ER saying "She speaks Schizophreneze".In fact I did have a talent picking up often on the symbolic themes and feelings the troubled souls were expressing.This book sounds fascinating to me.The review and comments:

"A number of Patrick Tracey's relatives suffer from schizophrenia, and in his book Stalking Irish Madness, he goes on a quest to his family's ancestral land in Ireland to trace the legacy of their illness. While delving into scientific explanations, he also explores the lore of fairies, who according to myth can capture people's minds.



I am so thoroughly enjoying this book, even though my heart breaks on each page. Tracey has researched farther back than I could even fathom tracing my own family tree. His tales about his family are interesting and so well told that I can see the houses. I feel as if I know the great-grandmother, I can almost feel her pain.

He describes schizophrenia in words that I have never heard before. It has opened another level of understanding. The horror that is losing someone in the blink of an eye, having them replaced with a different person, is terrifying. I found myself checking my age versus the statistics, wondering if my own children are safe.

My heart goes out to him for all of his tragedy. But I do so appreciate his ability to put it into words and on paper for everyone to experience
By Wild Irish Rose (47359) ...
I really hope the APA asks Mr. Tracey to speak at the next convention as this book is one of the best I've read about how mental illness impacts a family--the range of emotions from survivor's guilt to denial, anger and fear. Who will be next to fall from the family tree and how can we save them?

I prefer this memoir over the McCourt memoirs for its intellectual and introspective pursuit of knowledge via Irish history and science. I get the feeling that in another life, Mr. Tracey would be the scientist who unlocks the genetic code that solves the mystery.

Stalking Irish Madness: Searching for the Roots of My Family's Schizophrenia (Hardcover)
by Patrick Tracey (Author)

An Unusual Perspective On Past Life Regression

Whether you believe in Reincarnation or Past Life Therapy,this is interesting..

"Past-life hypnosis ban in Israel
2009 July 25

by Roy Stemman

Authorised hypnotherapists whose work is recognised by Israel’s Health Ministry have been banned from exploring their patients’ past lives. The Advisory Committee on the Law on Hypnosis has made the ruling following complaints that some clients had suffered serious emotional damage through reincarnation hypnosis sessions.

The ban does not affect unauthorised hypnotists, in line with the Health Ministry’s decision to allow various alternative treatments that are not recognised as therapeutic by modern medicine.

Commenting on the restriction, which was announced in Israel’s oldest newspaper, Haaretz (24 July, 2009), Dr Alex Aviv of the Abarbanel Mental Health Centre in Bat Yam, who heads the advisory committee, argued that hypnosis and reincarnation had nothing to do with one another.

“This is a mystical practice for people who believe in reincarnation,” he explained. “We’ve seen a number of cases where practitioners tried to perform this on patients and things went bad.”

He did not say whether the committee examined any cases where patients had a positive outcome from hypnotic regression to an apparent past life.

The newspaper said discussion on past-life regression therapy began two years ago within the ministry and ended with “an explicit ban on offering the practice, or for hypnotists to present themselves as experts in the field.”
http://www.paranormalreview.com/reincarnation/past-life-hypnosis-ban-in-israel/


The illustration is by an Etsy Artist
Portrait of a Past Life Regression - 8x10 print Visit the shop
http://paganmoons.etsy.com

Haunted Alcatraz

Many tourists flock to "The Rock" daily.Have you been among them? It is quite an interesting place.The tour guides seldom discuss the hauntings of Alcatraz.
You may know that earlier this week in 1934, the first federal prisoners arrived at Alcatraz, the island prison in San Francisco Bay. Though closed in 1963, the prison is said to be haunted to this day by ghostly presences.

An interesting article discussing both the history and the hauntings may be found at
http://www.prairieghosts.com/gpalcatraz.html


I found this the most interesting of those ghostly encounters discussed:
"Several of the guides and rangers have also expressed a strangeness about one of the "hole" cells, number 14D. "There’s a feeling of sudden intensity that comes from spending more than a few minutes around that cell," one of them said. Another guide also spoke up about that particular cell. "That cell, 14D, is always cold. It’s even colder than the other three dark cells. Sometimes it gets warm out here - so hot that you have to take your jacket off. The temperature inside the cell house can be in the 70’s, yet 14D is still cold... so cold that you need a jacket if you spend any time in it."

Oddly, the tour guides were not the only ones to have strange experiences in that particular cell. A number of former guards from the prisons also spoke of some pretty terrifying incidents that took place near the "holes" and in particular, Cell 14D.

During the guard’s stint in the middle 1940’s, an inmate was locked in the cell for some forgotten infraction. According to the officer, the inmate began screaming within seconds of being locked in. He claimed that some creature with "glowing eyes" was locked in with him. As tales of a ghostly presence wandering the nearby corridor were a continual source of practical jokes among the guards, no one took the convict’s cries of being "attacked" very seriously.

The man’s screaming continued on into the night until finally, there was silence. The following day, guards inspected the cell and they found the convict dead. A horrible expression had been frozen onto the man’s face and there were clear marks of hands around his throat! The autopsy revealed that the strangulation could not have been self-inflicted. Some believed that he might have been choked by one of the guards, who had been fed up with the man’s screaming, but no one ever admitted it.

A few of the officers blamed something else for the man’s death. They believed that the killer had been the spirit of a former inmate. To add to the mystery, on the day following the tragedy, several guards who were performing a head count noticed that there were too many men in the lineup. Then, at the end of the line, they saw the face of the convict who had recently been strangled in the "hole"! As they all looked on in stunned silence, the figure abruptly vanished...."

If, as many believe, ghosts return to haunt the places where they suffered traumatic experiences when they were alive, then no wonder the place has many ghosts about.

What If You Came Home To This?

Indiana Jones is not the only one who hates snakes...Cryptomundo is one of my favorite sites.Last week there was an article about the increased sightings in cities of giant Albino snakes.

That whole idea is so gross but must admit that this caught my eye..

..."On Friday, July 10, 2009, a woman was taking a stroll in a trailer park on West Main Street in Annville Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, when she found the 10-foot-long albino Burmese python . The owner was unknown, but latter a local man admitted releasing two pythons because he couldn’t care for them any longer. He has been charged with cruelty to animals and introduction of non-native species into the wild."

Runes And Lost History

A recent Coast To Coast AM Radio show featured Ian Punnett's guest geologist and author Scott Wolter.
He discussed his groundbreaking research into the origins of the Kensington Rune Stone and its connections to other rune stones in America.
We have no recoeded history of explorers who came to America before Columbus.

The Kensington Rune Stone found in Minnesota contains Runic (letters in the old Norse alphabet) inscriptions with the date 1362. He believes the inscriptions were made by explorers from Gotland, an island off Sweden that had a military monastic order that was possibly the Knights Templar.

His latest research focused on the enigmatic Hooked X symbol, seen in the Kensington stone.
"... This symbol, which was used in the medieval era, also appeared in runic stones found in Maine and other locations, such as Rosslyn Chapel, he noted. Further, the mysterious Newport Tower in Rhode Island, which may have been built by Templars, has a notched keystone through which a line points exactly in the direction of the Kensington Rune Stone.

The Hooked X symbol is one of the runes in GRAL, an early spelling for grail, as in the Holy Grail, Wolter said. For more, see this set of related photos, as well as details about his upcoming History Channel special, Holy Grail in America."

Interesting. Perhaps one day Columbus Day will become Viking Day?The picture id from the Coast To Coast am site of the inscription menrioned.

Maybe A Past Life In Egypt?

Wonder if he sang?
The Pharaoh of Pop does not sound like the King of Pop,but a 3000 year old statue bearing an uncanny resemblance to Michael Jackson has been on display at The Field Museum in Chicago since 1998.
The limestone bust was carved sometime between 1550BC and 1050BC,It is of a woman.The remarkable resemblance has been drawing attention recently.A museum spokesman says he has no idea whether Jackson ever visited the museum.
Full article http://www.theinsider.com/news/2664482_Egyptian_Statue_Looks_Just_Like_Michael_Jackson

Right Or Left Pawed?

The cat has been revered through history.Some say the world is divided between "cat lovers" and "dog lovers." We had both when the children were small. My oldest daughter Jennifer had a black sat "Chico".He was part warrior and part loving pet.

While watching my little ones go to a few neighbors to Trick or Treat one long ago Halloween.I actually saw him go across the street,get his lady friend ,and go to the door after the children left.Standing tall on his hind legs,he rang the door bell and said "Meow" to the lady who answered.She was so delighted that both cats got special treats...


No longer having a pet, this story was still interesting:

" Right or Left Pawed?
It may not be obvious from the scratch marks cats dish out, but domestic felines favour one paw over the other. More often than not, females tend to be righties, while toms are lefties, say Deborah Wells and Sarah Millsopp, psychologists at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland.

However, these preferences only manifest when cats perform particularly dexterous feats. That's for the same reason we can open a door with either arm, yet struggle to write legibly with our non-dominant hand. "The more complex and challenging [the task], the more likely we're going to see true handedness," Wells says.

She and Millsopp tasked 42 domestic cats to ferret out a bit of tuna in a jar too small for their heads. Among 21 females, all but one favoured the right paw across dozens of trials, while 20 out of 21 males preferentially used the left. One male proved ambidextrous." http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17510-is-your-cat-left-or-right-pawed.html


The illustration is from the Etsy shop FamousFanPulls

FAN PULL - LUCKY Waving Asian Cat Ceiling Chain White
http://FamousFanPulls.etsy.com

Check out the wonderful assortment there.

Did You See A Child Here?

The Hospital Administrator and The child

A Hospital Administrator from a hospital in Texas ,who also is a minister, tells of being in an office catching up with some paper work one November evening.The office was in an old Pediatric ward. The ward had been closed for eight years now serving as an office area for a few people.

He heard noises of someone moving around in the hall.He went to investigate.He found a little girl about 7 or 8 with blonde hair and blue eyes playing ball.

He approached her.She reached out toward him, seemed to mouth a few words and began to dematerialize.

Whether he told anyone or moved to a new office is unknown at this point..He did say that two other people asked if he had seen a child there.

The original Art is from the Etsy shop DeadpanAlley http://DeadpanAlley.etsy.com
AMELIE'S BALL--La boule d'Amelie--Original Ink Illustration on Vintage Paper--
You may want to see some of the other work there.Thank you for allowing the use of Amaile.

A True Titanic Tale

As many people, DF had long been fascinated by the Titanic.She had no relatives aboard to her knowledge.none the less she read and pondered over the sinking of the great shop and the lost lives.

An Exhibit of the artifacts from the Titanic came to a city about an hour away from where she lived.She was eager to visit so she and three friends went for the opening of the event.

She looked over the various items overcome with sadness.As the group went to the gift shop for the exhibit while her friends were entranced with the replica of the jewelry,D found nothing of special importance to her.

As they were about to leave,she saw near the check out samples of actual coal used aboard the ship."I must have this.It was on the ship when it sank." she thought and bought a small piece.It was in a small gold colored box which she put safely in her purse.

The friends went for lunch at a favorite place near by.D however was not at all hungry.In fact,she felt a bit nauseous and sort of agitated..This continued all the way home.

She showed the treasure to her family.No one seemed particularly impressed.She set the package on her nightstand .Thinking of how it had endured the crash and the horrors of the sinking to spend years at the bottom of the sea,she prepared for bed.
She had some thoughts that perhaps she should get rid of it which she had thought at Lunch.She raised the blind and went on to bed.It was around 11PM.

She awoke later with an agitated feeling and looked at the window.There on the second story was the grizzled face of an older rather disheveled man wearing a blue work shirt and overhalls.He looked sad and frightened to her.
She screamed.Her family rushed in but no one was there.

She continued to fret about the piece of coal and considered putting it back in the ocean.She never did.
Neither would she say whether the face returned.She just said she locked it in a bag in her closet.

BTW this is a rrue story.

Ashes To As..--Painting?

There are many ways you have heard of to honor the deceased loved one from scattering the ashes at sea,tossing them from a helicopter over the mountains and even more recently sending them into space.This is a "different" approach...

"Widow uses dead husband's ashes for painting
A widow has immortalised the memory of her husband by commissioning a painting using his ashes.


The oil painting depicts a photo taken on the couple's final holiday last June Photo: CATERS

As well as following tradition and scattering some of his ashes the mother-of-one she chose to have the artwork made as a permanent and everlasting reminder of the former toolsetter.

"I always say that when I look at the painting I can feel George holding my hand," Mrs Filkins said.


Mr Filkins died of a heart attack last September following complications with a stomach ulcer.

The oil painting depicts a photo taken on the couple's final holiday last June, and is the view from their apartment in Menorca, Spain.


Just two weeks after their trip, Mr Filkins became ill and spent the next six weeks at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital.

After his death Mrs Filkins, of Bradley, read an article on Sunderland artist Val Thompson, who specialises in incorporating ashes into her paintings, and decided to post some of her husband's ashes to her.

"I saw it in the paper and thought it was a nice idea to have," said the 55-year-old.

The painting cost around £900 and now takes pride of place in her living room. Mrs Filkins added: "It was on an easel when Val uncovered it I cried and fell in love with it.

"It's a happy picture and gives me the feeling I had when we were on holiday."

The couple met in 1972 when they both worked at the Lowe & Fletcher metal factory in Hatton Street, Bilston.

Mrs Filkins spent eight years as a secretary, while her husband was a tool setter for 40 years. They married at St Leonard's Church in Bilston, two years after meeting. Their only son Lee is now 29.

Mrs Filkins, a Wolves fan, also scattered some of her husband's ashes under his long-held seat in the Jack Harris stand at Molineux Stadium."