Saturday, July 31, 2010

Beware of Witches or rather Bitches!

There are many witches in the world and very few of them wear black hats and ride broomsticks. Most of the witches I know are actually very nice people.

But then there's the famous Geelong Cop-dragging Witch.

Let me firstly say that all earthly witches ARE subject to earthly rules and laws. This particular woman's argument that she is not is pure bunkum. She obeys the laws of physics by driving a car therefore she is also subject to the laws of the land. The fact that the officer received injuries rather than turning into a frog probably illustrates that fact rather well.

Most interestingly is her claim that she has a 'universal' name which incongruously is not recognized here on planet Earth.

Witches everywhere will be bristling with anger. Here's this rather pathetic woman claiming to be one of them and yet without the simple intelligence to realize that a 'universal' name must be recognized everywhere - otherwise it is hardly universal!

Words fail me.

Still, perhaps she was just suffering from PNT. Paranormal Tension!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Paranormal Investigators - NOT.

Many people would like to investigate the paranormal. Some want to prove it real - others to prove it false. That's OK. Chances are, proof either way will not come easily.

But for many young adventurers there are pitfalls - and not only the moaning chain-rattling type.

You might just take a moment to read about the Ghost Hunters and the Cliff.

There are two big problems with the immature and inexperienced setting off on their big Ghost Hunting Adventure.

Firstly, they are unlikely to gain appropriate permission of entry. Trespass is trespass and it's illegal for a number of reasons, not least because you can be very badly injured when you invade a property that you do not know well. Often it is in a state of disrepair and apart from obvious dangers such as walls and roof falls, holes in the floor, exposed nails, broken glass etc... there are other less visible dangers. Such as asbestos.

If you enter a property illegally and are badly injured, don't expect the landowner's insurance to cover you. It might. Or it might not.

Of course, there is the other problem. It might seem fun - getting a little group together for a spot of Ghostbusting, but if the physical dangers don't get you, then there are other things. Depending on the individual situation you could be walking into a psychic mine field. It might be that you subconsciously open up to suppressed thoughts and emotions that cannot be dealt with in your conscious state. Or it might be that something very nasty might get a hold of you. Don't worry about which argument is right - the Skeptics and the True Believers have one thing in common - you will be putting yourself at risk.

Before indulging in any 'harmless fun' it really pays to make sure that you know what you are doing, take precautions and ensure that others know where you are going. It's common sense really.

Best option is to find a ghost tour. Or locate a group of experienced investigators with an ultimate view to becoming one of them.

What ever you do - it's not worth taking risks.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Is your ghost legal?

Big changes in the air - or perhaps I should say 'big changes in the Ether'!

Do the big decision makers read Too Haunted? It seems that they might. After we published our 3Bdrm, Mast ES,WIR,ModKitch, ERng, GHWS, DBGRG, ST(DEC) blog concerning the sale of properties that might contain residual paranormal phenomena, a change to the law in Australia has occured which can result in big fines for Real Estate agents who do not advise prospective buyers of a property's negative history.

This actually is quite a landmark decision. While it is easy for the non-believer to sit back, have a good laugh and decry such such "stupidity", there are many who have inadvertently purchased property only to discover that there are things that go bump in the night and that they are often unpleasant or even quite dangerous.

Read All About It Here

Of course, Agents can still pretend ignorance and, in many cases, they might not be in full possession (sic) of the facts, but at least when they are called on to sell a property known to them to have a dark past of some sort, they are under legal obligation to make that past known.

Are there really ghosts of murdered victims a-wailing and a-moaning at their site of their deaths? Clearly there can be residual effects at times and equally as clearly, some people are more sensitive than others.

It is, therefore, your right to know. At least, it is now. In Australia.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Bamboo Saucer

In the late sixties there was a film set in China concerning a flying saucer. The film was entitled The Bamboo Saucer.

It wasn't one of the world's best UFO films because really, the plot revolved more around the groups traveling to the site of the UFO and tensions between Russia, China and the U.S. But having said that, it was an interesting movies because the UFO - from the audience perspective - is treated almost as an every-day thing with the film concentrating on power games, struggles, conflict and so forth.

Apparently, a Chinese airport was recently closed after a UFO appearance.

Of course, the whole thing is ridiculed and the event is described as sunlight reflecting off conventional aircraft.

America, Australia, Russia - almost every country has reports of UFOs and many are explainable. But there are those which defy explanation.

Given the limited ability to get truth out of a country which has a history of genocide and atrocities, it is hard to imagine how this story could ever have gotten to the world press. At least, it is hard to imagine if it was a simple case of 'sunlight reflecting off conventional aircraft'. But if it wasn't.....

Many airports have stray or unexpected aircraft violating airspace. But they don't usually close the airport. Of course, China might be different.

It is important to realize, though, that Tibet and China (different countries by the way guys) both have a history of UFO phenomenon. Proven or otherwise, they are both significant locations in terms of alleged (i.e. neither proven nor dis-proven) extraterrestrial activity.

Is this recent sighting just sunlight? Or is it more interesting?

I guess you have to make your own mind up about that.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Ghost Tours - Are they really worth the money?

Everywhere I look I see a ghost tour on offer. It's amazing - hard to imagine that there are that many ghosts hanging around to entertain the tourists. It's still a fact that the dead outnumber the living but with China's 2009 population of 1,338+ million and India's 1,156+ million that might soon be changed. If, that is, we didn't live in a world where 24 thousand children die each day.

Even so, most people who die do not hang around in perpetual haunt-mode. I won't upset anyone's beliefs here except to say that most pass on to other things.

Which is why, I guess, that many ghost tours are more like theatrical entertainment than real paranormal experiences. It's pretty hard to run a ghost tour when few (if any) of your clients are going to experience anything beyond a cold spot of a a bunch of orbs on their digital snaps, so I guess you have to improvise a little. Perhaps more emphasis should be placed on 'experiencing' locations rather than promising encounters with the paranormal.

It's pretty hard to argue that they are fraudulent however. To do that would require legal recognition of paranormal activity - something that doesn't occur (at least not in Australia).

None of this means, though, that there are not tours where you do have a good chance of encountering 'things that go bump in the night'. There are locations which have some form of other-worldly influence of one type or another. There are a number of types of manifestation and despite the hype, those who are sensitive to such things can find some tours very rewarding.

At the end of the day, it's important to learn as much as possible about the tour before you take it. Check out forums, see what others have thought about the experience. This is often a good indication of the real nature of the tour. Is it show or is it real? Is it both? They are not mutually exclusive - just because the host is wearing Victorian clothes does not mean that you won't meet up with a ghost! Nor does it mean you will, though.

So are they worth the money? Some are, some are not - unless you are just after a bit of fun. And there's nothing wrong with that. Just be clear about what you are interested in and seek the experience of others who have been on the tours (not just the tour operators!) to see if it is likely to match your expectations. At the end of the day, if the tour delivers what you want then it's worth the money. Whether that's a show or a real paranormal encounter - that's a different story.